Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

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This is a promise from our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus. “I come quickly” means of course in His time frame not in ours.

The important parts of this verse at least to me follow. “Hold that fast which thou hast“ He says. What does He speak of, our faith of course. Not just any faith but a faith grounded in the doctrines of Christ. Matthew Poole in his commentary says: “hold with a strong hand the doctrine of faith, which thou yet hast, pure, and thy pure worship, and discipline, and a pure conscience”.

Why must we hold fast? “That no man take thy crown.” This of course does no imply something like works salvation, but I would refer you to Proverbs 11:18 (CSB) “The wicked person earns an empty wage, but the one who sows righteousness, a true reward.”  and to 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”  He Jesus is speaking about our rewards (crown) in eternity. Alexander MacLaren comments on this: “II. Note next the grim possibility of losing the crown. ‘That no man take’ it. Of course we are not to misunderstand the contingency shadowed here, as if it meant that some other person could filch away and put on his own head the crown which once was destined for us, which is a sheer impossibility and absurdity. No man would think to win heaven by stealing another’s right of entrance there. No man could, if he were to try. The results of character cannot be transferred. Nor are we to suppose reference to the machinations of tempters, either human or diabolic, who deliberately and consciously try to rob Christians of their religion here and thereby of their reward hereafter. But it is only too possible that men and things round about us may upset this certainty that we have been considering, and that though the crown be ‘thine.’ it may never come to be thy actual possession in the future, nor ever be worn upon thine own happy head in the festival of the skies.”

Today many are seeing an ever increasing hostility to Christianity. Faithfulness to the Doctrines of Christ, ‘holding fast to what we have’, has never been more important. This is especially true if you are a Gospel laborer, but be warned if you are sitting on the sidelines God may call you into action at any moment, are you ready? – Mike