I was at a grace conference,
never had heard it before, and just hearing it now again, it
still rings so sweet and so true. We who believe are only sinners
saved by grace. What a wonderful song. It just
exalts the grace of God in Christ. Turn, if you would, open your
Bibles to Philippians chapter 3. Today's message is called
Paul's Seven Desires, or it could just be called Seven Desires
of Paul. He had many other desires, probably, from Scripture-based,
but these are seven desires of Paul that we look at through
Scripture, and I think that we see that these are our desires,
too, we who believe. And all these desires are centered
around Christ. They're all centered around Christ.
It's not surprising that they're centered around Christ, because
for Paul, all he wanted to do was preach Christ. That was his
object. He says, we preach Christ crucified
and not ourselves. He proclaimed Christ. And I know
it's so for us, too, and I imagine it was so for Paul. The more
we learn of Christ, what happens? the more we desire to learn of
Christ. We want to learn more and more and more about Jesus,
don't we? We do. We just desire to know
about Him. And we know that we can't learn
unless He illuminates the Scriptures and reveals Christ to us, the
Holy Spirit. So that's our prayer, too, even
when we're reading Scriptures. Please, Lord, hope the Holy Spirit
would illuminate the Scriptures, because we know He won't speak
of Himself. He'll point us to Christ. That's
what Scripture declares. And so we who believe have much,
much more than we ever deserve in Christ. Think of that. We have much, much more than
we ever deserve in him. Because we know from Ephesians,
all spiritual blessings are in Christ. And we saw this morning
that all the fulfillment of the Old Testament types and sacrifices
are in Christ. He's grace and truth. He's everything
to the believer. And we have all these spiritual
blessings, more than we ever deserve it, but yet we're still
needy. Aren't we? We're still needy. We need strength
for every day. I do. I do. I need new strength. I need grace
every day. Strength every day to make it
through the various situations that pop up in my life. And I
always have to remind myself that when things pop up in my
life, they never caught God by surprise. They sure catch me
by surprise, but they never catch Him by surprise, don't they?
No. Never. And so we're needy. We're needy creatures. We really
are. I'd like us to consider today
in Philippians seven things that Paul desired. And again, they're
all centered around Christ. And may we who believe learn
from these these desires that Paul had. And I think that we
see that there are desires, too. They're all named in this epistle
to the In the epistle to the Philippians,
and Lord willing, if the Holy Spirit will be pleased to teach
us, we'll learn from these. Now let us, as we look at these,
compare our desires with his. And may the Holy Spirit bless
our brief study on this subject. Now the first of Paul's desires
I'd like us to look at is found in chapter 3, verse 10 of Philippians. Paul desires to know Christ. Look at Philippians 3.10, "...that
I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death." Now Christ had appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. Christ had revealed himself to
Paul. And Christ was the one that Paul constantly preached.
And Christ was the object of his trust, the subject of his
ministry, and Christ was the joy of his heart. But he knew
that there was much in Christ that he was not acquainted with.
He knew, but in part. And that's how we know here.
We only know in part. We see through a glass darkly.
We only know what the Holy Spirit reveals to us and we rejoice
when we're reading the scripture and Christ is revealed to us
and we never saw him there before. And it just fills our hearts
full of joy. So Paul knew in part, but he
desired to know more of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, to
know more of his person, to know more of the riches of his grace.
To know more of the magnificence of His Word. To know more of
the excellency of His natures. And to know more of the majesty
of His kingdoms. Everything about Christ interested
Paul. He desired to know more, that
I may know Him. Creation was good, but to him
grace was better and Christ was best of all. He was never weary of thinking
of Christ or speaking of Christ or learning of Christ, right?
That was his desire. And we see that through his letters,
don't we? We see that. And do we not see that in ourselves,
too? Now, I know we're sinners and I know we we don't always
think of Christ. I know that. But for the believer,
he is the object of our faith and we do desire to know more
about him. And desire is often the effect
of knowledge. The more we learn, the more we
want to learn. It often happens that way. And it's so when God
the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to the sinner. And we're saved
sinners now, but we desire to learn more and more about Christ,
more about Him. That's why we come, to gather
together, to hear the proclamation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, praying that God, the Holy Spirit, would give us strength
and grace through the preaching of His Word to make it through
the next week. But we also come here to learn about Christ, don't
we? To learn more about Him. So desire is often the effect
of knowledge, and it is the very soul of prayer. And as we think
upon He who is the lover of our soul, we cry out to Him, don't
we? The more we learn about Him from scriptures, the more we
know Him, the more we cry out to Him. Because He continuously
is teaching us that He is the all-sufficient Savior, that He
is the King of the universe, that He is the Sovereign God.
And we know we can cry out to Him about everything. Nothing's
too small to bring to the Lord. And the more he reveals himself,
the more we want, the more we want to learn about. And again. We have much more than we ever
deserve in Christ. So, Paul, he he preached Christ
constantly. And he desired to know him. An
apostle from the from first to last, after his conversion, made
Christ the whole of his salvation, right? He depended upon Christ
for all his salvation. We saw that when Brother Tim
read the Scriptures. He counted his whole life and his done. His supposed works of righteousness
which he'd done, he counted them as nothing. Oh, and he constantly was focused
upon Christ. In his ministry, in all his labors,
What did He do? He exalted Christ. He exalted
Christ. In His preaching, Christ humbled
the sinner as God the Holy Spirit moved upon sinners. Because salvation
is of the Lord. In His preaching, He held up
the Lord Jesus Christ. Held Him up as Jehovah's one
salvation. There's only hope in Christ.
There's only hope in Him. Now how is it with you and me?
Do we desire this too? Do we desire to know Him more?
Of course we do. We desire to know Him. We desire
to know more of the Lord Jesus Christ, praying again that the
Holy Spirit would make Him known more to us. We desire to grow
and to learn about Christ and His righteousness. So let us
ponder the preciousness of this desire of Paul to know him, to
trust him, to be hidden away in him, a member of his body. As it were, losing ourself in
him. You ever get lost yourself in something you're doing? That's what we desire with Christ,
just to lose ourselves in him. Let everything else just fade
away. And that's what we do when we come here, don't we? This
is an oasis for us. Let everything else just fade
away and focus upon Christ Jesus, our Lord, to know Him, to know
Him. Look at verse 8 of chapter 3.
The second thing is that I may win Christ. Paul desired to win Christ. 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 that I may
win Christ. Paul's not speaking here of an
interest in Christ because he's already born again. He already
had that. That he might gain him. Several commentators said
that he might gain him and be assured of an interest in him.
That he might enjoy communion with him. The apostle desires
that he may gain, and it ties in with the first point, a larger
knowledge of Christ. And he cared not what pains it
took for him to gain that, to win that. What expenses it cost,
or what loss he sustained, because he esteemed Christ more excellent
than all other things. That I may win. He desired to know more about
Christ. And we saw that again in verse
10 of this chapter. And what we have gained in Christ
makes us willing to part with all other things, doesn't it? That we may win Him. That we
may have a justifying righteousness. And we have that. That we have
acceptance with God. Peace, pardon, life, grace, and
glory. All in Christ. In Christ alone. And we continue to learn more
and more about Him. And we desire to be with Him. As you grow and learn about Christ,
don't you desire to be with Him? That'll be one of the points
we'll look at later. So think of this, the unwilling
one, Paul, has been made willing. And now Christ is everything
to him. He's everything to him. Was Christ
to be run for, then he would run. Was Christ to be wrestled
for, then he would wrestle. Were there any means by which
Christ could be obtained, and again, this is the gaining, this
is to be assured of an interest in him, he's already born again.
Were there any means by which Christ could be obtained, however
painful, however costly, however difficult, then Paul would suffer
through that. He desired to know Christ more
and more. Did he crucify the old man and mortify the flesh
and bring his body into subjection
to Christ? Yes. Why? That he might win Christ. He might win Christ. Did he suffer
the loss of all things? Yes, we saw that, didn't we?
We saw that. Did he count them but dung and
dross? Yes. Why? It was that he might win Christ. Now think of this. In his past,
he had a very opportunity of advancement, and he's looking
back upon his old life. He's looking back upon his old
life, and he was a fine scholar. He was a fine scholar. In the
eyes of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, boy, he was moving
up. And he may have reached, some
commentators say, he may have reached the pinnacle. He may
have eventually became the high priest, no one knows, but he
was definitely moving up in the religious circles. But he thought nothing of all
that. After the Lord saved him, he thought nothing of all that. He counted it but dung and grass. And he declared this was his
ambition, that I may win Christ. What a change had been wrought
in Paul. He's a new creature in Christ. He has new desires
now. And where do they find their centers? Where does Paul's new
desire find their center? In Christ. And in Christ alone. Is it so with you? It's so with
us, isn't it? It is. It's a miracle of grace. It's a miracle of grace. Oh my. Did He subject Himself to stripes
and imprisonment and hunger and cold and nakedness in a martyr's
death? It was that He might win Christ.
To possess Christ and to know more about Him was His ruling
desire. Paul has been taught by the Holy
Spirit of God that to be righteous by faith is infinitely better
than all the righteousness that supposedly come by works. Men try to weave their own code
of righteousness by their works, by traditions, by ceremonies,
and they're all filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord. And Paul
knew that the righteousness of Christ was far superior He knew
because he lived that life of trying to gain merit and favor
with God by his works. Oh, may this be our object to
win Christ. To win Christ. To heaven magnified
in our life, which is the next turn, if you would, to Philippians
chapter 1. And we see Paul's, the third of Paul's desire is
to magnify Christ. to magnify Christ. Look at Philippians
1, verses 20 and 21. According to my earnest expectation
and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with
all boldness as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body. Paul desired to magnify Christ,
beloved. Whether it be by life or by death,
for me to live is Christ and And to die is gain. Now Paul
did not desire personal glory. He wasn't going around to all
these churches trying to get a following. Not at all. He was preaching Christ. He wanted
Christ to be magnified in his life. He wanted Christ to be
magnified in his preaching. He wanted Christ to be magnified
and everything. That's why we say, Lord, you
will receive all the glory, honor and praise. The desire of this
preacher and I know of other grace preachers is that God would
be magnified, that he would be glorified, that you would see
him through the preaching of his word. If my voice is the
only voice you hear, you won't learn and you won't be taught.
But all of the Holy Spirit speaks to you through his word. and
magnifies the Word and illuminates the Scriptures and points you
to Christ. Oh my, my. The preacher's desire is to magnify
Christ. If he wrote, if Paul wrote, he
wrote of Christ. When Paul spoke, he spoke of
Christ. He wanted Christ to be magnified. If he suffered, and
he did many times, didn't he? He suffered for Christ. He suffered
that Christ will be magnified if he sorrowed. It was because. If he saw it was because professors
dishonored Christ. Christ was more precious to him
than all things in heaven and earth. And he would live if he could
honor Christ and he would die for him. We see that in our text,
whether it be by life or by death. For me to live is Christ and
to die is gain. One commentator said he was inflamed
with the love of Christ and his love towards him. He was so swept
away with the love of Christ and that that love was centered
to him. He was so swept away with that.
Oh, my. See, I told you his desires are
our desires. Oh, my beloved. Oh, and he was
willing to sacrifice all things for Christ. He was a vessel for
his honor. He was a vessel of Christ, a
vessel of honor. And he would go anywhere and
preach and proclaim Christ that he might magnify him. And heartily, he would say, let
the name of Paul perish. One commentator brought this
out. He said, Heartily he would say, let the name of Paul perish,
if the name of Christ be magnified. What did John the Baptist say?
He must increase, but I must decrease. He must be magnified, and I must
be amazed. That's what happens. That's what
happens. And that happens in every believer's
life. Oh, my, that God be magnified. To Paul, Christ was, in fact,
just what he wrote at Colossians. All in all. He was all to Paul in his life,
and he was all to Paul in his death. And Paul's desire is to
magnify Christ Jesus the Lord. He preached Christ, preaching
Him in the transcendent glories of His person as the Son of God,
in the riches of His grace as our mediator. In all His offices,
he preached Christ as prophet, priest, and king. He magnified
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he preached Christ particularly
in the justification and salvation of man, where he made him to
be all in all. He is all our righteousness. He is all our justification. He is all our sanctification.
Christ is all to the believer. Do you see how Paul is seeking
just to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ? He's our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why? That we may glory in God. That
we may glory in God. Oh my. And his desire, again,
was not to have a following. His desire was to glorify and
to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, in his death, and
in his preaching. And Christ was also magnified
by Paul in his life and in his conversation. which was influenced
by the grace of God in Christ. Now think, think of this, you
who are redeemed. Think of how I don't, how we
used to think, how we used to speak before the Lord saved us.
And it's a shameful thing when I look back and see how I was. And I know I still struggle with
sin even today. But my thoughts now, are on someone
who I never hardly ever even thought of. I didn't know him. My desires is to have him magnified
now, him proclaimed. One who I despised and I despised
his people at one time. Now I love them and I love him. How do you explain that? By the
new birth. You must be born again. It's
a work of God. It's a creation of God. And so
these new desires that we have come from a new life which we
have now in Christ Jesus our Lord. And now the one who I wanted
nothing to do with, now I want to magnify. Is it so with you
too? It's amazing. We want our family
members. Brother Tim praying for our family
members. Amen. We desire them. We know that
only God can reveal Christ, right? We know that, but we still desire
to have them come to Christ. Don't ever stop praying for them
until they breathe their last breath. There's hope until they
breathe their last breath. Oh my, we desire to magnify the
Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because He died for us.
He died for we who believe. In the preaching of Christ was
the very end for which Paul himself laid down his life. So not only did he magnify Christ
in his life, but he magnified Christ in his death. And, oh, may it be our desire
that we would magnify Christ, may the Holy Spirit make it so
for us and let our cry be in our prayer be, oh, let Christ
be magnified in me, by me and through me in a time of our life,
in the time of our death forever. And think of this, the Lord will
be magnified forever by the believer. We magnify him in our life now
that we're saved. We magnify him in our death,
because he's the one we're going to rest in and trust in, and
he's the one we'll be proclaiming, if we can, to our loved ones. And then we will magnify him
forever in glory. We'll praise his mighty name
forever, forever. Oh my. The fourth thing I'd like
us to look at, the fourth of Paul's desires, is found in Philippians
3, verse 9. It's to be found in Christ. Philippians
3, verse 9. And to be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. Now, Paul is not talking here
about a mere profession. He's not talking here about a
mere profession. But he's talking about one who's a possessor of
eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Therefore, in contrast
to all the things that he had once at one time when he was
a Pharisee, now he counts them all but lost for the excellency
of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. John Trapp comments
in this way. Paul's desire, therefore, is
to be found in Christ at such a time as he is sought for by
the justice of God. He desires to be found in Christ
at such a time as He is sought for by the justice of God. Now, it is there, beloved, that the
law and justice of God finds no claim on the believer. Because we are in Christ, and
Christ has satisfied the law and justice of God by His death
for His people. Paul preached salvation and no
other. Only in Christ, in Christ alone, he proclaimed salvation
and no other. The same as the apostles proclaimed
that there was no other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved. And look at the contrast found
in this verse too. And to be found in him not having
mine own righteousness. Now people in the world and people
in religion, they have their own righteousness. That's what
they're trusting in. which is of the law, but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. We never see Paul mingling the
law with the gospel. Paul had one subject, Christ. One subject, Christ, and Christ
alone. He proclaimed salvation in no
other. He said there's no salvation in any other but Christ. And
we see that He expressly taught the Galatian church that if righteousness
comes by the law, then Christ is dead and vain. Which we see
in our text here. And to be found in Him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter 2. And we tie that in. We're tying Philippians chapter
3, verse 9 with Galatians chapter 2. And I'll read Philippians
again. and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Now look
at Galatians 2, verses 15 to 21. We who are Jews by nature are
not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. Now right there, There are so
many people out there that are trying to justify themselves
by the Law. But the Scriptures declare, and
they read the same Bible we do, but God has not revealed to them
the precious truth that Christ has fulfilled the Law for His
people. Look at this. Knowing that a
man is not justified by the works of the Law. That means that a
man cannot stand in the presence of God by the works of the Law. They cannot be justified by the
works of the Law. Galatians 2.16. but by the faith
of Christ Jesus. There is how a man can be justified
before God. Faith in Christ Jesus, to be
found in Him, to be found in Christ. Even we have believed
in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ and not by the works of the law. You see, they don't
mingle together. They do not mingle together.
The law shows us our desperate need for Christ. For by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified. Now that's plain. But if well we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners. Is therefore Christ
the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again
the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live
unto God. I am crucified with Christ. When
Christ died upon the cross, we were in Him. Remember, when Adam
fell, we were in Him. When the first Adam transgressed,
we transgressed in Him. Well, I'm crucified with Christ.
When Christ died upon that cross, I was in Him. That's what the
Scripture declares right there. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. Now every believer can
look at that and go, my gosh, Christ gave himself for me, a
sinner. Look at the next verse, I do
not frustrate the grace of God for righteousness come by the
law. If righteousness comes by your doing. If righteousness comes by something
you've done. Then Christ is dead in vain. That's quite the statement. So, Paul, he preaches Christ,
he preaches. Salvation wholly by the blood
of the lamb and justification solely in In the righteousness
of Christ. This is why Paul desired to be
found in Christ. Because there is no salvation
outside of Christ. No salvation outside of Christ.
Only condemnation. And Paul desired to be found
in Christ. And desired others to be found
in Christ. Think of this. To be found in
Christ is just as Noah was in the ark, safe from God's wrath. Remember, there's the shadow, and Christ is the fulfillment.
All who were in the ark were what? Safe from the wrath of
God. All outside the ark perished.
All who are in Christ are safe from the wrath of God, to be
found in Him. Oh my! Oh my! And he knows that we are only
accepted by God in Christ. Now think of this, another picture.
A manslayer accidentally killed someone. And he's fleeing to
that city of refugees, trying to get there. There are signposts
all over and he's trying to run there as fast as he can. And
behind him is the avenger of blood, chasing after him. Oh,
and the manslayer, he reaches the city of refuge. And he's
inside the city of refuge. And the avenger of blood cannot
touch him. Christ is our city of refuge. The picture and type and the
fulfillment in Christ. Oh, to be found in Christ and
to be found in Christ is to be safe in the city of refuge. Christ, who is our city of refuge?
What a what a savior. Oh. And Paul knows if he's to
be justified, it is only by the righteousness of Christ, the
one who died, the just one, the perfect one, the sinless one,
for sinners, for unjust sinners, like me. And Paul, one commentator said
this, and I had to bring this out, he said, Paul, he would
have Paul to be nothing, but Christ to be all. Paul to be
nothing, and Christ to be all. Now here are some things found
in Christ. In Christ you will find God as
your father. In Christ, you will meet all
the saints as your brethren. And that's not just the saints
we gather with here. That's all the saints, all the
elect of all the ages, all the blood washed sinners. Are our brothers and sisters
in Christ. In Christ, To be found in Christ, all the sins of the believer
are forgiven. Now think of that. There is not one that wasn't
paid for. They're all forgiven. In Christ, death has no sting.
And the grave has no tears. We simply lay down. Brother Donny Bell called me
about three minutes after Sister Mary died. And he said, well, she's woke
up in glory. She's left the land of the dead
and is now in the land of the living. Oh, to be found in Christ. To
be found in Christ. In Christ the law has no claims
upon the believer. In Christ the law has no claims
upon the believer, because Christ has satisfied the law of God
in the believer's place. He is the complete, complete
substitute. He has satisfied everything that
God required for you and I, we who believe. And that's why Paul
wrote and said, we are complete in Christ. My, in Christ there's no threatenings
in God's Word against you. And in Christ all the promises
are complete for you. And this is the believer standing.
We are in Christ. This is true Christianity. This
is salvation to be in Christ. It's not to be partially in Christ
and partially in the law or partially in the ordinances or partially
in the church. But it's to be saved wholly by
Christ and Christ alone to be in Christ, to be in Christ and
how glorious to be in Christ. We cry out with Paul about being
found in Christ and this is our desire that I may be found in
him not having not having the righteousness of my own that
comes from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the
righteous that comes from God and is by faith. The fifth of
Paul's desires I'd like us to look at is found in chapter 3
verse 10 to be conformed to Christ that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto his death Paul's desire to know Christ, to win
Christ, to gain more knowledge of Christ, and to magnify Christ,
and to be found in Christ. And here he desires to be like
Christ. He desires to be like Christ. May God give us grace
to never take our eyes off Christ, and may Christ be our all-consuming
object. My, the power of Christ's resurrection
declares that I am justified. The power of Christ's resurrection
gives me spiritual life. The power of Christ's resurrection
guarantees my resurrection. And we want and desire to live
every day walking in the knowledge of the power of His resurrection,
don't we? The truth of this. And Paul desired
that in walking with Christ in the newness of life, he wanted
the power of His resurrection to dominate, control and direct
his life in all things. and that he might know that the
sufferings of what he had to endure were nothing compared
to what Christ endured to purchase his soul. He only wanted the glory in the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the death of our perfect
substitute. Galatians 6 says this, but God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.
We ought to just glory in Christ. And Paul desired to be consecrated
to the glory of God and to be submissive to the will of God
in his life. To be motivated by nothing but
the love of God for his people. And we see here Paul abandoning
his own righteousness. We've seen that in the text we've
looked at. He abandons his own righteousness. Wholly trusting
in Christ and Christ alone. And the power of grace is on
display when God saves a man and transforms him and turns
him into a trophy. of his grace. God's power is
on display and God's grace and mercy is on full display when
he does this. What a Savior. What a Redeemer. Think of this. What a wonderful
transformation we have before us. And how unlike Saul of Tarsus's
Paul, Saul of Tarsus the Pharisee was the persecutor of the church.
The blasphemer of the Nazarene. He went about seeking to destroy
the way. Blaspheming in the name of our
God. And we, I know I did that one time too. To my shame. And once he saw no beauty in
Christ. But now he sees nothing but beauty. He's been transformed by grace,
beloved. He's been transformed by the
grace of God in Christ. Once he could not bear the mention
of the name of Christ, now it is the name above all names to
him. Oh, the transformation of the
grace of God in a believer. Once he was exceedingly mad against
his people, against Christ's people, and now his heartfelt
abiding cry is, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings. He wants to become like him in
his death. The sixth desire I'd like us
to look at is found in chapter 1, again, verse 23. And sixthly,
Paul desires to be with Christ. Now, I know this is our desire
as believers, too. We desire to be with our King,
to be in His presence. Paul desired to be with the Lord.
He loved God's people, and he loved to proclaim his Savior,
but he desired to be with Christ, which he here proclaims is far
better. Philippians 1.23, For I am a
strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ,
which is far better. He loved the church universal,
and he was blessed by preaching Christ and by studying and by
his labors for the Lord. He learned and grew, and his
desires for Christ grew with his learning. And his heart,
we see, is fixed upon the Lord. And He desires to be with the
Lord. He desires to be with Christ. Forever. He desires to be in Christ's
presence. He desires to be in the presence
of He who has redeemed His soul. He who purchased His soul with
His own precious blood. And He penned by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit We are confident, I say, and willing rather to
be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. He
desired to be absent from the body and to be present with the
Lord. Therefore, he was willing to
lay down his life, to suffer loss, knowing that
when he departed this world, he'd be with the Lord. He'd be
with the Lord. To be with Christ to him was
far better than this world and all its comforts and all its
things. To be with the Lord was what
he desired. To be with Christ was far better, far better than
the world with all its privileges and all its pleasures. To be
with Christ is what Paul desired. And nothing could be compared
with being with Christ. And remember, it seems like a
long time when we're here, but it's just a vapor. Our life is
just a vapor. Just a vapor. And think of this. Paul's desire is now realized. It's now realized. And we desire what he desires.
And one day, our desire will be realized too. We who believe
will be in the presence of our great God and King in glory,
which is far better, which is far better. The seventh and last
desire which we will look at is found in chapter 1 verse 6,
to rejoice in the day of Christ. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6,
being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Paul was constantly looking forward to Christ's second coming and
pointing believers to it. He expected great things then
and therefore he longed for it and rejoiced in anticipation
of it and prepared to enter into all its glories and joys. The
day of Christ is that day specially set apart for his glory. when
He will appear in His own glory. The day of Jesus Christ is the
day when He shall reveal Himself as He is. On that day His greatness will
be disclosed, will be revealed. And He will put down every rival
power And He will erect His throne
as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's already King of Kings
and Lord of Lords, but it will be fully manifest on that great
day. And Jesus is coming to be glorified
in the saints. In Colossians 3, 4 it says, When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory. So we have looked at seven of
Paul's desires today. In no doubt he had others. He
had others. But now he knows not in part.
Now he's in the presence of the Lord. And he's no longer laboring
and striving. But now he's at rest. He's at
rest. With his Lord in glory. With
our Lord in glory. Christ is his. highest and in
the fullest and in the most glorious sense of the term. And if you
know, brethren, and we all know, brethren, who have passed to
the other side. Boy. They are seeing the king
rejoicing. Seeing him in the fullest and
the highest sense. Paul has magnified Christ in
his body, both in life and death, and now he magnifies Christ in
glory. And so do our brothers and sisters
who have went on before us. They are magnifying Christ in
a way that they never could have before. And they are rejoicing
around the throne of our great God and King. He is found in Christ in death.
Death found him in Christ, and now He's in glory forever in
the presence of the King. His desires have been fulfilled.
His desires have been fulfilled. And He is with Christ forever.
He's been conformed to His image. And He's in the presence of Christ
forever. And Christ is all to the believer.
We have seen that Paul begins with Christ and goes on with
Christ and ends with Christ. Christ was Alpha, the beginning
letter in the Greek alphabet. And Christ is Omega for Paul,
the ending letter in the Greek alphabet. And He's everything
in between. He's all to Paul. He's everything
to him. The grace of Christ converted
him and the preaching of Christ was his calling. And it was the
power of Christ which sustained him. And it was Christ who has
now glorified him. It's all Him. It's all Him. His eyes by faith after His conversion
were fixed upon Christ, His Redeemer, His Savior and His Lord. It's
all in all and now His faith has become sight and He beholds
Christ in glory. Is Christ our Alpha and Omega?
Is Christ our first and last? Is Christ and Christ alone the
object of our faith? Is He our all in all? Oh, if
I if he's not that to you, I pray that he would grant you faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to rest in Christ, to
trust him as your all in all. And if Christ is all these things
to us. And if you would, the Colossians,
chapter two, verse six and seven, we're closed with these. If Christ
is all these things to us, then we can say with the hymn writer,
it is well with my soul, can't we? We can say that. If Christ
is everything to us, if He's our all in all, we can say confidently,
not in anything in us, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. And may God give us grace to
walk in Him with thanksgiving. Look at Colossians 2, verses
6 and 7. as he have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord so walkie in him rooted and built up in
him in establishing the faith as you've been taught a bounty
therein with thanksgiving all may we who believe glorify the
Lord Jesus Christ more and more every day knowing knowing that
for me to live is Christ and to die his grace is heavenly
father we come before thee knowing that these desires that
Paul had are the desires of we who believe, and knowing that
there was a time when we never had any of these desires at all.
You were not in our thoughts, except when we were in trouble. But oh Lord, the marvels of the
of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, the marvels of the rebirth
of being born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And you have given
us a new heart, which now hungers and thirsts after righteousness,
and which has Christ as the object of our faith. And our eyes, O
Lord, are set upon Thee. Help us, Lord. Give us grace
and strength to make it through each week. and the trials and
tribulations which come our way. And one day, we know soon, we
will see Thee face to face. In Jesus' name, amen.