00:00Hello everyone, this is William Chambers. It is good to be here with you all.
00:04I want to say, give a shout out to my YouTube friends. I want to get into the Word of
00:08God here.
00:09I want to talk about running upward and reaching outward. The Bible calls the believer to run
00:19upward towards God, run towards God. And they're also obligated to reach towards men. These are
00:29our obligations. And I want to take a look at two individuals in scripture today.
00:35I want to look at the great apostle Paul when he talks about running upward. Brethren, I count not
00:41myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and
00:47reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high
00:53calling of God in Christ Jesus. God is always summoning us to go higher. So we're looking at
01:03this and Paul is saying in this text, a lot of things, but he's saying that he will not be
01:08frozen
01:08by his past. Paul had some failures that he was in his past that he said, I'm not going to
01:13be frozen
01:14by that. And he has some successes. He said, I'm not going to let any of that stop me from
01:19doing what
01:20God has called me to do. And believer, oh, if you have a past, don't let it stop you. Oh,
01:26oh, oh, no matter how dark, don't let it stop you. Don't let it be the measuring stick that you
01:31measure the rest of your life with. No, no, no. Paul said, forgetting those things. Not that he had
01:37amnesia. He said, I refuse to let it halt what God is doing. God is doing a new thing. Do
01:43not let
01:44your past hold you up. That right there is good all by itself. Paul said yesterday, I will not let
01:53it paralyze me. Oh, I got to forget about yesterday so that I can endure this race that I'm called
02:01to
02:01run. Oh, it is essential for me to forget those things which are behind and reach for that which
02:08is ahead. Paul had a future oriented faith, not a past oriented faith, but a future. I'm going to
02:16keep on looking into what God has for me in the future. What's past is past. Oh goodness, help us
02:22right there. Then Paul goes on to say that I'm saved, but I'm still progressing. He says, I press
02:30towards the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He said, I still got
02:36to press
02:36yes, although I am saved. This right here speaks against and dismantles the belief and the lie
02:43that once I'm saved, I'm done. There are some people that believe once they're saved, they're
02:51finished. Paul is saying, no, no, no, no, no. You say, but you're saved to do work for God. Oh,
02:58he paused. I am justified, but I'm still pressing. I am justified, but I have not been perfected.
03:05Oh, I'm justified, but I still got to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. There should
03:13not be spiritual complacency in any Christian's life. There should be forward movement. Save does
03:20not mean done. Save does not mean you're graduated. We are to keep running after God. Grace is not
03:27graduation. I received the grace, but I have not graduated. I must move forward. I am to continue
03:33spending my life pressing away from sin and pressing towards God. Continual movement.
03:41That's what he's talking about. Pressing towards the mark of the high calling in God. Yeah. Paul
03:47was a mature believer. I think, I think everybody would say Paul is a pretty mature believer. I mean,
03:53he did write most of the new Testament epistles. I let me get off that. But, um, uh, Paul is
04:00saying,
04:00although I'm not a mature believer, I still got to press. Meaning that maturity in God does not mean
04:07that you've arrived. It means that you're focused. Paul said, I'm still focused. I still must focus
04:11on this thing. I must still reach towards God. I still must forget what's behind and reach. Uh,
04:16I must press. He said, I'm pressing for a mark. This mark keeps us from drifting. I got to press
04:22towards the marking God so I don't drift. And he, and there's a prize. I got to press towards the
04:27prize.
04:27It keeps me enduring. Lord, I don't want to drift and I need to keep on enduring. Help us. Oh
04:33God,
04:35salvation in God, sanctification in God, uh, produces pursuit. If you are following after God,
04:44you're in pursuit of God. Paul said, I'm in pursuit of God. I'm trying to apprehend that which I have
04:50been apprehended of. I'm trying to get a hold of him. I'm in pursuit. I'm pressing. Paul said,
04:56I'm running upward. And this Psalmist in 71 is saying, I'm reaching outward. Paul is running
05:03upward. And this Psalmist is reaching outward. And when we look at both of these guys, we get a
05:08clearer picture of what the Christian believers, uh, duties are unto God and to men. So the Psalmist
05:15says, now also when I am old and gray headed, Oh God, forsake me not until I have showed thy
05:23strength
05:23unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come. This guy said, Lord, I'm old
05:31and I'm gray headed. Uh, you have preserved me. Uh, Oh, and if you preserve me, then the testimony
05:38should continue. Uh, I should continue testifying of you. Uh, I should continue talking about you
05:45and glory and let people know of you. Uh, he's saying, I got to show this generation,
05:50your strength and the generation to come, your power. I got work to do. If you are preserved,
06:00the testimony should continue God that you should continue declaring the goodness of God. Oh,
06:09your generation needs to hear you. This Psalmist portrayed old age, not as decline. He, he portrayed
06:17old age as unfinished business. Oh, if I got gray hairs all over my head, that means God has preserved
06:24me and I got unfinished business. That means my business ain't complete. That's all my gray hairs
06:28mean. I like that because I got a lot of gray hairs. You can see it because I haven't shaved
06:33this
06:33morning. They coming out. I'm not quite used to my gray hairs, but they're, they're there everywhere.
06:38That's why I shave like I do anyway. But he said gray hairs equate unfinished business. He said,
06:45I am old and gray. Oh God, forsake me not until I've shown this generation thy strength. He said,
06:52my old hairs is just proof positive. I still got things to show me about God. Hallelujah. Praise be
07:01unto God. My old age is not declined, but my old age is unfinished business as far as God is
07:09concerned.
07:09My physical nature may decline. Oh, it does decline, but my business towards God is still
07:16active. I got something to do something. Believer, you got something to do. If you got breath,
07:22God didn't leave you here without something to do. Your breath is proof positive that God is not
07:26unjust to leave you out here with no aim, no vision. If you have breath, that means you have a
07:32mission.
07:32Ha ha. We should, we should declare the testimony that God has given us about him publicly and not
07:42hoard it up. This Psalmist was not trying to hoard up his testimony. He said, I got to show
07:48thy strength unto this generation. I got to show them God and thy power to everyone that is to come.
07:55Even the generation that's not born yet, they need to see. Ah, so I have work to do. Don't hoard
08:02up
08:03your testimony. Don't hoard up your proclamation towards God. Don't sit on the gospel just for
08:09yourself. You need to be letting men know because the gospel is the strength of God. The gospel is
08:16the power of God to save men. You ought to be letting men know, believer, about the gospel of Christ.
08:22Don't hoard it up. Praise God. So these two men right here, give us a clearer picture of our
08:29obligation to God. We are called to run upward and our obligation to men. We're called to reach
08:39outward. Help us to do that. Oh God, in Jesus name, we pray and say, amen.
08:50Well, that is the word of God for the day. Just take a moment and ask yourself, does this word
08:58apply
08:59to my life in any type way at all? If it does, let's let us make changes. Let us get
09:06prayerful on
09:07those areas that we're struggling in. And until we meet again, let's continue to grow in the word.
09:12God bless you all.
09:37God bless you all.
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