Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like to
follow along in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from
the book of Philippians, the New Testament book of Philippians,
Paul's letter, the Apostle Paul's letter to the church at Philippi. And I'll be starting around verse
13 of this passage. I'm gonna be talking about this
subject, the desire of the perfect. the desire of the perfect. Now
that may sound like a strange title. And you might wonder,
well, what in the world are we talking about? Who are the perfect? Because we all would look at
ourselves and say, well now, I may claim to be a Christian
or a believer, but I'm not perfect. But here in this passage, the
Apostle Paul is talking about true believers, sinners saved
by the grace of God, pressing forward, persevering in the faith
by the grace of God, and looking unto glory, that is, the final
end of all things. He says in verse 13 of Philippians
chapter three, he says, 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. Verse
14, he says, I press toward the mark. I'm pressing, that means
I am persevering. You could say I'm fighting. And
of course, what he's talking about is the warfare of a Christian,
a true believer, a sinner saved by grace, who is fighting the
warfare of the spirit against the flesh. Galatians chapter
five speaks of that, Romans chapter seven speaks of it. We are literally,
if we're believers, if we know Christ, and we're submitted to
His way of salvation, His blood, for the forgiveness of all my
sins, His righteousness, for my only way of justification,
that's His righteousness imputed to me, And if God has given me
life in the new birth and has brought me to faith in Christ
and repentance of dead works, then I'm in a struggle and it's
a continual struggle. It's an everyday struggle. It
is a warfare of the Holy Spirit who resides within me along with
my spirit, the spirit that God has given me, created in me,
the spiritual life, It's a warfare between the spirit and the flesh,
the flesh being the remaining powers and principles of sin
that reside within my mind. Every believer has to deal with
that. And the only way we can claim
victory is by looking to Christ, who conquered sin by His death
on the cross. And so we're in a fight, a warfare. And somebody asked me one time,
said, well, when does it let up? It lets up when we die. That's
when it's over, that warfare within, because then the flesh
is dead and we are made sinlessly perfect in ourselves and we go
to be with the Lord. But there's also warfare with
Satan, Satan who accuses God's people day and night, who tries
to tempt. There's also warfare against
the world, the things of this world that are appealing to the
flesh. And so it is a warfare. And so
what he's saying is here in verse 14, I press My energies are involved in pressing
toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. Now that high calling is to follow
Christ unto glory. That's perseverance of the faith.
And that's what every true believer does. Now, there are times we
pray us harder than others. There are times where we lose
sight of the things of God and stray away, but God will not
let us go. You know, there are denominations
who call themselves Christians who say you can be lost one day,
or you can be saved one day, rather, and then you can be lost
if you don't keep on doing what you're supposed to do. But that's
not what the Bible teaches. Bible teaches that a true Christian
is one who presses on. And he will, he or she will not
let go. And the main reason for that
is that God will not let them go. He will not let us go. That's what the scripture says
in John chapter 27, when Christ said, I know my sheep, they follow
me. I know them by name and they
know me. And he said, no one can pluck them out of my father's
hand, for I and my father are one. He'll keep us to the end,
the scripture says. And the evidence of our being
kept is this pressing toward the mark of the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. God has given every one
of His children in the new birth, in bringing them alive by new
birth, by the Spirit, He's given them a desire to be like Christ.
That's a high calling. I wanna be a loving person. But
I don't want to fall short. I want to be as loving as Christ
is loving. I always fall short while I'm
here on this earth because of the warfare within, the remaining
presence, contamination, and influences of sin, self-love. What keeps me from loving you
perfectly? I'll tell you what keeps me from
doing it, my own self-love, my own selfishness. I want to be
an obedient servant of God. You know, Paul said in Romans
7, there beginning at verse 14 and on to the end of the chapter,
he was making the case that I want to do good, now he's not talking
about goodness as man measures it, but he says I want to do
good, but I can't. What good is it that you can't
do? Good in the standard that God measures goodness, perfection. And Paul said, because of the
flesh within me, it keeps me from doing that which I desire. And so there's a warfare, okay? Now, again, and I wanna emphasize
this, the salvation and final glory of a believer is not conditioned
on their pressing forward, they're fighting this, that's not a condition
we must meet in order to attain or maintain salvation under glory. The one condition for all salvation,
past, present, future, is the blood of Christ. And in fact,
in Hebrews chapter 12, the writer of Hebrews tells us there in
verse one, that we are surrounded by so many able witnesses, and
he's talking about the Old Testament believers there, that were listed
in Hebrews 11. And he said, and he talks about
the sin that so easily besets us. And what is that? That's
doubt and fears. That's what he's talking about.
He said, let us run the race. What race? The race of grace,
this pressing toward the mark, that's the race. And how do we
run it? Well, we run it looking unto
Jesus, the author, and here's the key, and the finisher of
our faith, the beginner and the completer of our faith. Paul
wrote in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 12, he said, I know whom I have
believed, And I'm persuaded that, listen to this, He is able, He
is able to bring to its fruition. I know whom I believe and I'm
persuaded that He's able to keep, to preserve that which I have
committed unto Him. And if you're a believer, what
have you committed to Christ? Your whole salvation, even unto
final glory. Now this pressing toward the
mark in verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The pressing toward, the
fighting the warfare, the seeking to be conformed to Christ, that's
all evidence, not cause, but effect, evidence, fruit, the
result of God's grace in salvation and in our preservation. So understand
that. Don't get the cart before the
horse. Don't think that if you're a true believer that if you,
somebody said, well, if you get caught in some big sin, you lose
your salvation. If that's true, then we're all
gone. There's no hope for any of us. So here's what Paul writes
in verse 15. Now this is where I got the title
of the message from. Or verse 15, he says, let us
therefore, Now the therefore says that what he's about to
say is based upon what he has said before. As one old preacher
said, if you see a therefore in the Bible, find out what it's
there for. And so he says, because we have been brought by God into
a salvation free and clear, full and free, salvation full and
free. Now we sing about that. By his grace, not based upon
our works, not even based upon our persevering, our continuing,
but based upon the blood of Christ, the righteousness of Christ,
freely imputed, charged to me, and given to me, in which God
has given me faith to receive Christ. Even the faith that I
have, the repentance, the perseverance, those are gifts from God. They're
not, none of them are based on our goodness or our efforts. It's all Christ. You understand
that, okay? So therefore, and somebody might
argue and they say, well, if that's the truth, then it doesn't
matter what I do. No, there's a therefore here. Look at verse
15. Let us, that's believers, sinners saved by grace, therefore,
as many as be perfect. Be thus minded. Paul, what is
he saying here? He said, I count not myself to
have apprehended, back in verse 13, but this one thing I do,
forget what's behind, reach forth unto those things which are before,
what's before me. Well, I know what's before me,
death, judgment, eternity, Now how am I going to live my life
in light of what's before me? Death, judgment, eternity, all
right? Final glory. That's what's before
me. And I'll be there by the grace
of God. Not because of what I do or don't
do. Not because of any works that
I do. Not because of my determination. But because of what Christ did.
Somebody says, well then let's just quit and go do what we want
to do, live like the world, eat, drink, and be, no. He says, I'm
gonna forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto
those things which are before. I'll press forward, press toward
the mark, the mark of Christ, the prize of glory, being like
Christ, living with him forever. And he says, the high calling
of Jesus Christ. Let us therefore, as many as
be perfect, think like this, be thus minded. Listen, if you're a person who
uses the grace of God as an excuse to sin, or as an excuse to not
press forward, not seek to be conformed to Christ, then you're
not thinking right. You're not thinking biblically.
And that's the issue. And he says, now who is this?
Who's he talking about? As many as be perfect, be thus
minded. And he says in verse 15, and
if anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even
this unto you. Now, if you're not thinking right
in these areas, and you may not be a true believer, But if you're
not thinking right in these areas and you are a true believer,
you know what's going to happen? God will reveal this to you through
His Word. Just like I'm preaching to you
right now. If you're not thinking right, if you know Christ, if
you know the grace of God, If you know the freeness, remember
in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 12, he talks about those who
have the Spirit of God, that they might know what is freely
given. You know, I know what's freely
given to me. You know what in salvation? Everything,
unconditionally, based on the righteousness of Christ imputed
to me. I didn't contribute one degree
or one element of merit to where God was obligated to me. I haven't earned it and I don't
deserve it. And let me tell you something.
When I draw my last breath in this life on earth, I will still
have to say I don't deserve these gifts of salvation, these blessings
of grace, eternal life and glory. I don't deserve it and I don't
earn it. I didn't earn it. It's all Christ.
Let me tell you something else. When I stand before God at the
judgment, what am I gonna plead? Well, Lord, I've preached in
your name for over 30 years. Is that my ground of salvation? Is that my ticket to inner glory? Absolutely not. And if I were
to say that, I'd be no different than the false preachers in Matthew
7, 21 through 23. To whom Christ said, depart from
me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. What I'm saying,
folks, is this. I want to be a moral person.
I want to be a sincere, dedicated person. I want to be a good person. I want to be a responsible, good,
truthful preacher of the gospel, brother in Christ. I want to
be a great husband to my wife, a father to my children, a grandfather. If you're working a job, you
want to be a good employee. If you're a boss, you want to
be a good, I want to be all those things. But here's the point. None of those things make up
or contribute to my righteousness in which I stand before God in
Christ. It's all Him. That's what I'm
saying. Now, would that give me an excuse
not to be a good person, not to try to be a good person? No. If you think that, you're not
thinking right. And that's why he says, be thus minded. So he
says, and if you're a believer now, if the grace of God has
given you a new heart, a new mind, if you think otherwise,
God's gonna reveal it to you like he's doing right now in
the preaching of the gospel. Now, let's get back to this verse
15 though. Let us therefore as many as be
perfect. Well, what's he talking about?
Well, you know, When most people use the word perfect today in
the realm of religion, what they normally mean is they're talking
about moral perfection. Or you might say sinless perfection. And none of us, not even the
best of us, can say that we're sinlessly perfect, listen to
this, in ourselves. In myself, I'm a sinner. I'm
only a sinner saved by grace. That's my story, to God be the
glory. And again, when I draw my last,
with all my efforts to do right, to be right, when I draw my last
breath, I will still be only a sinner saved by grace. And
I didn't mention this before, but you know, even in glory,
even in glory, even though when we will be perfect in ourselves,
we'll still sing the song of the redeemed, worthy is the Lamb,
Christ, who was slain. You see that? It's all about
Him. Well, what does Paul mean when
he says, let us therefore as many as be perfect? Well, the
word perfect here is not referring to any moral perfection within
the sinner because he'd already said back in verse 11 or verse
12, not as though I had already attained. And what he's talking
about is attaining final glory in which we who believe We'll
be perfect, morally perfect, sinlessly perfect in ourselves
because we'll be changed in the twinkling of an eye and there'll
be no more sin. But he says, I've not already
attained that. Now Paul is not speaking as if
this is something that he can attain by his works. But he says,
he said, listen, I'm saved by the grace of God. I'm kept by
the grace of God. I will enter glory by the grace
of God. All right? But I'm not there
yet. I'm still in this flesh, in this
body, not talking about sinful flesh, but this human body, and
I still do have the flesh, the sinful principles that contaminate
and influence everything I think, say, and do. I'm still in a warfare. So what is this perfection that
he's talking about? Well, the word perfect here doesn't
mean sinlessly perfect in ourselves. What it means is, let me read
it this way. Let us therefore as many as be complete. Complete. And what he's talking
about is the completion, the perfection that all true believers
can enjoy and claim as they stand in Christ legally. That means I'm complete. That
means everything that God requires of me completely is fulfilled
completely, fully, finished by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let
me give you some parallel verses. Colossians chapter two. And verses
9 and 10 says this, it says, in him, that is in Christ, dwelleth
all the fullness, completeness of the Godhead bodily. Now that means in Christ, in
the person of Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh, who
is the surety, the substitute, the redeemer of his people. In
Christ, that person who did a complete work on the cross, in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the
glory of the Father, the glory of the Father, Son, and Spirit,
the glory of the Godhead. And verse 10 says, and you are
complete in Him. And so we look at passages like
that, and it's just, it's amazing. Amazing grace. My completeness
is in Christ, and in that passage in Colossians 2, it says, you
are complete in him, which is the head of all principality
and power. Christ being the head of all
principality and power. Everything that God requires,
to save me. Now this is what Christianity
is about. This is what grace is about. Everything that God requires
of me to be saved, to be kept, preserved, and to be glorified
is found complete and perfect and finished in the glorious
person and the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. When
Christ died on the cross, he didn't do an incomplete work.
When God promises to save sinners, it's not an empty promise or
an unfulfilled desire. Preachers say God wants to save
you, but he can't unless you let him, that's a lie. God said,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. but I'll raise him up at
the last day. This is the will of the Father
which has sent me, that I should lose nothing, Christ said. All
of his people, all of his chosen people, chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, whose sins were charged to Christ,
imputed to Christ, whose righteousness, Christ's righteousness was imputed
to them, a complete righteousness, a complete forgiveness. All whom
Christ redeemed on the cross, a complete redemption. He said
in John 19, 30, it is finished, it's complete. All whom God has
brought to faith in Christ, the complete Christ, who finished
the work completely, they shall be saved. They're complete in
Him. They've not attained final glory
in themselves. They've not attained sinless
perfection in themselves, but they're complete in Christ. God
cannot charge them with their sins. He cannot lay their sins
to their account. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justified, and
He justified completely. What is it to be justified? It's
to be forgiven of all my sins completely. is to be righteous
completely in the sight of God, based on Christ's righteousness
imputed to me. And what's the basis of it? Romans
8, 34 says, who can condemn us? It's Christ that died, yea rather,
is risen again and seated at the right hand of the Father,
ever living to make intercession for us. Hebrews 10 and verse
14, listen to this. It says, for by one offering,
He, Christ, hath perfected, completed, finished, fulfilled. He hath
perfected forever. Them that are sanctified. Who
are the sanctified? Those whom God chose before the
foundation of the world and gave to Christ. Those whom Christ
redeemed on the cross. That's who he died for, his sheep,
his church. Not all without exception. How do you know that? Because
the sanctification also involves the sanctification of the spirit,
which under the preaching of the gospel brings them to faith
in Christ. Do you believe in Christ? This
Christ now, not a counterfeit. Completely. He's finished the
work. Romans 10 4 says, for Christ
is the end of the law. That means the perfection and
completion of the law to everyone for righteousness, complete righteousness
for everyone or to everyone that believeth. And that's who he's
talking about, those who are complete in Christ. That's the
perfect. Now I'll continue this next week. because I have some
other verses I want to show you, and we'll maybe finish out Philippians
3. But that's what it is, the desire
of the perfect. He says, let us therefore as
many as be perfect think like this. Hope you'll join us next
week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.