The Danger Of Spiritual Satisfaction

Paul is saying we are not there yet. Absolute perfection is not possible in this life but the spiritually satisfied person by his very actions deny this truth. Thus, we must avoid false fronts. When Paul says “I follow after” he means I pursue with vigor; it implies active and earnest endeavor. I wonder how many of us are making an active and earnest endeavor in church fellowship and service, private time with the Lord, and sharing our faith? When Paul says

”…if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus”, he means a passionate longing after Christ or to be all he can be in Christ. Given these reasons, Paul never permitted himself to be satisfied with his spiritual attainments. He compared himself with himself and with Jesus Christ. Yet, there were some in Philippi as there are in the church today that think they have reached spiritual perfection here and now. They are comfortable in their ignorance and such a position often becomes an excuse not to grow. It is better to do great things for God and fail than it is to do nothing and succeed! The Apostle Peter admonishes us to “…grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Remember, we can never exhaust God’s grace, knowledge and the ways He wants to manifest His love to us—they are unlimited.

The second danger of spiritual satisfaction is that it RESTS ON PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS RATHER THAN RESPONDING TO PRESENT CHALLENGES. God had some harsh words in the Bible for a certain rich man who wanted to live off the fruit of his past accomplishments. Listen to the words of the rich man and God’s response in Luke 12:19-20: “And I (the certain rich man) will say to my soul. Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” My friend, the psalmist says: “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;” (Ps. 92:13-14) Listen again to Paul’s words in verse 13: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” Because Paul realizes that he had not “arrived,” he concluded his only option was to press on; there is no turning back for him. Paul had put his hand to the plow and was not about to look back. Remember the words of Luke 9:62: “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Resting on past accomplishments rather than responding to present challenges, results in a loss of vision. It destroys ingenuity and creativity. It is dissatisfaction, which strives men on to greatness. Necessity is the mother of invention. If we are contented with the way things are, we will never strive to make them better. Nehemiah says it best, my friend: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” Satan wants to make us content to take a break in God’s great work so nothing else gets done. He wants God’s work to stop and he will do what he can to persuade God’s children to leave it.