It'd be in the book of Philippians, if you would like to turn there. Philippians chapter one. As Paul continues, he's ending this portion. of the letter with exhortation, with his prayer for them. And it's obvious that he loves them dearly as a pastor, as a pastor would love his church. And the most pressing thing upon a pastor is the absence It was his absence. So if I'm absent from you all, my concern is your well-being. Meaning if I'm not here to preach to you, somebody's gonna be preaching to you. I'm concerned because I'm not here. It's not that I'm the best at it, that's not it. It's that the Lord's gave me the heart for you because I love you. And the Lord's gave you the heart to love me. This is what Paul's conveying to them. He loves them, they love him, and they desire for him to come and see them again.

They're wanting him to come back. Well, he's in a Roman jail, so that's a problem. He's not certain if he's going to be able to return to them. And so he's writing them a letter. This is the only account of a letter being written to them at the hand of Paul.

If there's others, then the Lord didn't choose to put it in his word. That being said, he is pressed to give everything necessary as his final word to these people. Think about it from his perspective. If he's going to die, and this is the last time I get to talk to you, I'm going to tell you everything the whole truth and nothing but the truth in love and in simplicity as I can to be as plain and as clear as I can be. And that is the burden and that is the charge of the Lord's pastors. Every time that they stand, this may be the last time I ever stand in a pulpit. This may be the last time I get to declare his truth. So I need to be as plain and as clear as I can be.

That's the charge that the Lord gives to his pastors. If we can preach each time we preach as if it was our last time, we'd be a lot better off. If we would come to service as if it was maybe the last time we would ever be able to hear the gospel, it would be beneficial to have that mentality, wouldn't it? So Paul is, he's encouraging them, he's pouring his heart out to them.

Let's just read this together here. Philippians 1 verse 27 through 30. Only let your conversation be as it become with the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast. That's what I've titled this message, stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me. How does a child of God stand fast?

That's the question this morning. He says, stand fast. Well, if that's what I must do, how do I do that? Well, he gives us three things here. If you look back in verse 27, he says that you stand fast in one spirit, stand fast in one mind, with one mind, and then the third one is stand fast, nothing terrified. that nothing terrifies you by your adversaries. We could sum this up by simply saying, how does a believer stand fast? By looking to Christ alone. That could be the sum of all he just said, looking to Christ alone. First, stand fast in one spirit. What does that mean?

Well, that word spirit translates to our spirit, our breath, our life force, but it also translates to the Holy Spirit. Paul's telling them, stand fast in the truth that the Spirit must make you free, that the Spirit must quicken you, that the Lord has to be the one that calls you to be born again, that it's not of yourself, that it's all by His Spirit. And if we stand fast on the same Holy Spirit, we'll understand, by grace, He has to do it, but by grace we'll understand that He does all the work and gets all the glory and salvation. we must realize or remember, and this is what he's doing, he's trying to, he's telling them, remember. Remember, he said that in different places, remember what you've learned, what you've been taught.

We're prone to forget, aren't we? We forget day to day. I could read, I enjoy reading Hawker and some other men, Mason. Sometimes the Lord gives me a breath of fresh air first thing in the morning and I'm sitting there, I feel overjoyed and at peace. And as soon as I step out of my house, I've already forgotten half of what I read because my mind's going for 50 other places. I need to be reminded again at that moment.

He's telling them, remember, remember it's the spirit that quicken it. It's not you. That's the same spirit that we stand fast on. Standing fast is the same thing as resting. Standing fast means that don't move a muscle. Don't try to work. Look to God to order and provide. Look to his finished work alone. Believe that it's his spirit that quickens.

Told Nicodemus, you must be born again. Now the conundrum was Nicodemus came to the Lord and said, how, what must I do? That's the problem, wasn't it? What must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I do? And that's the mentality of all men by nature. What must I do to inherit eternal life?

He said, you must be born again. You must be born again. The wind bloweth, he goes on and says, the wind bloweth where it lists us, and thou can't tell whether it comes or whether it goes, so is everyone that is born of the spirit. Nicodemus said, how can a man, when he is old, enter into his mother's womb a second time and be born?

How is that even possible? I love what the Lord says later on. He says, well, with man it's impossible, with God all things are possible. He said, that which is of the flesh is flesh, that which is of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, you must be born again. So if I'm to be born again of an incorruptible seed, if I'm to be made alive in Christ, I must be standing, I must come to the understanding or be brought to the understanding that it's all by him that it's gonna happen, because I can't do it. He's gonna have to be the one to cause me to see that it's by his spirit. And that's what it means to stand fast in one spirit. Lord's given us the same life source, the same breath. We live by faith, not by sight. We don't live based upon what we see with these eyes anymore. We live looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody said, well, how do you know there's nothing you can do for salvation? Well, because we're born sinners. were born dead and trespasses and in sin.

What hope did Lazarus have of being brought back to life by his own power? He had none. It wasn't until the Lord spoke the word, Lazarus come forth, that Lazarus got life. See, Christ is the life giver. Without him, there is no life. Without Him, there is no light. There's no life. It comes through and by Him. He is the source and He is the sum and substance of all life and light. Us, on the other hand, we're unable to look to Him by our nature. We're dead. We're unable to come to Him. Somebody said, all you have to do is come to Christ.

Here's the problem. I don't have any legs. I don't have any breath. I don't have any ability. He's gonna have to say, rise up and walk first. He's gonna have to say, live first. Otherwise, I can't come to him. That's what it means to stand. Believing that, that's what it means to stand fast in one spirit.

Our problem is a heart problem. That's the heart. You ever heard somebody talking about, what's the heart of the problem? What's the root problem? It's our heart. It's our heart. I need a new heart. Well, that's what he does when he gives life. When he blows upon us by his spirit, births us into the kingdom of God, making us new creatures, he gives us a brand new heart.

If you had a heart blockage, I'm gonna ask this question. Could you will away the heart blockage? Sounds like a rhetorical question, because it is. You know we can't. But men believe they can will away their corrupted, wicked, vile heart. No, I've got to get to a physician. I have to go see a doctor if I'm going to get rid of that blockage. The problem isn't that I don't need a triple bypass or a quadruple bypass. The problem is I need a brand new heart. This one's dead. It's not going to do me any good.

It's made of stone. And the Lord gives a new heart that looks unto him. A new song, David said, he pulled me out of the mire, he put my feet upon the rock, that's standing firm. And he put a new song in my heart, in my mouth, even praise unto the Lord.

Now we can't wheel away a blockage, we have to get to the heart doctor. You know what the Lord Jesus Christ said? I am the great physician. Gotta get to the doctor. Problem is, I can't get to him unless he summons me. That's what he does by his spirit. Believing that is standing firm, standing fast, and standing firm in one spirit. He told the Pharisees, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. They that are whole need not, we understand that, don't we?

You don't go to the doc, well, I guess you go for wellness checkups, I suppose. I hate those because normally they find something every single time. And then when I add another medication or something, you know what I mean? That's not a wellness checkup at that point. We come to the great physician because we're sick and needy. We can't come for a wellness checkup. There's always something wrong with us, isn't there?

That's what the Lord's telling us here. We stand firm that he is all. Christ is all. Stand fast in the spirit of love that he has given to us, having our hearts knit together, knowing that's by his grace that we are what we are. That's standing firm in one spirit.

Secondly, it says in verse 27, stand fast with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. What is the faith of the gospel? Well, what is the sum and substance of the gospel? It's the Lord Jesus Christ, is it not? That's the simplicity of Christ. That's what he's saying. Faith in the gospel is the simplicity found in Christ alone. Stand fast knowing by faith God is the author and God is the finisher of faith.

That faith is not ordered by us. Faith is not merited by us. Faith is not exercised by us. Faith is the gift of God by grace alone. And it is only bestowed to his people. Now you can have faith that that chair you're sitting in is gonna hold you up. That's not saving faith. Saving faith is from God. And it looks to Christ always. not what's seen, but what it's not seen. That's what it means to strive for the faith of the gospel. You know, we strive to look to Christ. That's what he's telling us here. Strive to look at the simplicity of it. Strive to stop, don't touch it. Stop touching it. Don't lay a hand to it. That's what he told us. He said, don't touch the ark. And he touched the ark. He thought the ark needed help. It was going to fall.

And that's what men do by nature is they take And they try to prop up God's gospel. No, strive for the simplicity, strive for the faith of the gospel, that it's Christ's faithfulness, not my faithfulness, not your faithfulness. It's Christ's love. It's not my love to him. It's his love. It's the father's love for God so loved that he gave. We strive for the simplicity that's found in Christ.

Stand fast knowing Christ bore our sin in his body on the tree. Stand fast knowing that he by himself purged our sin. And after that, he sat down at the right hand of God. Stand fast on His promises. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. He that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. We stand fast on His word, the simplicity of His truth. Everything that He has said, everything that He has spoken, we stand, that's our only place to stand on.

I guess we should have sung that song, All Other Ground is Sinking Sand. I can't remember the words now, but you, Yeah, you hear it. My hope is built on nothing less but Jesus' blood and righteousness. That's what it says. I care not trust the sweetest frame, but fully lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. That's where we stand is on Christ alone.

He is, we have no other resting place. And don't misunderstand the word stand firm, the two words, because that's not telling you to work. It's saying, if you can stand, you will. If you can, you will. You'll stand on the promises of Christ alone. You'll rest on the promises of Christ alone. You'll strive, we will strive together for the faith of the gospel.

Strive to realize that it was not my sacrifice or your sacrifice, but it was his sacrifice that saved his people. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's something to stand on, that God completely did the work all by himself. Strive to rest knowing he shed his precious blood to redeem his people.

Strive together for the faith of the gospel. Never leave the simplicity that salvation's of the Lord. Remember that it's his salvation. It's not my salvation. He gives it to you, but no, I didn't do anything to earn it. David said, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. He's the author and finisher of it. Christ is all in salvation.

You know, if you've heard the truth, you know this to be very true. It's hard sometimes to stand. It's hard sometimes to stand. Because life feels like a wrestling match. You have an old man and you have a new man and they're constantly at each other. They hate each other. Um, and it never, it's never going to get better. But the good news is, is the elder shall serve the younger, the scripture says. Lord saying, even though it's a wrestling match, even though there's ups and downs, whatever it may be, even if you're in a trial, going out of a trial, or going into a trial, stand fast on this.

This is the only thing that is unmovable. This is the only thing that is eternal, that will last forever, that's never going to change. You can believe this. You can trust your immortal soul to God with this right here. This is it. Turn with me over to Ephesians chapter six. Look at verse 10, Ephesians chapter six. Finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord. How do you do that?

Standing firm, standing firm and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God. that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against ruins of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, taken to you the whole armor of God, that ye be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with the truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.

Brethren, the important part here, I don't want you to miss, is he says in verse 14, stand therefore having. Having. In false religion, they use this right here as a recipe for the things you would work for. He said stand having. Don't stand to earn it. Stand because you have it. Stand because the Lord has given you all these things that he mentions.

They're metaphorically, but they're also, we have the truth. We have the breastplate of righteousness because we have the righteousness of Christ. Do we see that? All the things that he's talking about here. Stand because you've been given this already. This is what we can stand firm on. It's not something we earn. This is the armor Christ provides to his people. Wrestle to flee to Christ. Wrestle to flee to Christ. Strive to flee to Christ. Point each other to him.

Whenever you're down and discouraged, you have a, I'm reminded of an eagle. I don't know if you know, you all know this or not, or if I've mentioned this before, I don't remember, but it, I looked it up, it checked out. When an eagle is injured and it's in the valley, the other eagles will not come down in that valley to risk their own health. But what they will do is they'll fly over that other eagle and they'll drop food down to it. they'll drop food down to it. Sometimes when you're in a valley, it's nice to have your brothers say, remember, your redemption draweth nigh. Remember the work's finished.

That's the food that falls, that's the manna, is it not? The Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Paul is saying in striving for the faith of the gospel is, and go back to Philippians chapter one, or chapter two. No, we're in chapter one, sorry, that's second hour. That's what he's talking about when he says, striving together for the faith of the gospel. This is, we do not work for salvation in any way, but we struggle to stand. We struggle to stand because we desire to work. This flesh desires to work. That's why Paul said, I crucify the flesh.

I die daily. What was he talking about? He was saying, the old wretched man, who shall deliver me from this body of death? He saw the warfare inside of him. And he knew, Lord, if you don't cause me to stand firm, I'm gonna move. I'm gonna mess it up. Here's the good news, brethren. We're kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. Remember that your redemption draweth nigh, for it's God that said it is finished, and he cannot lie. He cannot lie. The hardest thing for the Lord's people to do is to see past the cares, trials, and troubles of this life.

That's why we must strive together. That's why we must remind each other. That's why we have to come hear the gospel. The Lord calls us to strive together, work together, in this work that the Lord's given us. What are you working to do? We're working to look to Christ. We're trying our best to look to Christ. We're fleeing to him. We're not moving a muscle, but it's, Paul called it a labor. Do we see that? Strive to stand upon the foundation of God's gospel. Look to Christ who ordered and provided everything for the salvation of his people. Strive to look to him alone. Lastly, he says, stand fast in nothing terrified of our adversaries.

And this is the one that kind of, at first I wasn't exactly certain what Paul was completely meaning by this. And then the Lord revealed it to me. So at first, Naturally, you would think, okay, well, what is our adversaries? Well, we just got done reading Ephesians chapter one, talked about the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So there's your adversaries, right? And then you have the world that's your adversary. And although that's true, your greatest enemy is the person you see in the mirror every day. You know that's true, don't you? Your greatest adversary is yourself. Do you know why that is?

Because the flesh does not mind the things of God. Somebody said, well, if I believe what you believe, I'd live how I wanted to live. If I could live how I'd want to live, I would be the happiest person on the face of the earth, because I'd be living perfectly righteous before the Lord. I would be honoring Him in everything I did and everything I said.

That's how I want to live, but I can't do that. Why? I'm in a body of sin. I'm in a corrupt body with a, with a bad heart. He's got to be the one to be my righteousness. He's got to be the one to be my rest and my peace. He's the one that lived the life that I could not live. So what is he saying here?

Be stand fast and nothing terrified of our adversaries. What terrifies the child of God most. Is it not self? Is it not fear of being left to yourself? Isn't that your greatest fear? Lord, don't leave me to myself. Lord, don't leave me to my sin. Is that what terrifies you the most? That's what terrifies me the most. Lord, if you leave me, where's another remedy gonna be outside of the grace of God? Where's another remedy gonna be outside the blood of Christ if I'm left to my sin? I'm hopeless. I'm helpless. I'm lost. That terrifies me. That terrifies me. That's what Paul's saying here.

Stand fast in nothing terrified by your adversaries. Why? Because fear not, I have put away your sin, you shall not die. Stand fast on that promise. Stand fast on the promise the Lord said, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. Stand fast on the promise that the Lord is our shepherd. I shall be in want of nothing because he accomplished everything necessary for the salvation of his people." Our adversary will say, seems like it's frequent too. Well, if you were really a believer, if you were really a child of God, you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't say that. You ever hear those words? It's the fiery darts of unbelief found in Ephesians chapter six we just read.

Stand fast in this promise. My sheep hear my voice. Have you ever heard his voice? Oh, Lord, I hope and pray I've heard you. If I haven't heard your voice, make today be the day I hear your voice. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.

I'm terrified of my sin. I'm terrified of my unbelief. and they shall never perish. Stand fast knowing that his sheep hears his voice and that all that the father gave to him shall come to him. Brethren, he told the father, all that you have given me, I've lost none. I'm not going to lose one sheep. Brethren, we're kept by His power. We're made to stand fast by His grace.

In this laborious world that we live in, the hardest thing for us to do is to look to Christ because it's an impossibility. It's not a choice that we're making. We're not saying, OK, now I'm going to read more Bible and I'm going to see Christ. We can seek His face, but that doesn't mean you're going to see His face. David said, I wouldn't even seek your face unless you sent unto me, seek ye my face.

It's the Lord that gets all the glory in this. Paul saying, stand fast in what you've learned and what you know to be true, that it's the spirit that regenerated because the Son redeemed, because the Father elected. It's not in you and it's not in me to keep ourselves. We're kept by the power of God. Stand fast right there. No matter what wiles the devil throws at us, don't look away from that in any circumstance. Stay there. That's the resting place for the Lord's people.

Somebody said, well, what if he stops loving me? He can't. That's something God cannot do because his love is everlasting. It never had a beginning and it never has an end. Isn't that glorious? We can fall out of love with our spouses, can't we? He can't fall out of love with his bride. I love that.

I can't mess it up. I can't mess it up. You can't mess it up either. Not based upon us, nothing can change it. In closing, I want to show us that in Romans chapter eight. Turn with me, Romans chapter eight. I could quote it, but I want you to see it. Look at verse 31.

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up freely for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?

It is God that justifieth. Who is it? Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? That's the question. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, nay, in all these things. We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What if he stops loving me? He can't. Nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

Stand fast right there. Stand fast right there, knowing there is no more work to be done. He finished the work. Do not be terrified of self. Do not be terrified of Satan. Do not be terrified of the world. Look to Christ. Look to Christ as all our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And Paul said it best, Ephesians chapter six, and having done all to stand, stand therefore. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would take this and bless it to our understanding. All for your glory, in Christ's name, amen. Let's take a break.