Pressing On

Last year my family and I went on what we thought was going to be a short hike in Pocohontas State Park. Vickery and read the sign wrong for the trail we wanted to hike—it was a much longer than we had planned for. When we were halfway through the hike we were expecting to already be at the finish line. The kids legs were tired—we kept questioning whether we were on the right path—and I kept annoying everyone with the false hope that “just over this ridge—or right around this corner” we would be done.

The Christian life is like that sometimes isn’t it— we don’t see the finish line so clearly— We grow weary. We get distracted. We stumble. Sometimes we even wonder if we’re still on the right course.

In Philippians 3:12-21, Paul reminds us that the Christian life is a race—and calls us to press on “toward the prize of the upward call of Christ Jesus.” Let’s read the text together…

Philippians 3:12–21 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. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Pressing on is our goal. Running the race is our encouragement this morning. And our God knows that His people stumble and fall—that we get distracted and feel weak. And that sometimes we aren’t even sure if we’re in the race at all. This morning God’s Word show us 3 practices that help us keep pressing on and pursuing Christ. Number one if we are to press on we…

I. Humbly Acknowledge That You Are Still in the Race. (12a-13a)

Philippians 3:12–13 “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…

Paul has said some incredible things about himself—last week we saw him saying, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Paul is in prison for his gospel ministry—he’s writing churches that he planted to encourage them. He is an apostle of Jesus to the Gentiles. He has seen amazing things, been used by God to do amazing things, and is obviously a mature Christian…and yet what does He say?

“I’m not there yet—I need to press on—I haven’t made it my own yet.”

Paul looks at his life and the pursuit of Jesus and says, “I’m still running the race.”

If you and I want to press on in pursuit of Jesus then we must humbly acknowledge that we have not arrived at the finish line.

That means no matter how much service we have rendered—we aren’t done yet. No matter how much knowledge we acquire— we aren’t done yet. No matter how many years we’ve got under our belts— we keep running.

A runner stopping in a race is only a good thing if it’s because they’ve crossed the finish line.

Let me encourage you to never stop running after Jesus— “press on to make Jesus your own because he has you his own”.

That’s Paul’s motivation here—Jesus has rescued me, he has called me his own, he has given me a mission, and I’m not going to stop—I’m going to keep running.

When it comes to the race of our Christian life—the finish line comes on the last day that we draw breath or on that glorious day when Jesus returns.

Until then you and I are running the race and like Paul we should be “pressing on” .

So let me check in with you:

What does your race look like? Are you pressing on —running after Jesus?

Have you slowed way down? Or maybe this morning you are standing still?

When it comes to pursuing Christ two obstacles can get in our way: thinking we’ve already arrived—or thinking we’ve disqualified ourselves.

I’ll simply say—if you think that your race is done but your still drawing breath then your wrong. Jesus is endlessly deep—there’s more of him yet to know. Resolve today to press on.

Or maybe you feel disqualified from running after Christ—too many mistakes—too many potholes—know that this simply isn’t true.

Everything that would disqualify you from running after Jesus was paid for on the cross.

This Christian race is run by imperfect people running towards a perfect Christ. Your savior looks at you kindly and is helping you back to your feet—he puts his arm around you and says “Let me bear your weight—come run in my strength.”

Praise God, isn’t that beautiful? Jesus is both the prize at the finish line and the supplier of our strength to get there.

So let us fix our eyes on Jesus—look full into his wonderful face—and make every effort to press on.

First we must acknowledge that our race isn’t finished. Continuing in our text we see that we are helped to press on by…

II. Pursuing Knowledge of Christ More & More (12-14)

Philippians 3:12–14 “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.”

Paul had a passionate pursuit of Christ

What is the “this” and the “it” that Paul is pressing on for? What is the object of his race?

I’ve already cheated this answer onto the table—but let’s drive the point home and look at verse 10-11 from last week’s text.

Philippians 3:10–11 “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul said last week—I consider everything in my former life, before Christ saved me, as loss and I’ve thrown it away so that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection in my life.

The prize that motivates Paul and keeps him pressing on is Christ himself.

Church—never forget that the greatest gift God has given you isn’t escape from judgement and Hell.

The greatest gift we receive at salvation is God himself! He is the prize! Knowing Him is the victors crown!

In Genesis 3 sin separates us from communion with God—but the gospel reunites us with God.

If we want to keep running our race well. Then we must fix our eyes on the prize who is Jesus himself and pursue a greater experience of him—no matter how much we know already—the wonderful gift is that there is more of Him to know.

If you’ve found him to be sweet—he’s sweeter still. If you’ve found him to be faithful—he’s more faithful yet. If you’ve found him to be kind—the truth is that his kindness to you in Christ Jesus is boundless.

Compile all the greatest treasures that you could think of and our God outshines them all and surpasses their beauty and worth.

Do not be satisfied with what you know of your God—do not be satisfied with your experience of Christ so far—but like Paul let us be eager to pursue Him that we may know him and the power of His resurrection in our living lives.

Transition: If we are to do this, Paul reminds us, we must…

Forget what is behind and look forward to what lies ahead

Look again at Philippians 3:13–14 the second sentence “ 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.”

Paul says, as I pursue knowing Christ more and more— I don’t look back—I forget what is behind me and I strain to put all my focus on what lies ahead of me.

If you are trying to run— looking back— can trip you up.

Illustration: When I was a kid all the neighborhood kids would get together and play tag—remember when you were young and sprinting was a source of fun? We would play Zombie Tag, if you got tagged you then became a tagger so if you lasted there would be like 10 people trying to catch you. Anyways—during one of these games I was one of the last runners left—we were playing at my friend Richard’s house in his backyard—and in Richard’s side yard there was this massive oak tree—that’s going to be important in a second—I was zipping and dodging in the back yard and decided to jump the fence to get away from the taggers—so imagine this with me…I’m running full speed ahead, my eyes are forward and as I jump the fence, still running at full speed, I look back over my shoulder to see if anyone had followed me over the fence—what do you think that backward glance cost me?

Just as I began to turn my head back toward the front I slammed face first—at full speed—into that massive oak tree. My body crumpled up behind me and I hit the ground. Looking back stopped my running in its tracks. Looking back stopped my running in its tracks.

And we aren’t talking about remembering—when Paul is talking about looking back—it means to dwell, for your eyes to linger and be caught on something.

As we run the race of this Christian life looking back, dwelling on the past can trip us up—Paul says, “I don’t let my eyes leave Christ whom I’m pursuing.” We should heed Paul’s advice here:

And there are two things Paul primarily has in mind that he sought to forget. Paul sought to forget his achievements and his failures.

Paul’s past was full of both—Galatians 1:14 “And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.”

Last week Paul said, as it concerns achievements in the flesh I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was highly esteemed.

And Paul’s life was full of failures as well. 1 Corinthians 15:9 “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

He felt remorse and regret. So let’s look at both of these:

What is the danger of dwelling on our past achievements?

Tony Merida in his commentary on Philippians says, “Successes can create an unhealthy tendency to cling to the glory days.”

And Merida is right—and for us West Hopewell this is a real danger for us. There have been some glorious days in the past of our church.

I have loved visiting and getting to know Christ’s sheep here —when I visit I hear wonderful stories about the past and how full the church was—how many children were here—what kind of ministry was happening—and these stories are encouraging to me because I see the delight in the face of Christ’s people remembering good times in the church—and that is really encouraging to me.

But we have to be careful that we don’t live in those glory days to the neglect of the days we are in now.

God has made no mistakes about the time we are living in—he has placed our church here in Hopewell for a reason. You are here for a reason and I’m here for a reason. God has much work for us to do—so let’s appreciate our past and keep our eyes firmly fixed ahead, amen?

What about looking back and dwelling on our failures?

Our failures can become a deep pit for us when we live in regret and let them define us—but remember this, you are a new creation in Christ, the old has gone and the new has come.

Your mistakes aren’t who you are. When the enemy whispers lies to you and tells you to stop trying—when he keeps pulling on your chin, trying to get you to look over your shoulder and live in your past—remember that the God who spoke the world into existence by the voice of his power, has spoken about you.

He says that you are redeemed. He says you are forgiven, adopted, that he is working in you, has made no mistakes, and will finish what he has started. You are highly favored and greatly loved. That’s who you are.

When we sin and fail—we repent—we seek forgiveness—we drop the weight because Christ has made us his own and carried that weight already—and we press on.

“But I’ve made so many mistakes…I’ve been so weak…I’ve been so foolish.”

1 Corinthians 1:27–28 “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world…” God chose, God chose, God chose you and He has never made a bad decision and didn’t start with you.

Your resolve to know Christ and to keep pursuing him despite your weakness, mistakes, and failures brings Him much glory and gives hope to all the imperfect people who are watching you follow Christ.

So press on—HOw?—by starting small.

Pauls says, “This one thing I do.”

Don’t underestimate the power and effect of one faithful change in your life.

Change doesn’t happen in a box—rather our life is like a pond—a small rock thrown in a pond creates ripples that end up reaching far across the face of the water.

What is one thing you could change in your life right now to pursue the person who matters most? Maybe it’s time in God’s Word. Maybe it’s prayer with God. Maybe it’s your study of theology.

My challenge to you is to identify one area in your life where you can press deeper into the pursuit of knowing God more and then make every effort to do so in the power of Christ.

You won’t regret it—God is amazing—the more you get to know him the more you’ll be in awe of Him and that too will help you press on—as our vision of Him becomes clearer our pace quickens.

If you don’t know where to start—start by meditating daily on the gospel—reminding yourself over and over again with scripture, songs, sermons, books—the glory of God’s kindness to you in the gospel. I heard some preacher rightly says once, that “Jesus is not the ABC’s of Christianity; Jesus is the A-Z of Christianity.”

Start there and I promise your heart will be stirred to press on to Christ more and more.

Transition: As our text continues in verses 15-19 we see another way we can be helped along as we press on towards Christ. God calls us to…

III. Follow Godly Examples (15-19)

Philippians 3:15–17“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.

The call to press on in pursuit of Christ is the call to Christian maturity—Paul says, “It is the mature who think this way and if you don’t God will correct you.”

And the apostle continues— “let us hold true to what we have attained” That is, let us live out the gospel—we have attained Christ and forgiveness through Him—we have attained a holy calling—a mission from God—and let us live it out. How? Through imitation…

Illustration: My dad was an artist and so I grew up in a house of creativity—I wanted to be like my dad and I wanted to be able to draw—and I remember when I was learning to draw that I would get frustrated because if I tried to draw a hand or an eye from my mind it never came out right. And then my dad taught me to trace—I felt like tracing was cheating, the result looked great but it was only because I had help by tracing—my dad corrected me and told me “that tracing a great example taught my hand to learn the right movements—that imitating great artists would help me be a better artist”. That really changed my perspective on tracing.

Paul is calling you and I to do the same thing in the race of our Christian lives—he says, “Join in imitating me” Paul was certainly an excellent example of someone who was running hard after Jesus. And Paul, says “Imitate others like me—keep your eyes on their walk.”

The call is two-fold here: all of us should imitate godly examples AND seek to be godly examples.

What does that look like? Sometimes scripture teaches by showing us the opposite of what we should do. These next verse show us the opposite of a godly example.

Look at Philippians 3:18–19 “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”

Paul is crying over those who claim to be Christians but are not following in the footsteps of Christ. What marks them?

Their God is their belly—they are driven by lustful desires. They glory in their shame—they brag about things they should be ashamed of. And they set their mind on earthly things—the treasures of this earth are most important to them.

This is a topic that could really draw us in—so I’ll quote John 16:12 ““I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now”—because it would make my sermon twice as long.”

But in showing us the qualities of leaders we shouldn’t follow Paul is also showing the qualities of godly examples we should follow. Number one:

Those worth imitating—are driven by spiritual desires.

Are they reading their Bible? Are they praying often? Do they evangelize the lost? Are they growing in their knowledge? Are they kind? Gentle? Merciful? Long-suffering and patient? Are they wise? Do they talk often of their love for Christ? Are they grateful? Hospitable?

When you see someone doing one of these things or a couple of these things—you’ve found someone worthy of imitating. If you look at another Christian’s walk and see something that makes you say, “I wish I was like that.” You’ve found someone worth imitating—you’ve found a godly example that can help you press on in that area. Also…

Those worth imitating—glory in the godly.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

When someone finds the things of God satisfying—it shows up in their life.

They aren’t just talking the talk when they are in certain circles—they are walking the walk. They don’t act like Jesus on Sunday and then live like Hell the rest of the week. They are discernibly different—and all of their life is subject to God’s Word.

People like this are often known to repent of their sin—men and women who live out the gospel are worthy of imitation. Also…

Those worth imitating—set their mind on heaven.

Look at Philippians 3:20–21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

Have you ever heard the saying, “You are so heavenly minded—you’re no earthly good.”

Well, Paul is saying the opposite here to us—you are not earthly good unless you are heavenly minded.

I was visiting Mrs. Clara this past week and she said about the Petersburg Home for Ladies, “It’s nice enough—but it’s not my home.”

That should be our thoughts of this earth—this fleeting moment we call life—God indeed blesses us and in kindness we often experience many nice things even amongst the sorrows.

But these passing things must not become our treasures—let us too say, “It’s nice enough but it’s not my home.”

Friends, if you have placed your faith in Christ and have been saved by his grace and mercy you are a citizen of heaven. Our king Jesus is there now—and there is coming a day when he will come back, he will judge this earth, and he will bring to consummation all the promises we have in the gospel. Our very bodies will be transformed our text says, new sinless bodies for a new sinless creation.

Find someone who is zealously storing treasure in heaven—and imitate them.

Transition: These are the qualities of men and women we should look to run with. Just like tracing, when we run alongside someone who is running after Jesus well it helps us run after Him better too.

Close

Church, as we draw this to a close, Paul’s call to “press on” isn’t a summons to frantic striving or self-reliant effort. It’s an invitation to passionate pursuit—to keep running the race because Christ has already made you His own.

You and I are not finished yet. We haven’t arrived. But praise God—Jesus has.

He has finished the race before us, and now He runs beside us by His Spirit, urging us on, lifting us when we stumble, and reminding us that the crown at the finish line is not a thing but a Person—Christ Himself.

So press on—not to earn His love, but because you already have it.

Press on—not to prove your worth, but because Jesus has declared your worth in His blood.

Press on—not because the race is easy, but because the One who called you is faithful, and He will bring you home.

And as you run, don’t run alone. Find godly examples—brothers and sisters whose eyes are fixed on Jesus—and imitate their faith. And be that kind of example for someone else. Because our citizenship is in heaven, and our Savior is coming again.

Until that day, brothers and sisters we run joyfully towards the Lord, knowing we’ll be received—because Christ Jesus has made us His own. Amen.