Running the Race: Insights from Philippians 3

Amen. Amen. Good stuff. Philippians Chapter three tonight.

Philippians Chapter three. Is this a tired bunch tonight? I sense

it. Long as I don't hear it, we'll be all right. See, because

if I hear it, then I'll think that I'm the one who put you to sleep.

And so then I'll have to wake you up. I used to do that a lot.

I have since stopped doing that. What are you talking about,

wake up? That's what I used to do. I don't do that anymore. But

it wakes them up, doesn't it? Wakes everybody up. When babies started

crying in the nursery, I figured I'd better quit that. Philippians,

Chapter three. If you're there, say amen. I'm just going to

read a couple of verses. Verse 12 through 14. The word of God says,

Not as though I had already attained either, were already perfect.

But I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also

I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself

to have apprehended. But this one thing I do, forgetting those

things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things

which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of

the high calling of God, Christ Jesus. One of the most inspiring

things to watch is someone who refuses to give up, someone who just

won't quit. Now, you've all seen him. We've all seen the runner,

the marathon runner on wobbly rubber band like legs. We've all

seen those. And they're, you know, as they're nearing the end

of the race, the finish line is in sight, but their entire body

is screaming at them, stop. Just rest for a minute. Walk. No

more running. Just give me a minute. But they know that if they

stop, it'll all be over. And so they persevere. They press on.

Sometimes they do fall, but I've seen them continue to crawl.

Now, we've seen when people come behind them and pick them up

and carry them, that's not near as good as when they're crawling,

knees bleeding, across the finish line. It's inspiring. It's

not near as inspiring. When somebody picks them up, then you

want to cheer the people who picked them up for being so nice,

right? But I'd rather see somebody crawl across that finish

line determined not to quit, not to give up. That's inspiring.

But what about Paul? What about the apostle Paul? Philippians,

chapter three. This is an amazing book. I know. Pastor said

many times it's his favorite book. And there's a lot of reasons

Why, I can see why that's. So Paul, obviously you've heard this.

He wrote it while he was in Rome, in prison. He wasn't near the

end of his life yet he still had. This book was written about

60, between 62, I think between 62, 63, 64 A.D. somewhere

in there. And I believe Paul was. I believe Paul. Well, second

Timothy was written about 67, 68. So that was pretty close to the

end of his life. So he had several years in prison. So at this

point in, in his prison sentence, he probably thought that

he was actually going to have his cause heard, his sentence heard.

He probably felt he was going to be able to go before the tribunal,

the Roman tribunal, but he never did. You know, he was beheaded

before he was ever. Before his trial ever came, before his trial

was ever tried. But at this point in the letter, the whole letter

just speaks of joy. I mean, a Roman prison at first, you know,

in the other times, you could almost envision, okay, well, it's

not that bad. He was under house arrest. He was able to have

friends come and go, and he had liberty at times. You know, it

wasn't. But when he got to Rome, they weren't playing around.

He got put in prison. And I've never been to a Roman prison. I don't

guess I've ever. I mean, just what I've seen, you've seen on television,

and it's not a pretty sight. But it was more severe at this point.

But Paul, look at chapter two. I'm sorry, look at chapter one. I'm

not gonna dwell on this. My message is not. It's not on the book

of Philippians. But I just want us to get an idea of the circumstances

that Paul was going through and the things that he was having

endure. And yet he had a spirit that was just unquenchable,

just would not quit. He just wasn't going to stop. But he said

in verse 12 of chapter one, I would. You should understand, brethren,

the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather under

the furtherance of the Gospel. So that my bonds in Christ are manifest

in all the palace and in all other places. Paul looked at his

circumstances through Christ instead of looking at Christ through

his circumstances. What an amazing thing. This book is an amazing

book because he was telling them to rejoice. We've read where

he said, you think you got something to. I have been beaten

this many times, shipwreck in the deep and, you know, under persecution

by those without and by my own countrymen. We got that whole List

of things that he went over and over and over. And yet we see

him write a book where he says, rejoice. I mean, here's a man

who's just not going to let anything stop him from serving God.

There's nothing that's going to stop him from giving God his best.

Even prison. Not just prison, but Roman prison. Here's a man who

probably. I mean, he's not eradicated to the human nature. So

inside, there's that fleshly Paul, there's that fleshly Saul,

there's that carnal man still in there saying, paul, just give

up. Paul, just quit. Look at this. It's a hopeless case. Look

at all that you've done. And this is where it got you. Why do

you keep on? But yet he does. You ever felt like just giving up

on anything? You ever want to just throw in the towel maybe on

a relationship? You ever want to just throw in the towel on your

job? You ever just want to walk out? You ever just want to give

your boss a few choice words? That's the flesh. I've been there.

You ever want to quit Christianity? You ever want to just

turn your back on God and walk away from it all? Oh, Pastor, Brother

Stone, that doesn't happen to Christians every day. Only every

day. There's a lot of reasons for it, too. A lot of reasons. A

lot of times. And I was talking to somebody about this just

the other day. I see people come to church week after week after

week after week after week, solo. A spouse who has to leave their

spouse at home. They don't have to, but their spouse won't come

to church with them. And yet they keep coming and they keep coming

and they keep coming and they keep coming and they keep coming

and they keep coming and they keep coming. And at some point they're

like, what's the point? I give up. Think that doesn't happen. It

does happen. I will say this before I get any further. That is

very discouraging. And I've seen it on both sides, husband and

wife. I've seen it in my own church. I saw a lady come in and

she showed up every Sunday morning for Sunday school, dragging

her. I can't remember. Three or four kids now with it. Four. Four

kids. Three girls and a boy. Dragging them with her, bringing

them with her every single time. Sunday morning for Sunday school,

Sunday morning service, Sunday night service, Wednesday night service,

Saturday, soul winning. And anytime the doors were open, revival,

mission, conference, anything, she brought those kids with her by

herself for years. Years. And one day I got a phone call, and I

said, hello, Miss Kenny? She said, yeah, Pastor, my husband wants

to talk to you. Okay. Yeah. Patrick, Can I help you? Yeah, I

want to get saved. This was like three and a half, four years

down the road, five years maybe. He said, I want to get saved.

I said, all right, I'm on my way to the house. Meet me at my house.

Sweetest thing you've ever seen. Came in, bowed his head and

trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior at my kitchen table, and then

just got faithful and then just started coming to church. It's

amazing. It's amazing what happens when you just don't quit,

when you just keep on keeping on. But I understand. I've seen it.

I've seen people quit because there's a conflict of spirit. There's

a conflict in their spirit because what they're having to go

through and live and endure all day long. And then they only

get respite a couple times a week when they come to church on

Sunday, and maybe if they can make it on Wednesday, a little bit

of a respite, a little bit of a shot in the arm, a little bit of

a spiritual encouragement. And then the rest of the week, it's just

barrage. Just. Just constantly barraged with the worldliness. Sometimes

it's teenagers who, you know, they. It's a battle at school and

peer pressure, and they're trying to do right, and it's just

tough. Do you ever become so burdened and encumbered with the

cares of this life that you just want to quit? Just quit. Just

quit going to church, Quit serving God altogether? I want you

to look with me. We're going to. This isn't the message either,

but I want you to look over with me@psalm73. This is such a good

psalm. I go to it many times. I should have it memorized by now.

As often as I've read it. As many times. And here's the thing.

As many times as I've had to read it, I have to read it. I need

this for myself. Psalm 73, are you there? Okay, I still hear a few

pages. I'll wait. Psalm 73. All right, I'll read a few verses.

Look at verse three. Actually, let's begin at verse one. Truly God

is good to Israel, even to such as of a clean heart. But as

for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped.

For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity

of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, but their

strength. Is firm. They're not in trouble as other men, neither

are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them

about as a chain. Violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes

stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish.

They're corrupt, and they speak wickedly concerning oppression.

They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens and

their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return

hither, and waters of a full cup are rung out to them. And they

say, how doth God know? Is there any knowledge in the most High?

Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase

in riches. And then look what he says. Verily, I've cleansed my

heart in vain. I washed my hands in innocency. All the day long

have I been plagued and chastened. Every morning he goes,

man, I'm trying to do right. I'm the one doing right. I'm following

the word of God. I'm trying to do right. And nothing seems to be

coming together for me. And I look at everybody else, and they

don't care about God. They don't go to church. They don't read

the Bible. They're wicked. They're partying. They're living

it up. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die. That's

their motto. And look at them, man. They seem to be prospering.

It's killing me. Sometimes I ask myself, is it even worth it?

He says in verse 13, verily, I've cleansed my hands, my heart

in vain, and I wash my hands in innocency. For all the day long

have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say

I'm going to speak thus, behold, I should offend against the

generation of thy children. Now look at verse 16. When I thought

to know this, it was too painful for me until I went into

the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Boy, that's

enough to keep you right. When you understand the end of the wicked,

the end of the ungodly, the end of the unrighteous, that's enough

to keep you straight if you'll hang in there. But in our passage

in Philippians, the apostle Paul gives us four biblical principles

to apply to our lives that will give us the incentives that

we need to keep running until our race is over. And it is a race.

I mean, you know, the Bible likens this Christian life to many

things, and a race is one of them. We're like an athlete. And

so what Paul says, and I got to get to the message, all this introduction.

I got to get to the message here. To keep running until our race

is over, we must possess four things. Number one, a discontentment

with our present level of spiritual maturity. A discontentment.

Look at verse 12 back in our text. He said, not as though I had

already attained either. Were already perfect. But I follow after,

if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of

Christ Jesus. That's a mouthful, I know, and I'm going to

try to break it down. There are a few things that the Bible tells

us that we are to be content with, but our spirituality isn't

one of them. We should never be content with our level of spiritual

maturity. We should never be content with our spiritual development.

Paul is saying, I want to fulfill God's purpose for my life.

He basically said in this verse right here that I just read.

Not as though, let's see, brethren, verse 13. I'll count. Not

myself to have apprehended. I'm sorry, back up. 12. Not as though

I had already attained either. Were already perfect. I follow after,

if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended.

So basically, what he's saying is God saved me. When God saved me,

he gave me a purpose, and I want to fulfill that purpose for

which he saved me. He apprehended me for a reason. I want

to apprehend that reason that he saved me for, and I haven't done

it yet. That's exactly what Paul is saying. I want to fulfill

God's purpose for my life. He wasn't striving in this verse to

get to heaven. Instead, he was striving to become like Christ. Striving

to become like Christ. He was trying to keep his focus on the purpose

that God gave him in this life. Being in ministry and counseling

and for years. There's a couple of things that I've realized.

Well, I've realized that there's a couple of things. Three

things particularly, that people need. They need to know they're

loved and to love and to be loved. They need to have. They need

to have significance, to know that they make a difference in the

world. And then thirdly, to have a purpose. I want to know that

my life means something, to have purpose. And that's exactly.

Paul didn't. He thought he had purpose. You read his bio. You read

his bio. He said, man, I have all these degrees. I got all these

accolades, but they were nothing. Once I got saved, I realized

they were nothing. I was just going to go to hell with a bunch

of accolades. But when Jesus Christ saved me, I all of a sudden

realized those were meaningless. And Christ is everything.

And he gave me a purpose for living and my purpose for living.

And your purpose for living is to live this life in such a way that

people can see Jesus Christ in us. To be Christlike, to be conformed

to the image of Christ in everything that we do, everything

that we say, the clothes that we wear. I've got a book that says

your clothes say it for you. And it does. And I'm not preaching

about clothes. I'm just saying everything about us speaks. It speaks

something to everybody. If we would be honest with ourselves, we

would readily admit that we have a long way to go in the area

of our spiritual growth and Christlikeness. If you're married,

all you have to do is just look over at your spouse and say,

have I arrived yet? And they'll be real honest with you and

say, no. And so we've got plenty of room for growth in our

spiritual maturity. Notice the phrase, what he says here, But I

follow after. I follow after. You see what he said there? I follow

after. That's in verse 12. You know what that says to me? Intentionality.

How do we become. If you're in my Sunday school class or if you're

in bridge recovery, go ahead and help me finish this. To become

a good Christian, we must do it now. You make me feel like I'm

a really bad teacher. If my wife was sitting there, she just

shouted it on purpose. On purpose. Nobody becomes a mature

Christian on accident. You don't just. We don't drift into spiritual

maturity. We don't wake up 10 years down the road and all of a

sudden we're a mature spiritual Christian. It is intentional.

Intentional. We must do it. He said, I follow after. I follow after.

Paul said, he's constantly chasing that goal. It is ever out

of reach and we'll always be behind in the area of Christlikeness.

It's like that carrot on the stick. Amen. It's got to be. It needs

to be. That's something we need to always be chasing is Christ

likeness. And we'll never reach where we can be. But really

where I want to be, I'll never really reach that this side of eternity.

So Paul said, he's constantly chasing that goal. So don't ever

get to the place where you think to yourself regarding your

spiritual growth, I'm good. I'm good. Don't ever get to the place.

Look, I had somebody who Came to this church for a little while.

They didn't come very long, but they came to me and literally

said these words to me. And I still love the. I still love the

brother. I. I do. But this just spoke of pride. This brother

said to me, I don't need Wednesday night service. I mean,

come on. I mean, can we. To say it is one. I mean, to say it.

To say it. How much pride did it take to say that? I don't need.

Win. I don't need. I'm. I'm far enough along in my Christianity,

in my spiritual maturity. I don't need this midweek service.

I'm good. Please, folks, I'm talking to the. I'm talking to the

cream of the crop. Let us please don't ever. You're here because

you said I need to go to Wednesday night service. Let's don't

ever forget that. We need the midweek service. I need that shot

in the arm. I need to be surrounded by my brothers and sisters.

We've been out in the world all week, and I'm fortunate I get

to work here. But some of these folks, I'm telling you. No,

I'm just kidding. But you guys have to work out in the world all

week. And I know when I was, you know, pastoring, I was bi vocational.

And I remember I'm not lost to. Makes for a rough week when you

don't get to do this at some point during the week, sing the songs

of Zion and get happy and be on fire and worship God together

with your brothers and sisters. And let the screen go blank

and everybody go, Esme. Wave, Esme. With victory. There he comes,

Right? It's fun. It's great. You can't do that sitting at home.

This is why I think it's important that the child of God should

make every effort to come to church, every opportunity he gets.

Now, granted, life happens. I understand that life happens. We

have to work and things come up that are beyond our control. But

don't be guilty of choosing to neglect your spiritual growth. Thank

God for the Internet and live streaming, and I'm glad it's there

for folks who cannot get to church. But I can say with a conviction

that it is not God's will, that it be a substitute for assembling

ourselves together with other believers to hear and study the word

of God. It is not. It is a poor substitute. It's not a substitute

at all. It's not the Lord's will. If we can be here, we ought

to be here at least one amen somewhere. Thank you. Amen. Psalm

122. What did the psalmist say? I was glad when they said unto

me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Do you know that little

song? And I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the

house of the Lord. Amen. That's a good little tune. It's just

a verse, but it's catchy. I was glad when they said unto me,

Let us go into the house of the Lord. Proverbs 27:17. I said

Proverbs 27:17

it earlier. Iron sharpeneth iron. So a man sharpens the countenance

of his friend. Do you ever come to church and see somebody who

looks down and dragging and just been beat up and take the opportunity

to go over there and say, hey, brother, punch him in the arm. How's

it going? Good to see you, man. I'm glad you're here. Give him

a big old hug. Hey, you encouraged me. I'm glad to see you

here. It's a good thing to do. Good idea being encouragement to

somebody. Never be content where you are spiritually. If we

grow content, we stop growing. And if we stop growing, we've stopped

running. And the race isn't over until we get to heaven. Maintain

a holy discontent until we get there. Let me give you the second

thing. To keep running until our race is over, we must possess

not only a discontentment with our present level of spiritual maturity,

but a determination to win. A determination to win. He said in

verse 13. Again, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended,

but this one thing I do. You know what? There are a few athletes

who excel and succeed in many sports. But most succeed because

they specialize in or one thing. And they give their life to

that one thing. And they hone those skills of that one thing. And

it's. They sleep it, they eat it, they drink it, they work it,

they practice it, they read about it, they dream about it. That

one thing, specialization, they focus. That's the key to their

success. And when you have that one thing clearly in focus,

it gives you the ability to say no to other things. I said this

the other day. When you say yes to something, you say no to something

else. And when you say no to something, you say yes to something

else. And we just have to choose what we say yes and no to.

And it's easy to say too many yeses, right? Sometimes people don't

know how to say no. My wife has that trouble sometimes. I'll

say that for her. Sometimes my wife has problems saying no there's

some other folks I know who are like that. You just take it on

and take it on and take it on and take it on and God bless you.

That can work for you or against you. For Paul, the one thing

in life was to become like Christ in his affections, in his

actions and in his attitude. That's what he strove for, that's

what he lived for, that's what he spent his time and his energy

on. Now he made tents when it was necessary. And God doesn't call

everybody into full time paid ministry. But we are all called to

be holy. We are all called to be holy. We're all called to live

a life that is becoming of the gospel. It doesn't matter what you

do, it doesn't matter if you manage a Walmart, it doesn't matter

if you take pictures for a living. It doesn't matter if you're

a construction crew, it doesn't matter if you work at Lockheed.

It doesn't matter what you do in life if you, you can be holy while

you do it. And that's what God expects. And let's don't ever get

tired of trying our best to be Jesus Christ on the job. Ephesians

Ephesians 4:1

4:1. Paul said, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech

you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called.

Now that can work both ways. The vocation he's talking about is

the Christ location life. But that also means that we should be

Christlike in the vocation that you've chosen. We only get one

opportunity at life to prepare for eternity. That's why Paul said

in Colossians chapter three, verse one, if you then be risen with

Christ. Are you risen with Christ? You are if you've entered

into his death and resurrection through salvation through

faith. He says if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things

which are above where Christ sitteth. On the right hand, set your

affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Let us focus

on the right thing. Be determined to win. Be determined

to be the best Christian that I can be. You ought to be the best

Christian that your family or your people around you have ever

known. At least try to be the best Christian at home that your

family's ever known. Be the best Christian. So if God hasn't

called you to a life of full time ministry within the church,

then train for a career or just do what you like for a living,

but use it as a means to glorify God and pray for your co

workers Pray for your partners or your employees. Look for opportunities

in their lives to offer prayer many things. If you're a business

owner with employees, begin the day with a brief devotion and

pray with them. Glorify God with your income. Determined to win

at all things in Christlikeness, to keep running our

race until it's over, we must possess a discontentment with our

present level of spiritual maturity, a determination to win.

But then we also must possess a disregard for the past. A disregard

for the past. Again in 13 in B, he said, this one thing I do,

forgetting those things which are behind. A disregard for the things

of the past, Our past failures. Our past failures. He says,

brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one

thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind. You know,

Paul had to continually battle with guilt over the past sins, including

Think about his sins. I mean, I don't know what your sins are.

I know what mine are. I have to deal with my own. I got my own

head that I can't get out of sometimes. Sometimes I spend way

too much time there. Can I get an amen there? Are y' all there too?

Do y' all end up. Do you get in your head sometimes and you just

can't get out? Do you ever find yourself staying in there so

long you end up depressed and discouraged and in despondency? That'll

happen when you stay in your own head too long, dealing with things

you've done in the past and things you can't change. And Paul

had to deal with his sins, including persecuting and murdering

Christians. By all standards. If you look at Paul's life before

he got saved, he was a religious zealot who murdered Christians.

He was a terrorist. By all standards of today. He was a terrorist.

Those Christians called him a terrorist. He had to deal with that

after he got saved. He had to live with that. And don't think just

because he's the great Apostle Paul, that didn't come to his heart

and mind every now and then, he had to deal with that. All of

us have failures that continue to haunt us, but we should not become

distracted by the past. There are some people, maybe even some

of you in this room. You won't go forward in the Christian life

because you're thinking to yourself, man, I ain't worthy to

do that. I could never. Man, there's no way I could teach a class.

Not because you don't have the ability to do it, or the. Not because

you're too. You're not intelligent enough to do it. You're

letting the past hold you back. Oh, if they only knew what

I've done. They only knew what I've been through. If they could

only see my real. The real me. Well, you don't want to see the real

me either. Look outside of the Holy Spirit of God, you wouldn't

even want to hang out with me. I'm abs. None of you. As sweet as

you look on the outside. Without Jesus Christ, you're a miserable

wretch. No one would be on want to be. There's not a Christian

in this room would want to be around any other Christian if you

weren't saved and you just gave yourself over to the flesh.

Because we can be plumb wicked without Jesus Christ. But to forget

our past failures means to deal with them decisively by receiving

God's grace and forgiveness so that we are free to move forward

in our lives for Jesus Christ. Our core principle in Bridge to Recovery,

Core principle number nine says, my past does not need to determine

my future. It's based on Philippians 3, 13, and 14. My past

does not. How do you think people get past the life that they

were living? By one. We have 12 core principles. They're all strongly

rooted in the word of God. And this number nine is this one. It's

a strong one. My past does not need to determine my future. We can't

let our past determine our future. We have to forget what happened

in the past. Forget it. Somebody came up to me the other

day. I can't remember if it was here, if it was at the conference.

I don't remember where it was. It might have been here. But somebody

came up to me and said, what do you think about pastors who have

been divorced and remarried and they're pastoring? Well, I'll

tell you what I think about that. I don't. Because it's none

of my business, because that's between them and God. Do I want to.

Do you want to hear me say what the Bible says about it? And

I told them what I think the Bible says that God says if you're

married more than once, you're disqualified from being a pastor.

And I don't see a statute of limitations on that. But at the same

time, I know pastors right now who are amazing men, and God is using

them, at least it seems to be so in an amazing way. And they're

married and they're remarried, they've been divorced and they're

remarried. And that's not for me to say. So I'm not Talking about

stuff like that. I'm not. That's. If it's in the Bible, it's

in the Bible. But what I am saying is, don't let things that

you've done in the past hold you back. You know, there's so much

more that could be done through this church. If some of us

in this church would just quit saying if they only knew, Forget

about it. God's the only one who knows. He's the only one needs

to know. Not only our past failures, but our past accomplishments.

Our past accomplishments. We can't ride our lees. Amen. We have

to get off of our lees and move forward. We can't ride victories

of yesterday. No athlete wins a game by reliving last week's victory.

He said this. Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching

forth unto those things which are before looking back. While running

ahead is potentially dangerous and positively unproductive. So to

keep running the race until it's over, we must possess a discontentment,

a determination, a disregard. And then finally, number four. A

discipline to begin and the perseverance to finish strong. My

soul. My soul. All you got to do is walk down the hallways. Caleb's

been here, obviously grew up here. But there are some of you who've

been here a long time, and they change out the pictures pretty

good. But before, you know, all it takes is to look at some of

those pictures and you can think about somebody who. Oh, man,

where'd they go? Oh, they're not here anymore. They started good,

but they didn't finish well. It breaks my heart. I went to Bible

college with some amazing guys, man. We had some wonderful

times together. And we could shout amen with the best of them.

We'd have Baptistal chapel services, man, it was great. But,

you know, some of those guys found themselves on the wrong end

of a knife in a bar fight after we graduated Bible College.

They're in the cemetery today. Some of those guys just. It's just.

It just blows me away. How many of them you can just pick. I've

got pictures in my phone that guys have sent me over the years

of the whole graduating class. Actually, the whole class. It wasn't

that big at the time. And I could pick out no longer in ministry.

No longer in ministry. No longer. They started out great, but

they didn't finish strong. And it's not just ministers, it's church

members. But you're here today, but can I give you a warning?

You might get sideways with somebody in the church. Maybe you

think they're Funny looking. I don't know, maybe they said something

that you took it out of context and you got super mad over

it and you just left without even talking about it. And you let

that bitterness eat you up from the inside out. You know, that

can happen. I've seen it happen. It almost happened to me.

It did happen to me. It happened to me and it cost me three

years of backslidden life that I'll have to answer for it one day.

Picture a runner straining every nerve and muscle as he keeps

on running with all of his might towards the goal, hands stretched

out as if to grasp it. Picture that. Ah, you've seen those ones.

I think it's funny, those ones who celebrate too soon. I laugh at

them. I'm like, ah, that's what you get. Somebody passes them

up and they come in second place when they had a clear shot

at winning and then they celebrated too soon. Or how about

those guys that spike the ball before they ever get in the end zone?

I say, ah, you deserve that. But you know, nobody deserves to

live a life for Jesus Christ and then blow it at the end. Discipline

to begin and the perseverance to finish strong. Whatever's in your

past, it's not too late to begin running the race. It's not

too late to get in there. Courage is the desire to begin, but

perseverance and discipline is the determination to continue. Regardless

of the adversity, the criticism, the personal failures

that Paul experienced. He could not be distracted nor deterred

from his goal of following Jesus Christ. Let me finish up by

saying this. If you're saved tonight, you are in the race. You're

in the race if you're saved. If you're not saved, you're not even.

You're not even on the track. You're not in the race. You're not

even going to cross the finish line. And so you need to make sure

you're at least on the track. You need to get in the race. Get

in the race by becoming a child of God today. But perhaps you're

in the race and you've stopped on the track. But if you're living

and saved, you're still in the race. And you're letting your past

keep you from moving forward. Do you keep dwelling on the past

failures or the past successes? Is there anyone in this

room who hasn't experienced personal failure? That's like saying,

let him who's without sin cast the first stone. Okay? Let him who

has not failed in some area of life stand up here and point fingers

at Everybody else can't do it. The measure of a person isn't whether

or not he's failed, but whether or not he gets up, learns

from the failure and tries again. Amen. You know what we tell

a guy? You know what I say? And it's true for everybody. And

I've said this to our guys, and I think. I don't know if I've

said it here. You want to know why? The reason. If there's anybody

in here who's got a measure of success. Success. If there's anybody

in here with a measure of spiritual maturity, we'll say even

Brother Hale. I think Brother Hale, to me, I'm seeing Brother Hale

is a man of God. He's a godly man. I admire him so much wisdom.

And he doesn't talk a lot, and that means he's twice as wise. But

when you look at Brother Hale, you want to know why he's sitting

in here this evening? Because he got up a lot. What do you mean?

I mean he fell a lot and he got up a lot. He didn't just fall

one time. Learn everything there is to learn and then never

fall down again. It doesn't work that way. The reason we're here,

if we've experienced any measure of success, any measure of

maturity in our life, it's because we got back up. And we keep

getting up. And we got up a lot. I don't know about you, I lost

count. I'm not even. I'm too embarrassed to even keep count how

many times I've had to get up. But just keep getting up. Just keep

getting up. Paul and Barnabas got into a heated argument over Barnabas

nephew John Mark. Barnabas. Barnabas wanted to bring him along

on the second missionary journey, but Paul strongly disagreed

because John Mark had left them during the first mission journey.

And the disagreement was so heated that Paul and Barnabas, they

split ways. And Paul took Silas with him and Barnabas went

ahead and took John Mark. But later in Paul's life, we read in

2nd Timothy 4:11 that Paul asked for John Mark, saying that

he was profitable for him in the ministry. So whatever happened

to John Mark that made him fall or leave the ministry? He got

back up and he kept serving Jesus. And he ended up being very

profitable to the Apostle Paul. Even if we experience momentary

defeat, as long as we're still struggling and straining and reaching

for the goal, we're still in the race. Paul asked those Galatians

in chapter five. He says, you did run well. What hinders you? Actually,

he Says who hindered you? But I want to say, what hindered you?

What hindered you? That you should not obey the truth. And then

of course, in Galatians 6, 9, let us not be weary in well doing,

for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Keep running

until the race is finished. Keep running till the race is finished.

Paul said in second Timothy four, seven, I have fought a good

fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. During

World War II, Desmond Doss, a young American soldier, he refused

to carry a weapon because of his Christian convictions. And many

mocked him and called him a coward. But Doss would not quit on

his faith or on his duty. When his battalion was attacked on Hacksaw

Ridge, hundreds of men fell under heavy fire. And while others

retreated, Doss, he kept running back into the battle again

and again, unarmed to rescue the wounded. And all through the

night he prayed. Lord, please help me get just one more. By morning

he had single handedly rescued 75 men. He was later awarded the

Medal of Honor. He was the first conscientious objector ever

to receive it. Don't quit. Just keep on running until the race

is over. It's not over till we get to heaven. A lot of reasons to

quit. The devil will give you a lot of reasons. Life will give

you a lot of reasons. Your flesh will make up a lot of reasons.

But just keep on keeping on. Don't quit. Just don't quit. This

is my last opportunity to preach to you on a Wednesday night

and I wanted to leave you with that. Don't quit. I see too many

just quitting. I want to quit sometimes, but I'm glad the Holy

Spirit won't let me. My wife won't let me. Praise the Lord. Alright,

let's stand together. I went over time, but it's not 8 o' clock

yet. Y'. All, let's stand together and we'll have a verse of

invitation and then we'll receive the offering and have some

prayer. Let's pray. Father, we love youe and we thank youk again

for your Word. And Lord, I know this wasn't a shouting type

sermon tonight, not animated, but Lord, I pray that you would take

the truths that were spoken. And I pray that you would help us

to apply them to our heart. And Holy Spirit, do please what only

you can do in our hearts through your word. Help us to stay

by the stuff. Help us to stay on the track, to keep on running

till the race is over. I pray it in Jesus name just for a moment.

Or two heads bowed as the music plays. Brother Caleb's going

to sing through a verse or two of invitation. If the Holy Spirit

is speaking to you tonight, if you want to take a moment to pray,

please do it right now.