This morning, we will be looking at Philippians, chapter 3, verses 12-14. The passage lends to the New Year so well, that I’m led to believe God wants to help us get off to a great start in 2001. If a title helps you organize your thoughts, the title is "Five Adversaries to Progress."
I don’t know how many of you make new years resolutions, but I do know that more of us make new years resolutions than there are of us who keep new years resolutions. Susan, my wife, was telling me that she is like an environmentalist when it comes to new years resolutions. She recycles them year after year. When I asked her what her new years resolution would be this year, she replied, "Have better quiet times with God." She was right; I remember her setting that for last year as well.
Jonathan Edwards wrote in his diary on the first day of the year, "Resolve first, that all men should glorify God and be obedient to God. Resolve second, that if nobody else is obedient, that I will be obedient, by God’s grace." With such resolution, can anyone question why God would use Edwards powerfully in the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s?
What are our resolutions for the New Year?
From this morning’s passage, we can gain both guidance for choosing our resolution and help to make progress in our resolution for the New Year. Also from this passage, we will look at the obstacles or adversaries to our making progress in our resolution and how Paul overcame these obstacles.
The first adversary to our making progress in our resolution is ARROGANCE. We read this in verse 12.
Paul put to death this adversary of arrogance by having an honest evaluation of himself. He was quite far along in his knowledge of Christ, to the point we read in verse 8, where all the good things in his life became like garbage when compared to the treasure of knowing Christ. But Paul was not arrogant about how far along he was in his spiritual journey. Paul saw that he needed to press on toward knowing Christ even more.
Arrogance is the attitude of pride or over-confidence. Arrogance leaves no room for learning and growth. In the race between the hare and the tortoise, arrogance is what caused the hare to take a nap and to lose the race.
Maybe your resolution is also to know Christ more through daily quiet times with God. Let me warn you, that if you are able to keep your resolution the first week of 2001, your enemy, arrogance, will follow your footsteps closely for the rest of the year. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians warned, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!" Arrogance is the Trojan Horse to our making progress in our resolution.
The second adversary to our making progress in our resolution is ARRIVAL. We read this in verse 13a.
Paul put to death the adversary of arrival by responding to Christ’s expectation, not human expectations. Paul tells the Philippians that his passion for God, his ability to endure hardship for Christ and his Christ-centered perspective in life are not indications that he has arrived at the finish line of his spiritual journey. The false belief that we have arrived is an enemy to our making progress in our resolution.
When we see ourselves as reaching our limit or our finish line, we will stop making progress in our resolution. The person who said that we are "human-becomings" and not "human beings" is helpful in reminding us to make progress continually. We are all able to become more like Christ and accomplish more for Christ than we ever have.
What is your New Year resolution? Is God calling you to become a godly husband and godly father in your family? Then stop comparing yourself with those who are behind you in this journey. You will only deceive yourself into thinking you have arrived.
Is God calling you to be a Christian witness at your work? Every time I lead someone to Christ, I have the same conversation with God. "Lord, can I be with you in heaven now?" That is my way of saying, "God, haven’t I done all you’ve called me to do?" I’m still here, so God must be calling me to commit to new ways of witnessing and to respond to more of His opportunities. Arrival is the glass ceiling to our making progress in our resolution.
The third adversary to our making progress in our resolution is AFFECTIONS. We read this in verse 13b.
Paul put to death the adversary of affections (plural) by measuring his success in the achievement of one resolution. Paul does not say, "These things I do." Paul had a single-minded affection or desire in his heart, to know Christ and to make Christ known to the non-Jewish people. Paul was highly intelligent, very talented, respected, privileged, and he had many different opportunities to succeed in his time and culture. He could have easily been tempted to do many things, but focusing on the one thing made progress in his resolution.
Having one affection does not mean that we live unbalanced lives. Just because I am a pastor, does not mean that I only pay attention to the spiritual health of people God entrusts to me. I have to pay attention to the administrative needs of the church, to my finances, to my physical health, to my family, to my recreation, and to my other relationships. But if I have the same level of affection or passion for basketball, for making money, for family fun as I do for the souls of people God entrusts to me, I would not make much progress in my resolution to be an effective pastor.
What are you resolving to accomplish in your lifetime? No one can do everything, not even those who say we can. When I was raising money for ministry a few years ago, I called on two of the most popular Christian motivation speakers, Paul J. Meyer and Zig Ziglar. Both said they had limited funds and have already determined what ministries to support in advance. We all have to prioritize and to focus. Affections are the quicksand to our making progress in our resolution.
The fourth adversary to our making progress in our resolution is ACCOMPLISHMENTS of the past. We read this in verse 13c.
Paul put to death the adversary of accomplishments of the past by focusing on what God has in store for his future. Unlike the pop psychology notion of listing your past accomplishments in order to gain self-confidence, Paul chose to forget his past accomplishments so that he is not hindered by them.
Our past accomplishments generally cause us to stay in the past too long. Our past accomplishments can make us think that we have arrived. Our past accomplishments can lead to arrogance, whereby we put our confidence not in God but in ourselves. And our past accomplishments may not be at all related to what God is calling us to do in the future.
Seek out God’s mission for you in 2001 and beyond. Maybe you’ve not been passionate about the right thing or you were passionate about too many different things. Prioritize with what you know from God’s word. Call me to set up an appointment so I can help you evaluate how God has prepared you up to this point to partner with Him in the future. Accomplishments of the past are the chapters of our lives we have already written, not the inspiration to our making progress in our resolution.
The fifth adversary to our making progress in our resolution is APATHY. We read this in verse 14.
Paul put to death the adversary of apathy by taking action to move toward the goal God set for Paul. Paul didn’t say, "I will let God give me the prize for which God called me to win." Paul understood his responsibility to actively and aggressively pursue the prize, which is Christ Jesus.
Many Christians are bored, lazy or complacent rather than enthusiastic, passionate and concerned. There are at least two causes of such apathy. Maybe for some, failure has become such a part of your life that making resolutions or recycling resolutions seems silly and useless. You’ve tried to be godly, but you’ve fallen so many times that up seems like down. And you just don’t want to try anymore.
The student of a great philosopher entered the house of ill-repute. The teacher came to the door and asked him to come out. The student refused because he was ashamed. The teacher replied, "There is no shame in leaving the house of ill-repute, but there is great shame in staying."
We responsible to take the needed action to move toward knowing Christ, becoming like Christ and accomplishing for Christ. There is no shame in leaving failure behind and pushing ahead. In Christ, forgiveness is available for everyone who asks.
Another reason for apathy may be that you’ve grown significantly in your walk with God in year 2000, you’ve had a wonderful marriage over the last ten years and you are a model Christian witness to your friends and coworkers. Realize that Satan and the world will not allow you to bask in your past success. If you stay too long in the past, the future God intends for you will slip right by.
Whether your New Year resolution is to maintain a healthy body, a healthy relationship with God, a healthy relationship family members and others or a healthy income, you can not stand on your past accomplishments and make progress in your resolution. Each new day requires new effort. Apathy is the inertia to our making progress in our resolutions.
If you want to make progress in your resolution, beware of your enemies, arrogance, arrival, affections (plural), accomplishments (of the past) and apathy. These enemies will follow us into the New Year, but Paul has shown us how to over them. You can read this passage again as you set your New Year resolution.
