Latest / Pastor John Piper's answers / How Can I Grow in Humility as I Grow in Knowledge?

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How Can I Grow in Humility as I Grow in Knowledge? · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: Well, we know about that that tension that Paul talks
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  Speaker 1: about in First Corinthians, that love builds up but knowledge
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  Speaker 1: puffs up. It's quite a dilemma, isn't it. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: how do you grow in knowledge without growing in pride?
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  Speaker 1: Growing deeper in knowledge without growing in pride is something
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  Speaker 1: that's been on your mind for years, hasn't it, Pastor John.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, this is something that you have talked about
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  Speaker 1: many times, even last summer in episode twenty seventy nine.
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  Speaker 1: I remember it. The episode is called the Pitfalls of
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  Speaker 1: being a Thinker. Well, we're back to it because a
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  Speaker 1: listener named Moses, great name Moses Moses is wrestling with
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  Speaker 1: this very dilemma as he packs up for Bible College. Hello,
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  Speaker 1: Pastor John. I just want to thank you for how
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  Speaker 1: ask Pastor John has served my soul in the very
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  Speaker 1: darkest times of life, focusing my attention back on the
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  Speaker 1: glory of Jesus Christ. It's wonderful to hear. I have
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  Speaker 1: a question regarding preparation. I'm going off to Bible College soon.
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  Speaker 1: I want the Lord to use this training in my
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  Speaker 1: life so I bear much fruit for him. But with
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  Speaker 1: going to Bible College, I fear that I will become prideful, arrogance,
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  Speaker 1: and knowledge reliant instead of relying on the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: My question for you is this, how do I effectively
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  Speaker 1: make it so that everything I learned changes my heart
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  Speaker 1: and not just vainly informs my mind.
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  Speaker 2: Let me start with an illustration from my own experience
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  Speaker 2: about fighting pride. When I finished graduate school, and that
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  Speaker 2: means finishing twenty two years of formal education between the
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  Speaker 2: ages of six and twenty eight without a break, I
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  Speaker 2: took a position. When all that education was done, I
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  Speaker 2: took a position as a college professor, teaching Greek and
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  Speaker 2: Biblical studies. At the same time, I published my dissertation
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  Speaker 2: and began to write articles for leading journals in the
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  Speaker 2: Guild of New Testament Studies. I wanted to make an
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  Speaker 2: impact for the sake of Biblical truthfulness. I wanted to
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  Speaker 2: make observations from the Bible arguments for true interpretations of
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  Speaker 2: the Bible to the glory of Christ. So I prayed.
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  Speaker 2: But then the fear arose several years into that teaching
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  Speaker 2: and writing life. The fear arose that what Moses in
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  Speaker 2: this question to us expresses is a real problem. Namely,
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  Speaker 2: am I becoming prideful in my pursuit of publishing. Specifically,
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  Speaker 2: am I pursuing the praise of man rather than loving
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  Speaker 2: the people of God? Am I seeking to exalt myself
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  Speaker 2: rather than be a servant that counts others more significant
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  Speaker 2: than myself. I became so troubled by this question and
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  Speaker 2: the uncertainty of my own motives, that I decided to
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  Speaker 2: at least temporarily shift my focus from publication to teaching
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  Speaker 2: my students and giving most of my energy for the
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  Speaker 2: sake of my classes at the college rather than publication.
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  Speaker 2: And here's what I discovered. Not long after I began
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  Speaker 2: to devote most of my energy to being an effective
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  Speaker 2: and caring teacher in the classroom, I began to have
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  Speaker 2: the same suspicions about my motives in doing that. Did
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  Speaker 2: I get inappropriate amounts of pleasure from being complemented by
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  Speaker 2: students for lectures or devotions? Did I want to have
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  Speaker 2: good student evaluations at the end of the semester more
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  Speaker 2: than I wanted their spiritual good? So here's the lesson
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  Speaker 2: I learned. Pride is an enemy of the soul. That
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  Speaker 2: is so it will stalk you down no matter how
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  Speaker 2: many outward strategies you devise to avoid it. The battle
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  Speaker 2: against pride must be fought mainly at the inward unseen
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  Speaker 2: spiritual level of the heart, not mainly at the level
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  Speaker 2: of outward circumstances. That is, whether you're publishing or teaching.
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  Speaker 2: So yes, Moses, going to Bible school and learning more
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  Speaker 2: and more about the Bible and about theology about God
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  Speaker 2: can lead to pride. The Pharisees probably knew more Bible
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  Speaker 2: than anybody else in Palestine, and they were the most proud.
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  Speaker 2: The human heart is desperately corrupt, deceitful, and can even
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  Speaker 2: take the most pride destroying doctrines and make you proud
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  Speaker 2: that you hold them. Oh. Yes, advanced training in Biblical
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  Speaker 2: studies can go hand in hand with a proud and
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  Speaker 2: arrogant spirit. Yes it can. But here's the catch. The
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  Speaker 2: avoidance of advanced training in Biblical studies can go hand
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  Speaker 2: in hand with a proud and arrogant spirit too. There
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  Speaker 2: are as many proud uneducated people as there are proud
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  Speaker 2: educated people. No class of people, no level of education
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  Speaker 2: or culture, or riches or vocation, has a corner on pride.
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  Speaker 2: If you think that getting alone with the Holy Spirit,
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  Speaker 2: coming up with your own interpretations. Then telling other people
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  Speaker 2: what you think God has shown you is going to
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  Speaker 2: be a safeguard against pride. You are sorely mistaken. It
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  Speaker 2: is more likely that sitting in a classroom with other
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  Speaker 2: students listening to a wise professor would be a very
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  Speaker 2: humbling experience, rather than you presuming you could get everything
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  Speaker 2: you need by yourself with no input from the body
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  Speaker 2: of Christ. So how might you fight this inner battle
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  Speaker 2: which can't be won by changing your external circumstances. It
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  Speaker 2: can only be won by this inner spiritual warfare. So
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  Speaker 2: here are my suggestions. This is the way I've tried
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  Speaker 2: to fight pride. Number one, Seek to be continually amazed
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  Speaker 2: that you are saved from hell, saved by sheer, sovereign, undeserved,
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  Speaker 2: indescribably precious grace. Never get beyond the amazement that God
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  Speaker 2: saved you, that God chose you, and Christ died for you,
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  Speaker 2: and the Spirit drew you, and that He shows you
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  Speaker 2: patience one hundred times every day because of your shortcomings.
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  Speaker 2: Never let that become, in some satanic way, a ground
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  Speaker 2: for boasting, always a ground for humility. I'm saved, utterly
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  Speaker 2: undeserving me, I'm saved. Let that be your chief amazement.
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  Speaker 2: Let it be your song. That's number one. Number two,
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  Speaker 2: keep near the front of your mind that absolutely everything
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  Speaker 2: you are and have is an undeserved gift. Paul says,
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  Speaker 2: what do you have that you did not receive? And
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  Speaker 2: if you received it, why do you boast as though
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  Speaker 2: or not a gift? Verse Corinthens four to seven. Say
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  Speaker 2: to God every day, I'm not God, I'm not my
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  Speaker 2: own I belong to you entirely. I'm not an owner.
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  Speaker 2: I'm a servant. I am utterly at your disposal. You
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  Speaker 2: can take me out anytime you want. You can do
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  Speaker 2: me no wrong that I don't deserve. Everything is an
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  Speaker 2: undeserved gift, every breath, every heart beat. Keep that near
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  Speaker 2: the front of your mind. Number three, pray continually that
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  Speaker 2: God act in your life to prevent you from being
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  Speaker 2: deceived that you are something when you are nothing. Paul said,
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  Speaker 2: I planted a poulis watered. God gave the growth. So
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  Speaker 2: neither he who plants nor he who waters as anything,
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  Speaker 2: but only God who gives the growth. So pray that
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  Speaker 2: God would work the miracle of self forgetful humility in
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  Speaker 2: you and guard you from self dependence and self exultation. Pray, pray,
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  Speaker 2: pray for this fourth. Set yourself in everything you do
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  Speaker 2: to be a servant of other people in the name
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  Speaker 2: of Jesus. Don't exalt yourself over others. Live for the
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  Speaker 2: good of others. Measure all by love. Even if you
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  Speaker 2: are given some form of leadership, always think of it
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  Speaker 2: as a calling to be a servant of others. Live
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  Speaker 2: much in Philippians two one to eleven, until the mind
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  Speaker 2: of Christ is formed in you, be a servant. Be
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  Speaker 2: a servant, and finally, number five, as Paul says in
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  Speaker 2: Romans eight thirteen, put to death by the spirit every
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  Speaker 2: whiff of temptation to self exaltation. Be on guard against
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  Speaker 2: the subtleties of pride, and take up the sword of
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  Speaker 2: the Spirit, the word of God, and stab to death
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  Speaker 2: every rising temptation to magnify yourself. So Moses, whether you
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  Speaker 2: go to Bible school or don't go to Bible school
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  Speaker 2: is not the issue. The issue is the battle within.
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  Speaker 2: And I pray that God will give you great victory.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Pride is a relentless inward enemy that persists and
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  Speaker 1: grows as we learn, as we published as we teach,
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  Speaker 1: and it requires daily amazement at God's sovereign grace, gratitude
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  Speaker 1: for every undeserved gift He's given us, continual prayer for humility,
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  Speaker 1: and a commitment to serving others in the name of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: That's so good. Great reminder, Pastor John, thank you, thanks
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  Speaker 1: for joining us today. If you're like Moses and you
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  Speaker 1: have a question to ask Pastor John, find a link
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  Speaker 1: to email us and find our complete episode archive at
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  Speaker 1: askpastor John dot com. Every episode with audio in full
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  Speaker 1: transcripts available for you twenty four to seven, three sixty
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  Speaker 1: five to make good use of. Well, if yesterday's blessings
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  Speaker 1: were so good, why did we ask God for more
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  Speaker 1: blessings today? Well, it's because every prayer for more grace
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  Speaker 1: isn't a criticism of the grace that came before it,
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  Speaker 1: but a celebration of God's continued faithfulness to us. And
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  Speaker 1: that's what we're going to do next time. We are
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  Speaker 1: going to celebrate God's continued faithfulness to us. I'm Tony
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  Speaker 1: Rinky'll see you on Monday.