Seeking for the help of the Lord, I ask to direct your careful attention to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 19.

The Apostle has just been speaking about those that held error and even had the effect on others to turn others out of the way to overthrow the faith of some, or seemingly to overthrow it. Because the apostle would make it clear that God's own people, known by Him, that their faith cannot be overthrown. And so that's why in the light of those that are falling away, those that are holding error, He states the words of our text that the foundation of God stands sure. It cannot be overturned, it cannot be disannulled by those that come in with error. God often uses those that bring error. He says, indeed there must needs be heresies among you, that is serious error, that they that are approved might be made manifest. It is that way that those that know the truth in their hearts shall come forth and say, this is the truth.

And of course, this is what the Apostle Paul is doing through his epistles. He is addressing the errors. And when you think of much of the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ was addressing errors of his day. That was what gave him his subject, gave him the opportunity.

The beautiful chapter of the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, on the resurrection from the dead. It all springs from there being an error in that church that there is no resurrection of the dead. And so from that error comes a very clear statement of truth right through that chapter. And so we have here the statement of the foundation of God, and it reminds us of how much in the word of God, God has been pleased to give seals and tokens, evidences of things that actually are.

So when we had the flood, then God said that he would not destroy the world anymore by a flood. And the sign that he gave, the seal of it, was the rainbow. So whenever there is a cloud brought over the earth, the Lord said, I do set my bow in the cloud. So we're not only reading of what the Lord said that he would not do again, but we're seeing an evidence of it every time that the rain comes or cloud comes upon the earth.

We think of Moses being sent to Egypt and to bring the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. How were the children of Israel to know that he was really sent by the true and the living God? Moses himself said, they will not believe me. So the Lord gave him those signs to work before him, the rod that was turned into a serpent, and then turned back again, his hand put in his bosom, turned into leprosy, and then turned back again, the waters of the river turned into blood. Those things Moses did before his own people, and they believed, and they rejoiced that God had sent him to deliver them out of Egyptian bondage. Later on there was many signs that were wrought before the Egyptians as well, and then that which resulted in them being brought out of the bondage was the Passover, the bloodshed appointing to the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so the Lord has been pleased to give those signs and evidences. We think of our Lord's resurrection from the dead. He hath given assurance unto all men, we read in Acts 17, in that God hath raised him from the dead. His sacrifice was accepted, the penalty paid for his people's sin, and death could not hold him, an empty tomb. And we have this as these signs, these seals, these these evidences of what God has done, that without them, we would just be relying on the Word. And true, we should rely on the Word of God. But God has been pleased to give us these things as well. That's why with our Lord's own ministry, He says, the miracles, the signs I do, I do in my Father's name. They are they that bear witness of me. He says of His disciples, that ye shall do greater things than these, because I go to the Father.

So the Jews, the Romans, they had all seen the Lord crucified, they'd seen Him buried, then they'd seen the empty tomb, but He did not appear to them, He appeared to the disciples after He rose from the dead. But then after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given, Then we see the apostles, very, very different. They are bold, they are strong, and the word is blessed to the saving of 3,000 on that day of Pentecost. We see the miracle of those speaking in tongues that they had not learned. And those tongues being recognized by the people from different countries that were there at that time, they were able to understand what was being spoken And what was spoken was the wonderful works of God.

And those things were assigned. Later on, the apostles also raised the dead, they healed the sick, they healed the lame, and always they pointed that it was through the Lord Jesus Christ. They had not got any power or ability to do it themselves, they pointed to the Lord. And these things were given then as evidences and of seals.

And so this is what we have then here in the words of our text. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth then that are his, and that every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. So there are three things that the text is divided up into. The first is the foundation of God and what is said of it. What is said of it, it standeth sure. So I want to look at that in our first point. What is the foundation of God that standeth sure. The second point is the seal that it has.

And the seal is spoken here, the Lord knoweth them that are His. And then thirdly, we have the evidence that is actually seen, or the effect. And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. They're sanctified, they're changed, the Word has an effect in their lives, or their fruit is seen in their lives.

But firstly, we have the foundation of God and what is said of it. The foundation of God, standards, sure. Well, if we had to know what the foundation is, probably one of the most best texts to turn to is Ephesians. Ephesians chapter two and verses 19 to 22. Because here we left in no doubt of where that foundation is.

He says, Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself, being the chief corner stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit.

Other foundation can no man lathe, and that is lathe, which is Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is that foundation stone. He is also the top stone. He is the one in which His people are built up into Him as lively stones or living stones. For the whole foundation of salvation, it is all resting upon the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And we need to remember what is said of him, it is pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." Just because the foundation is in Christ, it doesn't mean to say that the Father is not involved or that the Holy Spirit is not involved. This is a work of the Trinity. The Father sent the Son, the willing Son obeyed, and it is the Holy Spirit that ratifies and bears witness of that. Our Lord said of the Spirit, he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. He shall not speak of himself, but he shall point to Christ. And so with the Father as well.

All that preeminence that is given. When Paul writes to the Colossians, in the first chapter of Colossians we read, in verse 18, at the end of that verse, that in all things He, that is Christ, might have the preeminence. And throughout that chapter we are given the things where the Father has given into His hand and given Him the preeminence. We have, in verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in line, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. And then we are given the preeminence, redemption through his blood, forgiveness of sins. He is the firstborn of every creature. By him were all things created, and all things were created for him. And he is before all things. And by him all things consist.

He is the head of the body, the church. All these things are set forth in lifting up Christ to a position that none other is as high exalted as our Lord had the Lord his father say, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And so the foundation of God is centering in our Lord Jesus Christ. It's upon Him that we build our hopes for eternity. The hope of every poor sinner is in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done. His finished works, we read that, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, This is the foundation if we go back to the very first promise that was given in the Garden of Eden when man fell. It is in Christ, the seed of the woman, that should bruise the serpent's head. There is where the beginning is and the building up in him.

It is no wonder that we have the epistles of John especially so strengthening the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ. Really, if you were to look in the, compare the Gospels, and you look for the statements that Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus is the Son of God, in most of the Gospels, you'll only find five, 10 mentions of that. In the Gospel according to John you'll have it 85 times. So his main message is that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, truly is God and truly is man.

And so when you come to John's second epistle and he gives a real warning He says, and when we think of the context of our text with those that have turned aside or those that bring in error and destroy the faith of some, he says, that there are many deceivers that entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.

This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God's speed, for he that biddeth him God's speed is partaker of his evil deeds. This is why the doctrine of Christ is so guarded. This is why, with our churches, where it's been assailed by those who have said that man is, that our Lord is not truly God, and not truly man, or that he did not have a soul the same as we have. Our Lord was made of the seed of Abraham. Abraham was body and soul.

A beast does not have a soul. Angels, they have a spirit, but they do not have a body. A man is made in the image of God. He is eternal. He is made eternally and in that image that God has of dominion, of able to reason, and morally upright, and fellowship with God, and friendship with God, the seal that God puts upon man, and then he says of the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, a body hast thou prepared me, that he hath truly come in the flesh, that he is an elder brother born for adversity, that he is a near kinsman with the right to redeem, that he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him, that there is a reason why he was made flesh, that he should be the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, that he should shed his blood in the place of his people, that he should be the great high priest that was not only the offerer but also the offering as well. And so the foundation of God, you take away the Lord Jesus Christ who says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. You take him away. You take away everything. because He is a foundation. Our hopes, if our hopes for heaven are built on anything else, it is but a sounded foundation and will never ever be saved. It is the only name given among men whereby we must be saved. And our Lord said, if you believe not that I am he, ye shall perish in your sins.

It is that which lies at the the bottom, the root of all the teaching. No wonder the Apostle Paul, when he was going to the Corinthians, and they had many different eras, and one was saying, I'm of Paul, and I'm of Apollos, and that part is spirit. He says, I'm determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

And that's where his center was. The foundation of God standeth sure and it standeth sure because it is in the hands of God that changes not and the Lord Jesus Christ changes not. He says, because I live, you shall live also. He has the power of eternal life. He is forever. same as He ever was, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. He is in heaven making intercession for His people and will come again at the last day. It is sure because God cannot lie and God cannot but keep His promises and do what He said He would do.

And in a way, in these gospel days, you look back to the first promise given some 6,000 years ago, and all of the types and the shadows all pointing to Christ. Christ in all the scriptures, remember the Lord on the way to Emmaus, He opened through those two in all the scriptures concerning Himself. And then we see over all that period of time, And that line, that line you can trace in Luke that goes right from Christ right back down through David and right back down to Adam and to God. The line in Matthew that goes from Abraham right through the kingship line through all of the kings. 14 generations, 14 generations, 14 generations and Christ coming.

What God said he would do, he did do. And the faith of those that died before they saw Christ coming in the flesh was that he would come, and they died in faith of that. Abraham saw my day and rejoiced at it." And so in one sense, the New Testament church has this example, evidence of the surety of God's promises and the types and shadows resulting in the Lord coming the first time and He will come the second, then all that is said of Him, all that is bound up in Him is sure and is certain. The foundation of God stands as sure.

Just because there are some that believe not, some that fall away, some that believe for a while and then they go back, doesn't undermine that foundation. You always remember that. There'll always be those that, like Bunyan's pilgrim, who had one coming back the other way, saying there was no celestial city, it was all error, it was all wrong. There'll be those that start out in the way and then give up. Over in Australia years ago, we had a footballer that did that, converted to Christianity supposedly, and at first he said he wouldn't play football on the Lord's Day, and he was mocked for it, he was derided for it, but then even worse happened when he then said, oh, perhaps I was being too hard, and oh yes, I can, I'll still play like I used to, and then Christianity got such a mocking, because he set out one way and then gone back, and there are many others, some that have been very prominent in the Christian world, writing books, books for the young, and very strong, you would think in faith, and then they've turned around and they've cast it all away. And it's been very hard for those who have been blessed through them, and there have been those who have been blessed.

But our foundation is not on man. It's not resting on man. If God can use Balaam to bless the people of God, if God can use Jonah to bless the Ninevites and Jonah didn't want them blessed, The Lord can use and does use any means, and when the Word of God is faithfully set forth, the Lord uses that, because the foundation is not us, but God. This is why in this chapter where our text is, we are exhorted there to be as a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

Our command is preach the Word and our authority is not in ourselves, it is in the Word of God. And if there are things that you say, well, you said wrong, be like the Bereans and you go back to the Word of God. Paul only preached once in the week, you know, preached on the Sabbath days, but the Bereans, they searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so. They did not say, well, this is the Apostle Paul, that must be right. they went to the Scriptures.

The incarnate Word, the written Word, are the same. The Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His standards sure we read. Concerning the Word, it is the infallible, inspired Word of God. Every Word of God is pure. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. To the foundation of God, its standards sure in Christ, it shandeth sure in the word of God.

Heaven and earth, says our Lord, shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away, because I live, ye shall live also." On to look then secondly at the seal that it has, the foundation of the Lord having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are His. Immediately tells us something, doesn't it? That the Lord has a people that are His. Remember when our Lord came and He was given the name of Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. God's people are chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world. And we have a golden chain that is in Romans 8, where we have this set forth in verse 29.

For whom he did foreknow, as your knowledge of them, he also did predestine, to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified." The middle part of that chain is in calling, but then that links to what goes before it, which is foreknowledge and predestinating, and then what follows after, which is justification and glorification.

We know our election by our calling, God's sovereign choice of his people. We have in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 3, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. The people of God then are known by the Lord. The Lord knew them to choose them, He knew them to suffer in their place on Calvary's tree, to lovingly take their sins upon Him and to suffer the wrath of God in their place.

He knows them as we read in John chapter 10, and that's why we began where we did and ended where we did. It would have been nice to read the whole chapter and read your letter afterwards. But we began there with verse 14, where the Lord states, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. It's a two-way thing. He knows his sheep. They know Him, and any shepherd will tell you, well that is true, of His sheep too.

And then where we left off reading, or just before where we left off reading, we have verse 27, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of Mine hands. My Father which gave them me is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

The Lord's knowledge of His sheep. Beautiful illustration there in John. He says, verse 16, The other sheep I have which are not of this fold." This fold was the Jews, the other sheep of the other fold was the Gentiles, you and I, and he says, there shall be one fold and one shepherd. He is the shepherd, and that shall be over Jew and Gentile.

The Apostle Paul, when he writes to the Corinthians, In his first epistle to them, in chapter 13, he says this, that we see through a glass darkly, that is now, but then, that is, when we die, when we appear in the presence of God, then face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known."

God knows His people, we know, we see through a glass darkly, we see God by faith, but we do not see Him as we are actually known by God. God said to Moses in Exodus 33, I know thee by name. The Lord knew him. And if you think of Abraham, it was said, for I know him, I know him that he will command his children after him. We have the beautiful word in the Psalms, the very first Psalm, how the Psalms begin. It speaks of how the Lord knows his people. for the last verse of that psalm, the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

This then is a seal, a seal that is pointing to that foundation as being a sure foundation. And it is a way that God has made himself known to his people. Perhaps one of the most marked ways is in John chapter 4 where it follows the Lord's insistence in chapter 3 of the new birth, he must be born again. So then in chapter 4 we have literally four examples of a person being born again, how they are in different ways.

And the first one is the woman at the well of Samaria. And the thing that the Lord used in her case to convince her that this stranger was the Christ was the fact that he knew her. She couldn't work out first when the Lord was saying to her, Thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst ask of him, and he would have given thee living water. And she stumbled, the well was deep, and how was thou that water? And so he led her to desire that water, desire the living water, that she would not come there again, that eternal life, the blessing of life.

And how did he respond when she first asked for that. He says, Go call thy husband, come hither. She says, I have no husband. And he said to her, Thou hast said rightly, thou hast no husband, for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou hast now is not thy husband, in that thou sayest truly. And she says, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

The one thing then she revealed, she knew of Messiah, the Christ when he came. When he cometh, he shall tell us all things. The Lord knew she knew that, as one mark and one token. And he began at that very point. Later on, he said to her clearly, I that speak unto thee am he. But when she went to the Samaritans, when she went to the men of the city, she didn't say, I have found a man that says that he is the Christ. She says, come see a man that told me all things that ever I did is not this the Christ. In other words, come see a man that knows me, that knew me, not just now, but right through my life.

The same was used with Nathaniel. Philip found Nathaniel underneath a fig tree. And he said, we have found him of whom Moses and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth. And his response was, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? And so Philip says, come and see. So he went. And when the Lord saw him coming, he said, behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.

When knowest thou me? Before that Philip called thee, when thou was under the fig tree, I saw thee. as I think I probably said here before over in Australia in our backyard we had a fig tree and you could get a chair you could sit under it and it was like an umbrella someone could walk by right beside it they'd never see you those big leaves it was just it just completely covered you and I believe Nathanael knew the Lord wouldn't have even literally seen him But he knew exactly where he was and what he was doing.

This was the same as Zacchaeus, wasn't it? The Lord passing under Zacchaeus's tree. Zacchaeus thinks he's just up the tree to see him who he was. No, the Lord had a different appointment, a different arrangement. Stops and looks up and tells him to come down. I must dine at thine house. Zacchaeus didn't know about that, but the Lord did. And the Lord showed him that he knew about Him. And the Lord has that way.

And even today, in these Gospel days, of convincing those that are His, and those who are drawing to Himself, that He knows all about them. He comes where they are, sometimes through the preaching of the Word, sometimes through reading the Word of God. The Lord makes it known that He knows what they're even thinking. Many times in the time of our Lord's ministry, He answered not their words, but their thoughts. He knew what they were thinking and He answered what they were thinking. And their thought is withheld from the Lord.

He knows all things. And this then is a seal. A seal because the Lord knows when we will be born, where we will be born, who are our parents, what country we will be, he knows where he has ordained we shall be brought to a knowledge of himself, where we shall hear the gospel, where that word shall enter in. Everything is known by the Lord and sometimes in our lives the Lord impresses that so much upon us by things that happen. Sometimes it is looking back that we know it so often.

Think of this, when I was probably 7, 8 years of age and changed schools and my brother and I were just 11 months apart and the school that we went to, they had a composite grade, grade 1 and 2 in the same class. The teacher said, well, these are brothers. They can't be in the same class. They put me in grade three, my brother in grade one. Halfway through the year, they said, well, you made a mistake. You should have been in grade two, or we'll leave it.

So I skipped a year. And that adjustment in my life has had a profound effect, especially when I was called by grace at 19. I had been brought through four years of apprenticeship by them. If I hadn't have skipped, well, I wouldn't have even got the job. When I got the job, well, there was only five applied, and I got the job a year later when they were going for carpenters and a plumber. They had 118 apply for each job. It was in maintenance in a hospital over in Australia.

But it made it, when I was called by grace, I wanted the things of God. that I'd earned enough to buy my own house. My father, my family moved away into Tasmania, I stayed at Melbourne. I could never have done that if the Lord hadn't made that adjustment. He timed it exactly when I was called, when I was brought to desire the things of God.

And there's been many, many other times that a blessing has been in it because I've been persuaded The Lord has known me, where I was, what I was doing, and he suited the word, he suited those things that were happening through a conviction, thou God seest me. Think those words in Geelong Chapel, well it's closed now, but right above the pulpit in the words inscribed in the wall, thou God seest me. And you think that's what Hagar said, wasn't it? He knew where she was. He knew all about her.

And so the Lord uses this as a seal over the foundation of God's standing shore. God's people can't escape His hand. Not one of them can be lost because He loves them, He knows them, He suffered for them, and He will call them by grace, and He will bring them to a knowledge of themselves and of Himself. They cannot be lost. We read that in John 10. They are in His hand, and they are in His Father's hand.

And the blessing of the Lord knows our infirmities, our weaknesses, our frames, our trials, our tribulations, our troubles. He knows these things. and often so convinces us by what He does, that we are His people, He knows us, and this is the token, the Lord knoweth not only a people, but them that are His. Them that are His. This is a token of being one of the Lord. You say, but doesn't the Lord know everybody?

He does, but notice this in the Word of God, we're told about God, He fills everything, everywhere, heaven and earth. But then we have specific words that point at the Lord in a specific place, where two or three are gathered together, they're a mine, a mince. We think of where the Lord comes to His people, where He visits them. And so though the Lord is everywhere, in a special way of helping them, like delivering them out of Egyptian bondage, it's spoken of as a specific place. And so with the knowledge as well, God's knowledge is of everybody. But where he makes it specially known of his people, and makes them aware that he knows about them, and they are brought to know about him, there is the seal. There is the token that is spoken of here, not in a general way, but a specific way, a seal.

Maybe those of you here say, how can I know that I'm one of God's people? How can I know that I'm one of His, that I'm built on this foundation? How can I know? By the Lord knowing you, and the Lord making it known to you that He does know you. and the Lord bringing you to know Him. I want to look then lastly at the evidence that is seen, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

When the Lord begins with us, we are lost and ruined in the fall, we are sinners, we are strange from God, we are far off from God, But when the Lord begins and when He works, it will have an effect. It varies in how much. Maybe like the prodigal son, we've gone far off, away from the things of God. And there's a very marked difference when we are brought back.

Maybe it's like John Raven, who was the pastor years ago at Red Hill. and the neighbouring chapel, the name escapes me at the moment, and he never knew a time when he said he did not love the Lord. And yet he knew, he felt, his pastor, Gray Hager-Rigfeld, there was something lacking. He was not yet called by grace. We're not born, born again. We're not born called by grace. that some are born and some are kept in a great way. But, you know, Mr. Raven, Smallfields was the other chapter, Mr. Raven, he knew the difference and his pastor recognized it when the Lord blessed him with eternal life and blessed him with saving faith. And there are very differences.

I think Mr. Anspottum in his little book, he speaks of a servant girl that was asked, what effect did the grace of God make in her life? And she thought, and she said, well, before I was called and knew the Lord, I only cleaned where it could be seen, but now I clean everywhere the same. She was mindful the Lord seen her, the Lord knew her, and it will make an effect. You think of Zacchaeus, immediately he was accused of gaining things by false accusation as a publican, no doubt he did, but he was willing to give it full fold. The woman that was taken in adultery, go and sin no more, her life was to be different, and of no doubt the woman at the well of Samaria as well. The Lord makes a change, a new creature in Christ. All things passed away, all things become new. And there is a living in the light of the Lord's countenance, and to do those things that are well pleasing to Him.

Sin will still be with us, we are still fallen creatures. Sin still works, it will be a warfare, a battle, and He is a sympathising High Priest that knows our frail, remembers that we are but dust. but there will be that effect. Instead of going with the stream, there will be a resisting of it. There will be a seeking by God's grace to do that which is right in His sign. We have a God to go to and to cast our burdens upon. We have the Word of God, the washing of water by the Word, that which the Lord opens the ears and makes us teachable and to know those things that are right, and to listen to His teachings through chastening, correction, kind, loving, rebukes, it will have an effect.

And that's why we read this part. Sometimes I'm a bit cautious, sometimes this verse is used when one dies and it's uncertain how their case is. And yes, we must leave these things sometimes with the Lord, but sometimes we can too easily say, the Lord knoweth them that are His. And forget the latter part of the text, that if we are His and have lived a life as professing to be His, then our lives will bear witness. This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. hear the light of the world, when the Lord healed the mad gathering, go home to thy friends, tell what great things God hath done for thee, had mercy upon thee. We don't remain as we were. Grace changes. The Apostle says, Apostle Paul, what I am, I am by the grace of God. What a difference, Saul persecuting the people of God, and Paul, what wilt thou have me to do? Behold he prieth, very different person.

And the Lord knew him, where he was, what he was doing, everything. So we have in this text the foundation of God, what he said of it, that it is sure. We also have the seal, it has the Lord knoweth then that it is. and the evidence that is actually seen. If any man love God, the same is known of him. And if we love God, then we will seek to do those things that are pleasing in His sight. May the Lord bear witness to this world, may He make it known that we are known by Him, for us to walk in His ways and to show forth those fruits of His work in our hearts and in our lives.

And remember, unless we're on this foundation, we are most solemn. Those that are not on it are lost. May our desire be, may we be part of this building and built upon Christ and found in Him not having our own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is of faith of Jesus Christ. Amen.