Better Focus on the Goal
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Intro- Goals are important. At the start of this year I set a goal that I needed to lose weight, I lost some weight but then I lost motivation so I decided that I’m going to do a triathlon.. This is a competition where you swim, bike, and run. In other words if I don’t get up and train in the mornings, come race day, I’ll just die in the water… Setting that goal is helping me get up and go in the mornings.
In our text, Paul wrote that he pressed on toward the goal. The word that he used for goal (σκοπος, “skopos”) literally means to “strive for a purpose”
Earlier in the chapter, Paul was talking about the resurrection from the dead. He said that He wanted to know Jesus, become like Him in his suffering, and even become like Jesus in death so that by any means possible he might obtain the resurrection
strive for a purpose
What Paul is saying, is so important we need to make sure we don’t miss it. He isn’t talking about a weight loss goal, or wanting to lift more weight, or wanting to make x number of dollars or go to a certain school… He was speaking to the church about striving for a purpose. Giving your life meaning.
I want to be as loving and kind as I possibly can be while at the same time be truthful… so… I love you :) but… when you reach the end of your life, If you don’t achieve what Paul stated he was striving for, your life has been worthless, pointless, and without meaning.
We are finishing our weekend theme of “do better” today by talking about the fact that we need to have a better focus on our goal.
What does it look like when we have a better focus on our goal? Having a better focus on our goal means...
We don’t look backwards.
13 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,
The problem in the lives of a lot of Christians is that they spend their whole lives looking in the rearview mirror.
If you were to try to drive your car just based on what you see in the rearview mirror… You will not drive long until tragedy strikes you.
A christian who has their eyes fixed on the goal does not spend their time taking comfort in all the things we have done for the Lord
By the time Paul is writing this letter he has already accomplished much for the sake of Christ… He was currently in prison for his preaching… He did not consider that he had already attained his goal
Sometimes we can sort of not feel pressure and think we are comfortable and in good standing with God because...
We go to church
we don’t say bad words
we don’t drink, we don’t party. Maybe we even invited someone to church this year…
We take comfort in thinking, man, i’m nothing like the world… I must be God’s
Paul who had preached, converted hundreds, planted churches, spent time in prison for his work, said… I haven’t earned it… I haven’t attained it yet.
One of the first things we as christians need to do if we want to truly focus on our goal is to stop thinking about all the good we’ve done. Because what we have done in the past won’t take us to heaven. It was Jesus who said in that faithfulness until death was required.
We need to not only stop thinking about all the good we’ve done but we have to stop dwelling on all of our sin.
Paul wrote about himself in that he was the chief, or foremost of sinners.
You can’t focus on what is in front of you if you are carrying around the guilt of your previous sin.
I have known people who are outside of Christ who think God doesn’t want them because of their sin
I have known people within the church who go on acting as if God hasn’t forgiven them
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
Dan Winkler wrote in this book, Forgiven, forgiving, and free- “If a sin is forgiven its gone, if it’s gone it’s not there, if it’s not there, we shouldn’t be thinking about it. God doesn’t”
Maybe there is someone here today who feels constantly weighed down by the guilt of past sins, can I encourage you today to trust in God?
We look at the right people.
Wade talked to us about this yesterday, I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it, but it’s in our text here so I want us to think about it for a minute.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
We often talk about how we don’t follow people, we follow Jesus. That is true… However, we need to look to what the Bible says. It mentions imitating those who are imitating Jesus.
We never find someone who is just like Jesus, but we do know people who are like Jesus in various ways
wise, loving, compassionate, gentle..
We need to look at those who who are walking in the light and imitate them...
too often we are guilty of imitating the wrong people… People like who Paul mentions in the next verse.
18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
I am a young man… but I have been in ministry for a while… For over a decade, I have worked with churches, families, young people… Can I tell you that I can relate to what Paul is saying… I can go through a lot of names with you that would bring tears to my eyes because they are now enemies of the cross...
Everyone of those people, imitated and followed the wrong people.
we are familiar with
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
Notice the key… do not be deceived… why? because we are so easily deceived by this… “it won’t happen to me… my friends aren’t that bad… they don’t influence me that much… Satan has us when this is our mentality.
Trans- Having a better focus on our goal means we aren’t looking backwards at our goodness or our failures… It means we are imitating the right people… it means we are looking to our home and our King.
We look to our home and our king.
In V.19 Paul writes about the worldly and the fact that their God is their belly and they think on earthly things… He says that those people who are wrapped up in the world… those are the ones who are enemies of the cross. then he draws the contrast.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
citizenship… What does that mean?- Haiti...
Paul is writing here to Philippi… they were a proud Roman colony… Paul is reminding them that above all else they are citizens of the kingdom of heaven… What about us? are you proud to be an american? If your love for country is stronger than your love for the kingdom, you’ve got your life backwards.
Can I tell you a little bit about my home?
It is a place where I will feel no pain anymore
It is a place where I will never think about money again
It is a place where I will see my dad again. (my children singing this world is not my home after my dad passed)
It is a place where I will see my God. (Great is your reward IN heaven 5:12.)
A problem that we have that keeps us from focusing on our goal is that we think we have it good in this world...
We have no clue sometimes what good it.
Do you want to avoid punishment and gain paradise?
Conclusion- We have to stop looking backwards, at our successes and our failures. We have to imitate the right examples and stop letting Satan deceive our hearts by the influence of our friends. We have to fix our eyes on our home and our king.