1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,400 It is so good to see each of you here this morning. 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,560 And perhaps if you're here for the first time in this meeting, 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:07,960 we of course want to welcome you. 4 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:11,600 And we've been talking in this meeting about the Book of 5 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:14,640 Philippians. And the book of Philippians is 6 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,080 an incredible book because it's very encouraging. 7 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,280 It is one of those books that Paul just exudes his love and 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,440 his care and his his great affection for this congregation. 9 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,720 Now, of course, today is what the world and many of us 10 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,520 consider Father's Day. And you think, well, how in the 11 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,680 world could Father's Day ever fit into the book of 12 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:39,480 Philippians? Well, I won't dwell on that, but 13 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:44,000 there is a connection and that is this Father's Day, of course, 14 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,640 is something that the world has designated to honor dads or 15 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,600 fathers in this nation. But you know, really, in the 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:57,120 book of Philippians, Paul is giving credit and glory to the 17 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:02,800 Father, our Father in heaven. And not only that, but as he 18 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,280 begins this epistle, Paul says, Paul and Timothy. 19 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,440 Now, who was Timothy? Well, Timothy was Paul's son in 20 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,040 the faith. Now, there's no record, we don't 21 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,280 know about Paul being married and having children 22 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,920 biologically, but he had plenty of faithful men who followed him 23 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,720 around, who helped him, who are his sons, as it were, in the 24 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,400 faith. And so my point is this, before 25 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,040 we get into the real points, is that if you're a man in this 26 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:37,360 audience today, make God your father. 27 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,320 Now, hopefully you're a Christian and hopefully God's 28 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:45,080 Son is your one that you emulate. 29 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,680 But you know, men have such an important role in our culture. 30 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,200 And I think sometimes in American culture, men have sort 31 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,480 of failed in that role. Now, we're not talking about the 32 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:58,320 family this morning. That's not our topic. 33 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,160 But nonetheless, I just want to encourage the men in this 34 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,840 congregation and throughout wherever I preach to be good 35 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,840 spiritual leaders, to love your wives, to love your children, to 36 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,800 nurture them up in the in the grace of the Lord. 37 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:20,600 Be men of leadership, not only in your secular life, but also 38 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,440 in the church. And that doesn't mean being up 39 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,200 here in front. It just means being involved and 40 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,040 being really dedicated to the cause of the Lord. 41 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,200 Likewise, of course, we could say many things for the ladies, 42 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:37,840 but nonetheless, it all takes us working together to be able to 43 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,920 really make the church, make the Kingdom in this area and in my 44 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:43,880 area at home, what it needs to be. 45 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:46,480 And so happy Father's Day to the fathers. 46 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,160 But let's not forget our Father in heaven, the Father of lights, 47 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,200 with whom is no bearableness, neither shadow of turning from 48 00:02:55,200 --> 00:03:00,040 whence all good things slow hallowed be his name, as Jesus 49 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,440 put it in Matthew 6. Well, of course, as we've looked 50 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,480 through Philippians, we took on a task that was really too big 51 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,680 for a five day meeting. Well, it's too big for a five 52 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,840 day meeting, but you know, if you don't stay on task. 53 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,120 And that's kind of my problem because I tend to find rabbit 54 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,240 trails that I want to go down and begin to discuss. 55 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:23,880 And so even things that maybe I haven't necessarily even thought 56 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,440 about at home, they sort of come to me. 57 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:28,120 And I think what we need to discuss that. 58 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:33,200 Well, of course, we only ended up into Chapter 2 in our study 59 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,720 over these last few nights. And so naturally and obviously 60 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,560 we're not going to be able to cover every verse in the book of 61 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,240 Philippians. So let me give you a bird's eye 62 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,840 view once again for those who either have not been able to be 63 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,040 here or maybe those who have been here and kind of put this 64 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,200 together and then we'll go into some new material. 65 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,000 But of course, remember, Paul is the apostle. 66 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:59,000 This is a prison epistle. Paul is in prison in Rome, and 67 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,960 Paul is writing to a congregation that in Acts 16 he 68 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:07,760 had established, having been a prisoner himself in the jail, 69 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:09,720 and the Philippian jailer was converted. 70 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,400 And then also they continued to help him from the first day 71 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,640 onward in his preaching of the Gospel. 72 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,640 And so Paul is writing this thank you note. 73 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:20,480 Now he doesn't only write thank yous. 74 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,320 There are some things he solves or corrects in this 75 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:25,760 congregation. Every congregation with people 76 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,440 will have a certain amount of difficulty because we are human. 77 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,640 But nonetheless, he encourages them in the Lord. 78 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,760 He encourages them to remember even his own condition and how 79 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,120 that God had used that condition of being in prison to work 80 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,560 things out. You know, Paul talks in the 81 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,440 first part of this chapter of chapter 1, which we've already 82 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,600 covered, about the problem of being in Jesus. 83 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,400 Now, I suspect that most of you believe in Jesus who are in this 84 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,400 audience this morning, and I suspect that most of you are in 85 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,840 Christ. You've been baptized for the 86 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:01,760 remission of your sins. But you know, even as joyous as 87 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,680 that is, there are going to be problems for you because you're 88 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,840 a Christian. No, it may not be persecution 89 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,560 per SE. It may not be imprisonment per 90 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,600 SE, but you're going to have to make tough decisions if you're 91 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,120 going to follow Christ. You know, submission is an 92 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,640 interesting concept because submission means you make 93 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,480 yourself vulnerable. Now, you know, when I talk about 94 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,920 the family, I know that of course, wives are told to be 95 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,480 submissive voluntarily to their husband, and that's hard because 96 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,640 she is voluntarily making herself vulnerable. 97 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,160 Well, we are doing that when we accept Jesus Christ. 98 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,400 We're agreeing to Jesus. We're going to make ourselves 99 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:43,080 vulnerable for your cause, and the world's not going to like us 100 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:44,400 very much. So Paul understood that. 101 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,120 So Paul talks about the problem that he has in Jesus Christ, but 102 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:50,840 then as he talks about his imprisonment, he talks about the 103 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:53,880 Providence that God had used in his life. 104 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:56,840 We pointed out the other evening that God is in control of 105 00:05:56,840 --> 00:05:59,680 everything now. God gives us free will, and God 106 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,440 wants us to use that will. But God ultimately has it all 107 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:04,800 figured out. We don't, but he asks us in 108 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,880 faith to follow his plan. But Paul had been in prison. 109 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,560 And what does he tell us? What he tells us as which we 110 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,680 developed the other evening, that even with him in prison, 111 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,440 the gospel had gone forth. Paul's sitting there in that 112 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,680 room in jail, or at least under house arrest, and he is penning 113 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,240 these letters and a guard is literally chained to him. 114 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,880 And that guard is having to listen to Paul. 115 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,440 And maybe Paul is dictating to Timothy what he wants to say. 116 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,200 Who's really in prison there? Who's really chained? 117 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,400 Well, you can debate whether it's Paul or the guard, but I'll 118 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:38,760 tell you one thing that wasn't chained and that was the gospel. 119 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:41,880 And so Paul talks about the Providence, how this is actually 120 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:43,800 worked out better that he's in prison. 121 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,040 And by the way, even if we don't necessarily get the all the 122 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:49,080 material I want to cover this one, let me just say this. 123 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:54,440 Sometimes the situations in our life look dismal and we belly 124 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:56,760 ache and we complain. And by the way, Paul addresses 125 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,360 that in Philippians, he said, you know, don't be complainers. 126 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,920 You know, I'm sort of an, a, a, a person with my wife and she'll 127 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,240 just kind of walk off because, you know, that doesn't solve 128 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,040 anything. But you know, nonetheless, 129 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,720 sometimes we complain and we don't see where this thing is 130 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,560 going. And God has a plan. 131 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,800 Now, I'm not saying God dictates every single difficulty that 132 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:19,640 comes into your life. I don't know. 133 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,840 But we can use that difficulty to praise God. 134 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:30,120 Even a tragedy can be something that draws us closer to the 135 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,760 eternal. 1 So Paul talks about the Providence of God, how the 136 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:38,200 gospel had reached the other guards and even the household of 137 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,800 Caesar. That's incredible. 138 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,360 And then, of course, he talks about the pattern of his life. 139 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,200 He talks about the mind of Christ, which we talked about 140 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,600 the other night, and how that the mind of Christ is what we 141 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,720 are to carry with us into our daily living. 142 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:56,920 We show others the love of Christ. 143 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,480 We show others the mind of Jesus. 144 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:05,400 Jesus was a man of peacemaking. He was a man of perfect harmony 145 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:09,200 with God's will. He was a man of prayer, He was a 146 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:14,120 man that really tried to bring others and shepherd others to 147 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,120 God. He of course was the Good 148 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,240 Shepherd. And so Paul talks about the, 149 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:21,480 the, the, the, the pattern of his life. 150 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,480 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 151 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,040 And then he talks about Jesus crucifixion, who, though in the 152 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:33,120 form of God, did not think it was something to be held on to a 153 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,320 grasp, but took upon himself the form of a servant, a slave, and 154 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:42,120 became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. 155 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,200 And of course, because of that, Paul says that God has highly 156 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,680 esteemed and elevated Jesus, and we know that's true. 157 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,760 One of the most beautiful scenarios I think that ever 158 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,000 happens in the Scriptures, along with everything, of course, is 159 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,920 that when Jesus is about to ascend to heaven, you know, the 160 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:03,080 apostles go with him and he's there and he begins to just 161 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,280 ascend up into heaven. And they're just looking and 162 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:10,160 they're just wondering what in the world now they knew that 163 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,840 Jesus had prophesied or that he's going to go back to the 164 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:14,760 Father. John 14 But, you know, they 165 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,640 didn't really understand that. And so now they're standing 166 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:19,720 there looking up and there's these angels that says, why are 167 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:21,840 you standing here gazing up into heaven? 168 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,120 You know what they're really saying, hey, listen, you've got 169 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:25,240 a job to do. Get on with it. 170 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:28,080 You know, Jesus did that same thing with Mary at the tomb. 171 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:29,800 Now I'm way off topic. That's OK. 172 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,840 You know, Jesus said, Mary, you know, Mary came up to Jesus and 173 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:34,200 she thought he was the gardener or whatever. 174 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,800 And then when she realized that she's Jesus, she just grabs onto 175 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:41,200 him and he says, Mary, Mary, don't, don't touch me or don't 176 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,520 hang on to me. He says, but go and tell the 177 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:47,360 apostles what's going on. She was the first evangelist in 178 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:50,280 that context anyway. And so anyway, they're standing 179 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:52,720 there. Well, of course Jesus sins and 180 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,680 they're a little bit bewildered, but in a few days, because 181 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:58,480 remember, Jesus had resurrected and for 40 days he had been with 182 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:00,240 him. And then there's 10 more days. 183 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,000 He said you go into Jerusalem and wait. 184 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,920 So 10 days go by. Pentecost comes fifty days 185 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,680 after, you know, the Passover. And so there the disciples are 186 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:13,680 gathered and there's this great Pentecostal experience, if you 187 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:17,240 will, in the true biblical sense, and the Holy Spirit is 188 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,480 poured out. Well, I believe that's when 189 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:21,880 Jesus was being coordinated. Why do I believe that? 190 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:25,480 Because Peter stands up and preaches that it was at that 191 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,080 moment that Jesus was taking the throne of David. 192 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:32,840 The old ancestral throne that the Jews wanted restored was now 193 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,000 being set upon by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 194 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,600 It's a it's a wonderful, wonderful story. 195 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,640 And Jesus, of course, then pours out these gifts. 196 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:44,960 He pours out through the apostles of the Gospel. 197 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,440 And of course, they are guided by the Holy Spirit. 198 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,680 And we today have the Scriptures, we have the apostles 199 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:53,400 writings that can encourage us. Well, I'm off track. 200 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,640 Let's get back. So what else did Paul say in 201 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:57,960 this letter? Well, that if we could just, you 202 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:00,440 know, if we could take a month of Sundays, so to speak, That's 203 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:01,560 what we used to say down the hills. 204 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:04,160 I don't know what they say here, but nonetheless, you know, if we 205 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,680 could take time, we could go through every verse and just 206 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:09,840 pick out so many details. But one of the major points, 207 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:14,000 besides what we've already pointed out, is that Paul also 208 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:18,200 saw Jesus not only as a problem in his life, a good problem. 209 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:22,040 Not only did he see the Providence of Jesus in his life, 210 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,120 and not only did he see things working out, not only did he 211 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,400 see, of course, the purpose of his life and all those things, 212 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,640 but he saw Jesus as the prize. Now, you know, one of the things 213 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,440 I think we should preface our remarks with is the fact that we 214 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,000 all want to go to heaven, don't we? 215 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,480 That's our goal. We want to go to heaven. 216 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,120 But let me back away from that just slightly and give you 217 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,840 another perspective. I don't want to diminish 218 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:52,040 anything that we've said about going to heaven, but you know, 219 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:54,640 heaven really, and I want you to understand what I'm saying 220 00:11:54,920 --> 00:12:00,720 begins here and it begins here not in the physical sense, but 221 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,720 in the fact that we are already citizens of the Kingdom of 222 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:06,280 heaven. In fact, Paul will say that 223 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,600 actually in the later part of chapter 3 when he says our 224 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:15,480 citizenship is in heaven. Now, remember, Philippi was a 225 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,800 exact replica, an imperial city of Rome. 226 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,400 And people love to be citizens of Rome because it carried A 227 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,960 tremendous amount of rights. And so if you lived in Philippi, 228 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:30,080 you also had those Roman rights. And Paul is alluding to the fact 229 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:34,040 that, hey, no matter where you fit in in this culture, some of 230 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,800 us feel maybe a little bit disenfranchised. 231 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,840 Some of us feel a little bit, you know, discouraged from where 232 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,240 we are and where we live. I've always said I'm not really 233 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,440 an American. I feel more comfortable overseas 234 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:46,880 than I do here. But nonetheless, it doesn't 235 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,720 matter where I am in this earth. Guess where? 236 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:51,480 Guess where my citizenship really is? 237 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,520 It's in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. 238 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,440 Your name, if you're a Christian, is written in the 239 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,840 Lamb's role, the Lamb's book of life. 240 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:04,960 And Jesus has paid the price for you to get there. 241 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,480 But nonetheless, there's a prize in getting to heaven. 242 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:12,480 But it all begins here. And I think if we have the right 243 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:17,160 perspective, what we can come to understand, And I and I work on 244 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,040 this a lot, maybe you do too. You know, we can come to 245 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:24,840 understand that the blessings and even the joy of heaven can 246 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,240 begin now. You know, again, life is tough. 247 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:29,720 I was talking to a sister before church. 248 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:31,640 You know, we wake up in the morning and we're like, oh, 249 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:36,840 another day. Well, God has given us that day, 250 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,960 but not just for our own selfish interests to please him and to 251 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,080 praise him. And when we take on that 252 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,640 perspective, it gives us really a purpose. 253 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,360 A lot of peas in that sentence. But anyway, if we mind our peas 254 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,680 anyway. So anyway, He's given us a 255 00:13:53,680 --> 00:14:00,160 purpose to be productive and practical and even develop 256 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,200 perfection. How's that in our lives? 257 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:06,440 And so then you see, it begins here. 258 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,040 So don't only think about the prize. 259 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:13,280 Don't ever just only say, well, I just got to get to heaven. 260 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,560 I got to get to heaven. You know, for some reason God 261 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:18,880 has you here on earth. And that may be to leave someone 262 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,680 else to him. That may be to improve yourself 263 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,560 so that you become a better white. 264 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,440 You know, Paul says to these Philippians, you know, you live 265 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,840 in a World of Darkness among whom you shine as lights in the 266 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,720 world. Well, but he does talk about the 267 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:34,920 price. So let's get back to that. 268 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,600 You know, he talks about in in verse chapter 3, rather in verse 269 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,080 10 or so he talks about the resurrection of Jesus. 270 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,240 He talks about wanting to know the power of the resurrection 271 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,640 and I don't have time to develop that because that's not this 272 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:49,760 point. But none of us there is power in 273 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,840 the resurrection of Jesus. And someday we will experience 274 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,880 in as much as God has planned for us, the power of Jesus 275 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,280 resurrection and that we will be raised ourself. 276 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:06,240 We're going to cast off this mortal body and have a body that 277 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,120 is suited for eternality, for eternity. 278 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:11,960 Now, I don't know what that looks like. 279 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,280 In fact, first John 31, John says we do not yet know what we 280 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:19,600 shall be when he returns, but we know that we'll be like him. 281 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:21,240 You know what? That's good enough for me. 282 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,160 That is good enough for me. I know there's a lot of 283 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,280 discussion even among preachers about, well, you know, is that 284 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,720 body that Jesus has now? Is it flesh? 285 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,360 And what is it? This is, you know, there's all 286 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,880 these passages that we could study, but we'll be like him. 287 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,040 And that's the issue. So Paul's been talking about the 288 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,320 power of the resurrection. And then he says this in verse 289 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,720 12. He says, not that I have already 290 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,080 attained. In other words, I haven't met 291 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,680 the goal yet. I'm not in heaven yet. 292 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,320 I'm not perfect yet. And by the way, in the previous 293 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,080 section, he's been talking about having confidence in the flesh 294 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,760 and having confidence in our past and our, you know, our, our 295 00:15:57,760 --> 00:15:59,840 accomplishments. Of course, there were Judaizing 296 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,480 teachers at that point in time that were very stuck on all of 297 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,600 the points of the law and how that they were Jews and how that 298 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,960 they were the blood of Abraham and so on and so forth. 299 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,040 And Paul looks beyond that. But he says, not that I have 300 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:18,520 already attained or am perfected, but I press on. 301 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,680 I press on. You know, what he's talking 302 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,560 about here is Endurance. If you ever want to read a good, 303 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,400 interesting story, read about Shackleton's adventure. 304 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,440 Shackleton was a sailor who took the ship. 305 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:35,480 Endurance, I think it was to the South Pole. 306 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:37,600 It got stuck. It's a great story. 307 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:42,000 But anyway, Endurance, it means persistence, and it means, you 308 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,280 know, not giving up. So Paul says I'm not perfect. 309 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,520 I'm not there yet, but I press on. 310 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:52,800 Now it is in the press that we find difficulty, but it's in the 311 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,240 press that we grow. You know, everything in life 312 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:57,560 really is carried out in tension. 313 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,840 In the process of tension, growth happens. 314 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,480 You know, you take that little egg with a little bird in it and 315 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,640 it has to Peck its way out. There's tension there. 316 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,599 Maybe not tension as in stress as we think of it, but he has to 317 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:16,880 work the bird or the, the, the, the butterfly in the little 318 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,240 chrysalis has to, has to work together. 319 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,839 There's tension there and yet out what comes from this, this 320 00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:27,240 worm is this beautiful butterfly that then floats into the air. 321 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,640 There's tension there. And you know, sometimes we see 322 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,200 our difficulties and our persecutions and our trials and 323 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,160 our hardships and there's tension there and it's hard to 324 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,480 press on. We want to throw in the towel. 325 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:44,200 Well, I understand that most of the time I'd rather throw in the 326 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:47,000 towel too. And sometimes you do things out 327 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,520 of duty. You know, brother asked me not 328 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,080 long ago. He said, you know, I said, I 329 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:52,440 don't think I've really ever been happy. 330 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:53,880 He said, oh, that's so sad, so sad. 331 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,880 Doesn't anything make you happy? Well, I don't know. 332 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,120 But I said most what I do is I do out of duty. 333 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,680 Now, that's not a bad thing because duty is a good 334 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,160 motivator. But nonetheless, there's 335 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:08,600 tension. It's a press, It's a difficult. 336 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:11,120 It's, it's, it's, it's, you know, it's, you do things 337 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:14,680 because it's the right thing to do all the time looking of 338 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,040 course, for things that give you joy too. 339 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:20,200 Now, again, if you just live your life hoping to find joy in 340 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:21,920 everything, well, good luck with that. 341 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,040 It's not going to happen because joy is elusive. 342 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,280 And well, let's say this happiness is even more elusive, 343 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:31,720 but that's another topic for another time. 344 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:37,280 So he says, brethren, he says, I press on that I made a hold of 345 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,960 that for which Jesus Christ has laid hold of me. 346 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,720 You know, on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, Jesus laid 347 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,640 hold of Paul. You know, he sees that bright 348 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:50,400 light. He's on the way to Damascus to 349 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,560 persecute Christians. And all of a sudden, boom, he is 350 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,600 face to face, so to speak, with the Lord, the risen Savior. 351 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,040 And Jesus is, you know, he's rebuking him. 352 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,280 Paul, it's hard for you to kick against the goats. 353 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:05,600 Jesus had laid hold of Paul for a purpose. 354 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,640 Now, you know, if you're here and you're a Christian and 355 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:11,640 you've heard the gospel and you've been convicted and you 356 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,600 decided to follow Christ, that's Christ laying hold of you. 357 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:16,720 You can call it, you know, the power of the gospel. 358 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,760 You can call it the conscience. You can call whatever, but 359 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,200 there's a certain lane hold where now you're Christ's. 360 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:22,240 So what are you going to do with that? 361 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:23,800 What are you going to do with that? 362 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,600 Are you going to, are you going to go on and and press forward? 363 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:29,920 You know, the Christian life is compared to a race. 364 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,240 It's compared to building. All of those things take 365 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,600 tenacity, or shall we say stick to itiveness. 366 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:39,960 That's the Ozark way of saying tenacity. 367 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,520 You got to stick with the program and sometimes you don't 368 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,440 know if it's going to be successful, but here come again, 369 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,640 the Providence, God will see us through. 370 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:54,120 So he says again, Christ laid hold of me so that I could lay 371 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,760 hold of the prize. Heaven, yes, preaching the 372 00:19:57,760 --> 00:19:59,400 gospel, yes, that also is included. 373 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,920 Then he says, Brotherhood or brethren, I do not not count 374 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:06,480 myself to have apprehended or to have grasped everything. 375 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,800 But one thing I do for getting those things which are behind 376 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:16,960 and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press. 377 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:18,240 Here's that word. Press again. 378 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:25,040 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God 379 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,640 in Christ Jesus. Now let's unpack that a little 380 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,880 bit, brethren. I'm not there. 381 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,160 He says, You kidding me? Well, it's certainly not in 382 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,520 heaven at this point, although he said he wanted to go. 383 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,120 But Paul's going to be the strongest Christian I ever read 384 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:42,080 about in my life. And yet he did not see himself 385 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:46,880 totally as having apprehended. Now, in the previous verses, 386 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,280 he's talking about all of his accomplishments in Judaism and 387 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,360 all of the fact that he could not be self-righteous in spite 388 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,440 or despite of all of those accomplishments. 389 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:59,880 He was a Jew. He had the blood of Abraham. 390 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:01,640 He was circumcised on the 8th day. 391 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,280 He was on the tribe of Benjamin. He had, you know, he had all 392 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,000 these things. In fact, he says, you know, when 393 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,080 it comes to observing the law of Moses, I was blameless. 394 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:13,160 He certainly did it all right. But then he says, you know, I 395 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,360 have to forget those things, forgetting those things that are 396 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:17,440 behind. I press forward. 397 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,320 Now, let me just try to find some practical application 398 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,720 because we're not under the law of Moses. 399 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,920 We're not, you know, of the tribe of Benjamin and all those 400 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,720 things. But what point? 401 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:32,440 What concept here is applicable to us forgetting those things 402 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,840 that are behind? Well, I don't know what your 403 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,600 life is like. Maybe you were raised in a 404 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,240 church environment. OK, that's good. 405 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:43,560 Do we still need to forget all of that? 406 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,880 Well, only in a sense that we begin to ask where we talk 407 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,160 correctly. Do we have things in our life 408 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,400 that we continue to need to work on or whatever. 409 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:53,960 But let me give you another example. 410 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,760 I often meet people and when I moved to Kansas City, first of 411 00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:59,920 all, we were dealing with a lot of folks who come out of very 412 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:05,880 difficult backgrounds, drugs, you know, broken homes and they 413 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,240 were broken. They were very much hurting in 414 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,680 their hearts and in their lives. And you know, one of the things 415 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:17,320 that is so difficult is you get folks to to come to the Lord 416 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,800 because they know the need. It's sincerity. 417 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:20,920 They really do. They're sincere. 418 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,480 But that old world continues to to pull them back. 419 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,800 Their minds oftentimes are set on those things and they can't 420 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,560 they can't get over it. And sometimes they can't forgive 421 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,800 themselves. You know, Satan loves that. 422 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:35,640 Satan loves it when we cannot forget, forgive ourselves. 423 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,560 And I don't want to get off into a bunch of psychology this 424 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,120 morning, but self forgiveness is important. 425 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,360 Of course, it's predicated ultimately on God having 426 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:45,640 forgiven us because we've confessed our sins and he's 427 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:47,600 faithful and just to forgive our sins first, John. 428 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,240 But nonetheless, when we don't forgive ourself or when we again 429 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:56,240 are living in the past, it thwarts our future. 430 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,800 Now Jesus even said don't even take thought for the future, but 431 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,480 the that the corollary of that is that they weren't to take 432 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:09,000 thought of their past either. You can't change the past, no 433 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,720 matter if you have come from a terrible background or a 434 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,880 background of abuse or drug and drug issues or, or just personal 435 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,240 difficulty, mental difficulties. You, you might not change, you 436 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,760 can't change the past. But you could say how do I press 437 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:26,520 forward and all you got to do is live 1 moment at a time. 438 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,080 You know, I tend to project into the future and say, well, I 439 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,920 don't think I can get there. And so I never tried. 440 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,560 No, I can't get there if I don't take the first step, you know, 441 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,080 it takes that first step with the Lord. 442 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:46,720 And so really what that ends up being is when we say, well, you 443 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,520 know, I can't go forward. I live in the past. 444 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,880 That really becomes a form of self righteousness. 445 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,840 It's kind of a twisted form, but we are looking and depending on 446 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:57,600 our own strength. You know, sometimes people come 447 00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:59,240 to me and they say I can't live the Christian life. 448 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,160 And I say, you know what, you're right, you can't live the 449 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,400 Christian life, not alone, you can't do it. 450 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,480 But Paul, as he will say later on in Philippians, I can do all 451 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:10,800 things through Christ who gives me strength. 452 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,960 You can live the Christian life if you are yoked to Jesus. 453 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,320 And so Paul understood that. He says I forgive those things 454 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,000 that are behind my accomplishments. 455 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,240 You know, Paul could have been. By the way, Paul was a Pharisee. 456 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:32,720 He had been schooled under the PhD, the highest PhD guy in the 457 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:37,240 ancient world, Gamaliel. He was a man who was bright. 458 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,840 I mean, he was sharp and he gave all of that up, counted it as 459 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,960 garbage for Jesus. But he could have written his 460 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:46,080 own. He could have written his own 461 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,320 ticket. He was brilliant. 462 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,040 You read Romans, you'll see that. 463 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:54,280 And yet he gave all of that up. And see, he doesn't dwell on his 464 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,240 past accomplishments. And that's another really. 465 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,480 And not to get again, too far off on this point, but that's 466 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,360 another thing. Maybe you've been successful in 467 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:03,480 the past. Maybe you've been financially 468 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,720 successful, maybe you've been really, you know, even 469 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,480 spiritually successful and something happened and you were 470 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:14,120 all you lost all that. So what you got the future, move 471 00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:18,240 forward, he says again, I forget those things were behind and I 472 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:20,760 reach this is the idea. You know, when I watch the 473 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,440 Olympics, I see the baton run. I think that's what they still 474 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,560 call it. But anyway, you've got the 475 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,240 runner who comes around the corner and of course their their 476 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:32,000 teammates are lined up and they've got this baton and they 477 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,800 stretch out to give it to the next runner. 478 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:40,400 That's the idea here, the stretching forward to move on 479 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,360 into the next part, if you will, of the race. 480 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:48,800 He says, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call 481 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:50,840 of God in Christ. One more point before we leave 482 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,640 this little section. And that is as we noted, let's 483 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,400 think about the journey too. Let's not just think about the 484 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,840 prize, but let's find joy in the journey. 485 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,840 There's an old song by a guy named Michael Card just kind of 486 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,000 came to my mind just now. He was sort of a religious 487 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,440 singer, but he's talking about the joy of the journey. 488 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:12,240 The joy of the journey. Well, I'm telling you what, my 489 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,680 journey has been pretty mentally challenging for me. 490 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,000 Maybe you too. But there is joy in the journey. 491 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,200 Well, let's notice very quickly one more point. 492 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,640 This is found in Chapter 4, and he's talking now about joy. 493 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:30,120 He's talking about joy in the journey, and of course, if 494 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:34,200 anybody knew life in the difficult sense, it's Paul. 495 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,960 In first, in Second Corinthians Chapter 11, he talks about 496 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,080 having been shipwrecked, having been stoned, having been beaten, 497 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,600 having been hungry, all of these things for the cause of Christ, 498 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:47,400 but he still had joy. Joy is something that we can 499 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,320 decide. You know, happiness may depend 500 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,880 upon happenstance, but joy is something that we can decide. 501 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,600 So notice what Paul says in verse 4 of chapter 4. 502 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:04,720 He says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice 503 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:11,200 now really Jesus the Lord is the only stable thing to rejoice in. 504 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,360 Of course God and spiritual things, but you know what I 505 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:17,480 mean. Joy can come from a relationship 506 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,520 with Jesus because as we noted the other night, comfort comes 507 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,600 from Jesus. And no matter whether we are on 508 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:28,880 the ship being tossed out by the waves of life, Jesus is there. 509 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:31,560 You know, one of these little stories you find in the New 510 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,080 Testament is one time the apostles on another occasion 511 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,280 were in a boat, small little fishing boat, and they were 512 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,080 being tossed and turned and they look around and want to cry out 513 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,880 to Jesus and he's asleep. He's asleep over there. 514 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,440 He was exhausted from preaching. Well, he made the waves. 515 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,840 He didn't worry about it. There was peace in his heart. 516 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,640 He left it all in God's control. Well, Paul really wants us to do 517 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:56,640 that too. But he says rejoice in the Lord 518 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,720 and then he says, let your gentleness be known to all men. 519 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:08,080 Let your let your peace that you have in Christ exude forward so 520 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,840 that others find this peace. Have you ever been around 521 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:12,520 somebody? You know, I'm a little high 522 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:13,840 strung sometimes. Have you ever been over 523 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,160 somebody? They're just, they're just so 524 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,600 calm. Even in a difficulty, they're 525 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:19,680 just calm. And and that sort of wears off. 526 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:22,000 That sort of bleeds over into you. 527 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,280 He says. And then he says, you know, 528 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:27,880 don't be anxious for six. Don't be anxious. 529 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,280 I told my wife and I think I may even mention this, but you know, 530 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,000 coming to this meeting, I wasn't anxious about you guys. 531 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:38,160 I know many of you and crowds don't bother me, but I was just 532 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,280 anxious, probably because I'd studied Philippians and I didn't 533 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:43,960 know what I was going to say. And I said maybe it's ironic 534 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,600 because or maybe it's providential is what I told her. 535 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:48,920 I said, because Paul says don't be anxious. 536 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:53,040 In other words, don't get so wrapped up in your emotions and 537 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,040 in your connection with the things of life that you can't 538 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,480 focus on Christ. We're all going to be concerned. 539 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:01,760 We're all going to have anxiety to some degree. 540 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:03,840 That's understandable. That's normal. 541 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,400 But he says don't, don't let it control you. 542 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,840 Be anxious for nothing. And so how do we let that not 543 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:11,760 control us? What he says by everything in 544 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:18,520 prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving prayer. 545 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:21,880 My grandmother, she was a dear lady. 546 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:27,160 Ruetta knew her and she was the lady who lived a very hard life, 547 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:32,200 not from her own dealings, but just poor and had seven girls 548 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,520 that she trying to raise and grandfather. 549 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:35,920 It was a little bit on the hard side. 550 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:37,800 And she had this thing on the refrigerator. 551 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:40,280 I don't know if I remember it perfectly, but it said something 552 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:44,960 about if something is worth worrying, worrying about, it's 553 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,600 worth praying about. And if something is worth 554 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:49,760 praying about, it's not worth worrying about. 555 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,080 That's pretty good, isn't it? Well, we're all going to worry, 556 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:58,720 but the point is, is that we back away from that and trust in 557 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,920 the Lord. So he says by prayer and 558 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:03,800 supplication. I I take supplication here to 559 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,240 maybe be and then a little more intensity than prayer in self. 560 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:08,880 Another you're you're supplicating. 561 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,640 It may last longer than a simple prayer, but then he says with 562 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:20,160 Thanksgiving, one of the hardest things to do is to be unhappy 563 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:23,760 and be anxious when you are giving thanks to God. 564 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:27,760 Because you see, when we're giving thanks to God, we are 565 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,400 realizing that no matter what, God's in control. 566 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,280 But also, it may very well be that this circumstance that is 567 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:37,000 before us, God having allowed, will bring us closer to God. 568 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,320 So we give thanks. We say, God, thank you for 569 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,560 testing my faith. You know, a faith that's not 570 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:46,880 worth testing, is not worth having because that's how we 571 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,640 determine where we are in our spiritual development. 572 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,480 But we thank God that he gave us prayer, that he gave us Jesus, 573 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:56,920 that he gave us that Ave. of prayer. 574 00:30:57,440 --> 00:30:59,840 He could have left us out. He could have said, you know 575 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,400 what, Romans 5, you're sinners. I don't want anything to do with 576 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,240 you. But while we were yet sinners, 577 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:11,160 Christ died for us. And so then he speaks here of 578 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,800 the peace of God. Make your request known to God 579 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,440 in Thanksgiving and prayer, and the peace of God, which 580 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:24,000 surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds 581 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,720 through Jesus Christ. The internal comfort, the 582 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:33,040 internal blessing of having that relationship with Jesus is going 583 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:39,840 to give us a stability that this world does not know and can not 584 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:43,920 know without Jesus. Our culture needs Jesus so bad. 585 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:46,680 It needs Jesus. It needs Christ. 586 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,680 It needs not only the correct religion, of course, but it it 587 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,680 needs the peace of Christ so bad. 588 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:57,360 I watched in horror this week as Tel Aviv was being bombed and 589 00:31:57,360 --> 00:31:59,600 all. Likewise Iraq and Iran rather 590 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:02,080 being bombed and bombing each other. 591 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,080 Well, I was in Tel Aviv years ago when Saddam Hussein was 592 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,640 threatening to send his Scud missiles over to Tel Aviv. 593 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:10,960 It's very scary. There's terrifying things. 594 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:15,080 This world is filled with unpeaceful situations. 595 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,360 We need to pray for that, of course, but we need to pray for 596 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:22,520 the peace in our lives. And that comes first of all by 597 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,360 having a relationship with Jesus. 598 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:29,920 Sometimes our anxiety, sometimes my anxiety, I don't know about 599 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:36,880 you, comes from latent sin, hidden sins in my life and they 600 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:40,640 work on my conscience. But when you can correct that, 601 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,800 you can pray and you can cast those cares on the Lord, there 602 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:50,760 will be a peace, at least for a time that really, you can't even 603 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:53,960 put a price tag or you can't even put a definition on it. 604 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:56,880 It's a good thing. But those are the thoughts this 605 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:58,080 morning. We could ramble along for a long 606 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,280 time, but if you're here this morning, you're not a Christian 607 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,120 and you don't have that peace of Christ. 608 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:09,080 You know, really Jesus made it simple to be his follower. 609 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:11,680 It will get difficult, but he made it simple. 610 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:15,000 He said, come to me. We come hearing his word, we 611 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,720 believe it, we accept him, we repent of our sins, we confess 612 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,400 him as the Son of God, our Lord and our Savior. 613 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:25,720 We have his blood that washes away our sins in the waters of 614 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,840 baptism. And then of course, we rise to 615 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,080 walk in a new life and we press forward. 616 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:35,040 We forget that which is behind and we live for him. 617 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:37,280 You're here this morning. We can assist you in that or 618 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,480 anything else. We'll be happy to do that while 619 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:40,480 we stand up while we sing.