Well, tonight I invite you to turn with me to Judges 16. Judges chapter 16 as we finish our consideration of the Judge Sampson as well as our consideration of the Judges altogether. We will be considering the last few chapters of Judges in the span of two sermons still to come. But tonight we finish with the judges themselves. We read together, backing up a little bit to a portion we considered last week, beginning at verse 18 through the end of the chapter, our text being the portion verses 23 to 31. Now, tonight some of these thoughts may sound vaguely familiar to a few of you, and there's a reason for that. A couple of years ago I had the privilege to lead Adult Sunday School for a service, and we considered this portion of Scripture at that time. So if you think that some of the sermon you hear tonight sounds a little familiar, it probably does because of that. Let's read together, beginning at verse 18. Hear now the Word of God. When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, Come back once more. He has told me everything. So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair and so began to subdue him and his strength left him. Then she called, Samson, the Philistines are upon you. He awoke from his sleep and thought, I'll go out as before and shake myself free. But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Now beginning the portion for tonight. Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their God, and to celebrate, saying, Our God has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands. When the people saw him, they praised their God, saying, Our God has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain. While they were in high spirits, they shouted, Bring out Samson to entertain us. So they called Samson out of the prison and he performed for them. When they stood him among the pillars, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple so that I may lean against them. Now the temple was crowded with men and women. All the rulers of the Philistines were there. And on the roof were about 3,000 men and women watching Samson perform. Then Samson prayed to the Lord, O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more and let me with one below get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes. Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars in which the temple stood, bracing himself against them, his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. Then he pushed with all his might and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtoel in the tomb of Manoah, his father. He had led Israel twenty years. Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, Hebrews 11, we know, is the chapter of Scripture outlining the heroes of faith. And we read there, by faith Abraham, by faith Isaac, by faith Jacob, by faith Noah and Moses. And then we read there as well what they did by faith. But in verse 32 of that chapter we read, the writer says, And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. What a litany! Did you hear that though? Gideon, Barak, and Samson. As we have said before in this series, Samson is considered to be a hero of faith. He is considered to have been a faithful man. Yet, when we think about Samson's life and activities, when we consider this episode, the pitiful Samson that we see, when we consider what we considered last week, him going to Gaza and lying with a prostitute, and later on getting together with Delilah and playing games with his Nazarite vow, with his office and call, when we consider his life and activities, the picture we see is far from a faithful man. The picture we see is a picture of an unfaithful man. That man who was once possibly handsome with seven long locks of hair and heavenly strength, who walked freely wherever he wanted, unhindered. Now, he's locked up in prison with bronze chains, keeping him secure. His appearance has been severely damaged because his eyes have been gouged out. And of course, his beautiful long hair, well, that is no more. What a sad, sad picture. But for those of us who live today, we know from the testimony of God's Word that this is really a picture of disobedience to God. Samson, God's appointed deliverer for Israel, had rejected God, and therefore, as verse 20 says, the Lord had left him. Yet, beloved, as Samson was busy grinding grain for the Philistine god Dagon, as he appeared to be bound to the service of the enemy, the Philistines, and their false god, it's clear that the true God, the God of heaven and earth, was not yet finished with Samson. Jehovah, you see, was not defeated by Dagon as the Philistines thought. And Samson, while he was not really their servant, oh, he was to their eyes, but he was not really their servant as he was still under the control of and would be used in the service of the Lord. Remember what verse 22 says, But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Boys and girls, you remember that his hair was a sign, wasn't it? It was a wonderful sign of something. Just as the signs in the sacraments, the water of baptism, the sign of the cleansing, the washing away of our sin by the blood of Jesus, and the sign as we observe this morning in the Lord's Supper, The juice and the bread, signs of the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. His hair was a sign of something wonderful, of his being set apart unto the Lord. With this final episode of Samson, we consider the Lord restores His Deliverer for a crushing victory. We consider together, first of all, the pagan party. In the second place, the prayerful push. And then finally, the blessed burial. Indeed, there was a reason the Philistines thought. There was a reason for them to celebrate throughout the land of the Philistines. Samson was finished. He was no longer roaming free to destroy their country or to slay them as the Philistines confessed in verse 24 that he used to do. He was theirs. He was under their control. He was no longer a threat. So it's time to party. We don't have to worry anymore. It's time to celebrate. It's time to rejoice. And you know, all the big shots will be there. All the important guys, the five rulers or kings or presidents, if you will, from the chief cities of the Philistines, Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath. And these will sit at the head table next to the guest of honor. Well, who's the guest of honor? Well, Dagon, of course. That half-man, half-fish-shaped stone idol sitting in the corner. After all, if it wasn't for him or it or whatever you call this idol, Samson would still be running free. But therefore, Dagon deserves a sacrifice for, as the rulers said, our God has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy. Yeah, we know the truth, don't we? We know that it wasn't Dagon that delivered Samson into the hands of the Philistines, but it was the Lord. It was Samson's God. It was the enemy of Dagon. Remember, Judges, we can say, is about the battle of who will be God over Israel. The Lord and His strength had departed from Samson because of Samson's obstinate and continuous sin and rebellion. The Lord removed His restraining hand from Samson and now He was using the Philistines as His tool to chastise Samson and to bring him to his senses. But the Philistines give the glory and the praise to Dagon that belonged only to the Lord, and that, beloved, is an abomination in the sight of God. You see, the Philistines were like all men without excuse, as Paul says in Romans 1. The invisible attributes of God could be clearly seen by the Philistines also in creation. But if you think about it, God gave them something more, didn't He? God's strength and power were also made manifest to them through Samson. It may have been while he was wiping them out, but yet it was made manifest to them through the power of Samson. And remember the gates of Gaza that preached of the strong arm of the Lord from on top of the hill? Yet like so many, even today, the Philistines suppress the truth in unrighteousness and change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, as Paul says, and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things, and we might add fish. and they even gave it a name, Dagon. Congregation, we see in this episode the worst consequence of the fall of a servant of God, and that is that it gives occasion for God's enemies to blaspheme His holy name. The catechism and its consideration of the third commandment, thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain, clearly teaches the truth of that, that God's name is not to be taken in vain by us or because of us, by others. Here the Philistines discredit Jehovah as if he were conquered. And we see that today too, don't we? If some well-known Christian or religious champion or one who claims to be falls into sin, some heinous sin or inconsistency or compromise, how quickly the roar of the world goes up with much praise and pleasure, and overnight it seems that the world concludes that all Christians are alike, and none of them are any better than the non-Christian world. Well, the truth is, we're not any better, are we? We are sinners. But with joy we can confess in the Spirit that we are sinners saved by grace. But today, when professing Christians lie and cheat and steal, even in subtle ways and even through our language and through our jokes, whatever way it may be, the world notices that. And God's honor is attacked and laughed at. And they say, if that's what it means to be a Christian, I don't want any part of it. I don't have a need to be any part of it. If that's all that Christians think of their God, well, He must not be that great. Beloved, when are we going to stop compromising? When are we going to take serious the call to holiness that we hear about so often? The call to be set apart. The call to be different. Why don't we want to be different? You see, we are called to be different. We are to buy our groceries differently than the world. We are to play at the beach differently than the world. We are to dress differently than the world. We are to work and speak differently. Maybe the Amish really don't have it all wrong. Maybe they don't. Think about the spies when they went to Jericho, when they went to Rahab, you know, when Rahab hid them. You know, somehow the people in Jericho, the Canaanites, knew that they were from Israel. I'm sure they didn't just march in and say, hey, we're from Israel, we're here to spy out your city and find out where you're weak and find out where we can take it over. Something was different about them. I don't know what it was, but something was indeed different. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the world would come to God's people like Rahab said to those spies and say, we have heard of all the wonderful things your Almighty God has done to the Egyptians when He set you free? Wouldn't it be wonderful if the world would come to God's people today and say, we have heard of all that Almighty God has done through Jesus Christ, your Lord? We want to know more. Well, back to the party. This pagan party wasn't complete. Boys and girls, you know that when you have a birthday party, you like to have a little entertainment, don't you? You like to play some games. No party is complete without games and entertainment. And who better for this particular party than the guest of dishonor? Verse 25 says, While they were in high spirits, they shouted, Bring out Samson to entertain us. So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. And notice too from verse 26 that they don't need to waste good tax dollars on high-priced soldiers to go get Samson at Spear Point. They don't need to send $3,000 like the Israelites did to go get him from the cave. That's not necessary because they know now what the secret of his strength was. Well, it was his hair, of course, and he doesn't have much of that anymore. It's grown back a little bit. Maybe according to our standards today it grew back quite a bit, but he doesn't have much. and with no eyes, a little strength really can't do him much good, you see. Boys and girls, the way the Philistines were thinking about it, in order for Samson to have a lot of strength, he needed to have a lot of hair. No, send the servant boy. He's enough. He can lead Samson to the party like a dog on the leash. And Samson would be good entertainment. After all, don't forget, he liked games, didn't he? He liked riddles. Remember the riddle about the lion and the honey that he told to the 30 companions, his 30 friends at the wedding. And don't forget about the games he played with Delilah with regard to the secret of his strength. And as he stumbles into the magnificent, monumental temple of Dagon, the roar of the Philistine crowd goes up. They laugh at him. They taunt him because to them Samson was nothing more than some kind of freak sideshow to be humiliated and mocked by those He at one time had humiliated. And beloved, we get a glimpse of Jesus here as He was betrayed, blindfolded, beat, and then mocked as Luke records in Luke 22, verse 64, these words, and having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, prophesy, who is the one who struck you? We were reminded this morning so beautifully, Jesus knew. Little did the Philistines know that in their drunken delight to have Samson entertain them, that they themselves were providing him with the props for the Lord's next and final crushing act. But be that as it may, let this handicapped Israelite amuse us and our victorious God, Dagon. But boys and girls, you know what? Let me ask you, what did the stone eyes of Dagon see? Nothing. I was saying about that earlier from Psalm 115. But what did the eyes of the living God, Samson's God, see? Everything. Every nasty gesture. Every fist shaking. What did the cold ears of Dagon hear? Nothing. They were deaf. We might say stone deaf. What about the ears of God Almighty? What did they hear? Every mocking word, every crude comment as he listened to their pagan laughter. And don't forget the same is true today. Our God hears every single word. In fact, as the Bible says, He knows our words before we say them. The Lord was preparing to invade Dagon's temple and to crash this party. People of God, the Word of God says in Galatians 6, do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Yet this entire pagan party was a mocking of God. The truth of this Philistine celebration shouted that this stone idol carved by the hands of men is stronger than Jehovah. They worshipped the powerless stone while ignoring and rejecting the power of God. And by making a mockery of God's chosen deliverer, the Philistines, led by their five rulers, we're mocking God. But again, we need to confess that we mock God at times, don't we? We mock God when we selectively keep His commandments, trying to figure out which ones are good for us, which ones we can do without. We mock God when we steal from Him by doing our own thing on the Lord's day. We mock God when we worship Him in ways other than He has commanded in His Word. We mock God when we try to take credit for His work in the church or in His kingdom. We mock God when even thoughts of salvation other than through Jesus Christ come to mind when we have doubts in the sense that we think, well, I'm not good enough to be saved or I haven't done enough or I need to do more. We mock God when we compromise the faith in any way. But hey, this was their day. The Philistines were in control. Dagon was victorious and nothing could go wrong now because Samson was blind. He was bound. He was basically bald. Little did they know that as you sow, so shall you reap. But what they did not know was that this was not the same fleshly, self-seeking Samson that they knew before. The old Samson, you see, had died and by the grace of God, the new Samson stood before them. And as the Lord began to restore His hair, boys and girls, that was a sign that God was preparing to restore Samson as His deliverer. And it's clear from His prayerful push that Samson had been renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Verse 26 says, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple so that I may lean against them. You see, never before had Samson seemed to take his office and call seriously, but now it appears that in his blindness, God had led Samson to see God's plan clearly. And then verse 27 sets the stage for those who will be lost in this massive slaying. Now the temple was crowded with men and women. and all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof alone were about 3,000 men and women watching Samson perform. We can't even begin to guess how many people might have been inside that building. But we do know that all the rulers, all the kings of the Philistines, all five of them, every last major leader of the Philistines, we might say their National Security Council, Everyone were in for entertainment that would literally take their breath away. Beloved, for all the amazing things that Samson was able to do in the strength of the Holy Spirit, tearing that lion apart, catching all those fox, tying them together, burning the crops, wiping out a thousand Philistines with a donkey jawbone, snapping new ropes as if they were thread, for all those amazing things that we read about in Scripture that Samson was able to do, And never did he stand so strong as here, though blind and mocked and looking so weak in Dagon's temple surrounded by the enemy. Blinded, Samson stood seeing clearly that God and God alone was his refuge and strength. And with humility and in repentance, standing between the pillars, he prays, O Sovereign Lord, remember me. That's a beautiful prayer. Some other versions say, O Lord God, and if you recall, when we considered the sovereignty of God a few weeks ago, in the Hebrew construction there, it's the understanding is the sovereignty of God, the one and only absolute ruler, O sovereign Lord. You see, even in the midst of a temple filled with pagans, Samson had the confidence that the sovereign Lord was near. That he was listening to him. And he knew now that he was nothing without Jehovah. He confessed his dependence wholly upon the Lord, who alone holds the power to grant life and death. Oh, Sovereign Lord, please remember me. That's Samson's confession. Oh, that God would shine His face upon Samson once more, even though he was unworthy. See, that's true repentance. And what does the Bible say then? All those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And Psalm 50 verse 15 says, Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me. Israel was to see in Samson a picture of their own unfaithfulness and their own desperate situation to be sure, but here they must also see in Samson a beautiful picture of hope. They and we along with them are to understand that the Lord chastises His children. Yet His ears are never closed. They're always open to the cries of His people and His arm is always ready to act on their behalf. You see, beloved, being downcast does not mean to be cast off. When there's no place to turn, then as the saying goes, there's always up to the Lord. And then that prayer must be, Lord, remember me for Jesus' sake. And what does the psalmist say in Psalm 130? We sang it this morning. If you, Lord, should count iniquities or keep a record of iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Not even the great and powerful Samson, you see. The psalmist continues, yet there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. Then in humility, Samson's second request in verse 28, Please strengthen me just once more and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes. Now, I do not believe that Samson was seeking personal revenge here in the sense of desiring to get back at them spitefully. I know the NIV uses the word revenge. Other translations use the word avenge. Even Jeremiah prayed that the Lord would avenge him before those who persecuted him. Samson, you see, now understood the sovereignty of God and that it was God who had been mocked, I believe. And by the grace of God, he finally understands and accepts his office and calling as the Lord's deliverer. And he wants to be used by God so that the name of God might regain its honor in the midst of this day-gone celebration. Samson's prayer is that the Lord might strengthen him one last time so that he might be used of God to punish the enemies, the Philistines, for attacking God, and for blinding the Lord's Deliverer. Beloved, God calls His people not only to pray, but also to work. He gives His people tasks to perform, but they must be performed with much prayer. You see, without prayer, our work in God's kingdom really is somewhat meaningless. Not that our prayer determines God's work, but our prayer demonstrates. It demonstrates dependence upon God and upon His blessing for our work. Samson gets to work. Notice verses 29 and 30. Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood, bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. Then he pushed with all his might and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. What happened? The Lord Almighty invaded Dagon's party. Some say that Samson committed suicide. Did he? No. I don't believe he did. You see, when one commits suicide, it's because they are looking for an escape. Samson didn't want to escape from the battle. He wanted to be in the middle of it like he had before. Once again, he is a Nazarite. Now a sincere Nazarite from the heart, set apart for the service of the Lord, and in his death he gives himself for that service. Samson was a martyr. Up until this time, Samson had always sacrificed his office and calling for the sake of the flesh to save his own skin. But now he sacrifices his flesh for the sake of his office. Again, pointing forward to the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Samson died fighting the good fight of faith. I read somewhere, it ought to be said of every Christian that they died in battle. Like Samson, Christians who die in battle live in victory. Beloved, God's people are called to fight every moment of every day of our lives. We are called to fight the good fight of faith. to strive to be faithful, to live faithfully, to fight for the honor of the name of God. And then by the grace of God, one day we might be able to say with Paul, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Therefore, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness for all those who have loved the Lord's appearing. Samson dies with the Philistines. By the grace of God, he gave his life for God's people. Yet in Jesus Christ, death is swallowed up in victory. Death, the last enemy, can be faced triumphantly in God's strength as many of us have watched our believing loved ones face death triumphantly. Samson had God's greatest strength in the face of death. His death was a triumph. It was God's triumph of grace over sin. You see, each and every time one of God's children finishes the good fight of faith and dies to this life, God reminds us in that death of His triumph of grace over sin. Death has lost its sting. The grave is not victorious any longer. Samson is indeed a hero of faith as by the grace of God, in the end, his faith triumphed over his flesh. And once again, we also see here that he was a type of Christ, a forerunner of Jesus Christ. How? Samson temporarily broke the bonds of the Philistines and began to deliver God's people. But Jesus Christ permanently broke the bonds of sin, death, and hell, and the power of Satan, and set his people free eternally. Samson, by the strength of the Lord, won a crushing victory over God's enemies at this point in history, over the Philistines. But when Jesus Christ died, the kingdom of darkness came crashing down, crushing all of God's enemies. Samson is indeed a hero of faith. But Jesus Christ is faith's hero. Finally, we want to consider Samson's blessed burial. As we remember his life, we know that Samson was somewhat of a loner. That seems to be the picture we get from these three chapters of Scripture. He did his work alone. He seemed to live alone, and he died alone, at least alone, away from his people. But as verse 31 points out, in his death, he was granted the fellowship of his people. Verse 31 says, Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years. If you back up to chapter 13, verse 25, the first chapter that we read about Samson, it says, And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahanadan between Zorah and Eshterol. You see the connection? His body rests where he began his work for the Lord, awaiting the resurrection of the body when his Savior comes again. And he rests now with his family. The family of God. Those for whom he fought. God honored his deliverer in his death by restoring him to his family. And beloved, as we come to the close of our study of the Judge Samson, we are to be reminded indeed, as we have been, that he is an example. And he is an example to us and for us in a number of ways. On the one hand, boys and girls and young people, he is an example not to be followed. He is an example of disrespect, disloyalty, and disobedience to the call of God. God's people, the church, is that company of those who are called out of the world. God's people are called out of the world to the service of and for fellowship with God. But Samson is a picture of compromise between the things of the Spirit and the things of the flesh. But the Word of God is clear as we know that there can be no compromise with sin. Not in public, not in private, not in school, not at work, not in worship. No compromise means no compromise. God's command is be holy and to come out from among them and be separate. We are to be examples of God's strength and blessing with those who fear Him. Now, young people, you may think that you hear these things often, and that's true. And it's for a purpose. You hear them in young people's on Wednesday nights. I know that Brent has been leading you through lessons dealing with the practice of godliness. How wonderful! He's covered lessons regarding humility and contentment and thankfulness and joy and holiness. But it's not just for you, young people. It's for each and every one of us, even if we're 95 years old. We are called to continue every moment of our lives to practice godliness and the strength of the Holy Spirit. Samson is also an example that God chastises His people for a purpose, and that is in order to bring them back to Him. To draw them close to Himself. And therefore, in Samson, we see the beautiful truth that as long as God gives you the breath of life, it's not too late. As long as you have breath, there is hope. That indeed, by the grace of God, those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But the message, therefore, is don't wait. If you have never before, then you are being called to repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. You see, those who don't will be crushed by the strong arm of the Lord forever. But Samson also provides us with a picture of hope. Hope in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's interesting that God's grace is seen in Samson's death, but at the same time, in the very same event, God's curse is seen in the death of all of these Philistines. We see answered prayer here versus punishment for sin. A glimpse of the beauty of Calvary. Because when we look at Calvary, We also see God's grace for those for whom Jesus died. But we also see at Calvary his curse against sin and his enemies. Samson in his strength had many human failures, yet in his weakness the Lord gave him the victory of faith. He needed to be reminded in a profound way what the Lord says through Jeremiah when in these words, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord. You see, God delights in those who bend the knee before Him. His power is not in the hair, but in the prayer. Samson's strength did not come from hair. It came from holiness by the grace of God. And God's power is indeed with those who are holy only because of the ultimate deliverer, Jesus Christ. As God's people, we are called to learn by His grace, as Samson did, that God and God alone is our refuge and our strength. And as Paul says, nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He alone is our mighty fortress. As I remember sharing in that adult Sunday school, a friend of mine wrote these particular words regarding Samson. You may remember them. He wrote, If Martin Luther had written the hymn, we might say that great hymn, in the time of the judges, Samson would have been singing it on the way to Dagon's temple. As the servant boy led him, he might be singing, A mighty fortress is our God. And as he began to push against the pillars, a bulwark never failing. And as the first pieces of the roof began to cave in on God's Deliverer, these words, Let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also. And when He died, His last words, The body they may kill. God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. You see, God's enemies may laugh at Him today while the Lord Jesus Christ tarries. It means, boys and girls, until Jesus Christ comes again, God's enemies may laugh at Him, but they will be surprised on that day when their kingdom is completely crushed because, indeed, only God's kingdom is forever. And oh, may you not be surprised, beloved. Not one of you. This text began with that sad picture of the result of sin and disobedience, but it ends with that glorious picture of God's forgiveness of His people and of His crushing victory over His enemies. And may we learn from this forerunner of Jesus Christ that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Amen. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, may we indeed find in You that mighty fortress which You are. The One alone who is able and indeed does keep Your people safe forever and ever. Safe from the attacks of the devil and his angels and his hosts. Who keeps us safe even from ourselves and the sin that still clings to us against our renewed will. One who keeps us safe for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Father, may we live in the joy of that precious refuge and security both now and forevermore. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.