Well, I do invite you to turn in your Bibles to John chapter 11, if you have your Bibles with you, John chapter 11, as we are continuing our study through the gospel of John, John 11, and we're going to consider, again, it's one of the stories, it's really not helpful to break up, so just like John 9 with the healing of the blind man, which is actually tied together with this story. We're going to consider the first 44 verses this morning. Let's give our attention to the wonderful word of the Lord. Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sister sent to him saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard it, he said, this illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. Are you going there again? Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world but if anyone walks in the night he stumbles because the light is not in him after saying these things he said to them our friend lazarus has fallen asleep but i will go to awaken him the disciples said to him lord if he's fallen asleep he will recover now jesus had spoken of his death but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep then jesus told them plainly lazarus has died and for your sake i'm glad that i was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this she said to him yes lord i believe that you are the christ the son of god who is coming into the world when she had said this she went and called her sister mary saying in private the teacher is here and is calling for you and when she heard it she rose quickly and went to him now jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where martha had met him when the jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw mary rise quickly and go out They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And Jesus saw her weeping. And the Jews who had come with her also weeping. He was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said, see how he loved him. Some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying? Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he's been dead four days. Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. And the man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face And there we'll end the reading of his word this morning. Well, this is obviously one of the most thrilling sections in the Gospel of John. I'm sure many of you have heard this preached numerous times in the course of your lives. If you've been in the church throughout the course of your lives, This has been a passage that has provided great consolation and help, especially in the face of death. It's one of those passages that strikes more powerfully when you're actually facing it at times, and something that you definitely want to always hold on to for whatever we face or whatever's coming, for this is the one to constantly set before you as Jesus here is saying to us that he is the resurrection and the life. Another great I am statement, something that Jesus is claiming here that is beautiful, that we would understand it. And Jesus, as we try to understand this in the context of John, which is really important, you'll know that Jesus is dealing with certain problems of unbelief, really, on every front as we've been working through the gospel of John. Remember, John is the gospel of belief. That's his aim. I keep holding in front of you John 20 at the very end. All these things are written that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing that you, you would have life in his name. And that is so important when looking at John 11 this morning. It is the gospel of belief, but it's as if John now says, John now says, if you're still struggling after all that I've presented to you to believe, if there's anyone here who still is really wrestling with whether this is all true, If there's anyone who still has any measure of doubt that Jesus is the Son of God sent to be the propitiation for your sins, he is the true one. If there's anyone still doubting, I'm going to put that all to rest today. I think that's the effect of John 11. I think John's saying, let me tell you a story of him beating death. And if you won't believe that, then you won't believe anything. I think that's the effect of John 11. It's really the purpose here to lay no more excuses for unbelief. None. Because what he says, I think is captured in verse 37, which is the challenge of this text. Remember what they say there, could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind, if he could do that, could he not also have kept this man from dying? And that seems to be the tie, isn't it? He has gone through, he has healed, he has done everything, And now he comes to the biggest challenge of his ministry. What can Jesus do in the face of death? And if anyone struggles with unbelief, then I have news for you. You all know and believe you're going to die, don't you? You all know that's coming. You all then have a belief that something has gone terribly wrong because that's not natural. And if you won't believe this, then you won't believe anything. That's the effect of John 11. Now, Jesus will make a great claim in this section. I am the resurrection and the life. What does that mean? That's the question. What is he holding out for us? And what does he want us to believe? As that is the heart of his challenge to them. In the midst of it, they make a challenge to him. He makes a challenge to them. And that challenge is the most important challenge in the scriptures. As I see, as we've gone through the gospel of John so far. In the first few verses of chapter 11, what you have here are distraught sisters. Very distraught sisters. It's not something you can just read without feeling the emotion of this. This is real. This is pain. This is deep pain. They say that, it's probably a bad illustration, but if you listen to some of the old people who made music in the old days and they listen to some of the new music, what they say today about the younger generation is they're not good musicians because they don't know pain. I thought that was interesting. I think that's kind of true. If you listen to some of the older musicians who understood and have been through life and have been through pain, you hear it in their music and it has a much more powerful effect when you listen to the music than those today who don't know much of anything. But that's not a good thing to say. That's not nice. I think we can learn a lot from young people, okay? So if I've offended you, come up to me after and I'll hug you, all right? But I want you to listen to this particular passage here and think about exactly what has happened, the pain that is really coming off the pages today. As they come to Jesus and they say to him, Lord, the one whom you love is sick, he's sick. It's the worst news, right? It's the moment that we all hate. It's the moment we all intuitively fear. You go to the doctor. Your loved one hasn't been feeling well. And the doctor comes back. And the doctor says, I have really bad news. Bad news. It's cancer. It's pancreatic cancer. That kind of thing. It's not going to last long. And this is the worst sort of pain, the wave of all of a sudden life gets real serious, doesn't it? That the games stop and all of a sudden now I'm really confronted with reality. I can't play fast and loose anymore. All that I've taken and played fast and loose with and haven't taken seriously now, now I'm really forced to deal with life and now I'm really forced to ask sincere and real questions because now I'm faced with the worst reality that has come upon the whole human race. That's the issue here. It's a death sentence. And Mary and Martha are right. They're going right to the Lord, which is meant to encourage you greatly that we can always come right to the Lord. And they go right to the Lord and they talk to him about it. Lord, here's the one that you love. And I think there's something so tender about John 11 in the sense of how much care and observable love that Jesus had for his sheep. That is so different in light of everything we've studied in John 9 and 10, isn't it? It's evident. The Jews will even say it. Look how he loves Lazarus. Look how he loves these women. Well, Jesus, in the midst of this, says something. He says something rather shocking in verse 4. This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. And I'll come back to that. He already got in trouble in John chapter 8 for saying stuff like this. Remember, the Jews were heavily critical of him for saying stuff like this. You can't go around saying that you're the Lord of life. People are in the grave. Abraham's in the grave. That's why we know you have a demon, because you're saying stuff like this. See? This was the issue in John 8. Jesus keeps saying it. just keep saying so whatever is about to happen jesus just took this and said whatever's about to happen god will be glorified through this that's that's the reality of what's happened and uh this is what he said with the blind man back in chapter 9 this sickness is for the glory of god and now he's about and now he's going to say the same thing here whatever's about to happen Lazarus, God also will be glorified through it. And it seems to me that what John is showing us over and over, something special in the gospel of John, is that Jesus has redeemed even the sicknesses and death of his people. He's grabbed it. He's owned everything. This is what John has shown us. He's owned everything, but he's owned us. And that means he's owned our sicknesses and he's owned our deaths. I don't know what that means to you, but it should mean a lot. Because every time Jesus speaks about it, what he keeps saying is, it has a real big purpose for God's glory. And I think John is meaning for us to take hold of that and take that in in these moments. I mean, it really helps and make Heidelberg 1 so special that I'm not my own, but I belong body and soul and life and in death to Jesus. That's what this is showing us he makes this promise here it is a promise that this sickness will not be to death will not lead to death then in the next verses what we read is is that when he heard that he was sick he stayed there two more days in the place where he was and then after that he says Then we'll go to Judea again. So again, you know that John has been working on a timetable, a calendar that Jesus is walking according to. He had to be certain places at certain times. And what a remarkable moment, again, a study in providence, really, is that Jesus hears that he is sick, and he decides to stay away. He stays away. And then something really tragic happens. in the time that Jesus had decided within those two days that he says, we'll go after two days, Lazarus dies. He dies. I don't know about you, but every time I've read this, I've been somewhat troubled about this because we know this story. I mean, it's a story we've read. We know the ending and we've heard it preached dozens of times and so it's kind of lost the effect. but if you could stop and say, I don't know the end yet, this is a really bad moment to live. It's a far different thing to actually have to live this. It's a far different thing to actually have to be in this passage, in this text, in this life story, in this event, and see that Jesus stopped his whole ministry and did nothing and let his loved one die. It really has to set in for a minute. You really have to feel it for a minute. Jesus just told them he would die. They don't get it, but I think I would have been, and I would have felt a wave of frustration and emotion of frustration with Jesus. I really do. I think I would have been deeply agitated at the moment. When I've seen him do all of this, and I believed in him, and he stands still. He left Lazarus, the one whom he loves, to die alone in the land of Judea. Put this into a scenario that we might know. I love your loved one. I love your husband. I love your wife. Lord, he's sick. She's sick. Won't you help him? You know how many times we've prayed for healing, And I think we'd be shocked to know how many times he's answered us. But those aren't the ones we remember. The ones we remember are the ones we're actually living and the pain that we feel through it. And this is exactly where we are. This is the scenario here. The dilemma is this. The dilemma is this. Either Jesus has lied through his teeth or he means what he said. They just didn't understand what that would look like and how that would go and those sort of struggles, right? I either believe him with this great promise set in front of me, or I say, what kind of a joke is this? Which is what the world says. What kind of a joke is this? You guys sit here. This Christianity is for weak people. We don't see your power. We don't see your Jesus. We don't see your resurrection. We see nothing. And you guys make all these claims. What a joke you are. Who is this Jesus who says such things? And we would base our decisions on outcomes, right? That's what we do. We base our decisions on outcomes. And I think this keeps people away from Christianity right here. I think this keeps people away from Christianity right here because where's the proof of it all? there's this conflict of what is evidently not blind faith, and yet, where's the proof of it all? You guys need a crux. That's what they say. You guys just need something to get through all of this. I mean, think of all the people we pass by today, and I think our society has just become so godless. Who seeks the Lord? Who comes to gather to worship? You guys are the weak ones doing this. You could be out jogging and getting strong, you know. We're still looking for answers ourselves at times. Isn't it something? We're still looking for answers ourselves at times. You all will have some point in life when the pain of this will strike and then you're in this crisis. The crisis of providence, I call it. The crisis of providence. You read this, you can't help but to come to the conclusion that Jesus just doesn't view any of this happening by freak chance. That's the sense off the pages of scripture here, that there's nothing here that's happening by chance. And the disciples come and say, look, look, don't go there anyways. Don't go to Judea anyways, because the reality is the Jews want to stone you. So stay away from it. And Jesus uses this now, not just for Martha and for Mary, but for the disciples. Jesus now ties together, which is so interesting, for his disciples these two events. Lazarus' death is a microcosm of Jesus' death. In other words, the disciples are scared to death that Jesus' life is going to be taken from him prematurely by these killers who have stones. Just like Lazarus' life now is snuffed away from him prematurely. and it all could have been prevented so disciples are thinking we're going to prevent it we're going to prevent it don't go we're not going there anyway jesus and jesus just doesn't look at life like that at all not only especially not only his own death but notice here exactly how he gives them perspective on this point through everything in life. Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he doesn't stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. Sure, you know this truth. If you're walking around in the night and you don't have light, something bad might happen to you. But if you walk in the day, Don't you see where you're going? Don't you see clearly where you're headed? We're walking in the day, aren't we, dear disciples? We're walking in the will of God. Nothing's going to happen to us prematurely. Nothing's going to happen to us that can happen to us that escapes the divine plan. There's nothing that is going to frustrate exactly what I have come to do, is what he's saying. And I think this is somewhat of a warning to those who walk in the night. In other words, it is absolutely true that those who walk in the night forfeit a kind of protection that is given to those who walk in the day. In other words, when you're walking in the will of the Lord and you're a child of the light, there is a sovereign, like Job realized, hedge around you. And when you decide to walk in the night and you know what happens at night, You can go through the list. That hedge is taken. I think this is somewhat of a warning that's given here, but Jesus is not so much focusing on that. What he's tying together are the two events, and what Jesus is saying here is, listen, we are walking just according to plan. Nothing's stopping what's going to happen, or nothing's adding or taking away from what is going to happen. So he explains Lazarus' death to them in the plan of God. They stay away two days on purpose to let it happen. Thomas not getting this pipes in. Fine, let's just go die. It's time. Let's get it over with. Thomas is an interesting disciple. The glass is always half empty. Until the very end, then it's full. Well, Jesus now, after the death, makes his way to the death scene. I hate these scenes. You hate these scenes. It's the mortuary. We try to stay away from the mortuary now. Dr. Horton gave an excellent sermon on this point a few weeks back. I encourage you to listen to it. We don't want to deal with the mortuary. We don't want to deal with the body. We don't want to see this. And they're faced with it. And Jesus walks in. I have to say, as a pastor, it's the worst scene to walk into. I felt coming out of, when I first went in the ministry, I just dreaded these scenes, and I had to pray constantly. I had no idea what to do. It's just, it's sad. I love standing and preaching, but I don't like going into the hospital room when someone's dying. I've been there. I've seen it now too many times, and I don't want to have to see it again. It's part of the ministry. I've had people die right in front of me. First time it happened, I was 27 in the ministry. And the wave of sorrow that hit that room. I just remember thinking to myself, I have no idea what to do. Here's Jesus. In a reconcilable dilemma, because they're really frustrated with him still in the midst of this. Because how in the world, if Jesus is all powerful and he is the Lord of life, that he's made all these claims, is this sickness not unto death? Tell me that. You have said this sickness is not unto death and there's a body. That's the dilemma that Mary and Martha are facing. This could have been prevented. This had already been an issue. The leaders had criticized Jesus for this and Martha comes up bubbling over with just pain and emotion. Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother would not have died. It is really deep agitation and frustration. I don't think disrespect, I think real pain. The kind of grief that overwhelms the heart. Includes all the tragic circumstances of life that are not normal to what we think are the courses in our course of life. He's died prematurely. Something was not right. Something could have been prevented. This is the doctors messing up. And now someone's dead because of it. And I'm suing. How many times have we heard situations like that? the tragedy, the tragedy of the young child. I don't see it. It's discouraging. I get this awful feeling of emptiness. And we have to sort of say, well, you know, one day we'll get it. One day we'll see the big picture. One day, but I sure don't get it now. Now we just have to live with this. We just have to live with this. And yet we have all these glorious promises. and I got to live with that. You see the struggle of these women. You ever been in this struggle? They're in it. They don't get it. Really confusing. Really confusing. Lord, why? If you're God, did you not prevent this? Why does God cause us to pass through the valley of the shadow of death and the veil of tears this way? Why do you stop to face the sorrows of this? When you have the power to turn the vent, when you have the power to fix it, and you don't. I need answers, Martha and Mary say. You need them. Is this okay? Is this okay? At this point, all they felt was the pain of loss. he died. It's irreparable. That's the sense. It's done. It's done. It's over. What are we going to do now? Eulogize Lazarus? Tell everyone how great Lazarus was in life? I mean, that's really the masking that goes on at times at funerals and memorials today. We sort of cope this way. We cope by not really having the answer of death dealt with. Instead, we just tell everyone how great they were. And we walk out and we have our food. But we've not dealt with reality. It's denial. Sin caused something bad. Sin brought real sorrow. But at one point in this discussion, All of a sudden, this little glimmer comes out of faith in Martha. It's a big moment, really. But now, even now, I know this has happened, but I know that whatever you ask of God, he'll give you. Hear that? She's really thinking, I think you still could overturn this. It's a little bit of hope, a little bit of light. And all of a sudden, in the midst of this, Jesus says, your brother will rise again. Well, you could have been here, and he would still be here. And I think this is the big moment in this particular passage, the pericope, can the Son of God defeat even death? You see, that's what I'm saying. In the context of John, he's leading us to, You still don't want to believe? We'll get to the biggest issue that's ever really the issue in this life. It's death. And all of a sudden, in the midst of this, Jesus gives this glorious consolation and passage statement of so wonderful. I can't even imagine trying to process it that day in the midst when they came out of the words of the Messiah. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he dies, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. And he looked at him and he said, do you believe that? In a sweeping promise, Jesus just took upon himself all the power and the responsibility to swallow up death and victory. That's what he just took. He just took 1 Corinthians 15. He just grabbed it and he said, that's mine. I'm the one through whom there's life. And even though if one dies, because I am life, that one who believes in me will live. Whoever believes in me is never going to die, ultimately. I hope by now in John you understand that is not as the Jews understood it. What Jesus was clearly saying was that there is nothing. God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. Death does not separate us from God, Romans 8, and that means that when we die, we're still living because of him, with him. But I can't leave it, hear it. He who believes in me, there's no judgment, there's no hell, there's no forgiveness, I mean, there's total forgiveness of all of your sins, and you're going to live forever and glory with me. This is the essence of the promise here. Asking the penetrating question, then at the end of this, do you believe this? Now notice Jesus didn't say first, look, I'm going to raise Lazarus and then say, believe it. He wanted them to live as we live. Believing the resurrection before they saw it. There's an order to this. You either have a choice here. When we get back to the issue of John in belief. You have a choice here. Either Jesus is the cruelest man in history to run around saying such things. I will do this. I am the resurrection. You're never going to die. Either he's the cruelest man in history if he can't do it. Because I don't know anyone throughout history who's made this kind of claim. But either, let's take it as it is, he's either the cruelest man in history to say such a thing, the worst man ever to exist, or he's God and can do it. Those are your options. And what is he offering us? Life beyond the grave. I mean, it's not like this is a bad thing he's saying. So Jesus looks upon all their weeping, which is real. You read that he's groaned in spirit and he's troubled as he sees their grief, knows their pain. He identifies with them. He's become one of us. I think this is why Hebrews says, I think the author of Hebrews was really moved by this and says he sympathizes with us. He understands. He's able to help us. He groans deeply. The word means in great agitation, disgust. He is disgusted with what death has brought. He's disgusted with what his creation has become. Remember, everything's been made through him. He is disgusted. This was not the intention. This was not the design, and he's come to fix it. He's come to overturn it. That's what I love to tell people today, in the midst of all this craziness, where there's nothing but problems, there's nothing but death and division, and look at the division, sorrow. What the purpose of Jesus is in the new heavens and the new earth is to reverse all of this. You just want it right now. Jesus weeps. If you've ever felt that he's distant, and you've ever felt that he doesn't answer you, and you've ever felt that there's no explanation, you can come to this smallest verse in the Bible and you can look at it and say, when he stood here and was in our shoes, he wept over our deaths. He wept over our deaths. When in his humanity, walking on this earth, he wept over Lazarus' death. You believe? Some begin to mock. This guy, he could open the eyes of the blind and he couldn't stop this. That's the question that's the heart of his text. That's where John's taking, that's where he's brought us. Yep, that's the issue. That's the issue. Could he stop this? Could he reverse this? Could he fix this? Jesus comes to the tomb. He looks at the stone. Preview of coming attractions, by the way. Take away the stone. Martha, Lord, there's a bad odor, four days. You don't, we don't want to experience that. Don't take away the stone. Lord, that's the worst thing you could do right now, is put us through that. Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you'd see the glory of God? Did I not tell you that, Martha? It took away the stone from where the dead man was lying, and Jesus lifted up his eyes. One of the greatest prayers in the Bible. Father, I thank you that you hear me and have always heard me. And I know that you hear me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe. And when he had said these things, I don't know what it sounded like that day, but I think it was an uncomfortable yell, cry, Hands up. Lazarus, come forth. All of a sudden, the bones rattle. And the grave clothes start coming off. And life, life from his voice filled that dead body. He who had died came out. His face was wrathed with a cloth. Jesus said, take it off. peel off the cloth. There he is. Loose him and let him go. Imagine seeing that that day. Worst thing is to see the body lowered into the grave. Imagine seeing it that day. Do you know why Jesus came? Because you're all going into the grave. And you all need to get out. And there's no way out apart from him. That's what sin has done. And you see, you understand the beauty of this statement. Whoever believes in me shall never really die because what we just studied was his story. But the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He's not here. He's risen. as he said, come, see the place where he laid. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead. And indeed, he's going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I've told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples' word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus said to them, rejoice. That's your response to this. I'm not asking you to do anything except believe and rejoice in such a work for you. It's by the power of his resurrection that the enemy of death is overcome. And that secures your resurrection. The resurrection is our hope through all this mess. You're not going to fix it with politics. The resurrection's our hope. And John is saying, guess what? Best news ever. Jesus even beat and overcame death. Do you still not believe? By believing, you have life. Don't be a fool. The resurrection's the answer to all the sorrow in your life. The resurrection's the answer to all your pain. The resurrection's the answer to death. And what Jesus came to do, this is the Christian gospel, is to overturn, through his life, death, and resurrection, the curse that is on all of us because of sin. Imagine a world, beloved, with no more sickness. Imagine a world with no more death. Imagine a world with no more conflict. Imagine a world, the devil's ripped this apart in our day racially in ways that is just, we're not ignorant of his devices. Imagine a world of complete unity with all the races. imagine a world where we love one another imagine a world subject to no more decay imagine all the sorrow all the things Jesus has told us when he comes again on that day Revelation 21 and 22 he's taking his finger and wiping away all the tears of that pain forever and behold I make it all new that's what the resurrection secured for us well he says to you the same thing today I am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me even though he dies will live not everyone is raised to eternal life I have to say that there's a resurrection to condemnation that the Bible talks about he already mentioned it in chapter 5 if you have Jesus you're raised to life and that's the promise of the gospel. That's what we celebrate today. So rejoice. Believe. Don't be unbelieving. And know this, that believing right now, right now, you and all those who've died in the Lord have life in his name. Believe this. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, what a glorious text. what a wonderful passage to preach. It's fulfilling in every way. A story we've heard all our life and yet when we hear it afresh it has just as much power as when it was first inspired. And I pray for all who mourn and weep and struggle, Lord, under this sentence to know that that's why we gather to celebrate so great a salvation and so great a Savior. We're weak. We struggle. At times we feel the pain of this. Thank you, Lord, for helping us. And thank you for giving us an answer. May we live by faith, knowing that very, very soon, all who have believed will hear his voice and come forward to the resurrection of life. We bless the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.