Passing the Torch

Listen from:
“Now I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all that are sanctified.” When the torch is passed, it must always be first and foremost “to God, and to the word of His grace.” Whatever be the days of danger, difficulty and ruin, God abides faithful, the Savior unchangeable, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. If all the apostles, since they and the prophets laid the foundation, have passed away, the words of His grace remain, as does the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. Faith shines the more in a dark day.
There is nothing in comparison with the Word of His grace in ability to build us up. Boldness of thought and beauty of language are all vain if there be not the truth, and the truth is never so sure, strong and holy as in His own Word, which is truth. This searches the conscience, strengthens the heart, nourishes faith and makes the blessed hope abounding and mighty in the love which is the strength of all that is good, for love is of God, and God is good, and as His Word builds us up now, so it gives us the inheritance among all that are sanctified. The Word of God truly received delivers from the love of this present age, from the world and from the things of the world.
W. Kelly, Exposition of the Acts (adapted)