Now let me read two verses from
Philippians, the third chapter. I asked Brother Tom to read the
second chapter, and then I'm going to deal with parts of this
third chapter. I call this message, Confessions
of a Believer. confessions of a believer. In verse 13 of Philippians 3,
Paul said, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended,
arrived, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching Reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press, I press. Our Lord said something about
people pressing into the kingdom of God, the violence, taking
it by force. I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Now these words
are worthy of note for several reasons. First of
all, these are not the words of a novice. These are not the words of a
man who's just joined the movement. These are not the words of an
untried soldier. These are the words of a bondslave
of Jesus Christ in his last days. Paul wrote these words to the
Philippians from prison, among his last writings. And he begins verse 3 this way,
finally. He said these things in chapter
1 and chapter 2, which Tom shared with us, and he said, My brethren,
you won't hear from me anymore, but I've got some awfully important
things to say. By way of confessions of my own
heart and experience, I'm going to share with you my innermost
thoughts, my innermost heart. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. I'd like to learn that, wouldn't
you? I read in the scripture about
things that people and which people rejoiced. That first son was born to Eve,
and I know, I know how mothers are given to rejoicing in the
further world, my goodness, to bring forth for the first time
a child into this world. But Eve brought forth that boy,
and she looked at him in gladness and joy. And her heart rejoiced. She said, I've gotten the man.
I've gotten the man from the Lord. This is the man. This is
the Messiah. This is the Savior. This is the Redeemer. This is
the woman's seed. I've gotten the man. Oh, how
glad she was. But that boy literally broke
her heart. I suppose he brought more tears
and anguish to her life than any single child she had. And
then Nebuchadnezzar gave his life to building, building, building,
building that mighty city, building that great city, Babylon. And
when he had completed it, he surveyed the great city and gloried
and rejoiced in what his hands had accomplished. And Almighty
God brought him down lower than any man's ever been brought before,
to the beast of the field. Man after God's own heart. David,
charged servant of the living God. His heart was lifted up and he
rejoiced in the strength of his army. Called old Joab, Charlie,
one day and said, count them. Count them. I've got more chariots
and horsemen. I've got more men. I've got more
soldiers. I've got more captains. I've
got more regiments and company. Count them. Want to know what
I've got. Joab said, don't do that, David.
Don't do that. God knows how many people he's
got. He doesn't need you to keep records. Count them! I'm the
king. Well, Joab counted them. He came
in and brought the report, and David's chest swelled with pride.
And God killed 70,000 of his choice men. Killed them. Laid
them in the dust. 70,000. Old Herod rejoiced, he made a
speech, and the people said, that's not the voice of a man,
that's the voice of God. That's the voice of a God. And
Herod, he rejoiced in his victories, and in his power, and in the
praise of the people, and died eaten of worms from the inside.
The rest of the young ruler rejoiced in his wealth. I've got all I'll
ever need. He had everything he needed on
this earth, except the one thing needful. He didn't have Christ.
And he missed Christ and perished, rejoicing in his wealth. The
Pharisee rejoiced in his morality. I'm thankful I'm not like other
men. I've lived a clean and straight life. I've always gone to church
and paid my tithes and fasted and prayed I've given to the
poor, and our Lord said he went home damned. Paul said to us, brethren, you
better rejoice in the Lord. You better rejoice in the Lord.
This is the watchword of every true believer. I'm going to press
it upon you as long as God gives me a voice to press it upon you. Rejoice in the Lord. Don't rejoice
in anything that you are, or have done, or are doing, or have,
or know. Rejoice in the Lord. Ten times, did you know, count
them, ten times, Paul uses that one word in this epistle, rejoice. And again I say, rejoice, rejoice. Christ is our chief joy. Oh,
I rejoice in His mercy, I rejoice in His forgiveness, I rejoice
in His presence, I rejoice in His provisions, I rejoice in
His fellowship, I rejoice in His communion, but chiefly, chiefly,
I rejoice in the greatness of His person. He's the God-man. I rejoice in His righteousness.
This is what Bridget was singing about, when I stand before the
throne, dressed in beauty, not my own. Then, Lord, shall I fully
know, but not till then, how much I owe. Rejoice in His righteousness. I rejoice in His cleansing blood. I rejoice in His exultation. Christ is at the right hand of
God, and I verily do rejoice. I rejoice in His return, His
promise, I'll come again. Brethren, here sits the old soldier.
Here sits the old bondslain. Here sits the man of God in chains,
waiting execution, writing to his fellow believers, and he
said, Brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
to preach the gospel to you over and over again, that's not tiresome
to me at all. I never tire of that old story.
I'm never weary of that old story. I'm never weary of that story
that's always new. But for you, it's profitable.
For you, it is safe. And then verse 2, he puts in
this warning note. Beware of false preachers. And you may think that the Apostle
Paul, sitting here and over there in verse 20 of chapter 2, he
said, I have no man like-minded, so dear to me, who will naturally
care for your state. But as Tom said, regretfully,
sadly, all seek their own. They seek their glory, they seek
their praise, they seek recognition. They love the praise of men and
the honor of men, not the glory of God. They seek their own,
not the things which are Christ's. These are the men he's thinking
about as he sits here writing. He said, at my first trial, no
man stood with me. I stood alone. I stood alone. He said there are plenty of preachers,
there are plenty of religious professors, there are plenty
of religious teachers, but they seek their own. Like Elijah on Mount Carmel,
how many was he outnumbered? 400 to 1. And you may think Paul
is a little unkind, but he calls them dogs. Verse 2, he said,
Beware of dogs. Preacher, where in the world
do you get a term like that? Prophet Isaiah called them dogs. Turn
to chapter 56 of Isaiah. Isaiah spoke a little more strongly
than did Paul. He called them dumb dogs. That's right. Show it to you
in Isaiah 56. Beast of the field. Covetous,
greedy, beast of the field, devouring everything in their path. In
Isaiah 56, verse 10, his watchmen are blind. Isn't that a shame
that a watchman's blind? A man that's supposed to be watching
out for the welfare of others is blind? Well, what happens
when the blind leads the blind? They both fall in the ditch.
The watchmen are blind. They're ignorant. This generation
of preachers is ignorant. Did you know that? Oh, they've
got the old clichés. They learned them in school.
They've got all the little clichés and the fancy talk, and they
can talk religiously. They can talk for hours and say
nothing. They're ignorant. They're ignorant of the awesome,
holy character of God. They're ignorant of what happened
in the garden. What happened in the garden? Does anybody know
what happened in the garden? The effect of it and the consequence
of it has plunged this world into despair and death and separation
from God. Something happened back there
that's affected and influenced every son of Adam. Why did Jesus Christ have to
live on this earth thirty-three and a half years and go through
what he went through, in obedience to every jot and tittle of God's
divine law? We needed a righteousness. He
didn't die as a martyr, he didn't die as a reformer, he didn't
die as an example, he died as a sin offering. His blood was
sacrificed unto God, not unto us, unto God. What he did, he
did to enable a holy God to be just and justified, and we haven't
heard a sermon on that from the average preacher in forty years. They're ignorant. About all them
go around saying is some little silly religious cliche like,
good news America, God loves you. Where does the Bible say
that? I thought the Bible said God's
angry with the wicked. I thought the scripture says
God hateth all workers of iniquity. I thought the scripture said
he that believeth not on the Son, the what? Bad news, the
wrath of God abideth on you. If God loves America, why waste
our time preaching to him? Whom the Lord loveth, he'll never
separate from himself. They're ignorant. They're ignorant. They're dorm dogs. That's strong,
isn't it? Paul writing from the prison,
he knows the words of Isaiah, and he writes to the people and
said, I'm telling you, beware of these dorm dogs. Beware of
these blind watchmen. Beware of these ignorant preachers.
They cannot bark, sleeping, lying down, learning to slumber. They
love the ease of life. They love the praise of men.
They love doing nothing. Their greedy dogs never have
enough, never have enough. They're shepherds that cannot
understand. Isn't that a shame? They all
look to their own way. They're interested in their own
business. They're in a competitive business, and they're looking
for their own gain from his quarter. There they are, they're dogs.
And he calls them, listen, he calls them evil workers. Listen
to me. And our Lord called them that. Our Lord called false preachers
evil workers. Quoted, Pastor, all right. Many
shall say unto me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied
in your name? That's preaching. Have we not
done many wonderful works? Have we not cast out demons?
Depart from me, I never knew you. You what? Workers of evil
and iniquity. Beware of them, beware. He calls
them the concision. You know what that is? Flesh
merchants. Flesh merchants. They delight in your flesh. They're
flesh merchants who glory in their success. They glory in
their followers. They glory in their numbers.
They glory in their acclaim. They glory in their pictures,
in papers. They glory in talking about what
they've accomplished and what they've done. They delight in
these things. They delight in your flesh. Be circumcised, and God will
save you. Tithe, and God will save you. Be baptized, and God
will save you. Do what we say do in the flesh,
and God will have mercy on you. That's a flesh merchant, commonly
called a huckster, who makes merchandise of the souls of men.
Why not declare the glory of God and leave it there? Why not
preach the glorious gospel of redemption and leave it with
the Holy Spirit to apply it to a man's heart? No, we've got
to draw our net. You know why we draw our net?
Because our net will be empty if we don't draw it. God's net's
never empty. And then he goes on, he says,
for we're the circumcision. We're true Israel. Who is true
Israel? We're true Israel. Those who
rejoice in Christ Jesus. We're true Israel, and he gives
us three marks of true Israel. You say, am I true Israel? I
don't know, are you? He says, true Israel, number
one, are people who worship God in the Spirit. They don't worship
God in form and ceremony. They don't worship God in ritualism
and denominationalism. They draw nigh to God with the
heart. They worship God in spirit. They
don't have to go to a place to worship God. They don't have
to be led by person to worship God. They worship God in spirit. At all times, like Enoch, they
walk with God. At all times with David, they
sing, the Lord is my shepherd. At all times with Job, say, I
know my Redeemer liveth. They worship God and walk with
God and know God and delight in God in spirit. Now, you don't
burn candles and build fancy buildings and dress in uniforms
to make them feel religious. They don't need atmosphere of
religion. They just need that heart relationship
with Christ. They rejoice. Look at the second
thing. They rejoice in Christ Jesus,
renouncing their own righteousness. They don't rejoice in their works
and their deeds. They don't rejoice in how many
they have and how much they give. They don't rejoice in how many
souls they've won or how many classes they've taught or how
many sermons they've preached. They rejoice in Jesus Christ. That's who they rejoice in. They renounce their righteousness
and depend on his. They deny their works and look
to him. Only in Christ. And it really embarrasses a believer
for you to brag on him. That's right. Kind of gets away
with him a little bit. Because he knows he's nothing. He knows he's nothing. Paul said,
I labored more abundantly than all of you, yet not I. with Christ
that dwelleth in me." I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.
Yet not I, he's quick to say, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. It embarrasses a believer to
brag on him. Brag on his sermon, or brag on
his prayer, or brag on his reading, or brag on his song, or brag
on his gifts, or brag on anything else. He's thankful that he was
a blessing to you, but it kind of gets away with him because
he knows that what he has, God gave him. What he knows, God
taught him. There is nothing in himself.
Without him, we can do nothing. We rejoice only in Christ. And
what's this? We have no confidence, none whatsoever. Somebody said to one of them,
I just lost all confidence in preachers. Hallelujah. That's
a real accomplishment. You've got the first base. Now
see if you can make it home. I just lost all confidence in
religious people. Now, the sooner you lose confidence
in yourself, you're at second base, maybe. But that's the hardest
hurdle to go over. We have no confidence in this
flesh. We have no confidence in our
descent. We have no confidence in our
denomination. We have no confidence in our
deeds. Our confidence is in Him. He never fails. He never changes. You change, and I change. but
he never changes. Jesus gives us life and peace
and faith and love and holiness. Every blessing, great and small,
Jesus Christ gives them all. You know, I'm a beggar, and he's
the giver. And then Paul, in verse 4 through
6, he says, If I've missed anybody, he said,
in any object, if any man. Think it. Look at verse 4. Though
I might have confidence in the flesh, if any man thinks that
he has love, he might trust or glory or rejoice in this flesh
in any way now. And I know in a congregation
this large that everybody hasn't been totally weaned from confidence
in the flesh. I know the fellow behind the
pulpit hadn't been totally weaned. You know, Brother Scott Richardson
was over in Rocky Mount, Virginia one time preaching, Rocky Mount,
North Carolina. There's an old brother there
by the name of Coltrane. Been there for years. Dear old
brother, dead now. Scott said to him, he said, Brother
Coltrane, he said, the grace of God will sure take the starch
out of you, won't it? He said, not all of it, Brother
Scott, not all of it. Not all of it. Now, if any of
you, Paul, said, think you have whereof to trust in this flesh,
any spot in this life or flesh wherein you might glory or trust
or say, well, that's my strong point. He said, I'm over. I'm over. Well, he said, watch it, I circumcised
the eighth day of the stop of Israel. You talk about a background,
you talk about a heritage. I was circumcised and born of
the tribe of Benjamin, the beloved. He said I was a Hebrew of Hebrews.
My mama was a Hebrew and my daddy was a Hebrew. I talked Hebrew. He said touching the law, I climbed
as high as you could climb. I was a member of the Sanhedrin,
I was a Pharisee. And they used to say if there's
two men in heaven, one be a Pharisee and one be a Sadducee. Concerning zeal, I worked twenty-three
hours a day. That's what he's talking about.
Persecuted the church. Touching the law, the righteousness
which is in the law, this is something none of us dare would
say, even talking about our background. Blameless. Blameless. Paul was one of the most religious
men who lived in his day. One of the most devout, zealous,
enthusiastic, strict, orthodox, fundamental, separationist, legalist,
ritualist, full of feeling every jot in his head. But watch him. But those things, what things
were gained to me. And there was a day when those
things were gained to him. It was important to him to be
of the tribe of Benjamin. It was important to him to have
a mother and father who were Hebrews. It was important to
him to be of the covenant people. It was important to him, having
graduated from the leading school of his day with the highest honors,
the school of Gamaliel, that was important to him. It was
important to him that even rulers knew him, that he was a member
of the Sanhedrin, like the cardinals that meet in Rome and both smoke
out the chimney. So many are proud of that. It
was important to him that he had lived an impeccable life.
It was important to him that nobody could charge him with
offending the outward law of God. These things were important
to him. They were gain to him. They were
the things in which he placed his purpose of acceptance with
God, and he said, all these things I count but what? Loss. I count loss. When God revealed
Christ to Paul, he saw that all these things in which he trusted,
in which he hoped, all these things in which he found refuge
and comfort, all these things he'd given forty years of his
life to, the study, the midnight o'er, the accomplishments, the
attainments, the achievements, the righteousness, the holiness,
the tithes, the fasting days on end, all these things were
totally, completely worthless. Worthless. Worthless. Now you think of that. Have we been brought to that
place? Worthless. All these things that
were so important, such gain. People clamored to accomplish
them. People crawled over the top of one another in their greed
to accomplish these things, to win these offices, to get these
titles and degrees and posts, and they're worthless. Loss. Loss. Total loss. But the only time you ever see
that is when you see Christ. The reason these things continue
to be important to me, and preachers in particular, they haven't seen
Christ. They haven't seen Christ. Boy, I'll tell you, at night
you go out and See the stars. We were somewhere the other night.
I don't remember where. Crossdale. We were on the tray
bench, standing in the backyard at Donnie Bell's. No smog, no
smoke, no smudge, no pollution. Those stars were so bright. You
could see every one of them. He said, look at that. But the
next morning, the sun came out. Where'd the stars go? They're
still there. They're still there. I couldn't see him one day. Why
couldn't I see him? I couldn't see him for the sun.
I couldn't see him for the sun. I'm not denying that Paul was
a great preacher, but he couldn't see it for the sun. I don't deny
the Apostle Paul suffered for Christ's sake and bore in his
body the marks of his suffering. He couldn't see it for the sun.
couldn't see it for the sun. He said, in verse 8, yea, doubtless,
without a doubt, without a doubt, I count all things, now not just
these religious accomplishments, I count all things, everything,
but loss, total loss, for one thing, for this excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. And then it seems to
me that he summed up. He has one desire, one hope,
and one goal in a threefold manner. He said, this is what I want,
this is what my heart beats for, this is what I reach for, this
is what I'm concerned about, three things. In verse 8, three
things. Doubtless I count all things
but loss for the excellency and the knowledge of Jesus Christ
my Lord, for whom I will suffer the loss of all things. I do
count them but rubbish. That I may win Christ and be
found in Him. That I may gain Christ as the
Word and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
I have none, which is of the law. My righteousness is a filthy
rat's. I tell you, you're looking and
I'm looking at some people who've spent some years in this business
of preaching and giving and worshiping and singing and going and I'm
looking at some people who've made some sacrifices. And you're
looking at a preacher who's not lazy. Not at all. I'm preaching somewhere nearly
every night. Get tired, too. But I'll tell you this. These
things are nothing. They're nothing, believe me.
And I count them but rubbish for one thing. I want to win
Christ. I want to gain Christ. Not having my own righteousness,
for to me all this sacrifice and and preaching and going and
giving, all of it, considered in the light only of itself,
is filthy rags. That's offensive, but that's
true. All righteousness is, Micah, filthy rags. They're just dirty,
moth-eaten, garbage rags, that's all they are. A man at his best
state is altogether vanity before a holy God. I want His righteousness,
not my home. I'm not a holy person. I don't feel like a holy person.
I feel like a sinner. Do you? Now, I have a righteousness
in Christ. Before God, I'm holy. But my friends, there's enough
flesh in the best of us to embarrass the rest of us, if we could see
it. Isn't that right? You know that's so. Tell somebody
else that joke. I don't believe it. How holy
you are, how pious you are, how good you are. I can't buy that. I can't buy that at all. So I
want to win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
but that which is through the faith of Christ, that holiness,
that immaculate, infinite holiness which is of God by faith. I want it. Paul said, that's
my supreme, ultimate desire, is to win Christ. And then secondly,
that I might know him. Paul knew Christ. Paul knew Christ. But he wanted to know him better.
We haven't arrived. We'll get to that in a minute.
Or that I may know him, and listen, he says, and that I may know
the power, the power that flows from his resurrected life. I
don't want my religion to be in doctrine only. I want it to
be a living experience. I don't want my religion to be
just orthodox religion. I don't want to be accurate only. I want to know Christ. And I
want to know the power of his resurrected life. I want to know
him better. I want to experience daily more
of his presence and power and grace and wisdom and victory. Don't you? Who would know him
better? I'm not satisfied. No, not the, and Paul wasn't
either. And he said the third thing,
the third thing, if by any means, oh, that I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. I don't want Christ to be in
glory and leave me behind. John said, Beloved, behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us. that we should
be called sons of God. It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know this, when He shall appear, we'll be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is. I tell you, I want that
so desperately. David said, I'll be satisfied. Seems like David had enough in
life to satisfy at least one man. He never was. Never was
truly satisfied. He said, I shall be satisfied
when I wake with His likeness. when I behold him in righteousness. Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth, and on this earth again shall stand. And he said, though
worms destroy this body, yet this is my hope. In my flesh
I will see God. So Paul summed it up. He said,
Brethren, let me tell you something. I take all my past and all my
achievements and accomplishments, all my religion, all my all my
orthodoxy and ceremonialism, all my victories and defeats,
and all my righteousness and all these things, and I do count
them, but no, rubbish. I just pile them up in a big
heap and set fire to them, that I might win Christ and be found
in Him. Secondly, that I might know Him
And I might know him better. Here's a man that went to the
third heaven. Here's a man that walked with
the Lord. Here's a man that saw Christ in his glory. Here's a
man that was told his gospel by the Son of God himself. Here
was a man who was penning about twelve or thirteen epistles.
Here was a man who was the chief apostle talking about, I want
to know Christ. And we rare back in this 1986
with all this frivolity and religion, and we say, I know, I know. I know. Oh, would God, we did. I reckon if we did, we wouldn't
say it. I reckon we wouldn't say it. The last fellow to call
himself a saint is a saint. If by any means I might attain,
I'm not there yet, the resurrection of the dead. And then I would
have you note four words in closing. These four words, these confessions
of a believer. In verse 13, four words. He said,
I count. He said, I forget. He said, I
reach. And then he said, I press. Now,
the first thing he says is this. Here's a word about the present.
He said in verse 13, I count not myself to have apprehended
these things I'm talking about. I haven't arrived. Look back
at verse 12, Tom. He says, I haven't already attained. I'm not already perfect. Looks
like that has shaped these folks to the boots that keep talking
about being without sin. Attaining perfection. Paul, the
Apostle himself, said, I'm not perfect. And I boldly confess
unto you, if the Apostle Paul had not arrived, the Apostle
Paul had not attained perfection and laid no claim to perfection,
who in the world am I to talk about it? I haven't attained
perfection in knowledge, holiness, or happiness. None of the three. I'm not perfect in understanding.
You can ask me a lot of questions about this book I can't answer.
A whole lot. You can ask me some I believe
I can answer. But a lot of them I can't. I know in part. I preach in part. I see through
a glass dimly. But someday it'll be removed
and I'll see him as he is. But right now I've got to be
satisfied with the dimness of sight. I'm not perfect in understanding,
I'm not perfect in deed, not by any measure, stretch of the
imagination. I have in Christ a perfect holiness,
unblameable, unreprovable in God's sight. Legally, before
the law, we're without sin. But I'll tell you, in that flesh,
we're not without sin. I have to say every day with
the Apostle Paul in Romans 7, the good that I would do, I do
not. The evil that I would not do, I do. I find then a law warring
in my members, bringing me into subjection in that conflict between
flesh and spirit. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this
body of death? I thank God I have a deliverer.
So Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not perfect in attitude. I just have to say with Paul
a word about this present. I count not myself to have arrived. I'm sixty years old, I'm not
there yet. And when I'm seventy, if I live
that long, I'll preach this sermon again and say the same thing. But a man who's content with
his spiritual blessings and condition knows nothing of true spirituality.
That's right. Anybody who's content who's absolutely
content with his spiritual condition, with his state of growth, stage
of growth, doesn't know anything about true spirituality. A man
who delights in his own goodness knows nothing of God's goodness. He knows nothing of the nature
of sin. A man who's satisfied with his present life knows nothing
of the holiness of God, nothing whatsoever. And a man who's content with
his spiritual growth is dead while he lives. John Newton, who wrote Amazing
Grace, wrote this hymn. "'Tis a point I long to know,
and oft it causes me anxious thought. Do I really love the
Lord, or no? Am I his, or am I not? If I love
the Lord, why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who never knew his name. Could my heart so hard remain
in prayer a task and a burden proved? Every trifle upset me
and give me pain. if I knew the Savior's love.
You have to get upset with trifles. Somebody said to me last week,
I can handle the big things, it's them little things that
bother me. When I turn my eyes within, oh
how dark, how vain and wild, I'm prone to unbelief and sin. Can I call myself God's child? If I pray, or hear, or read,
sin is mixed with all I do. You that love the Lord indeed,
is it that way with you? Come on now, be honest. Don't lie to God now. I mean,
you can lie to me, that's one thing, but don't lie to God,
for heaven's sake. Ananas and Sapphira Peter said,
you didn't lie to me, you lied to God. What's wrong with you? Oh, yet I mourn my stubborn will,
I do mourn it. I find my sins a grief and thrall. Would I grieve for what I feel
if I didn't love him at all? Don't believe I would. Could
I joy his saints to meet? And I do. Could I choose the
ways I once abhorred? Could I at times find the promise
sweet? At times. If I didn't love the
Lord, Lord, decide this doubtful case. Thou who art the people's
son, shine upon this work of grace, if indeed it has begun.
I like that honesty. Let me love thee more and more.
If I love it all, I pray. And if I have not loved you before,
let me love you today. Why not? Now come on, why not? We don't want to give up that
old profession. We just won't surrender that experience. Might
not be worth a plug nickel. Like one dear soul said, I couldn't
give it up, I'd feel like I was denying the Lord. Might do well
to renounce that particular Lord and bow to the real Lord. That
brings me to the second thing he said about the past. He said
in verse 13, I count not myself to have arrived, But this one
thing I do, forgetting, forgetting, I forget. Well, you forget all
the things which are behind you. Now I ask this, what is that,
what is it that's best forgotten? In my relationship with Christ,
what is it that's best forgotten? Well, one thing is my days of
iniquity and rebellion. It kind of bothers me. Some fellas
talk about their days of sin with a certain pride. Kind of
troubles me a little bit. They go back and talk about how
mean they were, and they kind of take delight in it. Kind of
out-mean the other one, you know. Get a bunch of them talking in
a circle, they say, oh, I was the meanest. No, you weren't.
I was the meanest. I did this. Well, I did more than that. They
seem to be raising monuments to their meanest. Let's recall them with shame,
if we really mean it, and then forget it. Forget it. Blot it out. Don't bring it up
anymore. God doesn't bring it up. Why
should you? He said there's sins and iniquities I remember no
more. Forget them. And then I think another thing
we need to forget, like the Apostle Paul, is our profession in false
religion and our vain attempts to produce righteousness. I so
often run into people who say they've discovered the living
Lord, they've come to a relationship with the living Lord, but they
keep taking me back to what they used to do. How they used to
be this, that, and the other, the churches they built and the
things they did. We need to forget even the things we've done in
the name of Christ. Forget it! Forget, forget any accomplishment,
forget, that's what Paul is saying here, everything I've done, everything
that's been handed down to me, everything I've accomplished,
I count but less for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Forget
my past rebellion and iniquity, forget my professions and false
religion. forget my attempts to produce
righteousness, forget all that embarrassment, forget even the
things I've done in the name of Christ, forget my works, forget
my gifts, forget them! I know it's hard. Sometimes when
we get older, we like to tell the young folks what we did for
Jesus, how much we sacrificed, how they profit by what we have
preserved. We've only done what he enabled
us to do. If we hadn't been around, he'd have raised up somebody
else, wouldn't he, Cecil? No credit due to us at all. His
is the glory. That's right. Forget every misunderstanding. Now, that's something, isn't
it? Forget every misunderstanding. I had a preacher friend one time
that had a conflict in his church, and they voted him out. That
was eleven, twelve, thirteen years ago, and he's still talking
about it. He's still fighting that old
battle. He can't forget it. He's still fighting those old
enemies and fighting those old battles. Another one was thrown
out of Southern Baptist Convention because of what he was preaching.
This has been thirty-five years ago. He's still fighting that
battle. There's nothing about us worth
remembering, did you know that? Just forget it. Paul said, I
forget those things which are behind. I've closed the door
and locked it. Can you do that? Well, I tell
you, if you're going to have any peace in Christ, you're going
to have to do it. You're going to have to forget it. And then
the third thing, he gives a word about the future. He said, I
reach forth. Look at it. He said, this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, I reach
forth. I reach forth unto those things
which are before. I reach for the present blessings
in Christ. I reach for the future blessings
in Christ. I reach for new revelations of
his grace and love. This is an example of a runner
in a race. That's exactly what Paul's doing.
He's talking about a runner in a race. They don't stop to see
how far they've come, do they? They don't stop to see how many
mileposts they've passed. They don't stop to brag to the
people about all that they've accomplished and how fast they've
run and how many people are behind them, but they keep pressing
toward the goal. Toward the goal. They keep reaching,
reaching, reaching. You know, our Lord said to his
disciples, and this is when the Master himself had been with
them all these years, he said to them, I've got many things
to say to you. You can't bear them now. but
you'll know someday. And I'll tell you, here's a preacher
standing here that's preached for 35 years all over the world,
practically. I've written books on these epistles. I've preached thousands and thousands
and thousands to study this Bible. And brethren, let me tell you
something. I feel like I don't know anything. Honestly, I'm
saying that in all sincerity and honesty. There's so much
to learn about the beauty of Christ and the glory of Christ
and the gospel of Christ. There's so much in every word
of this word, I don't feel like I've mastered any of it. And
that's what Paul is saying here. Christ has many things to say
to us, and I just keep reaching for Him. Keep reaching for Him. I count not myself to have apprehended
and arrived. I'm not satisfied. with what
I am, I'm not satisfied with my understanding or knowledge
or deeds or spirit, and I'm satisfied. But I'm going to forget the past.
I'm going to forget it, and I'm going to reach. Blessed are they
that hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled. Help, I'm going
to reach. I'm going to reach. And then
the last thing, a word about his ultimate goal. Here's his
ultimate goal, verse 14. and I press, I'm determined,
I'm dedicated, I'm obsessed with an ultimate goal. I press toward
the greatest prize. I press toward that supreme heavenly
prize, the end of that high calling, the end of that high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. You know what it is? To be just
like my Lord. I want that. Oh, I covet that. Turn to Revelation chapter 21,
and let me read you what I'm talking about. Revelation 21. I pressed for that ultimate goal,
that supreme heavenly prize, the ultimate goal of that high
calling of Jesus Christ our Lord. I pressed, here it is, and John
said in Revelation 21, verse 1, I saw a new heaven and a new
earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea, and
I, John, saw the holy city. New Jerusalem, coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with me, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes, and there will be no more death, neither nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things are
passed away, and he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I
make all things new." Right! For these words are true and