"Be Thou Faithful"
"Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee the crown of life." (Rev. 2:10)
This passage is saying be faithful, even though it would cost you your life. Probably our thinking is, that this is too much of a price to pay. But remember that the reward is: "crown of life," "eternal life," "glory, honor, incorruption," "peace." Contrast this with: "wrath," "tribulation," "indignation," "anguish," "eternal punishment" and the conclusion must be that there is no price to great to pay.
To impress the thought in the passage let us do some substituting:
Be thou faithful - "not forsaking our own assembling together"; and I will give you a new house.
Be thou faithful - "be steadfast, unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord"; and I will give you a section of fertile land.
Be thou faithful - "take heed, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief"; and I will give you a year's tour in the land of your choice.
Be thou faithful - "This do in remembrance of me" (Lord's Supper); and I will give you a year with support that no work will be required.
Be thou faithful - "exercise thyself unto godliness"; and I will give you the finest lake stocked with the best of fish.
Be thou faithful - continue "steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers"; and I will give you a life-time of grocery supplies.
Be thou faithful - "seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness"; and I will deposit in your bank $10,000.00 to your account.
Be thou faithful - "put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man....and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth"; and I will exalt your name to honor among all men.
Be thou faithful - "adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge; and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control patience: and in your patience godliness; and in your godliness brotherly kindness: and in your brotherly kindness love"; and I will give you an abundant entrance into a new Cadillac with a year's supply of gas and oil.
Be thou faithful - abide "in the teaching (doctrine) of Christ" (don't go beyond it); and I will see that you have a wardrobe fit for a king.
Be thou faithful - "fight the good fight of faith"; and I will lengthen your life on this earth.
I am sure you must agree that all the quotations I have given from the Scripture are essential to faithfulness. No one is faithful who falls short of these. If the rewards were such as I have suggested, no one would fail to understand the conditions of reception. And if the rewards were available I am sure that there would be millions meeting the requirements. Suppose I should put in the newspaper: "He that believeth (in Christ) and is baptized shall receive $100.00," I wonder how many people would come for baptism? I can imagine that I would be working overtime. Everyone would understand the passage.
Now isn't it strange that people will give so much time and effort to gain something in this world and ignore completely the conditions to gain "eternal life"? Is this world (all of it) to be compared with the eternal or spiritual blessings? How senseless we are concerning real values! — 320 Hackberry, McAllen, Texas