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Note: These questions follow the pattern of the series and the sermon content from Pastor Dr. Josh Lilly.
Mature Thinking
Rejoice, Reject, Rest, Reach, Remain
Sermon by Pastor Dr. Josh Lilly · Text: Philippians 3:1–16 · Weekly Devotional Questions
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.… Look out for the dogs.… For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.… I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.… and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ.… I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.… forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
— Philippians 3:1–3, 8–9, 12–14, 16 (ESV)
Day 1 — One Message, Said Again
Read: Philippians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 2:1–5; Exodus 14:30–15:24; 16:1–3
1. Paul says writing the same things is no trouble and is safe for the church. Why does mature joy need repetition?
2. The sermon compared our hearts to Israel after the Red Sea. Where has “three meals and a cot” started to look better than the Lord who saved you?
3. Pastor Josh said the secret is out: he has one message—Jesus Christ and him crucified. Has that message grown beautiful or humdrum in you?
4. Good theology leads to good doxology. What would it look like this week to feed on the Word more than once on Sunday?
5. What do you already do to keep your heart from growing cold? What is missing?
PRAYER
Father, we are prone to wander. Thank You that it is no trouble to You to give us the same gospel again. Captivate us with Christ. Make the good news unsafe to ignore and safe to hear. Keep our joy in the Lord.
Day 2 — Watch Out: Confidence in the Flesh
Read: Philippians 3:2–3; Genesis 3:1–7; Acts 15:1–11; Galatians 5:1–6
1. False teaching began in the garden and now lives on our devices. Where do you listen without testing?
2. The Judaizers said the gospel was “not quite right”—you must add circumcision. What addition are you most tempted to require of yourself or of others?
3. “Religion says God won’t; you need to. The gospel says you can’t; God has.” Which sentence better describes how you actually pray?
4. Paul defines the true circumcision as worship by the Spirit, glory in Christ, and no confidence in the flesh. Which of those three is thinnest in you?
5. Why is “Jesus 99 percent, plus 1 percent I bring” not almost-saved, but lost?
PRAYER
Lord, give us discernment. Deliver us from teachers who add to Christ and from the part of us that wants them to. Teach us to worship by Your Spirit, to glory in Your Son, and to put no confidence in the flesh.
Day 3 — The Résumé That Cannot Save
Read: Philippians 3:4–7; Isaiah 64:6; Luke 18:9–14
1. Walk Paul’s list: eighth-day circumcision, Israel, Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews, Pharisee, zeal, blameless. Which item would still impress your world?
2. He is not claiming the résumé justifies him. He is saying the best résumé is still loss. What “best thing” in your story do you still treat as leverage with God?
3. The sermon asked what you will say when you stand before God. Answer that question without editing it first.
4. “Nothing in my hands I bring.” What are you still holding?
5. Paul counts former gain as rubbish so that he may gain Christ. What would it cost you to count one prized thing as loss this week?
PRAYER
God of mercy, our righteousness is not a case we can argue. We count as loss whatever keeps us from the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Strip the résumé. Give us Christ.
Day 4 — Rest in a Righteousness Not Your Own
Read: Philippians 3:8–9; Genesis 15:1–6; Romans 3:19–26; 4:1–8
1. What is the difference between a righteousness that comes from the law and a righteousness from God that depends on faith?
2. The sermon said God gave the law to reveal his holiness and our sin so that we would receive the Savior. How has the law recently done that work in you?
3. Abraham was credited as righteous by faith. Why does it matter that this is not a New Testament invention?
4. Rest means setting the work down. Where are you still trying to increase a righteousness that is already complete in Christ?
5. The gospel is simple and hard because we want God to take something we give. What would humility look like before Sunday?
PRAYER
Father, if righteousness could come through the law, Christ died for nothing. We receive the righteousness that is from You through faith in Your Son. Teach us to rest. We will have none of our own helping.
Day 5 — Seized, Therefore Pressing On
Read: Philippians 3:10–12; Romans 6:1–4; 8:28–30
1. Paul wants to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings. Which of those longings is weakest in you, and why?
2. He is talking about maturation, not about how a person gets saved. Where have you confused those two?
3. “I press on… because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” How does that order change the way you pursue holiness?
4. You are righteous, and you are not yet perfected. What happens when you forget either half of that sentence?
5. Should we sin that grace may abound? Why does a person seized by Jesus refuse both despair and complacency?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, You have seized us. We do not run so that You will take us; we run because You already have. Make us hungry to know You, willing to share Your sufferings, and done with the lie that we have arrived.
Day 6 — Forget What Lies Behind
Read: Philippians 3:13–14; Hebrews 12:1–2; Isaiah 43:18–19
1. The runner leans through the tape. Where has complacency in Christ become your posture?
2. The enemy loves the rearview mirror of sin. What failure are you still treating as the end of the race?
3. Some of us need to forget past successes. What ministry story has become a recliner instead of a starting block?
4. An almost-ninety-year-old grandmother still teaching Bible study does not always remember names, but she wants to finish well. What would finishing well look like in your present assignment?
5. Past, present, and future sin forgiven is that good. How will you refuse to use that goodness as a reason to sit down?
PRAYER
Christ, You put us in the race, You keep us in the race, and with You we finish. Forgive the stare into the rearview. Give us the one thing: straining forward to the prize of the upward call.
Day 7 — Remain Teachable. Hold What You Have.
Read: Philippians 3:15–16; 1 Corinthians 15:1–4; Jude 3; John 10:27–29
1. “Let those of us who are mature think this way.” Why is arrival the opposite of mature thinking?
2. Paul trusts God to reveal where the church still thinks wrongly. Where do you need that mercy?
3. Verse 1 and verse 16 bookend the text: hear the same things; hold what you have attained. What piece of the gospel are you most in danger of loosening?
4. If you feel like walking away, the sermon said Christ keeps those who are his. How is that different from taking the side roads and wasting years?
5. If you do not yet belong to Christ, you cannot stand on a résumé. What keeps you from coming to him and asking to be found in him?
PRAYER
Father, keep us teachable. Keep us faithful. Hold us fast when we feel like leaving. Do not let us waste our lives on side roads. If any among us have not trusted Your Son, find them in him—with no confidence in the flesh, and all their joy in the Lord.
Family or Group Discussion
1. Which of the five words—rejoice, reject, rest, reach, remain—most exposed you this week, and why?
2. What “same gospel” does our family or group need to hear again without rolling our eyes?
3. How do we help one another drop the résumé without becoming careless about holiness?
4. Pray for one another: warm hearts, rejected self-trust, real rest in Christ, a forward lean, and a teachable hold on the gospel.
Weekly Practice
Mature thinking rejoices in the Lord, rejects the flesh, rests in Christ, reaches forward, and remains faithful.
• Each morning, before the day’s list, say out loud where your joy will sit today: in the Lord, not in the résumé.
• Welcome one repetition of the gospel you already know—read Philippians 3:7–11 slowly, or tell a child the same good news in simpler words.
• Name one source you have been treating as a teacher and test it against Scripture. Put it down if it adds to Christ.
• Write the sentence you would speak if you stood before God tonight. Cross out every line that is not Christ.
• Practice rest: refuse one extra spiritual performance you were using to feel safer with God.
• Practice reaching: do the next faithful thing in an assignment that is not finished, including the hidden ones.
• Thank one older saint who is still leaning forward. Ask one question of someone who knows more than you.
• Finish the sentence: “Because Christ has made me his own, this week I will __________.” If you do not know Christ, take the first step: come and tell a pastor or elder.
THIS WEEK’S CHARGE
A church that lives this way does not add a percent to Jesus. We rejoice in the Lord. We reject confidence in the flesh. We rest in a righteousness that is from God through faith. We reach forward because we have already been seized. We remain teachable and we hold what we have attained—until the upward call, for the glory of Christ and the good of his people at Crossroads.
These questions are prepared to serve personal, family, and small-group study of the Word as we continue the Philippians series. May the God who seized us in Christ form in us a glad hearing of the same gospel, a clean break with confidence in the flesh, a deep rest in the righteousness of Jesus, a forward strain toward the prize, and a teachable hold on what we have received—for the glory of Christ and the strengthening of his church at Crossroads.