(May 09, 2024) Richard Winter encourages…

Folks, I want to start with a confession!

No – not about a sin, but about a place I used to go to, to make me a better person. Before Covid I went to the gym – many times, and I didn’t like it all that much.

You do the same things to get in shape, understanding it’s not just vain repetitions with weights and exercises but about your future. You do It again and again and one day you marvel at your change – you’ve lost weight and, hey, you’re looking good.

You’re able to do many more things, you’re breathing more easily… and your clothes fit you in a very enhancing way.

Needed: Spiritual Exercises!
But there is another side to us all beyond the physical. We are spiritual beings, and the apostle Paul wrote about another ‘gym’ that he attended – and so should we.

He mentioned his membership of this spiritual gym when he was writing to the church at Philippi. It was about the spirit not the body… and we all need spiritual exercises to become spiritually fit.

Amazingly Paul was in prison at the time and yet he had real joy! Don’t know about you, but that’s the opposite to how I would feel if I was in a Roman prison.

But… do you feel imprisoned in some way? From Paul’s writings to the Philippians, let me share three ways that you can have a profoundly blessed life in Christ and experience God’s eternal joy no matter what is happening to you.

1) Press In
Saul was a religious leader and assumed that his birth, family connections, and job would get him to heaven. He had the right pedigree, religious practice, and zeal – but that was not enough… not for the converted Saul, indeed not for anyone!

The only way to heaven is through Jesus by repenting of sin and accepting Him as Saviour. And then press in! What do I mean by pressing in? Press in as under –

a) Knowing why you’re heading forward (Gaining Christ– Philippians 3:8-9NKJV).
b) Knowing how you’re going to get there (Through faith in Him – v9).
c) Knowing what you need to do now (Really know Jesus through personal experience – v10).
d) Knowing that there’s a victory crossing line ahead! (In Jesus you’re already a winner – v14).
e) Knowing ‘wants‘ of God for you in life (The goal, where God is beckoning us onward to – v15Mge).

But note that firstly, a fresh start is needed by everyone – just like Paul received. What Paul wrote in Philippians 3:7-8 tells how he came to see the worthlessness of ‘everything’ compared to gaining knowledge (gnosis… personal knowledge and acquaintance) of Jesus, and he threw them to the four winds so that he could win Christ – ^‘But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.’

Many think they are going to heaven saved by their parents’ good activities, or even their own. And many think that it’s being in the ‘right’ church history, the ‘right’ denomination, what we do, being a good person… Paul discovered the truth of how to get to God and obtain eternal life in heaven: He knew that essentially we are good people but realised that the righteousness required to get to heaven is not self-generated; it is bestowed by God.

Here Paul is exercising today’s educational teacher practice of grading on the curve! And so must God in respect of human beings… after all He knows everything about us! (Another curve is mentioned below).

2) Press On
Paul’s goal? To know Jesus in all His fullness! In Philippians 3:10 he wrote, ‘That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.’

‘Know’ is ginō´skō, to know fully, absolutely.  In a nutshell, Paul said he gave up religion, rule keeping, religious affiliation and misplaced zeal in order to know Jesus deeply.

1) Personally
‘That I may know Him…’ Not just knowing about Jesus but being personally acquainted with Him.

Even the devil knows all about Jesus… and he’s concerned about Christ’s plan for saving all humanity. That’s why he’s deceptively attacking and fighting churches and Christians!

Many modern Christians want an easy faith that involves no sacrifice or suffering. Not Paul. To really know someone in the most intimate sense is to be there in their pain as well as in the good times.

2) Powerfully
Paul also wrote – ‘That I may know… the power of His resurrection…’ He wanted to deeply know the power that raised Christ from the dead!

The apostle didn’t want a dead religion based on his own power and strength. He wanted a vibrant relationship with Jesus that transformed his life supernaturally, just as God had supernaturally raised Christ from the dead.

When you trust in Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit, and He will change you from the inside out in a way not possible from the outside in… it’s a supernatural change. Now this is where the spiritual gym exercises come into our life –

• You know someone when you spend time with them.
• You can know Christ by those conversations we call prayer.
• You can learn more by others telling you about Him, what He has done and is doing.
• And by working with Him in His mission, reaching souls, sharing His invitation of love.
• And you can know more about Him personally and His power by reading the Bible!

In Philippians 3:12 Paul admitted that he had not fully attained (lambánō… possessed as yet) everything in Christ and stated his commitment to gain more – ‘Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.’ 

Paul was determined not to merely press in, but to press on toward the finish line! He confirmed this in the next verse – ‘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.’

In simple terms, Paul is saying, ‘I gave up religion for a relationship with Christ. I’ve put my past sins and failures behind me and I’m looking ahead to serving God with all my heart. I haven’t fully made it spiritually (attained) but I’m pressing on. I won’t give up till I reach heaven, the finish line. I won’t quit, I won’t stop. And if I fall, I’ll get up and keep in the race and press on.’

If Paul, perhaps the greatest Christian who ever lived, had not ‘arrived’ spiritually, where in the world does that leave you us? Well, it leaves us in a spiritual war – a war over our souls!

Jesus loves us and willingly died for our salvation, and He is the lover of our souls. On the other hand is Satan – ‘the accuser of the brethren’ (Revelation 12:10) – who hates God and hates you. The devil wants you to wallow in defeat and to feel intense guilt for your past actions, both before and after you trusted in Christ as Saviour!

But Paul has a winning solution… ‘Put your past behind you.’ You may see yourself as a failure and maybe, humanly speaking, you are. But know how God sees you in Christ – forgiven and perfect in God’s sight!

3) Press Forward
Paul’s writings encourage us to forget the ways we blew it in the past and reach forward to the victory God wants us to have in the future. In Philippians 3:14NKJV he describes his own continuing race-running – ^‘I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’

Here is the key to finishing the course the Christian now runs: where ‘press-ups’ come into our daily spiritual exercise program… we are to run the race of life serving Christ not starting and dropping out because it’s too tough and we are spiritually unfit! Running this race means pressing forward, not backward!

The words, ‘I press…’ are interesting. It’s the idea of being in a race and seeing the finish line up ahead and running hard with an unfailing persistence… ever pressing forward to finish successfully. It’s thought that Paul is picturing a runner who has turned that final curve and, now on the home stretch, is seeing the finishing post up ahead. It implies –

• Pressing forward toward to gain the prize!
• Being determined to reach the goal and not give up!
• Keeping on keeping on, no matter the cost or the obstacles!

Suggested: Five Spiritual Exercises!
2024 could be the greatest, happiest year of victory and spiritual advancement in your life. How can you make that possible?
1) Get your salvation settled
Accept Christ! Don’t quibble with the basics of Christianity – water and Holy Spirit baptism, prayer, study in the word and church service.

2) Get to know Jesus at a deeper level…
(i) Personally, by calling out to Him, asking Him to reveal Himself to you.
(ii) Powerfully, by listening to Him, and by following the Holy Spirit’s promptings.
(iii) Profoundly, by getting into God’s word in the midst of trials and trusting Him fully.

3) Put your failures and sins behind you
This is achieved by confession and repentance, putting your offenses and hurts behind you. And look forward to the victory and freedom and joy God has for you. This where the real action is: Pressing in, on and forward!

4) Unswervingly follow Christ with all your heart
Peruse the Lord; never stop chasing Him; never give up; persevere to the end. And if you do fail, go back to the point number 3: Put the past behind you, get back in the race, fix your eye on the finish line again, and keep on keeping on for God.

5) Challenge
Read all of Philippians each day for a week. Then you will see and understand about what it means to press forward for the finish line of life. When you do this, you will be like Paul and be able to say, ‘I’m pressed on, pressed in, pressed forward too!’

Our joyful ‘spiritual gym’ days are to be anticipated, attended, appreciated and acted on!
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Dr Richard Winter pastors The Connection Church, Huntington Beach, California. Link: OnlinerConnect@gmail.com  
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