C3K Church
Hold Fast
OK, so let's get to the word tonight. At the end, if I forget, remind me that I want each of us to pray for each other. I want us to pray for each other, at the end, OK? Sometimes we don't want to do that every week, but every now and then it's just a nice thing to do. And I think it goes with what I'm going to share tonight. So tonight I want to share about holding fast. Hold fast. What does hold fast mean? That means to stick to it firmly, to cling on to. It's to be like superglue. You know, have you ever got your fingers or something stuck with superglue and just won't let go? That holds fast, OK? So tonight we want to learn about supergluing to the Lord, OK? Supergluing ourselves to the Lord. And as Christians, we should do that. We should hold fast to the Lord and loving Him and following Him and being committed to Him, holding fast to the Lord, continuing to trust in Him no matter what we see going on around about us, not just what He does or what we wanted to do for us, but because of who He is. You know, there's nothing worse than somebody liking you for what they what you do for them. They just love you for who you are. That's what God wants us to love Him for who He is. We want to be loved and appreciated for who we are, not just what we do or can do, OK? So continuing to love Him for who He is, continuing to obey His Word and believe His promises to hold fast to Him. And you know, the closer we get to the coming of the Lord, the greater the spiritual warfare in the earth. I mean, look around. Look what happened today in America. You know, there's a lot of warfare going on, spiritual things happening, you know? So we need to just hang on to the Lord and hold fast to Him. The first mention of holding fast, because we're going to go to the Word, of course, is in the book of Deuteronomy. And it was God speaking to Moses and he was giving some direction to the people of God. He says, "If you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to Him." I like it that he says the love first, OK? This is the Old Testament. A lot of people hate the Old Testament because they think it's just punishment and law and God is me. A lot of people think that, but here he's saying about love. The first thing is love, love the Lord, walk in his ways and hold fast, stick close to Him, cling to Him. And if we do that, what happens? Well, he says this, "The Lord will drive out all these nations from before you." And they were standing on the brink of something that looked impossible. A lot of opposition, a lot of challenges, a lot of things against them. But he said, "The Lord will deal with all this." You put God first and you stick with Him. He will stick with you, no problem. He will drive out all these nations from before you and you will dispossess, in other words, you will take control of things. God will give you control of things. He will give you the power to do things. The dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. So he's saying, "Even though you might fight great challenges, then He will help. He will help." As you stick with the Lord, He will make away. We were just singing Waymaker. That's what he's saying, "I'll be your Waymaker." And so that was the first mention. And it promises safety, it promises security, and it promises help. So if you're going to hang on to someone for safety, security, and help, why not do it to the Lord? Because people can't always offer you security. People can't always offer you safety. And they can't always offer you help because half the time they're struggling with their own stuff, isn't that true? So stick with the Lord. That's what he was saying, because challenges come. And if you think of challenges, one of the people in the Bible that you really think about who had incredible challenges was who? Job. Job. Okay. J-O-B, not Job. Job. He had incredible challenges. He had children who didn't not feel following the Lord or not. The enemy came and took all his children, took all his possessions. He was the richest man in the east at the time, took everything except his wife. And then he was afflicted with these terrible, terrible, painful souls from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. I don't know if you've had a boil, but even a little people hurt. A little people will hurt, but he had these terrible boils, which is like major pimples from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. And it says he had painful, they weren't just boils, but they were painful, painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a poture. What's that? It's actually like if you ever dropped a cup on the ground and it's shattered, and as pieces of broken ceramic or pottery, he took that and he was scratching himself to try and relieve himself of the pain. He took for himself a poture with which to scratch himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. You know, ashes, you know, where the fire has been, ashes were something that was supposedly used for healing and paltuses back in the day. He was sitting in ashes. Ashes is also speaks of grieving. He was grieving. He's sitting in ashes trying to fix these boils and stuff. He's scratching himself. He's in a world of pain, as I say. Okay? And then his wife, his wife says to him, "Do you still hold fast? Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die." She's saying, "Just let go. Give up. Stop holding on to God." But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. He didn't say you stupid woman. He said, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God? And shall we not accept adversity?" In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. So he held fast. He clung on. He held on to the Lord, no matter what was going on. He was in a lot of pain. His faith was being challenged. His wife was challenging him, saying, "Give up. Let it go. Just die." And he's like, "No. I'm not going to let go. I'm going to hold fast. I'm going to hold on to the Lord. I'm going to have faith. I'm going to keep believing. I'm not gonna sin. He says he didn't sin with his lips. So he held on even though there was plenty of opposition, plenty of opportunity to say, you know what, I've had enough. I'm giving up. I'm giving up. I'm giving up on God. I'm giving up on life. I'm giving up on you lady. I'm giving up on everything. I didn't say that. He said, I'm not gonna quit. I'm gonna hog fast. Okay. So he understood what it was like and he was rewarded. He was rewarded for that. He was rewarded because he held onto the Lord. Later he prayed for his friends who challenged him and accused him. And he got twice of what he had in the beginning. He was blessed. He was rewarded because he held on to the Lord. He held onto his faith and he didn't get a bad attitude about it. Okay. What's this all about? Hog fast. Hog fast. You know, I thought, I'm not just gonna share examples straight out of the Bible. I want to give a couple of other examples of holding fast. This is what sailors used to do back, back centuries ago. When they were on the ships and they had to hold the ropes for the sails and there was storms and all kind of stuff happening. They were kind of superstitious and to keep themselves strong, they began to tattoo that on their hands, hold fast on their fingers so that they could see it when they are holding the ropes so it would remind them. They thought it would bring them good luck. But apart from that, it reminded them, hold fast. Don't let go no matter what you're facing, no matter the wind, the storms, the rain, whatever's coming against you, hold fast. So if anyone's got a maritime background, they might relate to that. And another example of a hold fast. That's two words, hold fast, obviously. There is a thing called hold fast, which is one word. And it's actually like the roots, like tree roots, but it's the roots that are on seaweed and kelp and sponges under the ocean. And it's called a hold fast because they cling onto the ocean floor or they cling onto things and they won't let go. And when the storms and the tides and these things happening, turbulence, trying to make them move, the top of the seaweed or the kelp or the spongedule move, but the hold fast holds fast. So, you know, interesting that this is, if they're like an anchor, it's like an anchor, it anchors these things. Other things that hold fast, I mean, when I was thinking about this, I thought, what holds fast, you know, like fleas, ticks, all those crazy little things, you've got to get them off, they hold fast. You know, a bulldog, a dog with a bone, it's like, give me that bone, you know, they hold fast. That's an example. God wants us to be like that. It reminds me of our pastor in America. He used to talk about this particular man in the church and he used to always say, he has bulldog faith. He would say that, that guy, he has bulldog faith because he would get a hold of something and he wouldn't let go. He needed healing, he wouldn't let go until he was healed. So, he would hold fast. Okay, let's get back to the word. You know, God gives us help. You know, the sailors would put that on their hands and look at it to help them hold fast. But God gives us help, all right? In Philippians chapter 2, it says this, "Do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation." That's what, I mean, this was written a couple of thousand years ago. How much worse are things now? We do live in the midst of a crooked and perverse twisted generation. Things can be twisted. They'll twist it, you know? They'll steal the rainbow. They will twist things, okay? They'll call bad good and good bad. Okay. So, you see, as you live amongst these, in this crooked generation, but among whom you shine, you shine as lights in the world. Why? Why were they shining? Why do we shine? Because holding fast the word of life, they held onto the word of God, they held onto the word of life so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. So Paul is basically saying to the Philippian church, I'm really proud of you guys. I'm so glad that even though it's a dark, dark world sometimes, you shine like lights because you hold fast to the word of God. You hold fast. So I can rejoice in that, you know? I've been a good mentor. You've been good mentees. Keep it up. Hold fast to the word. So the Lord gives us His word. He's giving them encouragement. Stay in the word. Keep shining. And then in Timothy, again, he's talking about the word, the word of God and the words of wisdom that come from spiritual leaders. And Paul was mentor in Timothy. He said, hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me. Like, I've taught you things, Tim, I've taught you in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. And that good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. So he's saying, the words I have given you, they are from the Lord. I've given in faith. I've given in love. And these things are being committed to you. Hold on to them and keep them. He didn't say you keep them, but he said, keep them by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us to keep the word of God. You know, sometimes we think, oh, I hardly know any of the Bible. I hardly know any scriptures. I read it and then I forget it. You know, our minds might forget it, but our spirit does not. That's why it's so important to read the word every day. Get the word in us and the Holy Spirit will keep it in us. We may not memorize everything. We may not be able to speak it back in rote form, but it's in us. If we hold fast to the word, he will keep it in us. And when we need it, he will speak it to us. He will bring it back to us. Okay? So it's not about remembering everything, memorizing everything or knowing everything. It's just getting it in. And then he will help keep it in so we can hold fast to the Lord. Okay? And then in Thessalonians, Paul again, he said, test everything, test all things. In other words, don't be like little red riding hood because sometimes there's big bag walls out there. Test all things, hold fast what is good. How do we know what is good? Measure it against the word of God. Hold fast what is good. Measure it against what you feel. Sometimes you feel something's not quite right. Test it. Abstain from every form of evil. In other words, don't go there. Test everything. Hold fast what is good. The Holy Spirit in us leads us and guides us into all truth. But we have to test things. Don't just take things as they are. Someone says, oh yeah, this is a good book. You start reading it and go, hmm, I don't know about that. And you find out it was written by someone from a cult. You know, you've got to test everything. Measure it against the word of God. Measure it against the Holy Spirit in you, discernment that comes from the Lord. Hold fast what is good. What else do we hold fast to? In Hebrews 10, 23, it says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Now there's don't be negative about stuff. For here you promised is faithful. Keep believing God. Keep confessing that you have hope. Keep confessing that you've believing. Speak positively, not negatively. Keep believing we have hope. Don't waver. Well, maybe, maybe. No. If God said it, it's true. He's faithful. If he's promised it, it's true. He who promised is faithful. Sometimes our faith wavers, like I said, our faith may waver, but our confession can always be of faith and of hope. And then our feelings will come into alignment with that. Okay, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. For he who promised is faithful. It's not about our faithfulness. It's about his faithfulness. It's about his faithfulness. Keep believing. Keep confessing. Yep, I know God's going to bless me. I know God's going to do it. I know it's going to happen. I know the breakthrough is coming. Regardless of what you're feeling, regardless of you got friends like Job had, you said, it's not going to happen. It's all your fault. God doesn't love you. Yes, he does. He's faithful and he cares. And then again, in verse 24 of chapter 10, it says, "And let us consider one another, so hold fast to the Lord, hold fast to the confession of your faith. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some." What does that mean? Keep gathering together. Keep fellowshiping together. Keep coming to church. Why? Because as you do, you're stirring up love and good works. You are encouraging one another. When you're not here, we miss you. Something's missing when you are. Don't forsake the assembling together. It's important to the Lord. It's important to us. We come together to worship the Lord, but we come together to encourage one another just to be together. You don't have to come and just perform. Just come and be here. Just come and be here because you matter. You matter to us. You matter to the Lord. Some people don't realize how important it is. It's like, "Oh, I went to church last year. I think I want to go once this year." You know, it's not important to them, but it's important to the Lord, and it's important for us. Bring strength. When we come together, it strengthens us. Consider one another. Sometimes we think, "Oh, I don't feel like going to church." It's not all about us. We need to consider others. Consider one another. How are they going to feel if I don't go? Oh, they'll probably miss you. They'll probably miss you. They'll probably call and say, "You okay?" Why? Because it matters. People matter. It says we exhort one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. So it's even more important for us together together now. It's more important to encourage one another. It's more important to fellowship together. It's more important because the day of the Lord is coming. Encourage each other more and more by turning up. The last first that I want to go to is in the Book of Revelation. We started out in the beginning. We end up at the end. Revelation. This is where the Lord had been speaking to several of the churches, or seven churches they hear addressed in the Book of Revelation. And to one of them, the Church of Philadelphia, which means probably love, by the way, it says, "Because you have kept my command to persevere, you persevered, you held on. I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth." So he's speaking and saying, "You held fast. You held onto me. You persevered. You pushed through. It's tough times coming, but I'm going to be with you." He said this, "Behold, I'm coming quickly." There it is again. The Lord is coming back. Behold, I'm coming quickly. Hold fast what you have. Hold fast what you have that no one may take your crown. Don't let anyone steal from you what God has given to you. Don't let them steal your faith. Don't let them steal your hope. Don't let them steal the word of God. Don't let them steal that precious time of coming and worshiping the Lord and being together. Don't let the lies of the enemy steal from you. Don't be robbed. Don't be robbed of your destiny with the Lord. Don't let your crown be taken. Hold fast to what you have. You might not think you've got a lot, but who are you comparing yourself to? We have got so much in the Lord. We've got everything we need right now. We are not lacking anything. Hold fast to what you have. We have the Lord. We have His Word. We have His promises. We have a future and a hope. We have one another on this journey. How awesome is that? How awesome is that? Lord, we just thank you for your wonderful word. Lord, we hold fast to you, to the person who you are. We hold fast to your word. Strengthen us, Lord. Strengthen us. Lord, we're strengthened individually by the Holy Spirit. We strengthen corporately as we gather together. Lord, we just thank you that there's nothing lacking in our lives. And no matter what's going on, like Joe, Lord, even during the temptations and the trials, we will hold fast to you and not let go. Thank you, Lord, for your help, for your security, your safety, and your favor. Bless each one tonight, Lord. Bless each one. Bless Him. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Okay, I haven't forgotten. Get with somebody and just bless them. Just pray. We came together tonight. Let's bless one another. I'll be here. Find someone and just pray for them. Be a blessing. Bye everyone online. Have an awesome week. God bless you and your families.