Not For Sale - Tim Timberlake

In this powerful message from Acts 8, we explore the story of Simon the Sorcerer and his attempt to purchase what only God can give. Through the contrast between surrender and self-promotion, we discover that the Holy Spirit is not for sale, God's power cannot be manipulated, and true spiritual authority flows from intimacy with Jesus—not influence, ambition, or personal gain.

Whether you're waiting on God's timing, struggling with pride, seeking purpose, or learning to trust God's process, this message will challenge you to stop chasing power and start pursuing His presence.

Transcript

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Hey, I'm Tim Timmerlake, and I want to thank you so much for listening to the Celebration Church podcast. I hope this message encouraged you, strengthened your faith, and gave you something you can carry into your week. If you'd like to stay connected, I encourage you to join us live every Sunday at 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. on YouTube. We would love to have you there. And if you're ever in the Jacksonville, Florida area, come see us in person. We have a seat saved for you. Thanks again for being with us. We're so grateful for you. And see you next time. Beginning at verse 16. He being the Holy Spirit. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they, they being Peter and John, began laying their hands on them. They were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money. Say, give this authority to me as well. So that everyone on whom I lay my hands, they receive the Holy Spirit. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, Give this authority to me as well. So that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. I want to utilize these verses for our subject matter this morning. Entitled Not for Sale. Not for sale. Not for sale. Not for sale. Look at your neighbor. Tell your neighbor the Holy Spirit is it for sale. Put your word down. Let's pray. We ask that you would allow it to change us, transform us, renew our minds, build our faith, restore hope in our souls, quicken our flesh. Thank you that there's still power in the name of Jesus. So we call that great name to do what we can. That is to change and transform us from the inside out. We declare you alone and worthy of all of the honor, all of the praise. So we give it to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Everybody that's glad that he's still alive and well, come on, what's up? Amen. Amen. Take your seat. Not for sale. Not for sale. Verse 16, for he had not yet fallen upon any of them. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. I want you to understand something about this text. The Samaritans were now believers. They were now followers of Jesus Christ. They were saved by the redeeming power of Jesus. Scripture teaches us that they were both believers and baptized. But it's interesting that God would delay the outpouring of the Spirit of God until Peter and John arrived. This is your first week on this journey with us, and you did not catch last week. I truly believe that the reason God delayed the Holy Spirit from falling and outpouring in Samaria until this time was to provide unity in the body of Christ. The Spirit of God had fallen in Jerusalem and they received power. We understand this and we celebrate it today. We call it Pentecost. And the power of the Holy Spirit moved in the upper room, and they experienced such an outpouring that as they piled out of the upper room into the streets, many people believed that they were drunk on what they would call new wine because of how they were acting. So you can't tell me the power of the Holy Spirit doesn't change your behavior. You can't tell me the power of the Holy Spirit does not change your demeanor. You can't tell me the power of the Holy Spirit doesn't change how you walk and how you talk and how you act, because the power of the Holy Spirit, in fact, does. But the Samaritans have not yet received this power. And Luke specifies that they are already believers, they've already been baptized, they already belonged to Jesus before this moment, and this delay was not because God rejected them, this delay is because God was protecting his bride. He did not want a church of Jerusalem and a church of Samaria. He just wanted one church. It is not about our name, it is not about the title, it's not about the branding, it is not about the aesthetic, it is not about what we do, it is about what Jesus has done for us, and he is coming back for a bride without spot or blemish. It has always been about one bride, and it will continue to be about one bride until the day he returns for his bride. But yet the Spirit of God had not fallen in Samaria. Now, I'm sure by this time they had heard that revival is broken out in Jerusalem because in Jerusalem they've heard the word is being preached in Samaria. And people are now being saved and baptized, and the apostles seeing both Peter and John, and this word is spreading. So the word spread from Samaria to Jerusalem. You have to believe that the word spread from Jerusalem to Samaria. So if in Jerusalem they are aware that people are now being saved in Samaria, you better believe that people in Samaria have heard that there's an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. They were patient enough to wait for the Spirit of God to pour out in Samaria. Nobody demanded, nobody manipulated, nobody manufactured, they simply received what it was that the Holy Spirit was pouring out. Which teaches us a valuable lesson. Some people trust God's timing. Other people try to manage God's timing. Are you trying to manage God's time? Are you giving God your timeline? Are you reminding God how old you are, how many gray hairs you have on your head or on your chin? Are you reminding God of the things that God said that he would do for you, but he didn't give you the timeline in which he said those things would come to pass? Are you telling him your age? As if God doesn't know you better than you know yourself. As if he doesn't know the number of hands you have on your head. You're trying to manage him. Are you reminding him, God, you you said this, it's been 12 years? I'm getting old, God. And you idolize time, and you idolize age, and you put more pressure on yourself because you believe sand is being wasted in your clock. And God, He holds every particle of sand as a reminder that He is still God, even when you don't think that He is. And so some people trust God's timing while other people try to manage God's timing. And when you wait on the Lord, guess what He does? He creates this courage on the inside of you, and He gives you a reason to rejoice because He understands what the plan looks like even when you don't, and He says, When you trust me, it is the most important thing that you can do, but when you doubt me, it is the most disappointing thing you can do. And Simon tries to manufacture power because he is too impatient to be developed. And his life should teach us a valuable lesson. Your location may change, but if your loyalty does not change, your loyalties to whatever it is contrary to Jesus will lead you back to the same location that he delivered you from. He was excited with the idea that I can have power and influence if I have what they have. So instead of being submitted and surrendered, he tried to pay for what it was that he saw in them. Scripture teaches us he offered them money. He said, Give to me what you have so that when I lay hands, people will receive what I have. And he made it about himself because he was more focused on influence than he was surrendering and submitting. Which leads us to point number one. Point number one is this if influence excites you more than intimacy, power has become your idol. If intimacy has become the goal, then power has become your idol. If influence excites you more than being intimate with Jesus Christ and being intimate with the Holy Spirit, then power has become your idol. And one of the things that I'm noticing, especially in the westernized church, is that power-hungry people often call ambition anointing. Oh, that person's anointed. No, they're not, they're ambitious. Oh, that purpose that person is walking in person. No, they're not. That person is walking in pride. That person sure is gifted. That person does not know how to steal his grace. If you're not careful, you will take the things that Jesus has delivered you from. Put religious language around. And make excuses for the things that you're supposed to be making sacrifices for. So Simon, he is now saved! He is now a follower of Jesus! He has been bad! But yet his heart has still not been transformed. How is it possible that he is now a believer? But his heart has not been transformed. Because people who are obsessed with authority and uncomfortable with accountability. Simon didn't want Jesus. Simon didn't want the Holy Spirit. He wanted to use Jesus and use the Holy Spirit so that he could be recognized as the person that had power. If influence excites you more than intimacy, power has become your idol. And the kingdom of God, the power of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God, it does not just flow to celebrities, it flows to servants. There are no celebrities in the kingdom of God. There is no VIP section in heaven. There is not an extra fee that you can pay to get earlier access to the throne room than everyone else. Because power does not flow to the celebrities in the kingdom of God. Power flows to the servants in the kingdom of God. So if you find yourself in pride and ambition and unhealthy ego today, I'm telling you, pride comes before your fall. And the quickest way to get lifted is to lower yourself before the feet of Jesus. The quickest way to be elevated is to submit yourself to the feet of Jesus. The quickest way to be used by God in a supernatural way is to acknowledge that your life does not belong to you. Your life belongs to him. And he can do more with your life than you ever could if you held on to it in the first place. The kingdom gets power to servants, not celebrities. And power is real dangerous in the hands of people who have never learned how to kneel. Simon has not yet learned the importance of kneeling before God and kneeling before the feet of Jesus. But he has this desire, this crave, this ambition, this ego, this pride to be elevated, to be to be platformed, to be to be positioned in front of people so that he is recognized as the person with power. And he offers money so that he could get the power of the Holy Spirit. What he failed to realize is that the Holy Spirit is not for sale. Whatever delay has met me on my journey. Because if you allow it, pride will pastor you. Pride will lead you. Pride will direct you. And we are foolish enough to believe that God is the only one that opens doors. No, the enemy will in fact open a door that you want. The enemy will, in fact, open a door that you've been wanting to walk through. The enemy will, in fact, give you all the options and all the opportunities. The enemy never presents himself in the form of someone scary, red with a pitchfork and horns. He always presents himself in the form of something you've been wanting. And because you have not been praying, you think the open door is God. And the open door is your flesh, your pride, your ego, your ambition, but you're so disconnected from him that when he speaks to you, you can't hear him to follow his direction or his lead. So you follow your flesh. You walk through the door, and there's more pain there, there's more turmoil there, there's more trials, there's more tribulations, and you you ask yourself the question, God, I thought this door was you, and God is saying, No, I tried to tell you that that is not the door I want you to walk through. The door I want you to walk through is on the other side of sacrifice, but you've been operating in pride and ego and your flesh, and you missed the opportunity to be obedient to me because you thought that this door was more glamorous. You thought that this door was more influential. You thought that this door would platform you to become more of a celebrity when, in fact, the door that I had open for you was the door of a servant. Let me teach you something about God. Because celebrities walk through the front door. Servants have access that celebrities don't. Y'all not hearing me. If you are a servant, you have access to the kitchen that celebrities do not. You have access to the ingredients that celebrities do not. You have access to the chef that celebrities do not. I would rather be a servant in the house of the Lord than a celebrity on earth any day of my life, because I remain submitted and surrendered to the feet of Jesus. Look as a neighbor, tell your neighbor, not for sale, not for sale, not for sale. It's not for sale. The power that I have is not for sale. The person that's at work on the inside of me, he is not for sale. What feels like a setback may actually be God's safeguard. And God will, in fact, slow the blessing down long enough to develop you so that what he gives you does not bring division between you and him. God, I'm ready now. No, you're not. But God, I want it now. No, you don't. But God, I need it right now, no, you do not. And you think the delay is God's rejection. The delay is God's protection. You ever been praying for something? And you've been praying hard for it. And then somebody that you know ain't pray, get what you've been praying for? I mean, this person is an absolute demon. You know they be on demon time. They ain't prayed a day in their life, and you sitting here praying until the corners of your mouth is white, and you see them step into the very thing that you've been praying for. Am I the only one that's been like that? And I say, God, I've been seeking you. I've been fasting, I've been sacrificing, I've been surrendering. They've been out here sleeping with every single person they absolutely can. And they walk into the thing I've been praying for. Wow! Got the nerve to be upset with God. I've been angry with God before. Frustrated. You don't have it yet. Because if I gave it to you now, it would separate you from me. I say, well God, how in the world did they get it? He said, because they're already separated from me. And what they have won't last long without me anyway. So if you desire influence more than you desire intimacy, then power has already become your idol. If God postponed it, perhaps He's protecting what you could not see. If God is postponing your spouse, perhaps He's protecting you from what you cannot see. If God is postponing the elevation and the promotion, perhaps God is protecting you from what you cannot see. But God, I want it now. And we shout and we thank God for what He saved us from. And we shout and we thank God for what He gave us. And we shout and we thank God for the blessing and the breakthrough and the new season, but we don't shout over the things that we don't know He protected us from. For a moment, don't just think about who you are. Think about who you could have turned into being without Him. See, see, I don't I don't know I don't know your personal story. I I don't I don't know what it is He delivered you from. I know what He delivered me from, and I know who I would have become and what my life would have ended up being and how short my life would have been if it had not been for the blood and the mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ on my life when I sold my own self short when I cut my own legs off when I tried to open every single door in front of me and His mercy kept me and protected me. Simon doesn't yet know what power is available to him, not because he has money, but because he has surrender. Verse 17 says, Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Peter and John affirmed what God had already started. The laying on of hands symbolized fellowship and identification. But I want you to take notice of something. Notice who receives the attention. Not Peter, not John, not the method. Because oftentimes we'll reappear. Has it just like this, and we'll automatically assume the only way that I can receive the Holy Spirit is someone has to lay hands on me. The only time that I can receive the power of the Holy Spirit is I have to wait. In the old church, we call it tarrying. Tarry for the Holy Spirit. No, no, the Holy Spirit will infill you as quickly as you ask him to fill you. And we get stuck on the method, and we get married to the method. And when God does not work in the method that we think he's going to work in, we get divorced from God because we were married to the method. And we have an expectation that God is gonna move how he moved five years ago, the method. Revival is gonna happen this way: the method. The Spirit of God is gonna pour out like this, the method. And we get so tied to the method that we miss the move. But God does not move the way you want him to move. He moves the way he wants to move, when he wants to move, how he wants to move, wherever he desires to move, because he is God and you are not. Look at who receives attention: the Holy Spirit. Peter never says, look at my hands. Look at what they can do, look at how many people I lay hands on. The reason this is important for us is because healthy leaders point people to God, not themselves. Yeah. Real power does not need advertisement. Real power does not need commercials. Real power does not need a marketing campaign. Real power is real power. And when you come up against real power, that little fake and phony power you've been used to crumbles. When you come up against real power, everything that is not aligned with the power of God has to get aligned with the power of God. When you come up against real power, it overrides every other what and vote of false and fake power at work in your life because there is only one that has enough power to change you and to change your mind because you can't change your mind. If you could have changed your mind, you would have been changing your mind, but you continue to go back to the same things that you said you would never go back to because you will not change without the power of the Holy Spirit. And point number two is this you can stop serving demons and still keep serving yourself. How is this possible? Because you become a lone ranger in the kingdom of God. Peter and John came to see what Philip was doing and to confirm that the Holy Spirit was, in fact, using him to bring about salvation and the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Samaritans, and they came to confirm. They also came to establish community. Simon was on his own. He saw power, he sought power, he seeked out power, and he wanted to possess power so that he could be recognized as the person who had this power so that people could ooh and ah over him. What isolation often does isolation weakens what only community can strengthen. And the way that God works, and the way that God answers prayers, and the way that God will answer you, oftentimes is through people. Through people. God, it's been years. He's like, I know. Well, when you go get tired of being by yourself, when you go actually get plugged into the church. When you go stop visiting and get connected. Because fruit doesn't grow on disconnected trees. No fruit grows because that tree is rooted and connected. God, I'm waiting. I know. You're gonna keep waiting too if you continue to stay isolated. Because God often answers prayers through people. And if we're not connected to people, if we're not connected to the pain of humanity, if we don't have our posts on what people are dealing with, the issues that they're going through, the things that they may be battling and struggling with, then we miss an opportunity to reflect the love of Jesus Christ. Two nights ago, I was in Miami and I was at a conference and session was over, I was hungry. I told the guy that was with me driving, hey, let's go find some food. Pull up on my GPS spot, go to that place. Before I walk in, I felt the Holy Spirit say, Hey, go to the ATM, pull out this amount of cash. I never carry cash. I went to the ATM, got some cash, put it in my pocket. We went in, ate, came outside the door. When I came outside the door, I saw a mother walking with four children. It's past midnight. All of these children were under eight. Two on the stroller. Her eight-year-old was holding the hand of his five-year-old brother. And she looked at me. And she says, Are you that that guy from Instagram? Just coming out of the restaurant, open the door, step outside. I see her. She looks at me. She says, Are you that guy from social media? I said, Well, what guy are you thinking about? I had to be sure. There's other timber lakes out there, you know. She says, You that preacher. I said, Yes, ma'am. She says, God told me that if I walk down this street, a minister was gonna meet me. And help me. I said, you know what, that's crazy. Because before I went in this restaurant, the Holy Spirit told me to go to the ATM to pull out this amount of cash. And I gave her that cash. And she started to weep. I said, Where are you going tonight? She said, I didn't know where I was gonna go. She said, four months ago, my husband got killed in a car accident. We were living week to week before that, and we've been out here on the streets ever since then. I said, you take this money, you get these babies out the street, you go get you a hotel room tonight. I said, What's your name? She said, Angel. I said, Angel, you take care of yourself. She said, Can I pray for you? I said, you can as long as I can pray for you. And that night, my prayer was answered because of a person. Because I always pray every single day. God use me to be a blessing to someone else. God use me to be a reflection of your grace and of your glory and of your love and of your steadfast kindness towards us. And you never know who is going to bless your prayers because you operate in obedience. So when God answers your prayers, God often answers your prayers through people. And the reality is you can love Jesus and still not love his people. You gotta love who he loves, you gotta love what he loves. Because there's somebody that's depending on you to show them what the love of God is. Did he not love you when you were unlovable? Did he not keep you when you were unkeepable? Did he not cover you when you didn't even want to be covered? Did he not hear you when you when you were praying things you didn't really mean? If you're like me, I I've been in prayer and I've been asking God, God, change this behavior. Change this anger. Change this frustration. Change these things about me. And there's a portion of me that really is holding on to the things I'm asking him to change. And I really know on the inside of me I'm not going to change. Maybe I'm the only one. I'll be in my prayer closet and I'll be praying, God, deliver me from this. Knowing that I really don't want to be delivered from it. God heal me from this, knowing that I don't really want to be healed from it. Because if I'm healed from that, then a part of my identity changes. And and I find myself praying, knowing that even while I'm praying, a portion of me is lying to God about what I'm praying for. And so what I've start to do, I've start to say, God, please heal me from this behavior. And even when I lie to you about the behavior I want you to deliver me from, heal me from lying about the thing that I need to be delivered from. So I pray that he would take my ambition. And replace it with an He would take replace it with an echo of his voice. That he would remind me that I am a son. And that he would mold me from everything that tried to destroy me. And that he would keep me when I'm too weak to keep myself. And that he will cover me when I've sold myself short from the things that only God could give. Because the reality is, is every single last one of us have sold ourselves short. You've sold yourself in a relationship God never called you to be in. You've sold yourself in a job and an opportunity that God never called your purpose. You've sold yourself for finances and for possessions. And God is saying, listen, if you just lay all those things down, even though I know you want them, if you can just surrender those things, sacrifice those things, submit those things. He says, when you lay down, I'll lift you up. But our problem is we want to be lifted and not lay down. We want to be celebrated but not executed in our flesh. We want to be patted on the back without first being crucified. Verse eighteen says, Now when Simon saw that the spirit was bestowed through the laying one of the apostles' hands, he offered them money. His profession changed before his heart did. So although he's no longer practicing sorcery, he's still thinking how to manipulate people for power. He now wanted people to be amazed by him. This may be the most important verse we cover today. Luke does not say Simon felt. Luke says that Simon saw. This is important. Understand this. Because Simon interpreted spiritual power through the only lens he had ever known. Transaction. And that's why some of you are trying to barter with God today. God, if you do this for me, I'll do this for you. God, if you give me this, I'll give you this. God, if you open this, God, I'll do this for you. And you're trying to barter with God because the only way you know relationships is through transactions and not intimacy. His whole life had been pay, control, possess, then profit. Pay, control, possess, then profit. And some of us, our lives have been like that. That's why we leave when it comes time for offering. Because we want to control our money. We want to control what we think we have ownership of. We want to control our time. But let me help you with this. You don't control your time. Because you did not create time. You don't even control your money. You give it away to everyone and everything because they give you something in return. That's not control, that's transaction. You want to know how I know you don't control your money? Because if you don't give it to your bill collector, your bill collector go take it from you one way or another? You don't control it. You think you do? So why not trust it with the person who allowed you to be a steward over it in the first place? And instead of trying to bottom with him and trying to buy him and pay him for stuff, why don't you just surrender and submit to him? Because it is only through that posture that he entrusts you with more. So when Simon sees the Spirit of God moving, he automatically assumes there must be a price. Because our father was absent, we see God as an absent father. Because we're abused by our parents, we think that God is abusing us. Because we've been abandoned and forsaken by people that love us, we think that God is going to abandon and forsaken us. And so we try to prove our worth and prove our love and purchase his loyalty towards us. But the reality is, is he purchased you. You were bought with the price according to First Corinthians. You were purchased with his blood, you were purchased with his sacrifice, you were purchased with his body. How can you buy what he has already purchased for you? This power that he desires for you to steward and for you to live out the rest of your life with it is not for sale because he is not for sale. Point number three is this you can leave your old life and still carry your old desires. How is that possible? Because behavior can change faster than your motives. Why is it that you want to do right but you continue to do wrong because behavior can change faster than motives? Why is it that you pray that God will remove this thorn from you and he reminds you over and over again, my grace is sufficient for you. Because if he removes the thorn, you'll stop approaching his throne with boldness. So he leaves the thorn there so that daily you will depend on him. Daily you will seek him, daily you will seek his face, daily you'll surrender and submit to his feet. Daily you'll look what's in his heart instead of what's only in his hands. And he reminds you, my grace is sufficient for you. And Simon's life teaches us that you can put the wand down and still crave the applause. Because you can change your old life and still carry your old desires. Some people stop sinning publicly while still feeding that sin privately. If this passage teaches us nothing else, it should teach us that God is not only after our actions, God is also after our affections. Who do you truly love? Because if you truly love Him, you would talk to Him. What is talking to God? Talking to God is prayer. A day without praying to God is a day you tell God, I don't need you today. I'm good. A week without praying to God is telling God, I got it this week. I am God. A month without praying to God is telling God, I don't need you this month, I got the answers, I got the solutions, I'm gonna work it out in my own power, in my own ability, and the reality is you're not that powerful. You're not unknown, you don't know what tomorrow holds. And when you go days without praying, pride begins to rise up in your life, and you begin to look a little bit more unrecognizable today than you did yesterday, and you think to yourself, I'm doing pretty good. And the fact that you even think that it's a it's an acknowledgement that you are more prideful than you know. Because the word of God says, When I am weak, then I am strong until I acknowledge my frailty, my weakness, my own disappointments with my own flesh, my my own setbacks and letdowns, my own my own desires, my own way that God says, now I can activate power on the inside of you that will help sustain you, that will help to get you from where you are to what I've called you to be, and give you the power to endure. Somebody shout endure. The race is not given to the swift, and some of you are running fast right now. You're running it, and you're so focused on your stride, and you're so focused on how well you look while you're running and how quick you are, and you're even timing yourself, but the race is not given to the swift, the race is given to the one that endures. So if you got to crawl across the finish line, endure, you gotta hit your way to the finish line, endure. If you got to cry your way across the finish line, endure. I don't care whatever it costs you, whatever it takes. Don't stop walking, don't stop believing, and don't stop enduring. Verse number 19 says, saying, Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Point number four is this be aware of wanting God's power more than God's presence. Power without surrender becomes very dangerous. Influence without intimacy creates empty ministry. The reality of your life is that gifts may attract crowds, but only character can sustain them. People hungry for power often lose sight of the person who gives it. And you have been selling yourself short, searching for power, searching for influence, trying to be a celebrity. God is not looking for celebrities, God is looking for servants. Stop selling yourself short on the life that God has set aside for you. And you every single morning have to remind yourself I am not for sale. Because everything in this life is trying to purchase you. Everything in this life is trying to advertise to you, everything in this life is trying to market to you. You need to eat this way, and you need to drink this, and you need to work out this much, and you need to have this subscription, and you need to watch this. Everything about this life is trying to purchase you, but you have to remind yourself that you are not for sale. You can't buy holiness, you can't buy anointing, you can't buy authority, you can't buy intimacy, and you can't buy the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not for sale. Why? Because he is not for sale, and because he is not for sale, you are not for sale. My worship is not for sale, and everything every day is trying to get my worship, everything every day is trying to get my my praise, everything every day is trying to get my loyalty, and I have to remind myself I'm not for sale, I'm not for sale, my integrity is not for sale, my convictions are not for sale, my family is not for sale, my anointing is not for sale, my obedience is not for sale, my my desires are not for sale, my my life, it belongs to Jesus because he paid the price for my life. He laid down his life for you, he laid down his life for me, he laid on his life so that you did not have to sell yourself short with this ambition and pride and ego and seek and search for power. And if you seek and search for power separate from God and separate from the Holy Spirit, you will wind up being weaker than you ever could imagine. You are not for sale. Look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor, I am not for sale. The enemy tried to buy you, but you are not for sale. Culture tried to purchase you, but you are not for sale. Compromise tried to ban you, but you are not for sale because Jesus has already paid the cost for your life.