Determinations for the Coming Year

I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Philippians chapter 3 and before we open the text together.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

All right, that's something I want to work at and I'm going to be conscious and deliberate in doing so.

So here's my appeal to do.

At least when we're singing.

Now I understand some of us are linear and some of us are global.

You know, some of us are all over the place.

And some of us are pretty tracky.

You know, it's like one thing after another.

So I'm asking you to do something that may be stretching things a little bit.

But when we are singing, would you mind cross-referencing the things we're singing about with Scripture?

Does that make sense?

Hey, listen to me.

Isaiah chapter 8 verse 20 says this.

Isaiah 8:20

To the law and to the prophecies or the testimonies, if it speaks not according to this, there is no light in them.

In other words, the benchmark of truth is really the Bible.

And I am so appreciative of the fact that when we gather to sing, that those who minister to us and encourage us in singing are very conscious and deliberate about taking the passage that we are going to study.

And finally, John gets this most of the time in advance, quite a bit in advance, about a week or so.

And he has time to kind of ponder this.

And then the songs reference back to the text.

And so my plea is this.

This is on your 15 to-do list, right?

You got that?

And I'll try not to nag too often about this, but at least bump your wife and say, hey, what passage?

Do that, okay?

Or nudge your children and say, what passage?

Or do you understand what I'm saying?

Here's my plea.

Listen.

Everybody look up.

Smile.

Please.

Seriously.

I want us to learn to be conscious and deliberate in thinking scripturally.

And probably one of the easier places to exercise is when we are singing.

So you say, all right, Holy Spirit, bring to mind passages that I need.

Am I the only one getting hot in here?

I see lots of people fanning.

And I am very tempted to take off my sweater.

That's a threat.

But anyway, okay.

All right.

Here we go.

Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Let me read the passage to you.

Beginning there in verse 8.

Indeed, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus,

my Lord, for his sake.

I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him,

not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,

but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

Now here's verse 10 that I want us to focus on this morning,

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,

and I may share in his suffering, becoming like him in his death.

Will you pray with me and pray for me?

Holy Father, for us to take this passage in mind and hand this morning

is to do something that is important and we trust is enabled by the Spirit of God.

Lord, we are often guilty of hearing and not applying.

We're often guilty of allowing time that should be spent profitably,

focusing on things that are of Christ's preeminence and glory,

and squandering that time in thinking of things that are of no eternal value and purpose.

And so we would ask humbly this morning that your Spirit would enable me as I preach,

that I might do so in such a fashion that it is evident that it is the work of God

that is playing out in real time in the teaching and the preaching of the Word,

but also, Lord, that it is received with the help of the Spirit

that it might bear fruit in the lives of those who know the Lord Jesus Christ,

and it might be used by your Spirit to draw those who are here today

that do not know the Lord Jesus to the cross and to salvation.

And so, Lord, as I preach, I'm committed to bathe this message in prayer,

and as I preach, I trust your people will pray that we might rejoice together

and seeing you at work in our fellowship and in our lives individually this morning.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

As we take up this passage, I really look at verse 10 as being one of those focal passages

that helps us in our journey.

And I think about the year that lies in front of us,

and I would imagine that there are some of you that have consciously and deliberately

made some decisions about things that you're going to work on this year.

Now, you may be on the other side of Christmas, and you're thinking to yourself,

well, okay, Christmas and New Year has come and passed,

and I need to do something about the fact that I have overindulged myself a little bit.

I don't want you to raise your hand and give yourself away, but you understand that.

There are some of you who might be saying, well, okay,

last year was a bust in such and such an area,

and this year I'm going to be conscious and deliberate,

and this is what I'm going to work on.

I'm just curious, how many of you have a plan to read through the Bible this year?

Raise your hand and wave at me.

Get it up above the elbow like this.

Okay, you're going to read through the Bible.

How many of you are thinking about it and might be a good idea,

but you haven't decided yet?

Raise your hand.

Let's try that again.

It was a real soft question.

Are you alive?

Are you thinking about it maybe?

And it might be a good idea.

Thank you.

I like seeing that hand.

Okay, that's a goal.

That's one that's worthy of your consideration.

You may have others that you've thought about and decided,

man, this is what I'm going to focus on, God being my help,

and as a result of that focus, it's going to make a difference.

How many of you have ever gone to the store and didn't make a list

and then come back and decided you needed to go again?

You ever done that?

Well, with life, you don't get a do-over.

It kind of whittles out behind you,

and if you haven't planned and thought about it intentionally,

the outcome often is a level of disappointment

as you look back across the path and say,

man, I should have.

I wish.

I could have done better.

And so my appeal, my plea for you this morning

is that you who are believers would consciously

and deliberately make some objective decisions

and mark them down

and keep those in front of you in the coming year.

And I can tell you this, it'll make a difference.

What we're looking at in this passage, actually,

in Philippians chapter 3,

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

is the apostle kind of pushing together

his life objectives and goals,

and he's separating out all the chaff

and setting aside those things

that are of no importance to him

and zeroing down on those things

that were at the very center of his life.

And it is from that core

that I want to encourage you this morning

to take the pattern of the apostle

and make it true for your life.

So let's look here at the things

that really governed the apostle's life

as he kind of ground on through life.

Look at the passage in verse 10.

It says,

that I may know him.

And so let's take this simple statement up

and just kind of ponder what Paul means

because we understand, for one thing,

that Paul's background was very, very significant

in understanding all about the Old Testament.

He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.

He was a well-trained Jew.

He had sat at Gamaliel's feet,

and without question,

if you had asked him about any of the Old Testament passages

that had reference to the Messiah,

he probably could have spoken on them

and referred to them and understood the relationship

that those passages had to the hope of Israel.

But nevertheless,

he'd never come to a personal relationship with Christ

until on the road to Damascus.

Do you remember what happened?

Christ revealed himself to him.

Christ drew him to salvation,

and Paul's life was radically changed.

Where at one time,

he had been a persecutor of believers.

He became one of the preeminent spokespersons for the gospel

and the one that God used in a very particular way

to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.

That's who we are.

Paul was a phenomenal instrument in the hands of God.

And so as you hear him say this this morning,

you understand that when Paul says,

that I might know him,

he's not speaking just about that academic information

that he gathered at one time.

And there are some of you sitting here

that maybe grew up in a Christian home.

You heard the Bible stories.

You know about who Jesus is.

You know that he was born in a manger in a stable.

You know that he was born of a virgin.

But all that information is just kind of academic

and kind of abstract.

It doesn't really have a personal connection to you.

When Paul makes that statement that I might know him,

he's talking about having more than a head knowledge

about who Christ is.

He's talking about having a personal,

genuine relationship that is governed by the reality

of who that person is.

I don't want to overplay the importance of the word,

but when Paul speaks about knowing here,

he's talking about that kind of knowledge

that is something that is personal

and experiential in nature.

In other words,

I understand by virtue

of what I've gone through and experienced.

So in relationship to this business of knowing Christ,

let me draw out several truths

that I want you to think about this morning.

For one,

our knowledge of Christ can be deepened.

Our knowledge of Christ can be deepened.

And I want to assure you

that a deepening relationship

and understanding of the person of Christ

will make a significant difference

in the life of the believer.

You see,

the things that we care about

and the things we invest our energy in

end up having a profound influence

on who we are

and how we go about life.

Go back just a little bit.

We're in verse 10.

So go back to verse 8.

And here's Paul saying,

Indeed,

I count everything as loss

because of the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ.

Indeed,

I count everything

as loss

so that I may have

a growing understanding

of the person of Christ.

It's amazing when you stop

and think about this.

Paul was saying that

all the other things in my life

are of relative insignificance

in comparison to the importance

of knowing the Lord Jesus.

Now, it's easy for us

to hear that said,

but let's kind of play it out

in real time.

So there you are.

You get up in the morning

and you have all good intentions

of spending some time

with the Lord, right?

I mean,

after all,

Christians,

we know that.

That's important.

But there you go.

You grab your iPad

and before you actually

have time with the Lord

and time with the Word,

guess where you go?

Not to Facebook.

You wouldn't do that

because Jesus is first.

And you don't go to MSN

or CBS

or whatever else

the news feed is.

You don't even check the weather.

You go right to the book,

right?

And all God's people say,

yes, that's me.

I'm there.

It's the book that I want

because I want to know Jesus

more than the weather

or what somebody posted, right?

Paul says this.

Listen, look at the passage.

He says,

I count everything as loss

because of the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ Jesus,

my Lord.

And so as you think

about this business,

we recognize that our knowledge

of Christ can be deepened

and that the knowledge

of Christ being deepened

comes about from a conscious

and deliberate choice

on our part,

in our heart

to put Him

in that position

of preeminence.

I want you to understand,

secondly,

that our knowledge

of Christ can be deepened

by pursuing time

with Him

and obedience.

By pursuing time

with Him

and obedience.

Let me give you

several things

in relationship to this.

Number one,

if you're going to grow

in knowing Christ,

there must be

a willingness to hear.

Be humble to hear.

It's very interesting

when you stop

and think about

this business

of picking up information

about who the Lord Jesus

actually is.

It doesn't come by osmosis.

Does anybody know

what osmosis is?

It's the transfer

of something

from a place

of lesser density

or how does that go?

Help me here.

Mark,

spare me.

From greater density

to lesser density.

There we go.

Thank you.

A PhD can help me anytime.

So here we go.

Osmosis is not

how we gain information

about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Laying your pillow

on top of the Bible

and sleeping with the Bible there

doesn't mean it's going

to kind of work

its way up into your brain

and you're going

to become more deeply affectionate

with the Lord Jesus Christ.

There has to be

a willingness to hear

who He is

and that takes time.

That takes time.

It's very interesting

when you stop

and think about

the issue of

how we grow

in knowing who God is

and knowing about

the Lord Jesus Christ

that we recognize

we are dependent

upon revelation.

We're dependent

upon Him telling us.

I think for a moment

about the story of Job

and in Job

you have a man

who was a good guy.

He was an upright man

and eschewed evil.

You kind of look up

the word eschewed.

It means he kind of avoided it.

He was into

not doing all the bad things.

But you know what?

Job's understanding

of God

was kind of

not where it needed to be

and God allowed Job

to go through

all kinds of

what?

Heartache and difficulty.

Chapter 38

through 42.

Every one of those chapters

is God coming to Job

and saying

by the way Job

it's time for you

to listen up

because Job

was a little full of himself

and why am I suffering

these things

and what's going on

and why are you doing

this to me?

By the way

did God ever answer

Job's questions

about why he was suffering?

No.

All God did

in those chapters

essentially

was give Job

a picture

of God's

great wisdom

in particular

in relationship

to creation.

Are there any other

illustrations

of God's wisdom

and power

besides creation?

The answer is

you bet.

In those chapters

we find Job

first saying

you know

it's time for me

to be quiet

but then

at the end

of God's recitation

of who he is

in relationship

to creation

here's what Job says

I have heard of you

by the hearing

of my ear.

In other words

there are some things

I knew about you

I'd heard

but now my eye

sees you.

In other words

I've gained

further understanding

and further insight

into who you are.

And so I would appeal

to you this morning

as you kind of

look into the future

to say to yourself

one of the deliberate

intentions of my life

this year

is going to be

I by God's grace

am going to grow

in knowing Christ.

That's my goal.

That's my goal.

I want you to understand

also that we grow

by being humble

to obey.

John chapter 15

John 15:10

verse 10

let's look at that

just for a moment

keep your finger there

in Philippians

but I want you

to go back

to John chapter 15

John 15 · chapter mention

if you keep

my commandments

you will abide

in my love

just as I've kept

my father's commandments

and abide in his love.

If you keep

my commandments

you will abide

in my love.

You know

one of the things

that I kind of

am flummoxed

a little bit by

today

is I look at

the general

spiritual poverty

of many many

people in America.

I was reading

a Facebook post

by an individual

who at one time

quite an effective

speaker

pastor

pastor

and the guy

has drifted

far away

from the Lord

and as I was

as I was

paying attention

I don't know

where his heart

is for sure

but as I read

his recurring

posts

it seems that

so much

of the truth

has been lost

and just kind of

laid aside

and I thought

what is behind

all this?

Well for one thing

in order to grow

in understanding

who Christ is

there must be

a willingness

to follow

his instruction.

Do you understand

that?

How many of you

remember

learning the

multiplication tables

and the addition

tables?

I mean it was

just drudgery.

Do you remember

that?

Flash cards.

How many of you

did flash cards

besides me?

Flash card

hands up.

Okay.

Whoa!

Real crowd here.

I mean I got it.

Okay put them down.

Put them down.

You know do you

remember the dull

business of two

plus two equals

what?

Four.

I mean yeah

we've got it.

But there were

times when we

kind of floundered

with that basic

information and

some of us

actually thought

to ourself

why do I need

to do this?

Some of us

stayed in that

state of why

do I need

to do this

and then when

we got on to

a little more

complex problems

like you know

N and P

over blah blah

you know

it's way beyond

me.

I rely on others

to help me

with that kind

of detail.

But you know

eventually we

got caught out

because we

weren't willing

to follow

the line.

Beloved I

want you to

understand this

obedience is the

key that unlocks

the door of

understanding.

And if you're

sitting here this

morning and you're

saying well listen

I want to know

more about Christ

here's what I can

tell you is going

to happen.

Listen to me

carefully.

You are in your

journey of learning

who Christ is

going to have him

speak to you

and say hey

it's time to stop

doing this

and it's time to

start doing that.

And when you

say no to him

guess what's

going to happen?

His voice gets

softer and his

voice gets

repetitious.

How many of you

understand what I

mean by repetitious?

You know if you're

not willing to

obey him on point

A he's not going

to move on to

point B and say

well let point A

go.

He's going to keep

on coming back

to it.

And so if you

want to grow in

understanding Christ

there must be a

willingness to hear

and there must be a

willingness to

obey.

I want to make one

other point before

we leave this

here.

Knowing him

must come first.

Make no mistake

about it going

back there to

Philippians chapter

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

3 we understand

that Paul is

laying out things

here in a sense

in a sequence

that has some

importance.

I want you to

know that Bible

behavior and

Bible obedience

are important.

But the

contemporary pattern

of providing

instruction in

certain behaviors

without helping

people understand

the underlying

issue of our

relationship with

Christ is

ultimately pretty

bankrupt and

ineffective.

Let me explain

it this way.

It is not an

accident that

Paul in

Ephesians spends

three chapters

helping you and

helping me

understand the

wonder of our

relationship with

Christ before he

talks at all about

the way in which we

relate with one

another.

You see a husband

who has not come

to grips with the

beauty of his

relationship with the

Lord Jesus Christ and

is not influenced by

his growing affection

for Christ can never

really love his

bride much more than

he loves the Lord

Jesus Christ.

Do you understand

that?

And so a reasonable

wife who would like

her husband to love

her more, guess what

she should be doing?

She should be quietly

encouraging his

spiritual growth and

doing everything she

can in prayer to help

him grow to be the

man that God needs

him to be because

what?

His love for her

rests upon the

foundation and the

bedrock of his love

for him.

And to teach

Ephesians 5 without

teaching Ephesians 1,

2, 3 is to lay a

very shallow and

shaky moral bedrock.

Let me have you look

at another illustration

of this and turn over

in your Bible.

We're talking here in

1 Thessalonians about

the matter of moral

purity.

Moral purity is an

ongoing battle in our

culture today.

Everywhere you turn you

see the evidence of it.

1 Thessalonians chapter

1 Thessalonians 4:3

4 verse 3.

For this is the will of

God, your sanctification.

Boy, that sounds pretty

good in the abstract.

God's interest is that I

grow to be more godly,

more pure.

And then Paul immediately

cuts to the practical

application.

He says that you abstain

from sexual immorality.

All kinds.

God has made the sexual

communion of a husband

and wife as a blessing

in marriage.

Outside of that, we are

to abstain and to wait

for God to be the one

that provides the life

partner for us.

And so here is Paul

writing to a church in a

pagan culture.

He says, hey, don't be

doing what the rest of

the unsaved pagan world

is engaged in.

And then he lays out for

them.

He comes down there in

verse 5.

He says, your behavior is

not to be like the lust

of the Gentiles.

And what's the problem

that the Gentiles have?

Everybody smile.

Listen.

It's not that they don't

know the rules.

It's that they don't know

God.

Do you understand that?

It's not that they don't

know the rules.

It's that they don't know

God.

The underlying problem

with their moral behavior

is that it is a reflection

of the relationship or the

absence of a relationship

with the God of this

universe.

That's the reason that

when Joseph was tempted

by Potiphar's wife back

in the book of Genesis,

that when Joseph ultimately

responded to that

temptation, he said, how

can I do this great

thing against God?

And so I want you to

understand this morning as

you think about the matter

in Philippians of goal for

this year, number one, my

personal goal is I want to

grow in knowing Christ.

Knowing Christ.

That's my goal.

Write it down.

Make it clear.

Consciously and deliberately

make that determination.

And if you want to go out on a

limb, say it to somebody

else.

Now what's the danger of

telling somebody else that

that's your goal?

What's the danger?

Accountability, but not only

that, but sometimes when

you're drifting left of

center, they're going to

remind you of that.

Am I correct?

So there you are being a

little surly.

How many of you understand

what I mean by surly?

Grumpy, sarcastic.

Don't ever tell me.

Don't ever tell me that

sarcasm is your love

language.

That's a lie from hell.

That's not Bible truth.

And so there you are.

You're being a little

sarcastic, a little grumpy.

And the person that you

asked to pray for you about

growing in your love for

Christ says, hey, you're not

doing very well today.

How's that?

So I encourage you.

Go ahead.

Write it down somewhere

personally.

But then step out on a limb and

say to someone close to you that

has teeth.

You know what I mean by teeth?

Posting it on Facebook is not

the same as telling your

husband, hey, I want you to

pray for me that I grow in

loving Christ.

And here, here's the deal.

And as this year progresses, I

want you to let me know whether

you see any signs of it.

Let's go to the second one.

Paul says that I may know him

and the power of his

resurrection.

resurrection, the power of his

resurrection.

Now ask yourself the question,

why is knowing his resurrection

power important?

Well, there's a reason that Paul

puts it here in relationship to

this matter of spiritual growth.

I'm going to mention in broad

terms several of the things that

the resurrection has value to

the believer in regards to, but

then I'll come down and focus on

one particular thing, namely that

of our progressive sanctification and

growing to be more like Christ over

time.

I do want you to understand that

his resurrection is proof that

his substitutionary death, he died

in my place.

How do I know that his death

satisfied the righteous judgment of

a holy God against my sin?

His resurrection proves it.

I have confidence that Jesus has

paid my penalty and that that debt

is satisfied because Christ rose from

the dead.

There's another thing that the

resurrection provides to me as a

believer.

It provides to me great assurance of

my own resurrection.

Earlier this month, I was at the

graveside with my family where we

laid my father's body to rest,

waiting for the day of the

resurrection.

And I can tell you this without any

hesitation, I have confidence in the

day that I will see the Lord Jesus

Christ and I will also see my father

face to face.

Why?

Because Jesus rose from the dead, I

have confidence in the resurrection.

But I want you to understand that the

primary focus that Paul has this

morning is on the matter of the

resurrection's power being available

for me in progressive sanctification or

growing to be more like Christ.

Turn back in your Bible, you're in the

book of Philippians, turn back to

Ephesians chapter 1 verse 19.

Ephesians 1:19

Ephesians chapter 1 verse 19.

Ephesians 1:19

One of two primary prayers that the

apostle prays in Ephesians.

And taking from verse 19, here is the

apostle saying this.

He says, let me kind of pick it up.

He says there in verse 16, I do not

cease to give thanks for you,

remembering you in my prayers, that the

God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the

Father of glory, may give you a spirit

of wisdom and of revelation in the

knowledge of him, knowing Christ.

Having the eyes of your hearts

enlightened, that you may know what is

the hope to which he has called you,

what are the riches of his glorious

inheritance in the saints, and what is

the immeasurable greatness of his power

towards us who believe, according to the

working of his great might.

In other words, hey listen, Paul's saying,

I want you to get your hands around how

wonderful the blessing of God is in

relationship to the work that God is

doing in you.

Well, what power is available to help me

grow to be different?

Here's the truth.

There's not a one of us that when we look

privately in the mirror of our own soul,

do not end up with a sense of, man, there

are things that need to be changed.

Would you agree with that?

Yeah, I'm not where I need to be.

I need to grow in grace.

I need to grow to be more like Christ.

How will that growth come about?

Well, Paul argues here.

He says you need to understand that the

power that is available to help you

change is the resurrection power that

raised the Lord Jesus from the dead.

I want to encourage you with that.

So you think this morning about the fact

that here you are, you're a person who is

struggling with the reality of some

pervasive sin in your life.

Secret, nobody else knows about it maybe,

but you're sitting there, man, how can I

change?

You can change through the power of the

cross and the resurrection.

The power that raised Jesus from the dead

is available to raise you up in newness

of life, in salvation, but also to begin

the process of helping you grow in grace.

So here's the blessed fact that I am

completely confident in.

We who know Christ are not doomed to stay

slaves to our pasts.

Can I say that slowly so you don't forget it?

We who are in Christ Jesus are not doomed to

stay slaves to our past.

Contemporary psychology indicates that people

cannot escape their past.

The fact of the matter is, is that if a man

is in Christ Jesus, he is a what?

He is somebody different.

And not only is he somebody different,

but he also has the power of the Spirit of God,

better yet, slap my mouth, it's not just the

power of the Spirit of God, it's the Spirit of God.

Do you got that?

It's better than just the power.

It's the person of the Spirit of God in me.

And why is he there?

Does anybody know?

Well, there are a number of things, but one of the

reasons he's there is to help me change.

I like that.

And so this morning, as you stop and think about

who wrote this letter, you stop and recognize that

the man who writes this there in Philippians was at

one time an incredibly arrogant and murderous

individual.

Individual, not individuals.

He was a persecutor of the church.

He was full of himself.

And he came by the grace of God to realize the bankruptcy

of his own soul.

And he was drawn to the cross.

And his life continued to grow in grace and knowledge of the

Lord Jesus.

If that power was available for Paul to change him from Saul to

becoming Paul, is that power available for you this morning?

And the answer is yes.

Yes.

And so I want you to recognize that to know that power,

to know that power, is to trust him to help you change and

then see the change taking place in time.

One of the advantages of getting older in the faith,

now here's the truth, growing in grace is a little,

it's like a roller coaster ride a little bit with an uphill

journey.

A roller coaster ride goes how?

Up, down, up, down, up, down, down, down, right?

Do you follow me?

I mean, they're relying on gravity to take you where?

Down.

Progressive sanctification is relying on grace and the power of

the Holy Spirit to take you where?

Up.

And if you kind of look and chart your life,

you would see that there are ups and downs in the journey.

How many of you realize that?

There are ups and downs in the journey.

Do I wish it was straight uphill?

Bang.

Yes.

Is it?

No.

But you know what?

One of the privileges of being a 66 is I can see where the dots on

the chart are going in the right direction and he gets the credit

for it.

I love the blessing of being able to say to people who are caught in their sins,

I've got good news for you.

Jesus can save you and give you complete forgiveness for all of your sins.

And not only that, you don't have to stay the way you are.

You don't have to stay the way you are.

That brings me to a third thing that we find there in the passage in Philippians.

Mark what it says,

and may share his sufferings becoming like him in death.

Let me take a moment and back up and have the larger picture here.

Here is Paul praying.

Number one, he prayed for an intimate knowledge of Christ.

He prayed for an understanding of the divine power that's available to help him

grow.

But then he comes to this business also of the matter of suffering.

To what end?

I want you to understand that the believer is called to be a living sacrifice

worthy of his high calling.

And so here's Paul who says,

Hey, listen, I want to grow in knowing Christ.

I want to grow in seeing the power of the resurrection work in my life.

And I want to grow to the point that suffering and challenge and hardship is not something

to be avoided, but it's something to be received for the sake of the kingdom and for the sake

of Christ.

You see, when we share in his suffering, we become like him.

We grow through that.

And I want you to understand that the one who was writing this, Paul, was someone who suffered

deeply.

When he wrote the epistle to the church at Philippi, he was writing it in prison.

And there is not a single note in this entire epistle of Paul kind of commiserating about how hard

and how difficult his journey was.

By the way, does anybody know how Paul's last lap in life played out?

2 Timothy, we find the apostle largely abandoned by the entire church that he had ministered to and raised up through the

grace of God.

Most of them had turned their backs on Paul.

And yet Paul here in the midst of all that hardship and suffering, he says,

Man, I am ready to be offered up.

I've run my race.

I've kept the faith.

And I'm looking forward to the day I'm going to see Christ.

Why?

Why?

Because he understood who he was following and who he was serving.

And he understood the value of the hardship and difficulty that he faced in life.

Paul's suffering for Christ and for the gospel was a blessing to be desired rather than a pain to be avoided.

So I want you to think with me just for a moment about what it means to suffer with Christ.

Christ suffered in loving people that had no time for his love or his salvation.

Do you ever find yourself small group leader, deacon, Sunday school teacher, youth leader?

You find yourself investing in the lives of kids and lives of other people and you find yourself frustrated

by the fact that they don't even seem to appreciate what you're putting into it.

You are suffering in place of Christ and for him.

Jesus also suffered with intentional rejection by those who most desperately needed him.

Stop and think about that.

Jesus suffered at the hands of those who most desperately needed him.

One of the things that goes with ministry, whatever role you have and whatever place you have,

you're going to find yourself investing repeatedly in individuals who desperately need the work of Christ in their life.

And as you pour the ministry of the gospel into their lives, sometimes they're going to say,

Hey, no, thank you.

In fact, it's going to go worse than that.

They're going to say, Leave me alone.

I want you to understand that Christ suffered because what he did was he revealed the light of man's heart

or the real depravity of man's heart.

And when he turned on the light, those who didn't like the light, guess what they did?

They hated him.

They hated him.

I can think back to this last year and several of the incidents.

Most of you know that I am not a frequent poster on Facebook.

It's a rare situation that leads me to post something on Facebook.

There's so much blather out there that I don't engage in it, but I do read a lot of it.

And every now and then something will light me up to the point I say,

You know, I think about this and I craft it over a period of days and finally put something out there.

I can tell you some of the most scathing things I've ever had said to me have been said by people on Facebook

in regards to things that I've said that were sweet and simple gospel truths.

Understand this.

You're going to suffer for representing Christ faithfully.

I want you to recognize this morning that Paul here says,

I want to know him.

I want to know his power.

And I want to know the fellowship of suffering along with him in the ministry of the gospel.

Is that your desire for this year?

Think with me.

I want to grow in knowing Christ.

I can do that.

But the practical part, I want to grow in understanding Christ's power to help me change.

I need to be someone different than I am.

I can do that.

I need to grow to be one who sees suffering not as something to be avoided,

but something to be joyfully received,

because when I am suffering for the testimony of Christ and the glory of his gospel,

I am suffering according to the will of God.

I want to be there.

I want to be there.

So this Sunday, as we think of our first Sunday together,

I want to challenge you.

Consciously and deliberately, without emotional fanfare,

and with the brutal reality of the scriptures,

which speaks authoritatively into the life of a believer.

Do you understand what I just said?

God's word has a right to tell you how to live and how to think.

On the basis of the authority of the scripture,

I encourage you to consciously and deliberately say,

Philippians chapter 3 verse 10,

Philippians 3:10

or one such verse like that will determine the year in front of me.

And if you have the intestinal fortitude

and a deliberate intention to be a person who grows in grace,

write it down.

Tell someone with teeth

and ask them to help you track the work of grace in your life this year.

Let's close in prayer.

Our Father God, this morning,

as we think in particular of believers,

of the blessing we have in our salvation,

we understand that you have delivered us out of darkness into marvelous light.

And you have set the year in front of us

and called us through your spirit

and through the authority of your word of God

to be a people that are conscious and deliberate

in pursuing a growing relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ

and an understanding that we can count upon your power to help us change

and a willingness to be sacrificial in servanthood.

I pray, Lord, for your people this morning

that as we have heard your word,

that your spirit would take and chisel it firmly into the heart.

that, Lord, in the year to come,

it might be evident that we individually

and we as a body of believers

are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And unbelievers watching us

ask us a reason for the hope.

Believers who are struggling

are encouraged by the evidence

of progressive sanctification in our heart.

and we rejoice

in seeing your power at work.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

As John comes to lead us in our closing song,

let me encourage you to stand, if you would, please.