Sermon Notes 12-9-2012

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Paul is Tired, and looking toward the end!!

Paul’s Goals, Should be our Goals

Read Verse 12

·         What do you strive for, what do you long for?

·         Paul’s goal is a life closer to Jesus, (remember Paul’s conversion)

·         He press’s on to make Jesus his number one priority

o   He press’s on to walk closer to Jesus

o   He press’s on no matter what life throws at him

·         So what are your priorities, is it Jesus??

Paul says it this way” Jesus has made me his own”! We are bought and paid for, we are in the family! What an amazing thing, so are we pressing on to have a heart like Jesus or things of this world!

From the Book “opening up Philippians”: We must not leave this point without taking time to note that, while believers do not all experience the sensational elements present in Paul’s conversion, they are all without exception laid hold of by God, who opens their minds to see their sin and the sufficiency of Christ, and who grants them faith.

Paul’s Pursuit and our past!

Read Verse 13 and 14

·         It’s a Race (use a Barrel race for an example)

·         Don’t look back, keep pressing forward

·         You have to deal with your past, before you can move forward

·         You have to be able to talk about your sin and deal with it

·         You can’t just ask God for forgiveness and hide form it

·         You can’t finish the race strong with our dealing with your past

Think about a horse that is running toward the finish line he is straining every muscle; he is working hard to finish strong. He is working to please and satisfy his masters every need and desire and knows there is a prize for him at the end of the race!!!

Why don’t we do this, why don’t we strive to finish strong for Jesus, we admire this trait is athletes that give their whole life to be the best they can be at one thing, just one thing. But if someone puts that kind of effort at being a follower of Jesus we call them a fanatic, a little weird!

Isn’t that what we are all supposed to be doing??? keeping our eyes on the prize and working for an eternal life in heaven, living the life that Jesus died to provide!!

Paul’s Appeal

Read Verse 15 and 16

He is summarizing what he just said

·         None of us are perfect this side of heaven

o   We must all push on, continue to do Jesus’s work

·         We will never agree on every point of the Gospel but we must agree Jesus is the only way

o   Stop fighting over the small stuff

o   Keep your eye on the prize!

·         If we don’t keep pressing forward we will lose ground

o   We have lost ground in our pursuit to make disciples

o   We have been too worried about fighting with each other and not worried enough about the lost

o    

Think about Paul for a moment: he had walked with God for several years he had grown closer to God than almost anyone person walking the earth. He knew God so well he wrote several books of the bible. He starred death in the eye like John Wayne. And yet he says he was still straining to know the Lord Jesus better. If Paul, with all that he had attained, felt this need, how much more should we?

Paul’s example

Read Verse 17

What is a mature Christian?

·         You know you’re a sinner

·         You are a repentant Christian, you know when you do wrong

·         You are dealing with your past

·         You are a Joy to others

·         You are humble, still working on your walk daily

The book move describes a mature Christian as a being “Christ Centered” – A person whose relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship in their lives, its guides everything they do!

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NLT) Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”

We need to use mature Christian’s as our example like Paul!

·         He has dealt with his past (Verse 4-6)

·         He repents of his sin (verse 7 -11)

·         He is humbly seeking Christ in all he does (Romans 14-16)

For us to follow Paul’s teachings and way of life means being sincerely passionate about the Bible. We should be daily reading it, meditating upon it, praying over it, and seeking to practice it.

We are not completely without the example of godly men and women since the time of Paul. Some examples may be found in biographies, and even in the lives of many around us. The examples are there, and it’s our responsibility to look for them and to pattern our lives after them.

Paul’s warning to be careful of the wolves!!

Read Verse 18-19

·         There are wolves everywhere, from the outside and within

·         Be careful who you take Godly advice from

·         There may me a wolf sitting next to you right now

·          We must seek out the wolves in our flock

·         I’m not talking about immature believers, I’m talking about wolves in sheep’s clothing

·         Paul would not take kindly to our softness on doctrinal and moral purity. It was such a serious matter to him that he actually wept as he wrote of it

·         How do you regard the cross of Christ?

o   Is it precious to you?

o    Are you jealous over it to the point that you will not tolerate any belief or behavior that belittles it?

Most Christians don’t seem to take the danger of heresy (dessent)very seriously. We have a ‘live and let live’ mentality. Mention heresy, and someone will quickly say we have no right to tell others what they should believe and how they should behave. But when people profess to be Christians we have every right to expect them to subscribe to the clear teachings of the Bible and order their lives accordingly.

Paul gives us 3 ways to identify these enemies!!

Their god

First, he says their god is their ‘belly’. That means they worship their fleshly desires and appetites. Their sole purpose in living is to gratify the lusts of their flesh. Instead of controlling their appetites they allow their appetites to control them.

Their glory

Secondly, Paul says they glory in their shame. Their moral values are so topsy-turvy and confused; they actually go around boasting of things they ought to be ashamed of! One of the surest signs of an individual or a society being utterly decadent is that of not being able to feel shame.

Their mind

The final mark Paul gives of godless people is they set their minds on earthly things. They live as though God is dead, as though heaven and hell are myths, and as though this life is all there is.