Tenacity to Total Victory (Luke 8:15; 2 Samuel 23:11-12; James 1:3; Hebrews 10:32; 2 Timothy 2:12)

Luke 8:15 says, "... that on the good ground are they who, in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep (it), and bring forth fruit with patience."

PATIENCE 

The focus of this study is on the word translated as "patience".

 Every word, as a vehicle of vision, congers up images that help us to identify the word with relatable experiences, enabling us to visually grasp its meaning. This English word is usually seen as a passive acceptance of situations and circumstances, that, in some mysterious manner, if we just wait long enough, will somehow change.... or not. But irrespective of any change, we are to just "be patient". 

 Out of approximately 32 uses in the NT, the KJV translates this word 27 times as "patience". This is one of those situations where translators have done the reader a severe injustice, losing the real meaning of the word, and in some cases, through the English translation, creating false doctrines that have crippled the performance and impact of the church, in the world she is called to reach.

MILITARY CONTEXT

 Unlike the passivity suggested in the word "patience", this Greek word, in classical literature, is found predominately in a military context. This word is anything but passive. It is a compound word which means "to remain, or abide", with a prefix that intensifies that meaning, describing the bearing up under any and all circumstances.

 To truly appreciate this word one must see the visual imagery that the word conveys. The significant aspect of this word, in relation to battle, is that a conquest has been made, and ground has been taken from the enemy. It is inevitable that there will be a counter attack made to try to retake the territory. Everyone  abandons their position, viewing the conquest taken as undefendable, except one. One individual refuses to relinquish even the most minute portion of what has been accomplished in bloody battle, and with bold determination, stands, with sword in hand, and slaughters the onslaught of the enemy yielding total and complete victory!  

DAVID'S MIGHTY MEN 

Though it sounds fanciful, this is exactly what happened with one of David' mighty men:

 "... the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentils; and the people fled from the Philistines. But he [Shammah] stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines, and the Lord wrought a great victory." (2 Sam.23:11-12).

 One individual, in God, created a majority, that totally obliterated a whole troop of the enemy! .

 This word is called the manly virtue, and is synonymous with courage, and the opposite of cowardice. It refuses to relent, no matter what the adverse odds seem to be. In fact, the very word is stimulated by the strong confidence that victory is assured, it is just a matter of standing one's ground, because nothing that the enemy can assault with will be strong enough to retake what is already in possession through conquest. It is active  resistance to all hostile attack. [ Interestingly enough, in the Biblical account of David's mighty men, this was not an isolated instance, and all of the people enjoyed the benefits of the spoils, AFTER the victory was assured.(2 Sam.23:8-12; 1Chr.11:10ff)]. 

 UNDER ATTACK!

 This endurance to victory is the result of faith. James 1:3, accurately translated, says that "genuine" faith produces endurance, not that the "trying" of our faith produces endurance. The devil twists such bold declarations to condemn Believers, and tell them that their problem is simply that they don't have genuine faith, or enough faith. But Hebrews 10:32 says that revelation or illumination was the prerequisite to being attacked by the enemy, and the word used translated "illumination" is the same word used, by the Holy Spirit,  to describe our spiritual eyes being enlightened, in Ephesians  1:18. In other words, spiritual revelation, from the word, gives us the genuine faith that produces endurance, and the devil does not attack us other than for the primary purpose of taking back territory that we have taken from him. If we are under attack, it is quite evident that it is because we are moving forward; advancing; taking territory, and we therefore have the genuine faith, and the endurance, to get the job done and totally possess our rightful inheritance.

 The desire for dominance is inbred into the very fabric of every human person, and it is only through constant degrading; oppression; seemingly insurmountable situations and circumstances, that people are beaten down into passive acceptance of their "lot" in life. Yet even in the most abject conditions and deplorable lives of existence, something from within presses against such a reality, and screams in defiance, that this is wrong; this is not how it is supposed to be. 

 MADE TO RULE!

We were made to rule as kings, not live as slaves, and nothing less will satisfy the God given desire within, to change our position in life from one of poverty to plenty; sickness to health; slavery to freedom; subservience to dominance over every assailing circumstance. 

BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY 

 "Religion" recoils at such statements, for it has been attempting to  generously brain-wash every child of God, into a defeatist attitude that passively accepts; settles for; and is dominated by tyrants; adverse circumstances; and situations deemed beyond our control.

 In fact, this is strongly reflected in Buddhist philosophy which, in passivity, accepts every situation and circumstance as somehow part of a divine order, not to be resisted or changed, but merely entered into, with the miserable hope of something more, perhaps in another life. This same demonic doctrine has crept into the church, robed in false humility, and mistakenly taught from prominent pulpits, that all circumstances that confront our lives are filtered through the "loving" hand of God, and should be passively accepted, not resisted, because God is trying to teach us something, or there is some blessing in disguise within this evil; accident; mishap; defeat; sickness; etc. The result, of course, is a lack of productivity; a shattering of the hope necessary for faith; a rejection of anything that contradicts this ingrained way of thinking; and worst of all, a failure to see and fulfill the planned destiny of God for our lives, which is the greatest sin of all; living lives that never fulfill their purpose.

   It is the devils desire to keep the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in "sleep-mode", and not awake to the power and potential that we have in Christ, and dominate every adverse condition and obstacle that comes against us, through the authority of the word; praying in the spirit [tongues]; and the confession of our mouth.

 BOOK of BATTLES

The Bible is a book of battles, and this intense word characterizes those, who in the strength of the revelation they have received will not accept anything but total victory, and in defiance of evil, not only take territory back from the enemy, but in boldness, tolerate nothing but the justice of God's will in their lives. Classical Greek literature records the statement that 'this word describes a courage and vigor of endurance that totally breaks the strength of one's adversary until victory is complete'. 

2 Timothy 2:12, accurately translated, says, that if we tenaciously endure (hypomeno), 5278, we will, [emphatically], rule with Christ. Despite everyone else abandoning you the genuine faith within you will produce a tenacity that will not yield until total and complete victory is yours! 

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours