Welcome back everyone to our big study of the book of Philippians, and our conversation on the choices that Paul challenges us to make as we live out our faith and the very life that Jesus modeled for us. So far, we have hit some really challenging choices, and the reason these first few choices have been so challenging is because they are just so opposite of how we would instinctively live our lives. To make these choices is to take the road less traveled. These choices just aren’t popular and really go against our human instincts, that’s why they are so challenging, because it’s just so opposite of how we as people live. So, it’s tough but yet, so important for us to choose to live out these choices as we strive to be like Christ. So we have looked at the choice to live a holy life, the choice to live for God and in the word of God, the choice to rejoice in all circumstances…all of which I would say are living opposite of how we humans would instinctively live, and then last week, Ken talked to us about making the choice to avoid religion, which I would say is challenging because it is so popular and making this choice will isolate you a bit from the masses. Do you see it? Four challenging choices from Paul that are essential to living out our faith, yet all these choices seem to be so opposite of people, our instincts, and our culture…which can make these choices really tough, especially if we are still living for other people, ourselves, and trying to fit into culture, rather than focusing on God and living for Him. Which really leads us into today’s choice…which I have to tell you, I’m really excited to talk to you about today, because while the first four seem so challenging, and will continue to be challenging until we fully give our lives over to Christ, today’s choice I believe is something we can all resonate with, and is something that I believe has a redeeming, rallying point type feel to it. Today we are going to look at Paul challenging us to choose to set our eternal goal and then press on in our journey towards that eternal goal.
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. NIV
I love this and believe we can all resonate with this study today because we are all on life’s journey, we all are a work in progress, we all have pasts, and we all have the same eternal reward out ahead of us…so we press on. I can’t wait to dive into this with you today, but to do so I think it’s important that we step back to where Ken was last week. Remember he was in the choice Paul challenges us to make to avoid religion. Do you remember that question he asked us about our Spiritual Resume? Many people like to list out all they are doing in their spiritual resume and consider themselves the elite of our faith because of that resume, or maybe they feel that they have arrived in some way because of what they accomplished. Well, what did Ken show us last week? Paul at one time was caught up in that world of building his spiritual resume, but now finds it all empty, it’s garbage…Ken showed this to us in the Message version where it literally calls all the religious earning and building of the spiritual resume…dog dung! Paul says that while religious activity and status was once important to him and made him feel like he was really doing something, and probably made him look good to people all around him, what matters to him now is relationship. He now realizes that what Jesus did is what matters, not what we humans do…and he understands that the most important thing is knowing Jesus as our Lord and living for Him. This is so important for us to see. This was where Ken was last week…
Philippians 3:7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! NLT
Now today, after Paul really challenged us to make the choice to avoid religion and get to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior and walk in relationship with Him, focusing on what Jesus does and not what we do…Paul seems to almost double down on the concept of the Spiritual Resume, and how empty it is, and then lets us know that while we strive for perfection and a holy life, we haven’t arrived, we are all on a journey, we are all growing, and we all must press on…striving for what is ahead. Paul makes it clear, that even he, the great church planter, the apostle, and writer of a large chunk of The New Testament, is a work in progress, just like you and I, pressing on, choosing to focus on the eternal goal, and moving on through this journey we call life. I would like to read this in a couple of versions today…
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. NIV
Let’s switch over now to the NLT and read that again…
Philippians 3:12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. NLT
So, Paul is not only showing us the humble heart of a Christian but is also showing us the mentality, we must have to live out this journey that we call life. A journey that frankly isn’t always perfect. A journey with good days and bad days. A journey through a world full of sin, pain, adversity, wreckage, and challenges. A journey that doesn’t always go the way we would like it to go, but it’s the journey all the same…and Paul says we must choose to set the goal of all eternity to come, and then press on, straining to what lies ahead. If you remember I said while the first four choices seemed so challenging and so opposite of how we live our lives, this is the first choice that I think can really hit home, or make sense for all of us, and feel pretty redemptive here today because we are all on life’s journey…some of us have been on that journey longer than others but we have all experienced it, the ups, the downs, the good days, the bad days, the hurts, the mistakes, the sin, the heart ache, the celebrations…it’s the journey we all face, and Paul was on it too…and shows us how to navigate it here so well. So, let’s start diving deeper into what Paul is saying here and to do that, I think we will just work line by line through this, it’s just so important so let’s start in verse 12.
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. NIV
Paul makes the point in saying that he is still a work in progress too. He is saying that he isn’t a complete Christian yet but is forever pressing on, trying his best to live like and be like Christ. He is also saying he is doing his best to live out what He was called to do when Christ first took hold of him, which is strong language right? Well, we haven’t hit this too hard in our study, but this is a bit of a call back to how Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul wasn’t always named Paul; he was once Saul…a person passionately religious who used the religious law to persecute Christians. He would hunt them down men and women, it didn’t matter and kill them, and Christians were terrified of him…
Acts 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” NIV
This was beyond intense, so when Paul says that he is working to live out this calling when Jesus took hold of him…it’s quite literal for him! Jesus literally knocked him down, and told him what he must do and now after this intense transformation, Paul is working to do just that and I love how we move right out of this challenge to avoid religion and not get caught up in the Spiritual Resume and thinking we have arrived somehow right into this conversation of how we are all works in progress on the journey we call life…and to me, these next two verses really show us how to press on in our personal journey.
Philippians 3:13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. NLT
I want us to really slow down here because this is so important. Paul keeps reminding us that we haven’t arrived, which is so important for so many of us to continue to remind ourselves of that. So many Christians, gain some knowledge or just have been around church for a long period of time and somehow can determine that they have somehow arrived spiritually, we deal with that in church today, and it sounds pretty clear to me that they were dealing with that mentality or mindset back in Philippi as well, and here is Paul, founder of the church, who has been literally confronted by Christ, who let’s them know that he and all of us, are on this journey…we don’t arrive when we find Christ or He finds us in Paul’s case…it’s the beginning of the journey not the end. We don’t arrive when we gain more knowledge than someone else, or read more books, we grow, but we haven’t arrived. We don’t arrive when we have been at church longer than someone else, or if we have served more or less than someone else, we grow but we haven’t arrived. We need to stay in this mindset that Paul has, because when we do, we will keep on growing and learning through all that life throws at us. When we stop growing and learning is when we slide into this mindset that we have arrived.
Here in verses 13 and 14 Paul gives us great imagery of our lives as a race, and it’s not the only time he does this in Scripture and what is interesting is Paul uses this imagery often in his writings for our life journey as Christians, but he also pairs up the race with making sure that we know WHY and WHAT we are running this race for…it’s a pattern, let’s check it out in a couple places in Scripture today…like here in Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. NIV
Paul paints the picture, but always makes sure we see the goal for this race we call life. In fact, the last time I spoke to you about being poured out, and choosing to rejoice in all circumstances, we read another moment where Paul mentions the race, it was in his last moments before his execution and I want you to see this, once again the imagery of the race, and the goal of that race…the pattern continues…and what do I always say about things on repeat in Scripture? They are a big deal!
2 Timothy 4:6 As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. NLT
And here in his letter to the Philippian church he does it again, this time really helping us understand not only the prize and the focus but how to run our race well.
Philippians 3:13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. NLT
Paul says to run our race well, we must focus on one thing…which gives us two things to do, and I will tell you, both can be very challenging.
First, to run our race well, we can’t look back. So, have you ever watched a race? Maybe the Olympics, or like me you have children in Track at school, maybe you watch the Tour De France? Well, if you have ever been around a race, this is actually very important. You can’t look back. When you look back it slows you down. When you see a runner or cyclist turn around and look behind them it is a sure-fire sign of a couple of things. First it lets you know that the athlete is tired and is worried about who or what is coming behind them because they are questioning if they can make it, and it also lets you know that the athlete is slowing down, because you can’t run your best race while you’re focused on what is behind you. For those behind the person it’s huge, when they see the person turn it lets them know we can catch the person in front of us…and this is such great imagery for the race we call life as well.
In our life journey some of the biggest obstacles and hindrances we face are actually things we have already faced that we just can’t seem to move past. Years can go by, and those things are still there. We are to be moving forward towards the amazing finish and prize with God, but we struggle to move forward because of our pasts. For some of us, behind us are mistakes that we have made, that we can’t believe we made, and we struggle and walk in guilt and shame from those mistakes that Jesus already handled for us. So, while they are behind us, our eyes leave Jesus and we turn our heads and keep focusing on those issues, and we just can’t keep moving forward. For some of us, behind us are some moments when we had the courage to try something, to lead and put ourselves out there, and it didn’t work out, our hopes and dreams were shattered, it broke our hearts to fail, and those failures still seem to be chasing us, and in our tired or weaker moments we turn and focus on those failures, and broken dreams and it slows us down not allowing us to run our race well. For some of us it’s broken relationships, and loss behind us, that while we try to run our race it’s all still back there, and we keep turning and slowing down as we focus on that instead of God out ahead, for some of us it isn’t the failures, or issues, or hurts in our past that take our attention away from running our race well, but our past successes, and the glory of past accomplishments. We keep looking back at that resume of ours so proud of what we have done, not realizing that it has taken our eyes off the finish line and our eternal reward and it’s slowing us down, not allowing our race to be run well. Now, to be clear, we don’t ignore the past, we turn into pain, and we find healing from it, but we turn and move forward, not allowing what’s behind us to slow us down anymore.
Second, to run our race well we focus on the goal, the finish line. Paul says that we don’t look back, that just slows us down, to run our race well we focus on what lies ahead! I love this in the NIV…
Vs 13…But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. NIV
I don’t know about you but this really hits home for me…all this stuff in the past, all the experiences, hurts, pain, successes, failures, broken dreams, answered prayers, relationships that went well, relationships that went horribly and hurt me, and I’m to run my race well…while continuing to deal with all that this world throws at me, without looking back, doing my best to continue on my journey…as Paul says, straining toward what lies ahead. This is so hard for us to do, isn’t it? Everything I just listed out, all seems to be designed to keep us from focusing on God, and all of eternity to come…everything on this planet seems to be put in place to pull us away from running our race well…which is why this focus is so important…and what do we see in verse 14?
Philippians 3:14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. NLT
Paul says I press on…to reach the end of the race and receive the prize, the very thing God is calling us home to receive! This is so important, he does it time and time again…he says listen, as you run this race we call life, and grow and learn, stay focused on the prize it is so much greater than anything you could have right now…don’t stop, don’t slow down, it will all be worth it! In his letter to the Corinthian that we read earlier what did he say?
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. NIV
Run to win the greatest prize you could ever win, an eternal reward that lasts forever! He did it in Timothy as he is now getting ready to cross the finish line of his race, talking about his eternal reward once again…his prize for running his race well…
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. NLT
It’s huge to have that goal, and we must choose to set that goal and focus on it. It’s hard to run a race without that goal. Paul is reminding us here that the prize is there for all of us who focus on Christ and run our races well. I will tell you I’m not much of a runner these days, but I still try to get out and exercise…and at my fitness level morale can get pretty low out there. LOL, there aren’t too many times when I’m jogging where a few miles in, I get a little grumpy and my mind starts telling me to stop, just walk. Discouragement hits and I slow down. I get tired, and my mind starts dreaming of bacon cheeseburgers instead of running another mile and I struggle to finish my journey well in those moments, and I think that is something we absolutely all face on this spiritual journey through life. It’s tough, which is what Paul is helping us see. We must strain towards what lies ahead, we press on, through the difficulty, the challenges, and the messiness of life because our reward is so much greater if we can stay the course and run our race. In the very next two verses I think Paul helps us find some encouragement for those moments in our journey where we feel like we should walk or turn around.
Philippians 3:15 So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision — you’ll see it yet! 16 Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. MSG
In the NLT verse 16 is just awesome…
Philippians 3:16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. NLT
I think for some people this message from Paul is so important to hear. We are all on a journey. Growing as a Christian into Spiritual Maturity is a process, frankly it’s a lifelong process and we are all in different stages of that race, so we press on. We will have good days. We will have bad days. We will hurt at times, and we will feel tired at times. We will have setbacks, and mess up, and at times we will feel like we are on top of the world. We will have moments where the world feels like too much and times when we just want to stop running all together…and it’s in those moments of doubt, and weariness that we must hold onto the progress we have already made. We press on. You are doing great. You have Jesus with you now, Christ in you! So, we hold on to the progress you have made and find encouragement in that! Too many of us walk through life, made new by Christ yet still feeling like less…still weighed down by guilt and shame…still slowed down and not running our best race because of our pasts and what is behind us, or just discouraged by the religious around us who keep telling us how well they are doing…but we focus on the eternal goal, we press on, and we hold on to the progress we have already made. We have Jesus, we are on our own growth journey towards spiritual maturity…and we press on to the eternal reward out ahead of us.
I was going to finish out chapter three today, but I think I will stop right here and just ask you some questions to help us personalize this encouraging yet challenging message from Paul.
- What does it mean to you today to hear Paul say that we are all on a growth journey, and that no one, not even Paul, none of us, has arrived, we are all a work in progress, pressing on to the amazing eternal reward?
- When you think about your personal journey, your race, are you able to stay focused on God and the finish line? Does the idea of eternity outweigh the challenges of today for you?
- What pulls your focus off your eternal reward and slows you down as you run? Could you name those things? Could you make a list? What is it?
- Is there anything from your past that isn’t allowing you to run your race well? It could be hurts, heart break, broken dreams, a mistake you can’t let go of, maybe it’s your achievements or success of the past? What would it take to give that all over to God and run for your eternal reward?
- When do you find yourself most distracted from God and the eternal reward? Maybe it’s just when your schedule is super busy. Maybe it’s when you’re extremely tired, and your mind wanders to things it shouldn’t. Maybe it’s in the hours you spend on social media comparing and competing with others and checking on what everyone is up to. When is it that you are most distracted…identify it, and move forward in a new way?
- Why would Paul always tie running this spiritual race we call life with the eternal prize waiting for us if we run our race focused on God? Why always pair the two?
- Are you sitting here today discouraged, tired, looking back, and wondering if you can finish your race well or feeling like you aren’t running it well? When was the last time you focused on the good progress you have made? Look around you are doing great, and remember it’s a journey, and a process that we are all on. There will be good days and bad days too.
- Any goal worth achieving will have its challenges. So, let me ask you, is a little sacrifice or adversity, or hurdles to clear in life today worth what awaits you in Heaven for all of eternity to come? Have you thought about that before today? If not, give yourself some time to reflect on how awesome our eternal reward really is.
Listen, we love you and we want to see you running your race well. Everything in this world can pull us away from what matters most, which is all of eternity in front of us. I hope that you take some real encouragement from this message and understand that we are all on a journey, and we press on. So many of us feel like we don’t measure up, or like we aren’t getting it done and we need to remember when we say we are Christians we are actually saying, we don’t measure up, which is why we are so thankful to have Jesus in our lives, because of Him and what He does for us, we are now clean, the very righteousness of God…not by what we have done or earned but by God’s great love for us and what Christ earned for us. We are all a work in progress growing towards spiritual maturity and pressing on in our race that is our lives. We may not always feel like it, but we are better today than we were yesterday, and we are better today than we were before we had Christ, and we press on, straining towards what lies ahead. If you are struggling today, press on…don’t look back, just keep focused on where you are going, because it truly is all worth it in the end.