HopeLives365

Mark Finley: Christian growth occurs when the mind is surrendered to Christ, when we think God's thoughts after Him, and when in this life, we are just passing through. That's it. Whatever happens to you in life, you're just passing through. My wife and I invited a pastor friend and his family over for lunch. After the meal, we were sitting around talking about our children and their experiences at school. My friend had a boy about six years old. Hoping to involve the lad in conversation, I asked, "What grade are you in?" With a gleam in his eye and a mischievous smile on his face, he quickly responded, "Well, sir, I am a kindergarten dropout."

Evidently, even kindergartens have a dropout problem. The dropout problem is a serious one. There are many starters, few finishers. Some drop out of church; others leave Christianity altogether. It's one thing to begin the Christian life, but quite another thing to finish it. It's one thing for the seed of Christianity to be planted in the soil of the mind, but quite another for those seeds to grow and produce mature Christians. Thousands of baby Christians, few mature Christians.

The Apostle Paul wrote the epistle to the Philippians, setting forth the basic principle of Christian growth, of Christian maturity. The parallel between Philippians and our lives today is striking. Let me give you a little background of the church at Philippi. In response to the Holy Spirit's leading, the apostle left Asia Minor and came to Europe. Paul was used of the Spirit, guiding him and directing him. And there in Philippi, the Spirit used him once again to evangelize, in the year about 53 AD, the middle of the first century.

He wrote to the church at Philippi about 11 years later in 64 AD. So get the picture: he evangelizes Philippi in 53; 11 years later, 64 AD, he writes back to them. And when he writes, he writes from prison in Rome. Paul held a special place of affection in the Philippians' heart, and they held a special place of affection in Paul's heart. During his extended missionary journeys, he continued to stay in touch with them. Some had supported his ministry through offerings, but many had earnestly prayed for the apostle. Paul even arranged for his associate Epaphroditus to pastor the church for a while.

Philippians contains the Holy Spirit's counsel to a church that Paul established years before. And this counsel is on real Christian growth, how to grow as a Christian. Here are people who were baptized 11 years earlier. Paul's love and affection is evident. His counsel was practiced, his instruction followed. Paul now writes to them this epistle of joy that we find in Philippians. It's a treatise on Christian growth. Now, how does Christian growth occur, and when does it occur?

Christian growth occurs when we reorder our priorities to accept God's agenda for our lives. If we become bitter and resentful because our lives have not turned out as we desired, we die spiritually. Let's go to Philippians chapter 1, verse 12. Here Paul writes to them from a Roman prison. He's cold. He's tired. At times he's hungry. He's an old man now. There are deeply etched lines upon his face. His hair is graying, his hands tremble. And he writes in verse 12, "But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel."

"It's become evident to the whole prison guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ." Isn't this incredibly amazing? Paul's in prison, and he says the things that have happened to me have happened for the furtherance of the gospel. Paul had lost his freedom. He was in prison. Think of what that must have meant for this dynamic, enthusiastic world traveler. Paul's reputation was being challenged by other preachers. His good name was being tarnished; he was being falsely accused. He awaits trial with the possibility of death before him.

How does he relate to life's changed agenda? How does he accept these reordered priorities? Some people have their lives all figured out. They've figured out the ideal marriage, the ideal children, the ideal job, the ideal house. But then there are changes in the agenda they have for their life: the unexpected death, a move, a job change, health problems, things go wrong with their kids. Let's look at Philippians chapter 1, verse 18 to 21 and see Paul's counsel to the church at Philippi.

He says, "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice." In other words, he says, these preachers are trying to tarnish my reputation, they're trying to spoil my work, but yet they're preaching Christ, and so I'm rejoicing. I'm not going to let what they say about me trouble me too much. But then look at verse 19: "For I know that this will turn out"—this imprisonment, all these trials I'm going through—"this will turn out for my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope."

Now, notice he says, "this is going to turn out for my salvation." What does he mean by that? When he was on the Damascus Road, he was saved in God's kingdom. His life was transformed by God's grace. What does it mean, "I know this will turn out for my salvation"? The word salvation there is *soteria*, and what it means is healing. So Paul says, because you're praying for me, spiritually I'm going to be healed of my earthliness. I'm going to be healed of any attitudes that are not in harmony with God's will because of the supply of the Spirit.

Then he says, "according to my earnest expectation and hope, in nothing I shall be ashamed." What does Paul mean by this idea of earnest expectation? The immature Christian asks in frustrating, sometimes angry tones, "Why, God? Why, God?" In all that's happening to him, Paul is saying, "I know that this situation, with all its problems and all its difficulties, is going to be one that draws me closer to Jesus. It's going to make me happier and more useful in this life, and it's going to teach me lessons that I need to learn for all eternity."

The circumstances of life can make you either bitter or better. What are you going through right now? What's troubling you? What's causing you to be stressed out? This can either cause you to collapse or it can give you courage. It can either destroy you or build you up. It can either crush you in defeat or prepare you for victory. The trials of life can either turn us from God or to God. "According to my earnest expectation," Paul says, that Christ will be magnified in my body. What is the earnest expectation? It is the eager, concentrated, intense look that turns its gaze away from everything else to fix it on the one object of its desire.

Paul sums up his philosophy of life in Philippians chapter 1, verses 20 and 21. He says that Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. Get verse 21: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." For Paul, Christ is the beginning of life. Damascus Road changed his life. He looks back to Damascus Road as if life started all over again for him. Christ is the beginning of life. For Paul, Christ is the continuation of life. Never a day Paul did not live in Christ's presence. For Paul, Christ was the end of life. All of life moved toward eternity, the coming of the salvation in Christ our Lord when Jesus would return.

For Paul, Christ was the inspiration of life, the dynamic, mature power for life. For Paul, Christ was the task of life, the one goal, preaching the gospel. For Paul, Christ was the strength for life, the all-sufficient strength made perfect in weakness. For Paul, Christ was the reward of life. The one who generates the reward was closer and closer to Paul than fellowship with any human being. He is the reward of life. Knowing Christ was the great reward of life. If Christ were taken out of life, there would be nothing left to life. To Paul, Christ was nothing less than life itself.

Christian growth occurs when you accept God's agenda and not your own in little things as well as big things. It occurs when you praise God for the interruptions, for the inconveniences, and the changed plans of life. It occurs when you accept changes in plans joyfully. It occurs when all of life becomes an opportunity to magnify Christ. So when you look at Philippians 1, how does it define Christian maturity? It defines Christian maturity as confidence in God in spite of the ups and downs and challenges of life. It defines Christian maturity as living in Christ today, tomorrow, and forever.

It defines Christian maturity as the Christian who has that hope in his heart that Christ will get him through any difficulty, get him through any challenge, that Christ is all in all. Now, let's move to the second principle of Christian maturity, and we find that in Philippians chapter 2. Paul in Philippians 2 points out that Christian growth occurs when the struggle for domination ceases. Human nature is self-centered. It desires power. It desires control. It desires domination.

In Philippians chapter 2, verse 3 and onward, we read: "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

"Therefore God has also exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess," verse 11, "that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father." Now, let's unpack these verses together. You see the contrast here between Jesus' philosophy and the worldly philosophy. There are a lot of paradoxes in this passage. What indeed is a paradox? A paradox is something which appears to be so but is not.

So, for example, Jesus says by dying we live. The world says living we live. Jesus says by giving we receive. The world says grasping is when we get. Jesus says by coming down we ascend. The world says by climbing we ascend. Jesus says by serving others we attain life's greatest joy. The world says by pleasing ourselves we are the happiness. This is called the cascade of God's love. Remember in Philippians it says He who was in the form of God—that word form is a Greek word *morphe*, it means the very essence of God.

Jesus was equal with God, but He became a man, but not only a man, He became a servant. But not only a servant, He became a humble, obedient servant. Not only a humble, obedient servant, but He died a death. And what is that death? That death is the death of the cross. So this is the cascade of God's love: from being equal with God to becoming a man, a servant, a humble, obedient servant, experiencing death and the terrible death of the cross. Jesus says there in Philippians 2, "Gain nothing through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves."

Jesus came down to meet us where we were. And the world says knock others aside, there's always room at the top if you step over other people, if you crush other people in an attempt to do that. You see, here are two contrasting ways of life, two alien ways of viewing life. Just think of it from the perspective of Jesus and Lucifer. Jesus humbles Himself; Lucifer tries to exalt himself. Jesus becomes a man; Lucifer desires to become God. Jesus took the form of a servant; Lucifer desired to be a ruler.

Jesus came down; Lucifer desired to ascend. Jesus chose death; Lucifer chose life. Jesus humbly obeyed; Lucifer arrogantly rebelled. Jesus revealed that the essence of life is not domination but service. One of the major issues is control. We see it in the family. Who has control? Is it the father, the mother, the husband, the wife, the children? Or is there a commitment to loving service? There are power games in the world. Who's in control of the world? What nation wants to dominate the world? There's power games at times on church boards. It's the issue of control. Who is in control here? Is it the elder, is it the pastor, is it the deacon?

I had to smile, I read the story of a little small boy. He and his sister were riding on the back of one of these small wooden hobby horses. They're riding back and forth; it was given to them as a present. Suddenly the boy turned to his sister and said, "If one of us would get off, there would be more room for me." If one of us would get off—in other words, sister, you're crowding me, get off this horse. You see, that self-centeredness is the basis of all sin. In the family, parents who have a commitment to their children want the best for their children.

Children who really love their parents want the best for their parents, they want to serve their parents. You see, the spirit of heaven is the spirit of self-sacrificing, loving service. The spirit of hell is the desire to be served, that everything focuses, everything revolves around me. I heard about a dream once that someone had, and they dreamed about hell and they dreamed about heaven. When they dreamed about hell, they saw this banquet table. And on the banquet table there were many people sitting there. They were all smiling, but they all had metal arms.

There was lush food on the table, everything to delight the eye, everything to tempt the taste, everything you can imagine on the table. But the problem was, in this dream, imaginary story of course, the people sitting there pretty soon after seeing the food they were smiling and happy, but when they looked at their metal arms, the arms were stiff and they couldn't serve themselves, they couldn't bend the arm to get the food to their mouth. And they were scoffing and they were mad now and they were angry. They had been happy at first, but now they couldn't get the food to their mouth, and they were yelling at the other people and it was a terrible, terrible, terrible scene.

Then there was heaven. It was a banquet table, all the food was there, and people had metal arms. But you know what they were doing? They were reaching across the table with the metal arms and serving the people, and the other people across the table were eating and everybody was cheerful and happy. Now, it's certainly a fictitious story, but I think the lesson is worth it for us. When we serve others, we have life's greatest happiness. Jesus the highest of all became the lowest of all. Jesus the greatest servant came to serve, to be a blessing to humanity.

Self-centered egotism doesn't enable us to grow. Here's the second lesson that we find from Philippians chapter 2: Christian growth occurs when we serve. Christian growth occurs when you want to serve rather than dominate. Christian growth occurs when striving for power ceases and service becomes the goal of life. Christian growth occurs when families are filled with the desire to serve each other. Our societies are happier places when we all have the spirit of service and not self-centeredness.

Heaven will be fundamentally, basically, radically different because it will be a place of service, not domination. Christian growth occurs when we abandon our past achievements and focus solely on the achievement and success of Christ. Remember what it says in Philippians chapter 3, verse 4 to 9? Here's another lesson on spiritual maturity. We looked at Philippians 1: spiritual maturity comes when we accept life not on our terms but God's terms, and we recognize that we'll have ups and downs in life and we trust God to get us through it rather than become bitter by it.

In Philippians 2 we learned that Christian maturity comes when our life is filled with the desire to serve. In Philippians chapter 3 we learn that Christian maturity comes when we are not focused on our achievements, when pride and egotism does not dominate us. We look there at Philippians chapter 3, verse 4 to 9, and we read: "Though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless."

"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means I might attain the resurrection from the dead."

Now, think of it. Paul enumerates his catalog of credentials. He says, look, if I want to boast, my background is impeccable. I was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel. That set me apart; it separated me from all others. I was of the tribe of Benjamin. I was born in the tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin born in the Promised Land under Israel's first kingship. He remained loyal with Judah after exile; a new nation emerged around Benjamin and Judah. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, Paul says. There were only about 61,000 Pharisees; they were the separated ones, the pure ones. And through all of life, Paul says, I studied the law of God.

I was zealous; I persecuted the church. I—but you know what? That was nothing to me. It was like garbage, like refuse, like dung. I was willing to experience the loss of all things because I want only one thing, and that is Christ. I was willing to abandon my achievements, my successes, my failures—I left them behind too. I was willing to abandon my Jewish past in a sense that the legalism of Judaism was not satisfying my soul. So I found Christ in all of this. I was willing to abandon my mistakes, murdering and persecuting Christians.

But then Paul says, I discovered something new, that in Christ, Philippians 3, verse 20, my citizenship was in heaven. Look, Philippi was a Roman colony. The Philippians understood that citizens of Rome would wear the Roman dress; they did in Philippi. Citizens would practice Roman law; they did in Philippi. They would speak Roman language. Roman magistrates would rule, Roman armies would protect them. Roman art, literature, food, and customs would prevail. The city of Philippi was a miniature Rome, a little Rome, a Roman colony in the midst of that society.

They wanted to preserve their Romanness at all costs. Christians are colonists preserving the principles of Jesus Christ. I think of that old preacher down there in Bourbon Street, Bob Harrington. He preached in Bourbon Street. One day he's preaching on Bourbon Street, New Orleans; some guy pours a flask of beer over his head. Harrington keeps preaching about the grace of Christ. One day he's walking through Bourbon Street and somebody says, "Where you going, Pastor Bob?" And he says, "I'm going to heaven, but I'm just passing through."

Christian growth occurs when the mind is surrendered to Christ, when we think God's thoughts after Him, and when in this life, we are just passing through. That's it. Whatever happens to you in life, you're just passing through. Whatever challenges you face in life, you're just passing through. Whatever difficulties in life, you're just passing through. Whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is pure, whatever is just, think on these things. When we fix our minds on the things of eternity, we grow spiritually.

So here are four principles for you to take from today's broadcast: Number one, whatever circumstance you have in life, Christ is greater. Accept that and you'll grow. Focus your life on service. Thirdly, do not in any way depend on your past achievements. Christ is all in all. And lastly, it's a law of the mind that it gradually focuses on the things that it indeed dwells upon. Dwell on the things of eternity, and by the grace of God, you will grow in Christ. Let us pray. Father in heaven, thank you that we can grow every day in Jesus. Help us to fix our minds on the things of eternity today, tomorrow, and forever. In Jesus' name, amen.