Your One Thing | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson
by Chad Erickson
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Philippians 3:13-14, Luke 10:38-42, John 9:24-25, Psalms 27:1-4, Psalms 42:1-11, Luke 18:18-23, Philippians 3:10, Philippians 3:13-14, Isaiah 64:6

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/chad-erickson--your-one-thing
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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if you will stand your feet with me and i want you to turn in your bibles to philippians chapter 3 verse 13 i'm going to read a very uh very uh familiar scripture in your hearing matter of fact last sunday this is kind of interesting uh god was already speaking to my heart on this subject and and pastor ended his very last verse he read while we were standing before we went into altar service i'm about to read to you right now and i'm going to begin maybe where he left off simply says brethren i count not myself to have apprehended this is paul speaking but this one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before i press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus i'm going to preach a message entitled your one thing your one thing and i want to personalize this i i was going to call this message just simply one thing but i want to personalize it because i want every person in this room as i am delivering this message as you're hearing the word of god i want you to begin as this message progresses i want you to begin to think to yourself what is my one thing may not make sense yet but it will let's pray to god father we love you lord we're so thankful for paul we're so thankful lord god for key figures in the bible lord god men of god women of god who put you very first in their lives lord they they found their one thing lord god the one thing that brought them lord god to the next level in their walk with you lord god and they did great things because of it father i pray today lord as i preach as i teach lord god as i minister to the great congregation here in maryville god i pray lord god that your word will not only be blessed oh god but let it go out let it touch lord those that are hurting those that are in need of help those that are needed deliverance those that are in need of a greater walk with you and lord god let it make a difference for your word is not just to be heard but your word is to be obeyed and lord when it's obeyed it's fulfilled in our lives and we can follow your calling upon each and every one of our lives lord we pray in jesus name let your anointing come upon us we pray in this hour in jesus name and everyone said amen amen you may be seated a book that i recommend very highly is called simply the one thing matter of fact i began to read the story of paul and paul's one thing and it reminded me of a book that i read a few years ago written by a man named gary keller gary keller writes it's called the one thing the surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results and this book matter of fact can be found in our in our bookstore in our lobby pick one up i highly highly recommend it but gary keller he is one of the co-founders of keller williams realty as a matter of fact i believe the book at the time the book was written and it may still be today but it was the number one reality company nationwide of realtors and um he's very very successful it's not uh it's not a it's not a christian book i'm just going to be honest with you you're not going to find any verses any chapter scripture in this book it's it's really more of a leaders book it's it's a it's a great book it's an inspiring book i've i've preached a few messages already from this book but it's very simple he starts off he begins with a russian proverb and i think we can relate to this that says if you chase two rabbits you will not catch either one and that's pronounced the whole book in a nutshell but honestly i say that because over and over and over again brother weatherly he does nothing but keeps on driving that same point home because why because we are a people that enjoy multitasking right he has a chapter in here called multitasking and he talks about the weakness you bring into your life when you try to do a multiple of things at one time how he gets what the whole again the whole book is talking about listen all these great to-do lists and all these checking off all these things that you're trying to get done and and you've got a whole list of things on your phone that you flip through and you can't even hardly flip to the end of it because there's so many things on your to-do list he's saying you got to say no to everything except the one thing you want to say yes to because as long as you say yes to all things you'll never accomplish the one thing that you really desire to do and we can we can relate to this um i've known growing up i i went to bible school and even even at the school here at the academy we've had some of the greatest talent that came through i indiana bible college we had we had talent man you had young people that were amazingly talented matter of fact they could play the drums they could play the keyboard they could play the organ they could play the guitar they could play the drums they could play all these instruments but one thing that i noticed was they never perfected any one instrument they were good they they were great i mean they could if you needed a drummer you could call them up and they could play drums if you need a guitarist or or a piano player if you need somebody to lead worship they could come and do it and they were multi-talented and they can do it all but they're not the type of people that you're going to find in the first chair of an orchestra because somebody that's the first violinist the first chair of the orchestra that person does nothing but practice that violin for hours and hours and they're not on a drum set they're not picking up a guitar there's one thing they're perfecting one thing so with that idea with that thought in mind i i want to bring i want to bring to you some of what gary keller and what the apostle paul and what the word of god tells us about one thing because that statement is used more than once in the bible matter of fact it's used at least five times and i'm just going to touch on the five times it's used but but turn turn with me to luke luke chapter 10. i want you to turn here because in scripture there was a woman familiar story a woman who was worried and anxious about many things what was her name martha we know martha mary mary and martha luke luke chapter 10 is a beautiful story about the relationship jesus had with a man named lazarus and his two sisters i want to begin to read in verse 38 because as i began to study the one thing i began to to to see things that i've never seen even in the story that i've read multiple times i've preached this story multiple times but it says now it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village speaking of jesus and a certain woman named martha received him into her house and she had a sister called mary which also sat at jesus's feet and heard his words two sisters mary and martha sat at jesus's feet i want you to see this with me because sometimes we read this so quickly we have martha off working and we have mary at the feet of jesus but here it says that jesus came to martha's house not mary's house came to martha's house and she and her sister sat at jesus's feet that's what the word also means it means that both of them sat at his feet and listened to his words and i i've never really i've never really seen this but there's a pause between verse 39 and verse 40. i want you to see this i hope you're looking at your bibles i want you to see that there's a pause that there's two women who see the need to have a relationship with jesus martha invites jesus she sees the need she she understands there's something about this man named jesus she may not have full revelation of who he is but she understands there's something about him that she needs to hear his word i i don't know if he's just he's he's a great orator uh he he may be a prophet of some sort he uh he's definitely a miracle worker but she sees the need to listen to the words of jesus but then verse 40 happens because obviously there there's a roast that's in the oven there's a table that must be set there there's candles that have to be lit there's there's water pots that are sitting at the entrance of the home that need to be cleaned out right there's work that has to be done and so we have martha who's so overwhelmed she leaves the presence of jesus in verse 40 we find her as she returns and she says or jesus says but martha was cumbered about with much serving and came to him and said lord dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone bid her therefore that she helped me and jesus answered and said unto her martha martha thou art careful and troubled about many things but one thing there it is right there but one thing is needful and mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her i i love jesus's gentle rebuke of martha right here because he says her name twice can you see her can you see her i'm just so busy i i've got people i've got people in my mind that are coming to my mind i don't want to name them because they might be here in the house but i've got people that are coming to mind that are always busy always scurrying always always doing always and listen there's some of the greatest there's some of the greatest people there's some of the greatest volunteers there's some of the most people we can depend on the most but sometimes we can get to a place in life where we're doing so many things that we can't even do even one thing correctly somebody said amen and he says martha artha he has to call her name twice martha he said listen he said you're so anxious you're so that that's what careful means you're so anxious you're so troubled about so many things when only one thing is truly necessary and i hate to break it to you because i know that you're trying to get me to get on to your sister and to tell your sister what's what and to tell your sister to come help me but i got news for you your younger sister your little sister mary she has chosen the one thing that is of most importance your one sister and i i don't know i don't know between sisters i don't know between sisters that are that are that are grown another home that live together i don't know what goes on there and i don't know what kind of jealousies and what kind of i don't i don't know what happens what happens there but i can only imagine because i have daughters but jesus said i'm not taking sides i'm just simply saying there's one thing that's important and mary has chosen that one thing what what is the one thing well the text really doesn't say what the one thing was is it is it is it that mary is sitting at jesus's feet is it that that mary is listening to every word that is uttered by jesus i don't know maybe so but does that mean that we that we did we quit our jobs is this text telling us that we quit our jobs and and we let the dishes pile up and we let the bills go unpaid and we let the kids go unfed and we just curl up with our bibles and listen to some preaching podcasts i don't think that's what it's saying i don't think he's trying to get people not to work and just to just kind of curl up and just listen to good word i don't think that's what jesus is saying here obviously mary was doing something that martha didn't see the need to do obviously mary was doing the one thing she was focusing all of her attention on one thing somebody say one thing that's that's that's all mary was doing you can look at her as lazy you can look at her as well my goodness who raised her why didn't they raise her to work and give her some kind of work ethic you could say all that but mary was focused on one thing and that one thing was simply this jesus is in the house and if jesus is in the house i'm not gonna be found anywhere but at his feet somebody said amen focusing on one thing so i want to move there because everything that i'm going to preach from here is kind of based on the idea of the decision mary made to follow after that one thing the next passage of one thing comes in john chapter nine one day jesus is in his in his disciples there uh they've come across a man who's been born blind matter of fact go to there to john chapter nine because i'm about to read some stuff out of there but but jesus and his disciples they come across this man he didn't become blind because that was a common thing he was born blind and so his disciples tried to have this theological discussion with jesus and they're like master who sinned was it him or his parents and why why was he blind and they're trying to have this big theological discussion with jesus and jesus is just like you know i'm not really here to discuss theology and he heals the guy right remember that he heals him so his disciples are wondering you know who sinned i want to know who sin tell me who sinned you know and jesus was just like that really doesn't matter watch this made some balls of mud put in his eyes and said go wash the guy walks away and comes back and jesus has already moved on but here he runs into some neighbors he runs into some former friends that that knew who he was and these these neighbors start saying wasn't he was it wasn't he the guy that always is here begging and wasn't he isn't he the guy was blind and and some of the neighbors said yes and some said no and and they brought the parents remember that they brought their parents into it and they said they said isn't this your boy yeah it wasn't he blind oh yeah absolutely right and then the parents you remember the story they wouldn't give an answer to the pharisees right they got scared when the pharisees asked them what did they say he's of age ask him what a cop-out i mean your son who has been blind from birth can now see and you're like oh he's of age ask him sister yoko that's a cop to me that's a total cop-out you know but but the young man what happened well simply this he he said i can't explain it but i can't deny the fact that i can see i mean let's be honest with each other he didn't know what jesus looked like right he was blind jesus put balls of clay into his eyes sockets and he went off to go wash i mean i mean they said who healed you i mean i mean you ask a black man who healed you he not have a clue he didn't know who did it he didn't see who did it but he had this one thing let me read 9 24 because i don't want to get too far ahead of myself then again called they the man that was blind okay so what happened is the pharisees asked him the pharisees asked the parents the parents won't answer they asked the man again he says a man named jesus they called him back again so this is all happening again and said unto him give god no no you got to get the pharisees give god praise for we know that this man speaking of jesus is a sinner he talked about the former blind man answered whether he be a sinner or no i know not but one thing i know that whereas i was blind but now i see did you see that there the statement one thing is just kind of nestled inside of there he says i don't know a lot but one thing i can tell you i once was blind but now i see i i listen i i didn't see him i don't know anything about jesus i i haven't even heard of him before but this one thing i know i once was blind but now i see it kind of reminds me of a psalm that says amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me i once was lost but now i'm found was blind but now i see i want you to know spiritually speaking today that we may not be physically blind every person in this place obviously is not physically blind but i was spiritually blind from birth bible says i was born in sin i was born a sinner far from jesus but i'm thankful that one day i had an encounter with a man named jesus christ who took my sins away i was washed in his name and i was filled with this spirit and i can say i once was blind but now i see i want my listen i want my identity to be one thing i once was blind but now i see if you're in this place today and this is maybe your first time to an apostolic service i i hope you felt something when the choir sang i i hope you felt something when the worship team was up here leaning because i was on the front row i had tears just falling down out of my face i i i felt the holy ghost in such a mighty way what you felt was not just uh an exciting there's people that talk about going to symphonies and and going to great concerts and and having that the hair on their arms stand up in the in the hair back in the next step it's not about that what you felt was the power of the holy ghost it's a it's a changing power it's a power that rearranges it's a power that affects even all listen every person in this room if you've never been filled with the holy ghost if you've never had the spirit of god and fill your body i believe today is the one day for you to find that one thing and that one thing is called salvation and you can find that one thing in the book of acts chapter 2 and whatever you've done in your past if you repent the bible says that he will forgive you of your sins he will take your sins in the waters of baptism and they'll be washed as far as the east is from the west you're one thing listen your one thing ought to be i once was blind but now i see nothing more important than understanding that if you listen if you are going to take the next step in your walk with god you got to focus on one thing don't try to focus on multiple things just find that very next step that you need to take because if you take that very next step it's going to lead you to your very next one thing and when you find that next one thing you just keep on following it until you reach your goal my next one thing happens in the old testament king david psalm 27 this was obviously either before he became king or he was reflecting back upon the time in his life but david we know the story of david david spent a good portion good portion of his life on the run from the first king from king saul saul so jealous of this boy named david guy had all the talent you could imagine could sing could play could fight he was a giant killer he had great people skills he obviously was a great leader he had people just want to follow after him and saul was very very jealous jealous and hearing the women on the street with their tambourines remember after david killed goliath if you remember what they did you can't tell me something wasn't on purpose there as as saul and david as as they triumphantly rode through the streets after defeating the philistines you can't you can't tell me that something wasn't there when the when the women were singing saul has killed us thousands but david has killed his ten thousands you can't tell me something wasn't there just kind of prying a little bit and saul heard it might act like he didn't hear it but it saw heard it and it bothered him and he wanted to kill david he wanted to make sure that david did not take his throne from his son jonathan and so he was out to kill david and so we read and look with me in psalm 27 because we read a psalm from david as david is in a cave hiding from saul and his army and he says this he says the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall i fear the lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid choir you ought to recognize this verse when the wicked even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat of my flesh they stumbled and fell though in wholes should encamp against me my heart shall not fear the war should arise against me in this will i be confident now does this sound like somebody who's on the run from a jealous powerful king no it doesn't in fact it doesn't it doesn't sound like that at all because it sounds like he doesn't have a care in the world it sounds like hey hey i'm just here and i know that my god is able to do more than i can ever expect him to do but then verse 4 happens and he says one thing have i desired of the lord and that will i seek after and i've got to stop here again because if you're hiding in the desert in a cave from a crazy king that's determined to kill you what would come after the statement one thing have i desired of the lord i don't know about you but but i might say something like lord i desire that you kill king saul or lord i desire the lord god that i won't die of thirst while i'm in this wilderness or or lord i i desire that my hiding place will not be found out but let's be honest i don't think those are the things that david was praying right here because he said one thing have i desired of the lord that will i seek after that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple listen to me somebody if david could say in the midst of stress in the midst of anxiety in the midst of danger that the greatest desire that he had was to be in the presence of the lord and in the sanctuary of the lord then it stands to reason that he would say the same request in every season of his life this is just a man who always had one thing in his mind that i might be in the presence of god he always had one thing in his mind whether he was writing a song or he was defending the name of god from a giant from a filthy philistine everything in his mind in his life drew him to one main thing and that was that i might be in the presence of the lord his ultimate request was this i i know i'm in a cave i know my life looks like it's out of control i know it looks like the enemy has surrounded me and that everything is going downhill in my life but i just want to be in the presence of the lord i love in verse in chapter 42 david says and as the deer pantheth after the water brooks so panteth my soul after thee oh god my soul thirsteth for god for the living god when shall i come and appear before god do you mind if i read the rest of that psalm i love the song my tears have been my meat day and night while they continually say unto me where is thy god when i remember these things i pour out my soul in me for i had gone with the multitude i went with them to the house of god with the voice of joy and praise with a multitude that kept the holy day why art thou cast down o my soul and why art thou disquiet in me hope thou in god i believe i'm gonna minister to somebody right here for i shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance oh my god my soul is cast down within thee therefore will i remember thee from the land of jordan and other hermenites from the hill mazar deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water sprouts all thy ways in thy billows are gone over me yet the lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime and in the nighttime his song shall be with me in my prayer unto god of my life i will say unto god my rock why hast thou forgotten me why go i mourning because of the oppression of the enemy as with a sword in my bones my enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me where is thy god why art thou cast down on my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in god for i shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my god i wish somebody right where you are this morning right in the very circumstance that you're in this morning will rise up and say where is my hope my home lies in god the power of the almighty god somebody praise emma he said he's my song in the day he's my song in the night he's my song in the cave he's my song when everything's going good i will praise him this one thing this one thing come on let the holy ghost just move in this place i i know that some of you are going through some things right now and you're questioning god you're saying god why is this happening oh god why is this happening to me right now why am i going through this right now come on somebody let your hope rise come on somebody let your hope rise you might have to look in the mirror you might have to look in the mirror and say hope thou in god oh i feel the lord in this place i i know there's people here that have everything going perfect but i know there's other people here that really need the word of the lord this morning and you've been starving you've been in a wilderness place you've been fighting you've been running and i want you to know that god is for you his thoughts are towards you he's going to give you an expected end just believe right now in jesus let the holy ghost minister to you right now in jesus name let the holy ghost minister to you right now in jesus name oh he is my help lift up your heads all ye gates and be lifted up you everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory he's the lord god strong and mighty the holy ghost needs me to stay right here i feel right here i got so much more to go but i feel the holy ghost moving in this place i feel people with legitimate knees people that have been crying themselves to sleep at night come on you need this right here let the lord minister unto you you've got to have the faith of david you've got to have the hope of david that says one thing one thing one thing somebody get me to the house of the lord if i could just make it to sunday if i could just make it till wednesday night if i can just make it to early morning prayer if this night we'll just get over with if i can get past this midnight oh god if i could just get into the sanctuary and praise shut up come on somebody move with me in the spirit right now i don't want to get too much in a hurry somebody move in the spear with me yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes come on the holy ghost wants to give you a hope the holy ghost wants to minister the holy ghost wants the comfort the holy ghost wants to show himself strong in this place one thing have i desired that i'll seek after that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple somebody shout one thing come on shout out say one thing you may be seated luke 18. i'm moving quickly through these one things because oh god i want us to recognize our one thing luke 18 18 18 18 certain ruler asked jesus saying good master what shall i do to inherit eternal life and jesus said unto him why call us thou me good none is good save one that is god thou knowest the commandments jesus goes through do not commit adultery do not kill do not steal do not bear false witness honor thy father and thy mother the young man said ah all these have i kept from my youth up when jesus heard these things he said unto him yet lack as thou one thing he sell all that thou hast distribute to the poor and thou shall have treasures in heaven and come follow me and when he heard this he was very sorrowful for he was very rich oh how sad you kind of you kind of kind of wonder sometimes if if jesus wasn't looking for a 12th that was going to replace judas you wonder if this young man right here could have been one of the twelve could could have had something so great he could have been could have a ministry so strong but the point of the story is that jesus was able to immediately identify the one thing that was distracting this ritual the one thing that was keeping him from being all in from being a disciple of christ so maybe it's the same for you maybe not but the answer the question you've got to answer is what is distracting me what's the one thing that if i fixed it i would be where i need to be with the lord i want you to think about that because some people are trying to some people are trying to grab at so many things well if i could do this and if i could be this and if i could preach this and if i could teach over here and if i could sing the soul if i if i could just get and work over here if i could be this and you're grasping at so many things that's holding you back or or maybe it's even something that's in your life something you can't shake this this rich man he had done everything he had followed the commandments of god his whole life and came to jesus no doubt brother schnitzer and thought to himself he is going to welcome me with open arms i've lived a perfect life i have not sinned again the ten commandments i've kept them i i've made sure i've taught them i've made sure that i've lived them and jesus very quickly said you're doing a good job but there's one thing just just one thing i i can imagine that that rich man he probably thought oh man just one thing i could handle one thing i i can i can fix one thing what is it but that one thing was something he loved more than he loved jesus was bible say the love of money the love he hit something inside him that couldn't pass up on what he loved in order the one thing that he couldn't send his life around following jesus christ at this point i'm not preaching to the guests if you're here and this is your first time doing apostolic service i i'm not preaching to you i i'm preaching to the person who as far as everyone else knows you've got it all together you look the part you act the part you even sound the part but there's still one thing that is keeping you holy from following jesus and let me tell you something until we figure out what that one thing is until we figure out what that one thing is oh my god what could have this young man become in the kingdom of god but he allowed one thing and so with that being said i'm going to tie everything into where we began with the story of paul back in philippians chapter 3. because we probably know more about paul than we do any other character new testament and maybe obviously other than jesus christ we know that he started off as a pharisee who violently persecuted his the followers of jesus we we know that he had a he had a come to jesus meeting on the road to damascus he went from trying to stop the gospel spreading the gospel so when somebody asked what paul's ultimate purpose in life you'd probably say to tell people about jesus but let's look and see how paul himself answers the question in philippians chapter three after outlining all his credentials and his history as a jew and a pharisee and heaven having that royal blood being zealous of everything that he did paul said none of that matters he said it's all done it's all manure and in verse 10 he gives his ultimate purpose he said that i may know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings be made conformable unto his death if by any means i might attain unto the resurrection of the dead and then paul states the one thing he says not as though i 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 but this one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before he said i press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus paul wrote this from a prison cell he's talking about moving forward and forgetting he's talking about this shackled to a guard in a prison cell he's saying this one thing i do forgetting what is behind i want you to notice that word forgetting forgetting in verse 13 forgetting is a continuous process it does not say i forgot what is behind it says forgetting he is saying that continually every day i've gotta keep on forgetting what's behind me i can't allow those thoughts i can't allow those those negative spirits to jump back on me again i can't allow those voices in my head those narratives me getting myself all into a frenzy because i keep on thinking this person said this and this person said that and i shouldn't have done that and i should have done this you got to forget every day you've got to forget what's going on in your past he said forgetting what is behind what did he say then he said he said once i forget then i've got to reach oh he doesn't say reach he says and reaching forth reaching it's another word it's another continual word he he's reaching for he's forgetting and he's reaching if you don't get anything else get this right here in prayer about i don't know it was about a week and a half ago in our morning prayer something just hit me something hit me said the church needs to hear this one statement forgetting and reaching forgetting and reaching forgetting and reaching i i don't know what it is i don't know what you're going through i don't know what's coming into your mind i don't know what you're struggling day to day but god is trying to tell you this morning forget forget forget continue to forget forgetting what is behind in reaching reaching reaching god help us to reach toward lord help us reach toward the one thing the very one thing that's going to make a difference in our life mentally we got to continue to forget and spiritually we got to continue to reach what other things are you focusing on that are pulling you away from the one thing is it what you used to be previous failures in your life come on somebody we're human flesh oh god every single one of us that made mistakes before the crossing after the cross let's be honest is it is it your previous successes you know so that's what paul was saying paul's saying listen i've done some horrible things i persecuted people i killed christians i locked up christians i did horrible things the christians hated me and i hated the christians he said i did horrible things in my past he said but i was also he was also he said i am a jew i've got the royal blood of a jew running through my veins he said he said i was a sadducee i sat up in the tabernacle or in the in the in the synagogues he said i sat up in the synagogues and i read i read from the holy book he said i've had such a great past but let me tell you something a person successes can make them falter just like their mistakes can somebody could be sitting somebody could be sitting up here today and thinking to themselves well i'm glad i'm not like these others that he's preaching about i'm glad i don't have some some tainted past that i have to be ashamed of i'm thankful that i've lived for god since i can remember i've grown up in the church i've done everything that i'm supposed to be doing i've done it all i've got royalty in my blood my grandparents and my great-grandparents and my my great great grandfather was a preacher was filled with the holy ghost and and you can go on and on about accomplishments so much that the same thing that trips up the person who is fighting about their past sin will strip off a person who's fighting about their past successes paul said forgetting all that he said he said i'm not going to take that into account when i walk into the church when i when i walk in when i minister to somebody i'm knocking it's not gonna be who i am or who my ancestors are who what line of data that i'm in he said i'm simply i'm simply gonna forget about that i'm going to press toward the mark what is that what did the prophet isaiah say in isaiah 64 and 6. matter of fact stand your feet isaiah 64 and 6 he said but we are all as an unclean thing in all our righteousness are as filthy rags oh all right justice come on somebody you start looking in the mirror start thinking something bigger yourself prophet said man you as i what you think is so beautiful and clean matter of fact brother step i found your handkerchief you let me borrow in the pocket of this jacket and what he gave me as a white clean handkerchief which you can't tell from where you are i think i wiped about a gallon of sweat on this thing about a few weeks back and it's been sitting in my pocket brother step i'm not going to give it back to you because it's dingy it's a little bit yellow matter of fact if i would have put this on a on a brand new snow drift or snow it would be you you think it was yellow and the prophet said you think that you're righteous it says a filthy rag disgusting yellowed out i think you've got it all together think that your prayer life your holiness your separation from the world is all that because you wear that long skirt and have that hair you guys clean shaven look like apostolic men you think you just you just all that isaiah said it says a filthy rag this one thing gotta speak to somebody today i want you to bow your heads because i want you to begin to think of one thing in your life whether it's the one thing have one sin that you can't seem to shake that one little addiction that you can't seem to get over or whether it's a spirit of pride that's inside causes you not to want to lift up your hands because you might mess up your jacket or mess up that pretty dress that you're wearing oh my god somebody needs to hear this in this place forgetting those things that are behind come on every day it was paul that made the proclamation he said i died daily every day i'm gonna die out to myself whether it's a spirit inside of me that says i'm good or a spirit inside of me that says i'm bad i've got to die out to my flesh and understand that only god is righteous it's only his holiness it's only he that i desire to be inside of me come on somebody when you can start forgetting what's behind you it clears up your mind enough to where you can start focusing on what's in front of you and when you start focusing on what's in front of you and you get everything else every other distraction come on somebody i don't know what it is for the rich man it was riches but you got to get that one thing that one distraction out of you for martha it was worry it was fret that one thing that kept her that one thing that kept her from having the pure relationship that her sister did with mary it was that anxiety that she was facing it was always wondering why isn't somebody else helping me work why am i the only one that's doing everything it was martha it was martha that had that one thing if jesus could just get her to get over herself and get over all her good works that she could have a relationship she could press forward she could reach toward the relationship let me tell you something somebody in this place somebody in this place needs to be like that blind man who got his sight back he said one thing i know i was living a life in darkness but now i can see the light i can't even explain who jesus is but i know i've got to have him inside of me i can't even tell you what he looks like but i know i've got to have him because nobody can do for me like jesus can do for me i'm reaching toward relationship come on david in this room come on i believe there's some of you some of you have related to david some of you are in a dark place you are in a place that's barren you're in a wilderness place you feel like you're by yourself you feel like the enemy is surrounded you feel like the enemy has control of every aspect of your life i've got good news for you if you just remember who's on the inside of you if you remember the creator is he that is within you then he that is in this world then you can start forgetting where you are and you can start reaching to where you need to be come on rich ruler in the house what in your life is keeping you from living for god with everything you are what is in your life that you're gonna have to forget about is it toys come on is is it stuff in your life oh that you're proud of is it riches is it is it material wealth is it things that you put all your heart and all your life and all your time into things when you ought to be putting all your heart in your life into your relationship with god i want you to begin to forget those things i want you to begin to forget those things and begin reaching toward the prize paul said it's the prize of the high calling there's a prize to reach for there's a prize the press tour one thing paul said he said i'm going to forget and i'm going to reach and he didn't just say reach he said i'm going to press and in order to press pressing means there's something pushing back in order for you to press there's got to be some kind of restriction there's got to be something that's keeping you from getting what you want and paul said i'm going to do whatever i have to do to press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling i wish this alter it's already beginning to feel but i wish it would fill up with people determined to focus on their one thing come on somebody i want you to say god reveal to me what that one thing is i wish there's all to infilling people who are forgetting in their reaching they're forgetting and they're reaching they're forgetting and they're reaching come on somebody i believe you could be filled with the holy ghost today if you would forget about your past and you'd ask jesus to forgive you of your sins i believe you can be filled with this holy ghost if you would go down in the water in the name of jesus for the remission of your sins and allow all that stuff to be washed away i believe you can forget some stuff if you would press forward and receive the gift of the holy ghost come on somebody hey i'm moving forward i won't look back i won't give in i won't let my past stop me i will press forward it's not the will of the lord worry friend it's not the will of the lord allowing voices to come into your mind it's not the will of the lord come on in this place oh will follow you is over in you what things are made to surrender my life to christ come on you know you know what it is come on focus on that one thing again is don't make that decorations foreign yes i'm moving forward come on sing this with us oh is you make all things all this is oh come on come on church bodies come on do it again i feel the holy ghost moving in this place choir oh hey oh wow all oh yes i'm not going back i'm moving ahead i'm here to declare to you my past is over in you all things are made new surrender my life to christ i'm moving i'm thank you lord come on baby that's the holy ghost he's all over you with the evidence of another come on yes you make all things oh for you come on thank you for his holy ghost thank you for a bright future thank you for a beautiful future oh thank you jesus oh thank you jesus hallelujah holy ghost is poured out on the body of christ who makes him the one thing oh lord you're the one the one thing come on let's pray father we love you father i'm so thankful that you poured your spirit out today you confirmed your word you're pulling your spirit out and letting tongues flow and i thank you for that lord you're told you told your disciples your apostles that you would confirm your word through signs and wonders filling of the holy ghost through tongues interpretation lord god you said god that you would feel us oh god even in the last days and i'm so thankful that your holy ghost is still being poured out upon us lord i'm so thankful lord god i believe people made a decision today lord god to forgive their past and press forward to their future oh god let us keep our eye upon that one thing lord god that one thing oh god that's gonna help us fulfill your word in our life gonna help us lord god fulfill our calling in your kingdom we ask all that in jesus name we pray and the church said amen amen if you're praying you just keep on praying god bless you