When we look back at the Israelites’ 40-year history in the desert, we can see that many of the Israelites dropped out of the journey to Canaan; some fell away after walking through the desert for 20 or 30 years, and others just before entering the land. In this age, we are walking in the desert of faith. I hope that we will all safely enter the heavenly Canaan, without a single person falling behind.

Now we are living a life of faith in more favorable situations and circumstances than before. However, our patience seems to decrease in inverse proportion to our improved life conditions. I earnestly ask you, people of Zion, to have patient faith. Let’s find out what the Bible teaches about the faith that endures to the end.

Patience is an indispensable condition of salvation

Mt 10:22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

The devil is making every scheme and strategy to test us whether we are able to endure to the end. Since we are likened to grapes hanging on the vine, the devil is now shaking the tree continually. Sometimes through wind, sometimes through wild animals, he makes every effort to destroy our faith without ceasing.

When we run a marathon, the most difficult moment is when we use up most of our strength just before the finish line. Now we are running toward the kingdom of heaven and the finish line is right in front of us, so we need feast to sprint all the more. We must not fall away from salvation. Although our bodies are more fatigued and exhausted than ever before, we have patiently run the race to this day, and if we run a little more, all our labor and toil will come to an end. With this hope, let us endure with patience and share in the glory of heaven without fail.

Jesus, who came 2,000 years ago, and God the Father and God the Mother, who have come as the Saviors in the age of the Holy Spirit, constantly say that salvation is given to the person who stands firm to the end.

Let’s find more of God’s teachings about perseverance from the Bible.

Heb 10:36-39 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

As written in the above verses, He who is coming will come in just a very little while. In order to receive God’s promised kingdom of heaven and eternal life when He comes, we need patient faith. The desert is rough, desolate and dry, but it is a process we have to walk through. If we enter Canaan, the eternal kingdom of heaven, from that time on we will enjoy eternal life; for there is no death or pain or sickness or aging in heaven. I truly want you all to believe and follow God to the end, always hoping for the eternal kingdom of heaven God has promised us. The Bible repeatedly tells us that we need to persevere.

Jas 5:9-11 Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

God says that blessed are those who persevere, and wants us to follow the example of Job. Many Israelites did not endure their temporary hunger and thirst in the desert, but grumbled again and again, forgetting God’s blessings. What was their fate? When they started from Egypt, the Israelite men numbered about six hundred thousand. The number did not increase even when they arrived in Canaan. Although numerous people were born for 40 years, which was not a short period of time, numerous people also died in the desert as a result of grumbling against God.

God is omniscient and omnipotent. We must not be impatient or feel burdensome or fall down, failing to understand the true will of God.

Job’s first trial

Since God wants us to follow the example of Job, we need to study how Job endured trials and what blessings God gave him.

Job 1:7-22 . . . Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

God was very pleased with Job who was blameless and upright in his faith, and complimented him more than any other man. However, Satan asked God to let him test Job, saying that Job would grumble and turn away from God if He gave him hard times. So God allowed Satan to test Job, and misfortunes successively happened to Job’s family. Grievous news was heard in succession, and even his children died. Tragedy happened one after another to the family of Job who believed in God faithfully.

We only read what is recorded in the Bible, so it is not enough for us to feel the agony of Job fully. But suppose that such a tragedy happens to our family repeatedly. How many of us do you think would be able to persevere? Job never complained against God, but rather he said, “God gave and God has taken away; may the name of God be praised.”

Job’s patience in his second trial

God was very pleased with Job who did not turn away from Him even in extreme suffering. Then Satan asked God to test him again.

Job 2:1-10 . . . Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job had to face the second trial that was severely painful. This time, his wife even blamed him, saying that it would be better for him to curse God and die.

Let us compare our small and big problems with the trials of Job. Which is more painful and miserable? Job’s trials were not something that anyone could endure easily. Nevertheless, Job did not utter a single complaint, saying, “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”

Double blessings after perseverance

When we read the book of Job, we can find out how much Job struggled in agony whenever he was given a test and trial. He once cursed the day of his birth, saying, “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?” Through his words, we can estimate how great his pain and agony was. During his trials, he came to argue with his friends who came to console him but only spoke foolish words, and he obscured spiritual principles unknowingly. God enlightened Job and reminded him of God’s almighty power. Then Job was able to recover his previous faith.

Job 42:1-17 Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ . . . “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ . . . Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has . . . the LORD accepted Job’s prayer. After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before . . . The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters . . . After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.

God accepted Job’s repentance and blessed him with twice as much as he had before. If Job had stumbled over the test of Satan and turned away from God, cursing Him, his faith would have ended there. However, he kept his faith till the end, so he was able to receive even more blessings than before and finish his life in peace.

A lesson from the trials of Job, and our attitude of mind

The book of Job was written to teach us about perseverance. Blessed is the person who endures like Job. As the kingdom of heaven draws nearer, Satan will slander us, God’s people, more strongly, and try every scheme to tempt us and shake our faith, knowing that his time is almost up. The greater a prophet is—the greater a gospel worker is, the more hardship and temptation he may face.

When we face trials, we should believe that it is God who gives and it is also God who takes away and that there is something we must learn through the trials. Believing this, if we keep the sincerity of our faith like Job, we will be blessed by God. We must have patient faith to overcome all difficulties, big or small, which befall each of us.

1 Ti 6:7-12 . . . People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction . . . But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

God has taught us many virtues—righteousness, godliness, faith, love, and gentleness, to which He has added “endurance” which is essential to our faith. Let us go forward without falling behind in this spiritual desert, and only keep our eyes fixed on God with pure faith in Him. If we only look up to God, we will come to resemble Him; we will be able to imitate His love and His endurance as well. In other words, we will inherit the nature of God.

In order to live in the everlasting kingdom of God, it is essential for us to participate in the divine nature. God’s divine nature contains endurance (2 Pe 1:4-9), so we must endure and be patient. Although we may sometimes get irritated or annoyed when things do not go as we have expected, we need to endure all things. Let us keep our faith to the end with patient endurance, not falling into temptation, but always thinking of God and giving thanks and glory to Him. Even if hindrances and obstacles may constantly occur all around us, let us never forget God. I earnestly hope that all the people of Zion will faithfully follow Heavenly Father and Mother wherever They go.