05-30-2021

Romans 11 and the Warning Against Pride

All right. Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Park Meadows Church broadcasting from Corsicana, Texas. Glad to see you this morning. We just decided to change our service times to noon rather than 11. But anyway, could they hear the announcements about the school?

Could our friends? Oh, good. Isn't that amazing, you guys? Wouldn't you love to have a kid in a school like that? And if you have to be in if you still have kids that age, man, tremendous. I happen to have quite a few grandbabies in that school, and they're very happy.

All right. So we're in Romans chapter 11 verse by verse. We're in this little page in Romans chapter 11, 19 through 21, where Paul is telling the Gentile predominantly Gentile church that you can be plucked out of the tree just like Israel was because of unbelief.

He's not talking about that. You could lose your salvation as an individual because we have eternal security once we're truly born again. But he's talking about as a the church as an institution. And we know Jesus taught that the church as an institution has wheat and tears in it.

Not everybody's a believer that sits in church. Everybody may act like one, but the Lord knows, doesn't he knows our hearts? So there are wheat and tears in the church. Wheat being the true believers, tears being ones that look like wheat, but they're not really wheat.

And Jesus said Satan puts them there. But now, if you want to look at it under a different allegory, sheep and goats is my favorite way to look at it. Jesus talked about that, too. And the interesting thing is there's two kind of sheep.

There's a lost sheep that will be saved someday because the sheep belong to Jesus. And he's a good shepherd. He won't let he said, I will lose none of them. He'll find them all. All of us will be found.

And then you have saved sheep that already been found. You know, that's a bunch of us in the room already been found, maybe everybody in the room. And then you have goats or people that will never be saved because they don't belong to the Lord.

Satan put them here. Now, isn't that interesting? You say how? Well, that's for another sermon. But thanks to my wonderful mentor, Otis Fisher, I know how because he showed me from scripture how I never thought he could do that.

But he did. Took him about 30 seconds. Amazing man. We miss him every day. But and his sweet wife, B, hey, Otis, told you you could see us from heaven. So I'm right about that one again. Anyway, this so this is talking about the fact that the predominantly Gentile church, especially in America, as it's grown up and now it's totally different than church used to be about 150 years ago.

It's completely different. It's sort of mannish rather than godly now. And that church is going to be cut off. The church will no longer be the salt and light of the earth. You'll see if I can get far enough into this day, you will see where that happens on God's timeline.

So the reason we're even talking about the end times is because of that. Those people were going verse by verse through 11, Romans 11. And there it is. And so we kind of launched out and we're looking at the end times chronology, not the ones that the books you read in the movies, you see, because they got it wrong.

But the Bible has it right. And if you would just do like a friend of mine asked me to do years ago, when I finally looked at this on my own and quit taking seminary, what the seminaries teach and even some of my mentors believed, I actually studied it on my own, looked and see what the Bible taught.

Matthew chapter 24, Jesus's chronology of the end times is very, very clear. And it contradicts a lot of these books out there. All right. So what's interesting about it, this is talking about that in that chronology of the end times, there is a point where the church, as we know it now stops being the messenger of the gospel.

And God has other messengers and that you'll see that today if we get to it. So this is kind of what launched us into this study. And that's where we are. Be not high minded. You think you're you're saved because God sort of chopped off some of the Jewish limbs so he could plug us in.

He said, don't be high minded, though, because they were taken out because of unbelief. You can be taken out as an institution talking about Israel as an institution. The church can be taken out also and will be.

And I'll show you where if we get to it today. All right. So now we have the principle of near prophecy and far prophecy fulfillment. Almost every scholar I've ever read believes that there may be a few people that don't, but it's because their system won't work if if they accept it.

So they cheat. But if you just look at scripture, you will see it. You will read some of the things, these prophets, both Old Testament and in the New Testament, where they told what was going to happen.

And you'll see things that have happened already. But you'll see stuff that has not happened yet. And that's how you know there was a near fulfillment, maybe 60 years after they lived or maybe in their lifetime that prophecy was fulfilled in the near.

But there's a far component of it that has not been fulfilled yet. And that's how you know that's a true doctrine, because you see it in the scripture. I'll show you some of them. So I'm asking a question.

Let's look at one now as an example. Is this a near prophecy or a far prophecy? This is Zephaniah chapter three, verse eight. Therefore, wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey.

That's a reference to the second coming and Armageddon and all of that. This was written two thousand eight hundred some odd years ago. For my determination is to gather the nation, so this is foreordained is predestinated that God is going to gather all the nations of the world and attack Israel.

OK, my determination, I'm going to gather all the nations that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them my indignation, that's the wrath of God, all of my fierce anger. That's the wrath of God for all the earth shall be devoured.

Now, does that sound like something that only happens in Israel or does it sound like a worldwide tribulation? Same as Revelation teaches. In fact, this is some of this is parallel to the book of Revelation for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

Why does God do this? He is jealous because predominantly at this point in time, the world is worshipping false gods that they're creating. Even in America, in churches today, the apostle Paul said there's a different Jesus, a different spirit and a different gospel.

People have created a Jesus Christ. They want to worship who is not the Jesus Christ of the Bible. That's idolatry. They are saying that the Holy Spirit is causing them to do things that the Holy Spirit himself said have ceased and he won't cause people to do.

So that's a different spirit. So they're worshipping false gods even in churches here in America, but not to mention Hinduism and Islam and and all this stuff, these world religions that are false. So that's why God will bring this tribulation is to because he's jealous.

He it's a it is a stance against idolatry predominantly, but all other sins as well. For then will I turn to the people of a pure language, which will be Hebrew, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent.

So Jew and Gentile will all be saved the same way, just like they are now in the church age. But there won't be other religions when this is over. There'll just be one true religion and Jesus Christ will set foot on the earth and reign for a thousand years physically as king and priest.

All right, so do you think that has already happened? Can you think of a time in world history where all of the earth was devoured? I can't. So that has not happened yet. OK, so has there been a time when God assembled all nations of the world against Israel?

No, there's been times when one nation came against him. There's never been a time when all the nations of the world came against him at once. So this is future information that God gave the prophet Zephaniah.

Has there ever been a time when all the I mean, since God confused the languages. Since that, has there been a time when God put it all together, where we all speak the same language? No, that's all future material.

So when you hear a teacher or a preacher say, ah, this idea of a near prophecy and a far prophecy is not true, it's a theological invention. They're lying. It's not a theological invention. Theologians study it.

True theologians understand the Bible say here it is in the Bible. Are you with me? So it's a fact that you have to think about it. Anytime you read a prophet is some of this information may not have happened yet.

Some of it may have already happened. It's true in almost every all of these prophecies. What about this one? Is this one near or far or both? OK, this is Zechariah, not Zephaniah, different book, Zechariah four, verse eight.

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house. His hand shall also finish it and now shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Has that already happened or is it going to happen in the future?

That's already happened. So that was the near fulfillment, but it becomes a picture. Somebody said future. You're right, because it becomes an allegory or a picture of a future event as well. So wouldn't you say both then?

So it's both near and far. Then answered I and said, what are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left? Now, candlestick in the book of Revelation, the Lord himself said that is the church.

Now, a lot of these false teachers I got and I won't go there. I do get in trouble sometimes when I call preachers false teachers, but I don't have any one in mind. I'm just saying if they teach a false end times chronology, that is false teaching.

Now, there are two kinds. There's the kind of book of Jude that Satan sends that corrupt the church on purpose and end up going to hell. There's a second kind of false teacher, which is like me, where I taught stuff wrong when I was young and God showed it to me.

I got up and apologized for it, corrected it and never taught it wrong again. And there's probably still stuff now that I've got to learn, right? Brother bill. I mean, we're not perfect. We're human. So there's that kind of false teacher too.

There's both listed in the Bible and those that have the heart where they want to get it right are going to heaven. All you got to do is tell all you have to do is show me in scripture where I'm wrong.

I will change it. I will promise you that every teacher in this church will do that. So that's how we should be. But there are teachers who have written books about the end time that are totally wrong.

They are false teachers. I mean, I can't make it nice. What do you want me to call them? You know, so. You know, there are people who say that after chapter three of Revelation, the church is gone and they think that's where the rapture happens before any of the tribulation.

That's not true. That verse is taken totally out of context. It's not even talking about that. And the church is found many times in chapters after chapter three of the book of Revelation, which I will show you some, but this actually is interesting because these two individuals here, let me pop them down there.

You have Joshua earlier in this chapter is like the religious man, the godly man, the priest, and then Zerubbabel is like the secular godly man. So these two people rebuilt the temple after it had been destroyed.

And it's the very temple that Jesus is an apostle sat and looked at and talked about and Jesus prophesied this will be torn down that the near prophecy happened in 70 A .D. And then there'll be another temple built in our future.

And when you see that starting to be built, you need to gather your things and go find a cave somewhere you don't need, especially don't be in a city, a big city. So you're better off around, of course, Canada and around Dallas, for example.

All right. Even better off around my head and around, of course, Canada, it's a smaller town. Right. So the smaller the town is, the better. I'm kind of looking for a cave somewhere. I don't know where you'll be the first to know.

I don't want to be not just our family to be a bunch of us. They know how to shoot things and fish and hunt. I'm not being funny. This is a fact. All right. But so these two men rebuilt the temple, but they were types of two other men.

And you see where it says the two olive trees, that's going to link. You're going to see a far prophecy that right all the way out into the book of Revelation. You'll see it in a minute. So it's really fascinating.

So what that tells me there last time, I think I mentioned there's been at least eight to 10 pairs of people of the Bible, Bible scholars and commentaries have said these two future prophets will be. So if there's eight to 10 that they all say they'll be, that means none of them know who it is.

Right. So why should we conjecture? But one thing I can tell you, they are is one of them be a secular, godly person, and the other will be a priestly, godly person. OK, that we know scripture teaches us that.

So there is a far I'm asking the question at the bottom, is there a far prophecy of this? And there there definitely is. There was another time I'm going to take a little parentheses here, though, before I talked about that.

There is another time when two witnesses spoke in the streets of Jerusalem after Zerubbabel's day, which was I don't know exactly. I should have looked it up for you, but maybe I don't know, six to eight hundred years B .C.

And they rebuilt the temple and we can look it up for you next time. I should have done it. But then that one was torn down in 70 AD after Jesus went back into heaven. It was torn down. Right. So there is no temple there now.

There's just a wall, part of one part of a wall left where the temple was. Well, so back in eight hundred or so B .C., these two individuals of God were pictured as let me go back. They were pictured as two olive trees.

OK, one secular, one priestly. Now, what's interesting is it says they're on the right side of the candlestick and on the left side, the candlestick. The Book of Revelation tells us a picture of the church.

So what you're going to find out is when you see these two future individuals, that's where the false teachers of today say the church won't be there anymore. The problem is they're surrounded by the candlestick.

Does that make sense to you? You understand it pictures the church is still there. Does anybody have a question about that, am I saying it clearly, I got it so much in my mind, it's almost simple to me at this point.

But I know when you first hear this, it's different than the different theories you grew up with. But that word candlestick proves that when the when the far fulfillment of this prophecy happens out in our future and there's two prophets that you're going to find on the streets of Jerusalem, they are going to be on the right side and the left side of this candlestick.

So you got these two olive trees upon the right side, the candlestick, and upon the left side, they are surrounded by the church. So the church is still here far into the book, way past chapter three.

When the false teachers tell you it leaves in the rapture, it's not true. It's a lie. And Lucifer made that lie up because if you were Satan and you love killing Christians and Jews, what's the greatest lie you could tell them?

Don't worry about it. You won't be here. And there is so much information talking about the end times where it says, and then if you're not prepared, you know, you'll be slaughtered. I just saw some this morning I've never seen before.

It's all through the Old Testament as it prophesies these end times. So you got to be ready. It says that there will be people sitting on their lees. That's an old English way of saying lazy and not preparing.

And that the ones who sit on their lees will be destroyed by the Antichrist and his people, which is the governments of the world. It'll be bureaucrats coming after you and your family. And either you didn't get the vaccine, you know, we can see it all being put together since January the sixth.

That was a great acceleration point in the end times, things happening. So now with COVID, if you don't, do you realize there are hundreds of thousands of college age children, young people right now, that are going through they're having to make the decision of either go to college or get the vaccine.

Get our, I should say it this way, get the vaccine or you don't go to college. Now we don't know about this vaccine. I just spoke to a biologist. It was one of my students in the stock market meeting who told me she's sending information to me about this, particularly the Moderna vaccination.

That is a little problematic that some biologists are looking at that saying this might not be so great. So you want to be forced to take it. And I understand if you desire to take it, take it. I'm not, I mean, it's between you and the Lord.

You do what you have a piece with, but what if you don't desire to take it? Should the government be able to force you to take it? They're going to trust me. And if you don't take it, you won't be allowed in a grocery store or a hospital or an airport or a bus station or a train station, you might not be able to buy a car, think about it.

You never thought this stuff would be in your lifetime. Did you it's here. It's already here now. So you got these things going on, but I'm going to tell you what the church is in the book of revelation beyond chapter three, we'll see that this was a prophecy that, that it would be because these two particular prophets, though they may well be Jewish, they are born again, Christians, and they're part of the church.

And it says right there, there's they're on the candlestick. They're in the church. They are not Jewish by, uh, religion. You understand what I'm saying? They're Jewish. Like my mentor, dr. Erwin Freeman was a Jew.

He's a Jewish believer. That's what these two men will be. So the church, they're part of the church. Listen, the church is on this earth until the second coming. It has to be on the, on the earth until the great resurrection takes place, which is at the end of the tribulation period.

So you should tell you something about these books and these different theories. These guys in the seminaries have been teaching. Not all of us believe it anymore. All of us grew up believing it. I did.

A lot of us don't believe that anymore because we go to the scripture. Once you get your own personal interest and do your own study, that's when you'll see it. If you try to read the theology, that's in a lot of the seminaries, even the good seminaries today, it's very, very wrong and been proven wrong, easily proven wrong.

So it's just old material. It's almost like science, brother, Bill, how like that, the chemistry being taught right now in public school. And even in our Christian school, how old is that? Those theories probably 30 years old at this point, maybe 50, about 50.

And, and they even know it doesn't work that way now, but it's still a good model to teach kids. That's why it's all a model anyway. Right. It's just a model. But, um, so here we go. There was another time after Zerubbabel and Joshua, if you move forward about another 800 years into the future, back at the times, uh, of, of Jesus Christ, after he had already been crucified and buried and risen, and after he ascended into heaven, there were a couple of preachers out on the streets of Jerusalem preaching the gospel.

And then there's going to be another time in our future where there's going to be two men and they're the branches. Now I'm not saying these two were referenced by the branches. They were not, but I'm giving you an example of how the world system looks at it when you stand on the street and you preach the gospel.

Peter and John Preach the Resurrection in Jerusalem

So let's look at these acts chapter four, being grieved that they taught the people and preach through Jesus, the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on these two preachers and put them in hold until the next day for it was now even done.

So they threw him in jail because they were talking about Jesus on the street. And this was the religious leaders that arrested him. How be it many of them, which heard the word believed. Now, see, I had a friend asking me on the trip, where is it in the book of acts, where it transfers from being Jewish, where you had to lay hands on people for him to get the Holy spirit to where, when they they were in dwelt without any human part at all, other than hearing the gospel from a human.

And it's a little bit later than chapter four, but you can see here in chapter four, you didn't have to have people laying hands on these people for him to believe. They just heard it. They heard it and they believe because the Holy spirit called them.

That's why they believe he turned them on. He turned on their equipment. Their receiver got turned on where their eyes could see their ears could hear. They looked at Jesus. They said, wow, he's my shepherd.

And I didn't recognize that till this moment. So many of them had that happen and got saved on this day. And the number of the man was about 5 ,000. That's a good sermon. Don't you think, but it's not the sermon.

I mean, it took the sermon, but it always takes two things. The sermon is called the water of the word. Jesus said, you have to have water and you have to have the spirit to be saved. The sermon is the water of the word.

So here they're preaching the word. Peter's preaching the gospel. And then the Holy spirit moves in and calls 5 ,000 people all in a moment. And usually it happens individually. You might be in your car driving.

You might be washing clothes. You might do wherever you are when the Holy spirit awakens, awakens you from the dead and that is regeneration. And it's all because Jesus gave his blood that that could happen to God's people and he regenerates us and you have no part in it, right?

We go over that all the time because the world has got that wrong. The world thinks humans do something to please God, but the Bible teaches that God knew his own before the foundation of the world, before he created anything in every one of those, he will call and awaken.

And it says why you were yet in your sins. Has he quickened you? That's regeneration. Everything you do after that is an effect, not the cause of it, right? All the good works, all the get baptized, repent, believe all that stuff is stuff you do because you've already been awakened.

So God is the cause of, and God only is the cause of salvation. And God is the only one that did any of the work that saves us. We don't do any work that saves us. He did all the work. And we all know that here in this particular church, thank God.

But here, here you see this, um, they're hearing the word they believe as you go on, so, so the, so the religious leaders that they hated this because there were no works involved in that salvation, you see there, the Jews had developed a system of religion where you had a list you had to check off to get to heaven.

God never created salvation that way. Never. Even in the 400 years before Moses ever existed, Abraham and God had a covenant and God put Abraham to sleep and then God did the covenant and it shows Abraham had no part in it other than to receive it as a gift it's free gift.

It's all of God's work. And that's how salvation worked in the old Testament. And that's how it works now. But people get confused about it. Just like the Jews did. They got involved with a list of things to do thinking that would save them.

Well, so that, that set of Jews hated these two men. Cause they're preaching the gospel said, no, you don't have to keep their rules to be saved. Those won't save you because no one keeps them perfectly unless you keep them all, they can't save you.

So you need a save your, and his name is Jesus. And those men over there crucified him. Now, how do you think that went over? Oh, you shouldn't say unkind things about false people. Yeah, you have to, that's our job.

And sometimes God calls you to stand up and say, that's wrong. That is not what God says gets a person to heaven. And you need to know that that person is wrong. And you have to do that when God calls you to do it, you better know how to tell them why that's wrong.

That's why you come here is to learn and get the ammunition that you need for the battle. And God helped me. If I get to heaven and I did not give you the ammunition. So sometimes you get too much ammunition and I know it more than you can carry, but that's all right.

So they did not like this. Peter filled with the Holy ghost center, them, you rulers of the people in the elders of Israel, Tom to Rome, he was talking to Roman soldiers and the Jewish leaders. And he says, if we, this day be examined of a good deed done to this impotent man, they just healed a man who couldn't walk, made him where he could walk.

They didn't like that either. By what means he is made whole being known. And to all of you, to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who you crucified, who God raised from the dead, proving you wrong, even by him, does this man stand who'd been crippled his whole life?

So you want to kill us for that? You know, you're going to have to kill God because God did it and you can't kill him. So you got to face the fact your religion is wrong and people hate that. And all of these men, except the apostle John were killed eventually because they wouldn't back down from that message right there in the tribulation time.

It's going to be like that for you, your children and your grandchildren. You better be strong because some will die for the faith. Now I will tell you this, the Lord shown me this in recent years, there's a point where the church is no longer called to be the witness to this world.

Do you want to know why I can show you right where it happens? Do you want to know why that is? Because from that moment, you better stop witnessing and go hide. And since God gave you that information, if you're one who gets killed because you didn't pay attention, then that's okay.

You're going to be a martyr, you'll get a better resurrection and all that, but you didn't have to be killed because, because God tells you when that's over and what you need to do at that point. Isn't that something to protect you?

He says he wants to hide you. Do you think God can hide you? You see this, this false theory that you're just raptured and you're not even here as a lie, but what is true is God says he'll hide you if you obey him.

So you'll be hidden and you don't witness anymore at that point. You don't lie. I mean, if someone, if the bureaucrat comes up and says, do you believe in Jesus? You say yes. And they're going to kill you and that's okay.

Or me, right? I mean, if that happens, we know he'll give us the grace to go through it. Won't he? Because Jesus said, whosoever lives and believes in me never dies anyway. So Satan builds up the fear of death way bigger than it should be for the Christian.

We shouldn't even fear it, you know, pain maybe, but not the death. Right? So yeah, we need to be strong. So now see here, they're threatening him. And, uh, be it known to all you guys that crucified him, this is the stone.

Jesus is the stone, which was set at naught by you builders, the Jews, which has become the head of the corner. And you set him at naught and killed him. That's what you did. And wow. How do you think that sermon went over this day?

Well, I'll tell you what, 5 ,000 people got saved. That's more than these friendly preachers that get out there and talk to you. God loves everybody. And Jesus died for everybody. And God's going to save everybody.

They don't have 5 ,000 people saved in that service. Do they? But they're not even preaching the gospel. Well, no one can get saved when they don't hear the gospel. You got to have the water and you got to have the spirit.

It's not enough. Just have the Holy spirit in the room. You've got to have the, the true gospel must be heard. And the Holy spirit must awaken. Those two things have to happen. All right. Neither is there salvation in any other name?

Sean and I sitting there waiting on our baggage at DFW. And there's this little unusual man standing there who claimed he was from east Texas with this very strange woman that he had brought in from California.

It was going to move her here. I'm talking about dressed really weird. And these people were probably 70 ish, but they were fit and everything. And they're sitting over there about like right there. We're waiting on.

And she says, well, you know, I've studied Hinduism and he said, Oh, I've studied a little bit of, of that too. And she said, well, you know, and, um, you know, Islam, I hear is a whole lot like Hinduism.

The two go together really well. I said, yeah, I've heard that too. Never once did they mention Jesus and I talk about Buddha and his teachings and they're into all that. And I'm sitting here just thinking, Lord, you want me to say something?

Cause I will. And he said, Nope, you don't need to say anything this time. So I didn't, not that I heard a voice, but I'm, you know, I was not impressed and Charlotte was over there praying, Lord, don't let David say anything, you know, Lord, Lord, don't let him even hear what they're talking about.

And I was sitting there like this is tapping my foot going, Lord, do I, or don't I, but I didn't get to, so it wasn't as fun as it could have been. But anyway, this is the verse I would have quoted to him.

Either this one, this one says neither. Is there any other name under heaven given among men where you can get saved other than Jesus? That's a good one. But the one I was thinking about is where Jesus said, I am the way and the truth of life and no man comes to the father, but by me, what do you guys think about that?

That's what I wanted to tell him. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant, man, that's me say I've never been to seminary. Now I'm learning a little bit.

I got two degrees from college, which means I had to get over that. You heard me, right? It like took years to get, I'm still getting over that, but I'm unlearned in theology. All I know is what God's taught me from the Bible and my wonderful mentors and my parents and grandparents, some of the grandparents, one of them in particular.

Well, three, the Kentucky grandparents were sweet Christians too. So, I mean, I've had some great mentors, but they would, they would say that about me. I almost had someone tell me that this week in so many words that, you know, like, did you go to seminary, that sort of thing?

So they didn't respect these men, but guess what? 5 ,000 people just got saved because they got the power of God on them. And, and so they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. So in that interesting, they knew something was different about these men.

They'd never been to seminary, but something's different about these men. So they took knowledge of them and belonging, uh, beholding the man, which was healed. I mean, they just, they just prayed over this guy and he got healed.

So they kind of took note of that too. They don't teach that in seminary, by the way. And he was healed standing with them and they could say nothing against them while the crowd was there. Cause the crowd would have jumped on top of them.

If they criticized them while the crowd was there later, they plotted how to kill them. Right. So you see all this, all this stuff going on. I don't have time to read through this. Look at verse 19, but Peter and John answered.

Here's what I wanted to show you from this, that do you think the crowd liked the preaching? I don't mean the ones that got saved. I mean, the government, do you think the government and the Jewish leaders of the false, you know, by works religion, liked the sermon that day?

No, they didn't. So the authorities came to these two men, Peter and John said, look, you need to stop preaching this right now, or you're going to prison. Now I'm telling you this, cause this is not, this is now, this is just now getting to this place.

How many people are facing prison because they walked down to the Capitol on January 6th and just exercised a God-given constitution, given right to speak what they believed. And they're going to prison because they were at that Capitol.

He said, no, it's because they went in. Well, they opened the doors for him to go in. You saw it. I saw it. They invited him in. That was probably planned too, but I shouldn't go there, but here's my point.

They hate the same message today. They hate Christians. They want you to be the bad guy. You don't want you Christians to be the ones that were beating up the people on January 6th. I had Christian friends there.