Knowing Christ Message 8

Knowing Christ Message 8

Title

Philippians 3:13

Me:

Not Guilty

a. An American right

i. Innocent until proven guilty

ii. Image

iii. Miranda warning

b. The reality is something different.

i. When it comes to the public or social media

ii. They say allegedly.

iii. But with a grin that says we know you done it.

c. You would think the church is different.

i. It is far harsher.

ii. We are the only army that kills is wounded.

iii. Many of us have been on the receiving end of that treatment.

d. But nothing compares to the way I judge myself.

i. When I blow it…

ii. Image

iii. The weight of guilt is heavy.

iv. The weight of regret.

We:

Adam and Eve

a. It’s an awful reminder.

i. A reminder of how weak we are.

ii. Genesis 2:25 (NLT) — 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

Genesis 2:25 NLT

Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

iii. Underline that.

iv. Then chapter 3 happens

v. Genesis 3:8 (The Living Bible, Paraphrased) — 8 That evening they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and they hid themselves among the trees.

Genesis 3:8 LBP

That evening they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and they hid themselves among the trees.

vi. Why is this an awful reminder?

vii. We do the same thing.

b. The guilt train.

i. Adam and Eve didn’t know how to process their failure

ii. Neither do we. - But still we try. - We don’t duck into the bushes.

iii. We have more sophisticated ways to deal with our guilt.

c. We…

Numb it.

With a bottle a drug food a hour of pornography a rendezvous in motel – Guilt disappears during happy hour. But it comes raging back.

Deny it.

Pretend we never stumbled. Concoct a plan to cover up the bad choice. One lie leads to another, then another.

Minimize it.

We didn’t sin; we just lost our way. We didn’t sin; we got caught up in the moment. We didn’t sin; we just took the wrong path.

Bury it.

Suppress the guilt beneath a mound of work and a calendar of appointments.

Punish it.

Cut ourselves. Hurt ourselves. Beat up ourselves. Flog ourselves. If not with whips, then with rules. More rules. Long lists of things to do and observances to keep. Painful penance. Pray more! Study more! Give more!

Avoid the mention of it.

Just don’t bring it up. Don’t tell the family, the preacher, the buddies.

Redirect it.

Lash out at the kids. Take it out on the spouse. Yell at the employees or the driver in the next lane. Gossip

Offset it.

Determine never to make another mistake. Build the perfect family. Create the perfect career. Score perfect grades. Be the perfect Christian.

Embody it.

We didn’t get drunk; we are drunks. We didn’t screw up; we are screwups. We didn’t just do bad; we are bad. Bad to the bone. We might even take pride in our badness. It’s only a matter of time until we do something bad again.

God:

Guilt sucks the life out of our souls.

Grace restores it.

i. The apostle Paul clung to this grace.

ii. Before grace Paul clung to self-salvation

iii. He had the resume to prove it.

1. Maybe you are trying to do the same?

iv. But then came the Damascus Road.

v. Now the resume is not as important.

1. Philippians 3:7 (The Living Bible, Paraphrased) — 7 But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone.

Philippians 3:7 LBP

But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone.

2. Underline that.

vi. In exchange for self-salvation, God gave Paul righteousness.

1. Philippians 3:9 (NCV) — 9 and to belong to him. Now I am right with God, not because I followed the law, but because I believed in Christ. God uses my faith to make me right with him.

Philippians 3:9 NLT

and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

2. Underline that.

Paul gave his guilt to Jesus.

PERIOD

i. He didn’t numb it, hide it, deny it, offset it, or punish it.

ii. He simply surrendered it to Jesus.

iii. Philippians 3:13 (The Living Bible, Paraphrased) — 13 No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

Philippians 3:13 LBP

No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

iv. There it is. That the secret.

You:

Forgetting the past

a. Looking forward

i. There is a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror.

ii. Your future matters more than your past.

iii. God’s grace is greater than your sin.

iv. What you did was not good.

v. But your God is good.

vi. And he will forgive you.

vii. He is ready to write a new chapter in your life.

We:

From this day forward.

a. Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy.

i. We don’t have to hide behind the fig leaf.

ii. We must trust his ability to forgive.

iii. We have to abandon any attempt at saving ourselves.

iv. Cast yourself on the grace of Christ and Christ alone.