battling misplaced shame

For the past several weeks I have been preaching on the subject of battling unbelief. John Piper's book by the same name has had a profound impact on my life. As God continues to lead I plan to preach on this topic for the next few weeks.

By the way, God gave us an amazing day today. So many people in worship and so many new people with us. Daily we need to express thanks to God for allowing us to Glorify Him as we replant this church.

This past Sunday we looked at battling misplaced shame. Clearly the victory over shame comes from belief in God and the victory He promises to every believer who without shame proclaims the Gospel.


With that in mind, please watch this entire video. Talk about not being ashamed of the gospel...wow..this kid gets it! I would rather you watch this short video than listen to my sermon.



listen to the sermon from March 15.




The following notes from the sermon this past week come directly from John Piper's sermons and writings on battling misplaced shame. I understand my role as your pastor to include pointing you to some of the best teaching available, and this is among the very best.

2 Timothy 1:6-12
Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control. 8 Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, 10 and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 and therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

What this text says is that if you feel shame for testifying about Jesus, you have a misplaced shame. We ought not to feel shame for this. Christ is honored when we speak well of him. And he is dishonored by fearful silence. So it is not a shameful thing to testify, but a shameful thing not to.

Secondly the text says that if you feel shame that a friend of yours is in trouble (in this case: prison) for Jesus' sake, then your shame is misplaced. The world may see this as a sign of weakness and defeat. But Christians know better. God is honored by the courage of his servants to go to prison for his name. We ought not to feel shame that we are associated with something that honors God in this way, no matter how much scorn the world heaps on.

Three Instances of Battling Misplaced Shame

1. When Well-Placed Shame Lingers Too Long

In the case of well-placed shame for sin the pain ought to be there but it ought not to stay there. If it does, it's owing to unbelief in the promises of God.


For example, a woman comes to Jesus in a Pharisee's house weeping and washing his feet. No doubt she felt shame as the eyes of Simon communicated to everyone present that this woman was a sinner and that Jesus had no business letting her touch him.

Indeed she was a sinner. There was a place for true shame. But not for too long. Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven" (Luke 7:48). And when the guests murmured about this, he helped her faith again by saying, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (v. 50).

How did Jesus help her battle the crippling effects of shame? He gave her a promise: "Your sins are forgiven! Your faith has saved you. Your future will be one of peace." So the issue for her was belief. Would she believe the glowering condemnation of the guests? Or would she believe the reassuring words of Jesus that her shame was enough? She's forgiven. She's saved. She may go in peace.

And that is the way every one of us must battle the effects of a well-placed shame that threatens to linger too long and cripple us. We must battle unbelief by taking hold of promises like,

There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. (Psalm 130:4)
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6)


If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)


Every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (Acts 10:43; 13:39)

2.Feeling Shame for Something That Glorifies God

The second instance of battling shame is the instance of feeling shame for something that is not even bad but in fact glorifies God—like Jesus or the gospel.
Our text shows how Paul battled against this misplaced shame. In verse 12 he says, "Therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me."

Paul makes very clear here that the battle against misplaced shame is a battle against unbelief. "I am not ashamed FOR I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED AND I AM SURE OF HIS KEEPING POWER." We fight against feelings of shame in Christ and the gospel and the Christian ethic by battling unbelief in the promises of God. Do we believe that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation? Do we believe that Christ's power is made perfect in our weakness? The battle against misplaced shame is the battle against unbelief in the promises of God.

3 Feeling Shame for Something We Didn't Do

Finally, the last instance of battling shame is the instance where others try to load us with shame for evil circumstances when in fact we had no part in dishonoring God.

It happened to Jesus. They called him a winebibber and a glutton. They called him a temple destroyer. They called him a hypocrite: He healed others, but he can't heal himself. In all this the goal was to load Jesus with a shame that was not his to bear.


The same with Paul. They called him mad when he defended himself in court. They called him an enemy of the Jewish customs and a breaker of the Mosaic law. They said he taught that you should sin that grace may abound. All this to load him with a shame that it was not his to bear.


And it has happened to you. And will happen again. How do you battle this misplaced shame? By believing the promises of God that in the end all the efforts to put us to shame will fail.

We may struggle now to know what is our shame to bear and what is not. But God has a promise for us in either case:

Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity. (Isaiah 45:17; 49:23)

No one who believes in the Lord will be put to shame. (Romans 10:11; 9:33)

In other words, for all the evil and deceit judgment and criticism that others may use to heap on us a shame that is not ours to bear, and for all the distress and spiritual warfare it brings, the promise stands sure that they will not succeed in the end. All the children of God will be vindicated. The truth will be known. And no one who banks his hope on the promises of God will be put to shame.


The jagged mountain of shame becomes a highway for missionary joy when we blast it away with the bombshells of Bible promises. How many megatons of power are in these shame-blasting promises?

Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your Husband, the Lord of hosts is his name (Isaiah 54:4-5).

The Lord God helps me; therefore, I have not been confounded; therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together! (Isaiah 50: 7-8).

I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).

I suffer (as a missionary) but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me (2 Timothy 1:12).

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you… If one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God (1 Peter 4:14, 16).

God means to blast the mountain of shame out of the way and make it a highway for missionary zeal. “Every mountain and hill shall be brought low…and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God” (Luke 3:5).

Shame tries to cancel your missions commitment in two ways. You can feel that you’re not good enough for missions. Or we can feel that missions is not good enough for you. Shame for sin can keep you away, and shame for God can scare you away. You can feel crushed beneath the shame of sin, or you can feel comfortable above the shame of the cross. In either case shame wins and you lose.

But this is not the will of Christ for you. “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go (forth to mission!) in peace” (Luke 7:48, 50). And do not fear the world’s shame. God’s honor makes all the difference. “If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26). So let us go on from misplaced shame to mission flame.

From John Piper, desiringgod.org

battling pride

In many ways 21st century American Christianity is often focused on feeding our ego. When in truth the greatest pleasure is not found (as Piper says) in God making much of us (our ego) but in our ability, thanks to redemption to make much of God.

It's All About Me...this video would be fun to watch if it were not so near reality for many in the church today.





In recent weeks I have been preaching on the topic of Battling Unbelief. This sermon series is taken directly from John Piper's book of the same title. Much of the following post comes directly from Piper's writings found on his website, desiringgod.org, his sermons and of course his recent book, Battling Unbelief. As I have often said, I understand one of my roles as your pastor is to lead you to the good stuff theologically and this material by John Piper is some really good stuff.

Check out the sermon:







Let me begin by defining belief and unbelief.

Jesus said in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst."
I take it, then, that unbelief in Jesus (NOT believing in Jesus) is a turning away from Jesus in order to seek satisfaction in other things. And BELIEF in Jesus is coming to Jesus for the satisfaction of our needs and our longings.

Belief is not mainly an agreement with facts in the head;
it is mainly an appetite in the heart which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction. "He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst!"
Therefore eternal life is not given to people who merely think that Jesus is the Son of God. It is given to people who drink from Jesus as the Son of God.

"The water that I shall give him shall become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). He is the bread of life for those who feed on him—who get their nourishment and satisfaction from him. That is what it means to believe on the only begotten Son of God and be saved.


The Deepest Form of Unbelief

One more form of unbelief that we need to talk about is the unbelief of a haughty spirit, or pride. There is a very close relationship between unbelief and pride.


Unbelief is a turning away from Jesus (or God) in order to seek satisfaction in other things.

PRIDE is a turning away from God specifically to take satisfaction in self.

Covetousness is a turning away from God to find satisfaction in things.

Impatience is turning away from God to find satisfaction in your own swift plan of action.

Lust is turning away from God to find satisfaction in sex.

Bitterness is turning away from God to find satisfaction in retaliation.

But deeper than all these forms of unbelief is the unbelief of pride, because self-determination and self-exaltation lie behind all these other sinful dispositions.

The battle against pride is the battle against unbelief; or to put it positively, the fight for humility is the fight of faith.


Several Biblical Passages About Pride

All these passages contrast pride with something. They show something that is the opposite of pride.

James 4:6-8
[God] gives more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

The opposite of pride here is submitting to God and drawing near to God. Pride wants to be independent, self-governing, autonomous. Therefore it inevitably comes into conflict with God. This is why people who do not love to submit to God's teachings stay as far from God as they can.

If they come to church and hear God confront their lifestyle, they will go away and not come back, because they enjoy calling the shots themselves and pulling their own strings.
But James says that such people should stop running and draw near. They should stop rebelling and submit. Because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (v. 6).


1 Peter 5:5-7

Likewise you who are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
Here Peter says that all of us should be clothed with humility. And then he says that one of the things we will do in that humility is cast our anxieties on the Lord.

Why is this casting of our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties, and it especially does not like to admit that it needs help from someone else to cope with them.

So here we are right at the nub of what faith really is.

Faith admits the need for help. Pride won't.

Faith banks on God to give that help. Pride won't.

Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride won't.

Therefore one way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that you have anxieties, and to cherish the privilege of being invited to cast them on God.

One very practical way to cultivate the atmosphere of humility and faith in the family and the church is to express personal need for God when you pray.


Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord."

What a battle we have on our hands.

The enemy of pride comes at us on every front.

We love to be made much of because of how we use our minds—what good grades, smart solutions, clever one-liners, victory in a game of Scrabble.


We love to be made much of because of our bodies—that we can work long and hard, or that we are muscular or shapely, or that we can run fast or lift a heavy weight or run far.


We love to be made much of because of our possessions—that we live in a certain neighborhood, or drive a certain car, or have a certain stereo, or hold a certain portfolio.


But Jeremiah says, Defeat the enemy of pride by making much of God. Glory in this, that you know God.

Do you want to boast in intellect? Boast in God's.

Do you want to glory in strength and beauty? Glory in God's.

Do you want to brag on an estate? Brag on God's.

How to Best Fight Against Pride ?

When all is said and done, what is the rock bottom biblical answer to the question how to best fight against pride? The most effective way of bridling my delight in being made much of, to focus on making much of God.

Self-denial and crucifixion of the flesh are essential, but O how easy it is to be made much of even for my self-denial!

How shall this insidious motive of pleasure in being made much of be broken except through bending all my faculties to delight in the pleasure of making much of God!

The greatest thing God ever did was to clean me up so that I could make much of Him forever! – Look to the cross and defeat pride.

Taken from John Piper. www.desiringgod.org

Battling the Unbelief of Anxiety

Ethel Waters from the 1952 movie "Member of the Wedding" with the song "His eye is on the Sparrow". One of my favorite old hymns and one of my favorite singers. It speaks to the topic of the message from March 1, 2008



I began a series this Sunday called "Battling Unbelief". This series comes directly from John Piper's book of the same title. As I read this book God spoke to my heart concerning my own unbelief and the sin in my life that flows from that unbelief.

Listen to the message from March 1.



Here are the notes, taken almost directly from Piper's sermon. I trust you will find them as helpful to you as they have been to me.

Matthew 6:25-34
25"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[ 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33Butseek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble

Unbelief as the Root and Essence of All Sin

Hebrews 3:12 it says, "Take care, brethren, lest their be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, leading you to fall away from the living God." And verse 14 says, "For we have shared in Christ, if we hold our first confidence firm to the end."

In other words the evidence that you have come to share in Christ—that you are united to him in saving faith—is that you hold that confidence firm to the end. Perseverance in faith is necessary for salvation. When a person is truly converted, the heart is changed so that now life is lived by faith (Galatians 2:20).

The new birth introduces a person into a life of warfare. That warfare is called the "fight of faith" in 2 Timothy 4:7; 1 Timothy 6:12. And here in Hebrews 3:12 it is called the battle against unbelief. "Take care [that's the vigilance of battle], brethren, lest there be in you and evil heart of unbelief [there's the enemy in the warfare], leading you to fall away from the living God [there's the warning against not taking the warfare seriously]."

In other words the most basic battle of our life is the battle to believe in the living God, and not to allow our heart to become an evil heart of unbelief

Because if unbelief in the living God gets the upper hand in our life, then the result can be a hardening that makes us unwilling to repent and thus cuts us off from the grace of God.

Now this will not happen to those who are truly in Christ. Those who are truly born of God take the battle seriously, and draw on the power of God to fight it, and win it with persevering faith.

That is what God promises. "He who calls you is faithful and he will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
All our sinning grows out of unbelief in the living God and what he has said to us in Scripture.

Unbelief as the Root of Anxiety

Now today's text illustrates this with a specific evil condition of heart, namely, anxiety.

Stop for a moment and think how many different sinful actions and attitudes come from anxiety.
Anxiety about finances can give rise to coveting and greed and hoarding and stealing.

Anxiety about succeeding at some task can make you irritable and abrupt and surly.

Anxiety about relationships can make you withdrawn and indifferent and uncaring about other people.

Anxiety about how someone will respond to you can make you cover over the truth and lie about things.

So if anxiety could be conquered, a lot of sins would be overcome.

But what is the root of anxiety? And how can it be severed?

To answer that we go to our text in Matthew 6. Four times in this text Jesus says that we should not be anxious.
1. Verse 25: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life."
2. Verse 27: "And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?"
3. Verse 31: "Therefore do not be anxious."
4. Verse 34: "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow."

The verse that makes the root of anxiety explicit is verse 30: "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothes you, O men of little faith?" In other words Jesus says that the root of anxiety is lack of faith in our heavenly Father. As unbelief gets the upper hand in our hearts, one of the results is anxiety.



So when Hebrews says, "Take heed lest there be in you an evil heart of unbelief," it includes this meaning: "Take heed lest there be in you an ANXIOUS heart of unbelief." Anxiety is one of the evil conditions of the heart that comes from unbelief. Much anxiety, Jesus says, comes from little faith.

The root of a sinful condition of the heart is unbelief in the living God

One response would go like this: This is not good news! In fact it is very discouraging to learn that what I thought was a mere struggle with an anxious disposition is in fact a far deeper struggle with whether I believe God or not.



Now my response to this is to agree but then to disagree. Suppose you had been having pain in your stomach and had been struggling with medicines and diets of all kinds to no avail. And then suppose that your doctor tells you after a routine visit that you have cancer in your small intestine. Would that be good news? You say, emphatically not! And I agree.


But let me ask the question another way: Are you glad that the doctor discovered the cancer while it is still treatable, and that indeed it can be very successfully treated? You say, yes, I am very glad that the doctor found the real problem. Again I agree.
So the news that you have cancer is not good news because having cancer is good. It is good news because knowing what is really wrong is good news, especially when it can be treated successfully.



That's what it's like to learn that the real problem behind anxiety is unbelief in the promises of God. It's not good news because the cancer of unbelief is good. It's good because KNOWING WHAT IS REALLY WRONG is good, especially because unbelief can be treated so successfully by our great physician.

So I want to stress that finding out the connection between our anxiety and our unbelief is in fact very good news, because it is the only way to begin the battle with the real cause of our sin and get the victory that God can give us by the therapy of his Word and his Spirit.


"How Can I Have Any Assurance at All?"

There is another possible response to the truth that our anxiety is rooted in our unbelief in God's promises. It goes like this: I have to deal with feelings of anxiety almost every day; and so I feel like my belief in God must be totally inadequate. So I wonder if I can have any assurance of being saved at all.

Being Faithless Vs. Having Faith Attacked

My answer to this concern goes like this: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy who doesn't want you to finish the race throws mud on your windshield.
The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race. And it certainly doesn't mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise the enemy wouldn't bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers and use your windshield washer.
What I mean is this: when anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God's glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked. At first blow our belief in God's promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether we set in motion a process of resistance.
.

Will we turn on the windshield wipers and will we use our windshield washer?

The Testimony of Scripture
Psalm 56:3 says, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee." Notice: it does not say, "I never struggle with fear." Fear strikes and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike.
For example, 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you." It does NOT say, you will never feel any anxieties to cast onto God. It says, when the mud splatters your windshield and you lose temporary sight of the road and start to swerve in anxiety, turn on your wipers and squirt your windshield washer.


So my response to the person who has to deal with feelings of anxiety every day is to say: that's more or less normal. The issue is how you deal with them.
And the answer to that is: you deal with anxieties by battling unbelief
And you battle unbelief by meditating on God's Word and asking for the help of his Spirit.
The windshield wipers are the promises of God that clear away the mud of unbelief.
And the windshield washer fluid is the help of the Holy Spirit.


Without the softening work of the Holy Spirit the wipers of the Word just scrape over the blinding clumps of unbelief. Both are necessary—the Spirit and the Word.
We read the promises of God and we pray for the help of his Spirit. And as the windshield clears so we can see the welfare that God plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11),
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
As our belief grows strong the swerving of anxiety smoothes out.
Overcoming Anxiety by Battling Unbelief

The Pattern of Jesus and Paul

For example at the end of verse 32 he says, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." That is a spectacular promise. In everything you do at home and at work, put God's purposes first, and he will provide all you need to live for his glory. Believe that promise, and financial anxiety will evaporate in the warmth of God's care.


Paul applied the promise to anxiety in Philippians like this. In 4:6 he says just like Jesus, "Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God." And then in 4:19 he gives the promise like Jesus, "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

And so we follow today the pattern of Jesus and Paul. We battle the unbelief of anxiety with the promises of God.

When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with the promise: "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10).

When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise, "So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).

When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9), and "As your days so shall your strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25).

When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, "I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).

When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, "If God is for us who can be against us!" (Romans 8:31).

When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise that "tribulation works patience, and patience approvedness, and approvedness hope, and hope does not make us ashamed" (Romans 5:3-5).

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that "none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living" (Romans 14:9-11).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promise, "He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:6). "He who calls you is faithful. He will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). "He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

So I urge you in your warfare, take up the book of God, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and battle on. And remember the promise of Proverbs 21:31, "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord."

John Piper - desiringgod.org