Jesus and the Resurrection Justified by Witnesses in Heaven and Earth, Part 1 · Chapter 1
CHAP. I. An Introduction to the Enſuing Diſcourſe, ſhewing the Scope of it.
IT is not my deſign in this Diſcourſe, to explain and eſtabliſh the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity; which ſeveral great Writers have inferred, with much appearance of reaſon, from the remarkable difference there is between thoſe words whereby S. John expreſſes the Unity of the firſt three witneſſes, and thoſe whereby he expreſſes the Unity of the laſt: But to ſettle the Faith and Hope of Chriſtian Souls, in the Lord Jeſus; which is the true ſcope of the Apoſtle in this part of his Epiſtle, though in no Treatiſe, that I have met withal, it hath from hence been diſtinctly and fully repreſented.
That this is the drift of the Apoſtles Diſcourſe, and ought to be the intention of mine; will be very apparent, if we go but back ſo far as the fourth Verſe of this Chapter, and from thence take our riſe for that Argument, which I purpoſe to purſue. To know that we are born of God, and ſo ſhall be his Heirs, is a thing in which, above all others, we are moſt highly concern'd. That we may have therefore a certain character of one divinely deſcended, S. John lays down this General mark of him whereby he may be known, that Whatſoever is born of God, overcometh the World. By this a Chriſtian is to be tried, and hereby he diſcovers himſelf what he is, whether the child of God in name only or in deed and in truth. If when he meets with any thing in this world that would ſeduce or affright him from his duty, he not only defies it and ſets himſelf againſt it, but makes it yield to his reſolution of ſtedfaſt obedience to God's Commandments (which every man, he ſays in the foregoing verſe, that loves God, will certainly keep and not think them grievous neither) it is a plain demonſtration that he is dear to God, and hath his very Spirit in him.
Now next to this there is nothing more neceſſary and deſirable to be known, than how we may obtain this great and matchleſs victory over every thing in the world that oppoſes our Chriſtian reſolution; and ſo undoubtedly approve our ſelves heroical perſons, as they were anciently called, that are born from above. And here alſo the Apoſtle lends us his aſſiſtance; telling us in the latter end of that fourth Verſe, that we muſt atchieve it by Faith. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our Faith. So couragious, ſo powerful, ſo ſucceſsful is an hearty lively Faith, that you ſee he calls it by the name of victory it ſelf. If we believe ſtedfaſtly, we ſhall tread the world under our feet, and eaſily deſpiſe all its temptations; as thoſe valiant Worthies did, whoſe example another Apoſtle ſets before us, in the Eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews: A portion of Scripture which he that means to be a conqueror, ſhould think he can never read too oft.
But there is a farther enquiry remaining, which every body will be apt to make; and that is, what this Faith may be, which is ſo victorious and triumphant. And therefore the Apoſtle takes care to ſatisfie us in this matter alſo; when he tells us, Verſe 5. it is nothing elſe but to believe that Jeſus is the Son of God. To be heartily perſwaded, he means, that that great perſon, who was born of the Virgin Mary, and was known by the name of Jeſus, and overcame the world ſo gloriouſly, was indeed ſent from God unto us, and owned by him as the expreſs image of his perſon; ſo that we may as infallibly depend upon the truth of what he hath ſaid, either of himſelf, or concerning us, as we can upon any thing of Senſe or Reaſon; by which we think our ſelves bound to guide and determine our reſolutions and actions in this life.
But ſtill after all this, there is one thing more that we cannot but deſire to be very ſure of; without which all the reſt will ſtand us in no ſtead, but we ſhall flag and deſpair of ſucceſs, viz. That Jeſus is indeed the Son of God. This if it be not well proved by ſubſtantial arguments, we can have no ſolid faith, and ſo no victory; and ſo no ſon-ſhip, no hope in another world. The Apoſtle therefore, that he may ſerve us in bringing ſome evident demonſtration of this ſo important a truth, tells us in the next words (Verſe 6.) that Jeſus did not only ſay he was God's Son, and confidently affirm himſelf to be the Divine perſon ſo long look'd for, to come into the world; but that he came with very ſufficient and unreproveable witneſſes of it, viz. the WATER, the BLOUD, and the SPIRIT: which made this truth good to all thoſe, who conſidered their teſtimony. If the firſt of theſe [WATER] ſhould not be thought great enough to merit belief; yet the [BLOUD] joyned with it adds great force to its perſwaſion. Or if both theſe ſeem too weak, yet this laſt, the SPIRIT, the Apoſtle doubts not is ſo ſtrong to conquer mens minds, and make them believe in Jeſus, that he ſays, The Spirit is truth. That is, ſuch an undoubted proof that Jeſus was what he pretended to be, the Son of God; that no man can be deceived who relies upon it, and no man can refuſe, if he give heed to it, to rely and depend upon ſuch a witneſs.
Now this was a thing notorious in thoſe days, and needed no proof at all, the whole Country of Judaea could witneſs it, that he came by (or rather with) Water, Bloud and the Spirit. And therefore the Apoſtle doth not go about to make this good, that there were ſuch Witneſſes (it being a matter confeſſed) but rather repeats it over again, as the ſtrongeſt proof of his Divine Authority: adding moreover there-withal, that there were three other Witneſſes, who by their concurrent teſtimony would unanimouſly juſtifie this Truth. For, ſaith he, in the words I have choſen to explain, There are three that bear record (or witneſs) in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghoſt: and theſe three are one. And there are three that bear witneſs in Earth, the Spirit, and the Water, and the Bloud: and theſe three agree in one. As if he had ſaid, You cannot reaſonably doubt of that which we preach concerning Jeſus, if you go but to thoſe three witneſſes, to which I have ſent you, the Water, the Bloud and the Spirit; for they all affirm with one mouth, that he was the Son of God. And as they teſtifie this to you upon the Earth; ſo there are three other Witneſſes alſo who declare it to you from Heaven: to whom I firſt direct you; and then to thoſe three that here on Earth, as I have told you, bear their record to him.
There are not a few Copies of the New Teſtament, it muſt be confeſſed, which leave out the Teſtimony of theſe three Witneſſes that ſpeak from Heaven, not reading the ſeventh Verſe; as is noted not only by Socinus and his followers, but by Eraſmus, Grotius, Curcellaeus, and our Learned Selden, whoſe collections to this purpoſe far exceed all former obſervations. But yet this laſt named Great Author, hath ſaid ſo much *L. 2. de Syned. cap. 4. num. 4.to juſtifie the Antiquity of our preſent Reading, and to keep the ſeventh Verſe in the place wherein it now ſtands, that I make no queſtion theſe are the words of S. John, concerning the three Heavenly Witneſſes, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghoſt; and accordingly I ſhall in the firſt place appeal to their teſtimony for the confirming of this Truth, and for the ſupporting thereby of our Faith, that Jeſus is the Son of God.
And if any body ſhall ſay, What need is there of this in a Chriſtian Country? There are no Infidels ſure among us; nor are we in danger to turn Pagans, Turks or Jews, who blaſpheme the Lord Jeſus? I ſhall not labour to ſtop their mouths, by caſting reproaches on others; nor complain of the apoſtaſie which ſome think they have reaſon to lay to the charge of too many in this preſent untoward generation: But deſire them to take their Anſwer from S. John himſelf, in the thirteenth Verſe of this very Chapter: Where they will find that he thought it not unneceſſary to write theſe things to them that believe on the name of the Son of God; that they might know how happy a thing it was to be a Chriſtian, and that they might believe (i. e. continue to believe) on the name of the Son of God. And I may modeſtly ſuppoſe, that what he thought good to aſſert here with ſo much care and exactneſs, it will not be thought an unprofitable diligence if I ſtudy to expound and enlarge, for the benefit of believers. It will be ſome ſatisfaction to me however, to have had it in my heart to do ſome honour to my Saviour, and to have endeavoured to make any part of his holy Book more clearly underſtood; eſpecially if what I write ſhall encreaſe the Faith of any Chriſtian Soul, and fill it with an aſſured hope in Jeſus, by abiding conſtant in this belief, that he is the Son of God.
That being the thing which is to be proved by theſe witneſſes, it will be neceſſary to ſearch a little into the meaning of the Phraſe, before we take their examination about it. And it muſt be confeſſed, that though Jeſus be the Eternal Son of the Father, God of God, begotten of him before all Worlds; yet this is not always meant when he is called his Son: which is a name in the holy ſtile, not ſo much expreſſing his Nature as his high Authority and Sovereign power, which he hath received, as the Mediator between him and us, from God the Father Almighty. So I think we are here to underſtand the Apoſtle, who under the Name Jeſus comprehends all that belongs to his perſon, both his Divine and Humane nature; and affirms that this perſon hath Sovereign Authority committed to him by God the Father of all: who hath given him Commiſſion, and deputed him in his ſtead to declare his mind, and acquaint us with his will; and, having by himſelf purged our ſins, promoted him to ſit down on the right hand of the Majeſty on high, as that great King and Lord of all, by whom we are to be governed now, and to be judged at the laſt day. Sure I am, in many places of the holy Scripture which ſay, he is the Son of God, the meaning is expounded in other places to be this; that he is the Chriſt, or the anointed of God. That is, Jeſus, who was conceived by the Holy Ghoſt, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, roſe again from the dead, and afterward appointed S. John and the reſt of the Apoſtles, to preach thoſe things to all Nations which we read in the holy Goſpel; was indeed ſent of God (according to the ancient Prophecies) with his own power and authority, and is now, by the ſuffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, to be our King and Sovereign Lord, whom we are all to obey, and from whom alone we are to expect all our rewards.
And there is great reaſon to think that theſe are phraſes of the very ſame import, here in S. John, if we compare but the firſt Verſe of this Chapter with the fifth. In the former we read, that whoſoever believeth that Jeſus is the Chriſt, is born of God: In the latter he tells us, that he who overcometh the world, believeth that Jeſus is the Son of God. It is the very ſame Faith no doubt whereby we are born of God, and whereby we overcome the world; and therefore it is the very ſame thing to believe that Jeſus is the Chriſt, and to believe that Jeſus is the Son of God. Expreſs it how you pleaſe, either of theſe ways, this alone is the Faith which can regenerate a man and put a Divine Spirit into him; that is, make him a conqueror over the world as Jeſus was. Let the ſecond Chapter of this Epiſtle, ver. 22. be conſulted alſo, and there you will find, that Chriſt and the Son are terms equivalent, and have the ſame ſignification. To which if you add ſome places in the Evangeliſts, they will make you ſee this more evidently. When S. Peter made this confeſſion, xvi. Matth. 16. that Jeſus was Chriſt the Son of the living God, there is no more meant, one would think, by thoſe words, the Son of God, than what the other word, Chriſt, includes: becauſe when our Saviour would have them know that it was not fit for them, as yet, to divulge this truth which S. Peter confeſſed, he only charges his Diſciples (ver. 20.) that they ſhould tell no man that he was Jeſus the Chriſt. And if this be not ground enough to conclude the identity (as we ſpeak) of theſe words, the other Evangeliſts will put it out of doubt. For S. Mark makes the confeſſion of S. Peter to have been no more than this, Thou art the Chriſt, viii. 29. And S. Luke relates it not much otherwiſe, when he ſays that he acknowledged our Saviour to be the Chriſt of God, ix. 20. To be the Chriſt, or to be the Son, the Chriſt of God, or the Son of God, according to the underſtanding of theſe Divine writers, is the very ſame; and in theſe places nothing different. And indeed, it is very probable that S. Hieroms opinion is true, who believed that the Apoſtles were not yet ſuch proficients as to underſtand the eternal generation of our Lord Jeſus from the eſſence of the Father. For we find them very ignorant of divers things that were eaſier to be learnt than this, which if they had known, they would not have expected to ſee him ſettle his Throne upon Earth, nor doubted of his Reſurrection from the dead, and many other things, as they did.
But the comparing of two other places will make this ſtill more manifeſt. In the xxvi. Matth. 63. we read that the High Prieſt adjured our Saviour to tell him, if he were the Chriſt, the Son of God. They all expected one to appear under this character; This was the common title of that great perſon, who they believed would ſhortly come: But they meant no more by it, than one appointed by God to be their King, as is apparent from S. Luke, who relates that queſtion barely thus; xxii. 67. Art thou the Chriſt? tell us. And after our Saviour had made that anſwer which we read both in him and S. Matthew; he tells us (ver. 70.) they all replied again, Art thou then the Son of God? which was no more than to ſay, muſt we take this for confeſſed then, that thou affirmeſt thy ſelf to be ſent, anointed, and ſet over us by God? Wilt thou ſtand to that which thou juſt now ownedſt, when we asked thee that queſtion? For without all doubt the Chief Prieſts and the Scribes intended nothing by that phraſe, the Son of God, but what was comprehended in the other, the Chriſt. And therefore when Pilate, upon their accuſation, examined him upon the ſame matter, he asks nothing elſe but this (as this Apoſtle S. John relates, xviii. 33.) Art thou the King of the Jews? which is the plain interpretation of the word, Chriſt. For that is not the proper name of any perſon, as Lactantius *Nuncupatio potestatis & regni. Sic enim Judaei Reges ſuos appellabant. L. 4. Cap. 7.rightly obſerves, but a name of power and dominion, ſignifying him to be their Sovereign: For in this ſtile, ſays he, the Jews were wont to ſpeak of their Kings, whom they called Chriſts, or Gods anointed.
Once more, when they were enraged at our Saviour for calling himſelf the Son of God (as S. John tells us, Chap. x.) He juſtifies himſelf by a reaſon which ſignifies no more, but that he called himſelf, the Chriſt, the anointed of God, as you may read, ver. 34, 35, 36. If they were called Gods in old time, to whom the Word of God came (i. e. who received commiſſion and authority from God to be the Judges and Rulers of his people) then it could be no offence, much leſs a blaſphemy, for him whom God had ſanctified (i. e. ſet apart and anointed to this office of being their Lord and King) to call himſelf the Son of God. For ſo he was by his place; and there was no need he ſhould ſay any thing of the Divine nature that was in him. Well then, to be the Son of God and to be the Chriſt, being but different expreſſions of the ſame thing; and the word Chriſt ſignifying anointed, one ſet apart to an high office, and (in its eminent ſence) that perſon who was to ſuſtain the place of God in this world, to be the King of Iſrael, yea the Governour and Ruler of all mankind; we muſt conclude that when the Apoſtle ſays here, Jeſus is the Son of God, his meaning is, that He is the Holy one of God, the perſon whom he ſanctified by the unction of the Holy Ghoſt, and ſent into the World; to whom he hath now given all power in Heaven and in Earth, that every knee ſhould bow to him as the Sovereign Lord of the World; whom we are to hear and obey and depend upon in all things.
For this is the ſtile you may obſerve of the Old Teſtament (from whence you may learn the riſe and original of this manner of ſpeech) which calls thoſe Kings, who derived their authority immediately from God, by the name of his Sons. Becauſe when they were anointed by his order, they were made what they were not before, and begotten (as they ſpoke) again: And being created by God to their new dignity, they are therefore called his Sons. The firſt time we meet with the phraſe, is in the ſtory of the firſt King of Iſrael, 1 Sam. xiii. 1. where Saul is called, as the words are in the Hebrew, the Son of one year in his Kingdom. Becauſe there was but a year paſſed ſince the time of his unction; by which he was born Gods Vicegerent, and (as you read x. 6.) turned into another man. And indeed we find this imitated in Ethnick writers, who call the day their Emperors entred upon their Reign, their Birth-day. So we read in Spartianus that Adrian being informed by Letters that Trajan had named him for his Succeſſor, cauſed the birth-day of his adoption to be celebrated. And two days after, hearing of his death, he ordered they ſhould keep the birth-day of his Empire *Natalem imperii instituit celebrandum.. But I do not intend to launch out of the holy ſtory, where we find this more plainly delivered in the Hiſtory of the ſucceeding Kings of Iſrael. For when the Philiſtins, the Moabites, the Syrians, the Ammonites and other neighbouring People with their Princes, conſpired (after they had been conquered by David) againſt the Lord and againſt his anointed; reſolving to caſt off their yoke: the Pſalmiſt ſhews (Pſal. 2.) how vain and idle their attempt would prove, becauſe God had appointed him, whom he ſent a Prophet to anoint, to be his King. This decree of God he averrs, and openly declares (ver. 6, 7.) that the Lord ſaid unto him, Thou art my Son, this day (i. e. when he anointed him) I have begotten thee. So that to riſe againſt him, was to war with God Almighty, whoſe Son, that is, Vicegerent he was in thoſe Countries. And therefore if they were well adviſed he exhorts them all to go and kiſs the Son, ver. 12. i. e. ſubmit themſelves, by that token of humble ſubjection, to him who had his Authority immediately from God: Nay, was his firſt-born, the moſt eminent Prince, that is, that ever he made, lxxxix. Pſal. 27. And therefore he was the prime type of our Lord Chriſt, to whom theſe words are applied, becauſe he was the Son of David, that great King, who was to reign over them for ever, as the Angel ſaid, i. Luke 33. And if you paſs from hence to the next King, Solomon, (who had a particular unction alſo, and in whoſe reign was prefigured the glorious Kingdom of our Saviour) you will find that God ſays by a Prophet concerning him, I will be his Father, and he ſhall be my Son, 2 Sam. vii. 14. Which words are a promiſe to make Solomon King, and ſettle him on the Throne of his Father David. So He underſtood it, as appears by the ſpeech which David made, not long before his death, to all the great men of his Kingdom, 1 Chron. xxviii. where he tells them (ver. 4.) that as Jeſſe had many Sons, Yet God liked him only to make him King over all Iſrael: So of the many Sons which the Lord had given him (ver. 5.) He had choſen Solomon to ſit upon the Throne of the Kingdom of the Lord. As is evident; ſaith he, from thoſe words of God ſpoken by Nathan (ver. 6.) I have choſen him to be my SON, and I will be hit FATHER, i. e. made choice of him to be King of Iſrael in thy room, and as I have been to thee, ſo I will be to him. Thus Solomon, one would think, interpreted theſe words, when he prays God, who had made good one part of his promiſe, to perform the other alſo, 2 Chron. i. 8, 9. Thou haſt ſhewed great mercy unto David my Father, and haſt made me reign in his stead (as much as to ſay, made me thy Son) now, O Lord God let thy promiſe unto my Father be eſtabliſhed; that is, of being a Father to me, now that I am become thy ſon, and ſet by thee over a people, like the duſt of the Earth in multitude.
By this time I ſuppoſe it will be no wonder to any intelligent perſon, that theſe Kings are called the Sons of God; who did not only govern in that Country, which was called, it is well known, God's land, and the inhabitants whereof were his peculiar people: but were appointed by his ſpecial direction, and anointed with his holy oil (lxxxix. Pſal. 20.) and had, as it were, their being and birth from God, who promoted them to ſit upon his Throne, and to be Kings for the Lord God, as you read 2 Chron. ix. 8. ſo that the Kingdom it ſelf is called in that Book the Kingdom of the Lord, xiii. 8. And the Judges alſo in the Courts of that Kingdom are ſaid to exerciſe the Judgment of the Lord and not of man (xix. 6.) that is, to ſit there in God's ſtead, to do men juſtice: And becauſe of this great power and truſt committed to them by him, are called, as you heard lxxxii. Pſal. 1, 6. Gods, and the children of the most High; whoſe deputies they were, and for whom they judged. And therefore it is the leſs wonder, that when this Great Prince came among them, to whom all judgment is committed, and who hath all power in Heaven and in Earth, and is Lord of all, and appointed by God the heir of all things, He is called by the ſame name that they were. If there were no other reaſon for it, his office would give him a title to it: becauſe he is the Lords Chriſt, anointed by God to the higheſt dignity and government under him, not only over that Country, but over all Nations on the Earth; who, by believing on him, were all to be made a choſen generation, a royal Prieſthood, an holy Nation, a peculiar people, 1 Pet. ii. 9. But to ſhow his moſt excellent greatneſs he is called the Son of God, with two marks of his preeminence above all other who have had that name: Firſt, he is called, foreign, that Son, that eminent King, the King of Kings; like to whom none ever was. For, ſecondly, whereas thoſe ſons of the higheſt ſpoken of before, were to die like other men, Pſal. 82.7.and to fall like one of the Princes, in other Countries, He is called the Son, foreign, of that God who liveth, xvi. Matth. 16. that is, of the immortal eternal God: And by conſequence is like his Father, an everlaſting King, of whoſe Kingdom, as the Angel told his Mother, i. Luke 33. there ſhall be no end.
Thus the Author of the Epiſtle to the Hebrews, who underſtood this language well enough, hath diſcourſed in the Firſt Chapter. Where he proves that Jeſus is the Son of God in a more eminent ſence than any Angel in Heaven, according to thoſe ancient prophecies before named, concerning David and Solomon, as you read ver. 4, 5. From whence the Jews learns to call the Meſſiah, who they confeſs is in thoſe places myſtically ſpoken of, by that name of the Son of God. Which the Apoſtle there ſhows is the greateſt name of excellence, and ſignifies the higheſt honour and dignity; ſuch as God hath conferred upon no other. And then he proceeds to ſhow, that according to other prophecies which ſpeak of his ſupereminence his Throne is for ever and ever: (ver. 8.) For God, who is his God (in a peculiar manner loving and rewarding him) hath anointed him with the oil of gladneſs (preferred him, that is) above all that partake of Kingly dignity, ver. 9. He hath made him indeed his firſt-born, the Prince of all the Kings of the Earth (as S. John ſpeaks, i. Revel. 5.) to whom we are to ſubmit our ſelves with the greateſt devotion of ſpirit, and from whom we may then expect Protection, Bleſſing, and the nobleſt Rewards. For he is the long expected Son of God, who excells all other that were ever called by that name; the King of inconceivable Majeſty, whoſe ſplendor could not ſo much as be fore-ſhadowed by Solomon in all his glory. Thus Nathanael I obſerve puts theſe two expreſſions together, in his confeſſion of our Saviour, out of a vehement affection redoubling his words, Thou art that Son of God, thou art that King of Iſrael, i. John 49.
This is the buſineſs upon which we are to examine theſe Witneſſes; we are to conſider what they ſay to this point, that the Lord Jeſus was ſent from God as Moſes had formerly been: only Moſes as a Servant, but he as a Son (according to what you read, iii. Heb. 5, 6.) with a fulneſs of authority, with all the power of God; ſo that we may confidently rely on every thing that he hath ſaid, as the very mind and ſence of God. This if we can hear them ſpeak, they are witneſſes ſo beyond all exception, that we cannot chuſe but reverence him, and receive him, and obey him, and put our truſt in him, and rejoyce in his royal favour and love evermore. For the firſt three are no leſs perſons than the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghoſt. Whoſe gracious aſſiſtance let us humbly implore, that this and all other our works may be begun, continued and ended, to the glorifying of his holy Name.
A PRAYER.
O Father of lights, from whom comet… every good, and every perfect gift illuminate my mind in theſe Meditations that I may be able to enlighten others, an… lead them into a good underſtanding in a… things. Guide and direct my thoughts, tha… I may reaſon and diſcourſe aright. Shine int… all our Souls by the light of the glorious Goſp… of Chriſt, John. 6.40that we ſeeing the Son, may believe on him: and being made thy childre… by adoption and grace, may be daily more an… more renewed by thy holy Spirit. Settle i… our Souls that mighty faith, whereby we may have power and strength to have victory, and to triumph over the Devil, the World, and the Fleſh. Strengthen it every day by constant Meditation on thoſe things, which thou, O Father, Son and Holy Ghost, haſt ſo many ways declared to us: that it may grow still more victorious, and we may feel the happy fruit of it in greater joy and triumph of ſpirit, in aſſured expectation of the Crown of righteouſneſs, which thou haſt promiſed to all faithful Souls.
O that none of the inticing allurements of this world may ever more deceive us, and steal away our hearts from our true happineſs: nor any of the troubleſome paſſages of this life ever hereafter diſhearten us, and divert us from the purſuit of it: But the Faith of Chriſt may ſo intirely poſſeſs our hearts, as to keep us stedfaſt and upright, in the midſt of all the temptations, of what kind ſoever they be, that aſſault us. And looking up unto Jeſus the author and finiſher of our Faith, we may still ſay with true reſolution of ſpirit, Thou art the Son of God most high, thou art the King of incomprehenſible Majeſty, thou art the Lord of all. We will conſtantly adhere to thee, as thy faithful ſubjects. We will follow thee in faith and love, and patient obedience to the very death. And hope that as we feel, by thy power in us, we are the children of God, ſo we ſhall be heirs, heirs of God, joynt-heirs, with thee, O bleſſed Lord; to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be glory and dominion for ever. Amen.