Reformed Baptist Church in O'Fallon, Missouri
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Sharing in Jesus’ Sufferings

Philippians 3:7-11

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Scripture Reading and Opening Prayer

Philippians 3, starting in verse 7.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

(Philippians 3:7–11)

Let’s pray. Father, we thank you that you are sufficient for all things, sufficient for our salvation, for our sanctification, for our glorification. Lord, we thank you that it is through your Son that we can know you, that we can be reconciled to you, our heavenly Father. And Lord, we pray that your Word would go forth today in spirit and truth, that it would do its work in our hearts, Lord, that you would use it to continue to conform us to the image of your Son. We want to be people that are busy about your Word and busy about your work. So Father, we pray that you’d fill each one of us with your Spirit to hear from you rightly, that your name would be glorified among the saints, and that your Son be lifted up. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

A Theology of Suffering

Last week we looked at the first part of verse 10 in Philippians 3, talking about the power of the resurrection. This week we’re going to be looking really at the second part, where it talks about sharing in his sufferings. And we need to have a theology of suffering. So that means we need to develop a theology of suffering, because a lot of people don’t have a theology of suffering. When I talk about that, you know, when you think of like a theology of work, what would that encapsulate? Well, it encapsulates things that have to deal with work, and what does the Bible say about work, and what do we need to understand that God says about work? We could have a theology of even, as David mentioned, fellowship, which would include friendship. What does the theology of fellowship look like? What does it mean for us to fellowship with one another? What does it mean to grow in our relationships with one another? We can have a theology of money, and so on and so on and so on. Part of actually that Wednesday Logos will kind of be exploring some of those ideas. But what does God have to say on any particular subject? Theology of fill-in-the-blank. So today we’re going to look at this theology of suffering.

Some believers say that suffering is not of God. Well, that definitely contradicts the verse we just read in verse 10, right? “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings.” Paul wants to do that. Well, that’s not what we normally hear today. Why is it something Paul wants to do? Well, we’re going to look at that. Some religions try to say that suffering is imaginary. Buddhism would be one of them. Now, they would acknowledge pain is real, but they would distinguish pain from suffering. The way you get rid of suffering is to acknowledge and realize it’s an illusion. So suffering is an illusion. It has even ties with Hinduism, because Hinduism is very similar in a lot of its beliefs, but one transcends suffering through realization of one’s unity with the great Brahman. Well, even Christian Science, which isn’t really a real denomination, but they would say that suffering is non-existent. Then you have the health-and-wealth gospel, which would say that if you’re suffering, like you’ve sinned, you’ve done something wrong; if you’re sick, then it’s due to your sin. Well, that’s not true.

Trust in the Goodness of the Lord

So what do we need to do when it comes to suffering? Well, I’m going to put before us a few things we need to do. One, when it comes to suffering and when it comes to our own personal suffering, we need to trust in the goodness of the Lord. Trust in the goodness of the Lord. In 1 Peter it says this—just listen to it, 1 Peter 4—you ever heard that verse before? 1 Peter 4 verse 19:

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

(1 Peter 4:19)

So we need to trust in the goodness of the Lord. Here at times it’s part of God’s will, and in a broad sense it’s always part of God’s will. I read this verse to someone a few years ago; we were having a discussion about suffering, if suffering is from the Lord and if suffering is good, and if suffering is meant—they were arguing against it. I was arguing in favor of it, and I read them this verse, and they refused to believe it. That’s a problem if you refuse to believe what the Word says. So at times we see, right, “let those who suffer according to God’s will.” I mean, think of Job. Did he do a lot of suffering? He did a whole lot of suffering. Even Timothy, we see in 1 Timothy, he had some stomach ailments. 1 Timothy 5, Paul says, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” Baptists just love that verse, by the way.

What about Epaphroditus? We read it ourselves, so just turn back a chapter, Philippians 2, and look what it says starting in verse 25:

I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

(Philippians 2:25–27)

Well, why would Paul have sorrow upon sorrow? Well, because Paul realizes that Epaphroditus could have died. That goes against the health-and-wealth gospel. Epaphroditus wasn’t sick because of some sin. If that was the case, Paul would have been like, I rebuked him and he repented and he got better. Sometimes it’s not God’s will to heal. Otherwise, Paul would have said, I prayed for his healing, or I laid my hands on him and he was healed. He doesn’t say that. What does he say? God had mercy on him, so that there wasn’t sorrow. What happens sometimes when people suffer? Well, people face suffering in their lives and feel that God has let them down or isn’t there for them. And what do they do as a result? Sometimes they turn away. But here’s the thing, whether they realize it or not, what they’re saying is, God shouldn’t allow me to suffer. Now, I get it. No one, if you were like, who would like to suffer today? No one’s going to raise their hands. No one’s going to do that. But God in his sovereignty, and I’m saying God in his goodness, realizes there’s a place for suffering in the life of his children.

Temporal and Eternal Suffering

Now here’s the thing, we need to distinguish between temporal suffering and eternal suffering. Big difference, right? So God’s children will have temporal suffering over and over, many times throughout their life. God’s children will never have eternal suffering. That’s very important as we think about it. Even as you parents think about your own children, have you ever brought about temporal suffering for your children? Yeah, I mean, but there’s a purpose behind it, right? But you’ve brought about temporal suffering, but you definitely would never dream of eternal suffering for them, not for your own children. I mean, that’s how God is.

Luther and the Plague

When Martin Luther was well into the Reformation, he’s living in Wittenberg, and the plague hits. And it was a real plague, killing people left and right. Well, he wrote this small pamphlet, and this was the title: Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague. Well, what was he responding to? He was actually responding to Luther’s prince, the Elector John, who ordered Luther to leave immediately to save his own life. Which, I mean, Luther’s kind of a big guy, right? So his life is, I mean, in terms of what he was doing at the time, is kind of important. But Luther chose to stay to minister to those stricken. He felt as a pastor and a leader, he wasn’t supposed to leave. And he’s surrounded by disease and the suffering of the victims. The mayor of the city basically dies in Luther’s arms. So we’ve gone before us and aren’t unfamiliar with pandemics, with viral outbreaks, with plagues.

What about the approach that many people here in America took during COVID? Many people took an approach that was just focused on themselves. I’m going to do what’s best for me. So we saw people’s theology of suffering. And what was it in America? It was kind of every man for himself. Listen, whenever you’re starting your theology of any topic, any subject, it has to start first with God. That’s where it’s got to start, with the Lord.

Resurrection at the Forefront

Now, we talked last week about the resurrection. It worked well because it was Easter. Who raised Jesus from the dead? We’ll look at just a couple. Actually, we can just listen to them. The Father, first of all, raised Jesus. Acts 2:24: “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Acts 2:32: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” Then in Romans 6, it says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” And then when we’re sharing the gospel with people, a lot of times we’ll use this verse, Romans 10:9: “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So many, many verses talk about the Father raising the Son.

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

(Acts 2:24)

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

(Romans 10:9)

But we also have verses that talk about Jesus himself—I heard you, Dan—Jesus himself raising himself from the dead. So John 2:19, Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” What’s he talking about? They thought he was talking about the temple. He’s talking about his body. John 10, verses 17 and 18: “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” I mean, how can the dead man resurrect himself? Well, because he was more than just a man, right? He was the eternal Son of God, incarnate. Wicked men could kill his body, but they could not change his eternal nature or diminish his divine power. That’s why he says, one chapter later, John 11, “I am the resurrection and the life.” So he is the resurrection. It makes sense that he could resurrect himself.

I am the resurrection and the life.

(John 11:25)

We also see that the Spirit is involved in the resurrection. Romans 8:11: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” So all three persons are at work in the resurrection. When we talk about the resurrection, it’s something that the Father’s a part of, it’s something that the Son’s a part of, it’s something that the Spirit’s a part of.

Well, when we now come, and we’re talking first about the resurrection power in Philippians 3, and then the very next part talks about the suffering. Well, if we’re going to talk about suffering, you have to have the resurrection at the forefront. And that’s why Paul kind of emphasizes it here in Philippians 3. Know him and the power of his resurrection. Why? Because anytime we’re going through suffering, we should keep that in mind as well. There is a resurrection coming. Jesus already resurrected, and there’s a future resurrection for all of us. One day Jesus will come back, the trumpet will sound—we were just singing about it. The tombs are going to be emptied, and then it says the dead will be raised. So there is a resurrection of the dead that will happen in the future. So any theology of suffering, we have to have the resurrection at the forefront, right? I mean, that’s our hope. What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 15? Like if there’s no resurrection, then let’s just eat, drink, and be merry. No, if the resurrection is real, if Jesus actually has victory over the grave, if he has power over the grave, that changes everything, right? The tomb is empty. Why is it empty? Because Christ rose from the dead. So God is in control, and listen, he has all power to do as he pleases. He has the power to heal. Sometimes in his goodness, he heals. And sometimes in his goodness, he doesn’t. Also though, this world is temporary. There is the life to come—back to the resurrection. So when we think of our life, we must include the life to come. I mean, our life now compared to our life to come, I mean, this life now is just like—it’s hard for us to wrap our minds around, but it’s just a blip. Just a blip, like a drop in the ocean compared to eternity. So yes, suffering now, yes, very much so the life of the believer. Suffering for eternity, very much not the life of the believer.

Ben Sasse and John Knox

Some of you have probably heard of Senator Ben Sasse—now it’s former Senator. He’s got terminal cancer, stage four, pancreatic cancer. At the most, he’s got months to live, maybe weeks. He’s been very open and honest with his journey, and a strong believer. He’s gone on news shows and podcasts, and he’s using it as an opportunity to share his faith, to encourage other believers. He’s also very honest about the different things that he’s going through. If you saw his most recent interview, he talked about one of the cancer drugs that he’s taken literally has him like bleeding out of different places on his body. And if you saw his face, it’s literally just like red with what appears to be like open sores, or someone who cut themselves horribly numerous times with a razor. It’s just like red, like with what looks like blood, which is what he’s saying is occurring. People are blown away that this man, in the last days of his life, is putting Christ first and talking about how good he is. And it is just shocking to many, many people. It’s encouraging to some people, but it’s blowing people away because they just are having trouble wrapping their mind around this guy who’s in his last days, who’s relatively young, is glorifying the Lord, and looking at it in his last days to still advance the kingdom. So what’s he doing? He’s facing death. He’s preaching the gospel. Why? Because he knows the resurrection. It’s there. He’s got the hope of the gospel. He knows the goodness of the Lord, even in the midst of his suffering.

So let me just say, don’t be thwarted by Satan. Satan’s going to attempt, in the midst of your suffering, he’s going to try to get in there and he’s going to try to discourage you. And he’ll attempt to thwart you. And he’ll dangle your suffering in front of your faces so that you’re tempted to doubt God. And we sang about that as well, doubting the Lord. And to get mad at him, to doubt his goodness. What did Job’s wife say? “Curse God and die.” All right, by the way, she did not win Spouse of the Year. Okay, I’m just saying. But what are we called to do? Is that what we’re called to do, curse God and die? We’re called to trust the goodness of the Lord, to trust him. We’ve been given a task; this senator’s trying to carry it out. We’ve been given a task called the Great Commission: disciple the nations. What is Satan trying to do? Disciple the nations. Think about it. He always tries to mimic whatever’s going on. He tries to mimic even miracles, it says in the last days. He tries to mimic. How does he do it? Through deception. So he deceives the nations. Even in Revelation, it talks about, right at the end, he deceives the nations, gets us to believe things that aren’t true. He’s a teacher, a teacher of lies, a teacher of deception, and he wants us to doubt the goodness of the Lord. So we have to be prepared.

John Knox, another Reformer, he brought the Reformation to Scotland. Literally on the last night of his life, he said that he was being attacked especially fiercely by Satan. He’s groaning, he sighed, and this is what he says: “To this point in my fragile life I have endured many conflicts and many of Satan’s attacks. But now that roaring lion has assailed me very boldly and poured out all his strength at once to swallow and ruin me.” I mean, he’s struggling. He’s struggling, and Satan is throwing his lies at him, trying to deceive him. So what does he say? “But now that roaring lion has assailed me very boldly and poured out all his strength at once to swallow and ruin me. He used to set my sins right in front of my eyes often, often harassed me to the point of despair, often sought to catch me in the world’s deceitful snares, but because he has been shattered by the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, he can do nothing.” And he died not too much after that. So he’s in great suffering, his life is about to end, Satan is still trying to get him. You think Satan ever gives up? No, it’s just like Judas—looks for an opportune time. Looks for an opportune time in each one of our lives. Satan’s still trying to get him, have him deny the goodness of God. We need to learn to suffer well for the gospel, that we may share, back to Philippians, his sufferings.

Suffering and Sorrow as Companions

If you’re going to grow in your Christian faith, suffering and sorrow, listen to me, suffering and sorrow will have to be your faithful companions. It’s just the truth. The saints that have been walking with the Lord for a long time, they realize how God has been gracious to use suffering and sorrow in their lives. In fact, the godliest of the saints have weathered some of the worst storms of life. But it was those storms of life that refined them and shaped them and molded them. And likely, if we ourselves looked at some of the challenging times in our life, we would see how God was using that to mold us, to shape us, to break us down at times, to humble us, to have us depend on him. So the history of Christianity is rife with suffering saints, people who love Jesus and yet suffered tremendously for the sake of the gospel. Amy Carmichael, anyone know her? We probably don’t personally know her, but she’s dead, but great missionary, lived about 100, 200 years ago. And she suffered a debilitating accident early on in her ministry in a foreign country, which basically for the most part bedridden her the rest of her days. What did she do? Did she give up? Did she come home off the mission field? No, she actually stayed and would minister to people from her bed. You can read her story, a very powerful testimony of a saint that suffered well.

Sometimes we suffer because of our beliefs. Sometimes we suffer because of actions. Sometimes we just suffer because we live in a fallen world and sin is present. You think of the early Christians. Part of the reason they suffered, right, was they said Jesus and Jesus alone was God. There was exclusivity. The Romans would have been fine to just add Jesus to the shelf with all the other Roman gods. They already had a bunch. What’s one more? They didn’t like the exclusivity. Well, I mean, that’s where our culture is at today. They’d be fine if just Jesus was just there with all the other worldviews and just kind of tacked on. That’s not an issue at all. But what happens? No, our culture is like, whoa, whoa, you’re saying Jesus is the only way. Yeah, yeah, that’s a problem. They don’t like the exclusivity. And they’re like, well, you’re narrow-minded and you think you’re better than everyone else. Or they’ll say, you think you’re right and everyone else is wrong. By the way, I’m tempted to reply the next time someone says that to me, “And you think you’re wrong and everyone else is right,” just to make a point. That’s not what they believe. They believe they’re right too, right? Everyone thinks they’re right. If you didn’t think you’re right, you’d stop believing whatever was wrong and start believing the right thing. That’s kind of how things work. People believe things because they believe they’re true. And people don’t believe things that they don’t believe to be true. Right? If you knew something’s false, you’d stop believing it. So the person saying you think you’re right and everyone else is wrong—I mean, they think they’re right and anyone else who disagrees is wrong. So the Christian, of course, in the culture has to stand up and has to plant a flag and say, hey, this is what I believe. This is what I believe. Why? Because this is what the Word of God says. Here is where I’m standing, just like Martin Luther, right? Here’s where I stand. Why? Because God’s Word is faithful and true. We have to decide if we’re going to believe the word of men or if we’re going to believe the Word of God. If you want to pick and choose parts of the Bible, guess what you’re doing? You’re deciding what the Word of God is, and you’re deciding what the Word of God isn’t. Suddenly you’re the arbiter of truth. You know, this book is true in the Bible, this isn’t true, this passage in Ephesians, I don’t know, this 2 Peter.

Exclusivity and a False Christianity

No, there’s actually Christians out there, they actually call themselves red-letter Christians. They only believe the words of Jesus. They won’t believe any of the epistles written by Paul or Peter or John. They only believe the words of Jesus. But think about what they’re saying. It’s what we would call self-referentially absurd, because they contradict themselves. Because they’re saying, I won’t believe the words of the apostles, only the words of Jesus. Okay, well, who wrote down the words of Jesus? The apostles? Well, I thought you don’t believe the words of the apostles. Are they the ones that wrote down the words of Jesus? They literally contradict themselves. Listen, you can believe your own words, or you can believe the Word of God. You can believe the culture’s words, or you can believe the Word of God. There’s no middle ground. And brothers and sisters, though, I’m telling you, if you believe the Word of God, if you stand on it, if that’s where you plant your flag, Jesus will not let you down. He is very faithful.

1 Thessalonians 2, it says this: “For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.” So he’s like, hey, the Jews in Judea that became believers, they’re suffering from the non-believing Jews, and you here in Thessalonica, you’re suffering at the hands of the unbelieving Greeks. And so he’s like, you became imitators of the churches of God. So they’re imitators. But he goes on to talk about, well, how are they imitators? Well, they’re imitators because it says, you suffered the same things. So they’re imitators in their suffering. And Paul sees that as a good thing. You became imitators. He sees it as a good thing that they were suffering.

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.

(1 Thessalonians 2:14)

A false Christianity preaches no affliction. A false Christianity preaches no suffering. Don’t buy into the lies. You’ll be disappointed. Your faith will be shipwrecked. So don’t be swayed. The Bible doesn’t teach those things. And a false Christianity is blasphemy of the highest order. And those teaching it, preaching it, promoting it, they’re going to have a cost to pay. They do so at the perishing of their own souls. What does James 3 say? Let not many of you be what? Teachers. Why? It says because they will be judged with greater strictness.

It Has Been Granted to You to Suffer

Back in Philippians 1, turn one more chapter back from Philippians 2 that we were just looking at. Paul’s talking in verse 27 of chapter 1, he’s talking about how they live. He says:

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.

(Philippians 1:27–29)

It’s really what Paul’s saying in Philippians 3, just a couple of chapters later, but notice that word “granted.” It’s actually the word that is a lot of times translated like “graced.” It’s been graced to you, it’s been given to you, that you should not only believe, but also suffer. So don’t be surprised at your suffering. Even 1 Peter says that. Beloved, he literally says that: don’t be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 1 Peter 4:12. Suffering will bring a variety of things into your life. Challenges, hurts, pain, sorrow, but also spiritual growth, a deeper trust in the Lord, opportunities to minister and serve, humility, the fruit of the Spirit, if you handle the suffering biblically.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

(1 Peter 4:12)

Here’s what one Puritan said in a poem that he wrote. He said, “What God layeth on, let us suffer. For some have one cross, some seven, some ten, some half a cross, yet all of the saints have whole and full joy. And seven crosses have seven joys.” So we all get different crosses, but God is gracious. And it’s true. Those seven crosses, they have seven joys. Here’s the problem with Christianity today, a lot of it. We want the power, right? “I want to know him and the power of his resurrection.” We want the power. We don’t want the suffering. There’s the challenge. They go hand in hand. They go hand in hand. You get the power of the resurrection, yes, and you get to share in his sufferings, yes. If you want the one, you get the other. They go hand in hand. They’re both key aspects of our relationship with Christ.

Glory Awaits

Think about, again, what we need to keep before us. Glory awaits. Glory awaits. Right, this is Paul says in Corinthians, “light momentary affliction.” Right, so I mean he’s not trying to make light of affliction, but he’s saying it’s momentary light affliction compared with the weight of glory to come. Everything that God has in store for us, everything that’s coming, the riches of his mercy, it just makes the affliction in comparison a light affliction. Now it doesn’t feel like that when we’re going through it, when we’re suffering. It doesn’t feel like that at all. But Paul’s saying in light of glory and everything that God has in store, this is the light momentary affliction. The glory awaits. In Romans 8 Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

(2 Corinthians 4:17)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

(Romans 8:18)

He’s like, we could make one of those charts and all the pros and cons of the sufferings of this present time and the coming glory. It’s not even worth comparing, because there’s no comparison. We couldn’t really make a chart. It’d be all pros for glory and the cons for the sufferings, but here we are in the midst of the sufferings, we press through it. We trust the Lord. We trust in his goodness. The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory. What God has in store for us is so amazing. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, but he’s shown us. Right now we see 1 Corinthians 13—we’re just seeing through that glass dimly. But saint after saint after saint goes forward and passes into glory, and they see that glory. They see what we long to see. They see the Lord face to face. And when’s that going to happen? In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Right? The dead will be raised first. Jesus will come back. The archangels will be trumpeting on those trumpets. And then what happens? Change. All the miseries of this world, all the suffering, what does he promise? John’s writing down the book of Revelation: there’s no more tears. Kind of hard to imagine, but he promises it, and he’s a promise-keeper. No more tears, no more death, no more pain, no more suffering.

So when we talk about it, it’s important for us: people that believe that suffering is not something that Christians should experience now, they’re confusing what you might call the ages. This is the present age. There’s the age to come. Yes, the age to come, no suffering. The present age, much suffering. Sometimes it’s because of our own foolish, sinful decisions. Sometimes it’s because we live in a sinful world. Sometimes it’s because of sinful actions done against us. Did Job do anything wrong? I mean, he didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, he starts to get a little off course at the end when he’s talking to the Lord, and the Lord’s like, I’m going to put you in your place, right? Like, where were you? But for the suffering that he was enduring, he didn’t do anything to deserve it. And yet the Lord in his goodness allowed that. You could even say he encouraged it. “Have you seen my servant Job?” There’s a lot of people back then following the Lord. Job’s like, why’d you have to single me out? Right? But it’s in part because the Lord knew that Job would walk faithfully through it. He endured. He trusted the goodness of the Lord, and God was faithful to him. Yes. So glory awaits. We press on. We keep our eyes on him as we walk through this day and prepare for the day to come. Amen. Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer

Lord, I do pray for anyone here suffering, that you would be merciful and gracious to them. Help them to trust you, to trust in your goodness. I pray for anyone—which is really all of us; at some point we will experience suffering of some level, Lord, some of it very, very deep and great—and our faith will be tested. Help us to lean not on ourselves but to lean on you, to trust in you, to not trust in the chariots or the horses but to trust in you. That you are a good God, that you love us. That the resurrection power is true and real and alive in your Son, and also alive and real and true in us. Lord, may we continue to press on for your glory, trusting in your goodness. Amen.