(Revelations of the Gospel) 1. a Revelation of Self — Jason Robinson

Many of us that are here tonight, it's almost like we find ourselves in a maze called American Christianity and we're trying to find Jesus in this maze and just picture this in your mind. There's all these dead ends in this maze and there's just thousands of different voices saying come down this you know this way and come down this way and so many different voices out there you know proclaiming that they have the path to God.

And I spent many years you know having not grown up in a Christian home and spent many years seeking reality and seeking to know the Creator even after conversion going to this church for a while and seeing things in the scripture that didn't line up and going to this church for a while and many times I found myself discouraged and to the point of almost wanting to quit trying to find my way out of this maze called American Christianity.

And one day God said just sit down in the maze and quit trying to to find me you know through these paths because the answers I've already given to to you in the scripture. So what I want to do tonight is just turn to the scriptures with all the confusion that's out there and with all the different voices saying many different things I just want to be faithful to call us back to the simplicity of the scripture and I want to do it in the most foundational of areas the gospel because there's many people saying many different things about the gospel.

So if you have it if you have your Bible I'd encourage you to try to to turn with me for sake of time I'll probably go through at least a dozen or two verses here but I just want to look at the gospel and we're going to be sharing tonight two messages tomorrow and one on Sunday and it's it's going to be a theme throughout the whole weekend and I'm gonna call it 16 revelations of the gospel and we'll try to do four tonight the gospel.

A lot of people don't realize that the gospel means good news and so many different people are saying well this is the gospel and in other churches saying you know this is the gospel and this is how to know God.

You drive down a road in America for 10 minutes and you'll pass a dozen churches all saying totally different things from the Bible saying you know this is the gospel and but let's just go to the scriptures with a humble heart and just see what the gospel is because it's almost like there's there's many different facets to the gospel.

It's one thing it's the gospel but there's like different facets to it like a like a crystal. If I were to take a crystal and put it under this light you know the guys over here may see green and the guys over here may see red.

It's one crystal but there's different facets and there's the gospel but there's like different ingredients to it there's different aspects of it. And unfortunately what's happening in America and in the world for that matter is many that claim Christ many churches that preach the Bible they're only showing one or two aspects of the gospel and not the full gospel.

But if you look at Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1 in verse 6 Paul writing to a church there that he had planted who had been influenced by someone in the church that was pulling them back to the legalistic righteousness he says in verse 6 I am astonished that you're so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all.

Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and they're trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you let him be eternally condemned as we have already said now.

So now I say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you have accepted let him be eternally condemned. Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God or am I trying to please men.

If I'm still trying to please men I would not be a servant of Christ. So there's only one true gospel or you could say complete gospel and a gospel that's not stripped of any aspect of it. And it's almost like it's almost like the if if the devil the enemy can get us off on this one thing then everything after that is going to be wrong.

You know they say if you fly from from New York City to LA and you're off one degree you'll end up in Texas just you know on your calculations. And if if the enemy can just get us off a little bit in this area right off the bat the starting point of our journey to know the Creator if he can get us off in the area of the gospel then we'll just get farther and farther away from it from knowing God.

And you know that's the essence of a counterfeit. Nobody nobody counterfeits toilet paper. Nobody counterfeits. You know something that's not valuable people counterfeit what's valuable. And the enemy has counterfeited the gospel with so many other Gospels.

And they look you know like a counterfeit it looks so right. And there's verses that you can turn to in the Bible and it sounds so good but it's so important for everyone here to examine even if we have a counterfeit you know supposing supposing.

You were a dual citizen in Iraq in 2003 right before the war and you're being told to get out of the country and you have a plane ticket and you know okay I have to leave in a week because they're going to start bombing.

I mean that whole entire week you're packing you're preparing. You get all ready to go and you get to the airport and you hand them your plane ticket and it was a counterfeit. And for that whole week you know you've been prepared to leave and now you can't leave because you had bought a counterfeit.

And unfortunately that is what's happening all over the world many people are banking their eternal soul on a counterfeit. Gospel. It looks right. And they're sincere they're going to church they're involved in ministry but they don't even know Jesus because they've been sold something that doesn't line up with with God's heart and the scriptures.

You know there's a story that kind of illustrates this perfectly. I think it was World Series in the 40s it was I think it was like game seven. Each team had won three games. It was the bottom of the ninth inning and a team was down by three points and the bases were loaded and a guy got up to bat and he hit a grand slam.

So they win the game. He runs around first all that you know people are cheering. He gets goes around second goes around third all his teammates are sitting at home waiting for him and he jumps on the plate home plate and the ref says out and the whole you know stadium gets silent.

What do you mean out. I just had a grand slam home run. You know we won the World Series. He said you didn't step on the first base. You're out and that's what it's going to be like in the day of judgment people are living their whole life and in a sincere way seeking after God but they missed first base.

And you know Paul says this in Romans about religious people they have a great zeal for God but it's not according to knowledge and and you look in this country there's a lot of zeal for God but it's not according to the knowledge of the scripture.

So it's really advantageous for us to go to the scriptures this weekend with a sincere heart and say do I know the gospel the way that Jesus has preached it in the New Testament. I find it ironic. Allen had sent out this Facebook thing and you know a few years ago there was a lot of things stirred up and the town you know that he was from and somebody had seen this this weekend you know on Facebook and they had kind of made a little post on the wall below that and I just happened to notice it and I think they were serious.

I hope they weren't but they basically said I'm not going to be coming and they said and I quote so as I blissfully follow my Lord though he may be wrong I won't come and what I got out of that is like well even if I'm wrong I don't care because I'm just gonna blissfully follow.

You know what I've always been taught and and that's unfortunately the way it is with a lot of people when when you get a revelation of what the gospel really means and and you get it and it saves you and it transforms you and it gives you peace and joy.

And you try to show it to someone else and they just don't care because there isn't a love for the truth. It's like it's like that person has that counterfeit ticket and you're saying listen you're not gonna be able to leave the country though the bombs are gonna come you're gonna die.

That ticket isn't gonna get you on the plane and they just want to believe that that ticket is. And you convince them that it isn't and they just don't care. And unfortunately that that's the way it is.

You know I mean for thousands of years people believe that the world was flat. And then people would come along and say you know look as the ships go out into the ocean you know the the sails get smaller and smaller.

It can't be flat. It has to be round. And they plead with people. You know it's round and they know it's flat. My dad believed it was flat. My granddad believed it was flat. The world is flat. And then they threatened to kill him.

You need to quit saying the world is round or we're gonna kill you. And it's the same thing today with the gospel. People have believed for years. Their dad believed something and their granddad believed something and and they don't want to know anything different.

You know Stephen is preaching to the religious people in his day and it says they plug their ears. You know they just shut up. You have to shut up. And they gnashed upon him with his teeth. And and my prayer is that myself included that we would not shut our ears that we would look at the scriptures in this area that that we would have a love for truth no matter what that truth was no matter where it took us we would follow truth at any cost.

You know look at this verse 2nd. 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. Very important verse in this regards of loving the truth. 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. And I understand the context here is ultimately in reference to the end in times.

But there's a principle here that that applies to what we're speaking about. 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. Verse 9. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles signs and wonders.

And in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing they perish because they refuse to love the truth. And so be saved for this reason because they refuse to love the truth. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.

And so that all will be condemned. Who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. So it noticed that the root problem for the people that hit speaking about here is they did not love the truth.

When truth was was shown to them they didn't love it. And look at the ironic thing in verse 11. For this reason because they did not love the truth God sends them a powerful delusion. So you see I have my my flesh is deceiving me.

The devil is trying to deceive me. False prophets are trying to deceive me. But this word says if I don't love the truth God is going to deceive me. God is going to send a deluding spirit so that I'll believe a lie.

I'll believe something and I'll be totally sincere about it and devoted to it. But it will be false and God will allow me to be deceived. Now I don't know about you but that scares me. Maybe I can resist my flesh deceiving me.

Maybe I can resist the devil trying to deceive me. Maybe I can resist false prophets. But if God's trying to deceive me I'm done. There's no way I'm gonna be able to resist God trying to deceive me. And and you turn on the cable TV and turn it on to some religious channel.

You know some of the cable networks there's like ten channels in a row and just watch it. Just turn to this channel and turn to that channel and the crazy things that you see people doing and they're totally sincere.

I don't question their heart their sincerity. I don't judge them for that. But people barking like dogs and having laughing sessions and and all kinds of crazy things and they're deceived. Why are they so deceived.

Because at some point in time in their life when presented with truth they didn't love that truth. We have to have a an absolute love for truth at any cost. You know if supposing I'm driving to a meeting or I have you know an appointment at somewhere and I'm 15 minutes away and I have to be there in 15 minutes.

But I'm a half an hour from being there. Now I could take my clock and set my clock back 15 minutes and say oh I'm gonna be on time you know and everything's fine but just because I set the clock back that's not reality.

See this is reality. And see that's what many people are doing there. They're deceiving themselves that everything's okay because they're not loving the truth. Truth is reality. Reality is time. Reality is you know what we're in.

And in my mind I can change I can change that but I'm still subject to the laws of reality. And it's the same in the spiritual realm. I can believe certain things but if they're contrary to God's truth I'm ultimately going to to reap from my false beliefs.

And you know just like a mirror I'm looking in a mirror. A mirror is reality. I might have this image that I'm six foot five and skinnier than I really am. But when I look in the mirror reality sets in I'm like bummer you know and it's the same thing spiritually.

I may have this image in my mind that you know this is what God's like and this is how I am spiritually. But when God's mirror comes the spiritual mirror the way God sees me how I really am the way my motives are the way my heart is when he really sees me.

That's reality. And it's my prayer this weekend that we all could see reality that all the deception the self-deception all our delusions would be ripped away and that we would be in total reality before God because that's the essence of the gospel.

You see I mean God's doing something in this area with Alan and some of his friends and people coming to Christ and it's important in a time like this to lay a deep foundation. You know when they build a skyscraper they lay the foundation for years they're still building the foundation to the New World Trade Centers after years they just go deep and deep and deep.

And as God begins to do something in this area it's really important that you guys lay a deep foundation in this area of the gospel because unfortunately a lot of college ministries coffee shops you know churches that are trying to be relevant to their culture this is what they kind of pass over this deep foundation of the gospel and they get sidetracked on the ministry and ways that we can affect the culture.

And they kind of get affected by man's philosophies and kind of music we're gonna have and how we're gonna look different I'm gonna put gel in my hair and wear jeans you know and that'll be cool and we'll have a coffee shop and all that stuff's fine.

But the foundation has to be the gospel first. And if that foundation isn't laid deep then whatever ministry there is it'll just be powerless and that's what we see. I mean how many college ministries do you know about all over the country there's you go to any college and there's 50 different college ministries.

But how many colleges are seeing revival. You know seeing soul saved lives changed. I mean it's very rare even though there's many ministries and the reason this isn't happening the reason is because unfortunately sincere Christians that want to help people are being more influenced by men's philosophies and Christian post-modernism than they are by the scripture.

So I'm just I'm just begging us let's turn to the scripture and look at these 16 different aspects of the gospel so that you know we can see reality. If you look here at John chapter 12 Jesus says in John 12 48 he that rejects me and receives not my words has one that judges him.

The word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day. So what I get out of this verse is when I die and I stand before Jesus he's not even gonna judge me. His word is gonna judge me. So God has had mercy and he's kind of like it's kind of like a teacher giving you a test and they give you the textbook too you know so you can find all the answers there.

You don't have to worry about forgetting anything. Here's the test. Here's a textbook. Jesus says in the last day I'm not even gonna judge you. My words are gonna judge you. So it's extremely important for us to line our lives up with his word because that's what we're gonna have to give an account to in the day of judgment his word and and again so many different groups they're they're they're getting away from the importance of God's Word and in caving into culture to fads you go into so many Christian bookstores and there's so many different ideas about how to have a church and and all these they sound fine but is it lined up with the Word of God.

Because that's what's gonna judge me in the final day is God's Word. So as I said before the gospel is like it's kind of like your grandma's recipe she's got this really awesome cake and you eat it and you're like that is the best cake in the world.

Can you give that recipe to my to my wife so she can make it for me. Let's say let's say my wife gets the recipe and she says well I don't want to put so much of this in and I don't want to put that ingredient and it's bad for you.

And maybe I can add some of this ingredient she kind of changes the recipe a little bit is the is the cake still gonna taste the same. No it's gonna taste different because the ingredients are different.

And it's the same thing with the gospel. When we look at the gospel in the scriptures it's like a recipe and what what Christianity has done is they've taken some aspects out and maybe even added other aspects and so subsequently the result that we're seeing is different than when we look in the book of Acts.

When we look in the book of Acts we see people radically saved lives changed things happening people delivered. And we will we look around here and it's like man it's discouraging and the reason is we've taken the recipe and we've we've added to it and taken from it.

So I want to look at 16 different ingredients if you will of this gospel these are not 16 different things you have to do to be saved. I'm not saying that but if you take and dissect the gospel these are 16 different vital ingredients and many of them are lacking and I would bet that probably half the people here by the time we get done we'll say man I never even heard that before and here it's in a cream a key ingredient to the gospel and they never even heard about it before.

So you know really important to to love the truth and in say I'm willing to entertain the possibility that the gospel that I received was not the real gospel. Because you know a lot of times we when we see somebody sincere we can justify things and you know I can see I can be sincere and I can start driving north and say I'm going to Texas and I'm totally sincere but I'm sincerely wrong because I'm never going to get to Texas by going north and as we look around we see millions of people that are sincerely wrong and I'm not saying this out of a judgmental attitude.

Well they're wrong because I'm right I'm a total loser. And if you knew my past you know you'd agree but I believe that I've just said okay I'm not going to be influenced by men. I just want to look at the scripture and I just want to believe what it says and not turn to a commentary and eloquent men that kind of say well it doesn't really mean what it says.

You know how when they have the three peanut things you know and and you don't know what happened in so many people. They read the Bible and they see yeah that's what it says. And then they go to their pastor and they well it really doesn't say that.

Oh I guess it doesn't say that. And you go away you know not believing the Bible but it made sense while he was doing it and and see we have this lust. Mankind has a lust for sex. Mankind has a lust for money.

Mankind has a lust for food. There's all kinds of lusts in us and one of the lusts that mankind naturally has is religion. I've been to deep remote parts. I've been to villages in Africa where they've never seen white people before.

I've been in villages in Haiti where they've never seen white people before. I've been to India where there's a billion Hindus everywhere that I've been all over the world there are people that are religious.

They're just naturally religious because mankind is a sexual being and he's a religious being and he'll carve a piece of wood and worship it or find some animal and worship it because we are just religious in nature.

But being religious is not what I'm speaking about. I'm talking about reality. See I can make a piece of wood and worship it and say it's God. But that's not reality. And I may be sincere but I'm wrong.

And it's the same thing in America. There are millions of people that are sincerely singing the same songs that we sung tonight going to church on Sunday morning Sunday evening Tuesday night Bible study Wednesday night church Friday night you know youth group volleyball Bible study every week and they're just singing.

You know Jesus I love you. I know you're mine and and they're sincere but we need to see that that doesn't mean that they have reality. There is a lust for religion. And they may have taken their existing lifestyle and they may have found a Jesus that fits their existing lifestyle.

Look at this verse. It's real eye-opening in Exodus chapter 32. Exodus 32 and we all know the context. I assume where God goes to Pharaoh and says let my people go. And in Pharaoh says no. And then there comes the plagues.

And eventually Pharaoh says okay you can leave supernatural miracle after miracle after miracle God finally lets Israel be released from this bondage. They're free. And then Moses goes away for a while.

And then we get to chapter 32. Verse 1 and it says when the people saw that Moses was so long and coming down from the mountain they gathered around Aaron and said come make us gods who will go before us.

As for this fellow Moses who brought us out of Egypt we don't know what happened to him. Aaron answered them take off the gold earrings from your wives and the sons and your daughters that the ones that they're wearing and bring them unto me.

So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they had handed him and made it into an idol cast into the shape of a calf fashioning it with a tool. Then they said these are your gods Oh Israel who brought you out of Egypt.

When Aaron saw this he built an altar in front of the calf and announced tomorrow there will be a festival under the Lord. So the next day the people rose up early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings.

Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up and indulged in play. So notice something here they take this gold they form it into a calf. And then they say you know that God that did all the miracles that brought you out of Egypt.

This is him this is that God. Now what was that God's name. In the Old Testament anybody know Jehovah. But he says this is Jehovah. And hey guess what. Tomorrow we're gonna have a feast too and notice what it says in verse 5 we're gonna have a festival to Jehovah.

And here he is. And they paid money to this Jehovah. They did sacrifices. They're really sincere and and and then they had a party afterwards. And that's exactly what we see in American Christianity today people take an image that they have made and they call it Jesus.

You see they're going along a certain way living a certain lifestyle and then they they take that lifestyle because there's this lust for religion and they make that lifestyle into a God and call it Jesus.

And and that's why you have people spending notice all the money that they spent. There was sacrifice in this. They you know gave up their jewelry. They gave up their money and it's the same thing today.

There's many many groups that are sacrificing money. They're sacrificing time. They're building buildings. They're given to the poor. There's a lot of sincerity in this. But notice they were sincerely wrong.

Was that golden calf Jehovah. No. And as we look around in this country and we see all these different Jesus's they can't all be right. It's it's impossible. There's there's one Jesus and then there's false Jesus.

And you have there's a phrase that's really important you it says goes like this you you will either live what you believe or you will believe what you're already living. There's another phrase that goes along with that which is morality dictates doctrine.

So what that means is if I'm living my life a certain way I'm either going to take what I believe and reconcile it with how I'm already living or I have to take how I'm living and reconcile it with what I see truth to be.

And that's what a lot of people refuse to do. They don't want to reconcile how they're living to the scripture. They want to reconcile the scripture to how they're living. So that's why you have churches that say Jesus was a homosexual and he you know was his lover was John.

And and they say David and Jonathan were homosexuals. And and they sing Bible songs and they have a cross and they have a building and they're really sincere. Okay. But this one thing they say we're different on this one thing it's okay to be homosexual.

The New Testament doesn't condemn that. Well I'm not here to condemn them. I'm just giving this as an example. That's where morality has dictated doctrine. You see and it and I'm not just saying that about them.

There's so many different groups. You have churches saying that it's God's will for you to be healthy wealthy and wise and that God wants you to prosper. And if you're not prospering if you're not wealthy it's sin.

Well it's really easy to preach that in the United States. Well until about two or three months ago before the recession. But you know see how morality dictates doctrine. So some guy in the United States making $150 ,000 a year he's got a $400 ,000 house and he says look it's God's will.

God wants us to be wealthy. And in fact if you're not wealthy it's a sin. Well go preach that in India or in Haiti you know it's impossible for them to see that that. You know this is the way it has to be.

There's no there's no jobs. You know there's no hospitals. But that's just a simple example of how somebody takes their existing lifestyle and they read into the Bible how they're already living. And there's so many there's so many examples of this.

And my plea tonight is that we peel away from our existing lifestyle from our morality and that we be willing to look at the scripture and reconcile our life to scripture instead of vice versa. Okay so let's look at four of these real quick number one and I'm going to call these instead of ingredients 16 I'm going to call them 16 revelations of the gospel.

And what I mean by revelation is I could sit up here and spew forth knowledge and you can intellectually agree with with that knowledge and go away not knowing God but see revelation or illumination when it comes it's supernatural.

I'm just you know bag of dust loser guy that is nothing. But if God somehow can speak through his word and illuminate things to a person or give them revelation then that can actually have an eternal effect on someone.

So what we need is revelation not just an intellectual understanding. So I'm going to call this 16 revelations of the gospel. And each of these we myself included we need to see them as like a revelation like wow and not just an understanding in our head.

So number one the first revelation of the gospel a revelation of your unholy vile condition before a holy pure creator a revelation of your unholy vile condition before a holy pure creator. And unfortunately this is one of the main missing missing ingredients in today's modern-day American gospel.

Sincere men have have watered this down in an attempt to make the gospel more appealing. But that but that's really dangerous. Because how are we going to be saved unless we see what we need to be saved from.

You know if I say you need to be saved to Joe Schmoes walk down the road hey you need to be saved from. What. Well you just need to come to church. You know he needs to see what he needs to be saved from.

And what's happened is that there's been this great watering down of the first element of the gospel which is this revelation comes upon a lost soul. I'm wicked I'm vile I'm unholy and it within that same number one ingredient a revelation of God and that he's holy.

But today the way the gospel is presented and I would encourage you go to any Christian bookstore go to the back of your church pull up any gospel track I should say 90 of gospel tracks and you'll see a pattern you're a sinner you're going to hell Jesus came to pay for your sins.

It's it's this it's summarized. You're a sinner you're going to hell. Jesus came to pay for your sin. You know and if you say this prayer you'll be saved. And the the aspect of you're a one sentence of the message of the gospel and you listen to a lot of gospel preaching.

You read a lot of Christian books and it's just mentioned in passing almost I was at a Christian concert last night really good band that I really appreciate the guy preached you know a little three-minute salvation message.

Everything he said was true and I agreed with him but the problem was it wasn't complete. You see he said one sentence in the in reference to our sinful state before God. And then he spent a lot of time you know talking about God's love and God's love is important but all I'm saying is all of these ingredients are important and this is the first one it's foundational that the revelation that comes over me that that I am evil that I'm wicked that I'm unholy and the revelation I look at God I see how pure he is I see how holy is.

And and this this hits me like a ton of bricks and it sobers me up and it causes me to be broken before him. It's it's hardly spoken on especially in you know emergent type churches and coffee houses it because it's I mean who wants to say that to somebody.

You know I mean it's it's not a positive thing. You know like hey do you realize you're wicked. You know it makes you feel uncomfortable saying that. But it's so important because we need to see what we what we need to be saved from.

And and you know you look at the story of Adam and Eve and you know God said don't eat the tree. And they you know it says she saw that it was good and she you know chose to disobey God. What was the essence of that sin there in the garden the at the essence was she chose the thing that was created over fellowship and relationship with the Creator.

She'd rather have the created thing than a creator. And when I say we're all wicked we're all vile. I'm not saying we're murderers. And and you know we're rapists. But a lot of times that is the standard in our mind when I say you know when you think of evil you think of Hitler some of the London or something.

When I talk about evil here's my definition. Whenever I choose a created thing over fellowship with the Creator that's evil. I mean what did they do. That was so immoral in the Garden of Eden. It doesn't say they got drunk or they killed people.

It's they ate a fruit. What's so evil about eating a fruit. God said you can have all the fruit in this whole garden just not this one fruit. And they chose that created thing knowing that the punishment was death.

They said we don't care. We want Adam more so than Eve. We'd rather have this created thing than fellowship with the Creator. And and my encouragement tonight is that we see the that that is evil. God has made us for fellowship.

He's made us for a relationship. And we all from time to time in our life have said no to that. And we've chosen things. And and that's the essence or one of the essences of evil. We've broken his laws.

You know I have four kids. I love my kids. I train my kids. You're not allowed to go out into the street because I love them. I don't want him to get by a car. I have a rule. If you go out into the street there's punishment.

God has made us. He knows what's best for us. He set up rules for us to live by. And when we violate those rules that's called sin. And let's look at this real quick Romans chapter 3. And then we'll move on to the next one.

Romans chapter 3 verse 9. And I'd encourage you to ask yourself how many times do you hear this type of Romans chapter 3 verbiage in modern-day preaching or gospel tracks a lot of times it's so positive.

And and and it's true. God is love. God is mercy. God loves you. He died for you. That's all true. I'm not downplaying any of that. But how many times do you hear this. Romans chapter 3 verse 9. What shall we conclude then.

Are we any better. No not at all. We have all ready made the charge that the Jews and the Gentiles alike are all under sin as it is written. There is no righteous not even one. There is no one who understands no one who seeks God.

All have turned away. They've all together become worthless. There is no one who does good not even one. Their throat is an open grave. Their tongues practice deceit. Poison of vipers is on their lips.

Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery mark their ways and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Some people say man that's pretty negative.