FELLOWSHIP IN GROWTH (2): GROWTH MEANS LIVING FRUITFULLY

(Philippians 1:10-11)
April 15, 2018
I Cor 10; I Cor 3; Heb 5
Read Phil 1:9-11 – God is patient, but he wants us to grow up. Bob Saucy
says in Minding the Heart: “We are like vagabond children who have been
adopted by a loving king to live in his palace. Accustomed to an unruly life,
these children must learn to take on the characteristics of their new home.
So we, who formerly lived a life shaped by a sinful, twisted, ego-centered
hateful heart, must learn to live life according to the new realities of our
Father’s kingdom.” That’s the goal, so how do we get there?

Paul gives 2 ways here. First we Love Fervently – abound more and more in
love. Babes are selfish to the core. Do you love God and others today? Do it
even better tomorrow. Love is the ultimate priority of all one of us – not being
right, not getting our way, not even ministry. Love is it. Fervently,
increasingly, intelligently and insightfully loving other. Abounding IN
LOVE! That’s v. 9.

In vv. 10-11 we get a second element of growth – Live Fruitfully. If you

plant something, you expect to get something, right? If you plant roses, you
expect to see a rose. You expect fruit. So does the Lord! We grow producing
fruit.

How do you gain physical maturity? You learn by experience, right? I used to
steer the tractor while Dad was in the seat behind me. But one day he gave me
the go-ahead all on my own. I started it up – no problem – put it in gear and
was ready. But then, I popped the clutch. I didn’t yet know about ease up on
the clutch. But I grew a little. And so we grow in our Xn life by learning and
doing – empowered by the HS, yes. But we must take initiative – to do better
tomorrow than we did today. Live Fruitfully. Two elements.

I. Discern What’s Best

10)so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for
the day of Christ.” Step one -- “approve what is excellent.” Approve –
δοκιμαζω – “allow, examine, approve, discern.” What is excellent – διαφερω
– that which is superior. So Paul is urging – when it comes to your life – don’t
just float along, just doing whatever comes to hand to do. Examine, discern
and find the superior things – and do those. Set the bar HIGH!

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That’s a great challenge. Don’t just do good things; find the best things and
do those! God would rather have us do good than evil. But his point here is
there’s a diff between good and best! Good can be the enemy of best! Find the
best and do that! This is not about discerning right from wrong, it’s about
discerning best from second best. Sports are good – hobbies are good.
Nothing sinful about hitting a ball, casting for fish or video games. But any of
these at the wrong time, in the wrong place or done to excess can easily
become the enemy of best in our lives. That’s Paul’s point. Think, discern,
evaluate – is this the best use of my present time? That’s the question! At one
time it may be – getting much needed exercise or rest. At another time it may
be robbing us from time in the Word, or opportunity for ministry or whatever.

John Wesley’s mom understood. When John went away to Oxford, she wrote:
“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience,
obscures your sense of God, or takes off the delight for spiritual things,
whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind, that thing is
sin.” It doesn’t have to be evil to be wrong. It’s anything that distracts from
God’s presence. Growing people don’t settle for good; they want best!

I know a guy who headed a mission department for a major denomination. But
he decided one day he was out of shape and determined to take better care of
his body. Joined a gym and began to go faithfully several times a week.
Anything wrong with that? Of course, not. You can do more in a trained body
than a weak one, right? But the gym became an addiction for this guy. Pretty
soon it was every day – then it was every spare minute. Before long he had no
time for church or even his family. Good had become the enemy of best!

Matt Chandler says, “I can’t trust myself to follow sports too closely. Isn’t
that crazy? I can’t follow sports too closely, because I will start to care. And
really, how dumb is it to be emotionally affected by how a 21-year-old
handles a ball?” He goes on, “I can’t watch too much TV. I’m not an anti-
TV guy . . . but if I watch too much of it, I unplug from holy things. Before I
know it I’m giggling at things the Lord calls wicked. So I can’t watch too
much.” He’s growing by discerning what’s ultimate in his life. He’s aiming
high. Choosing best over good. He’ll never regret it.

II. Do What’s Best

Do What’s Best. We can know best and still not do it. We’re expert at
compromise and rationalization – abilities that began when Adam succumbed
to Satan’s lie and that continue unabated to this day. But we don’t grow by
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discerning what’s best and doing something else! We grow by doing what’s
best.10 so that you may approve what is excellent [Know it!], and so be pure
and blameless for the day of Christ [Do it].” TouOnly Christ was perfectly
blameless. But that’s our goal, isn’t it? Christlikeness - pure and blameless.

“Pure” (εἰλικρινής) – from 2 words – judge and sun. In ancient times fine
pottery often cracked when fired. Unscrupulous vendors would fill the cracks
with wax which concealed the flaw when painted or glazed. But it would not
stand heat. So you, take your new vase home, set it on the fireplace only to
find melted wax running down. Paul is saying, “Don’t live like that. Don’t
cover cracks of disobedience with the wax of hypocrisy.” You might get by
with it in this life. But what about in the day of Christ? Will your actions
stand the heat of His penetrating gaze? Some in Philippi were putting on a
good show, but they were more about themselves than Jesus.

“Blameless” – (ἀπρόσκοπος) – “not causing others to stumble by giving or

taking offense.” Arriving at the day of Christ without someone saying you
caused them to stumble. It’s Paul’s goal. Acts 24:16: “So I always take pains
to have a clear [blameless] conscience toward both God and man.” Paul
wanted his whole life to point toward Christ, not away from Him. He states
even more clearly in I Cor 10: 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever
you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense [literally, being
blameless] to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to
please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of
many, that they may be saved.” He’s not saying get everyone to like you. If
the gospel gives offense, so be it. But don’t you give offense! Don’t have the
kind of self-centered, I’m right, my way or the highway attitude that some of
the Philippians had developed. You’ll regret it at the Day of Christ!

I Cor 3: 11) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ. 12) Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13) each one’s work will become
manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and
the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14) If the work that
anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15) If
anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be
saved, but only as through fire.” Paul is saying, “Grow up. Learn it and live it.
Practice what you preach.” Jas 1:22: “But be doers of the word, and not
hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Be pure and blameless. When you fail,

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confess it, accept His forgiveness, get up, move on. Don’t wallow in failure.
Real failure is when we stay down. To grow, we must get up and move on.

Jill Briscoe in Eight Choices That Will Change a Woman’s Life tells of newly
arriving in Wisc from England as a pastor’s wife. She found a church where
everyone seemed to have natural abilities that put hers to shame. But she says,
“As I worked alongside the women and college-aged kids at church, I began
to realize they feared failure. It was contagious. I, too, became scared of
doing anything I did not think I could handle well.” She talked it over with
her husband, Stuart, who gave advice you don’t often hear: "If a job is worth
doing, it’s worth doing badly rather than not doing it! How do you learn to
do something well if you don’t start by doing it badly and practicing?" God
knows we fail. James 3:2 says, "We all stumble in many ways.” Is that an
excuse to quit? No! There’s a marvelously encouraging verse: Heb 5:14: “But
solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment
trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Practice holiness!

We moved from the country to town when I was 8 years old. I was
immediately introduced to kickball. First time they rolled a ball to me to kick,
I missed so badly I fell on my rear end. Second time I barely tapped it. It took
awhile, but after a few days, I remember vividly suddenly getting it right,
kicking it over everyone’s head and getting a home run. Practice. How does a
child learn to walk? Practice – a succession of failures and restarts. How do
you learn to hit a baseball or knit an afghan? Practice. How do you learn to be
pure and blameless? Practice! So get on with it. Practice; produce some fruit!

A. Through Christ – Paul’s not done quite yet. If you go away

thinking it’s all on you – that practice alone that will get the job done, you’ll
be sadly disappointed. 11) filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes
through Jesus Christ.” Our task is to grow in purity and blamelessness. But
we’re helpless on our own! Gotta remember an important thing about fruit-
bearing. He’s the vine; we’re the branches. No fruit without branches, right.
But branches are useless without the vine. Jn 15:4) Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither
can you, unless you abide in me. 5) I am the vine; you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart
from me you can do nothing.” Without Him – no fruit, just worthless leaves.
Fruit comes as we stay connected to Him through the HS within.

Some of the Philippians thought the fruit came through them. They forgot it’s
all about Him, not us. They wanted front and center. They wanted it their
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way. They were abiding in themselves, not in the true vine. And they’d lost
their way. When you tend your garden, you do a lot of work, right? You
prepare the soil. You plant the seed. You water it; you fertilize it. Your
participation is not optional. No you – no tomatoes, right? But do you make
the plant grow? No. Something other than you makes it grow. And it is the
same with the fruit of righteousness. We participate – but someone else makes
it grow.

After WWI, Lawrence of Arabia hosted some Arab friends in Paris. He

showed them the sights – the Louvre, the Arc de Triumph, Napoleon’s tomb,
Versailles. But guess what really fascinated them? What blew their minds was
the faucet in the bathtub of their hotel room. They turned it on over and over.
It was wonderful. They’d never seen water in that abundance. Great! But as
they prepared to leave, Lawrence found them in the bathroom trying to detach
the faucet to take with them. They explained, “It is very dry in Arabia. What
we need are faucets. If we have them, we will have all the water we want.”
Lawrence had to explain that the faucets didn’t produce the water; they just
released it from an immense water system. No attachment; not water. And no
attachment to Christ; no fruit. God will use us, but we must abide -- in His
Word, in prayer, in confession, and dependence on His Spirit or we will
produce nothing. It’s our practice coupled with His life-giving power that
produces the fruit of righteousness. It’s through Christ – abiding in Him.

B. For God -- 11) filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes
through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Our tendency is always
to see things – even spiritual things – in light of our own advantage. We want
to grow for our own benefit. But the Bible always comes back to a different
place. It is always God-centered, not man centered. God’s glory trumps
everything! Even to seek spiritual growth merely for our own advantage is to
have an idol. It is the glory of God that matters, not the glory of me. My
growth is more for His glory than my benefit. God’s glory was always Paul’s
goal. The fruit of righteousness will benefit me, but I want it for His glory.

In truth, our self-centeredness knows no bounds. We even think of our

salvation in very personal terms. That’s natural, right? Thank God Jesus died
and paid my penalty so I can go to heaven. But I have news. God did not save
us primarily so we can go to heaven! Listen to Psa 79:9:Help us, O God of
our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins,
for your name’s sake!” God has saved us not primarily for our name’s sake,
but for His. Eph 1:5) he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus
Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6) to the praise of his glorious
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grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” It’s all about Him and
His glory, not me and mine.

Some of the Philippians had forgotten that. They were disputing trivialities --
which means they were pursuing their glory, not God’s. And God has
something to say about that. Isa 48:11: “For my own sake, for my own sake, I
do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to
another.” If the goal of any of our actions is anything less than the glory of
God, we’re aiming too low. God’s glory is everything. When John the
Baptist’s disciples complained that Jesus had come on the scene and was
stealing John’s thunder, what was John’s reply? Jn 3:30: “He must increase
but I must decrease.” He knew better than to touch the glory. And so we want
to grow up in Christ – for our benefit? Yes – but primarily for His glory.

Orchestra leader Paul Whiteman got words of wisdom from his father on his
deathbed. He said, “I’ll tell you why Toscanini is such a great conductor. It
is because his orchestra never plays for Toscanini, nor does Toscanini reach
out selfishly for credit. First, Toscanini always conducts the music as if
Beethoven himself were listening. And second, Toscanini wants Beethoven
to hear it done correctly." So why do we want to grow up in Christ – to be
doers as well as hearers? So our great God and Savior can get the glory.

Conc – Warren Wiersbe keeps a clipping on his desk from a man named
Marsden – first name unknown. The clipping says, “Make every occasion a
great occasion, for you can never tell when someone may be taking your
measure for a larger place.” For believers, we know for sure that someone is
always taking our measure. We may be sure that God is always watching. So
every moment of every day is one more opportunity to Love Fervently and
Live Fruitfully – becoming more and more like our elder brother to glory of
our great Father. That’s a pretty good family objective, wouldn’t you say?

Fruit producing costs – but it is way worth it. The greatest fruit-producing
event in history was the cross. It wasn’t fun. The price was unimaginable. But
He did it for the joy set before Him. Billions of souls will be in eternity with
the Father because the Son went to the cross. Living fruitfully will involve
death to self. But we also come alive in Him which is far, far better. And
we’re part of compelling others to Him. That’s the great reward. Let’s pray.