The Apostle John had been exiled to Patmos because he preached the Word of God, because he bore testimony to the death, resurrection, and return to earth of Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. God greatly enlarged John's testimony by giving to him the Book of Revelation.

John had to wait patiently on the Lord. He, as a disciple of Christ, was obliged to endure his exile as cheerfully as possible, abiding in Christ, not attempting to deliver himself, not blaming people for his suffering. John was living under conditions of tribulation, of testing and trial.

John guarded and cherished the word of Christ's patience, not becoming impatient and attempting to force better circumstances for himself. As a result he was given the marvelous Revelation of Christ.

When we commit our safety and welfare to Jesus in the hour of testing, keeping the word of His patience, Christ not only shields us from all real and eternal harm, He also blesses us abundantly so we emerge from the arena of testing with an enlarged understanding and possession of Himself.

It is the believer who patiently endures to the end of his trials who will be kept from being injured spiritually by the hour of temptation. We Christians are to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit with patience. We possess our souls as we wait patiently for the Lord.

The tribulations we experience develop patience in us. Patient endurance develops mature character, character that abounds in confidence and hope. Hope never brings us to disappointment because Christ carefully watches over each person who carefully watches over the word of His patience.

It is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises of God. After we do all we know to do in the Lord, we are to stand in patience, knowing the fulfillment of all the promises of Christ is more certain than the dawn.

The Christian race must be run with patience. If we guard our patience in Christ, not allowing it to slip in any manner, not losing our patience, then the Lord Jesus will keep us closely guarded and no distressing circumstance can possibly enter our soul and spirit and cause us to be damaged spiritually.

James speaks to us of patient endurance in the will of Christ:

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. (James 5:10)

When we think about the experiences of the prophets we can see they were required to endure many tribulations. Yet, they always were guarded carefully by the Lord so no spiritual (and sometimes no physical) harm came to them. They were kept throughout their lifetime and brought safely into the Presence of the Lord.

Daniel comes to mind. Although Daniel easily could have avoided trouble by praying in secret instead of openly, he did not do so. His faithfulness to God would not permit such a denial of God's right to be worshiped publicly. Daniel was highly placed in the government of Babylon but he chose to patiently suffer affliction rather than deny God. Daniel was looking forward toward a glorious resurrection.

Because Daniel guarded the word of Christ's patience, Christ guarded Daniel so the lions were not able to injure him. Daniel was "kept out of the lions," so to speak.

To be continued.