What God Expects

Thanks very much, Derek. Good morning, everyone. I'll repeat the welcome as I gave you.

Really good to have you with us, whether in person or electronically.

It will help if you keep your Bibles open so you can refer to the passage as we go along.

I want to start this morning with an Only Connect type question.

So I'm going to show four pictures on the screen, and you have to think, what is it that links?

And I've not got buzzers, I'm not expecting you to shout out, but if you get after two or three,

you can give yourself a pat on the back.

So here are the four pictures.

First one is a rainbow.

The second one is a sandy beach and a starry sky.

I'm sure a lot of people are getting there pretty quickly.

The third one is a wooden box covered and decorated in gold.

And then the fourth picture is a glass of wine.

I think some puzzle faces, some people have clearly got it.

They're all signs of covenants in the Bible.

The rainbow was the sign of the covenant that God made with Noah,

that he would never destroy the earth again with a flood.

The stars and the sand are the covenant God made with Abraham,

when God said that his descendants would be as many as the sand on the seashore

or the stars in the sky.

The wooden box is the Ark of the Covenant.

It's representative of the covenant God made with Noah and with the Israelites.

And in the Ark of the Covenant, among other things,

were the tablets with the commandments on them.

And then the glass of wine is a symbol of the covenant that Jesus made with us,

the new covenant.

It is part of what we call communion.

And Jesus said,

this cup is the cup of the new covenant in my blood.

Four Bible covenants.

There are more,

but four key ones that are represented by these symbols.

A covenant is simply an agreement or a mutual commitment.

Let me give you an example of a modern day covenant.

When you go to a wedding,

then the bride and the groom,

they make their vows,

and they make commitments to each other that are for life.

Before the congregation,

before God,

they promise to be faithful,

they promise to love one another,

and all the other things that are part of the marriage ceremony.

That is a covenant,

people making an agreement,

committing themselves to one another.

And in a covenant,

we have commitments,

and we have reasonable expectations of the parties to the covenant.

And the covenants in the Bible are just that.

They are commitments made by God to his people,

with a corresponding commitment by the people to God.

One difference from any other covenants

is that the covenant isn't negotiated.

It's not something that both parties discuss and agree to.

God says the terms of the covenant,

because he is the great creator,

but they are fair,

and they demonstrate his love and concern for us.

Now,

when we come to the Old Testament,

and particularly the prophets of the Old Testament,

including Malachi,

the prophets are covenant enforcers.

They are largely there to remind the people of the covenant

that God has made with them,

and their responsibilities under it.

And that's very much the case in the book of Malachi.

You can see Malachi as being based around six disputes.

Six disputes between God and the Jewish nation.

And in both of them,

all of them,

God says something,

and the people respond in some kind of way.

And then God explains why generally the people are wrong.

So the first dispute,

the people say,

well,

how does God love us?

We're not doing very well physically.

Has God broken his part of the covenant?

And God says,

no,

I've not broken my covenant.

I still love you.

And then he goes on to make it clear

that the covenant has actually been broken by the people.

That they've despised God.

That they've not followed God in the way they should.

That they've given substandard sacrifices.

Given the worst of their animals rather than the best.

That they've been unfaithful.

Unfaithful in marriage,

but also unfaithful to God.

And in our passage today,

God says,

you've robbed me.

Strong language,

isn't it?

God says,

you have robbed me.

So we're going to think about what that means.

And we're going to think about what it means for us.

And I think this is very relevant for us.

Because if we think about what's happening here,

we have a people who think that they're okay with God.

God says,

this is not like it was in the time of Elijah,

when you had a king, Ahab,

who was totally opposed to God

and everything he stood for.

Not even like the time of Jeremiah,

where Jeremiah preached God's word.

And because of that,

he was thrown into prison

and put in a pit.

In these circumstances,

the nation was in many ways opposed to God.

And they were judged for it.

But in this situation we're looking at today,

the people were saying,

we are God's people.

We follow God.

We live for God.

And they're thinking God's not doing his part of the bargain.

And God's saying,

no,

actually what's happened

is that you're not keeping your part of the covenant.

You're not doing what you committed to do.

So let's say we'll go through the passage first

and try and work out what it means

in its original context for the people of God.

And then we'll go back through it again

and we'll learn some lessons for today.

So three headings as we think about the original meaning,

an unceasing covenant,

an uncomfortable claim,

and an unchanged commitment.

So we'll start to take it verses six

and the beginning of verse seven.

And God says,

you need to return to me.

That's in every part of verse seven.

Return to me and I will return to you.

Now for a people to return to God,

they must have gone away from God,

mustn't they?

They can't have been living the way

that God expected them to do.

And having broken the covenant,

you might think,

well, God could have rejected his people.

God would have said,

right, that's it.

The covenant's been broken.

I'm having no more to do with you.

But God says,

no, I'm not like that.

I don't change.

You may have broken the covenant,

but I am still adhering to the covenant

if you meet the conditions attached to it.

I'm not just a God who demands of you.

And if you don't do what I say,

I'll destroy you.

Rather, I'm a God who is merciful

and who understands your weaknesses

and has mercy on you

and not destroying you.

But I'm a God of justice.

And the law demands that you do

the things that I have said.

And if you don't do it,

the law says you will lose out on my blessing.

So in this case,

the crops weren't yielding

what the people expected them to.

They were going through a period

when physically things were quite hard for them.

And God says,

I could have destroyed you.

I could have said,

I want no more to do with you.

But my covenant is still intact.

In fact, return to me

and I will return to you.

I am a merciful God

and his covenant hadn't stopped.

He then makes what I've called

an uncomfortable claim.

So the people come back and say,

well, how can we return?

We've never left you.

Why are we to return?

And God says,

you robbed me.

You have taken things that are mine

and have treated them

as if they were yours.

The people say,

well, how is that?

How have we robbed you?

And God said,

you haven't given

what you were due to give

under the covenant.

You haven't given the tithes

and offerings

that were due to me.

Let's just take a minute

to think about tithes.

It's a concept

that will be familiar to many people,

but perhaps not to everyone.

So tithing is giving to God.

Why do we do it?

Why should the Israelites do it?

Because everything we have

comes from God.

Nothing that is ours

is because of us

or because we are wonderful.

It is because God

has so graciously provided

this wonderful world

we live in

and everything in it.

it all belongs to him

and we are simply giving back

something that comes

from God.

Giving it in this case

to some extent

out of duty

because the covenant said

that the Israelites

would give a tithe,

a tenth of everything

they had.

But also giving out of

love and thanksgiving.

Recognizing that our great God

is so generous to us

and has given us

so bountifully.

So a tithe is a recognition

of all that we have

comes from God.

And in the Old Testament context,

as the Israelites

gave their tithe,

what it was

was a tenth of all

their crops,

their fruit,

and their livestock.

Ten percent of everything

that they made,

everything that came to them,

was to be given to God.

They could give on top of that.

They could give additional offerings

to show their love for God

and for all that he had done

for them.

But ten percent,

one tenth,

was the minimum.

And it wasn't just to show

their obedience

and their love to God.

It had a specific purpose

as well.

The tithe went towards

God's work,

God's workers,

the Levites,

the Levites and the priests,

and the poor.

And there are various rules

about how it was

divided up

and how it was

to be given.

But it was for God's work

for those who served God

full time

and it was for those

who were going through

times of particular need.

And if people gave

generously,

if they gave their tithe

and did it willingly

and maybe on top of that,

then says God,

I will bless you.

And the outcome

of being obedient to God

was that the people

experienced his blessing

in their lives

and at that time

it was largely talking

about a physical blessing.

The nation was at peace,

didn't have other nations

round about

trying to take it,

or it was that they had

good crops

that God prospered them.

And God says,

you've been robbing me

by not giving your tithe.

Now notice what he says,

he says,

give all your tithe.

So it wasn't that

the Israelites had said,

we're not giving God anything.

We're going to keep it

all for ourselves.

They were making

a bit of an effort

but not enough.

They were thinking

a bit is enough for God,

doesn't really matter

if it's not the full amount

that he's asked for.

And God says,

no,

the covenant says,

give your 10%,

give your tithe,

that is what I expect

from you.

And then finally,

as we look quickly

through this section,

there is an unchanged commitment

and that in verses 10 to 12.

Throughout the Old Testament,

God has said,

if my people honour me,

then I will honour them

and they will know my blessing.

And he says the same thing here

in quite colourful language.

He says,

I will throw open

the floodgates of heaven

and pour out so much blessing

there will not be enough room

to store it.

I think when he talks

about opening the floodgates

of heaven,

he is talking particularly

about the rains coming.

Perhaps the rains

had been withheld

because of the disobedience

of the people.

God will provide enough rain

and more

so that they can get

the best possible crop

from their land.

And alongside it,

he says,

I'll also stop the pests

devouring your crops,

the locusts

and the others

that would come in

and would take

the valuable crops

from the people

and I'll make sure

the grapes don't fall

from the vine

before they're ripe.

In other words,

God says,

if you honour me,

if you give me

what is due to me,

you won't lose out

because I will bless you

abundantly.

I wonder if in the

background here

the people are saying,

well, we've not got

very much at the moment.

We're not very well off

because our crops

haven't been particularly good.

So we're going to have

to cut back on the amount

that we give to God.

We're going to have to give

less than 10%

because we're not feeling

very well off

and it's going to hurt us

if we give more.

And God is then saying to him,

no, you've got it

the wrong way round.

You don't expect me

to bless you

and then you will get

the blessing.

And then you can give to me,

rather.

Don't expect me to bless you

and then you give to me.

Rather, you do your part

and I will then

bless you.

So that, broadly speaking,

is what the passage says.

And then at the end,

there's this wonderful thing

that the Lord says

is not just going to be

for you.

all the nations round about

will see

what a delightful land

you have.

In other words,

as God's people obey him,

as God blesses them,

then the people around

look on enviously

and say,

this nation

which God has blessed,

how can we get

that blessing?

Why is God

so wonderfully

doing this

to them?

They will be called

blessed.

So how does that

apply to us?

A lot of Old Testament passages

we can't just take

and say,

here's what happened then.

Exactly the same thing

must apply to us.

Let's just move it over

and put a Christian context

to it.

We have to look at passages

in the context

in which they were written

and in the circumstances

of the time.

So let's go back

through the passage

and let's think

how it might apply to us.

And I've got three G's

for this section.

The same verse is

grace,

generosity,

and gain.

So to begin with,

as I said at the start,

we're talking about

a covenant here.

God's covenant

with the Israelites

under which

if they were obedient

to him,

he would bless them.

It was a covenant

based on God's law

and on what the people did

as they saw

and sought to obey

God's law.

Be obedient to God

and he will bless you.

Now we said

that we said

at the beginning

there is a new covenant,

a different covenant

that has been given

to us under Jesus.

And the basis

of this new covenant

is not that we do

lots of things,

that we obey God's law

and then he blesses us

for it.

Rather,

the new covenant

is based on God's grace

or on God's undeserved

favour on it.

And the basis

for the new covenant

is that God blesses us

and then in response

to that,

as a thanksgiving to that,

we are obedient

to what he calls us

to do.

Do you get the difference?

On the one hand,

you've got,

you do this

and you'll get the blessing.

On the other hand,

you've got the blessing.

Now it's your responsibility

to be obedient

to it.

The one covenant

based on the law,

the other covenant

based on God's grace.

But they do have

some things in common.

We talked about

God's justice

and God's mercy.

God's justice

in that if the people

didn't obey,

didn't keep the law,

then they would lose out,

the conditions of the law

would come into play.

God's mercy

that the people

weren't destroyed

even though

they hadn't obeyed

his law.

And the new covenant

is also based

on God's justice

and God's mercy.

God's justice

that says

if you sin,

then there are

consequences

of that.

That the person

who sins

deserves

God's divine wrath,

God's punishment

for what they've

done.

But there is justice

in the new covenant

because Jesus

took that

punishment.

The punishment

that was due

to us,

Jesus went to the cross

and took on himself

so that if we trust

in him,

then through the grace

of God,

we are forgiven

for all the wrong

we've done.

We are restored

to a relationship

with the almighty

God of heaven.

It's not that the old covenant

was about justice

and the new covenant

isn't.

God's justice

hasn't changed.

God hasn't changed.

But in his grace,

he has satisfied

his justice

by his son,

the Lord Jesus,

taking the penalty.

So by grace,

we are saved

through faith

in the Lord Jesus.

And we still have

that mercy of God

but so wonderfully

displayed

through Jesus.

So much

clearer to us

what a merciful

God we have.

That we who deserve

nothing,

we who had nothing,

we who should have been punished

for all the wrong

we've done.

God, if we trust in Jesus,

has wiped that out

and we have experienced

his mercy.

If we know the Lord Jesus,

we should be rejoicing

in that today.

But as we rejoice,

as we come with

thankful hearts

before God,

then we want to be

obedient to him

as well.

Not so that we'll gain

from it

in any material sense,

but because we love

the Lord Jesus,

we love everything

that he has done

for us.

Under the old covenant,

the law was summed up

by love the Lord your God

with all your heart

and soul

and mind

and strength

and love your neighbour

as yourself.

Well, that hasn't changed.

But actually,

we could really simplify things

and say under the new covenant,

what is expected of us

is that we be like Jesus.

That we look at the Lord Jesus

and what he was,

all that he did,

all the love

and care he showed for others.

And that is our example.

And if we can be like Jesus,

then yes,

we will love the Lord our God

with all our heart,

soul, mind and strength

and our neighbour

as ourselves.

But we'll do it

out of gratitude

and out of love

for him.

We have experienced

God's grace

if we have trusted in him.

And therefore,

we should be

of a real desire

to obey him

and to live

for him.

Let's move on.

And the following verses

were about giving,

about the tithe

that the Israelites

had to give

to God.

And the question

then arises,

should we be tithing

today?

How should we

give to God?

How much

should we give

to God?

I'm not here

to guilt trip anyone

into giving to the church

or to anyone

anything else.

But I do want us

this morning

to take very seriously

our finances

and our responsibilities

with them.

I'm sure there are

some people here

who give very

sacrificially

to God.

Might be to the church,

might be to other

Christian work,

might be to the

relief of those

in need,

relief of poverty

and those who have

particular needs.

There are some

who give what they

can afford

and more

for that

and make great

sacrifices

so that they can

demonstrate their

love for God

and show it

to others.

I expect for a lot

of us,

we give.

We give maybe

a reasonable amount,

but it doesn't

hurt us that much.

We give what

we can afford

and we do it

for God's work,

but it's not

really making us

feel any worse

off materially.

Perhaps there are

some people

who don't give at all,

maybe haven't even

thought about giving.

So what does

the Bible say to us

about how we

should give?

Now there are

two views

on tithing.

One is

that the pattern

was set by God

in the Old Testament.

You give a tenth,

that is the core

of your giving,

and Christians

shouldn't work

to a lower standard

than that.

Christians should

give a tenth

of everything

they make

to God's work.

The second view

is that everything

I have

belongs to God.

I don't want

to get caught up

in legalistic things.

I will give

as God enables me,

as God puts it

on my heart.

Now both of them

have good points.

Systematically

giving a tenth

means we are giving

a good amount

to God's worth.

Giving when God

leaves it in our heart

is also good

that we're not

giving mindlessly,

that we're giving

as God prompts us to.

The danger

with tithing

is that we could

come up with

an attitude that says,

well a tenth of what

I get is God's

and the rest is mine.

I've done my duty

to God and that's it.

I can do what I like

with the rest of it.

The danger

of not tithing

is perhaps

we give quite a lot

less than 10%.

If only when we feel

called to give

we give money,

then there's a good chance

it actually won't

be that much.

And in particular,

if we're having a month

when things are maybe

feeling a little bit tight,

we might say,

well this month

I won't give quite as much,

I've not really got

very much to give.

Our giving to God

takes lower priority

than other things.

So good points

and bad points

with both.

Let me focus for a minute

on a verse

from the New Testament

and we'll try to learn

from that

and come to a conclusion.

So this is Paul

writing to the church

in Corinth.

A couple of chapters,

chapters 8 and 9

of 2 Corinthians,

well worth reading

in the context

of thinking about

our attitudes

towards money.

Paul's encouraging

the Corinthians

to give generously

to help Christians

who are going

through times

of poverty.

And he says this,

each one of you

should give

just as he decided

in his heart,

not reluctantly

or under compulsion,

because God loves

a cheerful giver.

Can I suggest

that this verse

presents three attitudes

towards giving

to God?

The first we could call

grudge giving.

I'm giving because

I feel I'm obliged to.

I've been made

to feel guilty

that I'm not giving.

I think I shouldn't

really need to,

but it's going to cost me.

I'm not really wanting

to do it.

And yes,

giving in that way

is better than not giving

at all,

but it's not giving

that's going to bring

us great joy

and great satisfaction

in our lives.

Second kind of giving

you might call

duty giving,

under compulsion.

So this is people

who may be tithe

or maybe give

a different percentage,

but they think,

I need to be systematic

in my giving.

I want to do that,

but I'm doing it

out of a sense of duty.

A bit like the Israelites

here were being told,

give your tenth,

don't give the lower amount

that you're giving.

So people are saying,

I know I need to give

and I'll give

a certain amount,

but I'm doing it

out of a sense of duty

and they don't really

get any benefit,

any blessing from it.

Better than giving

grudgingly,

better than not giving

at all,

but perhaps not really

bringing us the blessing

that God would want

us to give.

And so the third kind

of giving I've called

thanksgiving.

This is giving

because God

has given to us

and we want to give

back to him

and we want to give

towards his work

and towards the blessing

of others.

It is giving

cheerfully

and willingly

even when it costs us

because we know

it is what God

wants us to do

and we want

to be obedient

to God

and to his word.

Really great

if all our giving

came into that

thanksgiving category.

Now just as I finish

on thinking about giving,

come back to this question

of tithing.

How should we give

to God's work?

I think,

and I'm not forcing

this on anyone,

I think it's good

if we have

a portion

of our giving

that comes

automatically

out of our bank account

and in a sense

we don't see it

and don't miss it.

So every month

we know we're giving

a certain amount

towards God's work

and that is fixed.

On top of that,

God may well prompt us

and put a need

before us

whether a Christian need

or a need

in our world situation.

Turkey at the moment

would be an example.

Being willing

to give on top

of our regular amounts.

And one last thing.

For some people

I've said

giving 10%

would be a major sacrifice

and some people do it

and that's highly commendable.

For many of us

10% probably

isn't enough.

If God has given us

abundantly

of what

we have,

if we have

all we could need

and more,

then we shouldn't be

seeing 10%

as a cap

or as a norm.

It may be a useful guideline

but many of us

can afford

to give much more

than that

if we want to

and if God calls us to

and to do it

cheerfully.

I'll leave that

with you

to think about.

But let's come on

to the last couple

of verses

and there are

differences of views

on this as well.

If we give

to God's work,

if we give money

to God,

should we expect

to receive more

from God

in return?

If you listen

to many preachers,

particularly American

preachers,

they would suggest

if you give to God,

you can expect

to receive

much greater

material blessings

back.

Sometimes it's called

the health and wealth

gospel.

Is that what

we should expect

from God?

Well, let's go back

to what we said earlier

about the covenants.

Under the old covenant,

you gave to God

and God

blessed you.

And that is what

the writer in Malachi

is talking about here.

God is saying

that my covenant is

if you're obedient

to me,

I will honor that

and you will be blessed

through it.

Under the new covenant,

the blessing comes

first to us.

We have been blessed

by God

with the salvation

through the Lord Jesus

and everything else

that we have.

And as a consequence

of that,

we should have

a real desire

to give to him,

to give our time,

our gifts,

and our money

and not to expect

a lot

in return.

We will be blessed

by giving.

We will be blessed

by the knowledge

that we are

obeying God,

that we are

joyfully serving him,

that we are helping others

and helping God's work

through what we give.

We will know also

that we're building up

treasure in heaven.

If we honor God

in this world,

he will honor us

in the next.

But we shouldn't

be doing it

so that we will be

better off

materially.

Indeed,

if we're giving

sacrificially,

we should expect

to be worse off

materially,

but much better

spiritually.

Let me end this section

with a quote

from C.S. Lewis.

C.S. Lewis

in his book

Mere Christianity

says this,

I don't believe

one can settle

how much

we ought to give.

I'm afraid

the only safe rule

is to give

more than we can spare.

In other words,

if our expenditure

on comforts,

luxuries,

amusements,

etc.,

is up to the standard

common among those

with the same income

as us,

we are probably

giving away

too little.

If our charities,

and I would encourage

Christian giving,

do not at all

pinch or hamper us,

I would say

they're too small.

There ought to be

things we should

like to do

and cannot do

because our

charitable expenditure

excludes them.

I'll leave that

takeaway and think about.

You may or may not

agree with it,

but these were the words

of C.S. Lewis.

Let's try and get

away directly

from giving

and let's

pull things together

as we finish

this morning.

There was a

company called

F Secure

who ran an experiment

a few years ago.

They're an online

security company.

They went to

Canary Wharf

in London.

Canary Wharf,

many people will know,

is a big complex

of businesses,

high-rise towers

and so on.

They went to

Canary Wharf

and they set up

in a cafe

and they got out

a Raspberry Pi

microcomputer

and a wireless

aerial.

Connected the two

together with

elastic bands

apparently

and set up

a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Most people

feel with a

Wi-Fi hotspot.

If you go somewhere

where you've not

got a mobile

phone reception,

you might look

on your phone

and see if there

any Wi-Fi nearby

and if you find

something you log

onto,

then you can do

your internet.

So this company,

they set up

this Wi-Fi hotspot

just using a Raspberry Pi

and a little

aerial.

And as many

companies do

when they

offer us hotspots,

they added some

terms and

conditions.

And the terms

and conditions,

long list as usual,

but the terms

and conditions

included a clause

that says,

in return

for free Wi-Fi,

I commit to

giving you

my firstborn

child to do

whatever you

want to with

them for the

rest of their

lives.

And they called

that the

Herod clause

in the contract.

And in a very

short time,

they had a good

number of people

who signed up

obviously hadn't

read it or

didn't believe

what was said.

And we might

have some

sympathy with them.

I think one

of the times

when Christians

routinely lie,

maybe don't

feel guilty

about it,

is when you

tick that box

that says,

I've read all

the terms

and conditions

of this

contract.

And perhaps

we should

read them

more carefully.

But the

point of that

is,

these contracts

we could

compare to

the law

in the Old

Testament.

It's

complicated.

It's

difficult to

understand

and difficult

to meet

completely.

Apparently,

on average,

there are

two and a

thousand words

in these

online contracts.

You take

about ten

minutes if

you read

every word.

So things

are difficult.

Israelites

signed up

to them,

maybe not

realizing what

they were

signing up

to.

And it

was really

difficult.

In fact,

it was

impossible to

keep the

law of

God.

When it

comes to

the new

covenant,

it's very

simple.

Yes,

there are

guidelines in

the Bible.

Yes,

we can read

what God

expects from

us,

particularly in

the letters

of the New

Testament and

the instructions

that are given

there.

But it's

not that

there are

lots of

hidden terms

and conditions

and if we

don't keep

to them,

then God

will reject

us.

Rather,

under the

new covenant,

God has

accepted us

for what

we are

in all

our sin,

in all

our inadequacy,

if we've

trusted in

him.

And that's

not going

to change.

But we

have the

opportunity,

very simply,

as I said

earlier,

to try to

be like

Jesus,

to live the

way that

Jesus lived,

and to

become more

and more

like him.

We're not

governed by

lots of

rules.

As I also

think I said

earlier,

it's not a

lower standard.

Being like

Jesus is a

standard we'll

never reach

in this

world.

But we

should make

every effort

because he

died for us,

we love him,

we care about

him, we want

him to be

glorified.

And in our

lives, whether

it's in our

giving, whether

it's in our

relationships,

with others,

whether it's in

our service,

or whatever

other area,

if we truly

love the

Lord Jesus,

if we have

truly experienced

his grace,

what God

expects of

us is that

we seek to

be like

Jesus and

to live

lives that

are pleasing

to him.

May that be

true of

all of us.

Let's pray

together.

Father, we

thank you for

your word this

morning.

We thank you

for this very

powerful passage

from Malachi

and for the

way that

you very

strongly

condemned the

people because

they were

half-hearted

in their

attitude towards

you.

They were

robbing you

by not

giving what

they should

have.

We pray

that you

help us

not to be

half-hearted

as we have

experienced

abundant

grace through

the Lord

Jesus.

Help us

to be

willing to

give and

to give

again of

all that

we have.

Help us

to know

the joy

that comes

from being

obedient as

we seek to

follow him.

We pray for

any who maybe

don't know

the Lord

Jesus this

morning,

who haven't

yet experienced

his grace.

We thank

you that

Jesus died

so that

they could

be forgiven

and we pray

that they

will come

in faith

and put

their trust

in him.

We thank

you for

this time

together.

We commit

ourselves to

you now

in the name

of the Lord

Jesus.

Amen.