Turn now in your New Testament, for our New Testament reading to Philippians 2, a familiar text for most of us. Historically known as the Carmen Christi, the hymn to Christ as to God. Philippians chapter 2 starting at verse 1, I’ll read you the first 11 chapters. Please once more give your full attention, this is the Word of God. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ. For though he was in the form of God, it did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated.

We continue in our series through the gospel of Mark, picking up in Mark chapter 14, beginning in verse 26 this morning. Yeah, Mark 26. Before I read the text and preach the text, let’s ask the Lord’s blessing upon the reception and the hearing of this word. Let’s pray once more. Precious Heavenly Father, we do thank you again that you have come to us, as you have promised, in the power of your Holy Spirit. And we thank you that you’ve enabled us to praise you and to give ourselves to you, perfect though it may be. And we pray now, Lord, that as we seek your word, we seek you through your word and seek to listen to the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you would send your spirit to us again and afresh that we might not merely come as those who dabbled in taste, but as we truly are, as children who are hungry and those who long to be fed and feed upon every word that you say to us. We praise you for your promise to do so and we pray for grace Lord, that when we sit under your word, we may listen to your voice as it goes out, and that it would break through our oh-so-calloused hearts, and that by your gracious love, transform us evermore into the likeness of our Savior Christ. And so we pray that you would, Lord, through this your word, by your Spirit, do as good as we come for your instruction and for your presence. We pray, Lord, minister to us, have your way with us, according to the wide variety of the things that we need and the things that we feel in this world. But though we have individual needs and individual strains that we go through, we pray, bring every one of us to see that you have provided all that we need in Christ. And then we may come to him and find our all in him. Lord, we praise you and thank you for this. We pray all of this for his glory and for our good. And in Christ’s name and all God’s people said together, amen. Amen.

Mark chapter 14, picking up in verse 26, please give your full attention. This is the word of the true and the living God reserved for us, his people. Mark 14, 26. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I’m raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. And Peter said to him, even though they all fall away, I will not. And Jesus said to him, truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But he said emphatically, if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said the same. And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. And he took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death, remain here and watch. And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and he prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, and not what I will, what you will. And he came and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And again, he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again, he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came a third time and said to them, are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough. The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go. Let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the 12, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard. And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, Rabbi, and he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize me, but let the scriptures be fulfilled. And they all left him and fled.

So for the reading of God’s word, grass withers and the flowers indeed fall, but this word of our Lord endures forever. May He add His blessing upon it now as we hear it preached in our hearing.

Christ Predicts His Loneliness

The Prophecy of Abandonment

Well, across history and even down to our day, there is a nor has been any shorting of songs and art and literature and philosophers writing regarding loneliness. One philosopher said, deep inside every human heart lives the anxiety of being alone and forgotten by God. And yet however people try to suppress the loneliness and feel the ache of the heart, the ache of that loneliness remains. And it’s interesting in our age where the multitudes of men and women and children are more connected and friended and followed digitally, ever fabricating the lives and togetherness and happiness they put forth on display. The literature as you read it and the studies show that we indeed feel lonelier now than we ever have. We read that the feeling remains, no fellowship, out of community. Not only enough, all of this fabricated happiness makes us feel all the more isolated and all the more lonely. The kind of isolation, this kind of isolation would have been unthinkable to the generations that came before us down through history. And then we have never been nevertheless more accessible. Over the recent decades, perhaps 30 years, technology has delivered to us a world where we are in almost constant contact. Yet within this world of instant communication, we suffer an unprecedented and increasing alienation. People have never been, if the literature is correct, more detached never lonelier. And sadly, the more digitally connected and plugged in we become, the less true fellowship and community we find.

God’s Presence for the Lonely

And as we as believers in Christ, when we think about those in isolation and those who feel these things and seek to respond to them, it’s easy for us to quip, right? How do we answer them? What are we to say? And often it is, Well, God is there for the lonely. God is there for the lonely. And certainly this is true. God is there for the lonely. But still, we all understand the pain of feeling isolated from society, from our families, and from depsite our loved ones. God surely and truly is a friend to the friendless. He is a comfort to those who are in need of comfort. God is truly able to give peace. Peace that truly transcends all understanding to the needy, no matter the degree or the distance or the status of the individual. So in some ways, it’s an easy answer. How do we respond? But the question before us this morning is, have we ever considered the fact that Christ himself experienced this sort of loneliness, this sort of isolation? Often we sing the song and we enjoy the song in Christ alone. But truly, this text shows us Christ alone, right? He is alone. Christ as one who in his humanity suffered through periods of time when there was truly no one to befriend him, no one to understand him, no one that could share any communion with him. This very one, God of God, Light of Light, Creator of all things, found himself utterly alone at certain portions of his earthly life. Christ alone. He felt the same problems that we all feel to one extent or another. No one understands. There’s no one who actually cares about the situation in which he finds himself.

Jesus Foretells Desertion

On our text this morning, We see Christ in this very situation, again, truly all alone. And I wonder if our advice would be fitting for him as we consider what we do for the lonely and how we respond to those in that situation. The first thing we want to look at and see this morning from our text, Mark 14, is that Christ indeed forecasts, he predicts his loneliness. You’ll notice the text opens, this morning that they had just concluded the Passover meal, recall from last week. We spoke about this, how they would gather together as was their yearly custom. They had gone through Passover and Christ had infused the Passover with a new meaning, showing what it had always been pointing forward to, and that he himself would be the lamb and the sacrifice, which would ultimately lead to the freedom and salvation of Israel, right, their final exodus, which was pointing to and promised all those years. And it says that after they had sung a hymn, right, after they had sung a hymn of that meal, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And so all the disciples had left, they had journeyed with him on his way to the Mouth of Olives as they get there. And Jesus describes, he decided rather that this time to take up the conversation that had been breached earlier, right? Seemingly started a little bit earlier at the table when he says, onetesting one of you is going to deny me. And now he changes and he says, by the way, not only will one of you deny me, he says, all of you will fall away on my account. And he makes reference to this text from Zechariah that we read this morning. He says, for it is written, they will strike the shepherd and the sheep will then be scattered. And he predicts ahead of time that he will be left utterly alone, that those who were closest to him in the world, even they will not stand with him in his time of need.

Disciples’ Protestations

But notice the whole of the group eventually comes back with their protestations, starting with Peter, the one who stands forward, and he says, I will never deny you, even if I must die, even if it means that I must suffer, I will never leave you alone. And ultimately Christ tells him of his coming failures in this area, but Peter protests all the more, and finally it says, as he’s protesting, everyone joins with Peter, and they all agree, not us, we will never leave you. We will be by your side. Right at the beginning of this text, Mark wants us to know, he’s pointing out for us, Christ is predicting that he will be left alone. And so it’s before us right at the beginning, right? And it’s not only before us in this prediction that he will be in the fourth telling, but notice the very next section in verses 32 and following, Christ experiences truly this loneliness.

Christ Experiences Loneliness

In the Garden of Gethsemane

And it says that they ventured onto this place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples that they were to sit there while he would go on a bit farther. And we are told in the text that he chooses these three, recall Peter, James, and John, to journey on with him. He’s found this smaller group, this group of three with whom he’s had some sort of special relationship. He’s closest to inner circle. And Christ is willing to give himself to them in a way that was different from the rest. And as they go further, as he relies on them, as he’s imploring for them to be there for him, he reveals to them the turmoil that he is going through personally. It’s one of the very few times in scripture actually that we get an inner glimpse of all that Christ is experiencing emotionally, internally, right? We see often the actions of Christ and we hear the teachings of Christ. But very seldom do we see the inner life of Christ, right? What he’s going through just as a man, as a human being.

Jesus’ Emotional Turmoil

In our text, it says that he turns to them and he’s, as he’s pulled them aside and he says to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to the point of death. remain here and watch with me. Christ, as he pulls his friends aside, he bears himself. He says, look, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful. I’m very troubled, and I need you at this moment. And the word that he uses there is that same word that comes up in the psalm that we know well. Why are you cast down? Why are you downcast? Oh, my soul. And here, this is the only other time that Mark uses this in his gospel is when, it’s here, and then when Herod grants, remember, his stepdaughter any wish that she wants. Remember we walked through that and she asked for what? For John the Baptist’s head on a platter. And it says that he became deeply distressed. This is what Christ is saying, I am in deep distress. My soul is tormented at this moment. And I need my friends, my inner circle to gather around me at this moment. Please just watch and pray with me. And so in his humanity and in his weakness, These are revealed, right? And it says that it’s so bad that it’s even to the point of death. And through his prayer, we learn that he’s clearly concerned with his upcoming death and what will transpire that night, what is imminent for him.

Disciples’ Failure to Support JESUS

But just as Christ has pleaded for this company, it’s quickly revealed that this company of friends and this company is not kept. And it’s not revealed just once, it’s belabored in the text, right? Marcus Holus, Christ is predicting he will be deserted. And now he’s saying, I need you three. And every time he comes back, we read, what does he find? They’re sleeping. And it says, could you not just watch with me for one hour? Couldn’t you watch even for the shortest span of time that I’m going to need? Couldn’t you be here for me? The disciples admit their own weakness. Christ tells Peter, you should watch and pray lest you be tempted. I know that the spirit is willing, but indeed the flesh body is weak. We see how weak the flesh is here. Three times, right? Emphasized to us. Three times Jesus goes and prays to the Father and he returns to find these ones, his dear friends, his close inner circle, sleeping, unable to enter into his agony, unable to care for him in his time of need. He literally is left alone there in the garden to suffer through what will ultimately be the most tormenting night of his entire existence. And Mark wants us to notice again and again the routine. Christ prays, he returns, they’re sleeping. He goes to pray, he comes back, and they’re asleep. And finally Christ, he just says, take your rest now. The hour is here. My betrayer is at hand, which only reinforces his loneliness, their betrayal and their disappointments.

Judas’ Betrayal

And who has arrived, right? But this one who was indeed also a close friend, part of his larger inner circle, Judas, the betrayer. And the text ends with an almost pointed edge, right? They haven’t been able to keep watch with him. And then this one enters, this other one who was also a dear friend, and he now arrives ultimately to turn him over and to betray him. Mark loathes us with this loneliness and the pain of Christ, just as he’s set forth, as he’s predicted, the desertion of Christ, showing in the beginning, right, of what that desertion will look like, right? This is our Savior, this one who experiences the pain of loneliness, abandonment, and rejection, and betrayal, and he understands the pain of those, and the loss of friendship. He understands being let down, and we hear As we hear of the loneliness in the literature and the songs of our day, we have to remember what most of them forget or miss, is that scripture makes it plain. God truly was one of us. He did experience and enter into all the sorts of pains we experience as human creatures.

A Sympathetic Savior

We don’t have a distant or unsympathetic savior, we read, but one who entered into our very story. Hebrews tells us very clearly, we don’t have a savior who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who was made in every way like unto us, tempted like us, yet without sin. So Mark paints this vivid picture. Christ clearly puts it right up to the front. You will all flee. And then we see the next story, right? Christ saying, I need you. My soul is tormented. I’m in pain and I need you to gather around me. And time and time again, he has let down.

Christ Bears Loneliness for Our Sake

The Greater Agony

And Mark makes it clear that this is not the biggest problem though, that he’s experiencing. This is not what causes Christ all the pain of this particular text. This is not the most agonizing part, agonizing as it was, as bad as it truly was. And this is because of this. And this is the final thing that we’re gonna see here is that we’re shown in the text that Christ bears loneliness for our sake, right? It’s interesting as we open, as we open, right, and I mentioned, right, what advice would we give? How would we respond in counsel and comfort the lonely, right, before us? And of course, right and good Christian advice surely includes the truth that God is there for him. That’s true, but it’s ultimately insufficient. God often uses other people to cure and to remedy and to assist loneliness. God is always with us. Even when everyone else has failed us, God has not failed us. This is true and it’s glorious. We might say, surely Christ is not alone in this text because he is in prayer, right? He is with his father. And indeed he is, but the text emphasizes the pain, the loneliness, and the sense of abandonment, and the burden that Christ bears.

The Cup of Judgment

And he prays in agony, repeating again three times, if there be any way, any other way, let this cup pass from me. He wants to avoid the hour, yet the God of all compassion and mercy, the God who hears the prayers of his people, how does he answer? He says, no. Notice what Christ says to his disciples, the hour is now here, arise, take your rest, my betrayer is at hand. And God the Father says no. And the great distress revealed here is not the loneliness caused by the abandonment of his friends. As painful as that was, it is painful, it was true agony. But that true agony is revealed in his request to the Father. The text begins with, You will all fall away. You will all be scandalized because of me. And he quotes Zechariah showing that God, his coming judgment strikes the shepherd and the sheep scatter. And Christ is making known the biggest problem that is about to happen is at the hands of the father. When he says in verse 36, Abba, father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. The prayer has been made to the Father, and that prayer has been answered. It’s been answered in the negative. The hour will not pass. God is fully present in the text, no doubt. But any sort of advice that we would give, go to the Lord in your time of need. God will be there for you to comfort you. It seems to be removed from the text where Christ ultimately stands alone with the God whom he has always loved, who has always been in full and delightful fellowship with him as father and son, his father who has always delighted and been overjoyed in his child and his son, his only begotten, his unique son, who has never once found one reason to be displeased, but rather always in full communion, these two persons of the Godhead have dwelt. And one comes to the other and he says, I would like to receive a pass from you, from your fury, from your wrath. And the answer in response is no.

The Weight of Divine Wrath

And it’s only when we begin to see these things in these terms that we begin to truly understand just how lonely and abandoned Christ truly was. The cup that is judgment is going to be given to him. We often read of the cup of God’s blessing. This is the other cup. And notice when we think about and when we read here that this cup of judgment that’s going to be given to him, it’s not his to drink. It’s not his, at least by merit. If you look at who he has been and what he has done, this cup is rather for the wicked. And there’s

only one person in the entirety of this text that has not been wicked, that has not failed, that has not let anyone down. For several chapters now, we’ve seen that the entirety of the leadership of Israel is against God and against this, his anointed one. And then little by little, the wider picture of Israel has been narrowed down until we have the disciples. And one of them will be the betrayer. And once we’re told that, Then Christ says in verse 27, by the way, all of you are going to be scandalized and fall away. None of you are going to be faithful. To which they protest, no, we will be faithful. We will walk with you. We will stand by your side. And as they have opportunity, each one of them fails and falls away. Because though they may have a willing desire, they have absolutely no ability to follow through on their words. and that surrounding this righteous one is this utter realization that no one, none are able to keep God’s ways, none are able to be faithful. All are deserving of this sort of judgment from God, even the best of them, even as close to inner circle are deserving to drink that cup of which is before him, which is exactly why Christ finds himself there in the text, right? Christ, this righteous one, has been left alone because he is the only one who is able to drink this cup for the sake of others. And he’s the only one that can actually stand there and bear the brunt of this penalty in order that those who truly deserve it might be set free.

The Paradox of Grace and Wrath

And it’s interesting as we come to a text like this, People have a very hard time with this idea. And you hear very often, you know, I can understand a God of love, that makes sense to me. But I don’t understand a God of wrath. And when they talk about the cross, they want to see nothing in the cross that has to do with this penal substitution, right? This suffering in a place of others. For God is judging his son for the sins of others. And you know, you hear the sentiment, I can understand that God loves me, right? And that’s usually because, well, hey, I love me. But I can’t understand God being angry with me. That God is judging his creation just seems so wrong. And it’s so unfitting for the God of the Bible, right? I’m sure you’ve heard this idea. Well, if that causes us problems, and it should cause us all kinds of problems, is it really all that surprising that God would judge us? And I think we’ve got the situation here all confused, all upside down. If we want to see just how bad the situation is, it’s found right here in the text. What should be strange to us is that I understand a God who is the Father to Christ loving Him, This is the truly the thing that should shake us. But I cannot understand a God who has followed to Christ judging him. Makes no sense to me. We should be more upset by what we’re witnessing here, right? That this thing that we delight in as Christians, this is one of the things that should make absolutely no sense, right? To those who don’t truly comprehend it, right? Where the eternal love of God answers no to the eternal son of God. where this perfect and delightful fellowship would soon be interrupted by what? By unfettered fury and wrath of judgment upon the son where all the father will truly pour out his pent up anger against the worst of the worst and all the deeds that are done in dark, including all of our safe little sins that we hold on to that he hates and is ready and willing to execute his wrath against those things in Christ and God is about to lay upon this one whom he indeed does love and who has never failed him so that these characters in this story and you characters in the broader story who have failed Christ and the father time and time again might not receive what has been earned by you and deserved by us.

The Glory of the Cross

You see, what’s hard to understand and what should be hard for us to understand is the grace that is given through the cross, right? Yes, that we who deserve wrath receive good news that Christ died for sinners, but it should be equally hard for us to understand the wrath that is displayed on the cross and to whom that wrath is laid. God alone saves and God saves all alone. And you notice every other character in this story has been removed from the story. Christ has no help here. No one is traveling with him to the cross. No one’s there cheering him on. He doesn’t have a helper. He has no one with him because there are none righteous. No, not even one. And if there’s gonna be any kind of salvation, God must do it alone for us on our behalf. Good news of the gospel, right? The three best that Christ has have willing spirits but weak flesh. They have no ability to do it. And the rest of us join them there in disappointments and betrayal. God lays his hands against this Christ. And this agony by the Christ is experienced for us. Why? So that we won’t have to experience ourselves.

Assurance Through Christ’s Sacrifice

Think about that opening quote of the philosopher, right? Deep inside every human heart, lives the anxiety of being alone in the world, forgotten by God, the cross answers that agony for us. And the more that we understand the cross and just what happened there, the more sweet the answer is for us, and the more that it satisfies that anxiety and provides for us. And that is what, namely, that God was willing to forsake God, right? God was willing to forsake God in order that that anxiety would never have to be experienced by you who believe and trust in Him. That you would never have to wonder, will God leave me? Will God forsake me? Will I be forgotten in the mass of humanity? Is God being negligent toward me or is He uninterested in me? The cross answers that question emphatically. For those who belong to Jesus Christ, those who have placed their faith and their trust for their lives, this one and the next, in Christ and are united and identified with Him, it answers that question. If that is not you, for those who have not exercise that faith, who have not been united to him, it’s an altogether different answer. And the anxiety is only magnified because there is no hope. But for those who believe in Christ, those who are his, those who have him as their savior, The cross answers gloriously and emphatically that question. This one is his beloved son. And this one is slain for the sake of sinners like us, like you and like me. So we will never experience this kind of exertion and loneliness. Truly and ultimately, we will never be at the hands of this kind of wrath. No wrath remains for you. And that these things that Christ has suffered on our behalf will never be owned by us. even though the worst of times, even in the worst of times, we know and we can grasp hold of for certain what the Spirit tells us in Romans 8. If God is for us, who can be against us?

Never Forsaken

Now, Jesus will never, never leave or forsake us. And the one thing that we can say, even when all is lost, Some of us are overwhelmed when we betray or disappoint or let down others whom we love. It’s not foreign in this concept, right? Christ has experienced this. And there is yet for you hope. And the one thing that Christ could not say in all of this, the one thing that we can say is the one thing that Christ cannot say. He had to become forsaken. You’ll never be forsaken because of that. And so that that words could not, I’m sorry, those words that could be uttered by us, but also believed wholly by us. He was truly forsaken, right? How do you know that God will never forsake you? that He forsook this one that He eternally loved. He loved perfectly so that He could turn that love towards you eternally and perfectly, despite who you already are, despite what all of you have done. Your sins were laid here. They were judged at the cross so that you might know for certain that God is indeed for you and not against you. Whatever you may be experiencing, you were not forsaken. He has not deserted you, and that all things are indeed working together for your good and for your salvation. And as Romans also says in chapter 8, 32, if he did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things the glory of that, how can we not put our trust and faith in a God like this? How can we not have assurance and comfort by God like this? A God who would do something so difficult even to imagine, and yet so great with his love towards you that he followed through on this particular plan, even denying the prayer of his son in order that he would never, ever, ever have to deny you. It’s the glory of the gospel, brothers and sisters.

Living Out the Gospel

And as we leave here, may we remember the glory, yes, the mystery, but the glory and the magnitude of this truth and the impact that it should have on your life. How would our lives be different? How would your life be different? If you truly believe this, truly, would it affect your assurance? Would it affect your anxiety? Would it affect your worry? Would it affect your shaky sense spiritually? Absolutely it should, and it would. And so as we leave, May the truth of this text, may the truth of the gospel truly change your hearts and your minds and your actions as you go forth from here back into a world, a truly turbulent world, dead and dying and such need of the truth of the gospel and life and peace. Go with that gospel, go living your life and telling the truth of him who loved you as he spread that love to others for his praise and for his glory. Amen.

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we truly delight to give you praise for all that you’ve done for us, for all that you went through, for your faithfulness, for your uncompromising goodness for your people. We thank you that one was forsaken and that one was crushed and that one drank that cup of wrath fully in our place so that we would never have to. And we praise you that all that he merited, life and glory and peace and assurance, It’s truly ours, Lord, help us to believe that truth. Help us to embrace the truth, increase our faith, increase our trust and our love for you and these truths that you tell us. We thank you that we have truly died and been raised to newness of life. Transform us, we pray. Glory unto glory as you sanctify us evermore throughout this life. and help us as we long for that day when it will all be wrapped up and we will enter in to the true joy of the new heavens and the new earth where sin will not dwell, where sorrow will be no more as we rejoice in being with Christ and one another without sin. Father, we pray for this church, pray that you would continue to guide us Lord, as you bring before us opportunities and closed doors and open doors, Lord, we pray that we would not fret, but that we would act wisely, and that you would truly be pleased to continue to grow this small body for your glory. We pray that you would continue to bless us with the spirit of love for one another as your people, as we care for each other, Lord, and as we rejoice and as we grow closer together as we look to our Savior, Lord, and seek to grow in him and live lives that reflect and match the profession of our lips, Lord. We pray that you would be with each one for the various needs of this congregation, those who are in a struggle, right? Financially, there are issues that we struggle with, relationally, health-wise. Lord, you know each one we know. Help us to know, Lord, that you are truly the God of the resurrection of the dead, and regardless of the things that we go through in this life, and the suffering that we go through, that we are not alone, that you are with us, and that we will one day be made new. Lord, we pray, grant relief in the things that we suffer. Grant wholeness in the bodies that are breaking down. Help us to see that your strength is made perfect, even through our weakness, and through your spirit, help us to truly rejoice in those strains and pains and sorrows that can so easily drag us down and give us a sense of deflation and defeatedness. Help us through these things, knowing the truth, that we can smile and rejoice and count ourselves as blessed, even as we do so. Lord, we pray, bless us as we continue to worship you now. We pray, Lord, that as we leave this place, that we would truly be changed by your spirit, that we would carry with us the glorious truths of the gospel, Lord, and that would reflect in all that we do. We pray that you would bring people in, that you would bring your elect in to come and have a confrontation of Jesus as they hear the gospel and as they experience the love of his people. We love you, our Heavenly Father. We pray that you would continue to walk with us now and even for all of our days. We ask this in Christ’s name. Amen.