Philippians chapter 3, verse 8. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. Now, true faith accepts great
contrasts. True faith accepts even opposites,
if they're taught in the Word of God. We believe that we live when
we die. We've got to die before we can
live spiritually. That's what the Bible teaches,
and faith accepts that. It's an opposite, it's a contrast.
We are strong not when we're strong, we're strong when we're
weak. Paul said, when I am weak, then,
and only then, am I strong. When we're naked, completely
stripped, of every threadbare garment of self-righteousness,
when we're totally naked before the holy, burning, revealing
light of God's law, then, and only then, are we clothed. We cannot be clothed until we're
completely stripped. When we're emptied of self, totally
emptied of all pride, of all vain glory, of all merit, when
we're totally emptied, empty vessels, nothing there, then
we're filled with the grace and knowledge of our Lord. Faith
accepts that. Faith understands that. It's an opposite, it's a contrast,
but faith accepts it. Faith understands it. Real faith,
saving faith. The natural man does not understand
these things. He thinks when he's strong, he's
strong. When he is full, he's full. When we are poor, utterly poverty-stricken,
totally bankrupt, nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to the
cross of Christ I cling. When I am poor, spiritually emptied,
I have nothing, know nothing, am nothing, then I'm rich. then I have all things. Then
I'm an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. But as
long as I have one paltry penny, then I'm really poor, though
I think that I'm rich. And when I become a fool, when
I'm willing to be a fool, when I'm willing for my name to be
cast out as an evil thing, When I'm willing for people to look
upon me as a fanatic, as a radical, as an idiot, as a religious fool,
then I'm wise. And then is manifested in me
the wisdom of the living God. For the foolishness of men, what
does it say? It's the wisdom of God. And when I'm wise, when I'm an
intellectual, When I want people to look upon me as being one
who is well informed, intelligent, and capable of understanding
mysteries, then I'm a fool, and I know nothing as I ought to
know. When I live, when I die, I live. When I'm weak, I'm strong. When
I'm stripped, I'm clothed. When I'm emptied, I'm full. When
I'm poor, I'm rich. And when I'm become a fool, and
then I'm wise. Faith accepts great contrast
when they're taught in the Word of God. But here in my message
tonight, we have faith's acid test. Faith's acid test. In verse 8, four words. Christ Jesus. My Lord! A child born two thousand years
ago in a little old tiny village called Bethlehem in a country
that nobody knows much about called Palestine. A child born to an unwed Jewish
mother in her late teens. No room for him in the So he's
laid, surrounded by shepherds and horses and cows and sheep,
in a cow stable on a bed of hay. His parents, a few days or weeks
later, had to flee to Egypt to keep him from being killed, along
with all of the other little children. He was raised in a
very poor village of which someone said nothing good can come out
of Nazareth. He worked in a carpenter's shop.
He had no formal education. He didn't even have a high school
diploma. He worked in a carpenter shop
with his father. He never held public office.
He never owned a house or a strip of land. In fact, he never traveled
over a hundred miles from the place where he was brought up.
When he began to preach, He was surrounded by publicans, prostitutes,
and fishermen. And everybody who was anybody
turned thumbs down on this man. He was despised and rejected
and hated of all men. He was finally, after three and
a half years of public ministry, in which many people said, he
must be of God, no man could do the miracles he does except
God be with him, But after three and a half years of preaching
and miracles and mighty works, he was arrested. And he was beaten
by the soldiers, like a common criminal in the soldiers' hall.
He was beaten, spit upon, ridiculed, and mocked. False witnesses lied
about his activities. He was accused of being a traitor. He was accused of treason. He
was accused of blasphemy against the Holy God. And finally, he
was laid outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and he
was nailed to a Roman cross between two convicted thieves. After six hours of agony, he
died. He was taken down from that cross
and wrapped in grave clothes covered with spices because his
body was not embalmed, and laid in somebody else's grave because
they had no money to buy one for him. Talk about contrast. True faith says this one is my
Lord, my Lord and my God. In the manger he is my Lord. In his poverty, he is my Lord. In his shame, he is my Lord. In his death, he is my Lord."
Now, these strange conditions in which our Lord is revealed
in the manger, in poverty, surrounded by publicans and sinners, in
shame, and finally on a Roman tree and in the grave. These
strange conditions in which our Lord is revealed and found are
not difficult. These conditions are not difficult
for faith. They may be difficult for the
natural mind, just as if you want to be full, be empty. The
natural mind can't understand that. If you want to be full,
be full. The natural man cannot understand
if you want to live, die. How's a man going to live if
he dies? How's a man going to become wise if he becomes a fool?
And how can a man who doesn't have enough power to be born
surrounded with satin and silk in a palace, instead he's born
in a manger, how can he be the Lord? If he were the Lord who
created all things, it looks like he'd be born in a palace.
Why would he be surrounded by this bunch of publicans and harlots
and fishermen? Why not go up to the political
arenas and be surrounded by kings and statesmen and magistrates,
or even to the temple and be surrounded by the finery of religion
and the priests and the scribes and Pharisees? Why surround himself
with rabble? Why would he die in shame? Why would he die in Well, faith sees in the death
of Christ the choice reason for his being, my Lord. In Philippians
chapter 2, verse 7, Philippians 2, verse 7, faith sees in this
humiliation, in this shame, in this mockery, in this death of
deaths, Faith sees in this the choice reason why I should call
him my Lord. This is why he's my Lord and
my Redeemer. Philippians 2, 7. He made himself,
verse 6 says he was in the form of God, he was God, but he made
himself of no reputation. He chose this way and took upon
himself, he took upon him the form of a servant. and he was
made on purpose in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion
or habit as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Without his death there
is no kingdom of the redeemed. Without his death there is no
resurrection of glory. Without his death there is no
ransom for the slave. Without his death there is no
remission for sin. Wherefore, because he humbled
himself, wherefore, because he lowered himself, wherefore, because
he was obedient unto death, wherefore, the Father hath highly exalted
him and given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Some preachers said,
Sinner, you ought to make Jesus your Lord. Well, sinner, let
me tell you something. God's already made Him your Lord.
He is your Lord. Whether you admit it, whether
you confess it, or whether you bow to Him now, He is your God
exalted him. God made him Lord. He is Lord
of the living and the dead. By his death, he died that he
might be Lord, the scripture said. He is Lord. It's not a
question of if you will make Christ your Lord. It's when you're
going to admit he's your Lord. You can do it now and receive
God's mercy, or you can do it in hell, but either way, someday,
every knee's going to bow. Listen. every knee is going to
bow in heaven, in earth, and under the earth, and every tongue
will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord. This one who humbled himself,
this one who made himself of no reputation, this one who took
upon himself the form of a servant, this one who for a while was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh, he's Lord, Lordy Lord
of heaven and earth. He is Jesus, but he's our Lord. He is born a child, but always
a king. He is my beloved. but he's my
Lord and my God. And faith for salvation never
makes us less reverent in our worship of him who is our Lord. David wrote, Jehovah said unto
my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. Elizabeth, the mother of
John the Baptist, called Mary the mother of my Lord. Mary Magdalene
said, They have taken away my Lord. Thomas said, My Lord and
my God. And Paul wrote, The knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord. David Clarkson, a great preacher
and writer of the past, once said, A disciple of Jesus Christ
is one that gives up himself to be holy at the disposal of
his blessed Lord, to learn what his Lord teaches, to believe
what his Lord reveals, to do what his Lord commands, to avoid
what his Lord forbids, to suffer what his Lord inflicts, in expectation
of eternal life which his Lord has purchased. And such a woman
is truly a disciple of Christ, and he, and no one else, is a
Christian. A disciple of Christ is one that
gives up himself to be holy at his Lord's disposing, to learn
what his Lord teaches to believe what his Lord reveals, to do
what his Lord commands, to avoid what his Lord forbids, and to
suffer what his Lord inflicts in expectation of that remarkable
gift which his Lord has promised—eternal life. Let me give you three or
four thoughts from this theme tonight. Jesus Christ my Lord. First of all, in our salvation. Turn to Romans chapter 10. In
our salvation, we have received Christ Jesus, our Lord. We have not received Jesus, the
doormat. We have not received Jesus, the
fire escape from hell. We have not received Jesus, the
superstar. we have bowed to Jesus Christ
the Lord, the Lord of glory. It says in Romans 10 verse 9,
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. And the best translators will
tell you that says, if you confess with your mouth Jesus to be Lord. This one who was born in a manger,
this one who walked the earth, this one who died on the cross,
this one who was buried in the borrowed tomb, this one who rose
again, who ascended unto the right hand of the Father, he
Lord. And you believe in your heart
God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. Now, when the
angel appeared to Joseph, I want you to listen to me a minute.
When the angel appeared to Joseph, he said, Fear not to take unto
thee Mary, to be thy For this holy thing which shall be born
of her will be called the Son of God. And thou shalt call his
name Jesus, Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. This holy one shall be called
Jesus. He is Jesus the man. He is Jesus
the Son of Man. As a man, he obeyed the law.
As a man, he fulfilled all righteousness. As a man, he went to Calvary
and died. Because a man fell in the Garden
of Eden, a man had to obey. Because a man rebelled, it had
to be a man who restored us to our place of righteousness. But only because Jesus the man
was Jesus Christ the Lord, only because he was the Lord could
he be born without guilt. If he'd only been a man, he'd
have been a partaker of Adam's sin. But because he was, this
holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God, Jesus the Son of man, Christ the Lord, the Son of God. And only because Jesus the man
was also Christ the Lord could he be born without guilt. Only
because he was Christ the Lord could he live without sin. Only
because he was Christ the Lord could he fulfill all righteousness,
and only because he was Christ the Lord could his death afford
a sufficient ransom for so many believers. Only because. If you'll turn with me to Hebrews
7. Hebrews 7, verse 24. This man, and it was a man, he
was a man. It was a man who fell. It was
a man who rebelled. It was a man who committed high
treason against the government of God. It was a man, Adam. And brethren, it was a man who
restored us to that place of glory, Christ the Lord. This man, because he continueth
forever, because he has an unchangeable priesthood, because he's the
Son of God, wherefore he is able, because he has that kind of priesthood,
he is able to say to the uttermost them that come to God by him,
Christ Jesus my Lord. Faith sees that. Faith sees no
problem with him being born low. He was born low that he might
be identified with those who are born low. Faith sees no problem
with Christ being tempted in all points as we are, in order
that he might identify with those who are tempted in all points.
Faith has no problem with his poverty, in order that he might
be identified with people of poverty. bankrupt people, shameful,
guilty people. He was numbered with the transgressors. He bears the sin of many. And faith in salvation receives
Christ Jesus the Lord. One other verse on this point.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. No problem here. It's only the
natural mind that can't comprehend it. In 1 Corinthians 15, 47,
the first man is of the earth, earthy." Who
was that? Adam. The second man, who is
he? He's the Lord from heaven. That's
who he is. And verse 49, "...as we have
borne the image of the earthy, and taken part with him in his
sin, and in his rebellion, and in his fall, and in his transgression,
and in his death, as we have borne his image. Thank God by
God's grace we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. As
in Adam all men die, so in Christ the Lord we are made alive. God only sees two men. You better
be glad of that. He sees the first Adam, and in
him evil. He sees the second Adam in him
glory. All right, the second thing.
Turn to Ephesians 1. In our salvation we have received
Christ the Lord. Also, now listen to me, in the
church, in the church, Jesus Christ is the Lord. In Ephesians chapter Chapter 1, verse 22. God hath put all things under
his feet, and gave him, Jesus Christ, to be head over all things
to the church. He's the head of the church.
Brethren, the heart of any church is Christ the Lord. The very beat of the heart of
the church is Christ. It's not a program. It's not
a personality. It's not a preacher. It's not
a doctrine. It's Christ. The very life of
the church is Christ the Lord. The head of the church is Christ
the Lord. And as a church, we have no reason
at all, not one teeny reason for existing, not a reason for
existing, except as we relate to Christ and to one another in Christ. I'm dead serious about this.
We have no reason to exist. If morality is our reason for
existing, let's go home. If doctrine, if denominationalism,
if humanitarian enterprises, if charitable work, if that's
our reason, if social activity, let's go home. Write Ichabod
on the door, the glory has departed, and go home. Because in the church,
God had given him to be the head over all things. He's the heart
of the church, he's the life of the church, he's the head
of the church, and the church has no reason to exist apart
from him. I want you to listen to something.
Don't turn to it, just listen. Be not ye called, Rabbi, for
one is your master, even Christ, and all your brethren. The Bible knows nothing of what
we call the clergy and the laity. No, sir. The Bible knows nothing
of ecclesiastical powers, hierarchy, boards. It knows nothing of those
things. Don't you be called, Rabbi, Master. You don't have but one Master.
And you are all brethren. It doesn't matter if you're the
preacher, or the elder, or the deacon, or the littlest fellow
in here, your brother. And call no man your father upon
this earth. No man. One is your father which
is in heaven, and neither be ye called masters. and write reverends and doctors,
for one is your master, even Christ. And he that is greatest
among you shall be your servant." Got it backwards, hadn't we?
Just like everything else in this religious day, we got it
backwards. We've turned it around. We've
messed it up. We've put our dirty, rotten,
depraved hands on it and messed it up. And we've taken the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ and made an organization out of it
that the devil would be ashamed of. It's not pure and holy as
Christ ordained it. He is the head. He is the master. The pastor of this church is
God's servant. He is an ambassador of Jesus
Christ. He delivers God's message. He
teaches God's word. He counsels God's people as an
under-shepherd. He feeds the flock, but he's
not the head. Christ is the head. He's not
the ruler. Christ is the ruler. I am not
responsible to him. I'm responsible to Christ. I
am not to seek to please him. I'm to seek to please Christ.
The elders and deacons of this church are teachers and servants. They're not rulers. They're not
bosses. Christ rules his church. They're
servants. Yet any man who wants to be the
greatest, let him be your servant. Brethren, we go to Calvary. We go to the cross. And if we
stay there long enough, and God gives us faith to see, we'll
come away from the cross motivated by our love for Christ, and we'll
give as unto the Lord. Nobody has to get a card with
our name on it, and amount of money, and date, and shove that
card in front of our faces, and say, now, will you promise to
give this much next year? We've got to raise so much for
the budget, you know. The pastor has to be paid, and
the secretaries have to be paid, and the missionaries have to
be paid, and the utilities, and folks, we're getting hard up
here now, and we want you to promise to give. Now, sir, when
faith goes to the cross and beholds his Lord, who gave himself, who
was rich and yet for our sakes became poor. Faith comes away
from that cross with a broken heart, with a generous spirit.
Faith comes away from that cross willing to give everything, if
need be. Not to please a man, not to pay
a bill, but as unto the Lord. motivated by Christ, not motivated
by human righteousness, not motivated by rules, not motivated by laws,
not motivated by need, but motivated by love for Christ. When we go to that cross and
we see what a dirty, rotten sinner we really are, That it was our
voice that cried, crucify him! That it was our voice that cried,
give us more of us! It was our voice that cried,
away with him! And you have crucified your Lord! And we stay at that cross for
a little while and see what our sins did to our Lord. We come
away showing mercy to others because we've received mercy.
treat me like God treated you, and we'll be okay, won't we?
If a brother be overtaken in a fault, you with your spiritual,
what are you going to do with him? You're going to restore
him like God restored you. Like God took that old crucifier,
Christ's crucifier, and made him a son. God took that old
rebel and made him an ambassador. God took that old blasphemer
and made him a son of the And you say, I've had mercy every
breath I've breathed, every step I've taken. Could I possibly
be unmerciful? Where are you going to learn
that? Well, you're not going to learn
it by the preacher standing up saying, you folks ought to love
one another. That's not nice to fuss, and it's not nice to
fight, and it's not nice to gossip, and you just ought not do those
things. If you go to Calvary and stay there a little while,
you know you ought not do those things. And you're motivated
not by a rule that says you ought not do it, but by a law that
says I'd rather do something else. You see what I'm saying? We love one another as Christ
loved us. Turn to 1 John 4. If you go to
the cross, I'll tell you what's wrong with our churches today.
We haven't been to the cross. Our preachers don't take us to
the cross. We're trying to motivate people
by morality and laws and rules and denominational creeds and
catechism. We haven't been to the cross.
And sitting down, watched him there. And come away born again. Come away renewed. Come away
regenerated. Come away changed. Come away
our whole attitude regenerated and converted. Because we've
taken a look at Christ. 1 John 4, verse 8. 1 John 4, verse 8. Listen to it. He that loveth
not doth know God, for God is love. In this was manifested
the love of God toward you and me, Because God sent his only
begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Here
in his love, we didn't love God. He loved us. And he sent his
Son to be the sacrifice, propitiation for our sin. Beloved, you go
to Calvary and you say, you come back saying, if God so loved
me, I ought also to love others. That's where you learn it. We
study. Why do we study? Because we want
to argue with a man down at the mill? That's not why we study. Turn to 2 Timothy 2. We study. Why? Because we want to be able
to do better than somebody else? No, sir. We study. Why do we
study? 2 Timothy 2, 14, 15. Why do we
read the Word of God? In 2 Timothy 2, verse 14. Listen to it. "...of these things
put them in remembrance." charging them before the Lord, that they
strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting
of the hearer. That's what debate and argument
does. But, study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. Study to show yourself what? approved of God. And then we
witness for Christ's sake. We are ambassadors for Christ,
and we are faithful for Christ's sake. And Christ said, Peter,
whom do you say I am? Peter said, You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And he said, Peter, flesh and
blood didn't reveal that to you, but my Father in heaven, and
on this rock I will build my church. Christ the Son of the
Living God. Now that's the rock. Now turn
to 1 Corinthians 3. I want you to look at this just
a minute or two. 1 Corinthians 3. In 1 Corinthians
3, beginning with verse 11. Let's go back to verse 5. Paul says, who is Paul? Who is
Apollos? But ministers by whom you believe,
even as the Lord gave to every man, I planted, or polished water,
God gave the increase. So then, neither is he that planteth
anything, and not anything, and neither that watereth is not
anything. God gives the increase. Now,
verse 11. For utter foundation can no man
lay, than that is laid. That's Christ Jesus. Now, if
any man build on this foundation, brethren, here's the problem.
The foundation is Christ. If any man build, and that's
what we're doing, we preachers and churches and witnesses and
soul winners and so forth, we're building something. The foundation
Paul laid and the apostles laid and God the Father laid and all
the prophets laid is Christ the Lord! That's the foundation. That's been laid. I don't have
to do that. That's been laid. If any man build on this foundation,
gold, silver, precious Now, these three things have something in
common. They're all durable. Gold, silver,
precious stone. They can stand the test. They
can stand the wind and the rain and the flood. They can stand
the fire. They can stand the test. They
will not be consumed. If any man build on this foundation,
these things, gold, silver, precious stone, but if any man build wood,
hay, and stuffle, Now, these things have something in common.
They are all fragile. They all will burn. They all
will be consumed. They all will be destroyed. They
are all susceptible to fire, flood, rain. All of these things
will sweep them away. Every man's work is going to
be made manifest. Our preaching, our churches,
the foundation is Christ. Now, if we want to build on this
foundation gold, silver, precious stone, that which is durable,
that which will stand the test, that which is God's work, God's
salvation, God's redemption, God's workmanship, that will
stand the test, it's going to be revealed one of these days
what kind of material it really is, whether it's gold, silver,
precious stone, or whether it's wood, hay, and stubble. For that
day! Some people believe that's the
day of judgment. But it may be that we're going to see it right
here on this earth. That day shall declare it. It
shall be revealed by fire, and the fire is going to try every
man's word. Stand back, preacher. You're
not going to be able to hold your converts with your pleas
and with your eloquence and with your personality. Stand back. God's going to try
them with a fire of judgment. God's going to see what they're
made of by themselves. Without you, stand back denomination,
you're not going to be able to hold your people with your literature,
with your organizations, all these different youth organizations,
and women organizations, and men's brotherhood organizations.
Stand back. God's going to try them with
a fire, and God's going to see if they're staying all alone. Without your support, Without
your help, let's seat their gold, silver, precious stone built
on the foundation of Christ Jesus. Stand back, preacher! Stand back,
evangelist! Stand back, personal worker!
Stand back, missionary! God's going to try your work. And if it won't stand the fire,
if it's wood, hay, and stubble, read on. God's going to try every
man's work, and if any man's work abides which he had built
on that foundation, He'll receive a reward. That reward will be
joy in the Lord. That reward will be praise to
Christ. That reward will be a deep satisfaction
for being used for God's glory. But if every man's work is burned,
he may be sincere. He may be a son of God. I don't
know. He may be a child of God. He shall be saved so as by fire. But I can't help you when you're
tried by fire. That's the reason. That's true,
and you say, Preacher, why are you so emphatic? Why are you
so hard? Why are you so careful? Why don't
you just invite people down the aisles like everybody else? Because
I'm afraid of wood, hay, and stubble. It's going to burn. And I can
get people down the aisle and talk them into a profession and
talk them into church and go see them every two or three weeks
and have coffee with them and feed them a sucker to suck on
and a little candy, you know, and give them a job to do in
the church to keep them coming and give them a Sunday school
class to teach and scratch their backs and tickle their ears and
brag on them and have a baseball team to keep them coming watermelon
cutting and a picnic and all these things, just keep them
coming and have special days, you know, Banana Day and Sunday
School Roundup Day and Anniversary Day and all these other days,
and keep them coming. Then God one day says, Stand
there! And will try them by themselves without you, and let's see what
they're made out of. You stand there and cry while
the fire of God sweeps away all you've given your life to. Everything. You've preached, you've begged
them, you've tricked them, you've got them to make professions,
you've made them religious, and God tried them by fire and they
failed. And all the denominations, we've
got twenty-some-odd thousand churches, we've got two hundred
and fifty million people, we've got all this, that, and the other.
God says, stand back. I'm going to try them by themselves.
And if they're anchored on Christ, they'll live. They'll come out
smelling like smoke, but they'll live. They'll live. And the last thing, and I close,
turn to 1 Samuel 3. He is our Lord in salvation. He is our Lord in the church. That's the only reason we got
to exist. There's no other reason to be here. If you come in here
because we're all conservatives and not liberals, or all liberals
and not conservatives, why don't you stay home? Now, if you come
in here because we're all capitalists and none of us are communists,
why don't you just go someplace else? If you come in here because
the people here wear their clothes a certain way or don't, why don't
you just go somewhere else? But if you come in here to meet
with the Lord, to worship his high and holy and exalted name,
to hear his blessed gospel preached, to sing the blessed songs of
Zion, to fellowship with people who know the Lord. Come on. That's why we're here. That's
the only reason we're here. And then, in our life, he is
our Lord. In 1 Samuel 3, Samuel came to
Eli and said, Eli, the Lord, is going to destroy your family. In verse 11, I will do a thing
in Israel, at which the ears of every one that heareth it
shall tingle. I will perform against Eli all
things which I spoke concerning his house, and when I begin,
I will make an end. I will judge his house for the
iniquity which he knoweth. His sons made themselves vile,
and he restrained them And I swore unto the house of Eli, that the
iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice,
nor offering for ever. And Samuel told Eli, and you
know what he said? He said in verse 18, Samuel told
Eli every bit of the things, all the words that God had spoken.
He didn't hide anything from him. And Eli said, It is the
Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. It's the Lord. on the road to
Damascus, cried, Lord, what will you have me do? Job said, When
everything had been swept away, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. It may not be on
a mountain's height, or over the stormy sea, It may not be
at the battle's front my Lord will have need of me, but if
by still small voice he calls to pass, I do not know. I'll answer, dear Lord, with
my hand in thine. I'll go where you want me to
go. I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord. I'll be what
you want me to be. I'll say what you want me to
say, dear Lord. I'll be what you want me to be."
He's Lord. In the resurrection, He's the
Lord. In eternal glory, He's the Lord. He's Christ Jesus,
my Lord.