Well, good morning to everyone. Good to see you all here this morning. Pastor kind of encapsulated, summarized the message with his comments this morning in Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus. The Christian life is about looking unto Jesus and the truth that we can only see Jesus in the Word of God through the revelation of God of Himself to us. And that's really two of the major points I want to get across this morning along with the truth of the need to bring the message of Jesus to lost men and to be willing to offend. That's something we're going to talk about and see in Paul's life and ministry this morning. But to offend in the right place, remember.

Okay, I'd like to begin by asking you to turn to 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3.8, the passage we studied on Thursday night, and I just wanted to read 1 Peter 3.8 through 17. He writes, "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous. Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you might inherit a blessing. For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. We could say, look unto Jesus. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear, having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."

Well, in our text last week, we saw Paul and Silas suffer in extreme ways for doing good for the sake of the gospel. And through this suffering, we saw an attitude of submission, of giving thanks, of praising God in spite of their circumstances. And through this, we saw God do mighty works, wonderful things in releasing Paul and Silas and saving the Philippian jailer and his household through the preaching of the Word and faith in Christ. We have seen in the life and ministry of Paul a relentless focus, a steadfast understanding of his purpose and commission in his life. Paul was one who sanctified the Lord God in his heart, who was always ready to give a defense, an answer for the hope that was in him and that answer was Jesus.

We've been studying the book of 1 Peter on Thursday nights and just this last week we studied the passage that I read in chapter 3, a great part of the message of Peter, especially in chapters 2 and 3, concerns an attitude of submission concerning authority, the importance of the believer's attitude towards government, employment and marriage and all authority and submission relationships. And coupled with this is Peter's consistent plea for the believer to live a holy life, a life that allows no accusation of the lost man to stick, to have legitimacy. And all of these things are meant to facilitate our witness in this world and the salvation of lost souls.

I want to just give you two passages from Peter. First Peter 2, 11, he says, "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they observe glorify God in the day of visitation." And then 1 Peter 3, 15, he says again, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear, having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed." 

A submissive spirit, not rebellious, not attacking or fighting, but submissive in spirit and holy living so that we might be a witness for Christ in the power of the gospel and so doing we see that even though the world hates us, reviles us, accuses us, in so doing they will find that there's no basis for their attack. There's no legitimacy to their accusations. And there's a genuineness to our faith and to our salvation that will lead many to faith through the truth of the gospel. 

At first the account at the end of chapter 16, we didn't quite finish chapter 16 last week, I thought about letting those verses go by, but I figured I should address that. And at first it seems to contradict these principles, Paul's refusal to depart in peace, to call out the magistrates and make them come and release him. But I found as I studied the passage before us, that Paul's life and ministry was actually a beautiful example of these things. As he fervently preached the truth and brought the gospel to the Gentile world. We see this first at the end of chapter 16 and we'll see it fleshed out more as we move into 17.

Look at 16.35 with me, please. And we'll wrap up those verses at the end of chapter 16. It says, "And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, 'Let those men go.' So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, 'The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart and go in peace.' But Paul said to them, 'They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed, let them come themselves and get us out.'"

And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. Then they came and pleaded with them, and brought them out and asked them to depart from the city. So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

Well you remember the situation here, Paul and Silas were preaching the gospel in Macedonia, and Lydia and her household had come to faith, and likely other women who were meeting at that place of prayer by the river, and a fellowship had begun, and the founding of the church at Philippi. And God was producing fruit there through the ministry of Paul. And because of this, we saw Satan go to work with the demon-possessed girl who was fortune-telling for her master's profit. And Paul went and upset that apple cart by casting out the demon and ruining their business. And as a result, they riled everybody up and beat Paul and Silas with rods, they fastened them in the stocks in the dungeon. And what we saw was an amazing and important attitude in thinking of Paul in this event, where he and Silas were not singing the blues, they were not singing, "'Woe is me' in their stocks," but rather they were praising God and glorifying Him, singing songs of praise at midnight, and it says the prisoners were listening to them. 

Paul had an attitude of submission, not only to the authorities, but most importantly to God and His will and His purpose for Paul's life. He didn't think that God had abandoned him because of his circumstances. He understood that God had called him to this, that suffering was a promise and an opportunity for witness. You see, Paul sanctified the Lord God in his heart. He set him apart. He focused on God and who He is and the secure salvation that he had in Christ, and he stood on the promises that are all yes in Jesus Christ. 

Paul and Silas were a wonderful example of what Peter wrote about in chapter 3. And the result was a tremendous witness in the salvation of the jailer and his household. After these events, we see that the magistrates wanted Paul and Silas to go away. They didn't like all this goings-on in their city. And you see, they had attacked, they had accused, even persecuted these Roman citizens. And what we find here is that they were ashamed. Just like Peter says, if you suffer for doing good, then you are blessed. And even though they accuse you and they revile you and they beat you for doing good, because of your witness they will be ashamed and their accusation will find no basis. 

Now Paul's actions here in this passage have been questioned along with others, as we've seen. But I don't think this is a rebellion against authority, I don't think it's even an attitude of calling them out so much. I think what we see here is Paul operating within the law and the authority that God had prescribed, the freedom he had given. It makes me think of how Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7, if you were saved as a slave, remain a slave, it makes no difference. But if you have the opportunity to be free, then be free. 

They had unlawfully beaten them, without due process, and they were Roman citizens. And I think Paul takes this opportunity to afford the believers there a little peace, a time of reprieve from persecution and the authorities. I believe that was the effect, at least. It says the magistrates were afraid and they came and they pleaded with Paul. I don't think they were likely to go out and attack Lydia, or the jailer, or the other believers after Paul and Silas had left, at least for a time. 

So there's an interesting and important lesson here for us. We see that Paul was submissive to authority in this whole circumstance, that he was focused on God, not his own suffering and circumstances. He was set on being a witness for Jesus by his words and actions. And at the same time, he used the opportunities he had to further the gospel. And the result was fruit. It was a furthering of the gospel, it was a pure witness where no accusation stuck and those who accused him could find no basis for these charges and persecution against him. 

So we see a great example here by Paul and Silas and they continue to give us that example as we move into chapter 17 as to how we should live as believers in the context of this world. What our purpose is. What our focus should be. How we should conduct ourselves and view our lives and ministries. 

Look at 17.1, we'll read those verses again that the pastor read this morning, it says, "Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went into them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, 'This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.' And some of them were persuaded. And a great multitude of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and Silas. But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace and, gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, 'These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying, There is another king, Jesus.' And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go."

Well, it's a familiar, consistent pattern that we have seen in the book of Acts, particularly in Paul's ministry. He goes to a town, he goes into the synagogue to the Jews first, he reasons, he persuades them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ and leads many to faith, and then those who don't believe rise up against him and persecute him and run him out of town. And then he goes to the next town and he goes into the synagogue. It's a tremendous pattern in simplicity. 

And I really want to spend our time this morning considering what Luke writes in verse 6, quoting the persecutors in Thessalonica when he says, "they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, 'These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.'" This is an amazing statement, my friends. Do you realize that Paul and Silas really had only been to one city in Macedonia at this point, to Philippi? They'd only evangelized Philippi, and now they'd just moved on to Thessalonica to preach the gospel, spending just a short time, three weeks there, reasoning in the synagogue. And what was the reaction of the people to their words? I think it's important to note it was just words. Preaching. Reasoning from the Scriptures. 

Paul had not led a revolution. He'd not brought a military attack or organized a militia. He'd not run for office, organized any sit-ins or protests or political action committees. Paul had simply come to town, gone into the local synagogue, a place of worship. He'd been allowed to speak and he had preached words of truth concerning Jesus from the Scriptures. That's all he did. And what did these men say about him and about his ministry? He turned the world upside down. 

The question before us this morning, my friends, is how do we turn the world upside down? How do we have an effect on this world for Christ that causes men to say that we have interrupted, that we have set off balance, turned upside down this whole world system and the wisdom and thinking and organization of Satan himself? And I think the thing we must understand from Paul here is that we must be willing to upset the apple cart. We must be willing to offend. 

Now we're halfway through our message so we better get to our outline. I've given you four points from our text to help us understand how God has prescribed, how Paul has given us an example that we should turn this world upside down for the cause of Christ. We're going to see peace, the second, persistence, third, purpose and fourth, persecution. 

And I'd like to start with those points with a quote from Jesus in Matthew 10.34, He said, "'Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace. sword.'" What was the sword that Jesus brought? How was it that He caused division rather than peace? 

Was Jesus' sword a sword of self-defense? Did He wield that sword to protect His rights, to get His just due? Peter tells us that when He was reviled, He did not revile and return. When He was threatened, He did not return those threats, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. He did not make a defense before Pilate. He endured the cross, suffering the shame for the joy that was set before Him, the greater purpose, the salvation that He accomplished. And He certainly did not call on His followers to take up the sword in revolution or revolt, as we saw even in the garden with Peter when he cut off Malchus' ear. 

And what did Jesus say to him? If you fight against the government with the sword, they have the right to take your life with the sword. Jesus' sword was not a sword of self-defense or rebellion. Was it a military sword, using the ways and means and political government force of this world to further the agenda? Did Jesus advocate a state religion, like Luther and Calvin, or so many today to varying degrees seek to establish? No, Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world. If it was of this world, He said, "My servants would fight." But Jesus did not wield a political power sword. He taught and exhibited submission to government as the institution and ministers of God. 

And taught clearly that the weapons of the spiritual battle of Christians in this world are not carnal, not earthly means, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments. So what is the sword of the Lord? What was the sword of division that Jesus brought with power? 

My friends, Jesus brought the sword of truth. And this sword definitely brings division among men. Last night a friend of ours called a couple and asked to take us to dinner and we went out to dinner and this friend of mine, he's from Chicago and he's an older couple and he's sort of a devout Catholic. He has a theory that the last legitimate Pope was Pope Pius X at the end of the 1800s and that the Masonic Lodge has infiltrated the Catholic Church and corrupted it. But he's extremely knowledgeable and devout. And I'm always trying to witness to him and we've had a couple of kind of knock-down, drag-out conversations. 

And last night he said something that stunned me that we're going to get to in our text, but I was thinking about truth and how truth divides. He said, "Johnny, a long time ago I gave up on private interpretation. That's why Jesus gave us the magisterium to tell us what the Bible means." And I said, "Well that's an interesting thought because you just spent an hour at dinner telling me how the magisterium has been corrupted." He said, "That is a problem." But he doesn't believe that we can privately interpret the Scripture, that we can understand the truth from the Word of God. And he's resistant to that and I'm not sure what to do with that. You can pray for me in that. 

But my friends, Jesus brought the truth and that truth divides. The Bible teaches throughout its pages a false peace continually propagated by men, a desire for peace, world peace, but always built on false premises and followed by destruction. And this will ultimately be the case with the Antichrist and his peace covenant with Israel. Paul said, they will cry, "Peace, peace" and then sudden destruction will come. 

There is a false peace in the world and in our time it's being propped up by what I think is a great ploy of Satan that we term today political correctness and this is girded up by one main idea and that's that it's wrong to offend. It's a cardinal sin of our time to be offensive, to disagree, to argue, to persuade, to upset the apple cart in any way, shape or form. And I'm afraid, my friends, that this mood has enveloped the church in many cases to varying degrees. 

Paul's example to us, his ministry destroys this idea because he's willing, in fact he sees it as his very purpose and role to bring the sword of truth, to divide men by leading those who believe to salvation, to regeneration, to a new creation in Christ and leaving those who will not believe to themselves. You see, Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 1 the very nature of the gospel is offensive. Satan holds the world in his hands. He has designed a system of religion, of education, institutions of all kinds that at their very core are anti-Christ, anti-truth. And they stand on lies, lies that men are basically good, that men can earn their way to heaven through works, through religious rites and rituals, that there is no truth, that there are no absolutes, that we should all go along to get along and that everyone's opinions are equally valid. 

It is the truth that comes in and exposes these lies, that destroys the system, that turns Satan's world upside down. And unfortunately, what I often see in the church today is either that there is never any offense in any form but a striving for this false peace, or there's offenses at all the wrong places, rather than at the point of the gospel. Jesus did not come to bring peace but a sort of division, the sword of truth, the gospel. 

And Paul was not interested in peace, not peace by compromise of the truth, not a false peace. Only was he interested in a true peace that comes with conversion, with faith in Jesus Christ when there's peace between God and man, and then peace between man and man as well. And as a result of this firm conviction, we see that in the life of Paul, there's an unfailing persistence to bring that truth to every man, to bring that sword, that truth to take down the strongholds, to break down the arguments and wisdoms of men, the lies of Satan. 

And that's what we see in our text. They go on to these cities, they stop along the way, and they end up in Thessalonica. And it says when they get to Thessalonica in Acts 17, 2, "as was his custom for three Sabbaths he went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews." And what did he say to them? He explained from the Scriptures that the Christ had to suffer, that He had to die, that He had to be buried, that He had to rise again to pay for our sins, to satisfy the wrath of God. And he says, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ." 

The persistence of Paul is almost impossible for us to grasp, to understand. But the important truth is that his persistence was a result of his faith and trust in God and God's will for him. Paul had a very clear understanding of his commission, of his purpose, of his ministry. He just left Philippi and we saw all that he experienced in the way of suffering there. He studied his first journeys out into the world and preaching Christ and the suffering he experienced then. 

And what we see almost invariably is that these persecutions come from the Jews, the religious men who will not believe. Paul knows this. He expects this. It is certain. Yet what does he continue to do? Paul said the gospel was for the Jew first and then for the Greek, it was his custom to go to the synagogue first when he entered a town. Now we saw in Philippi that there was no synagogue but the women were meeting by the river at a place of prayer. But he always went to the Jew first and always knowing that persecution would come. 

Persistence, my brothers and sisters, regardless of the consequences, because his focus was on God and his command to Paul to preach the gospel. That's all Paul knew. Not on himself, not on his circumstances, not his own reasoning about what was better or worse or how success is defined, but on Jesus, the gospel, and the promises. This amazing persistence came from a clear understanding of his purpose. 

And this is so important for us to understand. It says Paul reasoned with them from the Scriptures. This is a mouthful, my friends. What did Paul see his purpose as? It was to preach Christ, to show that Jesus is the Christ, the only way of salvation and only through faith in Him. This was his commission, to open their eyes, God said, to turn them from darkness and bring them into the light. This was Paul's purpose, but what was his method? 

And this is the main point of our text, of this message. He reasoned, it says. The Greek word is where we get our word dialogue. It means to say thoroughly, to dispute, to discuss, to argue, to make a defense. Paul reasoned with them. He taught, he preached, he entertained questions and discussions, he answered objections, he attempted to persuade, to win them over, to bring them to the realization of the truth that Christ had to die and rise again, and in fact, Jesus is this Christ. He reasoned with them, but how? It says he reasoned from the Scriptures. This is so important. 

It is the Scriptures that Paul taught. It's the Scriptures that Paul preached. And he was able to go to the Word of God and show that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the promises concerning the Messiah of Israel. He went to Psalm 22, he went to Isaiah 53 and showed that Christ had to suffer, to die, to pay for our sins, to satisfy the wrath of God. You see, this was Paul's method in order to accomplish his purpose. 

And this is an important lesson for us today because, as we said before, there's a dichotomy in this world. The whole world lies in the sway of the wicked one. All the religious men sit in opposition to the truth. All the philosophies and wisdoms of men set themselves against the knowledge of Christ. And the gospel is offensive. It is an affront because it shows men their need and their sin, their utter, total inability before a holy God to save themselves. It strikes directly at their pride and it causes a reaction. 

It's not pleasant to offend, but we must offend. We must upset the apple cart of man's goodness and self-righteousness and inclusiveness by speaking the truth in love. And we must reject the ways and methods of the world and turn back to the Scriptures, to the truth in order to persuade men, to show them their sin, to offend them at this point and then lead them by the goodness of God, His grace and mercy to repentance. 

We must work from the truth, from the Word of God, the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. This is the clear message, the clear lesson from Paul in the book of Acts. 

So let me ask you a question. Why are we so reluctant in the evangelical church, why are pastors so reluctant to do this in our time? Why are churches and pastors running toward the latest marketing principles laid out by church growth gurus? Why have they de-emphasized preaching and teaching of the Word of God and prefer to preach topical, entertaining, short sermons? Why do they study books written by men in their weekly Bible studies? 

I've thought about these questions long and hard and I've come to two primary conclusions. One is that they do not believe God. They're not focused on God and His commands, His truth, His promises, His grace and powers we see Paul. They simply do not believe what He says and how He says to do it. In short, they feel that they know a better way. Or they believe that offending carnal men will drive them away and what they want more than salvation of men is a crowd moving in and out of their church. 

Certainly there are varying degrees of this kind of thing in different churches and certainly many have been drawn into these kinds of thinking that have pure motives, that desire to glorify God, that desire to lead men to Christ. But I think it's vitally important for us to understand that this is serious error. It's misguided, it's not biblical and it's leading men astray in the church, believers and unbelievers alike. 

And what I want you to see is that Paul believed God. Peter sanctified the Lord God in his heart. Look to God, your Father. Believe Him, trust Him. Nothing about Paul going into the synagogue in Thessalonica made any human sense. Every time he did, he was persecuted. He was run out of town. He caused riots. He was stoned and left for dead. He was not winning friends and influencing people. 

His methods seemed to cause a lot of issues. Perhaps he should find a way to be less offensive, less confrontational. The leaders in the evangelical church today could give Paul a few tips, they have millions of ideas, marketing, psychology, entertainment, all kinds of ways and means and methods to not offend men, to draw men in, to show them how fun Jesus can be, how He can fix their lives and fix their problems and minister to them in a myriad of ways. 

All kinds of ways to win men, just not God's way. And I'm not saying all of these things are wrong in and of themselves, what I'm saying is that God has prescribed a way. And He has given us examples through the lives and ministries of His servants in the book of Acts. And that way, His way, is through reasoning, preaching, teaching, persuading with the Scriptures to show people the need of the suffering Messiah and His payment for our sins and our place to save us from the wrath of God, to show people that Jesus is the Christ and that through faith in Him, anyone, everyone who will believe can be saved. 

So it seems to me that the Scriptures should be our text, that we should study and teach and preach the Word of God in this place, in our weekly Bible studies, in our homes, for sanctification, for growth and for inspiration to then go out and use those scriptures to preach Jesus Christ. 

What we've seen in our text this morning, peace, persistence and purpose, and finally what we see again is that when a man believes God, when he commits himself to God's plan and purpose and the method of reasoning from the scriptures, when a man seeks to live godly in Christ Jesus and to preach Jesus Christ crucified, he will find persecution. 

Look at verse 5 in our text, please. "But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people." Now we read over these things in the book of Acts, but can you imagine reading on the front page of the Ironwood Daily Globe and they went into the heft model and they dragged them out and they beat them and they imprisoned them? These were real people in a real place. 

Verse 6, "when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, 'those who have turned the world upside down have come here too.' Jason has harbored them and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying there is another king, Jesus." And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things, so when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 

Paul and Silas and Timothy and Luke, in a very short time period, simply through words, through preaching and teaching the truth of God's Word, proclaiming the Word of God concerning Jesus Christ, turned the world upside down. Isn't that what we want to do, my friends? Not to take over the government, not to make the world Christian, not to gain power or to run the show or gain anything for ourselves, but what we want is to turn this world system upside down. Turn the doctrine of self-righteousness and religion for salvation on its head. Turn the wisdom of men upside down through the foolishness of the message preached. 

We want to upset the apple cart for one reason, because this is what is necessary for men to be saved. We don't want to fit in with this world. We don't want to adopt its means. We don't want to be like the world to win the world because it does not work, my friends. It is not how God has said to do it. It leads to confusion and lack of clarity and purpose. 

We want to focus on God and His Word and His truth and obey Him by preaching boldly and clearly the good news of the gospel. We have a good news message, salvation by grace through faith, but we better understand and be ready for the fact that one result of this kind of ministry is that those who are not persuaded will persecute us, will attack the truth with lies and error, will fight to maintain the systems of men. 

And that's what we see again and again all through Acts. Paul said that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It may not be the government coming to our house and dragging us off to jail, or religious men stoning us, it may come to that. But there's a dichotomy, there's a lack of fellowship between believers and unbelievers, there's a growing hatred for Jesus' preachers and more and more open hostility and there's always the quiet rejection, the discomfort and division even in our homes. 

And if we press the issue, if we witness clearly and boldly, there's a reaction, there's an outburst, an attack because of the truth. And we need to know that living for Jesus will result in persecution and we cannot win men without offending them at the point of truth, at the point of the gospel. And in the face of this fact, the promise from God's Word, we need to choose to believe God. We need to choose to trust God, set our hearts and minds on Him and His truth and if they reject us, or shun us, or stone us and leave us for dead, our commission is to preach Christ crucified, to persuade men to believe Jesus Christ. 

And our method is to reason from the Scriptures, to speak the truth about Jesus, to live a life worthy of our calling so that no accusation sticks and to leave the details and the numbers and the growth and the fruit and everything else to God. He will give the increase. My job is to tell men the truth and to love them enough to tell them the truth. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank You for Paul and for his ministry and for preserving the account of that here in the book of Acts and we thank You again and again for showing us how Paul was faithful and persistent because he trusted You, because he believed You, because he understood his commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Help us to have that simplicity that is in Christ, to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith as we run this race, to bring men to Jesus and to bring glory to You in all that we do. In Jesus' holy and precious name, Amen.