I'm going to try and make a comment.
If you would, open your Bibles with me to Psalm 27. I titled the message this morning,
One Thing. I preached from this Psalm Wednesday
evening and I could not get away from this verse 4. I wanted to
take a break from our study in Romans and go back and spend
a little time with this verse 4. where David said one thing. Really, that word thing is in
italics. He says one. One, if I desired of the Lord. It's so singular as one, if I
desired of the Lord. That will I seek after. That
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. David was a man of like passions. He's a whole lot like you and
me. I think we have pretty good understanding of David. We can
identify. And I know throughout David's
life at any given time in his life, there are many things that
he wanted, but he narrowed it down to one. He said, this is
the most important one. There's just one thing that I
truly desire. There is just one thing that
I need. I'm going to seek after. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. David's one desire, one thing,
one desire was union with Christ, to know Him. I felt led this
morning to bring a message on desiring this one thing. This
one thing is the Lord Jesus Christ. My one desire for me. And my one desire for you is
that we would know the Lord Jesus Christ, that we've come to Him,
that we would believe Him. It is my personality to be pretty
intense. Sometimes I feel like maybe,
Frank, maybe you're being too intense here. But no, I'm not. No, I'm not. This is not a personality
quirk of mine to be so intense in this matter of preaching Christ. From this pulpit, by God's grace,
we only preach Christ. Only. No matter what text it
is, we only preach Christ. Because Christ is all that matters,
really and truly. Christ is all that matters. We
only preach Christ. Because the only thing we need
is Christ. I begin my day, every day, in
my study, praying for you. I go through in my mind where
each family sits and pray for you. And my prayer is singular. I hope you do well at your jobs.
I hope the Lord blesses you. Our children do well in school
and flourish. I do, right? But my intent prayer
is that we would know Christ. That the Lord bless His word
that we would know Christ. And I feel like I'm in pretty
good company there. David had one desire. David, the man after
God's own heart, desired one thing. That he would know Christ. If I have Christ, that's okay. Everything's okay if I've got
Christ in me. Right now, everything's okay. No matter what I don't have,
no matter what the Lord's taken away, if I have Christ, it's
okay. And if I don't have Christ, nothing's
okay, no matter what I do have. And my earnest prayer this morning
is that, Lord, give us a heart to see our need of Christ. so
that we'll run to him, so that we'll flee to him, so that we'll
believe him, so that we'll seek him with all of our heart. Successful people have a, there's
a commonality about successful people. They usually just have
one goal. They did one thing that's really
important to them. They're so focused upon it, they
attain it. That applies to sports. That
applies to business and our personal life. Whatever it is that you're
really seeking, you're almost always going to find. You know,
there's lots of things we need in this life, isn't there? We've
got to have food and clothes and shelter and those things.
There are a lot of things we've got to do in our lives. You know, you're all, you're
busy people. You've got jobs, you've got things
to do. If you've got children, you're
busy people. They've got activities going
on. There's so many things we've got to do. But in doing all those
things, do them and do them well. Do them well. But in all those
things, seeking first Christ. Seek righteousness in Christ
first. And the rest of these things
are bad. Solomon said in Proverbs 4, verse 7, that wisdom is the
principle thing. And when he speaks of wisdom,
you go back and read that, see if I'm not telling the truth.
He's speaking of Christ, our wisdom. Wisdom's the principle
thing. Christ is the principle thing.
Therefore, get wisdom. Get Christ in all you're getting.
Be sure you get Christ first. Seek him first. I have several
points. I want you to turn to several
different scriptures this morning. First, I want you to turn to
Proverbs chapter four. I'm sorry, Psalms, Psalm 14.
We all need this one thing that David talks about because we
all have one great problem. Just one great problem. We're
all sinners. Psalm 14, verse one. The fool
has said in his heart, there is no God. They're corrupt. They
have done abominable works. There's none that do it good.
The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of man to see
if there were any that did understand and seek God. And this is what
he saw. They're all gone aside. They're
all together become filthy. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. Here's why we all need this one
great thing David describes. We need Christ the Savior because
we're all sinners. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. All we can do is sin. So don't
try to please God. Don't try to earn favor with
God by what you do, because everything we do is sin. So it just adds
to our condemnation. Now I'm speaking to a congregation
of the sophomore year. Y'all are good, hardworking,
honest people. And you might think, well, you
know, that doesn't really apply to me. I'm a good Christian.
I'm a good Calvinist. I'm a good churchgoer. I'm not
like all those guys that I'm not like all those people I go
to school with. You know, I'm honest. I'm hardworking. I'm
a family man. I'm kind and generous. Well,
I hope that's true. But be very, very careful. Be
very careful. Be sure not to say the same things
that Pharisee said about himself when he prayed thus with himself.
Be careful. Scripture says there's none good. None. No, not one. Not me, not you. We're all lost
in sin. Sin is our one great problem
that makes us need this one great thing, Christ the Savior. All
right, second, look at Romans chapter three. There's only one
God, just one. So there's only one religion.
There are not many ways to the same God. There are not many
different religions with different beliefs. They'll bring people
eventually all to the same place. Now, if you go in different directions,
you're going to a different place. There's one God and there's one
religion that reveals God, enables us to worship him. Romans chapter
three, verse 30. Seeing it is one God, which will
justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through
faith. They're just one God. And there's just one religion.
It's the religion of Christ. It's the religion of the preaching
of Christ, the religion of salvation by faith in Christ alone. Faith
in Christ, that's what the Jew means, what the religious person
means. Faith in Christ is what the Gentile
means, what the heathen means. You see, no matter who we are,
We have the same great need, we need Christ. And there's just
one religion, there's just one message, there's just one gospel
that reveals him and gives faith in him. It's the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, there's just one God. Look over a page of
Romans chapter five. Thirdly, there's only one savior
of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans five verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Sin came upon all men because
of one man, because of the actions of one man, Adam. Adam represented
the entire human race. So we all did what Adam did.
We all sinned when Adam sinned. And we all are what Adam is. That's the nature we receive.
God counts all men sinners by the actions of one, of Adam. And the good news is this, God
made his elect righteous by the actions of one, by the actions
of one representative man, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, there's just one Savior.
There's just, I hate to say a way, there is one way of righteousness.
And you know why there's one way of righteousness? Because
there's just one righteousness. We just sung about it, Jehovah's
Son. The Lord, our righteousness. There's just one Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 20. Moreover, the law entered
that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. See, we can't make ourselves
righteous by obeying the law. Don't look to the law. You're
not going to find righteousness in your obedience to the law.
God gave the law so we'd see that sin abounded. There's just
one way of righteousness, and that way is found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse 21. That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness by
eternal life or unto eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now there's just one Savior of
sinners. What a Savior he is. Oh, what a Savior. He saves everyone
that comes to Him, He saves them to the uttermost, completely
and wholly. You can't be more saved than
you are in Christ. He saves His people perfectly. Can I tell you one more time?
Look to Christ. Look! Just look only to Christ. Just get tunnel vision. on Christ. Do I got scripture to back that
up? I do. Luke chapter 9. Remember the
Mount of Transfiguration? Luke 9, verse 28. And it came to pass, about eight
days after these sayings, he took Peter, John, James, and
went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered. His raiment was white and glistering.
And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses
and Elias, who appeared in glory and spake of his decease, which
he should accomplish. Not that what happened to him,
but the decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But
Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep. And
when they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men that
stood with him. And they came to pass as they
departed from him. Peter said unto Jesus, Master,
it's good for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles,
one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias. Not knowing
what he said, poor old Peter. Can you identify Peter? I mean,
I can so identify with Peter. How often the brother Henry said
we popped off, not knowing what we're saying, just not realizing
what we're saying. It's not. Well, there's one thing
to look at here, and then we can learn something else by looking
here and something else by looking here and something else looking
here. No, sir. We're not looking at all these
different places. Salvation is seeing one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what God told him. Look
here at verse 34. And while he thus spake, there came a cloud
and overshadowed them. And they feared as they entered
into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud saying,
this is my beloved son, hear him. And when the voice was passed,
Jesus was found alone. They saw another one of the accounts
of this. They said they saw Jesus on that
salvation. It's seeing Christ on. It's seeing Christ as everything. It's seeing Christ as everything
I need. And it's seeing Christ as everything
I want. Give me Christ. He's all I want. The Lord Jesus Christ is one
Savior. He's the one Savior. Now you
look to Him. Look to Him. Right where you
sit. Right now. Look to Him. Like those poor Jews bitten by
those fiery serpents. Look and live. Look to the serpent
lifted up on the pole and live. Look to him. You say, I can't
see him. I didn't tell you to see him. I said, look to him.
Make it your business to look to Christ. I promise you, based
upon the authority of God's word, you'll find him. When you make
it your business to find him, you'll find him. You'll find
him. And in finding him, you'll find
life eternal. You'll find forgiveness. All
right, here's the fourth thing. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
12. There's just one Savior, or one
Spirit, and He leads every believer, He leads everyone He leads the
exact same way. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13, For
by one Spirit Are we all baptized, immersed,
put into one body, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, whether
they be bond or free. And we have been made all to
drink into one spirit. We've all been made part of one
spirit. Paul said Ephesians 2 verse 18,
for through him, we both have access by one spirit under the
father. There's one spirit that leads
every believer. There's one spirit that leads
every believer to one body, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he points every believer
to the exact same place. Let me turn to this and I got
a scripture back that up. I'll turn to it and read it to
you. You know this. John 16 verse 13. There's one
spirit. He leads every believer to the
exact same place. Albeit when he, the spirit of
truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. For he shall
not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak, and he will show you things to come. He, the Spirit, he shall
glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you.
All things that the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I that
he will take of mine, and he'll show it unto you." The Spirit
leads everyone to see Christ. One thing, just one thing, to
see the Lord Jesus Christ. And if the Spirit, if you think
there's a Spirit that's leading you to give attention to anything
other than Christ, it's another Spirit. It's not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads everyone
to see one thing, the Lord Jesus Christ. I look at Hebrews chapter
10, here's the fifth thing. There's just one sacrifice for
sin. Now that ought to be very obvious to us. There can only
be one sacrifice for sin because there's just one Savior. But
this must be said, and I hope you'll listen to me. Salvation
is not Christ plus what I can do to add to Him. No. If that were true, we'd all contribute
different amounts, wouldn't we? That would make some people easier
to save than others. That would make some people less
of a sinner than others. That would mean our first point
wasn't true, they were all dead in sin. There's just one sacrifice
for sin. And it's not mine, and it's not
yours. There's just one sacrifice. It's the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ that pays for the sin of His people. Hebrews 10
verse 11. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which could
never take away sin. The Old Testament law required
many sacrifices, didn't it? Because those sacrifices were
just pictures. They could never put away sin.
And you could say the same thing about man's religion today. They're
just, they're just mirages. There's all these different sacrifices
they want people to offer. There's no salvation in them.
They can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, He sat down. He did something
those Old Testament priests never did. He sat down on the right
hand of God, from henceforth expecting to his enemies be made
his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. And that one sacrifice is all
we need. That one sacrifice perfected
everyone for whom he died. That one sacrifice is all we
need. It's effectual. It got the job done. It got the
job done so well, verse 17, that God says their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. God won't remember those sins
anymore because there's nothing left to remember. The blood of
Christ blotted them out, made them to not exist anymore. They're
just, they're just one sacrifice for sin. And the sacrifice of
Christ is effectual. Six, there's only one mediator.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Paul told Timothy, there's one
God and one mediator between God and men. It's the man, Christ
Jesus. There's one mediator. You know
what that means? There's only one way to God. It's through
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one who can make
intercession for sinners. Just one. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ because he's got blood to offer. He's got righteousness
to offer. He's the one who's pleased the
Father. There's just one mediator. There's one way to God. There's
one person who can make intercession. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, just
one. Here's the seventh thing. Every believer, I don't care
where you find them, it's been my privilege to be able to travel
around much of this country preaching the gospel. I've been to Mexico
preaching the gospel. I've seen people, many different
circumstances, levels of poverty or richness or whatever you want
to call it. But this is, this is what I found. Every believer
believes the exact same thing. There's one faith. There's not
many faiths. Well, you have this faith and
I have this faith. Well, that's true. But one of
them ain't saving faith. They're just one faith. Ephesians 4,
verse 5, there's one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Every
believer has the exact same faith. It's faith in Christ the Savior. I need Him and Him alone. That's
what every believer confesses in believer's baptism. Every
believer confesses the Savior the exact same way publicly.
Baptism. In baptism, we confess Christ
is all I need. Christ is all of my salvation.
My salvation is all found in Him. His life, His death, His
burial, His resurrection. He is all I need to be saved. See, there's just one thing,
just one thing that we all need. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Savior of sinners. I want to quickly give you four
examples that will show us no matter who we are, no matter
what we're doing, No matter what the current state of our life
may be, there's one thing we need, and it's Christ. First,
I want you to look in Luke chapter 18. Christ is the one thing that
the self-righteous religious person needs. Christ is the one
thing that he may be self-righteous, he may be very religious, but
he lost, and Christ is the one thing he needs. This whole religious
world that is in such darkness and such a mess, been so confused
and so far off the mark could be fixed by one thing, by knowing
Christ. Luke 18, verse 18. And a certain
ruler asked him, saying, good master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, why
callest thou me good? There's none good save one, that
is God. Thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor thy father
and thy mother. And he said, all these have I
kept for my youth up. And when Jesus heard these things,
he said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing, just one. All
you lack is one thing. Sell all that thou ask and distribute
unto the poor. And thou shalt have treasure
in heaven. And come, follow me. Here's what our Lord's teaching
us here. You're not going to be saved until you need Christ
more than anything else you have. If you need something more than
you need Christ, you'll never be saved. Lord told this self-righteous
man, get rid of everything that means more to you than me. Get
rid of it and follow me. Just be like David and seek that
one thing you desire. If you really desire eternal
life, you'll see Christ. You really will. Get rid of everything
that's more important to you than Christ. Hang on to those
other things. You may think they're important,
but hang on to them. Hang on to the things of this
flesh, the things that you love, the things you think you need
more than Christ. It's like hanging on to a large
stack of money when you're drowning in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean. You're going to perish until you let go of those things.
Grab a hold of Christ. Grab a hold of the life preserver.
But you know, by nature, we can't do that, can we? This flesh cannot
and will not let go of those things. So we need one thing. We need Christ. We need Christ
to be formed in us. We need God to give us a new
nature that does believe Christ. This is impossible with the flesh,
isn't it? But it's not impossible with God, verse 23. When he heard
this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when
Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, how hardly shall they
that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. For it's easier
for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter
in the kingdom of God. And when they heard it, they
said, who can be saved? I mean, if this man can't be
saved by what he's done, who can be saved? And he said, these
things which are impossible with me, are possible with God. Then look to Christ. Christ is
the one thing that self-righteous religionist needs. I look in
Luke chapter 10. Here's the second example. Christ
is the one thing that a believer needs. Luke chapter 10, beginning in
verse 38. And it came to pass as they went
that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman
named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister
called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him
and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath led
me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help
me. Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art
careful and troubled about many things. Many things. But one
thing is deep, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall
not be taken away from her. Now poor old Martha, just poor
old Peter and poor old Martha. We can identify Peter and Martha,
can't we? But let's just be very careful not to be too hard on
our sister Martha. I thank God for Martha's. I'm telling you, without Marthas,
nothing would ever get done. If it wasn't for Marthas, Marthas
get stuff done. In here just a minute, we're
going to enjoy a very good meal. You know who brought that meal
here this morning? A bunch of Marthas. Thank God for Marthas. There's a group of Marthas that
just come and take care of this building. You don't show up here
if Sunday, Wednesday and the grass is cut and the building
looks nice and it's clean and the garbage is taken out and
it looks good just because it just happens. No, Martha comes
and does that all the time. Thank God for Marthas. But here,
something went wrong. Bless her heart. Now, she's busy.
And listen, she wasn't busy doing something sinful, was she? No,
she's doing something good. She was busy serving the Lord. I mean, you think. Think of Martha. Y'all, sometimes we have a conference
and y'all have, say, I'd like to keep a preacher in my home.
And these fellows come stay in your home. And I know how, I
live with one. I know how it is. Everything's
got to be just so in the house. You're scurrying around, just
working like mad, you know, to get this house ready for this
preacher. This is your way to serve the Lord. The son of God
himself came to Martha's house. Well, she should have been trying
to do a good job, shouldn't she? She should have done everything
she could do to be a good hostess. The son of God came to her house. But here's the warning. Don't
let the activity of serving the Lord come between you and the
Lord. Don't let the activity of religion
come between you and the Lord. Let me give you an example. All
of our children started school. I remember watching our girls
go to school. Not just first day, all year long. They put
a backpack on their back with books in it that just, I mean,
you know, it was heavy for their daddy. And here they go off to
school, this big old backpack on their back. You imagine one
of these kids, this big old backpack walking on, going to school.
Here's a neighbor stops and says, where are you going? So I'm going
to school. There's a lot of books you learn that you learn anything
at school, said no, I'm not learning a thing. I'm too busy going to
school to learn anything. That can happen, can't it? Let's
not be. Let's just be sure we're not
too busy going to church that we forget to seek the Lord. Let's
just not be so busy serving the Lord we forget to seek him. Let's just be sure we're not
so busy going to church that we forget we've come here to
worship. Mary chose that one thing, the
one thing that was needed. It was to sit at the feet of
Christ and hear His word, hear Him speak to our heart and to
worship Him. And you know what? You can do
that and serve the Lord at the same time. Yes, you can. In John
chapter 12, we see Martha again. You know what Martha's doing? She's serving. The Lord had raised
her brother from the dead, and the Lord had come back to town,
and the Lord and Lazarus were among those that sat at the table.
And you know what Martha was doing? She was standing there
serving. She was standing there serving. And Mary, she was at
the feet of the Lord again. But now, everything's different. Martha's serving, she's not complaining.
She heard what the Lord said. She heard too. And she served,
but she served with a different attitude. And the point of all
that is this. No matter how long someone's
been in the faith, no matter how long someone has faithfully
served the Lord, there's one thing we need. It's Christ. All right, here's the third thing.
Look at John chapter nine. There's one thing that a babe
in Christ needs, and there's one thing that a baby in Christ
knows. And it's Christ. You all know
the story of the blind man here. The Lord healed on the Sabbath
day. Oh, the Pharisees hated that. He healed this man on the
Sabbath day. They cared a whole lot more about
their form and ceremony of religion than they did Lord have mercy
on somebody. And they hated it because they hated Christ. And
they didn't as much care, they couldn't deny the man was healed,
but this is what they cared about. They did not want this man to
give the glory to Christ. The glory had to go, the credit
had to go in their mind to someone other than Christ. So verse 24,
then again called the man that was blind and said unto him,
give God the praise. We know that this man's a sinner.
And he answered and said, whether he be a sinner or no, I know
not. There's a lot of things I don't
know. But one thing I know that where I was, I was blind. Now
I see. All this man knew was I was blind,
and now I see. I was lost, and now I'm found. That's the only thing he knew.
I was blind, and this man gave me sight. And eventually, he
wouldn't give in on that, because it's the only thing he knows.
I can't tell you anything else but this. I was blind, and he
made me see. So they excommunicated him. In
verse 35, Jesus heard that they'd cast him out, and when he found
him, he said unto him, Does thou believe on the Son of God? He
answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on
him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and
it is he that talketh with thee. He said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Do you
know saving faith is really that simple? Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Saving
faith is just as simple as believe in Christ. You don't need to
know more than that. You don't. Brethren, we don't
need more knowledge. We need God to give us faith.
We need Christ. And we don't need to know all
the why's and wherefore's and all the technical things about
how and the exact moment in time God saves a sinner. We don't
need to know that. All we need to know is Christ. To know Christ
is life eternal. That's all a poor sinner knows.
I was blind and now I see. I've lost and now I'm found.
Christ is the one that gave me sight. Christ is the one that
found me and brought me home. Christ is the one that saved
me from my sin and he gave me life. How? I don't know. But I know who. I believe him. He is all I need. All right,
here's the fourth thing. The one thing Look at Philippians
chapter 3. We've seen a lost man. We've seen a common believer. We've seen a baby in Christ.
And now we look at a mature believer. The one thing the most mature
believer needs is Christ. Philippians 3 verse 7. But what
things were gained to me, all those things that Saul of Tarsus
has passed, all those things which are gained to me, those
I counted lost for 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 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 sufferings being made
conformable unto his death. if by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead. Now the Apostle Paul had
a lot of things he could have looked at in his life, didn't
he? But he didn't look back to his
life in false religion where he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees,
a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He said, all that's manure. And
he left it in the rear view. He didn't want to look back to
that old pile of manure, did he? He didn't want to look at
that. What was he interested in looking at? Christ, being
found in Him. Paul's only concern was knowing
Christ. All he cared about was union
with Christ, being one with Christ. That's what being found in Christ
means, having union with Him, being in Him. Paul cared about
knowing the power of Christ's resurrection. And what he means
by that is this. I'm interested in knowing that
when Christ was raised from the dead, I was justified. When He
was raised again, I was justified in Him. Raised again for my justification. He cared about being made conformable
to the death of Christ, knowing the fellowship of his sufferings.
And what he means by that is knowing this, I want to know
Christ, that when he died, he died for me. He died as my substitute. So my sin's gone. Paul didn't
look to his past life in false religion. I'll tell you what
else. He didn't look to his past life
in service for Christ after Christ revealed himself to him either.
He just kept looking one place. He kept looking to Christ. Verse
12. He says, not as though I had
already attained, either already perfect, but I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
off Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended. I haven't arrived. I'm not the
example and be all and end all. I haven't arrived. But this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, forgetting
the sin and unbelief and rebellion of my past and forgetting those
good things that I've done in service of the Lord, forgetting
all of 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 haven't arrived. I need Christ. Today, just as much as the first
day I ever saw him. That's what an old experienced
believer is doing. You'll find them pressing on,
pressing on, pressing on toward Christ that I might seek him,
that I might know him. Now I'll give you a modern day
example of this. A man told me recently, he was at a Bible conference.
He said, from where I was sitting, looking toward the pulpit there,
he said, two older, very, very highly respected preachers were
sitting there together. And he noticed them listening
to the gospel. He said, you know what, this
amazed me. He said, they were just as blessed
to hear the gospel as I was. They know those texts a whole
lot better than I do, the texts they were preached from. They
probably preached from them before. They know it a whole lot better
than I do. But they needed to hear Christ just as much as I
needed to hear Him. They rejoiced to hear Christ
just as much as I did. That's what Paul's talking about.
You all know Bruce Crabtree. Everybody loves Bruce. Everybody
loves to hear Bruce preach. I've preached several times and
Bruce has been there every, every single time. You know, he came
up to me before the service and told me, he says, oh, I hope
you've got something for a poor sinner. I hope you've got something
that's going to show Christ to me. That's what, that's the one thing
we need. He says that. Paul says that. Every believer
says that because Christ is the one thing we need. And I don't
care who you are. I don't care what's going on
in your life right now, what your background is. I don't care
what you've been thinking or what. I don't care. No matter
who you are, every person in this room, there's one thing
that will satisfy your need. And it's Christ. Now you look
to him, you seek him with all your heart and you'll find him.
And it's my prayer that God give us that heart, the heart like
David, the heart like Paul. This is my one desire. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, we humbly bow in
your presence. We beg to be forgiven of who
and what we are and to be seen, to be heard, to be found in our
Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that You would
give each one of us here this morning, give us a heart of faith,
a heart that needs Christ, that hungers and thirsts and pants
after Him so that we'll seek Him with all of our heart and
by Your infinite mercy and grace find Him. How we thank You for
the Lord Jesus Christ, this one Savior, this one great gift of
Your grace that is what every one of us needs. the one great
gift of your grace that saves your people from their sin. Father,
how we thank you. I pray you bless your word. Bless
it, Father, for your glory, for the good of your people. Father,
we thank you for this food that we're about to partake. We thank
you for the Martha's who prepared it. Pray that you bless it to
our bodies and bless this time of fellowship that we have together.
We're so thankful. Father, we thank you for this
occasion. these two dear girls that we celebrate their birthday
this morning. Father, I thank you for them,
for Chloe, for Carolina. Father, we pray your richest
blessing be upon them. We thank you for giving them to us for this time. Cause us, Father, to be faithful
to these two girls, to all of our children, to teach them Christ,
to point them always to the Savior. Father, bless them. Do for them
what we can't do for them, what they can't do for themselves,
but have mercy upon them. Continue to bless them and watch
over them as they grow and mature. Bless them in every way, we pray.
First, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray
and give thanks.