{"id":2327,"date":"2023-03-12T14:18:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T14:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/?p=2327"},"modified":"2025-06-07T17:52:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T17:52:03","slug":"press-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/?p=2327","title":{"rendered":"Press on"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the first January 1989<\/a>1<\/a><\/sup> Philip asked us whether we were ready for a new year as men count years, but recognising that we are creatures of times, pressed this home upon us, as we consider the old year and the new year, how things are and how they ought to be, are we considering the most important thing? Moses considered the most important thing when he asked Jehovah to show him his glory. This is the most important thing: God himself. Do we consider that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two and thirty years later on the eighth August 2021<\/a>2<\/a><\/sup> he asked another almost equally important question, having in mind that it is God himself who is at work in us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless you are indeed disqualified<\/a> (lit: fail the test). 2 Corinthians 13:5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did not hear him preach the first sermon until 34 years later some nine days after his death when his mother invited me to listen to his voice. Thirty months earlier I had been asked to provide a profile for a book of memories; of what use is a profile, I asked, once upon a time it mattered but what matters today is what only ever mattered fifty years ago: Do I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me<\/a> (Philippians 3:12)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the matter on which Philip preached less than two years before his departure from this world. Just as it had in 1969,so it continued to do in 1989 and 2021, eternity weighed heavily upon his heart. Are we ready, he asked? We may have had many wonderful experiences of the Lord in the past, but do you rest on them? Do you rely on them? Then you rely on ephemera. There is only one solid foundation. Are you in the faith. If you are in the faith then assay yourselves: prove that you are the real thing. Do not be satisfied with a substitute. You must be the real thing. And how do you know: Jesus Christ is in you consequently you will press on to lay hold of that for which he laid hold of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you press on? Past experiences as wonderful as they may have been do not prove it. You may have pressed on yesterday, but you cannot rest upon that. It is today that you must press on. If Jesus Christ has laid hold of you, you shall press on for he intends to present you faultless to his Father. But if you do not press on, remember Ignorance who upon arriving at the gate found that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journey may be long and weary, we may face many difficulties in the way, but the one who died for sinners will not allow any of his flock to be lost. They will press on looking for the prize that he has promised, and upon arriving at the gates of heaven will look with love and wonder on the face of the Saviour for whom they have in the wilderness longed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sin, my worst enemy before,
Shall vex my eyes and ears no more;
My inward foes shall all be slain,
Nor Satan break my peace again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then shall I see, and hear, and know
All I desired or wished below;
And every power find sweet employ
In that eternal world of joy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then what triumphs shall I raise
To Thy dear name through endless days,
For in the realms of joy I\u2019ll see
Thy face in full felicity.
<\/em>Isaac Watts 1674-1748<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Show me thy glory<\/a><\/strong> | Sunday morning, January 1, 1989 | Passage: Exodus 34:6-7 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Test Yourselves<\/a><\/strong> | Sunday morning ,August 8, 2021 | Bible Text: 2 Corinthians 13:5 Some doubted Paul was an apostle but he turns it around and demands proof that they are true Christians. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    On the first January 1989 Philip asked us whether we were ready for a new year as men count years, but recognising that we are creatures of times, pressed this home upon us, as we consider the old year and the new year, how things are and how they ought to be, are we considering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Show me thy glory<\/a><\/strong> | Sunday morning, January 1, 1989 | Passage: Exodus 34:6-7\",\"id\":\"52bbabe3-548a-406b-9ffb-3762025a1bda\"},{\"content\":\"Test Yourselves<\/a><\/strong> | Sunday morning ,August 8, 2021 | Bible Text: 2 Corinthians 13:5 Some doubted Paul was an apostle but he turns it around and demands proof that they are true Christians.\",\"id\":\"51ca07a9-ea5e-45f2-b663-67564964da2f\"}]"},"categories":[10,7,15,5,16],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-2327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-faith","category-history","category-humour","category-poetry","tag-hymns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2327"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3116,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327\/revisions\/3116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}