Will you please turn to Philippians 3? We will read from verses 15 through 21.
As many therefore as are perfect, let us be thus minded:
and if ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you:
only, whereunto we have attained, by that same rule let us walk.
Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample.
For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for bringing us to this last full day of ministry. Thou hast been faithful. Thou hast been good to us.
It is the prayer of our hearts that whatever Thou hast predetermined, prepared, and revealed by Thy Spirit to us will become reality in each of our lives.
Dear Lord, we do not want to miss Thy purpose. We do not want to miss anything that comes short of Thy glory. We praise and thank Thee, Thou Lord of glory, who wilt lead many sons into glory. This is Thy will, and Lord, by Thy grace, we will pursue that mark.
We commit this time into Thy hands. We look not to man; we look to Thee. Speak, O Lord. Thy servants hear. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
We are sharing together on this matter of pursuing toward the mark. We are talking about how we pursue after this mark.
Dear brothers and sisters, of course, before we knew the Lord Jesus, we were pursuing after something. We were pursuing something that we thought would give us satisfaction, fullness, and joy.
But we find out one thing: whatever we might pursue after, it might give us temporary pleasure. It causes a lot of labor and vexation. But we discover that all is vanity—vanity of vanities.
But we do praise the Lord that He really has mercy upon us, and He delivers us from such pursuit. He reveals Himself to us as our Savior. He turns us around.
Instead of pursuing after the things under the sun, He persuades us to pursue after the things in heaven. And we have mentioned again and again that what we pursue is none other than a person—a living Person: the Son of God, the Son of Man.
He is the One who has accomplished salvation for us, and the One who is leading us into glory. It is Christ Jesus whom we are pursuing.
In the beginning, we only knew what He had done for us. It was tremendous—how He gave Himself on the cross to bear our sins upon His own body, and how He shed His blood for the remission of our sins, that we may receive eternal life. What grace! What tremendous salvation this is!
But, brothers and sisters, the day will come when we realize that we are no longer after His work. Indeed, we are still enjoying what He has done for us, and we are thankful. But instead of seeking after blessing, we seek the Lord Himself.
This was the experience of the Apostle Paul. He said, “For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, I count all things but loss.”
Brothers and sisters, we need to have a vision of our Lord Jesus. He is more than our Savior; He is our Lord. We are not seeking Him for ourselves, that we may receive all blessings. That is not what we are after.
We are constrained by His love, and we are seeking to know Him, because to know Him is eternal life. Brothers and sisters, is this what we are pursuing today?
Step by step, He will lead us into Himself.
But, brothers and sisters, this pursuing Christ is intensely personal. In other words, nobody can pursue Christ for you.
In a very real sense, there is no second generation. Everyone must be of the first generation. That is to say, each and every one of us must one day see the glory of Christ and be completely taken up.
You know, there is a word called “once caught, no escape.” One day, when the vision of Christ—when the glory of the Lord—appears to you, your whole being is caught, and there will be no escape.
This must be true with each and every one of us. You have to be so arrested by the loveliness of Christ. His love must so constrain you that you will really forget everything to follow Him.
Just as Peter said:
Lord, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life.
And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, are you stuck with Christ in such a way? Are you still looking around, looking after things other than our Lord Jesus? Or is your whole being taken up by the excellency of the knowledge of Him?
This pursuing after the Lord is most personal. It is a personal experience that you have to experience yourself. It is more than mental understanding or knowledge. It is a being caught by the Lord Jesus, and then you will pursue Him with gladness.
Brothers and sisters, we have mentioned again and again that this pursuing after Christ is not an easy thing. When our Lord Jesus said, “Come and follow Me,” it demands that we leave all and follow Him.
In the most spiritual sense, in the very heart of it, when our Lord Jesus said, “Come and follow Me,” there is no way to follow Him except by leaving all and following Him.
Humanly, this is impossible. But thank God, this is possible with Him. He has sufficient grace. He has that excellent knowledge and beauty that has so attracted us that we cannot but go on and pursue after Him.
When you pursue after Christ, actually you are traveling in the way of the cross, because you are going against the current. The current of this world goes one way, and in following Christ, you have to go against it. But this is life.
If a fish is dead, it follows the current and flows with it. But if a fish is alive, it swims against the current. There is life there—resurrection life and power. By the grace of God, you are well able to rise above all the obstacles that may be on your way.
Oftentimes, when you are really pursuing Christ, you will find that you are not only against the current of the world as it is, but you are actually running against the current of the so-called religious world.
If you really love the Lord, you will be misunderstood—not only by people of the world, but even by religious people. They may think you are too extreme. They cannot understand you.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the heavenly Man upon this earth. How He was misunderstood, how He was persecuted, and how He was rejected.
Brothers and sisters, this way of the cross is a lonely way. Oftentimes, you will find that you are the only person, as it were, in this world walking this way. It is intensely personal.
But thank God, at the same time, you will find that it is extremely corporate. It is true that, so far as your experience goes, you may feel that you are the only person who pursues Christ. But do not forget that this pursuing is a corporate thing. We are pursuing together.
Why is it so? Our brother already mentioned last night: because we are the body of Christ, and you are only one member of that body.
Our Lord Jesus, the Head, is the fullness of the Godhead. All the riches of God—whatever you can think of concerning what God is and what God has—are all bodily set forth in Christ.
It is just impossible for any one person to contain all His riches. It takes a body to contain all the fullness of the Godhead.
We remember in Ephesians 1 how God raised Christ from the dead, how He ascended to the throne in the heavens, and how He was above every principality, authority, and power. God put everything under His feet and made Him Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all.
So, dear brothers and sisters, even though in your personal experience you may find yourself all alone, yet in the will of God you find there are numberless people—all members of the body of Christ—who are going the same way.
One member is limited in capacity. We cannot, within our limited capacity, contain all the fullness of Christ. But His fullness overflows to all the members of the body of Christ.
You learn something of Christ; I learn something of Christ. He becomes everything to me; He becomes everything to you. And when you add all believers, all who are members of His body, then you find it is the fullness of Christ.
So, brothers and sisters, in this pursuing Christ, even though you may feel you are alone, yet there are multitudes and multitudes—countless people—who are cheering us. It is corporate.
Why? Because the will of God, the purpose of God, the eternal purpose of God, is that whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to His Son, that His Son might be the Firstborn among many brethren.
Our Lord Jesus is to lead many sons into glory. So do not forget that in this pursuing of Christ, you have to be involved personally, and yet you are actually pursuing together with many brothers and sisters. We are all pursuing after Christ.
Now we come to Philippians 3:15: “As many, therefore, as are perfect, let us be thus minded.”
Thank God, the Apostle Paul gave us his personal experience of his pursuit of Christ. This was not where he was trying to show off himself. We remember that when God gave him revelation, he said that it was after fourteen years that he began to share with his brothers and sisters.
He was not a man who tried to boast of himself. But thank God, he was humble enough to tell us what happened to him in his pursuit of Christ—not to show off himself, but to encourage us.
So he said, “As many, therefore, as are perfect, let us be thus minded.” Now here you find this word perfect.
The word perfect in Scripture does not mean sinless perfection. No one is sinlessly perfect except one Person: our Lord Jesus. He is the only One who does not know sin. Not only did He not commit sin, but He does not know what sin is. He is above that.
He is sinlessly perfect, and because He is sinlessly perfect, He is qualified to be made sin for us, that we might have the righteousness of God. But aside from our Lord Jesus, even we believers—even though we may believe in Him for sixty or seventy years—are not sinlessly perfect.
So, perfect in Scripture does not mean sinless perfection. It means mature—grown up.
You find the same word in 1 Corinthians 2. You remember Paul went to Corinth. Before he went there, he made a determination. Corinth at that time was a very cultured city. The Corinthians were famous for their eloquence, and they were also famous for their immorality.
Before Paul went to Corinth, he made a determination before God that after he arrived there, he would know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified: the cross of our Lord Jesus, how He bore our sins, how He became a substitute for us, how He redeemed us from all our sins, and how He saved us.
Paul went there and labored for a year and a half among them. But during all those times, he kept back something from them.
In 1 Corinthians 2:6, he said, “Yet among the perfect we speak wisdom; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world.” It is God’s wisdom in a mystery.
He could not share with the Corinthian believers about this wisdom of God. Why? Because they remained as babes after they believed in the Lord Jesus. They were really saved, and yet they still lived according to their flesh. That is babyhood.
A baby looks very lovely, but he wants everything for himself—very self-centered. He does not mind if, at midnight, he cries and disturbs other people. When he is hungry, he wants food right away. If you are a little slow, he cries.
The Corinthian believers were like that. Now, dear brothers and sisters, this is not God’s purpose. God’s purpose is not to have babies alone. God’s purpose is to have sons—grown-up people, mature people, who are able to bear responsibility.
They are not self-centered, but Christ-centered. Because this is the will of God, brothers and sisters, we cannot emphasize it too much. On the contrary, we find that it is being neglected.
To many Christians, being saved from their sins means that they have a passport to heaven, and that is all. They live in this world afterward waiting to be fed, satisfying their own lusts, and that is it.
It is a very wrong concept to think that we as Christians could remain as babes and just live for ourselves. This is not what God saved us for. This is not the will of God toward us.
He saves us in order to lead many sons into glory, to share His responsibility with Him, and to rule with Him. That is the will of God.
But unfortunately, we find that there are so many who believe in the Lord Jesus, and their whole life afterward is just wanting something from Christ for themselves. They never grow up. They can only drink milk, because milk is predigested food—somebody has digested it for you.
You have not the faculties to digest it. You cannot eat solid food. That is to say, you have to exercise yourselves in order to digest solid food.
You know, just like what we mentioned in John 6: these people looked after Christ for food. When Christ tried to lead them heavenward, they said, “It is too hard,” and they left Him.
Dear brothers and sisters, it is a matter of great tragedy that among Christians today there are more babies than grown-up Christians, as it should be.
God has delivered us out of this world and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We who believe in the Lord Jesus have received the same life—resurrection life.
We shall all arrive at the goal, and the goal is that Christ may be formed in us, that we may be conformed to Him, and that we may become His brethren. He is the Firstborn among many sons.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the will of God. Are we really seeking to fulfill that will? Or are we just content to sit back and say, “I am saved after all. I am going to heaven after all”?
Are you just satisfied with it, contented with that? You may be, but Christ is hurt.
Just like earthly parents: when a baby is born, they are so happy. They sacrifice everything for that baby. What is their hope? They hope that the baby will grow up, bear responsibility, and become a man or a woman.
But if the child never grows up, what sadness, what tragedy, what waste that is. If earthly parents feel that way, how much more will our heavenly Father be hurt by our not growing up?
It is true: if we can remain babes, with no responsibility, taken care of by everybody, that seems to be very easy. But, brothers and sisters, that is tragic.
Among Christians, there should be no difference. We differ from this world—the people of this world and the people of God. But unfortunately, you find in the very Word of God that Christians are now divided into two groups.
One group is the imperfect; the other, the perfect. One is babes in Christ; the other, the grown-up sons of God. One is spiritual Christians; the other, carnal Christians.
Now, this division should never be there. According to the will of God, this is not so. But our condition is such that it seems there are so many in the first class: the imperfect, the babes, the carnal.
And very few, as it were, are in the second class: the perfect, the grown-up, the spiritual. It is true that to grow up, there are growing pains that you have to go through. But how many shrink from pain and remain as babes?
Among the perfect, we speak of God’s wisdom—not just initial salvation, but the full counsel of God. It is God’s wisdom in a mystery. That is to say, it has to be revealed. If it is not revealed, nobody will know it.
It is God’s wisdom in a mystery, ordained before the ages. Even before God began to create the heavens and the earth, God already had this in His mind. While He has been working all this time, He has had one purpose in view.
The Bible says it was predetermined before the ages for our glory. Will you jump for joy, thinking that what God has in mind for us is not merely being saved, but glory?
Now, what is glory? Glory is a word that is very difficult to define. But you find in the Bible, whenever God appears, there is glory. Or, as Brother Fox said, when God is satisfied, then glory appears.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is glory? God is glory. But when we are being transformed and conformed to the image of God’s Son, then there is glory. That is why our Lord is to lead many sons into glory. That is the mind of God.
This is something that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and which has never entered into the heart of man. But it is God who prepared all these things for those who love Him.
Not only has He prepared it, but thank God, He has revealed it. He reveals this to His own by the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, do we have the mind of Christ? This is the mind of Christ. Paul says that we have the mind of Christ because the Holy Spirit, who knows the depths of God, explains it to us.
So, brothers and sisters, do not be content to remain as babies. You may think that being a babe gives you an easy time, but it is quite a loss.
“As many, therefore, as are perfect, let us be thus minded.” Do you have this mindset in you?
Are you minded thus: that you may know Him, that you may know the power of His resurrection, that you may have fellowship with His sufferings, that you may be conformed to His death, and that you may arrive at the out-resurrection from among the dead?
You possess that for which He has possessed you. This is the testimony of Paul, and he is trying to encourage every one of us: be thus minded. If you are so minded, you are on the right track. Go on.
And he said, “And if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you.” Oh, dear brothers and sisters, hopefully you are not otherwise minded. Do you have your own mind instead of the mind of Christ?
If you are, Paul said, God will reveal this to you. May God reveal this to each and every one of us.
But, of course, when we are pursuing, we have different steps. Some may be at the first step; some may have gone a little further.
Because you may be at the first step and look at others who are at the second, third, or further steps, do not be discouraged. Do not think that you will never arrive there and then stop. Do not do that.
In whatever step you are, remain faithful and press on. This is what we ought to do.
Thank God, there are many brothers and sisters throughout the centuries, and even in our time, who are pursuing after Christ with passion. Many have already arrived.
Even the Apostle Paul, when he wrote 2 Timothy before his martyrdom, knew that he had arrived and that the crown of righteousness was waiting for him—not only for him, but for all who loved the appearing of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, we have witnesses surrounding us, as you find in Hebrews 12. In Hebrews 11, we find a whole list of those who were attracted by the glory of God. They followed, and they have arrived. They have the witness given to them.
But the Bible says they will not be perfected apart from us. They are waiting for us, because the body is of many, many members—not just one member. So, dear brothers and sisters, take courage and press on.
Verse 18:
For many walk, of whom I told you often,
and now tell you even weeping,
that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.
The Apostle Paul gave us a warning. He warned about this often. But when he wrote this letter, he wept. His tears were tears of love and sympathy. He was not judging.
How he hoped, how he labored, how he longed to see that all those who believe in the Lord would arrive, would pursue, and would be thus minded.
But he discovered that there were still many who were otherwise minded. They might think they were clever, avoiding the cross and still getting to heaven. But Paul knew the consequence. He wept for them.
He wept for the imperfect. He wept for the babes. He wept for the carnal believers. He longed that they would grow up, that they would be spiritual, and that they would arrive at the goal—the purpose of God—because this is God’s will.
But when people refuse to do that, he warned them with weeping. He said, “They are the enemies of the cross of Christ.”
Can you imagine that a believer—one who has accepted the work of the cross for him—could become an enemy of the cross of Christ? Why? Because he refuses to accept the cross working in him. For him, yes; but not in him.
How serious this is: that we believers have enjoyed the grace and blessing of the Lord, the finished work of Christ, and yet we can become enemies of the cross of Christ.
Before, when I read this, I thought it referred to unbelievers. But the more I read it, the more I realize that this is speaking to Christians. Christians, you can be an enemy of the cross of Christ.
“Whose end is destruction.” Am I speaking that you can lose your eternal life? That you can be saved and unsaved again? Is the gift of God conditional? If you behave, you retain it; if you do not behave, He takes it back? Is that a gift?
The Bible says the gifts of God are without repentance. Once He freely gives to you, He will never take it back.
But what does it mean, “whose end is destruction”? It cannot refer to eternal destruction, because that would be against God’s own Word, His nature, and His faithfulness. Thank God.
But do you remember, when you read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, that when the crowd came to the Lord, the Lord retreated to the mountain? Then His disciples came to Him, and He opened His mouth and taught them.
So the Sermon on the Mount is not for unbelievers; it is for His disciples. Yet in Matthew 7:13, He says:
Enter ye in by the narrow gate:
for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,
and many are they that enter in thereby.
For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life,
and few are they that find it.
Brothers and sisters, the destruction here does not refer to eternal perishing. The destruction here refers to believers. If you try to walk the broad way, it is easy, and many are there. But it leads away from the mark.
And you lose God’s purpose for you—to reign with Christ for a thousand years. For the sake of a few years of easy life, you lose your soul.
Whose god is the belly,
and whose glory is in their shame,
who mind earthly things.
In actuality, their god is their belly. That is to say, they worship themselves: satisfying themselves, seeking for themselves. They consider their shame as glory. They make a boast of it; they boast in the flesh.
“Look what an easy life I have. I have all the blessing and prosperity, and you get all the suffering. You are cursed by God, and I am blessed.”
They mind earthly things. Brothers and sisters, this description should not be applied to Christians, but it does.
So, dear brothers and sisters, where are you? Are you thus minded, or are you otherwise minded? Our minds determine our destiny. Are you seeking Christ, or are you seeking self?
Oh, brothers and sisters, if you are otherwise minded, weep for yourselves.
You remember the ten virgins. Five virgins had extra oil—a life governed by the Spirit. They paid their cost, and when the Bridegroom came, they welcomed Him and entered into the marriage feast.
But the five foolish virgins—yes, they are virgins. They have been cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus. Yes, they have their lamp and they have their oil. In other words, they have the indwelling Holy Spirit.
But in their extra vessels, there was no oil. They were filled with other things—the things of this world that they thought were treasures. When the Bridegroom came, their lamps were going out, and they were kept in darkness, weeping.
Brothers and sisters, we believe the Lord is coming. He can come at any time. The Bible says He will come as a thief.
Do you think a thief will blow a trumpet and say, “I am coming”? Strangely, a thief knows the exact time when you are not watching.
What will thieves steal away? Will a thief come and steal your garbage? I hope they will come every night. But strangely, a thief always knows where your treasure box is. Without your knowing, he comes and goes, but something goes with him.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus will come as a thief. He will steal away the treasure of His heart. But those who remain will weep.
Thank God, the Apostle Paul ends with a positive note. In this passage, verses 18 and 19 are in parentheses. In other words, this is something inserted by the Spirit of God. It is a warning that has to be given, but it is not the main thought that the Spirit of God is seeking to convey. He is trying to encourage us, not discourage us.
So the thought continues:
For our citizenship is in heaven;
whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven. Our association is in heaven. Now, who is in heaven? Colossians 3 says, “Set your mind on the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
We are also seated with Him in the heavens. So, brothers and sisters, do not forget: even though we are still on earth, and we are still traveling, still running, still pursuing, our citizenship, our association, and our relationship are in heaven.
We belong to heaven, where Christ is. He is our life. And we are running, just like Enoch. He walked with God for three hundred years, and God took him.
So here you find: if you pursue Him as the mark, what will be the result? Even this mortal body, this corruptible body, this body of humiliation—when He returns, He will transform it and conform it to His body of glory.
He has the power to do it, and He will do it. So, dear brothers and sisters, what an encouragement.
May we all, by the grace of God, forget what is behind, stretch forward, and pursue with passion and with love for our Lord Jesus. He is worthy.
Dear Lord, we do want to thank Thee for calling us. Thy calling is an on-high calling.
There are those waiting for us, encouraging us. Thou hast told us to look off from everything unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
O Lord, be it so, by Thy grace, to every one of us here—not for ourselves, but for Thee. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.