Straining toward the Goal

Heavenly Father, I thank you that we're able to come into a building and to worship you,

that we're able to pray to you, we're able to study your word,

we're able to have fellowship and meet with each other.

I just thank you for that, Lord.

There might be some of us here who have had a hard year,

and there might be also people here who have had a good year.

But I ask all those distractions would just fall away,

and we would just be focused on what you want to say to us and on your glory and on nothing else.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So we're in that time of year now where Christmas has happened.

We've done all the spending.

We've done all the family stuff.

And we're kind of in that limbo right now between Christmas Day and New Year's

where we don't know when the stores are open or what to do.

And if you're anything like me, during this time over the past couple of years,

I've tried to use this time to reflect on the past year or things from my past.

I haven't been able to do that this year because my brother-in-law is getting married tomorrow,

so it's been very chaotic.

But normally I would be reflecting about certain things that I've set,

like goals I've set over the past couple of years.

And the funny thing is, our culture loves to set goals.

You see it all in books everywhere, all in bookstores.

You see it in magazines.

You see it online in podcasts.

All over the place.

And if you're anything like me, I personally set goals for a lot of things,

for my fitness, for my spending habits, even for my marriage, my friendships,

and for travel plans, for my dreams that I have to travel.

And maybe you're also like me, and maybe you failed at some of these goals.

Or maybe you also succeeded in some of these goals.

And it's interesting because Paul, in this text that we're about to look at,

talks about a goal.

He talks about straining towards a goal.

He talks about this ultimate goal.

This goal that is so great that he gave his life for this goal.

So if you could turn with me to Philippians chapter 3, verses 12 to 21,

Philippians 3:12–21

I would like to take a closer look at this.

So again, it's Philippians chapter 3, verses 12 to 21.

Philippians 3:12–21

And if you don't have a Bible, there's some up here.

Feel free to come up and grab one wherever you want.

If you don't have one, you can take it, bring it home, it's yours.

Or you can just read from the screen up there.

So as you're turning there, I will talk a bit about the context.

So this is a letter to a church in Philippi by the Apostle Paul.

Paul was writing this letter from a jail in Rome.

So this is one of his famous jail epistles.

And Philippi, this city, was a city refounded by the Roman emperor Augustus.

And because of that, it had special status.

It had status because it was the Augustian colony, which let it be exempted from certain taxes.

This town was found in eastern Macedonia.

It was found along an important Roman commercial road called the Ignatian Way.

This church would have been mainly Gentiles.

And these people in this church were friends of Paul.

You can see that in his writings when he writes this letter to the Philippian church

that he has this kind of friendly tone to them.

And he says he's visited them a couple times.

So he knows these people.

So let's take a look at this.

So at the beginning in verse 12.

Not that I've already obtained this or am already perfect,

but I press on to make it my own,

because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

So in the previous verses, you have to remember when you read the Bible,

you have to always take everything in the context of the book that's written.

You can't just pick verses out.

So in the previous verses of chapter 3,

Paul has been talking about, he talked about his past.

He talked about how he was a Hebrew of Hebrews.

He was a Pharisee.

He used to persecute the church.

And so he would have had this status

where he would have been considered very high,

almost above other people.

And then he threw it all away.

Why did he throw it all away?

But he says that he threw it all away

because everything is rubbish compared to knowing Christ,

compared to knowing Jesus Christ.

Another way to describe his level of how high he would have been in his society

was I'm currently reading Harry Potter.

And in it, there's two different types of wizards.

There's pureblood wizards, and then there's halfblood wizards.

And the way you're a pureblood wizard is if both your parents were wizards,

one's a wizard, one's a witch.

And if you're a halfblood, one is only magical, one is not.

So Paul would have been a pureblood.

He would have almost like a higher status.

People would have came to him for advice and all that.

And then he threw it all away.

He says it.

He got rid of it because he considered it rubbish.

Now what does he mean by obtained when he says,

not that I've already attained this or am already perfect?

Well, if you look at verse 11, he says,

that by any means possible, I may obtain the resurrection from the dead.

Now some of you here might be like, oh, time out.

Matt, you just said resurrection.

Don't you know we live in the 21st century?

These things don't exist.

It's been proven by science.

Well, I believe this because there's hundreds of eyewitness accounts of the resurrection.

They're written down.

It's the same way in the history books that are in our schools or in libraries.

The way they make, they write these history books is from eyewitness accounts of ancient,

like if there's something about the ancient wars, it's all written from eyewitness accounts.

And it's interesting because there's more, there's more written accounts on, for the resurrection

than there is for a lot of the, a lot of the great ancient wars that they're talked about in schools.

And it's interesting also that people are so quick to, to throw away that the resurrection

could actually happen, that this miracle could happen.

But then they're so quick to hold to the theory of evolution, which is also a miracle event.

The evolution theory is how, is how it's claimed that how the world came to be from a big bang.

But that takes also a faith to believe in.

That also takes a faith in a miracle event that happened.

But there's no eyewitness accounts of that.

So when Paul talks about a resurrection, we could actually believe this because there's,

there's written accounts of eyewitnesses.

So continuing in verses 13, brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I've made it my own.

But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.

I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

So Paul, he says he left behind, in the previous verses, he left behind the status he had.

He left behind, he left behind all these like sins he committed, everything.

He's, he's tried to forget about them to look forward.

Many of us have past hurts.

Many of us have these things that we've committed that we think are so bad that like no one could possibly love us.

Many of us have past accomplishments that we put our pride in, that we hold to.

How many of us can't seem to forget about our past?

Now I'm not saying, and Paul isn't saying that we shouldn't just block out our past,

that we shouldn't just, like we shouldn't suppress it.

We should remember our past.

But when our past controls us, that is when we, that is when it's wrong.

And that's what Paul does.

He wants to forget about the past so we can strain forward,

so he can put all his hope in Jesus, in Jesus Christ.

You could be here, and you don't know God.

And you don't, maybe you don't want to know God.

But you're tormented.

You could be tormented by these pains, these hurts,

or you could put all your pride in these accomplishments that you have.

The world tells you to never forget your past,

or to never forget where you came from.

But it offers you no way to deal with the pain of your past.

It says that it has certain things that could help you,

but in the end, it'll always fail.

And here Paul is saying there's something.

There's a hope.

There's something found in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

He strains forward, and that is what he's telling the church in Philippi,

the Philippians, and that's what also we could take from it.

And notice how he says strain in verse 13,

and press on towards the goal in verse 14.

Now, I'm really into climbing.

I've been climbing for about 10 years,

or I guess a little bit more than 10 years now.

And when you get to a certain point in rock climbing,

where once you've done all the easy stuff,

you have to start selecting routes that you want to spend more time in.

A route is when you start from the bottom and you get to the top of the cliff.

There's certain lines in the rock features that you climb,

weaknesses in the rock.

And when you pick these harder routes,

you have to actually train for them.

You have to train your fingers,

your tendons have to be strengthened,

you have to have a general fitness.

And when you pick these routes and you put all that time in,

the goal of climbing is to start from the bottom and get to the top without falling.

But when it comes to climbing,

when you get up to the hard parts,

this thing's called the crux,

the crux of the route.

If you hesitate,

you'll fall.

If you look back,

you'll fall.

And it's the same thing with Olympic athletes.

These people spend their entire lives for the one moment,

the one opportunity they have,

to try to get the gold medal.

And if an Olympic runner was running the race and it was really close,

if he looks back,

that would actually bring him back in the race

because it would reduce his speed.

So when they're running,

they're straining towards the goal,

the prize,

which to them is the gold medal.

But isn't Paul already a Christian?

Why must he strain?

Well,

any goal you set

and become slack in,

you won't achieve it.

And when Paul says,

the goal or prize,

what is he talking about?

He is talking about Jesus.

Jesus is the ultimate prize.

Jesus is the ultimate goal.

The finished work of the cross,

that is the goal,

that is the prize.

You see,

when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ,

you are instantly justified.

It's like,

there's this thing that's like,

the already happened.

Because of what Jesus did on the cross,

and when you put your faith and trust in it,

you're instantly justified.

You are right before God.

But then there's also a process after,

and that process is called sanctification.

So what that means is,

when you put your faith and trust in Jesus,

you're justified.

But that doesn't mean you continue on

just doing the same thing you're doing.

You have to actually do a 180

and go the opposite way.

Before I became a Christian,

I was involved in many,

like,

I was doing drugs,

I was a heavy drinker.

I come from a pretty rough past.

And when I became a Christian,

when I had that moment,

if I continued in what I was doing,

I wouldn't have been,

I wouldn't have been the right way.

You have to,

when you become a Christian,

you have to go the other way.

It's a higher calling.

And continuing in verse 15,

Paul says,

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 obtained.

Now when Paul says mature,

he's not talking about,

he's like,

it's not talking about older people.

When he says mature,

the word in the Greek

could also mean perfect.

But that kind of sounds a bit,

it sounds a bit like Paul's full of himself.

But that's not what he's saying.

What Paul is saying

is those who are,

who are mature slash perfect

are the ones who realize

they are not mature slash perfect.

They're the ones who realize

that they can do nothing

to obtain the prize.

They can do nothing

to obtain the goal.

They have to put all their faith

and trust in Jesus Christ.

They have to let him

win the race for them.

But some of you might be saying,

but surely I've been a good person

and that's enough

to get me right with God.

Other people could be saying,

but I've served at the church

for many years.

Isn't that enough?

Other people could say,

but I tithe

and I follow everything

that the Bible says.

Isn't that enough?

It's only when you realize

that the finished work

of the cross

and your faith in Jesus Christ

is the only way to be saved.

And when you realize that,

that is when you start the race.

That is when you get up

and you start going

towards the goal.

But it's so easy

to get pulled off to the side.

So that's why Paul says

we must strain,

we must press on

towards the goal.

Now as you read Philippians,

there's clearly,

there's a clear distinction

between two themes.

One is this theme of joy.

Paul says joy constantly

through this.

The other theme

is a theme of unity.

And it's interesting

when you look closely at it,

the only way you could get

this joy that Paul talks about

is in the unity.

unity.

And we see that

in verses 15 and 16.

Paul talks about being unified.

He talks about

that we need to,

you guys need to come together

and be unified.

So in climbing,

when you've done

all your training,

when you've done,

when you've picked your route

and when you're trying

to climb it,

you can't just go up

and climb it on your own.

You need a partner.

You need a belayer.

And this belayer

is the person

who feeds your rope out.

He's the one

who gives you all,

gives you the slack,

who keeps the rope tight

in certain spots

that may be a bit more dangerous.

He's the one

who catches you

if you fall.

And the rope,

the rope that's

between the two of you

holds you together

to the cliff.

It is what keeps you

to the cliff.

And most people

who climb without a rope

or without a partner,

unfortunately,

eventually fall

and they die

because they have nothing

to catch them.

And it's the same

with the church

except the gospel of Christ

is the rope.

That is what keeps you

together.

And you have the belayer.

You may think

you don't need fellowship

or you can't relate

to the people

at the church

or you've heard it all before

or the sermons

might be too long

or the service

might be too long

or it doesn't fit

with the way you feel

church service should be.

Well,

I encourage you

to reflect

and look around.

Are you alone?

Do you have

unbearable stress

and no one

to share the burden

with besides

it could be yourself

or your spouse?

We need each other.

It's all through

the New Testament.

It's all through

Philippians.

We need unity.

We need to be together.

And I know

church isn't perfect.

A lot of churches

have a lot of bad things

in it

but we're human.

We're not

perfect people.

And in verse 17

Paul says

Brothers and sisters

join in imitating me

and keep your eyes

on those who walk

according to the examples

to the example

you have in us.

When Paul says this

he's talking to them

because there's many

false teachers

around in the area

who are trying

to infiltrate the church

to make them

go in opposite direction.

And you could

and the way you could

tell a false teacher

is someone who's

contrary to the Bible.

He's contrary to what

they're talking.

So Paul

even though he is human

was confident

in the way he walked.

So he told them

to imitate him.

It's the same way

many people

I myself

will read like a biography

or watch things

on YouTube

about interesting people

and we try to copy them.

We try to live out

the way they live.

And it's kind of the same way

that's what Paul's saying

here.

He says

I follow

the Bible.

I follow scriptures.

So follow

what I'm doing.

And in verse 18

Paul says

for many of whom

I've 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 the glory

and their shame

with minds

set on earthly

things.

Now what is the enemy

of the cross

when he says that?

An enemy of the cross

is someone

who's contrary

to the gospel.

Who lives contrary

to the gospel.

But you've got to

look at this

because it says

to the cross

of Christ.

It doesn't say to you.

It's the cross

of Christ.

Christ.

So when there's

people who live

contrary to what

the Bible says

we're not to make

them our enemies.

We're to show them

Jesus.

We're to love

on people.

That is the calling

of a Christian

is to love on people.

Not to make people

our enemies.

Not to segregate people.

But to love on people.

And that is what

Paul's telling them.

And you see

that he cries

for them.

And why does he

cry for them?

Because when you

look at this

Paul knows

these people

that have fallen away.

He would have

talked to them.

He's talking about

Christians who have

fallen away.

My wife Amy

is a huge fan

of Christmas movies.

So I've been watching

Christmas movies

since like

beginning of November.

And one of the

Christmas movies

we watched this year

that I've never seen

this version

is The Christmas Carol.

And there's the

Jim Carrey version.

So The Christmas Carol

if you don't know

what it is

it's a book

by Charles Dickens

from the 19th century.

And

there's a moment

in this

in the movie

where

Scrooge

Scrooge is a man

who's

very stingy

with his money.

He didn't like anyone.

He kept to himself.

The only thing he wanted

to do was make

more money

and more money.

And he didn't want

to share any of it.

And there's a moment

on Christmas Eve

in The Christmas Carol

that he's visited

by his deceased

co-worker

the person he made

his business with.

And his name's Marley.

And Marley

warns Scrooge

that if he doesn't

change his ways

he's going to end up

the same way as him.

And Marley

when he comes into the scene

he's held by chains

to a box of money.

And he can't

grab the box of money

but he always tries

to get it.

But he can't

because he's a ghost.

He can't grab it.

He's tormented.

And there's a moment

when Scrooge

is pulled to the window

as Marley is leaving

after he warns him

that he'd be visited

by three ghosts.

And he looks out.

Scrooge looks out

into the city

and he sees

an entire city

of ghosts

who are controlled

by what they've idolized

through their lives.

And some are controlled

by money.

Some are controlled

by food.

Some are controlled

by their lust.

Some are controlled

by their debts.

Some are controlled

by just trying

to obtain power.

And you see them

going through

all the city

trying to obtain this

but they can't get it.

These are the people

that it's showing

that their end

is destruction

because they weren't

following

they didn't follow

the goal.

And they've tried to

they've tried to

when they're all this

they're trying to

they have no hope.

But as Christians

there is a hope

and that hope

is in Christ.

And that is the only thing

that will break you free

from your desires.

And when Paul talks

about these people

at their end

is their destruction

their God

is their belly

and they glory

in their shame

with minds

set on earthly things

you have to look at

when he says

mindset

when he says

mindset

he's talking about

people

who are

who are gone

the other way

who are

who does not

who aren't living

the Christian life anymore

they're going somewhere else

their minds are

completely set

on another direction.

It's not

he's not talking about

people who struggle

with sins

he's talking about

people who

who are actively

who are glorifying

in the way they live

that are contrary

to the Bible.

And Paul says

something very interesting

in verse 20

when he says

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.

Now there's two

citizenships

that Paul is talking about

there's the worldly

citizenship

and to them

to the Philippian church

in Philippi

their citizenship

would have been

a higher value

in the Roman colonies

because

they were exempted

from taxes

they lived

in a prospering city

so to live there

to have that citizenship

was of great value

to have a Roman citizenship

you have to

pay a high price

unless you're born

into it

and then he talks

about heaven citizenship

heavenly citizenship

this citizenship

is a free

citizenship

that's offered

to everyone

getting a citizenship

in the world

is extremely hard

people come

overseas

and they have to

go through

all this paperwork

and spend many months

trying to get a citizenship

they have to pay

a high fee for it

but this citizenship

is freely given

when you put your faith

and trust in Jesus

all things

that pull you down

won't have their

hold on you

when you strain

for the prize

of seeing Jesus

face to face

when you run

with fellow believers

for the goal

for the goal

you're freely given

your citizenship

will be in heaven

and Christ attained

that on the cross

there's nothing you can do

to attain it

you'll experience

joy of knowing

that you have

a father in heaven

and as we approach

this new year

why not set the goal

of straining towards

the prize

of the gospel

of Christ

straining towards

the ultimate

the ultimate prize

which is being

which is seeing Christ

face to face

and if you don't

know God

now is the time

to call out to him

now is to start

the race

now is the time

to put all the

distractions of the world

and to turn your eyes

to Jesus

now is the time

to know him

please stand

heavenly father

I thank you

thank you for

your word

I thank you for Jesus

and what he did

on the cross

I thank you for the

finished work

of Christ

I'm sure there's

people here

I myself

who struggle

with constantly

looking towards

this goal

and straining

towards it

I ask Lord

that you would

minister to us

you would work

in our lives

you would show us

that nothing else

nothing else

matters

except

except for you

and for

and your glory

and I ask

that you would

you would just

minister to us

Lord

in Jesus name

Amen