Guns Swords and the Gospel — Anton Bosch

Jesus Prepares His Disciples for Changing Circumstances

Luke chapter 22, Luke chapter 22 as we continue our study through the gospel of Luke, and I'm going to read 35 through 46 this morning. So Luke chapter 22, reading 35 through 46. And in this passage, Jesus is in the upper room with the disciples, and then he goes out into the garden.

So Luke chapter 22 and verse 35. And he said to them, when I sent you without money bag, knapsack and sandals, did you lack anything? And so they said nothing. Then he said to them, but now he who has a money bag, let him take it and likewise a knapsack and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.

For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in me. And he was numbered with the transgressors for the things concerning me have an end. And so they said, Lord, look, here are two swords.

And he said to them, it is enough. Coming out, he went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed and his disciples also followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw and he knelt down and he prayed saying, father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Then an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him and being an agony, he prayed more earnestly and then he sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

And when he rose up from prayer and had come to his disciples, he found them sleeping from sorrow. And he said to them, why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The passage from verse 36 is difficult.

The Context of the Sword Saying

There are a few difficulties in it, but there's one particular verse which is abused and which is used to teach a false teaching. So while it seems to be pretty simple on the surface, we need to pay attention to the details.

So obviously this is just before they going out. And he says, when I sent you without money bag, knapsack and sandals, did you lack anything? And they said nothing. He's referring to the previous two occasions.

Remember in the gospel of Luke that he sent the disciples out and he sends them out to go and heal the sick and to cast out demons and so on. And he tells them, don't take anything because your needs will be met as you go along.

If you go into a house and they receive you, then you stay there. And if they don't receive you, shake off the dust from your feet and move on. So he's saying, did it work that way? Was that the way it was?

And they said, yeah, that was the way it was. We didn't lack anything. Then he said to them, but now there's the key to this verse. But now, in other words, but remember that very, very important word, but in other words, that's the way it was, but it is changing.

But now things are changing. He's saying he has a money bag, let him take it. And likewise a knapsack and he has no sword. Let him sell his garment and buy one. And so Jesus is saying that the whole basis on which the gospel is being preached is changing.

Before I sent you without money and God met your needs. Now, obviously he continues to do that, but the point that he is making is not about the money bag and the knapsack and the sword, which I'm going to spend some time on this morning.

But the issue is that things are changing. Jesus was popular. And because he was popular, the disciples were popular because they were his inner circle. And so people really followed Jesus because of the things that he did.

And his disciples were seen to be close to Jesus. Remember on one occasion, people came to his disciples and said, we want to see Jesus. Can you introduce us to Jesus? And so the disciples were riding high on the hog.

They were doing pretty good up to now. And Jesus is saying, no, but things are going to change now. And obviously the cross was what he had in mind. And as much as we saw a couple of weeks ago in Hebrews chapter six, when we spoke about baptism in suffering, what happened to him will happen to us.

What happened to him will happen to his disciples. And so as long as he was popular, they were popular, but when he became unpopular and when he became persecuted, they would become unpopular and they would be persecuted.

So he's signaling a change. But now we come to the difficulty in this verse. He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. Now there are many who love this verse and use this verse as a basis, this verse and one other as a basis for the fact that Christians need to be armed, that pastors need to pack heat in the pulpit and that churches need to be armed.

This is a big thing. And you just need to go online. I know you think I'm talking about isolated incidents. This is not isolated. This is generally accepted in certain circles of Christianity today. In most of evangelicalism, there are entire courses run how to arm members of the congregation.

In at least nine states in America now, the law has been changed so that members of a church congregation can carry a concealed weapon in the church, specifically for church. You can't do it elsewhere but in church.

Churches and pastors boast about carrying a weapon while they're preaching the gospel. And this is one of the verses that they like. There is some debate as to whether the pastor should carry a pistol or whether members of the congregation should rather be trained and armed to protect the church against a mass shooting.

I'm not going to talk about mass shootings but the statistics are that you have a better chance of being killed in a mass shooting in a mall or in a cinema than you have in the church. But that's beside the point.

There are in fact churches, not just one, a number of them. Rodney Howard Brown in Tampa, Florida is one of them, who regularly have giveaways of AR -15s to members in the congregation. And they like this verse because it seems, here's the key word, it seems that Jesus is saying, go and sell your garment so that you can buy a weapon.

But is that what the verse says? And is that compatible with the gospel? And the answer is, no, it is not. The problem is that many times Jesus will say things in irony or he will say things sarcastically.

And we need to understand the difference. Now, they understood, well they should have, they didn't, but they should have understood the difference. One of the problems I have of not being a Native American, not being born in America, is that my sense of humor doesn't work here.

People misunderstand when I'm being sarcastic. People misunderstand when I'm using irony. But he's speaking to people who should have understood what he was saying. Of course, we have a problem in reading this verse now because it doesn't make a lot of sense to us.

But how do we make sense of scriptures and how do we check whether a verse is true or whether our idea of what the verse says is true or not? We look at context. The first thing that we look at is the immediate context.

The context of the passage in which this is written. I'm going to come back to that in a moment. But we also look at the general context of the whole of the Word of God. Does the New Testament, and obviously we know in the Old Testament, wars for them was physical.

They defended the nation of Israel physically. In the New Testament, things changed. So does the New Testament generally teach that Christians need to be armed? Now, let me just say that I'm not primarily concerned whether you feel the need to have a weapon to protect your family at home or not.

That is a personal decision. I have my opinions on that. I don't think it's a good idea. But at the same time, you have to follow your own conscience. What we're speaking about here is a weapon in the context of the preaching of the gospel.

Because notice what, again, the context. Jesus says, when I, let's go back to verse 35, when I sent you without money. So what's he doing now? He says, I'm sending you now, and I'm saying take money. So this is in the context of the preaching of the gospel.

That is my primary concern this morning. Is it right for us? Is it in the context of the gospel for us to be armed when we preach the gospel? And the answer is no. Here's part of the context. Luke chapter 6 verse 27.

But I say to you who hear, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other also.

This is literal. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Is there, can you marry this idea of non-resistance with selling your garment to buy a weapon in order to defend yourself when you preaching the gospel?

No, you cannot. Now, let me address the practical thing. Is there a threat, even though it may be remote, of someone climbing over the fence and coming in here and starting to shoot at people? Yes, there is.

It's remote. But it can happen. It has happened. I think there are four cases in the history of America. There are several cases in South Africa when we were still fighting a terrorist war. What is our response?

Should we die? Now, the way we look at it, the way that it's popular to look at this in America today, the answer is no, we shouldn't die. But what does the gospel speak about? Should we not be willing to die for the sake of the gospel?

We're not seeking martyrdom. We're not saying bring it on. But if someone walks through that door and shoots me while I'm preaching the gospel, particularly because I'm preaching the gospel, is that not a glorious thing?

From a human point of view, we say, no, that's terrible. But from God's perspective, it's a glorious thing to suffer for Christ. And we all say, yeah, I'll die for him. I'll die for the gospel. But don't let anyone come in here with a gun.

I'll shoot him. Now, I'm not suggesting that we don't defend ourselves. I'm not suggesting that if someone comes in, we just let him do what he wants to do. But there's enough of us and there's enough big, strong young men here who may have to put their lives between a shooter and the people.

That would be an honorable thing to do. But to start a gun war in the sanctuary, a place of security and of safety, a place where we're preaching the gospel that Christ died for us. Did he have an option?

Yeah, he had an option. He could have wiped us all out. He could have destroyed because remember, that was the problem in the beginning. If you sin, you will die. So we sin so he can just kill us all.

And that would be 100, folk, I'm not being sarcastic. It would have been 100 just for God to wipe out the world because of the sin in the world. But Jesus says, I'm not going to take your life. I'm going to lay down my life for you.

This is the essence of the gospel. Now, will we not then lay down our lives for the brethren? Will we not lay down our lives for the sake of the gospel? I can talk about this for hours. But how do you live with your conscience, having taken another man's life, especially if it was not even in self-defense?

Laying Down Our Lives Rather Than Defending the Pulpit

In 2015, a man walked into a church with a brick in Texas. The pastor had a gun, a pistol or a revolver, I think it was a pistol, and he killed the man with a brick. Is that justified? My answer is no.

I don't even think in the court of law it's justified because he had a brick. There was other people who could have taken the brick from him. But to make it worse, the man with the brick had come for the pastor because the pastor was sleeping with his wife.

But, folk, these are the men who are glorified as heroes, defending the pulpit, defending the gospel, defending the church. No, our message is not and our job is not to defend against physical violence.

Our job is to lay down our lives for the gospel. Our job is to defend the faith, not the lives. Our job is to defend true doctrine. And so Jesus says, if he wants to strike you, give the other cheek. And we say, well, that's not natural.

Of course it's not natural. Was it natural for him to suffer the way he did, as we're going to see in the next few weeks as we continue in the gospel of Luke? No, it wasn't. But in this, the love of God is revealed.

When Christians act in an unnatural way, and I'm not saying unnatural in a bad way, but unnatural in a spiritual way, when Christians are able to show the world that there is a fundamental difference, that it's not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but we will turn the other cheek.

Peter's Sword and Jesus' Rejection of Violence

Now in Luke chapter 22, verse 50, and we may get here this morning, but I want to bring this into here because the immediate context, so we'll see in a few verses, they say we have two swords. Peter has one of those swords.

Don't know where they got them, but they had them. Peter has one of the two swords. As they come into the garden of Gethsemane, or they were there, and the mob come, and Peter draws his sword, and he cuts off the servant of the high priest's right ear.

One of them struck the servant. Luke and Mark and Matthew don't tell us, they all have this account, but they don't tell us who it is, but John tells us this was Peter. So one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

What does Jesus do? Jesus answered and said, permit even this, and he touched his ear, and he healed him. Was Jesus sanctioning the violence that Peter was perpetrating? No, Jesus contradicted Peter. Jesus went against what Peter did and restored the man's ear.

So clearly, if Jesus's intent a few verses earlier was for them to carry weapons to defend themselves and to defend Jesus, then he would have encouraged Peter and said, Peter, get him. But Jesus doesn't do that.

So we've got to see the context. So the context clearly says that Jesus is not for violence. Now if we go to Matthew 26, which tells us a little bit more of what's going on here, because Luke, remember in these sections, Luke is summarizing things.

He's just giving us a very brief outline of what's happening. The other gospel writers give us a little more detail, and Matthew 26, 52 says, but Jesus said to him, put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Is Jesus encouraging using a sword? No, he's not. He's saying if that's the life you want to live, you will eat or you will reap the consequences of that kind of lifestyle. If you're going to be a violent man, you will die a violent death.

It's as simple as that. So you can clearly see that in the context of what happened in those hours, literally hours from Jesus making the statement, Jesus is not encouraging violence. He's not encouraging self-defense even in the sense of the preaching of the gospel.

Now Peter was the guy who cut off the sword, the guy's ear. But once Peter had been changed, this is what Peter says, how we arm ourselves. We dealt with this in a few weeks ago in Hebrews, therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind.

How do we arm ourselves? By selling our cloak and buying a weapon. No, arm yourselves with the same mind. What mind? Willing to suffer for the gospel. That is how we arm ourselves. This is Peter who cut the man's ear off.

This is Peter who said, Lord, they'll all forsake you, but I won't. This is Peter who was willing to take on the whole Roman army if he had to, but he wouldn't take on a servant girl. But he says, here's our weapon.

Suffering as the Christian's Spiritual Armor

This is how we arm ourselves against violence, with a willingness to suffer. Now, folk, I know this is hard to understand. I know from a carnal point of view, from a human point of view, this is contrary, because everything within us says, no, I must defend myself.

Remember, I'm not speaking about what you do in terms of self-defense at home, whether you have a baseball bat or a gun. That's your decision. And I'm not suggesting we're foolish at home and not lock the house and take the necessary precautions.

But in the context of the preaching of the gospel, in the context of the assembling of the saints together, things are going to get harder. People are going to attack churches more and more. Yes, it's going to happen, but how do we arm ourselves?

Not with Glocks and AR -15s, but we arm ourselves with the same mind that Christ had, a willingness to suffer. All right, now let's move on. We're going to touch on this again when we come to verse 38.

But in verse 37, Jesus says, for I say to you, that which is written must still be accomplished in me. And he was numbered with the transgressors. Now, notice again these little words that we ignore. The little word for, because.

Jesus is saying, things are changing. And one of the things that still needs to happen, which is written must still be accomplished in me. And he's quoting Isaiah 53 verse 12, which we'll look at in a moment.

He was numbered with the transgressors. In other words, referring to Jesus being hung between two robbers. In fact, they were not even robbers, they were insurrectionists. They were insurrectionists, I think we all understand that term.

They were those who felt the need to defend Israel's honor by the use of violence. Can you see the irony of this? Jesus would be numbered with those. But in fact, he did no violence, Isaiah 53 tells us.

He did no violence. And yet he is numbered with the violent. He never sinned, yet he's numbered with the sinners. And he's crucified between two sinners, between two violent, brute men. The position of the leader of the gang, the chiefest of sinners.

Let me finish the verse and then go to Isaiah 53. For the things concerning me have an end, have to be fulfilled. That's basically what he's saying. So he's saying, you can take up swords if you want to, but what's going to happen is going to happen.

Not in a fatalistic sense, but in the sense that God had predetermined. It was God's will prophesied by Isaiah that Jesus would be numbered with the transgressors and he would be crucified with those who were these evil people.

And so Isaiah 53 verse 12. Now, before we turn to Isaiah 53 verse 12, again, we must remember that when Jesus quotes a part of the verse, he is assuming that they understand the rest of the verse. This is a principle we've spoken about many times, particularly in Luke, where the custom was simply to quote the beginning or a part of the verse, and it was up to the hearer to fill in the rest, because they knew the scriptures.

And so we've used the example before. Hopefully, if I say, for God so loved, I don't have to say the rest of the verse, because hopefully you know the rest of the verse. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that he would not perish, but have everlasting life.

And so he's quoting the beginning of Isaiah 53 verse 12, sorry, the middle. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great. He shall divide the spoil with the strong. That's after he is glorified again, because he poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors.

And you see, you can't take that, but he was numbered with the transgressors out of the rest of that verse. He bore the sin of many, and he made intercession for the transgressors. Father, forgive them.

They don't know what they're doing. And so when Jesus says, this still has to be fulfilled, not just that he would be numbered with the transgressors, but that he would bear the sins of the world. You see, the same way as today, they were focused on the here and now.

How do we defend ourselves against the mob who are coming to crucify Jesus? And Jesus is saying, it's more than just about your survival today. This is about eternal issues. This is about me bearing the sins of the world.

All they could see is we don't want to go to prison. We don't want to be killed. And Jesus says, it's not about you going to prison. It's not about you defending yourself. It's not about you having a sword to go against the whole Roman army.

Just think about that. Two, between 12 of them, 11 disciples plus Jesus, only two have swords. Now they're going to defend themselves with two swords against all those who've come against Jesus. He says, it's not about that.

It's about the fact that I've come to bear the sins of the world. And folks, it's the same thing today. Those churches that are so obsessed with having people strategically placed in the congregation with weapons so that they can defend the congregation have missed the point.

It's not about defending the congregation. It's not about defending the preacher or anyone else. It's about the fact that Jesus bore our sins on the cross of Calvary. It's about the gospel. That's the only thing that matters.

And he made intercession for the transgressors. Now we get back to the next verse in Luke, verse 38. And this one is difficult to understand if you don't understand the context. So they said, Lord, look, here are two swords.

And he said to them, it is enough. Now, if you're assuming that Jesus is sanctioning violence, then you assume then that he is saying two swords are enough. Now, as I just said to you a moment ago, is two swords enough?

Talking in the natural. No, not even remotely. They'd come with a multitude, a crowd, as we'll see in a few moments. And they're going to defend themselves against those who came against Jesus with sticks and with swords, with two swords.

Clearly, that's not what Jesus is saying. Jesus is not saying the two swords are enough. What Jesus is saying is enough already. Enough of this stupid talk. Enough of this nonsense. Because they were not getting the point.

The same way as many churches and Christians don't get the point today. It's not about us defending ourselves against an intruder. Enough of that talk. There are far greater issues at stake than whether we defend ourselves against an intruder.

The Holman's New Testament translates it this way. Lord, they said, look, here are two swords. Enough of that, he told them. Enough of that. So he's not saying two is enough and I'll make up the rest or whatever.

And to those who say that the church must arm itself, we have to say what Jesus said. Enough already. Enough of that. Enough of that foolish talk. Because this does not savor the kingdom of heaven. All right, now we get to Luke 22, 39.

Prayer in Gethsemane and the Struggle of Obedience

So coming out, he went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed. Remember that whole week, he would be preaching in the temple during the day, he would go to the Mount of Olives during the night, and he would spend the night in the Mount of Olives.

Now, some of the gospels speak about Gethsemane, and we've heard about Gethsemane. Gethsemane is a part of the Mount of Olives. It's a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives used to be planted with olive trees today.

It's mainly got buildings on it. Some of those olive trees were thousands of years old. And Gethsemane literally means the place of the crushing of the olives. So it was at the foot of the mountain. So you have Jerusalem and you have a little bit of a valley.

This is about 300 yards—I trust we know 300 yards, not very far—from the temple to Gethsemane. So it's not even to the end of the cul-de-sac. So you go down from the temple, there's a brook, and then on the other side is Gethsemane, and then the rest of the hill—it's really a hill more than a mountain—planted with olive trees.

And it was at Gethsemane that they would crush the olives to extract the oil. And so he went out to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed, and his disciples also followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation.

According to Luke, he says this twice. According to the other Gospels, he said this three times. Whatever it is, it's important that the secret to victory is in prayer. Now, folk, we want all sorts of plans and ideas how to deal with temptation.

There are thousands of books written on how to get victory over temptation. Jesus' formula is easy and simple, and yet it's hard to do. Pray that you may not enter into temptation. Prayer is the answer to temptation.

It's as simple as that. When you begin to think things you ought not to be thinking, turn to prayer. When you want to desire things you ought not to be desiring, get on your knees. Get praying. Pray that you will not enter into temptation.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and he knelt down and he prayed, saying, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless not my will, but yours be done. Now, I'm not going to speak on that verse.

We can speak on that for an hour. We dealt with this in great detail when we dealt with Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 7. So if you go back to the recordings or to the videos on YouTube on Hebrews chapter 5 verse 7, we spent a whole session dealing with what was happening here.

And that was a month and a half ago, so I don't want to go over that again. So, if it is your will, take this cup from me. Nevertheless not my will, but yours be done. Just let me sum that whole thing up.

The issue was his will as a man against the will of the Father. The issue that we struggle with at the end of the day is boiled down to exactly the same thing. It is my will versus the will of God. Whether this deals with sins of commission or sins of omission.

So when I should be doing something and I don't want to do it, it's what I want to do against the will of God. When I want to do something that I should not be doing, it's the same thing. My will against the will of God.

It all comes down to this one issue. Doesn't matter what the issue is. Doesn't matter what the sin is. Whether it's sexual or whether it's addiction or whether it's anger or it doesn't matter what it is.

It all comes down to what does God want me to do and what do I want to do? And Jesus says, I know what I want. I don't want to go to the cross. I don't want to drink the cup. Remember the cup is not just the physical suffering.

The cup is also the sin of the world that will be placed upon him. But he says, it's not what I want that matters. It's what you want. And folks, it all comes down to that. Every situation we face, every question we have comes down to my will, God's will.

Shall I go to church today or shall I stay home? My will, the will of God. Shall I do this? My will versus the will of God. It really becomes pretty simple, doesn't it? What does God want? What is his will?

Now the problem is that many times we don't know the will of God because we don't know the word of God. God's will for us is clearly defined. We've spoken about what is God's will for us in terms of defending ourselves against an intruder.

I believe it's a clear issue. Just think about Jesus. How did he act? How did the apostles act? What do they teach? They teach a gospel of non-resistance in the context of the preaching of the gospel.

I know what we want, but is that what God wants? And folks, that's where the struggle is. The problem is, as we've said before, is that it really is not much of a struggle for most of us because we just do what I want to do anyhow.

Sometimes we'll struggle for a little bit, but in the end, we give in anyhow. Now verse 43 is a difficult one because it's not explained elsewhere. Then an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him.

The Disciples' Failure and God's Faithfulness

I don't remember if we dealt with this when we spoke about Hebrews chapter 5, but I think it's important that we just understand this verse. Remember the role of the disciples. The disciples were there to help Jesus.

Remember that the other gospels tell us that he leaves the 11 somewhere or eight of them somewhere, and then he takes three of them with him. Why does he take the three with him as he goes to prayer? Because he needs their support.

He needs their encouragement. But what were they doing? They were sleeping. Let me just remind you that the issue for them was simply, do I sleep or do I pray? The will of God was for them to pray. Their will was to sleep, and they chose to sleep.

Now God's plan was for them to be there as a source of encouragement to Jesus, but they failed. I wonder how many times do we fail to fulfill our mission of being there as a source of encouragement and of strength to one another, but God will do his will.

This is the thing, is that Jesus needed to be strengthened. Again, just go back to the passage in Hebrews, because to explain the details would take us too long this morning. But Jesus needed to be strengthened.

If the disciples were not going to do it, he would find another way. God will do his will with or without us, with or without you personally, with or without this church. May God grant that we may find grace to be in his will, that we would be the tool that he uses, rather than having to set us aside because we're sleeping, and having to turn to some other resource to do his will.

And of course, because there was no one else, the father sends an angel. Now what did the angel do? I think we need to get a little practical here. The angel could not do anything for him but speak to him.

The angel couldn't give him a shot, an injection of courage, or of encouragement, or a pill. There's no such thing. All the angel could do was to be there with him and to speak to him. And what did the angel say?

Well, the Bible doesn't tell me, but I'm guessing, because Hebrews tells us, because of the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. What kept him going? The end result. So what does the angel say to him?

I have to assume the angel is saying to him, don't forget the end. Don't be so discouraged by what you're facing right now, because there is something beyond this, the glory and the bride. And how do we encourage one another?

By being there for one another to begin with. And sometimes there's no words, and of reminding one another of the big picture. And so the angel comes and strengthens him. Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly.

Obviously, when it says in agony, this is not physical, this is emotional torment. And his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And I believe that this is what Hebrews speaks about when he says, you have not yet resisted unto blood in striving against sin.

The struggle that Jesus was facing, and we're going to come back to that in Hebrews when we eventually get there. But the struggle that Jesus was facing was between his will and the will of the Father.

And the struggle becomes so intense that the blood vessels on his forehead burst and he sweats drops of blood. And then Hebrews says, you've not got to that point. Why? Because we give in long before we get there.

But here's the problem. There are very, very few Christians who struggle with the flesh, with sin, and with temptation, gets even near this point, because we just give in. It's the easiest way out. May God help us that we may be like the Lord Jesus, that we may wrestle with sin.

Resisting Sin Through Prayer

And let me challenge you this morning. Hebrews again, and I believe there are huge parallels between Hebrews in this passage, but Hebrews again speaks about the sin that so easily besets us, so easily ensnares us.

Why does it easily ensnare us? Because we don't resist it. Now it's easy for us to talk in generalities, but I want you to just look at one thing that you personally are struggling with. And if you say you're not struggling with anything, then you're lying.

It's as easy as that. Just take that one thing and determine to wrestle with it, to struggle with it, to struggle against it. You see, here's the problem. It's easy to buy a Glock and to go and shoot terrorists.

You say, yeah, we'll fight anyone who comes through the door. But here's where the real battle is. We can't even win this battle. Forget about fighting intruders. Deal with the intruder that's already got into your heart and mind, the habits, the addictions, the bad ways of thinking, the sin that so easily ensnares us.

Jesus resists and he overcomes, and he's calling us to be overcomers. How do we do this? In prayer. He rose up from prayer. Where did Jesus do it? In prayer. And he came to his disciples, he found them sleeping from sorrow.

I think it speaks for itself. And then he said to them, why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. Second time he speaks to them, once it says of Jesus that he won this battle in prayer.

And folks, the issue is simply, we don't overcome because we don't pray. It's as simple as that. May God give us grace that we may be those who, like Jesus, resist and that who overcome the temptation.

And while I've said that one thing you need to think about, maybe it's not a thing of commission. Maybe it's not something that you should not be doing, that you want to do, but maybe it's something you should be doing and you're not doing.