Philippians chapter 3, verse 1. Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For
we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus. and have no confidence in the
flesh. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh he had whereof he might
trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcise the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the
Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted loss 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 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 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, not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I
might 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. In verse 9, Paul says This is
one of the three things that he longed for that was his goal,
his life's ambition. And one was this, to be found
in him. That is to be found in Christ. Now, you all know I've made mention
of the fact that one time when I was a boy we lived up a hollow
and the last house in the hollow. That was the last time we were
all still together. We were living there when my
oldest brother joined the Navy. But I can remember hearing my
mother say when all the children would be out playing, and when
we got older and had a longer curfew, were allowed to stay
out later, Mom would often say she wasn't comfortable She couldn't
be at ease until all her children were home safe and sound. You mothers can identify with
that. She's not comfortable until your child is back home safe
and sound. Paul says to be found in Christ
every believer is safe and sound. Are they not? Don't the very
words have a sweet sound about them, a sweet ring about them,
found in him? I may be poor, but in Christ
Jesus, God has given to this sinner all the riches of his
grace. Isn't that something? The true
treasure of heaven, grace now, grace to keep me, grace to preserve
me, grace not to allow yet indwelling sin to have dominion over me,
grace now with the promise of glory hereafter. I may be sick
and suffering in body, but being found in Him, I can sing concerning
my soul that it's safe and sound. It is well with my soul. Only being united to the Lord
Jesus Christ can give a person that hope, that certainty. And I find this blessedness of
being found in Him gets sweeter as the days go by, as the years
go by. And I believe they'll appear
to be especially sweet when this life is over, as it soon will
be, very soon it will be. When it's ebbing away, what else
could give us any peace except the knowledge of being found
in Him? To know that I am His, I'm His,
and He's mine. I've attended the bedside of
a few folks who were dying, some believers, a few that weren't
believers. But I've never, have you? I've never heard anybody
that was dying. I've never heard anybody say,
oh, I wish I had more money. Not one time. Never heard anyone
say, oh, I wish I'd had a bigger house. Not once. Oh, but I've heard the reverse.
I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful. Oh, how precious
does he appear to me now as I'm about to leave this world and
to stand before God Almighty. Oh, how sweet it is to be found
in him. Let me share just a few sentences
of the testimony of a man who was beheaded. These are his last
words. These are his last words. He
was beheaded for preaching the gospel. He made these statements
as he stood on the very platform where he was beheaded. He said,
righteousness of my own, I don't have any. I don't have any. But I do believe that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners whereof I am chief. Through faith
in his righteousness and blood have I obtained mercy and through
him and in him alone have I the hope of a blessed conquest and
victory over sin and Satan and hell and death and that I shall
attain unto the resurrection of the just and be made partaker
of eternal life. I know whom." He borrows the
words of another one who was facing death and who said, I
know whom I have believed. I know whom I have believed. John wrote and said, I want you
to know You that believe on Christ, I want you to know that you have
eternal life. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
you have eternal life. I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. I have preached salvation through
his name, and as I have preached, so do I believe. and do command
the riches of his free grace and faith in his name unto you
all as the only way whereby ye can be saved. That salvation is it not to be
found in him. And will it not be even more
sweeter when I stand before God Almighty, not dressed in my own
righteousness, but when I stand before God's throne dressed in
a beauty not my own, found in the very righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We read concerning him, that
is the Lord Jesus, that he's the same yesterday and today
and forever. And so all those who are found
in him, accepted in him, will be so yesterday and today and
forever. Once we're his, brother-in-law,
we're his forever. Nothing. Nothing. I like that. The hymn writer
said, Once we're his, we're his forever. Nothing from his love
can sever. That's so. I've loved thee with
an everlasting love. You're mine. You're mine by choice,
by purchase. To be found out of Christ is
to be found without spiritual life. Without Christ is to be
found without grace. Without Christ is to stand before
God without any hope whatsoever. Because only Christ gives a sinner
those things. Only being found in Him gives
us a good hope in this life and the life which is to come. Turn,
if you will, to Matthew chapter 24. Let's read a few words that
our Lord said concerning that day when men shall stand before
Him. In Matthew chapter 24, verse
30, our Lord's speaking here and He says, and then shall appear
the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory the
angels told the apostles this same Jesus you see ascending
back to heaven is the same Jesus that'll come back the one with
great power and glory and he shall send his angels with the
great sound of a trumpet And they shall gather together his
elect, from the four winds, from the one end of heaven to the
other. Look in chapter 25, verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered
all nations. and he shall separate them one
from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats and
he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the
left. Now turn back if you will one
more Matthew chapter 7 concerning this same time that he spoke
of in chapter 24 and 25 he says this as well in chapter 7 in
verse 21 Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in
thy name done many wonderful works? And they will I profess
unto them, I never knew you, Depart from me, ye workers of
iniquity. Oh, again I say, how blessed,
how sweet, how glorious in that day that we just read about. That day when our Lord shall
separate his people from those who aren't, the sheep from the
goats, when he says to his sheep, enter into the joy prepared for
you from the foundation of the world, and he says to the others,
depart from me, I never knew you. In his high priestly prayer,
he said, this is life eternal that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Depart from
me. I never knew you. And as that
takes place, oh, how sweet it will be to be found in him. Found in him. Safe. Safe and
sound. First of all, consider this.
We will be found. Joe, we will be found. There's
not a question about that. It's not a question of if. It's
not even a question of when. Oh, the important thing is where. Where should we be found? As
our father Adam was found, hiding, hiding in the garden. wrapped
in fig leaves, and God came to him. Adam, where art thou? Today, multitudes are found in
churches. Right now, at this very hour,
as we meet here, the few of us that are meeting here now, there
are multitudes of people meeting in churches all across this land. They're found in churches. Oh,
but sadly, they're not found in Christ. Religion is the no
doctrine. Salvation is to know Christ. There's a difference. There's
a world of difference. Oh, that I might know Him. To know Him is life everlasting. Religion produces converts like
an assembly line. But only God's grace can make
us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Turn, if you will, to Revelation
chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. Again,
it speaks of that day when all men will be ushered into the
presence of God Almighty. Where will we be found? Revelation
chapter 20 verse 11. And I saw a great white throne,
and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away. And there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead small and great stand before
God, and the books were open and another book was open which
is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books according to their works and
the sea gave up the dead no hiding place no escape the sea gave
up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man
according to their works and death and hell were cast into
the lake of fire This is the second day. And whosoever was
not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake
of fire. Oh, in that day, in that day
to be found in him. Paul tells us here in Philippians
3 in verses 4 through 6 that at one time before the great
shepherd, Before the great shepherd who said, I came down from heaven
to do my father's will. I'm the good shepherd that laid
down my life for the sheep. The good shepherd seeks his sheep. Oh, before that time that the
great shepherd came to Paul, or rather Saul of Tarsus on the
Damascus road, Paul said, before that day, I could be found religious,
I could be found zealous for the traditions of my fathers
I could be found trying to keep the law and I would be found
all that time being very, very sincere and yet I would be found
lost. Lost. I didn't have a clue who
God was. Didn't have a clue who I really
was before God. Oh, but then But then the great
shepherd could say of the Saul of Tarsus, that religious Pharisee,
could say concerning him what he said to the rich young ruler,
who told our Lord, I've done all these things that you've
mentioned. I've kept the law from the time I was a boy. I've
done it all. And our Lord looked at him and
said, one thing thou likest. One thing thou likest. And Saul
of Tarsus with all his religious tradition, with all of his zeal,
one thing he liked. And that one thing is everything,
Mike. It's everything. It's Jesus Christ
himself. Like the parable our Lord spoke
of, Concerning the Pharisee and the public One was found in religion. Oh, but one by the grace of God
was found to be in Christ One went home lost. I Love these
words what our Lord said concerning the public This man went home
justified Justified That sinner's going home justified in the sight
of God Almighty. He's not guilty. Not guilty. And he'll never be unjustified. He'll never be unjustified. And
again, I say, that will be repeated thousands of times over today,
won't it? People will leave churches Just
like they came in, nothing better. Not knowing. They've never been
lost. They've never been lost so they
could never be found. They've never been stripped.
Therefore, they've never been clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. They'll go home clinging to their
own self-righteousness. Oh, but concerning some, The
God of glory looks down and says, that man's going home justified. Oh yes, we will be found. But
the apostle says his ambition was to be found in him. To be found in him again. When
I'm leaving this world, if God should say what our Lord said
concerning that rich fool. He said, tonight Think about
this, child of God. Think about this. What if God
should speak these words concerning you and I? Tonight, thy soul
shall be required of thee. Tonight. I want to leave this
world found in him. And singing, other refuge have
I none, hangs my helpless soul on thee. Christ is that ark by
which men enter in and are safe. Remember, when the flood came,
the water rose, but Noah was in that ark. He was safe and
sound, was he not? Without was death, destruction,
God's wrath. But inside that ark, Noah was
perfectly safe because the ark was absorbing the wrath of God. Noah in that ark was perfectly
safe and so it is with everyone that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. Like those cities of refuge,
those designated cities where if the man-slayer entered into
he would be safe even so right now. Right now. Therefore there is right now
no condemnation to those who are aware in Christ Jesus. They're safe. They're safe being
found in Him. Christ is that one mediator and
there is none other. Oh, to stand before God like
those we read about in Matthew chapter 7. Standing before the
just and holy and righteous God with nothing between them. No
advocate, no mediator. All they have, all they have
that they think will suffice is their own works, their own
righteousness. Oh, how terrible. Oh, but to
be found in Christ is to be able to stay with David. Let me read
it to you. You're familiar with it. But
David is dying. We read in 2 Samuel, now these
be the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said,
the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of God, of
Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel. But David makes mention
of none of those things. He doesn't look to none of those
things for any comfort, any hope in his dying hour. But he does
say, although my house be not so with God. He could look back
at that rebel son, Absalom. and others. And David say, oh,
my house be not so with God yet. I like that. Yet. He had made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things insure, this is all my salvation
and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. All my salvation,
not a part but all my salvation. All my desire. I don't want anything
else. This is all my desire. I don't
need anything else. That's what Paul said. Oh, to
be found in Him. Christ is everything. And if
I have Christ, if I'm found in Him, I don't need anything else. He's enough. Christ is all. top lady, I suppose, he wrote
many hymns. I have a volume of his works
and the last chapter contains, oh, I don't know how many hymns
he wrote. His most famous one, I'm sure, is Rock of Ages. He
wrote, When I soar to worlds unknown, and behold thee on thy
throne, O rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide, let me hide
myself in thee, found in him. And when that time comes, when
I stand before God, how sweet, how precious to be found in him. In Christ is the place of perfect
acceptance. Turn if you will to Ephesians
chapter, or turn back to Ephesians chapter 1. This is what Paul
said, to be found in Christ is to be found in that place, the
only place of perfect acceptance by the Holy Lord God. Now think
about that. Perfect acceptance? Absolutely. Where can that be? How can that
be? Where can that be in Christ Jesus? This is what Paul tells us here
in Ephesians 1 and verse 6. Speaking of Jesus Christ himself,
to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He had made
us accepted, that is God, had made us accepted in the Beloved. God sees my Savior and then He
sees me. God sees my Savior, His Beloved Son in whom He is
well pleased. God sees my Savior and then he
sees me in the beloved, accepted and free. Look what Paul says
in chapter 2 of Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 13. But now, speaking
to those who were once far off, who by nature were dead in trespasses
and sins just like everyone else, We're without God in the world
and having no hope. But now, look what grace has
done. Look what God's mercy has done. Oh, what a wonder. What a miracle. Look at this. But now in Christ
Jesus, you who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ, are made near by the blood of Christ, near
to God, safe and sound. Near to God, brought near by
the blood of Jesus Christ. You can't be any nearer. You
can't be any more accepted. You can't be any dearer to God
himself. Oh, to be found in him is to
be found in the only place of eternal salvation. Simeon, that
old man in Israel, that day that Joseph and Mary brought the young
child, the baby, the infant to the temple, Simeon takes him
in his arms and says, well, now, just let me die. Let me die. My eyes have seen thy salvation. And every sinner Every sinner
to whom God has granted the precious gift of faith can say the same
thing. I'm ready to die, not because
of any righteousness of my own, oh, but because I'm found in
him. I've seen thy salvation, the
salvation that God himself provided. the salvation that God himself
sent forth, and that salvation in whom God is well-pleased,
found in Him, I'm saved. I'm saved. I must be. I believe God's Word. I believe
God's Word. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Christ said, Whosoever will,
let him come unto me. Is anybody thirsty? Here's the
fountain of living waters freely. Let him come and drink freely.
And I came. I came. The hymn writer expressed
it like this. Arise, my soul, arise. Shake off your guilty fears.
The bleeding sacrifice on your behalf appears. Before God's
throne, my surety stands. My name is written on His hands.
My God is reconciled. His pardoning voice I hear. He
owns me for His child. I can no longer fear. With confidence,
confidence I now draw nigh, Father, Abba, Father, cry and to be found
in him is to be found in the place of perfect righteousness
perfect righteousness it must be it must be because believers
stand before God in the very righteousness of his son look
what Paul says again in verse 9 here in Philippians 3 and 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. The righteousness which is in
Jesus Christ. Turn back, if you will, to Romans
chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Here in verse 1 of Romans 10,
Paul writes and says, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them
record that they have a zeal for God, but not according to
knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth. There is no mixture of my righteousness
in Christ. Christ's righteousness is the
believer's righteousness. It's all Christ. That robe by
which we stand before God, clothed, is all Christ. We have not weaved
a stitch in it, have we? Spurgeon, one time, was invited
to one of his members' house for lunch, for tea, and an old
widow woman, Spurgeon knew she was poor, so before he left his
own house, he took a few cakes with him, wrapped them up, put
them in his coat pocket. And when he got to this widow's
house and sat down, he pulled these cakes out. And she looked
and said, what's this? What do you think you're doing?
He said, well, I thought, no, she said, I invited you. I'll
take care of the meal. I'll provide everything. And
so does God by his grace. All things are ready, he says,
just come and die. Everything's ready. What did
the father of the returning prodigal command? What did he command
concerning that son, that prodigal, that wayfaring son, that rebel? He said, bring forth the best
robe and put it on him. Can you visualize that? Did he
still have the stink of that pigsty upon him? I suspect he
did. But the father said, put the
very best robe on him. Cover him. Can you see him as
he stands there? Oh, and when he shall come with
trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found, dressed in his
righteousness alone, faultless. Now wait a minute, hymn writer,
did you go too far? Faultless? To stand before the
throne? That's exactly right. That's
what the scripture says. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we
read, God hath made him, that is Christ, to be sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Is that true? Was Christ made sin? Yes, he was. So this is also
true. I made the very righteousness
of God in him. That perfect robe of Christ's
righteousness covers this center completely. It doesn't allow
any drafts of cold air to come in. It keeps me warm, safe, and
sound again. Living up that hollow, in that
house. It was heated with coal. Didn't go to a wall, Joe, and
turn the thermostat and just warm up. Oh, no, no. My father
would get up at night and stoke the fire. Had the old potbelly
stove. Does anybody know what that is? Man, you remember a bike? You'd
stand right up against that thing. I mean, get as close to it, almost
touching it in order to be warm. And your back would be warm if
you got close enough, but your front, you couldn't feel anything.
That's as good as it was. Oh, but clothed in the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, I'm completely completely warm all over, found
in the righteousness of Him. I'll be found without sin before
God Almighty. Christ, we're told in Ephesians
5, will present His church without spot or blemish or any such things. In Colossians, he said, unblameable,
unreprovable, without fault, before God's throne. Let me read
you this verse. You're familiar with it. In those
days, I like this. Oh, what amazing grace. You mean
this applies to a sinner like me that has to cry daily, oh wretched
man that I am. These words apply to someone
who everything he does is mixed with sin, everything, no exceptions,
everything. And concerning such a one as
that, it is written, in those days and in that time, saith
the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there
shall be none. And there shall be none. and
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon
them whom I reserve." Oh, is it any wonder that Paul said,
in that day, I want to be found in him, safe and sound. In his days, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness, our advocate
before the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Oh, to be found
in him. God bless you. God bless you.