Jacob's Faith, Part 4

The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 11, verse number 21, that by faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning on his bed. Just a tremendous verse to help us understand the life of a man committed to serving his God. I had the privilege of growing up with two parents who loved the Lord. That's a great privilege. If you have parents that love the Lord, that's a great thing. And you know, my father, growing up, never taught me how to study the Bible. He just taught the Bible and studied the Bible.

Growing up, my father never taught me how to pray. But growing up, I always saw him praying. My father never taught me how to love my wife. He just spent his whole life loving his wife. In other words, my father never taught me I need to go to church. He always went to church and took me to church. My father taught me by living a life in front of me, what he wanted me to become. He lived it consistently. And so when he gave me my very first Bible, he wrote in that Bible, Psalm 27, verse number four, because that's what his prayer was for me.

It says, very simply, this one thing I desire, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I might behold the beauty of the Lord. If I could take one verse and sum up my father, that would be the verse. My father wasn't a pastor. He was in the Air Force for over 20 years. He sold insurance for over 40 years. That's what he did. But he loved the church. He was what we would call a church man, a churchman. Tell your daughters when they grow up, they marry a churchman.

Don't marry somebody who doesn't go to church. Marry a churchman. My father was a churchman. He lived and died for the church, because Christ lived and died for the church, right? And so he just was committed to the church. I caught that passion from my father. And so earlier in Psalm 26, or yeah, Psalm 26, verse number eight, it says, Oh Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Psalm 84, verse number 10 tells us, Better is one day in your courts than a thousand places elsewhere.

I'm not so sure we could live that verse, let alone sing about that verse. Better is one day in your house than a thousand places elsewhere. You know, there's a thousand other places some of us would rather be today than where we're at. But if you had your choice, where would you be? Well, obviously you've chosen to be here, because that's where you're at. But I wonder if we could really grapple with that and understand it to the point where this is where we want to be, because we love the habitation of your dwelling.

We love to be with the people of God, the house of God, worshiping the living and true God of the universe. Jacob was a worshiper. And as he was dying, he worshiped his God. So the question comes for us, how is it we are to worship our God? Years ago, we wrote a little booklet called, How to Choose a Church. I don't know if you read this or not, but in the booklet, we talk about how do you know what church to go to? You ever notice that we spend more time picking out a puppy than we do picking a church?

You ever notice that? We spend more time searching for what school to send our children to than we do searching for a church. We spend more time looking for a house, the right house, in the right location, at the right price, more than we spend looking for the right church. In other words, we spend so much time doing things that don't last, instead of doing the one thing we need to be doing in finding the right church for our family to worship, to serve, to glorify the living God. Because where you choose to go to church speaks volumes as to your future.

So we tell you that you choose a church based on the fact that the Word of God must be paramount. And number two, the worship of God must be passionate.

Passionate worship stems from a church whose priority is the Word of the living God. So we write about that in the booklet to help you understand how do you know what kind of church you need to go to. Because your choice of church does so much in the life of your family. I am so glad that my father taught me about church, because he lived church, and I'm so glad that he modeled for me what it meant to be involved in the church. He loved the church of Jesus Christ. Jacob was a true worshiper. He worshiped the true and living God in a unique and special way.

And so we began two weeks ago, before Resurrection Sunday, talking to you about his worship. To give you some principles from his life on how he worshiped the true and living God. So we told you last time that true worship initiates in a retreat from the world. It begins because I've left the world. I can't hang on to the world and truly worship the living God. That's why the Lord said in the book of Exodus, the 20th chapter, we read to you before, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

This is what I've done. You should have no other gods before me. You should worship only me. I'm the God you worship. Because of what I've done for you, you worship only me. Because I brought you out of the world, worship me, honor me, glorify me. Jacob left the world. That's why the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 13, those famous words about the patriarchs, that they all died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For those who say such things, make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been thinking of the country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, a heavenly one. That was Jacob. You can't worship the Lord and be a part of the world. We love to bring the world into the church. So our church can be relevant to the world. God doesn't want the church to be relevant to the world. He's called the church out of the world, to be separate from the world, to be distinct from the world.

Jacob knew that. In fact, Jacob was so concerned about the world, in Genesis chapter 46, he was even reluctant to go to Egypt to see Joseph. He found out he was alive. Why? Because his father Abraham went down to Egypt. And that was the wrong thing to do. Because Egypt is symbolic of the world. Jacob knew that. So God had to tell him, Jacob, you go down to Egypt and I will be with you. Don't be afraid to go. I will be with you. He had to wait for God to tell him to go before he went to Egypt, because Egypt represented the world.

Even though his son was there, that he thought was dead, Joseph. That's how separate Jacob wanted to be from the world. True worship initiates with a retreat from the world. Number two, true worship effectuates in a revelation from God.

True worship effectuates in a relationship with God. I'm sorry, in a revelation from God. In other words, I can't worship God unless God reveals himself to me. That's why worship is defined as a proper human response to divine revelation. Worship is brought about, worship is caused, because there's a revelation from the true and living God. Because God's word is true, I can now worship Him in spirit and in truth. So without the revelation of God, I can't truly worship Him. So once there's been a retreat from the world, I can clearly see what God has to say and what God has done.

Jacob, by faith, in other words, he believed in what God said. By faith, he blessed his grandsons, Manasseh and Ephraim. By faith, in Genesis 49, he would bless all of his sons. But the faith was based on what God had already told him. He could not truly worship unless he had the revelation of God telling him what to do and how to do it. And that's what the revelation of God does. That's what true worship is. So true worship initiates in a retreat from the world, effectuates in a revelation from God, and predicates a recognition of my need.

It affirms that I have a need. And that need is to know the true and living God. You're here today and you have a need. Maybe your need's a loneliness. Maybe your need is friendship. Maybe your need is counseling. Maybe your need is encouragement, right? Whatever your need may be, it's a felt need. But the fallen need is what needs to be met. And every one of us at the core of our being has a need that can only be met in the context of a relationship with the living God. That's where our needs are truly met.

So true worship predicates a recognition of my need. It affirms and declares that I have a need, and that need is to know the true and living God. That's why I'm here. And that need can only be met as God's Word is revealed to me because once I see who He is, I know what He does, and I respond. Number four, true worship necessitates reverence for His person. True worship necessitates a reverence for His person. Listen to what the Bible says in Psalm 211, Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling.

I love that. Rejoice with trembling. Very few of us do that. We like to rejoice. We like to rejoice because we're happy. But the Bible says if you worship the Lord in reverence, you rejoice with trembling because you've come to recognize the beauty and the glory of God.

In so doing, it causes you to tremble in His presence. But there's a rejoicing because you've come to know Him. Psalm 33, verse number 8 says, All the earth is to fear the Lord. All the inhabitants of the world are to stand in awe of Him. True worship necessitates a reverence for His person. Hebrews 12, verse number 28, says these words, Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire.

It necessitates, necessitates a reverence for His person. Now, last week or two weeks ago, I said that when you go to church, if you leave church comfortable, leave and never come back. You leave church convicted. And I had some backlash about that. Some of you called me. Others texted me. Some emailed me. Some even saw me in person, okay? But I had some backlash because of that. And I said, listen, do you want true comfort or do you want superficial comfort? Because if you want true comfort, the Bible tells you how that happens.

Matthew 5, Blessed are those who mourn over the sin for they and they only shall be comforted. If there's not a conviction about my sin, I'm not going to receive true comfort. True comfort comes because I've been convicted that I am a sinner. I'm separated from the true and living God. And I cry out to Him, beg for forgiveness, beg for His mercy, and then comes the comfort. You see, that's why when you go to church and you read the Word and you hear the Word and you study the Word and you sing about the Word, it's all about conviction.

And I had a conversation three weeks ago with a person in our church. And he said to me, you know, every week I come, I am so deeply convicted. I said, that's a good thing. They said, is it? I said, yes, that's a good thing. Does that mean I'm not saved? He said, no, it probably means you are saved. Why? Because the Spirit of God is doing a work in your heart where you're being convicted of your sin. And you know that you need to revere the true and living God, stand in awe of Him and honor Him. So important.

So when we talk about leaving church convicted, that's because you've come under the authority of the Word of God. I think it was John MacArthur who said that hard preaching produces soft hearts, soft preaching produces hard hearts. That's very true. Because preaching the Word of God is like a hammer. Jeremiah tells us that God's Word is like a hammer. It's like a fire. It crushes the soul. So when the Word of God is preached and the Word of God is open, it should be like a jackhammer on your soul because it's crushing all the things there that are opposed to God.

You're coming into the convicting work of the Spirit of God. How important is that? It's a reverence for God. It necessitates a reverence for God. Number five, number five, true worship emanates in a response to my Lord. True worship emanates in a response to my Lord. You say, well, how do I know I've worshiped? I respond. True worship is the proper human response to divine revelation. When you leave today, you should leave knowing how to respond. You should leave knowing what to do. You should leave knowing how to do it.

Why? Because you've come face to face. You've encountered the true and living God. And that's the way Jacob was. Jacob understood that he needed to encounter the living God, and in so doing, he would respond. Did he always respond properly? No. Did he always respond quickly? No. But he always responded ultimately. He did. It took him a while sometimes. He would wrestle with God in Genesis 32, right? Because he wanted God to bless him, and he was kind of bullheaded, but he wrestled with God, and that became an impetus, an open door for him coming to know him all the more.

And the Lord said, I'm going to change your name. You were Jacob, but now you're Israel. You have strove against man and against me for so long. Now you're going to let me strive for you.

That's what the name Israel means. God will strive for you. And God had touched a socket, so he would limp for the rest of his life. And that limp would always be a reminder that he was dependent upon the God who would strive for him. So he limped for the rest of his life. So he would never forget that God was going to strive for him, but it necessitated a reverence for his God. And that reverence emanated in a response to his God. You see, we come to know the true living God, and as we do, we respond because we want to be like him.

We want to honor him. We want to magnify his glorious name. Psalm 40, verse number 8, I delight to do your will, O my God. Remember in Genesis chapter 28, after the Lord had shown him the staircase to heaven, and he'd seen the gate, he says, now I know the way to heaven, and it says that the stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me, I will surely give a tenth to you. He responded. He responded to God by how? By giving back to God. You know, have you ever been to those churches where they don't take an offering, but they have a basket in the back that you can dump it on your way out?

That is so irreverent. That is so wrong. Why? Because the offering is the apex of the worship service. It's an opportunity for me to give back to God. I'm recognizing God's in control. I'm recognizing all that I have is from God, and now I just look to give to him. And so as I sing songs or listen to a song being sung, it's all about a meditation upon God and thanking him for what he's done. But to kind of dump it in the back on the way out, kind of like after the service is over? No, no, no. That's not how it's done.

That's not how you do it. It doesn't mean that we always do it right, but the focal point is like we're giving to God. We're going to honor God here. We're going to worship his name. And part of that worship is, Lord, I recognize who you are, what you've done, and Lord, I just can't wait to give back to you. That's why the Bible says the Lord loves a cheerful giver, a hilarious giver.

That's the most joyful time of the service. I smile all the while writing my check, putting my cash in an offering envelope and just dumping it into the offering basket. Why? Because I love my God. Here was Jacob. There was a response. And there was no law to tell him how much to give, right? Because Genesis 28 is way before the law. That's the book of Exodus. But he just knew that a tenth of what he had was a sacrificial kind of gift to the Lord. And that's what he did. You see, when you truly worship God, what flows from that is a natural response to serve God, to glorify his name, to preach and teach someone else what you learned, because you want to respond to how God has taught you on that day and what you've learned about him.

Worship is honor paid to a superior being. Psalm 29, verse number 2 says, Ascribe to the Lord the glory and honor due his name. I told you a couple of weeks ago that when you come to worship, you always come in with a yes. Yes. I come through the doors, yes, Lord. Whatever I hear today, yes. Whatever you have for me today, yes. So the sermon's on forgiveness. So it's, yes, Lord, I will forgive those who have sinned against me. The service is on mercy. Yes, Lord, I will extend mercy to those who need mercy.

The message is on giving. Yes, Lord, I will give to you out of the abundance of what you've given to me. It's always yes, yes, yes. It's never I'll think about it. It's never I'll pray about it. I just do it. Why? Because true worship emanates in a response to my Lord. Jacob lived his life. God says, I want you to bless Ephraim over Manasseh, the second boy.

So Jacob says, okay, I'll do that. God says, I want you to bless Judah this way. I want you to bless Joseph this way. I want you to bless Reuben this way. So that's what he does. But he can only worship by faith. He can only worship as a response to what God says with a yes.

What Isaiah says, hear my Lord, send me. I'll go. I'll do it. Whatever you want me to do. That's true worship. So true worship initiates in a retreat from the world, effectuates in a revelation from God, predicates a recognition of my need, necessitates a reverence for his person, emanates in a response to my Lord, and facilitates my relationship with others. True worship facilitates my relationship with others. Listen, how you worship determines how you interact with other people. Because if worship is the proper human response to divine revelation, once God has revealed to me, I know how to respond to you.

See? And so true worship is going to facilitate my relationship with you. We are a family, right? We're brothers and sisters in Christ. We are fathers and mothers to those younger than us. We are a family of God. We gather together as a family. As we hear God speak to us through his word, then we know how to interact one with another. That's why in Hebrews 10, 24 and 25, it says, as you see the day drawing near, right? Don't forsake the assembly of yourselves together as some have, but stimulate one another to love and good deeds.

Motivate one another. Spur one another on. Well, when you gather together as an assembly to worship God, what happens is that there is a stimulus that happens on the inside of me because the spirit of God is at work in my soul, right? It's at work in my soul to such a degree that I'm able to say, okay, Lord, what do you want me to do with this person or that person? We should have the best relationships right here. That's what worship does. Remember what Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter five?

He says, guard your steps as you go to the house of God. Protect your steps. Watch over your steps as you go to the house of God. Drive safely. Drive wisely. Walk gingerly. Guard your steps as you go to the house of God. And draw near to listen.

Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools. What's sacrifice of fools? Those are people that come and have no care to do what they hear. Don't make a sacrifice, a superficial one, but it's a sacrifice of fools because they don't draw near to listen.

You know that listening is an art? When you worship, listening plays a major part in the worship service. How you hear is important. That's why Jesus said, be careful what you hear. Be careful how you hear. Be careful when you hear. Why? Because all that's important. That's why Jesus always said, have you not read? Have you not heard? Why? You should have heard this. You should know this. When you come to the house of God, when you come to worship God, you draw near to listen.

To listen. But some of us can't do that or we don't want to do that. Why? Always remember that in the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin. Book of Proverbs, right? In the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin. People who are always talking are covering their sin. That's why they always talk. Their sin, insecurities, and they're covering up. But you can't do that when you go to church. You go there to listen because you want to hear what God has to say. So when you sit there, right, you've got to be tuned in.

When you sit there, you've got to say, okay, Lord, what is it you are saying to me today? Because, you see, we find ourselves listening for our spouse, don't we? Honey, do you hear this? This is for you. Okay? Do you hear this? Or we tap our children on the shoulder. This is for you. Do you hear this, son? But no, it's for you. If that's you, it's really for you and not for them. But you think it's for them, but it's not. It's for you. You haven't drawn near to listen because God speaks to every single one of us.

He goes on to say this. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. That's so cool. Don't be so quick to bring up your need in the presence of God. Why are you so quick to do that? Just listen.

And that says, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few. I just love that. Let your words be few. Listen to what God has to say. Because I am going forth to revere him, to honor him, to respond to him. And as I respond to him, I realize that I'm responding to the brothers and sisters in the room, the church family, the people that God has given me to love and admire and serve and honor. That's why worship always facilitates my relationship with others. For Jacob, it did with Esau.

For Jacob, it did with Joseph. For Jacob, it did with his sons who lied to him about Joseph. You see, Jacob's whole relationship with his family stemmed from how he worshiped. Because as he listened to God and followed God, he knew how to address his boys and talk to them about their future as it pertains to God. Next, true worship stimulates true religion within and without the body of Christ. In other words, it stimulates true religion, not a false religion, but a true religion within the body and outside the body.

Remember what James says? True religion, undefiled before the Father is this, as you visit the widows and orphans in their affliction and keep oneself unspotted from the world. Well, true worship is gonna stimulate true religion, not false religion, not hypocritical religion, but true religion within the church and outside of the church. Why? Because you see, as I come to worship God and see Him and revere Him, I come to see Him for who He is. And now I wanna reflect that glory as I minister to other people.

So if God is merciful, I wanna be merciful. If God is compassionate, I wanna be compassionate. If God is patient, I wanna be patient. If God is loving, I wanna be loving. If God is a preacher, I wanna be a preacher. If God is a teacher, I wanna be a teacher. I wanna be like God. I wanna magnify the glory and honor of God. Let there be glory in the church, Paul says in Ephesians chapter three. Let there be glory in the church. In other words, let God's glory be seen within the church. In other words, let God's beauty be seen within the church.

Let God's person be seen within the church. Why? Because as we grow together, we leave emanating all that we've seen, heard, and done to those in the outside world. That they might see and come to understand the true and living God. Jacob was a man who realized that his life needed to be true in line with the word of God. So by faith, he would bless his sons. By faith, he would worship. He did his whole life living by faith, believing in what God said. So it caused him to live a true and pure and holy life.

It took him a while to gain his footing on that, but he did. And if we had time, we would spend weeks going through the life of Jacob because there is so much in detail in his life. I'm just trying to give you just a sketch, an overview, because this man was a true worshiper. But this is how he lived his life. And so, there's always this desire, always this desire, to make sure that I put God on display. True religion is not hypocritical. True religion is genuine. True worship is genuine. It's from the heart.

You worship God in spirit and in truth. You worship God from the inside out. That means in the spirit, it must be clean. It must be committed and consecrated to God, sold out to God. That happens because I know the truth of the living God. I want to honor the true and living God. That's what it does. That's true worship. Next, true worship anticipates the return of Christ. Now, Jacob wasn't anticipating the return of Christ. He was anticipating the coming of Christ, right? The coming of the promised seed.

He lived in anticipation of that because Hebrews 11 tells us that they all died in faith, not having received the promises, but they were anticipating the promises. They were looking toward that heavenly city, but they lived in anticipation. That's why when he saw the way to heaven in Genesis chapter 28, and he knew already of his father's encounter on Mount Moriah, his grandfather's encounter on Mount Moriah, about how there would be a substitute, and he knew about the first man and his wife, Adam and Eve, and the promise of a coming seed that would crush the serpent's head.

All that would cause him to live in anticipation of the coming of the seed that would fulfill all promises. And so even in his blessing of Joseph, as he talks about the shepherd and the stone, he even got a glimpse of maybe the second coming of the Messiah when he would come as a stone to crush those that came against him.

But he lived in anticipation. And so for us, to worship anticipates the return of the coming King. We live longing and looking for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. So we live our lives. So when you come to worship God, and you see Him for who He is, as we open the Word of God, and 1 Corinthians 3, 18 tells us that when you open the Word of God, it is the glory of the Lord that's emanating from the Scriptures, and as you read it, as you study it, you're being changed from one level of glory to the next level of glory, even as by the Spirit of God, right?

You're wanting to be with God. You're wanting to see your God. You're wanting to live with your God in His presence forever and ever and ever. So we should leave the worship service anticipating that Jesus is coming again, that Jesus one day will arrive and take me home to be with Him, that one day Jesus will arrive and establish His kingdom upon the earth. One day Jesus will arrive and defeat all His enemies and crush them all who rule with a rod of iron from the throne of His father David in the city of Jerusalem.

That's why we pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are actually praying for God's kingdom to come to earth. We want God's kingdom to come. That's how we pray. Our prayer life should be consumed with the kingdom of God. But because we're so busy trying to build our kingdom, we're not praying for God's kingdom to come. We want our kingdom to be established. We're the king of our kingdom, right? We want our kingdom to be established. And so we ask God to do this, and we ask God to do that for us, instead of saying, Lord, I want Your kingdom to come to earth.

I want You to be honored. I want You to be glorified. I want You to be put on display. Lord, I want You here. That should be our longing. Because that's what true worship does. It moves us to live in anticipation of His coming again. And Jacob, while he did not know about the second coming, he certainly didn't know about the first coming.

The Messiah was coming. The promised seed was going to arrive. And although he didn't live to see it, he certainly lived in anticipation of it. So did Abraham. So did Isaac. So did Joseph. That's why, that's why he says, when I die, you take me back. You bury me in the cave of Mephila in Hebron. You bury me there. Why? Because that's where my father is and his wife. That's where my grandfather is and his wife. That's where I buried Leah. That's where I want to be. Why? Because I believe in the promise of the coming King who will rule in that land.

That's why Joseph, we'll study next week, about Joseph's bones, right? Joseph says, when I die, take my bones back with you to Canaan. Because Joseph believed in the coming promise. Of the arrival of the Messiah who would rule and reign in the promised land, the land of Israel. That's why we're so big on Israel. That's why we're so big on the promises that God gave. That's why they're literal promises. You mean to tell me that Abraham believed in a promise that will never happen? What kind of promise is that?

Joseph believed in a promise that will never come to be? Because somehow the church is now going to replace Israel and the kingdom now is going to be in our hearts and not literally on the earth. That goes against everything that Jacob believed, Abraham believed, Isaac believed, and Joseph believed. And certainly, they all died in faith, believing. See? So do we. We live in anticipation of the return of the King. And lastly, true worship culminates with rejoicing in praise and prayer. True worship culminates with rejoicing in praise and prayer.

There's something about offering my praise to God of thanksgiving. Lord, thank you. Thank you. The gratitude of the true worshiper speaks volumes. You know, so many times we can go to church and we can get angry at what we heard, upset about what we heard, or not agree with what we heard. Instead of leaving and saying, Lord, thank you for the opportunity to come today to worship you, to honor you, to give to you, to listen to your word. Thank you, Lord. There should be this constant avenue of gratitude to our God for all that he's done.

So we should live our lives. And true worship will culminate in praise and prayer. Lord, now I know how to pray. I've seen you for who you are, and now I know how to communicate with you. I revere you as the true God of Israel, and I revere you as a holy, holy, holy God. And now I know how to communicate with you and how to pray with you because you've revealed yourself to me in your word. And now I know what to say when I approach the throne of grace. And that's what true worship does. It culminates in praise and prayer.

Over in Psalm 95, I love this. Oh, come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms for the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. We should shout for joy. We should sing praises to his name. We should commit all of our life to him for who he is. And Jacob, Jacob wasn't a singer. He wasn't a musician. That's obvious. But he was a worshiper because he wanted to hear what God had to say.

And there was more than willing to respond to all that he said. I wonder if you're that way. I wonder if you're here today, willing and wanting to respond to the word of God. And say, yes, Lord, I'm here today to do whatever you say, to follow whatever your word says to me, Lord, yes, because I love you so. That was Jacob. So Jacob, by faith, as he was dying, would bless the sons of Joseph, worshiping while leaning on his bed. Just one verse says so much to you and me today. May we learn to live by faith and not by sight.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for the opportunity you give us this day. For truly, Lord, you are a great God and truly, Lord, you are worthy of praise. We thank you, Lord, that in the assembly of the righteous, the righteous king reigns. We are here today, Lord, for you to work in our lives, to deal with whatever is in our lives that would hinder our relationship with you, that, Lord, we might worship you all the more, that we might live for the glory and honor of our king. We love you, Lord.

May we leave today energized to serve only you, for you are the king that we serve. We've been bought with a price, and that price is the precious blood of the lamb. And for that, we will always be grateful. In Jesus' name, amen.