Letters to the Thessalonians | 2, 2:1-12

We're going to talk about a timeless human phenomenon today to understand the ten the context and the situation of what's going on in our text.

This is a phenomenon that I'm sure you are familiar with if you have ever bought anything before, if you've ever shopped, if you've ever uh been let down by something that you thought was gonna deliver on your expectation and it just fell a little bit short.

That's this timeless human phenomenon of the knockoff imitations.

It's something that has existed from the beginning of time.

We often think that this like this is a new thing in the 21st century, that there's this abundance of knockoffs in our world.

We're familiar with like knockoff handbags, imitation handbags, or watches, perhaps.

But there's also knockoff TV shows.

You ever notice this?

Like when there's a like Disney comes out with a really big movie or a really big TV show, and all the other production companies are like, hey, we gotta get on this action.

Let's make something very similar to what is successful and market it as our own and see if the kids will buy into it.

Or there's even all kinds of knockoff things.

You go to Amazon.com and the first thing that punk comps up is a sponsored ad.

And usually it's like, this is like the thing you're searching for, but it's the one that we're paying to promote so you see it before you seal the real thing.

Do you ever have that experience?

Okay.

You can actually even have knockoff money.

It's called counterfeit money.

We're gonna talk about that a little bit today.

My wife is an audiologist, and um she does hearing aids, hearing devices, that sort of thing.

And uh, she's actually gonna do some work with our worship team in a week or so to help them get some new devices as well.

But I'm gonna show you this picture and look at these very similar images.

One of these is a thousands of dollar piece of advanced technology that has an adaptive ability to fine-tune your surroundings and situation, and the other one pretends to be, and is 80 bucks on Amazon.

One of them is like FDA approved and vetted and tested, and the other one isn't even technically considered a hearing aid.

It's an amplified device.

So the one on the right is a phonap device, and the one on the left is called, what is it called?

Britzco.

Is that right?

Have you ever heard of this device?

I get ads for these kinds of things all the time because just the way that our our rhythm of life works, we we just are really into the hearing aid world in our house.

We just really love talking about hearing aids.

And I do a pretty good job of keeping up with the shop talk that happens in our house.

Sometimes Allison will come home and she'll be like, Can you believe this promotion that this hearing aid company is doing?

I'm like, I cannot believe it, love.

I cannot.

What were they thinking, releasing that while the other one is releasing this other thing?

What were they doing?

And she loves me because I humor her.

So anyway, the idea is that in every industry, we have the genuine thing and we have the imitation thing, don't we?

We have the real thing, the thing that's valuable and worth our attention, our investment, our money, our time.

And then we have the thing that really wants to have what the real thing has.

And so we have this phenomenon that takes place of the imitation knockoff.

And we're gonna look at this passage of scripture today in 2 Thessalonians, and Paul is trying to alert us that there is an imitation knockoff of the genuine promise that we are given.

That Jesus comes with a genuine promise, he is the truth, he is the way, and because people are following in this way of life, this devotion, there's imitators that have been alerted to this.

Hey, there's a lot of momentum, there's a lot of interest, there's a lot of excitement around this Jesus figure and the message that he brings.

So, what if we hop on board and we deliver something in parallel to the real thing?

Maybe people will buy into what we're selling a little bit.

Because there is already something valuable that people cherish.

And this is our big idea that I want us to really dive into today that is all that is genuinely cherished will be deceptively imitated.

This is a forever truth.

That anything that we find that it's cherishable to us, that somebody is going to recognize that we cherish it and try to sell us something alternatively so that they can make a buck or they can get some attention or credibility or recognition because of what we've already given our attention and devotion to.

And so we're gonna see that this is this is a timeless thing, not a 21st century thing.

It's not a Western society thing, it's not an individual society thing, it's not something that we just came up with.

This is a human nature thing that even is connected to our spiritual pursuits.

Paul's gonna give a plea in this passage of scripture, and he's gonna say, don't buy it, don't jump in on it.

Recognize how the imitation is different from the genuine thing.

He's gonna use language like fooled, counterfeit, deception, and he's gonna address these knockoff imitations that they occur even when it comes to Jesus.

The person and the message of Jesus are of extreme value to those who have devoted themselves.

They've given up a lot.

If you're here today and you've devoted your life to Jesus, you have given up a lot in order to do that.

Maybe it's a career path, maybe it's a social standing, maybe it's a way of life that you came out of.

But the thing is that we have to forfeit, we've got to yield certain things in order to choose Jesus because we believe that his way is worth cherishing.

It's worth giving those things up for.

And when we give our lives up for something, when we give our lives to something, then others are gonna be attentive to that and they're gonna want to be have access and have a part of that.

So we're gonna read this passage of scripture, the first 12 verses of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

2 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

And I want you to look for these words that Paul uses, the language that he uses.

It's gonna have some end times focus.

We talked a little bit about end times already in this series, and so he's gonna revisit this in the second letter to the Thessalonians.

But really, there is a secondary theme in this passage that I really want to draw our attention to, and that's this idea of being able to distinguish how to respond when we see the imitations.

So we're gonna read this together, 2 Thessalonians.

It will be up on our screen.

You can read along in your own Bible, you can read along on your phone.

That is perfectly fine with me.

2 Thessalonians chapter 2, we're gonna start in 1, go all the way through 12, but look for these key words as we go.

2 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.

Don't be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun.

Don't believe them, even if they claim that they have a spiritual vision or a revelation or a letter supposedly from us.

Don't be fooled by what they say.

There's that word, right?

Don't be fooled by what they say, for that day will not come until there's a great rebellion against God, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the one who brings destruction.

He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call God and every object of worship.

He will even sit in the temple of God claiming that he himself is God.

Now, pause for a second.

Recognize this is not new information.

He is reiterating something that he has already taught the people of Thessalonica.

He's already explained this to them, but he has gone off to minister to another people in another city, and now they're on their own, and now they're being confronted with these other teachers who are making claims about their spiritual reality that Paul has already taught them and led them into.

And so now he's writing back and he's reassuring them that the things that he originally taught them were true.

So let's pick up in verse 5.

Paul says, Don't you remember that I told you about all of this when I was with you?

And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes.

For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.

Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed.

But the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

Whew, what is some powerful language there, isn't it?

This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.

He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.

Verse 11.

So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies.

Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing truth.

Paul is reassuring these statements.

These statements are not new.

They've been taught, they've been instructed.

But Paul is saying, please keep your eyes on the right thing.

Set your focus in the right place.

Don't be deceived.

Don't buy into these teachers who are trying to sway you away.

They're just trying to jump in and be part of the thing that you've already cherished and devoted yourself to.

And it's in Paul's best interest, but it's in the interest of the church as well that they hold tightly to what they believe to be true and good and right and centered on Jesus.

Jesus himself has made these statements about what will happen in the end times.

And now these false teachers, you think that these things, these false teachers are going to come in.

And they're going to sell you one thing.

And if you buy into that, do you know what will happen next?

They've got another offer for you.

They've got another appeal.

They've got another interest to draw your attention.

And so Paul recognizes that this is going to be a progressive tendency if he doesn't confront it at the front end.

I want to illustrate something for you.

Just to help us understand this a little bit.

When we encounter Jesus, we experience the living water, don't we?

That's what we see in Scripture.

That we are, we experience the living water, that we are renewed, and our faith in our new life is being given to us, we have a new uh we're a new creation, we have a new purpose, we have a new identity.

And from that new identity, we have an overflow of new life.

And so if this picture right here represents the way that we live.

Okay, this picture represents the way that we live.

This is we're empty vessel, right?

And we're letting the Lord pour into us.

And this water is the new life, the living Christ who lives in our life, right?

So we we become filled up.

And that's just so refreshing.

Look at that.

Look at that.

It just keeps coming.

It's like he's never gonna run out, right?

Well, that's good for now.

We're not there all day pouring water.

Anyway, this is this is the life of Jesus.

This is the vessel.

We are we are being inhabited.

And maybe you're new in the walk with the Lord, and you just begin just a little bit of this living water.

It's like, wow, this is refreshing.

This is way better than the stuff that I've been trying to pursue.

This is real, this is authentic.

But you know what's interesting is this stuff right here kind of looks like water, doesn't it?

Does not smell like water.

Isopropyl alcohol.

70%.

First eight antiseptic, rubbing and massaging.

I actually decided to use this because the internet advised against using gasoline.

That was my original thought, but I I felt like that could get some pushback on that.

And then might take a couple days to get the scent of gasoline out of our anyway.

So this stuff right here, it kind of looks like the real thing, doesn't it?

It's clear, and if I had another picture here with just the alcohol in it, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference, would you?

And so that's how it is in our life with Jesus, is that we have the real thing, and then we have something that's working really hard to look like the real thing.

But you know what happens is we have the real thing, and we just it looks like the real thing.

I'll take a drink.

I can't do that now, can I?

I didn't put very much in there, did I?

Just put a little bit in there, and it corrupts everything that's in there, right?

We we forfeit it.

And Paul recognizes that this is what happens is that they have so much of the real thing in Jesus.

I mean just a little bit, of just a few drops of something like the real thing.

It looks like the real thing, and it can be easily deceive us into thinking that it's the real thing.

But what it does is it undoes all of the work that Jesus has begun to do in our life.

And sometimes we live that way, and we think, well, I'm doing really well right now.

I'm living my life for Jesus, he's doing the work in my life, I can see the evidence of it.

So this thing in my life, this problem in my life, I don't need to really take it seriously because I've got so much extra Jesus, and Jesus could figure out the difference.

And so we allow for the corrupted thing, the alternative thing, the thing that is not the real thing, to take over everything.

This is no longer water, is it?

I don't know what you call this.

It's a water-based solution, but it is definitely, it doesn't smell like something I'm gonna drink.

It smells just like this now.

Just a tablespoonful of alcohol.

And so the thing is that Jesus has the ability to purify.

There's no perfect illustration, so I don't want to overstate this illustration, but what we have to recognize is that there are there is the real thing, the water, the living water, and then there's something that tries to imitate the real thing.

And that's our biggest deception.

When Paul is talking about being fooled and looking at counterfeits and being deceived, we have to recognize that the deception is going to come across as authentic.

Its goal is to be as authentic as possible.

It's trying to mimic the thing that you have already given yourself to, the thing you've already cherished.

So we have a life that is going really well in our faith with the Lord.

We're going to life group and we're going to church on Sundays and we're living in community and we're reading our Bible and we're learning how to pray.

We're even taking a step and we're giving to the Lord of our finances, and that's a huge step.

And I'm doing it, I'm believing, and God's providing as a result.

But it's okay if I have a little bit of this extra-worldly stuff in there because it's probably not that big of a deal.

A little bit of alcohol, a little bit of adult content, a little bit of talking to my ex, a little bit of embracing loneliness, skipping church every now and then, letting conflict go unresolved.

All those things aren't that big of a deal.

I've seen plenty of people in my life that live this way and seem to be getting along just fine.

That's the mentality that we have sometimes.

That we allow for things that are of this world that seem like they're going to bring happiness and joy and peace and life and resolution, and it's going to be okay, and it's not that big of a deal when we mix it in with all the things that Jesus is doing in our life, and we don't even realize what we are losing out on.

Maybe it's this activity that's in my life, it's not that bad.

Probably not ideal, but it's probably not that bad.

The way that I'm living, it only really affects me.

So it's not that big of a deal.

It doesn't really affect other people, it only affects me.

I'll tell you that that is a lie that we buy into.

Here's the honest truth, folks.

Every aspect of your life affects other people, directly or indirectly.

It is a foolish thing to believe that anything in your life only affects you.

Because what affects you affects your attitude, it affects your decisions, it affects your choices, it affects your image of yourself, your identity.

Everything about the way that you live affects other people.

Especially if you desire that other people love you, then the choices that you make are affecting other people.

So if we could just be come clean right now, if I could just be straight with you, the choices that you make, there's no way that they're only affecting you.

But we believe that sometimes, don't we?

This only really affects me, and so it's not that really that big of a deal.

And so we let a statement that sounds like it's true enter into what we know to be true, and we mix those things together, and they're incompatible.

Maybe you think, I go to church often, so I don't really need to worry about that problem right now, because the more church I experience, the more that that problem is just going to go away on its own.

Or maybe you make a statement, the Bible doesn't exactly say that this is wrong.

It's not overt about it, so therefore it's probably not that big of a deal.

But we know in our hearts what is true, and therefore we try to make allowance for things in our life or attitudes and behaviors.

Here's one, I feel like this affects me.

It's affected me and my journey of faith, and maybe it affects you.

I've seen other Christians believe and do this, so therefore it's probably okay.

Man, that's a tricky one, isn't it?

Because we're trying to follow this path of discipleship, follow me as I follow Christ.

And if we're entering into community for the first time and watching how people interact, we can see, like, oh, this person goes to church, this person prays, and they behave that way, they participate in this activity or that activity, they tolerate this.

So therefore, it's probably okay for me.

And then it just creates this downward tumble in our lives because we realize that we've allowed for things and we've even justified behaviors and attitudes that we've had in our own life that are destructive, that are really contrary to the truth and the transformation that Jesus wants to do in our life.

There's always a way for us to make allowance for imitations in our life rather than expelling them when we see them because they look so appealing and they're actually, they sell themselves as a better alternative than the real thing.

The imitator says, I can give you joy, peace, and happiness, and it's not gonna really cost you anything like Jesus is asking you.

Well, that's much more appealing.

If this is gonna be less costly, it's gonna be less inconvenient, if it's gonna be less embarrassing, then I'll go with this alternative.

But the reality is that at the end, that promise is false.

It's a lie, it's counterfeit.

The promise that you believed about Jesus, my friends, is good and it is worth cherishing.

So don't let the temptations of foolish imitations lure you away and draw your attention and your devotion away from the real thing.

Let me tell you something hopeful: that even Jesus, this is hopeful for me.

Even Jesus was tempted by imitators.

So if we are tempted by the imitations of this world, statements, beliefs, attitudes in this world, we can take comfort in knowing that Jesus himself was imitate tempted with imitations as well.

And we're going to read those.

Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

The temptation of Jesus.

This is before he starts his ministry.

This is really before his notability takes place, before his reputation has been established.

This is the very beginning of his ministry.

This is what happens.

It says that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

During the time the devil came and said to him, and here we get the imitators, right?

Here are the false promises.

But Jesus told him, No, the Scripture.

Scriptures say people do not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Confront it, right?

Verse 5.

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the temple, and he said, If you are the Son of God, jump off, for the scriptures say he will order his angels to protect you, and they will hold you up with their hands so that you won't even hurt your foot on a stone.

And Jesus responded, the scriptures also say you must not test the Lord your God.

Jesus responds with the authentic truth.

He confronts the imitation truth with the authentic truth.

Next, the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

I will give it all to you, he said, if you'll kneel down and worship me.

And then Jesus says, Get out of here, Satan.

Jesus told him, for the scriptures say you must worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

Then the devil went away and his angels came and took care of Jesus.

In this passage, we see in three instances, three different motives that we see.

Jesus has the real thing.

He understands it, he possesses it.

This event, this occurrence takes place right after Jesus is baptized.

When Jesus is baptized, he's in the water and a voice from heaven cries out as and the Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove, and the voice says, This is my son whom I love.

With him I am well pleased.

And at this point, Jesus has affirmation and confirmation of the truth.

He knows it.

It is within him.

And like all of us, we have this moment of affirmation that the Holy Spirit provides to us, that the Spirit of God cries out and connects with our Spirit and affirms us who we are and what we are called to.

And that is how we govern the navigation between what is true and what is an imitation.

Because the Holy Spirit directs and guides us.

And that's what's happening in this passage of scripture.

Jesus knows.

And so something like the truth is presented to Jesus in a time of need, in a time of desire, in a time of craving, in a time of loneliness, whatever it might be that you're going through.

Jesus is in this moment right now in the wilderness, and he's being confronted by something like the truth.

And that truth, that truth claim says this could be easier.

It's not going to cost you so much.

And it's going to give you the same result as if you pursue what you're pursuing.

But Jesus understands the necessity to hold on to the truth and confront the imitation in the face of this temptation, and he confronts it with what he declares in Scripture and says, this is what it says, and this is what it means, and this is what I'm committing to.

On three occasions, this takes place.

So there's three temptations that we see here that Jesus encounters.

Three temptations that are imitated of the real thing, the authentic truth that Jesus has been given.

The first is a promise for provision or a promise for relief in this case.

That he has a need for sustenance, that he has a craving, a desire, that he hasn't eaten.

And so he is in his heart and his mind desiring these things, and the temptation recognizes hey, I can provide this for you and it's going to cost you less.

And so Jesus has to respond to the temptation for the imitation of provision.

The second thing is security or safety.

That Jesus knows that there's a difficult road ahead and that it's going to be consequential, that it's going to be even painful, it's going to be humiliating.

And the promise is I can give you that and I can sidestep all of the challenging parts, all the painful things.

And Jesus says, I know the truth, and I know what's going to cost, and the cost is worth it.

And so I'm going to rebuke that statement.

And then finally, the third is power, authority, strength.

That Jesus recognizes what it's going to take and what it will require in order to accomplish bringing his kingdom to earth.

And Satan confronts him and says, Hey, I can give it to you right now.

I can assure you that you will have it, and you will have all the authority, all the power, all the strength, and no one will be able to stand against you if you just yield to me.

And Jesus recognizes this again as an imitation, as a false promise, as a counterfeit, as an imitation, knockoff of the real thing, and he rebukes it and sends Satan away.

I want to encourage you today that you have the ability to discover the real truth.

The Holy Spirit is here with you right now.

That the Holy Spirit is upon your life.

And that he has helped you navigate to where you are here today.

And I'll just let me explain this to you.

That you have the ability to discern what is true and to be cherished and what is to be false and rebuked.

You have the ability because the Holy Spirit will bring revelation and discernment and wisdom to how you should respond.

So often we look for external cues.

We want something objective.

We want a pamphlet or a book to tell us how to live or what to do.

We want a peer or a teacher to say, do this, don't do this.

But the truth is, the reality is that the Holy Spirit is the one to do that in your life.

He alone has the ability to give you certainty of what you ought to do and how to live.

When we read the word, when we open it up, it does two things.

But the second thing that it does is because it is the living word of God, it comes alive within us.

It breathes life into us, and it allows the Holy Spirit to minister to us and bring revelation and understanding.

And that's what enables us to have application in our life.

When we read this passage of scripture, there's something that comes alive to us, and it says the Holy Spirit speaks to us and says, this is relevant in this aspect of your life right now.

This is how to respond in this situation.

This is the attitude that I want to confront.

This is the conviction that I want to bring.

This is the change I want to bring about.

This is the person that I want you to love, and so on and so forth.

And we can read it again tomorrow and next week and the next month and the next year.

And it's different and new and real every single time because the Holy Spirit has the ability to illuminate what is true and right and govern the way that we live.

We don't have to look for outside influence.

We don't have to give objective instruction, we don't have to be told directly what to do, because the Holy Spirit is within us to guide us and direct us and to instruct us on how we should respond.

And I'll tell you, if each one of us embraces this Holy Spirit truth to guide and direct us, then we will fully be embracing the kingdom of God as Jesus has come to it establish it, as He is intended to do.

But if we're trying to just guess at it and trying to discern the imitation and trying to mimic other people all the time, then it's going to be discouraging for us.

It's going to be destructive for us.

That we're going to go astray, that we're going to gain momentum and then abandon it all and not understand how we got there.

But we can live within the intended body of believers if we allow the Holy Spirit to be the thing that connects us all.

The one whose voice governs the way that we live.

Are you hearing me today?

I want to speak to you.

But really, I want to speak to the imitations in your life today.

I want to address them in case you don't know what to say to the imitations in your life.

Maybe you feel like the imitations in your life have a hold on your life.

They've grabbed hold of you and you don't know how to break away.

Or maybe you want to confront, you just don't know how to do that.

So I want to lead us today.

I want to speak to the imitations in your life.

And then I want to lead you in a prayer of commitment so that you can take your first step of cherishing what is true and abandoning the counterfeit, the imitator.

So if you'll bow your heads with me and just receive the words that I want to speak over your life, and if I call upon the Holy Spirit to minister to you today, that your hearts will be prepared.

So hear me today when I say, first and foremost, that the grace of Jesus inhabits your life, that his favor is upon you because he calls you his own.

And no matter what you have done, no matter what you have believed, no matter what you have thought, no matter what has been done to you or around you, the Lord still looks at you and he delights in you.

For you are his son or his daughter, whom he delights in.

That he is well pleased and you bring him great joy.

And that is the foundational truth in which anything else can be built upon.

So today, receive that as your foundational truth.

And in doing so, rebuke the alternative, the imitation truth that you have bought into about your own identity, what you believed about yourself, your worthiness, your purpose.

Rebuke that today.

Secondly, recognize today that the Holy Spirit has been speaking to you all along.

That his voice has not been silent.

That he has been active and involved and aware of every moment, every decision, every challenge, every heartache, every broken promise, every failure, every situation in your life, he has been present.

He has never hidden himself from you.

He has always been with you and upon your life.

And today, I want to speak to the things in your life.

And I say, in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name, the imitations that have inhabited the lives of these sitting here today would be rebuked in Jesus' name, that they do not stand against what is cherishable and authentic and real and promised, that the truth will reign out, that anything that has promised some alternative and an easier path, may it be removed in Jesus' name.

May it be highlighted and removed in Jesus' name.

May the quick alternative solution be revealed and set aside so that their eyes today can be set on the one who is cherishable.

The truth that is good and right and pure.

Anything that has caused corruption or retraction of the things that you've done in their life, in Jesus' name, bring healing, bring restoration.

I want to pray for you today.

And I just ask that you would posture your hearts and echo this prayer in your own spirit.

You would join in me because the Lord will hear my prayer and he will affirm my prayer, but you must receive these things as well.

And when it becomes an echo in your own heart, we're practically allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in that moment.

So take the posture that you need as long as your heart is postured to receive this prayer today.

Jesus.

Anything that we have purchased, we bought into that is not of you, that is not truth, that is an imitation.

God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would bring revelation to that.

And we would be able to identify that and lay it at your feet and say, that is not what I'm pursuing anymore.

I'm only pursuing the promise of the King.

God, help us to turn our eyes away from external influences that might lead us down an alternative pathway.

But instead, help us to set our eyes on your word, your promise, and your person.

God, we invite transformation into our life, that you would change the way that we think, you would change the way that we believe, you would change the way that we live.

And that we would receive the blessing of your promise as a result.

God help us to endure the hardship that comes at times, the potential humiliation or rejection, the potential pain and suffering that comes.

God also help us deal with the sin that separates us.

And that can have a hold on our lives.

That can be difficult too, and we know that only you have the ability to bring resolution and healing into our life.

And so we yield to you today.

God, we love you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Jesus is the one who is cherishable.

He is the authentic one.

He is the truth.

And when we read this passage of scripture in 2 Thessalonians, Paul urges us, he urges us to come back to the one that we once learned to cherish.

If you're here today and you have once made a decision to cherish Jesus, today is a good day to reiterate that moment where you made that decision.

If you're here today and you've never made that decision, you can make that decision today.

You can make that response today.

We have some means to do that with the cards and the cardbacks, but all you really need to do is come talk to someone.

And we want to pray with you about how you can respond and say, I want Jesus to be the one that I cherish, and I want to put off everything else.

What we're going to do today in response as we close today is I've just asked the worship team to lead us in a song of praise, because if Jesus truly is the one that we cherish, then it is appropriate for us to declare that praise for the one that we cherish.

And maybe the best response that we have in order to confront imitations in our life is to direct our attention to the truth, the true one, and let his worthiness receive our praise today.

So I'm going to ask you to stand with me today as we direct our praise to Jesus.