O Thou that dwellest on high, glorious, fearful
in praises, and doing wonders, before ever Thou
hast formed the earth, even from everlasting to
everlasting, Thou art God, the same yesterday, today,
and forever.
We acknowledge unto Thee, O Lord, with thanks
the great privilege Thou dost bestow upon us,
that we may come into Thy courts, that
we may come into that place where Thy
name is made known, and where the institutions
of Thy grace are observed.
Make us, O Lord, deeply of the inestimable
grace that Thou hast bestowed upon us, for
many prophets, and kings, and righteous men, have
desired to see the things that we see,
and have not seen them, and to hear
the things that we hear, but have not
heard them.
Thou hast cast our lot in the consummation
of the age, and do Thou grant that
we, that in this perspective, Thou hast given
us the privilege of that revelation, which has
been hid from ages and from generations, but
which has now been revealed by the appearing
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We confess our sin, O Lord, our blindness,
the hardness of our sin, the unresponsiveness of
our will, and how we miss are the
conceptions that we entertain of Thee, the living
God.
Do Thou cleanse our minds from that corruption,
and deliver our hearts from the imaginations of
our own evil thoughts, so that we may
come into Thy presence with a true realization
of Thy great majesty, and bow before Thee
in the deep, acknowledging Thee the only true
God, and realizing that it is only through
the mediation of Thine own Son, our Lord
Jesus, that we may draw near unto Thee.
Do Thou, O Lord, deliver us from the
sacrifice which is an abomination in Thy sight,
create within us a clean heart, and renew
our right spirit within us, so that each
one of us may offer unto Thee sacrifices
acceptable, well-pleasing unto God through Jesus Christ.
Do Thou, O Lord, confront us this night
with the reality of Thy deeds, with the
reality of Thy judgments, with the reality of
the verities Thou hast revealed unto us in
Thy Word, so that we may stand in
Thy very presence and realize that we are
Thy creatures, that to Thee we are responsible,
that upon Thee we are dependent for every
breath we draw, and enable us, O Lord,
in spirit and in truth, to worship Thee
in the beauty of holiness.
Blessed forever be Thy great and holy name,
that it is a faithful saying, and worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, and we, in
all our destitution, would come to that inexhaustible
fountain of grace and of truth, out of
His fullness, in whom are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
We would draw out of His fullness, we
would receive grace for great.
And do Thou satisfy us, O Lord, with
Thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be
glad all our days.
Grant unto us, O Lord, Thy Holy Spirit.
How marvelous it is that we should be
able to plead the promise which Thou hast
given, that if we, being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto our children, how
much more shall the Heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.
And may we, O Lord, know the presence
of the Communion, because He glorifies Christ in
our understanding, in our hearts, in our wills.
O grant that Christ may be precious to
us in all the glory that is His,
as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and enable us,
O Lord, to live in this world as
those who are the trophies of His redemption.
That we may gird up the loins of
our minds, that we may be sober and
hope to the end for the grace that
is the revelation of Jesus.
Constrain our hearts to that commitment unto Jesus
Christ in all the extent, in all the
length and breadth and depth and height of
His love.
And do Thou, O Lord, grant not but
to all Thy people to the ends of
the earth on which measure of Thy grace.
We would remember that Thou hast redeemed to
Thyself a people out of every nation and
kindred and people and son.
And may we realize more and more the
preciousness of communion with the Savior, communion with
Thy people unto the ends of the earth,
and our communion not only with those who
are here on earth, but with that great
company who have gone to be.
May we realize our communion with the Church
and enable us in the fellowship of the
Body of Christ to have strong consolation.
And let us have that faith as the
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.
Bless, O Lord, the preaching of the gospel
unto the very ends of the earth.
May the Word have free course and be
glorified, so that it may come in that
irresistible power, that mysterious transforming and converting power,
so that sinners may be translated from darkness
to light in the power of Satan unto
God.
To Thou, O Lord, grant that with us
this night there may be Thy abundant blessing,
so that Thy doctrine may drop as the
rain and Thy feast is still as the
dew, as the small rain upon the tender
pears and the showers upon the grass.
Grant us, O Lord, a realization that we
are in Thy presence and that it is
Thee and Thee alone that we worship, for
Jesus' sake.
And as it is appointed unto men once
to die, but after this the judgment, so
Christ was once offered to bear the sins
of many, and unto them that look for
Him shall He appear the second time without
sin unto salvation.
It is quite obvious that
there is a certain comparison drawn in this
text.
On the one side is the fact that
it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment, and on the
other side there are the facts that Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of
many, and unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time without sin
unto salvation.
And there is a comparison instituted between these
two series of facts.
And the truth expressed turns on that comparison.
And it is well for us to observe
the likeness that there is between the appointment
of men to death and the judgment on
the one hand, and the offering of Christ
when He's appearing again the second on the
other.
And so there are just these two main
considerations in this text.
First, that which is appointed for men, and
second, that which pertains to Christ.
And so first of all there is that
which is appointed for men.
And it is appointed for men to die.
Now that is not to without.
Enoch was translated that he should not see
death.
And he was not found because God had
translated him.
Those who will be living at the second
coming of Christ will not die.
They will be changed.
But these, of course, are exceptions.
And the general rule for humanity, the general
rule of God's providence throughout the whole history
of the world, is that it is appointed
for men once to die.
Now why do men die?
Of course it is quite proper to say
that men die by natural process.
Oftentimes their body is attacked by disease, and
that disease is too powerful for their life,
and consequently there is a necessity, a physical
or a biological necessity, that they should die.
For God has so constituted men that there
are certain forces which are too strong for
the life which He has given men in
this world.
And sometimes men, of course, are the victims
of assault, and so they are killed.
A force that is extraneous to themselves and
too powerful for them, as it was where
life comes.
But these facts of providence do not explain
the reason why.
Why is it so arranged in the providence
of God that men should die?
And the only answer to that question is
that death is the wages of sin.
The only ultimate reason why men die is
that men have sinned.
And because all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, since the wages
of sin is death, therefore it is appointed
for men to die.
The emphasis, however, in this particular text, falls
upon the fact that it is appointed for
men once to die.
There is a certain finality attaching to death
as death, and it is to that particular
fact that our attention is drawn in this
text.
There is a finality to death as death,
and to the issues that are bound up
with death.
And there are certain respects in which we
may quite profitably reflect upon that fact, that
it is appointed for men once to die.
And the first respect in which we may
think of it is the respect of warning,
of unrestricted warning.
When we die, we are not brought back
again to this earth to remedy the opportunities
that we have neglected or the privileges that
we have squandered in this life.
We are not able to come back again
to redeem the time that we have squandered.
There is no work, nor device, nor wisdom,
nor knowledge in the grave whether we are
going.
And you remember very well how in the
Old Testament you have these eloquent words, There
is hope of a tree, if it is
cut down, that it will sprout again, and
that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
But man dies, and giveth up the tree.
Yea, man is wasted.
And it is not for us to waste,
as it were, the precious opportunities that are
given to us.
You remember in that chapter where I read,
the man who had received one talent went
and hid his Lord's money in the earth.
What is the indictment against that particular man?
Well, it is just this, that he did
nothing.
And you know we don't need to do
a great deal in order to squander our
opportunities.
We just need to do nothing.
And you see how eloquent is the indictment
that was brought against him by his Lord
when he returned.
He said, Thou wicked and lustful servant.
Wickedness and slothfulness lie together.
And slothfulness is wickedness.
It's the great lesson of that particular parable.
And it's the great lesson of this text
in respect of warning, that we cannot redeem
lost opportunities.
We cannot redeem squandered privileges.
Now, now.
The second respect in which we may properly
think of this truth, that it is appointed
unto men once to die, is one of
both warning and consolation.
There have been men, even in our old
time, who have made the earth to tremble.
And some of you remember very well how
these men made the earth to tremble.
Less than twenty years ago you could hear
the voice of Hitler all over the world
by radio.
And it certainly made the earth to tremble.
We have had other men who in their
time, even in our generation, have made the
earth to tremble.
I saw the wicked in great power and
spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Yet he passed away.
And though he was not, yet I saw
him.
And he could not be found.
And you don't need to be afraid that
these boasters are going to return.
And if we are jittery, if we are
overcome by undue trepidation with respect to the
boasts or the claims of any man, it's
just because we forget the appointment of the
living God once to die, is
warning for the vain boasters.
And the third respect in which we may
quite properly think of this text is one
of unrestricted consolation.
And it is one of unrestricted consolation for
the people of God.
When they depart this life, they go to
be with Christ.
And because they go to be with Christ,
it is far better.
You know, we would quite properly hold our
dear faithful friends and believing friends.
It is right for us to pray for
them.
That's our duty.
But when God takes them, we ought to
have this comfort that it is because they
have gone to be with Christ, that it
is far better for them, and we cannot
bring them back.
And it would be wrong for us to
ask that the Lord would bring them back.
They will never be brought back again to
the tribulations and the perplexities of this place.
They have gone to unalloyed bliss, bliss in
the presence of the Savior himself.
And that is the consolation that belongs to
us as we are confronted with the death
of our departed loved ones.
If they are in Christ, they go to
be with Christ.
And if they are with Christ, they are
in the presence of who is the wisdom,
who is the glorious redeemer, the great high
priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus.
Unrestrained consolation for those who believe.
Yes, there is a certain finality, and there
is a gravity that is bound up with
this finality.
A gravity of seriousness that ought to make
each one of us ponder what will be
our situation.
But after all, death, it isn't the ultimate
finality, and it is just because it is
not the end, that there is a gravity
connected with death.
The very finality of death, as death, is
bound up with something else, with another finality,
and that is that after this, the judgment.
Death and judgment are placed together in this
particular text.
And because they are placed together in this
particular way, there is a great lesson, a
great truth.
What is it?
It is just this, that as far as
decisiveness is concerned, there, these are the two
determinative, decisive events.
In the matter of eternal destiny, there is
no decisiveness.
In what will transpire between death and resurrection.
There is a finality to death as death.
There is a finality to judgment as judgment.
And just because they are placed together, there
is no deciding what will transpire between
death and resurrection.
We overlook this fact, that we are to
be judged according to the things done in
the body, whether they be good or whether
they be evil.
Now there is a solemnity attaching to that
fact of judgment.
For God will bring everyone into judgment with
every secret thing, whether it be good or
whether it be evil.
There is a great deal that will pass,
a great deal that will be considered virtuous
and noble before man, and it is simply
an abomination in the sight of God.
But God searches the heart, and He tries
the ways of the children of man.
Man looks on the outward appearance, God looks
on the heart.
And because He judges according to the secrets
of man's heart, His judgment is one of
absolute equity.
And everything, the whole panorama of human history,
the whole panorama of individual history, the whole
panorama of collective history, and the whole panorama
of world history, will come before God.
Solemnity to the fact of judgment.
Oh, there is a grandeur to the fact
of God's ultimate and absolute judgment.
And it is justice that God will ultimately
put everything and everyone in his or her
or its proper place.
God is not going to leave anything at
loose end.
You know when a person leaves an estate,
and that person leaves no last will or
testament.
Everything is, as it were, at loose end.
Sometimes you find that the whole estate is
consumed, and the lawyers, everything so sadly
left, everything topsy-turvy.
And it's very calamitous, even in the individual
sphere, in the sphere of family relationships, when
people leave things, as it were, at loose
end of what God is going to do.
There is going to be absolutely nothing left
at loose end.
He is going to bring everyone into judgment
with every secret thing, whether it be good
or whether it be evil.
And there is a grandeur to that fact.
Everything will be perfectly adjudicated with equity.
Do we live as if there is, do
we live as if bygones are better, the
past is, do we live that?
Well, what folly!
What utter folly!
May be bygone with us, but God will
bring everyone to judgment.
Something far worse than its folly to us.
It's not simply the folly of living as
is, it's the dishonor it does to God.
And do you know this, we live in
this world as if death ends it all.
It's because we don't believe in the living.
Justice and judgment are the habitation of God's
throne.
And our realization of that fact is bound
up with our belief in the one living
and true God.
And if we live as if death ended
all, it is just because we don't believe
in the one living and true God.
Justice and judgment are the habitation of His
throne.
And for that reason, He will judge the
world in righteousness.
And if we are imbued with the love
of Him, we can really have the love
of Him.
Because it would be awkward to be no
absolute adjudication of everything that transpires.
It's not that God is a God of
judgment.
He's God who will judge the people.
Now in the second place in this text,
we have that which pertains to Christ.
He was offered to bear sin.
And again we have to ask the question,
why?
Why was He offered to bear sin?
And because of the comparison that there is
instituted in this text, between death and judgment
on the one hand, and the offering of
Christ on the other, we must discover that
the same real reason underlies the offering of
Christ, as underlies the same
reason.
The answer to the question, why do men
die, and to the question, why is there
to be a final judgment, is the answer
to the question, why Christ was offered to
bear sin.
That may seem very strange, but it is
true.
What is it?
Well, why are men appointed to death?
It is just simply because truth must be
vindicated and justice must be executed.
The wages of sin is death.
The sinner must die.
Thus thou art, and to thus thou shalt
return.
And because that is the case, men must
die.
And it is really for that very same
reason that Christ, Christ would not have been
offered if there had been no sin.
If sin did not deserve its wages in
death, He would not have died upon the
accursed tree.
Christ indeed was offered a sacrifice unto death,
the death of the cross, just for the
very same reason that the claims of justice
must be satisfied.
In truth, God had determined the salvation of
a countless multitude, and because God had determined
the salvation of a countless multitude, justice must
be vindicated.
His vicarious death.
But the answer again falls upon that Christ
was once silent.
That's the leading thought in this text.
Just as the leading thought in the earlier
part of the text is that it is
appointed unto men once to die, and then
there will be the once for all judgment.
So He was once offered to bear the
sin.
And just as there is that once for
all finality to death as death, just as
there is that once for all finality to
judgment as judgment, so there is this once
for all finality to the offering of Christ
once for all upon the cross of Calvary.
And what is the great truth?
It is justice.
It is the truth that belongs to the
very center, to the very essence of our
holy faith.
And it is justice that He made an
end of things, that He finished transgression, that
when He had by Himself heard Himself sin,
He sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high.
He made an end of sin on behalf
of His own people.
And because He made an end of sin,
there is no need for any repetition.
You see, there is a finality, there is
a completeness, there is a perfection in the
sphere of God's judgment upon sin.
He made an end of sin.
He exhausted the judgment of God against sin
in Himself, with the result that there is
no condemnation.
But again, the vicarious sin-bearing of Christ
is not the end.
It isn't the final.
There is something more ultimate in the appointment
of God than the once-for-all offering
of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the
accursed tree.
And it is just because there is this
finality and completeness and perfection belonging to the
sacrifice of Christ that it is not the
ultimate, just for that very reason.
And what is this final sacrifice?
Well, it is that in the latter part
of the 28th verse, He will be seen
again the second time without sin for them
that look for Him.
And it is just the finality, the once
-for-all offering, the completeness, the perfection of
the sacrifice of Christ that makes so precious,
and makes indeed necessary, that final company.
Now, how does that bear upon us?
What is the focal point of hope and
expectation for the people of God?
What, after all, is it that looms highest
on the horizon of our hope?
You might say, well, it's the death of
hope, that my last end might be in
my hope.
Well, may God grant that for all of
us, our last end will be completely
off the track of the Christian hope.
Do you remember what the apostle Paul says?
Not for that we would be unclothed, but
clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up
of life.
Paul indeed did say that to depart and
to be with Christ was far better, that
to be absent from the body is to
be present with the Lord, yes.
But not that we would be unclothed, but
clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up
of life.
For we know that if the earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a
building of God, and house not made with
hands, eternal in heaven.
And if it is the death of the
righteous that is central and focal in your
expectation, my friend, you're off the track of
the Christian revelation, and you have imbibed a
pagan conception.
You are still, you are still, as it
were, chained in the thought forms of pagan
thought.
The liberal self, central and focal in the
Christian hope, is the appearing of the glory
of the great God and our Savior, Jesus
Christ.
And what is it, my friends, that looms
highest on our horizon, as we have respect
to death, to judgment, and to the one
for all offering of the body of Jesus
Christ?
What is it?
It is in that way that we shall
test the reality of our Christian faith, as
well as the reality of our Christian hope.
And what is central in the expectation of
the people of God is that Christ will
be seen again the second time without sin.
Now, with reference to that, there are three
things that need to be said.
And the first is this.
Our version, perhaps, just slightly obscures that.
Appears.
For it isn't the fault of the unseen.
And it draws our attention that physical sense,
physical sense is given its proper place and
weight in the Christian expectation.
The finality for the people of God is
one that gives full satisfaction to the demands
of physical sense experience.
The Scripture doesn't place any disdain upon the
human body.
God created man at the beginning, body and
spirit, body and soul.
And death is an abnormality.
A normal state will not again be realized
until the body will be resurrected, and until
the physical sense experience will be given its
full satisfaction in the beholding of Christ himself,
come again in his glorious body.
I'm just trying to emphasize this, my friends,
that the Christian hope is not that pagan
hope of etherealized immortality.
Just something very concrete, just something very material
itself.
In the Christian hope, we will be sane
with our physical sense.
And don't underestimate that.
If we underestimate that, it is just because,
again, we are caught in the corals of
pagan thought.
The body has its place, its proper place.
And redemption will, the body of our humiliation,
will be transformed into the likeness of the
body of Christ's glory.
We shall see him.
We shall see him as he is.
We shall see him in the glory of
his glorified humanity.
And there will be some, just as there
was for Thomas, when Jesus said to him
after the resurrection, thrust tether thy hand and
put it into my side, and thus put
thy finger into the print of the nail,
and be not faithless but believing.
My friends, it's an essential ingredient of the
Christian hope that we shall see Jesus in
that body that was crucified upon Calvary, the
cursed tree, in that body in which he
bore our sins and made an end.
And the second fact that is brought to
our attention in this particular text is that
he will be without sin.
It is not bearing sin that Christ will
come again the second time.
It is not so kindly as it were
enveloped in the clouds of humiliation, but he
will come in undimmed glory.
And there will be no shadow to obscure
this glory that is his, who is given
authority in heaven and in earth, who is
given a name that is his name.
Every knee will bow and every tongue confess
that he is Lord to the glory.
Of God the Father.
And not only that he will not come
bearing sin, but he will not come again
the second time to load his people with
their sins.
Don't you see, my friends, that that is
the preciousness of the finality and the completeness
and the perfection of the once-for-all
offering upon Calvary, the cursed tree, that he
made an end of sin.
And although he will come to judge, he
will not come to load his people.
No, he will not.
And although there will be judged, although even
their sins will be judged, it is not
to lay upon them the guilt of burdening
them again with the grief that is entailed.
There will be unalloyed joy for the people,
my father, in that is the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation.
And the third point to be noted in
this connection, that it is unto salvation that
Jesus, he will be seen again the second
time for them that without sin, for them
that look for him, unto salvation.
And you must note that quite often in
this scripture, that word, salvation, is used of
the perfection of salvation, the transformation of salvation.
When salvation will be complete, and the body
of our very family, and all of the
bodies of Christ's glory, we long for that
salvation in its completeness, in its thoroughness, in
its all-inclusive.
When the whole redemption purpose of God will
reach its final realization, in the completion of
the salvation that was once for all purchased
by Christ, when he offered himself, he purged
those sins, and sat down in the right
hands of the majesty in heaven.
But I tell you this, my friends, that
although it is the salvation that they long
for, it will surpass all the past.
Do you remember in that passage, that most
graphic passage, in describing the final judgment, when
Christ will come and sit upon the throne
of his glory, and when before him will
be gathered all the nations, and he shall
separate them one from another, as the shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats, and he
will set the sheep on his right hand,
and the goats on his left.
And martyrdom.
Then shall the king say unto them on
his right hand, Inherit the kingdom prepared for
you.
He will say, But I was hungered, and
he gave me food.
I was thirsty, and he gave me drink.
I was a stranger, and he took me
in.
Naked, and he clothed me.
I was sick, and he visited me.
I was in prison, and he came unto
me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord,
when saw we thee hungered, and fed thee,
or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
And when saw we thee a stranger, and
took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in
prison, and came unto thee?
And the king, remember, the king shall answer
and say unto them, Verily I say unto
you, inasmuch as he hath done it unto
one of the least of these my less
than two months ago, it was my sad
duty to come to these parts of the
country to bury our very highly esteemed and
beloved friend and your highly esteemed and beloved
pastor.
Well, it was a painful journey, but I
considered it one of the greatest privileges that
was accorded to me in this life to
pay these last respects of honor and esteem
to my dearly beloved friend.
I considered it one of the greatest honors
that God in his mercy and providence has
bestowed upon me in connection.
And I went back to Philadelphia in the
next year, and I was studying this.
I was reading this particular passage, and I
never realized in my life before, as I
realized then, how precious and how appropriate to
that person to whom we had been.
How appropriate.
I never saw them with such appropriateness in
my life before.
Let me read them to you again, and
just think.
Then shall the king say unto them on
his right hand, Come ye, blessed of my
father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world.
For I was on hunger, and he gave
me.
I was thirsty, and he gave me drink.
I was a stranger, and he took me
in.
Naked, and he clothed me.
I was sick, and he visited me.
I was in prison, and he came unto
me.
And you can testify to the reality of
that in his particular case.
And then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
Lord, when so we the unhungred and thirsty,
or thirsty and gave thee drink, when saw
we the stranger, and took thee in, or
naked and clothed thee, or when saw we
thee sick or in prison, and came unto
thee?
And the king shall answer, mark it, it
is the king, he shall answer and say
unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as ye have done it, unto the one
of the least of these minds.
And oh, that hath been so magnificently illustrated
in our departed friend, the beloved, the humble,
and the most of whom he recognized to
be the blood purchased.
It was not from the great ones of
the earth, but he as it were poured
out to them.
He did it unto one of the least
of these.
And let us come back to our theme.
What is it?
It is this, that when Christ will come
in his undimmed glory, and when he will
descend to all those who look for his
appearing, that final salvation, it will surpass all
their conceptions, all their expectations.
And how glorious, my friends, is the prospect,
how grand is the assurance that is ministered
unto us, that Christ will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and
the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Do you like to go to the cemetery?
I love to go to the cemetery where
I know the people of God are.
I just love to wander among these graves.
But because I get a peculiar sensation, a
peculiar delight, in recognizing that one day from
the trumpets of sound the dead will be
raised incorruptible, and those who are living will
be changed, and this corruptible will put on
incorruption, and this mortal will put on immortality,
and then shall be taught to touch the
stain that is written, death is one.
O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the
strength of the self-sin is the law.
But thank the unforgivable Lord, Jesus Christ.
Don't live as if death.
O God.
Death's folly, but it's worse than folly.
It's blind unbelief.
It's an assault upon the very foundation of
God's government.
It is dishonor to him and myself.
Christ's law is a sin.
View death itself in its finality.
View judgment itself in the finality that belongs
to it.
And view the once-for-all offering of
Christ in the finality and the perfection and
the completeness that belongs to it.
For the issue of God's judgment for the
people of God is nothing less than this.
And be blessed, O Christ, prepared for you
from death.
O judgment is a solemn death.
It has a grandeur too.
But everything would be out of proportion.
Everything would be out of joint.
The power of hope.
The appearing of the glory of the great
God.
And O may I ask Christ and let
him just lead with each one of you
that you'll be joined to him in the
bonds of a faith and of a love
and of a hope that can never be
dissolved.
He will assure you which you look for,
which you waited for, which you longed for.
But we'll shall pass all along the way
with the glory of the presence of him
who has given the name of God in
Christ.
And we which remain shall be caught up
together with them, my friends, to meet the
Lord in the air.
And so shall the Lord.
Oh, ever blessed is the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ in all his glory
of the Holy Spirit has so graciously granted
to us.
May thy word take hold of our hearts.
And Christ shall...