Amen. Thank you, Jake and Emily. That was our song of the month. Christ is sufficient. We praise God that he is sufficient, especially in a day and age in which there is so much pulling for our attention, for our desires to try to satisfy us in all kinds of different ways outside of Christ. It's great to sing a song that focuses upon the truth that Christ truly is We'll choose another song for our Song of the Month in May, but thank you for singing so well this morning. It's a joy to sing that together. Philippians chapter number three, we worked our way through the beginning of this chapter last Sunday, and we see once again in verse number one the theme of the book of Philippians, Rejoice in the Lord. No matter what the circumstances are, Our joy is in the Lord. Our joy in the Lord is not dependent on outward circumstances. Paul, writing to the church at Philippi, believed it was necessary to repeat some of the same instructions, some of the same commands, some of the same principles, some of the same truths, because he found it necessary. He said, it is not grievous in verse one, for you it is safe. Reminding us of the importance of the constant reiteration and repetition of the principles, the truths, the commands, the promises of God's word. We are prone to wander. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And we are so, because of our sin nature, because of our flesh, we are so prone to go our own way and to do our own thing. It's so important that we be constantly, regularly reminded from God's word of who God is and of Jesus Christ and the truths proclaimed and written and authoritatively inspired and preserved for us through the Word of God. And Paul is greatly concerned for this church at Philippi, that they maintain this joy in the Lord, that they not allow division, that they not allow pride, that they not allow any kind of controversy or any kind of threat from outside the church, false teaching, impact or affect this church and cause doubts and create division and discourage the saints. There's a group from outside the church, Judaizers, who are trying to require the law, the Mosaic law, for salvation and for sanctification. There's the false teaching of Gnosticism that is already beginning to creep into the world and into churches. So Paul warns the Philippian church against compromise, and he calls these false teachers, in verse two, dogs, evil workers. And he says, beware of the concision. They are literally cutting people off from eternal life, or cutting people off from victory in their walk with the Lord, victory in Jesus. This strong church at Philippi was warned against compromise with doctrinal error. in the accompanying sins of false teaching. And we know that today, compromise is still a temptation. We know that there are attacks from without and from within. There's pressure from the world, from the flesh, from the devil, to give in to sinful and doubtful beliefs and practices, to make provision for the flesh, to give place to the devil, To compromise on biblical truth, we must continue to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. We must constantly be on guard against Satan's attempts to deceive us, to lead us astray, to cause doubts, and to create division. And Paul brings us down in verse number three to this spiritual circumcision. He uses the physical sign, exercise, practice of circumcision to speak to the true circumcision, the putting away of the flesh of the heart through faith alone in Christ alone, repentance of one's sin and faith alone in Christ alone for one's salvation. And he says that those who are truly of the spiritual circumcision, they worship God in the spirit, they rejoice in Jesus Christ and they have no confidence in the flesh. He kind of summarizes true believers in those three phrases. And then he goes on in the next several verses, as we looked at last week, and he talks about the fact that if there was anybody who could have confidence in the flesh, if there was anybody who could be saved by his own good works, he said, I would be the prime example. I would be one who could achieve my own righteousness, who could earn heaven. Because look at who I am, who I was. He goes on and Verse number five, and he talks about circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews is touching the law of Pharisee. He goes through his spiritual pedigree, so to speak. And he describes himself as a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He says, we were some of the purest, most unadulterated of all the Jews. We weren't tainted by Greek philosophy, by Roman customs. We were good, strict, pharisaical Jews, Hebrews, Hebrew of the Hebrews. He was of the Pharisees, that religious sect, very legalistic and strict, that had heaped upon the doctrines of God the commandments of men, but they were considered by the average person in that day as being some of the holiest, the most righteous people, and Paul said, I was one of them. He said, if anybody could be saved on their own good works, I would be the prime example. I could have done it. He goes on in verse number six and he says, as a matter of fact, I was so righteous in my own self-righteousness that I had a zeal to persecute the church. He says in verse number six, touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. But then he goes on in verse number seven, he says, but what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. He says all of that self-righteousness mattered nothing before God. All my righteousness is his filthy rags. We could reference Isaiah 64 in verse number six where we see that very statement in scripture, all our righteousnesses are his filthy rags. Paul refers to his righteousness in verse number eight as dung. He said, if anybody could have confidence in the flesh, who could get saved on his own good works, it would be me. Here's all the reasons why. But he says, I was wrong. I was blinded by my own self-righteousness. And he says, it wasn't until I saw my own self-righteousness as dung, as filthy rags, as rubbish. It wasn't until then that I could repent of that sin, of my sin of self-righteousness. And the scales of blindness could be pulled off. be given spiritual eyes. And upon Paul's repentance of his sins, faith, and trust in Jesus Christ on that road to Damascus, he was gloriously saved. He was a changed man, no longer depending on his own self-righteousness, no longer confident in his flesh, but now rather seeing his righteousness as dung, as rubbish. His confidence was in the Lord. And we must consider our own righteousness the way Paul described it, as rubbish, as dung. That word dung literally means the dregs of the cup. I don't know if this is the best illustration, but we've all probably had something in the refrigerator or in the freezer or maybe was left outside that was putrid when it was left, was disgusting. We used to keep a diaper trash can in the garage. And if you know anything about that kind of business, it stinketh exceedingly and abundantly. This word dung, it literally in some context is used to refer to the excrement of animals. It even is used to describe the food scraps, the waste that was taken outside of the city of Jerusalem and thrown on the landfill, the trash heap and burned. And it's described, that trash heap, that landfill is described as a symbol of hell where there was Gehenna, the landfill outside the city where the trash is burned and there was a continual fire because there was always trash to burn, to be disposed of. That's the kind of description Paul gives of his own self-righteousness, of his good works, outside of Christ. He says, what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for what? The excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. He uses the word excellency in verse number eight. He's saying it is far superior to know Christ than to have my own righteousness. A righteousness which really isn't righteousness at all. And yet we see so many people, sadly today, so many unsaved people, who they hold on to their self-righteousness. They don't see their good works as but dung, as rubbish, as filthy rags, No, they would rather hold on to their own self-righteousness, sadly, to gain the whole world and yet lose their own soul. So we see the necessity of faith in Christ, the necessity of faith in Christ. Verse number nine, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Paul said, be found in him, verse number nine, not having my own righteousness. But rather, he says, in verse number nine, but that which is through the faith of Christ, or through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. He says, not my righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ, credited to my account, clothed in his righteousness, found in him. This is the idea of Noah going into the ark with his family and God closing the door and sealing it. When we repent of our sins and put our faith and trust in Christ, we are placed in Christ and he seals us. We are found in him, we are clothed in his righteousness. The righteousness of Christ is credited to our accounts. Faith, faith is believing God depending upon Him. Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, or faith in Christ. What is faith? It is believing God. It is depending upon Him. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness, Romans 4, verse number 3. Romans 3 and verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time, His righteousness. that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. This is not some lip service belief. This is not some superficial intellectual belief. This is heartfelt, sincere belief. This is belief from the heart upon one's confession of their sin and fully and completely trusting Christ for one's salvation. the righteousness of Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection, not having any confidence in my flesh, not having any of my own righteousness, which is just filthy rags, but no being found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Paul was glorying, not in an arrogant, not in a prideful way, but glorying in the cross of Christ that had saved him, who once had persecuted the church, had even conspired in the murder of Stephen as he was being stoned in the coats. The outer garments of those who were stoning Stephen were laid at the feet of Saul. who was on his road to Damascus, on that road to Damascus to persecute, imprison, and even kill Christians, and he was gloriously changed to the work of Jesus Christ in his heart as he confessed his sin and put his faith and his faith alone in Christ alone. We read in Hebrews 11 and verse number six that without faith it is impossible to please God. And in Romans 14 and verse 23 that what is not of faith is sin. So we see the necessity of faith in Christ for one's salvation, and also for living the Christian life, for sanctification. And we must nurture this faith in Christ. We look down in verse number 10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. Four phrases here, that I may know him, first of all. Our faith will only increase as we grow in our knowledge of God. This word know is a knowledge gained by experience, by time spent with. This is the idea of knowing Christ in a real and personal way, first of all through salvation, but then growing in that relationship with God through Jesus Christ, by knowing the Word of God, by spending time in prayer through the disciplines of the spiritual life, by submitting ourselves to the Word of God, to the Spirit of God, that the Word of Christ may dwell in us richly, that we might be filled with the Spirit, as we read in Philippians chapter number two, Down in verse number 12, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ, Philippians 1 and verse number 6. But it takes our depending upon the resurrection power of Jesus Christ for Him to work in us that the working out of our salvation results in the will of God, obedience, holiness of life, but that comes through knowing Him. Time with the Lord, we spend time with what we love. We spend time and money on the things and on the people and with the people and with the activities that we love, don't we? We have lots of time and we have lots of knowledge on the things that we love, that we enjoy. What about our relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Is that near and dear to us? Do we spend that kind of time knowing Him? Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, trust the Lord with all thine heart, all thine heart. Lean not to thine own understanding in all thy ways. Acknowledge, literally know Him. and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Paul had this desire, be found in him, knowing him. Now that I am saved and I am in him, I should know him. I should be growing in that knowledge of God, increasing in my knowledge of God, and in increasing in the knowledge of God, it increases my love for him, it increases my discernment, and it increases my obedience and my holiness. He goes on to say, and the fellowship of his sufferings. That was Paul's desire, that he be willing to suffer with Christ, knowing that suffering will help us grow in our knowledge of God. Because we are prone to wander, because we get complacent, because we get comfortable, because we get calloused, sometimes God has to bring suffering into our life. Sometimes it has nothing to do with sin, it's just simply a way in which God tests us, He's purging us, He's pruning us, He's making us more like Him. And Paul says that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. He says, in order for us to endure this suffering, in order for us to know Christ better and be conformed into His image, we must depend upon the power of His resurrection, which is going to help us and sustain us through the sufferings. Because we have trials in this life, don't we? We have suffering in this life, and we need the power of His resurrection. We need to know Him, abiding in Him, as John 15 says, and experiencing in the fellowship of His sufferings. We are drawn to the Lord. We grow in our knowledge of Him. We depend upon Him more. We depend on ourselves less. We look to Him. We trust Him. and we're willing to go through the hardship and the trial, asking, Lord, is there something in my life that needs to get fixed? Is there some sin that needs to be confessed? Lord, how can I use this trial for your glory, to help others, to exalt the name of Christ, to give you glory? When we go through the fellowship of his sufferings, with humility and with grace, that we see God's resurrection power worked out in our life and through our life for his honor and for his glory. We need the resurrection power to really, truly know and benefit from the fellowship of his sufferings because when we go through suffering, when we go through trials and temptations, it's easy to become bitter. It's easy to become angry. It's easy to get discouraged and give up hope. And sometimes the temptation is even to just seek help from within instead of going to the Lord, instead of going to his word, instead of seeking godly counsel. We see in our culture today a loneliness epidemic. We see in our culture rising suicide rates among groups of people. And it's a sobering thought that people would die without hope, that there would be no power of Christ's resurrection when Paul says that I may know him in the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his sufferings, willing to go through trials, willing to go through suffering. And Paul suffered, didn't he? He had a thorn in the flesh that he called out to the Lord, and three times he prayed that it would be removed. And Christ answered and said, My grace is sufficient for thee. He says, My glory. is lived out through your weakness. So Paul said, I'd rather glory in my weaknesses. I'd rather glory in the cross of Christ. And that's hard for us. We live in comfortable America. We're spoiled in so many ways. And I speak to myself first when I say this. But we look at what's going on around us and we see some of the evil that is being celebrated and perpetrated and promoted and allowed by the powers that be. And we see Christians, and we see churches compromising, and we see an element of suffering that may be coming in the form of persecution. Are we ready for that? Are we living in the power of His resurrection? Are we truly knowing Christ? We see the way so many professing believers handle suffering, and it is scary sometimes, and I'm guilty of it. We can become bitter and angry and question God and quit on church and quit on the Bible and quit on other believers. And that's not what Paul says. Paul suffered greatly and he desired that I may know him, knowing that it's going to bring the fellowship of sufferings, ultimately why in verse number 10, that it might conform us. being made conformable unto his death. Interesting phrase. It literally means to conform to or to be fashioned like unto. Only two times in the New Testament is this phrase used. One time here, conformable to his death, and the other time it speaks to being fashioned like unto. What is he saying? He's saying that the sufferings With the power of his resurrection, knowing him, it will produce within me Christlikeness. And Paul wasn't ashamed or afraid to admit that he desired and that he needed the conformity to the image of God's son. even if it meant death, even if it meant trial and tribulation and suffering. Paul is saying, I once had confidence in my flesh. I was going to be the best of all the Pharisees. I was going to have political clout. I was going to persecute the church. I was going to be a big person on the stage of religion in Judaism. And he says, it was all worthless. It was all self-righteousness. I was blinded by all that pride and self-righteousness. And he said, no, much better to know Christ. Much better to be found in him. and to live by the power of His resurrection, knowing that it will bring suffering, but even that is a fellowship in, a participation in, with what Christ did for us, who left the glories of heaven, who took on the form of man, became a man, the God-man, and had all the sinless infirmities of a human body, and needed food and sleep and rest, and suffered pain and agony. And Paul says, I'd rather have that Then to have all of that self-righteousness and to have all of that Hebrew of the Hebrews, Pharisaism, and all of the political clout and religious clout that I could have had and would have had being a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He said, I don't want any of that. It was all rubbish. It's all dung. I'd much rather have Christ and suffer with him and be conformed to his death. That's convicting. That makes me a pretty wimpy Christian. when I think about what all that Paul suffered and was willing to do so and was in a sense asking for more. We get a hangnail and we are mad at God because we just had a manicure or a pedicure. We bruise a leg and we can't participate in something. We have something minor, something trivial happen that just eliminates us from a certain joy or a certain luxury and shame on us if that makes us complaining, griping, bitter people. But I have caught myself doing the same thing. And Paul is saying, I'm gonna suffer. As a Christian, I have suffered and will continue to suffer, and I willingly accept that from God as necessary for conforming me to the image of his son. Christlikeness is a much better goal than conformity to the world. Christ's likeness is a much better goal than having this whole world. Christ's likeness is much, much better than having all the luxuries and all the perks and all the comforts and all the conveniences. He says, if it takes trials, if it takes suffering to conform me to the image of God's son, then I want more of it. That's the impression that we get when we read in verse number 10, the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death that is followed by verse 11, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. What's Paul say? Even if I suffer in all of these different ways, and I have all of these trials and I have all these tribulations, it is worth it all because there is the resurrection that is coming. One day all these trials will be over. This suffering right now will be a momentary light affliction. That's the view Paul had. He says the resurrection is coming and it's even a reference probably in verse number 11 at least a implication of the fact that there is the rapture of the church. The resurrection of the dead is probably a reference to the rapture of the church. 1 Thessalonians 4, or excuse me, 1 Corinthians 15. He is making even a reference to when the dead in Christ shall rise, and those that are alive be caught up together with the Lord in the clouds, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Paul says, I may have to suffer for a while. Paul says, I may have to go through these difficulties, but it's all part of God's plan. It's all part of him conforming me to the image of his son, Because it's really just temporary. There is a far more and eternal weight of glory that is coming. There is the resurrection of the dead. There is the resurrection, the glorification of our bodies, and the end of this world and the suffering with it, where there'll be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more death, where death has lost its victory. He wrote in Romans 6 and verse number 2, Romans 6 and verse 6, In Colossians 3, in verse number one, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. What is he speaking to? We come down to verses 12 through 14. 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, Christ Jesus. Verse 13, 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, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He says the life that God has called me to is a, and he's using an analogy of a race. Some of you have done running, you've done some sort of marathon, or I understand that there's a family that's gonna be doing a 5K today. And I understand that there's track and field, cross country, and there's all those different types of sports that involve a running, a straining in some sports. I mean, there's all kinds of sports that involve some amount of running and straining forward to reach a goal, to improve on a personal best, swimming, whatever it might be. And he's using the analogy of a race. He's using the analogy of an athlete that is straining, that is pressing. And he says, I am already positionally in Christ, that I may know him, I'm in Christ. But right now, there is a conforming to the image of God's Son. And he says, I embrace that. He uses the word three times in verses 12 and 13, attained or apprehended. Attained in verse 12, apprehended, apprehended, and then again in verse 13, apprehended. All of that is to say this, I am embracing what God has allowed and in his perfect will, is using to conform me to His image. He says, I have not arrived. He says, I am not perfect in verse number 12. I have not already attained, but I am embracing what God ordains in my life to conform me to His image. And I'd much rather be straining and pressing forward in the race that God has given me to run than to be sitting in The sidelines, or in the background, or off to the side, sucking my spiritual thumb, saying, God, you have given me a race that's too hard for me. I don't want anything to do with that kind of a race. I don't want to be conformed to the image of God's Son. This is too hard. I'd rather live some other way and do my own thing and be drinking my Gatorade and sitting in my lounge chair with my feet up and eating my marshmallows and cream. And Paul says, I don't want anything to do with a Christian life that looks like that. He said, God has called me to press. God has called me to strain. So you're on a team that involves some sort of effort, work, running, straining. The coach does what? A good coach puts you out on the court, out on the field, and you run. And you do drills. We called them hamburgers. Now they're called suicides. Our joke in our basketball team is they were hamburgers. And what we called a suicide now, we called it a quarter pounder, or a double cheeseburger, or whatever. And we'd run all the way down and back, and down to the third, the far free throw line and back, and the half court line and back, and the near free throw line and back. And we'd do that. And then we'd have to shoot a free throw. And if we missed, we did it again. My boys have been in soccer and in various sports, and there's running. Why? There's a pressing, there's a straining for endurance during the struggle, during the competition. But we want marshmallow Christianity. We wanna sit in our lounge chairs, in our sofa chairs, on the sideline, drinking our lemonade, and saying, I don't want anything to do with that conformity stuff. That's too hard. That involves going to church, reading my Bible. That involves obedience. That involves holiness. That involves having to do the right kind of biblical Matthew 18 and Galatians 5 confrontation. That means I have to rub shoulders with people I don't even like. That means I have to sit in the same pew with people I don't even know. That means that I have to reach out and I have to serve snotty-nosed kids, and I have to reach out and put away chairs and tables. I have to love others as Christ loves me, love our neighbor as ourselves, and love our enemy. And we have too many Christians that are complacent, that are saying, I don't want to apprehend that, I don't want to attain to that, I don't want that. They look at Philippians 3, and they're glad to go over to Philippians 4, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I'll put it on my tennis shoes, I'll put it on my bumper sticker, I'll wear it on my t-shirt, but don't give me Philippians 3. I don't know about that fellowship of the suffering stuff. Conformable unto his death, ah, that's a little too much. But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Seems like Christ suffered a little bit. Seems like Christ suffered a lot. The greatest injustice and the greatest suffering of anyone, of all time, anywhere, for eternity, for us. And Paul says, I'd rather embrace that life. That's the life I want to attain unto, and as a matter of fact, it so motivates him that he writes there in verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Paul has, yes, been given a special calling of God as the apostle to the Gentiles, and we are not apostles in the capital A sense of the word. We are little d disciples, little a apostles, sent ones. We're not given the same race in the sense of the exact same form of race as Paul, but we have been given a race to run by God. He has a race that he has given us, a race of life that he has given us, and our circumstances and our families and our difficulties and our struggles may be different, but yet at the same time, they are common to man, as we read in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 13. that there is a suffering that is common to man. There's a pressure and a stress and a difficulty and we all have the flesh and we're all sinners and we're all called to be conformed to the image of God's son and we need to embrace the race that God has given us and press toward the mark. strain toward the mark. It's the idea of an athlete, literally of a runner in the immediate context. He would be referring probably to a Greek games or a form of Olympic games where the runner would be straining with everything. Have you ever watched a slow motion or a still picture of a athlete in a race running toward that goal and they're straining? And if you ever see a still picture and the muscles are tense and there's sweat, And there's every part of their energy and every ounce of their being that's straining to get across or to get to that finish line before the other contestants. Now, we're not in a race against each other. We're not out there saying, well, I'm going to beat you. Your race is weak. Mine's hard. We're not in that. We're not to be comparing ourselves among ourselves. That's not wise. Your race may look a little different than my race in the sense of a calling or a responsibility, but we've all been given a race to run by God that involves conforming to the image of God's Son, that is going to face some sort of obstacle, some sort of suffering, some sort of difficulty. And wouldn't it be so much better to go through that difficulty, go through that suffering, right with God, and in the power of his resurrection, than to go through that suffering because of disobedience and repeated consequence for sin and disobedience? Wouldn't it be so much better to go through the trials and the suffering, the difficulties of life with a right heart, with a spirit of obedience, with a spirit of humility, with a right attitude? As Paul said, I embrace this. than to shake our fist, in a sense, in God's face and say, I don't like the race that you've given me, Lord, I'm gonna go try to run some other race. No. Paul had some tough times. Even now, where is he writing from? A Roman prison. A dungeon. A place that, yes, he would eventually get some house arrest and some liberties, but basically, a wet, stinky cave with no cable TV, no weight room, and no lawyers to appeal to for umpteen times to try to get his case overthrown. No, he was at the mercy of whatever Roman authorities and the emperor and his justices. And as Paul trusted the Lord, he desired, even with great desire, to return to Philippi to see them again, and to do so with joy, and to do so seeing them embrace the conformity, embrace the race of conforming to God's Son that God had given them. We go to Romans chapter number eight. We're in Philippians chapter number three. We go to Romans chapter number eight as we come to a close. And we know Romans 8 and verse 28 so well, and we claim it, and we should. And it's a promise that we hold on to in times of difficulty, in times of trial. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. That's verse 29. Verse 28 says, and we know that all things work together for good. What is the good? The good is found in verse 29. He did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. Paul is saying, God has begun a good work in me. He has begun a good work in you, Philippians. God has begun a good work in us who know Christ as our Savior, who have turned from our sin and turned to Him in saving faith. And that is a good work that He is doing, that He will perform, that He will finish, that He will complete. Are we going to go through the life, the race that God has called us to, kicking and screaming, dragging our feet? What would the coach do with an athlete, the team of athletes that he puts on the court, on the field, on the track, and the ones that are out there are fighting, resisting. The coach is having to just literally throw them out there onto the court, literally having to drag them around on the track. literally having to pull them through the cross-country track. That's foolish. That coach would kick them off the team. And yet I see Christians who, it's like, yes, they claim Christ. Maybe they aren't in the race at all because they're not truly saved. They have an intellectual superficial knowledge, but not a true saving knowledge of Christ. But I see Christians who, it's almost like they're fighting and resisting God, the whole way through life, like an athlete that's getting dragged out on the court and digs in their heels and says, I'm not going anywhere. I don't want that. I don't want to go there. I don't want to do that. God, don't call me to do that. I'm not going to go above and beyond. No way. But I'll go above and beyond for a lot of other things that I really like, but not for you, Lord. And now we wonder why we're in the state that we're in, why it's so hard to find a good Bible-preaching church. We wonder, how did we get here? How did we get to this place? And I often look back and I see, because there's been so much compromise, because there's been so much laziness among Christians, because there's so many people who say, I do not want to embrace the race that you've given me. I don't like this conformity stuff. I'd much rather conform to the world. I'd much rather have the cookie cutter mold of the world, which really is not a cookie cutter. It's a press that smashes us. and destroys us and discourages us and defeats us, when it'd be so much better to take the Romans 12 in verse number 2 and make ourselves a living sacrifice, to take the Philippians 3 in verse number 11 through 14 and let the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death and pressing toward the mark for the high calling of God, the upward call, the achievement of the Christ-likeness so that when I enter into heaven I look so much like what I already are or am positionally in Christ and I've been striving to be at that upward call, that high calling of God that I already look so much like I am positionally in Christ and I am striving by God's grace and with this hope by the power of his resurrection to be in that glorified state than to be way back here. And say, yeah, I put up a fight for a little while, I ran the race for a little while, but boy, that first turn, that first obstacle, that first difficulty. that pastor who said that thing in the sermon that I didn't like, that church member who was a hypocrite, that person, this person, this, that, that circumstance, I had to stay back here, because it was really hard. You can't expect me to be up here in this conformity, glorified state. I want to be back here, and I'm going to get heaven. That attitude, you don't see that anywhere in Scripture. You see Apostle Paul pouring out his heart to these Philippians. And he's saying, it may mean being conformed even to my death, but I'm striving, I am attaining, I am apprehending, I'm straining, I'm embracing that race, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus that he wanted to hear. Well done, well done thou good and what? Faithful servants. Faithful, faithful with what God has given you, me. But with a holy discontent. I mean by that as in I'm not content with where I'm at right now spiritually. I want to press harder. I want to press further. I want to know him more. I want to grow in my Christ-likeness. I want to grow in my love as he prayed for the Philippians in Philippians 1, that they might increase in their knowledge of God. May we have that same holy discontent that Paul had, that we might strain and press in faithfulness for the mark of the upward, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. That Christ-likeness that God wants us to have as we enter into glory and into that glorified state, attaining unto the resurrection of the dead. Shall we pray? Lord, thank you for this passage. Lord, it is a convicting, rebuking passage. We would much rather have a Philippians 4 verse 13 that we can claim, and we do. I can do all things through Christ, but we struggle with the all things part. because we don't want the all things to include the fellowship of the sufferings and the conforming unto his death. But Lord, help us to embrace the race that you have given us, that you have called us to. Help us, Lord, to have the heart of the Apostle Paul with a holy discontent to seek to attain with a desire to apprehend that which God has called us to a Christ-likeness, a conformity. Lord, may we have that straining and that pressing toward the mark, like Paul. Lord, ultimately, by the power of your resurrection and for your glory. Lord, I pray if there's someone here today who does not know you as their Savior, they're not even in the race, Lord, may today be the day they turn from their sin and turn to you in saving faith. Lord, encourage us, strengthen us, help us, Lord, to go out from here a more faithful people, conformed into your image, desiring that even more so, and pressing toward the mark for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Jake's gonna come and lead us in our closing hymn. 421 speaks to this, pressing toward the mark. 421 is the hymn, Higher Ground, if we'll stand. and find our hymnals.