Good morning. Well, amen. Amen. Actually, Ben just preached my sermon for me in that song, but I'm going to go ahead and preach it anyway. Our text this morning is Proverbs 4.23. Proverbs 4.23. Our text is Proverbs 423, and the title of the sermon is The Battle for the Christian's Heart. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Father, we just come to you this morning, and we thank you for this time that you've given us together to to worship You, to hear Your Word proclaimed and Your truth, and to see Christ exalted, to draw near to You, to have communion with You and with each other. And Lord, we ask that You be with us once more, that You open this Word up to us today, Teach us something about how we are to live in this world as Your people. Lord, we thank You for all these things. In Jesus Christ's name, Amen. You know, of course, the theme of our conference has been spiritual warfare. And we've had some really good messages And the messages have been about things that I believe are foundational. I believe that they're really important aspects of spiritual warfare. The first two topics that we addressed were so closely related that I'm just going to touch on them together because, you know, in the battle for the beginning and in the battle for the truth, really what is under attack is authority. Really, the issue of those two battles is authority. The idea is who gets to decide what is true and false, what is good or evil? Has God spoken and can we trust that what he has revealed about himself is true? In other words, indeed has God said. That's why we started there in the beginning. And then the next thing that we looked at was the battle for Christian fatherhood because God reveals Himself to us as Father. That's how He reveals Himself to us in His Word. And that means that being a husband and being a father, that we should reflect the image of God in our families. We should reflect God to our wife and to our children. We should mirror Him. We should glorify Him in the way that we treat our wives and in the way that we treat our children and minister to them because what they understand about God is going to be the most important thing in their lives. And that's why we went to Christian fatherhood. And then we looked at the battle for the church. What that really is, is the battle to love each other as Jesus has loved us. That's what the battle for the church is all about. It's the battle to die to self. That's how Jesus loved us, he died. He died for us and he's called us to love one another just as he loved us. That means our battle is to die to self. Our battle is to bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. That's the battle for the church. And then we wrapped up yesterday by looking at our glorious calling and commission to be Christ's witnesses to Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth, to glorify Him, to lift Him up. We're not called to build His church. We're just called to be His witnesses, to participate in the work that He's doing in building His church. We get to participate, we have a calling to participate in his advancement of his kingdom in this world. That's the battle for the world. It's all spiritual warfare. Well, today what I want us to look at is the primary source of the battle on all of these fronts, and really on every front. every front that we are doing spiritual warfare on, there's really one source, there's really one battle. And we're going to look at it today. That battle, really, that we are engaged in in spiritual warfare is essentially a battle for the heart. It's a battle for the affections of our heart. And I'm going to contend that there's only one group of people that is actually engaged in this battle. There's only one. The vast majority of people in the world are not engaged in spiritual warfare. Only those who have been born again by the Spirit of the Living God and have a new heart are actually engaged in this war. No one else is. Now I know, I know that unbelieving people say things like this. They say, you know, I'm battling my demons. You know, I'm struggling against these demons. Or I'm dealing with this problem or that problem. Or they would say, well, you know, I am engaged in politics and in trying to make the world a better place. Or I am working hard to to contribute to my culture and to raise my children to be good people. Or I'm a doctor or I'm engaged in some kind of medical research, you know, trying to better the circumstances of humanity. I'm a police officer. I'm serving in the military. I'm doing all of these things. And so I am engaged in warfare against evil. But you know what? The truth of the matter is, is when unbelieving people are doing these things, and they're good things to do, but when they're doing these things, what they're doing is they're just engaged in warring after the flesh. And they're using carnal fleshly means to do it. They're not capable of anything else. They're doing the best they can. You know, I say this because things like mental health, physical disease, crime, drugs, shady politicians, tyrannical governments, you know, the list is endless. I could just go on and on about all the evils in the world. But none of these things are our primary problem. None of them. That's what we look at, but they're just fruit of the real problem. They're not the problem. Our primary problem is that we're disconnected from God. We're at enmity with Him. Period. That's it. That's our default condition. 1 John 5, 19 says, we know that we are of God, this is talking about Christians, and that the whole world, the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. That's the condition that we're in in the world. People outside of Christ aren't at war with Satan. They're held captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2, 26 tells us that. Romans 3, 10 and 11 tells us that, as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God. None! I know you are wondering, why am I belaboring this point? I am supposed to be talking about Christians, the battle for the Christian heart. Well, if we're going to understand the true nature of spiritual warfare and where our victory lies and how to use the weapons we've been given, we have to understand what the war is about and what we're fighting for. We have to understand that. What is the war about and what are we fighting for? So let's start at the beginning. When Adam fell, the issue isn't just that he committed a sin or broke a law. Yeah, he did, but that's not the issue. The problem is that Adam rejected perfect communion with God in favor of autonomy. He drew back and separated himself from God. In Genesis 3-5, the serpent told Eve, you will be like God, knowing good and evil. In other words, you will be your own God, deciding good and evil for yourself. Adam lost his communion with God because in that moment, his heart began to love something else. His own autonomy more than he loved God and being in communion with Him. And Jonathan Edwards very clearly illustrated what I'm saying in this. He said, we always choose that which our heart desires most at the moment of decision. Always. Well, what is the heart? I heard a discussion about that yesterday. So let's just make it really clear because the whole message today is about the heart. What is the heart? It's not this organ that pumps blood through the body. That's not what the Bible is talking about. We call that the heart and anatomy. But the heart in Scripture is talking about your innermost being. It's talking about the core of who you are, the center of your thoughts and emotions, desires. Adam chose from his heart, his heart desired something else instead of God. And in that moment, he chose autonomy. What Adam was deceived, or what actually Eve was deceived, Adam willfully chose it. He chose death. Death came into the world. Adam rejected the source of every good thing and the fountain of living waters for a broken cistern that will hold no water. Thus says the Lord, Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. Jeremiah 17 5. That's what Adam did. That's the testimony of Scripture from beginning to end. All humanity is under a curse because we trust in ourselves and not in the Lord. Our hearts turn away from the Lord to other things. All of Adam's offspring have the same problem that he did. We have hearts that the Bible describes as deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, Jeremiah 17 and 9. Made of stone, Ezekiel 36, 26, and there is none who seeks for God. There's not even one. That's the bad news. But as Christians, we know the good news. God determined before the foundation of the earth, before Adam was even created, or the tree of knowledge of good and evil was even planted, God determined that He would redeem a people for Himself from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Ephesians 1 tells us that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. We know that. And He chose us, and when He determined to do that, He determined that He would do whatever it takes and pay whatever it cost. And He knew what it was going to take and what it was going to cost. And He determined to do that to restore His people to perfect communion with Him. I'm going to read you an illustration of that promise from Ezekiel 36. There are many illustrations of it in the Prophets and in the Old Testament, but I'm just going to use this one. I'm going to choose this one. Ezekiel chapter 36. I'm going to read verses 24 through 28. God says, for I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. And as Dexter explained yesterday in his message, that is shadow, that is a type, and that is a shadow of the kingdom of God. This promised land that God gave the temporal nation of Israel, That symbolizes the kingdom of God, the eternal kingdom of God that He's promised us. And He says, I'm going to take you from all the lands, I'm going to gather you from all the earth, and I'm going to place you in My kingdom. And I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will be careful to observe my ordinances. You will live in the land. that I gave to your forefathers so you will be my people and I will be your God. I'm going to bring you to myself. I'm going to bring you into my kingdom. I'm going to give you a new heart that loves me. And I'm going to put my spirit in you to guarantee that it happens. That's the gospel. That's God's promise to us from the beginning. We know it. God calls His people to Himself from everywhere that they're dispersed throughout all the nations. How does He do it? He does it through the preaching of His gospel. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And all of those united to him by faith are restored to communion with him and have eternal life in him. Hallelujah. That's the gospel. We know that. That's the good news. You know, before you were... And this, when this happens, This is where spiritual warfare begins. You weren't at war before that, before that happened. You were at pace with the world. You were actually a friend of the world and an enemy of God. You may not have realized that. You probably never consciously thought it. But you were in active rebellion against God and willfully disconnected from Him until He, by His grace, through His Spirit, applying the Word of His Gospel to your heart, brought you to Himself. I know you know that. That's why you're here. But that's the starting point. As a Christian, you now know and love God. And you love Him as He has revealed Himself to you in and through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. If this is not true about you, if God has not shown His light into your heart to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. You're not a Christian. You may be a lot of things, but you're not a Christian. Not yet. But we're speaking to, in this text that we're looking at today, I believe, is directed to Christians. It's speaking to those who do love God. So let me ask you a question. You love God. You love the Lord. You're in Christ. Do you still sin? Think about it. Do you still sin? Do you still wrestle with unbelief? Sometimes doubt. I do. Do you still feel disconnected from God sometimes? I do. Especially when I'm in the spiritual war on any of these fronts that we've been talking about. Life is messy. We can preach sermons about our families and our children. and doing warfare, spiritual warfare, and it all sounds good. It's like watching TV or watching a movie and you know there's a battle and everything's clean and tidy and then we turn it off and go to bed. That's not the way it is. It's hard. We get frustrated. We love the Lord, but we sin even when we're in these battles. And we have sinful thoughts and attitudes. What does it mean? This verse that we're looking at today, it was written for me and it was written for you. Watch over your heart with all diligence For from it flow the springs of life." I'm going to contend that this verse is the summary statement for what spiritual warfare is about on every front. Every front. This is real spiritual warfare. It has nothing to do with superstition or You know, mystical things like you see on the movies. Spiritual warfare is understanding that your heart is either focused on God and connected to Him or it's focused on something else and it's not. That's spiritual warfare. That's what it means. Well, at this point, you may be saying something like, well, how can you say that? You know, what does this verse even mean? Out of your heart flow the springs of life. Well, Spurgeon used a great illustration to explain this verse, and I'm going to borrow it. He also, to quote another Spurgeon thing that I took to heart years ago, he said that those who are not willing to stand on the mental, the brain work of those that went before him just prove that they don't have one of their own. So, I will stand on his work. And he says, commenting on this verse, imagine that your life is like the water system for a large city. So you got this picture. You've got, let's say, the water tower or the reservoir that supplies the city. And then this reservoir is full of water, which represents your thoughts, your emotions, your desires, and your affections. That's what your heart is full of. That's what comes from your heart. And then you have pipes that carry the water out throughout the city to everybody's houses. Well, these pipes are your actions and your behaviors. So what's in the reservoir comes out through the pipes. I thought that was a pretty good picture. Whatever is in the reservoir flows out through the pipes and it determines the course of your life. That's what the verse means. When it says, out of your heart flow the springs of life. Let's look at a couple of examples from both sides of this. The first one I want to look at is from Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7. I'm going to read verses 14 through 23. Jesus' teaching says, After he called the crowd to him again, he began saying to them, Listen to me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing outside the man which can defile him, if it goes into him. But the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. When he left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples questioned him about the parable. And he said to them, Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him? Because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and his limbated. Thus he declared all foods clean. And he was saying, That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these things proceed from within and defile the man." Streams of life. That stream is corrupt. It's corrupt. That's the natural stream. Let's look at the other side. John chapter 7, verses 37 and 38. Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Man, do you see the contrast? Do you understand that both of these texts are talking about the heart? Both of them. The innermost being that Jesus is talking about is the heart. And it's talking about the springs of life that flow out of it, both texts. Now, how about this text? Matthew 12. Verses 34 and 35. Jesus is talking to a group of religious Jews that have just accused Him of doing what he does by demonic spirits rather than by the Holy Spirit. In verses 34 and 35 he says, You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good, and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. The Scriptures make it really clear what it is that drives and determines the course of our life. They make it really clear. is what drives our life. We always do, we always choose that which our heart desires most at the moment of decision. And what flows out of our heart is what determines the course of our life. And what's in our heart always comes out. It always comes out. Now, the legalist, the moralist, All religions, except true Christianity, they see that we have putrid water coming out of our pipes, and their solution is to rip up the pipes, so to speak, and put down new ones. Reform yourself. Change your behavior. Replace your bad habits with good ones. That's how you do it. Well, what's the problem with that? Replacing the pipes doesn't change what's in the reservoir. It doesn't change what comes out. And it's always going to come out. It's still corrupt even if you have new pipes. But as Christians, we have a new heart, right? We have a new heart. It's what Ezekiel said. We shouldn't have any problems with bitter water coming out of our pipes, should we? Right? James chapter 3, James makes a comment on that. You have to turn there, I'm just going to read it right quick. In James chapter 3, verses 11 and 12, he says, he asked a rhetorical question. Does the fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs, nor can salt water produce fresh? Man, that puts us in a pretty tight spot, doesn't it? Because I don't know about you, but I have better water coming out of my pipe sometimes. It's passages like this that give rise to the heresy of sinless perfectionism. Because if I have a new heart and a new nature, then either I must not sin or struggle or doubt anymore, or else I must not be a Christian. That's not the case. If that were the case, the verse would just say, out of the heart flow the springs of life. That's all it would say. It wouldn't say, watch over your heart with all diligence, because that would be pointless. It would be unnecessary and it would be futile if that were the case. But the truth is that even though our new heart does now love God and desire to please Him, it isn't perfected and glorified yet. It will be, but it's not yet. It still needs to be watched over. In 2 Peter 3.18, the apostle admonishes us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Which means we're not there yet, or we wouldn't need to grow. In Philippians 3, 12 through 14, the Apostle Paul adamantly declares that he isn't perfect yet, but that he is pressing on for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And that's where we also are, whether we realize it or not. We're not perfect yet. We don't experience perfect communion with God yet. But we want to be perfect. Before we were saved, we didn't want to be. That wasn't even part of our agenda. We thought we were fine. But now we want to be perfect and our heart desires to be intimately connected to God in Christ. If you don't want God, you're not a Christian. If you don't want more of Him, Jesus said, this is eternal life if they know you. The one true God in Jesus Christ whom you've sent. If that's not true about you, you're not a Christian. If you don't desire more of Him, if you don't know Him and want to know Him more. But we struggle and we doubt. We feel defeated. Sometimes we try to fight the right battles with the wrong weapons. Often, often we do that because we focus on the pipes and not on the reservoir. We try to clean up the stream instead of guarding the spring that is feeding the stream. So let's make this real practical. And really, I think spiritual warfare is real practical. It's real practical. A couple of weeks ago, I allowed myself, I'm going to tell on myself, I allowed myself to become really frustrated about a couple of things and discouraged. I just did. I was discouraged. I was kind of depressed. I was quiet. My wife thought I might be sick because I was quiet, you know. But I was kind of struggling with this, and the Lord let me wallow in it for a couple of days. And then He made me realize something, and I think He did... I believe, of course, I believe in the sovereignty of God. I believe in the doctrines of grace, and I believe that God is doing everything for a purpose. It's all under His control. He's causing all things to work for our good and His glory. So after He let me stew in it for a little bit, He made me realize that my real problem wasn't that I was frustrated and discouraged. And what I needed wasn't to get my attitude corrected or resolve the things I was frustrated over. My real problem was that I wasn't looking to Christ. That was my problem. I needed to draw near to Him and have Him draw near to me. That's what I needed more than anything. That was the source of my problem. That was the battlefront. That was the battle that was raging. It wasn't the peripheral things. It wasn't the symptoms. It was me not being intentionally and actively focused and engaged with Christ and taking it to Him. That's spiritual warfare. It's not glamorous. That's what it is right there. It's practical. And that same scenario applies to every battlefront that we've talked about in this conference. and any others that we will ever come up with. That's the bottom line battle. Wherever we're at, whatever we're doing, whatever the world is throwing at us, whatever we're engaged in, our battle is to be focused on Christ, to have Him. You know, Paul says in Galatians 2.20, I'm dead. I've been crucified with Christ, and the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. It's Him living through me, and if I'm focused on Him, and it's Him living, it doesn't matter what's going on around me. The battle belongs to the Lord. We heard that with the story of David. You see, the source of our sin, the source of all of our struggles, ultimately the cause of death and decay, it's being disconnected from the wellspring of all goodness in life. Everything is a whole lot simpler than we make it. It's a whole lot simpler than we make it. The more connected we are to God in Christ, the more victory we will experience in our lives. You know why we don't love the truth like we ought to? It's because we don't love the One who is truth incarnate like we ought to. That's why. Read the words of Jesus and you will find that He believed in a literal flood, a literal Jonah, and a literal creation. And that the Scriptures are literally God speaking. So if you believe in Jesus and you're looking to Him, that settles that. You know why we don't love our wives and children as we should? Well, you probably guessed it. It's because we aren't looking to Christ and pointing them to Him through His Word. Instead, we're trying to purify the streams of their lives by changing out their pipes. Just think about that when you're dealing with your children or family members, your spouse. Are you trying to change their behavior? Or are you washing them in the water of the Word and pointing them to Christ, guarding their heart, purifying the source? Dealing with the real problem. Now, don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying we shouldn't discipline our children. I'm not saying we shouldn't correct and address sinful and harmful behavior. What I'm saying is that all the behavior modification in the world are not going to get our kids into the kingdom of God. Not going to happen. But love for Christ will. That's the only thing that will get them in. The end of our instructions is what? Love from a pure heart. But that love has an object. Paul doesn't say it right there in that verse, but the end of our instruction is love for God in Christ. And then out of that flows love for each other. You're going to think I'm beating a dead horse before this is over. Do you know why we don't have the love and unity in the church sometimes that we ought to have? Well, if we don't, it's because we don't love Christ enough to cause us to love our Christian brothers and sisters the way He loved us. That means we don't love them enough to die to self and put their well-being above our own. That's the source. Well, how about this one? Do you know why we don't evangelize like we ought to? I may not be going to say what you think I am. It's not because we don't love sinners enough. It's not because we don't love the lost enough. It's because the Lord Jesus and the gospel of His kingdom is not the passion of our hearts. It's not the driving, controlling passion of our hearts. If we loved Christ, really loved Him the way we ought to, we'd be talking about Him. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. We talk about that which is important to us. Everyone does. And you know it. All you have to do is strike up a conversation with someone. Very quickly, you will find out what is the most important thing in their life at that moment. It may be their spouse. It may be their kids or grandkids. It might be LSU or OU or wherever you're from. KU. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If we love Christ, we'll talk about Him. We'll evangelize. We'll point people to Him. Not because... And don't hear what I'm not saying again. I'm not saying we don't have concern for people and not want them to perish. But I'm going to tell you that that's not what drives evangelism. The glory of Christ is what drives evangelism. We're not capable of loving people enough to give them what they need. We need Christ to love them through us. We need to lift Him up. That's what He said, if I'll be lifted up, I'll draw men to myself. That's the aim of evangelism. It's to love Christ enough that He is the passion of our hearts. And that's what comes out of our mouth and all of our engagements as we go. That's what real spiritual warfare looks like. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. That's James 4.8. How do you guard your heart? You guard it by drawing near to God in Christ, through His Word, through prayer, through the means that He's given us. Romans 8.6 says, for the mind, The heart, that's what it's talking about, that is set or focused on the flesh is death. But the mind that is set, focused on... I think the translator's got the word wrong there. I don't think it should be on, I think it should be by. Focused by the Spirit is life and peace. What is the Spirit? You guys know Scripture. What does the Spirit focus you on? He focuses us on Christ. That's what Jesus said. He'll take what's mine and make it known. He's going to make me known. The Spirit is the one that shows us the glory of God in Christ. Gives us a new heart. Causes us to be born again and to trust in Him. What's the focus of our hearts? I know it sounds simple, but you know that's the way the truth is. It's not complicated. If it's complicated, it's probably not the truth. The more complicated the story, have you ever noticed that when a kid's telling you a story? The more complicated the story gets, the more skeptical you become. That's the same way with adults too. Jesus said, he who believes in, which means is vitally connected to me, as the scripture said. So that's how we know him. We know him through his word. He has revealed himself to us through his word. So he who is connected to me, he believes in me as the scripture said. From his innermost being, from his heart, will flow rivers of living water." Now, I don't think it gets any more practical or simple than that. If we want to have real victory in our spiritual warfare, if we want to guard our hearts with all diligence, if we want to have our lives flowing with rivers of living water, We need to press into Christ. Press into Him. And keep on pressing into Him through the means that He's given us, which is His Word and prayer, fellowship of the saints, sitting under preaching. We have all sorts of means through communion. My goodness, seeing this picture that He's given us of His death and burial and resurrection on our behalf. He died for us. Entering into these means that He's given us and pressing into Him. That's how we guard our hearts. That's how we do spiritual warfare. That's why we don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together. See, that's one of the means. Because we gather together and we stir one another up to love and good works. That's guarding our hearts. That's purifying those streams. That's what it's all about. That's what it's all a part of. I'm going to read a passage, I'm going to read that passage from Philippians 3, and I'm going to close with that, that Paul gave us. This is my charge to me. If you want to join in with me in it, praise the Lord. This is what I want to be. This is how I want to live. Philippians 3. This is how I want us as a church to live. Philippians 3, verses 7-14. But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ. And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, But that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." I'm going to stop right there and just comment on those two verses. Do you understand If you haven't died with Christ, you're not going to be resurrected with Him. You have to be crucified with Christ. You have to die to self. That's the way that connection to God is restored. We take our focus off of ourselves and we put it back where it belongs. Back on God in the person of Christ. That connection is restored and we have to keep doing that. whenever we're tempted to look away and this world is constantly trying to draw our focus away from Him. That's the spiritual battle, that's spiritual warfare. Our spiritual battle is to constantly keep our hearts fixed on Christ. And if you lose focus, it doesn't mean you're not saved. But if you want victory, you're going to have to look to Him, because He's the source. We're saved by... I said I was closing and I didn't close, but sorry. I'm not going to Isaiah 45, but I want to tell you something. Through the prophet, God says, the Lord says, look to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other. Well, I want to tell you something. That same verse applies to your sanctification too. It applies to your life. Look to me and have victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil, all you ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Look to me. Okay, I'll go back where I was at. Not that I've already attained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do. Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal. for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. May that be, may that be the focus of our hearts and may that be the source of the springs of our lives. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word and for your gospel and for your glorious Christ. the salvation and reconciliation that you've given us in him. Oh, Lord, I pray that you apply these truths to our hearts today. Let us be those who glory in Christ Jesus and place no confidence in the flesh. Let us be those who look to you in every struggle, in every hardship, in every sin, in every stumbling, in every doubt. Oh, purify our hearts, create in us a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.