Philippians 3 (Part 2) :12-21 • Pressing On Toward the Goal

okay Philippians chapter three we're gonna pick it up in verse 12 I'm gonna read through the rest of the chapter please follow along as I do goes like this not that I have already obtained this or I'm already perfect but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own brothers I do not consider that I have made it my own but one thing I do 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 let those of us who are mature think this way and if in anything you think otherwise God will reveal that also to you only let us hold true to what we have attained brothers join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us for many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears walk as enemies of the cross of Christ their end is destruction their God is their belly and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things but our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself stop there let's pray father thank you so much for your word now we pray that you would anoint our ears spiritually our eyes spiritually to both hear and see what you would have us to take from this passage help us we pray and guide us in understanding we ask it in Jesus name Amen you'll notice here that Paul is kind of in mid-thought in verse 12 when he says at the beginning not that I have already obtained this and if you missed last week you may not know what this is referring to but it's referring to about what we looked at last week back in verse 10 which was Paul talking about how he wants to be like Christ is I want to know Christ I want to be conformed to his image and that's basically a fancy way of saying I want to be like him I want to be like Jesus and that was Paul's heart desire but he says here not that I've already obtained this and so what he's basically telling the the Philippians here that even though that's his goal he's not yet reached it in other words he's saying I haven't arrived you know not by a long shot as a matter of fact I have a heart's desire you know to be like Jesus and and and I think it's important for preachers teachers Sunday School teachers anybody who handles the Word of God in front of other people to be willing to admit to them to whoever is listening to them I'm not there this whole idea of Christlikeness being like it I'm not there if the Apostle Paul was willing to admit it to you and I I think we ought to be willing to admit it to one another I'm not there it's my heart's desire it's my goal to be more like him but I haven't yet arrived and so he says even though I know I haven't gotten there and this side of the veil I never will I'm not going to be perfected this side of the veil this side of the presence of the Lord however I continue to press on that is such an important thing I keep pressing on and why does Paul keep pressing on look at the second half of verse 12 if you would please very important here if you haven't underlined this it might be important to do that he says I press on to make it Christ likeness my own because Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus in this case has made me his own that an interesting statement and what Paul is saying by that is that every believer has really no other reason beyond the simple truth that he has made you his own for you to keep pressing on to become what God created you to be and what he desires you to be and so forth you know when Paul talked about Christ made me his own and that's my motivation for being more christ-like he's basically has in mind what we were just talking about in Communion and all that he suffered the incredible suffering that he endured on the cross for you and he did it so that you could be his that was why he did it that's why he endured it it was a horrible thing to endure and yet he did it so that you would be his I don't know how often that sort of a thought goes through your mind but I think it's an important one I mean just to think about that when you think about your life and how you're living your life and you stop to consider the posture that Jesus suffered all of this stuff he endured all of that horrific suffering so that I would be his you know just so that I would be his I mean talk about paying the bride price you know in in in old cultures there was a situation where a groom would pay the bride price whatever the father of the woman he that man wanted to marry you know said he needed to pay in order to you know show his worthiness and so forth and you know whatever it might be you know a couple of goats I don't know can you imagine being a woman you know my dad asked for two goats you know for my hand in marriage or something like that anybody who's ever raised goats they're like yeah big deal but Jesus paid with his life to have you to have you you and I want you to think about that Paul thought about it and it motivated him to want to be more like Jesus it motivated him to press on to be more like Christ I just I just find that amazing so Paul goes on in verses 13 and following to describe that process of pressing on because when I say to you hey let's press on let's press on to be more like him you know you might ask the question well what exactly does that mean and what are the what are the ways that you go about doing that Paul lays out some strategy here for us in verse 13 look what he says he says brothers starting here I do not consider that I have made it my own but one thing I do and then he goes on to mention three things typical Paul he says forgetting what lies behind straining forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus so this is the strategy that Paul lays out for pressing on and I think this is a good strategy for you and I it takes a little bit of time here this morning to think about because this is something we're all called to to press on to Christ likeness so Paul says one thing I do then he mentions three things here they are up on the screen for you he mentions forgetting what lies behind straining forward to what lies ahead and pressing on toward the goal to win the prize let's talk about these because you know here's the point all of these things are a picture of a foot race and I don't know how many of you have ever been in a foot race before I I did some track when I was in school and I enjoyed running track it was it was you know kind of fun and that was fairly fast and that was fun you know winning is always fun but I kind of understand a little bit and some of you do too I'm sure the kind of the dynamics of what goes in to being a successful runner and he's going to talk about that because the picture of our Christian life is likened to a foot race more like a marathon than a dash but still he says the first thing that's very important is forgetting what lies behind forgetting what lies behind what does that mean exactly well it means that if you're going to be a successful runner you can't look back behind you I actually had a friend a good friend of mine in school who lost a race because he looked back to see if there was anybody close and in that just that that that momentary effort then it took physically you know because you're no longer really using everything you have to propel yourself forward now you're using some of your muscles to turn around and look backward some guy passed him up just in that you know that fraction of a second that all was or sometimes is the the the the difference between first and second place and he lost the race and and Paul is talking about not looking back back at the past now what does he mean by that is he saying you know I don't remember my past anymore obviously not Paul even talks about his past from time to time in the word but what Paul is talking about here is he's talking about making a conscious determination on his part not to let the past or his past dominate his attention and and dictate the kind of a man that he's going to be in Christ and the reason that's incredibly important is because I I I'll be honest with you I see a lot of people today Christians who lived their lives walk their lives out as if the past is everything and they will they may not actually say it but you can hear it in their words that their past dominates their life because they talk about it all the time and what you hear in the words that they speak is that there is this kind of jail that they are in that is built with the bars of the past and they just can't break out of it and they and they talk about the things they've been through and they talk about the abuse they've received or the difficulty they went through as a child you know my parents were mean or something like that or my dad you know was an awful person to live with or you know I I didn't have a mom and a dad and I was bounced around from foster home to foster home or you know whatever the thing might be and and and they continually remind you when you talk to them that these are the things that were in their past and as if to communicate very clearly that this has shaped the person that they are now and it's kind of like although they don't say it they communicate to you in very real terms that they don't really see Jesus reaching into their jail cell and making any significant changes because this is just who I am you know and it's really sad now I want to be careful not to suggest to you that a person's past doesn't affect them because it certainly does very much I mean I have been doing what I've been doing long enough and talking to people long enough to know that it can create some very significant hurdles but remember this is a foot race and many times in a foot race they would put hurdles in your path to see who could get over the hurdle and still finish first in the race and some of you guys your race the race that you're running you know in your walk with the Lord is filled with hurdles you're literally running the high hurdles because of the things that you've gone through but that doesn't mean that those hurdles are insurmountable they may slow you down a little bit from time to time in fact they may produce some real issues some real challenges I don't know if you've ever seen anybody to get tangled up in a hurdle trying to get over it and then go to the ground with a crash been there done that literally but you know in Christ we get up and we keep running the race right so the point of this all is that you don't have to be defined by your past because there is a new reality that has entered into your life Paul talks about this in one of his other letters in second Corinthians let me put it on the screen for you he writes this if anyone is in Christ he's a new creation and he says very specifically here that the old has passed away he's talking about the old things that dominated our lives and control our lives the old things that grab you by the jugular and say no you stay put he says no that's not a reality in your life that stuff has passed away and the new life in Jesus which by the way is stronger than the old life right has now taken control and that simply is a how we understand that idea that greater is He that is in you than all of the past issues that you've been through put together those things do not define you any longer Christ defines you now not your past and that's what Paul is talking about if you're going to run the race to win you can't constantly be looking back and so the first strategy that Paul gives us here is a very important one because culturally we have been encouraged to do what I believe is very unhealthy and that's to dwell on the past look what God's Word says here's what happens when you do that Isaiah chapter 43 says forget the fun this is the Lord speaking forget the former things do not dwell on the past see I am doing a new thing now it springs up do you not perceive it I'm making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland this is a wonderful passage from the standpoint of the questions that God encourages us to think through like do you not perceive it perceive what he just got done saying I'm doing a new thing isn't that what Paul said in his passage in Corinthians the new has come the old has passed away the new has come right well that's a new thing but you know what you're never going to get around to perceiving anything new the Lord is doing in your life as long as you're always looking at the past when you're dwelling on the past so he says here don't dwell on the past because if you do if you're looking back this way you're not going to be seeing what God is doing ahead of you oh we get so caught up in the past and it's a very natural thing for us to dwell on the past I'll be honest with you our flesh likes to live there you know likes to make that my address but it's it's not a good place for you and I to live even if you've been convinced culturally or maybe some counselors somewhere along the line told you well you got to go back into your past and you've got to deal with those issues yeah just let Jesus deal with those issues and you just go this way you go this way you know God is able to deal with the past in your heart he's able to heal those past hurts that you've been through in life he can do it if you'll give them to him I'll tell you one way that they won't go away keep your eyes on them keep looking at the past keep looking at the big monsters in your background they won't go away in fact they'll get bigger and meaner and nastier and stronger you keep your eyes on Jesus because he's the one who's gonna wrestle your paths to the ground and conquer it because you see he's already won the victory Jesus already conquered sin and death he can handle the stuff that you've been through he's already carried the weight of the world on his shoulders he can carry the issues that you've been through so very important things to remember second strategy that Paul advances is the opposite of looking back he says then he says straining forward to what lies ahead you know I think about that I think about what lies ahead and I think to myself you know what you and I don't know what lies ahead I mean ultimately we've been given the final sort of a thing but in your life you know you don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring or the day after that or the week after that and neither did Paul and yet he still leaned into it he still strained toward what God had for him ahead in that road ahead I'm not looking back here I'm just looking ahead in fact not only am i looking ahead I'm straining toward what is ahead I'm leaning into it all right and the reason Paul was able to lean into what was to come was because he knew who did know what was to come in his life and he trusted him and that's the point you and I can't see the future God can he's not limited by space and time therefore he knows your future and you can trust him with it because he is just as much in control there as he is right here and Paul knew that so he said I am going to lean into and you know when it comes to a foot race this is kind of that picture of just leaning into the run you know again you can't look back when you're running and win what you do is you take every muscle every fiber of your being and you lean into that run you propel yourself forward that's what you have to do in a run I mean everything from you know coming out of the starting blocks and the the the pushing of those leg muscles to propel you forward and then to continue to propel yourself forward during the race not looking back not going to the right not going to the left going forward Jesus I want to go forward with you not backward you know so he leaned into it so what do we know about this thing we're leaning into what do we know about this race that we're running Paul writes about it in Ephesians it wasn't that long ago we went through this I'll put it on the screen Ephesians 2:10 Paul writes we are his workmanship and here's what we're doing here's what we're here is what the race is all about we've been created in Christ Jesus for good works they've all been prepared ahead of time that we might walk in them and we're going to lean into that I want to lean into what he has for me as my purpose to do the good works that he's called me to do he has a purpose for your life and it's not just to make money and pay bills and go through life and buy a few things and try to make yourself happy and live a you know a contented life that's not the goal the goal is to serve the Lord to serve the king to do the work that he's called you to do he put you here for a reason you were created for a reason you and your children and so what leaning forward into the race or straining forward is all about is fulfilling that purpose as I run the race being the person that God has called me to be for whatever time or issue or need it presents itself related to that Lord I want to be yours so I'm just going to keep straining forward I'm not going to sit back I'm not going to stop the race right I'm gonna keep running and I'm gonna propel myself forward and then finally in this strategy Paul speaks of pressing on toward the goal to win the prize here's where Paul is envisioning the finish line and I remember I was never in any long races because I was never a long-distance runner I would kind of tire out after about 75 yards so they would they would put me in a relay race and and if you're in the last part of the relay race you're the one that gets to see the finish line which is kind of cool you come around that last Bend and there it is you see they've rolled the tape across the line and man I tell you you do not take your eyes off that tape you just run like there's no tomorrow you know for that finish line and that's what Paul is talking about here and for you and I the finish line is receiving everything that Christ has for us at the finish our inheritance the fullness of the blessing that awaits us the new life the the the different life do you understand people when we cross the finish line everything is going to be different and the reason you guys aren't getting up right now and going and screaming your brains out is because we really can't relate to it we live in this world that is just full of corruption full of death and disease and destruction and and this is life for us we're used to it you know and then we we hear things in the Bible about across the finish line there's this new life that awaits us that is truly life and it doesn't include things like death and destruction and disease and and decay and corruption those things don't exist and we kind of go wow you know and we're all and we're kind of jazzed about it from some in some respects but we really can't relate you know but if you think about what you see in this life that is good here's the interesting thing you know we're living in a fallen corrupted world and yet there are still remnants of God's original creation that are incredibly beautiful I mean I don't know the last time you went to a place like Yellowstone or Glacier or the Grand Canyon or or something like that and you were just awed by nature I mean those are definitely holdovers of God's original creative beauty and we look at that kind of stuff and we just kind of were blown away guys do you realize across the finish line it's gonna be turned way up from that I mean the kind of stuff you might go to Glacier National Park to appreciate when you cross that finish line it's going to be like that all over in the sense that the beauty is going to be unmatched the life without death the no tears no destruction all that stuff is going to be gone and Paul thought about that stuff we may not all that often but he thought about it he talked about it the biblical writers talked about stuff like that that the resurrection was a constant thing in their minds and and the life to come was a constant thing in their minds they were always reaching for it always pressing in to get it you know what I mean we we just try to get through the next day you know we're just kind of like I'm trying to get through the week you know because come Friday you know I got I might have something planned that's half way enjoyable so I'm just like praying to get through the week you know and and and the biblical writers are constantly thinking about what's across the finish line and that's what gets them out of bed in the morning and and propels them forward you see one of the reasons why we struggle so much many times in our Christian walk is because we're not thinking about the finish line we're just thinking about the nasty day to day getting through you know with my dignity I suppose intact or something stupid like that anyway Paul goes on in verse 15 after giving us these strategies for pressing on he says in verse 15 let those of you who are excuse me let those of us who are mature think this way and if in anything you think otherwise God will reveal that also to you so it is interesting isn't it so he says Christian maturity is looking toward well it's those it's those three strategies right not looking back propelling oneself forward keeping an eye on the finish line that is Christian maturity okay it is Christian immaturity to be focused on the day-to-day and getting tripped up and constantly focused on the big bad rough challenges my background my past that's immaturity in Christ okay we expect people to grow out of that and so Paul says let those of us who are mature think this way in other words have this strategy of pressing on with the Lord he says verse 16 only let us hold true to what we have attained that's an interesting statement isn't it because he's just gotten done saying I have not attained to the fullness of what it means to be like Christ but he says you know what okay fine but let's let us hold true to what we have attained you know what that means that means if you're a Christian today that means something he has done something in your life to change your life however big however small I'd love to I wish we had time to give people an opportunity to stand up and just talk about how God has changed your life I mean little things or big things doesn't matter you know I am sure that if you've walked with the Lord with any for any length of time he's changed you in some way he's changed your outlook he's changed your words that come out of your mouth he's changed you know maybe your marriage your family your relationship whatever whatever that's what Paul's saying for what we have attained whatever it may be let's hold true to it let's hang on to it don't let go and let's be true to what Christ has done and is doing in your life and so he says in verse 17 if you look with me their brothers join in imitating me in other words take upon yourselves the same attitude the same strategy of what it means to press on don't look back keep propelling forward right keep your eyes focused on the goal imitate me in this and also he says keep your eyes on those who do the same who walk according to the same example that you've seen in us and and we need good examples in the body of Christ don't we but we have to remember something right they're not perfect examples there's no such thing as a perfect example right remember what Paul said I have not yet attained to these things neither have you and I that means even though we may at times be a good example we're never going to be a perfect example so get your eyes off that perfection that's across the finish line that's not right now although we keep pressing for it and you know there are plenty of bad examples look at verse 18 for many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears walk as enemies of the cross these are the bad examples he says their end is destruction their God is their belly and that means their fleshly appetites are what motivate them he's got just gotten done talking about what motivates him i press forward to win the prize to reach that goal right that God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus to attain that's what moves me but now he talks about people who have rejected the Lord and he talks about what moves them and he says their God is their belly and and that doesn't literally mean what they eat it just means their appetites they're the things that drive them forward our sensual pleasures right they live for pleasure physical pleasure here's the point that we have to be careful and Christians have gotten wrong on this over the years physical pleasures are a gift from God okay he made your body physical body to enjoy things like food physical pleasure of looking at a mountain or a flower and appreciating the beauty the physical pleasure of physical intimacy between a husband and wife there are many many more that we could talk about God created you to experience physical pleasures he did not create those pleasures to be your God and Paul says those who have rejected Christ have made physical pleasures their God their God is their belly their God is their appetite they and what that means is they live for it right we live for the Lord to please him to serve Him they live for fleshly appetites he says their glory is in their shame what they in other words what they ought to be ashamed of they glory in right we see that in our culture today huge and then he says their minds are completely and totally set on earthly things but did you notice that Paul kinda starts off with one of the worst things he says their end is destruction I don't like to say that and I don't think Paul did either did you notice he started off by saying I say this with tears their end is destruction and you and I need to remember that the life of this world and all that good is attracted to it will end in destruction this world will be destroyed the pleasures that are founded only in this world will ultimately come to nothing and they will be destroyed and and I hate to even say that because it sounds like such a debbie downer and I know that people are kind of like you know gee let's hear something pastor that kind of picks us up a little bit but these are some reminders and the Apostle Paul is giving the Philippians this reminder and it's important for you to I to embrace it as well this world will be destroyed that's why our goal is over there that's why our eyes are on the finish line and the new world that God is going to create we're not going to become fixated on this world and I think it's important even for parents once in a while to say to their kids because you know kids even kids raised in a strong Christian home they're gonna be dragged away to think of things in the world that are just so attractive you know this singer that actor this person you know whatever and and again you're not living to be a downer but you're are echoing the statement that Paul makes here to the Philippians those things gonna be destroyed their end is distraction that's not your end by the way your end is not destruction your end is life that's what's across the finish line you know how we know that because of what he says in verse 20 look what he says there our citizenship is in heaven and he's stating a fact here your address is in heaven you might thought your I think your address was you know what you put on your mail or where you get your mail but the fact of the matter is as believers our home is in heaven with the Lord it's just a simple reality here's the problem and it is a problem there are many Christians who are living in this world as if the it is their permanent home we treat this world like it's our permanent home and to borrow from one of the parables that our Lord spoke during his earthly ministry we act as if the master isn't going to return remember that parable Jesus gave the vineyard over to the servants to work and then went on a trip and some of the servants began to act like the master was never coming back and they lived a very abusive lifestyle toward other people and and so forth and it can happen but the fact is our citizenship is in heaven which means the world is not our real home look at how Peter said this in 1st Peter chapter 2 he said dear friends I urge you as participants in this world no he didn't say that he said I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from well he calls it sinful desires but he's you could just say the things of this world that are going to be destroyed right abstain from that those things actually war against your soul you know why they war against your soul because you're a child of God and you're an alien and a stranger have you ever been a an alien or a stranger in some place here in this life in other words have you ever been in a situation where you were in a room with people that you knew you didn't belong to or belong with and maybe they didn't even speak your language it's it's a very uncomfortable feeling and as a believer it happens it should happen quite often to many of us that we get into a room full of people that are largely unbelievers and we feel out of place I would hope that if you went into a bar where people are drinking to get drunk I would hope that you would feel out of place like you are a alien and a stranger in that location I would hope that but that's kind of a it's kind of a crude example but I think you get my my point it's frankly the way it is for us in the world at large we are aliens and strangers the writer of Hebrews mentions this as well look what he says in Chapter 11 after talking about all these wonderful heroes of the faith he says all these people were still living by faith when they died they did not receive the things promised they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance and they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth and that's us and there's nobody stranger than you we are aliens we don't belong here our citizenship is in heaven you belong with the Lord that's where you belong that's where I belong he goes on here at the end of verse 20 to say and from it or from there we await a savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to him self and what Paul is saying to you and I with that simple final statement of the chapter is that those are the kinds of things that ought to fill our minds that all things are going to be made new because where is that going to be made new crossed that finish line the one we're supposed to have our eyes on the spot the one were straining to run toward not looking back pressing on to finish I love how Paul got to the end of his life and he wrote to Timothy and he said I finished the race I've kept the faith let's stand together we're gonna have some people down front here as you're heading out today we call them our prayer team and they're just available to pray with you about any need that's maybe you know pressing in your life but please understand these people are here to help and to pray but you don't have to pray with them I mean they don't have any other special connection to God any greater than yours grab somebody next to you I mean grab anybody you can pray with anybody here if you if you need prayer get prayer don't walk away with the same burden that you came in here with push that burden on to the Lord let him carry it remember he already carried the weight of the sin of the world he can carry your burdens too they won't break him and he's not too busy let's pray father thank you so much for your word the incredible reminders that we get from it of just the importance of running our race and how significant it is that we respond Lord God to the race that is before us not looking back pressing forward keeping our eyes on the prize on the finish line Jesus help us to do it we pray and I pray that you'd help us be able to get over all the hurdles that are in our path by the power of your Holy Spirit teach us Lord to follow you and to keep our eyes on you to focus on the prize we all of this in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior amen you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Ontario

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Keywords: Bible, Bible teaching, Thru-the-Bible, verse by verse, Calvary Chapel, Bible study, Christianity, New Testament, Old Testament

Id: Ze-q3ycIpVw

Length: 38min 6sec (2286 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 02 2018