This paragraph is certainly a challenging piece of Scripture that calls us to really look at our lives and take an assessment of how far we have truly progressed spiritually and far we still need to go. There were those who had come into this church who thought that they could be perfected in this age if they kept certain elements of the Mosaic Law, such as circumcision. Paul had showed them the utter futility of that by showing that if anyone could have been perfected by the Law it was him, and yet all that was loss. It never got him any closer to God. The answer is found in Christ and in Christ alone. Paul is now clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ.

It might be easy to conclude that all that needed to be done was done, and in one sense that is true. We are complete in Christ. But this life is not just one of waiting but one of preparation. God is preparing us for our new reality when we are before Christ forevermore. And the truth that we have to admit to ourselves is that we are incomplete, not in our standing, but in our state. God is still working in us and through us. He is still taking the dross away, and changing us to be more like Jesus Christ; changing us to see our need of Christ; and changing us so that we would love Christ even more.

Many of us live with a confessional theology that we will be with Christ but on the practical everyday level it is easy to live as if this is all there is. They live with the thought that if I cannot have all the happiness, joy and excitement now then I will never have it. They are so afraid that life is passing them by or will pass them by. This is why people question the goodness of God. They do not understand what this life is about. They think they have arrived and are perfected at least enough and therefore should have the joys that are promised for the next life. They lack the motivation and hope because this life seems to be an endless cycle of dashed hopes and dreams, so why try or why persevere? This present time is meant to produce in the Christian as he views life biblically: longing, readiness, and hope. There is a longing to be with Christ now because that is far better. But there is also the truth that I am not ready for the world to come, and that is why I am still here. There are still too many ways that we are impressed by our own wisdom and righteousness. There are still too many ways that we love the creation rather than the Creator. We still want to be the ones that write the rules and control things in our life. There are important ways and significant change that needs to take place as I take hold of Jesus Christ more and more in this life.

Think how this changes everything. Your marriage is not the destination. If you treat it that way you’ll expect more out of your spouse and will not recognize why everything doesn’t go as planned. You occupation is not the destination; it is only to help you prepare and press forward. Food, sex or any other joy in this life is not the destination. If you treat them that way then you’ll end up fat, in debt, and addicted to this world. This section of Scripture, which informs us that we are not perfect, but in the Christian race, and that we are to make strides today radically alters how you look and handle the frustrations, challenges, trials and temptations of life. And right here at the end of this paragraph Paul gives one final and necessary and glorious push for us to take this desire of his and make it our own. He wants us to pursue Christ with the greatest intensity in our lives. And are we? Are we living with the truth that this life is not all there is, and that we are not perfect, and I need to change as a husband, wife, parent, friend, church member, and believer in Christ? Are you in this race? Are you trying to see Christ, and trying to see sin for what it is? The call is to pursue Christ. Tonight I want us to see two points. One is that we need this attitude in our lives. And secondly we need to keep doing the same Christian disciplines in our lives and not give up on them.

1. We need the attitude of pursuing Christ. V. 15.

Many think that maturity is the idea that I do not need anyone because I am strong enough to handle the things of life, and that I am more righteous than others. And that is basically immaturity. Immaturity in Christianity is our delusions of our own strength and righteousness. God brings us to points in our lives where are brought to the end of ourselves, and suddenly see our need of his strength and then how proud and selfish and self-centered we are. God in His goodness brings things into our lives that we would never want to help us to see things about our lives that we would never see if we didn’t have the trials that he ordained. You will never have the attitude that Paul calls for in the previous verse until you finally have a proper view of you in life, in your marriage, in your job, and in your church.

Look at what Paul commands, “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude.” The beginning of the verse, “Let us therefore,” is a command and a conclusion to all who are in Philippi, and us by extension as we read this epistle to take the truths and apply them to our own lives and content, that we might make the same goal of apprehending and becoming and following Christ our great passion and pursuit in this life. Paul has been sharing his testimony and heart and now directs these believers on the basis of these Christ-centered desires. And Paul directs this command to “as many as are perfect.” Now it seems like a strange command in light of verse 12 that he says that he has not obtained perfection, and here he commands those who are perfect. Also that this is his main argument to confront the Judaizing perfectionists who think they have obtained but have not. There are two possible interpretations. One is that Paul is just using a play on words and commanding those who are perfect as far as their standing to pursue Christ. We have a perfect and complete standing in Christ, and now he wants them to have the attitude to pursue Christ in order to be perfected in practice, something that they are not.

The other possibility is that this is where maturity is found. Perfection in Paul’s book is realizing that you are not perfect so much so that you pursue the necessary grace found in Christ alone. There are so many areas in the mature person’s life where he realizes that sin has a greater influence than Christ does, and he will never pursue Christ or see the need unless he sees that he has not been perfected. That is the perfect or mature attitude Paul is talking about in this section. And that is what Paul is pointing us to when he commands, “have this attitude.” You and I desperately need the attitude and believe with all of our soul that we have not arrived and our greatest need is to pursue Christ.

And think about it, whether we realize it or not, sin many times just does not look that sinful. There are times where all of us see beauty what God has condemned and called evil. Arguing your spouse into a corner looks better than self-sacrificial love to what God calls us to. The lustful glance at someone else looks more appealing that a pure heart. Wanting to be congratulated and applauded might seem more desirable than pointing to the glory of God. Those sorts of sin seem harmless to us, and we think we can handle them in our lives, and it is just a sign of our lack of maturity and our desperate need of following Christ. Do you see the need of following Christ, and having the mind of Christ so much so that you find yourself seeking His grace time and time again?

Look at what else Paul says, “and if anyone of you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you also.” Now this has stymied many as far as what Paul is saying here. Some think that if others think differently from the apostle Paul that the attitude just named is not necessary. If they think otherwise God will reveal whether they are right or wrong in their attitude. It seems like a strange interpretation when Paul has so insisted upon that we are not perfect and need to pursue Christ with all our being. Others think that what Paul is talking about is not so much this issue but other issues of minor importance. Paul is not after uniformity but unity. And that is a principle that is taught elsewhere in Scripture and this epistle but I doubt it is taught here. I think what Paul is saying is that if you are a true believer God will show you the necessity of this attitude in your life. He will use his Spirit or discipline or the Word to correct the believer so that he sees his need of Christ. Again he will take us thorough circumstances that are difficult that might bring out how much sin that needs to be terminated and eliminated in our lives, and how much more we need to trust in Christ and follow Him.

And maybe this is where you are right now. Maybe you have delusions of your own strength and righteousness. It is seen in so many husbands and wives that constantly look at the other and say he or she doesn’t get it. They never see and never admit their sin, and they forget their marriages are a tool of preparation. You are not even near perfect in your marriage, and there is still so much work that needs to be done. Do you recognize that? Are you laboring to be the most humble and glorious representative of Jesus Christ to your spouse? God wants us to realize that we need this attitude of pursuing the goal of Jesus Christ in this life.

2. In order to pursue Christ we must keep the same spiritual disciplines in our lives. V. 16.

We have all heard the old adage that when things are going well in our lives we are most susceptible to the attack of Satan. When things are going well we become lazy and stop laboring and working and pursuing Christ. We have delusions that things will remain this good and we forget that we are sinner, living with sinners in a world that is fallen and terribly broken. It should always be this easy, and we buy into the lie that we deserve these good things and have made them. Often in marriage counselling things between the couple start going better and they start to progress in Christ, and start to be a blessing to one another and an aide in helping one another. They start to sacrifice and guard their own hearts and work and put effort into the relationship while they lean on the grace of God. But there comes a time where things go from good to worse. Think about what went wrong: what went wrong is that they actually had a good marriage but they just stopped working. A good marriage takes discipline. The good marriage gave them the delusion that everything would always be good and they didn’t need to guard their hearts and live in forgiveness, and work at loving in a Christ-like manner. And this is true in all of our lives and relationship. There is never a day that we no longer need the grace of God or we need rescue from ourselves, and therefore we need an intensity to keep the spiritual graces that we began with. There is never a time where prayer, Bible study, meditation, and fellowship is no longer necessary in our lives. We need to discipline ourselves for the sake of godliness.

Look at what Paul says here: “however, let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained.” Look at the term, “keep living.” It means to “line up” or “to follow in a line.” It was used to describe row houses or soldiers that happen to be in the same line. Here in the context Paul could be keeping up with running metaphor. The idea would be to keep in your lane and not to deviate from the path. They are to keep following the spiritual path that God had set them on. The word “standard” has been added, but the meaning is that they have attained a level of maturity through the resources that God had given them and they have to keep pursuing Christ in that same way. It is not that they do not need more of his life or that they need something else. They need to pursue Christ in the same way they have been pursuing Him.

So what should we do? Well one is to be honest about your life and the sin in your life. Truly look at your life and begin to stop looking at people around you and start to focus on who you are and own your sin. Own the words and attitudes that you have said to your spouse or children or whoever. You need to be convinced that your greatest problem in living for Christ and loving him and loving those around you is not others but yourself, and you will never see that until you really take an honest look at how proud you are and self-righteous you are. God wants to change you but you will never change unless you see what needs to be changed.

Listen to good preaching and read good material, and do not fall into the temptation in thinking that this is a good message for someone else to hear. “I hope so and so is listening.” Apply that truth to yourself. Ask yourself where am I truly not living up to the principles of God in my life? Be honest. The temptation will be to take your eyes off yourself, but you used to see sin so clearly in your life, but now have chosen not to see what is evidently there. Do the same with reading the Word of God. Look intently in the text. See what it says. And apply it to yourself.

Also, don’t neglect the fellowship of God’s people. Sometimes it is not easy, and some can be harsh and severe when you are struggling, but all in all there is so much encouragement when it comes to following Jesus Christ. It will allow us to put life into perspective as we interact with others going through difficulty and cause us to grow. Change into Christ-likeness was never meant to be something just personal, but was take place in the community of the local church. You and I need the church.

And the last thing is to pray. You and I could do all the things that we need to do and still not grow. It is God who will give the increase of maturity into our lives, and mold us and make us into Christ. Prayer recognizes a couple of things. One is that I have not attained and I am weak. It is so easy for me to go astray and make other things the goal of our lives. Some who believe they are self-sufficient do not see the need to pray, and still others pray but their prayer is more like the self-righteous Pharisee who sees no need of change. If you truly believe that you have not arrived and that you have the potential to either cause great pain through the evil that is in you, or be a great blessing to others then you will pray and pray recognizing your need.

Secondly, prayer recognizes that the source for change is not in us but God alone. It recognizes His sovereignty in all of our lives and seeks what he has. Prayer is the language of dependence on only what God can supply.

In all of this, there is no short cut or magic pill or any quick solution to maturity in Christ. God in His glory has given us this life as one where he is preparing us for what is to come. Don’t live as if this is all there is. Seek Christ passionately and you will start to grow so much in your love and desire for him that you will want more. It is what all of us need most in this life.