Well, last Sunday we finished
the series in Revelation, and if I've not miscounted, that
was 27 sermons over a period of six and a half, seven months,
something like that. And I have to be honest, it left
me feeling, how do we follow that? How do we follow that? Well, I want to spend some time
in some familiar territory in the epistle to the Colossians.
But the word of God is always fresh, it's always new. And one
thing struck me particularly, if you look at verse five of
Colossians chapter one, for the hope which is laid up for you
in heaven, whereof ye heard before in, this is it, the word of the
truth of the gospel. The word of the truth of the
gospel. You see, as I've often said,
things affect us, facts affect us. Things happen in the news,
it has an effect upon us. The state of our finances has
an effect upon us. Whether we achieve something,
that has an effect on us. Whether we lose something or
we fail at something, because we're all human, we do, it has
an effect on us. We've got a referendum coming
up, whether we're in the European Union or out of it, it will have
an effect on us, one way or another. But by far the most profound
thing that affects us is this, the word of the truth of the
gospel. You young people, know this.
With all the things of life that are ahead, there is nothing more
important, there is nothing more solid, there is nothing more
firm and unchanging and absolutely dependable than the word of the
truth of the gospel. It's utterly life-changing. It's
life-changing now, and it's certainly, as we've seen in Revelation,
oh, how is it life-changing for eternity? To be in Christ, what
a difference, we've seen the enormous difference that is made
when God calls all things to an end as he surely must. The
day is coming, it's hasting on. These Colossians, the people
at Colossae, it's in modern day Turkey, it's on the Aegean Sea,
it's where the weather's a bit warmer than it is here most of
the time. All the Colossians, and all people who are in Christ,
are among those who are transformed by the Gospel. You see, there's
all sorts of things you can hear, and you can find it interesting,
but it doesn't change who you are. It doesn't fundamentally
make any difference to you. When you hear the word of the
truth of the gospel, it fundamentally changes who you are. It transforms
you. It renews your mind. It says,
Paul says elsewhere, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
The word of the gospel, the truth of the gospel transforms your
mind, transforms your thinking, transforms your attitude. It
changes who you are. Fundamentally, absolutely fundamentally. Those who are in Christ Jesus,
says Paul elsewhere, are new creatures. He who is in Christ
is a new creation, a new creature. These Colossians have a good
standing for eternity. They've got the seal of the apostle
telling them. Saints, faithful brethren, we
give thanks for you. We've heard of your faith, and
your love, and your hope, and all of the, how he's delivered
us from the power of darkness, in whom we have, they've got
a good standing. for eternity when it comes to
death for it's appointed to man to die once and then the judgment
when it comes to death they have a good standing they have a good
standing. They go to the grave, they go
to death confident, knowing, knowing that it's well with,
you know that other hymn we used to sing, it is well with my soul.
Can you say that? It is well with my soul. It is
well with my soul. A good standing when it comes
to these things. Now, here's the question. Do
I stand on the good ground they stood on? Is that where I stand?
Do I have cause to think I have a good standing for eternity?
Do I have the basis of a good hope for eternity? Well, here
are some marks of those with a good standing. They were set
apart. That's the first thing we see.
They were set apart. In verse two, to the saints and
faithful brethren in Christ. Saints means set apart ones. The letter comes from Paul. Paul, an apostle. And you see he's one of the 12
apostles. There had been 12, Judas Iscariot,
Betrayed Christ, that left eleven. The disciples, in a great hurry,
wrongly chose Matthias to replace Judas. That was wrong, that wasn't
God's will. God had got his replacement, the apostle Paul, as one born
out of due time. There were twelve apostles. There
have only ever been twelve true apostles in the plan and purpose
of God, like the twelve tribes of Israel. He's Paul, an apostle. But look, he's not high and mighty,
You see, he's an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, not
because he decided for himself. But he's not high and mighty
in his role as an apostle, because look at what he calls Timothy.
Timotheus, our brother. Our brother. Not I am superior
to him, he's our brother. He's our brother. Paul, an apostle. brother of Timothy to the saints,
anybody that can hear little mutterings I'll just have to
tell you there's a little boy called Lucre in here who does have a
brother called Timothy who's sat very very close to him at
the moment but Paul didn't regard himself as high and mighty he
regarded himself just as the lowly brother of fellow believer
Timothy and it's to the saints the set-apart ones you know when
you're sorting things out we had a sort out of the, well Christine
had a sort out of the garage she ordered me around, I'm not
very good at that, my main failing is untidiness but we had a sort
out of the garage and you know you put things in different categories
don't you, oh that goes with that and that goes with that
and you kind of gradually you unjumble the mess you untangle
the chaos well In a way, that's what God did in grace in eternity. He set some people apart. From the race of sinners, which
came from Adam, he set, before that time was, he set them apart
in Christ. Saints set apart ones. He put
them in different places. And where did he put them? He
put them in Christ. He united them with Christ. He
bound them up with Christ. So that everything Christ was
in the eternal justice and purpose of God, they were. This is where
we want to be. You know what Paul said in another
epistle? Where does he want to be? I want to be found in him. I want to be found in Christ.
I think it's just a page back in in the epistle to the Philippians,
that I might be found in him, that I might know him and be
found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is by the
law, but that which is by faith of Jesus Christ. Set apart in
Christ. And Paul knew this because they
were faithful brethren, or brethren of faith in Christ. He knew they
were brethren of faith in Christ. We don't believe that Paul had
seen most of them face to face. He wrote this epistle from prison
when he was in house arrest, under house arrest in Rome. That's
when he wrote it. How did he know that they were
brethren of faith in Christ? Look at verse 7. Look at verse
7 and verse 8. As ye also learned of Epaphras,
our dear fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful minister
of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. Epaphras, or he's known elsewhere
in the New Testament as Epaphroditus, Epaphras was the pastor of the
people at Colossae. And He'd been taken into captivity
with Paul in Rome as well, so they were together. And when
they were together, Epaphras had told Paul about the faith
of these people, that they were set-apart people, that they were
faithful brethren. He told him this. They were people
of faith. They were people who believed
the Lord Jesus Christ. Epaphras had lived with them. Epaphras had talked with them,
he had interchanged his life with them, they'd been together
in the mix of life, and he was well aware of them. And he said,
these are faithful brethren. Not, oh look how good they are,
but these are brethren who have been changed by the word of the
truth of the gospel. They have that word of the truth
of the gospel. and he was confident that their
standing in Christ was genuine. They had, what Peter calls, a
like precious faith with us. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 1,
the very first verse of Peter's second epistle. Simon Peter,
a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained
to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through
the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." They've
obtained it. It's something you... How do
you obtain it? God gives it. It's the gift of God. It's the
gift of God, this faith to believe Him, to believe the Gospel. It's
something that God gives and His people have obtained a like
precious faith not a faith that you'll hear people say oh well
I've got my faith it may not be the same as your faith but
I'm alright because I've got my faith and she's got her faith
and he's got his faith so everybody's alright if they've got their
own faith no they're not you're only okay for eternity if you've
got like precious faith there's only one faith that saves there's
a lot of false faith There's a lot of delusion. But this is
like precious faith. Like what? Like the faith that
the Apostle Peter had. Like the faith that the Apostle
Paul had. Like the faith that evidently
Epaphras said these people at Colossae had. Like the faith
that all true believers had. There's an awful lot of religion,
there's an awful lot of faith, but only that which is true and
from God is like precious faith. It comes through the will of
God, the righteousness of God, what Christ has done, our Saviour,
Jesus Christ, it comes through Him. These people were objects
of God's grace in Christ. And having that grace, grace
beyond you, and peace, being the objects of God's grace in
Christ, they have the peace that comes with it. Peace from where?
Peace with God. Peace with God. Isn't that a
wonderful thing? When you think, our God is a
consuming fire, our God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity,
our God cannot abide sin, he must punish it, his law and his
justice and his very being require the price of sin, the debt of
sin to be paid. There is no peace with God in
sin, none whatsoever. He's a consuming fire. It is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
But here are people who, by the grace of God, have peace with
God. They have peace with God. What
a blessing it is that though we are sinners, to know it is
well with my soul. I am at peace with God who is
holy. Now these people have some distinguishing
marks. They have some distinguishing
marks. Why does Paul count these people, most of whom we think
he had never seen face to face, why does he count them to be
in a state of peace with God? Verse 4, Epaphras had told them
had told him of their faith, since we heard from Epaphras
of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have to
all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,
whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel."
Epaphras had told him of the Holy Spirit's fruit that was
evident in their lives. If the Holy Spirit comes upon
you, if you're born again of the Spirit of God, if you're
given faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to believe in and trust
him, it doesn't just stay at the level of your head, it goes
down into the heart, and there it bears fruit. fruit was evident
in their lives. And the first of it was faith
in Christ Jesus. They evidenced faith in Christ
Jesus. Those who have a good standing
with God in this life believe him concerning his son. Believe
what concerning his son? Everything he said in his word. Everything he said in the word
of the truth of the gospel. They believe it. they don't dispute
it, they don't twist it, they don't deny it, they don't alter
it, they believe it, the truth concerning his son. They're like
the Thessalonians, whose distinguishing mark of their election, brethren
beloved of God, for God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation,
how does he know? Through sanctification of the
spirit, setting apart of the spirit of God, and how does it
evidence itself with them? Their belief of the truth. That's
what it was that marked them out. These Colossians were the
same. So today, we all, if you have a good standing for eternity
in God, in our Lord Jesus Christ, you believe the Gospel. You have
faith. What is it to have faith? What
is it to have faith? What is it to have true faith?
What is it to have the faith of the Bible, the faith of the
Gospel of Christ? It's to trust. It's to rest. in the certainty of what God
has told you about him, isn't it? You rest on it, you build
on it, you lean on it, you trust it to support you. I'm sitting
on a stool while I'm preaching this at the moment, I'm trusting
it to support me. I trust it. Implicitly, I trust
it to support me. That's what it is, to trust Christ.
You lean on him. You know he is the one who saves.
He is the one who supports. He is the one who will not let
you go. I'm going to turn you to 1 Peter. 1 Peter, chapter
1, and the first 9 verses. Here we have a description of
what true faith is. 1 Peter, chapter 1, and the first
9 verses. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of..." See,
he's calling them elect. "...according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father." It's not that he knew beforehand with
a crystal ball, it's that he predestined, he determined, he
knew them in a way that set them apart. of God the Father through
sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. Do you see how the apostles completely
agree about this thing? There's not Paul's version and
then there's Peter's, they completely agree. because it's the one Holy
Spirit who inspired. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. We believe that he rose from
the dead. And because we believe it and
trust it as absolute historical certain fact, we have faith,
we trust, we believe that we are going to rise from the dead.
that we are going to eternal glory, to an inheritance incorruptible. We were looking at it in the
last few weeks at the end of Revelation. The New Jerusalem
that glorious, glorious temple of God. Everything is the temple
of God because it's all about the presence and the fellowship
and the unity and the community of God's people and our God together. An inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you, who are kept by the power of God. How? This is it, look,
through faith. Faith is the means by which we
grasp hold of it. Faith is the means by which we
experience it. You know like sight is the sense
by which you see things outside, the colours and the shapes. Faith
is the sense by which you know the truth of the living God,
you experience that truth. It's faith unto salvation, ready
to be revealed in the last time. What does that mean you're not
saved now? No, it means it comes to its fullness when we get to
Revelation 22, 21 and 22 in glory, to that new Jerusalem. Wherein
ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye
are in heaviness through manifold temptations. We still live in
this flesh. That the trial of your faith,
it's tried. We have faith, but it's tried
with fleshly doubts and fears and uncertainties, but they're
of the flesh. But that faith, if it's genuine,
it's precious faith. It's not man-made faith, it's
God-given faith. It's more precious than gold,
which perishes, though it be tried with fire. You know, the
refiner heats the gold more and more to burn off the impurities,
to take off the scum of the impurities that come out of it, to make
it more and more pure. but your faith is more precious than that
gold and that it might be found unto praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ because yes you are among his
people in whom having not seen ye love this is it it's not sense
of sight it's not sense of physical hearing and touch and taste and
smell whom having not seen with physical senses ye love how? by faith By that sense of the
Spirit of God, the faith of God, ye love in whom, though now ye
see him not, yet believing. Yet having faith, you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of
your faith, the object of your faith, the goal of your faith. What's the goal of your faith?
Even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation? The prophets
have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you. It's throughout the scriptures,
all of the scriptures. the word of the truth of the
gospel. This is all of God and it's his
gift. Verse 3 of our passage, verse
3 in Colossians chapter 1. Who does Paul give thanks to?
We give thanks to God. He doesn't give thanks to them.
You know I used to get really uneasy. You'd go to a church
service and the minister would thank the people for coming.
you know always thank you so much for coming i remember bill
clark used to say i'm not going to thank you for coming it's
a privilege to come and worship god i'm not going to go i'm not
going to thank you for coming thank god for the thank the people
for coming no thank god for what he's done If there's a work of
grace, it's of God. We give thanks to God and the
Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. He is
the one who elected you to salvation, who gave you spiritual life and
faith, and made you willing to believe. He makes his people
willing in the day of his power. Hence Paul's thanks. True faith,
that these people had, is not just head knowledge. We're not
talking about just things that you believe mentally, but it's
heart knowledge, heart faith, sincere faith. And it's always
as such marked by love you see faith in Christ Jesus and the
love which he have to all the saints like fruit trees bear
fruit faith produces love and all the other fruits of which
Galatians 5 speaks the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace
all of those things patience selfless love In John 13, 34
and 35, the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, A new commandment
I give unto you. what was his new commandment?
That ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one
another and what a testimony it is by this all men shall know
that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another love
one to another just turn back a page to Philippians chapter
two Philippians chapter two verse two Faith produces the fruit
of love. And so Paul pleads with the Philippians. What's he appealing to? You see,
there's no point appealing to people that don't want to do
what you're appealing for them to do, because 99 times out of
100 they won't do it, if they don't want to do it. You know,
press men and volunteers. They used to press gang men into
the Navy in the 1700s, and they'd go and capture them and put them
on board a ship. They were press men, they weren't volunteers.
They didn't want to be there, they didn't want to do it. but
Paul is pleading with these as volunteers, as people that are
willing. He says in chapter two and verse
two of Philippians, he says, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be
like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. Love one another. Let nothing
be done through strife or vain glory, but in, how does it manifest
itself? This true love? this fruit of
the faith, of the gospel of grace, he says, let nothing be done
through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mind let
each esteem other better than themselves. What do you think
of yourself? Oh, I reckon I'm better. No, Paul says no. True
gospel love, true gospel love, truly, let's examine ourselves,
truly esteem the other better than themselves. look not every
man on his own things don't just be eaten up with looking out
for what you want for yourself but every man also on the things
of others now without judging one another because we mustn't
do that we mustn't judge one another we mustn't look at one
another and say oh i don't see that kind of christian love in
him or her no no we mustn't do that but examine yourself examine
yourself do we have confidence in ourselves, in one another,
that God has done a work in us that has stamped the marks of
saints and faithful brethren on us. Turn back to Romans chapter
13. Romans chapter 13, because you
see love as the fruit of the Spirit, as the fruit of the Gospel,
as the thing which flows from true genuine faith, that love,
what does God require? Righteousness, holiness, His
righteousness, His holiness. Because he imparts, he imputes
the righteousness of God to his people. Christ made us the righteousness
of God in him. He imputes that. He credits it
to our account. But he also imparts a righteous
nature. He gives you a righteous nature. He gives you a desire for the
things you didn't used to desire. Many people testify concerning
olives. you know, olives, those little
green and black things. Many people testify that there
was a time when they absolutely hated olives. They just couldn't
understand. I couldn't understand why anybody liked olives once.
I really used to find them the most revolting taste. and I know
some of you still do but now I love olives and I can't understand
why I ever didn't like olives but now I love olives you know
it changes your desires and your attitudes faith produces the
true love of the gospel of grace in Christ look at Romans 13 verse
8 Owe no man anything but to love
one another. That's what we owe one another
in Christ. For he that loveth another, listen! hath fulfilled the law this is
the imparted righteousness the imparted righteous nature that
the holy spirit gives through faith working itself out he that
loveth another hath fulfilled the law for this thou shalt not
commit adultery thou shalt not kill thou shalt not steal all
of the rigors of the law thou shalt not bear false witness
thou shalt not covet if there be any other commandment it is
briefly comprehended in this saying namely what thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor,
and therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Love fulfills the
intent of the law. But then thirdly, hope, hope,
hope. Verse five, for the hope which
is laid up for you in heaven, wherever you heard before in
the word of the truth of the gospel. Hope in heaven. Trusting
what Christ has done for us and in us, do we have confidence
that we have an eternal place in that New Jerusalem that we
were thinking about at the end of Revelation. It's a distinguishing
mark of true believers. You know, whatever else, you
say, I want them, I heard Don Faulkner say this a few times,
but you know, where people piously say, I want the world to see
the love of Jesus in me. And he says, and people don't
like it when he says it, but it's just as true. He said this,
when Jesus himself walked this earth, they didn't see the love
of Jesus in Jesus. The Pharisees didn't see the
glory of Christ in Christ. Don't go around thinking that
men and women are going to look and see the glory of Christ in
you because you're wandering around, floating around with
your halo on your head. No, but what they should see is this,
that we have a hope of heaven. As Peter prayed in his prayer,
unbelievers see it and ask us a reason why we have such confidence. Be always ready, says Peter,
1 Peter 3 15, be always ready to give a reason to anyone who
asks you about the hope that is in you. Why have you got a
hope of heaven? Because I believe that Christ has justified me
from my sins. He's cleansed me by being my
substitute. Despite all the failures that we have in the flesh, faith,
love and hope mark out saints and faithful brethren. Someone
said faith is the gift of God's grace that unites us to Christ,
bringing peace with God. Love is the gift of God's grace
that unites us to one another, bringing peace between brethren.
Hope is the gift of God's grace that unites us to eternity, bringing
peace concerning justice and judgement to come. But here's
what struck me. All of this is built on a solid
foundation. Verse 5, the word of the truth
of the gospel. the word of the truth of the
gospel. It seems that the Colossian church had been subject to false
teachers, as all of the first century churches were, and ever
since. Judaizers, those who want to
mix law with grace. People that want to bring you
under subjection to this rule or that rule. People who want
to add in philosophy. There were Gentiles coming into
the church who were Gentile philosophers. It was the Greek Empire, the
day of the great Greek philosophers. And they wanted to mix in their
Gnosticism, their kind of, well you don't really understand,
we're floating around on this higher plane of understanding.
And they were all preaching a righteousness of sorts, but it wasn't the righteousness
of God, which is in Christ. It was the righteousness of their
own Gnosticism and of their own law works and all of those things.
Paul is clear that true faith and true salvation and solid
hope is based on objective revelation from God. Do you know we saw
last time the words at the end of Revelation, don't you dare
add anything to it or take anything away from it. What more can he
say than to you he has said, you who unto Jesus for refuge
have fled. That's the objective revelation
from God. We have it. What a glorious blessing
we have. We have the Word of God written
down in writing. Do you know even in these days
of computers and of online storage and of data center resilience
of your data and all that kind of thing, nothing quite matches
the long term preservation of the Word of God in text on pages. It really does. There it is. We have it. God has preserved
it. I know there's all sorts of different translations come
about and the vast majority of them I think are negative. I know we have the old-fashioned
400-year-old language in the King James Version of the Bible,
but as far as translation from the original languages is concerned,
The reason we use it is because it is undoubtedly the closest
to the meaning, to the intent, of the original language, whereas
the vast majority of the other newer translations are paraphrases,
and therefore they're infected with the opinions and the ideas
of fallen men of religious doubt. We have this word from God, the
word that God spoke by his prophets and his apostles, committed to
writing and preserved in the scriptures, because as Paul says
to the Romans, faith comes by hearing. By hearing what? He
says, and hearing by the word of God. That's where faith comes.
Faith comes by hearing the word of God. That's where it comes.
That's God's means. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching. Preaching what? The word of God
to save those who believe. It's the word of truth. Look
at 2 Peter chapter one and verse 16. Peter is writing about some
who claim to have this higher sense of knowledge but he says
this in verse 16 he's talking about when he, James and John
went with the Lord Jesus Christ up onto the mountain of transfiguration
and they saw Christ transfigured before them. Oh boy, you know,
experiences? Could anybody have a better experience
than that? Could anybody really truly have?
Peter says, yes, you could. You've got the written word of
God. Look what he says. We have not followed cunningly
devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. When? On the Mount of Transfiguration.
For he received from God the Father honour and glory when
there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Peter's talking
about when he, Peter, James and John were on the Mount of Transfiguration
and they heard the voice come concerning Christ. And this voice
which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the
Holy Mount. Oh Peter, what a fabulous experience! Could anybody have
a better experience than that? Yes, says Peter. Verse 19, we
have also a more sure word of prophecy. He's talking about
the Scriptures. He's talking about the Bible,
written down in writing. Whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts, knowing
this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation. God's given it. God's given it. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. You have a more sure word of
prophecy. The truth. The truth of God.
The Lord liveth in truth, says Jeremiah. Unlike everything of
Satan, he's the father of lies. In spirit and in truth is how
God would have his people worship him. We often pray that, that
we might worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus, in whose face
we see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, said, what
did he say? I am the way. the truth and the
life. He who is the word said that
he is the truth. He who is the word said, John
17 verse 17, praying to his father, sanctify them through thy truth. What's that? Thy word is truth. But it is truth of the gospel. the word of the truth of the
gospel. The gospel? Good news. Good news
of what? Of salvation from condemnation. Look at Colossians chapter 1
verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. Qualified for heaven. He's made
us meet, he's qualified us for heaven. Delivered us from the
power of darkness released from Satan's dominion, and translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son, made citizens of Christ's
kingdom by the removal of sin, how, in whom we have redemption. purchase price, the purchase
price for our liberty through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, the removal of sin through the redeeming value of Christ's
blood. All of this, objective facts, based on God's Word, God's
written Word, not feelings, Oh yes, feelings come into it, but
not feelings. Don't base your truth on what you feel, base
your truth on what you read and what the Holy Spirit tells you.
Not philosophies, because philosophers come and philosophers go. Not
idolatrous religion, whatever it might be. There's so much
idolatrous religion that sounds awfully like the truth. Satan's
a deceiver. He comes as an angel of light,
but he's preaching lies. No, it's factual, objective,
and changing truth. Is our faith based on religious
tradition or the word of the truth of the gospel? This is
our creed. What's your creed? What's your
statement of faith? The word of the truth of the gospel. That's
our creed. That's our statement of faith.
Can we discern these biblical distinguishing marks of those
set apart in Christ, those who have, do you possess, the title
deeds? The title deeds to the promises
of God concerning eternal life? you're built on the word of the
truth of the gospel.