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Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest

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questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search

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and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor

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of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the

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life we're searching for. Thank you so much for joining us on Easter Sunday morning. We're

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so glad that you're here today. We've had such a full weekend. So exciting to see what God has

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done. You see the cross behind us here. Many of you may have been here on Friday night when we

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have the cross service, which we do this every year on Good Friday. And I built a cross where

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I preached the message of the cross. Just celebrate with us for a moment. We had so many decisions

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that we were a little bit overwhelmed in a really, really good way. But we had ultimately 50 people

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gave their lives to Jesus on Friday night, made a decision to follow Christ. Wow. We are very

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excited about that. But you know, God's not done at the cross. God has so much beyond the cross that

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he's going to do. The title of the message today is God's not done with you. And if you'll take

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your Bibles and turn to Philippians chapter three, beginning in verse seven, we'll read in just a

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moment. You know, the resurrection says that God's not done at the cross. And we all know the story.

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There's more. And that more was that Jesus Christ would rise from the dead. And I want you to think

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about this with me for a moment. Hundreds of people knew Jesus before he died on the cross.

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We know the disciples. We know the names of some of the women that knew Christ. We know that many

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on the Mount of Beatitudes heard Jesus teach, but several hundred knew him personally before the

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cross. But have you ever considered this fact about the resurrection, that untold millions have

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come to know Jesus after the resurrection? And that's part of why the resurrection is there. So

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that Christ would come back from the dead and reveal himself to those of us on this side of

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history. And what an incredible opportunity it is to know Jesus Christ personally. That's really the

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focus of the message today in Philippians chapter three. You know, when I was in college a number of

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years ago, I was very aware of an attractive female student on our campus and her name was

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Kim Hawkins. That was her maiden name. I remember one day when someone came up to me and said,

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do you know Kim? Do you know that girl named Kim? And I said, well, I know who she is, but I don't

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know her personally. However, I said, I would really like to know her personally. And they

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introduced me to her and it wasn't long before we were an everyday item. And now 45 years later,

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she's been my wife for those 45 years and my life has changed so powerfully since knowing her. Now,

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I think most of us have a story of someone we came to know in a personal way and has altered

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our lives, changed our life, hopefully for the better than we were before. Well, take that best

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scenario of relationships, magnify it by a million times. And that's what it means to personally know

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the resurrected Jesus Christ. My goal today is for you to know Christ in the most intimate possible

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way. Philippians chapter three, beginning in verse seven, would you stand with me as we read

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this text today. Most of us know who the apostle Paul is before his renaming to Paul. He was Saul.

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He was a persecutor of the church. He was a Pharisee believing he was doing what he was supposed

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to be doing with missing God in every way though. In Philippians chapter three, verse seven, he talks

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about the power of the resurrection in his own life. And that's what I want you to see today,

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how the resurrection changes everything and everyone. Look at what he says in verse seven.

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He says, but whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake

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of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing

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Christ. Now, every time you see the word know or knowing in this text, it's a word that means to

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experience. It's not just knowing about, it's not just seeing from a distance, but experiencing him

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in a personal way. The surpassing value of knowing Christ my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss

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of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ and may be found in him, not

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having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.

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The righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. And here it is again in verse 10,

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that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings

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being conformed to his death in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Verse 12,

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not that I've already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay

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it hold of that which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as

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having laid hold of a jet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward

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to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ

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Jesus. I truly believe this passage can change your life and I believe it's changed Paul's life,

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I believe it's changed my life and my prayers it will change your life. Father, in Jesus name,

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I pray you'll reveal the truths of this passage to each one of us today. Just shine the spotlight on

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our hearts and on this truth and Lord, let it prove revolutionary to every one of us. I ask this in

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Jesus name and everybody said amen. Please be seated if you would. I guess you can see the

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emphasis here without much instruction going on. Just read the text and you can see a few things.

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The resurrection is mentioned all the way through this text several times. And then you see the word

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knowing used at least twice. And the idea there is Paul is saying that the greatest goal I'll have

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in life and the greatest pursuit I have is knowing Jesus Christ personally. This would be the

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resurrected Jesus. Jesus came, lived perfectly on the earth for 33 years, died on the cross,

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rose again the third day. That's what we've been celebrating today and it's easy to celebrate the

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resurrection of Jesus. We love to tell the story of how he came back from the dead. But what are

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you doing with Jesus on the other side of death? And what are you doing with Jesus on the other side

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of the tomb? He's alive. He's resurrected. Has that made a difference in your life?

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Paul says it's made an incredible, extraordinary difference in my life. And today as we walk through

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this text, I want to show you some things that Paul discovered about the resurrection of Jesus,

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things you'll learn that I think are very, very important. Number one,

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we learned that God's not measuring you. God is not measuring you. Now there's another part to that

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statement that I'm going to reveal in just a few moments, but first let's just park on that just a

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moment. Most of us believe that the way we have a relationship with God is by us measuring up

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to some standard that God has placed in front of us. But Paul says right at the top of this text,

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something different. He says, and I may be found in him not having a righteousness of my own

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derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes

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from God on the basis of faith. I'm convinced that most of us spend most of our lives measuring up

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in some way to God's expectations. In fact, I know this entire religions are built upon that.

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They're built upon not doing the don'ts and doing the things that we learn we are to do.

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It's about measuring up to what we were last year or the year before or measuring up to other people

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in our lives. And so we look at God and we say, you know, God, I know you're measuring me. I know

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you're evaluating me to see whether I'm worthy or not to be able to be in relationship with you.

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And so that's kind of how life operates. We do that in every other realm of life. It just kind

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of makes sense to us. We compete with others for grades. We compete for others for our jobs. We

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compete on the athletic field. We try to measure up to our neighbors. We want what everybody else

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wants because we don't want to be missing or behind or lacking in some way. I mean, all of

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life is like that. So it's kind of logical sense to say, well, God's like that. Relating to God is

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like that. I need to measure up to God for him to accept me and we would be wrong. Just like Paul

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was wrong. In fact, if you read these verses, you can see where Paul puts forth two measures of

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righteousness here. One was Paul's and the other was Christ Jesus. Now I want you to notice what

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it says and what that means. Paul's story really is all about an attempt to be religiously

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perfect. He's trying to measure up in every way that he can possibly measure up to the Old

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Testament law that you find in the book of Exodus, the 10 commandments, for example, and also the

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631 rabbinical additions to the law that you also see in scripture. And he was trying to measure up

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to all those things. And yet at the same time, he realized that he couldn't measure up all the way

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and he was frustrated. I want you to notice what he says about his own life in verses four through

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six. If you have your Bibles open to Philippians three, this is quite revealing. He says, if anyone

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has a mind to have confidence in the flesh, I far more circumcise the eighth day of the nation of

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Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal,

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as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to the righteousness which is from the law found blameless.

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And honestly, nobody could beat Paul in that. I mean, he had the pedigree, he had the background,

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he had the training, he knew the law in every possible way and nobody could beat Paul.

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Sometimes we look around us and say, you know, I can't beat that person. I can't be as spiritual

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as that person or as perfect as that person. And when we compare ourselves with everyone else,

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we focus on our shortcomings. We focus on our failures. We focus on every loss that we have

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and we feel those failures and we feel weak and we feel unable. And it either makes us become

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perfectionists like Paul or it makes us try harder and eventually just give up.

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Paul was a perfectionistic type and he was doing everything he could. But I want you to know this

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is not God's standard for Paul, it's not God's standard for you. Paul was basically saying,

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here's the law right here and I measure up almost all the way to the completeness of the law. I'm

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blameless before everybody else. And then Jesus came along, which is why Paul was mad at Jesus

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before his conversion. And Jesus made this statement. He said, unless your righteousness

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surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

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And all of a sudden Paul's comparison changed. This is the law and this is Paul. And then here

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is Jesus who is perfect in every way. And Paul realizes, I can't have a relationship with God

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if it has to come through Jesus. I can never measure up to who Jesus Christ is. But one day

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Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. I hope you know the story. It's found in Acts chapter 9,

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chapter 26, and chapter 24, where he's retelling it. And Paul is marching on the way to persecute

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the church, those who are truly following Christ at the time, and he's breathing threats. It says

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he's breathing murder. He's going to put him to death because he doesn't believe in what they

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believe in. And he sees a bright light on the road to Damascus. In fact, the light blinds him so much.

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And then he hears the voice coming out of heaven, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Why are

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you going the wrong way? And at that moment, the apostle Paul, whose name was Saul at the time,

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met Jesus Christ personally and intimately in his resurrection form on the road to Damascus,

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and everything changed about his life. In fact, if you read everything he says,

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after he's encountered with Jesus, it's not about measuring up. He talks about being chosen. He

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talks about being appointed by God in spite of anything good or anything bad that he'd done in

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his life. His whole conversion moment was about accepting Jesus Christ and his righteousness.

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In other words, what Paul said basically in the end is, if you accept the Son,

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you accept everything and the Father accepts you. Now listen to the line that he says in the latter

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part of that verse we read, that I may be found in him with the righteousness that comes from God

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on the basis of faith. When all was said and done, God did not want Paul's performance. He wanted his

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acceptance of the Son and the recognition of his Son as the perfect Son. And in exchange, Paul was

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accepted by God. And that's the principle. When you accept God's Son, God accepts you as his own.

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That's a very different measure than what we measure most of the time. Years ago, there was a

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story told, and it bears repeating, even though it's been around for a long time, it was a story of

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a father and a son, both of whom had art passions. They had a passion for art, for purchasing art.

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They themselves were artists. And so they spent time going throughout the world, collecting these

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different famous pieces of art from the most famous of all artists, and they built a collection in

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their home. In the course of time, the son was drafted into the army, went to serve overseas,

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and died in service. There was a few months later that one of the comrades of this son who had died

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came to that father's house and unfolded a portrait he had made by hand while on the back

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of the battlefield. He said, I know you've lost your son, and I want you to know he was close to

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me as well. And I'm just presenting you with this portrait that I made on the battlefield of your

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son. Of course, the father was still grief stricken over the loss of his son, but took the portrait

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and moved everything else out of the way, all the most famous, most valuable paintings out of the

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way, and put the portrait of his son over the fireplace so that it would be centered to everything

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because of his love for his son. In the course of time, he died. And of course, when he died,

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the instructions to the executors of his estate were that they would sell the estate in an auction.

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Everybody came from far and wide to get one of those paintings, to bid on the most valuable

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art in the world. And the way it was arranged by his will is that the son's portrait would come

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up first. And the auctioneer began to call for bids on the portrait of the son, just a hand-drawn

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portrait of a son. Not bad, not excellent, certainly not famous like the rest of the art

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that was on display. Everybody was just waiting for the most valuable pieces to be auctioned off.

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And at the end of the bids for the son, it was sold for $100 to a close friend of the family.

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And with that, the auctioneer shut the whole auction down and said,

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the terms of the will are this, whoever has the son gets it all. Whoever buys this painting gets

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all of them free. And I think that's an incredible story to help us remember he who has the son has

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the life. In fact, that's what it says in 1 John chapter 5 verse 12, he who has the son has the

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life. He who does not have the son of God does not have the life. God is not measuring you. He's

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doing something completely different. He's accepting you by his grace and by his forgiveness and his

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goodness. And that's how you meet Jesus. Not with a bright light on a road to Damascus the way

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Paul did, but with the recognition that he has everything for you. His righteousness was enough

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to pay for your sin. And once you find yourself in him, you have his righteousness in your life.

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You don't have to measure up because you've been accepted by God the Father through the work of

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Jesus Christ on the cross. Somebody needs to say amen about that because that means that we are

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forgiven. God's not measuring you, but this text also says God's not condemning you.

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God's not condemning you. In verse 10, Paul says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection

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and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death in order that I may

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attain to the resurrection from the dead. Now, if I were to ask a question of you today,

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where did death begin? Most of you would go all the way back to the book of Genesis,

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where death actually began. Adam and Eve were created in the garden of Eden. They were placed

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and they were walking in innocence before God. God gave them one command and they disobeyed the one

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by eating of the tree that was forbidden. And as a result of that, sin cursed mankind.

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And the very first part of that curse was the declaration of death. Death came because man

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became condemned in disobedience. Condemnation brings death. Now, here's Paul who's not talking

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about condemnation, but he's talking about life. It's really amazing how different perspectives

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are when you understand that there is a resurrection. Keep in mind, I'm a pastor and I do lots of

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funerals. Unfortunately, when people die, then there I am doing the funeral quite often. And I

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stand at the head of the casket when that casket is open and often people walk by paying their last

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respects to the family and to the deceased. And I can tell you from very early on as a pastor,

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I can remember watching people's catenates, watching their faces as they walk past that casket and

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realizing who really believed in the resurrection of the dead and who did not. For those of you

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who did not believe in resurrection, it was a grief stricken moment. It was final. Death is it.

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There's nothing other than death. Nothing on the other side of death and you can see it on their

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face. But for those who walk by, there's a measure of grief, but they're not grieving as though they

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have no hope. They grieve in a different way. And that grief is, yes, they died, but I know they're

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with Christ today and I'll see them again. It's a very different look, a very different catenate,

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a very different perspective. Resurrection brings a whole new view of condemnation and death,

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unlike anything we've ever experienced before. God is not condemning you. He lifts the condemnation

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and gives light through the resurrection when we put ourselves in Jesus Christ. Far from condemning,

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he is preparing a place for us, has a plan for us. Have you ever thought about why God would create

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heaven? That's because he wants you with him for all time and all eternity. He's not condemning you.

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He's preparing you for the day when you can walk with him intimately and personally day by day,

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by day by day, by year by year, forever and ever. In existence, so far surpassing what we have here

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on this planet, we can't even imagine what it's like. So there's no condemnation on those who are

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in Christ Jesus. That's what the scripture says. In fact, when you read Romans chapter eight, verse

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one, you have an incredible picture of what our relationship with God is really like. Chapter eight,

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verse one, here's what it says. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

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Jesus. I hope you let that verse come to your heart. There is now therefore no condemnation,

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not since Christ died, not since Christ rose from the dead. There is now no condemnation for those

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who are in Christ Jesus. If you keep reading through Romans eight, you'll realize this truth.

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God's not condemning you. He is adopting you. It's a very different relationship that he has for us.

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You know, by law in Rome, you can disown biological children, but you cannot disown adoptive children.

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Now let that sink in for a moment. I mean, we never imagined that we would

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disown our biological children, but by Roman law, you had to do research into the life of the child

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you were adopting. And by law, you had to keep them for all of your life. They immediately received

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all that you owned. And so you had to check them out really well if you were going to adopt them.

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Adoption was a permanent decision, a forever decision. But the idea of adoption in Roman

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culture was the illustration that Paul chose to use about our relationship with God in Christ now.

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Because what adoption says to us is it helps us see God's view of us. Here's the view that God has

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of us. When you come to Christ, he knows about your past. He knows about the things you've kept

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hidden. He knows about your shame. He knows about your sin. He knows about the thoughts in your life,

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everything you've ever thought, every wicked thing you've ever participated in. He knows that.

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He knows your present. He knows what was going on yesterday and what's going on today.

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He knows what's on your mind right now, even as you listen to me. But God also knows your future.

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You don't even know your future, but God knows what's going to happen next week and next month

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and next year. And in spite of everything God knows, and he knows it all, in spite of all that,

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the Bible says there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. And further it says you've not

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been given the spirit of fear leading to slavery again, but you have been given the spirit of

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adoption by where you call God Abba, Father. You have a spirit of adoption in Christ. You can now

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call the Father Abba, which is the most intimate way to express yourself to God the Father.

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Abba is that intimate name that Jesus Christ himself called God the Father. In the Garden of

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Gethsemane in Mark chapter 14 verse 36, you see Jesus use this, Abba, Father, all things are

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possible for you. Remove this cup that is the cup of suffering for me, yet not what I have been

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given to you. It is the cup of suffering for me, yet not what I will, but you will. It's a term of

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endearment, a term of trust. It means I surrender to you. And I've got adult children today, but

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even when they were younger in the home, they didn't call me Father. I am their father, but they

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didn't call me Father. I have all kinds of nicknames that they've given me. Daddy, when they were

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whatever them calls me. Pop, one of my daughter calls me. All kinds of affectionate terms, but

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those terms are terms that I love, and I love them because it says intimacy. They don't just say,

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hey, Father John, can I do this or that? That would be weird. The dad,

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pa, pop. It implies relationship. It implies love. It implies trust. It says there's intimacy.

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It says that we are together in this. Do you know what God is saying to you by telling you,

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you can call him Abba, Father? That you're not being measured. You've been accepted.

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You're not being condemned. You've been adopted into his family. Let that sink into your mind

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for just a moment. You're not trying to measure up. You're just a son or a daughter of God through

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Jesus Christ who does measure up and who always has. It's so important for you to get this idea

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of the resurrection's power says that everything that was necessary in dealing with sin and death

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and condemnation, Jesus did so that you can be an adopted son or daughter of God. Try that on for

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size. Feel what that means. So God's not measuring you. He's accepting you. God's not condemning

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you. He's adopting you. And then finally, Paul helps us see that God's not done with you. You're

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not done with you. He got a feature for you. Notice what it says in verse 13 and 14. Just love this.

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These are some of the most often quoted verses that I hear people sharing, especially when

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they're eager to see what the future is. He says, brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid

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hold of it yet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind. I just love that line. Would you

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repeat that with me? Forgetting what lies behind. What a line. What an important thing to know.

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Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on towards the goal

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for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Who doesn't have something that they want

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to forget and leave behind? I remember a few years ago waking up in the middle of the night

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and I must have been dreaming about things in my past because in my memory, as vivid as I can

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imagine, I was remembering disappointing things that I'd said and done many years before.

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I was feeling the weight of it for some reason. It was just on me. It was heavy and the memory was

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vivid and I was confused about why I was remembering all these things that I hadn't thought of

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in years and years. I'm so grateful that in that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to me in an

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unforgettable way saying, I'm not condemning you. I'm reminding you of all that you've been forgiven

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of so that you can focus on the future and help others that are walking through the same condemnation

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that you one time felt. That's what it means to forget what lies behind and be able to stretch

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forward to what lies ahead. Keep looking forward, not backwards. That's what Paul is saying. Don't

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look back on your old way of life. If anyone had regrets about the old way of life, it would have

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been Saul or Paul putting people to death who followed Christ. This passage tells us, keep

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looking ahead. Don't look behind. My favorite vehicle is an old Ford truck that I've been

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restoring for a long time. It's a 1992 version. It had its 32nd birthday the other day. I love

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that truck a lot. That truck has a rear view mirroring on it but not like the new cars. It

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doesn't have the big 12 inch screen where you can see a panoramic vision of what's behind you and

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I'm glad. It's just got a little skinny rear view mirror. That little skinny rear view mirror lets me

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glance and look at what's behind me but it's all I need really because if I tried to drive

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that truck forward while looking and focusing on what's behind me, I would surely have a

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collision ahead of me. But instead of that, there is a larger piece of glass called the windshield

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in front of that little rear view mirror and that windshield gives me panoramic vision. I can see

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everything in front of me and I'm designed and we as drivers are designed to just look forward so

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that we can see everything in our path as we drive forward. And if I try to drive keeping my eyes on

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that rear view mirror, I will have a collision. And life is very much like that. If you try to

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live life forward while looking back all the time, you will have all kinds of problems in the future

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but the past can be forgotten. It can be put away by the power of Christ and you can fully focus on

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the future. That's what Paul is saying here. Forgetting what lies behind, reaching forward

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to what lies ahead. Forgetting what lies behind means that I know my past is completely covered

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in Jesus Christ. When he died on that cross, he took all my sins, past, present, and future,

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even though I wasn't alive. When Jesus died on that cross 2,000 years ago, God is timeless and

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Jesus' death was timeless. That means everything in my past was covered by the blood of Jesus Christ

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on the cross. And all forgiven and all paid for. So what that means is I know I'm completely hidden

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in Christ. Forgetting what lies behind is completely connected with remembering who we are in Christ and

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that's a daily decision that you have to make in order to live life forward. Now there's another

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line here before we're through. That line is I press on towards the goal of the upward call

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of Jesus Christ. The word call means the invitation. And it means that Christ has invited you

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to an upward call. He's calling you up, not back. You have an upward invite from Christ.

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Now listen to me carefully. Every day you'll get two invitations. One from the accuser, the enemy,

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who calls you back, and one from the forgiver, who is Jesus, who calls you forward. How you live

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life depends on what you do with those two invitations. Now you think about all the things

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that the accuser of the brethren calls you to go back to. When he calls you, you say,

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Jesus Christ has promised that he has taken care of my past through his blood. I'm not going back

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there anymore. He has also promised me that he's called me to something in the future.

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That's the direction I'm going in. Forward, not backwards. You see, when you can live like that

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and think like that, God's not done with you. He has a whole new chapter to open up in your life.

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And he closes the old chapter in a way that makes it permanent. So let me ask you today,

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what do you need to forget? Don't forget it. Put it behind you. What do you mean, Pastor? You don't

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know how big my past was. You don't know how egregious my sin was. You don't know how deep

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I was into that. And let me just ask you, is it deeper than death? Is it further away from the

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finality of death? Jesus Christ rose from the dead. His power is enough to deal with your past,

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however big you may think it is. Forget what lies behind, reaching forward to what lies ahead.

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If Paul can help a religious terrorist like Paul forget his past, he can help you.

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If Paul can help a man named Peter who denied Christ three times, he can help you move forward.

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If he could help a doubting man like Thomas who even died of the resurrection, then he can help

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you move forward. He can help you deal with your past and give you a new life on your earth until

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eternity happens. Forgetting what lies behind, reach forward to what lies ahead. Now let me

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invite you to something. Over the next nine weeks, I'm going to take the time to walk through

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nine biblical characters that were called by God away from their past into a brand new future.

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And they all had to conclude, God's not done with me. Some of them were extraordinarily surprised.

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Some of them were stunned that God was not done with them. But in each case, some of these great

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heroes in the Bible, you'll see the story of how you can understand they thought God was done with

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them, but how God surprised them and said, I'm not done with you. I'm going to use your past

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and propel you into an amazing future. And that's the message series we'll be in for the next nine

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weeks. God's not done with you. You can forget the past. You can move forward into the future.

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Now let me bring you three verses that I need you to just let sink into your heart for a moment.

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First, John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to

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cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Some of you today are thinking of those sins,

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but as you come to him confessing those sins through Jesus' blood,

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he cleanses you from all unrighteousness. Some of you need to hear 2 Corinthians 5,

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verse 17, which says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature.

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The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. Some of you need to remember

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what the prophet said at the book of Isaiah. Don't call to mind the former things or ponder

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things from the past. Behold, I will do something new in your life and believe God for those who

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believe God for those things that are new. God's not measuring you. He's accepting you in his son.

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God is not condemning you. He's adopting you. God is not done with you. He's leading you

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to a brand new chapter in your life. That door will open when you by faith begin to walk

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in the direction he's led you. What an incredible promise of a resurrection Savior. The fact that

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he's alive and leading, the fact that he has helped us deal with all the things in the past

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and helped us towards the future. My prayer is that God's going to open the door for everybody

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in this room about what he has for them in the future. So let me ask you this question.

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Have you met Christ personally? That's the key for all of this. Do you know him personally?

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Have you come to the place of talking to him and praying to him and saying, Lord,

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I trust what you did on the cross to forgive me of sin, to give me this gift of eternal life.

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I am in you and in your righteousness and my path is covered through your blood. I'm expecting you

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to lead me into the future. Today you can say like Paul, I press on towards the goal for the prize of

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the upward call of God in Christ, not backwards, forwards and upward in Christ. Just a few moments,

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I'm going to close in prayer, but I gave you three invitations before I do that. Number one,

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before you leave today and on your way out, you'll see decision stations that are located at the back

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of our worship center. Those decision stations are there for conversations. They're there for you to

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be able to have a conversation with someone who can answer questions you may have. We've talked

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about what it means to meet Christ personally today. I would encourage you to stop and talk to

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someone about what that means if you haven't ever done that, if you haven't ever experienced that.

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We want you to experience that today. A casual conversation. We go back and forth. We answer

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questions. We point you to the scripture. So that's the first invitation I give you. Stop by the

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decision station. Number two, I want to encourage you to come back next week for this series, God's

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Not Done With You. There's actually a way for you to hand out invites to people in your neighborhood

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or in the spirit of your influence. Bring them back. You know someone that needs to know that

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God's not done with them. Bring them with you because these stories are incredible stories

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that are connecting to us in a powerful way. And then thirdly, if this is your first time with us,

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I want to offer something to you today. There's a place called the Guest Central just outside our

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central doors. Right now our coffee shop is the place with several screens around the top of the

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desk. And if you're a guest today and you're here for the first time, we have a gift that we want

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to give you. All you have to do is just let us know who you are and we encourage you to get on

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your phone and write the word text and send it to the number 63566. And that just lets us know

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who you are. Or you can grab one of the cards in the seat back in front of you and just put

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your name down in any way that we can contact you. But for being our guest today, we want to

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present you with a gift and also a free voucher for the book that will be released next week,

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God's Not Done With You. It'll go right along with our message series. It'll be something you can

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take home and read through. So that voucher of a free copy of that new book will be given to you

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when you go back as a guest to that guest central. And I want to encourage you to do that. I'll

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actually be out there hoping I can meet you over these next few moments. Would you stand with me

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as we have a closing word of prayer? Father, I'm so grateful that you give us a future

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secured in Jesus Christ. So thankful that you can take care of our past, something we could never do.

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I pray today, Lord, for you to personally reveal yourself to those that have never met you,

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never experienced you before. Father, I thank you so much that the promise of Jesus Christ is still

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offered today on the basis of His resurrection. And we celebrate that, but we also want to

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participate in that. So Lord, today, let each of us do that. Thank you, Father, for all this. I ask

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this in Jesus' name. Amen.