Don’t just sit there…do something.

Steve Brown:
Don’t just sit there…do something. Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
It’s for freedom that Christ set us free, and Key Life is here to bring you Biblical teaching that encourages you to never give in to slavery again. Our teacher on Key Life is Steve Brown. He’s an author, broadcaster, and seminary professor who’s sick of phony religion.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. We’re looking at the third chapter of the Book of Philippians, and we’re talking about what do you do in the in between times. Paul said.

Not that I’ve already obtained this goodness, this sanctification myself, or have already been made perfect. But I press on, take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I don’t consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straying forward to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

And if you’ve been listening, we’ve been talking about what do you do between earth and heaven? What do you do in the between times? And if you’ve been listening, we have seen that Paul gives us an idea by showing us. First, Paul is realistic about himself. He has a realistic evaluation of himself. And secondly, note only, and we’ve seen this, he proclaims election. And I spent a very long time, that’s Philippians 3:12b. I spent a long time talking about election and how you’re free and you’re elect, but that you were chosen and you can live in that reality that if he chose you before you were good or bad, he won’t let you go if you’re good or bad. And then we saw his affirmation of forgiveness and talked about that yesterday, Philippians 1:13b.

But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind.

And we saw that what lies behind, in fact, what was going on right then, was not always pretty. How could he say, I can forget that? He could say that because he was forgiven. I said yesterday that when I teach on forgiveness, people say, but you don’t how bad I am, you don’t know what I’ve done, you don’t know what I’ve thought. Yes, I do. Listen, I’ve been doing this a long time and people are my business and I’m talking about you. The secret that you can’t tell anybody else, listen to me, you’re forgiven. That’s why the gospel is called good news. All right. Let’s look at another thing you do in the hallway, in between times. Fourthly, note not only Paul’s realistic evaluation of himself, his joyous proclamation of election, his speedy affirmation of forgiveness. And please note his active practice implementation of Godlessness, Philippians 3:13b through 14.

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.

In other words, don’t just sit there, do something. Now people go too far with this and they ignore what else Paul has to say about a realistic evaluation of himself, about his need for forgiveness. So, don’t go haywire with this, press on. Wesley would ordain people to come to the new world and to serve and build churches, he said.

Keep your face to the sun and do all the good you can do.

That’s what Paul was talking about. It won’t save you. It won’t get you to heaven. It won’t cause the angels to be really proud of you, but that’s what you’re called to do, to do what you can. There’s a famous hymn writer and I visited her grave in Connecticut. And do you know what’s on her grave?

Aunt Hattie, she did all she could.

That’s what Paul’s saying. Do all the good you can. When somebody comes along that doesn’t have a friend, be a friend. When you encounter somebody in your life who doesn’t know Christ and wants to, tell them. Reach out to the lonely and the broken. Reach out to those who are afraid, reach out, give a word of encouragement and forgive as you’ve been forgiven and love as you have been loved. That’s what Paul is saying.

This one thing I do. I press on to the goal.

In other words, I do what I can do. You don’t do it in order to get awards, you do it because the one who loved you told you to be faithful. That is called a process of sanctification. And it is a cool thing. The more you walk with him, the more you like walking with him. And the more you like walking with him, the more you walk with him. It’s a process and it’s happening in your life right now. That’s why Christians don’t have to sit around wondering if they’re going to get better. You are. God is working a process in your life right now, and you’re going to get better. Galatians 2:20 says.

I am crucified with Christ.

Now, that’s not an admonishment for something for you to do. He’s stating a fact.

I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but Christ lives in me.

That’s you, that’s me, and because it’s true, you will move forward. You will press on, for the goal in order to win the prize. And so, Paul had an active practice of godliness. So, don’t just sit there, go do something. All right, let me show you one more and then we’ll be finished with this. Please note not only Paul’s realistic evaluation of himself, his joyous proclamation of election, his speedy affirmation of forgiveness, and his active implementation of godliness. Note also Paul’s hopeful anticipation of heaven, Philippians 3:14.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

A number of, when you’re hearing this, not when I’m recording, but a number of weeks ago, fairly close, my friend Tony Campolo died. Tony and I never agreed on much, except Jesus, and that was enough. And we genuinely liked each other. He’s a liberal and I’m a conservative, politically. We both believe the Bible and we both love Jesus and Tony went in some directions I couldn’t go in. We did a television program out of New York for a year called Hashing It Out. When we debated every possible issue you can imagine. Let me tell you something, three days before Tony died and we talked pretty much a lot. He called me, and he had had a stroke two or three years ago, and it was a bad one, we thought he was going to die. And he got better, and he was beginning to recover, but this particular call, when he called me, was kind of down. His words were kind of slurred, and we still laughed a lot and kidded each other about our politics, about our views, but not so much. It had a kind of dark feeling to the call. After we hung up, I prayed for him. And then I heard two or three days later he had died. And I don’t know this for sure, but I kind of think Tony understood that he was close. And I think that call that he gave me was a goodbye call to his friend, and he probably called a number of others. I wish I’d known that, there are some things I would have said if I’d known that his homegoing was going to be that close. The conversation would have taken a different direction. I mean, if I’d just known, I would have said some things that were important, but I didn’t know and I was praying about it when they told me that he had gone to heaven and he adds a great attraction to heaven. And when I prayed about it, I think the Lord impressed on me that the conversation wasn’t over, that someday we would continue it before the throne. Paul knew that, in the between times. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve. Well, guess what, kids? That wraps it up for this week’s exploration of Philippians, but, spoiler alert, we are going to jump back into it on Monday, so have no fear. Tomorrow, hope you’ll stop by for Friday Q& A with Steve and our good friend Pete Alwinson. Well, if you have recently begun a relationship with Jesus, then on behalf of all of Key Life, let me say welcome to the family. We have a terrific resource I think you’re going to find helpful. It’s a book from Steve called, well, appropriately enough, Welcome to the Family. For a new believer, it offers solid instruction and guidance for growing up in Christ. And for the mature believer, it’s a terrific back to the basics guide. And for a minimum donation of $15 to Key Life, this book is our gift to you. Just call us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to order that book. Or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the U.S. and Canada. And finally, if you’re blessed by the work of KeyLife, would you help share that blessing with others through your financial support? Giving is easy. Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can give safely and securely through text. Just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two. It doesn’t matter. Just text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.