Philippians 3:12-21 – Press on

20-10-25 – Philippians 3:12-21 –. Press on

HBI: vs 12 The goal of sanctification will not happen in the lifetime, yet we are called to press on towards that goal with all our strength as a living example to others.

Intro

To go back to where I was would just be wrong. I'm pressing on. Pressing on, all my distress is going, going, gone. (pressing on, pressing on) And I won't sit back, and take this anymore. 'Cause I'm done with that; I've got one foot out the door. And to go back where I was would just be wrong, I'm pressing on.

This is an old song by a Christian punk band written back in 2001. I was just thinking of the lyrics as I was writing this sermon as suddenly the words made sense to me. 

I am done with my old life and pressing on. Going back would be a mistake but pressing on towards Jesus is the goal. Unfortunately, the song doesn’t use Jesus name, but the artist had said that is what they meant. 

We are told to Press on, just like the athlete presses on towards their goal of winning a gold medal or winning the championship. 

In the Rocky 4 movie we see what this looks like. It is the best of the Rocky movies, I think. Rocky is a boxer who has been hit in the head a few too many times. His friend Apollo Creed dies at the hands of a Russian boxer named Drago and Rocky decides He has to avenge apollo’s honor. 

Well Rocky flies to Mother Russia and starts working out towards his goal of beating the steroided up Drago. Rocky lifts big rocks, climbs mountains, chops wood. 

Basically, he does a lot of heavy farm work to prepare for the big fight. But he must prepare to beat the massive Drago if he stands any chance of dominating in the ring. 

So, he continues his intense training right up until he meets his foe in the ring. He dominates his foe and comes out the victor beating Drago and the Russians. 

Paul used the imagery of an athlete like the pretend Rocky Balboa to get a point across. If the goal is sanctification at the end, then in this life we need to press on towards that goal with all of our might. 

But what does it mean to press on with all our strength and how should it affect our lives?

Vs 12-14 – I Press On

We start with a disclaimer before we get into the meat of the passage. I sometimes find disclaimers odd. They tend to say that the maker of the product will not be held responsible for anything. 

Some are okay, like warning this may be a choking hazard. That one is good for children although it seems to be common sense. But I have seen some on washing machines that warn not to put people in the washing machine. Maybe some people need to be told to remove clothes before putting them in the washer. Or maybe a hairdryer that says not to use while sleeping. Coffee cups with the disclaimer that they are hot, well duh who orders cold hot coffee. Or maybe the picture of baby clothes that I saw that remind parents to remove the baby before putting the clothes in the wash. 1

I have so much more I could have written down, but you get the point. Disclaimers can be good but sometimes they are just odd. 

Paul starts out with a disclaimer that basically says what he is about to say he has not actually done yet. Warning what I am about to tell you I am have not actually done yet. 

Philippians 3:12  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. 

The goal we know, to be found in Christ. To be found perfected and blameless. But even Paul new that He was never to be satisfied with where he currently was but knew that he had to strive towards being better than He was now. 

We need to press on to be more Christ Centered, to be closer to Jesus then we are now. We are never to be satisfied with where we are to the point of becoming complacent. 

Why do we do this? We strive to make our lives more and more like Christ because He has taken hold of us. We have the choice to take hold of the sacrifice Jesus made for our sins and He will then be made one of His own so therefore we need to press on. 

There are two thigs that we need to keep in mind as we are pressing on because of Jesus first taking hold of us. 

Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,

The first is to forget what is behind. This is a metaphor taken from running a race, so to continue that metaphor, why should you never look to what is behind? 

It breaks up your momentum and deteriorates your form.  You lose focus on what is ahead of you and you start to stumble because you start to obsess about what is in the past and lose focus on the goal in the future. 

It puts you in the wrong mindset.  If you allow yourself to get distracted from your goal, which is to run as hard and as fast as you can, then you can quickly find yourself running a sub-par race.

When you lose focus on the goal you get bogged down by all that has gone on in the past. The temptation is then there to repeat the same mistakes that have gone on before. 

It lets your competition know you are tired!  I was able to beat that guy because he gave me a mental edge by “tipping his hand” that he was getting tired. That is you start to give into the lie that you are not good enough and get distracted by the negativity of the evil one. 2

Don’t allow yourself to get distracted by the mistakes of the past, but rather forget what is behind and press on towards the goal. Jesus will always be there to lead and guide and strengthen, look to Him and not the past. 

Philippians 3:14  I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Then the second striving towards what is ahead. You can only really strive for what is ahead when you properly leave the old life behind by repenting and confessing our sin. 

Do not pine for the old days but look ahead to the God who is over all. 

Vs 15-19 – Mature and Immature

We have been told what we are to strive for, to press on towards Christ. Paul has told us his persona story of how he did it and where he is at on his journey now, we get to the application part of the message how we can apply this. 

Exactly how and how much he expects them to apply it is not certain. First we see who this applies to, those who are mature in Christ

All those who are moving on to maturity in Christ need to think this way. Which would then make an appeal to those who are immature to get their hearts and minds right with God. 

Are you mature? Then press on towards knowing Christ and living in Him. Are you not doing this? Then you are part of the immature and need to strive to do better. 

Philippians 3:17  Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. “Do as I do” If you are of the more Mature that are pressing on towards Jesus without looking back, remember that you may be an example to those that are struggling. 

Use what God has given you, use the mess you may have come out of to point other people in the right direction so that they too may start on the path of being more like Christ. 

For there are those that would deceive you, that are teaching false doctrine that are not part of the family of God but may pretend to be. 

The cross stands in contradiction to human wisdom so we can know for sure that there are going to be those that stand in opposition to it, as enemies of those who live by the cross. 

Watch out for those that would lead you away. It is a terrible thing to see people be deceived like this. 

Walk as imitators of people like Paul, though you may not agree on everything He says. But never ever do this without first measuring what they are doing for yourself against the word of God. 

But more then that as we walk according to the cross of Christ the enemies of the cross will also become our enemies as we live according to what they hate. 

They have their ending. Philippians 3:19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things,

Vs 20-21 – I press on to Heaven

The Judaizers as we learnt about last week were living for the past, trying to say that to be a Christian you had to look back to the old laws and the old ways. 

They were living in past tense, but we are told to live in the future tense. True followers of Jesus have a forward focus. 

True we are to look to the past to learn from the past, but our focus is to the future, to live for Jesus and the goal of our heavenly citizenship. 

Philippians 3:20-21 20  but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21  He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.

There is an old hymn I used to sing in a quartet. I remember we where scheduled to sing this song for My Millar Grad and as we where practicing we heard the news the Mr. Peeler, a founder of the college had died. This song brought on new meaning for me that day. 

This world is not my home I'm just a passing through My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue The angels beckon me from heaven's open door And I can't feel at home in this world anymore Oh lord you know I have no friend like you If heaven's not my home then lord what will I do The angels beckon me from heaven's open door And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

We look for the coming of the savior or when we go to meet Him, whatever comes first. We live for the time when we will go to heaven and hear our savior say “well done good and faithful servant. 

We look forward to the day when we will receive glorified bodies. 

So What?

How should this affect our lives? There is amazing joy in the power of a future hope. We should never live in discouragement for long because we know that we are one day going to see the Lord. 

This means that we will Press on to do our best for the Lord lest He comes back and finds us being disobedient. 

We press on towards the upward call of Christ Jesus because He has made us His own. If we find ourselves lacking in this then we need to remember to seek maturity and follow Jesus. 

In all we do press on, in discouragement remember what the Lord has done for you. In Hard times hold onto this hope that we have and turn to God again. 

In joy and maturity do not become complacent but continue on living for the glory of the Lord.