Matthew 18:5-9: The Call to Kill Sin

Prayer of Adoration

Almighty God, You are worthy of a new song rising from old hearts made new. From every corner of the earth, Your people are called to lift their voices, declaring the wonder of Your saving work and the splendor of Your name.

You have made Yourself known—not only in the skies above or the beauty around us, but most clearly in the grace of Your Son, our Redeemer and King. We praise You for His strength in our weakness, His shelter in our storms, His gentleness with the broken, and His majesty over all things.

You are the One we adore—strong and tender, just and merciful. Your greatness cannot be measured, and Your goodness cannot be exhausted. Even as we come burdened by sin and weighed down by guilt, we come with hope, because Your mercy reaches farther than our failure.

So teach us now to lift our hearts as well as our voices. Let our singing be the echo of a people who know what it means to be rescued. Because though our sins are many— Your mercy is more.

In the name of Christ we pray, Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious Father,

You are the Sovereign Lord of every nation and the Shepherd of every soul. We come before You in humility and hope, lifting up the burdens of our world, our church, and our hearts.

We pray for former President Biden as he faces cancer. We ask that in the midst of this affliction, You would reveal Your kindness—both in healing mercy and, more importantly, in granting repentance and faith in Christ. May this illness not only humble the body but open the heart to eternal life.

We give You thanks for the faithful witness of Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Thank You for their deep love for Your Word, their long obedience in the same direction, and their commitment to equipping pastors. Strengthen their leaders, protect their unity, and multiply their fruit in churches around the world—including our own.

As we approach Memorial Day, we give You thanks for those who laid down their lives to protect others, and we honor their sacrifice. But even more, we remember those who, through the ages, have died for the sake of Christ and His kingdom—men and women who loved not their lives even unto death. Help us to live with that same courage, holding fast to what is true and eternal.

Father, we lift up our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, many of whom today worship under threat of death. Be their refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Uphold them by Your righteous right hand. May their courage in suffering put the gospel on display and awaken Your church to prayer and action.

We also grieve for those among us who have wandered or grown weary, whom we have not seen for many months. Lord, remember them. Stir their hearts. Draw them back—not just to a place, but to the people of God, to the table of grace, and most of all to Christ.

And now, Lord, as we open Your Word, we ask that You would open our hearts. Make us tender to conviction, eager for repentance, and ready to receive the good news of Christ. Help us not only to hear the truth, but to love it, and to walk in it by the power of Your Spirit. Feed Your sheep, Lord Jesus.

We pray all this in Your name. Amen.

Sermon

Intro

In the height of the First Great Awakening, the pastor Jonathan Edwards was invited to preach in a town that had been particularly resistant to the spiritual hunger spreading throughout the region.

He had one sermon, one chance to show these people just how deeply they needed the Lord. So he stepped into the pulpit before these spiritually dull people and opened his Bible to Deuteronomy 32:35.

“Their foot shall slide in due time.”

Then he began to preach what would become one of the most famous sermons in American history: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. In it, he described the wrath of God against sin—and also His great patience and mercy in delaying judgment to give time for repentance.

But don’t miss this: In a time of spiritual boredom and apathy, Edwards didn’t try to wake them up with songs of joy and lightheartedness, he didn’t try to lean on the tenderness of Christ, or to disarm people with humor and folk tales, but to preach on sin and the wrath of God against all who sin.

Instead, he preached about sin, and about the righteous wrath of a holy God. He made sin as serious as the Bible says it is. And by all accounts, that congregation was radically changed. They responded in repentance and faith—and the entire town was transformed.

So what changed them? And what will change us, when we grow spiritually dull or resistant? It’s this: Seeing sin the way Jesus sees sin.

This morning, we’ll hear Jesus speak directly to His disciples—His own followers—about how serious sin is… especially when it causes others to stumble. And we’ll hear Him call us to do something radical in response: To kill sin.

Because if sin is serious to Jesus… If it threatens His “little ones”… Then it should be serious to us.

Let’s stand and read Matthew 18:5–9 together.

Recap

Jesus began the fourth discourse (or the fourth sermon) with an object lesson. He calls a child into their midst and tells his disciples—who had just been arguing about who’s the greatest—that if they want to enter the kingdom at all, let alone be great in it, they have to become like children: dependent, trusting, and humble.

In our culture, we often idealize children. We dote on them, protect them, and even revolve our schedules around them. But in the first-century Middle East, children were not seen that way. To be a child is to be lowly.

And in a home that didn’t have servants the children were the servants.

So when Jesus says you must become like a child, He isn’t simply telling his disciples they need to have a childlike wonder (as we so often like to interpret this verse);

He is telling them they must have a childlike humility if they are to ever enter the kingdom of Heaven.

That humility, Jesus says, is the true path to greatness in the kingdom.

So here’s the irony: if you want to be great, you have to stop wanting to be great. You have to be small in your own eyes.

And those who come to Jesus in that way—humble, repentant, and dependent—He calls His own. So as Jesus begins to speak of these “little ones,” He’s not primarily talking about children. He’s talking about His people—the humble ones who belong to Him.

So to be clear, though children are important to Jesus, the little ones and children he is talking about are those who come to Jesus in humility. And we see that Jesus caps this point off in verse 4.

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

I. The Little Ones of Christ

Jesus then continues his focus on the little ones by doing something fascinating:

Matthew 18:5 ESV

5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,

He identifies himself with His people.

He values them. He doesn’t simply overlook them and set them to the side. He desires the lowly, He invites them to come, and he welcomes them in.

All can follow Him and become His people—His church.

And the more you study Scripture, the clearer it becomes: Jesus' people are His church.

This is not just a one-time statement.

Throughout Scripture, Jesus consistently identifies Himself with His church.

In Matthew 25:40 he says:

Matthew 25:40 ESV

40as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

In Acts 9:4-5, He confronts Saul—not with “Why are you persecuting my followers?” but: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

The Call to Membership

Don’t miss the point: If you want to love Jesus, you must love His people.

That’s why church matters. That’s why church membership matters. It’s not about signing a form or joining a club. It’s about committing to receive, serve, and walk with the people Jesus calls His own.

The way you treat fellow believers is the way you treat Christ. That’s why our discipleship, our engagement, and yes—our membership—matters.

The way we feel, think, and act toward our fellow Christians reflects the way we feel, think, and act toward Christ.

So when Jesus says, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,” He’s not just making a comment about hospitality. He’s establishing an understanding of a dual representation.

Jesus doesn’t simply represent his people in Heaven before the Father.

His people also represent Him on earth before a watching world.

That’s why what we do to each other matters. That’s why the church matters.

Sometimes people say, “I love Jesus, I just don’t like the church.” But according to Jesus, that’s not an option. You can’t receive Him and reject His people. You can’t belong to the Head and refuse the Body.

This is why church membership isn’t just a nice idea—it’s a biblical one.

And if you’re a Christian and you’ve been coming here for some time but haven’t pursued membership, then I want to invite you to take the next step and commit with us to love, serve, and grow together as the body of Christ.

Church isn’t just a club gathering to attend, it’s a family, a people to belong to. So if you’re ready to explore what that looks like, we’d love to talk with you.

This isn’t about signing a form or joining a club.

It’s about committing to love, receive, serve, and walk with the very people Jesus calls His own.

The local church is where the “little ones” of Jesus gather.

It’s where we learn to walk in humility, protect each other from sin, and encourage one another in Christ.

It’s where we display to the world that Jesus is real—because we love one another in His name.

It’s where we show the world who we represent by loving one another with a supernatural and holy love.

So if Jesus takes His people this seriously, shouldn’t we?

And if we are to take the people of God this seriously, we should also threats against them seriously.

Jesus doesn’t just identify with his people, He also will judge those who seek to pull them away from himself.

So if receiving one of his little ones is like receiving Him,

then causing them to sin is like sinning against Him.

And Jesus does not take that lightly. Because Jesus recognizes that sin is not small.

Sin is serious.

II. Sin is Serious (vv.6–7)

READ

Matthew 18:6 ESV

6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Jesus shifts from encouragement to warning.

Why would he do that?

Because his people are dearly precious to him.

Because sin is seriously dangerous.

Because as Kingdom Citizens we are not just called to walk with one another, we’re called to walk in a way that doesn’t cause others to stumble.

Jesus makes sure his followers understand that this isn’t just about your sin anymore. It’s about how your life, your words, and your actions affect others in the church.

And we should clearly see in this passage that God takes sin far more seriously than we do

A. God Takes Sin Far More Seriously than We Do

Jesus uses an extreme image here. The “great millstone” was one of the big stones that was used to grind wheat into flour and these commonly weighed thousands of pounds. To have one of these tied around your neck and dropped into water would be an inescapable drowning.

What’s more, in the Ancient Roman context they were living in, there was a widespread belief that burial in the earth was a requirement to have a peaceful afterlife. Death by drowning and having no burial was a terrifying way to die.

This is not just a physical judgement, it’s a spiritual judgement.

So when Jesus says “it would be better” to die this way, he is saying that the judgement of God on those who lead his children to sin will be far more terrifying.

God hates sin and all those who cause sin. And why should he not? He is perfect and holy and anything that is sinful is an affront to Him. God destroys sin and those who cause sin.

And Jesus is not speaking to great crowds here. He is warning his own disciples of this. Why would he be doing that?

Well, look back at verse 1.

Matthew 18:1 “1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?””

Now, Matthew takes some of the edge off, but Mark (Mark 9:33-37) and Luke (Luke 9:46-50) both tell us that the disciples were actually arguing with each other about who was greatest.

And what were they doing because of their arguing? They were causing one another to fall into sinful, prideful, comparison. They were causing anger to rise up in one another, and they knew it too!

In Mark 9, they wouldn’t answer Jesus when he asked what they were talking about because they were ashamed of themselves, as they should have been!

So, Jesus’ warning about the millstone is given to who? To his closest followers who were causing one another to sin.

Jesus says “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,” and that “whoever” could mean anyone!

It could mean us!

We are really good at justifying the sin in our hearts, we are really good at adding qualifiers to our pet sins.

“A little white lie” or “stretching the truth”

“Just venting or blowing off steam” - which often is code for anger, gossip, or slander

“Just being honest” - often a cover for harshness, criticism, or cruelty

“Just admiring...” - cover for lust or covetousness

“Just a habit” - cover for addictions and patterns of unrepentant sin

“That’s Just how I am” - an excuse for pride, impatience, selfishness, or harshness

And while we do this, we are often far more aware of the sins of others than we are of our own. But friends, there is something desperately wrong in us when our meditation on sin is consumed by everyone else's sin and not our own.

We must have the humility to recognize that my sin is so heinous that it took the death of God’s own Son to redeem me. Jesus calls us to be humble like children because we have no right to be prideful.

That “whoever” could be us, but it

Could also be your family or friends, trying to convince you that following Jesus isn’t worth it.

It could be a co-worker or boss, telling you it isn’t a big deal to slack off and to forget that you work for God and not for man.

It could be your accountant or spouse encouraging you to have some discrepancies between your actual pay and the pay you report when tax season comes around.

It could be a fellow church member who has a lot of “concerns” about a fellow church member, but talks about them with everyone except the person being talked about.

It could be your pastor, encouraging you to look at all the sin in the world surrounding us and say “Thank God I’m better than them!”

And right now I am especially thinking of those pastors who have used their position of authority to sexually and spiritually prey upon the little ones of Christ in their own flock! What wickedness fills us up to think that we have any right to draw other people into our sin!

Friends, Jesus is very serious about sin. And when he returns to judge the living and the dead, he will not hold back in his judgement.

Those who cause others to sin will be desperately pleading for a millstone long before the cup of God’s wrath is finished being poured out on them.

Jesus is very concerned with his followers and how they cause one another to sin.

Jesus cares about sin, he takes it very seriously, and he will judge all sin.

And if you do not believe Jesus, humble yourself, repent of your sin, and follow him then you will bear the weight of God’s wrath for your sin on your own head. And as you have encouraged others into sin — either by inviting them into your lusts, or pride, or gossip, or whatever else you keep as a pet sin — you will be wishing for a millstone too.

But if you do believe Jesus, humble yourself, repent of your sin, and follow him then Jesus joyfully represents you before the Father, and drinks every drop of God’s wrath for your sake.

And now what is left? The pleasure of God.

So friends, please, take your sin seriously before it is too late. Repent of your sin and turn to Christ that he may save you from the wrath of God that you have brought on yourself.

And if you are already a Christian then we too must be repenting of our sin because though we don’t often think of it this way: Sin is Contagious.

B. Sin is Contagious

It never stays put. More deadly than any disease, more consuming than any fire, more destructive than any rot, sin will always spread and consume. And it will spread from you, to others around you.

Jesus warns in verse 7:

Matthew 18:7 ESV

7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!

We live in a fallen world, surrounded by sin. That’s not new, and it will not change without the Divine Intervention of Jesus at the end of all things. This is what Jesus means when he says it is necessary that temptations come.

But Jesus’ focus is not on the sin of everyone out there, but on the people who become the agents of temptation.

The people who bring sin into the lives of other are the people who erode spiritual health through their words, their silence, their example.

Friends, your sin doesn’t just affect you. Your sin, if left unrepented, will infect others.

You might not even mean to do it, but the people around you will begin to feel the chill of your lukewarmness, the poison of your bitterness, the ripple of your pride.

A child sees their parent shrug off Sunday worship, and learns it’s optional.

Someone uses the time of prayer requests to gossip, and suddenly the group no longer feels safe.

A friend constantly complains about others, and the whole friend group becomes cynical.

A teenager starts watching pornographic material, and then shares the link with a classmate.

A church member is always critical of leadership—and their attitude spreads like a virus.

You can’t keep sin quarantined.

You might think you’re just keeping it in your heart or your home, but if it’s alive, it’s spreading: in you, and in the people you influence.

That’s why Jesus pronounces a woe—a curse—on those through whom temptation comes.

It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small. “Little” sins are never little if they lead others away from Jesus.

So let me ask:

Are there people in your life who are walking further from Jesus because of your words, your attitudes, or your example?

Have you influenced someone into pride, slander, laziness, bitterness, or doubt?

Have you excused sin in such a way that others started excusing it too?

Then hear this: Jesus is not indifferent toward you.

Sin is contagious, and Jesus is calling you to break the chain—today.

To repent not only for your own sake, but for the sake of the people around you, for the sake of Jesus’ people.

So if sin is this serious to Jesus—so serious that leading someone else into it is worse than a horrifying death—then what should our response be to our own sin?

If we take Jesus at His word, if we understand that sin offends a holy God, harms His people, and leads to judgment…

Then we can’t afford to play with it.

Jesus doesn't just call us to grieve sin or confess sin—He goes much further.

He calls us to kill sin.

That’s where He goes next: He looks us in the eye, and He tells us to take radical action.

Let’s look now at verses 8 and 9.

III. The Killing of Sin (vv.8–9)

Matthew 18:8–9 ESV

8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

This is the most intense imagery Jesus has used so far in this passage.

Cut off your hand, tear out your eye.

Why does He speak so graphically?

Because sin is deadly. And He’s showing us that if we want to follow Him—if we want to be part of His Kingdom—then we have to get serious about sin. We must not tolerate it. We must not minimize it. We must kill it.

Jesus doesn’t say to gently manage sin. He says to cut it off and tear it out. That’s extreme language—but it’s exactly the kind of language we need.

He’s using hyperbole here. He’s not advocating self-mutilation. But He is calling for spiritual amputation—a decisive, painful cutting off of anything in your life that leads you to sin. Whether it’s something you do, somewhere you go, something you watch, someone you spend time with—if it leads you to sin, Jesus says: cut it out.

John Owen once wrote, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” That’s exactly what Jesus is saying here. If your hand or eye causes you to sin—cut it off, tear it out. Sin must be dealt with seriously and immediately.

Owen wrote a Christion Classic called The Mortification (or The Killing) of Sin and in it he offers some great insight for those seeking to kill sin.

1. Recognize the seriousness of sin

Jesus mentions “hell of fire.” Not metaphorically. Not hypothetically. He’s saying the stakes are eternal. And Owen reminds us: we must bring our sin into the light of God’s law and of the cross—because when we do that, we start to see how serious it really is.

Sin isn’t a small issue. It grieves the Holy Spirit. It wounds Christ. It puts you in danger of eternal judgment. So the first step to killing sin is taking it seriously.

2. Don’t make peace with sin—make war on it

Jesus says “tear it out, cut it off.” This is not passive language. It’s active. Owen said this: “Sin always aims at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, it would be satisfied with nothing less than your death.” Don’t be casual with something that is trying to kill you.

This means cutting off access, confessing sin to others, seeking accountability, and refusing to make excuses. Do you really want to kill it? Or are you secretly still feeding it?

3. Avoid what leads you into temptation

Jesus doesn’t say, “If you fall into sin, then maybe try to do better.” He says, “If something causes you to sin—get rid of it.”

Owen writes that one of the ways we fail is by occasioning sin—putting ourselves in the path of temptation again and again and expecting different results.

For some of us, this means changing what we watch, who we spend time with, when we use our phones, or even what time we go to bed. Sometimes holiness looks like really simple decisions with eternal consequences.

4. Deal with sin early—don’t wait until it grows strong

Owen says that sin is like a weed: easier to pull when it’s young, much harder when it’s grown deep. Jesus doesn’t say “Wait until the second or third time.” He says, If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. Immediately.

Don’t wait. Don’t delay. Don’t tell yourself, “I’ll get serious about this later.” There may not be a later. Today is the day of repentance.

5. Meditate on the majesty of God

One of the best weapons against sin is a bigger view of God. Owen tells us to fill our minds with thoughts of God’s greatness, His holiness, His beauty. When you are full of wonder at who God is, sin begins to look smaller and uglier in comparison.

You don’t just kill sin by saying “No” to it. You kill it by saying “Yes” to something better—Jesus.

Application

Let me speak to three groups of people:

First, to the non-Christian:

You cannot kill your sin on your own. You can’t be good enough or strong enough to overcome your flesh. You need Jesus. And Jesus doesn’t just help you—He saves you. He takes your sin on Himself and gives you His righteousness. If you will repent of your sin and believe in Him, He will rescue you and make you new.

Second, to the Christian trapped in sin:

Some of you feel stuck. Ashamed. Maybe you’ve been pretending everything’s fine on the outside, but inside sin is eating you alive. Hear me—there is grace for you. But don’t let grace make you content with only killing obvious sins. Titus 2:11 says that the grace of God trains us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. God’s grace empowers the fight—it doesn’t excuses the sin.

Repent. Confess. Get help.

Kill sin before it kills you.

Third, to the church:

And church—let’s help each other fight sin. Let’s make confession of sin normal and grace abundant.

Let’s not be casual about what Jesus died to save us from.

Let’s be serious, because Jesus is.

Jesus takes sin this seriously because He takes you this seriously. He was torn and pierced so you could be healed. He was cast into the judgment of God so you could be received in grace. He bore the full wrath for your sin so you could walk in freedom.

So friends—kill sin before it kills you. And if you belong to Jesus, take courage: He will finish the work He began in you. And one day, you’ll stand before Him sinless and radiant—not because you were perfect, but because He was.

As Jesus has often shown us, there is great beauty and wisdom to be found from unlikely sources. In this case, the unlikely source is a rap song. And this rap song takes most of its content directly from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

Now, I’m not going to play it for you, but I will read the lyrics. And if you only pay attention to one thing today, I pray it’s this.

This is “The Size of Sin” by Beautiful Eulogy

The size of sin is as small as a grain of sand But separates between wide ocean and dry land It's bigger than bad habits It's a matter of man seeking for God’s spot Following in the same pattern as Adam

It's deep rooted, we’re the seed of our broken family tree Branching out limbs of disease, look at this mess we leave This weight of wickedness is heavy as lead Trying to catch its descent's like stopping a falling rock in a spiders web

It's thin silk thread begins to snap And all that's left is the residue that sticks between the cracks It all ends with a slip, into a bottomless pit Grips the heart in a mans chest, til swallowing death

Sipping from the glass of God’s wrath and genuine justice A just judge must summon for infinite punishment And when applying we’re undeniably liable The smallest white lie is enough to be indictable

The size of sin’s so big it causes a cosmic fraction And Hell is the only relevant response in righteous reaction This is what our sinful actions actually earned us But God took upon himself the weight of sin reserved for us

A weight so significant That only the blood of an innocent one is acceptable and worthy So rather than make light of it, or minimize the size of it We should marvel at the magnitude of mercy

Let’s Pray

Father in heaven, We thank You for the mercy You have shown us in Christ. We confess that our sin is great—but Your grace is greater. Help us to take sin seriously—not only in ourselves but in how we influence others. Give us humble hearts that receive Your Word, and turn us away from pride, excuses, and selfishness. Teach us to walk in repentance, to guard one another in love, and to fix our eyes on Jesus—who bore the weight of our sin so we could be free. Make us a people who marvel at the magnitude of Your mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Prayer of Confession

Almighty and holy God, You alone are perfect in all Your ways, full of justice, mercy, and steadfast love. You created us in Your image to glorify You and enjoy fellowship with You forever. But we have rebelled against Your authority, turning from Your truth and embracing sin.

Some of us here confess that we have never bowed the knee to Jesus Christ, rejecting Your offer of salvation and living as if You do not exist. Others of us are believers, yet we confess the daily reality of our sinfulness— our pride, impatience, envy, greed, and selfishness. We have failed to love You with all our heart, soul, and mind, and have neglected to love our neighbors as ourselves. We have grieved Your Spirit and caused others to stumble through our words and deeds.

O Lord, we acknowledge that sin is a grave offense against Your holiness. It deserves eternal condemnation, and no part of us is innocent. But we rejoice in the gospel: Christ Jesus, the spotless Lamb, bore our sins in His body on the cross, taking upon Himself the wrath we rightly deserved. By His perfect obedience and sacrificial death, He satisfied divine justice, and through His resurrection, secured our justification and eternal life.

Father, by Your Spirit, renew our hearts. Grant us true repentance— a hatred of sin and a longing for righteousness. Empower us to live as Your holy people, to walk in humility, faith, and obedience. May we love one another as Christ has loved us, and faithfully proclaim the hope we have in Jesus.

We thank You for Your amazing grace and unending mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Assurance

Based on Isaiah 1:18 and Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” By grace you have been saved through faith; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one may boast. Your sins are forgiven, and you are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. Rejoice and live in the freedom He has won for you. Amen.

Introduction to the new song

In 1757, after living a life he described as “carnal and spiritual wickedness, irreligious and profane,” Joseph Hart turned to Christ. Two years later, he wrote this famous hymn.

Now, 270 years later still remains a classic hymn of invitation to turn from our sin by the grace of God into the waiting arms of our Savior.

It is an invitation to bring our broken, humbled selves before Christ knowing that he waits for us, and responding to that call, with a declaration that by the grace of God, we will rise up and go to Jesus.

Benediction

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful—He will surely do it.

Go in the grace of the One who bore your sin, walk in the power of the Spirit who helps you put sin to death, and rest in the love of the Father who calls you His own.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—Amen.