It's a pleasure to be with you this morning. My name, in case you missed it at the beginning, is Jerry Meeks. If you are visiting here, it is your great fortune to not see me up here every week. I am the pastor of Hope Community Church in West Nashville, a sister church of this church. But this week, I have been graciously given the opportunity to open God's Word with you all. If you turn in your Bibles with me to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 1. It's been a good morning so far getting to worship with you and also just having an opportunity to tell you all what it is that we have done and are doing at Hope. I pray that it was an encouragement to you, and that this will be as well. Let's pray this morning. We are blind. Give us sight. We are deaf. Open our ears. Though we long to be like Jesus, We don't always mean it. Give us understanding this morning. The power of your Holy Spirit as we open your word this morning. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. I wonder if you've ever asked yourself the question, what is the point of suffering? Is suffering a real thing? If so, is suffering bad? What of God? Does He exist? If He does exist and suffering is a thing, then what kind of God is He? Why, if He's good, does He allow suffering? That is, of course, assuming that suffering is actually a thing. To play off the phrase from Thomas Paine, these are the questions that try men's souls. This morning I want to talk about the way that God works in the world. I will be honest with you. I am assuming something. That is the existence of God. You might not believe me, but hopefully by the end, your unbelief will be a little less strong than it currently is. I have a number of answers to the questions that I asked. Just to come right out with it, here's what I'm going to try and say this morning. That suffering is real, that God does exist, and that God uses suffering for our good and for the good of others. You see, my goal this morning is to faithfully preach the Word of God and see his word do his work in his way. I'll warn you though that this passage is not an easy one. If you're an unbeliever this morning, I'll be honest with you. I want to provoke you. It's my goal, but it's for your own good. I want to provoke you to believe, or at least believe a little less. If you're a Christian this morning, I want to be very honest with you. I have a goal. That's to provoke you. to provoke you for your own good, to believe, or at least disbelieve a little less. This morning, we are in 2 Corinthians. It's a rather interesting letter. In this letter, the Apostle Paul is strenuously, amongst other things, defending his role as an Apostle. As one uniquely gifted and sent by God in order to bring the Word of God to the people of God. The situation in Corinth, the letter to whom this, or the recipients of this letter, the situation is not a good one. The situation is not even a neutral one. There is a rather ridiculous amount of tension between Paul, the writer of this letter, and the recipients, the Corinthians. One of the reasons is because there are a number of people, we don't know exactly how many, of people who Paul titles super apostles in the Corinthian congregation. These super apostles would likely fit tragically well into the church in America today, not just here and not just at this time. Sadly, it's all too true in all too many places at pretty much every point in the history of the church. Why? Well, because from what we can tell, these super apostles despised Paul's unwillingness to use flowery rhetoric or speech just for the sake of being heard. They despised his poverty, and most of all, they despised his weakness. Super apostles hated weakness, and so do we. But Paul, being the rather loving, offensive figure that he is, will begin his letter by exalting in his own weakness. It wasn't easy for him. He has a purpose in doing it. This morning I want to argue this. The Christian testimony is established through suffering, and the suffering is the means by which God comforts His people. Let's read it. 2 Corinthians 1, beginning at verse 3 and reading to verse 11. Hear the word of the Lord this morning. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort. which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many." Friends, this is the Word of the Lord. I'm calling this passage this morning, God's Algebra Most of you know that I hate math more than almost anything on the face of the planet. But it works out in this case. Those of you who love math, A, don't be offended, B, totally feel the need after we're done here to critique whatever kinds of math terms or terminology I use that are radically inappropriate. Verses 3-7, I believe we see an equation. Paul gives us an equation in verses 8-11. We see the proof of that equation. The equation is this. The God of comfort plus suffering equals comfort for ourselves and for others. So if you look at this first section, verses 3-7, I'll walk through these three parts. The God of comfort plus suffering equals comfort for ourselves and for others. Verse one, or verse three, I'm sorry, is a rather nice verse. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. I'm willing to assume that every single person in this room likes this verse, even if you don't believe in God. This is a pretty nice verse. There's two interesting things that are happening here. Number one, this phrase is actually a common Jewish phrase with a unique and profoundly important addition. I'll just give one verse from the Old Testament that gives you kind of a sense of this. We could do more, but in Psalm 72, verses 18 and 19, we hear this, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be His glorious name forever and ever. May the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen. There's a significant addition by Paul, and that is the little phrase of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, for Paul, the only way to truly know God is to know him through the person and work of Jesus Christ. You might be here this morning and say, Jeremy, listen, I am a son of the great state of Tennessee. Of course I know God. We all know God. Duh. Which, that's great, but just remember, as James tells us, even the demons know God, and they actually tremble, which is probably better than you. The question is, do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? For it is He that is the only way to God. This God we worship is Father, interestingly, not only of Jesus, but the Father of mercy and the God of all comfort. It's interesting because as the way Paul writes this, he's saying, yes, he is God of Jesus and God of this other thing. He's God of both of these things. One comes through the other. So in other words, it is God who provides comfort and mercy through Christ. What is this comfort, though? Well, let me be quick to say that this comfort is not a peaceful easy feeling I Wonder what gives you comfort in this life. I'll just go ahead and list like a number of things to give me comfort in life Coffee Gives me comfort in life hot chicken gives me extraordinary comfort in this life There we go. I knew I was gonna get somebody at some point. I Or when my baggage arrives at a foreign location, on time and intact, which rarely happens, that gives me great pleasure and comfort. That's not really what we're talking about here. The best explanation of what Paul is explaining here is best put down on paper over 500 years ago in one of the greatest documents outside of the Bible ever written, the Heidelberg Catechism. Which in question and answer number one says this, what is your only comfort in life and in death? The answer is that I am not my own, but belong with body and soul both in life and in death to my faithful savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly father, not a hair can fall from my head. Indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him. That is comfort. It's not a nice hug. It's the strengthening of weak knees. I wonder who here thinks they don't need comfort? You don't have to raise your hand. That would be awkward for you and for me. And whether or not you think you need it, here's the thing, you do. Because while today might be a good day, and while the near future might look pleasant, suffering comes for us all. In order to be comforted by this God, we must know who he is. and how He comes to comfort us in Jesus Christ. And this is what Paul is about to explain, and I just bring this up from the very beginning because I want to put to death the ridiculous notion that we find so often today, it might even be present in your own mind, that theology really doesn't matter. Just know this, you cannot be comforted by a God you don't know. So I return to part A of our equation. The Christian God, is a God of all comfort. And that comfort comes in Christ Jesus. So, back to the equation. God of all comfort plus suffering equals comfort for ourselves and for others. One of the things I appreciate most about the Bible is the frankness of its speech. We try and tame it down. You can get an understanding of this that rarely do people put verses from Jeremiah outside of, you know, God has a wonderful plan for my life, on t-shirts or posters or mugs. You've rarely heard VBS done on the book of Amos. I won't lie, I've always been tempted to write one myself. The Bible is rather raw and honest about the human condition and the world in which we live, both the beauty and the ugliness of the world. When it comes to the Bible's take on suffering, there's no karmic retribution like we would have in Hinduism. Or just the non-existence of it and just your need to relinquish what you believe to be real but isn't, as in Buddhism. Or even just the capricious nature of a God that's bigger than you, like in Islam. Now don't get me wrong, there's a lot that you have in common with Buddhists. There's an absurd amount of stuff that you have in common with Muslims. And the only reason you might not believe that is because you don't know any of them. But if you do know them, then you know that you share all kinds of things, but this is not one thing that you share. The suffering is a real thing that has real effects in this world that have a real purpose as well. From the front of the Bible to the back, The reality of suffering is admitted, embraced, and wrestled with. There's no stoic passivity. Just deal with it. Some of the greatest literature in the Bible, some of the greatest poetry, is people who do not understand the God that they worship. Or who seek to understand, but are not having the easiest time worshiping the God of the Bible. Interestingly, Paul does not feel the need to give a philosophical defense for the existence of suffering and affliction. Neither does he seem to feel the need to defend God on the matter. Those who might be here and enjoy philosophy and apologetics take note. Paul doesn't seem to feel the need to defend God on this matter. What is suffering for Paul? Suffering is not just what those people over there experience This is a very key point that you need to understand Suffering is not just what they over there experience Rather it is whatever affliction that arises as a result of following Jesus and putting sin to death This is key for we are often guilty of In ourselves, we just feel guilty for not suffering like somebody else suffers. So either that drives us to despair or, oftentimes, sometimes at the same time, we live in obliviousness to the difficulties of following Jesus in our own time and place. A place that has never been easier to live, has never been easier to focus only on ourselves, and it praises selfishness, pride, and greed. Friend, if you think following Jesus is easy today, that might be because you're not doing it. I'm not accusing you. The nice part is you don't know me and I don't know you, so I can look at all of you and I'm not claiming like you... And by the way, it's not easy for me to follow Jesus either. But, we do have the benefit of Jesus never once saying it was going to be easy to follow him. Now, maybe you're thinking that this verse 4 rings a little bit hollow. "...who comforts us in all our afflictions, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction." You might be saying, well, okay, fine, Jeremy, that's nice for Paul, but what does Paul know about suffering? You don't have to even go out of the book. You can just take a glance at, for example, chapter 11. It says this, "...are they," the super apostles, "...servants of Christ?" I'm a better one. I'm talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes, less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, wilderness, Danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, and toil and hardship through many sleepless nights, and hunger, thirst, often without food, and cold, and exposure. And apart from all these things, there is the daily pressure on me of the anxiety of all the churches. You think you know suffering? I'm not saying you don't. I guarantee you there's people in here whose suffering would break your heart if you actually knew it, and the only reason they keep it hidden is because, well, Christians don't suffer. You see, we live in a church that's full of super-apostles. The thing is, though, is that Paul didn't dwell on the problem of his condition, but rather the promise of the comforts that are in God. And we should take note and do likewise. Know this, friends. The ways that we speak say a lot about the way we view the world and the God that we worship. It's very hard for non-believers to believe in the God that you worship if all you do is complain about the life that you live. Very difficult. Because they're like, why would I sign up for that? So you want me to get on board with you. You're going to proclaim this big God that saves you, that has a wonderful plan for your life, even if it's after you die, and all you can do is complain about the life that you live here and now. I don't know if I get it. Unbelievers might be blind to the truth of Jesus, but they can see right through us. Paul doesn't pretend that he's alone in his suffering. He doesn't exalt his suffering above the suffering of others. He'll say, for example, in verse 6, when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Not if. Or in verse 7, as you share in our sufferings. In verse 7, there's an assumption of solidarity and suffering by the Corinthian church in the mind of Paul. As Paul tells Timothy at the end of his life, in the book of 2 Timothy, indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Friends, that might mean a little bit more than having to buy whole milk instead of 2% at the store. Now, you might not like this take on the inevitability of suffering, whether you're a Christian or you're a non-Christian. Let's just get back to verse 3. Let's just worship the God of all comfort and mercy in Jesus Christ. Let's worship that God. It's everything else that's troubling to me. But know this, while the Bible might be proclaiming, at least at this part, the inevitability of suffering, as one great non-theologian said, to live is to suffer. To survive is to find some meaning in the suffering. Isn't that true? To live is to suffer. To survive is to find some meaning in the suffering. That was Friedrich Nietzsche. Even the greatest atheists are right. Quite often. Red and yellow, black and white, we all suffer in His sight. Does Jesus love the little children of the world? Is there a point to suffering? Now, if you're not a Christian this morning, let me just be very frank with you that you have to have an answer to that question. I'm about to give the Christian answer to that question, but you do have to have some kind of answer to that question. I am truly, deeply, and profoundly interested in what your answer might be to that question. Is there any purpose to suffering? We all have to answer that question. We all suffer. I'd love to hang out and talk with you after the service about it. The Christian answer to why is there suffering It's not exactly an easy one. It begins with a crazy answer. The answer is because humanity asked for it. You see, the way this book starts, way back here in the beginning, is that God created everything good. It was all set right and puts humanity at the pinnacle of his creation and endows humanity with his image and gives humanity the right to reign and rule and Tells them what they ought to do and in the doing of those things they will be blessed, but here's the thing Shouldn't shock you too much because you do it every day Humanity decided that they would Well, they'd like to become like God so in a twisted fate of logic and Lunacy they decided the way to become like God would be to rebel against God and And in so doing, plunge themselves into suffering. They ask for it. You and I ask for it each and every day. And you say, Jeremy, I didn't ask for the cancer that I have. No, but you willingly and fully disobey the God that you understand every single day. You participate to the problem we call humanity and their rebellion against God. I do too. As a result of our sinfulness, we experience the pain and misery of suffering. Now you might not like that answer very much. I personally don't like that answer very much. But we all have to give an account for what suffering is and why it hurts so much. And while the Bible's answer is not easy to hear, it's also not the end of the story. Paul acknowledges suffering without dwelling on it. Why? Well, let's get back to the equation. Let's finish the equation. God of comfort, plus suffering equals comfort for ourselves and for others. This is important. For Paul, suffering is not a good thing. Suffering is not a good thing. Suffering is never a good thing in and of itself. No part of the Bible shares the perspective that suffering is a good thing. Suffering is not a good thing. It's one of the reasons why at the end of the book of the Bible there will be no more suffering and you get excited about it. Paul's point is that it's what suffering produces that is a good thing. Paul sees great gain in suffering because it leads to the comfort of ourselves in the comfort of others Here he says that I'm speaking of God he's the God of all comfort That he comforts us in all our afflictions in order that we might be able to comfort Those who are in any affliction notice the absoluteness of these statements This implies a couple different things number one. I The degree to which you are afflicted is the degree to which you can be comforted by God. Because God comforts us in our affliction. There's no way out of this. The nice part is that there is no way to out-afflict the comfort of God. Now let me be very clear and honest with you this morning, that might not seem true in your case. What Paul doesn't say is, it is clearly and plainly obvious to everybody, at every moment, that anytime any little thing happens, then God just steps in and goes, wait, I'm good, so there, and then all suffering goes away. He doesn't say that. Rather, the God of all comfort comforts us in any and all of our afflictions. The second thing is that you are not of much help to other people who are in suffering if you yourself have not suffered. Like, hold on to this hope. You might be in the midst of the worst suffering of your life. That's very possible. But if the Christian Bible is true, then what that will eventually end up as is the comfort of others. How? I don't know. When? Got no clue. How long? Don't know. The most profound reality about this suffering is seen in verse 5. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. I'd just like to flesh out Paul's point by quoting some of his other works to get a better handle on what this participation in the sufferings of Christ means. In chapter 4 of this book, he says this, We are always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifest in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our own mortal flesh. Or Romans chapter 8, Paul will say this, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. So far so good, right? Provided, uh-oh, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may be glorified with Him. Or Philippians chapter 3, Paul's praying, saying that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. and may share in his sufferings. No, just go back to the resurrection part. I just want to share in the resurrection and his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead. Friends, for Paul, not just here, throughout his writings and understandings, I could just keep going all day. We could just read the Bible. That'd probably be more beneficial than whatever it is I'm doing up here. You read the whole Bible and there is this understanding that God's affliction on his people is ultimately for their good. Do you want to be more like Jesus? You don't have to raise your hand. I'll just assume the answer is yes. You want to be sanctified? You want to be made holy? Me too. It's the hope of the Christian. God's means of producing that is suffering. You know those stupid things we tell our kids sometimes we don't actually believe? There's a whole bunch of them. Cheaters never prosper. Lying will always get you in trouble. Not true. Also, the things that we tell them that are actually true that we don't actually believe. Things like, hey, we know what? Flowers grow in the valley. Don't grow on the mountaintop. It's in the valley. Oh, cool. The stars shine brightest when you're at the bottom of the well. It's a true statement. We just don't actually believe it. You go, no, no, Jimmy, I believe it. I tell my kids that all the time. Cool. But do you actually live in light of what you profess? It's a real question. The hopeful thing is that our suffering is a participation in the sufferings of Christ. Jesus goes first. Friends, never forget this. Christians worship a hero who wins through apparent crushing defeat, brutal torture, and shameful public execution. That's the hero of the story. That's the king. That's the leader, and we're the followers. Disciple means one who falls after. Probably ain't going to go real well for you. Luther, in his typical Luther way they gave our master a crown of thorns. Why do we expect the crown of roses? Friends to follow Jesus is inherently dangerous Notice the end of this part participation in the sufferings of Christ Verse 5 sir as we share abundantly in the suffering Christ sufferings so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort to if we are afflicted is for your comfort and salvation and we are comforted is for your comfort and what you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. The comfort that we experience from God is not for ourselves only, but is also for the comfort of others. You see, the way the Corinthians were strengthened to suffer was to see Paul suffer and to be comforted. Friends, your Christian testimony is established, not in spite of your sufferings, but through them. Do you want to share in the comfort of Christ? Well, it requires that we will share in suffering. One of my great heroes, Augustine, says, God had only one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering. God had only one son on earth without sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, but he never had a son without suffering. Friends, the astounding thing about the suffering of the Christian is this equation. The God of comfort plus suffering equals comfort for ourselves and for others. And to this general equation, Paul will now give proof in verses 8 through 11. The interesting thing about this proof is it lacks almost all specifics. And I would say that this is probably on purpose. We don't know exactly what it was. We kind of know that it was in Asia. That's about it. But notice, we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, verse 8, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. When? What was it? How long? Paul doesn't feel the need to share any of that information. I think it's on purpose. It's for the same reason we see so often these general statements made in the Psalms. Being a general situation makes it harder to explain away. See, because if Paul was really detailed... See, when I was in Asia, like in the year 54, and there was three guards beating me in the face with wooden clubs for ten minutes, then I had desperative life. You might be able to be like, well, yeah, sure, I mean, if I was in 54 being beaten in the face with three guys, I wouldn't close it for 10 minutes, I'd despair of life, too. But that's not my situation. No, it's a general one, applicable to all of us. We dare not miss in this proof how profound the affliction really was. We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. Sadly, this kind of despair and suffering is unacceptable in our church today too often. You know, Christians don't despair of life, Jeremy. They might get upset every once in a while. They might have some hard times. But despair of life? By the way, we can just phrase that again. Paul wanted to die. Remember that Paul is battling the super apostles. He's doing so by exalting in his weakness. Friends, the world doesn't care how happy you are. The world doesn't care how carefree you are or how much you're killing it at life. They don't care because they're doing the same thing and they're doing it better than you are. The power of the gospel is exalted when people get honest about how hard their suffering is and persevere. You know what overcomes the world? Not your political opinions. Not our programs. Not our social capital as a church. No, what overcomes the world is our faith. A faith that holds on even when despair is present in our lives and we are pretty sure that we cannot hang on. to feel as if we have received the sentence of death. To say that suffering like this, helplessness like this, and despair like this is unchristian is to say Paul was not a Christian. It's a pretty bold statement. Even here, the profundity of Paul's suffering, though, had a good end. Verse 9, Indeed we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but That was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. It's so easy to believe that we got the whole world in our hands. To believe that we ought to be doing the Lord's work in whatever slick way we come up with. To believe that we bring the redemption of God to the world, but here's the thing. Not only is that ridiculous, but God in His incredible kindness is good to remind us sometimes that, no, no, no, the world's in His hands. That His work will be done in His way, and that He brings the redemption of the world so we don't have to. The way He does that is usually through reminding us of our own frailty. Friends, rely on the God who raises the dead. He raised Jesus, he can raise you. Now, resurrection implies death. Don't miss that. I believe in the God who can raise the dead. You go, yeah, amen. Wait, hold on. You wanna be raised? Yeah. Wait, I'm gonna die. What death is, It's terrible. But here's the thing. What is death to the one who is sure that they worship a God who raises the dead? Who has done so and promises to do so again. Hey, who cares if Jesus was raised from the dead? Real simple. Jesus ain't raised from the dead. You got no reason to believe in God. That was according to Paul, by the way. That's not Jeremy's edition. It's a ridiculous notion. If you're not a Christian, let me be honest with you, it is one of the most absurd and ridiculous things to believe. There is some kind of deity up there that raises people to life. I would agree with you, except for the fact that he already did it. And while it seems ridiculous, this is what animates Paul's hope in verse 10. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. Now, this might seem ridiculous, but this is a stance that Paul carried out in his life to the very end. In the book of 2 Timothy, near the very end of his life, in chapter 4, he says this, But the Lord stood by me, strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. He died shortly thereafter. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed. Was Paul misguided? In no way. As he says in the book of Philippians chapter 1, Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. He was in prison, by the way. As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me is to live is Christ and to die is gain. And we like putting that on a little t-shirt, right? But do you actually believe it? Christians aren't just supposed to be winning. They already won. Like know this, every time a Christian dies, the devil loses. Every time a Christian dies, Heaven gets a little more full We can't that that's the worst that could possibly happen Right I could come up with the craziest scenario of the craziest life of suffering and at the end you die and win Even the worst of our sufferings serve to comfort others I We do so in hope, knowing that it is the participation in the afflictions of Christ, and that glory waits for us on the other side of death. So what is there left to do? Interestingly, Paul closes in verse 11, you also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessings granted to us through the prayers of many. Friends, this kind of faithful suffering does not happen automatically. Paul was not able to suffer in this way because he was special. Although, of course, he was an apostle. No, Paul was enabled to suffer in this way because he knew to whom he had entrusted his life and because others were praying for him. Same thing, by the way, we saw in Philippians. Over and over and over again, he's like, you must pray for us. We often feel so weak to help our brothers and sisters here and around the world, don't we? You look at the things that are happening in Haiti, kids starving in Africa, people persecuted in China. These go on for days and days and days. And you feel so weak. And here's the thing, embrace it because you are. You cannot fix the world. I don't care how much money you have and how much time you have. You've got two hands and 24 hours, deal with it. But here's the thing. The reason why Christians do not live in despair in light of their frailty and inability to fix the world is because we serve a God that made the whole thing. And that through prayer, things are actually done. Now, I know that in practice we don't actually seem to believe that because we don't live that way. But know this, that even for the Apostle Paul, who had suffered much, and would continue to suffer much until the end, he saw the necessity of prayer in order to continue faithfully to the end. So may God make us a praying people, who suffer well, knowing that our sufferings will lead us to the comfort of God, who comforts us in all our afflictions. The God who raises the dead, the God who will raise our bodies on the last day. A truth we believe with all our hearts, for Christ, the One who we participate in sufferings with, has already won and is leading us to victory and will be fully revealed at the end of time with us in glory forever. Let's pray. God, we confess that we desire to create a God of our own understanding. A God who is for us. however we desire to be. A God who serves us, who comforts us in all of our comforts. We desire to worship Jesus as He is, forgetting what He was. We desire to stroll casually, on the road of glory as opposed to suffer along the road of the cross. And we thank you for the example of Paul. I pray that we are strengthened in our own sufferings as a result of seeing the comfort that Paul received in his sufferings. I pray that we would wrestle be provoked and bothered by the ways that we are living our own lives. I am fully convinced that some, upon wrestling, will hear from you, well done, good and faithful servant. I thank you for the examples we have today. around us in our churches of those who are suffering well. I pray that our churches are places where people can suffer well. Who don't just whine and complain about their lives, but who bear witness to the God of comfort in the midst of their suffering. For the world longs for truthful speech. And we have the truest thing to be said. I pray for those who are currently suffering, in big ways and small, that they would be reminded by the power of your word and the comfort of your Holy Spirit today that it is in our sufferings that you meet us. And I thank you most of all that the one who we participate in sufferings with has passed through the veil of death. and stands victorious now and forevermore. We thank you that we will be with him where he is. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.