We'll read God's word today, trusting that it is his inspired, infallible, inerrant, clear, and sufficient word.
It's God's very own word for you, his people.
In verse 12, we begin reading.
I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happen to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.
So that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ.
And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill.
The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add to my affliction and my chains.
But the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.
What then?
Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached.
And in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
The word of the Lord for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of the Lord stands forever.
Let's pray.
Lord, I ask that by the illumination of your Holy Spirit, the Spirit that dwells in every true believer,
the Spirit of God that breathed out these words of Scripture,
by the power of that Spirit, Lord, will you please minister Christ to his people today.
May Christ be so near to us in these moments that we'll share next, Lord, under your word.
May we know what it means to be in Christ, especially through suffering.
We ask this for your glory.
Amen.
Well, everyone who is a human being suffers.
Everyone suffers.
In verse 13, Paul describes his suffering once again as his chains.
His chains.
And his suffering is a physical suffering in the body, away from the church, in solitude, loneliness.
Seeing all the problems of the early church all around him.
What a picture of the Christian life.
It's such a mix, isn't it?
There's profound joy and there's deep sweetness in the Christian life.
But there's true suffering, true pain.
It's a mix.
I know many of you are suffering today.
We're grieving.
We're healing.
We're worried about the future.
For Paul, he called it my chains.
Some of you might feel trapped to a job or a desk.
Another is maybe it's the exhausting task of parenting and raising little ones.
Feels like you're always around the sink doing dishes.
Others of you have been laid up in bed.
You've been sick.
You've been not able to get around.
Depending on others.
So humbling.
And my encouragement is that in Hebrews 5, 7,
in the days of his flesh,
though Jesus Christ was the Son of God,
yet he learned obedience by the things he suffered.
Psalm 119, verse 71,
the psalmist adds his testimony to God's faithfulness,
and he says,
My suffering was good for me
because it taught me to pay attention to God's decrees.
And he prays this to the Lord.
Thank you for the suffering
and what you taught me through it.
So everyone suffers,
but the only ones who are happy
through the suffering
are you whom God teaches
to suffer in Christ.
So beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
my encouragement for you today
is what suffering in Christ does.
Suffering in Christ does something
in you and through you.
And I hope you'll be encouraged by these verses.
Number one,
what does it mean to suffer in Christ?
Look at verse 12.
Paul says,
These things that happened to me.
He's referring briefly in a few words
to what we read in Acts chapter 21 through 24.
If you want to get a deep dive picture
of these things that happened to Paul,
read those chapters.
Acts 21 through 24.
Or I'll summarize it in three lines for you.
After going on the missionary journeys,
Paul came back to Jerusalem
and he preached the gospel.
And he said,
I was one dragging Christians
out of their fellowship,
putting them in chains,
having them unjustly arrested.
I'm the chief of sinners.
But Christ died for sinners like you and me.
That's what he stood up
and preached in Jerusalem.
Well, because he brought with him some Greeks
on this trip,
even though they didn't go into the temple,
Paul was arrested on the false accusation
that he had defiled the temple,
even though Christ had already torn the veil in half.
So he was unjustly arrested.
And as he was carried away,
he had the opportunity to preach once more
as he's being accused
and all these false witnesses
whose stories don't even match.
And Paul preached to them and he said,
you continue to reject Jesus Christ.
And Paul says,
Jesus Christ,
who you tied up
and unjustly threw into the trial
and then whipped and put on the cross
and you killed.
This is the Christ,
the Son of God
that I'm preaching to you.
He's alive.
He is risen.
And Paul is now following
in those exact footsteps of Jesus Christ,
identifying with Christ,
almost play by play
in the suffering of his Lord.
See, so Paul is not the Messiah here.
Paul is merely a disciple
following the footsteps of Jesus.
Well, then Paul is tied up
and they say,
let's torture him by whipping him
until he tells us what he really did.
He's going to be flogged
without a trial.
And in that moment,
Paul appeals to Caesar
because he's a Roman citizen by birth.
He's elite among the empire of Rome.
From that moment on,
they put a chain from Paul
to a Roman soldier.
And those soldiers would take shifts
who would be on the other end
of that chain attached to Paul.
From Paul's perspective,
when he was arrested,
carried all the way to Rome,
and then left there in house arrest,
he's had a chain attaching him
to a Roman guard
24-7,
365 days a year
for two years.
And he says in verse 13
of our sermon text,
my chains are in Christ.
Not my chains are for Christ.
He says in verse 13,
it has become evident
that my chains are in Christ.
What does that mean?
What does it mean to suffer in Christ?
This is an odd Greek phrase,
and I'm no scholar,
just enough to understand the basics.
But listening to other commentators
on the Greek language,
the word-for-word translation is this,
the bonds of me,
that's my chains,
apparent,
that's,
it has become evident,
in anointed,
that's in Christ,
to be becoming.
That's how the Greek reads word-for-word.
It's not easy to interpret that.
Maybe the best summary in English would be this,
my chains manifest
in Christ became.
This strange language construction
forces us,
as this Greek scholar put it,
it forces us to rest
and pause and reflect
on every word
in its turn.
So let's walk through those three phrases.
My chains,
number one.
Number two, manifest.
Number three, in Christ.
Number one, my chains.
These are the instruments used by the Lord
to spread the gospel
among and beyond
those Roman guards.
My chains.
He says,
my chains manifest something.
They reveal
to these guards
something
of how
precious
Christ is to Paul.
See,
these guards,
they were getting a good read on Paul.
And they knew
when they look at Paul,
there's something
very precious to Paul,
and it's Christ.
It's Christ being manifested
through the chains,
through this picture
of his suffering.
And in Christ,
he says,
his chains are part
of what is entailed
for Paul
to be united
to his Lord.
The chains come with
being a disciple.
So for Paul
to live
in Christ
means chains
for two years.
Could you turn with me
to Philippians chapter 3,
verse 10?
I think here
we have a great insight
into what Paul means
to suffer
in Christ.
In Philippians 3,
10,
Paul writes that
he wants to know him
and the power
of his resurrection
and the fellowship
of Christ's suffering,
being conformed
to his death.
You see,
for Paul,
the greatest blessing
is to be able
to identify
with his Savior
in the suffering
that his Savior
bore for him.
That's what it means
to suffer
in Christ.
It means that
you get to share
in the sufferings
of Jesus
and to know him
even better.
whenever a child
gets sick,
you'll often hear
the mother
or the grandmother
say,
I just wish
I could be sick
in your place.
I wish I could
share in your sufferings.
If a loved one
of yours
is going through
something like that,
you want to know them
and relate to them
so deeply
that you're feeling
what they're feeling.
Do you see
how Christ suffered
for his people?
And there's no
greater blessing
than to know Christ
at that level
to identify
with your Savior
in his suffering
for you.
So your union
and communion
to Christ
become visible
in suffering
when you suffer
in Christ.
That's what it means
to suffer
in Christ.
Now what does
suffering in Christ
do?
When you suffer
in Christ,
here's one thing.
You tell
of God's providence
to his family.
When you suffer
in Christ,
it does something
in you
that makes you
want to look back
and tell the story
of how he
had you all along.
It was his good
hand over you.
And you want to share
that with his family.
Another testimony
added to the providence
of God.
Look at how Paul
does this in verse 12.
He says,
I want you to know,
brethren,
that the things
which happened to me
have actually turned out
for the furtherance
of the gospel.
Yes, he's suffering,
but he wants the church
in Philippi
who he calls brethren,
my family,
and the Lord.
You need to know
all those things
that happened,
here's how they turned out.
God's gospel advanced.
We can infer that
when Paul was with
the church in Philippi,
he had shared with them
his heart.
That's what Paul does.
He had a vision
of going through Rome
and not to stop in Rome.
If you read the letter
to the Romans,
it's to let them
take joy
and also sending him
on to Spain.
And you get to be
part of this church.
Look what God is doing.
His kingdom is advancing.
Oh, but Paul wanted
to go to Rome.
He wanted to preach
to Caesar Augustus himself.
This is the time
of the Roman peace,
the Pax Romana.
And this was the great
Augustus Caesar
who had unified the empire.
He had annexed Egypt,
parts of Spain,
and Central Europe
under one great empire.
And Paul couldn't be
more excited
to get to Rome,
the capital of the entire empire,
and preach the gospel.
He had done this
at Little Rome,
Philippi,
and now how will he get
to do this
in the big capital itself?
He says,
I want you to know, brethren,
the things which happened to me
didn't set any
of those dreams back.
In fact,
that's what God used
to actually turn out
in fulfilling all of that.
when he says
they actually turned out
this way.
He's telling
of God's providence
to the family of God.
What is God's providence?
This is a big word.
God's providence
means His sovereign hand
governing,
ruling over all things.
Our confession
describes it this way.
God,
the good creator
of all things,
in His infinite power
and wisdom,
He does uphold,
direct,
dispose,
and govern
all creatures
and things
from the greatest
to the least
by His most wise
and holy providence
to the end
for which they were created
according to His
infallible foreknowledge
and the free
and immutable counsel
of His own will
to the praise
of the glory
of His wisdom,
power,
justice,
infinite goodness,
and mercy.
That's God's providence.
And Paul says,
all that happened to me
actually turned out
for the furtherance
of the gospel.
See that phrase
in verse 12,
the furtherance,
the advance
for the greater progress
of the gospel.
That word is a military term,
the advance
or the furtherance.
And remember,
in Philippi,
Little Rome,
there would have been
many veterans
of the Roman Empire.
These were veteran soldiers.
They would have been
very patriotic.
And when he uses
a military term like that,
you can imagine
that congregation
receiving this
as encouragement.
Here's what that term means.
To advance.
The Roman Empire
would send out scouts
ahead of the invading army
to take a new territory.
Those scouts
would clear the path
through a dense forest.
They would make a way
for the rest of the troops
to follow.
They would also scout out
the land.
See, here's a strategic inland.
Here's a point
where we can get access
and it'll open up
and we'll be able
to conquer this region.
You come back
and you tell the army,
this will be
the most favorable terrain
for you to march on.
This is how we can advance
our army
and what we're claiming.
When you come back
and you hear this report
from a scout,
you feel strengthened.
You want to stand up
as a soldier
and march onward,
hasten onward.
The kingdom is advancing.
Let's follow
where these scouts
have gone next.
And so that's what Paul says
that everything
that I suffered
up to this point,
it revealed God's sovereignty
and if I die in chains here,
which he does,
you church,
you come as the next army
pushing on
and planting the church here
and establishing,
furthering the gospel
mission of King Jesus.
So when you suffer in Christ,
you tell of his providence
to his family
and it encourages them.
See, Paul's not attaching
any of their hope
to Paul himself.
Paul is pointing
to the gospel.
It's the gospel
of the living Jesus Christ
who through his Holy Spirit
he will advance.
Our confidence
is not in man,
even the apostle Paul.
It's in the gospel
carried on
through the word of God.
I want to prove this.
You can turn to
2 Timothy 2.9.
If you don't want
to turn there,
you can also listen.
Here's what
2 Timothy 2.9 says.
And to give you
a point of reference,
Philippians is one
of Paul's earlier letters
that he wrote
from prison.
And it's so joyful.
You might think,
well, this is just him
thinking he won't be
there too long.
2 Timothy is the last letter
we have from Paul.
The very end
of his time in prison.
Notice what he says
in 2 Timothy 2.9.
I am suffering
bound with chains
as a criminal.
But the word of God
is not bound.
The word of God
is not in a chain.
See, their confidence
should be in the advance
of the gospel
through the word.
It's not tied
to any one man.
It's God's word
that advances
his gospel.
And Paul joyfully
goes out as the scout.
That's where he'll
end his life.
He'll never get
to go to Spain.
But the word of God
will march onward
through his church.
And with every step
of the way,
you bear witness.
Look, even through
my suffering,
see God's providence
advancing his kingdom.
We get to do that
when we suffer
in Christ as well.
Number three.
What does suffering
in Christ do?
When you suffer
in Christ,
the life of God
in you
becomes evident
to others.
When you suffer
in Christ,
the life of God
in you
becomes evident
to others.
Look at verse 13.
It has become evident,
Paul wrote,
to the whole
Petrarian guard,
the whole palace guard,
and to all the rest
that my chains
are in Christ.
It has become
evident to them.
Who were these guards?
Well, I've mentioned briefly,
these were the elite
Roman soldiers
that worked
for the emperor himself.
They were estimated
to be 9,000
of these guards
called the
Petrariani.
In Christ,
in Paul,
through Paul's suffering,
is evident
to these guards
one by one
by one.
See,
from their perspective,
they see
an old
minister of the word,
a Jew,
now in Rome,
who's trapped
to a chain.
From Paul's perspective,
suffering in Christ,
Christ is being revealed
through his suffering.
He says,
I'm the one here
who is free
to preach the gospel
to you.
And you're chained
on to me.
You have to listen.
Imagine what that would be like
to be one of these
elite guards.
You work for the biggest empire
the world has ever known.
You don't just work
on the army
in some outskirt colony.
You work in Rome.
Not just in Rome.
You work for the emperor,
Caesar himself.
You're among the elite.
And part of your rotation
is going to be
to spend a watch,
a quarter of a 24-hour shift
with this old minister.
Imagine what that handoff
is like.
Many of us have jobs
where you rotate a shift
and you check in,
you check out.
And it's part of the job
of a nurse
or someone else
with a shift
to get the report
from that shift
so I can be ready
for the next one.
And these guards
would know each other
and you can just see it
in this man's face.
One of the toughest,
most hardened soldiers
around.
He's the alpha.
And you just see
his face looks peaceful.
And you see a calmness
in this man.
He's always trying
to prove to everyone
he's the tough guy.
And he's just so relaxed now.
What has happened?
You don't even know
what's coming up for you.
That chain goes on to you
as the guard
and it's your shift.
Paul starts telling you
of God himself
who created you
and how you have no hope
standing before the holy God
in your sin.
But God himself
took on flesh
and he fulfilled his own law
for his people.
And it's not just good news
for them,
it's good news for you
if you believe in him.
And the kingdom of God
advances.
When you suffer in Christ,
the life of God in you
becomes evident to others.
How could it not?
It's God himself
inside of you.
We read in verse 13,
it wasn't just
the Petroirian guard,
it was also
all the rest.
Word spreads
that my chains
are in Christ.
Who are all the rest?
We can connect
a dot here
that was so cool
for me to see.
Would you turn
in your Bible
to Philippians 4?
You're in Philippians 1.
Flip the page there.
Who might be part
of all the rest
who hear
of the precious Christ
through Paul's ministry?
Philippians 4.22.
As he's writing
to the church
back in Philippi,
Philippians 4.22,
he says,
all the saints,
all the believers,
everyone in Rome
within the church,
those who have visited me,
or even those here
that are part of the guard,
they greet you,
church in Philippi,
especially those
who are of Caesar's household.
Do you see
how that desire
for Paul
to go to Rome
and preach to Caesar
and preach
to the great capital,
it's being fulfilled
through the suffering,
through the chain.
As he's back in Philippi
looking out
at the Roman Empire,
man,
wouldn't it be amazing,
church,
let's pray
that God's gospel
will reach
the Roman army,
the greatest army
in the world
that they would believe
and that the emperor,
Caesar,
would believe.
Let's pray,
church in Philippi,
that God would do that
and look at how God did it.
It's through his chain.
Christ speaks
through Paul
and through his word
and listening to Christ's voice
as we sing,
new life,
the dead receive,
the mournful,
broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe.
Second Timothy 2.9,
Paul said,
I am suffering,
bound with chains
as a criminal,
but the word of God
is not bound.
The life of God
is in you
who believe
just that same way,
just as powerfully.
There's a book
that Jonathan mentioned
in Sunday school
and I enjoyed reading it
this week.
It's called
The Life of God
in the Soul of Man.
And that's exactly
what it is
to be a Christian.
The life of God himself
dwells in the soul
of man.
This book quoted
an old poet
who described
the gospel that way.
The love of God
shot all these golden arrows
at man,
but nothing could penetrate
man's heart of stone.
So the God of love
put himself
in his bow
and shot himself
at your heart
to shatter your heart
of stone
and overwhelm you
with his love.
And when you suffer
in Christ,
the life of God
in you,
it becomes evident
to others.
Number four,
what else does
suffering in Christ do?
When you suffer
in Christ,
God uses your life
to embolden
his family.
When you suffer
in Christ,
God uses your life
to embolden
his family.
Look at verse 14.
Philippians 1.14.
Most of the brethren
in the Lord,
having become confident
of my chains,
are much more bold
to speak the word
without fear.
God uses the suffering
of his people
to embolden Christians,
to embolden
the church.
From the world's
perspective,
if we can just make life
hard for Christians,
if we can persecute
and shut them down
and not let them meet,
not let them gather
in the name of Jesus,
not let them preach
the gospel
or at least censure
what they're going to say,
we can stop
the spread of Christianity.
That's what Satan's
trying to do
through the world.
We can look at
even recent history
and see it's just
the opposite.
In 1949,
the population
of China
was 542 million people.
Out of those
540 million Chinese,
only 1 million
were believers.
30 years later,
that 1 million Christians
went to 12 million.
What makes this remarkable
is it's during the time
when all the churches
were shut down,
when it was illegal
to preach the gospel,
where the Bible
had to be smuggled
into China.
The church exploded.
Today,
the population of China
is 1.5 billion
with 100 million Christians,
mostly worshiping God
underground.
100 times
the growth
in this one country
during the most
intense times
of persecution
in modern history
in just a period
of 75 years.
That's what our God does.
As the Christians
are persecuted,
the brethren,
the family of the Lord,
gets much more bold
to speak the word
without fear
and His kingdom advances.
And that's why
2 Timothy,
that same letter,
that last one
from prison,
2 Timothy 4,
verses 1 and 2,
Paul wrote with confidence
to Timothy,
the church in Ephesus
and to all of us,
I charge you,
therefore,
before God
and the Lord Jesus Christ
who will judge
the living and the dead
at His appearing
and His kingdom,
preach the word,
be ready in season
and out of season,
convince,
rebuke,
exhort,
and teach
with all long suffering.
That's what suffering
in Christ does.
God uses your life
through suffering
to embolden
His family.
Number five,
what else does it
do
to suffer in Christ?
Of all of these verses,
these are the ones
that were the most
convicting to me,
the most work God
still has to do
in my own heart.
Here's the doctrine I see.
When evil motives
become evident,
you identify
even more with Christ
in His suffering.
Evil motives
are everywhere
and we see them.
Sometimes we suspect them
and then other times
they become very clear.
But when evil motives
become evident,
you feel that injustice.
You feel that sense of wrong
in the name of Christ.
You identify even more
with Christ
in His suffering.
Let's read verses 15,
16, and 17.
Some indeed
preach Christ
even from envy
and strife
and some also
from goodwill.
The former
preach Christ
from selfish ambition,
not sincerely
supposing to add
to my affliction
in my chains,
but the latter
out of love,
knowing that I am
appointed
for the defense
of the gospel.
Paul spent
serious time
reflecting
on the early church.
The early church
is no better
or worse
really than the church
today.
Sometimes we want to
make it like a golden era.
We should just be more
like the early church,
full of envy
and strife
and selfish ambition,
not sincere.
That's not the early church
we should go back to.
It's the same.
It's the same church
as today.
There's much wrong
going on
in the name of Christ.
You felt it.
You've seen it.
And it should bother us.
It bothered Paul.
He's naming it
very specifically.
Three verses of this.
It's clearly been
something heavy on him.
I'd like to walk you
through these words
he uses.
In verse 15
he uses the word
envy.
Envy means
to be discontent
at the sight
of the reputation
or happiness
enjoyed by another.
To grieve yourself
at the superiority
of another
and to hate him
on that account.
In Mark 15.10
we read that
our Lord Jesus Christ
knew that the chief priest
had delivered him
for envy.
And Paul
is identifying
with Christ
in his suffering.
There are many
wanting to preach Christ
even preach correct doctrine
because they wanted
the attention
and the fame
that Paul
got as an apostle.
He uses the word
strife.
It can be translated
as rivalry
in verse 15 as well.
It's contention
debate
variance
for the sake
of arguing.
It's to struggle
and to vie
for superiority
over others.
You see what
all these have in common
is they're looking
at man.
They're not looking
at the glory
of Christ.
Christ.
In verse 16
he describes
the wrong motives
of selfish ambition.
This was a reference
to political campaigns
in the Roman Empire.
Electioneering.
Partisanship.
Political
self-promotion.
It was the practice
of Roman candidates
for office
who went about
the city
to solicit votes.
Do you get the picture
of what was going on
among these churches
in Rome?
In verse 16
Paul describes
those troublemakers
as insincere.
Preaching Christ
but trying to do it
so that Paul
will suffer even more.
He says
insincerely
to add
to affliction
of my chains.
It means
to be
raising up
even more
accusations
against Paul
to push Paul down.
It's the opposite
of clean
and pure.
In verse 18
he describes
the preaching
as being done
in pretense.
Pretense
is to cloak
or color something
like put makeup
on something
purely for
outward show.
Jesus
spelt this too
and he preached
against it.
In Matthew 23
14 he said
woe to you
scribes and Pharisees
hypocrites
for you devour
the weak
and for a pretense
you make long
public prayers.
Therefore
you will receive
greater
condemnation.
How is it
that this can happen
that so much evil
such evil
motives can be
rewarded
and celebrated
and permitted
within churches
that call themselves
Christian
in the name of
Christ who suffered
and made himself low.
How can this happen?
Well I think
Paul was wrestling
with that very question
and that's what
he cautioned
in that same
last letter
from prison
2 Timothy 2
3
he warned
the time will come
when they
these congregations
people like you
and me
we will endure
sound doctrine
no longer
but instead
according to
our own desires
because we have
itching ears
we will heap up
for ourselves
teachers
that will do
just that.
So we need to
guard against
this church
we're just as
vulnerable
as the early
church was
to this.
I want to
encourage you
in our
constitution
it calls
for vows
for elders
just as
members make
vows to the
congregation.
Here are two
of the questions
that potential
elders are asked
that I believe
get at the heart
of what Paul
is addressing.
Number one
have you been
moved
as far as
you know
your own heart
to seek
the office
of the holy
ministry
from love
to God
and a sincere
desire to
promote
his glory
and the
gospel of
his son.
A potential
elder will
have to stand
here and
vow to you
yes
that's my
motive.
Number two
do you promise
to be zealous
and faithful
in maintaining
the truths
of the gospel
and the purity
the peace
and the unity
of the church
whatever opposition
may arise
unto you
on that account
you must say
I do.
When the evil
motives become
evident
to Christians
we identify
with Christ
in his suffering
and we hunker
down as a
congregation
back to his
word
back to our
purpose
which is
to glorify
and enjoy
God
together.
Amen?
Well those
are the things
I see in this
passage that God
does
as we suffer
in Christ
and I love
how Paul
leaves us
with such
a sweet
taste in the
mouth
in verse
18.
After wrestling
through that
you see what
he asks
rhetorically
he says
what then
what
yes this is
all going
on what are
you going to
do it
in Philippi
what are you
going to do
about it
what am I
going to do
about it
here
in chains
in Rome
what then
and here's
the conclusion
that by the
grace of God
the spirit
taught Paul
I hope he'll
teach this to
me before he
takes me on
to glory
in every way
whether in
pretense or
in truth
Christ
is preached
Christ
not financial
prosperity
nor Christian
nationalism
but Christ
and Christ
alone
must be
preached
Christ
is preached
not legalism
nor licentiousness
but Christ
and Christ
alone
must be
preached
Christ
is preached
not your
works
not God's
grace
plus your
works
but Christ
and Christ
alone
must be
preached
Christ
of the
Nicene
Creed
that we
say
together
and we
have
held
with the
church
ever since
he's the
one
and only
Lord
of the
church
the
promised
one
he is
who we
preach
and Paul
writes
in this
I rejoice
Christ
the God
of God
light
of light
true
God
of true
God
he is
preached
and in
this
I rejoice
Christ
creator of
all
who came
down
who was
made
flesh
he is
preached
and in
Christ
being preached
we rejoice
Christ
who entered
humanity
for us
for our
salvation
he is
preached
freely
to anyone
who will
come
and welcome
come
oh
sinners
and rejoice
Christ
who suffered
died
and rose
again
and ascended
to heaven
he is
preached
he rules
he is
the king
and lord
of all
and we
rejoice
when he is
proclaimed
Christ
is coming
to judge
the living
and the dead
the full
gospel
of Christ
is preached
and we
rejoice
Paul says
in this
I rejoice
yes
and I will
rejoice
every time
I hear
the name
of Jesus
being proclaimed
and preached
I rejoice
and I resolve
I continue
to rejoice
in Christ
because though
I am suffering
I am bound
with chains
as a criminal
the word
of God
is not
bound
so dear
brothers and
sisters
you too
suffer
but suffering
in Christ
does powerful
works through
his people
I encourage
you
through your
suffering
tell of
God's
providence
to others
trust him
to reveal
the life
of God
inside of
you
through your
suffering
to others
I pray
Lord
that as we
suffer
with one
another
bear one
another's
burdens
we cry
together
we pray
together
as we do
that
that we
will be
emboldened
as a
church
we will
identify
even more
with him
in his
suffering
we'll trust
him that
even through
the suffering
somehow
he's advancing
his gospel
purpose
and together
every time
the name
of Jesus
is proclaimed
and named
and prayed
under
we rejoice
together
Psalm 119
71
you can testify
as well
my suffering
was good
for me
because it
taught me
to pay
attention
to the good
Lord
who gives me
his loving
lordship
with Christ
my king
and his law
we settle
we're under
him
we're not
a prisoner
to Rome
we're not
under the
chains
of our
suffering
we're slaves
to Christ
and his
word is
unbound
everyone
suffers
but happy
are you
whom God
teaches
to suffer
in Christ
let's spend
a moment
reflecting
and asking
God to
minister
this truth
to our
hearts