Signs of Maturity

Luke Kirkendall

Philippians • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

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Time for a Self Evaluation

Please open your Bibles to .

Read Philippians 3:12-16.

It’s the middle of the year.

We are almost halfway through 2018.

At the start of the year, many people make resolutions or goals for the following year.

People say:

They will lose weight.

Stop annoying habits.

Work out more.

You know the list.

Christians also make goals.

Sometimes its to read your Bible more, grow in certain areas, stop sinning in others.

With 2018 halfway through, how are you doing in your goals?

It’s good to evaluate ourselves.

Paul is doing a little self-evaluating of himself.

Paul doesn’t let external circumstances interfere with his own quest for holiness.

Remember where he is and what’s going on in his life as he’s writing this letter to the Philippians.

He’s in Rome, in house arrest.

He has a Roman guard chained to him at all times.

He’s at the mercy of others providing food, money and supplies to him.

What’s interesting is that even though he has some very real physical demands, he still is concerned about his Christian walk.

He’s still concerned with his personal holiness, obedience and overall walk with Christ.

That’s very telling.

Many times when things happen in our life, the first thing that suffers is our walk with Christ.

Life gets busy and suddenly it’s hard to pray or find time to read your Bible.

The kids get out of school, or a major change in your family takes place, and now it’s hard to find time to go to church.

Just because life is not perfect, doesn’t mean you can slack off in your obedience to Christ.

It’s doesn’t mean you should stop worshipping Christ.

If anything, it should be even greater.

Martin Luther finding himself in a busy period of life once said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

All that to say, don’t let your life situation, rob you of your worship of Christ, and personal holiness.

So here is Paul, under house arrest, and instead of wallowing in his situation he uses it as a time to examine himself, to see where he is at spiritually.

The first test of knowing where you are is you need to Know Yourself

I love Paul’s honesty in verse 12.

I consider Paul one of the heroes of the faith.

God used Paul to pen most of the New Testament.

Through Paul’s writings, we know so much about God, His nature and His love for His people.

I consider Paul, a very good Christian.

I would love to be like Paul.

Yet, Paul never let any of that get to his head.

As great as Paul was, he was still very aware of his sin.

In he called himself the chief of all sinners.

And here, he describes what he himself is lacking.

Verse 12 he says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect ...”

He is not a buddha.

He has not reached enlightenment.

He is not perfect.

He sees where he needs to grow.

You are here today, and therefore, I can conclude, that you desire to be spiritual, and to grow spiritually, then the first thing that needs to happen is you need to examine yourself.

This examination has 2 questions.

First, are you in the faith?

That first question must be answered or the rest of this sermon will not be applicable to you.

Maturity means nothing if you are not in Christ.

Until you are born again, none of this will make sense.

In , God takes Ezekiel to the middle of a valley.

In this valley, surrounding him, are bones.

Dry bones.

They are bleached white from sitting in the sun, for who knows how long.

God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?”

If I go to a local cemetery and begin preaching to the bodies in the graves, will they learn anything?

Of course not, they’re dead.

What if I had a Powerpoint presentation, and gave each dead body an iPad, so that even the visual learners have a resource? Would they learn?

The answer is still no.

You can’t teach a lifeless body.

The event continues, God tells Ezekiel to tell the bones to come to life.

And Ezekiel does.

Tendons formed, connecting bone to muscles.

The skeletons began to gain their shape.

Flesh covered their frames.

And then life was breathed into the formerly dead bodies.

And only after God breathed life into them, could those bodies live properly.

And the same for us.

Until you are in Christ, you will never understand truth.

You will never understand your condition.

Paul even says that the reason why he desires to grow is because “Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

If you can answer the first question well, that you are in the faith, then you need to ask yourself the second question, where do you need to grow?

Even Paul, in all his holiness, still saw weakness.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect ...”

There are Christian men alive today, and there are Christian men that have lived through the ages, who I love, but they were wrong in many areas.

I love John MacArthur - but he’s been wrong.

I loved RC Sproul … but he was wrong many times.

And others, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Augustine.

I love these men, yet they were wrong.

And so, if you examine and see yourself lacking, you are not alone.

So where do you need to grow?

Give yourself this examination:

First, are you growing?

You should be able to look at your life now, and see a difference from where you were 5 years ago, or 10 years ago.

And if you can’t see any growth, then that is a sign that something is off.

We shouldn’t be stagnant in our Christian life.

Next, look at what sins you need to attack.

If you are sinning, you are not walking by the Spirit.

says, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

As long as you continue to let sin reign in your life, I promise you, you are not going to mature the way you should.

In it says, “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely ...”

Meaning sin acts as a drag or a parachute, and it slows you down in your spiritual growth.

What sins are slowing you down?

And third, ask someone to evaluate you.

If you are married, ask your spouse.

Go out for a dinner, and evaluate each other.

Speak openly of sins, habits, and areas that need maturity.

Or, ask a Christian brother or sister.

Someone who will speak honestly to you.

If the person says, “I think you are perfect” then find someone else.

Find someone who can look at your own life and tell you weaknesses that he sees, and where you can progress.

After you’ve seen your weaknesses, then you need to Know the Goal.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is known as Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator, Kindergarten Cop, and of course The Governator.

He began weightlifting at the age of 15.

He went on to be Mr. Olympia 7 times.

He’s known as Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator, and of course The Governator.

When he first began competing in body building there was one part of his body he was ashamed of, his calves.

He’d look at his calves and think they were puny.

He was flabbergasted at his flabbiness.

And if he ever took any photos, he’d make sure his calves were hidden, he didn’t want to show them off.

Not content with his legs looking like toothpicks, he began purposely training his calves.

Building them up in bulk and muscle.

If you can identify your weakness, next you need to build them up.

Look at the language that Paul uses.

Verse 13 he says, “ … and straining forward to what lies ahead,”

Going on into verse 14, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The word to press on is to zealously follow someone.

How zealously?

It was originally used to describe a carriage that was connected to a horse.

The carriage is right behind the horse which pulls it to its destination.

Let me contextualize that a bit for us.

You ever been on the freeway, and someone starts tailgating you.

They get right up on your bumper.

They aggressively get on your tail, wanting you to change lanes and get out of their way.

They are pressing in on you.

What does it mean to press on toward the goal?

It’s to have the goal in mind, and own it.

Get right up on it, and plow through that goal.

Pressing in on the goal is not casually approaching it.

Which is interesting because let’s be honest, isn’t that how many of you approach your spiritual goals?

We are not pressing our goals, we are casual about them.

You want to learn the Bible, but you don’t press it.

You’ll pick up whatever spiritual truths you need to learn, but you’ll do it indirectly.

May you can absorb it into your brain if you put it on your head.

But think of Paul’s language in , “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

That is not casual growth.

When you learned your trade, you were trained.

You went to school.

You went to college.

You were an apprentice.

You learned under someone.

If you really want to learn the Bible, you’ll press it.

You’ll read it.

You’ll ask questions.

You’ll come to CU.

You’ll attend church.

You’ll take notes.

It takes effort to spiritually grow.

You can’t do it without the Holy Spirit, but once you have the Spirit, you strive to grow.

Remember what we saw in , “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling ...”

My illustration about Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t too far off, because Paul frequently uses the working out and physical training as an example of how we are to zealously pursue growth.

he says he does not run aimlessly, but he is like a boxer training for a fight.

he says that he does not run in vain.

Later on in he sees false teaching as something that hinder our purposeful running.

he talks about wrestling.

Set a goal and pursue it.

I enjoy riding bikes.

A couple weeks ago I decided I’m too slow going up hills.

I would like to be faster going up hills.

So I started training on hills.

I figure if I practice riding up them, I’ll get better at them.

And in your spiritual life, set a goal, and pursue it.

If it’s to grow in wisdom - be in God’s Word.

If it’s sin - go to battle against it. Don’t put up with it.

If it’s gossip - control your tongue.

If it’s loving God more - spend more time praying and reflecting upon His character.

If you want to read the Bible more - then fix your schedule.

When it comes to Paul, he has a goal in mind, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

After some kind of championship game or match, it’s fun to see the winner get his hands on the prize.

I love seeing the Olympic athletes on the podium with a medal around their neck, proudly watching their flag rise as they listen to the national anthem.

It’s fun to see the winner of the Stanley Cup, hoist the trophy in the air.

To get those trophies and medals, those athletes and teams have to go a long way.

It’s years between the Olympics.

It’s a long season.

But they keep their eye on the prize.

As you go through your life, keep your eye on Christ.

, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

You keep your eye on Christ, and you pursue Him.

Not looking left.

Not looking right.

Just Christ.

Knowing that one of God’s promises is that we will get to be conformed into the image of God’s beloved Son.

By the way, I have a goal.

I have a goal for you.

I want to see you finish the race and to finish it strong.

, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

I’m the coach on the sideline cheering you on as you run the race.

But I can’t do that if you aren’t participating.

As you examine yourself, be confident and Know God Works.

As much as we strive, press, and strain forward, we have this great confidence, God is working in you.

The biblical word for maturity is sanctification.

And the reality is, that if your sanctification is dependent only on you and your efforts … you are in trouble.

Yes, you are to strive for this.

Yes, you are to try hard for this.

In our passage in Philippians, Paul says we press on, we strain forward.

Yes, you are not to be lazy in your sanctification.

But, you are not alone in this either.

That’s why the very first point was to ask yourself if you are in the faith.

If you are not saved … then this is a dead end conversation.

But if you are in Christ, then you also have the Holy Spirit within you.

, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

This means you are not on your own.

And so when it comes to your sanctification, you are not powerless or abandoned by God.

The Spirit is in you.

And the Spirit is making you more and more Christlike.

Or to put it another way, says, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

And so, don’t get frustrated.

As a believer are you perfect?

No.

We’ve seen that with Paul already.

He has not achieved total Christlikeness, or perfection.

It’s not comfortable, but as you examine yourself, you will see sins, and behavior that make you sick.

But that doesn’t mean quit.

Looking back to , “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

You are a work in progress.

You have been saved by Christ, but you are not yet in glory, and therefore, God is continuing to work in you till you reach the day of Christ Jesus.

Until you die, God will be progressively working on you.

And you must continue to believe that.

We trust that God will:

Provide food for us.

Protect us.

We pray that He will heal us.

We trust that He will resurrect us.

And we trust that God will sanctify us.

I know that who I am right now, is not who I will be in 5 years, 10 years, or 20 years.

Look at verse 15 in our text, “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”

I know that what I am lacking now, God will reveal to me at some point.

And I just know that.

RC Sproul was one of my heroes in the faith.

And he’s a great example of this.

RC Sproul at times in his life was very loud about very wrong things.

At one time he believed in an old earth.

Meaning he rejected a literal understanding of Genesis.

And he also believed that Jesus had already returned.

But both of these he later redacted.

He later on said he was wrong about both points.

He believed that God created the earth in 6 days and that Jesus would be returning again.

And now that he’s in heaven, he also believes that baptism is by immersion for those who believe.

That’s a Presbyterian joke if you didn’t get it.

And you too, will experience changes in life and faith as God changes you.

Which leads us to the last point, Know What You Have.

In verse 13, Paul said that we need to forget what lies behind.

That means we need to forget the things we boast in, as well as the things we are ashamed of.

There are lots of experiences in life.

You are proof of that.

As I look across this room, I see men and women who have done incredible things.

You’ve been places, seen things, done things, that I’ll never get to experience.

And at the same time, I’ve done things, you’ll never get to do.

In the previous passage in , Paul had spent some time bragging about his accomplishments.

And at the end of that statement, he said, “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 ...”

When you die, what’s important are not the accomplishments or things that set us apart from one another here.

What’s important, what sets us apart is if we are in Christ.

In verse 13, Paul said that we need to forget what lies behind.

And so what will get us into heaven isn’t who we are in the flesh.

There isn’t a special section in heaven for those who worked outside, and another for those who worked in an office building.

There isn’t a special section for those with families and those who were single

There is heaven and it is filled with those who are in Christ.

That means our boast is in Him.

But it’s not just our boastings that we leave behind, but it’s also our failures.

Am I perfect now?

No.

Are you perfect now?

No.

But what’s great is that when you get to heaven, God won’t say, “You really botched it down there. How about 1,000 years in purgatory to think about your mistakes?”

While our sins and imperfections are right in front of us, and are very real to us, we know that if Christ paid for our sins, they are gone.

This really is a big deal.

Because if you are living under your sins ...

If the weight of your sins and the reality of them continues to be in front of you ...

If you think that they are so bad that Jesus can’t forgive you …

Then this says something about what you believe about Christ and the effectiveness of His death.

Our belief in Christ is not just that He lived and died and rose again.

It’s that He alone is capable to die for and forgive us of our sins.

And if you doubt that, if you continue to beat yourself up over sins … then instead of having faith, you are found to be faithless.

And if this is your situation, then you are actually doubting the effectiveness of Jesus’ death.

I realize that you might be sitting there and thinking that you have done no such thing.

You think you would never ever question Christ’s ability to forgive your sins.

And yet, you are not forgetting what lies behind.

You are holding on to it.

So your head says you believe Christ, but your actions are holding onto your sins.

And so, for your benefit.

For your soul.

For your joy.

For your own worship of Christ, let it go.

And hold firmly to Christ, and all the promises that come with Him and let today be today.

When you find yourself holding onto things that should be forgotten, remember the Cross and the judgment that took place on it.

says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

So when your sins are pressing in on you, what do you do?

You look to Christ.

You see that it is He who died for your sins.

And when you do sin, you can know that Jesus is interceding for us … even now.

God doesn’t need to punish you for your sins again, because He already put them on Christ.

The debt has been settled.

Believe that.

Trust in that.

Rest in that.

This is our spiritual examination.

Don’t read this line:

Know yourself.

Know the goal.

Know God works.

And know what you have.

I hope that you have been able to access your own spiritual condition.

I hope that you can see where you need to grow.

I hope that you develop a plan.

Yet, I also hope to have encouraged you who only see defeat.

And instead, be reminded that God is working in the saints.

And continue to have a genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

Trusting in Him for the full salvation of your souls.

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