Running For Gold

ZEPHYR CHRISTIAN

AUGUST 1, 2004

PHIL 3;12-14

INTRO; I WANT TO THANK DOUG FOR ALLOWING ME TO PREACH TODAY.

DOUG IS A DEAR FRIEND WHO I HOLD IN HIGH ESTEEM. IT IS GOOD TO

HAVE MY FAMILY HERE TODAY. IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE OLD FRIENDS AND

NEW FRIENDS, AND TO BE BACK IN THE SUNSHINE STATE. BTW, ON

MONDAY IN LANSING, THE TEMP WAS 66 DEGREES, THE COLDEST TEMP

EVER RECORDED FOR THAT DATE. I TOLD THE GUY SETTING NEXT TO ME

ON MY FLIGHT IN, THAT I HAD MOVED BACK NORTH, AND HE GAVE ME A

LOOK LIKE I MUST BE NUTS. WE ARE IN OUR 4TH YEAR AT MONTGOMERY

UB CHURCH. GOD IS DOING A WORK THERE. LET ME SHARE ONE THING

THAT I AM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT. WE ARE LAYING THE GROUNDWORK

RIGHT NOW FOR A PROGRAM CALLED 40 DAYS OF PURPOSE. IT IS BASED

ON THE BOOK, PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE, BY RICK WARREN. I BELIEVE THAT

THIS WILL BE A LIFE CHANGING EVENT FOR OUR CHURCH AND THE

COMMUNITY. PRAY FOR US AS WE ENTER INTO IT.

TODAY, I WANT US TO TURN OUR ATTENTION TO PAULS LETTER TO THE

PHILIPPIANS. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS, AND THIS PASSAGE IS

MY FAVORITE PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE. I BELIEVE IT SPELLS OUT WHAT

OUR PURPOSE IS SUPPOSED TO BE.

WE NEED TO BACK UP TO VS 10 TO COMPLETELY GRASP WHAT PAUL IS

SAYING. "I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST". HERE IS PERHAPS THE GREATEST

APOSTLE, WHO HAS TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN, WHO HAS TAKEN

THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS AND PREACHED IT, AND HE IS SAYING, I WANT

TO KNOW CHRIST. IF PAUL, WHO HAS BEEN CHOSEN OF CHRIST, SAYS, I

WANT TO KNOW, THINK HOW MUCH MORE,YOU AND I, SHOULDWANT TO

KNOW THE CHRIST. THIS IS NOT JUST INTELLECTUAL, HEAD KNOWLEDGE,

THIS IS AN INTIMATE UNDERSTANDING. THIS IS HAVING THE MIND OF

CHRIST IN YOU.

A YOUNG SEMINARY STUDENT, CALLED TO MINISTRY, WENT TO A PROF

AND ASKED HOW HE COULD MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP. THE PROF SAID,

GO AND SEE DOC SO AND SO. HE DOES. DOC TAKES HIM IN THE BACK

YARD TO THE SWIMMING POOL. YOUNG MAN THINKS, WELL, I HAVE BEEN

BAPTIZED, BUT MAYBE THIS IS SPECIAL. IN THE POOL, DOC TAKES HIM

AND PUTS HIM UNDER, AND HOLDS HIM.. YOUNG GUY THINKING, WELL,

SURELY HE WILL BRING ME BACK UP SOON. STILL DOWN, THE YOUNG

GUY IS GETTING NERVOUS, AFTER A FEW MORE MOMENTS, HE IS

STRUGGLING FOR BREATH, HE FIGHTS HIS WAY BACK TO THE SURFACE..

LOOKS AT THE OLD DOC, AND ASKS, WHAT WERE YOU DOING? THE DOC

SAYS, "WHEN YOU HAVE THE SAME DESIRE FOR CHRIST, AS YOU HAD TO

BREATH, THEN YOU WILL HAVE IT". I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST.

"I WANT TO KNOW THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION". THIS IS NOT

PIE IN THE SKY BY AND BY, THIS IS POWER THAT WE CAN EXPERIENCE

TODAY. IN ROMANS 1;16 WE READ, IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO

SALVATION. THIS IS THE POWER THAT BRINGS LIFE TO THE DEAD. EACH

AND EVERY ONE OF US WERE ONCE WALKING DEAD MEN. UNTIL YOU

EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION, YOU ARE DEAD IN

YOUR SINS.

PAUL ADDS, I WANT SHARE IN HIS SUFFERING, BECOME LIKE HIM

IN HIS DEATH, SOMEHOW ATTAIN THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.

THIS IS THE PROMISE TO THE BELIEVER, AT OUR PHYSICAL DEATH, WE

GO TO BE WITH JESUS. WE WILL EXPERIENCE THIS RESURRECTION

POWER.

VS12; "I HAVE NOT ALREADY OBTAINED THIS, I HAVE NOT BEEN

MADE PERFECT." PAUL SAYS, I AM NOT THERE YET, I STILL HAVE A WAYS

GO. THIS IS AN ONGOING THING. LET ME SHARE THIS WITH YOU, JUST

ABOUT THE TIME YOU THINK YOU HAVE MADE IT, THERE WILL BE

ANOTHER HURDLE TO CROSS. KNOWING THAT WE HAVE NOT MADE IT,

WE ARE NOT THERE YET. PAUL SAYS, THIS IS WHAT I DO.

"I PRESS ON". HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU JUST WANT TO GIVE UP?

THATS IT, I CANT TAKE ANY MORE. I AM FINISHED, I QUIT. WE HAVE ALL

BEEN THERE AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER.

CHURCHILL SPOKE AT THE HARROW SCHOOL, OCT 29, 1941, HE GAVE

THIS SPEECH, I AM GOING TO QUOTE IT LIKE IT HAS BEEN QUOTED, ALTHO

THERE ARE SOME WHO SAY THIS IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID. HE WENT

TO THE PODIUM AND SAID, "NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER,

GIVE UP. NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER GIVE UP." THE HE SET

DOWN. THAT BECAME THE RALLYING CRY FOR ENGLAND FOR THE WAR.

LET ME SUGGEST, THAT SHOULD BE THE RALLYING CRY OF THE CHRISTIAN.

PAUL SAID, PRESS ON. "TO TAKE HOLD OF THAT FOR WHICH CHRIST

JESUS TOOK HOLD OF ME." WHY DID JESUS TAKE HOLD OF YOU? FIRST FOR