0:00

How firm a foundation

0:02

ye sakes of the

0:04

Lord is lay for

0:06

your faith in his

0:08

excellent work. As you

0:11

stream movies or music,

0:13

you likely pick up

0:15

a common theme. People

0:18

are on an insatiable search

0:20

for satisfaction and happiness, or

0:22

maybe just peace. Sadly, there's

0:24

really no lasting happiness or

0:26

peace in this life apart

0:28

from a relationship with Jesus

0:30

Christ. And that's what we

0:32

look at in this study

0:34

on Through the Bible with

0:36

our teacher Dr. J. Vernon

0:38

McGee. I'm Steve Schwets, and

0:40

we're in the book of

0:42

First Peter chapter 3, and

0:44

as you find it, here's

0:47

a special introduction from Dr. McGee.

0:49

He's reading from First Peter 3, verse

0:51

6, which says, as Sarah obeyed

0:53

Abraham, calling him Lord.

0:55

Sarah called Abraham Lord.

0:57

It might be well to go

0:59

back and see the story itself

1:02

and see in what way their

1:04

relationship worked out. And

1:07

I go first to the 16th

1:09

chapter of Genesis and we

1:11

read there now, Sarah, Abrams'

1:13

wife, bear him no children.

1:16

And she had an handmade

1:18

an Egyptian whose name

1:20

was Haga. And Sarah

1:22

said unto Abraham, Behold

1:25

now, the Lord hath restrained

1:27

me from bearing. I pray

1:29

thee, go in unto my maid. It

1:31

may be that I may obtain

1:33

children by her, and Abraham

1:35

hearken to the voice of

1:37

Sarah. Now who's listening

1:39

to whom here? Abraham is

1:42

listening to Sarah. But not

1:44

later on, that little boy

1:46

Ishmael is born into the home.

1:48

and then later Isaac is born

1:51

to Sarah and I tell you

1:53

that became a great bane

1:55

to her existence and finally

1:57

one day she said to

1:59

Abraham You're going to have to

2:01

get this brat out of here. He's

2:03

not going to inherit with my son.

2:06

And actually, Abraham did not want to

2:08

send that boy away, because after all,

2:10

Ishmael was his son. And he said

2:12

to the Lord, Oh, Lord, that Ishmael

2:14

might live before me. And the Lord

2:16

said, No, sayer is right. You're going

2:18

to have to send that boy away.

2:20

You see, Abraham, listen to sayerr then.

2:23

at the time of taking Hager, and

2:25

now after the child is born, again

2:27

he listens to her. She says, you're

2:29

going to have to get that boy

2:31

out of here, and out he goes,

2:33

and it broke Abraham's heart. And I

2:35

raised the question, who is running that

2:37

household? And I would like very much

2:40

to make this statement here because I

2:42

think it's needed today. There is the

2:44

idea that the man is sort of

2:46

a top sergeant in the home, in

2:48

running the home, and the wife is

2:50

certainly a buck private in the rear

2:52

rank. And that just doesn't happen to

2:54

be the way it was in the

2:57

scripture. You'll look here at the home

2:59

of Abraham and Sarah. and it's given

3:01

to us as an example, Sarah had

3:03

charge of the home itself. Everything that

3:05

was in the home that pertained to

3:07

the home and to the home living,

3:09

Sarah had charge of that. But Abraham

3:11

had charge of the overall running of

3:14

the household, the servants outside, the business

3:16

outside. He had entire charge of that.

3:18

and that's a way that it was

3:20

divided by these two. So when Sarah

3:22

called him Lord, you must remember what

3:24

he was lowered up, and you must

3:26

remember what she had charge of also.

3:28

In other words, marriage in court, the

3:31

debt's considered a contract. That's what a

3:33

marriage license is. It's a license that

3:35

you can make a contract with another

3:37

party. A man can make a contract

3:39

with a woman. She can make a

3:41

contract with him. That they're going to

3:43

live together, take care of each other,

3:46

and to love each other. Now what

3:48

is it that's going to wholly marriage

3:50

together? What is it that's going to

3:52

make it, friends, is just one thing.

3:54

That's a love. And all of these

3:56

how-to books that have been written today

3:58

on marriage and they have been written

4:00

by the car load. It's the one

4:03

relationship in this life that's all together

4:05

different than any other relationship when God

4:07

created Adam and then brought Eve to

4:09

him and I think he left Adam

4:11

there a long time by himself. And

4:13

when Eve came and she was a

4:15

beauty, I'll tell you that. because all

4:17

the daughters of Eve that have been

4:20

beautiful, they got it from her. Believe

4:22

me, it was a love relationship. And

4:24

that's the kind of a relationship today

4:26

that God wants to base marriage on.

4:28

What a great introduction. You know, God's

4:30

word is such an essential guide for

4:32

our lives. And speaking of that, here's

4:34

a letter from a fellow Bible bus

4:37

passenger telling us how God's word is

4:39

a lamp to his feet and a

4:41

light to his path. James Intulsa writes

4:43

this, I retired from the Marine Corps

4:45

and moved to Oklahoma. Being new to

4:47

the area, I was trying to find

4:49

a sports talk radio show for my

4:51

morning drive. Surprisingly, I found Dr. McGee

4:54

and had been seated on the Bible

4:56

bus ever since. This program, in exchange

4:58

for my traditional sports talk radio, has

5:00

changed my life in so many ways.

5:02

I finally found peace with my family,

5:04

life and career and reawakened my spiritual

5:06

life, which I realized now was lost.

5:08

Being a stranger in a strange land,

5:11

the Bible bus has given me new...

5:13

body armor as

5:15

a Marine preparing to

5:17

stand guard on

5:19

the streets of heaven

5:21

with my brothers

5:23

and sisters. Well, that's

5:25

a great letter,

5:28

James. Thank you for

5:30

writing to us.

5:32

And what about you?

5:34

How's God used

5:36

our study in 1

5:38

Peter or any

5:40

of our studies to

5:42

encourage you? Would

5:45

you let us know?

5:47

You can drop

5:49

a note in the

5:51

feedback section of

5:53

our app. That's super

5:55

easy. You can

5:57

also email us BibleBus

5:59

at ttb .org's the

6:02

address and you

6:04

can always send us

6:06

a letter. We

6:08

love those two. The

6:10

address to write

6:12

is Box 7100, Pasadena,

6:14

California, 9 -1 -1 -0

6:16

-9. If you're listening

6:19

in Canada, Box

6:21

2 -5 -3 -2 -5, London,

6:23

Ontario, N -6 -C -6

6:25

-B -1. Now let's

6:27

ask the Lord for

6:29

His help in

6:31

understanding as we open

6:33

His Word. Heavenly

6:36

Father, would you open

6:38

our hearts to

6:40

see how wonderful Your

6:42

Word is as

6:44

it's revealed to us

6:46

by Your Spirit?

6:48

In Jesus' name we

6:51

pray. Amen. Here's

6:55

our study with Dr. J.

6:57

Vernon McGee in 1 Peter chapter

6:59

3 as we go through

7:01

the Bible together. Now friends, we

7:03

come back to the third

7:05

chapter of the Pistle to 1

7:07

Peter. And last time we

7:09

were looking at conduct in the

7:11

home, actually the husband -wife relationship.

7:14

First of a wife who's

7:16

married to an unsaved man and

7:18

then of apparently a Christian

7:20

husband and a Christian wife and

7:22

the way that he should

7:24

treat her. And I'm sure that

7:26

I said last time some

7:28

things that were a little different

7:30

than many of you have

7:32

heard. And I right now am

7:35

waiting like I did when

7:37

I was a little boy and

7:39

I'm sure many of you

7:41

recall that on the 4th of

7:43

July you got firecrackers and

7:45

when you got a great big

7:47

one you lighted it and

7:49

then you sort of scrunch down

7:51

and then even put hands

7:54

over your ears just waiting for

7:56

it to go off. So

7:58

I've been waiting for the reaction

8:00

that I'm going to get

8:02

from that. particular section. I would like to add, however,

8:04

one further word. Marriage is something God is

8:06

given to the human family, not

8:08

just to Christians or to the

8:11

nation Israel. It's back in the

8:13

book of Genesis that God made

8:15

man and that at that time

8:17

he was alone. And I think

8:20

the Lord let him be alone

8:22

for a long time to let

8:24

him know he was messing

8:26

something. And then it says...

8:28

that God took man and

8:30

from man he made woman.

8:33

And its interest in the

8:35

Hebrew word he took ish and

8:37

he made ish. In other words,

8:39

it's called a help meet for

8:41

him. That is, a help that

8:43

was fit for him. In other

8:45

words, the other half of him.

8:48

He was only half a man

8:50

and she is to be the

8:52

other part of him. Now with

8:54

that in mind. You can see

8:56

the relationship is not one of

8:59

a man insisting on treating a

9:01

wife like a little child and

9:03

that she has to jump every

9:06

time he says so. She's there

9:08

to help him. She's there to

9:10

be part of him. She's there

9:13

to love him. And he is

9:15

there to protect her and to

9:17

love her. That is the ideal

9:20

relationship in marriage. What Peter was

9:22

doing here was telling a wife

9:24

with an unsaved husband, and I

9:26

don't think it's one that she'd

9:29

married, but she got saved afterward.

9:31

She's tried to win him, not

9:33

by now assuming the place of

9:35

a Bible teacher or the place

9:37

of a witness and talking down

9:39

to him, but her life now will

9:41

have to be the message, and he'll

9:44

be looking very closely at that. Now

9:46

we got down into the section

9:48

conduct in the church and we

9:50

were moving rather rapidly through this

9:52

particular section here and I'd like

9:55

to read verse 8 again verse

9:57

8 chapter 3 of first Peter

9:59

finally be all of one mind.

10:01

This is conduct in the church

10:03

now. Having compassion, one of another,

10:06

love is brethren, be pitiful, be

10:08

courteous. Now what he's saying here,

10:10

be like-minded, sympathetic, tend-hearted, mean to

10:12

be sensitive to the other individual,

10:15

and courteous here means to be

10:17

humble-minded. Now that is the attitude

10:19

and the action of the believer.

10:21

among other believers. And then, verse

10:24

nine, not rendering evil for evil,

10:26

or railing for railing, but on

10:28

the contrary blessing, knowing that ye

10:30

are called to this, that ye

10:32

should inherit a blessing. In other

10:35

words, this is the way that

10:37

you turn the other cheek to

10:39

someone, that is, another believer says

10:41

something evil about you, something that's

10:44

not true. Well, are you to

10:46

strike back? No, commit him to

10:48

the Lord. Lord will take care

10:50

of him. Verse 10. For he

10:53

that will love life and see

10:55

good days. Let him refrain his

10:57

tongue from evil and his lips

10:59

that they speak no guile. That

11:02

is, don't be deceptive. Now, all

11:04

of us want to live. Unfortunately,

11:06

there are a lot of believers

11:08

today that are not enjoying life.

11:10

They're not living it to its

11:13

full. They're not getting all out

11:15

of it. A young medical student

11:17

in Nashville came to me. He

11:19

was the president of my young

11:22

people's work there and a very

11:24

fine friend. I wasn't too much

11:26

older than he was in those

11:28

days. And he said to me

11:31

one day, says, you know, Vernon,

11:33

I want life to be like

11:35

an orange to me, that I

11:37

can squeeze every drop of juice

11:39

out of it and I can

11:42

live for God. Well, that's what

11:44

this verse means. For he that

11:46

will love life. Do you want

11:48

to really live, friends? Well. Here's

11:51

a good formula. Here's the key

11:53

to it. If you go around

11:55

in your live and you are

11:57

constantly... Speak an evil of someone

12:00

if you are speaking, guile, deception,

12:02

not telling the truth. And then

12:04

verse 11, he says, let him

12:06

eschew evil and do good. Let

12:08

him seek peace and pursue it.

12:11

And you see that child God

12:13

is not to sit back and

12:15

act pious. That's not the way.

12:17

Let's live it up, friends. But

12:20

let's not live it up by

12:22

indulging in gossip and evil. Let's

12:24

live it up. by pursuing that

12:26

which ministers to peace. And let's

12:29

live today for God. How important

12:31

that is. And then verse 12,

12:33

for the eyes of the Lord

12:35

over the righteous, his ears are

12:37

open under their prayers, but the

12:40

face of the Lord is against

12:42

them that do evil. Now here

12:44

is an amazing passage of scripture,

12:46

and I'd like you to note

12:49

first of all. that the thing

12:51

that peters doing is actually he's

12:53

quoting a song here he's quoting

12:55

some thirty four and i think

12:58

probably ought to turn back to

13:00

some thirty four and read verse

13:02

fifteen and sixteen to you the

13:04

eyes of the lord upon the

13:06

righteous and his ears are open

13:09

under their cry the face of

13:11

the lord is against them to

13:13

do evil to cut off the

13:15

remembrance of them from the earth

13:18

Now that's a strong statement as

13:20

you can see as it is

13:22

made there. And this is something

13:24

that the word of God has

13:27

emphasized a great deal. Over in

13:29

Ecclesiastes 2017, here is something that

13:31

goes right along with this. God

13:33

has guaranteed to hear the prayers

13:36

of those who are his own.

13:38

He is not guaranteed to hear

13:40

the prayers of those that are

13:42

not his own. Now, the only

13:44

prayer that a sinner can pray

13:47

is, Lord, I accept Jesus Christ

13:49

as my Savior, and I want

13:51

you to accept me as a

13:53

sinner in him. And that's a

13:56

prayer that God will hear and

13:58

God will answer. But this idea

14:00

that an old reprobate can live

14:02

any kind of a life and

14:05

then the movies and the novels

14:07

have it, the old reprobate comes

14:09

home and his little girl is

14:11

sick in the hospital and he

14:13

goes and gets down on his

14:16

knees and calls up and God

14:18

the razor up and how marvelous

14:20

and sentimental that is. May I

14:22

say to you and I say

14:25

it very plain? That's nonsense. And

14:27

that's absolutely unscriptural. Now, the thing

14:29

that's important to note is let

14:31

that old reprobate, get right with

14:34

God. Then God'll hear an answer

14:36

prayer. This idea today that you

14:38

can call on God under any

14:40

circumstances and doesn't make any difference

14:42

who you are. My friend, he

14:45

has not promised to hear the

14:47

prayer of those that are not

14:49

his. And I know that's strong

14:51

language. And... If you really want

14:54

to live life in the ecclesiasties,

14:56

2017, here's a man that tried

14:58

everything, then he lived like a

15:00

reprobate, and he says, therefore I

15:03

hated life, because the work that

15:05

is wrought under the sun is

15:07

grievous under me, for all this

15:09

vanity and vexation of spirit. How

15:11

many men and women today, living

15:14

for the things of the world,

15:16

involved in it, all of a

15:18

sudden wake up and find out,

15:20

it's not worth it, that life's

15:23

monotonous. Life's not worth it. No

15:25

wonder they put a gun to

15:27

their brain and blow out their

15:29

brain. No wonder they jump out

15:32

of a 13-story building. No wonder

15:34

today that they take an overdose

15:36

of sleeping pills. My friend, may

15:38

I say not until you've come

15:40

in a right relationship with God?

15:43

Now, that means that we're living

15:45

on a pretty high plane, does

15:47

it not? Well, you listen now,

15:49

and who is he? that will

15:52

harm you if ye be followers

15:54

of that which is good i

15:56

guess that that means god gives

15:58

you an arm that nobody can

16:01

touch you at all may I

16:03

say friends listen to this but

16:05

verse 14 now and if you

16:07

suffer for righteousness sake happy are

16:10

you and be not afraid of

16:12

their terror neither be trouble now

16:14

suffering for the right should bring

16:16

joy to the child of God

16:18

if you are taken a stand

16:21

for the right and not make

16:23

yourself obnoxious and some Christians do

16:25

that and then they think they're

16:27

standing for the Lord but if

16:30

we have just taken a quite

16:32

stand for the right and for

16:34

God in the world today we

16:36

ought to rejoice if we suffer

16:39

for that you see and by

16:41

the way we repeated again you're

16:43

not going to escape suffering in

16:45

this world someone sent me this

16:47

little clipping they took out of

16:50

a church bulletin somewhere it says

16:52

Jesus often spoke of Christianity as

16:54

a banquet, but never as a

16:56

picnic. And how true that is.

16:59

He never said that you're going

17:01

to have it easy down here.

17:03

Now, verse 15, and this is

17:05

a verse, and I wish that

17:08

I could elucidate it, that I

17:10

could exegede it in a way

17:12

that it would bless your heart.

17:14

I'll do my best. verse 15

17:16

but sanctify the Lord God in

17:19

your hearts and be ready always

17:21

to give and answer to every

17:23

man that asketh you a reason

17:25

of the hope that is in

17:28

you with meekness and fear and

17:30

that means that you ought to

17:32

know a little something about the

17:34

Bible the tragedy of the hour

17:37

is that here's a man or

17:39

a woman that says I'm a

17:41

Christian and the skeptic can tie

17:43

you up in the 14 different

17:45

nuts like a little kitty in

17:48

a ball of yarn and you

17:50

can't extricate yourself at all. Why?

17:52

Because of the fact that you

17:54

don't know the word of God.

17:57

Now, he says here sanctify the

17:59

Lord God. in your hearts? Oh,

18:01

do you have a little

18:03

sanctuary, a little chapel in

18:05

your own heart today, where when

18:08

you're riding along in the

18:10

car, are you walking down the

18:12

street, are you in the shop, or

18:14

the office, or in the

18:16

schoolroom, the classroom? There is a little

18:19

chapel there, there is

18:21

a little sanctuary there, where

18:23

you can withdraw, and where

18:25

you can sanctify the Lord

18:27

God in your heart. so that

18:30

those outside will know, my friend,

18:32

that you belong to him,

18:34

and you don't have to

18:36

mouth it all the time,

18:38

and make yourself obnoxious by

18:41

the things that you say,

18:43

making some pious statement. Oh,

18:45

if we would sanctify the

18:47

Lord God in our hearts,

18:49

and that's needed today, the

18:51

Psalm says, the Lord is

18:53

in His Holy Temple, let

18:55

all the earth keep silence

18:57

before him. But today, may I

19:00

say to you on Sunday, you may go

19:02

to your church, but the world

19:04

is passing you by and headed

19:06

for the beach, headed for

19:08

the mountains, headed for the

19:10

desert, headed for places of

19:12

amusement, and the whole world

19:14

is not keeping silence before

19:16

him. Why? Because we as

19:18

individuals need to sanctify the

19:20

Lord God in our hearts.

19:22

This is a tremendous verse.

19:24

Now, verse 16, having a

19:26

good conscience, that whereas they

19:28

speak evil of you as

19:30

of evil doers, they may

19:33

be a shame that falsely

19:35

accuse your good manner of life

19:37

in Christ. In other words, make

19:39

sure that those who speak evil

19:41

of you are in error. When

19:43

I first went into downtown Los

19:45

Angeles, I met Dr. Jim

19:47

McGinley in Chicago at the Moody

19:49

Founders Week conference, and he said

19:51

to me, how do you like?

19:54

being pastor that great church i

19:56

said wonderful but i said i

19:58

found myself in a place can't

20:00

really defend myself. I just don't

20:02

intend to get up every Sunday

20:04

and explain all the things I've

20:06

heard and my business is teaching

20:09

the word of God and I

20:11

said none of them are true

20:13

and he says well aren't you

20:15

glad they're not true? Be bad

20:17

if they were. Well may I

20:20

say to you friends that's what

20:22

Peter is saying here have a

20:24

good conscience that when you hear

20:26

these rumors about you won't bother

20:29

you because you know it's not

20:31

true. Verse 17 for it's better.

20:33

if the will of God be

20:35

so that ye suffer for well-doing

20:37

than for evil doing. In other

20:40

words, if you suffer for Christ's

20:42

sake, you can rejoice in that.

20:44

But if you're doing it because

20:46

you played the fool, that you've

20:48

gotten into trouble, and to sin,

20:51

then that's a different story altogether.

20:53

Now we come to verse 18

20:55

here, and we have inserted here

20:57

in the rest of this chapter,

20:59

Christ's suffering, preached by the spirit

21:02

in Noah's Day. This is a

21:04

very controversial section. Believe me, Simon

21:06

Peter, really moves us into a

21:08

corner many times here in his

21:10

first epistle. Verse 18, for Christ

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also hath once suffered for sins,

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the just for the unjust, that

21:17

he might bring us to God

21:19

being put to death in the

21:21

flesh, but made alive by the

21:24

spirit, by the Holy Spirit. It's

21:26

important for us to see that

21:28

he became a human being. And

21:30

it was in his humanity. that

21:32

he died on the cross. He

21:35

died on the cross and it

21:37

was the holy spirit that raised

21:39

him from the dead. And we

21:41

will come back to that later

21:43

on in the next chapter. Verse

21:46

19, by whom also he went

21:48

and preached under the spirits in

21:50

prison. Now this has been a

21:52

misunderstood passage of scripture. Now the

21:54

important word in this entire incident

21:57

that's recorded. is verse 20 in

21:59

the little word Juan. Who at

22:01

one time were disobedient? Now he

22:03

went and preached to the spirits

22:05

in prison. When did he speak

22:08

to them? All right? When once

22:10

the long suffering of God waited

22:12

in the days of Noah while

22:14

the Ark was preparing in which

22:16

few, that is, eight souls, were

22:19

saved by water? Now the spirits

22:21

of those who were destroyed in

22:23

the flood were in prison. They

22:25

had gone in the Shia. They

22:27

were waiting for judgment. They were

22:30

waiting for judgment. They were waiting

22:32

for judgment. They were locks. But

22:34

Christ did not go down and

22:36

preach to him when he died

22:38

on the cross. He preached through

22:41

Noah when, once, the long suffering

22:43

of God waited in the days

22:45

of Noah. For 120 years, this

22:47

man Noah preached the word of

22:49

God. He saved his family, but

22:52

no one else. They wouldn't believe

22:54

him, you see. And that's when

22:56

the spirit of Christ was preaching

22:58

through Noah. And that's interesting to

23:00

know. that it was the spirit

23:03

of Christ who spoke through Noah,

23:05

and it was in Noah's day.

23:07

But at the time Christ died,

23:09

those were in prison. And the

23:11

thought is that Christ's death meant

23:14

nothing to them, just as it

23:16

means nothing to a great many

23:18

people today, which means they'll come

23:20

into judgment. Now, verse 21, the

23:22

like figure under which even baptism

23:25

doth also now savards. Now what

23:27

baptism is that? Not water baptism,

23:29

this is the spirit's baptism. The

23:31

baptism of the Holy Spirit is

23:33

real baptism, and the water baptism

23:36

is ritual baptism. Now I believe

23:38

in water baptism. I believe in

23:40

immersion, by the way. And I

23:42

was an ordained Presbyterian minister for

23:45

many years, but I amers more

23:47

people than I have ever sprinkled.

23:49

I can assure you that. But

23:51

the important thing here is to

23:53

see that it's the baptism of

23:56

the Holy Spirit. That's what puts

23:58

you in the body of God.

24:00

believers, the like figure, under which

24:02

even baptism death also now save

24:04

us, not the putting away of

24:07

the filth of the flesh, not

24:09

just water, that won't put away

24:11

the filth of the flinch, but

24:13

the answer of a good conscience

24:15

toward God by the resurrection of

24:18

Jesus Christ. That is a faith

24:20

in the resurrection of Jesus Christ

24:22

that brought the work of the

24:24

Holy Spirit into your life and

24:26

regenerated you. Now it says, speaking

24:29

of Christ who's gone into heaven.

24:31

He's on the right hand of

24:33

God, angels and authorities and powers

24:35

being made subject under him. And

24:37

you and I, little sinners down

24:40

here, can come to him, accept

24:42

him and receive him and join

24:44

that great company of the redeem.

24:46

Fabitized by the Holy Spirit, into

24:48

the body of price, because he's

24:51

raised from the dead and is

24:53

that God's right hand today. Until

24:55

next time, may God richly bless

24:57

you, my beloved. Is

25:02

it possible for a Christian

25:05

to stop singing? Well, we'll

25:07

explore that question next time

25:09

in our study of First

25:12

Peter 4. Until then, if

25:14

you'd like to get in

25:17

touch, call us one eight

25:19

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25:26

the feedback section of our

25:28

app. I'm Steve sweats and

25:31

I'll be here saving you

25:33

a seat. Through the Bible

25:36

is a five-year study of

25:38

God's entire life. Through the

25:40

Bible is a five-year study

25:43

of God's entire word and

25:45

together we discover God's purposes

25:48

in history and our lives

25:50

found only when we believe

25:52

in Jesus Christ. Do you

25:55

know Him? Do you know

25:57

Him? Do you know Him?