Eyes on the Prize

Reading: Phil 3:12-16
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12 (NIV)

I.   Still En Route

     A.  Not there Yet

           1.  Paul doesn't pretend to “have arrived”

           2.  John says that people who claim to be without sin are fooling themselves.

           3.  Paul acknowledges that there are two people working on him: He is and God is.

                 a.  Not that I have already obtained this . . .

                 b.  Or have been made perfect . . .

     B.  On the Way

           1.  Paul hasn’t arrived, but that doesn’t mean he’s not moving in that direction!

           2.  Realizing he isn’t perfect, doesn’t slow him down, it makes him strive harder!

           3.  But Paul didn’t think for a minute that he was on the road alone either.

                 a.  He hasn’t yet got a hold of it (v.13), but Jesus has a hold of him! (v.12)

     C.  Don’t Stop now!

           1.  You can’t run well looking backwards!

           2.  If you stumble, you don’t have to go back to the starting line, it’s just a stumble.

                 a.  Get up!

                 b.  All of heaven is cheering you on: Go! Go! Go! Go!

II.  No Couch Potato Christians

     A.  Pressing on

           1.  Look at the words Paul uses. It’s true that God is doing most of the work in Paul’s life, but Paul’s doing all he can too.

           2.  Paul Presses on or “runs after” - there is urgency and determination in that word.

                 a.  It’s the sort of word a policeman might use to describe pursuing a criminal.

                 b.  For Paul the Christian life is no walk in the park - it’s a race to the top of the mountain.

           3.  This isn’t a “sit in your lazy boy and watch God change you” sort of thing.

                 a.  It’s a “God wants me there but I’m here. So get out of my way, I’m going there” sort of thing.

     B.  Taking hold

           1.  Paul presses on to “take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Or to “grab onto the goal Jesus has for holding onto me”

                 a.  Paul says “to win the prize” in verse 14, but we shouldn’t understand this to mean that we earn it.

                 b.  He’s using picture language to talk about the pursuit of holiness, not achieving it.

           2.  Paul isn’t holding onto this goal like he would a china tea cup - carefully, with pinky extended.

           3.  This is a grabbing, a seizing. Again it’s a word that has urgency and determination in it.

     C.  Straining on

           1.  Paul stretches himself out toward something better.

                 a.  Picture an action hero. Things a blowing up all around. He’s running for his life across the top of a building he reaches the edge and jumps towards the skids of a helicopter. The only way he can reach those skids is to run as fast as he can, stretch out as far as he can and grab as hard as he can.

                 b.  That’s what Paul is doing here. Except he’s escaping the flames of immorality and corruption - both within and around him. Instead of a helicopter, he’s jumping into the arms of God, who will not let him fall.

           2.  Paul is also “forgetting what is behind.”

                 a.  It’s hard to run forward with your head turned around looking backwards.

                 b.  In “forgetting” Paul is doing several things at once:

                       (1)      Refusing to slow down his run by over-analyzing his past failures.

                       (2)      Refusing to get re-entangled in the allure of the temptations that pursue him.

                       (3)      Refusing to pick up a truck-load of guilt that will only slow him down.

III. True to what we Know

     A.  More than knowing what is True

           1.  Too often we in the Church behave and teach as if the most important thing is to have true statements in our heads.

                 a.  But knowing what is true doesn’t help us any more than simply knowing a good fishing lure makes the fish jump into your lap. You gotta put the lure in the water where the fish are.

                 b.  We’ve got to put truth into practice, if it’s going to do us any good.

           2.  Jesus says “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Yet, he was talking about a lot more than merely recognizing truth. He was talking about having an experiential knowledge of the Truth.

     B.  The best we Can

           1.  Paul’s gracious words here to those of us who aren’t as far down the path of maturity are both comforting and good advice.

           2.  Maybe we don’t have it all together. Big deal. Let’s be true to the part we do understand.

           3.  Even if we don’t have it quite right, don’t worry about it since “that too God will make clear to you.”

     C.  Open for More Truth

           1.  Paul says elsewhere that in this life we see in part and understand in part.

                 a.  That means we can have the freedom to be open to more parts.

           2.  His encouragement here is to be true to the parts we understand so far, while being ready for God to make more truth clear to us as life goes on.

The Bottom Line:

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