Moving Forward in Christ

Good morning, Children of God! Can you believe it? We are already on the last Sunday of January!

I am excited ya’ll! Today, we are going to talk about “Moving Forward in Christ.” It fits right in with our Vision Forward Conference. Vision of Hope Church is about to be three months old! God brought us together for a reason! The Spirit is moving among His people here! We are all looking and moving forward together, led by the Holy Spirit, living in and through Christ, all unto the Glory of God.

I said this two weeks ago, but it is worth repeating. So many of you are an incredible inspiration to me and to others. You double down in your faith, through the good and the bad times! You have seen the hand of God in your life, and you grab hold. You believe and are living out Psalm 139:10

Psalm 139:10 NLT

10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

We live knowing His hand guides us and His strength carries us. We praise His Holy Name together, we go before His throne together, and we lift one another up to the Father.

This morning, we are going to spend some time together in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Philippians chapter three is all about living and moving forward in Christ. Next to Paul’s letter to Philemon, his letter to the Philippians was the most personal letter he wrote. The church at Philippi held a special place in Paul’s heart.

If you are unfamiliar with the Apostle Paul, he was once known as Saul of Tarsus, and he HATED Christians. It was his life’s mission to destroy the church, imprison or kill all believers, and put an end to Christianity.

As Saul of Tarsus, he had it all: wealth, fame, he was highly educated, and he had the support of the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Court of the Jews). He was a Pharisee among Pharisees. He had made himself an enemy of Christ and Christ’s people. Some of us in this room and online have been there. Yet Christ pursued him. Christ pursues each of us.

Paul truly shares his heart and shows real vulnerability in Philippians 3:7-9

Philippians 3:7–9 NLT

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

The things we value as believers look far different than they once looked. Everything Paul did or had before Christ he thought of as worthless garbage. How much garbage did we have in our lives before Christ? How much of that garbage do we still cling to?

On the road to Damascus, Paul experienced the power and Glory of the Risen Lord. PAUL MET CHRIST! Paul willingly gave everything up and made it his life’s mission to share the good news of Jesus Christ and to live as Christ to the best of his ability.

How many would say they had a “Damascus Road” experience with the Risen Lord? I did, and it fundamentally changed my life. There is no turning back when you have a true encounter with Christ Jesus.

There was NOTHING more valuable to Paul than his relationship with Christ. The only REAL value he found was in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This does not mean he did not value his friends, family, or other earthly relationships because he did. It means he did not allow anything or anyone to come between him and Christ.

It has been several years, but I remember when this verse hit me. I was sitting on the front porch with Carolyn and I said to her, “I MUST always be second place in your life, and you have to be second place in my life.” Brothers and sisters, when HE is NOT first place in our lives, we will find ourselves on the road to failure and destruction.

The Cross to the Right, the World to the Left

I want to show you a simple illustration of what occurs in the life of a believer. While this can be a painful part of our walk, it is part of God’s pruning process in our lives.

As we grow closer to Christ, something happens. We move further away from our old lives into the new creations that we are in Him. Sacrifices will be made, such as giving up things and people from our old lives. There is a cost to discipleship. When we move closer to Christ, we move further away from the world.

If we are not careful, the opposite will happen. As we drift back to the world, the old ways, what do you notice? We are moving away from Jesus Christ. We cannot occupy two places at the same time.

We choose which direction we move in. We will make a sacrifice in either direction. Which are you willing to sacrifice this morning? This world for Christ or Christ for this world?

Like Paul, we must always seek after the righteousness and perfection of Jesus Christ. Paul knew that no matter how good he could become, he could never be perfect. He had to trust in Christ's perfection and righteousness to cover him.

As I prepared for today, I took it upon myself to search scripture for the sins God holds against the believer. This took me a long time and a lot of research. It is a long list, so please be patient with me. I see some nervous faces!

I'm just kidding. I could not find any sins the Father holds against the believer. Your sins and my sins are blotted out by the covering of Jesus Christ, by the blood of the Perfect Lamb.

When I said I was putting up a slide listing sins, I bet many of us thought, “Man, is Pastor Bob going to call me out?” “I have so many sins I do not even want to look at the screen.” As true as that may be, and it is, through your faith, you have received the covering of Christ. He accomplished that at the cross for you. Some like to argue that fact, but their argument is with the Word of God, not me. Here is what the LORD says to the believer.

Isaiah 44:22 NLT

22 I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”

Psalm 103:12 NLT

12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

Hebrews 8:12 NLT

12 And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

Jude 24 NLT

24 Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.

Praise God! AMEN, AMEN, and AMEN! Knowing that the Father sees us as blameless and perfect through Christ inspires our hearts and minds to repent, to turn from sin, and to continue striving to be more like him.

When our hearts and minds come into agreeance with Holy Spirit on this; our choices, our behaviors, and our attitudes change. We have the knowledge and wisdom of God alive inside of us! Let’s look at what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:12.

Philippians 3:12 NLT

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

If you are here or online with us this morning and think you are perfect in this flesh, I have some bad news for you. You're not. Paul was one of the greatest men who ever lived. If Paul fell so short of perfection, how short do I fall? How short do you fall?

Here is the good news! IT IS NOT A COMPETITION! We are not competing against each other! We support one another. God is not interested in your “ranking” or what place you come in. It is not about how the world sees you or even how you see yourself. In your brokenness and imperfection, God CHOOSES to see you as perfect through His Son.

Now, Paul does say something crucial here: “I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.”

Paul is saying that he willingly turned his heart and mind over to the Lord. That he put all of his faith in Christ. He was going to continue maturing and striving to be a better man of God everyday.

We hear Pastors and believers say things like “You will never be perfect, so stop trying.” That is an absolute contradiction to what we just read. We are to continue to press on in this life.

Raise your hand this morning if Jesus Christ brought a supernatural change to your life! Every hand should be in the air praising His name! That brothers and sisters, is moving forward! Are you perfect? No! Are you a better man or woman than you were without Jesus? ABSOLUTELY!

Paul is telling us that when Christ is truly in the heart of the believer, the believer lives for Christ and does what they can to serve Christ. Perfection will one day come, just not on this earth.

Philippians 3:13 NLT

13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting (epilanthanomai ) the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

When Paul wrote this, he was probably illustrating it with the Grecian foot races. When someone is running in a race, they are laser-focused on what is in front of them, not what is behind them.

What happens if someone is running and they turn their head to watch behind them? They lose focus. They will end up running into someone else or trip and fall. There is a reason rear-view mirrors are so small, and windshields are so big. We are to focus on what is in front of us. Try riding a motorcycle, looking behind you, and see what happens!

That “forgetting the past” part of the verse bothered me. It did not make sense to me. We are to learn from our past and use our past experiences to avoid making the same mistakes again and to help others.

Paul was not saying “forget” the past in the way we think about forgetting. The Greek word he used is (epi-lan-tha-nomay) epilanthanomai, which means to overlook. Paul is talking about two things here that will prevent the believer from moving forward.

The first is this: BY HIS WORD, THE WORD OF GOD HIMSELF, we know that God has forgotten our sins, He overlooks them. Even though God has forgiven us our sins, we will put ourselves above God and refuse to forgive ourselves or forgive others.

Let me ask you something this morning: “If God has forgiven you, who are you not to forgive yourself?” “If God has forgiven your brother and sister, who are you not to also forgive them?”

There are times that we wallow, beat ourselves up, beat others up, and live so entrenched in the past that we become immobilized. We can’t move forward!

The second thing is that we sometimes focus too much on our own achievements. Paul could have pointed back to a long list of achievements in his ministry. He did not “forget” those things, but he did not dwell on them either.

Have you ever met someone who constantly lives in the “glory days, the good ole days?” We can talk about those things and learn from them, but if we live there, we are not moving forward.

What Paul is saying is that we can become lazy in our walk. We can become so tied up in past achievements that we become paralyzed and stop moving toward the future God has planned for us.

God Himself said a similar thing to the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:18

Isaiah 43:18 NLT

18 “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

God just did a mic drop there. God is saying, “All that I have done for you is in the past; that is not the end. “What I have in store for you moving forward is so much more than anything you can imagine!” I don’t know about you, but I want to move in God's direction.

The final verse we are going to look at today is Philippians 3:14.

Philippians 3:14 NLT

14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

The Apostle Paul did not slack off. Every day was new, an opportunity to grow closer to the LORD and bring others to the LORD. He did not sit on the sidelines and watch. Paul kept his focus on growing and maturing in Christ.

We must remain vigilant in our walks. For the believer there is no “sitting on the sidelines.” It does not matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, we must always be moving forward with Christ.

Biblical scholars can not seem to agree on the “heavenly prize.” Some think it is a literal crown, others believe it is heaven, and others believe it is the final resurrection. For me, it is hearing those sweet, sweet words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Worship Team

If you think you’ve “got it” this morning, you don’t. If you think you have “made it” this morning, you haven't. God will not let the genuine believer become lazy, complacent, or unaware. The Holy Spirit will prick our hearts. He will reveal to us and stir us to keep pressing toward perfection in Christ, to always move forward in our walk with Him until we meet Him face to face.

Alter Call/Prayer

If you are living in the past this morning, please stop. You have the Living Hope of Jesus Christ in you. If you are living with unforgiveness in your heart for yourself or for someone else, let go and give it to God. Do not let that keep you from moving forward in your walk with Christ. If you do not know how to forgive, see Pastor Paul or me.

If you want or need specific prayer this morning, we have brothers and sisters who want to stand in the gap with you and pray with and for you. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you are ready, come see us! Keep your hearts and minds focused on Him. Abba Daddy has more in store for you than you can even imagine.