A patient suffering with brain cancer in a hospital had, as you might imagine, endured a seemingly endless series of tests and treatments that left him weak, in pain and without his hair. One of his nurses added this note to his chart so the next shift would be alert not only to his physical condition, but also his mental and emotional state. “The patient,” the nurse noted, “is inappropriately joyful.”

I’m sure the nurse was simply being diligent in her work. Perhaps she thought this man was in a delusional state. Maybe a psychiatric evaluation was needed. Had he lost touch with reality? Did he no longer grasp the gravity of his condition?

In the eyes of the attending nurse, the experience of joy in the midst of this man’s suffering did not compute. The circumstances surrounding this patient were not circumstances that would inspire joy in anyone.

The person who passed this anecdote along to Alistair commented that since she had heard about the nurse’s notation on her friend’s chart, she had made it her goal to be inappropriately joyful as well.

“The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,” the Bible tells us, “but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

Author Jerry Bridges confesses that his life had at times lacked joy. “For a number of years the virtue of joy was not very evident in my life nor very high in my value system. As far as Romans 14:17 was concerned, I considered myself a man of peace, and I felt I was seeking after the ethical righteousness that is referred to in that passage. But I really hadn’t given much thought to the importance God places on the fruit of joy in our lives.

“Then one day as I was reading through Romans 14, I realized that God was not satisfied with only righteousness and peace in our lives. Paul tells us very plainly that the kingdom of God is a matter of not only righteousness and peace, but also joy. Furthermore, I learned from verse 18 that without joy, my life was really not very pleasing to God

“The fact is, only Christians have a reason to be joyful, but it is also a fact that every Christian should be joyful” (emphasis added).

I had to pause when I read that. Is God asking us to live our lives in denial of our circumstances? Does He expect us to paste a plastic smile on our faces and pretend to be full of joy in spite of what’s happening in our lives? And what about the Psalms? There is a whole lot of lamenting going on in that book of the Bible.

The more I considered those questions, the more I could see why we should be people whose lives are characterized by joy – not always, of course, but as a general pattern of life.

But how do we get there? How do we experience and express joy while we plod our way through a fallen world?

The first step on the road to joy is to call to mind regularly, and be overwhelmed by, the good news of what God has done for us in Christ. The reality that our sins are forgiven and there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ should flood our souls with joy and gratitude. Seeing the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in us to conform us more and more into the image of Christ should be a source of great joy, as we continue becoming the new creatures we are in Christ. And the fact that we have a hope and a future, living eternally with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ, with no pain, no darkness, no sorrow or sadness forever – that promise from God should overpower whatever our current, temporary circumstances might be.

With that said, the reality of life in a fallen world means that we have to fight for joy every day. On days when the sun is shining and all is well with the world, it’s easy for our mood to be elevated. But when the darkness comes and we’re facing pain or uncertainty or hard conditions, joy is often far off. We have fight to get it back.

That’s what the Psalms of lament show us.

David cries out to God, asking him to restore the joy of his salvation (Psalm 51:12).

He reminds himself that sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

“You have put more joy in my heart,” David tells God, “than (the pagans) have when their grain and wine abound” (Psalm 4:7).

“Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy (Psalm 5:11).

“You make known to me the path of life;” the Psalmist writes in Psalm 16:11. “in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

“Why so downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God” (Psalm 42:5)

What we see modeled in these verses is the Psalmist, and ultimately the whole congregation of God’s people, resetting their minds and hearts. They are choosing to find their hope and joy in God and not look for it in the up and down events that make up our lives.

I like the term “inappropriate joy.” I’d like to be known for that. I’d like that to be true of me.

Alistair Begg writes “It is that it is possible to know a joy that is not touched by the circumstances of life and is therefore inappropriate to—or inexplicable by—what is going on right now. That is why joy may be experienced when we are facing illness, or dealing with bereavement, or facing redundancy­ —when circumstances are difficult.”

I’m contemplating the subject of joy for a reason. It was a year ago today that a dear friend and co-laborer in the gospel, Tim Friesen’s life on earth came to an end, and his life in heaven began.

I miss him.

He was a fixture in our local church. The Chairman of our Elder Board. I still expect to see him when I get to church each Sunday. I still have the impulse to want to tell him about things that are happening in our body. As our church gathered for worship on Easter Sunday this year, I was struck by how much Tim would have loved our service and how thrilled he would have been seeing so many people praising God together. As our local congregation has been hearing new members share their testimonies in recent months, I’ve thought about how the stories we’ve heard would have brought tears to Tim’s eyes.

While I still grieve his passing, I do not grieve as those who have no hope. And it’s as I think about that hope, and about how our life, in light of eternity, is a vapor, the joy begins to co-mingle with the grief, and ultimately, to overcome it.

“The choice is ours,” Jerry Bridges says. “We can be joyless Christians, or we can be joyful Christians. We can go through life bored, glum and complaining, or we can rejoice in the Lord, in our names being written in heaven, in the hope of an eternal inheritance. It is both our privilege and our duty to be joyful. To be joyless is to dishonor God and to deny His love and His control over our lives. It is practical atheism. To be joyful is to experience the power of the Holy Spirit within us, and to say to a watching world, ‘Our God reigns.’”

Probably the most common response I received was rooted in a fear of begin rejected. No one wants to unnecessarily offend a friend or, for that matter, a stranger.

Some talked about being silent about their faith for fear of being stumped by a question they don’t know how to answer.

I received responses like these:

“People my age don’t want to discuss anything potentially controversial and that someone else might find offensive. Sadly, I’ve found that lovingly sharing my faith is a great way to turn a conversation hostile.”

“Some people want to avoid confrontation. I can remember my parents always saying, ‘There are two things you NEVER talk about in public. Politics and religion. It will ALWAYS end in a fight!’”

“Some people don’t share because they are afraid of being labeled as discriminating against others. They are afraid of negative labels. ‘It’s not Christian to be intolerant!’ They think.”

“Fear is the issue,” one person said. “We’re not confident in the power of the message, not confident in our ability to communicate....all lousy reasons, but true.”

One person said one reason we don’t share with others because we don’t really believe it’s good news.

Some people don’t share with others because they’re shy.

Some don’t share with others because they feel like when they do, they turn into salespeople trying to convince uninterested buyers into making a purchase they really don’t want to make.

Some of us don’t share our faith because we are embarrassed by Christians we’ve seen on TV or people who preach on a street corners or folks who go door to door.

Some don’t share because they say “it’s not my gift.”

Let me talk about that one for a minute. In 2010, Pollster George Barna released research saying that just 1% of believers claim to have the gift of evangelism (down from 4% in 2005).

Some of us have found it convenient to dismiss our responsibility to share our faith by simply saying “it’s not my gift” and moving on. The problem is, Jesus doesn’t say “If you have the gift of evangelism, go make disciples.” Or “If you have the gift of evangelism, share your faith.” When Jesus said “go and make disciples,” He was talking to all of us.

Some people don’t share their faith because they think it doesn’t really matter whether they do or not. God’s gonna save who He’s gonna save, whether we share our faith or not.

You know what? That’s true. I believe that if we don’t share our faith with others, God will get the job done. If we’re silent, God will get rocks and stones to cry out.

But God has given us the assignment – the privilege and the joy – of being part of the spiritual birthing process.

And more than that, He has commanded us to share the gospel with others..

When he was a college student, one of R.C. Sproul’s professors asked the class to explain why, if God is sovereign in regard to salavatin, we need to share our faith After several students said that they simply didn’t know, student Sproul stammered, “Well, I guess one reason that we should still be concerned with evangelism is Christ does command us to do evangelism.”

Sproul’s professor famously responded “Ah, I see, Mr. Sproul, one small reason is that your Savior, the Lord of Glory, the King of kings has so commanded it…!”

Sproul quickly got the point. The fact that God commanded it should be enough.

But sharing our faith ought be more than a grudging duty for Christians. God allows us to participate in the greatest work in history, the work of redemption.

One of my Facebook friend said “we don’t share with others because we take the pressure of “success” in conversion, and put it on ourselves. We believe that it’s our job to convince others into the Kingdom. Therefore, if someone doesn’t respond, rather than trusting the Sovereignty of God to do the work that only He can do, we feel as if we have failed.”

But when we understand the Bible correctly, we realize that when we’ve shared our faith with others, we have succeeded in pleasing God regardless of how someone responds. Our job is to sow. God’s job is to grow.

The book of Isaiah tells us that sharing our faith is better than getting a pedicure. Isaiah 52:7

One of my Facebook friends suggested an exercise that I think every one of us as followers of Christ should embrace.

“I think every believer needs to take the time to write their story ~ their testimony. It needs to give God the glory. It should not be an egotistical recounting of all their trials & tribulations, but should genuinely describe how God has worked in their lives. It needs to focus on relationship, not religion, especially “Christianese” labels. If folks could have a short few minutes long story to share, it could be the seed that’s planted that God might use to bring others to the Father...”

Over the past several weeks in the church where I serve as Lead Pastor, we’ve heard people share their stories of God’s work in their lives as they are being welcomed in as new members. While each story is different, each has the same three parts:

• Who I was and what my life looked like before I came to faith

• How God worked in my life to draw me to Himself

• How my life is different now because I have surrendered control of my life to Jesus

If someone asked you tomorrow to share your faith story with them, could you give a 3–5 minute explanation of your journey to Jesus that follows an outline like that?

If not, let me challenge you to write your story down. Practice it. Be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you to anyone who might ask.

And then, look for an opportunity to ask a friend or a co-worker this question: “Do you have a faith story? Has there been a spiritual turning point in your life?”

Listen well to what they tell you.

And be ready to respond if they ask you the same question.

Most of you don’t know Jeannie’s story. For more than four decades, she lived independently. Like most senior adults, she was not happy five or six years ago when her adult children told her it was no longer safe for her to be behind the wheel of her automobile. That loss of independence was an adjustment into which she eventually settled. But in the years since, with her eyesight failing and her mobility weakening, it was becoming clear to her children, if not to her, that she needed help.

Earlier this year, while my wife and I were visiting Jeannie, staying in the guest room in her condo, we spent an afternoon touring a residential care facility with her, talking and thinking about what some of the advantages of living there might be. She was reluctantly considering her options. She knew that going up and down stairs was becoming more challenging, and that a day would come when she wouldn’t be able to make the climb. Her eyesight had faded to the point that she could not see that some of the food in her refrigerator had spoiled. Still, the thought of moving from her spacious two-bedroom condo to a small one bedroom room unit in a residential facility was hard for her to process.

The following day, as my wife and I awakened, preparing to pack up our car and head home, we found Jeannie experiencing whole body tremors. She could not stop shaking. We called an ambulance, and the paramedics brought her downstairs and took her to the emergency room for observation and testing. Over the next week, doctors ran a series of tests and found the results inconclusive. They were able to rule out any number of diagnoses, but unable to determine what was causing the tremoring.

By the end of the week, it was clear to everyone that Jeannie would not be going back to her condo. Within a few weeks, she had settled into that one-bedroom unit in an assisted living center for seniors. The adjustment to her new surroundings took a toll on her body and her mind. We all began to see memory issues emerging. She now needed a wheel chair to get around her apartment. As you might expect, the new reality brought the dark clouds of depression.

After years of seeing incremental declines in Jeannie’s abilities, and marveling at how remarkable a woman she was navigating her mid 90’s, we arrived today to her 97^th birthday dinner sobered by the reality of the more precipitous decline we have all seen taking place this spring and summer. To watch the body and mind in decline is a hard reality to face for all of us – especially for Jeannie.

Having celebrated my own 70th birthday earlier this year, I have found myself thinking a lot more about how to face the reality of aging in a way that honors God. I’ve had a number of books that have helped shape my thinking about the journey I’m on. A decade ago, I read a book written by a 70-year-old gerontologist called Finishing Well To The Glory Of God (the interviews I did with him are still online). That same year, I read a book called The Third Third Of Life. And in the past several years, I’ve been helped by two books written by my friend Robert Wolgemuth called Gun Lap: Staying In The Race with Purpose and Finish Line: Dispelling Fear, Finding Peace, and Preparing for the End of Your Life.

I’ve also gone back and reviewed a series of messages about aging that I first heard some two decades ago. Professor Howard Hendricks from Dallas Seminary, then in his mid 80’s, spoke to a small group of us about understanding aging biblically. Those lectures have been preserved online wrapped in a podcast hosted by Dr. Michael Easley.

Here’s just a sample of what Dr. Hendricks shared in his lectures:

“There are two lines in every person’s life. There is a lifeline, and there is a purpose line, and the moment the purpose line evaporates, it is just a question of time before the lifeline goes as well...”

“If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next world. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this world...”

“You constantly need to ask the question I hope you have asked prior to this – why did God place me on the planet?... People constantly ask me, ‘What are you going to do when you retire?’ I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding. I’m going to continue to do what I’m doing right now and have been for over 51 years at the seminary and prior to that in a pastorate, and that’s building into the lives of other people.’ But what happens if I become incapacitated? I can no longer travel, no longer move, no longer speak? Then I will spend those remaining years praying for those like you that God has left on the planet to fulfill the mission He has given you.”

We need to be proactively thinking about how we will invest our lives for God’s glory should He tarry and should we live into our 80’s or 90’s or beyond. Our so called “golden years” may be filled with all kinds of challenges, as the writer of Ecclesiastes notes. In chapter 12, he calls our senior years the “evil days” that come – days in which we will say to ourselves “I have no pleasure in them.” He paints a bleak picture of the physical decline that comes with aging and tells us to be spiritually prepared for what may lie ahead.

In the memorable words of Moses, in Psalm 90, we are told:

As we are aging, Mary Ann and I keep reminding ourselves of the kind of old people we want to be for as many years as God may give us breath. Kind, gracious, loving, productive, unselfish people, still producing the fruit of the Spirit even when life becomes increasingly more challenging. We want to be numbering our days and gaining a heart of wisdom.

As we prayed at dinner tonight, thanking God for our 97-year-old mother and mother-in-law, I prayed silently “Lord, for however many days I have remaining, help me to be a blessing and not a burden. Help me to continue to seek first your Kingdom and your righteousness. May I live on mission all the way to the finish line.”

I was a junior in college. I was looking ahead to law school. In doing my research on potential options, I came across Pepperdine Law. At the time, the school boldly asserted that “God’s law is higher than man’s law.” No other law school I knew of published any kind of claim like that. I wanted to check it out for myself.

So I hit the road with three friends. One of my travel companions knew a family in Pasadena who offered to provide lodging and shelter for the four of us for the week. The price was exactly what we were looking for – free.

I remember meeting this couple for the first time as they welcomed us into their home for a week. They treated us like we were doing them a favor by staying with them. From the first “hello,” their smiles and kindness gave off the aroma of Christ. I’d never experienced this kind of warm, welcoming hospitality in my life. It blindsided me.

I didn’t submit an application to Pepperdine. When I visited the school (which was still located in Anaheim at the time – they hadn’t moved to Malibu yet), I asked the admissions counselor about the “God’s law is higher than man’s law” idea. She apparently had the idea that I found the idea offensive or unenlightened. “Oh, don’t worry about that,” she told me. “I think some donor wanted us to include that in our promotional material” (Pepperdine was and is affiliated with the Churches of Christ).

Still, the trip to California was memorable because of the generous hospitality offered by our hosts.

This week, I traveled to St. Louis to meet with pastors, elders and staff members from other churches that, along with the church where I serve as Lead Pastor, are part of the Great Commission Collective. We met to talk about how we can support one other and multiply our impact in the cities where our churches are located.

One of the subjects we talked about was how our churches can be more welcoming. We listened to a message from Pastor Scott Hollingshead, the lead pastor at Doxa Church in Rocklin CA, on Romans 15:7: “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Scott noted that some scholars see this verse as the summary application for the whole book of Romans. The idea that we welcome others as God has welcomed us is a key application of what it looks like to live out the gospel.

As Scott was speaking, my mind went to this verse from Acts 28, where Luke tells his readers about the Apostle Paul and his landing party arriving on Malta:

“The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold” (Acts 28:2)

I was struck by that description of what it looks like to welcome someone into your circle. It looks like unusual kindness. It looks like kindling the fire to help people feel warm and comfortable.

As I listened to Scott’s message, I thought about people in our church who have shared with me their experience of feeling welcomed into the body. It would be unusual for someone to visit our church and not be greeted and recognized as a visitor.

I was reminded of something author and speaker Rebecca McLaughlin wrote about a number of years ago. In her article Make Sunday Mornings Uncomfortable, she said “an alone person in our (Sunday) gatherings is an emergency.” Visitor, regular attender, member – it doesn’t matter. “Every week,” she wrote, “people walk into our gatherings for the first time and get effectively ignored. They may not know Jesus, or they may have spent years wandering from him. Their spiritual health is on the line, and a simple conversation could be the IV fluid God uses to prepare them for life-saving surgery. Eternal lives are at stake.”

Visitors at church should be recognized and made a priority. They should be shown unusual kindness and made to feel welcome. We should kindle the fire and invite them to sit with us. We may never know, McLaughlin says, what kind of impact a small act of welcoming might make.

There is one aspect of welcoming others that I have found is the hardest part for many regular church goers. It’s this. In order welcome someone warmly to church, it’s best for the church member to be there before the visitor arrives. And most church visitors arrive about 15 minutes before the service starts.

To welcome those newcomers, we have to arrive ahead of them. We have to be in place, ready to receive the person who has come to see what our church is all about. That requires a mindset shift. We have to start thinking about showing up at church to minister to and serve others, not primarily to be ministered to or to be served.

But isn’t that what Jesus tells us to do? “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35). We come to church ready to welcome and ready to serve.

Think of how God has welcomed us into His family. Think about His love. His sacrifice. Think about how He humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant to welcome us. Think about how the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son welcomed His repentant son back home. The new robe. The ring and the shoes. The fatted calf. The celebratory feast.

That’s unusual kindness. That’s what it looks like to welcome someone in. As God’s people, we should be men and women who seek to excel still more in this vital area of ministry. Let’s make sure we’re giving off the aroma of Christ as we welcome visitors into our church.

The man who wrote those words, the Apostle Paul, experienced trials that none of us have had to bear. His list of aversity includes imprisonments, countless beatings (often near death). “Five times,” he says “I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Cor. 11:23-27).

“And, apart from other things,” Paul says “there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

It would be an understatement to say Paul’s life was characterized by adversity. He knew suffering, both physical and emotional. He and his companions were, as he says afflicted in every way. But not crushed. Perplexed. But not driven to despair. Persecuted. But not forsaken. Struck down. But not destroyed.

I was thinking about Paul’s example this week as I found myself listening to some of the songs currently being featured on Christian music radio. With no malice toward any of the artists cited here, let me share some lyrics:

Hey God, it’s me, I been lost a little while
Walkin’ all these miles and I’m in need
Of some direction ‘cause down here it’s gettin’ hard
I been searchin’ near and far, help me believe.

Here’s another song:

Face down in the desert, my faith is weak
The heat is high, hope is dry, can’t understand it
I’ve been climbing the branches, but I still can’t see
The higher I go, the less I know, starting to panic

When I, when I, when I’m low
All I, all I, all I know

He’s gonna lift me up, He’s gonna fight for me
It only took a single stone to drop a Philistine
When I’m in the fire, He is next to me
When the flame is high, I know He will rescue me

One more:

I’ve been holding on for dear life
Struggle every day and night
On the losing end of another fight
And I’ve done all I can do

I’ve been holding heavy on my shoulders
Burdens got me weary feeling older
Trusting in myself got me nowhere
So I lift my eyes to You, oh

My help comes from the Lord
And I don’t have to carry this anymore
Let the world bring me to my knees
I’m holding on to God
‘Cause I know my God is holding on to me

Now let me be clear. There is biblical warrant for crying out to God in the midst of emotional distress – in our discouragement, our lack of faith, when we are weary or defeated, and feel as if we can’t go on. It is right and proper for us to turn our attention to the promises and character of God. To put our hope in Him. What these modern songwriters are doing lines up with what David and others did in the book of Psalms.

But the popularity of these contemporary songs points to a culture of anguish, hopelessness and pain among God’s people. It must be that a lot of Christians are drowning in despair and looking for a solid rock on which to stand. Unlike the Apostle Paul, who was pressed but not crushed, it seems many modern Christians are in a near constant state of perplexity, doubt and defeat. Listeners resonate with these songs because they mirror the listener’s emotional and spiritual condition.

And the preponderance of these kinds of therapeutically centered songs has me thinking that many Christians in our day need to learn something the Apostle Paul learned.

As he sat in a Roman jail under house arrest, awaiting trial on charges of disloyalty to Rome, here’s what he wrote to the Philippians.

“I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

I find myself wondering if, in our day, it is too easy to turn in irritation into a catastrophe. If it’s too common for an annoyance to become a trauma. If an unfulfilled longing can too quickly become a deep emotional wound.

Abigail Shrier, in her book Bad Therapy, argues that many of the emotional challenges facing young people in our day are being too easily pathologized. Ordinary sadness or nervousness, for example, are being too quickly diagnosed as severe psychiatric disorders. These diagnoses quickly become a child’s new identity.

I would suggest that her observations about our therapeutic culture are not restricted to children or adolescents.

Jesus offers the only real hope for the brokenhearted, the wounded, the guilt ridden, the traumatized or those who are in despair. “Come to me,” He says. “Cast your cares on me. Lay down your burdens. Put your hope in God. Know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

I don’t want to minimize the real anguish some are wrestling with in this life. Nor do I want to simplify the solution. But I do want to suggest that however long the path, however long the journey takes, the ultimate solution for the ache in any soul is the perfect peace promised to all whose mind is stayed upon Jehovah.

Today’s light and momentary afflictions – whatever they may be – are instruments in the Redeemer’s hand producing in us an eternal weight of glory. Like the Apostle Paul, may we come to the place where we can declare “I have learned the secret. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

That’s the question the angel asked Jesus’ disciples in Acts 1. 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus appeared the twelve (minus Judas) and gave them this assignment: “You will be my witnesses.” And because they did what He told them to do, the church was born and continues twenty centuries later.

The book of Acts tells us that while they stood looking and listening to Jesus, He was lifted up. He ascended. A cloud took him out of their sight.

They stood there, heads raised, eyes glued to the sky. In spite of all they had witnessed during the ministry of Jesus, and especially in the last 40 days since He was raised from the dead, they no doubt were once again stunned by what they had just seen. Speechless.

That’s when two men wearing white robes who were standing with them – two men who presumably hadn’t been there just a few minutes prior – spoke up. “Men of Galilee. Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

I totally get why the slack jawed disciples are fixated on the skies. I would be to.

And think for a minute about the rebuke from these angels. “Why are you staring at the sky?” they ask. “Jesus is coming back in the same way you saw Him go to heaven.”

If I was one of the 11 standing there, I would have been tempted to turn to the angels and say “Exactly! That’s why we’re staring! We’re still a bit stunned by what just happened. We’re in awe. We’re worshipping. And who knows – He could be coming back right away!”

Except Jesus just made it clear He wasn’t coming back immediately. What had He just said? “You will be my witnesses – in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” Jesus would not have given that assignment and then returned for His disciples thirty minutes later.

The angels are telling the disciples it’s time to get busy. Time to turn their attention away from the skies and onto the fields that are ripe for harvest. Time to do what they’ve been called to do. To testify.

That’s what witnesses do. They give testimony. They share what they’ve seen and heard and experienced. They swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

The angels remind the disciples that Jesus is coming back. They don’t know when. But instead of standing around and staring at the sky, they need to refocus and start doing what Jesus has just told them to do.

All this happened 2000 years ago. We weren’t there. But the assignment given to the 11 that day is our assignment today. We are called to be witnesses. Ambassadors. We are called to make disciples of all people.

Yes, we should be spending time in worship regularly. Yes, we should be practicing spiritual disciplines so we can grow in godliness and Christ-likeness. Yes, we should be loving our neighbor and serving one another.

But the last thing Jesus told His disciples to do was to be His witnesses. To speak up. To testify.

Think about your week this week. Have you spent time reading your Bible? Good! Spent time praying? Great! Spent time fellowshipping with other believers? Wonderful. Spent time serving others in Jesus’ name? I hope so.

Have you spent any time witnessing? Sharing your faith with someone? Anyone?

I think if there were two white robed people who had a word for us today, it would likely be this:

“Time to get moving, folks. You have work to do.”

Indeed we do.

When the Apostle Paul describes what he calls “the full armor of God,” which we are to wear so we can stand firm against the schemes of the devil, he tells his readers not to go barefoot. They will need the right footwear to provide stability when they are under attack and traction when they are advancing. They will need on their feet what he calls “the gospel of peace.”

In the midst of spiritual battles, Paul says, the good news that because of Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension we can be reconciled to God and have eternal life will settle your anxious soul.

Think about this for a second. When you know – when you really believe – that

God loves you,

that He will never leave you,

that no matter what, He is with you,

He is for you,

He sees you,

And that nothing can separate you from Him ever. Nothing.

When that sinks into your heart and soul, as the Bible says, what can stand against you?

What is bigger than that? What is stronger than that?

The enemy has schemes that are designed to knock you down. To sideline you. To take you out, get you off the field and send you to the locker room.

And the Bible says that when we know we have peace with God, we are able to stand against whatever comes at us. Gospel shoes give you spiritual stability.

This is why we need to preach the gospel to ourselves every day.

In his book the Disciplines of Grace, author Jerry Bridges outlines for us what it means for us to preach the gospel to ourselves each day:

“To preach the gospel to yourself… means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life. It means that you appropriate, again by faith, the fact that Jesus fully satisfied the law of God, that He is your propitiation, and that God’s holy wrath is no longer directed toward you.

“To preach the gospel to yourself means that you take at face value the precious words of Romans 4:7-8: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

“It means that you believe on the testimony of God that ‘Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1).

“It means you believe that ‘Christ redeemed [you] from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for [you], for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’’ (Galatians 3:13).

“It means you believe He forgave you all your sins (Colossians 2:13) and now ‘[presents you] holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation’ (Colossians 1:22).

“Turning to the Old Testament, to preach the gospel to yourself means that you appropriate by faith the words of Isaiah 53:6: ‘We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.’

“It means that you dwell upon the promise that God has removed your transgressions from you as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), that He has blotted out your transgressions and remembers your sin no more (Isaiah 43:25).”

It is because of the gospel of peace that we can stand. We know what is ahead for us. The knowledge that we have been reconciled to God and will live with Him forever is bigger than any discouragement or disappointment, any arrow that the devil can shoot at your today.

What gave Daniel the confidence to face the lions?

What gave Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the courage to face the furnace?

What gave Stephen the courage to face those who wanted to stone him, who did eventually kill him?

What gave Paul and Silas the ability to be singing at midnight in a jail cell after having been beaten with rods?

What gave John Hus the grace to pray for his enemies when they condemned him and sentenced him to be burned at the stake as a heretic?

What gave the Oxford martyrs in the 16^th century, Nicolas Ridley and Hugh Latimer and Thomas Cranmer, the grace to face their executions and to say, as Latimer said “I thank God most heartily that He hath prolonged my life to this end, that I may in this case glorify God by that kind of death?”

What gives you the confidence to face whatever the battle, whatever the affliction, whatever is coming at you today, and to say “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me?”

It’s the gospel of peace that makes you ready for these battles.

So put your shoes on. Preach the gospel to yourself. Embrace it. Live your life in light of it. Live like it’s true.

Because it is.

In the case of our enemy, there’s a lot. A lot we can conclude about the devil by understanding some of the names that are used for him in the Bible.

Most commonly in scripture, the enemy is referred to as Satan. That name is used 52 times in both the Old and New Testaments. Satan means adversary or opponent or enemy. He is adverse – against – everything God is for. He is the opponent of whatever God proposes.

If God is for something, Satan is against it. If God is for you (and He is), Satan is against you.

But if God is for you, who can stand against you? No one. Not Satan.

In various places in the New Testament, the enemy is called the tempter.

In 1 John 5 he is called the evil one.

Elsewhere, he is called a liar and the father of lies. Jesus said that knowing the truth will set us free. Satan wants to keep us from the truth. He uses lies to keep people in bondage and away from God.

In 1 Peter, he is pictured as a roaring lion, on the prowl, seeking whom he might destroy.

In Revelation he is pictured as a dragon – a destroying dragon.

These titles or descriptions of the enemy give us some idea about his strategies

But I want to focus on the second most common title for our enemy. In scripture, the devil shows up 35 times. The word means accuser or slanderer.

As his names imply, one of the chief strategies he uses in spiritual warfare against you is to accuse you and slander God.

If you are a Christian, Satan will regularly bring to light the reality of your ongoing propensity to sin. He will remind you of your guilt.

He will tell you that God can’t or won’t forgive you.

That He can’t and won’t love you.

That there is no way you can really be a child of God given the things you’ve done or the things you’ve thought or the words you’ve said this week.

Have you heard that voice in your head?

He is very effective as an accuser. He knows the shame producing power of accusation.

And when he tells you God can’t forgive you or love you, he is slandering God. Calling Him a liar. He is telling you the gospel is not true and Jesus’ death was not sufficient to satisfy God’s righteous wrath.

That voice of accusation and slander that you hear in your head sometimes is not from God. It’s not.

When Satan accuses you, your job is to stand firm in your faith and to re-believe the gospel. To re-believe what is true.

Your job is to say – out loud – “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

And then sing, out loud “He took my sin and my sorrow, He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. He how marvelous, how wonderful is my saviors love for me.”

When you hear the voice of the enemy accusing you and slandering God, recognize thos accusations are a scheme of the devil, and use the sword of the Spirit, the word of God to fight back.

JI Packer reminds us that we should not imagine that Satan and God are equal spiritual beings engaged in spiritual battle. We should not think that there are two gods, one good and one evil, fighting it out with each other.

No, Packer says. “Satan is a creature, superhuman but not divine; he has much knowledge and power, but he is neither omniscient nor omnipotent; he can move around in ways that humans cannot, but he is not omnipresent; and he is an already defeated rebel, having no more power than God allows him and being destined for the lake of fire.”

He is smarter than you. He is stronger than you. He is craftier than you.

He is more committed to destroying you than you are to opposing him.

But – and this is key – He is not stronger or smarter than God. And he is not more committed to your destruction than God is to your protecting and care.

Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.

And nothing – not principalities or powers or any other created thing – is able to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

You should never ignore or dismiss or take him for granted. But you need not live in fear or defeat.

Jesus has won the victory over Satan.

And in Christ, we are able to recognize - and defeat – any of his schemes – including the accusations he whispers in your ear.

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of the guilt within

Upward I look and see Him there,
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Neither are Reddit threads.

Or posts on X.

It’s not that wisdom can’t be found in any of these places. After all, my hope is that this post offers a bit of godly advice.

But searching for wisdom online can be like a trip to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in my home state of Arkansas. You’ll find yourself sifting through a lot of worthless minerals before you come across anything of real value.

Or to paraphrase the book of James, the internet is loaded with worldly wisdom and short on “wisdom that comes down from above” (James 3:15).

How can we tell which is which?

How can we spot the difference between lofty sounding foolishness and genuine godly wisdom?

We start by cultivating a renewed mind. The place to turn for wisdom is to the all-wise God, who gives it generously and without reproach.

His Word is the repository of His wisdom. When we lack wisdom, it’s where we turn first. Pastor Kent Hughes says “None of us will ascend to the heights of wisdom God wishes for us without spending long hours reading and meditating on God’s Word.“ It’s where our quest for wisdom begins.

Next, the Bible tells us to walk with the wise. When we do, we become wise ourselves. Seek counsel from godly men and women. Do not be the companion of fools. Consider the character of the person whose counsel you’re seeking. “By his good conduct,” James says, “let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”

The puritan pastor Thomas Manton said “A Christian is better known by his life than by his speech… knowledge is only like a jewel in a toad’s head… True wisdom ends in good behavior.“

Bible teacher Alec Motyer observes “There are those who live closely to God, see more clearly into things than others do, and just know how to manage life’s varied circumstances. They are godly in character, sharp in discernment and helpful in their advice and counsel.”

It is to these people we turn for wisdom.

Once you’ve considered a person’s character, the Bible tells us to avoid the counsel of those who are motivated by jealousy, selfish ambition or boasting. Those who regularly present half-truths as if they are the whole truth are not to be trusted. Their advice is “earthly, unspiritual and demonic. Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:15-16).

Sounds like a lot of what I find when I scroll through social media. A lot of jealousy. Ambition. Disorder. A lot that is vile.

Meanwhile, James 3:17 offers seven characteristics of “the wisdom from above.” Seven marks of a person who is a reliable source of godly wisdom.

Here’s the portrait James paints for us of a person whose life is characterized by godly wisdom.

That person is “first, pure.” This is his or her defining attribute. The other six characteristics flow from purity.

There are two aspects of this purity. The first is what Kent Hughes calls “devotional purity.” There is no mixed allegiance. No double mindedness. The central motivation that fuels his or her choices is seeking first the Kingdom and His righteousness.

There is also a moral purity – a life and actions that are guided by obedience to God and a pursuit of righteousness.

If you see mixed motives or persistent unrighteousness being exhibited by someone, he or she are not manifesting godly wisdom – the wisdom that comes down from above.

Kent Hughes says The Christian who wants to live in wisdom can ask no better question regarding his thoughts, words, actions and devotion than, “Am I pure?”

Godly wisdom is also peaceable. It does not generate strife and division and hostility. Wisdom from above brings with it a deep sense of well being – a shalom. Peace.

Godly wisdom comes from a person who turns away from evil and does good; who seeks peace and pursues it. (Psalm 34:14)

The third characteristic of godly wisdom is gentleness. It comes from people who are seeking to be kind and generous, forgiving and gracious to others.

When Paul wrote to Timothy about division in the church, he told Timothy that “the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

That’s what gentle godly wisdom looks like.

If someone is quarrelsome, unkind, impatient, harsh, more concerned about being shown to be right than about someone’s spiritual well-being – that person should not be looked to as a source of godly wisdom.

Godly wisdom comes from someone who is open to reason. In a word, teachable. Kent Hughes says “A man or a woman is in a bad way when he or she is no longer persuadable. ‘Foolish’ is the Biblical designation for such a state.”

If you see someone who is inflexible and has to always be right, dug in to a point where he won’t listen to another opinion, that’s not a person to turn to for godly wisdom.

A person with godly wisdom is also full of mercy and good fruits. If a person can spout pithy sayings or is a compelling orator and debater, but he is not also full of mercy and goodness, that person is lacking the wisdom from above.

A person full of mercy stands ready, not just to forgive another person, but to bless that person and care for that person – to actively do good for that person.

A genuinely wise person will also be impartial. It means he will not pre-judge others. He is just and fair, not predisposed for or against someone.

Wisdom from above does not bring prejudice with it. If you see evidence of partiality or prejudice in someone, that person is operating with worldly wisdom.

The last characteristic of wisdom from above is sincerity. Sincerity is the opposite of what James calls double mindedness. An insincere person is two faced. Hypocritical. Opportunistic. Our current political landscape is awash with double minded, opportunistic men and women. Beware.

Solomon exhorted his son to “get wisdom.” In our day, where a cacophony of voices shout louder and louder, seeking to earn the coveted designation of “influencer” or “content creator,” it’s increasingly important that we be able to distinguish earthly, unspiritual and demonic voices from those who offer wisdom from above – wisdom that is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”

A harvest of righteousness, the Bible tells us, is sown not by those who stir up strife, but by those who make peace. (James 3:18)

In his messages, Dr. Thoennes talked about what the Bible has to say about wisdom.

There is a difference between being smart and being wise, right?

Smart people know facts. They have information and knowledge.

Wise people know what matters. They know how to live life in a way that brings peace and joy to your soul.

A smart person without wisdom can get good grades on tests or a scholarship to college. He can win at Trivial Pursuit. He can qualify for a slot on Jeopardy. He can impress people at dinner parties or edit Wikipedia articles.

But information does not bring joy or peace. Wisdom can - and does - lead to shalom.

It’s the wise person we turn to for help when life is hard or we need counsel.

Ultimately, a wise person is someone who knows how to live life the way God designed life to be lived. Wisdom comes as we figure out that it’s God’s design and purpose for our lives that brings us the contentment and peace and joy for which our soul longs.

Tim Keller says that wisdom is “the ability to grow and handle and flourish in the midst of life circumstances, whatever they are. Having great life circumstances, fame and fortune and power and happiness, is nowhere near as important as having wisdom.”

“Many decisions,” Keller says, “in order to make them well, only require knowledge. If you had all the knowledge, you could choose the right car, maybe the right medicine, or something like that.

“Other decisions are mainly a matter of your principles and your commitments. But for the vast majority of the decisions we actually face, the rules and the facts won’t help you.

“Who do you marry? Do you get married? Who should you date? Do you break up? What career should you go into? What school should you go to? Should I stay here? Should I go to another job? Should I move here? Should I move there? Should I confront the person, or should I hold back? Should I take the risk, or should I play it safe?”

To deal with questions like those, Keller says we need more than knowledge. We need more than facts. We need more than an ethical system.

You and I need wisdom.

RC Sproul points out that you can be smart and not wise. But it’s impossible to be wise without at least some knowledge. He says “ignorance breeds foolishness, but true knowledge — the knowledge of God — leads to the wisdom that is more precious than rubies and pearls.”

That knowledge of God is where real wisdom begins.

The knowledge of God is what the Psalms and the Proverbs call “the fear of the Lord.”

Years ago, I was aided in my understanding of what it means to fear the Lord by a book written by Jerry Bridges called The Joy of Fearing God. Bridges defines the fear of the Lord as a combination of three things: deep awe, reference and joyful wonder. It’s not terror or servile dread. The fear of the Lord is a life-giving attitude that draws us closer to God.

Here’s how Bridges unpacks what is embodied in what it means to fear the Lord:

Respect (Reverence): An acknowledgment of God’s infinite majesty, holiness, and absolute authority.

Admiration: A deep appreciation for God’s glorious attributes and character.

Amazement: A profound wonder at His infinite, unconditional love for humanity.

Ultimately, Bridges says that biblical fear is not something we should avoid; rather, it’s a healthy, awe-inspired posture that leads to a life of wisdom, obedience, and genuine intimacy with God.

You will never know real wisdom in this life without a knowledge of God that generates reverence, admiration and amazement.

Which is the wrong way to look at the Sermon on the Mount.

What Jesus teaches in this sermon is powerful and profound and important. It should affect how we live as His followers.

But there are at least four messages Jesus is driving home in this sermon:

1. God’s standards for how we are to live are very different than what most religious leaders, then and now, are advocating. Most religious leaders advocate moral improvement. God calls us to be perfect.

2. God’s command that we must be perfect presents all of us with a hopeless quest. Perfection is the expectation. And no one is perfect. We all fall short.

3. The question we should be left with from this sermon is “how can anyone ever become a child of God?” Clearly we can’t achieve what God expects.

4. That leaves everyone who hears or reads this sermon with a choice. Continue to try to live a better life and hope that God grades on the curve. Or abandon your pursuit of self-righteousness and cry out to Jesus for help.

You’ve no doubt had friends say something like “I try to live my life according to the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.” They think Jesus’ message in this sermon is “Do your best and God will be satisfied as long as you try.”

While the sermon is a statement of the kind of ethical behavior that ought to be true of those who follow Jesus, the message of the Sermon on the Mount is not “here’s the standard – now go do your best to live this way so God will be pleased with you.”

In fact, if someone – then or now – hears this sermon and thinks “okay, I just need to clean up my act a bit and I’m good with God,” they’ve missed the whole point.

Jesus’ purpose in the Sermon on the Mount is to declare that God’s standards for how we live is much higher than what religious leaders are telling you. His goal is to convince all of us to abandon any hope we might have that we are able to achieve God’s commendation through any effort of their own.

The conclusion all of us should draw after reading the Sermon on the Mount is the conclusion the hymnwriter drew:

Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s demands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

The Scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ day were false teachers with a false gospel. Their message was that God what expects is an “external only righteousness.”

Jesus uses six illustrations in His sermon to point out how the Scribes and Pharisees had not just misunderstood God’s law, they had deliberately altered His word, dumbing it down to an achievable standard of external righteousness.

Jesus shows that God is concerned about both your heart and your behavior. He’s telling us that the only lasting change in our behavior as Christians will come as a result of a changed heart. “External only righteousness” won’t cut it with Him.

The six illustrations are:

The real issue in our lives is not a behavior issue. It’s a heart issue.

And the core of our heart issue is a focus on self, not on the glory of God or the needs of others.

The Scribes and Pharisees thought they had found a way to meet God’s righteous demands by virtuous living. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows that our heart is the problem. Our terminal self-centeredness is the issue.

And the cure is not to dumb down God’s righteous standard. The only real cure is a new heart.

Until we understand that fundamental premise, we remain far from God and from His grace.

The word discipline is multi-layered word. Its meaning is determined by the context in which it is used.

A disciplined person might be someone who is able to self-regulate or practice self-control.

It might be a person who has been chastened or admonished for bad behavior.

A field of study is sometimes referred to as a discipline.

What all three meanings have in common is learning.

In fact, the Latin word disciplīna means instruction, teaching or learning. And it shares its meaning with another Latin word, discipulus, from which we get the word disciple. The two words fit together.

A disciple is measured by both his life and his learning. Living a disciplined life isn’t about what you know. It’s about you do – or don’t do.

So how does a word that means instruction or learning come to carry with it the idea of punishment?

“For the moment,” the writer of Hebrews says, “all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant” (Heb. 12:11).

The word for discipline in this verse originally meant instruction – specifically, the instruction of children. But according to Greek scholars, the word evolved to mean chastening “because all effectual instruction for the sinful children of men includes and implies chastening and correction.”

In other words, rebels (like children) don’t like being told how to act when the instruction doesn’t affirm their opinions or support their passions. Rebels find instruction – discipline – to be painful rather than pleasant.

But when God softens a rebel’s heart, the sting that accompanies discipline is followed by something precious and sweet. After a time, “it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

When our hearts are open to God’s instruction, the initial sting that comes with correction gives way over time to the peaceful fruit of righteousness. God’s discipline steers us away from the sinful patterns and habits of our heart. God graciously teaches us to say no to unrighteousness (Titus 2:12). And as we learn to walk rightly before Him, we begin to experience the peace of God which transcends our circumstances and passes all understanding.

^“It is for discipline that you have to endure,” the writer of Hebrews says. When God brings discipline – painful correction – in our lives, He is treating us as sons. “For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:7).

It is for our good that God corrects us when we reject or wander away from His instruction. It’s because He loves us that He brings us back to the narrow way.

We resist.

We groan.

We may even kick against the goads.

But God will not stop discipling and disciplining us. Because He knows that walking in righteousness is what ultimately brings peace.

A wise child will heed his Father’s instruction and in the process, avoid the sting of discipline. And when that child, prone to wander, experiences the pain that comes with correction, he or she will embrace the loving reproof as evidence of God’s love and care.

I’m not sure everyone would agree that forgiving someone is easier than math.

Except for calculus. Forgiveness can feel like relational calculus.

Forgiving someone who has hurt you deeply and violated your trust can seem both impossible and wrong. Still, the Bible makes it clear that God expects those of us who are recipients of His immeasurable grace to be dispensers of mercy and grace to others. Forgive. And bless. That’s what the Bible teaches.

I’ve read a number of books that have helped me think about how Jesus would want us to respond to those who sin against us.

One that comes to mind is a book called Bold Love by Dr. Dan Allender and Tremper Longman III. It’s a book that helped me see that there is not a “one size fits all” template for forgiving someone who has offended you.

The authors describe three different categories of people who might sin against us:

Normal sinners

Fools

And evil people.

Regardless of what kind of offender we’re dealing with, Jesus calls us not only to forgive, but also to love our enemies. But as Allender and Longman point out, we need to be wise in considering what our love for an offender should look like.

If the person who has sinned against us is a fool or an evil person, a loving response will involve taking steps to prevent that person from continuing to repeat his or her sinful behavior. It will involve setting clear boundaries. It might mean we remain isolated from that person so he or she doesn’t have the opportunity to continue falling into a pattern of ongoing sin.

Often, the right way to respond to an evil person or a fool is to extend to them what the authors call the gift of defeat. This involves holding them accountable for how they have wronged us – for their own good. It might involve calling the police. Or friends or family members.

The reason this is a gift is because God might use your actions to shake the offender out of his cold heartedness.

Your goal is to provide them an opportunity to acknowledge their sin, own it, and repent. If they don’t, the authors say, you give them one additional gift – the gift of excommunication. You break your ties with them. Excommunication is a kind gift because it removes the immediate opportunity for sin and opens the door for God to use shame and loneliness to drive them to repentance.

Another book that has been helpful as I’ve thought about forgiveness is Gary Thomas’ When To Walk Away. Gary explains how forgiveness does not require subjecting ourselves to someone who is “toxic.” It’s not wrong, he says, to identify and ultimately separate ourselves from toxic people.

“Toxic people want to control you,” he told me. when I interviewed him about the book. “When you’re feeling controlled, demeaned, or being monopolized in a way that keeps you from doing what God has called you to do, that’s a big sign that you’re dealing with a toxic person.”

Gary says that the more we engage with toxic people, the worse things get. “If we don’t walk away, we have sleepless nights; we lose a lot of time; we’re not present with our families; we’re focused on people that will never change.

You can forgive someone who has wronged you, and at the same time, establish boundaries to keep them from controlling or monopolizing you.

“Jesus told us not to throw pearls before swine,” Gary Thomas pointed out. “That’s a reminder that some people are so spiritually closed that you’re ultimately inviting abuse upon yourself when you get involved with them.”

Forgiven peope forgive people. It’s what we’re called to do. But we need to think clearly about what forgiveness is and what it isn’t.

Forgiveness does not demand that we remove consequences or accountability.

When we forgive someone, we’re not excusing the wrongdoing.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean we are required to forget the offense.

Forgiveness does not immediately restore trust.

Forgiveness doesn’t involve denying the hurt.

Or neglecting justice.

Or trying to changing the past.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean the person who has sinned against you is no longer responsible for the consequences that are attached to their sin. When the Bible tells us that love covers a multitude of sins, it’s not telling a forgiver to cover up the wrong doing.

Processing the hurt and pain you’ve experienced and moving toward forgiveness often requires the help of another person – a mentor or a counselor. You may feel like you just can’t forgive the person who hurt you. I’ve felt that way before. But it’s not okay to stay bitter and just move on. Get help.

Forgiving another person is good for your soul. The ancient proverb is true – holding onto bitterness and refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and thinking the other person will die. When we refuse to forgive, we’re hurting ourself more than anyone else.

God tells us to pursue peace and reconciliation with all people. But sometimes, no mater how hard we try, the wound doesn’t heal. The Bible acknowledges that reality. It says “if possible, as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all people” (Romans 12:18). Sometimes, being at peace isn’t possible. Sometimes, when you’ve done all you can do, the relationship just won’t heal.

1 Peter 3 is just one passage of scripture that should shape our thinking regarding the priority of forgiveness.

“Whoever desires to love life

and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit;

let him turn away from evil

and do good;

let him seek peace and pursue it.”

(1 Peter 3:10–11)

Back in 2023 (which is a long, long time ago in AI years), Dr. Marks was asked if Christians should be more fearful or excited about AI? His response was measured: “I think that AI—like any technology—is neither good nor bad. It’s how it’s used.”

Three years later, a lot of people are raising real concerns about the AI revolution. Students are looking ahead and wondering if AI is going to make them unemployable. A recent Wall Street Journal article (behind a paywall) reported on those concerns:

“Several graduations this spring featured tone-deaf commencement speeches praising artificial intelligence, which the crowds greeted with a symphony of boos. In response, one speaker bluntly stated, ‘I know it, deal with it. Like I said, it’s a tool. . . . You can hear me now, or pay me later.’ It was the perfect representation of the generational divide in feelings about AI.

“Young people who were sold on the promise that a college education secured a good future are now being confronted with an economy in which employers are gutting entry-level positions in favor of AI. A global survey released this April from Oliver Wyman found that 43% of CEOs plan to reduce junior roles (up from 17% in 2025). As the trajectory of the job market continues in this direction, young people are actively being written out of a future they have no control over.”

Meanwhile, communities like the one in which I live are grappling with a decision about whether to allow new data centers to be built nearby. Proponents point to the economic benefit the centers will provide while noting that data centers are going to exist somewhere. Better here, they say, than China. Meanwhile, those who are concerned about the data centers cite as a primary concern the significant electrical power and water needs those centers will have, along with concerns about noise pollution.

Mental health professionals are seeing a rise in psychological disorders related to AI, as people interact with the AI companions they have created. Recently, I read about a man who was having relationship problems with his girlfriend. He turned to ChatGPT for advice. According to the article, he is one of a number of men and women who have formed close bonds with their chatbots and in the process, have developed dangerous delusions, which have resulted in hospitalizations, suicide, even a murder-suicide. Mental-health professionals, the article said, are recognizing chatbot delusions and psychosis as a growing phenomenon.

All of which brings me back to Dr. Robert Marks, who thinks AI is neither good nor bad. It all depends on how it’s used.

I think he’s right. And I also have to agree with the commencement speaker who told booing college graduates to “deal with it.”

AI is here. It’s not going away.

And that is both promising and dangerous.

As a tool, AI could lead to major breakthroughs in medicine and technology. We may have both preventive and curative solutions for significant diseases arriving sooner than we otherwise would because of what AI can do.

And anyone who has used AI as a research assistant or to help create graphics or presentations or documents knows how powerful the tool can be. We also have seen how flawed it can be. AI is far from infallible or without bias.

AI is also not inherently benign. The deepfakes and misinformation AI can generate are already serving to confuse and polarize people even further. There are huge concerns about data privacy and cybersecurity. And as human beings turn to “bots” for friendship and advice, the result is less human contact, leading to increased alienation and loneliness.

I know. I’m just scratching the surface on all this.

How do we navigate the road ahead in the face of the AI revolution that is taking place? Seven years ago, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention drafted and released what the called An Evangelical Statement of Principles related to AI. While their work could probably use an update, those who drafted the series of affirmations and denials had a pretty good handle on the issues we are now facing with AI. Their statement is worth reviewing, pondering and discussing with others.

My greatest concern about the AI revolution is that it is arriving at a time when we are at a spiritual and ethical low point as a nation. Pragmatism is more highly valued than godly character in our day. Instead of asking if something is good and true and beautiful, our only question is “will it score points for our team?” We need to realize that pursuing a supposedly ethical outcome by unethical means is a self-unraveling quest. By the time you achieve your goal (assuming you ever do) you find the pursuers have lost their appetite for ethical outcomes. They’ve found they like winning more than nobleness.

Our most important objective as we enter into the brave new world of AI is for us to be guided on our journey by righteousness. We need desperately to grow in godliness. In an age where character formation takes a back seat to winning by any means necessary, AI presents a clear and present danger.

Seventy years ago, we brought the Second World War to an end by unleashing a deadly force the world had never before seen. We ushered in the atomic age when we dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In God’s providence, world leaders have seemed to understand the real threat posed by nuclear weapons. Although the weapons exist, none has been deployed since 1945.

The AI age presents us with a new threat. The problem is, the danger is more accessible than nuclear weapons are. May God, in His providence, grant us grace to use this new tool wisely. May we, as a nation, cultivate the kind of character in our citizenry that is needed to steward AI well. May He protect us from those who would use AI for malevolent ends. And may He protect us from making an idol of AI, turning to technology for counsel or for relationship instead of turning to Him and to one another.

DEAR DR. GRAHAM: Is there any sin that God can’t forgive? I worry about this because I’ve led kind of a rough life, and I can’t imagine God just wiping the slate clean, so to speak, and forgiving all the bad things I’ve done. -- T.D.

Here was Dr. Graham’s answer.

DEAR T.D.: The only sin God cannot forgive is the sin of refusing to turn to Him and accept His forgiveness. To put it another way, the only sin God can’t forgive is the sin of unbelief.

The sin of unbelief? Yes.

But first, I know what some of you are thinking. The unforgivable sin, according to Jesus, is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. That’s what He says in Matthew’s gospel.

“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31).

And while there is debate among scholars about what actually constitutes blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, I think we have to recognize there is a connection between what Jesus desctibes in Matthew 12:31 and what He said in the previous verse – “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30).

In other words, persistent, ongoing, hard hearted, stubborn unbelief is a clear indication that someone is not for Jesus, but is against Him. And since the work of the Holy Spirit is to point to Jesus, to reveal to us the true nature of His person and work, the person who rejects His revelation calling the Holy Spirit a liar. Sounds like blasphemy to me.

We tend to think of unbelief as a failure to be persuaded that there is a God or that the gospel is true and can be trusted. But the Bible says unbelief goes deeper.

People who are unbelievers are unbelievers because they simply don’t want to believe.

Deep down, everyone knows there is a God. Creation makes that clear. And so does our conscience.

But the Bible says that each all of is inclined to actively suppress what we know is true.

Unbelief is not primarily about a lack of convincing evidence regarding the trut claims of Christianity. We choose unbelief not because of a lack of evidence, but because we recognize that if there is a God, we are accountable to Him.

And we don’t like that idea one bit. We want to be in charge of our own lives. Not accountable to a holy God.

It’s not a lack of credible evidence that leads to unbelief. As JC Ryle says, unbelief is the result of pride and self-righteousness. Stiff necks and hard hearts. We remain spiritual blind until God humbles us, opens our eyes and we see.

At the end of the day, those who don’t believe in God or trust in Jesus don’t need more convincing. They need their hearts to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

If that never happens, we can bring out as much evidence as we’d like and the unbeliever still won’t budge.

Because it’s not about evidence. It’s about not wanting to believe in the first place.

We are commanded by God to believe Him. Choosing unbelief is a sin. It is an act of wickedness. The Bible makes this clar.

To decide that you don’t believe in God, your Creator, the One who gave you life, the One who gives you breath, who blesses you with the blessings of common grace, the One who sent His Son to die so your sins can be forgiven and you can be reconciled to Him – to reject Him is not a neutral choice. It’s a stubborn, proud, self righteous wicked act.

Unbelief is an unforgivable sin.

There is a deep connection between unbelief and pride. They are two sides of the same coin. To refuse to belief what God has revealed is to say “I know better than God.” That’s pride.

And pride will keep you far from God.

God gives grace to the humble. All who are genuinely humble, God will meet in their humility and grant them grace.

The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were more committed to their unbelief than they were to the truth.

Anyone who hears the gospel and thinks to himself “, I am just not convinced about all this” doesn’t need more evidence or more convincing. He needs to humble himself.

In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man as a way to show the Pharisees just how spiritually blind they are. In their pride, they believed they knew God’s plan and agenda better than Jesus.

The first step to spiritual sight is to say “I don’t think I see things clearly. I need help from above.”

Jesus declared that He came to bring recovery of sight to the blind. He opens our eyes when we acknowledge and confess the sinfulness of our stubborn unbelief and ask Him to reveal Himself to us.

Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon in January of 1855 titled the Sin of Unbelief. If you doubt whether unbelief is really a sin or not, I would commend that sermon to you.

In it, he tells about a group of Christians who were discussing whether unbelief should be considered sinful. And one man in the group was astonished that the question was even being debated. This man, Spurgeon said, asked his friends:

Is it not a sin for a creature to doubt the word of its Maker?

Is it not a crime and an insult to the Divinity, for me, an atom, a particle of dust, to dare to deny his words?

Is it not the very summit of arrogance and extremity of pride for a son of Adam to say, even in his heart, ‘God I doubt thy grace; God I doubt thy love; God I doubt thy power?’

Oh sirs, believe me, could you roll all sins into one mass,

could you take murder,

and blasphemy,

and lust,

adultery,

and fornication,

and everything that is vile

and unite them all into one vast globe of black corruption, they would not equal even then the sin of unbelief.

This is the monarch sin, the quintessence of guilt; the mixture of the venom of all crimes; the dregs of the wine of Gomorrah; it is the A1 sin, the masterpiece of Satan, the chief work of the devil.

The first words attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

To refuse to repent and believe is to refuse what Jesus calls all of us to do.

There’s a reason that one term for a Christian is “a believer.” Because, as Billy Graham said, unbelief is the sin God cannot and will not forgive.

When was the last time you said that? Was it when you were returning something you’d purchased online? Was it when you were ordering at a restaurant, and by the time the waiter had taken everyone else’s order, you had decided on something different?

When someone says he has changed his mind, we expect there to be a different outcome. Imagine for a moment a conversation like this one:

“I thought you said you had changed your mind about coming to the movie.”

“I did.”

“Then what are you doing here at the theater?”

If someone says he has changed his mind, but his actions don’t change, he’s either changed his mind again or he never really changed his mind in the first place.

The Greek word metanoia means “a change of mind.” In our Bibles, that word is translated “repent.” To repent is to have a change of mind that is corroborated by a change in our behavior. Without a change of behavior, we’d have to conclude that there was no true repentance – no real change of mind.

This all may seem obvious to you, but here’s why I’m making the point.

When Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians, he had some strong words for them. There was a lot about their behavior that needed correcting, and Paul was not reticent to admonish or rebuke them.

Apparently, when the Corinthians received Paul’s letter, they were grieved to read about how their actions were dishonoring to the Lord. When Paul learned about their grief, he wrote back to them, telling them “I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting.”

Paul hadn’t written to them to shame them. But he did want them to see the sinfulness of their actions. He wanted them to be sorry for their sin, hoping that a sober grief would lead to a lasting change. And apparently with them, it did.

Paul goes on in 2 Corinthians 7 to explain that when we are confronted with the reality of our sin, there are two kinds of grieving that can take place. “Godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret,” Paul says, while “worldly grief produces death.”

Here’s what Paul is saying. It’s possible, when confronted with our sin, to be truly sorry for what we’ve done. We can be ashamed of ourselves. We might wish we had never done what we did. We can be sorry we hurt other people.

The question is whether our sorrow is godly sorrow or worldly sorrow. Godly sorry leads to change. Worldly sorrow leads nowhere. Actually, it leads to death. Because there is no salvation for the person who experience sorrow without change.

I remember sitting with a husband whose marriage was hanging on by a thread. He was an alcoholic and substance abuser who had been verbally abusive to his wife for years. His anger had intensified to the point where his wife had become fearful for hers and her children’s safety. On the night when this husband had grabbed his wife by her shoulders, shaken her and thrown her onto their bed, she was scared, and decided to take the kids to a place where they could all be safe.

As I met with this husband, he was weeping and shaking. “I’ll do whatever it takes,” he told me. “Whatever it takes to save my marriage and be with my kids again.” His grief was real. And I was hopeful.

“Here’s what it will take” I told him. “Regular counseling. Faithful church attendance. And weekly drug testing. That’s where we’ll start.” He readily agreed. “Whatever it takes” he repeated.

Was his grief godly sorrow? Or worldly sorrow? There was only one way to find out. Godly sorrow leads to change. Worldly sorry evaporates.

The counseling happened once. The drug testing happened once as well. I don’t remember seeing him at church again. He stopped answering calls.

His marriage did not survive. His genuine sorrow did not lead to metanoia. To change.

JC Ryle give us a clear understanding of what real repentance looks like. “True repentance is no light matter” he writes. “It is a thorough change of heart about sin, a change showing itself in godly sorrow and humiliation… To say that we are sorry for our sins is mere hypocrisy unless we show that we are really sorry for them, by giving them up… It is vain to say with our lips that we repent, if we do not at the same time repent in our lives.”

Communion is the central part of the Sunday worship service in Episcopal churches. As the words of institution were given, Mary Ann leaned over and asked “do they believe (as Roman Catholics do) that the bread and wine are the actual body and blood of Jesus?”

I explained to her what is my understanding of how the Anglican tradition views the sacrament of communion, she suggested I maybe I share with you some of what I shared with her.

So here goes.

First, there’s the question of whether communion is a sacrament or an ordinance.

Episcopalians (along with Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutherans, Methodists, and many Reformed/Presbyterian traditions) see the communion service as sacramental.

Here’s what that means. In a sacrament, Jesus is uniquely present with His people, providing grace. Of course, Jesus is always present with us, as He promised to be. But the sacramental view of communion is that as we take the wine and the bread, He is present in a special way, uniquely conferring grace.

Baptists, along with many Bible churches and other evangelical and non-denominational churches, see communion (and baptism) as an ordinance.

Here’s what that means. Baptism and communion have both been ordained by Jesus. He told us to do these things as a memorial – to remember Him, and to focus on the spiritual realities these ceremonies point us to. In this view, there is no special presence of Christ when the ordinances are observed, and no special conferring of grace in those moments.

One reason some are reticent to embrace the idea of communion as a sacrament is because of what the Roman Catholic Church has come to embrace about what is happening during communion. They believe when communion is served and received, grace is conferred ex opere operato – independent of the server or recipient’s personal holiness. That’s what the Latin expression ex opere operato means – “by the work worked” or “or “from the work of the work itself.” In this view, grace is conferred to person taking communion regardless of whether he or she is receiving it with a prepared heart.

Personally, I think there is a sacramental aspect to communion. I see it as a spiritual practice where grace is conferred – a means of grace. While I understand the concerns related to the Roman Catholic view of ex opere operato, I typically use both terms – sacrament and ordinance – when referring to communion.

You still with me?

My view is that communion is when I serve communion in the church where I serve as the lead pastor, we are pausing to remember what Christ has done for us. And in that moment, I believe Jesus meets us and uniquely extends grace to strengthen us in that moment. I do think the Roman Catholics are wrong about grace being conferred ex opere operato.

Regarding how Jesus is present during communion: This is the other area where different Christians see the ceremony differently.

Roman Catholics believe in what is called transubstantiation. This is the view that when the communion elements are received, they are transformed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ. This transformation of substance does not affect the appearances of the elements, which continue to appear to be bread and wine. The substance changes; the appearances do not.

Martin Luther (and most Lutherans today) believe in what is called consubstantiation (or sacramental union). Luther said that the substance of the bread and the wine do not change, but that the body and blood of Jesus are present “in, with and under” the elements.

The third view, often attributed to John Calvin, is called the real presence view. According to this view, when we take communion, Jesus is truly, but spiritually, present in a way that goes beyond His omnipresence or His daily relational presence with His followers.

The fourth view regarding the presence of Christ during communion is what is called the memorial view. We remember what Christ has done for us at the cross. And we receive the spiritual benefit that comes from surveying the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died.

In my view, while there is a rich spiritual benefit that comes from remembering and meditating on the work of Christ on the cross for us, I agree with John Calvin that something more is happening as we gather around the table.

Roman Catholics wonder how it is that we protestants don’t take Jesus at His word when it comes to communion. He said “this is my body” and “this is my blood.” How can we so easily spiritualize that?

The answer is easy. Jesus said “I am the door” but we don’t think He was being literal. He said “I am the vine.” “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” I could go on, but you get the point.

There’s much more I could say, but I’ll finish with this.

The differences between Christians regarding communion are secondary differences. We can and should respectfully disagree with our friends who see things differently than we do when it comes to communion. On Sunday in New York, after hearing a clear gospel focused homily in the first part of the service, Mary Ann and I received communion even though we understand some of the dynamics of the sacrament differently.

The next time you gather with others to receive communion, I trust you will take a minute to prepare your heart before you come to the table. J.C. Ryle exhorts “The man who goes to the Lord’s Table, and eats the bread and drinks the wine, while his heart is far away — is committing a great sin, and robbing himself of a great blessing. In receiving the Lord’s Table, as in every other means of grace, everything depends on the state of mind and heart, in which the ordinance is used. He who draws near without repentance, faith, and love — and with a heart full of sin and the world — will certainly be nothing better — but rather worse! Does this hit home to you? Be careful what you are doing!”

.The image, the scientists say, was created to show processes that occur in animal cells. “It is an attempt to recapitulate the myriad pathways involved in signal transduction, protein synthesis, endocytosis, vesicular transport, cell-cell adhesion, apoptosis, and other processes,” according to Gael McGill, one of the scientists involved in creating the image. “This rendering is also an attempt to visualize the great complexity and beauty of the cell’s molecular choreography.”

Recently, someone took the image, and presumably using AI, created a video version of the image, showing the cell in motion.

Here’s how one observer described what’s going on in the cell animation.

This is a single human cell.

The white tubes are microtubules. The colored beads are ribosomes. You have 37 trillion of these.

Every cell in your body is a manufacturing plant running 24/7 without supervision.

Each ribosome (the colored beads) is assembling a protein right now. A single ribosome chains together about 20 amino acids per second. A typical mammalian cell contains millions of ribosomes. Every cell in your body is forming hundreds of millions of peptide bonds per second. Continuously.

The white worm-like tubes are microtubules, the cell’s internal highway system. Motor proteins called kinesin walk along them on two protein legs, carrying cargo from one end of the cell to the other at around 800 nanometers per second. Each cell has thousands of these tracks with thousands of motor proteins walking on them simultaneously.

The blue mesh on the outside is the actin cortex. It holds the cell shape against pressure. It’s also being torn down and rebuilt constantly. Every cell rewrites its own structural skeleton every few minutes.

Now scale that.

37 trillion cells. Each running millions of ribosomes. Each running hundreds of mitochondria producing ATP at roughly 100 million molecules per second. Your total daily ATP turnover is around your full body weight. You synthesize and consume your bodyweight in ATP every 24 hours.

The DNA in a single cell stretches 2 meters uncoiled. End to end across all 37 trillion cells, that’s enough to reach the sun and back 250 times.

None of this is voluntary. None of it stops. It started when you were one cell and hasn’t paused since.

As I read that description, I thought to myself “can that be true?” So I fed it all into an AI search engine and asked for an analysis.

Here’s the answer I got.

“Yes, the description is largely true—it’s a popular science-style summary that captures the astonishing scale and nonstop activity inside your cells with only minor simplifications or approximations

“It’s a great reminder of just how mind-bogglingly complex and industrious even a ‘simple’ human cell is. Your body is doing all of this right now, trillions of times over, while you read this. Pretty wild.”

Pretty wild, indeed. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

The same day I saw the video of the human cell online, I also came across this video, where British Physicist Brian Cox explains the size of the observable universe and the 30 sextillion stars in the night sky.

It’s worth the sixty seconds it will take you to watch it.

The complexity and the immensity of our universe – from the design of a human cell to the vastness of space – all bears witness to one reality.

There is a God. And He is greater than you can even imagine.

Over the next seven days, there is a movie that will be showing in selected local theaters. It’s called The Story of Everything. I haven’t seen it, so I can’t vouch for everything in it. But based on the trailer, it looks like it will be worth seeing.

It’s become common in our day to pit science against religion. One, people say, is based on facts. The other is based on faith. But that’s a false dichotomy. And it turns out, the more facts we find, the more the evidence points to our Creator.

The heavens – and the human body – declare the glory of God. All we have to do is look. And listen.

First, He said, acknowledge God as your Father. Recognize that by His grace you have been invited into a loving, intimate relationship with your Creator.

Second, say to God (and mean it) that the most important priority in your life is for God’s name to be hallowed, lifted up, exalted and honored. This is both a personal priority and the priority for His church. That’s what we mean when we say “hallowed be Your name.”

Third, you need to be able to say to God (and mean it) that you long for God to rule and reign in your own life, in His church and then throughout the world. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.”

Fourth, you need to acknowledge before God that you are totally dependent on Him for every aspect of your life – for breath and water and food and shelter. He is your provider. Look to Him for daily bread – and for all you need each day.

Fifth, you need to recognize that you are in need of His forgiveness for you sins. You need the judicial declaration that your sins are forgiven. And you need the daily cleansing that restores your joy, your usefulness, and your fellowship with God.

That brings us to the final petition in the Lord’s Prayer. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil.

Have you ever stopped to think about this petition? About asking God not to lead us into temptation? The implication there is that God is somehow engaged in tempting us to sin

But of course, James 1 tells us that “God Himself tempts no man.” So it might sound like this petition is us asking God not to do something that is against His nature to do.

Let me give you nine biblical principles related to temptation that can hopefully help you think rightly about the temptations we face and God’s part in them.

1. GOD DOES NOT TEMPT US TO SIN (James 1:12-13)

2. SATAN TEMPS US TO SIN. (Matthew 4:1-3, 1 Peter 5:8)

3. GOD GOVERNS ALL TEMPTATION. (Job 1:9–12, Matt 4:1, Luke 22:31–32)

4. TEMPTATION IS NOT SIN. (Matt 4:1)

5. TEMPTATION CAN LEAD TO SIN. (James 1:14-15)

6. WE ARE PRONE TO SIN. (Romans 7:14–25)

7. WE CANNOT DEFEAT THE DEVIL’S TEMPTATIONS IN OUR OWN STRENGTH. (Ephesians 6:10–11)

8. ONLY IN CHRIST ARE WE ABLE TO RESIST TEMPTATION TO SIN. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

9. TEMPTATION THAT WE RESIST, THAT DOES NOT RESULT IN SIN, HAS SPIRITUAL BENEFITS FOR US. (James 1:2-4)

John Owen says “Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction.”

When we pray “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, we are praying the same thing that we sing when we sing the hymn A Mighty Fortress. It’s a hymn that is all about God being our strength to withstand the tempting schemes of our adversary.

Here’s I think what Jesus wants us to understand when we pray “lead us not into temptation. I think He want us to see that if we want to have an intimate relationship with Him as our Father, we need to be able to say to Him – and mean it - “Father, I don’t want to sin. I want to live a holy, upright and blameless life before you – a life that honors your name and delights your heart.

“I confess that I am helpless to resist sin and temptation on our own. Unless you deliver me from evil by Your Spirit and Your Word, I will fall.

“So because I know my own frailty, I ask that you would lead me not into temptation. I am afraid I will fall.

“I know that I am living my life in a spiritual war zone, where the world, the flesh and the devil are pressing in on me. I know that as a result, I will face temptation today. I am scared. I don’t want to sin against You. Please deliver me from evil.”

Bible teacher Kent Hughes says “The operative inner quality here is a humble awareness of our weakness. The very best person is, at his or her best, vulnerable and easily stumbled apart from God’s gracious provision of strength. And we are never so vulnerable as when we think we are past a certain temptation.”

I think this final petition in the Lord’s Prayer is a neglected petition in the church today because too many of us take a casual approach to pursuing holiness.

The Lord’s Prayer begins by acknowledging that God is our kind and loving Father who has adopted us into His family at the cost of His own Son’s life. He has made us joint heirs with Jesus. He has loved us with an everlasting love.

The prayer ends with a plea – that ought to be the cry of our hearts – that God would protect us and keep us from temptation. We know how frail and weak we are. We would never want to do anything to dishonor the One who has loved us so!

So we pray each day a prayer that says to God “Help me to not sin. Help me to resist the Devil. Help me to resist the siren song of the culture that encourages and entices me to live for myself and my own temporal pleasure. Help me to resist my own flesh that cries out saying ‘I want what I want!’

“My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. I long for holiness in my life. I long for my life to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you. Because I know how weak I am, keep me from temptation.”

Is that the longing of your heart? Do you long to live a life that is pleasing to Christ? Do you long for holiness and righteousness? Are you content trying to manage your sin instead of putting it to death?

If you lack the longing for holiness, it’s either because you don’t know Christ or because you need to fix your eyes on Him. Look carefully at Him. See the kindness and love and compassion and grace that flows from His life. The more our gaze is fixed on Jesus, the more we will want to be like Him. The more we will see what a treasure He is. And the more we will see the toxic waste that is our own sin.

And as we do, we’ll be more likely to pray “Lord, lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.”