Pursuing Christ

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Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect,

but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do,

forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded.

And if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Throughout our study of the book of Philippians, I've on occasion have mentioned the three tenses of salvation.

Do you remember those?

Well, since the entire third chapter of Philippians chapter 3 is about salvation,

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Paul touches in one way or another on each of these three realities of the Christian life.

And after defining true conversion in the first 11 verses of the chapter,

he moves to discuss the believer's sanctification in verses 12 to 16.

So we're moving past the past tense of salvation, the moment of conversion,

and now he's dealing with specifically this progressive sanctifying process of the believer.

And I want to draw your attention specifically to the first statement in verse 12.

Would you look at it with me?

Paul says,

It's not as though I had already attained this, either were already perfect.

And here's why we know that Paul is moving from conversion and justification in verse 12 into sanctification.

Because he says clearly,

The thing to which I'm referring, I have not yet obtained.

And I have not yet apprehended.

I've not yet been made perfect.

That glorification that is coming for me one day, I have not yet attained it.

So when we study this verse, we understand that Paul is not talking about not attaining salvation.

He's talking about not yet reaching a state of perfection.

The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is a present possession.

And it is eternally secured for any individual that will place saving faith in Christ alone.

The salvation and eternal life that God offers is not a potential salvation.

It's a definitive salvation.

When we come to Christ in faith, we don't place our faith in him in hopes that he will save us.

We place our faith in him with the definitive promise of God that he will save us.

It's our present possession eternal life is in that moment.

Let me point you to a couple scriptures.

In John chapter 10, Jesus said,

John 10 · chapter mention

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

And then he says,

I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,

and no man will pluck them out of my hand.

In other words, Jesus is saying,

If you will come to me in faith, this eternal life that I offer you, you will receive.

It's guaranteed.

It's a definitive promise.

You will never perish.

Not only will you never perish, but there's no person on this planet that can strip this salvation away from you.

You are secure in my hands.

This life that I give is a definitive promise, not a potential promise.

So when Paul says in verse 12,

I've not already attained what I'm talking about.

I've not already been made perfect.

He's not talking about conversion.

He's talking about the sanctifying process.

It's important.

If the Judaizers were right, that one could earn salvation through good works and religious commitment,

there would never be a way to truly know if you had been good enough or if you had been committed enough.

Salvation would not be a present possession.

It would be a potential hope.

But God has told us clearly that he offers salvation not on the basis of our performance,

because as Isaiah said, our righteousness to him is like filthy rags in comparison.

But he offers salvation on the basis of his own love and grace.

And he's told us in his word that we can be absolutely certain that salvation is ours if we trust Christ.

John wrote in 1 John 5.13,

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,

that you may know that you have eternal life.

You can know today absolutely for certain that eternal life is yours.

And it's not a question as to whether or not you're good enough, as we've studied the last few Sundays.

It's a question on do you know Christ?

Not do you know about Christ, but do you know him?

Have you experienced his saving power by casting 100% of your faith on him for salvation?

Well, Paul's approach to the issue of sanctification here in righteous living is different than he approaches it in other letters.

Rather than providing a list of do's and don'ts,

he deals with sanctification in these verses as a matter of the mind and heart.

And he does that by continuing on in his testimony.

Now, he had already referenced in verse number 8 that he knew Christ personally.

Look at that.

He's speaking of his conversion.

He says,

Yea, doubtless in verse 8,

I count all things but loss for the surpassing value or worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

He had already known Christ personally.

In sanctification, in these verses, he was seeking to know Christ progressively.

So in verse 10, he proclaimed the benefits of knowing Christ as being receiving Christ.

Power over sin as receiving also partnership with Christ in suffering and loss,

and then the eternal life that only Christ can give.

And for Paul, this sets in motion a cycle.

Because he had experienced Christ in salvation in verse number 10,

he immediately felt the satisfaction that can only come from Jesus Christ.

But then immediately, a dissatisfaction settles into his heart.

Because he wanted to know Christ more.

And it sets in motion this cycle that exists in the heart of every believer I believe.

Look at what Paul says in verse 10.

He says,

Then look down at verse 12.

He says,

Not that I've already attained this sanctification.

Either we're already perfect.

But I press on.

I follow after.

So you can sense in salvation, Paul was totally satisfied in Jesus Christ.

And then because of that satisfaction, he couldn't get enough.

And he said,

I just want more of Christ.

I want to know him more.

I want to know more about him.

I want to know how I can please him.

I want to experience his power more and more and more.

And then each step of this progressive sanctification,

as Paul would know Christ more,

as he would understand the scriptures more,

he would be satisfied in Christ and then immediately dissatisfied again.

Because he just wants to know more.

That's indicative of the life of a true believer.

That once we experience what Christ offers in salvation,

we just want more and more and more of him.

And so Paul's testimony here in these verses

is really a testimony of this cycle.

And it's an encouragement for us to jump into the cycle ourselves.

To be satisfied in Christ and then to be dissatisfied

with how little we know about him

and how little we experience his power.

And just to want more.

And in wanting more,

pursuing him,

following after,

pressing on,

as Paul says.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter five and verse six

in the Beatitudes,

in his Sermon on the Mount,

he said,

blessed are those which do hunger and thirst

after righteousness.

Well,

what is righteousness in the scriptures?

Righteousness comes from Christ.

We can't be righteous on our own.

It comes through his power.

So when Jesus says,

blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,

it's not just a blessing on those who want to get their life together.

It's a blessing on those who want to know me

and want to know my righteousness

and want to know my power.

And then he says,

blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness

for they shall be satisfied,

he says.

They shall be filled.

It's a promise that God gives.

What a glorious promise that is.

That as we sense the dissatisfaction of this world

and we sense the dissatisfaction of this life

and we sense the dissatisfaction of our present walk with Christ,

that when we hunger after him

and we thirst after him,

his promise is,

you will be filled.

If I'm what you hunger for,

I will fill you.

As long as you're hungering and thirsting after this life

and the sins of this world

and what it has to offer,

you will feel empty.

But as long as you are hungering and thirsting after me,

you will be filled.

We've been singing this song the last few weeks,

Jesus Strong and Kind.

And I think it's the second verse that says,

Jesus said that if I thirst,

I should come to him.

No one else can satisfy.

I should come to him.

For the Lord is good and gracious.

He is strong and kind.

And we rejoice in that truth.

Well, let me quickly give you three things

about these passages as Paul breaks it down for us.

Number one, in verse 12,

we see that sanctification is a purposeful call.

It's a purposeful call.

Look at verse 12 with me again.

Paul says,

not as though I had already attained,

either were already perfect,

but I follow after or I press on

if that I may apprehend that for which

also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Now the phrase I follow after

is meant to open our understanding

to Paul's intensity.

The Greek term has references to war

and the pursuit of victory in a battle.

And Paul's point when he says,

I follow after is this sanctifying process,

this following after Christ

and living a holy and righteous life

is something that I'm fighting for

in the way that a soldier fights

to win the battle on the battlefield.

It was his intensity.

He said, I am fighting for this.

I am fighting to be like Christ in this way.

But since his salvation was already secure,

what was the motivation for him to fight in this way?

If he was already positionally righteous before God,

what was the point in being so concerned

with spiritual growth now?

And that's a valid question.

And it's one we have to be able to answer.

And thankfully, Paul answers it in verse 12.

Look at the second half of the verse.

If that I may apprehend or lay hold of or achieve

that, notice this, for which,

that for which Christ has apprehended me

or I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

What Paul is saying is this life of righteousness

and sanctification is a divine call.

It is the purpose of Christ in saving us

to make us more like him.

Paul's goal in life was consistent

with Christ's goal in saving him.

And what was Christ's goal in saving him?

Romans chapter eight tells us.

You know this first verse well

that's helpful for us all the time.

And we know that all things work together for good

to them that love God,

to them who are called according to his purpose.

That is a reference to those who are saved,

who have believed.

And then he says in verse 29,

for whom God did foreknow,

he also did predestine.

He's referring to believers,

those who are saved.

He also did predestine to do what?

Be conformed to the image of his son.

What was the purpose in Christ saving you?

What's the purpose in God providing salvation to begin with?

To make us righteous.

To conform us to the image of his perfectly righteous son.

So when Paul looked at sanctification,

the pursuit of righteousness,

he viewed it as a divine call

that went part and parcel

with the divine call to salvation.

In other words,

every person that is a believer

has the call of God,

the purposeful call of God

to live a righteous life.

And this is logically consistent

with the doctrines of sin and salvation.

Think about it.

In conversion,

we recognize the holiness of God

set against our sinful condition.

And we realize that it's our sin

that separates us from God.

So if it's our sin that separates us from God,

and if the purpose in Christ dying on the cross

was to provide an atonement for that sin

and to provide reconciliation to God the Father,

why would we not desire

to continue in righteousness after salvation?

It only makes sense.

Paul wasn't pursuing a righteousness

to earn his salvation,

but he recognized a holy life

as a divine call

on all those who have already received salvation.

Listen, we have a divine call of God

to pursue holiness.

And it should be our lifelong pursuit.

God is not content for Christians

to have a careless attitude toward righteous living.

In fact, the command of the scripture

is that we follow God's pattern of righteousness,

which is a perfect pattern.

Remember what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1.

He says that we are to gird up the loins of our mind,

to be sober and hope to the end for the grace

that is to be brought unto you.

And then he says the way that we do that

is as obedient children,

not fashioning ourselves

according to the former lust in your ignorance,

but as he which has called you to salvation is holy,

so be ye holy in all manner of life.

Because it is written,

be ye holy for I am holy.

It's a divine call.

It's a call that we must take seriously.

And the question for this

is what is your spirit toward this call?

Are you more like the liberals or the libertines

that would say I'm positionally righteous before Christ?

That means I can just live the way that I want

and just ask forgiveness and everything's good.

But that's not the spirit of a Christian at all

in the scripture.

The spirit of a believer is that we pursue Christ.

We are not content with our sin.

We want to leave that behind.

What's your spirit towards righteousness?

It's not that you're perfect

and not that you expect to be perfect,

but do you want to be?

Do you desire to please the Lord in that way?

Do you desire to pursue holiness in that way?

That was Paul's heart

and it was the whole purpose of him bringing up

those words in verse 12,

that this was a divine call of God

and it was a call of God

that he was going to pursue with all of his might.

So we see a purposeful call.

Secondly, we see a passionate pursuit.

Passionate pursuit.

Look with me at verse 13 and 14.

He says,

brothers, I count not myself to have apprehended.

I'm not there yet.

He's reemphasizing again his own deficiency.

But this one thing I do,

forgetting those things which are behind,

reaching forth under those things which are before,

I press toward the goal of the prize

of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

It's a passionate pursuit.

Something he was pursuing with all of his might.

Now, in verse 12,

it reveals the purpose in pursuing righteousness.

Verses 13 and 14 show us the procedure

that we're to follow in pursuing righteousness.

What's so helpful about Paul's approach here

is that he keeps the focus on our mindset

rather than on a specific list of sins to avoid

and works to embrace.

Now, he could have just given a whole list of things

that the Philippians needed to do

in order to please God

and a list of things they needed to avoid

in order to please God.

And it wouldn't have been wrong for him to do that.

He did that in several other letters.

I think that the reason that he didn't

is because what they were dealing with

in terms of the Judaizers,

it would have seemed like it was no different

than what the Judaizers were saying.

So he leaves off the list for a moment

and I think he does it helpfully.

Instead of giving a list of rules,

Paul zeroed in on what is the root

of all outward behavior.

You know what it is?

The attitude of the heart.

The root of everything we do,

the root of everything we say,

the root of everything we think

is the attitude of the heart.

So instead of giving a whole list of things

that these Philippians needed to do

and a whole list of things that they needed to avoid,

Paul zeroes it into a singular focus

and he says, just pursue Christ.

If you will just pursue Christ

and pursue him passionately,

all the other things will fall into place

the way that they need to.

Focus on Christ.

Jesus said in Matthew 15,

that the things which proceed out of the mouth

come from the heart

and they defile the man.

And then he says,

for out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts

and murders and adulteries

and fornications and thefts

and false witness and blasphemies.

And again in Luke chapter six,

Jesus says,

a good man out of the good treasure of his heart

brings forth that which is good.

And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart

brings forth that which is evil.

For of the abundance of the heart,

the mouth speaketh.

The truth is what is within you

will eventually work its way out.

So fill your heart with Christ.

Focus your attention on his word.

Focus your attention on who he is

and what he desires.

Fill your heart with him.

Fill your heart with his truth

so that what proceeds out of your heart

is grace and truth and righteousness and love

and all of the things that exist in Christ Jesus.

Forget the list and just focus on Christ.

There's two things he says in regards to this

as a part of this procedure.

In verse 13 he says that he has a singular focus.

A singular focus.

Paul sums up his entire life's purpose

into one focus.

To pursue Christ.

Ultimately,

Paul's mind wasn't focused on righteousness itself.

It wasn't righteousness for righteousness' sake.

His focus was on pleasing Jesus.

When he said,

this is my goal,

it wasn't my goal

is to read my Bible

a certain amount of times a day

and my goal isn't to pray

a certain amount of hours a day

and my goal isn't to avoid this list of sins.

He zeroed it all in on just saying,

my goal is Christ.

My goal is Christ.

And in my pursuit of Christ,

I'm gonna study his word

and I'm gonna pray

and I'm gonna avoid sin,

but I'm not focused on that

so much as I'm just focused on Christ.

He had a singular focus.

The truth is that

true righteousness

will only come

whenever our hearts and minds

are focused singularly

on knowing and pursuing Jesus.

Verses 13 and 14,

as I mentioned a moment ago,

use words that in Greek

would have illustrated

to the Philippian readers

a sprinter

who would have run

in the Isthmian Games

or the Olympic Games

of the time.

Basically, Paul's saying

just like a runner

who has focused

on winning the race,

he was focused

on knowing and pleasing

his Savior.

And it's not the only time

he uses this illustration.

In fact,

if you're keeping notes,

write down 1 Corinthians 9,

24 to 27

and reference it later.

If I go there,

I'll spend too much time on it.

So I'm just gonna trust you

to study it later.

But his focus really had

two features in this verse.

Forgetting the past

and looking forward to Jesus.

Look at the first one

in verse 13.

This one thing I do,

forgetting those things

which are behind.

Have you ever watched

videos on YouTube

of showboats in races?

You know what I'm talking about?

Those who are running track

and they at least think

that they're way ahead

of the other people.

And right before they get

to the finish line,

they start to showboat

a little bit.

And here comes the scrawny guy

that runs right past him

to steal the victory

at the very end.

It's not that the other guy

was faster.

It's that he was more focused.

He's more focused on the race.

We've all seen videos like that.

It doesn't just apply to running.

I remember distinctively

as I was studying this week,

the,

was it 2016,

the Summer Olympics

were in Brazil,

in Rio.

You remember all of the buildup

in anticipation

to the 200 meter butterfly

men's final

that had Michael Phelps.

Michael Phelps was

the United States

phenom in swimming

and he was chasing

this world record

gold medals,

I think is what it was.

And there was all this buildup

to this specific race.

The butterfly was one

of his better races,

but in 2012 in London,

he had barely lost

and taken second place

to a guy from South Africa

named Chad LaCleude.

Do you remember?

And there was all this buildup

to this race in Rio.

And if you remember,

right before they all went out

to their marks

for this race

in the final race,

Michael Phelps

was sitting down

on his chair

on a folding chair

and Chad LaCleude

was in front of him

with his headphones on

and he was shadowboxing

in front of Michael Phelps.

He was taunting him.

And even the lead up

to this taunting

on this day

was lots of media coverage

where Chad LaCleude

was,

he was running his mouth,

I beat him before

I'm going to beat him again,

and all that kind of stuff

was coming out.

Like he had built himself up huge.

And there was all these memes,

you can Google them today,

there were all these memes

of Michael Phelps

where he had this death stare

on Chad LaCleude

like he hated his guts.

It's so funny

to pull him up online.

Well, they come to the race,

Chad LaCleude

is in lane five,

Michael Phelps

is in lane six.

The gun goes off

and they jump in the pole

and they go about it.

Halfway through the race,

they were pretty close.

Michael Phelps

was just ahead of Chad LaCleude,

but they're right next

to each other

and here's what Chad LaCleude

starts to do

in the second half of the race.

Every time he comes up for breath,

he looks to his right

or his left,

I can't remember which side it was.

He looks to his right

to see where Michael Phelps was.

He wasn't focused on the wall,

which is where he was swimming towards.

He kept looking at Michael Phelps.

He was so concerned

of beating Michael Phelps

and then in contrast to that,

the camera zeroes in on Michael Phelps

and he couldn't care less

where Chad LaCleude is.

His eyes are focused ahead.

Every time he comes up for breath,

his eyes are looking at the wall

every time

and he ends up going

and winning the race

and Chad LaCleude

didn't even finish

in first, second, or third.

He didn't even place

and the point was

he was focused and distracted

or he was distracted

by all the things

that were around him.

He wasn't focused on the goal.

Michael Phelps was focused on the goal

and it helped him

to win the race

but there's all these things

that come into our lives

that prevent us

from focusing on the goal

and Paul says

it's all summed up

in forgetting the past.

Forgetting the past.

Some of us

are so focused

on past successes

!

that our life now

is consumed

with complacency.

We live in all the things

that we used to do

for the Lord

and we thrive

on all the good old days

of church

and all the things

that we used to do

and what we do

when we look at our life now

is we just see complacency.

We're satisfied

with what we've done

in the past

and so instead of pursuing

forward after Christ

we just sit still

hoping that our past achievements

were good enough.

Some of us

on the other extreme

are so mindful

of our past failure

that we're paralyzed

and what's so wonderful

about what the Bible

tells us about God's grace

is there is no sin

in your life

that he will not forgive.

Think about Paul's life.

He had an amazing list

of accomplishments

even after his conversion.

Most people regard him

as the greatest Christian

to ever live

and I hate quantitative

statements like that

but there's no doubt

he was a model believer

for us to follow

and he had all these things.

He could have said

I started all these churches.

I've suffered

in all these ways

and he would have been fine

with what he had done

in the past.

He also had a full list

of past failures

that none of us

have been guilty of.

He was a murderer

and he wasn't just a murderer

he murdered Christians

because they were Christians.

He was a filthy sinful man

but neither his past successes

nor his past failures

caused him to lay back

in his pursuit of Christ.

Forgot the things

that were behind him.

He didn't get distracted

by what was on his left side

or his right side.

And then the second part

is reaching forth.

This word pictures

a runner who's grasping ahead.

It literally means to grasp.

It's grasping ahead

after the finish.

He says not only

am I forgetting

what's behind

I am focused

on what's before.

And the singular focus

that he had

was Jesus Christ.

It wasn't just

a singular focus

it was a determined effort.

Look at verse 14.

Perhaps the most famous verse

in the entire book.

I press toward the mark

or the goal

is what that means.

I press toward the goal

for the prize

of the high calling

of God in Christ Jesus.

The prize and the goal

wasn't an achievement

or an accomplishment.

The prize and the goal

in verse 14

is Christ.

That was his focus.

That's what he cared about

and that's what he pursued.

And since that's what

he was pursuing

Christ

he was willing

to discipline himself

in any way possible

in order to properly

pursue Christ.

When a runner

prepares for a race

I've been able

in my life

to run two full marathons

and both times

it took several months

six, seven, eight months

of preparations

to get ready for that.

Which is why

I don't do it

very often now.

It's a lot of work.

It's very early mornings.

It's getting up

on some occasions

at 3.30 in the morning

to go for a 20 mile run

so that I can be at work

by nine o'clock.

It's thinking about

everything that I put

in my mouth

because the bad food

could mess up

my training

and it could affect

the way that I was

trying to run

and how I was trying

to reach my goal

and it was months

of this.

Months of this.

The point was

if I wouldn't have

done the training

if I would have

not cared about

my diet

I would have never

been able to run

that race very well

either one of them.

Paul disciplined

his body spiritually

in regards to sin

and in regards

to religious accomplishment

it wasn't for the sake

of his salvation

but it was because

he was saved.

He was determined

he was determined

to do whatever

he needed to do.

The struggle is

we get to all

of these gray areas

in our life

where we're not

real sure

if this is an exact

right or wrong issue

and almost always

if our pursuit

isn't Christ

we lean toward

the more sinful

way of living.

Even if it's not a sin

the focus of our mind

isn't Christ

the focus of our mind

is our fulfillment.

Paul says

I discipline my body

and I pursue Christ

with everything

it's a determined effort.

In any kind of achievement

or any kind of goal

that we ever have in life

any difficult endeavor

one has to determine

if the reward

is worth the effort.

For the Christian

Christ is the reward

and there's no effort

too great

to keep us

from pursuing him.

I mentioned

Eric Little

and Chariots of Fire

earlier.

Eric Little

really is a great

hero of the faith

if you ever study

his life

I would encourage

you to do that

read one of his biographies.

He was known

as the Flying Scotsman

right Bob?

He was the Flying Scotsman

and he was a

very very fast runner

he was an even more

committed Christian

and he ultimately

gave his life

as a martyr

basically in China

on the mission field

is where he ended up

dying I think in the 1940s

at the end of World War II

he was in an internment camp there.

But before that ever came about

in the 1920s

he was chosen to run

for Scotland

in the Olympic Games.

Before he ever got

to the Olympic Games

there was a specific race

when he was on the British team

and they were running

against France

and I can't remember

exactly the place

Bob may remember

but where they're running together

and right at the beginning

of the race

might have been

the 100 yard dash

could have been

the 440 meter actually

right at the beginning

of the race

he tripped over another runner

and he fell.

He didn't just fall

on the track

he fell off the track

and by the time

he got back up

to his feet

all the other runners

were about 30 meters

ahead of him.

Most runners today

throw up their hands

be upset

at whoever

tripped them

and just went

to wherever

their coaches were.

That's not what

Eric Little did.

He gets up

as is portrayed

on Chariots of the Fire

fantastically

and he begins to run

and he ran

as hard as he possibly could

and not only

did he make up

the 30 meter difference

between he

and all the other runners

but he went on

to win the race

and he was known

for this particular posture

in his running

that when he was given

maximum effort

his knees were high

they said

that he was

the ugliest runner

to ever run.

His knees were high

he would throw

his head back

mouth agape

and he would grasp

like this

as he was running.

It was maximum effort.

He gave maximum effort

not only

on the track

and field

but he gave maximum

effort

in his Christian life

and that's exactly

the picture

Paul is painting here.

When he says

reaching forward

he's maximum effort

I'm doing everything

I can

to live the way

that God called me

to live.

Not because

I'm going to earn

anything from God

but because

this is why

he saved me.

This is my purpose

to glorify him

and I'm going to

pursue that

with passion.

And then finally

quickly

verses 15 and 16

we see a preemptive

warning

a preemptive warning.

Look at verse 15.

Paul leaves off

the illustration now

and he says

let us therefore

as many as be perfect

that just means

mature.

He's referencing people

that have experienced

some spiritual maturity

let us therefore

be thus minded

and if in anything

you be otherwise minded

God shall reveal

even this unto you

chastening

allowing you

to fall into sin

and face the consequences

of it

God will deal with it.

Nevertheless

where to

we have already attained

to the point

that we have grown

in our spiritual maturity

let us walk

by the same rule

let us continue

on in it

let us mind

the same thing.

He was reemphasizing

the fact

that our pursuit

of knowing

and pleasing Christ

is a lifelong pursuit.

And essentially

what Paul was telling

these believers

to do

especially the ones

that had experienced

a level of

spiritual maturity

he was essentially

telling them

not to rest

on their laurels.

Do you know that phrase?

I don't think

it's so popular now.

It used to be

maybe

the late 1800s

as I've tried

to look up

its origins.

To rest on your laurels

it's a nod

to the Greek games

in ancient Greece.

What the runners

would win

what would be

their reward

at the end of the race

was a laurel wreath

that would be placed

on their heads.

The Romans

eventually adopted

this as well

instead of just

giving it to runners

they gave it to

generals that had won

great victories

in battle

and they would come back

and they would parade

them through Rome

with these laurel wreaths

on their head.

It represented victory.

It was accomplishment.

Not to rest

on your laurels

means not to be

so infatuated

with your past achievements

that you no longer

put forth any effort.

And essentially

what Paul is telling

these believers is

I know you've

come a long way

and the Lord's

been good to you

and he has sanctified

you to this extent

but don't rest

on your laurels.

Keep pursuing

Christ.

Now think about

where Paul's at here.

this is a man

who at this point

is in his 60s

he has spent

four years now

in prison

it's only a matter

of time

before he's beheaded.

We know historically

he gets out of this

imprisonment

two years later

he's back in prison

ultimately he's put

to death

beheaded.

Now as a 60 year old

man who had suffered

in incredible ways

and had amazing

accomplishments

in the Christian faith

it was this man

that was saying

I keep pursuing

Christ.

I'm not

settling

and resting

on my laurels.

As Paul reflected

on his suffering

in Acts chapter 20

Acts 20 · chapter mention

and as he even

looked ahead

to the suffering

that he imagined

he would continue

to experience

he said his one goal

was to finish

his race strong.

Acts chapter 20

Acts 20 · chapter mention

told the Ephesian elders

he said none of these

things move me.

That's a reference

to his suffering.

None of these things

move me.

Neither count I

my life dear

so that I might

finish my course

with joy.

He just wanted

to run strong.

He knew he wouldn't

be perfect.

He just wanted

to pursue it

with his life

because it was

God's call.

And at the end

of his life

when he knew

he was about to die

he wrote to Timothy

in 2 Timothy 4

and he said

in looking back

I have fought

a good fight.

I have kept

the faith.

I have finished

my course.

What a wonderful

testimony that is.

To understand

not only

our call

to living

a righteous life

the passion

to which

we're pursuing

but to see

that at the end

of our life

we can look back

and say

I finished

my course.

I wasn't

perfect

but it didn't

stop me

from trying

to be.

And that

in essence

is the spirit

of Paul's

message here.

God's not

calling you

to perfection

he knows

you'll never

achieve it.

What he's

calling you

to do

is pursue

him.

And so

the question

for us

today is

are we

pursuing

him?

Thank you

for listening

to this

sermon

made available

by Lakeside

Bible Church.

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Bible Church.

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