Philippians 3 vs 12-16

Philippians Chapter 3 Verse 12

·     I love this statement by Paul and what it does is that it reveals his maturity in the Lord and honestly his grasp of reality. Paul is incredibly strong as a Christian but also just as a man, as a human being. He writes a book on joy and faith and peace from a Roman prison cell?! He will make a statement later in chapter 4, “I have learned in whatever state I am to be content…” From my perspective and no doubt those around him, he’s got it all figured out…

·     But…, just as any person that has glimpsed the (I don’t know the word) awesomeness, perhaps vastness, perfection, holiness…, the amazing grace of God…, (or figured out how much YOU and I NEED God’s grace in order to be anything but lost!) no one, none of us this side of eternity have even begun to know what we ought to know or be who we ought to be… no matter how great we are in terms of this world. Stack yourself not up against other men and women…, or the American dream…, hold the spotlight on Jesus for just a moment and my name isn’t even worthy of the title of insignificant!

·     And that doesn’t bring me down! In no way does that bring me down! What that does is that elevates Christ! John wrote, as his popularity was surging, as the effectiveness of his ministry was in a stage of ultimate success, he wrote in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease!” That’s not self-deprecating or some sort of lack of self-esteem or self-respect in any way. What that is, is a person that has glimpsed the importance and significance and amazingness of God and then, who am I to talk about?! Let’s talk about Jesus!

·     By this time Paul had planted 14 churches. Over the course of 13 years, he embarked on three missionary journeys, traveling (without trains, planes, or automobiles) more than 7,000 miles! It can be credited to Paul that he came up with and packaged the doctrine of the New Covenant that would turn Christianity from a small sect of Judaism into a worldwide faith!

·     In the preaching of the gospel and the serving of the Lord and others, we are even told in 2 Corinthians 11 all that he had endured! (stripes, prisons, death threats, beatings, once he was stoned (calm down Colorado). Three times shipwrecked…, constantly weary, constantly sleeplessness, constantly hungry and living a life truly suffering to serve the Lord!

·     This man had not just moved from one place to another to plant a church or take a church over, he had truly given all time and time again and was incredibly successful in the faith to the point that 2,000 years later, we still know his name. And we will 2,000 years from now… And yet, he knew, not just a statement, this was actually a secret to his strength and God-honoring success, he knew that he had far more to know and to learn than he already did at this point.

·     How about you? Do you know that about yourself? Or are you good with God? So good that instead of putting his grace and goodness and mercy on display, let’s put your (our own) faithfulness on display… Maybe not physically but certainly mentally… Let’s make your name known rather than the name of Jesus!? PRIDE. See how practically immature that is and how out of touch with reality we can be!?

·     The point is that we should consider the spiritual maturity and pure strength of character of Paul in making this statement that in light of the reality that even he himself has SO much left to learn and so much growing up still to do, he presses on to apprehend, to capture what it is God has given him and purposed for him in Christ Jesus. Which means, and this is definitely what we should be doing, he lives in a constant state of seeking the Lord in this way…, “God, what is it You want and have for me today… I am yet going to make sure my heart is soft towards what You teach me…”

·     That can become (and is) a major problem in many Christians’ lives and truly its all of us some of the time. That we just close the books if you will and figure we know what’s right and wrong, what’s good and not good, and we just live out what we know… Look, that’s not a terrible thing, to live out what we know, we should do that, BUT, we should also have the maturity and intelligence to perceive and accept that we do not fully yet know all that we should…. And for that reason, not only do we remain teachable but we cultivate (watch for, look for, even desire) lessons constantly as God leads us through each day. If we ain’t doing that then we ain’t filing away wisdom…, and we are doomed to repeat lessons that God has purposed for us to learn!

·     This is an essential to actually being mature in the Lord at all. This sense and air of not being enough and always striving to be more for the Lord, to know Him more, to serve Him more… The culture’s narrative is progressively more and more that you and I are enough as-is and should be entirely accepted and celebrated just as we are however, in reality, that is thoroughly childish and quite a sophisticated level of immaturity. Sure, in terms of being accepted as one human race, you are enough, but in terms of growing up within that human race, come on…, stop now and that’s exactly what happens, you stop.

·     In the life of a healthy/growing, mature, secure and spirit-filled Christian, there is a constant sense of God has more for me. God wants to draw me closer. There is more of Him to know, much more to learn, and a ton more of serving the Lord and His Kingdom. I’m positionally enough strictly and solely upon the saving blood of Jesus. I’ve set my foot into the Kingdom based on the promise of God through Christ…, but now that I’m here, so much to discover and do… and there’s an urgency and also an awareness that the flesh and sin works to my extreme disadvantage in all of that …. A mindset reserved for the mature Christian, such as Paul.

Philippians Chapter 3 Verses 13 – 14

·     It’s a difficult thing to actually do what Paul just laid out for himself and for us… He says that for him or for me or for you to press toward the goal, to move forward, to grow, to heal…, (and he says “this one thing,” meaning if everything else was there and this wasn’t, everything else wouldn’t work…), Paul says there is a type of forgetting that I HAVE to do regarding my past.

·     Now, forgetting in such a way as justifying my past sinfulness will just lead me to possibly repeating those things or really serve to make me prideful, so I am not to forget in such a way as to justify, but a part of God’s grace is to move on, move forward, and forget in such a way as to mature forward.

·     But what about those sins that have been committed not by me, but against me? Perhaps even more difficult. In what Paul is saying here there is a bit of escapism and there is a bit of acceptance. The word for “forget” literally means, “send it to oblivion,” “count it as a thing not cared for…” Holding onto past hurts, in a way, reinjures because there’s an element of re-living in holding onto things. And so, it’s a sort of trap. A mental prison cell. And Paul, Biblically commands and permits, escape.

·     In a way, that takes an element of acceptance of what happened. And that’s a process. You go from shock, to grief, to anger and then finally to acceptance. But here’s what the Bible says, send it to oblivion, leave it where it is, in the past, and escape the barbed-wire entrapment of letting it control and limit your present, and certainly your future.

·     Paul would know. His own people had harmed him so intensely. He himself had harmed his own people so intensely. And yet everyday God had an intention to flood him with power, grace, freedom and purpose..., oh and joy. And Paul knew, perhaps you need to know this too, what God has for you is limited or can even be refused through us holding onto the sins in our past whether ours or others…

·     The implication here is that you don’t want to miss the prize and notice the prize is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus…

Philippians Chapter 3 Verse 15

·     Paul calls what we just discussed…, maturity. And notice, if someone refuses to do this for themselves, because this is something no one else can do but self, then you need to pray for them. The problem isn’t their information or their intelligence, it’s their revelation… And what has happened is that the past, whatever it is, has become a stronghold of the flesh or even the enemy in their heart and lives… Strongholds are only brought down by the work of God in the heart of a person…

Philippians Chapter 3 Verse 16

·     Notice, Paul says “to the degree that we have already attained…” Are there some that are better Christians than others? Sure. We just can’t get away from this. And Paul says we become degreed as we grow up in Jesus.

·     The thing to remember and to apprehend however is this. I am not running this race against anyone but myself. The version of me that is sad, depressed, aggressive, thorn-covered, guilt-heavied and incapacitated…, races against the version of me the is strong, joyful, satisfied, mature, wise and glimpsing my God-ordained capacity!

·     AND…, I love the grace that Paul closes out this section with… It’s a personal accountability type of grace for others. If you know, if your eyes are open to this, praise the Lord. If someone else’s aren’t, well, let them grow up in the Lord… And just like you need it, give them grace as well.

·     BUT, but, if you understand this, if God has revealed this to you to be good and true and what you ought to do, then walk in it as a rule. Not a suggestion, not a “hey, this will help you,” if you can understand what Paul has said, what we’ve discussed…, well, let me put it this way, if it has been revealed to you, then it indeed will be a rule for you personally…