Tonight, Mrs. Calhoun won't be
back with us for at least a while, so you'll be sure to say goodbye
to her after services. We've been delighted to have
you here with us for these many weeks. The title of my message
tonight is Children of Light. Our text will be Ephesians chapter
5, verses 3 through 14. Ephesians 5, 3 through 14. In the first two verses of this
chapter, The Apostle urges us to walk in love. In verses 3-14
he shows us that imitating God, walking in love, living in this
world for the glory of God as God's dear children involves
the totality of our lives. If you get that much from the
message, if God will seal that to your heart and mind, that
will be sufficient. Imitating God, walking in love,
living in this world as God's dear children, living for God's
glory involves the totality of our lives. To imitate God is
to live for God, to walk in love to live for God. To honor God
is to live for God. Now I want you to see this in
this portion of Scripture. Let's begin reading in verse
1. Our text will be verses 3 through 14. Be ye therefore followers
of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savor. But fornication and uncleanness
or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh
saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient, but rather giving a thanks. For this
ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God. That no man deceive you with
vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers
with them. For ye were sometimes darkness,
but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth. Proving what is acceptable unto
the Lord. And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For
it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of
them in secret. But all things that are reproved
are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever doth make manifest
is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee light. Prophet Malachi gave us a very
peculiar name by which the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed. The
prophet tells us that the Messiah, in whom his faith was fixed,
would be revealed as the Son of Righteousness, who would arise
with healing in his wings. The Son, the S-U-N, of Righteousness,
who would arise with healing in his wings. It was in this
character that our Lord revealed himself. John said in him was
life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth
in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. Today, our
Savior still stands forth in heaven as the son of righteousness. He says, I am the light of the
world. The sun is hidden from view in
the darkness of night. And there's only the reflection
of the sun's light seen in the moon. Even so, the church of
Christ is the reflection of the great son of righteousness in
this dark world. God's people, his church, are
the reflection of the light of Christ in this world. both the
reflection of his light by the gospel we preach and the reflection
of his light by the life he's given us as we walk with him
in this world. Christ the son in heaven is hidden
from the view of this world of darkness, but he's not left himself
without a witness. He said, ye are the light of
the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hid. Children of light. That's the
subject of this passage. The apostle urges us here to
walk as children of light. You see, there's a great danger
of our light not being seen in this dark world. There's a great
danger of our light being hid under a bushel. Our Lord knew
the danger and he admonished us with these words. Let your
light so shine before men that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. You glorify your
Father in heaven living blamelessly, holyly, godly in this present
evil world. The Apostle Paul saw the danger
of God's people being affected by the darkness of sin all around
us. And he warns us to avoid the
ways of darkness. Listen to Paul's words in Philippians
2. That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God,
without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation,
among whom you shine as lights in the world Holding forth the
word of life if we're children of life children of light we
by our lives should be such men and women as reflect the great
light of the son of righteousness. So that his very being is a reproof
to the world, as his very being was a reproof to the world around
him, our lives ought to reprove those around us who do not know
our God and walk in darkness. Now let me tell you the basis
of my appeal, and I'll repeat it throughout the message. Are
we children of light, people loved and chosen of God, a people redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ, purchased by his blood, bought by him as his
own peculiar treasure, Are we children of light, people born
again by God the Holy Spirit, called, sanctified, and sealed
by the Holy Ghost? If so, let us walk in the light. If not, I pray that God will
be pleased to make you this very hour a child of light. May the son of righteousness
shine forth his glory in our hearts that we may be healed
of all darkness. John wrote this way. This then
is the message which we've heard of him and declare unto you that
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that
we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and
do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as
He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. If we've been
translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of
God's dear Son, by God's almighty grace, It is our high honor and
our great responsibility to walk as children of light. And let
me show you three things in these 14 verses that are clearly set
before us by God, the Holy Spirit. First in verses three through
seven, as children of light, we must avoid the ways of darkness. These verses contain a caution
against all uncleanness, all manner of ungodliness. To enforce
his warning, the apostle shows us the remedy for those evils
and gives us strong arguments to dissuade the practice of ungodliness. In chapter 4, we were admonished
to be imitators of Christ by exercising self-sacrifice. Here,
we are urged to avoid self-indulgence. Oh, God give me grace not to
live in this world indulging myself, living for my pleasure,
for my desire. The love of Christ constrains
us to avoid those vices that are unbecoming to the saints
of God. And Paul doesn't mince words in talking about them,
neither shall I. Some things are utterly inconsistent
with godliness. It is our responsibility and
our honor, our responsibility and our honor to avoid those
things. Look at verse three. But fornication
and uncleanness or covetousness Let it not be once named among
you as become a saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking,
nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. Now the list of vices Paul gives
here is just a brief sample of those things which are condemned
throughout the scriptures. These things are natural to men. They're common among the unregenerate
men. but they are sins, they are vices,
they're deeds, practices, and ways of ungodliness that should
not be named among God's elect. As we shall see, Christ alone
provides the example, the motive, and the power to overcome them.
Paul begins by denouncing every form of sexual perversion. Now I realize I'm talking to
folks who are getting a little older, but the perversity of
which Paul warns is just as needful for you and me now as it is for
the teenage boys and girls we raise, for those young folks
that we've already raised. He speaks of fornication, specifically
the word used for fornication. refers to all unlawful, deviant
sexual behavior, specifically that between people who are unmarried. But it seems to include illicit
relationships of every description. Fornication is contrary to God's
law. It is the work of the flesh.
And yet it, in the Gentile world in which Paul lived, was as common
as eating bread. Sadly, we have come to the same
day in this religious pagan Gentile world. So that fornication is
looked upon by most people, sadly, most commonly even by you and
I, as an incidental, insignificant matter. It's just, that's just
the way things are. That's just the way things are.
God help us to not think as we're conditioned to think by this
world. In our day, fornication has become
a matter of indifference to many in the church of Christ. Many
who are genuine believers, I have no question, many who are genuine
believers look upon it almost as something that's just to be
expected and you just live with it and say nothing about it.
And then Paul speaks of all uncleanness. This goes beyond fornication,
it includes adultery, incest, sodomy, and every unnatural lust. Paul's talking about impurity.
Not only impurity of deeds, but impurity of words, of thoughts,
of intents of the heart, desires and filthy passions. All of them
are denounced. The phrase, all uncleanness,
that covers a wide, wide range of things. and covetousness. In this context, it goes beyond
the desire for gain. Covetousness usually refers to
an inordinate desire for more stuff. for worldly gain. But here it seems to have referenced
in a beastly, inordinate, selfish lust within man. It's talking
about something that's just a beastly, inordinate, selfish lust in man. It's a self-assertion. Self-assertion
regardless of the cost to others. Self-assertion regardless of
injury done to others. Commandment is thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor's wife. Covet his wife. It's lusting
after man's wife, asserting yourself regardless of injury done to
him. If we see these things as we ought, we recognize that this
behavior is utterly unbecoming to those who name the name of
Christ. Such vices ought not be ever
named among us, let alone common among us. I can't tell you the
number of places I travel where fornication is just looked at
as nothing, just looked at as nothing. Among churches, it's
looked at as nothing. I have a very dear friend who's
refused to baptize a gal wanting to profess Christ because she
was shacked up with a fellow and the whole family got upset.
As if you're just supposed to let this go, this is nothing,
this is nothing. We're God's saints, his holy
ones. And these things are not to be
named among us. You and I who are gods were set apart by God
in his eternal decree for himself. Bill Raleigh, God sanctified
you to be His, exclusively His, in eternal election. That's what sanctification is.
We have been set apart by God as His. That which was sanctified
in the Old Testament. the Ark of the Covenant, the
mercy seat, the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the priesthood, the
garments of the priesthood, the table of showbread, the altar
of incense, all those things sanctified. They were just ordinary
things. They were just ordinary things.
There was nothing specific about them that made them somehow intrinsically
holy or better than other things. They were made out of wood overlaid
with gold. That's just various forms of
dirt. They're just ordinary things.
But God said, this is mine. You don't use it for anything
but me. God said before the world was,
Don Fortner is mine. He's mine. That means Don Fortner
has no rights of his own. That means Don Fortner has no
right to call anything his own. That means Don Fortner has no
right to do anything just because he wants to do it. Don Fortner
belongs to God. Our sins have been pardoned by
the blood of Christ and he died for us that we henceforth should
not live unto ourselves but unto him that died for us and rose
again. We're sanctified by the power
and presence of God the Holy Ghost in us being made partakers
of the divine nature that we should live not to ourselves
but unto God. In believer's baptism, we confess
the Lord Jesus. Every time I have the privilege
of baptizing a new believer or sitting where you do and watching
someone else baptize a believer, I make a deliberate, deliberate
effort to remember my own baptism and to repeat before God that
which my baptism confessed then. I'm not my own, I belong to Christ. I'm crucified with Christ, buried
with Christ, dead with Christ, raised up from the dead with
Christ, and now living with Christ to walk with him in the newness
of life. How can you and I, who are washed,
justified, and sanctified, live to the lust of our flesh? Not
only must we avoid all sexual perversions, But as the children
of God, we must bridle our tongues. Our tongue is the most influential
member of our bodies, and it should be employed for the edification
of God's saints, for our own edification and for one another's
edification, so that we speak the truth in love. We should
make it our conscious duty not to injure others with our tongues. And Paul speaks of filthiness
and foolish jesting. Men and women in this world are
constantly overflowing with filth. Our grandchildren come over and
they're about grown now. But I'm still uncomfortable. If you're watching the news,
just commercials come on. There's filth everywhere, everywhere. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not
approved and I wasn't raised somewhere where I wasn't aware
of what's going on. I'm aware of what goes on around us, but
filthiness is everywhere. Let it not be named among God's
people. The gestures and the language of the world are designed
to excite lust of every kind. The children of God ought not
to behave in such a manner. As men and women in whose hearts
God's grace has been established, as men and women whose hearts
are fixed upon eternity, our speech should not be foolish
talking, that is, vain, idle, empty, vile language. We ought to take care how we
speak. Just take care how we speak.
A couple of years ago, I was in
a restaurant in Ireland. I probably told you this, I think
I have, but it was not last time I was there, but time before
that, just a year or so ago. Shelby and I and Russell and
Sharon Smith were sitting at a table The fellow came up and
obviously had way too much to drink and he got to talking and
after a while, he got to talking pretty dirty. And finally started
using language that I'm not going to tolerate any man using in
my presence in front of any woman. Not my wife, not my daughter,
not my granddaughter, not any of you ladies. It's going to
stop. It's going to stop if it means
I have to go to the mat and deck the fellow. And so finally I
got up and I said, you can leave. and he got a little upset. I
said, you're leaving or I am, one of the two, and you're leaving
by force if I have to. And finally the manager came
over and stopped, and he may have thrown me out, but one of
us is gonna get thrown out. How come? Because I'm not going
to tolerate it. I have too much respect for my
wife, for my daughter, my granddaughter, too much respect for you ladies
to sit and listen to the garbage. Not gonna do it, not gonna do
it. And I have too much respect for God. Too much respect for
God to engage in it. And then Paul speaks of jesting.
And I've got to say something about that lest it be misunderstood. There are many who make this
text to mean that God's people should never use humorous speech. That's not what he's talking
about. I believe if you carefully read 1 Kings 18 and listen to
how Elijah spoke to the prophets of Baal, you'd have to say he
was poking fun. He was making a joke about them
and about their God. There's not much question about
that. What's he talking about then? Talking about jesting.
He's talking about avoiding filthy, harmful talk. Avoiding a manner
of speech that's unbecoming, the high and holy calling of
those who belong to God. Don't joke about holy, sacred
things. Don't joke about the things of
God. Just don't do it. Just don't
do it. I know folks get upset, but I don't laugh at, nor do
I show any appreciation for humor about the things of God. How
are these things to be avoided? Paul answers the question very
clearly, but rather giving of thanks. William Hendrickson,
I think, made a tremendous observation on this. He said, when mind and
heart are centered on all things bright and beautiful, which God
grants to us and still has in store for us, the interest in
squalid indecency will vanish. Oh, God. set my mind and my heart
on things above, things better than that for which this world
grovels. In order to enforce these prohibitions,
Paul uses the strongest possible arguments to prevent us from
living like other men. Verse five, for this you know,
that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man who
is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and
of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words, with empty, meaningless words. For because of these things
cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Be not therefore partakers with them. Paul uses strong language
in these two verses. But he uses that language to
emphasize a very important fact. Immorality and salvation are
opposites. Indecency and godliness are contrary
to one another. They can't walk together. Children
of God, don't follow the example of the wicked. Because you know
that the things they commonly practice shut them out of heaven. I can't tell you how many men
and women I've spoken to in private. I say it from the pulpit, but
I've spoken to them in private. I've pulled them aside and I
said, honey, do you know what you're doing? You know what you're
doing? You're taking your son, your
daughter, you're taking everybody under your influence by the hand
and you're saying, come now, let me show you how to go to
hell. Come on, honey, let me show you
how to go to hell by the way I live. Don't behave in such
a way. Don't follow the examples of
the wicked. Paul speaks a word of explanation
with regard to a covetous man. He says such one is an idolater.
How is that? Because his God is his belly. He lives to gratify himself,
that's all. He lives for himself, that's
all. He lives like men who don't know
God. Always seeking things to please
himself. Let us not behave in such a way. Heaven is here spoken of as the
kingdom of God and of Christ. It's the kingdom of Christ who
is God. And it is the kingdom of Christ,
the God-man, our mediator, by right of his obedience unto death,
he obtained the kingdom as our king and our Lord, and he possesses
it for us. And there's no way of coming
into that kingdom of life but by faith in him. It's in his
hands. His righteousness opens the way.
His hand brings us into the kingdom. Now look at verse six. With the
loving heart of a true pastor, Paul warns these Ephesians of
the certainty of God's wrath upon sin. Let no man deceive
you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath
of God upon the children of disobedience. Men and women go to hell because
of what they choose to do. Men and women go to hell because
they choose the path of disobedience. Many women go to hell because
they refuse to walk in the light that God gives them, both in
creation and by his word. For these things, the wrath of
God comes upon the children of disobedience. Don't be deceived
by men or by sin. Matthew Henry said, those who
flatter themselves and others with the hopes of impunity do
but put a cheat upon themselves and others. God in heaven will
punish sin. He must punish sin. Children
of God, you and I are to live above these things. Look at verse
seven. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. As a father pleads
with his children, whom he dearly loves. So this prisoner of Jesus
Christ, facing certain death, pleads with those who are called
by the name of Christ, be not partakers with them. These things
displease God. These things dishonor God. These
things are contrary to the purpose of Christ's death to purify us
to himself. Though we well deserve God's
wrath, Yet He's not appointed us to wrath, but He's forgiven
us our sin. These very things in which we
lived when God called us by His grace, this is where He found
us. If you partake of this evil way of life, you shall perish
with the ungodly. Look at verses eight through
13. If we've been renewed by the grace of God, we're to walk
as children of light. For you were sometime darkness. Obviously, Paul is talking now
to God's people. In the previous verses, it's
obvious that he's talking to folks among God's saints. In
every local church, you will find both believers and unbelievers.
In every local church, you'll find folks who are Christians
in name only, as well as those who are true believers. And Paul
is now turning his attention to those who are indeed gods.
He says, you were sometime darkness. But now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them. For it is a shame even to talk
of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things
that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever
doth make manifest is light. Now I've said to you many, many,
many times, you can't preach the gospel by the way you live.
You preach the gospel by what you say. But we who are gods
ought to be very careful how we live. That we live in this
world for God's honor. The ungodly are reproved by the
life of the godly and that is as it ought to be. Paul speaks
to us as God's people and he woos us to obedience from a far
stronger motive than the fear of wrath and judgment. It is
as though Paul were saying, the warning I've given was to awaken
those who are secure in sin. But now for you who truly are
God's people, consider the love and grace and mercy of God in
Christ and let that secure your obedience. Think of your high,
holy, gracious calling, my brother, my sister, and be done forever
with the works of darkness. Walk in the light as he is in
the light. Remember, you were at one time
in darkness, but now the light has shined in your heart. Once,
like all other men and women, we dwelt in darkness. Not only
were we in dark, but we were darkness. We were exceeding blind,
ignorant, depraved of the things of God. But now we're children
of light. Our eyes have been enlightened. The light of the glory of God
in the face of Christ has shined in our hearts and we now understand
something of our sin. We understand something of God's
righteousness. We understand what God requires
of men and we recognize that our righteousness is just filthy
rags. Now we see the mystery of the gospel. How that God has
saved sinners by the sacrifice of his Son and accepts us in
his Son and for his Son's sake. All of this we have because the
light of the glory of God in the face of Christ shines in
our hearts. Let us then walk as children
of light. Yes, we fall in darkness and
we fall in sin. Not occasionally, all the time.
But we who are gods walk in the light. The knowledge of God and
his will are the standard of our lives. His righteousness
and holiness rule our thoughts, our attitudes, our words, and
our actions. So the word of God is our rule. The son of God is our example.
The spirit of God is our guide. The glory of God is our arm,
or our aim rather, and the arm of God is our strength. So that
we walk in this world pursuing Christ. pursuing God's honor,
pursuing God's glory. Fail at it, miserably, miserably. I don't know how to illustrate
what I'm saying. I don't know how to say it except
by illustration, and the illustrations are poor. If there's anything
on this earth I want to be, I want to be a good husband. And of all relationships, I fail
most miserably at that. If there's anything on this earth
I want to be, I want to be a good father. And oh my God, how I
fail at that. I want to be a good grandfather. I want to influence those children
for good. But oh, how I fail at that. I
want to be a good pastor. Oh, how I fail at that. But those
are the things I pursue. So that being your pastor, being
her husband, being Faith's father, being Audre Grace and Will's
grandfather are things that I pursue, recognizing the constant failure.
And we who are God's are to walk in the light, constantly pursuing
God's will and God's glory and the good of God's people in all
things. For the fruit of the Spirit,
is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Light is never the product of
human labor. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
John Gill put it this way, and I think he's exactly right. The
illusion is to fruit trees. The believer is a tree of righteousness.
Christ is his root. The Spirit is the sap which supports
and nourishes, and good works under the influence of His grace
are the fruit. Children of light bear the fruit
of goodness rather than malice. God the Holy Ghost produces righteousness
in the children of light. How is that? He comes in us and
creates in us a holy character. It's called a new man created
in righteousness and true holiness. And that which is born of God,
John said, does righteousness. That which is born of the flesh,
that which is born of the devil, all it does is sin. But that
new man in us, that new man in us, God causes that new man to
walk in righteousness. truth in us causes the children
of light to walk in truth. Isaiah tells us God's Word concerning
His children. He says, they are all children
that will not lie. All children that will not lie. They walk before God and walk
before men in truth. Acknowledging what they are. We confess our sin to God. Acknowledging
our only righteousness is Christ the Lord. Our only hope of life
is Jesus Christ, blood and righteousness. And we walk before God in faithfulness,
in truth, in sincerity. As Nathaniel, an Israelite indeed,
How did the Lord describe him? You remember? In whom is no guile. In whom is no guile. That's not
talking about Nathanael in his natural state. Oh no, that's
talking about that new man in Christ Jesus. He walks in truth,
sincere and upright. Children that will not lie, these
are God's children. Walking in the light as he is
in the light, we prove. That is, we demonstrate those
things that are acceptable to God. Somebody may ask, well,
how can I know that I'm really a child of God, a child of light?
The answer is pretty simple. Don't worry or speculate or philosophize
or argue. Just go right ahead and do the
will of God as He's revealed it. Look at verse 10. Proving,
that is showing, demonstrating, openly manifesting, what is acceptable
unto the Lord. We come to God trusting our Redeemer
and our lives are accepted of God in the totality of our lives,
accepted of God through the merit and mediation of Christ. The
only righteousness God will accept is Christ's righteousness. And
for Christ's sake, God accepts us, all of our life, our love,
our faith, our life. We walk by faith, constantly
relying upon our Savior. And relying on Him, living by
faith, we walk in obedience to God our Savior, living by faith
in Christ. Living by faith in Christ for
the honor of God. Living by faith in Christ, that
is loving one another. The light in us reproves the
unfruitful works of darkness. Verse 11. and have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them. Reprove. Now that doesn't mean
that we're to go around and stick our fingers in fellow's chest
and say, you're doing wrong, you shouldn't do that, you shouldn't
do the other thing. I don't recommend that. It's not the way for us
to live, not the way for us to behave. What is he talking about
then? How do you reprove them? Just
do what's right. Just do what's right. Just do
what's right, that's all. Just do what's right. If you
behave right, it reproves ungodliness. For it is a shame even to speak
of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things
that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever
doth make manifest is light. The apostle tells us not to align
ourselves with the ungodly. but rather to walk with God amongst
the ungodly. He tells us not to have fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather walk with
God in the midst of ungodly men. Avoid the ways of darkness and
your life will reprove the darkness in which you live. Now, here's
the third thing. It's time for us to awake from
the sleep of darkness and walk in the light. Wherefore he saith,
awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light. Now I'll come back to this in
a week or two, the Lord willing. But the Lord God here calls for
you and me to awake from the dead. Awake from the dead. We are crucified with Christ,
and we're risen with Christ, and our lives are hid with God
in Christ. So Paul says, set your affectional
things above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set
your heart on Christ, his glory, his honor, his will, his kingdom. Awake, for the time is short. Awake, for men are perishing,
and we have a work to do. Awake, for Christ our Lord is
near. Behold, he cometh. Awake from
among the dead. We're risen with Christ. Awake,
arise, and Christ will give you light. Seek to walk with God. God will show you the path to
take. Seek to walk with God and God
will give you the light for the way. Seek to walk with God adorning
the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. That's our business. We're God's. That's our business. We're God's. Pastor, are you
Are you calling for us to just turn everything over to God?
To just live for God? To give up all personal ambitions,
all personal desires, all personal wants? If that's what you heard,
you heard me exactly as I intended. Live for God. Live for God. As I said in the beginning, most
of us are nearer leaving this world than entering it. I sure
would like to spend my last days living just as I have described
to you in this past 45 minutes. Just for God. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you? Just for His honor. Just for His glory. Just for
the benefit of His people. Nothing else. Our God, give us
grace. Oh God, give us grace as only
you can to walk in the light. I'm sorry, blamable in holiness
before God, even our father. What a blessed hope. Christ loved
the church and gave himself for it. that he might present it
to himself a spotless church, a holy church without spot or
blemish or any such thing. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling. And to present you, listen to
this, faultless. Oh, what a hope. before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now and ever. Amen. Amen.