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Happy-Hopes-for-High-Achievers-Msg-8-14 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Those who encourage self promotion offer a very persuasive message
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Speaker 1: to support increasing everybody's self esteem. I'm sure you've heard
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Speaker 1: of some of them, like call attention to your achievements,
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Speaker 1: your pettigree, and say a lot about how hard you're working.
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Speaker 1: After all, you deserve the credit. And there are lots
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Speaker 1: of people who follow that advice. In his place and time,
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Speaker 1: few could match the pride and the achievements of a
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Speaker 1: man named Saul of Tarsus. The accolades that hung on
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Speaker 1: his ego wall meant everything to him, and I do
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Speaker 1: mean everything. But one day, on a dusty road to Damascus,
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Speaker 1: this man came to see the real value of his achievements.
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Speaker 1: Put bluntly, they were worthless. They were no better than garbage,
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Speaker 1: a complete loss. Now, in case you wonder about that,
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Speaker 1: you need to turn with me in your Bibles to
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Speaker 1: a letter to the Philippians. He wrote that letter, and
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Speaker 1: in the third chapter this man in verses one through eleven,
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Speaker 1: offers his testimony regarding his achievements. And now he puts
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Speaker 1: everything in perspective. So if you've got a Bible, find it,
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Speaker 1: turn with me to Philippians chapter three. I'll begin at
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Speaker 1: verse one Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To
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Speaker 1: write the same things again is no trouble to me,
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Speaker 1: and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs,
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Speaker 1: beware of evil workers, Beware of the false circumcision, for
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Speaker 1: we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit
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Speaker 1: of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no
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Speaker 1: confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence
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Speaker 1: even in the flesh, if anyone else has a mind
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Speaker 1: to put confidence in the flesh, I far more circumcise
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Speaker 1: the eighth day of the Nation of Israel, of the
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Speaker 1: tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the
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Speaker 1: law of Pharisee, as to Zeal, a persecutor of the Church,
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Speaker 1: as to the righteousness which is in the Law found blameless.
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Speaker 1: But whatever things were gained to me, those things I
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Speaker 1: have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More
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Speaker 1: than that I count all things to be lost in
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Speaker 1: view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
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Speaker 1: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
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Speaker 1: and count them but rubbish, that I may gain Christ
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Speaker 1: and may be found in Him. Not having a righteousness
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Speaker 1: of my own derived from the law, but that which
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Speaker 1: is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from
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Speaker 1: God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him,
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Speaker 1: and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of
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Speaker 1: his sufferings, being conformed to his death in order that
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Speaker 1: I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Human
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Speaker 1: achievement and human righteousness seem always to be in vogue.
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Speaker 1: They start to go together, and we are raised in
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Speaker 1: a society that's like that. You work hard to live
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Speaker 1: up to good human potential, and as a result of
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Speaker 1: your hard work and achievement, you are rewarded.
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Speaker 2: You are awarded.
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Speaker 1: You and I have both been in businesses where the
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Speaker 1: walls seemed to be lined with awards that have been
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Speaker 1: won by certain individuals. Certain bonuses are given. I was
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Speaker 1: on a trip coming back from Germany several months ago,
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Speaker 1: and on that same flight coming back from the Europe
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Speaker 1: I met a couple and they were returning from a
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Speaker 1: month's trip that their company had given them because he
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Speaker 1: had done.
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Speaker 2: Such a great job that year.
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Speaker 1: I asked what the name of that company was when
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Speaker 1: I heard that they were being rewarded with a trip
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Speaker 1: Europe because he had done such a great job. I
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Speaker 1: had been in athletes' homes where the wall seems to
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Speaker 1: be covered with plaques and awards that that athlete has won,
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Speaker 1: and a trophy.
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Speaker 2: Case that seems chuck full of those awards.
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Speaker 1: When you buy a car, you sit in a salesperson's office,
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Speaker 1: and often placed in a very prominent location behind him
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Speaker 1: so you can see it, is a plaque that says
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Speaker 1: something like salesperson of the year or salesperson of the decade.
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Speaker 1: Several days ago, I was with friends at a Los
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Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers game and it happened again. Not only was
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Speaker 1: everybody handed a little card to vote on the NBA
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Speaker 1: All Star team, and you have a whole list of
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Speaker 1: great names that are there, and nobody needs to have
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Speaker 1: those names explained to them. They have made their own
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Speaker 1: name in our world of athletics. But when we stood
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Speaker 1: for the Star spangled bantner to be sung, we faced
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Speaker 1: the flag, and as I put my hand over my heart,
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Speaker 1: I have to tell you that my I wandered a
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Speaker 1: bit because hanging not far from the flag are these
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Speaker 1: oversized jerseys with numbers on them that are familiar to
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Speaker 1: any basketball fan. They have been hung there in retirement
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Speaker 1: in honor of the players who once.
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Speaker 2: Wore that number. And then there is a banner.
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Speaker 1: That says Coach of the Decade with his name there,
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Speaker 1: and then Player of the Decade with his name there.
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Speaker 1: I thought, you can't get away from it.
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Speaker 2: It's all around us.
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Speaker 1: Human achievement results in earthly applause and rewards, and really
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Speaker 1: there's nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact,
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Speaker 1: a lot of us are motivated by that sort of thing.
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Speaker 1: And maybe you're not, but most people I know like
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Speaker 1: a stroke or two every once in a while. I've
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Speaker 1: made a list of various categories where there are awards given.
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Speaker 1: There are technical personnel who are awarded with certain kinds
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Speaker 1: of rewards. There are actors and actresses who receive awards,
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Speaker 1: scientists and designers and architects and military heroes and engineers
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Speaker 1: and entrepreneurs and musical composers and chefs who come up
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Speaker 1: with unique recipes.
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Speaker 2: And this just names only a few.
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Speaker 1: From our earliest years, we are taught that if we
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Speaker 1: do a good job, we will.
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Speaker 2: Get the benefits of it. How many of.
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Speaker 1: Us told our kids that they if they earned good grades,
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Speaker 1: they could look forward to a scholarship someday and universities
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Speaker 1: come along and hand out scholarships to people who who
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Speaker 1: have academically outstripped others in their graduating class. And those
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Speaker 1: who were good on the football or the basketball field,
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Speaker 1: are good in track or tennis are often given awards
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Speaker 1: or scholarships so they can go to this fine university. Again,
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Speaker 1: there's nothing wrong with it as long as we were
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Speaker 1: that all of those awards are earthly. All of that
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Speaker 1: achieves greatness in the eyes of fellow human beings, and
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Speaker 1: we sometime give them standing ovations because.
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Speaker 2: They have earned the award.
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Speaker 1: The problem comes in the transfer of that to the
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Speaker 1: vertical thinking that because we have done such a great
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Speaker 1: job on earth, God will tip his hat, as it were,
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Speaker 1: or God will applaud us or earthly work that we
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Speaker 1: have done, and will invite us to join his family
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Speaker 1: in heaven. Because we have been so great on earth,
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Speaker 1: how could he possibly leave us out of heaven. That,
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Speaker 1: of course, is where it all breaks down. At that point,
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Speaker 1: scripture speaks louder than any earthly opinion.
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Speaker 2: I've got my Bible open to Romans chapter.
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Speaker 1: Three, for example, and in this third chapter you read
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Speaker 1: words that don't win friends, and they don't influence people.
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Speaker 2: But they're true words.
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Speaker 1: They're words that say what you'll never hear from academia today,
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Speaker 1: or you'll never hear from your sales manager. You'll never
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Speaker 1: hear this information from those who want to give you
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Speaker 1: the feel good results of hard work. But you see
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Speaker 1: a Romans three is written from God's point of view,
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Speaker 1: and he says in verse ten, as it is written,
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Speaker 1: hold on now, hold on if you're a humanist at heart,
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Speaker 1: As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one.
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Speaker 1: There is none who understands. There is none who seeks
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Speaker 1: for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless.
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Speaker 1: And if that isn't clear enough, there is none who
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Speaker 1: does good.
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Speaker 2: There is not.
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Speaker 1: Even one, not even one. Say well, that sounds like
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Speaker 1: something Paul would write. Mean he's been an extremist throughout
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Speaker 1: his life. What more can you expect?
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Speaker 2: Well, if you.
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Speaker 1: Think that you missed the first four words of verse
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Speaker 1: ten Paul's quoting, He's not telling you what he's dreamed up.
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Speaker 1: He's telling you what Scripture has said in ancient days.
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Speaker 1: In fact, let me show you what he's quoting, Psalm
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Speaker 1: number fourteen.
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Speaker 2: Turn back there. If you have a copy of the
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Speaker 2: scriptures available.
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Speaker 1: Look at Psalm fourteen, which, by the way, is in
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Speaker 1: its first three verses almost identical to Psalm fifty three
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Speaker 1: in its first three verses, so you could turn to
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Speaker 1: either one if you wanted to. Psalm fourteen reads as follows,
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Speaker 1: The Lord has looked down from heaven.
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Speaker 2: See that's the vertical.
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Speaker 1: This isn't a horizontal time. This isn't when one company
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Speaker 1: honors an employee, or when one school honors a student,
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Speaker 1: or one team honors a member of the team.
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Speaker 2: This is God's view of earth. That's important.
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Speaker 1: The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men,
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Speaker 1: and I think it would include the daughters of men
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Speaker 1: as well, to see if there are any who understand
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Speaker 1: who seek after God.
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Speaker 2: And this is what he says.
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Speaker 1: They have all turned aside together they have become corrupt.
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Speaker 1: There is no one who does good, not even one.
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Speaker 2: Well. That makes you think, especially if you're a high
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Speaker 2: achiever and you've been fit a bill of goods.
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Speaker 1: You've been pumped and pushed with motivational information about doing good.
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Speaker 1: And there's nothing wrong with doing good, absolutely not. We
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Speaker 1: need more of it on this earth.
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Speaker 2: But the mistake comes in thinking that.
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Speaker 1: My earthly good will result in eternal righteousness.
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Speaker 2: That's where it breaks down.
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Speaker 1: All of my earthly good comes across before God as
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Speaker 1: corrupt when it comes to earning eternal.
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Speaker 2: Life with him.
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Speaker 1: That's pretty extreme corrupt. Well, turn next to Isaiah sixty four.
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Speaker 1: It gets worse the more you look into it, and
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Speaker 1: you'll see that these passages are related to each other,
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Speaker 1: If not actual quotes, it's the same idea.
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Speaker 2: Now we're moving ahead.
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Speaker 1: In our Bibles to the end of Isaiah chapter sixty four.
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Speaker 2: And we're moving ahead in time.
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Speaker 1: So we've got a prophet in our writing, not a psalmist,
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Speaker 1: but a prophet, and it sounds an awfully lot like
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Speaker 1: Romans three and Psalm fourteen. Now hold on, you're going
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Speaker 1: to be a little shocked. I think Isaiah sixty four
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Speaker 1: to six, all of us have become like one who
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Speaker 1: is unclean. All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.
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Speaker 1: He continues, Our iniquities like the wind take us away.
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Speaker 2: There is no one who calls.
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Speaker 1: On thy name who arouses himself, we would add or
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Speaker 1: herself to take hold of thee.
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Speaker 2: There isn't one.
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Speaker 1: Did you get the descriptive phrase talk about picturesque language?
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Speaker 1: All our righteousnesses, those of us who were raised under
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Speaker 1: the King James version, remember of filthy rags. Don't we
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Speaker 1: all our righteousness as or as filthy rags? Forgive me
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Speaker 1: if this is too strong for some of you. But
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Speaker 1: I check the Hebrew on the meaning of filthy rags,
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Speaker 1: and I found that it is a technic, comes from
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Speaker 1: a technical term for ritual impurity.
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Speaker 2: And it has reference to menstrual cloths.
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Speaker 1: All our righteousnesses are as bloody rags. The great temptation
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Speaker 1: among high achievers is to doubt that I mean, earthly
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Speaker 1: honors are one when I work hard, so heavenly honors
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Speaker 1: must be one if I work hard wrong. That's the breakdown.
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Speaker 1: See the reason this kind of thinking happens is because
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Speaker 1: in heart of every one of us, high end, medium
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Speaker 1: and low achievers alike.
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Speaker 2: In the heart of every one of us is pride.
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Speaker 3: So proud we.
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Speaker 2: Don't want to bow the knee, we don't want to
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Speaker 2: bend to help.
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Speaker 1: We're so proud we don't even want to ask for
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Speaker 1: help when we need it. I remember when we lived
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Speaker 1: in New England, my family and I and I wasn't
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Speaker 1: used to snow, and I didn't know why people didn't
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Speaker 1: park on the street. I thought, that's the best place
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Speaker 1: in the world. Nobody parks there. There's no no parking sign.
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Speaker 1: So I parked on the street. Pick any place I want.
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Speaker 2: Snow was falling, fall felt fall all night.
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Speaker 1: It fell all night, and the snowplow came down the
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Speaker 1: street through the night and kept pushing up snow against
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Speaker 1: my car. The next morning I discovered why nobody parks
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Speaker 1: on the street.
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Speaker 2: I thought somebody stole my.
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Speaker 1: Car, and so I took my shovel and my trusty
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Speaker 1: spoon or whatever I had to push the snow off
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Speaker 1: of it, and I started work. I'd been working on
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Speaker 1: it fifteen twenty minutes, and I finally got to the
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Speaker 1: paint and I thought, that's my color. That must be
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Speaker 1: my car. And a friend of mine drove by. I
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Speaker 1: had been working on it twenty minutes or so, and
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Speaker 1: he yelled out the window, Hey, Chuck, can I help you?
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Speaker 1: I said, no, I got it, and he drove on.
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Speaker 1: Hour later. I wondered why didn't I ask him to
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Speaker 1: stop and help, cause I'm proud I'd dig my own
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Speaker 1: car out.
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Speaker 2: You know what else I did. By the way, I've
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Speaker 2: never shared this publicly.
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Speaker 1: I saw all this ice on the window, and I
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Speaker 1: thought it's dumb scraping that ice off. So I went
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Speaker 1: aside and got a hot pan of water and I
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Speaker 1: poured it on there, and that ice came off along
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Speaker 1: with the glass.
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Speaker 2: I had clear vision. It was a little cold in
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Speaker 2: the car, but I had clear vision.
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Speaker 3: You know.
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Speaker 1: The first thing I did when I broke my front
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Speaker 1: window out, I looked around to see if anybody was noticing.
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Speaker 1: I had a neighbor that spent all of those years
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Speaker 1: doing this out of his window.
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Speaker 3: Can't I was too proud to say, I'm an idiot.
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Speaker 2: I just pour the water all over the front winch.
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Speaker 1: Underneath this hard charging high achiever is a pride that
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Speaker 1: will not give in. Maybe you'll identify with the words
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Speaker 1: of this man. Work had always been highly esteemed in
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Speaker 1: our family, and hard work was seen as the primary.
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Speaker 2: Tool for success.
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Speaker 1: I figured if it were good to work ten hours,
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Speaker 1: it would be even better to work fourteen. During the
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Speaker 1: years when I was a coach and an area director
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Speaker 1: for Young Life, I would work twelve, fourteen, even fifteen
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Speaker 1: hours a day, six seven days a week, and I
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Speaker 1: would come home feeling that I hadn't worked enough. So
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Speaker 1: I tried to cram even more into my schedule. I
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Speaker 1: spent more time promoting living than I did living. I
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Speaker 1: never knew what Christ meant when he said, come to me,
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Speaker 1: all of you who are weary and overburdened, and I
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Speaker 1: will give you rest. My life wasn't abundant. It was
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Speaker 1: a frantic sprint from one hour to the next. I
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Speaker 1: was dominated by shoulds and aught tos and musts. I
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Speaker 1: would awaken unrefreshed in the mornings with a tired kind
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Speaker 1: of resentment, and hurry through the day trying to uncover
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Speaker 1: and meet the demands of others. I was exhausted trying
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Speaker 1: to be a hope, constantly rekindled for others, straining to
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Speaker 1: live up to their images of me. I had worked
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Speaker 1: hard to develop a reputation as one who was concerned,
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Speaker 1: available and involved. Now I was being tyrannized by it.
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Speaker 1: When I relax, I feel guilty.
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Speaker 2: Do you if you do?
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Speaker 1: You're a perfect candidate for the high achieving lost person
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Speaker 1: to think that if I will just work enough, I
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Speaker 1: will get God's attention and.
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Speaker 3: He will stop and say, wow.
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Speaker 2: Come on up, we need your kind.
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Speaker 1: Wrong, wrong, wrong, All of which brings us to the
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Speaker 1: third chapter of Philippians. The telltale sign of a life
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Speaker 1: like that is an absence of joy. As striving continues,
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Speaker 1: as being driven intensifies, the smile leaves, the joy goes
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Speaker 1: on vacation, and the laughter departs.
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Speaker 2: Paul began his third.
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Speaker 1: Or the center section of this wonderful letter to his
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Speaker 1: friends with a warning in today's language. He says, enjoy
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Speaker 1: the Lord. I repeat myself in joy the Lord. See
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Speaker 1: the way he writes it. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in
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Speaker 1: the Lord. To write the same things again. So he
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Speaker 1: said it before, and he's still saying it. To write
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Speaker 1: the same things again is no trouble to me, and
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Speaker 1: it is a safeguard for you. Why would he say that, Well,
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Speaker 1: the first reason he said, the first part of it,
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Speaker 1: he says, because it's no trouble at all. He needs
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Speaker 1: to remind them. Joy is a part of the agenda.
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Speaker 1: It's a part of the curriculum of the real Christian life.
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Speaker 1: Joy comes when you're confident in God that He is
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Speaker 1: at work, often in spite of who you are and
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Speaker 1: against human effort. Rejoice as you lean on Him, as
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Speaker 1: you trust him, as you find confidence in him. It's
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Speaker 1: good for me to write that again to you. In fact,
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Speaker 1: it's a safeguard. Now why would he say that, Because
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Speaker 1: they had been invaded by legalists who dogged Paul's steps
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Speaker 1: everywhere he went with this message of grace. Legalists were
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Speaker 1: right behind him like little dogs, nipping at his heels,
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Speaker 1: barking out.
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Speaker 2: The other message. You have to work hard. You have
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Speaker 2: to become like Jews Greeks living in Philippie.
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Speaker 1: You men need to be circumcised, and all of you
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Speaker 1: need to observe the ritualistic rights of the Jewish religion.
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Speaker 1: You need to eat a certain diet, you need to
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Speaker 1: conduct yourself in a certain manner. And in the process
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Speaker 1: of buying that message, you lose your joy, he warns them.
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Speaker 1: In fact, verse two will convince you that Paul wasn't
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Speaker 1: one to tell people what they wanted to hear.
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Speaker 2: Look at what he calls the legalists.
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Speaker 1: Beware of the dog, beware of the evil workers, beware
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Speaker 1: of the false circumcision.
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Speaker 2: What does all that mean?
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Speaker 1: Well, these are terms that are very familiar to people
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Speaker 1: in the first century, not to us today, especially the
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Speaker 1: first one.
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Speaker 2: Dogs.
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Speaker 1: I mean, once again, I speak to you who have
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Speaker 1: little nurtured dogs. I pay for it when I talk
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Speaker 1: about pets like this, But I tell you I really
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Speaker 1: pay for them when I talk about cats. I am
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Speaker 1: not talking about cats today. I'm talking about dogs. Dogs
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Speaker 1: in those days were dirty, little scavengers who snapped the
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Speaker 1: heels of those who were in the streets. They ran
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Speaker 1: in packs, they were mangy, they were wild. They weren't
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Speaker 1: little pets, most often not the kind he's talking about.
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Speaker 1: And he's saying, there are these who bark out false doctrines,
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Speaker 1: and they carry the infection of legalism.
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Speaker 2: Watch out for them. Furthermore, they're evil workers.
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Speaker 1: They taught that people were saved by works of the law,
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Speaker 1: that works as important as they are after salvation. They
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Speaker 1: taught that works lead you to salvation. But there's not
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Speaker 1: an evil worker on earth to this day who can
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Speaker 1: tell you how many works or guarantee heaven.
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Speaker 2: You never ever know which means enough. It's never enough.
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Speaker 2: You have to stay at it.
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Speaker 1: You have to pray more, you have to work harder,
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Speaker 1: you have to witness longer. You have to carefully watch
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Speaker 1: every area of your life because you're working to get
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Speaker 1: yourself into heaven. Hopefully, the good when you die will
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Speaker 1: outweigh the bad.
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Speaker 2: Then you go when you cross the gates of heaven.
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Speaker 1: Made it finally, But if that were the plan, when
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Speaker 1: you got into heaven, everybody in heaven would applaud you
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Speaker 1: because you joined the elite.
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Speaker 2: But when it's grace, we all.
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Speaker 1: Walk into heaven going, boy, this is amazing and what's
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Speaker 1: really humbling as other people say.
24:01
Speaker 2: You made it, you got in. Well, he does believe
24:06
Speaker 2: in grace.
24:08
Speaker 1: Evil workers don't have any grace in their message, and
24:12
Speaker 1: they are false circumcision people. Paul uses a play on words.
24:16
Speaker 1: He describes people who are guilty of mutilation, not just circumcision.
24:22
Speaker 1: This is my day for indelicate terms.
24:24
Speaker 2: Isn't it mutilation?
24:25
Speaker 1: They taught you have to be baptized, you have to
24:28
Speaker 1: be circumcised, you have to keep the Lord's table, you
24:30
Speaker 1: have to tithe, you have to do all these things
24:33
Speaker 1: and then hopefully, maybe someday, by the skin of your teeth,
24:36
Speaker 1: you'll make it and you can finally relax. Paul says,
24:42
Speaker 1: no wonder you've stopped rejoicing. Let me give you a tip,
24:46
Speaker 1: says the apostle verse three. We are the true circumcision.
24:52
Speaker 1: We are the ones who worship in the spirit of
24:55
Speaker 1: God and for the glory of Christ Jesus. Now, if
25:01
Speaker 1: you like marking your Bibles, I suggest you underline the
25:04
Speaker 1: last phrase of verse three.
25:07
Speaker 2: And we put no confidence in the flesh.
25:13
Speaker 1: Listen, high achievers, listen Type a's listen, salesmen and women
25:19
Speaker 1: of the year. Listen to you who carry around awards
25:24
Speaker 1: for your profession.
25:25
Speaker 2: Listen to this.
25:29
Speaker 1: There is no confidence placed in the flesh. Vertically speaking, none,
25:40
Speaker 1: he heads, although I myself might have confidence even in
25:45
Speaker 1: the flesh. Now Paul plays with us here, sort of
25:49
Speaker 1: tightens this tigh and looks kind of like Rodney Dangerfield
25:54
Speaker 1: for a moment, a little respect here.
25:59
Speaker 2: Don't take him as conceded.
26:01
Speaker 1: However, he says, if anyone has a mind to put
26:06
Speaker 1: confidence in the flesh, I far more. I've got awards
26:12
Speaker 1: and accomplishments.
26:15
Speaker 2: No one else in the first century could boast of.
26:18
Speaker 2: I'm like more than many in my religion. And then
26:26
Speaker 2: he listened for us, and they're all true evidence. Look
26:33
Speaker 2: at it.
26:34
Speaker 1: I circumcise the eighth day of the nation of Israel,
26:39
Speaker 1: of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews
26:43
Speaker 1: has to the law of Pharisee as to zeal.
26:50
Speaker 2: I literally persecuted Christians. Did you ever do that?
26:54
Speaker 1: He says to his readers, none of whom could say
26:56
Speaker 1: they had are a few of whom none of.
26:59
Speaker 2: Whom could have this.
27:01
Speaker 1: As to righteousness, now here's where it breaks down, as
27:04
Speaker 1: to righteousness, which is in the law blameless. Wow, because
27:12
Speaker 1: you're not in the first century, and because we're not Jewish,
27:15
Speaker 1: you can't appreciate a list like that. If you live,
27:18
Speaker 1: then you take your hat off to man like this.
27:23
Speaker 1: One New Testament scholar clarifies those words we just read. Listen,
27:27
Speaker 1: if ever, there was a Jew who was steeped in Judaism,
27:30
Speaker 1: the Jew was Paul. Let's look again at the claims
27:34
Speaker 1: he had made. He had to be the Jew par
27:37
Speaker 1: excellence circumcised on the eighth day, that is to say,
27:42
Speaker 1: he bore in the body the badge in the mark.
27:44
Speaker 1: That he was one of the chosen people, marked out
27:46
Speaker 1: by God as his own. He was of the race
27:50
Speaker 1: of Israel, that is to say, he was a member
27:52
Speaker 1: of the nation who stood in a covenant relationship with God,
27:55
Speaker 1: a relationship in which no other people stood. He was
27:59
Speaker 1: of the trial of Benjamin. This is a claim which
28:04
Speaker 1: Paul reiterates in Romans eleven one. What's the point of it?
28:08
Speaker 1: The tribe of Benjamin had a unique place in the
28:10
Speaker 1: history of Israel. It was from Benjamin that the first
28:13
Speaker 1: king of Israel saw the Benjamine. Benjamin was the only
28:17
Speaker 1: one of the patriarchs who had actually been born in
28:19
Speaker 1: the land of Promise. When Israel went into battle, it
28:22
Speaker 1: was the tribe of Benjamin which held the post of honor.
28:25
Speaker 1: The battle cry of Israel was after thee old Benjamin,
28:28
Speaker 1: after thee in lineage. Paul was not only an Israelite.
28:32
Speaker 1: He was of the aristocracy of Israel. He was a
28:36
Speaker 1: Hebrew of the Hebrews. That is to say, Paul was
28:38
Speaker 1: not one of the Jews of the dispersion, who in
28:41
Speaker 1: a foreign land forgot their own tongue. No, he was
28:46
Speaker 1: a Jew who still remembered and knew the language of
28:48
Speaker 1: his father's.
28:49
Speaker 2: He was a Pharisee. That is to say, he was
28:51
Speaker 2: not only a devout Jew. He was more.
28:54
Speaker 1: He was one of the separated ones who had forsworn
28:58
Speaker 1: all normal activities in order to dedicate life to the
29:01
Speaker 1: keeping of the law, and he had kept it with
29:03
Speaker 1: such meticulous care. In the keeping of it, he was blameless.
29:08
Speaker 1: When you read the Jerusalem Times, you read Saul of Tarsus.
29:13
Speaker 1: When you listened to the rabbis of his day, he
29:16
Speaker 1: was the name.
29:16
Speaker 3: They dropped when you look for a model of Judaism.
29:20
Speaker 2: Saul was the model.
29:23
Speaker 1: Until Damascus, and at that point everything changed. He took
29:34
Speaker 1: letters from the authorities. He was on his way to
29:36
Speaker 1: kill Christians and to put the other ones in prison,
29:39
Speaker 1: women and children alike.
29:41
Speaker 2: Meant nothing to him humanly speaking.
29:44
Speaker 1: He had added up his life, and he had won
29:47
Speaker 1: the awards, and he had every right to take charge
29:50
Speaker 1: of these who were getting involved in that ridiculous sect
29:54
Speaker 1: called Christianity. Followers of the way. He qualified as righteous.
30:00
Speaker 1: Nobody knew it like Saul until on the way to
30:04
Speaker 1: damask because he fell from that beast, blinded by the
30:07
Speaker 1: light from heaven, and the voice that said to him, Saul, Saul,
30:13
Speaker 1: why are you persecuting me?
30:15
Speaker 2: Must have been deafening.
30:18
Speaker 1: Saul, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, And in
30:27
Speaker 1: that moment of time.
30:33
Speaker 2: All of his righteousness revealed bankruptcy. To use today's term.
30:42
Speaker 1: Saul had won all of the honors, the Pulletzer, the
30:45
Speaker 1: Medal of Honor, the most valuable player, the Heisman, the
30:48
Speaker 1: Gold Medal, the Oscar, the Grammy, the Emmy, the Nobel
30:52
Speaker 1: Peace Prize, the Who's Who, the Magna cum Laudie. He
30:56
Speaker 1: was the resilience.
30:56
Speaker 2: He was the religious zealot of the decade.
30:59
Speaker 1: One said age says, Saul outstripped all of his contemporaries.
31:04
Speaker 1: He eclipsed them all. Another man says, a marvelous record.
31:08
Speaker 1: He scored one hundred in Judaism. He was the star
31:11
Speaker 1: of hope for Gamaliel and the Sanhedron. And then he
31:17
Speaker 1: made that trip, and all of his righteousness, says, we're
31:24
Speaker 1: suddenly his bloody rags. I am Jesus, whom you were persecuting.
31:34
Speaker 1: At that moment, all of the support went out from underhim.
31:41
Speaker 2: See verse seven. But right after the word blameless.
31:48
Speaker 1: But right after all of the achievement, all of the heritage,
31:54
Speaker 1: all of the record setting achievements.
31:57
Speaker 4: But.
31:59
Speaker 2: All those things that were gained to me.
32:04
Speaker 1: I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
32:07
Speaker 1: More than that, to this moment, I count all things
32:11
Speaker 1: to be lost in contrast or in view of the
32:16
Speaker 1: surpassing value of knowing Christ, Jesus my Lord, for whom
32:21
Speaker 1: I have suffered the loss of all things.
32:25
Speaker 2: And count them but rubbish that I may gain. Christ
32:33
Speaker 2: is that great? Is that wonderful?
32:36
Speaker 1: All of the awards I won suddenly tarnished and melted.
32:40
Speaker 2: On the road to Damascus.
32:42
Speaker 1: All of the applause I heard faded and turned to booze.
32:47
Speaker 1: All the victories I had earned became defeats. All the
32:50
Speaker 1: credit to my account I wrote off his bad debt,
32:54
Speaker 1: All of the human riches and security I had relied
32:58
Speaker 1: on left me bank. In fact, rubbish see the word
33:08
Speaker 1: I can't pass it up. It's the only time it's
33:10
Speaker 1: used in the Greek, in the New Testament translated rubbish.
33:13
Speaker 1: Little disagreement on the etymology. Some would say it's a
33:16
Speaker 1: medical term whose roots go back to the word dung
33:21
Speaker 1: or excrement. I count it all but excrement. Others would
33:27
Speaker 1: say it is trash, that which is thrown to the
33:30
Speaker 1: dog's rubbish in place of self achievement. I stood naked
33:36
Speaker 1: and needy and spiritually bankrupt, and I was personally unworthy.
33:42
Speaker 2: Of the one who spoke, because for the first.
33:45
Speaker 1: Time, not the last, in my life, I got a
33:47
Speaker 1: glimpse of perfect righteousness, Perfect.
33:57
Speaker 2: Jesus did.
34:04
Speaker 1: Who grated my papers and I failed, but in grace,
34:14
Speaker 1: in return he gave to my account perfect righteousness. Had
34:22
Speaker 1: nothing to do with my human achievements. Remember that's all rubbish.
34:27
Speaker 1: Read on verse nine and be found in him. Not
34:33
Speaker 1: having a righteousness of my own derived from the law,
34:37
Speaker 1: meaning human effort, earthly achievement, but that which is through
34:43
Speaker 1: faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on
34:49
Speaker 1: the basis of faith. This is called a doctrine of imputation.
34:54
Speaker 1: It means to put to one's account. It's seeing me
34:59
Speaker 1: and my bankrupt state, spiritually dead, all of my righteousnesses
35:04
Speaker 1: as filthy rags, and crediting the perfect righteousness of God
35:10
Speaker 1: to my bankrupt account and leaving me.
35:13
Speaker 2: Full of the riches of His righteousness.
35:17
Speaker 1: That's imputation. And that's what Paul says changed my life.
35:22
Speaker 1: I no longer waited for the applause of men and women.
35:25
Speaker 2: I no longer.
35:26
Speaker 1: Sought ways to get the glory. I no longer operated
35:29
Speaker 1: in the energy of the flesh, but bankrupt and lost
35:32
Speaker 1: and undone. I took his righteousness that I didn't deserve,
35:37
Speaker 1: and he gave it to me in place of the
35:39
Speaker 1: bankruptcy that I should.
35:40
Speaker 2: Have died with.
35:41
Speaker 1: Had I gotten what I deserved. He credited to my
35:45
Speaker 1: account perfect righteousness. Augustus topaty years ago seventeen seventy six,
35:53
Speaker 1: matter of fact, wrote in his immortal work Rock of Ages,
35:58
Speaker 1: nothing in my hand. I simply to thy cross, I
36:01
Speaker 1: cling naked, Come to THEE for dress, helpless, look to
36:06
Speaker 1: THEE for grace, foul.
36:08
Speaker 2: I to the fountain, fly wash me, savior, lest I die.
36:13
Speaker 2: You hear those words, naked, helpless, foul.
36:25
Speaker 1: Fifty eight years later, another gentleman wrote a song and
36:29
Speaker 1: the same idea.
36:30
Speaker 2: He called it the solid rock. My hope is built
36:34
Speaker 2: on nothing less than.
36:35
Speaker 1: Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
36:39
Speaker 1: but wholly lean on Jesus' name. When he shall come
36:42
Speaker 1: with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in him be
36:44
Speaker 1: found dressed in his righteousness alone.
36:47
Speaker 2: That's imputation.
36:49
Speaker 1: Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the
36:52
Speaker 1: throne on Christ the solid rock I stand. All of
36:56
Speaker 1: the ground is sinking sand. What's all of the ground?
37:01
Speaker 3: All my trophies, all my plaques, all.
37:05
Speaker 1: My awards, all my earthly achievements, important as they are
37:12
Speaker 1: on this earth, they are sinking sand. When I attempt
37:17
Speaker 1: to stand on them to reach heaven. He turns from
37:25
Speaker 1: the change in his life to a credo. I call
37:28
Speaker 1: it Paul's personal credo in verse.
37:31
Speaker 2: Ten, that I may know him. This is wonderful.
37:41
Speaker 1: This is so different for a type A to tell
37:45
Speaker 1: that I may know him in the power of his resurrection,
37:47
Speaker 1: the fellowship of his sufferings. High achievers don't talk about
37:51
Speaker 1: anybody else's power but their own.
37:54
Speaker 2: How'd you do it?
37:54
Speaker 1: I worked hard, good training, good schooling, which I earned
37:58
Speaker 1: by the way nobody gave me an I worked all
38:01
Speaker 1: the way through school.
38:02
Speaker 2: I made it on my own.
38:03
Speaker 1: I got to this level, and I made it to
38:05
Speaker 1: that level because of hard work.
38:06
Speaker 2: And don't you ever forget it.
38:09
Speaker 1: And when I got to that level, and you can
38:11
Speaker 1: ask my wife, she'll tell you I got there by
38:13
Speaker 1: hard work.
38:14
Speaker 2: I couldn't pay.
38:15
Speaker 1: Attention to things like home and family and responsibilities around there.
38:18
Speaker 2: I had to deal with my future, my.
38:21
Speaker 1: Plans, because I'm on my way up the ladder, my righteousness,
38:27
Speaker 1: my power.
38:29
Speaker 2: He says that I may know him now and the
38:31
Speaker 2: power of.
38:33
Speaker 1: The kind of power that raised him from the dead,
38:36
Speaker 1: And look at the next one, and the fellowship of
38:38
Speaker 1: his sufferings ever heard high achievers and success people talk
38:42
Speaker 1: about the benefits of suffering, ever had motivational speeches where
38:46
Speaker 1: they start, folks, we need to suffer.
38:49
Speaker 2: They don't start like that.
38:51
Speaker 1: Suffering you gotta go overlook it, you got it, deny it,
38:53
Speaker 1: You got to move right on in spite of the pain,
38:55
Speaker 1: suffering benefits.
38:56
Speaker 2: Nobody go for it. Come across as strong.
38:59
Speaker 1: Capable, get your own, sweet way, earn it, make it
39:03
Speaker 1: on your own.
39:04
Speaker 2: And this is the Apostle saying.
39:08
Speaker 1: The fellowship of his sufferings that I might be conformed
39:12
Speaker 1: to his death. My whole insight has changed as the apostle. Oh,
39:21
Speaker 1: I still live a life that's full of activity and
39:24
Speaker 1: good works. My life is more direct than ever, but
39:27
Speaker 1: now it's in the right direction. I didn't change religions.
39:32
Speaker 1: I changed a relationship. I'm met a person who changed
39:38
Speaker 1: my life, and now my desire is to be linked
39:42
Speaker 1: with him and a life that includes suffering.
39:44
Speaker 2: And I don't run from it, and I don't deny it.
39:46
Speaker 2: In fact, I see the benefits of it.
39:49
Speaker 1: And when I don't get my way, I'm just as
39:51
Speaker 1: quick to say thank you God, thank.
39:53
Speaker 2: You faithful Lord. You know what's best for me.
39:57
Speaker 1: And when the rug is pulled out from under me
39:59
Speaker 1: and fall flat on my face, I have discovered that
40:02
Speaker 1: there's a reason for that kind of fall, because in
40:06
Speaker 1: it I identify with my Savior, who at the young
40:09
Speaker 1: age of thirty three wound up with spikes in his hands.
40:12
Speaker 2: And in his feet. Because in the process, I'm being
40:16
Speaker 2: conformed to a death like his.
40:20
Speaker 1: The Amplified Bible says something like, my determined purpose is
40:23
Speaker 1: that I may know him.
40:24
Speaker 2: That is that I may progressively become more intimately acquainted
40:28
Speaker 2: with him. It's a progress.
40:33
Speaker 1: In order that I may attain to the out resurrection
40:37
Speaker 1: of the dead someday. Because nothing in my hands I bring.
40:45
Speaker 1: Because simply to the cross.
40:46
Speaker 2: I cling.
40:49
Speaker 1: In my dying moment, Heaven will open, and by his
40:55
Speaker 1: grace he will welcome me in because I took his gift,
41:01
Speaker 1: and I didn't rely on one of my works to
41:04
Speaker 1: get me in. Harry Ironside writes, many people have thought
41:14
Speaker 1: that changing their religion was all that God required of them,
41:19
Speaker 1: but it was otherwise.
41:20
Speaker 2: With Saul.
41:21
Speaker 1: He had come into contact with a divine person, the
41:25
Speaker 1: once crucified but now glorified.
41:27
Speaker 2: Christ of God.
41:29
Speaker 1: He had been won by that person forever, and for
41:34
Speaker 1: his sake, he counted all else but loss. I think
41:42
Speaker 1: I speak to a few high achievers today.
41:45
Speaker 2: I don't know many of you, but I.
41:50
Speaker 1: Hang around humanity enough to know that high achieving is
41:54
Speaker 1: in vogue.
41:56
Speaker 2: The awards are important.
42:00
Speaker 1: I have enough of that in my own system to
42:04
Speaker 1: know the great temptation of relying on that to get.
42:08
Speaker 2: Me through the pearly gates. It ain't gonna happen, folks.
42:15
Speaker 1: I have a couple of very simple, plain truths that
42:20
Speaker 1: grow out of this, and it's for all who.
42:22
Speaker 2: Would want to respond to it.
42:27
Speaker 1: First, trusting in your own achievements brings you the glory now,
42:35
Speaker 1: but leaves you bankrupt, spiritually bankrupt later. Trusting in your
42:43
Speaker 1: own achievements brings you glory now, but leaves you spiritually
42:48
Speaker 1: bankrupt forever. Hardest part of getting the type aid to
42:58
Speaker 1: understand the Gospel is just to hear this simple stuff.
43:02
Speaker 1: Just hear it because you've made it on your own
43:06
Speaker 1: all the way. That's why we emphasize you know on
43:14
Speaker 1: this earth eulogies. Eulogy means good word. We deliver a
43:20
Speaker 1: good word on behalf.
43:21
Speaker 2: Of the deceased.
43:22
Speaker 1: That's fine, but good words based on good works in
43:29
Speaker 1: no way help that person. When he died, it was
43:34
Speaker 1: his willingness to give Christ the glory and take his
43:38
Speaker 1: righteousness by faith, and have his life transformed the guaranteed
43:44
Speaker 1: eternal life with God.
43:48
Speaker 2: Now that brings me to the second.
43:49
Speaker 1: Trusting in Christ's accomplishment gives him the glory now and
43:57
Speaker 1: results in eternal righteousness forever.
44:02
Speaker 2: You can't beat a deal like that.
44:04
Speaker 1: Trusting in Christ's accomplishment gives him the glory now and
44:09
Speaker 1: results in eternal righteousness forever.
44:13
Speaker 2: Paul's life was like the poet.
44:15
Speaker 1: I had walked life's a way with an easy tread.
44:18
Speaker 1: I had traveled where pleasures and comfort led, until one day,
44:22
Speaker 1: in a quiet place, I met the Master face to face.
44:26
Speaker 1: With station and rank and wealth for my goal, much
44:30
Speaker 1: thought for my body, but none.
44:32
Speaker 2: For my soul. I had entered to win this life's
44:34
Speaker 2: mad race.
44:35
Speaker 1: When I met the Master face to face, I had
44:38
Speaker 1: built my castles and reared them high till their towers
44:41
Speaker 1: had pierced the blue of the sky.
44:43
Speaker 2: I'd sworn to rule with an iron mace.
44:46
Speaker 1: When I met the Master face to face, I met him,
44:49
Speaker 1: and I knew him, and a blush to see that
44:51
Speaker 1: his eyes full of sorrow or fixed on me.
44:55
Speaker 2: I faltered and fell at his feet.
44:57
Speaker 1: That day, while my castles melted the way, melted and
45:01
Speaker 1: vanished in their place. Nothing else could I see but
45:05
Speaker 1: my Master's face. My thoughts are not for the souls
45:07
Speaker 1: of men. I've lost my life to find it again.
45:15
Speaker 1: Since that day, in a quiet place, I met the Master.
45:19
Speaker 2: Face to face.
45:23
Speaker 1: Could this be the quiet place for you? Goodness knows
45:28
Speaker 1: how achievers need quiet places. Let's make it happen right now.
45:36
Speaker 1: Let's a bow together, and let's just deliberately be quiet. Okay,
45:48
Speaker 1: just deliberately sit quietly. Can you honestly say your hope
45:59
Speaker 1: is built on nothing less, nothing less than Jesus blood
46:04
Speaker 1: and righteousness. When He comes with the sound of a trumpet,
46:14
Speaker 1: will you be found in him, not having a righteousness
46:18
Speaker 1: of your own, but a given righteousness that matches God's.
46:34
Speaker 2: I don't think.
46:35
Speaker 1: I appreciate any earthly quality more than authenticity. And I
46:40
Speaker 1: just want you to be real, authentic right now.
46:45
Speaker 2: You can fake me, but you can't fake God.
46:51
Speaker 1: Sitting before him at this moment, and you honestly say
46:58
Speaker 1: I have Jesus Christ is my righteousness.
47:06
Speaker 2: And if you can't. The only reasonable, intelligent, certainly, the
47:12
Speaker 2: only God honoring response is to take him as your own,
47:18
Speaker 2: let his blood wash away your.
47:20
Speaker 1: Sins, and let his death cancel your debt. Come on,
47:27
Speaker 1: you've heard this before.
47:31
Speaker 2: Some of you hearing it so much you're not hearing
47:34
Speaker 2: it anymore, and you're closer to death than you've ever been.
47:40
Speaker 1: I get scared for folks for whom the gospel becomes familiar,
47:45
Speaker 1: and they in turn become indifferent. We have the prayer
47:51
Speaker 1: room available for all following our service. We found that
47:55
Speaker 1: often a crowd is busy, and the front of a
47:57
Speaker 1: church or the door of a church is.
47:59
Speaker 2: Not the best place to talk with people. But in
48:01
Speaker 2: a prayer room you have my promise.
48:07
Speaker 1: You will not be taken advantage of or manipulated. It
48:09
Speaker 1: will be dealt with quietly and with dignity. You'll be
48:13
Speaker 1: led to Christ. You will not be coerced or pushed
48:18
Speaker 1: into that decision, but make it today. Come on, Lord,
48:27
Speaker 1: we come in your righteousness and for your glory, in
48:33
Speaker 1: the name of Jesus who died for man and woman,
48:39
Speaker 1: boy and girl, Arab and jew, Asian and American, white
48:50
Speaker 1: and black, all the people of the world.
48:56
Speaker 2: And we pause at this moment and give to you
48:59
Speaker 2: those who struggle with this decision, and ask you to win.
49:03
Speaker 2: Win the day before this day has over. Lead them,
49:08
Speaker 2: Lord to the rock.
49:09
Speaker 1: That is solid, and get them off sinking sand. And
49:14
Speaker 1: may their lives from this day forward be lived an
49:17
Speaker 1: honor to you, even as this great man who wrote
49:20
Speaker 1: this letter. In the world of high achieving entrepreneurs and
49:27
Speaker 1: self starters, highly motivated success people, show us Lord that
49:33
Speaker 1: all who come to you come the same way. Humble
49:39
Speaker 1: nothing in our hands. It's simply to the cross we cling.
49:46
Speaker 1: It's in the Savior's wonderful name. We pray, and everybody
49:50
Speaker 1: said amen.
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Speaker 4: The preceding message, Happy Hopes for High Achievers, was copyrighted
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Speaker 4: in nineteen ninety one, and the sound recording was copyrighted
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Speaker 4: in two thousand and eight by Charles R. Swindall, Inc.
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Speaker 4: All rights are reserved worldwide. Charles R. Swindall, Inc. Acknowledges
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Speaker 4: the following as sources of excerpts used in the preceding message.
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Speaker 4: The Mind of Saint Paul copyrighted in nineteen fifty eight
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Speaker 4: by William Barclay. And When I Relax, I Feel Guilty,
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Speaker 4: copyrighted in nineteen seventy nine by Tim Hansel,