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How to Press on Like Paul
Philippians 3:15-21
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - Sept. 23, 2012
*Last week we studied Paul’s passionate devotion to reach God’s goals for his life.
He began by comparing his religious life before Christ to the abundant new life he found in Christ.
And in vs. 7&8, Paul said:
7.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
8.
But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ . . .
*Then in vs. 13&14, Paul said:
13.
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14.
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
*Now God wants us to “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
*This is Paul’s message to us in vs. 15-21, where he said:
15.
Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
16.
Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
17.
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
18.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19. whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame who set their mind on earthly things.
20.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21. who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
*How can we “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus?” -- Paul shows us 4 ways.
1.
First, ask God to reveal the errors in our thinking.
*In vs. 15, Paul assures us that God will reveal the errors in our thinking.
Here Paul said: “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”
*King David certainly saw the need for this kind of correction from the Lord.
In Psalm 19, David’s prayer included this question:
12. Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
*King David had a great desire for the Lord to point out the flaws in his thinking.
And he depended on God to do it.
Listen to David in Psalm 25.
There he prayed:
4. Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.
5. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
*David was willing to let God reveal the errors in his thinking.
-- How about us?
*I remember what the Lord told David (and us) in Psalm 32.
God says:
8.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
9. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.
*The Lord is trying to warn us here against wrong thinking.
Sometimes we are stubborn enough and foolish enough to head off in our own direction.
*“You’re stubborn as a mule!”
My Daddy used to tell me that all the time, because I was stubborn as a mule.
But Christians: God is working in our lives to reveal the errors in our thinking.
So Paul said, “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”
*How can we “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus?” -- Ask God to reveal the errors in our thinking.
2. And follow our Godly examples.
*This was the Apostle Paul’s guidance to us in vs. 16&17, where he said”
16.
Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
17.
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
*Paul wasn’t just a truth giver.
-- He was a truth liver!
*And one of the greatest challenges I face as your pastor is to be more of the example God wants me to be.
When I look at the devotion of Paul and many other great Christians, it’s obvious that I fall far short.
But God has given us many devoted believers worth following.
*On this last day of the Week of Prayer for State Missions and the Georgia Barnette Offering for State Missions, Miss Georgia is a good example for us.
*Who was Georgia Barnette?
-- She was born in Virginia in 1861, and grew up in a Christian home, but did not make her profession of faith until she was in her twenties.
From that time on Georgia grew spiritually and showed a deep love for Jesus.
*After 2 years of full-time service in Virginia, and 3 in Atlanta, Georgia was surprised by an invitation to serve as missionary for the First Baptist Church in New Orleans.
Later she wrote, “Feeling that it was the leadership of the Lord, on Oct. 16, 1901, with goodbye said and tears shed, I made my way to the First Baptist Church, New Orleans.”
*Three years later, she began serving as the first full-time leader of the Louisiana Women’s Missionary Union.
Over the next 28 years, Georgia Barnette travelled over 180,000 miles, serving the Lord in Louisiana.
She travelled by train, surrey, buggy, wagon, horseback, pirogue and walking.
Georgia once said, “I’ve traveled everywhere in the state of Louisiana and every way except mule back.”
*That faithful service is why the state missions offering was named in her honor in 1936.
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*Think about the many other good examples God has given us to follow.
-The world may never know their names, but they made a world of difference in our lives.
And God wants us to follow their examples.
*How can we “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus?” -- Follow our Godly examples.
3.
And mourn over the enemies of the cross.
*God wants us to grieve even as Paul grieved in vs. 17-19.
There he said:
17.
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
18.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19. whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame who set their mind on earthly things.
*The cross of Jesus Christ has always had ferocious enemies.
And it certainly does today.
The most extreme and violent enemies of the cross today are the millions of radical Islamists who would kill us in a heartbeat if they could.
Of course there are also peaceful Muslims, but you cannot be a peaceful Muslim if you fully follow the teachings of the Koran.
That’s the sad truth.
*There are many other enemies of the cross, including radical leftists, atheists, and Christ-haters of all persuasions.
But Paul was talking about a different kind of enemy in these verses.
He is talking about enemies inside the church, like the “false brethren” Paul mentioned in 2 Cor 11:26.
*The “Believer’s Bible Commentary” tells us that these men could have been the false teachers Paul mentioned back up in vs. 2.
These men taught that you had to be circumcised and keep the Old Testament ceremonial law in order to be saved.
These enemies could also have included the false teachers who said that God’s grace allows us to live in the most carnal, selfish ways.
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*Some Bible scholars believe that these men were in fact Christians, but I don’t see how they could be.
Listen again to Paul’s description of these enemies of the cross in vs. 19:
-Their “end is destruction.”
-Their “god is their belly.”
-They glory “in their shame.”
-And they “set their mind on earthly things.”
*These enemies don’t sound anything like true believers.
They have been a terrible influence against the cross of Jesus Christ.
And Paul grieved over the damage they have done to the cause of Christ.
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