December 30, 2001

What Are You Counting On?

Phil. 3

This last week I read a couple articles about people making New Year's Resolutions. One was serious, one was not, it was just humorous, but it got me thinking; do we need to any make New Year's Resolutions?
Maybe this is a good time to look back over the past year and think about what went right, what went wrong, what do we need to repeat or get in the habit of. Was there anything that was a disaster, and we need to make sure we never do it again?

There is a place in the Bible where the Apostle Paul does something along that line, and it would be helpful to us to look at it today and see how it applies to us.

If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn to the third chapter of the New Testament book of Philippians. Philippi was a town on the Greek seacoast, there was a fair sized assembly of Christians there in the first century, and Paul is writing this chapter to get them to stop and think about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Verse 1:
" Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe."
Paul wrote a lot of letters to the different churches, and his letter writing ministry covered about sixteen years. But today we only have copies of thirteen letters. He must have a written a lot more letters than what we currently know about, and this is probably not the first or the only letter he wrote to the Philippians. What he is telling them here, he has told them before, on other occasions, but he still thinks it is worthwhile to tell them the same things over again. It is the same way with us. I ate some bread and drank some water yesterday, I did it the day before, I plan to do it today, and I hope to be able to do it tomorrow. And in the same way, some of the same kind of spiritual food that we ate yesterday, we need it again today, and we'll need some more of it again tomorrow.

When I first started preaching, I would get concerned if I went back over the same topic twice, but now I don't worry about it. There are some things that we need to hear often, because that makes things safer for us. The world and it's values has a loud voice, it shouts it's lies at us constantly, and that can make it easy to forget things we ought to remember. So just like Paul with the Philippians, it doesn't hurt us to go back and review, it is safe for us to hear some things quite often.
Verse 2: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
The church back then had a constant problem with false teachers coming in and trying to get the Christians to turn aside from sound doctrine. Some were Jewish legalizers, trying to persuade the believers to follow all the laws and traditions of the Old Testament.

Others went in the opposite direction, teaching that since the spirit of the believer was now alive in Christ, it didn't matter how you behaved with your body, your sinful flesh didn't affect your sanctified spirit, so you could live any way you wanted to. They taught that you could let your body sin all kinds of ways, because the only thing that mattered was your spirit.

What Paul is saying in verse three is that believers in Jesus are to live up to what the Old Testament ordinance of circumcision really meant. Just like Israel in the Old Testament, we have been set aside to God, consecrated to Him, and we are to live accordingly.

We have no confidence in the flesh that it can do anything to save us, so we don't trust our works in the body, the flesh, to save us. On the other hand, we don't allow the flesh to live any way it likes. We are to live holy and sanctified lives both in our spirit and in our bodies.

In the next six verses, Paul uses himself as an example of that line of reasoning. From a fleshly, natural perspective, he had done everything right, he had everything going for him, he was religiously better than anybody; but he threw it out. Compared with the excellency of knowing Jesus Christ by faith, he considered it as worse than garbage. All it did was tempt him to trust in himself and his own credentials rather than trust in Jesus. Verse 4, see what he says:
"Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:"

If you are here today and you have never trusted in Jesus Christ to be your righteousness for you: If you are here and you think you are a good person, you are a nice person, you are a friendly person, you live a good life, and you don't break the laws of the land, and you love puppies and poetry and you never speak a harsh word to anybody; that's nice. Keep doing that. Society needs all the polite and gracious people it can get. But don't fool yourself that any or all of those things will get you one inch closer to heaven.

Take all those good credentials you've got and lay them alongside the Apostle Paul's, and you won't even come close. You won't even get into the game with your qualifications, much less stand any chance of success, but look what Paul said about his qualifications: they weren't worth a manure pile compared with the righteousness to be found in Jesus Christ. So where does that leave you and me? Outside looking in. Unless you are trusting in Jesus Christ to be your righteousness for you. Unless you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, to be your righteousness for you, then you won't have any righteousness, anything to recommend you, anything to give you any confidence to stand before God.

If you have never received Jesus Christ as your redeemer, your Messiah, your Savior from sin, then you need to make that your first priority. Because until you get that right, nothing else matters. Let's all be sure we understand this real well. Maybe it sounds a bit crude, but the Apostle Paul is right on the money and we need to get our values in line with his and with God's. Unless and until you have received Jesus Christ by faith as your Savior, everything that you have ever done, and everything that you will ever do, will get you no closer to God than a pile of cow manure will.

When you stand before God, you have the option of standing before Him in the perfection of His beloved Son, in the perfection and beauty of Jesus Christ, if you will receive Him by faith. And if you have truly received Christ by faith, God will see you as perfectly acceptable, just as Jesus Christ is perfectly acceptable before Him.

Or you can stand before him in your own accomplishments, your own worthiness, your own virtues. And in that moment, you will look and smell to Him like someone who just came from cleaning out the cow barn, and fell down in it a few times in the process. I would suggest to you that you not do that. That would not be a good idea. That would be a horrible moment, followed immediately by a horrible forever. And that's the understatement of the year. The only thing that will matter when you stand before God is the righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to your account. You need to get that right.

Paul got it right, and it changed everything he knew and valued. He met Jesus one day on a road to Damascus, and from that time on, there was nothing he enjoyed or appreciated as much as being in fellowship and communion with Jesus.

In the next couple verses, Paul is not talking about something that he would like to have, but something that he already has, and it is extremely valuable to him, so valuable that he is willing to endure anything to stay in it, to enjoy it, and to please Jesus. Verse 10:
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
This continues the thought that was started in verse 8, and ties it all together. In verses 8 & 9, Paul tells how he has given up everything that might have any claim on him, just to obtain this one thing. Paul realizes that this is the only way to really know Him, to experience the mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead. What is it like to love so much that you would be willing to suffer like Jesus suffered? Paul wants to know that love. Paul wants to experience that love. Paul wants to be that kind of a person.
If necessary, Paul is willing to die the same kind of death that Jesus died, anything, whatever it takes in order to know Jesus more fully, walk with Him more closely. His present experiences with Jesus have motivated and inspired him that much. His experiences of the presence of Christ in his life have moved him that greatly.

And that is just part of Paul's present Christian experience, there is still more to look forward to at Jesus' second coming; the rapture. Being raised from out of among the dead. Verse 11:
"If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead." What does Paul mean here? That seems an odd thing to say, everyone is going to get resurrected sooner or later. I don't want to get bogged down in Greek words here, but the word for resurrection in verse 11does not refer to a general resurrection. It speaks of the rapture of the church. It points to a resurrection from out of the dead instead of a general resurrection, and that is something that Paul is looking forward to. That is something that he is excited about.

To translate this Greek word correctly, we would need to invent a new English word; if you were to take the word out, and stick in on the front of the word resurrection, then you would have it. Paul is looking forward to the out-resurrection of the dead; the rapture. He doesn't care what it takes or how he gets there, any means will do, he is just plain looking forward to it.

In the next verse, Paul tells us something that is a real encouragement to all of us, and that is that none of us are perfect, so we don't need to get discouraged when we fall short of perfection. But he also tells us that Jesus Christ tapped us on the shoulder and called us for a reason; there is a prize to be gained, and a goal to be won.
Verse 12: "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."

Something that causes real problems in the church is when some Christians make claims for the faith that won't hold up. Back in 1988, there was a man who made a pretty good case for Jesus coming back for the church that year. The man said that 1988 would be the year of the Rapture. I was expecting for the Lord to come back soon anyway, so our family did some good family things together, had a nice day, waited to see what would happen, and then when nothing happened, we just went on with life. But there were some people that quit their jobs, sold all their stuff, messed their lives all up, and then had their faith get all wrapped around the axle when the prediction proved false. A false teacher, a false doctrine.

Some people teach the doctrine that when you become a Christian, God makes you a king's kid, you get healthy and wealthy, nothing ever goes wrong, and life is just one wonderful day after another. What happens to the faith of those in such churches when bankruptcy comes, or cancer comes, or some other hard thing? Sometimes, rather than admit that the doctrine was false, others in their church will tell them that "you just didn't have enough faith," "maybe you have sin in your life, and God can't bless you." False doctrine. And somebody's faith hits the rocks.

Some would teach that being a Christian means that you have to live in sinless perfection, and if you sin, then you lose your salvation. It's sad when some folks set the bar so high, that others just turn around and walk away without trying, because they know they can't make it. Well guess what: Paul didn't make it either. Here in verse 12, Paul tells us that he has not yet attained perfection. He is not yet perfect. He still has a way to go. Kinda like me. Kinda like you.

But he follows his goal, trying to apprehend, and the word apprehend means to take possession of something or someone. Paul wants to take possession of what Christ wants him to have, take possession of what Christ wants him to do. Because that's why Christ took possession of him. Jesus took possession of Paul, apprehended him; so that Paul could go out and take possession of good and wonderful and worthwhile things. He says he's not there yet, but he is following hard after it. A good role model for us. That is a practical doctrine that makes perfect sense. We can live with that. And we should.

The next three verses especially have to do with where we are at during this time of the year. Where have we come from, where have we been, what have we done, what happens next? And we will devote the rest of our time today to looking just at those three verses. Verse 13:
"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."
In verses 13 and 14 there is a marvelous little formula for Christian living and success, I first heard it about 23 years ago and I want to pass it on to you.

Evaluation, simplification, cancellation, aspiration and determination.

Evaluation: "Brethern, I count not myself to have apprehended." How are things going? And not "How do I feel, do I have a warm fuzzy emotion about myself or my faith," but how are things really? This means I get out my pocket calculator and do some naught naught gazintas, I check the spiritual profit and loss column, and I come to a realistic evaluation of myself. I add things up, consider the positives, subtract the negatives, and here is the reality. This is where I am. No wishful thinking, no looking through pink rose-colored Elton John glasses, this is what it is.

"I have not apprehended." I have not yet got a grip on what I need to get a grip on. There are some things that I need to take possession of, take control of, and it hasn't happened yet. What is there in your life that you need to get control of? What is there that you have not yet apprehended, it is still on the loose, it is still flapping in the wind?

We get tempted in three primary areas; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life: where are you at and how is it going? Do you have authority in those areas through Christ, or are you still trying to deal with those areas in the power of the old fleshly nature?

When you look in the mirror, do you see what's really there? James 1:22 tells us: "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
:24 For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was."

Here is a little hand mirror that I brought from home. When I look into it, what kind of person do I see?

Here: you take a turn - What do you see when you look in the mirror? A person whom God is transforming into the image of His Son? A Christlike person? Or do you see a person who is still eaten up with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life? What do you see?

If Paul evaluated his life and decided that he had not yet gotten control of all the things that Jesus wanted him to apprehend, then it stands to reason that I still need to do some work, and you still need to do some work, but that is no excuse not to go for it anyway. The Christian life is one of those places where there is no such thing as status quo. You can't stand still. If you're not going forward, you're backing up. Being self satisfied or complacent in the Christian life is like trying to stand still on a slick hill. You might think you're standing still, but before you know it, you're back down at the bottom.

Think about it: a believer that keeps trying to go forward is never going to be a backslider. The only person who will ever be a backslider is the person who quits trying to make progress. Once you think you can get by with standing still, you default to backsliding.

The next thing in our formula is simplification. The KISS principle. "Keep It Simple, Stupid." Paul says: "This one thing I do." Are there not enough hours in your day? Life is too complicated, the days are too long, and you never get caught up. Are you trying to do too much? Maybe you are. We live in a society that gives us a lot of good things to do, and that's great, but if we try and do them all, we will do none of them to excellence, but many of them to frustration. Get your priorities in order. Figure out what you really want to do and then eliminate some excess baggage. Get rid of something. When you try to spread yourself too thin, you become ineffective in too many areas.

The next thing is cancellation. Paul tells us what to cancel out. Forget those things which are behind. Remember those big old station wagons that would carry nine people? In the very back there was a seat that popped up, and a couple people could sit back there looking out the back window. Unfortunately, that is the emotional and spiritual condition of some of you that are here today. You are spending your life riding around backwards in the rear end of an old station wagon looking at things that have already gone by. Are you living in the past? Are you still hung up over your past successes, or your past failures? Old glories? Old hurts?

When I was in my early twenties, I spent about every Sunday racing sports cars, and I still have a box full of trophies up in the attic. So what? What good are they now? So I was a big success back then at racing cars, so what? That was then, this is now, Paul says it is canceled, forget it. Cancel and forget your successes.

Likewise; cancel and forget your failures. Back when I was in the 9th & 10th grades, I was girl crazy; every time I got any extra money, I wanted to take some girl to a dance or to the movies; anything. I had it bad. Hormones. Do you know what it's like to call up some girl that you think is just wonderful, and she can't figure out who you are? You have to explain which class you both share, and which seat you sit in relative to hers before the light comes on between her ears. And then she remembers that she already had plans that night. And the next night. For the rest of the semester. But that was then and this is now, forget it, it is all canceled out.

Even more important than successes and failures at work and play are the wounds that we get, and the wounds that we give. How do we cancel them out? Those wounds of the past, both the ones we gave and the ones we received, how do we forgive them? How do we get forgiven? And how do we forget them?
There is a very important Bible principle of forgiveness and being forgiven that we need to learn well, and also teach our children. And that is that it is not enough just to say: "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry" is about as useless as a sack of wet mice.

One of the most important principles in the Bible is the principle of forgiveness and atonement. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, and He taught them the Lord's Prayer, did He not teach them to forgive others their sins, because the Heavenly Father forgives us? Because God has forgiven us, we should forgive others, right? Now we need to ask a vital question; why has God forgiven us? How has God forgiven us? On the basis of Christ's atonement, right? Because Jesus Christ has made atonement, paid our penalty, God can forgive us.

Does God forgive us of our sins if we ignore what Christ has done? No. We need to claim that atonement for our self! We have to receive that atonement personally, make it ours, before it does us any good! It will not be enough just to stand before God on the day of judgement and say: "I'm sorry." We will have to be able to say: "Please forgive me, and please do it on the basis of what Jesus Christ has done for me." And He will.

Therefore; as a believer, when I do something to offend you, -a believer- if I insult you, or hurt you, or act thoughtless, I can come to you and ask you: "Please forgive me" and I can expect forgiveness, knowing that Jesus Christ died for us both, and God has freely forgiven us both, in Christ.

And this is such a powerful spiritual principle that it even affects unbelievers. An unbeliever may not understand what I am doing, or why I am doing it, but I can tell you that I have never had even an unbeliever fail to forgive me when I have asked them to forgive me. Not: "I'm sorry.", but "Please forgive me."

Something that goes right along with this, is closing the circle by telling that other person that forgiveness has been given. Let me tell you why that is: has not God sent His Holy Spirit to us as a surety, as a comforter to us, that we are forgiven and accepted before Him? Is that not a great blessing to your spirit to realize that? Consequently when someone comes to us and says: "Please forgive me," don't you go and tell them: "Don't worry about it." Don't brush it off. You need to follow the same pattern that God has followed with you and give them the assurance of your forgiveness. You tell them that all is forgiven. You seal the deal. You complete the pattern of what God has done for us, let that person know that you truly forgive them, and see if it doesn't bring both of you a whole lot more peace than just fluffing it off. "Will you forgive me?" "Yes, I will."

Some of you might think that this is just a little thing, but when we pattern our lives after the great principles of the things of God, even in little areas, it will make a big difference in what kind of lives we live.

How about forgetting? How do we forget hurts we have suffered? How do we deal with hurts that we have sinfully inflicted, and for which -sometimes- there is now no remedy between us and that wounded person? There are more than 25 places in the New Testament where we are told to put on the mind of Christ, to have the mind of Christ, have our minds renewed through Christ and in Christ.

If Jesus could hang on a cross and pray: "Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they are doing," what does that say to us? Can we ask God to give us the mind of Christ toward those that have hurt us? Can we ask God to take away the pain of those we have hurt, even in areas where there is no longer any remedy? I think we can.

We can ask God to heal our memories. We can ask God to make us emotionally whole and sound. This is a wonderful part of the Christian life that a lot of believers know very little about, and many of you need to be exploring it more fully. If you want to know more about it, come and talk to me later.

The next item in our formula is aspiration. Paul says: "Reaching forth unto those things which are before." You can't stand still. There is always room for growth and change. Just because it is impossible for us to attain perfection is no excuse not to try for it. God tells us in His Word that we are not going to be perfect, not going to be sinless, but He also tells us to sin less. Don't worry about being sinless, just sin less. Less today than yesterday, less tomorrow than today. If you live long enough, you might turn out to be reasonably sanctified... And maybe I might also...

Aspire to Christian greatness. Maybe you will never be a Billy Graham, but you can tell the person who works next to you about Jesus Christ, and how He came and died and rose again to save you, and to save them. An old elder at our church in Albany used to say that the Gospel was nothing more than one beggar telling another beggar where the bread was. All of us can do that. Don't get complacent, the Christian life is not a level surface, it is an upward slope. When you get complacent you stop, and when you stop, you backslide.

Not only do we aspire to better things, we have to get serious about attaining them, and that is that last item in our formula for success: determination. Paul says: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." All of us have the potential that one day Jesus will tell us: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord." That will be the greatest thing that any of us could possibly have. That will be worth any and all the effort it takes to attain it. That will be the greatest thing there could be. There is a crown to be won, and there is a crown to be lost. How determined are you? Salvation is freely given, the salvation of Christ is free to all that will ask and receive. But the prize is to the determined. Paul lives his Christian life like a race, stretching toward the tape, striving for a good finish.

Finally, verse 15 is a verse of comfort and encouragement as we close this message from the Lord: "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded; and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." The word perfect here has the idea of something which is growing, something developing. An apple in June may be a perfect apple, but it is not yet ripe. It is perfect, but it is not yet ready. In September it will be ready, but not until then. That is kind of what our Christian perfection is like. In Christ, we are perfect, but none of us are ripe yet. Some of us are sour, some of us are still small, some of us are lumpy and hard where we ought to be round and firm.

So Paul is not contradicting what he said in verse 12 about perfection, he is saying that as many of us as have put on Christ, need to be like minded with what he is teaching us here, and if anybody thinks otherwise that what Paul says here, God will show you the truth.

How many of you have ever had a doorway or a wall in your house where you marked off how tall the kids were growing? You could go look at that mark and see where you were last year, and see where you are now. Beloved, it's time to step up to the mark. Is your mark higher than it was last year? Or is it lower? Will it be higher next year than it is now?

Evaluation. Where am I? Am I even a Christian? If so, what kind of a Christian am I? What are my weaknesses? What are my strengths, my spiritual gifts, and how do I need to be exercising them for the blessing of those around me? Maybe I am not a Christian? That is the ultimate choice. If you don't get that one right, nothing else is worth a pile of ... well you know.

Simplification. Is your life so full of stuff, things, distractions that you can't be a blessing to anybody, even yourself? Paul says: "This one thing I do." Simplify. You would be amazed at all the useless things you do that don't amount to anything, but they can sure take up all your time.

Cancellation. Forget the things that are behind. Yesterday is gone. Whether for good or for ill, quit living in the past. Apologize where you can, forgive where you need to, and ask God to heal the rest.

Aspiration. Set your sights higher. Steve's mom, Violet Norris is old enough to be a mom to most everybody in here, and she won two children to the Lord last weekend. No matter where you are at, God can use you, you need to expect that He will, and make yourself available in faith.

Finally, determination. Keep on keeping on. Faith is a long obedience in the same direction, and sometimes it is not easy. It's not meant to be. Anybody can enter a marathon race, but crossing the line a winner takes determination.

Here at the end of the year, let me invite any and all of you to come down to the altar today and ask God to make next year better than last year. Is there something that needs taking care of? Is there something that needs to happen between you and God? Do you need to give your life to Christ? Whatever it is, there is no better time than right now to get it sorted out.