When we review the fall of man
in the Garden of Eden, when we take a little time and
think about it, we discover how infinite was his loss. First of all, he became a dying
creature. That's what we are, we're dying
creatures. Sickness became our lot. Old
age and death became our enemy. Once strong, now weak. Once healthy,
now sick. Once always living, now always
dying. Once wise, now foolish. There's
a powerful chapter in the book of Genesis, chapter 5, that I
was looking at a few days ago. And I want you to turn there
and let me show you something. No matter how long these men
lived, when Moses describes each one
of them, he completes the description with a three-word statement,
and he died. Genesis 5 verse 5 it says all
the days that Adam live were 930 years and he died In verse
8 all the days of Seth were 912 years and he died In verse 11 and all the
days of Enos were 905 years and and he died In verse 14 all the
days of Cainan were 910 years and he died. In verse 20, in the days of Jared,
were 962 years and he died. In verse 27, in all the days
of Methuselah, were 969 years and he died. In all the days,
verse 31 of Lamech, were 777 years And he died. It's going to be
said of you and me one day, he lived 75 years or 80, and he
died. But this is what happened in
the garden. When man fell, he became a dying creature. We're
dying. I'm dying. You're dying. It's
appointed unto me and wants to die. And then secondly, he lost
fellowship with God. This was a great loss. The scripture
says that he was cast out of the garden. He lost the truth
of God and believed a lie, and he lost the fellowship of God.
Adam ran. Adam, who had walked with God
and talked with God, ran and hid from God. He said, I was
afraid, and I hid. He lost fellowship with God.
Now, the scripture says we are without God. We are without Christ. We are without hope in this world. And then the third thing, he
lost happiness. I believe Adam and Eve were happy
people. I don't think they had one chord
of, or one discord, or one moment of unhappiness. They were totally
happy. But they became acquainted with
fear. And they became acquainted with
shame. And they became acquainted with hate. And they became acquainted
with jealousy. Envy and covetousness they became
acquainted with these things that before the fall they knew
nothing about and they lost their happiness but underlying the
whole thing and The greatest loss of all and what brought
about? the other losses Is it man lost
his righteous nature? He became a sinner He became
a transgressor He became an ungodly creature. That's what happened
in the fall. I know man became a dying creature. He became a creature who was separated from
God, and he lost his happiness. But the major problem is he became
a sinner. He became a transgressor. Let
me show you several verses. First of all, in Genesis 6, it
says here in Genesis 6, verse five, that God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination, the
whole imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's what happened to us. We
became transgressors. We became sinners. We lost our
holy nature. And we were plagued with an unholy
nature, an evil nature. It's always evil. Always evil,
continually evil. Every imagination of man's heart
was evil. Turn to Psalm 14. Here's another
scripture that describes this. In Psalm 14, verse 2 and 3. Listen to this. Psalm 14, verse
2 and 3. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. Verse 3, Psalm 14, they're all
gone aside, they're all together become filthy. And the word there
is stinking. There's none that doeth good,
no not one. And Isaiah wrote this, he said,
God says, your whole head is faint, your whole heart is sick.
From the sole of your feet to the top of your head, there's
no soundness in you. Nothing but open, running wounds. They've not been bound up, neither
mollified with ointment. And then in Romans 3, Paul talks
about our throat as an open sepulchre. Our tongues are instruments of
evil and deceit. And every faculty of our being
has been affected by this fall. We lost our holy nature. Man
is not holy. He's unholy. He's a sinner. He's
a transgressor. He's an ungodly creature. Man
has changed. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter
7. Ecclesiastes 7. This sums it
all up. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse
29, the wise man Solomon said, Lo, this only have I found, that
God hath made man upright, but, but they have sought out many
inventions God hasn't changed That's important that you listen
very carefully to what I'm about to say man is changed God made
man upright He made man holy and man failed and man has become
a sinner a transgressor a He's not a good man. I wish we'd quit
using that term in reference to Adam's sons. There's none
good, no not one. A man came up to our Lord one
day and said, good master. And the Lord said, there's none
good but God. Why do you call me good? None
good but God. God looked down from heaven and
saw that every imagination of our hearts were evil continually.
You can't call me or you or any other son of Adam good. We may
be good compared with our fellow worms. We may be clean compared
with our fellow lumps of coal. But none of us are clean. We're
unholy. We're transgressors. We're sinners. We're ungodly. Without God, without
Christ, without hope, from the sole of our feet to the top of
our head, there's not a glimmer or a taint or a spot or a spark. of holiness, not God's holiness,
not spiritual holiness, not heavenly holiness. It's flesh. In the
flesh dwelleth no good thing. In the flesh no man can please
God. Man became a sinner. He became
a rebel. Man's changed, but God hasn't
changed. God has not changed. God's commandments
have not changed. God's holy law has not changed.
God's requirements are not changed. God's holiness and God's justice
are unchanged. That's what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy
10. Now let's get over here and look
at this a moment. This is highly important. This is of great importance. Deuteronomy 10. What God expects,
what God commands, what God requires has not changed. I have changed,
but that has not changed. Suppose you got a man working
for you. He comes and works in your office. He types. He types
out reports. And those reports are to be typed. That's his job. You pay him to
do that job. He comes each morning and types
the reports. They have to be in at noon, all
20 reports. The night before, he's gotten
horribly drunk. And he's got himself on some
kind of drugs and medicine and all of these things. He comes
to work. He can't see. He can't stand up. He can't do
his job. Does that mean you're just a
job to fit his condition? Absolutely not. He's changed,
but you're the same. The reports have got to be filed.
The work has got to be done. All 20 have got to be typed.
He's not in any condition to do it. He's fired. We get somebody
take his place, but this has got to go on and listen to this
now Deuteronomy team and now Israel verse 12 What does the
Lord thy God required thee but to fear the Lord thy God? That's
required To walk in all his ways that's never changed To love
him that hasn't changed to serve the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, not with your best intentions, but all your heart and with all
your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes,
which I command thee this day for thy good. That's never changed. It's still in effect. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying this. It is required of men, if they would have fellowship
with the living God, It is required of men, if they would be saved,
it is required of men, if they would walk the streets of glory,
that they keep all of the law of God and the commandments of
God and the precepts of God and the statutes of God perfectly. That hasn't changed. A man's
changed. He cannot do the job. He cannot fulfill the requirements.
He cannot meet the deadline. He's totally changed because
of his sin. He has no ability, no goodness
in him, no moral integrity. But God has not changed. And
God's laws have not changed. The scripture still says, cursing
is everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of law to do it. That hasn't changed. Now, I want
you to understand what I'm saying. Man has changed. He's become
a sinner, a transgressor, an ungodly creature, but God has
not in one hour changed. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He is the same. He's the same
holy, righteous, immutable, immaculate, infinite, eternal God. His laws
haven't changed. Man must have a righteousness
He must have he's got to have a righteousness before the law
or God can't receive it Now I'm going to be very careful in saying
what I'm about to say, but this is true It's not enough for a
man to be pardoned It's not enough for a man to
be forgiven That's all the world seems to be interested in It's
not enough for a man to be regarded through the blood of Christ to
be justified. You hold on. That's infinitely
precious, precious blood. Precious, cleansing, atoning
blood. But we still must have a righteousness, Charlie. We
must, before the law of God, actually obey every precept. Because our Lord said in Matthew
5, 20, except your righteousness, except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, he shall
in no case enter the kingdom of God. Now stay with me. I'm not preaching
any strange doctrine, any new truth. I'm not belittling in
the slightest bit. The passive obedience of our
Lord on the cross. I'm going to talk about his active
obedience, which most preachers don't preach. Which is as vital,
as vital help as his active, as his passive obedience. I'm
going to talk about the life of Christ, which is as vital
to you as the death of Christ. Without which you can't be saved. Christ didn't live 33 and a half
years on this earth for nothing. It is true he died, it is true
by his death we're justified, by his blood we're cleansed,
we have an atonement. But we got to have something
else that Christ provides. Because though we have changed
and we cannot keep the law, it must still be kept, John. That
hasn't changed. What does the Lord thy God require
of thee? He requires you to love your
neighbors as yourself. He requires you to love God with
all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. He requires you to
walk in holiness before Him. He requires you to obey His law. Men must have a perfect obedience
before the law of God or God cannot reward them. Shall he
give heaven to a soul who has not kept his law? Shall he reward
service that has not been rendered? Obedience that has not been presented? No! David said, who shall stand
in his presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to vanity. I've got to have not only the
blood that cleanses, I've got to have not only the death that
justifies, I've got to have not only the sacrifice that pardons,
I've got to have before God's holy law a righteousness that
is pleasing in the eyes of a living God. That law has got to be honored. Christ said, I didn't come to
destroy the law. I didn't come to take the edge
off God's law. I didn't come to repeal God's
law. I didn't come to drop it in the
garbage can and save you in spite of the law. I came to fulfill
it, He said. To fulfill all righteousness. And the Bible, if you have a
knave's topical Bible, if you'll take it and study it, page after
page after page after page is devoted to righteousness, righteousness,
righteousness. So where then is this righteousness
to be found that I got to have, that I must have? with which
the pardoned man can be covered, with which the justified man
can be clothed, this righteousness for which God can reward the
justified. Now you can talk all day about
your hope, you can talk all day about your faith, you can talk
all day about your experience, you can talk all day about your
refuge, but I got a question. You got any righteousness? You
got any righteousness? Got to have it. Got to have it. I want to hear about this righteousness
that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees.
I want to know when you stand before God Almighty, the law,
who's going to handle that for you? The holiness and righteousness
of God, who's going to handle that? Who's going to face it
for you? Well, surely no one here is so
deceived as to think this righteousness can be accomplished by himself.
Surely no one, I'm sure no one does, because each day we sin.
In my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Scripture says if we say
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth's not in us. If
we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar. Surely we realize
that even our best works are stained by sin. Man at his best
state is altogether vanity. Isaiah 64, 6 says even our righteousnesses,
even our goodness, even our works are filthy rags in God's sight.
And surely we realize that even in a life of faith in Christ,
indwelt by the Holy Spirit, made new creatures in Christ Jesus,
we're still not without sin. Don't you feel within you the
motions of sin? Don't you feel within you the
thoughts of sin? Don't you feel within you the
imaginations of sin that are ever present? Paul did. He said,
when I would do good, evil is present with me. The things I
would not do, I do. And the things I would do, I
don't do. Oh, wretched man that I am. So I'm brought face to
face with this fact that what God requires a perfect life I
don't have what God Almighty commands and demands and he hasn't
changed I don't have and I can't produce and I've never seen it
in any other son of Adam but I must have it or I'll never
see the kingdom of God I can't find it in the law the law only
reflects my image of guilt. I can't find it in religion.
I see the religionists who talk about their second work of grace
and even I can see through it. I see the religionists who talk
about his piety and his righteousness and his holy walk and even I
can see through it. What must God see? I see all
of the works that are done and I fear most of them are done
for the glory of self. I sit about and question my own
efforts, and why are you doing what you're doing? Why are you
putting forth this effort? Why are you spinning your wheels?
What are you doing? Are you doing it for God's glory?
If you're not, it's not worth a snap of the finger. I've got
to have a perfect righteousness. I've got to have a whole life,
a whole lifetime of total obedience, of total submission. of absolute love, of perfect,
godly, glorifying service. I've got to have it or I'll never
see the kingdom of God. Where is it to be found? Well,
turn to Romans 10. There were some folks over there
in the days of Paul that were trying to produce it. And Paul
said they were ignorant. They're just plain ignorant.
Isn't that a shame, fellow, to be ignorant? But ignorance is
no excuse. And he says these folks, he said, I want them to
be saved, but I bear record that they have a zeal for God. But
verse 3, he says they're ignorant. What are they ignorant of? They're
ignorant of this righteousness I'm talking about. God's righteousness. They're ignorant of the source
of it. They're ignorant of where it's found. They're ignorant
of what it consists of. They're ignorant of God's righteousness,
and they're going about to establish their own righteousness. And
they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ, there's the answer, Christ is the end of the law,
the consummation of the law, the very goal of the law. For
righteousness to everyone that believe. There is a righteousness. Turn to Romans 3. Now, back to
Romans 3. And he talks about here in verse
19, and I wish one of the brethren said in the study tonight, in
this sweetest music, this side of heaven, I guess I'm just going
to have to close my mouth and listen. Boy, I don't know any
more profitable enterprise in the world than that, especially
about the things of God's Word. He says here in chapter 3, verse
19, we know what things serve the law sayeth, and do you know
what the law sayeth? Brother, I'll tell you this,
it's a whole lot more than don't steal a watermelon. It's a whole
lot more than don't go to the show on Sunday. You know what
the law says? Oh, do you know what the law
says? Well, I'll tell you what it does say, it saith to them
who are under the law to shut every mouth. Every mouth may
be stopped and the whole world become guilty before God. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
God's sight. No flesh! For by the law is not
deliverance from sin, but the knowledge of sin. But, oh listen,
good news, now, the righteousness of God, the holiness of God,
that perfect life before God, without the law, without my obeying
it, without my measuring up to it, without my fulfilling it. If I ever have one, it's going
to have to be without my obeying it, because I haven't and can't
and won't. If I ever have a righteousness,
with which God will be pleased and one which is acceptable in
His sight. It'll have to be without the
law, but it's now manifested and it's witnessed by the Word
of God and by the prophets. What is it? Verse 22, even the
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. Not by faith in Christ, it's
the faith of Christ. The faithfulness of Christ, the
obedience of Christ. My faith is not that righteousness.
My faith receives it, but it's not that righteousness. That
righteousness is something He produced. That righteousness
is something He did. Turn to Philippians 3. This is
what Paul was concerned about and what he prayed about in Philippians
3. He says in Philippians 3, verse
8, he'd been very religious all his life too. In fact, he'd been
very successful at his religion, but he said in verse 8, doubtless,
yea, doubtless, I count all these things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ my Lord, for whom I've suffered
the loss of all things, and I do count them but rubbish, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, But that righteousness which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. You know what I'm saying? This
is what I'm saying. I'm saying the life of Christ
from the time he lay in Mary's arms till the time he died on
the Roman cross, the life of Christ. constitutes the righteousness
in which his people stand. It constitutes the righteousness
in which we're clothed. It constitutes the righteousness
wherein we are accepted and rewarded. Now there's some people who are
very clear on the cross of Christ and on the merits of his blood
and his death, but who do not understand the active obedience
and merits of his life. His death on the cross, His blood
shedding, and the sin offering of Calvary constituted the passive
obedience of Christ. He gave, He surrendered, He submitted
Himself to the wrath of the Father, to the wrath of men, to the wrath
of Satan, and there our sins were laid on Him. And He bore
them. Thy will be done. But in His
daily life, in His daily walk, From the time he was born in
Bethlehem's manger, from the time, from the moment he became
an infant of days until he died on the cross, Christ was at work. redeeming a people, saving a
people, obeying the laws and precepts and statutes of a holy
God, doing that which was well-pleasing in God's sight. And we are as
much indebted to Christ for living for us as for dying for us. And Jeremiah says that in Jeremiah
chapter 23. And this is my text. Jeremiah
23. In Jeremiah 23, verse 5, Jeremiah says, behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, Jeremiah 23, 5, that I'll raise unto David
a righteous, righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his
days, Judah shall be saved. Israel shall dwell safely. And
this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness." Jehovah. The three words there, Jehovah
our righteousness. Jehovah Sidkin. Jehovah our righteousness. Let's look at these three words
just briefly. Under these headings, understanding.
First of all, Jesus Christ the Lord is my righteousness. Jehovah,
our righteousness. Jehovah, this is true, God in
human flesh. Jesus Christ, and I've said this
over and over again, and I want to say it so that no one can
misunderstand. Jesus Christ is not a son of
God. He is not a messenger from God
only. Jesus Christ is God Himself. I am Jehovah in human flesh. If that's not true, the Bible's
false and the sinner has no hope. As the songwriter says, till
God, till God, in human flesh I see, my thoughts no comfort
find, the holy, just, and sacred three will always be terrorists
to my mind. Jesus Christ came down from heaven,
Jehovah, the Lord God Himself came to this earth and was born
of a virgin without the nature of sin. He knew no sin. He had
no sin. He did not partake of the fall
of Adam. He was not stricken and smitten
with that root of sin. He was born without it. And he
lived on this earth a perfect life. Christ was so righteous
that we might say that he's the law incarnate. He's righteousness
incarnate. He's righteousness itself. His
eye never looked at anyone with anger or with lust. His voice never spoke. Any words
but perfect words. His feet never walked except
in paths of holiness. His imagination, his heart never
held one thought of rebellion. He perfectly, as a man, as our
representative, he perfectly obeyed God's law. He loved God
with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. Wasn't any doubt
about it. He had an infinite Love for the
Father. And he loved men as himself.
He proved that by dying for us. Greater love hath no man than
this, that he lay down his life for his friend. He even prayed
for those who drove the nails in his hand. His life from infancy
to the cross. The Father could not find with
the microscope of immutable sovereign holiness, one stain in his whole
record. That's my righteousness. That's
my righteousness. Christ, Jehovah, our righteousness. Jehovah, our righteousness. Christ
in his life, and what I'm saying is that he was so righteous that
he might be called righteousness itself. that he might be called
the law incarnate. He lived out the law of God so
completely and so perfectly he knew no sin that all whom he
represented have that righteousness imputed to them and charged to
their account. He did it and when he did it,
I did it. All right, let me show you something
in Romans 5. You see that? Keep that right there. Mark Jeremiah
23 verse 6. That's underscore Jehovah, our
righteousness. All right, Romans 5. Romans chapter
5 verse 19. This is imputation. And I know
a lot of folks get all up in the air about this. And I know
they get real angry. Brethren, it's God's Word, verse
19, Romans 5. As by one man's disobedience,
the many were made sinners. That's Adam. Adam was a head of a race. He
was a representative of a race. Adam stood in the garden, and
we were in him. As we born the image of the earthy,
as in Adam all die, when one man's sin, debt, judgment, condemnation
passed upon all men. That's imputation, that's impartation,
that's charged to my account, that's reckoned to me. Right
there I was with him, I was in his loins when he died, when
he sinned and when he died. All right, that's the first Adam.
God sent the second Adam, Jesus Christ. In Adam we die. Christ will live. As we're born
in the image of the earth, we shall bear the image of the heaven.
As Adam represented everyone in his loins, Christ represented
everyone in his loins. And as I had evil and unrighteousness
transmitted and imparted and imputed unto me from Adam, from
Christ I have perfect righteousness imputed to me. He says in verse 19, by one man's
disobedience, thee many were made sinners. Even so, so, in
the same way, by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous. There's no way in the world around
imputation there. There's no way in the world around
representation. There's no way in the world around
the fact of headship. Somebody represented somebody
in that garden. And in this perfect life, which
God, He hasn't changed. He still requires. What He said
to Adam still goes, obey and live. God hasn't changed. God didn't take that back. He
didn't erase it. It still goes, obey and live.
Well, somebody's got to obey. And somebody did for somebody,
didn't he? I sure, by God's grace, pray
that I know I was here when Adam fell. I sure hope I was here
when Christ lived and when he obeyed that law. Because other
than that, I can talk about an experience. I can talk about
even a cross. I can talk about these things,
but I've got to have a righteousness because the law is waiting. Every
man shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account
of the deeds done in the body. That's what's said. And he says,
the books will be opened and every man shall be judged out
of the things written in the book, whether his deeds have
been evil or good. Isn't that what it said? Brother man, I thought that Christ
just did away with those books. Oh, I beg your pardon? I beg
your pardon. He did away with the sin against
us, but those books still require obedience, righteousness. Well,
in Christ, I have that. I have that righteousness. He
is my righteousness. And you see, I can stand, as
Paul said, and challenge justice, who is he that can condemn it?
I can challenge enemies, who can lay a hand on my church,
I can challenge justice. If God be for me, who can be
against me? I can challenge all these things because in Christ
I have everything God requires. I have a perfect obedience, a
perfect righteousness before the law and I have a perfect
sin offering and satisfaction in death before the justice of
God. Christ is my righteousness and
my sin offering. He is my holiness. He is my holiness. Turn back to Jeremiah 23. And
this is what I'm saying. And what some of the old Puritans
in the past said is if you preach imputed righteousness, you encourage
men to sin. I don't have to be encouraged
to sin. I don't know about you. I'm a sinner by nature. Nobody
has to encourage me to sin. I was born that way. And every
day confronts me, not only with the possibility and the probability,
but the certainty of sin. God's people are going to pursue
a life of holiness, not because they fear Him, but because they
love Him. But we've got to have a righteousness.
I don't care what it produces. I don't care what this kind of
preaching, what effect it has upon certain people. I'm just
saying that without this perfect righteousness, no man will see
the kingdom of God. But in Christ, we have that righteousness.
So really, my whole salvation from first to last, from Alpha
to Omega, from beginning to end, is a gift of God through Jesus
Christ my Lord. I make no contribution. I receive
everything. But now this is important. I
won't call this to your attention, I'll quit. Jeremiah 23, verse
6. In his days, in his days, his
days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell in peace,
safely. And this is his name, whereby
he shall be called. Oh, let's pause there a minute.
Whereby he shall be called. I can tell you all of this and
you can read it in God's word, but it must be experienced. In
other words, you must call his name, Jehovah, my righteousness. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Will you call? Or are you going
to keep on going about trying to establish your own righteousness?
Jehovah, my righteousness. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. Will you receive Christ with
your heart? With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. He believes on Christ. And Christ
is his righteousness. He rests in Christ. With the
mouth confession is made under salvation. What do you confess?
I confess Christ, my righteousness. I call His name Jehovah Sidkenu,
the Lord my righteousness. The Lord my sin offering, the
Lord my atonement. Bless your heart, God hasn't
changed. The Lord my righteousness. And I believe that in my heart.
Whatever else I believe, I believe that. that that law is totally
satisfied, perfectly. I don't know of anybody I'd rather
have represent me before the law than the one who wrote it.
That's good news, isn't it? I don't know any better news
than for him to satisfy his own requirements. I don't have any
doubt about being sufficient that way. He's the one that set them forth,
and he's the one that satisfied them, so I'm sure it's okay.
The Lord, my righteousness, and I can rest. Israel shall dwell
safely, and Judah shall be saved. This is his name, whereby he
shall be called Jehovah, our righteousness. You know, Somebody
said Christ restored everything we lost in the fall. My friends,
he restored a whole lot more than we lost. I'm better off
than Adam ever was. If I could trade places right
now with Adam in the Garden of Eden before the fall, no way. Because he was susceptible to
fall. But because I have a perfect righteousness in Christ, and
a perfect standing before His justice. I shall never fail. Never. That soul that on Jesus
has leaned for repose, He said, I'll never, no never, no never
desert to its foe. Our Father, let us be taught
tonight in this most important work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
when we look at his temptations, and we look at his sufferings,
a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and we realize that all
of this, too, was for us. When we look back there and say,
when he died, I died. When he was buried, I was buried.
We rejoice. But we can also rejoice and must
rejoice when he lived, I lived. When he obeyed the perfect statutes
and commandments of a most holy God, I obeyed them in Christ. And now there's no condemnation
to them who are in Christ. The law has no terror or fear
because we have a perfect standing, a perfect righteousness. It's
not ours. It's His, and ours by faith in
Him. Make this real to our folks tonight. To my heart, to the heart of
every person, for this is our hope. In the name of our living
Lord, we pray. Amen.