And we are working through the book of Mark in the Sunday morning preaching time. And sometimes there's a little bit of an overlap there because Christ is talking about the future at times. And the future obviously being the book of Revelation, which is dealing with the end times and the return of the Son of Man. of God. So we're going to actually be looking at some signs of the times this morning. And we're going to be looking at the Olivet Discourse. And in the Olivet Discourse, it's really named that because Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives with his disciples and he's not with the massive group of people anymore. He's just zeroing in on his disciples. In a sense, he's given his last word in Testament because he knows in a couple days he will be crucified. And so he is getting them ready for probably the most traumatic experience of their lives. They're following the Lord Jesus Christ. He is claiming to be the Messiah. The Old Testament understanding of Messiah was a political leader who would become king and dominate all other kings. He would be that great king of Israel, and all other kings would bow their knee to him. Now, that is a partial understanding of the Word of God, and it was true, that aspect. But they did not understand the spiritual aspect that Christ not only came to establish a literal throne on the earth, he came to be the king of our hearts. That he would renew us and restore us to our creator God. And that he would be our salvation, the one that would save us from damnation under the judge, Yahweh. and robust in his righteousness through the death, burial, and resurrection. That is about to take place. So they're leaving the temple square. And as they're leaving, the disciples look at the magnificent temple. And one of them says, look at this great edifice. Look at this great building here in verse 13. And as he went out, of the temple, one of his disciples said unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here. It was just that appreciation of architect. Now, I am not one of those guys. I traveled all over the world. I've been at St. Petersburg and went up to the great palace of I'm even forgetting who the king was, who the czar was at the time, but he starved all of his citizens so he could build this golden garden, this summer retreat, and this magnificent, wonderful display of opulence, wealth, and you know, it's just like, been there, done that. It's all going to burn. That's really biblically speaking, but But there are edifices there that really just create a sense of awe and respect. And if you're into that sort of thing, this did it for the disciples. Not only was it the place to worship God, but it was a engineering marvel. They had great pride in this constructed building. And Jesus answering and said unto him, seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter, James, and John, and Andrew asked him privately, tell us, what shall these things be? And when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? And Jesus answered them, began to say, Take heed, lest any man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be not troubled, for such things needs be, but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in diverse places, and there shall be famines and troubles. These are the beginning of sorrows. But take heed, there's that second, be warning, take heed, pay attention, be on guard. But take heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to the councils, and in the synagogues you shall be beaten, and you shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake for a testimony against them. and the gospel must first be published among all nations. But when they shall lead you and deliver you up, take no thought before what you shall speak, neither do ye premeditate. But whatsoever ye shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye. For it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit. Now the brother shall betray brother to death, and the father the son. And children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved. Let's pray. Lord, I do ask for clarity to communicate your great truths here. I pray that you would have an audience that loves you, wants to hear from you, and will listen. I pray that there's one here that's not trusted you as Lord and Savior. They haven't taken that step of faith where They realize you are the one that has the authority to damn them to hell, but you're also the Savior who offers to save them from hell because you died and rose again. They ask for that individual, that they would be able to come to that step of faith. Please have your will and your way. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. The signs of the times are everywhere. People are looking. Many, many people love of the subject of the signs of the times. And as they are studying the signs of the times, you can go on the YouTube and you can look at all of these sound bites of people interpreting what the signs of the times are. And they get you kind of excited if you listen to them and they put stuff together and it's like, ooh, yeah, that's a possibility. And hey, maybe Christ is coming today. And maybe, maybe, and maybe, maybe, maybe. And there's a lot of confusion. And one of the passages that's used to speak of the signs of the times is this passage right here. And they quote it as if this is the key to unlocking the universe. And when I preach this, you're going to be sadly disappointed. I'm not going to give you the signs of the times. I'm not going to tell you that Putin is the Antichrist and he is the mark of the beast. I'm not going to tell you that the chips which people want to put under their skin and be basically your credit card under your skin, I'm not going to tell you that that's signs of the time and that's a worship of the Antichrist. I'm not going to tell you all that. He's like, well this is going to be boring. Yeah, maybe. I hope not. But the truth is they're not signs of the times. The signs of the times are going to be given here. And the signs of the times are the things that you and I have lived through and that you and I will continue to have to live through. So what is Christ saying? Well, he is saying, look, My word is true. Don't be deceived by all the false truths out there. So the first thing you need to understand about this passage is he's setting the disciples down to say, be on guard. There's a lot of deceptive information out there. There's a lot of wrong teaching out there. And I'm going to tell you the truth. Now, right about this time, we have a uprising of zealots, and that is zealot Jews who are getting tired and frustrated with the Roman occupation. And these zealot Jews are going to mount in probably about 40 years, well not probably but historically accurately speaking, in about 40 years the zealots are going to gain so much political influence and so much fervor that they're going to mount a revolt against the Roman occupation. And that Roman occupation, they're going to wage war. And I will give you some description of what's going on there. And what has happened is Jesus Christ is saying, look, I want you to know something. You see this temple? It's going to be torn down. There's not going to be a stone upon a stone. It is going to be destroyed. I want you to know that. And I want you to know that because some hard times are coming. Some difficult times are coming. And I want you to know that These difficult times are because you love me. Because you stand with me. But there are going to be many antichrists. There's going to be many people out there who claim to be me. And they're going to say, follow me. And they're going to end up destroying all of their followers. They're going to lead their followers into great, great destruction. Well, the interesting thing is that we get hindsight. We're here in 2020. In 70 AD, that's, you know, 70 plus years after Christ's death, the destruction of the temple takes place. And it is absolute destruction. And I think it's worth reading just, I put together a little historical paragraph here of the events of the destruction of the temple because it gives context by what we're going to deal with in this passage. So Christ's prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD. The false Christ did come and stir the people to rebel against the Roman government with the promise that God himself would give them victory and come and sit on the throne in Jerusalem. One of the faults, Christ raised an army of 30,000 men ready to wage war against the Roman occupation. The zealots were fighting against other political powers within the nation and within Jerusalem, creating a great instability even among the citizens. The nation itself was unstable because it had powering forces fighting against each other. To defy Rome in this political condition was suicide, but the hatred for the Roman oppressors and the smooth-talking Antichrist convinced the people to fight to the death. So these guys are claiming, hey, I am Christ, come and follow me and we will fight and get rid of these Roman occupation occupiers and God himself will come down and sit on the throne if we will do the dirty work. Well, you put religious garb around that and you think that you're going to prepare the way for God. And people are willing to fight for causes. They may be the wrong causes, but they're willing to fight to the death. And they did. Vespasian began the campaign against Israel in year 67 with an army of 60,000 soldiers. At about that time, Emperor Nero kills himself. Vespasian eventually comes back to Rome and is made the emperor. Upon being made emperor, he sends his son to go and take on the battle. Vespian began the campaign against Israel in 67, but his son takes on or takes up the final battle. And in taking up the final battle, he comes with 80,000 soldiers. So as he sends his son to beat down the rebellion, Titus set up a camp in the north side of Jerusalem on Mount Scopus and the adjoining Mount of Olives with 80,000 trained men. Isn't that interesting? The very Mount where Jesus is sitting down with the disciples, teaching them, get ready, terrible times are coming. That very Mount, 80,000 soldiers are sitting outside the walled city, the walled temple. The siege began in April AD 70, but the Jewish people would not surrender. Military raids favoring the religious zealots inflicted many casualties on the Roman soldiers. This emboldened the zealots to ignore the impending doom even in the midst of up to 500 zealot warriors being crucified a day on the outside walls of Jerusalem. They're going to fight because we're following Christ and God's going to come and he's going to sit on the throne. The blockade brought famine to the city with thousands dying daily and reports of women roasting their own dead children to stay alive. They still would not surrender and the false prophets proclaiming that the Lord would save them and God would establish his throne if they would simply not surrender. The final destruction came in August AD 70 with dead bodies being so numerous the invading army had to walk over a carpet of bodies just to get to the temple walls to tear them down. A five-month war ended with the total destruction of the temple and approximately one million died in that battle. That's a sobering reality. What did Christ say? this temple will be destroyed and every stone will be overturned." Seventy years later, to the exact of the prophecy, it came to pass. But he doesn't stop there. He says, I want to warn you about this building, but the most important, and this is repeated repeatedly, And Jesus answered, said unto them, You see these great buildings? They shall not be left one stone upon another, and there shall be thrown down. And as he sat upon the temple, he reports, and Jesus said, verse five, answering them, and began to say, Take heed, lest any man deceive you. Now do you understand why he was warning them not to be deceived? You follow the wrong path, it could end up with a hundred million people being killed for a wrong cause. But they were using the name of Jesus. Now does that go on today? The Roman Catholic system used this very thing to do their holy wars in the Holy Land, massacring Muslims and using religion for political gain. And to this day, as I talk to First Nations folks, I have to separate myself from the political system of the residential schools, because you're a Christian, you're Catholic, you raped my children, We will not trust you. Get out of our face. You don't know what we suffered. You see how important it is to make sure that we are embracing truth and not following people or systems? But where is the truth? Well, the truth is in the Word of God. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father except through me. You do not have enough time in life to test and verify every philosophy out there. If you want to test and verify every philosophy out there, you're wasting your time. There's no way you have enough time in a lifetime. And Christ is saying, let me give you a shortcut. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come unto the Father except through me. And by the way, when I come to do battle, he tells us in Revelation, I am going to come with soldiers ready. I don't have to recruit. And when I come, I won't lose anyone because they will not be able to be killed. It'll be the church saints coming. But I will set up my throne and I personally will subdue every person. In other words, I'll do the work, I'm not asking you to do it. I've done the work and I will be doing the spiritual work by laying down my life down for the sheep. So he says, beware, take heed lest any men deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many. In other words, don't be deceived. It is very important that you find a right church wherever you're at. And so how do you determine what is the right church? The church that exalts the word of God and tells you never follow a man. Pastor, that's kind of weird. You're not really going to grow your church by that. You're saying, don't trust me and don't follow me. How do you build a church on that? Because I'm saying, let's hold everybody to the standard of the Word of God. It's the only one that can't deceive us. We can get deceived, we can self-deceive, we can be deceived by others, we can be deceived as a group. And so we better bring ourselves back to the authority. Who is truth? God is truth. So let's bring our ideas, let's bring our agendas, let's bring everything and submit it to the teaching of the word of God. Don't be deceived. Many shall come in my name. And when you shall hear of rumors of wars, Be not troubled, for such things must needs, but the end shall not be here." Did you hear what he just said? You're going to hear rumors of wars, you're going to have earthquakes happening where they shouldn't be, and you're going to have kings dominating kings, and he says, by the way, that's the way it's going to be, but that's not the end. That's not what I'm hearing on these YouTube stations and on these preachers who get up and preach about end times. That's not what I'm hearing at all. You know what I'm hearing? Hey, look! There was an earthquake in Minnesota! And that earthquake in Minnesota is, hey, we don't have earthquakes up here! The end times are here! The Antichrist is on the earth! Well look at wars! Amongst wars! Look at all these wars! No, that's not what he's saying. He's saying the early birth pains. He uses the word birth pains. Moms, you're the only ones who can relate to this. Exactly. Okay? But I used to even remember him, Hickston. Braxton Hicks. There you go. My dyslexic mind. Braxton Hicks. They're coming. Something's coming. And you're like, I remember Paul. It's like, yeah, it's time. And it's like, nope. Came and it went. Comes again. Nope. False warning. She got a lot of false warnings with one of them. The other one was, yeah, it's Braxton Hicks. No. Get in the hospital. But the point is, when this use of birthing pains throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, it was, it's a time of great trial and tribulation, but it is not the ultimate judgment. It's not the war itself. It's not the big one. It's the preparation. What you need to understand is we are in a preparation day, and there are great deceptions being taught. And those deceptions, if they're not separated, will bring great, great damage to the cause of Christ and to society at large. We are the salt and light. We need to preach the truth. But we must understand we're preaching in a day and age that is pointing towards a future kingdom, but we are not the kingdom builders. I hear that all the time on the radio. We got to prepare the kingdom. We got to prepare the place for Jesus. No, we don't. Thank you. Our God, our sovereign God has a time and place and he has the has the road map and we can, we can, we have the luxury as being believers to join his program and ride on his coattails. But we don't prepare anything. We are told to be discerning, be alert and speak the truth. And He will do with us, in our day and age, what He deems great, wise, and right. But we need to come back to what He has called us to. And when you hear of all of this upheaval, and you hear people saying, hey, Jesus is coming, and you hear people saying, follow me, just trust me. Folks, I'm serious. I don't know how much I gotta beat this One drum, whenever a pastor or a political leader or anybody who has influence to lead and take many down the garden path, when they say, trust me, just follow me, you better put the warning flags up and you better take three steps back, especially if it's a pastor. A pastor should always be saying, trust God, trust Christ, trust the word. Trust the word. I can follow a man that says, trust the word, because I can keep him in check with the word. And when he's doing right, thumbs up. When he's doing wrong, I'm going to say, the word. Doesn't that kind of take a lot of strain and pressure off you guys? Exalt the word, don't exalt men. So he says, be aware of your time. And your time, we are in a time when it's not the tribulation. We're in a time when the rapture can come at any time. Christ can take us home at any time. But up until Christ returns, this is going to continue. Tribulation, wars, and here's your job. So he sits down and says, now disciples, I'm leaving. Temple's going to be destroyed in 70 AD. You're going to be alive. Many of you apostles are going to be alive. You're going to witness the destruction of the temple. You're going to witness this civil war, the Roman coming in and waging siege on the city of Jerusalem. It's going to be a five-month battle. There's going to be horrific things going on. You're going to witness all that. I want you to remember what I said to you. That's exactly what I told you would take place. So now the generations that have come after the apostles, that's us, we're Christians. He says, now I want you to understand apostles, what should you be doing during this great upheaval, during this period of time when there's political unrest? I know, you should jump in there and you should fight with the zealots and get rid of those Roman occupiers. That's what you should do. Nope. That's not what He's asking us to do. He's asking us to do something a whole lot harder. He's asking us to give the gospel, and to live the gospel, and give the gospel to the Roman occupiers, and to the Jewish citizens. Oh, let's join Black Lives Matter! Hoo, hoo, hoo! No? No? Oh, no. Let's join the Proud Boys! Let's do equal rights march! Well, let's do, let's do, let's, look guys, I'm all for the Christian who wants to go up and wants to stand before an abortion clinic and protest and pray for those people and take the opportunity to talk to that person not to kill their baby. But you know what's more important than that baby being killed? The one who's killing her baby. needs the gospel so that they can be forgiven of such a horrific act. They need to hear the gospel. And you know what's more important than regime change? I want Trudeau out. I don't know about you guys, but I do. You don't have to tell me what your political leanings are, but I want him out. And I'm going to exercise my vote when I get a chance. But that's not my fight. Christ says, here's your fight. But take heed. Here's that word again. As you see all the upheaval, as you see famines, as you see all the troubles, that's the sin-cursed world, that's the world turning on each other. That's what you're gonna live in. But take heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to the councils, and in the synagogues you shall be beaten. In other words, the magistrates and the political authorities, and you shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for testimony against them. I want to warn you something. I want to warn you, Christian. We as Christians in Canada have enjoyed wonderful freedoms. I just read an article that against a missions group to the Northern Reservations in Northern Ontario by a self-proclaimed lesbian First Nations girl who went off gutter college. And the article in Thunder Bay was against this mission group because this mission group was causing more damage to the boys and girls on the reservation. more damage by teaching their Christianity because it doesn't allow for homosexuality. That's causing more damage than the drugs that's going on there, the huffing, the incest. You go down the list. The suicide rate, That's what's causing the damage and we cannot have the likes of them going on our reservations and teaching Christ. That's the article. This was, I don't know. George, Myrna, Cliff, the Canada you knew is not the Canada we have now. There is a growing fervor against Christ and Christianity. And it's been one of the vehicles, one, not only, but one of the vehicles is the gender identity, the whole identity politics. So you say, well, why are you talking about those gay and lesbians again? Because they are a political movement. It's not just the individual, it's a whole movement that's trying to rewrite Canada, rewrite the Constitution. And it is anti, against the teachings of Christ. And he's saying, Christ says, don't be surprised. That's exactly what I told you is going to happen. So what do you do? You keep telling people they need Christ, they need to be redeemed, that their wickedness, their sinfulness is an offense to God, and it's damaging society, and it's not healthy for all society. Do you keep doing that? Yeah, you keep doing that. How long do you do that? Well, until they take you to the magistrates, then you stop. No, no, no. When you go before the magistrates, you still do it. Because that's what I'm going to use to give a testimony to all the world that they need Christ. How are you guys doing on that? Are you getting ready for that? Or are you becoming silent and going on to your little private properties and just being quiet? Guys, we can't do that. There's a world that needs Christ, but if we go out and get them Christ, there may be a cost, and in Canada, it's coming. I just want you to know, it's coming. The birth pains, as Christ says, they're there. Are you willing to pay the price? By the way, probably you won't have to pay the price as far as direct magistrate going before and going to jail, but I might. I might. Pray for my courage to keep doing it. The apostles were sent to proclaim the word of God and they were supported and that's what they did for full time and that's all they did. They were the voice for the church. I am a voice for the church. You should be supporting the voice and you should be echoing the voice, but I will be the voice. So who are they going to hold accountable for the voice of the gospel message here? They're going to go at me. And what this Bible tells me is that it's going to happen, but I'm allowing it for testimony's sake. I'm allowing it so the gospel will be clear, so the people will know this is truth, and they'll contrast it to what is evil and what is wrong. And that's a good thing. But, he says, don't be afraid. He says, verse 9, amongst rulers and kings for my sake for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published amongst all nations. But when they shall lead you and deliver you up for criminal behavior, take no thought before what you shall speak, neither do thee premeditate." In other words, don't spend all your time trying to make a legal defense for the gospel. Don't hire lawyers. Don't spend all the money and sit there and research all the civil laws that are being broken because you have a right and your citizenry right. Did Paul have a right to challenge the government and have a hearing? Yes, he did. Did he exercise the right? Yes, he did. And did he still get killed for giving the gospel? Yes, he did. He said, listen, This is not a political legal defense. You may even be able to win the oral argument, but you're not going to win the populist vote. The government's going to use you as a sacrificial lamb to keep the votes of the people. It's not about justice. They're going to throw you to the lions. So when you go there, simply tell them Christ is Lord, He died and He rose again, so you can be forgiven for your wicked sins, which you're about to do to me, unjustly put me in jail, and maybe even capital punishment for some countries. But you do that knowing this on your conscience, that God died for you, and He desires to forgive you of this, even though you're about to falsely imprison me. God loves you and you need the Lord. May God give me the power and the strength to do that. To not hate the people that are unjustly doing things to me. And he goes on to say this persecution, this level of persecution, I'm going to be there, but whosoever shall be given to you in that hour that speak you. For it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." That's the promise of the presence of the Holy Spirit to help you to stand and fight the right fight. What's the right fight? The Gospel. There's a lot of other fights that are going on. What are the fights? Kingdom amongst kingdom. There's going to be famines in the land. There's going to be earthquakes. All this stuff is here to stay. It's here to stay. You're not going to do a regime change. It's not your job. What is your job? Give the gospel. At what cost? Maybe the cost of your life, maybe the cost of incarceration. Oh, you think that's bad? He goes a little bit further and he warns them. Verse 11. But when they shall lead you and deliver you up, take no thought before what you shall speak. Verse 12, now the brother shall betray the brother to death. The father, the son, the children shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated of all men for my name's sake. But he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. How do you hide from the government's prosecution if your own family who is not saved is going to turn you in? Who does not love Christ will turn you in thinking they're doing a good thing. I mean, I'm getting elements of this. I mean, guys, if you don't understand this whole COVID thing, are you watching the masses and how they're acting? They're looking the other way. Injustice is going on all over and they're looking the other way. Somebody sent me a video of this girl at a high school football game where watching her kid and a cop comes up because she's not wearing a mask. Tells her to wear a mask, tazes her. Why didn't he give her a fine? But the whole crowd is sitting there watching and doing nothing. What do you think it's going to be when the government legislation says, those Christians are evil, incarcerate them. They're spreaders. They're super spreaders. That's what I am. Because I haven't bought into the idea you should wear a mask all the time. I'm a super spreader. I'm the enemy. If they can do it with a virus, what do you think government and the mass population is going to do? When the government says that Christian is sowing hatred, that Christian is giving hate speech, that Christian... Do you think the population is ready to hear that? I'm telling you they are. Look around you. So when the mass population turns against God, persecution will be greater. But he says, that's the signs of the time. But what does he tell them to do in the sign of the time? Endure hardness as good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's what. Set your jaw, do right, preach the gospel, live the gospel. Be willing to pay the price. Or are you covering up the gospel so that you can get along with everybody? Don't do that. You can't live with your own conscience when you do that. And you can't have God's blessing when you do that. Give the gospel to all. They need it. There may be a price. You may be shamed. You may be ridiculed. You may be turned over. But are you willing to have a backbone that God will give you? Just do what God asks you to do. What truth should we be fighting for? The right for all people to have a choice to choose Christ. And then we exercise that right by giving them the gospel, even if the world starts calling it a hate speech. I've read some of your guys' interactions on Facebook. When you stand for the gospel and people mock you and ridicule you, hey, keep it up. When you go to work and your co-workers are blaspheming and cursing and cussing out God, say that's offensive. Please don't do that. God is real. Christ is real. I hope you don't have to meet him as your judge, because if you do, you're going to hell. I hope you can meet him as your friend and he offers you forgiveness. But I think we have a cowardice Christian population in Canada. I really do. I'm not saying you guys are cowardice. I think across Canada we've been silenced out of fear. Let us be like the apostles. What happened to the apostles? They count the cost and we don't have the exact historical account as to what The records are most of them died a martyr's death, a couple died of old age, imprisoned, but they suffered wrong for doing right. They gave their loyalty not to a man, the Mendeanic Christ, a hundred million people killed on the siege against Israel, the temple destroyed, exactly like God said it would be, exactly like Christ said it would be. So what can you trust? God's word. And he says this, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. How do I know that's true? Because God said it. As the Bible said, that's the truth I'm going to fight for. That's the truth I trusted in. That's the truth that radically transformed my life. And by God's strength, that's the truth I will fight for until I leave this earth. And if that means incarceration, I hope I have your support. Because I honestly, I see a notching up of the hatred and the removing of the freedom of religion for Christians. I don't see that for the Muslim community. Look at the political landscape, guys. I don't see that for the, by the way, you do know that homosexuality is a religion in itself, right? That a homosexual movement, that's a religion, that's a faith-based religion in itself. It's a philosophy that is given total devotion. The Muslim faith, the Sikh, all of these minority faiths. They're being defended. But Christianity is under attack right now. I don't know whether God will give us a reprieve or not, but I do know what this message says. Up to 13 here it says, you give the gospel, you live the gospel, and be willing to pay the price. Don't be deceived by following lost causes. Whatever that lost cause may be. If it's not about eternal things, it's a lost cause for the Christian. Let's be in the world, but not of the world. May God give you strength. Let's fight the right fight. Lord, thank you for this time. We ask that we go our separate ways. You'd help us to stay in the fight, fight in the right fight. And we would call people to repent of their sin and to turn to You as their Savior so that their soul can be redeemed, bought back, and they can go to heaven when they die. And Lord, not only can they go to heaven when they die, but they can have the wisdom to live right while they're living. Lord, I love Your Word, I love You, and I'm so thankful I get to stand here and tell people about Your truth. Help us as a church to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Forasmuch we know that our labor is not in vain. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.