You can't help but wonder why
things happen, don't you? So some things are unexplainable,
why they happen. All we can know is that the Lord does it. The Lord did it. We may not know
His immediate purpose. We know He does it. our good. I thought of when Paul was preaching
a young man fell out of the window and died. Imagine what a great fear and
worry came over everyone. The young man's parents were
probably there and the Lord was merciful and went down and raised
him up and said Paul went right back preaching. Exhibiting that the gospel of
the word is his power, able to overcome all things, even all
distractions. I remember one Wednesday evening,
I came over early as usual, about five thirty or just before six
o'clock, and there was a massive car wreck right in front of the
entrance to the parking lot. Fire trucks and police and traffic
backed up for a mile. Couldn't get in our parking lot.
I thought, Lord, why? It's Wednesday night. Why did
that happen? I don't know. Don't know. Except
maybe to test our resolve. I don't know. But lo and behold,
about 20 minutes, about 7 o'clock, it was all cleared up. Nobody
knew it but me. So you don't know, do you? I
just don't know. Pray for her. Go to Philippians 3 now. Let's
read verses 13 and 14. Philippians 3. Verses 13 and
14. Philippians 3. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. Now this
is Paul the Apostle speaking, preaching, writing, says, I count
not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. For
getting those things which are behind, reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He calls them brethren. He calls
them brethren several times, I think eight times in this book. James used it eleven or twelve
times. First Corinthians, I think I
counted twenty-eight times. Brethren. So, it's a term of
affection, isn't it? You don't call, some of you have
a brother who's an earthly brother of yours, a sibling. That's a
close relationship in it that you have with him, with no other
people. Well, this calling to be able
to call somebody your brother in Christ, that's special. And
it's a special relationship. This is the true family of God.
So we don't use that term lightly. You won't catch me saying it
as just a catch word, dearly beloved brethren. No, you know,
don't call everybody brother. But oh my, when the Lord gives
new birth to somebody, when somebody comes in and in a while the Lord
reveals Christ to them, then you can call them brother John.
Isn't that special? That's so special. And he calls
them brethren. Look at chapter 4, verse 1. He
says, My brethren, dearly beloved and longed for my joy, my crown. Paul sure did love these brothers,
didn't he? Oh, to love the brethren like
that. Or as Christ loved the church.
Lord, give us grace. There's a whole message in that
word, in brethren. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. He's the elder brother. We're
adopted in him. Lord, give us grace to provoke
one another to love like this, to prove the sincerity of our
love and to express our love to our brothers. My dearly beloved
brother. Now, the apostle was just writing about his great desire. to win
Christ and verse eight that I may win Christ be found in him. He said verse ten that I may
know him, the power of his resurrection, fellowship with him, conformable
unto him. How could Paul be an apostle
and preach the word and write scripture and not know the Lord? He says, oh, that I may know
him. How could He's not saying that. He's saying, I want to
know him better. I want to know him more fully. I want to know or love him more
intimately. That's what he's saying. And
I want to be conformed to his image. Because he goes on to
say, I'm not yet. I'm sure not yet. Conformed completely
to his image. Verse 12, that's what he said,
not as though I'd already attained or were already perfect, but
that's what I'm after. Or rather, who? That's what I
long for. Go to Ephesians chapter 4. He
said, I'm not perfect yet. Ephesians 4, he's not talking about sinless
perfection either. That's impossible. Sinless perfection
is impossible. But growth in grace is not impossible. Growth in grace is necessary. Growth in grace and the knowledge
of Christ. And every child longs for this
growth in grace. That's what he's talking about.
Every child of God longs and strives for this growth in grace
and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Really know him.
Ephesians four, it says the Lord gave apostles and prophets, verse
eleven, and evangelists, pastors and teachers for the perfecting. See that? Are you looking at
it? Verse twelve. For the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying, that means
building up, of the body of Christ, till we all come into the unity
of the faith, united in faith, same faith, the knowledge of
the Son of God unto a perfect man, a complete, a mature man
or woman under the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ, Christ-like, like Christ, Christ-like. Oh, I'm not there
yet. That's what Paul is saying. He
says, oh, wretched man that I am. Oh, he said, I'm not there yet,
but that's what I'm after. Remember, Spurgeon, they asked
Spurgeon one time, if you could have anything, anything you desired
of God, what would it be? And without hesitation, he said
that I might never sin again. And I'd be just like the Lord
Jesus Christ. Because sin's all our
problem. It's all our problem. Problem in ourselves and problems
with everybody else. Well, he says, I want to be conformable
to his image. He says, it's not as though I
was there yet. But verse 15, verse 14 and 15, he says that
Ephesians, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro. Verse 15, speaking the truth. Here's what causes us to grow.
Truth as it is in Christ, grow up unto him in all things. That
is even cry. I thought about what a blessing
it is to have different age ages. In the church, you know, different
age groups, there's a special blessing about. Various ages,
these little babies, we have these babies. They inject new
life into this congregation of the. Boy, you know, whereas before
you'd be standing around here talking and there's a baby born, the auditorium empty. Everybody wants
to see that new birth. So it is with the Lord brings
in a new believer. Oh my, isn't that wonderful?
Whereas before, you know, we're all like old people, you know. And then we hear it through their
eyes, don't we? We see things through their eyes. Babe, what
a blessing a babe in Christ is, huh? We hear the gospel. Well,
I bet he's enjoying it. Well, I bet she's enjoying it.
Oh, she's never. This is what I think. They've
never heard this message before. I can't wait for them to hear
it. And then there's toddlers. They
told me it couldn't get any cuter than six months and one year. It's cuter. Everything that my
granddaughter does is just the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Little toddler, you know, she's starting to grow up, starting
to talk. She doesn't talk just right.
She knows what she's trying to say. Maybe her mom and dad know,
you know, but. But it's just, I just love it.
She's expressing herself, you know, she's full of life. And
then there's young children, you know, then they start speaking
and doing things. That's special. I don't want
her really to grow any older, but she's going to. And I'm sure
I'll see her and think, boy, this is wonderful. And then there's
young men. I looked at old Davis. Young
Davis walked in. I thought, he's becoming a man. Right before our eyes, isn't
he, Margaret? Margaret's gone. But that's what we want, don't
we? That's when that child is born, Eve said, give me a man. And what you want is for him
to grow up and become a man. Oh, would to God he'd make Davis,
Torrance, just like that man that sired him. Wouldn't that
be wonderful? Another world, another Mike Torrance
in this world. Thank God. And this is this is
the goal. You said this is the goal for
our children to grow up, be like children in with malice and,
you know, in their attitude toward others. And and, you know, the
scripture said in Malik, but not in understanding. And now,
you know, Brother Mac, you and Davis are having a relationship
now that you didn't have when he was five years old. It's becoming
real close now, Margaret. He can understand something now.
He's becoming a man. And there's a fellowship. And
the older you get, my dad and I have more fellowship now than
we've ever had before. You see, this is this maturity
and this completeness. This is what Paul's talking about.
This fellowship with him that you just don't have. Brother
Kelly, just all the time talking about the relationship he has
with his mother now. He didn't have before, but now
he does. She's not just his mother, she's
his sister. John, is that the way you and
Earlene are? You didn't have that before when you were just
a child, did you? Sam, you and your mother, it's
doubly special now. So that's what he's saying here.
This is what we long for, this growth and grace and the knowledge,
oh, that I may know him. So, go back to the text. That was Ephesians 4. We're in
Philippians 3. Now, here's the message today. Here's the first message for
the new year, okay? Here it is. In verse 12, he says,
it's not as though I had already attained, neither were already
perfect or mature. But I follow after, if that I
may apprehend, or that is, lay hold of, that which I've been
laid hold of for, or of. This is what this is all about.
This, to become like Him, to be made like Him. That's why
God saves people. That's why He chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, and predestined us to
be what? conformed to his image. That's why. And we're not perfect
now. Oh, not by any means. Not even
close. Not even close. And it takes
seventy years or eighty years for most to come close to resembling,
to be half the man that the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says, this is not not apprehended,
but brethren, verse thirteen, brethren talking to believers,
I count not myself to have apprehended, laid hold of it. But this one
thing I do. He says, this is my one desire
and my one effort. This is the one thing that I
do. And he mentions three things.
But they're one. These three are one, one desire. Paul says, I don't have my arms
around the Lord Jesus Christ yet. He doesn't have his around
me, and that's what I want. You know, we get a lot of comfort
from our loved ones calling us on the phone, letters they write
to us. I have pictures on my desk of
you and my family and so forth, and I love to look at them. But
it's nothing like a warm body, is it? You just can't live off
a picture. Get warmed in comfort. You want
to see the person. That's what Paul is talking about.
That's what he's talking about. So, he says, this is what I'm
doing. These three things Or my one desire, like David. Remember
David in Psalm 27? He said, one thing have I desired
of the Lord, and that will I seek after. But he mentions three
things. One thing have I desired, he
said, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life. That's where I want to live.
That I may behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire in his
temple. I've got some questions I need
to ask. It's the things I need to learn. I need to know as I've
been. So these three are one desire, and Paul says here three
things, all right? Number one. Verse 13, he says,
this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind. Forget the past. Number one. Forget the past. We're going
to look at forgetting the past. What this means, things behind,
forgetting our past life, forgetting our past sins, forgetting our
past troubles, forgetting all things past that are behind us to look forward to. So do you
need this? You do if your past plagues you,
if your past troubles trouble you, and so on. Paul now was
formerly Saul of Tarsus, all right? He was once a religious
man. Saul of Tarsus was a religious
man. He had a profession of faith. He was sincere. He was devout.
He had some knowledge of Scripture, had some knowledge of God's Scriptures
and things like that, but he was lost. He knew about God, but he didn't
know God. And I'm just certain that this
is true of somebody. He had a profession of faith.
He had a profession of faith, but no possession of Christ himself. He didn't know that living in
true God, he knew about him, but he didn't know him or intimately
acquainted. He didn't know the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is life eternal. Until he did not know, really
know God known by him until God through the gospel came and said
to him, he said, my sheep hear my voice. One day it was a personal
confrontation between the Lord and Saul and he said, Saul. He didn't know he knew about
this Jesus. Now he knows him. Who are you?
I am now your Lord, and you're mine." Oh, my. A new life had begun. It broke him of his sin, his
unbelief, put a love in his heart for God, for Christ, the gospel,
and for the other believers. And he looked down at verse 7.
He said, those things that once were gained to me, all that religion,
you know there's gain to be had in religion. That's why I was
religious at first. I was looking to gain me a wife. There was a young girl that I
was after who was a church-going girl. I admit it. I went for the wrong reasons.
Everybody does. Everybody does. There sits Amy.
She came to please her mama. Didn't you Amy? On Easter or
whatever, Mother's Day, you came to please your mother. But God. It pleased God to make you one
of his people. To reveal his son in you, didn't
it? And again, there's gain to be
had in religion if you straighten up your act and you fly right. And you get moral and you quit
your meanness and quit that and the other. It's gain, isn't it?
Paul profited greatly, he said, above my fellows. He said he
made a lot of money in religion. It's all gain. But he said, you
know, all that was just loss. I count it all but loss for Christ. And the same with some of you
in religion. You were in religion. weren't
you? This is your story. You were in religion and it was
some, it was gain to you, but now you've lost some things for
your profession in Christ. Would you trade it back? Oh,
my. Lost a lot of friends, lost family,
lost prestige, lost honor in the world, lost connections.
He thought, cattle on a thousand hills, all the gold and the silver
But you lost something, but you traded. What the Lord gave you
for a dung was the pearl of great pride. And you'd count, so you'd
count all that past. Would you trade one message of
the sovereign grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ for one
of those moral sermons you used to hear? How many sermons did
you hear, Robin Pendrick? How about growing up you grew
up religion would you trade one Wednesday night message for a
thousand of them. Nothing is what now you just
get me if you come hungry. I'll tell you this Solomon's
table is spread every time whether it be that man. They gave whoever
it may be. I promise you Solomon's table
is if you come hungry you'll go away for you open your mouth
you feel it. Whereas before, you eat and eat
and eat and think, that's good, but go away empty. Isn't that
right? And so Paul says all that past
profession, all that, he was, baptism, some of you were baptized,
you didn't know Christ, did you? Oh, you must be born. Our Lord
said, marvel not, brethren, that I said unto you, must be born.
Marvel not. Must be a new creature. You know,
when the children of Israel were being brought out of Egypt over
there in Exodus 12, Exodus means brought out, coming out. That's
what salvation is. Lord bringing you out of the
world, out of religion, into Christ, out of the camp, without
the camp under him, bearing his reproach, but alive. And our
Lord said to those Israelites when he was bringing them out
and when it started, John, was the Passover. When he revealed
Christ crucified through the Passover, he said, now, our Lord
said, now it all begins right here. He said, life begins. Mark your calendar. This is the
first day of the rest of your life, of the rest of your life. of new life. This is it. It all
begins right here. Forget it all. Forget all that
past religion. Forget it. If you've got the
day of your baptism, the day of your commitment and consecration,
all that written in your Bible, mark it out. Mark it out. It's only important that your
name is one place. And it's in the Lamb's Book of
Life. All right. And you can't see that. And that's
the reason this is what you're after. That you might go there
and be seated and say, and hear, hear Dan Hopewell. Hear! That's what you're after. That's
what you're after. Call over your name. Or rather,
to hear someone else answer for you. So forget those things behind,
past religion, all of that, even believers, us believers, you
believers, forget yesterday's grace, forget yesterday's faith,
forget yesterday's whatever it may be. Today is a day of salvation. This message right here is the
most important you'll ever hear. This is life. Forget it. Forget your past life. There's
something wonderful right here. He says, forgetting those things
that are what? I don't know everyone in here's
past life. You do. God does. For many in
here, if not most, your past life, you'd just like to wipe
it, blot it completely out, wouldn't you? There's things in your past
that you wish did never happen. You wish that you could erase
it and do it all over again, don't you? Every believer believes
that. They wish the things that you
did yesterday that you could just blot out. Here's what the
Lord said. Well, turn there. Turn with me, OK? Hebrews 6. Look at this. Boy, this isn't
good news. Hebrews 8. Hebrews 8. Here's
the gospel. Oh, need to read this every time
we meet. Here it is. Hebrews chapter 8.
Look at this. Hebrews 8, verses 10 and following. This is the covenant I will make
with the house of Israel, God's people, after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my laws in their mind, write them in their
hearts. I will be to them a God, they
shall be to me a people. They shall not teach every man
his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord,
for all shall know me from the least to the greatest." Here's
what they know, that I'm merciful. And I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. never bring it up again. The
iniquity of Israel, he said, shall be sought and won't be
found. This is the good news of the
gospel. Every time my sins, oh, the bliss
of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross and I bear them no more. Praise the Lord. It is well. with my soul, your
past. Behind you, behind. Oh, no, wait
a minute. I said it wrong. It's behind him. It's behind his back, he said.
I'll catch them behind my back. Where's the, you can't, there's
nothing behind the back. Yes, there is. Your past. God, who cannot remember, forget
anything, says, I don't remember. If I ask Nancy Park to bring
up some bad things that Steven or Sammy did when they were kids,
she would have a hard time recollecting some of those things. Now, Sammy,
you remember every one of them. You remember the ones she didn't
find out about and hope to this day she doesn't. But if you ask
Nancy, the worst thing that Sammy did, she'd say, oh, I I don't
remember that. Wouldn't you, Nancy? I don't
recall. My dad actually thinks that he
did not whip me. He does. He actually says, I
don't remember spanking you. Boy, I do. How many times? But I deserved
it. There's a lot I didn't get. Should
have. I hope he doesn't find out even
now. But here's the thing, love, perfect love, forgets, covereth. I don't remember. But Lord, I'm
against you and you only have I done this. Oh, Lord, you ought
to cast me out. What? I don't remember. Cast you out? It's not possible. And you know the only way we
can forget? With man it's impossible. We cannot possibly forget some
of the things we've done. The only way we can get over
the guilt of it and the shame of it is to look to Christ, because
He said, I don't remember. It's under the blood. And you
know, the only way you'll forget something somebody else has done
to you, it's the only way. It's the only way you'll forget. And we are, we're sinned against. The only way is the same way
right there. Lord, you've forgiven me for
all that I've done to you over all these years. How could I
not forgive such a minor offense? The law won't do it. Peter first
said, how many times must I forgive my brother when he trespasses?
Peter, you're going to find out. After you deny me, after you
act like an unbelieving dead center and curse me and just
do what you do to me and leave me. Oh, my goodness, toward you,
you're not going to you're just you're just you're just going
to be overwhelmed by my mercy and grace to you and you'll have
to you just want to forgive your other. That's how. Forget the past. You're on everybody
forget it. It's behind us. Isn't that good news? It's behind
us. Forgetting those things that
are behind us. Old Saul of Tarsus, he stood there, and I told you
before, what if Stephen, who was stoned, what if that was
our Stephen Parks as being stoned? Our beloved brother Stephen.
Sweet, precious Stephen, huh? What if he's standing preaching
and people are just bashing his brains out? He's dying before
our eyes. And there stands Stan Anderson.
Kill him. Kill him. Yes, hit him harder. Here, I'll hold your coat so
you can throw him harder. That's what Saul did. And for
the rest of his life, he saw the face of his brother Stephen. Do you reckon he ever got over
that? That's why he said, I'm not fit
to be called a believer. That's why he said that. But
God, how bad can someone be? What can someone do and God forgive
it? Our Lord said, all manner of sin. Look here. Here's my pattern, he said. Saul
of Tarsus. He killed the brethren. But I'm
going to kill him. I'm going to slay him. I'm going
to exert my power such as you've never seen before. You're not
going to believe the one told you. And they did. Somebody said,
do you know Saul of Tarsus? The Lord saved him. John of the
church said, no way. No way. Can't be. Not that old
boy. Yeah, that old boy is a new man. This is how you know that God
did it. You know what old Saul did from
that day forward? He spent his time trying to not
undo his sins, not atone for his sins. He knew that only one
thing could atone for such horrors that he committed, and that's
the blood of Christ. But he did try to. And all the time he hailed
his brother and sisters to jail. Now he spent the rest of time
washing their feet and taking care of them. What can I do for
you, brother? Oh, don't do that, Paul. You're
a great man. Great man. I'm not fit to tie your shoes.
You see, if we really believe we're the Chief of Senate, we've counted a high calling
to be sitting in this place this morning. High calling. And I sure don't
deserve to stand up here. My, my. He says, so forget it. Forget it. It's one thing I do.
Do I can't? That's what I'm trying to do.
Do I can't forget my past? That's what I'm trying to do.
By looking to Christ. By looking forward. Looking ahead. Reaching forth. Look at the next
thing. Reaching forth. Verse 13. Reaching forth unto those things
which are before. Reaching forth. The word reach
means to stretch. I looked it up. I love the concordance. Don't you, Gabe? Sometimes, when
you look it up, it's a greater blessing. It means to stretch
as if there's something just out of your reach. Have you ever
done that? These men that work on automobiles,
you know, you're laying under a car and you drop a wrench. How many times? Or whatever,
you know, reach in the morning, a cup of coffee. Cups right out
of reach. If you need it bad enough. If you've got to have it. You're
going to get it. This is what it means to reach.
We used to sing a song, reach out and touch the Lord. We sang
that cute little song, Bartimaeus. And he heard the Lord Jesus Christ
was coming back. He didn't know where he was,
didn't know how to get to him. He's blind, but boy, he was reaching. Reaching. Reach out. The things
before us. That's it. Things before us. Reach for the things before us. What things? Things of God. Christ,
who has gone before us. That's who we're reaching out
for reaching things that God had prepared for them that love
him. Now, don't you feel like some
of these things we're talking about are out of reach? I want
stronger faith, I want to believe like Paul and these these people
that died in faith, I want to believe like that, don't you?
I want to love my brother like that, but it just seems like
it's out of reach. You know what I mean? It seems so distant, faith, peace,
this patience that we've been talking about in James. Oh, I
want that now. It won't come now. Joy. I want to rejoice in the
Lord always, in all things. Ten times, Paul says in Philippians,
rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. I don't always rejoice. Sometimes
I murmur. and complain a lot of times.
Seems like it's out of reach. I see other people have that.
I don't quite seem to reach that. There was a man in the scripture
who had a withered hand. He had a withered hand. He could
not. He could not stretch out his hand. He could not reach
for anything. He's not with him. It was impossible. But the Lord
said, stretch out your hand, reach. Where was he reaching,
John? The Lord was standing in front
of him. He said, stretch out your hand. He can't. The man
thought, I can't. He said, stretch out your hand.
He did. He did. Reaching. You know, you see how
this is a present tense, though? Forgetting. Reaching. It's not like I finally got that
man we're reaching. No, no. Reaching its present
tense, asking, calling, seeking, knocking, reaching. Oh, my, you'd think the father
would turn away the child reaching for him. Ever? Right now, our
little granddaughter, And you'll tell you it's just. Well I can't even say it. We
go to their house and there she is standing at that glass door
that they have and when she sees us. She's got this wall this veil
between. Now, how fast do you think I
want to get to her? I mean, he says me first. Right. How much more? How much more reaching, reaching,
and then he says this this next time, reaching, asking not we're
here this morning, what we're doing is reaching. This is what
we're doing this morning, trying to forget under the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, this morning since, and
reaching, Lord, like right away, I'm poor and needy. Would you think on me? Would
you speak to me? I'd reach out. I need a blessing now, this morning. Reaching, and here it is. He
said, I press, I press, verse 14, toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Reaching for this
is a sailing term. These are sailing term. You know
how I love sailing. Back then, from the beginning
of time up until just a few hundred years ago, if you were on the
ocean, you sailed. Everybody sailed a boat on the
way to traverse deep water. You had to depend on God, the
wind. And these sailing terms, reaching
to the wind, it said. That is, with the wind behind
you. You're reaching right on into the wind. That's the best
way to sail. Under sail. And to mark. You've got to mark. Mark. Mark. The captain used to say, mark
it. You've got to mark. You've got something you've got
your eye on. And if you're a sailor out there
doing business in deep water and you've been out there a long
time and you've weathered through many storms, The mark that you're
looking for, and it'll be a prize to you, is land. I've been out there tossed to
and fro, and somebody said the sweetest sound to any sailor
they ever heard is this, land ho! There's the mark. Well, what's
the mark here, he said, that we're pressing toward? What's
the goal? What's the prize? He says we're pressing, pressing. This thing of pressing, this
thing of pressing, it means it's something that you've got to
have and you will not give up until you get it. That's what
pressing matters, pressing. Our Lord said the kingdom of
God is preached. And every man presseth into it.
Here's a good illustration of that. There was a woman with
an issue of blood. Had it how many years? Twelve
years. And it says she heard again,
she heard that Jesus Christ, the only healer of issues, was passing by. And it says she
came behind in the press. There was so many people there.
John. If I could just reach out. Touching. Him is gone, she did. No matter
the press. Many people were clamoring, you
know, to see the famous man, she needed virtue, healing from
Christ. See, the prize for her was to
lay hold of Christ. He was the prize. You know, I
think of people who clamor for tickets to go in and see some
famous person. Maybe you. Maybe me. I don't
know. Somebody I like was coming. I
might do it, too. You go and you do what you can
to obtain tickets, don't you? How much does it cost? $150, see, for Kenny or whoever
it may be. You know, for the average person,
I wouldn't pay a dime to see him. But if you love him, you
want to see him, that's not too much. And then you go and there's
a crowd of people. Doesn't matter. They're people
that sleep on the sidewalks, don't they? And then when gates
are opening, gates are opening. Want a good seat? Press. You've got to get in there. I've
got to get in there. Many are called. Few are chosen. Kingdom of Heaven is preached.
Men press into it. What's the price? Christ himself. What would you pay to see him? It'll cost you nothing. It won't
cost you a dime. He said, come freely. Buy wine
and milk without money, without price. Come freely. Just ask,
you get front row seats. But it'll cost you everything. How can you explain that unless
you've done it? Huh? It'll cost you everything.
The high calling, you see, this is what this is called, a high
calling of God that's in Christ Jesus. This is the high calling
of God. In other words, God Almighty
says to some chosen few, there's going to be a presidential inauguration,
isn't there, soon? Maybe. But anyway, people clamoring
to be there, to get a good seat. You're only up on the podium
near him by special, special call or invitation. You know
that? Same way with this. This is called the high calling
of God. The highest. This is the highest,
greatest privilege conferred on any human being ever. That
is, to sit with Jesus Christ someday in glory. It says, Abraham,
Moses, many will come to sit with him. With who? Jesus Christ, the altogether
lovely Son of God. God says, you get to see my Son. You get to see my Son in person. Not just, now hold on, that ain't
it. You get to sit right beside Him. You get to behold His face. You get to hold on to Him. And He'll hold on to you. and never give it up from that
day forward. You get to hear him. About Sammy,
you know, waiting on Hannah to come walking down that aisle
and look on his face. He still has it, don't you? But
you know who else had that look on her face? Hannah. She left her daddy. That's a
serious thing. Oh, that's a serious thing. And
she loved her dad, her family. home for him to be with that
man. But you know what? She was in
love with him. And she didn't count it a great loss. And the more she lives with him,
the more she loves him. The more I know him, the more I love him.
She married a fine man, didn't she? Everybody in here nodded. It's unanimous. Except him. He's a fine man. She got her,
the Lord gave her a good man, a good man. And the more he grows
in grace and the knowledge of Christ, the more he becomes like
Christ, the more she loved him, the more lovable he is. Well,
take that man, everything lovable about that man. Okay? Everything lovable. And there's
a lot of things. Every virtue, every lovable trait,
every characteristic you love about that man, and multiply
it a zillion times. And you have Jesus Christ. And
the bride. Sherry. I have not heard garments
in that day. She just can't believe, for lack
of a better time, cannot believe she's there and he's married.
I mean, I get to spend the rest of my life with this altogether
lovely person. This is this, this is heaven.
This is heaven. The prize of the high calling
of God that's in Christ Jesus. You get to see the Son and be
with Him. Marry tonight. What a privilege, huh? What a
calling. Okay, let's stand and sing a
closing hymn as we stand. Brother Gabe, what number? you