You know, we all hope in something or someone
to give us life and hope and future. And here's
the bad news. Everything and everyone will someday
let you down, except the one hope that never
fades, that never changes. And we're going to
talk about how you can experience that hope today.
Stay with me. Welcome to this edition of Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. The mission of
this daily program is to intentionally disciple
Christians through the insightful Bible teaching
of Chip Ingram. And in just a minute, he'll wrap
up our series, I Choose Hope. For the last several
programs, he's been building a convincing case
that Christ is our only trustworthy source of
hope. Today he makes a final argument for why
placing our trust and faith in Jesus can completely
change our lives. And let me just say, if this
study of Philippians chapter 3 has encouraged
you, would you take a minute after this message
and share it with someone in your life who needs
to hear it? Now, you can do that through the
Chippengram app or by sending them the free MP3s
that you'll find at livingontheedge .org. And
while you're there, our website is a great place
to explore if this is your first time listening
to our broadcast or want to learn more about
what we do. You'll find tons of resources and
countless programs to enjoy there. So check out
livingontheedge .org today. Okay, let's get going.
If you have a Bible, go to the book of Philippians
chapter 3 for Chip's final message in this series,
Knowing Hope. The Apostle Paul would write in
2 Corinthians, for God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. Notice this line, no longer
counting people's sins against them. And he gave
us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
For God made Christ who never sinned to be the
offering for our sin so that we could be made
right with God through Christ. What's he saying?
This is amazing. He's saying that Jesus was born
and from the foundations of the earth, he came
to live a perfect life, reveal what God was like,
teach. and tie all that had happened and all
the prophecies of the Old Testament to verify
its reality, to do miracles that no one has done
that were verified even by his enemies, to have
eyewitness accounts of over 500 people that he
actually lived and walked upon the earth, but
his mission was, I'm coming to die, and I'm going
to die an unfair death. Being fully human, he
could die. Being fully God, he could pay the
price for all the sin of all people of all time,
and he would absorb your your sin and mine and
the people of all time as the sin offering so
God could cover or atone for the sins of all
people. And he did it on a cross. The moment
he was born, that's game day. That's redemption.
You have already been purchased by God. And the
price tag was the blood of Christ. Now, are you
ready for this? You know what this means? You
have been forgiven. You're already forgiven.
You can't earn it. You can't negotiate it. It's
a gift. See, when Jesus hung upon that cross,
your sin, my sin, the sins of all people were
placed upon him. And when he died, he defeated
death and sin and Satan. And when he rose from
the dead, it's true. He made everyone forgiven.
So the gift is free to everyone. But only those
who, by faith, receive the gift have a relationship
with God. I didn't know that. I went to church
until I kind of opted out. I never knew that.
You are wanted. You're completely understood.
And you have a gift. Some of you, probably the
great majority in this room, you've opened it.
You've received Christ. There was a day that
you realized my life's not working or for some
of us it was my life's working really great and
I'm supposed to be happy because of this, this,
this, and this and it's really not. And God showed
you that it would be his love and he wanted to
give you what money can't buy, what another person
can't give, what a perfect family can't deliver,
what the best job or going public will never
give you, life and peace and love and purpose.
And so at a point in time, probably the great
majority in this room, turned from your sin,
repented, and asked Christ to forgive you and
also come into your life, and it's called a new
birth, and you were changed, and you're on the
journey. For some, you know what I see with a
lot of people is they believe in Jesus, but they've
never received him. It's sort of an intellect.
Do you believe in God? Yeah. Believe in Jesus?
Yeah. Have you received him? Is he the focus
of your life? Is he changing you? Are you experiencing
him? And that answer would be, probably not.
The message of Jesus is hope. Paul says, I am
in a... personal relationship with God that has
so radicalized my life and my thinking that his
love, his actual concern has somehow come down
inside of me and I just feel compelled to love
other people. And notice what he says. Since
we believe that Christ died for all, we believe
also that we died to our old life. That means
that anyone who belongs to Christ has become,
look at this, Not a religious person. A new person.
The old you. The old me. The old life is gone.
A new life has begun. It's an absolute new life.
Hope for today. Hope for tomorrow. And hope forever.
Here's the big question. The really, really big
question. Where's your hope? Not intellectual,
okay? I mean. in terms of your energy, in terms
of your time, in terms of your focus, in terms
of your dreams, I mean, just, and I'm not gonna
ask you to say anything out loud, but if you
would just have a private conversation right
now, what does your lifestyle, what does your
priorities, what would they say, life is going
to be meaningful and secure and deliver for me
because I have a great job, finally get married,
make a lot of money, my kids are very successful,
right? But where's your hope? Because this is
an amazing offer of a brand new life, but it
has really big competitors. I remember a young
man came to me and he looked to be, I don't know,
mid -30ish. And he said, you're the pastor. I
said, well, I'm one of them. And he said, can
I have a quick talk with you? This is my first
time here. And I just don't know if you would
be comfortable with someone like me coming. I
said, well, Gosh, why? Just tell me a little
bit about yourself. He said, well, I just got
out of prison last week. I said, okay, tell me
a little bit more. He said, well, I was in prison
for murder one, and I got out early for a good
behavior. But he said, that whole experience,
what I realized was my whole old life was not
what God wanted, and I've met Christ personally,
and he's really transformed my life. But I realize,
I mean, I'm a felon, and I'm a murderer. I just
wanted to tell you up front. I didn't want someone
to find out and someone come to tell you, you
got a murderer running around. I said, oh no,
we got liars. We got fornicators. We got affairers.
We got crooks. We got people with sexual addictions.
We have people that are narcissists. No, no,
you're gonna fit right in. But we're forgiven
and we're new and we're on a journey. In fact,
I said the apostle Paul was a murderer and Moses
was a murderer. And I don't mean to diminish
it, but God forgives. This isn't like a try hard,
self -righteous, clean up your act. This is a
total transformation of the living God coming
and taking up residence inside you and you build
a relationship and little by little, he transforms
your life. But here's the deal. That's been true
for 2 ,000 years, but the challenge in the first
century is the same challenge that we have. There
is so much. There is so much competition to take
your heart and to take your hope and to put it
someplace else that won't deliver. The Apostle
Paul is going to give a warning to this little
church that he loves, that he's tight with. He's
told his life story. We learned in chapter one
that he's gonna. be executed, but he chooses
joy. He says, circumstances can't shape me. We
learned that there's been a lot of difficult
time and he chooses that I'm gonna be a loving
person no matter what in chapter two. And then
chapter three, he says, I've got hope. I mean,
whether I die or whether I live, I've got hope.
And now to this little group that's being persecuted
and some false teachers have come in. He says,
I want you to make sure your hope is the kind
of hope that delivers. The apostle Paul has contrasted
false hope of his past success, education, status,
wealth, and personal morality with the true hope
of love and joy and peace and purpose found through
an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. He
makes it really clear. I don't have it all together.
It doesn't mean I'm perfect in this life, but
I am pursuing this relationship with Christ because
he's my hope. And so just to give you a picture,
because, you know, some of this Bible stuff,
if you're like me, I didn't grow up reading the
Bible. I didn't grow up understanding or following
Christ. Let me just give you a picture of when
he says, my hope's not in these things, you might
say, well, gosh, you know, he was a loser. Why
would he? No, no, no. The Apostle Paul is described
by Will Durant. who wrote a complete history
of mankind, secular historian, as the greatest
single intellect in the entire first century.
If I was giving, you know, he was the rising
star in Judaism. If I was introducing him today,
if it was the Apostle Paul today, I would say,
Paul came from a prestigious family. He went
to a prestigious prep school. He did his undergraduate
at Stanford. He did his MBA at Harvard. On the
side, he went to Wharton School of Finance. He
did a little extra work in his area in MIT in
post -grad work. Along with that, what he did
was he was morally... the finest person anyone
has ever met. His wife and family are just wonderful.
Because of this, he's become very, very wealthy
and would hold the kind of job of CEO. That's
this guy in his day. Wealth, power, success,
education. And the world says, if you can somehow,
someway get all that, you'll be happy and secure.
And what do we know? Now, am I saying those things
are bad? No. But they're a bad hope, right? If
your hope's in your marriage and your partner
dies, it's not so good. If your hope's in your
kids and someone goes left to center and they're
drunk and your kids are gone, it's not good.
If your hope is in money and you lose it, it's
not good. Those things can be... rich, wonderful
things in our life, but what you can accumulate
or achieve or possess or find apart from Christ
will always at some point disappoint you. And
so his plea, this is this pastoral heart of Paul.
His plea is put your hope in that that is going
to deliver real life. You're listening to Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and he'll be right
back to finish today's message. But first, is
all the uncertainty in our world causing you
to feel discouraged and anxious? Then listen
in after the teaching to hear about Chip's newest
book, I Choose Joy. This tool will help you experience
deep, lasting joy no matter what. Stick around
to learn more. Well, for now, here's Chip with
the remainder of his talk. And so he gives this
warning and a command. And then he gives them
a couple reasons why. He says, the command is,
you must live out your hope every day. This isn't
just a religious experience. This isn't intellectual.
You have to live out this hope every day. Notice
in verse 17, brethren, join in following my example
and observe those who walk according to the pattern
you have in us. Three words, example, observe,
and pattern. What he basically says is, I was
with you. My whole life changed. The test of
where your hope is is not what you think and
not what you say. The test of where your hope
is is your behavior and your conduct. What do
you do with your time, your energy, and your
money and your relationships? He says, I gave
you a pattern of transformation. Make sure you
stay on that path. You live out your hope every
day. And then he gives us two reasons. Reason
number one is a really negative one. Because
apparently there were some people that were professing
to be followers. They intellectually said or
believed they were followers. But they were saying
this, but their life was like not even close.
And so this is a warning. Reason number one is
because false hopes deliver tragedy. If you want
to jot a word down. Notice he's brokenhearted.
For many walk, whom I often told you and tell
you now, weeping, that they're one enemies of
the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction,
whose food is their appetite, whose glory is
in their shame, and they set their minds on earthly
things. These people profess that their hope
is in Christ, but they've become enemies of the
cross. In other words, they're going to find
it somewhere else. That means they're undermining
everything that Jesus did. Their end is destruction.
And this is a word that, yeah, they say this,
but their hope isn't in Christ. And so they're
going to end up apart from him forever. In fact,
he goes, what you see is what are their motivations?
This word here for... Their God is their appetite
or literally it's their stomach. Actually, it's
used in other parts in the New Testament as sexual
organs. In other words, sensuality. How much
can I get greed and sex and power? He says, that's
their God. That's their appetite. That's what
they want, which reveals their hope is in Christ.
And then with sorrow, he just, they glory in
their shame. Do you realize that an awful lot
about sex has nothing to do about sex? It has
everything to do with power and manipulation.
And you know what? That ain't new. This was written
a couple thousand years ago. And he says, at
the heart of it is how you think. What's it say?
Who set their minds on earthly things. And he's
not saying it's wrong to set your mind on what
you need to get done. He's saying setting their
minds on what can this world now deliver as hope
brings tragedy. Some of you already know that,
don't you? You thought when you found Mr. Right
or Miss Right and now it ended in divorce. Some
of you have thought, you know, man, it's going
to be in work and I'm going to do this and I'm
going to climb the ladder and I'm going to...
And for some, it didn't work, and you realize,
and for others, it did work. I've got a handful
of friends that are just extraordinarily wealthy
in money and who are some of the saddest, loneliest
people I've ever met because what they lost was
the things that matter, their family, their friends,
their integrity. Now, they're back on the track,
and God's been gracious. Let's get to the good
news. The second reason to put your hope in Christ
is that true hope delivers transformation. He's
going to say there's a reorientation. Don't think
that Christianity is kind of be a nice person,
go to church now and then, and maybe go on a
mission trip. No, no, no, no, no. This is about
he came down. It's a wonder. It's a mystery.
He understands. He's already forgiven you. There's
a brand new life. So he's got a plan and a future
for you. Embrace it. Go for it. And then he says,
why? Here's the root. The root is our citizenship,
our real homes in heaven. We're gonna live forever,
not just in time, from which we eagerly await
for a savior. Notice the focus. That's what I'm
looking forward to. It's an eternal perspective.
The Lord Jesus Christ, who will do, who will
transform the body of our humble state. If you
had, I would have you circle that and underline
that. Who will transform, the word is morph.
It's a word that means to be absolutely in substance
changed from the inside out. That's the evidence
of true hope. And it says not only does it happen
spiritually and emotionally and in this life,
but a day will come where your actual body will
be transformed by him. And how does he do it?
By the power that he has to subject all things
into himself. We started with the wonder of a
God who speaks these galaxies into existence.
And now he says that same power to subject all
things, a day will come for those who put their
hope in Christ. And he says this, you will be
transformed and I've prepared a place for you
and we'll be together forever. So live your life
like what is true about me is true and that heaven
is real and eternal values will really pay off.
And it will not only produce the kind of life
you've always dreamed of today, that it'll be
an anchor for your soul when you face the greatest
difficulty that we will all face one day. And
that's death. And he's saying it's been overcome.
As we close today's program, I just wanted to
talk with you very personally. As I finished
this message, I talked about the greatest difficulty
we will ever face is death. And it's one that
we all face. real issue of hope. We've talked
for, you know, a number of days now about hope,
about pursuing hope, of having hope and where
it comes from and how that everyone and everything
at some point in time will let us down. But the
fact of the matter is that the greatest place
that we need hope is, is there hope not just
for this life, but for when we die? You know,
I have had the The honor and the privilege and
also the just sheer responsibility as a pastor
for over 35 years of burying a lot of people.
And it's so interesting to watch people die.
It may sound morbid, but this is one of those
realities. All of life isn't, wow, wonderful,
great, happy. People that we love die. And it's
interesting that when people have genuine hope,
not some veneer of religiosity, not I went to
church, not I intellectually believe in God,
not I'm trying to be a nice or good person, but
the difference between people that have a deep
personal relationship with Jesus and have a hope,
not wishful thinking, but an anchor in their
soul, they die so differently and they live so
differently. I just wish you could somehow climb
inside my mind and see two video screens at the
same time. And one of a family of a godly man
or a godly woman. And sometimes they're 25 and
sometimes they're 85. And their family and their
kids or their grandkids. And when they've lived
this life and when they've had this eternal perspective.
And they weren't perfect. They didn't have it
all together. But they had a hope in Christ that
transformed their life. And they die in peace.
They die knowing for certain that they will be
with Christ in heaven forever. And the family
responds in ways that it's, of course, there's
grief and there's tears and there's sorrow. But
there's a laughter about memories and there's
a certainty and there's a hope. And it's unexplainable.
And by contrast, I wish you could see the other
screen of the trivial remarks and he or she's
gone to a better place and sort of all these
trite little things and jokes about things that
are immaterial. And what you really see is the
despair. And you see people face a reality that
they have no idea is there any hope afterwards
because their hope has been in success. or how
they look, or how much they make, or what school
their kids got into, or their hope was in a person,
and now that person is gone. What I want you
to know is that as the Apostle Paul finishes
this teaching in Philippians 3, he's in essence
saying, follow my pattern. Walk behind me. Reason
number one, there's a group of people that their
affections got shifted. Their appetite was about
the now. It was about lust. It was about power.
It was about money. It was about sex. It was
about looks. And it ended in destruction. And
there's another group of people who understood
their citizenship is in heaven. There's a reality
of life that's more than now. And as they fix
their hope on Christ, an amazing thing happened.
Their life was transformed now in this life with
joy and peace and connection and love and a hope
that's unchanging and unfading of a new heaven
and a new earth with a Savior and a King who
is their Lord and their Savior. Here's my question.
Where's your hope today? I'm asking those of
you that used to walk with God. that you can't
believe you're listening to this right now, but
you have, quote, fallen away. Wouldn't today
be the right day to tell God, I'm so sorry, and
I'm coming back and get into the Word, find a
good church, and begin to grow? And for some
of you, you've never heard this before, but you
know you're going to die. And today's the day
for you to say, Lord Jesus, I want to put my
hope in you. I've put it in people. I've put
it in things. I've put it in work. I've put it
in success. Everyone and everything someday will
let you down. And so right now, would you bow
your head and would you in your heart of hearts
just cry out to God who wants to hear, Lord Jesus,
save me. Please forgive me today. I believe today
that Jesus is the Son of God, that you died for
my sin in my place and rose from the dead. And
today, I invite you to come into my life. to
cleanse me, to forgive me, to make me your son,
to make me your daughter. And now I ask you to
help me follow you all the days of my life. And
as you pray that, please text or call the greatest
Christian you know. Tell him what you did. Find
a great Bible teaching church this weekend and
go to livingontheedge .org. And we have some
free resources to help you grow. Welcome to the
family. Thanks, Chip. Well, if you prayed to
receive Christ, we do have a free resource we'd
like to put in your hands that was created specifically
for new believers. This tool will help you understand
what it means to trust in Jesus and what to do
next. Request this free resource by calling 888
-333 -6003 or by visiting livingontheedge .org,
then clicking the New Believers button. That's
livingontheedge .org or call 888 - 333 -6003.
Let us help you get started in your faith journey.
Well, Chip's with me in studio still. And Chip,
we've talked all month about your newest book,
I Choose Joy. And many may not know that this
work came out of a challenging season of life.
In fact, you're still wrestling with those circumstances
right now. Would you be willing to open up about
that with our listeners? Absolutely, Dave. I
had really painful back issues for about three
years that led to a major surgery. They put hardware
in my back. Three years later, it broke above
it and below it. It was another surgery. And
I was sitting down with my wife, and it was a
long journey. And I kept working and doing what
God called me to do, and I tried to be upbeat.
And she turned to me and she said, Chip, do you
realize how negative you've become over the last
few years? At first, I was defensive. No, no,
no, no, no, no, I'm not. And she said, you've
been an upbeat person most of all of our marriage
of 40 plus years. And literally, you've just
become negative. I heard that and I didn't like
it, but I thought about it. And Dave, I have
to tell you, she was 100 % right. I was so convicted.
And then I was scheduled to teach Philippians
1 at the Billy Graham Center like two months
later. So I had to study that up and get ready.
And it was out of that study and in my struggle
was birthed, I choose joy. If you're hurting,
if you feel like you've become a bit more negative
or anxious or hope is sort of drifting away,
let me encourage you. God's word is powerful.
His spirit will work. You don't have to wait.
I learned you can choose joy regardless of your
circumstance. God bless you and keep pressing
ahead. Good word, Chip. To get your copy of the
new I Choose Joy book, visit livingontheedge
.org or call 888 -333 -6003. I'm excited for
all of you to experience the life -changing power
of this work. Again, go to livingontheedge .org
or call 888 -333 -6003 for complete details about
the new book, I Choose Joy. App listeners, tap
Special Offers. As we close, would you stop for
a minute and pray for Living on the Edge today?
We've never seen a greater need for God's truth
to go out than right now. And by God's grace,
Living on the Edge has provided encouragement,
teaching, and personal discipleship resources
to more people than ever. So thank you to those
who support us in prayer. God is doing amazing
things. Well, from all of us here, I'm Dave Drewy,
thanking you for listening to this edition of
Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us
again next time.