2 Peter 3:17 KJV
[17] “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”
Peter is closing this epistle by encouraging the brethren to remain steadfast. The message was much needed then, and it is still important today. We are seeing many people fall by the wayside in these last days. Many have changed course and left the old-time way. Some people make fun of phrases like “the old-fashioned way” or “old-time religion.” They find reasons to distance themselves from it and mock those who still embrace it.
By the grace of God, I want to remain steadfast in this way until the Lord calls me home. Those who mock those familiar phrases do so because their own conscience is convicted. They know that they have abandoned the doctrines and principles on which they once firmly stood. They have dropped their convictions and standards. Without realizing it, they have adopted new phrases from those who are liberal. Phrases such as “I have learned better,” or “we believe in Christian liberty.” They resort to labeling those who have not compromised as legalists or Pharisees.
What they say does not make me question what is right; it only deepens my conviction. I often say that the terms “old-time way” and “old-fashioned” can easily be defined. The phrases represent everything between the covers of your King James Bible. I do not set out to offend those who have changed course, but I’m not planning to back up either. In this devotional, I have purposely made it more personal. I want to testify and encourage you, dear reader, to remain steadfast. Do not bow to this liberal, loose church world. Do not follow the contemporary crowd that is taking over many of our churches. Keep the right Bible in your pulpit and the right music in your choir. Maintain the right dress standards in your church, home, and daily life. Finish stronger than you were when you started. Hold on to what you have been taught and do not give in to compromise. If your children or grandchildren go astray, then remain steadfast. If your church compromises or your preacher folds, remain steadfast. If you are a man of God who has faithfully preached it right through the years, remain steadfast. Do not bow to a number on a board or a paycheck, but keep standing where you have always stood. We need steady saints in these last days. If the early church could endure and remain steadfast, then so can we. I want to encourage everyone to remain steadfast.