Learn from the Past

 

Phil 3:12

SUBJECT: PROGRESS

THEME: Determine to press on toward the Finish line of the Christian Race by learning from the Past.  

RELEVANCE:

As a winner, Paul is giving us His life overview, his past (Phil 3:1-11), his present (Phil 3:12-16), and his future (Phil 3:17-21). In each of these experiences, Paul is looking at things on earth from God's point of view. As a result, he is not upset by things in his history. In fact, things do not rob him of his joy! Now to be winners and fulfill God’s plan, we must learn from our past.

INTRODUCTION:

Many read biographies to satisfy their curiosity about great people, hoping also that they may discover the "secret" that made them great.                                                                     

ILLUSTRATION: “I recall sitting in a grade school assembly program many years ago, listening to an aged doctor who promised to tell us the secret of his long, healthy life. (At one time he was a physician to the President of the United States. I've forgotten which one, but at that stage in my life, it seemed it must have been Washington or Jefferson.) All of us sat there with great expectation, hoping to learn the secret of a long life. At the climax of his address, the doctor told us, "Drink eight glasses of water a day! "” — W.W. Wiersbe

Again, the secret to a joyful life is faithfully looking at things from God's point of view. As a result, joy will be constant and unchanging. All of us want to be “winning Christians” and fulfill the purposes for which we have been saved. What are the essentials for winning the race and one day receiving the reward that is promised?

MESSAGE:

I.               An Honest Evaluation of Our Past.  Phil. 3:12-13

Paul has clearly stated that his personal salvation experience brought about a new assessment of his goals and gave him the overwhelming desire to know Christ even more completely.  Paul then explains how his present life is a pursuit in this new direction. To avoid being misunderstood, he specifies that his conversion has not already brought him to his final goal. He indicates that he still longed deeply and personally strives to be brought to that perfect completeness– spiritual maturity.                                       

A.  THERE WAS A HOLY DISSATISFACTION WITH PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS. (Phil. 3:12-13a) “Not as though I had already attained!”

   1.  Great Achievers Do Not Allow themselves to get too Satisfied.  Vs. 12

This is the statement of a great Christian who never permitted himself to be satisfied with his spiritual attainments.  No matter how much he had grown, learned, or accomplished he yet strived to do even more. This was not disheartening but enlivening!

       A.  He Was Perfectly Satisfied with Christ.

Obviously, Paul was satisfied with Jesus Christ (Phil 3:8,10).  He was thoroughly enjoying Knowing Christ, Sharing the Righteousness of Christ, and Fellowshipping with Christ. 

       B.  He Was Never Satisfied with His Christian Progress.

Paul was not satisfied with his Christian life. A sanctified dissatisfaction is the first essential to progress in the Christian race.

ILLUSTRATION:  Harry came out of the manager's office with a look on his face dismal enough to wilt the roses on the secretary's desk.

"You didn't get fired?" she asked.

"No, it's not that bad. But he sure did lay into me about my sales record. I can't figure it out; for the past month I've been bringing in plenty of orders. I thought he'd compliment me, but instead he told me to get with it."

Later in the day, the secretary talked to her boss about Harry. The boss chuckled. "Harry is one of our best salesmen and I'd hate to lose him. But he has a tendency to rest on his laurels and be satisfied with his performance If I didn't get him mad at me once a month, he'd never produce!"

    2.  Great Achievers Aim for Perfection (Maturity).   Vs. 12, 15

       A.  They Don’t Compare Themselves with Others.   Vs. 12, “I”

Many Christians are self-satisfied because they compare their "running" with that of other Christians, usually those who are not making much progress. Had Paul compared himself with others, he would have been tempted to be proud and perhaps to let up a bit. After all, there were not too many believers in Paul's day who had experienced all that he had!

        B.  They Do Compare Themselves with Christ.   Vs.  12, “I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”

But Paul did not compare himself with others; he compared himself with himself and with Jesus Christ!  He understood with sharp precision what God required and expected of him and stretched himself to achieve it. Such a process focuses on maturity as the target.

             1.  Pursue Perfection (Maturity).

The dual use of the word "perfect" in Phil 3:12 and 15 explains his thinking.

                    A.  He Had Not Yet Arrived at Perfection (Phil 3:12). 

                          1.  The Christian Life is a Process of Growth.

Paul saw the Christian life as a process. While believers are considered righteous when they accept salvation, their entire lives are marked by growth toward Christlikeness. Complete perfection will not be obtained until Christ's second coming, when he will take his people with him.

2 Peter 1:5-8, And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; [6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; [7] And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. [8] For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                          2.  The Christian Life is Pursuing More Christlikeness.

While Paul may have seemed like a nearly perfect Christian to his Philippian friends, he emphasized that he had not obtained perfect “knowledge of Christ,” the “power of his resurrection,” the “fellowship of his suffering,” and conformity to his death (Phil.3:10).  All of these were part of the process of sanctification -- of getting to know Christ better and better as he lived the Christian life.—W. W. Wiersbe

                    B.  But, Paul Was "Perfect" [mature] (Phil 3:15). 

One mark of this maturity is the knowledge that he is not perfect! The mature Christian honestly evaluates himself and strives to do better. And even Paul, despite all his sufferings and victories for Christ, still had much to learn. He had not yet been made perfect. He knew that only upon Christ's return would all believers be made perfect in knowledge and experience, but he was willing to press on to take hold of the goal -- living and working for Christ -- because of what Christ had done for him.

             2.  Evaluate Honestly.

Often in the Bible we are warned against a false estimate of our spiritual condition. (Rom. 12:3)

                 A.  The church at Sardis had "a name that thou livest, and art dead" (Rev 3:1). They had reputation without reality.

                 B.  The church at Laodicea boasted that it was rich, when in God's sight it was "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev 3:17).

                 C.  In contrast to the Laodicean church, the believers at Smyrna thought they were poor when they were really rich! (Rev 2:9)

                 D.  Samson thought he still had his old power, but in reality it had departed from him (Judg 16:20).

We must have times, especially after failures and great success where we learn what can from our history. In failures we must learn what to avoid, and in successes we can learn what to carry forward. There is no time for envy, jealousy, self-pity, and excessive introspection!

             3.  Press Onward and Upward!  Phil 3:12, “but I follow after, if that I may apprehend”

The evaluation of our growth and fellowship with Christ must involve a determination to press onward and upward toward the goal of finishing the race and securing the prize. But, self-evaluation can be a dangerous thing, because we can err in two directions:

                  A.  Making Ourselves Better than We Are, or

                  B.  Making Ourselves Worse than We Really Are.

                  C.  Taking Initiative to Improve and Progress.

Paul had no illusions about himself; he still had to keep "pressing forward" in order to “apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”

APPLICATION: A divine dissatisfaction is essential for spiritual progress in the Lord. Do you have this? Psalm 42:1-2, As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. [2] My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

True Christian faith is often called a "personal relationship" with Jesus Christ, and verses like Phil. 3:10,12-14 describes it best. A relationship requires two persons, each actively searching, seeking, and building a bond between them. We must seek after God like a thirsty deer hunting for a watering hole and refreshing drink!  We should actually “pant” for the Lord— our souls should be yearning, craving and heavily throbbing for fellowship and time with God. There should be and anxiousness in our soul—a spiritual kind of addiction to God in which we literally MUST have time alone with Him!

APPLICATION:  God is already in deliberate pursuit of fellowship and sharing life with you!  In your spiritual life, God really takes the initiative (“I am apprehended of Christ Jesus”— Christ takes hold of us with a goal in mind), then we enter into it (“I press toward the mark”– pressing on) to pursue all that our new friendship and fellowship offers. We are truly relating to each other, together pursuing God's goal for all creation—eternal life free of all pain, all death, all sin. Are you pressing on, taking responsibility for your progress in faith and character? What steps are you taking to know Christ better?

CONCLUSION:

It is an exciting experience to run the race daily, "looking unto Jesus" (Heb 12:1-2). It will be even more exciting when we experience all that the “high calling” entails when Jesus returns to take us to Heaven! Then we will stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ to receive our rewards! It was this future prospect that motivated Paul, and it can also motivate us.

Successful people are willing to do things unsuccessful people will not do. One of those things is learning from our past.

Finally, consider our NEED for God’s forgiveness, salvation—a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

     1. Every Person that Ever Lived Has Been Impacted by Sin– We All are Sinners.

Isaiah 53:6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Romans 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

So, you see we all are sinners—transgressors of God’s law and under the divine death penalty. We are guilty and desperately need God’s forgiveness. Do you sense your need for God’s forgiveness for your life of sin? Remember, confession is acknowledging God's standards of morality and the truth that we have not lived up to his requirements. It is admitting, "I don't measure up...either." 

     2.  The Results and Consequences of a Life of Sin is Death. 

Ezek 18:4, Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

If you spend your life serving Master Sin, then you can expect to receive the wages of Master Sin. The wages of Sin are the death penalty!

              a.   Physical Death—Rom. 5:12,14

              b.   Spiritual Death—Eph. 2:1; 4:18

              c.   Eternal Death—Rev. 20:15

The evidence that we all have sinned is the fact that we die physically. Physical death is also indicative of pervasive spiritual separation from God as a human condition. Eternal death is nothing short of suffering forever in the Lake of Fire. When deciding it is best to have all the necessary information.

     3. We Greatly NEED to be Born Again, Born by God in a Spiritual Manner!

We all were born spiritually dead in sin with our first earthly and natural birth (Eph. 2:1).  In the new birth we are finally made alive to the living reality of God and brought into a relationship with Him who is “life!” The Lord Jesus insisted upon this fact in John 3:5-6, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6, That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” He continues in John 3:7, saying to Nicodemus, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” Firmly our Lord asserts this requirement. The life-giving element of the new birth is aptly communicated by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:23, where he says, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” We safely conclude that the new birth comes from God’s Word also. Accordingly, theses verses tell us our new birth is the product of the Spirit and the Word of God. The Spirit uses the Gospel (God’s Word) to bring about regeneration in the soul and spirit of the repentant/believing person. Being born again is the impartation of a new and divine nature-life; a new creation; the production of a new thing deep within (2 Cor. 5:17). It is a New Birth from above, from God—the new life-giving Source! Now instead of being lost, separated from God, and in the death of our sins, we are saved, alive to God, and free of the guilt and responsibility for our sins.

     4. The Key is Trusting Christ as our Savior.

Paul outlines this in Romans 10:9-10, writing, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10, For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” We cannot simply believe anything about Jesus, we must believe that the Son of God, died for our sins, was buried, and God raise Him up again the third day for our justification before The Father. It is crucial that we understand that it is faith in Jesus Christ and His Gospel that is the power of God that saves us (Rom. 1:14-17).

I have given you all you need to know to understand your guilt before a holy God. I know how this must feel. I am not good enough for God to accept me without me embracing his forgiveness. God promises to save all who will acknowledge their sins to Him while trusting Jesus Christ as our Savior. Remember sin is defined as violations of God's Laws. We have put idols before the true and living God. We are guilty of taking God's Name in vain. We have not honored our parents fully and always. We have not treated people with real love and respect exclusively. We do not measure up to the perfection of God's standard of morality. We stand before a completely All-knowing Judge as guilty of sin-crimes against Him. We NEED His forgiveness...He offers us forgiveness not condemnation. With this being the case...condemnation is something you chose by refusing Christ.

I encourage you to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your very own Savior to recue you from the penalty of sin in the Lake of Fire. Repent and believe on the Lord today.