Over The Edge: Confidence

One of the most influential people in my life was my pastor in college, Walter Knight. He has sense gone home to be with the Lord but while he was on this planet, he was a big proponent of joy. Walter was full of life and he infected others with it. He consistently poured into my life and one of the most important pieces of advice he ever gave me, and I now give to you, is to NEVER allow anyone or anything to steal your joy.

The apostle Paul would agree: Philippians 3:1 (NIV) “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”

Paul is about to launch into his past—those intense, difficult years, where he worked hard to impress God. But, before he does that, he wants to make sure that his readers hear again the importance of being people of outrageous joy.

Notice that Paul calls JOY a safeguard! How true! Not only are the pressures of life enough to steal your joy, there are also plenty of self-promoting, legalistic, grace killers out there that would love for you to join them in their misery. You know the types right? ...People so uptight and legalistic they haven’t smiled in years!

Paul wanted to make sure his Philippian friends continued to enjoy their freedom in Christ and to not allow anything or anyone to take their joy! Paul never got tired of telling them that, Walter never got tired of telling me that, and I will never tire of telling you that!

Today I want to talk about CONFIDENCE and where to place it because it has a lot to do with joy.

#1 Do not place your confidence in your RELIGION of your TRADITIONS!

25 thousand people came to faith in Christ in China TODAY! How do I know that? Because it is happening every day in China! More people are coming to know Christ than has ever happened in the history of Christianity! North America is the ONLY continent on the planet where Christianity is on the decline! Consequently, its arrogant and ignorant to assume Western Christian “tradition” is working. It's not working because real Christianity is not about religion or tradition. Religion and tradition will always leave you wanting!

There was a mean group of men in Paul’s day that taunted him and his converts constantly. The JOYLESS jerks were confused about the gospel. They added works of the law to faith in Christ. Paul had strong words for them: Philippians 3:2 (NIV) “Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.”

STRONG WORDS! When Paul refers to them as “dogs” he wasn’t picturing family pets. The dogs of his day were dirty; decease carrying scavengers who ran in packs through the streets. Unable to be controlled and potentially dangerous, they posed a menacing threat to anyone in the city. “Watch out” he says—Beware of Dogs.

Paul called them "evil." He wasn’t talking about Hells Angels he was talking about religious legalists. Paul wasn’t talking about church skippers, he was talking about regular attenders. These people taught that works saved people. They were “Jesus PLUS” people. Their voices are still heard today: Do more, work harder, you're not good enough. You know what? NO ONE IS--including them! No one is good enough!

There will always be evil people that are anxious to snatch those who are vulnerable—they do not have any of their own joy so they feed off of the joy of others. Watch out for them! Colossians 2:8 (NIV) “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

#2 Do not place your confidence in your RÉSUMÉ or your TROPHIES.

Something within all off us warms up to the applause of others. We love it when people like us. We are motivated to do more when our efforts are noticed and rewarded. However, placing our confidence there is a mistake because trophies gather dust. Records will be broken. The applause will fade.

Be careful on which wall you lean your ladder. The last thing you want is to get to end of your life and find out everything you did in your climb to the top was for naught.

Nobody’s trophy case was a large as the Apostle Paul's: Philippians 3:4b–6 (NIV) “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”

Paul writes as though he were challenging his critics to a showdown. No matter what level of self-righteousness they might bring to the table, Paul had them beat.

• If he wanted to, Paul could be proud of his HERITAGE: His parents were both Jews (Hebrew of Hebrews) unlike some of the Judaizers causing problems. He could trace his family lineage all the way back to Abraham. Plus, he was a Benjamite--that tribe held a special place of honor in Israel’s history.

• If he wanted to, Paul could be proud of his HARD WORK. In today’s terms, the proud Pharisee would have won all the awards. Paul would have got the Pulitzer, the Nobel, the Medal of Honor. If they had a Hebrew Heisman, he would have won that too. Paul was the MVP—the Most Valuable Pharisee. Had they had newspapers back then, his face would have been on the front page above the fold. His name was name dropped by everybody that was anybody. Any search of a model to follow would have lead to the scholar from Tarsus.

Paul had it all but when he met Christ none of it mattered. Philippians 3:7 (NIV) “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.”

#3 GIVES US THE SECRET TO LASTING OUTRAGEOUS JOY: Do place your confidence in your RELATIONSHIP with THE LORD.

Philippians 3:8–11 (NIV) “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.””

The word translated "rubbish" in the NIV can mean food scraps or dung! In comparison to the surpassing greatness of Jesus everything else is like garbage.

It wasn’t about him (Paul) IT WAS ABOUT HIM (JESUS)! The Bible is a HIM book!—Its all about JESUS!—and your eternity is all about your relationship to Jesus!

What would things look like if Satan took over a city? Over a half-century ago, Donald Grey Barnhouse, pastor of a Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church, gave his CBS radio audience a picture of what it would look like: He said, “All of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, pristine streets and sidewalks would be occupied by tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The kids would answer "Yes, sir," "No, ma'am," and the churches would be full on Sunday but Christ would not be preached.”

Trophies do not matter. Whether or not you have a relationship with Jesus…that DOES matter.

Morality cannot save people. Jesus saves people..and that is something to be joyful about.

I know Walter Knight is sure joyful about that!

Over The Edge: Significance

Youcef Nadarkhani became a Christian when he was 19. He is now a 35-year-old pastor facing execution by Iran. He was initially charged with protesting, but charges against him were later changed to ‘APOSTASY’ (abandoning Islam) – and ‘EVANGELIZING MUSLIMS’, both of which carry the death penalty.

Judges offered the young pastor a way to avoid the death penalty. ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS RECANT HIS CONVERSION: Nadarkhani told the court that he had no intention of returning to Islam. He said: ‘Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?’ When the court ORDERED him to ‘RETURN TO THE RELIGION OF YOUR ANCESTORS – ISLAM’, Nadarkhani replied: ‘I can not.’

Youcef Nadarkhani is a modern day example of what Paul was talking about in Philippians 2:12–18 (NIV) "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me."

Today we learn how to make a significant IMPACT on our world.

First, SIGNIFICANCE INVOLVES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SALVATION

1. Scripture speaks of salvation as a gift received.

Romans 6:23 (NIV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Not feeling significant? Jesus says, “YOU are to die for!"

Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

2. Scripture speaks of salvation as a grateful response.

Philippians 2:12 (NIV) “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,”

Being “CHRISTIAN” is to be a “WORK IN PROGRESS.”

The word Paul used in verse 12 “work out” means to “bring about, to produce, or create.” The same word translated “work out” is translated “PRODUCES” in Romans 5:3, where it says “…suffering PRODUCES perseverance..” In James 1:3 it’s translated “DEVELOPS”—“the testing of your faith DEVELOPS perseverance…”

It is interesting to me how salvation is linked to production. The Christian life should produce! SURFACE SALVATION will never give you the abundant life God has provided for you.

Paul says “…work out your salvation with FEAR AND TREMBLING” = That does not mean to live our life in debilitating fear that God is out to get us, it means to conduct our lives with REVERENCE and HUMILITY toward God. We carry HIS name and we ought to live and act accordingly. He is AWEsome and we ought to live our lives in AWE of Him. It is GREAT what He did for us therefore we live GRATEFULLY.

Second, SIGNIFICANCE INVOLVES OUR UTILIZATION OF POWER

I read about a lady that lived in a small house on the seashore that finally got electricity installed in her home. Several weeks later the Meter-reader appeared and asked if her electricity was working because her meter barely registered any usage. She assured him it was. She said, “Each evening when the sun sets, I turn on the lights just long enough to light my candles.”

She was tapped into the power but wasn’t using it! Her house was connected but not altered!! She missed the true benefit of being connected. So do we.

Philippians 2:13 (NIV) “…it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”

SIGNIFICANCE involves tapping into the POWER that is available to us.

The verb translated "works" (v. 13) is different from the word “work out” in verse 12. The word for what God does in us means “energizes” or “provides enablement.” Using play on words, Paul basically said they could “work out” their salvation because God was “working in” them. In other words: God energizes and empowers us to do His work.

When you surrender to the power within you, obedience will becomes a DELIGHT and NOT A BATTLE. When we do what is right whether the pastor is present or absent (12) we are on the right track.
Too often, we obey God because of pressure from the outside and not because of the POWER that resides on the inside.

Our word ENERGY comes from the word translated WORK in verse 13. It is the POWER of the Holy Spirit working THROUGH US that accomplishes what God wants done. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to work in us!!! Ephesians 1:18–20 (NIV) “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and HIS INCOMPARABLY GREAT POWER FOR US WHO BELIEVE. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead…”

Lastly, SIGNIFICANCE INVOLVES OUR UNIITY OF PURPOSE

Philippians 2:14–18 (NIV) “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.”

What does your church's constellation look like? How bright is your star in this dark world?

When we shine together others will notice. What would happen if WE ALL shined (If you worked on your glow and me on mine)? We will have GREATER SIGNIFICANCE. When we join forces we have a significantly greater IMPACT for Christ in this world. When our purpose is the same—TO KNOW CHRIST AND MAKE HIM KNOWN—we’ll get noticed.

Three things we need to do, according to Philippians 2:14-18, if we want to shine bright for Christ:
1. Our cooperation helps us shine. (14—Don’t complain and argue!)
2. Our cleanliness helps us shine. (15—Be blameless and pure!)
3. Our confidence helps us shine. (16—With confidence we “hold out the Word of life!”)

Without God taking the initiative we would not have a salvation to work out. However, because He has done this great work in our lives, we should be motivated to live our lives for Him. As we increase our love for each other we will increase our witnesses in a world that desperately needs Christ. Against the backdrop of this dark world, we will SHINE!

1 Peter 3:15a (NIV) “...in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

Over The Edge: Humility

The Battle of Gettysburg marked a turning point in the civil war. The battle on July 1-3, 1863, involved 165K men and left 38K dead. The next November, President Lincoln went to Gettysburg, Penn, to dedicate a portion of that battlefield as a memorial to those who had died there.

It might surprise you but President Lincoln wasn’t the main speaker for that dedication, Edward Everett was. Everett, also a politician, was considered one of the greatest orators of his time. So moved by Abraham Lincoln’s ability to say so much in so few words, Everett predicted that the President’s Gettysburg Address would live for generations to come while his own speech would soon be forgotten. Later, he wrote the President, “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.”

However, among those who heard Lincoln’s famous speech that day was a newspaper editor from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 35 miles away. In his editorial he wrote, “We pass over the silly remarks of the president; for the credit of the nation, we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated or thought of.”

That poor editor—he stood in the presence of greatness, listening to some of the greatest words ever spoken—but he never heard them.

AS WE APPROACH THE PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE THAT IS OUR TEXT TODAY, WE STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF REAL GREATNESS. Although ALL SCRIPTURE is God breathed, where else in all of Scripture, can one find a more magnificent statement about the Lord Jesus than is written in Philippians 2:1-11?

In this passage we learn valuable insights about humility.

#1 THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMILITY

Philippians 2:1–4 (NIV) “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Humility before God and man is a quality every child of God needs to strive for. A spirit of pride in human interaction indicates a lack of humility before God.

1 Peter 5:5b–6 (NIV) “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.”

#2 THE EXAMPLE OF HUMILITY

Philippians 2:5 (NIV) “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:”

The ETERNAL Christ exemplifies humility.

Jesus did not begin as a baby in Bethlehem! John 1:1–3 (NIV) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”

Philippians 2:6 (NIV) “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped...”

Christ's decent into humanity epitomizes humility. Leaving the presence of the Father and the praise of the angels, He came to this earth where men would despise Him. Think about it, even if He were to come to the highest splendor that the earth could afford, the descent would still have been immense. The greatest of riches or the highest earthly honor would be nothing in comparison to what Jesus Christ was used to.

However, He did not hold on to those rights as God. Rather, voluntarily, He laid aside the manifestation of His glory. Willingly, Jesus Christ laid aside that Shekinah glory that had been His from all eternity, and He clothed Himself in a human body.

The EARTHLY Christ exemplifies humility.

Philippians 2:6–8 (NIV) “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

Jesus TOOK ON flesh and blood Hebrews 2:14–15 (NIV) “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

The Incarnation was voluntary. Jesus “made Himself nothing” It wasn’t forced upon Him; He chose it. He saw our great need and did something about it! John 10:18 (NLT) “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

The words “made Himself nothing” can literally be translated “emptied Himself”

So the question is: What did He empty Himself of? If it wasn’t His deity, what was it?

Jesus “emptied” Himself of the outward expression of His deity. Isaiah tells us that "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him…”— There was NO HALO hovering above His head!

• Though He remained ALL POWERFUL, He did not use what He had to His own advantage.
• The OMNIPRESENT chose to be confined in skin.
• The Maker became a man.
• The Sovereign became a servant.
• The Prince became a pauper.
• Jesus Christ, without ever ceasing to be God, humbled Himself and became a man--as much God as if He had never become man, but yet as much man as if he'd never been God!

Though His was fully human, He was different from all other humans in that He was sinless Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”

Lastly, the EXALTED Christ exemplifies humility.

Before He was crucified Jesus prayed for Himself... John 17:5 (NIV) “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” He was going HOME!—by way of the cross.

Philippians 2:8–11 (NIV) “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I want you to notice that, at this point in time, Jesus is giving us an option. It says "every knee SHOULD bow…" We ought to bow but we are not being made to bow.

That “option” will be replaced with “compulsion” later! One day we will all be overcome and bow before God. Romans 14:11 (NIV) “It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’”

God is patient not willing that anyone perish. Humbly, He holds Himself back but He will not always restrain Himself. He is waiting now but He won’t wait forever.

Please listen to the following song by Phillips, Craig, & Dean called “Come, Now is the Time To Worship.” Part of that song says… "One day every tongue will confess You are God...One day every knee will bow...Still, the greatest treasure remains for those
 who GLADLY CHOOSE YOU NOW!"

Amen to that!