I tell you, if your pastor was
here today, he wouldn't like it this hot in here, would he? He'd get whoever turned this
heat up. It was 57 degrees when we came in this morning. And
that's probably where he had it set. It's a joy. I mean that. It's a thrill to
be with you folks. Always counted a great joy when
I have the opportunity to come this way and fellowship with
you. Thankful for that wonderful song.
I'm thankful for the wonderful Sunday school lesson we heard
this morning. I want you to turn with me in my text in Matthew
chapter 1, a very familiar text. I want to begin in verse 18.
Lindsay asked me this morning if there's anything I wanted
for him to read for me. I could have had him read this
text, but there's a reason I wanted to read it myself. I was listening
to a man from Iran. a few days ago. And he said he
was talking with a lady there over the telephone. And she was
talking to him about the conditions there and she said the Lord had
saved her. She had been online. She gets
online and listens to messages online. And he said, you know,
what can I do to help you? And she said, I'd like a Bible.
I don't have a Bible. She'd never had a Bible in all
of her life. And he said, lady, you have been quoting scriptures
to me, entire passages of scriptures to me. If you don't have a Bible,
how are you quoting the Bible? And she said, every time I get
online and listen to a preacher, I stop it. I write down what
scripture he said. I memorize it. And she said,
that's my Bible. So who can tell this morning
Somebody in Iran, someone in Africa someplace, someone in
China someplace may need to hear this passage read. So I want
to read my text. It's found here in Matthew chapter
1 in verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph,
Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy
Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being
a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee marry thy wife. For that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his
people from their sins. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from
sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth
her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. Now my text this
morning that I just want to comment on for a few minutes and think
about with you is verse 21. All of us here this morning I've
heard this passage read, many of us have had it memorized for
years. She shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. This is the greatest event that
had ever taken place between the eternities. What would happen
here and all that would follow this was the greatest event that
ever took place. It had been prophesied, we're
told here in the next verse, 1,500 years since the foundation
of the world, God's prophets had predicted this very event
would come. That the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, would be born to the Virgin. And here the time
has come. What an event this was. Many wise men, many faithful
men, many kings have longed to see this day and had not seen
it. What a day this was. I know when he got here, we see
here in chapter 2 that the mighty, the wise of this world, the noble
of this world, the rich of this world, they had no use for his
coming. They had no use for his purpose.
Brother Lindsey told us this morning that it's always been
this way with the religious leaders of this world. With the noble
of this world, the mighty of this world. They don't value
heaven's gifts. They never have and they never
will. Harry tried to kill him. was
an awful hypocrite about it. If he had got his hands on him
when he was a child, he would have killed him. The religious
leaders sought him. They wanted to take him. They
wanted to abuse him and kill him and get him out of their
presence. And you know, ain't it amazing
when the hour did come, Lindsay, how quickly they disposed of
him? Did you ever think about how quickly they took him from
the garden and tried him and crucified him. It was a matter
of only four or five hours. When they took him from the garden,
took him to Ananias' house and abused him, took him to the high
priest's house, then took him to Pilate and abused him. Pilate
sent him to Herod. Herod's men of war set him at
naught. Sent him back to Pilate. Pilate had his soldiers to abuse
him. And then finally they took him
outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem and slew him and
hung him on a tree, all within five hours. If you and I want
to esteem the coming of our blessed Savior and all that He did, we
must look beyond what the mighty and what the religious leaders
of this world think and say about Him. This world has no esteem
for the Son of God, for His glorious person and what He's did. Never
has had and never will have. If you and I want to learn to
esteem the Lord Jesus Christ and His blessed saving name,
then let's look at somebody and let's look at the real noble
and see how they esteemed His coming. And we find it here in
verse 20. These angels, here was an angel,
and how often we find angels, every time they had an opportunity
to announce something that He was going to do. Every time they
had the privilege of mentioning His name. Every time they had
the privilege of looking into something Jesus, the Son of God,
was going to do. Oh, how they longed, how they
yearned to be a part in this. Here we see an angel speaking
to Joseph and telling him, ìDonít be afraid to take Mary to be
your wife. That which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost.î These angels, they loved their Master. And as they saw Him, their Creator,
in our human flesh, they adored Him. They watched Him with outstretched
neck to see what He would do. You remember when one came to
Mary and announced His conception in her womb? The Holy Ghost shall
come upon you. The power of the highest shall
overshadow you. That holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God. What a high esteem
they have for Him. His Father is going to give unto
Him the throne of His Father David. And He's going to be great.
And of His kingdom, there's never going to be any end. He's going
to reign forever. And look how they announced His
coming when He came into this world. One came down from heaven
and said, Fear not, you shepherds. I bring you good tidings of great
joy unto you is born in the city of David a Savior. And before
He could hardly finish His message, All this heavenly host, they
begin to sing, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace,
goodwill to man. And the very time the Lord Jesus
began His ministry and the Spirit drove Him out into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil, 40 days, the angels watched Him. They never intervened. They watched
Him as He resisted the devil and overcome the power of darkness.
And when he successfully did that, and he was weakened through
40 days of fasting, we're told that angels came and ministered
unto him. And you remember in the Garden
of Gethsemane, when our Master shed great drops of blood from
his agony, and he was so weakened, we're told that angels came and
they strengthened him. They came there in the garden
when His hair was mingled with sweat and blood, and they ministered
unto Him. They announced His resurrection.
They're everywhere. They're everywhere. Everywhere
He is. There they are without stretched
neck. They desire to look into what
He's doing. All the world cares not for Him. The mighty of this world, the
great of this world, they hate Him. But the mighty in heaven
love Him. And when He raised from the dead,
what did they do? Oh, they can't wait to announce
it. When the women come to His tomb, what do they say? He's
not here, but He's risen! He's risen! And when the Lord
Jesus took His disciples out to the Mount of Olives, and He
lifted forth His hands to bless them, and He began to send back
up through the clouds to heaven, who was there? The angels! Why stand ye gazing up to heaven?
This same Jesus who was taken up into heaven, He shall so come
again in like manner. And when He does come again,
who's coming with Him? His mighty angels. Brothers and
sisters, I would say this was the greatest event that ever
took place between the eternities. And these mighty angels in heaven
realized it. And that's why they were here
and everywhere their Master was, they followed Him. And when He
gave them any opportunity to say or do anything, oh, how they
gloried in that. How could you and I not learn
to esteem the coming of our blessed Creator in our humanity, since
we know that these mighty angels had such an esteem for it? They
attended it, and everything else He did. But not only these mighty
angels, look at the creation itself. We're told here about
it in verse 2, aren't we? This is absolutely amazing. When
He's born into the world, the wise men, we're told, come from
the East. And how do they know where to
go? This stark... I never cease to
be amazed at some of the smart men, some of the commentators. what they say about things like
this. Try to explain away. Why can't this be a star? Why
can't it be a comet? It doesn't have to be an angel.
I think creation set up and took notice of the birth of its creator
in our likeness. This star, it swoops down from
heaven, and it appears to these wise men, and they follow the
star, and it guides them to the very place where the Savior is
laying. Isn't that amazing? If this creation
could speak, If the stars of heaven could proclaim to us this
morning what they'd love to proclaim to us, what would they say? What
would creation say? Where would they lead us to?
You know where they'd lead us? To the Son of God in our humanity. They'd declare His praises. And you'll notice this in His
death when He hung upon the cross. Remember how the sun regarded
that event? The sun refused to shine. The sun hid its face, and there
was darkness. And when the Son of God lifted
up His voice and said, It's finished, the deep bowels of this earth
took notice of that, and they began to rumble, and the rocks
began to break and split, all because their Creator and our
Redeemer had lifted up his voice upon Calvary's tree and said,
it's finished. And what's creation doing now?
It's groaning. It's longing. It's hoping. You know creation has as much
an interest in the Redeemer as poor hope and believing sinners
do. Creation right now is under the burden of the curse of our
sins. But it's longing. And what's
it longing for? For the glorious liberty of the
children of God. It's looking for the day when
its own Redeemer shall make it new. And there'll be a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. I'd say, brothers
and sisters, if these mighty angels in heaven esteemed the
person and the work of our Master from His birth to His resurrection
and ascension, and He's coming again, And if this vast creation
takes notice of Him and His work, you and I should too, shouldn't
we? Oh, we can't look at our president.
We can't look at our mighty generals. We can't look at our religious
heads. They don't esteem the Son of
God. But I tell you, those who are really wise and those who
are really mighty, they do. Something else we're taught here,
though, and look at this. This is something that should
teach us to esteem this very name. Look at the estimation
the Father in Heaven Himself puts upon it. His name shall
be called Jesus. Where do we first read this at?
Right here, don't we? This is the first place we read
this name. It's never mentioned in the Old
Testament. Four thousand years. Men sought
to know His name. And the Father would not reveal
it. It was in His bosom. This name is so precious. Jesus. If you've got something that's
valuable to you, and you put great worth upon it, what do
you do with it? You don't throw it around, do
you? You don't leave it laying on the kitchen table. You don't
throw it in a drawer. If it's real valuable to you,
what do you do? You put it in a safe place. You
lock it away. You hide it away. So nobody will
get this precious treasure. For 4,000 years, this name had
been hidden in the bosom of the Father. Old Jacob wanted to know it.
When the Lord was wrestling with him, Jacob said, tell me your
name. No, I'm telling you my name.
I'm going to bless you, but I'm not telling you my name. You
remember Samson's mom and dad when they saw the Lord in that
sacrifice to send up to heaven? Noah said, tell me your name.
He said, no, my name's secret. My name's secret. It was, wasn't
it? You've probably read this many
times. Your pastor's probably read this to you. Hold Matthew
chapter 1 and look with me over in Proverbs chapter 30. This
is what I'm going to say in this morning. Look in Proverbs chapter
30 and verse 4. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse
4. This man was so precious to the Father in heaven. Not only
did he give it to his son, but he was going to wait to a special,
special occasion. to bring this gift out, this
precious name out, and reveal it. Look at what he says in Proverbs
chapter 4, and look in verse 4. Who hath ascended up into
heaven? Or who hath descended? Who hath
gathered the wind in his fist? Who hath bound the waters in
a garment? Who hath established the ends
of the earth? What is his name? What is the
eternal God? We know that, don't we? All of
us know that. But here's something they didn't
know. What is his son's name, if thou can tell? We don't know
yet. We don't know what his son's
name is. And they didn't, did they? Why? He was in the bosom
of the Father. He was so precious. Of all the
things he revealed about his son, and there is a great book
in the Old Testament all about him. But I tell you one thing,
nobody knew until Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21. And that's that
name. His name shall be called Jesus. Oh, how the Father esteems that
name. You do too, don't you? I mean, if you're here this morning
and you know what it is to be lost, you know what it is to
be under the burden of your guilt, I tell you, don't you esteem
that name? Because that's the only name
that can save an individual from their sins. And we see something
else about this year. I tell you, not only was it precious
to the Father, but He named him, He gave him a name that was so
appropriate. Savior. Jesus, Savior. Nobody knows us like the Father.
Nobody knows what sin has done to us like our Father does. Nobody
knows how it's bound us and deceived us and hardened our hearts and
taken us into a far country like our Father does. He knows us
perfectly. He knows the situation that sin
has put us in. And nobody knows the Son like
the Father. And He named Him appropriately,
Savior. He knew what it was going to
take to bring us again to Himself. So He names Him appropriately,
Savior. Savior. Jesus. Savior. Or He just suited the Father's
need and the Father knew it. The Father needed a Savior. He
needed somebody to save us from His holy law. His justice. Some of you here
remember what Brother Scott Richardson used to say so often. Before
God can do anything for us, He has to do something for Himself. His law, His justice had to be
satisfied. So He named His Son Savior because
He knows that He's going to satisfy Himself. And oh, He's just what
we need, is He not? Doesn't He suit your need perfectly? What does it mean to be saved
from sin? Oh, think about that. Think about
the alternative. What if we're not saved from
sin? There's no other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must, we must be saved. What's going to happen to us
if we're not saved? What's the alternative? To live
and die under God's awful wrath? To be cast in a lake of fire?
Oh, that's harsh, but it's the truth, isn't it? What an awful
reality to be plunged away, cast away from God our Creator, from
light, from His presence, to be punished everlastingly. What's
the alternative to being saved? I tell you, when you and I hear
how we can be saved from the wrath of God, that's the best
news. Anybody could ever hear. And
here we're told in this verse, and our Father tells us Himself
by naming His Son, Jesus. For He shall save His people
from their sins. There's nothing else really we
need to be saved from but sin. Nothing else God is angry with
but sin. Nothing else that He's threatened
to punish but sin. But oh, what a blessing to be
saved from sin. What is it to be saved from sin?
Let me give you five things quickly what it means to be saved from
sin. Doesn't it mean to be saved from sin's penalty? The wages
of sin is what? Death. We don't understand that,
do we? The world doesn't understand
that. The world lays down and sleeps at night and rests so
easy because it don't understand this penalty, this awful sentence
that rests over it, what it plays and what it laughs and parties. I used to think I understood
something about the sentence that came out against our first
parents and the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely
die. I used to think I understood
that. until I started getting older and I started seeing some
of the things that was going on in me and around me, the devastation,
the wars, the heartaches, the heartbreaks. Oh, what does it mean? The day
that you eat thereof, you shall surely die. I hardly understand
that anymore. It's awful to contemplate. And to be saved from the penalty
of sin means we're saved from death itself, from the awful
wrath of God. How would Jesus Christ save us
from the penalty? He must bear the penalty. Sometimes I like to think as
best I can, I like to imagine myself hanging on a cross in
my own person, living and ready to die in my
sin. and imagining how I would feel
in my body, in my conscience, in my thoughts. What would I
see with my understanding? It's horrible to think about,
isn't it? The wrath of God biting upon my soul. What would happen to me after
death? The penalty that belongs to me,
the penalty that belongs to you, somebody else must bear that
penalty. It's not just a matter of dying.
If it was just a matter of dying, why couldn't he have just laid
down and went to sleep and died an easy death? But for us to
be delivered from the penalty that's upon us, somebody else
must bear the whole of that penalty. Everything that belonged to us.
He had to take everything that belonged to us, the sin, the
guilt, the wrath, the wages, and bear it in his own body,
and bear it in his own soul. It's amazing to me, and I sometimes
wonder if I could even lay hold of this at all, how somebody
could be so full of worth and merit to bear in three hours
upon the cross what I would have had to bear for all eternity. And that He was so full of merit
in those three hours of suffering He rendered more glory to the
law of God and the justice of God than all our suffering could
for all eternity in damnation. God was more satisfied with His
sufferings and His death than He would have been if all of
us died and went to hell and suffered for eternity. And we're
now delivered from the penalty. It won't come near you. There
is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. The penalty,
the price, has been paid. Oh, think of that. Think of that. Think of this. We're not only
saved from the penalty of because He paid it, He suffered. We're
saved from the guilt of sin. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people from the guilt of sin. I've never had such a weight
upon my conscience, and some of you can bear witness to this
yourself, as guilt. To stand guilty before God is
the heaviest weight any man can carry. I was telling Lindsay
last night, he was showing me some of the mountains that he
had gone up, and how some of the storms blow in so quickly. When I was a very young person,
I read a story about a young man who went up in the mountains
and got caught in one of those storms, one of the blizzards,
and he froze to death. And they found him and found
a little note that he had wrote in his dying hour. And I've never
been able to get away from this. He said, my greatest fear, will
God forgive my sins? Dying in his guilt, What can wash away my guilt? I'm interested in that, aren't
you? I cannot stand before God in my guilt. If He charges us
with one sin, we're guilty and we cannot stand. We cannot worship
Him in our guilt, can we? What can wash away my guilt? What can save me from my guilt? The blood of Jesus. His name
shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from the
guilt of their sin. And I'll tell you something else
He saves us from. He saves us from the power of
sins. Somebody wrote in their old song,
He breaks the power of counsel sins. He breaks the power of
it. I'll tell you, sin is a reigning
thing, isn't it? It's a ruling thing. Sin reigns unto death. We know it in our own body. We've
got bound by these sinful habits in our members, bound by sinful
lusts in our minds. We couldn't get away from it.
Bound by the power of it. He breaks the power of counsel
sin. The Father sent Him, and here's
what He said to it. Isaiah 61, listen to this. My
son, go and proclaim liberty to the captives. Proclaim it
to them. Proclaim it. Preach it to them.
But don't stop there. Here's what else he said. And
open the prison door for those that are bound. They just need
to hear about it and all. They need more than that. They
need the doors open. Sin is a prison. We serve it. We're slaves to it. And to get
out of it, somebody has to open the door. Jesus did that. He's done that. But He doesn't
stop there. Listen to what else He said.
And bring out the prisoners from the prison. Oh, don't just proclaim
it. That's not enough. Don't just
open the door. Go in and get them in your arms
and carry them out. And free them from the power
of their sin. Men talk about free will. There's
nothing more in bondage than the will of man. And he must
be freed from that bondage. Or he'll die under the power
of sin. His name shall be called Jesus.
And think about this. See, this is not applicable to
us. He saves us from the love of
sin. Oh, this is something. This is
why we may get people on some kind of decision, somebody to
accept Christ. Somebody to come forward. We
may even talk people in to abstaining from open and profane sins. Cleaning up the outward man.
Washing the platter on the outside. But you know something we cannot
do? We cannot save a fallen heart from the love of its sin. And that's one of man's greatest
problems. He loves darkness rather than
light. And that's why he won't come
to Christ. I had a friend of mine that I
worked with for years, and every morning, as far as I know, he
stopped at McDonald's and got him a sausage egg biscuit. And
he liked to get those things and squeeze them and let the
grease flow into the biscuit. And man, he'd eat them. He said,
I love these things. I just love these things. He
knew they were killing him. Had to have open heart surgery
because the sausage and egg biscuit was killing him. Why don't you
quit eating those things? I love them. I love them. I love that taste. I love that
aroma. Oh, I love to look at it. I love
to almost worship it. I love sausage, egg, biscuit.
That's the way we feel about sins by nature, is it not? That's
why we have to restrain our children. That's why we have to have laws
in society. Men meditate upon evil. They
think about it. They imagine it. They do it because
they love it. Oh, it's a wonderful thing to
be saved from the love of it, ain't it? And how does He do
it? He changes our natures. That's
our way to do it. You can't rebuild the old natural
man. He'll love it still. The Lord
didn't come to remodel the old natural man. He came to give
us a new heart and a new spirit. I'm going to put my spirit within
you. Then you know what you're going to say then. Oh, I abhor
myself. For all my iniquities and for
all my transgressions, I abhor myself. The devil used to tell
me for years, and he was telling me the truth. He had bad motives,
but he was telling me the truth. He used to tell me, you can't
live the Christian life. Well, you can't. I tried it for
years. You can't live the Christian
life until God makes you a Christian. You can't quit loving your sins
until He gives you a new heart and a new spirit. And that's
the way He saves us from our sins. The love of it. He gives
us a new heart and a new spirit. Think of this lastly as this.
His name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people
from the presence. From the presence of sin. That
hasn't happened yet, has it? We just got a witness of that
again just this week. Just last week, didn't we? Two
cruel young men destroying other people. Blowing little children
up. Killing little children. Sin
is everywhere. We can't escape. Lock yourself
in a cave somewhere. Let them bring you the food.
You take sin in there with you. It's present in our hearts. It's
present in our family. It's present in our nation. It's
present in the world. We live in a world full of sin
and devils. That's why the Apostle Paul said,
I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far
better. Why is it better? There's no
sin where Christ is. There's nothing there to molest
you. Can you imagine what it would be to be saved from the
presence of sin? We can't, can we? We can't. That's
all we know is sin. Can you imagine to be delivered
from the presence of self, never to sin again? Never to hear it? Never to see it? Never to feel it's working inside
you? Can you imagine to be made so
much like Jesus Christ? that you can worship Him without
sin. Oh my! Isn't that appealing?
His name shall be called Jesus. He's going to save His people
from the presence of sin. And I tell you, it's not just
what He's saving us from, but what He saved us to. He's reconciled
us to His Father. He's brought us again to God. Somebody asked Charles Spurgeon
what Christ intended by His death, and he said, what's He doing?
You can answer that. What effect has the death of
Christ had upon you? It's brought you to God. It's
reconciled you to God. God is your Father and you're
His Son. He suffered for our sins that
He might bring us to God. We're saved to God again. We're
brought back to God. Oh, He saved us to live. To live. This is the most wonderful thing.
Don't you just love to hear about this? I am the resurrection and
the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. What does that mean? He saved us, not only from death,
but He saved us to live. You know everything about this
world. What can you say about this world?
Well, it's not even real. It's just not real. It's a vapor. It's perishing things of clay,
born for one brief day. Everything you and I know, everything
we see and feel, it's not even real. We set our hearts, as Lindy
said this morning, upon this world, it's not real. It's a
vapor. Jesus has saved us to things
that are abiding. That's lasting. That's incorruptible. That never fades away. Oh, what is it to be saved? We know so little. We believe
so little. Oh, if you and I would esteem
His coming and His work, ask Him to open our hearts and show
us what He saved us to. Life everlasting. His name shall be called Jesus."
Listen to what Newton said when he was thinking one day upon
this. He said, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's
ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals
his wounds, and drives away his fear. It makes the wounded spirit
whole. and calms the troubled breast,
tis manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary its rest. Dear name, dear name, Newton
said, the rock on which I build, my shield and hiding place, my
never-falling treasure, filled with boundless stores of grace,
by thee my prayers' acceptance gain, Although with sin defiled,
Satan accuses me in vain, and I am owned a child. Jesus, my
shepherd, my husband, friend, my prophet, priest, and king,
my Lord, my life, my way, my end, accept the praise I bring. Weak in the effort of my heart,
and cold my warmest thoughts. that when I see thee as thou
art, I'll pray thee as I ought. Till then, I would thy love proclaim
with every fleeting breath, and listen to this, and may the music
of thy name refresh my dying breath. Oh, Jesus. What a name. What a name. Maybe there's somebody here this
morning and you say, I'm not interested. No, thank you. Don't want nothing to do with
him or his name or what you say he's done. I hope that's not
your attitude. But if it is, give me one more
moment of your time and let me read to you who he
saves. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people. You want no interest in this?
Be careful you don't boast too much. I wouldn't get too arrogant. I wouldn't brag and say, when
I'm good and ready, I'll come. It's all up to me. I have free
will. I'd be careful to not brag too
much. Because if you're not His, you'll never come. He's saving His people. And if you're His, and you're
here this morning, and you may say, I still want no interest
in Him, well, let me tell you this, there is coming a day when
you shall. Because the Spirit of God, the
Sovereign Spirit, will get you along someplace. He'll make you
feel your need to be saved from your sins. And then you'll find
yourself beating upon your chest, saying, Jesus, Come and save
me. Jesus, come and save me. He shall
save his people. Blessed word. Oh, Father, wise,
high, sovereign, immense God in heaven. We're greatly humbled
this morning over this wonderful word, this wonderful verse, this
wonderful name. The years that we went and had
no regard for and despised it. But oh, you changed all of that.
You broke in upon us in our wild rage to hell. And you saved us
for His namesake. Oh, Lord Jesus, our God, our
Savior, and our humanity. All we can do this morning, we
can do nothing else, But just bow before You and worship You, that You're our Savior. Amen.