Veteran skydiver Ivan McGuire parachuted out of airplanes most of his adult life. By just 35 years of age he had successfully completed over eight hundred jumps! In 1988 in Louisburg, North Carolina, Ivan McGuire was preparing himself for another jump. This particular jump was going to be different than all his previous jumps. His assignment was to strap on special video equipment so he could tape a student and an instructor jumping out of the airplane behind him.
As the airplane climbed to the desired altitude, Ivan began recording the careful preparations that were being made in the belly of the airplane. The instructor and his student were standing in the airplane's doorway rehearsing the details of the jump, checking their gear, and tightening their harnesses. When the plane reached the desired altitude of two miles Ivan was the first to jump, immediately followed by the instructor and the student. The videotape showed everyone in a freefall at exhilarating speeds up to one hundred fifty miles per hour. Next, the tape showed the instructor and the student opening their parachutes and rapidly receding from view as Ivan continued his plunge toward earth.
But something was drastically wrong. The video showed Ivan's right hand reaching for his parachute release. And then his left hand desperately reached forward. Next, the camera began jerking around violently. In the video you can see the ground approaching rapidly. And then there was nothing. The Federal Aviation Administration investigators later concluded that there was only one logical explanation for Ivan's death. They said he must have mistaken his video equipment for his parachute. In his preoccupation with his video equipment, he forgot to strap on the one essential piece of equipment he needed to survive his free-fall.
That story captures the gravity of our subject matter this morning. The tragic reality is that like Ivan, some of us have failed to make some very basic and extremely critical preparations in our lives.
Critical preparations.
Our present situation can be likened to the temporary security a skydiver experiences as he climbs to altitude in the belly of an airplane. That security is short-lived because the parachutist knows that in mere moments he must jump out of a perfectly fine aircraft into the great expanse of the sky. And he knows that when he jumps his security will no longer be found in the airplane, but rather in the preparations that he has made up to that point. If he has made the necessary preparations it will mean life. If he has failed to make critical preparations it will mean death. This is plain and simple.
Right now all of us have taken up temporary security in this world. We have homes to protect us from the elements. Our cars are equipped with air bags, seatbelts, roll bars, and cellular phones. We have everything we need for safety. We have home insurance, car insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, and cancer insurance, all as safety nets to guard us. Doctors, hospitals, policemen, firemen, and the military are all on stand by twenty-four hours a day. Our jobs provide a steady flow of income to meet all of our needs for food, clothing, and shelter. We always have our savings accounts, retirement, and pensions to fall back on. Our families and friends provide the close support that we need to get through life. We have technology, medicine, and science. These things are our security blanket!
Our earthy security is temporary.
But all of this security is temporary. For in a little while all of us must leap from the temporary security of this world into the daunting expanse of eternity. God has ordained it that every one of us face death. All of us must eventually jump. Hebrews 9:27 (NIV) says, "... man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment."
The obituary listings in the newspaper can be quite disconcerting. There is no pattern of reason or logic by which we can predict how long life will last. There is no basis for confidence in being alive tomorrow outside of sheer speculation. Some face death unexpectedly. Ivan was only 35 years old. His death was premature by every standard. His death was accidental. Some see death coming from a long way off as their health slowly ebbs away. The truth is that at any moment we could be hurtling through eternity atone hundred fifty miles an hour. When that happens, will we have made the one preparation necessary to spend eternity with God in his kingdom?
The things that bring us security now in this life will be of no value to us in the end. No safety measure, no insurance policy, no technology, no amount of money, no civil servant, and no diet or fitness program can save us beyond the grave. In the end only one thing is going to matter. And that is whether or not we have our parachute. It is whether or not we have made spiritual preparation. Proverbs 11:4 (NIV) says, "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death."
No one thinks that he will be so foolish as to overlook the obvious. Ivan sure didn't! But there is a very real possibility that we might become so preoccupied with the things of this world that we won't be ready to meet God when it really counts. And what a tragedy that would be, because it is something we can easily prepare for now!
Preparing to face God.
There is something that all of us will need when we face God at the end of our lives. That something is righteousness. Righteousness is our parachute. Without righteousness it is impossible to please God. Without righteousness we cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. In the end only the righteous will be vindicated. In the end only the righteous will receive eternal life. In the end only the righteous will see God. The standard that God will not use on our day of judgment is, "How good am I in comparison to the evildoers of our world?" The standard God will use on our day of judgment is Galatians 3:10 (NIV). "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." God's righteousness will be the measuring stick, not man's righteousness! Without perfect righteousness there is simply no hope for us.
As you can see, we have a major problem because none of us are righteous! We know truth of Romans 3:10 (NIV) all too well. "There is no one righteous, not even one." Romans 3:23 (NIV) says, "For all of have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
It isn't just that we fall short once in a while like when we really blow it. We continually fall short. We are tainted. All have sinned. No one is righteous. Our lives are totally unacceptable before a holy and perfect God. John 1:8 (NIV) says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." John 1:10 (NIV) says, "If we claim we have not sinned, we make him (God) out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
Now it would seem that we have a contradiction in play. No one is righteous and all have sinned. And yet God requires us to be righteous in order to gain eternal life! Does this mean that God has made it impossible for us to get to heaven?
This morning I encourage you to learn the lesson of the parachute. A skydiver knows that without a parachute he cannot survive the fall. A skydiver knows that without his parachute he is as good as dead! A skydiver knows that there is one preparation that trumps all the rest. He knows that he must trust in something outside of himself in order to go on living.
Our parachute is Christ's righteousness.
This same lesson applies in the spiritual realm. We cannot survive our fall from God's grace without a parachute. We need something outside of ourselves to save us on the day of God's judgment. We need a parachute of righteousness provided for us because our parachute of righteousness is utterly worthless. It is full of holes. We need God to fill up in our flesh all that is lacking in our less-than-perfect obedience. We need God to do this in order to make us pure, righteous, holy, and blameless in his sight!
Through his Son Jesus Christ, God provides just the kind of parachute we need. Romans 3:20-23 (NIV) says, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
The only way for us to become righteous and live for eternity is to strap on Christ's righteousness, not our own. Strapping on Christ's righteousness is the one essential preparation all must take before jumping from this life into the great expanse of eternity!
The Philippians were being told to put their confidence in their own works.
If you have your Bible I would like you to turn to Philippians 3:1-11. Notice what is going on in the Church at Philippi. Certain men were encouraging the Philippians to put their confidence in the works of the flesh. These men were self-deceived and believed that they had become righteous in God's sight by obeying Jewish laws and traditions, like circumcision. They insulted the Philippians, telling them that they weren't true worshipers of God. They went so far as comparing them to unclean dogs that roamed the streets, eating refuse and drinking out of mud puddles.
Paul turns their insults against them and reminds the Philippians to watch out for those who would insist on any righteousness other than that of Jesus Christ's. Paul encourages them in Philippians 3:3-4 (NIV)saying, "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence."
After citing all his religious credentials in Philippians 3:4-6 Paul says in Philippians 3:7-9 (NIV), "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ— the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
Paul was extremely proud of his religious heritage and his spiritual achievements. Paul was everything the typical Jew every aspired to become. He was circumcised on the eigth day according to the strictest Jewish laws and customs. He was a true Israelite, a direct descendant of the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Hebrew among Hebrews, an acknowledged religious leader among the Jews. He was a Pharisee. Pharisees were known for their pure lives and their rigid adherence to law and tradition. They were admired greatly. He persecuted the Church. He was faultless in his legalistic pursuit of righteousness.
Despite all his spiritual achievements Paul makes a stunning declaration in Philippians 3:8-9 (NIV)."I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
You should know the full force of Paul's word choice in these verses. When Paul compared his own righteousness to the righteousness he could have by faith in Jesus Christ, he considered his righteous achievements, "rubbish." "Rubbish" is a very mild translation of an extremely vulgar Greek word. Paul was essentially saying, "My achievements are like human waste in comparison to the righteousness God offers me by faith in Jesus Christ."
Whose righteousness are you trusting to get you into heaven?
This morning you have a very important matter of spiritual preparation before you. Whose righteousness are you trusting in to get you to heaven? Are you trusting in your own righteousness? Are you putting confidence in the flesh? In yourself? In your works? In your good deeds? Or are you trusting in the righteousness that God has provided through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ?
I was reading a newspaper clip that contained quotes of different people reflecting on the tragic mistake that Ivan Lester McGuire made back in 1988. The local sheriff said that there was no indication of foul play or suicide. But he added, "A man who has jumped eight hundred times ought to remember his parachute."
For the Christian there is one essential and quite obvious preparation that must be made by all men and women right now while we have an opportunity. That one essential preparation is strapping on the righteousness that God has provided to us through faith in Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ's righteousness we don't stand a chance when we step from the temporary security of this life into the great expanse of eternity.
This morning are you trusting in Christ's righteousness or are you trying to impress God by putting confidence in your own rubbish?