Steadfast To The End – Part II

 I’ll never forget a night in my front yard in my latter high school years. I was part of a youth group led by the Youth Pastor/leader at a Methodist church in our town that some of my friends attended. We met mid week at various homes, and that night we met at our home in our front yard because 60 young people showed up. Denny shared that night about the cost of discipleship, and to my shock he said to all of us that in a matter of weeks most of us would not be a part of the group anymore. What a way to knock the air out of the momentum I felt we were experiencing. Sure enough not too many weeks later many of my fellow students had quit coming.

When I moved to San Jose, CA a few months before my 20th birthday and got involved with a Christian discipleship group called “The Navigators”, some time during that first year or two I was given a book written by Walt Hendrickson called “Many Aspire, Few Attain.” I remember being very sobered by his contention that many of the believers who aspire to follow Christ will not end up following Him in their latter years.

One of the books I’ve been reading through in my quiet times of late is II Chronicles. In the early chapters of that book King Solomon becomes the King of Israel. His beginning in the Lord is stellar. God appears to him twice and seems to be so pleased with his heart and spirit. His dedicatory prayer of the temple and the people who were to worship there is amazing. But few people in human history handle extensive wealth and power well, and as we read about King Solomon’s life and reign in other parts of Scripture, we discover he was no exception to this pattern. He started well, but ended poorly.

Ending well in life as a result of learning to walk in the wonderful quality of steadfastness is sadly not widespread. But it is part of our inheritance in Christ. And it is a crucial quality for those who would be mercifully used by God to see revival and awakening break out across the nations before our Lord returns.

Speaking of Christ, as we come to the New Testament I found it interesting that we find only one reference in the gospels or the Book of Acts with the word perseverance, none with the word steadfastness. But…. if you look in the margin of Luke 8:15, you will find the Greek word translated “perseverance” in that passage could be translated “steadfastness”. Here’s the passage: “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” That’s the kind of soil each of us who aspire to end well should be crying out to our Savior for because again it is His will and way for us.

Jesus of course is the ultimate example of being steadfast to His last breath, and never for a second found fickle or wavering. But interestingly the Bible never speaks of Him as being steadfast, except for one reference in II Thessalonians where Paul speaks this blessing over the Thessalonian believers, “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.” (II Thess. 3:5).  Here we learn this is one of Christ’s attributes and it can be ours. The apostle John speaks of Him as being One who persevered, such as in Revelation 1:9,  “I, John your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus….”.

Now if you have a reference Bible, your Bible probably has a little 1 before the word “perseverance” in Rev. 1:9, which points you to the margin where we find the Greek word translated “perseverance” here could also be translated “steadfastness”. In fact in the New Testament we find that most of the references to steadfastness and perseverance come from the same Greek word - hupomone. Thus the NIV translates II Thess. 3:5, “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”  One more passage of note regarding Jesus’s steadfastness, though not called that is in Revelation 3:21. Jesus speaking says, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”  Jesus was an overcomer to His last breath – never once giving in to Satan’s temptations or to sin or the evil world system around Him – regardless of the intense pressure and stress He was under in the latter years of His life.

So it is highly encouraging to me that while my flesh knows little of steadfastness and perseverance, My Savior perfectly walked this characteristic out even in the worst of circumstances. And because “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me:…” (Gal. 2:20), I have a shot at walking this out – even in the toughest of circumstances.

Perhaps this is one reason why we are repeatedly exhorted in the book of Hebrews to fix our eyes on Jesus if we aspire to end well and be steadfast to the end, “….let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3

So brothers and sisters, may we ever more be found praying prayers like this one for one another until our Lord returns or we go to be with Him, “….that you/we may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you/we will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, the please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” Colossians 1:9-12  I’m praying this for every one of you now!