Stand Strong for Jesus

Well, on this graduation Sunday, I want to speak on standing strong for Jesus.

This message is of course for our graduates, but it is a message for you and for me. We're going to look at one of the outstanding leaders of the New Testament, a great man, a man who spent three of his years following Jesus. He's a courageous leader, destined to be one of the leaders of the apostles, one of the great men of Scripture.

His name is Peter, Simon Peter. He's a rock. He's a man of God. And yet, as we're going to read, he fell. That is, he fell spiritually. Not only did he deny the Lord, he did so three times. And towards the end, to emphasize his denial, he used some oaths and curses.

Yes, that's Peter. Have you ever failed spiritually? Have you ever really messed up? Any of the graduates ever messed up? Any cheating in an exam to get through? Immorality?

Secret alcohol or drug or pornography problem? Anyone here ever defrauded someone? Anyone here who's hurt someone very badly in a relationship? Anyone here who's lied, who's slandered someone? Anyone here who's denied the Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps not just in your lips, but by your very actions? As people looked on you, they would say, well, this individual cannot possibly be a follower of Jesus Christ, even though you say you are, your actions deny it.

Anyone like that here today? Anyone carrying a burden of some secret sin? Well, today we're going to consider the failure of this man, this man called Peter. And we're going to learn from his failure how we are to stand strong for Jesus. It's very interesting in our society how people stand strong for things that are very wrong. This is the Gay Pride Month, June, and people are very strong in their beliefs.

They want everyone to know their sexual preference. They are standing strong for them. People stand strong for a political ideology. People stand strong for all kinds of things, but isn't it the case that we as Christians, instead of standing strong, are rather weak? We're weak spiritually. We're not talking about people being ignorant or harsh or being disrespectful to those who embrace a different belief from ourselves, but how we need in a very, very strange world, isn't it? It seems our world is falling apart. It seems we don't know what we're doing.

This is true here. In a few hours, Lord willing, I'll be in Scotland, and that has been described sadly as the most secular country in Europe. Our world is changing, changing dramatically, and yet the Word of God doesn't change. Our Lord Jesus Christ doesn't change.

And so I say to our graduates, these young men and women standing there looking very impressive in their multicolors stand strong for Jesus. Let's read it about Peter's failure. Matthew chapter 26, and we're going to read from verse 69. We're continuing in our study of Matthew. I'll be out of the pulpit for a couple of weeks, and Lord willing, when I return, we'll pick up in chapter 27. But we're reading the last verses of Matthew 26, verse 69. Now, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. Last week, we saw our Lord Jesus Christ on His trial before the Sanhedrin. Peter is outside at the servant girl.

Think of that, a servant girl. Came up to him and said, you also were with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied it before them all, saying, I do not know what you mean. When he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, this man was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again, he denied it with an oath.

I do not know the man. After a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you. Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know the man. And immediately, the rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly, standing strong for Jesus. Peter failed, as we've just read. I have a number of principles, I think, five of them, very quickly, which will help all of us to stand strong for Jesus. How are these graduates going to stand strong as they go to Wilmington, Georgia, Michigan?

No European education, apparently. They'll come later and you'll complete it. But there you are. Are you going to stand strong for Jesus wherever you are? First of all, understand you.

I'm speaking to graduates, I'm speaking to parents, I'm speaking to all of us. Understand you can fall into serious sin. Peter was the man who confessed Jesus as the Christ, and he failed, as we read, and he failed very, very badly. Peter was the leader of the apostles. And you remember that time we thought of it in Matthew chapter 16, where the question is asked, who is Jesus?

And it is Peter. Yes, with divine revelation makes that magnificent, powerful statement, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. What an amazing declaration. How that must have warmed the heart of Jesus to hear his followers say, we know who you are. You're the Messiah. You're the Christ. You're the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, blessed are you, Simon Barjona.

Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. No, this is the divine revelation, and it came to Peter as the spokesman of the apostles. And so, you can imagine Peter among the 12. You can imagine Peter felt a little spiritually superior to the other disciples.

Do you think so? We know that he did. Verse 33 of chapter 26, when the Lord says about the sheep scattering, Peter says, though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Peter and John and James, they may fall away. Others will fall away, but not me. I'm Peter. I'm the rock. I'm the one who received this divine revelation.

I'm better than others. Pride, spiritual superiority, self-reliance are deadly, aren't they? That's his confession.

I will never fall away. But now, a short time later, while the Lord is being questioned by the high priest, Peter is being questioned by a servant girl. Not one of the Sanhedrin, not one of the top officials as it were, just a servant girl, a waitress as it were. Under questioning by the Sanhedrin, Jesus stands firm. Peter falters. As we read, he denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times.

A deliberate and a repeated denial. Did you see it in verse 70? He says, I do not know what you mean.

I don't know what you're talking about. I was never with Jesus the Galilean. And then in verse 72, I do not know the man. Verse 74, I do not know the man.

I do not. You're referring to Jesus as the man. You're the one who knows he's a Christ. He's the son of the living God.

And you're saying, well, I don't know the man. He's fallen and fallen very, very badly, hasn't he? He's not the only one in Scripture who falls into sin, is he? If you know your Bible. Abraham lied.

Noah got drunk. Jacob was a deliberate schemer. Moses killed a man. David was an adulterer.

Jonah the prophet disobeyed the Lord and ran away from the Lord, yes, and you too. However smug you sit here in your spiritual superiority, you too, whoever you are, however much you know the Bible, however much you're involved in ministry, you too can fall into serious sin. Our culture says you are a good person. We're good, aren't we? Of course we are.

We're good people. The Bible says you have a deceitful heart, and you're desperately wicked. Remember that. Remember that in certain circumstances, every one of us may make foolish, impulsive, and sinful choices. Don't think that you can never fall into serious sin. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 12, he says, let him who thinks he stands take care lest he fall. Good message to you, Peter. You think you're different. You think you'll never fall.

Take care. No, we have a formidable and a very devious enemy who wants to defeat and to devour us. The very last thing that the devil wants is for our graduates to go throughout the United States, wherever God has them, and be strong for Jesus, and He's going to do everything He can to tempt you and to fall into serious sin. Robert Murray McShane, one of my heroes of the faith, says, the seeds of every sin lie in my heart.

Do you get that? The seeds of every sin lie in your heart. Don't say you will not do this.

What's going on in your life? Are you getting close to the edge of the sin? Understand that you can fall into serious sin. Stand strong for Jesus. Number two, guard your strengths as well as your weaknesses. The reality is you may fall spiritually in the area of your strength.

An unguarded strength may be your greatest weakness. Abraham, an outstanding man of faith, doubts God and lies. Moses, the meekest man in all of the world, we're told, kills a man and strikes the rock in anger. Elijah, what a bold, courageous man before Ahab and before the prophets of Baal. He stands strong, bold, courageous, and then this bold man runs before an evil woman, Jezebel. David, the greatest of the kings.

David, the man after God's own heart, loses his heart to a beautiful married woman. Peter, the courageous, bold leader, the one who steps out of the boat and walks on water. He's strong. He's a real man's man. He's a rock, solid. Yet, as we read, he acts in a very cowardly way, doesn't he?

A real wimp, wasn't he? Come on, Peter. Your Lord is on trial, and you three times deny the Lord. In Acts chapter 20, Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders and he says to them, be on guard for yourselves. Yes, be on guard for the flock, but be on guard first of all for yourself. Guard your strengths as well as your weaknesses.

Guard your attitude. Guard your thoughts. What are you thinking about? When you're not actively thinking of anything, what comes to mind? What are you thinking?

Where are you in your mind? Guard that. Guard your integrity. Guard that.

Satan often attacks us on the blind side, doesn't he? Oswald Chambers says, an unguarded strength is a double weakness. I wonder if I ask some of you at random to come up and say, now, what's your greatest strength? Someone will say, oh, I've got a very strong marriage. Someone might say, I'm a woman of integrity.

Someone might say, I'm very honest. One of you might say, well, I'm a very generous person. All of us have strengths, don't we? God gives us them. God gives us gifts. How wonderful to be used for the glory of God.

But Satan often, as he does with Peter, attacks us on the area, not of our weakness, but the area of our strength. I remember I was friendly with a man who's a CPA. Terms of finance is absolutely incredible. One of these mathematical minds, financial advice, all of that, absolutely brilliant, in the financial field. That was one of his strengths. He knew about money. He knew about investments. God had gifted him in that kind of mind to look at things, and yet he failed. He was taken in by a scam, a business scam.

What happened? Oh, he got a bit greedy. And instead of doing due diligence in the finances, as he would have advised for others, so he felt, I'm strong.

I can quickly look at a balance sheet. And through his greed, he became very greedy. That's true, isn't it, of life? Guard your strengths as well as your weaknesses. Here's number three. Number one, understand you can fall into serious sin.

Number two, guard your strengths as well as your weakness. Number three, very importantly, pursue truth and prayer. Peter heard the truth. He was warned by Jesus in verses 31 through 35. Jesus says to him, this very night before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times. He hears the truth from Jesus. He knows Jesus is a man of truth. He disregarded it.

He must have dismissed it in a very cavalier way. Oh, Lord, others will fail you, not me. See, disregard for truth and disregard for prayer leads to failure. Peter ignored the true warning of Jesus and now he's listening to others.

Can I say the obvious? But I need to say, never, ever, ever neglect your study of this book. Graduates, some of you like to study, some of you don't. But whatever you're studying, make sure this is the priority, that you have a Bible. It's amazing nowadays that people don't have Bibles. If you don't get to have a Bible, get a Bible and read it and read it. This is to be our daily practice. Psalm 119 verse 9, how can a young man cleanse his way?

How can these students live a clean life in very dirty, very sleazy colleges? With all of the temptation of the internet and all of the sleaze and all of the pleasure, how is it possible for a young man and a young woman to live a clean life for God? Answer, Psalm 119 verse 9, by taking heed thereto according to your word.

You can do it. God's given you it. This cleanses you. Even when you're not understanding it all, it has a cleansing effect in you. Two verses down, Psalm 119 verse 11, your word, have I treasured, have I hidden my heart that I might not sin against you? Do you ever think of the Word of God as a treasure? Do you ever think of the Word of God as precious?

This is a precious thing. If you've got something as precious as a gift, a piece of jewelry, whatever it is, something that you treasure, you protect it don't you? Here is the Word of God, treasured in our heart. Nothing is a surer defense against the attacks of the devil than the Word of God. It is the sword of the Spirit. It's not our sword, it's the sword of the Spirit.

And when our Lord Jesus is tempted, what does He do? It is written. Enemy, Satan, it is written. It is written. Our Lord Jesus knew His Bible. He had memorized it.

He loved it. And when the enemy attacks, He brings out the sword of the Spirit. Do that.

Do that. You will defeat the enemy every time. Spiritual failure rarely happens all at once. Usually, there is a downward drift. You're driving your car, a warning light goes on or a sign goes on nowadays. It used to be the little red light. You need more oil. There's something wrong with your engine. And if you ignore the warning, you may seize the engine. A greater problem can develop in the car. You've ignored the warning.

You've been foolish and you've kept on driving. Spiritually speaking, the warning light comes on. We have a conscience. You feel that's — I'm not comfortable with that. I shouldn't be doing it. Don't ignore that.

That's the conscience. Don't ignore those who come and warn you. You say, well, they're kill jaws.

They're not really taking life by the tail. When a godly parent, a pastor, a friend, someone that you respect, someone who's walking with God, when they speak with you and give you a warning, please listen. Please don't disregard everything your parents say. I know all of you think they're old-fashioned and how bad it is that your parents don't understand you as well as they should. Some of you think that. Others of you think your parents are absolutely wonderful. Most of you are a bit in between. Listen to them.

Just because you're off to some university pursuing life is very, very exciting. I know that. But don't cut the tie with your parents. Listen to them. Listen to friends. Listen to warnings.

See, if not, I would ask you, who are you listening to? We have today what's called social influencers. I think I'd love to be one. They don't seem to do much, but pictures of themselves, and they make a lot of money.

So, if someone can tell me how to do this, please tell me. I'm not very good at dance, that's true. But they're social influencers. They're influencing people, what they wear. They're the cool people. They tell you what to wear. They tell you where to go. They tell you what movie to watch.

They're the cool crowd. Is that really who's influencing you? Some ungodly woman, some ungodly man? And this is influencing you who are following Jesus Christ? You want to listen to a skeptical professor who's going to destroy your faith? Someone who's 50 with his PhD who's been teaching students and who thinks it's very, very funny to attack those who believe the Bible? Is that who you're going to listen to?

Isn't this person the one you're going to base your life? Proverbs 23 verse 23, buy the truth and do not sell it. Pursue the truth. What is the truth? Buy the truth.

We know that this is the truth. It's the Word of God. And don't ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

And, it's a challenge for you. We've been reminded pray without ceasing. Talk to Him. Never, ever stop talking to our great God. Never neglect prayer. Look back at chapter 26 verse 40. The Lord's in the garden. Peter is there. We would think, what a privilege to listen to the Lord in prayer.

You've been asked to be with Him. He came to the disciples, verse 40, found them sleeping. And He said to Peter, so could you not watch with me one hour? Watch therefore and pray that you may not enter into temptation. What's part of the Lord's prayer? Deliver us from temptation. Lead us not into temptation.

Do you ever pray that? Lord, temptation is going to come. Help me. You know my heart.

You know I'm prone to do such and such. Give me strength. Give me wisdom. Peter then is spiritually weak. Instead of praying with Jesus and being spiritually strengthened, those that wait on the Lord shall be renewed in strength. Don't you need spiritual strength?

Don't you need renewal? Don't you need wisdom? Don't you need God's help? You really think you can live your life by yourself? Do you really think that you by yourself can defeat the enemy?

Absolutely not. The word of God, the sword of the Spirit, and prayer. Pursue truth, the word of God. Pursue prayer every day. Get on your knees and pray and ask God for help.

A wonderful thing happens. You see, victory over one sin gives you more strength for the next one, doesn't it? Pursue truth and prayer. Number four, keep close to the Savior.

Keep close to the Savior. Peter was not following Jesus closely. For three years, he had followed the Savior.

What a privilege. He'd ate with Him. He'd sat with Him. He touched Him. He'd been blessed by Him.

He'd seen Him perform the miracles. He was close to the Savior, but Mark tells us He's now warming His hands at the fire of those who are opposing Jesus. Look back at verse 58, chapter 26, verse 58. The Lord Jesus is before the Sanhedrin. He sees by them, verse 58, and Peter was following Him at a distance.

Ah, that's the problem, Peter. You want to follow Jesus at a distance? You want to get away from Him? You follow Him at a distance, and then you get further away, and here's a crowd of unbelievers. They've got a nice fire, and you're just going to blend in with them. It's really easy, isn't it?

What's your problem? You have not been close to the Savior. Furthermore, He's away from home. Peter is a Galilean. Did you notice what she says, the servant girl? In verse 69, you also were with Jesus the Galilean.

Peter says no. Another one comes and says, verse 73, certainly you two are one of them, for your accent betrays you. He's from Galilee.

He's now in a big city, Jerusalem. He's a fisherman. He talks like a fisherman.

His accent betrays him. In a short time, my grandson Ian and I are going to be in Scotland, and a wonderful thing happens when I'm in Scotland. Nobody says, now where are you from?

I officiated a wedding here yesterday, and I was just leaving. A man came to me and says, now where are you from? I said, I'm from Charlotte.

No, no. Where are you really from? And I've tried to speak southern, and my wife tells me I sound really bad, y'all.

And I try, and I try, and I just can't get it. My speech betrays me, and so my wonderful 11-year-old grandson who's coming with me, Ian, he's lived all of his life in South Carolina, and I tried to teach him a little Scottish, and he's very slow, and so people are going to say, where are you from, Ian? Accent betrays us.

We can't get away from it. Many of you are like me. You've learned English somewhere else, and you come here, and when we speak, I don't know how many times a week, people ask me now, where are you really from?

Often they say Ireland, which is very disappointing. So here's Peter. He's a bit out of his depth. He's lived his life by the Sea of Galilee. He's not a sophisticated person from Jerusalem, and he speaks a certain way, and they think, no, you don't really fit in here.

Oh, yes I do. He wants to be a chameleon. He wants to blend into the company of those around him. Is that temptation for us?

It is, isn't it? Students, you want to blend in. You don't want someone to think you're weird because you follow Jesus, do you?

It's just quite easy not to say anything, just to blend in. What's his problem? He had dismissed the warning of Jesus. He had not prayed with Jesus in the garden, and he's not following Jesus closely. No wonder now he's denying the Lord, following at a distance. Our mission at Calvary is being and making authentic followers of Jesus Christ. Are you one of these that follows you? Say, oh yes, yes, I'm a Christian. I'm a follower of Jesus. But you're following at a distance. See, the path to failure imperceptibly begins when our personal walk and our communion with Jesus are neglected.

You know that. We get into trouble when our priorities and our desires are not foremost for the Lord. One of our other themes this year is seek first the kingdom of God.

Zebu, two weeks from now, Lord willing, is going to speak on that. Seek first the kingdom of God. Ah, but we're not really seeking it first. I would say yes, we are following Jesus, yes. We are part of the kingdom of God, but we are following at a distance.

You know that. Who are your friends with? Do you have friends who are helping you grow spiritually? Or you got friends that you're with, and now you're compromising your biblical convictions? Do your fellow students, are they going to know you're a follower of Jesus?

You can just blend in. Parents, do people know that you're a follower of Jesus? Not just that you come to church, but they know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the central person of life. Too many of us are following Jesus at a distance. Oh yes, we read our Bible, but only occasionally. We attend church, but let's face it, only when there's nothing else to do. More exciting.

Trip to the beach, trip up to the mountains, some game, friends come, and other priorities. You're following Jesus, but it's really out of convenience, isn't it? And your witness for Jesus is muted.

And if you're not careful, your personal integrity is being compromised. Following Jesus at a distance. Yes, you may even be involved in serving Jesus.

You say, hey, wait a minute, John, I was one of these students up here singing or playing the guitar. I acted as a greeter today. I'm going to be serving in the nursery.

Yesterday, I was involved in feeding the homeless. Wonderful to do that, but here's my question. Following Jesus without a close relationship with Jesus means you're heading for disaster. Wonderful to serve the Lord, absolutely. All of us should be involved in serving the Lord, serving others.

What it means to be a Christian is to love others and serve others, but if that is not accompanied with a close relationship with Jesus Christ, you're heading for disaster. Just like the man who's married, he provides for his wife. He provides for his children. He doesn't beat them.

He takes care of them financially, but there's no close relationship with them, and his wife wonders, does he really love me? And his children are saying, where is dad? Following Jesus at a distance. And I also say, keep very close to the Savior when you go out of town. I say that to the students, as many of them are moving away to home.

I say that to all of you. Some of you travel. You're out of town for your business and other reasons. See, Peter was, in a sense, alone. The other disciples weren't there. Jesus wasn't there. He's away from home. He's a Galilean, and he's in the big city, and he's very vulnerable. See, when you're out of town, when you're at college, when you're on vacation, when you're away on business, you are more vulnerable to temptation.

Isn't that true? Away from home, you are more likely to fall into sin and to yield to temptation, to strike up an inappropriate friendship, to spend too much time at the bar, in your hotel room or college room to watch pornography, to compromise your standards. No one's there.

No one sees you. Be warned, particularly when you're away from home. Innocent first choices can be disastrous. Students, you're away. You're going to go into a new environment, college, meet new friends, professors. It's wonderful. It's very exciting. I've been through this.

Absolutely great. We wish you the best, but be very, very careful about your first choices. See, the wise person has safeguards when he or she is out of town. College students, you move away from home. Make sure you get a good church home. Make sure you're part of a campus ministry. Make sure you have some strong Christian friends at the campus. I'm not saying you don't witness unbelievers. Of course, you're going to, but you need people around you to hold you accountable, who know you, who you are, so that you're growing in the Lord.

If you are not, you will not stand for Jesus. I'm going to say to those of you who are married, when you're away from home, make sure you call home every day. I'm going to call my wife every day when I'm in Scotland. Of course, I've got Ian checking up on me, so I've got to behave.

You know what it is, men, women, away from home. Call your spouse. Speak to your children. Above all, keep close to the Savior. Stand strong for Jesus. Finally, you say, well, Peter was a bit of a rogue. He fell, but God forgives and restores. Isn't this wonderful? How wonderful that we've got a God who forgives and restores.

You say, how does that come about? Confession of sin is essential. When the rooster crowed, what did Peter do? Verse 75, he remembered the saying of Jesus. You remember the word of God. His world collapses.

He has denied his Lord three times. What are you going to do when you fall spiritually? Admit your sin. Admit your wrongdoing. Stop pointing a finger at others. We know there are maybe mitigating circumstances. We know that other people may be partially to blame. We know all of that, but you admit your sin.

Just say, I'm wrong. I sinned. I did not stand strong for Jesus.

See, God wants a broken and a contrite spirit. Confess your sin. See, your sin has offended God. Yes, as you sin, it can have serious consequences on yourself. It can have disastrous consequences on those around you, but most of all, sin is against God.

That's one thing. The prodigal, when he returned, as Jesus tells the story in Luke chapter 15, when the prodigal realized that he had sinned, he says, Father, I have sinned against, remember, heaven and in your sight. Yes, he had sinned against his Father, but most of all, he had sinned against God.

That's good. Here is a young man who truly is acknowledging his sin, who is not blaming his Father, who is not blaming his elder brother, who is not blaming his mother, who doesn't appear in the story. No, I have sinned against heaven and also against my dad. See, repentance is not mere remorse. It's not merely being sorry.

It's not merely regretting that you've been found out or overcome by self-pity or embarrassment. No, that is not true biblical repentance. Biblical repentance is brokenness and contrition before a holy God.

It is hating the sin and turning from it. Luke says something beautiful, Luke 22 verse 61 about the story. It says that when the cock crowed, Jesus turned and looked at Peter. I don't know how close they were, but the Lord looked at Peter. Peter sees the Lord, he remembers what the Lord said, and he goes out and weeps bitterly.

And we know in the Gospel story that Peter, this man is restored, he's recommissioned by Jesus, and he's going to be greatly used in the furtherance of the Gospel. The devil wants to paralyze us because of past sin. Today, Jesus is looking at you. He sees your failure. He sees your sin.

What's your response? Praise God, there is always forgiveness for those who repent of their sin. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. King David who fell into serious sin says in Psalm 23 verse 3, He restores my soul.

Peter knew what he was talking about. Peter had gone through spiritual restoration, broken and a contrite heart before God, and he had experienced the mercy and the forgiveness of God. See, our great God loves to restore sinners. Through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is grace for the sinner. There is grace for those who have strayed like Peter and have committed sin. Restoration is one of the specialities of our Heavenly Father. I have a Heavenly Father who loves to restore. See, God never minimizes the sin.

Of course not. He sends His Son into the world to be the sin bearer. The devil will tell you, you have blown it so badly, God will never use you again. The Scripture says that God is a pardoning God, and God's grace and God's forgiveness are not giving grudgingly, but they're giving willingly and freely. God extends His grace to the weak, to the broken, to the hurting, to the contrite spirit, and pours His infinite matchless grace on them so that Paul can say, where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. There is always more sin in our Savior. There is always more forgiveness in our Savior than there is sin in you. That however much the sin, God's grace is greater. God's grace will never ever run out. There's always more grace in the Lord Jesus than there is sin in you.

How wonderful. And through the death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is forgiveness, there is restoration, there is a recommissioning, but it is essential that we are truly repentant, that we turn from our sin and once again embrace our Savior who is there to welcome us, to embrace us, to restore that wonderful fellowship and communion we have with a God who is our friend and who calls us to walk with Him in life. I say to all of our graduates, I say to all of us, stand strong for Jesus.

Are you going to do that? Jesus stood strong for you. He endured the cross.

He despised the shame. He fully accomplished God's plan of salvation. And when you're doing God's will, you can stand strong without fear. The whole world might be against you, but when you're doing God's will, when you're in the center of God's will, you can stand strong for Jesus. And when you're following Jesus, He will direct your steps. When you're following Jesus, His Spirit will direct you. When you're following Jesus, He will give you each day the wisdom that you need. So be steadfast, be immovable, stand strong for Jesus. That's our prayer for our graduates. That's for all of us. Well, we pray and ask God to strengthen us. Some of you have got to confess that sin that's come into your life.

Will you do that? Some of you have never yet come to the Savior for salvation. Will you bow and receive Christ? Let's pray together. Eternal God, we thank You that You're God of restoration, a God of forgiveness, a wonderful — that Your love extends to us in our brokenness and our sin. We know this is why You sent Your Son into this world, to be the Savior of sinners, to rescue us, to restore us, to redeem us.

We thank You that You've made us in the very image of Yourself, and yet because of sin, that image is marred and scarred. We thank You as we keep close to the Savior, we become more and more like Him. That is our prayer. Again, I pray for our graduates that they will stand strong for Jesus. I pray that for each one of us, and for those here who don't know the Savior, open their eyes. Father, dispel the darkness. Help them to see our magnificent Savior, who is the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. And we thank You that this God, who restores us, makes a difference in our life as we seek to follow You and love You with all of our hearts. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.