WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.179 So, we're going to pick up in verse 12 tonight and go through verse 16, but before we do that, it's really, I think, helpful to kind of look at the beginning of chapter 3 and kind of where he's going, or where we're coming from tonight. 00:00:13.179 --> 00:00:37.840 And so, he's been warning the Philippians to some degree about a group of men who were Jews, and they were going around and telling people that to be right with God, they had to obey all the Old Testament Levitical laws, all the systems that they followed in the Old Testament that were actually pointing towards Christ. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:44.940 And now that Christ had fulfilled those things, they weren't really necessary anymore. Things like circumcision was a big one. 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:59.380 And so, he goes on to tell them that if these men think that they are actually good enough on their own to have a right standing with God, that they have something to boast about, compared to me, they really didn't have anything. 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:12.719 Compared to who I used to be. And it kind of goes through this list and gives you, like, his background. And that's kind of found in verse 4 and 5, going on down and talks about what he was. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:21.520 But then he says, those things that I used to, like, boast a lot about and claim that made me right with God, I no longer trust in those. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:33.239 I look to Christ. Remember when we talked about justification and how Christ's righteousness is given to us so that we can stand before God clean and justified. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:42.719 So, from there, he gets on down to, if you look, and he says, look at verse 10. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:57.980 It says, that I may know him, talking about Christ, and the power of his resurrection, may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 00:01:59.099 --> 00:02:11.520 So, I'm going to kind of start off by asking you, kind of jump towards, actually, the end of what we're looking at tonight, verses 15 and 16, where it talks about maturity. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:25.060 And just to kind of pose a question, I think the small groups I've actually sat in on, I've talked about this in the past, but if I was to ask you, how would you define spiritual maturity? 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:37.100 I remember when I was probably, like, earlier years in college, there was, like, a saying going around, like, man, that guy, like, he's deep. 00:02:37.100 --> 00:02:39.240 Like, spiritually, like, that guy's deep. 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:43.280 Like, John Piper, deep guy, spiritually deep dude. 00:02:43.920 --> 00:02:48.560 And you would just start defining maturity by all these different things. 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:52.140 But if I was to ask you what that meant, what would you think? 00:02:52.600 --> 00:02:58.500 And for a long time, I probably equated it with this. 00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:07.259 So, I equated it with possessing a lot of biblical knowledge, theology, doctrine, learning Greek and Hebrew, like, that kind of stuff. 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:12.819 And, like, being able to spout off these big, big reformers from back in the day and all the old dead guys. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:21.039 And, you know, Christian philosophy and thinking and someone that could almost talk a foreign language to you, like, in a Christian type of language. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:25.620 And you just thought, and those people, like, their spirits are mature. 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:26.840 They're pretty deep. 00:03:27.359 --> 00:03:34.459 And I kept learning that's not the case because the more I learned up in my head, the more of an idiot I became in a lot of ways. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:42.500 Because I was allowing that to kind of become my identity and who I wanted to be the guy that you could ask a question to and I would know the answer. 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:44.979 And in a lot of ways. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:46.580 So, I became miserable. 00:03:47.379 --> 00:03:48.780 God allowed me to become miserable. 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:56.500 But I remember in my freshman and sophomore year at Georgia Perimeter, I actually kept going to my home church. 00:03:56.840 --> 00:04:03.939 And a guy who had a big influence on me was my youth pastor at the time. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:05.819 Later became my pastor. 00:04:05.939 --> 00:04:07.060 His name was Chris Jordan. 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:11.939 And he was an incredible guy and knew the word inside out. 00:04:11.939 --> 00:04:20.600 And so, but the crowd that came at the youth ministry was mainly, like, probably like 70%. 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:23.259 It was actually cool. 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:25.319 You know, they could do evangelism. 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:29.139 And, you know, came from unbelieving homes. 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:33.759 They just kind of came to get away from the craziness in their life to spend time with us. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:42.399 But, so, among all the things that Chris had to deal with sometimes was some of the believing teenagers that came. 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:53.139 I remember he just kind of kept pumping the gospel, like, every week in just a different way, a different text to try to share Christ with these guys. 00:04:53.719 --> 00:04:55.639 A lot of the people that were coming that didn't know him. 00:04:55.639 --> 00:05:04.839 And so, I remember after one of the meetings, I was kind of standing, like, maybe from here to the front row. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:08.180 And I just overheard a conversation he had with one of these teenagers. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:13.159 But this one guy, he kind of came from a Christian home. 00:05:13.219 --> 00:05:14.680 I think he went to a Christian school. 00:05:16.300 --> 00:05:19.680 You know, he knew all the right Sunday school answers to everything. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:24.699 And he came up to Chris and he just said, when are we going to go a little deeper, man? 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:28.079 Like, are we ever going to, like, go on? 00:05:28.300 --> 00:05:33.960 Kind of implying, like, I'm ready for something a lot more in-depth than just hearing the gospel every week. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:38.079 And so, Chris was just quiet. 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:41.579 And he kind of folded his arms and kind of looked puzzled for a second. 00:05:41.780 --> 00:05:43.939 It was, I remember, like, maybe, like, five seconds of silence. 00:05:43.939 --> 00:05:51.139 And then Chris said to him, well, are you, like, trying to, like, connect with any of these other people that are coming? 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:56.740 These other teenagers that are coming and trying to share Christ with them and love them? 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:57.939 And he was like, no, not really. 00:05:58.040 --> 00:05:59.740 I haven't really got a chance to know a lot of them. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:05.980 And they said, well, are you trying to share your faith anywhere, like, at school or outside, like, people you know? 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:09.259 And he was just kind of like, no, I mean, not really. 00:06:09.259 --> 00:06:14.680 And then, so then Chris said, I kind of, he kind of got a little louder. 00:06:14.819 --> 00:06:18.219 And he's like, well, you go do that first and then come talk to me about being deep. 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:19.500 That's like what he said to the guy. 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:26.079 And I was just like, man, I kind of like, kind of that, I just kind of act like I didn't hear what happened. 00:06:26.159 --> 00:06:30.920 I kind of walked away because I think the guy is, like, turning red and, like, kind of walked out very embarrassed. 00:06:31.899 --> 00:06:36.719 But this guy was equating stuff with knowledge but not really maturity. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:41.160 See, spiritual maturity, according to verse 15, 16, look at it. 00:06:41.960 --> 00:06:44.140 Let those of us who are mature think this way. 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:49.360 And if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 00:06:49.860 --> 00:06:52.180 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 00:06:52.700 --> 00:06:58.320 And so, Paul's definition of maturity is living up to what you've attained. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:08.599 And, like, so a child can actually be spiritually mature, spiritually deep, if they live up to what God has already revealed to them. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.360 And I know some children that are kind of like that in a lot of ways. 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:14.759 And they press on to know Christ more. 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.719 That's the other mark of, you see, in maturity. 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:23.460 And to this other group of people who think that they can have it all together and be perfect, 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:26.600 it's like Paul is saying that if you think that you've reached maturity, 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:31.040 God is going to kind of reveal to you that you haven't quite arrived yet. 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:36.060 Like, if you think that you're there, that you've arrived to perfection or whatever, 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:39.580 God is going to show this, kind of expose you for who you are. 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:50.979 And so, if they could travel back in time with me to imagine that you live in this city where Paul wrote this letter, Philippians. 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:53.180 And you've become a believer. 00:07:53.300 --> 00:07:56.159 You became a believer the first time Paul came there and preached the gospel. 00:07:56.939 --> 00:08:03.259 And you and your friends are just striving hard to love God and to know God and to make Him known in that city, 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:08.279 in that really high Roman city. 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:15.919 And you hear, like, hey, there's a group of guys down the other side of the city that they seem to know a lot. 00:08:16.059 --> 00:08:18.079 They know, like, the Old Testament very, very well. 00:08:18.599 --> 00:08:20.919 Stuff that I'm kind of ignorant of because I'm a Gentile. 00:08:21.039 --> 00:08:21.679 Like, I don't know. 00:08:22.719 --> 00:08:26.119 And they're saying all this stuff, so let's go hear them. 00:08:26.559 --> 00:08:32.100 And so you go in there with your friends, and they're like, hey, you have to get your act together. 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:37.059 Like, if you were as disciplined and as squared away and knew the Old Testament, 00:08:37.059 --> 00:08:41.879 had it memorized like I do, and if you were circumcised and all these things, 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:43.819 then you could reach perfection. 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:47.079 Like, you could actually attain, like, what we're talking about. 00:08:47.959 --> 00:08:54.619 To be honest, if you were in that context, you probably would be like, man, I never could be this guy. 00:08:54.839 --> 00:08:57.079 Like, I'm not a little quit. 00:08:57.179 --> 00:09:02.039 Like, I'm not ever going to be able to become as polished and clean on the outside as this guy is. 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:07.719 And if he's saying that the Scriptures teach these things, like, man, like, we're in trouble. 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:09.120 It would be, like, very discouraging. 00:09:09.199 --> 00:09:12.799 It would just bring you down to, like, I can't. 00:09:13.319 --> 00:09:16.099 I'm never going to attain what's mine in Christ. 00:09:16.219 --> 00:09:17.919 It would be very discouraging. 00:09:17.980 --> 00:09:22.879 You would go home, you know, to your friends later and just say, we struggle so much with sin. 00:09:22.939 --> 00:09:26.019 This guy that we haven't heard speak has it all together. 00:09:26.019 --> 00:09:30.740 And you would just really have a lot of depression and want to quit, probably. 00:09:31.319 --> 00:09:34.579 To think that that would be what you had to attain to please God. 00:09:35.819 --> 00:09:39.840 But just imagine while you're in that meeting, you're just kind of slumping down in your seat, 00:09:39.939 --> 00:09:43.419 and then some dude comes in and is like, hey, we've got a letter from Paul. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:48.899 And so they all sit down, and the guy busted out, and he starts reading it to everybody. 00:09:48.899 --> 00:09:54.720 And then, like, you're just, like, on the floor by the end of it, just kind of hearing what he says. 00:09:55.019 --> 00:10:03.459 But he's saying in chapter 3 that these guys that you're listening to, basically, 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:06.600 I could put them to shame, like, in my former life. 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:09.939 Like, I was a Pharisee of Pharisees, a Hebrew of Hebrews. 00:10:10.179 --> 00:10:14.879 I belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, which was most Jews didn't know what tribe they came from at that point. 00:10:14.939 --> 00:10:15.360 He did. 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.460 And he's like, I persecute the church, on and on. 00:10:18.460 --> 00:10:23.379 So he could put any of those religious leaders that they were listening to to shame. 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:28.820 But then he says, going further down, about, like, obtaining the resurrection from the dead 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:32.180 and becoming perfect, that kind of idea. 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:36.379 And so they're probably like, oh, man, this is what that guy was talking about. 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:37.500 Can we actually do this? 00:10:37.540 --> 00:10:40.480 Can we actually reach perfection in this life? 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.980 And then he comes in with, like, the next part of it, not that I've already obtained this. 00:10:44.980 --> 00:10:49.500 You know, he kind of, like, encourages them to say, like, hey, I've not arrived yet either. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:53.820 And to hear Paul say that, they're like, well, what do these jokers think they're saying? 00:10:53.980 --> 00:10:56.720 When they, if Paul's not there, I know these guys aren't there. 00:10:56.840 --> 00:11:00.379 Because he could put them to shame in every way with his background. 00:11:00.379 --> 00:11:05.779 And so it gave them encouragement to know, like, wow, the man that led us to Christ 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:10.679 and is going out and giving his life to the kingdom who's been beaten and scourged 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:15.519 and all these things, like, he's telling us he's not there either. 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:21.220 And that would, like, a mark of humility by Paul. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:22.740 Like, I've not obtained this yet. 00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:29.799 But so we're going to look at four, I guess I want to call them marks of maturity 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:38.120 as well as just, like, ways for you to persevere and endure, like, in your Christian life, I guess. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:44.200 So the first one is to realize that there is a goal to attain. 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:47.919 You have to realize that there is a goal that we're moving toward. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.120 There is a goal to attain. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:51.799 And look at verse 14. 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:53.779 It says, 00:11:54.620 --> 00:12:01.799 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 00:12:02.379 --> 00:12:09.679 So the goal here is to basically receive what fully is yours, your salvation, 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:12.159 to, like, to attain that one day. 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:13.500 Like, that's the goal. 00:12:13.599 --> 00:12:14.379 That's the end. 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:16.819 And so the goal is perfection. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:22.339 And, but that perfection will not be realized in this particular life. 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:28.559 It will be realized when we actually die or the Lord comes back to save his people. 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:29.399 He returns. 00:12:30.279 --> 00:12:35.919 At that point, it's what we would call in Scripture, Romans 8, glorification. 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:40.679 It's where we shut off the old man and we are given new bodies. 00:12:40.819 --> 00:12:41.479 We're made perfect. 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:47.720 So, at that point, like, that's the goal, like, to be glorified and to be perfected 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:54.200 and to stand, like, in the presence of God for eternity and to enjoy him for all eternity. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:55.519 Like, that's the ultimate goal. 00:12:55.639 --> 00:12:56.460 That's what we all want. 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:58.139 We want to shake sin off. 00:12:58.300 --> 00:13:00.220 We don't want to have to deal with sin anymore. 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:03.720 We don't want to have to deal with the suffering and death that it brings. 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:06.080 So, the goal is, like, attaining that. 00:13:06.180 --> 00:13:08.440 The goal is to reach that at some point. 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:13.960 And, but then Paul kind of goes on to tell us some more about that goal. 00:13:14.040 --> 00:13:15.300 That's kind of the shortest point. 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:17.379 But to realize, like, where we're going. 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:23.600 We're going towards heaven, towards glory, where, like, sin and death will be no more. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:27.460 And we will reach perfection in the life to come. 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:36.160 So, number two is realize that you have not attained that goal yet. 00:13:37.560 --> 00:13:40.519 Realize that you have not attained that goal yet. 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:43.440 And look at verse 12. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:50.300 He says, not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect. 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:52.340 And then jump down to 13. 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:57.200 He kind of reiterates, brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:01.940 So, he's saying, like, I've not, I've not got there yet. 00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:03.940 Like, I've not reached perfection yet. 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:05.920 And I'm not going to in this life. 00:14:06.540 --> 00:14:08.740 But, but just to kind of throw a word out. 00:14:09.660 --> 00:14:11.400 Most of you probably are familiar. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.560 But just for the sake of following where we are tonight. 00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:20.900 Like, this life, we as believers, we kind of live in between. 00:14:20.900 --> 00:14:23.259 Like, we have been saved by God. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:24.400 We've been saved by Christ. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:28.919 But, but the fullness of that salvation has not fully yet been realized. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:30.759 We still battle sin. 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:33.259 We still battle, like, a lot of things in this life. 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:35.340 We, failure, so forth. 00:14:35.500 --> 00:14:38.879 So, so this life is, is what scripture calls sanctification. 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:45.059 And it's, it's a, if you want a definition for it, there's a lot of definitions for it. 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:48.299 But I think they're kind of honing in on this one to some degree. 00:14:48.459 --> 00:14:51.599 But it's like a progressive work of God and man. 00:14:52.619 --> 00:14:55.019 And so that means, like, we cooperate with God. 00:14:55.599 --> 00:14:55.959 Okay. 00:14:56.519 --> 00:14:59.719 And that's different than justification and regeneration. 00:14:59.719 --> 00:15:01.139 We're all the work of God. 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:05.220 But in sanctification, we actually cooperate with God. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:11.559 And it makes us more free from sin and more like Christ in our actual lives right now. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:13.899 That's what sanctification really is. 00:15:13.939 --> 00:15:17.980 It's the outworking of the new life that we've been given in Christ. 00:15:17.980 --> 00:15:30.700 And so, so, so though we have been saved, the fullness of that salvation has not fully yet been realized because we still live in fallen flesh, sinful flesh, in a broken world. 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:37.779 And with, with, with the devil who's, who's also out there seeking to kill and destroy. 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:40.980 So that's kind of like what that is. 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:46.259 And so sanctification, if you want to just think of it this way, it's becoming who we are. 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:49.720 It's becoming what God has already made us in this life. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:54.279 It's, it's striving on to, to be who we are, which is children of God. 00:15:54.659 --> 00:15:58.840 And so, but in this present life, we're going to, to battle. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:08.480 We're going to, to have some, some serious issues, but we're going to keep pressing on to, in sanctification and to strive after Christ. 00:16:08.939 --> 00:16:13.419 So, so I guess this is kind of a word for, for myself right now. 00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:18.179 So I need to remind myself of this and I'm sure that you can't be reminded of this enough. 00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:21.439 But, but as, as children of God, you can get really weary. 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:23.059 You can want to quit a lot. 00:16:23.219 --> 00:16:28.399 Like I almost wanted to quit yesterday and just lay down and be like, I'm pretty sick of life, Lord. 00:16:28.479 --> 00:16:30.740 I'm just kind of ready to just get out of here. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:36.659 And then it just took some meditating on the word and, you know, and God really just built me back up and, 00:16:36.659 --> 00:16:40.259 just changed my perspective, I guess. 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:46.419 But we hear, we hear God calling us, hey, love me with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:50.159 And, but we never seem to like actually reach that. 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:53.379 We never can like give him everything we want to give him. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:55.159 And, and it grieves us. 00:16:55.159 --> 00:17:00.959 We, we, we do the things that we do not want to do and the things that we want to do, we cannot do. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:09.220 That's what Paul says in Romans 7, this battle that's going on and, and inside of us, there's like a law of sin, 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:13.079 like a gravitational pull to like do sin in our lives. 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:22.720 But, but what we need to realize is that Christ and the work of Christ, what he has done is, I guess in two ways you want to think of it. 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:26.140 In this life, he's weakened the power of sin over us. 00:17:26.660 --> 00:17:29.480 He's weakened the rule of sin over us. 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:33.559 And then, so that by, by his power, we can overcome sin. 00:17:33.620 --> 00:17:37.360 We don't have to sin anymore by his grace and by his power. 00:17:38.099 --> 00:17:40.059 So, but this is something that we have to take up and use. 00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:43.700 We have to like come to him to overcome sin that comes our way. 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:50.299 And the future implication is that he has totally rescued us from sin in the life to come. 00:17:50.380 --> 00:17:51.539 So sin will be no more. 00:17:52.299 --> 00:17:56.819 So, but in this life, sin still has a sting. 00:17:56.900 --> 00:17:57.680 It still hurts. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.680 It's still, we're going to like really mess up. 00:18:01.320 --> 00:18:03.660 And we're going to have shortcomings and failures. 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.000 And it's going to grieve you and cause you a lot of sorrow. 00:18:07.860 --> 00:18:11.580 And so we have to keep our eyes like on the salvation that awaits us. 00:18:11.600 --> 00:18:15.340 And that kind of like cultivates hope inside of us. 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:21.959 And so I'll read you a quote by something that Martin Luther said. 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:22.379 He said, 00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:52.380 00:18:52.380 --> 00:18:53.560 We're always being purified. 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:56.120 And so that's, that's what this life is. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:01.140 It's just a process of pressing into what we really are and what we will be one day. 00:19:01.900 --> 00:19:03.520 And so that's what it is. 00:19:03.560 --> 00:19:10.100 There's a, we're not going to be able to attain that goal fully in this life, which is going to kind of lead to these next points. 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:13.679 Because I've heard some people just kind of say, well, we can't reach it. 00:19:13.740 --> 00:19:14.659 Kind of like, what's the point? 00:19:14.779 --> 00:19:16.159 Like, what are we, what are we doing then? 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:22.339 Like, what's, if I can't reach perfection in this life, then should I just like chill out and do whatever I want to? 00:19:22.439 --> 00:19:24.279 Because eventually I'm going to be perfected. 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:35.180 So that's really not the heart of what, if you actually have experienced the grace of God, like that's some, some, some thinking that could not really be of God. 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:39.680 So it's going to like move to this next point. 00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:45.240 Number three is realize that you must strive hard after the goal. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:49.779 Realize that you must strive hard after the goal. 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:53.980 So putting, putting all that together, there's a goal to be attained. 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:57.899 Realize that you have not attained that goal. 00:19:58.879 --> 00:20:01.639 And then realize that you must strive hard after that goal. 00:20:03.899 --> 00:20:06.440 And look at verse 12. 00:20:08.539 --> 00:20:14.019 The last part of it where it says, but I press on to make it my own. 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:16.339 Go to verse 13. 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:23.399 But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead. 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:29.019 And I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:38.980 So as, as a lot of, I'm sure Paul is super, super familiar with this, might even have, have gone to see these before. 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:43.119 But the Olympic games that went on in, in Greece and so forth. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:48.639 I'm sure that he, he probably saw those at some point in his lifetime because he was just very, very cultured guy. 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:52.979 Like you could ask him if he had been to something or seen something and probably like, yep, I probably have. 00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:56.659 And just knew that that was just such a big influence on their culture. 00:20:57.219 --> 00:21:04.779 He uses the language like a sprinter, someone who's like running in a race and with like really aggressive and energetic action. 00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:09.119 Like just going really hard at it to, to, to win the prize. 00:21:09.339 --> 00:21:20.440 And so he's saying that even though like that goal is, even though I haven't attained this yet, I'm going to like press very, very hard on straining forward. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:23.319 It's that idea of like, you're straining towards the finish line. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:27.500 You're kind of running neck and neck with somebody and you're like, you're reaching for the finish line. 00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:32.740 And so he's like, I'm going to press on and to make it my own. 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:38.500 And so you have to realize your imperfection. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:49.000 And, but also like if you don't want to come to Christ and help him and ask his help to overcome your imperfections, 00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:55.720 it either is evidence that you don't really believe that he can help you overcome your imperfections. 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:58.460 Or you actually don't want to leave your imperfections. 00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:00.519 You actually enjoy being that way. 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:02.920 So that's why we go to Christ. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:04.680 We don't, we don't like our sin. 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:05.519 We hate our sin. 00:22:06.380 --> 00:22:08.299 We want to be more like him. 00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:11.240 So that's why we, we strive and run after him. 00:22:11.819 --> 00:22:14.940 Not really to like be saved by him and to be perfect. 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:18.480 But because we want to overcome sin, we hate it. 00:22:19.500 --> 00:22:25.460 And so, so like if you're, you're a failing student in college and you really want to pass, 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:25.840 that's what you do. 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:26.340 You get help. 00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:26.900 You get a tutor. 00:22:27.100 --> 00:22:29.200 Like you go and get this. 00:22:29.259 --> 00:22:35.160 If you're sick, you go to the doctor and get a diagnosis and antibiotics or surgery or whatever. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:38.079 And in the same way, like we, we go to Christ. 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:42.000 Like we want to, to like overcome the sin that's in our life. 00:22:42.940 --> 00:22:47.779 Flip the, keep your hand on Philippians, but go to 1 Timothy 6 real fast. 00:22:47.779 --> 00:22:53.160 1 Timothy 6. 00:22:56.539 --> 00:22:58.440 I'll read you this in just a second, but. 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:06.299 Yeah, 6 and go to verse 11. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:10.619 Okay, it says, 00:23:10.619 --> 00:23:15.959 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things, sinful things. 00:23:16.059 --> 00:23:17.059 He talks about before that. 00:23:17.719 --> 00:23:21.779 Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:24.099 Fight the good fight of faith. 00:23:24.239 --> 00:23:27.839 Take hold of the eternal life to which you have been called 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:33.339 and about which you made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:36.299 And so he's like, fight for it. 00:23:36.379 --> 00:23:37.279 Go, go forward. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:39.879 Lay hold of, lay hold of that goal. 00:23:40.579 --> 00:23:44.940 And, and this idea of like, pursue these things, flee these things. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:47.160 That's, that's like calling us to action. 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:49.680 Calling us to, to strive and to fight. 00:23:50.059 --> 00:23:57.539 And, and so, so a true believer realizes that, man, this is not easy. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:02.299 Like, really living a Christian life, following Christ, it's a fight. 00:24:02.299 --> 00:24:09.460 That's why there's so much imagery in scripture about warfare and soldiers and armor and so forth. 00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:11.680 And it's, it's really what it is. 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:16.200 And it's something that you really can't win in your own strength, in your, in your physical body. 00:24:16.399 --> 00:24:18.659 It's a, it's totally spiritual battle. 00:24:19.180 --> 00:24:21.039 So he's like, hey, fight for this. 00:24:21.559 --> 00:24:25.279 Fight to lay hold of, lay hold of what's yours in Christ. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:29.160 And so, I mean, we hear these kind of exhortations. 00:24:29.299 --> 00:24:30.039 Press on, go. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:34.059 And so the other part of this, jump back to Philippians. 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:36.799 Again, he says something really important. 00:24:38.019 --> 00:24:47.000 A huge part of pressing on and moving forward towards Christ is, is in verse 13, where he says, 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:53.460 one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, is turning forward to what lies ahead. 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:58.519 And if there's ever something that I have struggled with, it's this. 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:02.779 And, and, and maybe that's you too. 00:25:03.819 --> 00:25:05.799 So, but think about this. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:10.819 In a race, would anybody like deliberately just put on really, really heavy, thick clothes 00:25:10.819 --> 00:25:15.599 and, and gear up with a backpack and just like get all this junk on them to go run a race? 00:25:16.179 --> 00:25:17.879 I mean, it's just, it's that simple. 00:25:17.980 --> 00:25:18.759 It's that foolish. 00:25:19.339 --> 00:25:26.539 And like, that's, that's what actually holding on to like things in your, your sinful past can do to you. 00:25:26.619 --> 00:25:29.279 That can hinder you, slow you down. 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:35.259 And, and actually even call you to like recommit those same habitual sins from your past. 00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:41.059 And, and so, for Paul, what he left behind, if we read the verses before this, 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:46.460 he left behind his own self-righteousness, this idea of how he could be made right with God, 00:25:46.819 --> 00:25:48.640 all his religious pedigree. 00:25:48.779 --> 00:25:54.039 He's like, I'm leaving that behind, leaving all these sinful, crazy things I did. 00:25:54.119 --> 00:25:55.000 I'm leaving those behind. 00:25:55.140 --> 00:25:58.559 I'm just keeping my eyes fixed on what's in front of me. 00:25:58.599 --> 00:26:00.980 I'm going to pursue, pursue Christ. 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:09.259 And, but, you know, for others, we're not allowing, we're allowing our past failures, 00:26:09.420 --> 00:26:12.700 our past sins, our old life, whatever it may be. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:17.559 You could have had a totally different, crazy life before you were in Christ. 00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:22.700 And, and you're not able, you're allowing like the guilt and the shame and the unworthiness 00:26:22.700 --> 00:26:28.759 to kind of beat you down so much where you actually can't keep striving on towards the goal. 00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:37.039 And, so Paul's, Paul's saying, like, man, like in Christ, you're, you're pardoned, you're forgiven, you're justified. 00:26:37.299 --> 00:26:38.640 Read, read these previous verses. 00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:42.960 And, so this frees you, like, to run the race without hindrance. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:46.579 It, it, the righteousness of Christ, it frees us from those things. 00:26:47.299 --> 00:26:51.660 Just a few places to turn, but I just thought, in light of this, 00:26:51.720 --> 00:26:55.579 meaning that a lot of us just can't let go of things we've done, 00:26:55.579 --> 00:27:02.720 even recently, you know, like with me yesterday, just had a hard time getting going. 00:27:03.159 --> 00:27:05.539 And, turn to Psalm 103. 00:27:06.419 --> 00:27:13.259 I just thought, in light of this idea of not being able to move on because of past sin, 00:27:13.859 --> 00:27:16.939 things that we just constantly weigh ourselves down with, 00:27:16.940 --> 00:27:28.320 we're saying, like, Lord, I want to be used by you, I want to know you in a deeper way, 00:27:28.380 --> 00:27:32.360 but I just can't get over a lot of the terrible things that I've done. 00:27:33.059 --> 00:27:34.019 There's just no way. 00:27:34.080 --> 00:27:37.440 I'm, like, way too messed up for you to ever use at all. 00:27:37.660 --> 00:27:39.400 Like, I'm just such a dirty vessel. 00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:47.280 And, we need to learn, like, to let go of that and put it behind us 00:27:47.280 --> 00:27:50.040 because God has forgiven us in Christ. 00:27:50.180 --> 00:27:53.640 And, if the one, the sovereign judge has forgiven you, 00:27:54.040 --> 00:27:56.400 you should be able to receive that. 00:27:57.240 --> 00:27:59.820 There's no higher, no higher court. 00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:03.780 So, Psalm 103, verse 11, just a reminder. 00:28:03.779 --> 00:28:30.599 So, these are just Hebrew pictures of, like, an infinite distance. 00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:33.859 There's not, there is no distance from the east to the west. 00:28:33.959 --> 00:28:34.939 It's an infinite distance. 00:28:35.459 --> 00:28:38.459 As high as the heavens are above the earth, an infinite distance. 00:28:38.919 --> 00:28:42.259 And, he's saying, like, that's what God's love is like. 00:28:42.359 --> 00:28:45.779 It's like an infinite, infinite thing. 00:28:46.679 --> 00:28:49.980 And, as far as the east is from the west, he's put away your sins. 00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:53.740 Think about the imagery here in the Old Testament. 00:28:53.919 --> 00:28:57.119 You've heard of the two goats that were brought out, 00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:00.500 and they prayed over one goat with the sins of the people. 00:29:01.459 --> 00:29:03.500 And, then, that one was sacrificed. 00:29:05.339 --> 00:29:07.639 And, one was killed, and then one was set free 00:29:07.639 --> 00:29:11.919 to actually symbolize, like, God carrying away their sin, 00:29:12.399 --> 00:29:13.579 the scapegoat idea. 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:16.299 And, so, he's removed your sin. 00:29:16.939 --> 00:29:19.619 And, he's taken it away from his own presence 00:29:19.619 --> 00:29:22.000 as far as the east is from the west. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:25.799 And, so, because of such awesome truth, 00:29:25.880 --> 00:29:31.160 we should be able to, like, not be weighed down by our sinful past. 00:29:31.259 --> 00:29:32.900 Like, it's dealt with. 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:37.220 Past, present, and future sins have been dealt with at the cross. 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:44.380 So, go back to Philippians, and we'll just keep rolling here. 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:48.480 But, just an example of this. 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:52.980 I think the time that, I think this verse really had a huge impact on me 00:29:52.980 --> 00:29:56.480 was in my senior year in high school. 00:29:56.480 --> 00:30:00.519 And, I was a young believer at the time. 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:05.720 And, I really wanted to, like, go right at, like, all my lost friends. 00:30:05.819 --> 00:30:09.500 Like, I was just like, I want to go out and, man, they need to know the gospel. 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:10.579 They need Christ. 00:30:10.680 --> 00:30:15.240 They're just, man, they're just dying, you know. 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:16.460 And, their sin. 00:30:16.700 --> 00:30:20.099 And, I want to go and be an instrument that God can use 00:30:20.099 --> 00:30:22.420 to call them into the light and to the gospel. 00:30:23.180 --> 00:30:28.900 But, I felt so ashamed of, like, my sin that I had committed, 00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:31.720 these despicable things that I had done 00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:35.900 all through my previous life in middle school and high school. 00:30:36.500 --> 00:30:38.359 And, I thought, they're just going to think I'm an idiot. 00:30:39.980 --> 00:30:43.380 And, like, I was just burdened with, like, guilt and shame. 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:47.800 And, I remember going to a man that discipled me for several years. 00:30:48.560 --> 00:30:49.920 Named Daryl Johnson. 00:30:50.220 --> 00:30:53.640 He, kind of, like, took me to this verse in Philippians. 00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:55.160 And, he was just kind of saying, like, 00:30:56.420 --> 00:31:00.860 because Christ has saved you and made you His own, 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:06.120 you can, like, put behind, like, that lifestyle that He saved you from. 00:31:06.260 --> 00:31:09.000 And, you can strive forward to, like, what's ahead. 00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:11.580 And, you can press on with joy. 00:31:11.700 --> 00:31:12.640 Go towards Christ. 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:15.160 I don't be weighed down by the past. 00:31:15.660 --> 00:31:20.420 And, along with this point, something to rejoice in. 00:31:21.600 --> 00:31:24.280 John Newton, who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace, 00:31:24.940 --> 00:31:25.420 he said, 00:31:25.640 --> 00:31:28.280 I am not what I ought to be. 00:31:29.040 --> 00:31:31.040 I am not what I want to be. 00:31:32.040 --> 00:31:35.240 I am not what I hope to be in another world. 00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:38.700 But, I still am not what I, excuse me, he says, 00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:42.180 But, still, I am not what I once was. 00:31:42.620 --> 00:31:44.700 And, by the grace of God, I am what I am. 00:31:44.859 --> 00:31:49.980 So, he's saying, like, by God's grace, I'm no longer what I used to be. 00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:51.680 So, he kind of, like, rejoiced in that. 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:55.519 Not kind of despairing at the fact that he hadn't actually reached where he wants to go. 00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:01.180 He's like, man, so, to look at where you've come from, and God will encourage you with that. 00:32:01.259 --> 00:32:04.920 But, don't look to, like, just all your imperfections all the time. 00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:08.240 And, Swanson and I were talking about this yesterday. 00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:11.000 But, you know, like, Paul's sin. 00:32:11.100 --> 00:32:14.840 I mean, you know that he did, like, some messed up things. 00:32:16.140 --> 00:32:17.680 You know, he was a sinful man. 00:32:18.440 --> 00:32:22.480 But, in his writings, do you actually hear him, like, just kind of sopping over his sin? 00:32:23.779 --> 00:32:24.680 You ever thought about that? 00:32:25.320 --> 00:32:26.440 He's like, I'm just no good. 00:32:26.560 --> 00:32:29.060 Kind of like the whole, just never can do this. 00:32:29.060 --> 00:32:32.480 You know, just very, kind of beating himself up constantly. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:33.759 No. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:35.740 Like, he does mention his sin, doesn't he? 00:32:35.799 --> 00:32:36.319 He does. 00:32:36.819 --> 00:32:39.259 But, what is more of his main focus, though? 00:32:39.319 --> 00:32:40.460 It's like the grace of God. 00:32:40.539 --> 00:32:41.220 It's the cross. 00:32:41.299 --> 00:32:46.220 It's like the power of God to overcome his sin and who he is. 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:51.960 So, like, if that's, so we do need to, like, learn to identify sin in our lives and bow sin in our lives. 00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:56.980 But, we need to focus more, like, on, like, the cross after that. 00:32:57.059 --> 00:33:01.980 In light of seeing our sin, we don't just kind of say, I'm terrible, I'm terrible, I suck, I suck. 00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:08.480 Like, at some point, you've got to, like, start fixing your gaze, like, on the grace of God that is greater than all your sin. 00:33:09.140 --> 00:33:13.140 And so, rejoice that you're not what you used to be. 00:33:13.380 --> 00:33:15.680 And by the grace of God, you are what you are. 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:19.180 And, leads us to the fourth and last point. 00:33:20.940 --> 00:33:21.980 Back in Philippians. 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:28.160 Realize that because of Christ, you will attain the goal. 00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:29.860 Alright? 00:33:29.859 --> 00:33:34.359 So, putting all the points together, there is a goal to be attained. 00:33:35.639 --> 00:33:38.579 Realize that you have not attained that goal yet. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:42.459 Realize that you must strive hard after that goal. 00:33:43.379 --> 00:33:48.459 And then, fourthly, realize that because of Christ, you will attain the goal. 00:33:48.460 --> 00:33:51.460 And, look at verse 12. 00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:53.140 It says, 00:33:54.200 --> 00:34:01.900 But I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. 00:34:03.059 --> 00:34:03.960 Really awesome. 00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:05.700 So, we are His. 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:07.980 And this is, like, a key statement to, like, endurance. 00:34:08.360 --> 00:34:12.699 And, perseverance in the Christian life is, like, realizing that you're Christ. 00:34:13.460 --> 00:34:15.460 And, He has secured you. 00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:20.079 So, all you're reaching, you're striving, you're yearning, you're fighting. 00:34:20.259 --> 00:34:22.519 It's not so that you'll belong to Christ. 00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:24.199 That's already happened, right? 00:34:24.980 --> 00:34:28.399 It is to complete what's lacking, like, in your likeness to Him. 00:34:28.399 --> 00:34:29.399 That's what we strive after. 00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:35.259 Not to be saved or to belong to Christ, but to just press into who we really are in Christ. 00:34:36.579 --> 00:34:38.019 It's kind of like, hey, stop doing that. 00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:39.480 Like, you're not that guy anymore. 00:34:40.319 --> 00:34:40.539 You know? 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:41.519 Just be who you are. 00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:43.340 Stop trying to be this and that. 00:34:43.460 --> 00:34:48.179 Like, be who I actually have made you, Christ is saying. 00:34:48.860 --> 00:34:57.559 So, like, I guess a way to think about this is that Paul's effort to grasp, like, the joy in Christ 00:34:57.559 --> 00:35:02.239 was secured by Christ's grasp of him. 00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:02.820 You see that? 00:35:02.820 --> 00:35:13.340 Like, his efforts, his strivings to reach the fullness of joy in Christ were secured by Christ's grasp of him. 00:35:13.420 --> 00:35:13.940 You see that? 00:35:14.120 --> 00:35:15.039 You get the picture here? 00:35:15.559 --> 00:35:18.640 It's kind of like some of you who rock climb. 00:35:18.680 --> 00:35:20.680 I've only been rock climbing twice in my life. 00:35:20.679 --> 00:35:27.579 But one time, it was like a year before I had my lung transplant, so my health wasn't that great. 00:35:27.699 --> 00:35:28.719 But I was going to do it anyway. 00:35:28.879 --> 00:35:30.839 I was going to do it whether I died or not. 00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:34.180 So, I was climbing. 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:38.340 And I had a... 00:35:38.340 --> 00:35:43.640 I remember, like, getting halfway up this rock face and just thinking, like, I don't think I'm going to make it to the top of this. 00:35:43.680 --> 00:35:44.660 It's like, just what I thought. 00:35:44.780 --> 00:35:49.300 Just because I was, like, having a hard time breathing and kind of just feeling really weak and tired. 00:35:49.300 --> 00:35:52.260 And I stopped saying, you idiot. 00:35:52.600 --> 00:35:53.820 You know, like, what were you thinking? 00:35:54.980 --> 00:35:59.539 But there was, like, this really huge, like, jacked guy, like, at the top of the cliff. 00:36:00.019 --> 00:36:04.980 And he, like, threw me down something and I was able to clip it on, a little belay, whatever. 00:36:05.720 --> 00:36:12.960 And so, so then, like, it actually gave me, like, the hope and joy to, like, finish it because I knew that he got me. 00:36:13.019 --> 00:36:17.740 Like, this guy was, like, three times my size and he was just nothing but muscle. 00:36:17.739 --> 00:36:23.379 And he was, like, a Harley rider and, like, had his head buzzed and had tattoos down his arm. 00:36:23.479 --> 00:36:25.159 He was a really cool guy named Mel. 00:36:25.319 --> 00:36:27.179 This was on the northern Irish coast. 00:36:28.119 --> 00:36:33.159 And so, when I finally got up there, I just knew that, man, I can press on and finish this because he's got me. 00:36:33.619 --> 00:36:33.799 You know? 00:36:34.359 --> 00:36:37.539 And, like, that's kind of like how Christ is with us. 00:36:37.579 --> 00:36:39.619 Like, he's definitely got you. 00:36:39.759 --> 00:36:45.119 And, like, because of that, you can press on without fear of falling away. 00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:51.400 So, our efforts to lay hold of Christ are secured by Christ already laying hold of us. 00:36:51.460 --> 00:36:51.960 You see that? 00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:55.519 And so, look at this. 00:36:57.199 --> 00:36:58.239 Colossians 1. 00:36:58.319 --> 00:36:59.279 Flip there real fast. 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:01.599 Just to kind of emphasize this. 00:37:06.219 --> 00:37:07.279 Colossians 1. 00:37:07.359 --> 00:37:08.059 Go to verse 21. 00:37:08.059 --> 00:37:13.059 It says, 00:37:13.059 --> 00:37:19.500 And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds. 00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:21.460 So, who you used to be. 00:37:22.500 --> 00:37:27.639 He, Christ, is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. 00:37:28.539 --> 00:37:31.599 So, through the work of Christ, we've been reconciled to God. 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:38.239 In order to present you holy and blameless above reproach before him. 00:37:38.900 --> 00:37:39.179 See? 00:37:39.420 --> 00:37:40.119 Remember the goal? 00:37:40.259 --> 00:37:48.920 Like, the goal is, like, to reach that point where we're sinless and that we can stand before God clean and righteous, justified before his sight. 00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:53.500 So, based on the work of Christ, he's already secured like our future. 00:37:53.699 --> 00:37:59.179 We will be holy and blameless before God based on what he's done at the cross. 00:37:59.259 --> 00:38:00.360 We won't be alienated. 00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:02.740 We won't be hostile towards God. 00:38:02.860 --> 00:38:05.840 We'll be reconciled to God. 00:38:06.840 --> 00:38:14.300 And so, just a verse that kind of, like, talks about, like, our future glory and what we'll be like before God one day. 00:38:15.120 --> 00:38:18.400 So, holy and blameless, secured. 00:38:19.500 --> 00:38:29.260 And so, like, I'm going to, we need to press on to, like, gain Christ because Christ has already gained us. 00:38:29.260 --> 00:38:29.800 You see that? 00:38:29.800 --> 00:38:34.780 It's like this idea of how we're just becoming who we are and laying hold of who we are in Christ. 00:38:35.940 --> 00:38:41.519 Remember, like, if you go back to, I think, the second sermon in this whole Philippians series. 00:38:42.100 --> 00:38:43.240 We were in chapter 1. 00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:46.940 We focused in on verse 6 in chapter 1 of Philippians. 00:38:46.940 --> 00:38:49.039 Most of us know this verse. 00:38:49.519 --> 00:38:58.840 I'm sure of this, Paul says, that he who began a good work in you, he will bring to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 00:38:59.360 --> 00:39:01.579 That's what he says in chapter 1, verse 6. 00:39:01.579 --> 00:39:14.840 So, I remember also reading this quote from this sermon, the one that, the second sermon, that I thought I would throw out there again because it's just so good. 00:39:14.840 --> 00:39:18.920 And something that I read while I was gone this summer. 00:39:19.720 --> 00:39:23.059 This is a Puritan guy named John Flavel. 00:39:23.180 --> 00:39:23.700 And he says, 00:39:23.699 --> 00:39:53.679 This is, 00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:57.159 So, if we're here when Christ returns, this will happen. 00:39:57.359 --> 00:40:01.699 Or if we die and go on to be with him, at some point we will reach perfection. 00:40:01.699 --> 00:40:07.960 And I'm just going to read to you something from 1 John 3, verse 2 to 3. 00:40:08.059 --> 00:40:09.139 You can write that down if you want. 00:40:10.439 --> 00:40:12.439 1 John 3, verse 2. 00:40:12.980 --> 00:40:13.739 He says, 00:40:13.739 --> 00:40:16.000 Beloved, we are God's children now. 00:40:16.419 --> 00:40:19.119 And what we will be has not yet appeared. 00:40:20.219 --> 00:40:26.619 But what we know will happen is when he appears, when Christ appears, we shall be like him. 00:40:27.019 --> 00:40:29.419 Because we will see him as he is. 00:40:29.939 --> 00:40:35.359 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 00:40:35.360 --> 00:40:38.760 So this idea that, like, one day that's going to happen. 00:40:38.860 --> 00:40:42.640 We're going to, like, be like Christ in every way. 00:40:43.079 --> 00:40:46.380 When he returns, when we see him, we will be like him. 00:40:46.380 --> 00:40:52.160 And he's like, in this life, it hasn't appeared what yet we will be. 00:40:53.280 --> 00:41:02.119 So, the conclusion of all this, we're going to just kind of wrap it up in, I think, maybe two other places. 00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:03.559 But look at Hebrews 12. 00:41:04.259 --> 00:41:07.000 This kind of just ties a lot of this in together. 00:41:07.980 --> 00:41:09.639 Hebrews 12, verse 1. 00:41:09.980 --> 00:41:13.279 And we'll just kind of settle in on this a little bit. 00:41:14.199 --> 00:41:16.579 Hebrews 12, verse 1. 00:41:18.839 --> 00:41:24.380 And the writer of Hebrews, whoever it was, whether it was Paul, Apollos, or some other guy. 00:41:24.380 --> 00:41:37.460 And in chapter 11, he's kind of gone through this huge list of men from the Old Testament who walked by faith and who pursued God with all they were in the Old Testament. 00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:41.360 And, you know, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, so on. 00:41:41.960 --> 00:41:44.440 And so, verse 1. 00:41:44.440 --> 00:41:56.740 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. 00:41:57.220 --> 00:42:05.039 And let us run with endurance the race that is before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, 00:42:05.740 --> 00:42:13.780 who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:42:14.440 --> 00:42:23.639 There's so much things in this, but probably the cloud of witnesses that are surrounding us are all these people who have gone before us, 00:42:23.679 --> 00:42:26.559 the people he's kind of mentioned in chapter 11. 00:42:27.200 --> 00:42:29.619 It's all the believers who have died and gone before us. 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:37.579 And it's kind of like a picture of like they're kind of rooting you on, like in the stands, kind of idea, like go on, you know, press on, win the race, go. 00:42:37.579 --> 00:42:45.019 So, and so then he says, like we've just talked about, forgetting what lies behind, pressing on toward his head. 00:42:45.139 --> 00:42:49.159 He says, throw it off, like throw off every sin. 00:42:50.179 --> 00:42:52.659 And even, then he says, wait. 00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:54.940 Some people want to make a distinction between those. 00:42:54.940 --> 00:42:58.360 So, throw off sin, obviously. 00:42:58.579 --> 00:42:59.900 Battle against sin in your life. 00:43:00.480 --> 00:43:02.300 Seek to put sin to death in your life. 00:43:03.039 --> 00:43:10.200 But on the other hand, he says, wait, which probably could mean a lot of good things that are probably not going to be good for you, 00:43:10.260 --> 00:43:11.280 because they're slowing you down. 00:43:11.380 --> 00:43:14.300 It could be a lot of things that aren't evil in and of themselves, 00:43:14.300 --> 00:43:21.200 but you've allowed them to slow you down, like in your race, and you might need to cast those off to run the race. 00:43:22.420 --> 00:43:26.880 Leave behind all your guilt and your shame and pursue Christ. 00:43:27.860 --> 00:43:32.539 And he says, run with endurance, a picture of not someone who's just going to be sprinting, 00:43:32.600 --> 00:43:35.340 but someone who's more like a marathon type runner. 00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:40.500 You've got to have, you know, people that I spend time with in my life, 00:43:40.500 --> 00:43:44.599 men that I spend time with, if they ever walk away from something from me, 00:43:44.659 --> 00:43:48.059 I hope that they're going to learn, like, Christian life is a fight, 00:43:48.139 --> 00:43:50.099 and it's about endurance and perseverance. 00:43:50.320 --> 00:43:52.019 It's not hype. 00:43:52.199 --> 00:43:52.980 It's not excitement. 00:43:53.219 --> 00:43:55.639 It's not, you know, let's go out and do this. 00:43:55.679 --> 00:43:57.440 It's like, it's a war. 00:43:57.579 --> 00:44:00.780 And you've got to be, have a picture for the long haul. 00:44:01.380 --> 00:44:03.300 Like, it's going to be long and grueling, 00:44:03.300 --> 00:44:09.000 and you have to, like, be ready to endure and to press on through a lot of hardship. 00:44:09.820 --> 00:44:12.320 It's not going to be just an awesome ride all the time. 00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:16.360 So, to endure, run the race with endurance, he says. 00:44:17.380 --> 00:44:19.559 And so, as you run a race, what do you look to? 00:44:19.619 --> 00:44:22.079 You look at, like, the prize, the goal that's at the end. 00:44:22.119 --> 00:44:25.539 That's why you keep running, fixing, you know, looking to Jesus, 00:44:26.019 --> 00:44:29.440 or fixing your eyes on Jesus, some translations say, 00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:32.599 the founder and perfecter of our faith. 00:44:32.599 --> 00:44:39.759 And we see that Christ ran the race because of the joy that was set before him. 00:44:39.799 --> 00:44:43.099 He had joy to enable him to endure and to run. 00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:49.000 What's really cool, I mean, I really enjoyed this word right here 00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:52.159 where it talks about founder, perfecter, that idea. 00:44:52.319 --> 00:44:53.059 It's really cool. 00:44:53.059 --> 00:44:57.599 And, eriagos, I think is how you say this word. 00:44:58.279 --> 00:45:04.059 And it's the idea of, like, a leader who goes ahead of a group or a team that he's on 00:45:04.059 --> 00:45:05.519 to open up the way for something. 00:45:06.360 --> 00:45:12.239 And I mentioned this, I think, last year sometime, but just to revisit it in this text. 00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:18.239 Like, if you think about, like, a special forces team or whatever, like, military-wise, 00:45:18.239 --> 00:45:22.059 they're on a mission and they're going and they come up to this really huge ravine 00:45:22.059 --> 00:45:23.799 and they can't get across it. 00:45:23.819 --> 00:45:25.919 And they don't have time to go around it. 00:45:25.939 --> 00:45:27.579 They have to kind of keep going forward. 00:45:27.699 --> 00:45:29.659 And so there's no way across. 00:45:29.659 --> 00:45:37.739 But they finally figure out there could be a way that they could, you know, get across. 00:45:37.899 --> 00:45:43.859 And so their team leader, whoever it is, their commander, at great risk to his own safety, 00:45:43.860 --> 00:45:48.980 like, he takes that risk and he actually ends up getting across the ravine 00:45:48.980 --> 00:45:54.599 and he actually ties the line up and he kind of secures, you know, the way for his men to follow him. 00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:57.640 That's kind of like what this is a picture of, like, of Christ. 00:45:57.780 --> 00:46:00.039 Christ has gone before us. 00:46:00.099 --> 00:46:02.079 He's, like, endured everything that we would endure. 00:46:02.760 --> 00:46:04.579 And he's been victorious. 00:46:04.860 --> 00:46:08.240 And now, like, he's prepared the way for us to follow him. 00:46:08.300 --> 00:46:09.500 Like, the way is already clear. 00:46:10.059 --> 00:46:12.880 So pursue him and go after him. 00:46:13.880 --> 00:46:18.480 And so he's gone before us and he's secured our resting place. 00:46:18.820 --> 00:46:20.740 He's secured the victory for us. 00:46:20.740 --> 00:46:25.240 And so all we need to do is just walk in it, you know, live in that victory. 00:46:26.039 --> 00:46:30.780 So we don't have to, I mean, it's important on how you think, 00:46:30.880 --> 00:46:33.619 but when you're battling sin in your life, you don't need to say, 00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:36.200 man, like, I'm fighting for victory. 00:46:37.420 --> 00:46:41.460 Because the reality is you just need to walk in the victory that you already have been given. 00:46:41.460 --> 00:46:44.099 Like, you've already been given victory in Christ. 00:46:44.199 --> 00:46:46.380 It's not like you have to just beat this thing. 00:46:46.440 --> 00:46:51.420 It's like embracing the reality that Christ has conquered that sin in your life. 00:46:52.220 --> 00:46:56.199 So that's just a few things to think about. 00:46:56.199 --> 00:47:01.559 And we're going to just end with a little time of singing, 00:47:01.679 --> 00:47:03.859 and then we'll break up and have some discussion about this. 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:11.139 But let's press on and lay hold of all that is ours in Christ. 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:11.719