Standfast: [stand-fast, -fahst] –noun a rigid or unyielding position.
1. Stand Fast in the FAITH
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
Five Admonitions from 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
a. These are the things you memorize so they are
accessible (also…Phil 4:8)
b. “Watch” care, attendance, awake to righteousness!
1Cor15:34, Eph 5:16, Rom 6:13
c. “Stand fast” … in your position in Christ - Gal 5:1, 1
Cor 15:58, Col 2:5
d. Quit you like men (1 Sam 4:9) – Be men, not children,
fight! 1Cor 14:20, 1Tim 1:18
e. Be strong … in the Lord – 2 Cor 12:9, Phil 4:13, Eph
6:10, 1Cor 4:19-20, 2 Tim 2:1
f. Charity is love of seeing the truth benefit others, do
all things with this in mind.
2. Stand Fast in the LORD
Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and
crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Philippians 4:1
For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 3:8
Paul’s joy, prize and
life were all invested in those whom he ministered to and continually worked to
see stablished in the faith. Paul’s reasoning in Philippians 1:23 for desiring to
stay alive in the flesh was simply for the benefit of the Body of Christ.
3. Stand Fast in the DOCTRINE
Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye
have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. 2 Thessalonians 2:15
a)
This is not an endorsement of all traditions -
Gal 1:14, Col 2:8
b)
“Church history” is not a consensus – Acts
15:1-2, 4-7. 2 Cor 11:1-4
c)
What is
right is more important than who is right – Gal 1:7-10
d)
When you have the truth you keep it – 1 Cor
16:13, Phil 3:8, Rom 3:4
4. Stand Fast in the LIBERTY
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1
Our liberty in Christ
made us free, setting us free from the law, sin, death. Returning to bondage is
an identity crisis.
5. Stand Fast in ONE SPIRIT
Only let
your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come
and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast
in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Philippians 1:27
Unity exists after attaining sound doctrine. Unity
does not exist where doctrine differs. Under sound doctrine we unite as Ephesians
4:14 says, “not as children.”
There are two ways to achieve doctrinal unity: 1)
compromise; or 2) evangelize.
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