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- [00:00]
Host/Moderator
Is all anxiety sinful? How can a church best encourage their pastor? What encouragement do you have for men and women with a desire for marriage but unable to find a godly spouse? How can we rightfully long for our eternal home and still maintain a proper attitude toward this life?
- [00:27]
Narrator/Announcer
You know, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the questions that we face in life. As Christians, we have a wonderful resource, though, to answer those questions. Holy Scripture hello and welcome to Renewing youg Mind. Today we join Drs. Sinclair Ferguson Double D, Robert Godfrey, Derek Thomas, and Reverend Joel Kim in a question and answer session from our 2026 Ligonier National Conference. These moments are always a highlight at our conferences, and we're pleased to be able to share this one with you today. Before we dive in, though, if you stick around to the end of today's episode, you'll have the opportunity to learn how to receive a hardcover copy of Dr. R.C. sproul's book, Heroes of the Christian Faith. But right now, let's hear from our speakers.
- [01:15]
Host/Moderator
First one is looking at the matter of trust and anxiety. Is all anxiety sinful?
- [01:27]
Dr. Derek Thomas
I'm anxious right now. I think you have to let me tease this out a little. I mean, there's a sense in which, when you're concentrating on something that you. What's the line from Shakespeare? Give me the line from Shakespeare.
- [01:51]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
Which play is it? Derek
- [01:55]
Dr. Derek Thomas
at the Battle of Agincourt with Henry V. To sinew up the nerves or something. I mean, you have to concentrate. You have to focus. You know, there are lots of things that can go wrong here and so on. Is that anxiety or is that just preparation?
- [02:17]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Being alive.
- [02:19]
Dr. Derek Thomas
Being alive, yeah.
- [02:20]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Is it just being alive? You know what they did after Ajinkur? They went and sang a psalm, the Nobis. That's the best solution to anxiety, is to sing probably in Latin. He said, we'll go sing the non nobis. So Psalm 115 for you Psalm challenged people? Yeah. It depends a little bit about exactly how you're defining anxiety. I mean, that's not a word that's perfectly clear in its meaning. I think if it's worry, if it's unbelieving worry, if it's worry depending on me rather than on God. Yeah. Then that is sinful, it seems to me. Do you find that when you say something is sinful, a lot of people are shocked. I sort of assume we're sinful a lot of the time. So I don't mean for people to be.
- [03:21]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
I assume you are sinful all of the time. We are obviously Getting too old to be anxious about your questions.
- [03:32]
Rev. Joel Kim
Chris, I'm not sure what I'm doing here, to be honest. I'm just going to let
- [03:40]
Dr. Derek Thomas
you.
- [03:41]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
I think you're here to speak some sense into this.
- [03:44]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
I think it's more helpful instead of trying to answer subtle theological questions. Is it sinful to be anxious? Just to remember the Scripture encourages us not to be anxious. It therefore assumes, I think, that we will be frequently anxious, and it provides us with medicine for our anxiety. And so it's more important to get the medicine, since we are simple sinful patients, than to split hairs over whether we're talking about psychiatric anxiety or ordinary anxiety or just tensing up because we've got something to do.
- [04:27]
Rev. Joel Kim
I do wonder, and this is a question that Bob was also approaching, because I do appreciate what Sinclair just said. When we talk about the Psalms in particular, it talks about various emotions that are involved. And I'm trying to imagine the nature of the question or at least the prompting of the questioner here. My guess is, like many of us, we have questions, worries, concerns that arise every day that indicates to us not only we are on this side of glory, where things are not the way they're supposed to be. So certainly these are not ruled perfectly by God, and certainly we are limited in terms of who we are. There's only so much wisdom, power, resources, and in particular, you know, understanding of what's going on for us to do these things. So I think all of us, especially for parents like us, Sharon and myself, we have our second of two children going up to college years coming up this fall. There are lots of things we're trying to figure out. How do we finance these things? Is he going to be alone on his own? How are they going to do these things? And I do think many of us struggle with questions that are very much present in this life, on this side of glory. And my guess that the question points to are all those things therefore sinful, that we cannot have questions, doubts, and those things, whether that can be categorized as anxiety or not, I'm not sure to your point that what's the definition of anxiety here? And part of the reason for bringing back the Psalms here, the psalmist doesn't shy away from sharing these emotions, talking about some of the struggles and the questions that he has or they have. And in that, I think perhaps where we might want to land is as we are understanding that the Lord is in charge. You don't know, I don't know, but he knows. And therefore, as believers, that's good enough in terms of our trust in His Providence and guidance and goodness. Yet at the same time we recognize our finitude and the questions that arise. I think it's the response to them that's the bigger issue here and not the fact that many of us have these questions and struggles and emotions in our fallenness we face and experience on a regular basis. That may not answer everything there, but I do wonder if there are some background there in terms of how they're defining what that anxiety is.
- [07:01]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
You know, Chris, I think it's really helpful to look at Christ's experience. What did he go through in the run up to Calvary that made him sweat the way he did? He was looking to something that he had no measure by which to contemplate what he was going to experience. I do not know Calvin's commentaries off by heart, but Calvin is brilliant on the emotional life of Christ and fascinatingly takes us right to the edge when he speaks about his fear of death. I can't remember whether he uses the term anxiety, but I think if we keep our eyes fixed on him, we will not make the mistake of thinking that because we react to certain situations in certain ways, we are necessarily sinning because we are reacting that way. Because here's the perfect man appropriately responding to situations that if they didn't cause something like some definition of anxiety, there would be something twisted in his humanity.
- [08:21]
Host/Moderator
How do I distinguish between when I am to wait on the Lord and trust him for a solution, or when I am to act and do something about the problem?
- [08:33]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
Well, you could make a good start by listening to David Strain's message the other day and some of the sub points that he made about how any believer should make any decision. And that involves the task of bringing to bear on the providences of God as much of the wisdom of the Word of God as you can access. And I think sometimes that means, I think David said this, you know, we need one another to help us to make these decisions. Another principle which happens to come from Calvin is we always need to be careful that we do not lose what we seek to gain by the manner in which we seek to gain it, and that biblical principles need developed wisdom to be able to apply them well and fruitfully. There is safety in counselors. I don't think that means there is safety for you in counselors when you have messed up. I think that means there is safety for you and counselors in case you mess up. And my own general counsel for what it is is don't have too many of them have trusted counselors and friends like us. I don't mean us, but like we. We get help from each other in that way.
- [09:57]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Well, I was just thinking of Psalm 130, where there's the appeal to wait on the Lord, and waiting on the Lord comes out of a time of darkness, where clearly the psalmist is not quite sure what to do, and he's looking to the Lord and looking to the Lord's Word. So I think waiting is something we pursue in times of uncertainty. So just plunging into acting would be unwise. Trusting in the Lord, looking to his Word. And I would reiterate, listen to the Reverend Strain's sermon.
- [10:32]
Dr. Derek Thomas
It.
- [10:32]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
It's wonderfully balanced in terms of what it means to look to the Word and when is the time to act. I think it's very helpful.
- [10:44]
Host/Moderator
Two questions about pastoral ministry. Besides prayer, what is a way to know if I am being called into pastoral ministry?
- [10:55]
Dr. Derek Thomas
Well, there are two things. There's an inward call and an outward call. Now, in Reformed circles, you know, there are polar opposites, and you have spurgeon that if you have any gifts whatsoever, you have to have this external call. And then was it Clowney in his little book on preaching? And if you have any gifts at all, you know, you should pursue the ministry. But I think it probably lies somewhere in the center, as most of these things do. I couldn't do ministry for 50 years if I didn't have an inward sense of a desire to do it, because there are days when it's awful, there are days when it's messy, There are days when it's disappointing and frustrating. But if you don't have that inward sense, yeah, this is what I want to do. This is the only thing I can do. But when you're young especially, you should seek counselors, and not too many of them, and those who trust you. And in my case, Jeff Thomas, I was a college student, and he came to my dorm one day and said, derek, I'm supposed to be preaching in this little country church on Sunday afternoon, and there won't be a whole lot there. Actually, there were three people there, and I can't do it, but I want you to do it. You know, this was like Thursday. So I've got two days to prepare my first sermon, and I went out there. Rosemary came with me, and there were three there, plus Rosemary, and one was the organist sat behind me. So there were only two people there. And I gave them the whole thing. I didn't spare them anything. I just. I preached the whole sermon. And on the way back, Rosemary kind of made a sort of criticism. And I pulled the car over and I said, rosemary, if this relationship is going anywhere, you may not criticize my sermon until Tuesday. If it's a bad sermon, I know it's a bad sermon, and I'm still sore about it on Monday. But Tuesday you can. You can make your point. So I had folks like Jeff Thomas in my life 50 years ago saying, you should go into the ministry. And I liked ministry. I liked the idea of ministering to people and preparing sermons. And in the idealistic way that you think about ministry when you're 18 or 19, you know, you're in your office reading books all day long, and I thought, oh, that'd be nice. I like that. But you definitely need an inward call to sustain you through rough times. But you also need an external call that's corroborated by friends that you can trust.
- [14:28]
Rev. Joel Kim
My mom always said, wait until Wednesday because it takes two more days to recover from a bad surmise.
- [14:34]
Dr. Derek Thomas
That's a Korean thing.
- [14:35]
Rev. Joel Kim
Yeah, that's a Korean thing for sure.
- [14:36]
Host/Moderator
But
- [14:39]
Rev. Joel Kim
I want to pause here to re Emphasize what Derek said even further, just because it's such an important question. We don't have enough workers. I think everyone knows this, and we have folks who are now at that stage where they're slowing down in terms of ministry. And on the other side of the pipeline, we don't have that many young people or as many as we would like coming through to become pastors and ministers and church workers in a variety of ways. So this is a very important leadership question for the church that I think many of us are struggling with. And so one of the things that I think Derek's highlighting is in many cases, as we even talk about internal conviction and external call, often someone is encouraged when they go into ministry. There's always someone who encourages them to go into ministry. We often approach young people and have no problems in saying, you should be a physician, you should be a plumber, you should be a teacher, you should be a doctor. But often most people don't say, have you thought about being a missionary? Have you thought about being a pastor? And I do wonder if many parents here and leaders in the local churches should be looking for those young folks who have these gifts and heart for ministry and encouraging them in that direction to simply say, have you thought about this? That the Lord has placed this burden, at least in my life. What was fun thinking about as a young person, as I indicated, I grew up in a pastor's family. And I think early on, everyone saw me as a potential pastor in the sense that even my brother, who's seven years younger, one time had to draw a picture of the family. And so in front of my dad was a pulpit. And then there's a descending order of height. And in front of his brother, seven years older, number two. Among the children, there was another, smaller pulpit. And I was maybe in high school, at least in his young mind, Joel's gonna be a pastor. My parents actually never did push me in that direction. They prayed for it. I'm pretty certain of it. But the thought went through my mind at some point in my life where I said, I love teaching. That's, I think, what I would love to do. I love the Bible, and somebody is willing to support me to teach the Bible is what dawned on me. And that was a great thing. It's one of those light bulbs that went off. My dad got to do it. And so here I sat them down one time. I took them out to a very expensive Vietnamese pho restaurant, noodle restaurant, as a young man. And I asked them only one question. I said, would you do it again?
- [17:20]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
If.
- [17:21]
Rev. Joel Kim
If you were back in time, would you do it again? Because I've seen the ups and downs of ministry, and I remember my parents saying without hesitation, we would do it again. The Lord's been very good to us. And I hope that the young people who are here who are thinking about, where is the Lord calling me in terms of where he would like me to serve his chur and his kingdom. I do hope sincerely and prayerfully that you will think about the joys involved in ministry. Pain, certainly, but the joys of being able to teach the Bible, be with people both young and old, to share the gospel in their lives, and applying that to them. You have the privilege of entering into the living room of people simply because they trust you as a pastor and they want to hear what your wisdom is. And though weak, I think it's a wonderful calling. And I do hope that, that people do think and pray about the possibility of the Lord taking you somewhere. I'm not going to say come to my seminary. I'm simply saying, go and think about ministry and serve the church in that way. I think it'd be a wonderful thing.
- [18:29]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Let me just say go to Joel's seminary. I agree with everything that's been said. I would just add that at some point, relatively early point, you should go to the church. You should go to the ministers and elders of the church. If we Go to friends. That's important because they know us well, but maybe they like us too well to tell us the truth. Go to your pastor, go to your elders and ask them, what have you observed in me? Do you see gifts for ministry? As someone who's spent a lot of time in seminary, you see young men who are very earnest, very devout, very committed, very eager and lacking talent.
- [19:14]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
In your seminary?
- [19:15]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
No, in other seminaries. And someone has to communicate along the way to someone. We don't think you're gifted for ministry, and I don't want to discourage anyone, but that's the official job of the church, to call you externally. So you need to communicate with the church. You need to let the church in its office. Bearers that Christ has called seek to communicate with you and help you in this struggle.
- [19:46]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
I think I've been helped personally by what Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1, verse 7 or verse 8, when he says, stir up the gift that is in you. And he relates that to the laying on of his hands, which he then elsewhere relates to the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. I take it, and I've always thought there are three elements there. There is the gift that's in him which comes from the Lord. There is the desire to stir it up, which I think you can relate to him saying, if anyone aspires to the office of an elder bishop, he aspires to a good work. And then there is this. Whatever is the equivalent of the laying on of hands of the presbytery, which I think is at least depending on our polity, is at least the recognition of the Church that the Lord has given an individual a gift and the church wants to make space for its exercise. How these three elements fit together would be as varied in our lives as anything else in our lives. Personally, I have no memory of even thinking about what I would do with my life when, you know, I don't know the day and the hour, but I know the exact moment I thought, oh, that's what I'm supposed to be doing. And I have no memory of thinking about it before. So from that point of view, something in what happened before there was any concern on my part or anyone else's part about does the fellow have any gifts or even do I have any aspiration? And I think those three elements may come in different ways so that we don't box God into giving us an internal call before he gives us gifts, before anyone recognizes them. But the three elements, I think, are essential to entering into pastoral Ministry, and really essential, as Derek was saying, to surviving in pastoral ministry.
- [22:02]
Host/Moderator
Pastors are my heroes. I look up to them and in the work that I get to do through Ligonier, have met so many stateside and around the world, and it's just amazing to see how the Lord provides for his church. But getting to know so many pastors. This next question is also my experience that pastoring can be a tough and thankless job. How can a church best encourage their pastor?
- [22:34]
Dr. Derek Thomas
Don't fall asleep when he's preaching. You. You don't have to do this every week or every month, but I think if a sermon really, really helps you, you should say something, maybe. And in the south, my experience has been more women than men, but they write you a little note. And I've told my students, you should keep a blue file for days when you're feeling blue. You know, anonymous letters you toss. You don't even read them, toss them. But yesterday, somebody in here slipped me a little piece of paper. I've never met you before in my life, I don't think. And it's going in my blue file. I'm a Celt, so I get days when I'm blue. Sinclair's a Celt, so he gets days when he's blue. It's a Celtic thing. And I dip into the bottom drawer of my desk and I pull one out and it reminds me that what I'm doing is God's calling. And in his mercy, it has been used to help someone. So you don't have to do that every week or every month, but you should try to be an encourager, a Barnabas. And every church has a couple of Barnabas who know how to cheer you up and encourage you to keep going.
- [24:29]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Sinclair suggested that you were clapping before I said anything. So when I was young in the Christian Reformed Church, there was.
- [24:40]
Dr. Derek Thomas
You were young. We need pictures.
- [24:45]
Host/Moderator
Back in the 1900s,
- [24:51]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
actually, mentally, I was always old and tired and grumpy and being Dutch, I'm not blue, just grumpy. But one of the things I observed was that in regions, the ministers established a sort of informal organization that they called internos among ourselves. And that the ministers would gather for a social time, an encouraging time, a sharing time. It was nothing official or ministerial about it, but I've thought of that over the years because I see a lot of young ministers who are lonely. And I'm afraid part of the ethos of American churches is too often ministers feel sort of in competition with one another. And I would encourage ministers to think about trying to cultivate ministerial friends with whom you can share things that it's not always easy to share with members of the congregation. And I certainly agree with everything that Derek said. But I think to have a space where ministers can encourage one another can be very useful. And you've got to work at that. It doesn't just everybody's so busy. So maybe as a church, you can encourage the minister to have time and take time to spend with other ministers for encouragement.
- [26:15]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
I think we would all say we have survived on the prayers of the saints, and we all have had saints who have said to us, I pray for you every day. And they have no idea how much that single sentence means. And I think the other thing is obviously just the reception of the Word. We can be wrong about what's happening when we're preaching, but we tend to know and have a sense of the response. And in a way, that itself is our encouragement. The one kind of negative note I would comment on out of my profound Celtic melancholy is I have this terrible fear now, Derek and I are Presbyterians, so we've limited experience. I have this terrible fear that I think may be true beyond Presbyterianism, that possibly the majority of Presbyterian elders have never thanked their pastor for a single biblical exposition he's ever given. And that isn't a personality matter. Those who receive good things should share good things with those from whom they receive. And I think it really, if we are elders or the equivalent in our churches, I think we really need to take that responsibility seriously to ourselves and model it, because what we model spreads throughout the congregation. And I think that's really a very important part of our ministry as elders. Elders are not there to represent the congregation to the minister and to defend the congregation from the minister. You know, they're there to be fellow laborers with him, and they will expect him to be grateful to them for what they do. And, you know, no matter how shy we are, we should really, if necessary, go really out of our way to give specific encouragement that we have received the ministry of the Word, because that feeds the soul of the minister, and he will feed you better and give you more if he knows that the seed of the Word is landing in your heart and bearing that kind of fruit, maybe that's just Presbyterianism.
- [28:45]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Well, I want to share that. About three weeks ago, a lady came up to me after church. We'd. We've been in the same church for decades together, and we know each other, but not super well. And she handled me a little piece of needlepoint with A text in it that I had preached, I think, years before. And she said that meant so much to me. I hate weepy old men.
- [29:18]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
But.
- [29:20]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
But it was a profound experience for me that she, for a long time, had remembered a sermon and remembered a text and been helped by it, and what an encouragement it was to me.
- [29:34]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
We should get Ligonier also to publish a volume of the drawings of us that children have done.
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Host/Moderator
Question about the sacraments. How should you discern whether to partake in the Lord's Supper if you are continually falling into the same sin, but also continually repenting?
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Dr. Derek Thomas
The Supper is for sinners. It's not for sinners who have advanced to a certain degree of sanctification that. That's deadly. I think sometimes in fencing the table and in our tradition, we read the one passage from Corinthians, the only passage in the New Testament that mentions the Lord's Supper in its administration, apart from the upper room. And it's in a context of a church that is so dysfunctional that we wouldn't recognize it. I don't think I've ever been in a church like Corinth, and I think that sometimes the fencing is done so harshly that it seems as though the aim of it is to make people fearful to take the Lord's Supper. And I think the reverse should be the case. And I want Sinclair to speak to this, because I've heard you on this before, and you can put this better than I can, but it's for sinners, so take it. This sin that you are wrestling with, and you may be wrestling with it to the end of your days, there are besetting sins with all kinds of names, but if I have to completely destroy that sin before I can come to the table, I'm never going to come to the table. Sinclair, come on.
- [31:46]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
I think in some of our traditions, we separate the Supper from the Word too much. You know, Robert Bruce, the great Scottish pastor, said, we don't get anything different in the Supper from what we get in the Word. So there's nothing magical in the elements. And so we've always got to take what we are doing in the Supper back to the Word. Not just do I think I'm repenting, but am I repenting according to the Word? And if I'm resistant to the Word, if I'm resistant to the Word, then actually I'm going to be resistant to the message of the Supper. But as Bruce says, the purpose of the Supper is not to give you a better word than in the scriptures or a Better Christ than in the Scriptures, but to help you to get that Christ better, that's what it's there for. But if we isolate it, abstract it from the teaching of Scripture and it's calling to us to repent, then we're lying to the Lord and we're lying to ourselves by saying, in this, I seek communion with Christ when I'm actually resisting Him. But it's there as much to help us to repent. And I think that's a key thing. It's there to help us to get a better grip of Christ. And if that's what we want, this is what he gives us.
- [33:20]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
In the Dutch Reformed Churches. Don't laugh now, this is serious. In the Dutch Reformed Churches. At Communion, there's a form that is read which has the words of institution, quotes. 1 Corinthians issues the warning. But then in the middle of that form, there's a turn that says, this is not to discourage the weak from coming to the table, and develops the thought of what are the real qualifications for coming to the table in terms of faith and repentance. And I would say getting one of those forms and reading it and reflecting on it might really help you before you come to the table to evaluate where you are spiritually and those forms, then say as well, if you're really in doubt, talk to your minister or elders to help you think through this as well. So that can be helpful.
- [34:15]
Host/Moderator
Question about singleness. What encouragement do you have for men and women over 35 and what feels like perpetual singleness with a desire for marriage, but unable to find a godly spouse?
- [34:32]
Rev. Joel Kim
You're looking at me, right? No, I. You know I'm not single, right?
- [34:38]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Yeah, I'm. I'm sort of surprised you're not single. He has the most wonderful wife. It's just amazing.
- [34:49]
Rev. Joel Kim
She is a saint. It's true. And as. As both of our kids are now going to be in school away from us, I am praying that my wife continues to be gracious to me. Because I'm not the easiest person to get back to the question, I think, which is an important one, because we do have a lot of folks who delay getting married, intentionally or otherwise. And I realize that perhaps I'm not the best person to be able to indicate and speak on this topic at all. But I do have couple siblings who are of that stage in life where they're older but remain single. Not because they're opposed to marriage, just the Lord didn't bring the right person into their lives. And this is where I Think in many of the literature as well as others have pointed out that the Lord's calling in people's lives, including their marriage or non marriage, is as he intended. I recognize that this is going to sound hollow for someone who's coming at it from a marriage perspective. But at the same time, singleness is not a deficiency. It's the Lord's special calling in that stage of life until the Lord decides that there is someone in your life with whom you should walk the journey together. Here there is a stage and freedom and chapter in life where you have a unique calling and participation in the life of the church that allows you to be able to serve them well. I don't want to spin difficult things into easy things by any means, and I recognize the pressure both from family and society for us to seek a spouse in that way. But the Lord knows the timing and Lord knows who. And it's this unique period and time in which unhindered, not as a negative thing about family and children, but they take up a lot of time and unhindered by some of the responsibilities that are part of married life and with parenting, that you're able to devote into extended family into which you have been placed. I think they're uniquely placed and uniquely free to be able to serve our spiritual family in ways that perhaps many in different stages of life cannot. And so this is where, without under understanding how some of these circumstances work, and certainly trusting that the Lord in his providential leading does allow at different stages for various individuals to find the partner in life that the Lord is pleased with. But don't think of this as necessarily a negative, a lack, or something problematic. But think of this as the Lord's unique providence for you in terms of your ability to serve the family and the family that goes beyond the walls of our house.
- [37:59]
Host/Moderator
Last question. How can we rightfully long for our eternal home and still maintain a proper attitude toward this life?
- [38:09]
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Well, I think the Apostle Paul really illustrates that for us, doesn't he? That he knows that his eternal home is better. He knows to be closer to Christ in glory is better. But he also knows that as long as the Lord leaves him here, his calling is here to serve the Lord here. So we need to have that faith that better days are coming, that glory is coming. But we also have to trust, as Joel was talking about in all circumstances of life, God's providence and God's calling to us in this life. As we were getting ready to come over here, Sinclair and I were talking about some of these Things. And it brought to my mind a statement I read in one of Calvin's letters that has always stayed with me, where Calvin said, we should live as birds on a branch. Now, what's the character of birds on the branch? They sit there so still, so stable, so apparently almost connected to the branch, and yet can fly away in a moment. And that's what Calvin has in his mind. We're here. We need to be stable here. We need to be committed here, but we need to be free of here in a certain sense so that we're ready whenever it's the Lord's timing to go and be with him. And that's what we have to try to cultivate, that balance. We have to try to cultivate.
- [39:40]
Rev. Joel Kim
Scripture seems to kind of point us toward being homesick. I think most of us know what homesickness feels like. Many of you are staying in a hotel room. My guess is, I don't know how many of you walked into your hotel room and said, you know what? I think I need to change this around a little bit. An accent wall here, New furniture is here, lighting corner here, so I can read better. Said no one who came to this conference and stayed at a hotel. My guess is, and I think there is this concept of sojourning, that though we get to enjoy the blessings of what we have, that we know that home is better by far, and the focus, as well as our heart, has to be there. It's almost like camping, where every day that goes by in the designated days of camping, you are longing for home, a better bed, better kitchen, as well as heating and everything else that is there. And I think scripture doesn't say don't enjoy what the Lord has blessed us with. We get to enjoy the privileges as well as the blessings that we have on this side of glory. Yet our minds and our hearts have to be longing. And that longing, when it settles here on this side of glory, I think that's when we lose sight of what the Lord intended. It was always meant to. To be homesick, because we know that there is a place prepared for us, and we are to take things lightly and hold things lightly and to always long for that home that we're to head toward. That homesickness is, I think, something that all of us can cultivate as we seek the Lord's teaching in the Word.
- [41:24]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
I think one of the things Paul wanted to teach was what we might call the grace of detachment, that everything we have, we hold as though we didn't have them. And I think I felt that the only way to advance in detachment is your attachment to Christ now, and the greater your sense of who he is now and your attachment to him detaches you from the super glue of this world and prepares you for the world to come when we'll see him and thankfully be made more like him than we are just now.
- [42:09]
Dr. Derek Thomas
So Philippians 3:12 not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own brothers. I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. So he's here, but he's pressing on.
- [42:58]
Narrator/Announcer
That was Dr. Derek Thomas. He, along with Drs. Sinclair, Ferguson, W. Robert Godfrey, and Rev. Joel Kim, were answering some of the questions that came from Those attending our 2026 Ligonier National Conference. You know, it's always so helpful to hear from these gifted theologians and teachers of God's Word. And if you'd like to hear an extended version of this Q and A session, you can find it along with all the other sessions from our conference for free on the Ligonier YouTube channel. And if you'd like to support the work of Renewing youg Mind, we'd like to offer a hardcover copy of R.C. sproul's book Heroes of the Christian Faith, along with the digital study guide. So call us with your donation. Our number is 800-435-4343. You can also give online at renewingyourmind.org well, that concludes this week's look at some of the crucial questions of the Christian faith. Be sure to join us next week, though, as we feature Dr. R.C. sproul's series justified by Faith Alone here on Renewing youg Mind.
- [44:09]
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
Sam.