Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to continue looking at not only the theology of your wisdom, the gospel, but to further look into how it is possible that we as believers can know this secret, lofty and hidden wisdom. Use us this morning, continue to use us this morning for your glory. May we be engaged fully In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, in this day and age, the practice of having something appraised is common to most of us. It's common practice. It is especially true when we have fluctuating valuations and legal necessities regarding our possessions. When you have a valuable appraised, it is an estimate of what the value of that object is should you lose that and want insurance to replace it or if you want to sell that item. It could be a jewelry, it could be a work of art, it could be a home. Now what you're looking for in that appraisal is the true value, what we call fair market value of that item. And of course, in order to get a proper appraisal, you don't just look online or you look at it and hold it up to the sun. You need to trust an expert, an expert appraiser, and not just any appraiser, someone who is an expert in that particular field, be it real estate or jewelry or precious metal or whatever it may be. An expert being someone who has the knowledge and ability to place a an accurate value on that object. Now we know that there is nothing more valuable than the Word of God, not the paper that our Bible is printed on, but the Word of God itself. There really is no fair market value because the Word of God is priceless. But like with that piece of real estate, only one can truly know its value if that person is equipped with the knowledge and ability to recognize its value. And when we talk about the wisdom of God in the gospel and the Holy Spirit's enabling believers to grasp it, it becomes clear that not everyone, not every individual who has ever lived, not every human being can properly appraise the gospel to understand its worth. I mean, think about all we have said in looking at the gospel or the wisdom of God. We've said that it is hidden, hidden specifically to the understanding of man. We've also said that it's beyond human apprehension. Even after being revealed, it's not something that man can fully understand on his own. It is a wisdom, we have also said, beyond anything human. In other words, beyond not just our intellect, but any of our other senses or faculties. None of those can achieve or access the Word of God on their own. We've also said that this wisdom of God now revealed is possible to understand only when God chooses to reveal that to a specific individual. So, When we talk about appraisal, how is it that we, as human beings, but believers, Christians, can truly appraise God's Word? Because we do do that. As Christians, we do recognize its value. Maybe not fully. Maybe not in every second of every day. But we have an understanding. We have, if you will, the expertise to appraise and value the Word of God. How is that possible, knowing everything that we have said, that it is indeed beyond human comprehension, hidden, and all of those things? In other words, what are the issues involved for proper spiritual appraisal? I believe the answer to that question is found in our passage this morning, which is 1 Corinthians 2, verses 14-16, and I invite you to turn there with me. 1 Corinthians 2, verses 14 through 16. If you're joining us for the first time this morning you should probably know that we go through the Bible verse by verse and we are in these three verses this morning and we will do that very thing today. Unpack these three verses verse by verse. Hopefully by now you've found your way to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 14 through 16. Let me read that for you from the New American Standard. Paul continues. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. I want to find this morning three issues. This is our outline. Three issues in the spiritual appraisal of the wisdom of God. And again, we're still talking about the wisdom of God. Paul is still talking about the wisdom of God. Three issues involved in the spiritual appraisal of the wisdom of God. The first issue you need to understand in understanding why we can't appraise God's Word is the limitations of man. That's our first point. That's the first issue in the spiritual appraisal of the wisdom of God. The limitations of man. We're going to find that in verse 14 again in 2 Corinthians chapter 2. I'm going to read that for you again. Paul says, but a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. Now, when he says the things of the Spirit of God, he's not talking about specific revelation in a dream or something like that. He's simply talking about God's revealed word, the Bible, the scriptures. Now he starts with this word but and we always need to understand because if you're contrasting something like if you're walking into a conversation and someone says but or therefore you wanna say, wait, wait, wait, what are you talking about? Because you know that what he's saying now is contrasting or connecting to, connected to or resulting from something you missed. And in a sense, it's what's happening this morning, when we just look starting in verse 14, we're kind of jumping in on a conversation, a letter, a flow of thought, and so we need to understand this. Why is he saying, but, what is he contrasting? In the previous passage, He told us that the apostles, himself included, were given God's word through the Holy Spirit. And this truth hasn't turned and passed down through the ages in the scriptures. And he sets up with this word in verse 14, he sets up a contrast between the apostles who were taught by the Spirit, who we read last week, combined spiritual thoughts and spiritual words, right? This was a work purely of the Holy Spirit. The contrast between that and natural man. He says, we as the apostles were given the truth by the Holy Spirit. So we understand the truth. We pass the truth on to you, but natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. What is the natural man? The natural man is his way of simply referring to the unbeliever, the non-Christian, the human who remains in the natural state in which he was born. And to use the terminology of this passage, the natural man is the individual who does not have the Holy Spirit. And we know all believers today, all New Covenant Christians, New Covenant, or all New Covenant believers or Christians, New Covenant children of God have the Holy Spirit. So, the natural man is someone who does not have the Holy Spirit. They are not a Christian. And the NIV actually translates it that way, without the Holy Spirit. Now he uses the word in the Greek, natural, Because this is how all men live from birth. This is the natural, the common, the regular state of man. It is not until Christians at the point of their salvation that a natural man becomes a spiritual man. Now, the non-Christian, the natural man, lives on an entirely human level. That is to say, he is entirely dependent on human faculties without the aid of the Holy Spirit. All that the natural man has is the world and himself and the wisdoms that come from those two. And so, As we've seen Paul repeat so many times, and he does here in a different way, obviously, if that's all he has, then they can't understand or appraise the things of the Spirit. Now, when you talk about the natural man just having the world and just having themselves, for most of the world, that's all they want. That's enough for them. Everything from food and water to hobbies and occupations, their pursuits, their finances. The natural man has all of those things. You don't need to be a Christian to be able to eat. You don't need to have to have the Holy Spirit to have an education or to have a job and to have an income. And so everyone in the world can have those things. And for most of them, that's all they want. That's all they think they need. And within that life is a human perspective and understanding of the world around him. What we're saying here, what Paul is saying here, is that the natural man cannot appraise or understand the things of the Spirit. It doesn't mean that a non-Christian doesn't understand anything. Most of our world leaders who have changed the world, some of the most successful inventors who have changed the course of technology and humankind have done so without knowing God. That's not what we're talking about. You see, someone can live a very long and happy life in just having the pursuits of the world and without having the Holy Spirit. It's the end of that happy life that is at stake, and what is oh so important, though they may not realize that. What the natural man does not have is the ability to accept and comprehend the things of the Spirit of God, the center of which is the wisdom of God, the gospel, and thus they cannot have eternal life until the Lord chooses, should He choose, to grace them with that. Now, Paul goes on to explain that the reason the natural man doesn't accept these things is because, quote, it is foolishness to him. The Word of God, the things of the Spirit, are foolishness to the natural man, to the unbeliever. They are foolishness because, simply, they have not accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. And this is what Paul has been saying all along as he compares and contrasts the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of God. He said this already back in verse 23 of chapter 1. We preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness. Now back in our verse in 2.14, Paul then moves on to elaborate even more. He says the natural man cannot understand the things of God because they are spiritually appraised. Appraised means to examine, to investigate, to discern. That's a good word for it. I believe some of your versions of the Bible may translate this word as discern. It's the same idea in someone who appraises a piece of jewelry. discern if it's real or not, to discern how many carats it is, to discern whether it's an alloy or not, right? And so it's the same ideal. And again, it's the difference between human nature and spiritual things that is being appraised. Now, Paul uses the present tense, which, as you know, means this is always true. This is ongoing. It's not something that happened once in the past and that is over, like he was crucified. Okay? It's in the present tense. It's still happening. Now, another way to understand this is with common biblical and Christian terminology. And that is, the natural man is spiritually dead. So he cannot grasp that which is spiritual. It does not matter how smart or articulate or successful in his field he may be. No matter how much of his life we would respond to with, man, good for him. It is good for him. In this life. But not the next. And that's what's so tricky about human achievement. It focuses on the here and now, including the near future, rather than the long-term future. Now understand, when I say long-term future, I mean eternity, because there are people in their own human achievement that are not just concerned about their own pocketbooks, but they are concerned about making sure that their kids and grandkids have enough money and are prepared for. There are people even not thinking about their own families but the world in general who are concerned for example about environmental issues so that in their minds the world will still be living and thriving and the air will be fresh and clear or whatever it may be for generations to come. And so, but in compared to eternity, that's still just the near future. And all of those things from a worldly perspective, we could say, hey, good for you. Good that he's doing that. Good that he's looking forward and making sure that even his grandkids and great grandkids have enough money or whatever it may be. But, that still pales in comparison to eternity. It's not even a drop in the bucket in comparison. Again, all those things are good for this life, perhaps even beyond his own 80, 90, 100 years and on to future generations, but it is still just this life, the earthly life. It is no good for the next. No matter how successful, how much money, how green you are, it does not impact eternity. And in fact, when Paul uses this word natural to describe man, he uses a word or a description that we know from later Greek literature was constantly used to praise the noblest part of man. you pan out to a larger timeline and a more significant existence, again, it doesn't mean much in light of eternity. In other words, though the Greeks extolled natural man because it was the noblest part of man, Paul uses this same term to reduce that to its proper level. In comparison to eternity, it is nothing. It is useless. It is worthless. Because it can't achieve correctness, reconciliation, being right with God. Look, when Paul does that, it's not a put-down of mankind. of the human race. Rather, this is a sobering reminder to focus on what matters and, for the Christian, to rejoice in what the Lord has done in allowing you to go beyond, in your comprehension, just the things and the pursuits and the successes of this world. We must rejoice in that. And so the first issue in understanding the spiritual appraisal of the wisdom of God is that natural man, which includes what you once were, understand, cannot understand God's word. They cannot appraise the things of the spirit. They are limited in perhaps the most crucial and severest way. But there is a second issue in the spiritual appraisal of the wisdom of God, and that is the liberation of Christians. We've seen the limitations of man, and now the liberation of Christians. We were among those who were limited, and now we are liberated. Let me explain. Verse 15, 1 Corinthians 2, But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one." What in the world does that mean? This actually goes back to Genesis 2. You don't need to turn there. But at the fall, man, because of sin, lost his ability to see the world properly. I don't mean physically see, but intellectually see, to evaluate. Everything since that time, including our perspective, our intellect, our vision, and our thoughts, have all been stained with sin. Even as the redeemed, sin gets in the way and will continue to do so as long as we are in this life. However, Having now been given the Holy Spirit in our lives as individuals, we have the ability to appraise all things properly. In other words, to see not just the gospel, not just God, but all things in light of the gospel. Now, other English virgins use the word judge rather than appraise, and that's the same idea. Now, all things, when Paul writes that we are able to appraise all things, he who is spiritual, again, refers to Christians, appraises all things. All things refers centrally and primarily to the gospel. The things of God, again, that were formerly hidden but now have been revealed in the Spirit. So, the things, to put it another way, that pertain to the work of salvation. Now to connect this to our context in 1 Corinthians, as the Spirit searches the depths of God, remember from last week, and reveals them to man, so we can, in turn, discern God's ways. Here's another way to put this. As Christians, we have been enlightened and no longer blinded by the God of this world, the devil. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4. Turn ahead just a few pages. 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4. Paul says this, And even if our gospel is veiled, It is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world, that's the devil, has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." We have had those blinders taken off, because we are not those who are perishing anymore, we are not the unbelieving, we are not natural man. Listen as I read 1 John 2 27. As for you, the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, there it is again, all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in him. 1 John 2, 27. And again, to summarize, he's just saying that, again, because we have the Holy Spirit and been taught by Him, we can discern or appraise all things. So, let me explain further. With this understanding of God's ways and salvation that we have, We also understand God's plan and purpose for all things in the world. In other words, the spiritual man, the Christian, is able to examine, to sift and decide rightly the world around him. We appraise all things. Again, the central idea is the gospel. And through the lens of that gospel, we now see and discern all things. A simple example would be your job. Before you were saved, if you were working before you were saved, it was just about the rat race. Maybe it was about getting rich, having more money, making a name for yourself, buying that nice car, being comfortable, being able to pay the bills, buy a house someday. It's all those worldly things. That was the top, the end of your pursuit. But now, as Christians, we may still want to buy a house. We may still want to have that car. We may still want to have whatever. But before all of that, it is to glorify God. Because now, as believers, we understand His purpose in giving us a job. His purpose in creating man. His purpose in creating economies. To glorify Himself through us, working for His glory, being excellent for His glory, working for Him and not for our bosses, and then to pursue a house for His glory, to pursue a car for His glory, to pursue paying bills for His glory that we might not be indebted to others. See, all of it is centered in the Gospel. A big part of this is because we are saved and we now can appraise the gospel properly, we have been given a moral standard by God by which all things are measured, starting with the purpose of life. So, again, it's no longer just doing certain things for human rights or economic stability or even a happy life. Everything that we see, everything in our lives, everything in the world around us, from abortion to parenthood, from climate change to COVID-19, from presidential elections to Christian martyrdom at the hands of terrorists, from food to finances, we evaluate all things through the lens of Scripture and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I mean, isn't this the battle that you face every day? Isn't this why at the end of your day you get on your knees in your time of prayer and ask for forgiveness for your pride and your selfishness? Because there are glimpses of things in your life and pursuits in this world that you do without the motivation of glorifying God. And so, even in your desire for repentance, you understand that that is possible because of the conviction you have, because you can spiritually appraise spiritual things. In other words, because we are spiritual, we appraise all things rightly. On the flip side, For this same reason, being spiritual, the natural man, Paul goes on to say in verse 15, the natural man cannot appraise us. This is the meaning of the second part of verse 15. What does this mean? They do not have the spiritual means, the unbeliever, to properly evaluate the common things of life. In other words, they look at the world around them and they don't see them as gifts from God. They just see them as things to pursue. And so, if they can't properly evaluate just the regular things of life, then they definitely cannot evaluate the spiritual things which are centered around the gospel. They can't understand the true nature and purpose of the created world, or even accept that it was created, for that matter. And what they can do, and successfully do, is take the things of the world, and magnify them out of proportion, and devote themselves exclusively to those things. thereby misusing the gifts that God has given the world as a means to worship Him, and instead they worship the gifts." I'm going to say that again. The natural man misuses the gifts that God has given the world as a means to worship Him, and instead they worship the gifts. If they have such a skewed view of the world, they cannot appraise, judge, or evaluate the spiritual person. And it's not that we and our actions are invisible to the world. This is very important. This doesn't mean that we have a cloak of invisibility or some sort of force field where when people say things about us, nope, it's not true, they can't appraise us. They can accurately evaluate our faults and our shortcomings. They can see where we live in a way that is inconsistent with the faith that we proclaim. But they cannot accurately evaluate that faith or even truly understand anything we do that's motivated by it. The non-Christian simply does not have the true standard by which to measure the Christian, not to mention the entirety of God's creation. And like I said, the world will pass judgment on you, but you are not to accept the decision of these judges whose criteria is so vastly different than the Lord's that He deems them ignorant. It's like a child calling an adult a fool or a dummy because he spends so much time at work. But the child has no concept of the importance of work, paying bills, money, capitalism. He is naive in a good sense of the word and doesn't have the capacity to judge someone who does things that are beyond his scope of understanding. Oh, that kid will judge, but not rightly. They don't have the discerning faculty that comes only by receiving the Holy Spirit in salvation for the natural man who becomes a Christian to appraise spiritual things. Now given that analogy, does it bother you? Does it make you lose sleep? Does it stress you out? Does it cause you to change how you work when a child comments negatively on things that you're doing that he cannot even begin to comprehend? I hope the answer is no. I know the answer is no. You laugh, you put him on your lap, and then you explain. But if a child criticizing you doesn't bother you because you understand his inability to comprehend, then why be affected by the opinions of others when they criticize or condemn your faith? Why be bothered, even to the point that you're afraid to share the gospel? If anything, this passage tells us to expect them not to understand. Because they can't. It's foolishness to them. Of course they're going to reject. Of course they're going to question. Of course they're going to scratch your head. Of course they're going to walk away. Of course they're going to smile and then look at you like you're crazy when you're not looking. It is foolishness to them. And according to this passage, there's no reason to be bothered. Or let me put that another way. There's no reason to be bothered in the form of fear of man. You should be bothered because you want people to be saved. You should be bothered because you want all creatures to worship our God and King. If anything else, this passage tells us to take the high ground, because we can understand where they're coming from. The natural man cannot understand holiness, but the holy person, you and I, can very well understand the depths of evil. See, not only were you once a natural man or woman, But you are still, as a believer, tempted by sin, living in a world of sin, living in a world that's run by sin. And we have learned to navigate it, and we have been called to be a light to that world, which often draws us in through sin and temptation. See, you once were a natural man. You once were a rejecter of the gospel. You once were someone who called it foolishness, idiocy, stupidity. But the people who still are in that state never once were Christians. See, we've experienced both sides. And so we should be patient. We should be bold, not fearing man. We should repent of our pride. We should repent of our lack of compassion and conviction. I refer to this point as the liberation of Christians. Because as Christians, we are no longer enslaved and bound to a world system that prevents us from being able to grasp the plan and purpose of God in all things. We have been freed. we have been liberated from those things. Well, we've seen the limitations of man, the liberation of Christians, thirdly, the loftiness of God. Look at verse 16 back in 1 Corinthians 2. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. This is quoting Isaiah 40 verse 13, which I read for you earlier in the service. And the question is written in a way that expects the answer, nobody, no one. This is a rhetorical question. In the original context in Isaiah chapter 40, it speaks of God's plan to deliver His people. And it emphasizes, in that deliverance and in the description surrounding it, it emphasizes the great gulf, the great distance between God and man. The same idea is found here as Paul asks the question, who has known the mind of God and can instruct Him or tell him what to do. Nobody who can teach him something that he doesn't already know, whether it's a scientific fact or it's a new thought in someone's mind. Nobody. He knows it all. This is the same idea we saw back in verse 11. This verse from Isaiah is also quoted by Paul in Romans chapter 11 in verse 34. And he uses this word, mind. And this is a comprehensive name for the thoughts that exist in the conscience. And both times that he uses this word, mind, we have the mind of Christ and the mind of God. Both usages of the word are the same Greek word. And the word refers not so much to an instrument of thought, such as the brain, the physical brain or intellectual ability or capacity, but it's speaking of a mindset, a mode of thought, a way of thinking. And when you put it that way, you understand how it fits within the context of this passage as we've already seen. Quite simply, here Paul is using scripture, Isaiah 40, to reinforce his previous explanation as to why a natural or unspiritual man cannot understand the wisdom of God. It is because he is simply too far beyond the understanding and comprehension of sinful man. However, in keeping with his argument, Paul goes on to say that the believer has the mind of Christ. Remember, the mindset, the way of thinking. Again, this mindset corresponds with the ability of the Christian to evaluate all things, starting with the gospel, through liberated eyes. It's not that we know everything going on in God's mind. It's not that we know every thought in the mind of Christ. That's not what He's saying. You know this is not true. But we understand how He thinks. We understand His plans. We understand His saving truth in the Gospel. All of this we know through the agency of the Holy Spirit, as we saw last week. To be clear, this is not speaking of some sort of special experience or wisdom that some in the church claim is unique to them, dreams and visions, things like that. It starts with the gospel, which was formerly hidden, and involves the community life of the church, lived out in the world, as we worship and obey and study the scriptures. Ultimately, Christ's obedience is the pattern that Paul is telling us to follow. And the concept of the mind here, as Paul uses it in this context, is well explained in Luke 24. You don't need to turn there. I'm talking about the scene where it's after the crucifixion. So remember at the crucifixion, the disciples are scared. they're discouraged because they didn't understand what Jesus had taught them. Remember, get behind me, Satan. And they didn't fully understand even the Old Testament scriptures. They were confused. And so naturally, after the crucifixion, they were really discouraged and they were scared. Not just scared because of they're wanting to follow him, but also scared because if they did that to him and everyone saw us following him, should we be scared for our lives as well? They just didn't understand. And as much as we like to look at them and say, oh man, how can they not get it? We need to sympathize with them. Could you imagine how terrified they were? after seeing Jesus crucified, and many others crucified for other reasons, that maybe they were next. And that's also why their confusion. It's why when Jesus appears to them, they're not just joyful. Oh, here He is, like He said. They were amazed. Because this is in the midst of their confusion. And Jesus reminds them that this was what He had been telling them all along. as well as what was written in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. And so you can imagine that even though they see Him in His resurrected state, there's probably still a little bit of confusion. And then verse 45 of Luke 24 says, and I quote, Then He, Jesus, opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And we see this here today in 1 Corinthians, that the Holy Spirit has opened our minds so that we can understand the scriptures and understand the plan of salvation. So again, Luke 24 verse 45 doesn't mean that they had one of those movie moments where they're having all these flashbacks, because Jesus opened their minds, and all of a sudden they felt what He felt on the cross, and having nails driven to Him. No, that's not what it's talking about there. It's not what it's talking about here. It is a comprehension of the Scriptures. To be sure, for us, this doesn't mean that we don't need to study the Bible, or that we don't need human teachers, or even that studying the Word is necessarily easy. The scriptures attest to all of these things. Ephesians 4 tells us that God gave us teachers for the equipping of the saints and building up of the body. Deuteronomy 29.29 says the secret things belong to the Lord our God. That doesn't mean don't study the scriptures, but it means that there are some things that God knows that we don't know and we never will know. 2 Timothy 2.15 Paul tells Timothy to be diligent in handling the Word of Truth. That indicates difficulty, hard work in studying the Word of God. What having the mind of Christ does mean is that we have been given the Holy Spirit, so that we are able to understand God's plan of salvation, and subsequently to, again, view the world and all that is in it, through the lens of His glory and His plan for mankind. Now, as I alluded to earlier, sometimes we don't do that. But again, even knowing that we're supposed to do that is part of having the mind of Christ and having the Spirit in us and having revealed to us and continuing to work with us and teach us and convict us in our consciences. This is something we need to worship God for and to rejoice over. to know that we are saved. And with that comes all of this understanding to the point that we're told we have the mind of Christ. That's pretty mind-blowing. That's pretty amazing. And that, with really any passage of Scripture, even the passages of Scripture, you know, if you're going through the Bible in a year plan, you're probably coming to the parts of Scripture where you're just reading lists of name, after name, after name. In any Scripture, our first response is to worship God. But, I also want to remind you, as I've alluded to this morning, and you know from just being a Christian and knowing God's Word, that this does not allow us to judge unbelievers. And understand that when you think you're better than an unbeliever, then you misunderstand grace and the gospel. And that is a form of judging the unbeliever. You need to turn away from that and worship God for what He has done. When you share the gospel and the person rejects the gospel and you just Go like that and go, oh well, it's in God's hands now. You may be theologically accurate, but you are practically in sin for a lack of love and a lack of compassion. We need to be careful of all of these things. So my point is, we must primarily worship and rejoice because of what he has done. But if that worship and rejoicing does not flesh out in obedience and humility and repentance and hard work, then I would submit to you that you are not truly worshiping and rejoicing. Three issues in the spiritual appraisal of the wisdom of God. The limitations of man, the liberation of Christians, and the loftiness of God. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual praises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you have given us this that is absolutely mind-blowing, that we can understand because of your Spirit, because of your grace, what you have given us and what you desire of us, and not just that, the reason for everything, for every pebble, every bird, every pandemic we know is for your glory and your purposes. Father, thank you that part of our understanding of those things is knowing that you work all things together for good of those who love you. What an amazing thought, Lord. And I pray that we would worship and rejoice properly, biblically, meaning that we would reach out, that we would preach the gospel, that we would repent, that we would reconcile with friends, that we would do all of these things that you have called us to do as an act of worship. Father, as you have given us more time, as you have taken away many of our commutes, and you have taken away even the need to get dressed for work or leave the home, you have given us the privilege of quick trips to the grocery store, stocking up like we didn't do before, even having things delivered to our homes. May we use this time wisely. I pray that you would help us to worship and rejoice in seeing your plan to the degree that we can in having to distance teach our children. Give us, especially the moms who are doing this or should be doing this, extra measure of patience and wisdom and worship and rejoicing. Father, I pray for those who during this time are having extra strain on their marriages. I pray that they would seek your word and seek counsel so that they would worship and rejoice. I pray for homes that have to now distance learn while the father still has a full-time job, but the mom is a full-time stay at home. I pray that she would not force the father to do the distance teaching as well as his full-time job, but that their roles would be proper and biblical, that they would worship and rejoice and see your plan for the family in the right perspective. You have given them this ability, Lord, and so I pray that all of us would take it, take advantage of it. Father, as more and more people in our church are losing their jobs, I pray that we would rejoice, not complain about the extra hours, grumble because of the use of the internet, but be thankful to worship and rejoice. And though we may not know the specifics of why this is happening, may we continue to worship and rejoice by submitting to you, by submitting to and honoring our government authorities by using our time wisely. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that we can see things from your perspective. I pray that you would guard us from letting the world's perspective infiltrate our thinking, our families, our biblical leadership, our biblical submission, whatever it may be, and help us to focus fully on what you desire, in Jesus' name, amen.