Life is hard. We all struggle and suffer. As followers of Jesus we often feel like we live in a hostile environment toxic to our faith. This series from 1 and 2 Peter shows us how we can stand firm against hardship, persecution and false teaching. We can learn much from the letters of Peter about living for Christ in a difficult and threatening world.
Look forward to seeing you this weekend!
Darrell
Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church
Do we go to heaven because of our race, social status or our parents? Does our education, good works and religious observances mean that we are closer to God? Some think so. Paul explains that although he used to put confidence in these very things, but now his joy and confidence come from knowing Christ.
4 I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
SPIRITUAL CONFIDENCE IS NOT FOUND IN
5 For I was circumcised when I was eight days old,
Paul says “I was circumcised on the eight day, of the people of Israel.” We have our own rituals today, sacraments, baptism, communion, catechism, etc. Never confuse the symbol with the substance. Rituals do not bring salvation only a relationship with Christ.
having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish family
Don’t trust in heritage. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Daddy’s a Christian, My mom was a believer, My uncle was a pastor? ” You can get religion from your family but you can’t get Christ unless you accept him yourself.
that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin.
Benjamin was a noble tribe Israel. Paul was named after the first king, Saul, who was a Benjamite.
So I am a real Jew if there ever was one!
No religious group or denomination has a copyright on truth or a patent on God.
What’s more, I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
Don’t trust in religion. Paul was a religious person. Paul kept all the rules. We think of the Pharisees as hypocrites but there were some genuine, sincere ones. They were the spiritually elite of that age. They took the Ten Commandments and expanded them into 619 other commandments. They were pros at religion. Jesus has nothing to do with religion. Religion is man’s attempt to get to God. Jesus Christ is God’s attempt to get to man. That’s a relationship and that’s a big difference.
6 And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church.
Maybe some of you think if your bad works are a minimum and are good works outnumber them then you will make it to heaven. But God doesn’t grade on a curve. He judges by a perfect standard — Jesus Christ. To be good enough to get to God you’d have to be as good as God.
And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.
Today we have people saying; “I read the Bible, I go to church…”The point is there is nothing wrong with any of these things. The problem is thinking that they give me points with God, and they don’t.
In all of the religious accomplishments Paul mentions in verse 4, God is not mentioned once. You can be religious and not know Christ. If you have religion and no relationship, you don’t have Christianity, you have “churchianity.” The answer to your problems and America’s problems is not religion. It is a person, Jesus Christ.
MY CONFIDENCE IS FOUND IN…
7 I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Paul says his number one goal in life is to know Christ better and better. How well do you know Jesus Christ? I know a lot of Christians who have been Christians, 5, 10, or more years and they really don’t know Jesus Christ well. There is a big difference between knowing and knowing about.
Never stop growing and developing your relationship with Christ. So many Christians stay too close to where they “got in” to the Christian life. They haven’t grown one bit since they made that initial decision.
Paul says that his number one ambition in life is to know Christ at the end of his life. He’s in jail in Rome. He’s getting ready to die. He knew Christ already, but he wanted to know Him even better.
I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ
The translators here are being polite, delicate. “Garbage” and “rubbish” are not the words. The word in Greek is the word for “dung”, “manure”.
“Public bathrooms were not uncommon in ancient Roman cities. This one is a good illustration for Paul’s reference to scubalon, or human waste.” This latrine is where the dung goes. Paul writes that his religious and past experiences go better in the latrine that equating them to Christlikeness.
COMPARED TO CHRIST, EVERTHING ELSE IS…
Paul points out that life consists of trade-offs. That’s an important lesson you must learn in life. He said he gave up something in order to gain something else. He gave up his religion in order to have a relationship.
What I got is worth more than everything I gave up. You give up guilt and gain a clear conscious. You give up worry and gain a power for living. You give up frustration and lack of purpose in life and gain real meaning and purpose in life. You give up going to hell and gain going to heaven. You gave up trying to solve all your problems in your own power and gain having the resources of God to help solve your problems. That’s a pretty good trade-off!
What are you afraid of giving up for God? If you become a Christian, get really committed to Christ, really live for Jesus Christ, what are you afraid is going to change in your life that you don’t want to give up? Whatever that is, that is the very thing that needs to be given up.
9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!
Like Paul, I want to know Christ. How about you?
Darrell
Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
What a great verse to teach our kids! What a great verse for adults. What a great verse to memorize.
A man joined a remote monastery deep in the woods followed a rigid vow of silence. Their vow could only be broken once a year. That monk could speak only two words. He went in after one year of being there and to see the Abbot and said, “Bed Hard” 365 days later he got to speak again he went in to see the Abbot and said, “Food Bad” 365 days later he got to speak again he went in to see the Abbot and said, “I quit” The abbot said, “That doesn’t surprise me! You’ve done nothing but complain the whole time you’ve been here!”
Ever been around people who thought they were holy, mature believers but were actually just cantankerous? We only wish their complaints were two words! Cantankerous is not holy or mature but immature. When our children argue and whine do we say, how mature you are! No we say, grow up you brat!
Just like the two little boys who were standing outside the church as they watched a long-faced preacher arguing with a sourpuss member…Said one boy to the other, “Man, if that’s what 30 years of Christianity will do for you, I want out NOW!”
I know this sounds pretty basic but I believe that 90% of the problems facing the church would be solved if we would stop complaining get unified about reaching people for Christ.
Churches waste so much energy thinking and acting in ways that cut each other down and doubt each other and question each other – instead they need to rally to each other, helping and working together for the common purpose of loving God, loving people and sharing Jesus.
We all need to be reminded that complaining is not acceptable, not mature and not helpful.
Complaining translates from a word that describes a bad attitude which expresses itself in constant grumbling. The Israelites constantly grumbled in the wilderness, and God judged them for it (see Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:1-5, 10).
The word for arguing has a legal connotation and may refer to the Philippian Christians going to civil courts to settle their differences, an action Paul condemned elsewhere (1 Corinthians 6:1-11). Their arguments may have stemmed from the Philippians’ pride in their achievements, which Paul denounced in 2:3. It was popular among the Aristotelian philosophers around Philippi to impress others with their accomplishments; the Christians were not to act that way.
Why are complaining and arguing so harmful? First, they are completely opposite of Christ’s attitude (2:5-8), which believers are to emulate. Second, they hurt Christ’s cause among unbelievers. If all that people know about a church is that its members constantly argue, complain, and gossip, they get a bad impression of Christ and the gospel. Unbelievers then feel justified in criticizing the Christians. Third, probably more churches have split from causes related to arguing and complaining than from heresy.
15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life
Paul explained the importance of the believers’ actions—they needed to clean up their act in order to fulfill their mission of spreading the gospel. Paul’s advice for their “housecleaning” is summed up in two words.
First, the church ought to be blameless, meaning beyond reproach, incurring no justifiable criticism. This does not mean sinless perfection; instead, the church was to be beyond the criticism of the unbelieving world. Second, the church ought to be pure (also translated “innocent”). The Greek word akeraioi was used to describe wine that had not been diluted or metal that had no weakening alloys.
When a body of believers remains pure and blameless, the contrast with their culture is so stark that it is as if they shine like stars. They bring the light of truth into the darkness of depravity, as stars light up the darkness of the night. Indeed, Jesus told those who believe in him: “You are the light of the world. . . . Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14,)
When I chose NOT to complain I will:
Be appreciated for not causing trouble
This means that when you don’t complain, you make things so much easier. You are liked. You may know that I coached soccer when Kaleb was young. My first year coaching the director told me I have a “trouble making mom” “Thanks for the heads up.” I said. We are all volunteers and its sad that someone who will not be involved but complains about those who are makes life difficult for everyone. I loved and appreciated the parents that are supportive but when this mom comes up in conversation from others because of her reputation, many of us dreaded anything she may say. Do you cause joy or dread by your behavior? When we choose not to complain, we are appreciated.
Non-complainers are people of integrity.
When we complain and argue we are not good children of God we are more like “BRATS OF GOD” or “children of the devil”
We are told to “shine like stars.” You may remember the song we learned as children “This little light of mine, I am going to shine.” But the truth is greater than that, we are not called to be “little lights” we are called to be “bold, blazing, life giving, STARS!!!
But one thing is for sure, “The Grumbling has got to go before the shining can start!” We don’t need to be shout or scream or make a scene we just need to shine. We do that by living a life free of complaining and disputing.
Our culture is so negative, so dark. When I choose to not complain the contrast is obvious. You will shine like a star in the middle of a dark night. We will stand out as truly different to not be a complainer, to not be critical, to not be a put-down person, when you become that, you will shine like a star.
The name given to the brightest star in the night sky is Sirius, of the constellation Canis Major. The brightest star in the day sky is the sun. Paul drew a lesson from the night sky when he compared Christians to stars and society to the empty blackness of the universe. It is a bleak and barren skyscape at night, except for the light of stars. Christians are to live as lights in a dark world, shining witnesses to God’s truth.
Our lives should be characterized by moral purity, patience, and peacefulness, so that we will “shine like stars” in a dark and depraved world. A transformed life is an effective witness to the power of God’s Word. Are you shining brightly, or are you clouded by complaining and arguing? Let’s not let dissensions snuff out our light! Shine out for God.
Darrell
Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church
Who is responsible for Spiritual Growth? Is it the individual? Is it the church? Or is it God?
3 Approaches to Spiritual Growth:
Some Christians think spiritual growth is solely the job of God. They say, “If I do anything at all, if I make any effort to be holy its legalism. I’m living in the flesh.” They say human action is futile, doomed from the start. They object to any call for extra effort or costly following by saying that human effort is opposed to grace. Some pastors lament, “Anytime I speak of costly sacrifice and obedience. People will respond, “we are about Grace, that costly stuff is legalism!” They may be the name and claim it group, saying things like, “I just claim the fruit of the spirit! I wake up in the morning and just claim joy!” I don’t have to do anything but claim joy!” That would be nice but it is just not the way things are set up, or I would just claim “breakfast!” And zap! Or “paycheck! Zap! No effort!
On the other hand, some Christians take a Marine approach to spiritual life, evaluating spiritual growth as a product of one’s effort alone. “Run! Push! Cram! On your knees and give me 20 minutes of prayer!” The church then becomes a place of contest to see who is the most holy, who has memorized the most Bible verses, who has witnessed to the most people, who has the most regular quiet time, who has prayed the most. People with this checklist mentality believe as long as they think if they’re doing these things they must be growing spiritually, even if love and joy aren’t present. If it’s all up to me I better never relax I got to be doing something spiritual ALL the time, I’ll listen to Christian radio, watch Christian TV wear Christian jewelry, wear Christian apparel and subscribe to Christian tv service, and list goes on!
3. Super Church
Then some think that their spiritual growth is all the church’s responsibility. If they are not growing then look no farther, “it’s the church’s fault!” They will say things like “My church doesn’t have an adequate program for spiritual growth.” “If I could find the right church, I could grow spiritually” “My small group leader is not very good, I could grow a lot spiritually if he had his act together!” “I am not being fed!” Or very similar, they blame others: “My husband/wife doesn’t give me the spiritual leadership I need to grow spiritually.” I’ve told him over and over, start leading me now!” But he doesn’t lead the way I tell him to lead! If I had a spiritually mature spouse I would grow spiritually.” “My co-workers pull me down, if I had a job around other Christians I would grow spiritually.” “I want to work for a Christian business or corporation.”
The truth is that spiritual growth is a process where you join God AND others. It’s “both/ and.”
First, Paul puts the responsibility in our lap and says:
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation
“work out your salvation”
Examples:
Our body & exercise:
I have a friend who is a black belt in Karate and taught classes at a dojo. I once asked him for fun:
“If I walked in and said, I want my black belt, how much do I have to pay, I have a busy schedule just give me a black belt! Would I get one?
He said, “You would get a black eye, not a black belt!”
He has told me about some very tough exercises, training, tests and sparring that he had to do.
So for me to get a black belt I have to follow these workouts listen to my instructor and work with my instructor. Not just demand it
An injury & the doctor:
My wife Niki is a physical therapist, often referred to as PT, we joke that her initials PT stand for Pain and Torture.
If I were to hurt my knee, would have to go see Niki for more pain and torture?
No first I would go to the doctor. He would diagnose my injury and prescribe the proper treatment. He would hand me a prescription to come see Niki.
Then I would come see Niki and she would give me exercises, treatment and usually exercises for home, a home workout.
Notice that so far, everything has been done for me – the diagnosis, prescription, and the therapist. It now becomes my responsibility to follow the doctor’s orders as stated. By working out the process I enjoy the benefits of the physician and therapists’ contributions to my health. What if I questioned Niki? To think, “we’ll I’ve had some biology classes and P.E. why should I do therapy like you say?” If I survived her anger, and continued in my foolish behavior and did not get any better because I was not cooperating. I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on ignoring the doctor and ignoring her.
Music & the Worship Leader:
As a church we do music each week with various instruments and vocalists. They practice and rehearse most of the week and then meet on Wednesday’s and again before the service to go over what they have rehearsed together. When a song is chosen, they refer to the notes, chords and the music.
One of leaders explained it to me this way:
We play the notes we know… look up the notes we don’t, practice the timing and flow, etc…
I’ve asked, “Are some songs pretty hard to learn?
They said, “Oh yeah, but we stay at it and by working through this process the song is eventually performed and hopefully is a benefit to listen to.”
If they do not practice or if they change the notes of the song and it doesn’t sound right, is it the fault of the one who wrote the song? That would be the easy excuse but not the truth.
In each of these cases we see that there is cooperation, there is a process to follow. Some things are provided for us, and some things we have to work through. The same is true of spiritual growth.
Now the passage explains that it is also. “GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU”
with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
We see God has a part too. We need to know that…
*Let’s talk about control, we are control freaks and one of the toughest lessons in life, one of the toughest lessons spiritually is what I can control and what I cannot control.
There are some things I can control
I can make a phone call, drive a car or run an errand.
There are some things I cannot control
But some things I can do nothing about. Like the weather – only
God can change the weather. Like Aggie Football, only God can help the Aggies!
There’s a third category. There are some things I have to cooperate with: Think about going to sleep. You can’t make yourself go to sleep the way you can make a phone call. We tell our kids this all the time, “Go to sleep, but I can’t,” they reply. There are things you can do to cooperate with sleep, Go in a dark room, lay down on a soft mattress, soft pillow, put on one of my messages! You’ll be right to sleep in no time!
Think about the differences between a motorboat and a sailboat. In a motorboat I’m in control. I start the engine, control the speed, and go wherever I want. Do you prefer a motorboat to a sailboat? I prefer the motorboat. I like to be in control. It seems faster and easier than having to cooperate.
Sailing is different. Do you prefer sailing? When I’m sailing, I’m not passive, I have a role to play – I hoist the sails and steer with the rudder – but I am dependent on the wind. There’s no room for believing I’m in control, because if the wind doesn’t blow, I’m not going far, just drifting. When the wind blows, on the other hand, amazing things can happen.
In John 3 Jesus compared the work of the Spirit to work of the wind. It’s free and powerful, way beyond our control. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit, through whose life the winds of God are blowing. The challenge to us is to hoist the sails, grab hold of the rudder and let the wind of the spirit mold and shape and direct our lives. My question to you is…
Many times we are not cooperating with what God is doing. We are not willing to cooperate; we think we can call the shots. As a church we offer opportunities for people to grow spiritually but these opportunities often stay on the table and are not incorporated or ingested into the lives of those who attend.
Some may say, “I am not being fed!” It’s humorous how we complain and say we are not being fed when there is a table of food before us or a catalogue full of groups to attend. We have memory verses, discussion questions, each week in our program. We have free Our Daily Bread devotionals and free bibles. We invite people to read along with each Bible book in The You Version app. There so many devotions and bible readings that can be delivered to our phones. We have these choices every day, every week, every month and we leave them on the table and do not dig in. In our Groups, we have fellowship opportunities, serving opportunities, worship opportunities and mission opportunities but they are left untouched by many. It’s like food that is not being eaten, the ones who are incorporating them into their lives will tell you, “I am growing.” Those who leave the opportunities on the table often revert to complaining.
Complaining, that’s the topic of another post.
Please understand your part and God’s part in spiritual growth. Joy will follow.
Darrell
Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church
[i] Charles Swindoll, Laugh Again: Experience Outrageous Joy. (Dallas: Word, 1991),97
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