Faithful in the Fire

Good morning, Church at the Grove.

Um, my name is Russ.

If I hadn't had a chance to meet you, I want to say good morning to all of you.

Um, glad that you're here uh for our nine o'clock hour this morning.

Um good to be uh with you back in in the pulpit.

Jonah did an amazing job last week.

And if you weren't here, um we yes, he did.

Uh uh he did an amazing job opening up this series.

And if you were not here, I would say uh definitely go and listen to it.

It it um uh each of these sermons somewhat standalone, but they're all connected.

But the the other part that is significant is we ordained uh Jonah into uh what we call gospel ministry, and you ask what does that mean?

Um it means that we as a church really just we we affirm what God has already done.

I mean, Jonah is no more ordained um this week than he was before last week.

He God ordained him.

It's just really a formality and a bit of a uh of a ceremony of saying, you know what, we see this.

We see God on his life, in his life, working through his life.

And so now he has uh, you know, he is ordained in the eyes of not just the church, but now he's ordained in the eyes of the state, which means he can do that wedding that he was asked to do in November, um, and uh which is which is great.

So uh he can join in with some of those things.

He can uh he'll probably have access to visiting people um in in places sometimes that are hard to get into, like jails or prisons, and they want they they want you to be ordained, which I'm you know.

So um, Jonah, you need to you need to get a copy of that ordination certificate when I finish giving it to you and and and take that copy with you when you go visit somebody, probably one of your best friends that's in um one of those guys that you've you've kind of grown up with.

Um I'm kidding.

Uh that's not really funny at all.

But um uh if you have your Bibles, open up uh to uh the book of Revelation.

We are in the book of Revelation, and before you get real excited, we're we're not gonna preach the whole book of Revelation.

We're gonna preach uh the these messages that that Jesus speaks to the seven churches in Revelation chapter two and three.

But I do want to go, I want to go back to read, I want to go back and read the very first section of Revelation chapter one.

Revelation one, beginning with verse one, it says the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the things, and this is not on the screen, I understand that, um, um, but uh, to show his servants the things that must soon take place.

He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Let's say that together, for the time is near.

And we would probably say, Man, I can see that.

I can see what's happening in the world.

It wouldn't take much for us to probably see events unfold rather quickly.

And I'm not saying that to scare you.

That is a beautiful thing because it means that the return of Jesus is near.

John to the seven churches that are in Asia, verse 4, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priest to his God and Father, and to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will well on account of him, even so, amen.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

And it's verse through verses one through verse eight and chapter one.

And so Jonah preached the first several verses of chapter two to the church in Ephesus last week, and it's really about how they were, he commended their good works, but he challenged them because their heart was cold.

In a sense, they were they were they were fundamental in how they lived their life, but but they they they had lost their first love for Jesus Christ.

And so here we are in chapter, I'm sorry, in chapter 2, verse 8.

And would y'all would you stand with me as I read this to the church in Smyrna?

And to the angel of the church in Smyrna, write the words of the first and the last who died and came to life.

I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich.

And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer.

Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested.

And for ten days you will have tribulation.

Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

And so, Father, we ask that you would speak.

We pray that the Holy Spirit, you would come and you would work.

God, you would move in our hearts.

God, you would bring us to a place of recognizing that this is truth.

And God, I pray that you would identify in us, God, the inability or the unwillingness for us to suffer or to have discomfort or even be willing to hold on to our faith and our trust in Jesus even to the point of death.

We live in a culture where that's not likely, but I pray that you would do a work in us that would be lead us to a point where we would be even willing to be placed in a position of discomfort for the sake of him who gave his life for us, Jesus Christ.

And it's in his name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

Um we live in a culture where things that are valued or considered successful tend to be about status, education, about money, financial success, so to speak.

We live in a culture where we value less the influence of those who have gone before us and who probably would be considered heroes of days gone by.

And we live in a culture where now we value influencers who now have become the heroes of today for doing absolutely nothing but being able to post something that someone finds a bit entertaining.

And that is hogwash.

Amen.

It's just not it's not it's a bit backwards.

It is not valuing the things that should be valued.

And so some of that influence has crept its way into the church.

And so now we live it, we live in a culture where, and this is really American, an American probably issue.

There probably are some other countries that deal with the same thing where you have the same, the a thing that is such uh celebrity pastors are a thing.

And uh, and I'm not talking about somebody who is well known because they teach the word faithfully, or they teach the word um in a well-spoken way, or even if they are um have uh a bit of a humor about themselves, there's nothing wrong with being joyful and humorous, but but we've we've reduced church sometimes, and especially when we think about success, we've reduced it to being about buildings, budgets, and butts in the seats.

And those are not bad things.

We are about to build a building.

But I I can honestly tell you from the bottom of my heart that the leadership of the Lord in this is not so we can brag about having more people.

It is simply so we we acknowledge that God has has given us a heart to multiply.

You've seen us plant churches, you've seen us send people out, and and so we want to facilitate space for what God is already doing, and so He can already, so we can see Him do exponentially beyond what He's already doing.

That that is I honestly, that is a the desire of my heart.

You really want to know my heart?

I have I am I am now seeing the other side of the hill.

You think I want to build another building?

You think I want to go through a building campaign?

It is only because God is leading me.

Because I've got, you know, a limited amount of time left.

I could ride off into the sunset.

I could preach several more years, I could preach and I could be happy.

But no, God's called us to build a building.

I could be happy.

I'm kidding.

Uh I'm I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm genuinely happy.

But my point being is that our mission should be to leverage the influence of Jesus.

That's that's our mission.

That is our heartbeat.

Jesus said the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are the ones who are servants.

The greatest in the kingdom of heaven are the ones who are servants.

He heys the greatest, the greatest, he's talking about the greatest.

Who is the greatest?

And he says, There is none greater than my cousin, John the Baptist.

John the Baptist, you think he had a television ministry?

No, he stunk to high heaven because he wore he wore um clothing that was, you know, like camel's hair, camel's skin, probably had not been processed like your clothing, and he ate locust and wild honey, lived out into the in the wilderness.

They thought he was crazy.

And Jesus says, He is greatest.

He is the greatest.

He is the greatest.

That's what Jesus says.

John Ortberg says this.

He says, we live in a culture where everybody wants to be a leader and nobody wants to be a follower.

We follow a man who called everybody to be a follower and nobody to be a leader.

So we have a disconnect in how the world defines success and what Jesus sees as being great or successful.

And so this morning we're continuing our series seven.

We're looking at the messages that Jesus gives to the seven churches in Revelation and are really the seven churches in Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey.

And here's the here's the kind of the first main big idea is that success is seen in steadfast surrender.

Success or being great is seen in steadfast surrender, steadfast surrender.

And so my hope and prayer is we would not only understand how success is measured, or what it means to be great, how that is measured, but we would make our lives about the commitment to live for this greatness and for the purposes that God has given us, even in the midst of difficult circumstances, if we have to endure them.

So while lonely and exiled to a place called Patmos, and this is just a picture, um, uh you know, a picture of that island.

That is the island of Patmos out in the AG and C where John had been exiled.

That's a more modern picture because you can obviously tell with the boats and the sailboats, and I don't think they had cameras when John was alive.

John most likely would have had a relationship and some knowledge of all these churches, but Jesus gives him the message.

The message does not come from John, it comes from Jesus.

I love the picture that Jonah gave us.

He talked about the stars being the angels.

As you can imagine, Jesus holding the stars in his hands as he walks among the lampstands to give those messages to each one of the seven churches.

And so Jesus is giving these messages through John.

He's speaking from a place of love, even though he is correcting, he is giving some correction.

He's bringing conviction.

He corrects the church at Ephesus.

He said, Hey, your works are great.

You are following all the rules.

I mean, you are a great fundamental church, but you've taken, you've lost your joy, you've lost your first love.

And so uh Jesus brings these messages because he loves the church.

And even loving the church down to the current age that we live in now, 2023.

He loves church at the grove.

He loves the church in Walton County, he loves the church in America.

But man, I wonder what message he would give to the church in America.

So last week we looked at Ephesus.

Today we're looking at the church in Smyrna, not Smyrna, Georgia.

This is in modern-day Turkey, and it's it's actually the modern city of Ismir.

The modern city.

It's a beautiful city.

It's a beautiful place to visit.

Um, they say for tourists, the the city of Izmir.

It contains the ancient ruins of Smyrna.

It's an impressive harbor city.

It's known for being beautiful, somewhat tropical.

Um and so the ancient city had paved streets.

It was a Greco-Roman city adorned with temples and public baths and gyms and a theater, a stadium, and a library.

Uh it would have been estimated to have over a hundred thousand people, so a very large city for its day.

And so while the city of Smyrna had a lot of impressive qualities, it was a difficult and dangerous place to be a follower of Jesus.

It was rough.

This was during the rule of Domitian, the Roman emperor, and this particular area in the Roman Empire was very difficult for Christians.

This age was tough.

And so the city of Smyrna was a hotbed for emperor worship.

The term Caesar is Lord was common.

Caesar is Lord.

That's what you would say as a good Roman citizen.

Caesar is Lord.

He is Lord.

He is the embodiment of God on this planet earth.

And so at this time in the history of Rome, it is the Emperor Domitian, and he is a ruthless emperor.

It became a capital offense to refuse to offer the yearly sacrifice to the emperor, which would have been your um willingness to agree that Caesar is Lord.

And as a result, many Christians refuse to worship the emperor, which led to their execution.

You say, well, I'm glad that doesn't happen in modern history.

You ever heard of a guy named Diedrich Bonhoeffer?

He was he was hung just days before the Germans surrendered.

Because he would not yield and he would not he would not follow the rule of Adolf Hitler.

He, as a matter of fact, not only would he not follow him, he would, he was part of a plan to rid Germany and the world of Adolf Hitler.

And so Smyrna comes from the word myrrh.

Have you heard of myrrh?

What were the three gifts brought to Jesus?

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And so this is a fragrant plant that produces this powerful, lovely fragrance.

Think of ancient essential oils.

A plant that was used among the living.

It was a wise man's gifts and the dead.

Nicodemus used it to anoint the body of Jesus.

The church is appropriately named because of the terrible persecution it faced.

So being named from myrrh, it fits both with being a beautiful fragrance and with preparing the body for death.

But Smyrna is like unlike Ephesus.

Smyrna, unlike Ephesus, had not forgotten their first love.

They were totally seen as a faithful, as faithful to the Lord.

Maybe there's two.

There may be two churches that are not receiving correction, but rather receiving commendation.

And that's the church.

At Smyrna.

Two churches out of the seven that do not have condemnation but have commendations.

And so verse 8 says, Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna.

This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who was dead but is now alive.

And so the message is from Jesus, the first and last, but was dead but is now alive.

Verse 9, I know about your suffering and your pot and your poverty, but you are rich.

You are rich.

And there's two things that Jesus brings to light: suffering or tribulation and poverty.

These two things would have been intrinsically linked.

The persecution that the church would have felt would have led to their poverty because they were followers of Jesus.

They would have been left out of certain opportunities.

And from a business standpoint or economic standpoint, they would have been stripped of any ownership of land that they may have had or their family had.

They would have been unable to hold any kind of leadership position in the culture politically.

And here's what we see.

Here's another major idea that steadfast surrender will ultimately lead to suffering.

Steadfast surrender will ultimately lead to suffering.

You say, Well, I've never suffered.

My question is, have you really been steadfast?

And if we don't know suffering now, there is a chance at some point in our culture that we this culture will experience.

This country will, the Christians in this culture will experience.

Some of you may have been looked down upon, some of you may have been denied a promotion, or you may have been um uh maybe you have had some type of misfortune because of your faith.

It does happen.

It's not as widely and culturally broad as it was in a place like Smyrna, but we because so we don't have any idea what it's like to follow Jesus and to experience what they experienced.

Now, while following Jesus does make life better.

Or let me say this: your life is better off if you follow Jesus.

It doesn't always make life better in the sense of our cultural circumstances, but we're better off if we follow Jesus.

But it's never easy, it's not always easy to follow Jesus.

Um William Barclay says this, Jesus was clear that he had come not to make life easy, but to make men great.

To make men great.

John 15, 18 through 20, if the world hates you, John writes, remember that it hated me first.

The world you love, the world would love you as one of its own if it belonged to you, but you were no longer part of the world.

I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

Do you remember what I told you?

A slave is not greater than the master.

Since they persecuted me naturally, they will persecute you.

Jesus made it clear that those who are going to follow him would face persecution.

And this obviously looks different in different parts of the world, different areas of the world.

Maybe different than here in America.

Those that are faithfully following Christ, at some point you will face some type of persecution and suffering.

It will happen.

But notice what Jesus says again.

He says, I know about your persecution and poverty.

Jesus sees what is going on.

He knows the hardships, he knows your situation, he knows what you're going through, he knows what you're walking through.

You may not feel seen, but Jesus sees you as you walk through difficulty and pain.

Maybe it's not persecution, but you're just suffering.

It's illness.

It's broken relationships, it's just hurt and it's pain.

And he goes on to say that in their poverty they are rich.

How are they rich when they have nothing?

It means their treasures weren't here on earth, but stored in heaven, Matthew 6, 20.

Store your treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves do not break any steal.

And so we see Jesus commend this church in their poverty as being spiritually rich, even though materially they're poor in a couple of uh uh um in a couple of weeks.

We'll see him call out the rich church because they are actually spiritually poor.

While money is neutral, not good or bad, the Bible warns repeatedly against the lure of wealth and the storing up of treasures here on earth.

Now, here's another thought, maybe to write down or a point that we can kind of hold on to.

Satan strikes those who steadfastly surrender.

Satan strikes those who steadfastly surrender.

Verse 9 says, I know the blasphemy of those opposing you.

They are, they say they are Jews, but they are not.

Because their synagogue belongs to Satan.

And some of your translation, it says literally is a synagogue of Satan.

And I thought, how does how does that look on a sign?

I mean, is that what they put out front?

Synagogue, first synagogue of Satan.

See, that was so much funnier.

That that will be so much funnier at the 11 o'clock service.

I just want to, just believing.

Thank you, honey, for your giggle.

See, the Jewish people here are opposing the Christians.

The Jewish people are opposing the Christians.

And you see, it says there, they say they are Jews, but they are not.

So the people who say they are Jewish are opposing the Christians.

The Jews at this time had a free pass of sorts as long as they paid their taxes to Rome.

As long as they yearly would offer up the sacrifice to Domitian.

As long as they followed the Roman rule.

We see it throughout the New Testament.

We see that there's alignment that Jewish people have with the empire of Rome.

And so this particular Jewish community has an alignment with Caesar, and they've got it in for the Christians.

They were seen as an offshoot of Judaism.

Uh the Christians were seen in many places as an offshoot of Judaism.

Uh, and so they they they sometimes were would fall under the Jewish umbrella.

But as time passed and Jewish people became increasingly frustrated with followers of Jesus in certain places, they sold out to Rome.

And Christians were were seen often as being very strange.

We're seen as practicing cannibalism because they they ate the body of Jesus.

They had this secret meal where they ate the body of Jesus and drank the blood of Jesus.

And and and the these strange practices.

And so as a result, they became persecuted even in places by the Jewish people.

And so the people known as God-chosen people were now doing the persecuting.

See, persecution can come at the hands of outsiders and insiders.

We've seen this.

We see this in our own nation.

We see this, we see this sometimes even presently.

We see um politically, Christians attack one another.

Liberalism, conservatism, there's just this ever, you know, that people feel like everybody else has compromised, and it's easy to be caught up in these ideologies of the day on both all sides of the spectrum, but we are called to follow Jesus.

We're called to follow Jesus.

We're not called to be red, we're not called to be blue, we're called to be about Jesus and his way, which at the end of the day, it's gonna make somebody angry all the time.

Jesus is letting us know through this letter that these attacks are coming from Satan.

Satan loves to strike against those who are steadfastly surrendered to Jesus.

We need to look through all the mess, political mess, religious mess, and we need to see it as it is.

The attack of Satan trying to divide his bride.

We must remember the truth that while attackers seem to be like the enemies, the real enemy is not the people against us.

Ephesians 6.12 says, for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities in the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against the evil spirits in the heavenly places.

See, God brings salvation through suffering.

God brings salvation through suffering.

Look at verse 10.

Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer.

The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you.

And this is what this is what Jesus is saying through John to the church in Smyrna.

The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you.

You will suffer for 10 days.

Likely, that is not meant to be taken.

Literally, it's 10 days.

It's meant to be maybe for a short time.

This is not going to be an eternal, eternal imprisonment.

But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Whoever is victorious, whoever is conquering, will not be harmed by the second death.

What do you think he means by second death?

What's the second death?

It's being damned to the lake of fire.

It is hell.

The second death is the death that you need to fear.

It is eternal separation from God.

Hell is a real place.

I'm not trying to scare the children.

Hell is a real place.

It is separation from God eternally.

It is complete darkness.

It is darkness.

It is without the presence of God.

There is no peace.

And nothing but suffering and darkness.

And more suffering and darkness.

Pain and suffering and darkness.

Imagine being locked away somewhere.

And you and you were desperate to get out.

It is dark.

I want, and it that is that is eternal separation from God.

It's the real place.

I'm not trying to scare you.

Jesus tells this church in the midst of their suffering.

Here's what he tells them.

He says, Don't be afraid.

You know why he says don't be afraid?

He says, because you don't have to worry about the second death.

He says, I am, because remember, he is commending the church at Smyrna.

He's commending them.

You are faithful in the midst of suffering.

You are faithful.

He says, you don't have to be afraid.

Matthew 10, 28 says, don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body.

They cannot touch your soul.

Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

So we don't fear those who can come against us, but instead we look to the Lord and we cling to him in the midst of our suffering.

And there's promises.

There's promises in this passage.

To those who remain faithful, I give you the crown of life.

That is eternity with God.

That is victory.

Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

But in this life, we will be hurt.

Add Toja said, it is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.

And so John 12, back to the Gospel of John.

Verse 23, Jesus replied, Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone.

But its death will produce many new kernels, a plentiful harvest of new lives.

Those who love their life in this world will lose it.

Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.

Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me because my servants must be where I am, and the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

So what does success look like in God's kingdom?

Steadfast surrender.

Steadfast surrender.

It's when we're willing to give up our lives for the cause of Christ that we would be men and women who are fully committed to Jesus, even if it involves persecution and suffering.

Let me tell you about the bishop of Smyrna.

His name was Polycarp.

And he was a disciple of John, the apostle John, who writes the book of Revelation and who writes these letters to the seven churches.

Polycarp is his disciple.

Polycarp ends up being the bishop of this community called Smyrna.

He's a leader in the church.

Roman soldiers eventually discovered that Polycarp they discovered where Polycarp was.

Apparently he went into hiding for a period and they came to his door.

Probably some of his followers were trying to protect him.

When his friends urged him to run, Polycarp replied, God's will be done.

And he let the soldiers in.

He was escorted to the local proconsul, Stadius Quadratus, who interrogated him in front of a crowd of curious onlookers.

Despite the cries of the crowd, the Roman authorities saw the senselessness of making this aged man a martyr.

So when Pocock was brought into the arena, the proconsul played with him.

Sir, just simply curse Christ and I will release you.

There's no sense in you being going through any suffering.

Just curse Christ and I'll release you.

Eighty-six years I have served him, Polycarp said.

He had never done me wrong.

How then can I blaspheme my king who has saved me?

The proconsul reached for another acceptable way out.

He said, Then do this, old man.

Just swear by the genius of the emperor, and that will be sufficient.

Polycarp replied, If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you don't know who I am.

Hear it plainly.

I am a Christian.

More intrigues, trying to give him a way out.

Polycarp stood firm.

The proconsul threatened him with the wild beast.

Polycarp said, Bring them forth.

I would change my mind if it meant going from the worst to the better, but not to change from the right to the wrong.

The proconsul's patience was gone.

I will have you burned alive.

Polycarp replied, You threaten fire that burns for an hour and is over.

But the judgment on the ungodly is forever.

And so the fire was prepared.

Polycarp lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed, Father, I bless you that you have deemed me worthy of this day and hour that I might take a portion of the martyrs, the cup of Christ.

Among these, may I today be welcomed before thy face as a rich, acceptable sacrifice.

Soldiers then grabbed him to nail him to a stake, but Polycarp stopped them.

He said, Leave me as I am, for he who grants me to endure the fire will enable me also to remain on the pyre unmoved without the security you desire from nails.

He prayed aloud, the fire was lit, and his flesh was consumed.

The chronicler of this martyrdom said it was not as burning flesh, but as baking bread, or as gold and silver refined in a furnace.

In other words, his sacrifice was a sweet fragrance before a holy God who was willing to accept him into his eternal state.

Jesus isn't focused on you building a great name and life for you here on earth, but instead he is interested in seeing you steadfastly surrendered to him to live in such a way that persecution and suffering, though they may come, you would be willing, because of your love for Jesus, to hinder it.

Nothing like ending on a moment of joy.

Right?

Man, that is that that is that is very it it it necessitates a bit of examination in our hearts, doesn't it?

It is humbling to Consider the reality of what our faith would come to in a moment such as this.

And this is not, this is not a reality necessarily, this type of death in America, but if you are a Christian in countries like Nigeria, number one country for martyrdom.

It is a reality for places like China, probably places like Russia that never make the news.

Places where Christianity is not only illegal, it is quite dangerous.

And so how do we respond?

How do we respond to John's letter to the church at Smyrna?

I think it's to be encouraged by their steadfast surrender, to be encouraged by great faith.

The response should be for us to long, to long for great faith.

For whatever that looks like in a nation that we live in where we are not threatened on a daily basis like Polycarp.

What does it look like to live with steadfast surrender?

Father, give me that kind of faith.

Give it to me.

I repent for taking for granted what Jesus did for me.

I repent for not just taking a stand at times for my faith.

I repent for putting my hope in wealth and riches.

I repent.

Church, will you join me?

Can we be a church that says, you know what, we are known for repentance.

We are known for wanting to have a heart that longs for Jesus and more of him.

Yes.

Yes.

Father, would you work in our hearts?

Would you bring us to a place where we can move beyond cultural Christianity?

God, we recognize when our hearts aren't right, when our hearts are not putting Jesus first, may we have the heart that the believers in Smyrna had.

They had steadfast faith.

They refused to proclaim that Caesar was Lord.

They were willing to stand.

Polycarp was the leader.

No wonder his church was commended because he led the way.

And I'm not praying for us to die.

I'm not praying for us to suffer in that way.

I'm just saying, Lord, get our hearts right.

To a place, to a place where we can really be identified as being followers of Jesus.

Would you bring us to a place of salvation if we don't know Jesus as Lord and Savior?

And would you move it upon our hearts, if we already acknowledge Jesus as Lord, would you move our hearts to identify areas where he is not Lord of our life?

It's in Christ's name we pray.

Amen.