Pressing On: Part I

Introduction

Last week as our passage ended Paul said in Philippians 3:11 “that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul’s destination—the course of his whole life is pointed toward his coming eternity. He wants to make sure that he is walking on the path that leads to Jesus and the promise of the gospel.

For any destination we need to stay on the right path if we want to get where we intend to go.

Like I can’t decide to drive to Raleigh, jump on the highway, take whatever turns and exits seem best to me and have any hope that I’ll arrive at Raleigh. I’ll arrive somewhere but it won’t be where I had hoped to go.

I. ay is part 1 of a two part sermon. The full sermon text is Philippians 3:12-21. And that sermon is Broken up into 3 Parts. The Right Path, The Dangerous Detour and the Prize at the End, but if I preach that whole sermon to you it’ll take an hour and I don’t want to lose your attention.

So today we are going to focus on the first point of our sermon. The Right Path shown in verses 12-17. Let me read it to you.

Philippians 3:12–17 ESV

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 in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

In our text Paul calls us to join him in pressing on and he wants us to know how we do this.

I. The Right Path (12-17)

Philippians 3:12 “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.”

Paul begins by showing us that humility in our hearts is necessary if we are to walk on the right path.

This is appropriate because the example Jesus gave us was an example of humility. The King of the world washes the feet of those he loves, and even his enemy. In chapter 2 of Philippians Paul reminded us that the creator of all things took on the role of a servant.

And if you and I are to walk on the right path—the path that follows Jesus then humility our greatest ally.

It keeps us looking for the blazes of the trail. If you’ve done any hiking, most trails, especially trails where detours could be dangerous are marked with painted blazes. White, yellow, or reflective stripes or diamonds so that hikers can make sure that they are continuing to walk on the correct path.

Humility keeps us looking for those blazes, it keeps us taking careful steps.

If you ever get a chance to hike with Nehemiah at his age you’ll find that he is a perfect example of the opposite of a humble hiker. With no knowledge, he boldly careens down the trail confident that wherever his feet carry him is the right path.

That’s what pride does in our lives. Pride marches comfortably down the trails of life assuring us that where our feet carry us is surely the right way, in fact it is most assuredly God’s way, pride says.

Here in Paul we see the example you and I are to follow. Paul could have been prideful. He could have said, “Look at all that I’ve done! Look at all I’ve given up! See how God uses me! I have arrived!”

But instead he says I haven’t obtained perfection, I haven’t been glorified yet. And then in verse 21 of our passage he declares that when this promise of God does come true it won’t be because Paul worked there but because God acheived by His own power for Paul’s good.

This is humility worth imitating.

Illustration: I overheard a job interview at a coffee shop this week. The man leading the meeting was emphasizing that even though he is an expert in the field and leading the company, he is still a learner. This man could have said I have arrived, I know it all, but instead he told this soon to be employee that sucess in the role he was being hired for was to acknowledge that you won’t know everything and will need help.

Humility keeps us looking for the blazes—it keeps us looking up—and looking over—it keeps us making sure that we are walking in the right way.

Transition: Let’s continue, look at what this verse says next...

Philippians 3:12 “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.”

We can mistake passivity for humility. But we shouldn’t make that mistake.

Walking on the right path with humility is not passive. Paul says I press on! I am making this life in Christ my own! And the phrase press on carries with it the idea of an agressive chase, like one who is hunting after an animal.

And when we look at the life of Paul—we certainly can’t surmise that “press on” is a passive, fearful stepping. Paul took what God told him to do and pressed on and pressed ahead. What about us?

How many of us can rightly say we have an aggressive Christianity? A passionate faith? How many of us say that we are consumed with Christ?

Friends, I know one thing—I want a faith that more aggresively chases after Jesus. I want a more passionate faith. I want to be more consumed with Christ than I am. And I know that I’m not the only one.

But if you and I are to have this faith that presses on, like Paul’s then we need the same motivation that Paul had. And he tells us here in the rest of this verse what it is that motivates his humility. He tells us what it is that motivates him to aggresively chase after Jesus.

Philippians 3:12 “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.”

Paul’s motivation came from embracing fully the love that God has for him.

Friends, we need to pay attention here because the deep and unending love that God has for us is the only source of motivation that will carry us through the Christian life.

The next 6 verses of our passage find their motivation in the truth that God has made us his own. This is what motivates Paul to press on—and you and I will find every other source of motivation to be inadequate to help you walk through this life on the right path.

Every other source of motivation will run dry. Because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Friends, God loves you—the cross proves it, when he died for sinners—He really does love you.

And his love is not the result of Him being duped. God wasn’t catfished, ok.

He wasn’t tricked by the veneer of goodness that we paint ourselves with—people can trick each other with that but God sees right through it.

He loves you. He knows the deep recesses of your heart—he sees the darkness you can’t fathom—he knows how badly you need to be rescued by the guiltless blood of Christ.

Where we look at our sin and see inconsequential anthills, God sees the mountains of sin that stand ready to crush us and to separate us from him forever.

He sees you truly and he loves you truly!

Friends, God doesn’t tolerate you, he doesn’t put up with you, he desires to be with you.

This is our great, unending motivation to press on like Paul.

Transition: And as we continue we see what Paul’s pressing on looked like..verse 13-14

Philippians 3:13 “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,”

Paul says, “I’m not perfect, but there is one thing I do that is right.

“I press on forgetting what lies behind me and straining forward to what lies ahead.”

I look away from what was and look ahead to what is—this is a two step process

First, we press on by forgetting what lies behind us

One of the things we forget is our past passions. The things we passionately pursued as lost people. And I’m not talking about hobbies or interests—like if you were passionate about coin collecting and then you get saved you can still collect coins—no problem.

We’re not talking about passion in the sense of interest, but the passions of the flesh.

We’re talking about Ephesians 2:3 “ we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

In Christ we forget—and the words connotates neglect too—we neglect sexual immorality, pride, unrighteous anger, demanding hearts, lust. We forget and neglect the inclination to love ourselves, with all our hearts, mind, soul, and strength. Hearts that are inclined to hate our neighbor and only love them when it’s self-serving.

Illustration: When I first got saved I got saved out of a practice of smoking pot, getting drunk, and being addicted to pornography. I know that might make you uncomfortable, but I was dead in my sin too.

And I was passionate about those practices—and there was a time when I was trying to figure out how to be a follower of Jesus and also someone who loved lived in sin. Do you know what I found out?

You can’t. We don’t add Jesus to our past passions we replace them with a greater passion for Christ born out of a new heart given to us by Christ. We forget those past things.

Church we also need to forget our regrets

How many of you know the pain of regret?

Let me tell you a truth that is hard for us to remember. Every sin that causes you to feel the sting of regret has been forgiven in Jesus Christ.

That thing that you play over and over again in your head has been forgiven by Jesus. He knew about it when he died on the cross. In fact, it was one of the reasons that He went to the cross. The power of that thing to condemn you before Almighty God has been taken away by the blood of Jesus, if you have surrendered your life to him.

Illustration: I have regretted all my failings as an older brother. When I got saved and my heart changed and I learned what love really looks like I began to remember many times where I mistreated my brothers with anger and selfishness. I regretted my sin.

And what the Devil tries to do with our regrets is turn them into shackles for us. He can’t steal away our salvation so he tries to cripple us with regret. But Jesus said he came that his people may have life and have it abundantly.

Do you know what we do with regret church? We remind ourselves of the gospel. We remind ourselves that the blood of Jesus shed for us has forgiven us for our sin. In him we are no longer people ruled by sinful hearts—we are no longer those dead men and women that we were before Jesus saved us and gave us new hearts.

We nail regret to the cross of Christ—where it belongs.

Amen?

There is one caveat here that I briefly want to mention. Alot of the time regrets from the past come back to us again and again because our enemy the Devil wants to rob us of gospel assurance.

That harsh conversation you had. That drunken night where you made a fool of yourself. Consensual sexual trists that you wish never happened.

Those things... have been forgiven by Jesus and you can bury them in the past. You are not defined by them and you should not be crippled by the regret of them. Instead you should celebrate that the gospel of Jesus Christ has freed you from them.

But sometimes, God may be bringing a past sin up again and again to you because you don’t need to bury it, you need to confess it. And God won’t let you forget because you shouldn’t forget. Instead you should confess that sin, seek forgiveness, and then proclaim the gospel over it.

So if you got away with murder for instance you should not just bury that in the past.

Likewise, if you raped someone or physically abused someone that is not something you just bury.

“But I’ll get in trouble if I confess.”

Yes, you might. But the gospel doesn’t promise us freedom from the consequences of our sin, it promises freedom from the death of our sin.

If you are covered by the gospel of Jesus and confess a crime you may still receive the just punishment of the law but you will not receive the wrath of God.

I went back to my brothers and sought their forgiveness. I confessed that I had sinned agaisnt them. I asked them to forgive me for using my anger against them. I asked for forgiveness for hitting them. I was bigger and stronger and it wasn’t right. I didn’t just bury it.

Christians seek reconcilliation from those that we’ve sinned against becuase though we sinned mightily against God he reconciled us to himself.

If burying your regret means that justice is witheld from those who deserve it God will not let you rest until you confess it and seek forgiveness from the one you hurt.

If you think you are burdened by that kind of regret don’t keep it to yourself—reach out to me and I will help you walk through it.

Transition: It’s a two step process so Paul forgets what lies behind, but also...

We press on by straining toward what lies ahead.

We don’t just forget the past and then sit complacently. Remember pressing on is not passive.

For Paul, it’s this picutre of letting go of the past, reaching out from the realm of death and straining to grasp and hold onto the full impact of his resurrection in Jesus.

The life of the follower of Jesus is marked by the increasing death of the old man and the increasing life of the new man. And again, the motivation for this forgetting the past and straining toward the future is found in God’s endless and perfect love for us. Because Jesus has made us his own.

Paul continues this sentiment in verse 14.

Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I press on and strain toward the goal of the prize of Jesus making me his own. And wanting to be as clear he can be Paul says in verse 15

Philippians 3:15 “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”

Paul doesn’t want us to be confused. This he plainly says, is mature Christianity.

Any from of Christianity that lives in the past passions of our dead lives—any Christianity that passively sits around is immature Christianity.

Paul says if you think otherwise then ask God and He’ll make it clear to you.

Mature Christianity strains toward the sure promise of salvation. Not to earn salvation but to experience the effects of it more and more until God completes its work in us—either at our death or the return of Christ.

This is what Paul means in verses 16 and 17

Philippians 3:16 “Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

Pressing on means holding to the truth of what we have attained.

Friends, what is Paul saying? What have we attained?

Though the effects of it are not yet complete. Though the blessings of it have not fully come to us. In Jesus we have attained the resurrection. We have attained justification from our sins. We have attained the sure promise of glorification. It’s ours. In Jesus it’s ours. Our sins have been forgiven and no one can take us out of our God’s hands. His is our God and we are His people, his sons and daughters with all the blessings and privileges that position affords.

And Paul says you and I as followers of Jesus need to live like it! That’s what he’s saying here.

Pressing on in purusit of Jesus—walking on the right path and making sure we don’t detour means living out our faith like it’s true.

We forget the past—we strain forward to the future. We press on aggresively chasing after Jesus. We humbly walk looking to make sure that we are still on the right path.

And our last verse today in part one of this sermon points to a great help for you and I as we seek to walk on the right path. When you’re in the wilderness, It’s always great to have a guide. Look at verse 17 with me.

Philippians 3:17 “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

It’s always helpful to have a guide. Paul says, brothers imitate me. And this isn’t a prideful call to celebrate the glory of Paul.

Paul only wants us to follow him because he wants us to follow the one he’s following.

1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

So Paul says imitate me, and not just me, but put your eyes on those who walk according to this example.

What this is Paul talking about. All of verses 12-16. Read these verses and find people who walk in this way and imitate their lives because they are following Jesus.

I have 2 quick challenges for us this morning.

Seek to find that example. Find the people in your life that are following Jesus well and learn from them.

If you find someone who is faithful in prayer then learn from them. Seek to imitate them.

If you find a brother or sister in Christ who consistently shares the gospel. Humbly learn from them.

Do you know a Christian who is slow to anger and slow to speak—learn from them how they cultivated this faithfulness.

There are so many rich blessings contained within the people of God—don’t miss out on them.

That’s challenge number 1.

Number two.

Seek to be that example that Paul is talking about.

Open your life up to others that they may observe your life. People can’t imitate what they do not see.

Pray to become more and more a follower of Jesus that we see in Philippians 3:12-17.

You and I want to be the kind of people that other followers of Jesus look at and say, “It would be good if I was more like them.”

You can’t accomplish what isn’t a goal, so make it a goal. Seek it and be it, amen?

Conclusion

We can’t drive aimlessly on the highway and expect to get to a certain destination. We’ll almost certainly veer off the right path.

You and I are called to press on in Christ. We are called to walk humbly like Paul. We are called to forget the past and strain toward the future and live our lives like the gospel is really true because it is.

Next week we’ll look at part 2 of our sermon and see the dangerous detour and the Prize we press on toward.

But this week, because it is all we may have friends, this week will you commit to examing yourself in light of these words from God and determine the steps God is calling you to take?

Let’s pray.