Hold Fast

Hold Fast to What?

Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

Cling: glue
What is good?
Let’s look at a few of the items

God

First and foremost

Deuteronomy 13:4 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.  (Deuteronomy 10:20; 11:22; Joshua 22:5; 23:8) 

Hebrew word: cling or adhere; t: – abide, fast, cleave (fast together), be joined (together), keep (fast), overtake, pursue hard, stick, take.

What does it mean to hold fast to God? It does not mean that we just hold on to His robe or coattail. But rather that we hold fast to what He stands for and represents.

We are to stand for the same thing

Sound Doctrine

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
1 Corinthians 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

Greek word: hold (fast), possess, retain, seize

Definition of fast (in English)  firmly, securely: as in steadfast, fasten

Matthew 21:38  ButG1161 when theG3588 husbandmenG1092 sawG1492 theG3588 son,G5207 they saidG2036 amongG1722 themselves,G1438 ThisG3778 isG2076 theG3588 heir;G2818 come,G1205 let us killG615 him,G846 andG2532 let us seize onG2722 hisG846 inheritance.G2817

Enduring Sound Doctrine

Of course this goes hand in hand with holding fast to God. This is His word which describes Him, His Nature and His character.

It is what He wants us to become…so of course He wants us to hold fast these things.

Why do we have to hold fast?

It is a matter of life and death

Imparts Life

Deuteronomy 4:1 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you.
Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Deuteronomy 4:3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal Peor; for the LORD your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor.
Deuteronomy 4:4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.
Deuteronomy 4:5 “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess.
Deuteronomy 4:6 Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

Someone trying to take what you are holding fast to

Where will the assault come from: Self, Satan, and Society

Satan

Revelation 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

We are all under his influence

1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Society

Paul begins by showing what we are holding fast to:

Colossians 2:1 For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh,
Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,
Colossians 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 2:4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.
Colossians 2:5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
Colossians 2:6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
Colossians 2:7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Philosophy – the love of wisdom or knowledge.  Some are in pursuit of this over and in place of the word of God.  many out there want to tell you that they have figured out life – that they know better.

It can come in many forms – 

science (veganism/vegetarianism),

philosophies (wiki (~1,000; that’s not all(; ism for everything; most if not all are contrary to God’s way in some form), false religion (they have been sold a bill of goods; short catchy phrases; “just believe” “ten commandments were nailed to cross”

there is no depth; there is no study; it appeals to human nature 

2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 Timothy 3:2-4 For men will be lovers of themselves…rather than lovers of God,
2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
2 Timothy 3:6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
2 Timothy 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  

Take advantage of those that have this intellectual vanity. 

There is another category that we need to be aware of these days; those that we attend with..

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
Matthew 24:5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

Jude 1:3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Jude 1:4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
Acts 20:31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
Galatians 1:7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Galatians 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

The world will tell you something different. Without depth they will believe it. The numbers will be against you. 

Ignorant, sinner, well meaning.

Our Responsibility

Don’t hold fast to deceit

Jeremiah 8:5 Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.
Jeremiah 8:6 I listened and heard, But they do not speak aright. No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, As the horse rushes into the battle.
Jeremiah 8:7 “Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the LORD.
Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
Jeremiah 8:9 The wise men are ashamed, They are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD; So what wisdom do they have? 

We must let go of what is wrong. 

especially in our own lives.

Jeremiah 9:3 “And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” says the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:4 “Everyone take heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers.
Jeremiah 9:5 Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Jeremiah 9:6 Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD.

Prophet and Lion

You are responsible for your own deception

Luke 12:47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luke 12:48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

He should/could have known

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
Romans 1:19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

Psalms 19:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

How Do We Do This?

Test and Prove

2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test [Prove] all things; hold fast what is good.

Physical example of taking something, if you lose it, you lose your life

Do not Compromise or Water Down

What you test and prove you must hold on to

In the world we are asked to be tolerant and practical and compromise

At what point are we okay with our level of truth?  We recognize that 99% wrong 1% right is not acceptable; 50/50 still not close; 99/1 is that acceptable

Examples

Uzza

Exodus 25:12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side.
Exodus 25:13 And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
Exodus 25:14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them.
Exodus 25:15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.

Numbers 4:15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. “These are the things in the tabernacle of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

1 Chronicles 13:5 So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor in Egypt to as far as the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim.
1 Chronicles 13:6 And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, to Kirjath Jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who dwells between the cherubim, where His name is proclaimed.
1 Chronicles 13:7 So they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.
1 Chronicles 13:8 Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets.
1 Chronicles 13:9 And when they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled.
1 Chronicles 13:10 Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God.
1 Chronicles 13:11 And David became angry because of the LORD’s outbreak against Uzza; therefore that place is called Perez Uzza to this day.

Our Christian Walk

Study Pray Fast Meditate Obey

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
James 1:24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Deuteronomy 11:13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deuteronomy 11:14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
Deuteronomy 11:15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’
Deuteronomy 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,
Deuteronomy 11:17 lest the LORD’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.
Deuteronomy 11:18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deuteronomy 11:19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Deuteronomy 11:20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
Deuteronomy 11:21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
Deuteronomy 11:22 “For 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— 

All That You Have

Catch all …

We have a lot

Some that prophets of old, even angels, desired to know and has in these last times been made manifest. 

Gifts of God : His workmanship 

Crown

In the last days, notice the focus and what Jesus Christ is driving home.

Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, 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.
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.