Today I want to talk with you
for a few moments on getting focused. Key words in today's message
are forgetting, reaching, pressing, persevering. Verse 13 of Philippians 3 says,
brethren, I count not myself too apprehended, but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forth unto those things which are before. The book of Philippians
is where we got our name 38 years ago, Grace Gospel Fellowship. If you read and study the book
of Philippians, you'll find out that's what it's all about. The
fellowship around the gospel of God's free grace. You'll note
that there is a command in the third chapter. It's a very unusual
command. You don't usually see it as a
command, but here it is a command. It's not a legalistic command.
Philippians 3, finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. You and
I as Christians have been commanded to rejoice. So get that sour look off your
face and join with me in smiling with my three front teeth. Rejoice
in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice. And then in this third chapter,
there's a warning concerning getting caught up with another
gospel. I think myself sometimes to be
very judgmental and watching television, especially on Sunday
morning, I talk back to the preachers on there, nope, Nope. We need to be careful what we
hear. You need to be careful where
you go to church. It's important that you, as a
child of God, are fed every time you meet in the house of God
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of God's grace. Look what
Paul says in verse 2. Paul was pretty rough on those
who preach another gospel. If you're wondering where the
sign, beware of dogs, came from, it's biblical. Verse two, beware
of dogs. Only he's not talking about four-legged
dogs. He's talking about those who
preach another gospel other than the gospel of grace, other than
the gospel of the blood, other than the gospel of imputed righteousness,
other than the gospel that salvation is by grace from first to last,
he calls them dogs. You say, well, pastor, I think
that a bit harsh. Well, if you look at it this
way, God so loved that he gave his only begotten son for undeserving
sinners. And then some jack-legged preacher
comes along proclaiming that salvation is through the baptismal
pool or salvation by works or salvation by your free will or
salvation by what you do. Paul says he's a dog. You're
not a reverend, he's a dog. Beware of dogs. Give every song
you sing and every testimony you hear and every preacher you
listen to the acid test. Philippians is full of Christ.
The first 18 verses, Christ is mentioned in every verse. Make
sure when you're listening to a preacher or Sunday school teacher,
Bible study leader, that he powerfully exalts Jesus Christ, that he
lifts up Jesus Christ. Beware of dogs, beware of evil
workers, beware of the concision. These are all the same people.
Dogs, beware of the cutters. who say you have to be circumcised
in order to be saved and keep the law of Moses. Beware that
you don't listen to them, they're dangerous. Beware of the concision,
the evil workers. And then in verse three, he says
what we are. We are a people who have had
a heart change. Listen to this, for we, We're
not dogs, we're not evil workers, we're not those of the concision
which say you have to be cut, you have to do this, you have
to do that in order to be saved. Here's who we are, we are the
circumcision which worship God in spirit. We don't have to have
a crucifix up front here. We don't have to have crosses
all over the walls. We don't have to have spooky
organ music. We don't have to have all of
that because really we worship God not by sight. We worship
God in our spirit. Here's how that works. When I'm
preaching the gospel of the glory, Jesus Christ is being exalted,
the Spirit of God is in this place, and some of you can't
help it because your spirit makes you lift your hand. Hallelujah! It starts way down deep in here.
Worshiping God is not outward. We really didn't need this beautiful
building and all of the remodeling to worship God. because we worship
God in our spirit. We can worship God in a cave,
under the maple tree, under a tent, worship God washing the dishes,
worship God at the plant, because we worship God in spirit and
in truth. And we rejoice in Christ Jesus. That's who we are. We rejoice
in Christ Jesus. You didn't come here to hear
me preach any other message than Christ Jesus is Lord, that he's
risen from the grave, that he sits at the right hand of God,
making intercession for us, that there is power in the blood,
that there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
that if the Son sets you free, you're free indeed. You came
here to hear that He's alpha and omega and beginning and end. He's the first of the last. His
name is wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace,
Everlasting Father. He's the door. He's the way.
He's the truth. You came here to hear that. And
when that gospel goes forth, your spirit leaps with joy. We
worship God in spirit, and we have absolutely no confidence
in the flesh. We've had a heart change. Let
me tell you, all of those of you who are here without Christ
today, you don't have him. You don't know him. You're not
gonna get any better. You're not going to overcome
drugs. It's not gonna happen. It's only through Jesus Christ
that we're overcomers. You can move to Seneca Street,
walk across this stage and get your little piece of paper and
die and go to hell because you don't have Christ in you, the
hope of glory. We have no confidence in the
flesh. In fact, Paul says in verses
four, six and eight, that all of the flesh works are BS. Don't act like you don't know
what BS is. He says it's dung. I have no
confidence in the flesh. I count everything that I've
ever done in a religious way to be BS. It's dung. And you can read that in the
Spanish, French, or the Greek, and it's still BS. There's only one righteousness
that matters, Paul says. It's an imputed righteousness.
It's an accredited righteousness that God gives to those who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is imputed to you. It is accredited
to you. Imputed righteousness through
faith in Christ. The apostle goes on to say in
these verses 12 through 13, I want to know him. Is that your desire? I want to know him. And by the
way, Paul had quite a pedigree here. If you read this chapter,
he was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, the
tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew, the Hebrews, as touching the
law, Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching
the righteousness, switching the law. I was blameless. In
other words, Paul said, when I was a Pharisee, a religious
person, I was clean as a houndstooth in outward conduct. Of course,
he's lying through his teeth being blameless because God looks
on the heart. But on the outside, if you were
to look at Saul of Tarsus, what a religious guy. And he says,
all of this pedigree is just dung. It doesn't count. It doesn't
matter. I want to know him. I want to be found in him. That's how I know you're saved. Amen. Believers don't quit. Well, you know, they made a profession
of faith and, and, you know, they were clean for almost six
months. And then, I don't know, they
just disappeared and they were worse off now than they were
before. What happened? Ah, you didn't
know him. You're going to persevere. You're
gonna keep on keep it on believers don't quit because greater is
he that's in you than he that's in the world Paul said I'm in a race I'm running
this race and there's a prize to be had in verse 14 a Prize
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. There's a prize out there I'm
focused. I am focused. One thing I believe
with my ADD and all my other DDs, one thing I know for sure,
I am focused. I mean, I'm focused on this one
thing. I'm determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross. I'm focused on that. I'm focused
on this matter that salvation is by grace and that to God be
the glory and to God alone be the glory. That that is the message. I'm focused on that. I want you
to be focused on that. How's your walk? How's your walk? Christians are like crazy sheep. They wander, they don't go in
a straight line, but we're always headed up. We're always persevering. I'll tell you this, you get saved.
You won't enjoy crack like you used to. You won't enjoy heroin
like you used to. And in fact, you'll be really
picky about where you go to church. You'll be really picky about
it. So a crack addict, heroin addict gets converted, they'll
never enjoy that high again. It'll always be miserable. I
did it again. That's the way Christians do.
I hate in my flesh dwells no good thing, but I know Jesus
Christ is everything He's all he's my Savior. He's my Lord
What I want to do I don't do and what I hate that do I all
wretched man that I am That's the way Christians act You can't
quit Look at those who have the Wrong walk. By the way, in the
Christian walk, there's only one way, and that's through Jesus
Christ. He's the way. In verses 18 and
19, it talks about those whose end is destruction, whose God
is their belly, whose glory is their shame, who are earthly-minded. Is that you? Are you here today?
Is everything about you? Everything about this world?
This world has totally consumed you. All of you guys and gals
who are here, you know, with drug addiction, how's the drug
thing doing for you? I mean, how is it? I was thinking
this morning, coming over, even though I have so much that I'll
talk to you a little bit later. So much mess in my own life,
in my past. But I will tell you this, I was
humming. This world is not my home, I'm
just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere
beyond the blue. The angels welcome me. You know
the song, don't you? From Heaven's Open Door. This
world is not my home. Man, I'm excited about my future! I'm excited about it! The Apostle Paul in the book
of Ephesians says, you were dead sins and trespasses, and you
walked according to the course of this world. But you've been quickened. You've
been made alive. You've given new life in Jesus
Christ. And now you have views of heaven.
I hope that you're looking forward to the future. You know, as a
child of God, you have a great future. And we'll talk about
that a little bit. All right, now I want to get
to the good stuff. Forgetting those things which are behind.
You know, one of the great prisons of life, my life and yours, is
memory of my past. You know, your past will really
mess you up. It'll really mess your present
up. If you don't get into this gospel,
to those who do not know Christ, who have not as yet shown themselves
to be reprobate, and for those who have come to Christ, this
is a profound and great enemy of the soul remembering the past. I think this week, two people
have said something like this to me. I just think I've done too much. I think I've gone too far. See, your thinking is all messed
up. That's why I'm here. I'm going
to do surgery today on you. Maybe not for hours, but for
an hour at least, maybe do surgery on you. One of the things you
need to learn to do is to forget those things which are behind.
I had a letter written to me and in that letter it said something
like that. I've gone too far. I've done
too much. I've drank and used and been
immoral. And I just, I just think it's
too late. That's because you don't understand
the gospel. It's not by works. You can't
earn it by what you don't do. Amen. It's by grace, it's by
unmerited favor. If you're talking like that,
obviously something is going on on the inside. I've gone too
far, I've done too much. I always like to talk to people
like that. Because the only people who think that way are people
who have been given life. I believe that kind of talk is
evident that you've been quickened, you've been made alive. Now you're
worrying about all this stuff. you just have not come to the
full-blown, awesome, glorious, wonderful knowledge that Jesus
Christ paid it all. And that's why I so often remind
you, and the Apostle Paul reminds us, you see the Apostle Paul,
he didn't smoke crack. He hadn't done heroin, but you
know what he had done? He had despised the gospel of
Jesus Christ. There's not that much difference
between a crack addict and a Pharisee. Well, not that much difference. One is bragging on their works.
The other is getting high in another way, but all of it's
dumb and it doesn't matter. for getting those things which
are behind. The little elect of God, having
not yet come to faith in Christ alone, remembers and feels it
impossible that God would forgive him. I often meet people that
way, and it's my pleasure and my joy to be able to talk with
them concerning the claims of the gospel. The Christian who
falls so many times and cannot let it go. There are people here
today, I'm going to ask you for a hand commitment eventually
here, that you promise to forget the thing that you've been carrying
all these years. Or maybe things. that you promise
you're going to forget, that you're going to spit in the eye
of the devil and say, today you accused me for the last time. You see, we Christians are in
a race and you can't run the race very well when you've got
these weights around your ankles. When I was playing a little football,
I used to have two pound weights that I would put around each
ankle. And when we would run sprints
or whatever, we did in practice all week. But I want to tell
you, on Friday night, I took them off. Amen. And the apostle Paul in the book
of Hebrews says, let us lay aside every weight. Life is such a drudgery. Such
a drag being a Christian, you know. There's so much. Let it go! Forgetting those things
which are behind. There's not a person in here
who doesn't have mess. And you know what I thought about
today? I wonder if anybody's going to identify. And then the
Lord said, you know, you're so messed up yourself. Of course,
they're going to identify. There's not a person in here
that doesn't have something they're remembering right now about your mess. And if you're
not remembering right now, the person next to you is remembering
what you did. Remember those sexual acts of
perversion in your addiction? Remember the stealing from those
who loved you most? Remember the selling of your
cells for your drug of choice? Remember the abortions? Remember
the desertion of your wife and children, all for yourself? Remembering is destroying your
present. You can't carry that. You can't
carry that. You are imprisoned by those awful
remembrances. It's like the commercial, help,
I've fallen and I can't get up. You can't get up. Some of you
are suicidal or have been suicidal. I heard this week about a person
who was suicidal, talking about taking their life because they
had gone too far, they had done too much. Remember this, it is
not true. It is not so. You have not gone
too far. You have not done too much. Where
sin did abound and piled up, the grace of God piles up higher. Unmerited favor. I was praying this week for Allison,
and I said, God, raise her up, bring her out of that bed, and
cause her to be a conqueror through Jesus Christ and a witness for
his power to deliver. Isn't that awesome? You're in the grass this morning,
some of you. Many of you are Christians living
in the condemnation zone. You just feel so condemned about
something that happened 10 years ago. Let it go! Some of you have
brought that suitcase full of stuff into this place. This is
a place where we dump out the suitcase and throw it away and
let it go. There's no condemnation, no judgment
to those that are in Christ Jesus. Oh, pastor. Oh, pastor. Don't bore me with your story.
I've heard your story over and over and your stories that I
haven't heard, I've thought or done them myself. So let it go. I've been in this 50 years. So now
it becomes like this. You're not going to believe what
I did, pastor. Well, when'd you do it? Oh, 26
years ago. 26 years ago? 26 years ago? And you're now 56 and you've
been carrying it all that time? Not sitting under my preaching
you won't carry it. You're gonna turn it loose. Let me read you something. Let
me read you something, this is so good. This is so good, you
won't hear this most places. This is Romans 4. But to him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. In other words, you trusted Jesus
Christ, you have imputed righteousness. Now listen to this. Even as David
also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works. Some of you in here can't think
of a good thing you really did. That's good. Imputeth righteousness without
works, without the church, without baptism, without the sacraments,
without the Lord's supper. Without you joining the church,
without you keeping the commandments, a righteousness that comes without
works. You have a righteousness, you
have status and standing before God without your works. All of your works are a filthy
rag in the sight of God. Now listen to this. It gets better. Saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven. Iniquities forgiven, yeah. Whose sins are covered. Yeah. Look at that verse 8. This is
one that ought to make all of us jump in here. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute, charge with sin. Yeah, but you did it. And God
said, I'm not going to charge him. Pastor, I've heard that about
you. You preach that you can live like hell and still go to
heaven, that you can sin all you want to. I want to tell you,
every Christian sins all they want to. In fact, don't we sin
more than we want to, Christian? Of course we do. Aren't you glad
God will not charge you with it? God refuses to charge you. Someone said to me this week,
I'm glad God punished me because... Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You are responsible for doing
some things, and God is not punishing you. It's just this. If you cut
your finger, whether you're a Christian or not a Christian, you're gonna
bleed. There are consequences to what
we do. God's not beating you up. God
is not punishing you. You just did certain things,
and in this life, there are consequences. God's not beating you. God does
not abuse his children. You're free, your chains fell
off, you're free. Now I'm gonna read some passages
real quick to you. Remember forgetting, forget,
forget it, forgetting, forget, let it go, turn loose. Isaiah
43, 25, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own
sake and I will not remember your sins. Psalm 103, 12. As far as the east is from the
west. That's a fur piece. That's a
fur piece. Anybody in here know how far
the east is from the west? No, you don't. It's a long way. So far does he remove our transgressions
from us. Well, how come you're remembering
them? He removed them. Hebrews 8, 12, for I will be
merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins
no more. Well, if he doesn't remember
them, why are you remembering them? Well, because mom and dad,
oh, because my brother, because my wife, because, forget it. Stand up and say to them, I'm
more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. Oh, you're right about
all that. In fact, I was worse than what
you're saying. You know, it takes all the power
out of them when you go like this. Oh, you're right. I'm bad.
I'm really bad. I am so bad. Oh, oh, you're right. If you only knew what I thought
about doing, you only know what I've done. But if you knew what
I thought about doing, oh my goodness. But it's not my works,
it's my grace. It's my unmerited favor. Jeremiah 31 34 and no longer
shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying know
the Lord for they shall know me from the least of them to
the greatest declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity
and I will remember their sin no more Is that good? Hebrews 10 17 I will remember
their sins and their lawless deeds no more Isaiah 38 27 for
I have cast all of their sins behind my back You know what? I can't see what's behind my
back. I Somebody said, all of our sins are under the blood.
I got to thinking about that about 30 years ago, and I thought,
are they all under the blood? And then I thought to myself,
what if somebody lifts up the blood? What if somebody takes
the cover off the blood? No, my sins are not simply under
the blood, they're gone. They'll search for them, but
they can't find them. The devil is an accuser. It's
not God who's saying to you, I remember what you did. You
know why you did. God never makes you feel that
way. He's always declaring to you, you're free. They're gone. They're paid for. He doesn't
want you to walk around in loneliness and loneliness and be thinking
about all of the condemnation. Not good. Now, I just want to
point blank you. And if you don't raise your hand,
I'm going to know you're lying. How many of you have something
you ought to let go? A few liars in here. But most of you told the truth.
Let it go. Now what for the Christian? Now
what for the Christian? Now that I've let go. Now that
I know there is no remembrance of my sins on God's part, now
I'm ready to run. I'm ready to run. I saw a couple
of weeks ago on Facebook, a young lady who was running in one of
the 200 races and meter races. And she was leading by, I don't
know, quite a way she was leading. Someone caught up with her close,
and she tripped over the person behind her and fell, and she
fell to last place. And she got up, and she started
running, and I watched her, and she began to pass the person
in front of her, the next one, the next one, the next one, the
next one, the next one, and the next one, and she crossed the
finish line first. I said to myself, that's me. I've fallen several times, but
I'm not through running. I'm a runner. Are you a runner?
I'm running in this race. I want to know him. I want to
be found in him. I want to cross the finish line.
Amen. And I know this, what's great
is when you trip, know this, greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. Get up and run. That's what Christians
do. We get up and run. I'm reaching
forth. You don't get saved and sit down.
God didn't save you to sit. He saved you to run. You're in
a race. You're in a race. And He's working
in you. I'm pressing toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It does
not yet appear what we shall be. Do you think it's all over? Okay, I got saved, and I've had
a few good times in the house of God, but basically life's a struggle. Do you ever think about it this
way? I have not seen. nor e'er heard neither hath entered
into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him." Have you ever thought about what God's got
prepared for you? Well, you've got to run the race.
You've got to forget. You've got to let go and then
start to thinking about, blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us, hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Do you
know God has blessings for you tomorrow? that he bought and
paid for? Blessings that you haven't experienced?
Am I gonna have a good tomorrow? Yes, God has blessings for you. Where are they gonna be? Maybe
at the thrift store? Maybe at the kitchen sink? Listen
to this. I don't know why this happened.
I got on the elevator at Beaumont Hospital going up to the third
floor. This guy gets on, he looks really, really exhausted. I said, are you tired? I love riding with people in
an elevator because you got them. They can't go anywhere. He looked right at me and he
goes like this, wait a minute. He starts smiling. Wait a minute. I've seen you. He goes, you're
famous. I started smiling. I thought,
God, you sent that guy, I'm not famous, but you sent that guy
just to bless me. I felt good. I started smiling
with my new teeth. He said, I know who you are. And I said, you do? He said,
yes. I just kept smiling. You know,
that man got off that elevator and I never found out who he
thought I was. But it was good to know I'm famous. I just said, thank you, Lord,
for new teeth. You know, the apostle Paul says
in 2 Corinthians 12, he said something like this. I knew a
man in Christ about 14 years ago, whether in the body, I cannot
tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell. God knows he was
caught up to the third heaven. Oh, wouldn't it be something
if you got to go to the third heaven while you were still down
here? See, I think about it like this. there's a possibility that I
could be filled with the fullness of God. Filled with the fullness
of God? What would that be like? I do
know this, everything's clean, everything's holy, everything's
happy, everything's rejoicing in God, in Christ Jesus. So, you know, you could be famous. I mean by that, there are things
that we have not experienced. Count your many blessings, name
them one by one. You're in a race, and Christ
is in you, and the Spirit of God is in you, and you're going
to keep on keeping on. I've thought about all the songs
that I've heard over the years. And I don't know whether they
certainly didn't mean that much to me maybe years ago, but we
used to sing, there's a land that is fair the day, and by
faith I can see it afar. That's the way I live. There's
a land beyond the river that we call the sweet forever, a
day when they will ring those golden bells for me and you. When we all get to heaven, what
a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we'll
sing and shout the victory. Or how about this one? No more
dying there. No more crying there. Walk on
streets of gold. Or how about Revelation 21 too?
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and he shall be their God. God himself shall be with them.
and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are
passed away. Revelation 21, 23, and the city
had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof. No locked gates there, no night
there, no curse there. Oh, I am bound for the promised
land. Who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land. Oh, the land we used to sing
of unclouded day. Do you know something about that?
Do you look forward to that? I'm running. I'm getting closer. And believe you me, I am at 72.
I'm getting closer. It's getting better. I'm almost
home. I'm about to cross the finish
line. Oh, that will be glory for me. What a great future we have.
Quit looking back and rest assured of this. Everybody in here and
all the people you're going to meet tomorrow and everybody that
has something on you are just like you. They're just
like you. Our manner of life is in heaven.
Our citizenship, Greg read in the New King James, citizenship
for conversation, which is right. Our citizenship is in heaven. This world is not our home. So
start claiming it. Start owning it. I'm bound for
the promised land. I'm going to heaven. Nothing
can stop me. I'm more than a conqueror. I'm
a winner. Oh, victory in Jesus. As a man
thinks in his heart, so is he. Are you depressed? Forget the
past. Start thinking about your future.
Great things tomorrow. Great things tomorrow. Live by
faith and not by sight. Believe the word of God, that
he's bought blessings. They're all bought and paid for.
They're in his storehouse. And as you live, He brings them out of the storehouse
and blesses you. You say, well, pastor, you know,
your illustration about getting on the elevator is funny. Oh
no, it is not only funny, it blessed me. I was going up to
visit the degree and, you know, pretty serious praying as I went
up there. And then this guy out of nowhere
gets on the elevator and says, you're famous. Start smiling
and all I said it he got on like this And he was going to the floor
floor and I thought in my mind somebody really sick up there
that's the way he looked You don't know who you're gonna
see tomorrow, but God is crossing your path with blessings Hey
man, it's exciting tomorrow is an exciting day and It's an awesome
day. Get the weights off, start running
the race. And you know what? This world
needs your smile. The person sitting to you needs
your smile. Sad world. Let's run the race. Those of you who don't know Christ,
let me say this to you quickly. I don't know where you're hiding,
whether you're in the balcony or back there in the back. I don't
know. You know, I've heard everything
I think there is to hear in the 30 years or more over at Grace
Centers of Hope. I've heard of people sleeping
with dogs. I've heard of mothers selling
their kids. I've heard of people who have
killed people. We used to have a hitman in security. It was a long time ago. None
of you know. I was talking to him one day, and I said, well,
what happened? I worked for the mafia. I was
a hitman. Oh. Well, you're saved now, aren't
you? I heard it all. You look at people
in the Bible, look at David. He killed a man, committed adultery,
lost his baby, all kinds of mess. Look at them. And yet, right
now they're looking over the banisters. You know, the book
of Hebrews says this, we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. They're looking over the banisters.
We're surrounded by this cloud of witnesses. They're watching.
And you know what they're saying today? One of the things they're
saying up there is, preach it, kid. You know, when you don't give
me amens, I know they are in heaven. Let's stand and praise our God.