Philippians 3:7-16
Starved or Stuffed
In \\#7\\, Paul mentions the loses he had experienced in following Jesus Christ.
They would have been many and by man’s measurements, they would have been great.
Paul had lost his earthly heritage, his prominence, thrown away his desires and
his self-righteousness. Yet, Paul says that he counted those loses but dung
\\#8\\.
Paul wanted something more. Something more than he had when he started his walk
with Christ and definitely something more than when he was an unsaved Pharisee.
He mentions that something more repeatedly in this section.
Listen to his statements:
"that I may win Christ…" \\#8\\
"that I may know him…" \\#10\\
"If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection…" \\#11\\
"I count not myself to have apprehended…" \\#13\\
"I press toward the mark…" \\#14\\
Some use these verses to say that Paul had no assurance of his salvation.
They say that no person can.
They say that Paul wanted to make it to heaven.
I say, "HOGWASH!" These are not the words of a man in fear of hell. These are
the word of a man in love with his Savior!
Listen carefully to what he says…
"Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk…" \\#16\\
"that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus…"
\\#12\\
Paul did not want salvation. He had salvation and the assurance of it. What He
wanted was something more than salvation, more than baptism, more than his
ministry (which was great), more than speaking in tongues, more than anything he
had thus far experienced or been apart of. He wanted something more!
Let me offer some thoughts:
I. Paul was hungry for more of Christ.
A. Is there something more than these things that we have mentioned.
1. There must be for Paul wanted it!
2. No matter how far we walk in Christ, there is more!
3. Everyone is familiar with "peaking out."
a. You get a new game, a new car, start a new hobby, and sooner or
later, your interest peaks and you start to loose desire.
b. Knowing Christ is one thing in which we never need to peak out.
c. There is always a higher relationship to be had with Him.
B. Paul had seen things that no other man had seen.
1. \\#2Cor 12:2\\ Paul states that someone (I believe it has Paul)
had been caught up into the third heaven.
a. The "third heaven" is a reference to the heaven where God
abides.
b. Paul had been to heaven!
c. How many do you know who have done that?!
2. \\#Acts 27:23\\ Paul had an angel of God to visit him.
3. \\#Acts 13:11\\ Paul called blindness upon a man who tried to
hinder the work of Christ.
C. Yet, for all of this, Paul knew there was more to Christ than what
he had.
1. From the valley of humanity, Paul could saw another spiritual
mountain.
2. Why don’t we see the mountain?
3. Content where we are, we are swallowed in the fog of sin’s swamps
and lowlands.
D. Friend, there is a whole other world out there to explore.
1. Imagine what it must have been like when the Pilgrim first set
out to explore the other side of the island they had landed upon.
2. They soon discovered the New Land had no end at all!
3. So the Christian who will determine to seek Christ with all of
their heart is destined…
a. to climb enormous spiritual mountains,
b. forge the most powerful spiritual rivers,
c. and to run across the most beautiful spiritual plains.
4. We sing the song that after 10,000 years, we will just be getting
started and so it is!
5. All of the time and energy that this world affords us would be
insufficient to seek out Christ, let along the riches that He
has bestowed upon us.
E. What else is out there for us?
1. How about answered prayers?
2. How about saved relatives?
3. How about Holy Ghost conviction?
4. How about an unshakable faith?
5. How about the community getting in the church and the church
getting into the community?
6. How about the old-fashioned glory of God?
7. How about revival?
8. How about an awareness of God, God’s presence, God’s power?
F. Paul knew there was more to be had and devoted his life to getting it!
II. How do we create this spiritual hunger?
A. I don’t think it has to be created.
1. I think we are spiritually born with it.
a. Most new converts, like new born babies, can’t wait to start
feasting on Christ.
b. They have multitudes of questions.
They want to be at every service.
They want to be involved in every aspect of the things of
Christ.
2. If we are born with a spiritual hunger, then I think we must
simply need to exchange what we have already stuffed ourselves
with for that old spiritual craving.
B. Remember three things:
1. Everyone is devoted to something.
a. Even if you are devoted to doing nothing, you do it
religiously.
b. Everyone is already consumed by something.
c. Maybe you are consumed by Facebook, by work, by television,
by eating, by sleeping, by texting, by partying, by lust,
by greed, by pleasure, by bitterness… but everyone has
something that consumes them.
2. The thing that a person devotes himself to, is the thing that he
starves for and stuff himself with.
3. The key to being starved for Jesus is exchanging what we are
stuffed with for what we want to be starved for.
a. Too many Christians have been sidetracked, stuffed if you
pleased, with other things, with carnal things.
b. This seems so logical to us. After all, we live in a carnal
world.
c. This seems to natural to us. After all, we are carnal beings.
d. But Paul was not STUFFED with the world.
e. Paul was STARVED for more of Jesus.
C. What are we starving for this evening?
1. With the lost world, it’s easy enough to see.
a. Some are starving for drugs.
b. Some for pleasure.
c. Some for money, for sex, for power.
2. With the saved, it is more difficult to see, but there is
something for which we hunger.
a. Is it sports, gossip, comfort?
b. Is it family?
(1) I understand family and the priority of it.
(2) However, I always remember Eli who placed his family
above the Lord and lost everything.
c. Is it bitterness? Have you placed a disappointment above
seeking after Christ?
d. Is it pride?
D. Whatever it is for which you hunger, it must be exchanged for the
spiritual hunger like Paul’s.
III. If I get this hunger, how do I sustain it?
A. Every Christian seems to have this hunger at various times.
1. New converts are born with.
2. And it seems every Christian gets that old craving every once in
a while.
3. Paul just never got over that initial hunger.
4. Somehow, Paul learned how to sustain that hunger for Christ.
B. Sustaining a spiritual hunger takes steadfastness.
1. That is why Paul was encouraging his friends to be—steadfast.
Phi 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same
rule, let us mind the same thing.
a. Paul’s thought was don’t lose what you have.
b. Keep it. Maintain it. Stay steady.
2. Much of life is exchanging this for that, settling for some things,
and compromising to make life work; yet the important things must
not suffer.
a. We must prioritize some things and stubbornly insist upon
them.
(1) You probably have a minimum salary for which you will
work?
(2) You have certain standards for the home in which you will
live.
(3) You have some things on which you would insist before you
leave your children with a babysitter, daycare, or
school.
b. What must you insist upon in your walk with Christ?
(1) Can you not insist on a fresh walk with Jesus, daily?
(2) Can you not insist that you will learn more of Him,
feel His presence more supremely,
hear His voice more often?
know His will more assuredly?
c. The Apostle Paul was steadfast. He would follow Christ if it
meant pain, jail, even death.
3. Can we not likewise be thus steadfast.
a. There need not be a back and forth momentum in our devotion
to Christ.
(1) We can determine to steadfastly continue going forward.
(2) We can insist that onward and upward be our direction.
(3) We can refuse to sacrifice this determination, to settle
for less, to compromise on this issue.
b. A rock climber calls this "tying off."
(1) Rock climbers tie a safety rope to themselves and their
present position so that if they lose their grip, they
will not fall to the bottom of the mountain and certain
death.
(2) We must likewise take note of where we are, tie ourselves
to this prayer life, this level of service, this kind of
devotion, so that we do not fall from this grace back
into spiritual oblivion.
C. Sustaining a spiritual hunger takes single-mindedness.
1. We must keep our eyes on the prize.
a. The prize is Jesus and knowing Him more supremely.
b. \\#Phi 3:10\\ Paul wanted to "know Him and the power of His
resurrection."
c. He did not turn from that goal.
d. He set his heart and soul to that goal and would not be
deterred.
2. Years ago, Nancy Reagan, President Reagan’s wife, sought to
simplify the war on drugs.
a. Certain, resisting drugs is difficult for our young people.
b. And it is even harder to get a person off drugs than it is to
keep them from starting drugs.
c. All of the complex treatments, counseling techniques,
statistics, and suggestions would fill up volumes of books.
d. But she sought for a simple statement that could be easily
remembered and applied.
e. A statement that would entail the essence of the needed
strategy which would keep the pure clean and set the captive
free.
f. The statement that she coined? "Just say no."
3. So the Christian lives in a world with many opportunities, vices,
temptations, and snares.
a. Many sermons can be preached that would help a convert stay
pure and free.
b. Many Bible verses have relevance.
c. Many practical words of counsel could encourage and embolden
the Christians to stay faithful.
d. But if you are looking for a simple statement that would
entail the essence of a successful strategy, it would be,
JUST SAY NO.
e. Keep your eye on the prize and continue moving onward and
upward for Christ.
C. Sustaining a spiritual hunger will take some sacrifice.
1. To do without this world while living in it, is going to cause
some pain.
2. Some people think Christians are wimps.
3. It takes the hardness of a soldier to be a good Christian.
4. Years ago, a preacher challenged his congregation with this
statement, "You can not have everything."
a. You cannot have the world and all of its comforts and
pleasures AND have Christ and the fullness of His presence.
b. You must choose which you will seek.
c. Today, I challenge you to be single-minded on this topic.
d. Seek the things of Christ.
Now, we must make some decisions. We cannot have all this world offers and all
that Christ can give us. We must choose.
Will you be stuffed with the world and staved for Christ.
Or will you be stuffed with Christ and staved for the things of this world.
Choose carefully.
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