Rev. David Holwick A PHILIPPIANS
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 7, 2018
Philippians 3:15-21
MARKS OF MATURITY
I. What do you think of maturity?
A. The very young want to arrive there.
1) As a little kid, I wanted to be big enough so my feet would
touch the floor of our 1957 Chevy.
2) Some want to reach 21 so they can drink and smoke to their
heart's content.
a) And the smoking options will soon expand in New Jersey.
B. Older people don't think it is so hot.
1) Go up to a woman and call her mature.
a) It is just a nicer way to say she is over the hill.
2) Maturity is the last stage before death.
C. Christian maturity is not a grim stage, but an expected one.
1) You shouldn't be a spiritual baby forever.
a) God expects us to grow up, and quickly.
b) Even a young teenager can be a mature Christian.
2) You should get to the point where you are confident of
your faith and consistent as a Christian.
a) Mature doesn't mean "perfect."
b) The Apostle Paul has already admitted he is not perfect,
but he thinks he, and most of his audience, are
mature.
c) Most - not all.
1> Some of them, and us, need to get our act together.
3) How can the immature become mature?
a) What does real spiritual maturity look like?
II. Live up to what you have. 3:16
A. Your knowledge will always be limited, but it can be enough.
1) You don't have to learn more and more to be mature,
you just have to live up to what you already have.
2) Most of us aren't ignorant, just lazy.
a) You KNOW what you should be doing.
b) You're just choosing not to do it, at least not right now.
B. Knowledge is a great thing.
1) You should always be learning new stuff, about God and his
world, your own character, your family, etc.
2) But don't let your current limited knowledge be an excuse
to evade what God expects you do to right now.
3) No Christian is perfect yet, but every believer can grow
and become more like Christ.
4) Paul goes on to give positive advice, and negative.
III. Follow good examples.
A. Paul begins with himself, which is rather dangerous.
1) It is not an isolated incident - seven times in the
New Testament, Paul says, "follow my example."
2) Would you want to say that to someone?
a) It makes you sound arrogant.
1> You might make a fool of yourself.
2> Being an example makes us vulnerable, because
others can't wait for us to fail.
3> But all of us are an example to others whether we
like it or not.
b) Paul has already admitted his limitations.
1> He doesn't want them to follow him in his
shortcomings, or even in his successes.
2> He wants them to emulate how he has been taken
hold of by Jesus Christ.
B. What kind of example are you?
1) If you are not a good one, find someone who is.
a) Every Christian should have someone they look up to.
1> The best ones are those you personally know.
2> You can also benefit by reading books about awesome
Christians you may never meet, living and dead.
b) Research how they came to be the way they are.
2) Make sure you are following their spiritual example.
a) Don't get sidetracked by the superficial stuff like
worldly accomplishments or possessions.
IV. Watch out for rotten apples.
A. The wrong kind of example can wreck you. 3:18
1) Typical enemies of Christ in our mind: Communists, atheists.
2) Even more dangerous people are in view here - crummy
Christians.
a) Pagans would be obvious enemies.
b) Paul's tears are more likely caused by Christians.
3) In many of the books of the New Testament, phony Christians
or corrupt Christians are the greatest danger.
a) The Apostle John calls them antichrists, Paul calls
them false brothers, Jesus calls them false prophets.
b) The phonies all associated themselves with the church,
then left, and lived a sinful lifestyle.
B. Bad Christians are dangerous because they are so subtle.
1) They don't say, "I hate Jesus."
2) At one point they probably presented themselves as
super-Christians, the "I have arrived" type.
3) But there are ways to detect their phoniness.
V. How to identify the phonies. 3:19
A. Their god is their stomach.
1) This stands for appetites of all sorts, not just food.
a) What do you crave in life?
1> Alcohol, pot, Cinnabons, sex, prayer?
b) Over time, what we ingest becomes who we are.
2) Phonies think they are advanced, and not "hung up."
a) Restricting natural appetites seems narrow to them.
b) Paul deals with the same issue in 1 Corinthians 6:12-13:
"'I have the right to do anything,; you say - but not
everything is beneficial.
'I have the right to do anything' - but I will not be
mastered by anything.
You say, 'Food for the stomach and the stomach for
food, and God will destroy them both.'
The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality
but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body."
c) "Eat, drink and be merry" is a hedonistic philosophy
that ends up leaving you empty.
B. Their glory is their shame.
1) They are proud about things we should be disgusted with.
2) "Shame" is often associated with sexual sin in Bible.
a) Paul's opponents probably had an easy-going attitude
about sex.
b) It never seemed to be a sin to them; it was more like
eating and breathing.
3) They glory in shame.
a) No guilt trips for them.
b) Perhaps it's a reflection of Christian freedom abused.
C. They have a worldly focus.
1) Opposite of being crucifixion-minded.
2) Notice Paul's emphasis on the mind (common with Paul).
a) We are what we think.
A number of years ago Newsweek magazine had an article
on OCD, or obsessive-compulsive disorders.
These people have a section of the brain that fails to
"turn off."
When they leave the house, they just cannot trust that the
gas stove is turned off.
A new therapy focuses on altering their thinking.
1. First they "relabel" their compulsion.
2. Second, they attribute it to a biochemical imbalance.
3. Third, they "refocus" on a constructive activity.
Psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz says, "If you develop new
patterns of response to OCD you will change the brain
circuits that cause it."
PET scans bear it out.
This was the first study to give persuasive evidence that
the mind can change the brain.
#3535
b) What you focus on DOES matter.
D. Their end is destruction.
1) Short term (messed up lives) and long term (damnation).
2) It is always a good idea to evaluate potential role models
for the impact they have had on others, and on themselves.
a) Do their relationships grow, or destroy?
b) Do their habits build up life, or tear it down?
VI. We can have better.
A. We are citizens of heaven.
1) Our Savior will be coming from there to set things right.
2) Even these weak bodies of ours will be transformed, no
matter what your current appetites are doing to it.
3) Jesus wants to take charge of everything about you.
a) Are you willing for him to do this to you now?
B. Many say the right words but seem to be missing the reality.
Matt Moore grew up deep in the Bible Belt - Shreveport,
Louisiana.
The Barna research group found that 98% of the citizens of
Shreveport, consider themselves born again Christians.
That is practically every last one!
Matt himself wasn't too sold on the Jesus stuff.
He says he was the black sheep of his children's church.
As he grew older, his doubts intensified.
So did his sins.
But in 2010 the grace of God blew up his doubts and his heart
exploded in love for Jesus.
He was certain his family and friends would be overjoyed
about his newfound faith.
They were - at first.
But as his passion for Jesus increased, they started to see him
as an extremist.
They showed no interest when he talked about God.
One Christian actually told him, "You don't have to talk about
Jesus so much.
Faith is really just a private thing you keep to yourself."
He asked his friends what they thought made them saved,
and they would say they prayed the Sinner's Prayer at age 7,
or they were baptized, or they attended church, had
conservative values and voted Republican.
What his friends seemed to lack was a changed heart.
When Matt read the Bible, he saw radically transformed
people who centered every aspect of their lives on Jesus
who was crucified and raised on their behalf.
Their friends, activities, ambitions, and finances were all
deeply impacted by their love for Jesus.
They weren't perfect people, but they were changed people.
But America's Bible Belt seemed to be filled with those
who honored God with their lips, while their hearts were
far from him, as Jesus said.
Matt Moore says one of the scary things the Bible calls us
to do is test ourselves - are we really in the faith?
When you peer into your heart, what do you find?
Do you see love for Jesus?
Do you find your mind gravitating toward him and his purposes
in your life?
Or do you find your heart pretty empty of Jesus?
When you look at your outward life, do you see any obedience
to God?
Has there been any growth in your personal holiness and maturity?
When is that "new creation" going to start blooming?
#64988
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 3535 “For the Obsessed, the Mind Can Fix the Brain,” by Sharon Begley
and Nina A. Biddle, Newsweek magazine, February 26, 1996,
page 60.
#64988 “The Illusive Danger of Bible Belt Christianity,” by Matt Moore,
Christian Post Guest Columnist, November 15, 2015;
<https://www.christianpost.com/news/bible-belt-christianity-opinion-149848/>.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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