I got this email this week from a non-Christian source and the subject line on the email said, NASA Rapture Warning. I thought to myself, why would NASA be warning us of the rapture? Right? But here it was. And if you look in the upper right-hand corner, I tried to blow it up. It didn't really come out very good. But it must have been some weird cloud formation. And they were, and it's titled The Hand of God. Now, this email was actually documenting the fragile electrical grid that we have in the United States. And that supposedly if like seven of the substations were messed up, the whole grid would collapse. And the United States would be thrown into chaos. And then they went on to say, you should be involved in this prepper group. You know what a prepper is? Are you a prepper? This is what the dictionary says. A person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future and makes active preparations for it, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies. Another word for a prepper is a survivalist. It's said that 5 to 10% of Americans are preppers. I just ask you, are you worried about the future? Are you afraid of what's coming? Some people wonder whether they should build a safe room in their house. You know what a safe room is? It's a secret room in a building where people go to protect themselves from danger. So I was thinking about this safe room. Those of us that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and put our trust in him, we're in a safe room right now. As a matter of fact, wherever you go, you're in a safe room. You could not be safer than you are right now, wherever you go. God knows every moment of our lives. Nothing can happen to us as believers that has not been preordained. The message of the title today, or the title of the message today, What Lies Ahead? It's a direct quote from our passage. The passage is Philippians 3 and it's verse 13, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. And I just ask you this question before we pray. Are you preparing for what lies ahead? Let's pray. Father, here we are. We come before you and we have this portion that you've given us. We are just looking forward to what you have to say. Would you just allow us to forget the cares of this world for just a few moments? Would you allow us to just enter into what you have to say? And Holy Spirit, would you speak to us? We give you this, we want to praise our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and so help us to worship over this portion. We commit it to you now and we ask for your blessing, we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. All right, our portion today is Philippians 3, 12 to 16, but I'm gonna start in verse 10 because verse 12 actually refers to verse 10 and 11. And this is what it says, this is from the ESV. This is Philippians 3.10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us are mature think this way and if in anything you think otherwise God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have already attained. Now today I'm gonna go verse by verse and and we're gonna start in verse 12 and Once again, it says not that I have already obtained this or I'm already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. I look at other translations when I'm studying, and I try and see if there's another translation that would kind of fill in the blanks for me and help me understand maybe some different facets of the verse. The Phillips translation says this about this verse. Yet, my brothers, I do not consider myself to have arrived spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me." And the thought of grasping, it spoke to me. It gave me a picture. I like to have pictures. And you know by my slides that many times I'm a visual person. I like to see it. When I was studying, I came across a sermon by MacArthur on this portion, and it was great. And I thought, you know, I could probably just play his sermon and forget about, you know, me doing it. message than he gave him, but there are some things that he had to say, and I'm going to quote him several times today, so I hope you're not offended by that, but this is what he said about reaching for the prize. The Apostle Paul must have loved athletics, as many of us do, and the reason I say that is because he so often uses athletic analogies or athletic metaphors to illustrate spiritual truth. One of his athletic analogies is that of a runner running a race. The runner, to him, is the picture of the Christian, and the race is the Christian life. So today, we're gonna see this analogy and this metaphor throughout our passage. And we'll make some references to runners, But here, Paul is picturing himself in a race. He says he hasn't already achieved this, and the this is actually verse 10 and 11. So Paul's saying, I haven't achieved what he said in verse 10 and 11. What was he talking about? He was talking about the power of the resurrection. He was talking about becoming like Jesus. And he was saying, I haven't attained. There's a theologian named A.W. Pink, and he said this about this portion. The Christian is not called to lie down on flowery beds of ease, but to run a race and athletics are strenuous, demanding self-sacrifice, hard training, the putting forth of every ounce of energy possessed. I'm afraid that in this work-hating and pleasure-loving age, we do not keep this aspect of the truth sufficiently before us. We take things too placidly and lazily, The charge which God brought against Israel of old applies very largely to Christendom today. This is from Amos 6.1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. To be at ease is the very opposite of running the race. Many times, I feel like this. I feel like I want to be at ease. I don't want pain. I just want to be comfortable and entertained. When we look at our verse, we see that Paul didn't feel like he had attained, but we know that the Christian is complete as soon as he believes. As soon as you believe, as soon as you're saved, you can have confidence that now there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Paul had attained salvation. But, what he's talking about is the work of the Spirit. And the work of the Spirit in us goes on when? Every day. And every day, we're either rejecting or stifling the Spirit, or he's helping us, sanctifying us. It's called progressive sanctification. That's what Paul is talking about here in this verse. The sanctification is doing what? And we find that answer in Romans 8.29. We are being conformed to the image of Christ. That's what the Holy Spirit is doing for all of us that are believers today. Now, this should be an encouragement to us to not grow weary or despair of the sanctification process, right? We're a work in progress, but we're not perfect. And as I was thinking about this thought of imperfection, I came across this little story by Gigi Graham. She said this, for years I never felt I measured up to all I thought the Lord wanted me to be or all I thought I should be. Satan convinced me that since I wasn't perfect, I had no right to minister to others. Then one day my children brought me a bouquet of flowers they had picked. I hugged each child with joy. As I tried to arrange the flowers in a vase, I discovered my children had picked no stems, just blossoms. I laughed. I had been blessed with their gift of love, however imperfect. It was then I realized we don't have to be perfect to be a blessing. We are asked only to be real, trusting in Christ's perfection to cover our imperfection. I thought about this imperfection and what Paul was saying. Is Paul the greatest Christian ever? He would say no, but when I thought of Paul, I thought, what pressure he must have been under by our enemy, the devil, as he was writing a lot of the New Testament. Think of him writing it down and think of Satan trying to disrupt him and distract him. So I thought about what he was saying, we press on. What does that mean to you, to press on? I tried to think of a time in my life where I was totally driven, where I was just everything, all my thoughts centered on something. And I really couldn't come up with much. I remember in high school, I wanted to get in shape. I was trying to get a scholarship to play hockey in college. And I thought, was I driven? Was I in the best shape of my life? What did I do? I remember back then they gave us a manual that was about a half an inch thick. And it came from the University of Michigan. Sorry for all you. I'm a Buckeye fan, but Michigan actually showed the most interest in me. And they gave me this manual of things that I was supposed to do every day, working out. And back then, it was when Nautilus had just been invented. Before that, it was just free weights, mostly. Nautilus was machines, and Nautilus was called progressive resistance. And so, I was supposed to do nautilus every day. I was supposed to be becoming progressively resistant to the weight. How about you? Is there a time in your life when you can think of a time when you were totally driven to do something? Here we find that the zeal and drive from Paul's former life was now being directed by the Holy Spirit to achieve the purpose for which God had taken a hold of Paul. Paul looks back to the moment when Christ took a hold of him. When did that happen? On the Damascus Road. You remember that story? How God grabbed him. He was blinded. He spoke to him directly. He recalled the purpose of it all, right, to become conformed to Christ. Romans 8.29 says this, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Right, Paul knew. This is why God saved me. Paul was saying it, and we can too, we can say it. The reason Christ redeemed me has become the goal of my life. I want for me what he wants for me, and saved me to accomplish. This is verse 13. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. The Phillips translation says it this way, my brothers, I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now, but I do concentrate on this. I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead. When I thought about this, I thought, What would Scott's translation say of this verse? And so I wasn't really looking at the Greek. I was just trying to put this in my own words so it's Scott's transliteration. But this is what I came up with. My dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all that I should be. But I am focusing all my energy on this one thing, to forget what Jesus' blood has covered and anticipate with hope what God has ordained for me. Now this phrase, but one thing, it's actually an exclamation. We might say it like this, but one thing, one thing, Paul now is going to sum up the secret of his new life and how he can look forward to what lies ahead. Right? The words I do, right, this one thing I do, those were added by the translators. They're not there in the original Greek. Right? The original Greek just says but one thing. It sums up Paul's conduct and his purpose. Paul wanted an undivided heart. Now, as I was thinking about this, God had a lot to say to me about a divided heart. And, right, I read Psalm 8611, give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name. A divided heart is the Christian's greatest enemy. It makes us discontent, it poisons our devotion and our devotions. Ever find a divided heart poisoning your devotions? It corrupts our worship, right? We tell God we love him, we wanna honor him, but in our heart we say, eh, I can do whatever I want. Jesus told his disciples that they couldn't serve two masters because they would end up loving one and hating the other. James tells us what double-mindedness does. The results of double-mindedness makes us like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. And it says we're unstable in everything. Do you feel that way? You feel unstable in everything? An undivided heart solves the problem. Single-mindedness is what Paul had. It allowed him to be free to serve and love God with everything he had. Just to ask you this morning, are you struggling with double-mindedness? If so, you can confess that and forsake that. God can help you this morning. Paul was focused on one thing. He wasn't going to let other things that were behind distract him. The one thing was the prize. It was the upward call of Christ. I just ask you, is there something in your past that is distracting you right now? Satan wants us to live in the past. He wants us to feel disqualified. But God wants us to press on, right now, in the present. I came across this and I thought it was great. There's some one things in scripture. And they essentially describe priorities that God gives to us. And so for those that are maybe riding in their car and don't have it on the screen in front of them, I'm gonna read these, but here are some one things in scripture that God wants us to do, to have as a priority. Number one is worship. This is Psalm 27, for one thing I ask of the Lord that I will, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Number two is to put Christ first. This is Mark 10, 21. You lack one thing, go. Sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. This is number three. This is choosing to spend time with Jesus or studying his word. This is Luke 10, 41 and 42. Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her. Number four. Tell others what Jesus has done for you. This is sharing the good news. It's John 9, 25. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. Number five is to get ready for Christ's return, to be watching and waiting and looking, expecting Jesus to return. This is 2 Peter 3, 8 and 10. I put this out of the King James Version because it says this, but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. The day of the Lord will come like a thief. And then we have our verse. Right, this is Paul's key to progress. Once again, don't look back, look forward, but one thing I do. forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. Now, Paul could say in Acts 20 verse 24, I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I have received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. What does God want you to do? Do you know? Do you know what God wants you to do right now? He's given you a gift, right? He wants you to use that gift. Does your guilt and your shame keep you from serving God like you're supposed to? We get to the phrase of forgetting what lies behind. And there was a children's Sunday school class and they were studying Lott. And Lott's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. A little boy said, well, that's nothing. My mother was going to the grocery store and looked back and she turned into a telephone pole. It made me laugh. I chuckled at that. But, you know, what are the things we need to forget? I pass guilt as one. But even in our chapter, when we look at Paul, if you go back to verse 6, right? He could say, concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Paul knew he remembered the terrible things that he had done, but he didn't let guilt and shame affect his present. If he did, we wouldn't even have this letter to the Philippians. He could put that all behind him. Memories, whether they're good or bad, must be handled with care. Bad recollections can drive us to despair. Mistakes from the past, we should learn the lesson and then forget the sins and mistakes. God says, I don't remember them anymore. Paul makes a conscious choice, but it's empowered by the spirit. The spirit helps him to do this, to not dwell on things in his past that would hinder his race or his endurance. And he didn't even let good memories hinder him, right? Sometimes good memories, right? He recounted his Jewish heritage and his Christian attainments, but they were not going to hinder him from running the race. Today, are you struggling with something in your past? You know, maybe it's grief that will not go away. Do you lament the loss of your innocence? Maybe you wounded other people or other people injured you and you're feeling damaged. God wants us to have freedom. He wants us to help relate our past to our future. We can drown in regret. We can lose ourselves in nostalgia. We can cling to old injuries and losses and scars. God wants something better for us than this. We can choose to be like Paul and focus on our future. That's what God wants us to do today. Al the psalmist said, search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there's any grievous way in me. Lead me in the way everlasting. We can say that prayer too. We can ask God to examine our heart and help us to forget those things. Now, Paul's not advising a memory wipe. That's not what he's saying. And actually, Seth and I were talking about memories this week. And you know, memories are pretty weird when you think about it. You're in a place, and all your senses are involved, and the thought of it Goes where? It goes somewhere in your head, right? And it's there, and we can recall it just like that. It's kind of weird when you think about it, isn't it? Right? We kind of think of a computer, right, and memory and stuff, but no, it's even better than that. Right? Because it includes, we can remember how stuff smelled. It includes our senses. Some experiences are impossible to forget. Paul's telling us to focus on the present. Remembering should be to the glory of God and for our spiritual benefit. We are cleansed by the blood of Christ. There's no judgment that remains. God doesn't remember our sins. We can look to the future. I thought about deleting this part. It seems like I always run out of time. And I just thought today, I'm not going to worry about the time. If we go long, I'm sorry. I apologize now. This, I think, is pretty important. And so I'm just going to read it. This is what it says. We have a spiritual enemy called the accuser of the brothers, who relentlessly reminds us of our failures, faults, and sins. If you experience feelings of guilt and shame, try this. Number one, confess all known or previously unconfessed sins. Feelings of guilt can be appropriate if confession is needed. Psalm 32.5 says, I acknowledge my sin to you and I did not cover my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Number two, ask the Lord to reveal anything else that may be needed to be addressed. Have the courage to be completely open and honest before the Lord. Number three, this is if Satan is accusing you and bringing up past memories that's thwarting you from your Christian walk. Number three, seek to make restitution where possible of the sins committed against others. This is part of the fruit in keeping with repentance. Number four, trust the promise of God that he will forgive sin and remove guilt based on the blood of Christ. Number five, if Satan keeps reminding you of sins already confessed and forsaken, meditate on Psalm 103, eight to 12. You can write that one down, Psalm 103, eight to 12. If Satan is bringing up past sins that are plaguing you, Psalm 103, eight to 12. Number six, ask the Lord to rebuke Satan, your accuser, and ask the Lord to restore the joy that comes with freedom from guilt. When I read this one, I actually thought of my brother Dick. Dick uses this phrase, this rebuking of Satan, and it's always powerful whenever he says it, right? We can do that, right? We can ask the Lord to rebuke Satan. God's promise to us in Hebrews 8.12 says, I will be merciful toward their iniquities and will remember their sins no more. He does not break his promises. I thought about whether I should put this up. I got this this week. This is a note from a homeschooler that was was cleaning, helping clean the building. And they wrote me, they took note, or they took candy from my candy dish, right? When the mom came in and gave me this, I said, well, that's what a candy dish is for, right? You're allowed to take candy from the candy dish. But apparently this child took some candy and wrote me this note. Dear pastor, I'm sorry for stealing a piece of candy. I will not do it again. Love, Isabel. We can chuckle at that. We can look at that and think, well, that doesn't seem to be a very big sin. And I put it up there only for that reason, that many times we can be plagued by something that God has overlooked. I overlooked this, it didn't seem to be a sin to me. But it's a lesson, it's a visible object lesson that we can look at that and we can relate to it. We need to think about our disobedience long enough to seek God's mercy and then choose to go and sin no more. Forgiveness is God's way of clearing the slate It's our responsibility to depend upon the strength of the Holy Spirit who lives in us to avoid repeating the errors. The Apostle Paul acknowledged his mistakes, he appealed and received God's mercy, and then focused on becoming more like Christ. Now, when I thought about the phrase straining forward, There's something that I kept thinking about. Every time I saw those words, straining forward, it was this. I got permission from Byron to share this. Byron Harris. Is Byron here today? I forgot to look. Oh, there he is. And I thought of Byron straining forward. This is a picture from the University of Toledo Hall of Fame. Byron was an all-American sprinter, still holds many records, and by the way, if you look up the University of Toledo Hall of Fame and look up Byron's name, in his little bio, Christian Fellowship is mentioned. So, it's interesting, right? And Byron doesn't want us to make a big deal about his athletic achievements. But boy, if you look at that picture, you can see Byron was in good shape. And I'm inspired by that. I'm inspired by my brother Byron. It's straining forward. That's what God tells us we should be doing. How are you doing at straining? Are you straining forward? Do you have focused attention like Paul had? You know, what's your primary focus in life? What drives you? Where do you invest your time and your energy, your talent? to what lies ahead. What lies ahead? We're going to take a look at that. But what lies ahead for us is the blessings of eternal life. Perfection is, you know, that's coming for us. Complete joy, holiness, peace, fellowship. All enjoyed to the glory of God. A marvelously restored universe. Being in the company of Christ. Seeing our loved ones that are saved. Just being with all the saints throughout history. That's what we have to look forward to. That's what lies ahead for us. Verse 14 says, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The Phillips translation says it this way. I go straight for the goal. My reward is the honor of being called by God in Christ. Why did God choose us and save us? In order that we would be made like his son. What's the goal of the Christian life? It's the same thing for which we were saved. He saved us to make us like his son. The purpose that he saved us becomes our purpose in life. How? How do we do this? And here's what MacArthur said. you bear down on the prize, which is the upward call of God in Christ. What's going to happen when the upward call comes? You're going to be like what? Like Christ. The goal is the prize, the prize is the goal. So Paul says, look, the goal of my life is to be like Christ, and that's also the reward of my race. One may ask, are you going to reach that goal in this life? No. But it's still the goal. Someday I will be like Christ and that's the prize that God gives to the one who runs the race. The goal is to be like Christ. Perfection in Christ. The prize is to be like Christ. Perfection in Christ. When we think about the prize, If you got your Bibles, you might want to turn to this one. I did not make a slide of this. It's 2 Timothy 4, 7, and 8. And Paul uses an athletic metaphor again, and he describes the fact that he's crossed the finish line and he's awaiting his prize. It says this. This is 2 Timothy 4, 7, and 8. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. How about you? Have you loved his appearing, the thought of his appearing, the thought of the rapture and the second coming? I thought of some verses and so, sorry. Here it is. This is Revelation 22, 1 through 5. I didn't even put this in my notes. What John tells us is what lies ahead for us. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God, and of the land through the middle of the street of the city. Also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. This is what lies ahead for us. Those of us that believe and have given our life to Christ, this is what lies ahead. Now, I've told my wife that if I die before the rapture, there's a song that I want played at my funeral. And I hope you won't think I'm bad of me for this, right? The song is When I Get Where I'm Going with Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton. And the lyrics from that song that really speak to me are these. But when I get where I'm going and I see my maker's face, I'll stand forever in the light of his amazing grace. That's what we have to look forward to. We are going to see our Savior. We are going to see God. The ESV study Bible says this, the prize is the fullness of blessings and rewards in the age to come. Most especially being in perfect fellowship with Christ forever. When I think of the upward call of Christ, I came across this quote from MacArthur. He said, we have to live in the light of the rapture, don't we? We have to live in the light of being called out of this world into the presence of God. And that particular point, we will be given glory. We will be given an eternal reward. We will be made like Christ. And if God is so gracious to be willing to give us that prize, how committed should we be to run the race? I mean, look at it, folks. Wretched, wicked, vile, godless sinners on our way to hell. God in sovereign grace picks us out, chooses us for salvation in order that he might eternally make us like his own son. What grace? That is the prize. If you look at your study Bible, the ESV study note says it could also refer to the finish line in the race or an archery target. Paul's life is purposeful for he constantly aims towards a heavenly goal. Verse 15 says this, let those of us who are mature think this way and if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Now, A more modern translation says this, I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. And if you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. The goal is Christlikeness. Right, the last half of the verse, Paul expresses his recognition that some believers don't share in this attitude. I ask this question, how can we tell if we're mature, if we're one of the mature ones? And so I put these verses up, and this is Ephesians 4.13, it says this, until we all attain to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Right? Until we all attain to the unity of faith and the knowledge. And I would just ask you, how's your knowledge of Christ? Have you studied your word? Do you know Jesus? Is he personal to you? That's how we can tell if we're mature. Hebrews 5.14 says, but solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. I would just ask you, you wanna know if you're mature or not? How are your powers of discernment? Can you discern good from evil? And even more than that, do you always choose what's good? Or do you sometimes choose what's evil? This is how we can tell our spiritual maturity level. Paul says those who are mature should have this mind or opinion, and if they don't, Paul trusts that God will reveal the necessity of having a proper opinion. Paul has great trust in the ability of the Lord to deal with his own people. Paul's willing to suffer and die for Christ, will do whatever he can to become more like Christ. This is the mature view of Christian faith. Well, some might call this extreme or radical or fanatical. Paul, right? He states that those that are full grown will see that this is really the only sane or logical or reasonable response to the one who shed his blood for us on Calvary. It's the only response. To those that disagree, Paul says, If we're teachable, God will show us where we need to grow. Here's 1 Corinthians 2, 9, and 10. It says this. What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him, these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. I just love thinking about this. What's God been saying to you lately? The Spirit reveals things to us And this revelation involves our future here in these verses. What God has prepared for us, the Spirit reveals. And we can even pray like David did. This is Psalm 119, 18. Open my eyes or reveal spiritual truth to me that I can see wonderful things out of your law or out of your word. We can pray that. God, would you just reveal to me, would you open my eyes so that I can see wonderful things in your word. The spirit does that. Paul was assured that if their minds were set on anything else or any other goal that God would reveal it to them. The revelation would come through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It's comforting to know really. If we get off track, right, God will make it plain to us. He'll help us to get back on track. Verse 16, only let us hold true to what we have attained. The King James Version says, nevertheless, whereunto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Now, I came across this quote by Spurgeon, and he says it a lot better than I could, so I'm just going to read what he said. He said, let us keep all the good that we have received. Let us not give up the truth that we have learned. Let us not leave the way along which we have traveled so far, and let us keep together. Let perfect unity prove that the work of grace is going on in one as well as another. There are some points upon which we are all agreed. There are some standing ground where the babe in grace may meet with the man in Christ Jesus. As far as we do see eye to eye, let us cooperate with one another. Let us have our hearts knit together in holy unity. Let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind the same thing. There are some people who are always looking out for points of difference. Their motto seems to be, whereinsoever we differ, let us split away from one another. Their great idea is that by dividing, we shall conquer. The fact is that by separating ourselves from one another, we shall miss all hope of strength and play into the hands of the adversaries. All right, in conclusion, we look at this portion today. We see Paul addresses spiritual attainment, He's turned his back on his past accomplishments and the goal now is to be found in Christ and to attain to the resurrection of the dead. That's the power that raised Christ from the dead. He wants to have in his spiritual life. Paul knows the power for righteous living can only be found by faith, Jesus shares his own resurrection with the believer. Do you have spiritual power today? How's your spiritual life? Do you feel like you have strength, that the power of God, the Holy Spirit is in you, giving you power spiritually? God has a high calling for us that are followers of Christ. We attain to it not by works of the flesh, but by humble devotion and commitment to our Lord Jesus. He will give us the power to follow him. What lies ahead for you? Is it doom and destruction? Is that what lies ahead for you? Or is it a glorious future with Christ in heaven? As the worship team comes up, I'd just like us for a second, would you just close your eyes and pray silently before the Lord? Would you just ask him to refresh your commitment to him? Would you ask him for a vision of the future, of what lies ahead, and just give you a little taste of home? Would you ask for that? If you have a divided heart, or you've grown spiritually stagnant, you can confess that to the Lord right now. You can ask him to forgive you and give you a fresh sight, courage and strength to keep running the race. If you're not saved, if you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, Right now, you can start the race. You can ask for forgiveness for your sins and you can ask for that power, the resurrection power, the power that raised Christ from the dead to come into your life and allow you to have power to walk and to run. Father, here we are. We're at that moment where what you've said to us today during this 45 minutes now comes to the point of decision. And we want to decide for you today. We want to renew our commitment to you and ask for the strength to continue to press on and strive for the upward call, for the prize. Help us. We ask for it now. If there's anybody here, Father, that is not saved, that doesn't even relate to any of this, would you, in your mercy to them, just call their name and have them answer, yes, Lord, and give their life to you? We ask these things knowing that you do so much better than we can even ask or think. And so we ask that you might impress upon our hearts and minds the things that you've said to us this morning. Help us to remember. We ask it in Jesus' name for his glory, amen.