Hold And Hope

“But that which ye have [already] hold fast till I come.” (Re 2:25 AV)

“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Re 3:3 AV)

“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Re 3:11 AV)

“For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” (Pr 23:18 AV)

The Savior instructed two different churches to hold fast.  The church at Thyatira was told to hold fast because of its faithfulness.  They did all they could do and were successful.  Therefore, the LORD was not going to burden them with anything more than they could handle.  Therefore, they were to hold fast.  Smyrna was a church that was failing.  They were allowing their trials and persecutions to get the better of them.  They were told to hold fast what remained lest they lose what they had.  Both churches were told to hold fast as a measure of defense.  The one because of success.  The other because of active failure.  Holding fast was the last stand.  At their last stand, they were to drive the stake deep into the earth and, come what may, they would not move.  The adversary could do as he wished, but they were not moving.  It was their mountain to die on if need be.  Why the promise of Proverbs 23:18?  Because that is the answer to it all.  There is an end, and the hope in which we place will not fail.  There will be an end to all discord. 

Job is an incredible person.  To endure all that he did and not go down into a pit of despair from which there is no exit, I am sure, took all that he had.  He would not deny God’s existence.  He would not deny that God has a plan.  He would not deny the benevolent nature of God.  In fact, his circumstances; as horrible as they were; never changed the essence of who Job was.  He was confused.  He could not find a rationale for the events of life.  He could not answer the question ‘why’.  All that he faced and Job never allowed his circumstances to rob him of what he knew to be true.  If anyone is a personification of ‘hold fast’, it has to be Job.  He lost all his sons.  He lost all his wealth.  He lost all his ability to increase wealth or meet the needs of his family.  Job lost his health.  It was so bad he could not find one person to nurse him back to health.  He sat among the ashes and scraped off the boils that infested his body.  Job was as low as a human being could go.  But what did he do?  He held fast.  If anything, Job was stubborn.  He was not going to let the circumstances of life or the devil defeat him.  Listen to his words. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” (Job 13:15 AV)

Which brings us to the hope of Proverbs 23.  Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, knew trouble was only temporary.  He knew that the trials of life or the circumstances of sin are not eternal.  There is an end.  The word expected is a precious one.  That word points to purpose.  An expected and does not mean merely as ceasing of the current situation.  What it means is the situation will cease because the purpose for it has been met.  The expected end is the end goal of the events we now face.  So, we are to hold fast because there is an expected end.  To the churches mentioned above, it is the return of Jesus Christ.  We will meet Him by life or by death.  There is an expected end.  In the meantime, the process of sanctification does have expected ends.  They vary and are numerous.  We have our own course to run.  We have different hurdles to jump.  But the nature of the race is still the same.  There is a tape stretched across the finish line.  There is a crown to be won.  If the devil sticks his foot out to trip us along the way, hold fast.  He can do nothing against a resisting saint!