The scripture reading comes from Philippians, starting in chapter 3, verse 2.
Please follow along on the screen or your Bible.
Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus,
and put no confidence in the flesh.
Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also,
if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.
Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church,
as to the righteousness under the law, blameless.
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and kind them as rubbish,
in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him,
not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God that depends on faith,
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,
and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this, or I am already perfect,
but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it on my own.
But one thing I do,
forgetting what lines behind and straining forward to what lines ahead,
I press on to what to go for the price of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Let those of us who are mature think this way,
and if in anything you think otherwise,
God will reveal that also to you.
Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Brothers, join in imitating me,
and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
For many, of whom I have often told you,
and now tell you even with tears,
walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their end is destruction,
their God is their belly,
and their glory in their shame,
with minds set on earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we await a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform our lowly body
to be like His glorious body,
by the power that enables Him
even to subject all things to Himself.
Therefore, my brothers,
whom I love and long for,
my joy and crown,
stand firm,
thus in the Lord,
my beloved.
Amen.
Great.
Thanks, Joanne and Mandy.
Good morning, everybody.
Great to be back with you again.
If you are new or joining us for the first time,
my name is Kevin,
and it's wonderful to join you
and have you join us this morning.
We are continuing to work through the book of Philippians,
and last week we started this chapter,
which Joanne and Mandy read to us,
and Paul starts off with this warning.
He says,
Watch out for the dogs.
Watch out for the evildoers.
And he's talking about these religious people
that have come to the church in Philippi,
and they are trying to undermine the confidence
that the Philippian Christians
have in Jesus Christ and in the gospel.
And they are trying to distract them
away from Christ and the gospel
to urging them to have a confidence in themselves,
to find their assurance before God
in a do-it-yourself kind of religion,
in their own pedigree,
their resume,
their religious achievements,
and their moral performance.
And Paul says to them,
That's not genuine faith.
Genuine faith are those who glory in Christ Jesus
and not in our own do-it-yourself religion.
He says,
Genuine followers of Jesus
are those who worship by the Spirit of God,
not by tradition or formula or structure.
And Paul then goes on to share his own story,
and he uses this accounting analogy.
And he says,
The thing that I previously considered to be a liability,
faith in Christ Jesus,
I've now come to see as the thing of all surpassing worth.
There is nothing more important than that.
And the things in my life that I previously considered to be really important,
the things I'd put a lot of stock in,
the things I'd really valued in my life,
which was my track record,
my spiritual performance,
the fact that I did the things I was meant to do,
and I didn't do the things I wasn't meant to do,
my previous track record,
which I previously had put so much hope and confidence in,
I've now considered to be,
I've disregarded it.
It's utterly meaningless,
compared to the all-surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus,
my Lord.
And so that's what we looked at last week.
But now what I want us to do is to go and look at the last two verses of that section of Scripture.
And look, because Paul says something very interesting.
And we need to understand what he's saying here in order to understand the next section.
Now I've got to warn you,
today's going to be a little bit theological.
So you're going to have to stick with me for the first half,
and then hopefully we'll get a little bit more practical after that.
So let's just remind ourselves,
the book of Philippians,
Paul is painting this picture of what the Christ-centered,
gospel-shaped life looks like.
And he is saying that the Christ-centered,
gospel-shaped life is one where we are learning to imitate Christ,
to know Him and become like Him,
becoming like Him in His death,
which leads to abundant life.
It's that J-curve that Chris spoke about a few weeks ago.
And we're going to see much of those same themes coming through again.
today.
And so we've got a couple of points today.
The first one is this.
The Christian's strength,
or maybe a better way of saying it is,
the Christian's life.
Firstly, the Christian's life.
Look at verse 8 with me.
Paul says this.
For His sake,
sake of Jesus,
I've suffered the loss of all things.
I count them as rubbish.
In order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.
That's what we spoke about last week.
And then he says this really interesting thing in verse 10.
He says,
In the Bible,
to know something has a couple of different dimensions.
You know something intellectually.
You understand the facts and how this thing works.
But to know something is also deeper than that.
You also know something practically.
In other words,
in the Bible,
if it doesn't have a practical outworking in your life,
you don't really know it.
You can know it in your head,
but if it doesn't actually become part of your daily conduct,
you don't really know it.
But thirdly,
in the Bible,
to know something is to know something in a deeply intimate and personal way.
There's intellectual way.
There's practical conduct.
But there's also the personal aspect of knowing something.
Which is why so often the Bible actually talks about sexual intimacy as knowing someone.
The Bible says that Adam knew Eve.
And that's not Hebrew euphemism,
because the Bible is a bit shy about talking about sex.
No,
it's a way of talking about how when you really know somebody,
you know them deeply and intimately like a married couple.
In this passage that we looked at last week,
Paul says he has abandoned self-confidence,
self-assurance,
do-it-yourself religion,
in order that he may know Christ.
In order that he may experience Him.
What does it mean to know God?
What does it mean to actually experience God?
Look at what he says.
Look at what it involves.
It means knowing Christ and becoming like Him in suffering.
Look what he says here.
He says,
I've given up self-righteousness,
I've given up my self-religion,
in order that I may know Him,
and the power of His resurrection,
and may share in His sufferings,
becoming like Him in His death.
Alec Mottier was one of the great Bible theologians.
He died about five years ago.
He's one of the great,
great theologians of the last century.
Look at what he writes.
He says this,
We are often surprised when suffering comes our way.
But what did we expect?
Do we want to be made like Christ or not?
Christ-likeness must lead to Calvary.
We must be ready for,
and we cannot hope to avoid,
the downward path of the crucified.
This is the way of the Lord Jesus.
This is the way of Christ-likeness for Paul.
This is the way of Christ-likeness for us.
Friends, in the Bible,
God tells us again and again
that we will never really know God.
We'll never get to experience God deeply and intimately.
We never get to know the depth and the richness
and the power and the beauty of the gospel
until we go through some measure of suffering.
C.S. Lewis famously said that
God often whispers to us in our pleasure,
but He shouts to us.
He gets our attention in our pain.
But it's not just the way that God gets our attention.
It's the way that we get to know God
and actually really experience Him
is through the hardships in life.
The way we get to know the infinite worth of God
and the beauty of God
is through the difficulties of life,
which is why Paul says
not only does he not avoid suffering,
but actually he rejoices in it
because in it he gets to experience
this deep intimacy and closeness with God.
Friends, we've spoken about it so often at Watermark
and we'll say it again into the future, no doubt,
that because we live in a broken world,
suffering is part of our world.
It may come in the form of sickness
or cancer
or the loss of a loved one.
It may come in the form of retrenchment
or just the hardship in life.
It may also come in the form of persecution
or opposition for your faith.
And when you're vocal
and you speak out about the fact
that you're a follower of Jesus,
that will certainly attract opposition.
But when it comes,
the Bible promises
we will be richer for it
because we will know Christ in a way
that we would never have known him before.
But you might have noticed
we actually skipped over something here
because look at what Paul says.
He doesn't just say,
I want to know him in his sufferings.
Look at what he says.
He says,
I want to know him
and the power of his resurrection
and share in his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death,
that by all means possible,
I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Now, what on earth is Paul going on about there?
In the New Testament,
Christ's resurrection from the dead
is one of the most significant
and important events
in the entire New Testament
and in fact, the entire Bible.
Christ's resurrection from the dead
does many things for us
and for our Christian faith.
On the one hand,
it validates Christ's claim
that he's not just a good man
or a good moral teacher.
He's nothing less than
the Son of God himself.
Christ's death on the cross
deals a death blow
to our most significant enemy,
which is death itself.
Christ's resurrection
neutralizes or disarms
our enemy, death.
Christ's resurrection
also means that
if you're a follower of Jesus,
your eternal resurrection,
your resurrection after you die,
the fact that when we die,
we pass from life into death
and back into life again,
Christ's resurrection guarantees that.
It makes it absolutely certain.
We don't just live hoping
that maybe one day
we'll attain resurrection
of the dead.
Christ's resurrection
guarantees it.
It's absolutely certain for us.
And that's why Paul speaks
about this resurrection
from the dead
with such certainty.
He says,
I want to know Christ
through suffering,
through the power
of the resurrection,
even as I long for
and await that day.
But in the New Testament,
the benefit of Christ's
death and resurrection
are not just for that day
when we die and go to heaven.
The benefit of Christ's resurrection
for believers
is not just at Christ's return
that one day we will be
in eternal glory with Him.
Actually, through the work
of the Spirit,
followers of Jesus
get to experience
a measure
of that resurrection
power and life
in our lives
right here today
and this very week.
Look at what Paul says here.
He says,
I want to know Christ
and I want to know
the power of His resurrection
even as I share
in His sufferings,
becoming like Him
unto death.
For the Christian,
that promised new creation,
that promised eternal glory,
that promised life with Christ,
our new resurrection bodies,
which Christ's resurrection guarantees,
doesn't just begin
when we die
and go to heaven.
It actually starts now,
the day that you become
a follower of Jesus.
Because of Jesus' resurrection,
our own resurrection of glory
is not only guaranteed,
it's a measure of it
is given to us
in this lifetime now.
We get to experience
the power of Christ's resurrection.
Gordon Fee,
who's this amazing theologian,
says it like this,
To know Christ now
means first of all
to know the power
of His resurrection,
which is the power
that comes to believers
on the basis
of Christ's resurrection.
And Paul says the same thing
in Ephesians chapter 1.
He says,
As believers,
the same spirit
that raised Jesus
from the dead
is now at work
within us
in our lives.
That spirit
is at work within us
as followers of Jesus.
So,
for the disciples of Jesus,
for followers of Jesus
in 21st century Hong Kong,
the Christian life
is empowered
by the resurrection life
and power
the same resurrection
that raised Jesus
from the dead
through the work
of the Holy Spirit.
Okay,
I told you this was going
to be a little theological,
right?
For the Christian,
a Christian is not just
someone
who looks back
at Jesus' death
and resurrection
on the cross,
believes that fact
in history,
and one day hopes
that when we die,
we'll get to be
with God in heaven.
Though that is true,
a Christian is someone
who because of our faith
in Jesus
and his death
and his resurrection,
gets to experience
something of the power
and the resurrection life
in our lives now,
in Christ,
and we get to walk
with him
even as we walk
towards our eternal destiny.
Friends,
a Christian is not just
someone who needs
to battle out in life,
try and hold on
to our faith
and hope that we make
it through at the end.
No,
if you're a disciple
of Jesus,
God the Holy Spirit
is at work
in your life now,
helping you
give the power
of his resurrection,
helping you to fight sin,
overcome temptation,
giving you faith
in the midst of difficulty,
helping you to live
obediently,
helping you to smash
your idols,
helping you to trust God
in the midst of your
day-to-day trenches
of life.
But,
and this is Paul's point,
this only happens
as we forsake
self-confidence,
do-it-yourself religion,
and we bank our hope
and our confidence
in Jesus
and his death
on the cross.
And in many ways,
this dual nature
and tension
of the Christian life,
one in which we
get to suffer
with God
in his life,
but we're also
empowered with his life,
it's this tension
in the Christian life
in which we find
that we get to know
God deeply.
We walk with God
and we know him
through both
the trials
and the suffering,
but also in his
resurrection power.
Look again at how
Gordon Fee talks
about this tension.
This is quite a long quote,
but it's amazing.
Listen up and pay attention.
Gordon Fee says this,
often in the church,
we find Christians
are uncertain
about this tension,
this tension between
walking with Christ
through suffering,
but also experiencing
his power
and his life.
We tend to think
of it either
as a matter
of either or
rather than
both and.
To know Christ
through the power
of his resurrection
doesn't not mean
participating
in his sufferings,
but the two go together
hand in hand.
Therefore,
there is no sense
of triumphalism,
but neither
does Paul emphasize
suffering
in such a way
as to diminish
the power
of Christ's resurrection
as genuinely present
for us.
Paul knows nothing
of the gloomy
stoicism
we often see
in Christians,
where the lot
of the believer
is basically just
that of battling
it out in the trenches
with little
or no sense
of Christ's presence
and power.
No, for Paul,
the power of Christ's
resurrection
was the greater reality.
In fact,
so certain was Paul
that Christ's resurrection
did in fact happen
and that Christ's resurrection
guaranteed his own
that he could throw himself
into the present
with a kind of
holy abandon,
full of rejoicing
and thanksgiving,
even in the midst
of his sufferings.
Not because he enjoyed
suffering,
but because Christ's
resurrection had given
him a unique perspective
on present suffering,
as well as
an empowering presence
so that the suffering
was transformed
into intimate fellowship
with Christ himself.
Okay, I hope you got
what he's saying.
What Gordon Fee is saying here
is that the gospel
gives us this amazing
perspective on life.
We know that suffering
is going to be part
of our journey
because it is part
of Christ's journey
and we are learning
to become like Christ.
We're learning
to imitate him.
So we're not triumphalistic.
We're not overly confident.
We don't feel like,
yeah, I've got Jesus
on my side.
I've got this thing sorted.
Nothing can touch me.
No, we know that part
of becoming like Christ
is joining him
in his suffering.
We're not surprised
or deflated
when difficulty comes our way
as if something strange
or unexpected
were happening to us.
When something goes wrong,
we don't think,
God, where are you?
How have you abandoned me?
Don't you love me anymore?
We know this is part
of the Christian life.
But we're also not morose.
We also don't feel like
real Christians
or those that are miserable
because if you really love Jesus,
you've just got to suffer
through this life.
No, no, no.
If you walk with Jesus,
you experience something
of his resurrection power,
his joy,
his life,
in the midst of even
the hardship
and the difficulty
that comes our way.
Friends,
to walk with Christ
means experiencing
his triumph over the grave
even as we live
in a broken world
because we live
knowing that this
is not the final journey.
We are making our way
to eternal glory
where there will one day
be no more tears,
no more suffering,
no more pain.
And part of that
resurrection life
is our experience
now in this world.
This is what it means
to know Jesus.
Paul says,
I've abandoned
self-righteousness.
I've abandoned
confidence in myself.
I want to hold on to Christ
that I may know him
and the power
of his resurrection
but also his sufferings
as I make my way
towards eternal glory.
this is the Christian life.
This is the Christian strength.
This is the Christian's confidence.
Friends,
a few weeks ago
we spoke about
in our sermon
about missionaries
and I must confess
I caught myself off guard.
I got a little excited
during that sermon.
I didn't expect
to get so excited.
But I've been thinking
about it the last two weeks
since then.
We spoke about
I said I hope
in Watermark
we can send missionaries
off to Afghanistan
and North Africa
and the Middle East
and North Korea
and some of us
won't get to do that.
Some of us will be missionaries
into Hong Kong.
And I've thought about that
a lot the last two weeks.
I really hope
that that is the case.
Friends,
I really hope
that as Watermark
we become
this radically
missional church
where some of our
young people
are men
and our women
really do sign up
to give their lives away
to the mission of Christ
in foreign nations
and difficult nations.
Friends,
I hope that all of us
as church
sign up
to spend our lives
for the glory of God
in this city
in Hong Kong.
And as we do it
we will know God deeply.
We will know the power
of His resurrection.
Suffering with Him
becoming like Him
in His death
but you will know
something of the resurrection
life and power of God
as we walk with God
in this city.
Friends,
that's only going to happen
as we abandon self-confidence.
As we count
our self-righteousness
as loss
as we hold on
to Christ
and the gospel
like Paul.
Paul says
that for His sake
I have suffered
the loss of all things.
I count them as rubbish
in order that I may
know Him
and the power
of His resurrection.
I may share
in His sufferings
becoming like Him
in His death
that by all means
possible
I may attain
the resurrection
from the dead.
Friends,
maybe I can just ask
if you consider yourself
a Christian,
that's good.
what does it mean
to be a Christian?
What does it mean
to know God?
Do you experience
His life and His power?
Do you walk with Him
through difficulty
and suffering
and hardship?
Do you know God
like this?
Or do you just know
the gospel in your head?
Do you know the Bible stories
and the theology?
You know how
the theology works.
Jesus died for our sins
but do you know Him
experientially?
Is He a part of your life?
Do you know Him
intimately and deeply?
Paul says
this is the Christian life.
Now,
secondly,
the Christian's ambition.
Look at what
Gordon Fee said here.
At the end of this long quote,
he said,
because of the gospel,
Paul is able to
throw himself
into God's call
with a kind of
holy abandon,
full of rejoicing
and thanksgiving,
knowing that
whatever he faces,
he will do so
empowered by Christ.
Well,
look at how
Paul lived this out.
Look at verses
12 to 14 with me.
Paul says this,
he's just spoken about
his followership of Jesus
and his goal
is to know God deeply
and then he says this,
not that I've already
obtained this perfectly
or that I am perfect,
in other words,
that I am complete,
but I press on
to make it my own
because Christ Jesus
has made me His own.
Brothers,
I do not consider
that I've made it my own,
but one thing I do,
forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward
to what lies ahead,
I press on
towards the goal
for the prize
of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus.
What's Paul
talking about here?
For Paul,
being a Christian
isn't the goal of life.
His goal
is to know Jesus deeply.
And look at
what he says here.
He's just explained
how his conversion
to Christ
radically reorientated
his life.
It changed him.
It gave him
this overwhelming
desire to know Christ
more fully and deeply.
But he doesn't want
to be misunderstood.
He doesn't want to say,
listen,
just because I'm this
radical follower of Jesus,
I've ticked the box
and I'm all done
and now I just
am waiting to die.
He says,
for the rest of my life,
I'm going to keep
on pursuing Christ,
pressing on
to know Him
ever more deeply,
more powerfully,
more experientially.
For Paul,
this is what it means
to be a disciple
of Jesus.
This is Paul's life.
That whatever he's doing,
whether he's making tents,
whether he's traveling,
whether he's preaching
the gospel,
whatever he's doing,
his life revolves
around this wholehearted
pursuit and ambition
to know Christ
more deeply
and more intimately.
You know,
in the first century,
a disciple of Jesus
was somebody
who gave up
their life
in order to
learn from their master
and become like Him.
That was the definition
of a disciple.
Friends,
in the 21st century,
nothing's changed.
A Christian
is not just someone
who prayed a prayer
once upon a time,
who gave their heart
to Jesus,
whatever that means,
and now gets on
with their own life.
A disciple of Jesus
is somebody
who's giving their life,
learning from
their master,
Jesus,
and learning
to become like Him,
learning to know Him
intimately and deeply.
And so look at how
Paul says it here.
Notice how many times
he speaks of this
determined pursuit.
He says,
I press on
to make it my own
because Christ
has made me His own.
Brothers,
I do not consider
that I've already
got there,
but one thing I do,
forgetting what lies behind,
straining forward
to what lies ahead,
I press on
towards the goal
of the upward prize
of knowing Christ Jesus,
my Lord.
I'm sure we've all seen
pictures of athletes,
those who,
they are running
towards the finishing line
and they are straining
their entire bodies,
throwing themselves
over the finish line
in order to win the prize.
No Olympic athlete
that ever
wants to win the prize
just ambles
or just kind of strolls
over the finish line.
with everything
within them,
they throw themselves
over the line
in order that they may
win the prize.
That's the picture
that Paul's got here.
He's saying that
his pursuit,
his ambition
to follow Jesus
is he's pressing on,
he's straining forward,
he's throwing himself
at this goal
to know Christ
and to know Him
more deeply,
which means
that following Jesus
is not a casual affair.
Following Jesus
doesn't happen casually.
To know God
doesn't happen casually.
It's this wholehearted pursuit,
this laser sharp determination
to participate in the story,
to become like Him
even in His death,
to experience the power of God
in order that we may know Him.
That we may know Him.
This is the Christian's ambition,
to know God deeply.
Thirdly and finally,
the Christian's need.
Now,
in verse 17,
Paul is going to show us
what we need
in order to do this.
But let's first look
at verse 18.
Because in verse 18,
Paul actually gives us
a warning.
He's using this analogy
of somebody running the race
and pursuing the goal.
They've got their mind
set on the finish line,
on the goal.
The goal of knowing Christ
deeply.
But Paul says that sometimes
some people have got distracted
along the way.
Look at what he says
here in verse 18.
For many,
of whom I've often told you,
and he's talking here
about believers,
maybe some of Paul's
traveling companions.
Maybe there were people
in the church
that Paul wrote about
in his letters.
He says,
many of whom I've often
previously told you,
but now I tell you
with tears in my eyes,
are now walking
as enemies
of the cross of Christ.
they've abandoned Christ.
They've been distracted
from the goal
of knowing Christ
and they've walked off
on another tangent.
They've given up
on the race
and they're now enemies
of the gospel.
Paul says,
their God
is their belly.
In other words,
rather than worshipping
the beauty of Jesus,
they now worship
their own desires,
their own appetites.
There are things
that have distracted them
and caught them off guard
and they now have been
distracted
by these other desires.
They are slaves
of what grabs
their attention
in the immediate,
here and now.
They've become seduced
by the things around them.
Paul says,
their God
has become their belly,
their desires,
their appetites.
Their glory
and their shame.
The things that they boast
and the things
that they're proud of
are actually their shame.
They boast of their yacht
and their 17 houses
and how well they've done
in their careers.
But actually,
those things,
Paul says,
are actually their shame
because they've traded
insipid,
worthless,
dead idols
for the living God.
That's not something
to boast in.
That's something
to be embarrassed about.
Their minds
are set on earthly things
and their end
is destruction.
Friend,
what a description
of the wasted life.
their God
is their belly,
their glory
and their shame.
Their end
is destruction.
I remember
many years ago
in South Africa,
there was an advert
on TV.
I can't even remember
what the advert was for.
But it's the advert
of a guy,
he starts out
the first of January,
he's got a bit of a belly
and he wants to lose
some weight
and so he decides
I'm going to
start running
and jogging.
So he wakes up
early in the mornings
and he's jogging
along the road
and on the first morning
while he's jogging
and he's huffing
and puffing
and he's sweating,
this beautiful lady
jogs across the road
in the opposite direction
and his mind
gets distracted
and he's looking
at this lady
and he runs
straight into a tree
and he kind of like
falls over flat
and that's the end
of his goal.
Some of us,
friends,
as followers of Jesus,
we have said
I want to know
Christ deeply.
Yes,
I want to follow him.
And we've usually
become distracted
by other things.
Our God has become
rather than the infinite
all-surpassing worth
of Christ,
the maker of heaven
and earth,
the one who put
the cosmos
and the galaxies
and the stars
into space
rather than worshipping him,
we've become distracted
by insipid
and worthless
and useless things.
Our God has become
our appetites,
our gadgets,
our temporary things,
material wealth.
We've traded
the infinite worth
of God
for man-made objects.
We start to glory
in our shame
and our minds
are set
on earthly things
and we are wasting
our lives.
But Paul gives
and he gives us
some help here.
He says that
there's something
that can help us
from being distracted.
Look at what he says
in verse 17.
He says,
brothers join in imitating me.
Keep your eyes
rather on earthly things,
rather on the beautiful lady
that's running past,
rather than the gadgets
and material gain.
Keep your eyes
on those who walk
according to the example
that you have in us.
He's talking about
surround yourself
with brothers and sisters,
those who will glory
not in their self-confidence
but in Christ.
Those who will worship
not according to tradition
or ritual
but who glory in Christ.
He's talking about those
who because they've seen
the infinite worth of Christ
will consider all things
as rubbish
compared to the all-surpassing
worth of Christ.
He says,
find some brothers
and sisters like that
and set your mind on them.
Imitate them.
Let them speak into your life.
Let them help you
fix your eyes on Jesus.
Don't get distracted
by the things around you.
Find brothers and sisters
that will help you
keep your eyes fixed
on Christ
to glory in Jesus,
to worship Christ,
to be those who
who walk by the power
of the resurrection,
those who join Christ
in His sufferings
but do it gladly
because we're walking
with Jesus.
Find friends around us
who will help our eyes
be fixed on Jesus,
who will help us
to know Him
and to not waste our lives.
Friends,
this is why
Christian community
is so important.
The Christian journey
is a communal project,
not an individual project.
It's a communal affair
as we walk with those
who can suffer with us
but who can rejoice with us,
who can pray with us
and be with us.
Friends,
as we come to a close,
let me ask you,
what's going to stop us
wasting our life?
Friends,
if you're a young person
this morning,
you're 18 years old,
you're just finishing
high school,
you're a university student
or maybe you're a fresh graduate,
you've got your whole life
ahead of you,
what's going to stop you
wasting your life?
Friends,
maybe you're 70 years old,
you've retired from work,
you've lived a good life.
What's going to stop you
just sliding into retirement
and gradually slipping
into the grave?
Friends,
do you still have a goal?
Do you still have a vision?
Are you still pursuing Christ
with wholehearted ambition
and pursuit?
Are you still pressing on
and running into Jesus
even at 70 years old?
Friends,
what's going to stop you
wasting the final years
of your life?
Do you have people around you
that can encourage you
to do that?
As we come to a close,
I want to tell you the story
of a man by the name
of William Carey.
William Carey was a British man.
He didn't grow up
in a Christian family.
He was born around 1770,
250 years ago or so.
And he became a follower
of Jesus.
When he finished school,
he was a young man.
He was working as an apprentice
in a shoe-making shop.
And there was another apprentice
with him,
his colleague,
that told him about
the wonder of Jesus.
And William Carey
became a believer.
He discovered the
all-surpassing worth
of Christ.
And Christ grew in his heart
more and more.
And he wanted to give his life
to the things of God.
And so,
he eventually decided
with a bunch of friends,
they started this
missionary society
called the Baptist
Missionary Society.
And William Carey
was one of the first people
in the modern era
to become a missionary
to Asia.
And so,
in 1793,
he leaves London
with his wife
and his three children.
His wife is pregnant
and they catch a ship
to go to Kolkata
in India.
And for the next 40 years,
William Carey
becomes this incredible
missionary to India.
He buries
some of his children there.
But while he's there,
he starts orphanages,
he starts hospitals,
he starts schools,
he starts universities.
He was just
this incredible man.
And one of the things
he was passionate about
was translating the Bible
into the local languages.
And so,
he translated the Bible.
He himself translated
the Bible
into six languages.
Translated into Bengali,
into Hindi,
into the ancient language
of Sanskrit,
into Assamese,
into a bunch of
other Indian languages.
And he oversaw
the translation
of another 26 languages
of the Bible.
Just this incredible,
incredible man.
When he was in his 70s,
he wrote this letter
to his son.
And this is what he writes.
Listen to this letter.
He says,
to his son Jabez.
He says,
I am this day
70 years old,
which alone
is God's mercy
and goodness.
Though on reflection
upon my life,
I find much,
very much,
for which I ought
to be humbled
to the dust.
My sins are innumerable.
My neglect of the Lord's work
has been great.
I have not promoted
his cause
or sought his glory
or his honor
as I ought to have done.
Thus,
my only confidence
is the blood
of Christ alone.
And through him,
I hope to receive
that divine favor.
Still,
I hope to be more
entirely devoted
to his service,
becoming more like him,
demonstrating more
of his grace
in my life,
bringing forth more
of the fruits
of righteousness
to the praise
and the honor
of that Savior
who gave his life
as sacrifice
for my sins.
Friends,
in many ways,
part of the reason
why the gospel
is in Asia
is because of this man,
William Carey.
The man who spent
his life,
who poured out
his life
for the advance
of the gospel.
Friends,
here is a man
that did more
than probably most
of us could ever
dream to do
in ten lifetimes.
He poured out
his life like
a drink offering.
He ran this race
wholeheartedly.
And yet,
did you notice
how humble he was?
Did you know
the appeal
to the gospel?
He speaks about
how at 70 years old,
he reflects
on his life
and he says,
I'm so aware
of my shortcomings.
I'm so aware
of my sin.
And yet,
I'm so aware
of God's grace
and his mercy
and his love to me.
And yet,
even at seven years old,
he's not just
sitting back
and riding it out
into glory.
With an athlete's
determination,
with focus
and attention,
he's still pressing on.
He's straining.
He's throwing himself
into the call of God
with a holy abandon,
knowing that Christ
is with him
and that Christ's
resurrection power
is at work
in his life.
But did you see
the motivation?
It was the gospel.
Here's this man
who had zero confidence
in himself,
zero confidence
in his achievements
for God.
Like Paul,
he could look back
at this long list
of resumes
and say,
I counted all
as nothing,
as loss,
compared to the
all-surpassing worth
of knowing Christ Jesus,
my Lord,
of knowing him
and his sufferings,
but knowing the power
and the resurrection
life in my life.
William Carey,
the Apostle Paul,
hundreds of others
have spent their life
in pursuit
of knowing Christ
and knowing him deeply.
Friends,
let's join them
in this endeavor
as well.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Heavenly Father,
loving Christ,
Holy Spirit,
God,
when we look
at the Apostle Paul,
we look at men
like William Carey
and countless others,
God,
in some ways,
feel so embarrassed
what we've done
with our lives.
God,
we have not
embraced suffering
or hardship
like these men,
but God,
we in many ways
have not experienced
the resurrection
life and power
like them either.
Oh God,
we want to know you deeply.
We want to know you,
God.
Christ,
I pray,
won't you
do a work
of the Spirit
in our hearts,
won't you pour out
your Spirit in us,
that God,
we will suffer
with you,
that we will learn
to learn from you
and become like you,
becoming even like you
in your death
and your suffering,
but even more than that,
becoming like you
in your wholehearted
pursuit of the glory
of God.
Jesus,
help us,
we pray.
Help us to know you
more deeply,
more intimately,
to love you more.
We pray these things
in your wonderful
and your powerful name.