January 2006

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

           We send our affectionate regards and hope that confidence and peace of mind are with you as you remain steadfast in the faith once delivered; it is the petition of our prayers.

           When we observe the extraordinary—and at the same time terrifying—things which are happening in our world, we realize beyond any doubt that we are experiencing a time which is not very promising for those who continue to put their trust in man; and we often wonder how worse things will get before the return of Christ.

           God is allowing us the time which we need to put on what He calls righteousness. The trials and tribulations that we encounter can help us to understand how much Christ had to suffer while He was fulfilling the will of His Father on this earth. Every day He endured hostility from men.

           What is certain is that we, as the called of God, must reflect the obedience which Christ showed to His Father, if we want to be partakers of His glory at His return. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians:

For our conversation [our citizenship—Segond Bible] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself (Philippians 3:21).

           To be citizens of heaven is to reflect the light which God's Truth brings into our lives; and we do so by the way we live, think, behave and listen to the instructions which God gives to us at His holy convocations. As long as our attitudes and our motives are pleasing to Him, God will continue to guide us and give us the strength to remain alert and to be patient. But if we grow weary of hearing God's teachings and exhortations, and if the light of Christ in us loses its brightness because we think that our Lord is delaying His coming, then we could easily fall into a deep spiritual sleep and disqualify ourselves from the responsibilities with which Christ is planning to entrust us.

           By nature man likes to grow slack from time to time. But through His Word God keeps saying to us, "Do not grow slack in doing what I expect of you." Or, as the Apostle Paul wrote, "And let us not be weary in well doing . . ." (Galatians 6:9). Doing what is right is doing what God requires of us. God exhorts us to lean on Him; He urges us to receive instruction from Him, and also the strength which we need. God is willing to give us those things, but we must live with the right frame of mind. We must hunger and thirst after His righteousness and heed His teachings.

           "For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" (1 Peter 2:15). That is why we must not grow weary of doing what God expects of us. "With well doing!" By trusting God, having faith in and living by His instructions, His interventions and His promises, we put to silence those who allow themselves to be overcome by weariness and rely on their own minds. Doing the will of God, doing right, means listening to His teachings carefully and then acting accordingly with faith—working on our lives with determination and dynamism in order to be ready to meet our Maker.

           Under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul keeps conveying the same exhortation, "But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing" (2 Thessalonians 3:13). We clearly see what the human tendency is: after one has resisted certain pressures or gone through certain trials or faced certain difficulties because of his obedience to God's Truth, he allows himself to be overcome by weariness and seek solutions which will give satisfaction to his own nature. "But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing." Let us not grow slack, but let us persevere in walking in the way of life until we reach the goal. For Jesus Christ tells us that the one who will persevere until the end is the one who will be saved. Persevere in doing what? In not being weary in well doing—in doing what God expects of us. In not being weary in putting our confidence in Him; in not being weary in looking beyond the present and orienting ourselves toward what God promises.

           Weariness is a poison which must be purged out of our lives if we want to fulfill the purpose of our call. The Apostle Paul exhorts the people of God, saying:

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Galatians 6:9).

           If we faint not! God wants us to remain spiritually dynamic, active, resolved and trusting. He wants to see people who will have stayed faithful and courageous, though they were tried more severely than all others. God says, "The just shall live by faith." To live is to be active spiritually; it is to be determined to do everything as God expects of us. If we say that we believe but we do not demonstrate it by our actions and our trust in God, our words are not worth much. To believe is to lean on God in order to live the way He requires of us. How do we achieve that?

           In Luke, chapter 18, Jesus Christ spoke a parable to show that we ought always to pray and not lose heart or grow slack or weary. That is one duty among many others; it enables us to live with a frame of mind—an orientation—which is good and right in the eyes of God. The Apostle Paul urges us, saying, ". . . let us run with patience [with perseverance—Revised Standard Version] the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1). The closer we are to the goal, the more unremitting we must be. How are we able to be so? The next verse tells us, "Looking unto Jesus . . ." (Hebrews 12:2). Modeling ourselves on Him, following His example. That is the reason why we ought always to pray and not grow slack. That is why we should be oriented toward Christ, for it is He who will give us the strength and the orientation we need in order to be able to persevere to the end. Attempting to make it after one's own concepts of the Truth is sinking more and more into fear and despair. Christ—the same yesterday, and today, and forever—is the One who gives us the strength which prevents us from growing weary of fulfilling the requirements imposed on us by the Father to make us heirs of His Kingdom. Allowing ourselves to be overcome by weariness can put us in such a deep sleep that the oil runs short and our light eventually goes out, as Jesus Christ shows by His parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1–13).

           In this parable Jesus Christ makes it clear that the tendency of the called in the last days is to grow weary of doing what God expects of them. He shows that eventually they all succumb to spiritual sleep; but some of them will have slept to such an extent that there will not be enough of God's Spirit left working in their lives for them to be able to inherit the Kingdom of God. The foolish virgins—as Christ calls them—became foolish because they fell into such a deep sleep that they did not lay it to heart anymore to retain God in their knowledge by applying His principles in their lives. Therefore, when they woke up, they had lost the help of God's Holy Spirit, the ability to evaluate and do what is right. Let us not forget that it is a condition which exists among God's people especially in the last days. It is at the return of Jesus Christ—when everyone must face reality—that some will become aware of their situation: while their Master was taking a long time to come, they allowed themselves to be overcome by weariness so much—they grew so weary in well doing—that they will have lost the necessary power of the Holy Spirit to enter into the Kingdom of God. Let us be careful, brethren. It is up to each of us individually. Each of us must fulfill his responsibilities as required by God, according to the instructions which we were given and of which we were assured by putting them into practice. Let us resolve never to go to sleep spiritually to the point of falling into the category of those whom Christ calls fools or foolish virgins.

           In these end times, as we are waiting for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, let us watch that we do not lack patience and allow ourselves to be weakened by weariness and discouragement to the point of rendering God's Holy Spirit inactive in our lives. How it behooves us to pray God that none of us should meet that fate! Jesus Christ commands us to stay awake.

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching . . . (Luke 12:35–37).

           We were all called to be servants of God. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

           There is a time for everything, as we are told in Ecclesiastes. The time has come when the foundation of the life of each called is being tried. Now is a time to fight against weariness and overcome by staying awake. If we let ourselves go because we think that our Lord is delaying His coming and we have plenty of time, such an orientation, such a frame of mind will lead us into very serious problems. ". . . we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). God never said that it was easy; but every week, through the sanctification of His day of rest, He shows us the marvelous dawn of the day of righteousness and freedom when all the workers of evil in this lying world are eradicated.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21:28).

           Let us remain therefore alert. If we do, we can go forward in the right direction and in the end make the same statement as the Apostle Paul:

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness . . . (2 Timothy 4:7–8).

           Then we too will have glorified the Father and the Son on this earth, and the day will come when we are glorified by them.

Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life (1 John 2:24–25).

           Whatever adversity we all encounter in our individual lives, let none of us be without hope; let us not grow weary of well doing but let us persevere until we have broken down every principle that is opposed to what is good. To this day God has sustained us in our joys and in our sorrows, our times of anguish, our tribulations of all sorts and our fights. If we remain steadfast and courageous, His support will stay by our side and He will make us triumph over all our evils.

With all the benevolent thoughts

of your brother and friend in Christ,

Jean Aviolat

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