Leverage Point #11.2 - Contend for your Joyful Destiny: Philippians 3:17-21 - Philippians: Joy Leverage

You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

So most of us in this room have never been personally discipled or mentored in your walk of God.

And the vision of this church is building whole-hearted disciples in a half-hearted world.

How many of you know that most people in most churches are half-hearted?

And it's not even their own fault, it's just that they've never been challenged to a higher standard.

I want you to be wholehearted at the road.

At the road, our vision is to raise up whole-hearted disciples of Jesus Christ.

For more information on the road, visit theroad.org.

We hope you are encouraged by today's message from pastor teacher Steve Holt.

Turning your Bibles to Philippians chapter 3, because Paul is talking about contending, contending for his destiny.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

And we started last week talking about contending, battling, fighting, pushing forward and pressing in to a destiny that God has for your life.

Do you know that God has a destiny?

He created every one of us in this room for a purpose.

And that purpose is not just to eat and sleep and make a lot of money and have a house and two cars.

Life's a little more impactful when the kingdom of God comes on your life.

And yet he gave you gifts, and he gave each one of you talents.

And those gifts and talents are to be empowered by the Spirit of God.

So when we give ourselves and we surrender ourselves to Him, we begin this journey.

It kind of sets in motion what I would call a destiny, a purpose on your life that will make you the most joyful person possible.

Do you know that if you're doing what God wants you to do, if you're being what God wants you to be, you're the most happy, joyful person on the face of the earth?

I mean, you really experience that.

It's exciting because that's what you were created for.

And so, and so I want to talk about this contending for our destiny, and I called it last week contending for our joyful destiny.

Kind of part one was last week, part two is this week, but I'm gonna look back at it again.

So look at verse 12, and I want to just, I would say listen to the message next week because I don't want to overplay last week because we already did that.

I want to move into this second part.

But in verse 12, Paul begins this challenge to us of two kinds of destinies that are simultaneous in your life.

He says first in verse 12, not that I've already attained or am already perfected.

So he has this kind of holy, sanctified dissatisfaction with his life.

But I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Verse 13, I do not count myself to have apprehended it, but this one thing I do.

So then we talked about last week, and I want to emphasize it again.

Look back at verse 10, because that's what he's talking about, about what Christ has apprehended him with.

Verse 10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering being conformed to his death.

So the first destiny in our lives is inward.

It's the interior of your heart, it's knowing Christ, it's intimacy with Christ, it's falling in love with him.

You're not gonna know the exterior until you get the interior.

Does that make sense?

There's a lot of young people, there's a lot of men and women that are trying to find their calling, they're trying to find their vocation, they're trying to figure out what they're supposed to do, and they've never gotten their destiny straight on the first part, which is knowing the creator of their destiny.

The one who is forming it in your external forms it first in your internal because God can't give you what you're not ready to receive.

And so it begins with knowing the power of his resurrection, and as I said last week, the more we go after the power of his resurrection, the more you're gonna suffer.

Good news and bad news.

The more we come to see his miraculous power in our life, the more we see the move of his spirit in our lives, then the more you enter into the fellowship of his suffering because people don't like that.

And you know what?

People don't like that because there's one who doesn't like that that empowers people, and it's Satan and demons.

And so when you start really pressing in and seeing God move and God's using you to change people's lives, get ready, get prepared for a counterattack from the enemy, because he's not gonna just sit around and let you start changing people's lives.

He's gonna push back and you're gonna be, you're gonna be in big trouble.

I remember the first time we cast out a demon was in um Tokyo, Japan.

And I cast out this demon, and I thought all hell broke loose when I cast out three demons out of this guy on my couch who had a six-degree black belt in karate.

He broke an end table with one swing of his arm, and I'm dealing with this, and I've got a six-degree black belt and stupid.

And so he's on there, and I'm trying to deal with this, and we got him set free, and his all his epileptic seizures were healed, all his epilepsy was healed, so many other areas of his life were healed, and he became a fired-up believer.

I didn't know that the ministry that I was a part of, all hell had just broke loose.

Because you're not supposed to cast out demons in this ministry.

And so, for the next few years, it got very interesting for me.

But man, was it joyful to see the transformation in that young man's life?

So, first of all, press into Christ.

Press into Christ.

And then he says this, he says something interesting.

After he says that, he says, brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, verse 13.

One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, verse 14, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

So as we begin to grow in our inward call of knowing Christ, prayer, hearing his voice, being in his word, he starts to reveal to us the upward call of our life.

And so we were in Japan, and Liz has this dream, and I'm gonna do a whole nother set of messages sometime later on the prophetic call of this church and what God's doing in this church.

So I'll just briefly go over it and later I'll go a little deeper.

But some of you have heard it.

But she had this dream, and through that dream, God had then called us to Southern California, and I'm in graduate school in Southern California, and during a three-year span, we had had like 25 words from the Lord to move to Colorado Springs and to plant a church.

And so I say that because when I was sharing a little bit with Liz last night, she said, Can you read me your sermon?

Which is really horrible because my sermon is just a bunch of points that I just take off from.

So I'm trying to read it to her and I'm falling asleep.

And she said, Are you gonna say it that way?

And I said, Well, not exactly.

She said, Well, you better give more information.

So I'm just, I mean, you know the information.

I'm not gonna give it to you.

And then, so anyway, I'm giving you more information.

The more information that my wife was reminding me of is to remind all of you not to move out on something God might have called you to do based on one vision or one dream or one passage of scripture.

But that God brings a lot of things together and confirms it.

So about 25 times God had spoken to us about planting a church in Colorado Springs.

And yet we're struggling because John Wimber, who I was the assistant of, who was one of the creators of the Vineyard Movement, I was part of the Vineyard Movement, the Anaheim Vineyard there, I was his assistant there, and he was challenging me to stay in Southern California and made it really profitable to stay financially and otherwise with some of the opportunities that were being laid before me.

So we have like 30 words from the Lord, a vision, a dream, Rhema from God's Word, and then we have John Wimber, probably in 1994, was probably one of the most recognized evangelical leaders in the world at that time.

And he's saying, No, no, no, God wants you to stay in Anaheim, da-da-da-da.

And here's the opportunity and all that.

And so we had gone into three days of fasting and prayer.

How many of you know that fasting and prayer can bring breakthrough?

It can, it really can.

And we've seen it at least a dozen times in our life.

But on this particular occasion, we're at staff meeting, staff meeting's over, we're leaving.

This this gal named Romy Zarrett walks up to us, and her husband was Steve Zarrett, who was the director, the head guy of Vineyard Music Group, VMG, which was like the Hillsong of that time.

And so, I'm dating myself, aren't I?

By talking about what the VMG?

That sounds like some kind of a car.

But he was the head of VMG, so Romy comes up, never met Romy before, and she says to me, she says, Hey, your name is Steve, just like my husband.

God told me that during staff meeting.

And I was like, Whoa, that doesn't mean squats to me because she could have just heard it from somebody else.

And then she goes, but you've been praying about something and you've been seeking God about something, and God wants you to know that He's already told you what to do, and it's March the first, and it's time for you to march, so get going.

And then she said, and I see your foot on a rock.

No, I see it on Rockies.

He's got your foot on the Rockies, he's giving you the Rockies, it's time for you to march.

She walks off.

So I start weeping and I fall to the floor and I'm out.

I'm gone.

I'm out.

I'm on the carpet, man, for like five minutes, and I wake up in a puddle of wet carpet.

And I resign that day.

And then move to Colorado Springs.

Men and women, God's got an upward call in Christ Jesus for all of us.

And he wants to get our attention.

And he's made you for something.

He made me not to do what I was being programmed to do in Southern California, not to be a missionary in Japan anymore, but to come and plant a church, to be a pastor and a leader.

And he's got a call in your life.

It may be to be an engineer, it may to be to be a mechanic, to be a mom, to disciple your kids, to be a school teacher, and some to be pastors and leaders and prophets and apostles.

All that's part of God's calling.

And you're no less God's anointing and calling as a teacher as somebody who's a pastor.

I just happen to be the pastor here, but I'm here to equip you to be the very best teacher, to be the very best politician, to be the very best mechanic that you can be in Christ Jesus.

Part of your calling.

So he says, I'm pressing into this thing.

I'm going after this thing.

I'm gonna be all that God wants me to do, because here's the deal: it doesn't matter who pays the bill, you can still work and minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So he continues, therefore, let us, as many as are mature, verse 15, have this mind.

And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal this to you.

Nevertheless, to the degree that we've already attained, let us walk by that same rule and of the same mind.

Brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern.

Here's what John MacArthur says of this passage.

People who make an impact in the world invariably have a single-minded commitment to reaching their goals.

Whether those goals are to conquer the world, succeed in business, or win a championship, they're willing to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to achieve them.

On the other hand, those who are consumed with their own needs and comfort rarely accomplish much.

The same is true in the Christian life.

There are no hidden secrets, gimmicks, or shortcuts to a life that makes an impact on the world for the truth of Jesus Christ.

Such lives are the direct result of maximum effort to reach the spiritual goals of Christ-likeness in their life and ministry.

Many noble servants of God have suffered much to reach those goals.

Many have even paid with their lives, and we know that Paul would be one of those.

All have one thing in common.

Their own comfort was less important to them than being like the Lord Jesus Christ in this world.

And they left their mark on the church through their undying devotion to him and their untiring efforts for his gospel.

Isn't that exciting?

I mean, we are walking in the pattern of great saints that have gone before us.

So when I was a gymnast, I went and I trained with the best gymnast that I know of, Olympic gymnasts in the United States, because I knew if I hung out with them, it would just elevate my game, it would elevate my sport, it would elevate me because I was around these guys.

It just they just had it together on those events that I was striving to be the best at.

And in the Christian life, we have around us men and women, we have saints around us that have that have tread the path.

And so that's my seventh point.

The first six for last week.

My seventh point is discipleship.

It starts with a D again.

The first six D's for last week.

But discipleship, he says here that they are an example, following their example, note those who so walk and use them as a pattern for your life.

So most of us in this room have never been personally discipled or mentored in your walk with God.

And the vision of this church is building whole-hearted disciples in a half-hearted world.

How many of you know that most people in most churches are half-hearted?

And it's not even their own fault, it's just that they've never been challenged to a higher standard.

Well, I want you to be whole-hearted at the road.

Guess what?

It's the road less traveled.

Not many people do it.

But Jesus says, love me with all of your heart.

All of your soul, all of your mind, all of your seat.

So wholeheartedness, we need help.

So for you men that are going on the wilderness encounter, you're going to get my book that's coming out on September 16th.

But I want to use this, at least with the men in this church, this year, to be disciple, to be in a small group where you're becoming a worshiper and a warrior through looking at, studying, meditating in, the life of David, the dangerous life of David.

Don't read it if you want a safe life.

But if you want a dangerous life, if you want to walk in all that God has for you in wholeheartedness, this is the book for you, Worshiper Warrior.

We'll talk about that in the days ahead, about how to start those groups and begin those groups, but it's about discipleship.

So when I got saved at the University of Georgia, the ministry, Campus Crusade, began to disciple me.

And I began to learn about how to spend time in God's Word, how to memorize God's Word, how to pray and seek the Lord.

And then as the years went by, how to fast and pray and those kind of things.

Men and women, you need that.

Paul's saying, look at the pattern, look at the rule of faith of those that are stronger than you, that are more mature than you, that have seen some failures and some victories.

I did a wedding yesterday.

Couple.

John and Denise.

Now John and Denise Bouton.

Isn't that great?

They finally got married after two years.

And they both have come out of rough backgrounds with their first marriages.

And it's so exciting.

It was a witness to all of us of what God can do.

There's always a second chance.

There's always a third chance.

Some of you need like an eighth chance.

Right?

Nod your head if some of you need like an eighth chance.

The rest of you, you know, be thankful that it's you're only on your third or fourth.

But we we only grow and develop the interior and exteriors of our life by being around some people who've gone ahead of us.

And they've elevated their game.

They've had some failures, they've had some disappointments.

If you're starting a business, meet some folks here at the road who've started businesses and been successful.

Don't hang out with those who started businesses and everything they start always fails.

That's not what I'm talking about.

I mean, it's nice.

But how many like to succeed?

And so kingdom enterprises take kingdom people who've had some failures and some setbacks, but they didn't quit.

They didn't quit.

And so I love this.

He says, look for the pattern of being a disciple.

Verse 18.

For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things.

Church, how many of us know people who once walked with the Lord, that we once hung out with, that we once did fellowship with, that maybe we did ministry together, and they've fallen away.

They're not walking with God anymore.

So you need eighthly discernment.

We've got to have discernment.

Because we're gonna have, if you continue to go after the Lord, take risks with people, people are gonna let you down.

People are gonna no longer walk with God.

They just are.

And you've got to make a choice in your life that you're not gonna.

Here's the conundrum.

The conundrum is, on the one hand, we look at patterns of those that have continued to mature in the faith, but we also, secondly, have discernment of those that are not.

So we don't look at people, we look through people to Jesus, and we get discipled by people, but at the same time, we don't we don't put all our eggs in the basket of people.

Because some people aren't going to continue to walk with God.

I can tell you from personal experience, I do not know how to discern the two sometimes.

I've done marriages with young couples where I would say that couple is going places.

They both have a call from God, they're excited about the Lord, and then two years later, I find out stuff happening in their life.

I never would have believed it.

I had this one couple, and I mean to tell you, they had everything going against them.

What a mess.

But as we went through the counseling, I just discerned I was supposed to do the wedding, we're supposed to go through with this thing.

So we marry them in the name of Christ.

And as a pastor of Jesus Christ, I bless them.

And I thought, oh man, give them two years.

Twelve years later, they're still walking with God.

They're more fired up than ever.

So we need discernment.

We need discernment.

And he says that those that will not continue with the Lord, their God is their belly.

And what that means in the Greek is that their God is sensual desires, sensual appetites in their life.

And they're going to end up destroying everything that they've set up.

Men and women, if you are entertaining sensual desires, not of the Lord, if you're secretly doing stuff, it's going to catch up to you.

It's going to take it from me.

It's going to come and it's going to destroy your marriage.

It's going to destroy your life.

You've got to start having discipline in those areas.

And again, that's why we need discipleship.

That's why we need what we call around here blood-stained allies.

Men and women, you need blood-stained allies that you can be honest with about those desires, those appetites.

Because he goes on to say their glory is in their shame.

I can joyfully tell you I have never watched whatever they call it, keeping up with the Kardashians.

I've never watched it.

Is that the right name?

Keeping up with the Kardashians or something like that.

But I know some people that have.

So, men and women, who are you hanging out with?

Use discernment.

You're not going to grow as an athlete without being with top athletes.

You're not going to grow as a businessman without being around successful businessmen.

You're not going to grow as a Jesus disciple without being around Jesus disciples that are seeking the kingdom first in their life.

And then lastly, he says, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself.

Lastly, desire.

Desire.

Passion for the kingdom.

Jesus said, if anyone thirst, what did he say?

Let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water, going after the Holy Spirit, drinking from the Holy Spirit, a passionate desire for the things on earth and the things in heaven.

So when we got saved, when we gave our heart to Christ, the kingdom of God came to dwell within you.

You have the kingdom.

You can drink from the kingdom.

You can drink from the pure rivers of living water of the Holy Spirit.

But we also look forward to the kingdom of heaven that's coming.

We make that our desire, both on earth, making an impact, but in heaven with the rewards that are awaiting us.

And Paul, turning your Bibles if you have them, to 1 Corinthians 9.

And in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul describes in another way almost exactly the same thing he's saying in Philippians 3.

In the worship team, you guys can come on up.

Look at verse 24, guys.

Look at verse 24.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?

Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.

Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown.

Therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Now, in John 3, it talks about being born again, and it says your spirit is born again.

But in Thessalonians it says that we are body, soul, and spirit.

Here's the problem.

Some of us are born again spiritually, but you're not born again physically, and you're not born again in your soul.

So I don't have time to unpack this.

But what I think is part of the problem that we have in our walk with God is it's not all his.

We haven't given it all to him.

Body, soul, and spirit.

But God wants us born again in our soul, in our spirit, and in our body.

He wants it all.

And when he has it all, that's the greatest joy of our destiny.

You've been listening to The Road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

We hope you have been blessed by today's message.

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Thanks again for tuning in today, and be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.