1. Abingdon Community Church Sunday 15 April 2018
Philippians 3:10-21

2. Is it right for a Christian to be ambitious?

3. Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition: By that sin fell the angels; how can man, then, the image of his Maker, hope to win by it?
Shakespeare
(Wolsey’s farewell to Cromwell after his fall from grace in Henry VIII)

4. Sunday 14 April Living with right ambition
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What 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 9and 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 on the basis of faith. 
10 I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Sunday 14 April Living with right ambition
Phil 3:7-21

5. Sunday 14 April Living with right ambition
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, 14 I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Sunday 14 April Living with right ambition
Phil 3:1-21

6. Sunday 14 April Living with right ambition
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 
18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Sunday 14 April Living with right ambition
Phil 3:1-21

7. Philippians so far… Overall theme: ‘Together in Christ’
To live is Christ & to die is gain – it’s all about HIM!
Emphasis on UNITY & HUMILITY – our partnership together

8. Philippians so far… Overall theme: ‘Together in Christ’
To live is Christ & to die is gain – it’s all about HIM!
Emphasis on UNITY & HUMILITY – our partnership together
Chapter 3 turns to our inner life…
Where does our security, our confidence, come from?
What are we aiming for, what motivates us?

9. Last time (Chris’ baptism)… …where does our confidence come from?
Our ‘Dung’
Our ‘Surpassing treasure’
Roots (family background, nationality, ‘class’, school… )
Religion (church, Bible knowledge, praying, worship style… )
Reputation (Friends & Followers)
Righteousness (good deeds, giving)
Resources (career, wealth, skills…)
Knowing Christ
Living in His power/strength daily
Willing to suffer with/for Him
Valuing the unseen over the seen

10. It is not whether you are ambitious, but WHAT is your controlling ambition?
“Certainly no man can know himself until he has honestly asking himself about his motives. What is the driving force of his life? What ambition dominates and directs him? Ultimately, there are only two controlling ambitions, to which all others may be reduced. One is our own glory, and the other, God’s.” John Stott

11. Paul’s ambition vs enemies of the cross
To know Christ (v10-11)
To take hold of ‘THAT’ (v12)
To win the Prize (v14)
Do these ambitions control your life?
To satisfy Self (v19)
To glory in Shame (v19)
To gain Earthly things
Or do these?
Knowing Christ goes hand in hand with following him, - he has called every one of us for a purpose…
To think you are pursuing knowing Christ without committing to the adventure he wants to take you on is a fallacy – where some monks & monasteries went wrong…
For every one of us, ‘THAT’ includes knowing Christ first and foremost, but it will also include bringing his resurrection power in the world in some way – transforming lives. If we are not in some way touching the lives of the lost and helping them move towards Christ, we are not yet on the path of discipleship Jesus calls us to.
UP – IN – OUT balance

12. Paul’s “THAT”? Rom 15:17-22
…the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done – 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way round to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

13. Do you know “THAT” for which Christ took hold of you?

14. ONE THING I DO… …single-minded ambition
“Human persons are created to praise, reverence and serve God… The other things on the face of the earth are created for us, to help us in attaining the purpose for which we were created. Therefore we are to make use of them insofar as they help us to attain our purpose, and we should rid ourselves of them insofar as they hinder us from attaining it” Ignatius of Loyola
Not wrong to have ambitions for work, family, ministry, leisure BUT they must serve one of the two controlling ambitions – are they for God’s glory or ours?
Example of family called overseas – conversation with Nikki & Dave Sudlow – still have ambition for family to be safe and for kids to have every opportunity to grow, learn and develop BUT that is second to God’s ambition for them – had to trust him that that secondary ambition would be fulfilled within his great ambition.
Conversation with kids r.e. what if God called us away from Abingdon?

15. ONE THING I DO… …single-minded ambition
Holy dissatisfaction with our spiritual life (v12, 13)
Forgetting what is behind (v13)
Past triumphs & successes – no ‘sitting on our laurels’
Past failures & disappointments – not disqualified
Straining towards the line (v13-14)
Discipline, dedication, determination… (c.f. 1 Cor 9:24-27)
Matthew Henry: “Wherever there is true grace there is a desire for more grace”
John Piper: “When Paul said, "Don't be drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18), his aim was to make God-aholics out of all believers. The Spirit is not deadening; he is addicting. The evidence that you have him is that you want more of him. Continued indifference to growth in grace is a sign of no grace.”
Contentment / satisfaction in God vs holy discontent/dissatisfaction with how much of Him we know…
Behind – resting on laurels, nostalgia, regret, disappointment
Ahead – not distracted by surroundings or fellow competitors?? Focussed on the goal… takes discipline & training… see Paul’s comment in 1 Cor 9:24-27
- Developing habits, arranging life around that goal e.g. Prosers’ swimming / Tom’s working hours

16. How could you be “Following hard after God” more fully?
- Something to leave behind?
- A discipline (habit) to develop?
- A goal to focus on?

17. …I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, 14 I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.