Seeking the Lord's help once
again, I would like us to turn to the chapter that we read together,
1 Samuel chapter 2, and the text you'll find in verse 30. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel
saith, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father
should walk before me forever. But now the Lord saith, be it
far from me. for them that honour me I will
honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. You'll remember that a few weeks
ago I think we looked at the chastening hand of the Lord and
how he disciplines his own children and he does so in love. He looks
upon them and sees them in their error, sees them in need of correction
and disciplines them. He has many rods in which he
can use to bring them back to himself or to reveal to them
their back-sidden state or their sin that they have entered into
and he chastens them and sets them back onto that correct pathway
and we know that what he does, he does in love for their good,
not to destroy them but to bring them back and what we have had
in our reading is the consequences of undisciplined children with
Hophni and Phineas. Samuel left them in the office,
in the temple. He slightly rebuked them, but
he could have used a greater A greater rot, we could say.
He could have used greater measures instead of just speaking to them
and almost sighing and saying, come on, my boys, pull yourselves
together. This shouldn't be so. He could
have used other means to stop them from their sinful behavior,
but he did not. And so it was left to God to
come and intervene in a great way, a way of judgment that brought
shame upon the whole nation of Israel, which brought shame upon
the whole family of Eli, and great consequences for the children
of Israel as the Ark of the Covenant was taken away by the Philistines. And so there are consequences
to sin and there are consequences to lack of discipline in the
lives of children. Those children who are left to
do as they please without correction, they go astray. There is no reckoning. There is no bringing back. They're
just left to do as they want. And the same as this Hophni and
Phineas. They abused the sacrifices of
God. so much so that the people of
God who were coming to the temple also coming to the tabernacle
also despised the offerings of the Lord because they knew that
it was just being abused there was nothing serious going on. And so it brought greater consequences
to not only to the household of Eli but also to the nation
of Israel. And so our behaviour, how we
behave as believers also has greater consequences, as consequences
in our own lives, as consequences in the lives of others. And so
it spreads. As we looked at this morning
that the life of a believer is to glorify God. It is a life
that is to honour God, a life that is to shine as a light in
a dark place and in doing so we bring glory to God and in
the opposite way when a believer acts in a contrary way to the
scripture or walks in rebellion to God or walks in a sinful lifestyle,
that brings shame on the name of the Lord. And so that is what
took place with Eli and his children. They brought shame on the name
of the Lord and they were punished because of what they did. But
really the text almost sets before us the great contrast of what
is going on in the chapter. We have Hannah who we would remember
wasn't able to have any children. and she was mocked by her fellow
wife that she couldn't have any children and she comes to the
Lord and asks the Lord to intervene on her behalf that she may have
a child and she promises the Lord that if she is granted a
child she would lend him to the Lord, she would give him back
to God As she goes to the temple in prayer, Eli thought that she
was drunk, but she says, no, no, my lord, I am a woman of
a sorrowful spirit. I have not drunk wine, neither
strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.
Can not thy handmaid, for a daughter of Baal, for out of the abundance
of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto? Then Eli answered
and said, Go in peace. And the God of Israel granted
thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, let thine
handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and
did eat and her countenance was no more sad. And we know that
the Lord blessed her with a child and she honoured God. She honoured her vow that she
had made to the Lord. And she takes little Samuel and
she brings him after she had weaned him. She brings him to
the temple and she gives him to the Lord. She says, therefore
also I have lent him unto the Lord as long as he lives he shall
be lent unto the Lord and he worshipped the Lord there. And
then she begins to give this song of praise regarding the
greatness of God. And so we have this contrast
of this lady who was unable to have children and God blessed
her with a child and she does what she said that she was going
to do and she takes him to the temple and she gives him back
to God. And then she rejoices over that
fact. And then we have Eli and his
children and how they were wicked and rebellious and he didn't
rule his household well and suffered the consequences of that. And so in our chapter, as the
prophet comes to Eli to tell him this is what God is going
to do. God has seen everything that is taking place. He has
seen the behaviour of your sons. He has seen that you have failed
to discipline them sufficiently to stop them in their errors. And some would say that Eli also
is indulging himself, because remember when the news came of
the Ark of the Covenant being taken away, he falls off his
chair, breaks his neck because he's so fat. That means that
he's obviously been indulging himself in the fruits of the
sins of his people, of his children, and not fully rebuking them,
just almost encouraging them in their sinful behavior. And so we have these two families. Them that honor me, I will honor. And the day that despised me
shall be rightly esteemed. And we see that playing out in
those two families. Hannah honoured God. She obeyed God and God honoured
her. Eli and his family despised God. they despised the sacrifices
of God and brought shame upon the name of the Lord and they
were punished. God lightly esteemed them. Verse 12 tells us now the sons of Eli
were sons of Belial and they knew not the Lord. You think
that they're in the temple conducting the services and the sacrifices
of God, they're going about outwardly the Lord's work and yet they
don't even know God. What a solemn state that someone
can actually be in. Someone can actually be in the
ministry of the Lord. They can be, as it were, working
for the Lord in an office in the church and yet they don't
even know God. And it is seen by their lifestyle.
It is obvious that these men didn't know the Lord because
their lifestyle testified that they did not know the Lord. They
didn't have any fear of God. In their eyes they were just
there to self-indulge, to eat as much as they can and to enjoy
the women that came to the temple and in doing so they caused others
to sin. And so they were in an office
of trust An office with responsibility, an office where people trusted
them to be carrying out the Lord's work and yet they were wolves
hiding away, devouring the sheep of God for their own pleasure
and for their own benefit. And Eli says, Eli was very old.
And he heard all that his sons did unto Israel and how they
lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. And although he does rebuke them,
his rebuke is not stern enough. They should have been removed
from office for such behaviour. According to the law, they should
have been stoned to death. And yet he just rebukes them
with a word of warning, but God God deals with them in a very
solemn way. God is extremely particular about
how he wants to be worshipped and about how his people are
to live and if you go through the books of the books of Moses
and you see there in Deuteronomy and Leviticus and Numbers and
you see the detail that God wants put into his worship, the detail
that he wants put into his house, the detail that he wants put
into the Ark of the Covenant, the detail that he wants put
into the high priest's clothing and every aspect of his worship
is detailed down to the finest points. And so he is very particular
about the way that he wanted the children of Israel to worship
him and he would not have anything that looked as though it was
sinful or unclean to enter into that worship area. And there is these young men
abusing people of God abusing the sacrifices of God and they
think that they can get away with it. They think that God
can't see. They think that God can't hear.
They think that God won't do anything about it but how wrong
they were. You see God's worship is directly
related to him. He is worthy of worship And when
people come to worship God, they worship God in a way that He
wants to be worshipped. You don't dictate to God how
you are going to worship Him. He dictates to us how we are
to worship Him. He is the greater, we are the
lesser. And so for Hophni and Phineas
to think that they can behave themselves any way they like
in the temple of God, in the worship of God, they had another
thing coming. And their father Eli should have
known better, but instead he brushed it all under the carpet
as though it wasn't really happening, couldn't be bothered to deal
with it, probably because he was so fat and didn't have enough
energy to deal with it. He was enjoying himself of the
fruits of their sin. Now raising children is not easy. Raising children needs hard work
and diligence and discipline and consistence. You cannot be
lazy. Otherwise they run riot. Nobody does it perfectly. Every
parent admits that they make so many mistakes. I know that
those who have had children that have left home look back and
they've said, if only I've done this, if only I've done that.
But the Bible gives us these guidelines and these warnings
that we can learn from them, that we must be diligent in the
discipline of our children and to bring them up in the nurture
and the admonition of the Lord, seeking not to allow them to
run too far away from the home, keeping an eye on them, knowing
that the scripture tells us that they go forth from the womb speaking
lies, they are prone to sin. Godliness does not come naturally
to a child, it can only come unless God instills his spirit
in them and only then will they take our warnings seriously. But God is extremely particular
about the way that he is worshipped. As I was thinking of this I thought
of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
were commanded to bow down to the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar. I was thinking that this king wanted to be worshipped in a
particular way. And he said, if you don't worship
me or my image in a particular way, I'm going to cast you into
the burning fiery furnace. And so this is just a man, just
a man who is filled with pride and who loves control, wants
to see everybody walking in obedience to him. And so he sets up this
golden idol. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
refused to bow down and so they are cast into the burning fiery
furnace because of their rebellion to the king. We know that the
Lord mercifully spares them and saves them and appears to them
while they're in the burning fiery furnace and the king's
heart is changed. But if this king is so particular
about how he should be worshipped and yet he's just a man. How
much more should the glorious God of heaven, the creator of
heaven and earth, the holy holy holy God have a right to dictate
to us, his creation, how he should be worshipped. Nebuchadnezzar threw Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego into the fire because they didn't bow
down when they heard the music and God killed Hophni and Phinehas
because of their sinful behaviour because they caused the children
of Israel to sin and they brought shame upon their name upon his
name And God warns Eli. He says in verse 34. And this
shall be a sign unto thee. So first of all he has this curse
or this judgment that is going to fall upon his household that
Eli and his family are going to be removed from the priest's
office and that they are going to basically be beggars. And a sign that all this is going
to take place. was that the two sons, Hophni
and Phinehas, in one day, they will die, both of them. We know that the Israelites went
to war against the Philistines and they lost, and so Hophni
and Phinehas were to get the Ark and to bring the Ark of the
Covenant into battle, and then it is captured. and the messenger
runs back to the city with a message. verse chapter 4 and verse 14. And when Eli heard the noise
of the crying he said, what meaneth this noise of the tumult? And the man came hastily and
told Eli. Now Eli was ninety and eight
years old and his eyes were dim that he could not see. And the
man said unto Eli, I am he that comes out of the army and I fled
today out of the army. And he said, what is there done
my son? And the messenger answered and
said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been
also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons,
Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark, that
he fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, and
he break his neck, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy,
and he had judged Israel forty years. And so he heard the prophecy
come to fulfillment that he knew now that his line was going to
be cut off, there were going to be beggars, that his boys
had been killed and that the Ark of the Covenant had been
taken away. And so there was a great consequences
to his failure, there was great consequences to the sins of his
sons and many suffered. Now I read that the ark was away
from its resting place for 62 years through Samuel, Saul, then
into David and David comes to bring it back. You will notice when David brought
it back, something terrible happened again. As they were carrying
the ark, the ark wobbled on the cart and Uzziah went to steady the
ark and God smote him for his error and he died by the ark
of God. David was displeased because
the Lord had made a breach upon Uzziah and he called the name
of the place Perez Uzziah to this day and David was afraid
of the Lord that day and said how shall the ark of the Lord
come home to me. As I said God is very particular
about how he is to be worshipped and he put in specific rules
regarding the temple, the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant and
its movement. And there were only supposed
to be specific people who moved it. The sons of Korah were to
move the Ark only. It was to be covered in a special
way with different types of blankets and different skins of animals
and colours. And all this was known and laid
down in the law of God and yet they chose to move it on a cart. One minister said this, the only people who moved the
cart, who moved the ark on a cart, were the Philistines. The Philistines
were the enemies of God, worldly people. And so the moving of
the cart, David got the idea of the moving of the cart from
the enemies of God, from the people of the world. And he thought
that that would be suitable to use in the worship of God, in
the movement of the cart. But it wasn't. God is particular. about how his people worship
him, especially if he has put down specific guidelines regarding
something. It's just like saying, well,
I don't want anything to do with that. I'm not going to listen
to what God has to say. I'm going to do it an easier
way. I'm going to do it a better way. I'm not going to wait for
the sons of Korah and all of their blankets. I'm just going
to chuck it on an ark, on a cart, and make our way to Jerusalem. But God wouldn't have it. And so he strikes Uzziah down. So why didn't he strike David? David was the one in control.
David was the one who chose 30,000 men. But God is sovereign. And if he'd struck David, David
was in the lineage of Christ. And so sometimes God strikes,
you could say a lesser, because the effect can be far greater.
You see David had to live with the consequences of his rebellion
against God. David had to live with the fact
that he had tried to do his own thing his own way and to move
the cart himself with his own ideas that he'd got from the
world doing his own thing. Now he had to live with that
fact. And he was he was displeased. And he was afraid. But God is merciful and slow
to anger. And there was a way made in which
they did move the ark. And even though they did move
it on a cart, they made offerings continually before the ark. And
the Lord blessed it. And it arrived there at Jerusalem. And there it stayed until Solomon
built the temple. And so there are consequences
for sin. And those consequences for the
children of Israel because of the sins of Hophni and Phinehas
and Eli lasted 62 years until the ark was brought back to its
place in the temple. Remember when the wife or the daughter-in-law of Eli
after she heard the news that the ark was taken. She was in
labour. In chapter 4. And about the time of her death,
sorry verse 19, the daughter-in-law, Phineas' wife, was with child.
and she heard the tidings that the ark was taken and that her
father-in-law and her husband were dead and she bowed herself
in travail for her pains came upon her and about the time of
her death the woman that stood by her said
unto her fear not for thou was born a son but she answered not
neither did she regard it and she named the child Ichabod saying
the glory is departed from Israel because the ark of God was taken
and because her father-in-law and her husband and she said
the glory is departed from Israel for the ark is taken. The ark
symbolized the presence of God And because the ark was taken
she pronounces that this child is called Ichabod. The glory
is departed from Israel. You see sin has consequences
and the consequences are great and lasting for the children
of Israel to have the ark taken. It has massive implications. The visible presence of God has
gone from them and they pronounce Ichabod, the glory of the Lord,
is departed. What about us? What about us? If we sin, believers, if we sin,
are there consequences to our sin? Is it that we, as we looked
at the Bible study this morning, we're secured in a covenant relationship
with God in Christ and therefore we're secure no matter how we
live? The scripture says, God forbid. We that are dead to sin can live
any longer in sin. Ephesians tells us, there are consequences
to believers sinning. In Ephesians 4 verse 29 it says,
or verse 28, let him that stole steel no more, I rather let him
labour working with his hands the thing which is good, that
he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice, and be kind. one to another tender-hearted
forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven
you. But there in the middle it grieved
not the Holy Spirit and as the ark of the covenant of God is
taken away because of the sins of Hophni and Phinehas and the
visible presence of God has departed from Israel Ichabod written as
it were over them Yet the believer can experience something similar,
a grieving of the Holy Spirit, a withdrawing of his power and
presence. What is he known as? Jesus says
he is the Holy Spirit, the comforter, those who grieve the Holy Spirit
of God because of sin, because of rebellion against God, experience
a withdrawing of his spirit, a lack of comfort, a lack of
assurance, a lack of his strengthening to continue we're not lost for
all eternity yet we lose the felt presence of God and almost
like a coldness within our hearts until we are brought to confession
over our sin. And if you've ever experienced
it you'll know what I'm speaking about. If you have been left
to sin You know that you feel like you have grieved God. You've upset God by what you
have done and it's only when you are brought to confession
over that sin that that almost feels like that relationship
is restored. And so as the consequences of
sin are felt in that of a believer and often that is enough. If
you are sensitive, you have a sensitive spirit, God doesn't always need
to come with a great rod to chasten you and to bring you back. Often
it's just this grieving of the spirit is enough to bring the
believer to the repentance of their sin or confession of their
sin. They know that they have grieved
God and upset God, as it were. And they desired to have that
relationship restored. David, after he realised that
he had sinned against God, he said, how am I going to have
the ark brought to me? How is the presence of God going
to come back to me? And he had that desire for that
reconciliation. He had that desire for that to
take place. He understood that he'd grieved
God. And he wanted that relationship
restored. And all true believers who are indwelt with the Spirit
want that relationship restored. They want to walk worthy of their
calling. They want to walk closely with
the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't want to upset him.
Does that good child really want to upset their parents? Good
children want to make their parents happy. And so good children of
God delight in making their heavenly father happy. They delight in
walking in ways that will please him, that will honour him, that
will bring glory to his name. Just like little Samuel. Verse 26 tells us that Samuel grew in the Lord. he grew up in, sorry, verse 26,
and the child Samuel grew on and was in favour both with the
Lord and also with men. And here is a man whom, or a
boy whom the Lord delights in. There's this Hophni and Phinehas
who God, he hates them. They've brought shame on his
name. They're destroying his house. But here is a young man
who had favour with God and also with men. One of the criteria
for being a preacher of the gospel in Timothy, it tells us there
that if a man desires the office of a bishop that he must be blameless,
the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given
to hospitality, able to teach, not given to wine, no striker,
not greedy or filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetousness,
but one that ruleth his own house, Having his children in subjection
with all gravity, if a man know not how to rule his own house,
how should he take care of the church of God? Not a novice,
lest he be lifted up with pride and fall into the condemnation
of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good report of them which
are without, lest he fall into reproach and a snare of the devil. Of them without. not only with
God, but also with people. And the same with Samuel, as
he grew up in favour with God, he also grew up in favour with
people. It was evident that he was a
man of God. It was evident that the Lord
was with him. In chapter 3 in verse 19 it says,
And Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and did not let
any of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel, from
Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be
the prophet of the Lord. It was evident. So let your light
so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify
your Father which is in heaven. It was evident that the Lord
was with him. It was evident that he was one of the Lord's
prophets. It was evident that he was one
of the Lord's people because his life testified to that fact. On Thursday preached at Heathfield
Chapel and the text there was and they were first called Christians
at Antioch. And it is they were called Christians. It's not that they called themselves
Christians, it's that other people saw them. They saw them that
they had been with the Lord Jesus Christ. They saw that they were
one of the Messiah. They were the followers of the
Messiah. They were Christ's men, Christ's women, Christ's children. And they were labelled with that
tag. These are Christians. How? Because they saw that they were
different. They saw that there was something
that had changed in their lives. They were no longer following
idols. They were no longer following the way of the Jews. They'd come
out and now they were following Christ. They were walking with
the Christians. They were part of the church.
they were suffering persecution, they were able to persevere in
the midst of great opposition and they said these are Christians. It was seen of Samuel that he
was a prophet of God. Now is it seen with us? To the people to say about us the Lord is with him the Lord
is with her, she has the favour of God upon her, upon him. Young people, Samuel was only
young, lived in the temple and yet he grew up and the Lord
was with him. like Daniel. Daniel was a young
man in a foreign country yet he remained faithful to God in
that foreign environment under pressure to change. Yet he remained
faithful to God. The scripture tells us in Galatians
As our text says, those that honour me I will honour, and
they that despise me I will lightly esteem. In the New Testament
it tells us in Galatians 6, Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life. sowing to the flesh. As a believer you can still sow
to your flesh, you can become lukewarm as we see in the book
of Revelation of those that were rich. They called themselves
rich, they had need of nothing and they sowed to the flesh and
they reaped to the flesh. They became lukewarm and were
an abomination in the sight of God. Those who reap to the spirit
shall reap everlasting life. honour me, those that honour
me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be likely assumed
Samuel honoured God. Well first of all his mum honoured
God by keeping her vow and she gave Samuel to the temple to
worship and there he obeyed God, he listened to God, he followed
God, he spoke what God wanted him to speak and he grew up and
the Lord was with him. To honour God is to obey him. If you remember in the Ten Commandments
it says, children honour thy father and thy mother. It's to
obey and to respect. Christ honoured the father. He obeyed the father even unto
death. He laid himself upon the cross
and was crucified for the sins of his people and rose again
on the third day. The scripture tells us, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. The scripture
tells us those who believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ are to
follow the Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in obedience to the
Lord Jesus Christ. As I said that God is very particular
regarding his worship and he will not be worshipped outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And those who follow the Lord
Jesus Christ, he's very particular about those who follow him and
to walk in obedience to him. And if you honour him, He will
honour you as Samuel honoured the Lord. So the Lord honoured
Samuel and he grew up to be a man of God. Are you walking in obedience? Are you honouring God? Have you obeyed him? What has
he told you to do? What promptings have you had
that you have turned down or turned away from? If you don't obey then you are despising
him, you're not listening to him. If he has called you to
follow him, and you say, I don't want to follow, then you are
despising. If he's called you to be obedient
to him, and you don't want to be obedient to him, then you
are despising him. And you are lightly esteeming
him, and he will lightly esteem you, and you will grieve the
Holy Spirit of God that is in you, and you cannot expect any
spiritual blessing in your life. You will stagnate and stay put. But to obey, the scripture says,
is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Disobedience is as the sin of
witchcraft, but those that honour me I will honour. they that despise
me shalt be lightly esteemed.' Or may we be enabled to be like
Samuel and Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were
willing to honour God and to obey God and to walk worthy of
the Lord that they served, that their lives brought glory to his name, that
they were lights shining in a dark place, and they brought glory
to their Father that is in heaven. And may we not be like Hophni
and Phineas, although they were in a place of worship, yet their
hearts were far away from God, had no concern whatsoever for
the things of God, only in indulging themselves in the things of this
world, and in doing so. They brought shame upon themselves,
upon their father, and they brought great consequences to the people
of Israel because God brought judgment upon the people of Israel
before the sins of Hophni and Phinehas and Eli and the ark
was taken. and Ichabod, the glory of the
Lord has departed. Well may the glory of the Lord
not depart away from us, may it be evident that Christ is
here, that his spirit is here, that when we come to worship
we worship him in spirit and in truth and we have real hearts
like Samuel that want to honour God and we pray that God will
honour us. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Our final hymn as we close our
worship here today is from hymn to worship number 176. Abide with me, fast fall to the
even tide. The darkness deepens, Lord with
me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts
flee, help of the helpless, O abide with me. Hymns for worship number
176, tune 758. Abide with me, fast falls eventide,
That darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide. When other hell and comforts
flee. Help of the helpless, abide with
me. Sway to its close, of life's
little day. As joys drowned in its glory
pass away, change and decay in all around I see. O Thou who changest not, abide
with me. I need Thy presence every passing hour. O thought, let thy grace stand,
O thou tent of power. Thou, like thyself, Thine guidance
take and be. ? Through cloud and sunshine,
Lord, abide with me ? ? I fear no foe, with Thee I'll
turn to rest ? ? Hills have no rest ? ? And is no bitterness
? ? Where is the sting ? ? Where, grave, thy victory? ? ? My triumph still lift thou
? ? Abide with me ? for my rousing eyes, shine through
the gloom. ? And points me to the skies
? ? As born in grace ? ? And as faint shadows flee ? ? In
life, in death, O Lord, have I went thee ? Almighty God, we do thank thee
for thy word that thou hast given to us, that we may read of thy
dealings with thy people many years ago, and we pray that we
may be granted those hearts like a young Samuel, that it may be
evident that thou art with us that our lives may testify that
we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and that we ask that we may be
enabled to shine as a light in a dark place and we pray that
thou keep us from ever bringing shame or doubt upon the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask, Lord, that we may be
taken home in peace and in safety. We ask that thou continue to
remember Ted. Do uphold him, Lord, we pray.
Do then forgive us of our many sins. And now may the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with
the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, do rest and
abide with us each now and forevermore. Amen.