The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 7: Press On

Episode Date: March 19, 2023

Sanctification is the transforming of our lowly bodies over time to be like Jesus. 

Amen, amen. If you have your Bibles, turn me to Philippians chapter three. We're going to continue our journey through Philippians today. And if you're here and you heard that testimony and God started to stir some things in you and there's a habit or a stronghold or an addiction even in your life that you've never shared with anybody, we know a couple of things. One is that you're in the right place. You're in the right place because there's no perfect people here, amen?

No perfect people here. We all got stuff. but one of the things we know and we've experienced as a church is the power of God's grace at work in our lives. And that that grace at work is best experienced and best lived in community and in relationships with others. And so if there's something going on in your life and you want to sit down and talk with somebody and you would like to find the kind of freedom that we just heard about that you would like to experience the tidal wave of grace, then right now you can just text the word care to 44, 1122. And one of our care team will reach out to you and we will help put resources.

in your hand and help you find relationships that can help you live in the fullness of the abundant life that God has for you. We believe in the grace of God here. We believe that there's nothing like it. That it's the most powerful force at work in the world, that the grace of God at work in a human's life is empowering, is transformative, it's resilient, it's irresistible. When we're weak and frail and when we feel like we can't take another step, the grace of God is the sustaining force in the work of the believer.

We believe in the grace of God here. and we believe that the grace of God will meet us exactly where we are, wherever that is in life, but it won't leave us there. It begins to change us. And it begins to turn us into something greater. So what we're going to talk about today in Philippians chapter three is the power of the grace of God at work in the life of the believer. Last week, Pastor Jobi did a brilliant job unpacking verses 1 through 11 in Philippians chapter 3. And this chapter in Philippians is like a biography in the life of Paul of sorts. The first 11 verses are looking at Paul's past, where he looks at his resume, all the things he's accomplished, his degrees, the things that

make him respectable, the things that make him highly regarded. He outlines all of these things. And then he talks about this encounter he had with Jesus Christ of Nazareth, where he was radically saved. He was a religious terrorist who gets radically saved in an encounter with Jesus Christ. And Paul says, all these things that I thought used to make me significant, all the things that I used to regard and regard myself as highly for having. He says in verse 8 that I count all of those things as rubbish compared to the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. So the Apostle Paul, we pick up in verse 12 of Philippians chapter 3.

And before we dive into that, one of the things that Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2 that helps give us the context of the first 11 verses is, Paul says this in Philippian, Ephesians 2. He says, for we are saved by grace through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. When you take Philippians chapter 3 and Ephesians chapter 2 and you put them together, one of the things you undoubtedly see is that we are not saved by our works. we are not saved by the things that we do.

There's no measure of good that can outweigh the bad, that there's no one act or no one step that we take or thousand steps that we take that merit us before God that gives us a righteousness, that we are not saved by our works. We are saved by Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, and faith in Him is where salvation comes from. The Apostle Paul says we're not saved by our works,

but, and what we're going to dig in today, is that we are saved for good works. We're not saved by our works, but we're saved for good works. And it's in this maturing process, this healthy walking out what it means to be a follower of Jesus, that Paul, we pick up in verse 12, Apostle Paul. 1 through 11 are Paul's past. We pick up in 12 where Paul's talking about his present. And he says this.

He says, not that I've already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Now, I know you and me, many of our testimonies would be similar to the Apostle Paul that we can see here today. And with confidence, we could say, I'm not perfect yet. I don't have it all dialed in. I don't have it all figured out. I still struggle. I'm still prone to wander.

Lord, I feel it. I am not perfect yet. When I look at the landscape of my life, it's wild. Some of the things that I thought I'd be over by now, I still struggle with. I still have insecurities. I still hear the whispers of the past. I still have doubts. sometimes I have serious doubt.

Sometimes I'm still trapped in fear. I am certainly not perfect. However, even though I am not there yet, I can for sure look at my life and go, but I'm not who I used to be either. I'm not there yet, but I'm not who I used to be either. The Apostle Paul says, I'm not perfect yet, but I press on. I'm not who I want to be. I'm not who Christ is transforming me to be, but I'm not who I was either.

He says, I press on. And this language of press on, it actually means to sweat. At the end of this verse, the Apostle Paul writes this. He says that I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Pay attention to who's in the possessive here. It doesn't say that I made Christ Jesus my own. It says that Christ Jesus made me his own. That he did all the work necessary for salvation.

We're not saved by our works. We're saved by Jesus' works. Jesus did all the works. He did all the heavy lifting, that he fulfilled all the requirements necessary in order for people to be saved and to be in right standing with God. We are in his possession that he has made us his own. And here's the thing about Jesus when you study him in the New Testament, when you follow him in your life. One of the things you see quickly is that everywhere Jesus goes, he changes things. It's just what he does.

He changes things. And the New Testament, when Jesus would walk into a town, things would happen where blind people would start to see. Lame people would begin to walk. The dead would be raised. Relationships would be restored. He changes things. Sometimes people would reject him. Sometimes people would resist him.

People would rebel against him. They went as far as to criminalize him, to brutally beat him, and to murder him in the most savage form, fashion, imaginable. They did all these things to Jesus because Jesus changes things regardless of the situation. It's just who he is and it's just what he does. when Jesus grabs a human heart, what he does is he grabs our whys and our whats and then our wares and our howls begin to follow. Jesus grabs our whys and our whats

and then our wares and our house begin to follow. Another way to say that is when Jesus grabs the human heart, then surely the habits will start to follow. Paul uses this language of press on, and I strive toward, I strain on. In other places, he says, I run the race. Paul uses this athletic language and to press on means to sweat. What Paul is talking about is the sweat equity necessary in order for spiritual growth to happen in our lives.

That it doesn't just happen. That it takes work. It takes discipline. It takes training. My wife has run quite a few half marathons, which good for her. And I'm proud of you, babe. You're great. One of these half marathons, she had to run a 10K in order to qualify. qualify her time. And so I thought, you know what? I'll do that with you. I'll be a good husband and I'll run that 10K with you.

And so I went out and I began to jog and I began to train. And I realized really, really quickly that it was really far. That I was going to have to run far. And it was hard. And so after a little jog one night, I began to rethink my commitment

and I go home and I'm talking to my wife and I'm fishing for opportunities that I may find a difference. different path. And my wife's like, hey, well, look, the 10K, you don't have to do that. There's a 5K also, you can run that. And I was like, cool, you got a deal. And so I went from running a 10K with my wife to running a 5K in the same general vicinity of my wife. And so it's got to count for something. So as I take off on this race, and nobody told me that in the first quarter mile that I had to run over this huge bridge. And one, I'm not a runner. I don't know if you can tell.

Thanks for not mentioning it, by the way. But my legs are made a leg. It's like pounding pavement. I'm just not good at it. I don't know if I never learned how to do it or God just didn't create me for that. It's really, really difficult for me. I'm not much of a runner. And I live in Florida, and we don't do hills.

And so who would stick a bridge right in the first quarter mile of the race? Right? So I'm running this, go over the bridge. By the time I'm half a mile into this thing, I'm totally gassed. And I stroll up next to this guy, moving pretty slow.

And I'm like, man, I can run with this guy. I'll just pace with him. He didn't look like much of a runner either. And so I paced. with him and we're helping each other out for a couple of miles and we're setting waypoints. We'll be like, oh, look at that white car up there. Let's get there. And then the mailbox. And then you see that person up there? Let's just get there before we pass out. And so we're pacing. And then we get to the last corner you turn toward the finish line. And you round this corner and it's about 100 yards to the finish line. And off we go.

And we turn that corner. And then this guy I'm running with, man, he just bust out in a dead sprint. I mean, just sprinting as hard and as fast as he can. I'm like, bro, where are you going, you know? And he takes off and he finishes and shortly thereafter I crossed the finish line and after I catch my breath and rethink all the decisions I made my life into this point, I walk over to this young gentleman and I'm like, hey man, great job, congratulations on finishing. What happened? What happened? I thought we were in this thing together and he looks at me in the face and he's like, well, I knew I couldn't beat most people, but I was pretty sure I could beat you.

True. And he right. He right. Let me ask you a question. Is it easier to be healthy or unhealthy? Is it easier to be apathetic or to live inspired? Is it easier to make excuses or make a difference? Is it easier to be healthy or unhealthy?

Well, unhealthy every time. That's what the Apostle. Paul's talking about. It's just easier to be unhealthy. To be healthy, it requires discipline. It requires training. It requires showing up and doing hard things. Somehow, we live in a world where good has become synonymous with easy, and easy has become synonymous with good. But that's just not the prescription of the New Testament that we've been called all of us as Christ followers to do hard things unto the glory of Christ. In order to be healthy, it requires showing up. That's what Paul's talking about. It's the sweat equity it takes to grow and to mature and to be healthy.

He continues on and he says, brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, you want to underline that phrase. 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. Maybe you're here today and this is the word that you need to hear what the Apostle Paul saying in this first, and it's this, that you can't run the race living in the past. You can't run the race living in the past. He says, one thing I do, I forget what lies behind. And he's not talking about forgetting like amnesia in the sense of I forget like it never

happened. He's saying forget. And what he means is, yes, there are things that have happened in my past, but those things don't get to define my future. You see, one of the greatest tools that the enemy uses against the church today, against those who follow Jesus, is that he wants us to live defeated by our past and be trapped in a prison of fear in our present circumstance. And he uses the whispers and the guilt and the shame and the defeats of our past in order to trap us in a prison of fear so that we don't step into the fullness of God's promises in our future.

See, Jesus' invitation to us is that we would not be defeated by our future. past, but we would be defined by his love for us, and his love for us gives us a completely different future. If you want to break the power of past in your life, the Apostle Paul is saying, if you want to break the power of the past in your life, then live for the future that is yours in Christ Jesus. Live for the future that is yours in Christ Jesus. Paul uses this phrase, one thing. He says, there's one thing I do. And he's talking about a singularity of focus. He's talking about a single-mindedness, an integrity of life, if you will. And this phrase, one thing, pops up a lot of places throughout the Bible. And so we're going to dig into a few of them to better understand what Paul's getting at.

The first place we're going to go is Luke chapter 10. In Luke chapter 10, starting in verse 38, this is when Jesus meets Mary and Martha for the very first time, and this is when they become friends. It says in verse 38 of Luke 10, it says, Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

Tell her then to help me. But the Lord answered her. He said, Martha, Martha, you were anxious and troubled about many things. Verse 42, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. Jesus, my sister is not doing what I want her to do, the way I want her to do it, in the manner that I expect it to be done. Can you help me?

And Jesus says, Martha, you're troubled about so many things. You're so wound tight. You're so anxious, relax. Mary has chosen the one thing. that is necessary. Later in Luke, Jesus meets a rich young man. And this young man was a ruler in the Jewish synagogue. He was a man of influence.

He would have been well known. He was very prominent. And this young man walks up to Jesus in Luke chapter 18, starting in verse 18. And he says this. And a ruler asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments.

Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. And the young man said, all these things I have kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, one thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor.

And you will have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. Jesus, I want to spend eternity with God in heaven. What must I do? Jesus says, you're a good Jew. You know all the answers. All you have to do is follow the law completely every time, all the time. And the young man in self-righteousness says to Jesus, I've been doing this my whole life. And Jesus, hearing this self-righteousness says, okay, one thing you lack.

You need to let go of all the things in this world that have their grip on your life. And you need to come and follow me. You need to sell everything that you won't because until you, you don't, do that, you're never going to see me as ultimate. You need to get rid of all of your stuff and you need to come and follow me. One thing that you lack. In John chapter 9, Jesus heals a blind man and he does this on the Sabbath. And if you were a Pharisee, healing on the Sabbath or any work on the Sabbath was a big no-no. And so the Pharisees were trying to use this to trap Jesus and to make a point to say he was acting unlawfully so that he could be arrested and they could stop his ministry.

And so the Pharisees interview this blind man who was healed by Jesus and they don't get the answers that they want. And so they go to the blind man's parents. And they ask him and the blind man's parents say, look, don't ask us. He's a grown-up. You talk to him. He'll give you all the answers you need. And so they go to the blind man a second time trying to trap Jesus. And this is where we pick up in John chapter 9, verse 24. The Pharisees, for the second time, they're called the man who had been blind and said to him, give glory to God. We know that this man, the Pharisees talking about Jesus, we know that this man is a sinner. And the blind man answered, he said, whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind,

now I see. I don't know a lot, but I know one thing. He touched me. I could not see. He touched me. now I can see. Martha, one thing is necessary. Rich young man, one thing. The blind man says there's one thing I know. King David writes about this one thing in Psalm 27. In Psalm chapter 27, King David writes this.

He says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear. The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid. When evil doers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against

me, my heart shall not fear. Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. Confident in what? David is describing the worst situation imaginable. He is being surrounded by armies who want to kill him and eat him.

This is a bad situation. And David says, even in the midst of this great terror, there is one thing that I'll be confident in. There's one thing, he says this in verse four. One thing I have asked of the Lord that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. David says there's one thing I want.

There's an affection greater than all other affections. There's a dedication deeper than all other dedications. There is a motivation that trumps all other motivations. There is one thing that I want, it is to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. One thing. C.S. Lewis says it like this. He says, if you aim at heaven, you'll get earth thrown in. But if you aim at earth, you get neither.

Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 6th says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you. The great martyr of the faith, Dietrich Bonhofer, in his fantastic dissertation called a book called The Cost of Discipleship. He writes an entire chapter about this singularity, about this integrity of focus. He writes a whole chapter, and it's called Single-minded Obedience. The question that they and the Apostle Paul are pointing at is this, is Jesus Christ the one thing that drives everything in our lives? Is he the one thing that drives everything in our lives? When we think about our jobs, do we think about them as an opportunity to influence others for Christ

and for His kingdom? That they may know Christ and the power of His resurrection. When we think about our families and raising our kids and raising our grandkids, do we think about it in terms of that we have the opportunity to raise up kids in the gospel of Jesus Christ that they would be missionaries that have found their identity and God's love for them and they are secure in God's family and because of this, they're willing to risk it all for the glory of God and the advancement of God's kingdom on the earth. When we think about our marriages, do we see them as an opportunity to truly practice what it means to count others someone else as more significant than ourselves and practice mutual, voluntary submission and in so doing these acts of

humility and counting someone more significant than ourselves that in and Through this act, Christ will be glorified, and he will make himself known among the nations through the church. When we think about our bank accounts, do we think about everything that God has trusted us with as an opportunity to steward the resources that God's placed in our hands for the advancement of his kingdom and for Christ's name to be proclaimed to every tribe tongue and nation? Is he the one thing that drives everything? Paul says this, he says, speaking about this singularity, this motivational reality, he says, let those of us who are mature think this way. And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. The Apostle Paul gets a little snarky here. He goes a little smart alec. He's a smart dude. And here's what he's saying. He's like, listen, this one

thing, the single-minded obedience, this is how mature people think. And if you don't want to think that way, that's fine. You can totally be wrong. God will reveal that also to you in his time. The call of God on your life and on my life is that we would be holy and totally devoted followers of Jesus Christ. And because of this invitation, we can drop the pretense. We can drop the self-justifications. We can drop the unfulfilled pursuits of trying to realize, our passions and we can give all of our life to Jesus and we can give all of our life for Jesus. Paul continues and he says, only let us hold true to what we have attained, brothers, join and imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

When you first read this verse and you hear the Apostle Paul say, brothers, join and imitating me, you think, he said, what? I mean, who here would be like, listen, if you want to be a really good follow, of Jesus. If you want to be a great Christian, just do what I do all the time. Who would say that? Please don't raise your hand. God knows. You're going to make us bad Christians because we're going to judge you, and it's a whole thing. Who would write that? Well, the Apostle Paul did, and it would be arrogant to say if it weren't true. Paul says, join in imitating me. What is Paul getting at? Paul knows this. Imitation is how we grow. Imitation. Imitation.

is how we grow. Think about it. From the time we're little kids, until we reach a certain age, pretty much everything we learn to do in life, we learn to do through imitation. It's how we learn how to walk. It's how we learn how to talk. How to learn how to kick and throw. It's how we learn how to eat. It's how we learn how to use our motor functions. In a lot of ways, is how we learn how we learn how to think. How our worldview is shaped. It's how we develop capacities and competencies. It's how we end up becoming contributors in this world, is most of which is learned through imitation. Some of it is seeing what not to do, but much of it is seeing what to do.

And one of the things that's true in your testimony and in mind is that the people we admire in our lives tell us a lot about the direction that we're headed. The people that we choose to admire in our lives tell us a lot about the direction that we're headed. And I could stand here for hours and just give testimony to the countless heroes of faith, some who have long passed and some who I've known personally, my father, my grandfather, my grandmother, she's 92 years old and she's still alive. she has leveraged her entire life, my entire life,

so that her family would know that God loves them and flourish under his rule and reign and so that other families would know that God loves them and what Jesus Christ has done for them. I can talk for hours just about my heroes of the faith. But there's two men in this church that I admire greatly, that I admire deeply that I'm close to. I know them.

I've prayed with them countless times. I've spent hundreds of thousands of hours with them. I have labored alongside of them. I admire them deeply. I admire their commitment to the gospel. I admire their faithfulness to their families. I admire the way they pray and the way they think and the way they share, the way they use their gifts

and their talents for the glory of God. And these two men that comes as no shock to you are Pastor Jobi and Charles Martin. At all of our campuses, we told you about Pastor Jobb's second book coming out. And when I first heard that Pastor Jobi and Charles were writing the first book together last year, you know what I honestly thought I thought?

It's about time. I thought it's about time. one of my first responsibilities here at the church was to help filter through all the emails that Pastor Jobi was getting from literary agents and from publishers that were trying to get him to write a book. And for years, Pastor Jobi would be like, listen, Britt, I'm sure they're great and I'm sure it'd be fine. But I just don't feel like God's released me to do this yet. And so I just can't step into it. And so I'd be like, Pastor Jobi said no, you know? And so that's how that went for years. And then through Brotherhood with Charles and some inspired content,

if the tomb is empty came out last year, and this week anything is possible comes out, and I know that God's going to use it in significant ways. And I want to ask you to do this as the Church of 1122. Don't just purchase it, do that for sure. But when you do, pray for it. There's somebody that's struggling, man. There's somebody you know. And they need something from outside of them to grab a hold of their heart and change them forever.

And that's something is the grace of God through Jesus Christ. One of my favorite authors says, he says that a book, never changed anybody's life, a chapter never changed anybody's life, a page or a paragraph never changed anybody's life. But a sentence, sentences have the power to change people's lives. And a sentence that God has used to transform us as a people over the last handful of years is this, if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. Because if Jesus rose from the dead, then it doesn't just mean anything. It means everything. We believe in a resurrected Christ. Who do you admire? Who do you surround yourself with? I hope your life is filled with people that you admire

that point you to Jesus in his kingdom. I recently read an article that talks about the difference between eulogy virtues and resume virtues. Resumet virtues are the outline of the skills that we bring to the marketplace. These are the degrees that we've earned. These are the accomplishments, the things that we've sold, the things that we've bought, the number of people that we led, the education or the specific skill set that we bring into the marketplace. And for many, they spend a lot of years focused significantly on resume virtues. And what we can try to draw at a resume virtues is that we try to find our significance in and through them. And that's the way our world teaches us to think and to live.

But most of us could give, or a lot of us could give testimony that the truth is that the significance we're looking for can never truly come through those things. So resume virtues are the skills that outline our ability to contribute in the marketplace, but eulogy virtues are a completely different thing. Eulogy virtues are about a deep character. They're about a life abiding in faithfulness. They're about living a life that truly sees their life as a means to a greater end, giving themselves over to something more significant than themselves.

I'll tell you a tale of two funerals, both true stories, is one is the first funeral I ever did, and the second is the most impactful funeral I ever attended. The first funeral I ever did, I answered the phone. I was in my 20s, and I happened to be the one at the church today to pick up, the church that day to pick up the phone. And I pick it up and on the other end is a man, and the man says, hey, we don't go to church anywhere. We don't really know what we're doing. Our dad just died, and we need somebody to come preside over the funeral. Would you be willing, or somebody at the church be willing to do that? And I was like, yes, absolutely. I'll come, and I'd love to do that. What a great opportunity for ministry. So I showed up at the funeral home and I walk in and there's this huge frame.

And on this frame are some certificates and some ribbons. There's a picture of a man fishing with his friends and there's a picture of that same man years earlier coaching baseball. And there's some blue ribbons on this frame. Evidently, this guy was fast. And right in the middle of it, there was a plaque. And at some point in this man's life, he had sold his business for $50 million. dollars and evidently when you sell your business for 50 million dollars you don't just get money you get a plaque and and so he had a plaque and so I look at this and I'm like that kind of helps me understand

who this man was and I walk into the parlor and there's eight or nine people there and I sit down and I'm like hey before I share some scriptures or I share some remarks is there anything about the life that we want to celebrate is there any specific thing you guys want to talk about or discuss and this man's oldest son leans up in his chair and he looks me in the face and he says He says, truthfully, that's the meanest son of a bad word that ever lived. Can we just get this over with? I broke out in a cold sweat, much like you did because you thought I almost said a bad word, preaching. I broke out of a cold sweat.

I didn't know what to do. So I stammer through some verses out of Ecclesiastes. I try to share the gospel from Psalm chapter 23, and then I pray and I say amen. As soon as I say amen, the daughter leans up and she looks across at her brother and she says, do we know who's getting what yet? What a tragedy. The most impactful funeral I ever attended was totally different.

The place was packed. There was a peculiar joy in the sadness. There was storytelling, there was laughing. There were people all over with tears, but it was a different kind of tears. This lady, she had never written a book. She never led any organization. She never made a lot of money.

She was a teacher, an elementary school teacher. She taught the third grade Sunday school class at her church faithfully for many years. She raised her two sons. She loved her husband and her family well. She sang in the choir. She lived in the same town, her whole life, and she tried to see the best in everyone.

When it came time for her eulogy, the things that people would say about her, they would say things like, she never complained. Do all things without grumbling and complaining, and you will shine like stars in a crooked and depraved generation. Her laugh could light up a room. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.

She loved her family and served them well at great cost to herself, and I tell you to count others as more significant than yourself. It was so obvious that she walked with Jesus. Let your life be lived in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus. Christ. She was dependable. She fought cancer and lost, but we know that right now she is living in the victory of Jesus Christ. What a life. What a life. The gospel, the Bible, the testimony of the New Testament, says that our resume, the one that matters, the one of real significance, the eternal resume, says that we're sinners. That for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And that

that we're in trouble because the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord, that even though we're in trouble and our resume says that we're sinners, that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the son of God came to earth and he lived the perfect life, which means that he put together the perfect resume. And then one day when we stand before God, when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we repent of our sins and we trust our lives under his rule and his reign. we submit ourselves under his authority. When we give ourselves over to Jesus Christ,

he gives us his resume. And we stand before God one day, and we hold up the resume of Jesus Christ, and we hear the words, well done, my good and faithful servant. You see, the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is Jesus plus nothing equals everything. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we now no longer live our lives for ourselves.

We live our lives. in and through him and he lives his life in and through us. And that doesn't matter just for a moment. It matters for eternity. I often wonder what people would say about me if I were to go home soon. As I've wrestled with this text

and I've thought a lot about the one thing that the Apostle Paul's talking about, I pray in hope some version of this, that my kids would say, that my wife would say, that my family, that maybe somebody, somewhere someone would stand up and say I love Jesus more,

because I knew him. I want that to be my one thing. Is it my one thing all the time? It's not. I'm prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. I'm prone to leave the God I love. It's not always my one thing, but I want it to be. I want to want it to be my one thing. Paul continues, he says, for many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, their end is destruction, their goddess their belly, and they glory. And they glory and their shame with their minds set on earthly things. The Apostle Paul says, even with tears, and if you're familiar with his writings, it sounds a lot like what he says in Romans when he's talking about his brother Jews who don't believe in Jesus. Paul at one point in Romans writes, I wish that

I were accursed so that my brothers could know Christ. I would go to hell if it meant that they got to go to heaven and spend eternity with Jesus Christ. And Paul writes, even with tears, there are people who are enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ. What Paul is saying is that there are people who have professed Christ, but they now deny him with their words and with their lives, habitually and willfully without repentance. What Paul is saying is that over time, our behavior reveals who and what we really love. Paul specifically talking about people called Judaizers. And what they did is they would take things and add it to the beautiful gospel message of Jesus plus nothing equals everything. They would say, no, no, no, no, it's Jesus plus eating the right foods at the right time.

It's Jesus plus doing the right feast in the right way. It's Jesus plus these rituals and these behaviors. That is Jesus plus these things, and then you'll get eternal life. But that is not the gospel message. The gospel message is that it is Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone and Christ alone as revealed through the scriptures alone for the glory of God alone. It is Jesus plus nothing equals everything. And these people would add to it. And Paul says, this is how you know people who are enemies of the cross.

He says, number one, their goddess their belly. What does he mean? He means they're consumers. It's just who they are. They see everyone and everything as a means to their end of personal fulfillment. He says they glory in their shame, which means they boast about their sin publicly, and then they defend it as though it's not sin. And he says, their mind is set on earthly things.

things. These people have professed Christ, but they pursue with their lives only the best things that this world has to offer instead of the best things available to them in the universe through Jesus Christ. Paul is asking us, do you see this world as a chance to get some happy and die or do you see it as purchased real estate by Jesus Christ and you're here to help him in his conquest? Is your mind set on this life or the next? Paul finishes chapter three from moving from talking about our present and into our future, into his future. He says this, but our citizenship is in heaven. What that means is that Paul is saying as Jesus followers, as Christians, our identity is not primarily that we're Americans or that we're from the neighborhood we grew up in or that I'm even primarily my own biological family's lineage, that all these things are good and fine.

but these things don't ultimately define me. What ultimately defines me is that I have been purchased by Jesus Christ and I have been made his own by him and I am now his brother forever. That is who I am. That is my primary identity and that all my activity follows that identity. He says our citizenship is in heaven. Listen, church, this world is not our home. Amen.

It's not our home. We cannot get too comfortable here. Our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior. the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. Can I get an amen? And he will do this transforming work by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. A core doctrine of the Christian church is that Jesus Christ will return for his people. Jesus Christ will return for his church. He is coming back. He simply has to. He said he was coming so many times that if he, in fact, does not return, there is simply no way to vindicate his divine

nature. And we know for sure that he is God because he resurrected from the dead. And so we can know for sure, based on the resurrection, that he is going to return. He is going to return for his church. And can't be honest with you? I can't wait. I can't wait. I'm all in on the Great Commission. I desire that none should perish and that all would come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. And I want every tribe tongue and nation to hear the good news of Jesus and have the opportunity respond. No question about it. Yes, I want that. And I can't wait. I want to see his face. Amen. I want to see him. I know him. I've been walking with him. I've banked my entire life on him for sure. I know him, but I want to see his face. I can't wait. In Revelation chapter 21, this future

not yet reality gets painted for us in a vision to John. And John writes of this not yet, this one day, the hope of the Christian faith, that our hope is not in this earth, that our hope is in the world yet to come that will be ushered in by King Jesus. In Revelation 21, John writes about this. And so I'm going to read these scriptures, and this is how we're going to close. And we're going to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ like we always do. we're going to pray. And maybe there's some things in your life. If you got honest and you took inventory of your life, you would say, man, there's a lot of noise in my life. I've been prone to wander for a while and I've been wandering pretty far. And I want to get back to the one thing.

Maybe there's a serious amount of competition going on in your mind and your heart for the one thing, which is to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. And one of the things, the gifts that God gave us is that we can pray and we can confess these things to him. And no matter where we are, he meets us right there and he begins his transforming work by his grace. And so we pray. At all of our campuses, we have prayer altars and kneeling benches for you to come and put your body in the posture of prayer that you want your heart and your life to be in. We sing. We say true things out loud with our mouth, believing that if we say them with our mouth and they'll grab hold of our mind and our heart, and they will transform us. And then we bring. We respond to the good news of the gospel by

bringing our first and our best through ties and offerings because God so graciously, gave us his first and best through Jesus Christ. In Revelation 21, God gives us an image, and I want you to catch this image today. I want it to land on you heavy, and I want you to see it as we wait on the return of Jesus Christ. We work, we press on, we strive, we strain, we sweat for the glory of God, and for the renown of Christ among the nations, and we wait. And this is what we're waiting on. Revelation 21 says this, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Some of the most

beautiful imagery we see in all of the Bible is that the church is not primarily a place that you attend on the weekends. The church is not primarily an organization to be led or an institution to be steward of the Church of Jesus Christ is a people and they are together his wife and he loves her so much that he laid his life down for her. He says as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place of God is with man he will dwell with them he wants to be near you and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God promise fulfilled and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

And death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. The old has passed, and the new has come in Christ Jesus. And he, who was seated on the throne, said, behold, I am making all things new.

And also he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. sound familiar? When Jesus pushed up on those nail-pierced hands and feet from the cross and he said, it is finished. What he meant was the power of sin and the penalty of sin was finished for all those who would believe. Here in Revelation, he says, it is done. And what he means is the presence of sin and evil will forever be banished. And God's people won't have to deal with it anymore. It is done. It is done. Jesus says, I am the alpha and the omega. I am the beginning and the end.

to the thirsty I will give from the spring of water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. Can you see it? Is he the one thing that drives everything? Let's pray. Father, we love you. We need you. We pray that you would meet us here now.

Through your scriptures, through this worship, and that you would help us to identify the areas of our lives where we may be prone to wander. We ask that you would comfort us and that you would convict us as only you can. Father, we pray that you would do such a work among us here now, in this place, in this moment, that we would leave here differently than we came. That you would give us eyes to see your beauty. And that the one thing for us would be a resounding truth, that we want to see you, we want to listen to you, we want to be near you, that you would be our one thing.

Would it not just be something that we say, but something that you make true in us and of us? I pray for my brothers and sisters. Anyone who is listening, I pray that they would be met with the peace of the kingdom of God. They would be overcome with love and affection for you. Jesus, I pray that by grace you would grow faith and that you would grow us into mature followers of Jesus. and you would give us a perseverance spirit by which we would press on in the name of Jesus. I pray that in this time, you would be glorified.

And we pray all these things by the power and the victory of the name of Jesus Christ, and all God's people said, amen. Would you stand with me as we respond to the good news of Jesus Christ?