5 Principles of Moving Ahead (Philippians 3:13-15)

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.... Only let us live up to what we have already attained. (Php 3:13-16)

1. CONSECRATION. "To take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (v13)
2. CONCENTRATION. "One thing I do..." (v14)
3. CONFRONTATION. "I press on.... I press on." (vv13,14). Move against the current.
4. CONTINUATION. "I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.... Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on..." (v14)
5. CONSERVATION. "let us live up to what we have already attained..." (v 16)

"The Just Shall Live By Faith" - Homily

Year: 1998-1999
Class: MDiv (Previous)
Class Instructor: Dr. Daryl Merrill, Sr.
Homily: “A Justified Man’s Life by Faith in God”
Homily by: Domenic Marbaniang
Text: Romans 1:17: “The Just Shall Live by Faith”

State Track/Angle: Analogical view-point of life-process
WHY?
• The subject is a very broad one; comprehends, runs through, the whole Bible. Exhaustive talk impossible.
• Not just a theological or philosophical enterprise; a call to a meaningful experience of life eternal; a relationship.

Define Terms for a Clear Perspective of Thinking
• The Just: The righteous one – one who stands and lives his life in conformity to God’s Just Standard of Living
• Live: The entire life process consummating in eternity.
• By: Out-from/of; by; because of or by reason of.
• Faith: Faithful, living, loving faith, obedient to truth, based on the Being of God, based on His Revealed Truth. The means by which we respond and relate to Him.

PART I: COMMENCEMENT: THE START OF THE LIFE
ORIGIN BY FAITH “OUT OF”
V17: “The Just shall live by faith”
A. Syntax (form)
1. The just by faith, shall live.
2. The just, by faith shall live.
B. Meaning
1. The man justified by faith shall live.
2. The justified man shall live by faith.
C. Implications
1. Grace: Unmerited Favor of God
Unmerited: Man’s Position – Sinner, Doomed
Favor: God’s Provision - Christ, Cross, Gospel.
Rom.3:24: “By grace you are justified freely.”
2. Faith: Man’s Response. “Faith without deeds of the Law”
Rom.3:28: “…justified by faith.”
D. Conclusion
1. Justification: Righteousness of Christ imputed. Declared (not made) as righteous. A right standing with God.
2. Eternal Life: A right standing before God in everlasting relationship.

The Standing: What he is, the result of faith (begins by)
The Life: The result of responding to God’s grace in faith.

PART II: CONTINUITY: THE PROCESS, CONTINUITY OF THE LIFE (BY FAITH)
ILLUSTRATION: Difference between living man and dying man

A. PERCEPTION (CONTINUOUS)
Rene Descartes: Certainty of knowledge depends on the certainty of the existence of God; on the certainty of His Truthfulness.
If that is true of the secular world, how much more to a justified man of God!
1. Relating to God Empirically by Faith.
Ill. Relating to world by 5 senses. Relating to the Unseen God (world) by Faith (sense).
The righteous by faith is SENSITIVE to God’s PRESENCE and God’s POWER.
2. Relating to God Cognizantly by Faith.
Ill. One of the basic requirements of knowledge is Belief.
Ill. Observation, Note, Research.
The just SCRUTINIZES, SEARCHES the SCRIPTURES (REVELATION) to UNDERSTAND and KNOW the PERSONALITY and PROMISES of God by Faith.
3. Relating to God Meaningfully by Faith
Ill. What is the advantage of knowing the world, if it is of no significance to me?
It must help and benefit my life.
The just SUBMITS to the Will (Plan, Revelation) of God, having understood its SIGNIFICANCE for his life by Faith (1Cor.2:10-14; Convicted by God’s Spirit). He thus APPROPRIATES the Promises of God by his faith (Heb 6:12).

SUBMISSION: (1) in Loving Faith (love)
(2) in Obedient Faith (obedience)

B. PROTECTION (CONTINUOUS)
What is to be preserved?
1. The FOUNDATION of the Justified Life
Ill. Body Genetic Code (Cell)
1Cor.3:11. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Gal.1:8 – Preacher of any other Gospel accursed.
Jesus Christ: the Son of God Incarnate, Crucified, Risen, and Living. The Gospel communicated through His Apostles and Prophets.
1Cor.5:21. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
2. The BUILDING of the Justified Life (The Man)
Ill. The Body/Building in conformity to foundation/no leaping overs
Life in CONFORMITY to the righteousness of Christ imparted to us. No Extra-foundations-laws.

Philippians 1:27: Let your conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ… Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel.

The Negative: Shipwreck (1Tim.1:19); Slip (Heb.2:1); Err from (1Tim.6:10).

Conclusion: YOU LOSE THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE SUPERSTRUCTURE, NO MATTER HOW INTRICATE, FALLS/COLLAPSES.

Gal.2:20: Christ Lives in Me, I Live by Faith in Him.
Jn.15:4,5: Abide in Me, and I in you. Without me ye can do nothing (Severed from me ye are good for nothing).

The Process of Preservation/Protection
1. Resistance (Defense & Offense Mechanism).
Ill. Immunity, Stamina. Fighting sickness and disease away.
By Faith in Christ the Just FIGHTS the FOREIGN FOES away.
Eph.6:16 – Shield of Faith (Defense)
1John 5:4 – Overcome by Faith (Offense)

Rom 8:37: “Nay, in all these things we are more than Conquerors through Him that loved us.”
Rom 8:31: “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

It is totally the work of God’s grace in your life as a result of your response to it in humility and obedience of faith.

You can’t do it by yourself. Failure (falling down) comes when man tries to trust in his own strength, talents, and abilities rather than trusting in Christ.
If you depend on your strength, you are defeated.
But, IN HIM you more than conquerors.
You need to acknowledge and submit to the help of the Holy Spirit/the Paraclete (Helper) and adhere and abide in Christ and His word by the Spirit.

Wearing the label of a Christian doesn’t keep you protected. You need to stay in the vicinity of protection. In Christ’s Zone.

James 4:7 – Submit to God, resist the devil.
• SUBMIT. You get out of the arena of His will and you lose His protection. Abide in Him.
• RESIST in accordance to the Rule (the Word of God) mixed with faith and confidence in Him; by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Authority of His Name.

2. Recharge (Energy to Keep Going)
a. We derive our strength by abiding in Him and He in us by faith (John 15:5; Eph.3:16 – Inner man; Ps. 84:5-7).
b. We derive the strength daily by faith in His promises, and do not faint (2Cor.4:14-18 – renewed day by day; Col.1:11).
Conclusion: When Christ dwells in you by loving faith and you in Him by obedient faith, you have Authority, Power, Strength, Might, and Victory.

C. PROGRESSION (GROWTH-MOTION)
1. Improvement
a. By RECTIFICATION (of wounds, faults)
Prov. 24:16; Eccl.7:20 – Not one just who sins not
1Jn.1:9 – Confess and forsake
Paul says: “STOP DOING” lying, stealing, fornicating, strife, etc.
b. By DEVELOPMENT (of parts, areas)
Rom.12:3 – God has dealt to everyone… measure of faith.
Rom.14:22 – Have faith to thyself before God…

2. Increment/Increase
a. INTENSITY (Pr.4:18)
Your faith influences others.
b. PROXIMITY (Heb.12:1,2)
More focus, more patience.

Purpose: Maturity
• Dominate (Matt 28:18; Mk 16:15-19)
Will judge angels; act like kings and not like babes.

• Reproduce
- Make Disciples
- Baptize
- Teach to Observe

Prayer: Read Col.1:9-11: For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.

PART III. CONSUMMATION (BECAUSE OF FAITH)
A. PRIMARY CONSUMMATION
More data for faith.
REST – Learning (Matt.11:28-30)
TEST – Greater mountains to solve. Rest leads to Test leads to Rest….

B. FINAL CONSUMMATION
1. Eternal Kingdom (Matt.25:34 – to believers)
2. Eternal Reward – to overcomers, those faithful to the end; fruitful, responsible. (Rev. 17:14; 2:10; Matt.25:14)

APPLICATION
1. Don’t lose hold of His Grace
Prayer: 2Thess 1:11,12; 1Thess 5:23-25
2. Don’t lose hold of your Faith
Work: Phil.2:12,13; Heb.12:1,2

Story: The origin of the song “I have decided to follow Jesus”

"Follow Me!" - Bible Study

NGORA, Shillong
August 2011

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F  O  L  L  O  W

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F - Fixed-mindedness
Ps.57:7; Jas.1:5-7

O - Orientation of Life
Col. 1:16-21; Eph.1:10

L - Listening Ears
Jn. 8:43; 10:35ff

L - Learning Heart
Jas.3:13-18

O - Obedient Will
1Jn.1:3-6; 5:3; Jn.14:23,24

W - Witness of Christ
Acts.1:8; Lk.9:26; Ro.1:16

Intelligent Living - Pressing Toward the Goal (Phil 3:13,14)

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13,14)

There are two kinds of living: intelligent living and unintelligent living. Intelligent living is a life governed by purpose and design; unintelligent living is a life which is ungoverned and reckless.

If you have seen a man committed to a cause and living his entire life for that end, we have here an example of intelligent living. On the other hand, if you see a man waste his life shifting jobs of various kinds, having no clear purpose in mind, and chiefly concerned only about his immediate needs, this is an example of unintelligent living. Many people only live for the present. That hardly distinguishes them from animals; for animals also live only for their present. I heard of a tribe in the Amazon called Piraha whose culture is solely concerned with matters that fall within direct personal experience. They do not have a history beyond living memory. One missionary went there to evangelize them and realized that they were very happy with their own state of life, so didn’t need the gospel. When he tried to preach Christ to them, they shirked his talk away as irrelevant because there was no evidence that anyone living had ever seen Christ. This missionary, Daniel Everett by name, later gave up his own faith in Christ, because he thought the Piraha were an example of a life that can be satisfied without God. But such life has great disadvantages for sure. You can watch them from a distance like a bunch of humans good for anthropological studies but you must also realize that their lifestyle isn’t conducive to progress of any kind. They can’t be educated because education is something that goes beyond the present; it inculcates past experience with respect to future goals. So, when Everett brought in a master builder to teach and supervise the Piraha how to build a canoe, they enjoyed that. But, when they needed another canoe, they said “the Piraha do not make canoes” and asked Everett to buy them a new one. But, of course, life is possible without canoes. Life is, in fact, possible without anything but food. But, then how would that differentiate man from the animals?

Now, even intelligent living can be either wise or unwise. For instance, if someone applies intelligence to a goal which is not worthwhile or most important, no matter how successful he is in obtaining that, his life has missed the mark. Remember what Jesus said, “What does it matter if a man gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” Interestingly, one can quite intelligently chase the wind. Such is the state of those who run for money, power, and earthly honor, whose life is self-oriented, and who have confined their orientations to the bounds of the ephemeral. These are they who spend their energies concentrated to goals that are only a slight modification of animal orientations. Even education serves just these ends. Malcolm Muggeridge was right when he said that we have educated ourselves to imbecility. The world does pay more, in worldly terms, to those who serve the world; but, at the expense of eternity. Now, you don’t need to veer into that edge of spirituality where you say again like the Piraha that you don’t need money, education, etc for doing God’s work. That would be too impractical. Jesus said that those people are wise who know how to make eternal profits out of present resources. I am sure, if Paul had not used ink and papyrus, we wouldn’t have much of the New Testament. You, of course, need money to buy ink and paper, and need money to send letters by post as well.

Life can be compared to a rail car or train. It is not an end in itself but a vehicle to a destiny. The kind of life that you live leads to the destiny its steered to. Some people don't know where they have come from and where they are going, some aren't even concerned about it. They spend time walking from one end of the train to the other, totally disconnected from the destiny of the train. Some others start out well on a particular train of life, but then get down mid-way in some other station. They simply don't make it. We need to be consistent in the path that is true.

Paul here talks about the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. How many of us have realized that yet? How many of us are pursuing that as our chief end?

Paul is not talking here about some self-invented goal. One doesn’t get a prize of reaching a finish line that he himself has set. One gets a prize for finishing the race according to rules that the conveners of the games have set. God has a special call for all of us in life. We can’t create the goal of our life, we need to discover it. But, the Bible saves us the pain of even that. It reveals us the goal and the prize. The prize that Paul talks about here is the crown of life, the glorification of our bodies, which is the resurrection from the dead. Just imagine how tragic it would be if you gained everything in the world and missed just that. The goal is to lay hold of that for which Christ has also laid hold of him (v 12), which is the call to be a witness of Jesus Christ in this world and to save the lost. Do you think there is any other goal better and greater than this? Why did Jesus Christ come into this world? What was His goal? He said that He came to be a witness of the Truth and to seek and save them who were lost. If you have any other goal in mind that you think is better than this, then watch out, you are headed for the ultimate ditch. Other things that you pursue must only exist in relation to this.

Today, we’ll look at five constituents that are elemental to the pursuit of this goal.

1. Consecration: From God’s end, you were consecrated through the call of Jesus Christ. But, unless you have offered yourself on the altar of God as a living sacrifice, unless your mind is consecrated to serve Him, you can’t even begin. Consecration involves a holy and blameless lifestyle that is lived in perspective of heaven and not this passing world.

2. Concentration: Concentration refers to the fixation of all your energy, resources, and time on the achievement of the goal. A soldier fixes all his concentration on being a well-trained soldier first, and then winning the battle. Similarly, we must focus on our spiritual development and spiritual service in the world. Look at Jesus, what He is able to say at the age of 33 before God “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (Jn 17:4).

3. Confrontation: You cannot impact the world until you confront it. You may either flow with it or flow against it. Every step of change requires a confrontation. Every pace ahead requires a cutting through the current. Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”

4. Communication: Confrontation requires communication. You need to communicate the truth and be ready to give an answer regarding the hope that is in you always. Jesus’ ministry was about preaching, teaching, and healing. What do we communicate to people? Do we communicate God’s wisdom and His power? Our words, are they clear and understandable; are they voluminous enough? Do we fill the land with this “strange doctrine” that the disciples were accused of preaching? The gospel is ordained for the salvation of this land. Let’s communicate it faster, louder, repeatedly, far-reachingly, and quickly.

5. Conservation: Holding on to what we already have is example of good stewardship. Do we conserve our victories? Or, are we lapsing back again and again and losing things that we won earlier. I believe it was G. K. Chesterton who defined progress as consisting of those things that we leave behind and growth as those things that we leave within. What have we been able to leave, and what have we been able gain? Have we grown?

Let’s press on in order to reach the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.

The Christian and His Intellect

Heb. 5: 11-14: The Christian and His Intellect

Itarsi, 27 November 2005

Domenic Marbaniang 

Background

Man is constituted of three

Body      - Instinct, Sensation, and Reflexes (World-consciousness)

Soul        - Intellect, Emotion, and Volition (Self-consciousness)

Spirit      - Intuition, Conscience, and Communion (God-consciousness)

Faculty of Knowledge: Body (Senses), Soul (Intellect), Spirit (Intuition)

The Intellect receives data from the senses and intuition. It then orders them and places them in the memory of knowledge, as well as informs the various elements regarding necessary action. Elements: emotion, will, reflexes, communion.

Two kinds of Intelligences:

Rational Intelligence: Logical and Analytical ability, right reasoning, thinking.

Emotional Intelligence: Self-control, zeal, persistence, and the ability to motivate oneself in accordance to Truth and the Good.

Both kinds of intelligence are important and are developed through experience by study and practice. Emotional intelligence must depend on rational intelligence for consistency and propriety.

1. The Intellect and Salvation

Spiritual – Reconciliation (communion), Regeneration and purification of conscience (Hb. 9: 14)

Intellectual – Renewal of mind through study and practice. Progressive

Physical – Transformation of body. Future

All the three relate to the image of Christ.

1. The Spiritual and the Intellectual of the Inner man: 2 Cor. 4:16; 2Cor 4:4; 3:18; Col. 3:10
2. The Physical- 1Cor. 15:49; 1 Jn.3:2; Phil. 3:21

2. The Intellect and Knowledge. Eph. 1:18

a. Knowledge of Spiritual Truths. 1 Cor. 2:10, 12-14

Comes by study of Word – 2 Tim. 3: 16-17, Jn. 5:39 (Search- Investigate)

Hermeneutical Problems: 2 Pt. 3: 15,16 (Linguistic: Russel & Branham; Historical: Mohammed)

b. Knowledge of Spiritual Events. Lk. 24:25,26; 2Cor.2:11; Mt.7:16; 2 Tim. 3:1

(Pastor’s handling of spiritual errors in gifts among youths), Prophetic events; Good,evil

c. Knowledge of Spiritual Conditions

            of Self – 1 Cor. 10.12, 2Cor 13.5

            of Others – Col. 4.8, Acts 13.9,10 (Demon-possessed tactics)

d. Knowledge of Spiritual Work

            words – Col 4.6

            work – Acts 13.2, 1 Chr. 12: 32

Any work must be second to God’s work – Bring your firstfruits

Jer. 3:15, 1 Tim. 5: 17,18