Series: Philippians
Sermon: “God’s Not Done with Me Yet”
Philippians 3:12-16
Pastor John Bright
Philippians 3 “12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 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.
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.”
Help or Hinder?
That’s a good question to remember. Will this help or will this hinder? Back when I did youth ministry we gave the young people a simple diagram to think about the impact of their decisions. It started with a question – “Should I do _______?” Underneath that was 2 columns – “YES” and “NO”. In each column they would list likely outcomes of doing or not doing that thing. One we had them do was “Should I smoke cigarettes?” It was usually a pretty easy way to get them to see the different outcomes or consequences.
Believers in the tradition of Wesley have long understood that we can cooperate with God in our ongoing journey of spiritual growth. We believe that God made the way to salvation through the cross of Jesus. It’s His blood that saves, but we have to say “Yes.” That’s our cooperation in the work of salvation. Last week we saw where Paul got the Philippian Believers to understand they could not save themselves through any work of the flesh. Now, Paul wants them to look to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Today, I will focus on that next work of God in our lives – Sanctification. What’s that? It is a work of God’s Grace in the life a Believer. God pours out Sanctifying Grace into the spirit of each Believer from the moment of Salvation until you breath your last breath. Wherever you are this morning – remember that God’s not done with you yet. Do you want to grow into a deeper and deeper relationship with your Heavenly Father? If you answer is yes… begin using the question I started with – Help or Hinder? It’s really a question about what’s important to get to where you want to be.
Paul knew what was most important
“12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 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.”
Before I go any further, I have to deal with the Christian version of the “elephant in the room.” Paul uses the p-word in verse 12. If you are a pastor in the UMC you were examined at Annual Conference before you are ordained with the following questions:
Are you going on to perfection?
Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?
Are you earnestly striving after it?
John Wesley used these questions over 200 years ago. We have gotten to the point in Methodism today that we never roll out the p-word around non-church folks. They think we are being uppity and sanctimonious talking about “being made perfect in love.” I need to over simplify this. When we say “perfection” - the world hears us saying we are without sin. God is clear on this one! 1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Is that clear?
What Wesley taught was that the Believer moves forward in Sanctification and can be “made perfect in love.” Again, over simplified, it is God working Sanctification in you and me. The goal for Wesley was taken from Luke 10. In the set-up for the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we read:
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
To be made “Perfect in Love” is to “‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” This is what Paul was striving to do. This is what the Philippian believers were striving to do. Down through the centuries of the Church, that is what Believers have strived to do and Wesley put it into simple terms, but IT SURE AIN’T EASY!
As he so often did, Paul uses imagery from athletic competition to describe the difficulty of this pursuit. For the runners in a race, it will slow them down if they look back. Only the fastest runner wins the prize so he or she needs to keep looking forward – to the finish line. Most of us have not run a race since we were kids or in high school, but most of us still drive a car. Wait a minute! What’s that got to do with this topic? Glad you asked😊 If we want to get where we are going and not wreck the car, we better spend the vast majority of our time looking through the windshield and just a little time looking in the rearview mirror. I see way too many folks living lives that look like a big ol’ car wreck because they refuse to stop looking at the past. That includes all the good things and past victories. Can you imagine a runner having to carry his or her past trophies when they run a new race? That would be ridiculous. We have to let go of the past and look forward.
So, where are we headed in this race of life?
Paul knew the goal
“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.”
In almost every letter by Paul, he writes about being a mature Believer. His most emphatic use of this imagery is in 1 Corinthians 3 “1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”
Here we hear the opposite of loving God and neighbor as the character of Spiritual Babies. In these verses from Philippians, Paul is speaking to “as many as are mature.” That is, not everybody in the Church. We all have the same Sanctifying Grace available to us. We are all offered the same break from the past – 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Remember, the goal is NOT to be the most mature and most spiritual person in the Church. That includes the pastor (OUCH!). We covered “being of the same mind” back in Chapter 2 of Philippians. “5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Back then, I talked to you about humility. Not a favorite word of modern folks – why? If I am doing a good job and becoming more and more mature in my Christian walk, than I want somebody to notice… right? I’m sorry. Too much honesty?
I believe the ones who really, really need to see us and notice are not in the local church. The ones who need to see us walking in Radical Freedom for the past are out in the world! They are in your families. They work with you or go to school with you. They live in your neighborhoods. Maybe, just maybe, they used to be your friend, but no more.
Who else sees your Growth in Sanctification? GOD SEES! Paul knew that was what mattered and that the goal is each and every believer standing before God. He reminded the Philippian Believers of this is Chapter 2 “14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”
He told the Believers in Thessalonica the same – 1 Thessalonians 3 “12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”
Help or Hinder?
As a Believer today, we are faced with many choices that Paul could never have imagined. If we want to make Sanctification a priority and Maturity a goal, we will have to ask questions about our choices – Will that Help or Hinder? For example: during the recent pandemic restrictions more and more folks have discovered the joys of binge-watching whole seasons of TV shows in a weekend or over several week nights (sometimes late into the night when you fall for the old trap of “just one more”). Each person will need to answer the question of what is appropriate content, but overall – is this something that helps or hinders your Growth in Sanctification?
God has provided those activities for us that Believers through the centuries have discovered bring us into contact with more and more of His grace. We call these “Means of Grace.”
Dr. Timothy Tennent, the President of Asbury Seminary, wrote a book entitled “30 Questions: A Short Catechism on the Christian Faith”. Below is a quote from the chapter on “Means of Grace”:
“Examples of this would include the reading of Scripture, hearing God’s Word preached, prayer, fasting, serving the poor, and so forth. Broadly speaking, a means of grace refers to all the ways by which Christians grow stronger in their faith and grow in the grace of Christ. In other words, they are God’s instruments to convey grace….”
“Of course, the Bible in and of itself, or a prayer in and of itself, has no power to change us. If we believed that, we would be affirming a form of magic. Rather, whenever we refer to a “means of grace” we acknowledge ultimately that only God is the true giver of grace, through the presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The term “means” simply reminds us that God uses ordinary things like words and prayers and actions to convey his presence to us, and whenever his presence is truly encountered (even if we don’t feel it), then grace is conveyed.”
God has not called us to a journey and a goal for which there are no directions nor definitions. He has called us to live lives that are full of stumbles and setbacks. We will still sin, but sin no longer needs to control our actions. Satan provides lots and lots of ways to hinder our Growth in Sanctification. God also provides! Praise the Lord! God has given us the means to help, especially when we have to get back up and dust ourselves off and keep moving forward. Remember, God is not done with you yet!
We need to be asking that question – Help or Hinder?
Amen.
