I forgot to make mention of it, even in my prayer, but keep our brother Ben Mulaparthi and one of our elders in your prayers, even today, as he is in India, over there to visit his father, but he told me that today he’s preaching three different times over there. So continue to keep our brother Ben in your prayers this morning.

Turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter nine. John chapter nine. I hope you as well have been blessed by the thoughts and dwelling on John chapter 9 this past week, as we took a big picture look at this chapter last time.

We saw that this chapter is about the healing of the man born blind, and then the ensuing controversy that came from that. We were introduced to this man in verse 1. We see it says, as he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And as I mentioned, blindness was a common issue in the ancient world. We see many cases of blindness in the Bible, in the Old Testament even, in the narratives we see of the Old Testament age of Israel. And we even see in the law of God, provision made to specifically care for the blind. But because there were none of the modern accommodations for those with disabilities that we have today, and especially with blindness, the blind were usually destined to become beggars. We see another example of this in blind Bartimaeus.

In Mark chapter 10, it speaks of this man. Mark chapter 10, verse 46. It says, then they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples in a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. So the blind were often destined to become beggars, and as beggars, they were often forgotten or ignored, but not by Jesus. Jesus saw the man. and he cared about her. As we saw last week in the text I read in the service last week and even this morning, one of the proofs of who Jesus was was that he can cure blindness, that he can heal the blind.

Last week I read from Isaiah 42 where it says that the Messiah was coming to open blind eyes and to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who inhabit the darkness. from the prison. And earlier this morning, I read from that chapter in Isaiah 35, where it says, say to those with an anxious heart, be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come, but he will save you.

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. The Messiah would accomplish the things that would reveal that He was the one that God sent to save sinners. And opening the eyes of the blind was one of those signs. And as we saw in that introduction last week, the opening of the eyes of the physically blind is a good illustration of what Jesus ultimately came to do in opening the eyes of the spiritually blind.

And here in this text in John chapter nine, we are introduced to this man who’s born blind, but we’re not told how they know that. We’re not told how they know that he was blind from birth. He could have been well-known so that people knew that he was blind from birth, or maybe the blind man told them and we just don’t have that. Or maybe he was holding a sign that said his condition.

But in any case, this is the only recorded instance in the Gospels, in the Bible, where Jesus healed somebody who had a defect from birth. He had a condition he was born with. We’ll focus more on the actual miracle of how Jesus healed him next week. What I want to focus on this morning, what I don’t want us to miss in this account, is this little conversation that occurs before Jesus heals the man. It’s helpful to us because it reveals to us something about suffering.

At some time or another, every human being experiences suffering in one form or another. In fact, at one time or another, everyone both experiences and causes suffering in life. If you don’t believe so, just ask your mother, who bore you for nine months and gave birth to you. We cause pain simply by being born. We all suffer pain. And eventually, we all experience death. Both in the loss of our own loved ones, and one day when we each will die ourselves. With the exception of those who are alive at Christ’s return, who will be transformed in a moment. But with that exception, all people will suffer and die.

This is the result of the curse of sin. As Job concluded in Job chapter 14 verse 1, Man who is born of woman is short-lived and full of turmoil. A logical conclusion for a man like Job. We are short-lived and our lives are full of turmoil. Or to put it another way, we all suffer. We all suffer. That’s part of the human condition. And the question is, why? And that question becomes even harder when we consider the circumstances of our text this morning. Why do some people have disabilities? Why do some children have disabilities? Why are some born with disabilities?

The good news for us is that the Bible is not silent about these hard issues. The Bible doesn’t avoid difficulties. It doesn’t sidestep confusing or controversial things. In fact, Jesus himself often sought out these controversies and difficulties to reveal more of his glory, as he does here with this man born blind.

We’ll focus on verses one through five of chapter nine this morning. And here we see two perspectives on suffering. First, we see man’s perspective in the first two verses, man’s perspective on suffering, and then we see God’s perspective on suffering in verses three to five. Allow me to read our text this morning, John 9, verses 1-5.

As we begin this chapter, we started last week on the man born blind and how Jesus healed him. John 9, verses 1-5, this is the word of the Lord. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth, and his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents, that he would be born blind. Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned.

But this was so that the works of God might be manifested in him. We must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Again, this verse begins by quickly setting the context here. Jesus had just fled the temple because they sought to kill him again.

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. This guy is a man now, but he was born blind. We meet his parents later on in verse 18, but here we see they apparently aren’t able to care for him. He’s now a beggar, which we see in verse 8, where it says, therefore the neighbors and those who previously saw him as a beggar were saying, is this not the one who used to sit and beg? This man was known. This man was known by his suffering. He was known as a beggar, and he was known as a man born blind. Because he was born blind, he was desperately poor.

His life was hard, as it is for many people, as it is for many of us. Now, I don’t know that any of you were born blind. But as I’ve already mentioned, we all suffer in some way or another. Whenever we face circumstances that are the result of the curse of sin upon this world, when we face illness or disease, cancer, chronic illnesses or debilitating pain, hardships in life, hardships in marriage, hardships with your children, the loss of loved ones, of parents, of a spouse, the loss of your children, or as is the case for so many today, the difficulty or inability to even have children. Yes, we all suffer. So in some way we can relate to this man blind from birth and verse one says Jesus saw him.

Jesus saw him as he passed by. He saw him. He knows. He sees you. In your suffering. And he knows you. In your suffering. Jesus saw him and the disciples saw that he saw him. And that is where we see our first observation in this text of man’s perspective on suffering. Verse two, his disciples asked him saying, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he would be born blind. They see Jesus stop at this man. who is born blind, and they figure they’ll interject some conversation here. Jesus, you notice him.

By the way, whose fault is it? This question is a good question. It’s an important question. But don’t miss that the story did not begin with their question. They didn’t bring this up. They didn’t start by seeing the man and bringing him to Jesus. The story begins with Jesus seeing the man. The disciples only noticed because Jesus noticed. Are you a Jesus follower? Do you notice? Do you notice the suffering of others? Are you like Christ?

He tells us what distinguishes his followers. In Matthew chapter 25, starting in verse 34, it says, Then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. These are the subjects of the king, the king’s people.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when? When did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger and invite you in or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?

And the king will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. The king notices. The king notices and he cares for those who are suffering. And the king’s people are marked by the same care for the needs of the suffering. This has always been the mark of God’s people. In Deuteronomy, of course, Moses tells them what they should do if they would like to live a life loving the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. How do we do that, Moses? This is how. Deuteronomy 10, verse 17. Four, Yahweh your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the fearsome God who does not show partiality or take a bribe.

He executes justice for the orphan and the widow and shows love for the sojourner by giving him food and clothing. So, show love for the sojourner. For you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. Yahweh your God you shall fear, him you shall serve, and to him you shall cling, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise, he is your God, who has done these great and fearsome things for which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt, 70 persons in all, and now Yahweh your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven. You shall therefore, Love Yahweh your God, keep his charge, his statutes, his judgments, and his commandments all your days.

You shall therefore, meaning this is how, this is how you love your God. You act like him. You love the sojourner because he loves the sojourner. You care for the needy because that’s what he does. The way you love your God is you act godly. You act like God. You care for the suffering because He does. You care for the needy. You notice the least of these. Notice people in their suffering and help them in any way that you can because He notices them.

And because he noticed this man, the disciples noticed too. And so they ask him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents, that he would be born blind? The disciples here ask what they think is a relevant question. I mean, it seems relevant to them. What was the cause of this? Doesn’t help this guy at all. But it’s very relevant to them. And that’s the very problem with their question. And is this not the question we ask when we are faced with suffering?

Any of the hardships I mentioned earlier, or any of the things that you or someone you know may face, what’s the cause of this? Why did this happen? But why do we ask that question? Why do we ask that question? We usually ask that question because we want to avoid suffering. We want out of it. What’s the cause of this so that I can not do that and therefore not suffer? And that is what we see in the disciples’ question here. Their question reflects their concern to avoid suffering.

And their question reflects a popular Jewish belief that anyone’s physical suffering was a direct result of their personal sin. A famous Jewish rabbi once said, there is no death without sin and there is no suffering without iniquity. Which if you’re talking about original sin, and the curse, that has some truth in it, but that’s not what that meant. That’s not how it was meant then. The way that this rabbi and Jewish belief meant it was that every single case of suffering is the direct result of a particular sin. If something bad happens, you did something bad to cause it.

And that’s what’s reflected in the disciples’ question here. They only saw two possible explanations for this man’s condition. Either his sins or those of his parents were the cause of his blindness. But this man was born blind. What did he do? What could he have done to cause his own blindness? And if his parents were responsible, why would their child be the one punished for their sin?

In one sense, the disciples’ reasoning is not completely illogical, but it’s just based on a false premise. It is true that suffering in general is ultimately the result of sin, the curse of sin. And it’s true that sometimes specific illnesses or circumstances are a direct consequence of sin. Think of Miriam, who was given leprosy for her sin of rebellion against Moses. Or like the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians, because they were taking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. Many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep or are dead because of their sin. And tragically, sometimes there are children who are forced to suffer consequences of their parents’ sin. For example, a baby can suffer severely from the mother’s smoking, excessive drinking, substance abuse during pregnancy. That can be a cause of suffering. There can be physical consequences to sin. But not always. Not all suffering is the result of sin, and Jesus says that. In verse 3 he says, neither this man nor his parents sinned.

Maybe the disciples are thinking of Old Testament passages that are often claimed for things like this. Like in Exodus chapter 20 verse 5, you shall not worship false gods, and this is the Ten Commandments, you shall not worship them or serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth generation. This is a statement that God repeats throughout the books of Moses, that he will visit the iniquity of the fathers on the sons to the third and fourth generation. And so it seems that many, including these disciples, thought that God is punishing this blind man for his parents’ history of sin, and many today believe this is how it works. and even some teachers talk about generational curses. The idea that you’re suffering because of the sins of previous generations. That your suffering is a direct result of the sin of your previous generations. And they make those claims based on verses like I just read. But something you have to understand about God’s warning to Israel is that it is exactly that.

It’s a warning to a nation. As a nation and a society and a culture, if they do not worship and fear God, the subsequent generations will suffer. They won’t fear God either. And so they will face the consequences of a nation that does not fear God. Nations like the ones they conquered by the hand of God in the promised land. So God’s warning is, if you don’t want to end up like those people, don’t act like those people. Fear God. A warning that they did not listen to, and they reaped the very results that God promised. But when it comes to individuals, God makes a clear distinction. God is very specific about His dealings with individuals. For example, listen to these examples that God repeats. It’s as if God doesn’t want us to get this confused.

In Deuteronomy 24 verse 16, fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers. Each shall be put to death for his own sin. It’s repeated in 2 Chronicles 25 verse 4. It says, he did not put their sons to death, but did as it was written in the law of the book of Moses, and it quotes from Deuteronomy there.

Jeremiah 31 verses 29 to 30, in those days, they will not say again, the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge, but everyone will die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge. And then most clearly, Ezekiel. 18 verse 20, the soul who sins will die.

The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. When it comes to individuals, each individual is responsible for his own sin.

God does not punish sons for the sins of their fathers. So the idea that your circumstances are the result of generational curses or of the sins of past generations is just not a biblical idea. And so the assumptions of these disciples are totally off base. This man was not suffering because of the sins of his parents.

And not only that, it gets to their motive. Why are they asking this question? What is the cause of this? Why do we ask this question? Why did this happen to me? Why am I suffering? What did I do to deserve this? We ask those questions so we can avoid suffering. That is the perspective of man. That is man’s perspective on suffering. We don’t like suffering, so our reaction is to see suffering and try to avoid it. That’s our first observation, but thankfully we also have God’s perspective on suffering.

Verse three, Jesus answers, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this was so that the works of God might be manifested in him. We must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. This is profound. This is how to respond to suffering. But it’s not in the way that we might expect. Because Jesus answers by shifting their focus.

Notice he doesn’t give them the cause. He does say that they’re wrong about the cause. It wasn’t this man or his parents that were the cause. But he never tells them why. He never gives them the cause of their suffering. Instead, he shifts their focus from the cause to the purpose.

The purpose in this suffering. But this was so that the works of God might be manifested. The cause of suffering is not what’s important. The purpose in it is what’s important. God did it, and He did it for a purpose. Now, there are some who don’t like this idea at all. In my study of this passage this week, I read several Bible scholars that I respect.

They get very uncomfortable with this idea that God caused this man to live a life of suffering to the point that they admittedly retranslate these verses to say something like, neither did this man or his parents sin, period, but so that the works of God might be displayed, we must work. Saying something to the effect of, well, we don’t know the cause, but let’s fix it to glorify God in the fixing of it. Instead of saying that this blindness was so that, God would be glorified. A lot of people are uncomfortable with that. and only attribute the healing to God’s glory and not the suffering.

In fact, listen to, I wanted to bring a couple quotes to you from these men. One man named F.F. Bruce says this, explaining these verses. He says, this does not mean that God deliberately caused the child to be born blind in order that after many years, his glory would be displayed in the removal of the blindness.

To think so would again be an aspersion to the character of God. And G. Campbell Morgan says, I absolutely refuse to accept this interpretation. Blindness from birth is not the will of God for any man. What a small view of God. There are several others who think the same way about these verses, and I won’t mention them. But thankfully, they’re not the majority opinion.

Because a mistake that all of these men make is they seem to equate blindness with evil and suffering with evil. Why is it necessary to consider that blindness is something evil? Why is it necessary to consider any type of suffering as evil. But that’s what we do. That’s what we do. When we are suffering, our thought is, this is bad. Therefore, this can’t be what God wants for me. I must have done something wrong. How can I fix it and get it right? Often our flawed perceptions affect the way that we see things and they mislead us into thinking we’re being punished by God or experiencing some sort of evil that He did not will for us.

Another quote I found that I think is just so helpful. It’s by a man named Gary Phillips, and this is what he says. Some things we call evil are simply things which displease us because they hinder the fulfillment of our inflated desires. Let me read that again. Some things we call evil are simply things which displease us because they hinder the fulfillment of our inflated desires. If you don’t get anything else from this this morning. Get that. Suffering is not evil.

God sovereignly determined that a man was born blind for the distinct purpose of one day glorifying himself through it. It’s exactly what he did when Jesus revealed God’s power by recreating sight for this man, physically and spiritually. I mean, think about it. What reveals God’s glory more? A man healed of a handicap that was known to the whole community, that he was born with this condition. A man who had lived his entire life up to this point without sight. Or if Jesus simply healed a man who had a eye injury recently. What glorifies God more? You see, it’s to witness the healing of an undeniable condition that makes people look outside of the natural world for the cause of it.

You can’t do that. That just can’t happen. It’s impossible. He’s Jesus. And this was not uncommon in Jesus’ life and ministry, to do the things that have no explanation. Again, think of Lazarus. We’ll meet him in a couple chapters. In John 11, written with the exact same Greek structure. to explain why this happens. In John 11, verse 4, when Jesus heard this, that his friend Lazarus had died, he said, this sickness is not to end in death, but it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified in it. But so that, the exact same explanation for John 9, 3.

Lazarus died so that. This man was born blind so that. This is the exact reason for this man’s blindness. God did it. God let Lazarus die. God let Lazarus be dead for four days and he did it for a reason. John goes on to tell us that Jesus did in fact raise Lazarus from the dead and showed Jesus power over death. This couldn’t be explained away. He wasn’t just taking a good nap. He was dead. He was starting to decay. And Jesus came. So whether he’s healing a lifelong deformity like in John 9. or a four day old corpse in John 11.

The undeniability of the condition is what displays the glory of God. Only God can do this. There’s a powerful message here that we shouldn’t miss. Any person with a handicap, any person in suffering, any of the sufferings we mentioned earlier, whatever suffering you may be suffering, you carry the honor of glorifying God in ways that someone without your suffering will not be able to carry out. You have the distinct ability to glorify God in ways that other people can’t. God did it, and he did it for a purpose, and that purpose is so that he would be glorified in you.

Exodus 4.11, who made man’s mouth? Or who is it that makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? God did it. Is God absolutely sovereign over people with handicaps?

Yes. Even if the purpose for that is not for punishment or simply to inflict suffering? Yes. Did God purpose that this man would be born blind so that he could reveal himself in a particular way to this particular man and with him the whole world? Because he wrote it down in his book. Yes, he did. And it is for this purpose that the man’s lifelong suffering was not just allowed by God, It was not just ordained by God, it was purposed by God. It was purposed by Him.

And then Jesus says in verse 4, we must work the works of Him who sent me, as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. You see, the disciples’ focus was backwards on the cause of this suffering. Why did this happen?

But Jesus’ focus is forward on the purpose of God in this suffering. What is God doing? Not what did he do, what is he doing? And Jesus had work to do. And not only that, Jesus says, we have work to do. We have work to do. Now these disciples, they’re just gonna stand there and watch while Jesus heals him. But they have work to do as well. We must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day. We only have so long on this earth. Jesus only had a few short months. Left on the earth before he would be crucified and buried. And yes, he did rise again and a few short weeks after he ascended to the right hand of the father. And the light of the world. Left the world. But he left his light behind with these men. Who then passed that light down to us?

And just like Jesus and just like his disciples, we have work to do for the kingdom of God. The day won’t last forever. What Jesus told the disciples applies to all believers. We have work to do. We are to serve God with a sense of urgency, as if I only have so many minutes left in this life to give to him. I need to redeem the time because the days are evil.” We only have a limited amount of time in life. We only have a limited amount of time on this earth to work the works of Him who sent His Son. And that is exactly what Jesus does here. He stops their speculation over the cause of this man’s suffering. And that’s instructive for us too.

Sometimes we get so distracted by the cause of our suffering or how we get out of our suffering. What can I do to change it? We should really be focused on how can I glorify God in it? How can we show that He is still most important to me despite my circumstances, even in my suffering? It is such an encouragement to see saints of His who are suffering, who are suffering immensely, and they still come to church. They’re still here every Sunday.

And then there are those who are truly suffering, who have circumstances come up in life they did not expect. And their reasoning is, I just got so much going on right now. I can’t make it to church. I don’t have time for that in my life right now with all this going on. Why would you wanna give up the blessing of God’s people? Things are bad enough for you in life. Why would you not want to come and make it a little better?

This is exactly where you should be in your suffering. Showing that He is still most important to me. I can still glorify God in my suffering. Jesus suffered too. He never sought to avoid it. He didn’t worry about what caused it. He sought to glorify God in it.

And Peter, Peter was here. In fact, I’m willing to bet Peter was the one that asked. And Peter learned his lesson from his Lord. I read this passage in the sermon a couple of weeks ago, but it shows what Peter learned. In fact, his first letter is all about the suffering of his Lord. Listen to 1 Peter chapter 2, starting in verse 21. For to this you have been called. Peter’s speaking to people who know about suffering. People who had their homes taken away. Who had their lives taken away. Who had their loved ones taken away. Who had their spouses and their children killed in front of them.

Peter says, for to this you have been called. Since Christ also suffered for you. leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps, who did no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth, who being reviled was not reviling in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness. By his wounds, you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. And Peter keeps talking about suffering. In the next chapter, chapter 3, verse 17.

For it is better, it is better if God should will it so that you suffer. It is better, if God wills that I suffer, for doing good rather than for doing wrong. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that he might bring you to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. Peter always frames suffering in Christ. Yes, you’re suffering. And suffering is real. And suffering hurts. And He suffered for you. And in the next chapter, listen to this one.

1 Peter 4, starting in verse 12, Beloved, do not be surprised. at the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you, but to the degree you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. So that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation, for if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a troublesome meddler, but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be put to shame, but is to glorify God in this name. God purposes suffering for His glory, not just healing, not just deliverance, The suffering. It is to glorify God in this name.

Peter learned. Peter learned about suffering from his Savior, Jesus Christ, who, Philippians 2, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself. By taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even a death on the cross.

Therefore, God also highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” To what? To the glory of God the Father. His suffering was for the glory of God.

He suffered on our behalf so that He could glorify God who sent Him. If you have not yet trusted in Christ as your Savior, repent. Repent of your self-righteousness and come to Him. Trust that He alone is your Savior and the only answer for your sin and righteousness before God. While he was in the world, he was the light of the world. And he still is the light of the world. But now that light shines through us. We are his light to a lost and dark world.

And as we see in this text today, our suffering is not without purpose. Whatever your suffering might look like, And suffering looks like a lot of things. And suffering is real. Maybe it’s a condition from birth, like this man. Maybe it’s an illness, or a disease, like cancer, or heart disease, or kidney disease, or diabetes, or ALS, or, or, or. We know. We pray for these things. Suffering is real. Maybe it’s infertility. Maybe it’s the loss of a parent or a spouse or a child.

Whatever suffering God has purposed for you. Remember, that you carry the honor of glorifying God in ways that someone without your suffering cannot do. That’s why the purpose in our suffering matters. He has a purpose in it for us and for himself. We may not know the cause. We may never know the cause of our suffering, but we know that God can use it. to glorify himself in and through us.

So whatever your particular circumstances of suffering may be, are you seeking to show that despite that, despite those circumstances, despite my suffering, God is still most important in my life. God is still most glorious. And that is not dependent on my circumstances. It is revealed through my circumstances. Whatever our suffering, we know that he suffered for us and he exchanged his robes for ours.

And that is what we will remember and rejoice in here as we gather at the table. Stand with me as we close in a word of prayer this morning. Our God in heaven. We thank you for John 9. We feel this. And we know that you see this. We know that you see us in our suffering. And God, we thank you. We thank you that our suffering is not without purpose, but that you purposed it in us so that we can glorify you through it, just like our Savior. so that as we endure our suffering and glorify you in it, we become more and more like Christ who suffered for us, who took our sin and our punishment on himself, on the cross, so that we could know you. that we could be saved by you, that we could be your people, and so that we, as we come together this morning, could glorify you even today. Our God, we thank you. We thank you for who you are. We thank you for who you are making us to be, and we pray all of this in Jesus’ name, amen.