Promised Messiah: Son Is God

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:13.470 And now to John, Chapter Five, verses Seventeen through twenty six. This 2 00:00:13.630 --> 00:00:20.469 passage follows a miracle in which Jesuss hails heals a lane man who now walks. 3 00:00:20.550 --> 00:00:25.460 He heals him on the Sabbath, and this results in a great controversy. 4 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:31.019 How can Jesus be working on the Sabbath? And this is Jesus's reply. 5 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:37.689 In verse seventeen, Jesus answered them. My father is working until now, 6 00:00:38.490 --> 00:00:43.649 and I am working. This was why the Jews were seeking all the 7 00:00:43.729 --> 00:00:47.329 more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the sabbath, but 8 00:00:47.409 --> 00:00:53.079 he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. 9 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:57.039 So Jesus said to them. Truly, truly, I say to you, 10 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:00.079 the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees 11 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:07.030 the father doing. For whatever the father does, that the son does likewise. 12 00:01:07.629 --> 00:01:11.189 For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is 13 00:01:11.310 --> 00:01:15.349 doing, and greater works than these will he show him, so that you 14 00:01:15.469 --> 00:01:19.819 may marvel. For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, 15 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:23.140 so also the son gives that gives life to whom he will. For the 16 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:27.780 father judges no one but he, but has given all judgment to the son, 17 00:01:29.620 --> 00:01:34.489 that all may honor the son just as they honor the father. Whoever 18 00:01:34.609 --> 00:01:38.409 does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. Truly 19 00:01:38.569 --> 00:01:42.890 truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who 20 00:01:42.969 --> 00:01:49.079 sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but is 21 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:56.040 passed from death to life. Truly truly I say to you, and our 22 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.319 is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of 23 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:05.189 the son of God and those who hear will live. For as the father 24 00:02:05.430 --> 00:02:09.189 has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life 25 00:02:09.789 --> 00:02:23.419 in himself. Amen. So you can probably guess that the Jews, who 26 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:28.900 wanted to kill Jesus because he was making himself equal with God for saying I 27 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:32.849 am working as the father is working, we're not too pleased with this follow 28 00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:40.530 up speech. Jesus doesn't hold back, he doesn't hedge, he doesn't say 29 00:02:42.289 --> 00:02:45.000 well, now I'm not saying what you think I'm saying, or I'm not 30 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:50.039 saying well, I'm saying exactly what you think. There we go. He's 31 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:53.400 saying not so much with the breaking the sabbath part, because Jesus wasn't breaking 32 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:59.229 the Sabbath, that's another sermon, but he was making himself equal with God. 33 00:03:00.870 --> 00:03:06.389 He is in fact saying that he has life in himself, even as 34 00:03:06.469 --> 00:03:09.909 the father has life in himself. He is saying that he can grant eternal 35 00:03:10.110 --> 00:03:15.060 life, even as the father can grant eternal life. He is saying that 36 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:23.780 everything that the father has has been given to him. Jesus is saying that 37 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:27.889 he is the son of God and that those who hear the son of God 38 00:03:28.530 --> 00:03:36.449 and hear his voice with faith will live. These are the promises that Jesus 39 00:03:36.729 --> 00:03:38.210 makes, these are the things that he says, and these are the things 40 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:45.680 that are true. Well, as we know and have begun to see, 41 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:50.479 hopefully, even from the reading of God's word, these things are not entirely 42 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:55.990 brand new, but, as we have thought before, they are anticipated in 43 00:03:57.069 --> 00:04:00.750 the Old Testament. Psalm to, for example, let's turn there and begin 44 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:09.189 there. Psalm to is psalm that begins the PSALTER. Many scholars believe that 45 00:04:09.270 --> 00:04:14.379 psalms one and two hold together as an introduction to the book. I believe 46 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:18.579 this is true. They set the stay age for the whole book. They 47 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:24.019 begin to help us to understand all kinds of things about who god is, 48 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:29.490 who we are, what it means to belong to him, what piety, 49 00:04:29.889 --> 00:04:33.410 a true piety, looks like in our lives and lives that are lived in 50 00:04:33.569 --> 00:04:38.009 God. We have the full range of emotions in the PSALTER. We have 51 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:42.800 a full expression of human experience in the PSALTER, and right here at the 52 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:47.519 beginning. And to help us understand it all, God puts before us the 53 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:53.189 king. He wants us to help us, he wants to help us to 54 00:04:53.310 --> 00:04:59.389 understand who his king is, the King that he sets on Zion, his 55 00:04:59.629 --> 00:05:04.629 Holy Hill, and this king we read in Verse Seven, is spoken of 56 00:05:04.790 --> 00:05:10.300 this way. The king himself speaks. I will tell of the decree. 57 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:15.860 The Lord said to me, you are my son. Today, I Have 58 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:20.730 Begotten You. Ask of me, and I will make the nation's your heritage, 59 00:05:20.730 --> 00:05:25.370 the ends of the Earth your possession. You shall break them with a 60 00:05:25.449 --> 00:05:30.649 rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a Potter's vessel. This kingship 61 00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:36.600 that is granted to the sun is spoken of in terms of being begotten, 62 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:45.040 entering into this position of authority and strength, of receiving and inheritance and a 63 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:51.069 kingship, a ruling from the father and strength and and and the strength and 64 00:05:51.550 --> 00:05:57.790 power that comes with it. On this begotten though. This Word Begotten, 65 00:05:58.310 --> 00:06:01.870 as we come to see, does not only refer to the kingship that is 66 00:06:01.910 --> 00:06:08.300 a Krekoi are acquired by the sun, but it in fact also refers to 67 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:15.220 the incarnation of the son of God, a marvelous thing which is hinted at 68 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:20.329 and shown in various ways throughout the Old Testament and then in fact is fulfilled. 69 00:06:20.370 --> 00:06:25.889 Will consider more about that this evening, and for now I want you 70 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:30.449 to notice some of the particular things here in Psalm too. Now, some 71 00:06:30.610 --> 00:06:33.639 people think David is the one who is the son of God. Here, 72 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:40.160 a David is, after all, God's anointed King. He is a Messiah, 73 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:44.800 even the Messiah in a way, Not Saul, but anointed by Samuel 74 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:50.110 for success and authority and ruling on the throne of God, and God establishes 75 00:06:50.189 --> 00:06:57.189 him there. He is God's anointed King. He would achieve great success in 76 00:06:57.310 --> 00:07:02.500 the kingdom as well. God Establishes Him and his kingdom here in the Promised 77 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:08.180 Land and Canaan. And it's also true that those who take refuge in David 78 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:12.339 finds, say fifty, under God's authority, and those who plot against him 79 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:18.329 find trouble. But we see in the song things that seem to go beyond 80 00:07:18.410 --> 00:07:24.370 David's Kingship, especially as we know it in its fullness, as it came 81 00:07:24.569 --> 00:07:31.319 to be in history, particularly the extent of the kingship, the supremacy of 82 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:36.600 the kingship. Listen to these words. In Verse Eight, ask of me 83 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:42.680 and I will give the nations your heritage, ends of the Earth, your 84 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:46.029 possession and the power with that. In Verse Nine, you shall break them 85 00:07:46.110 --> 00:07:49.990 with a row of iron, you shall dash them in pieces like a Potter's 86 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:54.509 vessel. And then in verses twelve, ten through twelve, there's a calling 87 00:07:54.629 --> 00:08:01.699 on all the nations of the world to subject themselves to the king. Now, 88 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:05.220 in some ways we saw this fulfilled with David and then following with his 89 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:11.540 son Solomon, we see kings and Queens coming into Israel, but not in 90 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:16.370 the way that is described here, not exactly in the way now we might 91 00:08:16.449 --> 00:08:20.009 say, some people do say that. Well, we don't have to put 92 00:08:20.009 --> 00:08:24.329 it that way. This is poetic overstatement. Right, it's not that it's 93 00:08:24.370 --> 00:08:28.360 not true, it's just this is the inauguration of the great king, he 94 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:35.240 is taking his throne. And then it's because that that that install moment is 95 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:41.070 happening with very high language, and it's perhaps true in that way. But 96 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:50.029 we also know that David himself anticipated something greater. David himself anticipated a greater 97 00:08:50.070 --> 00:08:54.590 kingdom, because God promises to David that he would establish a son on his 98 00:08:54.820 --> 00:09:01.220 throne whose kingdom would be eternal, whose kingdom would in fact encompass the whole 99 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:07.100 world. David anticipates this in Psalm one ten. You can flip with me 100 00:09:07.379 --> 00:09:13.929 there now if you like. I'm or just listen this fine too. Psalm 101 00:09:15.129 --> 00:09:20.330 ten, a psalm of David. We read the Lord says to my Lord, 102 00:09:20.809 --> 00:09:26.840 set at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. You 103 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:30.720 see already, at the beginning of this Psalm, a psalm of David, 104 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:39.070 David is expressing the authority of someone above him, his Lord. Verse Two, 105 00:09:39.149 --> 00:09:41.870 The Lord Sends Forth From Zion Your Mighty scepter rule in the midst of 106 00:09:41.950 --> 00:09:46.750 your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power 107 00:09:48.549 --> 00:09:52.500 in holy garments from the womb of the morning and the do of your the 108 00:09:52.539 --> 00:09:56.419 due of your youth, will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will 109 00:09:56.460 --> 00:10:03.539 not change his mind you are a priest forever her after the order of Melchizedek. 110 00:10:03.740 --> 00:10:07.570 The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the 111 00:10:07.610 --> 00:10:11.370 day of his wrath. He will execute judgment on the nation's filling them with 112 00:10:11.570 --> 00:10:16.090 corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from 113 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:20.929 the Brook, by the way, therefore, he will lift up his head. 114 00:10:20.970 --> 00:10:28.440 David is anticipating a kingship in terms of psalm too, in terms of 115 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:33.639 this one. Who will come, whom David himself will confess as his Lord. 116 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:37.389 So so. What we have in Psalm too, then, as a 117 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:46.070 partial and prophetic fulfillment in David of the coming Messiah, a true fulfillment, 118 00:10:46.149 --> 00:10:52.860 a real fulfillment, but a partial one. The dividic dynasty will fall in 119 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:58.019 time due to disobedience, but that longing for a king from David would not 120 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:03.059 go away, and God fulfills that promise and the promise that he would be 121 00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:09.690 a son of God. In Jesus. This promise that this king would be 122 00:11:09.690 --> 00:11:15.769 born of God was not nearly in sense of divine appointment, but was in 123 00:11:15.929 --> 00:11:20.559 fact it prow of his birth as well. Isaiah nine six, this famous 124 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:28.919 passage prophesies this. For to us a child is born, a son is 125 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:35.149 given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be 126 00:11:35.389 --> 00:11:46.820 called wonderful counselor mighty God, everlasting father and Prince of peace. So I'm 127 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:52.139 here to tell you today that Jesus of Nazareth was and is that child. 128 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:58.860 He's the one who was born in the Line of David, the one who 129 00:12:00.059 --> 00:12:03.610 is promised, that great the son who would come, that one that David 130 00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:07.649 was anticipating, not only in his words, not only in his praise, 131 00:12:07.690 --> 00:12:13.570 but his whole life was by God's institution and in anticipation of this one to 132 00:12:13.730 --> 00:12:20.039 come. How do we know? How do we know that Jesus of Nazareth, 133 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:28.120 if that one is the son of God, the everlasting father, the 134 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:33.830 mighty counselor the Prince of peace, Wonderful Counselor Prince of peace? We know 135 00:12:33.909 --> 00:12:39.710 in all kinds of ways. For one his birth. Listen to Luke one 136 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:43.870 three or one hundred and thirty five, and the angel answered her, this 137 00:12:43.029 --> 00:12:48.539 is Mary, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the 138 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:54.580 most high will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be 139 00:12:54.740 --> 00:13:01.570 called Holy, the son of God, we know from the prophet John, 140 00:13:01.690 --> 00:13:05.929 John Seventeen, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn 141 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:09.970 the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 142 00:13:09.970 --> 00:13:18.919 John another whole amazing story there. But John, this prophet established by God 143 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:26.759 to Yell Out, here comes the one, the promised one, the light 144 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.269 that shines in the darkness, the light that does it's not overcome by the 145 00:13:31.350 --> 00:13:35.590 darkness, the light that comes into the world, the one that saves sinners. 146 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:39.750 Behold, he says, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins 147 00:13:39.789 --> 00:13:46.860 of the world. And of course we know it from Jesus's own words in 148 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:52.379 John Three. Here's John Thirty four through thirty six, for he whom God 149 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:58.330 has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the spirit without measure. 150 00:13:58.009 --> 00:14:01.370 The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. 151 00:14:03.490 --> 00:14:09.809 Whoever believes in the sun has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the son 152 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:13.679 shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. And 153 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:16.679 then, of course, we have John Five, which we read already, 154 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:20.960 in which Jesus expresses, and from many different angles and in many different ways, 155 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:28.070 that he is the son and what that means, because God's, the 156 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:35.190 sonship of Jesus is different in some ways from the sonship of an earthly man 157 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:39.299 to his son, from me, let's say, to my son. While 158 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:46.299 my son holds in him a human nature like mine, and there are other 159 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:52.809 similarities between us, we are not the same being, we are not the 160 00:14:52.889 --> 00:15:00.490 same essence. Jesus, however, is different, different in such a way 161 00:15:00.529 --> 00:15:07.240 that the son of God can be also be called the everlasting father. His 162 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:16.879 sonship is not exactly like our sonships. He is different and different in such 163 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:22.350 a way that he is divine. To say that he is the son of 164 00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:28.429 God, therefore, is to say that he is God, the one true 165 00:15:28.789 --> 00:15:33.149 living God, the one who is unlike the idols of this world and the 166 00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:37.700 kings that plot and all the rest that is shattered and destroyed and eaten and 167 00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:46.220 disappearing, passing away. He is our everlasting king, are everlasting father, 168 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:56.450 because he is the everlasting God. The importance of this, as we see 169 00:15:56.610 --> 00:16:03.639 these things testified to in scripture, cannot be overstated. Our ability to confess 170 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:08.600 and confess truly and to hold this truth in as our lives and as a 171 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:15.559 as a, as a foundation for our lives is itself a mark of our 172 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:23.029 salvation. John First, John for fifteen, says this. Whoever confesses that 173 00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:30.190 Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him and he in God. 174 00:16:30.389 --> 00:16:37.059 The opposite is also true. The one who does not confess that Jesus 175 00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:41.259 is the son of God, in other words the one that denies Psalm to, 176 00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:47.250 in Psalm One and ten and John Three and John Five and all the 177 00:16:47.289 --> 00:16:52.690 other passages we've been I've been quoting, the one who denies those and says 178 00:16:52.809 --> 00:16:56.250 no, Jesus is not the son of God. Well, God does not 179 00:16:56.570 --> 00:17:03.399 bide in that person. That person is not in God. In fact, 180 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.680 that person is, Jesus puts it, is under the wrath of God, 181 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:15.160 and he will break you as easy as a pot is broken with a rod 182 00:17:15.029 --> 00:17:22.829 of iron. To come under the glory of the Son of God is to 183 00:17:22.950 --> 00:17:29.150 come under the blessing of refuge and safety. Blessed are all, Psalm to 184 00:17:29.390 --> 00:17:33.180 says, blessed are all who seek refuge in him. He is like a 185 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:38.099 mother bird that covers her her her babies, with her wings. It's warm 186 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:45.009 and toasty and safe. Your protected enemies can't see you. You're all covered 187 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:52.650 up and it's okay, but to walk away and to say this is not 188 00:17:52.890 --> 00:17:56.450 for me, you don't have, as we saying, that healing that's in 189 00:17:56.609 --> 00:18:03.359 his wings. You don't have the reconciliation of sinners to a God who is 190 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:14.269 angry with sin, to take counsel with other human beings and even demons, 191 00:18:14.390 --> 00:18:18.470 we would say, from the scriptures, and seek to find ways to break 192 00:18:18.589 --> 00:18:22.630 apart the bonds of the Lord on us or the bonds between the father and 193 00:18:22.670 --> 00:18:26.220 the son. To deny him, to deny his authority, to walk away 194 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:32.140 from him, is to come into a very dangerous place, do you see? 195 00:18:32.420 --> 00:18:40.579 And sends the importance of knowing Jesus as the son of God. We, 196 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:45.170 of course, can deny this openly, as many do, to deny 197 00:18:45.410 --> 00:18:52.250 his authority and his his divine nature, but a lot of people also deny 198 00:18:52.529 --> 00:18:59.160 Jesus's role, a Jesus nature rather as the son of God, in hidden 199 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:03.960 ways. This is, I'll s say, true of me too. Sometimes 200 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:07.480 there are ways in which we confess with our mouths that he is the son 201 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:14.349 of God, but then deny it with our lives, ways in which we 202 00:19:14.470 --> 00:19:18.390 act, and though he's sort of just another one of us, just another 203 00:19:18.549 --> 00:19:23.380 teacher or important person who's done something great. We don't really give him are 204 00:19:23.619 --> 00:19:29.099 all like you would, if he were God, all of our heart, 205 00:19:29.299 --> 00:19:32.339 all of our mind, all of our soul, all of our strength. 206 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:37.849 That's what he is. God deserves. Jesus says, take up your cross 207 00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:44.250 and follow me, sacrifice things, sacrifice everything for me. And if you 208 00:19:44.369 --> 00:19:47.410 are truly our king, if you were truly our God, wouldn't we be 209 00:19:47.529 --> 00:19:52.319 willing to do that? Psalm, too, says kiss the sun, and 210 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.599 so often in our lives we say, well, if it's easy, okay, 211 00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:02.759 if it's convenient, if it's the right I'm if my friends won't bother 212 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:08.349 me about it, if the society won't trouble me, sure I'd be happy 213 00:20:08.349 --> 00:20:14.910 to kiss the Sun. But that's not the kind of submission that God wants. 214 00:20:14.950 --> 00:20:18.390 It's not the kind of love that God wants. He wants all of 215 00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:22.980 us, and not just when it's convenient and when it's easy, but when 216 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:30.019 it's hard too. And so if we desire, as we do, desire 217 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:33.980 beloved, as those who have been born of God, those who love a 218 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:40.369 God and have because they have been loved by God, as We desire to 219 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:44.450 show him that kind of of love is we desire to submit to him in 220 00:20:44.569 --> 00:20:48.809 those ways because of the things that he has done for us. Let's be 221 00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:56.599 bold about smashing our idols. Let's not be hesitant when we see things that 222 00:20:56.759 --> 00:21:03.279 we would prefer to be close with, or closer with than him, whether 223 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:11.589 that's particular relationships in our lives or particular political leaders or particular aspects of culture, 224 00:21:12.029 --> 00:21:18.390 technology or entertainment, whatever it is. If there's things that we'd rather 225 00:21:18.509 --> 00:21:22.779 die for, then die for Jesus, if there's things we'd rather cling to 226 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:30.460 than cling to Jesus, let us smash those things. Let's let him smash 227 00:21:30.579 --> 00:21:37.009 them for us by his Holy Spirit working in our lives. Let our prayer 228 00:21:37.089 --> 00:21:41.890 be Lord, be at work within me, help me to love you. 229 00:21:41.210 --> 00:21:45.210 Have mercy on me so that I might love you and submit to you and 230 00:21:45.490 --> 00:21:55.000 come to and find refuge in you. And we can do that because the 231 00:21:55.119 --> 00:22:00.670 sun who has come, has come in grace, the word that has been 232 00:22:00.750 --> 00:22:06.950 spoken, the light has been that is shined in the darkness. It came 233 00:22:06.990 --> 00:22:11.910 into a dark world and it came in a very humble way. The Lord, 234 00:22:11.069 --> 00:22:18.299 our Savior, the son of God, the everlasting father, our savior, 235 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:26.259 was born in a manger. Our Savior died on a cross. The 236 00:22:26.460 --> 00:22:34.250 Lord Hid his glory and he came into the world in this humble way so 237 00:22:34.450 --> 00:22:41.490 he could die for you. The Lord's promise of forgiveness is true and you 238 00:22:41.609 --> 00:22:49.240 can believe it, because he's God and he doesn't lie. Let's pray