Before I begin my message, this
morning I'd like to read an article from today's bulletin. If you
have a bulletin with you, please join along reading with
me. It's an article written by Pastor
Henry Mahan, who has gone on to be with the Lord. And it's
under Food for Thought on the second inside page. He titles his article, Evidence. Oh, I said Henry, didn't I? You're
right. Thank you for correcting me on
that. Paul is still with us, by the way. Wanted to make sure
if this video goes out, Paul didn't get that message. I'm
not here anymore. Oops. Sorry, Paul. Paul writes in this,
titling his article, Evidence, he writes, If you would ask me
the clearest evidence of a truly convened person, I would say
it would be concerning his attitude towards the Gospel. When God
calls a person by the Gospel, he, that person, falls in love
with Christ and can't get enough of hearing him preached. from
that day forward. Of all the persons I have witnessed,
writes Paul, over the years that seem to be genuine believers,
their love for the hearing of the gospel has never diminished. They are just as enthused about
it and moved by it now as they were when they first heard it.
They do not look for excuses to miss, but are looking for
opportunities to attend it. If these are your feelings about
the gospel preaching, thank God. If you would ask me to declare
as evidence of an unconverted state or an apostasy, I would
say it concerns the same thing. It would be that person's attitude
toward hearing the gospel. indifference, poor attendance,
lack of joy, and rejoicing upon hearing the Gospel, and constantly
looking for excuses to miss it, or clear signs to me that a person
is not in love with Jesus. If you really love someone, you
want to be with them. You never get enough of hearing
about them, or talking about them. And you love those who
are most like them. If you find the hearing of the
Gospel to be a burden, a burden to you rather than a pleasure
or do not experience any real joy upon it, you need to ask
God to speak to you, to make His Word burn within you until
it catches your heart afire. If you are not concerned, may
God have mercy upon you. The two men on the road to Emmaus, their hearts burned within them
when the Lord revealed it was Him And what was he doing? He
was expounding from the Scriptures the things concerning him. How the Scriptures all point
to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'd like to ask you this
morning to turn in your Bibles to the third chapter of Romans. We are in a series of messages
from Philippians, and we'll get to Philippians, but we're going
to begin in Romans this morning. The word sanctify. Sanctification. It's a word of action, is what
it is. I know there's an English name for words that are words
of action, but I never graduated high school, so forgive me. But
it's a word of action. It means you're either sanctified,
meaning something has happened to you. Sanctification means
that something has happened to you. It's a word of action. It
is used in two ways in scripture, yet both ways can be the same.
It simply means to be set apart, but it also means to be made
holy. To be made holy or set apart
is to say that we were not only not holy, nor were we set apart. For folks, we come into this
world as part of the world. We are of this world. We are
born as everyone else is born in the world. Everybody comes
into this world the same way, breathing the air, having to
be spanked, brought air into your limbs. Everybody comes into
this world thinking the same thing, thinking about themselves. Don't
tell me you don't, because the Lord's Word says you do. It says
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I know it's hard, especially
for those who have little children, to think of how sweet and innocent
a child is. But our Lord says all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Not just adults, not just
those who are grandparents, but all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. To be sanctified means to be
set apart from what we were. It means to be made holy. And if we had to be made holy,
then doesn't that mean we weren't holy at one time? We come into this world walking
as the world, dead in trespasses and sin, and as dead men are,
we have no way of or desire to change the ways of men. Are you
with me in Romans? Turn to chapter 3, if you would. And read God's Word. Not the
man who's standing before you. This is not my Word. I'm not
sitting up here making an interpretation of God's Word. Read with me.
Chapter 3, verse 10. As it is written. In other words,
as it has been written throughout all of Scripture. Just as Jesus
preached from the Old Testament to those two men on Emmaus, expounding,
opening up His Word to them, that's what this is talking about.
As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the
way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that
doeth good, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that
doeth good, no, not one. I read that over twice. Their
throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of asp is under their lips, whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and mercy are in their ways, and the way
of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes." That's the description of every human being that has
walked this earth, other than the Lord Jesus Himself. This
is the way of men. This is the way of every child
of God who walked this earth. We all walked according to our
own lusts, fulfilling the desires of our flesh, the desires of
our dead hearts. And every true redeemed sinner
knows this for themselves. Why do you think that beggar
was sitting over in the corner, whereas the Pharisee was standing
up all proud? Lord, thank You I'm not like
them. Not like this one over here.
But that beggar was over there pounding on his chest. Why was
he over there pounding on his chest? Because he knew what his
worthiness was. And that's what every one of
God's children have to be taught. We come into this world thinking
we're okay. We can do well. We can do good.
But God's Word just tells us, we just read, there is none. And when the Lord reveals that
to a lost sinner, we get down on our faces. We bow before the holiest of
holies and praise Him for showing us what we are. Because in showing
us what we are, He shows us who He is. The Savior of His people. Not a wannabe, but the Savior. Oh, that beggar over in the corner
over there was, Lord, thank You. Please continue to be merciful
for me. Almighty. He had a fear of God. A reverential fear. Did I say that right? A reverential
fear. Not a fear of death, not a fear
of punishment. For God had showed that man that
all the punishment he deserved was laid on his savior and that's
what he does for every single one of his chosen people. Every true redeemed sinner knows
this for themselves. because of God's mercy and grace
in revealing this to them, salvation is of the Lord. In Matthew chapter
9 verse 12 we read this, but when Jesus heard that he said
unto them, they that behold need not a physician, but they that
are sick. But go ye and learn that what
that meaneth, for I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." What
a wonder that Jesus Christ became flesh. He came to save sinners. Oh, this sinner is so thankful
for that. Folks, no one can know the depth
of our depravity. till Christ has revealed our
lost estate to us? No one can know how deep their
depravity would go. I have had conversations and
I know this. I know that I would be right there
with the very ones who cried out, crucify Him, crucify Him,
if the Lord had allowed that. By His grace I am what I am. Interesting, the man who used
so much of the Lord to write his word, Paul, said that very
same thing. Paul said, and he said this after
the Lord had converted him, he said, Oh wretched man that I
am. In Mark 16, verse 15, we read
this, And He, our Lord, said unto them, unto His disciples,
unto the eleven, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature. For us to know the good news,
we must see the truth of what we are. And the gospel is one
message. The good news is one message.
Peace on earth is one message, and that message is Jesus Christ
the Lord. In the book of Romans chapter
10 verse 13 we read this, For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But then it goes on to say this,
How? How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? How are you going to call on
somebody you haven't believed in? How are you going to believe in that
person if you've never heard of them? How shall they believe in whom
they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Before the world was created, God the Father gave God the Son
a people on the condition that God the Son would fulfill all
that was needed for His people to be with Him in eternity, and
God the Son did exactly that. perfectly, in every sense. He
fulfilled the law perfectly, He walked perfectly before His
Father, establishing a righteousness, and then He perfectly took sin
upon Himself. Not His own sin, but the sins
of His people. And that sin was made His, so
that when He went to the cross and died for it, they were as
His own. He did not sin. You cannot call
him a sinner, but he was made sin. Ask me to explain that,
I don't know how. How can our small minds comprehend
that God became sin? There are mysteries too great
for even you and I to understand, until the day the Lord takes
us home and we understand everything with Him. Our Savior was made sin for us,
that we would be made righteous in Him, and that righteousness
in Him is perfect. The world around us loves to
talk about a God who only does things part way, but the Scriptures
tell us about a God who has completed everything, who has done it all.
When He said it was finished from the cross, it was finished.
This is important. We're talking about something
called sanctification. The world around us would like
to preach to people and tell them, you know, you've done a
good job. You've made your decision. You're
starting to follow the Lord now. You know, things are going to
get better. It's going to get better for you if you just go
another step and just stay on that path. Keep on that path.
Keep working on that path. Stay with this one thing. Keep
doing these. You'll be more holier. It's called
progressive sanctification. It means that we get holier and
holier, we get more and more like Christ. And that is so untrue
compared to the Scriptures that we read. Our sanctification,
our holiness, our set apart is done by God Almighty and is done
perfectly in Him. I'm going to use this example
again. One of the problems with putting
together three messages back to back to back is all three
seem to flow together so you can kind of expect something
in that matter when we come to the table. I've been told I clean up nicely. James? James works with me. This is just clothes. These are just garments put on. And those of you who know the sinners
that you are in your own heart know exactly what I'm about to
say. It covers up the filth that is
in this one, but it doesn't cover it up before God Almighty. I am not holier than thou. And
God forgive me if I ever give anyone that indication. I'm not
holier today than I was when the Lord first called me out
of darkness. I'm just as holy as I was that very day that He
gave life to this dark heart. Because my holiness is not me.
It's not this flesh that you see before you. It's my Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. That's what I want to tell the
people. Put your holiness aside because you really don't have
any. You don't get more sanctified than you are if you are in Christ.
For everything in Christ is perfect and complete. Our Lord said to Moses, In Romans
chapter 9, 15, Paul is referring to the words in the Old Testament,
he says, For he, speaking of our Lord, saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth. What do you do with that? Exactly what it says, it's not
of him that willeth. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. And runneth just means works.
Doing something. Doing whatever it takes to do
what you think makes you holier, holier, and holier. But of God
that showeth mercy. You see, great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Heaven came down
and glory filled my soul. Sanctified means something was
done. Something that was done that
was not already there. And the elect of God have had
something done. Something that we could not do
ourselves. Something that only a pure and
sinless one could do. Folks, we do not sanctify ourselves
by what we do for the one who is For one who is unholy cannot
make himself holy. There's only one way to be as
holy as God Himself, and that is to be in the One who knew
no sin. That is to be in the One who
no guile was found in His mouth. My title for this day is complete
in Him. Everything we need from salvation
is in our Lord and Savior. So why do we keep trying to earn
something of our own? Why do we keep thinking, well,
I can get better? You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is a true sinner all in all. He is everything we need. I like
this saying, Pastor Gene, I believe, copied it from somebody else
and he said it often, he's either Lord of all or he's not Lord
at all. What do I mean by that? I mean
that he's on the throne of all glory. And if we try to say we did even
one little thing, and that includes making up our mind to do something,
That's a work. If we try to put any of that
in our hearts, that just says that we're glorifying ourselves.
And God will not have that. He's the sovereign ruler over
everything. As Lord of all, He rules all
things. All power in heaven and earth
and everything under the earth is in His hands. He works all
things out according to His counsel, not the counsel of John Reeves,
not the counsel of anyone else, but after His counsel. The point
in saying all that is to say what Christ does is no less than
perfect. Scripture tells us that He shall
be called Jesus because He might save His people? No. Does it say that he shall be
called Jesus because he can save his people? Well, that's true,
but that's not what it says, does it? No, it says he shall be called
Jesus for he shall save his people. Folks, that's my only peace.
As a sinner who is saved by God, my only peace for my loved one
is knowing that they will not go to hell if they belong to
God. They may walk this earth like they do, and like they are,
but so did John Reeves for 40 years. And even today, John Reeves
still walks that way sometimes. And I'm not saying that to brag
or be proud of it. We're not proud of our sin. But
if we say we have no sin, then we call God a liar. I have a hope after seeing how
the Lord saved a man on the cross, sitting right next to him, hanging
right next to him. The very day that that man would
die. Could it have been possible that
he would not have been with the Lord? Uh-uh. Not this Lord of
Scriptures here. Uh-uh. The God of this Scripture
says, He shall be mine. And he takes him home when the
Lord wants him. And he opens the hearts of his
people when it pleases him. In the day of his love, he makes
us willing. People of false faith go about
establishing a righteousness that they think is right. But
in truth, it is no righteousness at all. In fact, they are acts
of condemnation that will take them to hell. They teach that
one will become more holy as they walk a certain way. God's
people are as holy as the sun is right now. We don't get any
holier by the way we walk. But we also don't get any less
holy either. Christ is our sanctification.
Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 if you would please. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Christ is our sanctification.
Look at verses 13 and 14 with me if you would. But we are bound
to give thanks, Paul writes, always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning,
meaning beginning of all times, meaning beginning of the world,
before anything was created, from the beginning, chosen you
to salvation through what? Through your good works? Through
your being more holier as you go along? No, through the sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Folks, we must be given a new
heart. We must be born again. We must be made to see the holiness
of God. And that holiness is the holiness
of Christ. In 2 Corinthians, you don't need
to turn there, 517, it says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. The
old religions of doing what you thought was right to earn your
salvation are all gone. Now the minute to be born again
means you are putting your rest, your trust, your hope in Christ. He is a new creature, it says.
Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
us the ministry of reconciliation. Now if you would turn to the
right over to Hebrews chapter 10. Just a few pages to the right
in your Scriptures there. Men will forever try to bring
their imaginary worthiness before God in a false hope. A false hope that they have made
themselves holy by their works. That's what progressive sanctification
teaching does. It teaches you that if you keep
working... Folks, we're not lawless people. God's law is perfect and good. But a true sinner knows that
we cannot keep it perfectly. We desire to. We go out and we
try to. Our Lord says, be ye holy for
Christ is holy. Is there anybody here who can
do that? I didn't think I'd see any hands. I love my grandmother and don't
you ever say anything bad about her, but she's just as unholy
as I am. I love my mother as much as anybody
does. Don't you ever say anything bad
about her or your mother. But they're just as unholy as
anybody else is in the flesh. The true people of God rest in
our Savior. The whole idea of a day of Sabbath. We have those now call themselves
Seventh-day Adventists because they worship on the seventh day,
the Sabbath day. To a true believer of God, every
day is a Sabbath day. We rest in our Savior, not in
ourselves. We trust Christ, our sacrifice. We lay hold of His righteousness,
not ours. For He who knew no sin was made
sin, that we would be made righteous in Him. Our righteousness is
perfect in Him. We can read this in Romans 8.1,
it says, there is therefore now. Now. Did you catch that word
now? There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ. Those who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Christ my Savior has fulfilled
the law for me. Does that mean that I can sin
willingly? God forbid. God's law is good
to my heart. It is my desire to follow His
law as well as I can, but my failure to do so does not take
away from what my Lord has accomplished already for me. Don't forget
this also though, any success that I may have does not add
to anything either. You can't add to perfection.
And if my perfection is in my Savior, I can't add anything
to it. Go out and sin not, absolutely. But when you do, we have a perfect
advocate sitting on His throne working it out for us. His name
is Christ Jesus my Savior. My salvation is complete in Him.
My sinful flesh cannot add or take anything away from what
Christ has accomplished. progressive sanctification, a
message being taught from many pulpits today is no more than
another way to encourage men to work out their own salvation
by becoming more holy, working more, more better, more Christ-like. Look at me, in other words, is
what they're saying. See how I don't smoke anymore? See how
I don't drink anymore? See how I don't do this anymore?
It's all about them, rather than being all about the One who saved
me from what I am. Look at verses 6-14 with me of
Hebrews chapter 10, will you? In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Our Lord never accepted any blood
from any animal as a sacrifice for our sins. But the very blood
that was shed in those days was no more than a picture, a type,
It's like coming to this table. This doesn't save us. But it
reminds us. Every time they sacrificed an
animal, it did nothing. But it reminded them of the one
who would. And we look back on it now as
reminding those of the one that did. He did. Verse 7, Then said I, Lo, I come
in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will,
O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst pleasure therein which were offered by the law, Then said I, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified." He sure doesn't say something
about us doing something to be sanctified there. Let's see,
by the witch will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Think about that. Consider that
for a moment. If you're walking around this
world thinking you're getting better, By the way you walk,
that's not what it's saying here at all. It's saying that our
sanctification is in Christ Jesus and it's by the offering of his
body once for all. If God has done something for
us, I ask you this question this morning. Can it be perfected by something
you or I could do? Turn, if you will, to Colossians
chapter 2. That would be to the left, I believe. Turn to the
left a few pages, you'll see Timothy, Thessalonians, and then
Colossians. And while you're turning over
to Colossians chapter 2, allow me to read from the 17th chapter
of John. Many in the world are teaching
that the Lord's prayer is a Scripture that our Lord is using
to teach His disciples and the apostles how to pray where He
says, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. But the
true prayer, Lord's prayer, is when the Lord got down on His
knees and cried unto the Father for us. He prayed to the Father for his
people. He said in that same chapter,
I pray not for the world, I pray for them that thou hast given
me. Well, in the 13th verse of that
same chapter, our Lord cries this out to the Father. He says,
and now come I to thee. And these things I speak in the
world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because
they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray
not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that
thou shouldest keep them from evil. They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Set them apart. Make them holy
through your truth. He goes on to say, Thy word is
truth as thou hast sent me into the world, even so I also send
them into the world. Remember the great commission. It's not to go out and make disciples.
It's not to go out and take care of the poor. Those are good things,
but that's not the commission. The commission is go out and
preach the gospel. I'm sorry, the smoke's starting
to get to me around here. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so I have also sent them into the world. Now if you're
with me in Colossians chapter 2, look at verses 1 through 10
for me. With me? For I would, says Paul
to the church at Colossae, For I would that ye knew what the
great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea. And for as many as have not seen
my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted, bringing
knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of
the Father and of Christ, in whom in whom all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge, in whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man
should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent
in the flesh, yet I am with you in the Spirit, joying and beholding
your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye
therefore receive Jesus Christ the Lord, so walk in the Spirit. rooted and built up in Him and
established in the faith as He had been taught, having abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men and
after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ." Now I
want to ask you something. What happened to Israel? Israel, you remember, was Jacob.
And Jacob got in a wrestling match with the Lord. And the
Lord crippled him. And Jacob was named Israel. Israel
had 12 sons, the 12 tribes of Israel. What do you think? Do you think
Jacob taught those children, go put on all these fancy robes,
walk around swinging this, go down here and do that? Do you
think he taught them all that or do you think he taught them
what that sacrifice meant? He taught them what the sacrifice
meant just as Adam taught his two boys, Abel and Cain, what
that sacrifice God gave to clothe Adam meant. This is the sacrifice
you come to God with. Not with this other stuff of
your hands. Well, what happened to Israel? What happened to them?
Because by the time Paul walked this earth, they were all dressed
up in righteous robes, they all looked as good as John does,
whatever. You see what I'm pointing out?
What happened to Israel? They thought they became more
holier by what they were doing and they lost eyes of who it
was that made them holy. That's what the Christian world
and our world has done. They took the truths that were
preached to them in the days of the apostles, and over years
and years and years and years, they fouled it up with the rudiments
of men. The vain deceits of men. Oh,
if you'll just do this, that's a vain deceit of men. Where was I? Oh yeah. Beware lest any man spoil you
in vain, in philosophy, in vain deceit. Verse 8. And after the
tradition of men and the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him, speaking of Christ,
in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, everything,
God the Father, God the Son. If you don't worship God the
Son, you don't worship God the Father. That's God's Word. You
can't just worship one and not the other. You have to worship
Christ. And when you worship Christ, you are worshiping everything.
All the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelleth in Him. And then
here's what I want you to read. Here's what I want you to see.
Verse 10. Paul is telling the Colossians.
Paul was inspired by God Almighty, by the Spirit of God to write
these words to his children. He says, and ye are complete
in Him. Which is the head of all principality
and power. I rest in Him. How about you? Are you out there trying to earn
or righteousness of your own. Folks, I cannot stress the importance
of testing what men shall say. Are they teaching? Don't take
my word for this. Go look. Jennifer, would you
have told me your mom listens to Joel Osteen? Listen to him
carefully. Listen to that man very carefully.
I encourage you to go listen to him. And you tell me, have
you heard anything about what Christ has done for him? Or are
you going to hear things about what he has done for the world? I've heard it. Pastor Lance Heller,
I'm sorry, missionary Lance Heller, he's not a pastor, he actually
builds a bunch of churches over in New Guinea. He was telling me that he sat
one time and he sat through the entire message of Joel Osteen,
hour and some odd minutes, an interview. Not one time did that
man say anything about Christ Jesus the Lord and what he had
done. It was all about how the people can feel better about
themselves for what they can do for themselves. Test. Test this man. who stands before you this morning.
Test me. Make sure what I'm talking about
is written in these words. Any man. For we are all just
men. I'm no more perfect than anybody
else. My perfection is only in Christ. Test the Word of men
with God's Word. Look again, if you will, at Philippians
chapter 3. again to the right, just a couple
of pages. Left, to the left, other side,
my other right. If you were here last week you'll
recall Paul was writing to the Philippians,
telling them all these wonderful things, and he comes out against
the flesh in verse 4 of chapter 3, "...though I might also have
confidence in the flesh." Speaking of us, the people of God not
having any confidence in our flesh, he declares himself that
if anyone had confidence, he should have more than anybody.
As it says there, it says, "...for if any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more." Paul was
zealous. He was all dressed in the righteous
robes of Israel. He was one of the Sanhedrin,
the Pharisees, out there going after the church. Everything
he did, he thought he was doing exactly according to the way
God told him in His Scriptures, but it wasn't that at all. He
couldn't see the truth in God's Word. None of us can! We have to be born again! You
see the grace of God in coming to a lost sinner, dead in trespasses
and sin, and because He has loved us, He shows Himself to us in
His Word? He teaches us that we have no
righteousness of our own, that our righteousness is in His Son,
the Lord Jesus? That's grace! It's all about
grace! It's either grace or it's nothing.
You can't mix works and grace. If you try to do some work and
mix it with grace, it becomes all about works. I love grace. God gives me the
strength to preach grace every time I get a chance. It tells me that God can be gracious
to this sinner. To any sinner, no matter how
bad your sin is, people ask, you know, is there a sin that
you could commit? Scripture talks about the unforgivable
sin. You know what that is? That's
going through the door marked death, not believing Christ. Not believing according to the
Word of God. That's the unforgivable sin.
Everything else is forgivable. Paul says, you think you have
the right to be righteous in your flesh? Well, I've got more.
Look at all that I did. Verse 5, circumcise the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, of a Hebrew
of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. He thought he was blameless before
God because he thought he was walking each step perfectly,
becoming more holy, more holy, and more holy. And he didn't realize that just
the thought of wanting to become more holy was coveting. Do you
know you can be sent to hell for coveting? That's a sin. It's what we do. It's what we
are. Thank God for a Savior. Listen to what Paul says next
again. For what things are gained to me, those I count to loss
for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, he says, and do count them, but dumb,
that I may win Christ, that I may know him, verse 10, oh no, verse
9, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness. Folks, that's what people are
encouraging you to do when they talk about becoming more and
more like Christ. If you're in Christ, if you're
resting in Christ, trust Me. Trust His Word. He will not leave
you to yourself. He will not let you continue
on that path of destruction. He may let you step in that direction
once or twice, but it's only to bring you back to looking
to Him. What a better way to look to our Lord than when we
stub our own toe. What a better way to look to
our Lord when we see how lowly we can get When we see ourselves as that
beggar over in the corner who doesn't even want to lift up
his head. Because we know that this flesh
is sinful and we need a Savior. And there is one. And it can
be found in Him. Not having mine own righteousness
as Paul says it in verse 9, which is of the law. but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God, by faith. If our Lord has determined to
sanctify you, set you apart from the world,
if He is determined to make you holy as Himself, Can anything
stop it? If you think there is, then your
God is awful weak. The God of Scripture, my Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, is not weak in anything. His desires
shall be accomplished. Will you stand with me?