As the Lord may be graciously pleased to help us, I would ask your prayerful direction to the second epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians chapter two and verse 15.

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”
(2nd Thessalonians 2:15)

Paul in writing to the church at Thessalonica writes in his pastoral sense to a people whom he loves for the truth’s sake. And these epistles you will find are directed to those that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth.

He says in verse 13,

“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.”
(2nd Thessalonians 2:13)

Here we see the sovereign work of an Almighty God calling forth those who were chosen in Christ before the world began, calling them through the work of the ministry by the Spirit of God through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary’s cross.

And Paul thanks his God for there are those who he can call brethren. And by the word brethren, of course, we are to understand that is not only male, but also female as he says in another place, “Ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

He is thankful then, that there are those with whom he can have to do in the things of God, those he feels a union of the heart and spirit, those with whom he feels a bond of fellowship, those with whom he can walk in the gospel.

It is a great verse. If the Lord has put us in a place where there are others with whom we can converse, then they appeared the Lord spake often one to another. Yes, when the people of God are all together, their conversation is heavenly holy conversation. It is the conversation of what the Lord is, of what he has done for the souls of his dear people.

The apostle reminds them that they live in solemn times and that the day of the Lord Jesus Christ is coming, whenever that time may be. They lived in a day of much opposition, much persecution, much trouble and a day when it seemed that there were so few that followed in these truths or, again, can we not make the comparison with the day in which we live?

I often think of that text: when He “cometh, shall he find faith in the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

It would seem that throughout my lifetime, at least, the church has done nothing but diminish. There has been a great falling away. Man has been tempted of the devil to seek a smoother, easier, softer gospel.

Man likes to believe a lie rather than believing the truth.

Ah, how we feel for our young people who are so often deceived. There is a terrible deception and the apostle speaks of that also here. He says…

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”
(2nd Thessalonians 2:8-12)

I believe we live in such a day when in the majority of churches – they are preaching lies. People are accepting lies. They are being deceived. And there are many in so called evangelical churches who believe that we are in error because we hold fast to what we believe to be the truth of God’s Word.

And so it is a day of great deception. It is a day of great falling away. It is a day when so many are being deceived into believing things which ought not to be believed because man does not have spiritual discernment to understand the difference between truth and error.

You know, the devil is sometimes described as an angel of light.

Doesn’t it seem that way when so many follow after these characters who promote themselves and they are like the pied piper who leads them all the way?

Yes, there are so many in our day who are falling headlong for the terrible errors which have come into the Church.

I remember a minister many, many years ago saying the difficulty is not when the Church goes into the world, but rather when the world comes into the Church.

Well, that has happened by and large in most places of worship. But it is that the worldly and carnal are gathering together. It is a social occasion at best. And the truth of God’s Word is set to one side so that man does not desire or seek after a knowledge of Jesus.

And so the apostle in his love for the brethren desires to exhort them to stand fast, to stand fast in those things which are most surely believed among us. And it is a great mercy when there is a church which believe these truths, the apostolic truths which are set before us in these lessons and where there is a desire to know more of them and to seek to work them out in daily life.

Therefore, brethren, because of these things, because of those things which are happening around us, we need to stand fast. And, of course man, however good he may be, converted men as the apostle is speaking of here, who realize that they cannot stand fast in themselves. They need that help of God. They need that strength to be given unto them.

The apostle in writing to the Ephesians church writes somewhat in a similar way. He says,

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
(Ephesians 6:12)

Now what to do?

He says,

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…”
(Ephesians 6:13-14)

And he goes on to enumerate the various weapons of defense, the armour which the child of God is to put on, ending up with the sword of the Spirit.

And you may think the sword is an offensive weapon. But the Christian is to wield it in defense. He is not to take himself to the fight, but he is to defend the truths with his heart or with his life.

I think of those in former times who were persecuted even unto death for their faith in Christ Jesus, how they stood the test. They were faithful unto death and even in the power and article of death they sounded forth the precious Word of God, the sword of the Spirit. And it had great effect. There were those who erred, but admired their courage, their strength, their wisdom that was given unto them and these came to see the need of a same religion as them. So we are to stand upon what we believe.

Now the apostle puts it in this way.

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”
(Ephesians 2:15)

Now for the most part in the Scriptures the word “tradition” has a completely opposite meaning. We are warned against certain traditions.

The Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 15 takes this up.

“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.”
(Matthew 15:1-2)

Now the Lord Jesus Christ was not pleased to answer them on their question, but rather put a question to them.

“Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”
(Matthew 15:3)

And you will notice the difference there. The Pharisees speak of the traditions of the elders. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks about the tradition of God’s Word. There is a great distinction to be made there.

You know, many churches have canons and creeds and documents of beliefs and all kinds of things and we must admit that in their place those that are faithful have been helpful. But we must remember that they are the words of men, whether godly men or not. And the Bible is to be distinct. It is to be set apart all other writings. Our final and only authority is the Word of God.

In older times they spoke of Sola Scriptura, the Scriptures only. I believe there is much need for us today to confirm and assert that it is the Scriptures only. We need to come back, as it were, to the Word of God. God has spoken in his Word. He has given us direction that is well unto us if we set aside these things for the vain traditions and writings and understandings of man.

Now what does he go on to say here?

“For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”
(Matthew 15:4-6)

I often remind my people at home that this is the first commandment with promise.

It doesn’t say, “Honour thy good mother or father.” It doesn’t say, “Honor thy faithful father or mother.” It simply says, “Honor thy father and thy mother.”

And what does that really mean?

To show them respect, to honour them with our lives, to acknowledge that God gave them to us and us to them, that we are their children. And so we should honour them and respect them.

And so, here, you see, how these traditions have become more than the Word of God. They have magnified them above the Word of God.

But what does the Lord say?

He says in the Psalms, “I have magnified my Word above all my name.”

Now “word” there, of course, has two meanings – The written and the incarnate Word in all things are the same.

The Lord Jesus Christ in John’s gospel opens up with this:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
(John 1:1)

And we have a confirmation of that later on when He says,

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”
(John 1:14).

So traditions, for the most part, are those which man has manufactured and which he has esteemed above what God has said.

These things we are most emphatically to reject. We are to put them aside. We are not to take heed of them. And, you know, the great test and it is quite remarkable, isn’t it, when the apostle preached in Berea and there were those faithful Bereans that would not take the apostle at his Word.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Here is a man with much authority, the authority of God. And yet they will not take him at his word.

But they take what he has said to the Scriptures.

Does what this man say compare with the Scriptures?

Does it enhance the Scriptures?

Does it confirm the Scriptures?

And doubtless when they had made that comparison with the Word of God they came to see that what the apostle was speaking was the truth. And they could wholeheartedly, then, assent unto the apostle and to his teaching. They knew him then to be a man of God.

And, oh, you may have a preacher stand before you.

Is that preacher sent of God?

Isn’t it most important that we know that he is sent of God?

If he hasn’t come of God he is come of his own volition. He speaks but the words of man.

But if he is sent of God he can speak with some authority. He can speak with power because it is the Lord that enables him to speak and teaches him what he shall say.

I have often said that preaching is something quite unique.

What college lecturer would stand before a group of students without having his notes, having his article as it were written out so that he doesn’t stumble or speak anything wrong and come into confusion?

But the servant of God comes in dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

Now the true servant of God knows what a fearful thing this is. It is not easy to stand in a pulpit without any visible aid to have, but to depend upon God. The flesh, as the hymn writer puts it in another sense, the flesh dislikes this way, but faith approves it well.

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”
(2nd Thessalonians 2:15)

You will notice, then, that these things have already been taught, for these Thessalonians have some understanding of the Word that the apostle has brought before them in times past.

They have some discernment and understanding of the truth of the Scriptures.

We must remember, of course, that in their day they didn’t have the whole canon of Scripture complete. Much was by word rather than by epistle. As the faithful apostles were commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ and sent into the gospel field, there was a communication by voice, but they spake unto the people the Word of God.

It was much later that the whole Bible was brought together and the Scriptures were made complete and written out for man to be able to read.

And, of course, we know the history of our own nation how the Catholic Church greatly resisted the writing of the Scriptures in our common tongue.

The Lord in his mercy made a way and confirmed these things so that the ordinary person, as it were, could open his Bible and read these precious truths and read them to great effect.

“Therefore, brethren…”

There is a word of loving consolation. The first things through which you have come to faith in Christ Jesus are the very things that you are to stand upon and to stand in such a way that you will not be moved.

Be sure that when a person is converted the devil takes a great interest in that conversion. He sees a man being brought to faith. He resists him. He seeks to over-turn that small beginning, a little seed that is planted in his soul. And he continues his assault right until the end of that person’s life.

Satan is an awesome foe. He fights against us every step of the way. And the apostle says “we are not ignorant of his devices” (2nd Corinthians 2:11). And it is a good thing if we are not unaware that he seeks to corrupt this truth.

You think of it in recent times. I was told recently how many Bibles have been translated. I can’t remember now the sum, but it is a tremendous number. It is well over 100 that have been translated.

But how many of them are faithful translations?

And we are thankful that we have the King James Authorized Version, that the Lord has blessed this particular translation to the people of God for several hundred years.

We believe that it is faithful to God’s Word and we can stand fast upon the truth of it.

How many have been deceived in that way?

You will find even the better so called translates are but a watering down of the truth, a taking away the authority of the person of Jesus Christ, giving that understanding of man to do his part. He can talk about something toward his own salvation.

There never was a lie so overly and flagrantly set forth as in the day in which we live.

And people are buying these so called Bibles. They are trusting that those who wrote them have written faithfully. But, of course, they have not.

And I feel that we must exhort you to stand fast upon this tradition.

And, you see, here is a faithful tradition, a tradition which holds firm with the Word of God.

And any tradition that exalts the person of Jesus Christ and sets off the glorious truth of His gospel is a tradition which is to be welcomed and adhered to.

Stand fast upon this truth.

But we want to seek His help to see some of these traditions that the apostle has had in mind at this time, things that have been opposed at various times through the history of the gospel since the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth and you will read in Paul’s epistles how quickly errors began to creep at first and then to flood into the churches and men and women were deceived from the very beginning and are being deceived today.

Firstly, we want to speak of the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God. This rose up in the past centuries and was opposed by many in the churches.

No, for the most part the world does not trouble about these things. The world has no interest in religion and, therefore, they are no opposition, really, to a child of God.

Most of the opposition, most of the persecution through the ages has come through religious bodies, come from various churches so called that the opponents of truth, men who have set themselves up as a standard about God.

Again, the apostle brings forth in this chapter:

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
(2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4)

How far the devil will go. How far man will be deceived. If Christ is not God’s eternal Son, then we are in a very solemn place indeed.

But we have the references in Scripture to confirm it

We have already mentioned John chapter one which seems to me to be a complete confirmation of what this doctrine sets forth.

But also in Proverbs we read of the Son being in the bosom of the Father in eternity past.

——————–

We believe also that God’s people, the elected, were chosen in Christ before the world began.

Now, again, this is a doctrine which has been greatly rejected in the day in which we live. Many young people are being deceived by the smoothness or the eloquence of the preaching of those who are in total error. And their deception is not often flagrant. It is something which is subtle. And I believe this is how the devil for the most part captures, as it were, the hearts and minds of men and women and young men and women at that.

He lulls them into a false sense of security. He impresses them with the ability that is the natural ability of certain men who are able to speak, as it were, with authority and speak with great understanding.

And yet when you analyze what they speak, what they say there is nothing in it, nothing but a false gospel which is no gospel at all.

Wasn’t that the warning that Paul gave to the Galatians?

He says, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?” (Galatians 3:1)

And yet they were bewitched by those who had crept, as it were, into the church.

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.”
(Galatians 3:1-4)

See that same message, the same doctrine. These were deceived by certain men coming in and bewitching them, setting forth things which seemed so plausible to them that they seemingly could not reject them. They could not deny them.

And yet the apostle says, “From what were you converted? How did you come to a knowledge of Christ in the beginning? Was it under a sense of the law? Did the law bring you there?”

Well, we know that the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. It has teaching in it. But salvation is of Christ alone and it is the Holy Spirit that leads us into that glorious truth.

“Stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”
(2nd Thessalonians 2:15)

It is then under the teaching of the Scriptures that we come to know and understand that the Holy Spirit enlightens our hearts and minds to see this glorious truth.

——————–

Again, we live in a day when so many deny the absolute sovereignty of Almighty God.

We sometimes see, sometimes hear those that would advocate a Christ standing by the door of man’s heart and knocking and is disappointed and dejected because man refuses to open unto him.

What kind of god do these people believe in?

An impotent god, a god who can’t do anything.

What blasphemy they declare by their teaching!

We believe in a God of all power who orders all things after the council of his own will, who spake in the first place and it was done, who commanded and it stood fast.

We believe in the God who not only created the world, but sustains it.

And though we have much talk today of global warming, that the world is getting warmer. Well, if you look back from the records of this nation you will find that there were periods of great coldness and there were periods in the middle ages of great heat.

These things have gone in a cycle throughout creation.

But, of course, man is short sighted. He cannot see any further than the end of his nose, as it were. And so he believes this lie.

We know that God is in control.

Here is a tradition that we can stand fast upon, that God has ordained all things.

Does not the Lord Jesus Christ teach that the very hairs of your head are all numbered and not one of them can fall to the ground without your heavenly Father’s knowledge?

We think in our youth how many hairs there were upon our head.

Think how many since that time, those of us who are older, how many have fallen to the ground?

And every one is known unto God.

If God is so meticulous, then, and so very careful over these, what we would perhaps term incidental things, how much more loving and caring is He over His ordained, elect people, that His purpose might be fulfilled.

God knows the end from the beginning and there are many things happening in the world today which cause us great consternation. We concern ourselves and worry over them. Perhaps we concern and worry unduly because we know that what will happen according to God’s purpose will happen.

And what is man if he shall stand in the way?

In the Psalms it says God shall have them in derision. He shall laugh them to scorn. Poor, puny man who thinks that he can control the elements or determine the fate of this world.

No, God is a sovereign God. And he is a sovereign God in the purpose of the election of His people.

He says, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” (Romans 9:13).

We see this discrimination — and I use that word purposely — we see this discrimination by God in choosing one and rejecting another according to the purpose of his own will.

He is the heavenly potter and he makes one vessel to honor and another to dishonor according as he sees fit.

Who can say unto him, “What doest thou?”

Who can say unto God that He cannot do or He must do certain things?

God is sovereign.

He is sovereign in His ways.

He is sovereign in His purpose and He is sovereign in the election of grace.

And many are called, but few are chosen.

But “all that the Father giveth me”, said the Lord Jesus Christ, “shall come to me” (John 6:37).

There is no doubt.

You know, there are many going about today saying, “If we don’t convert these people, they are going to be lost,” as if man had some power to be able to convert others.

Man takes too much upon himself. Man puts himself in the position that he has no right even to think about.

I say God is sovereign.

He will choose whomsoever He will.

He has chosen whomsoever He will.

And that choice, having been made shall be confirmed and ratified in glory at last.

Yes, so all that the Father gave by donation to his only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, shall be surely at the appointed time and in the appointed place and by the appointed manner, come to the Lord Jesus Christ and none shall prevent them.

None shall stand in the way.

None shall cause the Lord Jesus Christ disappointment.

What a wonderful gospel it is when we consider it in that light.

But God has done whatsoever He has desired to do. And none can question him. He is the almighty. He is the great and the eternal God. He is from everlasting to everlasting.

He is God alone and there is none beside.

Man makes gods unto himself, many. And, of course, in the Old Testament times you can read in the chapters of Isaiah from 40 onwards about the making of idols.

How foolish, how stupid that was to bow down to stocks and to stones to say that these are our gods.

How foolish was Aaron being bold to make that golden calf and to cause the people to bow down and worship it.

Yes, man has ever been foolish. He is still foolish today. The gods are different gods, but nevertheless, they are still gods.

We have the god of wealth.

We have the god of honour.

We have the god of fame.

We have the god of sport.

We have the god of pleasure.

And all these gods, people bow down and worship.

If you go to certain venues you can see that earlier this year in Kansas City in the hotel that we were staying in happened to be opposite the football stadium and one evening there was such a noise we thought it was thunder.

But when we looked out the window we saw this great crowd of people shouting and screaming for their idols.

This man worships idols.

God’s elect, His chosen, His called people come to see that there is no God but one and they come to acknowledge that He is God and He is God alone.

These are the traditions that the apostle is speaking of.

And how does man come to know that he is one of the Lord’s?

How does he know that he is elect according to the foreknowledge of God?

You cannot look at a person and say, yes, we can see that that person is elect.

How do we know?

The Lord Jesus said, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

We were speaking this morning of that need of not a superficial change, but of a real change of heart, of mind, of understanding, a change which would cause a person to walk in a completely different direction to the way in which he once walked, born again of the Spirit of God, born into newness of life.

Yes, the apostle says that we are new creatures, new creatures in Christ Jesus.

“…Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
(2nd Corinthians 5:17)

Here is that change that takes place in the heart and life of the true believer.

And where is that faith directed?

I say it is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead the sinner to the Saviour, to lead him to the cross at Calvary, to lead him to the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, to lead him to that atoning work, to lead him to that propitiation, that peace, peace by His cross as Jesus said.

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins.”
(1st John 2:1-2)

He is. He has made peace. He paid the ultimate price for the sins of His people. He gave His life a ransom for many.

The purpose of His coming into this world – “His name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:23).

He is the Saviour, then, whom the prophets and teachers of old pointed to. From the beginning of time to the end of the Old Testament there are the many references.

The book of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah is often spoken of as the fifth gospel because there are so many references to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the work that He will perform and all that He would do to secure the souls of His elect, those who have been given unto Him, those for whom He came to pay that price.

He came to be the Redeemer. He came to bring redemption for his people. Yes, what a price the Lord Jesus Christ was prepared to pay.

And why was He prepared to pay it?

Because He loved his people.

He loved them so dear that He gave His whole self that they, poor erring sinners might live.

These are the traditions that the apostle is speaking of here. The works of sovereign
grace, those things which are so despised in our day, those things which are being denied.

You know, we find this in our bookstore. We want to bring forth certain titles which have been made a blessing to the Christian Church. And we find the people that we buy these books from have altered them. We are often deceived and sometimes it is so subtle. We are deceived – not knowing. They don’t tell you that you have changed the text. And without really reading the whole book we cannot always tell. But they make changes – for the most part they have taken out chapters on reprobation, chapters which set forth the truths of sovereign grace. They have watered down these these things that the book is totally worthless. It has no point because they have taken out the very heart of the truth of that book.

And I believe this is the whole purpose of Satan.

He wants to take the heart out of the gospel.

He wants to make them believe that there is another way by which they can come to God or that God, because he is a God of love, will accept the person of all men.

Well, the Bible doesn’t teach that. There are very solemn things which are set forth in the Word of God and we need to be warned of these solemnities. We need to have them set before us.

The last thing that we would ever want when we come and stand before God is for the Lord to say, “But you didn’t warn people. Their blood is upon your head.”

No, we have had to give out at times solemn warnings that if we do not believe the truth, if we do not hold fast to these sound provisions then it is evident that we are not God’s people.

And if we are not God’s people, then we are lost to all eternity.

“Ye began well”, the apostle says.

Yes, many seem to begin well. They seem to have a real religion. They seem to have a love for the truth. But by and by their love grew cold and they started turning out of the way and before long they no longer [fellowship with God’s people]. They wanted a more pleasurable gospel as they would call it. They wanted something which is far easier. And for a while they were entertained by the social gospel that seemed to please their ears and delight their spirits.

But then, after a time, they tell that that didn’t satisfy and they went further yet and until, at last, there was no religion in them. They had walked away from the truth. They had rejected the sound teaching of the gospel. They had fallen away.

Don’t think that these are isolated cases. The sad part is that we have seen it so often in our churches that young people, especially, older ones, too, are being attracted by a certain speaker of a different denomination and they think that this person has everything that they need.

And so they depart from a sound gospel.

And they go and listen to the eloquence of this man who is able to pitch a story which seems so convincing to them that they fall hook, line and sinker, as they say, into this error.

It is very solemn and we see so many.

And some older ones who we thought were pillars in the church, also being deceived, have got away.

Why are our churches so low?

Why are there so few?

Because there are so few people that want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. No, we don’t give you entertainment. We don’t bring forth novelties. We don’t dress up in some comical outfit to amuse and to bring laughter out of our congregation. We are commissioned of God for one thing and that is to preach the gospel. And woe unto me if I preach not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And may this be a warning as well as an exhortation.

“Therefore, brethren…”

He calls them brethren. He loves them for the truth’s sake.

Stand fast, and hold tenaciously hold on to these traditions which have been taught to you, which are laid in your heart as a foundation. Don’t depart from them. Don’t deviate one iota from the truth. It is a straight and narrow way that leads to God and few there be that find it.

The Word of God throughout speaks of remnant, a little company.

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
(Luke 12:32)

Ah, to be numbered among those people.

As the hymn writer says:

May I numbered with them be,
Now and through eternity.

Do we love the brethren?

Do we love the truth?

Do we enough to hold fast to these what are termed today old fashioned doctrines?

Give me the old fashioned doctrines. Give me that straight and narrow way, because it is a sure way. It is a certain way. It is the only way that leads to God.

And when we begin to depart from these, it is like the snowball that tumbles down the
hill as it rolls. It gathers more to it and ends up in confusion at the bottom.

No, we need to stand fast, to stand firm, to hold on, not to let go, not to be deceived, not to be attracted by our fleshly considerations, but to consider what the Lord Jesus Christ is and what He has said and what He has done for His people, that sovereign work that He accomplished whereby he could say, “It is finished.” (John 19:30).

You see, many today are denying that. They are saying, “Christ did not finish his work. We have got to add something to it. We have got to bring something forth.”

They are denying the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ, His finished work, His great salvation.

We believe in a Christ that has done everything and failed in nothing. Oh may we then hold fast unto these things whether we be the only ones left at the end of the day.

If we hold fast then we are assured of a place in the kingdom.

As the apostle says, “To be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23).

May the Lord bless his own Word of truth to us. Amen.

By Michael Pickett