Now, if you'll open your Bibles
to the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 15, will serve as our
text this evening. There are two essential facts
which must be learned if one is to learn the gospel—two essential
facts. And they are man's sin and God's
grace. The whole story is wrapped up
in these two things. Man's sin and God's grace. The infinite depth of man's guilt. The infinite depth of man's sin
and fall. and the infinite length and breadth
and depth and height of God's mercy in Jesus Christ. Now that's where a sinner starts
his journey to glory. It is as the publican cried in
the temple, God be merciful to me, the sinner. The two things
that must be learned. He learned them and Christ said
he went home justified. He learned something about God's
mercy and something about his guilt. God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. The Apostle Paul says here in
1 Timothy 1.15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save,
to show mercy, to show grace to sinners, of whom I am the
chief. And then that's the way we finish
this journey. in Revelation chapter 5 and beginning
with verse 1. Turn to Revelation 5 verse 1. I saw in the right hand of him
that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back
side sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And what'd they find out? No
man. No man. In heaven nor on the
earth, no man. The infinite depth of man's guilt,
no man. The infinite depth of man's sin,
no man. No man in heaven, no man in the
earth, neither under the earth, heaven, earth, or hell, was able
to open the book, nor to look thereon. And I wept much, because
no man was found worthy. They were all guilty, they were
all fallen, they were all sinful. And no one was worthy to open
and read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the
elders said unto me, Weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe
of Judah." Who's that? That's Christ. The scepter shall
not depart from Judah till the Prince of Peace comes, till Shiloh
comes. The root of David, the offspring
of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven
seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, in the midst of
the elders, stood a Lamb. John the Baptist saw him, and
he called him the Lamb of God. In the midst of the throne stood
a lamb as it had been slain, the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the
seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came
and he took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on
the throne. He's equal with the Father. He
thinks it's not robbery to be equal with the Father. And he
stepped forth and took the book out of the right hand of him
that sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book,
the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before
the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vows full
of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung
a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to open the book. to open the seals thereof. What
made him worthy? How did he become worthy? How
did he purchase this honor? For thou wast slain, thou wast
crucified, and thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, by thy
by thy grace, O the infinite depth and width and length and
breadth of God's mercy. Thou hast redeemed us by thy
blood out of every kindred and every tongue and every people
and every nation, and thou hast made us under our God kings and
priests, and we shall reign on the earth." Yes, that's the way
we start this journey. We learn something about man's
infinite man's infinite sin, man's unworthiness, and we find
out a little something about God's mercy in Christ, God's
grace in Christ. And that's how we wind up this
journey. And there we shall see, not through
a glass dimly, but face to face, and we're going to see the awful
depths of human depravity. And we're going to see the heights
and glories of God's grace. No man in heaven, earth, or hell
is worthy to take the book, but oh, the grace and mercy of the
Lamb, who not only is worthy, but who is able. And I believe
all the way through this journey that we see each day a little
more of God's grace and a little more of man's sins. And I think
the more you see of one, the more you see of the other. And
I think the weaker a man is on the grace of God, the weaker
he is on the depravity of the flesh. And the weaker he is on
the depravity of the human heart, the weaker he is on the sovereign
grace of God. The coming of our Lord Jesus
into the world was because of these two things, God's grace
and man's sin. The Scripture says the Son of
Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. That's why
he came. Turn to Luke chapter 4. When
our Lord went back to Nazareth where he was brought up, where
he made his home when he was just a lad, where he worked in
the carpenter shop with Joseph, when he returned home and they
delivered him the book to read in the synagogue on the Sabbath
day, He turned to Isaiah chapter 61, and this is what he read,
Luke 4, 18. He found the place where it was
written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. That's why I've come. Good
news to the poor. That's not talking about people
who have patches on their britches. That's talking about the poor
in spirit. A man may have patches on his britches and pride in
his heart, and a man may have a bank account and have a broken
heart. This is talking about people
who have nothing spiritually, who know nothing, and who can
produce nothing. They're poor in spirit, and he
has sent me to preach the good news of the gospel of grace to
the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. He has sent me to preach deliverance
to the captives, recovery of the sight to the blind, and to
set at liberty them that are bruised." That's why he came,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. He is able to save
to the uttermost them that come to God by him. I want to give you in the message
tonight about five or six things which show us man's sin and God's
mercy to the chief of sinners. And first of all, I'd like for
you to take your Bibles and turn with me to Isaiah chapter 1.
Now, I'm just going to give two of these scriptures, but all
of the invitations of the Bible are written to sinners. And all
of the invitations of the Bible reveal God's mercy to the chief
of sinners, all of them. And here's an example. In Isaiah
chapter 1, It tells us in verse 2 that these people were rebels.
They had revolted against God's sovereignty. He says in verse
2, Listen to me, O angels, O heaven, and listen to me, men on the
earth. The Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought
up children, and they have rebelled against me. These people were
rebels against God. In verse 3, he says they're worse
than animals. Because even the ox knows his
owner, and even the ass, even the dumb donkey knows his master's
crib. But Israel, my people, they do
not know me, and they do not consider me. They have no consideration
for their relationship with God. Not only are they rebels, but
he said they're worse than the oxen, and they're worse than
the dumb donkeys. And then he says in verse 4,
sinful nation. They're a people just laden,
heavy with iniquity. They're a seed of evildoers.
They're children that are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord.
They have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, and they've
gone away backward. Everyone has turned to his own
way. The way of the rebel, the way of the revolter, the way
of the traitor, they have gone backward. In verse 5 and 6 he
says, why should they be stricken? They just revolt more and more.
Their whole head is sick. Mentally they're sick. It's a
mental sickness, and their whole heart is faint. It's a moral
perversion. A mental sickness and a moral
perversion. And from the sole of the foot
even to the top of the head, there's no soundness, no holiness,
no righteousness in them. Nothing but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither bound
up, neither mollified with ointment. And in verse 11 he says their
religious ceremonies are corrupted. To what purpose is the multitude
of their sacrifices? They're rebels, they have revolted,
they are corruptors, they're mentally sick, they're spiritually
sick, they're morally perverted. Of what use is their spiritual
sacrifices? God says in verse 11, I'm tired
of their burnt offerings. In verse 12, when they appear
before me, who hath required this type of worship at their
hand to walk in my courts? He says in verse 14, your new
moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. There are trouble
unto me, I am weary to bear them, and when you spread forth your
hands I'll hide my eyes from you, and when you make many prayers
I will not hear you, because your hands are dripping with
blood. Now then, in spite of all this,
in spite of all this, to show you how that God's grace and
God's mercy is to the chief of sinners in spite of all this,
he says in verse 18, Come now and let us reason together, though
your sins be as scarlet. And they weren't. traitors, deserters,
God-haters, mentally sick, morally perverse, twisted in their religious
ceremonies, making a mockery of God's day, and of God's temple,
and of God's Word, and God's law, and yet God in His mercy. You say, oh, the infinite depth
of their depravity. Yes, sir. But where sin did abound,
God's grace did much more abound. And God says, you come on now,
and let's reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they'll be white as snow, and though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Now turn to Matthew 11. I'm saying
that the invitations of God's Word reveal that the mercy of
God is for the chief of sinners. It doesn't matter who he is.
It doesn't matter whether he's black or white. It doesn't matter
whether he's old or young. It doesn't matter whether he's
rich or poor. It doesn't matter whether he's
learned or ignorant. God's mercy is for sinners. That's
why he came. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. Sinners. Not good people. Sinners. The Son of Man's come
to seek and to save the lost. In verse 20 of Matthew 11, he
began to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were
done, because they didn't repent. And he says, Chorazin, woe unto
thee! Bethsaida, woe unto thee! Why,
if the mighty works which are done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you, it'll be
easier in the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than it'll
be for you. Warned to thee Capernaum, thou
art exalted to heaven. The Son of God Himself has walked
your streets and preached in your synagogues and ministered
to your people. The Son of God never walked in
Sodom. except in wrath. The Son of God
never walked in Sodom, except in judgment. But the Son of God
has walked your streets. You've been exalted unto heaven,
for you've had a personal visitation from heaven. But Capernaum, you're
going to be brought down to hell, because if the mighty works which
are done in you had been done in Sodom, it never would have
been destroyed. But I say unto you, It will be
more tolerable for the land of Sodom and the Day of Judgment
than for you. And then down in verse 28 he says, But come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, labouring under
the burden of sin, labouring under the weight of sin, labouring
under the guilt of sin, heavy laden with the pressure and burden
and trial of iniquity, you come to me, and I will give you rest. And I'll give you rest. The invitations
of the Bible are to sinners. Sinners. No man has rebelled
too strongly that he cannot be forgiven. No man has departed
away from God too far that he cannot be brought back. No man
has fallen too low that he cannot be lifted, because God delights
to show mercy. The invitations of the Bible
are extended to those who are sinners. Now, secondly, the family
and house through which Jesus Christ came to this earth. Now,
I want you to listen to me. The family and house through
which Jesus Christ came to this earth reveals the mercy of God
to sinners. And you know, Christ became a
man. The Scripture says that the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Christ came down here to the
earth in human flesh. And he came just like I did and
you did through a family tree. Now, I'm not going to stand up
here tonight and give you my family tree. Some of them I'm
not too proud of. And they wouldn't be too proud
of me, I'm sure. But we have a family tree. We have mothers
and fathers, and we have grandmothers and grandfathers, and we have
great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers, and we have great-great-grandmothers
and great-great-grandfathers. We go right on back down the
years, back to either Germany or Ireland or England or somewhere
where our forefathers came over this country. But we have a family
tree. Well, the Lord Jesus did too.
He had a family tree. He came through Mary. And if
you'll look in the book of Matthew, chapter 1, you can trace Jesus
Christ's family tree. It says, the book of the generation
of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat
Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judas, and Judas begat
Perez and Zarah of Tamar. And it goes right on down to
verse 16, and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom
was born Jesus, which is called Christ. There's his family tree.
all the way from Abraham to Joseph. And in the book of Luke you have
his family tree all the way back from Adam up to the time Christ
came. Now then, God might have kept
the family tree of Christ, the family through which he came,
God might have kept it absolutely pure. God might have kept it
free from any notorious crimes. But we find in the earthly family
tree of Jesus Christ great sin. Did you know that? His great-great-grandmother
was a character. And his great-great-great-grandfather
was something else. I'm going to show you that. I'll
just give you two examples of the men who were in the family
tree of our Lord. Now, the reason the Father did
this The Father is showing in every invitation in the Bible
that mercy is for sinners, grace is for the guilty, mercy is for
the fallen, that Christ came to seek and to save the lost,
that Christ came to lift the fallen. And he shows in the family
tree of our Lord that he has no regard for so-called human
righteousness and human dignity. Now you take David. In the scripture I read a while
ago, Christ the son of David. That's what it said. David whose
son Christ is called. That's what scripture says. He's
called David's son. He sat on David's throne. He
was a rightful heir to David's throne. And David was a man after
God's own heart. But David was a man of notorious
crimes. On one occasion when David was
out running from Saul, He had 400 men with him living in caves
and in the mountains. He sent one of his men down to
a farm. He had defended this man's sheep
against the highwaymen. So he sent one of his men down,
said, tell that fellow to fix provisions for my army. And the
fellow sent word back to David that he wasn't going to feed
a rebel, that he wasn't going to feed the enemy of the king,
And David just had to look somewhere else for something to eat. And
when the word came back to David that what this man said, David
turned to 400 men. And he said, strap on your swords.
We're going to pay that man a visit. And when we leave that man's
plantation, I don't want a living male on that place. Kill him. Kill his sons. Kill his brothers. Kill his father. kill every male
animal, kill every male in the entire village. That doesn't
sound very godly, does it? But that was the great, great,
great, great grandfather of our Lord. On another occasion, he
committed adultery with one of his best friend's wives, and
then he sat down and plotted and planned the murder of this
man. He sent a note while he was entertaining the man in his
own palace, in his own home. He wrote a note out to Joab,
the captain of his forces, folded it up, handed it to the man,
said, Give this to Joab when you see him. And the man, trusting
David, believing David, put the note in his pocket, went out
to his captain in battle, handed the note to the general, and
the note said from King David, Put this man in the front lines,
and then pull back and leave him. I want him dead. You take
Solomon. Solomon was in the family tree
of our Lord, and Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived.
And yet the scripture tells us that Solomon himself not only
allowed his wives to worship false gods, but he built temples
for them. He built altars for them to worship
false gods and false idols. And then if you look at Matthew
chapter 1, we'll find some of the women in our Lord's family
tree. You take Tamar, verse 3, you
see where it says, Judah begat Perez and Zarah of Tamar? Well, you know, those boys were
twins. They were in the family tree of our Lord, and that young
woman Tamar was. She played the harlot to get
what she wanted. Her husband died, and her father-in-law,
Judah, promised her that she could marry his other son. And
he didn't keep his word. So she played the harlot, disguised
herself, and had these twins by her own father-in-law. And
she was in the family tree of our Lord. Look at Rahab. Who
was Rahab? Down here in verse 5. It says,
you know, Rahab was Boaz's mother. And Rahab was a harlot. That
was her profession. She lived down in Jericho. She
had a house up on the wall. And that's where she was vested
in her profession. You see Ruth? You know what Ruth's
background is? Ruth is a Moabitess, a Gentile,
who came from Lot's incest with his own daughters. That's Ruth's
folks. That's where she was born and
raised. You know, I guess the tired of people, it's particularly
bad around here, as well as in other places, but they look down
on somebody because of their background. I've heard people
say, oh, I knew them back when so-and-so. Oh, did you now? You
know what Ruth was? You know her background? Ruth
was a Moabitess. Ruth came from Lot's incest with
his daughters. That's where her background was.
Well, what about Bathsheba? Look on down a little further
in verse 6. You know who Solomon's mother was? You know, that's
Solomon's brilliance and Solomon's greatness and Solomon's wisdom
and Solomon's part in the line of Christ. His mama was Bathsheba. That was the baby that was born
of the wedlock of Bathsheba and David. And you can go all the
way down the lineage of Christ and the background, the family
tree of our Lord Jesus Christ. And God chose the greatest sinners
and made them the greatest saints in order that the greatest sinners
might feel a kinship with the Lord. It's not that bunch of
pious, grinning, hand-twisting religious folks up in the temple
that God blesses and God shows mercy unto, it's sinners. That's
the reason when Christ was here on this earth. Here's the third
thing. The people that our Lord visited and the people that our
Lord saved and the people that our Lord associated with during
His earthly ministry reveals His mercy to sinners. Listen to this. When his parents
fled from Herod, when Herod was going to kill the young child
Jesus, and they fled from Herod, you know where they went? They
sure didn't go to the synagogue and hide. They'd have been betrayed. They sure didn't go to Jerusalem
and hide. You know where they went? They
went to Egypt. They went to the most idolatrous
country on the face of the earth. That's where they went. That's
where God the Father sent the child Jesus to protect him from
Herod was to the most idolatrous, wicked country in the whole then
known world. Our Lord grew up. Where did he
grow up? He grew up in Nazareth. And one fellow said about Nazareth,
can any good come out of that place? Around Ashland, you know,
it used to be Avondale. Can any good come out of Avondale?
Well, Don did. We used to have a mission down
there. That's right. Can any good come out of Nazareth?
Lord Jesus came out of Nazareth. Lord Jesus came. His trade, what
was his trade? He was a carpenter. His disciples,
what were they? Despised, depraved, uncultured,
seamen. Who were his friends? The publicans
and sinners. Whom did he save? Well, on his
way to Jericho, he stopped in Samaria and he found a woman
who had six husbands, and he saved her soul and made her a
missionary. Mary Magdalene, he cast seven
devils out of her. And then, before he died on the
cross, He said to a thief, and somebody said, an outcast that
the outcast had cast out. He said to that thief, Today
thou shalt be with me in paradise. Our Lord died on a cross and
lay in a buried tomb, and when he ascended to the Father, he
came back to this earth. That's right, after he went back
to glory, after the disciples saw him as sin, he appeared on
this earth. And you know the person to whom
he appeared? The most blasphemous, injurious, Christ-hater there
was on the earth, Saul of Tarsus. And he saved him on the road
to Damascus, and he made him a missionary to the Gentiles. And when our Lord gave his great
commission to his disciples, he said, you go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. I don't care
how dirty, and how black, and how blind, and how lame, and
how filthy, and how guilty they are. You tell them that God loves
sinners, and there's mercy for sinners. A certain man made
a great feast, and he bade many. And he sent his servant at suppertime
to say to those that were bidden, Come, for my feast is ready. And they all began to make excuse.
One of them said, I bought a piece of ground and I'm going to see
it. Have me excused. Another said, I bought five yoke
of oxen. I got to go prove them. Have
me excused. Another said, I married a wife.
I can't come. And so the servant came and told
his lord these things. And the master of the house,
being angry, said to his servant, You go out quickly into the streets
and into the alleys of the city. And you bring me the poor, and
the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." That's who you go
after. You go after the maimed, and
the halt, and the poor, and the blind. Listen to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. God hath not, God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty. and the base things of the world,
and the things which are despised hath God chosen. That which men
look down upon, God exalts. That which men despise, God exalts. That which men will have nothing
to do with, God exalts. Yea, God hath chosen the things
that are not to bring to naught the things that are that no flesh
should glory in his presence, but of him are ye the despised."
and the weak, and the foolish, and the base. But of him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Listen to this
verse. The Lord raiseth up the poor
out of the dust. The Lord lifteth up the beggar
from the dunghill. and set them among princes, to
make them inherit the throne of his glory. For the pillars
of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon
them." Now in closing, how will this chief of sinners react to
this mercy? Turn back to our text in I Thessalonians These great sinners whom God
hath chosen, these great sinners whom God hath honored with his
mercy, these great sinners to whom God hath given his grace,
how will they react? Well, Paul says first of all
in verse 12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. I'm grateful. The grace
of God to the guilty will make the guilty thankful. The mercy
of God to the sinful will make him thankful. I thank God. I'm not thanking my mama and
papa. I'm thanking God. I'm not just
thanking all my Christian friends. I'm thanking God. I thank God
who hath enabled me. I thank God who hath given me
mercy. I thank God who hath saved my
soul. I thank God who put me in the
ministry. I thank God. Secondly, it'll
beget love and affection. Let me read you a verse over
here. This verse is from the lips of our Lord. When he was
talking to the religious Pharisee about the woman who had washed
his feet with tears and dried them with the hair of her head,
and he told her her sins were forgiven, and the Lord said to
the Pharisee, Simon, I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many,
are forgiven, and she loved much. To whom little is forgiven, the
same loveth little." It's according to what the Lord has done for
you, whether or not you love Him. To whom much is forgiven,
He'll love much. To whom little is forgiven, He'll
love little. Here's a verse I want you to
see in Matthew 10. Another thing, that this grace
of God to the guilty will not only make the guilty thankful,
it will not only beget love and affection in his heart, but it
will beget humility. Now, when Matthew wrote the book
of Matthew, led by the Holy Spirit, in chapter 10, he named the apostles,
he named the twelve disciples. And when he came to his own name,
I want you to look and see what he put. In verse 3, he said this,
Philip, and Bartholomew, and Thomas, and Matthew, the publican. We're going to make saints out
of all of them, you know, and canonize them and make some special
name before. Matthew never called himself
Saint Matthew, called himself a publican. And he put it down
for history to read it. He put it down for everybody
to know it. There was Philip and Bartholomew,
and there was Matthew the publican. When the Apostle Paul described
himself, he says here in verse 13 of our text, I was a blasphemer,
I was persecutor, I was injurious, and I obtained mercy. When it
came to John the Baptist, They said, who are you? He said, I'm
a voice. You got a name, hadn't you? No, I'm just a voice. I'm a voice
in the wilderness proclaiming the name of the Lord. I'm nothing. I'm not worthy to stoop down
and lace his shoes. I must decrease and he must increase. That man that's saved by the
grace of God never forgets the pit from which the Lord dug him. and the dunghill on which the
Lord found him. He never forgets it. And then
turn to the book of Titus, chapter 2. How will the chief of sinners
react to this mercy? It will make him not only humble
and thankful and affectionate, it will make him holy. In Titus,
chapter 2, verse 11, the grace of God that brings salvation
hath appeared to all men. And what does it teach us? It
teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, that we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
That's what it teaches us. And then it'll beget fear, the
fear of the Lord. This is a fear of sonship. This
is a fear that's born of reverence. Turn to Psalms 130, verse 4.
Psalms 130, verse 4. In verse 4 of Psalm 130, there
is forgiveness, O Lord, with thee. If thou, O Lord, shouldst
mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? If thou, O Lord, shouldst
charge sin, who could stand? Who could stand? But, Lord, there's
forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. You know how the Bible describes
an ungodly man? It describes an ungodly man.
You buy your concordance and see if I'm not telling you the
truth. It describes an ungodly man as one who does not fear
the Lord all the way through. Charlie here is a student of
the Old Testament. You ask him after the service if that's not
right. When the Bible describes a godly man, it always describes
him this way, he feared the Lord. He feared the Lord. And then
last of all, this grace to the guilty, turn to Romans 5. In Romans chapter 5, this grace
to the guilty will beget assurance. Yes it will. In Romans chapter
5, verse 6, when we were without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. Verse 8, God commended His love
toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more then, being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by His life. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. I don't
care where I go, with whom I associate, how old I get, nothing can separate
me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, my Lord.
If God saves the chief of sinners, if God delights to show mercy
and grace to the guilty, then this guilty sinner will always
have assurance and confidence in that mercy and in that grace.
Because it's not in me, it's in Christ. It's in Christ. Our Father, take the word, and
bless it with the power of thy Holy Spirit, to the good of these
who've heard it, to the eternal good, to the eternal salvation
of the soul of every person who's heard this message. Let us not
soon forget these words. This is a fateful saying. It's
worthy of acceptation by all men, that Jesus Christ, the Messiah,
the Son of God, hath come into this world to save sinners, of
whom I am the chief, and he delights to show mercy. he came to seek
and to save the lost. And may every lost sinner look
to Christ and Christ alone for that mercy he delights to give,
either now or in days to come. We'll ask it for Christ's sake.
Amen.