Let us turn to God's Word again,
and that second portion of Scripture that we read in the second epistle
of John. I'm directing your attention
this morning to the words that we find here at verse 9. It's
a text that the Lord has much laid
upon my own spirit. It's a text that I thank God
for opening up to me. There are those who do speak
of how the Lord is pleased to give them a word. The Lord does,
of course, cause particular scriptures to come to us in a remarkable
fashion. And certainly this verse that
we have before us here in this epistle, the ninth verse of John's
second epistle is one, as I said, that I believe the Lord has made
very precious to me. He who is so ever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God, neither
abideth in the doctrine of Christ. He hath both the Father and the
Son. We see there now John clearly
is speaking of the doctrine of Christ. He uses that expression
twice in the compass of this particular verse. And what is
the doctrine of Christ that he is speaking of? It is that of
the eternal sonship of the Lord Jesus. As some of you are aware
that doctrine was greatly controverted amongst Greek Baptists in the
middle of the 19th century. There were some who would deny
the truth of Christ's eternal sonship and it was Mr. Philpott
who came forward as the great champion of the orthodox doctrine
that Christ is in fact the eternal son of the eternal father and
Mr. Philpott mentions and that there
are four areas in which there are those who deny that eternal
sonship. Some would say that Christ is
simply a son in terms of the covenant. We know that in the
eternal covenant he becomes God's servant. Behold my servant, God
says, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth In
that covenant Christ is the servant of God. He comes to serve the
will of the Father here upon the earth. But those who deny
the eternal Sonship speak also of Christ becoming God's Son
in terms of that covenant. And then others would say that
He simply became the Son of God at the time of the Incarnation. and then others would go on and
say no it was at the time of the resurrection from the dead
then he was declared to be the son of God with power and yet
again there are a fourth group who spoke of Christ being God's
son as he ascended and was exalted at the right hand of God and
none of these deniers of the eternal sonship said that they
denied the doctrine of the Trinity, but they spoke of the Trinity
in terms of the Father, the Eternal Words, and the Holy Spirit. They didn't accept that the Lord
Jesus Christ is God's Eternal Son. And, as I said, it was Mr. Philpott who stood forth as the
great champion of the truth that he said before us in scripture
that Christ is in fact that one who is eternally begotten of
the Father. But it was not through reading
Mr. Philpott, but it was through
this particular verse that I've announced this morning as our
text that the Lord really caused me to see the importance of this
truth. the doctrine of Christ, whosoever
transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, it
says, hath not God, he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he
hath both the Father and the Son. Now, as we've said before,
it's in the writings of this Apostle John that we see so much
of the doctrine of Christ, be it in his Gospel, albeit in the
three epistles, even when we come to the book of the Revelation. Our Revelation opens with that
remarkable vision that John sees of the glorified Christ. And John here is an aged man,
he's the longest living of all the apostles of the Lord, he
speaks of himself as the elder. He was an elder in the same sense
as Peter speaks of himself as an elder, but here he is also
alluding to the greatness of his age, the elder onto the elect
lady and her children. Now the commentators debate who
the elect lady is, some say it's an individual and her children,
others say he's addressing himself to a particular church, a local
church and the various members of that church and then at the
end he sends greetings from one church to another when he writes
the children of thy elect sister greets them well we can weigh
up that interpretation we can decide either way I don't think
it's of any great moment whether it's an individual or whether
it's a church that's being addressed it's the word of God and God's
Word belongs to every individual believer and God's Word belongs
to all the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. But here we see
John, this aged man, and already evidently from what we read in
his epistles there were controversies amongst those who profess the
name of the Lord Jesus there was controversy over the matter
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that great mystery. Gods
manifest in the flesh. There were some who were already
denying the reality of the human nature of the Lord Jesus. And John speaks of them here
in verse 7, many deceivers are entered into the world. who confess
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver
and an antichrist. They said he wasn't a real man,
it was just some sort of apparition that people saw, he wasn't a
real person. And now John answers such ridiculous
teachings. Again in that first epistle In
chapter 4 verse 3, Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God. And this is that
spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should
come, and even there already is it in the world. Oh John,
look! that Jesus of Nazareth was a
real man, how intimate John was with him, how he writes in the
very opening words of that first epistle, that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled
of the word of life. Or John knew that that was a
real person. Did he not lean upon the Lord's
bosom when Christ instituted His Holy Supper? There were those
deniers of the reality of the human nature of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the heresy of Docetism. But then, there were also others
who went to the opposite extreme. And they denied the truth of
the divine nature of the Lord Jesus. And it is those who are
being addressed here in the words of our text this morning. They
are not abiding in the doctrine of Christ. They have not God. Those who confess that Christ
is God they have both the Father and the Son. But again, in that
portion of scripture that we read previous to the second epistle
we read there in the first epistle remember at chapter 2 and the
words that we find at verse 22 and the following verse is who
is a liar but he that denieth that jesus is the christ he is
antichrist that denieth the father and the son whosoever denieth
the son The same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth
the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you
which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall
continue in the Son and in the Father." Now, there's no mention
of the Holy Spirit because there was no particular dispute at
that time, no controversy concerning the matter of the spirits. We
confess, of course, that there are three persons in the Godhead,
and John does make mention of that at the end of that first
epistle. In chapter 5, that's greatly
disputed, verse 7, there are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the words, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are
one. But there was not the same opposition. and denial of the
truth of the Holy Spirit as there was with regards to the truth
of the Eternal Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, I
want us to look at this doctrine, the doctrine of Christ's Eternal
Sonship, as we have it here in the text this morning. And so,
firstly to say something with regards to God the Father, And
then secondly, something with regards to God the Son. Look at what we have here at
the end of the verse, "...he that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ," it says, "...he hath both the Father and the Son." Oh, there must, if there is an
eternal Father, there must be an eternal Son. It stands to reason, how can
there be a father without a son? And if God is eternally father,
there must be one who is the eternal son before ever there
was any other creature, before there was any creation at all. How we see in Scripture the truth
time and again concerning the fact that the Father is the Father
because of the truth of His only begotten Son. When Paul writes
to the Corinthians he says there is but one God, the Father. He is the one God, He is the
Father and He has an eternal Son. And here at verse 3 we read
of Him, Christ the Son of the Father in truth. In other words,
He is truly and properly the Son of God. He is not the Son
by office in the eternal covenant. He is not the Son simply by the
truth of the Incarnation or the Resurrection. or His ascension
and exaltation. No, He is the Son of God, the
Father in truth. He is truly the Son of God. It's interesting though that
in Scripture we see that men are sometimes referred to as
gods, because they are in the place of God. That is the case
with regards to judges and magistrates, We have it there stated quite
clearly in the Psalm, in the 82nd Psalm. We read, God standeth
in the congregation the mighty. He judges among the gods. How
long will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? For since I have said ye are
gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. He is speaking
of the congregation of the mighty, the judges of the earth, those
who make judgments amongst men. Now that's a judge, just judgment. And God refers to them, you see,
as God. You are gods. They are, in that
sense, in the place of God. We know that that is certainly
true with regards to the magistrate. Paul brings it out when he writes
to the Romans there in the 13th chapter of that particular epistle. He says, let every soul be subject
unto the higher powers. There is no power but of God.
The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a tenor to
good works, but to the evil. Will thou then not be afraid
of the power? Do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God
to thee for good. But if thou do that which is
evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword
in vain. for he is the minister of God a revenger to execute
wrath upon him that doeth evil there is a very basis of sound
government and proper judgments those who are in that position
you see they have power they stand in God's place and so the
state has every right to execute the murderer this is in accordance
with the word of God there are those who in Scripture are in
God's place and they are therefore referred to as God. But that
is not the case in any sense when it comes to the Lord Jesus
Christ. In no way is He the Son of God
simply by office, but He is that One who is eternally begotten. Remember how John again in the
opening chapter of his Gospel brings it out. the Word was made
flesh. He says, "...and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth." The only begotten
of the Father. Christian believers are the sons
of God, but we are God's sons by adoption. And this is the
difference, the Lord Jesus Christ, when we think of Him in His Sonship,
He is that One who is eternal, the Son of God, eternally begotten
of the Father. We often refer to those words
in Proverbs 8, When there were no depths, I was brought forth.
When there were no fountains abounding in water, before the
mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. Eternally brought forth before
there was anything of creation. And again we have it in the Prophets,
Micah. Micah 5.2, we read of him whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting, his goings
forth. The Father eternally begetting,
and the Son eternally begotten of the Father, who shall declare
His generation, asks the Prophet Isaiah, is eternal generation,
eternally begotten of the Father. The point I seek to make is simply
this, that the Father is recognized as God the Father, because of
that relationship that He has with His eternal Son. In that sense, we can speak then
of the Eternal Father. Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, says the Apostle. All that relationship
between the Father and the Son. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. Or if we have the
doctrine of Christ, then we have God. But what is the doctrine
of Christ? It is His Sonship. He that abides in the doctrine
of Christ, says John, he has both the Father and the Son. Or think of those words of the
Lord Jesus during the course of His own earthly ministry. There in Matthew 11 at the end
he says, No man knoweth the Son but the Father, and neither knoweth
any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him. For no man hath seen God at any
time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath revealed Him. He is the image of the invisible
God. He is that one who comes to reveal
God to us. And this is the truth that stands
before us in this particular text. All that fullness of dietary
dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is no God, says John
Calvin, no God apart from Him. The Jews, the Muslims, they say
there is one God, but their God is really an idol. Because we
can only know the true God through Him who is the eternal Son of
God. And they deny is eternal sonship,
or God preserve us that we might never be those who would in any
way doubt the truth that He is the Eternal, the only begotten
Son of the Father. But having said something with
regards to God the Father, and now that we can only acknowledge
Him to be the Eternal Father because of the Eternal Son. I want, in the second place,
to consider more particularly how this One who is the Son of
God is so evidently revealed to us in Scripture as truly God. Observe three areas in which
we see this truth. First of all, There are those passages in the
Old Testament Scriptures that speak of God, and yet we find that those very
passages are taken up in the New Testament and quoted and
applied to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God. We see it
quite strikingly, for example, on two occasions there in the
opening chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. Paul at the opening of the chapter
makes it quite clear that in these last days we have the fullness
of the revelation of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, God who at
sundry times and in diverse manners making time passed on to the
fathers by the prophets, that in these last days spoken unto
us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also
we made the worlds, who, being the brightness of His glory,
and the express image of His person, O the Eternal Son, very
God, the very God, begotten, not made, of one substance with
the Father, the brightness of His glory, the express image
of his person. And then, see how Paul goes on. In verse 8 he says, unto the
Son he says, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. And he is quoting
there from the Psalm, from Psalm 45, and verse 6, if you turn
to the words of the psalm you'll see quite clearly that the words
are being addressed to God and yet it says here in Hebrews 1.8
unto the Son, unto the Son he says, thy throne O God is forever
and ever We didn't read that 45th Psalm
but we read, or we sang rather, the metrical version of a part
of Psalm 2 and the latter part of that 2nd Psalm also clearly
speaks of the sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at the language that we
find there in verse 7 I will declare the decree the Lord has
said unto me thou art my son this day have I begotten thee
or this day that is the eternal day not yesterday or tomorrow
but this day the eternal day when he was eternally begotten
of the Father But coming back to what the Apostle himself is
saying here in Hebrews chapter 1, it's not just there in verse
8 that we have a plain statement from the Old Testament taken
up and applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. But then, at verse 10,
we see how the Apostle continues to quote Old Testament scripture
as applicable to Christ. And thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of thine hands. Thou shalt perish, but thou remainest,
and they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture
shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou
art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Paul is continuing,
really, to speak of words from the Old Testament that are applicable
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, as he says in verse 8, unto the
Son, he says. And throughout the following
verses, it's all that has been said unto the Son. Now, there, at verse 10 following,
Paul is clearly quoting from the Old Testament, and he's quoting
words that we find in the 102nd Psalm. And that psalm is so clearly
a psalm that it's being addressed unto God himself. Look at the
opening words of the psalm. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let
my cry come unto thee. the psalmist addresses himself
directly to the Lord God. And then we have those words
that Paul is quoting in Hebrews 1. Now there at the end of the
102nd Psalm, verse 25 following, of old as thou lay the foundation
of the earth the heavens are the work of thy hands they shall
perish but they shall endure they all of them shall wax all
like a garment and as a vesture shall thou change them and they
shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years have no
end words in the Old Testament being spoken in reference to
God spoken to God concerning himself taken off in the opening
chapter of Hebrews and apply directly to the Lord Jesus. Now one other example, in John
chapter 12 at verse 37 following, we find words from Isaiah chapter
6. They're taken up and applied
to the Lord Jesus. Now remember the significance
of that sixth chapter of Isaiah because it's there that the prophet
sees the throne of God and he sees the one who is seated upon
that throne and the the seraphim, the burning angels round about
the throne. What does John say in the Gospel,
John 12, 37 following concerning the Lord Jesus so he had done
so many miracles before them Yet they believed not on him,
that the saying of Esaias, simply the Greek form of the name Isaiah,
the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath
believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been
revealed. Therefore they could not believe,
because it Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and
hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes,
nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should
heal them. These things said Isaiah when
he saw His glory, and spoke of Him." Isaiah saw His glory? Whose glory? John is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ who had done so many miracles, and yet they believe
not. He had demonstrated His Godhead,
His deity, in the miracles that He performed, but they believe
not. Or there are these Old Testament Scriptures, speaking of God,
taken up deliberately in the New Testament and applied to
Him who is the Son of God, God incarnate. And then of course
we know that there are passages in the Old Testament that speak
directly of the deity of Him that was to come. That great verse that we have
in Isaiah 9.6, unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, as we've said many a time, we have to mark
the fact that the child is born, That is the child that was born
to Mary the Virgin, and the Holy Ghost came upon her, and
that was conceived of the Holy Ghost in her womb, the human
nature that was to be joined to the eternal Son of God. the
child is born, the human nature, but the son, the eternal son
is given and Isaiah goes on, the government shall be upon
his shoulder and his name, his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. This is the name that is given
to him that was to come. the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the mighty God. The Old Testament speaks, in
that sense, directly of his diaton. And then also, of course, we
see him as that one who is spoken of in Jeremiah 23 as the Lord
our righteousness. And it is evident there, in the
context, that Jeremiah is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jeremiah
23.5 Behold, the day is come, saith the Lord, that I will raise
unto David a righteous branch, and the king shall reign and
prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. It's
a promise of the coming of Christ, that man who is called the branch
in Zechariah. I will raise unto David a righteous
branch. A king shall reign and prosper.
He shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his
days, Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And
this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness." And the margin gives us the Hebrew Jehovah Sidkenia. He is the Lord. That is the name
that is given to Him there directly in Old Testament Scriptures.
The Old Testament speaks of God, as I said, and those passages
in the Old Testament we find in the New Testament being applied
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then there are Old Testament
passages that speak directly and immediately of him as God. And then thirdly, of course,
there are passages in the New Testament that speak to us so
plainly of the truth of his deity. And now we see it time and time
and time again in John. The opening verses of his Gospel
in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. Such a statement concerning the
truth of his diaton. The Word was my flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. And then in John we have those
repeated I Am statements, or this one who has come, he is
the revealer of God, we see truly in Him just who the great I Am,
the great Jehovah is. And last Lord's Day morning we
looked at those words at the end of John chapter 8, where
Christ himself declares verily, verily, before Abraham was, I
am. Oh, is that one, you see, that
Abraham saw. Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day, he tells the Jews. He saw it and was glad. But how there in that 58th verse
he prefixes that statement concerning him as the great I am. before
ever Abraham was born. He fixes that statement with
those two verilies. He underlines, he underscores
the truth he is about to declare to those Jews, that he is the
I Am. Previously he says to them, if you believe not that I Am,
you shall perish in your sins. There are these statements in
the New Testament Scriptures that declare to us the truth
of Him who is God. Even the Lord Jesus Christ Christ
says, Paul, who is over all, God blessed forever. In Romans 9 and verse 5. He is over all. He is God. or
without controversy, great is the mystery of Godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. He's the God-Man. And let us
remember this, that in no sense at all does the truth of His
eternal Sonship mean that He is subordinate or inferior to
the Father. When we think in terms of the
father-son relationship, we do tend to think in that fashion.
Surely the son must be below the father. But the Jews didn't
think like that. Remember what we were told in
John chapter 5? Oh, they would have stoned him to
death because they thought he was a blasphemer. Why was he
a blasphemer? Well, there in verse 18 we're
told the Jews sought the Moor to kill him because he not only
had broken the Sabbath, but said that God was his Father, making
himself equal with God. All his sonship meant he was
equal to the Father. And that's why the Jews sought
time and again to stone him to death. They would take up stones.
But they couldn't touch him of course. They couldn't kill him
until his hour was come. He had received that commandment
from his father. No man taketh my life from me,
he says. I have power, I have authority
to lay it down. I have power or authority to
take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. But when the time comes, when
the hour is come, and last Lord's Day evening we consider that
hour as he comes to it in the great high priestly prayer of
John 17, Father, the hour is come, he says, glorify thy son,
that thy son also may glorify thee, or there's a mutual glory
between the father and the son. The sonship in no way suggests
any inferiority. We read of him again in Philippians
chapter 2, being in the form of God. He thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. He was not grasping after something
that was not his by right. He is equal. He is very God,
a very God. begotten not made of one substance
with the Father in the language of the Nicene Creed. God the
Father, God the Son, this is the doctrine. Whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. For what is it to have God? He
that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father
and the Son. And then finally this warning.
to say something with regards to the love of God as we see
it in this relationship we made some reference to what we have
previously at the end of verse 3 where we read of the Lord Jesus
Christ the Son of the Father in truth and love He is the Son
of the Father in truth, He is truly the Son Remember what we
said, He is not merely the Son by office, He is the real Son,
the only begotten of the Father, but He is the Son of the Father
in truth and love. Now, John is the one who declares,
back in that first epistle, chapter 4 and verses 8 and 16, that God
is love. What John says, God is love. We speak often of the attributes
of God. God is revealed to us in Scripture,
He's holy, He's righteous, He's just, He's gracious, He's merciful. These are all attributes. And
some speak of the attribute of loving God. But loving God is
really more than an attribute. God is love. God is love in terms
of who He is. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. In order to be loved, God doesn't
need any object outside of Himself. What is the relationship between
the persons in the Godhead, it is a relationship of love. The
father loves the son, the son loves the father. The father
and the son love the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit loves the father
and the son. The whole relationship in that
mystery of the Godhead is a relationship of love. God is love. It's not
just an attribute. It's all that God is. Oh, how
the father loves the son. What does he say there in Proverbs
chapter 8? We see God the Son is the wisdom
of God, the one who of God is made unto us wisdom. I was daily his delight, he says. Oh, from all eternity the Father
delights in the Son, loves the Son. Oh yes, in the Covenant
the son, the eternal son becomes God's servant, behold my servant and God loves him when he comes
into this world to accomplish that great work of redemption
when the son submits to John's baptism of repentance remember
how the heavens open at his baptizing and the spirit descends upon
him in the form of a dove and the father speaks, this is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased, always well pleased
with Him as His Son, but now also as His Servant, who has
come to do all His goodwill and pleasure to accomplish that great
work of redemption." And then again on the Mount of Transfiguration,
how the Father speaks and those three favoured ones, Peter and
James and John, oh they hear that voice, this is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him." Oh, to be those
friends who would hear him, the Lord Jesus speaking to us, that
one who reveals God to us, the image of the invisible God. Oh,
the Father loves the Son. And now we see that God loves
sinners and loves them to such a remarkable degree that He gives
His Son. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life. What a gift is this! Here in His love John says not
that we love God but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation for our sins. What does that mean? He sends
his son to be the one who is going to bear in his own person
all that just indignation, all that holy justice
of God that must be visited upon the sinner. God will pour out
his wrath upon his only begotten and his well-beloved son. Not
that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation for our sins. It is the love of God. Thanks
be unto God for His unspeakable gift. All to know this love of
God as we see it unfolded, revealed. in the gift of Christ, the person
of Christ, the work of Christ. Now, Paul, when he writes to
these various churches, time and again, we observe he turns,
as it were, from writing to the churches, and he begins to address
himself to God. He prays. He prays for these
churches, and we have his prayer for the Ephesians. There at the
end of chapter 3, where he says, for this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. How he prays for them,
and what is his prayer? That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that she might be filled with all
the fullness of God." What a prayer! All he wants is that they should
know that love of Christ, who loved, having loved his own,
he loved them unto the end, to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that she might be filled with all the fullness
of God. It's in the Lord Jesus that we see all that fullness.
Or what think you of Christ is the test to try both your state
and your scheme. You cannot be right in the rest
unless you think rightly of Him, says dear John Newton. How true.
What do we think of Christ? Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. Or do we have this
doctrine? Are we those abiding in Christ,
abiding in the Father and the Son, the great doctrine of His
eternal Sonship? He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, He hath both the Father and the Son. Oh, the Lord then
bless His Word to us. Amen.