"Keep Moving"

Philippians  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Phil 3.12-4.1

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Since the last time we were together...

God called, Jesus confirmed and spoke. Sending Paul, Peter, John and the rest of the Apostle’s to the end’s of earth. Apostles making disciples, disciples making disciples.
Matthew 28:19–20 NIV84
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The Apostles and disciples were sent
Their job, calling, commitment was to go
Make disciples
Baptize them
Teach them the ways of Jesus
And Jesus will be with them and us to end of the age.
We will leave that comment “To the end of the age” for another time.
Suffice it’s as close as tomorrow or 100 million tomorrows.
Paul had a whole bunch of stuff to say to the Jews and the followers of the law. He wrote and wrote. He encouraged, He called them to task, he took them to the woodshed and spoke harshly to them.
He demanded change in their behavior.
What he asked them to do was to take 4000 years of history. 4000 years of following the Law and all 427 individual little pieces of it and exchange it for the
Peace of God that only comes via faith in Christ, by Grace alone.
Of course that was not only mind blowing for them, it began the cost them family relationships, and business relationships.
The Pharisees, Sadducees and others that were financially invested in and all the Law gave them began to stir-the-pot.
They began to follow Paul, imprison Paul, beat and torture him. Their demand was this…
You can go and do your thing but leave the Jews out of this.
Paul was clear… the scriptures were clear from the earliest parts of the Old Testament, that our God is an inclusive God.
Jew or gentile, slave or free, male or female the Gospel is for everyone!!
Paul, obviously was a prolific writer. Apart from the Gospels. Almost the rest of the New Testament was written by him or about him. What we have recorded even in the original monographs was probably just a portion of his writing.
This brings us to the Book of Philippians. I really enjoyed our month outside with the Christian Reformed Church. I hope that were able to see or hear what we were doing over there. Pastor Joel and I are already making plans for next summer.
I’d like you to stand if you can as I read God’s word.
Philippians 3:12–4:1 NIV84
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 1 Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!
Please be seated!
Let’s begin with the summary statement that is at the very end of the passage. Then we can break it down from there.
Philippians 4:1 NIV
1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
Paul uses this same language, in the book of Ephesians. Listen to this passage. I’ve chosen the New American Standard, I think it captures what we are after here.
Ephesians 4:1 NASB95
1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
Paul’s plea here is delivered as a heartfelt desire to believers. He writes from prison.
But the bars that are in front of him have never limited him or his ministry. He knows in the deepest, inner parts of his soul that he is a “prisoner for the Lord”
PRINCIPLE #1 - Sometimes our own “prisons” benefit us and others.
Let’s all think about a “rough patch” that we have been through. We have all been there. It could be a relationship, a business, it could be a health situation, a spiritual situation.
Our attitude, our response is a testimony to how God is working inside of us and he mends and molds us into the people that he wants us to be.
Let me give you my example...
For 18 months before I connected with Missions Northwest that lead me being your pastor, I was an intern at our church in University Place. As days, extended to weeks, then months and then a year and more. I thought that the opportunity for full time ministry had passed me by.
I was stuck, I was frustrated, I was depressed. But God continued to remind me...
Jeff your learning
Your developing your servant’s heart
Your learning to lead
Your spending time with a mentor
You are a great example for others whether you know it or not.
Paul was that kind of prisoner… yes, actually in chains but was convinced he could make something really good happen even in his current situation.
Let’s get back to the passage… it’s really important
Philippians 4:1 NIV
1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
“Therefore...” Because of everything that has happened to me, because of my chains, because of my imprisonment.
“…my brothers and sisters...” He is addressing his family.
Who he “…loves...” The word here is agape’. He is calling his family and by extension us his “BELOVED”
We are Paul’s “Joy and Crown.” If he has anything to boast in, it is his love and care of his brothers and sisters.
Those who left behind the law and 4000 years of seeking a relationship with God through works and saw the Grace and Mercy and salvation that was offered on the cross of Calvary by none other than the Messiah, the perfect one, the Christ.
Paul, implores us to “…Stand Firm in the Lord...” and then again calls us “…dear friends!”
We can be done here… but he has so much more to say.
Follow me if you will back to the beginning of the passage.
Philippians 3:12 NIV84
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
First Paul give us some instructions...
PRINCIPLE #2 - We are all in process of becoming more and more like Jesus.
Don’t give up, keep working the problem, see it through to the end.
Looking back you will see what God had in store you. In the midst of the process it’s tough to see the end of the long tunnel. But there is an end.
Philippians 3:13 NIV84
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
The word “Brothers...” here is ‘adelphia’, Meaning bothers and sisters.
That long tunnel, that we don’t see the end of, The chains and imprisonment that Paul was experiencing...
“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
I’ll say it again… Jesus is not as concerned about our past as he is about our future.
If we have asked for forgiveness of our sins… God is faithful and just and will forgive them. He not only forgives them, but forgets them.
Remember Paul’s past, the one that we can read about, the one that a multitude to Christians killed for their faith...
Paul says this in V.14
Philippians 3:14 NIV84
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
PRINCIPLE #3 - Don’t stop keeping moving onward toward the prize.
What’s the prize… being called “heavenward.”
Paul knows his time left on earth is short. For him it was any time when it would be the final time.
He kept writing, he kept doing all that his chains and prison would allow for the advancement of the Gospel.
V.17
Philippians 3:17 NIV84
17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
PRINCIPLE #4 - There are no “Lone Ranger” Christians.
What we are doing here, in our church, in our community, in our world is coming together across denominations, coming across people groups, coming across skin color to recognize the Body of Christ. Above everything else that can separate us nothing can separate the Body of Christ.
UNLESS WE LET IT!!
All of those “positive things” that Paul wrote about, there is a warning
Philippians 3:18–19 NIV84
18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
These types of people… we all know them. We enjoy their company, we like hanging out with them. The have a great big TV for the football game. They make great food.
But that have no relationship with Jesus. Their redemption is based on what they can do to fulfill their own needs or as Paul says “…their god is their stomach.”
Because of all of that or in spite of all of that… Paul leaves us with two verses.
This is our hope and our best application that is possible.
As we close...
Keep your eyes on the prize… we are just passing through here
We will have trouble, we will be in our own prisons, it will seem overwhelming. But in the same ways and many more that we can have now.
Our troubles are being heard, they are understood, and Jesus our Great Advocate intercedes for us to the Father.
As Paul does… He provides a warning message, a statement. Listen to it.
“Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.”
“Their destiny is destruction,”
“Their mind is on earthly things”
Finally...
Philippians 3:20–21 NIV84
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
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