WHAT BELIEVERS ARE TO HOLD FAST
E. M. Walkinshaw
Hebrews 4: 14–16; Colossians 2: 18, 19; Revelation 3: 11
Just a simple word of exhortation for the days in which we live are difficult ones, and Paul says, “difficult times shall be there”, 2 Timothy 3: 1. If we look at Paul’s life and experience, and the experience of early believers, we might have said difficult times were there already, but he says, “difficult times shall be there”. I believe we are aware of it, the various characteristics to which he refers in that epistle, that these conditions exist. I suppose they become a test to all of us—difficulties in the world; difficulties in Christendom generally; difficulties among those with whom we walk; because without question Satan will try, if possible, to destroy anything and everything that is pleasurable to God. Consequently, the Spirit of God, I believe would encourage us, I suppose exercise us, both are needed; if it is the word of God it will arouse exercise. I doubt if it is the word of God if it does not, but also it would encourage us.
The Lord would not worry His people—sometimes we are worried, most of us, I suppose, know that experience, we become worried about various matters. I think it is never the intention of the Lord that we should be worried, but be careful about nothing, for example, “Be careful about nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses
every understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts by Christ Jesus”, Philippians 4: 6, 7. I find that very testing. I know that is a very common word, testing, but I find it very testing as to whether my heart and my thoughts are guarded by the peace of God, peace that presides in His presence, the holiest, the holy of holies. It is not a question of prayer, everything there is settled, the Ark is there, Jesus is there, and in the holiest, where is our entitlement to go in through the blood of Jesus, everything is settled because there we have all that God is before us in Christ—no breakdown or ruin, and all that He is in His blessed Person as a Man before God, in whom everything is settled eternally. So in the holiest it is a question of worship. I believe if we understood that more it would strengthen us for the outside, the difficulties outside. We must remember that prayer is not quite the holiest, we can always pray, but to be in the holiest, the presence of God immediately requires a state that is suited to it. That raises exercise with us. The title is there as most of us here would know, the title to be there, through the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which is dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, the title is there, but the Lord would exercise us that we might have a state that is suitable to take up the title; then that would strengthen us for the outside.
My simple word of exhortation is connected with these words hold fast, “let us hold fast the confession”. So here it says, “Having therefore a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession”. He has passed right through the heavens. Do you ever find yourself challenged as to whether you really believe that in your heart, that Jesus, the Son of God, has passed right through the heavens, right through them? There are various expressions of His greatness in this epistle, but this is one that He has “passed through the heavens”, a great High Priest. All the support needed is there; on the side of divine provision there is nothing lacking,
nothing lacking at all. Every resource for every exigency that might occur in our lives; that might occur in the history of the testimony or in those who are in the path of faith; the resource is there. I do not know about you but I find increasingly, and I have noticed passing through some of Mr. Darby’s comments, he frequently says, The question is do we really believe these things, or are they a philosophy to us? Are they real? The Spirit would make them real.
To come to my point “let us hold fast the confession”. That is, I judge, Christianity. The light of Christianity reached these persons who were nationally Jews, they were to “hold fast the confession”; I suppose the truth of Christianity centred in the Man who in this epistle nine times is called Jesus—Jesus. They were to hold fast for, like ourselves, there is a tendency to slip away, or to turn away, to become discouraged. Have you ever become discouraged? Do you ever feel like giving up? Do you ever say to yourself, Well, is it really worth it? Most of us may at some time or other have thought that but maybe never said it, too wise to say it, but maybe we felt like that. I believe the writer would occupy us with One who has passed right through the heavens, a great High Priest. He has all the saints on the breastplate and on His shoulders. There is the love to carry them through, and the strength to carry them through.
What a great High Priest we have! I suppose these Jews would need it; he is using, of course, language that is familiar to them—he does not use this kind of language to those of the nations, but to those who would understand what he is talking about. They would think, I suppose, normally of Aaron going in with the breastplate, with the stones, the names of the children of Israel on the stones and on the shoulder pieces: they would think of the Lord Jesus as the great antitype of that, the reality of it. O that this Person were more real to us, dear brethren!
Now His service I think is for those in the path of faith, and the question is whether I am in the path of faith. Am I governed by faith?
Elsewhere the apostle says, for we walk by faith, not by sight”, 2 Corinthians 5: 7. I ask myself, Am I in that category? Do I walk by faith, or by sight? Am I governed by the circumstances around me and the things I see or am I governed by faith, governed by the light of another Man in another world? Wherever you go, whatever you do, you walk in faith. I think as walking in faith, the great High Priest and His service are appreciated and known by such, because we find all the temptations of the way; temptations to turn aside; temptations to gratify ourselves in some way or another. But I think of His sympathy as it says, “but tempted in all things in like manner, sin apart”. There was no question of sin in Him as we know, “sin apart”, but “tempted in all things in like manner”. So you can understand that sympathy is always connected with the Lord Jesus; you do not find sympathy in Scripture connected with the Father nor with the Spirit. You will find sympathy connected only with the Lord Jesus because He has been in the circumstances. Men say that you cannot really sympathise with the person unless you have been in the same circumstances. You might have compassion; compassion is linked with the Father, with Jesus too, of course, and comfort with the Holy Spirit, but sympathy always with the Lord Jesus because He has been in those circumstances of temptation in the path of faith, the temptations that come upon those who are in the path of faith. It is to that, I think, that the great high priestly service of Christ relates.
So he begins by saying, “let us hold fast the confession”, it is in holding fast the confession that we need His priestly support. We need His sympathy because we know if we are in the path of faith it is not easy, because everything around us is against us, and the enemy in particular seeking all the time to come between our souls and God, because the approach is to God. You see the approach to the throne of grace is to God, but by the great High Priest who ever lives to intercede for us as it says a little later. It is a wonderful thing, when tested in the path of faith and the enemy’s effort to turn us aside, to realise that the Lord sympathises with you. When the enemy puts something before you to turn you aside from this path the Lord sympathises with you, He feels with you; He feels with every one of us, I think, as the enemy seeks to divert us. How it came upon the Lord in the three great temptations spoken of, but in each case resisted and overcome, but the Lord felt it.
The Lord is a Man of feelings; every delicate feeling of a perfect Man was in the Lord Jesus, and I believe still in Him. As another has said, the heart of a Man beats in heaven.
It is a wonderful thing, therefore let us take courage, do not give up—hold fast—it means exercise, and it means committal, but “hold fast the confession”. We want to hold it fast as he says elsewhere until the end, but we have this great High Priest. “Let us approach therefore with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace for seasonable help”. You do not get stores of help in advance; it is seasonable, in its season, when it is needed you receive mercy, but you approach. Do we approach the throne of grace?
It is a wonderful thing that it is the throne of grace so that you find grace there and you receive mercy, “Let us approach”, it says. The word of God is living and operative it says earlier; the word of God always searches us, being living and operative “and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow”, Hebrews 4: 12. You might say, Well, that rather frightens me; but he says, Do not run away, “Let us approach”. There is One there who is sympathetic with us in the weakness and infirmity that marks us as we seek to go on in the path of faith. Let us therefore take courage in this connection.
In the next passage in Colossians it is “holding fast the head”. There is always a tendency with us, I find for myself, to rely on something or someone other than the Head. Now the Head is the exclusive source of supply for the body, there is no other supply at all. Wisdom from men, philosophy, all the seminars of men or colleges, or other things, whatever their value may be in other connections, they supply nothing for the body, nothing at all. Christ is the only source of supply for nourishing the body. So here he warns against someone “not holding fast the head”. He says, “Let no one fraudulently deprive you of your prize”—see that no one does it. The prize, I suppose, is outlined for us in other passages, but he says, “Let no one fraudulently deprive you of your prize, doing his own will in humility and worship of angels, entering into things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh”. A solemn thing, is it not? and he says,” not holding fast the head, from whom”, it is only from Him. It is not an easy lesson, at least I do not feel so; there is always a tendency to fall back on something else. It may be a man is a good speaker, he feels a certain limitation in what he is saying so he resorts to oratory; that provides nothing at all for the body, nothing at all. He may fall back on his knowledge, or draw upon something that he has said previously; I know all these dangers because I know my own heart; they supply nothing for the body. The only sustenance for the body is from the Head—I believe the Lord would emphasise that among us so that we have what is living. It has been said that the evidence of the Lord’s support in a company is a living ministry and the power to deal with evil. I believe the only way for a living ministry is “holding fast the head”; to recognise in principle and in practice that there is no other source of supply for the body but the Head, that is Christ. So when we come together on Lord’s day morning it is from the Head that everything comes, and operates in the power of the Holy Spirit no doubt.
Nevertheless, it goes on to say, “from whom all the body, ministered to and united together by the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God”. The increase of God is the divine nature, love, and so the body is nourished. I emphasise and re-emphasise, may we all be concerned about it, speaker and hearers, to understand that if. I introduce anything from any other source it will only corrupt, and can minister nothing at all to the body of Christ. The Lord would help us along these lines, as I have already said; one hopes one is not being too negative, but to emphasise the positive source is from Christ, from the Head, not from the books. You might be able to read the books and give a good address.
A young man said to me some time ago, It would be simple enough, but I would not do it, but I could easily read the books and stand up and give an address. That would not be living nourishment from the Head for the body. What is needed is “holding fast the head”. Let us all, dear brethren, brothers and sisters alike, because sisters contribute; if we are going to have the truth of the body as an organism working, then the sisters are involved, understanding not only our link with the Head in heaven by the Spirit, but our organic link with one another, so that we might understand something of the Head, something of the body in reality. What weak days we are in, very feeble weak days. So many of our beloved brethren are not available; so many it would appear are not even interested in the truth of Christ and the assembly. But those who are available, I think the Lord would exercise us that we might get a firmer impression of Christ as Head and the body as increasing as the flow of nourishment comes from Himself.
Now finally, “hold fast what thou hast”. Well, you may say, It is not much. Most of us, I suppose, would be inclined to say that, but “hold fast what thou hast”. What had Philadelphia? The Lord says, “thou hast a little power”. A brother referred in the reading to moral power, and that is what this is. I do not think this is delegated power, this is moral power, that is they were consistent themselves in practice with what they held. The Lord says, “I come quickly—hold fast what thou hast”. We may write it down and say it is not much that we have in our locality, there are only one or two of us, but hold it fast, “I come quickly”. It does not say, I will come quickly, but “I come quickly”, almost as though the Lord is saying, I am on the way, “I come quickly—hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown”. I suppose the crown is Himself. Then it speaks of the overcomer. Sometimes the question has been raised, Why an overcomer in Philadelphia? I think because it is much more difficult to maintain what has been reached than to reach it. We know that in ordinary matters, physical matters, it is easier to reach something than it is to maintain it. I think that is why the overcomer is referred to. “He that overcomes”, in other words he would hold fast what he had. The Lord would encourage us, I think, in these very difficult days, to hold fast what we have. Let us not write it down, dear brethren. We acknowledge the weakness; let us never be presumptuous, nevertheless, let us not write down or lower what we have. If it is from Christ it is of value, however little it may be, if it is of Him it is of value, it must be. You say, My impression of Christ is only feeble, but if it is of Christ then that is what matters—‘We bless Thee, Lord! Of Thee our song shall speak—
Poor and unworthy strains, yet still of Thee’. (Hymn 254) The hymn writer says, ‘yet still of Thee’. Let us hold fast, therefore, and not give up, and what we have let us ensure that we hold it until the Lord comes. I believe He would encourage us along these lines. As I said in the opening remarks, He would exercise us, but He would encourage us to go on so that we hold fast the confession, we are holding fast the Head, and we hold fast what we have. May the Lord grant it to be so for His glory.
Address at Preston
2 May 1992