Let's get into the Word of God, Philippians chapter 3, and we are still in verses 10 and 11.

So I would like for you, if you're able to stand, you can follow along as I read again,

verses 10 and 11 here in Philippians chapter 3. If not, that's a right where you're seated is fine.

The Apostle Paul, actually it's quite stunning, says verse 10 by the Spirit, I want to know Christ, yes, to know

the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

And so, verse 11, somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Would you pray with me and we'll ask God to bless our understanding?

Loving Heavenly Father, we want to posture ourselves before you this morning as your people

in this, your church, humbly and hungry.

Lord, we hunger and thirst for that which we know only you can satiate.

And so that's what we're asking you to do, is to satisfy the hunger and the thirst of our souls. We ask you for this in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated. Thank you.

So last week we began a two-part series on the purpose of suffering. One of the reasons we're doing two parts on two verses over two weeks

is that Paul makes a rather astonishing claim concerning our participating in Christ's sufferings.

It's admittedly, and I think you will agree, not a topic that we really like to talk about.

It's certainly not a topic that pastors like to teach on.

The problem is when you teach the Bible expositionally book by book and chapter

by chapter and verse by verse you can't really get away with skipping over verses like this,

which believe you me, I would have loved to skip over a sermon on suffering. And the good

news is for you that this will be the last sermon that you'll

have to suffer through on suffering until of course we're at another place in God's word

dealing with suffering and then we're going to have to deal with it again.

But again, one of the reasons why I wanted to do this in two parts is because of what the Apostle Paul says here in these two verses.

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