What You Need to Know to Grow
Philippians 3:12-16
Introduction:
Somewhere up in the north east, on an Ivey League campus, was a young man, who had experienced “infantile paralysis” at a very young age. He was destined to live his life on crutches. Even though his crutch dependent destiny was sure, this young man still had a positive outlook on life. He was a very friendly person as well as optimistic. He won many scholastic honors and respect from his classmates.
One day a classmate came up to him and said, “It is too bad that you have to spend the rest of your life on crutches. With such a misfortune, how do you approach life so confident and optimistically?” The young man responded to his classmate, “The disease may have touched my legs, but it never touched my heart.”
As we continue a series of sermons called “Whatever it takes”, I believe it is important that I stress again what it is all about. “Whatever it takes” is not a program, nor is it a ministry. “Whatever it takes” is an attitude.
The great need within in our church is not a new ministry or program, but a new attitude. An attitude that says “First Baptist Church must do whatever it takes to be all that God wants us to be.” This attitude is an attitude that must reside in the heart. My prayer is that God would touch his church at First Purcell with a “Whatever it takes” type of heart.
When a church has a whatever it takes type of heart you will see a determination on the part of its members to be all that God wants the church to be. You will see a church that is determined to be a praying church, a church determined to be a reaching out church, a church determined to be a Spirit-controlled church, a church that will do whatever it takes to make Jesus known to a lost and hopeless world.
Our attitude should be as a church, “We will do whatever it takes to make Jesus known to the world.” That attitude must reside in our hearts before it resides in our activities. Our activities or lack of activities for making Christ known reveals the attitude that touches our heart.
I believe a key element for having a heart that wants to make Christ known is first and foremost a heart that wants to know Christ. By this I mean a heart that wants to grow spiritually in knowing Christ more and more each day. When people are striving to know Christ and are growing in their knowledge of Christ their heart will be touched with an attitude that wants to make known the one they know intimately.
If First Purcell is going to be a “whatever it takes” type of church, then we will need to do whatever it takes to grow spiritually, to become mature in our walk with the Lord.
This morning, I want to continue looking at the life of Paul and the philosophies that governed his life. Paul summed up his life philosophy when he penned the words in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Paul’s life was a life lived for Christ. What did this entail? According to our passage from last week in 1 Corinthians, living for Christ means that you do whatever it takes to win people to Christ. That is, you do whatever it takes to make him known. That was one of Paul’s philosophies that governed his life. That is what Paul meant when he said, “to live is Christ.”
But there is more to living for Christ than just making him known. Living for Christ is also living to grow in Christ. If a person is truly striving to live for Christ, then that person will be striving to grow in Christ. The apostle Paul shows us this truth from the example of his own life in Philippians chapter three, verses twelve through sixteen.
Let me prepare you for these verses by looking at what Paul has already discussed in the previous eleven verses. In the first three verses of chapter three Paul warns the Philippians about legalism. Then in verses four through six he reminds them of his own experience before he came to Christ. If anyone had an occasion to boast about being a good religious person, Paul had it. Paul then goes in verses seven through eleven to declare how Jesus changed his life and how he has found a righteousness not from the Law, but from the Lord. After Paul met Christ as his Lord and Savior, his values changed. And that is where we find his personal testimony about spiritual growth and the need for all Christians to have a “whatever it takes” attitude concerning growth and maturity.
Listen to what Paul says beginning in verse twelve, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. (Philip. 3:12-16)
I want to point out that Paul is talking about an attitude that we need to have concerning Christian maturity. In verse fifteen Paul says, “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude.” The word that is used for perfect actually has the idea of mature. Paul says those who are growing and maturing in their walk with the Lord have this attitude. Therefore, we all need to have this attitude that Paul conveys in these verses.
In verses twelve through sixteen, Paul gives us four things we need to know to grow. First, we need to know the goal of Spiritual growth.
I. Know the Goal of Spiritual Growth
In verse twelve Paul writes, “Not that I have already attained it or have already become perfect, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” We see the goal vaguely stated in the last part of verse twelve. Paul’s goal was to lay hold of that for which he was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. And then, if you look in verse fourteen, you see Paul saying, “I press on toward the goal…” Paul’s goal is to lay hold of that which Christ laid hold o him. But what does that mean? To answer this we have to look back to verses seven through ten.
In these verses Paul is revealing what happened to him when he met Christ as Lord and Savior. Listen to what he says, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philip. 3:7-11
When Paul says, “I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” he is speaking about his Damascus road experience. Christ got a hold of his life, and with that hold came a wonderful purpose for his life. What is that purpose? Paul states it in verse eight, “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,” (Philip. 3:8). Paul’s purpose was to know Jesus Christ. He states that again in verse ten, “Than I may know him.”
The knowledge that Paul is referring to is not a head knowledge, but an experiential knowledge, a knowledge that leads to a closer fellowship, followership, and intimacy with Christ Jesus. That is what it means to grow spiritually, to know him more and more in the experience of your daily living. Paul wanted to know more of the righteous life that comes by walking by faith in Jesus Christ everyday. He wanted to know more of the power of God in his life. He wanted to be conformed to the death of Jesus Christ. This means that he wanted to have greater victory over the sin in his life.
I good passage that defines what Paul is talking about is found in Romans 8:28-29, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.” To know Christ is to grow in Christ, and to grow in Christ is to be conformed into the image of Christ. That is the goal of spiritual growth. The second thing we need to know is the certainty of spiritual growth.
II. Know the Certainty of Spiritual Growth
Paul’s says in verse twelve, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. (Philip. 3:12) There is something very insightful in the first part of this verse. Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained it…” Paul is saying that he hasn’t come to a point in his Christian walk were he knows all he needs to know about Christ. He is saying that he hasn’t come to a point in his spiritual walk were he has no need to grow. He hasn’t obtained perfection. But notice also he says, “or have already become perfect.” The tense of the verb “become perfect” is a perfect passive, which means that the perfecting is that which is done to Paul by God. Paul says I haven’t arrived in my spiritual development, and God isn’t finished with my spiritual development. There is always a need to grow in our conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.
Several months ago my wife sat me down and gave me a good talking. She said that our marriage wasn’t growing, we weren’t communicating like we did before we had kids, and the romantic man whom wooed her had died. What she was telling me is that buddy, you haven’t arrived, you need to keep working on our marriage. There is always room for improvement. How right she was!
The apostle Paul, whom we should consider a spiritual giant, sees himself as not fully developed in his maturity. In one sense Paul wants to warn believers from thinking that they have no need to grow. In another sense, he reveals to us that spiritual growth is an ongoing process all the days of our lives. He says, “I press on.” This verb is a present active which means that it is an ongoing action. Spiritual growth and conformity in the image of Jesus Christ is an ongoing action.
I also sense something else in Paul’s words in verses twelve. I sense a dissatisfaction on Paul’s part with his spiritual condition. Paul wants to know Christ more and more in his daily experience, but he is constantly reminded that he falls short of it. Why did Paul have this dissatisfaction? I believe that he had this dissatisfaction because the more he was conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, the more he became aware of the sinfulness in his life. That is why Paul would say, “I am the chief of sinners.” I believe a good sign that a person is growing in Christ is that they are also growing in a dissatisfaction with their condition. People who are growing are people who say, I have not arrived and God is not finished.
Mature people know the certainty of spiritual growth. And if you don’t have this attitude about growth, then my concern is that the reason you don’t have this attitude about growth is that you have never been born-again. Third, we need to know the activity for spiritual growth.
III. Know the Activity for Spiritual Growth
Listen to verse fourteen, “I press on toward to goal.” This is the second time that Paul used the verb “press on.” It means to continue going in a forward motion. The point that Paul is making is that spiritual growth is not a passive experience. We don’t just sit back and do nothing. It involves activity on our part. Paul, in his normal fashion, tells us how to move forward in our spiritual growth.
Listen to what he says in verse thirteen, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal.” The one thing that drives Paul is a determination to press forward in knowing Christ. Paul gives to participles in verse thirteen that reveal how we move forward in our spiritual growth. First, we forget what is behind.
a. Forget What is Behind
When Paul says that we need to forget what is behind he is talking about the experiences in life that can keep us from experiencing what God would have for us in the present. Those who are growing, let the past go, the good and the bad, and are constantly looking forward believing that God will continue to do his work now and in the future.
There are many people who aren’t allowing God to do a great work in their lives now because they have not forgot something in the past. It could be that someone hurt them or wronged them and they have unforgivness and bitterness in their heart.
I will never forget talking to a couple several years ago who were having marital problems. The wife had been in a previous marriage that was not that great. There was a great deal of abuse. Because of that past experience she couldn’t trust her present husband and their marriage was being affected. The same is true in our Christian walk. Some of us have stopped growing because there is something in the past that we have not forgotten.
But not everything we need to forget is bad. Sometimes we need to forget the good things of the past so that God can do a great work in the present. There is a good illustration of this in the Old Testament with the people of Israel. As they were following Moses in the wilderness there were occasions where the people of Israel wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to eat the good food they God provided for them there. Because some of them couldn’t forget the past, they failed to enjoy the great work that God had in store for the people of Israel.
If we are going to progress in our spiritual walk, we have to learn to forget our past failures, and blunders, and accept God’s total forgiveness. We have to learn to let God heal our past hurts so that we can move forward in our spiritual growth. Some of us need to forget the good ole days and press on to the better days that God has in store for each one of us. This is true of Christians and it is true of churches as well. Secondly, Paul says we press forward towards the goal by reaching forward to what lies ahead.
b. Reach Forward to What is Ahead
The word that Paul uses for “reaching” means to “stretch out” or to “strain forward.” It conveys this intense stretching out to grasp something that is in front of us. If you watched the NFL playoff game between the Steelers and the Colts you saw a good illustration of this word. At the end of the game the Colts intercepted a pass and where running it back for a touchdown. If the Colts made the touchdown they advanced in the playoffs. If the Steelers stopped them, then they advanced in the playoffs. As the Colt’s player ran towards the goal, he had one player to get by, the Steelers quarter back, Ben Roethlisberger. Ben stretched out to grab the Colt’s player by the leg an brought him down. That is the picture that this word paints, a picture of Christians reaching out to that which is ahead of them to lay hold of it.
We press on towards the mark as we forget what is behind and reach out to that which is ahead. Finally, we need to know the reward for spiritual growth.
IV. Know the Reward of Spiritual Growth
Listen to verse fourteen, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Why do we move forward in spiritual growth? Paul says, “for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” If we are not careful we will miss what Paul is talking about. If we say that the prize is we get is purely a heavenly prize then we will fail to realize that the future prize is also a present prize.
If we look at the prize only in the distant future, then we fail to realize the blessing that God has for our lives now. Everyday we wake up we need to realize that God wants to work in our life that day, conforming us in the image of his Son. There is great reward now for those who everyday forget what is behind and reach out to the goal ahead. The reward is knowing that no matter what, God is at work in my life, that he is conforming me into Christ image, and I can start each day off afresh pursuing a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ. Why wait until you get to heaven to hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” when you can hear the Lord say that everyday as you seek to know him more intimately.
There is a scene in the movie Remember the Titans that illustrates the determination Christians need when it comes to knowing Christ.
Play Movie…
Let us never quite our pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ and growing in him. Let’s do whatever it takes as Christians and as a church to know Jesus more intimately. May our cry be, “We want more of Jesus!” Because it really is all about Jesus!
