Holding Fast the Faithful Word

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, October 29th. Do you read your Bible consistently? If not, it will be very difficult for you to understand God and embrace the life He's planned for you. Today, you'll learn the importance of holding fast to the faithful word. I want you to turn, if you will, to Titus chapter one, Titus chapter one. And in this one verse, Paul in the first chapter beginning in verse six is describing the qualifications for an elder or a pastor. But it's the ninth verse I want us to look at primarily.

But let's begin where he begins. And he said to Titus, he says, For this cause I left you in Crete. Now, verse five, For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and upon elders in every cities I directed you.

Namely, these are the qualifications. If any man be above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God stood, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, that is, quick to fight, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-control. And then he says, Holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, that is, it's in accordance with the teaching of the apostles, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. So this is the verse I want us to look at here. Holding fast the faithful word. Over and over and over again, people say, Well, you know, I know that I should be the spiritual leader in my home, but the truth is I just don't know what to say and I just don't know what to do. Well, if you'll think about all the verses in the Bible that speak of instruction, of studying the Word of God, of the place of the Word of God in our life, what he says to Titus in instructing elders and in choosing elders should be true of all of us. Now, I just want to say two things in this verse, so I want you to get them.

Listen to what he says. He says, verse nine, holding fast the faithful word, holding fast the Word of God. Now, what does it mean to hold something? It means to take it in hand. But what does it mean to hold it fast? It means to cling to it.

It means to hold on tightly. But Paul is saying something else besides holding it and holding it fast. He's talking about their attitude toward the scriptures, their faith in the Word of God. He said, when you choose these elders, choose men not only who have these other qualifications about their family and about their conversation, their conduct, but men who hold fast, hold on tightly to who committed to who believe in, who have unwavering faith in the word. The biggest battle today is not is that a Bible?

That's not the issue. The issue is what is the book? This book is the divine revelation of God himself.

Now listen to this. Revelation is what God gives the mankind that man couldn't get any other way. Inspiration is what the Holy Spirit did when he spoke through the writers to write. Illumination is what the Holy Spirit does to you and me when you and I open the word. Somebody said, I got a revelation from God.

No, you didn't. Well, I got an inspiration. Well, I know what you mean by that.

You got excited about something, so forth. But illumination is what the Holy Spirit does. Listen, the Bible says the entrance of thy word giveth light. It illumines my mind and helps me to understand the revelation. What makes this book different from all of the books is it is the divine revelation of God.

He's never given it but once. So all these people who criticize the word of God, here's their problem. The problem is they have never settled what this is. If this is a book that contains myths and some truth mixed with error, they will never, never, never have the assurance God intends. If it is a book that is contained with error, they will always be hindered in their witness.

For you walk up to somebody and say, let me tell you about Jesus and this is his book. At least it's part of his book. Some of this is of him and some of it's of man. Which part is of him and which part is of male? Well, the truth is this part is of God.

This part is of. Can you imagine somebody trying to lead you to Jesus, giving you a book that's full of error? The absolute futility of trying to lead anybody to Jesus with the idea that some of this is true and some of it is not true. Now, listen to what he said. He said, you choose men who hold on tight, fully convinced, will never give up, will never waver in their faith in what this book is. He says, holding fast the fateful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, that is, this is the revelation of God. Now, of course, when he said that, they didn't have what you and I have, didn't have it all wrapped up and put in nice fine leather and with an index and maps and all the rest.

They didn't have that. But this book is the divine revelation of God given by God. And remember, what separates this from all the books is it is the unfolding truth about God given to man by God. The Bible is the story of God's redeeming love from Genesis to Revelation.

That's what it's all about. God's redeeming love. The first part of the Bible talks about our need. The second part about God's provision and the third part, his consummation of it all.

You can divide into lots more sections than that. But the truth is, this is God's divine revelation. Every single one of you has the Holy Spirit in him and her in order to do what?

To illumine your mind so that you'll be able to understand it. And listen to what he says in this passage. He says, holding fast the fateful word. Now, listen, he didn't say hold it loosely. I know a lot of folks who hold it loosely when he says when he says in this passage, holding fast, holding fast, the fateful word.

Faithful means it's reliable and dependable. It's faithful in salvation. Young lady walked this aisle. She's from a different nation and a different religion. She'd never been in a church before. And she said, I want this Jesus. Never heard the gospel.

Hadn't been in church. She says, I want this Jesus. That's the power of the word of God. You don't have to sit in church for 40 years and hear it to get saved. You hear it one time and be saved. That's the power of the Holy Spirit illuminating a darkened mind to know the truth. When within that mind, there is a desire to know the truth. Listen, whenever you pray this prayer, God, show me the truth. Here's one prayer God will always answer because he wants us to know the truth. He says this fateful word, fateful to save.

Faithful in guidance. How many times you and I have been to the word and how many times I've been on my face before God, not knowing what to do. Open the word saying, God, speak to my heart. Speak to my spirit.

Show me the truth. And God lead me to a passage of scripture. It couldn't be any clearer than if he just said, Dear Charles, such clear, distinct, unquestionable direction. And I believe I can say without any question, every single time I've ever come to God, and I don't mean I just come to him every day and just flip over the Bible. Every time I've ever come to him asking for direction in an area in which I needed to know God's guidance and ask him to show me the truth and to confirm it in his word without fail every single time.

Every one of those decisions has proven to be absolutely right. That's God's book to give us direction for our life. And though it was written hundreds and hundreds of years ago to a particular group of people in a given situation, that is the supernatural power of the word of God, that it's just as applicable today, tonight to give me direction as it was. Paul speaking to the Corinthian Church Galatians or anybody else. What's involved when he says what's involved in holding fast the word?

Two things primarily. First of all, you've got to settle whether you believe it or not. Isn't it amazing that sometimes I'm preaching through a sermon and I'm quoting you a verse of Scripture and you're saying, for everybody else. Mm hmm. For everybody else.

Yes. I believe that for them, but you don't believe it for yourself. Now, remember, the Spirit of God doesn't tell you when you're reading the scriptures that you only believe what you feel.

We believe the word of God because it's God's divine revelation. Now, you need to settle. If you've got doubts and questions about the Bible, you need to settle it once and for all.

You say, how do you settle it? Well, some people go about it in different ways. Somebody says, I'm going to study the Bible to find out whether it's true or not. Well, you surely will find out if it's true if you study it. Not worried about that.

But here's the fellow who gets me. No, I don't believe it. Have you read it? No, I haven't read it because I don't believe it. Nobody who is really honest would ever turn down the word of God and say it's not true.

Not having read it. And here's the problem. You know what the problem? Most of those folks, the real problem is they are really afraid if they start reading this thing, they might believe it.

And all of us know that's exactly what's going to happen to you. If you've got doubts, let me say two things. Your doubts are based on ignorance, not error.

You just mark that one down. If you've got doubts, they're based on ignorance, not error in the word of God. And the interesting thing is that all through these years, the more we find out and all the manuscripts and all the discoveries, we haven't discovered anything yet that violates one single doctrine, one single truth of the word of God, not a one. Now, you think of all the things we found, we ought to come up with something.

Everything we find validates that. So when you talk about holding fast the word of God, you have to settle first of all, do you believe this is God's inerrant word, that is God's word without mixture of error? Now, one of the reasons some people don't believe part of it is because if they believe they're going to change their lifestyle.

Listen, if I were a Christian, I want to live a backslid life. I would neglect it as much as possible. So let me ask you this question. How often do you read it? Once a week? Is it a part of your daily diet? Second, then when he says hold fast, it means, listen, not only do I believe it, but holding fast means that I'm applying it to my life. It is a vital part of me.

Not just reading it once in a while, but my daily diet. It ought to be a yearning desire of your heart that every day, listen, you're not about to go through the day without getting in the word. Not because I tell you to.

That has got nothing to do with it. But because you want to know who is this God and whom you have placed your whole eternal destiny. And the only place you're going to find out what he's like is in the word. Listen, if somebody has to urge you to get in the word, you go days without getting in the word, you've got a basic problem between you and God. Holding fast the word of God involves the application of its truth in my life.

Holding fast the word of God implies not only my belief in it, but my willingness to apply it to my heart so that every facet of my life. Is influenced by it. Let me ask you a question. Can you name any area of your life? Business, your social life, church life, you name it. Can you name any part of your life finances in which you do not need any direction from this book? Can you name any facet of your life that God has not spoken about, that he does not give direction about, that he doesn't have some laws?

Listen, not to keep you from having fun, but to protect you from wrecking and ruining your life. Now, listen, if every facet of my life is included in the book, then every decision I make should be sifted through the principles of the word of God. That keeps his own track. Holding fast the word of God not only implies my belief in it, but it also demands my application of it.

Notice what he said. He says not only holding it, but look, holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching with the apostles, that he may be able to both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. So, first of all, he says, you must handle it right, settling your faith in it and then applying it to your life. Secondly, first of all, holding to it.

Secondly, how do I handle it? He says, here's what we ought to be doing. Number one, he says, exhorting others.

Look at that. That we may be able to both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. Now, it's not enough for us to believe it and to apply it to our hearts. Exhortation is a form of encouragement.

I don't care where you work. The people around you who are hurting, who need encouragement, who are discouraged, who are living in sin, who are out of sorts with God, they don't like themselves. They've got all kinds of problems. You have the Word of God in your hand. Most of you have it in your heart. Most of you really are able to take the Word and handle it properly by encouraging someone else.

But how often do you do it? You say, I feel so inadequate, join the crowd, but thank God for Philippians 4, 13, 4, 19, for Colossians 3, 4, and a whole bunch of other scriptures I could name. God doesn't want us feeling adequate within ourselves. He wants us to feel inadequate within ourselves, but totally sufficient in him. Listen, one of the fruits of reading the Word of God is a sense of tremendous godly confidence that in Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit, there's not anything God cannot do through you. Exhorting one another, encourage, listen, he says, encouraging each other. Now, if simply being able to believe the Word and applying it to my own heart was sufficient, there would be no great commission. As you go, therefore, make disciples of all nations.

How do you do that? With the Word of God. How's everybody who's ever been saved been saved by the Word of God? They might not have had a copy of it, they may not have heard a sermon, but by the Word of God, every single one of us been saved.

That's how the new birth takes place. The Word of God entering us, either through someone who's sharing it, what we read, what we hear, the Spirit of God taking the simple Word of God. How do we handle the Word? We share it.

That's the way you handle the Word. We share it. We use it to encourage, to exhort someone else to give their life to Christ.

We use it to encourage someone else who's downhearted and desperate, exhorting them. And secondly, listen to what he said. He says, exhort in sound doctrine, healthy doctrine, the truth. And he says, refute those who contradict. Now, do you know how to detect false doctrine? You keep hearing healthy doctrine, sound doctrine, applying sound doctrine. And then what happens when something that's false comes along, everything in you rises up, this big red flag comes up and says, uh-uh. Now, if if you just lay the Bible around and you handle it loosely instead of holding onto it tightly, somebody comes along, mixes up a little error with truth, you say, boy, that sounds good. Well, listen, the devil's always, listen, he always mixes truth with error. Somebody comes along and says, you don't really need to be baptized. Jesus is the only way, and he's one, but you don't believe that he's so narrow-minded that you're only going to get to heaven if you believe in him. Now, that appeals to the reason. Now, I hear people say, well, I wish I had a discerning spirit. I'm going to tell you how to get one.

You ready? The way you learn to have a discerning spirit to distinguish between error and truth is saturating your heart with the truth. When error comes along, what happens? The Holy Spirit within you does what? He sends you a warning to your spirit that this does not fit everything else you have been taught.

And that's God's way of protecting us from falling into error. Now, it's my prayer that God will build into your spirit such discernment, the slightest bit of error. Listen, that error, that discernment will help you discern when you read the newspaper what is ungodly, satanic, and deceptive. When you watch the television, you'll begin to pick up messages that are satanic, deceptive, and destructive to your spiritual life. When you develop a discerning spirit, you'll be able to walk up to someone and share with them and talk with them, and God will give you discernment what's going on inside their heart. Now, don't try to play psychologist.

I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about when that person begins to speak the Spirit of God, because you are saturated with the Word, you'll be able to sift quickly where they're coming from and what they believe. You'll never have a discerning spirit until you get in this book and this book gets in you.

Then it'll happen. Thank you for listening to Holding Fast the Faithful Word. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.