Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to Luke
chapter 17. And we read for our text the
latter part of verse 5. That is the petition of the apostles
to our Lord, increase our faith. The whole verse reads, and the
apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. Well, if faith is to be increased,
we need to know what it is first. And faith and trust are very
similar things. They're not the same, but similar. You children, you would trust
in your parents, trust them to feed you, to look after you,
to take care of you, that you can see them, and you know from
past experience that they will do those things for you. But when it comes to God, we
cannot see God, and so we need faith to be able to see Him who
is not seen, and to believe in Him, and to believe in His Word,
and faith comes to us through His Word, and then we do experience
His blessings, and we trust Him because of what He has done for
us before. Now the apostles here had been
with the Lord, they could see the Lord, but there are many
about the Lord Jesus that all they saw was Jesus of Nazareth,
the carpenter's son. So even though they could see
Him physically, They still needed faith to be able to believe that
this was the eternal Son of God, this was the Messiah, this was
the Christ. And there's another aspect of
the reason why the apostles were asking for their faith to be
increased. They had tried in a similar passage
when the Lord came down from the mount to heal a man's son
who's cast into the water and the fire, and they couldn't do
it. And they asked the Lord, why could we not do it? And he says, because of your
unbelief. Well, it is also then put here
that if they had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say
unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, be thou
planted in the seed, and it should obey you, the lack of faith. And yet later on, really, this
prayer was answered when our Lord rose from the dead and ascended,
and really a double portion of his spirit rested upon the disciples. Then they spoke boldly, fearlessly,
and then they did miracles as well in the name of the Lord.
raising the dead and healing those that were sick. So the
Lord did give them, when he rose from the dead, like Elisha had
from Elijah, a double portion of his spirit. They saw the Lord
ascend, and the Lord granted that to them. Not only that,
but their ministry was blessed to thousands. On the day of Pentecost,
3,000 were brought to believe. we think of how faith is actually
described in the Word of God and the definition in Hebrews
11, that great chapter of faith, faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And then we read, but
without faith it is impossible to please Him, that is to please
God, For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So the disciples here had this
petition, the apostles, and if they had this petition, how much
more should we also have this petition? I wonder how many of
us, when was the last time we asked the Lord, and I say this
to myself as well, I ask the Lord, Lord, increase my faith,
or increase our faith, realizing that there is a big effect. If our faith is small, it affects
us in our lives and all that we do, and that we, as well as
them, need our faith increased. I want to look this morning at
four points. Firstly, again, more closely
look at what is faith, And then secondly, the degrees of faith,
the very fact that they're asking to increase. It suggests there
are degrees in the strength of faith or amount of faith that
one has. And then thirdly, the means used
to increase faith. And then lastly, how faith and
its increase is actually evidenced. It's very necessary if we have
a petition like this, that then we're mindful, how is the Lord
going to answer it? We read of the account here in
this passage of the 10 lepers that were healed, and they all
were healed, but one took knowledge of it. He realized that he was
healed, and therefore he returned to give glory to God. It's one
thing. to ask for something, it's another
thing to realize, and especially in a spiritual way, the Lord
has given me my petition, and then return to God and give thanks
for it. There's a beauty in giving thanks
for spiritual blessings as well as for physical blessings to
us in our lives. So I want to look then firstly
at what is faith. read just a couple of verses
from Hebrews 11, making it very clear that faith is that evidence
of things not seen, and how vital it is. Without faith, impossible
to please God. Throughout Hebrews, we see the,
Hebrews 11, we see the effect of faith. and many of those are
gone before us. But as well as looking at that
effect, we would remember the last verses of that chapter,
because it says that these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise, God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect. So on one hand, we have faith
that deals with the things like building the ark, like Abraham
leaving his country, but running right through it all, the faith
was looking to the promised Messiah, it was looking to Christ. And
whatever we might have faith in as temporal things and things
in our lives, if we do not have that faith centering on Christ,
on what He has done, in our case, for them, what He would do, and
looking to the Lord for those blessings that we so need. And so, in that Hebrews 11, not
only does it give the evidences of faith as individual, not everyone
built an ark, for instance, but it also gives you, in verses
13 to 16, a summary of how faith affected those that had it. As a general thing, these all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them
afar off. There is faith, seeing promises
afar off, were persuaded of them and embraced them, and they confessed
that they are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. I do like that,
that double side of faith is not only looking to what is coming,
But it's looking at the things on earth and saying, these are
vanity, these are empty, these are not things that shall abide. And faith is then working on
both sides. The world cannot see the emptiness. He's putting his trust in riches,
in the things of this world, but those who have the faith
of God, they're seeing in that, that which passes away. So it's
the two sides, and that is what is put here in verse 13. And
for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek
a country. And so joined together, those
who are saying they're strangers and pilgrims here are declaring
plainly they're seeking a country to come. They're walking through
this world. They're traveling through it.
They have a hope beyond it. And so it's not just saying I
have a hope of heaven and then living as if this world was all
our rest and everything. It is living as if This world
is not our rest, it is polluted, and that in itself is a testimony. We're looking for that which
is to come. If we think that this world is all there is, I
know for myself, I would have, like lots of people do, a bucket
list. I'd want to fulfill this and
this and do this and this and make the most of my life and
get the most out of the world as I could, because that's all
there was. And for those that have not Christ,
this is the best that they'll ever have. This is the only,
one might say, heaven they'll ever have. After death, then
there's hell, then there's banishment, then there's the wrath of God.
But when faith comes, it's not craving all of these things of
earth, because it knows they will pass away as vanity, but
the true treasure is above, and it's looking above. And this
is what faith is, and the more clearly, the more stronger faith
we have, the less we'll view of earth, and the more clear
we have of heaven. And so it goes on, truly, if
they had been mindful of that country, whence they had came
out, they might have had opportunity to have returned, but now they
desire a better country, that isn't heavenly. Wherefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for
them a city." For everyone that has faith, that is walking, as
it were, for heaven and not for this world, the world is always
there. And there are countless of solemn
characters, even amongst our churches, that have begun to
walk in the ways of the Lord, and then they've turned back.
The world is still there. The world is still beckoning
them. and they go to it, they turn back. Demas, said Paul,
hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. And so we
ought not to think it a small thing, that where faith is given,
it is a constant hedge against a world that is still there,
is still pulling, is still attractive to our old nature. We need that
faith. Now, the disciples asking the
Lord at this time, increase Our faith. Lord, increase our faith. It implies several things. One
is that faith is not of a man's self. It doesn't come inwardly. He doesn't have it as part of
his nature. Also, it is not produced by man's
free will or power. He cannot say, I see in the word
of God that I should have faith. I'm going to have faith. I'm
going to trust in this, I'm going to work this out, I'm going to
manufacture it. No, the very asking of the apostles
is implying this is not so, and also is implying that it is the
gift of God. The Lord Jesus Christ was able
to give it. They were not asking for something
that he could not give. In Ephesians we read that, by
grace ye are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, It
is the gift of God. And we're told in Hebrews 12,
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of faith. When faith is given, it's the
new birth. The Lord is the author, beginner
of it. And when we die, then there's
no faith beyond the grave, we see. Paul says, then shall we
know even as we are known. And yet here below, we need faith
and faith will be right to our dying day. And then also it's
not in man to increase or add to it. If the Lord is the author
of it, He gives it to us, He doesn't say, well, here is faith,
now it's up to you. You increase it, you build it
up. No, the apostles, they're coming
to the Lord and asking Him, increase our faith. And so, if this was
then the Apostle's petition, how much more should that be
our petition? And when we see what faith is
in Hebrews, and then what is implied here, and how vital it
is without it, we cannot please God, we must believe that He
is. Then, may we really pray this
prayer. So I want to look then secondly
at degrees of faith. Our Lord in his ministry, he
was speaking of those that are careful, troubled about many
things, and wherewithal shall we be clothed and what shall
we eat. And he says to them, O ye of little faith, if God
so clothed the field and the feed the fowls of the air, how
much more shall he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And so he associates that little
faith is the anxiousness and cares, a burden. What shall we
eat? What shall we be clothed with? We think of Peter when the Lord
walked across the sea and he came to the boat and Peter said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me to come unto thee across the sea. And the Lord said, come. So he
went down out of the boat, and he began to walk to the Lord. And then he saw the winds and
the waves, and he began to sing. And the Lord put forth his hand
and took him and said, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt? So again, you have a little faith
as those that are doubting. And if we are like that, if we
are troubled and careful, anxious, if we are doubting what the Lord
has said, and we're struggling in that way, the Lord doesn't
say you don't have any faith. The Lord says you have little
faith. But if we have faith, and the
Lord is the author of it, what an encouragement. I always love
that chapter in Romans 5. If while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. How much more being reconciled,
we shall be saved through His life. How much more, if the Lord
has given us faith in any measure, how much more shall He then increase
it? How much more can we pray this
prayer, Lord, increase our faith? Rather than being discouraged
and disheartened and dismayed because of what things we've
said or done and the troubles of our heart, may this prayer
be put in our hearts to increase our faith. We read in this chapter,
we finished our reading, where the Samaritan, the leper that
was healed, and the Lord said unto him, Arise, go thy way,
thy faith hath made thee whole. The effect of his faith had an
effect that the word of the Lord was then used to heal him. And
is the Lord saying this? We have again the case of the
woman of Canaan. The Lord gave her faith and he
tried her faith. May we just remember this. Peter
says, the trial of your faith being much more precious than
gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, shall be
found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of the
Lord. But that woman, she was much, put off, she was tried. The Lord said, it is, I've not
come but from the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It is
not meat that I give, the children's bread to dogs. But she kept coming
back all the time. Yea, Lord, but the dogs eat of
the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And the Lord
commended her. Woman, great is thy faith. Be
it unto thee as thy will. Her daughter was healed from
that hour. And that which is the Lord saying
is on the other side, not little now, this is great faith. And the great faith was evidenced
by a condition that she knew none but the Lord would heal,
could heal. And the pressing case, not of
her own illness, this was a daughter. This was another's case that
was weighing upon her and brought her to the Lord. Maybe think
of this, the Lord uses those trials that may not be in our
own body, but those of our children, those of our loved ones, to bring
us to have blessings ourselves. And that faith evidenced by not
taking no for an answer, by not being put off. Dear friends,
don't be put off. May we be strengthened, may faith
be strengthened through these accounts like this to realise
these are those that Lord says is great faith because they keep
coming and they won't be deterred. Do not be deterred. Keep coming. And then we think of the case
that we read in Luke 7, which the Lord commended as that he
had not seen in all Israel. This is the centurion. The centurion, he had men that
were under him, servants, soldiers. and he said to one, go, and he
goes, and come, and he comes, he could see the Lord was also
in authority. He had the authority to say to
one, come, and he comes, and go, and he goes. And the faith
of that centurion, it went from his own position to God. Many of us, we have, you might
say, the centurion, that was his employment, that was his
job. For many, many years, I was a design engineer, mechanical
design engineer. I can go from that and think,
I designed those machines. I grew them up. The machines
I had in my mind, I pictured how it would look and how it
would work. And I put it on paper, and it was built. And there was
the end result. If I can do that, how much more
can God design, and God cause it to be done, and God cause
it to be made as well, And so my own employment actually is
helping and aiding my faith. And this is what the centurion,
he goes from what he's observed in his own position. We're told
in Romans 1 that men are without excuse because of the creation,
because of how we are made. Because we are made in God's
image. We've got a reasonable mind,
reasonable soul. We are in dominion over the beasts
of the field. Under God, we have dominion in
the world. And we're not to think, well,
if we have all of this, no one made us. No one is over dominion
over us. But we are to think there is
a greater creator. There is one to have dominion
over us. And so the centurion is a very
good example of how God will use translating from the place
that he's put us in our employment or in our lives, something that
we can see, and then translating that and seeing the Lord Jesus
Christ is greater than this. And this centurion, those around
him, lifted him up on a pedestal, he was a great man, he was worthy
of the lips. His own estimation of himself,
I am not worthy, another mark of great faith. I am not worthy,
thou art worthy. The very high esteem that he
had of the Lord Jesus Christ, not seeing him as Jesus of Nazareth,
but seeing him as the eternal son of God, have heaven and earth
at his command. He can command and it shall be
done. And so we think of the effects
of faith. You think of the faith of the publican, God be merciful to
me a sinner. Then you go from that to the
Apostle Paul in Romans, the spirit bearing witness with our spirit
that we are the sons of God. a great difference, a real assurance
of faith. Our own articles of faith, and
our last article, it speaks of degrees of faith. We believe that there are various
degrees of faith, a little faith and great faith. That when a
man is quickened by the Blessed Spirit, he has faith given him
to know and feel that he is a sinner against God, and that without
a Saviour he must sink in black despair. And we further believe
that such a man will be made to cry for mercy, to mourn over
and on account of his sins, and be made to feel that he has no
righteousness of his own, to hunger and thirst after Christ's
righteousness. being led on by the Spirit until,
in the full assurance of faith, he has the Spirit's witness in
his heart that his sins are forever put away. But that the faith
is the same in nature as is imparted in its first awakenings, though
now grown to the full assurance thereof. So reads the Article
34 of our articles, the Cosmos Standard articles of faith. Regarding providential things
as well in our lives, there's many things that faith does play
a part in, especially where the Lord has given a promise. We're waiting upon him for it,
to fulfil it, to go before us. It's faith that enables us to
wait and believe it will be brought to pass. And when faith is given
by God, it is so strong. And one time that he especially
gave it to me, it was so strong when we had been waiting for
many months, praying that the house that we had, or the house
that I lived in before we were married, and then we married
and went to that home in Australia, and there was a great reason
why we wanted that sold. to fulfil their promise. But
there was no sign at all that it would sell. Month after month
went by, and prayers were urgent that the Lord would appear. And
then one Saturday, I'm preparing for the services, and it was
reading services, I was taking it at that time, I wasn't in
the ministry. And the Lord came, and so blessed my soul, and gave
me faith, and I said to my dear wife, the house is sold. The
Lord has appeared, the house is sold. And as yet, there was
not a buy in sight. I still remember the absolute
certainty that it was so. On the Monday, the estate agent
brought someone round, and by the Thursday, it was settled
and done. The house was sold. And I remember
that strong faith that I had. I cannot work that up. I cannot. I've never been able to replicate
it. I've never had another time.
I felt it so strong like that. And another time, perhaps as
strong, I can remember sitting in our home here and feeling
if the Lord took me at that time by death, I would be in heaven.
But it was only a few moments, a short time of real assurance. A dear minister of the gospel
in New Zealand, now in glory, when I asked him once about assurance,
he said, have you got assurance? Don't look for it 10 minutes
later. And what he meant was that we're
not one minute a Christian and one minute not. But the strong
faith of assurance, it doesn't last for long. The hymn writer
says, sweep the moments rich in blessing that before the cross
I spend. But in one sense, though that
is strong faith to have such a clear without any doubts for
a moment, in another sense, a stronger faith is when all things seem
to go against us, we're labouring against sin and temptations and
trials, and yet we still keep on, we still trust, we still
believe. In one sense, that is a stronger
faith. It lives and labours under load,
though damned, it never dies. I want to look then at our third
point, as the means used to increase faith. The disciples here ask the Lord,
increase our faith. How was the Lord going to answer
it? He could, without any means whatsoever,
just give them an increase of faith. The Lord does not need
to use means, but very often he does use means. And we think of How it is set
forth before us in Romans 10, the Apostle is very clear there
as to where faith comes. He says, so then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And in the verses
prior, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, that bring
glad tidings of good things. Faith cometh by hearing. As we
read the word of God, the Lord gives faith. It's, in a way,
it's a loop thing, isn't it? Because we're told in another
place, the Word did not profit them because it was not mixed
with faith in them that heard it. We need faith to profit from
the Word, but we have given faith through the Word and with the
Lord in every way. These things are not impossible
with Him, how He uses the means as well. So with the Word, it
is the written Word, it is the preached Word, it is our own
experience. The hymn writer says, He that
has helped me hitherto, he shall help me all my journey
through. It is raising an Ebenezer hitherto,
hath the Lord helped us. And often a review of those things
the Lord has done increases and strengthens faith. That's why
in many of the psalms, the psalmist is going over the things that
the Lord has done for them. We're to remember, the children
of Israel, we're to remember the Passover, they were to observe
it, and it was to strengthen their faith. They were not to
forget what the Lord had done in Egypt, or what the Lord had
done at Red Sea, all that the Lord had done at Jordan, and
it was to strengthen their faith. In the New Testament church,
we have the baptism and ordinance of the Lord, given by the Lord,
the Lord's Supper, to strengthen faith so that we never forget. We show forth the Lord's death.
We remember what He has done. We remember what our faith is
centred upon. The Lord has finished the work.
He has paid the debt. He has suffered in our place.
And these things, if I be lifted up above the earth, will draw
all men unto me." The Lord uses these specific things. And in our experience, we have
those things that have been real strengthening to faith. It's
also the testimony of others. Some of us may remember our parents,
grandparents perhaps, and what their testimony had been, what
their life has been. And sometimes we might get really
tried concerning ourselves, or the devil might ridicule the
religion, the existence of God, and anything, and then God brings
to remembrance that loved one. And we hear their prayers, we
see their deathbed, we see how they lived, how they died, and
the sense of reality, what they had, and their faith, is a real
strength to us. Another means is the creation
itself. All what the Lord has done round
about. If the Lord has given us faith,
one of the things will be that we believe in the creation. The
very third verse in Hebrews 11. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which
are seen were not made of things which do appear. So if through
faith we understand that, when we then see the creation, and
we see it with eyes, believing eyes, see it with those that
see the Lord in it, that every time we see it, it strengthens
faith. I particularly feel it so. I feel it so, especially
in springtime, when I see the dry sticks and everything all
springing up into life, the resurrection, The faith in the resurrection
of God, when you see the daffodils, the bluebells, you see all these
that were just a bulb, just a seed of no beauty, and suddenly it's
the same thing. It's still a bluebell, it's still
a daffodil, but in all its glory and beauty, that's what the resurrection's
gonna be like. And though this outward man perishes,
will die, be buried, yet Job says, in my flesh shall I see
God, but not like an old man, brought down to the grave, but
in the prime, like we are in our thirties, like the Lord was,
in full stature, in full strength, that's how we shall be in heaven. I'm sure that that's how the
Word sets it forth before us. And so the Lord uses these means,
and may we be pleased to use those means to this end, when
we pray this prayer, Lord, increase our faith, May it be that we
are asking the Lord and using the means as well. When we come
into the house of God, when we look at the creation, Lord increase,
increase by faith. I want to look then lastly at
how faith and its increase, how it would be evidenced, how we
would actually recognize it. will be evidenced by belief in
God, not limiting Him. The children of Israel, when
they came to the Promised Land the first time, they limited
the Holy One of Israel, the Lord on whose hand the king leaned
in the time of the famine in Samaria. When the prophet prophesied
it, he said, if the Lord would open windows in heaven, might
this be? As if he would say, There must
be a miracle from heaven. God cannot work this with a natural
means. He cannot use means. But the
Lord did use means, and they had the Syrians flee and leave
all their victuals, and that's what fed them all. The Lord is
not confined to just miracles. He can use means, and they are
miracles, how it is brought about. So faith will be evidenced by
that belief in the Lord and a trust in him, implicit trust in the
word of God. Now sometimes men will, and even
good men, will, as if they think that they're wiser than the word
of God. One of our articles of faith,
it says that the invitations to the gospel are to characters. It's not just an invitation to
all. So we have the invitation that
whosoever thirsteth, let him come to the waters, let him drink.
And it is to those that thirst. And one used an example to me
years ago. He said, in the gospel standard,
you limit these invitations. He said, if there was a race,
and runners were all running past, and you set up a stool,
and you put a note on it, and said, water. He said, anyone
would think that they can now come and take that water. But
if you put it, if you're thirsty, here's some water, you're restricting
it. And people would stop and think,
I'm not thirsty enough, so now I'm going to pass on. It sounds
very plausible, but it's not what the word of God says. The
word of God says, no, it is for the thirsty. And because it will
be those that are thirsty, that will need to be encouraged to
take that water because they feel their sinnership, they feel
their need. But when it has their stamp on
it, actually their character on it, that encourages them. The word of God is to encourage
God's people, not the goats, but the sheep, those that are
convicted of sin, those that have need. But faith, it says,
I would rather trust in the word of God than my own. I've spoken
to Jehovah's Witnesses in the town here and they ridicule the
idea of the Trinity. They said it's against common
sense, it's impossible, it cannot be. And they're arguing it from
that kind of way instead of from the Word of God that clearly
sets forth three persons in triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Another evidence of it will be
the fear of the Lord, the reality, thou God seest me. Faith bring
the invisible God to be so much toward us as if he was here. The Lord has promised to be with
two or three gathered together in his name. We cannot see him,
but when we have real faith, we will believe that he is here.
The Lord is in our midst. We think of David fearing when
the Lord struck Uzzah, and the people fearing when Ananias and
Sapphira were struck dead. It didn't stop them from worshipping,
from following the Lord, but it took away all the lightness,
all the worldliness and frivolity. God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints, to be had in reverence of all them
that are about him, and faith will evidence that. It will affect
what we do. It will affect our actions as
well. In Hebrews 11, we said, what
did it do with Noah? He built an ark. No sign of water. He's building it on the ground,
and yet his faith resulted in him building that. James, he
sets forth, if you have faith without works, that's dead. True
faith is joined with works. If you see someone hungry or
thirsty, And you say to them, well, go and be warm, be fed,
have a drink, but don't give them those things. What does
it profit them? That is not the evidence of faith.
Real faith will provide those things. Abraham didn't stay in
his place and say, I believe that if I take Isaac and I offer
him up on the altar, God will raise him from the dead. And
he just stayed where he was. He didn't go. He didn't. He went. He offered him up. And that is
evidence of faith, that it will result in actions. We won't just
say and not do. We won't just be hearers of the
Word only, but we'll also be doers of the Word. Also it will
result in endurance, in trials, in disappointments. Faith will
still keep going on. It won't just say we're going
to serve God when everything goes smoothly, but it will Great
tribulation, persecutions still endure. We have Job in that way. Greatly tried, yet though he
slay me, yet will I trust in him. What is that trust? But
faith in the Lord. He cannot see his way. He doesn't
know what he's doing. He cannot understand where he
is. But faith believes that the Lord will do that which is right. I can trust him, even though
I cannot see and understand that is the effect of an increase
of faith. Then we have the account of the
leper. The leper coming and giving thanks. An evidence of an increase of
faith. We'll suddenly see many things
that we give thanks for that we wouldn't otherwise have seen. The world, they take for granted
so many things. And we do often as well. But
may it be that we're able to see, Lord thou has given me faith.
does increase my faith. I see that the blessings I've
asked for have been given, and I'm going to return thanks for
those givings. How did the leper do it? He returned to the Lord to give
thanks. May we give thanks. Give thanks
in prayer. Give thanks amongst the people
of God. Come and hear all ye that fear
God. I will tell you what he had done for my soul. give thanks
in obedience in walking in the ordinances of his house. There
will be an effect. When we pray a prayer and pray
like this, we're really asking for those blessings that the
Lord is able to give and blessings that through the word we can
know, that we can identify. This blessing has come from the
Lord. As much as Hannah could say,
For this child I prayed and the Lord hath given me my petition.
So it is for spiritual blessings and all that comes with them.
You may say the Lord has increased my faith. The Apostle said unto
the Lord, increase our faith. May we go away with the prayer
this morning, or may we go away. with an answer to prayer, realising
the Lord has answered our prayers, and up to this time we haven't
discerned it, haven't realised it. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.