Pressing Onward

Well, this morning's sermon scripture reading comes from Philippians chapter 3, verses 12 through 21.

Philippians 3:12–21

You can follow along in your bulletin or in your Bible there.

Hear now the reading of God's holy, pure, and fallible word.

Not that I have already obtained this or am 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 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.

Would you pray with me?

Our Lord, we confess that our minds are often dull when it comes to your word, and our hearts are often cold.

But with you, our Lord, with you, things are different.

In you we have vitality.

In you we have purity and undiluted love.

And so we come to you this morning.

We pray that you would open up our minds and our hearts afresh to see your glory.

And so be filled by your Spirit.

And in your Son's name we pray all this.

Amen.

Well, I'm not sure if you're a runner or not.

I know many of you are.

I'm not a particularly good runner at this point in my life.

Although my wife, Stacy, is, and she keeps that hope or prospect alive in me whenever she returns to the house full of the effects of endorphins and ready to take on what's thrown at her by our four boys.

But the times where I have embarked on some form of running in the past, there has been this dual focus that I've been concerned about.

The first is the long view, the ability to picture the finish line, to envision getting there, knowing where it is that I'm headed.

So that moment by moment I'm arriving closer to the goal.

That's the long view.

Then there's also the short view, the striving to run in such a way that I might actually get there.

And often that requires a checking of the pace and taking on the right fluids and the right nutrients in order to do so.

This is the short view, the present focus.

But regardless of if we are runners or not, the Apostle Paul uses this metaphor of running to explain that we as believers are all participants in the race of faith.

We are all traveling towards our new home, being citizens of heaven.

And so, like running, we have both the long and the short perspectives in order to deal with.

And Paul, in context, has been just establishing the truth that a Christian is the one who has come to believe in Jesus Christ and therefore as a result has received a perfect righteousness.

And so regarding their acceptance with God, they are without blemish.

If you and I have come to believe in Jesus Christ, then we are completely accepted by God.

And yet, although this is true, it is also true that the work of the Spirit is ongoing.

The righteousness that has been given to us, so as for God to accept us, is the same righteousness that the Spirit is concerned for us to press on with throughout our lives until we go to be with the Lord.

And so the apostle is saying all of this as one who is not shouting from the sidelines, but as a fellow runner in the race.

He's saying, I'm in this with you, Philippians.

I'm in the race.

I've by no means arrived at the finish line.

And why does he say all this?

Well, because although he acknowledges himself to be a runner in the same race, he also knows that not all run in the same way.

And so the apostle gives us some insight as to how the mature ought to think when it comes to running the race.

He's not concerned to tell us primarily how we should act, but how we ought to exercise our mind as fellow runners.

That's what he's concerned to impart to the Philippians.

And so the question follows then is what mindset should we have as fellow runners in the race?

How should the mature think?

How ought we to think about this?

What should our mindset be even as we enter into 2019?

And so I'm going to touch on three things about his mindset as to how Paul thinks about himself as a fellow runner in the race.

His first concern is for a sincere estimation of himself.

Because Paul is not under any false assumption that he has somehow arrived in the Christian life.

He says, I haven't obtained this righteousness, nor am I perfect.

Now, it wasn't that he wasn't growing as a follower of Christ.

I mean, if anyone was a model of righteousness, it was Paul.

I think we would all agree that we pale in comparison to Paul's righteousness.

But Paul had a high ideal to seek after.

What was it?

Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

And so he's concerned to communicate his lack of arrival to the Philippians due to the distance between he and they.

That he's not a finished project.

He's concerned that they don't grow rusty, but live well-oiled lives.

Being concerned to become and be those who are filled with righteousness.

And so he's saying, I'm in this with you.

I'm in the race.

I've by no means obtained the prize.

And quite honestly, this attitude can be a trouble for many.

There are many Christians or entire church fellowships whereby you just get the sense that they have arrived.

You don't come away believing that there is more to learn, more to confess, more resurrection life to enjoy.

You can be in churches that believe in sin and total depravity and all of that, but you get the impression that they have been so endowed by grace that there is no more sin to deal with.

And unrighteousness to put off.

The impression is that somehow they have arrived.

They're not prepared to take an honest look at themselves.

And if they do take a glimpse, it's just that.

It's a glimpse.

And then they become inflated with pride and sluggish and lazy.

Not so the truly humble Christian.

The alive fellowship of believers.

You've probably tasted their aroma.

I hope you have.

They may have a deep habitual fellowship with Christ.

And yet rather than brandish their righteousness, they're often found at heaven's mercy seat confessing their sin in prayer.

They live with a sincerity about themselves.

They know that there is more righteousness to put on, more sin to put off, more love to extend.

Sincere, yes, but dull or sullen or full of complaint, no.

They love to serve.

They display a deep-seated contentment in all that they do.

They're prepared to live closely to others who might actually know them.

And the reason is because they know it's one thing to live before the face of a crowd and a completely other thing to live before the face of a companion or companions.

And so they aren't about to stand up and parade their accomplishments as though they have somehow crossed the finish line.

They've got their eye on the prize.

And what is the prize?

Knowing Christ and more of him and life in him.

Paul says, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

And it was that aliveness in Christ that spurred him on.

It was like Moses, who you might remember, whose countenance was lit up before the face of God.

From being in the presence of God.

He had this blinding glow about him from the glory of the Lord, and yet he wasn't aware of it.

Others were.

But having seen the perfection and glory of God, he knew that there was more of the race to run.

There is this deep-seated discontent with past attainments and a concern to press on.

How about you?

2019, right around the corner.

Maybe you've already been thinking about resolutions, things you like to work on.

And so you're saying to yourself, I'd really like to see this change, fill in the blank, in 2019.

And I would say to that, good.

But how are you going to go about that?

For what purpose?

Under what end?

Because we should all give ourselves to self-examination, but let us go about all of this by putting our confidence in the righteousness that comes through faith and not in the law.

Self-imposed or otherwise.

True righteousness comes through faith.

Because there are many in religion who are concerned to make moral progress.

Moral resolutions.

To turn over new leaves, accomplish new tasks.

And yet here's the problem.

They are no more concerned for Christ than when they first set out or resolve to accomplish what they set out to do.

I need to kick this addiction.

I need to hold my tongue more.

Keep my anger in check.

I need to get in better financial shape.

Be a better citizen.

Be more charitable.

And what that tells us when we do that is that we are often trying to live by the law, by the power of our own self-will, unto the end of a self-righteousness.

And not by faith.

That's not putting your confidence in the gospel.

That's putting your confidence in the flesh.

Paul says, I want none of that.

That's refuse, that's dung.

Because the righteousness that I'm now a partaker of is Christ's righteousness.

That's the righteousness that has saved me, and so that's the righteousness that I'm concerned to press on with.

And it's clear to me what that righteousness is, since Christ has come and lived a perfect life in this world.

It's not some kind of dull, ethereal existence on some higher plane.

It is being more human, more involved, more lively, exercising more vitality as we run with Christ.

And so the question I'd have us contemplate this morning is: are you and I planning on entering 2019 with this sense of anticipation and aliveness?

It's possible, you know.

Don't run on your own.

Let us be those who die to the filth of all that is done in the confidence of the flesh, and let us instead run by confidently looking to the pure and heavenly righteousness that is Christ's.

Run in the aliveness of Christ as a friend, not a judge, as the one who came to save, not to condemn.

And that right there is unsurpassing worth.

That there trumps all other resolutions.

True righteousness is not opposed to effort, it's opposed to earning.

It requires effort.

It requires us to live a life worthy of the gospel.

But when you hear effort, don't hear that you can't run with joy.

You can.

True righteousness is heavenly.

It's holy, pure.

It never comes apart from Christ's fellowship.

It allures.

It doesn't domineer.

It's gentle and it's got love written all over it.

Not so morality.

Morality is earthy.

It's dull.

And it taxes us.

It saps us of strength.

For its concern is to earn acceptance.

It often feels like a lonely task.

And leaves one with no more love or knowledge of Christ than when it first began.

Run with acceptance in 2019.

Run knowing that you are Christ and that He is yours.

But run with a sincere and honest estimation of yourself in such a light.

And perhaps that means 2019 will be a year in which you also invite other spiritual brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers in your life with whom you can be honest with.

Whose fellowship and example you can learn from and imitate as fellow runners.

And so running the race requires that we are honest with where we're at.

But then we see the apostle is also concerned to exercise his mind in forgetting the past.

Here's my trade secret, he says.

I press on to what lies ahead and forget what lies behind.

He says, one thing I do, one thing.

Why?

Is he living in denial about the past?

He's actually recalling things from the past as he writes.

No, he's not.

He's not just trying to be optimistic or live life with a sheer optimism.

Nor is he trying to exercise some inner bravado in order to impress others.

No, he's in no denial about the past.

He's actually, as I said, recalling things from the past as he writes.

But he's speaking here of the kind of looking back that would cause him to become stuck, as it were, or sleepish.

He's concerned to forget the things that would cause him to get off track in the race.

And instead, he's stretching forward toward the goal.

He's stretching forward to obtain more ground.

And so let's address the getting stuck first.

What do I mean?

I mean that we're not to allow ourselves to, or I should say, we're not allowed to allow sin in the past to attempt to define us or to attempt to be allowed by the devil to accuse us with, and to pull us off course.

The things in the past that have been dealt with, but then come back to pierce us with their sharp barbs.

Perhaps some of you have a particular sin in the past that continues to harass you.

It pulls itself from the past from time to time in order to drag you down.

It can even happen in worship.

Press on, says Paul.

Press on.

Don't allow it to define you.

Don't allow it to drag you down into a stupor.

Don't allow it to drag you off course.

That's his mindset with these things.

That's what he means by getting stuck.

He's saying, I make an effort to forget these things, to know them to be in the past, know them to have been have been dealt with, forgiven by God and blotted out.

Press on.

It's this kind of looking back that he's concerned to avoid.

But then there's also Way of looking back that can cause us to become sleepish.

In this case, we might tend to think about past experiences and look back with some kind of sentimentalism that can leave us longing for the good old days.

Or back to some kind of rich experience in the past.

And I hope we've all had these kind of experiences.

But the Christian in this case wishes that they could be taken back to the growth that happened at that particular time.

And there's, of course, nothing wrong with appreciating the past.

But oftentimes what happens is that they believe that nothing can be done about it in the present.

They say, oh, that was a special time.

That was something unique.

It would be really good to experience that kind of growth again.

And then they become apathetic and resigned in the present.

It produces a sleepishness.

But the problem with that is it puts confidence in circumstance or in a series of events rather than in the power of the Spirit to be at work today.

And so he says, press on.

Because yes, with man that's true.

But with God, everything is possible.

There is absolutely this something that can be done in the present.

If anyone could have been subdued by those feelings, it was Paul.

You remember where he was at?

In prison, under house arrest, limited in his ability to minister, limited access to people.

He could have had the perception that this was not the glory days with which he was living in.

And yet here he is, still seeking to press on, still seeking to live in the service of Christ where he had placed him.

And so press on.

Press forward.

Look to the righteousness of Christ to be at work in you today.

Press on.

Friends, I believe with all my heart that God has more work, more He wants to offer you in 2019.

More works of your hands to establish.

More life to impart to you.

More righteousness to fill you with.

I'm not all sure of what 2018 has encompassed for you.

For many, I have some idea of what that looks like.

Perhaps it's been a year that you'd rather forget.

But I can tell you this.

The Spirit is able to use even hardship for your progress in the race.

Hardship is not at all at odds with his work in you and through you.

Sometimes honey just tastes sweeter after tasting the bitter and the bland.

And the sun appears to be more in focus as it penetrates through the thickness of fog.

You would say, press on, dear friend.

Press on.

Forget what lies behind and press on.

And then finally, Paul focuses his mind on pressing onward and upward in hope.

He says, keep your eyes on the prize.

He says the mindset of the mature is to focus on the finish line so that you're focused on where you're headed.

The Christian who knows Christ to be their reward in the new heavens and the new earth will find confidence in living with Christ as their reward now, under this heaven and on this earth.

This is the mature thing to set our minds on.

I mean, we often see this with an adolescence, don't we?

The immaturity of adolescence is that children are often unfocused and swayed to and fro by things that capture their attention.

Right?

It's like a teacher who, in teaching her class, is trying to impart something, and yet their attention is distracted by every little movement and impulse.

And so progress is hard to make.

Not so the mature.

Maturity in the Christian life means having a simple and passionate focus on the prize.

Because the runner who finds themself off the beaten track can still find themselves heading toward the finish line so long as they have the finish line in mind, so long as they know where they're headed.

They can correct themselves so as to say, I'm running the wrong way.

I'm no longer headed toward the goal.

That's what we call repentance.

And that, friends, is a radical aim today.

This singular and passionate focus on the future coming of the Lord often gets lost in the church for a whole variety of reasons.

We're often told that the oppressed think like that.

For reasons of weakness, we're told.

Besides, we live in a scientific age.

And this whole otherworldly focus is something of an embarrassment to many.

Many who merely crave after visible evidence.

And so many other ideals are sought after.

But the question that remains is: well, what gets lost and losing sight of this is the prize.

And the answer is hope.

And hope that has been lost leads to a people running without the sense of meaning and direction.

And so they follow after their own sinful desires.

They despise the cross.

They follow the way of destruction.

They live sensual lives.

And it leads to people glorying in their shame.

That's what a lack of hope will do, and it's tragic.

May I urge you this morning, if you haven't found this hope, you may have sat in this place week after week.

But if you're still looking to the things of this world for hope as your ultimate source of hope, then all I have to tell you is that you're not in the race.

Look to Christ.

Find comfort in his shed blood.

Who would reconcile you to God and then run in his aliveness.

Because I can tell you this: there is nothing more hope-giving than experiencing God's eternal delight.

That is unsurpassing worth.

He can do it.

No one else can.

He can remove all doubt.

Look to him this morning.

And his promise to you is that you will be saved.

He would have you enter the race.

Because, friends, if we're to have or find meaning in life, and to take it one step further, if we're to also have focus in life, it requires that we run in hope with the prize in mind.

Because the problem that we often face today is not that we aren't forward planners, right?

We can be really good at getting our lists and our calendars set up, trying to predict the future as much as humanly possible.

The problem that we have, and I'm included, is not that we aren't forward planners.

The problem is that we often don't look forward enough.

Our forward planning should go beyond our immediate circumstances or the foreseeable ones.

And be set on our eternal future.

And friends, that gives us perspective and has a filtering effect on all that we do in the present.

That's the mark of maturity.

A steady and simple focus on the hope set before us.

Looking to Jesus in heaven where our citizenship truly lies.

Now that's something to invest in.

That's something that will stand the test of time.

We live with imperfections today.

But the day is coming when he will give you and I a glorious new body.

And in due time, he will bring you home to the room that he has prepared for you.

Did you know he has a room for you?

That's why he's called you to himself.

And so the hope set on the future will allow you and I to endure many things and even make sacrifices in this world for his sake and do so even with joy.

As we concern ourselves for this righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.

Let us press onward and upward to the glory and praise of God.

Amen.

Let us pray.

For bringing us into the race of faith.

We thank you, Lord, for all that the work you have done in us and through us.

We thank you for this righteousness that is Christ.

We thank you for the love and the righteousness that you have been pleased to extend through us as a church body in 2018.

And Lord, we ask and pray and implore you to establish the work of our hands in 2019.

As we look to you, Lord Jesus, our Savior and our Lord.

Amen.