In the between times, what do you do?

Steve Brown:
In the between times, what do you do? Let’s talk, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
That was Steve Brown. He’s an author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life, a program all about God’s radical grace. We’re committed to bringing you Bible teaching that’s honest, straight-forward, and street-smart. Keep listening to hear truth that’ll make you free.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. I hope you guys had a great week-end, a great time of worship, and I hope your pastor’s sermon was as good as my pastor’s sermon. If you’re just joining us, we’re studying the Book of Philippians, and we’re probably going to keep doing this until Jesus returns. It’s a rather long study, and we’re taking our time and I am, as it were, your tour director, directing you to some interesting sites in this great place, Philippians. And we are now looking at in the between times from Philippians 3:12 through 14. Let me read the text, then we’ll pray, then we’ll get down. This is what Paul writes.

Not that I have already obtained all this.

That is the perfection, the sanctification, the faithfulness, the goodness, the purity, all of the things we read about.

Not that I’ve already obtained this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies 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.

Alright, let’s pray. Father, as we come into your presence, we’re reminded again of the gift you have given, the written word. If you hadn’t written it down, we would have gotten it wrong, but you put it in concrete and you let us know what we needed to know to do what you wanted us to do. And we praise you for that and a thousand other gifts. You know everyone who’s listening to this broadcast, you know the good and the bad, the tears and the laughter, remind us that you’re sufficient for every need and that you are sovereign over every molecule. And then Father, as always on this broadcast, we pray for the one who teaches, they call him reverend and he’s not. Forgive him his sins, because we would see Jesus and him only. And we pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen. One time Jerry Parries, one of the voices of Key Life. Dr. Parries comes in occasionally and we teach together, or he teaches by himself, and we get all kinds of calls and e-mail from you. You like Jerry Parries as much as I do. The last time we recorded, we talked about hallway Christianity. And I said to him, Jerry, what in the world is hallway Christianity? And he talked about a friend or a family member was going through a very difficult time. And Jerry had said to this man, Don’t worry when God closes one door, he opens another door. And his friend said, I get that, and I’m glad for that, the problem is, what are you to do in the hallway before God opens the other door? And so, Dr. Parries taught us on what to do in the hallway. We’re kind of doing something like that as we look at the Book of Philippians. Paul looks to the future about heaven. He’s told us over and over again about his past, but what do you do now before you get home? How do you get home before the dark? Well, that’s what we’re talking about. And we have seen, we spent some time on this last week and if you were listening and you never listen to me. We saw last week that Paul had a realistic evaluation of himself. It’s Philippians 3:12a.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect.

And then in 13a.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

Now, that’s realistic. If you listen to the apostle Paul when he teaches, he says things like this.

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

And I used to be the greatest of sinners. No, he doesn’t say that.

I am the great sinner, the greatest of all sinners.

And if you’ve ever read the seventh chapter of Romans, and we spent a long time in Romans, that’s the confession of Paul. When I was a seminary professor, I graded students who preached in my classes by how often I would say, I don’t believe I would have said that. The more I thought, I don’t believe I would have said that, the higher grade they got, because it’s a sin to bore people. Well, if you read the seventh chapter of Romans, I think, I don’t believe I would have said that, that’s when Paul confesses who he is. He says.

The good that I want to do, I don’t do.

Have you ever been there? Man, I have.

And the evil I don’t want to do, that’s what I do.

Have you ever been there? I have. And then Paul says.

O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of death?

Now, as a preacher, I want to spend more time in that chapter, but we’re studying Philippians. So, I want to come back to where we are, that Paul in the between times is not lying to himself. He’s honest about who he is. He’s not pretending to be something he’s not. He’s not wearing a mask for others to see. He’s not saying things about himself. Now, we’re going to see when we finish this text, the last text in this third chapter of Philippians, Paul says.

Follow me, do what I do, use me as an example.

But that’s something different. And when we get there, you’re going to find out that may not be what you think it was. Paul was not saying, and I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, Don’t drink, smoke, or cuss, or hang out with anybody who does. That’s not what he’s talking about, but we’ll talk about it when we get there. But notice here that Paul doesn’t claim for himself something that isn’t true. And it’s important that he says this in this text before he gets to the next text. George Whitfield, and Whitfield is one of my heroes, he was the spark that God used for the Great Awakening, along with some others. Whitfield some 17 times came back and forth between Europe and America, and he founded an orphanage in Georgia that’s still extant. But at any rate, George Whitfield once received a letter that accused him of doing some pretty horrible things. Now, I don’t know if I would have done that, but I love his answer. This is what he wrote.

I thank you heartily for your letter, but as for what you and my other enemies are saying against me, I know far worse things about myself than anything you will ever say about me.

Is that cool, or what? In other words, Whitfield had a true understanding of who he was. Who are you? You’re a sinner saved by grace. Who am I? I’m a sinner saved by grace. And if we forget that, and if we teach too often that Christians can be more sanctified than they can be, and then when we can’t do it, pretend that we are doing it, we’re going to become self-righteous jerks. And the critics of the church will be right when they call us hypocrites. Let me tell you something, you can only be a hypocrite if you pretend to be something that you’re not, or that you say you are, when you’re not. And we’re sinners, and the Bible is clear about it. Saved only by the blood of Christ, which is always sufficient and finished. That’s our testimony, and that’s what we’ve got to tell others. And that’s the way we ought to live in the between times, because, dear friend, the worst thing that can happen to you is to become a self-righteous Christian, with your peacock feathers flying in the breeze, looking down on the cretins who are sinners. Listen, we’re sinners. Before you ever witness to anybody, make sure they understand that. And make sure that they are surprised when they say, You’re kidding, you too? You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thanks Steve. That was Steve Brown and today we resumed our tour of the Book of Philippians, specifically exploring chapter 3: verses 12 through 14. Hope you’ll join us again tomorrow Well, we get a lot of questions here at Key Life. Is God really good? How does grace work? Why isn’t Matthew as funny as he thinks he is? But there’s one question we get more often than any other. How can I know that I’m saved? It’s a great question. Well, Steve spoke about this in a classic sermon titled, How to Know That You Know Him. If you ever have doubts about your salvation or know someone who struggles with those questions, let us mail you the sermon on CD for free. Just call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that CD. To mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of the CD called How to Know That You Know Him. And finally, if you’re blessed by the work of Key Life, would you help share that blessing with others through your giving? Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can simply text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two. It doesn’t matter. Text that to 28950. And of course, we always say this, but if you can’t give right now, all good. But if you think about it, please do pray for us, okay? Always needed. Always appreciated. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.