PERFECTING THE SAINTS

SERIES ONE
FELLOWSHIP FOR THE CHINESE-SPEAKING SERVING ONES IN NORTH AMERICA – 02.15.2026

Message Twelve

The Need to Hold and Firmly Keep What Has Been Committed to Us

Scripture Reading: Rev. 3:8, 10-11, 2 Tim. 1:13-14, Eph. 4:3, 15, 1 John 2:5, Acts 2:42, 1 Tim. 3:9, 1 Cor. 1:9-10

I.Among Christians today, there is a trend of not keeping the Lord’s word; we must return completely to the Lord’s word and absolutely keep His word by taking the Lord as our all-sufficient grace—Rev. 3:8; 1 Tim. 5:21:

A.The church in Philadelphia has a notable characteristic, which is that she keeps the Lord’s word—Rev. 3:8, 10:

1.　According to history, no other Christians have kept the Lord’s word as strictly as the church in Philadelphia—v. 8.

2.　We should not think that the church in Philadelphia is strong, powerful, and victorious; the Lord says that she has “a little power”—Rev. 3:8.

3.　Although the measure of grace we have received may be limited, as long as we apply this grace and do our best to keep the Lord’s word, He will be pleased—Rom. 12:6; Eph. 4:7; 1 Pet. 4:10.

B.We must endeavor to strictly and daily keep the Lord’s word, continuing steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles—Acts 2:42; 2 Tim. 3:10, 14:

1.　The teaching of the apostles is the constitution of the church and should be taught the same way everywhere in all the churches—1 Cor. 4:17.

2.　In the church, there should be only one unique teaching, the teaching of the apostles, and no different teachings—Gal. 1:8.

3.　To keep the Lord’s word means to receive Him into us, giving up our concepts and opinions, so that He may have the full place in us—John 8:37; Matt. 13:3, 19, 23; Mark 4:3, 14, 20.

4.　To keep the Lord’s word is actually to be transformed—1 John 2:5.

II.Hold the pattern of the healthy words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us—2 Tim. 1:13-14:

A.The deposit here must refer to the deposit of the Lord’s healthy words stored in us, including the riches of life in the Lord’s word—1 Tim. 6:20; Col. 3:16; Psa. 119:11, 15, 72, 111, 162:

1.　From the time we were saved, we have received many things from God as a deposit, like a deposit in a bank; within us, especially in our spirit, we have a divine deposit from the Lord—1 Tim. 6:20.

2.　God’s life, God’s Spirit, and all the precious truths we have seen in the Lord’s word have been deposited into our being—Col. 3:16.

B.To hold the pattern of the healthy words means to live by the healthy words, being nourished in the words of the full gospel concerning God’s eternal economy and in the sweet words which contain and convey the riches of Christ—2 Tim. 1:13; 1 Tim. 4:6; 6:20:

1.　Today we need to be empowered with grace, which is the processed Triune God given to us, or dispensed into us, for our enjoyment—2 Tim. 1:1.

2.　We also need to commit the healthy words we have experienced to faithful men, who will be able to teach the same healthy words to others also—2 Tim. 1:13.

C.We must guard the healthy words of God’s economy which the Lord has deposited in us as a deposit through the indwelling Spirit—2 Tim. 1:12-14; 1 Tim. 6:20.

III.To overcome in the recovery church is to hold fast what we have so that no one may take our crown—Rev. 3:11; Col. 2:18:

A.To overcome in the church in Philadelphia is to hold fast to what we have in the recovery church to the end—Rev. 3:11-12.

B.The recovery church has already received a crown; but if we do not hold fast what we have until the Lord comes, our crown will be taken by others—Rev. 3:11-12.

C.If we hold fast to what we have received in the Lord’s recovery to the end, the Lord will make us a pillar in the temple of God—Rev. 3:12; 21:22.

IV.For us to guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, we need to exercise our spirit—Rom. 8:16; 1 Tim. 4:7:

A.The working of the Holy Spirit in us is the means by which we guard the good deposit; Paul charged Timothy: “Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us”—2 Tim. 1:14.

B.If we are persons who, by exercising our spirit, walk, behave, and live in the spirit, then whatever has been deposited into our being will be guarded through the Spirit who dwells in us—2 Tim. 1:12-14:

1.　Believers should live and walk by The Spirit; we must be deeply impressed that the New Testament does not charge us to keep the letter of the Scripture; but the New Testament does charge us to live by The Spirit and walk by The Spirit—Gal. 5:16-18, 22-25.

2.　To walk means to walk, move, speak, and act by The Spirit; all our living and actions should be by The Spirit within us—Gal. 5:16, 25.

C.But if we neglect The Spirit and live and walk in the flesh and according to the mind, we will be like the Gentiles who are alienated from God; if this is our situation, the good things deposited in our being will not be guarded—Eph. 4:17-18; 1 Thes. 4:4-5.

V.In the time of the church’s desolation, not only should our spirit within be strong, but we must also realize that the Spirit who dwells in us is a holding Spirit, a guarding Spirit, and we should have intimate fellowship with Him—2 Tim. 1:7, 14:

A.Our spirit should be stirred up, strong, of love, and of sobermindedness—2 Tim. 1:7.

B.At the same time, the Spirit of God dwells in us so that we may thereby firmly hold what God has entrusted to us—2 Tim. 1:14.

C.If our spirit is strong and we enjoy His holding and guarding Spirit, then we live in the spirit; in this way, we can overcome the desolate situation and the condition of the church being deformed—2 Tim. 1:7, 14.

VI.How do we hold to the truth firmly; it is in love; holding to the truth in such love is to hold to Christ and His Body, not being affected by winds of teaching, and not bringing in elements other than the Body—Eph. 4:15:

A.This is the fourth time in the book of Ephesians that “in love” is mentioned; our relationship with the Lord is like that of a husband and wife; therefore, our life with the Lord should also be in love; this love is from the Lord and in us, becoming our love for the Lord—Eph. 4:15.

B.In this love, we always hold to the truth, which is the Lord Himself; the Lord’s love moves us and motivates us; in this love, we hold to the truth, that is, we hold to the words and teachings concerning Christ, and are not tossed by winds of teaching—Eph. 4:15.

C.We must hold fast to the true words concerning Christ; only Christ Himself is true and real, and all else is false and empty; all that is not of Christ is a wind of teaching; only those messages, teachings, and words that speak of Christ are true; these we must hold firmly—Eph. 4:15.

VII.The deacons in the local church, for the Lord’s testimony, should hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience and with full understanding—1 Tim. 3:9:

A.The mystery of the faith is mainly that Christ is the mystery of God and the church is the mystery of Christ—Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4.

B.A pure conscience is a conscience that has been cleansed and is without mixture; to hold the mystery of the faith in the Lord’s testimony requires such a pure conscience—1 Tim. 3:9.

C.Holding faith and a good conscience is the protection of our Christian faith and life; the word shipwreck implies that the Christian life and the church life are like a ship sailing on a stormy sea, needing the protection of faith and a good conscience—1 Tim. 1:19.

VIII.Since we are for the Lord’s recovery, we must do our best to keep the oneness and maintain the one accord among us—Eph. 4:3; Acts 1:14; 2:46:

A.The first item of a Christian walk worthy of God’s calling is that we must be diligent to keep the oneness of The Spirit; keeping the oneness is not a simple matter; for this purpose, we need to be diligent, to strive, to struggle, and even to fight to keep, maintain, and preserve this one—Eph. 4:3.

B.Every day we must practice and learn to walk not according to our feeling but according to The Spirit; we must also love one another, be compassionate toward one another, and forgive one another; in this way, one accord can be produced and maintained among us—Eph. 4:3; Acts 1:14; 2:46.

C.We should not do anything that would damage this one accord; we must be one with the church according to what the local church feels is necessary to practice at the present time—Eph. 4:3.