copy of God's Word and turn with me this morning to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 13. Hear now God's Word. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. This is the word of the living God, and we say, thanks be to God. Amen. Please be seated. Living God, we pray now that you would encourage our hearts, strengthen our faith, incline our ears to hear. We pray that Christ would speak to us through his inscripturated word, and we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. We just sang a line of a hymn. Now and ever, we confess Christ our hope in life and death. The idea that the people of God are a confessing people is a crucial one for us to understand. This morning I would submit to you that our church, that the Christian people are a confessing people. We are a confessing church. Paul, in what was likely his final letter, at least that we have record of, writes to his protege in the ministry, Timothy, and he writes a variety of things. He's already written to Timothy once, and he writes to him again, teaching him what it is to organize the church of Christ. He gives him many instructions, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and one such instruction we focus on today. Hold fast the pattern of sound words, which you have heard from me. That phrase there, sound words, could be translated healthy words. Did you realize that as a Christian, there are words that are very healthy for you? Words that are your food. Words that are food unto your soul. This morning, I want us to look at this one verse, keeping in context that this is Paul's instruction to Timothy, an instruction that he is to pass on. Hold fast the pattern of sound words, which you have heard from me. Let's ask ourselves the question, what does it mean to be a confessing church? I want us to see three things this morning. Firstly, in our verse, we will see the pattern of words. Secondly, the origin of words. And thirdly, the attitude about words. Now, boys and girls, the words, that Paul speaks of in 1 Timothy chapter one, or excuse me, 2 Timothy chapter one, are the words of doctrine, the words of scripture. We'll talk more about that, but we're talking about doctrine here, the teachings of God's word. Christians are to hold fast to them. Well, what are we to hold fast to? Firstly, let us see then the pattern of words. Notice that Paul says, hold fast the pattern of words. This is something that could be seen in a variety of places. But look for a moment at the words themselves. Sound words, healthy words, words leading to life. This is really a theme throughout all of Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus. Turn over for just a moment to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 10. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 10. Notice that it picks up with a list of sins. We'll jump into the middle of that list, 1 Timothy 1.10. For fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine or sound words. You see, these words, doctrine, words of doctrine, lead to healthy living. Look for example, one more instance, 1 Timothy 6, 3. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine, which accords with godliness. These sound words, these healthy, wholesome words are the words of scripture, doctrine itself. But notice in our text, Paul tells Timothy not just to hold fast to the words, but to the pattern of words. The pattern of words, that word, pattern is the first word in the Greek sentence. Boys and girls in English, we have certain ways of writing our sentences. You might be learning that in your school or in your home school. But in the original language of this Word of God, the New Testament, in the language of Greek, you could put words in different orders. To emphasize certain things, the first word of the Greek sentence here is pattern. So the pattern is important, but what does that mean? Well, that word could be translated as it is here, pattern, or model, or sketch. It's as if Paul is saying, there's sort of a sketch, there's an outline that these words are to fit within. Interestingly enough, Paul uses the same word in 1 Timothy, and there he uses it in a different context. Notice 1 Timothy 1.16. He says this, however for this reason I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life. There Paul uses this word as the idea that he is sort of a sketch or a model for the work of salvation. But in addition to the idea of it simply being an example, We also have the idea that many of you boys and girls will go to paint a painting or you'll take out your crayons and you wanna color something for mom or for dad and so sometimes you'll pencil in a pattern and then you'll color in the lines and we're learning. Pastor Ryan is still learning to stay within the lines when he colors. Some of you are better than that, than me at that. That's what Paul has in mind here. The Baptist theologian from the early 1700s, John Gill, says this about this word pattern. Quote, there seems to be an illusion to painters who first make their outlines and take a rough draft before they lay on their colors and beautiful strokes. And which rough draft and first lines are the rule and pattern of their after work? and which they never exceed, but keep within the compass of. So there is a set of gospel truths which may be called the analogy or proportion of faith, which are a rule and pattern as for hearers to judge by, so for ministers to preach according to. You see, when we read the Bible, we don't just read words. Those words come within the pattern of doctrine. So every time you read a verse about God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, Those words are meant to be read in the compass of the whole pattern. And this is helpful for us because sometimes we read a verse and if we only have that verse and we're by ourselves at our table with no knowledge as to what this pattern is, we will come up with a whole host of interpretations. Rather, Paul tells Timothy, you have received a pattern of sound words from me. Hold fast to the pattern. Stay within the pattern. Well, what is this pattern? Some theologians, as John Gill has just called it, call it the analogy of faith. You can write that term down or leave it out. Whether you memorize that term or not, the analogy of faith, our confession of faith, says is this. The infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is the scripture itself. And therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture, which is not manifold but one, it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. We interpret scripture by scripture, and there is an analogy of faith, a rule of doctrine by which we interpret the words of God's word. Paul tells Timothy, hold fast the pattern. He would do this elsewhere. Look at 2 Timothy 2, 15. There we read this, 2 Thessalonians 2.15, therefore brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught. whether by word or our epistle. In multiple places, Paul tells multiple individuals and churches that there is a pattern, that there is a set of traditions that we hold to. Now don't let that word tradition in 2 Thessalonians scare you. Paul doesn't mean made up things that we do down through the ages and we kind of make up traditions. but rather that there is a set of teachings, there is a pattern for the word of God, and that is a pattern that has been given to the apostles by the Holy Spirit that is to be passed down through the ages. What is Timothy to do when Paul's gone? When Paul is in the grave, what is Timothy to do? Among many other things, he is to hold fast the pattern of sound words. Notice a couple of examples. Again, 1 Timothy 6.3. 1 Timothy 6.3. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which comes envy, strife, reviling, evil, suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such, withdraw yourself." Those are very strong words. Paul is essentially saying, if someone doesn't teach according to right doctrine, avoid them. There's a pattern, a mold, a sketch for words. Where do we see this? Well, the earliest example of these words was, of course, the ancient creeds of the church. Now, some people throughout the ages have said, I don't really have a creed, I just believe the Bible. Of course, you've heard this before, I'm sure, but I'll remind us. If a person says to you that they don't have a creed, probably in gentleness, the best thing to do would be to say, well, what do you believe about God? Well, I believe that God is one God existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What do you believe about salvation? What do you believe about creation? What do you believe about, and you'll see that they do have a creed. You see, when we say no creed but the Bible, We're just evidence that we haven't really thought about the fact that the Bible comes in a pattern of words. The ancient creeds of the church, the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed are historic understandings that brothers and sisters down through the ages have understood to be this pattern of doctrine. Of course, throughout the ages, there has been the need to confess even more things. We're finding that need today, aren't we? Many of us in this room would never have imagined that we would actually have to spell out what we believe the Bible to teach about male and female. But we're in a time where we actually have to confess. Male is male, female is female. Many of you, like me, remember a day where marriage meant one man and one woman. Now we actually have to spell out what we confess the Bible teaches about marriage. Because the world is not inclined to lean into our confessions of faith. Well, there are confessions. of faith from the word of God. Pattern of words. Hold fast the pattern of sound words. Now here at our church, we actually put our understanding of scripture down on paper. We have a confession of faith. Every church, I think, should put out there what it believes. Ours happens to be one written in the 1600s. You can read it, it's on our website. But listen to what one theologian defines a confession of faith as. This is theologian Richard Barcellos. He says, what is a confession of faith? Question mark. The Second London Confession of Faith is a confession of faith. It contains in summary form what subscribers to it believe the totality of the Bible teaches on given subjects. The confession is not merely a reference point from which one subsequently or further develops doctrinal conclusions. It is the doctrinal conclusions on the subjects which it addresses. When formulating Christian doctrine, we must allow the totality of scripture to speak prior to our own formulations. A confession of faith is a written and public document which contains doctrinal formulations on various scriptural topics, end quote. We are to hold fast to the pattern of sound words. Paul knew nothing of the Second London Confession of Faith. We think that that is, I think that that is the best summary of what the scripture teaches on a whole host of doctrines. Some of those are primary. You don't hold to them, you're a heretic, like the resurrection of Christ, the Trinity. Others of them are secondary issues. But does the scripture speak on how to worship God? Does the scripture speak on our relationship with the civil magistrate? These are, yes, secondary issues, but the scripture speaks to it. There's a pattern that we see in scripture. And so if the question ever comes up, why do churches have statements of faith or confessions of faith, it's because we are to read the scripture not as a conglomeration of many words, but to read the scriptures within what the scriptures define as the pattern of doctrine. Hold fast the pattern of sound words. But there's something else that Paul tells Timothy, and that is secondly the origin of words. Notice what he says. Hold fast the pattern of sound words, or healthy words, or doctrine, which you have heard from me. Boys and girls, where did the Bible come from? We believe that this is God's word, but where did it come from? Well, the answer to that question, if you remember some of your catechism, perhaps, at home, is that God inspired holy men with the words of God. But I wanna show that to you from Scripture. Paul says that the words that Timothy is to hold fast to are words that come through him, Paul. Now, Paul, like Peter and James and John, was an apostle, one who had seen the risen Christ, one particularly commissioned by Christ to be a founding witness. You and I are to witness for Jesus. We are to proclaim the gospel, but we're not apostles. We haven't been individually and specifically chosen by Christ to see him after his resurrection and then be that foundation point for all the churches to be built on down through the ages. Paul was, and Paul says, Timothy, I give you these words. What does he tell Timothy to do next? If you keep reading in 2 Timothy, look at chapter two, verse two. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Do you realize that for 2,000 years, this pattern of sound words, sometimes darkened, sometimes dimmed by sin and by heresy, by schism in the church, this pattern of sound words has been taught, and then that generation teaches the next, and on and on it goes. But the origin is, in this instance, Paul. Now, how do we think about that? Maybe you're here today and you think, see, I knew it. You Christians believe in a book that a whole bunch of men simply wrote. How do you know it's true? You're telling me, preacher, that the origin of words comes from Paul. You look at your own life and you think, if you're honest with yourself, I know I've got a lot of baggage, I know I have a lot of issues, certainly Paul must have as well. Why am I gonna base my life, why am I gonna stake my eternal destiny on what one first century Jewish man wrote with his pencil? Let's look at what the scripture says about the scripture. Paul will later say in this very same book, in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, 2 Timothy 3, 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Scripture is the inspired word of God. Now we use that word in a lot of ways, don't we? Maybe sometimes you're sitting in your house, it's a Saturday, everyone has off, and you feel, quote, inspired to go clean the house. Or maybe you don't feel inspired to clean the house. It's a rainy day, great day for a movie day for the family. Nobody feels inspired to clean their room. And by inspired, we typically mean, Jazzed. I feel like I'm gonna have the energy. Maybe I should. I'm encouraged to do this. But inspiration here literally means that God, the Holy Spirit, inspired or gave the words of God by his voice to chosen men. This is the doctrine of inspiration. Scripture, then, is exactly what the Holy Spirit wanted to have written, but also exactly what those men wanted to write. No other document is like that. I love certain writings, Augustine's Confessions, I encourage you to read it. Or perhaps you've read certain works like John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Many of our children here love The Hobbit. These are wonderful works, but they're not inspired works. God hasn't breathed these words to the authors that they might be written down and be declared as God's very word. See, when Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 2 Timothy 1 verse 13, hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me. There's a reality to doctrine that is unlike any other work. Well, you may say, okay, fine, maybe God did choose certain men. But how dare Paul say that he is passing on words of God? Well, let me take you to one other instance in Scripture. Turn over to 2 Peter. Lord willing, in the months ahead, we'll be diving into 2 Peter. But I want you to notice, it almost seems like kind of an unrelated detail at the very end of 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter three. Peter is signing off. We'll get there, Lord willing, in the months ahead. But notice what he says. 2 Peter 3, verse 15. And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. Now notice what Peter says next. As also in all his epistles, boys and girls, that means letters, Speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction. Then notice what Peter says next about Paul's writings. As they do also the rest of the scriptures. Now you can deny that if you want, but here we have evidence of the Bible actually saying Paul is writing the Bible. Paul is writing scripture, and I just have to encourage you to see, Peter, a very faithful Jewish man, would never, ever, ever put anyone's writings on par with scripture unless he was absolutely convinced this is the word of God. So, where are we driving at this morning? Paul's instruction to Timothy thus far is to hold fast, to cling to the pattern Don't go outside the pattern. Stay within the lines, Timothy. This pattern is a pattern of sound words which you have received from me. Another way to say it, we receive the scriptures. The church of Christ receives the scriptures. Maybe you've been tooling around on the internet watching movies and you've come across movies where there's an adventure story about the ancient church kind of putting together the Bible that they want to put together. I've spent time diving through various research elements, and there are many in our world who say, hey, you know what, everybody was writing stuff in the early, it was all political. They just kind of picked which books they wanted, and a certain group won, and that's why we have the books that we have today. But the church doesn't make the scriptures. The church receives the scriptures. This is the origin of words. We look at the Bible as the word of God, written under the inspiration of God. It's to be received and entrusted to others. The pattern of words and the origin of words, but notice thirdly, and then we'll make some application points and be finished. Notice thirdly and finally the attitude about words. Notice what Paul tells Timothy. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Now what does this mean? Hold fast to this pattern in faith and in love. Well, these two words, faith and love, are words which Paul has already used in his discussion with Timothy. Just to give you a couple of examples, in 1 Timothy chapter one, verse two, he speaks of faith. Notice what he says there. To Timothy, a true son, in the faith. We share a common faith. We have been given the gift of faith and we hold to this set of beliefs in Christ our Savior. But he would also mention love. Look at 1 Timothy 1 and verse 5. Now the purpose of the commandment is love. from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. Or how about 1 Timothy 1, 14? And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. The bottom line is faith and love are paired together throughout this entire two-book discourse of 1 and 2 Timothy. The Puritan Matthew Henry makes the argument that these two words, faith and love, should be understood in the following way, that when Paul tells Timothy, hey, Timothy, hold fast to the pattern, he means have faith in these words and love them. But also, that we are to speak to others of them in love. Now, if only the Word of God were to define for us what love looks like, where might we find that definition? Well, another one of Paul's letters. Love is what? Patient, kind, not keeping a record of wrongs, not rejoicing in sin. It is not rude or arrogant or puffed up. So we're to love these words and we are to hold fast to this pattern in a loving way. Love defined the way the Bible defines it, you see. How often is doctrine bantered about on the internet as if it is something to argue over rather than something to cherish and to hold to and to love and then in love share with others. In his commentary on this passage, R. Kent Hughes writes these words, and it's where I get this word attitude from, the third point, the attitude about words. Listen to what Hughes says. Quote, Paul was especially concerned about how it was done, about Timothy's attitude, that it be in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. And then he says this, and this is a startling claim. The attitude with which Timothy maintained his orthodoxy was almost as important as the orthodoxy itself. I'm glad the word almost is there. But you see what Hughes is after and what I think Paul is after. How we hold fast to this pattern both internally and externally is crucial. And this is a necessary word for us, brothers and sisters, because we are in that group of churches, the reformed group of churches, the churches with large confessional statements, which, as we'll see in a moment, I think are important. But we have to remember that our calling is not simply to orthodoxy, but orthodoxy that is held with faith and love. We have to be a people who are loving, meaning patient and kind and not rude about the pattern that we're called to cherish. So Paul tells Timothy, the pattern of words, hold fast to them. The origin of words, you've received them from me. And your attitude, your demeanor, your posture, both internally and externally, ought to be one of faith and love. Well, as we close, are there any lessons for us in this one verse of scriptural instruction this morning? Well, I jotted down five things that I would encourage us to think about as application from this one verse. The first is this, all scripture is to be received as the God-breathed word. Some translations will say all scripture is God-breathed. All scripture is to be received as the God-breathed word. When you read the Bible, when you hear the Bible preached, which is the chief method that we see in the Bible itself for what to do with the Bible, when you hear it proclaimed, receive it insofar as it is accurately the word of God, as the very word of God. We need not wonder whether God is speaking to us in our lives. The word of God is his inscripturated word for us. Generation after generation after generation, Christ speaks to his sheep. And you know what the word of God says? The true sheep of Christ hear his voice. Where do you hear the voice of Christ? You hear it in the word. All scripture is to be received as the God-breathed word. But secondly, an application point for us is this, all scripture is to be received within the pattern of confessed doctrine. Meaning that when we hear a passage, when we read a passage, when we study a passage, we have to ask ourselves, how have the people of God down through the ages understood this? How does this passage fit within the whole of Scripture? Does it line up with the analogy of faith or the rule of understanding? Many of you, like me, will be mowing your grass or sweeping off your front porch and knocking on your door will be individuals, sometimes with a name tag and bicycles, sometimes not. Always friendly, always dressed very well. And they will say to you, may I speak to you about Jesus? And you, having walked with the Lord for some time, will recognize, ah, that is a Latter-day Saint, or that is a Jehovah's Witness. But they believe things about Jesus. They believe things about God. They read the Bible. But they do not hold fast to the pattern of sound words. Neither of them believe in the Trinity. One of them historically believed that Jesus is a created being and is the brother of Satan. One of them have historically believed that persons born with certain colors of skin were those who sided with Satan in this great cosmic battle before the creation of the world. So just studying our Bible, just reading our Bible, just looking at verses is not the only thing that we're called to do. We're called to hold fast the pattern of sound words. So it is actually helpful for us to use things like creeds. Hey, for 2,000 years, the Orthodox Christian faith has been defined as Trinitarian, believing in the resurrection, believing in the communion of the saints, believing that Christ was fully God and fully man. So when you come to the Bible, you don't come tabula rasa, blank slate. You don't say, well, I've got the Bible and it's me. And I have to figure out what this verse means. You already have a pattern. Well, I know that if this verse speaks about Jesus, the whole of scripture says that Jesus is fully God and fully man. So if there's anything in this verse which causes me to say Jesus doesn't look God-like, I have to interpret carefully. So all scripture is to be received within the patterns of confessed doctrine. What does this mean then as a church? Here's what I would encourage you as a member of Christ's church, particularly here in this local church. Ask all the questions that you need to and desire. Come to the elders. I'm reading a passage. I don't understand what this means. Maybe you have come to Christ recently and you think, oh, everyone in this church, I love this church, but everyone in this church seems to know more doctrine than me. Don't be afraid. Every last one of us came to Christ with not a lick of doctrine except bad doctrine in our hearts. So feel free to ask questions. Don't be intimidated by the fact that we have a long statement of faith and that we use big words sometimes. Ask all the questions in the world. All we're saying is doctrine is to be confessed. It's to be inquired into. but we have confessed doctrines, so we don't really debate about it. The Bible just says God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Ask all the questions you want about Trinity, but it's not really up for debate. Hold fast to the pattern does not mean you have to pretend like you know it all. There's a third point for us, and that is this. Very important for each of us, Monday through Saturday, Bible study should not be, quote, what does this mean to me? Paul didn't tell Timothy, here's the scripture, now ask yourself what it means to you, Timothy. He said, hold fast to the pattern of sound words. Bible study as an individual, Bible study in small groups, whatever it may be, should not be what does this mean to me? Rather, receiving the word of God within the pattern of doctrine. And here's where again, brothers and sisters, creeds and or confessions can be very helpful to you. Here's a fourth one, very practical. Churches benefit from having shared confessions of faith. My brother and pastor in another part of the state, John English Lee, writes these words, quote, Confessions help churches teach their members how to both spot and avoid those invalid interpretations about which Paul warned his readers. Paul has given them a theological interpretive framework and a body of doctrine in the form of his written and spoken tradition. Confessions allow for the collective wisdom of the church throughout history to be used to edify the saints with biblical truth, to expose false teaching, and to protect against heresy, end quote. It's actually good that we write out for everyone to see. Here's what we teach. Here's what we proclaim. Here's what we ask the men of God who stand in the pulpit or behind the Sunday school lectern to hold to. We benefit when every new man who comes up here to preach doesn't have to say, well, this is what I confess, so I'm gonna lead the church in this way. And then a new generation of men come and the old one dies. Well, here's what I believe the pattern to be. We benefit from having shared confessions of faith that have been tested by the church beyond our own generation. Well, lastly, number five, the word of God is to be believed and lovingly shared. Did you know, brothers and sisters, that the word of God is simply there for you to receive, have faith in, and love, and share in love? The scriptures are their own testament. And we are to believe the word of God as we hold fast to the pattern. and lovingly share it. Now notice once more what Paul says in verse 13. Hold fast the pattern of sound words or healthy words. Why are these words so healthy for us? Well, they are the voice of God. They are the truth of God's word to us. But did you know that Amidst all of the sketches in this pattern that are the boundary points for how we color in all of the words of Genesis all the way to Revelation, there is a striking center line. So imagine, if you will, boys and girls, you are taking your pencil on a big, huge canvas or poster board, and you're drawing this sketch of something. But in the center, you make this very strong line. It's like the strongest line in that entire sketch. That's really what the gospel is. as the sketch point in the word of God. You see, every single page of scripture points to, talks about, gets you to, helps you to understand more fully the work of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the chief centerpiece to the entire word of God. In it, this gospel or good news is the message. It's a doctrinal message. People say, I don't like doctrine, I just love Jesus. You can't love Jesus if you don't love doctrine because Jesus has given you doctrine to tell you about himself. That he loves his people. That he is the eternal son of God who put on flesh. That's doctrine. that in putting on flesh, he did not inherit the sinful nature that all of us share in, and yet he shares in our nature as human beings. That's doctrine. This perfect human being, Christ, lived a perfect life according to his humanity, and yet according to his divinity, he's upholding all of the stars. Think about that, boys and girls. This is a doctrinal statement. that Jesus, the little baby in the manger who couldn't even feed himself, was at the same time holding up all the stars by the very word of his power. It's doctrine. And it is this one, this God-man, who lived a perfect life and died on the cross for sinners. And as our brother aptly prayed this morning, any sinner can come to Christ. That's doctrine. that Christ is sufficient, that he saves perfectly all who come to him, and that salvation is Christ and what he's done. And you and I are called, everyone in this room, whether you're a Christian or not, we are called to hear these doctrinal words, which the Bible calls good news. and to place our faith and trust and reliance on and in Christ Jesus. You see a sin in your life, and you say, Christ paid for that. In his perfect record, he never did that. I am righteous before God. You think of all your past sins and perhaps some of the greatest wickednesses that you would never even say to other people. Christ, Christian, died for that, that's doctrine. And his perfect life was a life wherein he never went down that wicked road that you walked down. And the word of God, according to the pattern that Timothy was to hold to, says this, you and I are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We get his record, he gets ours, that's doctrine. These are healthy words because they feed our souls because not every day is a Sunday, beloved. Not every day is a day where with raised hands or raised hearts we sing the praises of the triune God. There are Wednesday and Thursday nights where you have walked down the road of great wickedness in your soul that week. What do you cling to? What is there for you to hold to? I'll tell you what, the beautiful doctrinal statement that Christ receives sinners, that there is neither in death nor life, nothing that will separate you from God in Christ Jesus. You need doctrine. I need doctrine because in those beautiful, healthy words, hemmed in by the pattern of scripture, I hear life. So if you're a Christian, love the pattern of sound words. If you're not a Christian, hear this. Jesus, in this pattern, says to you, for you to hear today, if you will come to him, he will save you. Don't prepare yourself, don't clean yourself up. You run to the Savior, and he will save you. Let's pray. Living God, help us. Help us to hold fast this pattern of sound words. Help us to love the doctrines of your word. Help us to be fed unto health as your people through this pattern. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.