Who Can Finish This Life Well?

God's Word, Philippians 1, verses 18 through 26.

Philippians 1:18–26

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out from my deliverance through your prayer

and the supply of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed.

But with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

But if I live on in my flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor.

Yet what shall I choose? I cannot tell, for I am hard-pressed between the two,

having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and the joy of faith.

That your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

O Holy Spirit, please magnify Christ.

Lord, please open our eyes to see your glory.

To see our King Jesus alive, working, leading, ministering, and advancing his own kingdom.

For your glory we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I know several of you, like me, have been wrestling these weeks with the fall to sin or the disclosure of hidden secret sins of some Christians who are very well known.

So my sermon title today from this text is, Who Can Finish This Life Well?

I've shared with you before, and it continues to be true.

One of my greatest fears is that I would fall and bring shame to Christ in his name.

I know many of our men have shared that as well.

And we don't trust ourselves.

We need the Lord to preserve us every day that we're alive.

Who can finish this life well?

You probably heard that as Paul's focus in that passage I just read.

He's afraid of bringing shame.

And he wants Christ to be magnified.

And he's got his own imminent death in view.

Can Paul finish this life well?

Without bringing shame to Christ?

That's what's troubling him as well.

My encouragement to you in two short sentences is this.

Who can finish this life well?

Some don't.

You can.

And I would like to walk through these phrases, really.

Just these couple verses.

And do our best to get at the meaning of the Holy Spirit as he inspired and breathed out these words for the church.

My first observation is this.

To finish well, feed what you feel with what you know.

To finish well, feed what you're feeling.

Feed that with what you know.

Paul has a Christ-redeemed view of what has happened.

I think verse 18 could very easily be divided into two verses.

He had just talked about how you look at the church all around and you see the evil motives exposed.

He says,

What then?

Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached.

And in this, I rejoice.

And that's where we left off last week.

He has a Christ-redeemed view of what has happened in the past.

But then I think that next phrase, he shifts his focus to what will happen in the future.

He says,

Yes, and I shall rejoice.

I look back at the confusion within the church, what's visible.

And I choose to rejoice when Christ is preached.

Now, looking forward, I shall rejoice.

It's a simple future verb.

Nothing extra bold or confident.

And it's simply a statement of fact.

Looking forward, not knowing what will come.

I shall continue to rejoice.

He says,

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance.

Well, we've been seeing how Paul went and preached in Jerusalem, how he was also one misleading people,

and he was arrested and attached to a chain to a Roman soldier ever since.

And most likely, his trial has several parts.

He's not yet faced Caesar for the final verdict.

But he has reason to be hopeful.

As we read in our passage, he still has an inclination he might get to see the Philippians again and be released.

But he's also not very certain.

He's sending his letter through others.

He might not get to see them.

But what he does know in verse 19 is that in this,

no matter what comes of this,

it will turn out for my deliverance.

Well, what is it that is Paul's true fear here?

He doesn't know if he's going to live or die.

There's only one thing keeping that sharp blade of an iron axe from his sensitive skin on his neck.

And that's the whim of the emperor.

He says, I shall rejoice for I know.

His rejoicing is tied to his feeling.

To what he knows.

He says, I shall rejoice.

This will be my experience as a Christian.

I shall in the future.

I shall experience rejoicing.

For I know.

Someone said it's like an umbilical cord.

You know, the umbilical cord ties that baby as it comes out of the mother's womb.

And inside the womb, this little cord into the belly button provides the food for the baby to live.

His rejoicing is fed through this umbilical cord of what he knows.

It's not rooted in a mood.

And it's also not rooted in his own stoic resolve by his own flesh and power.

It's not.

It's through the knowledge that God gives him through the word.

That's what feeds his rejoicing.

Christian joy is only fueled by true Christian doctrine.

To know God through his word.

That's what feeds true Christian joy and true Christian experience.

Now, it's possible to have a lot of knowledge about God.

And to have no experience of God.

Someone said there's there's one foot that will keep you from heaven.

It's that distance between the head and the heart.

If you know God only in your head, but not in your heart, you don't know God.

It's possible, Al Martin commented, to possess Christian truth without feeling.

Whatever you think you know of God, if he has not shattered your heart and filled it with his own holy presence, then you don't know him savingly.

But the other is also true that it's impossible to feel a genuine Christian experience without knowledge.

See, first, the light of Christ comes through your head.

You hear the gospel.

And this is good news for you, too.

And that light of Christ coming in through your understanding.

It warms your heart.

It's light and fire.

That's what it is to be a Christian.

Paul says, I shall rejoice for I know what I know will not be taken away from me.

And I know that one way or the other, Christ will be magnified.

That's his focus.

You might wonder like me, well, is he referring here to the what I know?

Is it that he will have confidence?

He will have boldness.

He will have the strength in the worst of temptations.

Those are more the gifts.

Or does he know that it's the spirit of Christ that will be supplied?

And the answer is you can't separate the gifts, strength, boldness, confidence from the giver.

If you have the spirit of God through Christ, you receive all of his gifts.

And the giver is never separated from his gifts.

So your confidence comes from knowing that Christ dwells in you by his Holy Spirit.

And you can rejoice only when you have Christ.

So to finish well, feed what you feel with what you know.

Number two, you'll want to walk out this life well.

If you think of what you are stepping into next.

You'll want to walk out the very last steps, even if it's with a limp in this life.

If you think about what you are stepping into in the next life.

In verse 19, he says, yes, I shall rejoice for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance.

Do you remember in 2 Timothy 4.13, how Paul wrote to Timothy and he said,

When you come, bring my cloak and my books, especially the parchments.

You remember that?

And that was about two years later.

That's at the end of his time in prison.

Paul wants the word of God with him and the books explaining the truth of God to help keep feeding him,

feeding his soul and his feelings.

His body is cold.

He needs a cloak.

But it's the truth of God that keeps ministering to him.

And even though Philippians is written much before that,

Paul most likely had some portions of scripture or he had it memorized in his head and in his heart.

Because when he says this phrase in verse 19,

This will turn out for my deliverance.

He's quoting from the Greek Old Testament.

That's a word for word for Job 13.16.

So Job, that's the book about the man who lost everything unjustly.

And he's wrestling with the goodness of God.

You think about Paul studying the book of Job for this time of imprisonment,

this time of final trials and the suffering in his body.

And he's quoting back to the church from the Old Testament what God used to minister to him.

This will turn out for your deliverance.

That phrase will turn out, that verb, it literally means to come down from.

As in coming down from a ship.

So here he is in Rome, you know, ships are coming and going.

They're carrying merchandise all over the world.

And you see people coming down from a ship onto shore.

That same verb is used in John 21.9 where it says,

As soon as they had come down onto the land,

they saw Jesus who had prepared a breakfast for them with fish and bread.

You remember that story?

So here's the word picture.

Paul's on the ship over which he has no control.

And it's the last years of his life.

But he knows when I get off of this ship, of this vessel, this life,

I'm stepping onto the shore of the kingdom of heaven.

And he's keeping that in the forefront of his mind.

This ride that I'm on now that I have no control over in this life.

When I step off of this,

I'm stepping into paradise with Jesus Christ.

And that gives you strength to forbear and to long suffer.

You know what you're stepping onto next.

Our confession of faith speaks of the perseverance of the saints.

Really, if you look at how it's worded,

a better description is the preservation of the saints.

God preserves his people to the very end.

Listen to this wording from 1689.

The same God who first called you continues to still call you.

And he begets in you and nourishes in you more faith,

more repentance, more love, more joy, more hope,

and all the graces of the spirit until your immortality.

God provides all of that.

He's the one who birthed those graces in you.

He's the one who will continue supplying you with them.

And though many storms and floods arise and beat against them,

you who are saved by Christ in no way shall ever be able to be taken off of that foundation and rock

upon which by faith you are fastened.

Let that come for you.

Christ, he's the one who went on ahead and he's waiting for you on the rock of paradise.

And you're fastened to him by faith.

And he's the one pulling you and preserving you and supplying you everything you need.

And the storms and the winds and the destruction of the waves,

it's pounding this vessel.

But Christ is the one pulling you and he is a rock.

He will pull you all the way to the end.

When Paul says,

This will turn out for my deliverance.

This word deliverance can be translated as deliverance,

but mostly it's translated over 40 times in the New Testament as salvation.

The exact same word.

This will turn out for my salvation.

It can refer to deliverance from enemies,

but it can also be more broad.

It can refer to health and well-being of preservation.

That which concludes to the soul's safety.

Future blessings in Christ for eternity.

All of this, this ride,

it will turn out for my final salvation in Christ.

What does Paul have in view?

Well, we read in Acts 4.12,

what the Holy Spirit poured out on all the churches is proclaiming

through the early church and through Paul.

Acts 4.12 is this salvation is none other than Christ,

for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

And this, even these trials will turn out for my salvation in Christ.

Our confession goes on to say in the same chapter,

the sensible light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from you.

Some of you shared with me even this morning,

you're in a time where prayer is cold.

The goodness of God seems clouded.

His light raised to warm you don't seem to be reaching you.

The trials of life,

our own faith that's so weak,

and the temptations of Satan,

they can obscure the good, strong, preserving hand of God from us.

It can be hard to feel that sometimes, can't it?

But the scripture confirms,

as our confession captures,

that you shall be sure to be kept

by the power of God

unto your final salvation,

because Christ purchased you

as his own possession.

He engraved you

upon the palm of his hands,

and before time,

God wrote your name

in the book of life.

He will preserve you to the very end.

He is longing for you to be with him,

and he's preparing your soul for eternity.

So you will want to walk out this life well

if you think of what you're stepping into next.

Number three,

to finish well,

you and I need two things.

To finish well,

we need prayers

and the supply of the Spirit

to empower us.

To finish well,

you and I need prayers

and we need the supply of the Spirit

to empower us

to finish well.

That's what Paul states in verse 19.

He says,

through your prayer

and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

all of this will turn out

to magnify Christ

and for my salvation.

Through your prayer, church.

What is prayer?

Our catechism says,

prayer is an offering up

of our desires to God

for things agreeable to his will

in the name of Jesus Christ

with the confession of our sins

and thankful acknowledgement

of his mercies.

That's what prayer is.

And Paul says to the church,

to this congregation,

through your prayer.

prayer.

Your is second person plural.

Collectively.

All of you together praying.

And the word prayer

is in the singular.

Through collective prayer

of the church,

offering up one prayer together,

one voice to God

for God's kingdom to advance.

It's the efficacy

of congregational intercession.

It's a body

locally gathered,

in person,

together,

supplicating,

asking,

crying out our desires

to God

with boldness,

one voice

lifted up,

one spirit

in the name

of Jesus Christ

because we stand

forgiven by him

and we're praying

out of gratitude,

out of the abundance

of joy

and confidence

we have

that Christ's kingdom

is advancing.

And he says

it's through your prayer

and the supply

of the spirit

of Jesus Christ.

One Greek scholar

said if we didn't have

all the rest of the Bible

to inform this

doctrine of prayer

and how God works,

with only this verse,

we would be,

we would have to believe

and conclude

that the spirit

only supplies

that for which we pray.

I mean,

he could not have linked

congregational prayer

and the supply

of the spirit

more closely

than he did here.

And how he used

the language

under the inspiration

of the spirit.

What does he mean

by the supply

of the spirit?

The supply

of the spirit.

The ESV

and the Christian

Standard Bible

translate this

as the help

of the spirit.

The NIV

translates it

as God's provision

through the spirit.

He says it's

the spirit

of Christ.

In Ephesians 4.16

he describes

how the whole body

joined and knit together

by what every joint

supplies.

The same word there.

Supplies for the whole body

to function.

So what does

this supply mean?

In Roman literature,

this word was used

to describe

providing all

that would be needed

for the housing,

the food,

the clothing,

and all of the other needs

of generous supply

for a choir

that would serve

in a Roman theater.

So you picture

this troupe

that sings together

all the different parts

in harmony,

a glorious production.

They're one unit,

one voice,

and you have

a great patron

that has plenty of money

and he's going to supply

all that they need

to be able to exercise

that gift

and sing together

as one voice.

Isn't that a beautiful picture

for congregational prayer?

fully supplied

by the Spirit

to use the gifts

he's given

to sing out

the melody

of the gospel.

And you probably

picked up on this

and our focus

has been Trinitarian

this morning.

He calls it

the Spirit

of Jesus Christ.

From the one God

proceeds the Son.

The Son

ascended to the right hand

of the Father Almighty

and he pours out

and from Father and Son

proceed the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit

acts in a different,

a more powerful,

more abundant way

in the New Covenant

than in the Old.

The Spirit

of Jesus Christ Himself

with His people.

And through the Spirit

of Jesus Christ

the Church receives

a full provision

of strength.

The more I've thought

about what this means,

the Spirit of Christ

poured out for the church.

I've come to the conclusion,

I'd love to hear

your thoughts.

The finished work

of Jesus Christ

is what secures

the blessings

that the church needs.

So,

the Spirit of Christ

specifically has in view

the active obedience

of Christ

on our behalf

now applied to us

as the energizing

strength and power

that we need

to walk

as His people.

in other words,

Jesus Christ

came without

any help.

We have the Holy Spirit,

the help,

the provision,

the supply,

and Christ came

without the curse of sin

and with the help

of the Holy Spirit

but no help external,

no help from any man.

And He accomplished

what we need.

His life

was tested

and He proved

powerfully

in the flesh

that all that God

requires of righteousness

He has fulfilled

and He will now

supply

the righteousness

that He accomplished

in His life

to the church

to use all of our gifts

for His glory.

Paul had tasted this.

He had experienced

what this was.

by His own flesh

He was

dragging out Christians

throwing them

into prison

and beating them.

He thought

He was serving God

according to His flesh.

And now

the opposite

has happened.

Paul is the one

drug away

undressively

tried

and thrown in prison.

And where He is weak

the Holy Spirit

is strong.

And in His weakness

He's seen God

minister to the

Praetorian Guard

to give Him

an audience

before Caesar himself

and He's proclaiming

the gospel

of Christ

in Rome.

And how did He get there?

What was the path?

It was the path

of the cross.

It was strengthened

by the Spirit

of Christ

that as He suffers

and gets pressed

lower and lower

and lower

and squeezed

tighter and tighter

more of Christ

came out of Him

for the glory of God.

This is a hard thing

for me to apply

and encourage you with

because

we're a small enough

congregation

I know

some of the hard things

that our congregation

is going through

right now.

But the same Holy Spirit

that gave Paul

this strength

that Spirit

dwells

in every true believer.

And because Christ

is the one

who has walked

that path

of the cross

and it's the Spirit

of Christ

what you feel

you are not strong

enough to endure

any longer

the Spirit

of Christ

promises to supply

you

whatsoever

God

ordains

for your life.

And I know

right now

there are some

hard things

that our body

is going through.

To finish well

you and I

need prayers.

We need to pray

for one another

and we need to pray

specifically

that God

will supply

the Spirit

of Christ

to one another

in those hard trials

we're enduring.

Number four

to finish well

beware of your own

weakness

and fix

your hope

on God's grace.

To finish well

beware of your own

weakness

and fix your hope

on God's grace.

I believe that's what

Paul does in verse 20.

Paul says in verse 20

according to my

earnest expectation

and hope

Christ will be

magnified.

Let's look at these words

earnest expectation

it's to wait eagerly

with your neck

outstretched.

You know what this is like

if you've been around

little kids

and they haven't seen you

for a while

come up to that window

and stretching the neck out

just can't wait to see you

when you're coming back.

Earnest expectation

that Christ

will be magnified.

What does that look

in our lives

to live a life

earnestly expecting

Christ to be magnified?

Watching to see

how he's going to do it next.

Peeking out the window.

I hear the story

in a person's life

I don't know

what's going to come next.

When the page turns

what's the next chapter?

How will it read?

I don't know.

I'm going to pray

for the supply of the spirit

and I'm going to earnestly

expect it.

I'm going to try

to watch very carefully

and see how Christ

will magnify himself

in what seems

to be impossible.

In the word hope

confident faith

that God will provide

all that he

has promised.

See when your hope

is in the grace of God

you will never

be disappointed.

Grace has been

the theme all along

hasn't it?

Paul keeps repeating

the name of Jesus Christ

and the grace of God.

That's what he fixes

his hope on

and he will not

be disappointed.

The source of hope

is fixed

on Christ

and his grace.

Well I said

to finish well

you need to beware

of your own weakness.

See the first thing

Paul says

in verse 20

is in the negative.

He says

it's my earnest

expectation and hope

that in nothing

I shall be ashamed.

In nothing

I shall be ashamed.

The word ashamed

means disfigured.

No matter what happens

I don't want my face

to get distorted.

I don't want to get

bent out of shape

over whatever

happens to me.

And his real fear

is that he would

not bear witness

faithfully

of Christ.

That he would

disgrace

his Savior

in his final

moment of testing.

1 Corinthians 2

23

Paul wrote

we preach

Christ

crucified

to the Jews

this is a

stumbling block

and to the Greeks

it's foolishness.

And here he is

in the capital

in Rome

itself

proclaiming

Christ

crucified

knowing that

to their ears

this is utter

foolishness.

But in Romans

1 16

Paul wrote

I am not

ashamed

of the gospel

it is the power

of God

to save.

So we get

this insight

that from his letters

Paul is very

worried about this

he knows it sounds

like utter foolishness

but yet

the spirit

helps him

to not be ashamed

and to continue

proclaiming

Christ

and him

crucified.

To finish well

beware

of your own

weakness.

Paul does not

want to bring shame

to the glory

of God

he admits that

to the congregation

he asks for their

prayers

and he counts

on them

and then put

positively

to finish well

we need to fix

our hope

on God's

grace.

That's what he

says next

he says

with all boldness

as always

so now also

I have confidence

that he who began

a gracious work

in me

will complete it

until the day

of Jesus Christ.

We saw that

earlier in Philippians

in 2 Corinthians

12 9

he said

my grace

the words of

Jesus to Paul

my grace

is sufficient

for you

and in Hebrews

4 16

he speaks

of this boldness

this confidence

he says

we go boldly

to the throne

of grace

and we obtain

mercy

and find grace

to help

in time

of need

he's fixed

his hope

not on his own

strength

he's aware

of his weakness

but his hope

is fixed

on the grace

of God

in this life

there's a battle

this battle

is described

in Romans 17

as the experience

of every Christian

I'm sorry

Romans 7

it's the battle

between the remaining

sin in our flesh

and the battle

between the spirit

of God

inside of us

our confession

says that

in this war

between your

renewed spirit

and the sin

that lingers

in your flesh

although that

remaining corruption

for a time

may much prevail

and yet

through the

continual supply

of strength

from the

sanctifying spirit

of Christ

the regenerate

soul

in your inner

being

does overcome

and so who

God's

saints

do grow

in grace

God perfects

his holiness

in you

he energizes

you to press

after the heavenly

life

and to continue

growing

in evangelical

obedience

to all the

commands

which Christ

as head

and king

in his word

has prescribed

to his people

to finish well

beware of your

weakness

this battle

will not stop

until you take

your last breath

but have confidence

and fix your hope

not on your strength

but on the grace

of God

his grace

his strength

his energy

will be with you

till the very last day

in the part

of your soul

that he has

regenerated

and he's working

that out

to the rest

of your life

that part

will overcome

by his grace

my fifth

and final heading

is that to finish

well in

this life

ask for that

same grace

to magnify

Christ in you

more and more

you will finish

well if you live

by his grace

more and more

to magnify

Christ

in verse 20

he says

my prayer

is that Christ

will be magnified

specifically

he says

in my body

Paul had hopes

of still visiting

Spain

he's going to

continue to write

letters from prison

and he's going to

continue praying

for the advance

of God's kingdom

he's resolved

these things

however many days

or years

he has left

so he's praying

that Christ

will be magnified

in his body

in Acts 20

24

Paul said

I do not

count my life

dear to myself

so that I may

finish the race

with joy

and the ministry

which I have received

from the Lord Jesus

which is to testify

to the gospel

of the grace

of God

and he prays

that God

will be magnified

in his body

in life

so our life

is not our own

we belong

body and soul

to our faithful

Savior Jesus Christ

and if he has you

alive

so that you can

magnify him

he stirs your heart

to think of someone

in the church

someone in your life

a loved one

who you need

to pray for

you need to ask

for the supply

of the spirit

for them

and he wants

to bring opportunities

for you to show

the love of Christ

and to tell others

of your Savior

who lives in you

you magnify Christ

by your life

but here Paul

is also very aware

that his death

might be around

the corner

most likely

when he says

that Christ

will be magnified

in my body

that's what he's

thinking the most

about right now

and he wants

the church to know

don't be anxious

about anything

dear church

if my head

rolls off

of my body

into that basket

you can know

that it came

off the body

of a rejoicing

man

who wants Christ

to be magnified

and that I'm

with him

Romans 6 5

says we have

already become

united with Christ

in the likeness

of his death

so every day

he gives us

to live and breathe

it's for his purpose

for his glory

to be magnified

in you

we don't fear

death

like the world

fears death

we're already

spiritually united

to Christ

in his death

and united to him

in his resurrection

I learned from

our congregation

this week

of a family

crippled by death

the thought of death

the anxiety

medication

unable to do

normal life activities

with such a fear

of death

such hopelessness

I love how

this Puritan

explained the contrast

Thomas Brooks

we should lament

over that dead man

or dead woman

whom hell

harbors

whom the devil

devours

whom divine justice

torments

we should lament

and we should be

earnest to proclaim

Christ

every soul

that God brings

into contact

with you

today and this week

is a soul

headed to heaven

or to hell

and Brooks

goes on to write

let us rejoice

that's the theme

of Paul's letter

let us rejoice

over those

departed believers

whom Christ

embosoms

and whom all

the court of heaven

comes forth

to welcome

let Christ

be magnified

in my body

one way or the other

because we rejoice

when Christ

is magnified

that word

magnified

children

you've done

an experiment

we get like a

detective

piece of glass

that magnifies

whatever's on the other

side

you can look at

bugs up close

some of you

have have

doctorates

in the sciences

and you've looked

at microscopes

you spent hours

understanding

magnification

I thought about

how a magnifying

glass is never

the object

it's never

the focus

is it

the purpose

of a magnifying

glass is to

see

the true

object of

interest

through it

that that

would be

enlarged

and that the

glass would be

transparent

that Christ

be magnified

in my body

for Christ

is the head

and his church

is his body

and if we live

we live in Christ

in Christ

we move

and we have

our being

we as a

as a church

as a congregation

we should be

that way

we should be

transparent

so that when

people look

they don't see

anything of man

they see Christ

magnified

through this

little body

we are a glass

through which

Christ reveals

himself to

others

and that's

why we're

alive still

there's an

old hymn

that goes

like this

I serve

a risen

savior

he's in

the world

today

I know

that he

is living

whatever

men may

say

I see

his hand

of mercy

I hear

his voice

of cheer

he lives

he lives

salvation

to impart

in all

the world

around me

I see

his loving

care

and though

my heart

grows weary

I never

will

despair

I know

that he is

leading

through all

the stormy

blast

the day

of his

appearing

will come

at last

he lives

he lives

salvation

to impart

you ask

me

how I

know

he lives

he lives

within

my heart

that's

Christ

magnified

in his

people

Ephesians

316

it's by

his grace

that Christ

dwells in

your hearts

through faith

to make you

become rooted

and grounded

in his

great love

and from the

riches of

his glory

God grants

for you to be

strengthened

with power

through his

spirit

in your

inner self

so take

courage

church

and take

comfort

God wants

you to

finish

well

he wants

Christ

in you

to be

magnified

so put

your confidence

once again

in his

unfailing

grace

amen

let's

pray

Lord I

thank you

for these

dear

brothers

and sisters

for this

precious

congregation

the beloved

bride of

Jesus

Christ

you're

preparing

your

bride

Lord

for you

for that

great

wedding

feast

we long

to be

with you

Lord

and we

thank you

that

now we

trust you

by faith

and you

involve us

in this

glorious work

you're doing

of preparing

your bride

for yourself

help us

to pray

with Christ

for his

bride

and help

our lives

to magnify

you

more and

more and

more by

your grace

and by

your strength

for your

glory we

pray

amen

spend some

moments reflecting

and responding

to the Lord