Good evening, everyone. Turn,
if you would, to Psalm 48. We'll continue our study in Psalm
48. Psalm 48. We'll read verses 1 to 7 tonight. Last week we looked at verses
1 to 3. And tonight we'll be studying
verses 4 to 7. In the name of the message, Zion's
enemy is defeated. Zion's enemy is defeated. Great
is the Lord, and greatly be praised in the city of our God, in the
mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for
refuge, for lo, The kings were assembled. They passed by together. They saw it. And so they marveled. They were troubled and hasted
away. Fear took upon them there, and
pain as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of tarnish
with an east wind. So last week we started a series
on this psalm. And as I said, we looked at the
first three verses. And we considered how great our
Lord is. Because the scripture declares
right in verse one, great is the Lord. And we looked at the,
that's Jehovah, the self-existent one, and he is great. And he
is greatly to be praised, the verse continues, in the city
of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. And we looked at
how Zion is a picture of the church. Zion is a picture of
the church. A mountain of holiness, where
God's justifying righteousness and sanctifying grace is displayed. We looked at how Zion, while
being Jerusalem in the history of the Jews, was a picture of
the church. And verse 2 proclaims, beautiful
for situation, and how the New Testament church is founded upon
the rock. And that rock is Christ. Christ. And we're made beautiful being
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. In Him. In Him. And she is also the city where
God dwells. And within Zion is where God
dwells. He dwells amongst his people.
We saw that. And we know from the scripture
that where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am
I in the midst of them, our master said. He's with his people. Then we finished off looking
at how God is known in Jerusalem, verse 3. God is known in her
palaces for her refuge. and how God is known in Zion,
and how God is known in the church, he's manifested himself to his
people. He doesn't manifest himself to
everyone. He manifests himself to his elect. The world does not know the God
of Zion. The world does not know the God
of Zion. The great one who rules and reigns supreme, but Zion
The church knows him because he knows us. He knows us. He's known us from eternity.
And in the church, Zion, he's manifested himself. He's manifested
himself. And he's manifested himself to
us in Christ Jesus our Lord, who is God incarnate in the flesh. And we also looked at how God
is known in Zion for a refuge. He's the believer's only hope.
He's our refuge. He's our refuge from our sin.
He's our refuge from the law and justice of God. And only
in Christ can we stand in the presence of God, robed in His
righteousness. So He's a refuge for His people.
And He's a refuge for us during trials and tribulations. Brother
Tim and Sister Bonnie said, we're just resting in Christ. This
is what the believer does amidst trials and tribulations. And
God is knowing. He's knowing because He's made
Himself known. And remember, when God says, I never knew you,
to those folks in Matthew 7, it doesn't mean that He doesn't
know who they are. Because the Greek word there is ginoska,
right? It's an intimate relationship.
God's people are intimately known by God. And the unbeliever is
not. Now, he knows all about them,
but he doesn't have a relationship with them. He has a relationship
with his people, though, doesn't he? Those who the Father gave
to Christ in eternity, he laid down his life for his sheep.
So God is known in Zion. He's known in the church. And
He's known nowhere else, beloved. And there was a time when I didn't
know Him. Now I do. And He's the only one I want
to proclaim. My goodness. So tonight we'll look at verses
4 to 7. And as always, we pray that God the Holy Spirit will
illuminate the Scriptures, right? Because otherwise we won't learn
anything. That He will illuminate the Scriptures and teach us of
our great God and King. And here before us we see the
opposition of worldly powers right away in verse 4. The opposition
of worldly powers against the church. It says, For lo, the
kings were assembled, they passed together. This is speaking of
the kings of the earth. There's a confederation of kings
that came up against Zion. And then scripture proclaims
that they passed by together. One commentator says they fled,
they came in one way, And they fled 20 different ways. Kings
assembled. Now, we have examples of this.
Turn, if you would, to 2 Samuel 5, verse 17. We have examples of this in Scripture.
When the princes of the Philistines seek David after he's been anointed
king. And he goes into the stronghold
of Zion. He goes into the stronghold of
Zion, the city of God. Look at 2 Samuel 5.17. But when the Philistines heard
that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines
came up to seek David. And David heard of it and went
down to the hole. He went into Zion, beloved. He
went into Zion. Turn, if you would, to 2 Samuel.
Actually, let's continue here. Let's look at verses 18-21. So,
the adversaries, those who boasted that they would destroy Jerusalem,
the kings were assembled. And we see the destruction of
them, though, by the hand of the Lord. Look at verses 18-21.
The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley
of Repham. And David inquired of the Lord,
saying, Shall I go up unto the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver
them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto David,
Go up. for I will deltiless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
And David came to Baalperzim, and David smote them there, and
said, The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me as
a breach of waters. Therefore he called the name
of that place Baalperzim. And there they left their images,
and David and his men burned them." defeated by the hand of God. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
7. During the times of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, a confederation
came before him while he was in Jerusalem. Look in Isaiah
7, verse 1. And it came to pass in the days of
Ahaz, the son of Jotham, Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezan, the
king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remlah, king of Israel, went
up towards Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against
it. Could not prevail against it. Why? Because God protected
Zion. God protected Zion. And there
are some of the times and instances where kings and nations were
gathering together against Zion, against the city of Jerusalem.
The people, the Jewish people, who were typical of the church
in the Old Testament, and it was all without success. And
it was to their confusion and to their destruction. John Trapp
comments on the verse in Isaiah 7. They being the kings assembled
could do this city dear to God and secured by him no more harm
than if they had been so many wayfaring men that had passed
by it with staves in their hands. God protects his people. God
protects his people. In what comfort the church of
God, the heavenly Zion can draw from this. We are safe. And we
are watched over by the great shepherd of our souls, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He protects us and he keeps us. He protects us and he keeps us.
A shepherd watches over and if a wolf comes in or if an enemy
comes in, he runs them out. Either that or he'll kill them.
And our great God and King, when his enemies come up upon his
people, he scatters them. He scatters them. Look at verse 5, They saw it,
and so they marveled. They were troubled and hasted
away. The adversaries of Zion looked up at the city set on
the high hill, and they despaired of being able to capture it,
just as those who attacked the truth in Jesus Christ our Lord. They do not know how well garrisoned
it is. by the inipients of Jehovah.
He is absolutely, He protects His people, He protects His truth. And they would faint with fear
and give up assault if they knew who Jehovah was. Those who continue
to assault Zion, He will break in pieces, just as He broke the
ships of Tarnasch with a strong east wind, which we see in verse
7. Oh, his enemies come up before him and he just scatters them
again. When God's power is revealed in the protection of his people,
God's enemies marvel and they are troubled and they haste away. They do not marvel so much at
the city, but as they marvel at the wonderful works wrought
by God on that city's behalf. And it's true for the church,
isn't it? They don't marvel at us. They marvel at how God protects
us and keeps us. Spurgeon comments this, if they
come quickly, they went away still more quickly, hurrying
off like a band of frightened children. Turn, if you would, to 2 Kings.
2 Kings. God always protects His people.
And He turns away His enemies. They make haste. 2 Kings 19, verses 32-37. And there are some names here
I might not pronounce properly, but forgive me. 2 Kings 19, verses 32-37. Therefore thus saith the Lord
concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city,
nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor
cast a bank against it. And this is speaking of Sennacherib,
the king of Assyria. Verse 33, By the way that he
came, by the same shall he return. He shall not come into this city,
saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to
save it for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night,
look at this, that the angel of the Lord went out and smote
in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred, four score and five
thousand. God goes before his people, beloved. And when they arose in the morning,
behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria,
departed. He survived this. And went and
returned and dwelt at Nineveh. Look at what happens to him.
And it came to pass as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch,
his god, that Adremalek and Shurrezor, his son, smote him with the sword.
And they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esharhaddon,
His Son reigned in His stead. We have here not only the fulfillment of God's
promises in the salvation of His people, but also the pouring
out of His wrath upon His enemies and their utter destruction.
Their utter destruction. Our God is a sovereign God. And Sennacherib, though he saved
from the death from the angel of the Lord in the camp, was
only saved to have a more painful destruction at the hands of his
own children. At the hands of his own children.
They were his executioners. And he dies at the hands of his
own children. What a symbol we have before
us. of the divine love of God towards his people. He protects
his own. He protects his people. And let us think on this. What
a glorious display that will be. What a final sign to all
the afflictions of the church of Jesus Christ through all the
ages when he, Christ, shall come with all his holy angels to be
glorified in the saints. and to punish with swift destruction
the enemies of His church from His presence forever. Revelation 1, verses 7 and 8
says, Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see
Him. Every eye. And they also which pierced Him
in all the kingdoms of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even
so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega. The beginning
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and
which is to come, the Almighty. This is our God. This is Zion's
protector, beloved. This is Zion's defender. This is our Redeemer. He is a
great God, and greatly to be praised. And all the nations
shall wail because of him, while his people shall shout with holy
joy. Crying out, the church cries
out, even so come, Lord Jesus. Don't we? Oh, even so come, Lord. What happens to the enemies of
Zion, the enemies of God, they shall see God's mighty power
in the preserving and protecting of His church. Look at verse
6. Fear took hold upon them. Fear
took hold upon them there, and pain is of a woman in travail. Spurgeon comments on this verse.
Fear took hold upon them. They were in giant despair's
grip. And he's a character of the Pilgrim's
Progress. Well, they hope the triumph,
right? They came up against the city, probably filled with pride. Oh, we're going to get them. They come up, they hope the triumph,
and then they quiver in fear. They did not take the city, but
fear took them. Fear took a hold of them. And
Giant Despair is a character in Pilgrim's Progress who captures
Pilgrim and Hopeful and throws them into the dungeon of Doubting
Castle where he beats them mercilessly
and leaves them suffering in the cold, wet, dark dungeon.
And they are there for several days in Pilgrim's Progress. And after much prayer in Giant
Despair's dungeon, God answers their prayer and Christian remembers.
What a fool I am as I lie in this stinking dungeon. When I
may as well walk at liberty, I have a key in my bosom. I have a key in my bosom, Christian
said. Call promises. That will I am persuaded to open
any lock in Downton Castle. And Christian and hopeful escape
from doubting castle and from giant despair by using the key
of promise. And the reason they do is because
every door they come to, it opens the lock. It opens the lock. John Bunyan
comments, the writer of Pilgrim's Progress comments this, precious
promise, the promise of God and Christ are the life of faith
and the quickeners of prayer. Oh, how often we neglect great
and precious promises in Christ Jesus while doubts and despair
keep us prisoner. The key was Christ. The key of promises. The enemies of God have no such
key. And here before us, we see that they are caught in the grip
of giant despair. Look, our scripture continues,
and pain is of a woman in travail. And pain is of a woman in travail.
They were as much overcome as a woman whose fright causes premature
delivery. Full of pain as a mother in her
birth pains. And this is a strong expression
that's used by the writers of the time to express terrible
anguish. Beloved of God, let us rest and
stand in awe when the Lord arises to help His church. And He does. He does. When the proudest of foes come
against Him, they shall be as trembling women, and they shall
panic. They shall panic. And it's the beginning of their
eternal defeat. Not just their defeat in this
life, but their eternal defeat. Now, John, you were in the Navy,
and I was reading this about the army, and they said panic
will cause an army to scatter so bad sometimes that no leader
can rally them. And no leader can guard against
terror. He doesn't know when it's going
to happen. He's hoping it doesn't happen. It's like the Romans.
The Romans would put the veteran legions on the flanks. Because if one of the flanks
caved, it was over. So to be put on the flanks, as
a Roman legion, to be put on the flanks was a great honor. A great honor. But boy, if one
of them flanks fell, there was utter panic. Utter panic. And panic, again, will cause
an army to scatter. And think of this, you who made
the ears of men can make them tingle in fear. He can make them
tingle in fear. He who holds the winds in his
hands can make them whisper, alarm, or roar dismay, and man's
own conscience can act against them. Job 15.21 says this, and
turn if you would, turn if you would to 2 Kings chapter 7. And I'll read Job 15.21 which
says, A dreadful sound is in his ears. In posterity the destroyer
shall come upon him. We see this happen in 2 Kings
7, when a Syrian host has come up against Samaria. 2 Kings 7,
verses 1-9. Then Eliza said, Hear ye the
word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow
about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel,
and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.
Then a Lord, on whose hand a king leaned, answered the man of God
and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in the heaven,
might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see
it with thine own eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. And there were
four leprous men at the entering in of the gate. And they said
one to another, Why sit we here until we die? Now the city, it
was under siege. It was under siege. And these
four lepers said, why do we sit here until we die? If we say
we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city
and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now, therefore, come and let
us fall into the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive,
we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall
but die. Well, they figured, well, we're going to starve in
the city. We may as well go out to the Syrians. They have food.
And their lepers, they know they've already got a death sentence,
right? Look at this in verse 5. And they rose up in the twilight
to go into the camp of the Syrians. And when they were come to the
uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man
there. It was empty. For the Lord had made the hosts
of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and of a noise of
horses, even the noise of a great host. And they said one to another,
Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us. What happened? Great fear came upon them, beloved,
and they trembled, they trembled. Wherefore, they arose and fled
in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and
their asses, and even the camp as it was, and fled for their
life. And I found this a little comical
in verse 8, part of this. Look at this. And when these
lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into
one tent and did eat and drink. Everyone in the city is starving.
They're eating, drinking. and carried then silver and gold
and remnant like this and went and hid it. So they took a bunch
of silver and gold and they went and hid it. They went and hid
it. And entered into another tent
and carried then away and they went and hid it. Then said they one to another,
we do not well. This day is a day of good tidings,
and we hold our peace. If we tarry till the morning
light, some mischief will come upon us. Now therefore come,
that we may go and tell the king's household. And they went and
told them what had happened. But do you see what happened? The
Lord made a noise of chariots and a noise of horses and the
noise of a great host. And they weren't there. But see,
this is our God defending his people, protecting his people. And the Syrians, they fled. They
fled. Now, let us remember this. And
do you see, and take notice. that Elijah told
them that this was going to happen. So what's a lesson for us there?
A lesson for us is what God says is going to come to pass is going
to come to pass. What God decrees is going to
happen. He came to this world, Christ
came to this world, why? To save his people from their
sins. And what did he do? He's done it. He redeemed his
people on Calvary's cross. He paid everything for every
one of his elect, every one of his sheep, everything that God
demanded, he paid in full. It is finished. And he rose from
the grave to show that God again, and I know we say this all the
time, but this is magnificent for the believer. to show that
God is satisfied. Now think of that. Nothing that
you and I can do, nothing that we can do can satisfy God. Nothing. But God is absolutely satisfied
with the sacrifice of Christ in our place. It's incredible. I hope we never get over it.
And I don't think we will, because even in glory we're saying unto
Him. Unto Him who washed us with His own precious blood. All the glory goes to Him. Not
only here on earth, but in glory. All the saints in glory are praising
God for what He's done for them. Let's look at our last verse
tonight. Thou breakest the ships of tarnish with an east wind.
Here we see before us the completeness. Now think of this. I was looking
at this verse going, what? But one of the commentators brought
this out. Here before us we see the completeness of the overthrow
of the enemies of God. It's an absolute overthrow. We
see the completeness of the overthrow of the enemies of God. And the enemies of God are also
the enemies of God's people. Think of this, as easy as a ship
is driven to shipwreck, God overturns his most powerful adversaries.
They're nothing to him. They're nothing to him. He breaks them to pieces. And
as I was reading this, I was thinking about the old ships
in those days, you know. And when those ships hit the rocks,
there was nothing left. There was pieces of wood floating
in the water and men clinging to them, clinging to them. So we see here the completeness
of the overthrow of God's enemies. People shake their fist at God.
My goodness. I'm just thankful he had mercy
on me and on you who believe because we see his enemies will
be overthrown. I remember popping off. Oh, I'm
so thankful he had mercy on me. Oh my. And I hear people all
the time pop off about God and say things and they have no clue.
They don't understand. We were talking today about how
this, back in the day there was this, you see those stickers,
no fear. No fear, right? There's no fear of God. But there
will be. When they stand in the presence
of the Almighty God, it'll be too late then, won't it? Oh, I fear God. Do you? I have a reverent fear for Him.
Not a slavish fear, but a reverent fear. He's Almighty. He's Sovereign. He's in absolute control. He's
not a God that's preached from some pulpits that's at your will.
That's not the God of the Bible. We're at His will. He can save whomever He's pleased
to save. And He will save His people. He has saved His people from
their sins. And He will draw His people in.
There's no doubt. And his enemies are scattered.
The enemies of God and the enemies of God's people are scattered
by the almighty power of God. And the church's strength is
not in herself. Not at all. My strength is not
in me. I ask you, believers, do you
strengthen yourself? No! Our strength is in our Almighty
Sovereign God and King, in our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the King of the universe,
and He's our defense. He's our shield. He's our protector. He saves
us. He keeps us. And one day He'll
present us before the Father. Sinners presented blameless,
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He's Alpha and Omega
to us, the beginning and the end. In the enemies of God, look
at our text here, Thou breakest the ships of Tarnet, tarnished
with an east wind. The enemies of God are carried
away with an east wind. One commentator said this. In
Judea, the east wind is a destructive wind. It's a destructive wind. Who knows the power of God's
anger? No one. But we know this. We know this. It was poured out
upon Christ for my sins. And if you're a believer for
your sins, it was poured out upon Him as a sinner's substitute. Our sins were imputed to Him. And God's wrath was poured out
upon Him. And He bore it all. What wonderful words. It is finished. What a redemption we have, beloved.
What a redemption we have in Christ Jesus, our Lord. What
a Savior. What a Redeemer our Lord is.
He saves us from all our sins. Tonight we've seen before us
the stress of God's foes, the enemies of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We've seen them in strong images
as of a woman in travail, the pains of a woman in travail. Willing to flee from the sorrow
but unable. In the case of the ships upon
the water whose size and strength became as nothing. became as nothing before the
violence of the winds and the waves. And who commands the winds
and the waves? The great protector of Zion,
Jehovah. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
21. Matthew 21. All the foes, all the foes will come to this point. They
shall be... Zion will fall upon them like a stone. Matthew 21, verses 33 to 46.
Hear another parable, verse 33. There was a certain householder
which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged
a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen,
and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit
drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they
might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants,
and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he
sent other servants, more than the first. And they did unto
them likewise. But last of all, he sent unto
them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the
husbandmen saw the sons, they said among themselves, This is
the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let
us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast
him out of the vineyard, and slew him. They say unto him,
He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out
His vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render Him the fruits
in their season. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye
never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders
rejected? The same has become the head
of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and
it is marvellous in our eyes. Therefore I say unto you, The
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation,
bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall upon
this stone shall be broken. And that stone is Christ. But
on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and
the Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake
of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared
the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. Now Christ
is a stone of stumbling to his enemies. He's a stone of stumbling
to his enemies. He's a rock of offense to them.
But try as they might to destroy him or his church. Try as they might. It's to their
own destruction. It's to their own destruction.
And it brings no harm to him or his people. One commentator was talking about
just as we stumble on the stone, you're walking along and you
stumble on the stone, right? It doesn't do any harm to the
stone, does it? But if we fall, it does harm
to us. That's what they're talking about. And as the stone is stumbling
on the rock of fence, even to them which stumble at his word,
being disobedient, also they were appointed. Christ is a stumbling stone to the unbelievers. But we're
a chosen generation. We saw that today, aren't we?
We are. A royal priesthood, a holy nation. That we should show forth the
praise of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. There was a time when we weren't
a people. We didn't know God. He always knew us. He's given
his people to Christ in eternity. We know that. But we didn't know
God. He's revealed himself to us. Which in times past were not
a people, but now the people of God, which had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy. If you're saved, rejoice. You've
obtained mercy, and you didn't deserve it. We saw that this
morning, right? Undeserved mercy. Unmerited mercy. Grace given to us as a gift.
And all we are is receivers. That's all. God saves whom he
wills, when he wills. Salvation's of the Lord. It's
not by our works. It's by what he's done. So sinner
friend, tremble. Tremble if his wrath be kindled
but a little. And woe to his enemies. Woe to
the enemies of God. If he falls upon them with his
whole weight, here crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. So we've seen tonight in verse
4 various kings who have come up against the Zion and were
utterly defeated. In verse 5, They were troubled
at the power and might of the Lord in defending his people.
And fear took a hold of them, and pain as a woman in travail. And finally, how God's enemies
are destroyed when they come against the Lord and when they
come against his people. And they're destroyed as easily
as when a ship wrecks against rocks in a storm. If you're saved, rejoice. You
have a great protector. You have a great defender. And think, when them shepherds,
like I said, those shepherds, they would protect those sheep.
And they say that some of them shepherds give their lives for
those sheep. Well, Christ gave his life for
his sheep, didn't he? He didn't die for the whole world.
But he died for his people. He died for his sheep. I don't
know who they are. Therefore, I preach the gospel
and God does the same. And we rejoice, don't we? We
rejoice when the Lord calls the name of one of his sheep, one
of his lost sheep. We rejoice. Think of this. God's enemies can no more stand
before him than a glass bottle before a cannon being shot. Think
of you, you get one of them old cannons they used in the Civil
War. You put a glass bottle in front of that cannon, and you
shoot that cannon, that glass is going to evaporate. It's going
to evaporate right before your eyes. That's what happens to God's
enemies. And this is Zion's God in our
text. And as verse 1 says, Great is the Lord, Great is the Lord,
and greatly to be praised. And Zion, we seek to praise Him,
don't we? We seek to praise Him. He's had
mercy on us. We don't get what we deserve.
We deserve wrath. But it's being poured out upon
Christ as our substitute. Mercy, beloved. What mercy. What grace. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we come before Thee in awe again of what You've done
for us. You are a great God and greatly
to be praised. And You are praised in Zion.
You make Yourself known amongst Your people. And we thank You,
we who believe, we who are saved and redeemed by Your precious
blood, that You revealed Yourself to us We never would have known
you. We never would have seeked you.
But you sought us, just as the shepherd does the lost sheep.
And we are so thankful. And we'll give you all the glory
and honor and praise. And one day, we'll behold you
in glory, not because of anything we've done, but all because of
what you've done for us. Oh, Lord, we love you and praise
you. In Jesus' name, amen.