Hold Fast

The Oxford dictionary defines the phrase “hold fast” as: 1) To remain tightly secured. 2) To continue to believe in or adhere to an idea or principle. Here it’s a verb meaning: to bear down, or stay the course. The origin of this phrase is a naval one. The phrase traces back to Norwegian and Dutch sailors saying: “houd vast”. It’s meaning was to “hold tight”. Upon first impression, the meaning of hold fast seems obvious, but to a sailor, “fast” is a term meaning to make tight. If a sailor was to ‘make fast the line’, it would mean to make the rope tight. This was done when holding the lines, that no matter what, the sailor would not let go. Do not compromise. Do not let go. Do not falter or fail in this. We are to stay strong, do what is right, see it through, no surrender, stay true, continue, grit it out. 

The Lord Jesus Christ continued His letter to Philadelphia, and to us, with— “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Revelation 3.11). Again, our theme for this study is “Change Now”. It is imperative when the King of all kings sends you a letter, it is not a suggestion! He expects you to obey. I believe the very fabric of the life of the church of Philadelphia appeals and applies to us here and now. 

He told them to— “…hold that fast which thou hast…” We’ve already seen what they had and what opposition was against them. Don’t quit! Stay the course! Some how, in some way, for some unknown reason, this church didn’t make it the last two thousand years. I don’t really know how a church could, but in any case, they did not. We all have a shelf life. We have one as individuals, families, and churches. It is up to each and every member of the local visible assembly to grab the lines and hold them tight. In doing so, you incur the fidelity and rewards of Jesus Christ Himself— “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” (12). 

Jesus said— “Behold” in verse 11. Hey! Pay attention! Look over here! Pay close attention to what though? “I come quickly”. What good news that is. Except it has been two thousand years! He said– “quickly”. Meaning: ‘swift, no unnecessary delay’. Any perceived delay is not actually one at all. It is necessary and purposeful. Timing will mean something entirely different when we leave here anyway. He knows when and where and how and the details have been nailed down before Adam had breath in his lungs. He’s telling us to— ‘look here, pay attention, I am coming, and I am coming swiftly when I come’. In light of that, He gave instructions— “…hold that fast which thou hast…” We are expected to hold what we got in presence of difficulty. The difficulty is expected. As I was growing up our family’s trade was construction. I heard more times than I can count— ’hold what you got, don’t let go’. In fact, I still say that to my kids and others when we are about to tack the weld or put the screw in an object. 

Have you faithfully held what you’ve got? Have you loosened your grip or let go even? It is apparently possible, or else He wouldn’t warn this church. They were doing much better and received a bigger blessing than most churches I have ever been in. Yet, they were warned. I’m not trying to be carnal about this, but I wonder, if they had to receive the warning, then I definitely need the warning. You can let your grip go due to many factors. One could be simply: “worn out”. The hand is give-out. Too many use this as an excuse for slacking today. Take a break and ‘go to the garden’ so to speak; is not a problem. You should take breaks and refocus. But when souls are at stake, not to mention heavenly rewards, we must really think hard before backing off. The term is related to sailors in a storm or racing back and forth on the deck trying to cinch the lines tighter. Tired wouldn’t be a good enough excuse when you’re right in the middle of it. In fact, it could get you thrown over board. Another factor for why we lose our grip is: “distraction”. There are very few more frustrating things than when someone is paying attention to something else when their head and hands need to be on the critical things before them. I can hear it now— ‘Hold what you got… What are you looking at?… Hold it! Focus…’ That has been said to me and from me more times than I care to remember. It seems reasonable to me that we have the same thing going through our heads when someone is letting go. May God strengthen your grip for the spiritually critical things ahead of us now. May God focus us and remove the distractions before all is lost.

The question has to be asked, if we are focusing so diligently on our tight grip of what we have: What did they have? One, He has already explained what they have been doing right. Second, we have the Gospel of Peace and Jesus Himself. Don’t let these things go! We have a church and the Spirit of God. Don’t let these things go. We have been given spiritual blessings that are irreplaceable. These must be a priority. The upmost priority! He died for His churches and gave them (us) spiritual blessings accordingly. Why would we lose grip with the hand that healed us? In exchange for what? God help us.

Finally, Jesus said— “…that no man take thy crown.” If we let go, don’t obey, therefore win crowns, someone else can take said crown from us. I want the opportunity to serve. I want to serve more! I don’t want to be passed by, do you? God will use someone to do His work. It doesn’t have to be you or us. He can move on to another person or church to fulfill His will. Please God in Heaven, use me! Use us! The real issue is do we want to keep striving for His cause and win as much as possible to hand back to Him, or do we want to back off? Do we feel the need to loosen our grip, or do we feel the cause is greater than the personal feelings? Worse, some flat out quit. When they do, someone else get’s the prize from Christ to give back to Christ. 

Hold fast my dear brethren—it’s worth it.