And I do hope the Lord gives
you attentive ears this morning. This is one of the most wonderful
stories in all of God's Word. I sure hope he enables me to
tell it like it deserves to be told. This is the story of a
man who becomes a surety for his brother. A surety. Do you know what a
surety is? Now, we need to know because
we must have one with God. A surety. is a guarantor. Perhaps you have gone to the
bank and taken out a loan, or attempted to, only to hear
them say, we can't give you the money, you need a cosigner. And someone of worth, someone
with some assets, someone who had the ability to pay such a
loan, had to sign the notes themselves. And they became the guarantor
for that loan. Now, that's a simple illustration,
and it really comes far short of telling us what this surety
here is. But it will have to suffice.
a guarantor, a surety, is one who is responsible for someone
else, one who is responsible for their safety, their welfare,
one who agrees to pay outstanding debts of another if they can't
pay, one who is held accountable for the actions of another. This is the story of a man named
Judah. who becomes the surety for his
younger brother, Benjamin. And this Judah, as with every
story in all of the Old Testament, is a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the surety for sinners. Now, many of you know this story. Many may not. Go back over some of these things
in this story, all right? Give you a little history behind
what's going on here. Joseph and his brethren is the
story here. Joseph and his brethren. Do you
remember how Joseph was sold by his brethren? Joseph was the
well-beloved son of Jacob, his father. Really, the only legitimate
son of Jacob. And his brethren resented him.
They hated him because the father loved Joseph more than anybody
else. What a picture of Christ all of this is. Christ is in
all of this story, but we're going to be concerned with just
one character, Judah. Anyway, Joseph was sold by his
selfish brethren, envious brethren, into slavery, into Egypt. And in the process of time, In
God's providence, Joseph was made ruler in Egypt. Joseph was
now on the throne in Egypt. Joseph was a wise man, wiser
than any man in Egypt. And now he sits on the throne
of Egypt, reigning and ruling over Pharaoh's kingdom. Well,
about that time, a famine hit the then-known world, all over
the world. It was in Egypt, it was in Israel, it was in the
Mideast, all over. a famine which comes from lack
of rain, drought. But Joseph now, in his wisdom,
Joseph being a prophet, foresaw that there would be a famine.
And he provided seven years of provisions. He put in the storehouses
of Egypt corn and wheat and all the grain that he could store.
And Joseph had all of these things in his possession, okay? And
then finally, when the famine was at its worst, everybody was without food, including
these sons of Jacob in Israel. Everybody had to go to Joseph. If they were going to get anything
to eat, they had to go to Joseph. He had it all. All right, now
let's read chapter 42. Chapter 42, verses 7 through
9. Joseph saw his brethren. All
right, here they came. They came to Egypt to get some
corn, get some food from this ruler. They did not know. They
did not know he was their brother. They did not know him, but they
had to come before him. And when Joseph saw them, now
he knew them, but they didn't know him. And as I said, everything in
this is a picture, a beautiful picture of the gospel. But Joseph
saw his brethren, verse 7 of chapter 42, and he knew them,
but he made himself strange unto them. He hid himself from them.
And he spake roughly unto them. He spake hard to them. He was
mean to them. He was rough on them. He was
hard on them. And he said unto them, Where ye come from? He
spoke in a hard voice. And they said, we've come from
the land of Canaan to buy food. Well, Joseph knew his brethren,
but they knew him not. And he said in verse 9, the last
line of verse 9, he says, you're spies? You're spying this land
out. And they protested verse 10 and
said, no, my Lord. See, everyone's going to confess
that he's Lord. Well, they said, no, we've come
here to buy food. We're your servants. He said,
verse 12, No, you're spies. You've come to see the nakedness
of the Lamb. Joseph accused them. Over and over again, he accused
them. Now, they protested at first, didn't they? They protested.
They said, We're not spies. We haven't done anything wrong.
And Joseph said, Yes, you have. And he had them put in prison. Now, what does all this represent? What is all this about? Well,
Joseph here represents God's word. Joseph here represents
the law of God. Joseph represents the judgment
of God which is upon every human being. Every human being, the
scripture says, must stand before God's judgment throne. What is
his judgment throne? Is it a future thing? No, it's
right here. This is the word of God, this
is the law of God, which already has judged us. All right? Every human being
must stand. In Romans 3.19, what does it
say? Romans 3.19 says, Whatsoever
the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law. Who's
under the law of God? Well, every human being, huh?
And it goes on to say in Romans 3.19, that every mouth may be
stopped and all the world become guilty before God. Guilty. Now at first, Joseph's
brethren said, we're not spies, we haven't done math. Look down
at verse, let's see, look over at chapter 42. Look back at chapter 42. Look
at verse 21. They were in prison, and they
said one to another, this is what it's all about. This is
why we're here. At first they protested, we're
not spies, we haven't done anything wrong. Then he put them in prison,
and as they were sitting in prison reflecting on where they were,
they said, we're guilty. We're all guilty concerning our
brother. This is happening because we
hated our brother Joseph and sold him in Egypt, and we're
getting what we deserve right now. Now, do you understand what you're
reading? Do you understand what this is about? I told you that
Joseph represents the law of God, the word of God. Now, men,
all men and women, will protest vehemently that they're not guilty.
I haven't done anything wrong. I don't deserve judgment. I'm
not guilty. I'm no hell-deserving sinner.
I don't deserve that. But now, if God Almighty sends
his Word in power, in soul-convicting, heart-breaking power, the power of repentance, and brings
that person to see that, hey, I am guilty. What they will see,
first of all, is that they're guilty of the most heinous crime
against God of all. They didn't care anything about
His Son. They lived so many years and didn't give Jesus Christ
a thought when this whole world revolves around Jesus Christ. When He sits on the throne of
glory, they hated Him, despised Him. We all did despise Him,
Isaiah 53 says. Every one of us spent years without
giving Christ a thought, when the only reason this world still
exists is because Jesus Christ sits on the throne. So they finally
realize we're guilty. You see that? Is that clear to
you, what this is all about? That's why this is written. It's
not just an old story of Jewish history. This is His story. All right? Now, Joseph put these
fellows in prison that they might understand their guilt. And he grilled these fellows.
He grilled them. Do you remember reading in chapter
43? He kept asking us and asking.
He was finding out everything about us. That's what they said. Dan, that's what they said. Their
father said, why did you even tell them you had a brother?
He kept grilling us, and he kept asking the right questions until
we just came out. And how do we know he's going
to say, bring him with you? He knew everything about us. He
talked to us like he knew everything about us. He does. And the Scripture says the word
of God is quick, it's powerful, it's sharper than a two-edged
sword. It pierces the dividing of the sun, even the thoughts
and intents of the heart. God is the discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. David said in Psalm 139, there's
not a word in my mouth that you don't know it. Y'all understand
this, my thoughts are far off. You know what I'm thinking, you
know everything about me. Your word searches me out. Well, Joseph grilled these fellas
and he made them confess everything. And now Joseph said, now is this
all of you? Are these all you brethren here? Is this all that's in your family?
And by the way, The story tells us he's not talking to them in
their language. He's talking through an interpreter.
Joseph's not even talking to him personally. He's not even talking to him.
He's talking through a man. There's a man telling the king
says this, and the king says this, and the king. They're listening
to a man say this, but they're hearing from Joseph. Well, and that's a picture. It's going to be hard for me
to get to the story. There's so many stories within
a story. Well, Joseph grilled them, and
he said, now, is this it? Are these all your brethren?
And kept asking them, and they finally said, no, we have another
one at home. He said, you're not going to come see me again
until he's with you. You better bring the boy back.
You better bring the Son back, the well-beloved Son of your
Father. You better bring Him back or you will not see my face
again." What a picture of Christ that
is, huh? Christ Himself said, No man cometh
unto the Father but thy Name. I heard a man pray a prayer last
night, yesterday, at a ball game, a college football game. He prayed this prayer. He prayed
to God. He never mentioned Jesus Christ
in that prayer. So God didn't hear a word of
it. You know, that's true. Christ
said, you ask anything of the Father in my name. Well, Joseph
said, now you must bring. Do you have another brother?
Yes, we do. Him also you must bring. You
must bring him. Well, look at now chapter 42,
verses 15 and 16. He says, now, you are going to
be proved by the life of Pharaoh. Joseph is speaking to them. Except
your young brother come with you, you will not see me again. Send one of you, let him fetch
your brother, and you will be kept in prison. But your words
may be proved. You better bring back that son. As I said, that is a picture
of Christ in itself. Three days went by. They stayed
in prison. Three days, finally, Joseph let
them go. He turned them loose and sent
them home to get the boy. All right? Three days. And in the process of those three
days, they felt their guilt and they were smitten. They realized
why all this was happening. And they went home. Now, here's
our story. Here's our story. It's chapter 43. Here's our story. Would you gather yourself and
prepare? All right, verse 1. The famine was sore in the land.
There was a famine all over the land. No water, no bread. You die. Without water, there's no bread,
and you die. And it's no coincidence, no coincidence
that God's word is called water. of his word. No coincidence that
God's word is called bread by which man lives. No water, no
bread, no word, you die. We die. Amos prophesied in chapter
8, verse 11, he said there's going to be a famine in the land.
In the latter days, in the last days, there's going to be a famine,
not of bread, he said, not of the eating of bread, but of the
hearing of the words of God. There's going to be a lot of
shenanigans going on, a lot of religious services, a lot of
this, a lot of music, a lot of carrying on, a lot of entertainment,
a lot of hoedowns going on, but very little searching God's Word,
verse 5. You're going to hear very little
of God's Word. You're going to hear mostly what
men have to say. Family. No bread, you die. Interestingly, in Malachi, the
last book of Malachi, The last several lines talk about Christ's
coming, who is the Word, who is the bread, who is the water
of life. And it's said there's going to
be a curse before his coming. And that curse was that God didn't
speak for 400 years. After Malachi's book, God did
not speak again for 400 years. And this land, people, we think
it's blessed because of prosperity? Proverbs says, better is little
with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble therein.
Prosperity is not, don't assume that that's the blessings of
God, it might be the curse. If there's no bread, we die. Well, all right, there's a famine,
it'll soar throughout the land. It came to pass when they had
eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their
father said unto them, Go again, go. The father said, Go, and
buy us a little food." Now, this world, as I said, is dead and
dying, and it really is. Men are polishing brass on a
sinking ship. It's dead, the scripture says,
we're all dead and trespassed in sin by nature, unless the
Lord gives life. And we're born again how? It
all comes right back to death. Well, man is without hope, without
God by nature. There's a famine throughout the
land, as we said, but God in his mercy now sends some of his
people in the midst of a famine. In the midst of a land where
there is very little bread, God in mercy sends his chosen sons
to where the bread is. Are you with me? God has his
sons who are never going to be without life-giving bread. Jacob
here represents God the Father, and the sons of Jacob are God's
sons, whom he instructs. Now, you go to the Word. You
go where the bread is. God Almighty instructs His people
in mercy. The Scripture says in John 6,
45, they shall all be taught of God. God sends them all to
the Word. Not to an experience, not to
visions and signs, but to the Word right here. This is the
children's prayer. And here's what we find. Now,
here's what we find when we first come face to face with God's
Word. When they first appeared before Joseph, how did he speak
to them? How did Joseph talk to them?
When they first came to him, how did he speak to them? Oh,
I love you. I'm so glad to see you. I've
needed you all. No. Did he speak that way to
them? Did the interpreter stand and
the interpreter of Joseph say, hey, Joseph loves, or the king
loves you all? He's so glad to have you, why,
this wouldn't be church without you." Spoke roughly to him. Said, you're
a bunch of spies. What are you doing here? You
have no right to be here. You're spying out the land, that's
what you are. They said, no, no, no, no. Until finally, he
put them in prison and they realized, we are guilty. Of worse crimes
than he accused us of. Are you listening? This is what
happens to every one of God's sons, every one without exception. When they come before God's Word,
the first thing they'll hear out of the mouth of a preacher
is, not that God loves you, but that God is angry with the wicked
every day. That all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Not that God leaves you. That's
not what the interpreter says, but rather says, God's on the
throne, and you're an unworthy sinner, and what you need is
mercy from him. You'd better ask him. He doesn't
have to give it. It's a false interpreter that
tells the people that the king needs them, but a true one who
says, you need the king and what he has, and you'd better beg
him for it. So that's what every one of God's
people find when they first come face-to-face with God's work.
Not sweetness in the love of God, but they hear it speak roughly
to them. Guilty. Guilty. And I know this
is strange doctrine today, and this is old-fashioned preaching
today, isn't it? You never hear a man stand up
today and talk about the wrath of God, the hatred of God, the
judgment of God. Oh, you hear four-letter words
coming out of their mouth. Love. Joseph spoke roughly to them.
They had to realize their guilt. You see, this gospel is all about mercy
for the undeserving. This gospel is all about grace
for those that don't have anything. This gospel is all about forgiveness. Forgiveness for what? Killing
the Son. This gospel is all about salvation. Who's that for? The lost. This
gospel is all about help. Help for whom? Not arthritis
sufferers, sin sufferers. The people at Pentecost, the
people all over the Scriptures, cried out about their sins. God's Word had convicted them
of what they are before a holy God, and hadn't given him a thought,
lived for years without thanking God, and now they're in His hands. Repentance is still the need. Though it's old-fashioned, though
it's out of date, though you rarely hear the word today, repentance
is still it. John came preaching it. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the first words out of his mouth publicly were
this, repent. So he spoke roughly to them. All right? Now he sends them
back, as our story tells us. He sent them back Joseph sent them back, and they
went to the Father. And Judah now speaks up. Verse 3. Judah. And I have to
hurry. And I'm going to leave out some
choice things in this story. I wish we had two hours. I hope
you'll take the time to read it yourself, and may God reveal
it to you. But Judah speaks up. All right?
Judah, one of the brethren, stands before the Father. And verse
3, Judas spake up and said, Now the man did solemnly protest
unto the judge on the throne. The king in Egypt did tell us,
You will not see my face, except your brother be with you. They
all had a younger brother named Benjamin, to make this short. They had a younger brother named
Benjamin. He had to come appear before the judge too. You see,
all the sons of Adam come to appear before God. All of them. None without exception. can miss appearing before the
judge to be judged of him, all right? And the judge says, you
better bring your son back with you, or that boy back with you,
all right? Well, Judas speaks up. Now, read with me. Judas
speaks up, says, he told us we can't come back unless he's with
us. Now, verse 8 and 9, and Judas
said unto his father, You send the boy with me. We will arise and go, Benjamin
and I, that we may live and not die. If I don't take
him, he dies. We both die. So you send him
with me that we may live and not die, both we, thou, also
everybody. If I don't take Benjamin, if
I don't go, we're all going to die. Now you, look at verse 9,
I will be surety for him, I will be surety for him of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not back to you,
and set him, set him right beside you, if I don't bring him back,
you let me bear the blame forever. You give the boy to me. I'll
take him. If we don't go at all back, you
give him to me. I'll take him, and if I don't
bring him back, I'm going to be assured of that. And I see some recognition. I see
some smiles. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ
must surely have said these very words. Scriptures prophesy everything
he said and did. And surely he said these very
words, Brother Sam. Because I know for a fact that
he stood before his Father before the world began. Before the world began, realizing
the sinfulness of the human race, the sons of Adam. Realizing the
awful state that this world would be in. And in a covenant agreement
with his Father, Christ said, you give me a people. You give
me those that you've chosen. You give these sons to me, these
sons of Adam, that you will make your sons, that you predestined
to become your sons. You give them to me, and I'll
be surety for them. I'll go to earth, I'll do everything
necessary to save them. You give them to me. If I don't
come back and bring them every one, I'll bear the blame forever. I'll be the surety. Old Judas said, You let me take
care of the boy. I'll take care of him. I'll bring
him home again. I'll be his surety. And that's
exactly what our Lord said. That's exactly what He did. He
said, I'll go to earth and I'll do all necessary to save them.
I'll take whatever is required. Whatever you require of me. And
we'll see in a moment, maybe, that Jacob gave him some things
to go down there with. Some necessary things. to appear
before the judge. He said, you give me everything
that's required. You put it in my hand, and I'll keep it off,
and I'll bring the boy back, and I'll sit him right down beside
you. And if I don't, I'll bear the blame. That's exactly what
our Lord did. That's exactly what He said when
He became a surety. That's what Christ said over
and over throughout the Gospel of John. He said, the men which
thou hast given me, all that the Father giveth me, He said,
shall come to me if they don't. I bear the promise. God gave him a people in that
covenant, and he agreed to come down to do exactly. Now look at it. Verse 9, he says, I'll be assured,
I'll go that we may live and not die. Verse 11 through 14,
now, the Father of Israel said, it must be so if it's so. If
you have to do this, you take, here's what you take, Judah.
You take the best fruits, the best fruits, the first fruits. You take the first fruits. You
take them. He's given us all to Judah. You
understand? The Father is giving it all to Judah in his hands.
And now here, you take it. You're the surety. You're in
charge here. You've agreed. Take the best, the first fruits of
the land. Read on. And you carry that in your vessels.
And you carry down the man a present. You give him something he loves.
Give him something he likes. Read on. A little balm. A little
honey. Spices. Something he loves to
smell. Sweet-smelling sober that he
loves. Myrrh and nuts and almost fruit. Verse 12. And take double the
price. Double money. You take more than
is required, not the bare minimum, over and above. Double the money
in your hand, Judah. You've got it, the money. Carry
it down there again. Here, verse 13, take your brother.
Take your brother. Go. Verse 14, may God Almighty
give you mercy before the man, and may he send away you and
all you take. May you bring them back safely
home. Understand this, what thou readest. Huh? Do you understand
what you just read? Oh, if you do, blessed are you. That he had a righteousness which
no man was able to purdue. Scripture says we received of
the Lord's hand Devil. Not only did Christ fulfill the
negatives of the law, thou shalt nots, but he fulfilled the part
thou shalt love. The Lord died. Christ fulfilled
it all in every jot and tittle. Devil. The price was in his hand. The price of our redemption.
The righteousness was his. The price of our redemption was
his. Christ came to fulfill that law. You see, for us, he had
us, his people, whom he had become surety for, in his heart, in
his mind, graven on his hands, to appear before the judgment
seat of God. And he said, they're all not
guilty. I give them in my righteousness,
and I bear their blame. I bear their blame. Would you give me two more minutes?
You know, I could take it if I wanted to. You're a captive
audience. Would you look at this with me?
We've got a few more minutes. I'm not even going to be on my
allotted time. I don't want to lose you. I don't
want this to be long. Chapter 44. Chapter 44. Look at this. This is wonderful. Joseph, now
here they all are, they brought Benjamin back, alright? Judah
brought Benjamin back, and all the money and all that, alright?
Joseph, in wisdom, he's got to make Benjamin guilty
too. He's going to make Benjamin guilty. He wasn't without sin. And all God's people got to be
found out by God's Word. What he did then was he put,
to make a long story short, he put a silver cup that belonged
to him in Benjamin's sack. He had one of the men stick this,
hide this cup in his sack. All right? And he sent them all
home. He said, go on, go home, go back to your father. All right?
And then he sent one of his servants right in after them. Go, apprehend
them. Go catch him. And whoever you
find with that stuff in their sack, bring him back. He's guilty. He made him guilty. Well, look
at it in verse 6 and 7. He overtook the men and he spoke
unto them these same words. He said, they said unto him,
why are you saying this? God forbid that we should do
such a thing. No, we're not guilty anymore, verse 9. But they said,
they all agreed, whoever you find this cup with, whomsoever
thy servant be found, he's got to die. Whoever's found guilty's
got to die. They all agreed to that. Yeah.
We agree. Let it be according to your words.
In verse 11, so they speedily, every man, took down his sack
to the ground. They opened every one, verse 12, and they searched,
began at the oldest one, left at the youngest, and their cup
was found in Benjamin's sack. They all were just heartbroken. He's got to die. He's guilty. You see, like I said, there's
not one son of Adam whom God ever saves, whom God does not
first bring to see his guilt. See, if you can understand this,
an old writer years ago, one of the old Puritans said this,
and boy, this is us. A strange statement to this generation.
He said that a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Spirit has made
him so. It's hard to find a real sinner. You have people who have some
mistakes, some faults. A sinner, a hell deserter, a
guilt? No. But all God's sons are found
out. But Judah, Judah speaks up again. Judah speaks up again, verse
18, chapter 44. Judah speaks up. Judah came near
unto the judge and said, Oh my Lord, let your servant, I pray
thee, speak a word in my Lord's ear. Now this could very well
be John 17. When our Lord made that high
priestly prayer on behalf of his disciples, said, My Father,
when our charities stood before our Father, before the law of
God, Brother John, and he said, O my Lord, verse 18, I pray thee,
let me speak a word in your ear. Let not thy anger burn against
thy servant. Now, he says, when I come to
thy servant, my father, and if the lad is not with me, if I
don't bring that boy back while my father's life is bound up
in the boy, he'll die. If I don't bring Benjamin back,
he'll die. My father will die. Verse 31,
it comes to pass, when he sees the lad is not with us, we'll
bring him down. We'll bring down his You'll bring
him down. If I don't bring back Benjamin,
the father will be brought down. Don't you see? I'm sure to love
him. I must bring him back. Verse 34, How will I go to my
father lest the lad be with me, lest I bring evil on my father? Do you understand what you're
reading? There are preachers this world
over who say that Jesus Christ died for everyone. That's a lie
that impugns the blood of Christ, impugns the wisdom of God, impugns
the love of God, brings down the glory of God, makes the promises
of God of no effect, makes salvation a lie. We don't need a surety
if that's so. But here's the fact of the matter,
that that covenant I was speaking of? that God Almighty made with
His Son before the world began? When Christ said, You give me
a people, and I'll go to earth, and I'll pay redemption's price.
I'll shed my blood for the remission of their sin, and buddy, they'll
be remitted. I'll give them a righteousness which God can't even see through,
that'll make them wholly unblameable, unapprovable in God's sight.
And I'll bring them home, every one of them. If I don't, God's
glory will be brought down. Do you see? If I don't, I'm not
Christ. If I don't, there's no power
in the blood. If I don't save everyone I intend
to save, I'm not the Christ. I'm not a surety. Did he? Let me read what it said. Let
me read it to you in closing. Hebrews 2, listen to this now,
listen to this. It became him, for whom are all things, by whom
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the
captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. For both he
that sanctified and they who sanctify are all one. for which
cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will
declare thy name unto my brethren. And again, I'll put my trust
in him. And again, the last thing that
our Lord Jesus Christ is going to say before God the Father
in heaven is, Behold, I and the children which thou hast given
me." They're all here, present and accountable. Why? Surety. I like the sound of the word,
don't you? Surety. That doesn't mean I hope to be,
but surety. Savior means just that, savior. Surety. Before the throne my
surety stands. My name is written on His hand. My God is reconciled. He owns me for His Son. Joseph
received every one of those no-good, worthless brethren. Why? Because
of what Judah said. Now, last part of this story,
and you can read it for yourself later. Joseph, Jacob, and all
the sons were joined together, never to depart. One big happy
family. Why? Because Judah stepped forth
and said, I'll do it all. Isn't that wonderful? Wonderful. All right, let's sing a closing
hymn. Christ our Savior. Brother John, if you'll come up. 474. 474. This is a good hymn. This is every sinner's favorite
hymn. All right, let's sing the first
and last verse. 474. Thank you. Not have a darkened but bright
eyed beast, great and glorious as I have been. Boldly and truly, bright eyed
beast, I'm only a sinner, saved by grace. Only a sinner saved
by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. They sang the story to God's
Redeemer glory. Only a sinner saved by grace. Once I was foolish, and sin filled
my heart. Causing my success, from God
to the Lord. Jesus has found me, and through
my faith, I now am a sinner, saved by grace. Only a sinner,
saved by grace. Only a sinner, I'm lonely and sad, sad, sad,
sad. He's on the very wing of Mary
her eyes, Mercy and safety at her side. She's had her army
in one day, For now a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is a story to start with
a story. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Suffer a sinner whose heart is
afloat. The meaning's greater if you
know what he knows. Once told you fairly, said I
would say, I'm only a sinner, day by day. Only a sinner, day by day. Only a sinner, Let my glory, let God be the
glory. I'm only a sinner, saved by grace. I've got to go. So, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you. So, I think that's all for now. Thank you. It's a pleasure to have you here.