Philippians chapter 4 verse 1 Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. When Paul wrote the letter to the church at Philippi, it was to strengthen believers in their faith in the gospel. He desired that they know more of Christ by learning of his humiliation and exaltation. as he served God and his church. We read there in Philippians chapter 2 that wonderful statement about Christology taking the life, the death of Christ. It's really a summary, the humiliation and the exaltation of Christ. It's really two phrases that summarize his person, his life, his death, his resurrection, all that has taken place and what is yet to take place as he returns in great glory and in great power. However, it was clear to Paul that when God's people worshipped Christ through the Holy Spirit, they came under attack from the enemies of the gospel, which are the world, the devil, and the flesh. That's why Paul said, therefore, in verse 1, and that's important. Whenever you see the word therefore, asked scripture what is the therefore therefore and scripture will give you the answer the word therefore is a connecting word it refers to all that has gone before and then will relate or lead in to all that will follow after so if you go into chapter three and just really coming to the end paul exhorts god's people to press toward the mark to strive in the gospel be followers together with him and mark them that have that same example in living the gospel and then he said in verse 18 for many walk of whom i have told you often and even weeping they are the enemies of the gospel the enemies of the gospel, they oppose the ministry, the person, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life. You see, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to lead believers in that closer walk with God, to see that that fruit of the Spirit that is planted within at salvation flourishes and blossoms in likeness to Christ. So whenever the Holy Spirit, and I want you to listen to this, whenever the Holy Spirit is at work among his church as a body of people or individually, then there will be resistance. There will be pressure to give in, to give way, to give up, to suit the flesh, as opposed to walking in the spirit. The enemies of the gospel, they seek to silence the preaching of the gospel, pervert the truth of the gospel, compromise the ways of the gospel, and to stop the advancement of the gospel. The world, the devil, and the flesh do not want you to live in the blessing of the Lord. Always remember that. That's why there's a constant struggle about coming to God's house. It's not easy. It's a constant struggle to read, to pray, to get involved in God's work because the world, the devil, and the flesh They do not want you to. They want you basically not to do anything for the Lord. And for that reason, Paul said to the church at Philippi, stand fast in the Lord. The word stand fast, or a translation of one word in the Greek text, meaning stand firm or to preserve. So you could read it, stand fast. Furthermore, the original word, stand fast, is a military word. It means to stand your ground. You've heard that phrase before. Stand your ground. Stand at your post in the midst of a battle. It's a military term used by soldiers, used by army. You've a ground to hold on to. Don't let the enemy take ground. Keep your ground. Stand firm. Stand strong. Don't let the enemy pass. Don't let them make a way through. Don't let them push you back. That's what's all involved in this word. Hold your position is what it means. Don't give way. Don't give in. No matter how the enemy comes in like a flood. No matter who calls evil good and good evil. No matter who says peace, peace. when there is no peace, no matter the message you hear that puts confidence in the flesh to give acceptance with God, no matter the age that you live in, when every man seeks to do that which is right in his own eyes, whatever comes against you, Whatever pressure you come under, whatever tries to push you back, don't move, don't budge, don't give way, don't give in. Stand fast in the Lord. Stand firm. Stand your ground. Preserve in the Lord. Keep standing. And when you can do nothing else, keep standing. You see, there's a man, and forgive me if I get his second name wrong, Donald Ting, it's T-Y-N-G, was a preacher of God used in revival in America in the late 1850s. In the week before he passed, one of his friends in the ministry visited him and asked him if he had a message for the ministers and the believers at this conference concerning revival that he had been scheduled to preach that week. He thought for a moment and he replied, tell them they need to stand up for Jesus. That message was relayed to the meeting. Donald Ting's final words to his fellow believers were, stand up for Jesus. That was the message this man could give to these people waiting to hear a message from God. Stand up for Jesus. His fellow preacher, Dr. George Duffield, was touched by the words and began to put those words to paper. And he then wrote what was known as the hymn, Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, Ye Soldiers of the Cross. Duffield concluded his sermon the following Sunday by reading the lyrics as a tribute to his friend. It was his desire and longing for those who would follow on after him, who would continue on, that they would stand up for the Lord, that they would take their stand, that they would do that which is right in the Lord. that they would seek to honour him in their Christian lives and their Christian walk. Men and women, if there's ever a message for today that we live, stand up for Jesus. Ye soldiers of the cross. And so Paul's message to the church at Philippi in his day, stand fast in the Lord. And we want to look at that under three simple thoughts of what that means. Notice, the cause to stand fast in the Lord. The cause. Paul said, stand fast in the Lord. The cause to stand fast is the Lord himself. That's important because you see, in his unconverted days, Paul stood fast in religion. He was grounded firm in the ways of the Jewish religion. He was standing up for man's teaching. However, when Paul was converted to Jesus Christ by faith alone, having been pardoned and delivered from the bondage, the blindness of sin, Paul now had a new cause to stand for. He had a new life to live. It was the gospel of Jesus Christ. and in passing the baton on to the next generation because Paul knew his departure was soon at hand he was in prison he was waiting death and so he writes to the church at Philippi these are my words for you even when I'm gone and we can read them now because Paul has gone stand fast Stand fast, stand firm in the Lord. Don't stand in the religion of men. Stand fast in the Lord. To stand fast in the Lord is to stand for the Lord's cause, which is the building of his church. To see people saved by the gospel and to live out that gospel. Stand fast for Christ's doctrine for his church. Christ's doctrine for his church is the perfect righteousness that he has provided, which is received by faith alone. All who are forgiven will be found in him, not having their own righteousness, which is off the law, but Christ's righteousness that he has earned for them in his perfect life and his perfect death. Paul gave the same exhortation to the churches at Galatia when they came under attack from false religion. He said to them in Galatians 5, verse 1, And Paul's point is this, when you hear another message that adds to the gospel, that takes away from the gospel, that presents Christ as weak as to doubt him, to make him to be sinful, to make him as if he is not sufficient or didn't accomplish all that was needed, then reject it and stand fast in the doctrine for Christ's church. Christ is the head of the church and the savior of the body. I make the point, I know the Pope has died, but let me tell you this here, the Pope was not the head of the church, nor is he the figure of Christ. We must make that point. I know to many that's outrageous, but that's just the truth of God's word. You ask, where's the Pope today? Well, I, in a sense, can't answer that, in that sense, because the Lord knows them that are his. But I can tell you this here, if he died believing what he believed, then he's lost in hell. Because there's only one mediator between God and man, not many mediators, not many ways, justification. is by grace alone, through faith alone, without the works of the law. But Rome, oh yes, they teach justification, but it's mixed with works and things like that. And so the point is this, when you stand fast in the Lord, you stand for Christ's doctrine. One saviour, one mediator, one redeemer, one way of salvation, one head of the church. Stand fast in that. Stand fast in Christ's desire for the church. Christ's desire for his church is that they have the mind of Christ. They abound more and more in him. They know more of him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, and being conformable unto his death. pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, that the good work begun within them will continue on and be perfected, that whenever Christ returns, he shall change their file body onto a glorious body as his Christ's desire for his church. is that they will bear much fruit, is that they will be conformed to his image. Stand fast in that, as Paul said, we're not the conformed to the world. but to Jesus Christ. Set your factions on things above, not on things of the earth. Look on to Jesus, the author and the finisher of the faith. And in Christ's destination for his church, Christ has saved the people to be with him forever. His humiliation and exaltation has guaranteed many sons be brought to glory. A multitude of sinners given to Christ by God, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. They are the many, the redeemed, the church who will be with Him in glory. That's why we say with Paul in Philippians 3 verse 20, we look for the Savior. That means we look for His coming. the Lord Jesus in his glorious return. So Paul identifies the cause to stand is Christ himself. Stand fast, stand firm, don't allow anyone, no matter how many titles they may have, pastor, doctor, reverend, father, the right honorable, his holiness, his whatever religious position that they hold, Don't allow them to pervert and present another gospel onto you with many different ways to be forgiven, or to doubt the gospel rather. Stand fast in the Lord. Live for the Lord. Love the Lord. Look to the Lord. Stand firm in Him. The Lord Jesus said about the way to God in John 10 verse 9, I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. and shall go in and out and find pasture. Christ was mocked, blasphemed, betrayed, persecuted, tempted, yet he didn't turn back. He stood firm in the work that he was given to do. He glorified God. He finished the work. by living a blameless, holy, harmless life, giving that life a sacrifice to God to pay the debt of our sin. Since Christ is the prize, the goal of our life, then as citizens of heaven, we will be like him. Therefore, do as he did on earth, stand firm, stand fast. So the cause to stand fast in the Lord is the Lord himself. He is the reason to stand firm, to honour him, to glorify him, to love him. Notice secondly, the command to stand fast in the Lord. The words stand fast are in the imperative, which means a command, a responsibility, a duty to be carried out as soldiers of the cross we must arise and put on the armor we must be alert we must be attentive as paul said himself in philippians chapter 1 verse 17 knowing i am set for the defense of the gospel he prepares the church at philippi to stand to deliver to You are a watchman of the city, first responders. You sound the alarm, any movement from the enemy, because once the enemy comes in, they come in like a flood. I was watching, again to digress, a program about the Titanic the other day because they've been able to take the Titanic and take now digital, the way technology has changed these days, they're able to go on the now and take these photographs and now digitally put everything together, what took place and all the rest. and it was just showing that dent that they believed might have took place on the side by the iceberg and how the water came in to the first group and then went down to the next group and then to the next one and then to the next one to sink the ship and all the rest and the whole point is the little bit of water that went through it built up, and when it got high enough, it went down to the next boiler room. And then once that filled up, it went down to the next boiler room. And then once that filled up, it went down to the next. The point is this, whenever the enemy comes in bit by bit, it multiplies, it grows and grows and grows. That's why Paul said to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse 13, watch ye. Stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. As Nehemiah instructed the people on his day, whenever we learned last week, member, on last week's Bible study, about Mount Moriah, and we talked about the temple, when it was rebuilt, that was destroyed, and how Nehemiah's day, they came back to rebuild the walls. Well, whenever Nehemiah built the walls, God's people had intermarried and there were those who were saved. They began to cause trouble and they began to persecute the people of God to stop the work being built. Now so Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 9 says, We made our prayer unto God and set a watch against them day and night because of them. Nay, my anew, the fight is on, O Christian soldier. We must march under the banner of the cross. Let the enemy see that the gospel in this church and this family is not for the taking, but be like that tree rooted deep in the ground, that post cemented in the ground, be strong, unmovable. yes they will come against you as the philistines the world the devil and the flesh putting pressure on you to give in to go away and just let the world the devil of the flesh have space in your life to do what it wants as Paul said to fulfill the lusts of the flesh But David knew there's a cause, and he must stand for the Lord. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 15, Brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught. by word or our epistle again remember this word tradition does not mean man-made ideas it can mean in different places but in this occasion it means obviously it means teaching handed down but as it comes from the apostles then it's a word from god because remember it's the same word translated as ordinances used in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 2. Remember we talked about head covering a few weeks ago, why in our public services we believe the word of God teaches that men worship God without their heads covered and ladies do worship God with their heads covered. This is the exact same word Paul said and keep the ordinances or the traditions as I have delivered them on to you. It's teaching handed down by the Lord. It's not man's teaching to take or to give away or to do what you want with it. This is a word from God. This is a word from the apostles. And so here we have this teaching handed down. Paul, we have a command given to stand fast. Other churches may do away with it. Other churches may bring something in. But we are to stand fast. In this denomination, the Free Presbyterian Church, And in this church here, congregation in South Grove, Free Presbyterian Church, and by this pastor, and through this congregation, we will give gospel truth as founded upon the person and work of Jesus Christ for the justification of guilty sinners and the sanctification of believers. We will stand firm in the gospel. because to preserve the truth is what sinners need to hear. If our gospel be hid, as Paul said, it is hid to them that are lost. Unbeliever, we stand in the Lord because we care for your soul. You are without Christ, and we cannot leave you lost. And so we give you the gospel, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made on to salvation. Paul said, dearly beloved, remember what we learned this morning when he tells them, my brethren, my beloved, I long for you, I love you, I pray for you, I want to see you go on with God. Therefore, stand fast in the Lord. Don't give way to the world, the devil, and the flesh. the cause, and the command. Notice finally, the continuation, the stand fast in the Lord. Because these words stand fast, not only do they mean stand firm or preserve, not only in the original Greek text are they written in the imperative, meaning a command, but they're also in the Greek text written in the continual tense, meaning keep standing. Keep holding ground. It doesn't mean just stand for one day and abandon post the rest of the day. Rather, keep standing. Keep preserving in the Lord. Paul's stating to the church at Philippi, it's your duty, responsibility to continually stand firm, stand your ground, don't give way until you're called home to heaven. Until you finish the work the Lord has given you to do. Just like we learned in the life of Joseph. Remember, when Joseph gave his brothers the message to deliver to their father, he said to them before they left his presence, see that ye fall not out by the way. In other words, protect yourself. You have a responsibility to deliver my message. Don't fall out by the way. Don't get distracted by this or distracted by that. You have a responsibility. And men and women, there are many people who have fallen out by the way. And I know there's someone in this congregation, some people who have listened to certain preachers and followed certain preachers. I always try to say don't follow men because men at best are only men. and certain people follow certain people and when that person falls it's like the world has ended. They just don't know what to do. Men have fallen out by the way, men who started off great but it's not how you start, it's how you finish. And men who have ended miserable and fallen into sin and it breaks our hearts and therefore keep standing. See the reason why they do that is because they have stopped to stand. They've allowed something in and it's brought them down a road that opens up another door that opens up another door and they've gone so far down that it just they stay there and remain there. The reason why you should keep standing is because the enemy of the gospel will not stop opposing. And you must never stop standing, because if you do, as these men who have fallen into sin, great preachers I may add, men who were used of God more than, in a sense, I will ever be. But they allowed the little foxes to come and spoil the fun. They allowed the little leaven to cause, as what is used, to spread through the bread, through their lives, to take over. Until Christ returns, don't give up. Don't stop praying. Continue standing fast in the Lord. Continue living the gospel. Even from the days of Paul, writing this letter, religious groups have come and gone, risen up and been defeated. And they will always come back again, only the difference is they will just reinvent a different name, or try to make up some biblical name. name to try and get people to come to it when it's just really the same deception and the same lies. They just call it by a biblical name. They make up something. Philippians chapter 1 verse 27. Stand fast in one spirit, one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. You think of the life of Christ. John 4 verse 34. He came to do the will of him that sent him and to finish his work. During his last days, his last hours, leading up to Calvary and on Calvary, the opposition kept opposing him. kept standing against him. He was lifted upon the cross, and his opposers continually mocked him, and slandered him, and derided him. They walked past him, shaking their heads in disgust. They began to shout out in Matthew 27 verse 40, Save thyself, if thou be the Son of God. Come down from the cross. Again, verse 42, let him come down from the cross. But Christ continually stood firm to provide salvation and earn victory for his people. As we said before, if Christ came down from the cross, he would have failed and there'd be no salvation for any sinner. Nehemiah's words, and this is why, again, Nehemiah is a wonderful book, because so much of Christ in Nehemiah. But Nehemiah was called back to rebuild the walls. It's amazing. A statement you're always taught in God's work. is sometimes why you get opposed. Well, let me just say it like this. Whenever you're doing God's work, you will always be opposed. See, the world, the devil, and the flesh, they don't want you to do the work of God. Nehemiah was doing the work of God. He was doing what God wanted him to do. He was where God had placed him, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. But the enemies of the Lord, had come to him, and they wanted him to come down from the wall. They wanted him to leave off building the walls of Jerusalem. And Nehemiah made this great statement, I cannot come down, for I am doing a great work, or I am doing a great work, I cannot come down. What a statement that is. I cannot come down. I am doing a great work. The enemies of the gospel, they were writing him letters. They wanted to meet with him secretly and discuss things. It was all to stop the work from progressing, to stop the work going forward. These words find their greatest fulfillment in the cross. Whenever those people shouted, save thyself, come down from the cross, hear Nehemiah's words through Christ, I am doing a great work. I cannot come down because my work is to save my people from their sin. Nehemiah said, why should the work cease? and hear Christ say, why should the work cease? I am here to purchase salvation for all my people. I cannot come down, I'm doing a great work. When you feel like giving up, maybe Sunday school teachers, children's workers, children don't come, you feel discouraged, you feel like giving up, you say, what's the point? Say these words, I am doing a great work, I cannot come down, I cannot stop. You feel like you can't come to the church? I am doing a great work, I cannot come down, I cannot stop. Why should the work cease? The Lord Jesus Christ, he stood firm, he stood fast, and he said, it is finished. Therefore, believer, Paul, as he comes to chapter four, he starts off, my brethren, my family, God's community, the church that God has given me to minister to, my beloved, you how long after? my joy, my crown. I have a word for you. Because I love you, because I long after you, I don't want to see you fall into sin. I don't want to see you go into bypass meadow. I don't want to see you be removed from the work of God. Therefore, stand fast in the Lord. And by standing fast in the Lord, you will be strong. Because we'll get to this next time. You look at verse two onwards. What is the next thing that Paul speaks about in verse two? It's two women in the boxing ring going head on head, division. They're not off the same mind. Of course there's no boxing ring, everybody's looking down at their Bible, where's his boxing ring? It's me just using the metaphor. They're getting together, these two ladies in the church, and they're different with each other. So much that's just known by everybody. There's a division, and Paul says that they be of the same mind, because clearly, whatever the discussion, the agreement is, they're not of the same mind. Everybody can see it, everybody knows about it, everybody can feel it. It's impacted, it's infected the congregation. And so Paul speaks before that. I love you, I pray for you, I long for you. Stand fast in the Lord. and then he goes on to speak what we're on to the next time. And so, when it comes to the vision, stand fast in the Lord. Don't let anything divide because, listen, the devil, the world, and the flesh is out to divide the church, out to divide families, out to divide pastor, congregation, congregation, pastor, congregation, with each other, Stand fast in the Lord and we will know the blessing of the Lord. Remember this is a church epistle. And that's why Paul is writing to the church these lessons. So I trust today that you will take heed to these words, you who are not saved, that you realize Christ could not come down because he was doing a great work, purchasing salvation for sinners he came to save. And if you believe on him, you this day can have everlasting life. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts.