Apprehending Phil 3:1-17

I don't really know what is right here

Says one who is my savior

I take him at his word and dream

That son has saved me this hour

And in my heart I find a need

Of which you'll be my savior

That he will leave his place on earth

And come for sinful men to die

To kill his place, oh what sin I

Before I knew my savior was

My savior loves my savior this

My savior's always there for me

My God he was, my God he is

My God he's always gonna be

My savior loves my savior this

My savior's always there for me

My God he was, my God he is

My God he's always gonna be

He's living, dying, let me pray

That straight past solace from this grave

That he who lives to be my king

Will start to be my savior

That he will leave his place on earth

And come for sinful men to die

To kill his place, oh what sin I

Before I knew my savior was

My savior loves my savior this

My savior's always there for me

My God he was, my God he is

My God he's always gonna be

My savior loves my savior this

My savior's always there for me

My God he was, my God he is

My God is always coming.

My Savior loves, my Savior lives, my Savior's always there for me.

My God he works, my God he is, my God is always coming.

My Savior loves, my Savior lives, my Savior's always there for me.

My God he works, my God he is, my God is always coming.

My Savior loves, my Savior lives, my Savior's always there for me.

My God he works sink up to the call he gives, my God is always coming.

My Savior loves, my Savior lives, my Savior's always there for me.

Why God he works, why God he acts, why God is always with me.

What's the purpose?

The same of us, the same of you.

The same of us, the same of you.

Amen.

Alright, thank you.

At this time we'll dismiss the children and the children's work.

See you kids.

Don't worry about Jesus.

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We are going to talk about apprehending.

Can someone define the word, we lost Josh, we lost Josh, we will not get the literal definition of the word, but everyone want to define the word apprehending for us.

You don't have to look it up, just tell me what it means.

Capture, seize, right?

So you hear like the police apprehended a suspect.

So we're going to talk about apprehending.

Did you know the Bible talks about apprehending?

It does.

So if you have a Bible with you, flip with me to Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Thank you Jesus.

Amen.

This is his word.

We're going to read chapter 3 by the time we're done.

All the way to the end.

But it won't take long, don't freak out.

It will be all good.

We're going to do great on time.

Alright.

So we're reading 3 beginning in verse 1.

Oh, somebody took your extra point.

Oh, good job.

Sorry, Katelyn.

Alright.

I'm going to read.

I can hear my left side, so I'm going to read.

That way I can break it down as I go.

Do you need something?

Okay.

Alright.

So he says, finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.

To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

In other words, he's going to repeat again the same things.

Don't worry about it.

He doesn't mind doing it.

And if you hear it again, that will help you make sure you get it right.

Verse 2.

Beware of the dogs.

Beware of the evil workers.

Beware of the false circumcision.

For we are the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus

and put no confidence in the flesh.

So there was a conflict that went on in the early days about whether a believer had to be circumcised or not.

So if you are not a Jew, you are a Gentile, you likely were not circumcised.

And then to become a Christian, you'd be told you have to be circumcised.

Does everybody in the room know what circumcision is?

Snip the foreskin of the penis.

And it's not pleasant for an adult man.

It's debilitating for two or three days.

And so to become a Christian, they were saying you had to do that.

That's not true.

But it was obviously making it very hard on new Christians.

Because all of a sudden they had to go through this ritual that never should have had to been.

Paul is saying, beware of them.

Don't worry about that.

That's a false teacher.

We are the true circumcision.

And if you were around back in the day when we went through the entire book of Hebrews,

we studied that for several weeks in a row.

And true circumcision is not of the body part, but of the what?

Say the word.

The heart.

The heart. That's right.

True circumcision is not of a physical body part, but of your heart as a person.

So what he's saying is, beware of them.

Don't worry about them.

We put no confidence in the flesh.

Remember that phrase, no confidence.

Although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh.

So he's saying, there are things about me that would make me good.

If I wanted to do that, I probably could.

If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.

Circumcise the eighth day of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews,

as to the law, a Pharisee, which means a teacher of the law and somebody who knew it very well,

as to zeal, that means like energy or pursuit of God, a persecutor of the church.

So he was working for the Jewish church to persecute Christians.

He had so much zeal and excitement for God, he was going all over the place and persecuting Christians

when they thought that that was wrong.

As to the righteousness, which is in the law, found blameless.

So you'd say, in other words, under the law, he was found blameless.

He did everything he was supposed to do.

But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

So even though he was all that, right?

If you could, in that day, if you could say you were all those things, you were like a devout Jew,

that's really powerful.

He was everything he was supposed to be.

He said, I count all that as loss.

More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,

for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.

Count them but rubbish, that means garbage, in order that I may gain Christ.

So all those things I had, I have given up that I might gain Christ.

And may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law.

In other words, I don't have any set points or rules to prove that I'm good, right?

I have a righteousness in Christ, is what he's looking for.

And he says, I'll start back in 10.

That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings,

being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

His goal eventually was to be resurrected from the dead.

That means to go to heaven, right?

We want to spend eternity with God, that's the goal.

Not that I have already obtained it, this is where it's interesting.

Or have already become perfect.

So he's saying, I haven't already seized it, I haven't already grabbed it, right?

I haven't already apprehended it.

Or have already become perfect.

But I press on in order that I may lay hold of that.

In other words, that I may apprehend it, that I may seize it, that I may take it.

That I may lay hold of that, for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

And he's like, Jesus seized me?

Now I press on in order that I may hold on, I may lay hold of that for which he held me.

So he took me, why did he take me?

So I can be with him in a right relationship forever.

Now I press on so that I can also take hold of that which he took hold of me for.

That's what he's saying.

13, brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet.

In other words, I haven't seized it yet.

I haven't apprehended it yet.

But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

In other words, I'm not worried about all that what happened before.

I am pressing on.

The call of God in me is to that goal, to press on to that goal in Christ Jesus.

Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude.

And if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.

However, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

How far we've risen, how far we've reached, as much as we know you could say.

Let us keep living by that same standard.

Last verse for now.

Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.

So, we should understand that those first 16 verses are explaining how to live as a Christian.

How to walk as a Christian.

I know it's convoluted, right?

You've got to break it down a little bit, so we're going to do that.

So, he's saying that there were these people who were making Christianity, or being a Christian, out to be something more.

They were evil workers, doing wrong, causing people to mutilate themselves for Jesus.

And he said, beware of that, let me tell you what's right.

I could say in my flesh all these good things about myself.

I was all of these things.

But I give all that up to be the one good thing, which is the thing Jesus purchased for me.

So, the reference goes on the first blank on your note-taking sheet.

It is Philippians 3, 1-17.

So, if you put PHIL like Phil, and then 3, 1-17.

That's what goes on the first part there.

So, the first thing that you see in this text, if you didn't see it, here it is.

Let me just make it plain.

He's talking about focused living.

Okay?

Let's dumb things down.

Let's make it as simple as we possibly can.

When Paul was writing to the Corinthians, he wrote it very simply in one verse.

And I'll flip over there and read it to you.

You may be guessing where I'm going.

It's 1 Corinthians 10-31.

It's on your note-taking sheet.

And it says, whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

So, focused living then, as a Christian, this is how Christians are supposed to live.

Everything is focused on living for God.

But here's the problem.

Things come into our life that make that difficult.

So, you could have a person that's making it hard for you to make good choices.

You could have a situation, a health situation, financial situation, a living situation.

You could have a personal habit that you've gotten into, something that you really like to eat,

or something that you really like to avoid.

Like, I can't stand when I hear people chewing their food.

People have all these things.

And those things are leeches.

That's what they are.

They drain you of the life that God is pumping into you as you travel,

as you try to live and do everything you do as if you're doing it for God.

These leeches drain the blood out of you.

Just like if you went through stagnant water, you know what a leech is?

It looks like a little slimy slug thing.

It gets on there.

And the more it sucks the blood out of you, the fatter it gets.

And because it has anesthesia in its sucker device, you can't tell it's on there.

And you get enough of them on you.

People have died, get a bunch of leeches on them, and have died from that blood loss.

So those things are like leeches.

And Paul is saying live focused existence.

So what do we do to deal with leeches?

So I'm going to tell you first what doesn't work.

And when I give you this list, you're going to go, oh yeah, that's what we do with leeches.

So the first thing that doesn't work is complaining.

Talking about the leech, the problem, it could be, again, it can be a health concern,

a job concern, a family concern, a relationship concern.

Someone said something that's plaguing your mind.

I've got several of those things that the enemy tries to throw up in my head when I'm struggling

or trying to do what God wants me to do.

And then he'll throw up, remember when they said that about you? Yeah.

Things like that.

Or a distraction, a hobby.

You really like to play on your phone.

You like to do reels.

You like to do TikTok.

It could be anything like that.

And then it's slowing you down and complaining about it.

And this is what people do.

Yeah, you know, I know I should study my Bible more, but I just can't stop watching TikTok.

Or I just can't stop.

I would have studied my Bible more, but I was dealing with my mom.

She's such a jerk.

She really bothers me.

Or they won't let me do what I want to do, and that's why I'm not doing what I should do.

We complain about the leech in all its various forms.

And by the way, how long can you do that for?

Indefinitely.

Once you start complaining, you literally will never find a time to stop.

Because there's always going to be issues.

There's always going to be leeches.

So complaining does not deal with leeches.

If a guy goes through a path of leeches and he comes up out, he's got three or four leeches,

and he's like, I got leeches.

I got leeches.

I have leeches sucking my leg right now.

I feel terrible.

I'm getting weaker by the minute, man.

I'm going to die here.

Bob, I got leeches on me right now.

And they're like, just cut the leeches off or burn them off or do something.

Do something, you're going to die.

I can't.

I have leeches.

That doesn't work that way.

You will complain until you die.

Complaining is never going to get the leeches off.

And it's the same way with the stuff that gets in our life that slows us down or sucks the life out of us

when we try to follow God and focus.

Remember, it's about focused living.

Okay?

Clearly, that was the first blank.

Clearly, what also does not work is leaving them there, like ignoring them.

And the next two blanks are not leaving them or ignoring them.

Those things do not work.

You leave them there or you ignore them, they will still kill you.

Okay?

Now, a person can live with just one leech for a very long period of time.

And a relatively healthy person could live with like three leeches on them for quite a while.

Right?

So what happens is that a healthy person gets one leech and they're like, it's okay.

I'm still focused on God.

I'm not going to worry about that.

Focused on God.

Yeah, that bothered me a little bit that it's there.

I'm thinking about it on the back of my mind.

But I'm focused on God, so I'm ignoring the leech.

And the leech is still...

You know what happens?

If you actually have a leech on you, you leave it on you, you wouldn't necessarily die right away.

It gets infected.

They're not clean.

And they're accessing your blood.

And then you die from the infection, not from the leech.

Right?

So you can't leave it and you can't ignore it.

These things that sap your life as you're trying to be focused for God.

Also, you cannot nurse it.

And by that I mean you cannot create coping mechanisms.

For example, if you have a leech on your leg, normally you get a sore.

What do you do?

Slap a little Neosporin and a Band-Aid on there, right?

Because you've got a sore.

So if you don't take the leech off, you leave it there, you put the Neosporin in the band-aid,

you might irritate the leech, but it's still going to do its business.

Alright?

You're still going to suffer.

Taking antibiotics so that you don't get an infection in your leg because you left the leech on there

might actually help you for a while, but at the same time, antibiotics are going to hurt you, right?

So all the coping things that we do while we're dealing with these leeches that suck the life

that is supposed to be focused on God out of us,

also have their side effects, their negative effects, etc.

You have a real problem.

You're searching for a solution.

You complain to others about the solution.

Somebody says, hey, try this.

And you're like, hey, that's not a bad idea.

I might actually try that.

But before I try it, I want to make sure I get some good advice.

So I go talk to a few more people about it.

And then by that time I've left the leech on there for a long time, so I'm coping with it.

And then I get done with all the advice and I go, you know what?

It is good advice, but it really doesn't seem to be bothering me all that much anymore.

I'm just going to leave it.

This is what we do with cavities, right?

That's how people treat cavities.

You get a cavity in your mouth like I'm not going to go get it fixed.

FYI, if you get a cavity, if you get it fixed right away, it doesn't even hurt.

But by the time most people cope with it and let it go for a while, it hurts, right?

So coping with it, coping mechanisms, bad behavior, my kids misbehaving,

so I develop coping mechanisms to deal with their bad behavior,

that's not the way to do it.

That does not solve the problem.

All you do is you go, oh, my kid is better because I'm coping with it,

so I think my kid is better, right?

And then your kid becomes a teenager and you realize, oh, that didn't work.

Now I've got all these problems I didn't solve before.

What do I do?

And by the way, it's the same way.

If you're a kid and you're having friction with you and your mom,

developing coping mechanisms like hiding around the corner,

having an extra Facebook account that you can talk to your friends on so she doesn't know,

those are all coping mechanisms.

That does not solve the problem.

It only makes things worse.

Ultimately, you've not only had to cope with the problem with the relationship,

but on top of that, you're coping with deception, lying, manipulating,

all these different things.

So not nursing it or coping it.

And then the last one is, and this one you kind of laugh at,

but it's kind of also not very funny when you think about it, you can't show it off.

Your particular leech.

In the year 2000, it was probably January 15th, I was driving down Cherry Street

and I heard on the radio, this morning show, it was about probably 8 o'clock in the morning,

and they said that the sin of the 2000 to 2010 generation was going to be owning their weaknesses.

So we say, yeah, I hear what you say, I should fix that, but I'm just no good.

And then we go around telling everybody that we're no good.

That way, when we fall through and don't do what we said we're going to do,

they won't be surprised, right?

Like loan money to a pessimist because he doesn't expect it back, right?

It's the same thing.

So if I tell you I'm a pessimist, then, I'm sorry, borrow money from a pessimist,

I said it backwards, right?

So if I tell you I'm a pessimist, you're like, I'll borrow from him because he doesn't ask for the money back.

I say, well, if I tell you, what?

Yeah, so I'm not going to come asking for it back if I'm a pessimist.

It's the same idea.

So if I keep saying I'm a pessimist, people are going to take advantage of my pessimism, right?

If you're a masochist, which means you like to feel pain,

and you go around telling everybody you like to feel pain,

pretty soon you're going to find some people that are going to cause pain for you.

And now that leash that you had that was slowing you down was a problem because you're a masochist.

That's not good.

That's a mental condition, right?

Now it's not just a mental condition anymore.

It's a real thing in your life, and it's growing, and it's out of control.

You can't go around showing it off, telling people, oh, you know, I really struggle with lying, for example.

I'm trying to defeat that.

But you're not really doing it, and it lasts a really long time.

You've got to not show off your leeches.

Okay?

And then that brings us back around over to what actually works.

Does anybody know how to get a leech off the best way?

Yeah, you burn it off.

Say that nice and loud.

Say it again nice and loud.

Burn it off.

Burn it off, okay?

That's what goes into blank.

You burn it off.

By the way, just a little side note.

If you don't, someday he will.

Yes.

Okay?

A little side note.

If you don't burn the leeches off, someday he will burn them off for you if you're saved.

But in the meantime, this is how you do it.

You burn them off.

It's ready, aim, cut.

It's got to go.

Once you identify what the leech is, you get rid of it.

And people are going to go like, oh, no, that's harder than it sounds.

And I agree with you that it's harder than it sounds.

I've shared as part of my testimony before that it took over two and a half years for me to stop lying after I got saved.

It took two years and seven months for me to stop using foul language after I got saved.

So burning it off may take some effort, may take some time, but you will eventually get to that focused living that God has given you.

Probably one of the classic examples of this is watching things like rated R movies or TVMA shows or things online that are like soft porn, girls in G-string bikinis doing flips, you know, things like that.

That's probably one of the most classic examples in our generation of people watching what they shouldn't watch.

And then it's really hard to cut it off, to stop.

But there's only one way to deal with a leech, and that is to burn it off.

The goal is, and this goes in the next big blank there, the goal is to return to productivity.

Remember we started with focused living.

So I'm going to give you an illustration from football.

Not a football guy.

I don't do football a lot.

I would rather play it than watch it.

I'm getting a little old for football now, so I do play it some still.

So you've got a fullback, and he's got to go through the line.

So the play is designed, it's a blocking stunt, which means the tackle or somebody over here is going to pull and they're going to block.

There's going to be an extra blocker, and the hole is going to leave a hole over here, but the fullback is already going to be gone at that time.

But he's going to go right behind that blocker through the line.

Now there should be a hole.

There should be.

Now when he starts to run, does he look to see if there's a hole?

No.

The play is, he goes through the hole.

So there should be a hole.

So he's going to focus living.

He knows the play.

He's got to go where he's got to go.

Anywhere else has less odds of being open anyway, because there he has a blocker.

Everybody knows what's going on.

That's the way to go.

So the return to productivity is us saying, this is the way we should go.

We're going to go the way we should go.

And what might happen, as sad as it is, is we may crash or we may fail.

It could go poorly.

Somebody might tackle us.

Somebody throw up a flag, something like that.

But we're going to go full bore the way God said we're supposed to go,

and then let God sort out what happens.

Karina, could you sit up, please?

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

All right.

So I'm going to show you a passage of Scripture that speaks to this.

And it's one of the darker passages in the New Testament.

It is Matthew 5, 29 through 32.

And that's what goes in that blank right there after the return to productivity.

Matthew 5, 29 to 32.

And Jesus says, hang on to your hat.

Here we go.

And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you.

For it's better for you that one of the parts of your body perish

than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you.

For it's better for you that one of the parts of your body perish

than for your whole body to go into hell.

And it was said, whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for that cause of unchastity,

makes her commit adultery.

And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

And he goes on.

And if you didn't catch it, this is in the part of the Scripture

where he's saying, it's in Matthew 5, it's part of the Sermon on the Mount,

where they had made a bunch of excuses for not doing things right.

And then he's going to go through and he's going to whack them to smithereens.

He's going to tear them apart.

He's going to say there are no excuses.

He says, it's focused living.

Let me tell you exactly how strict this is.

Now, is he saying somebody should actually cut off their hand?

Is he?

No, he's not.

You know why you know that's not the case?

You know that's not the case because you're created in the image of God.

Self-mutilation of any kind would be wrong.

So then what's the figurative language actually mean?

Now, is there a place in which a person probably should cut their own hand off?

Could that ever happen?

Yeah, it could, right?

So like your hand gets stuck in a grinder that could tear you up completely.

It'll take you.

There's no one to save you.

Your whole body's going in.

If you take your hand off, you can survive.

Gangrene is set in your arm.

It's as far up as your elbow and you're backwards somewhere far away from medical health.

There's nothing you can do.

By the way, if you get to the hospital, that's probably what they're going to do anyway.

So they take the arm off above the gangrene so it doesn't get to your heart and kill you.

So there is a time, right?

So that's the kind of imagery that he's using.

But he's saying you should never self-mutilate.

But that's how important this focused living for Jesus is, right?

So what you do is you say, I'm going to do all things I do as if I do them for the Lord.

And anything that gets in my way is grist for the mill.

It's a leech.

It's got to be burnt off, right?

Now at this point in time you might be like, I'm not sure now about this.

Because he's asking for focused living following Jesus sounds a lot harder than most people have made it out to be.

James says, he who doubts shouldn't think he has anything.

And Jesus says, focus living to the point that you let nothing stand in your way.

Hit the gap.

Trust the blockers.

Trust that God will make a way for you through.

Be sure, if you want to look briefly with me at Ephesians 1, 12-15.

Ephesians 1, 12-15.

And it says, it's in the middle of a sentence, but because it's a really big run on sentence, I'm just going to start at the verse marker.

To the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of his glory.

In him you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel, or your salvation,

having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

In other words, you heard the truth about Jesus, you believed, you're saved, the Holy Spirit comes in and sealed you up.

You cannot lose your salvation if you're saved.

But now there are leeches and we're learning how to deal with the leeches, but we're going to the end to win.

We're going to heaven when we die. That's settled.

14. Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, that's talking about the Holy Spirit,

with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of glory.

It's settled. It's done. The blockers will be there.

Then 15 he says, for this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you,

and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers.

See, he had heard about how they had decided to live for Jesus and how they were not letting anything stop them from living for Jesus.

And that's what people should be able to hear about us.

So this passage then, how is it about apprehending?

Remember this whole thing is about apprehending.

Do you want to take a stab at it? What we've been talking about, how is it about apprehending?

Remember in the first passage that we read, Philippians 3, he said, I have not yet, what?

Let's just say apprehended it, right? I haven't reached it yet, but I strive to apprehend it for the same purpose that he apprehended me.

And then if you look briefly at 1 Corinthians 4, 7, hang tough, I know it's warm in here,

and we're long into it, we're almost done, you're doing great.

1 Corinthians 4, 7 says this, for who regards you as superior?

And what do you have that you did not receive?

But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it or if you had not received it?

So remember, Jesus apprehended us, not the other way around.

Now we strive, as Paul was saying, to apprehend him, to apprehend that which he apprehended us for, which is eternal life with him.

So the blanks are, you received and don't boast.

So you did not apprehend it, for those of you who think, because this is what happens, I've seen it,

you talk about becoming a Christian, and they'll go, well I'm a Christian.

So somebody's talking about it, two guys sitting around talking about being a Christian living for Jesus,

and another guy gets in the conversation, they're like, well I'm a Christian too, as if I made the right decision,

I prayed to accept Christ, I follow Jesus, saying I achieved something.

But it's not something that you achieved, it's something that he achieved.

So Paul says, in verse 15, he says,

Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us, to the glory of God.

Did you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

No.

How many times have you said that?

I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

But you didn't accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, Jesus accepted you.

Did the groceries buy themselves and put them in your cart and you took them home?

No, you bought the groceries. Jesus bought you.

So who accepted who?

If I go to the grocery store and pick up two packages of fruit drinks,

and one of them is busted open and leaking, the other one's not,

and I take the one that's not busted open and leaking, I chose that package of fruit juice and took it home,

did that fruit juice do anything at all in order for me to accept it?

No. Its condition was, it was not busted, I chose it, I accepted it, I took it home,

and that's what Jesus is doing with us.

He accepted us, not the other way around.

That leads me to some very forward or aggressive terms.

Anybody, if you're a football fan, how about,

Hup!

And what happens? Everybody moves.

Or,

Go!

And all the runners start running.

Do, be, stand, don't quit!

Go, be, go, do, get them, get them, right?

Or, what is it, let's go!

Right?

I heard that on TV like a bunch of times on game shows and stuff like that,

and I had to actually Google it and figure out why people were saying let's go because it really doesn't make any sense.

Everybody said let's go.

Yeah, let's go! Yeah!

Play ball, charge, press toward, focus.

How about that one?

Focus. Jesus says focus.

Jesus says apprehend it.

Grab it.

But this passage goes beyond saying that we need to try to apprehend what He has done for us,

and that He has apprehended us.

It's really about dependence.

Because we didn't accept Him, He accepted us.

Now if you want to get in when the time comes, you have to rely on the fact that He accepted you.

Paul said I counted it as loss, that I might be found in Him, not my own righteousness, righteousness of God by faith.

Believe, belief affected, believe more.

If by any means I may arrive at the salvation that He chose me for,

a man who's apprehending is not tempered with depending,

is just as prone to acts of wickedness as a man who believes there is no God,

and therefore no one to set the standard.

Did you catch that?

If you have not figured out as a Christian that you are dependent on Him to get you to the finish line.

By the way, why are we declared innocent day after day after day?

Because Jesus died on the cross, right?

No.

That's actually not right.

That is why we were first declared innocent.

But we are now declared innocent day after day after day,

because Jesus didn't stay dead, He was resurrected, and now,

righteous to His righteousness,

because He is standing at the right hand of the Father making intercession daily.

What if Jesus decides not to show up to work one day?

Everybody goes to hell.

That's the bottom line.

God sees your sin, He sees it, He sees what we've done wrong, what we failed to do, where we weren't focused,

where we let the leeches remain, He sees all of that.

So if Jesus doesn't say, yeah, but that one's mine, one time, you're done.

Your goose is cooked.

And then you won't have to worry about the leeches burning off, because you'll be burning.

So the bottom line is, Paul is talking about apprehension, or apprehending, tempered with depending.

So yes, I strive for that which God wants me to be and do and go where He wants me to be at the end and so on,

but I depend on Him to get there at the same time.

So there are three types of men.

The first guy is a guy who has no God, or no real God, right?

Has the wrong God, possibly.

And he says, I can do whatever.

The blank is whatever.

I can do whatever society will tolerate, or whatever I'm willing to take the lumps for.

Cop didn't see it, I didn't do it.

Oop, cop did see it.

Oh, I got a ticket.

No big deal.

I'll do it again next week, probably.

So they'll do whatever society will tolerate, or whatever they're willing to take the lumps for.

That's the kind of man that Paul was talking about with the wicked dogs that do evil.

Man number two, having been saved, so he believes in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior,

Jesus has accepted him, made him a follower, but he says, so whatever I do now, right?

Meaning, because I'm saved, whatever I do now, I'm safe.

Whatever punishment I face here, or whoever I hurt, I'll be in heaven anyway,

so I can do whatever I want to do now.

So the first guy says, whatever society will tolerate, and this guy says, I'm saved,

and so whatever I do now, I'll be okay.

And then there's man number three.

He's like, Paul, this man is informed by this scripture, having seen the life, the death,

the resurrection of Christ in his mind's eye, he realizes that God has expectations,

and that they are expectations that on his own he cannot meet.

So I'm going to strive, but I will fail.

I will make mistakes without Jesus' help.

So these are expectations that rightly God has those expectations on us.

And then we say, I see them, but on my own, I'm not going to make it.

I can just tell, it's too hard to never lie, right?

It's too hard to never steal.

Now, we already did it before we got saved anyway, so surely we were not going to make it,

but even if we're trying now, there's still going to be something that we're going to do

if we get it almost all right.

We're sure that we probably won't get it all right.

And so we focus, and then he works to apprehend Christ's salvation

while he depends on God to give the victory.

So go back to the football analogy for one second.

Our team coached Jesus.

The enemy team, anyone who would stop you, anyone, anything, evil spirits, demons,

habits, sins, whatever, that would stop you from getting to heaven.

The coach knows the plays.

He calls him in.

We run the plays.

If we get through the enemy, we end up in the end zone, which for us is heaven, for eternity.

If we do not get through, we get stopped and we try again.

And we keep trying, keep trying, every moment, focused, trying to do the plays

the way the coach has given.

Now, the coach has the plays, and he knows all the tactics of the enemy.

He knows what the future will bring.

He knows all that's coming.

We don't.

So when you're the fullback and you get handed the ball as a Christian,

are you going to hit the gap or bounce around the outside?

Are you going to run up there and see if there's a hole?

How many times are you going to run up there and see if there's a hole

and get tackled in the backfield before you realize the coach drew the play up

so that you're already going through the hole by the time those guys get in the backfield

to try to tackle you?

That's how the play is drawn.

And so if you stay in the backfield, you'll get tackled.

And if you go through the hole, you're going to make yards.

That's what Paul was saying.

Be the kind of person informed by this scripture.

Now, be the kind of person you've seen life, death, the resurrection of Christ in your head.

Now, you weren't there, but in your head you saw this.

And you realized God has expectations of me.

And these are things that on my own I probably won't meet them.

But I'm going to focus my life and give it my best effort.

And I'm going to work to apprehend, that means to seize the salvation.

And then I'm going to depend on God to give me the victory.

That's what Paul is calling us to.

And in case you think I got this all wrong,

Philippians 3, 18-21.

We read through 17.

And then in verse 18 says,

For many walk, of whom I often told you and now tell you,

even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,

whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite,

and whose glory is in their shame,

who sets their minds on earthly things.

For our citizenship is in heaven,

from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory.

In other words, He's going to make us like He wants us to be when it's all said and done,

by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

What can stop Him from saving you if He wants to do it?

Nothing.

As long as you're willing and submitting and letting Him, He'll save you.

The question is going to be like, what's your life going to be like before you get there?

Are you going to have a bunch of leeches sucking you dry,

and you're about to die, falling, failing in sin, worthless, like a...

Are you chasing after the things of the world, always empty inside,

even though you should be filled with the Holy Spirit?

No, don't do that.

He will do it.

We look forward to it.

And we will strive to be His until He comes and once and for all makes it done.

That's what Paul is talking about.

What have you apprehended today?

Have you apprehended that Jesus Christ died on the cross to apprehend you?

And that He apprehended you for an eternity with Him in heaven and a right relationship?

And most of what happens between now and then is going to be about things, situations,

evil spirits, whatever, trying to slow you down, trying to take the joy out of your life,

trying to take the success and the fruit and the goodness out of your life.

That's what it's all about.

You say, well, it really bothers me when...

When are you going to just stop being bothered by that?

You're going to heaven for crying out loud.

Jesus is running the team.

If you run that same play, use that same analogy, and you hit the gap,

and there's a linebacker there, and he knocks your socks off,

and you're in a hospital for a week and a half,

are you going to then complain about Jesus from that point on,

that He gave you the play that ran you into the linebacker,

that almost broke your neck?

Or are you going to get right back on the team that eventually goes to heaven

and has an eternity with God?

Yeah.

That's why complaining doesn't work, because the coach is running the show,

and by the way, Paul was martyred for his faith.

Paul died, as did almost all of the disciples, for their faith.

And if you're living this focused living, there is a small chance,

it's just a small chance because of the day that we live in,

but there is a small chance that you might die for your faith.

But if you do, you'll punch right through to that which He apprehended you for,

and that's what you want.

Let me pray for us that we would learn the lesson of focus

and realize these methods that we're trying to deal with our leeches with,

it's not going to work, and instead, burn them off, focus living,

all that I do, I do for God in order that we cannot be stopped

and He'll take us through.

Father in heaven, I praise you.

I praise you for settling the matter like nobody else can.

Truth is, I find myself discontented at times.

I've been preached a couple of times recently, and I'll ask my husband how angry it makes me to see

the world in the condition that it's in where people lost and dying are going to hell.

There might even be somebody in this room that's heard the simple truth tonight

and they're going to walk away, and rather than give their life over to Lord Jesus,

rather than be accepted by the God of heaven and God the Son,

and know their eternal destination, they'll walk out of here

and go live for whatever else, by whatever else, and in whatever else.

Even making you think, well, as long as I'm not a Christian, I can do whatever I want.

And that makes me angry, but at the same time, I realize I've already done it tonight.

That which my anger drives me to do, which is I've explained it plainly.

The truth is we all have sinned. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

We all have sinned and we're not good in ourselves.

Because of that sin, the Bible says the wages of that sin is death.

That means our separation from you, and ultimately our permanent separation from you

when there is no place else to be except hell.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

So if we can have a Lord, that means we have somebody to tell us what to do, and it's Jesus.

If we can have a Savior, somebody to pay the price for our sins, then eternity is settled.

What remains then is how we live here on the earth. And I want, I hope, for a focused existence.

I hope for a willingness to burn off the leeches and do all things that I do as if I'm doing them for you.

I pray for that for myself, for every person in this room, every person on Facebook listening right now.

Every person that will get the podcast eventually.

Every person that will go and tell about what we experienced here tonight as you spoke this into us.

You can maybe with me, but I'm your very special.

Just a child of God.

We all can have that special.

It will allow ourselves to be obtained, apprehended by Jesus.

Jesus, show us the place that will take us through to the end.

And let us always rejoice in the world.

I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.