Word by Mail

Download PDF file by clicking link above. Disc 105 - Spiritual Growth & Maturity - Phil 3:5-14
 
We have new Grandbabies - & we love them as Babies
But we don’t want them to stay babies forever
 
& We have all been, or are, Spiritual babies
 
& God loves us as Spiritual Babies
but He doesn’t want us to stay Spiritual Babies forever
 
& so today - We're going to look at God's Process
of Spiritual Growth & Maturity
 
Otherwise known as "The Process of SANCTIFICATION"
 
We often break down the Christian Life into 3 General Areas
JUSTIFICATION - The moment we get Saved
SANCTIFICATION - Spiritual Growth & Maturing
GLORIFICATION - When we leave this earth for heaven
 
& Our Spiritual Growth & Maturity falls into
that SANCTIFICATION Area of the Christian Life
 
& so today - we're going to look at a bit of
the Apostle Paul's Spiritual Growth & Maturity
 
In order to see the FOUNDATION, & maybe a bit of the PROCESS
of OUR Spiritual Growth & Maturity . . . OK?
 
Let's Pray
 
Paul's life started with a very religious upbringing (like some of us)
 
Acts 22:3 says - ESV
[Paul was] . . . educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers,
 
& so - Paul became a strict Pharisee
 
in Acts 26:5 Paul says - ESV
. . . according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee
 
& his religious zeal was displayed
in his intense persecution of the church
 
Acts 26:9-11 - ESV
9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
 
 
& then - Like a Monster Truck running into a Block Wall
Paul the Persecuting Pharisee - MET JESUS CHRIST
 
& all that misguided Religious Zeal was crushed
by a face-to-face, personal meeting, with the Risen Lord
 
The SAME type of meeting - that YOU can have today
 
The story is in ACTS CH 9
 
Paul (whose name was SAUL)
was on his way to Persecute more Christians
 
& in Acts 9:3-5 we read - ESV
3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
 
& THAT - was the beginning of
a Radically Transformed Life for the Apostle Paul
 
& guys - we EACH need
a Damascus Rd Meeting with Jesus Christ
 
& we need to Pray - that that would be the Beginning
of a Radical Transformation in out lives
 
Paul went on to become the Greatest Apostle,
Missionary, Church Planter, & Divine Scripture writer
 
he started more CHURCHES than we can counthe wrote basically HALF the books in the NT he became God's #1 TOOL to spur the miraculous growth of the 1st century church
 
& God wants to do something similar in each of us
maybe not QUITE as Dramatic as the Apostle Paul
 
 
But God wants to take us
from PRIDE to HUMILITY
from DARK to LIGHT
from DEATH to LIFE . . . Just like He took the Apostle Paul
 
 
Eph 2:10 says - ESV
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
 
If you have received Christ today, God's plan for you
is an ever-deepening relationship WITH Him,
and a supernaturally transformed life IN Him
 
& the PROCESS of that ever-deepening relationship,
& that transformation . . . is called SANCTIFICATION
 
Sanctification is the Biblical term that describes
the Spiritual Growth & Maturing Process of a Disciple
 
DEF - Sanctification = (Easton's) Sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man.
LIT = Separated unto God. Set apart, or devoted, to God
 
Remember earlier we talked about
the THREE General Areas of the Christian Life
 
JUSTIFICATION - The moment we get Saved
SANCTIFICATION - Spiritual growth & Maturing
GLORIFICATION - When we leave this earth for heaven
 
 
The area we're talking about today is Sanctification
The PROCESS of our Spiritual Growth & Maturity
 
& this is the exact area of the Christian Life
where so many believers get STALLED in
 
They've Received Christ, & been Born Again,
but they never grow out of their diapers
which is sad for them, and sad for the church
 
do you want know why I believe so many believers
get STALLED in the Sanctification Process?
 
Because MORE than the other two areas of the Christian Life
 
Sanctification requires us to do OUR PART
& it's in the OUR PART that we get so easily STALLED
 
Our Part in our Spiritual Growth & Maturity is to;
Actively Abide in Christ
Purposely Grow in His Grace &
Pursue an ever deepening Relationship with Him
 
As we humbly yield to Him as our Lord
As we purposely set our minds on things above
As we actively walk in the Spirit . . .
 
THEN - we "progress" in our Sanctification (spiritual growth)
 
& THAT is why (because it is AS WE)
that we get so easily STALLED
 
 
 
& here's an interesting note - Do you know
the RESULTS most people are looking for, when they receive Christ
 
Are actually found in SANCTIFICATION
Not IN the initial JUSTIFICATION
 
Often a person comes to Christ looking for
Peace, Love, Joy, & Happiness
 
& they think that will automatically come to them in their Salvation
 
But truthfully - it is the Process of SANCTIFICATION
that brings the Fruit of The Spirit into our lives, right?
 
 
So again - in a way I can’t dive too much into today,
 
SANCTIFICATION requires more of an OUR PART commitment
than either JUSTIFICATION or GLORIFICATION
 
we have more of a ROLE in our SANCTIFICATION -
because if we REFUSE to Abide in Christ & Grow in Him
 
Our Transformation will be stalled
 
But if we will Join God in the work He is has begun in us
 
I Promise you - He WILL BE OUR Power to be Transformed
& He will complete our Transformation
 
 
 
So let's look at what it takes
for us to be ready to do OUR PART
 
What is the Foundational Commitment in our lives
that INSURES that God's work of TRANSFORMATION
 
Oh, that’s a good question, isn’t it?
 
Let's look at how it worked out in the Apostle Paul's Life
 
Possibly the greatest picture in the Bible
of the process of SANCTIFICATION
is found in Phil Ch 3 (my life's Vs, & this church's Vs)
 
This CH builds with so much momentum, & emotion
I see it kinda like an Opera (a Rock Opera)
being played out to the crescendo of a full orchestra
 
Phil Ch 3 is Paul's personal testimony
 
& as a call to live for Christ,
it may be unmatched in the Bible - I LOVE THIS CH
 
But it's more than just Paul's Testimony
 
Phil Ch 3 lays out the desire, & the commitment,
we must have in the Sanctification process
 
it lays out the "Foundation" of the OUR PART
for our Spiritual Growth & Maturity
 
in Phil 3:5 - Paul starts by recounting his position before Christ
& his religious Pride
 
Reading from the NLT
Phil 3:5-7 - NLT
5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
 
Then - in V.8 Paul begins to share - the FOUNDATIONAL MINDSET that brings true Spiritual Growth & Maturity
 
Phil 3:8-9(a) - NLT
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
9 and become one with him . . .
 
THIS is the mindset - that is the Foundation
for all Radical Transformation in the Christian's life
 
THIS is the Mind-Set from which
ALL True Spiritual Growth really begins
 
When we embrace the fact that 'by comparison'
NOTHING equals the infinite value of KNOWING Christ
 
AND - when we count EVERYTHING ELSE as GARBAGE
in order to Gain Christ
 
 
Those are Radical Statements
& that's not what our culture wants to hear
 
We want to hear that we can have everything else our flesh desires
& then we can ADD Christ to that too
 
But guys - we’ve all seen
SO MANY Christians trying to live like that
 
loving the pleasures of this world
& trying to add Christ as a FIRE INSURANCE policy
 
But let's be honest - the Christians who live that way
VERY SELDOM display any Radical Transformation in their lives
 
But THIS Mindset, in Phil 3:8 - THIS Mindset
is the beginning of Radical Transformation in a person's life
 
This is the beginning of SANCTIFICATION
 
 
& then, in Phil 3:9(b) - Paul comments on his Former Religious Pride
 
Phil 3:9(b) - NLT
9 . . . I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
 
That is the revelation that caused Paul to throw away
all his Religious Efforts & Religious Pride
 
The revelation that righteousness comes
thru FAITH in Christ ALONE
 
 
& now - in Phil 3:10 - comes my life's vs
& this church's foundation vs
 
AND - if we'll just dig a little bit into the original language
 
We'll see the very Foundation of the OUR PART
of the SANCTIFICATION Process
 
I promise you - if THIS verse becomes the true prayer of your life
the rest of the Sanctification Process - WILL follow
 
Now - in order to convey the intent of the Original GREEK
without having to teach all the "WHYS" of it
 
I'd like to read Vs 10 out of the Amplified Bible
 
The Amplified Bible attempts to EXPAND the English language
to convey the more colorful & exact Greek Language
 
& so - the words you see in the [BRACKETS] are the "expanding" or "defining" to convey the sense of the original language
 
& the Amplified Bible does an incredible job of writing
what I have been teaching about this verse
 
since MY VERY FIRST Sunday Morning Sermon (on this vs)
 
I promise you - if you will make this verse
your Daily Prayer & Commitment
 
You will soon be on the road
to Radical Transformation in your life
 
Phil 3:10 - AMP  
Phil 3:10 - AMP
10 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, . . .
 
This Vs conveys - The foundation for the beginning
of true Spiritual Growth in your life
 
That Foundation is a Passionate Commitment to KNOW CHRIST
 
Paul says - For my determined purpose (passionate commitment) is that I may know Him (my life's verse)
 
But what do those 5 words mean, in the Original Language? - the AMP Bible does a great job expanding the meaning
 
[that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly]
 
THAT is what it means to KNOW Christ
in the sense of the GK word Paul uses here - GINOSKO
 
& then - Paul continues
and that I may - in that same way (progressively & more intimately) come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], - and that I may so share His sufferings -as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, . . .
 
May I progressively & more intimately - KNOW JESUS
AND - the Power of His Resurrection (in that same way)
AND - the Fellowship of His Suffering (in that same way)
SO - I will be Continually Transformed in spirit, into His Likeness
 
This is at the HEART of our Spiritual Growth & Maturity
 
A Supreme desire to KNOW Christ more & more,
until we are Transformed - into His Likeness (spiritually)
 
 
& then - Phil 3:11 understood in a "MY LIFE TODAY" sense
is an Absolute Bombshell
 
The NLT translates Phil 3:11
11 so that one way or another (by any means) I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
 
& we assume this phrase "Resurrection from the dead"
refers to the Physical Resurrection - when we leave this life
 
But listen to how the AMP Bible translates the same Vs
 
Phil 3:11 - AMP
11 That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].
 
Now THAT really makes this Vs apply
to our Spiritual Growth & Maturity - Our SACTIFICATION
Listen to what the GK Scholar Kenneth Wuest
says about the word used here for "Resurrection"
 
Kenneth Wuest
The Greek word used here translated “resurrection” is only found here in the New Testament. It is literally, “out-resurrection.”
Paul is not speaking here of the future resurrection of the physical body of the saint . . . He has in mind the spiritual resurrection of the believing sinner . . . a resurrection out from a state in which he is dead in trespasses and sins to one in which he is alive with the divine life of God . . . This is the goal to which he is striving and the goal to which he has not yet attained.
 
Now - there are a couple interpretations as to whether this word
 
refers to our "Life after Death" resurrection - or our resurrection
from living DEAD in sin to living ALIVE in Christ
 
Both Eph 2 & Rom 6 refer to this "Spiritual Resurrection"
where we go from living DEAD in our sins
to living ALIVE in Christ
 
& THAT is the GOAL of our Spiritual Growth
& THAT - is our SANCTIFICATION Process
 
& THAT was a VERY COOL study & discovery for me !
 
 
 
Continuing on in Phil Ch 3
where Paul is describing His own SANCTIFICATION
 
Let's go back to reading the NLT
 
Phil 3:12 - NLT
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things (living the resurrection life) or that I have already reached perfection (Maturity). But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
 
Paul says - I may not be walking perfectly
in that New Resurrection Life
 
But I PRESS ON to lay hold
of that New Resurrection Life
 
because THAT is what Christ Jesus has laid hold of me for
 
 
& finally - in Vs's 13 & 14 - is the GRAND CRESENDO
the final piece in this great Rock Opera Testimony
 
 
Phil 3:13-14 - NLT  
 
Phil 3:13-14 - NLT
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
 
THAT is the Crescendo
of Paul's TRANSFORMATION commitment
 
He says
I FOCUS on ONE thing
Forgetting the Past, & Looking Forward to what lies ahead
I PRESS ON - to reach the GOAL, the upward call of God in Christ
 
Guys - Paul is talking about the TRANSFORMATION of his LIFE
It's the TOTAL Transformation Process
shown in those THREE General Areas we've been referring to
 
JUSTIFICATION - Our Initial Salvation
SANCTIFICATION - Spiritual Growth & Maturing
GLORIFICATION - Which is the HEAVENLY PRIZE
 
& guys - If we want experience True Spiritual Growth
If we want True Transformation in our lives
 
Then THIS is the commitment that WE MUST HAVE
 
 
 
(v.8) - We must count everything else as worthless, when compared to the infinite value of knowing Jesus as our Lord
 
(v.10) - Our determined Purpose must be to know Him in a progressively deeper & more intimate way
 
(v.11) So that, whatever it takes, we can LIVE
in The Resurrection Life
 
(v.12) We must Lay Hold of that Resurrection Life
that Jesus Christ has Laid Hold of us for
 
(v.13) Forgetting the Past, & focusing on what lies ahead
 
(v.14) We've got to Press On to the end of the race
to receive the Heavenly Prize for which God is calling us
 
 
Guys - THAT is the MINDSET - that forms the Foundation
of the OUR PART - of the Sanctification Process
 
& when we fully immerse ourselves
into THAT Mindset - LOOK OUT !!
 
Because God has got some Radical Transformation
Coming our way
 
Let's Pray