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On Oct 02, 2019: Philippians 3 Keep Choosing To Put Jesus First · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• Philippians chapter 3, we're going to pick up where we left off last week and then work our way through the end of the chapter, verses 12 through 21. Continuing to look at Paul's emphasis on Jesus as the priority. And so continuing to look at the importance, the value, the need for us to have Jesus first in our passions, in our desires, in our goals and objectives, putting Jesus first is important. And Paul continues to emphasize that throughout the book of Philippians. And so let's dive into the passage that God has for us tonight, verses 12 through 21. We'll read through that together and then continue. get into the message that God has for us. Philippians chapter 3, starting in verse 12, says, "'Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.'" Verse 16. Verse 20. Verse 20. Here as we continue on in Philippians chapter 3, I've titled the message, Keep Choosing to Put Jesus First. This is an ongoing choice that needs to be made. Now, last week, as we looked at the first half of chapter three, we looked at the first part of choosing to put Jesus first. And looking at the good examples from chapter two of Jesus and Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus, we saw them as great examples of here's what it looks like when you put Jesus first. And then at the first half of chapter three, we began to look at, well, how do you get there though? I see the model. It's a good, you know, I want to reach for that. I But how do I get there? And so we saw the first steps in how to choose to put Jesus first as we looked at the first 11 verses last week here of chapter 3. Now as we continue this week, it's the same line of thought. Paul's continuing on. And so again, the message is, the encouragement to us is to keep choosing to put Jesus first. That it's not a one-time decision. decision or choice that we make, but it's an ongoing thing. And Paul emphasizes that by his focus on eternity here in these verses. And so we're going to look at five choices, five things that we can do to keep choosing to put Jesus first. The first choice is going to be found in verses 12 through 14. Here's point number one, choose to reach for more of Jesus. Choose to reach for more. Paul says in verse 12, not that I have already attained or I'm already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. Paul is expressing his perspective on life and his approach to life here in these verses. He's continuing to give himself as an example. And he says, look, I have not attained anything. Now, what has he not attained? Again, the context, it goes back to in verse 8 here at Philippians chapter 3, Paul says, there in the earlier verses where Paul was talking about his fleshly advantages, you know, all the things that he had going for him outside of Christ. And yet they didn't help him to know Christ. They didn't help him to know God and to draw near to God. And he says, I had to count all of that loss. I had to shift all of that from, you know, the the pro column to the con column and acknowledge that those things actually don't help me in my approach to God, in my walk with God. And so I count all of that loss in order to obtain the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And here as Paul continues on, he says, look, not that I've already attained. I'm not saying that I have received the fullness of the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus. Now, Paul has received Jesus, right? He's been born again and he's been transformed and he knows Jesus probably better than, well, certainly better than you or I, right? Except for maybe Harvey, but he knows Jesus. And yet at the same time, he's saying, look, not all the way. I don't know Jesus all the way. I have not attained. I've not experienced fully the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I've made that decision to count those things lost so that I may obtain Christ and But I don't sit here with the attitude of, I already know Jesus. I already have what I need. I already know what I need to know. I already, you know, have enough of Christ. Paul says, I've not attained. I'm not already perfected. Listen, if you know Christ perfectly, you're already perfected. That's what Paul is saying. And if you don't know Christ perfectly, you're not perfect yet. And so if you're not perfect yet, you know there's more of Christ to know. And so Paul says, that's my condition. I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. We see such a great example here in the Apostle Paul. That heart of desiring to grow. The heart that admits and acknowledges, I need to grow. I'm not there yet. I still have much more to learn and much more of God to reveal to me and to work in my life. Pastor David Guzik says, sadly, it is common for many Christian leaders to cultivate the attitude that they have already attained. Without saying the words, they put forth the image of constant triumph that gives the idea that they have already attained and are already perfected. Now, I don't know if I give off that attitude. I hope not. But just in case, I don't have that position, right? I've not attained. I'm not even close to being perfected. One day, I hope when I grow up, I'm going to be as spiritual as Richard is. But until then, I need to have the heart and the mindset of the Apostle Paul. Just like you, I've not attained. I'm not perfect. I could read the Bible 2,500 times and have not attained and not be perfect. That there is the need for us to continue to choose to reach for more of Jesus. For us to have the attitude and to have the hunger for more of Jesus. In verse 11, the verse we ended with last week, Paul in talking about this desiring the knowledge that I may know him, he says in verse 11, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. He's like, I want to know Jesus and I need to know more of Jesus. I need to receive more of him in my life. If by any means I may attain the resurrection from the dead. And there Paul is not saying a doubt. Like, I'm not quite sure if I'm going to be resurrected. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, look, I'm not there yet. I haven't arrived at where I'm going to be at the resurrection yet. And so I'm continuing to work. It's not an expression of doubt, but it's an expression of doubt. The desire to progress, the desire to grow, the desire to know Jesus more, the reaching for more of Jesus in the life of the Apostle Paul is admirable, and it's a good example for us. I've not attained, I'm not perfected, but I press on. He says that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. I'm trying to grasp on that. to what Christ has laid hold of me for. Why has Jesus grabbed hold of you? What is his purpose? What is his desire? And Paul says, so I'm working hard to grab hold of that. And what is the Lord's desire? Why did he reach out to you? Why did he offer you salvation? We come back to this over and over and over again as we study through the scriptures. What God desires most is relationship with us. God desires to do a full and complete work in us through that relationship. Paul tells us in Romans that we're being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We're being transformed. We're being changed. And all of this is what Jesus seeks to accomplish. And he sees that the final results, the final product that we will be in eternity is And that's why he saved us. That's why he offered us forgiveness and salvation. And so Paul says, look, Jesus looks at me and he sees this final result. And so I'm working hard to reach out, to grasp hold of that, to become, well, conformed into the image of Jesus, to become more like Jesus, to know him, to model his character and his nature. Paul says, that's what I'm seeking after. I'm not there. I haven't attained. I'm not perfected. I'm pressing on. I'm continuing to choose to reach for more. I'm not satisfied with how much of Jesus I have right now. And that's an easy thing for us to slip into. A complacency where, you know, we've changed and especially, you know, you have those seasons of dramatic change, radical change in your life. And you could look back and go, wow, like God's just done such a good work, right? And you kind of hit this plateau and it's like, okay, I'm good now. It's like, I mean, that was a tough season. I had to like pray all the time and fast and, you know, read and study and, you know, battle and counsel. And, you know, there was all this stuff and, oh, I'm so glad that battle is over. And so then we can kind of get into that place where it's just in neutral. We're just coasting. We're just going along. And Paul here is saying, look, I don't, have that mindset that, okay, I just need enough to kind of get through the battle, right? But no, I'm pushing forward because the objective is not just to survive the next battle, but the objective is to grasp hold of that for which he has laid hold of me. To know him, the power of his resurrection, Paul says. Now, he says that I want to lay hold of The Greek scholar Kenneth Weiss says this about this word. He says the word apprehend or to lay hold, he says it's from the same Greek word translated attained, but with a preposition prefixed, which means it's forcing down. So he gives an illustration. He says he wants to catch hold of it and pull it down like a football player who not only wants to catch his man, but wants to pull him down and make him his own. And that paints the picture a little bit differently for me, right? There's an intensity in the laying hold, right? It's not just flag football or touch football, right? It's like, I'm going to take him down. Or just thinking about football, you know, there's a way to catch a football where it's just like kind of casual. And then there's a way to catch it where you're like, doom, doom, right? I don't know if that's actually the right form, but Richard will show you later. But you understand what I'm saying, right? Like you're catching it, but you're like, okay, I'm catching it. I'm keeping it. This is mine. I'm laying hold of it and you're not going to take it from me, right? That's the idea that Paul is expressing here. He's saying, I'm working hard, right? I'm not just trying to hold out my glove and if the ball happens to land in it, cool, if not, that's okay. No, no, I'm working hard to grab it and to make it mine, to grasp hold of Jesus. With an intensity, Paul is choosing to reach for more of Jesus. He goes on in verse 13 to say, I do not count myself to have apprehended. And sometimes we make that mistake. We count ourselves to have apprehended. We consider ourselves, we do the math in our head and we think, I'm good. I'm good enough. I've reached enough. I know enough. I've heard enough. I've prayed enough. I've spent enough time with the Lord. And we know we wouldn't think about that in that way, that specifically, that clearly, right? But the way that we live demonstrates that we have counted ourselves to have apprehended. Our relationship with God, like the actual practical engagement that we have with God on an ongoing daily basis, perhaps reveals that I count myself to have apprehended. Because I'm not really pressing on. There's not the, I'm grabbing hold. I'm apprehending. I'm pressing on. I'm reaching for more. Paul says, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul says, I press toward the goal. I've got the goal. I'm not losing sight of the goal and I'm pressing toward. He's really using this The expressions or the ideas of a runner who is running the race, and there's that finish line, he's running towards it. It's similar to what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9. Paul says, but we for an imperishable crown. There's the need for us to be running, to be reaching for more with the understanding that there is reward at the end of that. Paul says, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God. There's a prize, but you can't assume that you're going to get the prize if you're not running to obtain the prize. It's not a competition in the sense of, you know, I'm trying to beat you to the finish line. I'm trying to beat you to be more spiritual than you that I can get the prize. There's enough prizes to go around, okay? So there's not, you know, we're not competing for first place, second place. We're competing for reward from the Lord, right? But Paul is using this illustration of running in a race and how only one receives the prize. He's using that illustration to teach us that you can't expect to receive a prize. There's a prize for you. There's plenty of prizes. There's a prize for you, but you can't expect to receive the prize if you don't run to win the prize. If you're not working to that degree, if your effort is not consistent with someone who is reaching forward to know Jesus, if you're not choosing to reach for more of Jesus, Paul's saying, don't be surprised when there is no prize. Not because somebody else got it, but because you didn't run for it. And so Paul has this heart. He has this mentality. I need to keep pressing forward. I've not attained. No matter how much I grow, no matter how many mission trips I take, no matter how many times I share the gospel, no matter how many people are impacted by my ministry, no matter, all of those things don't mean that I'm now in this place of I don't have to press forward anymore to know Jesus. I know enough. Paul says, no, I need to know him more. I need to continue to press on, to continue to choose to reach for more of him. and have that heart. Keep choosing to put Jesus first. You and I, we will go through seasons of spiritual intensity. And there are the, you know, backside of the seasons where our passion starts to wane. Our fervor starts to kind of just, you know, fizzle out. And in those times, we need to be stirred up again. We need to be reminded. We need to stir up ourselves to make the choice again to reach for more of Jesus. Well, as we continue to put Jesus first and make that decision, we need to reach for more of Jesus. But part of reaching for more of Jesus is going to require that we let go. As we're reaching forward, we need to let go of the things behind. And so we're going to camp out in verse 13 for point number two, and that is choose to let go of the past. I need to have this fervency, this desire to choose to reach for more of Jesus, but But I also, in order to do that, need to let go of some things. I can't move forward while I'm holding on to the things behind me. Verse 13 again, Paul says, brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. Paul says, I'm not there. So here's what I do. I've got this focus on one thing. I've got this focus and it's one thing that I need to do. It's to forget those things which are behind. And in order for us to reach for more of Jesus, there are some things we need to forget. There are some things we need to let go of. The things in the past can hold you back. And I think of those things in the past in one of two ways. Things in the past that are in the category of failures can hold you back. And you can get tripped up and caught up consumed by past failures and allow that to keep you from reaching for more of Jesus. Also in your past, there's another category and that is victories. And that's more in line with what we've been looking at in point number one, reaching for more maturity, reaching for more of Jesus. We can't rest in the victories. We can't hold on to those victories in the sense of, okay, I've accomplished enough. I've I've read the Bible enough times. I know Jesus enough. I've had enough times of worship. I've had enough, you know, and those victories that we have sometimes can be, well, monuments that we're holding on to that prevent us from moving forward. And so Paul says, I don't count myself to have apprehended. I'm forgetting those things which are behind. He's not saying that in a sense of, you know, I'm having a hard time keeping things straight. I'm losing my memory, you know, and I keep forgetting the things that are behind. No, he's saying, I'm making a purposeful, deliberate choice to not focus on the things that are behind me. Victories or failures? I wonder what kind of victories have you had in your past, spiritually? What have been like those mountain peak victories? times where maybe you've served the Lord in some way and oh man it was just amazing like you you never experienced the moving of the Holy Spirit upon you in that way and it was just wow God did a great work perhaps in you perhaps through you and and you have that that experience with the Lord but don't settle for that that wasn't the last time that God wanted to work that way in your life Don't let that be enough and say, okay, cool. That's good. I'm set. I'm good. Paul says, I'm forgetting those things behind. I've had some great victories. I've had some great encounters with the Lord, great times with the Lord, great work for the Lord, but I need to keep pressing forward and reaching for those things which are ahead. God still has more in store for me. but I can't experience those things holding on to the past. I need to make a deliberate choice to forget those things. You know, sometimes we can develop traditions in our walk with God. There's traditions that we have as Calvary Chapel churches. There's traditions that we have as Southern California Christians. There's traditions that we have as, you know, our own family, our own personal relationship with the Lord. Traditions that we develop, right? And traditions are usually traditions because, well, they're really good and amazing things when they start out. But those victories can turn into traditions, can turn into things that we hold on to that hold us back from experiencing what God wants and has in store for us ahead. But we're not willing to let go of those traditions. We're not willing to let go of those past victories. Paul says, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. There's boundaries. I'm not saying we throw out the scriptures, right? No, the scripture has boundaries, but at the same time, there's a lot of things that we develop. We get kind of crusty. We get set in our routines and we get set in our mood and we need to get broken out of that from time to time. And to make the choice, I'm going to forget the past. I'm I'm not going to try to recreate the past. I'm not going to try to just continue and hold this course because that's what God did one time a long time ago. But no, I'm going to reach forward. What does God want to do? And there's new things. There's new insights. There's new experiences. There's new ways that he wants to use you and have you serve him. And so those victories can be things that we hold on to and it impedes our progress. We're no longer choosing to put Jesus first because we've got this past victory. We've got these traditions that we're holding on to. But the other side of the past is the failures. And sometimes failures can be really profound in our lives, can make a huge impact on our approach to walking with God and knowing God, can hinder what we consider as opportunities for serving God. You think about the Apostle Paul, boy, he had a past that could keep him from moving forward, couldn't he? I mean, he caused Christians to blaspheme the name of Christ. Like, it's pretty miraculous that for the rest of his life, he didn't just sit in a corner depressed and thinking about what he did and how terrible it was and asking God to forgive him over and over and over and over again. I could never serve God. I could never preach to others. I could never be a good example. I could never, you know, telling himself all of these things because of his past, because of what he did. Now, we see the Apostle Paul as a good example in a lot of ways, right? And the radical conversion story is powerful. It's amazing, right? it's one of the ways that Paul is a good example look whatever you were before Christ it really doesn't matter you can forget those things leave those things aside don't let those things hold you back there's so much that God wants to do there's so much that God wants to say to you now we don't have a record of Paul's failures as a Christian but let me tell you Paul also failed as a Christian He also struggled with issues. He had battles with the flesh. He had issues that he had to work through, failures that he had to forget. We're more familiar with Peter's failures, right? Peter denied the Lord to a little girl, and then the Lord recommissioned him and says, forget about that. Feed my sheep. I have more things for you. I'm not done speaking to you. I'm not done working in your life. Peter could have for the rest of his life, just like, oh my goodness, for the next, you know, millions of years, a couple thousand years here on the earth and then on into eternity, everybody's just going to keep bringing up how that little girl caused me to deny the Lord, right? Like, everybody's going to be making fun of me for the rest of eternity. Like, hey, that little girl got you to deny Jesus. Isn't that funny? And Peter could have just sat on the sidelines. He had to forget the failures, forget those things which are behind. Thinking about these things reminded me of I've shared this story before, so you're probably familiar with it, but I'll go back to verse 1 of chapter 3. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it's safe. So I'm going to tell you the story again. Going back to a season when I was much younger and single, living with Will and Rebecca over off Rimpa, and my truck had been... I don't remember if it was repossessed that time or impounded, but, you know, those things happen several times with that truck. And so... It was a season of difficulty and a season where I got to work out my walking shoes. And so I would be walking to church. And there was an occasion, I think it was like we had some kind of event on Saturday and then church on Sunday, something like that. So I walked to church on Saturday morning. And as I was walking to church, I saw a little tiny baby bird on the sidewalk. And I was looking at the baby bird. I kind of like stopped in my tracks. And I was like, that's like this little cute, like just little tiny thing. I'm like, where'd you come from? I look up and there was a nest up in the tree up above, you know, right above the sidewalk. There's other birds up in the nest. And I was like, oh, that's interesting. You know, the bird came out of the nest. I wonder if it fell, you know, I'm just thinking through the possibilities. And I just kept walking. Went about the event, whatever we did. And at the end of the day, then I walked back. And as I walked back past that same part of the path where I'd seen that bird earlier, I saw the bird again, but this time the bird was dead. It had been crushed by, I don't know, somebody walking by, somebody riding their bike through something. But there was that bird that was dead. And the Lord just began to minister to me at that time. Because there I was in the midst of great failure. In fact, it probably was, I can't say for sure, but it probably was the time that the whole church lined up on a Wednesday night service, just like tonight, right? Stood on the sidewalk right there, lined up and watched me get, you know, pulled over and my car get impounded by the police and Tom arguing with the cop trying to, you know, prevent it from happening. But I remember, you know, getting all my stuff out of my truck and my guitar and I'm just like walking across the street in shame. Like it was right before Wednesday night service. And so everybody who was there early, they were just like all lined up to watch the show, right? And I was like, oh my goodness, failure, failure. How am I ever going to serve the Lord again? I mean, how am I ever going to see these people again and minister to people? Like forget that. Like that's out the door, right? When I saw that bird the second time, the Lord told me, look, you can get back up. and try to fly again, and you might fall again. I know that's scary. But if you just stay here in this place of failure, you're going to get crushed. You're going to get ran over. It's certain death. If you just stay here in this place of failure, and I know it's scary to try to get back up and try again, right? To try to get back up and fly again, to try to get out of the nest again. Oh, it's so hard. It takes a lot of work to get back up into the nest. And then, you know, now I'm not going to jump out, right? But if you don't do that, then you'll stay here in this place of failure. And that will be the end. You have to get back up. You have to, for me personally, what the Lord was saying is you have to know me again. You have to draw near to me. You know, you have to serve me. You have to get back up. And you got to keep, it might take a couple of times. You might fall off the nest for a few times and it's not going to, you know, happen overnight. But you can't stay down. That's the point. You can't stay down. You have to let go of the failure. And reach for more of Jesus. Let go of the past. Yes, you have failures. Yes, you have issues. Yes, you have, you know, big things that you could for the rest of your life just sit in the corner depressed and beating yourself up over what you did and how you failed. Paul says, look, here's one thing I do. I choose to let go of the past. So we're pressing toward that prize. And we can't run a good race looking behind us. We can't win the prize if we're always holding on to things like pulling a wagon of failures behind us. It's not gonna work. We need to let go of those things, receive the grace and the mercy of God and push forward into all that God has for us. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, Christians are like runners who refuse to look around or to look back, but keep running with their eyes on the goal to look back at past successes or failures and Or to look around and see what others are doing or saying is to invite defeat. If we're always looking back, if we're always looking around at everybody else, we're making ourselves open and vulnerable to defeat. Instead, we need to choose to put Jesus first, to reach for more of him and let go of the things of the past. Well, continuing on into verse 15 and 16, we get the third example. Point for this evening, the third choice that we must make, and that is a choice to trust God to mature others. Trust God to mature others. Verse 15 says, Paul says, look, if you're mature, have this mind. Here's what maturity looks like for Christians. Reaching for more of Jesus and forgetting the things which are behind. You're mature? Have that mind, Paul says. That's maturity. But it's interesting here, he goes on to say, if in anything you think otherwise. Maybe you don't see it that way, Paul says. Maybe you have some different perspectives about this or the things that I'm writing. If in anything you think otherwise. Now, Paul here is not, you know, dealing with the issue of, an issue of false doctrine in the sense of like, you know, gross heresy or sin, bad doctrine in that sense. But there's a lot of room for us to have different perspectives about things in the Christian life. In our understanding of God and our understanding of what the Bible says and our interpretation of, you know, different passages and portions, there's a lot of room for us to have different perspectives. And I Christians around the world have demonstrated all of that room for different perspectives and the great variety of ways that we understand and approach and worship and walk with God. And what I think is interesting here about Paul is that he's not forcing the issue. He's saying, look, if you're thinking differently about something, God will reveal it to you. If you have a different perspective, even if it's not correct, if it's not, you know, specifically contrary to what the Bible teaches, to what God has said or the way that God has revealed himself. That's a different matter in that kind of thing. But, well, there's so many things that, yeah, I wouldn't do it that way, but that's your perspective. That's your approach. Okay, listen, I'm going to trust that God's going to reveal to you what you need to know. You have a little bit different perspective on this doctrine or that doctrine. You know, there is a temptation for us, to try to force our views onto others, to persuade them, to, you know, fit them into our mold. And it happens, you know, on a wide variety of things. I mean, there's some hotly debated topics, right? There's hotly debated subjects politically. And, oh man, you know, you bring up a subject around some certain people. I'm not going to mention else's by name, but I'm just kidding. And then it's like, let me tell you why you need to think differently. Let me tell you why I have a coworker who has some very strong feelings about Star Wars episodes one, two, and three. And if it ever comes up, let me tell you why those are bad movies. You should never watch them. It should never have been made. I'm a fan, right? You know, hey, you don't like it? I'm not going to make it my life's mission to make sure you like Star Wars episodes one, two, and three, right? Like, yeah, you know... I'm just going to trust that God's going to reveal it to you in his time. You know, there's a lot of things that we don't have to get forceful about and worked up over. We can trust God to bring maturity in other people. And we need to trust God to mature others. Because, you know, as much as we get worked up and we're fired up and, man, that's so wrong. I can't believe you would think that or Our passion for it doesn't translate into, oh, you're right. I'm going to change my mind now that you said all of that. Like, how often does that happen? That is not typically the way that we make decisions or we come to better understandings of things, right? No, the Lord brings revelation in his timing, in his ways, right? Pastor David Guzik says, Paul had great trust in the ability of the Lord to deal with his own people. He didn't have the attitude that if he failed to convince them, that they would never be convinced. Sometimes we have that approach, right? Like, I'm the last opportunity, right? If I don't convince you, you'll never be convinced. A better understanding is what Paul shared to the Corinthians. Some plant, some sow, some water, God gives the increase. We don't have to push for that final change, that final decision. We don't have to get them to see what we see. But that doesn't also mean that we don't share any perspectives or share any insights, but it changes the tone. It changes the way that we approach it. Hey, this is, Paul says, look, this is the way that I approach this. This is the way that we should live life. But if you think otherwise, God will show that to you when he's ready and when you're ready, and that's okay. He didn't have to force you. his perspective on the Philippians. And this, it runs in line with, or it's in line with staying focused and making Jesus the priority. Because look, if you're running a race, you can't be focused on everyone else because you've got your own race to run. If you're running a race and you're looking over, hey, Roman, you're not running right, dude. Look, you need to work on your form. Like, no, lift your knees high. Like, if you're trying, you're not going to run your own race because you're so worried about the other person's form, you know. Working on fixing other people, help, you know, make them run like you want them to run or whatever. It's like, that's going to impede on your race. And when your life's mission becomes, you know, to make other people see what you see and do what you do and have your perspective on things, you're going to mess up your own race. And really what happens when we get caught up like that, it's more like what Jesus described as, you know, the speck in the brother's eye and the plank in our own eye. We need to be careful. Our job is not to fix everybody. Our job is not to get everybody, you know, we have very strong feelings and emotions and opinions about things, and that's great. But that doesn't mean we have to make everybody else see things the way that we see them or share the same perspective in all the different subjects that we address in life. Think about what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 14, verse 4. He says, Who are you to judge another servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand. When we're all in a race together, we're all in a race, our job isn't to judge other people and how they're running or how, you know, That's not our job. That's not our role. Our job is to run our race, to reach for more of Jesus. And God does use us to help each other, to give insights to each other. God does use us in that way. But we have to be careful that it doesn't become something that replaces, that comes in between us putting Jesus first. That doesn't become an issue where we're so caught up with, and I'm so frustrated with, you know, this person, and it impedes us my walk with the Lord, my focus on the Lord, my relationship with the Lord because, oh man, I get so mad every time, you know, like, hey, are you choosing to put Jesus first? To reach for more of him, to let go of the past and trust him to mature others. There's a lot of things that we just need to let go. And people around us. Now, at the same time, that doesn't mean that there's no accountability. In verse 16, he says, nevertheless, to the degree that we've already attained, let us walk by the same rule and let us be of the same mind. So there is a call, there is a challenge. Hey, but even if you think differently, at least you need to walk at the level that you've already experienced and revealed. So if you're not of the opinion that I need to keep pressing forward, I need to know Jesus more, If that's not your opinion, Paul says, if that's not your perspective, well, okay, fine. At the very least, you have to stay at the level that you were. In other words, you can't go back to a life of sin. You can't go back, go backwards in your relationship with God, go backwards in your understanding of God, go backwards in your lifestyle and practices. At the very least, at the minimum, to the degree that you've already attained, maintain that, maintain that. And so Paul challenges us to the very minimal, stay close to God, as close as we have been in the past. But ultimately, optimally, to draw near, to put Jesus first, to reach for more of him, to let go of the past and not get tripped up by people around us, but trust God to mature others. Well, moving on to verses 17 through 19, we get the fourth choice here. Fourth point this evening, find good examples to follow. Verse 17, Paul says, Paul says, brethren, join in following my example. Join with me. Follow me. Let's run this race together. Follow my example. That's pretty bold, right? Now, Paul is not in arrogance saying, you know, I'm perfect. I've attained, right? He's already been explaining that. He's just saying, look, follow my example. Take on my heart that I need to know the Lord more. I need to draw near to the Lord more. I'm not there yet. And let's join together and let's seek out the Lord. Let's seek after the Lord. Follow this example. And he goes on to say, and note those who so walk. Paul doesn't say, listen, I'm the best example you're ever going to get. Right? And he says, look, I'm not the only one. Look, there's other good examples around you too. Use us as a pattern. Take note of those good examples, he says. Take note of those who take this approach and write that down. Look at that as a pattern and use that as an example to help you have the same heart and to pursue those same things. Find good examples to follow. Now, one of the difficult things about finding good examples is, you know, there's not that many good examples. I look at Cisco and I go, man, there's a lot of problems there. It's not a good example. Richard, he's got even more problems. Can't use him as an example. We can always find faults. But again, going back to the Apostle Paul, he says, I've not attained. I'm not perfect. I'm not perfected. I don't always do things. I have to let go of my past failures just like everybody else. You're like, well, I used to think Jerry was a good example. Then I heard about all this impound stuff and walking to church and leaving a bird on the side of the road to be killed. You know, like, he's not a good example anymore. It's true. It's true. But you know, there are godly people around you. That God is placed there. Not for you to hold on a pedestal as like, this is the perfect Christian. And then you're shocked. I can't believe they sin. You know, it's like, well, when that happens, you know, we realize, okay, we've elevated them too high, right? And there's a balance. But But to look at the pattern and go, oh, wow, that's a good example. Lord, help me to walk that way. And to look for those. Notice Paul says, note those who so walk. You know, sometimes we need to be on the lookout. Find yourself a good example. Find yourself someone to use as an encouragement to yourself as a pattern. I need to have this type of approach to God and this aspect of my walk with God developed. The author of Hebrews in Hebrews 13, 7 says, remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, but then notice considering the outcome of their conduct. So here's the examples, right? Follow them, but consider the outcome of their conduct, right? So don't just follow blindly. Take a step back and go, okay, here's how they live their life. Here's their approach to God, their understanding of God. Now, how does that impact? What does that look like in their life? What's the outcome of that? So find good examples. Use discernment and go, oh, I can overlook these faults and failures and still use this person as a good example, as a pattern, as a reminder, as an encouragement to me because look at the outcome. I want that outcome. I want to grow in that way. I want to be used by God in that way. Paul says, join us. Follow our example. Note those who so walk. Let them be patterns for you. Now, he goes on into verse 18 and 19. I'm not really going to get into those, but he says there's a lot of bad examples. There are people who are enemies of the cross of Christ. Even, you know, within the church, even, you know, within the name of Christ, there are those whose end is destruction. So consider the outcome of their conduct, right? The end is destruction. Their God is their belly. The glory, they glory in things that are shameful and their minds are set on earthly things. Now, bad examples don't necessarily have bad lives, but again, that's why we have to consider the outcome. It might not be obvious that they're bad examples. So we have to take note, look at the pattern, look at the outcome, but find those examples. Find those that you can use as a pattern in your life. And maybe it's for different aspects of your life. In ministry, you have some examples that you look to. In marriage, you have some examples that you look to. In work, in the workplace, you have some examples that you can look to. And there's different examples that help you to choose to put Jesus first. There's others who are doing that. Find them. Let them encourage you and spur you on. Well, finally, verses 20 and 21 give us the fifth choice. for this evening, and that is choose to eagerly wait for Jesus. Verse 20 says, In contrast to those who, you know, their end is destruction, their God is their belly, they're focused on shameful things, their mind is on earthly things, Paul says, no, look, don't follow those examples because our citizenship is in heaven. And so we eagerly wait for the Savior because that's where we really belong. We're just passing through here. We're temporary here. And so we're eagerly waiting because our citizenship is in heaven. And he's going to transform when he comes, when Jesus comes, he's going to transform our lowly body. we're going to receive a glorious body. At the rapture, or if we die and go to be with the Lord before the rapture, we will be given that new body according to the working by which he himself is able to subdue all things to himself. He's going to do a radical work in us. And you see, Paul has his focus on that prize, that end result, eternity with Jesus and all that God has in store for that. And we know about Jesus. We know about the return of Jesus. We know about the rapture of the church. We know about eternity. And yet it can easily for us become one of those things that we know it's kind of in the back of our mind, but it's not something that we're so eager about. And here Paul says, we are eagerly waiting for the Savior. It's a reminder. It's an encouragement for us to stir up that again. You know, there's seasons and Things that kind of go through the church, go through us and our lives and our doctrines. There were times in Calvary Chapel history where the return of Jesus Christ, the rapture, was like every message you ever heard had that in every message. It was at some point in the message. It was part of the things that we thought about. There was excitement about that. And as time has progressed and, you know, the rapture hasn't happened or we missed it, one or the other, it's kind of waned, right? Like you don't hear that kind of emphasis. And there's balance to that. That's not necessarily wrong. But the thing that, the reason why I'm pointing this out is, well, maybe we need to be stirred up again and to be eagerly waiting for Jesus, to be reminded that the Lord could come back at any time. Our citizenship is in heaven and to be excited about that. And I was thinking about it this way, and I'll finish with this thought. You can go to, down in LA, Little Tokyo. You ever been to Little Tokyo? Or you can go down to Little Italy. Or go down to San Diego, go to Old Town San Diego, right? That Mexican influence there and all the environment, right? So you go to Little Tokyo, right? It's like... It's like, you know you're not in Tokyo, right? But it's like, oh, you get a taste of Tokyo, right? It's like, it's a little Tokyo. You go to Italy, little Italy, and it's like, you're not in Italy, but you get the taste, you get the flavor, you get the environment, right? And those communities have developed, not because someone was clever and said, you know, you know what we really need? Like, let's, like, you know how Disneyland has like these different, like, let's do that in LA. Like, we'll just, we'll develop little, no, it's, There was the gatherings there of the groups of people from the area. And they say, you know, we need to recreate some of our home, right? I was thinking about that in regards to our citizenship is in heaven. You know, where we are as we gather together as believers, it should be like little heaven. You know, it's like that's where our citizenship is, right? That's actual our nationality. That's our actual heritage. And when we're eagerly waiting for that, I think the environment that we create is When we're excited and passionate about our heritage in Christ and in eternity, the environment that we create, we build a little community, like little heaven. It's not the full thing. It's not the real thing. You know it's not. It's not perfect, right? But at the same time, oh, there's the presence of Jesus, and there's the fellowship, and there's the worship, and there's the things of God that are joyful and glorious. Let's eagerly wait for Jesus, and in doing so, make this a little piece of heaven. As we, you know, walk in and out of people's lives, it's like they got to experience a little bit of heaven because we're eagerly waiting for Jesus. We've put him first. We're reaching out for more of him, not letting anything hold us back, but pushing forward to know him, pressing on to obtain the prize while we eagerly wait for him. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would stir us up and encourage us, Lord, that as we have Paul as a pattern and example, Lord, would you encourage us to pursue after you to choose to put you first. Help us, Lord, to see how much more of you we need. Help us, Lord, to see when we become complacent and comfortable and we stop running the race to win the prize. God, I pray that you would reveal yourself to us in fresh and new ways. God, I pray that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us even right now as we pray that. Lord, refresh us and renew us with the power of your Holy Spirit. the boldness to know you, to pursue you, to declare you, to walk with you. Lord, may you be our life's pursuit. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.