Partners for Eternity

I'd like to keep your Bibles open at that passage, Philippians 3, verse 12, and I'll pray.

Philippians 3:12

Father God, we thank you again for the wonder of your word, and your word is so clear.

It is so clear to us tonight as to what has been said there, and yet understanding and obeying it,

we have got no power to do that without the work of your Spirit in us.

And so, Lord, we ask that you would have mercy on us.

Help us to heed the warning, to see the encouragement, and to have the determination to continue to press on forward.

Lord, for those of us who may be in a state of apathy, Lord, we ask that you would shake us out of that

and encourage us to get up and to get on, pressing on to look for you, and we ask it for your sake. Amen.

This is a radio conversation between the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln

and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995.

First of all, the Canadians came on the radio.

Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid collision.

Americans, recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid collision.

Canadians, negative.

You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid collision.

Americans, this is the captain of a U.S. Navy warship, and I say again, divert your course.

Canadians, no.

I say again, you divert your course.

Americans, this is the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln,

the second largest ship in the United States Atlantic fleet.

We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous support vessels.

I demand that you change your course 15 degrees to the north.

I say again, that's one five degrees north, or countermeasures will be undertaken

to ensure the safety of this ship.

There's a bit of a pause on the radio at this point,

and the Canadians came in and replied,

this is a lighthouse, your call.

There are a number of points in the Bible where we get similar kind of warnings

needing to change course.

And right now, Philippians 3 is one of those instances.

There is a clear warning in these verses, one that we need to take heed of.

This sermon is the fourth installment in our commitment series for this year, Partners for Life.

And the title of this talk is Partners for Eternity.

And last night, I decided to change that.

Late last night, you don't normally do much changing late at night,

but I decided, in fact, I prefer to call this one Partners in Going Hard After God.

I think that's a more appropriate title for this talk.

From Philippians 3, tonight, I want to show you why we must go hard after God.

And I want to encourage you to go hard after God.

I want to persuade you that the pursuit of God is not optional even after conversion.

And I say that because I take it that the ones that Paul describes in verse 18

as living as the enemies of the cross of Christ

are those who have given up pursuing God.

You see, Paul has issued this warning before.

And he does it again here, and he does it with tears in verse 19,

I think because he knows these people.

And he says,

The destiny of the enemy of the cross of Christ is destruction.

He could not have used stronger language in issuing this warning.

The destruction he has in mind is eternal destruction.

And that is why we must go hard after God.

Paul says three things here about the enemy of the cross of Jesus.

Their lives, that is, their lives are characterized by three things.

He says there that they have their mind on earthly things.

Literally, their mind is set on earthly things.

At the very center of their life is the world and its thinking and its priorities.

They think like the world thinks.

Their thinking is not directed by the word of God, the Bible, the scriptures,

but by popular culture instead.

And when there's a clash between the Bible and popular influences,

the Bible will lose out at every point.

Do you remember what Jesus said to Peter

when Peter had his mind on earthly things

and tried to discourage Jesus from going to the cross?

Do you remember what he said?

He turned to his best mate and called him by the name of his worst enemy.

Get behind me, Satan.

Why?

Because you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.

You have your mind set on earthly things.

You see, Peter wanted Jesus without a cross.

And a Jesus without a cross is no savior and he's no Lord.

The enemy of the cross has their mind set on earthly things.

They also glory in their shame.

The very sins that Jesus died for on the cross are the very things that they delight in.

It's the very things that they continue to do and continue to do it in such a way

that it doesn't appear to matter.

It doesn't matter because God's going to forgive it anyway.

That's what God's in the business of doing.

To glory in shame is to keep doing the things that God doesn't want

and to think it's okay because Jesus, by the gospel of grace, has forgiven me anyway.

As Titus says, they say that they are Christians, but they deny it by their actions.

And so what glorying in shame is,

it's a blasé approach to holiness and the mortification of sin.

Of course, these people may well have been able to recite the Ten Commandments,

tick the box and say, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I don't obey,

and I obey all those things, pretty much in the same way as the rich young ruler.

But what about the acceptable sins amongst us?

You see, God, friends, God wants to deal with those acceptable sins as well.

The ungodliness, the anxiety, the frustration, the discontentment,

the unthankfulness, the pride, the selfishness, the grumbling, the lack of self-control,

the impatience, the irritability, the anger, the judgmentalism, the envy, the jealousy,

the worldliness, the gossip, the slander, the lying, the embellishment of truth,

the greed, the laziness, the gluttony, the apathy, the abuse of power,

the manipulation, and the list goes on and on and on.

Those things which don't seem such a big deal are a big deal to God.

And those who glory in their shame don't think those things matter.

When you go hard after God, those stones get turned over and they get dealt with by God.

It is painful and raw to allow God to weed around in those closely held sins in our lives

because the life of sin is attractive, it is easy, and it feels so good.

And so that's why so many Christians just stop.

They get to a point, confession of sin, and then they stop

and just get used to a certain pattern of behaviour.

I've come to Christ, I've got salvation, I'm going to get to heaven and that's okay with me.

The enemy of God also has their stomach as their God, that is their gut is their God.

They pander to their physical desires and urges.

It's what they feel that they want to do is what they do.

The words of Jesus, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me, have been forgotten.

They've been forgotten.

They have come to Christ, but they don't want to keep denying.

That is the enemy of the cross and their destiny is destruction.

Friends, the cross of Christ is where the war on God ended.

It is where God dealt with our sin, forgave our sin, forgave our rebellion.

It is only through Jesus that we are able to escape a destiny of destruction.

And so why go hard after God in Christ?

Because destruction is the destiny of those who don't.

But we also get another reason why we should go hard after God in Christ.

It's in verse 20.

Have a look at it there in your Bibles.

The alternative destination is citizenship of heaven, where the Lord Jesus reigns.

Citizenship is really important.

On the most part, for those of us who were born citizens of this country, we just take it for granted.

Citizenship is something you just generally take for granted.

It's not something that most of us have had to take the time to even bother earning.

We just kind of get it when you're born here.

That's it.

Citizenship is important because it provides protection and care and significance.

If you are a refugee, that is, if you are a citizen of no country, then you don't have anyone to protect you.

And refugees generally are fairly nervous.

Citizenship matters when you don't have citizenship.

And that was something that mattered for our church earlier this year, when we were fighting for citizenship because life and death were at stake.

Citizenship matters.

It's about belonging somewhere and all the privileges that come with it.

So, for instance, just over 100 years ago, a Spanish court condemned to death a man for a crime that he had apparently committed.

However, this man was an American citizen and he was British by birth.

And so the two ambassadors of those respective countries said that the Spanish authorities had no right to put him to death.

The Spanish authorities basically ignored them and so they marched this guy out to be shot, stuck him on the wall.

But following out behind the firing squad were the ambassadors of both of those countries.

And as the firing squad raised their guns to shoot this guy, the ambassadors walked out and put the British flag and the American flag.

They wrapped this guy in the British and the American flag and then said to the captain of the firing squad,

you fire and we will bring both of our empires down upon Spain.

And the guys lowered their guns and...

I don't know what that is.

That's the firing squad.

Ticked off, decided to shoot someone else.

The guys lowered their guns and they walked away.

The guy was wrapped in a couple of bits of cotton, but he may as well have been wearing armour protection because in that moment he was impervious to destruction.

and if you are a friend of the cross of Christ

then you are impervious to destruction.

Trusting Jesus means that your citizenship is in heaven

and your destiny is not one of destruction.

Instead of destruction, it's a new body fit for eternity.

Did you notice it there?

We're not just being changed on the inside,

that's what he's doing now,

but then our bodies will be completely renewed,

bodies that won't need to cry,

bodies that won't feel unloved,

bodies that won't feel lonely,

bodies that won't feel sad,

bodies that won't have all those issues,

bodies that will never grow tired,

bodies that won't break down on you.

That is the privilege of the citizen of heaven.

And notice too that what Paul says here,

it talks about our citizenship,

he doesn't say we will have citizenship in heaven,

he says we do have citizen.

It is a present tense.

If you are a Christian,

then you are already a citizen of heaven.

That is your home.

That is where you are heading to.

And that is why the citizen of heaven does not just wait,

but they eagerly await for their saviour to come.

They are bursting to get there.

And verses 12 to 16 show us what that looks like.

And let me say that these verses,

verses 12 to 16,

explode the false logic

that says if Christ has found us,

then we don't need to seek him anymore.

Paul's reasoning is in fact the exact opposite.

I press on in order to gain Christ

because Christ has already gained me.

Verse 12,

not that I have already obtained all this

or have already been made perfect,

but I press on to take hold of that

for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet

to have taken hold of it,

but one thing I do,

forgetting what is behind

and straining towards what is ahead,

I press on towards the goal

to win the prize

which God has called me heavenward

in Christ Jesus.

And all of us who are mature

should take such a view of things.

And if on some point you think differently,

that too God will make clear to you.

Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Paul did not see his conversion to Christ

as a cage which held him back,

but as a catapult into the pursuit of holiness.

The irresistible grace of Christ

overcoming Paul's rebellion

did not make Paul passive.

He did not sit back and say,

well, well, it's all the work of God,

I don't do anything,

I follow my arms

and I just wait for him to come back again.

It actually made him powerful.

I take that 1 Corinthians 15, verse 10.

1 Corinthians 15:10

By the grace of God,

I am who I am

and his grace within me

was not without effect,

because I worked harder than everyone else.

It's not a passive thing,

grace,

in his mind.

Grace is power.

And the best commentary on these verses,

I think,

is in chapter 2,

verses 12 to 13.

Work out your salvation

in fear and trembling.

That's the call.

Guys, get on with it,

is what he says.

Get on with it.

Work it out.

Work hard at it.

Strain towards it.

Work out your salvation

in fear and trembling.

Why?

Because it is God

who is working in you.

In calling Christians

to go hard after God,

Paul in no way

undermines salvation

by grace alone.

Not even for a little bit.

It simply confirms it.

Twice in these verses,

he affirms it is God

who has taken hold of him.

But in the same,

the very same verses

that he calls us

to pursue

and to grasp hold of

and to continue

to move forward,

to go hard after God,

he calls us,

he says that God

has already taken hold of him

in order to do that.

So,

this is what I think he's saying.

Our work,

that is in the pursuit,

the grasping

to get hold of Christ,

the moving forward,

our work

is his work

for his glory

when done independence

on his sovereign grace.

That's confusing?

I'll say it again,

just in case.

our work

is his work

for his glory

when done independence

on his sovereign grace.

The most fundamental reason

why the Christian

must go hard after Christ

is that Christ

is in the Christian

moving them

to go hard after him.

And it's in this

that Paul sets himself up

as a model to follow

in verse 17.

Follow my example,

brothers,

and take note of those

who live according

to the pattern

that we gave you.

And what was the pattern

that Paul gave them?

It's there in verse 10.

I want to know Christ

and the power

of his resurrection

and the fellowship

of sharing in his sufferings,

becoming like him

in his death,

and so somehow

to attain

the resurrection

from the dead.

What was Paul's pattern

of life?

I want to know Christ

and I want to be like Christ.

The whole focus

of his life

was being made

more and more

like Jesus

until the day

he met Jesus

face to face.

We saw that

back in Philippians 1.21.

For to me,

to live is Christ

and to die

is to gain,

to get just more

of Christ.

That is his life.

And so it is

a dodgy logic

that insists

that if we have found Christ,

we need seek him

no more.

As one writer

wrote last century,

to have found God

and still to pursue him

is the soul's paradox

of love,

scorned indeed

by the too easily

satisfied religionist,

but justified

in happy experience

by the children

with a burning heart.

Or as another writer

probably put it

a little bit more

simply than that,

was

wherever there is

true grace,

there is a desire

for more grace.

I think what he's saying

there is

that whenever

there is

true grace,

true grace

doesn't lead

to apathy

and laziness

in discipleship.

It leads to

wanting to strive

for more grace.

The evidence

that you have Christ

is that you want

more of Christ.

Continued indifference

to growth in grace

is a sign

of no grace.

And so friends,

that is why

we must go hard

after God.

We must go hard

after God

because

we are citizens

of heaven

and going hard

after God

confirms that

we are citizens

of heaven

or alternatively

our destiny

is destruction

and the warning

is clear.

so how

then can we

learn from

Paul?

What examples

does he give us

in these passages?

There's clearly

a lot more

than just the few

that are here

but I want to

say a couple

of things,

three things.

Firstly,

develop

holy

dissatisfaction.

Develop

holy

dissatisfaction.

Paul says here,

brothers,

I do not

consider myself

yet to have

taken hold

of it.

Paul's

pursuit of

Christ

rises out

of a profound

dissatisfaction

with the way

that he is.

And I just

ponder this

question,

could it be

that there is

a connection

between how

little earnest

pursuit

of God

there is

today

and how

much we

are told

to think

well of

ourselves?

I think

it's an

incredible

indictment

when potentially

the greatest

theologian

of the last

hundred years,

well regarded

by some

anyway,

J.O.

Packer,

has said

that modern

evangelicalism

is virtually

absent

of

communion

with God.

Communion

with God

is almost

absent

in modern

evangelical

churches.

I think

that's

amazing.

And he's

not using

the word

broadly,

he's talking

reformed

evangelicals

when he

used that

term.

It is a

wonderful

thing to

have been

taken

possession

of by

Christ,

but it

is a

thousand

times more

wonderful

when we

realise

that we

are taken

possession

of people

who remain

sinful

like you

and me.

I find

that

incredible.

The first

step in

going hard

after the

holy God

then is

to develop

a holy

dissatisfaction

with your

spiritual

life.

And I

emphasise

your

spiritual

life.

Let me

tell you

that what

comes

naturally

to us

is a

dissatisfaction

with other

people's

spiritual

life.

There are

plenty of

people that

we can

point the

finger at

and say

that person

needs to

pray a

little bit

clearer,

that person

can't

articulate

the faith

well enough,

that person

doesn't even

know the

faith as far

as I'm

concerned,

that person

needs to

come to

church more,

that person

needs to

give more,

that person

needs to

serve more,

and it's

so easy

to just

be dissatisfied

with everyone

else's

spiritual life.

And the

call here

is to

be dissatisfied

with your

spiritual life.

Being able

to point

out

others'

lack of

pursuit of

God

doesn't

somehow mean

that you

are.

Being able

to point

out other

people's

immaturity

doesn't

somehow mean

that you

are mature.

What the

call here,

I believe,

is to stand

in front of

the mirror

of the

word and

recognize that

you have

not yet

arrived,

and you

won't this

side of

heaven.

The

hearty

admission of

our spiritual

imperfections is

the starting

point for the

pursuit of

God.

I want

to suggest

to you

that real

humbling

guilt is

extraordinarily

rare.

I think

99% of

our bad

feelings,

about

ourselves

that is,

are rooted

in pride.

For

example,

suppose you

go to a

dinner party

and you

discover that

you are

dressed

inappropriately

for the

occasion.

You knock

your drink

over at

the table,

the joke

you attempt

falls flat,

you call

your host

by the

wrong name,

you tread

on the

dog's

tail and

you make

the kids

cry.

How do

you feel

when you

walk out

from that?

You feel

pretty rotten,

you feel

embarrassed,

you're depressed,

you hate

yourself,

you don't

want to

show your

face.

Where do

all these

depressing,

immobilizing,

self-denouncing

feelings come

from?

Is the

answer God's

offended glory

or your

offended pride?

people who

are depressed

and immobilized

and angry

because their

behavior has

injured the

glory of

God are

very,

very,

very rare.

But people

who are

depressed and

immobilized and

angry because

their behavior has

prevented them

from having a

reputation of

being really

cool socially,

of being

intelligent and

being competent

are very,

very,

very common.

When I call

us to develop a

holy dissatisfaction

with our

spiritual life,

I'm asking us

to do something

which is rare,

not common.

I'm asking us

to feel worse

that we possess

so little of

Christ,

that we have

such little

communion with

God.

The first

step in going

hard after

God is to

feel bad about

the right

things.

Develop a

holy dissatisfaction

with your

spiritual life,

friends.

The second

step in going

hard after God

is to forget

those things

which lie

behind,

verse 13.

I take this

to mean that

anything in

your or our

background which

hinders the

pursuit of God

should be put

out of the

mind.

The point is

not never

look back.

The point is

only look back

for the sake

of pressing

forward.

That's what

it's about.

Never

substitute

nostalgia

for hope.

Individually

and corporately,

we must be

careful of

looking back,

my friends.

Even

memories of

successes in

the past

can make us

smug and

satisfied in

the present.

I remember

that I

started telling

you, I

remember one

incident in my

life where

God took me

through a

really difficult

time and

he grew me

remarkably and

in amongst

all of that

time of,

it was hard,

it was

persecution,

and other

things that

were going

on.

God brought

me forward

and I

started to

realise after

a few years

that I

used to

recount the

old stories.

I remember

a time

when.

And it

dawned on

me one

day,

Steve,

that's like

ten years

ago,

man.

What's

now?

What's the

stories now?

God's

love?

Don't be

smug about

what happened

then ten

years ago.

How's God

working in

you now?

How are you

pressing forward

now?

memories of

successes in

the past can

make us

smug and

self-satisfied

as individuals

and as a

church.

Memories of

failure can

make us

hopeless and

paralyzed in

our pursuit

of God.

Never look

back like

that.

We ought to

give thanks,

humbly give

thanks for

God's successes

amongst us in

the past or in

our lives in

the past.

We must

make humble

confessions for

the failures

that have been

there but we

must always

turn to the

future and

go hard after

God.

If we keep

looking back we

become museums.

The final step

in going hard

after God is

that straining

forward to

what lies ahead.

Verse 13

again.

What Paul does

is he provides

us as an

illustration of

straining forward

in 1 Corinthians

9.

He says

everyone who

competes in

the games goes

into strict

training.

They do it to

get a crown that

will not last but

we do it to get a

crown that will

last forever.

Therefore I do

not run like a

man running

aimlessly.

I do not fight

like a man beating

the air.

No I beat my

body and I make

it my slave so

that after I

have preached to

others I

myself will not

be disqualified

for the prize.

During the

marathon in

the 1968

Mexico Olympics

Tanzanian

runner John

Stephen

Akwari fell

early in the

race and

badly damaged

his leg.

He got up,

he got a

bandage on

his leg,

got up and

he limped

the rest of

the race and

he finally

crossed the

finishing line

an hour and

a half after

the last person

had finished.

And by the

time he

crossed the

finishing line

it was kind

of getting

dark, it

was sort of

twilight,

sun was

going down

getting a

bit dark

and a lot

of people

had gone

home,

they were

virtually shutting

down the

place for the

night anyway

and there

was a

photographer,

a reporter

there sorry,

who was

packing up

his gear

and until

he heard

this applause

with a few

people that

were left,

turns around

and the few

people left

in the stadium

are doing,

there's a

standing ovation

and then

he noticed

what's going

on,

there's this

guy limping

around the

track and

he takes a

photo of it,

it's actually

quite a famous

photo,

he takes a

photo of this

guy,

it's a bad

photo but a

famous photo

of him in

the twilight

limping towards

the finish

line,

he runs down

to the finish

line,

jams a

microphone in

his face and

says why

didn't you just

give up?

You clearly

weren't going

to win the

race,

you're badly

damaged,

you can't even

run,

why didn't you

just give up?

You know,

like save

yourself for

another day

or something

and John's

reply was

this,

you don't

understand,

my country

did not send

me 5,000

miles to

start a

race,

they sent

me to

finish it.

The way

to go hard

after God

is with all

the discipline

and self

denial of an

athlete,

that's the

way to go

hard after

God,

no matter

what the

cost is,

no matter

how difficult

it is,

no matter

what obstacles

are on the

way,

there is a

finish line

up there

and my

job is to

get to

that finish

line,

to press

on,

to strain

forward.

I doubt

that there

has ever

been a

Christian who

reached the

heights of

knowledge and

joy and

obedience and

communion with

God without

a plan and

without discipline

and without

self-denial.

one of the

incredible things

that I love

to do is

to look at

biographies of

some of the

greats in the

past and

look at their

lives and

just to see

their pattern

of lives and

man, I tell

you what,

in one sense

they're to be

appreciated.

There are some

people you just

cannot emulate,

they're just

particularly gifted,

but there's

something particular

about some of

their lives which

you can emulate

and that is

their discipline

and their focus

and their

determination.

I mean,

Jonathan Edwards,

for instance,

used to get up

at four o'clock

every morning

and spend the

first three hours

of the day

in study

and in

prayer.

My

goodness,

that's

incredible.

You know,

this is the

day before,

you know,

in the middle

of winter,

in the New

England area,

he had to

stoke the

fire first,

he had to

try and

keep himself

warm,

doing it by

candlelight,

for goodness

sake.

God does

not promise

his riches

to aimless,

apathetic and

lazy disciples.

Paul did

not run

aimlessly or

beat the

air,

he lived

with spiritual

goals in

view and

controlled his

passions for

the sake of

those goals.

And so I

plead with

you,

friends,

to be an

athlete,

to be a

spiritual

athlete.

Set yourself

a goal to

know more

of the

word of

God,

to grasp

more of

the will

of God,

to love

more of

the wonder

of God.

Make a

plan of

prayer and

study and

worship and

service and

go for it

with all of

your might,

with all of

your might,

God.

Because it

is Christ

working in

you,

dragging you

heavenward.

Heed the

warning this

evening.

Develop a

holy dissatisfaction

with your

spiritual

attainments.

Put out of

your mind

anything in

the past

which hinders

your pursuit

of God and

strain forward

like an

athlete.

For it is

God who is

working in

you.

working in

you.

We do

not run

in our

own strength

and all

the more

therefore we

can be

assured that

going hard

after God

will bring

us to know

him deeply

and enjoy

the sweet,

sweet confirmation

of our

citizenship in

heaven.

Let's pray.

Father God,

your word

as we looked

at tonight is

just so

challenging,

it is so

clear and

yet without

your spirit

we just

will not

have any

desire,

without your

work in

us,

any desire

to go

hard after

you.

Lord,

our hearts

are weak

and we

are feeble,

we are so

easily

distracted by

trivia and

irrelevancies,

we are so

apathetic,

we are so

comfortable in

religion and

so rescue us

we pray.

Rescue us

Father,

revive us

Lord so

that we

might go

hard after

you and

enjoy the

sweet

confirmation

of our

citizenship

in heaven

where the

Lord Jesus

reigns and

from where

he will

come and

establish his

rule and

take us to

be with him

in heaven.

Father,

help us to

press on

towards the

goal and

we ask it

for your

sake.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.