Philippians 3:7-21
Notes
Transcript
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
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Intro:
Paul’s ministry had side effects.
Most of which were positive, but not all of them.
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The direct effects of his ministry were beneficial
People understood the message of salvation.. they found eternal life, they found peace and purpose..
They grew.. they knew joy.. they experienced community.. they found belonging and unity..
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But the in-direct effects.. were not so beneficial.
For when Paul left a region..
Often times.. there were others, who waited on the outskirts.. like dogs.. like those he warned the church about in verse 2…
When Paul left, they crept in.. bringing with them doctrines and philosophies set on the destruction of Paul’s message…
They presented a different Gospel… they challenged the reality of grace… they sought attention, power, and privilege…
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So Paul told the Philippians… in vs. 2.. “look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers…
These dogs… were intending to work evil… by perverting the truth..
They were set on deeds of mutilation..
By forcing the Jewish practice of circumcision.. upon the Gentiles..
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Their message was ultimately: “Confidence In The Flesh”
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Who were they?
They were called “Judiasers”
They came to the Gentile converts, and tried to convince them that Paul had missed a few steps..
They tried to push aside, the message of grace, and replace it with the message of the law..
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Ultimately, the negative side-effect message that came into Philippi..
was one which led the people to find confidence, not in the sufficiency of Christ alone.. but rather..
in the successful adherence, of ones own religiosity.
If you practice these dietary laws..
You will have confidence
If you are circumcised..
You will have confidence
If you do these things and follow these procedures..
You will have confidence
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Paul indirectly blew these theories out of the water…
For he shared.. his basis for personal confidence..
When it came to: birthright, religion, training, education, zeal and personal experience..
He had all those things.
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He had the most kickin awesome resume.
He had the certificates.. the plaques.. the recognitions..
Man’s stamp of approval was all over this guy..
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And what does Paul do?
What does Paul consider it?
Well, in vs. 8.. he’s going to use a word that my bible interprets as being “rubbish”..
But if you’re reading the old KJV today, you might find the word “dung”. That’s not an incorrect interpretation… - this word rubbish can also mean: filth… impurity… garbage… dung...
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Great things in the eyes of man and religion...
But compared to the righteousness… and the calling … and the qualification that is in Christ… well - It’s a harsh juxtaposition. It is… rubbish.
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In vs. 7..
He counts it loss
In vs. 8..
He counts them.. or adds them up to be equal to.. unclean-filth-trash-dung.
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The Judaisers were seeking to complicate the message..
and Paul was attempting to keep it simple.
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The challenge for us?
Well, we can have a complicated faith..
Or, we can have a simple faith..
Standing alone, that statement seems pretty easy to understand..
But in reality.. it’s somewhat of an enigma.
It’s like, a riddle..
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In practice… you will find…
That the complicated faith.. is easier to have..
The simple faith, is more difficult to have..
This is the crux of our confusion.
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This is why we come face to face with the baffling simplicity that is our faith..
And scratch our heads in confused amazement.. over and over again..
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It doesn’t make sense… it’s too simple… this grace thing… the mercy… being justified in Jesus rather than in our own works… - this is a hard thing for our nature… and our sense of justice to get a hold of …
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So, because we are… the way that we are… - that is… ‘complicated’
The complicated faith is easier.
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Why?
Because it makes sense. It’s logical. It stands as a system, or a format by which we can apply our lives..
It might call for adherence and devotion.
But it does not necessarily call for matters of the heart:’
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It requires that you meet certain standards in terms of works or performance.. Say the right things… go through the right motions… show up and occupy a space the right amount of time…
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But… thing like: sincerity.. humility… faith.. compassion.. love.. - Those are not necessary.
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In the complicated faith..
I would have an established and qualified hierarchy that fulfills it’s position based on education merits and time served.
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I would have a clearly defined set of expectations on how to perform the issues of the faith.
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I would know which days I was supposed to do what and precisely how to do that “what” on those specific days.
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I would be given a schedule of classes.. or steps, through which I must go through to attain the appropriate merits of my faith.
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The confidence of my faith, would be rooted in the deeds I performed and system I adhered to.
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There would be no need for sincerity or internal transformation.
The only need.. would be.. the complicated steps..
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Why is that easier?
Because… with that system… - our flesh has a way out.
It can still rule the roost.
We can still walk in selfish carnality..
We can still be unloving and prideful..
all the while… WHILE EXCELLING ON A RELIGIOUS LEVEL…
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Why?
Because we’ve done our religious stuff, w/in the guidelines of our religious system, and we’ve become confident in it.
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I’m not saying that this is the intent of complicated religiosity.. nor is it necessarily the product in the lives of those who practice it..
But.. for those who want to remain carnal..
And feel like they are doing good by God..
It provides a means to do so.
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A simple faith.. is different…
Why?
Because it calls us to have a real relationship with God.
A sincere, day in and day out walk with Jesus..
Growing in Him.. learning His ways.. applying them to our lives..
Fighting off the issues of pride and selfishness, in exchange for humility, compassion and love.
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This simple faith is difficult, because it doesn’t give the flesh a way out.
It doesn’t provide any confidence in the things “we have done”.
Our accomplishments.. our merits.. our confidence.. = rubbish… in the sense that they do nothing….
…. To make us more “saved”.. or more “righteous”.. or more “holy”….
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To a degree.. this is why Paul is saying.. what he’s saying.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
It says in
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! 6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
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Here in lies a great analogy to give us understanding into Paul’s words..
Paul said: “I’ve counted it loss.”
What did he count as loss?
The stuff he had.. the things where in he found confidence.
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Now… in this passage from Ps. 126
Why does the sower shed tears?
Because he is, in a sense.. loosing that which he has..
For he has gained, or purchased all this seed..
And now, it’s gone. It’s buried in the soil..
It was hard work… and what is the immediate gain? There is none… Only waiting..
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Paul goes on to say.. –that which is considered a loss.. is traded..
For the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.
Basically –
He gave up confidence in the things of the world..
To gain Christ.
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Now, before we move on.. let me ask you a few questions..
Did Paul still have his extensive religious training?
Yes.. it was still in there.
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Did he still use it? Yes he did.
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Did Paul still have his Benjamite heritage?
Yes.. he continued to be a descendant of that tribe.
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Did Paul still have zeal?
Yes.
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Did he walk in zeal?
He sure did..
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But.. these were the things he counted as loss.
These were the proverbial seeds that he let go of and shoved into the proverbial dirt.
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But… does the sower still have the seed?
Yes, but, in a way.. they were handed over to God.. - the sower has let go of that seed, and entrusted it into something bigger than him..
His confidence could no longer be in the seeds that he had in his hands..
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He could have kept those seeds, ground them up and made bread.
But he didn’t. Instead.. he put his confidence in something greater than himself.
Is my education rubbish? Is my experience? Is my zeal? My heritage?
No.
Not unless, they become for me.. the things I am placing my faith in..
…and finding value in.
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Instead..
I’m going to take these things.. these abilities.. the building blocks of “who and what I am”
And I’m going to plant them.. in the soil of God..
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Consider the parable of the hidden treasure.. or the parable of the pearl:
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
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What is… all that I have, compared to the Kingdom of Heaven?
What is.. my status.. my belongings.. my stuff.. my hobbies.. my activities.. my accomplishments..
…compared to.. the .. –the full on goodness of knowing and experience God in all His fullness..
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Having the stuff.. the status.. the activities.. – isn’t bad..
It’s giving them precedence that is.
For Paul.. the message was.. “precedence for spiritual confidence”
For us sometimes.. it’s simply a matter of “precedence for personal comfort”
Having things.. is not bad..
but are we willing, to let go of them.. stick them in the dirt..
and let God do something incredible with them?
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9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
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Someone might ask me, “Chad, are you a good person?”
And I might answer… with trepidation… knowing that it’s probably a trick question… Knowing that I’m about to be Jesus-juked…
But I’d probably say.. “Yes, in terms of common social behavior… I’m a good person.”
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Why do I consider myself good?
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Because I’ve done good things?
Because I feel like I’m a good person?
Because I gave money to charity?
Because I show kindness?
We all have a list we can reference… and we can look at it… and determine if we are good.
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Righteousness and unrighteousness.. good and bad..
ask the common Joe out on the street..
and these are the terms by which they will go through their life with..
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I’m a good person, therefore, good things should come my way.. and in the end.. yes, I should get to go to heave, because I’ve earned it by being good.
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But what have we learned about righteousness from the Bible?
“there are none righteous, no not one.”
“my righteousness is as filthy rags”
“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
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Why?
Because God’s definition of good.. of righteous, is different than ours.
God’s definition of righteous.. falls w/in the realm of perfection.
God defines good the same way.. perfection.
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So, all have sinned..
We already know.. that sin.. simply means.. “falling short, or, missing the mark”
In the purest sense of the word, we sin when we try to be good, but we fall short of perfection.
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We also sin, when we fall short of perfection by trying to do bad.
Essentially.. both actions fall short of the glory of God.
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So look what Paul is saying here in vs. 9
.. I’m not going to be found in Christ.. by having some form of righteousness that I gain by performing the works of the law..
Instead.. I’m going to be found in God.. by having the righteousness which is given freely by God to people who do not deserve it.
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How do I get it..
“through faith in Christ”
Essentially,
Jesus is perfect..
Jesus is good
So His perfect goodness.. is extended to me.. credited to me..
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Why?
Because I have received it, as a gift, through faith..
This message impacted the Philippians..
because they were being told..
by the outsiders.. by the dogs..
that they needed to do the works of the law… to gain confidence before God..
….to gain.. righteousness in His sight.
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Yes…
A more complicated faith..
But easier for the flesh to manage.
Paul’s explanation brings Godly reasoning to the failed logic of man…
No matter how much we think we’ve done to gain God’s favor..
We still fall short..
It’s only gained, by receiving freely, the One in whom God already has favor..
Jesus Christ.
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10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
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When Paul says, “he wants to know Him and the power of His resurrection”..
he’s talking about more than just a mental knowledge.
He’s talking about.. knowing.. by experience..
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For instance..
I know.. Rob’s guitar.
I see it every week, I hear it, I admire it… especially the orange telecaster..
But, I’ve never really turned any of the knobs or flipped any of the switches on his guitar..
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I mentally know what it is..
But I don’t know it, by way of experience..
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Now.. my guitars are a different story.
I’ve owned one of them for many years…
I’ve played that things for hours and hours..
I’ve dinged it, scratched it and worn groves in the neck.
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I know my guitar by experience..
Paul it talking about… experiencing Jesus here..
He’s talking about.. experiencing, in His life, the power that rose Jesus from the dead.
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In one way, we who have received Christ.. know this power by experience..
For we, at some point in our lives..
Have committed ourselves to Him.. received God’s forgiveness and were given victory over the grave.
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So, step one, at salvation, we were born again..
And we knew by experience.. by one experience.. the power of His resurrection..
The day we gave our life to Jesus… the power of the resurrection was manifest in our life in a big way...
… But…
And there are many who remain in that place.
They experienced the wonderful blessing of walking through the front door of eternity..
And there they remain.. as close to the world and it’s false comforts as they can be..
They are just… one step in..
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…so, in eternity, you will be alive.. experiencing the presence and the blessings of God..
But in the present..
You’re so close to the world…. One step in… the blessings of knowing Him by experience.. here in this life..
…are yet.. to be… attained..
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So many Christians fail to know Jesus… in the power of His resurrection. They cross the Jordan… spiritually… and step onto the shore of the promised land… and remain there… just 20 feet from the wilderness where they had once been exiled.
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Paul didn’t stop knowing the power of His resurrection.. there on the road to Damascus..
No way.. Paul pressed forward into his faith, and experienced God in his life, over and over again..
As mentioned here… in vs. 10… Paul continued to know that power, by sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
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When Paul talks about the power in His life..
He’s talking about the way God delivered him from, and through things like…
Persecution.. denial.. rejection.. beatings.. shipwreck and imprisonment.
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These were the experiences where God manifest His delivering power in Paul’s life..
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Some might say, that they want to experience the power of God, by being delivered from one lap of luxury to the next..
Outside of that… they’re not interested.
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It’s a known fact.. that in life, there will be tribulation..
and I’ve learned.. we will experience tribulation whether we are walking w/Christ or not.
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Sometimes, that tribulation might come along as a result of our faith..
In such cases.. we will then be given the opportunity.. to know by experience… again, the power of His resurrection..
The power that raised Jesus from the dead..
The power that extends eternal life to us..
The power that makes our fellowship with God possible..
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Its there, to work in us, in the hard times as well as in the good.
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Walking with Jesus is not all trials.. It’s not all deprivation.. it’s not all drudgery..
But sometimes we look on it as if it might be..
So we take one step into the faith..
And stop there..
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And for the next 10-20-40—50 years.. we have a long distance relationship with Jesus…
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Real relationships grow, through mutual experience..
Some experiences.. are good.. some are bad..
My marriage has grown stronger.. and I’ve grown closer to my wife, because we have worked through a lot of good and difficult times together..
We know each other, by the experiences we’ve shared and gone through.. together..
She knows my strengths.. and I know hers..
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With or without Jesus.. our life will have ups and downs..
But with Jesus, those ups and downs can be experiences of fellowship with Him…
Experiences that will increase our intimacy.. our closeness with God..
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Paul expresses how wonderful this experience with Jesus is..
We’ve just read it..
He’s willing to surrender the confidence he has, in the world… and all the birthrights and accomplishments… for the sake of serving Him.
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He doesn’t want… success in his own efforts..
He wants to experience the power.. the blessings and the bounty.. of God..
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His language here speaks of a passion..
He is abandoning freely the things of this life..
And running through every trial w/o reservation… and every joy with praise..
Knowing, that every experience.. brings him closer in his understanding of God..
As we read on.. we see how he runs..
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12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
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Many years had passed, and where was Paul?
still standing out there on the road to Damascus.. blind and befuddled?
But, saved?
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No way..
this guy is giving us an example..
don’t just stand there..
run!
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Don’t be held back from experiencing God in His fullness..
Run to His blessing.. experience it.. embrace it.. know it… be conformed by it..
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Paul said “not that I have already obtained” - “I’m not perfect yet...” - “I’m in a process… there is still a ways to go.”
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To some, this is a despairing state..
we say “I’ve been running.. for years I’ve walked with Christ and I still feel like I have so far to go.”
I still feel weak
I still fall on my face
I still do those stupid things I thought I had victory over a long time ago..
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This is frustrating.. This isn’t working.. I’m still being drug down by the flesh…
And for this reason.. because of personal despair, frustration, and un-met expectations..
Some walk away from Christ.
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But here’s Paul… super Christian..
and God’s letting him plant churches… be an Apostle.. write the Bible..
and look what he’s saying..
he hasn’t attained
He’s not perfected.
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As long as Paul was in the flesh.. this was his dilemma..
If we think being a Christian is going to make us perfect, pay off our debts and make all our dreams come true..
We’re kidding ourselves..
We’re still imperfect..
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But our faith makes provision for us to experience God and grow through our imperfections..
We’re still going to have troubles…
But God provides us with the power of His Spirit, and the proper attitude, to grow victoriously through the troubles.
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We might not have those old dreams come true..
But God will give us new dreams..
Ones that are set upon Him, and experiencing Him.. more and more..
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Folks.. we’re going to reach the goal.. we’re going to attain.. we’re going to know perfection..
When?
When this lacking, imperfect flesh is done away with..
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This thing, holds us back…
But notice how Paul deals with it..
He doesn’t look to the lust of his flesh..
He looks…. Presses on.. reaches forward.. towards the goal.. the prize.. the upward call…
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His focus isn’t in the mirror… his focus is on the horizon.
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Notice vs. 15.. – we find out, that Paul is intending these words for a specific crowd..
… I’m just talking to the mature folks there at Philippi..
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What do you suppose happened at that point?
Did the immature ones say, “OH, I’m a slacker, I get to skip this part.. I’m not mature.”
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No way..
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No one wants to be told they’re not mature..
But here, Paul defined the actions of maturity..
How?
The mature believer.. will have this mind..
What mind?
The mind… that presses on.. seeking intently. After the things of God..
Not standing inside the door..
Not taking a seat there on the road to Damascus..
Put pressing forward..
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17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
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Paul draws a line in the sand.
there are those who walk.. after the ways of God..
and there are those who walk.. after the hungers of their own bellies..
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One group.. walks according to it’s citizenship..
the other.. does the same..
One.. considers the heavenly home..
The other.. the earthly home..
But notice..
they’re both walking..
and I believe the insinuation is..
on the outward.. their walk.. might seem similar..
The actions.. the location.. the activity..
Might seem the same..
But the motivation.. is according to a different citizenship.
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Are we citizens of the glutton’s trough..
Or, are we citizens of Heaven?
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Conclusion.
Let me close with this encouragement… We are citizens in God’s Kingdom… that is… there is a system we exist in, that is unique… and it’s ruled by God.
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It is experienced in the her and now, on a spiritual level..
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But it comes with a promise… that things will not always be this way…
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Our heavenly citizenship should inform our earthly pilgrimage.
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We might get weary… but not despairing. To despair, is to lose hope. Why do many Christians lose hope?
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because they hope in the wrong things. - they hope in the expectations they have right here, in this world, in this flesh...
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But we are called to hope in the glory of God… and that is the kind of hope, that does not disappoint.
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May we, as citizens of Gods Kingdom… embrace the simple, relationship-based faith we’ve been given freely, and walk, as citizens… motivated by a creed, to see God glorified...
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looking not… in the mirror… but unto… the horizon.