especially fond of and blessed
in reading and preaching from Romans 8. Horatius Bonar called it a garden
of beautiful blessings. He called it a field of faithful
promises. He called it a string of precious
pearls to be considered individually and all together. Now books are
fine. I don't discourage the reading
of books, good books written by good men. Books that exalt the Lord and
his grace and gospel. But no books of men can take
the place of the diligent study of the Word of God verse by verse. I spend more time in these latter
years reading God's Word and studying God's Word and preaching
His Word verse by verse as it's written. That's what Paul said
to Timothy, preach the Word. Preach the word. Don't preach
about the word, preach the word. And Bonar wrote this. He said,
when we're led to consider in our studies only the bare word
of God, and we take his soul, his word
for the sole authority, as the sole authority of everything, We consider only the bare word
of God and take his word as the sole authority of everything.
Then, number one, we come directly in contact with God himself,
with no one between, nothing between, no cloud, no distance,
no medium, no interpreter. God speaks, we listen. God teaches,
we learn. When we're led to consider only
the bare word of God, then we're able to get more into the heart
and reality of the mystery of godliness. Without the thoughts and theories
of man to trouble us, just the word of God. And we delve into
the heart and reality of His revelation. revelation of himself. God is not who we think he is,
he's who he says he is. God doesn't do what we think
he ought to do, he does what he wills to do. God doesn't do
necessarily what's right, if God does it, it is right. He doesn't strive to meet our
standards, he is the standard. And then when we consider, when
we are led to consider only the bare word of God, we're apt to
take fewer false steps and make fewer mistakes. He said, when we exercise faith
and confidence in the word of God, who has given us a sure
record, this is the record that God has given us. concerning
his Son. He's given us the sure record
concerning his crucified, buried, risen Son. And in that record,
receiving and believing it, we see in Christ ourselves crucified,
dead, buried, and risen, seated with him in glory. And that has this That has this effect upon us.
Although we know we're the chief of sinners, we believe that in
Christ there's no condemnation, because he says so. Though conscious of our foolishness
and ignorance, according to his word, We know and believe that
we're wise in Christ. He's made unto us wisdom. He
says so. Though sensible of sin and defilement
in our nature, in our flesh, we're persuaded based on the
promise of God that in Christ we're holy and without blame
and without sin. Because he said so. Not because
we think it or feel it or suppose it. He said so. And though we see sin covering
this earth, it looks like Satan is exercising dominion over everything
and everybody. But we know, according to God's
word, that Satan is defeated. He is cast out. Christ the Lord
reigns, and God the Father hath put everything under his feet,
contrary to what we see, but according to what he said."
So Bonar says, what I see with these eyes I do not believe. What I see with eyes of faith
in the Word of God That's what I believe. Does that make sense
to you? Boy, it does to me. What I see around me with these
eyes, I don't believe. But what I see in his word with
eyes of faith, I believe. I believe God, Paul said, that
it shall be exactly as he said. And Abraham, against hope, he
looked at himself in the mirror and looked at Sarah. No way. But he didn't believe what he
saw. He believed what God said. So live as believers. Live by the word of God. God
commands it. Ask no sign, ask no vision, ask
no evidence without appealing within. God has given his word, confirmed
it with infallible proof. So let your confidence and your
faith and your trust rest right there. The Lord said to Martha
and Mary, said I not unto thee, if you would believe, you would
see the glory of God? If you would believe, you would
see the glory of God. So let's look at this chapter,
God's Word. The naked Word of God, the plain
Word of God as he speaks. And let me go down through this
chapter. There's seven parts. Verses 1 through 4 give us the
standing of those who are in Christ. You can just write beside
verse 1 through 4, our standing. It says there's no, there's right
now, now at this time, therefore, no condemnation, no judgment
to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. A debt paid cannot be collected
twice. So right now, this is not true
only at the judgment, this is true right now. There is therefore
right now, on the books of heaven, before the throne of God, no
judgment, no condemnation against any believer in Christ Jesus.
Verse 2, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ hath made me
free from the law of sin and death. We are free from the law
of sin and death. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of that law. Cursed is everyone, the scripture
says, that continueth not in all things written in the book
of the law to do. That curse is upon every son of Adam. But
when Christ died, he delivered us. He redeemed us from that
curse and we are no longer under it. The law cannot save any more
than a mirror can wash a man's face. He can look in the mirror
and see his face is defiled and dirty and needs attention. But
he can stand and look into that mirror until he dies and it won't
affect him one bit, it won't help. The mirror drives him to
the fountain where he cleanses. And the law drives us to Christ.
And Christ delivers us. from the law of sin and death.
But what the law could not do, the law couldn't save, the law
wasn't given to save. When Moses walked down from that
mountain with the law in his arms, written by the finger of
God, the people were worshiping an idol. He got so angry he just
dashed them down and broke them into pieces. What the law could
not do in that it was weak through the flesh, the law wasn't weak,
the flesh was weak. Nothing weak about God's law.
I love God's law. It's true. Comes from the very
character of God. But the law couldn't help us.
Can't save us. But God sending his own son in
the likeness of sinful flesh. Christ became a man. Was made under the law. Made
of a woman. Though he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, he made himself of no reputation, took
on himself the likeness of sinful flesh and became obedient unto
death. And he delivered us from sin
and condemnation. And verse 4, now we have a righteousness,
that the righteousness of the law, the holiness of the law
might be fulfilled in us, completely fulfilled. in us, for us, by
us. And this was done the only way
that it could be done by the Son of God being made a man and
fulfilling the law and satisfying God's justice. That's how it
was done. And we're righteous. Now, twice
it said in verse 1, we walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. Verse 4, it says it again, we
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So we'll deal
with that in these next few verses. Verses 5 through 8 is the character
of those in Christ. Those first four verses, Paul
gives us the standing of those in Christ. Now we have the character
of those in Christ. He says in verse 5, For they
that are after the flesh, that's unbelievers, people who are not
saved, People who are not called to Christ, who do not believe
the gospel. That's what we were. He contrasts
what we were with what we are now. He says what we were and
what all unbelievers are, they're after the flesh. And they do
mind. They do mind the things of the
flesh. What does that mean? They're
taken up with the things of the flesh. They're anxious about
the things of the flesh. They're overly concerned with
the things of this world. The natural man is taken up with. His mind dwells upon. He thinks
upon. He pursues. He's overly anxious
about the things of this world. Our Lord said this over in the
Sermon on the Mount. He said, take no thought, no
anxious thought, of what you shall eat, what you shall drink,
what shall you wear, For after these things do the heathen seek.
Your Father knows you have need of these things, so seek ye first. Set your affection on things
above. Seek ye first, foremost, above
all things, the kingdom of God. That's what he's saying here.
The natural man, he's taken up with, anxious about, overly concerned
with things of this world. They that are after the Spirit,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Isn't that
what we just read? These people who are after the Spirit, who
are born of the Spirit, who are taught of the Spirit, who are
quickened by the Spirit, are cheaply concerned with the things
of God. This is their interest. This
is really their life. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear. We will appear with him in glory.
Verse 6 says, to be carnally minded. That's death. To be only and overly concerned
with the flesh is a sign of death. It's a sign that a person is
still in death. But to be sincerely mindful,
to be spiritually minded, to be sincerely mindful of the things
of God is life and peace. The carnal mind is not interested
in the things of God. That's what it says in verse
7. The natural mind is enmity against God. It argues against
the Word of God. The natural mind, the mind of
the unbeliever, he doesn't love spiritual things. He argues against
the Bible. He debates with the Word of God.
He reasons against God, against his word. He will not receive
the word of God by faith, just receive it and believe it and
act upon it. He's got to argue against it.
The carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the
law of God. The believer is subject to the
word of God. But the unbeliever is not subject to the word of
God. Neither indeed can he be. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. David wrote in Psalm 65, blessed
is the person whom God chooses and causes to approach unto him
who dwells in God's courts and is satisfied with the goodness
of his house. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful and the debater. Blessed
is the man. like a tree planted with the
rivers of living water that brings forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Verse 8 says, "...they
that are in the flesh cannot please God." But you're not in
the flesh, but in the Spirit. I tell you, the worldly-minded
person, listen to this, the worldly-minded person would be totally unhappy
where you are, doing what you're doing, in the company of the people
with whom you associate. He's uncomfortable. The worldly minded person, the
person we've been reading about here, They that are after the
flesh, they mind the things of the flesh. They're concerned
about the things of the flesh. The people of God, here's the
sign of spiritual life. They love the word of God. They
love the things of God. They submit to the word of God.
They don't argue and debate and quarrel against God. And the
worldly-minded person would be totally unhappy where you are,
doing what you're doing, living as you live, associating with
the people you associate with. In the same way, you'd be unhappy
where he is, doing what he's doing and associating with the
people with whom he associates. That's our character. That's
evidence of a union with Christ. Evidence of a union with Christ
is the delight in the things of God, happiness with the people
of God, love for the Son of God, submission to the Word of God.
It's my delight. Somebody said one time, if God
were to take an unsaved, unquickened, unregenerate man to heaven, he
would not be happy. He's not happy here among the
things of God and the people of God. What makes you think
he'd be happy there? Oh, that he'd be changed. No,
the change takes place in conversion. That's when the change takes
place. That's when he sets his affection
on things above, when God saves him. Not after he dies. The book of Revelation says when
a man dies, let him that is unholy be unholy still. He that is carnal
be carnal still. He that is unrighteous be unrighteous
still. He that is righteous, let him
be righteous still. He that is holy, let him be holy
still. He that loves the people of God and the word of God and
the kingdom of God, We'll just move on up, graduate to being in the presence of God. All right, here the next is our
helper. We're not alone now. No man can do this alone. This
is too rich a calling. Verse 9 begins, verse 9 through
13 is our helper. We've got a helper. He said,
but you're not in the flesh. Does that mean we're not human?
Oh, we're so human we know it more than anybody. That we have
no passions, that we have no appetite, that we have no fleshly
desires? No, that's not what he's saying.
But you're not in the flesh, you're in the Spirit. It means
that you still have that old nature, but you have a new nature. You're indwelt by the Spirit
of God who is the dominating influence in your life. You have
an old nature, but the old nature does not dominate. The new nature
does. To whom you yield yourself, servants
to obey. His servants you are, whether
unrighteousness or righteousness. And what he's saying here is
you're not only in the flesh. You're not just a carnal man.
You're not just an unregenerate son of Adam. You're not just
a human being only. But you're in the Spirit. If
so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. And the Spirit
of God does dwell in you. That's how you were awakened
by the Spirit of God. That's how you were given repentance
for the Spirit of God. That's when you got an interest
in the Word of God and in the Gospel. You didn't come to yourself
alone. He awakened you. He regenerated
in you life. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of God, he's not of here. The man doesn't have the Holy
Spirit. He doesn't belong to God. He's not redeemed. So we're not alone in this world.
We have the Spirit of God and verse 10 says, if Christ be in
you. Turn back to John chapter 16.
Our Lord tells His disciples that He's not going to leave
them alone. John chapter 16. In John 16, let's look at verse
7. Nevertheless, I'll tell you the
truth. It's expedient for you that I go away. He must go to
the cross. He must go to the tomb. He must
go to the right hand of the Father. If I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. But if I depart, I'll send him
unto you. Verse 13. And how be it when
he, the Spirit of truth, is come? He'll guide you into all truth.
You're not alone. For he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he'll
show you things to come, and he'll glorify me, and he'll receive
of mine, and show it to you. That's our helper. The Spirit
of God. In verse, go back to my text,
Romans 8 now. In verse 10, and if Christ be
in you, The Spirit of Christ, Christ being you, the body's
dead because of sin. If Christ has redeemed us and
called us and indwelt us, this old man, he's already dead. He's awaiting burial. He's still
kicking, but he's dead. The sentence of death is pronounced
upon him, and he's awaiting burial. But the Spirit of life, The spirit
in us is life because of righteousness. The old man's dead because of
sin and Christ paid for it. But the spiritual man is life
because it's a righteous man. It's created in the image of
him who created him. So we're really two natures,
two men, the old man and the new man. The old man is, he's
dead. All he's awaiting is destruction
and burial. This new man's alive in Christ,
indwelt by the Holy Spirit, inspired by the Holy Spirit, taught by
the Holy Spirit. And this new man's righteous,
and he'll never die. He that liveth and believeth
on me will never die, Christ said. Never die. The only thing that dies about
us is the old nature, the old man. The new man never dies. When the old man dies and put
in the grave, the new man goes to be with God. But this old
tabernacle, rotted and fallen down, is folded up and put away. We have a building of God, house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. That's right,
if Christ be in you. Verse 11, And if the Spirit of
him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you, boy,
he that raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. When our Lord Jesus comes
back, returns, he's going to raise us from the grave. It won't
be that old nature and that old flesh. It will be new man, new
flesh, glorified flesh, made in the likeness of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Spirit lives. in Christ, and
one day these bodies will live. Therefore, brethren, we're debtors. Not to the flesh, not to live
after the flesh. If you live after the flesh,
you're going to die. If that's our pursuit, if that's
our care and our desire to be like this world, then we'll perish
with this world. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of this body, you live. Now here is our
family. The family of those who are in
Christ. Verse 14 through 17. Let's look
at that. You know, I've never been able
to make this point as clear as I'd like to. I never have been able to. I
wish that I could. Sons of God. Can you think about that? Verse
14, these people he's been talking about, and as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, indwelt by the Son of God, by the Christ
Jesus, they're sons of God. Sons of God. You parents, just
think a minute, how much you love your children. How very,
very precious they are to you. How very, very important they
are to you. How much you care for them. Your
children, like I said a week or so ago, they're an extension
of yourself. What someone does to them, they
do to you. Blessings that come to them are blessings to you.
Nothing would you withhold because of your deep, sincere, compassionate
love for them. You pray for them, you think
about them all the time. But we're sons of God. Our Lord
said that if you, if you, of all people, if you know how to
give good things to your children, how much more shall your heavenly
Father give good things to his children? Isn't that what he
said? If your son asked bread, would you give him a stone? If
he asked for meat, would you give him a serpent? But if you're
being evil, you know how. To be gracious to your own. Think
how gracious God is to his own. We're sons of God. Verse 15, you've not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear. We're not slaves living
in fear. We're sons living at home. I tell people, my son Paul, he
takes this literally. What's his is his and what's
mine is his too. I have a book in there, and he won't say he
takes it, but he knows he's welcome. Why don't we take that literally?
What is God's is ours. What is Christ's is ours. He
loves us. We're not slaves. We're not servants
living in fear. We're sons living in the house. When I go into a meeting somewhere,
sometimes I stay in people's homes. And I'm always uncomfortable. I never have been totally, completely
comfortable in somebody else's home. And you admit it, you're
not either. Totally comfortable. Totally. If I wake up before anybody else
does and come in the kitchen, I want some coffee. I want it
early. And it's not made. And I don't
know where the coffee is and where the filters are. I do know
where the water is. It's in the sink. But I'm afraid
to open the cabinets. I'm afraid they'll hear me. And
the woman will think, well, he's going through my cabinet, you
know. But how am I going to find the filters if I don't go through
the cabinet? How am I going to find the coffee if I don't open
the drawers? But I'm in somebody else's home. But in my home,
I rattle them. You know, that's my place. And
we're sons in God's house. We're not strangers. We're not
servants. We're not distant. We're home folks. We're family. That's why we're sons of God.
And the Spirit, we've received the Spirit of adoption whereby
we cry, Father, Father. And the Spirit Himself beareth
witness with our spirit. We're children of God. And if
children, we're heirs. We're heirs of God. We're joint
heirs with Christ. The Father loves the Son and
hath given all things to Him. And we with him are heirs of
all things, just an inheritance, undefiled, incorruptible, that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, sons of God." That's in Christ. That's in Christ. Now, that's not in the pool,
that's not in the sacraments, that's not in the deeds and duties
and traditions of religion. That's in Christ. That's right. It says, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings, according as He chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons
of God, according to the good pleasure of His will. Now, if you suffer with him,
you'll be glorified together. We are our Father's heirs. Let me read you Revelation 21,
verse 3 through 6. I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. He'll dwell
with them. They'll be his people. God himself
shall be with them and be their God. That's what I wanted to
read. That's our family. The family of God. Alright, verse
18 is our expectation. Our expectation. The glory of
those in Christ. The glory. Let's look at verse
18. I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. No trial or suffering
is easy. If our trials and our sorrows
were without pain and discomfort, they wouldn't accomplish the
purpose for which they're given. Infirmities and afflictions and
disappointments and death is sorrowful. It's sometimes just
bitter sorrow. But when we look, what Paul is
saying here, when we consider and look at these sufferings
in the light of that glory, it's not worthy to be compared. That's
what he's saying. If we look at these sufferings,
our present sufferings, compared to what we're going to have with
Christ, the reunion forever, the joy, the glory. One moment
in heaven will make us forget everything about it. One moment
in his presence will make us completely forget it. So it's
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed.
And then as you read these next verses When you see the word
creature, write creation. It says in verse 19, the earnest
expectation of the creation waited for the manifestation of the
sons of God. For the creation was made subject
to vanity and sin, not willingly, but by reason of him who has
subjected the same in hope. When Adam fell, men fell, but
the whole creation fell. Death came upon Adam. But death
came upon the trees and the plants and the flowers and everything,
animals. Verse 21, because the creation
itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. There's
going to be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Believers are going to live on
a new earth. I saw the holy city coming down out of heaven. We're
going to live on the new earth. The garden of Eden is nothing
compared to the garden of his new creation. It would be wonderful. It would be wonderful. Indescribable. God's new earth. These new bodies. God never created man to die.
He created man to live. And the new man created in Christ
Jesus is going to live eternally. Never die. on a new earth that
will never decay, never rot, and never die. Verse 22, we know
the whole creation groans and prevails in pain together now,
and not only they, but ourselves. I'm tired of it too. Which have the first fruits of
the Spirit. What does that mean, brother May? The first fruits
of the Spirit. It means this, that believers already have in
Christ, in love and fellowship with Christ and with his people,
the peace in their hearts, the grace and mercy of Christ in
their lives, the fellowship of the church, we already have a
taste of what heaven is going to be like. It's just a taste,
only a taste. But I tell you, it's taste enough
to enable us to feed on it until that day comes when all the fruits
are revealed. All right? First fruits. We have the first fruits of the
Spirit. We have a taste, a foretaste of what heaven's going to be
like. Peace. You know, and I know tomorrow
morning most of you got to go out once again into that awful
conglomeration and mess called the world. You've got to be around
people that curse and swear and use God's name in vain. You've
got to be around overseers and bosses that are unreasonable.
You've got to walk in this world, and it's difficult. Don't you
wish we could stay like this all the time? In unity, in harmony, in peace,
not a discouraging word, not a curse word, not a blasphemous
word, not anybody ridiculing God, not a phony religionist
trying to impress you with his self-righteousness, none of that
stuff. Just honest people before God, honest people, loving Christ,
believe in Him, redeemed by His grace, it would be something,
wouldn't it? Well, that's a taste of what it would be like then.
That's the taste. The old Texas song says, where
never is heard a discouraging word, and the clouds and the
skies are not cloudy all day. Is that the way it goes? That
ain't Texas, that's heaven. Believe me, it's not Texas, I've
been out there. Ourselves also who have the first
fruits of the Spirit, we groan within ourselves waiting for
the adoption, namely the redemption of these bodies. Oh my. Now let me give you this. We're saved by hope. Now let
me help you there. We're not saved by hope. I mean
that we are, but we're saved by Christ. We're saved in hope. By Christ in hope. In hope. And to a blessed hope we're saved. We're saved by Christ in hope,
Paul said in Romans 5, of the glory of God. We're saved by
Christ, Paul said in Galatians 5, 5, waiting for the hope of
righteousness, fulfillment. We're saved, John said, and sons
of God waiting for that blessed hope. when he shall appear and
we'll be like him. That's the hope. It's not, I
hope, I hope, I hope I'm saved. We're saved by Christ in hope
and to a blessed hope of the glory of God, of the righteousness
of Christ and conformity to his blessed image. That is our hope.
But he says here, hope that is seen is not hope. I don't see
any of those things yet. They're all future. I haven't
seen them. But our hope is a good hope. If a man sees, what does
he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see
not, then do we with patience wait for it. I'm saved by Christ
to a good, sure, blessed hope of grace. Hope of the glory of
God, the righteousness of God, and conformity to Christ. And
that hope I'm waiting for based on two things. Remember this,
based on two things. The word of the promisor and
the ability of the promisor. Abraham summed it up. He believed
that God was able to do what he promised. You understand? It's like a boy, his dad promises
him a bicycle for Christmas. He hasn't seen it. He doesn't
write it. It's not in his room. But it's
going to be there. Because of two things. His father
doesn't lie. And his father has the ability
to buy that bicycle. In hope of eternal life, which
God, who cannot lie, promised. And God not only promised this
hope, but in Christ he fulfilled it. It's already ours. Isn't
that right? So that's what we mean by saved
by hope, saved by Christ in hope, that is sure because of the word
of God and the power of God, the blood of Christ. Verse 26,
the Spirit helpeth our infirmities. We know not what we should pray
for as we are. The Spirit himself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. He searches the heart,
he knows what's in the mind of the spirit because he makes intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. Now here's our covenant. The assurance of those in Christ. The assurance. We have assurance.
And that assurance is not based upon what we've done, it's based
upon what our Lord has done. We know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. For whom he did ordain, for we
know, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that Christ might be the firstborn among many brothers,
that heaven might be populated by people like Christ, love what
he loves, enjoy what he enjoys, Moreover, whom he did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, them he called. And
whom he called, them he justified, and whom he justified, them he
also glorified." Now, these questions answered. What shall we then
say to these things? Well, if God be for us, who can
be against us? He despaired not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him freely?
Also freely give us what Christ purchased. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who's
He that condemns? Who can lay, who can judge us?
Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. It's not,
it's who died. Christ died, yet rather He's
risen again. His resurrection is proof that
God accepted. that for which he died. He's
even at the right hand of God. That's further proof. And he
also makes intercession for us. Who's going to separate us from
the love of Christ? It's your tribulation, distress, and how
it drives us to Christ. It doesn't separate us from Christ,
it drives us to Christ. Persecution, famine, nakedness,
peril of soul, As it's written, for thy sake we're killed all
the day long, we're counted as sheep for the slaughter, but
in all these things we're more than conquerors through him who
loved us. I'm persuaded. I read the story
of a captain who had been severely wounded in battle, World War
II, was dying, and the army or Navy or Marines,
all of them are very careful about having representative chaplains
for every denomination, Catholic chaplains and Protestant chaplains
and Jewish chaplains and all different kinds of chaplains.
They try to find out what a man's denomination is and they send
a chaplain of that particular denomination. The orderly came to the captain,
realizing the severity of his wounds, and he said, What's your faith? He said, Christ. Christ Jesus. He said, I mean,
what's your denomination, sir? He said, Christ Jesus. He said,
I mean, sir, what's your persuasion? This is what he said. I'm persuaded,
neither death, nor life, nor angels,