In Peter Allison's sermon titled 'The Central Message of the Gospel,' he delves into Acts 23:6 where Paul, on trial before the Sanhedrin, identifies himself as a Pharisee and declares he is being judged for his belief in the hope and resurrection of the dead. This declaration strategically divides the council due to the differing beliefs of the Pharisees and Sadducees on the resurrection. Allison explains that Paul’s assertion is rooted in the scriptural hope of the resurrection, which is a central theme throughout the Old Testament and a foundational element of the Gospel. The resurrection of Jesus is presented as the event that validates His identity as the Son of God, confirming the acceptance of His sacrifice and ensuring eternal life for believers. Allison emphasizes that without the resurrection, Jesus would merely be a failed martyr rather than a victorious Savior. The resurrection provides believers with the assurance of new life, empowerment for godliness, and a future hope of victory over death. In conclusion, Allison calls believers to live in the victory and power of the resurrection, highlighting its transformative impact on faith and life.

Acts chapter 23, beginning at verse 6. But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am being judged." And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection and no angel or spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees party arose and protested saying, We find no evil in this man.

But if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God. Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander fearing Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks. But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome." These testimonies are our heritage forever. They are the rejoicing of our hearts. Gracious Father, please open our hearts to hear Your Word, to understand it, and grant us Gospel obedience of it, and sanctify my lips to proclaim the riches of Your grace.

Keep me from error through Jesus Christ, I ask. Amen. Well, one of the characteristics of human nature is that the enemy of one's enemy can often become a friend, at least for a little while. This characteristic has been demonstrated over and over again in the family context, in the church context sadly, and as well as the political or national context. I've seen husbands and wives that were having a hard time getting along, become very cooperative and very friendly with each other when faced with a common threat.

And of course it happens all the time at the national level. Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked cities. Lot was vexed. But when their enemy defeated them, capturing their women and children and plundering their goods, including Lot and all his goods, then their enemy became Abraham's enemy. And he mounted a counterattack, rescued Lot and all the people and their goods, and afterwards the king of Sodom went out to greet Abraham, and he offered all his goods to Abraham in exchange for his people that Abraham had rescued.

Abraham didn't take it. The Christian nations of Western Europe and the United States have long been enemies of the Muslim world. But when the Afghan Mujahideen were fighting the Red Army of Communist Russia, the United States became their best friend, provided billions of dollars to train and arm their soldiers. Then once the Soviet Union collapsed, we returned to fighting them as our worst enemy in the so-called War on Terror. Well, Paul employs a similar tactic to divide the Jews here, and he instantaneously causes half the people that were trying yesterday to kill him to suddenly reverse their position and assert that, well, they find no evil in this man Paul.

But if that was all that was here, these few verses would probably not warrant a separate sermon in a series on the book of Acts. But that is not all that Paul does here. Paul also proclaims the Gospel. And that's really what we want to focus on this morning. With one sentence, Paul succinctly summarized the Gospel, and at the same time divided his enemies, turning half of them into his supporters.

And this morning I'd like to look at Paul's declaration with three questions. The first is that as a Christian, how could Paul truthfully proclaim that he was a Pharisee? As a Christian, how could Paul say, I am a Pharisee? Secondly, Why did his statement that he is on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead instantly divide this council? And result in this commotion such that the commander, the killiarch, the Roman tribune feels the necessity to bring the soldiers in and carry Paul off again for the second time in a day.

And then thirdly, why does Paul say that he is on trial for the resurrection of the dead? It went up until this point in this conflict over these couple days. No one, including Paul, has said anything about the resurrection. Why does Paul say he's on trial for the resurrection of the dead when that hasn't been to this point mentioned? So those three questions.

How can Paul say he's a Pharisee? Why did his statement that he was on trial for the resurrection of the dead divide the council? And why can he say that about this situation? Well, so the first question, how can he say that he's a Pharisee in all honesty? He's standing before the Sanhedrin, and he perceives that one part is Sadducees and one part is Pharisees.

Paul cries out, or actually he shouted, that he was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. As Lensky notes, the commentator Lensky, and I think correctly, the grammar of this sentence implies something more than Paul merely realizing at that point that the Sanhedrin was comprised of Sadducees and Pharisees, and having the quick wits to come up with a witty way to exploit that difference. Paul would certainly have known that the Sanhedrin was comprised of Sadducees and Pharisees. He had been on the council himself. He was present when they stoned Stephen.

He was holding their clothes. Young's literal translation, I think, gets closest to what is expressed in the original here, where it says, Paul having known that one part are Sadducees and the other part Pharisees shouts out in the Sanhedrin. He cried out with a loud voice. Some translations say he shouted, and I think that's the right idea. Something though had pitted these two factions against each other such that Paul had to shout to be heard.

And he shouts out a doctrine over which the Pharisees and the Sadducees were deeply divided and then identifies himself with one of those factions. Luke doesn't say any more. And so we can't... Anything else that we'd say would be speculation. But as a Christian here, how can Paul say that he's a Pharisee?

Now if he had simply said I'm a Pharisee and stopped there without any further context or or any further statement he he might be accused of saying something that's slightly misleading. But Paul doesn't stop there. He adds, I am a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead. I am judged. The hope and resurrection.

Now, just a comment here. What does it mean to say I'm concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead? The hope and resurrection has been understood as something called a hyndiodis. A hyndiodis is a figure of speech in which an idea is expressed by two nouns that are joined by usually and, two nouns joined by and, instead of a noun and a modifying adjective. So Webster gives the example, we drink from cups and gold, as a way of saying we drink from golden cups.

We don't talk that way, but we do talk about being nice and warm. And we mean by that the pleasantness of being warm. The pleasantness, the nicety of warmth. Or in Exodus 15, 4 to take a biblical example, it says, Pharaoh's chariots and his army. And it means the chariots of Pharaoh's army.

Or Isaiah 4 verse 5 says, a cloud and smoke by day, to mean a cloud of smoke. So you see how two nouns are joined by an and to represent a noun and a limiting adjective. And so I think that's what we have here with the hope and the resurrection. It means the hope of the resurrection. One term is generic, hope, and the other noun specifies that hope more particularly, the hope of the resurrection.

So the hope of the resurrection was the hope of Israel throughout the Old Testament. That's what Paul is identifying with here. He's saying he's on trial for a hope that has been the hope throughout the Old Testament. Just look with me as we take a really quick survey of this hope throughout the Old Testament. Victory over death is implied in God taking Enoch without death.

All the way back in Genesis 5, 23. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not for God took him. For every other patriarch, it says, and the days of their life were this many years, and he died. But Hebrews 11 says it was by faith that Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him, for he had taken him, for before he was taken he had this testimony that he pleased God. Or Abraham.

Abraham had faith in God's power to raise the dead when he offered Isaac his son on the altar. Hebrews 11, 17 says, By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, concluding that God was able to raise him even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense." Abraham had faith in the resurrection. He believed in the resurrection. Or Job, who lived about the time of Moses, or shortly before that, expresses this hope very clearly in Job 19 verse 25, for I know that my Redeemer lives. In the famous words of the Messiah that Handel made famous, I know that my Redeemer lives.

And He shall stand at the last on the earth, and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another, how my heart yearns within me." Job had faith in the resurrection. Or Moses expresses his faith in God's power to raise the dead in his song that's recorded in Deuteronomy 32. He says in verse 29 of God, Now see that I, even I am he, and there is no God beside me. I kill and I make alive. Resurrection.

Or Hannah expresses similar faith in God's power to raise the dead. When she says in 1 Samuel 2, 6, the Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and brings up. See, these saints believed in the resurrection. David also bears witness to the resurrection in Psalm 16, verse 8, I have set the Lord always before me because He is at my right hand.

I shall not be moved, therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices my flesh Shall rest in hope Doesn't say What hope there explicitly but it's the hope of the resurrection For you will not leave My soul in Sheol." This is His hope. This is His sure and certain faith. "...nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show Me the path of life." And in Apostle Peter's Pentecost sermon, he said that David spoke prophetically of Christ's resurrection in that psalm. David's hope of life and his hope that his soul would not be left in Sheol was grounded in Christ's resurrection.

That God would not allow His Holy One to see corruption. Or Isaiah testifies to the resurrection. In Isaiah 25, 8, He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away all tears from all faces. The rebuke of His people He will take away from the earth. For the Lord has spoken." Then he adds in the next chapter, 26-19, "'Your dead shall live.

Together with My dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust. For your due is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." That's a very clear, explicit testimony to the future resurrection. Hosea testifies to the resurrection in Hosea 13-14. I will ransom them from the power of the grave.

I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be your plagues. O grave, I will be your destruction. And Paul quotes this passage in his lengthy discourse on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. Daniel also speaks of the resurrection.

He's speaking, I believe, of the first resurrection that happened in the first century. That which is the first of Christ's first fruits. Our resurrection is yet to come. But in Daniel 12 he says, At that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation, even to that time.

And at that time your people shall be delivered. Everyone who is found written in the book and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." The Old Testament saints. Resurrection in the first century. You see the resurrection was the hope of the Old Testament saints.

It pervades the Scriptures. Jesus even proves it to the Sadducees from the Pentateuch, because they didn't accept the rest of the Old Testament. And so the Pharisees, you see, were biblical in regard to this doctrine of the resurrection. Granted, their practice was in error in many places, but their doctrine was often better than their practice. And this is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 23, verse 2, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do. In other words, their doctrine is right. When they teach you according to the Scriptures, then do that. But do not do according to their works, for they say, and do not do so. So in many cases, they claim to believe the truth, but they didn't practice what they preached.

And so the resurrection then is something which the Christians held in common with the Pharisees, but not with the Sadducees. For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, no angel, no spirit. The Pharisees confess both the resurrection and the spiritual. And so Paul's proclamation that I am a Pharisee and the Son of a Pharisee is in effect saying I am and always have been on the phariseic side as opposed to the Sadduceean side with respect to the resurrection. Which indeed as I connect it with the hope of the Messiah, is the real occasion of my standing here before you today, even if it's not the obvious occasion." See, the Pharisees believed the Old Testament.

They accepted all of the Old Testament as God's Word. They didn't interpret it correctly, but there was nothing in their confession that would deny the faith or be contrary to what someone must believe to be saved. So Paul in that sense is saying, I am a Pharisee. I'm with the Pharisees on this point. Now secondly, why did Paul's proclamation so instantly divide the Council?

We need to understand these two groups just a bit. In the Gospels, you see, we often lump them together because they are both opposed to Christ. But they were not in agreement among themselves. The Pharisees constituted probably the largest and most important group. Some have estimated their numbers at around 6, 000.

They controlled the synagogues and they exercised control over a lot of the people. The term Pharisee just meant separated ones. They were the developers of the oral tradition, which later was written down to become the Talmud. And it's a demonic document. Whenever Jesus is saying, you've heard it said, He's referring to this oral tradition that today would be called the Talmud.

And he corrects their misunderstanding with their oral traditions by going back to the Scriptures. They were concerned to obey the law, the Pharisees were, but they wrongly thought that they could obey it. They were strongly monotheistic. They accepted all the Old Testament as authoritative. They affirmed the reality of these things like angels and demons.

They believed in the resurrection, life after death. They were also missionaries, Matthew 23, 15 says, seeking the conversion of the Gentiles. Jesus said they were very zealous to make converts, but then they corrupted them. They opposed Jesus because he refused to accept their interpretations of the law, and because he claimed to be the Son of God. They didn't deny, or claimed to be the Messiah.

They didn't deny that the Messiah was coming, they just denied that Jesus was the Messiah. The Sadducees, on the other hand, were aristocrats. They were the party of the wealthy, the high priestly families. They were in charge of the temple, its services, all the concessions, all the sale of the sacrificial animals that Jesus condemned, and when He cleansed the temple on those two occasions, that was their money-making machine. They were very wealthy.

Very wealthy. Fantastically wealthy. They were like the international bankers of our era today. They claim to be descendants of Zadok the high priest and they stood in opposition to the Pharisees. They opposed the oral law, their oral traditions.

They only accepted the Pentateuch as the ultimate authority. They were very materialistic, very worldly, unlike the Pharisees, outwardly anyways. And they didn't believe in the resurrection, they didn't believe in rewards or punishment or the existence of demons and angels and so forth. They didn't believe that God was concerned with what people did. And they were also the supporters of Rome.

They were in bed with Rome. You remember, Ananias, we mentioned last week, was so influential in Rome that when he was sent as a prisoner to Rome, he was found innocent and sent back as the high priest. That just speaks to his influence and connections in Rome. And they were vehemently defensive of their wealth and positions. And so they were vehemently opposed, they were the enemies of the Pharisees.

There were other branches in Judaism, the Essenes, the Zealots, the Sakari, but the Pharisees and the Sadducees are the main parties. And so Paul's claim to be a Pharisee because he believed in the hope of the resurrection, created a division in the council so quickly because the Sadducees and the Pharisees were already so deeply divided. They were already enemies of each other. And the only reason that they were united is because they were united in opposition to Christ and His followers. In their view, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

So while they were common enemies, they were united in their opposition to Christ. But these, you see, are fragile coalitions that are easily fractured. And as Paul demonstrates here. And so the third question then is, Why does Paul say that he is on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead? It went up until this point in this conflict, no one including Paul has said anything about the resurrection.

The Jews haven't brought it up. They're ostensibly concerned or upset because Paul has desecrated the temple. The reason is the resurrection is the heart and central hope of the Gospel. And two, the resurrection and death of Christ are inseparably connected. I want to look at those two points.

Because I think they open up for us why Paul makes this claim that he is on trial for the hope and the resurrection of the dead. First, the resurrection and death of Christ are inseparably connected. Christ's death is the complete fulfillment of our salvation. In His death, we are reconciled to God. His righteous judgment is satisfied.

The curse of the law for our sin is removed. And the penalty for that sin is paid in full by Christ's death. But we are also said to be born anew to a living hope not through his death but through his resurrection in 1 Peter 1.3. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." See, our hope of victory over death lies in His resurrection alone. Paul says in Romans 4, 25 that Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification.

So you see, sin is taken away by His death. Righteousness is received and restored by his resurrection. Because if you think about it, you have to put your, as they say, thinking caps, as my teachers used to tell me, you have to put your thinking caps on. How could He have freed us from death if He had merely died and didn't rise again from the dead? He couldn't gain the victory over death if he had failed himself in the battle with death by staying under the power of death.

You see, through his death, sin is extinguished, sin is wiped out, death is defeated, it's extinguished. But through His resurrection, righteousness is restored and life is raised up. It is because of His resurrection that we live in the hope of our resurrection. And this is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13, 4. He suffered in weakness of the flesh, but rose again by the power of the Spirit.

For we also are weak in Him, but we will live with Him by the power of God toward you." And Christ's death and resurrection are also inseparably connected in the scriptures. For example, Paul says in Philippians 3 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and yet he immediately adds after that and the fellowship of His death. Or 1 Peter 1 21, God who raised Christ from the dead and gave him glory so that our faith and hope are in God Christ God who raised Christ from the dead and gave him glory, so that our faith and hope are in God." The power of God which guards us is especially revealed in the resurrection itself. I think Calvin sums it up so simply when he says, quote, So then let us remember that whenever mention is made of his death alone, we are to understand at the same time what belongs to his resurrection. The same synecdoche also applies to the word resurrection.

Whenever it is mentioned separately from death, we are to understand it as including what has to do especially with his death, because he obtained the victor's prize by rising again." And so Paul rightly contends that faith is annulled and the Gospel empty and deceiving if Christ's resurrection is not fixed in our hearts." End of quote of Calvin. And so when Paul speaks here then of the hope of the resurrection, we should understand that this also encompasses all that is included in His death as well. And so secondly then, the resurrection is the heart and it's the central hope of the Gospel. The hope of the resurrection subsumes all that is included in our salvation. The hope of the resurrection subsumes all that is included in our salvation.

The hope of the resurrection subsumes all that is included in our salvation. All that is encompassed in our salvation. The resurrection is essential to the Gospel because it validates Jesus' identity and His mission. Without the resurrection, Jesus claims to be the Son of God and the Savior would collapse and His death would be just a defeat instead of a victorious sacrifice. And Paul makes this very clear in 1 Corinthians 15, 14, where he says, But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

If there is no resurrection of us, then Christ isn't risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty or in vain. And your faith is empty or in vain. You see, the resurrection is the event that transforms the defeat of the cross into victory and thus hope for us. Okay, the resurrection then confirms that Christ is the Son of God.

Paul's letter to the Romans is one of the most exhaustive and comprehensive presentations of the Gospel in Scripture. And this is how he opens that letter in Romans 1. Paul called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection powerfully declares that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. And that He has authority over life and death.

The resurrection is essentially God's public vindication of Jesus, proving that Christ's sacrifice for our sin was accepted. And it shows that His promises to us are trustworthy. The resurrection also guarantees that Christ's incarnation is forever. So in the incarnation is Christ taking to Himself a human nature, a true body and a reasonable soul. And the birth of Christ demonstrates that Jesus was fully man.

And that's important because Christ has to be a man in order to be our substitute and our representative and to bear our sin in our place, our sin bearer. And he also has to be God, because unless he's God, he needs to be God to be able to bear the wrath of God for all of our sin. No mere human could do that. And so the incarnation is a very important doctrine. But the resurrection is just as important as Christ's birth because the incarnation would only be temporary without the resurrection.

If Christ's body is in the grave and is eaten by worms and decays, then their incarnation is temporary. The resurrection shows that the humanity of Christ is an eternal reality. That He has a glorified body that will never see decay, was not left in Sheol, and that He lives, He ever lives, to make intercession for us, something He couldn't do as the God-man if His body was still in the grave. And so the resurrection guarantees for all eternity that we will have a mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, making intercession for us at the right hand of the throne of God. The resurrection is really inseparable from the message of salvation.

So while Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for sin, His resurrection is the proof that the payment was accepted. And you know what they say in court, without the receipt you have no proof. It didn't happen. The resurrection is the receipt, the proof That Christ's payment that is of our sins is accepted by God. And that as believers we are justified in Christ's and God's sight.

Paul writes in Romans 4, Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised for our justification, as we've said. And so without that resurrection, there's no assurance. And that's why Paul can say in 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. The resurrection, fifthly, is the power for new life. See, the resurrection is not only about what happened to Jesus, it's also about what happens to us who believe in Him.

Through union with the risen Christ, we receive new spiritual life. The resurrection is what empowers us and enables us to live transformed lives, free from the bondage of sin and empowered for obedience, Godly gospel obedience. 1 Peter 1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead." And a little later in verse 21, "'Who through Him believe in God, Who raised Him from the dead, And gave Him glory, So that your faith and hope are in God. See, the resurrection is what assures us that our labors are not in vain.

And Paul concludes his discourse on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 with this, therefore. Therefore. The end of that lengthy discourse is a therefore, meaning in light of everything that went before, in light of this extended discussion on the resurrection and the importance of the resurrection, this is what it means. This is its significance for us. Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." That's the significance of the resurrection for us.

It's a power for a new life. But it's also, sixly, our hope for future and final victory. See, the resurrection is the guarantee of our future resurrection, Christ's resurrection. It's a guarantee of our future resurrection for all who are in Christ. It assures us that our death, the separation of our body and soul, the decomposition of that body being eaten by worms or fish or whatever, burned in a fire, is not the end.

And that we too will be raised even as Christ was raised. You see, So this message of the resurrection is the central message of the Gospel. And it's central message to our victory over sin, over death and evil. And that's why Paul can say he was on trial for the hope of the resurrection Because he was rejected by the Pharisees and the Sadducees because he believed that Jesus rose again. Jesus was the Messiah.

And he was saying that they had missed the Messiah. So if we just run through this again, in summary, without the resurrection, Jesus is just a heroic martyr, but a failed Messiah. With the resurrection, He's the vindicated Son of God, He's the reigning Messiah. Without the resurrection, our faith is futile. With the resurrection of Christ, we have assurance that our sins have been forgiven and Christ's righteousness is accepted.

Without the resurrection, the apostles were disillusioned, scattered, weak. After Christ's resurrection and the coming of the Spirit, remember Christ had to ascend for the Spirit to come. Then the disciples are emboldened, empowered, and the gospel proclaimed. Without the resurrection, we have no power for the new and transformed life. But with the resurrection, we are born again and empowered for godliness.

Without the resurrection, there's no future hope of justice. But with the resurrection of Christ, we know for certain that we will be raised, that there is everlasting life, and that God is the just, eternal King. We really ought to live each day in the victory and the power of the resurrection. We have to study the resurrection. It's the point at which all history changed.

See, the cross and the resurrection don't start another repeat of the downward cycle that we saw throughout the Old Testament where there was restoration, there was victory, there was prosperity, there was falling away into sin and a judgment. And that cycle is simply repeated over and over again. The cross and the resurrection are not just another repetition of that cycle. It's reversed history. Christ is reigning, and He will reign until He's put all His enemies under His feet." And so it gives us hope.

This is what saves us from the eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die. It enables us to have a future-oriented hope, a sure and certain knowledge of Christ's victory over all His enemies. Father in Heaven, we thank You for this hope of the resurrection, for which Paul was willing to go on trial, for which Paul was willing to risk his life and did, give his life for that cause. We ask, Lord, that we may understand all that You have done in raising from the dead. You, no one took Your life.

You laid it down of Your own will and You took it up of Your own power. We thank you for this victory, for this hope that it gives us not a mere speculation but a sure and certain knowledge. Evidence of things that we don't see, but we know are coming. Father, we ask for Your grace To live each day in this hope and in this victory, to not be looking past, to be forgetting the things that are behind us, and to be looking forward. To be pressing onward for the upward call in Christ.

We ask, Lord, that each day in this week, as we move forward, that we would live in this victory, that we would live in this future oriented hope. That you would give to us steadfastness, boldness, that we might be unmovable by the power of your resurrection. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.