Christ-Centred Ambition

The scripture reading comes from Philippians chapter 1, starting in verse 18b.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the screen or your Bible.

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus

Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will

not at all be ashamed, but that with full courage, now, as always, Christ will be honored in my body,

whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the

flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard-pressed

between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain

in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and

continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause

to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. This is the word of God.

Thank you, Kathy, for reading the passage. Sounds so much better when you read it than when I say it

in my head. Good morning again. My name is Oscar. I'm one of the leaders here at Watermark, and it's

really a privilege to be sharing the message with everyone today. Let me pray for us.

Father God, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, just pray that you have your way over the next 30 or so minutes,

God, that your spirit would help me with clarity of thoughts and speech, that the message would be

clear and concise. And I pray for all of us listening, tuning in, that our hearts would be soft and

accepting of your word, God, and I just pray that it would fall on fertile soil. Help us to see this

incredible Jesus that Paul loved, to see the beauty of Christ so much more clearly. Have your way,

God, today. In Jesus' name. Amen. When I was young, my ambition was to be a professional tennis player.

From the age of 11 years old, I spent probably up to 25 hours a week on the court training, in the gym,

and on weekends playing tennis tournaments. My parents spent an enormous amount of time,

energy, and money on my tennis. I didn't have much of a social life when I was a teenager. In fact,

if you ask me now, what did teenagers do in the 90s? I actually have no idea. I didn't do any of those

things. Our ambition drives us to do many things. Our ambition drives us to work hard, to make sacrifices,

to change our behavior because we think it would benefit us long term. Our ambition pushes us to

persevere in the face of adversity because we have a vision, a goal, or a prize that we are striving

towards. For some of us, maybe our ambition is to make money and retire. Perhaps if you are a university

student, your ambition is to graduate, find a good job, and make a name for yourself in the world.

Or maybe your ambition is to get married and have a family. As we continue our sermon series on the

book of Philippians, in today's passage, we'll look at Paul's ambition. Paul lays out his life school

very clearly. In verse 20, he says, it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be

ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life

or by death. If Paul had a mission statement, this would be it. This was his reason to exist, that Jesus

Christ would be honored in his body, in life, and in death. The word honored can be translated as

exalted, i.e. lifted high, or magnified, i.e. made big. In a word, Paul's ambition was that the name of

Jesus would be glorified, glorified through him. He deeply desired that all who knew him, from the

disciples that he planted at those churches, to the prison officials who guarded him day and night,

that they would see through Paul a glimpse of the beauty, the kindness, as well as the sovereignty and

majesty of Jesus. And how did Paul go about doing this? How did he glorify the name of Jesus?

Jesus by doing two things, by loving Jesus and by loving those around him. Sounds simple, but if we're

honest, they're both pretty difficult to execute. And so, Christ-centered ambition, if we were to define it,

is to glorify the name of Jesus Christ through loving him and loving others. And this morning, we'll

try to unpack these verses and see what that looks like in Paul's life and in our lives.

Now, if you look again at the end of verse 20, Paul desired that Christ would be honored in my body,

whether by life or by death. And then in verse 21, he follows it up by saying,

for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. In Paul's life, we can pretty easily imagine how he

glorified Jesus. He spent all of his time spreading the gospel. He suffered for the sake of Jesus. And

he did all of this joyfully, not out of guilt or compulsion, but because he had a deep love for his

Lord Jesus. But then he says this interesting thing in verse 21. He says, and to die is gain.

How does dying glorify the name of Jesus? How would he be able to preach the gospel if he died?

Well, let's read on to see what Paul says about his own death. In verse 23, he says, I'm hard pressed

between the two, i.e. living and dying. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far

better. Now, is Paul saying that he desired death because his life of suffering and persecution were

too much to bear and therefore death would be a release? Or is he saying that he desired death

because he believed that in heaven, in paradise, he'd be able to experience all those worldly carnal

pleasures that he gave up to be in ministry for most of his life? Well, of course, Paul is not saying

either of these things. Paul said, to die is gain because in death, he would finally be face to face

with Jesus Christ, the one he loved and the one he adored above everything else he had ever experienced

in the world. Can you sense Paul's deep love, adoration and desire for Jesus?

And so for the Christian, one way that Jesus is glorified is when we love him so much

that we consider death as gain because we gain Christ.

Now, let's not kid ourselves here. This is extremely challenging. I myself have been preparing this

sermon for a little while now and this idea that death is gain is still very difficult for me to swallow

because by definition, in death, we are forced to give up all that we deem as good and valuable,

fun and exciting. Goodbye to all those worldly ambitions. No more retirement, playing golf and tennis

every day. No more beach vacations in Thailand or Vietnam, which I personally love.

Your shoe or watch collection, they will return to dust. No more marriages. No more having children.

But Paul says to die is gain because in heaven, there is something infinitely greater than any of the

greatest experiences or relationships that this world has to offer. So now the question is,

what did Paul see or experience that gave him such an incredible level of conviction in and love for Jesus?

Well, it's because Paul experienced Jesus. He had an intimate relationship with his Lord. He knew Jesus.

Now, I'm sure Paul experienced Jesus in many ways. Let me just highlight two ways. First, he experienced

the grace of Jesus. In your Bible, if you turn back a few books from Philippians to the book of Acts,

in Acts chapter 7, there's a story about the stoning of a man named Stephen who was a disciple of Jesus.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

Paul was there at the stoning of Stephen, but not defending Stephen, but actually persecuting him,

encouraging his murder. Paul was a murderer. By any objective measure before he came to know Jesus,

he was a terrible person. But upon repenting and giving his life to Jesus, he experienced the wonderful

mercy and grace that only Jesus can offer. But Paul only experienced grace because he knew the depths

of his own sin. In 1 Timothy 15, Paul says, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am

the worst. The Bible's greatest evangelist, the man who wrote a lot of the New Testament, confessed,

I am the worst of sinners. But instead of moping around, feeling depressed and ashamed of his past sins,

Paul lists the eyes of his heart up to the risen Christ. He sees the scars on the hands and feet of Jesus,

and he rejoices knowing that his sins are not only forgiven, they're wiped from the face of the earth.

And not because of anything Paul did, but only because of what our Lord Jesus did on the cross when he gave his life for us.

That is grace, undeserved and unearned. And Paul experienced that.

And second, Paul experienced joy in Jesus. We know from last Sunday's sermon that Jeremy gave,

that Paul wrote Philippians from prison. And it wasn't, it was probably not a white collar,

nice prison with three hot meals a day and a big screen TV. It was probably a dank, dark, disgusting,

rat infested prison. And Paul was on death row throughout his life of ministry. Paul was beaten.

He was stoned. He was persecuted. He suffered tremendously. And yet, look how joyful he was all

the time. It's incredible when I think about it. Nothing, absolutely nothing can depress or bog him down.

If you look at this beginning of the passage in verse 18, Paul starts out with saying,

yes, and I will rejoice. He's rejoicing because the gospel is being preached,

even though some of those doing the preaching are doing so out of selfish ambition.

Now, Paul could have said, hey, let's stop those guys from preaching. Their intention is wrong.

After all, they were probably diluting Paul's own message while he was stuck in jail. But instead,

Paul sees God redeeming a bad situation for good. And for that, he rejoices.

Now, you and I, we can't escape suffering and challenges in this life. When one challenge goes away,

another comes. But what the life of Paul and the entire Bible shows us is that in Christ,

we can experience joy in all seasons. Now, most of us will probably not face the type of suffering that

Paul faced, although some of us might. But we all do suffer and struggle in our own ways, don't we?

For me, this season has been a particularly challenging time for my job and career.

If you didn't know, I don't work at Watermark. I've been working in finance for the past 15 or so years.

And just a few months ago, I was notified by my employer that I've been losing my job.

Now, if I'm honest, when I first got that call, I was pretty upset. I was angry. I was blaming

everything I possibly could. But then after speaking to my wife, Celeste, and praying with her,

and then doing the same with the Watermark elders and a number of other brothers in Christ,

honestly, the sense that I've been feeling in my heart is one of peace and joy.

Sometimes when I tell a friend that I've lost my job, they look at me like,

why aren't you more angry or anxious or upset?

You have three children to feed and educate in Hong Kong. Are you crazy?

Maybe I am crazy. But I can just be honest with you that I feel great.

I feel that God would take care of me because he's able to do immeasurably more than all I could

ever ask or imagine according to the power that is at work within us.

I've lost my place here. I'm sorry.

Excuse me.

When we suffer or lose something like a job or a boyfriend or girlfriend, or when we lose

control of our teenage child, our natural response is to worry. But what the Bible teaches us is to

respond in a very different way by running to Jesus and experiencing his joy. How? By getting on

our knees in prayer. By asking our brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with us, to pray

for us, to intercede with God on our behalf.

Look at Paul. In verse 19, he writes,

through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ,

this, i.e. his time in jail,

will turn out for my deliverance.

Paul was a man of great faith, no doubt, but even Paul knew that

he needed the prayer coverage of the saints and the power of God's spirit to carry him through

his time in prison. I don't think suffering in jail was that easy for Paul. But he knew that joy

doesn't come simply from positive thinking. It can only come, deep joy can only come from the one who

created joy, and that is Jesus Christ.

So, what did Paul experience in Jesus that made him love him so much?

One, he experienced the grace of Jesus,

and two, he experienced joy in Jesus.

And part of Christ-centered ambition

is to glorify the name of Jesus

by loving him through experiencing his grace and joy,

as we've just said.

But it's also through loving our neighbors.

It's both upward to God and outward to those around us.

Although Paul desired to depart and to be with Jesus,

he knew God was calling him to remain in this world for some time,

to love and care for the church,

to love and care for his disciples and anyone else

that he met along the way.

In verse 24,

Paul says,

To remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Convinced of this,

I know that I will remain and continue with you all

for your progress and joy in the faith.

Ever said to yourself,

I want to help my spouse,

my CG member,

or my friend have more joy in Jesus?

Ever thought about that?

Well, Paul did.

He was ambitious about spreading joy.

He himself had this deep sense of joy rooted in Christ

and his joy was highly contagious

because he rejoiced in all circumstances,

even in prison.

And that was a great encouragement to the church.

But Paul was also intentional about spreading joy.

And he did this by serving others,

putting their needs above his own.

Paul prayed for the church.

He visited the church.

He wrote them letters.

Paul prayed for the church.

While in jail.

He loved others and wanted those around him

to receive the joy that he experienced.

But loving others is not always convenient.

In the midst of being persecuted in prison,

Paul didn't just look inward at himself,

which he could have.

He was in a tough spot.

Instead, he looked outward at those around him

and said,

God has called me to help you receive the grace and joy

that I have experienced.

Perhaps some of us think that before we can care for a Christian,

before we can share the gospel to our friend,

that we need to have our lives perfectly sorted first,

that we need to have a stable job and income,

or to have sent our kids off to university,

before we have the mental and physical capacity to care for another person.

But Paul is teaching us in this passage actually the exact opposite.

In the midst of suffering,

in the midst of huge uncertainty,

in all seasons,

God is calling us to glorify his name through loving others.

Paul's life was messy.

Our lives are messy.

My life is incredibly messy.

But it's exactly when your life is a mess

that God can use you and I most effectively,

because then it's not our glory,

it's his glory.

Now, I don't mean to pretend that we don't have pain or suffering,

particularly in this time of coronavirus,

what's happening in our city of Hong Kong.

But what I do believe very strongly

is that as we struggle and wrestle through our challenges that we face,

God actually wants to bless us with his joy.

And if we can come to a place

where in the midst of our struggles,

we rejoice in God,

and we can care for somebody else,

man, that is an incredible way

of glorifying in the name of Jesus,

is it not?

But there's also often a cost

when we love others.

Paul said,

my desire is to depart and be with Christ,

for that is far better.

Counterintuitively,

Paul actually preferred death over life

because in death,

he'd be in the presence of his beloved Jesus.

But he submits to God's authority

to remain in the flesh

because he knew that God would be able to bless others through him.

And Paul can freely submit to God's will

for his very existence,

despite the cost to him,

because he saw Jesus as the ultimate example

of one who surrendered.

In Philippians 2,

which we will study next Sunday,

Paul writes that Jesus,

who is equal to the majesty in heaven

in all respects,

he gave up his sovereignty,

becoming just a man.

And if that wasn't enough,

Jesus gave his very life

as he suffered on that cross

for you and I,

the truest,

purest,

ultimate example

of sacrifice

and submission.

And so for us,

at times,

God calls us to love others

despite the risk

and the cost.

I think of my wife,

Celeste.

A few months ago,

she was chatting with her boss

and the topic of faith

and religion

came up.

And Celeste quickly decided

to share her testimony

of how she fell in love

with Jesus.

Now,

was that risky

to share her faith

in her workplace

with her boss?

Possibly.

But was it worth it

to magnify,

to make Jesus known

in her workplace?

Absolutely.

And how about for some of us

who are married?

Sometimes between husband and wife,

when we fight with each other,

there's really no right or wrong.

And yet we get so frustrated

and angry.

How about instead of trying

to rack our brains

to figure out why I'm right

and why my spouse is wrong,

we can actually approach our spouse

and say,

Honey,

I'm sorry.

Sorry I made you upset and angry.

Can you forgive me?

Can we pray together?

How about in our community groups?

There are conflicts

in our community groups,

right,

if we're honest.

But how about

when we have a conflict?

Instead of approaching it

with the mentality of

I'm right and you're wrong,

we can approach it and say,

Hey,

I made some mistakes.

You approach that person,

you say,

Hey,

I've wronged you.

I confess.

Will you forgive me?

You see,

humbling ourselves

and apologizing

is costly

because,

well,

it hurts our pride.

But in Jesus,

we don't apologize

out of fear,

but actually

out of a deep sense

of security,

knowing that Jesus

will honor

our sacrifice

and our humility

because he was the one

who humbled himself

on that cross

to a far greater extent

than we will ever

comprehend.

And when

we share the gospel

with someone

despite the risk,

and when

we apologize

and reconcile

despite the cost,

when we encourage,

care for,

and pray for someone

and help them see

the beauty of Jesus

despite the inconvenience,

but help them see

the joy

that you have

and receive joy,

man,

we actually ourselves

experience joy

in Jesus.

We help someone

receive joy

and then we receive joy

in return.

this is how

the ecosystem

of the gospel works.

So now we've seen

how Christ-centered ambition

is to glorify

the name of Jesus Christ

through loving him

and loving other people.

But what about

our other ambitions?

Can Christ-centered ambition

coexist

with my other ambitions

such as

having a good career

or raising a family?

Well,

it's really a matter

of priorities.

At work

is our sole

and most important

ambition

to make money

or

can we work hard

because

we honor God

with our work

but our priority,

what is most important

to us

is that at work

we build meaningful

relationships

such that we can

ultimately

share the gospel

with our colleagues.

And with our kids

is our main ambition

for them to

get good grades

and to go

to a good university

to find a name

for themselves

in the world.

Or is the beauty

of Jesus

so precious

to us

as parents

that above all

we prioritize

our children's

spiritual life

over their

academic life

by actually

spending time

teaching them

about the love

of Jesus.

Or in relationships,

do we only

build relationships

that can benefit us?

Or do we

prayerfully

and intentionally

look to

invest in

relationships

through hospitality

or discipleship

or through

sharing the gospel?

God calls us,

God calls us,

Watermark,

to be a people

who put the gospel

ambition

above our own ambition

because Jesus

is the prize

that we strive

towards

and glorifying

him

is our goal.

because at the

end of the day,

worldly ambition,

stuff that we

are striving for

every day,

it will never

satisfy us

like Jesus can.

Look at Paul.

I imagine that

he was a pretty

ambitious guy.

Prior to meeting

Jesus,

he was moving up

that religious ladder

pretty quickly.

But after meeting

Christ,

Paul said,

whatever was

to my profit,

I now consider

loss,

nothing

for the sake

of Christ.

What happened?

He experienced

Jesus.

He met Jesus,

he experienced

Jesus and soon

realized his

worldly ambitions

would never

satisfy him

like Jesus

could.

And I think

if we're honest,

most of us

would say the

same thing.

If our ambition

is to make

money,

to make a lot

of money,

once we get

to that number

we think will

make us happy,

it never does.

We always

want more.

If our ambition

is to set up

our lives

to have as much

comfort and

pleasure as we

possibly can,

we'll never get

there because

there are always

diminishing returns

in worldly

pleasure.

Once you eat

at a one

Michelin star

restaurant,

you go to

the two

Michelin star

and then the

three.

Pretty soon

you'll have to

make ten

Michelin star

restaurants and

even those

will never

satisfy the

most experienced

palate.

because as

C.S.

Lewis famously

said,

if we find

ourselves with

a desire that

nothing in this

world can

satisfy,

the most

probable

explanation is

that we were

made for

another world.

No ambition

in this world

can truly

satisfy our

souls except

the creator

himself,

Jesus Christ.

the world

will say to

you,

be ambitious,

prove yourself

to me,

accomplish more,

look better,

and then I

will love

you.

What does

Jesus say?

Jesus says,

you have nothing

to prove to

me,

I already

know you,

I forged

you in your

mother's womb,

I know you

better than

anyone else

does,

and I love

you.

The world

says have

goals,

work harder,

do more,

sacrifice,

and then

you'll be

happy.

Jesus says,

come to

me,

all those

who are

burdened,

burnt out,

worried and

anxious about

their future

because of all

this uncertainty,

and Jesus

says,

come to

me,

and in

me you

will find

rest,

and peace,

and joy,

and everlasting

satisfaction.

You and I

were created

to know

this Jesus.

We were

created to

experience

Jesus,

to experience

the joy

and grace

of Jesus.

But to

know Jesus

and to

experience

him,

we must

prioritize

him in

our lives.

When I

played

tennis,

I missed

so many

school events

because I

was off

playing a

tennis

tournament.

In fact,

I even

missed my

college

graduation

ceremony.

But I

believed it

was totally

worth it

because I

love

tennis.

I put

it above

most

things in

my

life.

In the

same way,

if we

want to

experience

Jesus,

if we

want to

experience

his grace

and joy

and satisfaction

in him,

we need to

prioritize him

in our

lives.

Our love

for Jesus

grows day

by day

as we

meditate on

his word,

as we

pray and

fast,

as we

spend time

sharing our

lives with

our

community.

In

tennis,

it took

me years

and hitting

thousands

of tennis

balls before

I was good

enough to

play in

university.

And in

our faith,

it does

take time

as well.

And every

time we

experience a

little bit

of the joy

of Christ,

a little bit

of the grace

of Christ,

every time we

wake up and

we pray and

we're satisfied

in him,

it's like we

put a brick

down and

then brick

by brick

by brick

until those

bricks become

a tower.

And that is

how our

love for

our beloved

Jesus grows,

but we

must prioritize

him.

Let me

close here.

The world

is constantly

telling us

to be

ambitious

for

ourselves,

to glorify

ourselves,

but that is

the way to

lose everything

both in

this life

and the

next.

As this

passage from

Philippians

teaches us,

Christ-centered

ambition is to

glorify the

great name

of Jesus

Christ above

all things

through loving

him and

through loving

those, loving

people around

us.

It's the greatest

commandment to

love the Lord

your God with

all your heart,

soul, mind,

and strength,

and to love our

neighbors as

ourselves.

And as we

prioritize Jesus

in our lives,

we experience him

more and we

grow to love

him more.

We experience

more of his

grace and

joy and

become more

satisfied in

him and less

satisfied in

the stuff of

the world.

And as his

love sinks

deeper into

our hearts,

like Paul,

we are compelled

to love those

around us.

It'll be

inconvenient,

it'll be risky

and costly

at times,

but for the

glory of the

name of Jesus,

it'll be worth

it.

Watermark,

may our

greatest ambition

be to glorify

the name of

Jesus Christ

in our city

and in our

world.

Let's pray.

Father,

Jesus,

Holy Spirit,

thank you for

your word,

which is so

powerful.

It changes

hearts,

it impacts

lives,

it turns

dead people

into life,

sleepy Christians

to those that

are alive and

on fire for

you.

God,

as we

continue to

meditate on

your word,

not what I've

said,

but your word,

Father,

your Holy

Scripture,

I pray,

God,

that you

would do

an amazing

work in

us,

Father.

Help us

to love

Jesus,

to see him,

God,

as Paul did,

to love

Jesus with

an undying

love,

Father,

and to

experience

joy in

him,

to experience

more of

his grace,

to be more

satisfied in

him,

such that

the stuff

that we're

pursuing in

this world,

all our

worldly ambitions

would fade

away,

God.

Come,

Lord Jesus,

help us,

Father.

And I pray,

God,

as that happens

in our lives,

Lord,

we'd be a

church that

would sacrificially

love others,

God,

despite the

cost,

the risk,

the inconvenience,

and all those

things.

Help us,

God,

to do so,

not because

we feel

guilty,

but because

we love

you so much,

we want

this good

news to

reach everyone,

God,

that we know,

Father.

Lord,

may you be

glorified in

our city,

in our world.

We love

you.

Pray this in

your name.

Amen.

Amen.