Open your Bible back to. Philippians
three that brother Daniel read for. Philippians three. I suppose I probably preach from
this Texas as much as any other. Yet I was reading it again the
other day just for my own personal enjoyment, and it still reads
new, and it ought to preach so. It's still needful, desperately
needful. Everything in this chapter has
the whole Word of God, and it's so desperately needed. And I
don't grow weary in reading it or expounding it. And nor should
you grow weary in hearing it. But I'm certain that there are
probably some in here who have not heard this. Verse 1, let's get right into
it. Paul says, Philippians 3, verse 1, Finally, my brethren, and this is written to believers,
my brethren. There was a place over in Romans
that he called his kinsmen, his brethren. He qualified, he said, my brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh. But here he's talking to believers,
brothers and sisters in Christ. The promises of this passage,
as well as all the promises in Scripture, are to God's people. They don't apply to the world,
they're to God's people. So he says to the brethren, the
believer, listen, he said, finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. And only a true believer knows
the Lord. No man can call him Lord, but
by the Holy Spirit. No man believes, really knows
the Lord, but by revelation from God the Father. God the Father
gives this saving knowledge. This is eternal life, that they
might know thee, the only true God. Many people have a conception
of God. They have a God of their imagination,
or according to tradition. But God's people, he says, they
know me, the true and living God. And Jesus Christ, whom he
sent, why he came, who he is, and what he did. He's the Lord.
And they sure don't say things like, Make him Lord. That right
away reveals to me somebody doesn't know him. But he says to the
brethren, You rejoice in the Lord, that he is Lord. Look back
at chapter 4, or over at chapter 4, Philippians 4. Look at verse
4. Paul says this several times
in Scripture. And this is the believer's joy
and rejoicing. Look at Philippians 4, verse
4. He says, Rejoice in the Lord always. Only a believer can rejoice
in that all things are working together according to the sovereign,
immutable purpose and counsel of the Lord, the one who reigns
and rules in heaven. Not the one that they're calling
Lord who is subject to man's will, what rejoicing is there
in that? That his hands are tied, that
he can't do what he wants to do unless man lets him? How could
you rejoice in that? But you can rejoice in the one
who works and who shall let it. You can rejoice in the one who
is sovereignly controlling and everything he does in reference
to you, everything is ordered. is sure predestined. It's according to his purpose
that shall stand, and it's for your good. And it can't possibly
work out for anything but your good. So he says, Rejoice in
this Lord. I'm talking about evil, bad things. That's what he said in Isaiah
45, 7. I, the Lord, do all these things. I create peace I create
evil, or that is calamities, disasters, trials, tribulations,
troubles that come on man. God says, I bring it, but especially
upon his people. Like we said in the morning Bible
study, David said, the waters of a full cup are wrung out on
his people, a full cup of trouble. Who wrings them out? God wrings
them out. God pours them out. They're poured out like water,
but bless God, he fills up their cup with blessings. Those are part of the blessings
trials, huh? They really are, because then
and then only you experience the consolation. So he says,
Rejoice in this Lord, the one who is Lord, not the one who
wants to be, the one who is. Always, in everything, rejoice. And again, he said, and you hear
me the first time, he said, Again, I say, rejoice. Yeah, but again I say, rejoice. Finally, brethren. It's one of
the last things the Apostle was telling his people, God's people. Finally, brethren. When it's
all said and done, it's God who said it and it's God who did
it. When it's all said and done, rejoice in the Lord. Thought
we could camp right there, couldn't we? Huh? Can't you rejoice in
the blessings of the Lord? We've got plenty of those, don't
we? Everybody in here could attest to the manifold blessings of God
upon them. Can you rejoice in those blessings?
Can you rejoice in the trials? Always, again I say, rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice. Now read on. He said, Now finally, brethren,
to write the same things to you or for me to preach the same
things to you. Paul says, to me, indeed, and
without doubt, it's not grievous. It's not grievous at all. Why
am I smiling right now? Because I love this. I love Philippians
I love bringing it to you. I rejoice in this Lord that I'm
telling you to rejoice in right now. In the midst of trials and
tribulations, I rejoice in this Lord. And to write or preach
the same things to you is not grievous. How could you be grievous
to talk about our Lord again? You know, that's what we're doing
here this morning. That's why we come. to sit and
praise and thank and worship our God. Why? He's worthy. To some people this is a grief,
this is a burden. But not to God's people, it's
a joy. It's not a grief, it's a joy. I've got to go to church.
No, they'd say, in this glad hour, like you son. I was glad when they said unto
me, let's go unto the house of the Lord. Believers, it's not
a grief, it's a joy. Never grievous to be in the presence
of one you love, those you love. Christ said, I'm there. It's
not grievous. But for you, he said, and besides
the writer preached the same thing, for you it's safe. If I got up this morning and
said, I got something new for you this morning, you better
head for the door. Got a new revelation. God spoke
to me last night and said, you better lickety-split. Joe, lead
the train. Lead them out of here. I said, uh-oh. We didn't come to hear anything
new. Came to hear the old, old story. Search and seek and find out
the old paths wherein is the good way and walk therein. You'll
find rest for your soul. These people have new things,
they aren't finding rest, or else they'd quit looking for
new things. Right? Quit looking for new things. There's rest in the old way,
the old story. To write the same things, he
says, not grievous for you, it's safe. You know, there's one proof,
one among many, but this is one proof that this is God's Word. That you can read the same verse
of Scripture. A preacher can preach from the
exact same text over and over and over and over. People I've
heard Philippians 3 preach from, I bet you more than anybody in
here. I'm not tired of it yet. Why?
It's God's Word. And it's new every morning. It's
fresh. That's proof that it is God's Word. What old stories
can you listen to over and over again? My poor wife has to sit
through my same old stories and same old jokes, and I hers, and
you get tired of these things. You're going to tell that again.
You're going to tell that again. But, believer, this is one proof
that this is God's Word. You can hear it over and over
again, and you never grow tired of it. That's proof. The world comes
in. And they hear it, say somebody,
an unbeliever comes in this week, that was here last week, and
they say, well, you preached that last week. Yeah. And come
back Wednesday night and try her again. The world gets tired
of that. Isn't there something else? No,
there isn't. There's nothing else. It's safe.
The word safe is salvation. What do you rejoice in? What
do you want to hear more than the word of your salvation. It's
safe. The story of this what we preach
anyway. What is this we're talking about
the same thing. Same thing. We just talked about
the same God we heard about Wednesday night. Same God. Saying the same thing. That God is God. Never get tired
of that. Never. Same God. You, Perry,
you get tired of hearing, you're God-exalted. That's your salvation,
buddy. The fact that God's God means
you're going into glory. If he's not God and there's something
left up to you, you're a goner. See, I'm telling you, rejoice
in the Lord. Again. Yeah, one more time. It's what we're going to be doing
through eternity. What's going to be preached in
eternity? Same thing we're preaching now.
He's teaching us now to love it now. Those that don't like
to sing these hymns now, they sure won't want to be there.
They'll be singing it zillions of years, throughout
eternity. Those that don't like this gospel
now, sure wouldn't want to be there then. They'd be miserable. But my pastor said about an old
fellow that died, and the preacher said, you know, preached him
into heaven. Every mother's son, you know,
somehow or another goes to heaven. This fellow preached this fellow
into heaven, and my pastor said he knew him. He knew this man.
He lived like a hellion. He hated God. He never came into
the church. He didn't care for the gospel.
He could care less about these things. He said he's not in heaven.
He'd be the most miserable person up there. He's miserable here,
so he's sure not going to be there. Talk about the same God, same
thing. Talk about the same Christ. Do we ever get tired of hearing
the person and work of Christ? The excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus our Lord, this excellent one. As a matter of
fact, no man has ever preached to him like he ought to be preached.
That's the reason we keep trying. One of these days, maybe the
half will be told. We haven't come close to telling
the excellencies of the Lord Jesus Christ, to declaring his
worth, his glory, his person, his gospel, what he did, who
he is, where he is now. This Christ, this righteous servant,
this substitute, his sin offering, the Holy Spirit, the hope of
our calling. This is the hope of this old
sinner's calling. There is one hope of my calling,
and that is that the Holy Spirit who called me will keep me. Who
called me by this gospel will keep me here in this gospel. If hearing this gospel ever becomes
grievous to you, God's left you alone. If what I'm saying right now
gets old hat to you, God's leaving you alone. Beware. If you continue to stay dull
of hearing in regards to this same old message, God's leaving
you alone. to write the same things is not
grievous, Paul said. You know, Paul, everywhere he
went, everywhere he went in the book of Acts and stood before
some king or some ruler or some crowd of people, and they said,
Now, tell us, tell us, Paul, tell us a story. He said, OK. He told the same story. And after
he told it umpteen times, he finally was stood before I think
it was Agrippa. No, Festus. He stood before Festus.
Festus said, Now, Paul, tell us the story. You know what he said? He said,
Well, I'm just happy to do it. I think myself happy to tell
you one more time. Happy. You never get tired of
hearing your children talked about, do you? And they're little
rats What about God's altogether lovely
son? He never goes tired of hearing
about him. And buddy, I better not either. And if I do, I better be saying,
God have mercy on me. God, please don't let me lose
my first love. Don't let me grow lukewarm and
spew me out of your mouth. Make your love burn within my
heart. Make this gospel like Christ
did to the disciples on the road to Emmaus burn within my heart. Ah, boy, the same things, not
grievous, safe, salvation. Verse 2, he said, Beware of dogs. Beware of dogs. Turn over to
Isaiah 56, all right? Who's he talking about here?
Dogs. He says, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Isaiah fifty-six. Who are these dogs he's talking
about? Gentiles? No. No. Here's who he's talking about. Isaiah fifty-six. Look at verse
ten and eleven. Isaiah fifty-six. His watchman.
He's talking about those who claim to be God's watchmen, God's
preachers. That's what old preachers called,
in Hebrews 13, those that watch for your soul. Watch for wolves,
watch for warning signs, watch for your soul. Watchmen are blind,
he said, they're blind. They are ignorant. They're blind
and they don't know the truth. They don't see it. So they don't preach it. You
can't preach what you don't know. Stan, that's the reason men don't
preach the gospel over and over again. They don't know it. Read on. They're ignorant of
the glory of God. They're ignorant of the message.
They're ignorant of the Great Commission. Go in your own world
and preach against abortion. That's not what he said. Go in
all the world and do moral reform. Reform society. Not what he said. Preach the gospel. They're ignorant. They are dumb dogs. Mark, that's where one old Puritan
said that's where they came up with the degree of D.D. That's what it means. Dumb dogs. Paul says, beware of dogs. Verse
10, they can't bark, they can't preach anyway. Sleeping, lying
down, loving the smoke. Greedy dog. Greedy dog. Greedy, what? Never get enough.
What a money. Look over at Matthew 7. Matthew
chapter 7. Paul says there in Philippians
3, he says, beware of the concision. Or evil workers, I mean. I'm
sorry. Beware of evil workers. Look at Matthew 7. Who are these
evil workers? The harlots, the publicans, the
drunks, the pushers, pimps, homosexuals, evil workers? No doubt these
are works of wickedness and evil, but that's not who Paul is saying
beware of. take the message of the gospel to them. He says,
You beware of these evil workers. Look at Matthew 7, verse 21 and
following. He says, Not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? In thy name cast out devils?
in thy name done many a wonderful work, in the name of Jesus this,
in the name of Jesus that. And then," read on, "'then will
I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye
that work iniquity.'" Evil workers. Beware of them. Who's that? The
self-righteous religious. And I used to work on the railroad.
I could put up with old Bill, who was a crousing, no-good drunker. I could relate to him. I know
where he's coming from. But with old Pius, Brother So-and-So,
who was a reverend and glad to let everybody know it. Praise
the Lord, brother. When he'd come walking up, oh, I despised that naked smell
a mile away. It's self-righteousness. God calls them workers of iniquity.
Why? They do what they Well, let's
read it there. Matthew 23. Turn over to Matthew
23. What's the concision? Some people
don't like talks like this. Neither did the Pharisees when
Christ said it. But Paul is telling us, brethren,
finally, brethren, beware. Beware of them. This religious world is not our
brethren. They hate the God I'm talking
about this morning, that you believe. They hate your God.
You don't think so? Tell them who he is. Tell them
who he is, and you'll find out. Tell them how he saves. Tell
them. Tell them who does the saving.
See, if they love your God, they don't love that God. They'll
gnash their teeth, like they did at Christ, like they did
at the apostles. And if it was lawful, they'd kill you. Just give God all the glory,
just give Christ all the glory, and they won't have it. Isn't
that Brother Henry, isn't that proof? We don't have the same
God, buddy. We don't have the same Father,
and they're not our brethren. And we're not trying to exclude
anybody, we're just facing facts. Our Lord said this, Matthew twenty-three,
verse, well, let's see. One and two is Christ said to
the multitude, the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
Verse five, all their works they do for to be seen of men. They
make broad their phylacteries and large the borders of their
garments. Any fellow who puts clergy on his collar
and a collar around his neck is a dog, beware of him. You
know a dog, you definitely know a dog when he's got a collar. Right? I'm not trying to be cute.
I'm telling you the truth. I see them out in public, and
I want to go bite their leg like a dog. Beware of them, he says. Oh, what are they doing? They're
doing what they're doing to be seen of men. Verse 6, They loved the uppermost
rooms at the feast, chief seats in the synagogue, greetings in
the market-plate, and be called of men, Would you be called reverend? One is reverend, a rabbi, even
Christ. Everybody's equal. Call no man
your father. Doesn't that make Catholicism
idolatry? I mean across the board. Any
man who takes the term, and anybody that calls him such, is an idolater. This thing is getting close,
people. It's just like back in the time
of the Reformation. Incidentally, that woman that
was talking to my wife about all this was just reading. She
loves to read church things, history. She was reading them
on the Reformation, ironically, reading on the Reformation, Martin
Luther and all of them. Yet she insists that Catholicism
is not false religion. The Catholics are saying. She didn't read, she's ignorant
of the Reformation, isn't she? Ignorant of it. All they do is be seen of men. He said, look at Matthew 23 again,
look at verse 13. He says, Woe unto you, scribes,
Pharisees, hypocrites. shut up the kingdom of heaven
against men. Men don't preach the gospel, and they don't want
others to hear it. Like that fellow told that couple
years ago, forty-some years ago, when they moved into Ashland,
Kentucky, and they asked this fellow they worked with, this
man asked this fellow he worked with, he said, where can I go
to church around here? Where's a good place? He said,
go anywhere but 13th Street. Man, oh man. Don't go anywhere but there.
John, that's what they're doing. They shut up the kingdom against
men. They're not going in. They don't
want you going in. Against that way. That way, the
old church. The old church is what this is,
you know. The old church. Where do you
go to church? Central Baptist. Oh. That's right. Where do you all
go to church? Todd's Road and Grace Church. Oh. Oh, that place. That way. Yeah. The way they
call heresy. So I worship the God of my fathers
and believe everything that the prophets wrote. Everything. Oh, scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites.
Maybe it's time to quit pulling punches and beating around the
bush and telling our generation there's a bunch of Pharisees
and scribes. John did, didn't he? Snakes, vipers, hypocrites. He said, beware of them. Beware
of them. Read back here in the text there.
Verse three, we are the circumcision, or that is, you know, circumcision
was a sign of God's people. Circumcision was the sign of
God's people. That's what God gave as a sign
that these were God's people. All right? But circumcision availeth
nothing. What's the sign of God's people?
Paul says it here, we are the circumcision. men and women. We are circumcised of heart.
How do you know? Three ways. Three ways. Verse
three, he says, we worship God in spirit. Well, let's all get up and let's
just raise our hands and stand up now, clap for Jesus. God's
not worshiped with men's hands. How does he worship? With the
heart. God's not looking on this. Bernard used to call it ganging
up on God. Let's gang up on God. He's got
to hear us if we talk loud enough. What was that scripture that
says, not with a multitude of words or much speaking? I don't
hear it. It's better to have a heart without
words than words without hearts. It's better to have a place where
everybody is sitting still, as still as they can be, like a
knot on a log, provided they're not sleeping. But better sitting
still as a log, not moving an inch, with a heart to worship,
than a place full of people just going crazy and wild, and not
from the heart. Most of that is flesh. Be honest,
most of that is just flesh. And you know what they're trying
to do? Preachers are just high-paid cheerleaders. That's all they
are, high-paid cheerleaders. And all these services are are
pep rallies. They're trying to work people
into a feeling of spirituality. You can't do it. The Holy Spirit
works in the hearts of people, and how does he do it? What does
he work on them to do? He takes the things of Christ.
and shows it to them. The truth impresses the truth
on their minds and their hearts. And what do they rejoice in?
The truth. And they worship God from the Spirit, from the heart.
And every now and then it will leak out. You can't help it,
but speak the feelings that are there. But not all of this wildfire. Isaac said it, walking with his
daddy up that mountain. He said, Here's the wood. Here's wood, hay, and stubble.
Here are our buildings and all our finery. Here's the fire. Here's all the emotion. Here's
all the goings-on. Here's all the enthusiasm. Now,
Isaac asked the question of all questions. He said, Dad, I want
to worship God. There's only one way you can
worship God. You've got to have a lamb. You've got to have blood. You've got to preach the gospel.
People have got to know what the gospel is. People have got
to rejoice in Christ Jesus and no other. They've got to hear
the gospel. Where's the gospel? If we're going to worship, where's
the lamb? You go where a man is saying,
Behold the lamb! And that's where God's worshiped. Abraham said, We're going to
worship, buddy. I and the lad are going up on
the mountain to worship. And I don't hear them going this
way and that way. How'd they worship? When they
saw blood. When they saw a ram sacrificed
in Isaac's place. They didn't worship, buddy. They
worshipped. Nobody else heard them or saw
them, but they worshipped. Isaac said, I see, daddy, I see
that lamb was sacrificed in my place. Abraham said, I see, I
see the Christ. I rejoice to see His day. I'm
so glad they worship Him. They came down. This is read on, they rejoice
in Christ Jesus. I know a lot of people talking
about Jesus this and Jesus that. What is it to rejoice in Christ
Jesus? It's to rejoice in Christ Jesus. The Christ, that's his work,
that's his person, that's his work. Jesus, the Savior, the
Messiah, the Savior, the sent one, the anointed one, the God-man. Christ Jesus, Christ crucified.
Christ, the sent one, Jesus crucified. We see Jesus made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death. Jesus. That's why he's
called Jesus. We don't call him that anymore.
We call him the Lord. We rejoice in Christ Jesus, who
he is, what he's done. where people are worshiping from
the heart and in spirit. They're rejoicing. What are they
doing? They're rejoicing in Christ Jesus. They're rejoicing in Him.
That's what the preacher's talking about. That's what the people
are rejoicing in. The true people of God, like God, are rejoicing
in the Son of God. The true messenger of God, sent
by God, is preaching the message of God. Christ crucified. And
the people, the sheep, are hearing it, and they're glad. They're
rejoicing. Tell it again. Tell it again. This is all my salvation. All
my salvation. What? To rejoice in Christ Jesus. And have, verse 3, have no confidence
in the flesh. Brother Fred Wood and I were
just talking on the phone this morning. You're talking about a man who
is just absolutely insistent on time and place salvation,
or that is, knowing when you were saved and where and so forth. You don't put your confidence
in anything that has to do with the flesh, anything that takes
place in this life. And if I have time, I'm going
to get to that. But you don't take, you don't put confidence
in anything that has happened in the past to you. Anything now or anything in what
you're going to be, what you have done, what you are now,
what you will be, what you hope to be. Your baptism, the flesh,
the works of the flesh, that which is flesh is flesh. God's
spirit, God's worship for spirit. Salvation is a spiritual thing.
Salvation is a transaction between God the Father and God the Son.
You're passive to it. You put no confidence in the
flesh. Feelings come, Martin Luther said. Feelings come, feelings
go. Religion today is based on feelings.
If you don't feel saved, you're not saved. That ain't so. That just isn't so. Let's ask Peter the morning after
the crucifixion. Peter, do you feel saved? Well, is he? Yeah, he is. Why? Because Christ
died. That's why. It doesn't have anything
to do with Peter's feeling. Now, let me tell you, I wouldn't
give you a nickel for a man's religion who doesn't show a little
feeling or emotion every now and then. As a matter of fact,
a whole lot of it. A man that sits and listens to
the gospel over and over and never smiles, never rejoices,
never makes a word, never comments on a message. How is he rejoicing in the Lord?
You tell me. We've had people sit right in
here attend for a long time and never make a comment to me, and
the one I know of is gone now. They're gone. They never made
one comment on one message to me. Forget it. Just forget it. But
the thing I am pressing, though, is that salvation is not based
on feelings. When salvation is there, you'll have them. But
that's not what you base your salvation on. That's not where
you put your confidence. Feelings come, feelings go, feelings
are deceiving. My hope, Martin Luther said,
is in the Son of God. Nothing and no one else is worth
believing. You can't trust your feelings. It might be who knows what causes
it. One preacher said, you know,
all these hallucinations people have, just bad pizza the night
before. gas coming up. And so is the
preaching going on. Well, read on. He said, verse
4, he said, you want confidence in the flesh? Any other man thinks
he has whereof he might trust in the flesh? I have more, he
said. And he goes on to tell his pedigree. People like to tell their pedigree,
don't they? You say, yeah, well, I this, I this, I that, I that.
I was twelve years old. Paul says, I'm going to boast
in the flesh, I more. I circumcised the eighth day. The tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew
of Hebrews, touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless, outwardly moral. But he says, I'm telling you,
all of that was Absolutely lost time. All my religious past,
and this is the point every single believer comes to when God reveals
Christ to them. Every single believer comes to
this conclusion when God reveals the God of the Bible to them.
That they were lost before they heard this God, and they were
lost before they heard this gospel. And it doesn't matter, but it
was a loss. all their religion, all their
past, was lost time. I can say the same thing Paul
said. I made a profession of faith when I was twelve years
old, but that was a waste of time.
I didn't know Christ. I think people do that because
they like seniority. You know what? I think people
do that because they like seniority. When will you say twelve? How
old are you? When were you saved, believer?
I was saved this morning when I heard the gospel. Like Brother
James said, I've been saved. I've been saved. Barnard told a woman one time,
he asked her, are you a Christian? She said, yeah, I have been there
since I She said, ìNearly all my life.î He said, ìThatís too
long. Thatís too long.î Buddy, there
comes a time, in the fullness of time, when God reveals his
SonóI mean the Son of Godóhe reveals the gospel and he reveals
the true and living God to you, and you realize that all that
religion was lost for Christ, because all that was nothing
It was you. All that was you. It wasn't Christ.
All that was feeling and emotion, it wasn't Christ. Verse 8, Paul
says, "...Yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." The past, present,
and future. This message, I'm already writing
it off. I've already failed miserably in the course of this message.
Forget it anyway. It doesn't account for anything. That silly old statement, you
know, only one life and soon she'll be passed, only what's
done for Jesus will last—funny on that! Tommy Rock, Claptrap. Only one life? Well, yeah, it'll soon be passed,
but only what's done by Jesus Christ will last, by Jesus Christ. What things were gained to me,
I counted lost. They do count all things, past,
present, and future. Lost for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. All things lost. Now listen very carefully. I'm
just going to give you just a few more minutes, OK? This is vital. Have I got your reader? Listen very carefully, all right? Everyone who hears and believes
and follows the true Christ, the true gospel, will suffer
loss without exception. Our Lord said this in Luke fourteen,
listen to it as I read it to you, verse thirty-three, he said,
Whosoever, whosoever People like to quote the whosoever's
known to you of the Bible. Well, here's one. Whosoever he
be, or she be, of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot
be my disciple. And I know some people right
now who are dabbling with this gospel. And it's a dangerous
thing to dabble with. They're toying with it. They're
kind of interested and kind of not. And the reason they're kind
of not is because there are other things that have their interest
more. And Christ said it. He said, You cannot be my disciple. Cannot. This is one of the things I'm
going to talk about next Sunday morning. Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12 says we're
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Who are
we talking about? Hebrews 11, those whose blood
was shed for this gospel. And shall we go to heaven, the
scripture says, on a flowery bed of ease while others sail
through bloody seas? We don't have to give up anything.
I'm telling you, make a stand. You believe this gospel, you
make a stand for the truth, you'll lose your friends. Are you, are you prepared? Have
you counted the cost? Some people, I believe they have.
I mean, I believe some have, that they have, they've counted
the cost and they're not ready to give up so-and-so. Christ
is not more lovely to them than so-and-so. You'll lose your friends, you'll
lose your worldly esteem and place, your status in society,
your upward climb. You'll lose it. Worldly approval? They may smile to your face,
but they are stabbing you in the back. Are you ready? Does it matter? What means more? the friendship
and approval of this world, or the approval and the friendship
of Christ? What means more? Christ said it. What means more? Your home, your family? Well, Paul said, I count this
all but done. He said, I've suffered the loss.
I have. Paul said, I'm speaking from
experience. I've suffered the loss of all things. Well, what
did you get, Paul? What have you got? Look here,
you're in jail. Paul wrote this from jail. What
do you got, Paul? You know, he must not have believed
in Jesus, Becky. He's not rich. He doesn't have
health and wealth. He's suffering. His faith must
not be strong enough, according to present-day preachers. Well,
look here, he doesn't have a this and that and the other. What
do you have, Paul? Oh, my. I had the pearl of great
pride. He said, I traded, made a trade. Would you all be willing to make
this trade? Paul said, I've made a trade,
I've traded. a second reward for a priceless diamond. Would
you make that trade? I got some. I got some over at
the barn. Some manure. Shovel it all the time. I don't
save it. I don't save it. It's worthless. It's dumb. Paul said all things
are dumb. compared to Christ, that I might
win Christ. That's what it's going to be
like in heaven. That's what it's going to be worth to you. Somebody
asks you what you gave up for Christ. Give up! Give up! Give up! I lost my friends. Friends! You've got a friend
now that We stick it closer than a brother. And those are friends
that are not friends at all. You've never had a friend, Deborah,
like this. You've never had a friend before.
Watch them when promotion comes. Watch how good a friend they
are to you. Let me tell you a friend who was rich, yet for your sake
became poor. who promoted you and was demoted
himself." Now, there's a friend, buddy. What, are you going to
give up? The world's not worth it. Give up, old Joe Smoll. I'll take Jesus Christ any day.
Huh? Count it but dung. You know,
dung is only good for one thing, and it's only good when it just
decays. When it just decays. A pile. I have piles of manure. Molly
has generously deposited piles of this all over our place. There's
no good in a pile. When you spread it out and it
just decays and dissolves and disintegrates and all that, and
something fruitful come up. And only when our works and our
past and our religion is absolutely done away with, dissolved, outside
of mind. We said down there in verse fifteen,
if you be any otherwise minded, God will reveal this to you,
that it's all done. It's all done. Mark, it's all
done. My attainment's done. And now listen to this. And I'll
quit. Here's a true believer. Here's
a true believer. Paul says, verse 9, I want to
be found in Christ. Not having mine own righteousness.
Why? It's dumb. But that which is through the
faith of Christ. Not even my own faith. His faithfulness. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. Whose faith? His faith. You see
that? The faith of Christ. I even count my faith done. It's not worth anything. My faith.
How much do you believe? How strongly do you believe,
Vicki? Huh? It's done, ain't it? It's not
worth holding on to. Well, I know this. I accepted
Jesus. Man, don't hold on to that. I know this. God accepted me in the blood.
Now, there's something to hold on to. That's done. Oh, his faithfulness is gold. Gold. Paul says, "...be found
in him." Here's his true desire, and the desire of every true
Christian, what they're willing to do to have it. "...be found
in Christ." Oh, verse 10, "...that I might know him." Well, Paul,
don't you know him? Well, in part. preacher? Don't you know Christ?
Hardly at all. And that's what I'm doing. I'm
in school. First grade. Kindergarten. I may know him, the power of
his resurrection, what that means, what Christ did by dying and
rising from the grave, the fellowship of his suffering. Fellowship of his suffering.
Being made conformable unto his death, what it means to have
my life hid with Christ and God, to consider myself dead to sin,
I want to know what that means. Look at verse 11, this is what
I want to show you. If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead, by any means. Terry, that's the title of this
message, if by any means. Win Christ. Be found in Him. Some people are more interested
in winning the lottery than they are in winning Christ. Some people are more interested
in a new car than they are in Christ. Paul said, Be found in Him. By any means, by any means, be
found in Him. Found in Him. that I might know
him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings,
conformable to his death by any means. Let me tell you this,
a person who is willing and actually uses any means, by all means, have you ever heard
that saying? Well, by all means, to attain
this life in Christ That's a follower of Christ. This is a follower
of Christ, by any means. Part-time, half-heart, forget
it. By any means. Public worship? It's a means. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Public worship? By any means,
whatever it takes. Christ is known through public
worship? I'm going to be there. private worship. Can't do without
that. Public seeking him private. Hearing
the word, reading the word. Calling on him publicly, calling
on him privately. Where is Christ to be found?
That's where you'll find the believer, by any means. Paul
said, I'm not there yet, verse 12. I'm not there yet, but this
I do. I follow after, like an old faithful
dog. Every one of God's people are
named Caleb. Like an old faithful dog, it's
the thing I'm doing. I'm following after. Follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ. Following after, waiting for him to call, waiting for
a word, waiting on the Lord. What are you doing? Waiting on
the Lord, waiting on him to call. A moment, a twinkling of an eye. I'm waiting. Waiting on him to
call, like a dog. Come here, Spot. You have dogs like that, a dog
like that, don't you? Just waiting on a word from you.
Just waiting for you to round that garage and say, hey honey. How does she react to that? That's what a dog is doing. That's
what a faithful dog is doing, waiting on the Lord. Waiting
on him to call, following after. David said, Oh, when may I come
to appear before thee? Come on, David. Here I come. This one thing I do. I forget
those things that are behind, forget the past, professions,
knowledge, feelings, baptism, experience, and press. Press, he said, reaching forth.
under those things that are before, pressing toward the mark of the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Here's what
I'm trying to say in a word. How do you know someone is safe? How do you know you're safe?
Well, I was no. No. This is what Paul's doing here. Are you saved? Were you baptized? Yeah, but, I tell you, I don't
feel hardly like I was been saved since then. But this one thing I do, I forget
that and I'm pressing toward the mark. You know, when you
ask me, are you married? I don't say, yeah, I was married.
I tied the knot back in nineteen. Is that proof? A lot of people
did that. They have a piece of paper that
says such and such a date. Does that mean they're married?
Huh? A piece of paper mean you're
married? Something happened in the past, does that mean you're
married? What means they're married? They're still together. And some people are still together.
Does that mean you're married? No, if they love them now. They're married. Right? I press toward the mark. You pressin'? You pressin'? Christ said it. He said, The
kingdom of heaven is preached since John, and men press into
it. Press into it. What is a Christian? It's someone to whom salvation
is a pressing matter. That's all. It's someone to whom
salvation is a pressing matter. People come to me all the time,
say, I'm interested, I'm interested. If you're interested, do something about it. Please! Today is the day of salvation.
A young person says to me, I want to be saved. Why aren't you? That's what Barnard used to say.
Why aren't you? The fellow who came up to Barth
said, I want to serve the Lord. He said, do it. Paul said, I haven't attained.
Well, I don't feel sinful enough. Paul said, nobody feels that
way, sinful enough. You don't know how sinful you
are. Never will. It ain't based on how sinful
you are. You believe this Christ? You best lay hold on him now, or else you're not serious. Not
serious. Is that too hard, too strong?
It's just so. Anybody I've ever really seen
that really had any confidence in that God was doing a work,
I'm telling you, they heard this gospel, they embraced it, and
God, they're saved. And they continue to embrace
it from then on. Baptism, I've baptized as many
here that have left as have stayed. I'm not interested in baptizing
you. As a matter of fact, it scares me
when that happens. Things like that add to a man's condemnation. Boy, I tell you, you'd better
lay hold on it. Joe, you got an M picked out? That's a good one. On Christ
the solid rock I stand. We stand in Him. We can do no other. All right,
let's stand. First and the second stanza.
First and the second. My hope is lived on, nothing
less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I heard a thrush tell sweetest praise, Thy holy name
on Jesus' face. On Christ the Son in horror stands, all over the ground, He's taking flesh from
all over the ground. I. The weather ground is making
sand Thank you for listening. That was a perfect song, Joe.