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May turn back to Philippians 
chapter three. Philippians chapter three, we 
noticed this morning, Paul's possession of Christ, verses 
seven and eight, where all things that had been gained to him, 
he counted lost for the excellence of Christ Jesus, his Lord. And then he spoke of his position 
in Christ, verse nine, that I may be found in him. not are and 
be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from 
the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness 
which is from God by faith. He is speaking there the doctrine 
of justification. Justification is an act of God's 
free grace, whereby he pardons all our sins and receives us 
as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ 
imputed to us and received by faith alone. Those two aspects 
of justification, the pardon of sin and the imputation of 
Christ's righteousness. These were the things that these 
were foundational for the Apostle Paul in his conversion. These 
were the things that caused him to press on and to glorify the 
Lord Jesus Christ. This is the foundation, as we 
noted this morning, upon which sanctification then takes place 
or growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And we'll focus on that this evening, the privileges that 
we have in Christ, not that Our possession and position are not 
privileges. Those are to be sure. But Paul 
then begins in verses ten and following to highlight some specific 
things concerning Christ about what he wants to grow in his 
knowledge of with reference to the Lord Jesus. So I'll just 
pick up reading in chapter three at verse seven and will read 
to the end of verse fourteen. But what things were gained to 
me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also 
count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all 
things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be 
found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from 
the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness 
which is from God by faith, that I may know him. and the power 
of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed 
to his death. If by any means I may attain 
to the resurrection from the dead, not that I have already 
attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay 
hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of laid 
hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself 
to have apprehended, but one thing I do. forgetting those 
things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which 
are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward 
call of God in Christ Jesus. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the written word and we thank you for the 
life and ministry of the Apostle Paul and for the example that 
he serves in the pages of Holy Scripture. We thank you that 
he points us to Jesus Christ, that he teaches us good doctrine 
concerning justification by faith alone. We thank you, Lord God, 
that our salvation is not dependent upon our performance. But our 
salvation is secured through Christ our Lord. God, thank you 
for pardon for sin. Thank you for the imputation 
of righteousness. And thank you that you preserve 
us by your grace and for your glory. And we just pray now that 
you would fill us with your spirit and help us to understand your 
word. And we pray through Jesus, our Savior. Amen. Well, notice, 
first of all, Paul speaks of the knowledge of Christ. He had 
already spoken in verse eight of gaining Christ. He spoke of 
the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, in 
verse eight. And now he says again that I 
may know him. What is it about Christ that 
Paul wants to know? Well, he's going to specify some 
very specific things here in just a moment. But it is important 
for us to see that justification by God's grace through faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ was the beginning for the apostle 
Paul. Once he came into this saving 
relationship with the Lord, it wasn't as if he said, well, now 
I don't need anything more. Very often, Christians believe 
once they come to know Christ, well, they certainly don't need 
to read or pray or study or learn. Well, it was just the opposite 
with the Apostle Paul. Coming into this saving relationship 
with Christ meant the ability now to know Christ. And hopefully 
it is that way with each and every one of us. That as we profess 
faith in the Savior, that as we have been born again, that 
as we have been justified and received the forgiveness of sin 
and the imputation of Christ's righteousness, that it moves 
us to want to study. It moves us to want to learn. 
It moves us to want to know Jesus more and more, because ultimately, 
in the final analysis, that's what a Christian is. He or her 
is somebody that loves Christ, that wants to know Christ, that 
wants to be near Christ. When all is said and done, that 
should be the defining thing with each and every one of us 
who names the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian life 
for Paul was about growing in the knowledge of Christ. The 
Christian life for Paul was about learning the scripture, was about 
learning about Jesus person. What is or who is Jesus as a 
person? He's unique in the history of 
man. He was the only one or he has been the only one. that is 
both God and man. When we speak of Christ as a 
person, we are speaking of one glorious person in two natures, 
the divine and the human. We call that the hypostatic union 
of Christ, that these two natures are in one person, they're unmingled, 
there's no confusion, and he's one glorious person. forever 
and ever. When we speak of the work of 
Christ, we think of his incarnation, the fact that he left heaven 
above. He left exaltation. He left the place where angels 
were praising him and singing to him, holy, holy, holy, according 
to Isaiah six. and he comes in this world. He 
is born in a born of a woman. He is born under the law, and 
he is. He does this in order to redeem 
those who are under the law. His work includes his perfect 
life in obedience to his father. His work includes being delivered 
up onto Pontius Pilate. His perfect life or his perfect 
work includes his death at Calvary and all that that was significant 
for. Remember this morning we spoke 
of him as a substitute. His work was substitutionary 
in nature. He went for that cross so that 
you and I don't have to. He suffered and bled and died 
so that you and I don't have to. He cried out on the cross, 
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me so that you and I 
never have to. The work of Christ includes all 
of those aspects of his doing and his dying and then of his 
rising again on behalf of his people. You see, there is enough 
there to keep us occupied and to keep us busy for an eternity 
to study the Lord Jesus, to learn of Christ, to understand his 
person and his work. One commentator said from the 
moment of his conversion on the road to Damascus or on the road 
to Damascus, Paul had come to know the risen and exalted Lord. He had been brought by grace 
into an intimate personal relationship with the son of God. And from 
that time on, he had made it his ambition to know him. He 
found in Christ an inexhaustible fullness of knowledge, but there 
was always more of him to know. That's a beautiful statement 
from that time of his conversion. He wanted to grow in his understanding 
of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. That's what he says there 
very specifically in verse 10, that I may know him. And remember 
that when Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, he had been 
a Christian for about 30 years. I think it's pretty typical for 
someone when they get saved to be really studious, to want to 
talk about the Lord, to want to witness, to want to read good 
books pretty soon after they've gotten saved. And then after 
they've been saved for a while, they sort of start growing a 
little bit cold and a little bit distant. And then they begin 
to be they begin to rationalize it. Well, you know, God's not 
going to cut me off. I'm not on fire like I once was, but 
I'm not an apostate wretch. I'll just sort of glide my way 
into heaven based on that glorious doctrine of justification by 
faith. Well, that's simply not true of the Apostle Paul. There 
was no end to the honeymoon for the Apostle Paul. You know what 
that means? You go on your honeymoon, it's 
great, it's wonderful. You look at your wife, you look at your 
husband, they can do no wrong. It's almost like the sun shines 
through them. Everything about them is beautiful 
and radiant. And then about five or six years 
into your marriage, you're like, wait a minute, what happened 
to all that sunshine? How come we've got so many cloudy 
and rainy days? The honeymoon is truly over. Well, that never happened with 
Paul. Thirty years as a Christian man, he writes in Philippians 
1 verse 21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. It's a beautiful statement. I 
love it. Go back there for just a moment. 
Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. at verse 
nineteen, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance 
through your prayer and the supply of the 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. 
He knew that whether he died or whether he lived, Jesus would 
be glorified. He says for to me to live is 
Christ and to die is gain. Said it before, I'll say it again. 
What do you do with a man like this? I mean, face it, brethren, 
he was in prison in the Roman Empire in the first century. 
Christians were despised in the Roman Empire. Why? Because they 
were considered atheists. Isn't that an interesting twist? 
They were considered atheists. They didn't subscribe to all 
the gods of the Roman Empire. They maintained allegiance to 
one God, even Jesus Christ. And for that, they were considered 
to be without God. See, in the Roman Empire, you 
could have all these various gods. You could have all your 
various truths. It was a very relativistic, very 
much postmodern in its display of religious liberty as what 
we face today. The one thing, however, that 
was not tolerated in the empire was intolerance. and the Christians 
were intolerant. They would not call Caesar Lord 
and Savior. They would call Jesus Lord and 
Savior. For those of you who do not know 
this in the first century in the Roman Empire, Caesar was 
exalted as a God. You were supposed to offer him 
religious worship. This is one of the reasons why 
Jesus is referred to so many times as Lord and Savior. It is against the against the 
idea that Caesar was Lord and Savior. So if you worship Caesar, 
you could have all your other gods as well. But if you worship 
Christ and you excluded Caesar, then you brought down the wrath 
of the Roman Empire right upon your head. So everything was 
legit. Pluralism was fine. As many gods 
as you wanted, as long as you were giving homage to Caesar. 
Well, the Christians wouldn't do that, so they face persecution. And so Paul understands this, 
and he realizes the chances are, is that he's going to be killed 
or executed by the Roman state. Now, in this imprisonment, he 
wasn't actually executed. This was from A.D. 60 to 62. He ultimately was released in 
A.D. 62. This is where the Book of 
Acts ends with him in prison. Well, these letters were written 
while he was in that imprisonment. After he got out in 1862, he 
continued on in some ministry, probably until about the mid-60s, 
when he did ultimately die under Nero. He had his head chopped 
off because he called Jesus Lord and Savior, and he would not 
call Caesar Lord and Savior. So he knew, based on his doctrine, 
based on his commitment, based on his allegiance to Christ, 
that the reality existed, that he would be put to death for 
the cause of Christ. And so he says, for to me to 
live and to die, for me to live as Christ and to die as King. 
So, like I said, what do you do with a man like that? You 
let him go from prison so that he lives on? It's Christ, as 
far as he's concerned. You take him out to the Coliseum 
and you feed him to the lions? What's he going to do? Cry and 
moan and whine and lament? No, he's going to say, go ahead 
and feed me to the lions, for to me to die is gay. I get more 
Christ. I get to be with Jesus. I get 
to go to Emmanuel's land. He had been a Christian for thirty 
years when he wrote these things. Brethren, don't ever grow content 
with distance between you and God. Don't ever just say, well, 
the honeymoon's over. I can just be like several other 
wretches in the Christian life that sort of just fumble along 
and mumble along and limp along. No, don't accept that. Have this 
kind of a mindset. Be Pauline in your in your Christianity. Say with him. Verse ten, that 
I may know him, and then he gets very specific in terms of what 
he wants to know. We might we might read verse 
ten this way that I may know him. That is, and then he speaks 
of two specifics with reference to what he wants to grow in his 
knowledge of regarding Christ. The first that I may know him. and the power of his resurrection, 
and then secondly, the fellowship of his sufferings. Isn't that 
interesting? Note the order you would think 
fellowship of sufferings would come first and then power of 
resurrection because as we know Christ first suffered the cross 
and then he went on to the crown. That is the pattern in the example 
for us as Christians. We must first suffer the cross 
and then receive the crown. But Paul puts the crown first 
and then speaks of the cross, and I think he does this for 
a very specific reason. Quoting O'Brien, he says, by 
drawing attention, first of all, to the power of Christ's resurrection, 
the focus falls upon the strength and motivation for suffering. In other words, when he says 
here that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, 
I want to know that power, because when I know that power, I am 
then enabled by God's grace to know something of these sufferings. We have to go through a world 
of tears. We have to go through a world 
of persecution. We have to go through a world 
of pluralism that does not like our exclusive claims to truth. They get angry about it, they 
get upset about it, they may imprison us, they may execute 
us. In order to effectively do this, 
we must tap in, if you will, to divine power. So, he speaks 
first of knowing Christ's resurrection power. He goes on to say, fellowship 
in suffering, the ability to endure suffering for Christ's 
sake, becomes possible and rich in meaning because of the power 
of his resurrection. It's a beautiful way that Paul 
speaks of it here. I want to know him. I want to 
know specifically resurrection power, because when I know resurrection 
power, then I am able to participate in or fellowship with him in 
his sufferings, in his cross, in his hardships, in his difficulties, 
in his trials. If I don't have that power undergirding 
me, I may not make it. I may abandon the faith. I may 
become an apostate. So when you study Christ, it 
is very excellent for you to study the power of his resurrection. And I think what's in view here 
is that power evidence in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Go back to Ephesians one for 
just a moment. Ephesians chapter one, the power 
of his resurrection is the life giving power of God, the power 
which he manifested in raising Christ from the dead. That's 
what's in view here this morning. In Sunday school, we considered 
biblical hermeneutics or how to interpret the Bible. And I 
mentioned by way of illustration, a man who is teaching how much 
we need power. We need the power of the Holy 
Spirit. We need power like they had in the book of Acts. And 
I second that we need power, but not so that we can go out 
and work mighty miracles, not so that we can go out and speak 
in tongues, but we need power so that we can suffer. for the 
Lord Jesus Christ. We need power so that we can 
persevere by God's grace. We need power so that we can 
maintain a faithful witness in this lower world when everything 
and everyone may be against us. Again, it's very difficult for 
us in a country where we have liberty, albeit there is many 
encroachments upon those liberties. We have a lot more than what 
they had in the early Roman Empire. Paul's audience knew what it 
was to suffer, and they knew what it was to have this increased 
hostility against them because they were believers on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. So, in order to effectively partner 
with Christ in suffering, in cross-bearing, they would need 
that power, that understanding of God's power. Notice in Ephesians 
chapter 1. Verse fifteen, therefore, I also 
after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love 
for all the saints do not cease to give thanks for you making 
mention of you in my prayers. Paul is praying for Paul is telling 
them how he prays for them. Notice first verse seventeen 
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, 
may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the 
knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding 
being enlightened. That's what he prays. He wants 
them. To have that enlightenment, he wants them to have understanding. 
He wants them to grow in wisdom and the knowledge of Christ. 
Notice, secondly, that you may know what is the hope of his 
calling. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance 
in the saints? And that you may know verse 19. What is the exceeding greatness 
of his power toward us who believe now? How does he illustrate that 
power toward us who believe? Verse nineteen, according to 
the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when 
he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand 
in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and 
might and dominion and every name that is named, not only 
in this age, but also in that which is to come. And he put 
all things under his feet and gave him to be had over all things 
to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills 
all in all. So in Philippians three, Paul 
wants to grow in his knowledge of the power that God displayed 
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For when he understood 
that power, when he knew something of that power, he was then fit 
and equipped to enter into the knowledge of suffering, to know 
what it is to partner with Christ in the cross. Notice in verse 
ten that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and 
the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. We saw this morning, we looked 
at Second Corinthians 11, what the apostles suffered. pretty 
amazing stuff. None of us, I am confident, have 
tasted anything like what Paul went through on behalf of Christ. In this very epistle He is telling 
the Philippians that they are suffering, or they will suffer. 
Notice in Philippians 1 at verse 29, he says, For to you, it has 
been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but 
also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which 
you saw in me and now here is in me. The language of verse 
twenty nine is literally, it has been graciously given to 
you. It is a gift, it is kindness, 
it is mercy, it is goodness from God. Not only that you believe 
in his name, faith is a gift. You didn't conjure it up, you 
didn't work it up, you didn't have it there existent, and then 
you fired it into being. No, it is a gift from the living 
God. But that is actually incidental 
in the text. What Paul highlights is that 
it has been graciously given to you to suffer on behalf of 
his name. I know we don't think this way. 
I know that when there is suffering or trial in the Christian life, 
our first response generally is, God, why are you doing this 
to me? It is first and foremost, what's 
all these bad things happening to such a nice guy like me? Lord, 
is this what I signed up for? Is this what I put my name on 
the dotted line for? I thought being a Christian would 
make me happy. Let me just, you know, sing and 
dance zippity-doo-dah all the way to heaven with little bluebirds 
just flitting around my head and the sun shining and beaming 
upon me. And no rainy days and no gloomy 
times and no sadness or no trials. I thought, Lord, when I signed 
up, my family would be perfect. Everybody would be taken care 
of. Everybody would be happy and holy. And I would just be 
a happy camper in the Lord Jesus. Paul says that's not what you 
signed up for. You signed up for suffering. 
That's God's way. That doesn't mean from cradle 
to grave in Christianity, all we do is suffer. That's not what 
it means. It doesn't mean you can't actually 
have happiness and joy and sunshine and happy families and all those 
sorts of things. But this is a reality, brethren. 
When you are a Christian in a godless society, you cannot expect to 
go unmolested. You cannot expect to live as 
a Christian in a godless world and not have the devil harass 
you and not have the world harass you. It has been granted to you 
not only to believe in him, but also to suffer. It was true of 
Christ. As I mentioned before, the cross 
came first. and then the crown. Notice in 
chapter two, verse five, let this mind be in you, which was 
also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider 
it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, 
taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of 
man and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself 
and became obedient to the point of death. Even the death of the 
cross. You see, the cross came first 
for the Lord Jesus Christ. Then came the crown. Verse nine. Therefore, God also has highly 
exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. 
You see, that is the pattern. That is the way that is how God 
has designed it. Remember James and John, the 
sons of Zebedee. They come to Jesus and his earthly 
ministry. And they say, Grant, Lord, that 
when you come into your kingdom, that one of us can sit on your 
right and the other can sit on your left. What was Christ's 
words to them? I have a baptism to undergo that 
you don't know anything about. And he wasn't talking about water 
baptism there. The word baptism also has the 
idea of to be overwhelmed. Doesn't mean just sprinkle with 
a little bit of water. It means to overwhelm. It was 
used to capsize or used with reference to capsized ships in 
battle. So when Jesus says, I have a 
baptism to undergo, he's talking about his death. He's talking 
about the crucifixion. He's talking about being overwhelmed 
by the wrath and fury of God. But then he highlights to James 
and John, you will, however, know something of this baptism. 
They would suffer prior to their entrance into glory. James Acts 
chapter 12. He was beheaded by Herod. John was on the island of Patmos. for the Word of God and for the 
testimony of Jesus Christ. He was exiled on a rock, basically. It wasn't a big place, the Isle 
of Patmos. It wasn't Sandals. It wasn't 
Club Med. It wasn't some retirement community. He didn't just walk down to the 
beach and sip cold beverages and frolic in the water. He was 
in exile for the cause of Jesus Christ. You see, that's the pattern. You and I are going through a 
difficult trial. It is called life. So I tell 
my kids, welcome to life. Life isn't fair. Search the Scriptures. Where does it say life is fair? 
It doesn't. especially as a Christian. Now, 
I don't want to say everything's bad, everything's wretched, and 
God's against you, and everything you do, that's just bad. No, 
but it is to punctuate that there are trials, and there are tribulations, 
and there are difficulties in the Christian life. Paul, remember, 
was sitting in a prison in the Roman Empire in the first century. Paul, remember, had already written 
2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians was already written 
by the time he wrote this. So all those things that we read 
this morning in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, he'd already experienced 
that. He'd already been stoned. He'd already been beaten with 
rods. He'd already been beaten with the Jewish whip. He'd already 
received these things. So he knew what it was to suffer. 
So as he's in a prison cell, as he's studying the person in 
the work of Christ, what he wants to know is the power of his resurrection 
so that he will be fit and able to know his sufferings as well 
to participate with him to fellowship with him to partner with him 
in his sufferings being conformed to his death. And then when he 
says, if verse eleven, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection 
from the dead. It almost sounds hypothetical. 
It almost sounds like it may not happen. The New American 
Standard gets it right. He said it says in order that 
I may attain. It's a reality, it's going to 
happen, there is no conditionality here. He's been justified by 
the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He will attain 
to the resurrection of the dead. So he wants to partner with Christ, 
not only in his suffering, he wants to partner with Christ 
not only in his death, but he wants to partner with Christ 
ultimately in glory. that I or if by any means I may 
attain to the resurrection from the dead. So, from this Roman 
prison cell writing to the Philippians, he is future oriented. He is 
thinking about that day when Jesus shall come when all the 
dead will be raised from the dead and all men will stand in 
judgment. The wicked will be cast off into 
hell and the righteous will be taken up into glory where they 
shall live with Christ forever and ever. That's what Paul wants 
to know. That's what we should want to 
know as well. I think we want to know a lot 
of things sometimes that really aren't that important. I mean, 
all of the Bible is important, I'm not suggesting that it isn't, 
but there is something of a priority. We should know justification. 
We should know God, we should know the Trinity, we should know 
Christology. There's some certain fundamental doctrines that we 
ought to have down. But if we don't get those things 
down, it really doesn't matter what we think about these things 
over here. You see, for Paul, he wanted 
to know this power so that he could live the Christian life. 
And then he describes in verses 12 to 14, and we'll just read 
this, maybe make a comment or two and then end. He says, not 
that I have already attained or am already perfected, but 
I press on. that I may lay hold of that for 
which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. It's not a great 
description of sovereign grace. I want to lay hold of that for 
which Christ Jesus has already laid hold of me. He knows he 
doesn't just press on and persevere and go after this prize because 
he's Paul and he's this or that. No, he says, Jesus has already 
laid hold of me. He says, Brethren, I do not count 
myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do have this 
single mindedness about the apostle Paul, this determination This 
focus, this drive, but one thing I do for getting those things 
which are behind and reaching forward to those things which 
are ahead. I press toward the goal for the 
prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. That is sanctification. justified freely by God's grace 
through faith in Christ. This is how we are to live the 
Christian life. We are to be given fully and 
all and solely to serving the Lord God most high. May we with him say, but one 
thing I do, I press forward. That's a Christian. There's times 
when it may be very small. You might look at the life of 
a Christian and it kind of goes like this. And sometimes you 
think, wait a minute, wait a minute, what's going on? It's going forward. 
That's what it's about. Go forward. There's going to 
be trial. There's going to be suffering. There's going to be 
difficulty. There's going to be sorrow. There's going to be sadness and 
agony and crying and tears. And there may be times when you 
say, well, I just don't think I can keep going. Get this mindset. One thing I do. Imbibe the mindset 
of the Apostle Paul. He's in a prison here. He doesn't 
know he's going to get out. I think he has a certain confidence, 
according to Philippians, that he will get out. But he doesn't 
know for sure. He doesn't know for certain. 
He's in a prison cell. What would you be writing about? 
Get me out of here. Send me a cake. Put a file in 
it. Send me some arsenic so I can kill the guards. Launch an armed 
assault. Get me out of this place. I belong 
out in the world preaching the gospel. God saved me to be a 
preacher. Bust me out. That's not what 
he says. When he's sitting in that prison 
cell, what does he want? I want to know Christ. I want to know 
Jesus. I want to know the power of his 
resurrection. I want to know the partnership of his sufferings. 
That's what I want. That's what matters to me. That's 
what's important. That's what needs to be important 
for us. Whatever our situation, whether in a Roman prison or 
we're not in a Roman prison, these things ought to be true 
of us. You say you've been justified by God's grace through faith 
in Jesus Christ. Then you should want to know Christ. You should 
want to study the Bible. You should want to read it. You 
should want to pray. You should want to talk to Christians 
about it. You should want to be in church. You should want 
to go to Bible study. You should want to listen to 
things you want to fill your mind with the knowledge of God's 
holy word, because it's through this that we come to know Christ, 
the power of his resurrection and the power of his sufferings 
so that we may be conformed to his death and so that we may 
attain to the resurrection from the death. Well, let us pray. 
Father, we thank you for your word, and we pray that you would 
help us to value and prize Christ, as we see Paul does here in this 
letter. We ask, Lord God, that as we eat this bread and we drink 
this wine, we would remember the Lord's death on our behalf. 
God, this most significant event in the history of the world Father, 
I pray that we would not treat these things lightly, that we 
would not approach these things with any levity or any any frivolity, 
but we would be sober minded. And yet we would manifest and 
demonstrate that joy of the Lord, that as we consider Christ's 
broken body and shed blood on our behalf, that these things 
would cause us to rejoice in the eternal life that he has 
secured for us. God, thank you for your mercy 
and thank you for your grace. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen.