Firm to the End

Unbelief in even its slightest form is hateful to God. It is a damning sin, one that destroys the soul. It hinders God’s work in us and is the sin behind all departures from God. 

You can be totally weaned from all worldly possessions and long for Jesus’s coming. You can sit under strong preaching and sing God’s praises in his house. You can immerse yourself in the Word of God every day. However, unless you are praying, “Oh, God, let me hear this word in my inner man; let me believe I can apply it and that it will become life to me," then it has no effect whatsoever. What you hear must be mingled with faith! 

“For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Hebrews 4:2, NKJV). Let those words sink in. Unless what you read and hear preached is mixed with faith, it is of no value to you.

Scripture says, “[Jesus] was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was faithful in all his house” (Hebrews 3:2). In what way was their faithfulness measured? How were they truly faithful in all things? 

They were counted faithful because they never doubted the heavenly Father’s word to them. They knew that God would do what he said. Faithfulness is simply believing that God will keep his word. In this sense, Jesus and Moses held “the beginning of [their] confidence steadfast to the end” (Hebrews 3:14). They did not have an up-and-down, hot-and-cold kind of faith. Their faith never wavered. 

Just as Jesus was faithful in his confidence in the Father, our faithfulness will be measured by the same standard. “But Christ as a Son over his own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:6). As our trials increase and the battle grows more intense, our flesh can become weary. Over time, many Christians allow fear and doubt to creep in. They abandon their childlike faith in God, and questioning invades their hearts. 

Beloved, as we look down the road that remains of our lives, there is limited time. Above all, let us rejoice in hope and remain steadfast to the end.