If you would, open your Bibles
with me to Philippians chapter three. We'll read the first 11 verses. And after I read this, Jonathan,
would you come lead us in prayer, please? Philippians three. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
to me indeed is not grievous. but for you it's safe. Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision, for
we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though
I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the
Hebrews, as touching the law, Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I
count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of
all things, and to count them but done. that I may win Christ
and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know
Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings
be made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Charlie, come lead
us in prayer, if you would, please. Let's pray together. Our Holy Heavenly Father, we
thank you for drawing us here together today and pray that
you be with us, that we may be enabled to praise and worship
your holy name. We pray that you leave us not
to ourselves. In this worship service, surely
we'll stray. We repent and bow before you
for your throne humbly, repenting of who we are, our nature that
is so rebellious and wants to be seen of our own merit. And indeed, Father, we repent.
our heart that God help us, help us, that our heart wants to knock
you off your throne. Father, I pray that you see us
always and only in Christ because of Christ's work, the satisfactory
sacrifice that how he lived and died and even now maketh intercession
for sinners, for your people. We're so thankful for his accomplished
work The fact that you've seen fit to draw us here today to
worship you in his name. I pray that you be with us, be
with our pastor as he preaches that this time not be in vain,
but rather that it truly be a word from you and be with us as we
hear. Give us hearts, increase our
faith, father, and be with us that we can worship you in spirit
and in truth. Father, remember that we're dust,
we're a needy people. So many trials, the cares of
this world, we thank you for our jobs, we thank you for providing
for us, and I pray that you remove that from our minds at this time,
this physical world, and rather let us, enable us to focus and
worship you. Be with us through these trials. Whether we be in a time of comfort,
don't let us stray from you and trust in ourselves. If we be
in a time of trial, Father, hold us dear. Don't let us wander,
don't let us turn from you, but rather use this trial to prove
our faith and to increase and draw us evermore to you. We thank you for the classes
this morning. We pray for the children as they
get ready to start school again. that you be with them and guide
their paths. We pray for those congregations everywhere across
the world, even now, that are meeting. Bless your message as
you see fit. Call centers to repentance and
strengthen the saints. Comfort your people. Glorify
your name according to your will. We pray this thankfully in Christ's
name and for his sake, amen. If you would, open your Bibles
back Philippians chapter three. This will be our jumping off
point this morning. I want to take a break from our
series that we've been doing on questions that are asking
scripture. Because I feel led of the Lord
to bring a message this morning that has been very, the subject
has been very, very, very heavy on my heart. Recently, I've entitled
the message, give me Christ or else I die. It's so important for us to know
Christ that we'll perish if we do not know him. So I say, give
me Christ or else I die. It's so important for us to know
Christ that if we don't know him, we will perish in our sin. You don't know how desperately
I do not want any of you to perish in your sin. And I sure don't
want it on me because I didn't tell you the truth. We will perish. We'll die in our sin if we don't
know Christ. So give me Christ or else I die. There's no forgiveness of sin,
no mercy, no salvation, no acceptance with the father unless I know
Christ. So give me Christ or else I die. This is just of the utmost importance.
You just cannot overstate the importance of knowing Christ.
I know that there are other things that we need to live in this
world. I'm not saying those things aren't important. What I'm saying
is they have their level of importance compared to knowing Christ. You
know, those things are important. Our Lord recognized that, didn't
he? How did he teach us to pray? Give us this day our daily bread.
He knows that we need these daily provisions of this life. That's
why he taught us to pray that way. But you'll notice the Lord
also reminded us, he already knows that we have need of these
things before we ask. So he told us, seek ye first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be
added unto you. You know, I don't want to trade knowing Christ.
I don't want to trade a time of worshiping Christ. I don't
want to trade a time where I can learn more of Christ just so
I can gain temporary things of this life that I'm going to leave
behind anyway. So I say, give me Christ or else I die. Yeah, I think it's a good question
for us to ask ourselves frequently. Why do I come here? Why do I
come here to this place on Sundays and Wednesdays? Why do I come
here? Is it so I have friends and I can fellowship with them?
You know, this is my socialization. Well, I'd like to have friends
and I'd like to fellowship with those people. And certainly we
ought to find that here in God's church, shouldn't we? But I tell
you, by God's grace, I'm not going to compromise the gospel
in order to have friends. By God's grace, I'm not going
to do it. I'd like to have friends, I'd like to have fellowship with
people, but I cannot live without fellowship with Christ. I cannot
live without him. I cannot live without the fellowship
of his sufferings. So I say, give me Christ or else
I die. I want to have a correct knowledge
of doctrine and scripture. I want you all to have that.
How can we know Christ if we're hearing a lie preached? Unless
we're hearing the truth preached. I want to have a correct knowledge
of doctrine and correct knowledge of scripture, but I need a whole
lot more than that. The Pharisees had a knowledge
of what the scripture said. They had a knowledge of how you're
supposed to conduct yourself, how you're supposed to conduct
your worship service, what you're supposed to do, what you're not
supposed to do. They had an understanding of that, but they missed the
meaning of the scripture. They missed Christ. I need a
knowledge of Christ because knowing him is life eternal. If I know
Christ, I'll gain an understanding of the scriptures because they
all speak of him, but I won't have a true understanding of
the scriptures. I won't have a true understanding
of the gospel if I don't have Christ. So I say, give me Christ
or else I die. When we come here, It is my desire
every single time that we're not just having a show of religion.
Now, I want us to have a well-ordered worship service. I want us to
have a true worship service. But I don't want to just have
a show of religion. I don't want to say, well, we've
checked off all these boxes, so that means we've done everything
right. You know, a well-ordered worship service can be self-righteous
idolatry. if we're focusing on the order
of the service and not on Christ. It's just self-righteous idolatry.
That's all that is. Give me a simple building with
just a few people without, you know, all the fancy, you know,
costumes and get up of religion. Give me a people to meet with
whose heart's desire is Christ. That's where I want to be. You
know why? Because that's where Christ is
going to be. That's where I need to be. Give me Christ, or else
I die. That's what David said in picture
in our opening reading there in 1 Samuel 21. He says, there's
none like that sword. Give it me. There's none like
the word of God. Give it me. There's none like
the written word. Like Paul told Timothy, preach the word, Timothy. There's none like it. And there's
none like Christ, the incarnate word. Give him me. Give me Christ or else I die. That's what's been on my heart
and mind very heavily in the past weeks. And I searched the
scriptures and I found five points that I want to give this morning
on give me Christ or else I die. The first one is found here in
our opening text, Philippians chapter three. give me Christ's
righteousness, or else I die. Verse seven, Paul says, but what
things were gained to me, those I count a loss for Christ. Yea,
doubtless I count all things but loss, for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered
the loss of all things, and to count them but done, that I may
win Christ and be found in him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, not trying to earn a righteousness through
keeping the law, but that righteousness which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Now all these
things that Paul counted as done, they're the works of the law
that Saul of Tarsus did, trying to earn his own righteousness.
And he's not whistling Dixie, Saul did those things. Outwardly,
Saul of Tarsus did those things, but they were outward. And all
those things Paul now realized later could not make him righteous
because his works, even though he was outwardly obeying the
law, were full of sin because of the motive. The motive wasn't
obedience to God. The motive was self-glorification.
What? Self-righteousness. This is what
I've done. Look at me. And that's why he
now counted them as horse manure. The only way we can be made righteous
is what Paul says here, the righteousness, the faith of Christ, the faithfulness
of Christ to obey God's law for me, in my place, as my representative. He was faithful. Not only outwardly,
but in his motive, in his heart, out of love for God, out of the
desire for the glory of God. Christ's obedience, his faithfulness
to do everything that it took to make his people righteous.
That's the only righteousness that there is. And being found
in Christ, that's the only way I can be made righteous, is by
being in Him. That's why Jeremiah the prophet
called the coming Messiah Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. I say this so many times, righteousness
is not a thing. Righteousness is not just a legal
state before God. Righteousness is a person. Christ
is our righteousness. And if sinners like you and me
would be made righteous, we must have Christ. Give me Christ or
else I die. Jonathan, give me Christ. Give
me Christ. I don't want to just know about
Christ. I don't want to just know doctrinal
facts about Christ. I want to know Christ like a
wife knows her husband. I want to be joined to Christ
so that I am one with Him, so that I am what He is. That's
the only way I could ever be made righteous. I want to be
joined to Christ so that I cannot ever be separated from Him. I
want to be joined to Christ because that's the only way I can have
life. The only way the branch can have life is as if it's joined
to the vine, right? The only way I can have life
is if I'm joined to Christ. So I say, give me Christ or else
I die. That's what Paul says in verse
10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and
the fellowship of his sufferings be made conformable unto his
death if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. I don't want to just know some doctrinal historical
facts about the resurrection of Christ. I don't want to just
know some doctrinal ramifications of the resurrection of Christ,
I want to experience that. That's what Paul's saying here.
I want to experience the life-giving power that raised Christ from
the dead. I'm dead in sin, you are too.
The only way we can have spiritual life is if God the Holy Spirit
gives us life with the same power that it took to raise the Lord
Jesus from the dead. Now I want to, I want to experience
that so that I have life. I want to know that I have the
fellowship of his sufferings. I want to know that when Christ
suffered, he suffered for me. I suffered in him so that I'm
free from the law. I'm free from condemnation of
law. I already died in Christ and I need to be given spiritual
life at the same power that raised Christ from the dead. That's
not just, you know, theological talk, you know, that only, you
know, theologians can understand. I want to experience that power,
don't you? So I have life, spiritual life. Spiritual life can only
be given to sinners like you and me for the same reason that
Christ was raised from the dead. Christ suffered and died. Why?
It's for sin. It's for sin because he was made
guilty of the sin of his people. Why was he raised from the dead?
because that sin's gone, put away under his blood. The only
way you and I can have life is if we have this fellowship of
his sufferings that when Christ died, he put our sin away so
that the Holy Spirit must give us life because Christ took the
reason for our death away. I want to be joined to Christ
so that I have life because he was sacrificed for my sin. Oh,
I want that. Now that's not just religion,
is it? That's a vital living union with
Christ. That's the only way I can be
righteous. That's the only way I can live. So I say, give me Christ
or else I die. The only way I could be made
righteous is if Christ traded me his righteousness for my sin. That he would made sin for me.
That he would do such an amazing that human language can't express
it. That he would be made sin for
me. So that I would be made righteous. Not just given righteous, not
just given a legal righteous standing, but made the righteousness
of God in him. I can only have that in Christ.
So I say, give me Christ or else I die. Number two, look at first
Peter chapter one. Give me Christ's blood, or else I die. 1 Peter 1, verse 18. For as much as you know that
you're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Now I need to be redeemed from
my sin. You do too. Our sin is an astronomical, infinite
debt, infinite sin debt against God. And there's nothing valuable
enough to pay the price. Accept the blood of Christ. Accept
his precious blood. The perfection of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the perfection of His person. That makes His blood
so precious. There's none other like it. It's
the only sinless blood that's ever been in this planet. All
other blood is spoiled by sin. So it can't cleanse us from anything.
It can't pay for anything. But the blood of Christ pays
for sin. It pays the debt in full because
it's precious. It's precious because it's rare.
It's the only sinless blood ever. It's precious because it's so
valuable. It's the blood of God. That blood pays the debt of all
of the sin of all of his people. It's the only way their sin can
be paid for. I say, give me Christ or else I die. Now again, I don't want to just
know about the blood of Christ. I want to know Christ. I want
to be washed in his blood. I want to know that when he shed
his blood, he shed it for me. I hope that we don't get over
familiarity talking about the blood of Christ's sacrifice.
We talk about every single message, every single message. What a
precious act that this was. that the Son of God would sacrifice
Himself to put away the sin of people who hate Him, who sinned
against Him, who are running from Him, trying as best as they
can to get as far away from Him as they can. And He sacrificed
Himself and shed His blood, His life's blood that required Him
to die so that their sin would be paid for and put away. That's
such a precious thing. That's such a loving act. Oh,
I need him. Oh, it's not just want. I mean,
I do want him. I need him. Give me Christ or
else I die. And sin is more than just a violation
of the rules. Sin is a disease. It's a defilement
of soul. I can't pay my debt, and I can't
cure my disease. I can't cure this filth that
is in me. I'm defiled through and through.
But there's one hope. There's one hope for a disease
sinner. It's the blood of Christ. Look over at 1 John 1. 1 John
1. Verse seven. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin. The only way my sin can be cleansed,
the only way my soul can be made white as snow and God won't accept
me if I'm not white as snow is by being washed in the precious
blood of Christ. So I say, give me Christ or else
I die. I need my sin to be taken away
from me. I need this awful load to be
lifted off of me, taken away from me. That's what I need.
Do you need that? Well, I can tell you this, the
motions of religion won't do it. Going through all the motions
of religion you want, you can, all the motions, you know them
all. Even all the motions of correct
religion, correct doctrine, right preaching, even going through
all that, that won't take this heavy load off of you. The Jews,
Under the Old Testament mosaic law, they had all the right motions
of religion, didn't they? They had sacrifices. They had
the priesthood. They had the holy days. They
had all these things. They had the prophets. Most of
them were still lost. That's what God said. Most of
them were still lost. Having the correct motions of
religion didn't do anything for them. Those sacrifices that they
offered year by year continually, they never made the comers there
into perfect. And you know why it didn't? because they were
offering animal sacrifices that are just pictures of Christ,
and they trusted the picture and hated the person. It's not
possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. Well, that's what I need, that
I don't want the blood of bulls and goats, do I? Because it's
not possible their blood could take away my sin. But the blood
of Christ takes away the sin of his people by one offering. He hath perfected forever, then
better sanctify. His blood took away the sin of
his people. So I say, give me Christ or else
I die. All right, third, I look at Romans
chapter nine. Romans nine. Give me Christ, give me his love
or else I die. Romans 9, verse 13. As it is
written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now God says he hated Esau. How did Esau wind up? Well, he
wound up very, very rich in the things of this life, didn't he?
But Esau also ended up a reprobate. God sent to hell. Then there's
Jacob. But God says he loved Jacob,
but Jacob never gave God any reason to love him. Jacob was
a scoundrel from the beginning. He hardly did anything right
his whole life long, including after the Lord revealed himself
to Jacob. Jacob never did do anything to deserve any good
from God, did he? I mean, this guy, bless his heart,
he just, he couldn't seem to stay in a straight line for nothing,
could he? But God blessed Jacob with every spiritual blessing
that he has. God calls himself the God of
Jacob. Maybe more than any other title
God took to himself in scripture. I'm the God of Jacob. Despite
hardly ever doing anything right, at the end of his life, when
Jacob was an old, old man, you know what he said? God has shepherded
me my whole life long. God's fed me. God's provided
for me, God's led me, God's comforted me my whole life long. I was the sheep that loved to
wander like we just sung and he never let me. He shepherded
me, stayed with me my whole life long. And when Jacob died, this
is the man God loved when Jacob died. You know what happened
to Jacob? Jacob went to be with Lord. Genesis 49 verse 33 says,
that Jacob was gathered unto his people. Well, who are his
people? Abraham and Isaac. Where were
they? In glory. So was Jacob. You know why? God
loved him. The only difference between Jacob
and Esau is the love of God. It's the only difference. The
love of God made the difference between being saved and lost,
between heaven and hell, between life and death. The love of God
made the difference. So I say, give me Christ, or
else I die. See, I must have, I must have
the love of Christ. If Christ loves me, he's gonna
feed me. Spiritually, he's gonna feed
me, and lead me, and guide me. That's pictured Mark chapter
six, in verse 34. It says, Jesus came out and he
saw much people, And when he saw all those people, you know
what scripture says? He was moved with compassion toward them because
they were a sheep not having a shepherd. And since he was
moved with compassion for them, you know what he did? He sat
down and taught them many things. Christ has compassion for you,
love for you. He's gonna teach you many things.
He's gonna teach you the scriptures. He's gonna teach you how God
saves sinners. He's gonna teach you. And when
the Lord got done teaching them many things, you know what he
did? Since he was moved with compassion for them, you know
what he did? He performed the miracle of the loaves and the
fishes and he fed them. He fed them. There's plenty to
go around. When the Lord loves his people, he's gonna feed them.
He's gonna feed them himself. He's gonna feed them the bread
of life. He's gonna feed them on the rich things of the gospel. I say, give me Christ or else
I die. Look back at Luke chapter seven.
Luke chapter seven. If Lord loves me, he's gonna
give me life. If he loves me, he's gonna give
me life from the dead. Luke chapter seven, verse 12. Now when he came nigh to the
gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And much people
of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he
had compassion on her. And he said unto her, weep not.
And he came and touched the beer, the casket. They that bear him
stood still, and he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up and
began to speak, and he delivered him to his mother. If Lord loves
me, has compassion on me, on you, he's gonna give life. He's gonna give life. Oh, and here's a big one. If
Christ loves me, he sacrificed himself for my sin. I want you
to think about that now. Why did he sacrifice himself
for the sin of his people? Well, it's because he loves them.
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. And he said, you're my friends.
You're my friends. I'm laying down my life for you.
Oh, give me Christ or else I die. And then Christ's love for his
people. You know, that's going to be the theme of the song of
heaven. Revelation 1.5 unto him that loved us. And since He loved
us, He washed us from our sin in His own blood. Now that's
gonna be the song of heaven. I'm gonna start singing it now.
Don't you? Give me Christ or else I die.
Then number four, give me Christ's presence or else I die. You know, this world is a hard,
hard place to live. Every son of Adam, believer and
unbeliever alike. We've got to endure the effects
of sin, the effect of sin in our bodies, the effect of sin
in the world around us. And on top of that, the believer
has to endure the hatred of this world being misunderstood by
this world. The believer has to go through
trials and troubles that are sent by the Lord only to his
people. The Lord's going to send those
things to his people. The writer of the Hebrew says, if you're
without chastisement, you're a bastard, not a son. God sends
these things to his people. So every believer endures them.
Look at Isaiah chapter 43. That's just a fact of life. How difficult it is to live in
this world, especially for a believer. That's just a promise to you. Well, what's our only hope of
comfort? as we go through this hard, hard, hard veil of tears. What's our only hope of comfort? It's the presence of the Lord.
Isaiah 43 verse one. For now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not. He doesn't say fear not because
I'm gonna keep you from having trouble. He says fear not for
I've redeemed thee. I've called thee by thy name
and thou art mine. He doesn't say you won't have
trials, he says you will. When you pass through the waters,
here's your comfort, I'll be with thee. And through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, he didn't say you won't have to walk through the fire,
he said you will walk through the fire, but here's your comfort.
Thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee,
for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel. I gave Egypt
for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Saba for thee, since thou is
precious in my sight. Thou has been honorable and I've
loved thee. Therefore, I'll get men for thee and people for thy
life. So you fear not. I am with thee. That's why we
fear not. That's our comfort, his presence.
I'm with thee. I'll bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. No matter where you go,
no matter where you find my people, I'll be with you and I'll bring
you. If you're a believer, you're
gonna find this out. You can do without a lot of things
in this life. You can do without a lot of things.
But you cannot do without the presence of the Savior. You cannot. You start to go through a trial,
and you'll think to yourself, I can't do this. I can't endure
it, I cannot do this. And you're right, you can. But
you'll find comfort even in the midst of that furnace. Because
the Lord's with you. He goes with you even to the
midst of the furnace, even into the depths of those deep waters.
It's his presence that comforts the heart. That's why our brother
Newton wrote, when Jesus no longer I see, here's what happens. Sweet
prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flowers, they all lose their
sweetness to me. The midsummer sun shines but
dim. The fields strive in vain to
look gay. That's what happens when I don't have the presence
of the Savior. But our brother went on to say that when I do
have a sense of his presence, December's as pleasant as May.
January even is as pleasant as May. if I have his presence. And presence do palaces prove
that Jesus would just dwell with me there. If I just have his
presence, he is hopeless and vain without him, but there's
comfort for my heart if he gives us his presence. Oh, give me
Christ or else I die. The Lord's presence is so precious
to the hearts of his people. We must have it, and it is our
constant cry. David wrote in Psalm 51, verse
11, whatever else you do to me, cast me not away from thy presence. And don't take thy Holy Spirit
from me. Whatever else you do, don't take your presence from
me. Don't cast me away. Give me Christ, or else I die. And here's the last thing, John
6. John 6. Give me a commitment to Christ or else I die. John 6, verse 65. The Lord has
been preaching himself to this large group of people that have
been following him. And this is how he ends it up.
Verse 65, he said, therefore said I unto you that no man can
come unto me, except it were given unto him of my father.
God is sovereign in salvation. Now they heard what he was saying.
From that time, many of his disciples went back and followed, walked
no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the 12.
I mean, this multitude, the multitude, and they all left, and there's
just 12. One of them's a reprobate. Jesus
said unto the 12, will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. Now give me a commitment to Christ,
like Peter expressed right there, that's what I said. You know,
the only people who'll be crowned are those that finish the race.
And I tell you how you finish the race, is being like all of
our brethren, Hebrews chapter 11, these all died in faith. The way we finish the race is
staying faithful to the end, dying in the faith. If I quit
before I die, all that tells you is I never knew Christ in
the first place. I think about this thing of commitment. Where does it start? Well, it
starts with the Lord's commitment to me. He has been so committed. He chose me before He created
anything. He loved me when I was unlovable and knew what I'd be.
He came in the flesh, which was awful enough for the Son of God
to humiliate Himself to come in the flesh, and then He sacrificed
Himself for the likes of me. I was a rebel who refused to
listen And he called me anyway. I was dead and he gave me faith
in Christ anyway. And he's the one who will keep
me to the end. That's commitment. I haven't
given him any reason to be committed to me. That's just because it's
his nature to be. He's committed. Now I know, I
know this. If I'm kept to the end, it's
because God did it. I know that. but I want to be committed to
Him. I want to be committed to Him
in return, in response to His love for me, in response to His
sacrifice for me, in response to His glorious person. I want
to be committed to Him and be committed to never leave Him,
just like what Peter said. I want this to be my confession.
Lord, I'm not going anywhere. Where am I going to go? Where
am I going to go? I know the Lord's not going to
let me go. I know that. No man can pluck them out of
my hand. I understand that. But I don't want to be trying
to jump out either. I don't want to just always be trying to leave
and he's got to just, you know, hold me back. I don't want that.
I want to be committed to him. I want to latch on to Christ
and be like Jacob of old. So I won't let you go. I will
not let you go. And I want to be committed to
the gospel of Christ. I want to be committed to him.
I want to be committed to his cause. I want to be committed
to his gospel. I don't want to just give mental
agreement that this is true. I want to be committed to the
gospel so that I need it. I need to hear the gospel preached. I want to be committed to Christ
so that I need to be in the public worship service. I want to be
committed to his people so I'm there where they're at. I'm there
where they're at, worshiping together with thee. I want to
be so committed to the gospel that I'll do whatever it takes
to help you. I'll do, I want to be so committed
to the gospel. I'll do whatever it takes to
preach the gospel to my generation. And that's not just me as the
preacher. Now the pastor that applies to everybody. I want
to be so committed to the gospel that we as a group are, I mean,
utterly committed to this. Let the world know the glory
of Christ our Savior. We won't turn over and read this,
but Philemon, I think he's a good example of this. Paul, when he
wrote to him, talked about how the bowels of the saints are
refreshed by you. Everywhere the saints go, you're
being You're kind to him, you're hospitable, you reach out to
him. The bowels of the saints are refreshed by you, brother.
Why do you do that? He's committed to the gospel.
He's committed to the cause of Christ and committed to his people.
I want that commitment. I know it won't make me more
saved, but I want to be committed to this thing. The apostle Paul wrote to the
church at Galatia, chapter four, verse five, and he said, he's
talking about when he first came, preached to him. He said, I bear
you record. if it had been possible, you'd
have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me." Now that's
commitment, isn't it? That's commitment. How many of
you sat under Brother Henry would have plucked off your own ears
and given it to him if you could? There's a commitment there, isn't
there? There's a commitment. Look at 1 John 3. I want to be committed to you.
I tell you how I'm going to do it. By showing you my love for
Christ's sake. 1 John 3 verse 16. Hereby perceive
we the love of God. You want to know the love of
God. Here's how you know it. Because he laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso
hath this world's good and seeth his brother hath need and shut
up his bowels of compassion from him, How could the love of God
dwell in that man? My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth because
I'm committed. I want to show my love for you
because you're God's people. I'm committed to this thing,
committed to the cause of Christ. So I say one more time, give
me Christ or else I die. Let me know him and love him
so that I'm committed to him and his cause. If God gives me
that kind of commitment, it just might be God used me to be a
help to his people and be an encouragement to some poor lost
sinner to come to Christ. Give me Christ or else I die. That's been on my heart so much. I enjoyed studying those things
and I pray it'll be a blessing to you too. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for Christ our Savior. How can we even begin to praise
him and extol him as he ought to be praised and extolled? He
is everything that we need. He's everything that you require
of us. He's everything the hearts of your people desire. Father,
it is our cry, give us Christ or else we die. Father, I pray
that you'd be pleased in your power and your mercy and your
grace to lay hold on each heart here this morning and enable
us to leave here clinging to Christ our Savior. Father, it's
for his glory. And for his sake we pray, amen. All right, Sean, come lead us
into closing hymn, if you would.