The Model Life: Alertness, Part 2

Take your Bible, if you will, and turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, as we embark on this great chapter, we begin just last week, looking at this, and we want to continue to look at it over the next several weeks.

The Bible says in verse number one: "Now as to the times and epics, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, 'Peace and safety,' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape."

The day of the Lord is a crucial subject in the scriptures. Nineteen times it's mentioned in the Old Testament. Four times it's mentioned in the New Testament. It's a day that's coming. It's not yet here, but it is going to come. And therefore, it's imperative that we understand the day of the Lord. There is so much to unpack in the first 11 verses of chapter 5, and we're going to do that verse by verse, working our way through it. Just not today. It'll be probably next week. Unless, of course, the Lord comes, and then we won't have to worry about any of that. But the bottom line is that you need to understand the day of the Lord.

It's an eschatological term. It's a technical term that is designed specifically to talk to you about when God intervenes in human history for judgment. And the day of the Lord is different than the day of Christ and the day of God. The day of Christ is about rewarding the believer. The day of the Lord is about retribution on the unbeliever. And the day of God is about the ruling and reigning of God forever because that's God's day. That's at the end, 2 Peter chapter 3, when there is a new heaven and a new earth. That's the day of God, and that's God's day. So you need to distinguish those because it's very important to understand as Paul makes his way through this to help people understand the day of the Lord.

Understand that we live in anticipation of Christ's coming. We looked at that in the first four chapters of, excuse me, the fourth chapter, verses 13 to 18 of 1 Thessalonians. So we live in anticipation of his coming again. But you must know that the day in which Christ comes to take his children home is a day of joy. But the day in which Christ comes back to earth is a day of judgment. When Christ comes to take his children home, you're to comfort one another with these words. It's a day of comfort. But when Jesus comes again to the earth to judge the earth, it'd say it's a day of condemnation. When Christ takes his children home, it is a hopeful day. When Christ comes back to the earth during the day of the Lord, it's a horrible day. One is wonderful, one is woeful.

On the back of the card that I gave you not too long ago, on the plan of the ages, on the back of that card, there are different discrepancies between the rapture of the church and the revelation of Christ to the earth. You can look at that, you can read that, and notice there is unique and distinct differences between when Christ comes for his own, and those verses are: 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 to 18, John 14, 1 to 3, 1 Corinthians 15, verses 51 to 58. There is no judgment in those passages. But when the Lord comes in retribution during the day of the Lord, it's all about the judgment of God toward those who are ungodly upon the earth. There is a unique and distinct difference.

In fact, the Bible says in Matthew's Gospel these words in Matthew 24, verse number 21. Because all of my amillennial friends believe that Matthew 24 was fulfilled in 70 AD when the Romans came in and plundered Jerusalem. If you are a literalist, if you are a biblicist, it's impossible to come up with that definition. One verse, Matthew 24: "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be." That one verse tells you that what took place in 70 AD could not be the fulfillment of that. Because there were 1.1 million Jews slaughtered in seventy AD. And the Lord made it very clear that there is not going to be a day up till now, nor will there ever be a day after that day as great as the tribulation will come at that time.

But since that time, there were 85 million people killed in World War II. There were 20 million people killed in World War I. And that was way after 70 AD. The Holocaust had eight million Jews killed. You tell me those weren't greater days of tribulation? They were. But there's coming a day that is so great and so horrific and so bad, there will be nothing like it ever again. And that is the day of the Lord. The Bible says that the day of the Lord is a time of great tribulation.

Please understand this: that the tribulation upon the earth, the seven-year tribulation, the fulfillment of Daniel's 70th week prophecy in Daniel 9:24 to 27, is a time of great tribulation. But that tribulation has two main purposes. And that is, number one, the testing of Israel and the triumph of God over all the nations. The testing of Israel to refine them, to redeem them, and to restore them. And the triumph of God over all the nations of the world. We forget that Jeremiah tells us that the tribulation is called the time of Jacob's trouble. The tribulation is designed for the nation of Israel that he might redeem a nation, refine them, and restore them. So God has a purpose for Israel, and it's going to be fulfilled as was promised in the Old Testament. That's why it's called the time of Jacob's trouble.

In fact, over in the book of Jeremiah chapter 30, it says this in verse number 7: "Alas, for that day is great, and there is none like it. And it is a time of Jacob's trouble or Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it. It shall come about on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off their neck, and will tear off their bonds and strangers, will no longer make them their slaves. But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, declares the LORD, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity, and Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease. And no one will make him afraid, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to save you, for I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you. Only I will not destroy you completely, but I will chasten you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished."

God makes it very clear there is a time for Israel, a time of testing for Israel, in which God is going to triumph over all the nations of the world. And that's the purpose of the day of the Lord, the tribulation. It's called the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy. In fact, over in the book of Obadiah, it's called the day of Israel's calamity. Very important to understand this.

In fact, listen to what the prophet Zephaniah said about the coming day of the Lord, verse 14, chapter 1: "Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly. Listen, the day of the Lord, in it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress. A day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and the high cornered towers. I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord's wrath, and all the earth will be devoured in the fire of his jealousy. For he will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth."

That's the day of the Lord. That's how Zephaniah describes it. You can go on in the Old Testament and realize it's called the overflowing of scourge in Isaiah 28, the indignation in Daniel 11. It's called the year of recompense in Isaiah 34, verse number 8. The day of vengeance in Isaiah chapter 61. In the New Testament, it's called the wrath of God in Revelation 15, the hour of trial in Revelation chapter 3, the great day of the wrath of the Lamb of God in Revelation 6, the wrath to come in 1 Thessalonians 1. The great tribulation in Matthew 24, the hour of indignation in Revelation 14.

God wants you to know that this day is going to come. To prepare you, to warn you in advance. Why? We told you last week: because the Lord is known by the judgments He enacts. We looked at Psalm 9, verse number 16 last week, Isaiah 29. God's righteousness is seen in his judgments. In other words, God makes it very clear: the way you're going to know me the best is when I act justly. And when I act justly, I judge sin. And when God judges sin, you understand his righteousness. That's what Calvary is all about. That's what Mount Calvary is. The great judgment of God poured out upon his Son. So we would experience the righteousness of Christ in Him. We understand God's righteousness because of His judgment poured out on His Son. And therefore, the world then begins to understand the righteous judgment of God in the day of the Lord.

So let me just read to you what the scriptures say to help you understand this day, giving you some of the characteristics of the day of the Lord. Number one is that there's going to be immeasurable deception. Immeasurable deception. Now we live in a day where there is much deception that happens all the time. Man is deceived constantly. And we live in a day where Satan, his method is to deceive man. But there's coming a day where the deception will be so great upon the earth that people, as 1 Thessalonians 5 says, will be saying, "Peace and safety." And the world buys into that peace and safety conversation. And yet, it escapes their notice that the day of the Lord is coming upon them.

Matthew chapter 24. In that great Olivet discourse, remember I told you last week that it was the longest answer that Jesus gave to any question asked him. And that would tell you something about the end, right? If Jesus gets asked all these questions during his lifetime, but yet, his longest answer is about the end. It's pretty important to understand the end. Right? So Jesus gives this long answer. The very first thing he says about the end of the age, which is the end of the consummation of the age, you know that from Matthew chapter 13, he says this: "See to it that no one misleads you."

Verse 4, verse 5: "For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many." Verse 11: "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many." Verse twenty-four: "For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect." In other words, amidst all the darkness and the gloominess of the day of the Lord, there will arise many who will mislead the world.

How would that happen? We know from Revelation chapter 12 that when Satan is thrown down to the earth, he deceives the whole world. That happens at the beginning of the tribulation. But listen to Revelation 13, verse number 11. This is the rise of the false prophet. The Antichrist, the false Christ, is a military political ruler. But in order to gain rulership over the entire world, you have to be able to gain power over the religious aspect of the world. So there arises a false prophet.

It says in verse 11 of Revelation 13: "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast, that the Antichrist, in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He, that is the false prophet, performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast. Great signs to perform. Magnificent signs that's going to cause people to believe a lie."

Because, in fact, if you go back to Matthew 24, it tells us this in verse number 36: "But in that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark. And they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be."

In other words, amidst all the horrific judgments that will happen upon the earth, men were so deceived that they will continue on life as normal, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, living life as if nothing is ever going to take place. Because they are so duped, so deceived into thinking that things are going to get better, that things are going to be okay. That's why they say "Peace and safety." Back in the book of Jeremiah, that's how the Old Testament prophets, who were false prophets, talked about how they would tell Israel before the Babylonian captivity: "Oh, it's all going to be okay. It's peace and safety." But it escapes her notice that judgment is coming.

There's going to be immeasurable deception, unlike the world has ever seen. And that's how Christ begins talking about in Matthew 24. The day of the Lord, the tribulation period, the great day of God's wrath. It's all going to be about deception. How are people going to believe that there's been a translation of many people from the earth that have disappeared? During the rapture of the church, how will that be explained away? Who will explain that away? That somehow all the people that were against the truth are now gone? But we really were for the truth and have been taken to glory. There's going to be much deception that's going to take place.

But not only just immeasurable deception. Notice this. The Bible tells us there's going to be impenetrable darkness. Immeasurable deception and then impenetrable darkness. As you recall back in the book of Exodus, during the plagues upon Egypt, the Bible says in Exodus chapter 10, verses 21 to 23, that the darkness that fell upon the earth was so dark. The Bible says that the darkness was felt. How do you feel darkness? Jude tells us that hell, one of the ways it's defined is by blackness of darkness. Blackness of darkness? Well, I thought that dark was black, and black was dark. But it's called blackness of darkness. You ever been in a situation where you go into a room and you can't see your hand in front of your face because it's so dark? That's what hell's like.

You say, "Wait a minute, I thought hell was full of fire." It is. But it's a fire that doesn't consume. See? It's a fire that's not like fire as we know it. And so you suffer in hell for all eternity because there is nothing to stop the excruciating pain of that fire that God has designed for hell, but it's located in blackness of darkness. So you can't see anything. All you can do is feel the darkness and feel the pain of the fire, but it's called blackness of darkness. So, total isolation is what hell is. People forget that. They think, "Well, when I die, I'll go see my friends." No, there are no friends in hell. They're not going to see anybody there. It's just you. That's why there weeping and gnashing of teeth. Because you realized of all the opportunities you had and didn't take advantage of.

You see, in hell, you remember everything on earth. In heaven, you remember nothing on earth. Thank you, Lord. Big difference there. When you're in heaven, you don't want to remember anything on earth. It's all tainted with sin, right? But in hell, you remember everything on earth. That's just devastating.

But the day of the Lord is impenetrable darkness. Listen to what it says in Amos chapter 5: "The day of the Lord is darkness and not light." Verse 20: "Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, even very dark, and no brightness in it?" Over in Revelation 8, verse number 12: "The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, so as the third part of them was darken and the day shone not for a third part of it in the night likewise." It says in Isaiah 13, verse number 10: "For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine." Matthew twenty four: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."

Man does not yet understand the darkness that will come upon the world. That's just not figurative spiritual darkness, that's literal blackness of darkness. So not only is there immeasurable deception, there is impenetrable darkness. Number three, there is inevitable distress. Inevitable distress. The Bible says in Joel 2, verse 11: "For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, who can abide by it?" Isaiah 13, verse 7: "Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt, and they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them. They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth. They shall be amazed one at another. Their faces shall be as flames."

Luke 21, verse 25. The Lord said, "Upon the earth, distress of nations, and with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the power of heaven shall be shaken." The distress upon man will be so insurmountable, so great, he won't even be able to stand.

So not only is there immeasurable deception, not only is there impenetrable darkness, and not only is there inevitable distress, there is inexplicable disaster. We read to you last week Revelation chapter 6, but in Revelation chapter 16, these words are spoken at the pouring of the seventh bowl. Remember, there are seven seals of judgment. When the seventh seal is is broken, seven trumpets blow in rapid succession. And then at the seventh trumpet blowing, then there are seven bowls that are poured out upon the earth in judgment, and they happen in a matter of minutes.

And it says in Revelation 16, verse number 17: "Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, 'It is done.' And there were flashes of lightning, and sounds, and peals of thunder, and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth. So great an earthquake was it, and so mighty the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of his fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found, and huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each came down from heaven upon men, and men blasphemed God because of the plagues of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe."

Inexplicable disaster. And yet, man still doesn't repent. He still blasphemes the name of God. Earlier, when the bowls are being poured out and men have sores poured all over them, they chew off their tongues in order to redirect the pain from their bodies to some place else, and they chew off their tongues, and yet they refuse to recognize the Lord, and they blaspheme his name because they know it's the Lord's judgment. They know it's the day of the Lord. There are no atheists in the tribulation. There are no atheists anyway. But there's certainly no atheists in the tribulation because they all know it's God. They all know it's the wrath of the Lamb. Revelation 6. We all know that. See? So they'll come to grips with the fact that God is doing this and pouring out his judgments upon them, yet they will not repent. They will not turn from the evil of their ways.

So the day of the Lord is described as immeasurable deception, impenetrable darkness, inevitable distress, inexplicable disaster, and indescribable destruction. The Bible says in Isaiah 13: "How for the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate." Verse thirteen of Isaiah thirteen: "Therefore I will shake the heavens and the earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his first fierce anger." Joel 1, verse number 15: "Alas for the day, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."

It is a day of destruction. It's a day of devastation. It's a day of disaster. It's a day of deception. It's a horrible day because it's a day of judgment. But remember, God is making Himself known. So, even the unbeliever who blasphemes God, who will not repent of their deeds, know for certain it's God is doing this. But because they love their sin so much, they will not repent of their sin.

There's another characteristic, and it's this: it's called inescapable death. In Revelation chapter 9, people will be stung with scorpions and they will want to die, but they can't die. Because God won't let them die. Think about that. You want to die, but you can't. You do all you can to be killed, but you can't. Because God holds the keys to death and Hades. God's in charge of who lives and who dies. It's a potential who wants to die after that, the judgment. God's in charge of that. So in Revelation 9, when they are stung by these scorpions, they want to die, but they can't die because God won't let them die. But there will be inescapable death. For many will die.

The Bible says in Isaiah 13: "And I will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity, and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and they will die." Revelation 6: "And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and with the beasts of the earth." Revelation 8: "And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter." Revelation 9 speaks of the four angels who were loosed from their bondage in the river Euphrates to slay a third part of the earth. Revelation 11: "The two witnesses will be killed." Revelation 13: "The Antichrist will make war with the saints and overcome them." Revelation 20 says: "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands."

In other words, when you die in the tribulation as a Christian, you die because you're beheaded, your head's cut off. That tells us this: that not only is there inescapable death, listen carefully, there is invaluable deliverance. In other words, people will still be saved. There's going to be an invaluable deliverance. I've told you this before, I'll tell you to you again. The greatest, the greatest salvation of man happens in the seven-year tribulation.

The Bible tells us in Matthew 24 that the gospel will be preached to the whole world. By the way, that did not happen in 80-70. But in the end, it would be preached to the whole world. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world. How do we know that? Well, in Revelation chapter 2, Revelation chapter 11, you have two witnesses. One like Moses, one like Elijah, or one, maybe it's Enoch and Elijah, we don't know, but there are two witnesses. And those two witnesses speak the truth. They are killed by the Antichrist. They lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three days. And then they're raised from the dead. During the three days, by the way, the world has a great celebration of the two witnesses that are dead. In fact, they give gifts to one another because the two witnesses are dead. You can read about it in Revelation 11. They're so happy that these two witnesses who speak forth the truth of the kingdom are dead that there's a celebration worldwide with the giving of gifts. And yet, at the third day, they rise up and ascend into glory. And it says the whole world will see it. How's that going to happen? Well, you know how that happens. Social media, television, I don't know. But the whole world's going to see it. Interesting.

But note this. In Revelation 7, there's 144,000 Jewish evangelists. There are 12,000 saved from each tribe. And those 144,000 Jewish evangelists are going to preach about the Messiah and the kingdom and the gospel. In Revelation 14, it tells us that there's an angel that flies around the mid-heaven proclaiming the eternal gospel, telling the earth to fear God and to worship Him.

So the gospel will be presented all throughout the tribulation, and people will be saved. That's why there's tribulational saints in Revelation chapter 7. There's a great multitude of them that are saved during the tribulation. And they will go to heaven because they will die in the tribulation. But you see, there's this invaluable deliverance for those who believe the gospel, for those who believe the truth, because God is always saving his own, God is always saving his remnant. And of course, he's going to save Israel. We know that. Zachariah 12, Zachariah 13, Zachariah 14, Romans 11, we know that Israel will be saved because it's a time of testing for Israel. He's going to refine them. He's going to purge them. Zachariah tells us that two-thirds of them will be purged out, and one-third will be saved and go into the kingdom. That's the all of the nation that's left. So, when Paul says in Romans 11:29, "All Israel will be saved," the all is all that's left because two-thirds have died and one-third has been purged and are there. They will be saved. And God would deliver them. Because God is a delivering God, He's a saving God. And so, amidst all the gloominess, amidst all the darkness, amidst all the destruction and devastation and disaster and distress, there's going to be deliverance of those who believe the gospel and are saved.

The day of the Lord, it's coming. No man knows the day nor the hour. So, what do you do? How do you respond to that? Well, first of all, you need to remember the Lord's death until he comes. That's why we celebrate the Lord's table. Remember the Lord's death until he comes. You know, isn't it interesting that God said, never said, "Remember my life." He didn't even say, "Remember my resurrection." He didn't say, "Remember my miracles." He didn't even say, "Remember my sermons," because most of us don't remember sermons. But he did say, "Remember my death." As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. We live a life of remembrance. That's why Paul said, "I preach Christ crucified." That's the message. Because why? That's where judgment was poured out. That's where God poured out His judgment. Remember, on that day, there was darkness at noontime that covered the earth three hours in the middle of the day because darkness symbolizes God's judgment. And God poured out his wrath upon his son. So he paid the penalty for your sin and for mine. So you wouldn't have to. God judged his son so that you would not experience that judgment. That's why you escaped the day of the Lord.

That's why we remember his death and say, "Thank you, Lord, for dying in my spot. Thank you for taking my place. Thank you for paying for my sins because the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." So you need to remember the Lord's death until he comes. And that's why we celebrate the Lord's table.

You also need to rest in the promise of God's deliverance. God has delivered you from the wrath to come. It says that in 1 Thessalonians 5. 9. Sorry, 1 Thessalonians 1. 10, 1 Thessalonians 5, 9. That we are delivered from the wrath to come. You need to rest in the promise of God's deliverance. And say, "Lord, thank you. Thank you that the day of the Lord will not be experienced by me. But it could be experienced by others. So therefore, you need to repent of your iniquity."

Right? Let's know what the Bible says in Acts chapter 17, verse number 30: "Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent. Everywhere. Because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead."

Believe that? There's coming today, a fixed day. There's a fixed time. No one knows the day nor the hour. I had to tell people, "Do you know when Jesus is going to come again?" I said, "Yes, I do." I said, "No, you don't." I, "Nope, I do." I say, "Well, how do you know?" It says it says right here, right here, in Matthew 24, verse number 44: "For this reason you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will." That's the exact hour of Jesus' return. "And an hour which you do not know which what it is." That's the hour. When is that? I don't know. But that's the exact hour he's going to come back. But you've got to be ready.

And that leads us into 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and the model life of the believer. Remember, we told you the model life is one of abstinence in verses 1 to 8 of 1 Thessalonians 4. And the model of life is one of aspiration, verses 9 to 12. Anticipation, verses 13 to 18. But when you come to chapter 5, the model life is all about alertness. Being awake, being sober-minded.

Listen to what the Lord says in Mark's Gospel. The thirteenth chapter. He says these words: "Take heed, keep on the alert. For you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one its task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore be on the alert, for ye do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning. In case he should come suddenly and you find you asleep, what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep on the alert."

Four times, Christ says you need to be alert. I'm just not saying it to you, my disciples. I'm saying it to everybody. Because the model life is the life of alertness. And in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul says you need to be alert as to all these things that are happening. And next week, we'll go through that with you.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity you give us to spend time in your word. Please, Lord, teach us and instruct us in the way that we should go. And Lord, as we partake of the Lord's table, may we always be reminded of the day in which you judged our sin. Because of that day, we have been set free from the retribution of God upon ungodly men. For that we are grateful. In Jesus' name, amen.