All right, please take your copy of God's Word and turn with me to Philippians chapter 4.
!
It just reminded me, and I just thought it would be worth mentioning this morning as we find ourselves in a kind of a troubled age as it concerns Christianity,
that today is the anniversary of the Diet of Worms, where Luther stood trial and was required to recant all of the writing that he had done,
which included the 95 Theses, but also much more that he had written about biblical Christianity and the kind of the offense to that that Rome was perpetrating.
And he famously said,
My conscience is held captive to the Word of God.
Here I stand.
I could do no other.
But you may not realize, I mean, we certainly live in a day where boldness is necessary,
and sometimes people want to point to Luther as an example of brashness.
And I don't think Luther was that at all.
In fact, before he made that statement,
My conscience is held captive to the Word of God.
Here I stand.
I can do no other.
He asked,
May I please have some more time to consider?
And that gets left out of history altogether.
He was a humble man,
and I think even timid in some respect,
but when pressed to the point, right,
he said,
Oh, no,
we must listen to God's Word.
So let that encourage us as we open God's Word together this morning.
You know, it is altogether possible to understand the gospel for the salvation of your soul,
which is its primary purpose, right?
That you would be saved from the judgment to come,
but to miss the point that the gospel has implications for the way that you think and feel and act today.
We flee to Christ to be saved from hell,
and we flee to Christ to be saved from sin,
or at least we should.
Having been saved from sin,
we ought to also want to live holy lives.
We have much opportunity as a church of the living God
to make him known in the world
through the careful application of the gospel
to the daily struggles of this life.
The gospel speaks to the every day.
Of course, doing this,
putting God on display in this way,
does not preclude gospel proclamation.
We must proclaim the good news of Jesus,
but it most definitely should accompany it.
Each of us have and will likely experience some measure of anxiety in this life.
Anxiety is reportedly on the rise in our society in massive ways.
You can just imagine the pandemic and what it may have brought out in many people.
You yourself may have experienced this or seen this in people that you know and love.
Some of us have a greater propensity toward anxiety than others,
and I don't want to be insensitive this morning to the fact that there are some anxiety disorders.
There are some people who have a medical propensity towards anxiety,
but most of us are experiencing anxiety in ways that are not medical but spiritual.
It's inevitable that fallen people living in a fallen world from time to time
will feel the weightiness of this reality that we live in.
Some people are abundantly aware that they are anxious,
but many are not.
We use a lot of kind of cloaking words for things like anxiety, worry, concern, etc.
So I hope two things for our time together this morning just before we read the text.
That you will have a clear understanding of your personal anxiety
and be better equipped to fight for your joy.
And secondly, that you will have a clear understanding of others' anxiety
and be better equipped to fight for their joy.
We are instructed to love one another,
and Paul tells us in Galatians 6-2
that if we love one another, we will bear one another's burdens.
We're to take on the trouble of others.
So if you're in a relationship with somebody who deals with anxiety,
which if you're unaware of this, you are.
You're in a relationship with somebody who deals with anxiety, right?
They're going to ask for help,
and you ought to be able to give them good biblical answers to their spiritual problems.
So our text for today is Philippians 4, verses 4-9.
Before I read it, beloved, let me remind you this is God's word to us,
written for his glory and our good.
We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
Verse 4.
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again, I will say, rejoice.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
The Lord is at hand.
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence,
if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,
practice these things,
and the God of peace will be with you.
I was once at a biblical counseling conference,
and in an afternoon session,
the speaker began his lesson by saying,
very boldly, he said,
tell me what you worry about or what makes you angry,
and I will show you your idols.
Well, I found this emphatic statement just too strong
to not wrestle out its implications.
In fact, I probably would have done well
to listen to the rest of what he had to say,
but I spent the next hour writing down things that worried me
or things that angered me
and tracing each thing to its source.
I just kept asking,
but why?
Why does that worry me?
Why does that cause me to be angry?
And I was shocked to discover that most,
if not all,
of my worry was sinful anxiety.
Paul tells us in verse 6,
do not be anxious about anything.
However, in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 28,
he writes,
after a list of things that he had suffered,
he says,
The word in Greek is a very flexible word,
and that's why Paul can use the word
in two different places,
and contextually we can understand it differently,
and in our English we just get the word anxiety
in both places.
But what we can learn is that it is possible
to be faithfully concerned about a matter,
not to be flippant, uncaring,
but you can be faithfully concerned about a matter.
But the command of Paul in verse 6
to not be anxious about anything
is in reference to a faithless concern.
And this is an anxiety that must be remedied
for our good and for the glory of God.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to set aside
faithless concern,
faithless anxiety.
Now before I give you the outline for the text
and we begin our study of it,
I want you to see something significant.
Everything Paul is teaching us to do
is an expansion of what he has previously declared
we are.
Take a look back at chapter 4, verse 1.
He says,
Therefore, my brothers whom I long for,
my joy and crown,
stand firm thus in the Lord,
my beloved.
What does standing firm look like?
In verses 2 and 3,
Paul tells us it is working toward
and maintaining the unity of the church
and other things that follow in our text.
Right?
He's saying,
Therefore, live like this.
But 4.1 begins with a therefore.
Paul is saying,
Stand firm because of something.
What is that something?
is the reality of who you and I are
in Jesus Christ.
Right?
If we have placed saving faith in Him.
Right?
Because of who you are.
Notice verse 1.
He calls my brothers and he says,
Beloved.
Right?
Signifying words.
Titles for people who are found in Christ.
Therefore, stand firm.
firm.
You can back up a bit more
into chapter 3
and see verses 20 and 21.
He says,
But our citizenship is in heaven
and from it we await a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform our lowly body
to be like His glorious body
by the power that enables Him
even to subject all things to Himself.
If we are in Christ,
we are not living primarily for this life,
but primarily for the life to come.
We are part of a theocracy
being ruled by King Jesus
who is bringing all things under His reign.
Right?
Now and forevermore.
We have to have this framework in our minds.
Right?
This text, verses 4-9,
is written for Christians.
People have placed their faith in Jesus
and helps us to understand
how to deal with sinful anxiety.
So the outline for the text will be as follows.
Number one, fight for your joy.
I'll go back to these
if you're not familiar with the way
I format sermons.
Number one, fight for joy.
Number two, be gracious toward others.
Number three, turn to God
with all of your concerns.
And number four,
if you're scribbling these right now,
I'm sorry,
dehabituate by rehabituating.
I won't spell that for you.
Dehabituate by rehabituating.
All right, number one.
Fight for your joy.
Look at this in verse four.
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again, I will say rejoice.
Lasting joy,
true joy,
the kind of rejoicing
that Paul's talking about here
is not circumstantial.
It has nothing to do
with what's going on around you.
It has everything to do
with the state of being
because of who you are.
We may find temporary happiness
in our circumstances, right?
And that's fine.
That's good.
I took the boys
to a birthday party yesterday.
We had fun.
It was an enjoyable time.
But we will just as readily
find great misery
in our circumstances.
If you're always looking
to circumstances,
you will have highs
and you will have desperate lows.
Paul here exhorts us
to rejoice always.
How is this possible?
It is possible
and it is only possible
if we find joy
in an unchanging,
eternal source of joy, right?
in the Lord.
It's the only place
this kind of always rejoicing
can come from.
And beloved,
this is a battle of the mind.
Romans chapter 12 and verse 2.
Paul says,
do not be conformed
to this world,
but be transformed,
changed by the renewal
of your mind.
This is not a battle
that needs to take place
at the level of your feelings.
You will lose that battle.
This is a battle
that has to take place
in the mind.
In our recent study
of the book of Hebrews,
we learned at the end
of chapter 10
about the bizarre behavior
of a suffering church.
Not behaving at all
like the world, right?
Not conformed to the world,
but like transformed people.
We read in verse 34
of Hebrews 10.
You had compassion
on those in prison.
So there were believers
who had been imprisoned
for their faith.
And you joyfully accepted
the plundering
of your property.
I think we could easily say,
I think many of us would go,
yeah, yeah,
compassion on those in prison.
I could do that.
But as they did this,
they were identifying themselves
as Christian, right?
They were showing themselves
to be in relationship
with these people
who had been imprisoned
for their faith.
And as a result,
their property was plundered, right?
Their homes were ransacked.
And the author of Hebrews
says the most curious thing.
They did this joyfully.
They joyfully accepted
the plundering
of their property.
How?
How are they rejoicing always,
even in a circumstance like that?
Well, he tells us.
I know you don't have it
open in front of you,
but I'll tell you.
He goes on in that verse to say,
since you knew,
in the mind,
mindfully,
you knew
that you yourselves
had a better possession
and an abiding one.
One that could not
be taken away, right?
One not based in circumstance,
but in the Lord,
an unchanging source
of joy.
John Newton,
this is on your bulletin,
I believe,
if I'm tracking my mind right,
who was an 18th century
Anglican minister.
He's famous for writing
the hymn Amazing Grace.
Use this wonderful analogy.
He said,
suppose a man was going
to New York
to take possession
of a large estate
and his carriage
should break down
one mile
before he got to the city,
which obligated him
to walk the rest of the way
to the inheritance, right?
So here's a man
doing well
and now suffering,
but he's headed somewhere, right?
He's headed to receive
a great inheritance.
Newton goes on to say,
what a fool
we should think him
if we saw him
wringing his hands
and blubbering
all the remaining mile.
My carriage is broken.
And many of us
live this way.
We have eternal reward
promised to us
and we're blubbering
and wringing our hands
about temporal loss.
C.S. Lewis,
in The Weight of Glory,
wrote,
we are half-hearted creatures
fooling about
with drink and sex
and ambition
when infinite joy
is offered us.
Like an ignorant child
who wants to go on
making mud pies
in a slum
because he cannot imagine
what is meant
by the offer
of a holiday
at the sea.
We are far
too easily
pleased.
So we have to fight
for joy
and we have to do so
by reorienting
our thinking.
Secondly,
be gracious
towards others.
Verse 5.
Verse 5 says,
let your reasonableness
be known to everyone.
The Lord
is at hand.
Now,
the Greek word
translated
reasonableness
in the English
standard version
of the Bible
that most of us
have this morning.
If you don't,
don't feel left out.
It's okay.
But this word
is a very rich word.
Commentators
and translators
have varied widely
on its rendering.
You ready?
Here's some of the suggestions
for this Greek word.
Reasonableness,
generosity,
goodwill,
friendliness,
magnanimity,
charity,
mercy,
leniency,
big-heartedness.
I don't love that one.
Moderation,
forbearance,
and gentleness
are some of the attempts
to capture the meaning
of this word.
It is a very flexible,
expansive word.
Possibly,
the best word,
and I say this with humility,
is graciousness.
Perhaps the ESV
translates
reasonableness
because of the connection
of these ideas,
right?
If we're going to be
fighting for joy,
we're going to see
that there's a way
to do this further
in the text,
right?
Paul certainly seems
to be juxtaposing
anxiety in verse 6
with joy in verse 4
and peace in verse 7.
And then in verse 8,
he tells us to be
thoughtful and mindful
and to set our minds
on particular things.
And so I think
that's a pretty fair word,
reasonableness,
right?
If we're going to be
joyful and peaceful
rather than anxious,
we will have to be
reasonable,
right?
Romans 12,
2,
transformed by the
renewing of our minds.
But I think it is
important that we see
our reasonableness,
right,
connected to this
more expansive idea
of graciousness
or friendliness,
charity,
mercy,
leniency,
all of these ways
this word can be
translated.
We need to see
that the way
that we live our lives
should reverberate
to others
the love that God
has shown us.
God has been
gracious to us
in Christ.
Therefore,
we should display
the same graciousness
toward others,
right?
We should show
people the great
confidence that we
have in our God,
which is perhaps
why the uninspired
verse and chapter
numbers,
sometimes these drive
me crazy,
but it's perhaps
why the Lord
is at hand
is included
with verse 5,
although it sure
feels like it
belongs with
verse 6,
right?
Because God
is near,
right?
We can be
reasonable,
right?
Or,
as I'm suggesting,
we can be
gracious towards
others because
God has been
gracious toward
us.
So we need
to fight for
our joy,
for not to be
anxious.
We're to be
gracious towards
others by
displaying our
confidence in
this gracious
God.
And we're to
turn to God
with all of
our concerns.
Verse 6
and verse 7,
right?
The Lord is at
hand.
You want to
insert here a
therefore at the
beginning of verse
6, right?
Because God is at
hand, because he
is a present help
in times of
trouble, we
can go to
him in our
anxiety.
Do not be
anxious about
anything, but
in everything,
by prayer and
supplication, with
thanksgiving, let
your requests be
made known to
God.
And the peace
of God, which
surpasses all
understanding, will
guard your
hearts and your
minds in Christ
Jesus.
There is an
alternative to
your anxiety
and mine.
Faith.
The alternative
to our sinful
anxiety is
faith.
We can not
be anxious about
anything, but
in everything, we
can turn to
God because he
is at
hand.
Now, the
prayer and the
supplication and
requests were
meant to take
their troubles to
him with our
synonyms that
refer to direct
petitions made
of God.
God, I
believe that
Paul uses the
repetition to
note that our
going to God
with all of our
concerns will be
often and it
will be varied.
There are a lot
of things for us
to be concerned
about.
To not be
anxious, we
will need to
pray and we
will need to
pray and we
will need to
pray.
Paul also
instructs that we
should do this
with thanksgiving.
The fact that
God has done
so much already
ought to give us
the confidence
that he will
continue to
do so.
Why are we so
prayerless so
often?
I think we've
forgotten God's
goodness to us
already.
We ought to be
driven to prayer
when we remember
how very kind
he's been to us.
We are in the
midst of a tough
circumstance.
It can be
difficult to
remember or to
notice anything
positive.
I will tell you
for myself, I
have to put a
great deal of
mental effort
into remembering
all of God's
goodness to me.
As we say
often, we are
slow learners and
we are quick to
forget.
We far too often
find ourselves
prayerless in
trials.
No wonder we
become anxious.
Prayerlessness is
a sign of
faithlessness.
When we don't
pray, it is
because we
have forgotten
who is in
control.
We too often
think that we
are in control
and when that
illusion comes
crashing down,
you think you
can, I got
this, and
something outside
of your control
just comes crashing
down.
I'm not in
control of
anything.
I can do so
little.
We become
anxious.
Of course we
do.
We think we
can control
our world.
The world is
falling apart.
We ought to
rightly be
anxious in
those moments
except that
we know who
is in
control.
It is a
very good
thing that
we are not
in control
when we
recognize who
is in
control.
Peter writes
in 1 Peter
chapter 5
verse 6
and following,
humble yourselves
therefore under
the mighty
hand of God
so that at
the proper
time he may
exalt you.
Humble yourself.
Recognize who
you are under
God and his
might.
Verse 7,
casting all
your anxieties
on him
because he
cares for
you.
Peter goes
on to say,
be sober
minded, be
watchful.
Your adversary
the devil prowls
around like a
roaring lion.
Seeking someone
to devour.
You may be
familiar with
verse 8 of
1 Peter chapter
5.
It's often
disconnected from
this idea of
casting our
anxieties on
God.
Who cares for
us?
So recognize
that your
anxiety is a
spiritual thing
happening.
The devil
wants to
steal away
your joy
and your
peace because
it doesn't
display who
our God is
to us in
Christ.
We become
ineffective
witnesses when
we're as
worried about
the things
that the
world is
worried about.
We're all
tied up in
knots because
of the
coronavirus or
the next
election cycle.
Our God
continues to
reign.
He is who
he said he
is and will
continue to
be forever.
We sing a
song often on
Sunday mornings
called What a
Friend We
Have in
Jesus.
And it's
a little
sing-songy so
maybe we
miss sometimes
the beauty
of the
words.
I love
this verse.
Oh what
peace we
often forfeit.
Oh what
needless pain
we bear.
All because
we do not
carry everything
to God
in prayer.
We can
take our
anxieties
to God.
Verse 7
says in the
peace of
God which
surpasses
all
understanding
will guard
your hearts
and your
minds in
Christ Jesus.
I think
Paul means
for there to
be some
duality in
what he's
saying here.
I think
he's first
referring to
Romans 5
1.
Therefore
since we
have been
justified by
faith we
have peace
with God
through our
Lord Jesus
Christ.
The peace
we have
with God
ought to
inform the
rest of
the way
that we
live.
And I
do also
think he
means a
feeling.
A feeling
of comfort
in the
midst.
of trial
because this
is a
peace that
surpasses
all
understanding.
People ought
to look at
the way we
walk through
trial as
Christians and
think us
strange.
Like those
Christians that
the author of
Hebrews writes
to joyfully
accepted the
plundering of
your property.
People ought
to be looking
at us that
way and
asking us
about the
hope that
we have.
Jesus talks
about anxiety
in Luke
chapter 12.
You may be
familiar with
much of
this passage.
It's so
good for
our souls
to hear
it again.
Beginning in
verse 22.
And Jesus
said to his
disciples,
therefore I
tell you,
do not be
anxious about
your life,
what you
will eat,
nor about
your body,
what you
will put
on.
For life
is more
than food
and the
body more
than clothing.
Consider the
ravens.
They neither
sow nor
reap.
They have
neither
storehouse
nor barn.
And yet
God feeds
them.
Of how much
more value
are you
than the
birds?
And which
of you,
by being
anxious,
can add a
single hour
to a span
of life?
If then you
were not
able to do
a small
thing as
that,
why are you
anxious about
the rest?
Consider the
lilies,
how they grow,
they neither
toil nor
spin.
Yet I tell
you,
even Solomon
in all his
glory was
not arrayed
like one
of these.
But if
God so
clothes the
grass,
which is
alive in
the field
today,
and tomorrow
is thrown
into the
oven,
how much
more will
he clothe
you,
O you
of little
faith?
And do
not seek
what you
are to
eat and
what you
are to
drink,
nor be
worried.
For all
the nations
of the
world seek
after these
things,
and your
Father knows
that you
need them.
Instead,
seek his
kingdom,
and these
things will
be added
to you.
Fear not,
little flock,
for it is
your Father's
good pleasure
to give you
the kingdom.
The Lord
is at
hand.
He is
working
grand
purposes
for the
sake of
his name
and for
our good.
We can
take
everything
to him.
And the
promise as
we're doing
this is
that we
will have
an
un-understandable
peace.
Great joy
accompanies
recognizing
your position,
your place
in the world,
your inability
to control
your circumstance.
We act,
the birds are
actually looking
for food,
but God's
providing it.
We're not
ultimately in
control,
ever.
The account
of the
conversion of
Blaise Pascal,
who was a
17th century
French mathematician,
a wonderful,
fascinating man,
was found on a
piece of parchment
sewn into his
coat eight years
after his death.
I love that he
wrote this down
and had it
sewn into
his coat.
It was found
this many years
later.
This is what
he wrote.
Year of
Grace,
1654,
Monday 23
November,
Feast of
Saint Clement.
From about
half past
ten at night
to about
half an hour
after midnight,
fire.
God of
Abraham,
God of
Isaac,
God of
Jacob,
not of
philosophers
and scholars.
Certitude,
heartfelt joy,
peace.
God of
Jesus Christ,
God of
Jesus Christ,
my God
and your
God,
joy,
tears of
joy,
Jesus Christ,
may I never
be separated
from him.
Isn't that
cool?
I'll write
that on the
inside of my
jacket.
So we need
to fight for
joy.
We need to be
gracious towards
others.
We need to
turn to God
with all of
our concerns.
And fourthly,
dehabituate by
rehabituating.
Verse eight
and nine.
Finally,
brothers,
whatever is
true,
whatever is
honorable,
whatever is
just,
whatever is
pure,
whatever is
lovely,
whatever is
commendable,
there's any
excellence or
there's anything
worthy of
praise.
Think about
these things
which you have
learned and
received and
heard and
seen in me.
Practice these
things and the
God of peace
will be with
you.
Right?
So he's
talking both
about thought
and practice.
Right?
And you see,
we could,
I mean,
we don't have
time this
morning to talk
about all
these things,
true,
honorable,
just.
But what he's
saying is take
you worry and
put them on
things that
are worthy
of your
thoughts.
Right?
You're
dehabituating
by
rehabituating.
You're
changing the
way that
you think.
You're
focusing on
these wonderful
promises of
God to
us in
Christ.
And the
things that
they've seen
modeled in
the life of
Paul,
that you see
modeled in
the text and
in leaders in
your life,
that you ought
to practice
these things.
Be about the
work of
God as
well.
We are
creatures,
of habit.
When I
drive into
Dahlonega,
when I
hit that
first light
in town,
I instinctively
turn right.
It's hard for
me not to
get into that
turning lane.
If I'm
heading right
into the
middle of
downtown or
I need to
go left
out towards
52,
I've got to
make a
real mental
effort as
I'm coming
down the
hill.
Don't go
right,
don't go
right,
don't go
right.
Because we're
creatures of
habit.
We just
do things
instinctively.
I bet that
each one of
you put on
a particular
shoe this
morning first.
any thought
to it at
all.
I challenge
you to
start paying
attention to
what you
do.
I put on
my right
sock and
my right
shoe and
then I
put on
my left
sock and
my left
shoe.
I don't
put on
both socks.
I don't
know why,
but it's
the way I
do it.
And if there
was something
morally wrong
with the way I
was putting
on my socks
and shoes,
I would have
to train
myself to
do it
differently.
I would
have to
rehabilitate
myself to
do it.
The scripture
said you must
put on your
left shoe
first.
I'd have to
really work
at doing
such a
thing.
And so
if we're
to not
be anxious,
if we're
to set
our minds
on the
things we're
to set
our minds
on,
we're going
to have
to work
at this.
Paul said
in 1 Timothy
chapter 4
or 7,
train yourself
for godliness.
Train or
discipline
yourself
for godliness.
In a book
called The
Christian
Counselor's
Manual by
J. Adams,
he addresses
this,
this
re-habituating
and there's
a he in
here.
He's talking
about a
counselee
and he'll
mention the
counselor.
But he
says this,
how may I
discipline
myself,
he,
the
counselee,
may ask
insistently.
First,
the counselor
must indicate
that the
word discipline
clearly shows
that godliness
cannot be
zapped.
It cannot
be whipped
up like
instant
pudding.
Godliness
doesn't come
that way.
Discipline
means work.
It means
sustained
daily effort.
The word
Paul used
is the one
from which
the English
word gymnastics
and gymnasium
have been
derived.
It is a term
related to
athletics.
An athlete
becomes an
expert only
by years
of hard
practice.
There are
no instant
athletes.
It takes
years of
regular practice
to achieve
athletic
skill.
And so
in the
same way
as we
wrestle
with the
anxiety
in our
life,
and again,
I'm not
talking about
disorders,
I'm talking
about the
spiritual
anxiety
that most
of us
are going
to experience,
right?
We're going
to have to
train ourselves
to think
differently.
most of
my life
next to
the sink
in our
kitchen,
Philippians
chapter 4
verse 8
was written
on a
note card
and stuck.
We lived
various places
and that
same note
card was
stuck in
that spot.
Whatever's
true,
whatever's
honorable,
whatever's
just,
etc.
was up
there.
And as
a child,
I just
never thought
to ask
my mother
why it
was put
there.
But now
as an
adult,
as a
pastor,
I just
thought,
Mom,
Philippians
4.8,
why was
that there?
And my
mom shared
with me
her lifelong
struggle with
anxiety.
What my
mom was
doing was
retraining
herself.
She was
rehabituating
by going,
this is not
what I need
to be thinking
about.
What I need
to be thinking
about are
things that
are true
and honorable
and just
and pure
and lovely.
She was
changing the
way that
she thought.
So,
beloved,
if you want
to fight
your anxiety,
it's not
going to be
found in
popular
psychology.
It's going
to be
found in
knowing the
promises of
God to
you in
Christ and
thinking about
those things,
meditating on
those things.
You've got to
change the
way you
think.
It's a
shocker by
changing the
way you
think.
God's
empowered word
retraining the
way you
think.
So,
we need to
fight for
joy,
be gracious
towards others,
turn to
God with
all of our
concerns,
and dehabituate
by
rehabituating.
May we
be a
people who
lay faithless
anxiety down
for joyful,
peaceful
faithfulness.
May we
be a
people that
live in a
way that
the world
would see
how very
reasonable
we are
because of
how great
Jesus Christ
is.
Let's pray
together.