Now let's look at Philippians
3. I call this message our confession
of faith. But it's really Paul's confession
of faith, the Apostle's. But it's so like mine, and I'm
sure like most of yours, that I'm going to call it our confession
of faith. For like Paul, most of us spent
our early days in false religion. And God, like Paul said in Galatians
1, was pleased to reveal his Son in us and deliver us from
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of his
love. And I note something else about this confession. Don't
be offended by the word I. While I was reading those first
14 verses while ago, I'm sure you noted how often the Apostle
Paul uses the pronoun I. In fact, that pronoun I in these first
14 verses occurs about 14 times. But if you have a confession,
you've got to use I over and over, because a confession of
faith is an acknowledgment of a person's true thoughts, the
thoughts of his heart. It's an admission. Confession
is an admission. A confession is a revelation,
the revelation of one's true soul and true heart. Over here in the 9th chapter
of Romans, Paul says this, verse 1, I say the truth in Christ. That's a confession. That's an
admission. I say the truth in Christ. I
lie not. My conscience also bearing me
witness. This is my confession of faith. So let's look at it, Philippians
chapter 3. Finally, my brethren, now these
are not only Paul's closing words to this epistle, but really these
are his closing words to this church. He'll never speak to
them again. He'll never write to them again.
Paul was used of God to bring the gospel to the people of Philippi,
Macedonia. The first converts down there
in Philippi were Lydia, the Philippian jailer. Now Paul's old, and he's
come to the end of his days. He said, the time of my departure
is at hand. He was in prison awaiting, he
said, his departure to be with the Lord. And he has some final
words. These are his final words. These
are his last words to this church at Philippi. In conclusion, my brethren, that's
a sweet word, isn't it? My brethren, brethren in Christ,
family of God, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is really a key word in
the book of Philippians. Rejoice, it's used over and over
again in the book of Philippians. Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord. In chapter 4, verse 4, Paul says,
Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord, in his greatness,
the greatness of his person. Rejoice in his righteousness,
in his faithful obedience. Rejoice in his atonement, precious
blood. Rejoice in his exaltation. is
ascension and exaltation to the right hand of the Father. I rejoice
that we have such a great high priest, don't you, who's ascended
into heaven, who's seated at the right hand of God, who ever
lives to make intercession for us. I rejoice, rejoice in his
word, rejoice in his return. I listened to a message this
week on tape preacher down in Alabama on the return of Christ,
and my heart just got enthused for the day when our Lord shall
come again. He said, I go to prepare a place for you, and
if I go and prepare a place, I'll come again and receive you
unto myself. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice. And then he says in
verse 1, to write and preach the same thing to you. Here we
are again this morning, here, gathered together after all these
years. Some of you have been here 20, 30, 40, 45 years. I was called to be the
pastor of this church 45 years ago, 1st of October. There's a man sitting here in
the congregation that was on that pulpit committee that called
me, Brother M. Adkins. There were five men on
that committee. They're all gone now, but I am.
But he's been listening to me preach the same things. Forty-five years. To write and
to preach the same things to you. Some of the rest of you
have been here all those years. The same thing. He says to me,
that's not tiresome. Never tired of this message.
Never weary of this message. It's always new. It's always
new. To write those things to you,
to me, that's not tiresome. For you, it's safe. It's good
for you to be reminded of the pit from which you were dug,
to be reminded of his precious blood and sacrifice on the cross,
to be reminded of your foundation, your hope in Christ. It's good
for you. It's essential. And then he says in verse 2,
beware. I warn you again. I've warned
you before and I warn you again. I told my class this morning
that the danger in the churches today is not in the pew, it's
in the pulpit. That's where the message is declared
or not declared. That's where the message is proclaimed
or not proclaim, where it's set forth clearly or compromised,
pulpit. So he warns them, beware of it.
He calls these false preachers and false teachers dogs. You say, that's kind of, that's
sort of unkind, isn't it, of Paul to call those men dogs?
Well, the Lord called them dogs in Isaiah 56. Turn over there. He called them dumb dogs. In
Isaiah 56, verse 10 and 11, his watchmen are blind. They are
ignorant. They are all dumb dogs. They
cannot bark. Sleeping, lying down, loving
to slumber. They are greedy dogs. Here is
a watchman, a watchdog, supposed to warn is master of the coming danger,
but he doesn't warn. He sleeps, lying down loving
to slumber, and they're greedy dogs which can never have enough. They're takers and not givers.
They live off the people, but they don't feed them. They share
the sheep, but they don't feed them. They're shepherds that
cannot understand. They all look to their own way,
everyone for his gain. not for the glory of God, not
for the good of the people. They're dogs. You beware of them.
And then he calls them evil workers. But surely if a man's in religion,
it's a good work. No, it's an evil work if he's
not preaching Christ and doing what he's doing for the glory
of Christ. And that's what our Lord said. Turn to Matthew 7.
If we're not preaching the gospel, now listen to me, if we're not
preaching the gospel, the word of God, if we're not giving the
glory to God, if we're not telling people the truth about redemption
and eternal life, even our good works become evil works. They're
evil workers. Listen to Matthew 7, verse 22. Verse 21 says, Not everyone that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Everybody that is a preacher is not saved, or a religious
person, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven." What is the will of my Father? That he that seeth
the Son and believeth on him. What shall we do to work the
works of God? This is the work of God, that you believe on him
whom God hath sent. Many will say to me on that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name, and in your name
cast out devils? In your name done many wonderful
works. Isn't that good works to use
the name of Christ? To cast out demons and heal the
sick. Feed the children. Wonderful
work. Build churches, schools, educate
folks. Verse 23, listen. Then will I
profess unto them I never knew you. Depart from me, ye evil
workers." Work evil, work iniquity. You see, if you can preach the
true, listen, the true gospel, the true gospel of Christ, whereby
a person comes to look to Christ and believe on Christ and rest
in Christ, and that person does good works, supports the feeble,
helps the sick, feeds the children, sends missionaries. That's good
work. That's blessed of God. But when
we get people to gather in the name of religion and do these
works not in his name, his true name, not by his true glory,
not motivated by his spirit, it's an evil work because it
gives people a false foundation. That's the first thing we've
got to do when we gather folks together is to build, to build
buildings to the honor of God, to the glory of God, is get the
foundation right. If it's a foundation of sand,
it'll fall. The most important thing is to
dig deep and build that on a rock, Christ Jesus. See, the foundation
determines the strength of the building, the shape of the building,
the effect effectiveness of the building, and how long it lasts. Foundation. So if you come just
in the name of religion, it's a false foundation and it's going
to go. It'll look pretty for a while,
but it's got no strength, it's got no durability. It's not of
God. Except the Lord build a house,
they labor in vain that build houses. So we're not Preaching
against good, worse, God forbid. But in the name of religion,
if we build superstructures without Christ, without a foundation,
without a good hope, they're going to fall, Ronnie. Devastated. And everybody's in it's going
to fall. And everybody duplicates it's going to fall. You understand
what I'm trying to say? That's what Paul is saying here.
Beware of these dogs, these greedy dogs. They never have enough.
They take, they take, they don't warn. They're covetous men, and
they're workers of iniquity. They build houses, but there's
no foundation. They're going to fall, and the
folks that build them are going to fall with them. It's better to have the right
foundation in a building that don't look so high than a great
superstructure with no foundation. And other foundation can no man
lay than that which is Christ. Now listen, the first epistle
to the Corinthians, chapter 3, deals with this. Paul said, I'm
a wise master builder, and I've laid the foundation, which is
Christ. Take heed how you build, Errol.
For you can build wood, hay, and stubble, or gold, silver,
and precious And beware of the concision. He calls them something
else in verse 2. They are dogs. These false teachers
are dogs. Their works will finally prove
to be evil. They have given men a hope without
Christ, a hope without a foundation. And thirdly, they are flesh merchants. The concision is the circumcision. Flesh merchants. Circumcision
is an operation on the heart, not the body. Turn with me to
Galatians 6. This is what he's talking about
here in Galatians 6. Galatians 6, verse 13. Neither they themselves which
are circumcised, or baptized, or catechized, or whatever, they
don't keep the law, but they desire to have you Circumcised,
why? That they may count you, glory
in your flesh, brag about how many, how much, how big. They may glory in your flesh.
That's what these false preachers, they're dogs, dumb dogs, that
don't warn, greedy dogs that never have enough. They're evil
workers. They built superstructures on
no foundation, and they'll perish. And they're people who count
glory in flesh, bodies, how many's there, how many did this, how
much money was given. That's right. Glory in the flesh, merchants.
They deal in the flesh. True servants of God deal in
a spiritual kingdom, not flesh. I like what a preacher said the
other day when I was down in Virginia. A fellow, we were having
breakfast, five or six preachers, and one of them, and I'm always
embarrassed when people do this, one looked at me and said, How
big is your church? And I appreciate what one of
the men sitting beside me said. He spoke up and said, It's 70
by 50. I said, Thank you. I got me an
answer now, 70 by 50. It doesn't matter whether there's
two here or 2,000. If the two love Christ, he's
here. Where two or three are met in my name, I'll be in the
midst. If the 2,000 are putting on a show, he's not here. And
I'd rather not be here. So beware. It's impressive. Religion is impressive. What does it impress? The flesh. We're not here to impress you.
We're here to instruct you in the things of God. He says in verse 3, we're the
circumcision. We're true Israel. We're the
baptized, we're the catechized, we're the circumcised, we're
the people of God who have three marks. We worship God in spirit,
in heart, in soul. We don't worship God in form
and ceremony and outward demonstrations. Worship God in the spirit. Be
still and know that I'm God. The Lord's in his holy temple,
let all the earth keep silence before him. We worship God in
spirit. This woman at the well said to
our master, you Jews worship God in Jerusalem, in the temple.
We worship God in the mountains. He said, woman, the day coming
when they that worship God will neither worship him in Jerusalem
nor in your mountain. God is spirit. God is spirit. And they that worship God, the
true worshippers, Christ said, true worshippers, worship Him
in spirit, in heart, in truth. That's right. And you'll find that the greater
the manifestation of God's presence, the quieter people become. Read that in the Scriptures.
Go through the Bible and see if that's not true. The greater the manifestation
of God's presence, the stiller people become, quieter. We worship God in spirit. Secondly,
we rejoice in Christ Jesus, not in the flesh. We rejoice not in our works.
We rejoice in his work, in his redeeming work. I know whom I
have believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed to him against that day. I rejoice
in him. The fact that I've preached 45
years has no bearing on it at all, any more than if I'd preached
one sermon. I rejoice in him, not in us. And he said I have no confidence
in the flesh. in mine or yours or anyone else's.
I know no man after the flesh," Paul said. Oh, he said Christ
at one time was in the flesh, and He was perfect, and I'll
honor Him as the man. But I know no man in the flesh.
I don't look to men, even the best of them or the worst of
them, do you? We don't look to our deeds, either
the good ones or the bad ones. We don't look to our feelings,
even the spiritual ones or the ones that are not spiritual.
We don't look to our experiences, either the high ones or the low
ones. We look to Him, Him, Him. Have no confidence. That's the
mark of the redeemed. That's the mark of the circumcision.
They worship God in heart and spirit. And it's not the place,
it's the person. There are a lot of people that
can't feel religious unless they're in religious surroundings. We worship God wherever we are,
because I read to you, whither shall I go from thy presence?
If I ascend into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in
the grave, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, on an isle of Patmos
alone, God is there." John was worshiping God alone in exile
on Patmos on the Lord's day. No organ, no piano. no choir, no bells, no stained
glass windows, no candles, just a child of God on a desert island
by himself rejoicing in Christ Jesus. That's worship, isn't
it? Rejoicing, worship God in spirit,
rejoicing in Christ and have no confidence in this flesh.
Well, he says in verse 4, have confidence in the flesh? Do any
of you," he said, if any other man thinks he has wealth and
glory in the flesh, trust in the flesh? Does anybody here have any heritage,
ancestry, experience, background, deeds, religion, intellect, wisdom,
training, accomplishments? in which you can trust or boast,
he says, let me tell you about mine. You got a minute, Paul
said, let me, if you think, as you look back over your life
and see you were brought up in a Christian home and godly parents
and taught the way, and that's good, wonderful. It certainly
is, it's necessary. What advantage then, you place
the message on this one, now what advantage hath the Jew?
Much, much, much. But not in redemption, not before
God. If Abraham were justified by
works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God. So Paul says, let me tell you
about my upbringing, about my background. I was circumcised
the eighth day. I was in the covenant. You Gentiles
are strangers to the covenant, aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. I was circumcised the eighth
day and had my name given to me then in the covenant. Secondly, I was of the stock
of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. I was a son of devout parents
of the beloved tribe of Benjamin. A Hebrew of Hebrews, a part of
the true nation, Israel. As touching the law, a Pharisee. I was a teacher. I was a theologian. I was a ruler
of the Jews. I had authority. I was brought
up at the feet of the greatest teacher of my day, Gamaliel. Gamaliel is quoted in the scriptures. Gamaliel, the teacher. And I was zealous concerning
zeal, zeal, you want to talk about zeal? I persecuted the church. I persecuted
those who did not agree with me, who were not Jews. Touching the righteousness, the
morality of the law, the outward moral code, blameless. as the best Pharisee on the committee. Blameless. But now listen. And I'll tell you, when we lay
our background down beside that, we take a look at our religious
activity compared with Paul's. He said, if you have confidence,
if you can put any confidence in what you did or what you were
or who you were or where you came from, I'm over. And yet,
verse 7, from my youth up. And I count
all that, listen, but loss. When the Holy Spirit revealed
Christ to me and His righteousness, I saw all of these things were
imperfect and worthless. All of my righteousnesses, like
Isaiah said, were filthy rags, were fig leaf aprons. Temporary. So I count them but
loss for Christ, to rest in Him, and
Him alone, to find in Him wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And my friends, this goes for
any religious crutch, or any religious arm of the flesh, or
any religious support or aid. I count them but loss. Verse 8, Yea, doubtless I count
everything in my past. Wasted time. Wasted time. Wasted effort. All
of those tithes and offerings and Sabbath days and studies
theological essays, and morality, and works, and sacrifices, and
trips to the Holy Land, and trips to the temple. My dear ancestry,
and heritage, and Jewish pride, lost. To know Him, Christ Jesus, my
Lord, for the knowledge of Christ, for whom I suffered the loss
of all things." Listen, and I count it garbage. You see, here's the problem.
Where Paul was brought up in that religion, it was a religion
designed for him to find acceptance with God by what he did. by who he was, by what he gave,
by his morality and works. And that is dumb. That is loss. You children are brought up in
the scriptures, in the church, but you're brought up differently
from the way Paul was brought up and from the way I was brought
up. I was brought up like Paul was. We had five things we couldn't
do. We had to pay our tithes faithfully.
We had to be in church certain times. We had all these rules
and regulations to be saved, works to be saved. But you children
are brought up in the scriptures to realize that your works do
not admit you to God or make you acceptable to God, but Christ
does. It's Christ our Lord. It's His
righteousness. that makes us holy. It's His
blood that cleanses us. That's a whole different thing.
That's the way you're brought up. And someday God will bring you
to rest in Him. You know that. You've been given
that information. But what Paul is saying, all
this that I have been taught and done in order to find acceptance
with God, I've got to forget it. I've got to lay it aside,
count it but done, that I may have the right knowledge. that
He's my righteousness. See that? Now listen to verse
9 through 11. He tells us, he says in verse
8, I count all this I was doing in order to be saved, lost for
the knowledge of Christ, for whom I suffered the loss of everything.
And I count everything done that I may win Christ, that I may
gain Christ and be found in Him. In Him by God's grace, not by
my will, by God's will. Found in Him by God's mercy and
love to me, not by my decision, by God's will. In Him by God's
grace, in His love and mercy, in Him when He went to the cross. In Him when He was buried, in
Him when He rose again that I may be found in Him, not found in
the church, at the altar, in the pool, on the road, in him
when he went to the cross, when he was buried, when he arose
again, in him seated at the right hand of God. Found in him accepted. Paul says, I count all of this
but lost that I may be found in him. Not considered in what I've done,
but what he has done. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God. Now look at
verse 10, that I may know him, know him in the power of his
resurrection, know him in the power of his death and life.
I want to know him who accomplished in my stead and place all that
God required. I want to know him. who loved
me and gave himself for me and the power of his death and the
power of his resurrection. He said to Martha, he said, Martha,
when she was grieving over the death of her brother, he said,
Martha, I'm the resurrection and I'm the life. He that believeth
on me will never die. I'm your righteousness. I'm your
acceptance. I'm your hope. I'm your redemption. Christ is. I want to know Him. I want to win Christ and be found
in Him. I want to know Him and the power
of His resurrection. What's this next line? I want
to know the fellowship of His sufferings. What is that talking about? The
fellowship of His sufferings. Well, there's a fellowship. John
talked about it in 1 John 1. A fellowship which is with the
Father. He said, I want you to have that fellowship with the
Father, with the Son, with us. It's a fellowship of people redeemed
by his sufferings. I want to know the fellowship
of those suffering. I want to be in that number. See, then I want to know the
fellowship of his suffering, the fellowship of his sacrifice,
the fellowship of his offering, the fellowship of his redemption.
I want to be in those whom he loved and for whom he gave himself. That's a fellowship. Fellowship of his sufferings.
And then there's a fellowship of people who suffer with him. Same fellowship. It's that fellowship
of people who understand and are part of the fellowship of
his sufferings and sacrifice, and they suffer with him in identification. They suffer his reproach. Moses
was one of those. He counted it better to suffer
the reproach of Christ than enjoy the riches of Egypt. He was in
the fellowship. There's a church, there's a religious
fellowship, it's all over the world. There's a get-together
fellowship, but there's a fellowship of His sufferings. People who
are included by grace and knowledge and understanding in His sufferings
and His sacrifice. Not in a denominational name,
not in a program, that's another fellowship. Not in aspirations
or progress or That's another thing. This is the fellowship
of his sufferings. We suffered with him. We're risen
with him. We're seated with him. The fellowship
of his sacrifice, bought with the blood. And there's a fellowship
of those who suffer with him. With him. Identified with him.
They bear his reproach. Gladly. Gladly bear his reproach. Paul said to Timothy, don't you
be ashamed of the gospel. Don't you be ashamed of me, his
prisoner, and you be willing to suffer affliction for the
gospel yourself. That's the fellowship. I want
to know that fellowship. And then the fellowship of his
sufferings is a fellowship of people who suffer according to
his purpose that they might minister to others. It's found in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 4. He comforts us in our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort
them which are in trouble. By the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God, for as the sufferings of Christ abound
in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. If you've never hurt, you can't
minister to those who hurt. If you've never suffered with Christ,
for Christ, you can't minister to those who do. The preachers
today who are trying to put forth everything's huckadore and okay
and All my family's well and healthy and everything I touch
turns to prosperity. He's no minister. He hasn't suffered. If we suffer with him, we'll
reign with him. And there's a fellowship of his sufferings, I'm telling
you. That's the fellowship. Paul says,
I want to know him and the fellowship of his suffering. Being made
conformable to his death. where by his grace who are saved
are in the fellowship of that cross. I'm crucified with Christ. I know something about his sufferings,
sacrifice. And I'm in a fellowship of those
who suffer with him, bearing his reproach. His enemies are
my enemies. His friends are my friends. I'm
willing to come apart. and stand for this gospel, whatever
it costs, whatever the reproach, whatever the harassment, whatever
the persecution, it doesn't matter. I'm in a fellowship. And then,
I want him to lay his hand on me, even as I struggle, so I can lay my hand on somebody
else. There's a fellowship of his sufferings. That says here,
he comforts us that we may be able to comfort By the comfort,
where we're comforted. If you've never hurt, you can't
help anybody that does. If you've never known sacrifice,
if you've never known... Paul said, I know how to abound,
I know how to be abased. I know how to have every foundation
knocked out from under you so you just got one left, and that's
his. And you can minister. That's more than knowing the
doctrines of grace. It's a whole lot more than knowing
doctrine of any kind. Because Paul had all that in
Philippians 3. But then he met a person. He says also, verse 11, that
I may by any means, I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.
There are two resurrections I want to have part in. John chapter
5. Let's see what they are. The resurrection of the dead.
Both of them are the resurrection of the dead. Both of them. John chapter 5, the resurrection
of the dead. John 5 verse 25, the Master said,
Verily, verily, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is
already, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. That's spiritual resurrection.
You hath equipped them who were dead in trespasses and sins.
That's when the Holy Spirit awakened you in that grave of religion,
and works, and self-praise, and glory, and righteousness, and
all these things, and seeing. He called you forth from the
grave. He said, Live! You heard His voice through His
Word. Live. Then He said, Verse 26,
For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to
the Son to have life in himself, quickeneth whom he will, hath
given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is
the Son of man. Now don't bother to tell us spiritual
resurrection out of the grave of sin. For the hour is coming
in which all that are in the graves, graves, physically, shall
hear his voice. And they'll come forth, those
that have done good to the resurrection of life, those that have done
evil to the resurrection of damnation, those that have done good in
Christ, fellowship of his suffering, they're going to be raised. I
want to part in two resurrections. The first one when he says, sinner
live. The second one when he says,
dead body live. And he does both of them. Now verse 12, let me give you
this and I'll quit. I haven't attained, I have been saved, I'm being saved,
my salvation is nearer than when I believed. I'm not perfect. But I tell you this, I follow
after this gospel, I follow Christ, that I may lay hold upon that
for which He's laid hold of me. I want to apprehend that for
which he apprehended me. Your conversion was just like
Saul of Tarsus going down Damascus Road in your religion and he
laid hold of you. He apprehended you. That's when
you arrest a criminal is when you apprehend him. He apprehended
me. He apprehended me. And I want
to lay hold upon that for which he laid hold of me. He laid hold
of me for a reason. to make me like himself. And
that's what I want to be. You see what he's saying? And
I haven't reached it. Brethren, verse 13, I'm not there
yet. I count not myself to have laid
hold on perfection and eternal glory in heaven, but this one
thing I do. I forget the past. I forget my sins. I forget the
things which are behind. What's behind? Forget your sins,
forget your foolishness. Some people like to point to
their old life and brag on it a little bit. I call it bragging
on the monuments to their meanness. Best thing you can do is forget
that. He did, and remember it no more. Forget it. Forget it. I forget my past. I forget my
professions. I made one that's nine years
old. I made one that's seventeen years old. I made one when I
was 20 years old to enter the ministry. Forget them. Forget them. Your professions,
your experiences. We repent and believe every day.
Forget the past. I forget those things I've done
in the name of Christ. Josh keeps telling me, I wish
you'd have kept a diary. Maybe it's best I didn't. You
know what I'm saying, honey? Because I'd have a tendency go
back and, boy, this was a good meeting. Oh, me. Wouldn't we? Forget it. Maybe we ought to burn all these
biographies of these great men. Forget the past. I'm not talking
about their messages now. I'm talking about their bragging
on themselves, their prayers. Forget all you've done in the
name of Christ. Forget all you've done that wasn't
in the name of Christ. Forget every misunderstanding. Wouldn't it be good? Someone
said something to me not long ago about something someone did
back there and influencing someone away from the gospel. They said,
you remember that, don't you? I said, no, I don't. I do not
remember that. I can't give grace all the credit,
I give old age the credit for that. Forget every misunderstanding. Forget it. Every heartache, every
conflict with other people, forget. Forgetting those things which
are behind. Wouldn't that be a blessing?
And that's what Paul says here. Because they hurt you, they don't
help you. Forget it. I forget it, and listen,
and I reach forth. I reach forth, I reach out my
hand and my heart, my ear to the present mercies and blessings
of my God. Live in the present. Now is accepted
time. Today is the day of salvation.
If you bring up the past, it won't do anything but hurt you
now. It won't help you, good or bad, it won't help you. And
I press. I'm not indifferent. I press. I'm not presumptuous, I press
toward the finish line, toward the mark. That's the finish line.
This is like a runner's in a race. What does a man in a race do?
He doesn't look behind him to see how far he's come. He doesn't
look behind him to see how far ahead of the others he is. He
doesn't look behind him at all. He's concerned with running now,
now. He sees that finish line. He
wants to cross it. That's exactly what Paul is saying
here. I press toward the finish line. There's a prize. The high
calling of Christ Jesus my Lord. Eternal life, eternal glory.
That's where I'm headed. Forgetting those things which
are behind. I press. Lay hold on eternal life. All
right. Let's turn in our hymn books. closing sound.