Apprehended of Christ

Are we bad or something? You're putting this on her? No, you do feel it a little. Do you want me to have to stop? Did the girls go down to Tennessee? We're going to go up to that place that's called the rise. We're going to go up so we can get a little body view of what it's going to look like.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to get a good shot of it. Yeah, so. I'll take it off. Probably too late. I don't know if the heat too. We met John. Matt, that has all the snakes. Matt, yeah. That was a joke. Oh, goodness. Matt, do you want to help Paul with those? Hey. How are you, Greg? Good. How are you doing? Good. Good. Hey, you. Hey. How are you? Good. Good. That's OK. I just need you to face. Hey, how are you? Good, how are you? Good. Did you have a good birthday?

Yeah, I went to the fireworks last night, and I'm like, wow, what a great thing to do. It's almost like a Berkeley fireworks. Nice. Yeah, it was good, yeah. It's really fun to do that without, you know, we walk through their little area where they have their picnic thing or whatever. Street fair. I haven't been to that for years. So, it was real nice. Nice to get out, away from home.

How's it off today? It's okay. I'm a little tired. How about you? I'm okay. I need you here. I need you to remind me. We'll get our food and our water. We're going to talk about so many events in Scripture. How's our girl doing? She, I think because last week in her novels that we watched, one of her cancer cases happened. What's the D case? What is it? That's diabetic ketoacidosis. One that attacks the metabolism, gets screwed up, and she gets cancer cases from her diabetes.

Yeah, because my idea is screws would come around us. So then the screws would come through us. So I think it's all for us. So she got done last night. I only did one when she got done. And I had a colleague, and she was one of the guys, and she was the guy. She's not a person. I just told her. She tried to be me. So she laid down, and she came out that night, and we were on the floor. And she'd drive him back, which really hurts. And so, and she's done this before, and I don't know where it is, and then she got back in the hospital, and, you know.

Well, they can't do anything for it. There's nothing they can do. And then, sometimes, it's just a little bit bad. th th I know, but it's hard for me because I feel like I'm constantly being told how to approach things and I just, I miss people. We're all just going to face the light. We're all just going to face the light. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. She looks like she's in trouble. And sometimes it's just not. Hi, Joe. Hi, Joe. Hi, Joe. Hi, Joe. Hi, Joe. I said, you don't understand. And I know I'm a god and I think differently. But I'm like, you don't understand me. This is, you have to go all the way. to see if it works. I said, like, you're not going to do that. It's not going to work.

I was going to get Max some special things to smoke to help him. He's not going to stop smoking. So I was like, should I spend $100 to help him, that he doesn't want to use? Because now you can call Jack in and ask him if he could smoke to get him to burn.

And then, all of a sudden, There is a chocolate that doesn't have eggs in it. Oh, it doesn't have eggs in it? I really think that she tried to move it free. Like, I don't know. But now, what's in that stuff? We learned so much from her. Yeah, what's in that stuff? But now, we should, that hasn't been, wait, when we start, now that it's over, like, uh, I don't know. I just don't get it.

Every time, every time I want him to die, which one? Oh, man. Everything Joe is saying, Joe is going to say something, oh my gosh, and you talk to someone about it. It's, it blows. Sometimes it can, but it's still a struggle. Well, mine used to do that stuff. I used to get back pains on my back. That was so bad. That was gallbladder. Um, yeah. How about, how about the other two boys? That seems, I guess, the friend of mine.

If I get too dry, if I get something that's too dry and small, it'll stay there for a while. I can feel things starting. Start to boil up. Oh, and sometimes it comes all the way up, and I've got to throw up the whole thing. And then I'm OK. Then I'm OK. If it stays down, it takes a while for it to get all discolored. Then it'll fine figure it out. Fine figure it out.

Yeah, I know. Don't you get tired of being a mom? Hey, that's why Jackie said, you were the guy first that fixed Matt. He won't know how to do a damn thing. And I said, hey, I know. And I said, but poor Kieran. Kieran's going to be stuck with him. Poor Kieran. You wouldn't be stuck with him. I wouldn't know exactly who that was. No, no. It's a totally different person. Yeah, I know. No, and your mom put up with it. Yeah, it's definitely a sad issue. Are you going to go to linked lines? There is a small link there. And that's a nice boat ride, too. You're not too far from Harrisburg. You know, because I like to navigate the map.

I don't know right from left, and I know which way is straight, and I know how to get there. And then I've got to try and tell him right away, because he has no idea which way I'm going. And if he's going to jump in there, I might be able to get to him. No way.

I do, because I said to everybody, when I do find a tablet or even a computer, you gotta listen. take it and go over here and go over there, because I can do that. But I want to know, really, I want to know how far away we were in Chesapeake from St. Michael's. I want to know where Ocean City is compared to here. I want to know how far it is close to or without Washington, D.C. or Los Angeles.

I wanted to be rigid, because I'm, yeah, come on. I forgot I had my work shirt on. I put it on. It was hard. It was. No, I don't. I'm getting old. We were getting old. We were getting old. I'm getting old. I'm getting old. Oh, hey. So, when I got home, I put the rest of the candy cane in my black container, my tea bag, and I put it over there. So, it's not exactly breakfast. It's totally routine. So, you know, the kids don't have to go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There you go.

I have the option. I can give you my schedule, but the problem is, you might have to follow the schedule. People have got to be awake at work. That's why I'm trying to set up a system. I'm trying to get people to go to work. I'm trying to push it out. Thank you. I can't do anything.

I mean, you might as well expect to be able to get out of it. but now we're doing the same handspring with Ron and Abel. So, I think that's what we've got to do. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Yes, of course, we did the job effectively. Half a million there, half a million there. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. Yeah, I'm already, it's like every now and then, you know, and it's training. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see what happens. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Morning, everyone.

Let's open this service with hymn number 186, The Church as One Foundation, and let's stand together. The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is His new creation by water and the Word. From heaven He came and sought her holy bride with his own blood he bought her and for her life he died. Elect from every nation, yet one o'er all the earth, her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth, one holy Bar takes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued. Mid toil and tribulation and through mold of their war. She waits the consummation of peace forevermore. Till with the vision glorious, their longing eyes are blessed, and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union with God the three-in-one. mystic, sweet communion with those whose rest is won. O happy ones and holy, Lord, give us grace that we, like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee. Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three.

Paul is continuing to communicate the irrelevance of the works of the flesh as part or evidence of salvation, whether it be in thought, Whether it be an deed, whether it be an action, no matter what it is, if it's our flesh doing it as part or evidence of our salvation, it's irrelevant.

It doesn't accomplish anything. As a matter of fact, he says he counted it loss, not gain. And he says it's but dung, but dung, that I might win Christ. And what did he say? To be found in him. Not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of God by faith. The mentality of those that have confidence in the flesh is the natural confidence that men have by nature. Everything in our nature says what we do can earn favor or what we do not do can cause the Lord to show appreciation to us or to glory over us.

And that's not true. It's just not true. Paul, as we go through these books, as we have been here in Philippians, we're building on what he has already stated. Nothing that we do can earn favor with God. Nothing that we do can cause God to notice us sitting a little higher than our peers.

And if you notice, in all false religion, that's how the false gospel works, is it's always about what you do that sets you apart from those around you. What you do and what you do not do to set you apart or set me apart from those around us. Well, because I don't do this, I'm better than you are. Is that not? It may not be the exact message that's stated, but that's the underlining message that's stated. Well, because I've done this and because I've done that and because I don't do this anymore or that anymore, I sit a little higher in God's eyes than you do. That's not true. That's not true. God is no respecter of person. God is no respecter of person in any way.

If he spared not his own son, whenever the Lord laid the iniquity of us all upon him, how shall we escape? How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? How am I going to say, okay, Lord, I've done all these wonderful works in your name. I've done this and I've done that. I've even cast out demons. You realize that Judas, the son of perdition, the one that was born literally to betray Christ, the one that had no hope of salvation whatsoever, he was raised up for the purpose of betraying Christ. He was raised up to be left to himself. That was his purpose, the same as Pharaoh. He cast out demons.

Do we see that? I don't have hope in what I do then, do you? No, because it's all but dung. It's all but loss. It's all, it's not gain. That's what Paul's telling us here. We don't hope in our choice. Now the hope of the elect isn't a choice, but we don't hope in our choice. We don't hope in our works. Yet the hope of the elect is in works.

We don't hope in our service or our sacrifice, yet our hope is in service and in sacrifice. It is the choice of God. It is the works of God, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that is finished. And it is the service and sacrifice to God that the Lord Jesus Christ did. There's our hope. That's what Paul's addressing here. That's what Paul's declaring here.

Not to look at self. Because every time we look at self, well, to put it bluntly, we're wrong. We're wrong. Let's read our text, Philippians 3, verse 8 through 14. Yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Now we could stop right there, and I think it's very important that we do just for a moment and really soak in what he's saying.

I count all things but loss. Why? For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. So the knowledge of Christ and its excellence that's given of God freely by his grace, because of that, I count everything else but loss. Everything else but loss. Paul even says, for what things, the verse before that, verse seven, for what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. See, the gospel completely abases man. 100%. It is a total abasement. It's a total cutting away of the flesh. It's a total where we stand and say, in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. In me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

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 done that I may win Christ 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, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering and being made conformable unto his death.

If by any means I might attain into the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and 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. I've titled this message, Apprehended of Christ. Apprehended of Christ.

Simply put, everything in false religion is about how you and I apprehend Christ. But the declaration I want to say this morning is that we cannot apprehend Christ. We can't have, Paul just said, to apprehend that which has apprehended me. He's like, I haven't apprehended anything, but it's him that apprehended me. Boy, that's a good hope. Do you know that?

Because if it's up to me to lay hold of Christ or to arrive at laying hold of Christ, I have no hope in this flesh to do so. Where are we going to go to apprehend him? Where would we go? Where are we gonna find him? He's not lost, we are. He's gonna have to find me. He's gonna apprehend me. He's gonna have to lay a hold of me. I saw a shirt, and right now it's 4th of July coming up this following week, as everyone knows, and it said, America by birth, American by birth, Christian by choice.

And I forget the last part, but those two are the only ones I want to focus on anyway, so that's fine. American by birth, Christian by choice. What they meant by that was is that their choice made them a Christian. What they don't understand is they didn't have any part in the second as just as much as they did the first one. We didn't choose to be born in America. We didn't choose to be born at all, did we? And so it is with spiritual things, spiritual life. We didn't choose to be born again.

Nicodemus said, how can a man, when he is old, enter into his mother's womb a second time and be born? The Lord said, that which is of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Born of the Spirit, the Spirit of God. Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again. The Lord's the one that has to do the birthing. He's the one that has to cause life to be given. Everything done in the flesh, if it's Christian by choice, my choice, it has no eternal value.

How do we know that? Well, the Lord told in several places, he made statements such as this, but in one place in particular, he says, lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven where thieves do not break through and steal and moths do not corrupt. For where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also. What is he saying? Is he saying do good works in order to have a lot of treasure in heaven? No, the sum and substance of that very statement is concluded when he says, for where your heart is, there shall your treasure be also. If my heart is in material things, if my heart is in saying, look to me, look at what I've done, look at what I'm doing, I have no treasure in heaven. Why?

Because heaven is not just a place, it's a person. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Without him, there is no heaven. He is the mark that Paul talks about here. I press towards the mark. He is the prize of the Lord's people. He is the end goal. He is our hope. He is our only assurance of salvation. He's our only hope of eternal life. So we press towards him.

How? We look to Christ by faith he's given. We look to him alone. We look not to self. We're made to value the work of Christ alone. We're made to glory in the blood whereby righteousness was achieved alone. We don't look at our works. We don't look at what we do. We look to his finished work.

Everything that is our treasure is clearly declared and found in one source. And it's the substance of the treasure that's precious, because it's the source also, but it's the Lord Jesus Christ, everything about it. Everything about our hope and our end is found in him alone.

Either we have a righteousness, based upon us in some way, shape or form. And that's what I want to be very clear about this morning. Everyone's sitting here and even myself standing here. Either we have a righteousness in ourself, something that we're looking to, something that we've done, something that we're not doing. Something that we're going to present to God, that we think's gonna earn us favor with God. It's called self-righteousness. It's a covenant that we've made of works with God at that point.

If we have that, either we have that one or we have the righteousness of God, which is found in one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's freely bestowed by grace. The name of our church is Ole Grace Church. We named it Ole because that's where the location is. We preach grace alone.

For by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourself It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast we preach Christ alone that salvation is of the Lord This is our hope is that God would choose to save me and that God would choose to save you by his amazing infinite grace Look at verse 8 Yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.

Can you say that? Can I say that? I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. What does he mean all things? Everything that I have ever done in myself, I count but loss. Why? Because when you see his excellency, when you see his sovereignty, when we see his power, when we see his isness, he told Moses, I am that I am. When we see how excellent he is, we see that we're undone. I'm the man of unclean lips. I have sinned against the Lord. Behold, I am vile. I've come forth from my mother's womb speaking lies.

I was conceived in sin, shaping an iniquity, David said. Not just that I've committed little sins here and there and that I can fix it by good deeds or maybe being nice to other people. We should certainly strive to do good things and be nice to others, but not as any part of our salvation and certainly not as evidence of our salvation. Ask people in false religion, how do you know you're saved? And they'll begin by saying, I have. That's the problem. It points to self. Paul's saying, I have counted. I count all things but loss. Not that I have done something, but as I look and see what I've done, it's all but loss. It's all 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 done that I may win Christ. And here's our hope to be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. that I may know him. We heard that last Sunday, didn't we? Oh, that I may know him, not about him, not stories pertaining to him, not only his characteristics, not just his, but I want to know him personally. I want to know him. and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Now he says something interesting in verse 12, and we're gonna get to that in a minute, but first, I want us to notice that, and it's important that I'm staying on this as long as I have, but everything that he has done, he's counting but loss. But then he puts another exclamation point on it. He's putting the hatchet to the base of the idea that anything that I've done is gonna count anything before God as part of my salvation or as part of righteousness. It's not. He's saying not only do I count on but lost, but I count on but done. Count on but filth. Count on but nothing. Useless. Useless.

Why? Because I wanna be found in Christ. not having my own righteousness, which is of the law. Did you know that if we could keep the law, now think about this, if you and I could keep the law, and I mean really keep the law, if we could really keep the law indeed, we could never, ever, ever keep it in heart. Did you know that? Why? Because our heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. The interesting part is we can't even keep it indeed, but if we could, Paul's saying here, he even says to us in this chapter, as touching the law, I was blameless.

I kept the law. I was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Benjamin. I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. He's like, you want to give your pedigree and what all you've done? Look at what I've done. He said, and it's all loss. Didn't do me any good. Because everything I was doing was pointing to myself and saying, God, notice me. I am something different than everybody else. I am something special. I have done this and done this. And the Lord said, I'm not looking to your covenant. I'm not looking to your works. The Lord's only pleased with one. He said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

Hear him. Our problem is we hear ourself, don't we? We hear this evil heart that we have that's deceitful. And his heart says, well, I've done good things to these people. I try to be as nice and kind to people as I can. And men really believe they're going to stand before God. And the Lord is going to say that he is pleased with them because of their efforts.

And it's not true. It's not true. He's only pleased with one, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, why did Paul count all of this but done? Because they didn't glorify God. They glorified Paul. It's that simple. If my works glorify myself, they're not glorifying the Lord, they're not honoring the Lord, they're glorifying me. They pointed to Paul, as we looked at last week. And our flesh gladly believes this lie. Our flesh really thinks, okay, man, I've really done something good. I really done something special. I did something nobody else did.

A lot of people believe in the missionary work that they do, or the service they do to their community. Right now we have an individual church that's going around and they are doing things for businesses, and they're calling it a mission work. And they're saying that it's done in the name of Jesus and that it's God honoring, and it's not. Because it says, look at me, look at me, look at what I've done. One of the guys told me, he's like, yeah, I've been on so many mission trips and it's.

Brethren, that is not what what does our Lord say, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God into salvation, our responsibility is to declare the gospel. If we choose to help one another with the works of our hands, so be it. There's nothing wrong with that at all. but there's something, I will use this word, there's something damning to the soul about doing good works with the hands as part or evidence of our salvation. Paul said it this way, I am crucified with Christ.

What does that mean? It means I died with him. I died to myself. I died to my ideals and my ideas. I died to my works. I've died to my everything that I've ever done. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2.20. It means we've died to self in Christ. We look not on the temporal any longer. We look on the eternal.

When we got this building, there was a lot of work that needed to be done. And I loved how everybody pitched in. Now I could not tell you who did what. I can tell you that Mac painted, because that's what he does. But I can't tell you everything that everybody did, because the point is, is nobody was keeping tallies on who was doing what. We got together. We did what we did. But in no part was it part of our salvation. And not to pick on Mac, but I guess I can. He didn't say, look at how good of a job I painted that. He's like, I know. I know that that counted for something.

Why did we do it? Why did we do it? Because, well, first of all, it needed to be done. Second of all, this is the place of worship the Lord's given us, but in no way did we look back and say, well, all my life I've done this and I've done that. It was just something that needed to be done and we did it. As a matter of fact, we counted it but loss that we might win Christ. That, oh no, that's nothing.

The Lord gave me the grace to do that. I'm thankful I could do it, but no, I want to be found in Him. I made this statement before from the pulpit. I'm not concerned if people remember my name. It doesn't matter to me. I want to be like John. He said, I'm just a voice. Just a voice in the wilderness. He said, prepare you the way of the Lord. They came to him and said, are you the one? Are you Christ? He said, no. No, I am not. I am not. But the one that comes after me, I'm not worthy to unloose the shoelaces or shoelatches. They didn't have laces then, shoelatches.

Maybe the Lord give us that heart. Notice, I said we were gonna go to verse 12. Notice the value of Paul's past works. First of all, he calls them done, and finally he states his works according to the law were never able to enable him to be perfect. They were never able to enable him to attain unto salvation. Look at verse 12. Not as though I had, past tense, already attained, either were already perfect.

He's saying it wasn't that I had attained Christ and salvation and that I was perfect because of the law keeping that I did and then said, oh, well, I made a little bit of a mistake. I need Christ also. So that's what men do is they mix it together. They go and they say, okay, I need to do this and this. besides what Christ did. Now I've made it effectual. Now I have caused it to do something for me, the work of Christ. And he says, no, I hadn't attained, and I wasn't perfect. All that work that I did was nothing. It was loss. It was loss.

Verse 12, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that which is also I am apprehended of, Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

How do we know we've been apprehended of Jesus Christ? We're not looking to past works that we did. When somebody says, how do you know you're saved? We don't point back to things that we did or point to self in any way. We said, my hope, is that I be found in Christ. Not having my own righteousness, which is what I do by the law, whether it's the civil law, the moral law, or the ceremonial law. It's not about the law that I keep, it's about the law that he fulfilled.

And he says Christ is the end of the law. Why? For righteousness to everyone that believeth. He's the end of the law for righteousness to the Lord's people. So the Lord sees us dying unto the law, our sin being put away in Christ Jesus alone by his precious blood, and he sees us, the law sees us, in God's eyes, we're perfectly righteous because of it.

Do we see that? What are we gonna add to perfectly righteous? There's nothing to add to that. If I am made to see that I am perfectly righteous in Christ alone, there is nothing. I can add to those glorious words. I'm perfectly righteous. If we're in Christ, we are. If we're in Christ, we're perfectly righteous.

He says, not as though I had. All this is past tense. He's declaring that it's impossible. Not that it's just a potential probability, the outcome, but it's an impossibility to attain righteousness by the law. It's an impossibility to obtain righteousness by what we do or do not do. It's an impossibility. So why do men do it? Why do women do it? It goes back to the garden, doesn't it? All the way back to the beginning, Genesis chapter three, it's where all of it Chapter 1 and 2 is fantastic. Chapter 3 is where everything went downhill, at least for mankind. We died. We died.

Aren't you thankful that the Lord didn't leave us there? He already had a purpose designed before time ever began, knowing in His infinite sovereignty, according to His determinate counsel, that we would fall. and that a lamb would be provided. God will provide himself a lamb. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Even though Eve and Adam both looked upon the fruit and disobeyed and took thereof and did die because they ate it, that was the consequence and the penalty, God had provided himself a lamb. a substitute for his people, one that would be surety for them.

He said, lay it to my charge. I'll bring them back safely. Lay it to my charge. He's saying to us that no one could be made perfect by the deeds thereby. When Adam and Eve fell, they sowed fig leaves together. And some of you I know we had for a little while a fig leaf out there on the table because of the shape of it. That was really interesting, wasn't it? It's the perfect shape of a man's hand. Fig leaves. I didn't know that, but I find it amazing that that's what the Lord purposed. They sewed fig leaves together. They sewed the works of man's hands to cover up their nakedness.

What good did that do? Nothing. The Lord said, I ain't gonna work. And what'd the Lord do? He took a lamb and covered them. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. That's what God required. He took the lamb and he covered them. A lamb without spot, a lamb without blemish. It's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and his precious blood that covers his people. And the Lord says, now I'm well pleased.

Everything God required, he had to provide. That's why the scripture's clear that it's not by the works of my hands or my doings. It's not by my works at all. Why? Because I would boast about it. Look at me. Look at my fig leaves that I've sewed together. Mine are so much more glorious than yours. Mine are more boisterous, and I got more colors in mine. Wouldn't we do that? It sounds funny, but we would.

The Lord says, no, I'm looking for one. I'm looking at the Lord Jesus Christ, and if I'm not in him, I have no hope. That's why Paul says right here, to be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Everything God requires, he must provide.

Somebody said, well, maybe we need to try a little bit harder. Maybe we need to work a little bit more. A lot of people have moral reformation. They change things. There's nothing wrong with morality. I mean, we're not lawless antinomians. We love the Lord's law. By the Lord's law, it showed us that we're sinners. We're doomed. You say, well, why would we rejoice in that? Because only the Lord saves sinners, that's why. And if he doesn't ever show me I'm a sinner, I'll never be saved. I'll never need a savior. So the law entered, the offense entered, and sin did abound. For by one man's disobedience, all were made sinners. But it goes on to say, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

If you want to see man's best attempts at pleasing God, go back to the sacrifices in the Old Testament. Day after day, they would offer the sacrifices of lambs, bullocks, doves, all different animals that the Lord was pleased with. They had to do meat offerings, sin offerings. And there are so many different sacrifices and offerings that took place. And yet the work was never finished.

Why? because it wasn't for the perfecting of the Lord's people. It was to point to the perfect sacrifice of Christ. The blood of bulls and goats can never put away sin. It wasn't meant to cover the Lord's people, to put away their sin or wash them away.

It was to cause them to look to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that would perfect them, that had perfected them in eternity past. That's what it was all about. It allowed them to worship. allowed them to worship. Just as you and I are declaring his finished work, they would come and that was the way that they could worship the Lord is looking to the lamb, not the one that was sacrificed on the table, the one yet to come. We worship looking to the lamb of God who hath been slain already. We rejoice in his blood alone.

Brethren, there is no son or daughter of Adam that has ever been born or ever will be born. that can do anything perfect. Now men believe that they can do perfect things and I know we live in a very technologically advanced society that's ever been that we know of. And now we have AI that's all over the place. You don't know if you're watching a video that's real or a person singing could be a picture made up of a computer. And what's my point? Well, men may call that perfect.

Everything man does is flawed. Everything man does is tainted with sin. So even if we could work a perfect work, as I mentioned before, our heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We have a problem that only God can fix. And it's our sin problem. We can't do anything perfect. Yet there's people who believe that they can apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want to be clear on this.

To apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ means that you dethrone him He is seated, the scripture says in Hebrews chapter one, verse three, that when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down. Now he's seated as the king of kings and Lord of lords. But to apprehend him, I must first dethrone him to put him back on the throne. That's what it means when people ignorantly say, I've made him Lord of my life. He's already Lord. He's already seated. So in order for me to make him Lord, which is impossible, I would have to dethrone him first. That's to bring him down from above.

Do we see that? Second thing men do is they bring him up from below, meaning that his resurrection, his death, didn't really accomplish anything until I do something to make it effectual. It didn't accomplish anything until I do something to make it effectual.

Now you can fill in the blank with that. But I think the best thing we could do is go to Romans 10 because if you ever heard of the Romans road. That was a big one in false religion people says do this and do this and do this and you're saved. that's not true. If you do in obedience unto the Lord, as he states in those passages. It would be by faith alone that enables us to do that.

It won't be the cause of your salvation, it would be the result of salvation bestowed. If I can confess Christ in my heart, the Lord's already given me a new heart, because this heart's not gonna confess Him. Not this stony one, not this one of arrogance and pride and wickedness and deceit. No, that heart's never gonna confess Him, not truly.

Turn with me to Romans 10. Now we had just heard that we might be found in him, not having our own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness, which is of God, by the faith of Christ Jesus. And he says in verse six, the same righteousness, which is faith, which is of faith. Look at this.

But the righteousness, which is of faith, speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down from above. Or who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring Christ again from the dead. Now we understand what that means by what we just said. But what sayeth that the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart men believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Now most men stop right there and have you turn somewhere else. Let's keep reading. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jews and the Greeks. For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Aren't you glad that that says whosoever? That says whosoever. I think Todd was the one that said this when he was here during our conference, but he said, I'm thankful that that doesn't say Todd Nybert. I could say the same thing. I'm thankful that doesn't say Caleb Hickman. If Caleb Hickman shall call upon the name of the Lord, he shall be saved. Why? Because there's many Caleb Hickmans in the world. I've Googled my name before. That might seem weird, but I did. I was curious. I couldn't find myself, which made me feel a lot better. There's a lot of Caleb Hickmans in the world.

So it didn't say that. It says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But he doesn't stop there, does he? How? Now he's asking a question. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? Believed. So the Lord must cause us to believe first to call upon him. That's interesting, isn't it? In 2 Timothy chapter one, verse nine, it says, God hath saved us and called us. What came first, the saving or the calling? The saving did. See, God does the saving and then the Lord's people are made by the faith of Christ bestowed to call upon the name of the Lord.

How shall they call upon him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe on him in whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.

But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? Isaiah 53, one. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words into the ends of the world. But I say that not Israel, no, first Moses saith, I will prove you to jealousy by them that are no people and by foolish nation, I will anger you.

But Isaiah was very bold and said, I was found of them that sought me not. I was found of them that sought me not. Boy, there is a key component to the Lord's salvation, isn't it? I was found of them that sought me not. Have you ever not looked for something and found it? That's a possibility, I guess, if you're just stumbling upon something. Oh, there it is, I haven't seen that. Well, you had to start looking for it at some point, or we'd have never found it, so to speak. But pertaining to the Lord's salvation, we'll never find it until the Lord seeks us first.

I was made manifest unto them that ask not after me, but to Israel he saith all day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. He says here, have they not heard? Of course they've heard. They've heard the truth declared from the, from the pulpit, but their ears are hard of hearing. They have, the scripture says they have ears. They have, they cannot hear eyes. They have, but they cannot see. The hearing ear and the seeing eye, they are of the Lord. He has to give the ability to hear and to see.

Understand something, Roman's road does not equal salvation. The confession of God's people is the result of faith bestowed, not the cause of it. I don't confess with my mouth and then faith is given to believe. Faith is given to believe by the sovereign authority of God to his people by the preaching of his gospel. He sends his spirit and power and says, live and breathe the breath of life into them. And then we confess the Lord Jesus Christ with the new heart bestowed. We believe in the heart.

I believe God raised his son from the dead. I believe that Jesus Christ is God. And I believe that when God raised his son from the dead, that that was full evidence and assurance that God justified his people without my contribution whatsoever, without the works of the law that I would produce.

He fulfilled the law. I'm not saved because I do something. Our hope is that we were saved before time and in time at the fullness of time, God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem them that were under the law. See, you and I were born under the law. And the only way you and I could be saved is if the Lord is born under the law as well. And he did that. Is my hope that I did something that caused the Lord to put away my sin or is my hope that God put away my sin without me even having knowledge of it?

He didn't confer with flesh and blood whenever he decided he was gonna save his people. He didn't confer with flesh and blood when he decided he was gonna elect a people. He didn't confer with flesh and blood whenever he declared Jesus Christ as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He certainly didn't confer with flesh and blood when he sent his spirit and power to say live unto his people.

He's God. He does what he wants to. He does what he wants to with me and with you and with everybody in the world. In the book of 2 Samuel, you've heard me talk about this before, David broke God's law, not just one of them, but many of them. This particular time, you ever heard the statement, well, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. You ever heard that before? David was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But he was there on purpose. He chose to be there. It says, at the time when the kings would go forth into battle, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. He's like, I don't think I'm gonna go fight this battle. That was the worst, in our eyes, it's the worst decision he could have possibly made. Aren't you glad for grace and mercy, even when we make the wrong, what appears to be the worst decisions?

The Lord makes, what did Joseph say to his brothers? They said, okay, after Jacob had died, the brothers were afraid and said, Joseph's gonna kill us. We gotta go tell him that dad said, you don't have to hurt us. If we don't do something, he's gonna kill us. And so they went to Joseph, all the brothers, and Joseph, before Jacob died, he told us to tell you, this is a lie, this is what they said, told us to tell you to not harm us because we're your brethren, to be good to us. And Joseph's heart was grieved. Joseph's heart was good. He wept.

And the sum of it was, he said this, you meant it for evil. God meant it for good. Can we say that? Can we believe that? You meant it for somebody does something or something happens in our life. Our adversary means it for evil. God means it for good. Another example of that would be whenever Daniel prayed for 21 days, Lord, we're in captivity. We're going to die. Are you going to deliver us or not? Please give me understanding. And he wasn't praying that arrogantly. I just paraphrased. 21 days, no answer.

The Lord's purpose is for the good of his people, even at the sacrifice of our present comfort. We see that. Meaning we may not have present comfort in the moment where we're dealing with something. We may be in all kinds of turmoil and chaos in our head. I would say God's not the author of confusion, the scripture says. But it's gonna be for our good in the end. It's going to be for the Lord's people's good in the end. The Lord came to Daniel after 21 days and said, Daniel, I've come for your words. For from the first time you prayed, I heard you. Very first time you prayed, I heard you. David was in the wrong place at the right time or the right place at the wrong time, however you want to say it.

And he committed lust in his heart by looking upon Bathsheba bathing. He took Bathsheba and did lie with her. And the scripture says, rather than doing the right thing after that, he sends a letter with Uriah that Uriah might be killed. So now David's guilty of adultery. David's guilty of murder. And what does he do? Lord, I have sinned. No. No, the scripture is not really clear what David does. There is an absence of about a year right there. We don't know.

Maybe he went to the temple every day and prayed. Maybe he went and offered a bunch of sacrifices to make himself feel good about himself. That's what people do, don't they? They start feeling guilty for something. They say, well, let me clean that part of my life up. Now I feel better. And it eases their conscience. It has nothing to do with God. It's just moral reformation.

What we do know is, is in the next chapter, Nathan the prophet comes to David, and I would remind us that David was a shepherd by trade. That's what he did as a boy when he was between 14 and 16. He stood against Goliath the giant, as we know. He was a shepherd at that time. He loved sheep.

If you've ever been around them, they're not difficult to love. They're adorable when they're little. They can be stinky and whatever else, but they're cute little creatures. You know, they're not hostile like like cats or whatever. Cats can be mean.

I've never had a sheep. Sheep don't have claws. But you understand what I'm saying. Anyways, David loved sheep. They're tender and easy. And they had to be defended. That's the whole point. Cats don't need to be defended. Matter of fact, leave them alone. They're happy. David loved sheep.

And Nathan told him, he said, there was a rich man that had many flocks and many herds. And there was one man who was poor. He had one ewe lamb. Now, just so you all know, ewe lamb is a female, a little lamb. And he said he raised it as one of his own children. It ate at his table. And I could just see, anybody's ever had an animal they love that you put it on your chest, you're loving on it? That's what this man was doing to this lamb. Loved this lamb as one of his own. And when the time come for the rich man to have a feast, he didn't take of his own flocks and his herd, even though he had many. He took that one new lamb and he killed it and they ate it.

And Nathan, by God's wisdom, that the Lord had bestowed to Nathan said, what should be done to the man? And it says, David was wroth. He was furious. And David says, he's gonna die. He's gonna die and he's gonna return the lamb fourfold. He pronounced his own judgment, that's what he did. Aren't you glad the Lord doesn't allow us to pronounce our own judgment? Boy, we'd be in a world of hurt if that was the case. David, You're the man. That's what Nathan told him. You're the man.

From the time the Lord sets you up on the throne, he's given you all of this, he's given you all of that. Anything that your heart desires, the Lord's given it to you. And you took a Bathsheba, committed adultery, committed murder by killing Uriah the Hittite. Declared the truth to him. What did David say? I have sinned against the Lord. And I love the glorious words that Nathan told David.

He didn't say, okay, go do this and go do that and your sins will be forgiven you. He didn't say, give this much to the church and your sins will be forgiven you as some believe. He didn't say, go chant this chant 15 times and your sins will be forgiven you. Make sure that you're in Sunday service every Sunday for the next 42 years and your sins will be forgiven you.

No, the Lord hath put away your sin, not because of what you've done, because of who he is. He's gracious and merciful and long-suffering. See, the Lord Jesus Christ had apprehended David from the foundation of the world. He said, you're mine. I've bought you with my own blood. I've redeemed you, you're mine. The Lord hath put away your sin, you shall not die. You shall not die.

This is what it is to be apprehended of Christ. This is what it is to be apprehended of Christ. Now what confession does that draw out of the Lord's people? Turn to Psalm 51. If David's hope was apprehending Christ, he would have had no hope, but it was that Christ apprehended him. He would have kept going on and on in the same condition that he was in if it had not been for the word of the Lord. And the same with you and I. The Lord must come to where we are and reveal his truth unto us, which reveals what we are. And here is our confession. Once the word comes, once the Lord says live, this is our confession. Every believer's confession. Psalm 51, have mercy. Oh, look at the, look at the heading here. To the chief position of Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came into him after he had gone in to Bathsheba. This is the immediate confession that David had after Nathan came.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. You know the most amazing part? Nathan already told him, the Lord hath put away your sin, you shall not die. Isn't that amazing that he's still praying right here? Blood out my transgression, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me of my sin for I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me. Even though I know it's gone, I still see it before me. Lord, you're gonna have to apprehend me. You're gonna have to save me from myself. because I can't save myself. But you're gonna have to help me. I'm in desperate need.

Confession is this in verse four, against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou speaketh and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shaped in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Now understand something right here.

He's not blaming his mother for his sin right there. No, certainly not. He's confessing that even from the womb, he's a sinner. That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. You remember whenever Adam and Eve had sinned, Adam said, well, the woman that you gave me, She gave me the food. Adam blamed Eve for the sin. That's not what David's doing. This is real repentance. This is real contrition right here. He's saying in sin did my mother conceive me. Hold thou desire truth in the inward parts and I can't produce it. In the hidden parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom. There's our hope.

Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Hyssop was the plant, if you will, the apparatus that they use in order to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. He says you're going to have to sprinkle the blood upon me.

Make me to hear joy and gladness at the bones which thou hast broken, may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins and blot out my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. I love it says thy right there. David didn't say, restoring to me the joy of my salvation. He said, restoring to me the joy of thy salvation, just as Jonah confessed salvation is of the Lord. And uphold me with thy free spirit. Do we see here that every part about this is save me, help me, have mercy on me, apprehend me, teach me, cause me.

There's nothing written right here that says I'm going to do this and you're going to do that, God. No. That's man-made works religion. That is the lie. God says, I will and you shall. I'm gonna save you and you're gonna believe. I'm going to choose to redeem you and you're going to be redeemed. I'm gonna do it all by grace for my glory and for my honor.

That's exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross of Calvary. He reconciled God's elect back to him. He saved his chosen people from their sin. not by their choice, not by their works, not because they looked better or acted better or thought better than other people did. Matter of fact, he chose the worst to save. I just told you David's record, but you know what I love that the Lord said, David was a man after God's own heart.

I find that amazing, why? He was found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness, which is by the faith of Christ Jesus. There's our hope. That's what it is to be apprehended of Christ Jesus. You know, sometimes we may be in a dark place. We may feel overwhelmed. It's glorious when the Lord causes us to feel like he's got us. Can anybody relate to that?

I've got you. I've got you. And in a marriage, it's important that a man makes his wife feel that I've got you, even though the world may be on fire, it's still important that we make our wives feel that I've got you. But all that being said, just as a child comes to the mother and the mother says, I've got you, you're safe.

The Lord has declared that from the foundation of the world, He'll never leave us nor forsake us. And that even though we may be in a dark place, even though we may see our sin ever before us, even though we may see that we are the chief sinner, we are not allowed to run back to the law to try to seek righteousness. We know that if the Lord doesn't have us, if he has not apprehended us, I have no hope of salvation. I have no hope of salvation.

And yet I'm reminded what he told Jacob and Isaiah. He said, I have bought you. I have chosen you. I have redeemed you. You're mine. You're mine. I purchased you with my own blood. You're mine. This is what it is to be apprehended of God. It's to be bought with the price, the blood of Christ. In closing, real quickly, I want to turn back to Philippians chapter 3. Verse 14 says, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. What is this mark? It's the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's his righteousness. It's his perfection. It's our desire to be apprehended of him. We look to him alone as all of our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. This is what it is to be apprehended. Of the Lord Jesus Christ, anything else is a counterfeit. Anything else is a counterfeit.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would take this and you would cause us to understand, you would bless it according to your will. In Christ's name, amen. Let's take a break. It's about 11 o'clock right now, so we'll wait about 10 minutes, come back together, okay?

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