7.10.50 11.5.2023 Pressing on Philippians 3.17-21
Completing the Work God Began • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Start:
Entice: How do we get to where we want to be?
Complete in Christ,
mature,
equipped,
and
using our gifts
not only for personal growth
but for
kingdom purposes?
We must keep moving and growing. The process of Christian maturity never ends. There is always more to learn and more opportunities to apply what we learn.
We have to be positive with one another, encouraging and assisting in this mutual process of Christian maturity.
Engage: Most of us, like the Philippians, would have thought that Paul had achieved, or was very close to achieving what God had in store for him. One of the keys to his continued hunger to know more, to grow more, and to go more for Christ, was his understanding that he had not arrived at maturity. If that was true for Paul, then it surely must be for us as well. In fact, much of his practical instruction builds upon his experience and understanding, inviting the Philippians to follow his example.
Expand: Paul recommends
honesty,
integrity,
humility,
and
tenacity.
We are not abandoned. Our citizenship is in heaven, but we are present here and now. That presence is for the sake of the Gospel. To continue as an effective witness requires a trajectory of ongoing growth. Paul is not only telling—he is showing. He invites his readers to join him on the journey to effective Christian maturity.
Excite: Christian living can be easy to understand and yet hard to execute, combining our understanding, our actions, and even our emotions. The Christian faith gives us new citizenship in the Kingdom. It changes all our other relationships. This new, absolute allegiance is not always easy to for non-Christians to understand and we may have difficulty explaining it to our friends or loved ones.
Maturity and discipleship go hand in glove.
Discipleship is the process of teaching and mentoring one another as we move together toward the goal of maturity.
Explore:
Maturity is the motivation as well as the destination for our life in Christ.
Maturity is the motivation as well as the destination for our life in Christ.
Expand:
Body of Sermon: It begins with
1 Responsible Engagement.
1 Responsible Engagement.
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.
This engagement is a matter of dedication and certainty—action and understanding.
First, consider how Paul describes dedication.
1.1 Dedication.
1.1 Dedication.
Dedication means we
1.1.1 Press on.
1.1.1 Press on.
Dedication requires
1.1.2 Perseverance.
1.1.2 Perseverance.
When we are that dedicated we
1.1.3 Pursue the Prize.
1.1.3 Pursue the Prize.
1.2 Certainty.
1.2 Certainty.
Mature thinking
Retaining what we attain.
Next, Paul provides a
2 Relatable Example.
2 Relatable Example.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
2.1 Individual pattern.
2.1 Individual pattern.
2.2 Community process.
2.2 Community process.
Our road to maturity will see hostility and setbacks. Paul encourages us to
3 Recognize our Enemies.
3 Recognize our Enemies.
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.
It is essential that we understand that despite the impact enmity has on us, we are not really the object. In considering the opposition of the Church Paul describes their object and their outcome.
3.1 Their Object: The cross of Christ.
3.1 Their Object: The cross of Christ.
3.2 Their Outcome: Destruction.
3.2 Their Outcome: Destruction.
Finally, Paul reminds us to live and serve with a
4 Reasonable Expectation.
4 Reasonable Expectation.
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.
4.1 Based upon our true citizenship.
4.1 Based upon our true citizenship.
Our city, county, state, and nation are all temporary necessities. We are citizens of the Kingdom of heaven.
4.2 Based on our true allegiance.
4.2 Based on our true allegiance.
To the risen Lord who transforms us to be like Him, and whose authority extends to all things.
Shut Down
For Paul and the rest of the Apostles the power of the Cross was not just demonstrated in visible miracles, but also in the invisible daily progress of individual Christians being confirmed to the image of Christ. We are empowered, as difficult as it may seem, to be more completely conformed to our heavenly citizenship.
And while we are still living here, here and now, that process of maturity is never complete. When we acknowledge that truth and live with daily integrity following the words of Christ, and the example of Godly saints we will be equipped to overcome the enemies of the Cross, with the words of the Gospel.
That is the reason we want to be constantly growing more mature in Christ. to increase the impact of our service among whoever Gods sends us.
God’s word grows Godly people to serve Him with gladness!