Do You Need to Grow Spiritually?

of any area of life where a person arrives at perfection

and no longer needs to continue to move forward,

grow, improve.

I can't.

You think about an athlete, a successful athlete.

He or she knows that last week's winning performance

will not guarantee a win next game.

And so good athletes, no matter how well they function yesterday,

they're going to continue to work, to practice, to get better.

They know what's required if they want to continue to be successful.

Now I know we've got some scholars in this room,

some of you in college, 4.0.

I always had a 4.0 when you added two semesters together.

Some of you, middle school, high school, elementary school,

you make all A's.

I know some of you do.

Well, if you made all A's or that 4.0 last semester,

that does not just automatically transfer to this semester, does it?

If you're a good student, if you're a smart student,

you know you've got to study now.

You've got to work now to maintain, to keep on making those kinds of grades.

Now every Christian, let me rephrase that,

every mature Christian knows that no matter how much we grow,

no matter how close we are to the Lord,

no matter how effective we are in serving Him,

we've got to continue on.

We can't rest on yesterday's faithfulness.

We've got to grow spiritually.

It's a lifelong process.

And mature Christians know that.

How do I know?

Because the Apostle Paul,

one of the most mature Christians we will ever read or know about,

he emphasizes in Philippians chapter 3

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

what a lot of the great saints that you have read about have said.

The closer you are to the Lord,

the more conscious you are of your own sinfulness.

The more conscious you are that you've got a long way to go

to be like Jesus.

Philippians chapter 3,

Philippians 3:12–16

verses 12 through 16 is where we're going to look today.

Paul is describing how he knows he's not where he needs to be.

And he is going to put forth every ounce of effort

that God graciously allows him to put forth

to know Christ better,

to be closer to Him,

and to serve Him,

make a difference in other people's lives.

Read with me.

Philippians 3,

beginning in verse 12.

Not that I have already obtained this,

or am already perfect,

but I press on to make it my own,

because Christ Jesus has made me His own.

Brothers,

I do not consider that I have made it my own,

but one thing I do,

forgetting what lies behind

and straining forward to what lies ahead.

I press on toward the goal for the prize

of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Let those of us who are mature think this way.

And if in anything you think otherwise,

God will reveal that to you also.

Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

We are moving through the book of Philippians.

We're coming to a part where Paul's sort of bearing his soul to us.

He's admitting he comes short of where he wants to be and needs to be.

So as we look at this,

let's look at it with the idea that

through Paul's example,

we're going to evaluate

our own need to grow spiritually.

And then we're going to come back next week in particular

and see how we can actually accomplish

a greater, more intimate,

more meaningful relationship with the Lord

and service to Him.

Let's look first now, verse 12.

The way to know if you need to grow spiritually.

The way you need to grow spiritually.

The way to know.

We're going to look from Paul's experience.

If you need to grow spiritually.

Paul knew that he had not arrived.

That he needed to continue to grow

because of what was lacking in his life.

I want you to note two things.

First, Paul had not obtained his spiritual goals.

He says in the first part of verse 12,

not that I have already obtained this.

This is what he's been talking about

in verses 10 and 11 in particular.

We read that last week.

What I want us to do right now for sake of time

is just look at two of the things

that he talked about in verse 10

that he has not obtained.

Look at it in verse 10.

That I may know him

and the power of his resurrection.

Paul had not obtained the goal

of knowing Christ

like he wanted to.

Now I want you to think about

what that man said.

Paul has walked with the Lord

probably for 30 years now.

I mean, God has used him

in a tremendous way.

But what he's telling us here is

his relationship with the Lord

wasn't as close, as deep

as he wanted

and as he knew the Lord wanted it to be.

He wanted more.

The other goal that Paul had not obtained

was to experience the power of God in his life,

the kind of power that God had demonstrated

when he raised Jesus from the dead.

That's life-changing power, isn't it?

Transforming power.

So what Paul is doing here,

he is describing two of his greatest desires

that he has not obtained.

He wants to know Christ and be like him.

He wants to know him better.

Be more like him.

And Paul wants to experience

God's transforming power in his own life.

Paul's not perfect.

He struggles just like you and me.

He's a sinner.

I don't know this.

This is a guess.

But just reading some of the things he said,

the way he broke in last week

and said, beware the dogs.

Paul may have had to battle anger some.

Don't you think?

And what he's wanting to experience in his life

is more of God's transforming power,

the kind of power it raised Jesus from the dead

to help him to overcome his sins,

his failures,

to become more like Jesus,

but also to be more effective

in other people's lives

through his teaching and preaching interaction.

You know,

Paul was a star in that day

in terms of the way the Lord used him.

I mean, he was the greatest theologian,

the evangelist,

the missionary,

the church planter.

He went into these places

where nobody ever heard the gospel,

a lot of them,

preached,

people believed,

they started a church.

He got them started.

But it didn't take long

in a lot of these churches

that problems happened.

You know,

everywhere there's people,

there's problems.

Isn't that true?

Even in the early churches.

And a lot of the things

that Paul wrote in his letters

was to correct a problem.

And so,

one of the things he is praying about,

about that,

experiencing God's power

that brought Jesus from the dead,

Paul wants to experience that power

to be more effective

and maybe in grounding those churches,

helping them to get off

to such a good start

that they didn't have

the kind of problems,

the future churches he started,

like some of the past churches

he started.

Now, the other reason Paul gave

for knowing he needed to grow

was this.

It's real simple.

He was not perfect.

Look at the other part of verse 12.

Not that I've already obtained this

or I'm already perfect.

Paul was well aware.

This is not some kind of,

you know,

he's not sharing a secret here.

He knew it

and everyone who knew it,

who knew him knew it.

He was well aware

that he was not perfect.

He had not overcome

all the struggles in his life.

He had not developed

Christ-like character

to the point

that he thought he should.

Now, you may be thinking,

well, nobody's perfect.

No one

or will ever be perfect

in this world

and that's absolutely true.

No Christian

will ever reach the point

of sinless perfection

this side of heaven.

No one.

Paul didn't.

So,

what does that mean?

What does it mean

for you to admit to yourself,

well, I know

I'm never going to be perfect.

I know I'm never going to overcome

all the sin in my life,

all the struggles.

I'm never going to develop

full Christ-like character.

Does that mean

that you ought to just,

well,

what's the use?

Let's just don't worry about it.

If I'm never going to be perfect,

if I'm never going to totally

get rid of this anger,

this mouth,

I'm never perfectly

going to be able

to demonstrate self-control,

be kind in situations

where it's hard to be kind,

what's the use?

We can't do that.

We can never just sort of

shrug our shoulders and say,

if I can't be perfect,

I'm just not going to worry about it.

That's like saying,

well,

I'll just not worry

if I am angry,

if I mistreat the people

in my life,

if I never truly develop

the kind of Christ-like character

that will enable me

to be a positive influence

in my home

and in my circle of friends.

We know better than that,

don't we?

The fact that we are

not perfect

means we must always work on

overcoming our sinful attitudes

and our actions.

We still have got to strive for it.

We must always work on developing

Christ-like character.

Because we'll never achieve

sinless perfection

does not mean

that we should not seek

to grow spiritually.

It doesn't mean

that we should settle

and just sort of

take it for granted

we're going to be mediocre.

That is not

what you can do

and be a faithful Christian.

You cannot walk with God

and just resolve yourself

to just being bland,

mediocre,

not too bad,

but certainly

not more like Jesus.

What Paul said about himself,

about his need to grow,

understanding his failures,

that's true about

every one of us

in this room.

That's why we need

to make spiritual growth

our priority,

a true desire

of our heart.

You know,

there's a difference

between knowing

you need to grow spiritually.

I mean,

let's just,

if you're a Christian,

only a moron

would not understand

I need to grow spiritually.

Isn't that right?

I mean,

nobody in this room

is so arrogant

as to think,

you know,

I'm where I need to be.

If you don't see,

at least see,

identify,

there's something wrong

with you.

And a counselor

can't help you

if you're that far,

you know,

just that dumb

that you don't understand.

I am lacking

in spiritual growth.

But that does not make you

desire it,

does it?

Does it make you

make that a priority?

I know I need to lose

10 or 15 pounds

because I see it

every day.

Right there.

I see it.

I don't like it.

I like to get rid of it.

It's not probably good for me.

But I just have to admit,

I don't do one thing

about it.

I'd like to get rid

of this gut.

But I've not made

losing weight,

getting in shape,

and getting rid of it

a priority.

And so,

what good does it really do

for me to say,

I know I need to?

Now,

your spiritual growth,

it's not enough

just to know you need to

are you making it

a priority?

Do you have

a heartfelt desire

to know Jesus Christ

better?

To be closer

to Him?

Do you really

and truly

want to overcome

the sin

in your life

that is preventing you

from enjoying

closeness with God?

And let's be honest,

there's probably

some sin in your life

if you're not

dealing with it,

it's preventing you

from enjoying

some closeness

with the people

that you live with,

that you work with,

that you play with.

You know,

sins,

especially certain sins,

relational type sins,

they don't just hinder

our relationship

with God,

they hinder

our relationships

with everybody

around us,

whether you realize

it or not.

And so,

we need,

in order to please God,

in order to be

the better

husband,

wife,

parent,

child,

friend,

we need to desire

to grow spiritually

and overcome

our sins

and truly develop

more Christ-like character.

But let me ask you this,

do you also desire

to see God's power

at work

in your life?

And that will mainly

be,

I think,

or a lot of that

will be in answer

to your prayers.

I don't know

too many real

miracle workers.

I don't know any.

But I do know

some people

who truly

walk with the Lord

and they

are effective

in prayer.

They pray

according to God's

will.

They're seeking

God's glory,

seeking to honor Him.

They're seeking

what's best

in God's

overall plan

for their life,

other people's lives.

And they pray

accordingly

and they see

people change,

situations change.

Do you want to see

God's power

at work in your life,

especially in

after your prayers?

Let's pause here

for a minute.

Have you ever

thought about how

God

saved you

for the very

purpose

of making you

more like Jesus,

enabling you

to experience

His presence

and power

in your life?

Well,

Paul never forgot

how the Lord

broke into his life

and not only

called him

to himself

but set about

to change Paul

this way.

For those of you

who may not know,

the Apostle Paul

at one time

was an enemy

of Jesus

and the church.

He did everything

in his power

to stop

the spread

of Christianity.

He hunted

down Christians.

He had them

put in jail.

He was responsible

for some people

being put to death

all because

they were Christians.

On one of his trips

up to the town

of Damascus

to arrest

Christians,

the Lord Jesus

just broke

into his life,

knocked him

to the ground,

temporarily blinded

him

and called

him

to trust

Jesus

as his Lord

and Savior.

The Lord

broke into his life

and completely

transformed him,

turned him around,

set him on a

different direction

I want you

to look

at how Paul

described,

he just alludes

to this

in the latter part

of verse 12

or just to read

verse 12.

Paul said,

I press on

to make it

my own

because Christ

Jesus has

made me

his own.

Jesus

intervened

in his life,

called him

to himself,

but the NIV

makes that

clearer.

Look at this,

I press on

to take hold

of that

for which

Christ Jesus

took hold

of me.

And then the

New Living

translation

makes it

even clearer,

I press on

to possess

that perfection

for which

Christ Jesus

first

possessed

me.

never forget

if you're

a Christian,

you're a

Christian

because the

Lord

first

chose you

out of

his grace,

out of

his love,

and called

you

to himself,

to be

his

child,

to be

his follower,

and he did

it for a

purpose.

Now sometimes

the New Testament

describes this

call as

coming from

Jesus.

The Apostle

Paul's initial

call came from

Jesus on the

road to

Damascus.

Well,

Jesus

himself

describes

to his

disciples

how he

called them.

Look at this.

Jesus said

to them,

you do not

choose me,

but I chose

you,

and appointed

you,

so that you

might go and

bear fruit,

fruit that

will last.

I mean,

Jesus is

emphasizing to

those disciples,

you are a

follower of me

because I

chose you.

I called

you to be

with me,

to be mine,

and I

called you

not just to

be mine,

but to do

such a work

in your life

that it

makes a

difference

in how you

live,

and you

produce

spiritual

fruit.

You

demonstrate

that you're

mine by

the way

that you

live is

what he's

talking about.

But more

often than

not,

when the

New Testament

describes our

call,

it describes

it as coming

from God

the Father.

A good

example is

Romans 8,

29,

and 30.

I want you

to look at

this.

For those

whom he

foreknew,

talking about

God,

for those

whom he,

God the

Father,

foreknew,

he also

predestined

to be

conformed

to the

image of

his Son,

in order

that he

might be

the firstborn

among many

brothers.

And those

whom he

predestined,

he also

called.

And those

whom he

called,

he also

justified.

And those

whom he

justified,

he also

glorified.

Strong

emphasis on

God's work

in us to

call us to

himself.

But what I

want us to

note in

this is that

God's call is

always for a

purpose.

Jesus said,

look at it

again,

I chose

you and

appointed you

so that you

might go and

bear fruit,

fruit that

will last.

God the

Father,

his call,

look at it,

for those

whom he

foreknew,

he also

predestined

to be

conformed

to the

image of

his Son.

If you

are a

Christian,

and you

look at

this,

what these

statements

say,

you should

take comfort

in knowing

that God

just out

of his

grace and

mercy and

love chose

you.

He called

you to be

his child

by trusting

in Jesus as

your Lord and

Savior.

You didn't

deserve it.

You didn't

do anything

to earn it.

Your salvation

was

completely

a gift

of God's

grace.

I want you

to look at

a couple

of verses

that should

be real

familiar to

most of us

in this

room,

but it

emphasizes

what we're

talking about.

It's important

for us to

get this

and let it

sink in.

Paul says,

for by grace

you have been

saved through

faith,

and this is

not your own

doing.

You don't

save yourself.

It is the

gift of God,

not a result

of works.

so that no

one may

boast.

We're

chosen,

called,

saved by

the grace

of God

through faith

in Jesus

Christ,

but it's

equally important

for us to

understand that

we're chosen

for a purpose.

Look at the

very next

verse in

Ephesians 2.

For we are

his workmanship,

created in Christ

Jesus for

good works,

which God

prepared

beforehand,

that we

should walk

in them.

Saved by

grace,

through faith,

through faith in

Jesus,

but we're

saved to

work,

to fulfill the

purpose God

created us

for.

Go back to

what Jesus

said.

He chose

us,

he chose his

disciples to

bear fruit,

fruit that will

last,

and God

chose us

and is

working in

us to

conform us

to the

likeness of

his son.

As we

live in

this world,

as husbands

and wives,

parents and

children,

employers and

employees,

athletes,

musicians,

or whatever

it is that

we are and

do,

God calls

us to be

his faithful

children who

do all kinds

of good works

that are

evident to

everybody,

that we

bear forth

all kinds

of good

fruit that's

obvious we're

children of

God,

and that we

are growing

and becoming

more and more

like Jesus

every day in

terms of

character

development.

Now,

none of us

have done that

perfectly for

one single

day,

and what that

means is we've

got a lot of

work to do.

The good

news is that

God will help

us both

inwardly by

giving us the

desire,

the motivation,

and he will

help us

outwardly by

enabling us to

see some

success,

to make

progress.

We looked at

this a couple

of weeks or a

few weeks ago,

Philippians 2.13,

for it is God

who works in

you both to

will and to

work for his

good pleasure.

See,

salvation is all

of grace.

God chooses

us, calls us,

and he works in

us by his grace

to give us the

desire and ability

to please him.

We have every

reason to be

confident that we

can grow spiritually.

You, if you're a

Christian, I don't

care who you are,

what you do, how

much is going on

in your life, if

you're a Christian,

you have every

reason to be

confident that you

can grow spiritually.

So let's start

looking now at what

spiritual growth

results.

Number two, the

way to respond is,

and I've changed

this, this has been

on the screen, the

way to respond is

when you get

serious about

growing spiritually.

As I said,

everybody knows

they need to

grow if you're a

Christian.

We're going to

look at now the

way to respond when

you get serious

about growing

spiritually.

I want you to

look at the

action words that

Paul uses to

describe the

effort that he

put forward to

be what God has

called him to be.

Look at this, in

verse 12, I

press on to

make it my

own.

13, straining

forward to what

lies ahead.

Verse 14, I

press on toward

the goal for the

prize.

You know,

should know,

Paul's not

talking about

working for

salvation, but

he is talking

about disciplining

ourselves and

cooperating with

God as he works

in us to make

us more like

Jesus.

Let's go back to

that example about

me needing to

lose weight.

Do you know the

reason why I have

not lost this gut

even though I'd

like to?

Be honest.

I'll just be

honest.

I have not

exercised any

self-control or

personal discipline

in what I eat at

night between

supper and

bedtime.

that's my

downfall.

I know that.

I love to eat

potato chips.

I love little

Debbie square

cakes.

If Will and

Olivia don't get

them all, I

love to eat one

of those at

night.

Now, some

nights after

supper, I start

thinking, I'm not

going to do that

tonight.

I'm not going to

eat a single

chip.

I'm not going to

eat one little

cake.

But at some

point, I hear

little Debbie

calling my name.

At some point,

these, what would

you call them,

fat cells start

crying out for

potato chips.

that's a silly

illustration, I

know.

But it can

shine light on

the spiritual

warfare, the

real serious

warfare that

every Christian

experiences.

Paul describes

it in

Galatians 5,

17.

I want you to

look at this.

This is what's

going on in

every Christian

life.

For the

desires of the

flesh, that

could be

translated sinful

nature.

That's what he's

talking about.

For the desires

of our sinful

nature are

against the

spirit, the

indwelling Holy

Spirit who is

seeking to make

us more like

Jesus.

For the desires

of the flesh are

against the

spirit, and the

desires of the

spirit are against

the flesh.

For these are

opposed to each

other to keep

you from doing

the things that

you want.

Your sinful

nature does not

want you to grow

spiritually.

That's why you

have so many

temptations to do

sinful things.

I mean you

think about it.

The temptations

that you encounter.

You know what

your weaknesses

are, what we

might call pet

sins are, what

some of those

habits that really

bring you down.

You know what

they are, and you

know how often you

get tempted by

that.

But you know

sometimes we're

tempted to allow

neutral things to

distract us and

take us away from

things that really

matter.

Give you an

example.

Sometimes on

Saturday mornings or

other times during

the week, I will

sit down to read

the Bible.

And as I sit down

to read the Bible,

if I didn't do this

the night before, it

can be early in the

morning, I'll think.

If it's during

football season,

Friday, if it's on

Saturday morning, I

wonder if Pickens

won last night.

I wonder if the

team I'm sort of

keeping up with in

college, I wonder if

they won last night.

I wonder this and

that.

Nothing in the world

wrong with it.

And I want to be

honest with you,

sometimes I'll pull

out that phone or

open up that computer

and I'll check the

scores.

But when I do that,

I don't just see if

Pickens won.

I keep up with all

high school teams in

upstate at least.

I'll look at every

score.

I'll look at

everything on ESPN

about college

football.

And before you know

it, the times pass,

I got something else

I've got to do.

And my temptation

wasn't to do

something sinful in

and of itself, check

scores, but it was

sinful for me to give

in to that distraction

and take me away

from spending time

with the Lord when I

had just that time

to do it.

We've got to be on

guard.

The only way we can

overcome the sinful

nature is to be

sensitive to the

presence of the Holy

Spirit within us and

then be obedient as

He leads us.

Look at this.

The verse before

what we just read,

Paul says live by

the Spirit, walk by

the Spirit.

Be sensitive to the

Holy Spirit's

presence and

obedient to His

leadership.

Walk by the Spirit

and you will not

gratify the desires

of the sinful nature.

That's the NIV.

That takes discipline.

And that's what Paul

is telling us in

verses 12 through 14

that we're going to

come back and look at

in more detail next

week and some other

things.

But right now I want

to close by just

a simple question.

Do you want to grow

spiritually?

Not do you know you

need to because if you

are a Christian you

know it.

Do you really want,

do you desire to grow

spiritually?

Do you want to develop

more Christ-like

character?

Do you really want to

please God by doing His

will?

Be honest.

God knows the desires of

your heart.

If you don't want to

grow spiritually, if

you're not willing to

make the commitment and

discipline yourself, ask

God to help you

understand why it's

that way.

If you have never, and

the whole thing I'm

preaching about this

morning, it's just a

turn off to you.

You have no desire to

grow spiritually.

You can't be a

Christian.

The Spirit of God

cannot live in you and

never convict you,

prompt you, encourage

you to draw closer to

the Lord, to serve Him

more faithfully, to

overcome the sin in your

life.

That just will not

happen.

But it could be that you

are a Christian and you

have those desires.

And you used to do

something about it.

But you've allowed the

busyness of your life,

other people, other

demands, or sinful

habits to quench the

Spirit.

You've not acted on it,

and so the desire has

dwindled.

dwindled.

I want you to

understand that's

serious.

When you have sensed the

closeness of God, the

presence of God, but you

don't now.

I would encourage you, if

that's you, spend some

time with the Lord today.

Admit your sin, your

selfishness, your

preoccupation with

whatever else it is that

has hindered you, gotten

in the way of your

relationship with the

Lord.

And draw back close to

Him.

Ask Him to help you to

rearrange your schedule,

to make some new

priorities, and to make

Him first on the list as

far as spending time with,

getting to know better,

becoming more like Jesus.

Think about, where are you

right now in your

relationship with God?

Where do you need to be?

Make the commitment to

obey God and move in the

direction He's calling you.

Let's pray together.

Dear God, first I pray for

anyone in this room who is

not a Christian.

Maybe you just revealed it to

them today or maybe they've

always known.

But Lord, I pray that you

will convict them, show

them their need for

salvation.

Create within them a desire

to turn from their sin, to

truly trust Jesus as their

Savior and Lord, and surrender

their lives to Him and follow

Him.

Father, if there are Christians

in this room whose desire is

not as strong as it used to

be, disturb them over that,

cause them to realize that

they're on shaky ground, and

call them back in confession,

in repentance, in renewed

commitment.

Whet their appetite, dear God,

for the things of God.

Father, for Christians in this

room who are mature, who are

growing, who desire to grow

more, encourage them, dear God.

Encourage them when they see the

closer they get to you, the more

aware they are of the sin and

shortcomings in their life.

Help them to see this is a sign

of being a mature Christian, being

more like the Apostle Paul.

And help them, dear God, to just

keep on, to remain faithful, and to

see how you do enable them to

become more like Jesus, love you

more, and serve you more effectively

in the days to come.

It's just all an attitude of

prayer, listen to the Lord, and

respond to Him this morning.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.