Philippians 3:12 - 4:1

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: Philippians

Rusty's Notes

Last night we saw “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”

• What a waste of time. And Hollywood will celebrate this.
• “Nothing matters”
• “If Nothing Matters, Then All The Pain And Guilt You Feel For Making Nothing Of Your Life Goes Away – Sucked Into A Bagel.”
• “Every New Discovery Is Just A Reminder…” “We're All Small And Stupid.”

 
Paul is exercising the spiritual mind.

• He is looking at things on earth from God’s point of view.
• As a result, he is not upset by things behind him, around him, or before him—things do not rob him of his joy![1]

​REACHING FORWARD TO GOD’S GOAL
PHILIPPIANS 3
12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

• Paul is referring to his behavior… the things he does as being imperfect.
• He is not satisfied with his journey being imperfect.
• Paul has a desire for his flesh to completely line up with his spirit. He can see the difference.
• He wants to know Jesus better and to completely walk by the Spirit that resides in him.
• But he has taken hold of the one who is perfect and did things perfectly and learning to let Jesus do his life for him.

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it.

• Paul does not play the comparison game here.
• Paul could have easily rated his faith walk with those he knew and probably felt pretty good about himself.
• But he really compared himself to Jesus and knew that he had fallen short.

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,

• So, what do you do? Focus on the past?
• Sit in your misery?
• “Forgetting what is behind” – my fleshly acts have already been dealt with and forgotten.
• Thank God for that… because if I did not have forgiveness… I would be sitting in the puddle of my past.
• My past is gone.
• And if it is gone for me then it is gone for my spouse who believes. I probably should let it go.
• And for all the other believers who I hold onto their past. “Well, I can forgive… I just can’t forget.”
• Paul says, “forgetting what is behind”
• “To forget” in the Bible means “no longer to be influenced by or affected by.”[2]
• My fleshly acts have already been justified.
• Even my future fleshly acts have been justified.
• I live in a state of justification.
• As in when a runner stretches for the finish line.

14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

• Paul is not referring to salvation here otherwise that would contradict everything he has already said in this chapter… and would be based on works rather than faith.
• In order to run the Greek games, the runner had to already be a citizen.
• He wasn’t trying to earn his citizenship.
• He is pursuing God…
• “I don’t know how”
• You YouTube everything else… YouTube that!
• Listen, Brock Purdy (SF QB) is not going to get in the huddle today and say to his team, “OK guys, Coach has a great game plan, were just gonna stand here and let him do his thing.”
• Nor will he say, “Hey guys, forget whatever Coach said, we are going to do it my way.”
• “Here’s the play Coach called, let’s do it exactly as he taught us.”

15 Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.

• “mature” – those who are perfect!
• My journey ahead is God revealing things to me in my thinking and doing.
• “I make every effort”
• I want my journey to move forward… not satisfied.
• I study, I learn, I try to eat better, I try to exercise, I move forward by taking a step, I get out of bed… and sometimes it is really really hard.
• I mean… there is something inside of me that is telling me not to. I battle in my head.
• But two things… I know my perfected Spirit is leading me and convicting of the goodness now and ahead.
• And the second thing is, I am hopefully surrounded by a community that is echoing the same thing.
• For me, I am blessed with an earthly partner on this journey… I realize it is not the same for everyone in this room.
• It’s not my kids! It’s my wife. My kids left me… as they should!
• But my second encourager is my wife… after the Spirit.
• Then hopefully my kids, my friends, and the Church.
• The world would be a bonus but I am not dependent on that because we have been set apart from that!
• That is… we are already sanctified. Past tense!

16 In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.

• But wait… what!?!
• You mean my self-assessment may not be true?
• The churches in Revelation… Samson…
• NO MATTER WHAT!!!
• You should live up to whatever truth we have attained.
• Trust what you know!!!
• What do you know?
• I know my perfected Spirit is leading me and convicting of the goodness now and ahead.
• This is where we have to “Zoom out”.

17 Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.

• Hang out with the like-minded and pay attention to how they pursue Jesus.
• We are not perfect in our behavior, but we pursue the perfect behavior by trusting Jesus.

18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

• Paul is weeping as he writes this letter.
• Just thinking about those who oppose him upsets his stomach.

19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things,

• Most likely referring to the Judaizers.
• Dietary restrictions and focus on attaining wealth.

20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

• We are no longer citizens of this world.
• We don’t think like the world.
• Don’t expect us to act like the world.
• Don’t expect us to be accepted by the world.

21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.[3]

• A glorified body awaits us.
• Don’t ask me what that looks like, how old it is or what it will eat!
• I don’t know!

Philippians 4
1 So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. [4]

• Paul loved the Church at Philippi and just wanted to be with them.
• But since he couldn’t be there…
• Trust what you know…

Stand firm together… in the Lord!

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 88). Victor Books.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 89). Victor Books.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Php 3:12–21). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Php 4). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.