"Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord." 1 Cor. 15:58.
Steadfastness is an essential principle in Christian
character. There can be no success nor prosperity in the
Christian life when this principle is wanting. The
Psalmist said, "My heart is fixed, trusting in the
Lord." This is true steadfastness. It is cleaving to
God, let the storms rage as they may. It is resting and
abiding in Jesus though the trials of life may be the
severest possible. It is firm, fixed, settled decision to
abide in doctrines of the Bible. It is to rest confidingly
upon the teaching and promises of the Holy Scriptures.
Just as a man lies confidently down to rest upon his bed!
so a Christian. in his steadfastness, rests confidingly,
rests without fear, upon the never-changing Word of God.
Through Jesus Christ, Christians
are made partakers of the divine nature. They receive the
imprint of divine character in their souls. Among the
different principles in the character of God is found
steadfastness. When God delivered Daniel from the lions,
Darius the king said, "I make a decree that in every
dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God
of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast
forever." Dan. 6:26. Just as Christian fortitude is
noble, manly, and pleasing to God, so lack of
steadfastness is ignoble, unmanly, and highly displeasing
to God.
Some (it may be many) are led by
their feelings. We, as the children of God, are to be led
by the Spirit of God; but not all fully understand what is
meant by "being led by the Spirit." I would
rather be led by a sense of duty than by my feelings. I do
not understand that in order to be led by the Spirit we
need always to have a strong inward impression or almost
audible voice speaking to us The Spirit of God has
illuminated the Word and enlightened your mind to know
what is your Christian duty, hence when you go forward and
discharge your duties faithfully, you are truly being led
by the Spirit. You know it to be your duty to help the
poor, to support the weak, to comfort the sorrowful to
attend religious services, to witness for Jesus, to study
the Scriptures, to pray, and diligently to follow every
good work. You may sometimes feel a strong impression to
pray, but you do not need to have this feeling always in
order to be duty-bound to pray. It is your duty to pray,
to give of your means, etc., oftentimes just as much when
you do not feel impressed to do so as when you have strong
inward impressions. You do not need to wait for such
impressions before you act, for a knowledge of your duty
makes you responsible.
A man can have no true
steadfastness who is influenced by his emotions or
impressions. The man who is steadfast, unmovable in the
Word, goes forward to a discharge of his known duties, no
matter what his feelings may be. Whatever may be his
impressions to do a certain thing, if it is not consistent
with the Word and the Spirit and his knowledge of right,
he persistently refuses to obey. How the true principle of
steadfastness abides in the will of God and the doctrines
of Christ is demonstrated in the teachings of Barnabas to
the church at Antioch. There was some contention in the
church over circumcision, and heavy persecutions from
without, and many were being moved from the true faith.
Barnabas exhorted that with purpose of heart they cleave
to the Lord. Steadfastness is a firm, fixed purpose of the
heart to cleave unto God, to attend strictly and promptly
to every Christian duty. It is a decided, unchangeable,
unshaken purpose of the heart to obey implicitly the
teachings of the Savior, regardless of the feelings.
You will find that, if you attend
to every Christian duty, you will often have to go
contrary to your feelings. How often the enemy of your
soul will, if he can, cast indifferent feelings over you
concerning prayer. That is the time to show your Christian
fortitude and steadfastness. It is weakness and laziness
to neglect prayer simply because we do not feel inclined
to pray. To yield to indifferent feelings is to encourage
them, and they will grow stronger and stronger, so that we
shall feel less and less inclined to pray. The more we
pray, the more prayerful we feel; likewise, the less we
pray, the less prayerful we feel. When we have yielded to
indifferent feelings for some time and have sadly
neglected prayer, we have a hard struggle to get through
to the glorious light and victory and sweetness. But you
must get out where the blessings fall; you must get where
you have sweet tastes of love and the satisfying blessings
of the presence of God. You must be courageous, manly, and
decided. The way to enjoy serving God and doing our full
Christian duty is always to do our duty and especially at
those times when doing it seems to be the least enjoyable.
Steadfastly resist Satan and every
indifferent feeling, and do your duty at any cost.
Remember, it is not he that feels to do good and doeth it
not, but "he that knoweth to do good and doeth it
not, to him it is sin."
