What the Law cannot do

"For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." (Rom. 8:3).

There's a huge distaste in mankind for righteousness. What is the best definition of righteousness? Self-sacrificing love. Not just any kind of love. Not just any kind of self-sacrifice. But both--always and forever.

Self-sacrificing love might look proper. 

It might look ethical. It might look moral and upstanding. Self-sacrificing love might seem right, as in "the right thing to do". Yet we won't feel like doing it. Nothing like self-sacrificing love opens the private chambers of the soul to the public. The human, either religious/moral or irreligious/amoral, we don't like the scrutiny by strangers. Being humiliated, shamed, guilted, made suspect, these are less objectional to the unregenerate soul, but still impossible to swallow.

Here's the difficulty: Righteousness might look lovely, but it's not loving. This is a tricky distinction, but a real one.

Righteousness must come after love have laid a claim on the heart(s). Righteousness must, for our sakes, come in the form of a deliverer, a rescuer. He must show weak, corrupted sinners His beneficence in their behalf. Thus he gains their confidence, casts down their prejudices, and then offers them righteousness.

Righteousness must come in the form of a deliverer, a rescuer from lingering catastrophes and/or sooncertain disaster. He shows weak, corrupted sinners His beneficence in their behalf, gains their confidence, casts down their prejudices, and then offers them righteousness.

Now the sinners have a new attitude towards the professed friend. The unknown agenda of the benefactor is known, and it's a good agenda. It benefits the sinners for good, the new acceptance of goodness being the result of the beneficence proffered them.

The human race needs to see love. It needs to touch the hand that initiated the contact. In that contact life flows. How great a fire a little touch kindleth!

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1John 1:1-3).

Mine ears or a body

"Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened." (Psa. 40:6).

"Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me." (Heb. 10:5).

"Mine ears hast Thou opened"; "a body hast Thou prepared Me".

Why the discrepancy? We'll look at that in a minute. But first...

A few years ago while visiting Andrews University for a symposium, I heard Dr. Richard Davidson mention that there is no word in Hebrew for "obey", but the word translated "obey" is the Hebrew "hear".

"And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying [H8085] the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey [H8085] is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (1Sam. 15:22). H8085 shama' "to hear intelligently".

Hearing God meant obeying Him. This makes sense if you understand the concept of the circumcised ear, or heart.

"And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." (Isa.6:9,10).

"And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear." (Matt. 12:14-16).

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (Rev. 2:7).

We can't obey God unless we can hear His commands. But, for that our minds must be unprejudiced toward Him, and thus towards His voice, His Spirit. Our ability to listen must not be hampered by dullness. This "dullness" has the sense of intoxication and sleepiness. The ears and eyes are closing. Spiritually, deafness and blindness is setting in.

Some of us get hypnotized when driving long distance. Our eyes are open, but our minds are turned off. Our hands or some other body part may begin to jerk. This is the same action that happens in bed just before dozing off into deep sleep. But when driving, the jerk is a signal of danger. "Assess yourself!! Stop driving ASAP. Take a walk or a nap!"

While traveling the Christian life, are we fully asleep, fully awake, or half and half? Of the last two conditions, the third is the most dangerous, either on the highways or on the straight and narrow way to salvation. It could be compared to the half and half hot and cold soup. Jesus prefers hot. But if the options are cold and lukewarm or cool, He prefers the cold. 

So, we can also conclude that the lukewarm soup that He spews out of His mouth is also His disposition towards the driving while exhausted and half asleep. And it's His same disposition towards His followers who stood in the crowds then, or who sit on church pews today, but whose heart, mind, and soul was/is not engaged to the words spoken. He is no respecter of persons; high up or low in the church, king or priest, poor or fool, He will judge the stubbornly half-hearted as outsiders from the kingdom of God. 

"24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last." (Luke 13:24-30).

The King must have obedience. Therefore the ears must be circumcised; the hearing and thinking must be fully engaged.

Therefore, Psalm 40:6 says, "Mine ears hast Thou opened." It can take a while, but if the soul's need for divine love and acceptance exceed it's love for the flesh, then, eventually the idol will give way to the Spirit of the living God.

But how does this relate to the New Testament translation, "a body hast Thou prepared Me"?

I will defer to the following blog post from Michael Guilkes.

http://michaelgilkes.info/2019/10/06/quotation-quandary-hebrews-105-versus-psalm-406/

Michael used the theological issue of Christ's body at His incarnation to introduce his analysis of Psalm 40:6 and Hebrews 10:5. Was the body that His  Father prepared for Him perfect?

Was it a sin-free body? And if so, then how could He be our example? How could we identify with our Mediator?  Michael nicely dug out the truth of the matter concerning the apparent conflict between Psalm 40:6 and Hebrews 10:5. But he really didn't say much on the subject of Christ's body. 

So, I want to use his analysis of Hebrews 10:5 to introduce my analysis of the nature of Christ.

Hebrews 2:16,17 says, "For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him [the nature of] the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."

The Son of God strongly desired to be "made like unto His brethren". What would we hear from Him if He came to instruct us to overcome our pulls to sin without Himself ever having the pulls of sin. Even the saints suffered with their pulls, while they groan, awaiting "the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:23)? But then if He had the pulls of sin, how could He be an acceptable sacrifice to His Father? How could He be a "Lamb without blemish and without spot" (1Pet. 1:19)?

The mysterious solution is in His Spirit. His body came from Miriam's sinful flesh, but His Spirit came from His Father, who is a most holy Spirit, infinitely holy Spirit of Christ from infinitely holy Spirit of God. And His Spirit dwelled in His Father's bosom before His incarnation, and during His 33 year stay here. 

The very essence of Christ, His thoughts, His mind, was eternally united with His Father's mind, His Spirit. Jesus never disconnected from the bosom of God. Every day, moment by moment, He abode under the shadow of the Almighty. His Father's love powered His perfection. The Father's comfort created the environment for His Son's every victory over the devil. From head to toe, peace filled the person of the Prince. The Father's Spirit from heaven, which is the kingdom of heaven, was sent down and abode on His head. 

"In the heart of Christ, where reigned perfect harmony with God, there was perfect peace. He was never elated by applause, nor dejected by censure or disappointment. Amid the greatest opposition and the most cruel treatment, He was still of good courage....

When we are born from above, the same mind will be in us that was in Jesus, the mind that led Him to humble Himself that we might be saved. Then we shall not be seeking the highest place. We shall desire to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him." Desire of Ages, p. 331.

When we are shamed and guilted by the Schoolmaster, and we flee to Christ for a refuge, then the Schoolmaster justifies us and gives us the promised Spirit, "the Spirit of His Son" "the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15).

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." (Vs. 16). The born-again children of God dwell in Christ's bosom, as He has forever dwelt in His Father's bosom. This is the children's source of victory over the devil and sin. "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (1Cor. 6:17). Our spirit in Christ's mighty Spirit, His mighty Spirit in the Father's almighty SPIRIT. This is the only biblical trinity: the King, the Prince, and Their "whole family in heaven and earth" (Eph. 3:15), "the eternal Spirit" (Heb. 9:14).

Thus, while we live in the eternal haven of God's love we are being sanctified and sealed. His love fills us until it must come out in loving service to others. In His Father's bosom, He must do the same.

"Love for God, zeal for His glory, and love for fallen humanity, brought Jesus to earth to suffer and to die. This was the controlling power of His life. This principle He bids us adopt." Desire of Ages, p. 331.

"There are many whose hearts are aching under a load of care because they seek to reach the world's standard. They have chosen its service, accepted its perplexities, adopted its customs. Thus their character is marred, and their life made a weariness. In order to gratify ambition and worldly desires, they wound the conscience, and bring upon themselves an additional burden of remorse. The continual worry is wearing out the life forces. Our Lord desires them to lay aside this yoke of bondage. He invites them to accept His yoke; He says, 'My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.'" Ibid.

His yoke is His bosom, the "secret place of the most High" and the "shadow of the Almighty" that David was so excited about. We can see why Christ's yoke is so easy. Love! It's like Jacob's seven year servitude to marry Rachel. "And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.... And Jacob loved Rachel; and said [to Laban her father], I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.... And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her." (Gen. 29:11, 18, 20). 

Love makes light burdens. There is no fear in love. Dangers disappear when love is trusted. The medical missionary work will be done in great tribulation. But, the Lord of love, the Prince of Peace says, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Christ's mysterious closing clause can only be understood in the context of love.

"He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." (Psa. 91:4-7).

Helping self by getting to Jesus

"Ye are not your own." (1Cor. 6:19) 

"Under grace....yield ye yourselves servants to ... obedience unto righteousness." (Rom. 6:15,16).

Sanctification, what an utter essential for joining the everlasting kingdom of the unfallen creation! And sanctification is the work of a lifetime, yes it is our work! "The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself." But, does that mean that we are in charge of expelling our sins? Does that mean we have it in our resources to muster up the power to expel sins from our soul? Can a soul under the spell of some overmastering temptation expect to gain the victory over that temptation? No. The victory must be gained before the temptation manifests itself.

An alcoholic can't think that he can hold a bottle of hard drink and be able to eskew deranging his mind. The only way to eskew deranging his mind is to eskew anywhere a bottle might exist, including any seductive advertising exists in regard to alcohol.

But, eskewing the presence of alcohol can only be successful if Jesus gives the conviction, and that conviction leads to repentance and pleading for His power to obey the conviction.

This is exactly what Paul did after all else failed. Over and over he hard charged his conviction and was rebuffed by his spirit hormones to cover. Nothing worked in terms of victory over the lusts of his flesh. Finally Paul surrendered in total helplessness. 

It was at the point of surrendering up sanctification that the Spirit of Christ appeared to him. Paul learned in a split second that the Spirit, the love of God Himself, and His Son suspended must be the active agent in our victory over sin. Being loved made all the difference in eskewing sins.

Being accepted in the Beloved, in the bosom of God with Christ, Paul could "mortify the deeds of the body". To will was now present with him, and how to perform the good thing he found the power to do it.

Only by Paul allowing Jesus to fit through a very small gap in his will when he gave up trying to get sanctified without the vision of Christ's body, did he get the power to overcome his lusts. Until that breakthrough he was nothing more than a Bible wielding megalomaniac. And the same will happen to us all if we try to follow his pattern and succeed in conquering .

a sin.

"The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan's control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God." The Desire of Ages, p. 466.

War in the court room

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

And she brought forth a Man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her Child was caught up unto God, and to His throne....

And there was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him....

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the Man child." (Rev. 12:3-5,7-9,12,13).

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I believe that the war in heaven was a war of Lucifer defending self, and of the holy angels accusing and judging. It was a reaffirmation of mercy toward tempted sinners, and of warning away of the destroying tempters.

Jesus told His disciples the night before His offering that one of the things He was about to accomplish was the judgment of Satan.

"...of judgment [G2920] because the prince of this world is judged [G2919]." (John 16:11).

G2920 krisis "by extension a tribunal", "by implication justice specifically divine Law".

G2919 krino "Properly to distinguish that is to decide...by implication to try, condemn, punish".

When Michael, the Man child, ascended to the Father's throne, it was to begin the trial over Lucifer's treason against the divine government. He had proven himself guilty of regicide against the Father and Son, infanticide against Their infant church, and intrigue against Their Law and righteousness by faith.

Paul gives his perspective of the tribunal in heaven. "...what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." (Rom. 8:3).

Condemning sin would be the first phase of Satan's judgment. Sin is Satan's attempt to improve upon God's kingdom. Clearly, idolatry and self-indulgence have made not a single improvement to the glories of Eden, which was a miniature of the government of God. He had also impersonated God, his voice being held in high esteem by a world whose tendendencies are for his laws of self-indulgence, self-exaltation, self-preservation.

By Michael condemning sin and self-made goodness, and defining sin, which is a cheap imposture of holiness, so that it could be distinguished from the genuine requirements of God, man could be redeemed from rebellion. And Satan's counterfeit of morality could be sentenced to eternal oblivion.

But Satan would not accept his awarded condemnation. Upon his thrust from the courts of heaven and his interment to the penal dot in the universe that he claimed his dominion, he should have received the divine sentence. Then and there, he should have surrendered to the restriction of his freedom and access to the universe.

Instead, he made war against the children who Michael was rearing up to replace the fallen superintendant of angels, because God considered them better than he and his hosts. "Enfeebled and defective as it may appear, the church is the one object upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard. It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts." The Acts of the Apostles, p. 12. As powerful King Saul hunted David in order to exterminate the contender for rulership because he was made better than the tall and stately king, so did the great red dragon and his authoritative beast make every effort to exterminate the people who were made especially in God's image and after Michael's own heart.

"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the Man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." (Rev. 12:13,14).

At the end of the infamous "time, times, and an half" (Dan. 12:7), and in conjunction with Michael's entrance into the Most Holy Place of His Father's sanctuary, Satan would be given special access to the people of God. Earth would be bequeathed to the little horn beast and apostate Protestant representatives of the great red dragon, called the Devil and Satan. He and his two earthly representatives, will reign in the place of God and Michael and His angelic Levites, over a globally united religious world. 

"Ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.... Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matt. 24:15,21).

During the heavenly sanctuary-earthbound church cleansing, trouble would be coming on the earth. Decisions for or against redemption would be forced upon the professors of Michael, for an ultimate showdown and separating of sheep and goats at Armageddon. 

"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of his glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." (Matt. 25:31,32).

When Michael returns with His heavenly forces, then He will enter into phase two of Satan's tribunal, interring him and his armies in the lake of fire, i.e. a world in total shambles and empty of souls, no longer available to control them and tempt them to hate God. However, Michael will not yet at His second advent destroy Satan like He will the beast and the apostate Protestant professors at this time.

For a millennium the hosts of darkness will be in solitary confinement, awaiting their final phase of judgment— the lake of fire that will be a billion times hotter than the beast and apostate Levites had to suffer.

Azazel the escape artist, who never knew sorrow, will finally get his just desserts. "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." (Rev. 13:10).

Through the grace of God and our own diligent effort

But the people were not yet ready to meet their Lord. There was still a work of preparation to be accomplished for them. Light was to be given, directing their minds to the temple of God in heaven; and as they should by faith follow their High Priest in His ministration there, new duties would be revealed. Another message of warning and instruction was to be given to the church. 

Says the prophet: “Who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Malachi 3:2, 3. Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of 

sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14. 

When this work shall have been accomplished, the followers of Christ will be ready for His appearing. “Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” Malachi 3:4. Then the church which our Lord at His coming is to receive to Himself will be a “glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” Ephesians 5:27. Then she will look “forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” Song of Solomon 6:10. 

The dangers of idols

"Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." (Psa. 19:13).

Where did the young prophet first go astray? 

"Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.

And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak." (1 Ki. 13:11-14).

Up until verse 11, the young prophet had done and said everything correctly. What landed him sitting under an oak tree, and not running back to his country, which was a mile (?) away, and to his God? How did he lose his inspiration to complete his mission and flee to home? Was it the altar that was so gravitating? Was it possibly the morally debasing fertility rites? 

Was it something more common. Was it the smells of roasted pork? Was it something more innocuous, like Israelite food with pagan condiments? Was it the look at the auspicious king that broke his attention on the Lord? In his denunciations to Jeroboam, was the young prophet parleying with the king like Eve did with the serpent?

Whatever his error, it appears to have broken Jehovah's first commandment. It caught the young man's lust, and caused his heart's devotion to divide between Jehovah and the gods of Satan. His original ardour for God's honor dissolved. Regardless of the great accomplishment that day, a prophet's national call to obedience must be followed through with the exemplification of his call. Now he must die lest the nation hear of an apostate prophet of Jehovah, and the whole kingdom of Satan have a heyday at Jehovah's expense; lest their rebellion be aroused to renewed vigor, and many souls be lost.

When Moses was traveling to free his beloved people, he brought an idol with him. And he almost got killed for doing that. His idols were also very innocuous. They were his little family from Arabia--his beloved wife and two little boys.

What exactly did they do wrong? Moses listened to his non-Israelite wife, who fought against circumcising their two boys. Moses caved to their self-pity. For every male born, after eight days of taking life easy, the first painful experience must come. Circumcision would send the message, "Get ready, boy, life is not going to be a picnic. You are going to have to strive and struggle to keep your faith and eskew your flesh."

Standing before the avenging angel with drawn sword, Moses' wife quickly grabbed a knife and did the commandment of Jehovah, despite her motherly feelings. Thousands of mothers before her had had to see her babies wail. Her boys weren't going to die, but rather avoid potential disease.

Moses' three idols almost cost him his life. Isaac was another idol that had to be blotted from a father's heart. Not permissible was any competition to love God with all the heart, soul, and body. Moses passed the test--barely. But the young prophet didn't. Eve was another whose idolater did not escape punishing destruction. Mrs. Ezekiel, the dearly beloved of her husband's soul, might have been another. Is this cutting off the over protection for children too harsh? It was aimed at the parents' delinquency. Jehovah wouldn't allow Himself to dispense with empathetic pain. "He...spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." (Rom. 8:32). If God spared not His own Son, then He will not spare any soul who will not take full advantage the Son's agonies for our repentance.

What might be my idol? What my other God? What might be the one thing (or the many things) for which communion with Jesus must be put on hold until I'm done loving this other source of ecstasy and relaxation--a car, house, money, philosophy/doctrine, the "mirror, mirror on the wall", etc.? 

Or, is this very test being met by all of us every day, and failed? Will it go unrecognized, in our blindness and Laodicea peace, until probation has ended and we fail the "great transgression"? Will we agonize and diligently seek the Lord to get us through the great temptations? And to flee the enemy with all our heart.

If we are on a mission for the Lord, perfect representation is imperative, in every word, deed, expression, and thought. Fear to fall into the same loss of fervor that plagued the young prophet, must be our fear. God is no regarder of persons. Did fear to repeat this same loss of Spirit, even for a moment, drive Paul to risk endless assaults upon his reputation and life?

Let's not be devoured by Satan's deceptions, our roaring lion.