Let Us Walk in the Same Steps — Stephen Kaung

Pressing Toward the Heavenly Calling

Will you please turn to the letter to the Philippians, the letter to the Philippians, chapter three, we'll stop where we started yesterday, but we'll continue on to the end of the chapter. Philippians chapter three, verse seven,.

But what things were gained to me, these I counted on account of Christ's loss. But surely I count also all things to be lost, on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all, and count them to be few, that I may gain Christ, and that I may be found in him, not having my righteousness, which would be on the principle of law, but that which is by faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God through faith, to know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if any way I arrive at the out-resurrection from among the dead.

Not that I have already obtained, or am already perfected, but I pursue, if also I may get possession of it, seeing that also I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not count to have got possession myself, but one thing, forgetting the things behind and stretching out to the things before, I pursue, looking towards the goal, for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus.

Verse fifteen,. As many, therefore, as are perfect, let us be thus minded. And if ye are any otherwise minded, this also God shall reveal to you. Verse sixteen,. But whereto we have attained, let us walk in the same step.

Be imitators altogether of me, brethren, and fix your eyes on those walking thus, as ye have asked for a model. In parenthesis, chapter eighteen, verse eighteen,. For many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is the valley, and their glory in their shame, who mine earthly things.

End of parenthesis, verse twenty. For our commonwealth, that is, our citizenship, has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory, according to the working of the power which He has even to subdue all things to Himself.

Let us have a word of prayer. Lord, our hearts are most grateful, and our hearts are full, having had the privilege of remembering Thee at the table. Lord, Thou art precious to us. Thou truly art everything to us.

We really do not need to say anything more. Thou hast already spoken to us through the blood and the body broken. Lord, we just pray that Thou wilt bless Thy word and make Thy word living reality to all of us, and to Thee be the glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus.

The Renewed Mind and the New Way

This time our burden is thus minded and walk in the same steps, or walk thus. Thus minded and walk thus. I cannot go back to what we have covered yesterday, but just to say that in our Christian growth, two things are very essential.

One is our mind, and the other is our walk. Unless we have our own mind renewed, we will not be able to walk in the new way. These two things are very closely related. Now brothers and sisters, how can our own mind be renewed?

Our own mind minds the things of the flesh. Our own mind is set upon the things earthly in the world. It minds only our own self. That is the way our mind works, and because that was the way our mind was works, so that was the way that we walk.

We seek the things of this world, we consider earthly things as gain, and we always only think of ourselves. That is the old mind. So our mind needs to be renewed, and the only way to have our mind renewed, as we walk, as we find in Romans chapter twelve, verse one, present your bodies a living sacrifice.

This is holy, acceptable to God, and it is your reasonable service, or spiritual worship. After we have received all the mercies of God, what is left for us to do? The only thing we can do, and we should do, is to consecrate.

That is to give ourselves completely over to the one who so loved us, and gave himself. There is no other way. We have to give ourselves completely to him. We have to give up our rights to our own life, because we are his.

And as we do that, a marvelous thing, the Holy Spirit change, renew, and make our mind a new mind. And that is to say, we begin to set our mind on things heavenly, because this is where our Christ is.

Consecration for Every Believer

So brothers and sisters, the first thing, the first Christian experience, is consecration. If you have never consecrated yourself to the Lord, now in the past it is true, when people talk about consecration, they give us a wrong idea.

The idea was, if you consecrate yourself to the Lord, you become a preacher, you become a Bible woman, you become a missionary. Now that is consecrating yourself to the Lord. But brothers and sisters, it is a wrong concept.

Therefore, brethren, I beseech you, by the bodies, a living sacrifice. In other words, consecration is for all the saved ones. Everyone who is redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus, is exalted to consecrate yourself to the Lord who loves you so much.

And to consecrate yourself is not to do anything for him, to work for him. To consecrate yourself is to allow him to take over your life and work in you. Unless you allow him to do his work in you, you will never be able to do any work for him.

You are not qualified. And whatever you do is a disservice to God, is not a service. Brothers and sisters, first of all, we have to give ourselves to the Lord and let him do something in our lives. The first thing that will happen is the renewing of your mind.

Gaining Christ as True Gain

Your mind begins to go through a change. You begin to look at things very differently. What you considered as gain in the past, you now look at these things as loss. And not only loss, but filth. Now, who loves filth?

You drop it. You walk away from it. But what you consider as loss, now you consider. In other words, you begin to see that you are gaining. Gaining the world actually is a loss. But you begin to see now that gaining Christ is the only gain in your life.

You begin to see that gaining yourself, gaining anything for yourself, is a great loss. It's filthy. But gaining Christ, real gain. There is nothing in this universe that you can consider as gain except gaining Christ Jesus.

And this is the mind of the Apostle Paul. For gaining Christ, he was willing to count all things as loss. And not only count them as loss, but lost them. His only passion, his only mindset is upon the things that are above, where Christ, to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, that one day He may arrive at our resurrection from among the dead.

And he said, not that I have already possessed, I have already attained. He said, I pursue. Because I want to possess all that I have been possessed of by our Lord Jesus. God has a purpose to our lives.

There is an on high calling to every one of us. And that on high calling is so high because it is God's calling. It has to satisfy God's heart. And that calling is calling us to be conformed to the image of His beloved Son.

To be like, that together we may be a glorious church, a bride fit for that glorious Lamb of God. Now, brothers and sisters, it is time for us to be perfect. If you want to be perfect, that is, if you want to grow up spiritually, if you want to mature spiritually, you have to be thus.

If you are otherwise minded, God will reveal it. And hopefully God has already revealed it. Then, brothers and sisters, after we have received the revelation, the vision of Christ, then what will happen?

Walking According to the Heavenly Vision

It has to be followed and balanced by our walk. In other words, just to have the right mind is not the end. Now, having been thus minded, you should begin to walk in the right direction. Begin to walk.

Begin to walk towards the goal. Or may I put it another way? Our mind must be set on the ultimate, the highest, the glorious. Never try to set your mind on anything less than the fullness. You have to set your mind high, as high as possible.

The highest. Why? Because it is the way you set your mind that will direct your step, that will govern your living upon this earth. So never set your mind anything lower than what God has called you to be.

Set your mind upon the things which is in heaven, where Christ is. But not because you have set your mind so high, therefore you are already there. You are not there yet. Far from it. You have to walk towards.

Your mind is set in heaven, but your walk is on the earth. You are to walk according to heaven. You are to walk according to heaven. You are living on earth, but you are living according to Christ. That is the walk that we have to walk upon this earth.

Patient Endurance in the Christian Walk

Now, brothers and sisters, walk is very tedious. It's hard. It's long. It's difficult. You will meet many obstacles, many problems, and yet this is how we have to walk humbly, patiently, continuously, day by day, towards what our mind has set upon, to gain.

Now you know in the Bible there are different ways to describe this walk. Now if you turn to Isaiah chapter 40. In Isaiah chapter 40, 31, they that wait upon Jehovah shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.

They shall run and not tire. They shall walk. Now here we find they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. That is, fly. So what is flying? Walking upward.

And they shall run and not tire. Now what is run? You double your pace, quicken your steps. It is still walking, but walking faster. That's run. And walk. Walk is you go at slow pace, patiently, step by step, and not faint.

You find that in our Christian life, sometimes you have to walk upward. Why? Because there are obstacles there. There are mountains, and you have to fly over them. And sometimes you have to quicken your pace, because there is such a long way to cover, and there is very limited time for it.

But sometimes you have to trot on the mountain, and you have to walk along patiently, slowly, step. But anyway, if you know where you are heading, if your mind is set upon, you want to gain Him, then you are determined.

No matter what happens, no matter how long the way may be, no matter how difficult it may be, no matter how many problems there are, you are determined to walk towards it until you reach. Just to have a mind that makes you philosophical, it doesn't make you spiritual at all.

You become a visionary, a dreamer. You have to walk according to what you have seen. Spiritual things are very practical. They are not theories, not theologies. They are practical. And that's the reason why you have the balance of truth.

You aim high, but you walk on earth patiently. So brothers and sisters, not only do we need to have a new mind, but having that new mind, then we are able to walk a new way. I'm thinking of Hebrews chapter 12.

Running the Race by Looking to Jesus

You know in Hebrews chapter 12, beginning with verse 1, Let us also therefore, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight, and seeing that so easily beset us, entangles us, run with endurance the race that lies before us, looking steadfastly on Jesus, the leader and completer.

Brothers and sisters, after we believe in the Lord Jesus, God puts us on a course. Now if you have ever read the life story of Mrs. Louise Penn-Lewis, I think in that biography, if I remember correctly, she mentioned something.

She mentioned that whenever a person is saved, he or she will be put on a course, on a way. And this is the course, the way that we have to travel. And the goal is Christ. We who have the life of Christ in us, have to walk towards Christ so that we may gain Him fully.

So everyone is on a race, is on a course, on a walk, or run, or fly. Everyone is there, no exception. Now when you are on a race, and we are surrounded with crowds of witnesses, and according to the context, these witnesses refer to all these men mentioned in chapter 11.

Now these men, from Abel on, how they walk and finish their course. And they are witnesses. They are there encouraging us, cheering us on to finish. Now with all these people who are surrounding us, all those who have gone before us, and have finished their course, they are there encouraging us.

Now how do we run? How do we walk? How do we finish it? He said, laying aside every weight. Now have you ever seen a runner who is closed with furs, and fur coat, and heavy coat, and run? No, they strip themselves of every weight.

Laying Aside Every Weight and Entanglement

Now what is weight? Weight is not necessarily sin. You know our problem is, we always ask this question, is it a sin? If it is not a sin, then I can do it. But brothers and sisters, there are many things that are not sinful, and yet they weigh you down.

If you want to just sit there, or lie there, you can have them. But if you want to walk to the fullness of Christ, then you have to lay aside, strip away, all these weighty things. In Luke chapter 21 verse 34, our Lord Jesus said, Be careful, your hearts are laden with drinking, and eating, and the care of this life, that the day will come to you suddenly unaware.

Brothers and sisters, the Lord is coming soon. We do not know when. He may come any time. He will come and He will take raptured, catch up, those who are ready for Him. But you may be laden down with all these weights there, and you cannot.

You know what your weights are. It may be different with different people, but you know it. Something of this world, it may be legitimate, but it weighs you down. Something you love, is not sinful, but it weighs you down.

You know. The Holy Spirit will reveal to each one of us, what our weights are. And if you really want to walk according to Christ, lay aside. Strip yourself to the barest. I often think modern life is not conducive to spiritual life.

We are way down with the things of this world. With all the interests of this world. Our life is too complicated. We make our life too complicated. Miss, we lose the simplicity that is in Christ. These are weights.

Lay them aside. Live a simple life. Do not allow these things to weigh you down. There are many things that we think we must have. Is that true? You cannot live without these things. Lay aside. That easily entangles us.

The Sin of Unbelief

Now the sin here is singular in number. So a number of people think that what the sin refers here, is actually the number of sins what you find in the book of Hebrews. It is a sin of unbelief. The children of Israel because of their unbelief, they are not able to enter into the promised land.

They tested, they tempted the Lord ten times. They would not believe. They ask, is the Lord able to do that? Is the Lord able to spread a table in the wilderness? Is the Lord present with us? They look at themselves, they look at their environment, they forget the Lord.

It is a sin of unbelief. And brothers and sisters, we all have this sin with us. The wicked heart of unbelief. And this is something that we have to lay aside. Run with endurance. Life is a lifetime experience.

You cannot arrive in one day. Today we live in a world that wants everything instant. You know I was really surprised several years ago, but now I no longer surprised. I was surprised when they began to say there is instant tea.

Now I heard of instant coffee, but never instant tea. But now instant tea is no surprise. That is the mentality of the world today. Instant. And it is carried into Christianity. You know everyone wants to be instantly spiritual.

Oh if I only get a certain experience, instantly I am spiritual. No such thing. There is no shortcut in spirituality. There is a way you have to walk with endurance. By faith and patience we inherit our inheritance.

Discipline and Perseverance in the Race

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 .24. Know ye not that they who run in a race course run all, but one receives the prize, thus run, in order that ye may obtain. But everyone that contains what prize is temperate in all things.

They then, indeed, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore thus run, as not uncertainly, so I combat as not beating the air, but I buffet my body and leave it captive.

Let it be. Let it be blessed after having preached to others. I should be myself. Reject. The way we have to run. Sisters, the way we have to walk. This is the combat. The wrestling that we have to wrestle with.

And when we are doing all these things, what give us looking off? The author and finisher. So brothers and sisters, here you see one thing very clearly. We are on this earth. We are on a journey. But brothers and sisters, you set your mind upon the things above, where Christ is.

Pilgrims Seeking the Heavenly City

Then when you walk on this earth, you walk as a stranger and sojourners. You know Abraham, when the Lord of Glory appeared to him, he began to walk. He became a stranger, a sojourner, on the very land that God has promised to give to him.

Why? Because he saw the city with foundations, which God, and that gave him strength, gave him faith to continue on to the very end. So brothers and sisters, if you are on this earth, your mind is really set on the things above, where Christ is.

Then when you walk on this earth, you walk as a stranger, as a pilgrim, as a sojourner on this earth. Now is that true? Our citizenship. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are aliens on this earth. Now being pilgrims, we are just passing through.

We do not settle things to us, or transient. Now do we walk on this earth as pilgrims? Do we walk on this earth as strangers? Do you feel strange when the world look at you differently? Nothing strange, because you are a stranger.

If you are a pilgrim, or you are a settler, earth dwellers, as you find in the book of Revelation, you know one day judgment will come upon those who dwell upon the earth. They are earth dwellers. Who do you consider yourself to be?

A pilgrim? A stranger? A sojourner? You have to face many oppositions, misunderstandings, your not appreciated by this world, because the world is not worthy of you. You have seen. Look off from all these things, and look unto Jesus, there waiting to receive you.

I was deeply touched by the way that the first martyr died. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, waiting for him. That is the way to walk. Brothers and sisters, what is the way that we walk on?

The Way of the Cross Leads to Glory

It is the way of the cross. When our Lord Jesus was on earth, that is the way he walked through. He was born to die. The cross cast a long shadow over his whole life. When he stepped into the water of baptism, he deliberately committed himself to the cross.

He set his face to Jerusalem until he was crucified. But it is the cross that leads to glory. And if you want to be like him, if you want to be fully united with him, if you want your life to be characterized by him, then brothers and sisters, you have no choice.

You have to walk the same way. The only way we can walk is by looking off unto Jesus. Keep him before you all the time. Let his beauty, his glory attract you, occupy you, and make everything a cross. Brothers and sisters, are we to walk thus?

Paul has walked in this way. Many have walked in this way. And we are exalted to walk likewise. Do not feel strange that the world does not appreciate you. Do not feel strange if tribulations, sufferings come upon you.

Walk towards the Lord. Walk with the Lord. Enoch walked with the Lord, and he walked and walked to be with the Lord. And that is the way we have to walk. But again remember, unless your mind is set upon Christ, you will not be able to walk.

The Warning Against Earthly-Minded Christianity

And then you find when Paul was writing this letter, he put something into parenthesis. In Philippians chapter 3, verse 18. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is the valley, and their glory in their shame.

Who mine earthly things. These words are not spoken to unbelievers. Nothing strange for unbelievers to mine earthly things. To people of this world, their God is their valley, they seek for vain glory, and actually is their shame.

Nothing strange, but to a Christian, to a believer, not only strange, Paul is not speaking to unbelievers. He reminds those Philippian believers often, and now he said, I write with weeping. He wept over those Christians who mine earthly things, who seek things for themselves, who seek for vain glory.

Actually is their shame, and their end is destruction. Now destruction here does not mean eternal death, because they are the Lord. Destruction here is the same as you find in Matthew chapter 7. Those who walk in the broad way, it leads to destruction.

In other words, you do not walk in the narrow way. You reject the cross. You are the enemies of the cross. You will not allow the cross to work in your life, to put yourself to death, to put your flesh to death, put the world to death, to put everything that is not of God to death.

You will not allow the cross to work in your life. You are enemies of the cross. Isn't that tragic? All these people, there are many. Now if you read the letter to the Philippines, the Philippian church is such a beautiful church.

Maybe this refers to you, your dear Syntagchy. They are zealous for the gospel, they are co-workers with Paul in the gospel, and yet they seek for vainglory. They compete with each other. They cause party spirit in the church.

They do not allow the cross to work in their lives. Awkwardly they are spiritual, but actually they are carnal. Brothers and sisters, I wonder whom Paul was referring to. In the church in Philippi, I thought I couldn't find any more.

Maybe he was talking about the church in general. Maybe he was talking about us. How tragic this is. This is the tragedy of Christianity, brothers and sisters. It is so common to us. We don't feel it anymore.

I was before the Lord even this morning. Lord, I do not weep anymore over such a situation because it is so common. I don't feel it anymore. Make me feel it. Oh, brothers and sisters, do you know your citizenship is in heaven?

Why sit the things of this earth? It isn't worth it. It is the narrow way that leads to life, that leads to glory, that leads to Christ. What do you really want? The world and everything will pass away, but only Christ remains eternal.

Rededicating Our Lives to Christ

So, brothers and sisters, let us be thus minded, and let us walk thus. May we take the warning to our hearts, and may we rededicate our lives, Christ's, Christ's own. Dear Lord, we sing you are beautiful, you are glorious, but Lord, are you really beautiful to us?

Are you really glorious to us? Do you really make everything as beautiful and lost because of the excellency of your knowledge to us? Oh, make it real. Make it living. Deliver us from all that is false, transient, passing, leading to destruction.

Oh, Lord, show us, show us thyself, show us thy way. Enable us to look off from everything, and just look at you. Oh, the more we look at you, the more you are beautiful, the more glorious you are, and you will transform us, and conform us to your image, to the glory of the Father.

In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord, because you know how blind we are to ourselves.

Prayer for Renewal, Repentance, and Pursuing Christ

Therefore, you have given this word to us, because in you there is mercy. You desire to recover us back to yourself fully. Lord, forgive us that we are blind to our own situation. We thank you for what we heard these last two days.

And Lord, may the word that we heard become life and light to us. We thank you. We heard your word, and we know the longing of your heart. It is that we praise on to know your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

We just pray through what we heard this week, this few days, you will give us that passion, Lord, to really pursue after you. We thank you. Lord, our plea is that you will enlighten us, that you will give us the strength to see our real situation, and repent, and turn around, and for you to recover ourselves back to yourself fully.

We thank you. Even the word warning is unnecessary. Lord, we often love your promises, but we often look at your warnings. Lord, we just pray as we heard your word this weekend that you will help us to walk in a balanced way.

We desire to know the truth, but help us to fix our eyes on the heavenly, and knowing our walk is right here on this earth, with you and with one another. And Lord, we thank you for the encouraging word we heard this weekend.

Lord, lead us in the coming days that we may all pursue after you with a whole heart. Lord, gain us for yourself, and give us a desire to gain you, because only in gaining you there is true gain. And we thank you, praise you, for speaking to our hearts.

We give you all the praise and all the glory we ask in Lord Jesus.