2021-08-29 – Philippians 3:10-4:1 – Taken Hold Of
2021-08-29 – Philippians 3:10-4:1 – Taken Hold Of
Good morning everyone. It is so nice to be able to spend some time with you all in fellowship with the Lord. Thank you and God bless you for being with us today.
Question: When is the last time, some task or challenge really took hold of you? Where it captivated your mind and your time, and everything else seemed to take second-fiddle to that challenge? I recently read a story about “Inspiration”, where an insurance company sponsored a seminar for its salespeople. The speaker was trying to inspire the agents to sell more policies, so he began telling them a success story about a man who was later identified as their CEO. He said, “I know a man who is really driven. He looked neither right nor left. He pressed forward at all costs, with only one destination in mind. Neither friend nor foe could delay or divert him from the road he had chosen, and all who stood in his path did so at their own risk”. Then the speaker asked, “What would you call such a man, my friends?” From the rear of the room, and obviously uninspired salesperson came the answer “A truck driver!” LOL. Today we are going to see how the Apostle Paul was dedicated and driven in his goals and actions for God.
Please turn with me now to Philippians 3:10, page 1041 in your pew Bibles, which we call God’s Inspired, Infallible and Living Word. Prayer..
We will start this message today in the same manner and the same verse as we ended our last sermon message last week with. The apostle Paul proclaimed “My goal is to know him”, and what a most wonderful and truly lofty goal that is to pursue. I would guess that most all of us here today would agree that the task of getting to know Jesus, knowing God Incarnate is most worthy of our time and attention to say the least. That is one of the main reasons we are all meeting here in this church today. So now, starting at verse 10, the Apostle Paul writes:
10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.
Again, these are the verses we ended with last week, but upon further examination, I thought it would be prudent to pause and reflect a little here, to better understand what all is being proclaimed in this statement by Paul.
There are actually four unique goal pursuits mentioned here in these two verses:
1) To know Jesus Christ
2) To know the power of the resurrection
3) To know or understand the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings
4) To become conformed to His death
Each of these four goals of Paul’s could be a sermon subject in themselves. Each could actually be a PhD study even. Today, we will only briefly go over these, but please know they are really life-long pursuits for the Christian believer.
The first goal Paul mentions is “To know Jesus Christ”. When people speak of “knowing Jesus”, they generally refer to having a real relationship with Him. Being a Christian is so much more than just having head knowledge about the topic and man of Jesus. Instead, I would argue that being a True Christian is about knowing Jesus personally. As recorded in John 17:3, Jesus Himself spoke of this when He prayed to His Father God. He said, “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent”. This is now our number one goal in life brothers and sisters. To truly know and love God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Are you with me on this?
[SLIDE] There is an old phrase that goes, “No Jesus, No Peace; Know Jesus, Know Peace”. That simple phrase also goes along with what is written Romans 5:1 where it says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we [can] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..” Do you want peace? Then get to know Jesus. In Isaiah 9:6, the Messiah (Jesus) is called “the Prince of Peace”. And in Romans 5:1 it says that “by faith, we [can] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And if you want to know Father God, then you need to look to the Son.
Jesus came to this Earth so we can know God personally. [SLIDE] John 14 –
7 Jesus said, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves”.
Get to know Jesus brothers and sisters, and He will change your life for the good.
The second goal of Pauls is “To know the power of the resurrection”. We talk about this a lot, come around Easter Time. That Holiday is otherwise known to us Christians as “Resurrection Sunday”. Simply put, if it wasn’t for the resurrection, we wouldn’t have any hope at all. If Jesus didn’t rise from the grave, we’d have no reason to celebrate our faith. We wouldn’t even have the rest of the Bible, or church for that matter. The entire structure of Christianity depends on whether or not Jesus rose from the grave. Without the resurrection, our faith is pointless.
Paul wrote about that dynamic himself in 1 Corinthians 15:16-19: [SLIDE]
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
You see, the resurrection proved out God’s faithfulness. Because Jesus conquered death, we now have hope. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we now have proof that God keeps His word. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament promises by connecting the people back to God the Father (Isaiah 61:8). Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And as God kept His word then, therefore we can now have complete confidence in Him to keep His word going forward as well.
The resurrection also validated Jesus’ words. Everything Jesus said would have been discredited if He hadn’t been resurrected. His credibility was on the line, and Jesus’s resurrection proved-out what He said previous was true. And afterwards, when Jesus told His followers to go out and share that Good News with the world, they enthusiastically obeyed. It’s one thing to tell a story, it’s another to die for it.
The resurrection matters, because God showed His love for us by sending Jesus to earth and inviting us now to follow Him. Jesus showed us grace by dying for our sins and rescuing us from a life separated from God. And God demonstrated His power after Jesus died for our sins, and then He came back to life.
The resurrection matters because Jesus is still alive and well, and His Holy Spirit works in us and through us even here today. We recognize and celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior every time we meet and especially when we celebrate together in baptism, as it marks the starting of a new life, a born-again resurrection of our faith in Jesus Christ. After the services today, we have the privilege of watching one of our own get baptized here. And in all of that I praise the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen?
The third goal of Paul’s is “To know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings”. According to scripture, the Apostle Paul suffered as few other men have suffered. Yet he still considered it all nothing in comparison to the sufferings of Jesus Christ, his Lord. Peter, too, spoke of being both a witness to and a partaker of Christ’s suffering: “I… who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ…” (I Peter 5:1). “Rejoice… inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings…” (I Peter 4:13).
So how do we get to “know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings” as Paul suggests in our text today? The first way is that of identification. We accept by faith that through the supernatural work of God, we are fully identified with Christ, through the cross, His death, and His resurrection. But there is also that of the Lord’s Supper. Every time we partake of communion, we identify ourselves with Christ and share in the fellowship of His suffering. We recognize, acknowledge, and give thanks for the suffering He endured on our behalf. It’s our reminder not only that He will return and that we will be raised up in the final resurrection, but that His suffering was for us. It is a humbling reminder that we all have sinned, and that without Jesus, we would all suffer the consequences. What Jesus did, He did for all. And the fellowship of His suffering is the thread that binds all believers together.
When we celebrate baptism and when we partake in the Lord’s Supper, we then have fellowship in Christ’s sufferings. We identify with Jesus and acknowledge that through His sufferings, He has paid the price of our sin in full and it is finished indeed.
The fourth and last goal of Paul’s, is to “become conformed to His death”. Might I suggest that the focus here is on becoming more like Jesus, both in His life but also in His death. This reminds me also of where Paul wrote [SLIDE] Philippians 1:20, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by my life or by my death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. In this, Paul exclaims that he wishes to die to the world of sin and temptation, and to be fully transformed to the image of Christ. Several writings of Paul conveys that like us, he really struggled with sin. Paul why do I keep doing the things that I shouldn’t and don’t do the things that I should (my paraphrase). In this, Paul’s goal should be our goal, to become more like Christ every day.
So that is your brief overview of the goals that Paul is striving to achieve in these first passages today. This next section in our Pew Bible’s is entitled
“Paul Reaching Forward to God’s Goal”. Starting at verse 12, Paul writes:
12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. [SLIDE] 15 Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. 16 In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.
Like Paul suggests here, God is going to hold you accountable for the truth that you have attained. God’s Holy Word, as we say every week here, is Inspired, Infallible, and living. I believe that with all my heart, and I hope you do as well. It is most worthy of your attention. I promise you that if you truly give it your time and study it, as Paul proposes here, it will “take hold of” you. God’s Holy word is truly powerful. I love what the profit wrote about that in Isaiah 55:11, he said, “my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.” Isn’t that a great verse? God’s word will “take hold of” you, I am a witness to that dynamic. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”. By reading it, the scales will fall off your eyes and you will see and know God’s will for your life. God’s word will “take hold of” you indeed. And when that happens, you will recognize Him both in word and in your life. It will motivate you to want to get closer to God and His people. It will change your life.
As Paul points out in these verses, when you apply God’s word and God’s will to your life it will cause you to forget what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead. You will start looking at life with new eyes and a new mind. What you thought was good before will be like rubbish, and the new of what you see ahead is like a “prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus”. That is what Paul talks about here, that is what I have experienced likewise, and that is my hope for you as well. Paul continues now in that thought at verse 17. He writes:
17 Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. 18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things. [SLIDE] 20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.
You can just feel the exuberance of Paul’s excitement in these verses. Paul was being real with these Philippian believers. He knows better than most how becoming a Christ follower will change your life for the good. Paul wanted that same blessing for those that he met on those missionary journeys he undertook. Paul knew where he was going and He looked forward to the transformation of his broken body into the hopeful blessing of it being renewed. He had seen his mind transformed through the years, but he also knew that there was much yet that he was limited to understand on this side of heaven.
I like what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 about this. Starting at verse 9 it says: [SLIDE] 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.
We are Christians, and live by faith brothers and sisters. Faith in person of Jesus Christ, Faith in His Resurrection, Faith that our sins are forgiven, and Faith that our home is secure in that place called heaven. If you are going to stand on anything then stand on that understanding. And that is how Paul closes this section of scriptures. He said:
4 1So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.
Like Paul suggests in this letter, let the cause of Christ become the thing that Takes Hold of you brothers and sisters. Let his goals become your goals. And in that, your life will have true meaning. In that you will find much joy.
Let me leave you today with something to ponder for yourselves. Like Paul had his faith goals, what will be your faith goals for today and the future.
Like Paul allowed his faith to “Take Hold of Him”, will you allow your faith to take hold of you. Will you allow the cause of Christ to be your cause as well?
Would you please stand now and let us close together in prayer.