Your Only Reasonable Response to the Gospel - Part 2

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Well, I do encourage you now to take your Bibles and turn with me to Romans, chapter 12; Romans, chapter 12. We are looking at the hinge verses the take us from the doctrine to the application of that doctrine, from the gospel and an explanation of the gospel in the first 11 chapters of Romans, to what we are to do in response to the gospel that has saved us in chapters 12 and following. Let's read again these two pivotal verses in Paul's letter to the Romans, Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, Paul writes:

Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Last time, I pointed out to you that, if we were to summarize the teaching of these two verses, it would simply be this, "The only reasonable response to the salvation that you have received in the gospel is to give yourself to God, body and soul." Again, the only reasonable response to the salvation you have come to enjoy is to give your body and your soul to God who purchased them through His Son.

This is really a call in these two verses for a total, radical commitment to God on the part of those who have come to believe in His Son. We're learning here two insights about how we must respond to what God has done in saving us through the gospel.

First, we discovered last time, "The Grounds for a Life of Total Commitment to God," the grounds, the basis, the foundation. Really in the first part of verse 1, we discover three of these grounds. First of all, "The Exhortation of Scripture." The apostle, speaking as an apostle, urges us to do this. This is really the Scripture itself ultimately urging us and exhorting us to take this step of total life commitment.

Secondly, "Our Relationship with God." He addresses us as brothers and sisters in Christ. That means that we are also children of the Father; on the basis of the adoption that we enjoy, we are to commit ourselves to God.

And then thirdly and really the focus in this first verse is, "The Mercies of God." And I went through the first 11 chapters of Romans last time and described for you, gave you a list of all of the mercies that we have enjoyed; and Paul says, because of those mercies, on the basis of those mercies, this is what I want you to do. But what does it mean to be totally committed to God?

We are learning then, secondly, having seen the grounds, we are looking at "The Demonstration of a Life of Total Commitment to God." What does this look like? How does it express itself? How does it demonstrate itself? That's the middle of verse 1, through verse 2. Paul makes his appeal for this radical commitment to God using the language of Old Testament sacrifice. And he tells us in these two verses we are to sacrifice, first of all, our bodies to God; and secondly, our souls or our minds; our bodies and our minds. Verse 1, our bodies; verse 2, our minds.

So, first of all, you are to present your body to God, verse 1, "Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a…sacrifice." What does it mean to "present your body a sacrifice?" Well, let me just give you the list that we walked through last time. If you weren't here last week, I encourage you to catch up; go back and listen because I filled these out, but to just to remind you of the big picture. First of all, you must remember that, if you're a Christian, when you came to Christ, you came on Christ's terms, and what that means is you denied yourself, you took up your cross, and you committed to follow Him. Presenting your body is just another step, a logical step in that process; it's just another progression of what began at the moment of your salvation.

Secondly, it means that you must daily live in the awareness that your body is not yours but belongs to Jesus Christ, which is exactly what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, "…you are not your own…you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."

Thirdly, it means you must commit yourself from this point forward to live your life, not for yourself, but for Jesus Christ. Again, exactly what Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians 5 where he says, since "He died for (us, we) who live (should) no longer live for (ourselves,) but for Him who died (for us)."

And then finally, we noted that you must daily present the members of your body as slaves of God and of righteousness which is the message of Roman, chapter 6. Now that's where we ended last time.

As we prepare our hearts for the Lord's Table this morning, I want to consider the rest of what Paul teaches us in verse 1. Notice how Paul describes the sacrifice of our bodies. He says, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." Now the English word order in our translations, most of the translations that are used to this morning, doesn't actually follow the word order of the Greek text. Literally, let me just give it to you from the Greek text. It reads like this, "Therefore I am urging you, brothers, through the mercies of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice (1) living (Obviously the numbers aren't in the Greek text.) (1) living, (2) holy, (3) acceptable to God, and, (4) the spiritual worship of you."

So, the most natural way to read these verses this this verse rather is that the command to present ourselves as a sacrifice is the main point of the verse; that's the thrust of the verse. And the final four expressions, the other words that surround the word 'sacrifice,' describe that sacrifice. So, the four words and phrases, that in the Greek text follow 'sacrifice,' describe the sacrifice of our bodies in some ways. The first two, 'living and holy,' explain how you are to present your body; the last two, 'acceptable to God and your spiritual service of worship,' explain why.

So, let's look at these words together. First of all, 'how' should you present your body a sacrifice, how? First of all, it's to be a 'living sacrifice.' Notice he says, "Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the mercies of God, to present your bodies a…sacrifice…living." This is an intentional contrast between a sacrifice that's alive versus one that's dead.

In the Old Testament era, you couldn't bring a dead animal; you couldn't bring a corpse to the Temple for sacrifice because that violated the whole point. Leviticus, chapter 17, verse 11 says, "…the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it (That is the blood to you.) [Cough; excuse me.] …on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood (Listen to this.) by reason of the life that makes atonement." So, the animal that you brought for sacrifice had to be alive so that its blood could be shed. It that's it was the death of that animal and the shedding of its blood that accomplished or that pictured the atonement that Jesus would accomplish.

So then, as the worshiper, you brought a live animal; but as I've shared with you before, you brought that animal for sacrifice to the forecourt of the Temple. Then you would have put your hands on the head of that animal, confessing your sins to God, but it symbolized, the hands on the head, symbolized the transfer of your sins to that innocent substitute. It's as if now that animal has committed those sins.

Then the priest would have handed you the knife, and you would have slit that animal's throat and watched as its blood poured out. So now, that animal that you had to bring alive is dead, and the priest gathered the corpse of that animal, whatever the particular kind of sacrifice it was, depending on the parts that would be taken. He takes the corpse of that animal; he ascends up to that great altar, and he throws its corpse on that burning fire, and the corpse is consumed. That meant practically that animal could never be offered again; one and done.

Paul's point here is that we are to present our bodies, not as the normal dead sacrifice, but as one that is living. Our sacrifice is to be a living body. Now what is the primary implication of that? The implication is that our sacrifice is to be continual and perpetual; it's to be daily and constant; it's never consumed. It's not one time and over; it's perpetual.

Isn't that what Jesus Himself said when He called us to discipleship? He said those who would come after Me, "Must take up their cross (What?) daily and follow me." It continues; it's day after day after day, perpetually to the end of life; that's what the word 'living' implies.

In fact, in 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 6, Paul is talking about his looming execution; he's going to be beheaded by the Roman authorities because of his faith in Christ; and in that context, referring to his own death, he says, "I am being poured out as an offering." So he says, "I have lived as an offering each day," he tells the Philippians, "and even my death is an offering." We are living sacrifices, day after day to the very end of this life.

Christian, here's what it means. This concept of a living sacrifice means you don't get a vacation from following Jesus Christ. There's no retirement from the Kingdom of God. A living sacrifice, daily, perpetual, continual, constant, to the very end of this life. The sacrifice of our bodies is to be living.

Notice also it's to be holy. Verse 1 says, "Therefore I (am urging) you, (brothers, through) the mercies of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice…living…holy." The word 'holy,' both in English and in Greek and back even in the Hebrew, literally means, 'to be set apart.' In the context here, 'holy' underscores two realities about the nature of the sacrifice of our bodies. First of all, to present your body as a holy sacrifice is to do so in the sense that it is set apart for God; that it belongs to Him; your body belongs to Him.

The animal sacrifices were set apart from the mundane everyday use in the ancient world and were devoted to the service of God. In fact, once you designated an animal from your flock as a sacrifice, it no longer belonged to you, but it belonged to God. In Leviticus, chapter 1, verse 2, it uses the word for offering, 'korban.' Those of you who are familiar with the New Testament, you remember that the Jewish people of the first century had abused that concept and were misusing it. But the word is a biblical word, and it means that once you decided that animal was going to be your sacrifice, it was 'korban,' it was devoted to God, it was given to God, it wasn't yours.

In the same way, your body, Paul says, is to be holy, set apart to God. Your body is no longer yours to do with what you want. You know, I hear that all the time. They will say, "Look, it's my body!" No, it's not! If you're a Christian, it's not your body, it's Jesus Christ's body. He bought it with His own blood. 1 Corinthians 6, "…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?"

Folks, that's not just nice words, that's a reality! You are not your own, your body doesn't belong to you, "For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."

Secondly, you are to present your body as a holy sacrifice in the sense that you are to present it without spot or blemish. In other words, your body is to be morally pure. This also is implied in this word 'holy.' In the Old Testament, this concept was often used to describe an animal, an animal that you brought was to have no spots or blemishes on it, no physical blemishes. Why? Because that was a metaphor, that was a picture that this sacrifice had no physical blemishes in the way that the ultimate sacrifice would have no sin blemishes whatsoever. It was a metaphor that that animal was without its own sin, and therefore it could die in the place of someone else just as, of course, our Lord and His ultimate sacrifice would do.

As Peter writes in 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 18, "…you were redeemed with…precious blood, as of a lamb (Listen to this.) unblemished and spotless," the blood of Christ. What's that talking about? Jesus's blood was unblemished and spotless? Well, it means He was without sin; He had absolutely no sin; therefore, He could stand in our place; He could become our substitute.

If you're here this morning and you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, if you have never repented and believed in Him, you need to understand this is your only hope because there are only two alternatives. Either you will leave this life, bearing the guilt of your own sin and you will endure the justice that your sins deserve from the hand of God. Or, you will repent and believe in the way God has made through His Son, through His Son's life and death and resurrection, and God will enable Jesus to stand in your place and to take the justice that your sins deserve; those are your only two choices. I plead with you, don't put it off; don't leave this life with justice for your sins riding on your own head because I promise you this, God doesn't grade on a curve; you will get everything that your sins deserve. Or, if you will repent and believe, Jesus got everything your sins deserved.

So when Paul says we are to present our bodies as a holy sacrifice, not only is he saying that they belong to God, he's also saying that they are to be truly holy. Your body is not to be characterized by sin, but practically, personally holy. The way you use your body is to be marked by real and consistent holiness.

In fact, let me just remind you of what the Bible says about your body; think about this for moment. In 1 Corinthians 6:15, Christian, Paul says, "Your body is a member of Christ." Be careful what you do with that body. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 6:13, your body can be an instrument or tool of righteousness. And according to 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 34, you can be holy both in body and in spirit. Therefore, God calls you to possess your own body in sanctification and honor. That's exactly what he says.

Turn over to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, notice verse 1, "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you receive from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God, (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more." How? How do we please God? Well, here's one way, verse 2, "For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus." What we're about to read here originated with the authority of Jesus Christ Himself. Verse 3, "For this is the will of God. your sanctification." It is God's will, given as an instruction to us through the apostles, coming from the authority of Christ Himself, that you be progressively becoming increasingly holy, day after day. How? Well, here's 1 very practical way, verse 3, "…that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality." Understand that you don't get to decide what you do sexually with your body. Why? Because your body doesn't belong to you; it's not yours. Christ gets to say what you do sexually with your body.

(Therefore, verse 4), that each of you know how to possess his own vessel (his own body) in sanctification and honor, (Don't use it for sexual sin, and verse 5, don't engage it) in (a) lustful passion(s), like the Gentiles who do not know God; (oh, and if, as a professing Christian you do this, verse 6, see to it) that no man transgress and defraud his brother in (this) matter (this issue of sexual sin) because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

So, he who rejects this concept of keeping your body pure sexually is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. It couldn't be much more pointed than that. But notice verse 4, "…each of you (needs to) know how to possess his own (body) in sanctification and honor."

One commentator on the book of Romans, a man named Cranfield writes this:

The true worship, which God desires, embraces the whole of a Christian's life from day to day. Any worship at the temple with sacrifices which was not accompanied by obedience in the ordinary affairs of life must be regarded as false worship, unacceptable to God.

In other words, what you're doing here this morning is unacceptable to God if it's not combined with a willingness to obey Him this last week and this coming week in what you do with your body. This was the consistent message, by the way, of the Old Testament, that obedience had to be married with worship for the worship to be received. For example, in Leviticus 26, verses 14 and 22 verses 14 and 31, we read this, "…if you do not obey Me (God says, "If you do not obey me…") and do not carry out all these commandments…I will not smell your soothing aromas."

In other words, I'm not receiving your sacrifices. If you're not obeying me, I'm not receiving the sacrifices you offer. I Samuel 15:22, "Samuel said (to Saul), 'Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD?'" Samuel answers his own question, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams." Listen, God doesn't want your Sunday worship if He doesn't have your weekday obedience.

That's the message of the New Testament as well. We are to be holy, we're to be set apart in our bodies and how we use our bodies from sin. I Peter, chapter 1, verses 15 and 16, "…like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.'"

Hebrews 12:14, "Pursue…the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord." Listen, your holiness doesn't earn your way to heaven, only the work of Christ does that. But don't kid yourself that you're a Christian if you're not growing in sanctification, because without holiness, no one will see the Lord. There's how we are to present ourselves as a sacrifice. 'Living,' meaning perpetual, constant, without interruption, through all of this life and, 'holy,' set apart to God because our bodies belong to Him and living in practical obedience to Him, morally pure.

Thirdly, here in verse 1 of Romans 12, we learn why should you present your body a sacrifice. Why should you present your body a sacrifice? There are two reasons. First of all, because it's acceptable to God. Verse 1 says, "I urge you, (brothers, through) the mercies of God, to present your bodies a…sacrifice… living… holy…acceptable to God."

The Greek word for 'acceptable' is a compound word; one of the words means 'to please,' the other means 'good or well.' So, when we present ourselves as a sacrifice that is living and holy, it is well pleasing to God. Again, this language comes from language of the Old Testament sacrifice. When the smoke of the sacrificial animal ascended to heaven, Leviticus says again and again, for example Leviticus 1:9 says that it was "A soothing aroma to the Lord." It pleased Him. The sacrifice that was offered in the way He required actually pleased God. And when we offer our bodies to God as a living, holy sacrifice, it truly pleases Him as well.

Now, I find that amazing because, think about this, even though my body is not yet redeemed; I have a redeemed soul, but my body is not redeemed, even so, even though my body is still fallen, it can, in fact, please God. What I do with my body can please God. 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 9 says, "…we…have (it) as our ambition, whether, at home in the body or absent, to be pleasing to Him." I can be pleasing to Him here at home in this world in my body.

A lot of Christians are confused about this. They think that even as believers, "all our righteousness is as filthy rags." That's true of unbelievers, but, brothers and sisters, that's not true of us; not because of us; but by grace through the work of Christ, God is pleased with our obedience to His Word. If you're confused about this or if you want to think more about it, I did a message some years ago entitled, "Do I ever please God?" And the answer is, "Yes, believer, you do, you do and can. When you continually present your body to God as a living, holy sacrifice, it truly pleases Him."

You should also present your body to God because it's "your spiritual service of worship, it's your spiritual service of worship." Verse 1 ends with these words, "which is your spiritual service of worship." That probably modifies the rest of verse 1; it goes back and captures everything that's been said and says, "…when you present your bodies a sacrifice, living, holy, acceptable to God, it is your spiritual service of worship."

The Greek word translated 'spiritual' here is 'logikos' from which we get the English word 'logical.' In fact, that's what it means, 'logical or reasonable.' The leading Greek lexicon defines it this way, "It's being carefully thought through, thoughtful." Here, this word translated 'spiritual' could mean spiritual in the sense that it involves the mind and heart and isn't merely external or ceremonial. Spiritual in contrast to mindless and mechanical. Or, it could also mean 'logical or reasonable' in the sense of fitting the circumstances. Both of those are true and honestly, I think Paul is making a word play here and intends both of these senses. Our response should be spiritual as opposed to merely external, and it is reasonable as opposed to unreasonable because of the mercies of God. This is your only reasonable response to the gospel.

Notice Paul adds, it's "your service of worship." Those three words translates translate one Greek word; it's the word 'latria' which can mean 'service in general', or it can mean 'the kind of service offered in the act of worship.' Again, I think Paul intentionally is using this word with its double senses. So, this last expression of the end of verse 1, I think is intentionally a little ambiguous to incorporate a number of senses.

Let me translate it for you or read it as I think we can read it. He's saying, the only right and reasonable response to the mercies of God that you've experienced in Christ is two things: One, to give your whole life to the service of God; and two, to give your heart in constant, spiritual worship. To give your whole life in the service of God and to give your heart in constant, spiritual worship, and of course the rest of Romans is going to explain how to do that. So, that's the heart of what Paul is saying here in verse 1.

Now that we understand that, I want us to make this verse eminently practical, okay? I want us, for a moment, for you to reflect with me on exactly what this looks like; let's not leave it ethereal. First of all, and this is what I often like to do is, let's consider what it doesn't mean. What does it not mean to present your body a sacrifice? This is not something you do one time. This wasn't something that happened at the moment of salvation. It's not something that happens in some crisis moment of surrender once in your Christian life; it's not something that happens once.

Secondly, it is not something you do periodically at key moments in your Christian life. This is not like the common Christian/Baptist concept of rededication, "Well, I'm going to re-dedicate my life to Jesus Christ; that's not this. It's not going to Christian camp and throwing another stick on the fire as a symbol of your being more committed than you were before; this is not what we're talking about.

So, what does it mean? Well, to present your body a sacrifice means two things. Number one, it means that you must cultivate a constant mindset that your body belongs to God. It does, we just saw that in 1 Corinthians 6, but you have to cultivate that mindset; you have to remind yourself constantly that you are not your own, that your body belongs to Jesus Christ.

And number two, you must then expend constant effort to obey the Scripture in how you use your body. So, it starts with a mindset, my body doesn't belong to me, but then it follows through in thinking about, "So how then does God want me to use my body? It belongs to Him, so what does He want me to do with it, and then intentionally, constantly making effort to obey those commands.

For example, back in Romans, chapter 6, verse 13, we're told to "go on presenting" your members as "instruments of righteousness." Paul uses the present tense there; this isn't something that happens once, it's constant, "Go on presenting your members." In chapter 6, verse 19, he says, "Present your body to God (Listen to this.) in the same way that you once presented your body to sin (paraphrased)." How did you present your body to sin before you came to Christ? It wasn't once; it wasn't occasionally; it was every day, moment by moment, you gave your body to sin to carry out what it wanted, and that's exactly what you're to do in presenting your members to God. And then, of course, we just saw the word, 'living' in chapter 12, verse 1, implies this constant, ongoing, continual sacrifice of our bodies.

Now let me just say to you, the good news is you know exactly what this looks like because our world is surrounded with people who do this in a very practical way. Assume for a moment, and why you would want to do this I don't know, but if you decided you were going to present your body a sacrifice in order to excel in a particular sport. This happens all the time; there are people you know who have done this. What does it require if you're going to sacrifice your body in order to excel in a particular sport? Well, it starts with the mindset, right? It starts with the mindset that that is the goal, and I'm not to use my body in any way that's going to sabotage that goal. It begins with a mindset, but then it requires that all the decisions you make throughout each day about what you do with your body are decided by how they affect that goal. If you wanted to be an extreme athlete, it would affect every detail of life. It would affect how long you sleep, it would affect when you get up, what and how much you eat, what you wear for that athletic endeavor, it would affect not only what you do in your body, but would also affect what you don't do with your body. You would pass certain things up because it's not going to further that goal.

The same thing is true when it comes to our Christian life and experience. The goal of being an athlete affects every decision you make about what to do with your body; that's exactly by the way, why Paul uses competing in the games and disciplining our bodies to win the prize as pictures of the Christian life. The goal of presenting your body to God as a living, holy sacrifice that pleases Him will affect your basic mindset about your body and every decision you make about what to do with your body.

You say, "Can you make it a little, a little more direct and practical?" Okay, let me just give you a couple examples. Here's how God wants you to use the members of your body. Let's start with your eyes, this is one example. Job 31:1, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I gaze at a virgin?" That is, how can I look at someone to lust after them? "I made a covenant with my eyes, my eyes belong to God, I'm not going to let them do certain things."

Or, what about your mouth? Ephesians 4:29, "Let no unwholesome (Do you hear that?) Let no unwholesome word (Literally, Greek text, 'rotten word.') proceed out of your mouth, but only such a word as is good for (building others up) according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." Your mouth isn't yours. You don't get to say whatever you want. Your mouth belongs to Jesus Christ, and He says what comes out of your mouth.

It affects how you use your hands, Ephesians 4:28, "He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need." You use your hands to work hard to provide for yourself and your family and to help others. Your hands aren't your own.

Your skills aren't your own. In the end, you see what Paul is saying here? The mercies of God demand everything from you. We heard the choir sing it this morning, "Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."

Ultimately, the reason we offer our bodies to God is as a thank offering, to use Old Testament language, and we offer our bodies as a thank offering to God because Christ offered His body as a sin offering to purchase our redemption. Ephesians 5:2, I love this, "Christ…loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God (and it was to God)…a fragrant aroma." It was a soothing smell in the nose of God.

It's His sacrifice for us that we are celebrating in the Lord's Table. Take a moment and prepare your heart, confess your sin as the men come to serve us.

Our Father, we are overwhelmed by the simple thought that our Lord offered Himself as a sacrifice, as a sin offering, as a guilt offering in our place, His perfectly righteous life in the place of sinners, in our place. Lord, we thank you that He loved us and gave Himself to you as an offering, as a sacrifice. Thank you that it was acceptable in your sight, that it pleased you, that it was a soothing aroma in your nostrils, that your justice against our sins was perfectly satisfied so that there's none left for us.

Lord, we love you and we are amazed that you love us, amazed that you would offer yourself for us. Certainly, our reasonable response is to give you everything! "Love so amazing, so divine, demands our souls, our lives, our all!" Help that to be reality.

And now, Father, as we come to the Lord's Table to remember our Lord's sacrifice for us, I pray that you would forgive our sins. We thank you, oh, God, that in the sense of a judge in a courtroom, you have already forgiven our sins. As we learned in Romans, you've already declared us to be righteous, not with our own righteousness, but with the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord who stood in our place, who paid the penalty for our sin, whose righteousness is now ours.

But Father, we sin, and now we don't need to go back into the courtroom and have our sins forgiven there, but now we need to be forgiven as a child needs to be forgiven by the father. And so, we come to you, Father, acknowledging our sin against you; each of us individually in our own hearts confessing the specific sins that you bring to mind. Lord, we confess our sins of thought, we confess our sins of attitude. Lord, we confess the words that have come out of our mouths that were rotten, that weren't for building others up, that didn't speak grace.

Father, we also ask your forgiveness for how we have used our bodies because we have not always done so in a way that was holy as you are holy. Oh, God, forgive us. Forgive us for Christ's sake and cleanse us so that we can now take of the Lord's Table and remember His sacrifice that compels, that motivates, that drives the sacrifice of our bodies to you. Receive our worship even through this. We pray, in Jesus's name, Amen.