LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
To the End
In Hebrews there are three verses in which the writer expresses the desire that things reach their consummation. Actually, it is God himself who wants us not to stop halfway, but to obtain the things he has given us.
"...whose house are we, if we hold fast trust and rejoicing in hope firm to the end" (Heb. 3:6). The full restoration and glory of the church (which is the house of God) will be a reality before our eyes if we retain trust and hope to the end. Circumstances may be daunting at present, but we have God's promise. Let us be patient and not faint until we see the fulfillment of that promise. God will present himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
In our own local reality, even if the beginnings are very poor, we must wait for the end of things, because they will be glorious. "For we are made partakers of Christ, provided we hold fast our confidence from the beginning firm to the end" (Heb. 3:14). We are not only the house of God, but also partakers of Christ, for Christ and his church are the same reality. The Head cannot be different, in nature and essence, from the body.
This is our calling, to be partakers of Christ; but, for this reality to reach its culmination and for us to fully see the glory of Christ in the church, we must hold fast (again "hold") the confidence of the beginning. If we retain confidence, it will materialize in the righteousness of Christ that the world will be able to see.
"But we desire that each one of you show the same concern to the end, for the full certainty of hope" (Heb. 6:11). In the context of this verse, he speaks of the service to God performed in the saints, and adds "so that you do not become lazy, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises". Solicitude or diligence to the end is necessary so that hope may be totally secure, in order to receive the promised inheritance.
How long until the end of what we wait for? How long until hope is no longer hope but the very reality that we expected? If we await the realization of a spiritual vision or a long-awaited spiritual reality, for which we have sometimes despaired, we are blessed. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6).
If we have suffered setbacks and defeats by our lightness, if we have shamed the Lord by our worldliness, and yet have waited for the promise, that is, of God's salvation, we shall certainly receive it, if we retain to the end the confidence of the beginning and glorying in hope. When the certainty of hope is complete, then the fulfillment of the promise will come. Then we will laugh, and no one will take away our joy.
Many things in our life have been half done. When we look at them, we can verify the failure of our will. However, now, on this Path, we have our gaze on "Jesus, the author and finisher (perfecter) of faith" (Heb. 12:3). And "finishing the faith" means that he has come to the end, that he has already obtained the promise.