Steps Upward
Philippians 3:15 - 16, 8-9, 13-14, Philippians 2:5 - 7, Phil 3:10, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
June 30, 2004
I. So far in Philippians 3 we have heard Paul say that we are to Rejoice in the Lord, and that we are not to put any confidence in our own abilities, but that we are to trust in what God has done to make our salvation possible.
A. At the same time he has said that we are to make our relationship with God and our service to God our top priority in life, and not give our devotion to things that don’t have the lasting value that our relationship with God does.
B. Now he moves on to other things that complete the thought.
(Phil 3:15 - 16 NIV) 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. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
C. The rest of this passage deals with the Christian’s walk in the Lord. He starts out by saying, all of us that are mature should take such a view of things.
D. What things he is talking about are the things that he has just written in the verses above.
1. He is saying that we are to mature in our faith and conviction to the point that we realize that what we thought was gain before we came to know Jesus is no longer as important.
2. As he said in verse 8 and 9 (Phil 3:8 -9 NIV) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
3. He’s saying that in light of what we have in Jesus that we should consider all other things garbage or dung compared the greatness of knowing Jesus and experiencing Him in our lives. And that we should be willing to give up all else to know and experience Jesus.
4. Paul is saying that our desire to know Jesus and live in His righteousness should be more important than anything else, it should be the top priority in life and everything else should be seen for what it really is temporary, and not worthy of our devotion.
5. That doesn’t mean that we can’t have anything else in life, but that everything else in life is secondary, and is never to take priority over our aligning our lives with Jesus, knowing him, and living in the righteousness that he provides, and not the righteousness that we try to create by our own actions.
6. He is saying that we are to forget the things that are behind, we are to have a priority change, that we will keep our focus on what is now our future, and that is our relationship with God through faith in Jesus.
7. Paul is telling us that the only goal in life that is worthy of our total devotion is becoming more like Jesus. We have a goal that has been put in front of us, and we are to push ourselves toward that goal.
8. Remember what we talked about last week, Paul said "ONE thing I do"
(Phil 3:13 - 14 NIV) But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
E. Paul has already told us in the second chapter of Philippians what that goal is.
(Phil 2:5 - 7 NIV) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
F. In verses 15 and 16 Paul is telling us that our walk with Jesus is to be a walk of maturity. He is saying that we are to grow up in Jesus, we are to mature in Jesus.
G. As the song says this world is not out home anymore. The things of this world are no longer the goal. From the day we become Christians we are to realize that the things that we are to devote ourselves to are the things that last.
H. Everyday of the Christian life is to be another step toward heaven. Because, heaven is the goal of the Christian life, that is where we plan to end up one day and every day is to be another step on that journey.
I. Becoming more like Jesus is the goal because that is where heaven is, and Paul has already told us that he hasn’t gotten their yet, but he says "this one thing I do". That means that even though he knows he has not made it yet, the focus of his life is arranging his priorities so that everyday day brings him closer to the goal.
J. Everyday is a process of becoming more like Jesus. It is not something that happens by itself, it is not something that comes through osmosis, just getting up and breathing in the morning will not make you more like Jesus at the end of the day!
K. It is something that we are to make an intentional priority in life every day that we live.
L. If heaven is the goal, and we look at it as a climb up a stairwell to a higher place, then we should wake up every morning with the focus of that day being, making it to the next step.
M. Our goal everyday is to be growing up in our faith. Everyday we are to take one more step toward being more like Jesus. Even though we can’t make it all the way in this life, we are still suppose to try to get as close as we can.
N. And our decision to make our priority in life maturing in our relationship with Jesus, makes it possible for us to live a little more of heaven in the here and now everyday.
O. If I can’t get to heaven all the way, while I am here on earth, I still want to get as close as a can to it, so that I can experience as much of it as possible until the day comes when I can have the full affect.
P. That is the thing that Paul wants us to see. He wants us to know that the more that we focus on the real goal which is heaven, the more we strive toward the mark, or the place that we are to be aiming for, we will experience more of heaven in our day to day lives in the here and now.
Q. And that is what he said back in verse 10. (Phil 3:10 NIV) I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
R. The more we focus on reaching the goal, and attaining the things of heaven because we live in such a way that we move closer to heaven everyday, the more we will know Jesus, and the more that we KNOW Jesus the more we will experience him in our lives, and the more we experience Him in our lives, the more we will come to be like Him, and the more we are like Him, the more heaven we will live where we are right now.
S. Because, what being in heaven really means is being like Jesus, being able to be in the presence of God, and the more than we align our lives with God’s desires the more in His presence we will be, because our sin is what separates us from God, so it stands to reason that the more we live the way that God has said we are to live the less we will be separated from God’s presence, and the less we are separated from God’s presence the more like heaven our lives will be.
II. Satan has sold us a lie. Some how he has convinced us that God’s will, or desire for our lives is restrictive.
A. He makes us believe that God is just trying to keep all these good things that we want, from us, or that He is just trying to be a controller and keep us from doing things the way we want to, when all along what God doing is trying to guide us to being able to have more of Him and more of Heaven in the hear and now.
B. Its funny that we as adults don’t have a problem seeing that in the our relationship with our children.
C. They want to do things that we know are going to hurt them, create problems for them in the future, and hinder their joy further along in life, so we develop rules, and we try to help them see that what we are telling them is best because we have experienced these things, we have learned better, we see a bigger picture than they do, and we want to help them have a better life than they would have if they just acted based on what they can see.
D. And then we turn right around and refuse to see that God knows that we want to do things that he knows are going to hurt us, create problems for us in the future, and hinder our joy further along in life, so He developed rules, and He tries to help us see that what He is telling us is best because He has seen these things happen in the lives of other people, He sees a bigger picture than we do, and He wants to help us have a better life than we would have if we just acted based on what we can see.
E. The bible doesn’t call Him our Father in heaven for nothing!
III. Everybody has heard the saying a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes the pictures that we see, are images in our minds. Pictures that are drawn with words, and Paul used a lot of word pictures.
A. Paul watched the things around him and he used word pictures to help people understand the things that he was trying to communicate.
B. Paul spent 18 months in the city of Corinth, and in the city of Corinth the Greeks had an athletic festival, known as the Isthmian games, and apparently Paul went and watched the events, because he later used some of the things that he saw to draw word pictures for the people that he was writing to there.
C. It does my heart so much good to know that Paul was a sports fan. And, it helps me to know that the next time Donna says something about me being a sports nut, I can say "It’s biblical, Paul was a sports fan."
D. Paul uses two illustrations about sports in one passage when he was writing to the Corinthians.
(1 Cor 9:24 - 27 NIV) Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
E. I touched a little on this last week, but not in depth. With the word pictures that he draws Paul is trying to help us see that believers need to practice self-control.
F. Successful athletes live disciplined lives, and they give up selfish interests so that they can focus on the goal that is in front of them.
G. The key statement in these verses is in verse 25. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
H. The Analytical-Literal Translation says it this way 1 Co 9:25 But everyone competing exercises self-control in all [things]. Now these indeed [compete] so that they should receive a corruptible victor’s wreath, but we an incorruptible [one]!
I. What Paul is saying is we are to exercise self control in our daily lives in the same way that a runner uses self-control in their training. Athletes have to live a disciplined life, and get totally involved in their training.
J. And, so do Christians! But the difference is that as Christians we are not disciplining ourselves to win a prize that will fade or tarnish, or go away.
K. Our goal is heaven, eternity, its everlasting, its a goal that is worth a life time of discipline, and self control.
L. Paul says, Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
M. Paul is telling us that our lives are not to be lived aimlessly where our spiritual condition is concerned, a runner in a race doesn’t just run without direction, he has a course laid our for him, and he stays on that course.
N. A boxer doesn’t just swing at the air, his punches have a target, they are specifically placed in a way as to have the most effect.
O. And no athlete participates in a contest without months and years of preparation. Each day of training moves them closer and closer to reaching the goal that they are focusing on. With every day of training they are closer to the place that they can win the prize.
P. Every day that we practice self control and discipline, and align ourselves with God’s desires for our life we are moving more and more toward the goal that we are to have as a Christian, and that is heaven.
Q. Every day that we through our training move closer to the goal, we get to live a little more of that goal, just like a runner gets to live more of their accomplishment with every day they train, the Christian gets to live a little more of heaven every day that they discipline themselves to reach toward the goal of heaven.
R. And, just like an athlete has to go through specific exercises to prepare for their event, the Christian has to go through specific exercises to move closer to heaven.
S. Prayer, bible study, worship, fellowship with other Christians, service to God, witnessing, these are all exercises that we have to discipline ourselves to, to move closer to our goal.
T. But, the thing that has to come first is the commitment to make striving for the goal the first priority in our lives.
U. John E. Anderson, in his book "What Makes Olympic Champions? " Tells the story of British runner Derek Redmond. In the 400 meter semifinal Redmond tore a hamstring and fell to the track. He struggled to his feet and began to hobble, determined to complete the race. His father ran from the stands to help him off the track, but the athlete refused to quit. He leaned on his father, and the two limped to the finish line together, to deafening applause.
V. He refused to take his eyes off the goal. He wouldn’t quit. When everybody else thought he should give up, he would not take his eyes off the finish line.
W. That’s a great story, but let me tell you one that is even better. This is a story that I see with my own eyes every week. Every week with no applause from anyone, when no one else but me is around, and I’m not even around every time it happens, Robert Luke walks to the church, and moves every chair in the auditorium by himself, he sweeps and mops a buffs all the floors, vacuums all the carpet, takes out all the trash, cleans the bathrooms and straightens everything up. There is no one here to applaud, most people don’t even know all that he does, but it is his service to God and he takes it seriously. Some times when I come he hardly slows down enough to say hello, because his eyes are on his goal, and that is making this place clean and nice for others to come and worship God. A lot of the people who come here on Sunday don’t know or think about all that it takes for things to be clean when they get here. Some decide that there are other things that take priority over being here and decide not to come, and never even see that it is clean, but that doesn’t stop him, because the next week he is right back here to do it all again, because his service to God is important to him, and he is focused on the goal.
X. If we could get everyone who is a member of this church as committed, to visitation, bible study, witnessing and worship, if every care group leader would be as focused on leading, if every teacher was as determined to prepare to teach, if every member was so focused on witnessing, and being a part of visitation, as Robert is his service to God we would not be able to put all the people in this building that would be here.
1. I hope that you will take that to heart and devote yourself to keeping your eyes on the goal, that you would devote yourself to your service of God and discipline yourself to doing what you have to do to mature in you relationship with God.
2. And, I think if you do you will find that the every step that you take toward heaven because of it, will allow you to live more of heaven in every day.
Y. Every step upward, brings us closer to the ultimate goal in life and that is to be in the presence of God.
Z. The Christian life is to be a life of maturity. We are to strive every day to grow up in our relationship with God. Our walk in life is to be a walk of maturity, and every step upward in that walk, allows us to experience a little more of heaven every day. I hope that you will commit your life to taking those steps right now.
