Engaging the Joy of a Spiritual Mindset

How many of you have failed at the Christian life before?

How many of you dissatisfied with your current state as a Christian?

Whether you know it or not, if you get to a place where you think you have arrived spiritually, you will cease to grow in the Lord.

By the same token, when you are willing to admit that there are areas where you need to grow, that is a sign of a maturing Christian.

In these verses, we are given a glimpse into the life of the Apostle Paul. He lets us in on the secret that even he, the great Apostle, had areas in his life that needed work. I don’t know about you, but that encourages me today!

There can be no obtaining the prize unless we make effort toward the prize.

Philippians 3:12–14 KJV 1900

12 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. 13 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, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul is being illustrative of an athlete on a track running a race.

There is always more to achieve.

Christianity should be exciting.

Dr. Vance Havner who said, “There’s something wrong with a Christian who will go to a football game and yell like a Comanche Indian and then come to church and sit like a wooden Indian.”

The Christian life is exciting.

The Christian life is thrilling.

Paul is likening himself with his Christian life, his service to the Lord Jesus Christ, as though he was on a track running his race.

Any athlete and any Christian that is being faithful to their calling must first of all make

Proper Examination.

Philippians 3:12 KJV 1900

12 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.

Remember the goal

Philippians 3:10–11 (KJV 1900)

10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

You have to see where you are before you can see where you need to go!

Have you ever looked at a map for the “You are here” tab?

A map is useless if you don’t know your location.

Paul needed to get his bearing.

Philippians 3:12 (KJV 1900)

12 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.

Paul knows even with all the great things that he accomplished that there were times in his life that he missed the intimacy of Jesus Christ, there were times when he experience the power of God, and there were times in his life when he took the easy way out of suffering in the name of Christ.

Paul was not dissatisfied with his salvation or his Savior. Paul was dissatisfied with himself.

Paul had not attained a place in his life of sinless perfection. He also understand that he would never obtain sinless perfection until the resurrection when he receives his glorified body.

Paul knew Jesus Christ but there was so much more to learn and experience.

Do you know Jesus?

Do you know Jesus well?

Is their more you could know?

We need a Proper Examination of Ourself.

We need to Know where we are in the race.

Don’t let your failures cause you to drop out of the race for the Lord Jesus! If you have fallen, get back up, dust yourself off, get it right with the Lord, 1 John 1:9, and get back in the race!

1 John 1:9 KJV 1900

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you have become lost or disoriented, stop, locate yourself and get back going.

Hebrews 12:1 KJV 1900

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

The weight and sin in this passage based on the context is doubt and lack of faith.

When you don’t know Jesus, you will never experience or trust his power, and you will surly will never suffer on His behalf.

So, #1 A Proper Examination.

#2.

Prayerful Exertion

Bring all of your goals and dreams into a burning focus.

Philippians 3:12–13 (KJV 1900)

12 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.

13 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,

Paul brought everything into a burning focus, full exertion.

I Follow—Literally—“To run swiftly in order to catch a person, or a thing.” It has reference to “a hunter pursuing his prey. It also has the idea of a runner chasing the finish line.”

A man who is running a race has no side issues. I mean, he doesn’t stop for a while and join the cheerleaders. He doesn’t go up in the stands and sell popcorn. He doesn’t pull up a chair and rest. He says, “This one thing I do.”

Whatever the goal, the picture is of pursuit.

For Paul it was the hope of “apprehending” something. That word means “to lay hold on.”

What Paul is saying is, “I am pursuing the goal of laying hold on all that Jesus laid hold on me for.” He realized that he had been saved for a purpose and that God had a plan for his life. Paul would not be satisfied until he had apprehended that for which he had been apprehended!

Have you brought all of your desires into a burning focus?

What are you doing about what God saved you for?

Many of us are just “Stuck on Salvation”. That is, we got saved, but that is as far as we have gone with the Lord!

Listen very carefully, if I have said this once, I have said it 100 times, God saved you for a purpose!

You need to get at His feet and find out why He laid hold on your life. Then pursue that with all your heart. Let nothing satisfy you but satisfying Him!

You may think that is impossible or even unreasonable, but listen to what scripture says.

Matthew 6:24 (KJV 1900)

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Is He Lord or not?

James 1:8 (KJV 1900)

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

That is why Paul also said.

1 Corinthians 6:12 KJV 1900

12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Now, what did he mean by that?

When you think of the word expedition, you think of travel. And when you think of travel, you think of a destination. You think of a destination, and you think of a goal.

Now, what did Paul mean when he said, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient”? He said, “There are many things I could do that are not against the law, but I’m not going to do them, not because they are illegal; I’m not going to do them, because they don’t help me to my goal. This one thing I do.”

Did you know that when you have a master goal, then everything else must contribute to that main goal?

Your job has to contribute to that main goal. Your rest has to contribute to that main goal. Your recreation has to contribute to that main goal. Your friends have to contribute to that one goal. Your diet has to contribute to that one goal. Your exercise has to contribute to that one goal.

Do you have one goal? No wonder! You’ll never be a success if you don’t. “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8) “No man can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24) “This one thing I do.” (Philippians 3:13)

See, Paul had a proper assessment. He saw that there was still room. But then, he had a Prayerful Exertion. He brought everything into a burning focus.

He followed after Christ Jesus narrowing it down to this one thing I do.

See, it comes down to concentration.

Dr. Samuel Zwemer said this as he was talking about bringing his ambitions down into a burning focus—and I think it’s wonderful:

“The smaller the circumference of my thinking, the shorter the diameter of my mistakes.”

Now what he is saying is just simple: that as I concentrate, as I bring things into a burning focus, I become more and more successful. And so you have to have a master goal. Everybody has to have a master goal to be successful.

Paul’s master goal, “this one thing I do” comes from follow Jesus Christ to apprehension.

Now, of course, if your master goal is anything less than pleasing and serving the Lord Jesus, it’s an unworthy goal.

Positive Eyesight

Philippians 3:14 KJV 1900

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

The word “follow after” vs. 12 and this word “press” in the Greek are the same word, and it means “to relentlessly pursue”—“to relentlessly pursue.”

Again, The idea is of strong, positive determination. That is, get the idea of an athlete with his eye on the goal. He’s leaning forward. His muscles are taut. Every sinew and every nerve is being stretched, and he is putting everything that he has into it. You cannot succeed in any kind of life, much less the Christian life, with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Here’s the Apostle Paul, who has a determination that will not stop. Such a positive attitude he has!

Remember, Paul is in prison. However, he is still running.

After all that Paul had been through, we have this battered old preacher in prison, but he’s still running. Now there’s not much room for him to run. But he’s not running with his legs. He’s running with his heart. He is running with his soul. And you couldn’t lock him up, because he’s on a course. And if his course led him through the prison, he’d just say, “Praise the Lord.” It didn’t stop him from running.

You can always tell the size of a Christian by what it takes to stop him.

If you could have seen this old man sitting in that prison; if you could have seen that scarred body; if you could have seen him after he had been shipwrecked, as I said this morning, in the Mediterranean, and spent thirty-six hours there; if you could have seen him as he endured three shipwrecks and long prison records, this man who had 195 stripes laid on his back … Now, don’t pass over that too easily. Can you imagine what it would be to take a cat o’ nine tails and lay it on your back just one time? It would leave scars the rest of your life. One hundred and ninety-five times, that fell across the back of the Apostle Paul. A hundred and ninety-five times, he had this. He had been stoned so that they felt he was dead. I mean, they left him for dead, just a heap on the ground.

If anyone probably deserved to take a break or even quit you would think it would be Paul.

But no, He is still running.

Why is he still running?

Paul was focused on a

Pointed End

Not only did he have an ambition; but with that ambition came an aim, a goal.

Philippians 3:14 (KJV 1900)

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

Now, look at the phrase “I press toward the mark.” Every athlete, when he runs, runs toward a goal. You must put your eye on the goal, and you must keep it there. That’s what he meant when he said, “Forgetting those things which are behind.” No runner can win a race looking over his shoulder. He can’t look back; he has to look forward. If you look back, you’ll get into all kinds of trouble.

Now you cannot reach your goal looking over your shoulder. And Paul says, “I forget those things that are behind. I have a very pointed aim. I’m pressing toward the mark, and I’m reaching forth.” Here’s the old man. Here he is in prison. But he’s still growing. He’s still looking ahead. He still has his eyes on the goal. He is still anticipating the prize. I like Paul. No wonder he was such a great man.

2 Timothy 4:6–7 KJV 1900

6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

But see, Paul is not an “I” or “me” guy.

Paul is a team guy. Paul understands the importance of team.

Pooled Engagement

Philippians 3:15–16 KJV 1900

15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Where is Your Mind?

What is your true assessment of where you are?