Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Introduction
Greeting
Some people make a living at being vague
Politicians never quite say what they mean
Probably the best known was Yogi Berra
“It ain’t over until it’s over”
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it”
“It’s like deja vu all over again”
Paul was very rarely vague in anything that he wrote
The passage we’re going to look at tonight is probably one of his vaguest passages
So much so that reading commentaries - there’s almost a frustration in attempting to interpret what Paul is saying
As we examine this text we’re going to recognize a few things
First we’re going to see Paul laying out a practical plan for self-analyzation
self-analyzation
and then he’s going to demonstrate for us how we should pursue the Christian life
The outline is going to be
I’m not perfect - in
But I’m trying - in verses 13 and 14
and finally The Gospel will get me there in verses 15 & 16
Read
Pray
I’m not perfect...
; ; ; ; ;
Paul starts out with a negative statement that is meant to force us to look at what has just been written
a bit like therefore
But what does he mean by “it” - not that I have already obtained it
If we look to the immediate context we might assume that he means the resurrection from the dead that he points to in verse 11
I think to understand what Paul is pointing to we need to look back through the entire chapter and see what his argument is building to
- Paul talks about true Gospel-centered worship that is true and glories in Christ Jesus
- Paul talks about counting all of his previous accomplishments as loss for the sake of Christ
- Paul clarifies what he means calling all things loss for the value of knowing Christ Jesus - and again in verse 10 that “I may know Him”
The whole passage is about Paul’s desire to know Christ.
Granted this is about preaching Christ
In my classes teaching instructors there is a continuum of knowledge that says in order to teach something to someone else you have to retain 90% of the information
In order to teach Christ - Paul has to know Him
768Many of the fears of Christians would be driven away if they knew more.
Ignorance is not bliss in Christianity, but misery.
And knowledge sanctified and attended by the presence of the Holy Spirit is as wings by which we may rise out of the mists and darkness into the light of full assurance.
But I’m trying...
The knowledge of Christ is the most excellent of sciences.
~ Charles Spurgeon
Seek to be masters of it, and you are on the road to full assurance.
But I’m trying...
There is no such thing as a knowledge of God apart from Jesus Christ; we never arrive at God truly unless we come through Him.
~ Martin Lloyd Jones
What Paul is driving us to is the idea that he (and we) have not obtained a complete knowledge of Christ - the epitome of our existence is to know Christ
Paul follows this with another negative statement that he has not become perfect
Paul reveals his ability for self-evaluation
Recognizing that he has not yet become perfect - either in his attainment for the Christian life or in the ultimate goal of his life - knowing Christ
By this time in his life Paul (if anyone ever) could rest on his laurels and accomplishments - assuming a level of perfection
He had been on the mission field for more than 20 years
He’d evangelized much of the known world - Asia Minor, Macedonia and now in Rome (even from prison)
He’d written nearly all of his epistles - communicating with the churches he’d planted - with the exception of the Pastoral Epistles
If anyone could claim perfection in their Christian walk it would be Paul
Yet he refuses to accept this for himself
Paul would subject even his resume to this litmus test of the faith
and finding himself lacking he says that he will press on
This has the imagery of a runner who is so focused on the prize that he is driven to complete the task
In 1954 British runner Roger Bannister and Australian John Landy met for the first time in Vancouver British Columbia for a race.
Both men had previously broken the four minute mark for a mile
I recently broke the 40 minute mark for a mile
It was dubbed the mile of the century
With 90 yards to go Landy was leading but he looked back over his shoulder to check Bannister’s position
At that moment Bannister passed Landy and went on to win
Paul is advocating the sort of single mindedness that keeps us from looking over our shoulders
that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus
Paul uses the same verb here for laying hold - but different tenses again
In verses 7 and 8 he uses the perfect and present tense for the verb counting to demonstrate that he not only counted all things as loss but that he continues to count all things as loss
Here he demonstrates the difference between our laying hold of Christ and His laying hold of us
katalambano - the tense Paul uses to refer to himself is an active, subjunctive while for Christ it is a passive, indicative
without getting too deep into a grammar lesson, a subjunctive verb carries with it a note of hopefulness whereas an indicative carries a note of finality or completion
What Paul is saying is that he is actively, constantly, hoping to grasp Christ - an inexhaustible subject - since Christ has with finality laid hold of him
This is a very assuring note - that what Christ lays hold of He will not lose
Romans 8:
John 6:39
This is not to say that we should just sit back and let Christ do all - we should be attempting to understand and grasp Him so that by knowing Him we will become like Him
This is the tension that exists between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility
But I’m trying...
; ; ; ;
In another statement of self-appraisal and honest Paul reiterates that he does not consider himself as having laid hold of it - meaning the entirety of Christ and the Christian life
but one thing i do: forgetting what lies behind
This is not just a restatement of what Paul has already said in verses 4-7 where he counts his upbringing and choices as an adult as loss
This includes whatever he did yesterday - the missionary journeys, the time he had led the very jailer to whom he was writing to Christ
Everything is forgotten
This is a gentle reminder to the Philippians not to rest on their laurels - that they must keep pressing ahead
We have a tendency to rest on our past accomplishments just as the Philippians did
Remembering that one moment in time when we had a great witnessing encounter - but letting the next one pass us by
Remembering where we once were as a Christian or as a church and living in the memories of the “good old days” rather than continuing to press ahead
But Paul returns to the racing metaphor giving the picture of a runner straining for the tape at the end of the race reaching forward to what lies ahead
I press on - no matter the challenges that face him Paul is pressing on towards the goal
During the time when Paul was writing a course would be laid out for a race with a pole set out a certain distance from the runners
Upon reaching the pole they would all turn around and return back to the starting line
What Paul has in mind here is the runner striving to reach the pole and return - keeping that pole squarely in their mind as they run
Often what would happen is that as they approached the pole slower runners would find a way to cut off faster runners making their turn first
Paul is cautioning the Galatians and the Philippians to keep their eye on the prize and continue to run - not get cut off by the Judaizers
But to continue to strive for the prize of the upward call of God
Runners who win the race would be called ahead to be given their prize
The interesting thing here is that our call has already been issued - we’ve been called to salvation through the Spirit to salvation
And it is not through our own efforts that we are called - the upward call of God is issued “in Christ Jesus”
Paul again reminds us that it is only through Christ that we can be accepted
It is only through
Ephesians 2:
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