2023-07-02 Got a Hold on Me Philippians 3:10-4:1

2023-07-02 – Philippians 3:10-4:1 – Got a Hold on Me

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.

There is an old song by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles that you might know called You Really Got A Hold On Me. Now that song would probably not be on the top 100 list of any Christian chart, but it is akin to the topic of today’s message. For Christians, rest assured that God has got a hold on you.

Question: When was 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 task or challenge? That is the kind of thing we are going to talk about today. The title of today’s sermon is Got a Hold on Me. I pray it will inspire you in some small way to step into God’s will and service.

First, I got a little illustration for you: A man was riding his bike around the Appalachian Mountains one weekend, and he misjudged one curve slid over the slide of a cliff. At the last moment grabbed a branch that he clung to for dear life. The man yells out “someone please help me!”. Then he hears a voice from the heaven saying, “Do you believe I can help you?”  Yes he answered… “Do you believe I have the power to handle your situation?”  Yes I believe he replied.  “Do you believe I love you enough to help you?”  I believe you! Please help me, So the voice came back and said, “then let go”.  Then after a brief period of silence the man said, is anybody else up there.

The point/application:  We’ve all been there.  We have all been in situations where God has called us to take a risk and trust Him completely by faith and let go.  Maybe to change majors, or career paths, or make a move, or maybe to get out of that unhealthy relationship… our problem is we want to play it safe, and we don’t really want to take risks, even if it is regarding our faith walk.

Today we are going to see in scripture how the Apostle Paul was dedicated and driven in his goals and actions for cause of Christ. Paul took many, many risks because He knew that God was in control. My hope is that we too might be a little inspired to do the same.
Please turn with me now to Philippians 3:10, pg 1042 in your pew Bibles, which I call God’s Inspired, Infallible and Living Word.[Start with Prayer]
You may know that our scripture verses today were written by the Apostle Paul to the church he started in the city of Philippi. He wrote this letter while he was in prison, probably at Rome or Ephesus, about 62 AD. Starting right off we see in verse 10 where the apostle Paul proclaims, “My goal is to know him”. Paul is speaking about Jesus Christ, and what a wonderful and truly lofty goal that is to pursue, Amen? Knowing Jesus – God Incarnate, is one of the main reasons we are all meeting here in this church today. We want to know Him, and we want to know His Will for us and the promises that He proclaims.
So again, starting at verse 10, the Apostle Paul writes: [SLIDE]
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.

I thought it would be prudent to pause and reflect a little here, to better understand what all is being proclaimed in this brief statement by Paul. [SLIDE]

There are actually four unique goals 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 are quite lofty and could be a sermon subject in themselves. Each of these have been the subject of many PhD studies over the years in attempt to fully comprehend. 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. You probably have heard that we don’t have a religion, we have a relationship. As recorded in John 17:3, Jesus Himself spoke of this dynamic when He prayed to His Father God in heaven. He said, “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent”. As Christ followers, this should become 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?

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..” And in Isaiah 9:6, the Messiah (Jesus) is referred to as “the Prince of Peace”. So if you want to live a life of peace brothers and sisters, then you should start by getting to know Jesus. Amen?

One of the main reasons Jesus came to this Earth is so we can know God personally through Him. You may recall that in John 14:7 Jesus said Himself, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Jesus is God in the flesh dear friends. And He is most worthy of you spending the time to get to know Him. In doing so, He will change your life for the good. That was Paul’s first goal, to know Jesus Christ.

The second goal of Paul’s is “To know the power of the resurrection”. We talk about this a lot, especially around Easter Time, which is also known to us Christians as “Resurrection Sunday”. Simply put, if it wasn’t for the resurrection (Jesus rising from the grave), 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 have any hope of an eternal life in heaven, and we wouldn’t even have this church for that matter. The entire makeup of Christianity depends upon Jesus rising from the grave. Without the resurrection, our faith would be pointless.

Paul wrote about that dynamic himself in 1 Corinthians 15:16-19: 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 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, then we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. WOW!

You see, the resurrection proved out God’s faithfulness. Because when Jesus rose from the grave, He conquered death itself, and we can now have hope in our resurrection. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we now have proof that God keeps His word. Jesus fulfilled many of the Old Testament promises, and since God kept His promise back then, we can now have confidence that He will keep His promises going forward as well. I like Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:55-58, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen?

The third goal of Paul’s is “To know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings”. According to scripture, the same Apostle Paul suffered as few other men have ever suffered. Yet rightfully he still considered it all nothing in comparison to the sufferings of Jesus Christ. Peter, also spoke of being both a witness, and a partaker of Christ’s sufferings. In 1 Peter 4:12-13 he wrote: “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” Isn’t that a powerful yet hopeful verse?

So, how do we get to “know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings”? As Paul and Peter suggest in our verses here; we must first accept by faith that we are fully identified with Christ, through His life, His death, and His resurrection. What Jesus did, He did for all. And the fellowship of His suffering is the thread that binds all believers together. When we celebrate baptisms, and when we partake in the Lord’s Supper, we identify again with Jesus, and acknowledge that through His sufferings, Jesus paid the price for all of our sin. When Jesus said on the cross that “it is finished” then our sin debt was paid in full. So now going forward, when we are persecuted for our faith in Him, then we rest in the assurance that will be eternally blessed in heaven, Hallelujah. Amen?

The fourth and last goal of Paul’s in these verses, is to “become conformed to His death”. Now that sounds a bit strange to read, but 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 in 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 into the image of Christ. Several writings of Paul’s convey that like us, he really struggled with sin. Recall that Paul also wrote “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 strive to become more like Christ every day. To die to self and live for Christ. Pick up your cross daily Jesus said, and follow me.

So those are the four goals, can you consider making them your goals as well?

In our next verses today, Paul continues that thought. In verse 12 He wrote: [S]
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.  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 us accountable for the truth that we have been given. The truth that you and I have attained. I hope you will agree with me that God’s Holy Word, is truly Inspired, Infallible, and Living truth. I believe that with all my heart, and I hope you do as well. I promise you that if you give it your time and attention, truly study it, as Paul proposes here, it will “take hold of you” for the good. God’s Holy word is so amazingly powerful.

I love what the God said 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 myself.
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 indeed “take hold of” you, and when that happens, you will start recognizing Him working in your life. It will motivate you to want to get closer to God and His people. It will change your life for the good.

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”. That is what Paul talks about here, that is what I have experienced myself. Paul continues this 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. 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 ultimately knew where he was going and He looked forward to the transformation of his broken body into the hopeful blessing of it being renewed. Paul 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. Paul lived and served by leaning on his faith in Jesus. We too as Christians, should live by faith brothers and sisters. Faith in the person of Jesus Christ, Faith in His Resurrection, Faith that our sins are forgiven, and Faith that our heavenly home is secure.  If you are going to stand on anything then stand on that understanding. And that is how Paul then closes this section of scriptures.

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 the future? Will you allow your faith in Jesus Christ to “take hold of you”. Will you allow the cause of Christ to be your cause in life as well? When Jesus asks us to follow Him, He doesn’t invite us to be mere spectators. He doesn’t call us to be just consumers who sit in church, enjoy a show, and then return to our normal lives. Instead, God calls us to work with Him, and to share His gift of hope with others by our actions and our words. We have confidence because God has a hold on us, and we have nothing to fear.

I will leave you with one salutation verse, and we will close with a song. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 41:10 [SLIDE]

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.”

Like the song we sang earlier professes

Isn’t that beautiful?

Please stand now and let us close together in prayer.   Invitation (Lords Supper)