Living On The Edge 10-1-2023
October 1, 2023
Living On The Edge
Pastor Tom Garasha
October 1, 2023
Philippians 3:15-21 NLT “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
I. PROGRESS
(Philippians 3:15-16)
Illustration: What does that look like? Healthy things grow, growing things change,
change requires risk, risk requires faith, and faith makes you healthy.
Application: Are you showing evidence that you are growing in your faith? What
kind of risks have you taken lately with your faith? Are you more in love
with Jesus today than yesterday?
II.
(Philippians 3:17)
A. What Were Paul’s Patterns?
1. He was a man after God’s heart
Philippians 3:8 NLT “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”
2. An unashamed commitment to the gospel
Philippians 3:20 NLT “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.”
3. Committed to authenticity and transparency; no pretense
1 Thessalonians 2:3 NLT “So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.”
4. Healthy self awareness
Philippians 3: 12-14 NLT “ I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
5. Tremendous love for the church
6. Learned contentment in all circumstances.
Application : What is your legacy? Is your life worthy of being patterned after?
III. PERSPECTIVE
Philippians 3:20-21 NLT “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.”
A. Living on the edge is living with a heavenly
1. Randy Alcorn describes it this way:
a. Do I reflect on my own mortality?
b. Do I daily realize there are only two destinations (heaven or hell) and that I and every
person I know will go to one or the other?
c. Do I daily remind myself that this world is not my home and that everything in it will
burn, leaving behind only what is eternal?
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 NLT “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”
d. Do I realize that I don’t own anything?
e. Do I daily recognize that my choices and actions have a direct influence on the world
to come?
f. Do I daily realize that my life is being examined by God, the Audience of One, and
that the only appraisal of my life that will ultimately matter is his?
Application: Is your perspective totally focused on the here and now or the
eternal?
Hebrews 12:1 NLT “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
Conclusion: Living on the edge = progress + pattern + perspective
Challenge: It’s time to say to the Lord, “Search me, oh God, and point out to me
anything that offends you.”