Victory at the Finish Line

This transcript was generated automatically. Its accuracy may vary

Short Summary
The discourse emphasizes the urgency of living a consecrated life with a focus on spiritual priorities, self-denial, and active service as time on earth is limited. It encourages believers to forget past mistakes, stretch beyond comfort zones in serving God and others, maintain an upward, heavenly perspective, and rely on God’s strength to reach the victorious finish line. Ultimately, it calls for steadfast faithfulness and dedication to ensure victory and eternal reward.

Long Summary
Introduction and Theme
– The discourse begins with the speaker preparing the audience for personal, introspective questions about their consecration and spiritual progress. These questions are not meant to offend but to provoke deep thought about how to reach the “finish line” victoriously.
– The central theme text is 1 Corinthians 15:57:
*”But thanks be to God, who gave us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”*
– Emphasizes the reality that all consecrated believers, regardless of age, are moving toward the end of their earthly life, and time is limited.

Urgency of Using Time Wisely
– Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:20 is cited to illustrate that life can end unexpectedly:
*”But God said unto him, ‘Thou fool, this night is thy soul required of thee…’”*
– The pressing question: How are you using your remaining time? Even younger believers should not assume they have plenty of time.

Consecration and Self-Denial
– Our lives belong to God by covenant, obligating us to put Him first.
– The path to victory lies in self-denial and following Jesus:
Matthew 16:24-25:
*”If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me… whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.”*
– While many things are lawful, not all are expedient (1 Corinthians 6:12), so self-denial includes giving up lawful pleasures to please God and serve others.

Sacrifice Defined and Exemplified
– Sacrifice is explained simply as “giving up something good for something better.”
– Paul’s example from Philippians 3:7-8 shows counting all worldly gains as loss for the sake of knowing Christ better.
– Moses is cited (Hebrews 11:24-27) for choosing to suffer with God’s people rather than enjoy worldly pleasures.
– Jesus refused the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4) to remain faithful to God.

Forgetting the Past to Press Forward
– Paul’s mindset in Philippians 3:13-14 is highlighted: forgetting past sins and failures to focus on the prize ahead.
– Paul’s own past as Saul, the persecutor of Christians, and the stoning he endured (Acts 14:19-20) helped him purge guilt and move forward.
– Believers are encouraged to not let past mistakes or missed opportunities distract them but to correct mistakes and keep going.
– The importance of perseverance is emphasized with a quote from Winston Churchill:
*”Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.”*

Pressing Toward the Goal
– The Christian life is likened to a race:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 encourages running to win an incorruptible crown.
– Daily effort and service are necessary; if the truth costs us nothing daily, we may need to change.
– Hebrews 12:1-2 urges laying aside every weight and sin to run with patience, looking to Jesus as the model.

Value Assessment and Using Time Wisely
– The Apostle Paul’s repeated value assessment (Philippians 3:7-8) is a model for believers to prioritize eternal over temporary things.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 teaches that only works built on Christ’s foundation with “gold, silver, and precious stones” will endure.
– After meeting earthly needs, discretionary time should primarily be devoted to spiritual activities.

God’s Work in Us and Assurance of Victory
– God calls and works in us to do His will:
Philippians 2:12-13:
*”Work out your own salvation… for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”*
Ephesians 2:10 affirms believers as God’s workmanship, created for good works preordained by God.
– Confidence in God’s faithfulness is key to reaching the high calling.

Seeking the Kingdom First
– Jesus’ imperative in Matthew 6:33:
*”But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…”*
– Focus on Jesus and the kingdom must be primary in life.

Illustration of Faith and Focus: Peter Walking on Water
Matthew 14:26-31 shows Peter walking on water only while keeping his eyes on Jesus; when distracted by the storm, he began to sink.
– The lesson: Keep focus on Jesus to walk victoriously; call on Him when struggles arise.

Avoiding Distractions and Division
– Worldly issues, especially divisive politics, can distract and divide believers.
– The call is to maintain unity, focus on God, His truth, and the brethren.

Stretching Beyond Comfort Zones
– Paul’s exhortation to press and strain forward implies active stretching beyond comfort zones in service.
– Avoid becoming bogged down by routine or “standard operating procedures” that hinder growth and service.
– Use talents and resources actively rather than letting them lie unused.
Philippians 4:13: *”I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”*
– Pray for help to stretch spiritually (Psalm 143:6).

Importance of Study and Meditation
– Spiritual activity includes regular, serious study and meditation on God’s Word, which builds faith (2 Timothy 2:15).
– The Word provides both direction (golden lampstand) and nourishment (table of showbread) as symbolized in the tabernacle.
– Meditation allows the believer to internalize and apply truths.

Letting Go of Earthly Attachments
– The transformation of the butterfly is used as a metaphor for consecrated life and spiritual metamorphosis (Romans 12:2).
– The believer must let go of earthly things to be transformed by God’s Spirit and gain a higher, divine perspective.
Colossians 3:1-2 and Ephesians 2:6 call believers to set their hearts on heavenly things, reflecting their risen position in Christ.

Faithfulness Until Death
– The final victory requires faithfulness unto death, echoing Brother Harry’s teaching.
– The “died at 30, buried at 60” epitaph warns against living without spiritual vitality after consecration.
– Many Israelites died in the last year of their 40 years of wandering due to sin, failing to reach the promised land, serving as a solemn warning (Deuteronomy, Numbers, Exodus).
1 Corinthians 10:11-12 urges vigilance:
*”Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”*

Summary of Key Lessons
1. Time on earth is limited and running out.
2. Live your consecrated life with awareness of this fact.
3. Value every hour as an opportunity to serve.
4. Do not let past mistakes distract you; forget the things behind.
5. Stretch yourself to expand service opportunities.
6. Let go of earthly attachments.
7. Keep focus on heavenly, upward things and the prize.
8. Ask God daily for help to carry out these ideals.

Encouragement and Final Exhortation
– God desires every consecrated person to succeed and be victorious (1 John 5:4):
*”For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”*
– Stay strong, faithful, and active in the Lord’s service.
– Look forward to singing the victory song beyond the veil as described in Revelation 15:2-4:
*”And they sing the song of Moses… and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty…”*
– The finish line is near; victory is within reach if the lessons are applied faithfully.

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This detailed summary captures the major biblical references, key points, practical lessons, and spiritual encouragements from the discourse on consecration, self-denial, focus, perseverance, and the Christian race to victory.

Transcript

As we go through this, I’m going to be asking you a lot of personal questions. They’re rhetorical questions, but they’re personal questions. Questions about your own consecration and where you are. Our dear Brother Fry, back when he used to give talks that were really deeply on consecration, he would ask you things, and I, for one, I would get a little bit uncomfortable because he was. He was touching me.

He was touching my heart, and I realized some ways that I didn’t measure up, and Brother Fry used to make a little joke out of it. He says, I’m very sorry if I’m saying and asking you anything that offends you. If you’re offended, then I’m not talking to you.

I’m talking to the person next to you, and we would giggle at that. But in this talk, there’s going to be a lot of these personal questions. In the notes, you will find them in bold green. I picked them out.

And again, they’re not intended to offend, but they are intended to make you think about what we need to do to get to the finish line and to do so victorious. Our theme text is First Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 57. But thanks be to God, who gave us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, no matter how old a consecrated brother or sister may be, we are all moving forward to the end of our life. On this side of the veil, the clock is running, and the days and hours and minutes and seconds we have left are fewer all the time.

So how are you using your time left? You might think, well, I’m only in my 30s or 40s or 50s, so I have a lot of time left. If you think that, then you’re missing a powerful point that Jesus taught, namely, that our lives could end at any time. Remember the parable about the successful farmer who planned to make much bigger barns for his harvest and then take the time to enjoy life? Jesus said in Luke, chapter 12, verse 20.

But God said unto him, thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee, and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? Whether we are younger or older, we do not know the amount of time that Jehovah has allotted to us to make our calling and election sure. So whatever length of time that might be, how do you plan to use it? Since we have consecrated our entire lives to serving God, our lives belong to Him.

It’s a property of Jehovah God. We are obligated by our covenant with Jehovah through Christ to put him first in our lives. How are you doing with that? We want to be victorious through Christ. The natural question is, how do we do it?

To answer that question, here is a secondary theme text that we’re going to be drawing a lot of lessons from, and I know Brother Harry touched on this. I think I remember Brother Bennett as well. But it’s taken from Philippians 3, 13, 14. Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things that are before.

I press toward the goal under the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In this text, Paul tells us that there was one thing that he does forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things ahead. Sounds like two things, doesn’t it? But it’s one continuous thing that consists of a mindset and an action. What else must we do to reach our victorious goal?

Well, Matthew 16:24, 25 we have the words of Jesus. Then Jesus said unto his disciples, if any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever should save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it Self denial should be one of the basic fundamental practices of our life. This, of course, applies to things that are lawful for us.

It goes without saying that we avoid sinful things, but things that are lawful for us require us to think a bit. In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul wrote, All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Now Paul is here speaking about things under the Mosaic Law that are not related to God’s moral law. It was lawful now for him to work on the Sabbath.

It was lawful for him to eat pork. It was lawful for him to have friendship with the Gentiles. But he widely observes that disobeying or ignoring some of these Jewish laws was not always expedient or the best choice. In other words, putting the law of love as the basis for every thought, word, and action provided the wisdom to determine what he would or would not do. As this applies to us, all things are lawful.

There are innumerable things that are lawful for us in this world. Go to a movie, read a book, attend a birthday party, buy a nice car, drink a glass of wine, go on a cruise, take a vacation, contribute to a charity, etc. But we remember Jesus counsel to deny ourselves we can to the pleasing of the Lord. I might add, deny ourselves, choosing not to avail ourselves of some or all of these lawful things as a sacrifice. By the way, just as an aside, here’s a definition of sacrifice that is simple.

It’s functional. I like it a lot. Maybe it’ll be helpful to you. Sacrifice means simply to give up something good from something better. Now let’s talk about self denial, because what we deny ourselves is in fact a sacrifice.

Self denial is a powerful developer of the new creature will, since it is sort of a free will offering. It is a sweet Savior to our Heavenly Father. Here’s another aspect of self sacrifice taken again from Philippians 3:7 8 howbeit what things were gain to me these have I counted loss for Christ? Yea, verily, and I count all things to be lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them, but refuse that I may gain Christ. Paul is doing a value assessment here.

He had things in this life that used to be of value to him. Position, power, influence, respect of his Jewish peers. He had all of these things, but he sacrificed all of them because the knowledge of Christ Jesus was the most valuable of all. So he celebrated his losses. Brethren, what have you lost for Christ?

Moses had the kingdom of Egypt and all of its trappings, but gave it up for the worship of Jehovah. Here’s what Paul says about Moses in Hebrews 11:24 27 by faith, Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. For he looked unto the recompense of reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Jesus himself in Matthew Chapter four was offered all the kingdoms of the world, but he declined in order to remain loyal and faithful to his heavenly Father.

What has the truth cost you today? Yesterday? How about the day before? Let’s return to our secondary text and drill down against more. Let me read it a second time.

Philippians 3:13 14 Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold but one thing I forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before. I press on toward the goal of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let’s talk about forgetting things behind. For the apostle Paul, forgetting the things behind meant Forgetting his violent opposition to the gospel, even approving of murder of the brethren. Brethren, if you were the apostle Paul, how would you have coped with that memory?

He stood by as Stephen was stoned. He approved that murder. You know, I can’t help but think that Paul had a difficult time, difficult emotional time, thinking about what he did as Saul the persecutor, and I wonder if God permitted a certain experience to help him forget the things behind. Now, you may remember this.

Acts 14, 19, 20, and there came Jews thither from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the multitude, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing he was dead. But as the disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered into the city, and on the morrow he went forth with Bartimas to Derbe.

Paul was permitted to experience stoning. It only happened once. He had a lot of other difficult experiences. But he was only stoned once. But he now knew and felt what he did to Stephen.

Perhaps that experience that the Lord permitted him to have allowed him to purge whatever emotional guilt he may have left. Certainly Paul recognized intellectually that his sin had been forgiven. It was gone, no more to be remembered by God. So now expedited and expiated by this terrible experience of stoning, Paul could let it go as well. Totally forgotten.

Brethren, do you have sins in your past that are keeping you from the joy of your present opportunities with God? Or what opportunities that you may have missed in the past? Are they still bothering you, perhaps coloring your thinking with a little guilt? To be sure, our consecrated lives can be filled with frustrations at times. The characters of Charles Schulz’s famous Peanuts cartoon frequently showed us that side of life.

In one, we find Lucy is philosophizing and Charlie is listening. As usual, Lucy has the floor developing one of her dog back lectures. Charlie Brown. She begins, life is a lot like a deck chair. Some place it so they can see where they’re going.

Others place it to see where they’ve been, and some so that they can see where they are at present. Charlie sighs, I can’t even get mine unfolded. More than a few of us identify with Charlie. Life’s trials sometimes leave us unsettled and unsure.

We wonder, what is God teaching us in this experience? We know the experience is providential. We believe that. We have faith in that. But often we can’t find the lesson.

And then we feel bad about having made a wrong decision or, through inaction, missed an opportunity entirely. Brethren, all of us have failures in life. I was Tickled by Brother Bennett in his talk. He says, you want to talk about sins? He says, I got a suitcase full of them.

We can identify with that, don’t we? We have suitcases full of sin and perfection ourselves, you know, but maybe we should get on the A flight on Kingdom Airlines and they’ll lose that suitcase. Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, brethren, it’s a fact that we’re imperfect. It’s a fact that we have failures, but it’s a fact.

It was a fact with Paul. But we, like Paul, must move past those things and forget them in the sense of not letting them distract us from the goal. Oh, we can sit and stew on our failures, or we can get up or continue on. It’s your choice. If you’re traveling on a trip and you make a wrong turn and go miles out of your way, what do you do when you find out your mistake?

Do you stop and fret and turn around and go home? No, of course not. You go back to the point of error and then continue in the right direction. The same must be true of our consecrated life. You correct mistakes and go on.

And by the way, sometimes the Heavenly Father corrects those mistakes for us. This is a little bit of the fiery trials of chastisement that we get, that we spoke about yesterday. In whatever way, whether the Lord calls our attention to them or whether we see them, we just correct them. The key here is to go on. I remember a talk Brother Gene Burns gave at an IO convention some years ago where he quoted most dramatically the words of Winston Churchill during the dark days of World War II in England.

Now, the way that Gene said it, he had an auditorium with this beautiful sound system, and it was very, very dramatic. Can’t quite get that drama here on zoom. But here’s how Gene said it again, quoting Winston Churchill, Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.

He raised his voice higher and higher and it boomed around there. That’s really what it is all about for us, brethren. Never give up. So in dealing with failure, it’s not time to give up. Rather, we should see them as stepping stones to a more intimate relationship with our God and new opportunities to serve him.

Now, this brings us to the second part of Philippians, second Theme Text Scripture. This is a positive part. Reaching and pressing toward those things which are before. One of the things that Brother Harry made very clear in his last discourse was the need of activity on our point. We’ve got to do something.

And that’s exactly what Paul is talking about here. He was Laser focused on the victory at the finish line of the race. He did not dwell on the trials and sufferings of the way, but focused more resolutely with each new day, the opportunities of service that he had. It is a race to the finish line of death again. Brother Harry made that very clear.

That’s the finish line. Dying as human beings, finishing our sacrifice on this side of the veil. Paul used an illustration of a race in First Corinthians 9, 24, 27. Here’s what he wrote. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize.

So run that ye may obtain. Let me pause there. Here’s an action. Right, run, he’s saying. You got to do that.

Continuing on, and every man that striveth for their mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. But we an incorruptible. I therefore so run not as uncertainly as so fight I not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

By the way, I Recommend Very much reprint 5001 for an excellent reference and review on this subject of the race. So again, let’s bring the lesson to ourselves. Are your eyes fixed on the goal? Will you refuse to let a single day go by without some service to others and some sacrifice in the truth? Here’s something to consider, brethren.

It’s sobering. If the truth doesn’t cost you something every day, then perhaps you need to make a change. Now, these are high ideals. We understand that. But the reality is that we have many obstacles which slow us down.

So the challenge is to rise above these obstacles. Paul had some similar thoughts in Hebrews 12:1 2, and he wrote, Let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross despising shame, and hath sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. This expression, lay aside every weight, is full of practical meaning for us.

It bids us to review the activities of our life and make a value assessment. We mentioned value assessments earlier in our lesson. It really boils down to a simple does your daily activity involve eternal things or temporary things? Again, we have the Apostles help in making these distinctions. 1 Corinthians 3:12 15 now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, haste double every man’s work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

If any man’s work abide which he hath built, thereupon he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire Another way of expressing the question is to ask, what are you building with day by day? Remember, with the passing of each day you have less time to build. So what building activities are filling your time day by day? To be sure, we all have necessary and activities in our lives that are not directly related to spiritual work.

We have to provide for our earthly food, clothing, shelter. We have to take care of personal hygiene, the care and maintenance of our earthly possessions, our house and our car, etc. Etc. But after taking care of these things, how do we use our time? This is about how we use our discretionary time.

Make no mistake about it, dear brethren, most of our discretionary time should be devoted to spiritual things, eternal things. This is our Father’s business. Each one of us needs to manage this on their own, and unless we perceive a serious problem elsewhere, we’re supposed to mind our own business. But remember, we are to render up a report to the Master at the end of our lives.

Don’t you think it’s better to render that report at the end of every day? Managing our time requires value assessment. Let’s go back a second time to Philippians 3, 7, 8 for Paul’s lesson in value assessment. Again he wrote there but what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord, whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. Notice that Paul starts these thoughts off with but his drive to serve God was still intact and just as zealous as it had been.

But now he had a true perspective, a divine perspective, and nothing, absolutely nothing, that he had or had been before compared with the exceeding excellency of his current condition, and he understood that his sufferings were a vital part of that blessing, since they would lead to an indescribable reward. But the issue is not so much about our accomplishments or achievements, or the possessions we have in earthly life. The issue is about our attitude toward these things. If they occupy too large a part of our attention, then we may not have developed the divine perspective as we should have.

If we are to attain the victory, that resurrection for which Paul strived, then we too must view all achievements of the flesh as loss for Christ. That conversion of mind, and that’s what it is putting on the new mind, is absolutely necessary to please God. Here is a poem of dawn about such a I had walked life’s path with an easy tread, had followed where comfort and pleasure led, and then by chance in a quiet place I met my master face to face with station and rank and wealth for gold. Much thought for the body but none for the soul.

I had entered to win this life’s mad race. When I met my master face to face I had built castles, reared them high Till their towers had pierced the blue of the sky. I had swore to rule with an iron mace. When I met my master face to face, I met him and knew him and blushed to see that his eyes, full of sorrow, were fixed on me and I faltered and fell at his feet that day when my castles vanished and melted away, melted and vanished, and in their place I caught naught else but my master’s face and I cried aloud, oh, make me meet to follow the marks of thy wounded feet. My thoughts are now for God’s saving of men.

I have lost my life to find it again. Ever since, alone in that holy place My master and I stood face to face. Isn’t that a beautiful poem? I’m sure to one degree or another, all of us had that situation as we approached consecration. Well, let’s take some more lessons from our secondary text.

Paul wrote, brothers, I do not regard myself yet to have laid hold of it to get it, we must be faithful unto death. You heard that from Brother Harry. We must be faithful unto death. Like Jesus, our final victory requires our death. There is a cynical epitaph for many Americans who drift aimlessly through life.

It reads, died age 30, buried age 60. Curiously, this has an application to the lives of the consecrated, doesn’t it? We die symbolically at consecration, don’t we? And we are buried in Christ now, but we don’t reach the finish line until many years later, and it is those many years that concern us here, the time left until victory.

Now, we’ve considered a lot of sobering principles so far. Let’s take a quick look at some encouraging things about our consecrated life. Point number one again. Brother Harry made this God called you you were not in the race solely because you decided to be. No.

God invited you. He brought you to Jesus. He gave you repeated measures of grace to bring the truth to you. He made clear the invitation to the high calling. He begot you of the Holy Spirit.

He has brought you into countless experiences, all designed for your growth in the Kingdom. Do you see all these things that are he and and God God doing all this? You see a pattern here? Yes, indeed. It is God working in you.

And here’s that text again. Brother Harry quoted Philippians 2, 12, 13. But now work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. You know, we often quote the first part of the verse, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, and that’s relevant.

That’s part of what we have to do. But it’s the second part which is wonderful. God working in you. Here’s another way that Paul expressed it. Ephesians 2:10.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. Now, unless you believe God made a mistake calling you, and I’m sure none of you believe that, then you must have complete confidence that our Heavenly Father, who is righteous and just and faithful, is more than able to bring us to that high reward. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to be victorious. We must only submit fully and completely to his will.

Put your confidence in Him. Remember, our theme is not about victory, but making it to the finish line for victory. Recognizing our time lift is limited means we must use our consecrated time wisely. We already saw the focus and single mindedness of Paul when he wrote this one thing I do, it was clear what his priorities were. Brethren, what are your priorities?

God’s word does not leave us without an answer to this question. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:33, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. First. There’s a priority. It’s a priority that Jesus said.

Is this a suggestion from Jesus? No, it’s an imperative from Jesus. Are we living in accord with this priority? Are we seeking the kingdom of God first? Are we obeying Jesus when we do that?

To seek the kingdom, we must seek the King. Are you focused on Jesus? We as Bible students preach the presence of our King. Do you live consistently with this message? Does your life have our present Lord Jesus in focus?

We have a beautiful illustration of both the blessing of focusing on Jesus and the consequences of taking your Eyes off him. You probably know where I’m going to go. You remember the account Matthew 14, where Jesus was found walking on the water? Let’s read verses 26, 31, and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is the Spirit.

And they cried out for fear. But straight away, Jesus spoke to them, saying, be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. Peter answered him and said, lord, if it be thou, bid me to come out on the water.

And he said, come, and when Peter was drawn down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and began to sink, and he cried, saying, lord, save me, and immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, o thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Do you notice? As long as Peter kept his eyes on the Lord, he walked on the water. He did a miracle. It was only when his attention was arrested and his focus moved away from Jesus to the waves and the wind and the storm. Then he began to sink.

But please also notice who it was was there to help. Jesus is ever faithful to his called ones, his bride. If and when you’re thinking, you’re getting that sinking feeling, call to Jesus. He will come. Believe it and be strong.

Brethren. If we take our eyes off of our return, Lord, we risk sinking into the troubled waters of politics, social unrest, civil upheaval. This is especially important at this time. Do not allow the politics of our country, which is just so rife, more rife of politics than I’ve ever seen. But don’t allow it to intrude on your fellowship with each other.

We may or may not like what’s happening in the politics of the United States. Here, brethren have differences of opinion on that. But difference of opinions on these matters are causing great division in the world. Do not let these things divide us. Focus on the Lord, the truth, and the brethren.

All of these other worldly issues are going away. All right, point number two here. Paul wrote that we must press and reach toward the goal. Again, going back to Brother Harry’s action and admonition to us. We must have activity pressing and reaching.

The NIV and a few other translations read straining toward what is said. Let me put this another way. We must stretch ourselves. What are your comfort zones? I mean, those areas in our lives we are physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually comfortable.

Do we make decisions in our lives to preserve that comfort? Brethren, we must be careful not to get too comfortable in this world. It is leaving our comfort zones in the service of Christ that will not only bring the greatest blessings, but ultimately may decide whether we are victorious or not. Stretching yourselves means pushing past and out of your comfort zones. Look at your consecrated life.

Are there other opportunities to serve the interests of the Lord Jesus by stretching? Is there something new in God’s service you haven’t tried before? Perhaps it is volunteering for a job in the Ecclesia that we might not think that you could do. Try it out. The results may surprise you.

Sometimes we get so bogged with doing things a certain way, perhaps by the book, that we fail to see opportunities that would be obvious to others. Watch out for standard operating procedures. They can suppress stretching and innovation in our lives. An example of how ridiculous mindlessness following procedures can be is illustrated by an experience had by a humorist by the name of Robert Henry. He went into a large department store in search of binoculars.

As he walked up to the appropriate counter, he noticed that he was the only customer in the store. Behind the counter were two salespeople. One was so preoccupied talking to Mama on the telephone that she refused to acknowledge Robert was there. At the other end of the counter, a second salesperson was unloading inventory from a box onto the shelves. Growing impatient, Robert walked down to her at the end of the customer and just stood there.

Finally, she looked at Robert and said, you got a number? I got a what? Asked Robert, trying to control his astonishment at such an absurdity. You got a number? You got to have a number, robert replied.

Lady, I’m the only customer in the store. I don’t need a number. Can’t you see how ridiculous this is? But she failed to see the absurdity and insisted that Robert take a number before agreeing to wait on him. By now it was obvious to Robert that she was more interested in following procedures than helping the customer.

So he went at the Take a Number machine. He pulled out number 37 and walked back to the salesperson. With that, she promptly went to her number counter, which revealed that the last customer waited on had been holding number 34. So she screamed out, 35. 35.

36. 37. I’m number 37, said Robert. May I help you? She asked without cracking a smile.

No, replied Robert, and he turned and walked out. Now we laugh at such ludicrous behavior. But, brethren, could we be so wrapped in the normal pursuits of life, the everyday things that we do, the standard operating procedures of our life, as to miss clear opportunities to serve others? On a more personal note, it is in our interest to serve other brethren. But are we missing opportunities to serve our own families, our own spouses?

Brethren, we must stretch ourselves, and in the stretching we will find that our reach in the sense of what we can do will grow wonderfully. Paul had this attitude. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Brethren, you too, you can do all things through Christ.

But please note that we must stretch in the direction of that goal. We could stretch in other directions, but stretch in the direction of the goal. That’s part of the focus. That’s part of the single mindedness we have. Take stock of your spiritual resources.

Can any of them be used more in the service of God? In the service of the brethren? It’s a sad truth in life that often resources that lay silently in inventories could be used. I was doing some cleaning some time back. I came across a box of tracts and booklets that had been stored away.

They’d been in a closet for quite a while and it struck me that they don’t do any good to any one being stored in the closet. These are valuable items of truth that needed to be gotten out. These were pieces of literature. But the principle applies just as strongly to the talents that we might have. Are you sitting on your talents or are you putting them to use in the Father’s service?

Remember that we are God’s workmanship. We can cooperate with God. Ask the Father in prayer to be stretched. I like this Psalm 143:6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty lamb Selah. When we ask the Father in prayer to be stretched, it is one of those prayers that the definite answer will be yes.

Now, we’ve been emphasizing the privileges we have of spiritual activity in the time left of our lives. But. But this spiritual activity must, I say again, must include study and meditation on God’s Word. By faith we believe, by God’s grace we can obtain this goal. We walk by faith.

And faith is built upon the precious promises of God contained in His Word. We can apprehend those promises only by study and godly meditation. By the way, the definition of faith is believing in a promise of God. If you’ve got no promises, there’s nothing to have faith in. But we literally have hundreds and thousands of promises that God gives us.

And by faith we hold those to ourselves. In 2 Timothy 2:15 we read study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth study. By the way, you know, that word study in the Greek is really much stronger. Another translation said, do your utmost to show thyself approved of God. You know, study is part of that, a very strong part of that.

But it shows that our intention must be to push ourselves to do the best we can in the study of God’s Word. Now you recognize the necessity of spending time in God’s Word. In expressions of Scripture, there’s inspiration for us. Don’t you like to be inspired? God’s Word will do that.

In the time left in your lives, you must allocate time for study and meditation. By the way, I put those two together because it’s one thing to gather data and bring it in through our eyes and through our ears and into our brains, but now we need to think about it, to meditate upon it, to think, how does this affect me? How does it change my perspective? How does it motivate me to do certain things? That’s why we must always meditate on what we’re learning.

It is a store of strength, study that cannot be neglected. It is the way that Jehovah speaks to you most directly. You may remember in the holy of the tabernacle, there were three pieces of furniture. On the left was the golden lampstand. On the right was a table of showbread.

Right ahead was the altar of incense, and as Brother Bennett showed, that altar of incense represents the prayers that we have in his beautiful presentation today. Now, the table of showbread and the golden lampstand, they represent several different things. They represent the church in one respect, but they also represent God’s Word, and we want to just look at this from God’s Word for a second.

Now, why would God have two symbols of the same thing within the holy well? I think one reason might be is they represent two different functions of God’s Word. The golden lampstand represents the light of truth that we receive that gives us direction in our life. You know, you get up at night, you need a flashlight or something to show you where to go. That’s the sense here, that God’s Word gives us that direction.

Your word is a lamp unto my feet. One of the psalmists says it helps us to know what the right choices and decisions are that we need to make. On the other hand, on the other side, the right side, the table of showbread, it’s a food, and this represents the spiritual food every day that gives us the strength to go in the narrow way day by day. So God’s Word gives us both direction and strength.

So spending God’s time every day in God’s word is necessary for our spiritual health and growth in the knowledge of God. Again, there’s only so much time left in our lives to enjoy this wonderful resource. All right, point number three. Another observation. One more observation from our theme text.

Paul notes that the prize is heavenward, away from the things of earth. When we consecrated our all to the service of God and sacrificed our all on the altar to be consumed, the upward call to heaven takes on special meaning. We must let go of the things in this world. You know, Brother Fry, many times used to use an example of the metamorphosis of a butterfly as a natural illustration of consecrated life. In fact, he was of the opinion that this metamorphosis, this process of metamorphosis was especially put here so the new creation could gain lessons from it.

Now, you know what a caterpillar is. It’s this little earthly worm creature. It’s got many legs on both sides. It is well connected to the world. Now, at some point, the caterpillar receives this upward impulse.

So it finds a tree or a stick, and it starts to go up, up, up, away from the earth. Eventually, it finds a branch and it starts to climb out and it purges itself and attaches itself there. Then it lets go of the branch, one leg at a time, until it hangs by one connection. Then it weaves a cocoon, completely shutting itself off from the world and transforms into a butterfly. It is no longer a creature of the ground of the earth, but a glorious, beautiful creature of the air.

Brethren, this is an example of our consecration. We have to let go of the things of this world and the cocoon that God’s Holy Spirit creates in us so that we might be transformed. By the way, in Romans 12, Be ye transformed. The Greek word there is metamorphosis. Isn’t that neat?

I love it. Key element here is letting go of the things of the world. Attention to self is a downward direction of attention. As we learn to direct our attention upward, heavenward, we begin to see things from the godly perspective, the divine perspective, which is a high perspective. You tell me.

Can you see more from your lawn or up in a tree on your lawn? Can you see more from that tree or the water tower in town? Can you see more from the water tower or nearby hill? I’m sure you get the point. The closer we draw to God, the better our perspective of spiritual realities will be.

The high calling is not simply an abstract future reward. It is a present reality, a Couple of scriptures here that show this present reality of the upward direction and the perspective, divine perspective we need to bring to things. Colossians 3, 1, 2. If ye then be risen with Christ, he’s talking about now, seek those things which are above. There’s that divine perspective where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your affection on things above, not things of the earth. We are risen now with Christ. We are in heavenly places, and he says that in Ephesians 2, verse 6, the very next text we want to read, and he hath raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Brethren, this is depicted and typed by the holy of the tabernacle. In the antitypical holy, we see things that no one on earth can see. So here’s that rhetorical question again. Do you live day by day as risen with Christ? In such a condition, we would expect the joy of each one to be irrepressible.

We become willing to endure, to bear, to carry any experience that the Lord gives us with joy in our hearts. In such a state of mind, the flesh becomes less and less important and the goal of pressing for the mark, perfect love in Christlikeness takes on more and more importance to us. Dear Brennan, the finish line is coming up on us quickly. Many of you don’t have far to go. I was delighted to listen to the in between fellowship on Zoom with Brother David Namisky.

He’s going to be 100 years old in November, I dare say. I think Brother David’s going to get to the finish line of the road before I am. But you know, as we said at the very beginning, that’s not guaranteed. We do not know for any of us when the Lord would say, time’s up, time to finish work and time to go on to something else. But in all this, it’s essential to stay faithful, to stay strong, and to stay single minded.

Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. They all knew it would be 40 years because they heard Jehovah’s judgment. 40 days, 40 years. You’re going to be here for 40 years. Can you imagine the excitement as the 40th year, the last year of their wandering, winded down sadly, many, many died in that last year because of sin and unfaithfulness.

You know, when we look at Deuteronomy and Numbers and Exodus, there is more about the last year of their wandering than all the rest of the time. The first two or three years, there’s a lot given, then we don’t hear anything for almost 36, 37 years, and that last year a lot of information is given. How sad it is that so many of those Israelites got so close to the finish line, and yet they failed to cross into the promised land because of sin disobedience. Brethren, this is a powerful warning to us.

Again, you’re hearing the Scripture a second time this afternoon. First Corinthians 10, 11, 12. Now these things happened unto them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age are come. Wherefore let not him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fail. Brethren, in a sense, we’re in the 40th year of wandering.

We are on the threshold of entering into the spiritual kingdom. As we said at the beginning, how much time is left for us to make our calling and election short? How much time before we reach the finish line? Days? Months?

Years? Whatever it is, it’s getting closer and closer. Do not fail to use the time left to ensure victory in your service. Brethren. Let’s summarize the lessons from our discussion today.

Our time on this earth is running out. 2. We must live our consecrated lives recognizing this fact that we are running out of time. We don’t have an infinite amount of time. 3.

Value every hour in our consecrated lives as an opportunity for service. 4. Do not let the mistakes of the past distract you. This is the forgetting the things behind. Remember number five.

Stretch yourself in various ways to expand your service opportunities. 6. Let go of the things of this earth. 7. Keep your focus on upward things, the goal of the prize.

8. Ask our heavenly Father for help to carry these ideals out again. Our Father, our Abba. He wants every one of us to be successful, to be victorious. He wants us to make our calling elections.

Sure. He wants us to be associated with His Son, and the only way we’re going to fail is if we do not measure up to the opportunities that are given us first. John 5:4. For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith.

Dear brothers and sisters, stay strong, stay faithful, stay active in the Lord. Let’s share the victory together so that together we can sing that special song beyond the Veil that is included in Revelation 15, verses 2 through 4. 15. 2, 4, and I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that come off victorious from the beast and from his image, and from the number of the same standing by the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Great and marvelous are thy works? O Lord God, the Almighty? Righteous and true are thy ways? Thou King of the ages?

Who shall not fear? O Lord? And glorify thy name? For Thou art holy? For the nations shall come and worship before thee?

For thy righteous acts have been made manifest. Brethren, don’t you want to sing that song beyond the veil again? Stay strong. Stay faithful. Stay active.

The finish line is not far off, and victory is in our hands if we do these things. May the Lord bless this to.

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