[An extract from notes of a sermon preached on the text "Behold, I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" - Revelation 3:11 at the induction of Rev. James Tallach at Kames, 4th May,
1931. The preacher is presumably Rev. Donald Beaton. The notes were published in the Free Presbyterian Magazine in September 1935. Headings have been added to make it easier to read on the internet. This extract shows how we must hold fast to God's Word in spite of all opposition.]
Hold fast so that you do not let it slip
When we are exhorted here to "Hold fast," it is a command, and implies...that you should not hold it loosely so that it might slip. Hold it fast, and although you should lose the world, and even your very life, don't lose your hold. Others held it so fast in Scotland, that they allowed their lives to be taken rather than lose God's Word. Alas, that we should be the offspring of such men and women, when we esteem the Word of God so lightly - the Word that they gave their lives for. How worthless we are when we would not say to any man, who would try to take this Word out of our hands - "Hands off, that belongs to me. It is God's Word, and He gave it to me, and commands me to hold it fast." It cannot be said that you are holding it fast if you let this and that part slip. You must hold it so that not one iota of it will slip out of your hands.
Hold fast so that it it is not take from you
It also implies that there will be some who will try to take it from you, otherwise there would be no reason to ask you to hold it fast, and it is then that you will have to show what grip you have of it, and what value you see in it, and how much you are prepared to sacrifice in order to keep it.
The great enemy of God's truth down through the ages, from the days of Cain and Abel, never ceases to try to take this treasure from God's Church. Satan has done his very utmost to take this Word out of the hands of the Church, and when we look into the history of the Bible, of Cain and Abel, that is what he was trying to do there. What we have there is whether Abel would let go God's truth and hold by the opinions of his own brother, and there are many in the world who think that anything they may devise is a worship good enough for God, and that He is bound to accept of it, but will He?
What was the cause of all the misery that came upon the Old Testament Church? Was it not because they allowed Satan and his false prophets to take God's Word out of their hands. Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, and he was doing this, and so strong was the force he had in the days of Elijah, that when that Prophet of God on Mount Carmel came to try to take the people back to the worship of God, there were over a thousand false prophets to face one man, who was holding fast by God's Word. There is nothing new in our day when you look back on the history of the past.
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