Everyone welcome to Wilton Baptist Church scattered groups season four Session number one. I'm glad you've tuned in today Thank you host for hosting and thank you participants for coming to this this special season here as we conclude the year and and continue. We're starting the next eight weeks. We're gonna go through the book of Philippians and finish our study. And then around Thanksgiving, as we get closer to that, we'll have some messages about giving thanks. I'm looking forward to our session today. Let's pray and ask God's blessing. Before I pray, scattered group host, if you've not yet given the announcements, please go to your inbox, go over those announcements quickly. This is how we're communicating with the church. through our scattered groups for the special announcements. And if you would pause and go ahead and do that, let's go ahead and pray and get right to the message today. Father, thank you for this time to gather in fellowship, to encourage one another, to pray and to open the Bible and to seek you. Teach us more about yourself and teach us how to be more like Christ today. We pray in Jesus name, amen. Well, here we are in Philippians chapter 3. That would be our passage today. Even with all of our education and degrees and experience and adventures and books read and television shows watched and things done and life experiences, there's more to do. And there's more to learn. There's always room to grow. Counselors have continuing education units. That's the CEU, the continuing education unit, where they learn best practices and new ways to stay sharp in their counseling practice. Teachers have CEUs as well. They learn the latest methods. They learn the latest data. They learn more practical ways to give instruction for the different ways that people and their students would learn. Pastors have conferences and fellowships. Engineers have conferences and seminars. Doctors and dentists, they have seminars and conferences and special learning opportunities. Mechanics have certifications. And when new cars come out, or new motor designs come out, they get certified in those new designs and how to repair it. In other words, everyone keeps on learning. There's room to grow all around. Continuing education is part of the Christian life. One person said, and I referenced it recently, that it is what we learn after we think we know it all that really matters. It's what we learn after we think we know it all that really matters. The Apostle Paul describes something that we all can learn from today. He says, even though I've accomplished all these things, and in this chapter he gave his pedigree and gave us a real big background about his accomplishments, even though he's done all those things, He said, I have not yet attained. I have not yet arrived. And so we can definitely learn from his example. Let's begin reading verse 10. He says that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, or mature, or complete, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are before, rather which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark. for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul demonstrates that he was still growing and still needed spiritual maturity. It's okay to not know it all. It's okay to know, it's actually better to know that we don't know it all. The apostle Paul makes it clear, we have not arrived, he has not arrived, and we have not arrived. There's still much race left, and he's still very much part of the race of the Christian life. And so I suggest to you, there is always room to grow. As we've looked at the book of Philippians, we've understood this idea of joyful confidence. Joyful confidence. We are confident not in ourselves, not in our accomplishments, not in what we know or don't know. We are joyful and have a confidence in Christ. It's in the Lord. It's in what he has done for us and in us, and then what he can do through us. But it's not us, ourselves. Now Philippians is a prison epistle. That means letter. When you see the word epistle, it means letter. And the Apostle Paul was arrested and under arrest when he wrote this letter. The church at Philippi was founded by the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey. He took at least four, depends on how you look at how it's all mapped out throughout the book of Acts. He took four missionary journeys. And he, does some wonderful things on those missionary journeys. He established the first church in Europe, and that's the church at Philippi. This letter that we're reading, he wrote it under arrest. He sent it back to the very first church that he planted. In Europe you can read about it in Acts chapter 16. Philippi was a small city founded by King Philip of Macedonia who was the father of Alexander the Great. You've heard him in history. And its greatest fame came from the battle fought nearby in 42 BC between the forces of Brutus and Cassius and the forces of Anthony and Octavian who later became Caesar Augustus. This became a Roman colony. and it was a military outpost with special privileges. Paul has a great relationship with these Christians in Philippi. He's very personal and very close and very cordial with these believers. Having helped him financially at least twice before, he sends this letter and he teaches about prayer. He gives his pedigree, like I mentioned earlier, He talks about important things such as joy, this joyful confidence that we've been looking at. He mentions Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus was a co-laborer, a fellow laborer who come near death because of his journeys. He had come and brought that second financial gift to the Apostle Paul. And then Paul sent him on back. And he says, well, he almost died because he was so much invested in the work, he'd become fatally ill. And Paul, he talks about a lot of great things that they need to know as Christians with a gentleness that surfaces. And there were some problems in the church, just like in any church. He addresses those in a kind and loving way. He wants them to know. You are the first church of all the rest here in Europe. But I have not arrived. You have not arrived. There is still room to grow. He says, I have not apprehended. He says in verse 10. that I may know Him. He says in verse 12 that I have I've not already attained. He says that if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended in Christ. He says I haven't lay hold on everything that I need. He says I haven't become perfect. He uses the term Perfect here and it means to come to an end. He says I haven't come to the end of my journey I haven't come to the end of everything that I need to know about Jesus and here's a man that God gave the Bible to Here is this inspired author writing down God's the author he's writing it down for us to know and he says I have I don't know at all I haven't become Perfect or complete. I haven't come to the end of everything that I need to know now think of Paul's journey up to this point I'll just read a summary as one commentator wrote think of Paul's career up to the time that he made this statement Within a few weeks of his conversion. He had made such an impact on Damascus They stir up such an opposition that he was forced to flee from the city Paul went to Arabia where he he went through the Old Testament revelation in light of the cross of Jesus He read the Old Testament in light of the cross and of Christ actually having come. He formulated the essence of the New Testament doctrine and actually coined many of the words that we use in Christianity today. A lot of the common currency in theology are found in the letters and the writings of the Apostle Paul. while waiting for God to call him to his life's work. He evangelized Arabia, Tarsus, that's where he grew up, Cilicia. He moved on to Syria and Antioch at the urging of Barnabas, and then he made an impact on that city as well. Paul evangelized the island of Cyprus. He founded a string of churches in Galatia. Galatia is a region. At Antioch, in Poseidon, at Iconium, at Lystra, at Derbe, and later on in northern Galatia. He championed the cause of Christian liberty and helped the elders of Jerusalem realize and understand that Christians did not need to convert to Judaism in order to become Christians. That was a great a great thing that the early church finally realized, a great doctrine. It was a monumental achievement because some were trying to continue to live under the shackles of Judaism. Paul pioneered work in Europe where he planted thriving churches in Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, and Corinth. He made a memorable speech there in Athens on Mars Hill, before all the intellectual greats of the world. He evangelized Ephesus and left behind a church, which in turn breached out and planted other churches throughout all of Western Asia Minor. He traveled and preached and taught and exhorted, and Paul arrived at Rome finally as a prisoner. And yet while there, living under the constant peril of death, he was winning converts. in the ranks of the Imperial Guard and extending the gospel message into Caesar's palace itself. Paul had influenced scores of young men to follow his example of pastoring and evangelizing and teaching. There was Timothy and Titus and Luke and Silas and Sopater of Berea and Aristarchus and Secundus and Gaius and Tychicus and Tromephus, just to name a few of those he mentored and encouraged as they followed their call. into gospel ministry as well. The apostle Paul performed miracles, healing the lame, casting out demons, banishing fever, curing the sick, raising the dead. He had suffered great hardship with joy in his heart and a song on his lips. He was beaten, scourged, shipwrecked, imprisoned, stoned, mobbed, castigated, mocked, all these things that he went through, and yet he says, With all those life experiences, with all these accomplishments, with all these amazing things that were done in the name of Christ, he says, I have not arrived. Christian friends, I have not arrived. You have not arrived. It's what we know when we finally realize, I don't know it all. I don't know it all. That's what really counts. you think you know it all, confess that sin to God and be like the apostle Paul. I don't know it all. There's more to accomplish. There's more to know about Jesus. There's more to know about Christianity, and I want it. Do you want that? I want that as well. There's always room to grow, and there's several areas that we find room to grow in. Four areas in particular. Number one, knowing Jesus. To Gnosko, to know Jesus, the word know here has to do with recognizing and perceiving. I am recognizing Jesus for who He is. I am acknowledging Christ for who He is, the risen Son of God. Now we know people from a distance. I know athletes from a distance. I see them on a television screen. You know politicians from a distance. You see them on your social media feed. You know people from far away like movie stars on the big screen, but you don't know them personally. We don't know God who's in heaven from far away. We know God from living in our heart. We know God from his revealed word. We know God from his presence in our lives this very moment. Where two or three are gathered, there he is in the midst of them. He's right here with us right now. Do you know Jesus personally, one-on-one? How do you know him personally? Through his word, his revealed word, and through his spirit that's living in you. Number two, know the source of his power. The goal of participation in the final resurrection comes from knowing Christ in every dimension in life. conformity to his death. This is the result of self-surrender. It gives way to life. The Christian's experience parallels that of Jesus. The resurrection power of Christ is where the Christian life has its power. It's because Jesus is alive that we can have eternal life. It's because Jesus is alive that we can have a new life. today. So we need to know the source of the power. And the source of the power of the Christian life is not just Jesus, but the fact that Jesus is alive. The power of Christ is revealed in the fact, not that he came to earth to live and to die, as amazing as that is, and a sacrifice that makes salvation possible, but it's all legitimate because of the dunamis, the dynamite of the resurrection. That's the energy that powers it all up. It's the fact that after being dead for three days, Jesus is alive. So know the source of power. It's the resurrection. And because Jesus is alive, we can live today and forevermore. in eternity. For as in Adam, the first Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. So that's how we have our life. It's through the power of Christ. The power of his resurrection. Paul wanted to know that power. So know Jesus. Know the source of power. Know his suffering. The word suffering means that which befalls upon one a suffering or a passion. Sometimes in your Bibles on the headings it will say around the time of the crucifixion as you are reading through the gospel it will say like the passion of Christ. There is a film a book called the passion of the christ is taken from this word sufferings the passion of christ the sufferings of jesus And he says that I may know him the operative term there is to gnosko to know him And to know his power of his resurrection and to know the fellowship the koinonia the fellowship of his sufferings to know his sufferings. We can have Christian fellowship with one another. We have fellowship with God through the sufferings of Christ. We have fellowship with Christ. We have a commonality with Jesus when we suffer for His name's sake. There are people today who suffer because they love Jesus. Now, it may seem foreign to us in America, But there are martyrs in the world today who are martyred, who die because they refuse to convert to Islam. They refuse to convert to Buddhism or to some other tribal religion. And they say no to that. They say yes to Jesus. Their family says no to them. They turn it back on them. And some people today die. for their faith in Christ. People of conviction. Even in America today, people of conviction are often ridiculed and mocked. The editors of a magazine called Biography Magazine asked Carolyn Ray, what historical figure would you like to be? She replied, I've always admired Joan of Arc. But I'd like to be like her, but without the burning at the stake. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. She was burned alive until she died at the stake. That'd be a terrible way to die. And so we see the admirable qualities of somebody like Joan of Arc. And one person summarized and said, I understood immediately what she meant. I mean, who wouldn't like to be a person of conviction characterized by strength and determination like Joan of Arc? But at the same time, who wants to be burned at the stake? I mean, that'd be terrible. But here's the thing. People of conviction often are the ones who are the ones that are persecuted. People of conviction are often the ones who pay the ultimate price for their conviction. Paul was stoned and beaten and left for dead. Daniel spent a night with the lions. And we know 10 of the 11 remaining apostles, they died martyrs' deaths. They died for their faith in Christ. Cruel, unimaginable deaths. And of course, Jesus, the greatest example, died in our place, suffering the cruel death of the cross. And so people of conviction often are the ones who are scourged. They're the ones who are persecuted. They're the ones who are suffering persecution. And so we're to know Jesus, we're to know his suffering. And that leads us then to knowing his death, being made conformable unto his death. We need to know about his death. and we need to be conformable to His death. The word conformable means to bring to the same form with some other person or thing. It means to render like. To render like. Did you know that as a Christian, your life mirrors the life of Christ, but also it reflects the death of Jesus. You see, we're conforming our life to the death of Jesus. When I read verse 10, and when he says, being made conformable unto his death, I wrote in beside that, Galatians 2.20. because it really shouts out this idea of dying to self. Paul says, I want to know Christ. And that includes the suffering and includes for us dying to self. Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Is selfishness something that you struggle with? That's something I can struggle with. Go ahead and admit it. It's okay. We can be selfish. We can be egotistical. We can revolve life around us, but our lives should be revolving around Christ and then others. So if we're dying to self, that means we should be living in the Spirit. Romans 8, 6 says, For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Oh, we have this peace with God. We have peace with mind. We have our minds. We have peace with heart. And we can live godly in spite of this corruption in the society around us. But no matter how others treat us, the sufferings, The Christian has this peace with God, and we can rejoice in this as we're living in the Spirit. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And how does this peace come about? It's because of the death of Jesus. It's because he died in our place, being made conformable to his death. So die to self, but then live in the Spirit, recognizing we have peace, no matter what it is we may face. Now the Apostle Paul utilized and implemented three practices. I'll give them very briefly to you. They're found in verses 12 and 13. We'll go over these more next time. He says, not that I've already attained, either were already perfect, verse 12, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend for that which I am also apprehended of Christ. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. He wants to be captivated by Christ. That's what the word apprehension or apprehended means. I want to be captured, enamored, captivated by Jesus. We can be focused on so many things on this earth that we neglect to be captured by Christ or to be captivated by Jesus with our hearts and minds. He wants to forget what is behind in verse 13. The word forgetting means to neglect and to forget. And this obviously has to do with two specific things. Forgetting what lies behind Him, that could be the sins of our past. What sins of the past have overwhelmed you? But it also includes the accomplishments and the things that we've done that are good, that sometimes we sit back and say, I'm going to rest on my laurels and look at what I've done and look what I've achieved or look at what I've accomplished. Because that can stop us. from pressing toward the mark as well. And so he's captivated by Christ. He forgets what is behind. What's behind you that you need to forget about? Accomplishments that you could rest on or sins that could discourage you and try to keep you back? And then number three, he also reaches ahead. What is it that's in front of you? He says, I'm pressing toward the mark. I'm pressing forward. to the calling that I have in Christ Jesus. You see, God has a calling for you. That's something to reach up for, to reach ahead for. And so reach ahead in your life to find what it is that God has called you to do and to be. Lord willing, we'll look at that more. next time. Friends, I've not arrived. Paul says, I have not arrived. There's always room to grow. I read about a college student who went off to college and he'd come back after his first year. The parents said to him, son, what have you learned? And he said, oh, have you learned more about, have you learned more than you than you knew when you left. He said, oh yeah, I know a lot more than when I left for college. And he went back to school finally, and he'd come back after his second year of college, and he said, have you learned more? Do you know a lot more now that you've gone to college? He said, you know, I'm not sure really how much I know at this point. He went off back to college, and he'd come back for his third year, and finally his parents said to him, have you learned more? Do you know more after going to college? He said, I don't know anything. I don't know anything. And that kind of reminds me of this passage here. Paul, he could have said, I know all this, I have all these experiences, but after all that he learned, all that he had done, all that he achieved, he said, I have not arrived yet. There's still more to do. There's still room to grow. Let's be growing Christians today. Please take some time to answer and discuss these questions and then pray with your group. God bless.