If you'd like to turn to Philippians
chapter 3, if you're not already there. Philippians chapter 3, the apostle
tells us plainly, is heart's desire. the desire of his heart. At the end of verse 8 he says,
O that I may win Christ and be found in him. Verse 10 says, O that I may know
him, that I may know him, I must know him. The Lord Jesus Christ is our ultimate reward and I
trust that we here share the desire to know the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our dear brother the Apostle
Paul often wound up in a prison cell. Some of those stays were
brief and some of those stays were longer. But here in Philippi,
we find our brother imprisoned. The poor was no stranger to hardship,
was he? Often beaten, often whipped,
often set upon by the mob. He was often considered a public
nuisance by the authorities. You might recall in Acts chapter
16, when Paul first visited Philippi, that he encountered a damsel
possessed with a spirit of divination. Her masters used her for profit,
for soothsaying, perhaps for fortune telling. And for days
she followed Paul and Silas around, after them, crying out and saying,
these men are servants of the Most High God and they show the
way of salvation. But this woman's state grew And he turned around one day
and said, spirit, leave her in the name of Jesus Christ. And the spirit left her the same
hour. And so when her masters saw that
their game had gone, they caught them both and they brought them
before the authorities. claiming that they were a public
mischief. And when that kangaroo court
had completed its proceedings, they pronounced them guilty and
they beat them and lashed them. And the scripture records they
laid many stripes on them. And that not being sufficient,
they then cast them into prison. under the watchful eye of a certain
Philippian jailer. Don't you love the province of
the Lord in his dealings with us? The Lord had called them
to come to Macedonia, and they made their way to Philippi, which
was the chief city in those parts, not knowing what they would encounter,
not knowing what they would suffer. Paul had an encounter with the
Lord on the Damascus road. And from that day on, Paul was
not the same. He was not the same man. He'd
lost his sight in that encounter. And the Lord sent, you might
recall, Ananias to give him his sight back so that he would receive
his sight. And when Ananias had laid his
hands on him and said, receive thy sight, there seemed what
looked like scales that fell from the eyes of Paul. And immediately
he received his sight. So what a marvelous thing, it's
a picture, isn't it, of salvation. What a marvelous thing it is
when the Lord grants his people sight of him. After many years
in religion, I'm sure many of us here will testify that when
the Lord chooses to open the eyes of his people, it does really
feel like the scales fall from your eyes. When Beth and I first
began to hear the messages of free grace and the truth of Christ
preached plainly, and we often listened as we were driving along
in the car, And it was remarkable that we had questions. We had
lots of questions, perhaps days before. And it was just remarkable
how when we listened to those messages, those questions seemed
to be answered. And we found ourselves saying
to each other, this is so simple. This is so simple. Why can't
people see that? And we often forgot the fact
that we had been ignorant ourselves for so long. And the question
then was, why were we not told? And now more than 10 years on,
there's been no turning back. When the Lord opens the eyes
of your understanding, you are never the same again. One moment Saul was breathing
out threats and murderings against the disciples of the Lord, and
the next moment he's saying he's inquiring of the Lord, what wilt
thou have me do? The Lord said of Paul, I will
show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. So the Lord bid Paul to come
to Macedonia, not knowing the ill treatment to come, yet he
must go. Why? Because the Lord had opened
the heart of a woman named Lydia to attend to the things that
were spoken of Paul. And because there was a certain
Philippian jailer that would believe the message, And so here in our passage, let's
begin at verse one. Paul begins by saying, finally,
my brethren, he is writing to his dear brothers and sisters.
We are one in Christ, one in heart, one in the fellowship
of the gospel, one people in the Lord. And he says, rejoice
in the Lord. was centred on Philippians 4
verse 4 which reads, Rejoice in the Lord always and again
I say rejoice. Paul used that word rejoice ten
times in the book of Philippians in these four chapters and he
is telling us that God's people ought to be a people who rejoice
in Christ. We recognize our sin. Let us
never fail to recognize and repent of and confess our sin before
a mighty God. But that said, believers also
recognize that Jesus has put away our sin. We are accepted
in him. If there is anything that should
make us glad and cause us to rejoice, of Christ. And so we rejoice
in the Lord our God and Saviour. We rejoice in His promises and
His providence. And so in the face of heartache
and trouble, we recognize this My Lord did this. And so believers,
for believers, the believer's joy is ultimately not in the
events of this world or the events of this life. We rejoice in who
he is. And we rejoice in what he has
done for his people when we rejoice in the prospect of everlasting
life. I trust you find good reason to rejoice in the Lord. Reading
on, he says, to write the same things to you, to me, indeed,
is not grievous, but for you it is safe. I remember when our
kids were very little and they had their favorite books, And
they loved to read them, and they would read them over and
over and over. Well, I would read them over
and over and over. And the surprising thing is that
I never tired of reading them over and over and over. because
I enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm and the wonder on their faces
when I read that book, that story, over and over and over to them
again. And each time, as if they were
hearing it for the first time. You know, I love singing that
hymn. Tell them where the old, old story. I don't know what
number it is. unseen things above, of Jesus
and his glory, of Jesus and his love. Tell me the story simply, for I am weak and weary and helpless
and defiled. Tell me the story softly, with
earnest tones engraved, remember I'm the sinner whom Jesus came
to save. Tell me the story always, if
you would be, really be, in any time of trouble, a comforter
to me. We never tire of telling the
story. Paul says, it's not grievous
to me to remind you of these things, these same things. And
although this story is familiar to many, there's always someone
that may hear it for the first time, that have never heard the
message of the grace of God to chosen sinners through the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians summarizes the message
in just two verses. Let me just read them to you.
Galatians 1.3 says, Grace be to you and peace from God the
Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for
our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God our Father. To hear the gospel is safe for
you. It's the message of salvation.
It's the message of deliverance. In verse two, it seems to be
a change of pace somewhat. We have a serious, serious warning. Paul says, beware of dogs. Beware of dogs. I love dogs. I love dogs. That's the four-legged variety
we're talking of course. Angus was reminding me this morning
when we spoke and he said the dogs in places like India were
not kept as pets like we have, cuddly pets like we have here.
A lot of them, they were wild and rabid and mangy and they
were considered pests and they would get to a certain point
and then they would have to, their population, and they'd
have to cull them. And so our thinking about dogs is all cute
and cuddly, but really, what Paul is saying here is, this
is a derogatory term, so to speak. What's he saying? Beware of dogs. He is speaking of people, of
course. He is speaking of religious leaders
and teachers. Men who seemingly ought to be
the most trusted people in our society. Preachers that stand
in ports, but they preach something other than what God has written
in His Word. Beware of dogs. You know, of
all the warnings throughout Scripture, there is perhaps nothing the
Lord warns us more about than false teachers and false prophets
and false religion. Almost every page of Scripture,
through the New Testament particularly, there is a warning against it.
Turn with me to Isaiah 56, if you will. Isaiah 56. of these men. He says in verse
56, verse 10, his watchmen are blind. His watchmen are blind. Of course, a watchman is set
to warn of approaching danger, and a watchman that is blind
is a useless watchman. The Lord Jesus spoke plainly
of them, didn't he, in speaking of the religious leaders of his
day. Men who claim the God, who claim to believe the God of the
Bible, and claim that God is their God. Men who read the same
scriptures that we read. The Lord said of them, they are
blind. And the scripture says, when
the blind lead the blind, they both fall into a ditch. These
watchmen are blind. They are ignorant. Ignorant of
the way of salvation. You know, when we ask that question,
why were we not told? Why were we not told? This is
our answer. These watchmen are ignorant of
the righteous ignorant of the way of salvation. There is only one way of salvation,
and it is not attainable by my good morality or my good works. It's not by me being good enough
for God to say, well, I'll let you in. We can never live up
to the demands of God's law. None of us could ever be good
enough. My heart condemns me. My deeds condemn me. My thoughts,
my thoughts condemn me every second of my life. Everything
about me condemns me. And until God grants us the grace
of receiving the truth, that is where we would stay. Ready on. They are all dumb dogs. Dumb dogs. They cannot bark. They can't warn of the impending,
they can't warn their owners of the impending danger. They
preach peace, peace, when there is no peace. Sleeping, lying
down, loving to slumber. Sleep at the wheel, so to speak. They are unfit watchmen. Verse 11, yea, they are greedy
dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot
understand. You know, you can talk to them
all day about things of the Lord, and they cannot understand. Why? Because they're not really interested
in God's way of salvation. Read on, they all look to their
own way. Everyone for his gain from his
quarter. They are their hirelings guarding
the flock. They only care for their own
gain. Now Angus and I were discussing just the other day how we'd seen
men step into pulpits and then depart later, some sooner for
a better offer. Who are the true watchmen? Look
of me, if you will, at Isaiah 62. Isaiah 62, verse six. Verse six, I have set watchmen upon thy
walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day or
night. Ye that make mention of the Lord,
keep not silence. Who are the true watchmen? They
continually cry. Christ is the only way of escape.
Christ is our only hope. And they never stop making mention
of Christ. Back to our passage in Philippians
3. In verse 2 we read Paul continuing on. Beware evil workers. That word evil translates to
worthless and workers translates to labourers and so beware of
the worthless labourer. His message will bring no benefit
to you at all. words from the Apostle against
those who would teach and preach man-centered religion, works-based
religion. Of course, these same men, these
same people, say they preach grace, but out of their mouth
they preach works. In 2 Corinthians 11 we read,
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore
it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
The Pharisees were the orthodox religion of their day. Mainstream
religion, if you like. They look and act like authentic
ministers of God. But at some point, at some point,
they will teach that salvation hinges on something you do. I
have a so-called gospel tract produced by mainstream religion. Somewhere here. It's entitled Two Ways to Live. And according to this tract,
salvation is not the result of something God does. It is ultimately
the choice that man makes. The tract says you are at a fork
in the road. It is the choice we all face. When Paul met Christ on the Damascus
road, I don't remember there being any fork in the road, and
I don't believe there was any choice made. Man-centered religion,
that's what we're talking about here. Man-centered religion gives
man the ultimate say in his own salvation. This is a serious,
serious subject, man-centered religion. It is a religion that
robs God of his glory It is religion that reduces the
salvation of God to a mere offer of salvation. According to this
little booklet, Christ has simply made an offer of salvation. God's done all he can, now it's
up to you. Glorious work of Christ is just
a work that's made salvation available. He hasn't done anything. He hasn't saved anybody. God's
waiting until man's will is exercised, and if he makes the right choice,
according to this book, if he makes the right choice, everything
is all right, and he has a seat in heaven. I trust it is plain
to all of us that this is a false way. The Apostle John tells us
plainly, doesn't he, in John chapter 1, that the sons of God
are those born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God. That's the plain text. The will
of man is irrelevant. Free will, works, religion. I like to make my messages as
positive as possible, but we go where the text tells us. And
this is a dire warning. Religion without Christ. That's
what we're talking about. Grace and works. Grace and works
cannot mix. They are mutually exclusive.
When grace ceases when works are added. Grace ceases when
works are added. You cannot have a mixture of
grace and works. It must be all of grace and no
works at all. Salvation is all of grace. We
know that verse, don't we, in Ephesians 2. For by grace are
you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God. Grace and faith are gifts
of God, not of works. Why? Why does he say that? Not
of works. Lest any man should boast. God
forbid, Paul said, that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6.14. Paul goes on to say, beware of
the concision. Another strong word. This word
refers to those that cut themselves, to those that mutilate themselves. Beware of the worthless false
teacher that mutilates the word of God. There were those insisting that
the practice of circumcision be continued in order to please
God, but that just serves an example. by their own activities, by the
works of their own flesh. It's something they do. Our religious
tract gives the reader some steps to do. The first step is to pray
the sinner's prayer. Now there's nothing wrong with
praying a prayer. But this is a step that you have to jump.
This is a hoop you have to jump through. And having completed
that first step, there's a second step. And let me read the second
step to you. Having prayed the sinner's prayer
above, you will want to start putting it into practice, that
is actually submitting to Jesus. There will no doubt be all kinds
of areas in your life in need of change. You'll need to get
rid of old rebellious habits like greed, anger, selfishness,
and so on. Piece of cake. and start some
new ones that please God, like generosity and kindness and love
and patience. Sadly, the authors of our tract
have altogether missed the fact that pleasing God has nothing
whatsoever to do with the works of the flesh. It's just not in
the equation. Paul says in verse three, for
we are the circumcision. We are the circumcision. That's
a strange term in a modern world, isn't it? We are the circumcisions.
What that means is we are the ones whom the covenant is given
unto. God gave Abraham a token of the covenant. Circumcision,
circumcision. He said, I have a chosen people. And here are the hallmarks of
these ones. Verse three, which worship God
in spirit. True worship is a spiritual thing. It's a spiritual thing. You can't
worship him. The carnal man, the natural man
has no idea. He cannot worship God. You cannot
worship God unless it is in the spirit. God is spirit. The Lord
Jesus said to that woman in Samaria, God is spirit and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth. In 1 Corinthians 2 we read, the
natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Any man can be outwardly religious,
and there are plenty, plenty in this world. But religion without
the spirit is vain religion. It's worthless religion. It is
religion without Christ. And the natural man cannot make
himself spiritual. He can't conjure it up from within.
The spirit comes from above. Only the spiritual man can have
the confidence that he has the acceptance of God. On what basis? Christ Jesus the Lord. He is
all our acceptance before God. He is all our wisdom. He is all
our righteousness. He is all our sanctification.
He is all our redemption. 100% all those things. That's what the scripture says,
we are complete in him. Verse three, we rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Is there any room
for us to have confidence in our flesh? Is there any part
of salvation we can boast in? Someone might say, well, of all
the people in the world, he did choose us. He did choose us,
and true, He did choose some and not others. But for me, this
is what that means. We were worse sinners than them.
He came to save the chief, the chief of sinners. Someone might
say, well, at least we believed. At least we did that. Friends,
we were dead in trespasses and sins. We were totally lifeless
before God. But God quickened us together
with Christ. God sent his spirit to us with
the gift of faith. Of course, and God caused us
to believe. That's the reason any of us believe. God caused
us to believe. He gave us the gift of faith. Someone might say, well, at least
I came to him. At least I came. Friends, had the Father not have
drawn you, you would not have come. And not only could we not
have come, we would not have come. We were dead in trespasses
and sins. And unless there's another definition
for dead, we wouldn't have taken another step, would we, toward
God? start to finish, salvation is of the Lord. We have no confidence
in the flesh. We have no confidence in the
experiences of this flesh. We have no confidence in the
emotions of this flesh. We have no confidence in the
imaginary goodness of this flesh. And that's what it is, it's an
imaginary goodness. We derive no confidence in this body of
flesh whatsoever. And ultimately there is a division,
isn't there? There is division between those that place some
level of confidence in their flesh and those that do not. Reading on in verse 4, Paul goes
on to describe that old life of confidence in the flesh. Thus
for 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." Nobody worked harder than I. circumcised the
eighth day in the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew
of Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee." A Pharisee. Notice
that he did not say, I kept the law perfectly. There was only
one who kept the law perfectly. He said, as touching the law,
a Pharisee. A Pharisee. A self-righteous
hypocrite. Verse six, concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Blameless on the outside, blameless in his conduct before men, but
not before God. For what things were gained to
me, Paul says, those I counted loss for Christ. Once I saw Him,
once I saw Christ, All other things were lost. All my ancestry,
all my religion, all my observances, all my zeal, my entire life's
work and purpose. I counted the loss. Once I saw
him, that was it. No turning back. And all my past
efforts were done. Can you imagine? Can you imagine
working tirelessly for a cause all your life, and then realizing
it was totally worthless? Verse eight, yea, doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done. Yet following Christ
is a denial of the flesh, isn't it? It is a denial of self. That's what the Lord said, didn't
he? The Lord said, if any man will come after me, let him deny
himself. We're denying his flesh. And
take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it. You want to try and save your
life for your own works and activities, you shall lose it. And whosoever
will lose his life, deny that flesh, for my sake shall find
it. We deny self, we deny all personal
merit before God. We deny any perceived righteousness
before God as a basis for his acceptance. And we look to Christ
alone for all of it, don't we? Paul counted all these fleshly
works, but done, done. Why? He says at the end of verse
eight, that I may win Christ and be found in him. There are
those that want to say that sanctification is a progression in personal
holiness. This is a subtle heresy that
has deceived many well-meaning people. The word sanctification
means to be set aside for special use, to be made holy. The idea that a man can make
himself progressively holy is absurd. It's a nonsense. It flies in the face of scripture. which plainly teaches that God
has made Christ all else sanctification to us. He has made unto us sanctification. We must not build steps to God
with the work of our hands. This is what this book does,
it builds steps to God. What holiness are we going to
add to his holiness? It is a delusion. It is a falsehood. But the natural man thinks he
has it under his belt. And he can make God a debtor. A debtor to his good works. And
those good works, he says, God must reward him for them. But
salvation is not of works. The scripture obviously plainly
says that. Salvation is not of works. Lest
any man should boast, we are justified by God and we are sanctified
by God. The two are inseparable. We are bid, the scriptures bid
us, to cease from dead works. That's what they are, dead works.
And we rest in Christ because Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. We rest in the only one who lived
a perfect life before God. And Lord said, come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What would you do to win Christ? What would you do to be found
in him? What would you do? Would you
cease working? Would you simply rest? But that sounds like doing nothing,
doesn't it? That sounds like a ticket to
licentious behavior. That sounds like, well, it doesn't
matter, because it doesn't matter, then it doesn't matter how we
live. We can live as we please, but only a reprobate mind would
suggest such a things. Friends, there is no doubt that
the believer is to live in this world in a way that honors the
Savior. They that love Christ would never
intentionally do things that would bring his name into disrepute. We ought to live honestly before
men and live and walk upright lives in this society. Doing good and living safe and
upright lives are not absent from believers, but these things
carry no effect on our standing with God. You know, I've heard
it once said like this, what I do does not affect my relationship
with God, but my relationship with God Let me say that again. What I
do does not affect my relationship with God, but my relationship
with God affects everything I do. In Romans 4 concerning Abraham,
perhaps you can just turn there with me. Romans chapter 4, concerning Abraham, we see this
principle Romans chapter 4 verse 1, what
shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the
flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what sayeth the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man under whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. What did Abraham do? He simply
believed God. That's it. And we implore others
to do the same. Just believe God. God's people
are not trying to earn what Christ has already earned. That would
be an insult to our God. And would insult the spirit of
grace. His blood and his righteousness have obtained our eternal redemption. What is our part? What is our
part? Well, we're sinners, and by grace,
we're the recipients of grace. Sinners, recipients of grace.
That's our part. What are we to do? Believe God. Believe God. Reject any complicated
system of religion. Reject any complicated procedure
of salvation. There are no steps and there
are no formulas to reach heaven. You just believe God. We just
believe God. We believe everything he says
about us and we believe everything he says about his precious son.
Abraham believed God with the faith that God gave him. And
God declared that man righteous. Verse nine, that I may win Christ
and be found in him. I must be found in him. I cannot
settle for anything less. I must have him. Yet ultimately,
the only people that desire to be found in him are already in
him. I trust you find that a wonderful
thought. that God the Father and the covenant
of grace place all the children of God in his Son before the
world began, before time began. And in time, it pleased God by
the foolishness of preaching. This is the way God has ordained
to be a method of saving sinners, that by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. What we do, crazy. But this is
the power of God. And God chose this way, the foolishness
of preaching. Preaching what seems to this
world to be a foolish message. To save them that believe. Paul
goes on, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ. Paul said
in Galatians, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. The faith of the Son of God. His faith has won the day for
us. The word is faith. We're talking
about his faith. He was perfectly faithful to
perform all the law in our stead. And if we are found in him, his
faith is our faith. His righteousness is our righteousness. His perfection is our perfection. The church of God is the very
righteousness of God. What an amazing thought. To an
unbelieving world we look very unimpressive, don't we? But God
has called us and given us a name. He's given us a name, not just
any name, he gave us his name. It's still pictured, this concept
is still pictured in marriage today where the bride is given
the name of the groom. You're given His name, and you
can read it, we've read it before, you can read it in Jeremiah 33.
She shall be called, this is the name of the church, she shall
be called the Lord our righteousness. That's our name, the Lord our
righteousness. That's our rightful name, not
by anything we've done, but by His finished work, His faithfulness. And as verse 9 says, it is a
righteousness which is of God by faith. That righteousness,
if we have righteousness, is of God. The very righteousness
of God. That's the only kind of righteousness
there really is. There really is no such thing
as the righteousness of men. It's imaginary. If only men would
understand they have no righteousness and they cannot endear themselves
by any act of this flesh. Men can't make themselves righteous.
They can't make themselves holy. They can't sanctify themselves.
They can't justify themselves. It's all got to come from the
Lord. We have to be made the righteousness of God in him.
That's exactly what 2 Corinthians 5, 21 says, which says, for he
hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. I need a righteousness
that God accepts. And the only righteousness that
God accepts is his own righteousness. And if he gives me his righteousness,
then I know for sure that he's always going to accept it. He
cannot deny himself. It's his righteousness imparted
to us. We are accepted in his son because
he placed us in his son and because we are accepted in the beloved,
the beloved son of God. God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. So too are all they who are in
him. Reading on verse 10, we'll be
covering 11 verses today, so we're finishing up soon. That I may know Him, that I may
know Him, and the power of His resurrection. We are born again
by the Spirit and by the power of the resurrected Christ, born
to know Him, and the fellowship of His sufferance, I want to know what he accomplished. I want to know him and how he
put away sin. By the sacrifice of himself,
I want to know how he brought in everlasting righteousness
by his obedience to his father. I want to know these things.
I want to know him. I want to know what he did. I
want to know what he accomplished. I want to know him as my substitute. I want to know him in his work
of atonement on my behalf. Reading on in verse 10, being
made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead. We are crucified with Christ,
we are buried with Christ, and we're raised with Christ. Paul
speaks of these things in Romans chapter six. He speaks of the
ordinance of symbolizes our burial and our resurrection in him.
I need to turn there. Let me just read you a few verses.
Romans 6 verse 3, know ye not that so many of us as were baptized
into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also
in the likeness of his resurrection. I hope we can rejoice in this
great prospect, the prospect of resurrection and being with
Him. Let me finish with a verse from
Psalm 37. Psalm 37. Verse four says, delight thyself
also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine
heart. If Christ is our heart's desire,
if our desire is to win Christ, to know him, if Christ is our
heart's desire, then Christ is what we'll have. If Christ is
our heart's desire, then we already have Christ. We already have
him. If you ever find a love and a
desire for him is present, you know then that he put that love
and desire there in the first place. We love him because he
first loved us. He first loved us. May the Lord
be gracious to us and bless these things to us. Let's pray.