STEADFAST FAITH

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye STEADFAST, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord – 1 Corinthians 15:58

The instruction is clear and concise: BE STEADFAST! The steadfastness of your faith must be built on Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of your faith; not on any minister, ministry, pastor, prophet, Church, denomination, or their man-made dogmas and doctrines. A church member may backslide with his or her pastor, if his or her faith anchors on the fickle human being. Only the Lord Jesus Christ cannot disappoint you, when you put your trust in His everlasting arm. How you know Him, what you know concerning Him and how deeply you’re experiencing the communion of His Word and His Spirit will determine the level of your steadfastness. It is not sufficient to KNOW ABOUT HIM. You must KNOW HIM intimately!

Paul the apostle expressed the hunger of his heart: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,…That I may KNOW HIM, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings…” (Phil.3:7-8, 10). How deeply and sincerely do you know Jesus Christ? Do you know beyond any shadow of doubt that He died, that He rose on the third day, that HE IS ALIVE, that He saves, that He heals, that He delivers, that He lives in you and daily makes intercession for you, and that He’ll return as He promised? How assured and certain are you of the POWER of His Name, His Blood, His Word, His Spirit and His Resurrection?

To be steadfast means to STAND FAST: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1). Satan, the world and the flesh desire to whittle your faith into carnal conformity or totally destroy it. You must STAND…WITHSTAND…RESIST the devil and STAND FAST in FAITH (Eph.6:11-14; 1 Pet.5:8-9). Jesus Christ stood fast in faith against the devil during the temptation (Mt.4:3-11; Lk.4:2-13). Follow the Master’s Foot-steps. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jam.4:7). “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;” (Heb.3:14).