The Purpose of Our Salvation

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Well, this morning what I'd like to do is minister to your hearts and encourage you for the new year.
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And I could not help but think about a wonderful passage from the epistle of Paul, of the apostle to the
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Philippians. It's one of my favorite epistles, it's a small epistle. So turn with me please to Philippians chapter 3.
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Philippians chapter 3, and we're going to be reading verse 12 to 16.
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Philippians 3, verse 12 to 16.
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I'd like to title this message, Pressing Toward the Goal. Pressing Toward the
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Goal. Hear the word of the living God. Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that which
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Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended.
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But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.
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I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
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Therefore, let us, as many as are mature or perfect, have this mind.
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And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
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Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same standard or the same rule.
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Let us be of the same mind. May God bless the reading of His holy, inspired, all -sufficient word to our heart this morning.
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Let's pray. Our Father, once again, we not only seek
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Your blessing, we seek You. If we have You, we have everything.
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And help us never forget that without You we can do nothing. Absolutely nothing.
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May we never ever forget that great truth. So Lord, this morning we pray that You would grant to us divine favor and help of the illumination of Your Holy Spirit.
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We pray, Lord, and we ask that You would give us light for the truth in which we see in Your Word in order to sanctify our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
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Father, we pray not only for light, but we pray for heat. Because we can know the truth in our minds and not have it in our hearts.
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Father, we must have it in our hearts. So warm our hearts this morning,
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Lord, by Your divine power, the Spirit of truth. As the song we just sung, may the
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Spirit of God, Teacher, be showing the things of Christ to me. So Father, I only could preach
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Your Word to hit the ears, but Lord, only You could take Your Word to the heart.
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Father, do this today we would ask. In the name of Jesus, and forever change us.
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And so when we leave this place, people will look at us and say they have been with Jesus. Because we have been transformed, we have been changed.
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We are a new creation by Your power and Your glory. For this we thank
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You, and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. I love this story, and I could not help but keep it from you.
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But there is a great man of God that lived back in January.
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He was actually born in January 1902. His parents were
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Scottish missionaries working in northeastern China at the same time of his birth. For 12 years he attended
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Etham College, Christian boarding school, and then studied at Edinburgh University where he excelled in athletics.
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Particularly short, distant running, rugby and cricket. In 1922 and 1923 he played for Scotland Rugby Union in the
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Five Nations. But it was his running that distinguished him as an athlete.
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And after setting a British record for the 100 yard sprint in 1923, hopes were high for him to show very strong in the 1924
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Olympic Games. He was most widely known for his refusal to run on a
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Sunday in 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, which was very big.
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A committed born -again Christian he was, he withdrew from his strongest event, the 100 meters.
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As an alternative, he registered to run in the 400 meters on another day.
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Just moments before the particular race, an American handed him a piece of paper on which he was written a passage from the
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Scriptures which said this from 1 Samuel 2 chapter 2 verse 30, Those who honor me,
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I will honor. He ran the race and he ran it well.
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He honored God. And that race, he ran it so well with that verse in his hand and he claimed the
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Olympic gold medal. And actually a new world record with a time of this distance 47 .6
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seconds. When he described his race plan, he simply said, and I quote him word for word here,
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Quote, the secret of my success over the 400 meters is that I run the first 200 meters as fast as I can then for the second 200 meters with God's help.
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He said, I run faster. End quote. So true.
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Well, the Christian athlete, if you haven't already guessed it, is Eric Little. Eric Little is one of my heroes.
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And if you read his life story, you can see why. He died at a young age. But let me tell you a little bit about him very quickly.
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He ran in the race of life, the dash between his birth and his death, a strong, faithful race.
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He ran strong. Not only physically, but he ran strong for the
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Lord Jesus Christ as a Christian. He honored God. This man ran for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
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And the story even gets better. Eric Little left and pursued success and all the opportunities that he had with the abilities and the giftedness he had as a runner.
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He left all that. He actually returned to China where he taught chemistry and organized sports in an all -boys school in Tianjin, now
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Taijin. And he married in 1934 later and began working as a village evangelist.
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As he traveled the countryside in Xiaocheng, a dangerous region which was not suitable for his wife and two daughters at the time who remained behind,
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Eric was frequently at risk from both hostile communists and Chinese nationalists who regularly destroyed the villages.
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And neither group was sympathetic to the work of a Christian missionary. It was very difficult.
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But in 1940, things changed. The Japanese invaded China and Eric's family joined his wife's parents in Canada.
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Subsequently, the situation in China deteriorated and Eric Little was sent by the
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Japanese to an intermittent camp in Wansing.
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I hope I pronounced that right. In the province of Shantung, North China. Now, at this time,
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Eric and 1 ,800 others, including many children, were crammed into a detainee camp measuring only 150 to 200 yards.
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Inside, Eric Little organized sporting events, taught children, studies, continued his evangelistic work to give the gospel, teaching
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Christianity, and Bible study. It was in this intermediate camp where Eric Little documented his calling to obedience.
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This was recorded 40 years later. The notes were written down and obtained from his widow,
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Florence Little Hall. And then she compiled it together. And I'd like to see if this is still available.
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I don't know if it is. It may be out of print. But it's called a book.
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The book is called The Disciplines of the Christian Life. The Disciplines of the Christian Life.
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I would hope it's still in print. I'm sure it's a good book. But just months before liberation,
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Eric Little died at the young age, I should say, of 43 years of age, within the confines of an intermediate camp on February 21, 1945.
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He had a large tumor on his left side of his brain, a condition he did not know he had at the time.
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Eric Little dedicated his complete life to obedience to God's will as he taught others in accordance to the example that Jesus established for his followers.
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I had a chance to see a documentary on Eric Little. And if you could see it, if it's available, it's something to see.
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Everybody that knew this man, that came in contact with this man, said he was the most humble, godly example for a true
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Christian that you could ever see. He lived a Christ -like life to the core.
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Eric Little died serving the Lord. He finished his race well.
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He ran well. Actually, he's buried in the garden behind the
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Japanese officer's quarters. They put up a cross there, and they said days before he died, the
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Salvation Army would play his favorite hymn, which is one of my favorites, by the way,
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Be Still My Soul, based upon Psalm 46. The Lord is on thy side.
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Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide.
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In every change, he faithful will remain. Be still my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend.
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Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. You know, don't you love that?
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Based upon Psalm 46. And the reason why that song is so good, it's based upon Psalm 46, the Word of God.
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The same hymn that was based upon Psalm 46, Be Still My Soul, but also
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Luther wrote the wonderful hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.
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You know, the race of pursuing Christ, of being like him, with all of his struggles and pains and obstacles, leads to a joyful end.
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We need to keep that before us. And that's what I'd like to set before you today, is as we run this race, we're all in a race, whether we know it or not.
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And life is like a race. John was speaking to me, he's a runner, by the way, and I told him,
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I said, you would resonate very much with what I got to say today. He runs marathons all the time.
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And he was telling me, actually, a marathon in life, that's what we're in.
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It's not a short sprint, actually, it's a marathon. And it's not how well we start, it's how well we finish.
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It's finishing, and that's what matters. And finishing well, finishing faithfully.
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Well, Hebrews 12, verses 1 -3, you don't have to turn there, the writer of Hebrews says something very similar.
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He says this, He's the one that we look unto.
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The author, the finisher of our faith, And the writer says this, and I love this verse,
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It doesn't say, consider this person, or this prophet, or this apostle, even though we know that God used these great men of God.
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And even Eric Little, a great man of God, was a great example. But the one we are to look to is
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Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ we are to look to, and it says, You know, we all get discouraged at times, but what's the greatest thing, what's the greatest thing?
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Scripture says David encouraged himself in the Lord. We must encourage ourselves in the Lord to look to Jesus.
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Well, in the text today, Paul speaks of running a race. There's another reference in 2
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Timothy chapter 4, in verse 6 and 7, says this,
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He says, And then he goes on to say this,
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He knew he was about to die. And then he says, He saw the finish line, he knew he was about at that finish line.
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But he knew, and note this, let me say this, Note this, that Paul did not make these comments until the very end of his race.
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Until he was about to die. And what did he say? Well, he preserved and he continued faithfully to fight the good fight.
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He ran the race and served God to the very end. In verse 7 it says this, And the ultimate goal, beloved, is that you and I, as believers in Jesus Christ, is to finish well.
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Finish well. Finish faithful. Who sees this?
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God. We do it unto God. Not necessarily unto men, but we serve men.
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We serve the church, but we ultimately serve God. So, God is at the finish line,
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Jesus is at the finish line. He's the one that began us. He's the one that ends us.
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He's the author and the finisher of our faith. Finish well. Finish faithfully.
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If there's anything you can remember from this message today, Remember, finish the race faithfully.
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And when Jesus says at the end of the line, And when we come and see Him face to face, All that's going to really matter is to hear
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Him say, Well done, good and faithful servant. Faithful.
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That's all that's going to matter. You know, our family isn't going to be the one,
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We love our families, don't we? But God is our judge. He's the one that will be faithfully giving the credits.
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And that's all that matters is what He has to say. Finish Him as we go to glory and to see
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Him face to face. Well, the apostle must love athletics. And I love what
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Paul brings out in his allegories and his illustrations here in the text before us. You know, many of us love athletics.
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Because so often it uses, Paul the apostle uses athletics,
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Analogies, athletic metaphors to illustrate a spiritual truth.
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And we need to pay close attention to these truths that he brings to our attention. And one of his athletic analogies is that of a runner,
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Which we have in our text today. He's a runner. The runner, to him, is the picture of the
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Christian. The race is the race of faith. The Christian life. And frequently in his writings, he alludes to this running metaphor.
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The maximum effort as the Christian moves towards the prize.
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What's the prize? Jesus Christ is the prize. He's the pearl of great price.
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But the prize is also the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He is the high calling of God.
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And it's in Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ alone, that God the Father says, This is my beloved
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Son in whom I'm well pleased in. It's only in Jesus Christ. But to cross the finish line, we must be faithful in all that we do.
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In how we live. And this is essentially the underlying picture of the passage before us.
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Now obviously, I want to say a little bit here before we really look and dig into the text.
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The heart of the passage is the very familiar 14th verse. I press toward the goal.
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I press. Scripture says, Every man presses in to the kingdom of God.
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Keep in mind this. Jesus said, many will strive to enter in. And would not be able to.
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Now you hear that. Many will strive to enter in. And will not be able to.
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Now doesn't that tell you something? It's all of God's good grace. That we're capable of coming into the kingdom of God.
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It's nothing of us. It's not of good works. It's not my efforts.
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It's not my performance. It's not how well of a standard that I live.
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Jesus is the standard. But He gives us the grace to pursue Him. And that's what we're looking at.
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So Paul says, I press toward the goal for the prize. Don't you love that? There's a prize.
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Jesus is that prize. People say, what about heaven? That's a benefit. That's a good benefit.
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That's the city of God. But Jesus is the prize. When we come before God.
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What good would heaven be? Without Jesus. Take away Jesus.
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You don't have heaven. Jesus, amen. Jesus is the heaven of heavens. Jesus is everything.
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Okay, now Paul said, and Paul knew this. So the theme here is pursuing the prize.
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That's what Paul's talking about. In Paul's mind, his pursuit was to go after Christ.
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Pursue God with everything he had within him. As God gave him the grace.
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That's the theme. The prize would then be Christ or Christ's likeness. That we are to be like Jesus.
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The goal is Christ's likeness here. Which is sanctification. That's just another word for holiness.
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And you know, that's a scary word to a lot of people today. But you read it. And that's the way
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God wants us to be. Scripture says it. Be ye holy for I am holy.
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Now it doesn't say be as holy. As God. God is the most holy God. And there's a reason why the
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Scripture says that He's most holy. Put the word most. It goes to infinitude.
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It goes to infinite. He is holy, holy, holy. So we're to be holy.
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After all, we are His children. And we're part of the family of God, right? So Christ's likeness in heaven.
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Until glorification. But the analogy here is that of a runner who is running to win in order that he might win to gain the prize.
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The spiritual point here is the matter of pursuing the spiritual prize. So if you will,
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Paul is talking about Christian sanctification. Christian growth. I don't know about you.
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As long as I've been a Christian, I have not arrived. I'm still pursuing.
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I'm still learning. I still trip up and I still fall on my face.
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But God picks me back up. He takes me. He cleanses me. He washes me.
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But yet, I do not allow those obstacles to keep me down. One old preacher put it this way.
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You may be knocked down, but you're not knocked out. How true that is. You're in the race.
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Now, for the new year before us, 2020. We should, as every year, every day, every hour, every minute, every second that God gives to us, have a great desire to be more and more like Jesus.
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To grow in His grace and the knowledge of Christ Jesus. So, I'd like to set before you some basic principles for spiritual growth.
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And I believe this will be a great encouragement to each and everybody here. Because it encouraged my own heart.
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As I was thinking about the new year before us, I said, Lord, the old paths never change.
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But God's mercies are new. God never changes. We're the one that's in the change process.
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God wants to change us from faith to faith, from glory to glory. But He's the Lord. He changes not, right?
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But He wants to change us more and more. And change and change is everywhere about us, isn't it?
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We see seasons change. We see people change. You know, man's nature is just as depraved.
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But man changes, really, if you look at it, from better to worse or worse to better. But with God, there's no change.
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God remains the same. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. But let me set before you, as we look at the athletic analogy, how to get in shape spiritually.
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I don't know about you. You know, you've got a lot of people physically that want to get in shape for the new year.
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Let me give you a small illustration. I deliver milk out in country stores and dollar generals. There's this old store
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I pass. It used to be a dollar general until they built another one over. You know, they're building dollar generals all over the place. Think if you went to Mars as a dollar general.
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So, anyway. Yes, maybe two, maybe three, four. But anyway, there's this old rock building that was turned into The Rock.
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They actually called it The Rock. It's an exercise place.
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24 -7. You see these things crop up everywhere because people are really into building their physical physique.
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There's nothing wrong with that. You know, physical exercise profit the little. Amen? But there's more in godliness.
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That's what we're going to look at. But here's this place, and it's kind of funny. Right when the New Year hit, I passed this, going down the road in the milk truck, and that place was packed out.
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And I'm thinking to myself, I'm wondering how many weeks that's going to last. I say,
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I give it no more than three to four weeks, maybe a month, and you start seeing the cars start pulling away.
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Isn't that the truth? You know, people get these resolutions. They want to get in there, and they start to recognize, hey, this is hard work.
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It's sweat. It's painful. You know, that's the way it is in the spiritual realm, too.
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There's spiritual exercise, and it's not going to be easy. Brothers and sisters, let me tell you this.
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Following Jesus is not easy. It's a lonely walk. It's a lonely road.
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You get ridiculed. You get ostracized. You know, people don't like you because of the truth.
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We love their heart. We love them. We love their souls, but you're not going to be liked because of the truth. These truths are hard.
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Actually, Jesus spoke this, and at one time, His disciples pretty much, 70 of them left, and Jesus looked at the core group there, the 12.
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He said, will you also go away? And thank God, Peter says, Lord, where can we go? You have the words of eternal life.
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But the truths He spoke were strong and hard, and you know this as well.
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I say this even today, and I've been a Christian since I was age 17. I don't know how many years it's been since.
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And I'm in my mid -50s. It doesn't get any easier. It gets tougher. It gets harder.
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But God's got more grace. His grace is greater than all of our sin. He has the power for the weak, for the faint, and then
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He will renew our strength as long as we stay in communion with Him and stay on our face before Him and depend it on Him.
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But Paul sets these goals before us, and I want to mention this to you. And it's found in verses 10 and 11 of chapter 3 here.
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And if you notice, if you go back to 10 and 11, look at this.
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And I mentioned this last week. That I may know Him. That was
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Paul's desires, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. Now, he didn't stop there.
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A lot of people just want His power, but look what else Paul wanted to know Him. In the fellowship of His sufferings.
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Now, how many people wants to know His sufferings? You go there, you're going to be drinking a cup.
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Jesus says, a lot of people say, can I drink this cup? Jesus mentioned to them about the cup
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He had to drink. It was a bitter cup. Had the wrath of God in it.
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Took it to the cross. And God's wrath was poured out on Jesus, but Jesus told His disciples, you've got a cup to drink to.
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That's the truth. But think it, the fellowship of His sufferings. You know, that's deep.
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If we're going to know the power of His resurrection, then comes the fellowship of His sufferings. You know, and then what he said this, being conformed.
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He wanted to be like Him in His death. In the death of Christ. And then he says this in verse 11, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
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Now, he talks about attaining that, but then he goes on to say this in verse 12. Not that I've already obtained it.
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Or have already become perfect. That means I'm not completely arrived.
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I am not perfected yet. And then he says, but I press,
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I press so that I may lay hold of that which also
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I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Oh, I love that. Now, in this,
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Paul shows us how to read, I'm sorry, reach the goal through the process of Christian growth.
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Let me give you my outline. And I'd like for you to follow with me in this. This will help you. Number one, let's look at this.
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We're talking about spiritual growth. You want to grow as a Christian? I do. The Bible says grow in the grace and knowledge of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Number one, we are to grow as a Christian, you've got to be in the race.
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That's regeneration. You've got to be in the race. You've got to be in the race before anything happens.
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So you've got to be born again. You've got to be regenerated. Number two, to grow as a Christian, you've got to have the proper attitude.
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You've got to have the right mindset of the race. In the race, you've got to have the proper attitude.
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Number three, to grow as a Christian, you've got to give it the proper effort. That's sanctification.
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And those three points I'd like to set before you. So let's go to number one. To grow as a
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Christian, you've got to be in the race. You've got to be in the race. Jesus said you must be born again.
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Now people talk about starting things new. That's no greater thing you can begin by. You must be born again.
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That's the new birth. That's beginning again. It's the greatest of all.
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Regenerate it. In verse 12, Paul says, not that I have already attained or obtained, or I'm already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which
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Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. Now this may sound very obvious. But in reality, there's a lot of people that's trying to run in the race and they've never even begun in the race.
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Now that's sad. Those are false professors. They're trying to grow as Christians by living a good life, by being good.
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They say they're doing what Christians are supposed to do by mere performance, external things, good works, such as being zealous toward good works.
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And God has called us to be like that. But first you must be born again for those fruits and works to follow.
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You know, in the practical sense, that could be like, well, I'm going to church.
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I'm doing what's obvious. I'm an active member of the church.
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I'm even praying. I'm reading the Bible. That doesn't make no one a Christian.
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That's a good place to begin. And going to church is a good place to begin. You know, and what
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I'm saying is this, you can talk the talk, you can know the language, you can know the vernacular, but not be in the race.
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You've got to walk the walk, right? You've got to be real. Now, why do
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I say this? Notice some previous verses in chapter 3.
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Again, if you go back a little bit, Paul talks about this in verse 7. For whatever things were gained to me, those things
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I've counted a loss for Christ, for the sake of Christ. And then he says in verse 8, more than that,
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I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of what?
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Knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, whom
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I have suffered the loss of all things. And listen to what he says here.
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And I count them but rubbish, dung, and other words, manure, something stinking, stench, so that I may gain
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Christ. And then he says in verse 9, and may be found in Him.
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Now this is the key. This is the heart of the gospel, beloved. Not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.
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The righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. That's the gospel.
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What he's saying is, before I was a man that was zealous.
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I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. I pursued God. I thought I was doing God's service.
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He was even killing Christians in the name of God. He was actually a
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Pharisee, a zealot, a terrorist in his day. And it was by the supernatural power that the man that we're speaking of here,
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Saul of Tarsus, was not seeking after Jesus. Actually I love the story of the conversion of Paul, or Saul of Tarsus, because it was
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Christ that came seeking after him. The conversion of Saul is one of the greatest conversions ever recorded in the pages of Scripture.
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It's a supernatural conversion. It's a supernatural change. He was so transformed by the power of Jesus Christ that his name was changed from Saul, which means
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Great One, to Paul, which means Little One. That's what it means.
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Another example as we find in the Old Testament that's similar to this conversion is a man by the name of Jacob.
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As you well know, Jacob means deceiver. The Jewish people, when they named somebody, they named them by the character.
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The name meant something. That's who you were. But that's why they changed their names.
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Or God changed their name. Here, as you nailed the story, Jacob wrestled with the angel of God all night.
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And by the way, he didn't win. He did not let go, though, until he said, until you bless me.
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He wanted that blessing. In other words, he wanted all of God.
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And he was defeated. That's where God needs to take us right there, beloved. You lay hold of God.
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Do not let go until you are defeated. He was defeated. And he was so radically changed.
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And he said, I will not let go until you bless me. Well, the angel touched him, tore out his hip socket in place.
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And that's like repentance. It was painful. That's what repentance is. It has to be painful.
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A painful but holy blessing. Blessed repentance.
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People don't look at it that way, do they? They think, oh, repentance, that's a hard thing. But beloved, when you turn away from your wicked ways and from the things that's evil,
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God's got a blessing for you. Himself. And daybreak came. His name that was once Jacob, Deceiver, was now forever changed to Israel, Prince with God.
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Don't you love that? God changed him so miraculously. Now, he was a new person.
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That's what happened to Saul. Saul became a new person after Jesus Christ because he says the word lay hold.
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Notice in the text. I may lay hold of that for which also
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I was lay hold of by Christ Jesus. In other words, what he's saying, I'm laying hold of Christ by faith because Christ lay hold of me first.
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We love him because he first loved us. You know, really,
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God's the seeker. We're not the seeker. Scripture says seek
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God. You may find me, yes. But Scripture also says many will seek Him and not find
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Him. There's other verses that mention it. It depends on the context. But actually in salvation and conversion, it is
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God that goes after His sheep. It is God that goes after His people.
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He chases them down. He runs them down. We call it irresistible grace.
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In other words, you cannot resist it. God will get His people. If you're a marked out man predestined to come to Him, God's going to change you.
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Now people say, what about my will? It says whosoever will. It does. But who can change the will?
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Who can change the heart? Who can change the hard heart? We read this morning, John read, talked about, you notice that God even says beforehand,
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I will harden Pharaoh's heart. But if you read in the verses, when all that took place, it says
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Pharaoh hardened his heart. Then it says God hardened his heart. We don't understand the intermingling of it.
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It's too complicated for us. But let me tell you this. God's sovereign. And He can change the heart of stone.
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He could give a new heart and put His laws into it. Praise God.
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That's what God can do. Now, the word Leho is an intensified word that means to apprehend.
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It means to seize. Don't you love that? Something after a pursuit. The same word here is used in the scriptures of a, like of a demoniac seizing a demon that seizes a boy.
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Throwing him to the ground. Founded Mark 18. Mark 9 18.
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It says this, and whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth.
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Gnashes his teeth. Becomes rigid. So I spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out, but they could not.
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Now, that word seizes is the same word that means apprehend.
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When Jesus comes and makes a difference. He heals the boy. Rebukes the unclean spirit.
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He casts out the demon. He says come out of him. The demons come out.
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The demons obey him because Jesus is Lord. So Paul is saying and that reason he runs, the reason he runs the race is because Christ Jesus first caused him, seized him, apprehended him, took a hold of him.
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Aren't you glad God's got a hold of you? If he lets go, you're gone. I'm gone.
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He keeps us. He preserves us. Even though there's a part in sanctification that we pursue after God, but it's
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God that first pursued us. And that's what Paul's saying. It is God that first apprehended him.
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So on the part of Paul that once Saul was headed for Damascus to persecute
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Christians and then, I love what the scripture says, but God seized him.
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See, God seized him. God turned him around. He was converted. And he began the race of faith.
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Now, you've got to be in the race. God calls, God's call is almost, always refers to his effectual calling of his elect into salvation.
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Effectual means it is effective. Anything God does is effective, but when he calls the one to salvation, it's always effective.
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He always brings those in. How do we know that? With John 10, 15, and 16.
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I'm not going to give you my opinion on that. I'm going to give you the words of Jesus. Jesus says this in John 10, 15, and 16,
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As the Father knows me, now listen closely, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for my sheep.
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You get that? God's people. He shall save His people from their sins.
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So I lay down my life for my sheep and the other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Basically, Jesus is saying
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I'm going after them too. Them also I must bring that they will hear my voice. He's talking about the
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Gentiles, actually. And there will be one flock and one shepherd.
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One church. Not two. One. One. But Pastor, what about all these different names and these thousands of denominations?
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Beloved, when it comes down to it, when we get to glory, whether it's going to be blood washed, regenerated, or nothing.
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You're in Christ or not. Now, on the man's side, yes, we have to have distinctives.
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Yes. To distinguish where we are and what we believe. I was mentioning this to Mark Lynn this morning.
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He asked a good question about that. We have distinctives. We have statements of faith. We've got to. People's got to know where you come from, where you believe.
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But when it comes right down to it, you've got to be born again. You've got to be in the race.
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You've got to be in the race. Well, praise God, I've got to go on. That's regeneration, conversion, which is repentance.
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Well, let's go to the second one. You know, it goes on the sanctification here. The second point here is to grow as a
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Christian. You've got to be, you've got to have the proper attitude. You've got to have the proper attitude.
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Okay, what's the proper attitude? The difference between victory and, and by the way, let me say this. Having the right attitude is the difference between victory and defeat.
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A good athlete will tell you that. You know, a team that lacks in run talent can sometimes defeat a team with much more of ability because they have the right attitude going into the game.
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Attitude is everything. Attitude is crucial in the spiritual life. We must have a humble, godly attitude.
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We must have the mind of Christ. The Greek word translated to think means to be like -minded.
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In verse 15, you know, in this text here,
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I believe. Let us therefore be as many as be perfect. Have this attitude.
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And if anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you. So, you've got to have the right mind.
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You know, think of it in the book of Philippians. Ten times in the book of Philippians out of 26 New Testament uses
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Since the theme of Philippians is joy, Paul uses this. This is a very important term.
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It's a definite correlation between attitude and joy. They connect.
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But there's two strands, I'd like to say, of Paul's attitude that come through the verses of Scripture.
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He views the Christian growth as a lifelong pursuit, a process so he can have a long -haul attitude
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And by the way, it is a long -haul, isn't it? It is a marathon. But our attitude must be right.
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You know, we can never say, I have arrived. The moment you say that, you're on your way down.
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Scripture says, unless you humble yourself before the Lord, God's going to humble you. I would rather humble myself first because when
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God does the humbling, you're going through some pain. And I'm talking about serious pain. Discipline.
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But God loves you because of that. And that's why He disciplines us. Now, keep in mind here, the
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Christian life of growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ is a lifelong process. Paul had been converted for at least 25 years when he wrote
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Philippians and the Dungeon. There's no question whatsoever that he is one of the most outstanding, godly
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Christians of all time. I can honestly say about that, about the Apostle Paul. Yet over and over, you see and you read in Scriptures, he reveals his mindset that he was still in process.
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He was still learning. Paul. Paul. Verse 12,
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Not that I've already attained, or am I already perfected, if by any means
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I may attain or arrive to the resurrection from the dead. And he said, brethren,
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I do not count myself to be half apprehended. Notice that. I have not arrived. That's what he's saying.
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Now, he says twice. I press on. Verse 12, verse 14.
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That means to pursue. And by the way, that pursuing means exertion.
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He exerts himself. There is an extension. There is a, and it's the same word, means persecute.
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Here Paul uses of himself in this way in verse 6. If you go back to verse 6, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to the righteousness which is in the law found blameless.
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He was a persecutor. But here he turns it around and it's like, this is the word for sanctification here.
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That's what he's talking about. That I run. I press. I go forward.
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I exert myself like a runner. A runner will exert himself and stretches toward the finish line with everything he has.
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If you're a runner, you know what I'm talking about. I'm not a great runner, but I have run a little bit.
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But I do know this. When I do run a race, and I know John really can resonate with this. But if you run in a race, you really have to exert yourself with everything you've got.
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You've got to set a pace. It's mental. It's mental discipline. Like the runner in a race, he continues to pursue the prize.
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Romans 8 .29 says, God foreknew us. He predestined.
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He marked us out. He appointed us, determined beforehand. God chooses distance for His chosen end to be like His Son.
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That's the goal of God for us. For you and me, is to be like Jesus Christ.
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And you know that's God's goal for each and every one of us? Is to be like His Son Jesus. Now Paul pursued sanctification with all his might.
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And I like to put it, he strained with every bit of his spiritual muscle. You know, turn with me very quickly to another verse.
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I'd like to relate to this. 1 Corinthians 9. Notice this in 1
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Corinthians 9. And look at verses 24 -27.
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Paul says this, Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?
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He's talking about running again. Then, I love what he says here. But run in such a way that you may obtain it.
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That means win it. You run in such a way, you got the goal, you want to win it. Well, actually, that's why people get into the race, right?
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They want to win. I'm not in a race to lose, right? If I get into a race,
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I want to win it. And then he says this, And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate.
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In other words, he's self -controlled in all things. He exercises self -control. And then he says this,
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Now they do it to obtain, win a perishable crown. But we an imperishable crown.
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Therefore, I run thus, not with uncertainty. He knew why he was running.
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You do too. Then he says this, Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air.
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Now he's talking about being a boxer, a fighter. Then he says this, But I discipline my body.
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Notice what he says, My body, my members, my eyes, my ears, my heart, everything.
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And bring it into subjection. Why? He tells us,
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Least when I preach to others, God called him to be a preacher of the gospel, that I myself should not become a castaway.
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In other words, that word castaway means that I would not disqualify myself from this race.
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If I fall into that sin or that sin, that the devil would try to trip me up as a minister of the gospel.
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By the way, beloved, there's many ministers out there that has disqualified themselves because of immorality.
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And you see it, and you read it, and you see it all the time. The devil plays for keeps. He sets bait before men.
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And by the way, he sets the kind of bait that people love. Something pleasant to the eyes.
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Scripture says there's pleasure in sin. Doesn't make any bones about it.
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But it's for a season. And that season ends. And then there's consequences.
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And that's what the devil doesn't put before people. He doesn't show the consequences of the sin, does he?
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You know, say that to a mouse. Put the cheese. You think mouse likes cheese?
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Yeah, he does. Put it on a mouse trap. Oh, he likes that cheese. Mouse goes to the cheese.
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He's not thinking about the consequences behind that cheese. He nibbles at the bait. Best thing you know, the mouse is gone.
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He strangled to death. You know, Satan's even far worse than that. He plays for keeps, beloved.
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But you know, we're going to have to get serious about this race. But we got God the
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Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, and everything. God's for us. If God's for you, then who can be against you?
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John MacArthur said this, Our sinfulness resents and resists restrictions, sometimes even in the name of spiritual freedom.
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It is one thing to acknowledge the principles of living by love. It is another to follow it as Paul followed it because he wanted to be a winner.
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End quote. You see, Paul here speaks of basically not letting anything hinder his reception for the gospel.
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He didn't want anything to hinder him, and he placed his body under subjection.
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Even holding to the liberties and rights is a sure way to lose the race of soul winning.
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And many of the Corinthian Christians, by the way, seriously limited their testimony because they would not limit their liberty.
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They said, Oh, I got liberty in Christ. I could take it to the line as far as I can, as long as I don't cross that line.
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But what happens usually when you get too close to the line, too close to the edge? There's a precipice.
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And you fall over the precipice. And then it's downward from there. Well, that's the way
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Paul is speaking of here in Corinthians. Paul speaks and counsels the Corinthian believers to run in such a way that you may win setting aside anything that might hinder you of the reception of the gospel.
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So in this race, Paul speaks of the runner competing in the Olympic Games along with the
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Christians competing in the race of faith for the gospel's sake. He speaks a great deal of self -control.
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That's huge. Beloved, self -control is huge. In comparison, if an athlete expects to excel and win, he voluntarily and often severely restricts his liberty, right?
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If he's going to win, in other words, he restricts his liberty, his sleep, his diet, his exercise, and are not determined by his rights or his feelings, but by the requirements of his diligent training.
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Now, we're not talking about salvation here. We're talking about sanctification. This is what it takes to be sanctified, pursue this.
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Actually, an athlete is disciplined in self -control, isn't he? You show me any good athlete out there today, and I guarantee
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I'll show you, and he has a story, he has to be self -controlled in order to be who he is or she.
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Self -control is a rebuke, by the way, to the half -hearted, isn't it? It's a rebuke to the out -of -shape
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Christians who do almost nothing to prepare themselves to live out a sanctified life.
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I don't know about you. I look around today, and I see, and I look at my own heart. Don't get me wrong.
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I say, search me, O God, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me into the way of everlasting.
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Lord, deal with me first. But if I eat the bread of idleness, I'm going to go down.
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If I'm going to be lazy, God help me, I'm going to go down. But if you look around today,
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I've never seen... You wonder why there's such weak Christians. There is no self -control, hardly.
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And by the way, that's one of the fruit of the Spirit. Temperance, self -control, resisting the devil, resisting temptation, and pursuing after godliness.
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You see, that was Paul's aim. And by the way, Paul was not aimless, was he? He had an aim.
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He had a goal. And that was to win Jesus Christ. Well, the word discipline here, from a term that literally means hit under the eye.
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That word under subjection. I put my body under subjection. In other words, I hit my body,
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I give it a black eye. I make sure it stays under discipline.
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Paul the Apostle was one of the most disciplined Christians you can ever read of. Well, Paul says, why?
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Because when I preach to others, I myself should not become disqualified. He did not want to be a castaway for the sake of the gospel, for God's name.
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Disqualified. Well, another metaphor of athletics was a contest who failed to meet basic training requirements, could not participate at all, much less an opportunity to win.
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So, Paul. This is Romans 7, beloved. I can go, that's a whole other message.
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We live in Romans 7. And I want to come out of Romans 7 and get me into Romans 8.
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And even better than that, I want to be glorified. This battle of sin will never end, beloved.
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It's a battle to the end. 1 Timothy 4, 7 says, But reject profane and old wives' fables.
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Exercise yourself toward godliness. Godliness is the proper attitude and response toward God.
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Well, I've got to give some application here. There's so much more I've got to say. But I do want to say one more thing before I give you some application.
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Notice the one thing he says here. But one thing, one thing.
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The ramifications of moving that one single attitude was the ramifications of, number one, forgetting the past.
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Number two, we've got to do that. Forget the past, it's gone. Number two, reach forward to the goal.
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Number three, press it on. In the present, you could do something with the now. You could do something right now.
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I could do something right now. God has given us opportunity to take a hold and grace to help us.
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Paul pursued sanctification with all his might. He says, but one thing I do. One thing.
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What is that one thing? I believe it's seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto you.
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I like what David said in Psalm 27, 4. A man after God's own heart says,
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One thing I have asked from the Lord that I shall seek that I may dwell in the house of the
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Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and meditate in His temple.
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That means to be, that God was his delight. That was the one thing he wanted more than anything else, is
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God. That's why he said in Psalm 23, 6, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the
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Lord forever. That's what his desire was, God. That's our desire. God.
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God Himself. Isn't He enough? David desired this one thing.
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One thing. The rich young ruler looked for this one thing.
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He came to Jesus. He came running after Jesus. He wanted eternal life, but he came for the wrong reasons.
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That's another story in and of itself. He wanted to be saved, but he was not willing to let go of his idol.
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The money in which he coveted it after. Well, if you go on, Mary chose that one thing that was necessary.
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In Luke 10, 42, it says, But only one thing is necessary for Mary, has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
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Jesus was not speaking about the number of dishes to be served. Actually, the rebuke was to Martha.
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Martha, Martha, you're covered about with things that's not really necessary. Martha fussing about the details.
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I bet she was OCD. Like me. I say,
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Oh, me. Oh, me. One thing is necessary. Mary exemplified it.
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What was she doing? She was at the feet of Jesus. Meditating and worshipping.
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Listening with an open mind and an open ear to every word that Jesus was speaking to her.
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Now, do we have that kind of desire? That we would sit at the feet, come to the feet of Jesus, fall at His feet and open the
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Scriptures and say, Lord, speak for your servant here. That's my desire. I know that's your desire.
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John 9, 24, 25. The second time they called this man who had been blind.
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This blind man Jesus gave sight to. The Pharisees came to him and said,
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Hey, won't you give glory to God? We know that this man is a sinner speaking about Jesus. This man just knew.
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He just had his eyes opened up. He's praising God. In other words, this means that the authorities here in the synagogue wanted this man to own up and admit that Jesus was a sinner.
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They were trying to trap Jesus in sin. Because he violated their traditions.
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And threatened their influence. All they wanted was power and money and to sit at the feet of Moses. These were the
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Pharisees, the scholars of Jesus' day. What did this blind man that once was a blind man, that is now his eyes see, what did he say?
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He answers them whether he's a sinner or not. I do not know. One thing
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I know. One thing I know. That through this, though I was once blind, now
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I see. Hey, isn't that all that's going to matter when it comes to the day that we enter into the kingdom of God?
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One thing I do know that I'm saved by grace. I can see now. No one else is going to be there on judgment day.
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It's just going to be you alone before God. Me alone before God. Well, this man knew.
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Well, let me conclude with a simple profound story here very quickly. I didn't get to my third point.
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That's probably another sermon. I got this from Brother Keith, and I appreciate it.
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I said, Brother Keith, can I borrow this story? Now everybody knows this story. It's a child's story.
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The tortoise and the hare. Right? Everybody know this? I've heard it. But it has a great moral, a good point.
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The story goes like this. The hare was making fun of the tortoise one day for being so slow. Do you ever get anywhere?
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The hare asked with a mocking laugh. Yes, replied the tortoise. I get there sooner than you think.
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I'll run. I'll tell you what. I'll run your race and prove it to you. And the hare was much amused at the idea of running this race with the tortoise, but for the fun of the thing, he agreed.
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So the fox is actually the one that consented to act as the judge.
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He marked the distance and started the runners off. Well, the hare was so soon far out and out of sight.
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There he goes. You know the story. And to make the tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with the hare.
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And you know what happened to the hare. He decided to lay down and sleep.
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Of course, take a nap. Yeah, I got this thing wrapped up. Tortoise, you know the story.
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He said, if the tortoise catches up, I'll take him anyway. Tortoise, meanwhile, here he comes.
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He kept going. Slowly but steadily. Here he comes. Here he comes.
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Slowly but steadily. After the time he passed, he passed a place where the hare was sleeping.
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Hare didn't even notice it. Hare slept on very peacefully. He thought he had it all wrapped up.
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When at last he did wake up, the tortoise was near the goal. The hare now ran as fast and swift as he could, but he could not overtake the tortoise in time.
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Moral of the story. The race is not always to the swift or to the fastest.
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The race is to the one who endures faithfully to the end until he crosses the finish line.
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Beware, again, of eating the bread of idleness. Fall into sleep. Fall into that temptation.
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May God help us to resist the terrible temptation that would cause us to be disqualified.
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It's not how well we start. It's how well we finish. We must lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us.
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Let us run with patience, endurance, the race that's set before us in fixing our eyes on Jesus.
01:04:39
Amy Carmichael said this, Lord Jesus, do turn us all into love and all of our love into obedience.
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And let our obedience be without interruption, only for God's glory. Let me close with this.
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She prayed a prayer, one of my favorite poems. And it's a prayer. And it's called,
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Make Me Thy Fuel. Make Me Thy Fuel. From prayer that asks that I may be sheltered from the winds that beat on thee, from fearing when
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I should expire, from faltering when I should climb higher, from silken self,
01:05:25
O Captain Free, thy soldier who would follow thee, from subtle love of softenings, from easy choices, weakenings.
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Not thus are spirits fortified. Not this way went the crucified.
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Now listen to this. From all that dims thy calvary, O Lamb of God, deliver me.
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Give me the love that leads the way, the faith that nothing can dismay, the hope that no disappointments tire, the passion that will burn like fire.
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Let me not sink to be a clod. Make me thy fuel, flame of God.
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Amen and amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word this morning.
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There's so much that can be said. But Lord, when it comes right down to it, as the old hymn says, to disappoint
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I long to know, often it causes anxious thought. Do I love the
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Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? Really when it comes right down to it, it's our love toward you.
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And Lord, you have placed the love of God, your love in our hearts by your Holy Spirit.
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With the gift that you've given to us, that eternal life in Jesus Christ, your
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Son, may we now pursue of being Christ -like, like Christ as our ultimate goal until the very end.
01:07:15
And may we run this race with patience. Lord, help each and every one of us in this new year, as we begin this new year by your grace and goodness, that you would call to us a fresh commitment,
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Lord, for us to all run the race, focused and motivated by your holy love, with maximum exertion and effort, dependent on all of your resources in Jesus.
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In the hardest times, in those times that we find it difficult every day to go on,
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Lord, lift us up out of the mirey plain. Lord, renew our strength,
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Lord, and give us the strength to love you with everything we have, by your grace, because we fail so many times.
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May Jesus, may we set that pattern before us of being like Jesus, much like Him as we can, who will someday, one day, we will be perfected in His presence.
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And see Him face to face. That is our goal. So, Father, may we all finish faithfully.
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And I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen. Praise God.