What do you do in the in-between times?

Steve Brown:
What do you do in the in-between times? Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Welcome to Key Life. I’m Matthew, executive producer for the program, and our host is author and seminary professor Steve Brown. The church has suffered under do more, try harder religion for too long, and Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you’ve been listening this week and last week, we’ve been looking at Philippians 3:7 through 11. And in that text, we’ve been looking at the lies that we sometimes believe that are lies. Paul illustrates that, and we’ve looked at the lie, you find joy in what you acquire, you find sorrow in what you lose, you find God in what you do, you find Christ in what you merit, you find contentment in what you avoid. And yesterday, we talked about the lie that you find hope in what you dream. You find, that’s Philippians 3:11, you find hope in what God dreams for you. I have, there’s a great quote in the Chronicles of Narnia, it’s one of my favorite. It comes from the unicorn in The Last Battle. And this is what the child says.

I’ve come home at last. This is my real country. I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.

The reason why we love the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this one. I’ve told you everything I know about that text. Let’s go to the next one. It’s Philippians 3:12 through 14. And this is a very familiar text. Most people have spent time memorizing it, or a lot of Christians have. Philippians 3:12 through 14.

Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

I love that text. And most of this week and next week, we’re going to talk about what do you do in the in between times. Paul said.

It’s not mine yet. I’m not there yet. I haven’t achieved what God dreamed for me yet, but this one thing I do.

What do you do in the in between times? Before we look at that and we’ll probably get to that tomorrow, let’s go down one side road. Please note if you will the single mindedness of the apostle Paul, Philippians 3:13b.

But one thing I do.

As Billy Graham has said, Paul didn’t say, These few things I do. He said,.

This one thing I do.

I believe that most people underestimate the power of single mindedness, and I believe that if we saw its power, it would change all of our lives. Early in my ministry, I was a young pastor. And I was serving a little church down on Cape Cod in East Dennis. And it was a student pastorate, and then after I finished seminary, I served there for a little while. And I loved those people, and I have fond memories of that place. It was an idyllic church in terms of the way it looked. It was white with a steeple and a belfry that rang out the hour. And if you stood in the belfry, you could look down to the bay, Cape Cod Bay. And the people there were kind and gentle with the young pastor. We had as many as 17 pastors during the summer worshiping with us, and four or five who had retired and worshiped there at that little church in East Dennis. And they could have ruined my ministry forever. And they loved me, and they cared about me, and I’m thankful for that time down on Cape Cod. But I remember when I first went there and realizing what I was supposed to do. I realized that I’ve got to, if I’m going to do this pastor thing, it’s impossible. I’d gotten the idea that in America, a pastor ought to be a combination of King Solomon, Henry Ford, Paul Harvey, and the apostle Paul. I tried, I really tried to be everything that was expected of me, but you know something? I became more and more frustrated, then I began to realize that God didn’t place me. And this was from a study of gifts, did not place me in this church to do everything that needed to be done, that God had given me a gift. I found out I could talk. I found out that I could see things in the Bible that others didn’t see. I found out how much I loved the people in that church. I found out what I was called to do, love people and teach truth. That’s still how I define myself. Love people and teach truth. And so, if you’re doing a multitude of things, if you wonder where you’ve been called, check the Scripture and then check your friends if they’ll tell you the truth and say, what do you see about me that is positive and good? And check with the place you are in the church. Find out what God has called you to do, and then for God’s sake, just do it. Don’t do what others are supposed to do. You think about that. Amen.

Sometimes on Wednesdays when I have time, I answer one or two questions. As you know, Pete will be in on Friday and we spend the entire broadcast answering questions. And that’s cause we love to do it. And we love your questions, and we take every question seriously, except the one you don’t ask. Now, you can ask a question anytime you want. You can go to 1-800-KEY-LIFE, 24 7, follow the instructions and record your question. And sometimes we put your voice on the air. Or you can send your question to

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or you can send your question to [email protected] and if you can help us financially, I would appreciate it. If you can’t, I would understand. If you can, be as generous as you can, and I promise we’ll be as faithful with your gift as you were in giving it. All right, let’s turn to one or two of these questions.

This is an e-mail. And this is what this person writes. When he was here on earth, did Christ really have a choice between good and evil? Could he have sinned? If not, then Christ wasn’t really human. Well, first, that’s not true. He really was human. If there is a future that God knows, can it be anything different? No, it really can’t. Does that mean you’re not free and you’re not responsible for your own action? No, it doesn’t. Both of those truths are true. Our problem is that we are embedded in Aristotelian thoughtforms. There’s the principle of non contradiction. 2 plus 2 can’t be 4 and 5 and 3 at the same time. And we are so embedded in that, that we can’t see what J.I. Packer calls antimony, that is two truths that can’t reasonably both be true, but both are true. And that’s certainly true when you’re talking about Jesus and the Incarnation. Could he have sinned? Yes, in time and space he could have, but he didn’t. The temptations of Jesus were not a game he was playing. When Satan tempted him to throw himself off the temple and be borne up by the angels, he was tempted to do that. It would have saved a lot of future hassle. He was sent, he was tempted when Satan said, you can have everything if you just bow down and worship me. Jesus thought, just as you would think, if Satan trades your soul for some good stuff, maybe, maybe I’ll do that. He was tempted at every point, just as we are tempted. One of the really dangerous things, and this is true especially for those of us who are fundamentalists, who are evangelicals, who are orthodox in our theology. One of the dangers is thinking that it was a game when Jesus was Incarnate into human form. It was not a game. He blew his nose the way you blow your nose. He was tired the way you are tired. He was lonely the way you are lonely. And he had to die just as you had to die. The Incarnation is amazing. And it wouldn’t have been if it was a game. And the Book of Hebrews is clear. He was tempted at all points as we are. Could he have sinned? Well, ultimately and eternally and infinitely, probably not. And are you going to sin? Yes. God knew that for all of eternity because he knew everything about you before you did anything. So, you’ve got to take the Incarnation seriously. Yes, Jesus was truly and really tempted. Yes, you are loved and really loved. And yes, God is in charge of the whole mess, antimony. Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.