Attitude, Philippians, 3:15-16

Good morning. Good to have you with us here this morning. I especially extend a welcome to those who are visiting with us. We are not in Galatians, but in Philippians. This is just the introductory verse here. One thing I would like to just bring to your attention or reminder, we're having signups for cleanup on, this will be on the 22nd and the 25th for any time you can spare. In the lobby, if you have questions, you can see Nancy. So anyway, let's go ahead and get into our passage. Philippians 3, 15 and 16 is what we're looking at here.

And you know, I first started looking at this verse and I thought, boy, this has really got some real puzzling questions in some ways, even though it's short, these two verses here. But as I look at it here, I said, no, no, at first it hits you with some puzzling questions, but when you start looking at it and seeing what God's answers are, oh, it's neat stuff. So I'm really excited to be able to go into this with you. And he says, let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude, and if anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you. However, let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained. There's somebody who has a question. Alright.

Now, these are some of the questions that I was thinking of, but this guy thought of them too. He says, now, didn't Paul just get through telling us in verse 12 that even he, the Apostle Paul, wasn't perfect, right? Then what's he doing here in verse 15 talking about those that are perfect? Alright, good question. Guy may look a little funny, but he's got a good question. And didn't he just get through telling us in verse 12 that even he, Paul, hadn't finally attained it? So what's he doing here asking about what's attained? Does that make sense? Alright, now, hasn't God finished revealing things to us? Don't we have His written Word? Why is He revealing something here in this passage? Alright, He's not done. In the King James Version, it says that we are to walk by the same rule, or in the New American Standard, the same standard. Aren't we free from rules as Christians? How come we got one here?

Okay. Alright. So, this guy here is real happy. He says, ìOh, Rob!î He says, ìWeíve got you guys stuck real good on those questions, eh?î Alright. Now, letís see you answer those. So we've got some real questions before us. We've got to dig into this and figure out what the answers are so that these guys will be satisfied. Well, we are going to find some good answers for these guys, and ourselves too, by the way.

And the way we're going to go about doing that is the way we always go about studying Scripture, and we're going to look at the context and the word meanings very carefully. And on top of that, We're going to examine the line of thinking that Paul is seeking to convey to the believers here. To do that, to do that well, what we're going to do is we're going to start from the beginning of the chapter and just kind of do a quick review so we make sure we have in our mind what Paul is trying to get across to these people. So that way we have a good understanding of the flow of thought.

As Paul wrote this, he must have had something in mind Otherwise, why would he have written what he wrote? And if there was a contradiction, apparently, within verses, certainly he would have seen that and known that. Alright. So we're going to go back.

Remember in Philippians 3.1, Paul had told the believers there to rejoice in the Lord. Alright. So in 3.2-6, Paul gives warnings about those spreading living by the law. Remember, he says, beware of the dogs. Remember, this wasn't nice little puppy dogs. These were instead those that were the wild pack of dogs. But the key point here is, after that, he said, if anyone has human qualifications, I do. He says, I've got good ones.

But what he does is he says, when I look at it, I have a new perspective now. He says, I don't follow those valuations of things anymore. I value things differently. So what does he say? He says, those things, those human qualifications that I had, I consider them rubbish anymore. Remember that word skubalon, and it actually conveys the idea of sewage. He says, I consider them of no value at all whatsoever any longer. And so what he does in 3, 7 through 11, he gives his new perspective on what he values and what he aspires to, what he considers real valuable and what's his perspective on things. How does he see things now? What is he looking forward to? And then as we saw last week in 12 through 14, he's given us a view of the Christian life that uses athletic terms.

He used terms that fit equally well in both chariot racing, which was very popular with the Romans. Remember, one Roman author said there were two important things for Romans, and that's food and chariot racing. Anyway, Paul uses those kinds of terms. He also uses terms that were equally as well used in kind of the Greek athletic games.

And so he uses that illustration for the Christian life. He says, I press on. And he keeps looking towards the goal. Remember that word for goal that he used, skapos. The thing that he looks at, that he beholds, pointing to Christ. Now, that leads us up to where we are now. Last week we had seen this kind of a timeline that gives us that perspective.

Here's what lies behind, and what does he do with what lies behind? Remember? What does he do? He forgets it. He says, forgetting what lies behind, he says, I recognize right now that I'm not perfect, and my perspective as I look towards the future is, one, I press on, and two, I reach forward.

And we even showed pictures of how, and you can see it here in the chariot races, this guy would reach forward as he would be controlling his horses, or the runner in the Greek games would also be reaching forward. They would all have a forward stance, even coming out of the starting blocks, they would lean forward. Finally, he would have that future perspective of laying hold of the prize, putting his eyes, having it fixed on the goal, which is Christ, and anticipating that upward call, that time of being called to the judges' table for his reward. That time when this life is up, but the reward that he's seeking is just beginning.

Alright, that's the perspective that he comes into this verse with. So he's trying to say, okay, this is how I've seen it, but I want to turn around and let's address the church body there at Philippi. What does this mean to these people? That's what he's coming to.

So what we want to do, we're going to start in verse 15, and we're going to look at some of these key words that crop up here. because they're going to be pivotal in our understanding of this passage. In verse 15, we've got the first one coming up, it's perfect.

And that word teleos, in the context it means spiritually mature. It does not mean perfect as in being absolutely sinless, never to fall again, but it means spiritually mature. It means that those who have grown spiritually, And the idea there is that he's telling the saints at Philippi, this is what maturity looks like.

See that? In other words, he's given us all these things he's said before. Maturity rejoices in the Lord. Maturity looks at all the human qualifications and says, that's not what's valuable. Maturity instead looks at the position that we have in Christ and the things that we look forward to in the Lord, and says, that's maturity. That's how he defines spiritual maturity. So now when he comes to this, he's using the word perfect, not in the sense of some final attainment, that's not going to happen until he goes home to be with the Lord, but in the sense of having grown spiritually mature to a place where you have those values, where those values are characteristic of your heart and your life, the spiritual perspective that he's laid out, where you press on, you have your eyes on the goal, being Christ. That's spiritual maturity. So he's defining it for them. He says, this is what maturity is like, and this I want you to know, because it's not just my perspective, I want it to be yours.

If we look at, starting with Philippians 3.3, he says, maturity recognizes and takes joy in one's position in Christ. Maturity sets aside human qualifications in favor of who one is in Christ, relying on His qualifications and His accomplishments. For those of you who are joining us for the first time, that's the page number on your handout so you can track with us here. Maturity aspires to knowing Christ and being conformed to His image and expressing His life and character.

He has defined what maturity is in these prior verses. So that's why when he comes to this verse here and sets it out, he's not talking about that attainment that we will have in a final sense, but having grown in Christ. This is the direction towards which we grow in maturity. This is what maturity looks like as we grow to it. Maturity presses on, beholding Christ, looking for his upward call.

That's spiritual maturity. He has given us definition of it. And you notice that definition isn't just some outward behavior. Have you noticed that? This definition all has to do with what's important. It has to do with what I'm looking at. It has to do with what's my perspective. You see that? These are all things inside.

Maturity isn't just outside stuff. It's not learning how to act. Christianity is not an acting job. Instead, this is what maturity is, and notice how much of it begins from the heart in our relationship with the Lord, in our perspective of life with Him. Okay.

Then this next set of words comes up, and it comes up in, have this attitude, and have a different attitude. Now, notice the second one, have a different attitude. In the English, pardon me, In the English, it splits this up and puts different in the middle, and for smooth English, that's what we do. But this have an attitude, that's one Greek word, and he bases it on the same Greek word here. Have this attitude, or in the King James, be minded. This is a Greek phroneo. It's not familiar? We've touched on it before.

It means to have a mindset about something or someone, And here's something that's important. It is difficult in English to come up with one word that represents all of what this word means because it has to do with a mindset. It has to do with the emotions and conscience. It even has to do with someone's feelings and perspectives. It's all of that. That's what this word is conveying. It's a plural present active subjunctive.

So what it means is Paul is encouraging these believers at Philippi to have this mindedness right now. He wants that right now. He's encouraging that right now in their lives. He says, I want you to have this mindedness. Now, one of the things we've pointed out in the past, this phroneo word keeps showing up What we see is that it shows up at least once in every chapter. He uses at least once, and often several times. When you look at that, what he's doing is he's trying to get across to them a mindedness, an understanding.

He says, I don't want you to be Christians that just act on the outside. I don't want you to be Christians, as we were talking about earlier this meeting, as the elders were talking, We don't want you to be Christians that fake it until you make it. We're not here to say, do it on the outside until you get there. No. Paul is looking at this and he says, I want you to have in your mind and in your heart and in your conscience and in your total perspective this value, this understanding of things. It's the inside, not just getting you to act a certain way on the outside. There are other similar words that he uses too, sukos, dokeo, and noema. He uses these words also in Philippians. Again, what is he focusing on? He's focusing on the inside, not just acting on the outside.

Now this phoneo is obviously a real major theme in this letter. He is teaching us these key truths and making focus on it as he goes through this book. So that's why he weaves it through each and every chapter. This is no exception. If we go through just what it's been just since the second chapter, he says in 2.2, Make my joy complete by being of the same mind.

This is this mindedness. Maintain the same love, united in one spirit, intent on one purpose. That one purpose is of the same mindedness. In 5a, it says, have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. How about that? Have this mindedness which was also in Christ Jesus. Now that is amazing. Have a mindedness which was also in Christ Jesus. And now, here in this passage, he brings up this same word again.

Let us therefore, as many as are perfect or mature, have this attitude. He keeps focusing on this because he is wanting to make it abundantly clear that Christianity is not a matter of conforming on the outside to a checklist. It's not a matter of acting on the outside so that it looks good. He's talking instead about a relationship with Christ and life with Christ that results in a perspective that is life-changing from the inside out.

Okay, let's look. There's a word that he throws in there, a different attitude. Oh, that's interesting. This word different there is hetero. Now, you see this little squiggle above there. You know what that means, don't you? Oh, get the right end. You see what that one means right there? Remember that one? Okay, you got the hand like this. If you haven't been here before, we've got to do this, okay? This is, so folks, you get this little thing like that, you hold it up like that and you go, ha, okay? and we've warned people, don't try that in a dark alley, it won't work.

But it helps to memorize that little squiggle, so you put the H sound there. Heteros. It means another of a different kind in most senses there. There's a Greek word alos, which means another of the same kind in most contexts, and so here's this difference. Those who don't have this mindedness are those of a different kind.

And are they believers? Let's ask that question. Are the people he's writing to believers that are differently minded, are they Christians? Are they going to be with the Lord come that upward call? Yes, they're Christians. But he's saying there are, in fact, Christians who are not at that place of maturity yet. Their values, their perspectives, their understanding, what they're beholding are not there yet.

And he talks about that a little bit more. We'll get into that. But we need to recognize that even though he is encouraging them to have this mindedness that he has, he recognizes that there are among those who are indeed believers at Philippi, there are those who are not there yet. They're not at that place. Their mindedness is different. Ah, now here we go.

God will reveal that also to you. Let's take a look at that word. Apocalupto, and it's a compound word. You know Paul loves those compound words, right? Compound word, off cover, or to take the cover off. Take the cover off. The book of Revelation is called the Apocalypse, and it's basically the uncovering of things that are to happen. That's a related word here. This word is used in the New Testament for making known things that previously were not known, and that's exactly what he's writing to the church at Philippi about.

Those who have a different attitude, he says, I'm not worried about that, because over time God is going to take the cover off, so that you will understand that. It's true that Paul has already written a lot of things that are true. He's already revealed these truths, right? So it's not really a question of he's going to reveal something else, some more, in terms of what's written.

But in fact, it is a difference in their perspective, in their fresnel, in their understanding, in how they see things, and what they aspire to, and what they value. What will be revealed is what is not yet understood as a mindset. Now we get to this last word, however, let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained. There's another one of those tricky ones.

This we have attained or we have already attained, spano, now I'm not spitting, spano, This isn't the same word that he used in Philippians 3.12. That's one reason he uses a different word than he uses there, so he's not contradicting himself. This word, phthano, carries with it the idea of already having attained or arrived, as King James conveys. We have already attained. We're going to answer a little bit more about what does he mean by that. We'll get there. Okay, so hang in there.

Let's look at verse 16 in general, because one of the things you may have noticed is if you've got a King James Bible, it says one thing. If you've got a New American Standard, it seems to say a little bit different. And so I want to take a look at it. And on the page two of your handout, the backside there, you've got this on there as well. The New American Standard says, however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. or the King James says, nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

I have with here a concise literal Greek. In fact, what the translators have done is to try to fill in words to, at least as they've thought, get us the idea of what the Greek is trying to say. This is the literal carryover, I would say, of what the Greek is trying to convey. However, into that which we have already attained, Let us walk. A little simpler, okay? Let's take a further look at that.

What he's looking at here, as we look at this passage, what have we already attained as Christians? Every one of us. New Christian? Christian for a long time? What have we already attained? Where are we already completed and done? In our position. In our position in Christ. The person who has just said, Amen, talking to the Lord, expressing his belief in the Lord Jesus, and the person who has been a believer for 50 years have the same position, don't they? So we can say, we have already attained, all of us, we've already attained that. Let's walk in it.

So he's saying, in your everyday condition, in each step of the way, let us walk in our position. That's what he's laying out here. So one of the things that you notice, the word rule or standard, it's not really even in there. The translators have tried to bring something across, but an awful lot of translators don't understand position and condition, and so they have a tough time, how do I communicate it? Well, once we understand that, it becomes pretty clear. Into the position we already have, let's walk in it in our condition. much more clear.

Okay. And then he says, let us keep living, okay? This is this Greek word, strikaio. Now, one might guess that this is the same word that's used in other places in the New Testament where it talks about walking with the Lord. Ephesians 4.1 is an example. Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy which you have been called, okay? But what it turns out, That's a different word. That's peripateo. It means walk about. This is a different word, and it relates to something we've talked about before, way back in Chapter 1. And that's this. The word stokeio means to march in line together. March in line together. Why would he use this word?

Remember, the people at Philippi Roman citizens. It was a Roman colony. And if there's anything that grabbed them at the heart and the head and everywhere else, it was that they were Romans. And so Paul frequently, as we go through the book of Philippians, he frequently uses words that they can relate to. Words that drive home the point because they already have a thorough understanding of what the word means. And this was a word like that.

It is a word that was used for the Roman soldiers when they would get orders that, okay, all of you are to stoicheo, okay? They would use that word to tell the soldiers to march in line, okay? And one of the instances that we pointed out earlier where Paul told them to strive together would communicate this idea to those who were Roman soldiers. They were either Roman soldiers or retired Roman soldiers substantially there in Philippi. or if they were marching along towards a battle scene, they might go like this if they're not ready yet in battle.

So here's this word stoicheo that he draws on to tell them, I want you to walk together in line. There's a togetherness of the Church of Christ, of the body of Christ, that's communicated in this word. It's not one individual walking. I want you together to walk in your condition. to march in line in your condition, consistent with your position. That's what he's telling them.

So let's look at this expanded and explained. This is on the back side of your handout as well, on page two. Let us therefore, as the character of those who are approaching spiritual maturity, have this mindset, remember it's the mindset that he's continued to communicate with them. I'm going to give you a place of understanding involving all of the mind and subtle perspectives and values. And if any, regarding any one of you, has a mindset that is not in line with what I have written above, He will bring you to a place of personally understanding these essential truths that I have just now written down.

I've already written them, but He will bring you to a place of understanding verse 16, however, let us as believers in Christ continue along together in an orderly and consistent manner in our condition as is fitting to the eternal position that we already have now in Christ. See, verse 16 isn't talking about any rules.

It's not talking about a standard. It's talking about a position that we have in Christ to which we have already attained. and he is imploring them all together to walk in them. How about the questions for our guys? They're funny friends. How about this one wasn't-yet-perfect? Remember, what Paul's talking about is not the perfection of having arrived at the place that he will have once he goes home to be with the Lord, but he's talking about a definition of here's what maturity looks like here on planet Earth. among believers in the Church. And then they finally attained, that's not talking about what he was discussing before, when he finally goes home to be with the Lord. Instead, what is he focusing on? He's focusing on the position that we have in Christ. Having been blessed already, 100%, with every, notice, every spiritual blessing. That we have all attained to, every person that believes.

And hasn't God finished revealing things to us? Don't we have his word? But this revelation, remember, is not about, am I going to get some new revelation? It is, do I understand the things that God's already written? Do I understand it, not just in terms of head knowledge, but do I understand it to the place where it's a part of my values, it's a part of my perspective, it's how I see the present and the past and the future, Do I understand it to the place where beholding Jesus Christ is the thing in life? Do I understand it to that point? That's what will be revealed.

And then this other question. There really is no rule in this. There really is no standard to which we're called to conform. This is talking about the position that we have in Christ. and God is in the process of conforming us to that position. Notice a few things.

One of the things he brings out, he's not expecting or teaching instant maturity for anybody. One of the things you notice there is those who have a different mindset, a different attitude. but God will reveal it to them over time. Now, we have to ask this question, what's that revealing about? What's that revealing about? That revealing is not that the Lord is suddenly going to just drop some sheet out of the sky and broadcast, here's the message I want you to learn.

In time, He is going to reveal it. How is He going to reveal it? Certainly he's going to reveal it through the truth in his word. That's the reason he's written these things here, that we just read about. He is also going to reveal it in the context of life. And one of the ways he's going to do that is what?

Trials. That's right. He's going to use trials to help us gain focus. He's going to use trials to help us see what's important. He's going to use trials to bring us to a place of understanding. He's going to use those difficult circumstances, the places where our body doesn't cooperate, the places where our finances don't cooperate, the places where our circumstances are rough. Those are the things that he is going to use, and to make that revealing real to us.

One of the things we also see here, that mindset is not focused on the past or totally absorbed with the present. It is very easy as Christians to fall into something that much of the world does, and that is to get real focused on the past. And that can either be hanging our value, hanging our perspective on what we've accomplished and what we've done, or the reverse of that, getting all tied up about what happened to me. There's a great deal of modern counseling and secular psychology that is focused on that very thing. Looking at your past, turning it over and over and over.

This happened or this didn't happen. And getting all absorbed in that. Or some are just simply absorbed with the present. But notice Paul's perspective that he gives in 12 through 14. And he's saying that is maturity. That is what is perfect. And as he lays out that perspective, He says, what about the past? He says, the past is not the thing that I pivot my life around. That's not going to fix anything. In fact, digging through it isn't going to fix anything. Instead, what he points at is, right now, I see that I am not yet perfect and I am looking ahead. I press on, I'm looking ahead and I'm looking towards the goal. Jesus Christ. My eyes are focused upon Him. The mindset and values that he zeroes in on are occupied with Jesus Christ. Occupied with Jesus Christ.

Have you discovered that? Have you found that? That's what he's zeroing in on. This pressing on, as we saw last week, the pressing on that the chariot driver is that he would continue to look on to that goalpost, and he uses that as the picture of continuing to fix our eyes upon Jesus, focus upon Christ. He says, this is what maturity looks like. Then notice here, the Greek behind verse 16 doesn't really speak of rules and standards, but really is focusing on this mindset, and that living out of that mindset, of that understanding in our present condition, consistent with our position. That's what his focus is. That's what he's centered on.

And one more thing. The word Paul used in walking this, stoicheo, can't be done in isolation. He used a word that is a number of people walking. Christians are intended to do this walking together. That is God's design, and that's what he encourages the church at Philippi to do. This walking is done together. There is a place in God's design for our interaction with one another.

One way to put it is we are to be interdependently dependent upon the Lord. Interdependently dependent upon the Lord. That's the word that he uses here. You can't stoicheo by yourself. The Christian life was designed for believers to walk, to do this together with each other. Now, one more thing. Just one more thing.

What about God revealing this mindset to a person with a different mindset? I think this understanding is going to be important because as we look at this revealing process, Paul didn't say, God's going to reveal it to you right now. There's a Greek way of saying that. He says, God will reveal it to you over time.

This maturing process takes time. There isn't any instant maturity. There isn't any way to arrive there and short-circuit or short-cut or go around that process. It will take time. The Lord is going to use different circumstances, and it's going to put us in different places, and it will take time for us to assimilate this.

It's one thing for us to have gone over the verses and get all the Greek words down, and that's fine academically. The reality is, God is in the process of revealing to us so that we understand what that maturing process is about. God is the one who is ultimately responsible for us maturing. God is the one responsible for us maturing.

Okay. As we look at this thing here, I think the important thing for us to take away from this, Paul is encouraging those believers in Philippi to look ahead. But I think it's also an important thing for us to recognize that it is a process, that it does take time, that it will go on over time, And we have to recognize that that's how it will take place. It will be God's doing. It will be God's doing over time.

It's real easy for us to get impatient in that, isn't it? We want to get to a place, okay, right now I understand it all. Right now, I walk with the Lord all the time, right? No. The reality is, He says, this is a process that will go on. But right now, He says, I want to call you to walk together. I want you together to walk in your condition, in the position that you have in Christ. Okay, let's pray. Lord Jesus, as we look at this passage, we think about the truths Thank you that you do not expect for us to have instant maturity.

At the same time, you've laid out the things and will reveal the things to us, not just intellectually, but in time. You will work into our hearts and every part of our being what this means to behold you, what this means to have these values and perspectives. And Lord, as we look at this, we're thankful that we can trust You for this. We thank You for the position that we have in You. We thank You that each step of the walk, of this march together as we do this as believers, we thank You that each part of it, Lord, You have provided for, and it is our place simply to believe in You and to trust You, and to trust even through the circumstances and the trials go on to take a part in revealing these things to us and maturing us. Thank you for these things. In Jesus' name, amen.