“Enduring Affliction”
By
Pastor M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Subtopic :- Wait - don’t be so quick to run-a-way
2nd Timothy 4:5 “But watch thou in all things, ENDURE AFFLICTIONS, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry”.
Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, STAND STILL, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you t day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever”.
Psalm 46:10 “BE STILL, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth”.
Luke 21:19 “In your patience possess ye your souls.”
OPENING:- From these scriptures it is clear that patience plays an important role in our salvation and every day walk with the Lord. The Bible is full of scriptures that deal with patience and probably the most famous is the story of Job. Job is unique and is a great inspiration to all of us as to being able to endure affliction; however, I am not going to be talking about Job in this lesson on patience.
There is an old saying that says “Patience is a virtue”. Virtue is according to dictionary.com 1. Moral excellence; goodness; righteousness. 2. Conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude. 3. Chastity. To put it another way patience is a good quality to have in your life.
Patience is not apathy, it is not a lack of interest or concern, and it is not emotional laziness. Too many confuse patience with apathy, but the two could not be any more opposite in meaning. Some mistake patience with indifference, or not caring one way or another, or deeming something as insignificant – but none of these describe patience. Neither is patience a bearing up under punishment for some wrong doing. 1st Peter 2:20 says “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God”
Patience comes from the Greek word hupomone. This Greek word is made up of two parts, hupo meaning “under,” and mone meaning to “abide.” So literally, patience means to “abide under.” patience implies suffering, enduring or waiting, as a determination of will and simply of necessity. Patience is the concept of faithful endurance which overcomes evil. It includes resistance to hostile powers James 4:7 says “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”. Patience is that which enables a person to continually resist the pressures of external circumstances and stand vigilantly holding on to their integrity, virtue, and faith.
Patience will strengthen the spirit, calm the temper, overpower anger, extinguish envy, defeat pride, bridle the tongue, restrain the hand, and crush temptation.
James tells us how to acquire patience, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” James. 1:2-4. Paul says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience” Romans 5:1-3.
Patience is a much needed attribute for a Child of God to possess. Hebrew 12:1 says “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us”.
Every child of God, by the nature of their humanity, has afflictions. Some need jobs; some have children problems; some are having marital problems; some have health problems; some financial problems; some have problems with drugs and alcohol, some are afflicted with loneliness anxiety, stress, and depression, and there are other problems known and unknown among the members of this church for we all must go through things in this life. Some of the things we go through are orchestrated by God, Paul said of these that we are to “glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” Romans 5:3-5.
The Bible says in Psalm 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord
delivereth him out of them all”. So we know that these things must come to pass.
Affliction:- A condition or cause of pain, suffering, or distress. Psalm 34:19 lets us know that there are going to be in our life some distress, sufferings, unhappiness, pain, disappointments, broken-hearts, hurt feelings, loneliness, and many other problems BUT THE LORD DELIVERETH US OUT OF THEM ALL. THAT RIGHT THERE IS A HALLELUJAH MOMENT!!!!!!
Now patience is that virtue of a child of God that powerfully proves their eternal life, it causes them to be able to bear trouble, suffer and endure affliction for a long time and remaining faithful.
Patience is not arguing with the Lord, backsliding from the Lord, blaming the Lord or others, finding fault with God or the church, it is not complaining about your situation, quitting your spiritual duties, leaving your church, changing churches, talking about the pastor and the church, envying those not suffering, and resenting this preaching and preacher are all examples of not being patient.
ENDURING AFFLICTION:- Wait – don’t be so quick to run-a-way!
In the Book of Ruth we find a very interesting part of history and the benefits of enduring affliction.
Ruth 1:1 “Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons”.
A famine in the land = affliction.
Vs #2 “And the name of the man [was] Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there”.
WATCH THIS:-
Elimelech = My God is the King
Naomi – beautiful, pleasant, delightful
Mahlon = powerful
Chilion = complete, perfect
Vs#3 “And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons”.
Husband died = affliction
Vs#4 The sons Mahlon whose name means powerful and Chilion whose name means perfect and complete get married Mahlon married Ruth whose name means companion, friend and vision of beauty and Chilion married Orpah whose name means cloud.
Now they get married in vs 4 and in vs 5 they both die, that’s quick.
Vs#5 The boys die and Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth are left alone talk about affliction the king of the family is dead, their power is gone, their perfect and complete life has been interrupted, things that were once delightful and pleasant and full of a vision of beauty all of the sudden have a dark cloud over their lives.
It gets so bad that Naomi says to her daughters in law in vs#8-9 “Go, return each to her mother's house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each [of you] in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept”.
WATCH THIS:- They said they both would return with her but Naomi said go. I like to believe that Naomi was trying their faith, for the Bible says in James 1:3 “…the trying of your faith worketh patience”. She was trying to see who was willing to endure affliction.
Vs#14-15 “And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law ( that was a good-bye kiss); but Ruth clave unto her (she decided to stay/endure). And she (Naomi) said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law”.
Vs#16 “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, [or] to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people [shall be] my people, and thy God my God”.
In other words Ruth was willing to endure affliction, she said in her mind I am going to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
Together they came back to Bethlehemjudah, they had suffered affliction in that both of their husbands were dead, their power and perfect life was shattered, their family was devastated and long time members of the family had gone back to what was comfortable.
But Ruth was determined to endure affliction in chapter 2 vs#2 “And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after [him] in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter”. Ruth goes and works in the field in the midst of affliction and while she is working in the field her kinsman redeemer by the name of Boaz, which means by strength, REMEMBER THAT sees her and begins to bestow favor upon her, he tells his servants to on purpose allows some of the good corn to fall so she can get it because she has found favor in my sight.
In chapter 4 Boaz, whose name means by strength, had a meeting with the elders of the city and a man that was closer to Ruth as far as relationship and said are you able to handle what she needs to be handled. The man said I’m not able to do it, in others words he didn’t have the strength to take care of what needed to be taken care of. So he told Boaz go and do what you need to do.
Ruth 4:13 says “So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son”. The name of the son was Obed, which means servant worshipper. Obed grew and had a son by the name of Jessie, Jessie means God is gracious. Jessie grew and had a son by the name of David whose name means beloved.
Because Ruth was willing to endure affliction and not so quick to run a way she became the great-grandmother of David the King of Israel and she is part of the lineage of Jesus Christ.
WATCH THIS:- Orpah the sister-n-law of Ruth that was married to Chilion, whose name means complete and perfect, was not willing to endure affliction but chose rather to leave Naomi, that delightful place in the time of affliction. She became the great-grandmother of a man by the name of Goliath whose name means exile.
You know the story of David and Goliath. David a ruddy boy defeated the Philistine warrior champion. The beloved defeated the exiled and that was because Ruth decided to endure affliction.
Somebody may be here right now that is faced with all kinds of affliction, it may seem like your perfect and complete life has lost all of its power. Trouble may be facing you on every side and you are at the point you feel that there is no hope. You might even look around at the church and wonder what is going on people left never to return, some got up in the middle of service and just walked out, others have talked about us and put us down. It may seem like we are not going to make it because we had to cancel Bible Study for a while to try to keep the gas bill and electric bill under control. It may seem like the grass is greener over there, it may seem like God is blessing at that church and has left this one out in the cold. But I am here to tell you to hold on and endure affliction because if you give up now it will affect not only you but generations to come.
Because Ruth held on in the midst of affliction she is in the lineage of Jesus and her offspring became kings, but Orpah who decided to give up and go back to what was comfortable her offspring became giants, which was literally an abomination of God’s image.
Tell somebody wait – don’t be so quick to run-a-way generations to come are depending on you to endure affliction.
Can I talk about myself for a minute I was looking at my situation. People had left the church, in a manner of a two week period about 15 people left the church, in the middle of watch night service one that I thought would always be by my side, who I considered to be my armor-bearer walked out, people I looked to and depended upon to help me other matters in the church left me and gave attitude when they did. I had people talk about me and run my name down. I even got to the point that I questioned God and said this is not what I expected. I even thought about going to the Bishop and telling him I’m not cut out for this anymore, I am going to go back to Chillicothe and just under my father and just do church because this affliction is more than I can bear. But God, but God began to deal with me and took me to the scripture in 2nd Corinthians 4:17 where Paul said “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory”. It’s just temporary.
Then he let me know that He knows the thoughts He has toward me thoughts of good and not of evil to bring me to an expected end. He said Mel I got some seed that I have placed in you to bring forth, there are some kings in my Kingdom that are going to be birthed in that ministry at Apostolic Glorious Church, there are some leaders that are going to be effective in leading many sons to glory in that church, there are some daughters of Zion that will come out of that church, if you give up now you will be committing spiritual abortion so endure affliction, I said God I don’t know how I am going to make it, He said remember Boaz whose name means by strength, I said yes Lord, He said well My joy is your strength. He said you can make it, every step you take makes me have joy and because I have joy I give you strength to make it another step, you make that step and that give me joy so I give you more strength all you have to do is endure affliction don’t be so quick to run-a-way for in the midst of your affliction continue to be a servant worshipper of God for He is gracious..
REMEMBER:- Luke 21:19 “In your patience possess ye your souls.”
"In your patience (endurance), possess your soul!" Do not allow your soul, which is where your emotions, will, and intellect are housed, to wander about without the supervision of your enduring faith. As you persevere in the faith, endure affliction, don’t give up, keep on believing, hold on to God’s unchanging hand and as you keep the faith, the faith will keep you. As you rejoicing of the hope and being steadfast unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord to the end, it will directly impact upon all of your emotion, intellect, and will. Your thoughts, words, and deeds will yield glory to God, contribute to your personal stability and joy in the faith, and bring a great harvest of satisfaction to your heart just like it did for Ruth.
Now, keep believing!
Keep running!
Keep fighting!
Do not quit!
ENDURE AFFLICTION. Generations to come are depending on you.
WAIT – don’t be so quick to run-a-way.
Isaiah 40:31 says “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint”.
That only comes to those that are will to wait and endure affliction.
Pastor M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Apostolic Glorious Church
