Well, let's turn in our Bibles to John chapter 17, and I want to talk to you tonight about the church once again. We're in a series as you know, "Rediscovering Our Foundations", and we left off last time really with Part 1 of this message which continues tonight as Part 2, "What Jesus Wants His Church to Be." And so I want you to tune out the cell phones, tune into the Holy Spirit.
I want to talk to you about church. We all have church experiences. Some of them are good, some of them not so good. I heard about one that wasn't so good. Seems that a couple would always come to church, but the husband, and elderly gentleman, would fall asleep. I mean regularly in every sermon. It bothered the wife so much she decided she was going to do something about it, finally put an end to it. So, they come to church. He falls asleep. She pulls some Limburger cheese out of her purse while he's sleeping and just waves it underneath his nose. Now, this guys asleep, and he's starting to come to, but you know how it is when you're in that stage of sleep. You really don't where you are. She heard him murmuring, "Helen, no, don't kiss me now."
Now, I know that joke stinks, but here's a guy that to him church was just a place of bad sermons and bad breath. And frankly, sometimes church stinks. And I mean that metaphorically, of course. Well, sometimes physically, but usually metaphorically. And it, it can become that way if we start seeing church as a place rather than as people. Here's why. If you see church as a place to go rather than a people who gather at a place, then you'll always be looking for just the right church for you. It's the place that has to have just the right ingredients for you. But if we start seeing the church as a people, we're going to want to become the right kind of person for the Lord because it's his church. Then our relationship is different. Then it's all about how can I be what God wants me to be? Then if we all thought that way, our question would be "How can the church become what Jesus, who bought it wants it to be?"
Those who see the church as a place rather than as people often have their excuses why they can't come to that place. And churches know this, pastors know this well, I often have people in the community say, "Hey, Skip, yeah, Calvary. Oh, I haven't been there in (mumble mumble) months." Always an excuse.
Well, one church ran a special called "No excuse Sunday", and they put this in their bulletin. "No excuse Sunday is coming up. Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say Sunday is my only day to sleep in. Murine will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV too late on Saturday night. We will have steel helmets for those who say 'The roof would cave in if I ever came to church.' Blankets will be provided for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who think the church is too hot. We'll have hearing aids for those who say the pastor speaks too softly, and cotton for those who say he preaches too loudly. Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present. There will a hundred TV dinners for those who can't go to church and cook dinner, too. One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to see God in nature. Finally, the sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have never seen church without them."
You know what? I don't think you could much of a believer without being a "belonger" to the fellowship of the body of Christ, his church.
There's a story of a Greek sculptor who as he was making a particular statue somebody asked him, "Why do you pay so much attention to the details that nobody sees?"
And the sculptor said, "The gods, they see."
Now, that's a Greek context. Let's take it into reality. God is in our audience tonight. In fact, truth be told, God is our audience tonight. It's his church. It's all about his glory, as we have already seen. Just to refresh your thoughts on this chapter, this is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in the New Testament. And he is praying for his disciples, and he looks into the future, as we will see in a few minutes, and he prays for his future believers.
And there are four things that Jesus wants his church to be, wants us to be based on this prayer. The church should radiate the glory of God. We covered that. The church should reveal the truth of God. Third, and we begin here tonight, the church should rescue the enemies of God. That's evangelism. And then fourth, and finally, the church should rally over the love of God.
Well, let's go back to number three of that. That's number one for our purpose tonight. The church should rescue the enemies of God. We're going to kind of jump midstream into this chapter. I know it's been a couple weeks, but you'll get your footing. Verse 14, Jesus prays to his Father, I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. I do not pray to take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
We do not exist for ourselves as a church. The church is not some country club where we come to get pampered. We don't exist for us. We exist, as we've already said, for the Lord and his glory. We exist to build each other up, but then we also exist beyond that to rescue people who need to know him. You see, if we have gotten the idea that somehow the church is supposed to be a "bless me" club and me is really big in that equation, we've gotten it all wrong.
Someone once said, "The church is the only society on earth that exists for the benefit of nonmembers." That's where the rescuing part comes in. Jesus said, I send them into the world. Jesus told his followers, you remember at one time, Look at the fields, lift up your eyes. They are white and ready for harvest. They're ready to be picked. People are ready to hear the message, ready to believe. Pray, he said, that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers out into the field.
So we're not to turn inward, and churches often do. We're to turn outward. First upward, then inreach, but were are to turn outward, and frankly, churches rarely do that.
There's a pattern I've observed for those who are healthy in Christ. Here it is. Here's the pattern. First of all, we're saved. That's the part we love. We get joy. We get peace. We get purpose. We're all excited, all, all of that happy stuff for our personal selves. We're satisfied, and we ought to be. It ought to be the most happy, satisfying experience ever. After all, you come into contact with the living God.
The second step after being saved is being a servant. We discover the fun, the joy of finding what our gifts are to build up other people, to edify other people. You know what it's like with a conversation with someone. You walk away, and you think, "Wow. I just ministered to that person, and they enjoyed it. They picked up something from it."
The third phase after being saved and being a servant is being sent. It's when it dawns on us, at whatever point in our Christian walk, that there are people out there going through right now the very things I used to go through, and it bothers us. We want to do something about it. We're not content anymore to just stay in the walls, in the "bless me" club. We want to do something. We want to rescue them.
One author described Christian maturity as this, "Christian maturity is being a responsible son or daughter of God. I think the mature in Christ are people who have stopped being concerned about their own needs and pursuits, and they have entered into the global vision of their Father, so that they may transform a hurting world to accomplish the aim of the Lord's Prayer. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It's like a son who is being brought into the family business. Instead of racing fast cars and running around with girls, he finally buckles down and says to his father, "Dad, I'm a part of it. It's my business, too. I'm going to work hard and undertake the burden of this work." And that's always a healthy pattern when we go from being saved, to being a servant, to being sent. And we say to the father, "Hey, it's my business, too. I want to be sent. I want reach a hurting world, a world that doesn't know about Christ. I want to be a part of that." That's rescuing the enemies of God.
How do we do it? Well, I'm going to give you three words, and we'll look at it in the text. Three words that describe what it is to rescue the enemies of God. This is how we do it. We do it by knowing something, by growing, and then by going. And all of those three components are necessary. Knowing, growing, and then going.
First of all, we need to know something. We need to know what our position is in this world. Go with me to verse 16. Jesus prays, They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Now some of you are savvy and you already know what that already means. Others of you look at that as I first did when I read it, and you go, "Huh? Okay. We're not of it, but we're supposed to be in it. What does he mean exactly? We're sent into it, but we're not of it."
The world, the word world, cosmos, means, don't think of plants and trees and people as much as an organized, orderly system of things. Just like there is the Wide World of Sports, and it doesn't mean it's a private plant that's circulating in our solar system called The Sporting Planet. I know, some of you guys wish that existed, but it doesn't. So there is a world from a scriptural perspective where everything revolves around values and ideals run by Satan. That's why he is called the god of this world. It is an organized, orderly system of values, and ideals, and practices filled with people, but controlled by Satan. That's what it means- the world.
Now, here's a warning. Much in that system, called the world, is religious, and refined, and educated, and intellectual, and at the same time anti-God, anti-Christ, and they're not too crazy about you, either, if you love God.
Now go with me, keep that thought, go with me back to verse 3. Jesus prays, This is eternal life that they may know you the only true and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do.
It sure seems that Jesus saw this earth as a stopping off point. It wasn't a permanent home. He was here for a short period of time, 33 ½ years, but he was here for a specific mission. That is to rescue people, and that's the same with us. We say, "Father, I'm a part of it. I'm going to push the cars away and the women away. It's my business, too. I want to rescue souls."
You know, living in this world and living for this world it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense to put all your eternal eggs in the temporal basket called worldly pleasure is insane. It's like going to an airport and redecorating the bathroom when you're only going to be there for two hours in transit to somewhere else. You're not there really long enough to enjoy it. Our position, here we are in the physical world, in the human world surrounded by a worldly system, but we're not to be conformed to its thinking. That's what Paul said in Romans 12 when he said, Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In other words, we need to know our position. Same thing Jesus said here verse 14. They are not of this world just as I am not of this world.
You and I are like an astronaut. Let's go there for an analogy. An astronaut goes up in space, but he needs a space suit. If he gets out of it he'll see God immediately, because space isn't his element. Earth is his element. Or you're like a scuba diver down in the ocean. You can have a lot of fun, but you better stay connected to that regulator. Because the pressure there and the water there, it's not your element.
For the Christian saved from the worldly system, it's not our element anymore. We don't fit in it. Unless we realize that position we'll drown. And here's why. Look at verse 14. The world has hated them because they are not of the world. Did you get that? There's an occupational hazard to following Christ. If you follow Christ the way the Bible tells you to follow him, you're born again, you're sold out to him, you're obedient to Christ, the world isn't going to like that. You are now a target, because their values, their ideals is very different from theirs, and you don't share that. And because you don't share their standards, they don't like you. Because you don't share their standards, you are a narrow minded bigot in their view. That's the occupational hazard.
So, in order to rescue the enemies of God, we have to know our position.
Second, knowing our position we have to grow spiritually. That's the preparation phase. We need to be growing daily, weekly, monthly, yearly to be able to handle this world and make an impact in it. Verse 15 Jesus says, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They're not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth.
Makes sense. We need tools to fight this battle. If we're like an astronaut, we need the suit. If we're a scuba diver, we need the suit. We need the regulator, the oxygen. We need the right tools. We need to grow spiritually. And according to Jesus the primary tool is truth, the word of God. We live in a world of lies, so we need to be constantly refreshed with truth. That's the equipment. That's what keeps us surviving.
Paul spoke of life in this world as being in a battle, and he said that we need the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Peter would've agreed. He said to us, "As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.
Why? Why is growing spiritually, learning our Bibles, being refreshed in truth on a constant ongoing basis so important and vital to rescue people in the world? It's simple. The worldly system is such an enormous pressure with all of its lures and all of its temptations it's like standing up against a tidal wave sometimes. It feels that way to us. The temptations are everywhere. They're for everyone, and I think especially for the young. Peer pressure, media pressure, value of the world pressure is so strong. Unless we're prepared, we'll cave in.
Somebody once said that the high school student today encounters more sexual temptation to and from school than his grandfather did when he was out on Saturday night looking for it. It's everywhere.
I love what one Christian wrote to a pastor. He was struggling with his walk for a period of time. He got back on course with the Lord. He was asking for Bible study books, and cassette tapes to listen to the sermons. And he said, "Please send me more ammunition. The battle lines are drawn, the trenches are dug." And he said, "When my commanding officer, Jesus Christ, comes back, I want it to be said that this officer after going AWOL, that I finally donned my armor and getting my hands on anything I could get them on, I pleased him my commanding officer."
There's a key in that. Are you doing everything you can to get your hands on truth, spiritual equipment to stay the course? Do you want the ammunition? It's everywhere. You can have it, but you got to want it.
So we need to know. We need to grow. And then finally, we need to go. We need to go. And, folks, that's the goal of this. That's the purpose of this. We can know our position theologically. Whoop-de-doo. We can be growing in grace and the knowledge, and we have vast reservoirs of theological acumen, but what good is it if we don't go and penetrate into the world with it.
Verse 18. Let these words sink in. As you sent me into the world, here it is, I also have sent them into the world. That's the proper response, isn't it? To be sent, to go. We know. We grow. But we got to go. It doesn't mean you have to get on a jet and fly to deepest, darkest India. Maybe you will. It can be quite rewarding. It could be next door. It could be next office at work or the next dorm if you're away at school. It could be someone in your own family. But the words that Jesus gave to his followers when he was about to ascend into heaven were these, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That's the proper response.
I have observed at least five responses that Christians have. Let me go over them briefly with you. Response number one to the world is to isolate oneself. To isolate. We want to escape the world. The world is bad, and we don't like it, and it ruins us, and it ruins our children, and we need to find a little Christian village somewhere, an enclave where the store owners are all Christians, and the gas attendants are Christians, and the police are Christians, and everybody's a Christian. That's called heaven, by the way. Or, "Oh, I wish I could get out of my stinky rotten job and just work with Christians all day long." Well, that's cool. I work around Christians all day long, and it's okay. It's a wonderful experience, but I got to tell you we have our issues, too. And you can be disillusioned very quickly going down that road. In fact, every now and then working around Christians all day long I think, "Just give me a few heathen every now and then. Keep me fresh." That's response number one. You can isolate.
Number two, you can insulate. You know that there's temptation and pressure all around you in the world, and so you want to stay insulated from the world while just pointing your finger at them. "Look at all those bad people doing all those bad things out there in that bad world." Well, what are you doing about it?
"Well, I'm staying insulated from it and talking bad about it."
Okay. What good does that do? That's what the Pharisees did. In fact, did you know the word Pharisee meant "separated ones." Oh, they were so separated from the world, but what kind of evangelism did they do? Zero. In fact, they got mad at Jesus because he associated with tax collectors and ate with sinners.
A third response we can have is not to isolate, not to insulate, but it gets worse- to vegetate. Ehh, we look at the world, "Who cares? So what?" We become so apathetic we don't have a passion for lost souls any longer, because we are so concerned only about personal comfort, not about reaching the lost.
A fourth response, and I think it gets worse, is to imitate the world, to imitate them. "Well, you know, if you're going to reach the world you got to be worldly." And I've heard people say, "We have to become all things to all men, so we become just like the world. Here, want a joint, brother (inhaling noise)?" It doesn't do us any good to be like them, because what are we bringing them into if there is no difference?
It is the fifth response that I already mentioned that is the proper response, and that's to permeate or to penetrate the world, to get in among them. Not being like them, because we're not of them, but we're to be in them. And we're to be salt, Jesus said, and light. And, you know, salt needs to get out of the salt shaker. Oh, it's fun to gather Saturday nights, a great salt shaker to be in. You're a great salty people. We love that, but there's more to it than just hanging out in the salt shaker. Turn it over. Let the salt get out of the shaker and do some good out into this world. In some cases the church has lost its saltiness, and what is it good for? What did Jesus say? What good is it? Good for nothing but to be trampled under by men.
I love what one commentator wrote. "Live churches are constantly changing. Dead churches don't have to. Live churches have lots of noisy kids. Dead churches are fairly quiet. Live churches expenses always exceed their income. Dead churches take in more than they ever dreamed of spending. Live churches are constantly improving for the future. Dead churches worship their past. Live churches focus on people. Dead churches focus on programs. Live churches dream great dreams of God. Dead churches relive nightmares. Live churches don't have can't in their dictionary. Dead churches have nothing but. Live churches evangelize. Dead churches fossilize."
Listen, I'd rather be salt out of the salt shaker, and even a little bit uncomfortable than a fossil. "Great looking fossil. You look like, well. A fossil." Dead churches fossilize.
The world needs you. The world needs you in it, not of it, but in it. Different from it, but around it, because once you know, and you grow with truth, and you go—boy, that's powerful. You put salt on rotting meat, it will stop the corruption. You will make a difference. So the world needs you.
Now, let me also say you need the world. Remember I said sometimes I say, "Just give me a few heathen"? I need that, and you do, too. And so you're thinking, "I'm tired of working around unbelievers. Give me Christians." Don't do that.
Years ago when they first started shipping New England cod around the country, they tried freezing it and then shipping it. And they found that it just wasn't as flavorful after freezing it and thawing it as it was fresh. So they tried a second tact. They shipped the cod in tanks of sea water from one cost to the other, which was quite expensive. And they discovered that the fish was mushy, didn't have the firmness that it had when it was fresh and freshly caught and killed. So they decided to ship the cod, this was their third tact, and put it in the tank with its natural enemy the catfish, which means all the while it's going from one place to the next it's moving around being chased by its enemy. And they discovered it was flavorful. It had texture, and it was fresh, because it was busy getting away from its enemy. It needed the enemy with it.
You know what? I meet frozen Christians every now and then—cold and austere. No flavor. I meet some mushy Christians. No texture, because they're always in the tank, always in the Christians environment. That's where they're at. They're swimming around just kind of nice and easy. And so the world needs us, but we need the world as well to stay fresh, relevant.
So to sum it up so far. What does Jesus want the church to be? We ought to radiate the glory of God. We ought to reveal the truth of God. And we ought to rescue the enemies of God.
Fourth, and finally, and we'll close with this last point. The church should rally over the love of God.
Now, we're going to look at verse 20. Let's go down to that. This is where the prayer is the best. You know why? Because you're in it. It's the best part it, because you're mentioned in it. That's right. The subject of the rest of this prayer is for you, and I mean that quite literally. Look at verse 20, I do not pray for these alone. Who are the these? The twelve, the apostles who had been following him. But also for those. Who are the those? Well. Let's discover. Who will believe in me through their word. That's you. Somebody came and preached their word, their testimony, the Bible, the truth. It was passed down from generation to generation. Jesus looks through the lens of history/future, and he sees all those who will believe, including us. And here he prays for us. And what does he pray for us? Verse 21. Here it is. That they all may be one as you Father are in me and I in you. that they might be one in us. That the world may believe that you sent me, and the glory which you gave me I have given them that they may be one just as we are. I in them and you in me, and they, that they may be perfect in one that the world will know that you have sent me and have loved me, loved them, excuse me, as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave may be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which you have given me. For you loved me before the foundation of the world. Oh, Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me. And I have declared to them your name and will declare it that the love with which you love me may be in them and I in them.
Now that's a mouthful. Let me distill it into one sentence. Jesus prays for unity based upon truth and love. Jesus prays for our unity based on truth and love. In other words, that fourth and final thing Jesus wants his church to be is we are to rally around the love of God. We're to have unity.
Now what does that mean exactly? I don't think he's thinking necessarily ecumenically. I don't think Jesus has in mind that "Well, we should get rid of all little groups that believe this or believe that, or this denomination, that denomination. We need to not meet in our separate enclaves. We need to all meet in a big tent in every city no matter what the differences, and we'll have a big group hug and sing 'Kumbaya' and that's unity." I don't think he has that in mind. And I know that from the Bible, because I look at the disciples. They argued this very night Jesus prayed the prayer about who would be the greatest. The Jerusalem council a few chapters later in the book of Acts, 15, they argued about a very important issue. Peter and Paul argued in Galatia about a very important issue, same issue. And then, even Barnabas and Saul, Paul broke company because the argument was so heated between them. So there will be differences in the way we think and apply truth.
I don't think he means organizationally. And I don't think Jesus means that we should be in unity in terms of uniformity- that we all have to agree on every single issue in church, every single color of the pew, that we all have to vote exactly the same, or all have to read the King James Bible. I don't think that's the idea at all.
In any family there are differences between one kid and the next kid. Well, they're your kids. Sometimes you wonder. They're yours, but they are very different in their personality. And God's kids are, too. Some of us are very staunch pre-millennial in our position, others are a-millennial, or post-millennial. Some are pre-tribulation in our eschatology concerning the rapture. I am. Some are "post toasties". That's what I call them, post-tribulationists. Some like a certain kind of music- organ music, and robes, and candles, and stained glass. You can give another guy a guitar and granola, and they're stylin'. There's just differences in those kinds of issues, and I thank God, honestly, that there are so many different kinds of churches. Not all of them right on, but there are so many of them that just have these minimal little differences of style between us.
What does Jesus mean when he's praying for unity? I'll answer the question. Go back to verse 8. I've given to them the words which you have given me, and they have received them. They've known surely that I came forth from you and have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I don't pray for the world. I pray for these whom you've given me, for they're yours. And all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me that they may be one as we are.
This is what he means. He prays for unity based upon the words, the revelation that Jesus gave to them. In other words, I'm a Christian the same way you're a Christian, the same way you're a Christian, the same way that a person at another church would be a Christian, and that's by believing the truth about Jesus Christ and being born again. He's the same Savior of us all if we believe the truth about him. And that's a unity based upon truth. So, yes, we can divide over essentials, and we should. There are certain things that you draw the line in the sand, and if you believe otherwise you're not a Christian; but then on this side of the line there are so many different styles, and modes, and ideas, and little beliefs that it doesn't really warrant that we argue and part company over. We can be unified over the basic truth of Jesus Christ. And Jesus prays for that.
By the way, he prays four times for that. Four times in that little section he prays for unity, that we'd be one, that we'd rally around his love. Why? Why this overwhelming burden to pray for that? Here's the reason, verse 21, it's clear that the world may believe that you sent me. Now mark that well, even underline it if you, if you want to mark your Bible. It's a good thing to underline, that the world may believe that you sent me.
You see, unity among Christians proves the authenticity of the Christian's message. Unity among Christians proves the authenticity of the Christian's message. So my question is, What does disunity among Christians prove?
One Latin theologian said, "The proclamation of the gospel apart from the unity of the church is a theological absurdity." Think how absurd it is for churches to fight over "should we have robes or not?" "What style of music should we have?" "Well, you like that music, you're not a Christian," or length of hair or mode of baptism. And I say it's absurd, and I don't use the word lightly, it's absurd because here we are saying we're rescuing people from the world. What are they being rescued to? A family that divides, and bickers, and hates. We should be saving them to this, rescuing them to this.
A poll was taken as to why the people who don't go to church don't go to church. You want to know why? The poll revealed this: 49% said that the church is not effective in helping people find the meaning of life. Here's the reason, 56% said churches are too concerned about organizational issues rather than spiritual issues.
Folks, you know this, but you and I don't live our Christianity in the aquarium. Every now and then, even if you're a church ridden person you get out, and as soon as you get out, soon as you get in the car, soon as you, I hate to say it, soon as we drive, there's a reason I don't have a bumper sticker on my car, as soon as we go into a Starbucks, or into a store, or people hear our conversations, we're under watchful eyes, aren't we? Very carefully observed.
So how weird is it when you read an article like this out of the newspaper: "Calvary Baptist Church in Salem, Virginia, had Harvey and Pauline Richardson, age 82 and 74, charged with trespassing when they tried to attend Sunday services in February. The feud started when the church denied the Richardsons, members for 39 years, the right to vote on church business because they had missed services for several months beginning late last year mostly due to various illnesses. Eighty-two years old, you want a fellowship. "My wife's gotten better. I've gotten better." Trespassing.
"In the name of Jesus, we're going to arrest you. God bless you. Get in the police car, sir."
"But I'm 82."
"Don't argue. Cuffs, please."
How absurd. So our challenge is to become the people of God, the church Jesus wants the church to be. People who radiate the glory of God, reveal the truth of God, rescue the enemies of God, and finally rally around the love of God.
I don't care how articulate our message is, how good we are at defending truth, if there is no visible love, you know the rest of the Scripture, we're like a clanging cymbal.
A little boy was going to sleep after Sunday's service, and he said, "Oh, Lord, I had such a great time at church today. Sure wish you would've been there, too." Don't let that happen. Come with his presence. Leave with his presence. He is the audience. He is watching.
Heavenly Father, we have for weeks, for a long period of time now uncovered week by week what are the basic foundational truths that make us believers in you. We've rediscovered our foundations, and the last couple of times that we've been together as pastor and flock, we've uncovered what you want your church to be. And we pray all else aside, the color of stucco, or style of entrance, all of that aside, what you really want is some inward stuff. And, Lord, it does begin with us individually. And so, Lord, may we be the person you want us to be, because church isn't a place. It's people who gather in a place for a purpose. And may these four things mark our purpose. And, Father, if our life has no real purpose, no meaning, if we've lost our bearings we've come to church some of us because of that, and yet we're going to soon discover that we'll never be fulfilled seeking it in a group of people, but only in the God that those people serve. And I pray, Lord, that if some have come tonight that don't know and serve you that they'd come to Christ tonight. In Jesus' name, and everybody said? Amen.