The Gaze of the Saints

from which Cliff just read. 2
Corinthians. We find ourselves still in the
fourth chapter. 2 Corinthians 4. And only by way of the very briefest
overview, we have been looking at this great section of Scripture
that is so clearly focused upon the Christian ministry. The section
began back in chapter 2, verse 12. We are coursing through it
ultimately to chapter 6, verse 10, trying to encompass this
great section that embraces so much about the Christian ministry.
We have seen the bedrock of ministry, the momentum in ministry. We
have looked at the glorious nature of the gospel ministry. the blessings
that come to us as individuals from the gospel ministry. We
looked at the preparation for the gospel ministry that those
that proclaim Christ are to be steeled, as it were, for the
gospel. We also looked at the ineffectiveness
in gospel ministry that Even though it is indeed light divine,
that light divine can and often is obscured, even though it shines,
it shines in the darkness. And there are those that love
darkness more than light. We saw the vessels of ministry,
those in whom is placed this glorious gospel of Christ, those
who are tasked with proclaiming it. Glory in a jar. Glory, as it were, in a humble
vessel that is tasked with proclaiming a glorious message. And finally,
last couple of weeks, we’ve been looking at the grace that is
to the saints, the gospel and the blessings that accrue to
the church itself. And it’s with that and with that
very general backdrop that we come to a major section. in this
great theme that Paul has undertaken there in 2 Corinthians. We come
to a great section that really begins to focus these first ten
verses of chapter five and just append it on there. The last three verses of chapter
four, I’ve often told you, I don’t much care for the chapter breaks.
And this is one of my least favorite in all of Scripture. The chapter
doesn’t break cleanly here at verse 18, but nevertheless, we’ll
pick it up. We’ll try and glue some things
together. But the body is in focus. Life in the body is in
focus. And in a general fashion, you’ve
seen that I’ve given you two titles there, two sermon titles.
In a very general fashion, this great section all the way through
chapter 5, verse 10 might be entitled, Ultimate Fitness. Spiritual
vigor in a physical frame. And that may be the umbrella
under which we park several messages in the next couple of weeks.
not the least of which this sub-message today encompasses the first few
of these verses that is the first view of the body life. The first
view of spiritual life in the midst of a physical frame. And
the first element of that that we’ll consider this morning is
spiritual restoration. Spiritual restoration. If you
would, I want to go back And I want to take this passage in
its entirety, and that’s why I’ve given it to you in full.
This is the focus. This is where we’ll be for the
next several weeks. Next week, perhaps we may be
in a different passage for celebration of Christmas. But in the weeks
to come, this is generally where we’ll be. And if you would, I
want to go back to verse 16 and we’ll take a running start at
it. where Paul writes, therefore,
we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet
our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light
affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far
beyond all comparison. While we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly
tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building
from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed, in this house, we
groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven.
And as much as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed, while we are in this
tent, we groan being burdened because we do not want to be
unclothed but clothed. So that what is mortal will be
swallowed up by life. Now, he who prepared us for this
very purpose is God who gave us gave to us the spirit as a
pledge. Therefore, being always of good
courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we
are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, I say,
and prefer rather to be absent from the body. and to be home
with the Lord. Therefore, we also have as our
ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed
for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether
good or bad. Essentially, Paul says at the
end of the section that we looked at the last couple of Lord’s
days is that perhaps I am dying. That was the illustration that
he used. He says, if I’m dying, so be it. So what if I do? Paul had been talking about continually
dying. Just by way of reminder, point
you back to verse 7 of chapter 4 where Paul says, we have this
treasure, the treasure of the Gospel, in earthen vessels, clay
pots, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be
of God and not from ourselves. And then Paul goes on to talk
about all these things that are happening to him in his clay
pot. Afflicted in every way. Perplexed. Persecuted. Struck down. And
he summarizes that under these words, carrying about, verse
10, always carrying about in the body, that is, in his physical
frame, the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be
manifested in our body. Paul says, in a very real way,
I’m dying. And in a very real way, every one of us from the
day of our birth, we’re dying, some more quickly than others. And Paul says, so if I’m dying,
so be it. Let’s take that illustration
and run with it. That’s what he says. Let’s look at the body.
And for the latter half of chapter 4 and the first 10 verses of
chapter 5, that’s what he does. He wants to look at spiritual
vigor in a physical frame. Spiritual vigor in a physical
frame. But the first thing that he points out, beginning here
in verse 16, is spiritual restoration. We
are in the process already. If you are in Christ, you are
already undergoing a type of renewal, a type of refreshing,
deep and inward, beyond even things that you can perceive
with the eye and with the ear. We are being restored, Paul says. Look back, if you would, at verse
16. That’ll be our starting point
today, and we don’t know exactly how far we’ll get. We’re 16,
therefore, we do not lose heart. This is where Paul started chapter
four, verse one, we do not lose heart and he essentially returns
back to the topic that he’d already introduced, we do not. lose heart. And as we saw there, Paul intends
to point out that he does not quit regardless of whatever persecutions,
regardless of whatever afflictions, whatever difficulties, whatever
frustrations. We do not lose heart. We do not
quit. The word means there to give
in, to lose courage, to behave like a coward, literally to give
in to bad is the word. But it came to mean quitting.
ultimate loss of heart. One pastor characterized this
statement this way. We do not quit, not merely because
we have a glorious ministry. That was Paul’s initial point,
right? In verse 1. And not merely because we have
the knowledge of God, as he said in verse 6. Not merely or even
because, even though we are oppressed and afflicted, we see the blessed
results of our ministry in others. But because of our sorrows and
sufferings, the decay of our mortal body, those things are
just external. And because of that, we do not
quit. There’s life within us, there’s
an uncanny ability to get back on our feet and get back into
the bottle battle. We can’t fail. We will not fail
because God and God’s grace is coursing through us to be used
for his glory, for whatever purpose he designs. Therefore, we do not lose heart. But Paul doesn’t pretend that
he in his physical body is invisible and neither should we. Even in
that section that we considered, Some of those things, being struck
down, is a very physical word. Literally knocked to the ground.
Some of those emotions are very real. Despairing is how we would
put it. Almost despondent, depressed,
down. Paul didn’t hide it, and neither
should we, that our outer man is decaying. And by the outer
man, he ties it in to several words that he’s already used
for this physical frame that we have already. He’s already
referred to the body as earthen vessels, the body, mortal flesh
in chapter 4, verse 7, verse 10 and verse 11. So the outward
man essentially corresponds to all of those. He’s pointing to
our material body. And what he says is this outer
man is decaying and it is a steady and irreversible process. It
is begun and it will not abate. One day, our body will ultimately
fail. One way or another, just as the
Old Testament says repeatedly, time and chance overtakes them
all. I remember when King David was
dying, he said, I am going the way of all the
earth. David didn’t flatter himself
with some lofty notion of somehow bypassing death. I am going the
way of all the earth, this outer man, these earthen vessels, this
mortal flesh, this physical body that we possess is perishable
and perishing. And from the very moment of our
birth, our body begins the process of constant decay. This little
word is a graphic word. It means to be thoroughly corrupted.
We almost don’t have English words to define it. As I said, the process involved
in that verb or the tense of that verb involves a process
that is ongoing and will be completed. You say our body is decaying.
Do we need anecdotes? The other day, I walked home
from the Magnusson’s house. What, maybe 100 feet? 300 feet? By the time I got home,
walking in the cold, my knees were already achy. I bend over
to tie my shoes. I say shoes because I only bend
over if both of them are untied. I bend over to tie both of my
shoes, and by the time I stand up, my back has already seized,
my mind is drifting, and yet I comfort myself with the fact
that I still have my hair, and some wise guy shows up to my
party with a gray wig. Do we need anecdotes? that we are already in the process
of undergoing decay? I don’t think so. In the book
of Ecclesiastes, which passage I have used on a number of occasions
at funerals, there is a beautiful description of this inevitable
process of decay. Let’s just take a minute. Let’s
turn there. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 12. probably in the clean part of
your Bible, Ecclesiastes 12. Look at the first seven verses
with me and tell me, perhaps even with groans, when I strike
a nerve. Remember your Creator, He says. And essentially what He does
is call out to everyone who is within earshot to listen and
heed while they can. Remember also your Creator in
the days of your youth before the evil days come. And the years
draw near when you will say, I have no delight in them. It’s
not. It’s not news to any of us to
see those in advanced years struggling and even despairing of life itself.
Before the sun, he says, the light in the moon and the stars
are darkened and they’re not darkened for everyone. The clouds
return after the rain one day is just more depressing than
the next. In the day that the watchmen
on the house tremble, the mighty men stoop, the grinding one stands
idle because they are few and those who look through the windows
grow dim and the doors on the street are shut as the sound
of the grinding mill is low. All of these are incredible images
of the decaying nature of the human frame. And one will arise
at the sound of the bird. All the daughters of song will
sing softly. Furthermore, men are afraid of
a high place and terrors on the road. The almond tree blossoms. The grasshopper drags himself
along. The caperberry is ineffective.
For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the
street. We are all in the process of this decay already and everything
continues in some kind of crass oblivion. Remember him. He says in verse six, before
the silver cord is broken, life itself, before the golden bowl
is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered, the wheel
at the cistern is crushed, then dust will return to the earth
as it was. And the spirit will return to
God who gave it. Paul says our outer man is decaying
and none of us would argue a bit with that. But the surprise comes in the
context of that statement. Therefore, we do not lose heart. No one enjoys this process, this
process of aging and taking pills that you cannot pronounce for
things that you cannot see, for remedies that do not seem to
come. But Paul says, therefore, we do not
lose heart. But though our outer man is decaying, Yet our inner
man is being renewed day by day. By the inner man, Paul lays upon
a phrase that is always used in a good sense in Scripture.
It’s that part of us that by God’s grace is over against worldliness. It is rooted in God. It speaks of the highest part
of our immaterial being, the part of us that is home to the
Holy Spirit, ruled by God Himself. It is our inner nature, the inner
man. This little expression isn’t
so much about anatomy and psychology and all those other things, it’s
the hidden part of us that people can’t see. It’s absolutely inaccessible
to other people’s analysis and scrutiny. They cannot see our
heart and soul. But it is that very part of us,
the heart and the soul that lives forever. In salvation, it’s reborn,
given new life, newly created. We become new creatures in Christ. We don’t get new physical bodies
at that point in time. Yet, Paul says this inward part
of us is constantly being renewed. Constantly by the sanctifying
grace of God, we are constantly being renewed day by day, built
up little by little. Paul says the inner man is being
renewed. This little verb doesn’t necessarily
mean something that had perished and now has to be rebuilt from
scratch, but something that is in the process of being made
just as good as new. Paul uses the word repeatedly
in Scripture. Romans 12.2, Do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Constantly retraining the mind,
nourishing it in God’s words. Be transformed by the renewing
of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is.
That which is good and acceptable and perfect. Titus 3.5, which
passage we looked at in view of the elections. He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy by the washing of regeneration and
renewing by the Holy Spirit. That’s where it started. It started
with God. God does that work by His Spirit
in our heart and soul. That’s where it begins. And it
ends in glory. One said it this way, in the
case of the physical powers, there is a ceaseless wearing
away under the pressure of hard work, ill health, anxiety, persecution. Yet in the spiritual powers,
there is a ceaseless increase of strength. The one process,
in spite of frequent divine deliverances, ultimately must end in death.
The other, by divine decree, ultimately ends in eternal life. And it’s God that did it. Therefore, Paul says, we do not
lose heart. But though our outer man is decaying,
yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. And what he points to there is
the progressive nature and the ultimate nature of that kind
of renewal. There isn’t any stoppage of the
work of God in our hearts and lives. Each day shows a little
bit of advance. By God’s grace, we are further
along the path of Christ likeness now than we were a year ago at
this time. That’s what makes apostasy and
backsliding and all those other sinful tendencies so despicable
is it isn’t a lack of God. It’s not because we lack the
Spirit dwelling within us, making every effort to renew us day
by day. Paul is talking about this great
Christian reality. The beautiful and remarkable
fact that growth, spiritual growth, can be ultimately evident to
everyone around us Even in the midst of outward decay, isn’t
it true that each one of us, some of the saintliest Christians
we’ve ever known, are the aged and infirm, even decrepit saints. Who, though their body has literally
wasted away. Proclaim Christ with more vigor
than a dozen men, a quarter of their age. But this spiritual renewal doesn’t
come by accident. That’s Paul’s point in this first
great section. It doesn’t come by accident.
It comes by the sanctifying grace of God as we direct all of our
faculties to a great and spiritual goal. We fix our gaze on Christ. We turn our view, our perspective
to heavenly things As believers, we begin to focus on heaven and
heavenly things, eternal things. Our interests now are changed.
Our desires are changed. Our perspective changes. It must. Our focus is shifted from the
mundane things of earth to the gloriously unspeakable things
of heaven. The Christian has a reformation. A reformation in his focal points
His goals are different now. And it is to these focal points
to which the apostle now turns. I told you there was one great
message. To this passage. We are in the
midst of that first section of the great message, but we turn
our attention to the subset where Paul turns to the focal points
of what I would call the heavenward Christians. Those who believe
in Jesus Christ, the gaze, if you will, of the saints. What
do we look at? What do we look to? What do we
look for? First of all, the Christians’ eyes look to
a wealth of glory. A wealth of glory. gives the reason in giving the
reason here in verse 17 for his statement there in verse 16.
He says it this way for momentary light affliction is producing
for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Our
inner man is being renewed day by day, and the support for that
comes in verses 17 and 18. Paul says this affliction is
what’s doing it. This affliction is what is eroding
away the outward flesh, but inwardly restoring to me an eternal weight
of glory. Paul puts several things side
by side, things that are present next to the things that are to
come, the momentary next to the things that are eternal, the
light things next to the weighty things, the affliction next to
the glory. Paul sets in relief many of these
terms. But first and foremost, he says
affliction is accomplishing these. Affliction. We’ve seen the word
before. We’ve seen it many times in our
study of various books. It’s one of Paul’s favorites.
Flipsis. Talks of pressure. Oppression,
ultimately. Affliction. Tribulation. It literally
means pressure to be squeezed into a tight space. And it may not surprise that
this is the language of birth giving. No ground, no support
is presented here for any kind of doctrine of merit. Paul isn’t
saying if we only just go out and suffer, we’re going to get
an extra measure of glory. There are those in history that
have believed that. There are those that have sought
through asceticism to add to their own afflictions by way
of increasing, so they thought, their glory. There isn’t any
proof, at least in this verse, that simply by suffering we build
ourselves up a storehouse of glory. Paul’s design here is
to extol the magnitude, the inexpressible magnitude of God’s grace. And so far from it being given
to us because we deserve it, because we’ve earned it through
our many afflictions, even if self-imposed is unthinkable. Paul isn’t even saying that suffering
is necessarily productive of glory. It’s not suffering in
itself, as one said. It’s therefore not all suffering
which has this effect. It’s not self-afflicted suffering.
We go out and harm ourselves. It’s not punishment that we deserve,
but only those sufferings which are endured for Christ’s sake or when they are imposed Because
of our faith, they are sustained with a Christian spirit. It’s
those kinds of sufferings. Paul knew. When Paul was dispatched,
he knew that he was going to take on these kinds of sufferings.
Acts 16, God said, I will show him how much he will suffer for
My name’s sake. I will put him in a vice. God’s people know this suffering
well. God’s people don’t shy away from
this suffering. God’s people don’t get caught
off guard. We learn to expect it. First
Peter 1.6, And this, you greatly rejoice, even though now for
a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various
trials. And that word, remember, as we
looked at it, many colored. There are as many kinds of colors
as there are people and infinitely more. Which so often makes counsel
so much like Job’s friend’s counsel. We pretend to think that we know
what people are going through and we can’t even really define
what it is, what pressure they’re under. What stresses and trials,
what various trial they’re under. 1 Peter 4.13, later on, he addresses
the same thing. To the degree that you share
the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. Matthew 5.12, the words of Christ. Rejoice and be glad for your
reward in heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were… These things don’t catch believers
off guard. They’re not supposed to. They’re
by God’s design. And yet, Paul himself characterizes
these difficult things called pressure, trapped between two
ever-closing, ever-tightening walls. Paul calls momentary and
light. Momentary light affliction. When it talks about momentary,
it just talks about the shortness in light of eternity. The shortness
of time in the present in light of eternity. We have a tendency to think of
glory as this fleeting thing and affliction as this long-lasting
thing. But Paul, in a very real way,
turns it around and he says, no, it’s the other way around. Glory is what is enduring. These
afflictions are just fleeting. They’re here today and they’re
gone tomorrow. And here, too, the imagery of the woman in childbearing comes
to mind where in such great agony, the child is brought forth and
no sooner is the child presented to the mother, the agony is passed
and the glory and the joy flood. Paul calls a momentary and he
calls them light. This is what I was going through
was really, you know, not a big deal. And yet Paul is writing
in the midst of real suffering. And just because he calls it
light doesn’t mean that we can conclude that those trials and
difficulty that he was undergoing were inconsequential. On the contrary, they were exceptionally
severe. There were almost unremitting
during the entire course of Paul’s ministry. I didn’t plan it this
way. But Cliff’s very capable contextualization
of that little section today is the exact verse that I have
before me. Are they servants of Christ?
Paul said, I speak as if insane, I more so in far more labors
He says, do you see anyone out there with his sleeves rolled
up, laboring for the sake of the gospel more than I? In far
more imprisonments, even currently, beaten times without number,
often in danger of death, five times I received from the Jews
thirty-nine lashes. I love the way Cliff’s version
said it. forty minus one. That was designed
that thirty nine lashes was designed as some kind of a mockery to
the beating. Forty was designed to deliver
death. And so they said forty minus
one. And if you live through it, so be it. Five times. Five times he received
from the Jews thirty nine lashes. Three times he was beaten with
rods. Absolutely designed to kill.
Once I was stoned, the very means of execution. Three times I was
shipwrecked. In our own day and age, we practically
make a saint of the unsinkable Molly Brown. She only went through
it twice. A night and a day I have spent
in the deep. I’ve been on frequent journeys
and he isn’t talking about vacation. in danger from rivers, danger
from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the
Gentiles, dangers in the city. If you think the city is bad,
danger is in the wilderness. The wilderness is worse. Danger
is on the sea. Danger is among false brethren.
I’ve been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights
and hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure. And on top of all of that, he
says, the daily pressure of his concern for all the churches. Paul’s trials and tribulations
were exceedingly great. As one characterized it, he was
poor, often without food or clothing. His body was weak and sickly.
He was homeless. He was beset by cruel enemies.
He was repeatedly counted as the scourge of the earth. He
was beyond measure harassed by anxieties and cares and by the
opposition of false teachers, the corruption of the churches.
These afflictions were exceedingly great. He was pressed out of
measure, above strength, so that he despaired even of life. He did not regard these afflictions
as trifles, nor did he bear them with a stoical indifference.
As Job’s friends might have urged him, Paul felt the full pressure. Paul felt the full weight of
these afflictions and difficulties. But Paul does say that in the
midst of all this suffering, in the midst of all this affliction,
there is a payoff. And the payoff comes from God
because look at verse 17 again. Momentary light affliction is
producing It’s productive. It benefits something. This is
one of I mean, Paul has a lot of favorite words. This is one
of his very favorite. It is a it’s an active, energetic,
very graphic word. to produce something, to affect
something, to really do something, to accomplish and produce and
prepare. That’s the meaning of this word. It’s used by Paul in Philippians chapter 2, which
passage we looked at some time ago. Remember the book of Philippians?
Philippians 2, verse 12, So then, my beloved, just as you have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Make
it productive. Be a producer. Ephesians 6, verse 13, take up
the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in
the evil day, having done everything to stand firm. Don’t just ride
the waves of life. Momentary light affliction is
producing for us. God is actively at work in us
and He’s going to do something in our souls. Momentary light
affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far
beyond all comparison. When Paul says it’s eternal,
he points to just this indefinite period of time, it just talks
about the immeasurableness of eternity. An eternal, everlasting, unmeasurable
weight of glory. He’s just grasping at words,
piling up words. One of which is almost untranslatable. Another one of Paul’s favorite
words is huperbole. I remember we talked a couple
of weeks ago about how Paul likes to add words to words. He likes
those compound words. He likes to say that things superabound. That’s the case here in this
passage. This word he uses so frequently. The commandment so that the commandment
would sin would become utterly sinful. That’s the nature of
the word that he uses. Second Corinthians, twelve thirty
one, I will still show you still a more excellent, super abundant
way. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels so that the surpassing, the superabundant greatness of
the power will be of God and not of us. But what Paul does is he piles
this term back to back together, literally superabundant into
superabundance, excess into excess. An eternal weight of glory is
just an English attempt to take a stab at this word, at this
string of words. Paul is grasping at words to
point out the glorious nature of the work that God has already
begun in our hearts and lives. There’s a similar Hebrews saying in Genesis
7, 7, 19, the water prevailed more and more upon the earth
so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens
were covered. It just was piled grace upon grace and water upon
water here in this passage. And Paul says the glory was just
heaped up. Paul’s thoughts. Go beyond quickly
beyond merely the perseverance and trials to the glory that
is behind them, the glory that is to be enjoyed because of them.
He told the Philippians the same thing in this. You greatly rejoice,
even though now for a little while you’ve been. Pardon me,
Peter said, even now you’ve been distressed by various trials,
the graces and the glory is heaping up. Romans 8, Paul said it this way,
consider the sufferings of the present time not worthy to be
compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. It echoes
his very thoughts. Second Corinthians chapter three,
when we looked at the glory of God, Paul said it just in such a poignant
way that he was he was so touched and so overwhelmed with the glory
that he was facing. The ministry of the spirit attending
with glory and glory seems to be in view during the course
of this whole section on ministry, doesn’t it? One pastor said it this way,
we are more accustomed to attribute weight to affliction rather than
to glory. But the Apostle turns it about.
The simple and common idea of scales is in his mind, weighed
against one another. The glory goes down and the affliction
kicks up. All the daily wear and tear of
life with its losses and sicknesses and sufferings is as nothing. And the result of the comparison
would be as if the scales were completely empty. Paul says,
you know what? All these troubles and trials,
this affliction, it doesn’t count for a thing. It doesn’t compare
at all compared to the glory that God is bestowing upon us. Another said it this way, Christian
suffering protracted as it may be, and isn’t it often? I was reminded of a dear brother
in Christ who much of his life has been spent utterly bedridden.
And yet, in the midst of that, all he can do and all he can
speak about is heavenly glory and the privilege to know and
be with Christ. Christian suffering, protracted
as it may be, is only for this present life. which when compared
with the everlasting ages, the glory which is to which it is
leading is but a passing moment. Affliction for Christ’s sake,
however crushing it may seem, is in fact light. It is a weightless
trifle when it is weighed against the mass of the Christians inherited
glory. The first and foremost thing
that the Christian has in his view, in his focus, is the wealth
of glory that is his, not by virtue of his suffering necessarily,
but by virtue of the fact that he is a child of God and a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what we go to proclaim.
We go to proclaim to others to come and to join, to place their
faith in Christ, to consider the child that God has provided,
the Savior that born as a child that grew up, grew up to take
our sin and to bear our sin on the cross. We have a great privilege in
doing so. It’s not like there’s a limited supply of glory. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, we humble
ourselves at your feet. Knowing, Father, that there are
many of us who experience a great variety of affliction, and if
they haven’t already, they will. And Lord, because of eternity
in view, because of the glory, the. Surpassing greatness of
that glory. Lord, we we look upon these afflictions
that we have much like what Paul did. Almost silly and light to
even mention compared to the fact that one day there will
be timeless grace and glory. in unchecked abundance for each.
Father, grant us that grace as we go out tonight to proclaim
our Lord Jesus, to sing his praise, and in so doing, to proclaim
to all who hear the greatness of the God that we serve, the thoroughness of the sacrifice
that Christ paid. Father, we pray and plead with
you May some come to know our Savior because of the activity
even tonight. We thank you and praise you.
It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray, Amen.