I'm reminded tonight of one of
the best meetings God ever allowed me to hold, traveling around
the world and preaching the gospel of His grace. The first time
I went down to Spring Lake, North Carolina to preach for Brother
Rupert for several days, he had arranged for the meeting to take
place in February. And I asked him, when he founded,
I said, what about the weather? He said, oh, where we live, there
won't be any problem in February. So I got in a day early. And
that night we had six inches of sleep. And folks in Southeastern
North Carolina don't know how to deal with it. So we met for
three days, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday morning, around
Rupert's dining room table, just about six or eight of us for
three days. And God gave us a blessed, blessed
meeting. And I pray he'll do that here
tonight as we open the scriptures again in Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter 1. The title
of my message as I announced this morning is God's election,
the source and cause of all blessedness. God's choice of his people, his
election of his people to salvation in Christ Jesus is the cause
of everything he does in Christ Jesus. God's election of His
people is the cause of everything else He does for us in Christ. Indeed, I might have said, God's
election of His people is the cause of everything else He does. Now, this is clearly the doctrine
of God the Holy Ghost in our text. Ephesians 1, verse 3. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now mark these next two words,
according as. All spiritual blessings heaped
upon us in Christ from eternity, according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love. Hold your hands
here in Ephesians 1. Well, you don't need to hold
your hands. That will be a little while before we get back. Turn back to Psalm
65. Psalm 65. We're going to look at some scripture.
Clearly, this is the doctrine of Ephesians 1. And this is the
doctrine of the whole book of God regarding election. God's
choice God's election of his people to everlasting salvation
is the source and cause of all other blessings of grace. Look
here in Psalm 65, verse 4. David said, blessed is the man,
more accurately, all the blessedness of the man whom thou choosest
and causes to approach unto thee. that he may dwell in thy courts,
we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of
thy holy temple." Now here, election is spoken of as being in the
present tense, whom thou choosest. But election took place in eternity.
Election took place before the foundation of the world. But
it is unknown until we experience God's irresistible grace in the
effectual call. God's elect are like cattle in
an open range. When I lived in West Virginia,
I suppose they still have it. They had open range laws. Nobody
practiced it anymore, but you could turn your cattle loose
in the open range and then go out and gather them up. And God's
elect are like cattle in the open range, like sheep scattered
through the world. And he calls out his sheep at
the time of love, giving them the blessed knowledge of his
grace that he performed for them in Christ before the world began. No one knows his election until
he's been effectually called by God's grace. We only know
we're chosen of God when we are given faith in Christ Jesus.
Now notice the progression of grace running through this verse,
Ephesians, or Psalm 65, 4. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. God has chosen some to life eternal
in Christ Jesus. And those whom thou choosest,
thou causest to approach unto thee. This refers to God's effectual,
irresistible grace. Isaac Watts wrote a hymn to Celeste
saying here a couple of weeks ago, "'Twas the same love that
spread the feast that gently forced us in. God Almighty, by
His grace, with irresistible power, with irresistible mercy,
with irresistible goodness, forces His chosen into the arms of the
Savior. By His providence, read the 103rd
Psalm, and by His grace, working with His providence, By the power
of His Spirit, by His Word, He causes His chosen to approach
unto Him. Look at the next thing. That
He may dwell in thy courts. Sinners chosen and saved by the
grace of God are caused to dwell, not to visit, but to dwell in
the courts of divine worship. Those who are chosen and called
of God to life and faith in Christ are preserved and kept in grace
by the same grace with which we were chosen in him, kept under
everlasting glory. Not only that, but this election
is the cause of that everlasting glory, our happiness and satisfaction
with Christ in heaven. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple, the temple And
before that, the tabernacle in the Old Testament were typical
representations of Christ, salvation by Christ, and the ultimate glory
of God's grace bestowed upon us in heavenly glory. We shall
be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy
temple. No wonder David sang like he
did. Oh, the blessedness of the man. whom thou choosest, and causest
to approach unto thee." No doctrine of Scripture is sweeter, more
delightful, more comforting when understood than the doctrine
of God's free election in Christ Jesus. When David brought the
Ark of God up, understanding that that Ark represented Christ,
His sacrifice, and God's salvation in Him, He leaped and danced
before the ark, and he gave this as the reason. When Michael,
his wife, looked out her window and saw him, who had abased himself,
the king of Israel, dancing like a schoolboy down the streets
of Jerusalem. She said, you've made yourself
vile. He said, I'll make myself yet more vile, because God chose
me. God chose me. God chose me. Me, the son of Jesse, God chose
me. Oh, let us dance before the ark
of God with unceasing joy, till at last we come to our deathbed
like David, and we can say, the Lord hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure, this is all my salvation
and all my desire. God chose me. Now, let me make
seven statements with regard to the teachings of scripture
concerning election. This will be nothing new for
you who regularly worship here. This will just be a refresher
course on gospel doctrine. But I hope it will be fresh and
new to your soul. It is to mine. Number one. God
chose some to salvation and eternal life. God chose some, not all. There are some who will tell
you that the Bible doesn't teach the doctrine of election. Those who tell you such either
have never read this book, or they read it ignoring what they
read, or they're just liars. There are no other options. Election
is written on every page in the book of God. The scriptures speak
of elect angels, and elect nation, elect lady, and elect churches. God chose some of the angels
and passed by the others, leaving them to themselves. Of the first
two men born in this world, Cain and Abel, God chose Abel and
left Cain to perish. He chose Noah and his family. Now, we tend to think about that
day prior to the flood and think about it as being the earth being
very sparsely inhabited. Nothing could be further from
the truth. I will be surprised, I don't say this dogmatically
because I don't know, but I will be surprised if we learn in eternity
that there were fewer people then on earth than there are
now. The earth was covered with inhabitants, but God chose one
man and his family. One man and his family and left
the others to perish in their rebellion and unbelief. The scriptures
speak of Abraham. God chose that man, Abraham,
who dwelt in the Ur of the Chaldees. He chose Abraham and no one else
in all his father's house. He chose Abram in Ur of the Chaldees
and called Abram and left the others in Ur of the Chaldees
to perish in their sins. Abraham was given two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and God chose
Isaac and left Ishmael. Isaac was given two sons, Jacob
and Esau. God said, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. God chose the nation of Israel.
He describes them as the smallest, the most insignificant, the poorest
and the weakest of all nations in the earth. He chose Israel
to be the nation through whom he would preserve the seed Christ
Jesus the Lord who would come into this world to redeem and
save his people and pass by all others. God put Joseph in Pharaoh's
palace and he chose Joseph but not Pharaoh. He raised up Joseph
to show his glory and grace and he raised up Pharaoh to show
his glory and judgment. No one can with honesty, no one
with honesty can speak concerning election and say this book does
not teach election. It is taught from beginning to
end on every page of the book. The only question to be answered
is this. Does the Bible teach the election of some to salvation
to the exclusion of others? Billy Graham, when he was a young
man, made a statement that has been often repeated. He said
election goes like this. God voted for you. The devil
voted against you, and you cast the deciding vote. Now that may
sound clever and cute, but it's blasphemy. You weren't around. The devil didn't have a vote.
Election is God's doing. God chose some to salvation. And the scriptures speak very
plainly. He chose some to salvation to the exclusion of others. If
God chose all, all would be saved, or God's choice is meaningless.
If God willed the salvation of all, all would be saved, or the
will of God is meaningless. You might say, well, why do you
stress this so emphatically? Because to say otherwise is to
make God less than God. Now listen to the scriptures.
You'd be turning to Romans chapter 9 and just listen to some scripture.
Twice our Savior said, many are called, but few are chosen. We've preached the gospel. And
men and women hearing the gospel, as I tried to declare to you
this morning, hearing the gospel, are called by the gospel. Many
are called. Not everybody. Not everybody
hears the gospel. Not everybody hears the message
of God's grace. But wherever the gospel is preached,
many are called, but few are chosen. In John 15, one of the
very last things our Savior said to his disciples before he left
this world, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Rest assured, my children, he
says, you have not chosen me. You didn't. You wouldn't. You
couldn't. But I've chosen you. I've chosen
you. Over and over in John 17, Lynch
has been teaching from that chapter concerning our Lord's high priestly
prayer for weeks now. The Lord Jesus speaks of his
elect distinctly. He says, I pray not for the world. but for them that thou hast given
me." His work, His righteousness, His obedience, His sacrifice,
His intercession, His care is for His elect alone. Now look
here in Romans chapter 9, verse 11. Romans 9, verse 11. I've been saying this to you
for years. I'll repeat it. I'll repeat it. And now to go
out, however God spreads this message by video and audio recording. If you can find a preacher anywhere
in Boyle County that's preached from Romans chapter 9. I started
to say this year, find me one anywhere in this county who's
preached from Romans 9 anywhere except in this pulpit. Anytime. I'll give you $100. Find me just
one. They ignore it. But Romans chapter
9 is God's inspired explanation of the whole of providence. the whole of providence, the
sending out of the gospel, giving the nation of Israel the oracles
of God, sending blindness to the nation of Israel, sending
the gospel to the nations of the world. Romans 9 explains
the whole thing. Verse 11, for the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand. Not of
works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Oh, I just don't understand that.
If you can read, you understand that. Don't tell me you don't
understand it. You may or may not like it, but
if you can read, you can understand it. God said, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. And God meant exactly what he
said. Well, it means he hated Esau,
loved Esau a little less. If he meant to say that, he would
have said, I love Esau a little less. It means God loved Esau
in a different way than he loved Jacob. If he meant to say that,
he would have said, Jacob have I especially loved, Esau have
I loved in a different way. What he said was, Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. Men today, claiming to believe
the gospel of God's grace, are running as rapidly as they can
away from the plain declarations of scripture and teach that there's
some sense in which God loves everybody and God wants to save
everybody and Christ died for everybody. Some sense. Now, he
did it especially for his elect, but there's a sense in which
he did this for everybody. Universal love. Universal atonement,
universal grace is meaningless love, meaningless atonement,
and meaningless grace. If Christ died for everybody
in any sense whatsoever, and everybody's not safe, His death
doesn't make any difference. If God loves everybody in any
sense whatsoever, and some yet perish in their sins, God's love
doesn't make any difference. Common grace is common nonsense. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. What should we say then? What
should we say then? And Paul anticipates by inspiration
what men have been saying ever since he wrote this. Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Where did he get that? Back in
Exodus. You remember? Moses said, Lord,
I beseech you, show me your glory. Moses said, God, I wonder who
you are. I wonder who you are. God said, all right, I'm going
to put you in the cleft of the rock and I'm going to show you
my glory. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
God's glory is his sovereign goodness to sinners. His goodness
in saving sinners. his sovereignty in saving whom
he will. Read on, verse 16. So then, so
then, that is, this is the conclusion of the whole thing. It is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. So there's no question, none
at all, the scriptures clearly and distinctly teach the doctrine
of election. God chose to save some and pass
by others. The only question that remains
then is what does the Bible teach about election? So, secondly,
I want to show you that the purpose of God in all things is the salvation
of His elect. Turn to Romans chapter 8, Romans
the 8th chapter. Now, as I said earlier, this
is familiar territory to you. Turn and look at it. It will
do you good. Romans chapter 8. God has chosen some to salvation
and the purpose of God in everything. The purpose of God in everything
is the salvation of His elect. Have you ever paused to just
look back over what you know about your life's history and
the history of your family and the events of your life? and
considered what it took for God to bring you to Christ in faith. Oh, what wonders. What wonders. How God worked. So many good
things. So many evil things. So many things that you look
at and say, that's the way I would have done it. And so many things
you look at and say, I would never have done that. God's purpose
in all things is the salvation of His elect. We know, we know,
Romans 8, 28, that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose,
for whom He did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." I recall the
first time I heard my friend Brother Harry Graham preach I
was attending the church show, and I remember that Hillcrest
Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Brother
Dan Parks' father was pastor. And this tall, lanky fellow came
in, and Ernest Askin said, Brother Harry, would you preach for us
tonight? And Harry stepped in the pulpit and turned to Romans
chapter 8, and he said, I want to preach to you about the golden
chain of grace. It has these links, and no link
can be broken. Whom he did predestinate, then
he also called. Whom he called, then he also
justified. Whom he justified, then he also
glorified. Oh, those who are foreknown of
God in eternal love were predestined of God unto the adoption of children. Those predestined to be the sons
of God were justified by God. Those justified by God are those
whom He's called, and those called by God are those who are glorified
by God. We recognize that the Word of
God teaches the glorious doctrine of God's sovereign predestination.
But I want you to understand what predestination is. Predestination
is not a cold theological point that must be maintained. Predestination
is God's wise and good arrangement of everything for the everlasting good of all
his family. Oh, what a wonder! What a wonder! Maybe you've got five children,
and you and Celeste have spent your lives, since the first one
came, trying to prepare the best you could for their lives and
do the best you can. But you can't arrange much. You can't arrange much. You can't
do the best you can. That's what a father does. A
father does the best he can to provide for their education,
the best he can to secure their lives, the best he can to secure
their welfare in adulthood. But all of us know we don't control
anything. We don't control anything. Our God does. Our Heavenly Father
does. And He, in infinite wisdom, in
infinite goodness, in infinite grace, before the world began,
arranged everything. that should ever come to pass
to bring about the salvation and the everlasting good of his
whole family so that everyone chosen of God is predestined
to the enjoyment of the blessed liberty of the sons of God and
shall have it. Keep silence, all created things,
and wait your Maker's nod. My soul stands trembling while
she sings the honors of her God. Life, death, and hell, and worlds
unknown hang on his firm decree. He sits on no precarious throne,
nor borrows leave to be. Chained to his throne, a volume
lies with all the fates of men, with every angel's form and size
drawn by the eternal pen. His providence unfolds the book. and makes his counsels shine. Each opening leaf and every stroke
fulfills some bright design. Here he exalts neglected words
to scepters in a crowd. And then the following page he
turns and treads the monarch down. Not Gabriel asks the reason
why, nor God the reason gives, nor dares the favored angel pry
between the folded leaves. My God, I would not long to see
my fate with curious eyes. What gloomy lines are written
for me are what bright scenes may rise. All over the world,
all over the world, fools turn to astrology pages and fortune
pages in the newspaper every day. Fools go pay good money
to some woman to read the palm and tell them the future. Oh,
I just want to know what's going to happen. Maybe it's going to
happen. I don't want to know what lies between here and glory. It's not best to know. If it
were best to know, Burl, we'd know. I don't want to know. All I want to know is now and
the end. That's all. My God, I would not
long to see my fate with curious eyes. What gloomy lines are writ
for me or what bright scenes may rise in thy fair book of
life and grace. May I but find my name recorded
in some humble place beneath my Lord the Lamb. Third, the
purpose of God shall be accomplished. God has chosen to save some,
and all that God brings to pass in time, He brings to pass according
to His purpose for the saving of His elect. His purpose shall
be accomplished. What does that mean? All that
God has promised, God will perform. His purpose shall stand. He says,
I will do all my pleasure. But pastor, how do you explain
all the evil that goes on in this world? I explain it with
one word, God. God. Bill Raleigh, he's bigger
than you, and he's bigger than me, and he's bigger than the
world, and wiser and better. He's God. He arranges everything
just right. Everything just right. We've
got so many friends right now going through heartaches. I'm
aware of heartaches some of God's saints are going through. You're
not aware of heartaches. I'm talking about just heart-rich
in pain. And I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't
do it. I wouldn't cause you to weep.
I wouldn't cause you to hurt. I wouldn't do it. Not for all
the world, I wouldn't do it. But God, in His infinite goodness,
has done it. in his infinite wisdom has done
it for the benefit of all his family in their everlasting salvation. Understand that? God accomplishes
his purpose everywhere, all the time, and in the end his purpose
is that you and I, the objects of his love, shall be with our
Redeemer in glory. God's purpose is the eternal
determination of his being to save his people whom he loves
with an everlasting love. Now fourth, back in our text
in Ephesians 1. God's election is in Christ. This is perhaps the most wonderful
and the most mysterious of all that I've got to say tonight.
God chose His Son, the triune Jehovah, chose the Lord Jesus,
the incarnate God-man, our Savior, before time was, before our Lord
had any physical human being. He chose Him as the God-man mediator,
our surety, as His righteous servant, and chose us in His
Son. He chose us in His Son. sacrificed
His Son for us, accepted us in His Son, and declares that we
are one with His Son, for He has made us one with His Son.
Look in Ephesians 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. that we should
be holy and without blame before Him, in love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace. Now there are three
things stated in those verses to which I call your attention.
First, election took place in eternity before the world was. Second, our eternal election
in Christ is the source and cause of every benefit we enjoy now
and we shall enjoy tomorrow and we shall enjoy forever. And third,
election, this great, great electing love. is for the glory of God. Three times the Apostle tells
us God did all this that we should be to the praise of His glory. So that as he says in verse 7
of chapter 2, in the ages to come, God chose me, God redeemed me,
God called me. God's kept me. That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Oh, if that doesn't make you leap
with joy, I don't know what will. God's chosen us and redeemed
us and called us and kept us in the midst of all the ups and
downs and ins and outs and struggles and difficulties and all the
wretchedness of our own souls that in the ages to come He might
show to wandering worlds the riches of His grace and His goodness
in us. All right. Here's the next thing,
number five. God's election is unto salvation. Turn to 2 Thessalonians, that
passage Lindsay read just a little bit ago. 2 Thessalonians, chapter
two. Verse 13. Every time we read this epistle
of 2 Thessalonians, we ought to put ourselves in the position
of these Thessalonian Saints. Paul is writing to them, telling
them about this time of Antichrist, when Satan's loosed for a little
season to deceive the nations again. Men, we're worshiping men. Worship man in the house of God.
That's what's going on all over Boyle County, Kentucky, all over
the state of Kentucky, all over the United States, all over the
world tonight. Men gathering in church buildings just like
this, worshipping men. Worshipping men. To worship man
is to attribute to man the power that belongs only to God. Make
salvation and grace and eternal life somehow to depend on man.
Paul said, God will send the world a strong delusion that
they should believe a lie. A strong delusion. He sent the gospel into all the
world, into all the world. Men everywhere have heard the
gospel of God's grace. You go to the most remote corners
of the earth. I don't care if you go to New
Guinea, go to Africa, go to the most remote barbaric tribesmen
in the world, and you will find indications that somewhere there's
been somebody there telling folks about God's Son, Jesus Christ
the Lord. The gospel has gone into all
the world. In this nation, we've had it for over 200 years, preached
freely. I go to England every year, a
couple of times a year. God sent the gospel a long, long
time ago. There's pretty good evidence
the Apostle Paul actually went to England while he walked on
this earth. The gospel's been there for a long time. The folks
said, no, we won't have a sovereign God, a sovereign Redeemer, a
sovereign Savior. We won't have that. We won't
have us in God's hands. We want God in our hands. And
so God said, all right, I'll give you what you've asked for.
I'll give you blackness and darkness and a strong delusion. A strong
delusion, thus you believe a lie. When I drive out with Brother
Darvins, drive out through Little Rock, on the way back, I try
to always make a swing by the outside beltway of Little Rock,
Arkansas because the most beautiful, impressive church building I've
ever seen is out there. It's the first Pentecostal church.
Huge thing. I'm talking millions of dollars.
It's beautiful. I remind myself there are people
going there every day of the week, listening to a blasphemer
mock God, doctors and lawyers and politicians and businessmen,
smart fellas. They're just as smart as you.
Just as smart as you. Businessmen. Wealthy men. And
they walk in and they listen and they say, how could anybody
believe the stuff that they hear there? When God sends a delusion,
God sends a delusion. And will worship is God's strong
delusion by which He sends damnation to men. And then those Thessalonians
hear this word from God. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you. Brethren, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory in the midst of strong
delusion. I just caught your eye. I remember
correctly you were raised Papist, weren't you? Whole family, all your ancestors. You folks raised in other forms
of free will religion, whole family. all your ancestors and
God preserves them alive in the midst of all Why? Why? Because among them God has a
people He's chosen Christ is redeemed and He preserves the
ancestors to bring forth that one child whom God has chosen
Chosen to salvation chosen to save you through the regenerating
work of the Holy Spirit, through the effectual call of His almighty
grace, giving life to dead sinners, and belief of the truth, arranged
for you to hear the gospel, and arranged for you to hear the
gospel in exactly the circumstances
necessary for you to hear it. Isn't that something? It raised for you to hear the
gospel in the exact circumstances necessary for you to pay attention
and listen and hear the Word. And He called you by the gospel,
by the preaching of the gospel, caused your path to cross with
a man declaring God's Word. And He called you to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the sixth
thing. This choice of God, God's election,
is unconditional. Unconditional. God didn't choose us because
of something good in us, because of something He foresaw would
be good in us, or because He recognized the time would come
that we would choose Him. Oh, no, no, no. God chose us,
as He describes with Jacob, the children being not yet born,
neither having done good or evil. He chose us. Freely. Freely. Freely. With no condition. to be met
by us. No qualification on our part.
Freely. Just because he would. Merle, when God chose Jacob,
he knew everything that tricky scoundrel would do and be. But he chose him. And he wrestled him to the ground.
And he made him acknowledge, my name's Tricky. My name's Sid. My name's Jacob. And God said,
I'm going to call you Israel. And he went right on acting like
Jacob. He went right on acting like Jacob. Read his history. He never got over it. He never
got over it. He was just like his Uncle Laban.
He had all the nature of his Uncle Laban. But he had another
nature. a new nature that caused him
to bow to God and worship God and believe God. And God's choice
didn't change because Jacob was still Tricky Jacob. Nothing Jacob
did caused God to choose him. And nothing Jacob did caused
God to un-choose him. And nothing you do causes God
to choose you. and nothing you might do tomorrow
will cause God to change His mind and cast you away. I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Will you
allow me to add a paraphrase of my own? No matter what. Oh, you can't say that. Well,
let me try it another way. I give unto them eternal life
And they shall never perish, no matter what. No matter what. Ask David about
that. Ask Peter about that. Ask Paul
about that. Ask Abraham about that. Ask Noah
about that. Ask your pastor about that. I
give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
One more thing, God's election is always effectual. Every chosen sinner shall in
time be called by God's grace and shall at last stand with
Christ in glory. God hath saved us. and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior
Jesus Christ, now made manifest when Christ comes to show himself
to you, who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light by the gospel. What shall we say then? Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for
thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Amen.