Be Faithful Unto Death

“Be faithful unto death.” These are the words that jump out of the four verse assessment Jesus gave to the church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:10). In the midst of vicious slander and persecution for refusing to swear verbal allegiance to Caesar as Lord and willing to be social outcasts in the face of all the gods and goddesses that dominated every aspect of life, Jesus says just stay faithful to the end.
 
There are three basic uses of the word for faith: 1: “the faith” which refers to the content of the message of truth or the gospel. 2: “faith” which refers to the act of trusting in Christ alone in order to be justified or to depend upon God for every aspect of life. 3: “faithfulness” or “faithful” which refers to God’s trustworthiness or our reliability to God and others around us.
 
Why be “faithful unto death"?

1. Because God commands it: “In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy” (1 Cor. 4:2) and calls us to stay “faithful unto death” (Rev. 2:10).
   

2. Because God models it: “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thess. 5:24; 1 Cor. 1:9; 10:13; 2 Cor. 1:18; 2 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 2:17; 3:6; 10:23; 11:11; 1 Pet. 4:19; 1 John 1:9; Rev. 1:5; 3:14; 19:11).
   

3. Because God rewards it: “'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt. 25:21, 23).
   

4. Because God uses it in discipling “faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2), to reveal if you can be entrusted with “true riches” (Luke 16:11–12), to help us face and endure our temptations (1 Cor. 10:13; Heb 2:17–18), and to faithfully keep our confessed sins cleansed (1 John 1:9).

The sin of unfaithfulness dishonors our faithful God and others around us. Check your faithfulness:

1. Are you waffling on your vow to your spouse: “unto death do us part”?

2. Are you bailing out on your family with stubborn grudges and unforgiveness?

3. Are you giving up on praying because God doesn’t seem to be answering?

4. Are you flaking out on your employer with mediocre work habits?

5. Are you being disloyal to Christ with a hypocritical lifestyle?

6. Can you be counted on when you say “yes” to a commitment?

Question one of the The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) asks this: “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” Answer? “That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”
 
I love what Oswald Chambers says about faithfulness: “The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us.”
 
Pastor Jeff

“We become so accustomed to our sins we sometimes lapse into a state of peaceful coexistence with them, but God never ceases to hate them.”

— Jerry Bridges (1929–2016, Author, Speaker and Staff member of The Navigators)