Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Paul's epistle to the Philippians,
chapter three, the chapter that we read. Reading from our text
to verses, verses 13 and 14. Verse 13, brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended But this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians chapter
3, verses 13 and 14. The Apostle Paul here is being
very honest with the Philippians. He is telling them that though
he has been so greatly blessed, and they know he has, yet there
are those things that he does not yet fully comprehend. He especially knows that God
knows him, apprehends him, and has called him, has blessed him. In God's sight, Paul is open
and God sees all about him and he sees all about you and all
about me. But Paul says on the other side,
what I know about God, what I apprehend about him, I don't claim to fully
understand, to fully comprehend in the same way as what God sees
and knows me. In fact, we are told that in
heaven then we shall know even as we are known. But the apostle
here, he says, now I do not know as I am known. And it is very
important that those that have been blessed are able to be honest
and to speak to those who are seeking the things of God. Because
we can be greatly discouraged, especially of reading maybe an
obituary or the lives of others, and to think, well, I do not
know these things. And we get very discouraged and
think maybe we're completely out of the secret ourselves. Now the Apostle Paul, he refers
in this passage to what he once was. And certainly he was very
high position as a Pharisee, one that was keeping the law
and concerning zeal. He was persecuting the Church
of God, yet thinking he was doing God service. There was many things
that he did that were religious things, but they were in complete
ignorance. of the true way of salvation
and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet the Lord met with him
and the Lord showed him his beloved son and showed him his error
and showed him the truth. He was seeking salvation by his
own good works and God showed him that he never would have
it that way. and he showed that it was by
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he met with him on the Damascus
Road, when he was going to apprehend the people of God and to bring
them to prison and to death, and God met with him and gave
him a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, then he began to
preach the Lord Jesus Christ. But he speaks of that wonderful
vision that he had, caught up, as it were, to the third heavens. And he said, lest he should be
exalted above measure with those revelations, God gave him a thorn
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet him. And he
prayed three times that that might be taken away. But God
told him no, Instead, he would give him grace to bear it. And
he said, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. And the apostle would tell believers
in this, though I have been blessed and I value such a blessing,
don't think that this is the standard. that every one of God's
children must have and except they have that blessing that
they won't be saved. He will point you rather to the
grace of God. He refers to this really when
he writes to the Romans in chapter 10 and he's referring back to
his countrymen which were in the same position as he was before
he was converted. And he says that they were ignorant
of the righteousness of God, but seeking that which is from
the law. But he says this, that the true
salvation is not who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring
Christ down from above. It's not who shall descend into
the deep, that is bring up Christ again from the dead. It's not
heights of experience. It's not depths of experience. It's, he says, but what saith
it, the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart,
that is the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. And so he takes away those false
notions and he makes the standard, the gospel, and we think of those
that believe, those that gladly received the word were baptized. We think of the eunuch, if thou
believest with all thine heart thou mayest, I believe that Jesus
is the son of God. And so the apostle, he, while
valuing rich spiritual blessings, he'd point to the grace of God,
he'd point to the smallest, lowest believer that truly believed
and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he'd encourage and
strengthen them. The Apostle Peter was exactly
the same, because he had the transfiguration experience when
he and the Andrew, And John, they went up to the Mount of
Transfiguration, and they saw the Lord transfigured before
them. And Peter, when he writes to
the epistles and to the churches, strengthening them, he speaks
of that glory. But then he says, but we have
a much more sure word of prophecy where ye do well to take heed
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day
star arise in your hearts." And that is the Word of God, that
is the Gospel. And so again, though valuing
the blessings he had, He would not discourage any but encourage
them in the word of God and to wait for the Lord to bless that
word so that they become believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. So
it is encouraging when you have one like the apostle here saying
that brethren, and he calls them brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended. I don't know everything. Sometimes in the ministry, we
have those ask us questions. They come to us as a minister. And sometimes the thought is,
well, if you're a minister, you should know everything about
the Bible. You should be able to answer
our questions. But there are those times, sometimes
many times, we must say, no, I don't know. I am not clear
on that myself. I'll assert the scriptures. I'll
pry over it. But I haven't got light on that. A minister is only to preach
as far as the light that God actually gives him. And so the
apostle Paul, according to the measure that God gave him, he
preaches, but not outside that measure, as he says, in another
place. But here he is, honest about
his own position. I count not myself to have apprehended
And no doubt he views all of those that he's writing to. And
the message here is to us this morning as well. We're in this
position. We don't apprehend or understand
any more clearer than the apostle. And so he sets a way forward. And he says, but this one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And it is this message that the
Apostle has here for us as to how we are to proceed, how we
are to act Now, in the Gospel day, you know, he speaks of the
resurrection. He says that, if by any means,
in verse 11, I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
And in one sense he has. The first resurrection is to
be made a believer from being dead in trespasses and sins,
to be made a believer. But as yet, we have not died,
we have not yet been resurrected again on that last day, but we
looked to that time and we look forward to that time. And so
we have a path set before us now, today, in this Gospel day,
to follow the Apostle, to walk in this way that he sets before
us. I want to look, with the Lord's
help, at three points. I'm not going to take it in the
order of our text, but firstly look at the high calling of God
in Christ Jesus. This is what he terms the prize
in our text. In verse 14, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. What is that prize? What is it? that he views as
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The second point is the
mark. Because he says, I press toward
the mark, he doesn't say, I press toward the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. He says, I press toward the mark. What is the mark? What is meant
by the mark? Thirdly, pressing towards the
mark. What is it to press toward the
mark? And there are three important
words in this text that describe how we are to press toward the
mark. And we'll look at those as we
come to them. But firstly, the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. What is this high calling of
God? All of God's people, chosen in
Him from the foundation of the world, will be called by God's
grace here below. They will be converted. The Bible speaks of it in several
different ways. It speaks of it as the new birth. He must be born again. He speaks
of a beginning, he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. But that calling is spoken
of as a high calling. On this earth there are to be
at any one time a people that are called of God. They are converted,
they are believers, And in this time state, their calling is
to show forth the praises of him who hath called them out
of nature's darkness and into his marvellous light. Now many
of us have different callings in life. My calling is a minister
of the gospel, But before that, my calling was a mechanical design
engineer. Each one of you have different
callings, different professions. And in this world, you exercise
that calling to the benefit of those that are round about you. But for God, his people, the
calling that he calls them to They are the ones on this earth
that show forth His praise. No man has seen God at any time. And John says in his epistles
that if a man say that he loves God, but does not love his brother
who he can see, then that man is a liar, that he who loveth
God must love his brother also. When Paul was apprehended on
the Damascus road, our Lord said to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? Well, Saul, as he was then before
he was named Paul, was persecuting the people of God, those that
called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord said,
you are persecuting me. And we read this, whoso receiveth
you, receiveth me. And he that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me. And so it applies also that those
that persecute the people of God are also persecuting Christ
and persecuting God. And so the message that the apostle
has as to the high calling of God Here is a people that on
earth have been chosen by God and called and given the light
of the gospel, shown that they are sinners and brought to walk
here below as God's ambassadors. What a high calling that that
is. We might go back and we might
think of Mary, the Virgin Mary. What a high calling that that
dear woman was to be the mother of our Lord. We might think of
the apostles, Peter, John, James, those who were witnesses and
walked with the Lord. They heard him, they saw him
here below. What a high privilege that that
was. We might look back to them and
think, well, what a wonderful thing if we had been in their
day. But we're not in their day. We read concerning David that
having served his day and generation, he fell on sleep. David's generation
is not our generation. David's generation was not the
generation when our Lord was on earth, but he served his generation. And the witnesses in Christ's
day, they served theirs. and ours in the day of grace,
the day from when Christ ascended up into heaven, and the day to
the time when he shall descend from heaven again. He has a people
that are showing forth his praise. He has chosen them to that. He
has called them to that. that is their job as it were,
that is their position in this world. And there is no higher
position or calling that any man, any woman, any child could
be called to, than to be bearing witness of the true eternal God
who has saved them from sin, saved them from darkness and
ignorance of the things of God, and brought them to know that
only way of salvation. And there to point to sinners
round, then will I tell to sinners round, what a dear saviour I
have found. I'll point to thy redeeming blood
and say, behold, the way to God. That is a high calling. Higher than any doctor or engineer
or scientist. How many? of the Lord's people
really realise what a high calling they've been called to. The Lord
says of his people that they are the salt of the earth, little
grains that are sprinkled right through the earth. You know, you sprinkle salt into
a pot you've got on the stove, well, you can't see the grains,
but the savour is there. The Lord said of his people that
they are a light as set upon a hill. They can't be hid, it's not to
be put under a bushel. The whole idea is that they have
a calling and it is a high one. And it is that calling here below. In heaven, that calling continues
as it were. because those same people that
are called here below to believe and to show forth his praise
here to fellow sinners will in heaven eternally show forth the
praises of God without sin, without a cloud between, and fully apprehending
what the blessing is they have had. fully realising then what
they've been saved from, what a treasure they have, what a
wonderful grace. We don't really fully believe
and fully understand what blessings we have as believers. What a
wonderful thing it is to have an eternal home, to be eternally
with the ever-living God, into that which it hath not entered
into the heart of man, what God hath prepared for them that love
him. The Lord will have an innumerable
multitude in heaven to share his throne and to share his glory
for ever and ever, and some are chosen to that and some are not.
And if you and I are chosen to that and are called by God's
grace to be a believer here to that end, that is a great high
calling. Now if we were to have the Queen
of our lands say, I'm going to choose 10 people 10 of the commoners
and they had to come and they come into my court and they will
see all of my glory and they're going to have a position there
and all the privileges there. We would understand what a wonderful
thing that was if we were the ones that were chosen. Why were
not other people? Why were we? But that can be
but a very, very poor illustration when we compare it with being
called of God, chosen of God, and that the only ones that really
are showing forth God's glory, God's great glory and salvation,
are those that are called, those that are believers. the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus, and Paul calls it a prize. In one sense, the prize part
of it can more clearly be seen when it's seen our position in
heaven around the throne. So shall we be forever with the
Lord. That blessed prize. The one thing
that our Lord, while he was on earth, while he was on earth,
he suffered. But while he suffered, it was
for the glory or for the joy that was set before him. He endured
the cross, despising the shame, and he sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God on high. And here below, It is for
a believer to be looking for that prize, that glory, that
which is yet to be revealed. Here below, the binding up with
the high calling of God is to have fellowship with him in his
sufferings. It is the tribulation. It is
the path our Lord walked here below. But it is a path, that
is a path of honour and glory to show forth the praises of
him who hath called us out of nature's darkness and into his
marvellous light. May those of us that believe
this morning be brought to see more clearly,
to realise more clearly what a high calling it is that we've
been called to. It's a searching word but it's
also a word that shows us what a blessing we have and maybe
don't really realise. Or maybe we did years ago but
have ceased to really value and realise what a blessing What
a privilege that we have been called to. But secondly, the Apostle here
does not say that he is pressing toward this high calling, but
pressing towards the mark. What is the mark? We read in the Word of God a
couple of very significant occasions when a mark is mentioned. We read in the Revelation, Revelation
13, of the mark of the beast and a prophecy that this mark
shall be put in their right hand or in their forehead and that
it is the number of a man, 666. And there are most solemn things
said about those that have that number of the mark. We have in the following chapter
in Revelation 14 verse 9, the third angel followed them saying
with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image
and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand. The same shall
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without
mixture into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire
and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb. Most solemn things that are spoken
of as to those that have that mark. Now, there are some that
have wondered whether such a mark is a literal microchip that is
put in the forehead or in the hand. In 2014, in Sweden, a project
was started there, actually from a rail firm, where people voluntarily
had such a chip put in them. And as at this year, in May this
year, there were some 6,000 Swedish people that have such a chip
in their hand. And yet the trend, it really
peaked between 2014 and 2016. They used it to pay for their
railfares. and other things and the thought
is and especially with the pandemic as it is now which we're using
online facilities so much more well you can do away with a passport
you can do away with a driver's license you can do away with
your checkbook and your bank card and you just have a chip
and you just pay for things like that And when you think that
that might come, you think, well, what a trial that would be if
you believe that mark to be this. Well, we are to watch and pray
over what actually is happening in our land. And this is one
of the things we should watch over. It doesn't seem to be a
trend that has taken off. In fact, the numbers that are
having it done have dropped off in recent years. But nevertheless,
it is something, a reminder, we, instead of thinking, well,
this is exactly what it's going to do, and our minds are blinkered
to that, and we end up being just like the Jews of Christ's
day, because they thought that he would come in a different
way, they missed his coming. And we need to be very careful
like that, of thinking what prophecy means, and then missing what
it really means. But it does remind us we should
compare, and especially at such a time of a global pandemic like
this, compare what is written in the scriptures. Know the scriptures
well, compare with what is happening in the world and in our land.
I believe more closely what is spoken of regarding the Mark
like that, Our forehead is our seat of what we think. A hand is what we actually do. The Lord has said that he shall
put his law in the hearts of his people. The apostle, when
he was struggling in Romans 7 with the old nature and with the sins
of his nature, He says, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
my Lord. So then with the flesh I serve
the law of sin, but with my mind the law of God. And what the Lord does in conversion,
he changes the heart, which then affects the mind, and it affects
the hands, it affects what we do. What is spoken of with the
Mark in the Revelation, it is of those that are filled with
this world. All their minds are is on the
things of this world, pleasure, wealth, everything except God. We read of the wicked, God is
not in all their thoughts. And in conversion, where God
was not, then God becomes. And so the solemn mark in Revelation,
we think of the day of Noah, they bought, they sold, they
married, they were given in marriage, until the day came, the flood
took them all away. and we're told the end of the
world should be like that. It is a solemn thing to have
a mark that in our minds and in our hands they're just full
of this world, full of this world. In a way this pandemic is a real
shake-up and reminder because it's touching the wealth and
the pleasures of countless millions throughout the world. Most solemnly,
for many, it is not leading them to seek the Lord or to look unto
Him. But blessed be God, if that is
the case, and we are brought, when things are touched in our
lives, to look unto the God of heaven and of earth. And we count
this, then, a blessing, if that is so. So when we think of the
mark in the revelation, it's spoken of as a mark, but actually
the mark, if it comprehends all of the world in our minds and
all what we do, the mark comprehends many different things. We have
another case in Ezekiel where the mark is also, and Ezekiel
had a vision, and he had a vision of Jerusalem, and there was,
in the ninth chapter of Ezekiel, the picture of six men that came
from the way of the higher gate in Jerusalem, and they each had
a slaughter weapon in their hand. And then there was another that
had an inkhorn in his hand. And he had to go through Jerusalem. They had to begin also at the
Church of God in the sanctuary. And there was to be a mark put
upon the forehead of everyone that sighed and cried on account
of the abominations done in the land. Verse four in that chapter,
the Lord said unto me, go through the midst of the city, through
the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of
the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be
done in the midst thereof. Then when the destroying angels,
the six went through, then they were commanded to slay and to
destroy. And yet there was a, they were
prohibited to touch any that had the mark. Verse six, lay
utterly young and old, both maids and little children and women,
but come not near any man upon whom is the mark and begin at
my sanctuary. They began at the ancients of
Israel. So we have another mark. Those
that looked upon all the abominations and all the things that were
done in the land, and they didn't just acknowledge them, it really
pained them. They were really grieved at it.
You know, we tend to get very hardened with it, don't we? We
see what goes on in the world, we see what goes on in the church,
we can see even what goes on in our hearts, and there's no
grief, there's no mourning, there's no sorrow, there's no pain over
it. But here is a mark on those that
really see those walking contrary to the Lord and it grieves them.
The Lord, in the prayer, what is termed the Lord's Prayer,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And there's a people that look
and they say the Lord's will is not being done on earth. Men
are just defying the Lord, they're going their own way They are
rebelling against him. We are by nature, we are rebels,
we hate God. We strive against him, we war
against him. We say, depart from us, we desire
not the knowledge of thy ways. But here is a people that the
mark is on their forehead, and there they are, they are mourners. And so this mark, have we this
mark? The hymn writer says, marks of
grace I cannot show, all polluted is my breast. Well, actually,
the very feeling of the inward pollutions is a mark of grace. When God begins with a sinner,
he first shows them what the malady is. No, he wouldn't think
of someone that was showing some symptoms of some illness. If
they went to a doctor, the doctor then, instead of making investigations
and scans, he just prescribes something for it. So shouldn't
you make known and find out what is wrong first? And that is what
is so vital, necessary. The apostle says, the law is
a schoolmaster under Christ. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. And when the Lord begins with
a person, they first then become a sinner in their own sight.
And it is God's grace, the free unmerited faith of God, that
brings a person first to pray, first to be like the publican
who beat upon his breast, God be merciful to me a sinner, that
first realise that they have broken the laws of God. that
the reason why there is sickness and death in this world is because
of sin. Sin entered into the world and
death by sin. It's all around us. Man shall
be without excuse because the very creation shows forth that
there is a God. Our very beings were fearfully
and wonderfully made. But we don't see this by nature. But when God begins with us,
the Apostle Paul said, when the commandment came, sin revived
and I died. He died to a hope in his own
works, a hope of salvation, a hope of heaven by something that he
had done. And instead, the grace of God
pointed to what Christ had done, pointed to the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And God shows a sinner and tells
him, the reason for the sufferings of my beloved spotless son was
not for what he had done, but for what you have done. Because
of your sins and your transgressions, he was afflicted, he was smitten,
he laid down his life, a ransom. He paid the debt that you cannot
pay. He put away your sins by the
sacrifice of himself. He satisfied the justice of God. And it is by faith in what he
has done that a man, a woman, a child is saved. The children
of Israel in the wilderness, when they were bitten with serpents
because of their sin, Moses was bitten to make a brazen serpent
and to lift it up. Those that looked to that serpent
they lived. Not because there is anything
in that serpent, but that serpent, it sets forth the Lord Jesus
Christ. And in John chapter 3, our Lord
interprets what it set forth. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. but should
have eternal life. And that believing is the work
of God. When the Lord was asked by his
disciples, what shall we do that we might work the work of God?
This is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom God has
sent. And this is why the gospel, the
good news of salvation is to be preached because faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It is through hearing
this message that sinners are brought to know their sinners
and brought to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to trust
their soul to him and to him alone. and it is the marks of
grace, the things that accompany salvation, God's work in us,
his teaching in us, the marks of humbleness, the marks of faith,
the marks of love one to another. By this, says our Lord, shall
all men know that ye are my disciples indeed, in that ye love one another. And again, he says, we know that
we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. They are marks of grace, marks
of God's teaching, marks of being a child of God, are those that
believe, those that love, love the Lord, love his people, love
his house, love his word, guided by his word, taught by his word,
led forth by the Good Shepherd, hear His voice, recognize His
voice, obey His voice, those are marks of grace. And it comes
under one mark, as if it is one thing. Those that receive the
mark, whether it be with Revelation or whether it be that in Ezekiel,
it's spoken of one mark, but it stands for many things. And so the mark that is pressed
towards here for the apostle, in other words, he would say,
rather than looking at this idea of a high calling of God, he
says, I want to see. that I truly have the marks of
God's work in me, his teaching, his blessing. You know, if one
was to look at themselves and say, what a humble, gracious,
loving person I am, aren't I really adorning this
high calling of God? The very pride that was in it
would show there is not the marks of grace. The way the Lord blesses
is to bring his people so they're small in their own eyes. And
the Lord is lifted up. John the Baptist says, I must
decrease. He must increase. And that will be one mark with
the people of God. Esteeming each other. esteeming each other greater
than themselves, walking in a way that is so different
than it was before. Instead of wanting all of the
things of this world, it is, as the apostle says here, what
things were gained to me, I count loss for Christ. What a mark
he had, what an evidence. You know, if we have this mark,
it will affect how we think, how we act, the people that we
go with, the things that we do. And notice it is, the high calling
is in Christ Jesus, and the mark is in Christ Jesus. Our Lord
spoke of his people as being part of a living vine, And the
only way that they brought forth fruit was to be united to that
living vine. No more can ye bring forth fruit
except ye abide in me. And this mark then really is
to be as close to Christ, to learn of Christ, to be living
with him, to be walking with him, to know him, This is the
mark, and this is what he presses towards. Well, we must come to
our third point. If that is the mark, the marks
of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ, our interest in him, what is
it to press toward this mark? Three important words. The apostle
says here, This one thing I do. And again, there's this idea
he's saying one thing but immediately he speaks of more than one thing.
The same with the mark, it's referring to more than just one
thing. The first thing is forgetting. Forgetting those things which
are behind. And I would say under this one
word, what is meant is hindrances, hindrances. You think of when
Lot and his wife, his daughters, they went out of Sodom. The command
was, look not behind thee, but flee for thy life. But Lot's
wife, she looks back and she's turned into a pillar of salt.
Those things that were behind were her death. They destroyed
her. Many, they had things that would
hold them back. The Lord said, except ye leave
in spirit, father, mother, if any man love father, mother,
brother more than me is not worthy of me. Come ye out from among
them, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. You shall
be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. When
the children of Israel, they had to come out of Egypt, what
was their sin when they're in the wilderness? So often when
things got hard, They looked back to Egypt, they couldn't
forget the cucumbers, the leeks, the good things, they wanted
to go back to them. So the apostle says here, there
is a forgetting. God's dear children are to have
the armour on the front, not the back, and they are to press
forward, not be going back. When the Lord showed Peter what
was to happen to him, He turns, he says concerning John, what
shall this man do? What is that to thee? Follow
thou me? How many are hindered in walking
in the ways of the Lord or believing because they say, my wife is
not, or my husband is not, or my children are not. If you're
going to be a believer, then I will. But if you're not, then
I'm not going to go on my own. Now over in New Zealand, many
years ago, the Lord converted a man, one in his own household,
and I knew that man, but the rest of his house not, and they
persecuted him for a while. But then the Lord converted all
of that family, and they were all blessed. You know, if that
man had said, I'm not following, I'm not believing, I'm not walking
in the ways of the Lord until the rest of my family do, There's
no doubt none of them would have been brought to believe. But
in the Lord's purpose, he followed the Lord and they followed after. Bunyan in his Pilgrim's Progress
pictures exactly the same thing. Christian went on his own. Later
on, his wife and children followed after. So the first word then
is forgetting. There may be things with you
and I that are hindrances in the past. And if they are a hindrance
to your walk now, then they are to be forgotten and pushed away. The second is reaching forth. He says, forgetting those things
which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before. Now reaching forth speaks of
distance. If something is very close to
me, then I don't need to reach forth, it's here. If it is quite
a distance away, I've got to reach forward for it. It's something
out of reach. Many of you, many of the Lord's
dear people sometimes think, things are out of my reach. It
is high, I cannot attain unto it. Or like the children of Israel,
when they're reproved, they said there's no hope. As if there
was no hope of reform, no hope of being saved. It's too far
away, so I'm not going to even try. But you know, if we value
something, if a child wants something and is slightly out of reach,
they'll reach for it. And they'll try as much as they
can to attain unto that. And this is what is set before
us here. Don't ever think, well here is
a position, here is a blessing, here is a knowledge, here is
a truth. I can't attain to it, it's impossible. I will never
be a believer, I will never get to heaven, I will never be saved,
my sins will never be forgiven. These marks, I shall never have
these marks. I remember years ago sitting
at the back of the chapel at Melbourne and exercise on my
soul and seeing the Lord's people sit round the Lord's table at
the front and thinking all of that amount of seats between
me and them, I would never be amongst them. I could never be
the Lord's people. But the Lord brought it about
and he brought me to be amongst them. Well, you might feel like
that as well. When the apostle says here, reaching
for, The third thing is this pressing towards. He says, I
press toward the mark. What does pressing suggest? Opposition. Opposition. You think of the woman with the
issue of blood, 12 years, and there was the Lord, and there
was a crowd about Him. We sung of it in our middle heaven. A crowd about Him will be found
at tending day and night. But you know, she went through
that crowd, pressed through that crowd, and you might say reached
forth and touched the hem of his garment and immediately was
made whole. We must not expect in seeking
for this mark of this prize to not have opposition. We will. And it is to be pressed towards
this mark. In the world you shall have tribulation. Be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world. Dear friends, don't be discouraged. Don't be discouraged in seeking
the Lord, in following the Lord, in pressing toward this mark,
whatever hindrances you might have. And we have those hindrances
coming to the mercy seat, coming to prayer, seeking prayer, prayer,
One of the great marks of a Christian is that they begin, like the
Apostle Paul did, to pray. And we are to press towards that
mark, seek those blessings and tokens of the Lord's grace. All that the Lord sets before
us as the way for the people of God to believe. He says to
those that believe, if ye continue in my word, then ye shall be
my disciples indeed. Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. Well, we have set before us then
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We have the mark of that,
the marks of God's grace. And then we have the pressing
towards that mark with these three important words in the
text to think of forgetting, reaching forth and pressing towards. May the Lord add his blessing
and number us amongst those that are called with this high calling
and have the clear marks of it.