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The Joy of Victory

Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah

November 28, 2019

27:30

Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah

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The Joy of Victory

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female announcer: Are you waiting for joy to find you?
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Don't wait, claim a happiness that circumstances cannot change
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with Dr. Jeremiah's book, "Count It All Joy."
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In this rich exploration of the biblical Book of Philippians,
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Dr. Jeremiah uncovers the Apostle Paul's secret
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to experiencing a joy that carried Paul
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through the most difficult times.
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Discover this happiness for yourself with
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"Count It All Joy,"
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yours as a thank you when you give a gift of any amount
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in support of this program.
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And if you generously give $60 or more, Dr. Jeremiah would like
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to send you in appreciation the "Count It All Joy" set,
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which includes his book, his complete newly preached,
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12-message series on your choice of CD or DVD,
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and a correlating study guide,
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Dr. Jeremiah's "Counted It Joy" book or set.
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Support this program and request these resources
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when you contact "Turning Point" today.
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male announcer: Thank you for watching "Count It All Joy"
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on "Turning Point."
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Now, here is Dr. Jeremiah with his message, The Joy Of Victory.
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Dr. David Jeremiah: Here in this section,
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Paul is gonna let us in on the secret.
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He's gonna tell us what it takes to win, what it takes to
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reach the goal, the goal that he had in his heart.
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As he looks over his shoulder, Paul is gonna tell us how
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he appraised the past.
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As he looks forward to the future,
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he's gonna help us understand his lofty goals.
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And as he moves back to the present, he'll help us
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with a strategy that, not only worked for him,
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but will work for any of us who will apply it to our lives.
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Let's begin with his liabilities of the past.
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In verse 7 and 8 he says this about what his life used to be.
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He said, "What things were gain to me,
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these I have counted loss for Christ.
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Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence
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of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
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suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish."
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I don't know about you, but that's what happens to a lot of
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people when they come to Christ.
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All the things they made fun of and didn't want anything to do
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with, now become so precious to them.
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And all the things they thought were worthy of their time,
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and money, and experience,
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they no longer had any interest in them at all.
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When Jesus Christ comes to live within your heart, he doesn't
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just forgive you of your sin.
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The Bible says old things begin to pass away,
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and all things become new.
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That's what happened to Paul.
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It all changed one day when he was confronted by the Savior.
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As Paul evaluated his life, remembering that day on the road
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to Damascus, he used a word that is really interesting.
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He said that everything that he had before
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that that he thought was worthy, all of his gains,
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all of that now had become loss to him.
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And the word that he uses for "loss" from the language
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of the New Testament is an amazing word.
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It's only used twice in all the Bible here and in Acts 27.
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Paul said that, "When I became a Christian, everything that
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I thought was good before, I realized was not important.
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It was loss."
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The word in the Greek language was used in Acts 27
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of a very interesting moment in Paul's life.
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If you read the 27th chapter of Acts, you will discover
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that it records the story of a shipwreck,
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which Paul participated in. He was aboard the ship.
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And the story pictures how this ship was on its way for Italy
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and it was loaded with cargo. This was their gain.
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This was their way of doing business.
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They had wheat and other things aboard the ship.
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On the way to Italy, the ship hit a terrible storm,
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and the captain of the ship knew if he didn't offload the cargo,
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the passengers wouldn't live.
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The ship was broken apart, they offloaded the cargo.
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The passengers were able to make it and no one was lost, but
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the whole concept of taking all that was gain on that ship
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and in offloading it so that the passengers
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could be saved is the word that Paul uses here in this text.
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What he's saying is, "When I became a Christian,
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all the cargo that I thought was so good for me,
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I had to offload that.
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I had to get rid of it, so that I could become a Christian."
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Jesus said it this way.
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He said, "Whoever desires to save his life will lose it,
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but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
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For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world,
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and loses his own soul?
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Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"
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How many of you know that when you meet Christ,
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you get a whole new set of values?
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You get a whole new set of things, a whole new set of
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loves, and a whole new set of stuff that doesn't matter to you
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all that much anymore.
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That's what happens when Jesus Christ comes into your life.
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So, he looked at his past, he has a good understanding
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of his past.
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Now he's gonna talk about the possibilities of the future.
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Notice in verse 8 Paul says, "I do all of this.
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I see all of this.
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I understand this because I have some new goals.
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My new goals are that I may gain Christ and be found in Him,
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not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that
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which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which
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is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His
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resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings,
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being conformed to His death, if, by any means,
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I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."
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When Paul said he wanted to gain Christ, he is helping us
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understand that his new goal in life, which should be our goal,
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as Christians, this is how we should think.
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This is what we should be looking at.
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Now that Jesus Christ has dealt with our sin
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and we are in the family of God,
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our goal should be the goals that Paul set out here.
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First of all, he said that in his own life as he looked to
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the future, the one thing that he wanted to do more than
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anything else was to know the person of Jesus Christ.
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Many who consider themselves Christians have a knowledge
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of Christ, but it's just a head knowledge.
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The knowledge Paul is talking about here it goes deeper.
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It's the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ.
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In verse 3 of John 17, this is the Lord's Prayer for us.
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"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only
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true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
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This is the prayer Paul prayed for the Ephesians believers
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in Ephesians chapter 1.
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He said, "That you may know what is the exceeding greatness of
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His power toward us who believe, according to the working of
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His mighty power, which he worked in Christ
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when He raised him from the dead."
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The knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ is what sets
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Christianity apart from all the other religions.
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A relationship with Jesus Christ is the key ingredient that makes
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Christianity different than any religion
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you have ever heard about.
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It's not enough for us just to know about a leader and
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subscribe to his agenda but when you become a Christian,
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you enter into a relationship with the living Son of God
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and you deepen that relationship.
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Paul said, "My goal is to know Jesus better."
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That's a wonderful goal to have in your life this year,
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"I want to get to know Jesus better."
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Then he said, "I want to know the power of Christ,
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and the power of his resurrection."
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As believers, we have known the power of Christ when he saved
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us, but Paul tells us that as we walk the Christian life,
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that power, that resurrection power that brought Jesus out
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of the grave right through the grave clothes and brought him
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back out alive and the same person he was before but
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with his glorified body, that kind of resurrection power,
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says the Scripture we have available to us.
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And I have to ask myself, and I'm sure you ask yourself,
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"Have I ever accessed that power?
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Have I ever in my life been at a place where there was no hope,
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but the power of God broke through?
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Have I ever had anything in my life that can only
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be explained because of God?"
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Paul wanted to see this in his life.
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He didn't want to just live a normal, natural Christian life.
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He wanted to live a supernatural life.
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He wanted to live a life that the power of God that was
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resident in the resurrection became his own personal power.
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Read his story and see if he didn't see
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that happen along the way.
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And then he said not only did he want to know the person of
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Christ and the power of Christ, he wanted to know the passion
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of Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed
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to his death.
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This is heavy stuff.
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This is not low hanging fruit.
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This is like I need to get up on the ladder and grab hold of this
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because the imprisoned apostle is actually praying for the
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opportunity of identifying with Christ in his suffering.
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The suffering that we go through is to bring us into the realm of
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the suffering of the Lord Jesus, as he went through his passion
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on the cross, his death, his burial, his resurrection.
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Peter wrote this about suffering to his readers, he said, "For
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to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us,
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leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps," hmm?
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And did you ever stop and think about what
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the Lord Jesus said about all this?
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He said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted
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for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all
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kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
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Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
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for great is your reward in heaven,
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for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
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Paul wrote in verse 29 of chapter 1 of this very epistle,
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"For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ,
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not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
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I don't know if you need it now, I don't know if you need that
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now but sometime you're gonna need it
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because it's just a part of life.
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Suffering isn't wasted activity.
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According to the New Testament, there is a tremendous advantage
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that comes to us when we suffer because Jesus Christ
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suffered for us.
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Romans 8:17 puts it this way, "If we suffer with him, we also
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will be glorified together."
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Paul wanted to know the person of Christ, the power of Christ,
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and the passion of Christ.
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One more, this was a little bit obscure in the text,
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but this is what the text says, "If by any means I may attain
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to the resurrection from the dead."
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Well, Paul's already attained to the resurrection from the dead
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through salvation.
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But the word "resurrection" here is an interesting word for
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resurrection, it actually means that, "I may attain to the out
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resurrection from the dead," and it's a veiled expression talking
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about the time when Jesus Christ comes back at the Rapture.
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When the dead in Christ shall rise at the time of the Rapture,
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the next event is the rewarding of the saints at the judgment
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seat of Christ.
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And Paul is speaking of that moment and he's saying,
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"one day I'm gonna stand before the Lord after the resurrection
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in heaven, and he's going to give out these trophies,
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and I don't want to be empty handed."
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How many of you know that when we get to heaven, the Lord
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Jesus Christ at the judgment seat of Christ, is gonna give
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rewards for those who have run the race as Christians?
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Not about salvation, this is about how we have
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lived as believers.
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And Paul says, "I don't want to be left out at that moment."
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You say, "Well, that's gonna be hard, all these Christians
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running around heaven with their trophies in their hands."
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No, that one last.
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The Bible says when we get these trophies, we're gonna catch them
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at the feet of Jesus.
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Oh, well, then it's not so important.
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Oh, yes, it is.
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I don't want to be left out of that ceremony.
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I don't want to be standing in the back watching everybody else
00:13:38.110 --> 00:13:41.030
as they worship the Lord with the trophies that were theirs
00:13:41.040 --> 00:13:44.080
because of their walk.
00:13:44.090 --> 00:13:45.210
You see, Paul has this all hinged together in his view of
00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:48.060
the future, to know Christ, to know his power, to know more
00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:52.070
about his suffering, ultimately, to stand with him in glory at
00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:55.220
the time of reward.
00:13:55.230 --> 00:13:57.280
Paul's vision for his life has jumped over everything
00:13:57.290 --> 00:14:03.260
and landed in eternity.
00:14:03.270 --> 00:14:06.080
And you say, "Well, that's not very good.
00:14:06.090 --> 00:14:07.220
What is he gonna do with the rest of his life?"
00:14:07.230 --> 00:14:09.200
That's a good question because that brings us to the third
00:14:09.210 --> 00:14:13.210
major point in this text.
00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:15.250
Here are the responsibilities of the present.
00:14:15.260 --> 00:14:19.180
Listen carefully, "Not that I have already attained, or am
00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:24.040
already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that
00:14:24.050 --> 00:14:28.250
for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
00:14:28.260 --> 00:14:31.280
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one
00:14:31.290 --> 00:14:35.290
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.010
reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
00:14:39.020 --> 00:14:41.160
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God
00:14:41.170 --> 00:14:45.040
in Christ Jesus."
00:14:45.050 --> 00:14:46.170
I don't know what you say about that paragraph,
00:14:46.180 --> 00:14:48.100
but let me tell you what it is, it's aspirational.
00:14:48.110 --> 00:14:51.160
It's a guy who's got a whole lot of juice left in his veins.
00:14:51.170 --> 00:14:57.070
He's at the end of his life, and he writes this statement, which
00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:01.230
would be ambitious if you were just starting out in your 20s.
00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:05.260
He's lived this life.
00:15:05.270 --> 00:15:07.090
He's written these epistles.
00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:08.230
He spent time in jail.
00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:10.090
He's traveled the world.
00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:11.280
He's been the spokesman for Christianity.
00:15:11.290 --> 00:15:14.120
Is he satisfied with where he is?
00:15:14.130 --> 00:15:16.050
Absolutely not. Look at these words.
00:15:16.060 --> 00:15:18.260
This paragraph maybe has more athletic terminology
00:15:18.270 --> 00:15:22.000
in it than any other paragraph in the Bible.
00:15:22.010 --> 00:15:24.060
Let me point them out to you.
00:15:24.070 --> 00:15:26.040
Here is his breakdown of this.
00:15:26.050 --> 00:15:29.090
First of all, he says, "If you're going to live a life
00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:32.040
that's worthy of the calling to which you have been called, and
00:15:32.050 --> 00:15:35.090
will put you in the right place when you stand before the Lord,
00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:38.030
number one, you have to develop the discipline to focus."
00:15:38.040 --> 00:15:41.160
Verse 12, "Not that I have already attained or I'm already
00:15:41.170 --> 00:15:45.080
perfect, but I press on that I may lay hold of that
00:15:45.090 --> 00:15:48.230
for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me."
00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:51.240
Paul is clear eyed about what he's supposed to be doing.
00:15:53.260 --> 00:15:57.170
He's not in doubt.
00:15:57.180 --> 00:15:58.290
He's got it focused.
00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:01.090
In the athletic world, the name of the game is concentration.
00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:04.270
If the athlete cannot concentrate, if he cannot teach
00:16:04.280 --> 00:16:07.180
himself to focus, he will not be able to compete.
00:16:07.190 --> 00:16:11.020
Players talk about being in a zone where their concentration
00:16:11.030 --> 00:16:15.020
is so intense that it blocks out the rest of the world.
00:16:15.030 --> 00:16:18.170
They don't hear the crowd noises.
00:16:18.180 --> 00:16:20.030
They don't feel the pain of injury.
00:16:20.040 --> 00:16:21.290
They're focused and that same kind of concentration
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.270
is a requirement for those who would gain Christ.
00:16:25.280 --> 00:16:28.230
We can't allow other things to divert us from this goal.
00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:32.120
We must not run on certainly.
00:16:32.130 --> 00:16:34.040
Our language must be that of the psalmist who wrote,
00:16:34.050 --> 00:16:37.070
"Whom have I in heaven but You?
00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:39.030
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside You."
00:16:39.040 --> 00:16:44.050
See, the problem with us isn't that
00:16:44.060 --> 00:16:46.120
we don't want to know Christ.
00:16:46.130 --> 00:16:48.260
The problem isn't that we don't want to be rewarded when we--
00:16:48.270 --> 00:16:51.120
we all want that.
00:16:51.130 --> 00:16:53.180
But it never quite seems to get to many of us that
00:16:53.190 --> 00:16:57.130
if that's gonna be true, there's a different kind of
00:16:57.140 --> 00:17:00.250
way to live than the way we live.
00:17:00.260 --> 00:17:02.160
Our lives are so filled with so much activity,
00:17:02.170 --> 00:17:04.180
so much stuff going on, children, grandchildren,
00:17:04.190 --> 00:17:07.130
all kinds of sports events, all of this.
00:17:07.140 --> 00:17:11.050
So, what happens?
00:17:11.060 --> 00:17:12.160
Let's be honest, what happens is our spiritual goals kind of
00:17:12.170 --> 00:17:15.110
just get pushed off the table.
00:17:15.120 --> 00:17:18.040
And so, we come to church every week and thank God for that
00:17:18.050 --> 00:17:20.160
'cause that's important, but how many you know you can't live
00:17:20.170 --> 00:17:23.070
the kind of life Paul's talking about off of what you can get
00:17:23.080 --> 00:17:26.000
in a one-hour service on Sunday?
00:17:26.010 --> 00:17:28.260
Paul's talking about a different way to live, a different way to
00:17:28.270 --> 00:17:31.250
think, a different way to focus, a different way to prioritize
00:17:31.260 --> 00:17:35.060
the things in our lives.
00:17:35.070 --> 00:17:37.100
Such concentration doesn't come naturally.
00:17:37.110 --> 00:17:40.060
It has to be developed through training and effort.
00:17:40.070 --> 00:17:42.210
And when we focus our lives like this, then the routine work of
00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:47.060
each day, the moments we spend in relaxation, even the trials
00:17:47.070 --> 00:17:51.100
and sufferings we experience,
00:17:51.110 --> 00:17:53.180
all of them seem to fit into the picture.
00:17:53.190 --> 00:17:56.290
Here's maybe the most important thing about
00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:58.250
our current strategy.
00:17:58.260 --> 00:18:00.210
This one we'll all resonate with.
00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:02.070
This is in reach of every one of us.
00:18:02.080 --> 00:18:04.200
Not only do we need develop the discipline to focus,
00:18:04.210 --> 00:18:07.200
but we need to develop the discipline to forget.
00:18:07.210 --> 00:18:10.260
Verse 13, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have
00:18:12.270 --> 00:18:15.270
apprehended; but one thing I do,
00:18:15.280 --> 00:18:19.130
forgetting those things which are behind."
00:18:19.140 --> 00:18:22.220
Let's just stop for a moment.
00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:24.280
How many of you know that for a lot of people who call
00:18:24.290 --> 00:18:27.140
themselves followers of Christ, they want to go forward,
00:18:27.150 --> 00:18:31.100
but they're still living in the past?
00:18:31.110 --> 00:18:33.220
They can't get over the things of the past that have
00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:36.200
so messed up their lives.
00:18:36.210 --> 00:18:38.030
They became Christians, but how many of you know the enemy
00:18:38.040 --> 00:18:40.250
of your soul wants to keep reminding you of every failure
00:18:40.260 --> 00:18:43.180
you've ever had in your life.
00:18:43.190 --> 00:18:45.140
He wants to keep bringing it up.
00:18:45.150 --> 00:18:47.040
He wants to keep reminding you every time you try to do
00:18:47.050 --> 00:18:49.160
something for God, he flashes it across the screen of your mind,
00:18:49.170 --> 00:18:53.150
almost to intimidate you and say you're not worthy.
00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:56.280
Here's what Paul said, "I'm doing one thing,
00:18:56.290 --> 00:18:59.190
I'm forgetting the past."
00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.290
What did you have to forget? Well, let's stop for a moment.
00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:05.050
He had a few things to forget that, I mean, I don't think I
00:19:05.060 --> 00:19:08.270
would have want to go and preach and be reminded,
00:19:08.280 --> 00:19:11.040
as I was going to the pulpit, of all the Christians
00:19:11.050 --> 00:19:13.080
I'd put in jail before I was a Christian.
00:19:13.090 --> 00:19:16.290
You're getting up to give a testimony and the enemy flashes
00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:19.210
across your mind that you were standing at the feet of those
00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:22.270
people who were stoning Stephen
00:19:22.280 --> 00:19:24.140
and you were holding their coats.
00:19:24.150 --> 00:19:26.150
As you see how passionate Paul was as a preacher, you have
00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:32.260
to understand he was exactly that passionate as a persecutor.
00:19:32.270 --> 00:19:37.050
As good as he was as a preacher,
00:19:37.060 --> 00:19:38.180
he was that good as a persecutor.
00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:41.030
As good as he was at bringing hope and love to people,
00:19:41.040 --> 00:19:45.010
he was that good at bringing harm and hurt to people.
00:19:45.020 --> 00:19:48.240
And all of that was in his memory bank, and all of that
00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:52.000
could have destroyed him, just like the things that we've done
00:19:52.010 --> 00:19:54.210
in our past that we've been forgiven of them, but they
00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:59.210
haven't been erased from our memory bank.
00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:02.110
So, the enemy, if we're not careful,
00:20:02.120 --> 00:20:04.020
grabs hold of those things.
00:20:04.030 --> 00:20:05.160
And when we're trying to go forward with Christ,
00:20:05.170 --> 00:20:07.210
when we're trying to win this race, he brings them all back
00:20:07.220 --> 00:20:12.170
and they intimidate us and make it hard for us to go forward.
00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:17.010
Let me tell you something, you have to come to the place like
00:20:17.020 --> 00:20:19.090
Paul, where you make a conscious effort to say, "That's it.
00:20:19.100 --> 00:20:23.050
I'm drawing a line in the sand. That stuff is past.
00:20:23.060 --> 00:20:25.270
It's under the blood, it's forgiven.
00:20:25.280 --> 00:20:27.230
God has said he's no longer holding me accountable.
00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:30.260
If God can forget it by his grace, I'm gonna forget it.
00:20:30.270 --> 00:20:33.280
Devil, you can't have my past, it's over."
00:20:33.290 --> 00:20:38.040
Unless we do that, we will always be,
00:20:38.050 --> 00:20:42.160
always be feeling defeated when we want to be victorious.
00:20:42.170 --> 00:20:48.180
Let me tell you one other thing Paul had to forget.
00:20:48.190 --> 00:20:50.110
He not only had to forget his failures,
00:20:50.120 --> 00:20:52.100
he had to forget his successes. Remember that list.
00:20:52.110 --> 00:20:55.160
He was a Hebrew of Hebrews of the stock of Israel.
00:20:55.170 --> 00:20:58.220
He was a persecutor of the church, all those things that,
00:20:58.230 --> 00:21:02.050
according to his old life, would hold him up to
00:21:02.060 --> 00:21:05.140
a high level of achievement. Those things were worthless
00:21:05.150 --> 00:21:08.280
and Paul said it right in this passage.
00:21:08.290 --> 00:21:10.130
"What things were gain to me,
00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:12.140
those things I had to count loss."
00:21:12.150 --> 00:21:14.100
He forgot his failures and he forgot his successes.
00:21:14.110 --> 00:21:17.290
God wants us to be able to come to him with no baggage.
00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:23.210
He died on the cross to get rid of the baggage.
00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:27.070
Now, we stand just compliant and ready to go forward.
00:21:27.080 --> 00:21:31.040
That's what Paul is talking about.
00:21:31.050 --> 00:21:33.220
Don't get caught up in the things that have already
00:21:33.230 --> 00:21:35.260
happened, over which you have no control.
00:21:35.270 --> 00:21:39.010
Don't even get so caught up in the future
00:21:39.020 --> 00:21:41.040
that you haven't yet experienced.
00:21:41.050 --> 00:21:43.000
Live in the present every day knowing that God is with you.
00:21:43.010 --> 00:21:46.080
He's forgiven you. He's got a plan for your life.
00:21:46.090 --> 00:21:49.010
If you will walk with him every day, you can know
00:21:49.020 --> 00:21:52.280
what the Apostle Paul is talking about has victory.
00:21:52.290 --> 00:21:56.050
Well, we develop the discipline to focus
00:21:58.050 --> 00:22:00.180
and the discipline to forget.
00:22:00.190 --> 00:22:02.190
The final one is you have to develop
00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:04.060
the discipline to follow.
00:22:04.070 --> 00:22:06.080
Verses 13 and 14 have three athletic phrases in the verse,
00:22:06.090 --> 00:22:12.020
the word "apprehended," the word "reaching forward,"
00:22:12.030 --> 00:22:14.120
and the words "pressing toward."
00:22:14.130 --> 00:22:17.070
Paul's desire is presented in these words as a foot race.
00:22:17.080 --> 00:22:21.170
First, reaching forward refers to a race that you're in
00:22:21.180 --> 00:22:25.170
and you're stretching forward to win the race.
00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:29.030
And then the word "apprehended" is another word
00:22:29.040 --> 00:22:31.190
which means to complete.
00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:33.250
Paul said, "Here I am at the zenith of my life.
00:22:33.260 --> 00:22:37.130
All these things that I have done, all these churches I have
00:22:37.140 --> 00:22:40.070
founded, all these epistles that I've written, all of these
00:22:40.080 --> 00:22:43.070
people that have come to Christ, all these attributes
00:22:43.080 --> 00:22:46.020
that I've stood before," and here's what he's saying,
00:22:46.030 --> 00:22:48.180
"I don't consider myself to have arrived.
00:22:48.190 --> 00:22:51.080
I'm not there yet."
00:22:51.090 --> 00:22:52.260
Instead of being proud of what he had accomplished in his life,
00:22:52.270 --> 00:22:55.210
he's still on the hunt.
00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:57.090
He's still hungry. He's still humble.
00:22:57.100 --> 00:22:59.080
Listen to me, Paul took his spiritual growth seriously.
00:22:59.090 --> 00:23:04.120
He didn't use it as something,
00:23:04.130 --> 00:23:05.260
"If I get around to it, I'm gonna try to develop
00:23:05.270 --> 00:23:08.050
my spiritual life a little bit this week."
00:23:08.060 --> 00:23:10.060
It was his focus.
00:23:10.070 --> 00:23:11.230
It was his drive.
00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:13.140
It was the thing that meant more to him than anything
00:23:13.150 --> 00:23:16.030
else he ever did.
00:23:16.040 --> 00:23:19.050
He was looking for a prize, the crown of righteousness,
00:23:19.060 --> 00:23:22.280
which God gives to those who walked with him.
00:23:22.290 --> 00:23:26.040
You know, I feel so honored that even talk about this.
00:23:26.050 --> 00:23:29.230
I'm so far out of the league of Paul, I only can tell you about
00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:35.020
him with admiration.
00:23:35.030 --> 00:23:38.040
But my goal, and my heart, and my vision, and my drive is
00:23:38.050 --> 00:23:43.150
to follow the pattern that he has sent for us so that I can
00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:48.150
be more like Christ and serve him with my heart.
00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:52.290
You say, "Well, Pastor Jeremiah, I'm not even there, man.
00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:55.050
I'm a Christian. I know I'm going to heaven.
00:23:55.060 --> 00:23:56.260
That's good enough for me."
00:23:56.270 --> 00:23:59.280
All right, if that's good enough for you, fine,
00:23:59.290 --> 00:24:01.220
but don't expect the joy of the Lord in your life
00:24:01.230 --> 00:24:04.200
'cause that's not how you get it.
00:24:04.210 --> 00:24:07.100
The Lord Jesus Christ didn't just come to this earth and die
00:24:07.110 --> 00:24:10.040
on the cross so he could forgive your sins and let you go on
00:24:10.050 --> 00:24:13.040
living like you always did, and then somehow jerk you into
00:24:13.050 --> 00:24:16.070
heaven at the last minute as a second thought.
00:24:16.080 --> 00:24:20.200
He saved you so that you would become like him.
00:24:20.210 --> 00:24:23.220
He saved me, so that every day that I live, I grow in my faith
00:24:23.230 --> 00:24:28.190
and develop the qualities that are in the Scripture
00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:32.250
that describe Christians.
00:24:32.260 --> 00:24:34.190
Let's don't give up on ourselves.
00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:36.220
Let's don't just mail it in.
00:24:36.230 --> 00:24:39.050
Let's don't just show up on Sunday and go to church and say,
00:24:39.060 --> 00:24:42.020
"Oh, well, that's enough spirituality for me.
00:24:42.030 --> 00:24:44.060
See you next week, Pastor."
00:24:44.070 --> 00:24:47.160
Let's get serious about it, that's what this is about.
00:24:47.170 --> 00:24:49.190
If nothing else comes out of it, it's this, if you want to know
00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:53.150
Christ, if you want to grow in Christ, get serious about it.
00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:57.180
Carve out some time to make it happen and then you can know
00:24:57.190 --> 00:25:01.070
the victory that Paul is talking about.
00:25:01.080 --> 00:25:05.050
00:25:05.060 --> 00:25:10.000
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00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:46.210
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announcer: Next time on "Turning Point."
00:26:58.230 --> 00:27:01.290
Dr. Jeremiah: If you want to stay on course and keep growing
00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.180
and keep moving toward the goal,
00:27:04.190 --> 00:27:06.050
don't lose sight of what the goal is.
00:27:06.060 --> 00:27:08.030
We're going to have heaven someday,
00:27:08.040 --> 00:27:09.260
we're gonna be with the Lord someday.
00:27:09.270 --> 00:27:12.010
Our anticipation is glory.
00:27:12.020 --> 00:27:13.280
It's not this earth, it's something heavenly.
00:27:13.290 --> 00:27:16.090
announcer: Thank you for being with us today.
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Join us next time for Dr. Jeremiah's message,
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The Joy Of Maturity, here on "Turning Point."
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The Joy of Victory

The Joy of Victory

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The Joy of Victory

The Joy of Victory

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