WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.320 Okay, if you're visiting with us tonight, we've been looking at the last couple of Sunday 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:06.520 evenings at Philippians. 00:00:06.520 --> 00:00:11.839 We're going on kind of whistle-stop two or three Philippians, this four-chapter letter 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:15.160 or this letter that's been divided into four chapters. 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:21.080 So we're kind of just summarizing the chapter each week just to give you an overview of 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:29.600 the book that Paul wrote to this church, this early church of which we know one or two things 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:35.840 – we know about one or two of the members by name, people like Lydia and the Philipp – well, 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:40.960 we don't know the Philippian jailer's name – but we know him and we have, as we heard 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:47.359 Chris's testimony of the season, we have his testimony as well as other leaders who 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:49.320 were in the church. 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:55.480 So we're going to – we've kind of focused each week on one verse as it highlights the 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:57.919 rest of the chapter. 00:00:57.919 --> 00:01:02.679 And this evening, the verse that will kind of hinge our thoughts on or broaden our look 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:05.560 at the chapter is chapter 14. 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:10.719 Well-known – sorry, verse 14 – well-known words to say, press on towards the goal for 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:17.239 the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:26.560 Sometimes in online interviews with people or you see it now when – sometimes when 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:33.159 famous people are being interviewed, occasionally anyway, you see one of the questions will 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:37.039 be what would you say to your 16-year-old self? 00:01:37.039 --> 00:01:40.840 You know, it seems to be quite a popular question that people ask. 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:46.719 What would you say – you're looking back in your life – to your 16-year-old self? 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:54.840 Or what would Chris say to his 16-year-old young self brought up in a religious environment? 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:59.519 Or what would you say to your 16-year-old self? 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:07.039 If you were a Christian, what would you say to your own Christian 16-year-old self? 00:02:07.039 --> 00:02:15.800 Or what would you say to a young church plant – not a 16-year-old one – a much younger 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:22.280 church plant because Paul is speaking here to a young church and he's giving them holy 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:28.800 spirit given teaching and advice. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.760 And maybe when you're thinking about a young church, I'm not – I would encourage you 00:02:32.760 --> 00:02:39.400 not specifically to think of our own church plants like Cornerstone or Esk Valley or Haddington, 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:45.720 which probably in some ways are quite different to this kind of church plant because this 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:50.840 kind of church plant would be full of completely new Christians. 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:56.000 It wouldn't be like there was a core of believers who moved into an area, who were in an area, 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.120 and from that base planted a church to grow and to share faith and to see new people coming. 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:07.759 But these churches were, from the beginning, just brand new Christians. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:13.800 So what would we say to a church that was completely full of brand new Christians? 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:16.680 What would be the focus of what we say? 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:22.120 Well, there's a couple of things that I'm going to pick out from – one's broader 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:26.600 than just the chapter and one is specific to the chapter, indeed the verse. 00:03:26.600 --> 00:03:30.000 But I'm just going to pick out two things this evening quickly. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:35.040 I think it would be very worthwhile to say to any Christian, but particularly to young 00:03:35.040 --> 00:03:41.480 Christians as well, as they set out on their lives and as they think of who they are and 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:46.199 as we think of who we are, who are two important principles for us. 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:52.159 Well, I think the first one is from verse 1 of this chapter, which says, finally, brothers, 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:53.799 rejoice in the Lord. 00:03:53.799 --> 00:03:54.799 Okay? 00:03:54.799 --> 00:03:55.799 Rejoice in the Lord. 00:03:55.799 --> 00:03:56.799 So that's the first thing I would say. 00:03:56.799 --> 00:04:01.759 That would be – that's always an important principle for us in our Christian lives to 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:07.560 have this challenge and this command given to us, rejoice in the Lord. 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:15.640 And Paul is in this letter to the Philippian church, he highlights this celebratory aspect 00:04:15.640 --> 00:04:16.639 of faith. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:21.519 It's often called the letter of joy or the letter of rejoicing, even though the circumstances 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:26.920 aren't necessarily conducive to joy, certainly not for him. 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:32.759 But there are six times in the letter we have these – this injunction, this command, this 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:33.759 encouragement. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:38.599 Rejoice in the Lord, and in two occasions it's repeated. 00:04:38.599 --> 00:04:39.599 Rejoice in the Lord. 00:04:39.599 --> 00:04:41.279 And again I say, rejoice. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.839 So once in each of the chapters and in two occasions it's repeated. 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:49.120 If you have time later on, look them up and look them up in the context of the letter 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:57.480 and how they kind of – they become a scaffold for the letter and what comes around it. 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:03.319 And so Paul, in each of these occasions where he's been imprisoned, he recognizes the struggle 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:05.439 of that but he says rejoice in the Lord. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:09.240 When he's been separated from friends, he knows how tough that is, but he says rejoice 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:10.719 in the Lord. 00:05:10.719 --> 00:05:14.839 When his character has been assassinated, he doesn't take pleasure in that but he says 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:16.759 rejoice in the Lord. 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:22.439 When he sees serious Christians, Christians seriously falling out – obviously not that 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:27.480 serious Christians, but they're Christians seriously falling out, he grieves about that 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:32.039 and in the sadness he still says rejoice in the Lord through all of that. 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:38.800 And he has this at the very core of his letter to the church in Philippi. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:40.720 How can that be the case? 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:43.680 How can it be the case that he says this? 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:49.560 For us often it seems an unnatural response to the sufferings that he addresses and speaks 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:50.560 about. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:59.480 You may think it's simply annoying and unrealistic for a Christian to speak in these terms as 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:07.319 if suffering or difficulties or trials or problems can be waved away with a simplicity 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:10.600 of a phrase like rejoice in the Lord. 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:15.759 And we know that that can be a frustrating thing to hear. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.200 So what is he saying when he says these things? 00:06:18.200 --> 00:06:25.240 Is he encouraging just a mere stoicism in our lives that suffering can just be ignored 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:30.240 by having an attitude of suffering that pain don't hurt? 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:37.280 We know that Paul wept, that Paul was broken, that Paul grieved, that the Bible speaks about 00:06:37.280 --> 00:06:43.040 these experiences for Christians that fall out in the divisions, the separations and 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:44.560 the arguments. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.120 He experienced anger in his life. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:48.360 What does it mean for him? 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:50.879 What does it mean for us? 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:53.360 When we hear these things, you're going through depression. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:57.639 When you're going through difficulty or sadness, what does it mean for us to rejoice in the 00:06:57.639 --> 00:06:58.639 Lord? 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:02.080 Well, it does dovetail with what Chris was saying earlier. 00:07:02.080 --> 00:07:04.560 We didn't cooperate on this. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:12.920 But there is an important principle in our lives that we need to reminded of that our 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:19.240 spiritual joy does and is to transcend our circumstances. 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:24.439 It isn't to be circumstantial. 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:30.400 When we say, well, God isn't giving me joy, we often think of joy as a response to our 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:31.400 circumstances. 00:07:31.400 --> 00:07:36.560 He isn't giving me what I've asked for, therefore I'm not enjoying things and my circumstances 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.800 militate against that. 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:41.040 It isn't that. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:47.639 And it will be a battle and a struggle for us if that's the kind of joy we expect. 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:55.039 But rather in verse 20 we have these words, but our citizenship is in heaven and from 00:07:55.039 --> 00:08:01.639 it we await a Savior, the Lord Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:08.399 glorious body by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:16.240 So we recognize that this is a foundational reality in our lives, that our suffering is 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:23.400 not only time bound within our context here, but it is even redeemable. 00:08:23.400 --> 00:08:29.360 It is something God can use for us in a way that brings purpose to it and direction to 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:37.360 it in our thinking because we are His and He is returning because our citizenship is 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:43.120 in heaven and all that is happening now is for a purpose. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:49.560 And He is our Savior and our citizenship whatever happens is in Him. 00:08:49.560 --> 00:08:56.840 He is our Savior and He will return for us and bring us home. 00:08:56.840 --> 00:09:02.840 I mentioned a film this morning and I realized I probably spoiled the story for anyone who 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.639 hasn't seen it so I'm really sorry about that. 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:08.279 I didn't think of that when I was telling the story. 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:15.839 But there is also a link with the theme of the Fatherhood of God that we are looking 00:09:15.839 --> 00:09:20.959 at a little bit in what we see, the prodigality of the Father this morning. 00:09:20.959 --> 00:09:29.039 We recognize also that, plus a theme of a lot of films particularly that Hollywood blockbuster 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:37.559 idea of being rescued or someone coming to get us, the best example I can think of is 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:42.839 the great film Taken with Liam Neeson. 00:09:42.839 --> 00:09:49.439 Right towards the end of that film his daughter Kim has been hijacked and going to be prostituted. 00:09:49.439 --> 00:09:57.319 He comes in the most unbelievable way of course to rescue his daughter and she says, Daddy 00:09:57.319 --> 00:09:59.679 you came for me. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:08.199 And there's that reality in the whole concept of Christ returning that God is coming back 00:10:08.199 --> 00:10:13.039 for us and we can rejoice in the security and the safety of that. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:21.519 If our life is good it prioritizes where we find our rejoicing and who we give thanks to 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:27.519 because even that is nothing to be compared with what we have to look forward to. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:33.840 And if our life is a nightmare with experiences we know we will soon forget that. 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:35.480 It will be a forgotten past. 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:41.319 And you know that to be the case in our lives at nightmares. 00:10:41.319 --> 00:10:47.199 We wake from them and they are quickly forgotten in many ways and so we recognize that we are 00:10:47.199 --> 00:10:54.279 not yet home and that Christ is returning for us and that our citizenship is with him 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:57.839 and it's the foundation for our rejoicing. 00:10:57.839 --> 00:11:04.720 So that even in this life our every experience of love and of laughter and of belonging and 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:10.519 of fellowship and of feasting and of worship it's a foretaste of what is to come. 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:15.600 Therefore we can rejoice even through the tears and even through the difficulties for 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:16.600 us. 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:26.120 And I do think there's a lack of emphasis on the experience of true rejoicing in our 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:27.840 Christianity. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:31.120 I suspect that may be the case for us. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.279 It is true and deep-seated blessedness and happiness we have. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:41.480 We have every reason despite our circumstances to celebrate the glorious transforming love 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:45.960 and power of the resurrected Savior who is ours. 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:52.879 So I think rejoicing in the Lord is a really significant and important reality because 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:57.759 of what it plugs into and what truth it shares with us in our lives. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:04.840 The second one is from the kind of the core verse that we have in this chapter. 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:11.080 I press on in verse 14 towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God. 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:16.120 So the second principle I would share with my sixteen-year-old self is not only rejoice 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:19.080 in the Lord but press on, keep on going. 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:25.120 And in many ways this is kind of the other side of the rejoicing, not entirely but kind 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:26.120 of. 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:30.720 It's the gritty reality that's needed in our faith. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:37.400 And it's the responsibility that we each and every one of us has as Christians in our 00:12:37.400 --> 00:12:38.800 lives. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:41.199 No one else can do it for us. 00:12:41.199 --> 00:12:45.519 Yes, we can be strengthened and encouraged and built up and use the means of grace and 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:46.799 all of these things. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:51.799 But not even God can do this for us. 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.120 We are asked to press on. 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:58.159 The encouragement here for the church was to press on. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:04.799 And it's a verse that really illustrates the Christian faith as a walk. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:06.799 Not so much a... 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:13.439 Well, it can be as often taken as a run, as a race, and it is a race, and spoken of a 00:13:13.439 --> 00:13:14.439 race. 00:13:14.439 --> 00:13:18.319 But in many ways it's a walk here, a specific walk of life. 00:13:18.319 --> 00:13:21.359 We speak about what kind of walk of life you have. 00:13:21.359 --> 00:13:25.000 And that's really what's been spoken of here. 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:32.079 And the book of Philippians and the chapter here of Philippians does highlight two different 00:13:32.079 --> 00:13:33.599 walks of life. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:38.000 Ultimately, there are only two different walks of life. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:43.120 However, many variations there might be on these walks and however different characters 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:44.759 and personalities and lifestyle. 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:50.759 There's really only two ways in which we can walk in our lives. 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:56.960 We either walk away from Christ, or we walk towards Christ. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:01.480 That's really the only two walks that there are in this world. 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:07.879 In verse 18, Paul speaks about those who are not believers. 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:12.720 He says, for many of whom I have often told you, and now will tell you, even with tears, 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:17.000 they walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:20.480 That's the walk away from Christ. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:23.320 They walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.680 And Paul speaks about them in this chapter. 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:31.559 And as he does so, he does so weeping. 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:33.759 So it's a reason for weeping. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:40.120 It's not a reason for gloating or for being self-righteous when we think about those who 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:42.319 are not Christians. 00:14:42.319 --> 00:14:44.479 They are spoken of here. 00:14:44.479 --> 00:14:47.959 They're defined here as enemies of the cross of Christ. 00:14:47.959 --> 00:14:53.919 That's strong language that's used for those who are not Christians, enemies of the cross 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:55.120 of Christ. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:00.399 And it's strong language, and it's focused language, because it's the cross that is the 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:02.879 stumbling block. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:08.679 It's the message of the cross that often will become the final stumbling block that 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:15.279 reveals the heart of people to be enemies of God. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:21.039 It brings what's in our hearts into focus when we are rebelling against God. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:23.340 We don't want the cross of Christ. 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:24.860 We don't want what it stands for. 00:15:24.860 --> 00:15:27.560 We don't want the humility that it requires. 00:15:27.560 --> 00:15:32.440 We don't want the diagnosis that it makes of our own heart and of our own condition. 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:39.560 And so we walk as enemies of the cross if we are not believers, when we were not believers. 00:15:39.560 --> 00:15:46.759 And the reality is that he explains this in terms of the walk being like... 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:52.279 Remember last week we looked at the mindset of the Christian, the mindset of the believer. 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:59.399 He speaks here about the mindset of the unbeliever, 19b, he says, you know, their end is destruction, 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:03.360 their God is their belly, their glory and their shame, their minds are set on earthly 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:04.360 things. 00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:11.240 So the mindset of the person who walks as an enemy of the cross, who is not submitted 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:15.399 to Jesus as redeeming and saviour, is earthly. 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:17.439 Their mind is on earthly things. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:22.120 The philosophy of life, in other words, is earthbound. 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:26.360 And you know, we know that from our own experience in the past and we know it's very often from 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:28.320 the experience of those who aren't Christians. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:34.720 No place for spiritual realities in their lives, a life for physical pleasures as an end 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.440 in itself. 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:42.480 The glory and their independence away from God, their self-reliance, the dubious freedom 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:52.600 of spiritual autonomy and they worship subconsciously, possibly all things material, normal living, 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:58.960 normal living for people who aren't those who have come to the foot of the cross. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:07.920 And the interesting thing is the worst exposition of that, the worst outworking of that is not 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:17.000 really out in the streets or in the workplace among secularists, however we want to designate 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:18.000 them. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:24.960 And the worst expression of that can be in the church, the religiously self-righteous. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:31.200 And Paul himself was in that place and he speaks about it in verses 2 to 7 of the chapter. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:38.920 It's a great irony of the gospel, isn't it, that this earthly walk mindset that is an 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:46.440 enemy of the cross can find a really comfortable home in the church and it's a huge danger. 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:53.000 And that was where Paul was in his religiosity before he was met by Jesus on the road to 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:54.000 Damascus. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:00.319 He was confident in his own goodness before God, in his religiosity, in his heritage, 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:04.679 in his background, in his comparative morality. 00:18:04.679 --> 00:18:09.319 You know, I had great confidence in the flesh, you know, more than anyone. 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:14.599 He was circumcising the people of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews, 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:17.559 as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal, persecutor of the church. 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:24.879 He lists all these things that sets him apart as someone who is really tremendously good 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:32.880 and moral in his own understanding, legalistic, judging others, harsh, proud. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:37.880 Taking it beyond Paul's day for ourselves, you know, when we would maybe look at the 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:42.480 message of the cross today and say, well, the cross is great, but the cross is not for 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.120 me, it's for bad people, it's for other people. 00:18:45.120 --> 00:18:46.680 God died for others. 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:53.880 My idea of a cross is a bloodless cross, a cross that never plunged God into impenetrable 00:18:53.880 --> 00:19:03.520 darkness, some kind of other idolatrous cross that is not the cross of the New Testament. 00:19:03.520 --> 00:19:09.320 The cross is more like a make-believe kiss and nothing else, a one that allows me to 00:19:09.320 --> 00:19:11.680 rely on my own self-righteousness. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:22.400 So we see that he exposes it within the church and within society this walk that is earth-bound. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:28.200 And what he does go on to do is expose the end of that road. 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:36.840 And it's a difficult verse and it's a troubling verse for us, he says, their mind is set on 00:19:36.840 --> 00:19:41.480 earthly things, their end is destruction. 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:46.920 One of the two walks, they both have a different destination, they have a different end. 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:54.200 And the earth-bound walk away from Christ, its end is destruction. 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:56.759 That's simply what he says. 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:03.480 It's a continuation of the spiritual separation from God into eternity. 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:07.000 It is not physical death but spiritual death. 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:12.600 It is that facing Jesus who returns on that last great day, he says, and he says, depart 00:20:12.600 --> 00:20:13.600 from me. 00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:15.000 I didn't know you. 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:16.880 I didn't know you. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:21.880 You've been on the wrong road and there isn't any turning back. 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:25.000 I'm scared of that. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.800 Not for me, but I'm scared of that truth. 00:20:27.800 --> 00:20:30.960 I'm scared to think of hell and the reality of that. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:39.720 I'm too aware that people cast it off today as a caricature, as a joke, or take, you know, 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:43.320 misunderstandings of what it is. 00:20:43.319 --> 00:20:50.000 And even within the church, we use it as a threat in a graceless way sometimes. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:57.200 It's a terrible, terrible reality that Paul speaks of here, the end of darkness. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:03.240 However we express it, being on the outside, being lost, having been deceived. 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:08.439 Somehow, somehow today, you need to go from here in your Christian lives and I need to 00:21:08.439 --> 00:21:10.319 go from mine. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:19.119 And somehow live in such a way that recognizes the seriousness of these things. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:23.319 We live in a world that's no longer scared of hell whatsoever, you know. 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:26.319 No amount of threatening language will change that. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:31.720 We need to think about how we communicate these truths that God says are truth for us, 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:35.480 about the end, about the life, about the walk that we are on. 00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:40.279 And we also need to pray for a spiritual awakening so that people will see and know and understand 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:45.559 the choices they make matter, the way they live, the consideration they have of Jesus 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:47.960 matters. 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:51.879 So there's the two walks, the walk away from Christ and lastly, briefly, the walk towards 00:21:51.879 --> 00:21:52.879 Christ. 00:21:52.879 --> 00:21:59.599 And that's the verse we're on, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:00.599 call of God. 00:22:00.599 --> 00:22:04.839 You know, what do we tell our sixteen-year-old self, Christian self? 00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:05.839 Press on. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.319 A mindset. 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:11.200 We say to ourselves and we say to them, we say, you know, it's just really important 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:15.200 that you persevere, that you keep on going and that you press on. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:18.200 This is a resurrection road. 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:21.879 This is the power of the resurrection and we share in His sufferings, He says in verse 00:22:21.879 --> 00:22:22.879 10. 00:22:22.879 --> 00:22:26.919 And it's the road in which Christ is the entry point. 00:22:26.919 --> 00:22:30.879 The rest, other foundations in life, they're not good. 00:22:30.879 --> 00:22:32.000 This is the race. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:33.759 This is the road to travel. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:40.240 This is the only road, as it were, there is no other alternative that matches to being 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:43.400 on this resurrection road of life. 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:45.519 It's incomparable. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:46.519 We recognize that. 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:50.839 He says that Paul came to that recognition when he sought, but all his righteousness that 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:55.319 he had and he goes on to say, you know, verse 8, I counted everything as loss because of 00:22:55.319 --> 00:23:00.559 the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, Jesus, my Lord, for His sake I have suffered the 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:01.559 loss of all things. 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:02.559 It's incomparable. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:04.119 He makes a strong statement. 00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:09.960 He was willing to give up all the position and power and significance he had because 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:15.599 he'd met with the risen Savior and none of the alternatives could match that experience 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:22.799 of peace and joy and forgiveness and acceptance moving from death to life and his experience. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:27.079 Christ has made us his own as we receive His gift. 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:30.960 And the encouragement, therefore, to be on this road and to persevere on this road is 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:38.279 not to look back, forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead. 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:43.039 Great strong words that we have here that Paul uses. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:44.039 There's focus. 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:45.039 There's concentration. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:51.680 And I guess this pushes into the idea much more of a race than just a walk, unless it's 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.079 the walking race in the Olympics. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:57.000 She's always a bit of a funny race to watch. 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:03.119 And I hope we don't walk as funny as people walk in the walking race in the Olympics. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:05.880 Forget it. 00:24:05.880 --> 00:24:11.160 But it's something that we let go of failure. 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:14.799 We don't concentrate on our failure in the past. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:16.880 We accept we can't change it. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:18.920 Forgetting what lies behind. 00:24:18.920 --> 00:24:19.920 We're released. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:20.920 We're freed. 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:21.920 We're not to be paralysed. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:25.500 We're not going to turn back onto a different road. 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:27.039 We're looking forward. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:28.559 We're pressing on. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:36.039 We're longingly looking to recognize who he is. 00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:42.200 Sometimes I think as Christians, we have a tendency to look back with star-spangled 00:24:42.200 --> 00:24:46.839 eyes about what our life was like before, even before we became Christians. 00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:51.799 And there's just a great example of that in the Old Testament, where we think it was 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:53.960 sometimes like it's better to not have been a Christian. 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:54.960 It was easier. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:57.519 It was much more fun, much more freedom. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:59.039 We could do what we wanted. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:00.039 We drank what we wanted. 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:02.880 We got a party, all these kind of things that we think about. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:08.360 I think it's a much better life as if we're sort of hidebound now that we're Christians 00:25:08.360 --> 00:25:09.360 and it's such a dull life. 00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:14.440 It's a great picture of that in the Old Testament of the people of God who were taken out of 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:20.039 slavery from Egypt and then they were taken towards the Promised Land. 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:27.879 At this point in the desert, in Exodus 11 verse 5, they were grumbling against God, 00:25:27.879 --> 00:25:28.879 you know? 00:25:28.879 --> 00:25:32.960 And he says, we are a member of the fish we eat in Egypt that cost nothing and the cucumbers 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:36.359 and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. 00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:40.279 They're talking about all this brilliant life that they had in Egypt that they were… 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:44.480 God had re-yanked them out of it and they were having a miserable life in the desert. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:50.000 But then if you go back to Exodus 2 verse 23, during those many days the King of Egypt 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:55.720 died and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. 00:25:55.720 --> 00:25:58.799 Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:03.960 That was the actual reality and yet they had this kind of rose-colored opinion of what 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:08.440 the past was like and we can be like that also and he says, forget the past. 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:11.759 Move forward and recognize who press on. 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:13.359 Twice he says, press on. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:15.359 We've got a press on. 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:16.359 Straining forward. 00:26:16.359 --> 00:26:22.639 It's the idea of intense endeavor, chasing after, knowing that you're moving forward. 00:26:22.639 --> 00:26:29.119 It's the mark of the Christian maturity that we're looking for that we haven't yet made 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:33.799 it in the sense of we've still much to learn in our Christian lives. 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:36.159 We're redeemed and we're saved but we have much to learn, much. 00:26:36.159 --> 00:26:38.000 And we press on. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:41.879 The challenge every day for you and for me seems endless. 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:47.600 We hit the wall, use an athletic marathon illustration, you hit the wall and you can't 00:26:47.600 --> 00:26:48.600 go on. 00:26:48.600 --> 00:26:51.600 Obstacles and pains, he says, press on. 00:26:51.600 --> 00:26:53.440 Be single-minded. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:56.160 Single-minded in your Bible reading. 00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:57.520 Single-minded in your prayer. 00:26:57.520 --> 00:26:59.360 Single-minded in your obedience. 00:26:59.360 --> 00:27:01.200 Single-minded in your fellowship. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:03.160 Single-minded in your forgiveness. 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:07.520 Pressing on, helping others, encouraging others in that race. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:14.720 We're equipped to do so and the incredible goal, what is that goal pressing on for the 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:18.160 upward, the goal for the prize of the upward call. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:25.759 There's a lot of debate about what the goal and the prize is in theological circles. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:27.920 Some people just think whatever it is, it's the same thing. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:31.000 I tend to suggest that that's the case. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:37.279 And some of the problems come around from the idea of these words seem to speak of earning 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:40.680 that we're earning something and we're earning a prize that we're only doing it to get what 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:42.480 we can get at the end. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.240 But I don't think that was ever the intention of the writers, but rather even the whole 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:50.039 idea of reward, prize, reward, goal. 00:27:50.039 --> 00:27:57.960 It's not about earning something by a life of determination, but rather it's the fulfillment, 00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:03.200 it's the realization of what we have in Christ. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:07.519 In other words, Christ is the goal. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:16.799 Christ is the goal we can enjoy now, but we'll enjoy infinitely more as we hear His voice 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:18.759 and His calling upwards. 00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:25.880 It's that great and divine embrace into the Trinitarian family that we can experience now, 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:29.200 but only as a glimpse of what is to come. 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:34.720 We can't imagine how great it will be to be in His company, the company of the One who 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:44.720 transformed Paul as the murderous, self-righteous, religious leader of his day into the greatest 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:49.240 apostle of the gospel as he met with this Christ. 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:53.759 It's the same kind of reality it will be for us. 00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:54.759 Press on. 00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:57.440 If you're the only Christian in your office, press on. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:02.080 If you're only Christian in your family, if you're only the Christian in the city, if 00:29:02.080 --> 00:29:05.600 you're only Christian you ever know, press on. 00:29:05.600 --> 00:29:07.120 Don't turn back. 00:29:07.120 --> 00:29:13.960 Don't give up, but press on because of who Jesus is and because of what He has in store 00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:14.960 for us. 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:15.960 Amen. 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:16.960 Let's pray briefly. 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:19.400 Lord God, help us to press on. 00:29:19.400 --> 00:29:26.160 Help us to rejoice at the same time, to rejoice in You, not with a kind of slapstick smile 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:34.400 that everyone can see through and that isn't real and genuine, but a real rejoicing that 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:43.480 stems from who we have come to know and what He has done and what He does in our lives for 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:44.480 us. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:47.880 Lord, help us to rejoice in You and help us to press on. 00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:52.620 Give us that persevering spirit, that grit and that determination that Your Holy Spirit 00:29:52.619 --> 00:30:00.000 instills within us and gives us the ability to move forward. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.279 We pray for each of us here as we go into this working week that we would know Your 00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:09.119 presence and Your grace and Your blessing, that we'd encourage one another, pray for 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:15.319 one another, support one another, help each other in the good times and in the difficult 00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:22.279 times as well, and that we would be a people who reflect the Christ that we seek to serve. 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:25.440 So help us, we pray, and go before us in Jesus' name. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:54.440 Amen.