I appreciate the amount of talent and able people that we have that can fill in in our music ministry and who have last week with Daniel and those who were able to play the instruments and Brother Mike Spiegel will be helping out in different times. But this morning, it was really good to have Wayne here. Thank you, Wayne, for coming and leading us in singing. I needed that. That was really good, and I appreciate it.

Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Jude. Jude. Jude verse three, this is going to be a little bit of a different sermon this morning. Typically, if you’re new here, typically what we do is we stick in one passage of scripture and we follow verse by verse and dig into the things that are in that one passage. But this morning, we are going to look at a lot of different scripture passages and verses. We are mainly going to be evaluating the Nicene Creed, and I’m going to explain why here in a moment, but we will be back to our verse-by-verse exposition of the Gospel of John next Sunday morning. We’ll begin John 6 as we begin the new year, and then in the evenings, I want to just make you aware of and invite you all to, Sunday evenings, we’re going to begin a series on worship. on Sunday, beginning next Sunday night. And we’re going to look at what the Bible has to say about our worship and the things that that affects in our lives. And so that’s going to be a several week series. It’s going to go on until we really exhaust that topic. So again, just want to make you aware of those things that are coming up. This is the last Sunday of the year, so we typically take a view ahead and look at the things that are coming in this new year.

But the book of Jude in verse three says this. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you exhorting that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. is writing so that they would contend for the faith handed down from the saints. What is the faith that was handed down? We know what faith is from Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1. It says, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So we know what faith is. What faith is handed down? Faith in what? The faith Jude is talking about is a specific faith, not just faith in whatever you want to believe in. There is a faith that is handed down to the saints. So what is it that was believed and handed down? There was something specific that the apostles believed. and that they taught and handed down to generations that followed them. And we see other wording like this in the New Testament.

2 Timothy 1, verse 13, Paul instructing this young pastor Timothy, says, to hold to the standard of sound words, which you have heard from me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. hold to the standard of sound words, or some versions have healthy doctrine. What is that? What is the standard of doctrine that he was supposed to hold to? First Timothy, chapter four and verse six says, in pointing out these things to the brothers, you’ll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being nourished on the words of the faith. and of sound doctrine, which you’ve been following. And then in chapter six of 1 Timothy verse 20, Paul’s last exhortation to him in that first letter says, oh, Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. We see in other places in 2 Timothy talks about the treasure which has been entrusted to you. 2 Thessalonians, Paul says to stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught. And Hebrews in several places talks about taking hold of our confession. The common confession that believers have. We see this talked about over and over in the New Testament. The faith, sound doctrine, the traditions, the confession. There was a certain content that was expected to be believed and handed down.

But what was it that must be believed? What was that content that was the faith? What did they have to believe in? You could say, the Bible. They need to believe the Bible, and that’s true. We must believe the Bible, every single word of it. But the Bible has a lot of words. So if somebody asks, well, what am I supposed to believe? I mean, you could start with, in the beginning, God created, and you can go as far as you can, but there’s a lot of words that you need to believe. So how do you summarize that? If someone were to ask you, what does the Bible teach that I should believe? What would you tell them? Saying, well, everything, that’s true, but not necessarily helpful for somebody who is looking for the essentials of what the Bible teaches.

Or when we think about what is this faith that’s handed down, maybe your answer would be Jesus. Faith in Jesus is what the church handed down. And again, that’s true. But what about Jesus? What about Jesus? A lot of people believe things about Jesus, but what do you believe about Jesus?

There was once a well-known pastor, and he was a champion of the authority of the Bible. And he taught people, whatever the Bible says is what goes. It is our standard. Whatever God says is the way it is. And as he studied and preached the Bible, he rightly understood and emphasized that there is only one God. And those out there that say there are many gods are wrong. There’s only one God. Deuteronomy 6, verse 4, hero Israel, Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. There’s only one God.

And so from that understanding, this pastor understood that God the Father alone is eternal and uncreated. And everything other than the Father God is created, including, as this pastor taught, the Son. God the father is the creator and he made the son before anything else. And now he did believe that Christ was a perfect creature, but he must be a creature because there’s only one God. And therefore God must have created him first and then through him created everything else.

And this pastor was one of the most popular pastors and preachers and teachers that there was. His name was Arius, and Arius grew quite a following, including most of the leaders of the Roman Empire at the time were followers of Arius. And you can see the appeal to what Arius is saying, because if Christ and the Father are both eternal and uncreated, how can there only be one God? And Arius’ answer was, there was a time when he, when Christ, was not. That was his slogan he was famous for. There was a time when Christ was not. So he taught this, he actually created catchy songs with these words in it so that people would be reminded of it and remember it.

So how would you answer, Arius, in his growing Group of followers. Well, that is exactly what the church had to do in the 300s. Not even 300 years after Jesus Christ walked the earth himself, the church has a crisis. And they had to figure out what they actually believed. Because this movement was growing so much that most people that called themselves Christians were following this. What is the faith that is handed down to the saints? What is it that Christians must believe? So the representatives of the church at this time, they met in a place called Nicaea, and they wrestled with this issue. And they reaffirmed what scripture actually says. They all believed that scripture was the word of God. That the Bible is God’s word to us.

The problem is, what do you believe the Bible says? What does the Bible actually teach about God, about who Jesus is, about how we’re saved? All of these things. And the result of this council, this gathering of pastors, was the formulation of the Nicene Creed.

Pastor Stephen and I went to a conference back in November, where the theme was the Nicene Creed. And the reason why that’s the theme is because this year, 2025, marks 1,700 years since all of this happened. It happened in 325. And while we were there, we heard several good teachers and pastors remind us of the importance of knowing what it is we believe, why it’s important that we as Christians and as a church understand and pass down the things that are essential for a Christian, and the importance of something like the Nicene Creed.

And so, as we were listening to these things and being reminded of them, we came to a kind of a conviction that we need to understand what this is, and we need to be reminded of these things. As we look at the Nicene Creed this morning, and as we look ahead to the new year, the Nicene Creed is something that I want us to be reminded of more often than we do now.

The Nicene Creed is really a summary of what the Bible teaches. It’s a brief summary of the Bible. It’s a summary of the gospel. It’s the same reason why we have a statement of faith as a church, so that we know what we believe. But if you’ve seen our statement of faith, it’s quite a few pages. So something like the Nicene Creed is one page, something that you can see and remember.

And so, as we come into this new year, I’d like to read the Nicene Creed together fairly often, not every week or anything like that, but probably something like with the Lord’s Supper or with baptisms and the things that we do to remind ourselves of who we are. Remind ourselves of who we are in Christ. Something like the Nicene Creed before our eyes reminds us of the things we believe about what the Bible says. when we remember what it is that has been handed down for all the saints. The Nicene Creed is a good summary of those things.

So this morning, I’m going to walk through what you have there in your bulletin, the Nicene Creed, and look at whether or not these things are biblical, whether or not the wording that they have and the ideas that they teach are found in the Bible, because the Creed is not the Bible. It is subject to the Bible. So if the Bible says one thing and the creed says something else, we throw out the creed. The Bible is right. And if the creed doesn’t measure up, then that is wrong. But if the creed does say what the Bible says, then it’s something we ought to know and listen to.

Before we look at the creed here in a minute, I do need to explain a few things. First of all, some people have an aversion to something like the Nicene Creed because they see it as, well, that’s like a Catholic church thing. They read that, and so that’s a Catholic thing, and we’re not Catholic, so we don’t need to read what they read. And let me just explain that the Nicene Creed is not a Roman Catholic creed. It came from before the Roman Catholic Church. It was written in 325 AD, and it was before the Roman Catholics were organized like they were. So they don’t get to claim it. Just because they read it, it doesn’t mean it’s theirs. This came from the early church.

And again, just because the Roman Catholics do something doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. They have plenty of things they get wrong, but it doesn’t mean everything they do is wrong. And in fact, in the year 325, 318 of the best theologians and pastors from the known world gathered together. And of those 318, only seven came from the West. which became the Roman Catholic Church. So to say that this is Roman Catholic is just not true. It’s not simply a Roman Catholic creed.

But these men gathered there in 325, and they debated, and a lot happened at this council. In fact, one interesting story, just a little tidbit before we dig in here. At this meeting, there was a man by the name of Nicholas. of Mera. He was a pastor, came to be known as St. Nicholas, and he has a lot of stories and tales that are told of him, and it’s actually the man behind the tradition of Santa Claus. Now, the tradition of Santa Claus has gone way beyond what St. Nicholas actually was, but St. Nicholas was a real man, and he was a man at this council.

And when St. Nicholas was debating whether or not Jesus was God or if he was something different, he got so wound up and heated that he actually punched Arius in the face, according to tradition. And he was arrested for that. And after he apologized, he was released. At least that’s how the story goes. I mean, there’s no way to know if that’s actually what happened. But that’s the way the story is told.

But after their deliberation, the council rejected Arius’ claims that there was a time when Jesus was not. And they decided that the Bible actually teaches that Jesus has always been God. And we’re going to look at those things this morning.

And another note is that the first edition of the Nicene Creed focused solely on the Father and Jesus. The section that we’ll read there on the Holy Spirit was actually added several years later. I think it was 381 at the Constantinople Council. What we have before you this morning is the full Nicene Creed as it is recognized today.

So I’m going to read it first and then we’re going to walk through the different things and show where, if and where these things are found in scripture. So if you have your bulletin insert there, I’m going to read through the Nicene Creed. Listen to what these pastors wrote down after studying scripture and answering this false teacher. They said this,

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten and not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made.

who for us, men, for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. And he suffered and was buried, and the third day rose again, according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

So, this is the Nicene Creed. It’s a 17-year-old summary. of what Christians believe. And we’re gonna walk through, there may be some statements in there that you have questions about, so we’re gonna walk through some of these things. And with the time we have left, we’re not gonna hit every word and statement, but we’re gonna, I’ll read through them and show where many of these things come from in scripture.

And you could divide this a lot of ways. I’ll just divide it into three sections, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. That’s generally how it is divided, and again, These things are not things that these pastors made up or came up with. These are not ideas where they said, hey, let’s think of this and this is what we should believe. This is what they studied and found in scripture. And these things are only important if they’re biblical.

So I’d like to at least show one or two references for the different lines and sections in this creed. So the first section there you see is the father. It says, I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible.

So first you see the statement, I believe, or some versions have we believe. In that word there is the word credo. It’s where we get the word creed from. A creed is a statement of what you believe. And so it starts with, I believe. This is what I as a Christian, or we as a church, believe. These are the things that make us who we are because we believe them.

And this first section is the shortest section of the creed, and the reason for that is the issue at stake was the Son. Everyone concerned generally believed these things about the Father. That really wasn’t up for debate. Nobody at that time was arguing about who God the Father was. There was general agreement. Now today, you’ll find more atheists who would deny this. So it’s important to have any creed. But back then there were not so many atheists. Everyone believed in some sort of a God. And so to say that there is one God, the Father, was a general agreement among those who were Christian or came from a Christian or biblical heritage.

So, where do we find these things in scripture? Well, we talked earlier about Deuteronomy 6, 4, that tells us there is one God, that Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one. You see also in Ephesians 4, verse 6, Paul says, there is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. And 1 Corinthians 8.6, another confession or creed that Paul writes down, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for him. And one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through him.

So this language that there is one God, the Father of all is very biblical. And then it says, he’s the maker of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible. Again, that’s a general agreed upon truth, that God the father, God himself is the maker of all things. I mean, Genesis 1.1, the Bible starts here. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, all things. So there is one God, he is the father and he made all things. And that’s the shortest section of the creed.

And next you have the section on the son. And again, this is the longest section and for good reason. This is the controversy of that time. This is what they were selling, who Jesus was, where he came from, what his existence was. And so they were very careful to express in detail what the Bible says about him.

And this is long, so you can’t really hit every statement or phrase, but we’ll hit generally the bigger ideas that are here. And it starts with, and in one Lord, Jesus Christ. And here we just see in Acts chapter 2. that in Peter’s preaching, it says, therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him, Jesus, God has made him Lord and Christ. Jesus is both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified, Peter says. And there’s a lot of places that you could quote that from, but that’s, again, a very biblical, solid truth, that Jesus is the Lord, and he is the Christ, the Messiah.

And it says in the creed, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds. Now this was important. This was an important statement for them because if you have a popular teacher going around and saying, there was a time when he was not. It’s important to clarify what the Bible says about when he came to be or if he came to be at a specific time.

And we know the references for the begottenness of the Son of God as we’ve gone through them in the last several months, but John 1.18, no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who’s in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him. And the famous verse I’m sure you all know, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. He gave his only begotten son.

There are many other passages that explain this truth for us, but Jesus the Son is begotten from the Father, and that means that he is eternally the Son of God. He always was the Son of God. John 1.1 explains that for us. Before anything happened, the Word was with God and the Word was God. And again, I’ve spoken a lot about that in the past several months, so if you want to know more about that, you can go watch those sermons that we have, but that truth of the begottenness of the Son was very important for them in defending who Jesus really is.

And then we see several short statements, really, and these are just explaining what the begottenness means. And you see God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, and then a kind of a summary statement, being of one substance with the Father. And this, again, is the very heart of the debate at Nicaea. Was Jesus, as they said, from the same substance, meaning the very same being as God, or was he different but very much like God? That was the debate here. Was he actually God or was he like God?

And let me show you from Scripture where some of these statements come from. The first one, God from God. Again, John 1, verses 1 and 2, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. So right in the beginning. He was God and was with God. And you have light from light. And you have a lot of statements in John talking about how Jesus was the light. John chapter one, verse nine. There was the true light, which coming into the world enlightens everyone. He didn’t become the light when he came into the world. He was the light and he came into the world. So really explaining that idea that he’s light from light. Second Corinthians. Chapter four, verse six says, God who said, let light shine out of darkness is the one who has shown in our hearts to give us the light of knowledge, the glory of God in the face of Christ. So he is the light of the world.

And then the next statement, very God of very God. Now this, in other words, means truly God from true God. Again, there’s a lot of support for this. 1 John 5.20 is one that says, we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. The Son of God came so that we may know the one who is true. He is true God from true God. And we are in him who is true, his son Jesus Christ. So it’s, John even there is making that distinction. So that we mean know him who is true, who is the father, and that we are in him who is true, that is the son. True God from true God.

So again, you can see how these pastors are trying to summarize these statements in scripture into a statement that defends what they actually believe. And then you have that statement I already mentioned, being of one substance with the Father.

And this comes from Philippians chapter 2, which says, have this way of thinking in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or held onto. It’s that in the form of God, He was of the very same form and substance as God. He was not something different. He was in that very form.

And this, again, was the very heart of the debate. What is the Son, essentially? What is He? Is He God? Or is He God? Like God, is he a creation? And they were writing in Greek, and there’s the debate between the Greek words there. Really, the words are homoousios and homoiousios. Those are, again, $5 words for you, but there’s one letter difference, but a whole lot of meaning different. There’s, is he of the same substance or a similar substance?

So again, is he God or is he like God? And without confusing you anymore on that word debate, the orthodox pastors, the pastors who were defending against Arius, men like Athanasius and Alexander and Nicholas, they won the debate because they proved from scripture, no, Jesus is the very same substance as the Father. He is God. He has always been God. He always was.

So in the face of Arius’ Well-intentioned but mistaken ideas of who Jesus was, these men went back to scripture and they underlined what scripture says about who he is.

So to continue with the rest of this section on the son, just kind of summarizing some of these things, it says, by whom all things were made. Again, that’s Colossians, Colossians chapter one that tells us for in him, in Christ, all things were created. So even though we already saw the father is creator, in him in christ all things were created so he creates through christ both the heavens and the earth visible invisible thrones dominions rulers authorities all things have been been created through him and for him

so he is the son who through whom all things were created and then We read about in the creed the incarnation, the advent of our Lord, the coming of Christ to the earth to be God with us. The next few lines say, who, meaning the Son, Christ, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man. This is the incarnation.

And we know many of the places that we find these things in scripture. John 1.14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. The word that always was, the word that was God and with God and before the beginning, he became flesh and dwelt among us. And we read the last few weeks, Matthew 1.23, behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel. which translated means God with us.

This is the incarnation. This is one of the central truths of Christianity. And they summarize it in a couple lines that they take right from the words of scripture.

Then we come to the gospel section of the creed, where it explains our salvation. It says, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried and on the third day rose again according to the scriptures. And you know where that comes from. That rings familiar to us because in 1 Corinthians 15, this is what we read. They copied and pasted before we had copy and paste. This is 1 Corinthians 15, three and four, where Paul says, I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. These words in the creed are right from the Bible.

Then it says, he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. You read about the ascension in Acts chapter one, but in Mark 16 verse 19, you see the very same words in the creed, where it says, the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the father. So again, all of these things, they’re pulling it from scripture and summarizing it into one statement.

And then it says, and he shall come again. He shall come again. With glory. This is an essential belief for the Christian. To believe that he will come again. He didn’t just come once. He’s coming again. And he’s coming with glory to judge the quick and the dead, or the living and the dead. To judge all people. Whether you’re alive or dead. If you fall into one of those categories, you’re going to be judged by him. And each one of us are in one of those categories. The quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And just quickly, some passages that these very words are pulled from. Matthew 25 verse 31, but when the Son of Man comes in his glory and the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. And Matthew 16 verse 27. The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with the angels and to repay each one according to his deeds. And then the last one that points to his kingdom, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8 says, of the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. Your throne, O God, speaking about the Son. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”

And that is the longest and the central section of the creed focused on the Son. It’s very thoroughly biblical. In fact, as I was preparing to preach on this, it was hard to narrow down the passages that I was going to choose to support these things because these things are found all over the Bible, especially all over the New Testament as it explains to us who the Son is. Every line is just saturated and dripping with biblical text.

But we have one more section of the creed. And that is the section on the Holy Spirit. Again, this section was added later on in the year 381, as they realized, well, we have a good section on the Father and the Son, but what about the Holy Spirit? Let’s not forget about Him. We need to include Him in our Christian statement of faith. And so, eventually, they added this section where it begins with, and I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life.

We read a lot about the Holy Spirit. Again, as we read of the ascension in Acts chapter one, Jesus says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you in verse eight. And then back in the gospel of John in chapter six, which we’ll come to in this new year, verse 63, it’s Jesus speaking of the Spirit says, the Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. So the spirit is the giver of life. That’s where you see that in that statement there in the creed.

And then it says, this is a debated line in the creed, it says, who proceeds from the father and the son? Now this is the dividing line between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. They had a big old fight over this one line. and they ended up splitting and going their separate ways because the Eastern Orthodox Church, they believe that the Holy Spirit only comes from the Father, proceeds only from the Father, whereas the Roman Catholic Church believes that the Spirit comes from both the Father and the Son.

To boil it all down for you, the Eastern Orthodox Church is wrong. Because we read in John, starting in chapter 15, verse 26, when the advocate, the Holy Spirit comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he’ll bear witness about me. And then in the next chapter, chapter 16 of John, verse 7, Jesus says, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the advocate, the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Who sends the Spirit? The Father and the Son send the Spirit. It’s right there in John, chapter 15 and 16. So the Bible wins. The Aethern Orthodox belief on the procession of the Spirit is wrong. We see both there in John.

So, moving on to the next line there, speaking of the Spirit, it says, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified. This comes from 2 Corinthians 3 that says, the Lord is the Spirit. So if the Lord is the Spirit, he must be worshiped and glorified, just like each of the other persons of the Trinity. He’s God, he gets to be worshiped. And then it says, who spoke by the prophets? To close off that Holy Spirit section, he speaks by the prophets, and that’s 2 Peter 1, verse 21. No prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but being moved by the Holy Spirit, they spoke from God.

So again, just really quickly and thoroughly explaining what the Bible says about each of the persons of the Trinity. And then there’s a last little section there where the creed says, and I believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Now, this is where a lot of people start to choke on what’s in the creed. And you have to explain what these words were meaning to them. And when they’re talking about, I believe in one Holy Catholic Church, remember, this is before the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic means universal. So when you say, I believe in one Holy Catholic Church, it’s I believe in one church that is the bride of Christ. There is one people of God. There is one church all over the world. The church is not just American. Every believer from all over the world is part of this universal, or in their word, Catholic and apostolic church.

Another statement that is sometimes questioned is where it says, I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. Now, some people say, well, are you saying that we’re saved by our baptism? No. generally understood as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And if you have a problem with this baptism for the forgiveness of sins, take it up with Peter, because he said it in Acts. That’s what he says in Acts chapter two, verse 38, when they ask him, what shall we do to be saved? Verse 38, Peter said to them, repent each of you and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Now was Peter saying you have to be baptized in water to be saved? Well, no, we know from the rest of Scripture that that’s not what it takes to be saved. He’s saying you need to be baptized and given the Holy Spirit, and that happens upon your salvation. So that’s a spirit baptism there. So again, we read of the one baptism in Ephesians 4, and then Romans 6, another baptism passage on speaking of this baptism of the Holy Spirit. He says, do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? And so, and then the last line there where it talks about looking to this hope. You can think of a passage like 2 Peter 3, 13. According to his promise, we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. That’s what we look for. That’s our hope, and that’s a great place to close this summary of the Christian faith. We look for this hope. This is what we wait for. This is the place we find ourselves right now, is waiting for this hope of his coming. And so that is the Nicene Creed. We moved through it rather quickly. But as you see, it’s thoroughly biblical. All of the ideas in here are coming right from scripture. A lot of the words are repeated from scripture. Again, it’s a summary of the Bible. It’s a summary of the gospel.

Again, if you want to tell someone what is the gospel, this section in the creed, Jesus, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, who was made man, he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, he suffered, was buried, and on the third day he rose again according to the scriptures. The gospel. That is what we believe to be saved. It’s the only hope for salvation. Not because it’s in the creed, but because it’s in the Bible. This is what the Bible teaches about the gospel.

I hope that you believe in Christ for your salvation. And if you don’t know him yet, if you haven’t believed in him for the forgiveness of your sins and salvation from the wrath of God, you need to come to know him. You need to come to him for salvation. You need to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. And if you do, you will be saved.

If you want to know more about Christ or how you can be saved, stay afterwards and talk to me or somebody else here. We would love to explain to you more about Jesus and about the gospel and about how you too can be saved.

So let’s close this morning by reading the Nicene Creed together. I’ve explained all the different lines in it, so we’re going to read this together, all of us. So I’ll lead it, and you just follow my lead.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men, for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.

and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer. Our God in heaven, we thank you for what your word has to say. We thank you for giving us your word by which we can measure all of these things. And even though we are thankful for the early church and the men who worked hard to defend the faith and come up with statements like this. We acknowledge and recognize that your word reigns over all, and that it must measure up to what your word says, and we thank you for the ability to do that. We thank you for who you are. We thank you for sending your son to be born, to live, and to die for us, but to be risen again the third day, and who now sits at your right hand and will come again one day for us.

Lord, I pray if there is anybody here this morning who does not know Christ, that you would soften their heart and bring them to yourself. Help them to come to an understanding of their Lord and Savior. We pray this all in Jesus’ name, amen.