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The Joy Of Victory

September 28, 2020

27:29

The sound Bible-based teaching of Turning Point carries forward the goal of delivering the unchanging Word of God to an ever-changing world.

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The Joy Of Victory

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♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
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female announcer: Are youwaiting for joy to find you?
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Don't wait, claim a happinessthat 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 thebiblical book of Philippians,
00:01:07.484 --> 00:01:10.954
Dr. Jeremiah uncoversthe Apostle Paul's secret
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to experiencing a joythat carried Paul
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through the mostdifficult times.
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Discover this happinessfor yourself with
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"Count It All Joy,"
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yours as a thank you whenyou give a gift of any amount
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in support of this program.
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And if you generously give $60or more, Dr. Jeremiah would like
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to send you in appreciationthe "Count It All Joy" set,
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which includes his book, hiscomplete newly preached,
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12-message serieson 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 andrequest these resources
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when you contactTurning Point today.
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male announcer: Thank youfor watching "Count It All Joy"
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on "Turning Point."
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Now, here is Dr. Jeremiah withhis message, The Joy Of Victory.
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Dr. David Jeremiah:Here in this section,
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Paul is gonna let usin on the secret.
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He's gonna tell us what it takesto win, what it takes to
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reach the goal, the goalthat 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 forwardto the future,
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he's gonna help us understandhis lofty goals.
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And as he moves back tothe 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 uswho will apply it to our lives.
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Let's begin with hisliabilities of the past.
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In verse 7 and 8 he says thisabout what his life used to be.
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He said, "Whatthings were gain to me,
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these I have countedloss for Christ.
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Yet indeed I also count allthings loss for the excellence
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of the knowledge of ChristJesus 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
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to a lot of peoplewhen they come to Christ.
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All the things they made funof and didn't want anything
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to do with, now becomeso precious to them.
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And all the things they thoughtwere worthy of their time,
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and money, and experience,
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they no longer had anyinterest in them at all.
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When Jesus Christ comes to livewithin your heart, he doesn't
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just forgive you of your sin.
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The Bible says old thingsbegin 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 hewas 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 wordthat is really interesting.
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He said that everythingthat he had before
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that that he thought wasworthy, all of his gains,
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all of that now hadbecome loss to him.
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And the word that he usesfor "loss" from the language
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of the New Testament isan amazing word.
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It's only used twice in allthe Bible here and in Acts 27.
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Paul said that, "When I becamea Christian, everything that
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I thought was good before, Irealized was not important.
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It was loss."
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The word in the Greek languagewas used in Acts 27
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of a very interestingmoment in Paul's life.
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If you read the 27th chapterof Acts, you will discover
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that it records the storyof a shipwreck,
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which Paul participated in.He was aboard the ship.
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And the story pictures how thisship 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 wayof doing business.
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They had wheat and otherthings aboard the ship.
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On the way to Italy, the shiphit a terrible storm,
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and the captain of the ship knewif he didn't offload the cargo,
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the passengerswouldn't live.
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The ship was broken apart,they offloaded the cargo.
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The passengers were able to makeit and no one was lost, but
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the whole concept of takingall that was gain on that ship
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and in offloading it so thatthe passengers
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could be saved is the word thatPaul 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 thatI 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 thatI could become a Christian."
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Jesus said it this way.
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He said, "Whoever desires tosave his life will lose it,
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but whoever loses his lifefor My sake will find it.
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For what profit is it to a manif he gains the whole world,
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and loses his own soul?
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Or what will a man givein exchange for his soul?"
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How many of you know thatwhen you meet Christ,
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you get a whole newset of values?
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You get a whole new set ofthings, a whole new set of
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loves, and a whole new set ofstuff that doesn't matter to you
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all that much anymore.
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That's what happens when JesusChrist comes into your life.
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So, he looked at his past, hehas a good understanding
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of his past.
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Now he's gonna talk aboutthe possibilities of the future.
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Notice in verse 8 Paulsays, "I do all of this.
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I see all of this.
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I understand this becauseI have some new goals.
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My new goals are that I may gainChrist 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 inChrist, the righteousness which
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is from God by faith; that I mayknow Him and the power of His
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resurrection, and the fellowshipof His sufferings,
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being conformed to His death,if, by any means,
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I may attain to the resurrectionfrom the dead."
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When Paul said he wanted togain Christ, he is helping us
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understand that his new goal inlife, which should be our goal,
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as Christians, this ishow we should think.
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This is what weshould be looking at.
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Now that Jesus Christhas 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 goalsthat Paul set out here.
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First of all, he said that inhis own life as he looked to
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the future, the one thing thathe wanted to do more than
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anything else was to knowthe person of Jesus Christ.
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Many who consider themselvesChristians have a knowledge
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of Christ, but it'sjust a head knowledge.
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The knowledge Paul is talkingabout here it goes deeper.
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It's the surpassingknowledge of Jesus Christ.
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In verse 3 of John 17, thisis the Lord's Prayer for us.
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"And this is eternal life, thatthey may know You, the only
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true God, and Jesus Christwhom You have sent."
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This is the prayer Paul prayedfor the Ephesians believers
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in Ephesians chapter 1.
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He said, "That you may know whatis 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, whichhe worked in Christ
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when He raised himfrom the dead."
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The knowledge of the personof Jesus Christ is what sets
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Christianity apart fromall the other religions.
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A relationship with Jesus Christis the key ingredient that makes
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Christianity differentthan any religion
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you have ever heard about.
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It's not enough for us justto know about a leader and
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subscribe to his agenda butwhen you become a Christian,
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you enter into a relationshipwith the living Son of God
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and you deepenthat relationship.
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Paul said, "My goal isto know Jesus better."
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That's a wonderful goal tohave in your life this year,
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"I want to get to knowJesus better."
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Then he said, "I want to knowthe power of Christ,
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and the powerof his resurrection."
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As believers, we have knownthe power of Christ when he
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saved us, but Paul tells us thatas we walk the Christian life,
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that power, that resurrectionpower that brought Jesus out
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of the grave right through thegrave clothes and brought him
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back out alive and the sameperson he was before but
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with his glorified body, thatkind of resurrection power,
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says the Scripture wehave 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 accessedthat power?
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Have I ever in my life been at aplace where there was no hope,
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but the power ofGod broke through?
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Have I ever had anythingin my life that can only
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be explained because of God?"
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Paul wanted to seethis in his life.
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He didn't want to just live anormal, natural Christian life.
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He wanted to livea supernatural life.
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He wanted to live a lifethat the power of God that was
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resident in the resurrectionbecame his own personal power.
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Read his story and seeif he didn't see
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that happen along the way.
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And then he said not only didhe 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 ofhis 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 onthe ladder and grab hold of this
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because the imprisoned apostleis actually praying for the
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opportunity of identifyingwith Christ in his suffering.
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The suffering that we go throughis to bring us into the realm
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of the suffering ofthe Lord Jesus, as he went
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through his passionon the cross,
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his death, his burial,his resurrection.
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Peter wrote this about sufferingto his readers, he said,
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"For to this you were called,because Christ also suffered
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for us, leaving usan example,
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that you should followHis steps," hmm?
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And did you ever stopand think about what
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the Lord Jesus saidabout all this?
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He said, "Blessed arethose who are persecuted
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for righteousness' sake, fortheirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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Blessed are you when they revileand persecute you, and say all
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kinds of evil againstyou falsely for My sake.
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Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
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for great is yourreward in heaven,
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for so they persecuted theprophets who were before you."
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Paul wrote in verse 29 ofchapter 1 of this very epistle,
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"For to you it has beengranted on behalf of Christ,
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not only to believe in Him, butalso 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 sometimeyou're gonna need it
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because it's justa 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 sufferbecause 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,
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we also will beglorified together."
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Paul wanted to know the personof Christ, the power of Christ,
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and the passion of Christ.
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One more, this was a little bitobscure in the text,
00:12:17.253 --> 00:12:20.990
but this is what the text says,"If by any means I may attain
00:12:21.023 --> 00:12:24.426
to the resurrectionfrom the dead."
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Well, Paul's already attained tothe 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 meansthat, "I may attain to the out
00:12:32.601 --> 00:12:36.338
resurrection from the dead," andit's a veiled expression talking
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about the time when Jesus Christcomes back at the Rapture.
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When the dead in Christ shallrise at the time of the Rapture,
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the next event is the rewardingof the saints at the judgment
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seat of Christ.
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And Paul is speaking of thatmoment and he's saying,
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"one day I'm gonna stand beforethe Lord after the resurrection
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in heaven, and he's going togive out these trophies,
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and I don't want to beempty handed."
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How many of you know that whenwe get to heaven, the Lord
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Jesus Christ at the judgmentseat of Christ, is gonna give
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rewards for those who have runthe race as Christians?
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Not about salvation,this is about how we
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have lived as believers.
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And Paul says, "I don't wantto be left out at that moment."
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You say, "Well, that's gonnabe hard, all these Christians
00:13:23.552 --> 00:13:25.688
running around heaven withtheir trophies in their hands."
00:13:25.721 --> 00:13:28.090
No, that one last.
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The Bible says when we get thesetrophies, we're gonna catch them
00:13:29.625 --> 00:13:32.661
at the feet of Jesus.
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Oh, well, then it'snot so important.
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Oh, yes, it is.
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I don't want to be leftout of that ceremony.
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I don't want to be standing inthe back watching everybody else
00:13:38.734 --> 00:13:41.470
as they worship the Lord withthe trophies that were theirs
00:13:41.503 --> 00:13:44.640
because of their walk.
00:13:44.673 --> 00:13:46.075
You see, Paul has this allhinged together in his view of
00:13:46.108 --> 00:13:48.577
the future, to know Christ, toknow his power, to know more
00:13:48.611 --> 00:13:52.615
about his suffering, ultimately,to stand with him in glory at
00:13:52.648 --> 00:13:56.118
the time of reward.
00:13:56.151 --> 00:13:58.320
Paul's vision for his lifehas jumped over everything
00:13:58.354 --> 00:14:04.193
and landed in eternity.
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And you say, "Well,that's not very good.
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What is he gonna do withthe rest of his life?"
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That's a good question becausethat brings us to the third
00:14:10.032 --> 00:14:14.036
major point in this text.
00:14:14.069 --> 00:14:16.171
Here are theresponsibilities of the present.
00:14:16.205 --> 00:14:19.942
Listen carefully, "Not that Ihave already attained, or am
00:14:19.975 --> 00:14:24.480
already perfected; but I presson, that I may lay hold of that
00:14:24.513 --> 00:14:29.184
for which Christ Jesushas also laid hold of me.
00:14:29.218 --> 00:14:32.288
Brethren, I do not count myselfto have apprehended; but one
00:14:32.321 --> 00:14:36.325
thing I do, forgetting thosethings which are behind and
00:14:36.358 --> 00:14:39.395
reaching forward to those thingswhich are ahead,
00:14:39.428 --> 00:14:41.897
I press toward the goal for theprize of the upward call of God
00:14:41.931 --> 00:14:45.501
in Christ Jesus."
00:14:45.534 --> 00:14:46.936
I don't know what you sayabout that paragraph,
00:14:46.969 --> 00:14:48.704
but let me tell you what it is,it's aspirational.
00:14:48.737 --> 00:14:51.907
It's a guy who's got a wholelot of juice left in his veins.
00:14:51.941 --> 00:14:57.613
He's at the end of his life, andhe writes this statement, which
00:14:57.646 --> 00:15:02.084
would be ambitious if you werejust starting out in your 20s.
00:15:02.117 --> 00:15:06.188
He's lived this life.
00:15:06.221 --> 00:15:07.623
He's written these epistles.
00:15:07.656 --> 00:15:09.091
He spent time in jail.
00:15:09.124 --> 00:15:10.626
He's traveled the world.
00:15:10.659 --> 00:15:12.261
He's been thespokesman for Christianity.
00:15:12.294 --> 00:15:14.730
Is he satisfiedwith where he is?
00:15:14.763 --> 00:15:16.498
Absolutely not.Look at these words.
00:15:16.532 --> 00:15:19.201
This paragraph maybe hasmore athletic terminology
00:15:19.234 --> 00:15:22.338
in it than any otherparagraph in the Bible.
00:15:22.371 --> 00:15:24.540
Let me point them out to you.
00:15:24.573 --> 00:15:26.475
Here is his breakdown of this.
00:15:26.508 --> 00:15:29.645
First of all, he says, "Ifyou're going to live a life
00:15:29.678 --> 00:15:32.481
that's worthy of the calling towhich you have been called, and
00:15:32.514 --> 00:15:35.651
will put you in the right placewhen you stand before the Lord,
00:15:35.684 --> 00:15:38.454
number one, you have to developthe discipline to focus."
00:15:38.487 --> 00:15:41.890
Verse 12, "Not that I havealready attained or I'm already
00:15:41.924 --> 00:15:45.627
perfect, but I press on thatI may lay hold of that
00:15:45.661 --> 00:15:49.131
for which Christ Jesushas laid hold of me."
00:15:49.164 --> 00:15:52.167
Paul is clear eyed aboutwhat he's supposed to be doing.
00:15:54.236 --> 00:15:57.940
He's not in doubt.
00:15:57.973 --> 00:15:59.341
He's got it focused.
00:15:59.375 --> 00:16:01.610
In the athletic world, the nameof the game is concentration.
00:16:01.643 --> 00:16:05.214
If the athlete cannotconcentrate, if he cannot teach
00:16:05.247 --> 00:16:07.916
himself to focus, he willnot be able to compete.
00:16:07.950 --> 00:16:11.387
Players talk about being in azone where their concentration
00:16:11.420 --> 00:16:15.391
is so intense that it blocksout the rest of the world.
00:16:15.424 --> 00:16:18.894
They don't hearthe crowd noises.
00:16:18.927 --> 00:16:20.429
They don't feelthe pain of injury.
00:16:20.462 --> 00:16:22.297
They're focused and thatsame kind of concentration
00:16:22.331 --> 00:16:26.235
is a requirement for thosewho would gain Christ.
00:16:26.268 --> 00:16:29.104
We can't allow other thingsto divert us from this goal.
00:16:29.138 --> 00:16:32.741
We must not run on certainly.
00:16:32.775 --> 00:16:34.476
Our language must be thatof the psalmist who wrote,
00:16:34.510 --> 00:16:37.579
"Whom have I in heaven but You?
00:16:37.613 --> 00:16:39.448
And there is none upon earththat I desire beside You."
00:16:39.481 --> 00:16:44.520
See, the problemwith us isn't that
00:16:44.553 --> 00:16:46.755
we don't wantto know Christ.
00:16:46.789 --> 00:16:49.224
The problem isn't that we don'twant to be rewarded when we--
00:16:49.258 --> 00:16:51.760
we all want that.
00:16:51.794 --> 00:16:53.962
But it never quite seems toget to many of us that
00:16:53.996 --> 00:16:57.800
if that's gonna be true,there's a different kind of
00:16:57.833 --> 00:17:01.136
way to live thanthe way we live.
00:17:01.170 --> 00:17:02.838
Our lives are so filledwith so much activity,
00:17:02.871 --> 00:17:04.907
so much stuff going on,children, grandchildren,
00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:07.743
all kinds of sportsevents, all of this.
00:17:07.776 --> 00:17:11.480
So, what happens?
00:17:11.513 --> 00:17:12.848
Let's be honest, what happensis our spiritual goals
00:17:12.881 --> 00:17:15.684
kind of just getpushed off the table.
00:17:15.717 --> 00:17:18.454
And so, we come to church everyweek and thank God for that
00:17:18.487 --> 00:17:20.856
'cause that's important, but howmany you know you can't live
00:17:20.889 --> 00:17:23.559
the kind of life Paul's talkingabout off of what you can get
00:17:23.592 --> 00:17:26.328
in a one-hour service on Sunday?
00:17:26.361 --> 00:17:29.198
Paul's talking about a differentway to live, a different way to
00:17:29.231 --> 00:17:32.167
think, a different way to focus,a different way to prioritize
00:17:32.201 --> 00:17:35.537
the things in our lives.
00:17:35.571 --> 00:17:37.673
Such concentrationdoesn't come naturally.
00:17:37.706 --> 00:17:40.542
It has to be developedthrough training and effort.
00:17:40.576 --> 00:17:43.045
And when we focus our lives likethis, then the routine work of
00:17:43.078 --> 00:17:47.516
each day, the moments we spendin relaxation, even the trials
00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:51.687
and sufferings we experience,
00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:53.956
all of them seem tofit into the picture.
00:17:53.989 --> 00:17:57.326
Here's maybe the mostimportant thing about
00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:59.194
our current strategy.
00:17:59.228 --> 00:18:00.996
This one we'llall resonate with.
00:18:01.029 --> 00:18:02.531
This is in reachof every one of us.
00:18:02.564 --> 00:18:04.967
Not only do we need developthe discipline to focus,
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:07.970
but we need to developthe discipline to forget.
00:18:08.003 --> 00:18:11.173
Verse 13: "Brethren, I donot count myself to have
00:18:13.208 --> 00:18:16.211
apprehended; but one thing I do,
00:18:16.245 --> 00:18:19.748
forgetting those thingswhich are behind."
00:18:19.781 --> 00:18:23.051
Let's just stop for a moment.
00:18:23.085 --> 00:18:25.254
How many of you know thatfor a lot of people who call
00:18:25.287 --> 00:18:27.789
themselves followers of Christ,they want to go forward,
00:18:27.823 --> 00:18:31.660
but they're stillliving in the past?
00:18:31.693 --> 00:18:34.062
They can't get over the thingsof the past that have
00:18:34.096 --> 00:18:36.999
so messed up their lives.
00:18:37.032 --> 00:18:38.433
They became Christians, but howmany of you know the enemy
00:18:38.467 --> 00:18:41.170
of your soul wants to keepreminding you of every failure
00:18:41.203 --> 00:18:43.939
you've ever had in your life.
00:18:43.972 --> 00:18:45.807
He wants to keep bringing it up.
00:18:45.841 --> 00:18:47.476
He wants to keep remindingyou every time you try to do
00:18:47.509 --> 00:18:49.878
something for God, he flashes itacross the screen of your mind,
00:18:49.912 --> 00:18:53.849
almost to intimidate youand say you're not worthy.
00:18:53.882 --> 00:18:57.286
Here's what Paul said,"I'm doing one thing,
00:18:57.319 --> 00:18:59.988
I'm forgetting the past."
00:19:00.022 --> 00:19:02.257
What did you have to forget?Well, let's stop for a moment.
00:19:02.291 --> 00:19:05.460
He had a few things to forgetthat, I mean, I don't think I
00:19:05.494 --> 00:19:09.198
would have want to go and preachand be reminded,
00:19:09.231 --> 00:19:11.433
as I was going to the pulpit,of all the Christians
00:19:11.466 --> 00:19:13.569
I'd put in jail before Iwas a Christian.
00:19:13.602 --> 00:19:17.272
You're getting up to give atestimony and the enemy flashes
00:19:17.306 --> 00:19:20.008
across your mind that you werestanding at the feet of those
00:19:20.042 --> 00:19:23.212
people who were stoning Stephen
00:19:23.245 --> 00:19:24.780
and you were holdingtheir coats.
00:19:24.813 --> 00:19:26.815
As you see how passionate Paulwas as a preacher, you have
00:19:28.784 --> 00:19:33.188
to understand he was exactlythat passionate as a persecutor.
00:19:33.222 --> 00:19:37.492
As good as he wasas a preacher,
00:19:37.526 --> 00:19:38.927
he was that goodas a persecutor.
00:19:38.961 --> 00:19:41.430
As good as he was at bringinghope and love to people,
00:19:41.463 --> 00:19:45.367
he was that good at bringingharm and hurt to people.
00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:49.137
And all of that was in hismemory bank, and all of that
00:19:49.171 --> 00:19:52.341
could have destroyed him, justlike the things that we've done
00:19:52.374 --> 00:19:55.043
in our past that we've beenforgiven of them, but they
00:19:55.077 --> 00:20:00.048
haven't been erasedfrom our memory bank.
00:20:00.082 --> 00:20:02.718
So, the enemy, ifwe're not careful,
00:20:02.751 --> 00:20:04.419
grabs holdof those things.
00:20:04.453 --> 00:20:05.887
And when we're trying to goforward with Christ,
00:20:05.921 --> 00:20:08.056
when we're trying to win thisrace, he brings them all back
00:20:08.090 --> 00:20:12.928
and they intimidate us and makeit hard for us to go forward.
00:20:12.961 --> 00:20:17.399
Let me tell you something, youhave to come to the place like
00:20:17.432 --> 00:20:19.668
Paul, where you make a consciouseffort to say, "That's it.
00:20:19.701 --> 00:20:23.538
I'm drawing a line in the sand.That stuff is past.
00:20:23.572 --> 00:20:26.275
It's under the blood,it's forgiven.
00:20:26.308 --> 00:20:28.143
God has said he's nolonger holding me accountable.
00:20:28.176 --> 00:20:31.246
If God can forget it by hisgrace, I'm gonna forget it.
00:20:31.280 --> 00:20:34.316
Devil, you can't havemy past, it's over."
00:20:34.349 --> 00:20:38.520
Unless we do that,we will always be,
00:20:38.553 --> 00:20:42.924
always be feeling defeatedwhen we want to be victorious.
00:20:42.958 --> 00:20:48.997
Let me tell you one otherthing Paul had to forget.
00:20:49.031 --> 00:20:50.766
He not only had to forgethis failures,
00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:52.734
he had to forget his successes.Remember that list.
00:20:52.768 --> 00:20:55.937
He was a Hebrew ofHebrews of the stock of Israel.
00:20:55.971 --> 00:20:59.141
He was a persecutor of thechurch, all those things that,
00:20:59.174 --> 00:21:02.511
according to his old life,would hold him up to
00:21:02.544 --> 00:21:05.814
a high level of achievement.Those things were worthless
00:21:05.847 --> 00:21:09.284
and Paul said it rightin this passage.
00:21:09.318 --> 00:21:10.786
"What things were gain to me,
00:21:10.819 --> 00:21:12.821
those things I hadto count loss."
00:21:12.854 --> 00:21:14.690
He forgot his failures andhe forgot his successes.
00:21:14.723 --> 00:21:18.327
God wants us to be able tocome to him with no baggage.
00:21:18.360 --> 00:21:24.066
He died on the cross toget rid of the baggage.
00:21:24.099 --> 00:21:27.602
Now, we stand just compliantand ready to go forward.
00:21:27.636 --> 00:21:31.506
That's what Paulis talking about.
00:21:31.540 --> 00:21:34.109
Don't get caught up in thethings that have already
00:21:34.142 --> 00:21:36.244
happened, over whichyou have no control.
00:21:36.278 --> 00:21:39.414
Don't even get so caught upin the future
00:21:39.448 --> 00:21:41.516
that you haven'tyet experienced.
00:21:41.550 --> 00:21:43.385
Live in the present every dayknowing that God is with you.
00:21:43.418 --> 00:21:46.655
He's forgiven you.He's got a plan for your life.
00:21:46.688 --> 00:21:49.424
If you will walk with himevery day, you can know
00:21:49.458 --> 00:21:53.328
what the Apostle Paul istalking about has victory.
00:21:53.362 --> 00:21:56.565
Well, we developthe discipline to focus
00:21:58.567 --> 00:22:00.936
and the discipline to forget.
00:22:00.969 --> 00:22:02.971
The final one is youhave to develop
00:22:03.004 --> 00:22:04.539
the discipline to follow.
00:22:04.573 --> 00:22:06.608
Verses 13 and 14have three athletic phrases
00:22:06.641 --> 00:22:10.612
in the verse,
00:22:10.645 --> 00:22:12.414
the word "apprehended,"the word "reaching forward,"
00:22:12.447 --> 00:22:14.750
and the words "pressing toward."
00:22:14.783 --> 00:22:17.586
Paul's desire is presented inthese words as a foot race.
00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:21.923
First, reaching forward refersto a race that you're in
00:22:21.957 --> 00:22:25.927
and you're stretchingforward to win the race.
00:22:25.961 --> 00:22:29.464
And then the word"apprehended" is another word
00:22:29.498 --> 00:22:32.000
which means to complete.
00:22:32.033 --> 00:22:34.202
Paul said, "Here I am atthe zenith of my life.
00:22:34.236 --> 00:22:37.806
All these things that I havedone, all these churches I have
00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.609
founded, all these epistlesthat I've written, all of these
00:22:40.642 --> 00:22:43.612
people that have come to Christ,all these attributes
00:22:43.645 --> 00:22:46.448
that I've stood before," andhere's what he's saying,
00:22:46.481 --> 00:22:48.984
"I don't consider myselfto have arrived.
00:22:49.017 --> 00:22:51.653
I'm not there yet."
00:22:51.686 --> 00:22:53.255
Instead of being proud of whathe had accomplished in his life,
00:22:53.288 --> 00:22:56.091
he's still on the hunt.
00:22:56.124 --> 00:22:57.692
He's still hungry.He's still humble.
00:22:57.726 --> 00:22:59.661
Listen to me, Paul took hisspiritual growth seriously.
00:22:59.694 --> 00:23:04.733
He didn't use it as something,
00:23:04.766 --> 00:23:06.201
"If I get around to it,I'm gonna try to develop
00:23:06.234 --> 00:23:08.503
my spiritual lifea little bit this week."
00:23:08.537 --> 00:23:10.539
It was his focus.
00:23:10.572 --> 00:23:12.107
It was his drive.
00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:13.809
It was the thing that meantmore to him than anything
00:23:13.842 --> 00:23:16.445
else he ever did.
00:23:16.478 --> 00:23:19.514
He was looking for a prize,the crown of righteousness,
00:23:19.548 --> 00:23:23.285
which God gives to thosewho walked with him.
00:23:23.318 --> 00:23:26.488
You know, I feel so honoredthat even talk about this.
00:23:26.521 --> 00:23:30.125
I'm so far out of the league ofPaul, I only can tell you about
00:23:30.158 --> 00:23:35.430
him with admiration.
00:23:35.464 --> 00:23:38.500
But my goal, and my heart,and my vision, and my drive is
00:23:38.533 --> 00:23:43.872
to follow the pattern that hehas sent for us so that I can
00:23:43.905 --> 00:23:48.877
be more like Christ andserve him with my heart.
00:23:48.910 --> 00:23:53.348
You say, "Well, Pastor Jeremiah,I'm not even there, man.
00:23:53.381 --> 00:23:55.550
I'm a Christian.I know I'm going to heaven.
00:23:55.584 --> 00:23:57.252
That's good enough for me."
00:23:57.285 --> 00:24:00.322
All right, if that's goodenough for you, fine,
00:24:00.355 --> 00:24:02.057
but don't expect thejoy of the Lord in your life
00:24:02.090 --> 00:24:04.993
'cause that's nothow you get it.
00:24:05.026 --> 00:24:07.662
The Lord Jesus Christ didn'tjust come to this earth and die
00:24:07.696 --> 00:24:10.465
on the cross so he could forgiveyour sins and let you go on
00:24:10.499 --> 00:24:13.468
living like you always did,and then somehow jerk you into
00:24:13.502 --> 00:24:16.571
heaven at the lastminute as a second thought.
00:24:16.605 --> 00:24:21.009
He saved you so that youwould become like him.
00:24:21.042 --> 00:24:24.079
He saved me, so that every daythat I live, I grow in my faith
00:24:24.112 --> 00:24:28.984
and develop the qualitiesthat are in the Scripture
00:24:29.017 --> 00:24:33.188
that describe Christians.
00:24:33.221 --> 00:24:34.990
Let's don't giveup on ourselves.
00:24:35.023 --> 00:24:37.092
Let's don't just mail it in.
00:24:37.125 --> 00:24:39.528
Let's don't just show up onSunday and go to church and say,
00:24:39.561 --> 00:24:42.430
"Oh, well, that'senough spirituality for me.
00:24:42.464 --> 00:24:44.566
See you next week, Pastor."
00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:47.903
Let's get serious about it,that's what this is about.
00:24:47.936 --> 00:24:50.005
If nothing else comes out of it,it's this, if you want to know
00:24:50.038 --> 00:24:53.875
Christ, if you want to growin Christ, get serious about it.
00:24:53.909 --> 00:24:57.979
Carve out some time to makeit happen and then you can know
00:24:58.013 --> 00:25:01.550
the victory that Paulis talking about.
00:25:01.583 --> 00:25:04.819
♪♪♪
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The first is a booklet called,"Your Greatest Turning Point,"
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Dr. Jeremiah: If you wantto stay on course
00:27:02.303 --> 00:27:04.372
and keep growingand keep moving toward the goal,
00:27:04.406 --> 00:27:06.474
don't lose sightof what the goal is.
00:27:06.508 --> 00:27:09.077
We're going to haveheaven someday,
00:27:09.110 --> 00:27:10.478
we're gonna bewith the Lord someday.
00:27:10.512 --> 00:27:12.347
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00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:14.249
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00:27:14.282 --> 00:27:16.651
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The Joy Of Maturity,here on "Turning Point."
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The Joy Of Victory

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