All women, including pre-born baby girls, are created in the image of God. Discover the true war on women, www.godloveswomen.com. That is www.godloveswomen.com. Oh, sovereign Lord, Please, O Lord, O Father in heaven, please uncover our eyes so that we could see miraculous things in your law. O Lord, in your mercy, because of your loving kindness, we pray that you would not hide your commandments from us, that you would reveal them to us. Oh Lord, there are those who scorn us and hate us because of the light of Christ that is in us. But we pray that you would remove reproach and scorn far from us. You would be near to us, oh Lord. Even if princes were to arise and speak against us as your children, We will not fear, but we will look to your testimonies and we will make them our counselors. Oh Lord, how great is your love for your children. How precious is your loving kindness for those who are your elect. We thank you that you're the keeper of Israel. that you, the watchman over Israel, are like the mountains that surround Jerusalem. You protect us and keep us. You neither sleep nor slumber. You, O keeper of Israel, are the keeper of your church, your sons and your daughters. O Lord, you keep and guard our going out and our coming in. You protect us, you keep us both now and forevermore. And I pray, oh Lord, that for those who are in this room, I pray that you would be their guardian. A wall of fire surrounding each one of them, protecting them from the evil one. I pray that you would guard their going out and their coming in. That you would keep them both now and forevermore. In Jesus' name. Well, this Lord's Day we look for the light of Christmas in the ninth chapter of the prophet Isaiah. The light shining in the darkness Isaiah chapter 9, we'll begin with verses 1 through 2. This is the word of the Lord. But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the latter time he has made it glorious by way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee, the nations the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who lived in the land of the shadow of death on them the light has shined thus far the reading of God's Holy Word God in His infinite wisdom, uses the created order for the purpose of teaching us how properly to understand contrasts. For the sake of our instruction, the Creator has built many meaningful contrasts into His meticulously crafted creation. It is God, for example, who intentionally places tiny, unobtrusive, wildflowers near the summits of enormous craggy mountains. He does this in order to teach us the contrast between our own tiny human finitude and his own enormous divine infinitude. So his creative contrast between alpine flowers and alpine summits is our necessary lesson in the doctrine of God. So think then upon the vast riches of wisdom and knowledge that our Creator has built into His creation through these contrasts. God has made the piercing joy of new life, a whole new person packaged in a tiny baby's body. to exist in sharp contrast to the painful sword of personal bereavement. He's made some things hot and other things cold. And according to Revelation 316, he does not care much for churches that are lukewarm. The Lord has made certain objects razor sharp, such as the eagle's talons. and other objects delicately soft, such as the fur of the Holland lop. In the study of the solar system, we know that God has caused the earth to tilt on its axis, such that the poles of the earth experience yearly both polar days and polar nights. The polar days on which the sun never sets are quite the contrast to the polar nights on which the sun never rises. And all of these contrasts that God has built into the created order have important things to teach us about the Christian truths in Holy Scripture. The wise individual will meditate upon them and immediately begin to see their implications for understanding God's Holy Word. However, the modern world, or we should say, the post-modern world in which we live despises sharp contrasts in the realm of truth. For today's false prophets, who are the secular scholars of this age, say that all truth is relative, and thus truth and meaning only exist in shades of gray, rather than in true black and white contrasts. And also, the lying priests of our time, who are the apostate pastors of our age, say that the pursuit of charity and unity in the church necessarily blurs the sharp lines of historic Christian doctrine, such that the contrast between sound doctrine and heresy is not as sharp as the church fathers or the reformers considered it to be. So in our generation, the God of Scripture, who is a God of sharp contrasts. Is testified against and hated. Oh, precious brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must know and discern the sharp contrast of the Holy Scriptures in order to understand the kingdom of God. For the kingdom does not come with vague notions about God or with ambiguous definitions of good and evil. Instead, the kingdom of God comes with a sharp, double-edged sword. dividing between truth and falsehood righteousness and wickedness love and hate true believers and false believers the the fear of God and the fear of man and the love of God and the love of the world and thus between the seen and the unseen and the temporary and the eternal and the flesh and the spirit and heaven and hell So do you then, dear brother, know how to read the world through the corrective lenses of all of the sharp contrasts of Scripture that describe the eternal divide between the kingdom of Babylon and the kingdom of heaven? In the ninth chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah, there are no less than three sharp contrasts that must be heeded by all of those who fear God. They are the contrast between darkness and light, the contrast between war and peace, and the contrast between the kingdom of Midian and the kingdom of Christ. Yet this morning we only shall have time to deal with the first and the third of these great contrasts. And the first one then is this stark poetic contrast between darkness and light. Isaiah 8, 22 through chapter 9, verse 3. They will pass through it very distressed and hungry, and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward and look to the earth and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness, but there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the latter time, he has made it glorious by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined. You have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the plunder. The end of the eighth chapter and the beginning of the ninth chapter of Isaiah are both shrouded in darkness. There's a thick, ominous fog looming over the land of Israel, and it's a very dark fog. Much like the plague of thick darkness that God brought upon Pharaoh, king of Egypt, Israel's thick darkness is a judgment for her thick, dark sin against God. The darkness is so dense that one can barely see his own hand in front of his face, much less the path in front of him. So darkness then is a judgment for Israel's sin. In particular, this shadow of death, this is Isaiah 9 verse 2, this shadow of death kind of darkness that Israel is experiencing certainly can be described as a judgment from God. Jeremiah 13, 16, give glory to the Lord your God before he causes darkness. and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains. And while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death and makes it gross darkness. However, not all darkness is of the judgment kind. Sometimes in the Bible, this kind of death shadow darkness describes suffering, the suffering of the elect for the sake of righteousness. Psalm 44, 17 through 19 is an example. Psalm 44, 17 through 19, all this has come on us, yet we have not forgotten you. Neither have we been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back. Neither have our steps strayed from your path, though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. Psalm 23 certainly describes a kind of death shadow darkness which falls upon the innocent, which is persecution for the sake of righteousness. That's what falls upon the righteous. Though David is hunted by his enemies, and though he must, according to Psalm 23 verse 4, walk in the valley of the death shadow, He says, I will not fear evil for you are with me. This is not a judgment. This is a trial, a testing of his righteousness. Therefore, not all who experienced the gloomy cloud of death's shadow darkness are under the judgment of God. So we can surmise then that at the opening of the ninth chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah, there are two kinds of people living in Israel. There are the wicked idolaters who profess to know God, but by their deeds prove otherwise. They are judged by the Lord with this death shadow cloud hanging over their heads. At the same time, however, there are pious Israelites who are enduring the moral darkness of their age, suffering alongside of their countrymen, yet in their case, only for the sake of righteousness. So they're enduring the darkness for the sake of righteousness. But in both situations, the people are desperate for light. Whether the wicked or the righteous, they're all desperate for light. The former are desperate for God's light of grace and forgiveness. The wicked are desperate for this light of grace and forgiveness, which comes ever so mercifully to those who will repent of their sins and believe upon his name. The latter are desperate for God's liberating light, coming to illuminate the dark prison cells of their prolonged persecutions and other righteous sufferings. Gloriously, then, this deep darkness, dreadfully called the death shadow darkness, exists in Isaiah 9 in poetic contrast to a great light that comes from God. darkness is thick and horrible but there is a bright gleaming light that is found bursting into the history of Israel Isaiah 9 verse 2 again the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who lived in the land of the shadow of death on them the light has shined the contrast is blindingly bright. The death shadow is a form of deep darkness, but the light from God is now piercing and gleaming. Psalm 18, 28, for you will light my lamp, O Lord. My God will light up my darkness. The distinct contrast is between the deep darkness of the death shadow that has fallen upon Israel and the gleaming light of God that shall come to Israel. This is glad tidings. The darkness of human sin and all of the suffering caused by it shall be pierced by the sharp arrow of God's divine light. Yet the most glorious thing about this impending visitation of light into such a darkened world is that the brightness of the light comes from a supernatural source. This is not a man-made technological solution to the problem of darkness. Rather, the source of the light that is about to come to Israel is God Himself, is God Himself. Psalm 18, verse 12, at the brightness before Him, at the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed hailstones and coals of fire. The prophet Ezekiel once saw a vision of a dark, ominous storm cloud coming upon Israel from the north. Yet in the middle of this dark cloud, he saw bright, blinding flashes of light. At first, he considered the fearsome angels, the four living creatures whom he saw in the midst of the storm cloud, to be the source of the brilliance of the light. However, Once he saw that the four living creatures were guardians of a great throne, he realized that the source of the blinding light, which was as threatening as a raging fire and simultaneously as beautiful as golden barrel or sunlit amber, the source was the one who sat, who was seated upon that throne. Having seen the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, Ezekiel fell face down before him. For death's shadow enshrouded Israel. There is a light that is about to dawn. Its source is not one of nature. It doesn't come from the created order. Nor is it one of man. Rather, the source is. God Himself. Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 4, His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from His hand where His power is hidden. This is wonderfully mysterious. The great contrast between darkness and light in the ninth chapter of the prophet Isaiah intends to do more. The book of the prophet Isaiah intends to do more than give us a few gleams of hope in the midst of gloomy times. It actually intends in some mysterious way to reveal God to us. The people who walked in darkness shall see a great This light is a gleaming light that comes from God Himself. For 1 John 1 5 says, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. He, the light of the world, is coming. He, Emmanuel, shall come to be the light of God and so God with us. And therefore let darkness drenched Israel say, the light of God shall come to rescue us and the darkness shall not defeat him. Of course, once the meaning of the stark contrast between darkness and light is revealed, once it's revealed that God himself is coming to save Israel, then joy inevitably follows. If God is coming, then it is joyful. Isaiah 9, verse 3, you have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy and harvest as men rejoice when they divide the plunder. So there's a fourfold rejoicing in verse three, and this rejoicing over God's light culminates in the book of Isaiah later on, with a vision of heaven itself. Isaiah chapter 60, verses one through three. Here's the light that comes. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the Lord's glory has risen on you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness, the people's, But the Lord will arise on you and his glory shall be seen on you. Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. And therefore, God's heavenly light produces heavenly rejoicing. Isaiah 65, 18 through 19, here comes the joy. But be glad and rejoice forever. in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem to be a rejoicing and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more. And so the Apostle John declares to us that the inexpressible joy of God's heavenly light coming down to us to be with us is the joy of God revealing Himself through the incarnation. This is how the mystery is revealed. The enfleshment of His only begotten Son. John 1, 1 through 5, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him, and without Him not one thing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. Jesus Christ is That gleaming light sent from God, he dispels the darkness of human sin and the death shadow of the kingdom of Satan. He is the light that has dawned upon those living in darkness. On the cross, his light was snuffed out for the punishment of our own sins. He did not swoon, but he actually died upon the cross. Yet on the third day, the stone covering his tomb was rolled away, and the light of his victorious resurrection burst into the tomb, conquering the darkness. So what then? Shall unbelievers continue to hate the light? Fearing the exposure of their sinful habits and wicked deeds, shall they go on refusing to enter into the light of Christ? Shall they continually refuse to let their sins be revealed in the light in order that those sins might be repented of, forgiven, and cleansed away? As children of darkness, are they still unwilling? Even now that the true light of the world has come, are they still unwilling to forsake darkness, to be born of the Holy Spirit, and to learn to walk in the light as children of light? If they are so continually unwilling, then God has proved just and merciful, even as their wicked ingratitude for His sacrifice on their behalf has earned them a severe condemnation, even the severe condemnation of the deepest blackness of hell. Isaiah 8, 21 through 22, they will turn their faces upward and look to the earth and see distress, darkness and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness. For true believers, however. God, who said. Let light shine out of darkness. Has made the light of Christ to shine in our hearts. The new creation marked by His light has been wrought within us. And therefore, since His light lives in us, we are, according to Matthew 5.14, the light of the world. So the question then is whether or not we as true believers are willing to shine our light brightly before men. At present, no matter what it says to the contrary, the world around us is falling into a deep, wicked darkness. In specific, the once gospel bright light of American society has now come to hate the light of Jesus with an intensity of hatred that is unprecedented in the history of our nation. Sometimes then, Knowing how much the world around us hates the gleaming light of Christ, we as Christians become afraid and begin to hide our light. We begin to dim the light within us so that we are not so easily recognized by the world and subsequently persecuted by the world. However, the call of Jesus is that we always, without fear of man, allow our light to gleam before a watching world. There is then both a warning and an assurance issued to the American church of today. The warning is that if we do not shine our light brightly in America, then the light of the gospel will soon be snuffed out in America, just as it is being snuffed out so rapidly in much of Western Europe. The assurance, on the other hand, is that if we do let our lights gleam in brightness through the American church, God shall be with us. We may indeed face much persecution, yet the darkness will not overcome us. So these then are pivotal times for Christians in the Western world. We have a history changing decision to make. Namely, this generation has to make this decision. Namely, will we shine our light brightly into the darkening world around us or will we hide it? The future of our own offspring hangs upon our decision. Moreover, in a multitude of ways, the future of Western civilization hangs upon the decision of the Western Church. That is what remains of the Western Church at this very hour. Bypassing, for the sake of time, the middle contrast, which is the one between war and peace. We come then to the final contrast in the first seven verses of the ninth chapter of Isaiah. This is the great apocalyptic contrast between the kingdom of Midian with all of its horrific oppression and the kingdom of Christ with all of its heavenly glory. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 4 for the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder the rod of his oppressor you have broken as in the day of Midian well this brutal kingdom of Midian is named in apocalyptic contrast to the wondrous kingdom of Christ. So at the beginning of Isaiah 9, it's the oppressive kingdom of Midian. At the end of the passage in verses 6 and 7, it's the kingdom of Christ in contrast. So here's chapter 9, verses 6 through 7. For to us a child is born. To us a son is given. and the government will be on His shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end on David's throne and on his kingdom. To establish it and to uphold it with justice with righteousness from that time on even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." In the book of Judges, we find the kingdom of Midian to be brutal and murderous, even beyond measure, against God's people Israel. So in Isaiah's prophecy, the monstrous war crimes of the kingdom of Midian have made it an apocalyptic symbol for the kingdom of Satan itself. And then at the end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, this dark, diabolical imagery of the kingdom of Satan reaches its most frightening stature in the apocalyptic kingdom of Babylon. This Babylon, says the book of Revelation, will be so frighteningly evil, even so as to outdo Midian. in its wickedness and idolatry, and so in its brutality against and oppression of God's saints. Revelation 17, five through six, and on her forehead a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of the prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints. and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement. Yet in sharp apocalyptic contrast to the kingdom of Midian and so ultimately the kingdom of Babylon, it is the child the son in Isaiah's prophecy who brings the kingdom of God to earth. So at the end of world history, the kingdom of Midian shall fall. Yet the kingdom of God shall prevail. For that kingdom shall be carried upon the shoulders of God's anointed, his Christ and his kingdom alone shall endure. So here, then, is this royal babe who shall usher in the kingdom of God on earth. Here is the kingdom baby who is scorned and rejected by the world, whose rejection in turn explains the world's disdain for children and the rejection of Christmas today, but whose kingdom shall never fail. This royal baby is revealed to us through his royal titles given to us in Isaiah chapter nine, verse six. Isaiah 9, 6, His name will be called Wonderful Counselor. The counselor in this prophecy is not the man-centered, worldly-minded psychologist of modern society. Rather, the word counselor in the Hebrew tongue refers to a governing advisor or a wise governor. And also, the term wonderful doesn't mean artistically or sensorially inspiring, as most English speakers would take it. Rather, the word wonderful means the miracle working nature of God. So when Jesus responds to the challenges of the Pharisees and the scribes with supernatural words of divine wisdom, he is a wonderful counselor. He alone possesses the perfect governing wisdom of the most high God. And also when he miraculously heals the sick amongst the people in the streets, he is fulfilling the wonderful counselor prophecy because the miracles of Jesus prove that he is the incarnate son of God because he alone can work the wonders of God by his own wondrous power. Who is this royal baby who will usher in the kingdom of Christ? Well, he is the wonderful counselor, and he is also, in Isaiah 9, verse 6, mighty God. Mighty God. This means much more than that Jesus is a powerful God. It means literally that he's a mighty warrior God. In 1 Samuel 16, 18, David is called a mighty warrior. The same Hebrew term is used here in Isaiah 9 6 mighty warrior God Christ is a mighty warrior God He is the warrior described in Psalm 45 verse 3 Psalm 45 3 strap your sword on your thigh. Oh mighty warrior Your splendor and your majesty. And so this then is a divine title because in Isaiah 40 in Psalm 45 verse 6 Psalm 45 6 says The mighty warrior is also God. Psalm 45.6, your throne, oh God. Your throne, oh God, is forever and ever a scepter of equity, is the scepter of your kingdom. So in the book of Revelation, it says that Jesus upon his second coming will return as a warrior, riding on his war horse, we immediately think of Jesus as the mighty warrior God. Revelation 19.11, I saw the heaven open and behold a white horse and he who sat on it is called faithful and true. In righteousness he judges and makes war. So thus far then, this royal baby is both wonderful counselor and mighty God. And then thirdly, he is, in Isaiah 9.6, everlasting father. This is breathtakingly clear. The Messianic King must be divine. For he is called Everlasting Father. This is a title that can only belong to God himself. God is Israel's father. And God alone is Everlasting Father. Isaiah 63 16. For you are our Father. Though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us, you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting. He's your name. Who is this royal baby who shall bring with himself the very kingdom of God? He is wonderful counselor and mighty God and also everlasting Father. And his fourth and final title is Isaiah 9, 6, Prince of Peace. Blessed are the peacemakers, to be sure, but only because they exclaim with their voices, blessed is the Prince of Peace. Through Jesus, we have peace with God. Romans 5.1, being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Also, Jesus' royal reign will complete peace on earth. It will finish peace on earth. Isaiah 9.7, of the increase of his government and of peace, there shall be no end. But sadly, not all will share in this peace. Many will be shut out of this kingdom of peace, for according to Isaiah 48, 22, there is no peace for the wicked. Yet for those who know this royal baby of Isaiah's prophecy, for those who love and worship this baby, there will be peace without end. The prince of peace will rule over a kingdom of peace, and his peace shall continue forever and ever. Therefore, when we gaze upon the royal baby in Isaiah 9, 6, the great contrast between the kingdom of Midian and the kingdom of Christ becomes cosmically sharp. Midian is a kingdom of sin, oppression, and death. Christ's kingdom is one that is ruled by a miracle-working governor, a mighty warrior God, and everlasting Father who is also the Prince of Peace. Whenever we speak of abortion then at Christmas time, as we should, we really speak of the battle between two cosmic kingdoms. In the kingdom of Midian, which becomes in the book of Revelation, the kingdom of Babylon, there is always a Pharaoh who seeks to take all of the little Hebrew babies and murder them in the Nile River. In Babylon's kingdom, there's always a Herod who is seeking to slaughter the little ones of Bethlehem. While under the rule of the kingdom of Babylon, Rachel always weeps for her children. Yet in the kingdom of Christ, things are not so. In his kingdom, there are little baby arks waiting to save the babies from drowning in the Nile River. In Christ's kingdom, there are dreams sent from God that rescue little children from the wrathful slaughter of Herod. Under the glorious, peaceful rule of Christ, every little one in the womb, from conception onwards, and especially the ones with the smallest frames, are treasured by God and by all who walk in God's light. In actual human history, then, the sharp apocalyptic contrast between the kingdom of Midian and the kingdom of Christ crystallized, no doubt, when Jesus Christ was born as a babe in Bethlehem. At that time, the great contrast became one of Caesar Augustus, King of Rome versus the poor Jewish babe in the manger. Later on, it became one of the wicked oppression of Rome versus the frailty of the suffering infant church. Ultimately, as we have said, it becomes the sharp contrast between apocalyptic Babylon and the coming kingdom of heaven. So how then do you, dear church, look upon this royal baby in Isaiah 9, 6? When you look upon this baby in the manger at Christmastime, what do you see? Do you see an archaic religious icon that is too outmoded to matter to anyone anymore? Do you see a Western myth that promotes spiritual bigotry amongst those who have hoarded wealth in the last days or against those who have supposedly been genetically programmed to be homosexuals? In other words, do you view the baby of Christmas through the dark gloomy lens of man-invented ethics and the religion of secular humanism? Or, do you see the truth? Do you see the true light, the divine light, piercing through the darkness of human lies and human sin is your formerly darkened heart sufficiently pierced by this light and your your formerly brazenly blackened pride sufficiently slain by this light. Such that you can see by faith the holiness of this baby of Bethlehem and so tremble with holy fear before his blindingly luminous light. Do you see this human baby in his full humanity? Also being this royal baby in his full divinity. If so, does not the very sight of this royal baby summon you to repentance and call you to live by faith, a life that is so lit up by the holiness of Christ that it exists, your own life exists in vivid contrast to an ever-darkening world. Matthew 4, 12 through 17, now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled. which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness saw a great light. To those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned. From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. O precious saints of the living God, the kingdom of Christ shall come to earth as it is in heaven. When the last trumpet sounds and the voice of the archangel is heard and the sky recedes as a scroll when it is rolled up, then the vengeance of God against the blood-soaked horrors of this dark Babylonian world shall be revealed. Then the light of Christ shall pierce this present darkness Then the saint shall rise to everlasting life to walk in the everlasting light of the kingdom of Christ, even as the wicked shall rise to scorn and everlasting contempt in the black darkness of hell. And so the kingdom shall belong to our God. And to his Christ. and He shall reign forever and ever, light without darkness, day without night, glory unending, world without end. Amen. So therefore, as we close now and come again to the Lord's table, we come discerning the sharp contrast between God's pure light and sin's dark darkness, even as we see the darkness of our own sins against God, even those sins that cause darkness to overshadow Christ's cross, pierced by the light of Christ's resurrection from the dead. Before we come, here's the doxology. Praise be to God, our Father, who lives in unapproachable light. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world and whose light shines upon his people, his elect, who formerly walked in darkness. And praise be to the Holy Spirit, who maintains in our hearts the sharp contrast between the kingdom of Babylon and the kingdom of Christ, such that we flee the one and set our hope fully upon the other. Amen.