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  WEEK OF MEETINGS 02 THE FATHER AND HIS FAMILY
  by John W. Bramhall
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Summary: The sermon explores the profound revelation of God the Father
through Jesus Christ, emphasizing their intimate relationship and the
implications for believers today.

Duration: 47:18 Topics: "Gods Love", "Jesus Christ"

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DESCRIPTION
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In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the love of God towards
humanity. He quotes the Apostle Paul's words that while we were sinners,
Christ died for us, showing God's love. The preacher also mentions the
famous verse from John 3:16, highlighting that God gave his only Son for
the world to have eternal life through belief in him. He then focuses on
the relationship between Jesus and the Father, explaining that Jesus
came to reveal the vastness and greatness of the Father's heart to
mankind. The preacher encourages the audience to know and believe in the
Father's love through Jesus.

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CONTENT
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How wonderful to have the Lord Jesus with me, and to be able to say with
Paul, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Shall we turn in our Bible tonight to the Gospel of John? The Gospel of
John, please, chapter one. I would like to read two verses in this
chapter, one verse in the eighth chapter, and then a few in chapter
fourteen.

John chapter one, reading at verse fourteen, "'The Spirit of God writing
through excerpt in John to say, and the Word which maketh flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth.' Verse eighteen, "'No man hath
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared him.'" Chapter eight in the same Gospel of
John, and reading verse nineteen, "'Then said the Pharisees unto Jesus,
Where is my Father? Jesus answered, ye neither know me, nor my Father.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.'" John
fourteen, please.

The fourteenth chapter of John, reading at verse six through verse
eleven, "'The Lord Jesus saying, Jesus said unto him, that is to Thomas,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but
by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also, and from
henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffitheth us.
Jesus said unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast
thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
And how sayest thou then, show us the Father? Believest thou not that I
am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you
I speak not of, or from myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me.

He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father
in me, or else believe me for the very works' sake." May God bless the
reading and the hearing of this precious word. By the help of God the
Holy Spirit, we surface to touch upon, in each evening message, the
subject of God the Father and his family.

It is precious to recognize that the God reveals the revelation of God
from period to period. When we speak of the subject concerning the
revelation of God the Father, we do not find this revelation
particularly in the Old Testament, but God is revealed, and has been
revealed in the Old Testament to his people. May I give you three
illustrations, and there but two amongst many others that could be
given, but three illustrations wherein God revealed himself to his
people long ago.

God said to Abraham in chapter 17 of the book of Genesis, verse 1, "'I
am the Almighty God. Walk thou before me, and be thou perfect.' And the
revelation to Abraham was of an Almighty Being, God in his omnipotence
and almighty power, and on the ground of that revelation the Omnipotent
One spoke to Abraham. For God is omnipotent, he is the Almighty One, he
is the All-Powerful One, and none of us can be able to fathom the
omnipotence of God.

It has been rightly stated that if you could take the stars that we find
in the galaxy of the Milky Way, perhaps numbering approximately 18
million, every one of those stars they claim will weigh a million times
more than our little earth. But, if you could take those stars and place
them in an adequate stack, if possible, the omnipotence of God could
move them as if they were but a grain of sand. It is an impossibility to
fathom the omnipotence of the Almighty.

But, later on in the word of God, he revealed himself to Moses in
chapter 3 and verse 14, when Moses stood before that burning bush and
God said to him, and commissioned him to go to the people of Israel and
deliver them out of Egyptian bondage. And Moses said, but they will say,
who sent thee? What shall I say? Who shall I say sent me? And God gave
him another revelation of his mighty being when he stated, I am that I
am, meaning I am the self-existent One, I am the Eternal One. And God
gave a revelation of his power to Abraham.

He gave a revelation of his eternality to Moses, an eternal being. As in
the words of Moses in chapter 32 and verse 40 of Deuteronomy, God says,
in the heavens I live forever, and he is an eternal being. There is no
calendar to the eternal being.

Eternity has no calendar. God cannot be measured by any calendar. He is
the Eternal One.

We are the fleeting worms of the dust. We have a beginning, and we shall
have no ending. But God has no beginning, and he is the Existent One.

Later on in the book of Exodus, God revealed himself to Moses as
Jehovah, a name whereby he had never before been known. And that
redemptive name of Jehovah became very precious, and became very
particular in relation to Israel as a nation, and by the name of
Jehovah, and with many unnamed, he revealed himself as their savior, the
Jehovah of the Old Testament. And many other such names God revealed
concerning himself.

Every name was a revelation of his person, and a revelation of his
character, a revelation of his being, more and more. But he was never
known in the Old Testament. By the intimacy that we find in the New
Testament, he may be known, and that is Father.

Now, I'm aware of the fact you may find five or six occasions in the Old
Testament that God is mentioned as Father, but it is always in relation
to the one who has brought life into existence, and in the relationship
of his creatorial power and glory, rather than in any intimacy of
relationship as the New Testament suggests. But, if you have your Bible,
let me point out very definitely from Matthew 11 and verse 27, the
impossibility of God being known as he can be known, and is revealed in
the New Testament as Father. For it was not until the Son of God came
into this being sent by the Father that the revelation of the Father
became manifested unto mankind.

So, isn't Jesus, in Matthew 11 and verse 27, a very significant? When
Jesus said, all things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man
knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. And here I'm sure
that we can recognize it was not until the coming of the Beloved Son
into the world to bring the revelation of the Father as such that
mankind could ever know God in such a relationship, for this statement
precludes the possibility of God being known in previous periods as
Father. Now, look with me please, and see as we have read in John
chapter 1, the words of the Apostle in the 14th verse.

They are very important, that declare to us the glory of the Beloved Son
of God, and the one who alone could and has revealed the Father. Now,
let's see what John says regarding that lesson, Holy One, of whom he
says the word was made flesh. The one who is the self-existent One, the
one whom at the beginning of the chapter we find is the Eternal Word, is
the essential being in his eternality as well as his deity, and dwelling
with the Father is declared in the first verse.

But here John says the word was made flesh. He took upon him in
incarnation the likeness of man, and the word was made flesh and dwelt,
meaning, tabernacled upon him. And John writes, we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten, or as of an only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth.

This is really the summation of this great gospel according to John, the
declared glory of the Son of God. For the great subject of the book is
unfashionably the glory of the Son of God, and he was thus made flesh,
and he tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory, writes John.
Unquestionably giving reference to the fact that he, with his companion
disciples and fellow disciples, together with others later who were
added to the family of God, we beheld his glory, and that the one who
was made flesh, Christ the Son of God, came to be the interpreter of the
Father.

Why? Because, as John says, when we beheld his glory, it was the glory
of one who is an only begotten of a Father, full of grace as well as
full of truth. And thus the Spirit of God tells us through John that
this one who came and tabernacled amongst us was the one who thus
manifested the glory of his Father, and the revelation of his Father was
brought through him when he came into this scene. May I give some
explanation for the unique name that is given by John of the begotten
Son, the only begotten Son? It is an important reference to Christ, and
it indicates as the only begotten Son he was the soul.

Please let me emphasize this. He was the only representative of the
being and the character of the one who sent him. That is the explanation
of the expression, the meaning of it.

One who alone could explain, could express, and represent it completely
in his being and character, the glory of the Father, to make him known.
And the expression implies not that he had a beginning God forbid, but a
unique relationship as one who not had a relationship that had no
generation nor beginning, but was unique in relation to the Father. But
note too, if you will please, as you follow the verse carefully, this
relationship, let me impress it upon you, was an unoriginated
relationship.

He did not become the only begotten Son by the incarnation. You know one
rejoices in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus. The word was made flesh,
and as we stated of his glory this morning as the beloved Son, white.

He was perfect in all of his thoughts, he was perfect in all of his
deeds, he was perfect in all of his works, and all that he did, and all
that he was, in word, in thought, and in deed. That blessed one was
perfect in the incarnation that was him when he came to the earth, but
it was to reveal the glory of the Father which he came. For the
expression the only begotten Son not only implies this unoriginal
relationship to the Father, but it implies that he was in the deepest
affection of the Father's heart, and the thought of being in the deepest
affection of the Father's heart is implied by the expression the only
begotten Son of the Father.

Now, go with me down to verse 18. Let's look into that heart as we look
at verse 18 of chapter one. No man has seen God at any time.

The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
declared him. Now, let us carefully and carefully consider the solemn
words, and the deep and eternal character of these words relating to the
Son, and that declared union and intimacy that was his with the Father.
No man has seen God at any time.

The full revelation of God had never been made, nor could it have been
made. Moses had a great experience with God. Now, this is not saying
that the Old Testament did not have fellowship with God.

They did, but the complete revelation of that heart of God in all of its
affection could never be revealed until one came who knew that Father's
bosom, one who had been resting upon that bosom of the Father, one who
knew every corner of that eternal heart of his Father God. Do you
remember when he paused in worship for wonder, wouldn't you? To
recognize, here is one of whom the apostle says, and will you note the
expression? It's not always emphasized as it should be. The only
begotten Son which is, not was, which is in the bosom of the Father.

And may I point out to you, in relation to the only begotten Son, and
his intimacy and union with the Father, it was a timeless relationship,
an intimacy that has never been interrupted, indicating the absolute and
the permanent and the indestructible relation between the Father and the
Son, and eternal is. Oh beloved, listen. Would you and I know God? How
can we know him? There are many revelations of God without question of
doubt, and in the glory of his creation he can be known, and the glory
of the Godhead is suddenly revealed in the wonders of the creation
around us.

And then when we think of his omnipotence, when we think of his
omnipotence, when we think of his omnipresence, those relative
attributes, the tremendous, they are great and glorious, but then I
could not. Here is one who knew greater than all the relative attributes
of God, who knew the intimate affection, who knew the great resources
and the infinite affection of that heart of God. So, there's a heart.

God has a heart. It would take God long to tell me how much I've got in
my heart, and if I read the word of God all right, I can find them. You
know, one thing is tremendous when I realize even the intellect of the
Almighty, the great intellect of the eternal God is beyond human
comprehension.

But, you know, what reaches a poor sinner like me is to know my God
above has a heart, and who can redeem that heart? Only one who's been
dwelling in that heart, in the bosom of the father. Aren't you glad
Christ came, I ask? He has declared him. Know my beloved, please may I
say, God in his eternal being, the father in his eternal character, and
the eternal character of his love would never have been known, would
never have been manifested, could never have been manifested had not
Christ, the beloved son, left that bosom to come to the earth.

Well, he never left the bosom, but he left the glory of his father's
presence, and he came to the earth. You know, beloved, I don't know how
long. Who knows? No one.

But, throughout the eternal ages, the son has been the ineffable delight
of the father's heart, and the father has been the ineffable delight of
the son's heart. They never fell out of love, and through endless
existence that you and I are unable to fathom, they dwelt together, and
the son, in his eternal relationship and intimacy, was in the bosom of
the father. As though he was resting there, resting blessed be his name,
with complete fellowship, in love of the father, and in the father's
presence.

You know, it's a strange thing, but you remember there are two
expressions, one in Luke and the other in John, but in Luke chapter 16
you remember that the rich man in hell saw Lazarus afar off in Abraham's
bosom, and that was the most delightful place that a pious Jew wished to
be when he left with us. But, you remember in John 13, that we read that
lovely truth in verse 23, now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom, the
disciple whom Jesus loved. And may I say, that no person will ever know
the meaning of leaning on the bosom of Christ without acknowledging that
that blessed one is in the bosom of the father to reveal the father to
his own.

O beloved, the ineffable intimacy and love between the father and the
son, the son sharing all the father's counsel, and enjoying all the
father's love, his place of intimacy or stay he never lacked. It was one
of an eternal privilege, not one who was but is in the bosom of the
father. Now, may I make a very qualifying remark? This was true when he
was even upon the cross.

I know it is written, he cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? The day I caught the words of the Lord Jesus in John 10 verse 17,
when he said, no man taketh my life from me, I have power to lay it
down, and I have power to take it up again. This commandment received I
of my father, and then he preceded those words by saying, therefore doth
my father love me, because I lay down my life. And may I say, my beloved
friends, never forget when in the agony of Calvary, and the darkness of
that scene, and the impenetrable suffering of the judgment of a holy God
upon sin, he was in, still in, the bosom of the father, the object of
ineffable love and of ineffable delight.

And, oh how precious! Did you know? If he wasn't, he couldn't have
declared all the father's love. John said, note these words, no man hath
seen God of any kind, the only begotten son which is in the bosom of the
father, he hath declared him. He's made him known.

He is the perfect moral representative of his father, blessed be his
name. And wherever you follow the life of the Lord Jesus from the
beginning to the end, on the earth, as he passed through this scene,
every feature, every moral character, all the perfectness of the
father's heart and mind were fully exhibited in him and by him. He was
the perfect revelation of his father.

Now, let me go with you to three texts. In the same Gospel of John,
where the Lord Jesus declares himself that he was the perfect revelation
of his father. John chapter eight, please, if you will.

John chapter eight, verse 19. Here are words which our Savior spoke, and
said even to the Pharisees, which we have already read in the beginning
of our reading. In verse 19, John 8, they said unto him, where is thy
father? Oh, what a great chapter this is, as well as the preceding ones.

But they say unto him, where is thy father? Jesus answered, you neither
know me, nor my father. If he had known me, ye should have known my
father also. Now, look those last words carefully.

If he had known me, ye should have known my father also. I am the
perfect revelation of my father's heart. I am the perfect representative
of my father, and if you knew me, you would have known my father too.

And he said those words to his enemies. Come with me to the 14th chapter
of John, from whence we read, and verse 7, where he speaks to his
disciples, and there he similarly states his perfect revelation of the
father, as he said to Philip. Chapter 14, verse 7. If ye had known me,
ye should have known my father also, and from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him.

And there to his disciples, he declares himself to be the perfect
revelation of his father. Go with me to John chapter 17, please, the
last verse. John chapter 17.

May I read verse 25 to get the connection clearer, and especially to
emphasize the words he is speaking are addressed to his father. In verse
25, O righteous father, the world has not known thee, but I've known
thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared
unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Note the opening of verse
26, particularly.

I have declared unto them thy name. What name? Father. And, praise God,
I will continue declaring it.

And so, on three occasions, one to the Pharisee, another to his
disciple, and addressing his father personally, he declares himself to
be the perfect revelation of the father. May I again repeat, for the
thought dwells in my heart and in my mind, and I wish it to sink deep
within. Who could ever explore in heaven the vastness, the greatness,
and the completeness of the father? You know, the heart of God, the
infinite character of the heart of God, who can ever comprehend? It's
beyond human comprehension.

But, O beloved, let's dwell for a moment. It's infinite. The coming of
the Lord Jesus into this world was to reveal the vastness, the
greatness, and the completeness of that father's heart.

How could he do it? How did he do it? That you and I might not only
know, yet God is, as we know. He is the Almighty One. He is the King of
Eternity.

He is the Eternal One. He is Jehovah-Jireh, and Jehovah-Shah, and so on.
Here is all the names that he claims, but here is one who's known him
through endless ages past, the only begotten son of the father, and he
comes to the earth to reveal his father to mankind.

We're lost in an ocean of wonder to know all the heart of the father.
Now, let me go back to John 17 26 again, will you please? I want to
emphasize this point, and in those opening words of the 26th verse in
the 17th of John, Jesus said, I have declared thy name, and he certainly
has, but he has, and I'll continue declaring it. I shall continue
declaring it.

You know, someone once said, and in these words of John 17 verse three I
can see the meaning implied, but in that third verse of John 17, Jesus
said, This is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now, what is eternal life? Eternal
life is going on, and on, and on, and on, forever, and ever, and ever,
knowing thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. As
my beloved, may I say, though this son has declared the name of his
father to mankind, and revealed it perfectly, it will take all eternity
for you and for me to go on knowing the father's heart, and have the son
who is the fullness of the father's expression make him known to end his
days.

I would take you long to find out all about me. You'd soon exhaust your
knowledge of this person, but to realize the exhaustless timeless ages
to come, that the believer will continue knowing the know the father
through the revelation of God the son. Now, let's ask the question
again.

How did the son redeem the father when he was here? Go to John 14 with
me again, the 14th chapter of John's Gospel. Let me read verses 10 and
11, and realize with you that there was a two-fold manner in which, or a
two-fold channel through which, the father was revealed. John 14 reading
verse 10 and 11.

As Jesus continued speaking to Philip, Believest thou not that I am in
the father, and the father in me? The words that I speak unto you I
speak not of myself, but the father that dwelleth in me he doeth the
works. Now, notice two words particularly. My words, my works, and verse
11 he mentions the works again.

Believe me that I'm in the father, and the father in me, or else believe
me for the very worst sake. By his words he revealed the father to
mankind. By his works he has revealed the father to mankind.

These are the only two means by which any man can express himself. What
is? Being. By my words I express myself what I am.

By what I do I express what I am. These are the only two means that any
being can express himself and make himself known to others, and the Lord
Jesus tends to make known the father to you and me, and by the words
which he spoke, by the works which he did, he has revealed the father.
Now, go with me to some scriptures very carefully.

By his words. Look in John chapter 8 please with me. I want you to see
two verses in John chapter 8, and I want you to note his reference to
his words.

I wish you could note that his very words which he spoke originated with
his father. The words that he spoke came not from himself. Verse 28 of
John 8. Then said Jesus unto them, when ye have lifted up the son of
man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself,
but as my father hath taught me.

I speak these things. Go to verse 38 please, the same chapter, and in
this 38th verse we hear the Saviour say, I speak that which I have seen
with my heart. O beloved, so complete, so perfect is the revelation of
the father by the words of the Lord Jesus.

The very words he spoke were not self-originated. They originated with
the father. What the father had spoken to him, the son spoke to others.

O beloved, let's go to another scripture. Chapter 5 first. Chapter 5
please.

Chapter 5 and verse 19, as well as verse 30. Chapter 5 and verse 19.
Here he gives the authority that his words were of the father.

Verse 19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, verily, verily I say
unto you, the son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the
father do. For what think soever he doeth, these also doeth the son
likewise.

All that the father I have seen do, and all whatsoever he doeth, that is
what I do. My words come from my father. But look at verse 30.

Verse 30. I'm here in confess. I can of mine own self do nothing.

O beloved, what perfect dependence, what complete dependence upon the
revelation his father gave him to make known to mankind, and nothing of
instance I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent.
And in his words, and in his words, they were completely the revelation
of his father, what the father would see, what the father would do.
Thanks be to his name.

And, as we read in John 14 and verse 10, both the words and the works
are displayed to be the revelation of the father. And, in this way, do
you recall in Hebrews chapter 10, a quotation from Psalm 40, but in
Hebrews chapter 10, the Savior said, the son declares, he makes a
promise to the father when he acknowledges the body, thou hast prepared
me, and in that promise he declares, Lord I come to do thy will, O God,
and in the perfection of his life below, from the manger to the cross,
by his words, by his works, he revealed the father who sent him. Now,
beloved, we must say, and compel to say it, that his death was the
confirmation of that revelation, without doubt.

Go again with me, if you please. We'll get to John 10. Let me read those
two verses with you.

Verses 17 and 18, which the Savior spoke. John 10 verse 17. For his
death was the confirmation of the revelation of his father's heart.

Therefore doth my father love me, because I laid down my life, that I
might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it out of
myself. I have authority to lay it down.

I have authority to take it again. This commandment have I received of
my father. Beloved, may I pause for a moment of adoration,
contemplation, and worship, and think of him hanging upon that tree, in
all the agony, and trust him that was his to bear under the judgment of
the Holy God, for your sins and for mine.

And may I in worshipful wonder adore the one who verily hung, completing
the revelation of his father's love. Therefore doth my father love me,
and realize this was the final revelation in completeness of his
father's heart, and that was the only way he could ever reveal that
heart to me. To show me completely, it was the full revelation of the
father's heart.

John declared it in 1st John chapter 4 and verse 14. So, this is what
John testified, and we have seen and testified that the father sent the
son, what ought to be the savior of the world. Hallelujah! What a
savior! To be the savior of the world! Oh beloved, when a man and woman
believe, when a man and woman will not see that the father sent his son,
and acknowledge he sent him to be the savior of all who will believe on
him, when that man and woman believes upon that son who died on that
crop for his and her sins, that man and woman gets a glimpse for the
first time into the unfathomable heart of the father.

Beloved, do you realize how much the father has loved you? To give his
son. Romans 5.8 The apostle Paul wrote that God tremendous his love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish for that everlasting life.

And, I see through the word of God, as I trace the life, the word, the
work, and the consummation of the death of the son of God, I see in
declaring his father's heart, and I find that the father loved. Or, can
I close by just reminding you of what John said in the 14th chapter of
this book? In verse 6, he says, you've come to the father. I'm the way,
the truth, and the light, known as cometh to the father, but by me.

He said to Philip, you've seen the father. He said, you know the father,
and my beloved, do you know him? I think it's almost 50 years ago, 45 to
50 years ago. We were preaching the gospel on the street corner in the
city of Rochester, New York, and I noticed on the sidewalk there was a
man standing with a little girl, taking deep interest in the message,
and following the close of the service, he came to me.

He said, sir, I'm a socialist. Now, he would have said, I'm a communist
today, but he said, I'm a socialist. And, he says, I don't believe there
is a God, but he said, I'm interested in what you've been preaching, and
I'd like to talk with you.

And, I made an appointment and visited the man in his home, and I recall
sitting with him in his kitchen, at his kitchen table, with my bible,
trying to bring before him the realities of a God. But, I never will
forget when I made a statement that electrified, astonished him, and
caused him to reel back in his chair, and look at me in wonder and
amazement. I said to the man, I know God as my father, and he gasped,
and he said, your father? Yes, I know him as my father.

I wish that man did. Oh beloved, the God who made you, the God who feeds
you, the God who thinks of you, the God who loves you, gave his son that
you might know that God as your father too. Do you know him? Shall we
pray? Oh blessed God, how great thou art! We bow in adoration and wonder
when we know and realize what sinners we are by nature, and by practice.

And, the great God of the universe, who could righteously put every one
of us in eternal hell, instead of doing so, he sent his beloved son who
is in the bosom of the father constantly, and he sent him to declare the
father's heart, and manifest the father's love for all mankind. And,
every one of us can bow, if we will, in humble acknowledgement. He loved
me, and he gave himself for me, if we will.

Oh father, how we pray that somehow we'll receive the son, and come to
the father tonight. For we thank thee, this is the purpose of the son's
coming into this world. Hear our prayer, and ask for it for any precious
soul tonight who is without this father in his adorable name.

Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of our father God, of the
fellowship or the conviction of the Holy Spirit, according to that which
is needed, be upon us. Amen.

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Audio: https://sermonindex1.b-cdn.net/9/SID9741.mp3
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/john-w-bramhall/week-of-meetings-02-the-father-and-his-family/
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