To Win Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about rejoicing in Christ?

The Bible teaches us to rejoice in Christ for His greatness, mercies, and righteousness, acknowledging that our completeness is found in Him. Rejoicing in Christ is a central theme in the Bible, particularly in Philippians 3:8, where Paul encourages believers to rejoice in the Lord. To rejoice in Christ means to celebrate His greatness, acknowledging that our God is powerful and majestic. It also involves rejoicing in His incarnation, where God made flesh dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. Furthermore, we delight in the mercies He bestows, which fulfill all our needs and make us sufficient for eternal life. This joy is anchored in the understanding that we are complete in Him, possessing His righteousness and the hope of His return. As believers, our rejoicing is a response to the incredible grace and love we have received from Christ.

Q: How do we know that grace is sufficient for salvation?

Grace is sufficient for salvation as it is through faith in Christ's righteousness and not our works that we are accepted by God. The sufficiency of grace for salvation is a foundational doctrine in the Reformed faith. According to Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved by grace through faith, not by works, so that no one may boast. This highlights that our acceptance before God is based solely on Christ's righteousness, which is credited to us through faith. Paul emphasizes this in Philippians 3, where he expresses his desire to be found in Christ, not possessing his own righteousness but that which comes through faith in Him. This grace is not merely adequate; it is abundant and all-encompassing, providing everything we need for salvation and sanctification. It transforms us and empowers us to live in accordance with God’s will, assuring us of our eternal place with Him.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to hear the gospel often?

Hearing the gospel often is crucial for Christians as it keeps our hearts centered on Christ and guards against false teachings. Regularly hearing the gospel is vitally important for spiritual health and growth among Christians. In Philippians 3:1, Paul suggests that repeating this message is not tiresome for him but serves as a safeguard for the believers. Listening to the gospel consistently helps keep our hearts and minds focused on Christ, reminding us of His grace and mercy. Moreover, it protects us from the influence of false doctrines and teachers, as a strong foundation in the truth allows us to discern error. The gospel refreshes our spirits, counteracts self-righteousness, and fosters a sense of community in which believers can encourage each other in the faith. As we continuously return to the good news of Christ, we are renewed and energized to live out our faith.

Q: What does Paul mean by having no confidence in the flesh?

Paul teaches that confidence in the flesh leads to self-righteousness, while true righteousness comes only through faith in Christ. In Philippians 3:3, Paul articulates a key distinction in Christian theology: the need to have no confidence in the flesh. This is a rejection of self-righteousness and a clear acknowledgment that nothing we do in our own strength can earn God's favor. Paul, himself a Pharisee, recounts his former credentials and zeal, ultimately declaring them as loss for the sake of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:7-8). Confidence in the flesh refers to relying on our works, heritage, or moral conduct as grounds for justification. Instead, Paul emphasizes that true righteousness comes through faith in Christ, highlighting the necessity of grace as foundational to a believer's identity and acceptance before God. This complete reliance on Christ frees us from the burden of attempting to achieve righteousness through our own efforts.

Q: Why is preaching the same gospel repeatedly beneficial?

Repeated preaching of the gospel ensures believers remain centered on Christ and is essential for spiritual safety and growth. Preaching the same gospel repeatedly holds profound benefits for Christians, as seen in Philippians 3:1. Paul emphasizes that while it may seem redundant, it is not tiresome for him because he knows the impact it has on believers' hearts and lives. This repetition keeps believers anchored in the truth of God's grace and reminds them of their identity in Christ. Furthermore, hearing the gospel often acts as a safeguard against false teachings and self-righteousness. It reinforces the core message of redemption through Christ’s sacrifice and invites believers to continually reflect on their complete dependence on Him. Consequently, this practice helps to sustain faith, encourage accountability, and foster an atmosphere of unity within the church as believers grow together in understanding the depth of the gospel.

Philippians chapter 3. Paul begins this chapter with
the word finally. Finally, my brethren, finally.
Why in the middle of the chapter, the book, in the middle of the
book did he say finally? He's not through writing. He's
not to the end of the epistle. These are not his last words
to them by any means. But what he's doing here is the
same thing he did over in Romans 3. He's saying, I'm about to
give you some mighty important words. Finally, this is the sum
and substance of my message. He said that over here. Let me
just turn and read it to you. In chapter 3 of Romans, he said
at the very beginning of the book, therefore I conclude. This
is my conclusion. that a man's justified by faith
without the deeds of the law. That's my conclusion. Then he
went on writing, and here he says, finally brethren, finally
brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it to rejoice in Christ? I think this is a fitting way
to read the Word of God, when we read something like this,
finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. What is it to rejoice
in Christ? First, it's to rejoice in the
greatness of his person. O Lord, my God, O Lord, my God,
when I consider all the things, the worlds thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout
the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, how great
Thou art, how great Thou art. Rejoice in the greatness of His
person, my God. And then is to rejoice in His
incarnation. He was in the world. He who made
the world was in the world. The world knew Him not, but He
was here. Came unto His own, they received Him not. But the
Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we actually,
John said, beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. And that glory of God was revealed
to us in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. I rejoice in His
incarnation. I rejoice in His mercies. Talked
about them this morning, innumerable mercies. Of God, He's made unto
us all we need. He has made us sufficient in
Christ and meet in Christ to inherit eternal glory. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
holiness, redemption. I'm complete. In Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in
Him. I rejoice in His righteousness. Bob talked about Thank God for
the righteousness of Christ. I don't have any of my own, but
he has enough for all of his people, sufficient righteousness. I rejoice in his return. He said,
I go to prepare a place for you, and when I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. I rejoice in his intercession. He ever lived it. to make intercession
for us. There's never a moment, never
a day, never a month or a year that I don't have with the Father
an advocate, an intercessor, a great high priest who has an
understanding of my infirmities and I can come to the Father
in him. He's turned the throne of justice and righteousness
and holiness into for his people a throne of grace and mercy. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice
in the Lord. And then he says to write the
same things to you. And really, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, Titus,
are the same things. redemption by the blood, righteousness
in Christ, eternal life. To write this message of grace,
the gospel, the same things that I preached this morning, I'll
preach tonight. The same things that I preached
for 47 years, I'll preach for the next whatever time God gives
me. And he said to do that, to write
and to preach, Over and over again, the mercies of God in
Christ, the grace of God in Christ, the goodness of God to sinners
in Christ. He said, that's not grievous,
that's not tiresome to me. That's not tiresome at all. I'm
never weary of telling the story of Christ. It's always new. Always refreshing. Always a blessing. Not tiresome to me. But he says,
for you it is safe to preach this gospel over and over again.
It's not grievous, it's not tiresome, and for you it's safe. And I
thought, well, what is Paul saying here? Well, I'll tell you what
he's saying. Number one, to hear the gospel
often, often, keeps a man's heart and mind on Christ. You hear
it often, Sunday morning and Sunday night and during the week,
week after week, month after month, year after year. Some
of you have been sitting in these pews ever since this building
was built, 43 years ago. But as you hear the gospel of
Christ the Lord, often it keeps your heart and your mind on Him. He keeps you remembering him.
And that's what he said when he gave us the Lord's table.
He said, this dude remembering me, in remembrance of me. Don't
forget the pit from which you were digging. Don't forget. Remember the pit from which you
were digging. And remember the one who found
you. Keep your heart and mind on Christ.
Secondly, to preach and to hear the gospel often is a safeguard
against false doctrine and false teachers and false preachers. There are lots of them out there.
There are a lot of strange doctrines. Satan is crafty, subtle, and
he has these preachers and ambassadors of evil. that seek
to lead astray the people of God and disciples after themselves.
And to frequently hear the word is a safeguard against error.
It really is. It's a safeguard against error.
And then thirdly, to hear the gospel often guards us against
self-righteousness. How can I read what I just read
and feel any sense of self-righteousness or any pride? Or how can I have
a bad attitude towards someone else? Hearing what we heard this
morning, reading what we've read today. Frequently reading the
word and hearing the preaching of the gospel guards us against
self-righteousness and bad attitude and a bad spirit toward others. And I'll tell you another thing.
Hearing the gospel often refreshes my spirit and brings joy to my
heart. and life to my countenance. Someone brought me a bouquet
of flowers this week. They were fresh flowers and they
were in a pretty vase. And they were different kinds
of flowers and there was some dogwood, pink, pretty pink dogwood. And I was lying over there in
the chair reading in the evening and looked over there and my
dogwoods were like this. perked up pretty, just as bright as they were that
morning when they were delivered, but the dogwoods. And I looked
over there, and I believe Carrie was standing over there. I said,
Carrie, the dogwoods can't reach the water. The stems are out
of the water. The water's about halfway down.
Put some water in there. So she went on and got some water
and poured it in. Listen, it wasn't very long till they were
all just bright standing up straight. And I passed them a while ago
before I came to church, and I said, that water sure did help
those dogwoods. Helped them a lot. And I'll tell
you, God's man and woman planted by the river of water will bring forth its fruit in
its season. And the water of the gospel, and the bread of
the word, and the preaching of Christ will even make you old
dogwoods look good. It will. It'll brighten your
countenance and your spirit and your heart and your mind, but
you've got to get to the water. Stay away from the water. You've been in trouble. That's
right. Stay away from the water. I can't
stay away from the water. I just, I depend on it. It's my life. Christ is my life.
And that's what Paul says. to write and preach the same
things to you often. That's not tiresome to me. But
for you it's safe and necessary. For me it is. Verse 2 is a harsh
verse. It says, Beware of dogs. That's
what the Israelites called the Gentiles' dogs. They didn't have
any use for them. Beware of dogs. But he's not
talking about Gentiles here. He's talking about false preachers.
He calls them three names. He calls them dogs. He calls
them evil workers. He calls them the concision.
Now, they're false preachers. They always have been. Our Lord
warned us about false preachers. He said, beware of false prophets. Beware of them. This is the Master
himself telling his disciples and the other people, beware
of false preachers. They'll come to you in sheep's
clothing, wolves in sheep's clothing. You'll know them by their fruits.
What is a man's fruits? The product of his ministry.
After a while, it'll be evident what he was. And then Peter warns
about false prophets. He said, as there were false
prophets in Israel, there are false preachers among you. And
Paul in Galatians 1 says, I tell you, he said, if any man preach
any other gospel than the gospel I preach, let him be accursed. Let him be under the wrath of
God, anathema, when Christ comes. Let him be accursed. Well, do
you think you're right, and everybody who doesn't agree with you is
wrong? Not at all. But I tell you this, God's right,
and everybody who doesn't agree with Him is wrong. Wouldn't that
be safe to say that? God is right, His Word is right. And if they don't come to you
preaching, thus saith the Lord, then they're wrong. And Paul calls them dogs. And
I believe he takes that from Isaiah. You want to turn to Isaiah
chapter 56. I believe this is where the Apostle
Paul was a student of the Old Testament. And I believe he's
referring to Isaiah here, Isaiah 56 verse 10. He says, his watchmen. That's
what preachers are. They're God's watchmen. Prophets
are watchmen. I've made you a watchman, God
said, over the house of Israel. But verse 10, his watchmen are
blind. They're all ignorant. They're
all dumb dogs. They cannot bark. They don't
warn people. Sleeping, dreaming, talking in
their sleep, lying down, loving the slumber. They're greedy dogs.
They never have enough. They're shepherds that cannot
understand. They look to their own way. Seek their own glory. Every one for his own gain from
his own quarter. Beware of these men. They're
dogs. Then he said, beware of the evil
workers. I'll tell you where that's taken from. That's Matthew
chapter 7. The Lord Jesus is speaking here
about religious Religious workers being evil workers. Religious
workers being evil workers. Workers of iniquity. Matthew
7, verse 21. Now listen. He says in Matthew
7, 21, Not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord. It's not everyone
that's religious uses the name God, Jesus, Bible, blood. It's not everyone that says,
Lord, Lord, that'll enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that
doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many, many
will say to me in that day, in the day of judgment, in the day
when all nations are gathered before God, Lord, Lord, have
we not preached in your name? And in your name cast out demons?
Heal the sick. In your name we've done many
wonderful works. And then when I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from
me, ye that work evil. You see, these people who profess
to do good works and give people a false hope,
in their works and deny the gospel of God's grace in Christ. They
rob Christ of His glory and they give people a false hope. And
that's evil. It's evil. This is what is hard
for me to understand. It looks like a fellow would
just go down and rob the bank. Instead of sinning against God
by denying his worth, denying his glory, denying his character,
denying his truth, denying his son. In the name of God, giving
people a false hope, a false foundation. They're evil
workers, evil workers, deceived and being deceived and deceiving. Beware of them, these greedy
dogs, selfish dogs, self-seeking dogs, evil workers. Everything
that's religious is not good. Beware of the concision. What
is that? That's the circumcisers. That's the people going back
to the old law. Keep the Sabbath. And there's
zillions of them. Keep the Sabbath. Be circumcised. Don't eat pork. Keep certain
holy days. Pay your 10% tithe. Going back
to the Old Testament, teaching these things, taking people back
under the law, back under the bondage of the law. That's what
they are, that's the concision, that's the circumcises. Turn
to Galatians chapter 5. This is a powerful scripture
here. Galatians chapter 5. You see, Christ has fulfilled
the Old Testament. He is our tabernacle. He is our
Sabbath day. Christ Jesus is our Redeemer. He's our high priest. He's our
sacrifice. Everything is fulfilled in Him.
So chapter 5 of Galatians verse 1 says, You stand fast in this
liberty wherewith Christ has made you free. Free from these
laws and ceremonies and sacrifices and outward doings and deeds
and duties. Don't, don't, do not, be not
entangled again with that yoke of bondage. Behold our Paul saying
to you, if you be circumcised, if you do it for religious purpose,
in order to find favor with God, if you be circumcised because
Moses gave that law, if you pay a tithe because Moses gave that
law, If you keep a Sabbath day, because the Old Testament says
keep the Sabbath day, walk only so far, don't fix a meal, and
some people try to make Sunday into a Sabbath day. Back under
that old law, this is what the requirements were, we've got
to do these things. If you do that, in order to find
favor with God, listen, Christ profits you nothing. It can't
be Christ and the law. It can't be His righteousness
and mine. It can't be his doings and my doings. I testify again
to every man that is circumcised, every man that does this, because
the Old Testament law required it of the Jews. Keeps the Sabbath,
strictly pays the tithe, is circumcised, leaves off certain meats because
they were forbidden in the Old Testament, so forth and so on. Keeps the holy days. He's a debtor
to do the whole law. What that man must do is go back
and find out what the whole law says. Not just parts of it, but
all of it. And do that. Offer your sacrifices,
your lambs, your first fruits, everything's got to be done just
like it was back then. And verse 4 says, and then Christ
is becomes no effect to you. Whosoever you are justified by
the law, you've departed from grace, you've followed from grace,
you've left the message of grace. But we, through God's Spirit,
we wait for the hope of righteousness, not by works, duties, and deeds,
but by faith. That's what these circumcisers
are. They want to take people back
under the law, the bondage of the law. And they want to blend
the law and grace together, and it can't be. It's all of grace.
It's all of works and all of grace. It can't be both. The
thief on the cross. I like to refer to him because
I'm saved just like he is. I'm redeemed just like him. That man hanging on that cross
never kept a day, never paid a tithe, never walked a mile. in service for God, never was
baptized, never did any of those things, never waved the first
fruit, and yet my Lord redeemed him. He said, Lord, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. My Lord said, today you'll be
with me in paradise. And that's, David said, I'll
be satisfied when I'm there. That man was saved by grace,
grace, grace. By Christ, Christ, Christ. By
mercy, mercy, mercy. By nothing he did save the same
one. And what I do, and what you do,
we give, we help others, we pray, we sing, we worship God, we walk
in truth and obedience and righteousness and serve the Lord, but not in
order to be saved, but because God saved us. Not in order to
gain His favor, but because we have His favor. Not in order
to gain his... circumcision. We are Israel.
What is the circumcision? What was circumcision? It was
a mark of God's people. It was a token of God's covenant. It was a sign. This man belongs
to God. Every Israelite, every male in
Israel was circumcised. And that cutting of the skin,
and that mark on his body says, this is a man of God. In the case of Israel, it was
only an outward sign, because they weren't all men of God,
they weren't all believers. But they were God's nation. They
were God's nation, God's people, God's earthly people. And that
circumcision, that was the sign, that was the mark, that was a
token that they were allowed into the temple, they were allowed
into the worship, they were allowed into the Passover, they were
allowed to be included in his kingdom. That mark. Without it, you're outside. Without
it, you're one of those untouchables. Don't touch him. So what is our
circumcision? It's of the heart. Not the flesh. It's an operation by the spirit. Not by doing duties and deeds
and requirements. It's a work, it's an operation
on the heart. God says I'll give you a new
heart. And that's the mark of a man that belongs to God. He
has a new heart. That's what enables a man to
come to the table. A new heart. That's what gives
a man or a woman a part in the kingdom of God. A new heart.
The Holy Spirit didn't take a man and cut his foreskin, took a
knife and cut his heart. Gave him a new heart. That's
the mark. And that's what he says in verse
3. We are the circumcision. Worship God in spirit. Not in
sacrifices and Sabbath days certain holy days in the Spirit every
day. Every day. Every day. Worship God. Secondly,
rejoice in Jesus Christ. We're complete in Him. He's sufficient. He's my all and in all. I don't
rejoice in the day, I rejoice in the person. That's right. His presence. with beholding
his face, my all to his pleasure resigned. No changes of season
or place will make any change in my mind, while bliss with
a sense of his presence and his love, while palace a toy would
appear. And prisons would palaces prove
if he dwelt with me there. That's the mark. It's not in
the skin, it's in the heart. And not by the laws, but by the
Spirit of God. It's to worship God in spirit. Not only one day,
but every day. It's to rejoice at all times
in the sufficiency, efficacy, love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then, it's to have no confidence in this flesh. No confidence in this flesh.
From this flesh I derive no spiritual help. My flesh is not a help,
it's a hindrance. I'm sorry to say, that's just
so. And I have in this flesh no confidence. My confidence
is in Christ, in His Word. He's my sanctification, my holiness,
my righteousness, my salvation, my acceptance. And nothing that
I do or think or say adds one thing. to that righteousness
I have in Him. Nor does it take away one thing
from the perfection that I have in His work, in His grace, and
in His love. And while I want to do good works,
and give alms, and pray, and walk in perfect obedience, yet
as Paul says, I don't find that possible in me. But I find it
in him, satisfied with Christ. And then Paul said in verse 4,
I want you to listen to him here, he was a religious man when God
saved him. He said in verse 4, though I
might have also had confidence in this flesh, if any other man
thinketh he hath whereof he might trust in his flesh, I more. And
then what he says sounds a whole lot like what experience you and I had
growing up, some of you, not all of you, but some of you.
He said I was circumcised the eighth day, christened, confirmed,
or dedicated to God. When you're born, the mother
gave you to the Lord. He said I was born, circumcised
in the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. I was born
to Israelite parents, the tribe of Benjamin. My mother was a
Hebrew, my daddy was a Hebrew. I was born, some of you born
to Christian parents. Brought up in a Christian home,
dedicated to God. Catechized. Taught in the traditions
of the Baptist religion. Or the Methodist, or the Presbyterian,
or the Catholic, or whatever. I was a Pharisee, he said. Read
on, I was a Pharisee. Touching the love. A Pharisee. He was a... Paul was a... Somebody
in religious circles. He was a Pharisee. He was a teacher
of the Scriptures. I taught Sunday school before
I ever knew Christ. He did too. He was a teacher. He was a Pharisee. He was a member
of the highest Jewish court. He was a member of the Sanhedrin. He said concerning the law, down
here in verse 6, concerning zeal, he was zealous for his religion.
Boy, he'd fight anybody over his religion, over what he believed. He helped everybody that agreed
with him and killed everybody that disagreed with him. Zealous
for his religion. Persecuted the church. Touching
the righteousness, which is of the law, blameless. Didn't drink,
or smoke, or curse, or couldn't go to the picture show on Sunday.
Didn't match pennies, didn't play old maids, wouldn't have
cards in the house. Boy, I'm describing some of us
right here. We're brought up that way. Brought
up that way. We were in the same state Paul
is in right here. He said, you've got confidence
in your flesh. I'm old. A Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee,
circumcised, teacher of the scriptures, moral, blameless, somebody in
religion. That's the way we were. Religious but lost. Moral but
wicked in heart. trying to buy God's favor by
what we did, trying to obligate a holy God to take us to heaven
based on who we were and what we did, not realizing that the
greatest sin of all sins is to rob Christ of His glory as the only Redeemer of sinners.
That's the greatest sin a man can commit. I told somebody one time, I'd
rather my son be a bartender than a pre-World Baptist preacher. Any day. Because when he's serving liquor
at a bar, it messes up people's lives. But when he's preaching
the wrong doctrine, he's messing up people's souls. Damn. That's what I was. I was preaching
error, false doctrine. and just as sure for heaven as
if I was already there. And some of you were too. And we were basing our salvation
on our righteousness, on our morality, on our goodness, on
our religion, on our dedication, on our prayers, on our giving,
on our Christian living. And that's what he's saying here.
You think he said you got something to boast in? I'm over it. I was
a leader of these religious unbelievers. But one day, the Lord arrested
that old Pharisee on his road to Damascus. The Spirit of God
revealed Christ to Paul as his righteousness. God, who separated
me from my mother's womb, was pleased to reveal his Son in
me. He had the law revealed to him,
the Son was revealed in him. There's a difference. And I'll tell you, in verse 7,
what things were gained to me. You see, Paul believed that these
things were necessary. Necessary for righteousness,
necessary for acceptance with God. That if he did these things,
that entitled him to heaven. I thought the same thing. I wouldn't
have said it, but I thought it. And those things that were gained
that were so important to me, and those things in which I took
great delight in, and this, yes, pride. Is that right? Pride. Religious people without Christ
are the proudest people on earth. They're proud. They like the
Pharisees said, thank God I'm not like other men. Thank God
I'm not like other men. That reeks with pride. I fast,
I tithe, I give alms, I pray. I'm not an adulterer, I'm not
an extortioner, I'm not unjust, I'm not like that public. I thank
God I'm not like him. And these things, Paul said,
were gain to me. These things were my life. And
some of you. My whole life revolved around
the church, and my doctrines, and my social
fellowship in the church, and my duties, my goodness. And then one day I met Christ,
and all those things were lost. That which was everything became
nothing, and that which was nothing became everything. Yay, look at verse 8. Doubtless
I count all things, you name it, I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all
things. I do count them but garbage. Three things might be true. See, you can't have your works
in His. You can't have your righteousness in His. You can't have your salvation
in His. You can't have your religion
in His grace. So you count that but dumb and lost for three things. Number one, that I may win Christ. That word win, Christ, what is
a better word? A better word is gain. That I
may gain Christ. Gain Christ. Lay hold of Christ.
by faith, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. I don't want anything to do with
that which Isaiah said is filthy rags in God's sight, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the faithfulness of Christ,
the obedience of Christ, the righteousness which is of God. You see, for God to accept righteousness,
it's got to be perfect. We don't pray a prayer that God
could accept without the blood, because there's sin in our prayers.
We don't give a gift. You talk about your works. Well,
I tithed all my life. I did too. I got a paper out
when I was a little boy. It's the first thing my daddy
said, 10% belongs to God. Well, I don't like it, but I'll
do it. I might as well have not done
anything. Because it's got to be perfect.
Everything's got to be perfect. If God has anything to do with
it, it has to be perfect. That's the reason he looked at
Christ and said, this is my Son in whom I'm well pleased. And
if I'm in Him, God's pleased with me in Christ. But God's
not pleased with anything I do, say, think, give outside of Christ. Workers of iniquity. And the
second thing is that I may know Him. I know Him. I want to know
Him better. I want to know him and the power
flowing from his resurrected life, that I may be transformed
into his image, listen, that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings and be made
conformable to his death. I want to be included in all
that God sent him to do. I want to be included. I want God
to regard me, and consider me, and look upon me, and remember
me, and accept me in the beloved. If by any means I might attain,
thirdly, to the resurrection of the dead. What resurrection
is that? Coming out of the grave? That's
just the end of it. What it is, is spiritual resurrection.
Christ said, they that are in the graves will hear my voice,
and they'll hear my voice, they'll live. And when we're quickened
by the Holy Spirit, we live. And our resurrection of our bodies
is guaranteed because our souls have been resurrected. Win Christ,
gain Christ, know Christ, have the life of
Christ. The life of Christ. In verse
12, he says, I haven't already arrived. I haven't already attained,
I'm not perfect in knowledge or holiness or happiness. I haven't
arrived. Verse 12, I'm not already perfect,
but I'll tell you this. I follow after him, his word,
his kingdom, his grace. If I may change that word there,
apprehended, lay hold. When a policeman apprehends a
man, he lays hold of him. He's been apprehended. We got
him in custody. He's been apprehended. We got
him in custody. So I want to lay hold upon that
for which I have been laid hold of by Christ way back before
the foundation of the world. He chose me, laid hold of me. I became his. And I want in experience
and personally to lay hold upon everything for which he laid
hold of me." Paul said, I'm not there yet, but by his grace,
that's my destination. Brethren, let me close with this.
Brethren, I count not myself to have arrived, apprehended,
to have laid hold upon all that God has promised me, but this
one thing I do. And this one thing I do is twofold. This one thing I do is twofold. Now, this will be good for us
if you listen to me a moment. All that God's promised, I haven't
experienced yet. But I'm expecting to. You know,
Abraham wasn't hoping he'd find a city, he was looking for it.
He knew it was there. God had promised him a city,
and he was looking for it. And God has promised us in Christ
all things, heavenly blessings in Christ. He's blessed us with
heavenly blessings. And I haven't arrived yet, but that's where
I'm headed. Now in doing so, two things. I forget those things which are
behind, and I reach forward to those things which are before.
I'll help you now if you'll listen to it. I forget the past. I reach
for the promises. I'm not living back yonder. I'm
living here, reaching. He says, I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I've known people who have known
the past like An old hound dog will gnaw on a dry bone. You
can touch an old dog. He's had that bone for days and
days and days. And he's got nothing better to
do than sit there and gnaw on that old bone. There's no life
in it, there's no moisture in it, there's no juice in it, there's
no quality in it, but he just sits there gnawing on that old
bone. Gnawing on that old bone. There's so many good things out
there to have and to find, but no, he's laying there gnawing
on that bone. And Paul says here, I forget the past. I forget my
past life of sin and sorrow and religion. He just mentions these
things to teach us. And I mention tonight where we
came from, to remember the pit from which we were digging. But
I don't dwell on that. That's the first time I've mentioned
my religious background in years. But I forget my religious past,
my sins, my sorrows. I forget those religious experiences. I forget those professions and
works of old. I forget even the good deeds.
Let's forget even the good deeds we did in Christ's name. Let's
forget old misunderstandings and old enemies and old trials. They're not worth remembering. If you don't have new grace and new revelation of his grace,
you've got to gnaw on the old bones. But forget them. Forget the old experiences, the
old unpleasant experiences and sabras. Forget them. And set
your affection, Paul said, on things above and not on things
that are there. Reaching forth. Reaching forth. unto those things which are promised,
which are before me. They're before me. Been a refreshing
day, been in the Word. Been a refreshing evening, been
in the Word. Promises have been talked about
again. Let's talk about them some more. Stay out of the past. Forgetting the things which are
behind, I reach forth. towards the promises of my Lord.
Now, verse 15, Bob read this right. Let us therefore, as many
as be mature, be thus minded. How minded? To win Christ, be
found in Him, to know Him, to attain the resurrection of the
dead, to forget the past, to live in the precious presence,
and to reach for the promises. That's the happiness. That's the happiness. All right,
I hope that's a blessing to you. I hope God will bless it to your
heart and to mine. Give thanks.

To Win Christ

What does the Bible say about rejoicing in Christ?

How do we know that grace is sufficient for salvation?

Why is it important for Christians to hear the gospel often?

What does Paul mean by having no confidence in the flesh?

Why is preaching the same gospel repeatedly beneficial?

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To Win Christ

What does the Bible say about rejoicing in Christ?

How do we know that grace is sufficient for salvation?

Why is it important for Christians to hear the gospel often?

What does Paul mean by having no confidence in the flesh?

Why is preaching the same gospel repeatedly beneficial?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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