Faith Supplements - part one
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6:11-12
Patience is a fruit, or force of the Spirit. The book of Hebrews makes it emphatically clear that in order to inherit the promises of God, your faith needs the supplement of patience. Living in a fast and busy world with so many things at our fingertips, we don’t want to hear that.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Isaiah 28:16
YOU NEED PATIENCE!
This is not me saying it. This is what the author of Hebrews says, ‘For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.’ (Hebrews 10:36)
YOUR FAITH NEEDS IT’S PATIENCE SUPPLEMENT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE PROMISE.
Both the Old Testament fathers and the New Testament Apostles knew that it took faith and patience to inherit the promises.
Faith and patience – this is what we call power twins. Why don’t we want to hear about patience? Most likely because of how it has been defined in the world and crept into the church. The secular defines patience as ‘the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.’ That is a terrible definition. You don’t need to accept what Jesus already paid and delivered you from. You definitely need to be angry if things that belong to you by covenant are being withheld from you.
Hebrews tells us that through faith and patience, Abraham obtained the promise of God overcoming old age, barrenness, male sterility, female sterility, low sperm count and whatever else is attributed to not being able to conceive.
The Bible’s definition of patience is different from the secular. Bible patience means to be consistently constant and unswerving or unbending under pressure. In other words, don’t fall apart and don’t be melodramatic. Therefore if you are a drama queen then you will not be strong in faith. You must understand that patience is not the knack of waiting but how you act while you're waiting. The early church fathers called patience ‘the queen of all virtues’ which is the opposite of being a drama queen.
There are two Greek Words in the New Testament for patience - makrothumia and hupomeno
Makrothumia means patience without reaction (by implication, without reaction towards others). In other words, you do not lose your rag with your loved ones and lash at them. This is a compound of two words:
Makro - Long or even
Thumia- Passion or temper, fierceness, indignation, wrath; passion, angry, heat, anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding again.
When you combine the two together it means to be even tempered or to be long tempered as opposed to be short tempered. It is to express calmness in the face of suffering and adversity
The other Greek word is Hupomeno and hupo means ‘that which is under, as to be underneath something weighty’. While the word meno means ‘to stay or to abide’. Hupomeno means to stay fixed and unmoved under a weighty or pressurized situation. Rick Renner describes it as ‘a resolute decision to remain in one’s spot; to keep a position; or to maintain territory that has been gained.’ In other words there will be no retreat. There has been an inward decision made based upon the Word of God because that is the only thing that will not crack up under pressure. The Word of His power is the only thing that can uphold you in times of great trials and testings (Hebrews 1:3). This is why, you, the believer must learn the power of patience. James in his epistle said:
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 1:3-4
The subtle difference between Makrothumia and Hupomone is
- Makrothumia is patience in respect to persons
- Hupomone (endurance) is putting up with things or circumstances
When patience is added and supplemented to your faith, it is not a matter of whether you will win or not but rather when you will win. It is just a matter of time. Because in effect what you have said to the devil and the circumstance is ‘I will outlast you by remaining constant with the Word. I am not moved by what I see or what I feel. The Word has already prevailed and I live in that prevailing factor.’
Faith and patience cannot be defeated!