Every time I'm around Brother
Lovelace, I'm reminded of an incident that happened to me
a long time ago, back when I was still 6 feet 4 inches tall. That's
been a while. Things change as you get older.
And I weighed about 375 pounds. I was in the airport one day.
And there's a fellow that walked in behind me and was in a bit
of a hurry. And I just had him step up in
front of me because I wasn't in a hurry. And I looked at him
and I thought he was the biggest man I ever saw in my life. And
it took something to impress me with Ben's eyes. And he stood
about that much higher than me, about that much broader than
me. And I realized kind of awkwardly that I was staring at him. And
he looked at me like, what are you looking at? I said, I'm sorry,
sir. I just seldom see things bigger
than me that's actually moving. So I always like to see something
bigger than me once in a while. And man, can he sing. Thank you.
Thank you. Let's turn together to Philippians
chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. Do you ever ask yourself, what
do I want? What are my ambitions? What are
the things for which I live? What are those things that motivate
my life day by day? Answer that honestly, and you'll
find out who you are. You'll find out who you are.
I want to talk to you, if God will enable me tonight, as plainly
as I can, personally, as God speaks to me by his word, that
which he's spoken to me about my ambitions, the things that
motivate me, the things that are the driving force of my life
day by day, the things I desire, the things I strive for, the
things I seek, my ambitions. This third chapter of Philippians,
just hold your Bibles open on your lap, we'll be right here
in Philippians 3. Begins with the word finally,
finally, finally. That seems a little strange to
me because it's right in the middle of this epistle. The Apostle
Paul has been addressing these Philippian believers, expressing
his great thanksgiving for their fellowship in the Spirit, their
fellowship in Christ Jesus, and he tells them he's confident,
having heard from their pastor Patronitis all about them, confident
that he which had begun a good work in them would perform it
to the day of Jesus Christ. And he said, I pray that all
the fruits of righteousness will be found in you and to the praise
of God and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, now I'm
writing to tell you I have a lot of enemies, a lot of thoughts,
you're going to hear a lot of bad stuff about me. They didn't
even have internet in those days. He said, you're gonna hear from
every corner. You find out somebody talking about Paul, you're gonna
hear some bad stuff about me, but I'm set for the defense of
the gospel. Let folks say what they want
to, I'll leave them alone. And then he urges these Philippian
saints to live for God. Let your conversation be as becometh
the gospel of Christ. Stand fast in one spirit, with
one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. All
children of God, live for God. Live for God, for the glory of
God, for the cause of God, for the gospel of God. Make it your
life's business to serve God relentlessly. Live for God. He said, Don't be terrified by
anything. Don't let anything shake you
very much, neither in your personal life, nor in national life, neither
in the religious world, nor in the secular world. Don't let
anything terrify you, for unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for
his sake. Live for God and you're gonna
hurt for it. Live for God and you're gonna
hurt for it. I don't mean act like a religious horse's rear
and you'll hurt for it. I mean live for God. Just set
yourself to live for God's glory. You don't have to talk about
it, just live for God's glory, for the fervor to the gospel,
for the cause of Christ, and you will suffer for it. God's
given it to you if you believe on Christ to suffer for Christ. That's the gift of God while
you live in this world. We must, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. And then he urges us to walk
as we live for God in this world with bowels of mercy. What a word. What a word, with
mercy, stirring you from the inside all the time. So that
you constantly look upon people, not with harsh, judging criticism,
but with compassion and tenderness, knowing that you're just cut
from the same boat of cloth. Especially with regard to God's
people. moved always with bowels of mercy. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. You live for God like Christ
did. Live for God, serving his people. He who is God thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, but he made himself with no reputation
and took on him the form of a servant and became obedient, obedient
even to the death of the cross. Let that mind be in you so that
you do not live for yourself, but live for others. That's what
it is to live for God. That's what it is to live for
God. So that you look not every man on his own things, but every
man also on the things of others. You live for God when you live
for God's people. You live for God when you live
for God's people, not for yourself. Living for God has got nothing
to do with whether you go to a picture show or drink coffee
or chew tobacco or dip snuff. Got nothing to do with that.
Got nothing to do with that. Living for God is living for
the good, the benefit, the care of God's people with compassion
and mercy. Loving one another even as Christ
also loved you and gave himself for you. And then he calls their
attention to their pastor, Epaphroditus. You know, if it wasn't for Paul
writing to us in Colossians and Ephesians about Epaphroditus,
you wouldn't even know who he was. In fact, I still don't know
who he was. I can't find anything about him
in history. I can't find anything about him in anybody's history
books. I've tried. I'll only know that he was God's
messenger to these saints at Philippi and those nearby Colossae. God's messenger, a fellow laborer
with the apostle. A man called of God to be his
messenger to his people. Oh, what an honor. What an honor. I hope I've come
here tonight as God's messenger to you, to speak to you as God's
ambassador. Oh my, what an honor, what an
honor. But God has given this local
church a messenger and he counts it his honor, I know it. You
count it your honor to have it. God has chosen to use the most
unlikely of means, both to save his elect and to comfort and
edify and teach his elect. He takes nothings and nobodies,
insignificant, useless men like us and puts them in the place
of the ministry to preach the gospel of his grace and God speaks
through dirty, weak, insignificant, worthless pipes all clogged up
with sin and that's the only way he speaks to man Isn't that
amazing? That's amazing. I have wondered
for years, I've studied, every time I read through the book
of Genesis and I get the middle of the book of Genesis and Jacob's
fixing to leave Laban and Laban is trying one more time to cheat
him and Jacob says, all right you crook. He said, I've labored
for you for 14 years, you cheated me out of everything I've done
and I'll tell you what we'll do. I'll stay one more season,
and I'll raise your cattle for you. And the only cattle I'll
take will be the ones you don't want. Only ones I'll take, the
ones you don't want. I'll take the ones that are speckled,
ring straight, and spotted, and have off color. Those only ones
I'll take, the pretty ones that you can keep. And Jacob did a
strange thing. I mean a strange thing. He went
out in the field and he got him some green poplar rods. I expect he had a barlow or something
bigger than this. This is just a general pocket
knife. But he just cut some branches off a poplar tree. And he peeled
the bark off of them in streaks. And he did a magical thing. No, it wasn't magical at all.
God told him what to do. And when the sheep were breeding,
he stuck a peeled poplar rod in front of the ram and the ewe,
right in the ditch where they were drinking water and breeding. And everyone that bred in front
of those peeled poplar rods brought forth just the kind of sheep
he wanted. Now you try that sometime. Get your herd of sheep and try
breeding different color sheep by them looking at rod while
they're breeding. That ain't going to work. It will if God
says so. It will if God says so. Paul
said, your dear fellow servant, my dear fellow laborer, my fellow
servant, your pastor, Epaphroditus, he's told me all about you. And
I'm writing to you now, and I'm calling on you to live for God. I'm calling on you, my brothers
and sisters in Christ. Live for God. Some of us don't
have many days left on this earth. Make them count. Make them count. Well, I've got
my children and grandchildren to take care of. I do, too. I've
got something more important. I've got a God to serve. I've got my wife now. She's been
working hard all her life, taking care of me and watching out for
things. And she deserves some rest. Yes, she does. She still
works with me about 65 hours every week in the office. Every
week. There's something more important
than taking care of that woman. It's called living for God. Serving
God's people. Serving God's cause. Oh God,
hear me now. With whatever days you've appointed
for me, pour out your grace upon me as never before, that I may,
to the last breath of my body in this world, live for God. Finally, brethren. Now I'm talking
to you, my brethren, my family, folks dearest to me. folks who
are so close to me, nobody could be closer, brethren. We're sons
of the same father. Our elder brother is the Lord
Jesus Christ. We've been bought with his precious
blood. We're heirs of the same glorious
inheritance, citizens of the same land. We have the same home. We're going to the same place,
brethren, brethren. And watch what he says. He says,
for me to write the same things to you, indeed, is not grievous.
But for you, it's safe. He said, I'm going to tell you
some things that I know you know. I'm not going to tell you anything
unusual. I'm going to tell you some things
I know every one of you know. But everything I've got to say
tonight, I know everybody here who knows God. You know what
I'm saying, so you know it. What a horrible thing it is that
we tend to push aside those things that are most obvious, because
those things that are most obvious are most demanding. So I don't
make any apology for going over things that I know you know and
pressing them hard upon you. For me, it's not grievous. For
you, it's safe. And it begins with this exhortation.
Rejoice in the Lord. What a wonderful excitation.
Live for God. Well, how you gonna get folks
to do that? Just be happy as you can be. Just be happy as
you can be. Rejoice. I don't mean walk around
and fake it. I don't mean just walk around
like somebody who's spoken something strange and they laugh when they
see somebody getting run over in the streets. That's not what
I'm talking about. I'm talking about joy. Joy. Rejoice not in the person who's
in the White House or the one who's not. Rejoice not in the
amount of property you own or how little you have. Rejoice
not in the events of providence, the experiences of providence,
be they painful or pleasant. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Oh, what an exhortation. 10 times
in these four chapters, this man writes by inspiration and
calls for us to rejoice. I think the Spirit of God intends
for us to understand it's our business while we live in this
world to rejoice in the Lord, in his glorious person. Rejoice
in your all sufficient substitute, your almighty savior. You've
heard about him now last night, this morning, and tonight. Rejoice
in him. Rejoice in him. Every time you
get forgetful, go back in your mind again to Calvary and visit
again the scenes of Calvary and rejoice in him who loved you
and gave himself for you. Rejoice in the power of his precious
blood that cleanses you from all sin. Rejoice in the perfection
of his righteousness, that righteousness that he's made yours by God's
free grace In the teeth of all your own sin, in all your own
depravity, and all your own corruption, rejoice, the Lord is my righteousness
He is all our righteousness. Rejoice in the abundance of His
grace, that grace that's always sufficient. Rejoice in the immutability
of His love. It never changes. Rejoice in
all the works of His good providence. This is the will of God. Whatever
it is that's going on in your life right now, This is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Rejoice in his intercession. He who intercedes for us at the
throne of God. Rejoice, the apostle says, as
our Lord did, for your names are written in heaven. Now tell
me what it is you've got to grumble about. Just exactly what is it
that you've got to complain about? Your name's written in heaven.
There ain't many written there. Oh, I know a multitude that no
man can number, 10,000 times 10,000. But while you walk on
this earth, go try to find somebody whose name is written there.
There are always few at any given time in this world, in any given
place. But your name is written in heaven. Your name is written
in heaven. This exhortation with which Paul
opens the chapter ought to give us reason indeed to live for
God. God give me grace ever to rejoice
in the Lord for the glory of Christ and the good of his people. It's amazing how contagious things
are, not disease and things like that, but how contagious habits
are. How contagious frame of mind
is. I have a fellow in our congregation,
Brother Bobby Estes. God saved him when he was already
retired. He was nearly my age when God
saved him. And he comes in, and when he walks through the door,
he just want to smile. He's just happy. He's just happy. I've never been around him, but
I didn't feel better just because he was there. Much like your
pastor. Look at him sitting there just beaming. He always is. I
envy that. I envy that. How happy it makes
you to be around somebody who is. And other folks always. Isn't the Lord good? Yeah. And all of a sudden, yeah. It's contagious. Oh, God, give
me grace to spread joy. We have every reason to rejoice
in him. And then he gives us a warning. Look at verse two.
A serious warning. Beware of dogs. Dogs. What's he talking about? Beware
of dogs. Dogs. He's not talking about
beingware of dogs that walk on four legs. He's talking about
false prophets. And he calls them dogs because
that's how the scriptures described them. Dogs. Dogs. Dogs were unclean animals. The
scriptures speak of dogs, or speak of false prophets as dogs,
because they are men who have prostituted the gospel of Christ
and the glory of God in the souls of men for their own gain. Back
in the book of Deuteronomy, there's a law. I don't know how things
are out here, but we live in a rural area. I pastored a small
rural church. I pastored in a rural area in
West Virginia for nine years. Most of my kinfolks are rural
folks living in the mountains or out in the far country. And
rural folks do have a way of getting things messed up and
mixing religion with superstition, as do city folks. Y'all don't
have anything on us, but the rural folks I've often heard
folks say they wouldn't breed dogs and sell them because you
can't tithe on money made from selling a dog. Because God said
don't bring the price of dog into the house of God. It ain't
talking about selling dogs. If you can make money on selling
a cockapoo or a poo-cocka, I don't know what you call them. If you
can make money on them, go ahead and sell them and make a little
money. That'd be fine. And send it to Brother Lance or Brother
Groover or somebody, wherever you want to. That's just fine.
He's talking about the hire of a whore and the price of a dog. He's talking about prostitutes.
And this is how the prophet describes those who are supposed to be
watchmen upon the walls of Zion. Those who are supposed to be
watching over the souls of men. They are blind. They're all ignorant. They're all dumb dogs. They cannot
bark. That's about the most useless
thing on earth, isn't it? Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber,
yea, they're greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they
are shepherds that cannot understand. They all look to their own way,
every one for his own gain from his own quarter. So beware of
dogs, especially if they wear collars. You got it. Beware of evil workers. It's the same thing. These dogs,
they're evil workers. Who are these evil workers? He's
not talking now about prostitutes and pimps and pushers and that
kind of stuff. No, they're evil workers. I'm not suggesting that's
not so. But here he's talking about religious
folks. He's talking about these dogs. They're the promoters of
that which is the greatest evil in the world. Self-righteous
works religion. Our Lord Jesus says to them in
the last day, depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never
knew you. Who's he talking to? Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? Have we not done many wonderful
works in thy name? Have we not cast out devils in
thy name? What do you mean you never knew
us? You workers of iniquity, your names not written in heaven,
I never knew you. These folks who promote man-centered
works-based free will religion perform the single greatest evil
in the world and that religion they promote is the cause of
the greatest evil in this world. Read the first chapter of Romans
and tell me I'm wrong. Paul describes the debauchery
of the age and generation in which he lived. He could have
been writing about the United States of America in January
2017. And what's the cause of the debauchery? The religion
they practice. Man worships himself. He acts
like a mad dog. They rob God of his glory. They
trample underfoot the blood of Christ. They do despite to the
spirit of grace and debase man to his lowest, most contemptible
state. They're evil workers, evil workers. Who are they? Arminians, free
willers, legalists, people who teach that God's salvation depends
upon and is determined by man. Beware of the concision, the
concision. What's that? Folks who cut themselves. Folks who cut themselves. Particularly,
I have no question he's referring to circumcision, the Jewish right,
only a Jewish right with regard to religion, only given to Abraham's
seed, as was all the covenant of works, only given to Abraham's
seed, but imitated by Gentiles seeking to show themselves to
be Jews. And some of the Jews, some of
the Jewish apostles even required men to be circumcised. Paul stepped
in and said, that ain't right. That ain't right. Circumcision
is nothing. Circumcision in the flesh. But
there are lots of people who think they can make themselves
holy or holier. Righteous or more righteous.
Accepted with God or more acceptable to God by torturing the flesh. by living as hermits. Living as hermits. Living away
from society. Oh, they're so evil. They're
so evil. The problem's not with them. The problem's with you. The corruption is in you. It's
in you. It's right. It's in me. We can't
escape corruption and evil influence by getting away from other folks.
It can't happen. Or they live in monasteries. Or they decide
that it'd be godly if we quit eating salt. Or if we quit eating pork. That makes it more godly. It's
a preacher. Nobody cares if that's straight. I actually went to
school with a fellow, my first year of Bible college. who thought
that it was evil to enjoy anything. Now I'm telling you the truth.
Do you know what the man did, the young man, he was 18 years
old, he's a little older than me, you're probably 20, 22 years
old at the time, I was 18. We'd go to lunch and that fellow
would almost empty a salt shaker on everything he tasted. I mean,
you could almost see his mouth dry up. And I like salt because
he thought it was evil to enjoy it. This will make me closer
to God. Kind of like monks who flagellate
themselves. Not too severe, you know. Just
a little pain. Just a little pain. That's doing
penance. That gets you close to God. Beware of folks who would
tell you that by living an ascetic life, practicing religious taboos,
you will somehow make yourself more holy, more acceptable to
God. Years ago, I was in the Dallas
airport, and I had a pretty long bail, but I went outside. I went
outside to smoke my pipe. The only place I could smoke
my pipe. It was not as bad then as it is now, but it was getting
bad already. But I went outside to smoke my pipe, and I saw a
fellow walking up to me. And he was a well-dressed fellow.
And I didn't realize that we were in mint season. I still
don't know when it starts, but it was there. And this fellow
walked up and looked like he had something pretty dirty on
his forehead. And I just, I looked at him and kind of, you know,
you got something in your nose, you want to pick that out. I just did this. And he observed
it. He said, he said, it's Lent. Oh, the man had wet ashes right
there. That'll get me close to God.
That won't get you close to me, let alone to God. My soul, what foolishness. The
kingdom of God is not in meat or drink. It's not in meat or
drink, but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. You say, Pastor, it's all right
for a fellow to eat whatever he wants to and drink whatever he
wants to? Yeah, it's all right. It's all right. You can't say
that. Let's try it again. It's all right. It's all right. Drunkenness is wrong, that's
another story. But don't tell me it's wrong
for a fella to have a glass of wine. Our Lord Jesus made about
60 gallons of it for a wedding feast. And it's the best a fella
ever tasted. Your religious taboos are wrong. Your religious taboos are ungodly.
In essence, this is what Paul's saying. Beware of Christless
religion. Now look at verse three. Here's
a description of true religion. So we are the circumcision. We're
the circumcision. You remember the Jews are called
the circumcision. And they'd look at the Gentiles
and say, you're not circumcised, you're the uncircumcision. We're clean,
you're unclean. We're holy, you're unholy. We're
God's people, you're not God's people, because we're the circumcision.
Paul said, oh no, we're the circumcision. We have true circumcision. Circumcision
made in the heart, not with hands in the flesh, but by the hand
of God, by the spirit of God being circumcised in the heart.
That's talking about a mark, a painful mark, a mark put in
you by the hand of God for life that identifies you as gods. How do you know you're God? Because
I believe that Jesus is the Christ. I've been circumcised. That's
the seal of the spirit. We're the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. We worship God spiritually. We worship God in the Holy Spirit. And we worship God in our spirit. We don't worship God by carnal
instruments. The rudiments of the law, folks,
they're still like religious emblems, religious pictures,
icons and idols and symbols. Well, we don't worship it. Well,
why do you keep it then? Why do you keep it? Well, it's
just, it reminds me of Jesus. Well, you need to get rid of
that. You need to get rid of that. We don't worship God with
physical things. We don't have crosses and emblems
and stained glasses and pictures, supposed to be pictures of Jesus.
I don't know why those pictures, supposed to be pictures of our
Lord Jesus Christ, he always looked kind of like the loafers.
I mean, he always does. Have you ever seen one where
he didn't? I wouldn't even want to have dinner with the fellow
and anybody see me in public. No, no, no. We worship God in
spirit. We worship God in spirit. Not
at the carnal images and crosses and stained glass. angels and
all that nonsense. Shelby and I were driving up
to Buck Mountain, Tennessee a few years ago, and this is way up
on Rome Mountain. It's getting real close to High
Point, east of Mississippi. For you fellas, that's not very
high, but it's almost a mile high up there. And we're going
up this winding road, going up Rome Mountain, and there's a
Baptist church out there. It's a Baptist church building.
It had to be a Baptist church to be able to set that. They
had two huge concrete images of angels out there. They had
their own guardian angel sitting on the front porch. Oh, isn't
that wonderful? If I could have gotten by with
it and not been arrested, I'd recommend you take a sledgehammer
and break them down. If you could find the wooden cross on which
the Lord was crucified, burn it. Scatter the ashes. Don't
let anybody get near it because they'll worship it. No, no, we
worship God in the spirit. We worship God in the spirit.
What's that mean? We rejoice in Christ. We have
confidence in Christ. We boast in Christ. We glory
in Christ. Not in carnal things. We have
no confidence in the flesh. What is it that gives you hope?
Let me ask you. What makes you think you're going
to heaven when you die? What makes you think that God's
going to accept you? How do you know Christ is yours?
Well, I remember that's what I thought. That's what I thought. Well, that's what I thought.
Well, I know that's what I thought. We don't have any confidence
in where we came from, who our parents are, what we know, what
we've experienced, or what we've done. Our confidence is Christ. That's all. That's all. True religion is not man-centered. It's Christ-centered. True religion
is not ceremonial. It's spiritual. It's not a matter
of creed. It's a matter of conviction.
True religion is not outward, it's inward. We rejoice in Christ
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Lord. In Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him. Now watch the next thing. We
have no confidence in the flesh, and Paul gives us an example
of what he's saying in verses four through eight. He sets himself
before us as an example of self-denial. Now here's self-denial. Boy,
I sure would like to have that new tie to go with that new suit,
but I'll just buy the new suit. I'll deny myself the tie. No,
that's not it. That's not it. Boy, I sure would
like to have another helping mashed potatoes and gravy, but
I'll leave the gravy off. No, that's not it. That's not
it. What is self-denial? Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, If any other man thinketh he hath were of, he
might trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the
Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee. Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me. my religious ancestry, my parents, my training, my upbringing,
my life of obedience, my strict religious practices, what things
were gained to me, I count but loss for Christ. Not only that, yea, doubtless,
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 dung. Now, if you need an
explanation, see me after service and I'll tell you what that is. Your whole religious background,
you spoke of just a minute ago, Brother Warder, is just horse
manure. Just horse manure. Use it to
fertilize your garden. It's no good in here. No good
before God. Self-denial is an essential aspect
of saving faith. Now it most certainly does comprehend
all aspects of life as we grow in the grace and knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ. But self-denial begins and at
its essence is a denial of all personal worth and merit as a
ground of hope before God. Here is a legalist of the highest
order laying aside the filthy rags of his self-righteousness
for the blessed, pure, perfect righteousness of Christ. He found
the one pearl of great price and sold everything to get it.
That's our Redeemer. God give me grace. Oh, God give
me grace every day to sell all and buy that pearl. to count
everything else but dung that Christ may be mine. Now, why? What was the cause of this man's
self-denial, his consecration, his continual commitment to Christ? What made this man willing to
forsake everything and follow Christ? He was inspired. He was motivated. Driven to the
point of utter obsession. That's the word I'm looking for.
Utter obsession. Oh God, to be utterly obsessed
with Christ. How come? With four great ambitions
of faith. Here he speaks of these ambitions
of faith. things that motivate and rule
and govern the lives of God's people in this world. They're
matters of utmost concern to me, I hope they are to you. Yea,
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffer the
loss of all things and do count them but dung, number one, that
I may win Christ. that I may win Christ. What an
ambition. The life of faith is the lifelong
pursuit of Christ. It is the lifelong pursuit of
Christ. I want to tell you a little secret
about Don and Shelby. Tell you a little secret. I've
been married to this lady for nearly 47 years. Don't you admire
her spunk? 47 years. And you know what? Any of you ever watched Andy
Griffith's show? Gomer said to Thelma Lewin, Don Barnes says,
he's got you right in his hip pocket. I got her right in my hip pocket.
I do. Got her right in my hip pocket.
I know I do. Got her right in my hip pocket. And I'll tell
you what I do. I pursue her more now. than I did when first I started
dating her trying to get her to marry a man. I want that woman. I want all of her. All of her. I want her utter devotion. I want her utter being. I want all of her. And I pursue
her all the time because I know she's worth having. And that's nothing compared to
my Redeemer. Would to God I pursued his glory
like I pursue her pleasure. Would to God I pursued his honor
like I pursue her honor. Would to God I pursued his name
like I pursue her name. Would to God I pursued his will
like I pursue her will. God forgive my sin and my idolatry. that I may win Christ. But pastor,
don't you have Christ? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I do. Thank
God I do. And the more I know him, the
more I want him. Amen. Therefore, faith continually
forsakes all. Yes, sir. Amen. And follows Christ. Amen. It is a lifelong pursuit
of the Son of God. and be found in him, verse nine,
be found in him. To be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness
of God through faith, the faith of Christ. Yes, we receive that
righteousness by faith. But we don't perform it by faith.
We don't accomplish it by faith. It was accomplished and performed
by the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Christ established it, and we
lay hold of it. Christ brought it in, and we
take it. But the righteousness is his
righteousness, his perfect obedience to God as the God-man, our mediator,
and our substitute. To be saved is to be in Christ. Believers are people in Christ,
in Christ by God's decree, in Christ by the Holy Spirit's operations
of grace, in Christ by personal faith, but in him, one with him,
grafted into him. You fellows who raise gardens
or flowers or shrubbery of any kind, you're familiar with grafted.
a tree, a good stock, and you want to graft another into that
good stock, you have to have two cuts. You've got to cut the
original tree, and you've got to cut the piece to be grafted,
and you bind them together until the two become one. There was
a cut made in the redeemer by the sword of divine justice,
and a cut made in the hearts of God's elect, slain by the
wrath and judgment and justice of God, by the Spirit of God
in Holy Ghost conviction, and bound to Him by God-given faith,
and we are one in Him. As I stand before the Holy Lord
God, I want to be found in Christ. While I live in this world, when
I offer my prayer, my gifts, my preaching, my labor, my thoughts
to God, Lord, bathe them in the blood of Christ, robe them in
his righteousness, wash them by your spirit, accept them in
Christ the Lord as the only way he can and the only way he will.
And when I leave this world, I want to leave being found in
Christ. And when I stand before the bar of God in judgment, I
want to be found in Christ. Here's the third ambition, that
I may know Him. That I may know Him. Oh, I want
to know Him, don't you? I want to know Him and the power
of His resurrection. The power of his resurrection
is the power by which God declares his people justified. He who
has made sin for us was buried in the heart of the earth. And
having put away our sins, he was raised from the dead because
of justification accomplished by him, because he had put away
sin. The power of his resurrection
is the power by which sinners are given life and faith in Christ. It's called the new birth. You
believe according to the working of his mighty power which he
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Takes the
very same faith for a sinner to believe on Christ as it took
for the dead body of the Son of God to come out of the grave.
We're made partakers of the first resurrection by the power of
his resurrection. And believers, being born again
by God's Spirit, confess Christ believe it was baptism. And we
do that to fulfill all righteousness. I'm not ready to be a preacher.
We don't believe that in this place. Well, you do if you understand
it right. It's a picture of the fulfillment of all righteousness
by the life and death and resurrection of Christ our substitute and
our life and death and resurrection in him. It'll be 50 years ago soon. I
took my place in the watery grave and rose up out of that grave
and lifted my hands to God, to his church, and to the world
and said, I'm not mine, I belong to God. It's mine now to walk
with him in the newness of life. We live day by day by the power
of his resurrection. We live because he lives. His life flowing in us and his
life drawing us to himself. I want to know him in the power
of his resurrection and in the fellowship of his sufferings. I want to know what he suffered. I study it all the time. Study it with reverence, not
pure curiosity. I want to know what my Lord endured as my substitute when he who
knew no sin was made sin for me. When he who is God's own
fellow endured darkness for three hours while his father forsook
him until at last That heaven-piercing cry came from his lips, my God,
my God. Why, oh, why hast thou forsaken
me? I want to know what he suffered.
I want to know what he suffered. when God Almighty shoved the
sword of his justice with no pity and no mercy into the very
soul of his son and slaughtered his son because he deserved it. I want to know what he suffered
when he bore all the fury of hell in my stand. And I want
to know my interest in it. I am crucified with Christ. All that he suffered, I suffered
in him. And justice can demand no more
from him. Bless God. Justice can demand
no more from me than what he suffered and I suffered in him.
I want to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Being made conformable unto his
death. What is that talking about? What
is it to be conformed to Christ? Brother Michael, to be conformed
to his death is to be completely consecrated to the glory of God. To be conformed to Christ in
his death is to be utterly submissive to the will of God. To be conformed
to Christ in his death is to be motivated by nothing but love
for God and his people compels you to say not my will, thy will
be done. Even so, father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight, let this thing be. Number four, if by any means
I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. What's that talking
about? Look at verse 11. If by any means I might attain
to the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend, apprehend, apprehend, what's that? Apprehend, apprehend,
that's to reach out and take something. That's to take it
by force. To apprehend, that's to arrest
somebody and run away from you. as to catch somebody who's trying
to escape, that I may reach out and take by force that for which
also I am constantly being taken by force. He constantly takes me by force. He constantly takes me by force. Thank you, our Redeemer. He would
not leave me alone when I begged Him to leave me alone. When I
cussed Him and said, get out of my way, I won't have you,
He would not leave me alone. And blessed be His name, He still
won't leave me alone. I am constantly apprehended,
taken by force. This is exactly what that means.
Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 11 verse 12, the kingdom of heaven
suffereth violence and the violent taken by force. Recognize I haven't yet attained
what I'm seeking after, this conformity to Christ, this knowledge
of Christ, this possession of Christ, but I'm pursuing it that
I may take by force that one who's taken me by force. Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind. Yesterday's gone, forget it.
The faults, the failures, the triumphs, the victories, forget
them. Forget them. That's gone. And reaching forth
unto those things which are before. Reaching forth. Trying to figure
out a way to say this. I couldn't have anything in my
mind except runners and race. You can tell I'm not very experienced
in that, I'm just talking about what I've observed. They get
close to the finish line and they lunge across the finish
line, just gotta beat it, gotta beat it. I do know something
about football, I did a little bit of that. A fella playing
football, gotta get it across the goal line and then just force
their way through. That's what it's all about, reaching
for it, reaching for it under those things which are before.
This is how I've got to live. I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In Christ, there is life, real,
eternal life, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. This is what I want. I've not
yet got it, but I'm reaching for it. I want what God has purposed
for me in eternity and Christ purchased for me at Calvary.
I want to be utterly like my Redeemer. And look at verse 15. Let us, therefore, as many as
be perfect. But he already said, I haven't
reached this yet. We haven't reached it yet in experience
because we still war with the flesh. But blessed be God, we
are perfect in Christ. Let as many as are perfect be
thus minded, be just like this. And if in anything you'd be otherwise
minded, that is if something else comes in mind, God will
reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, Where to we have
already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind
the same thing. Live by the rule of Christ crucified. Mind Christ Jesus, whose mind
is in you. Brethren, be followers together
of me. Mark them which walk as you have
us, for an example. For many walk of whom I told
you often, and tell you now even weeping these dogs. They're enemies
of the cross of Christ. They oppose the cross of Christ
while they pretend to honor it. They oppose the cross of Christ
while they pretend to preach it. They deny the efficacy and
the merit of the Savior, whose end is destruction, whose God
is their belly, whose glory is in their shame. They glory in
their faith. And your faith ain't much. I'm
ashamed of my faith, aren't you? I'm ashamed how little I believe
God. I'm ashamed of my love, my redeemer. But don't you trust him yet?
Don't you love him? Oh my God, yes I do. But I'm ashamed of
it. I'm ashamed of it. It's hardly
fit to be mentioned with his name. Our glory is the redeemer
himself. But these folks, they just mind
earthly things. Verse 20, for our conversation,
our life, our life is from heaven, from which also we look for the
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And soon, soon, oh, thank God soon, all
these ambitions, I will enjoy forever, all of
it. I'm going to have Christ. I'm
going to be found in Christ. I'm going to know Him. I'm going
to be just like Him. Who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. According to the working Whereby
he is able even to subdue all things, even me, even you to himself
Oh may God graciously subdue you to Christ May God graciously
force you into the Savior's arms. May God graciously force you
to pursue Him relentlessly with all your being. Amen.