BIBLE REFERENCE:

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:22

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:13

But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. Revelation 2:25

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.   1 Corinthians 15:58

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;   Hebrews 3:14

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Hebrews 6:19

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9

Philip Paul Bliss - Lyrics and Composer
1838-1876

Born: July 9, 1838, Clear­field County, Pennsylvania
Died: December 29, 1876, Ashtabula, Ohio. Bliss and his wife died in a tragic train wreck caused by a bridge collapse. He survived the initial impact, but went back into the flames in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue his wife.
Buried: The remains retrieved from the Ashtabula disaster were placed in a common grave marked by a cenotaph in the Ashtabula Cemetery. A cenotaph in memory of the Blisses was also erected in the cemetery at Rome, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1877.

HYMN HISTORY:

As true of so many of P.P. Bliss’s gospel songs, this stirring hymn was inspired by an illustration used by Major Whittle, an officer in the American Civil War, while addressing a YMCA meeting on the text from Revelation 2:25. Major Whittle’s illustration was about a small Northern force of soldiers in charge of guarding a great quantity of supplies.

Just before General Sherman began his famous march to the sea in 1864, and while his army lay camped in the neighborhood of Atlanta [Georgia] on the 5th of October, the army of Hood, in a carefully prepared movement, passed the right flank of Sherman’s army, gained his rear, and commenced the destruction of the railroad leading north, burning block­houses and capturing the small garrisons along the line. Sherman’s army was put in rapid motion pursuing Hood, to save the supplies and larger posts, the principal one of which was located at Altoona Pass.

General Corse, of Illinois, was stationed there with about fifteen hundred men. A million and a half rations were stored there and it was highly important that the earth­works commanding the pass and protecting the supplies be held.

Six thousand men under command of General French were detailed by Hood to take the position. The works were completely surrounded and summoned to surrender. Corse refused and a sharp fight commenced. The defenders were slowly driven into a small fort on the crest of the hill. Many had fallen, and the result seemed to render a hopeless fight.

At this moment an officer caught sight of a white signal flag far away across the valley, twenty miles distant, upon the top of Kenesaw Mountain. The signal was answered, and soon the message was waved across from mountain to mountain:

“Hold the fort; I am coming. W. T. Sherman.”

Cheers went up; every man was encouraged to hold their position; and under a murderous fire, which killed or wounded more than half the men in the fort they held the fort for three hours until the advance guard of Sherman’s army came up. French was obliged to retreat.

The story so captivated Bliss’s interest that he could not retire that evening until he had completed both the text and the music for this rousing gospel song.

At the next day’s YMCA service, Bliss introduced his new hymn to all of the delegates and the response was immediate and enthusiastic. Later it became a great favorite in the Moody-Sankey campaigns both in Great Britain and in the United States. As Moody and Sankey were leaving the British Isles in 1874, Lord Shaftesbury, presiding at the final service remarked, “If Mr. Sankey has done no more than teach the people to sing ‘Hold the Fort,’ he has conferred inestimable blessing on the British Empire, and it would have been worth all the expense of these meeting.”

Although Philip Bliss did not consider this to be one of his better songs, his monument at Rome, Pennsylvania, bears this inscription: “P.P. Bliss, author of ‘Hold the Fort.’”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

We as Christians wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

We are told to put on the whole armor of God. The Christian armor is made to be worn; and there is no putting off our armor until we are done with our warfare, and finished our course.  2 Timothy 4:7

The different parts of the armor listed in Ephesians guard us against the fiercest assaults of the enemy.

• Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth - Truth, or sincerity girds on all the other pieces of our armor, and is first mentioned.
  
  

• The breastplate of righteousness - The righteousness of Christ is a breastplate that protects the heart against the attacks of Satan.
  
  

• Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace - Security of our position in Christ must be as armor to our legs that will allows us to stand our ground and defend truth or to march forward proclaiming the Gospel. Our feet must be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace by studying to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
  
  

• The Shield of Faith - Applying the word of God and the grace of Christ to our daily lives we can quench the darts of the enemy.
  
  

• Helmet of Salvation - Salvation must be our helmet.  A secure position in Christ and the Scriptural expectation of the Second Coming of Christ, will purify the soul, and keep it from being defiled by Satan.
  
  

• The Sword of the Spirit - To the Christian armed for defense in battle, the apostle recommends only one weapon of attack; but it is enough, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. A single text, well understood, and rightly applied, at once destroys a temptation or an Satanic attack, and subdues the mightiest adversary.
  
  

• Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit - Prayer must fasten all the other parts of our Christian armor. A vain heart will be vain in prayer. We must pray with all types of prayer, public, private, and secret; social and solitary; solemn and sudden. Our prayers must contain confession of sin, petition for mercy, and thanksgiving for blessings received. We must pray by the grace of God with dependence on the Holy Spirit to guide us in our petitions. We must show perseverance for particular requests, and not bediscouraged if God does not answer swiftly.  We must pray, not for ourselves only, but for all saints.

Our enemies are mighty, and we are without strength, but our Redeemer is Almighty, and in the power of His might we may overcome the attacks of Satan. Wherefore we must check our Armour daily for any weaknesses and strengthen any areas that we may be vulnerable to attack. It is worth mentioning that there was no armor mentioned for the back; nothing to defend those who turned their backs in the Christian warfare.

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