Editor’s note: How can you produce bear fruit with patience? Paul Peng, a Chinese house church pastor, shares his thoughts on how to cultivate the patient bearing of fruit.
This is the last of a four-part series from Peng. In the first part, Peng taught that patience means to continue bearing up under prolonged hardship, and that this virtue is one which the Chinese house church must cultivate. Then he went on to show, in Part Two, that patience is one of God’s attributes, but is not at all natural for sinful humans. In Part Three, Peng taught that patience is “the foremost mark of love,” and that gospel patience is cheerfully and hopefully rejoicing as you wait for the seed to mature. In this final section, he reminds believers that patience is not an individual virtue, but that it is cultivated in fellowship with other believers.
- The character of patience is cultivated within the fellowship of saints
The last of these five biblical truths about patience is this: the character of patience shaped by the gospel is cultivated within the fellowship of the saints.
In the Bible, patience is not a personal virtue which is cultivated in isolation. Instead, patience is a character trait formed in fellowship with other believers. Patience is formed through mutual encouragement and the influence of one life upon another.
James 5:10-11 says: “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”
Patience is not a personal virtue which is cultivated in isolation. Instead, patience is a character trait formed in fellowship with other believers.
How does James encourage other believers? He points to the enduring patience of the prophets of old, and he looks at the steadfastness of Job. All this helps us understand the spiritual reality of the fellowship of believers. We can allow the lives of these saints to influence and inspire us.
In 2 Peter 3:15, Peter says: “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.”
Peter is speaking of Jesus’s longsuffering, for Christ’s patience is the basis of our salvation! Peter also mentions Paul, who continually wrote letters to encourage churches with the longsuffering spirit of Jesus – even churches that opposed and misunderstood him.
The character of gospel patience is not cultivated by individual effort. Instead, patience is formed within fellowship with other believers through mutual influence and encouragement.
Stories of the Faithful
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Over the past few years, because of the surrounding environment, I have intentionally read the biographies of our house church forefathers. I paid especially close attention to how those leaders preserved their faith and bore fruit with patience during the long, dark nights they endured.
I’ll share here a story about one specific leader, Wang Mingdao.[1] After Wang was sentenced to life imprisonment and as he was facing what seemed like an endless future, he nearly collapsed. He felt that everything was over. He even complained to God, saying, “Lord, how can you be so cruel as to let me suffer like this?”
At that moment, he remembered a passage which he had previously memorized. It was Micah 7:7-9: “But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his righteousness.”
I paid especially close attention to how those leaders preserved their faith and bore fruit with patience during the long, dark nights they endured.
The message of Micah is that, even when we feel abandoned and surrounded by darkness, we must learn the lesson of waiting. In our waiting, we will see that the Lord is our light.
Later in his life, Wang Mingdao recounted his experiences through this time. During his season of waiting, the Lord led him to confess his sins. One by one, he confessed his weaknesses and failures, even hidden sins which he hadn’t been aware of before. The more he confessed, the more peace he experienced in God’s presence.
Through the process, the Lord gave him the resolve to die in prison rather than utter a single lie. God also gave him hope and promise through Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55:12 says: “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
The promise, “You shall go out in joy” sustained Wang Mingdao and enabled him to bear fruit with patience and hope. Today, as we read this account, Wang’s faith, life, and journey of being led by God’s hand and his patient bearing of fruit continue to speak to us.
Perseverance and Fruitfulness
Fellow workers: we do not need to bear fruit with patience only when we are in prison. In our daily lives and ministry, we desperately need God’s grace so we may patiently bear fruit.
A while ago, I visited a brother who had just been released from prison. We shared a lot with one another, but he shared one thing in particular which deeply resonated with me. He said, “When you’re in jail, you don’t have much to think about. As long as you are resolute, everything else is relatively simple.”
But then this brother went on to say this: “It’s after you get out, when you face family, other brothers and sisters, and everyone’s many different opinions and emotions and even conflicts… then, sometimes, I feel like I would rather go back to prison.”
We do not need to bear fruit with patience only when we are in prison. In our daily lives and ministry, we desperately need God’s grace so we may patiently bear fruit.
That day, I encouraged my brother by saying, “Persevere and bear fruit.”
Dear fellow brothers and sisters: God has placed us in a community of saints. He has put us here so we can constantly encourage one another to persevere and bear fruit. The Lord has put us here so that his glorious grace may be praised through this generation. May the Lord bless us and strengthen us for the road of perseverance and fruitfulness that lies ahead.
1 Kings 19:7 says: “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
Let us pray together, in the presence of the Lord:
Lord,
You are eternally patient. Grant us the patience to wait, knowing that everything is a work of your sovereign grace. Grant us the heart to persevere to the end, remaining faithful in the ministry you have entrusted to us. Lord, grant us your love and hope, that we may love and serve those you have entrusted to us with hope.
We pray this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
[1] Wang Mingdao is one of the leaders of the Chinese house church movement. Although he initially cooperated with the Communist Party’s bid to take control of Chinese churches, Wang later changed his mind and reneged on a fraudulent confession he had made to get out of jail. In return, he was imprisoned for 22 years, from 1957 to 1979. Chinese believers looks to Wang Mingdao as one of the fathers of their faith.
Paul Peng is the pastor of Blessings Reformed Presbyterian Church, a Chinese house church.
Pray for Chinese believers to persevere and bear fruit through times of trial and difficulty.
