Phil 01_10-11 Fellowship in Growth (2)_Growth Means Living Fruitfully

Fellowship in Growth (2): Growth Means Living Fruitfully (Philippians 1:10-11) April 15, 2018 I Cor 10; I Cor 3; Heb 5 Read Phil 1:9-11 – God is patient, but he wants us to grow up. Bob Saucy says in Minding the Heart: “We are like vagabond children who have been adopted by a loving king to live in his palace. Accustomed to an unruly life, these children must learn to take on the characteristics of their new home. So we, who formerly lived a life shaped by a sinful, twisted, ego-centered hateful heart, must learn to live life according to the new realities of our Father’s kingdom.” That’s the goal, so how do we get there? Paul gives 2 ways here. First we Love Fervently – abound more and more in love. Babes are selfish to the core. Do you love God and others today? Do it even better tomorrow. Love is the ultimate priority of all one of us – not being right, not getting our way, not even ministry. Love is it. Fervently, increasingly, intelligently and insightfully loving other. Abounding IN LOVE! That’s v. 9. In vv. 10-11 we get a second element of growth – Live Fruitfully. If you plant something, you expect to get something, right? If you plant roses, you expect to see a rose. You expect fruit. So does the Lord! We grow producing fruit. How do you gain physical maturity? You learn by experience, right? I used to steer the tractor while Dad was in the seat behind me. But one day he gave me the go-ahead all on my own. I started it up – no problem – put it in gear and was ready. But then, I popped the clutch. I didn’t yet know about ease up on the clutch. But I grew a little. And so we grow in our Xn life by learning and doing – empowered by the HS, yes. But we must take initiative – to do better tomorrow than we did today. Live Fruitfully. Two elements. I. Discern What’s Best 10) so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” Step one -- “approve what is excellent.” Approve – δοκιμαζω – “allow, examine, approve, discern.” What is excellent – διαφερω – that which is superior. So Paul is urging – when it comes to your life – don’t just float along, just doing whatever comes to hand to do. Examine, discern and find the superior things – and do those. Set the bar HIGH! That’s a great challenge. Don’t just do good things; find the best things and do those! God would rather have us do good than evil. But his point here is there’s a diff between good and best! Good can be the enemy of best! Find the best and do that! This is not about discerning right from wrong, it’s about discerning best from second best. Sports are good – hobbies are good. Nothing sinful about hitting a ball, casting for fish or video games. But any of these at the wrong time, in the wrong place or done to excess can easily become the enemy of best in our lives. That’s Paul’s point. Think, discern, evaluate – is this the best use of my present time? That’s the question! At one time it may be – getting much needed exercise or rest. At another time it may be robbing us from time in the Word, or opportunity for ministry or whatever. John Wesley’s mom understood. When John went away to Oxford, she wrote: “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the delight for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin.” It doesn’t have to be evil to be wrong. It’s anything that distracts from God’s presence. Growing people don’t settle for good; they want best! I know a guy who headed a mission department for a major denomination. But he decided one day he was out of shape and determined to take better care of his body. Joined a gym and began to go faithfully several times a week. Anything wrong with that? Of course, not. You can do more in a trained body than a weak one, right? But the gym became an addiction for this guy. Pretty soon it was every day – then it was every spare minute. Before long he had no time for church or even his family. Good had become the enemy of best! Matt Chandler says, “I can’t trust myself to follow sports too closely. Isn’t that crazy? I can’t follow sports too closely, because I will start to care. And really, how dumb is it to be emotionally affected by how a 21-year-old handles a ball?” He goes on, “I can’t watch too much TV. I’m not an anti-TV guy . . . but if I watch too much of it, I unplug from holy things. Before I know it I’m giggling at things the Lord calls wicked. So I can’t watch too much.” He’s growing by discerning what’s ultimate in his life. He’s aiming high. Choosing best over good. He’ll never regret it. II. Do What’s Best Do What’s Best. We can know best and still not do it. We’re expert at compromise and rationalization – abilities that began when Adam succumbed to Satan’s lie and that continue unabated to this day. But we don’t grow by discerning what’s best and doing something else! We grow by doing what’s best.10 so that you may approve what is excellent [Know it!], and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ [Do it].” TouOnly Christ was perfectly blameless. But that’s our goal, isn’t it? Christlikeness - pure and blameless. “Pure” (εἰλικρινής) – from 2 words – judge and sun. In ancient times fine pottery often cracked when fired. Unscrupulous vendors would fill the cracks with wax which concealed the flaw when painted or glazed. But it would not stand heat. So you, take your new vase home, set it on the fireplace only to find melted wax running down. Paul is saying, “Don’t live like that. Don’t cover cracks of disobedience with the wax of hypocrisy.” You might get by with it in this life. But what about in the day of Christ? Will your actions stand the heat of His penetrating gaze? Some in Philippi were putting on a good show, but they were more about themselves than Jesus. “Blameless” – (ἀπρόσκοπος) – “not causing others to stumble by giving or taking offense.” Arriving at the day of Christ without someone saying you caused them to stumble. It’s Paul’s goal. Acts 24:16: “So I always take pains to have a clear [blameless] conscience toward both God and man.” Paul wanted his whole life to point toward Christ, not away from Him. He states even more clearly in I Cor 10: 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense [literally, being blameless] to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” He’s not saying get everyone to like you. If the gospel gives offense, so be it. But don’t you give offense! Don’t have the kind of self-centered, I’m right, my way or the highway attitude that some of the Philippians had developed. You’ll regret it at the Day of Christ! I Cor 3: 11) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12) Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13) each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14) If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15) If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” Paul is saying, “Grow up. Learn it and live it. Practice what you preach.” Jas 1:22: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Be pure and blameless. When you fail, confess it, accept His forgiveness, get up, move on. Don’t wallow in failure. Real failure is when we stay down. To grow, we must get up and move on. Jill Briscoe in Eight Choices That Will Change a Woman’s Life tells of newly arriving in Wisc from England as a pastor’s wife. She found a church where everyone seemed to have natural abilities that put hers to shame. But she says, “As I worked alongside the women and college-aged kids at church, I began to realize they feared failure. It was contagious. I, too, became scared of doing anything I did not think I could handle well.” She talked it over with her husband, Stuart, who gave advice you don’t often hear: "If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly rather than not doing it! How do you learn to do something well if you don’t start by doing it badly and practicing?" God knows we fail. James 3:2 says, "We all stumble in many ways.” Is that an excuse to quit? No! There’s a marvelously encouraging verse: Heb 5:14: “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Practice holiness! We moved from the country to town when I was 8 years old. I was immediately introduced to kickball. First time they rolled a ball to me to kick, I missed so badly I fell on my rear end. Second time I barely tapped it. It took awhile, but after a few days, I remember vividly suddenly getting it right, kicking it over everyone’s head and getting a home run. Practice. How does a child learn to walk? Practice – a succession of failures and restarts. How do you learn to hit a baseball or knit an afghan? Practice. How do you learn to be pure and blameless? Practice! So get on with it. Practice; produce some fruit! A. Through Christ – Paul’s not done quite yet. If you go away thinking it’s all on you – that practice alone that will get the job done, you’ll be sadly disappointed. 11) filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.” Our task is to grow in purity and blamelessness. But we’re helpless on our own! Gotta remember an important thing about fruit-bearing. He’s the vine; we’re the branches. No fruit without branches, right. But branches are useless without the vine. Jn 15:4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Without Him – no fruit, just worthless leaves. Fruit comes as we stay connected to Him through the HS within. Some of the Philippians thought the fruit came through them. They forgot it’s all about Him, not us. They wanted front and center. They wanted it their way. They were abiding in themselves, not in the true vine. And they’d lost their way. When you tend your garden, you do a lot of work, right? You prepare the soil. You plant the seed. You water it; you fertilize it. Your participation is not optional. No you – no tomatoes, right? But do you make the plant grow? No. Something other than you makes it grow. And it is the same with the fruit of righteousness. We participate – but someone else makes it grow. After WWI, Lawrence of Arabia hosted some Arab friends in Paris. He showed them the sights – the Louvre, the Arc de Triumph, Napoleon’s tomb, Versailles. But guess what really fascinated them? What blew their minds was the faucet in the bathtub of their hotel room. They turned it on over and over. It was wonderful. They’d never seen water in that abundance. Great! But as they prepared to leave, Lawrence found them in the bathroom trying to detach the faucet to take with them. They explained, “It is very dry in Arabia. What we need are faucets. If we have them, we will have all the water we want.” Lawrence had to explain that the faucets didn’t produce the water; they just released it from an immense water system. No attachment; not water. And no attachment to Christ; no fruit. God will use us, but we must abide -- in His Word, in prayer, in confession, and dependence on His Spirit or we will produce nothing. It’s our practice coupled with His life-giving power that produces the fruit of righteousness. It’s through Christ – abiding in Him. B. For God -- 11) filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Our tendency is always to see things – even spiritual things – in light of our own advantage. We want to grow for our own benefit. But the Bible always comes back to a different place. It is always God-centered, not man centered. God’s glory trumps everything! Even to seek spiritual growth merely for our own advantage is to have an idol. It is the glory of God that matters, not the glory of me. My growth is more for His glory than my benefit. God’s glory was always Paul’s goal. The fruit of righteousness will benefit me, but I want it for His glory. In truth, our self-centeredness knows no bounds. We even think of our salvation in very personal terms. That’s natural, right? Thank God Jesus died and paid my penalty so I can go to heaven. But I have news. God did not save us primarily so we can go to heaven! Listen to Psa 79:9:Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!” God has saved us not primarily for our name’s sake, but for His. Eph 1:5) he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6) to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” It’s all about Him and His glory, not me and mine. Some of the Philippians had forgotten that. They were disputing trivialities -- which means they were pursuing their glory, not God’s. And God has something to say about that. Isa 48:11: “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” If the goal of any of our actions is anything less than the glory of God, we’re aiming too low. God’s glory is everything. When John the Baptist’s disciples complained that Jesus had come on the scene and was stealing John’s thunder, what was John’s reply? Jn 3:30: “He must increase but I must decrease.” He knew better than to touch the glory. And so we want to grow up in Christ – for our benefit? Yes – but primarily for His glory. Orchestra leader Paul Whiteman got words of wisdom from his father on his deathbed. He said, “I’ll tell you why Toscanini is such a great conductor. It is because his orchestra never plays for Toscanini, nor does Toscanini reach out selfishly for credit. First, Toscanini always conducts the music as if Beethoven himself were listening. And second, Toscanini wants Beethoven to hear it done correctly." So why do we want to grow up in Christ – to be doers as well as hearers? So our great God and Savior can get the glory. Conc – Warren Wiersbe keeps a clipping on his desk from a man named Marsden – first name unknown. The clipping says, “Make every occasion a great occasion, for you can never tell when someone may be taking your measure for a larger place.” For believers, we know for sure that someone is always taking our measure. We may be sure that God is always watching. So every moment of every day is one more opportunity to Love Fervently and Live Fruitfully – becoming more and more like our elder brother to glory of our great Father. That’s a pretty good family objective, wouldn’t you say? Fruit producing costs – but it is way worth it. The greatest fruit-producing event in history was the cross. It wasn’t fun. The price was unimaginable. But He did it for the joy set before Him. Billions of souls will be in eternity with the Father because the Son went to the cross. Living fruitfully will involve death to self. But we also come alive in Him which is far, far better. And we’re part of compelling others to Him. That’s the great reward. Let’s pray.