Address—Don Rule
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We'll begin with #134.
134.
Lord of life, to death once subject blesser.
Yet a curse once made.
Of thy father's heart the object yet in depths of anguish laid.
Thee we gaze on.
The recall bearing here our sorrows all #134.
The response man, all thy father's father came along, and.
That's all.
Even now.
Repeat anything of the ring.
All day in the Lord, and we're on thy soul, rain.
Turn with me to Luke's gospel.
Chapter 10.
Luke's Gospel chapter 10 and verse 38.
Now it came to pass as they went, that he, that is Jesus.
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Entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word.
But Martha was cumbered about with much serving, and came to him and said Lord.
Dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
Bitter, therefore, that she helped me.
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken from her.
It's before me and I trust of the Lord to spend this time together speaking about.
Things.
We're all occupied with things and so is God.
The Word of God is full of things for us to be occupied with, and life is full of things that we are.
Occupied with everyone of us.
And here in this brief little description of this house that the Lord Jesus visited one day.
Was this woman Martha?
Who showed her hospitality to him, her interest in him, and inviting him to come into her house and to serve him there.
And as she was serving the Lord Jesus in her house, her heart was not at peace.
Underneath the surface of her service to the Lord Jesus and to others that were in the house.
She was troubled.
She was distressed because her sister, who was also there in the house and lived in the house with her, wasn't helping her, but she was where the Lord Jesus was in the house, and she had sat down at his feet and was listening to Him.
And so, in her distress, Martha comes to the Lord Jesus.
Two will say complain about her sister's behavior and to ask the Lord Jesus to straighten it out and tell her sister Mary, Mary, get up and help me.
I don't suppose she anticipated the answer that she got.
But the Lord says to her.
Thou art careful and troubled about many things.
Maybe you're troubled about some things in your life this afternoon.
Some things that are bothering you individually, whether you're a young person.
Or whether you're in the final stages of this life, it's very easy for all of us.
To be careful and troubled about many things.
The answer the Lord Jesus gives to her is an answer that I think at one time or another.
Everyone of us needs in our own lives.
When we are careful and troubled about many things, the Lord says to her, one thing is needful.
One thing.
We'll notice a number of one things.
And this is one of them. One thing is needful.
And Mary chose that one thing. What was it?
She chose to sit at Jesus feet.
And here is where.
Regardless of the circumstances of your life or mine at any time, that's one thing that is always needful in our lives.
No matter what else has to be put aside, we all need one thing.
All the time we need it. Every day we need it.
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We need to sit at Jesus feet.
And hear his word.
I just want to say for the young people this afternoon, don't simply think about this.
I don't know what I'm going to say. Don't simply think about what I have in my hands as a book.
It is more than a book.
It is God speaking to you.
I believe it this morning.
God spoke to me.
In fact, we had a conversation.
Did God speak to you this morning?
Did you have a conversation with him? I hope you did. When you pick up and read the words recorded here of God, they are God speaking to you. And no matter where you read in it, God has something in what He's saying for you to apply to your own life. And we all need to listen. We all need to listen to what God has to say to us.
And as you listen to what God says.
For myself, sometimes I'll stop and say, Lord, I don't understand what you just said.
Help me to understand it.
Or sometimes I'll say, Lord, I don't really like to hear that.
There's something there that speaking to my heart, or in that case to my conscience, or other times, thankfully, I can say thanks, Lord.
I'm enjoying that, that you're saying to me.
One thing is needful.
Choose it no matter what.
You might be. I don't know if there are any, but I think of this because I have a daughter at the present time who's nursing and because she has a child that's only a few months old, she's up several times in the night. She doesn't get her normal night's sleep.
Because she has to care or serve a helpless babe.
Who can't live without her or someone else to care for it?
Regardless, she needs just like you and I need to sit at Jesus feet to hear his word.
One thing is needful, and if we don't have that every day.
We will spiritually starve.
We have to have it. We'll have it for eternity. The food, we were talking that today, this morning, about a new creation and a new life. Yes, this life that we live on earth is a physical life and it has to have food to live, can't live without it. We've received a new life from God and that life has to have food too. The words of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Himself is the food of that life, and that is needful.
One thing is needful.
Let's go then to Chapter 12. Look at another.
Little place that tells us about some more things.
Luke 12.
Verse 15.
And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully any thought within himself, What shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will bestow all my fruits and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods, or, Mr. Darby translates it, much good things laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. And then who shall those things be?
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Which thou hast provided. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself.
And is not rich toward God.
I'm going to go back and read in the new translation the first verse that we started with, it says.
In verse 15.
Take heed.
And keep yourselves from all covetousness, for it is not because a man is in abundance, that is, life is in his possessions.
I say that because not very many of us in this room would be considered rich.
But that isn't the point here.
You can be poor by comparison to the person sitting next to you, but that fact doesn't mean that your life isn't totally absorbed in your possessions, the things that you have.
I just want to before we to back up here at a moment and say that possessions doesn't only mean physical things.
Or I should say, things aren't. I didn't mean I didn't say that correctly. Things, as the Bible uses the word don't simply mean possessions.
You remember when the Lord Jesus was talking to the two Emmaus, they talked about the things that happened in Jerusalem, and the Lord Jesus responds and he says what things they were talking about events that had happened as things. And so things that happen are things as well as physical possessions and so on. And that's important, I think, to understand when we talk about things. Here's a man that accumulated a lot of things.
And he was going to enjoy them. And it's a desire of everybody to be happy. There's not a person in this room that says I want to be sad. All of us haven't were born with a desire to to be happy. And we try to do those things in our lives that we think will make us happy. And here's a man that had a farm and the farm was prosperous and he accumulated many good things.
And he said I've got a lot of good things now, what should I do? Well, no use working so hard anymore. I'll just build some bigger barns and then I'll I got a lot of years to enjoy. I'll step back and I'll enjoy.
For commenting, you can keep your finger here, but let's turn over to one verse in Romans.
In Romans Chapter 11.
Here's something this man didn't understand.
And if you don't understand it, life will never work right, whether you're young or old.
It's important to recognize what this verse tells us. In Romans Chapter 11 and verse 36 it says.
Speaking of God.
For of God and through God and to or for God.
Are all things.
To whom be glory forever. Amen.
You'll never be happy for a very long.
Things will never work right for very long.
Unless as a creature of God, you learn and accept.
That everything, all things are of God and through God and for God.
He created this world. He created you.
For himself, for his own purposes and pleasure and the only way we can ever.
Get things right.
In our lives.
Is when we accept that.
For of him.
And through him and for him are all things. Nothing would exist.
Except He created it. Everything is of God.
Everything that is allowed to happen.
Has to happen under his control.
Doesn't mean that everything is good because man has sinned and rebelled against him, but the extent to which man can go God always is over that and controlling of it.
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And everything, ultimately, is for him.
Now back at this man that we're looking at in Luke 12, he said.
A certain rich man's ground brought forth plentifully.
This man had a nice farm.
And it was prosperous.
And as far as that man was concerned, God wasn't in the picture at all.
God didn't have to say anything about it.
He that probably got up in the morning and lived his day and went to bed at night, and God never entered his thoughts.
When he was planning to do something, he said this I'll do.
He never took into account God in his activities or his plans. God wasn't in his thoughts.
He just, I'm going to do it. This is what I want to do.
That wasn't a very smart man.
I've got years to live, he said.
Did that take God into account? No.
God wasn't part of this man's life. He is in another place. He's what the Bible calls godless, a man who lives without reference to God.
Ungodly so, he says. I'll do this.
I'll do that. I'll do the other.
And so on.
What's God say to his life?
You're a fool.
You're a fool.
You can't leave God out of your life. Young person, older person, all of us do we leave God out of our lives and can I say prosper with God? No. We might temporarily. This man for a while got along pretty well, but in the end he got nothing.
He wasn't.
Rich toward God, and he lost it all in one night.
God required his soul of him.
There was nothing in his life for God, and all things are for God. And so God said that's it, you've had it.
You're a fool. There's nothing for me in your life that's so I'm going to remove it.
And God did.
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself.
And is not rich toward God.
Everything in our lives has to be lived in reference to God or it's wrong.
It's wrong.
I've been thinking a lot recently on my heart about prayer.
And I'm just going to go aside for a moment.
When we're talking about, everything has to be in reference to God. I found something recently that's been a help to me connected with prayer.
I'll explain it this way.
Suppose after this hour was done, I had it in my heart to leave this building and go to some in the shopping mall here and Rob steal something.
Do you think I would talk to God about it ahead of time?
That's what my heart was set on.
You know the answer. I wouldn't talk to God about such a plan.
Here's the point.
If there's anything in your life this afternoon that you can't fully and freely speak to God about.
You need to stop and ask yourself if there's not something wrong in that thing.
Isn't that a practical thing? Think about the activities, the things that interest you, the things that are important to you, the things that you think will make you happy or sad. If there's any one of those many things that you can't freely and fully communicate with God about them.
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Then I would suggest to you that maybe you want to remove them.
From your interest list, From the list of things that are important to you.
Here's a man that lived everything without letting it be of interest to God or to himself. OK, let's turn over to chapter 18.
Chapter 18 and verse 17.
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child.
Shall in no wise enter therein.
And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good master.
What shall I do that I to inherit eternal life?
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good, save one that is God.
Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. And he said amazingly, he could say all these things have I kept from my youth up. I think the apostle Paul could have, or when he was, Saul could have said the same.
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing?
Sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.
And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful.
For he was very rich.
Here's a man that.
Just lacked one thing.
In order to have eternal life.
And I believe what?
The message is, if you will, in this little story can be found if you want to hold your place here I want to read in First Timothy chapter 6 some verses that have already been read.
First Timothy, chapter 6.
And verse 17.
Charge them that are rich in this world.
That they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches.
But in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come. That they may lay hold on eternal life.
The words I want to emphasize in those What's read here is.
That they trust not in uncertain riches, but in the living God.
Here in Luke 18, we have this young man.
And he wanted something important. He wasn't like the rich man who had the prosperous farm and was ungodly. He just left God out of his life. Here's a man that comes to the Lord Jesus and he wants something that'll last.
He wanted to inherit eternal life and he was sincere about it. And he says what do I have to do so that I'll have or inherit eternal life?
He tells.
Things about himself.
He knew the law.
Which if a man did those things, he could live by them. And he mentions half of the 10 commandments. I want you to notice though, in the five that he mentions, every one of them has to do with his fellow man. In the 10 commandments, they can be divided into two groups. Those that have to do with God in my relationship with God, and those that have to do with my relationship with my fellow man.
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And this man had an exemplary life. He had a life that was honorable among men.
He was a person that he did everything right with respect to others.
In his neighborhood or whoever he wherever he lived.
But he doesn't say anything about his relationship with God in them.
He wanted to do something to inherit eternal life.
And he?
Trusted in himself that he could do it.
Important thing.
Anyone of us in this room?
That trusts in ourselves.
And what we can do?
Lack one thing.
We lack one thing.
We lack something that is fundamental to our relationship with God, who is in charge of all things.
We are not to trust in the uncertainty.
Of what we think we are, or we think we are what we have.
It's not gonna work.
He that trusts in his own heart, it says, and in other places, a fool.
Everything is out of order and if we lack one thing.
And what is it? It is a trust in the living God.
It's a trust in the living God.
This man was put to the test about that.
Did he really trust the living God?
For his internal life and everything else, he, the Lord Jesus, puts him to the test, he says.
Go sell giveaway everything you have.
That's a big test, isn't it? Because if he didn't have anything.
He wouldn't have anything in himself to trust in anymore. He could only trust in God.
But he lacked that one thing. He looked at his possessions, he looked at what he had. He was very rich. He had more than many, maybe more than most. And it doesn't say, but we can see from what Timothy tells her, Paul and speaking to Timothy says teach those that have a lot.
Admonish him not to trust in what they have.
But to trust in the living God.
Whether we have a lot or whether we have a little, we all have to learn the same lesson. We need to learn fully and completely to trust.
In the living God.
And not.
In ourselves.
Not to have confidence, Paul says, or trust in the flesh.
We have a human nature that wants to trust in itself because it gives honor to itself.
But.
Everything in this world went wrong.
As soon as man trusted in something other than God.
God said.
To the first man and woman.
If you eat of the fruit of that tree, you'll die.
He could have said, trust me about that matter. It's true.
Receive my testimony that what I say to you is true.
Satan comes into the garden and he says you will not die.
And man is put to the test. Is he going to put trust in God?
Or is he going to believe a lie and put his trust in what the serpent said?
He chooses.
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Not to believe God, He chooses to believe Satan. He acts in disobedience and everything from that moment to this has flowed from not trusting fully, completely in God.
Let's turn over now to Chapter 24.
Chapter 24.
Verse 13 And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about 3 score furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, while they communed together and reasoned about the things that had happened, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. And their eyes were holding that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these, that ye have one with another?
As you walk and are said. And one of them, whose name was Cleopas answering, said unto him.
Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things?
Which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things?
And they said unto him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people.
And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered them, delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him.
But we trusted.
That it had been He which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done.
Yeah, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre. And when they found not his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre and found it Even so, as the women had said, but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe.
All that the prophets have spoken.
Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them, and all the Scripture.
The things concerning himself.
I'd like to apply these verses in a matter of encouragement.
And test 2.
There are many times in most of our lives when.
We would say we're discouraged.
Something has come into our life which is hard to take and we are discouraged by it.
And I find these verses a real help in such a time, because here, even though they didn't know who he was, the Lord Jesus comes near.
To such.
And he came near to these two people and he started to go along with them and.
They let his company there, but they didn't know really who it was and as they go along.
They've been talking about what happened in Jerusalem that caused their disappointment and discouragement. So he he asks what things?
He enters in to where they are, and he lets them.
Open it up.
It's a wonderful thing about the Lord Jesus if we let Him, or even sometimes when we don't, but He loves us anyways and cares for us, He will come close. And as it were, asked us the question, what things? What is it that's bothering you?
What is the the problem that's on your heart that's come into your life?
Don't you know? You know, sometimes when we have a real difficulty, somehow, even though we know it's not exactly true, we assume everybody knows.
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It's obvious if they know a little bit that they'll know why we're upset.
But the Lord allows that he says well what things, and so they tell him what things.
We're bothering them, and I'd like to notice we talked about faith in God.
Notice what it says about them. We trust it.
We trusted.
I think all of us who belong to the Lord Jesus would always say we trust.
We trusted, but why were they discouraged if they trusted?
Because they trusted.
In certain things that were written about the Lord Jesus, but not all.
And that's how it sometimes is with us too. We trust. We pick out and choose certain verses out of the Bible and and we enjoy them and we trust them and we have certain expectations based upon those verses.
But sometimes we leave out others.
And that's kind of what happened to them. They saw from the Scripture that this man Jesus that they had been following, they trusted he was the Messiah, and they read about the Messiah, that everything was going to be wonderful for them.
But.
It didn't turn out that way.
Everything wasn't wonderful for them.
They were leaving the city, maybe out of fear, I don't know, big thing, but at least disappointed that things hadn't worked out the way they had trusted they would workout. What are they left out?
What things did he have to say? You're a fool. You didn't believe it all. They left out the suffering side. They left out the suffering side of life.
Scripture also clearly said that the Lord Jesus was going to suffer.
But they wanted the blessing side, if you will, and they didn't really want to believe, at least in application to themselves, that there might be a suffering side.
We must learn to trust God absolutely for all the suffering side as well as all the blessing side.
And what will help us in that? I think the Lord after pointing out their problem to them.
The difficulty they were having in their hearts was.
These words.
Verse.
27 He expounded unto them, and all the scriptures.
The things concerning himself.
Oh, I trust that my God's good hand on each one of us.
That when we're discouraged.
He will bring before us the things concerning himself.
May it be said, times the things concerning his suffering, at other times the things concerning his glory.
We need it all. And he loves God. The Spirit of God loves.
To bring to our hearts the things concerning himself. If you're discouraged this afternoon, may the Lord help you.
May God help you to gain a little even in these meetings of the things concerning Himself.
They're a source of great encouragement to our souls.
Do we have a pain? A suffering?
If we see the things concerning himself, we'll say it far exceeds anything we could ever experience ourselves.
He always has something.
In his own life, to show us that is more extreme really than any we will ever ever experience, he went through something.
So terrible in puff suffering that he promised will never know it, will never experience it.
He said I'll never leave you. I'll never abandoned you.
That was the worst.
Thing, I think that the Lord had to experience.
Was the total abandonment.
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In his atoning suffering.
But he says to us, you'll never experience that. You'll never allow you to.
To know that pain of abandonment. But I want to give you the things concerning myself.
I want you to enter into them.
Well, just we won't turn to it, but I'll refer to the verse in Philippians chapter 4.
In everything, give thanks.
I think the Lord was working on me a while back when I was sick.
For a little while.
And I remember one night I went into the bathroom and I threw up.
And I hadn't even gotten up.
From my niece.
And I said thank you, Lord.
Few hours later I threw up again and I did the same. I said thanks Lord.
And a little while later that night, a couple hours later, the third time, and I said thanks, Lord.
I thank God that she gave the grace to say thanks at such a time, and I think we all need to learn that. I certainly need to learn that more, but I thank Him for a little example of it.
In everything, give thanks.
Why? Because all things, all things work together for good to them that love God. All things work according to the Council of His own will.
Let's look at one verse in connection with that in first Peter chapter one.
Peter tells us that we're on a journey, we're in the wilderness, we see a vision of heavenly things that we've had before us in the conference, and we're going on toward those heavenly things. But it's not easy.
To always go through them in our lives. And so here.
He says verse chapter one, verse 6.
Verse five were kept by the power of God through faith.
Unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time we're in you. Greatly rejoice, though now for a season if need be. Ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth, will it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
Trial of faith.
Trial of faith.
There wouldn't be much trial of faith if there was number suffering.
But in the sufferings of life, in those things that press upon us, not only physical, but.
In our bodies, but also in our circumstances, it tends to push the soul down. It tends to want to crush us sometimes. And it's a trial to faith. It's a test to one's faith. Well, I is God, what he says He is to me is God really care about me?
And so it's what's God say?
He says that faith is more precious.
Than gold. That rich man had his gold.
But he says, as it were, God would say to us, you have something better than that.
Your faith is better than that.
It's precious.
They might be permitted to go this far.
In my own soul, it's as if I can visualize.
Some in this room, someday in the father's house.
And the Lord Jesus putting his arm around them and saying to the rest of us.
This person trusted me.
Trusted my father.
Is that glory to God? Yes, it is.
Home in the Father's house when all is passed connected with this life and and as it were, the Lord Jesus being able to put his arm around someone and say this person trusted my Father to the praise and the glory and the honor.
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Oh, may the Lord help us that when it's all over here.
There will be that treasure.
That has come through the circumstances of life.
Let's turn over to a verse in the Old Testament, Psalm 27.
Psalm 27 and verse 4.
One thing have I desired of the Lord.
And that will I seek after.
That I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
New translation here also says one thing if I ask.
Lord.
Suppose the Lord Jesus were to come into this room.
And.
Stop it, the chair of each one of us.
And ask us what one thing?
Would you ask or desire of me?
Well, we might have lots of things we would think about, but if you were to narrow it down to just one thing.
What would you ask?
What would you desire?
Of the Lord right now in your life.
I don't think that's.
Necessarily an easy question for some of us to answer.
But I want to turn to an answer that's given in Philippians chapter 3.
So that I believe that question.
Philippians, Chapter 3.
We'll notice a few verses here until we get to that question, if you will. Verse four, it says, though I might have confidence in the flesh.
Here's that matter of trust that we've been talking about. Here's a man that says.
If I were to have confidence in myself and in my own flesh, well, here's what I could have confidence in.
Circumstance. Verse 5. Circumcised the 8th. The day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, is touching the law. Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. He had a list of things in which, if he was going to trust in His flesh, he can name them.
And so could you.
If you thought about it, you could stop and make a list of things in your life.
That you might be trusting in for your happiness.
Just like that man, that was that young man, that was rich. He had a lot of things going for him.
What's he say here?
What things verse seven were gained to me, These I counted loss for Christ.
Yeah, doubtless I count all things but loss for 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, or have Christ for my gain.
I wish this for myself and I wish this for everybody in this room.
If we were reduced to one single thing that we would ask of the Lord, I would hope that every one of us would say, I want to have Christ for my gain.
That's everything to me.
To have more of him for my own soul, for my own life.
You know, in order to have more of Christ, he had to do some, make some other decisions, as it were. He had to evaluate things.
I want to try to illustrate it this way. My brother-in-law, Bill and I for several years took a couple of our children on a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.
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And we were usually gone for six days.
And those trips required a lot of planning.
We knew that for those six days we were going to carry our food.
Our clothing, our transportation, our lodging, our bedding on our backs.
And when you are going to do that, you give careful thought to what's essential.
And what can be left behind?
It's important.
To give careful thought to what's really important in life.
And what can be left behind?
Put it a different way, if I want to have Christ for my gain.
Everything can be evaluated as to.
Will this help me or hinder me from having more of himself?
Will it slow me down or hold me back or hinder me from having more?
Of himself.
What's he say?
In verse.
Umm.
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 for I press toward the mark for the prize of the calling on high, or the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
We've had before us and so far the resurrection and a new creation and a heavenly creation, a heavenly calling that's connected with the new creation.
I wish this for you as I wish it for myself.
That there'd be this one thing we would do when we leave this place.
We would forget, as it were, those things that are behind us in our lives.
Can't change those, they are what they are, but that we would set our eye upon Him, the Lord Jesus.
And press toward the mark.
Of having more of himself.
As He is where He is to have, the Lord Jesus is that one that satisfies the heart.
He's worthy of it.
He satisfies. You'll never find Paul say I'm sorry I made that choice.
But he had one thing to do.
He wasn't distracted about many things.
And I don't believe he lacked the faith either. But he had that one goal before him, and he pressed on. May the Lord help us to press on toward the mark.
Our heavenly calling, that calling on high of God that is before us.
Let's finish with reading the last two verses, or maybe the last three.
Always context everything you read. I'm gonna start in verse 18.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ.
Whose end is destruction, Whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame? Who mind earthly things? For our conversation is in heaven. From whence also we look for the Savior of the Lord Jesus Christ. And read this next verse in the new translation. Our Savior who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory, according to the working of the power.
Which he has even to subdue all things to himself.
He says you belong. I belong to a new creation.
And the cross of Christ is the end of the old for me. I He died there, I died there, He was buried.
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God has raised me with him.
And I stand in new creation.
Oh, he says. I feel so sorry. I'm so sad that there are those who mind earthly things whose lives are totally taken up in the old creation.
Their enemies, really, he says of the cross of Christ.
But pressing on to the heavenly.
Our conversation, our Commonwealth, our interests, our associations, our are with heaven where he is. And I look forward, he says, to that power which shall transform this body of mine, this body of humiliation.
Into conformity to His body of glory. How? By that power, that resurrection power, whereby He is able to subdue all things to himself.
Let's pray.