Now then, you can open your Bibles to the
book of Job if you'd like to. You see, this man Job had been
severely tried, severely tried. It says there in chapter 42 that
these people comforted him, verse 11, about the middle of the verse,
comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon
him. The Chaldeans had taken away
his sheep, and the Sabeans had fallen upon his camels and oxen
and she-ashes and taken all them away. And then a hurricane had
swept through and tore a house down where his seven sons and
three daughters were. having a dinner together and
killed all them. Now this man Job was stripped
of everything he had. God had declared him to be a
righteous man, to be his man. And Job had been stripped of
everything he had, everything. The grief of this man was overwhelming,
indescribable. He rent his clothes and fell
upon the ground. But he didn't charge God with
foolishness. He didn't question the providence
of the Lord. He said, naked I came out of
my mother's womb and naked I shall return. And then God sent upon
him a sickness. He had boils all over his body. Three of his friends came to
him. Three of his friends. This fella,
Eliphaz, and fella Bildad, and Zorpha. These three friends came
to him, and they didn't say a word. They just sat. Sat around him. Here was Job in his grief and
sorrow. and pain and sickness with infection
and boils all over his body, sitting there in sackcloth and
ashes, distraught. And these fellas didn't say anything.
They sat there for, the scripture says, seven days and seven nights. That's what it said. They sat
there for seven days and seven nights and never said a word. And finally they began to talk,
they began to speak. They began to speak. They finally
began to talk about God, and about righteousness, and about
God's providence, and talk about what you call spiritual matters.
They began to talk. And then Job began to talk. And
the whole book, the whole book of Job is a dialogue. between
these men and Job, and Job and these men. The whole book of
Job is what they had to say to one another about God, and about
God's providence, and God's purpose, and about righteousness, and
about all these things. This whole book is these fellas
talking, these three fellas, and Job talking, and finally
another fella joined them, and his name was Elihu, and he began
to talk. He had some things to say. And then God had some things
to say. And when it was all over, the
Lord spoke to Job. And oh, how he spoke to Job. Look at chapter 38. Oh, how he
spoke to Job. In Job chapter 38, I often wonder about these folks,
and I know the Lord Jesus is precious. To you that believe,
he's precious. His word is precious, and our
Savior loves us, and we love our Savior. But God sometimes
is severe with his people. God speaks in severe words and
rebukes them, chases them. And sometimes he hides his face
from us. But Job, God answered Job, the
Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this
that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? That's a rebuke,
isn't it? That's a subpoena. Who is this? Who are you? God's saying you're
popping off about things you don't know anything about. That's
exactly what he said. counsel by words without knowledge. Ignorant. You're ignorant. Your
words are ignorant. You're just confusing the issue. You're muddying up the whole
stream. Darkened. You're darkening counsel
by words without... Gird up now your lorns like a
man, and I'll demand of you, and you answer me, God said.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell
me if you've got any understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof,
if you know? Who hath stretched the line upon
it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Who laid the
cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy, who shut up the city?
Oh, I tell you, verse 17, Job hath the gates of death been
opened to you. Have you seen the doors of the
shadow of death? You've been doing a lot of talking,
Job. But you've been muddying the waters is what you've been
doing. Darkening counsel by words without
knowledge. Turn to Job 40 and listen. You
know, look at chapter 38 again. Verse 33. Do you know the ordinances
of heaven? Can you set the dominion thereof
in the earth? Can you lift up your voice to
the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you? Can you
send lightning, that they go and say unto you, Here we are!
Those little flashes of lightning are God's lightning, God's service.
They say, Here we are! Send us where you please. In
Job 40. Job 40. Verse 1, Moreover the Lord answered
Job, and said, Shall he that contended with the Almighty instruct
him? He that reproved with God, let
him answer. Then Job answered the Lord, and
said, Behold, I am bound. What shall I answer thee? I lay
my hand on my mouth. Wouldn't it be wonderful if ninety-nine
percent of the preachers and spokesmen for religion today
would put their hands on their mouths? Once have I spoken, but
I'll not answer, yea, twice, but I'll proceed no farther.
Then answered the Lord God unto Job by the whirlwind, said, Gird
up your loins now like a man, I'll demand of thee, and declare
thou unto me. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me that you
may be righteous? You gonna condemn me that you
might be righteous? You come condemn me that you
might appear to be righteous in the eyes of men? Are you an
arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice
like God?" And then Job 42, I read this
a moment ago. In Job 42, Job said, verse 5,
"...I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, and how am
I to see of thee? I hate myself and I repent in
dust and ashes." I'm angry with you, and you're
too frail. You've not spoken to me the thing
that's right. You've not spoken to me the thing
that's right." Now, no one can deny that these
men were zealous. No one can deny. These men were
zealous, these three men. They heard about Job's troubles.
They felt they had the answer. They felt they knew why he was
in trouble. And they came to tell him. And
they showed their zeal. They showed their compassion.
They showed these things as they sat around for seven days and
seven nights. They sat there without speaking
a word. Without a word. Just sat there. No one can deny they were zealous.
Now how many other days they sat there and talked, I don't
know. How long it took this book of Job to transpire, this conversation. If they sat seven days without
saying a word, think how long they must have preached. Must
have gone on and on and on. And no one can deny that they
were sincere. They were zealous and they were
sincere. I hear a lot of religious jargon and a lot of religious
talk excused on the principle that the people are sincere.
Well, brother man, you can't deny he's sincere. I don't deny
he's sincere. I expect Jim Baker's sincere. He said, don't call names. Yes,
I'm going to call names. I don't doubt that Jimmy Swaggart's
sincere, and I don't doubt Mr. Falwell's sincere. They're sincere. These men around
Job were sincere. They sat there seven days and
seven nights. And they were sincere, and they
were zealous, and they were religious. And these were moral men. These
were, compared to men, good men. These were religious, moral,
zealous, sincere men who were sitting there feeling they were
right. Weren't they? And I'll tell you this, no one
can deny they said some good things, too. Now, you read some
of the things Eliphas and Zorpha and Bildad said. They said some
awful good things. They said some awful good things.
I hear people say, well, brethren, I heard this preacher last Sunday. He said some good things. Read
the book of Job. Eliphas said some good things.
Bildad said some good things. But when the Lord summed it all
up, He said, you haven't said what's right about me. That's
what you haven't said. You haven't said what's right
about me. You haven't said what's right
about me. Like Job did. But now Job was
not imperfect. Job was not perfect. He was imperfect.
We know that. Job wasn't perfect. Job was fleshly. And a lot of things Job said
wasn't right. You see what I'm getting at?
Turn to Job 35. I'll show you that. A lot of things Job said.
In fact, this young man, Elihu, he reduced Job. Yes, he did. He reduced him here in Job 35.
Elihu spake moreover and said... Job 35, you got it? Verse 1. Elihu spake moreover and said,
Thinkest thou this to be right? that you said, My righteousness
is more than God? He's talking to Job here. For
you said, What advantage will it be unto thee, and what profit
shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin? I'll answer you,
Job, and your companions with you. Look to the heavens and
see, behold, the clouds which are higher than you. Now watch
it, listen to this. If you sin, what do you against
God? If your transgressions be multiplied,
what dost thou unto him? If you be righteous, what do
you give to God? Or what receiveth he of your
hand?" Huh? Who are you? If you're a criminal
or what you are, you don't take anything away from God. I don't
care if you're the best man living, you don't add anything to God.
Who do you think you are? So here's what I'm saying. What I'm trying to say is that
these fellows who came with their robes of religion and righteousness
and morality and goodness and zeal and piety and sincerity
and enthusiasm and theology and all that, etc., and then they
spoke. And then they spoke. And they
said some good things. These men were learned men. They
weren't, they didn't, like Scott said, they didn't come into Becky
on the back of no pickup truck. These were smart fellas. They
were respected. But God said to them, He said,
you didn't say what was right about me. Now that's the problem. You didn't say, you didn't, you
did a lot of speaking. You said some good things. But
when you take the whole thing, you didn't say what was right
about me. Now, Job, he was imperfect, and
everything he said was not commendable because God rebuked him. And Elihu rebuked him. Job said
a lot of things he shouldn't have said, but Job basically
spoke the truth about God. And that's exactly what he said,
isn't that right? Job, that's what the Lord said, Job. He said,
you fellas haven't spoken that which is right about me, but
Job has. Now, nearly everybody's doing
a lot of talking. We're doing an awful lot of talking.
Turn to Ecclesiastes 5. I'm doing a lot of talking. Sometimes
I get tired of hearing me talk. I've been talking this morning
since 9.30. Everybody's doing a lot of talking.
We're saying a lot of things about God, about the Bible, about
God's purpose and providence, about Christ, about salvation,
about life, Holy Spirit, repentance, faith, the blood, the cross,
death of God, explaining the Word. God says in Ecclesiastes 5, keep
your foot when you go to the house of God. Be more ready to
hear than to give the sacrifice of fools. Not many places where
people are more ready to hear than to talk, are they? But that's
what he tells us. Be more ready to hear than to
give the sacrifice of fools. For they consider not that they
do evil. Don't be rash with your mouth.
Let not your heart be hasted at or anything before God. Everybody
says, well, I tell you what I think about the Bible. Better be quiet.
Somebody preaches something, so I say what I think. Better
be quiet. Don't be hasty to reply. You don't have to, don't do it.
Don't be hasty to utter anything before God. Before God. You don't have to, don't do it. If you don't have to express
an opinion, keep it to yourself. You'd be smart, because you might
not be saying the right things about God. Don't be hasty to utter anything,
any word, that's the word, any word before God. God's in the
heaven, you're upon the earth, let your words be few. You don't
have to say it. God said, better not to speak
at all than to speak the thing that's not right. He said, Job,
you multiply words without knowledge. Did you hear that? You multiply
words without knowledge. He said, Job, you darken counsel
by words without knowledge. You don't know what you're talking
about. And yet you said it. It's out there. You just keep
going. Just keep going. Well, we got to preach, though.
Somebody got to say something. Everybody can't go around I'm
not saying anything because words are vehicles of thought. God is chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. But what we've got to
do is find out what to preach. We've got to say the right thing
about God. You know, when you lay this burden
of preaching on a man, you can put on him more than he can stand. When you lay the burden of teaching
the word of God on somebody, you put on him more than you
can bear. If he doesn't have divine help, he's done for. He's
done for. Now, he's a white hat. If he doesn't have divine help,
you put on him something he can't handle. Who's sufficient for
these things, Father? Who's sufficient for these things?
If, like we said, it's dangerous to talk before God, and multiply
words without knowledge, and darken counsel by words without
knowledge, and men shall give an account for the words they
speak, especially about God. And if God gets angry at these
three religious fellows because they haven't spoken that which
is right, who is sufficient?" Well, I'm going to draw some
conclusions from the Inspired Scripture concerning the things
that are right about God. Now, turn to Luke 10. The things
that are right. This one thing I know. The things that are right. I'll
try to be brief. Luke 10, verse 42. Let's begin at verse 38. And
it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain
village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into
her house. She had a sister. called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard the word, his word.
Martha was cumbered about much serving and came to him and said,
Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve
alone? Be it her, therefore, that she
help me. Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou
art careful in trouble about many But one thing is needful. One thing. One thing. And Mary hath chosen
that one thing, that good part, and it shall not be taken away
from thee. I tell you this, number one,
in all the things I've popped off about, and I'm sure the Lord's
going to handle me rougher than he did Job. You've been muddying
the water and confusing the issue, and you've said a whole lot more
than you ought to say, and so forth. But I'm speaking the things
that are right about God when I say one thing is needful, one
thing, and may rebound it. Have we? Now what is it? Well, number one, she loved the
Lord Jesus Christ. She was so taken up with him,
him personally, that she really forgot some of the common duties
of life. Her sister came in there and
complained about it, said she's neglecting her duties as a woman. And I'll tell you why. She was
so taken up with Christ, with his presence, with his glory,
she was just so taken up with him that these other things were
not that important to her. She was taken up with him. She
loved Christ. And secondly, she had a humble
spirit. She sat at his feet. He was down
there at his feet. She wasn't... Most of us are
what we call sharers. I don't know why I don't like
that word, but I shared this with him, and I shared that with
him, you know. He shared this with me. We're sharers, we're
not learners, we're sharers, we're debaters, we're arguers.
But Mary had little to say. She loved Christ and she sat
at his feet. She wasn't dancing up and down
the aisles either. I'm worried about these fellows
that think you're not having a spiritual service unless somebody's
having an epileptic fit or something. Or somebody's clapping or screaming
or carrying on. I guarantee you Mary had her
mouth shut. I guarantee you that. I'm as
sure of that as I'm standing here. She was a humble listener. She sat at his feet. That is,
she clothed in humility. She loved him. And she sat at
his feet. And you know what it says here?
And it says here in verse 39, she sat at his feet and heard
his words. Now, brethren, I know we need
to learn to hear and we need to learn to preach. We need to
learn how to preach, not only what to preach, but how to preach.
And I'm sure the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't screaming at her and hollering
and carrying on. He was teaching. I'm weary of
hearing this, well, you're a good teacher, but you're not much
of a preacher. A man that's not teaching is not much of a preacher.
And when a fellow gets up and screams and yells and hollers,
and you don't understand anything he's saying, he's not much of
a preacher. That's just facts. We're pastors,
teachers, and good preaching is teaching. Our Lord was sitting
there, and she started to speak, and she heard his word, and she
heard the word. And the word which she heard
increased her faith, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word. And his word comforted her, and
she, as a result of hearing his word, she grew in grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, sir. She heard his word. And I'm saying that I'm speaking
about God, the things that are right, when I say to you, one
thing is needful. And that is to love Christ, to
love Christ above all things. Find your place in humility and
submission and repentance at his feet. At his feet. And listen to his words. And
hear them. Now that's right. That's right. Jesus engraved it on my heart
that thou the one thing needful art. I could from all things
and persons parted be, but never, Lord, from thee. Needful art
thou to make me live, needful art thou all grace to give, needful
to guide my feet lest I stray, needful to help me every day. Needful is thy precious blood,
needful is thy correcting rod, needful thy promise to impart
fresh grace each day to my heart. Needful art thou to be my stay,
through all life's dark and stormy way, nor less in death, you will
needful be when I yield up my soul to thee." Brethren, I'm
your pastor, called of God to preach to you. You've called
me to preach to you. I'm saying the right thing about
God when I say one thing is needful. My Lord said that. One thing. And that is, if you
love Christ, find your place at his feet and hear his voice. He commended that. He said, Mary
has found it. Mary. There's one thing needful,
and Mary's found it. Have you? Find it. Find it. Don't try to find more
religion, and excitement, and enthusiasm, and organization,
and all activities. No! Find the one thing before
you. All right? Secondly, turn to
Mark 10. I'll give you these just quickly
and let you fill them in. Mark 10. Mark 10, beginning with verse
17. And here's the Master speaking
again. The Lord Jesus said, when he was gone forth into the way,
Mark 10, 17, you got it? There came one running and kneeled
to him and asked him, good master, what shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, why
callest thou me good? There's none good but one, that's
God. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother." And he
answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I kept, or observed
from my youth. And Jesus, beholding him, loved
him, and said unto him, One thing, one thing, thou liked it. Go
thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give it to the poor.
Thou shalt have treasure in heaven. Come, take up thy cross, and
follow me." And he was sad at that one thing, saved, that one
thing. And he went away grieved, for
he had great possessions. Now here's the key, verse 21
and 22. Our Lord said, And verse 22 said, he was sad
at that saving, and he went away grieved. He had great possessions.
In other words, this man came face to face with Christ. He
came face to face with Christ, with redemption, with salvation,
with the glory of God revealed in the person of Christ. And
when it came down to it, he loved his possessions more than he
loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He had to choose between the
two. And he loved his possessions. When he had to choose between
them, he chose his riches. He loved his possessions more
than he loved his neighbors. Our Lord brought him face to
face with the need of his neighbor, and he loved his possessions
more than he loved his neighbors. He was unwilling to give. And
when it came down to it, he really trusted in his own righteousness
and trusted in the things of the flesh and not in God. Let me show you some verses here. Start with verse 23 now. The
Lord Jesus, this man came up to him, and he was a wealthy
man, a powerful man, an influential man, a man living in luxury and
plenty. And the Lord, he said, good,
and I said, well, the Lord said, you don't recognize me as God,
why do you call me good? There's nothing good but God.
If I'm not God, I'm not good. He said, what shall I do that
I may inherit eternal life? Well, if you want to do something
to inherit life, keep the commandments. That's the way you do something
to get life. Moses said, he that doeth these things shall live
by them. That's the way you get it. Do it. Perfectly. Well, he said, I've done that.
I just observed all those things from the time I was a little
boy. And then our Lord showed him that he hadn't. You see,
the whole commandment of God is summed up in two. I shall
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength,
and thy neighbor as thyself. And the Lord Jesus revealed to
him where his love really was, himself. And he said, well, go
sell what you have, give it to the poor, and follow me, I'm
God. But he wouldn't do either one. He wouldn't sell what he
had and wouldn't follow Christ. So our Lord looked round about
him in verse 23 and said to his disciples, How heartless shall
they that have riches enter the kingdom of God. Well, Abraham
had riches. I just read a while ago where
Job was one of the wealthiest men in the East. How heartless
shall they who trust in riches enter the kingdom of God. How
hardly shall they who have the wrong use, whose love and affection
is on these possessions." Read on. And the disciples were astonished
when Jesus answered them and said, Children, how hard it is,
how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter the
kingdom of God. Who do you trust? In whom is
your confidence? This man, when he stood before
our Lord there, one thing was certain, it was revealed to When
the Lord Jesus told him, said, well, part with your riches and
give it to the poor, and you come follow me. I'll provide
for you. I'll take care of you. I'll keep
you. You'll not be in need. Well,
here he stood. He's got to decide whether he's
going to trust Christ or trust his riches. See what I'm saying? Whether he's going to trust Christ,
and he couldn't trust Christ. He fell back on his riches. That's
what it says. Whether I'm rich or poor, I'm
trusting Christ. Whether I'm sick or well, I'm
trusting Christ. I don't have to be made sick
to prove I'm trusting Christ. The Lord knows my heart, whether
I'm trusting Him or not, whether I'm resting in Him. I don't have
to have everything I have materially taken away from me to prove I'm
trusting Christ. The Lord proved this young man
that way. He said, get rid of all these things and you'll show
that you're trusting me. He said, you just can't do it,
then you're not trusting me. You see what I'm saying? The Lord may have to bring you
down to determine whether or not you're trusting Him or whether
or not you're not trusting Him. But this is where it is. Turn
to Psalm 52. Psalm 52. I'm saying the right thing about
God here because our Lord Jesus said to that young man, one thing,
one thing, you like. And that is faith. One thing
you have to trust. He cares for you. Can you trust
Him? Can you trust Him? He cares for
my soul. Paul said, I've committed all
things unto Him. He cares for my body. I've committed
that. I'll commit that to Him. He cares
for my children. Can you commit them to Him? He cares whether or not you have
enough to eat. He said that. He said, why take
the anxious thought about what you shall eat, drink, and wear?
These things the heathen seek. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, one thing, and his righteousness, and he'll add these things to
you. He said, your heavenly Father knows you have need of these
things. Now this young man that had these wealth, these riches
and wealth, and the Lord Jesus told him to get rid of it and
give it to the poor. and come follow Him. He couldn't follow
Him with all this baggage. Come follow Him. Well, if the
young man had believed Christ and trusted Christ and really
trusted Him and believed Him and known all things well, he'd
know the Lord's not going to let him go hungry. David said,
I'm old, I've been young, I've never seen God feed baby bread.
God's not going to let him go hungry. God's not going to let
him be in need. God's not going to let him go
naked. The Lord Jesus Christ's disciples were abundantly cared
for, but this man didn't trust them. He trusted in his riches,
that's what Christ said. Look at Psalm 52, 7. Hello? Psalm 52, 7. This is the man
that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance
of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. Trust Him. But my God shall supply all your
needs according to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus. Try 1 Timothy 6. Let me show
you something. I'm saying the right thing here about God now.
Don't... Men and women, I know we're getting
older. And I know somebody's got a furnace
of electricity and the gas and the water and the house rent
and these things and taxes when we get older. But my God will
supply your needs. You have to trust Him. Don't become greedy and selfish
and miserly and all these things. Trust God. If the Lord puts something
in your hand, use it. Cast your bread on the water.
Be generous. Give and it shall be given to
you. Full measure, pressed down. Better to give than to receive.
And that doesn't change. Because that's the same for a
25 or a 65 year old. Isn't it? Same theology. If you trust Him. But let's don't
trust these riches. 1 Timothy 6, verse 17 and 19
says this. Charge them that are rich in
this world. that to be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches,
but trust in the living God, who giveth us richly all things
to enjoy, that they do good, and that they be rich in good
work, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in
store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that
they may lay hold on eternal life." Don't stop trusting Christ. And that's the, our Lord said,
if one thing you lack, that young man, one thing you lack, you're
not trusted. You're not trusted. You're not trusted. You're not trusted. This young man,
now no man can serve two masters. I have a scripture here I want
to read you. In Proverbs 30. I'll just read it. You don't
need to turn over that. Proverbs 30. Verse 9, listen
to this. Verse 7, two things have I required
of thee, Lord. Deny, deny me not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and
lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Don't give me poverty. Don't
put me in poverty. Don't put me in riches. Just
give me food that's my allowance. Give me that which is convenient.
Lest I be full and rich and deny thee." And I say, well, who is
the Lord? Or, lest I be poor and steel,
take the name of the Lord God in vain. I don't want either
extreme. I just want my allowance. Give
me this day my daily bread. I trust it. We need to get our theology in
tune with our, our hearts in tune with our theology. and learn
to trust Him. You can trust Him. One thing
thou lacketh. Alright, Psalm 27. Let me give
you this briefly. Psalm 27, two of it. I'm speaking
to you the right things about God. I'm just confident that
I am. Because my Lord said to me, He
said, One thing is needful. One thing thou lacketh. Trust. Can you trust him? Psalm 27. All right, David
said this, and I believe David's a worthy candidate to speak for
God concerning the thing that's right, because God said he's
a man after his own heart, but he said in verse 4 of Psalm 47,
one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek at. What is it, David? One thing. You know, like Solomon, David
had a little taste of the world, and the things that the world
had to offer, and he found it, like his boy Solomon, everything
bountiful. So he wound it up, and David
said, one thing, one thing, one thing, and that is that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. He's talking
about the presence of the Lord. Blessed is the man whom God chooses.
and invites into his presence. And I may behold or see the beauty,
the grace, the mercy of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple."
Where is his temple? His train filled the temple.
Well, it's not an earthly temple. It's at his right hand. Turn
to Psalm 16. I'll show you just briefly where
this is. Psalm 16. Let you work on it yourself.
Psalm 16. Psalm 16, verse 11. Psalm 16, verse 11, "...thou
wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of
joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures
forevermore." David said, that's the one thing I want. I want to dwell in His presence. I want to behold His beauty.
And I want to inquire. I want to seek and find the pleasures
at His right hand. Now that's right. That's right. One thing have I desired. And
then last, and I'll close, Philippians 3 verse 13. Old Paul chimes in
in the New Testament. I've got David saying something
that's right, and I've got Paul saying something that's right.
Philippians chapter 3. I believe Paul's a worthy spokesman
for the Lord. He says in verse 13 of Philippians
3, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this
one thing I do. Here's a man summing up the whole
life. You talk about a man of God.
Brethren, listen, it looks like somebody is saying, hey, what
did he say? He said, one thing I do. One thing. Now, yes, sir, one thing, forgetting
those things which are behind, my birth, my heritage, my works,
my righteousness, and all things I counted gain. He told us about
them in the earlier chapter. Forgetting those things which
are behind and reaching unto those things which are before
him. What are those things? That I
may win Christ, that I may know Christ, that I may obtain the
first resurrection. I pressed for that mark. the
supreme and heavenly calling which is in Jesus Christ my Lord."
That's my total obsession, is to win Christ in the family here.
That's what I'm... Our labor, whether present or
absent, is to be accepted at hand. Prepare me, gracious Lord, to
stand before thy face. Thy Spirit must this work perform
its all of sovereign grace. O, in Christ's obedient clothes,
and wash me in his blood, so that I may lift my head with
joy among the sons of God. Do thou my sins subdue, thy sovereign
love to me make known, the spirit of my mind renew, and save me
through thy Son. O, may I never forget the mercies
of my God, nor ever lack a tongue to spread his loudest praise
abroad. I'm speaking the right things
about God. One thing you need. One thing,
he said, you lack trust. One desire to dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life. And this one thing I do,
putting everything behind me, everything and everyone, I press
toward that mark.