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Philippians 3:12,14 -Pressing On- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2026-10-25
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Philippians chapter three verses 12 through 14. Would you please stand with me as we read God's holy word together? Not as though I had already attained, either we're already perfect, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count now count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Father, thank you so much for the example of the apostle Paul. Thank you heavenly father for the example of your dear son, how he fixed his face toward Jerusalem knowing what awaited him there. And Lord, we look at the inevitability. We look at, Lord, providentially what you've called us unto, And we thank you, Lord, that you are almighty sovereign, that you're on the throne, you're in control. And Lord, we need not fear the times we're living in. We need not fear what man can do unto us. And, Lord, we don't need to overly exalt or glorify the world, the beastly system, Lord. We know that the devil, Lord, the counterfeit falsehood, the counterfeit trinity, that there's no omniscience. There's no omnipotence. There's no omnipresence. And, Lord, they have to use the technology to try and mimic, to try and surveil and and convince people that in their authoritarian style, Lord, that there's no escape, that that there's no freedom at all. But, Lord, we know that there's the rapture coming to pull us out. We know that even even tribulation saints, many of them make it through that tribulation period. Lord, as half the population's gonna be wiped out as you pour out your wrath as the seals and and the trumpet and bold judgments are unleashed against this planet. Lord, we thank you that we're looking up knowing that our redemption draws nigh. And Lord, we don't wanna coast. We don't wanna be on vacation spiritually. Lord, we want to press. We want to finish well. And Lord, we sense we're getting closer and closer to the finish line. And Lord, we wanna we wanna get that kick, Lord. We wanna go hard toward the goal. We don't wanna be disqualified. Lord, we wanna live lives that are pleasing unto you as we point people to your soon return as we share the glorious gospel, the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ. So blessed now we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Would you please be seated? The Laodicean church in Revelation chapter three fifth... 15. Jesus said, I know that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou art cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Paul had no intention. The apostle Paul had no intention. He's chained to a Roman soldier, and, he's writing the church of Philippi, but he had no intention of quitting. You ever thought of quitting? He had no intention of slowing down. He kept the pedal to the metal. He was in his Christianity, in his calling. It was full throttle, always pressing on toward the goal. And so pressing toward... Pressing on toward number one, perfection. Notice verse 12. Not as though I had already attained, either we're already perfect, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. So Paul say, not yet. I haven't I haven't apprehended that for which I was apprehended. That word perfect in the Greek is teleos. It means to be a full grown of maturity, spiritual maturity. So Paul had not attained. The great apostle Paul had not attained. He had not arrived at the goal of perfection. Boy, we go like that. Wow. You know, because there's so much pressure for us to be perfect. We put that pressure upon ourselves somehow performing and thinking, hey. I've been a Christian for thirty, forty years. You know? Why do I keep stumbling and doing the same things, you know, falling into the same rut? You know? When an old wretched man that I am, you know, who is eventually gonna deliver me from this body of death? And Paul, lived in the skin like you and I have. There was a flesh that was warring against the spirit, and, and he was pressing. He was running. He was giving it his all, but he knew that he had not attained. He hadn't reached that place of perfection just yet. Now there came a time where the sons of God came before the Lord in Job chapter one and appeared under the Lord. And the Lord began to brag on a man named Job. Have you considered my servant Job, a man perfect and upright in all of his ways, a man that feared God and a skewed evil? And and the devil, as you know, that's there talking to the Lord says, well, you know, he doesn't he doesn't follow you because of his love for you. You know? Take away his stuff, and he'll curse you to your face and come again. You know? And naked came out in the world. Naked, I go, lord, the lord, take it away. Blessed be the name of the lord. And and Job ceased. He didn't he didn't sin with his lips. You know? And the the devil comes back a second time and says skin for skin, all that a man has will he give for his life. Take away his health. Like, the Lord has allowed that hedge of protection around many of us here, allowed our health to be affected, and it affects us physically, spiritually, emotionally in many ways. And... But we don't lose our faith. We're still pressing toward the mark, and Job didn't understand what was happening. But he was still asserting his righteousness. He was still asserting he he has a good man that somehow he he didn't deserve this kind of a treatment. You know, why are you treating me this way and such? And so when Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, when his miserable comforters come around, they couldn't see behind the curtain of what was happening, but they began to postulate. They began to philosophically say, well, you know... And, Job's like, no. He's fighting. He's defending, and he... He's crying out for a daysman. He's crying out for a mediator, someone to appeal his case before almighty judge. You know? And there's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and he happens to be our savior and our great high priest who ever lives to make intercession for us. But Job hadn't an understanding of that just yet. But in Job chapter nine verse 20, he says, if I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me. If I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. And so let another man's lips praise you and not your own, you know. And so Job couldn't sit there and and defend himself in how righteous he was because that very thing would show how perverse he was. And so he's he's still dialoguing with the Eliphaz, Buildad, and Zophar and trying to trying to reason with them the... You know, how this affliction and these things came after him. And he's basically saying, it's not because I'm a sinner. It's not because I'm bad person. It's not because I didn't have enough faith and all. You know, how did I go from full throttle and being the most blessed guy in the whole, you know, whole world at that time and God bragging on me and all? He didn't know that God was bragging on him. But he reaches a place in Job chapter four verse four when the Lord started to talk to him, where he used the word vile. I'm vile. I'm a vile man. The closer we get to the Lord, the the the brighter his glory is upon us and the more of our wickedness we see. When Job was kind of far from the Lord, he thought himself pretty good. But as the Lord started drawing near to him and saying, hey, where were you when? And talking with Job in that in that moment, in that time there, he said he he saw the vileness of his being. In job chapter 42 verse six, he said, I abhor myself, a b h o r. I abhor myself and I repent and dust and ashes, you know. Job knew that he couldn't reason this way. Job knew he couldn't defend himself. Job knew at that point, he was nothing but a sinner. And the only thing that was good in his life was because of God's grace. God's great grace, you know, upon him that he had not arrived, that he couldn't justify himself, that he wasn't perfect. And yet, God's bragging on him. Have you considered my servant Job? A man perfect and upright in all of his ways, a man that fears God and excuse evil? God was commending. God was bragging on Job to the serpent, you know, to the devil and all. And yet, without the Lord continuing to prop us up, without the Lord continuing to keep that hedge of protection about us. When when that hedge comes down and we lose everything, when that hedge comes down and and we're put in hot water, so to speak, then we start to see the inner part of our being. So God can use this as a means of purifying us. As Job says, I know the way that I take, and when he's tried me, I'll come forth as gold. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. So Job began to... And he... I know that my redeemer lives, and he shall stand the latter day. There were times where he had exultant faith, great faith that he could exclaim, but there were other times where he was doubting and trying to find the reason and trying to put put the pieces of the puzzle together, but he has limited knowledge. He can't see behind the curtain. He can't see that vessel that God's making him into, and he can't see the way that you and I would so appreciate the Lord, the lessons that we're learning in the book of Job as we study this man, as we see the way that God dealt with him and and so many others, whether it be Joseph or the apostle Paul, the tremendous things they suffered, things they've gone through, and the way the Lord was using it to remind people of his only begotten son who also would go through great, great times of suffering. He says, but I follow after. So Paul's saying that that but I follow after means pressing on to pursue a thing continually, an all consuming passion. So you may not be perfect yet, but is there an all consuming passion within you to persevere, to press on, to not be lukewarm like the Laodicean church? I'd rather you're hot or cold. If you're lukewarm, I spew you out of my mouth. You know? The Lord wants us to be hot. He wants to be fervent. He wants us to put our whole heart into pursuing him. And so it's kinda like a hunter that's after a prey. And Paul was not the kind of guy that hung out at Cabela's and during hunting season, talking everybody to death, you know, talking about hunting. He was not the guy that dressed in camo duck dynasty shirt, blowing a whistle at Cabela's. He he didn't hang out like that. He didn't pray through town with his beard on, driving with his gun in the window, looking all Hollywood hunter. That wasn't him. There was no tree stand for the apostle Paul. Paul Paul was a stalker. Paul was stalking his prey. He was moving against wickedness. His was a pressing on style, stalking and pressing toward the trophy unto death. He says, I press after. I I follow after that pressing on that pursuing that that you can't stop a guy like this. These are the... This is the kind of guy that gets stoned at Lystra and gets back up and goes into Lystra Derby and Iconium. This is a guy that's turning the world upside down. No matter you can incarcerate Peter, you can take the guys and beat on them, they go away rejoicing that they're counted worthy to suffer for the Lord's sake. There's no off button. There's no cruise control. There's no, you know, sabbatical, if you will. These guys are just full throttle, going for it, knowing time is short, knowing how incredibly short the time is. How much more time do we even have to work in this field where people are perishing? Do you sense the urgency? Do you sense the moment, the time in which we're living, or do we just give up? We just give up. And I I hear people, you know, say, love you. Savi. That's all gonna happen. It's all prophetic. It's just prophecy. We don't need to concern ourself. It's it's just the beast system. It's no big deal. It's prophecy. No no sense of loss. No sense of people perishing. You got your insurance, you got your fire insurance, but you don't care those that are perishing? You you don't... Do you want people to continue walking in that deception that if they vote a certain way, they can save America? Do you really want them immersed in that sort of a a cloud of deception? It's impossible to reason with them. I agree. But to sit back and say, now you've arrived. Now you understand. But, hey, pastor, it's it's just prophecy. Yeah. It's prophecy. That's what we've been trying to teach you. It's coming. But that should give us a greater urgency. The time is short to be looking up, to be pressing. When the Lord comes to you, do you want him to find you bearing your treasure, bearing it in the ground, and no reinvestment in the lives of others? No. I want I wanna... I want the Lord to do a reckoning and say, hey. You you did a good job reinvesting the lives of others. You did a good job letting people know about the rapture, about the soon return of Jesus and the temple being built and, you know, the whole beast system and all. You did a good job of teaching the book of revelation and not, not just allegorizing it all, but using the typology where the... Where there were types and tying back into the book of Daniel and try and bring people to the understanding of the, 10 toes and, you know, the 10 horns and the 10 crowns and the 10 kings that the world is on the verge of being moved in a direction of dividing the planet into 10 regions. And America's only gonna be a part of one of those 10 regions. And it looks like the president we have is is wanting to put that region together from Greenland all the way down to Venezuela. It looks like he's wanting to merge Mexico and Canada with us, wanting to get one of those 10 in place. I mean, think of the times that you're living in. It's it's exciting, isn't it? It's it's radically exciting to think about this, but it doesn't mean we sit on our loyals. It doesn't mean we we just say, well, you know, I hope the stock market bounces back. I hope our investments continue to climb. You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna invest in Palantir because pastor taught me that that's the beast system being developed. So if I invest in in the in the technocrats, the tech guys, then I can get rich off of this helping to build the beast system. That's one way to look at it. But no sense of urgency, no sense of of reaching the lost, of helping people to be educated, to be discipled, to understand what's going on. We we have, 2% of the churches even teaching prophecy. The Christians are not prepared. And guys like, you know, Peter Peter Thiel jumping in and acting like he's a teacher of the Bible, doing doing seminars on the Antichrist, like he's an expert. It's so bizarre. So it's so strange what's happening right now. Second Peter three eighteen Peter says, growing grace. So growth in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And and Jeremiah twenty nine thirteen says, you shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me with all your heart. Keep gasking, keep seeking, keep knocking, keep pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Haven't arrived yet, but keep pressing. Keep moving there. You've read the Bible 20 times, people. I've read the Bible. You'll hear people say, I've read the Bible a couple times, all the way through a couple times. And it's like, gonna set it back on the coffee table, collect dust, and it's no big deal. The word of God's alive. You just keep reading. And I heard a guy say that he read through the book of Revelation. A pastor said that he read through the book of Revelation in fourteen minutes. Wow. Wow. It's gonna take you about twenty minutes, you know, because I'm the pastor. And and I'm looking at that like, what a buffoon. What what a mindless idiot. You know, he's he's like this bombastic, terrible car salesman and talking condescending toward the people. So mean. People say, I'm mean. Oh, I can show you a picture of a guy, You know? And the reason they say I'm mean is because they lose the debate. And when they lose the debate, now only thing we can say about pastor Rick is he's mean. He didn't vote for Donald Trump. He's mean. You know? And that's a... That... That's... So you go after the messenger. This guy this guy is... It made me embarrassed to be a pastor. Let me tell you. It's just like, oh. Oh. And fourteen minutes. You have fourteen minutes. And so now you're gonna teach the book of Revelation. How are gonna teach the book of Revelation? What are you gonna teach? You're gonna teach the book of Daniel? How are gonna teach the book of Daniel? They're they're gonna they're gonna tell little stories. They're gonna pick and choose. They're not gonna give people a systematic understanding of the book and tie the dots, you know, to the book of revelation. It's not gonna happen. They're gonna gloss over anything that's difficult and just spiritualize it, allegorize it like origin. You know? And they're not gonna give a sense of urgency of the times in which we're living except for condemnation. Saw the guy using it to condemn his own people. And I'm looking at all you guys. You guys are you guys are saved. Why would I lose... Use the book of revelation to condemn you? You're saved. I wanna use the book of revelation and the study on the rapture to give you hope that you're not subject under God's wrath. That he's gonna take you out before this happen. And this buffoon's using it to condemn his people, God's sheep. It was hard to listen to. And then he started ranting about how last week he had to give us another sermon on giving and people got up and walked out. The guy gives a sermon on giving every month. And I'm like, this guy's a wolf in sheep's clothing and they love them. They keep coming back. It's bizarre. It's just bizarre the time we're living in. Paul said, the more I love you, the less you love me in return. And yet, he doesn't allow it to impede his progress. Jesus said in Matthew 15 verse seven and eight, he said, these people do worship me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. People just singing the songs, going through the motions. They're not pressing toward the mark. They're not giving the Lord their best and their first. Jesus gets the leftovers. He gets what's leftover and churches become therapy therapy sessions, therapeutic where man is at the center. The greatest healing, the greatest wholeness is focusing upon Jesus. Allow the great physician to cause you to fade away and for him to live in and through you. Focus upon the Lord. Don't be fixated and Paul talk about that in a minute here upon self. The apostle Paul, his would be a martyrs perfecting. How would Paul be perfected? As a martyr, perfected by the sword. Paul would lose his head. Paul would be martyred for Jesus and receive a crown of life. At that instant, at that moment, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. At that moment, he's perfected. At that moment, he's got his new glorified body perfected. You and I, at the moment of the rapture, in the moment, a twinkling of an eye, we're gonna be caught up, harpazoed. We're gonna be taken up. And as we're being taken up, you and I transition into our new glorified body. We're perfected. Praise god. Praise god is right. That's right. And so our salvation is in three tenses. You know this. You've been saved. The word salvation means deliverance and healing. You've been saved from the past penalty of sin. There's now, therefore, no condemnation. Pastor can't condemn you. You're saved. You're one of the saints. You're washed in the blood. Can't improve upon that. It is finished. Italicite. Paid in full. Nobody can condemn you. Nothing. And nothing can ever separate you from the love of God in Romans eight. Neither height nor depth nor principalities nor power. Nothing will ever be able to separate you from God's love. That's your position in the past tense at the cross of Calvary at that moment. He's a lamb slain before the foundation of the earth, and he knew you, and your name's in the lamb's book of life. Never are you gonna lose your salvation. And in the present tense, there's a work of sanctification where he's saving you from the power of sin. There's a greater power working in your life now. The power of the holy spirit living and dwelling within you. And now you're no longer a slave to sin. As you yield to the holy spirit, you get victory over the tyranny of the world, the flesh, and the devil trying to pull you down, get you to backslide, pull you away. And as you yield in Galatians five to the Holy Spirit, if we walk in the spirit, we don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we sow to the flesh, if we give in to the flesh and sow it and feed the flesh, then then we're gonna reap corruption. We're gonna live a life of defeat as a Christian. Doesn't mean you lost your salvation, but you're a defeated carnal Christian, fleshly Christian. And we don't know if you're saved or not, but you are saved. You're saved. Don't let anybody take that away. And in the future tense, I'm gonna be delivered. I'm gonna be healed. I'll be made whole in the future tense. He's gonna perfect me when I see him face to face. And so I'm gonna be safe from the very presence of sin. There isn't gonna be any more sin in my life. I get my new glorified body for me to live as Christ to die is gain, Paul said. And so pressing on toward God's number one perfection, pressing on secondly towards God's purpose. What's his purpose? So Paul says, I haven't arrived. I'm not there yet. I'm pressing toward the mark. He says, but there's one thing I do. So always pressing on, pressing forward. In Psalm twenty seven four, it says, one thing I have desired of the Lord and that I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and behold his beauty. David, the Psalmist. One thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold his beauty and to inquire in his temple. Doesn't that sound like a worshiper? Your life is one thing. One master passion of my life is to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a goal. What a what what an outlook. What a perspective you have when you walk like that. Even though you may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, your shepherd, your God is risen. You don't fear death. He brings you through into that place of blessing that he's prepared in your new glorified body. One thing one thing. If I were to summarize everything, the pursuit of life, what's the pursuit of life? What's that one thing you want out of life? I wanna be a billionaire. I wanna have a bigger house. I wanna get married. I wanna have kids. People, we all have desires. One thing I've desired of the Lord. One thing. Not 20 things, not Jesus and 20 things, other things. No. I narrow it down to one thing. One thing. He tabernacled among us. God tabernacled in a human body. And we beheld his beauty as the only begotten son of the father full of grace and truth. I wanna I wanna be tabernacled. I wanna dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold his beauty and to inquire in his temple. One thing. In Mark in Mark chapter 10 verse 21, the rich young ruler came to Jesus, and he said, good master. And Jesus said, why callest thou me good? There's none good but one that is God. Do you know who I am, dude? And he says, what must I do, rich young ruler? What must I do to inherit a king... Eternal life? And Jesus said, well, you know the commandments. Don't kill. Or excuse me. Don't don't don't commit adultery. Don't kill. Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't defraud. Honor your father and mother. All these things I've done. All. All these things I've done from my youth up. I'm a religious guy. I've done them all. I've done it all. And then it's so cute, Jesus said. I use that word cute. Jesus loved on them. Isn't that cute? When you see a a young person idealistic and think they got it together and and and they're sincere, they're sincere. They've really been pursuing this. It's yeah. One thing you lack. There's just one thing you lack, kid. One thing. Go sell all that you have. Give it to the poor. One thing. There's just one thing lacking. Go take all your stuff, sell it, give it to the poor. You'll have treasure in heaven, and then take your cross up and follow me. And says, the rich young lawyer was sad at this saying and went away grieved because his master passion of his life was his things. The thing that was left out was covetousness. Thou shall not covet. Jesus was showing this man what was keeping him from being perfect. If you wanna be perfect, go and sell it all. It wasn't the stuff that was the problem. It was the love that he had for the stuff. And Jesus went on to describe to his disciples how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man that's trusting in the riches. Who then can be saved? The disciples are saying. With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. God does have rich children, people that are rich materially. But if he takes it all away like he did with Job, they're gonna say, naked came I end of the world, naked I'm gonna go. The Lord giveth, the Lord take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The Lord's their portion. The Lord's their true riches. And Jesus was just showing this rich young ruler. Hey, you want that? You wanna know that one thing that one thing that's keeping you out? It's a sin of covetousness. Go sell all you have. Give it to the poor. There'll be great treasure for you in heaven, and then come and follow me. There's a time in Luke chapter 10 where Jesus decided to go over to his friend's house in Bethany. And in Bethany was the home of Lazarus and Mary and Martha. And as Jesus come into the house, Martha was really busy. She was encumbered about with many things. She was cooking, cleaning, getting ready. She was gonna she was gonna treat Jesus to a really nice meal, you know, or something. And Mary, her sister, was sitting at the Lord's feet, at Jesus' feet, listening to him, listening to his words. And Martha became indignant about this, said, Lord, aren't you gonna aren't you gonna prompt Mary to come in here and help me? I'm doing it myself. She's she's leaving me alone, and I have to do it all. And Jesus said, I love this. Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha. All these things that you're doing, you're encumbered and you're you're busy with many things. And he says, but one thing, if we narrow it all down Martha, all that you're doing, there's really only one thing needful. And Mary has chosen that better part or that good part, what's best. So many things we can do. And they may seem the tyranny of the urgent, like I just gotta do this before I can sit at Jesus feet and read his word. I gotta do this over here. And then that phone rings and everything goes off and everything keeps happening. You never get back to that one thing because Jesus was the leftover thing. And Jesus said, she's chosen that one thing and it's not going to be taken from her. She's a worshiper. Mary's the one that knew that Jesus was gonna be crucified. Mary's one of the few that knew and took an alabaster box of spikenard very costly and put it upon Jesus signifying of his of his death, eventual death. She's a worshiper. So only one thing needful Martha. And then in John chapter nine, there was a guy that was born blind, and he was there begging. And Jesus came by. It was the Sabbath, and the heavies are watching. Right? The pharisees, everybody. And Jesus comes by and he spits, hits the ground. He bends over and he takes that spittle with the dirt and he makes some clay. And he puts it on this guy's eye. And I know if people could figure out the right amount of spit and saliva and the right kind of dirt consistency, they'd make this this stuff for everybody, you know. But he purposely mixed it up with people so they wouldn't make it into a formula. Right? And then he told the guy, go wipe your... Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam. And the guy did, and he could see. First time he's ever been able to see. And so now the people are coming. How'd this happen? Who did this? What happened? And he describes Jesus. You look in John nine. It's so neat how the Lord does this progression of faith. He's putting this... Like with the Syrophoenician woman, he starts out as just a man. Yeah. This man came and spit and put it on my eyes, and I want to pull Siloam, and now I see. And then he began to be interrogated by the pharisees, the religious leaders. Well, who is this man? Who is this man? How could he do this? It's a Sabbath. He's a sinner. He's a sinner. Certainly, he's a sinner. All I know is I was blind, and now I see. And let's talk to his parents. Well, he's of age because you get thrown out of the temple if you admit, you know, that Jesus is the Messiah if he's the Christ. So they said he's of age. You ask him. We don't wanna be kicked out of temple life. So then they come back to the guy, and who did it? Tell us he's a sinner. Give God the glory. Tells us he's a sinner. He did this on the Sabbath, this guy. And he says, well, this is a marvelous thing in the history of the whole world. Nobody's ever been able to cause a... Got man that was born blind, able to see. He's a prophet. Yeah. He's a... He goes from a man to being a prophet. And then he's still pressing on, pressing on, pressing on, pressing on the parents. And they're pressing on the man again. And finally finally, in Psalm 27 verse four, he's like, one thing I know. I don't know about a man, a prophet, a sinner. He's definitely not a sinner because a sinner couldn't do this. I don't quite know who he is, but this one thing I do know is whereas I was blind, and now I see. Do you have that testimony? This one thing I know is I used to be fill in the blank, and now I see. Now my ears are open. I can hear. I can discern. I have the holy spirit bearing witness with my spirit that I'm a child of God. I was once lost. I was once drifting. I was once in bondage, and you can fill in the blank. Your testimony is powerful of how Jesus intervened and took the time to spit on the ground. To a even greater degree than that, to go to the cross for you, to be pierced, to be crucified for you. One thing I know is I was lost. I came from an alcoholic home. My mom's married seven times. We all have a testimony. I was in a Christian home. I thought I was saved. We went to church every week, but I was lost. I was pharisaical. I was self righteous. I looked down my nose at people. I condemned people. I thought I was getting there like the rich young ruler because I was a good guy. I was one of the good ones. All I know is one thing I know is I was once blind and now I see. And then when they kicked him out, Jesus came back around to him and he introduced himself as the son of man. Who is the son of man? The person that's speaking to you. He's the son of man. Jesus healed him, got him to see, but also gave him eyes to see spiritually. That you've met the true living God. You've met the Messiah. You've met the Christ. One thing all I know is I was once lost. Now I'm saved. God saved me. He says, forgetting those things which are behind. Now we need this to be big walls in the churches today, the therapeutic churches. Everything's based upon your mom didn't hug you. Everything's based upon you got a raw deal. You're a victim. You're still a victim. You're still a slave. And I'm not minimizing your suffering. I'm not minimizing how horrible an ordeal that you've gone through as a child, somebody molesting you or raped or whatever your story is. Again, we all have a story. But you're not the only one. And you're not the first one that's ever suffered. And you're not the last one. This is a life of suffering. This is a life of pain. Imagine being born blind, not even have a chance. Fanny Crosby is born blind and she pumped out over 5,000 hymns, became treasures in the church. And she didn't feel sorry for being born blind. She said, you guys are able to see physically. Maybe not spiritually, but the first thing my eyes are gonna gaze upon is the faith of Jesus face of Jesus. She knew that one day. She didn't let it hold her back. She didn't go to therapy and have tried to get everybody to figure out why God would allow me to be born blind. The why gods. The $75 an hour to listen to your story over and over and over again, how you suffered more than anybody else. And I'm gonna sing the song right now. Okay. Ready? Ready? Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Right? I didn't do it very good, but you could pick it up. Get over it. Get over yourself. God has something so much greater than your suffering. Something so much greater. Your suffering never can compare to the suffering Jesus went through for you to save you. For God so loved you. He gave you salvation. There's a day coming where he's going to wipe away all the tears, where he's going to remove all the sorrow and even even the memory. But God wants to use you right where you're at. God wants to use you as a trophy of his grace. God wants to use you as a victorious Christian. As one that can say, I was once and then you describe it, but but God intervened. God revealed himself to me. And his love is so much greater than any suffering I've ever gone through. And Paul saying, I haven't arrived yet. I'm not perfect. I've done a lot of bad things. I've experienced a lot of good things. But I'm forgetting those things which are behind my past failures. I'm breaking the power, the influence of the past. I'm not a slave. I'm not a victim. I'm nobody's dog that's gonna rule over me. I belong to Jesus. And he bought me out of the slave market. He washed me in his blood. He set me on his feet, on my feet. And you know, he's such a glorious, glorious master that now I wanna be his bond servant. I wanna go to the priest and I wanna go to the priest. I want the priest to take a a... An earring and and the awl and put my my earlobe to the post and I I wanna be a pirate. No. I wanna be a bond servant of Jesus. You're willingly connected with him, saying my master is the most glorious master. You've served your seven years. You've paid your debt, so to speak. But now you have an option of continuing with that master. Yes. I wanna continue. He's the greatest lord. He's the greatest master I've ever met. I wanna be connected to him. And I want everyone to see that earring, and I want them to know that if they see those scars upon my back where I was beaten by my previous master, if they see the the the look in my eyes and my face that it is one of victory. It's one of joy. It's one of blessing. And I put my whole heart into serving him. I wanna please him now. I wanna give back onto him. I don't wanna denigrate the salvation he's given me. I don't wanna minimize it. I don't wanna incorporate the philosophies of the world to try and figure out my brain and my brain chemistry. No. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows the way that I take and when he's tried me, I'm gonna come forth as goal. He's working all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. I refuse to play the victim, to play the blame game. I got a lot of work to get done. I can't get anything done if I'm always looking back. No man putting his hand to the plow looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Remembers Lot's wife. She's looking back. Why'd she look back? She liked the opera. She liked men in tights. She liked that stuff. She liked all the social aspects of Sodom and Gomorrah. She loved Egypt. She loved the world. And Jesus said, remember Lot's wife, whosoever shall seek to save his life is gonna lose it. And whosoever loses his life for my sake, gonna find it, gonna preserve it. And there's the secret. Our life is hidden Christ. The old you, all that victimization, all that stuff that happened to you, or the stuff that even happens to you in the present tense as a Christian. A lot of us, we have stories of what happened in the past and no big deal. People interviewed me one time to do a church down in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the guy was extremely wealthy. And I met him on my Israel trip and... But the wife was... She was like a doctor, a doctor, psychiatrist, whatever. So she separated me over one side, and he had Kathy on the side, and they began to interview us and all that. And by the time she was done with me, I was too, wounded. I was too wounded. I was too, whatever, my past, that if they went with me, I would just hurt people. Somehow, people that are hurt wanna hurt others, apparently. I don't wanna hurt people. I wanna help people. I wanna I wanna try and help people from getting hurt, especially kids, especially young people. I love trying to help them to alleviate what they're going through. Been there, done that. I wanna see them get saved. It all stops when you get saved. The torment stops when you get saved. The peace floods your heart. And yet I have to say, as as the Lord said in concerning the apostle Paul, not I'm not comparing myself to him, but we all are promised suffering. We're promised adversity. We're promised affliction that we through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. I've got a lot of blessings with Kathy and the kids and the grandkids and so many great things that God's done for me. But I also have some great defeats. Some things that brought me to my knees and and and it's hard to reconcile because you expect worldly people to be worldly people and to fail and and in their failure, you might get hurt through the process. They weren't directly trying to hurt you. It's just, you know, you get thrown in jail by your mom. Alright. I got thrown in jail by my mom. But I forgave her. It wasn't like I had to keep looking back on it, and I'm such a loser today because mom threw me in jail. You know? No. People make mistakes. She's a survivor. She'd love to take that back if she could, you know. And I make mistakes. And I'm constantly saying I'm sorry. I'm teaching the kids how to scream, you know? I got a lot of... Lot going for me on Saturday morning cartoons, you know? But the Lord's hurt me. The Lord's hurt me deeper than any human being. AW Tozer says before God can use a man greatly, he must hurt him deeply. And God's hurt me to the core. And there's no means of understanding, coming to an understanding of why. Incomprehensible. I've gotta walk by faith. I gotta continue to walk by faith. Things don't make sense anymore. There aren't the big name pastors out there with the authority to establish a pattern. It's everybody and their brother has a YouTube video, an AI truce, and it's so gobbledygooked out there that a guy like me that tries to be old school, line upon line, precept upon precept, it's like a no brainer for me. But boy, oh boy, everybody's an expert. Everybody's got an argument. Everybody's got a different opinion. And the word means... This is what the word means. There's no way around that. That means that. But it doesn't matter. I I don't feel that way. That's what I gotta deal with now, the feelings. You know? People don't even know who tiny Tim is. Trying to get them to understand that's not me. And Jesus doesn't prance around like that. In Isaiah forty three eight... Forty three eighteen. Remember ye not the former things neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall bring spring forth. Shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Maybe you've gone through a divorce, maybe a couple divorces, And maybe it really rocked you. Maybe you were the one like my father-in-law said, you know, it's really hard, Rick, when you're the one that's been rejected by your partner. Difficult. Another guy told me he sat on a park bench for a year. Just numb, just numb from the betrayal. And in many cases, people come to Christ as they go through that particular thing. Others, they were Christians when it happened. Even more mind boggling. But if you're gonna move forward, you've gotta put the past behind you. God wants to do a new thing, a fresh new thing in your new marriage. Take inventory. Take stock of what you did wrong, and don't repeat it. Put the Lord first. Get your wife to church. That's the greatest insurance policy for your marriage is to cover her. To cover her with God's word, a Bible teaching church with the Holy Spirit teaching her and bringing her that place of contentment satisfaction, not with you. She's not satisfied with you. Satisfied with Jesus. Introduce her to Jesus. That fills the void, the emptiness in her heart. Then she has the strength to handle you on a daily basis. Praying that soon the Lord will perfect the both of you and get you in the rapture, you know. Kathy said it's a life sentence. It's only a life sentence, Rick. Not in the millennium. As far as the east is from the West, so he'll remove our iniquities from us in Psalm a hundred and three twelve. Hebrews ten seventeen says, your your sins and iniquities, he'll remember no more. There's now therefore no condemnation. Don't bring it up. In your present marriage, your your kids, your family, don't bring it up. It's east to west. Once you deal with it, it's done. Quit reminding each other of it. It's done. It's in the past. Only the devil would bring it up. Oh, the devil's speaking through you right now. He's the accuser of the brethren. We're moving on. Let's move on. Let's not camp out upon our failures. We're never gonna be able to move forward. All things are working together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Now wasn't that the best marital counseling you've ever heard? We're gonna receive an offering right now. Let's pass around. I need to make a buck off of this, you know? You get it all in a bible teaching. You get it all. Why do you need a so called expert to charge you $75 an hour to listen to you commiserate about what a loser you are. Gosh. Come on. Join the club. We're all sinners, including you, not just your parents. Any of us that are parents, man. Our kids love to find fault. I get even with the grandkids. That's where you get even. Oh, man. Because our kids, they too are gonna make mistakes. Gotta be grace. There's gotta be an ocean of grace and mercy in our lives as Christians. Can't can't be under the law. Can't put people under the law. It's grace. Pressing toward god's perfection, pressing towards god's purpose, and thirdly and finally, pressing toward the prize. Verse 14. I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Run to win. You run-in just to finish. You you run-in in the marathon. You just want a t shirt. I got a t shirt as a participant. Our grandkids are playing soccer, and they all get trophies because they... They're a participant. We didn't get trophies unless we won. Oh, you hurt their feelings. Then I gotta deal with them as adults as they get older. Come on. You don't get a a trophy around here for showing up, you know? Run to win. Do something. Run looking forward. You're looking backward, you're gonna fall down. Paul is using athletic types to describe the spiritual race we're in. Describe it as a race. The Ithmian games are like the Olympic games, and he not only would use imagery of a soldier, but that of athletes. So turn to first Corinthians nine verse 24 if you'd like, and I'll wait for you to get there. Now one of the greatest truths I learned at the gym when I first went over this present gym I'm at, it's a twenty four hour gym, by the way. So there are no excuses. Number one. Number two, a guy taught me this. It was so good. One one time I tried to say, well, I'm getting kinda busy and this girl says, it's a twenty four hour gym. Alright. I'm not gonna use that again. Never use that one again. Alright. Consistency is a key, but check this out. So much of what we do is a mesh with lies and subjective truth. Subjective in that people feel and YouTube, and it's just nauseating. When the people are uneducated, when they're ignorant of God's word, these false prophets can get away with so much heresy, and the people don't even know it. And then now you, as somebody that's been studying God's word and knows God's word and has a good working knowledge of the scripture, you... Immediately, it pops out for you. But now you gotta try and convince them that they're being deceived, but you can't get through to them. It's hard to get through to them. They drink the Kool Aid. They don't they don't see it. They don't want to see it. Well, this guy said something in the gym that really helped me. And this is why I like going to the gym. The numbers don't lie. What's that mean? It means if I'm fat, it's because I'm putting too many high calorie food in that gullet right there. Okay? Nobody's forcing it. But if I'm to be at a calorie deficit, that means I got to find out what my maintenance level is, maybe 2,500, 3,000, and I gotta drop it down to 2,000. The numbers don't lie. You're fat. You're a fatty. You're eating too much. Oh, no. You don't understand. It's my hormones. It's my thyroid. It's the numbers don't lie. It hurts, doesn't it? We're a fat culture. And these guys in the gym there, man, they make fun of you if you're fat as I am. Like going to California, everybody, Rick, you're pretty fat. How much you weigh now? Oh, about two seventy. Yeah. I'm twice the man you are. But but the benchmark there in California is how weak and skinny you can be. I don't want to be weak. I want to be strong. Kathy likes me strong. She doesn't want me emaciated and feeble. Alright? So I only have one woman to please. So the numbers don't lie and I love that because if I put the work in if I put the work in and I add a little bit of weight to the bar, I get stronger if I'm consistent. And if I take the numbers and dial them back on what I eat, then I get to lose some of this body fat filled with estrogen. Makes me cry all the time. And I and I'm a natural. I don't take the TRT and all the other stuff the guys are doing. And I'm the oldest guy in the gym. I don't identify as a senior citizen, but I heard that that term before. The numbers don't lie. I love that guy did that. Okay. I pressed toward the mark of the prize, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. First Corinthians nine twenty four, you're there now. He says, know you not that they which run-in a race run all but one receives the prize. Just one winner. So run that you may obtain. Run to win. Be like Keith. Get here before all of my grandkids and get 58 tickets sold. Run to win. Suck everybody of all their money before my grandkids can get here. Be aggressive. Run to win. I got 58 soul. Yeah. Mom and dad helped you, didn't they? Running for a tie is like kissing your sister. How'd that feel? I once kissed my sister. We tied. Yeah. Kathy told me the other night. She told me the other night that that one time she went on a grunion hunt with some guys, and we always used to do grunion hunting. And grunion is like the moon's a certain way. And and we were watching Bosch and and Maddie, his daughter went on a grunion thing. And Kathy says, oh, I used to do that. I say, I used to do that too. And and she says, yeah. Guys always like to go on a date when the grunion were running because it was dark, and you know what guys like to do when it's dark. I said, what? They kiss you? They kiss you, cat? Hope she didn't hear that. Her other friends took her to a mortuary, and they went around the mortuary telling scary stories, you know. I mean, I've been married to her. I've known her since I was 17. I never heard those two stories before. I'm still getting to know her. Ain't that exciting? I want so bad to take her grunting and hunt so I can get a kiss because kissing your sister means nothing. Press toward the goal. Save nothing for later. So you got something in the tank? You got something in the tank? Press toward the goal to where when you get to the goal, there's nothing left in the tank. When when you get to the end of life, you've got the oxygen going through your nose like pastor Chuck on a on a Sunday, 86 years old with terminal stage four lung cancer, and you're in the pulpit on Sunday morning, and you go home to be with Jesus the following Tuesday. And you're teaching on Romans four, Abraham, a man of faith. That's the way you want to go. Nothing left in the tank. I understand that the oxygen ran out and He died right there. No. I'm just kidding. Nothing left in the tank. He says, verse 25, and every man that strives for this mastery is temperate in all things. So juice up You're temperate. You're disciplined. There's certain disciplines. So you wanna juice up. I I don't mean like get the steroids and all, but, you know, a lot of athletes do, but juice up. Get a lot of antioxidants. Get it in. Build your body up. Make sure you got the carbs ready. The muscles are filled. They're ready to go. They're ready to rumble. A lot of them, they do a carb loading on these marathons or guys in the gym and all. And you and I, we would take it spiritually. In Ephesians five eighteen, it says, being not drunk with wine. You don't wanna be drunk. I watched a thing on Mike Tyson on Netflix, and it was horrible. Once he won the championship, it was cocaine and riotous living that pulled him down. When he went to Japan, he lost to Buster Douglas who was serious. Mike was not serious anymore. He wasn't training as when he had custom auto who captured him, and he deeply respected him. It was cocaine. It was cocaine. It was cocaine all the way through. How do you how how do you fight at that level and compromise... Be compromised in your training? So being a drunk with wine, wearing a success, but be being filled with the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit. We can learn. We know it. And we wanna be being filled on an ongoing way, ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit temperate. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. The Olympian runners would get a celery wreath. How long do you think that celery wreath is going to last? And we get an incorruptible crown that fades not away. First Peter five verse four says, the chief shepherd shall appear, he shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away. Paul said in second Timothy four verse eight, there's now therefore laid up for me a crown of righteousness. And not for me only, but for all those you and I who love is appearing. We're looking for the rapture. There's a crown of righteousness, not a celery wreath, not a incorruptible crown that fades away. Our rewards stay with us for all eternity. And so they look at the apostle Paul and they say all tens all tens all tens a perfect score. Perfect score. Revelation two ten Jesus says be faithful unto death and I'll give the the crown of life a martyrs crown perfected by the sword, the blood of the martyrs. Back to first Corinthians nine and verse 26. He says, I therefore so run not as uncertainty. So fight I not as one that beats the air. So running, he stays in the lane. He's staying in his lane. And I have to remind myself of that all the time. Rick, just stay in your lane. Don't worry about anybody else. Just stay in your lane. Keep your head down. Give it your best shot and stay in your lane. So maybe a whole lot of what we go through is because we're prideful and the Lord wants to humble us. Are we getting it yet? Just stay in your lane. Don't compare. Don't look to the left or the right. You'll get off your lane. Don't compare with other pastors. Well, good lord. They, you know, stay in your lane. You'll be able to enjoy the race much better. Stay in your lane. Don't be disqualified. And he says, I, therefore, strives... Run as as uncertainty so fight as one that beats the air. So you're not just shadow boxing. Hit what you're aiming at. Hit the mark. Run and fight to win. He says verse 27, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. Lest that by any means when I have preached others, I myself should be a castaway. That word castaway is a document, disqualified, ashamed. So no crown of rejoicing. You're missing out on all that God had for you. And how tragic that is to bring shame to the body of Christ. So the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus is that of being caught up in the presence of Christ to hear him say, done, thou good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. I'm going to make you ruler over much. There's no way that Paul wanted to start out strong. We're so zealous as new Christians. We're just so ready to conquer the world. We're ready to, you know, go all over the world for Jesus and then finish last. God forbid. Did you hear about pastor so and so? Did you hear what happened to him? It's in the news all the time. You start out strong. You finish like a reproach. Like, Nathan came to David. Do you give him great occasion, David, for the enemies of Lord to blaspheme his name? How your wife must feel? How your children must feel? How your grandchildren must feel when you cheat on your wife. He says in Hebrews 12 verse one, the writer, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about so great a cloud of witnesses from chapter 11, the hall of faith, those that have gone before us, and the Lord Jesus standing in acts chapter seven for Stephen. They're watching us. The Lord's watching. The angels are watching. Let us lay aside every weight. So these runners, they didn't want to run carrying a bunch of weight on their backs. They wanted to be as slim and as as lean as possible. So some of them would run naked. I don't I don't recommend that. And the sin was just so easily beset us. So what that means is put your speedo back on. And let us run with patience. The race that set before us. It's a race of a lifetime. Looking unto Jesus. Now, Jesus is the prize. The prize is Jesus. That I might know him. And Paul saying, I'm running them. I haven't arrived yet. I'm not perfect. But I know when I see him face to face, I'm gonna be perfected. He's my perfection. He's my portion. He's the prize. I want Jesus. You guys can all have everything else. I want Jesus. This one thing I do. He's the author and the finisher our faith. So our victory, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross is a painful race, a bloody and a painful race, despising the shame, people spitting on him, him hanging upon the tree naked, wearing a crown of thorns, and the set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus said, it is finished, completed, paid in full. Jesus is the prize. He's the prize. God gave you his only begotten son. So keep pressing on toward the finish line. Pedal to the metal, full throttle, never quit. Finish well for him, for his kingdom, and for his glory. And Luke chapter eight eighteen eighteen eight, Jesus asked the question, when the son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? You see, it's all about faith. You start out strong. Is your faith waning? Is your faith getting less? Is your faith weakening? Or is your faith getting stronger day by day? Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Are you getting to know Jesus better and better each day? That's how your faith will increase. That's how your desire within will be to serve him, live a life pleasing to him, looking up, waiting for him to come. And yet the waiting is occupying about your father's business, not just sitting back, not lukewarm, not cold, on fire for Jesus. Will he find faith on the earth? In Hebrews eleven six, without faith, it's impossible to please God. For they that come to him must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Jesus is the prize. He's our portion forever and nobody nothing, neither height nor depth nor principalities nor power nor things to come things present or things to come. Nothing shall ever ever ever ever be able to separate you and I from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. So let me ask you. What's happened in your life that takes precedent over the truth of Jesus as your portion forever? What more does God have to do for you to lay aside the leverage that you're holding on to? That somehow he owes you an explanation. He owes you something when he's given himself. He's given himself. You have him. Keep pressing on. With Jesus, you have it all. Without Jesus, what's that profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what would a man give in exchange for his life? You have nothing. You have absolutely nothing without Jesus. Press toward the prize. Get to know Jesus. Father, we thank you for your love. We thank you for your grace, your mercy. Lord, we thank you that we can laugh at ourselves. That Lord, maybe we won't take ourselves so serious. Maybe we'll be serious about the things that are important. The spiritual things, the things of your kingdom. To seek first the kingdom of God and your righteousness knowing that all these other things be added unto us. Lord, help us to be set free, to be free of the tyranny of self, the tyranny of this world and the way the world thinks the humanistic obsession. And help us, Lord, to no longer us living, but Christ living through us. Live through us, Lord. Help us to run the race. Help us to do our part to whatever you purposed us to do. Let us do it not half heartedly, but with our whole heart. Whatsoever we do, let us do it heartily as unto the Lord, not unto men. Lord, our service is unto you. We know that you understand, that you appreciate, that you know that you've been down this road. Lord, we seek to glorify you. And Lord, we know that man is fickle. They cried out Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna one day with you. And four days later, the same people crying out, crucify him, crucify him. And pilots asking the question, why? What evil has he done? It makes no sense, Lord. So Lord, we ask that you continue to make sense of our life. That our purpose is to know you, to love you, to be like you, yearning for your soon return that we'd be perfected in you. Thank you, heavenly father. And while your heads are bowed and your eyes are closed, if you're here this morning and you feel vulnerable, you feel naked, you feel like if you die today, you don't know. You're not sure if you'd go to heaven or not. You can go away from here assured. You can go away from here knowing knowing that you know that you know that you're saved. Because Christ will come into your heart and life. The Holy Spirit will come in, and you'll be born again. You'll experience a a born again experience where your spirit is connected, where your spirit is finally in connection with the true living God, in a relationship with him. And the way that you come to him is in humility, crying out, God be merciful to me, a sinner, turning from your sins and saying, Jesus, come into my life. Make me new. In in John chapter one, it says, many as received him to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name. Do you believe in him? Do you believe in Jesus? Are you depositing your faith and your trust in him that he's your righteousness? Do you view him as the payment for your sins? In an expression of love and gratitude, you're crying out for God to write your name in the lamb's book of life. Are you thanking God? Thanking him for the gift of his son. That's a heart that God's gonna fill. That's a heart that God's gonna use a humble heart. Recognizing your abject poverty. But the inestimum value that God places upon you because he purchased you with the blood of his dear son. Anyone here this morning, just lift your hand up. We wanna pray with you. We wanna lead you in a prayer with Jesus. Anyone here this morning? Father, thank you for the assurance of salvation that we have. Thank you that each and every person here that says morning, there's no confusion. There's no doubt. Lord, we know to be absent the bodies to be present with you this day. And Lord, we we count it a privilege to know you. We count it a privilege to serve you. And Lord, we ask once again that you anoint and bless and that our fellowship with you be sweet, that it would be truthful, that Lord we'd exhibit the fruit of the spirit, which is love and kindness and joy, the blessing of knowing you. And God, we pray that you open doors, give us opportunities to share your love with those who are so agitated. They're so melting down. They're having a hard time coping. And Lord, they ain't seen nothing yet. Ain't seen nothing yet. It's gonna get far worse. So prepare us. Help us to snatch them out of the fire, to reach them, Lord, with your love. Save now, Lord. Bring our prodigals home, Lord. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
About This Podcast
Calvary Chapel Bremerton - Sunday Service
Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, teach the Word of God cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes on Mondays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.
