Sermon Tone Analysis

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect

If this text does nothing else, it should put an end to all dreams of sinless perfection in this life.

Paul begins with an honest admission—"I’m not there yet.”

Unlike so many contemporary leaders, he has no problem admitting his own personal shortcomings.

He’s isn’t perfect yet and he knows it—and this becomes the place where his spiritual growth begins.

A divine dissatisfaction is essential for spiritual progress.

The work of Christ for us is perfect, and it were presumption to think of adding to it, the work of the Holy Spirit in us is not perfect, it is continually carried on from day to day, and will need to be continued throughout the whole of our lives.

We are being "conformed to the image of Christ," (Ro 8:29) and that process is in operation, as we advance towards glory.

The condition in which a believer should always be found is that of progress: his motto must be,

"Onward and upward!"

Paul Billheimer in Overcomers Through The Cross, reminds us that just as God takes many years to produce an oak tree, He also takes a life time to mature a saint.

Christian growth is a process that takes time.

Billheimer reminds us that

An unripe apple is not fit to eat, but we should not therefore condemn it.

It is not yet ready for eating because God is not done making it.

It is a phase of its career and good in its place.

There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity.

M. R. DeHaan says "Self-satisfaction is the death of progress.

Dissatisfaction with past accomplishments is the mother of invention.

Because man was dissatisfied with carrying and lifting loads upon his shoulders, he invented vehicles to ride in.

Pity the man who is content with his own progress and feels he has [arrived].

This is all the more true in the Christian life.

Nothing here is as deadly as self-satisfaction.

The most boring people I ever meet are the ones who take up my lime telling me what they have done, when they ought to be doing more."

After Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, issued his famous "I do not choose to run" statement, he was besieged by reporters wanting details.

One persistent journalist kept asking, "Exactly why don't you want to be president again?" "Because," Coolidge replied, "there's no chance for advancement!"

Even though we experience letdowns in the Christian life, we never come to the place where there's no room for growth.

The apostle Paul described himself as spiritually mature (Phil.

3:15), yet he also declared that he wasn't perfect (v.12).

He was aiming for the goal of being like Christ in all of life's varied experiences, whether he was enjoying prosperity or enduring adversity.

He knew that attaining the goal of Christ-likeness takes a lifetime.

Oh, to have that same restless contentment!

Our soul's deepest longings are satisfied when we know Jesus as our Savior, but we must keep pressing on to know Him better and to become more like Him! That's the mark of a growing Christian.

There's always room for advancement.

Room for improvement is the largest room in the world.

but I press on

It's difficult to go forward when you keep looking back.

What is true physically, is even more true spiritually!

If you think you have arrived think again.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the challenges of living for Christ?

You're not alone.

Even Paul felt that way.

In today’s text Paul again write honestly about his Christian walk, admitting that he hadn't attained perfection: "I press toward the goal for the prize."

He identified this lifelong pilgrimage as "the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Years ago, a group of Englishmen tried to conquer Mt.

Everest.

They pressed on against cold, wind, blizzards, and avalanches.

When they came within 2,000 feet of the peak, they set up camp.

Two men, Mallory and Irvine, eagerly pressed on, expecting to return in about 16 hours.

They never came back.

The official record said simply: "When last seen, they were heading toward the summit."

Whatever the obstacles, let's keep pressing on in the upward call of God, trusting in Him and not ourselves.

At life's end, may it be said of us, "When last seen, they were heading toward the summit!"

to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own

Christian you have been apprehended to apprehend.

When God brings us to Himself, it is to realise some lofty ideal on which He has set His heart.

In some cases, the eye beholds, as Moses did in vision, the tabernacle which it is to build, it stands in clearly defined outlines, with every knop and tassel, every curtain and fringe, every pillar and hook perfectly designed.

In other cases, the pattern is only revealed step by step and day by day.

Each morning the Spirit of God presents to us in the circumstances of our life, and in the impulse of our heart, some new item in the great conception, and calls on us to fulfil it,--thus the temple groweth into a dwelling place for the Eternal.

Whichever method God may adopt with you, whether in the early morning of life you stand upon the mountain and see the completed plan, or your eyes are holden so that you are permitted to see it only by piecemeal, yet be sure that there was a great thought in His heart when He drew you out of the horrible pit and from the miry clay, and set your feet upon a rock, and established your goings.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

But one thing I do

Paul had not arrived, but that did not deter him, for here we see his contrasting attitude.

The literal Greek reads “but one thing,” which dramatically sums up Paul's Christian conduct and purpose.

Paul was a man of single purpose.

Paul had one aim and one ambition.

This single minded focus of Paul is like the Olympic runner who has but one goal in mind after the gun goes off.

To excel in any area of life, a person must say, “This one thing… ,” not “These 20 things.”

Single-minded focus will win a great reward.

A fierce fighting for focus and concentration is implicit in Paul's declaration "One thing".

So many believers tend to feel they can try to walk the way of discipline while making daily excursions into "Egypt" to pick up a few "leeks".

But the narrow way leading to fullness of life heads in one direction; i.e., the path Jesus trod.

It is the course that we must take - one thing.

Before the tragedy of the Chicago fire in 1871, D. L. Moody was involved in Sunday School promotion, YMCA work, evangelistic meetings, and many other activities; but after the fire, he determined to devote himself exclusively to evangelism.

"One thing I do" became a reality to him.

As a result, millions of people subsequently heard the Gospel

THE STORY OF WILLIAM BORDEN: NO RESERVE.

NO RETREAT.

NO REGRETS.

This single minded focus is necessary if one is to be a great athlete.

Totally focused people succeed in life.

A divided heart lacks the first element of strength--it is unstable.

The men who leave their mark on the world are those who can say: "This one thing I do."

But we need more than concentration, we need consecration.

We must not only be united in ourselves, we must be united in God.

Let us make the prayer of 

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.

Focused concentration is clearly implied by the phrase "one thing", in context the result of first a negative action (forgetting) and then a positive one (reaching).

Forgetting did not mean obliterating the memory of the past (Paul has just recalled some of these things in Php 3:5, 6, 7), but a conscious refusal to let them absorb his attention and impede his progress.

He never allowed his Jewish heritage (Php 3:5, 6, 7) nor his previous Christian attainments (Php 3:9, 10, 11, 12) to obstruct his running of the race.

No present attainment could lull him into thinking he already possessed all Christ desired for him.Those inventive people, the Italians, have a custom.

Paul is saying in essence that to keep one's focus "Don't look back."

How many times we've watched in dismay as a lead runner looks back over their shoulder only to get passed on the other side or to slow them just enough to allow the opponent to pass them by.

Don't look back dear saint.

Make a break with the past.

Nothing is happening back there is relevant.

Yes it's fine and biblical to make memorial stones of remembrance but avoid making the stumbling stones of past memories.

To grow toward Christlikeness, face up to your failures, then focus on Christ for the future.

As midnight on New Year’s Eve approaches, the streets are dear.

There is no traffic; there are no pedestrians; even the policemen take cover.