[0:00] Well, good morning, everyone. To welcome you to the service this morning, it's good to see this room filling up. The hunger to hear the word of the Lord, that is a good thing.
[0:19] I've been blessed this morning already. I have a question for us this morning. Do we like boundaries?
[0:33] And a second one, are they good for us? These are questions that we were talking about last Sunday already, and yet our text carries on with that theme as well, and so those questions were still sticking with me.
[0:53] Do we like boundaries, and are they good for us? I think Pastor Wayne had a question last Sunday. I don't have the exact wording, but do Christians have boundaries, or should Christians have boundaries?
[1:08] Well, we have all kinds of physical boundaries around us, and just a couple of quick examples pertaining to some things.
[1:27] I thought of a racetrack where they're racing cars. There's boundaries to keep those cars on the track. One we're maybe a little more familiar with, the volleyball court.
[1:40] We've been playing some volleyball this winter already, some Saturdays, and many of us here. And so we know the boundaries to the court, the ball must stay within those boundaries.
[1:53] And so we know when a guy like Andreas, I'm picking on you a bit this morning, when we see him winding up to serve the ball, and we can sense that he's going to smack it real hard, we know he's probably going to hit it outside of the boundaries, so we all just step back and let the ball go by.
[2:13] So just some examples there. There's physical boundaries all around. Now does it translate to the spiritual?
[2:24] Are there boundaries there as well? And the answer is yes. And so again, just to answer that second question, are boundaries good for us?
[2:41] Yes as well. And so what we're looking at this morning, this passage in Galatians 5, it brings it out where those boundaries lay.
[2:56] And so I'll just thank Brother Dedrick for reading the text for us this morning. Let's dig into it.
[3:09] We'll be looking, first of all, at the constant struggle between the spirit and the flesh. And just the boundaries wherein the flesh operates, the works of the flesh, and as well the fruit of the spirit.
[3:29] So starting in verse 16, I say then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.
[3:41] And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.
[3:54] So Paul has been writing to the Galatians about the false teachers among them, and the false teaching that is happening. How turning to the law, a works program, would be a bad decision for them.
[4:08] And so in the first part of the chapter, the first half of the chapter that we looked at last Sunday, talks about standing in liberty, or in freedom. Do not be entangled again in the yoke of bondage.
[4:25] In Christ, we have been set free. We are living in freedom, like a captive who has been given liberty. And so, as believers here this morning, we've tasted this freedom.
[4:43] And none of us would desire to go back to where we've come from. Am I right in that? And so, as I mentioned, the passage, it continues the thought from the first half of the chapter to stand fast in the liberty, or the freedom that Christ has provided us.
[5:08] And more specifically, what we're looking at this morning, it kind of follows on or carries on from verse 13. And I'd like to reread that verse for us.
[5:19] It says, So, do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.
[5:38] And so, Paul further expounds on that here in the rest of this chapter. We have been called to liberty.
[5:49] So, we are to take care that we don't use this liberty to do whatever we please. Because honestly, what happens when we can do whatever pleases us?
[6:05] Where does our mind go when we think of that? If there's free time or extra finances, just a couple of options or thoughts that came to my mind.
[6:17] You know, if it's free time, all of a sudden I'm thinking, what would I like to do with this extra time? Or in finances, you know, what would I like to spend this extra money on?
[6:31] Or is, you know, what is something that I want that I could go out and buy? Do we notice the I in there? You know, why is that?
[6:43] It's because our flesh wants to be involved in these decisions. Our flesh, our fleshly nature is seeking pleasure and it wants its cravings satisfied.
[6:57] And so, our mind tends to want to wander toward the physical as well. And so, to be focused on Christ, where our freedom is found, it takes effort.
[7:13] When this free time or this extra money is available, we should be asking ourselves, and not only ourselves, we should bring it to God and ask Him, where would Christ have me use this?
[7:34] And that, it seems, is not so easy to do. As we tend to want to stray towards fleshly desires and thoughts. And so, that's just a clear reminder of the constant struggle within us between spirit and flesh.
[7:54] And it is a struggle that will be with us in this lifetime. And so, you know, that's why Paul says we must stand fast in our liberty.
[8:09] And it's not in the sense of standing still, like a stubborn mule, but we must be rooted and firmly established in our liberty, knowing in whom we find it.
[8:21] And that is Christ. Yet in our text this morning, Paul takes it a step further. not only to stand, he says in verse 16 that we are to walk.
[8:36] To walk in the Spirit. So what does that look like? What does it look like to be walking in the Spirit?
[8:49] When we walk in the Spirit, we are doing the will of the Spirit within us. Our wants, our desires, our wishes, we put them aside.
[9:04] They are secondary to what the Lord wants from us. So when we accept Christ as our Savior, for one, we receive our freedom.
[9:21] And we also receive the Holy Spirit who indwells us. He lives inside of us. And as John 14, 14, 14, 16, tells us, the Spirit will teach us all things.
[9:38] He will teach us to walk in our liberty. To walk in the manner that God would have us to walk. And so what he does is he teaches us the Word of God.
[9:55] How to behave as Christians. We must walk in the Spirit. And when we do so, our flesh and its lusts must submit.
[10:14] You know, when we became Christians, our flesh and its desires, they haven't changed. The flesh, which is also referred to in Scripture as the old man or the old nature, they are done away with.
[10:32] They are crucified with Christ. And yet, we remain in these mortal bodies. But we have surrendered to Christ and to His will for us.
[10:46] And so just as we have made the choice to accept Christ, we also have to choose to surrender to His will in our life. And that is a daily battle.
[11:01] Every day, we must choose. Will I follow the Spirit to lead me and to teach me the ways of God? Or will I indulge in the things that my flesh finds pleasure in?
[11:19] Each morning, we must choose to walk in the Spirit. Turn with me to Romans chapter 6.
[11:33] Romans has a lot to add that fits in with our text this morning. We're looking at Romans chapter 6, verse 12.
[11:44] Again, Paul writing, and he says, Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lusts.
[11:58] So I mentioned the old nature is crucified with Christ. Romans 6, the first verses talking about exactly this.
[12:09] because we have died to sin, the old nature, we have died to that, we have crucified the old nature, we are alive to God, verse 12 tells us.
[12:22] And so we cannot, we must not continue in sin. Sin reigns in our mortal body. It speaks of choosing to walk after the flesh.
[12:37] It means we have made the choice to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We have said no to the Spirit. Just again, that daily struggle that we have.
[12:54] Just while we're in Romans, a few more verses out of chapter 7. Romans 7, verse 18. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells.
[13:11] For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. So Paul, speaking of that struggle, he wants to do good, his desire is to do good, and yet in his flesh there is nothing good.
[13:29] He finds nothing good in his flesh. and it is a struggle. And then, in verse 22, for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
[13:44] So the inward man, the man led by the Spirit, he delights in the Lord's will. And so Paul clarifies that.
[13:57] The inward man delights in the law of the Lord. And yet, in verse 23 again, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
[14:14] So the law of God, delighting in the law of God according to the inward man. And in the next verse, another law, a different law that reigns in the flesh and that wars against the Spirit.
[14:32] So it's just a reflection there of the struggle that our text is talking about. The Spirit versus the flesh.
[14:44] Now, the Galatians were faced with a choice. Walking in the Spirit in which they would have freedom or to come under the law to be bound to it having to keep the whole law.
[15:05] And Paul has already earlier in the chapter taught them what the law did for them. it did not bring liberty. It brought a curse and they could not be justified by the works of the law.
[15:25] And he also told them that only those of the faith are sons and it is the sons that have liberty.
[15:35] liberty. And so we too have a choice to make each and every day. Am I going to walk in the Spirit and lay aside self and delight in the ways of the Lord?
[15:53] Or am I going to allow the flesh which was put off, was crucified, will I allow it to rise back up today and will I give it its pleasures and desires?
[16:09] Will I allow the old man to rise up in me and drag me down again into bondage? Jesus says that those who commit sin are slaves to sin.
[16:29] And he says that in John chapter 8 verse 34, I won't turn there, he says that those who commit sin are slaves to sin. We know from Galatians as well that slaves are not sons and therefore not free.
[16:51] And so the next question that comes to mind then, how do I know if I'm making fleshly choices or I am spiritually minded?
[17:04] Paul's answer to that question, no problem, let me tell you. And he gives evidence of both in the rest of the chapter.
[17:17] So continuing on in verse 19 of our text, now the works of the flesh are evident which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
[17:56] And so before we dig into this list, I want to jump ahead and read the first part of verse 22. It says, but the fruit of the Spirit is, and I'll stop there, and notice the difference in wording from verse 19 verse 22.
[18:18] Now the works of the flesh versus but the fruit of the Spirit. Works of the flesh, speaking of our old nature, of the time before we accepted Christ.
[18:39] So it's talking about the time before Christ entered our life. How do we operate? How did we operate then? how do we in our old nature, our sinful nature, how do we evaluate ourselves, and how do we evaluate others?
[19:02] Is it not so often by works? One's person works are measured against another's, and then by that they're judged based on their performance.
[19:18] And out of that we hear comments like, you know, at least I don't or this person doesn't do so and so like that other person did. Comments like that come out of that.
[19:35] And the list here before us in verses 19 through 21, not an exclusive list. Paul ends it off with, he ends it off, and the like.
[19:52] So, that list is longer still. It's a pretty long list already, but it's longer still. So, it's not an exclusive list, but already, you know, just looking at this, it gives a good indication of the track we're on then.
[20:12] And so, I won't go through every one of these works individually this morning, but it's kind of an overview of this list.
[20:24] And so, the first four works that are listed pertaining to sexual immorality, we have adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness.
[20:35] And, you know, as I thought of this list and, you know, why are these four at the top of the list? It makes sense.
[20:46] To me, it makes sense. You know, and if these were the first things that came into Paul's mind when he thought of this list, the works of the flesh, these are the first ones that he wrote down, you know, nothing has changed from his day to our day.
[21:05] I can't speak for the ladies, but, you know, when I've been in a works setting, or in a setting, you know, surrounded by ungodly men, so often the dominating topic of conversation can turn sexual in nature.
[21:27] You know, whether it's crude jokes or things that they're lusting after, it's very obvious what dominates an ungodly man's mind.
[21:41] You know, if we look further just to the world stage, sexual immorality is trending higher and higher. It's never going down, it's always going up.
[21:54] Marriages falling apart at alarming rates, divorce rates in Canada, just by a quick search on that, they're saying they're roughly around 40% or a little more.
[22:07] In the U.S., it's almost 50%. So roughly half the marriages in North America don't last.
[22:19] One of the top reasons for divorce, take a wild guess, it's infidelity. And roughly 60% of divorces are because of infidelity.
[22:38] So no wonder these four were top of the list, even in Paul's day. And just quickly touching on uncleanness and lewdness, Romans chapter 1 summarizes that, so let's turn there quickly and read that.
[23:00] Romans chapter 1, looking at verses 26 and 27, speaking of ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
[23:15] verse 26, for this reason God gave them up to vile passions, for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
[23:26] Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men, committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error, which was due.
[23:40] men and women going against how God designed sexual relations, exchanging natural uses for what is against nature.
[23:58] Today, there's no shame in sinful nature like this anymore, sinful behavior. they're crying for attention these days.
[24:11] They want others to know what's going on. They want to be seen, to be recognized. Continuing on our list, the next ones are idolatry and sorcery.
[24:32] So the worship of other gods, the trademark of the sin nature that we are born with. Worshiping anyone and anything but the one true God.
[24:46] Following that, we have a list pertaining to attitude issues. Hatred, contentions, which are arguments and strife, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, which are violent disagreements and envy.
[25:19] It's a lengthy list here. A big indicator of the works of the flesh, our attitude. attitude. How does one approach a situation?
[25:37] How do they handle stress? Next, heresies. Heresies is defined as an error of opinion in regard to fundamental doctrine of religion.
[25:53] salvation. An example of heretics, Acts chapter 15, the Judean men that came to Antioch, what were they teaching?
[26:05] That unless one is circumcised, they cannot be saved. So adding circumcision to salvation, adding elements to doctrine that are untrue, that are not correct.
[26:24] And likely, Galatians is an example of that as well. It was the same thing, it was Judaizers coming and teaching that they must be circumcised.
[26:35] It doesn't specifically spell out in Galatians that circumcision is added to salvation, but rather just turning back to the works of the law, but possibly the same thing as well, that heretics coming in.
[26:58] So a fundamental doctrine, a fundamental doctrine of the Bible, salvation. It comes by believing and receiving Christ Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.
[27:13] Being circumcised is not a salvation issue. and to hold it and teach it as such, it's heresy.
[27:26] And so rounding out the list here, the works of the flesh, murders, drunkenness, and revelries. Well, we all know that taking someone's life is wrong.
[27:40] We knew that even before we accepted Christ, right? It's just morals of human being in general, you know, to murder someone is wrong.
[27:54] And yet, it still happens. And the list of how to do it keeps getting longer and longer. And some forms of murder are accepted by society today, such as abortions, drunkenness, and revelries, revelries meaning parties.
[28:20] Well, if there's one thing that is talked about as much as sexually immoral things, it's drinking and partying. The world is absolutely consumed with having a good time, and it seems that alcohol is the key to it.
[28:42] And that is what the world promotes. is what is the people who are drunk. And so what are things that someone who is drunk does?
[28:59] When someone becomes drunk, what do they do? Check out the list above. You will likely find the answer there. if it's not specifically spelled out in that list, it is contained in the line that ends this list and the like.
[29:23] And so in the end, what becomes of a person who practices or makes a habit of the works that are contained in this list? Paul plainly says it here.
[29:35] They will not inherit the kingdom of God. they will not be going to heaven. And so as we ponder this, the reality of it, do we begin to sense an urgency within ourselves to share the gospel with unbelievers that we meet?
[29:59] Many of us rub shoulders with people like this at work every day. Maybe it's hitting even closer to home and there's family members that are still wandering in darkness.
[30:15] God created mankind. He has created each and every human being. And he longs for a personal relationship with every single person on this earth.
[30:31] and he has given this ministry of reaching out to them, he has given this ministry to those who have come to faith.
[30:46] He wants them to go out into the world and to tell others about the free gift of salvation that is available through his son, Jesus. One more thought on this section.
[31:05] What if I've accepted Christ and I'm still struggling with something that is in this list? Am I not going to heaven?
[31:16] heaven? A key word that we need to pick up on in this portion of the passage is found in verse 20, 21, and that key word is practice.
[31:41] Those who practice such things. And so this means that speaking about those who continually do the things contained within this list, they continually do them, they've made a habit of it, and they seem to not have any convictions about it.
[32:08] No, the truth is, we're not perfect. the world is of the mindset that if someone becomes a Christian, they're going to church, oh, they think they're perfect.
[32:23] They have it all wrong. We're not perfect. We have been perfected in Christ, and so in God's eyes, he sees us through his son Jesus, and we have been perfected in that sense.
[32:37] We're still on this earth, still in these mortal bodies. We're not perfect. we make mistakes. You know, the works or the habits, such as things that are contained in this list, they don't just vanish when we become Christians.
[33:00] It takes effort to overcome habits that we have picked up along the way. we need to make effort in overcoming these habits, but not only effort, it takes strength that only God can provide.
[33:25] very obviously, we couldn't kick these habits alone. We couldn't kick them without Christ.
[33:37] It was only when we reach the end of ourselves and we reach out to him that we find that source of strength that we need to overcome.
[33:48] So we are a work in progress during this lifetime, and as we are convicted about sin, about sinful habits in our life, we need to be truly sorry and to repent of them.
[34:09] And we are promised in God's word that when we do this, the slate is wiped clean, his mercies are new every morning.
[34:22] So, we definitely want to stay away from this list, the list of the works of the flesh. We want nothing to do with that list.
[34:35] What's the evidence that I am walking in the Spirit? We find that in verse 22 onward.
[34:47] But the fruit of the Spirit, is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law.
[35:00] And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
[35:19] Paul first gave a list of works, an effort to please by works. Now, we have a list of fruit.
[35:32] So what comes to mind when we hear the word fruit? What picture does it give us? naturally, we think of fruit on a tree.
[35:45] Has the fruit put in the work to be hanging there on that tree? No. The tree has done the work and the reward of the effort of the tree is the healthy branches that bring forth this beautiful fruit.
[36:05] fruit. Let's turn to John chapter 15. John chapter 15, 1 to 5.
[36:28] Christ expounds on fruit trees. He says, I am the vine and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.
[36:42] And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
[36:54] Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. neither can you unless you abide in me.
[37:08] I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.
[37:21] Christ is the true vine or tree, if you want to put it that way. Okay, we are the branches.
[37:34] What does he say about any branch that doesn't bear fruit? It is taken away, it is removed from the tree. What becomes of healthy branches that are bearing fruit?
[37:49] fruit. Christ says that his father, God, is the vine dresser. He is the one that comes and prunes the tree.
[38:02] He takes away the dead branches, the ones that don't bear fruit. The healthy branches, he prunes them, trims them that they might bear even more fruit.
[38:19] Those with orchards know exactly what Christ is talking about here. Dead branches, branches with leaves, but never a single piece of fruit on them.
[38:35] There's no purpose for them there. There's no need for the tree to put effort into a useless branch. So, that branch is cut out of the tree.
[38:51] It's cut out that the tree can in turn put all its effort into healthy branches, which will increase the fruit crop.
[39:04] What does this fruit of the spirit look like? First in the list we have love.
[39:15] love. What are the commands to a Christian? The covenant of the New Testament is to love God and to love your neighbor.
[39:33] Love. A healthy Christian will show love to all those around them. love. They will reflect Christ and Christ loved to the point of giving up his life for all.
[39:53] An attribute of the Christian is his lively hope. Going back to Romans again, Romans chapter 5.
[40:04] Romans 5, verse 5 talks about this. Now, hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
[40:24] So, hope does not disappoint. That is a lively hope. Why doesn't it disappoint? Because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who indwells us.
[40:47] A question came to mind, how much love does God have? There's enough that not a few drops of love were leaked into each believer.
[41:02] It says here that it was poured into the heart of every believer. God has love to spare. He doesn't hold it back and neither should we.
[41:19] Fruit to show we are walking in the Spirit. Next, joy. joy. And so, to have a lively hope, have a lively hope in the Spirit of God that is indwelling in our hearts, pouring God's love into us, is that not enough cause to be filled with joy?
[41:46] We're filled with love. Love of God is full of joy as well. And so, if we've got the love of God poured into us, would the joy not be poured in as well?
[42:04] Top that off with the knowledge that that same Spirit is our guarantee of salvation. That we are on the straight and narrow path that leads to heaven, and we are on our way to meet the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
[42:27] Our hearts should be overflowing with joy, and it should be infecting others who come into contact with us. We should be getting questions about where this joy within us comes from.
[42:44] Next, peace. The source of the love and joy within us gives us peace as well.
[43:01] The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? The psalmist writes in Psalm 118 verse 6, we have peace knowing that we are right with God, and it is to translate into a peaceful life with others, especially brothers and sisters in Christ, putting their interests before ours.
[43:33] Long suffering. Long suffering is defined as bearing injury a long time, patient, not easily provoked.
[43:50] It is the opposite of the list of attitude issues that we found in the works of the flesh. We don't lash back at those who hurt us.
[44:03] We return good for evil. people. Next, we have kindness, goodness, gentleness.
[44:16] These three, they go hand in hand with being long suffering. We seek to do good unto others. We put their needs and desires before our own.
[44:29] be harsh with no one. Be the kind of person that someone wants on their side when the going gets rough.
[44:44] A true friend. Another fruit, faithfulness. as Christians, we first put our faith in Christ.
[45:01] We are called to be faithful. To be faithful to God, to our spouses, to our friends, to our neighbors. Faithful in our work, to be faithful in putting in our time and work.
[45:22] And lastly, self-control is the ability to exercise restraint and moderation in various aspects of life, including our thoughts, words, actions, and desires.
[45:42] We are not a loose cannon, unpredictable. We keep control of ourselves, as God would have us to do.
[45:56] We are to imitate Christ, to live as He lived. And so, in this list, the fruit of the Spirit, against this fruit, there is no law.
[46:18] No one says, you can't show love for kindness, or, you know, it's illegal to have joy, or to have that level of self-control.
[46:30] It doesn't happen, right? Rather, we're questioned about it. What is the source of it? Where does it come from?
[46:41] How can you do that? And when those questions come, we have the opportunity to share Christ. Regarding law, regarding, yes, regarding law, the same cannot be said about the works of the flesh.
[47:10] There are laws against all of those works. there, the questions are more like, how could you do so-and-so?
[47:23] What came over you to do such a thing? And there are penalties for breaking those laws. When we are Christ's, we have crucified the flesh.
[47:39] The works of the flesh we put to death. we make an end of them and they are not named among us any longer. In the place of these unlawful deeds, there now are green healthy branches hanging full of fruit.
[48:04] Fruit that is evidence of the works we do unto the Lord, not for self or others. we don't fear man, we fear God and we do His will.
[48:22] And in turn, God is pruning us to produce more and more fruit. And so we see then, with the questions I had off the start, we see that there are boundaries for Christians.
[48:45] We stay away from the works of the flesh. The fruit of the Spirit, that's where we want to be, the camp we want to be in. So there are boundaries for Christians, and there are good boundaries.
[49:00] Boundaries that are not meant to hurt us, to hold us back, but rather to grow us, to help us flourish. church. Should we read verses 25 and 26?
[49:16] If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Let us keep the faith and fight the good fight.
[49:35] God has given us all a measure of faith. Let us be good stewards of what has been given to us, multiplying it, and bringing the Lord a good return on what he has entrusted us with.
[49:56] Just in closing, remember this, works don't earn us salvation. Good fruit is the proof of the salvation that is ours.
[50:11] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we bow before you again this morning. Lord, this morning again, we're thankful for your word, and we are thankful for your son, that he came and gave his life for us, and that we saw our need of him, and we came to him in faith, and that we have your spirit indwelling us.
[50:53] Lord, that your spirit teaches us, teaches us from your word, teaches us how to live, how to put away the works of the flesh, and rather to grow fruit, to produce fruit, and to produce it abundantly.
[51:18] as we mature in our faith, it is not the same amount of fruit hanging on that branch as there was early on, but that branch sags more and more as there is more and more fruit growing on it.
[51:37] Lord, we ask that we trust that we are good, healthy branches, and we know that you are at work pruning us, shaping us, and molding us, helping us to produce even more fruit.
[51:59] And so, Lord, as we go about the rest of this day, the rest of the week, and in the days and years to come, if you grant them, Lord, help us to be faithful, to flourish within the boundaries that you have set for us, and to be faithful to you, growing fruit.
[52:28] Lord, just thank you for each one here this morning. Pray a blessing on each one as we go from here. Help us to shine our lights into this world to give evidence to those around us of the fruit that we are producing.
[52:50] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.