Spiritual Goals For 2021 (Part II)

JANUARY 10, 2021 STUDY NOTES PHILIPPIANS 1:6-11 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES SPIRITUAL GOALS FOR 2021 (PART TWO) INTRODUCTION Today is part two of our study in Philippians 1:6-11 The subject is Spiritual Goals for 2021, last week we studied three goals: Allow Christ to do His work in you (verse 6) Confirm the Gospel (verse 7) and Share the heart of Christ (verse 8) Today we will study three more: Abound in God’s love (verse 9) Spiritual discernment (verse 10) and To God be the Glory (verse 11) We need to commit our daily life to these goals and minister together as a church family in this new year If we do, Prairie Grove Baptist will experience the best year for ministry that we have ever witnessed ABOUND IN GOD’S LOVE Php 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; It would be interesting to compare the prayers we find in scripture to today’s prayer requests The prayers we read in scripture should instruct us and guide us in our daily prayer life Do our prayers include what we read of in scripture, are we praying for spiritual needs? We state that we do not agree with the preaching of the health and wealth gospel But does our praying indicate that we believe health and wealth is the main source of happiness? How long has it been since you prayed for the spiritual health and welfare of your church? The first thought that should come to us in prayer is that we are talking to God, Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Through prayer we are having a genuine conversation with God How often do the prayers we hear in church seem to be talking to man? Mat 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. Sometimes those praying in church are telling others what they supposedly have done for God Or they are attempting to tell others what their opinion of them is We need to study the prayers of Paul, then study our prayers and see what is lacking in our prayer life When you study the prayers found in scripture you will understand why Paul encouraged love to abound A good example is, Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; A prayer that can only be prayed through a heart filled with the love of God Paul prayed THAT YOUR LOVE MAY ABOUND YET MORE AND MORE Paul knew that all Christians have experienced the love that he speaks of, Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Paul also knew how powerful that love was and what an influence it should be in our life, Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? We faced nothing in 2020, we will face nothing in 2021, that should weaken the love of Christ in us 1 Our church has a ministry titled the “Labor of Love,” based upon, Heb 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Notice, you have ministered to the saints, we did do that in 2020, but keep reading, “and do minister” Exactly what Paul was telling the Philippians, you have ministered because of your love But he prayed that their love would “abound,” meaning to reach beyond its present status As a Christian, or a church, we cannot be satisfied with our ministry of yesterday We are not to look and live in the past, we must meet the needs of today Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians tells us how we can abound in love, 1Th 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: We must have God’s help, only through the Lord can there be an increase of “love one toward another” We must continually grow in our love toward God to experience an abundance of love for one another The word “increase” means that we must have more than enough allowing us to share in abundance The word “abound” is the same word found in Philippians 1:9, there will never be too much love shared Paul said there must be “more and more,” there is no end to the ministry of the “Labor of Love” Unless the ministry is through the love of God there will be no ministry (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) All earthly language without God’s love is a meaningless noise, a senseless sound (1 Cor 13:1) A lot of noise is how Paul describes words without the “love of God” There will be no language coming from Heaven without the love of God Christians are to live by faith, but Christian faith cannot live without God’s love Without God’s love, we are nothing, our spiritual gift is useless and worthless (1 Cor 13:2) Our value of Christian service will be zero, without love all is failure Without love, nothing is important, with God’s love everything we do is important Regardless of what we do, how well we do it, or how often it is done, it must all be in love Unless it is motivated by love there is no gain, no value, no advantage, no benefit (1 Cor 13:3) Only that which is done through the supreme law of God’s love will bring any earthly benefits Paul now tells us two things that are necessary to love in the way that he has instructed us IN KNOWLEDGE AND “in” ALL JUDGMENT The word “knowledge” means more than knowing something, it has the thought of influence The knowledge of God’s love will be a strong influence upon us, resulting in the “Labor of Love” The meaning of “all judgment” is perception, the thought is experiential knowledge To labor through the love of God will result in a greater knowledge of God’s love When love abounds more and more you will be able to see and understand what God is doing The world says that love is blind, but the love of God is an enlightenment, which Paul now states SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT Php 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; There is a difference between what the world knows as love and what God’s love is to the Christian The world must see that difference through our life as a Christian and our ministry as a church That is Paul’s prayer, that the world will see the truth of God’s love through the Christian The word “approve” means to be put to the test for-the purpose of approval Referring to something that is examined to determine its worth and to determine if it is genuine Meaning to verify the real value of something, it is important that we discern the true values of life Our world does not recognize the value of knowing Christ and living for Christ Christians must distinguish beyond the good and evil, we must recognize the better of the best 2 In order to do that we must experience the truth of verse 9, experience knowledge through God’s love The experience of knowledge through God’s love gives us the ability to evaluate people and situations Then we can identify the best of the best, that which is right according to God is spiritual discernment Spiritual discernment is making the right choice, choosing that which will really make a difference Paul calls it the things THAT ARE EXCELLENT Christians today need to give attention to what Paul is telling us concerning the choices we make Things “that are excellent” are things worth more according to an eternal or spiritual perspective Things that are of greater value to our spiritual life, better for us and better for others Satan continually tempts us to turn our attention to things that have no spiritual value Too many people are spending too much time every day in things that have no ultimate value I don ‘t need to give you a list of those things, just listen to people and watch them, you will see Realize that what Paul says is a part of his prayer, he is praying for their mind and heart to be controlled To do what Paul says there must be some guidelines, there must be a standard to go by As Christians we know the source of the standard, it is prayer, God’s Word, and Christian fellowship Paul is telling us how great the need is for Christians to pray for self and one another He is telling us how important it is to study the Bible and share its truths with one another He is telling us how important it is to come together to worship God and encourage one another The neglect of prayer, Bible study, and faithfulness to church allows Satan to control your mind When Satan controls the mind people don’t think, they react to the things they see and hear The things they see and hear controls their mind and influences their actions The spiritual mind is not controlled by things, the spiritual mind is in control of worldly things The spiritual mind will focus time and energy on the things that really matter, the eternal things Paul explains it in, Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. “If” is not a question, the truth of your being raised to life in Christ is not being questioned Christ is alive and the position of the believer is life in Christ, you have been “risen with Christ” Therefore, “seek those things which are above,” set your mind and your heart upon the excellent The things that are excellent are represented in the present position of Christ Christ at the “right hand of God” is the guarantee of all that is excellent being fulfilled We must do what Paul says, Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. There is a word of warning in this verse, be careful of what your mind is focused upon What are you thinking about, what are you focusing your eyes and ears upon, is it worldly things? “Things of the earth” refers to the things that are temporary, fleeting, perishing, and being eaten away Twice Paul speaks of the “things above,” that which is of God for today, the future, and eternity Those things are known as “spiritual blessings,” Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: We are “blessed” when we receive something of which we benefit from Something that has worked out for our advantage and is of value to us “US” refers to those who are saved and have received a new spiritual nature It refers to those who are now in a new spiritual position because of their new nature And in our new spiritual position we are blessed “with all spiritual blessings” “All” in scripture is such a big word and such a meaningful word Here the meaning is, God has every kind of spiritual blessing that we will ever need God will be there to bless whenever we need it and with whatever we need “Spiritual” confirms that the blessings are from God and that they are the work of God Spiritual blessings have been given to us through Christ and in the Holy Spirit 3 Everything that you will ever need spiritually is provided for us by God There is no excuse for a Christian living in spiritual poverty or being spiritually immature Paul identifies the realm of our spiritual blessings as “heavenly places” Paul is not referring to the place we call heaven, heaven is our future eternal dwelling He is not telling us that we have to die and go to heaven before we are blessed “In the heavenlies” is a sphere of life that really does exist today A realm that has to do with life today, a realm of present spiritual reality Paul explains why they are heavenly blessings, they are “in Christ” The reason they are ours is because we are in Christ This is the key phrase, God’s plan of blessing us is in Christ; all is in Christ You never come into God’s plan of blessing until you are in Christ You are never spiritually blessed until you are in Christ What Paul is talking about cannot be experienced apart from “in Christ” But wherever we dwell, wherever we are, and whatever the circumstances might be Even when all seems wrong and troublesome about us, we are still in heavenly places As Christians we are in heavenly places because we are “in Christ,” Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Outside conditions and circumstances do not change it because we are in Christ And God our Father is still to be praised, begin your day with praise; end your day with praise THAT YE MAY BE SINCERE AND WITHOUT OFFENSE TILL THE DAY OF CHRIST Peter uses the same word translated “sincere” in, 2Pe 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: A “pure mind” is a sincere mind, a mind that is free from the spots and blemishes of sin It is a mind that has been purged by thinking right, right thinking comes from right reading Reading the right book will cleanse your mind, wholesome thinking comes from reading the Bible Too many minds today are contaminated by worldly influence, coming from what people read and watch There are many references in the Bible concerning our mind, Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: That means we are to think like Jesus taught us to think Paul gives us a list of Godly things and then he literally says, “dwell on these things,” Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. The book of Psalms begins with the same thought, Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. The delight of the blessed man “is in the law of the Lord” “Without offense” means there can be no hypocrisy causing others to stumble “The day of Christ” reminds us that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, 2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. All that is good will be that which is done for the glory of God TO GOD BE THE GLORY Php 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. Remember that Paul is praying for the Philippian believers, pay attention to his prayer 4 He is praying for their spiritual needs, praying for their life to bring forth spiritual fruit Fruit is that which will come forth from a life of righteousness, Jesus is the source of righteousness Jesus explains it in John 15, the word fruit is found 8 times in John 15:1-16 The “fruits of righteousness” cannot be produced through human ability, only through union with Christ The “fruit of righteousness” is the result of a spirit- filled life, life controlled by the Holy Spirit Which is described in the 9-fold cluster of fruit known as the “Fruit of the Spirit,” Galatians 5:22-23 We sing “To God Be the Glory,” we must live our life to the Glory of God We do need to give serious thought to some spiritual goals for our life and our church in 2021 Our desire should be to do more for Christ than we have ever done before It may help us to think about the past in order to plan for the future To think about what Jesus has already done for us should motivate us to do more for Him To consider His love for us should encourage us to abound more and more in His love The song you are going to hear will explain it 5