(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Mark, chapter 15, beginning in verse number 1, the Bible reads, And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes in the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, Art thou the king of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. And the chief priests accused him of many things, but he answered, Nothing. And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? Behold, how many things they witnessed against thee? But Jesus yet answered, Nothing. So the Pilate marveled. Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired, and on and on. But what I want to point out, first of all, is that Jesus Christ is refusing to testify against himself. They keep on asking him questions and trying to get him to make some kind of a defense for himself. And he just doesn't defend himself. Now part of this is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 53 that talks about where Jesus Christ, if you would flip back to Isaiah 53 so I can just show you a few things there quickly. Back in the Old Testament, the three big long books at the end of the Old Testament, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Isaiah 53 is one of the most famous passages about Jesus Christ from the Old Testament, where it's being prophesied that he would come and be the savior. But it says in verse 3, he is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Watch this. Yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. So this is a prophecy from the Old Testament that was fulfilled where Jesus Christ is basically brought as a lamb to the slaughter. He's refusing to open his mouth. He's not making a big defense of himself and saying a lot of things to testify against himself. That's what he's fulfilling there when he's just refusing to even answer a word. And they keep asking him. And they ask him, you know, art thou the king of the Jews? And he says, you know, thou sayest it. Well, you're saying that. You know, you said that I am. Thou sayest that I am. He's answering them in all these cryptic ways. Because remember, it's not Jesus Christ's goal to be found not guilty in this trial. He's willingly offering himself as a sacrifice to die for our sins. So he's not trying to fight this. And he's not trying to make a big defense. Oh, let me explain, guys. You know, this is getting out of hand. He actually has a plan to go to the cross and to willingly yield up his life as a ransom for us. So that's why Jesus Christ is refusing to answer. Now, it says in verse 6, now at that feast, and this is talking about the Passover, he released unto them one prisoner whomsoever they desired. So basically, every time they have this holiday of the Passover, they had a custom where the governor of Rome would let one prisoner go free. He would just pardon one prisoner. Now, chief executives always have the power to pardon people. You know, throughout the Bible, we see kings pardoning people. And even in our United States of America, the president of the United States can pretty much pardon whoever he wants. If someone's guilty of a crime and they've been found guilty, no matter what the sentence, the president of the United States is allowed to just pardon people. That's one of his powers. And this is something that presidents often do on their last day in office. And they'll pardon like 30 or 40 people. And it's usually all these really corrupt people that are involved in like organized crime and all kinds of things. And they're getting all kinds of money from these people. And they actually really abuse this. And it's usually a big scandal. Whenever a governor is leaving office or whenever a president is leaving office, they'll be like, look at this guy that he pardoned. You know, he murdered all these people and he's just letting them go or he stole all these millions of dollars. So who's ever heard something like that in the news about, you know, a scandal of, hey, they pardoned the wrong people and this and that. So that just goes to show you how this is pretty common even in today's world. So they just had this custom. It was just something that they did where on this holiday, Pilate, who's the Roman governor, is going to pardon one of the Jewish prisoners. It's just something that he did. Now, Pilate did not want to condemn Jesus to death. He never wanted to. He's constantly fighting it, saying, you know, I find no fault in this man. If you read the story from the book of Matthew, Pilate's wife even sent him a note that said, have thou nothing to do with this just man, for I have suffered many things in a dream because of him last night. And so she's saying, don't mess with him. Pilate says three times in the book of John, I find no fault in him. I find no fault in him at all. No fault. He wants to let him go. He labored to let him go. But the Jews keep pressing him and pushing him. So Pilate, he says, oh, you guys want me to release a prisoner like I always do? How about Jesus? You know, let's release Jesus. But of course, they don't want Jesus. Look what the Bible says in verse seven. There was one named Barabbas which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him who had committed murder in the insurrection. Now, what is another word for insurrection? Rebellion. Rebellion, right? So there was some kind of a rebellion against the government, some kind of an insurrection. And in the course of that insurrection, he had murdered someone. OK, he had killed an innocent person. So there were a lot of people that were bound, a lot of people who had committed insurrection. But the difference with Barabbas was that he had actually also committed murder. And so he is in prison. And it says in verse eight, the multitude, crying aloud, began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. But Pilate answered them, saying, will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? Because they're saying, hey, you know, release the prisoner like you always do. And he says, OK, how about the King of the Jews? You know, how about Jesus? And it says, for he knew that the chief priest had delivered him for envy. So Pilate is thinking to himself, you know what? It's the chief priests. It's the Pharisees and Sadducees that really hate Jesus. The common people are probably going to want to let Jesus go. So if I appeal unto the multitude, then we can get this guy pardoned. So he says, you know, he knew that it was because of envy. So he figured the people would support Jesus. But in verse 11, it says, but the chief priests moved the people that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate answered and said again unto them, what will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, why? What evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, crucify him. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them and delivered Jesus when he had scourged him to be crucified. Now, here's what you have to understand about this story, OK? Barabbas here symbolizes more than just one man, Barabbas. Now, keep your finger in Mark 15 and go to John chapter 8, John chapter number 8. You know, it's really interesting how God gave us the four gospels because we could look at this story in all four gospels and you get all these different details, whether you're reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John of the crucifixion story. But of course, we know that the chief priests and the rulers, they stir up the people to ask for Barabbas. But in Matthew, it calls the group of people a multitude, OK? So we're not talking about a small group of people. Multitudes in the Bible are like when Jesus fed the 5,000 or the 4,000 plus women and children. The Bible called that a multitude. A multitude is a great throng. And so this great host of people, of the Jews, they're crying out, crucify him. And it really stuck out to me when I was reading this today how it says that they cried out the more exceedingly, crucify him. I mean, what does it mean to exceed? You know, if we were exceeding the capacity of speakers or something, you know, you're going to blow them apart. Exceeding, excessive, what does it mean? It's too much. So it's not that they're just, eh, crucify him. They're screaming, crucify him. And then it says they cried out the more exceedingly, crucify him. So these people are vehemently calling for Jesus Christ to be crucified, not mildly. And then if you read this in the book of John, or I'm sorry, in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 27, Pilate says to them, I'm free from the blood of this just person. And they cry out, his blood be on us and on our children. So I mean, we're talking about a lot of hate, just a lot of just emotion here, of people who just really want to see Jesus put to death. But they chose Barabbas, didn't they? They're given a choice, you know, shall I release unto you the King of the Jews, Jesus Christ, or shall I release unto you Barabbas? Who does Barabbas represent? Well, look what the Bible says in John chapter eight, verse 44. And this is spoken unto the Jews, because if you study the passage leading up to this, you know, starting in verse 32, I'm not going to read it all for sake of time. But from verses 32 up through 44, Jesus is going back and forth with the Jews. And they're saying, hey, you know, Abraham is our father. And Jesus is telling them, no, Abraham is not your father. No, God is not your father. And it culminates in verse 44 when he says, ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a what? He was a murderer. It says he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. So Jesus is rebuking the Jews that did not believe on him, the Pharisees, and so forth. And he says, you're of your father the devil. He was a murderer from the beginning. Now think about in Mark chapter 15. What was Barabbas in for? Murder. And what else was he in for? He was part of this insurrection or rebellion. And think about it, Satan rebelled against the Lord. And he took a third of the angels with him when he rebelled against the Lord. So Barabbas actually here would represent Satan then, because he is a murderer. He was part of this insurrection. And if you think about it, the Jews are rejecting Jesus and saying, give us Barabbas. But you know what they're really saying is give us Satan, is what it means symbolically. Literally, they're getting Barabbas. But Barabbas, the murderer and the one who was involved in the insurrection, represents Satan. Now today, Judaism is a religion that is of Satan. The Bible calls it. This isn't just me just getting up and just using hateful rhetoric. But actually, the Bible in Revelation 2 and 3 calls Judaism the synagogue of Satan. Now I didn't make that term up. But the synagogue today is the synagogue of Satan. Jesus said, I know the blasphemy of them which say they're Jews. And do they say they're Jews? He said, but they're not. They are the synagogue of Satan, because they said that he's not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly. They're not Jews inwardly. They're uncircumcised of heart. They have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and have chosen to follow Satan, which is why they're called the synagogue of Satan. You know, there is a synagogue in the city of Tempe. And it looks like a pretty big synagogue. I've driven by it. It's called Temple Emmanuel. Has anybody ever seen that building? It's a pretty good-sized building, right? It looks pretty big. The pastor of it is a homosexual, according to what the news reported, because he was out here protesting our church a couple of weeks ago, that rabbi. Did anybody see the guy in the funny hat out there singing praises unto Satan? Well, that was the rabbi of Temple Emmanuel. And he said, well, I just had to be here as a gay man. No, you're not a gay man, because being gay means you're happy. You're actually a filthy Satan-worshipping pervert, OK? And it's funny how the media and the news stations, they go to these people and say, oh, religious leaders condemn Pastor Anderson. And who are the religious leaders that are condemning me? A filthy, perverted, reprobate, synagogue of Satan rabbi who's an open homosexual. Of course that I, a just man, am going to be an abomination unto such a wicked person. But this guy is an open sodomite today, even though Leviticus 2013 is in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible that they talk about the law of Moses. But if they believed Moses, they'd also believe in Jesus. And so you have to understand that Judaism is a wicked religion. The news reporter also said, Pastor Anderson is involved in making a documentary film that seeks to discredit the religion of Judaism. Of course I'm going to discredit Judaism if I'm a Christian. Why would I, as a Christian, believe in Judaism? I mean, do I believe in Islam? Do I believe in Hinduism? Am I a Buddhist? No, I'm a Christian. And listen to me, my friend, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And he said, there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And listen, there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And that name is Jesus. No one can be saved without the name of Jesus. You have to believe on the name of the Son of God to have everlasting life. And so these people who think that they're God's people because they're supposedly of a certain ethnicity, look, ethnicity doesn't matter in the eyes of God. God is not a respecter of persons. And when the Bible says that God's not a respecter of persons, that's in the context of our ethnicity. So it doesn't matter today whether we're red, yellow, black, white. We are all equal in God's sight as far as our ethnicity. Whether we're Jew or Gentile doesn't matter at all. I mean, there are people out there who we just ran into a guy, or a few of our soul winners ran into a guy who was a black Hebrew Israelite. Have you ever heard of this movement? The black Hebrew Israel, and they say, we the black people are the true Jews. And you white people are Edomites, and we're all going to hell because we're not black. That's stupid because you know what? You don't have to be white, or black, or anything, brown, Chinese. None of that matters to God because God said that he made all nations of one blood. We're all related. Every single one of us is part white, part black, part Asian. Just get your DNA tested and you'll find out that that's true. We're all related. We're all the same. We're all on the same big family tree of the whole world that goes back onto Noah and his three sons, whose descendants all intermarried hundreds of times. So this teaching of the Jews getting a free pass is a lie today. And the Jews need Jesus to be saved. And people say, oh, do you hate Jews? No. You know what we would do if we hated Jews? We would just tell them that they're already saved. Because that would be the meanest thing we could do to them, is just to tell them. But see, because we love them, we tell them the truth that you guys need to believe in Jesus. You guys need to get saved. You guys are following the synagogue of Satan. You guys need to get off that. But it's amazing to me how people will say, well, the Jews had nothing to do with killing Jesus. Well, they exceedingly, the more cried out, crucify them. I'd say they were involved. And it was the multitudes that did it. But obviously, people today just have been brainwashed into a lot of things and by a lot of movies. A lot of Jesus movies, they showed us a couple people saying, crucify him, when really it was a great multitude of people. So anyway, I just wanted to point out some of the symbolism there, with Barabbas representing Satan as being them choosing the Lord. And by the way, when you reject Jesus, that's who you're choosing. If you choose a religion that doesn't revolve around Jesus, I mean, you're choosing Satan. And I don't have to convince you of that, because Revelation calls it the synagogue of Satan. So there you go. And I mean, that's why it doesn't surprise me that the pastor of that church, or not pastor, what do they call it, a rabbi, that he is a Twinkie. He is a homo. That he is a man who burns with lust toward other men, like an animal or a beast or whatever. But anyway, let's go back to Mark chapter 15. Let's get off that. But anyway, so we see this story. But also, Barabbas, there's more deeper symbolism also. Because the Bible is so deep, there's so many things that are symbolic. You could also look a little deeper for symbolism and think about the fact that Barabbas could also represent someone being saved. Because if you think about it, Barabbas is condemned to die, and he's actually guilty, right? He's guilty and condemned, right? Jesus is innocent, and Jesus basically is kind of taking his place on the cross, if you think about it. So what you have to understand about symbolism and parables in the Bible is that, first of all, a lot of people make a mistake in thinking that there's only one right interpretation of a symbol. Now, when there's a clear statement in the Bible, there is only one right interpretation. You know, if the Bible just flat out says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, there's only one way to interpret that. We've all sinned. Or when the Bible just clearly says, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life, there's only one right way to interpret that, that anyone who believes in Jesus shall be saved and shall have eternal life. I mean, it's just clear. But when it comes to stories and symbolism and things that are figurative, there are often multiple correct interpretations, because the Bible is so deep. And I think we make a mistake when we say, no, no, no, your interpretation is wrong. It actually means this. Usually it means both when people say that. Because a lot of people say, no, no, Pastor Anderson, you got it wrong. Barabbas represents the sinner who's getting saved, because he's set free. And he was guilty, but he's pardoned, and he's released. And Jesus dies in his place. But here's the thing. I agree with that. Amen. That is one interpretation. That is some symbolism that's definitely there. But if you think about it, though, that symbolism doesn't work for where the Jews are choosing Barabbas. Because it's not like the Jews are choosing unsaved people. So what you have to understand is that you can't take a parable too far. So when you're interpreting this parable, when it comes to the Jews choosing Barabbas over Jesus, they're choosing the murderer and the rebel, which is Satan. And that's why they're the synagogue of Satan. But when it comes to Barabbas being the substitute, or Jesus being the substitute for Barabbas, then he represents sinful man, if we look at the parable from that angle, and we look at the symbolism. So what am I trying to say? We should never base our doctrine on symbolism and parables. But we use symbolism and parables to back up things that we already know from clear statements in the Bible. So we already have clear statements in the Bible that Jesus is our substitute, and that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, and that Jesus took our place and died for us. So then the symbol backs that up. Barabbas was released, and his sins were forgiven, and Jesus died for him. But then also we have clear scripture that says that Judaism is the synagogue of Satan. And so it makes sense that, OK, yeah, Barabbas, he's a murderer. The devil's a murderer. Insurrection, the devil led insurrection in heaven with a third of the angels. So hopefully we're not going too deep, but just showing you some symbolism of the passage here that Barabbas represents. He represents both, because of the fact the Bible is so deep that 10 years from now, we'll be reading this passage, and we'll find things in this that we've never seen before. Because the Bible is so deep. That's what's so great about the Bible. It lasts for a lifetime. I've read some books that I really loved, and I read them a second time, and a third time, and even a fourth time. There are books that I've read 10 and 12 times. And my philosophy is that if a book's not worth reading twice, it's not worth reading once. Every book that I like, I read twice, at least. But let me tell you something. Even the best book after the third and fourth time, 10th time, you're going to get sick of it. But the great thing about the Bible is that you don't get sick of it, because the Bible is so deep, it's alive. And when you read it 20 years from now, it's different. Not that the words have changed, but you get different things out of it. The Holy Spirit is showing you different things every time you read it. And He'll show you things that you need at that particular time in your life. You'll see those things. And the Bible is so amazingly deep that I believe that even after we've been in heaven for 10,000 years, I think we'll still be learning things from the Bible, because it's just such an infinite book, and it's so deep. But let's pick up where we left off in the chapter here, where they finished crying out to crucify Him. And the Bible says at the end of verse 15, when He had scourged Him to be crucified. Now, scourging is when you are beaten with a whip. And remember, the Bible says, by His stripes we are healed. Now, when the Bible says that by Jesus's stripes we are healed, that's referring to the bloody stripe left behind from the lash of the whip. Now, when they would lash them with the whip, they're breaking the skin. That's why it's even leaving a stripe. And that's where there would be a lot of blood involved. And it was a very brutal punishment. Now, the Old Testament law put a limit on how many times a man could be scourged. And they said 40 stripes is the limit. You can only hit them 40 times. And part of the reason why is that if you went beyond that, you could kill somebody. Because, I mean, getting beaten with a whip that's actually leaving a bloody stripe, if you're getting hit with that thing more than 40 times, you could easily be killed. And so they wanted to put a limit on it because they said you don't want to become vile and cruel to where you're just beating someone to death or just to the point of death. So they would only do it 40 times. Now, if they went above that, then they would be punished. Because they wanted to be really careful not to go above 40, the Bible often talks about people receiving 40 stripes, save one. Remember, the apostle Paul, he had this done to him repeatedly. He said, I received 40 stripes, save one. And the reason why he only got 39 is because they didn't want to accidentally lose count and give 41, and then they're going to be punished. They're going to be beaten. So they would do 39 just to kind of stay away. And by the way, that's a smart way to live your life. Don't try to always get on the borderline of what God says is wrong. If God says, hey, this is wrong, don't try to see how close you can get to sinning without sinning. Have a buffer there to keep yourself away from sin. And that's what they're doing. Because 41 stripes would have been sin. Not only would it have been a crime, it's also sin. And so they stopped at 40. And they stopped at 39 just to be safe. Now, I grew up my whole life being taught that Jesus was beaten with a cat of nine tails. Who's ever heard that? Put up your hand if you've heard that taught. I was taught that my whole life, but I don't believe it. Because simply, how could you beat someone with a cat of nine tails and then say that you got 39 stripes? That doesn't make any sense. Because every time you're hitting somebody with a cat of nine tails, then that would leave nine stripes, or at least more than one. It would leave multiple. So how could you even count that? If you're getting 39 stripes or 40 stripes, then you must be being beaten with a whip that has a single part that's hitting you. I mean, does anybody understand what I'm saying? Because if there's nine of them and you swing it, boom, you're gonna have a bunch of stripes on your back right there. Why bring that up? Well, because I was taught that my whole life in every church I've ever gone to, every Christian school I've ever been in. All kinds of Bible encyclopedias. We'll show you pictures. This is the type of whip that Jesus was beaten with. And it was cat of nine tails. And they also put glass and barbed wire and stuff. But you know what? None of that's taught in the Bible. And what you have to understand is that the people who put out these little Bible dictionaries and Bible encyclopedias and textbook, they like to embellish things and make things up and just state it as fact. They theorize and they think, oh, people back then used a cat of nine tails sometimes. So then they'll just say, oh, if that was a whip that was in use in the period, they just assume, well, that must have been what they used on Jesus. And then pretty soon they just start teaching it as fact. Oh yeah, cat of nine tails, cat of nine tails. But here's the thing, it isn't true. It can't be true. Because if it were true, then there's no way that they would be able to give a set number of stripes because nine tails would not leave stripes, it would leave multiple lashes. And so I don't believe it for one second. It's not in the Bible and it's not compatible with what the Bible teaches. So that's just to show you, pay attention when you read the Bible and don't just go with stuff that you've heard. Try to actually learn, what did the Bible really say happened? Now, I don't know, how did they do it in the Jesus movies? Is it nine tails or is it one? Yeah, nine tails, yeah. Well, because they're just going from the, see, one person will start something like this. You know how rumors are? One person will say, yep, it was kind of, and then it just spreads. Sounds good, it's popular, just spreads. I don't see any mention of there being any bits of glass and chunks of rocks and metal in the whip either. I've never seen a whip like that. Maybe whips like that existed back then, but there's no teaching of that in the Bible. But what we see happening to Jesus is that they stripped him of his clothing and they did beat him with a whip. The Bible doesn't give us the number here, but the usual, 39 is what we can assume, that they whipped him 39 times and then they put his robe back upon him. And if you think about that, if you have a bloody open wound and then somebody puts a robe on you, what's gonna happen? Yeah, the blood will make it stick to you. Then later, they're gonna rip that robe off him again and just tear all that open again. So I'm not downplaying the sufferings of Jesus because he was beaten with a whip, most likely 39 times. We know that it was not more than that. And he was also, the Bible says, slapped in the face, punched in the face. They took a stick out of his hand and hit him in the head with it. He also had a crown of thorns that was braided and shoved into his head. And not only that, but he was mocked, made fun of, spat upon, and this is all before being nailed to the cross. And the Bible talks about how they put the nails through his hands and feet. Another thing that I've always been taught is, oh, it wasn't really his hand, it was his wrist. Oh, really, because the Bible says it was in his hands. So he had the print of the nails in his hands. So he gets the nails through his hand. I mean, just imagine having a spike put through your hand. But not only that, but actually he's hanging because his weight is supported by what? Isn't that awful? His hands and his feet, I mean, that's brutal. Not only just the piercing and the hammering of the nails, but to actually be hanging from those nails. And think about how his back is all ripped open from being beaten, he's been punched, he's been spit upon. And the Bible says in Isaiah 53 that his visage, visage means face, was so marred more than any man. I mean, his face was beaten so badly that he did not look like a man. I mean, he's beaten more than any man could look that way. So it's different than pictures that you'll see. So again, we can't just go by pictures that we see. You know, we gotta read the Bible and get the real biblical image of a man who's hanging on the cross. And the Bible says, he hath no form nor comest. He said there was no beauty that we would desire him. You know, we wouldn't look at Jesus hanging on the cross as a beautiful sight. It was actually a horrific sight because his face was so badly beaten because he was so bloody from the stripes and so forth. So again, you'll see paintings of a very pretty Jesus, right, hanging on the cross and just maybe a little trickle of blood and it's all really clean and everything like that. But that's not what the Bible teaches. You know, Jesus was beaten very badly. He was abused, he was mocked, made fun of, spat upon. Let's read the story here in verse 16. It says, you know, after they'd scourged him, it says, the soldiers led him away into the hall called Praetorium. And they called together the whole band and they clothed them with purple and platted a crown of thorns and put it about his head. The reason they used purple is because purple is the color of kings. It's a color of royalty. And Jesus is the king of the Jews so they're making fun of him. It says they put this crown of thorns in verse 18. They began to salute him. Hail, king of the Jews. And they smote him on the head with a reed. A reed is a stick basically. And it spit upon him and bowing their knees, worshiped him. So they're worshiping him not sincerely but in a mockery. Hey, king of the Jews, all hail. As they smite him, spit on him, make fun of him. When they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him. This is what I was talking about, the tearing of the skin. And then it says they put his own clothes on him and let him out to crucify him. And they compel one Simon of Cyrenian who passing by coming out of the country, who passed by coming out of the country and the father of Alexander and Rufus to bear his cross. So actually someone else helped carry the cross for Jesus. He carried it part of the way. And then this other guy, Simon of Cyrenae, carried it part of the way as well. And I think that what that symbolizes is the fact that we as Christians are asked to deny ourself and take up our cross daily and follow him. And there's a song in the hymnal like that that says must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? No, there's a cross for everyone. And there's a cross for me. Jesus said we should all take up our cross daily and follow him. And so here's a guy helping Jesus carry the cross up the hill. It says they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is being interpreted the place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, but he received it not. Now when you look at what's being offered to drink unto Jesus, you have to understand there are multiple incidents of things being offered. Because sometimes people are confused and they say, what was he offered? Was he offered wine? Or was he offered vinegar? Or are they the same thing? But in reality, if you even just look in Mark 15 itself, you can see two incidents of him being offered something to drink. Because in verse 23, it says they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, but he received it not. And then if you go down to verse 36, it says one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him to drink saying, let alone, let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. So there are multiple times. There's another incident recorded where they give him vinegar mixed with gall, which is something that is very bitter and disgusting and bad for you, poisonous. And he tasted it and wouldn't accept it. But the Bible does talk about him receiving the vinegar in one place. And then here it talks about when he's offered the wine in verse 23, he received it not. So multiple people are offering him various things to drink. Now, the fact that Jesus was offered vinegar is prophesied, I believe, in Psalm 22. It talks about them piercing his hands and feet and giving him vinegar to drink. Now, when you're thirsty, and remember, if we read this in one of the other gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying, I thirst. So Jesus is asking for something to drink. He says, I'm thirsty. I thirst. Because he's hanging on the cross for many hours. He's crucified around 9 AM, the third hour. And it talks about how at the sixth hour, which would be noon, it becomes dark for three hours straight. And then he dies closer to even, because it's dark from 12 to 3. And then approaching even sometime between 3 and 6 PM, we don't really know exactly, is when he actually gave up the ghost and died on the cross. So he's up there at least for six hours. Well, we know he's hanging there, even dead, for at least almost nine hours. So Jesus is hanging on the cross for hours and hours. And he's asking for something to quench his thirst. What do you think he wants? Water, the one thing that he's not getting. They don't offer him water. And that's what was prophesied in Psalm 22, that they would give him vinegar to drink. Which vinegar is not exactly a thirst quenching beverage. Except for brother Jay on hiking trips, he's got his bottle of apple cider vinegar. But the rest of us had water in our canteens. So who likes to just go out and go running or play basketball or something and then drink a nice ice cold glass of vinegar when you're done? Just that thirst quenching. I mean, it's the new Gatorade. Obviously, who thinks vinegar is disgusting? Yeah, so do I. The closest thing that I drink to vinegar is kombucha. I love kombucha. And it has a little bit of that sour taste of vinegar. But I hate vinegar. And I really hate that malt vinegar that people put on their fish and chips. I can't stand vinegar. And I'm not a picky eater, but vinegar is one thing. And you know what? If Jesus refused it, I refuse it too, all right? So don't call me picky just because I refuse that which Jesus refused. But anyway, in this passage, of course, his was mixed with gall. But I think they mix gall with that stuff at the fish and chips place too. But anyway, Jesus here, uniquely here, in chapter 15 verse number 23 is refusing wine mingled with myrrh. Now, I think that the possibility of what the motive here is that there may be offering him wine like, hey, maybe this will act as some kind of maybe a painkiller or just something to make him feel a little better, give him a little bit of relief while he's hanging on the cross. Because like the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 31, give strong drink unto those that are ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more. So maybe they're offering him alcohol as a kindness, perhaps, maybe as a pity or a mercy that they're showing him, offering him the wine mingled with myrrh. Because myrrh is something that was an expensive item, if you think about it, because that's what the wise men brought unto the Lord Jesus when he was a young child. And they offered gold and myrrh and frankincense. And the costly myrrh was used with preparing people for the burial. So they're giving him wine mingled with myrrh. He received it not. And this should be a lesson to you. Go to Proverbs 31 quickly, if you would, because a lot of people will try to justify drinking. And one of the ways they'll justify drinking is just say, well, you know, the Bible says give it to those that are of heavy hearts. And they've got a tear in their beer because they're crying for you, dear. And they're just like, you know, I'm just a sad. I just am of a heavy heart. And God wants me to drink to feel better. But you know what? That is not a justification for drinking. And you know, if anybody had the right to drown in sorrows a little bit, it's Jesus, the man of sorrows, hanging on the cross in excruciating pain. In fact, did you know that the word excruciating comes from the word cross? Excruciating, the cruse there. How do you say cross in Spanish? La cruse. Excruciating means something that's painful, like unto the pain that Jesus endured when he was on the cross. That's what the word excruciating even comes from. OK. And so here's Jesus in excruciating pain on the cross, suffering sorrowful, and yet he did not use alcohol as a way to cope or to deal with it. OK. Now look what the Bible says in verse 4 of chapter 31. It is not for kings, O Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Now you say, well, that's OK, because I'm not a king. But the Bible says that we as believers have been made unto kings and priests unto God and our Father. So you know what? We are kings. And you know who else was not supposed to drink any wine or strong drink in the Old Testament? The priests. We're both. We're kings and priests. And God says, don't drink it, because you'll forget the law and pervert judgment. Now look, I don't want to forget God's law. I don't want to pervert judgment. We don't have time, but in Proverbs 23 it says that if you drink, it says, thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy mouth shall utter perverse things. OK. I don't want to say perverted things. I don't want to look at women other than my wife. I don't want to pervert judgment and forget God's law. Why would you want to do those things? And he says, it's not for you if you're a priest. It's not for you if you're a king. You know, I bet ambassadors have to be careful not to drink too much either. I mean, can you imagine an ambassador from the United States showing up in some other country, and he gets off the plane, and he's like, oh man, I love flying first class, because there's just unlimited little bottles of booze in first class. And so, you know, I got a little carried away. I mean, can you imagine the embarrassment and the shame and humiliation of a drunken ambassador? I mean, ambassadors are pretty important, right? Supposed to be treated really well, and they have all this diplomatic immunity, and they show up, and they're respected, and they are supposed to be respectable. We are ambassadors for Christ, the Bible says. We represent the king. We represent the Lord Jesus. And we are kings in our own right. We shall reign on the earth. We are priests unto God. We're a royal nation. We're a holy priesthood. We're a peculiar people. And not only that, but look what else it says. In verse 6, give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish. What did the Bible say about those who believe in Jesus? They shall not perish, but have everlasting life. So look, we are not to drink. It's not for us to drink wine or strong drink. He says give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish. And wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. You say, well, I'm poor, so I'm going to drink. First of all, that's stupid, because you need your money for other things if you're poor. And poor people drink the most, it seems like, sometimes. Well, rich people have their little wine cellar and all that, too. I guess everybody who's not saved, or a lot of people who aren't saved drink. And a lot of people who are saved drink, unfortunately. But it's a sin. It's wrong. And we need to make sure this is not something that's part of our lives. You say, well, I'm just poor. I want to forget my poverty. But remember, it said in Revelation 2 to the church at Smyrna, he said, I know thy poverty. He's talking about their physical poverty. But he said, but thou art rich. Because we are in Christ Jesus. We shall inherit all things. We are rich when it comes to spiritual things. And one day, we will have material wealth in the millennium reigning and ruling with Christ. So it says, let him forget his poverty and remember his misery no more. Let's follow the example of Jesus in his time of need. He didn't turn to the bottle in a time of need. They offered it to him. Here, Jesus, you need a drink, buddy. Here's wine mingled with myrrh. This is the good stuff, expensive wines. I don't know much about wines, but I know twice as much about wine after hearing Brother Garrett's sermon a few weeks ago than I did before I heard that sermon. But you know, this sounds like a pretty expensive stuff, chateau de whatever, you know? Or I don't even know if that's even the name of wine. But I don't want to know. I'd rather be simple concerning that which is evil and wise concerning that which is good. But the Bible says he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. Now, I wonder how they parted his garments and cast lots upon them what every man should take when all Jesus was wearing was a toga. I mean, that's what all the Sunday school books have him in, right? He's just in a toga. He's just wearing nothing but a toga. But the Bible talks about how they made his garments into four parts, his clothing. In the book of John, it records as being into four parts. And then in addition to the four parts, there was a coat as well involved. So I don't understand how people can think that he just wore just a coat and nothing else. That's what they show in the Sunday school book. You know what one of the articles of clothing was, a pair of pants. And just go out and try to find a Sunday school material that shows Jesus in pants. Good luck with that. Let me know when you find it. Because you know what, for every 1,000 pictures of Jesus that you'll find in children's Sunday school materials, you'll find one where he's wearing pants. Well, they didn't wear pants back then. Adam wore pants, OK? You really think that Adam lived on this earth for 930 years and never put on a pair of pants in 930 years? I'm 930 years old and I've never worn a pair of pants in my life. Pants are the most common sense thing in the world. It's fabric on both legs, folks. It's pants. It's not like some major revolutionary invention. If I had a nickel for every time somebody said pants weren't invented back then, I would be a wealthy man. No one invented pants. You don't have to invent pants. They're just there. You don't invent it, OK? It's always been around. But it blows me away how people think that, oh, yeah, back then they didn't wear pants. Really, what photograph were you looking at from back then? And you say, well, we found some ancient artwork from back then. And who was the artwork of? Gods and goddesses who were half human and half animal? Or was it ancient Egypt, where the men are wearing little skirts and makeup because it's a wicked place, because it's a godless place? And you say, well, back then that's just what people wore. Or, well, look at people in the Middle East today. That's what they wear. They all wear skirts and dresses. No, they don't. That's not true. Now, I've seen a lot of different styles of clothing. Nobody knows exactly what style of clothing they had except what we read in the Bible. And the Bible repeatedly talks about them wearing pants. But it doesn't use the word pants, because the word pants was not a common word in 1611, when the Bible is translated in English. So it used the word britches or hosen, because the German word for pants is hosen. And so who's ever heard of lederhosen? Well, the Bible used the word hosen. And it also used the word britches. And in fact, God commanded the priests to put on a pair of britches to cover their nakedness. So they did wear pants underneath. Now, look, nothing weird about wearing a long coat or some kind of an overgarment. The Bible calls it a coat or a mantle, what they wore over it. But you don't wear just a mantle. That's called a bathrobe. They actually wore pants underneath it. Also, Jesus Christ rebuked the Pharisees for loving to wear long clothing. He said, yeah, you guys love to wear long clothing. But wait a minute. Why does every Sunday School material show Jesus in long clothing if he's rebuking the Pharisees for loving to wear long clothing? I wouldn't even make it, he said. He's wearing a garment down to his ankles, according to them, that's actually an upper robe, a long flowing garment down to the ankles, is what the Sunday School material shows. And yet Jesus says they love to wear long clothing. What does that mean that he's wearing? Something other than long clothing or he'd be a hypocrite? Well, while I wear long clothing, I just don't love it like they do. I mean, that doesn't make any sense. Jesus was wearing something shorter, clearly. He was not wearing this long flowing robe all the way down to the floor. He had something shorter. Now, he very likely had pants that went down to his ankles. But also, the Bible talks about pants that just cover the thighs and the loins. We would call them today shorts, right? If we had pants that stopped at our knees, we would call that shorts. But that's what the men in the Bible wore. They wore pants that went to their knees. That's what the Bible says, OK? In Exodus 28 42, for example, it talks about them wearing britches that cover the loins and thighs. So that would be down to the knee. You say, well, pastor, are you against wearing shorts? I'm against those ones with the three stripes that are up to here, that men wore back in the 70s. Thank God those are out of style. Thank God that the style, as far as I know, isn't the style today for men like knee length shorts? What? You've got to be kidding. Oh, man, that's the worst news I've heard all day. So yeah, I mean, I thought, I guess maybe I'm living in the 90s or something. But I thought that when you go to the beach now, or if you went to a pool or something, as a man, you wear shorts down to the knee. Now look, when I went to Germany, everybody's in a speedo. It was ridiculous. I mean, just every slovenly elderly old man is just in a speedo. It's like, what in the world? It's the most embarrassing. I mean, you cannot go any beach. It's the most embarrassing thing, the way that they dress there. Now, of course, women here dress that way. They dress just as bad. And you know what, by the way? Why would we have a different standard of what we wear when we go to the beach than when we are in our normal everyday life? I mean, think about it. Do you think any woman would walk into this church in a bikini? Well, a modest one-piece bathing suit. That's an oxymoron. Modest bathing suit? Because look, you know and I know that if a woman walked in here wearing the equivalent of your modest one-piece bathing suit, you'd be horrified, wouldn't you? I mean, think about the typical bathing suit, even the one piece. Oh, but it's the one piece. And here's what I'm thinking. Do you really think that the most revealing part about that bathing suit was the stomach? Because I mean, what's the difference between the one piece and the two piece? Oh, the stomach's not exposed. Oh, yeah, that was what everybody was looking at. The stomach. You know, newsflash, there are other parts of the body that are being highlighted, OK? And it's, you know, think a little lower, OK? And I'm telling you, if you wouldn't wear it here or you wouldn't wear it around your family or your friends or God's people, but all of a sudden, you dig a hole in the ground and fill it with water and rip off your clothes and you're in your underwear. And it's obscene at the pool just as much as it's obscene if you were to wear it here or to wear it somewhere else, OK? What does the Bible define as nakedness, OK? The Bible defines nakedness as from the loins unto the thighs. In Exodus 28, 42, also Isaiah 47 and 43 talks about uncovering the thighs being nakedness, OK? So according to the Bible, in order to be properly clothed, in order to not be naked, OK, you must, must have your thighs and your loins covered. Also, the Bible defines having your buttocks uncovered as nakedness. But that should be obvious anyway. But the Bible clearly states we could show scripture on the buttocks, and I'm using the Bible word here, buttocks, thighs, loins covered. That's from the waist to the knee, my friend. And the Bible teaches that for both male and female. So when we as men wear shorts, we need to make sure that our shorts go down to our knee. They can stop at the knee, but we need not these mid-thigh shorts and everything like that. Say, well, but it's for basketball, it's for sport. No, no, no. If you're going to be in mixed company, wear it to the knee. Now, if it's only men around and you're wearing something shorter to play basketball or something, fine. But if there are any spectators, if you're outside, if you're amongst mixed company, you need to make sure that you're properly covered and modest, not just as women, but also as men. We should wear shorts as men that at least reach down to our knees in order to be modestly parallel. Now, the Bible also teaches the same for women. That's why women's skirts should go down to at least their knee, knee or below. But it should not be a skirt that stops above the knee. And that is nakedness. Now, just because you're not naked doesn't mean that you're properly clothed. But isn't covering your nakedness a good place to start? And if your nakedness is not covered, you're definitely not in compliance with God's word if you're exposing your nakedness in front of the opposite gender. You say, oh, you don't let your daughters go swimming. Oh, your wife doesn't go swimming. Oh, oh, no. Actually, my wife and daughters do go swimming frequently. But you're not going to believe this. They do it without getting naked. Who told you that, you know, who told you that I was naked? But, you know, who told you that you have to be naked to go swimming? And people have accused, oh, I'm not against mixed swimming. I'm against mixed nudity. That's where the sin is, is when you're exposing your body in nakedness. That's why when my wife and my daughters go swimming, they wear a dress swimming. And they wear, and my wife has actually made herself and her daughters modest, nice dresses out of swimsuit materials. So they are legitimate swimsuits, and they're made out of the right materials. They're not skin tight, but they, you know, they fan out with a nice little skirt and everything. And listen, you say, oh, they're going to look like goofballs. They're going to look like Muslims. They're going to look like Hindus. Shame on us that when we see a woman in a long dress, we think she's a Muslim or a Hindu. And then we see the short shorts, Christian, Christendom, Christianity. What in the world? No, my wife goes out, and she has a knee length swim dress. And it has like a swimsuit material, leggings with a skirt over it. And honestly, every time my wife and daughters go anywhere and they're wearing that, they receive compliments about how beautiful their swimsuit is. And people are constantly asking, where do I get one? So they don't go around. I'm not saying you go out and just look like a weirdo. You know, you can actually look nice and not be naked, believe it or not. And so my wife and my daughters are like advertisements modeling modest swimwear. If they go anywhere, to the lake or anything, because they wear it and they look classy and good, and they don't look like a harlot. Just showing off their body for everybody, hey, look at me. And you know, a lot of women aren't interested in showing off their body like that anyway. But they feel pressured by society to do it. I'll bet you a lot of girls have put on a bikini, put on a bathing suit many times, and didn't feel comfortable with it. But they felt pressured, like, well, if I don't wear this, then everybody's going to think whatever. That's why you'll see sometimes women that'll kind of like covering with a towel and trying to be covered. But you know what, why don't you just put your clothes on? You can actually swim in clothes. And people say, oh, that's not safe. I've had people say, that's not safe for them to swim in that because it's going to get all tangled up. Shut up. It's not going to get tangled up. A knee-length skirt and leggings that are connected, no, you're not going to get tangled up in it. And isn't it funny how we men wear long shorts down to our knees and we don't get all tangled up and have to get out of, like, a Houdini situation underwater? I think he did that a few times too. But it's funny how we don't get all messed up and tangled up. And it's funny how often you'll see men going swimming in long knee-length shorts and even maybe like a water-wicking shirt or something. And you don't see them having any problem with it. And again, I'm not against men swimming without their shirt on. But I usually wear my shirt if I'm swimming in any kind of mixed company because you don't want to be immodest. Because covering your nakedness is not just where you want to just be the end-all be-all. Well, my nakedness is covered, so I'm good. We should always strive to be modest also and to not draw attention to ourself or emphasize ourself or emphasize the flesh or anything like that, but rather glorify God and just be humble and just stay clothed and whatever. And so people have asked me that. Hey, is it a sin for a man to remove his shirt? You can't say that it's sin because it's not nakedness. But when you see a guy walking down the street with jeans and he's got no shirt on and he's walking down the street, it doesn't necessarily scream out, I've got a lot of class. I'm a classy guy. Does it? No. So again, I don't believe it's a sin, but it's probably not the right way to dress for a lot of situations. It's not going to be appropriate for most situations. Like if I took off my shirt right now and started preaching, I think everyone would agree that that would be inappropriate, even if it's not nakedness. So do you get what I'm saying? So we as men and women should think about the way that we dress. Is it glorifying God? Is it covering our nakedness? Is it something that's drawing attention to ourself? Is it because we have pride in our heart that says, hey, look at me, everybody. Look over here. And you say, well, that's easy for you because you're married. But what about us singles? We have to try to get people's attention. But you know what? That's not how to get the right people's attention. If you need to do that, you need to work on other aspects of your game if you're having to strip down to get attention. But anyway, I've got to get back on the chapter. I just want to point out that Jesus is wearing multiple articles of clothing, not just one thing like you see on the Sunday School materials. But he says in verse number, I've got to hurry up and finish here. I'm out of time. But it says here, it was the third hour they crucified him, and the superscription of his accusation was written over. The king of the Jews, and with them they crucified two thieves, the one on his right hand and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith he was numbered with the transgressors. That's also from Isaiah 53. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, ah, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself and come down from the cross. Likewise, also the chief priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, ha, he saved others, himself he cannot save. Let Christ, the king of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. Now, I want to just take some time as we're closing here and point out this part about, hey, come down from the cross so that we can see and believe. And have you heard this before? Seeing is believing? It's a lie. The true story is that believing is seeing. Because if you study the faith chapter, what's the faith chapter? Hebrews 11 is the most famous chapter on faith. It's called the Hall of Faith by some. Hebrews 11 says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So the Bible defines faith as being the evidence of things that are not seen. And the Bible talks about Moses as seeing the invisible. And that faith is when we see that which we cannot physically see, we see with the eyes of faith. And if you look through Hebrews 11 over and over again, it's sight, sight, seeing, seeing, see, see, a vision, vision. It's all about what you see, not with your eyes, but through faith. Now, here's the thing, if you can see it and if you have evidence of it, you don't need faith. I mean, if I told you the pulpit, my pulpit that I preach behind is brown, you don't have to believe me. You don't have to have faith. You see it. But if I told you my bed at my house is brown, you'd have to believe me because you've never seen it, right? And either I'm lying or I'm telling the truth, you don't know. So today, we were out soul winning today. And when we were out soul winning today, we talked to two young ladies. And one of them got saved and the other didn't. We were talking the same conversation. One of them believed. And the other one said, I'm not sure. I just don't know. I'm just not sure. And I said, well, you know, but are you willing to? I said, the choice is yours, though. You can choose to step out in faith and just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and ask him to save you. Is there something stopping you from doing that? I mean, don't you want to do that? And she said, no, I'm just not sure. I just don't know. And I said, okay, you know, well. And I gave her some other stuff to look at. And I gave her some other stuff to follow up. Because I said, you know, if you're not sure, you need to figure it out. Because this is your soul. This is heaven and hell. But it's the mentality that children are being brainwashed with in the school system of just everything is the scientific method. The scientific method is what we believe in. You know, everything in the universe and the galaxy is governed by science. You know, the stupid science, science, and you say, well, why is science stupid? Because you know what, it's science falsely so-called, that's why, okay? Because this is what they tell them. Oh, you know, it's all based on evidence. It's all based on observation. It's all based on what we see. Everything we know is what we see and observe and follow. No, because they teach stuff that's not seen or observed. They teach all this big bang and evolution, stuff that nobody's ever seen or observed. Okay, but they'll sit there and brainwash the kids. Don't believe anything without seeing the evidence. You gotta make observation. And when you see it, and then they're just like, but just trust us on all this stuff about the big bang and evolution. Just shut up and believe it. We've seen it. We know it's there. We've already proven it. And it's always like, there's mountains of evidence for evolution, just mountains. I mean, it's just, the evidence is staggering for the big bang. There's so much evidence. But then it's funny when you start looking at each piece of evidence individually, how it's garbage. But this is what people will often do. They won't be able to show you something specific. So there's a, oh yeah, there's just tons of evidence. Oh, okay, well if there's a ton of evidence, you shouldn't have any trouble showing me one piece of evidence then, if there's so much. Show me your best one, and it's nothing. You know, it's just all talk. Just like people are like, oh, the Bible's filled with thousands of contradictions. Okay, show me one. Well, I don't know where it's at, but I just know there's a lot of, you know. That's how people talk with things. And let me tell you something. This philosophy is a wicked philosophy that says, well, I'm not gonna believe in anything unless I've been proven. Unless I've seen it. Unless there's evidence. Then you will go to hell. Because you will never receive evidence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because faith is the evidence. And the faith is something that you have to have. And you have to put your faith in Jesus. And if you're waiting for some evidence, you know, well, when they discover Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat, then I'll believe. You know, or when they find the Ark of the Covenant, then I'll believe in it. When they can discover, no, that's what these people are saying. We wanna see and believe. But these people are, are, are in hell today. They're already in hell. Cuz this happened 2,000 years ago. Cuz they're waiting to see it. And we have to believe without seeing. We hear. Faith cometh by hearing. Does it say faith cometh by seeing? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Of course, Jesus cries out with a loud voice, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The veil is rent in the temple between the holy place and the most holy place. And of course, he dies. They verify that he's dead. The centurion, the Roman soldier, verifies that Jesus been dead. He, he guarantees it to Pontius Pilate that he's been dead. And then they basically take his body, and they wrap him in linen, and they lay him in a sepulcher, which was hewn out of a rock, roll the stone on the door. And it says in verse 47, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses be held where he was laid, because of course, he's gonna rise again in the next chapter. But at this point, he's died and been buried. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this chapter, Lord, and, and we thank you for your unspeakable gift, Lord, and, and that we could stop and think about the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, how he was beaten and spat upon and made fun of and, and scourged and whipped and, and tormented. And Lord, we just pray that you would please just help us to, to love you more. And to show our love for you by keeping your commandments, Lord, and, and doing what's right, whether that be the, you know, the way that we dress, whether that be the way that we live our lives, and, and whether that be coming to church, winning souls, reading our Bibles, praying, keeping ourselves clean of, of sin and fornication and, and other things, Lord. Please just help us to follow your example, Lord, that you set for us and, and to, to honor and glorify you. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.