There is a great difference between a ship steaming along on a peaceful sea, or even bearing up against an adverse wind, and a ship at anchor in a storm, where all depends upon good anchorage ground and strength of cable. In the one case, headway is being made, and a distant port is in view. In the other case, safety is in question, and all depends upon the “hold fast” until the storm is passed. In the former, all is energy to propel forward; intelligence and strength combine to make advances. In the latter, all is passive endurance and tenacity. The strain is entirely on the cable, on that which holds the ship in position in spite of rolling waves and raging winds.
The Later Days
To apply our simile, it is the difference between the earlier and later day of the church’s history. It is to the principle of passive endurance in the church that the Lord appeals, when, in the address to Thyatira, He says, “Hold fast till I come.” No doubt the command still holds, “Be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea ... and unto the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:88But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)). However, “the church of the living God” has failed as “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). The candlestick has been removed, and the church’s history is closing in complete failure. Complete recovery is out of the question, for all is in unrecoverable ruin. Not merely had there been failure in first love, but spiritual adultery, and children born of it, now characterized that which had once been “espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2).
In the midst of this widespread scene of failure, the Son of God appears to His sorely pressed remnant and says, “I will put upon you none other burden; but that which ye have already hold fast till I come” (Rev. 2:24-2524But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. 25But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. (Revelation 2:24‑25)). They had something to “hold fast” — something of His on earth to keep for Him until He came. As to their own interests, all was secure and steadfast through “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:1919Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; (Hebrews 6:19)), but the “hold fast” was down here, for His interests on the earth.
His Coming
As they bent all their energies to hold fast, His coming was to be the only outlook of their faith. The storm and the difficulties would only increase till He came, but the trial and the sorrow would all end then, and He Himself, as “the Morning Star,” should be their reward. Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea are not only successive phases of the church, but collateral ones, flowing out of Thyatira and running down with her to the end. From Thyatira on, the coming of the Lord, with this principle of “hold fast,” characterizes true Christian position.
In Sardis it is “strengthen the things that remain” and “hold fast,” with His coming brought in as a warning, rather than an encouragement. In Philadelphia, though words of approval take the place of warning and rebuke, the word still is, “Behold I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” His coming, so to speak, is brought nearer, as more encouragement is required. It is as if He would say to His people’s yearning hearts, “Hold fast just a little longer; I am coming soon.” In Laodicea there is nothing to “hold fast” — nothing of His to retain. There is no sense of need that He alone can meet. For this reason, His coming is not alluded to, except by implication, though in grace He does, for the moment, stand at the door and knock, to see if any will hear His voice and let Him in.
If, while waiting for God’s Son from heaven, we at all realize what it is to be in a world of which Satan is the god and prince; if we are awake to the apostasy that is setting in on every hand; if, by grace, we are in any little degree standing for Christ’s name, we shall surely feel the need of all the help and comfort that can be supplied by these blessed words, that come from Him who sits at the right hand of God: “Behold I come quickly” and “Hold fast till I come!”
C. W., Words of Faith