One Direction. Phil 3:10-16

Read Philippians 3:10-16

Philippians 3:10–16 LSB

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way; and if in anything you think differently, God will reveal that also to you. 16 However, let us keep walking in step with the same standard to which we have attained.

Well, One Direction was a famous British Boy Band from 2010 until 2017. One of the members, Harry Styles, came up with the name, but I don’t really know which direction he was thinking they were going, and looking at his life, I don’t think it has much direction. This boy band was very different from a band of brothers that was formed in March 1942 lead by Captain Stephen Beattie, and composed of some 600 British Commandos, and sailors; and this band of brothers did know their goal, their One Direction.

The reason this band of brothers was formed was because of the threat from 2 of the mightiest bettleships in the world at the time, the Bismarck and the Tirptz. They were the pride of Adolf Hitler’s navy. And between 1939 and 1942 they terrorised the British convoys and navy in the Atlantic ocean. However, they had one big flaw, because they were so huge (over 52,000 tons), whenever they were damaged, they could only be repaired in one of two ports. The first was in Germany itself - but the big problem here was that they had to run the gauntlet of the Royal Navy’s Home Seas Fleet whilst damaged. And the second port they could go to was the French port at St Nazaire on the west coast of Nazi occupied France. So if the drydock at St Nazaire could be destroyed, the ships would have to find safety in home waters, far away from the Atlantic convoys. But the Normandie dry-dock at St Nazaire was a bristling fortress protected by one Germany Infantry Division, 2 U-boat flotillas and 2 minesweeper flotillas, as well as extensive shore defences.

Commander John Hughes-Hallet of naval intelligence discovered that in springtime when there was the conjunction of a full moon and a rare flood tide, water levels rose to such a height that a shallow-draught vessel could reach the massive southern gate of the Normandie dry-dock directly, bypassing most of the nearby shore defences.

And so Operation Chariot was born. An obsolete destroyer HMS Cambeltown had it’s bow loaded with 4.5 tons of High explosive set on a delay action fuse, the raiding force of 265 British commandos (which were tasked with destroying the dry docks pump houses), 346 sailors, 3 other destroyers, and a flotilla of motor boats was sent to St Nazaire. At midnight on 28 March 1942, the armada reached the Loire Estuary and passed the wreck of a British destroyer HMS Lancastria that had been sunk 2 years earlier. This was the point of no return. After this point, Beattie could not afford to look back. That would spell disaster. He had to focus on the dry dock gates a few miles up the estuary. At 1:28am after fooling the Nazi defenders for about 5 minutes, all defensive guns opened fire. Captain Beattie cranked the Cambeltown’s engine to full throttle and steered straight for the massive gates, with bullets flying through the bridge of his ship and at 1:34am she struck the dry dock gate. The idea being to lodge it into the gate, have the commandos go ashore and destroy the drydock’s pump stations, which they did, and then for them all to escape in the motor boat flotilla, leaving the explosives to detonate a few hours later, destroying the dry-dock gate.

169 were killed and 215 were captured, including Captain Beattie.

Later that morning, whilst Captain Beattie was being interrogated by German intelligence officers in the nearby army base, the Campbeltown’s explosives ignited, destroyed the drydock gate, which put it of commission for the rest of the war and Beattie was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Beattie had reached his goal. He had steered his ship in One Direction, straight for his goal; he had not turned back, he had not turned aside. He had steered straight and true having full knowledge of what his little destroyer and her epxlosives on board could do. And he received his reward.

So it is with us this evening. We are to forget what is behind us and strive for the goal, which is Christ himself, striving to grow in our knowledge of him so that one day we will cross that boundary from this life into eternity.

In the previous passage last week, the Apostle Paul gave his testimony to the Philippian church, and we heard last week from Michael an excellent sermon on how we should Turf our Testimony. If you aren’t too sure what he meant by that it means you weren’t here, and you should go and watch it!

But, having given his testimony, Paul now goes on to explain that not only has his soul been saved and he now has eternal life in Christ Jesus, but in addition to that now his whole outlook on life has completely shifted.

He now has a completely different and new priority and focus. His whole life has done not just a 180, but he is now on a completely different path altogether.

Reading tonight’s passage, I want to you to notice that Paul doesn’t always write in an entirely sequential, logical manner. Rather, he is like a bee that hovers, analysing a few flowers, then he darts in and samples nectar of one truth, then another, then goes back to the first again.

Having said that, we can clearly see that Christ is his objective. Christ is his goal. Christ is who he is straining to reach with all his might. And he is going to explain how this complete change in the direction of his life has brought about a change in his living. So he gives us excellent advice on how to live the Christian life.

So to summarize this passage this evening:

Summary:

Once we are saved, our ultimate goal as believers is a full knowledge of Christ and a full likeness to him.

How are we to achieve this? This passage helps us in this ultimate goal by showing us that we must:

Forget what is behind us. v13b

Pursue Christ through right knowledge put into action. v10a, 14-16.

Accept sharing in Christ’s suffering more personally. v10c.

1. Forget what is behind

Look again with me at Phil 3:13

Philippians 3:13 (LSB)

13 Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

Having just given his testimony, explaining that he had every reason to boast in his supposed righteousness, Paul says he now forgets about what lies behind him.

This man once persecuted the church!

He approved of the stoning of Stephen!

He threw believers into prison!

And he thought he was doing the right thing!

But now he knows that in order to grow closer to Christ, he must forget the past. He must leave it behind, with all of it’s failures and defeats.

But he must also leave behind his reliance upon his own righteousness. That was the whole point of his testimony, wasn’t it?

He had every reason to boast in his works.

Do you see how he characterized his previous condition?

He explains this in verse 5.

He was circumcised on the eighth day.

He was of the nation of Israel - God’s Chosen People!

He was of the tribe of Benjamin, nogal!

He was a Hebrew of Hebrews! He had pure Hebrew blood!

He was a Pharisee! His dedication to the Law was absolute! He had studied under one of the greatest teachers and rabbis of his day, Gamaliel, and that was done according to the strict manner of the law!

His zeal was such that he persecuted the church, “to the death” he said in Acts 22:3.

And, in his evaluation of the way he kept the law, he said he was blameless! It is possible that Paul came close to being as perfect according to the Law as it was humanly possible to be.

But he says he forgets all of this. He forgets his works-based righteousness. He forgets his pure Hebrew blood. He forgets his zeal.

And ....... he forgets his utter failure and defeat in having persecuted the church, he forgets all he has done, in order to reach forward to what lies ahead.

We read in the Gospel of Luke 9:61-62

Luke 9:61–62 LSB

61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first permit me to say farewell to those at home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

My friends, are you tempted to dwell on your past?

Are you tempted to dwell on your perseived perfections?

Are you tempted to still say “I wasn’t that bad before I was saved.”

Or to say “God really gained someone impressive when he saved me.”

Or perhaps you’re the opposite. Perhaps you dwell on the terrible mistakes you have made in your past, forgetting that you have been washed in the blood of the lamb, and your account before the Heavenly Father is clean because of Christ.

Forget what lies behind. Reach for what lies ahead.

So, to achieve our goal of a full knowledge of Christ and a full likeness of him we must first forget what is behind. But then we must...

2. Pursue Christ through right knowledge put into action.

We see that Paul’s goal in Phil 3:10 is...

Philippians 3:10 (LSB)

10 that I may know Him...

And then in Phil 3:15-16

Philippians 3:15–16 (LSB)

15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way; and if in anything you think differently, God will reveal that also to you. 16 However, let us keep walking in step with the same standard to which we have attained.

Notice in these verses how Paul emphasises that part of his striving and straining and reaching forward, is that he desperately desires to know Christ.

And he is exhorting the Philippians to think in the same way as him.

This knowledge of Christ has now become Paul’s chief pursuit in his new life as a believer.

This can seem to be a bit of a contradiction though. In verse 8 he says that he “counts all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”. So why now is he saying that his new chief pursuit is knowing Christ, if he already knows him?

The answer is that he is seeking a deeper, more intimate relationship with his Saviour. He wants to know Christ’s teachings more deeply. He wants to draw closer to Christ every day. He wants a more intimate communion, a closer experiential fellowship with Christ.

James Montgomery Boice said this:

Paul wanted to know Jesus in the truest biblical sense - personally and experientially. And he wanted this to affect his day-to-day living. J. M. Boice….

And this is a daily, persistent, tenacious pursuit.

Paul even says “Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet”. This is the paradox we face as believers - the paradox of the already but the not yet. The paradox of already being in a right relationship with God through Christ, but of needing to strive for a closer relationship with God through Christ.

We must be persistent.

There is evidence that some of the Philippian believers had developed wrong thinking about the need to press on.

Look at Phil 3:15

Philippians 3:15 (LSB)

15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way; and if in anything you think differently, God will reveal that also to you.

“As many as are perfect” - he is not meaning sinless perfection, but rather he is alluding to those who are saved. They think the same way as Paul. They deeply desire to pursue knowing Christ.

But see he says “and if in anything you think differently, God will reveal that also to you”.

I was so encouraged here. The Apostle Paul is completely relying on the sovereignty of God working in the lives of his flock at Philippi. Some of them had become slack. Some of them had developed a sluggish mentality about their Christian walk. Some of them had become complacent in their pursuit of holiness and Christlikeness.

But Paul knows that true believers will be convicted by the Holy Spirit and be re-ignited in their passion for Christ. Yet Paul is also exhorting them to take that step!

Paul is saying to us, if you have slowed down, if you have become sluggish, stand up and start running again.

Open the engines full throttle as you aim the bows of your ship in one direction only!

So what does this look like on a daily basis in our lives?

Here are some practical tips.

Have a regular devotional time with the Lord. I use the Explore Daily Notes and various books of Puritan prayers to help direct my prayer time.

Dedicate at least an hour a week to extra study over and above your devotions. Andrew Aucamp has an excellent system that I am sure he would be very willing to share with you which involves using the 1689 Confession as a basis for studying the deep doctrines of Scripture. Study one topic, read around it using various commentaries and theological books, and add your own notes to a central document on each doctrinal topic.

Listen to sermons regularly. With modern technology we have access to a wide range of sermons now. Obviously, be careful who you listen to! I would not recommend “Colgate Smile” Joel Oesteen!

Teach your children and grand children. We are going through a book with our kids called “Small devotionals, Big Beliefs” by David Helm. Ask Sya to order one for you. You can do the brief devotions straight after or even at meal time with your kids and it delves into deep doctrine.

And if you are struggling to translate your learning into practice, read around the topic. Seek counsel with the elders and with other believers who you respect and in whom you see Christian growth.

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So, not only must we forget what is behind us, and pursue right knowledge of Christ, but...

3. Accept sharing in Christ’s suffering more personally.

Read with me in Phil 3:10

Philippians 3:10 (LSB)

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

Paul knows that as we pursue Christ, and knowledge of Christ, and Christlikeness, we are going to suffer for him.

2 Timothy 3:12 (LSB)

12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Philippians 1:29 (LSB)

29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

And Jesus himself said in John 15:20

John 15:20 (LSB)

20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

This is one of the more difficult aspects of being a believer, isn’t it.

Knowing that, to a greater or lesser extent, we will suffer some degree of persecution for the name of Christ.

And it can be overwhelming when we think about it. When we consider those brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing daily life-threatening persecutions. When we consider the very real threat of death that hangs over Muslims who convert to Christianity and have to flee and disappear, even in our country.

And for some of us it’s closer to home. Perhaps unsaved family members make your life extremely difficult. Perhaps you are a young person still living with your parents, and you are the only believer in the house. Suffering for the name of Christ becomes very real.

But, as John Piper said,

becoming a Christian adds more trouble to life and brings persecutions, reproaches, suffering, and even death. Yes, there are overwhelming sorrows. But the pursuit of infinite pleasure in God, and the confidence that Christ has purchased it for us, does not contradict these sufferings, but carries them. By this joy and this hope we are able to suffer on the Calvary road of ministry and missions and love. “For the joy that was set before him” Jesus endured the cross. John Piper.

And that is our ultimate goal according to Phil 3:14

Philippians 3:14 LSB

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

We open the throttles of our engines to maximum, we steer our ship in one direction only towards our target, for the ultimate goal of victory!

And as we reach day by day towards that goal, as we strain every sinew, and every muscle, as our hearts beat hard to drive us forwards, when one day we cross that finish line, when we finally are able to grasp the goal of finally being in the unveiled, glorious presence of Christ and of our Father, then we will know it was all worth it!

Then there will finally be the full reality of the words of Rev 22:1-5

Revelation 22:1–5 LSB

1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, bright as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him; 4 and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever.

Let us pray.

Indeed Father, we long for that day when our journey has ended. When we will walk in streets of gold. When there will no longer be any tear or sadness. When our joy in you will be complete. When we will worship at your Throne for eternity.

And yet, we are still this side of the river, Lord.

We still face the bullets of the enemy.

We still face the temptation to look behind us, either in reliance upon our own supposed goodness, or in despair at the heinousness of our sinful past.

And so we rely upon you, Lord Jesus. We rely upon your finished work upon the cross. We desire to grow in our knowledge of you. We desire to put that knowledge into practice, so that we will cross that final river, and hear those precious words, “Well done good and faithfull servant” and receive that prize, the crown of life.

Amen.