Okay, it worked. It's always
that first initial fear that it won't work. Well, I'm thankful
that the Lord has brought us together today. I'm thankful
for hymns of praise. I am surely a debtor to mercy
alone, a covenant mercy I sing. Lord, fear with thy righteousness
on my person and offering to bring and to think of the blood
of Christ more sufficient than all the blood of animals slain. For only a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who bore our sins in His own body on the tree.
We've come to praise Him, come to magnify Him, honor Him through
the preaching of His gospel. I do ask your prayers for me. God, give me the liberty of the
spirit that I need for you. God would fill me with his word
and pour it out to you. I have things written, but I
long more than just to read what I wrote. I would long for the
Spirit of God to bless us both, the preacher and the hearer,
with the same message. Pray for those that are sick.
I pray for Rick. He's in the hospital. Kathy called
me yesterday and said he's in the hospital. When did he have
the seizure? Right. Okay. That was yesterday he had the
seizure or the day before? Okay. He's in the hospital, hopefully
he's getting, it seems like he's getting better, the Lord is blessing
in that, and it was not a stroke, it was a seizure. And it's because
of medicines that he missed, I think, something like that.
I pray for Rick, he's struggling. He's struggling. I pray that
God give him and that family, because the boys take a lot of
care over him, and they do a lot of work And so it is a burden
on the family and pray for them for that. May God give the family
strength to continue that. Helping him. I know that many suffer the sickness
of this body. I had a message come to my heart. I think I'll preach it some other
time. I didn't get to have time. It came to me. yesterday, and
I tried to rush through it, and I don't think it was sufficient.
So, I'm preaching this message that I had prepared before, but
it's on the bitter waters of morrow. And I, as I think about
that, everything in this life is the bitter waters of morrow,
isn't it? And I don't think there's one thing that's not contaminated
with sin. The body, the world, our relations,
there's nothing that's not contaminated with sin. And it's bitter. Every
one of these things are bitter. I thought those children coming
to that water thinking, oh boy, here we found it. Oh, this is
it. This is it. And then they drink it, and it's
bitter. How many times we think of things
that, you know, if I just had this, it'd be sweet. You get that, and you find out
it's bitter, too. It's just nothing not touched
with sin, not contaminated with it. And the only thing that made
it sweet was the tree. The cross. Christ, the only thing
that made everything sweet. Our suffering, what makes it
sweet? The cross. So I just preached it anyway.
I wasn't going to preach it, but I just did. Pray for those that are suffering
in the bitterness of affliction. I ask you to pray that God give
me strength to preach. this message. Pray for those
churches without pastors. It's becoming more and more. Put something in the bulletin
concerning that. God, I think I did. That's how my mind's working
this morning. It's not functioning. If it's an eight-cylinder mine,
it's only got two functions. So, Don had put an article out that
God will always leave him, not leave himself without a witness.
In every generation, God has always passed the mantle and
left himself a witness. So these churches without pastors,
pray for them. Pray that God give them messengers. You guys drove a long ways. I
wish there was a church right next door to me. I would long
for a pastor to be right there. But this is not the generation. were of many and few. So I pray that God would raise
up men. I pray that God would raise up men. I'm thankful for
this congregation that God has given us, this group, this assembly. The unity that we have, the unity
we share is a blessing of God's grace. That's it. You can have
only two people in a church and still have conflict. You don't
need many to have conflict. So, though we are few, yet God
has still maintained unity. That is something to bow and to give
praise for every single day. That God has unified around the
gospel of Christ. And I'm thankful for it. And
they will have a fellowship luncheon after the service. And I'm always
enjoy these. And I pray God bless our fellowship
together. And Annie, well, she did that. Pray for Annie. And Rylan, Emma. OK. Pray for them. Let's go to him and pray. Father, again, we come because
we have great things. We have great needs. To us, they're great. To you,
they're small. But I'm thankful, Father, that
you care, even concerning the small things. Father, I beg you for grace and
strength today. Strength of mind, strength of
body, strength of heart. that you take the word and make
it applicable to the hearts of your people. That you would rain down blessings
upon the hearts of your people and the minds be refreshed, encouraged,
strengthened, knowing this, that Christ is all. Christ is all
our hope, all our righteousness, all our sanctification, all our
wisdom. And Father, I do pray for those
that are sick or suffering the bitterness of sickness and trials,
afflictions, pain, grief, loss. I beg you to take the gospel,
the only thing that should comfort their hearts and comfort them. I pray that you will strengthen
them, heal them if you would. Thank you for this congregation,
this church. Thank you for your people. Thank
you for the means that we have to preach the gospel in other
places. Thank you for your pastors, wherever they are. And the things
I pray for this congregation, I pray for them. And those without
pastors, please give them pastors after your own heart. Forgive us our sins. We pray
this in Jesus' name and for his sake. If you take your Bibles and turn
with me to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, entitled
this message, The Desire of Every Saint. The desires of every saint. Now, the apostle begins this
chapter with a warning. Conclusion. He says, finally.
He's concluding in chapter 3, but he goes on to chapter 4.
He says, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write
the same things to you, to me is indeed not grievous, but for
you it is safe. And this is the first thing he
mentions. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision. In his conclusion, he says, yes,
rejoice, but also beware. Beware. He beware of all those that oppose
the gospel of God's grace. Beware. Beware all those that
deny salvation is by the grace of God without works. Beware. He says, beware of evil workers. Beware of mutilators. That's what he called them. Concision.
The word means mutilators. They were so ready to circumcise
you. That was the big deal back then.
You had to be circumcised in order to be saved. Unless you
became a physical Jew, you could not be a spiritual Jew. Paul
called them mutilators. He says, but we are the circumcision. We are the true circumcision
which worship God in the spirit. That is, we worship God with
the spirit. and with the truth." That's what
our Lord Jesus said, the hour is coming and now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice and they that hear shall live. And
he said, the Father seeketh such to worship him, they that worship
him with the Spirit and with the truth. That's who we are,
Paul says. We're the real circumcision.
We're the real Jews. We worship God in the Spirit.
Remember the outward work of circumcision represented a spiritual
thing, didn't it? The cutting off of the physical
flesh represented the cutting off of the spiritual flesh. When the Spirit of God comes
in, that's the first thing he does is he cuts off the flesh
so that we are able to feel our need of Christ. By the power of the Spirit, we
were made to know our need, and then we saw Christ, and what?
We put our trust in Him. We believed on Christ, on His
perfect work. We now see that all our righteousness,
all our wisdom, all our sanctification, all our redemption is found where?
Where is it found? It's found in Christ. Scripture says, but as many as
received Him, to them gave He the right to become the sons
of God, which were born, listen, not of the flesh, not of tin,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, not by my own will,
nor by the will of some other man. We were born how? By God,
by the will of God. Have you received Him? Do you
feel your need of Him? Then you are the circumcision.
You are the Israel of God. You are His sons. And we give no glory to the flesh.
Look what Paul says here. He said, we are the circumcision
which worship God in the spirit rejoicing Christ Jesus in what?
Have no confidence in the flesh. You that believe, how much confidence
do you put in your flesh? How much do you trust your flesh?
Is this salvation a cooperative effort for you? It's like, well,
Jesus did his part, and now it's up to me. No, we put no confidence
in the flesh whatsoever. No confidence. So beware of dogs,
Paul said. Isn't that something? This religious
world, they're nice people. They're religious and moral people.
You know what Paul calls them? Dogs. That's what the Jews used
to call them. Gentiles, right? We used to call
them dogs. So he's making a pun here. These
Gentiles are not the dogs. The Jews are. Those who believe
that salvation is by works. He said, you're the dogs. So we, anyone who believe salvation
begins with God and is finished and made perfect by the flesh.
These are false prophets. So now Paul then introduces in
verses 4 through 6 his own experience in this. He said, look, if you
think you have something to brag about in the flesh, listen to
this, I more. And then he lists his pedigree. He said, I'll put my pedigree
up against yours any day. And he does. He lays it out.
He said, though I might have confidence in the flesh, if any
other man thinketh he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I am more. Circumcised the eighth day of the stalk of Israel, the
tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews, touching the law,
a Pharisee, the strictest of sects. The strictest of all the
Jews, the Pharisee. I was a Pharisee. concerning zeal, and I didn't
just give lip service, I persecuted the church. I was zealous. You remember the
apostle Paul was the one that held the coats of the men who
stoned Stephen to his death. They stoned that man right in
front of him, and he said, good riddance. This is who Paul was. You think you have zeal? I had
it more. touching the law blameless. He
said nobody could accuse me of any outward disobedience to the
law. But now after his conversion,
what does he say? Verse 7, those things that were
gained to me, what? I counted as lost. For what? For Christ! All my
religious works, all of my religious deeds, they are cut off! As you would circumcise a man,
the flesh would be cut off and lost, cast out. He said, that's
exactly what happened to me. By the power of the Spirit, those
things I counted as gain, now they're nothing but loss for
Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things,
not just those things, but anything else. Loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, whom I've suffered the
loss of all things. And listen to this, do count them but done. How well does the word speak
for all of us here? You that believe. Doesn't that
speak for you? That speaks for me. All my religious deeds before,
I count as dumb, useless, worthless. I count all my vain efforts of
self-righteousness, all my vain efforts of religion and religious
exercise, I count all my prayers and sighs and tears as done for
one thing, the excellency, the glory of knowing Christ. There's nothing else greater.
To me, there's nothing else greater than to have Him. Everything else is useless. I
have Him. So all my religion is worthless
and useless to commend me to God. I tell you what, I weep
often concerning my sin. I pray God would be gracious
to keep me, sustain me, hold me, give me faith and hope and
love and every grace. I pray for these things, but
yet none of these things save me. The only thing that saves me
is Christ. Oh, what the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. How great is the grace
of God to you that believe? How great is his work, his salvation,
that in spite of my rebellion, in spite of everything I did
to oppose him. Because all my religion was in
opposition to him. It wasn't for him. It was against
him. And in spite of that, he came
in grace and quickened my heart, my soul. He gave me life and
faith. And I deserve none of it. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, It shined in our hearts and given
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. The light.
I like that. That's the revelation of it.
You know, if this room were pitch dark, did that erase all the
chairs that were in it? The chairs were there, but light
reveals them. And that's what happened. Christ
was always there. And yet God turned on the light,
and now I see him. It's my grace. I hold to that scripture often,
but of God are you in Christ Jesus. But of God are you in
Christ Jesus. But of God are you in Christ
Jesus. Who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. But now that God has made these
things, and we count these things as done, that we may have Christ. Does that mean that we are free
from the flesh? Free from sin? No. No. Paul says in this text in verse
12, not as though I already attain. I'm not already there. That's
where I want to be. That's where I'm going. That's
where I'm pressing to. But yet, as of yet, I'm not.
I'm not yet there. So believer, I know that you
count all things as Doug. You counted all things. But listen
to what Paul says. He said, I counted all things
lost. Listen, and do count. Is this a one-time thing, this
counting all things lost? Is that a one-time deal? It is
a constant thing, isn't it? Yes, I did count all things lost
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. But listen, I do this
day count all things lost. and dumb that I may win Christ. You know what my preaching does
for my salvation? Absolutely nothing. I'm not preaching
to be saved. I am preaching because I am saved. I rejoice because I am saved. I don't rejoice to be saved.
I rejoice because I am saved. So what does my rejoicing have
to do with my salvation? Nothing. Christ is all. Christ
is all. Because of God's salvation wrought
in our hearts, it is our desire to continue to press toward the
mark of the high calling of God. Isn't it? Isn't our desire to
be with Him? I mean, that's the whole goal
of this, isn't it? That's the whole purpose of God
choosing us, redeeming us, calling us, keeping us, is that we may
be with Him where He is. He said, in my father's house
are many mansions. We're not so I told you so. I go to what? Prepare a place for you that
where I go you may be also. The whole end of this thing is
for us to be with him. That's his whole purpose. Therefore, I want to address
now these things that Paul says in this text. I'm not going to
do it in order, but things that popped out to me as I wrote them
down the desires of everyone who believes, the desires of
everyone who is saved by the grace of God. What Paul desires
in this passage is the desire of every believer in Christ. It is. Everything he says here,
I say, yeah, that's what I want. That's my desire. That's my heart.
And so as we go through these things, may God bless it to you.
First of all, I want you to see that Paul desired to know Christ. Isn't that something? He desired
to know Christ. Look at that in verse 10. That
I may know him. That's astounding to me. A man
who saw the risen Christ spent three years with him learning
his gospel. Nobody knew Christ more than
Paul did and yet he said this, that I may know him. That I may
know him. Now listen, I know every one
of you that believe know him. You know him. Why, how do you
know him? I know you know him because you
trust him. Because you believe in him. You know him. You know
that he is God Manifest in the flesh, you know that. That's
not something, there was a Unitarian pastor didn't believe in the
Trinity, and he had a brother who was a Baptist preacher, and
he was sick. And he said, hey, you fill in
for me, but don't you preach anything controversial. And he went to Timothy. Timothy
said, without controversy. Great is the mystery of Godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. We know Him. We know He is God
manifest in the flesh. We know that He has come to represent
all that the Father gave Him. I know that. Don't you know that?
That's simple. These things are not complex
doctrines that nobody can ascertain. These are simple doctrines. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save Him. His people from their sins. Why
did He come to save His people from their sins? Is that complicated?
Anybody lost? Did I lose anybody doctrinally?
He said, I came to lay down my life for the sheep. Who did He
come to lay down His life for? Everyone? No. Sheep. Not complicated. I know who He is. I know what
He came to do. He came to save His people. He
came to die for His people. We know that He is all our righteousness.
You know that? You know Him? Then you know this. He's all my righteousness if
you know Him. He's all my salvation. I know this. He's risen from
the dead. I know the person I know is not waiting to be king. He
is king. He's not waiting for you to crown
Him. He is crowned. He's came. He's risen. That means
that His work was successful. I know whom I have believed.
It's not what I believe, it's whom I believe. And yet, when I tell you all
I know about Him, I realize that it's not enough. You know that? Well, I tell you, sometimes I'm
envious of John when he said, we have touch and handle the
word of life. I don't know him as much as I
want to know him. And that subject is an eternal
subject because he's an eternal God. I can't sufficiently wrap
my mind around completely. And this mind seeps out. Don't
you know that? It's like a broken cistern. I'm telling you things. How much of this will you remember?
I mean, it just seeps out, doesn't it? So what is our desire? I
want to know Him. I want to know Him. I don't want to just know about
Him. I want to know Him. Paul said, we see through a glass
darkly. Don't you know that, you see through glass darkly?
I met a man one time, very excited about hearing about the doctrines
of grace. He said it one 7,000 times. I
came to the doctrines of grace. Young, didn't understand. I thought
he meant the gospel. He said doctrines of grace. He
came for about a year in Houston. Pastor David Fletcher was there.
And he listened for about a year. And then he stopped coming. I
asked him why he stopped coming. He said, well, I learned all
I needed to learn. You know what that means? He didn't
know anything. He didn't know whom he had believed. He knew
what, but he didn't know whom. So you didn't know whom, what
is your desire? That I may know him. That I may know him. Secondly,
our desire is to win him. And that gets people automatically. You know, we think of competing.
We say, win him. That's what Paul said. Look what
he said. He said that in verse eight. He said, Yea, doubtless
I count all things lost for the excellency of knowledge of Jesus
Christ, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things,
do count them, but done that I may win Christ. What is that? That I may gain him, that I may
have him. The one I know I want to have
Him. I want to have everything He
has. I want Him. Not just knowing
about Him. I want Him. That's what Paul desired. He said, I want and desire to
have Him. We desire Him as the object of
all our affection. We desire to have Him as our
very possession. Do you not long to possess Him?
Do you not long to know that He is yours and you are His?
I mean, that's the only way we're saved, isn't it? A lot of people
have a knowledge about God, but they don't have Christ. They
don't have a desire to possess Him. They don't have a desire
to have Him in their heart, in their mind, in their soul, in
their being. I want Him. I want to be bathed
in Him. But to God, my mind would always
think of Him. My heart would always long for
Him. Sorry. I think the best picture of this
song of Solomon would go there. Song of Solomon, chapter 3. What a beautiful picture of the
Lord, the Shulamite, the bride, and the Lord, the bridegroom. Song of Solomon, chapter 3, verse
1. Notice her dilemma. She says,
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought
him, but I found him not. Now she knew her beloved, didn't
she? She knew him. And that made her
what? Desire him. To have him. And now she seeks him. She's
laying there and she seeks him. In her mind. In her heart. She seeks him, but what? She
doesn't find him. She says, then I will rise now
and go into the streets, in the broadways, and I will seek Him
whom my soul loveth. I sought Him but I found Him
not." How often have we sought Him on the bed of prayer? We
sought Him in the reading of the Word and what? We found Him
not. How often have we sought Him in the broad ways? In desperation
we go to religion and we look for Him in the broad ways and
what do we do? We don't find Him. Our heart begins to panic. And what does she do next? She
says, the watchmen that go about the city found me. And to whom I said, saw ye him
whom my soul loveth? These are preachers. These are
the watchmen that God sends out. And what do we do? We tell men
where he's at. We preach Christ to them. She
said, did you know him? Oh yeah, we know him. You know
where he is? We sure do. We sure do. And she says, but
it was belittled I passed by from them, and I found him whom
my soul loveth, and I hailed him. How often does he absence himself
must to cause desire in our hearts. And when you find it, when God
calls you to find it, what do you want to do? I don't want
to let go. long as I possibly can. I hold him, and I won't be content
until I have him. This is the desire of every believer
to win him, to have him, to find him. I know that other
passage in Song of Solomon, it says, my beloved, pass by through
the lattice. You know what a lattice is? It's
a, it's a, yes, but it has holes in it. What does that mean? As
he passes by, I see him, and then I don't. I see him, and
then I don't. I see him, and then I don't.
Isn't that your experience? That's our experience as believers.
And I, oh, and he's absent. The only thing I want is him.
All that I may be in need of. And you know what he says about
you? He said, in Song of Solomon,
chapter four, verse nine, he says, thou hast ravished my heart. My spouse, thou hast ravished
my heart with one of thine eyes. Isn't it astounding? It's not so amazing that I love
Him. What's amazing is that He loves
me. He's beautiful. He's glorious.
He's worthy of our love and affection. And yet I'm not. Yet here we are. We possess Him. Do you realize that, that the
Spirit of God that abides in you, that God himself abides
in his people? It's astounding. Oh, that I may
be found in him. Now, secondly, thirdly, we desire
to magnify him. We desire to know him. We desire
to have him. And then when we have him, what
do we desire to do? We desire to glorify him. We desire to
magnify him. Look at verse 8 again, back in
your text. Daedalus, I count all things
lost for thee. Listen to this. Excellence. What does he call
the knowledge of Christ? Excellence. It far exceeds above
everything to know Him. There is nothing greater, there
is nothing of more value than to know Him. I desire to praise Him. I desire
to magnify Him. I desire to magnify and listen. At what cost? Listen to me. To magnify the Lord Jesus Christ
will cost you. It will cost you what? Dung. That's what everything else is.
It's worthless. If we know him, if we desire
him, then we understand that what it costs us is really relatively
nothing for what we get. But when you magnify him, listen
to me, it's going to cost you this. You'll be hated. Everybody
understands that the funeral of that young man this last week
was a big event. And they had thousands and thousands
of people there. They say, well, the gospel was
preached. I didn't hear any gospel preached. At all. In that whole
time. None. No gospel. Jesus' name
was mentioned a lot. That's not just because you mention
His name don't mean you're preaching the gospel. I know this. If the gospel that
I preached to you was preached in that place, I'm sure it would
be ended quickly. They would have no love for it.
Why? Because I'm not going to magnify a man. I'm not going
to honor a man. I'm going to honor Christ. I'm
going to magnify Christ. Why? I know Him. If I know Him
and I have Him, I'm going to magnify Him. I'm going to glorify
Him. I'm going to honor Him. And listen,
you cannot exalt Christ unless you're a base man. And if you exalt man, you will
only abase Christ. And so regardless of what men
think, we who know Him magnify Him. The excellence. There's
nothing more excellent. There's nothing more excellent
than the saving, electing grace of the Father. There's nothing
greater. There's nothing greater than
the accomplished work of Jesus Christ, the Son. There's nothing
greater than the effectual call of the Spirit of God to the sinner.
There's nothing greater than the keeping power of God to keep
the sinner in faith until he receives Him into glory forever.
There's nothing greater than the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ. We desire to magnify Him that this salvation is of
the Lord. And we don't want to put anything
of our own in it. If I magnify Christ, I must abase
everything of myself. I must count it as dumb, useless,
in order to magnify Him, glorify Him. You know what Paul said? If we add one thing, what is
it? Christ is useless. He said, if you be circumcised,
Christ your prophet, you what? Nothing. We add nothing to it. That's how I magnify it. That's
how I tell you. Only Christ. Look to Christ. Don't look anywhere else. Look
to Christ. The excellency of the knowledge
of Christ far exceeds anything else you could have in this world.
Matter of fact, if God takes everything from us, you have
that. You have everything. You have
Christ, you have everything. Our Lord Jesus Christ in prophecy
said, I bless the Lord at all times. Now, who else could do
that? Psalm 34, verse 1. I bless the Lord at all times.
Only Christ did that. His praise is continually in
my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. Listen
to this. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. Now he's
talking about me. The abased shall hear of what
I did and be glad. And then he says this to us who
are glad, oh, magnify the Lord with me. The only way I can magnify
God is in Him. All my glorification of God can't
be accepted except I what? Be in Him. Next, we desire to be found in
Him. We know Him. We desire to have
Him, we desire to praise Him, and we desire to be found in
Him. Look at verse 9. He said, 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. Now listen, you that know it,
you know this, that you are in Him from eternity. You know that.
Again, I didn't lose anybody doctrinally, did I? God chose
you in Christ before the foundation of the world. Not complicated,
not hard to understand. This is the gospel. It's not
a, not calibrative, it's the gospel. The Father chose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world. Put us into union
with Him. made Him to be our Savior, and then, in time, He
came and redeemed us. Let's see it. Go to Ephesians.
Go to Ephesians 1. God put us in Christ, and then
what did Christ do? We were in Christ, and it says,
in whom? Verse 7. Ephesians 1, verse 7. In whom? We have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Here's a cause according
to the riches of His grace. Wherein hath he abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence, and having made known the mystery
of his will. How did he do that? Through his word. All prudence
and wisdom as it flowed through time, God manifest the mystery
of his will in his word. According to the good pleasure
which he purposed in himself. This is the good pleasure. That
in the dispensation of fullness of times he might gather together
in one all things in Christ. which are in heaven, things are
in earth, even in him. Listen, in whom we've also, we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things at the counsel of
his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory,
of his grace, who first trusted in Christ. That's the father.
Now get this, all of that took place before you believed. All of this. Chosen eternity,
Christ came, he redeemed you, you obtained eternal redemption
even before you had it, before you knew about it. Listen to
this. In whom you also trusted. Now
we get to experience. Now comes the experience. In
whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. In whom also after you believed
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. See, you were in Christ in eternity. You were in Christ when he came
into the world and paid for your sin, obtained eternal redemption
for you. And then by grace and power,
you experienced communion with Christ by the new birth. You
experienced it. And therefore, we who are in
Christ long only to be found in Christ. Is there any other
place that you desire to be? Christ is all my righteousness. He said, I don't want any righteousness
of myself. Isn't that true of you? Do you
want? Okay, look at your life. Look
at all of it. Magnify it. Go through every
incident and find one thing you want to trust in for righteousness.
Name it. And if you can name it, you don't
know Him. If you can find something, you
miss the whole point. You don't have any righteousness. None of my own. Not one thing
I do contributes to this righteousness. That's why I want you to notice.
Go back to your text. Look at this. phrase because it's vital that
you understand where righteousness comes from. It's vital that you
understand why you want to be found in Him. Look at this. To
be found in Him not having my own righteousness which is of
the law. Listen to this. But that which is through the
faith of Christ. Now how is righteousness made?
It's made by the faith of Christ. That's how it was all made. It's
as though Christ stitched together the robe of righteousness with
his own hands. It's him. All him. He did it. All my righteousness. And when
I say I want to be found in him, I mean this. I want all his righteousness. I don't want any of my own. Is
that your desire? I want to be found in him. I want to be found washed in
his blood. I want the atonement He made. I want to be reconciled to God
by His reconciliation. I want to be found in Him. Do you want to contribute to this
righteousness? Well, you know, God, He justified
me, sanctified me. I mean, He justified me, redeemed
me. But you know what? This matter of sanctification, I don't want
to deal with that. I know that God wants me to help
Him out in this. I need to make myself holier.
You want to contribute. You don't want to be found in
Him. You want to be found in Him and you. Paul said, I don't
want any part of me. I want to be found in Him. I don't want to be half in, half
out. It's not a cooperative effort, is it? It's not a cooperative
thing. We're not trying to cooperate with Jesus. I want to be found
totally in Him, like Noah was in the ark. That's exactly how
I want to be in Him. And you that want to be in Him,
is there any other refuge you want? Any other place you want to go? When the apostles were asked,
will you go away also? Listen to me. Will you go away also? Is there
any place you want to go? To whom shall we go? Where are
you going to go? There's still a place else to
go. Isn't it what trials do? They bring us back to that one
place. My little children, we run off. When God hides his face, what's
the first thing a little child does? Where'd he go? Where'd he go? Where'd he go?
That little child don't want anything else to do with anybody
else. He's got to have the parent, got to have somebody to be his
refuge. That's exactly how we act. I
got to be found in him. That's my desire. I like that hymn. We sing sometimes. Excuse me. In Him we have a righteousness, by God Himself approved. Our
rock, our sure foundation, this which never can be moved. Our
ransom by His death He paid for all His people, given the law
He perfectly obeyed, that we might enter Heaven. I got no
place else to go to you. I desire to know Him. I desire
to have Him. I desire to magnify Him. And
I certainly desire to be found in Him. I want to be found in
Him. Nowhere else. Next, we desire to be conformed
to His image. Isn't this the whole reason we
were saved? Romans chapter 8 tells us this
very plainly, that we may I'm sorry, look at what Paul
says in verse 10, just to show you it's in this text here. He
said that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,
the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death. In Romans chapter 8, it says
for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of Christ. Isn't this why he saved you?
being made in the image of His Son. John says, it does not yet
appear what we shall be, but this, when He shall appear, we
shall be like Him. See how we're all going to end?
See the end of this thing? We're all going to be the same
as Him. Isn't it just reasonable not
to wait for glory to long for that? Isn't it just reasonable
that we should desire to be like Him? I mean, God said that in Ephesians. He said, be ye imitators of God
as dear children. I think about that little, I guess
a little picture of a dad walking in the sand and his child trying
to walk in his footprints. He's just trying to follow after
him. Isn't this just reasonable that we would desire to be like
him? You who know him, do you desire
to be like him? He says in chapter two of this
book, he said, let this mind be in you, which was in Christ
Jesus. What was the mind of Christ Jesus, who was God, manifest
in the flesh, and yet he humbled himself? You want to be like
him? Then how do you have to be? Though you are an elect son
of God, though you were redeemed by the blood of Christ and called
specifically by the power of the Spirit, though you are loved
of God with an eternal love, though everything in this world
spins for you, How did he act? With pride. How did he act? Is it not for us to do those
things that become the gospel? Isn't it? What is the character of the
believer? Is it not to live in meekness?
As Christ did? Patience. Was he not patient? How patient is He with you? How
long-suffering is He? Did He not behoove us to be like
Him? To be long-suffering with our brethren? Forgiving. How forgiving was He? Is it not
your desire to be just as forgiving? How kind is He? How gentle is he? Is it not our desire to be like
him, since that's how we're going to end up? Like him? I tell you what, anybody who
understands grace should be the most humble person in the world.
If we truly understand grace, we would have no pride whatsoever.
None. We would spend our life with
our face in the dirt, praising God for what He's done. Isn't this what Christ did in
His life? Constantly praise God? Constantly worship? Is that not
our desire to be like Him? It is. Next, we desire to be
with Him. I desire to know Him. I desire
to have Him. I desire to magnify Him. I desire
to be found in Him, I desire to be found to be like Him, but
I also want to be with Him. I love His presence with me here
in this world. There's nothing greater, there's
nothing, those moments when Jesus Christ feels this. I don't want to be anywhere else
in the world. Shows except. But how short are those times? I told you, when I find it, I
want to hold it. But it's like holding sand. It just goes so fast. But there is an end to this.
There is a day when we will be quick. physically with him. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and be with him. I know the more
we live in this body, the more that the world becomes bitter. And the more we desire to be
clothed Be in His presence forever. Just
think about this. You know, there is truly a cure
and remedy for everything that we are doing today. You that
believe, that is the cure for everything. Isn't it? When you die, there
is no more sickness for you. There is no more sorrow for you.
There is no more distress. There is no more suffering. There
are no more tears. Nothing. It's a cure for everything,
for the believer. Why? Because then you will be
with Him. And those things that we long
for, that we don't have, which is to embrace Him, to touch Him. When we're with Him, we'll have
that. will have that. I remember there was an illustration
of a sergeant in World War II, a very brave man, very brave
man. The lines were cut off, communications
between companies in a battle, and he actually ran across the
front lines The enemies were so astounded by his bravery that
they didn't even shoot at him. They didn't understand what he
was doing. He ran across the enemy's territory to the other
side of his platoon. And then surprisingly, he ran
back. That's a true story. This is
what happened. He ran back. And one of these cowardly privates,
he asked him, this guy was known for being a coward. And he said,
how is it that you're so brave? This is what the sergeant said.
He said, the only hope you have is to accept the fact you're
already dead. And the sooner you accept that,
the sooner you're able to perform the functions of a soldier. Aren't we already dead to this
world? Scripture says we are dead to the world, and our life
is hid where? Where's your life? Where's your
life? Where's my life? He is with Christ
in God. That's where our life is. If
God would give us an understanding of that, then we'd be able to
perform our functions here. Paul said, set your affection
on things above. And lastly, we desire to rejoice
in the day of the resurrection. Look at this, Paul says in verse
11, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. What's all this for? Knowing
him, desiring him, counting all things done that I may have him,
the excellency of the not be found in him. What's this for? Day of resurrection. He said,
not as though I already attained, neither already perfect, but
I follow after, that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended
of. Which is what? Eternal life. Why were you arrested?
That's why he said the word there apprehend. He was arrested. What
were you arrested for? So I could be saved. Eternal life is what I was arrested
for. He said, brethren, I count myself
not to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. What do
I do? forget those things that are behind, and reaching forward
to those things which are before, I press to the mark of the prize
of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. We're pressing
toward the mark of his coming. So that you do not despair. There is a day when the last believer
shall believe on Christ. Listen to me. Our Lord will bend
heaven and come down and take His people home to be with Him.
Every single one will be raised from the dead. Aren't we to be looking for His
appearing? Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Scripture says that He shall
appear. He shall appear. And so what do we do in this
life? We press toward the mark. How? By faith. We live by faith. We walk by this rule, Paul said.
We live by this rule, believe, trust. That's our law, isn't
it? You that are here, you that hear,
love him, desire him. Isn't this our law? To believe
on him and to love one another. What does that require? Effort. I'm telling you, we press. Because everything else is pressing
against us. Have you found that out? That
everything, what about this? Isn't this stuff pressing against
us our own way? Do we not get weary? Worn? Tired? Do we get tired? We live by this rule. Our Lord said this, I'm coming. And the church should always
be looking for His coming. I think we despair of that sometimes.
I think we say, well, not in our generation. Why not? Why not come now? Isn't that
what John said? Even so, come now, Lord Jesus. This should be our desire. Lord,
come now. Why? Because we want to be with
Him. So therefore we desire to know
Him. We desire to win Him. We desire
to be found in Him. We desire to magnify His grace
and mercy and love. We desire to be conformed to
His image. We desire to be found in Him.
We long to be with Him and we rejoice in His glory that's coming. Why? Christ is all. Christ is
all. To you that know Him, Christ
is all. To you that desire Him, Christ
is all. Do you want to be found in Christ is all? Is there anything
else? What's the object of your affection?
What's the longing of your heart? What is the purpose and meaning
of life? Christ is all. Christ is all. Are these your
desires? And they're Paul's desires. They're
mine. They're mine. Because I know
Him. I long to have Him. I long to praise Him. I long
to be found in Him. I long to be with Him. Do you? If you do, You know who I'm talking
about. Christ is old. Let's stand and
be dismissed. Gracious Father, be merciful. Let our hearts linger here. Bask in the glory of his person. Longing to feel his presence
and know he is mine. May Christ be magnified in all
we do. Bless this time of fellowship
together. Help us, Father. Give praise
and exalt thy name and encourage one another and strengthen one
another. love one another. I pray you would do this in Jesus'
name before you say it. Amen.