It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for Lord thou couldst not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyvert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. Paul the Apostle said, let us
walk by the same rule. Let us mind the same thing. Now here, Paul, under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, gives us a rule to walk by and a mind
to have. And I dare say it's not what
we would naturally think. Now, what is this rule that the
believer is called on to walk by? And what is this mind? Actually, it's the mind of Christ
that the believer is to possess. With the first part of this chapter,
Paul said, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
To me, indeed, is not grievous. It's not irksome. But for you,
it's safe. The only safe thing is the constant
repetition of the gospel of God's grace. Now, he gives a warning. Beware of dogs. He calls false
prophets dogs. Preachers who don't preach the
gospel, he calls dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware
of the concision. And he's not talking about drunks
and prostitutes when he's using this language. He's talking about
preachers. Men who claim to be servants
of God. Beware of these men. And then
he says in verse 3, For we are the circumcision. We're the true
circumcision. These fellas talk about circumcision,
but we're the true circumcision. We're the true Jew, the ones
who have circumcised hearts and He gives these three marks. We
are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Now here's the
rule we walk by. Here's the mind we have. We worship
God in the Spirit, in the Holy Spirit. You see, the natural
man cannot worship God. Only a man who has been born
from above, who has been given a holy nature, a spiritual nature,
can worship God. That's why I don't say, come
worship with us. I say, come hear the Gospel.
I want you to hear the Gospel. I want to preach the Gospel.
But only the Spirit of God can enable someone to worship. And
here's what happens in true worship. He says, we worship God in the
Spirit and we rejoice in Christ Jesus. Our rejoicing, our confidence,
our glory, our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in our
works, not in what we do, but in Christ and in Christ alone. Paul said much the same thing
in Galatians 6.14 when he said, God forbid that I should glory. saving the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We rejoice with glory in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Now, did you hear
that? No confidence. If my flesh has anything to do
with it, it's no good. We have no confidence in the
flesh. Now, he expands on what he means
in verse 4. Now remember, this is the rule
the believer is to walk by. This is the mind the believer
is to have. He says, though I might also
have confidence in the flesh, if anybody thinks that they have
a reason to boast in their flesh, I've got more of a reason than
they do, Paul says. And he talks about his religious pedigree.
He says, though I might also have confidence in the flesh,
if any man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the
flesh, I more. He said, I was circumcised the
eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of the Hebrews, as touching the law. I was a Pharisee. That was
the strictest sect. Concerning zeal, I was so zealous
about what I believed that I felt it my moral obligation to persecute
those who didn't believe what I believed. Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law. I was blameless. I could look
at the Ten Commandments and say to myself, outwardly, I've kept
them. I've never met anybody like that.
Have you? Someone who could say, touching
the righteousness, the outward obedience of the law, I was blameless. What a commendation. He says, if you think you have
something you can trust in your flesh, I've got more than you
do. And he gives us his reasons. But look what he says in verse
7. Now remember, I repeat, this is the believer's walk. This
is the believer's rule. This is the believer's mind.
Here's how they think. He says in verse 7, that what
things were gained to me, what things I counted as advantageous
to me, my religious pedigree, my righteousness, my law keeping,
my being a Pharisee, what things that were gained to me, those
I counted lost for Christ. I used to think they were to
my advantage, and now I see they're nothing but garbage. Loss. No good. Of no saving benefit
of all. Actually hurting me. At one time
they were in the plus column. Now they are in the minus column. Now he says in verse 8, yea,
doubtless, I count all things but loss. for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but done." What does
he mean when he says, I count all things at loss? Well, he
means everything. Everything. I count all things at loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Now,
there's one thing better. than the knowledge of Christ
Jesus, the Lord. It's the knowledge of Christ
Jesus, my Lord. When the Lord is my Lord. He's the Lord of my life and
how I love His Lordship. No man can say Jesus is Lord,
but by the Holy Ghost. Now look what he says. Yea, doubtless.
I count all things. Is your mind like this? Is my
mind like this? I want to examine myself in light
of this. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but loss, but garbage, for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things,
and do count them but dung. Now, lest anybody thinks I'm
bragging on what all I've given up for Christ's sake, all I've
given up is dung. It's not like I should be commended
for giving up these things. I see these things as nothing
more than dull. He lost self-righteousness and
gained Christ's righteousness. He lost bondage and he gained
freedom. He lost false peace and gained
true peace. He lost pretended glory and he
gained true glory. He lost death and he gained life. He lost hell and he gained heaven. You see, these things that he
suffered loss were worthless to him. in comparison to the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Now, is it any wonder that he
counted his loss as nothing more than done? Now, it's only in
this loss that we gain Christ. Now, let's go on reading what
he says. I'm going to read verses 8 and 9 together now. Yea, doubtless,
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I've 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." Now here's
my desire. Here's my goal. It's to simply
be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when God comes looking
for me, I'm simply in Christ, and all He sees is Christ. Now, when God passed through
the land of Egypt, you can read about this in Exodus 11 and 12
and 13. When God passed through the land
of Egypt to destroy the firstborn, there was safety in one place.
in the houses with the blood over the door. And to anybody
who was found in one of those houses with the blood of the
Paschal Lamb over the door, they weren't judged. They were safe. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. He didn't say, when I see your
faith. He didn't say, when I see your sincerity. He didn't say,
when I see your good intentions or your good works or your religious
experience. Or he said, when I see the blood,
that's the only thing he was looking for. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Now, where would you want to
be at that time? One place, in the house, with
the blood over the door. Now when God comes looking for
me, all I want Him to see is Christ. Now there's the rule
of my life. I only want to be found in Him.
There's my mind. I only want to be found in Him. I don't want Him to see me in
my righteousness. Look what Paul said. Not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law. I don't want to have
anything to do with my personal righteousness. You know why?
Because all it is, is filthy rags. Now that's the truth. All
my righteousness, all your righteousness is, is filthy rags. Do you think
God can accept you for your filthy rags' sake? No, He can't. Paul
said, I don't want to have anything to do with my righteousness,
which is according to my personal obedience to the law. You see,
if I come into God's presence in my own righteousness, there's
only one thing God can do, and that's send me to hell. That's
it. His justice, His holiness would
demand it. because my righteousness is as
filthy rags." That's what the Scripture says, Isaiah 64, verse
6. Oh, I don't want to have anything to do with my righteousness,
Paul says. And remember, he talked about how righteous he used to
be, but it was a false righteousness. It was an outward righteousness.
It was a hypocritical righteousness. It wasn't really righteous. It
was phony. He said, I don't want to have
anything to do with that. I simply want to be found in Christ, 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. Now here's why I want to be found
in Christ. Because if I'm found in Christ,
my personal righteousness is the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, which is the righteousness of God. My sin became His. His righteousness becomes mine.
And I can come into God's presence boldly in Him. Now here's the
rule of life for a believer. Here's his mind. I simply want
to be found in Christ. I don't want God to see me in
any other way than in His Son. And then Paul said in verse 10,
that I might know Him. Not merely know about Him, but
a personal relationship with Him, so that when I speak of
Him, it's not name dropping. It's because I know Him, and
I have a relationship with Him, and He knows me. The Lord said,
I know my sheep, and am known of mine. Now, my desire is that
I might not be one of those people. of whom the Lord warns us of
in Matthew chapter 7 that are doing all this religious boasting.
Lord, Lord, have we not preached in Your name? And in Your name
have we not cast out demons? And in Your name have we not
done many wonderful works? Notice their opinion of their
works, many and wonderful. And then we read where the Lord
says, He'll say to those people, Depart from Me, ye that work
iniquity. never knew you. You claim to
have known me, but you didn't. And I never knew you. Oh, I don't
want to be one of those people. I want to be someone who knows
the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to know Him. I want to
be saved by Him. Oh, to know Him. And then next
he says that I might know Him and that I might know the power
of His resurrection. I don't simply want to know about
the fact of His resurrection, the fact that He did die and
that He was raised from the dead, but I want to know the power
of His resurrection, the ability of His resurrection, what His
resurrection actually accomplished. I want to know that. I want to
know Him and I want to know the power of His resurrection. What
is the power of His resurrection? Romans 4, 25 says He was delivered
for our offenses. And He was raised again for our
justification. Now here's the power of His resurrection. When He was raised, everybody
He died for was justified before God. That means not guilty. That
means having no sin. Now how can that be? How can
that be? How can God look at me and see
me as being without sin. Well, the only way He can see
me as being without sin is if I'm without sin. This is not
pretend. This is not role-playing. I'm
going to act as though you don't have any sin. No, if God sees
me as justified, He sees me as without sin. Now, in John chapter
8, there was a woman who was taken in adultery in the very
act. She was caught red-handed. And
some men, I guess they set her up, and they wanted to entrap
the Lord in His words. So they took this woman and brought
her before the Lord and said, this woman was taken in adultery
in the very act. Now Moses is in the Law, commanded
that such should be stoned. But what do you say? You see,
they thought we've got him trapped. If he says, Condemner, we can
say, where's the mercy you talk about? If he says, let her go,
we can say, don't you respect God's law? God's law does say
to stone her. They thought they had him entrapped.
So the scripture says when they were saying this, he stooped
down and wrote on the ground. One stoop. And then he raised
up and said, he that will not sit among you, let him first
cast a stone at her. And then he stooped down Again,
two stoops. And then those fellows left being
convicted by their own conscience. And when he was raised up from
his second stoop, he looked at that woman who was caught in
the act and said, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath
no man condemned thee? She said, No, man, Lord. He said,
Neither do I condemn thee. And the only reason He wouldn't
condemn, remember He's God, He's just, is because there's nothing
there to condemn or for. Now these two stoops that He
took represent His two stoops. He stooped when He became man. That's His first stoop. And He
stooped when He was made sin on the cross. That's His second
stoop. And so when He's speaking to
this woman now, He's speaking to her on resurrection ground. He's raised from that second
stoop. That woman's sins have been put
away. And He says, I don't continue. Now that is the power of the
resurrection. And oh, I want to know the power
of His resurrection. And then He says next that I
might know the fellowship of His suffering. I want to know
What I have in common, I want to share in, I want to have fellowship
with His suffering. Now this means two things. First,
I want to know that I had a part in His suffering. I want to know
that what He did, He did for me. Now understand this, when
Jesus Christ was dying on Calvary's tree, please hear me carefully.
When Jesus Christ was dying on Calvary's tree, He was not dying
for everybody. If He died for everybody, everybody
would be saved. He wasn't shedding His precious
blood for all men, making salvation available if they do their part.
That's a false message of salvation by works. He was dying for the
elect. He was dying for His sheep. He
said, I lay down my life for the sheep. That's who He was
dying for. Now, how can I know if I'm one of them? I want to
know that I have a fellowship in His suffering. I want to know
that I have part in His suffering. I want to know that He died for
me. Well, how can I know? Well, Romans 5, 6 says, when
we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. Now, if I'm without strength,
and I am, and if I'm ungodly, and I am, I can conclude that
Jesus Christ died for me. And if He died for me, I must
be saved. My sins have been put away. Paul
says, I want to know that I had a fellowship in his suffering.
But not only that, Paul also meant I want to suffer for his
sake. I want to be so united to him and his death and
preaching his death and what he accomplished. I want to be
among those group of people that are persecuted because of what
they believe and what they say concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1.29 says, For unto you it is given on the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for
His sake. I would count it a great high
privilege and honor to be allowed to suffer for His sake. And then
he said, I want to be made conformable unto Him in His death. Now, this
is the desire, this is the mind, this is the rule of the believer.
I want to be found in Him. I want to know Him. I want to
know the power of His resurrection. I want to know the fellowship
of His sufferings. I want to be made conformable to Him in
His death. Now, what does he mean by that?
Well, in Philippians chapter 2, verse 8, it says, And being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and He became
obedient unto death, even to death at the cross. And Paul
says, I want to be made conformable to Him in that death. Now, there
are two things that are pointed out about His death. Number one,
He humbled Himself. Oh, how the Son of God humbled
Himself. I want to do that too. I want
to take the lowest seat in the house and never see myself as
anything above the very chief of sinners, utterly dependent
upon Him for all things. But it also says in this passage
of Scripture, in humbling Himself, He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. The father said, Son, go let
them nail you to a cross, suffer, bleed, and die as their Savior. And his son said, Yes, Father.
It was the ultimate act of obedience. He said, Though He slay me, yet
will I trust Him. How important is obedience to
a Christian? It's utterly important. Paul
says, Oh, I want to obey even if it kills me. That's the mind
of a believer. That's the rule of a believer.
Obedience. Obedience to the Lord. He humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. And then he said in verse 11,
if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead. Here's what I want. On resurrection morning, I want
to be raised perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. That's
my only goal. That when I stand before God
on judgment day, I will be perfectly conformed to the image of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'll be just like Him. You see,
if I have His righteousness, when I'm raised from the dead,
I will be raised just like Him. Oh, how I desire to attain to
that resurrection of the dead when I will be done with sin. Now, he says in verse 12, it's
not as though already attained. Either were already perfect.
I'm not there yet. I still have this thing called
the flesh that is always with me while I'm alive. A sinful
nature. That's all you can call it is
a sinful nature. Paul said, when I would do good,
evil is present with me. Somebody says, well, I'm not
perfect. You're right about that. You're right about that. When
somebody says to me, well, I'm not perfect. I think, well, thanks.
I'm glad you told me that. I wouldn't have known unless
you told me that. Of course, you're not perfect. No one is. Everyone
is filled with this still evil nature. He says, not as though
I'd already attained, neither were already perfect, but I follow
after. I pursue, if that I may apprehend
that for which also I have apprehended of Christ Jesus. Christ arrested
me. I was on the road to hell, and
He stopped me. He stopped me. He intercepted
me. He interfered in my path. He
arrested me and gave me life and put away my sins. Now verse
13, he says, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. I'm not there yet, but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, And
reaching forth unto those things that are before, I press toward
the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus." Now remember, this is our rule of life. This is our
mindset. Paul says, this one thing I do,
forgetting what's behind. Forget the good things. I don't
mean it in an ungrateful attitude. But don't look for assurance
because of some kind of religious experience you had. I must be
saved because of the way I felt then or what I gave then or what
I experienced then. Forget the good stuff. Just forget
it. Forget the bad stuff. I can think about my sins. But
you know what? The Scripture says the Lord doesn't
remember them. There are sins and there are iniquities. I'll
remember no more. So I'm forgetting them too. Forget
bad experiences. Forget bad upbringing. Oh, so
many people have gone through so many difficult things. I realize
that brought pain and sorrow into their life because of things
in the past. But the only thing to do is move on, forgetting
those things that are behind. Really, if you really believe
that God sent him your way for his glory and your good, you
can forget him, can't you? And you can thank God for whatever
he sent your way. forgetting what's behind, and
reaching forth unto that which is before, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Now, let us therefore as many
as be perfect or mature be thus minded. This is the way to think.
And if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even
this to you. If you're not thinking this way, if you're a child of
God, He'll cause you to. Nevertheless, Where to? We have
already attained. Let us walk by the same rule.
Let us mind the same thing. Let there be a true like mindedness. You see, believers really do
believe the same thing because the Lord's taught them the same
gospel. Now, here is the rule. of my life. Those things that
were gained to me, I now count them as garbage. I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things and do
count it but dumb 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 might 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 we have this message on CD
and DVD. If you call the church right
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make himself known to you. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com
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