Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome

Good Morning, New Hope!

It’s a joy to be back with you again.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Andrew and I’m engaged to the most beautiful girl in world.

Kalie and I are just 98 days away from our wedding.

This is exciting, busy, and expensive, but we wanted to say a special thank you for your prayers and support.

Introduction

Not much of a Runner

Amazed by what it takes to run a marathon

portrays a different kind of race

MIT - Paul shows us 5 Marks of a Passionate Pursuit of Christ

Reading

Our text this morning is .

If you have your bibles, please join with me it the reading of God’s word.

Prayer

Exposition (Exegesis)

Refresher

, “I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I might gain Christ and be found in him.”

Holy Discontentment -

Admitting Imperfection

Referring back to

Paul says, “I’m not there yet.”

Paul - Apostle, Missionary, Church Planter, Author of 13 NT Letters.

Acts 19:11

Here, Paul’s referring back to what he just said in verses 8-10.

He says, “Not that I have already obtained Christ, being found in him, knowing him perfectly.”

In , he writes, “I want to know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

But Paul hadn’t done that yet.

He was still looking for a greater unity, a greater intimacy, a greater conformity to Christ.

Some believe that Paul is talking about the resurrection here

For Paul and for us, every situation is an opportunity to know Jesus better and to model the cruciform life.

In , Paul lists his spiritual pedigree and his progress under the law,

In , Paul declares, “I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”

At this point in his life, Paul’s single focus was to pursue intimacy with Christ.

Earlier in the chapter, he reminds us of his spiritual pedigree and his performance under the law, to show us this, that our pedigree and our performance can do absolutely nothing to make us right with God.

Paul tells us that if we’re to find righteousness, it’s not coming from us but from Christ.

Here, Paul’s referring back to what he just said in verses 8-10.

He says, “Not that I have already obtained Christ, being found in him,” or am already perfect.

This is what he means in when he writes, “That I might know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

For Paul and for us, every situation is an opportunity to know Jesus better and to model the cruciform life.

When Paul says that he hasn’t obtained “this or am already perfect” he’s saying that he hasn’t reached this state of perfect union with Christ (i.e.

“being found in him...”).

In other words, he’s saying, “I’m not there yet.”

That must have been an incredibly encouraging thing to hear.

For Paul and for us, every situation is an opportunity to know Jesus better and to model the cruciform life.

Paul - the apostle, the missionary, the church planter, the author of 13 New Testament letters.

says this about Paul:

We can say, “I’m not there yet.”

Now, I want to try something real quick.

I want everyone, on the count of three, to say, “I’m not there yet.”

That’s an important thing for us to say and remember.

We’re not there yet.

No one here today can claim perfection.

For some of you, that might be a hard thing to admit.

For others, that might be the most obvious thing about your life.

But I want you to take a look around the room.

No one is there yet.

But no matter where you think you stand today, Paul has these words for you: Press on.

Holy Discontentment and a Pursuit of Christ.

Paul continues, “But I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

Paul continues, “But I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

Coasting Christians

Paul gives us the why behind his continued pursuit of Christ.

Paul says, “I will press on, I will pursue, I will continue the hunt, until I make it my own.”

Why? “Because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

What Paul says here about pressing on begs the question why?

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

“How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers.

Everything is made to center upon the initial act of “accepting” Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls.

We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him.”

How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers.

Everything is made to center upon the initial act of “accepting” Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls.

We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him.

Holy Discontentment and the Pursuit of Christ

Something that happens when we get saved

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread, 2006), 16.

Pursuit of Christ

Quote from Augustine:

“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose..! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy.

You drove them from me and took their place.... O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation.”

Forgetting the Past,

Not that I have already obtained this.... Obtained what?

What is Paul talking about?

Forgetting what lies behind

Forgetting what lies behind

Forgetting our accomplishments

Forgetting our failures

Focusing on the future, Philippians 3:13-14

Picture a runner, leaning forward, reaching out to lay hold of something

Is obtaining and being made perfect the same?

Set your sights on the finish

How are we to understand “Prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”?

Olympic imagery?

Prize is the Upward Call?

Call to salvation coming at the end of the race

Prize concerning the upward call of God in Christ

Seeking God’s Correction,

God will reveal immaturity

A Commitment to Consistent Practice,

What is this “it” that Paul is trying to make his own?