Paul's Example - Pressing on for the Prize - Part 2

if you would, take your Bible and turn back to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3 we started verses 12 to 16 last week and I did hint that I may not be able to finish tonight, but we will. We'll be able to finish all of these verses tonight. But last week we made a transition from verses 1 to 11 into this section of Scripture verses 12 to 16. And in the time that we were in verses 1 to 11 we learned that Paul was using himself as an example. What a great example. As far as an earthly example is concerned it doesn't get any better than that.

But Paul was using himself as an example up against the Judaizers who were a real danger and threat to this church, the Philippian church. Of course the Judaizers were those false teachers who often seemed to go in behind Paul. And their goal was to add Jewish law keeping into salvation in Christ Jesus. They taught that one was made right by God through grace through faith. And they also taught that adhering to certain Jewish laws, Jewish ceremonies, those religious rights were necessary. But in verses 1 to 11 Paul rebuffed and rebuked that teaching.

He explained to the Philippians that if anyone, if there was anyone who could have put confidence in the works of the flesh to gain a right standing with God it was Him. He explained to them that if anyone, if there was anyone who could gain a right standing with God through their religious heritage and works, well it was Him. But using that accounting or business language he explained to them that he had put all of those things in the lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation and he put Christ and knowing Christ in the gain column of that spreadsheet of salvation.

And of course that transaction was a spiritual transaction and it took place when Paul met Christ on the road to Damascus and look at how good God is. God intervened in Paul's life and they made that transaction when Paul was actually traveling to persecute and kill Christians. Now last week we got started in these verses 12 to 16 and we saw that Paul was still being autobiographical in his writing and teaching. He was still using himself as an example and a teaching tool. But we saw that Paul made a shift in his language. He moved from Paul the accountant to Paul the athlete. That sounds strange to some I know.

He moved from the Paul who moved Christ and gaining Christ into the gain column of the spreadsheet of salvation to Paul who was pressing on or running with great energy for the upward prize with great strength and great determination. Now I know I shared this last week but we do need to get this in our mind. We need to get and see and remember Paul's attitude. We need to see his heart. We need to see his way of thinking because the language that he uses is purposeful. He's viewing the Christian life a particular way and we need to capture this. I mentioned the fact that Paul used athletic metaphors often in his letters.

MacArthur says that Paul must have been a sports fan. I know that can sound a little comical but to a degree he must have been a sports fan because of the many times that he uses athletic metaphors. But Paul used the example of boxing in 1 Corinthians 9. I don't know why but I thought about it this week. Maybe his favorite boxer would have been Rocky Marciena. Rocky Marciena was an underdog. He was undersized in every way. He never should have been the great heavyweight champion that he was. And Paul was very much an underdog. He used the example of wrestling in Ephesians 6.

I doubt he would have been a WWF fan but maybe he would have enjoyed Greco-Roman wrestling like we have in the Olympics. They had Greco-Roman wrestling in his day. He spoke of fighting a good fight in 1 Timothy 6 and 2 Timothy 4. He spoke of the Istmian games in 1 Corinthians 9. And you might not know this but those games were very well attended and very popular in his day and they were only second to the Olympic games of the day. I said maybe if Paul were alive today he would enjoy college football.

I doubt that he could relate to football but from the athletic metaphors that he did use to me he certainly would have enjoyed parts of the Olympics because we still have some of those events that he knew of in the Olympics today. Now let's read our verses just like last week. Let's see if we can recognize the athletic language and the prize that Paul was striving for or working for. Let's read the language or excuse me let's read the verses. Verse 12, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect but I press on," there's some of that language, "to make it my own because Christ Jesus had made me his own.

Brothers I do not consider that I have made it my own but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and striving forward to what lies ahead." Hear that athletic language striving forward? Verse 14, "I press on toward the goal for the prize." That's athletic language. "For the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way and if in anything you think otherwise God will reveal it to you also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained." Now I think that it is obvious that Paul is using himself as an example. He described himself as an athlete who was striving for and pursuing a certain prize.

Two times he says he was pressing on which speaks of running or chasing after something with great energy, with great strength and much determination. So here Paul presents himself as or like an athlete. With great determination and energy Paul says that he was pressing on for a particular prize which was being like Christ and the great benefits that come from being like Christ. But this was not a physical athletic event at all. This was and is a spiritual athletic event. So here we have Paul's example. This is the title of the message, "Pressing on for the prize." Part 2, Paul's example pressing on for the prize.

Now last week I said that out of these verses we see five things that are required to press on for the prize. Paul had these in his life and we need them too. Five things that are required to press on for the prize. And if we're going to press on for the prize as we should we've got to have these. Now last week we only covered two of the five and tonight we will, I will briefly review the two we covered and then we'll cover the remaining three. So the first requirement, number one, a proper perspective. A proper perspective. We see this at the beginning of verse 12.

He says, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect." Here we saw that Paul had a proper spiritual awareness. He was dissatisfied that he had not obtained perfection. But this spiritual awareness was not in theory. He put this spiritual dissatisfaction into proper practice. His faith was accompanied by works. And we saw that his dissatisfaction was not from a lack of perfection as in sinless perfection. His spiritual dissatisfaction came from the fact that he was striving after perfection in Christ as seen in Christ. Because he was a mature believer he saw that Christ and perfection in Christ was to be his goal.

So he had a healthy spiritual dissatisfaction. He wasn't discouraged, he was encouraged. And he had this healthy spiritual dissatisfaction because he was striving for Christ, the perfections of Christ, all that are seen in Christ. Now last week I put several lessons before us from that part of the message. If you hadn't gotten the teaching you need to get it. But tonight I want us to see two things in application real quickly. First, we must always be comparing ourselves to Christ. Christ must be our example. Christ must be the one we emulate. Now how do we know what Christ says and who Christ is? How do we know Christ so we can emulate him?

Well we find him in God's Word obviously in all of God's Word especially the Gospels, especially in the New Testament. But we know who Christ is so we can emulate him from studying God's Word. Second, we must be dissatisfied. And we need the Holy Spirit of God to bring us to this place of spiritual dissatisfaction. Here's an example. My wife was sharing with me how a mutual friend of ours, he had gone to the doctor, he had kind of a checkup for his age and you know he didn't like his numbers and the doctor was looking at giving him certain types of medicines maybe for his cholesterol and things like that.

So he was moved into a state of dissatisfaction over his health. He made some changes, lost some weight, started exercising accordingly. So we need God to work in our lives spiritually, not physically, to bring us to a place where we are spiritually dissatisfied. And we need God to show us that the one we are to emulate is Christ, the perfections of Christ as seen in Christ. And then the second requirement, number two, we saw this strong striving, the second part of verse 12. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus had made me his own.

Here we saw how Paul put his proper spiritual perspective into practice. His faith was not without works. Here we saw that Paul pressed on which meant he was running swiftly, aggressively, with great energy, with even a great aggression. And A.T. Robertson helped us to see that Paul had the right attitude here. He said that Paul was not discouraged in this spiritual dissatisfaction. He was encouraged. So he kept up this chase. He was keeping, he kept up the chase in this pressing on. And we saw that Paul was pressing on. He was running with great determination and energy for a reason. So as to lay a hold of something.

The King James uses the word apprehend. I like that. But we also saw some strange wording here in the verse. Paul says that he was pressing on to apprehend something because he had been apprehended. Listen to this part of the verse. See if you can see it. I'm going to read it in the King James. Paul says that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Now we asked this question last week and we need to ask it again before we move on. What does this mean? This is a little odd. MacArthur helps us here.

He says, and I'm quoting Paul was running spiritually to catch the very thing for which Christ Jesus had come after him. In other words, Paul's goal in life was consistent with Christ's goal in saving him. And what was the goal? We saw Christ's goal in apprehending Paul was so that Paul may be conformed into his image. What does Romans 8.29 say? For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. We can put this in Paul's language. Apply it to Paul. For Paul, Christ Jesus foreknew. For Paul, Christ predestined Paul. Why? To be conformed to the image of his son. And for us, we must remember that we are to be pressing on.

We are to be striving and running at our spiritual life with great energy and determination to apprehend the very thing for which Christ apprehended us. You know, we have goals in our lives. We strive for those goals. We have purpose in life. We strive to meet those purposes, maybe with our families, maybe with our children, maybe in our careers. So we have goals that we have purpose and purposes. But here we're dealing with a spiritual goal and with spiritual purpose, with spiritual purpose. Now let's move on to the other requirements that we need to press on that we need so as to press on for the prize. Number three, a focused fixation.

Paul had this focus fixation. Now we have seen Paul's strong striving, which came from his proper spiritual perspective, but there's more. Now let me explain this by using an athletic illustration on my own. A runner in a race has their eye ahead on the finish line. Now when my girls were in school, high school Maggie ran cross country, many of the teenagers in our church run cross country and I've been to quite a few cross country meets. Well in all of those races, whether it's boys or girls, junior high or senior high, in all of those races, all of those runners, they have their eye ahead on the finish line.

They have their eye ahead on the finish line. They're running for a good time. They're running for a team. What I mean by good time, I mean a quick race. They're running for a faster time. They're running for the team. They're running maybe for a PR which is called a personal record. So they have the finish line ahead. Well for Paul, his proper spiritual perspective, which turned into a strong striving, then turned into a focused fixation. And in this focused fixation we see his devotion, his direction, and his determination. First his devotion, his devotion.

We see this in one phrase in verse 13, "But one thing I do." Look at your copy of God's Word. "But one thing I do." Here we see his devotion. We see his single mindedness. Here we see that Paul was a man with a single purpose. He had one goal, one aim, one ambition. And we see this in the second part of the verse. We've read it. Then second we see his direction. Again, look at the verse. I'll read all of the verse this time. "Brothers, I do not consider what I have made, made it my own. But one thing I do." Here's this direction. "Forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." Here we see Paul's devotion and direction.

It's in the negative and the positive. The negative is this, forgetting what is behind. And what Paul was saying was this. He forgot and was forgetting his past. He was breaking with his past. This would have been seen as his sin and sinfulness, of course. But this would have been his religion and all of his religious achievements, even his religious heritage as well. Simply his past did not have a bearing on his present or his future. Remember, Paul had put his religious past in the lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation. Now there's a big lesson here.

Many in the church cannot have spiritual victory in the present and the future because their past destroys them. Many let the sins of the past destroy them. Did you know even Christians who come to faith in Christ, they can be forgiven. They are forgiven. But somehow, someway, the sins of the past always seem to destroy them. Many let disappointments destroy them. Lost dreams in life destroy them. You see? Many can let bitterness and animosity destroy them. Maybe they've been hurt by other people. So they have bitterness and animosity. Many will let others who have wronged them in the past destroy them. You see that?

Many let their past spiritual achievements ruin their present and their future. Now think about that. I knew a particular pastor years ago. If you listen to him, you would hear him living in the past. He always talked about the great works of God in his previous churches. He talked about all of the great things he did in his previous ministries. But he was living in the past and it seemed like the past was what ruined, it seemed like the past was ruining his present and his future. I've known churches who lived in the past. They couldn't let go of the past, the old glory days of what God did years ago.

And they let the past ruin the present and the future. Now I could go on and on here, but I think you get the idea. So the lesson here is this, the past, whether it's something positive or negative, the past can destroy our present and our future if we do not put the past in the past. But remember, positive ocean and direction is in the positive as well as the negative. So the positive is this, a straining forward to what lies ahead. And what Paul is saying here is this, he was reaching forward as one does in a race. This phrase straining forward, it is an interesting phrase in the King James and the legacy standard Bible.

It says reaching forth or forward, reaching forth or reaching forward. It literally means to stretch and it has the idea of stretching a muscle to its limits. And the picture here is of a runner straining and reaching forward for the finish line with their entire body. But a question, straining and reaching forward for what? We know what a runner strains and reaches forward for. Well, what is Paul straining and reaching for? The verse says what lies ahead. But what is this? Well, this has already been stated. What lies ahead is Christ. What lies ahead is the perfections of Christ.

What lies ahead are all of the perfections that are seen in Christ and the mature believer should be striving and straining for and reaching for those perfections. Well, I'll give you an example of what it is not. I have said to you before that there are times in my life when I do run for exercise. Well, a few years ago there was a time I was running a pretty good bed and I got talked into running a 5K. Now I ran a 5K once and I hated it. That's just not my style. I'm running and everybody's screaming and hollering and run faster and run faster. When I run, I like to run far.

I might run a little slow, but when I run, I like to run five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten miles. My wife thinks I'm nuts. But the idea of running three miles as fast as you can drove me nuts. And so when I ran the 5K, I came across the finish line and my brother-in-law said I did not run a good race because I was smiling when I ran across the finish line instead of just screaming in pain. Well, that's not the right way to run this spiritual race. You see? In those cross-country races, those people that come across that line, they're giving everything they got. I mean, they are straining and stretching. They're giving it their all.

And the lesson for us here is this. We should be believers that are straining and reaching forward with all that we have for what? Christ, the perfections of Christ, all that we see in Christ and we want those things for us. Now, rhetorical question for you to answer. What do you strain and reach for? Oh, we're straining and reaching for something in life. What do you reach for? What do you strain for? Fill in the blank. It could be that you're straining and reaching for good things. They're not sinful. But if you're not straining and reaching for Christ, but yet you are for other things, what does that say?

So what are we straining and reaching for with all that we've got? But before we move on, I kind of skipped over a part of the verse. We need to see how Paul was applying this to the Philippians. Notice he says brothers at the beginning of the verse. Actually, this can be translated brothers or sisters. Some of your translations might footnote that. And we need to see why he inserts this in the middle of the teaching. Look back at the verse, verse 13, "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

But the one thing I do, forgetting what is behind me and straining forward to what lies ahead." Simply Paul was making an appeal to the believers that he knew well. That's why he said brothers and sisters. See how intimate that is? MacArthur says he was being gentle and intimate and affection and using this term so as to move their hearts away from the Judaizers to him. Then third, we see his determination in verse 14. Let's read verse 14. He says, "I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Here we see Paul doing two things.

He was being autobiographical and he was using an athletic or running analogy. William McDonald says, and I'm quoting, "Looking at himself as a runner in a race, Paul describes himself as exerting every effort toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." But in examining Paul's determination, I want us to see two places that he looked, two places that he focused his eyes, his attention. First he looked down. Here Paul says that he was pressing on. We know the meaning of this phrase. It means that Paul was running after something with great energy and determination.

But notice that he said that he pressed on toward. All the language dictionaries tell us that this word toward in the original speaks of down or looking down or being downward focused. MacArthur says that Paul was expressing his single minded focus by saying something like this, "I continually bear down on the goal." And I think we understand the language bearing down. Do we not? We look at our son or our daughter. If they are having trouble in school, we say, "Son, you better bear down on your grades." If we are bearing down on our taxes, we know what that means. We're having to get things together by the deadline.

If we're bearing down on our diet, we're working hard on what we eat. If we're bearing down on our exercise, if we're bearing down on our school work or a work project, we are really, really determined. So in his determination, Paul was bearing down. The second he looked up, here Paul says that he was bearing down toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God and Christ Jesus. But notice that he said that he was bearing down for the prize of the upward call. And this word upward spoke of something that is up, up top or up high.

That is why the King James says, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling." The prize is what energized Paul to bear down. And the prize was the upward call of God and Christ Jesus. You see? The prize is what energized Paul to bear down. And the prize was the upward call of God and Christ Jesus, which was what? Here he's talking about the finish line of the race, heaven with Christ Jesus. I love what MacArthur says here. And I'm quoting, "Like a runner triumphantly pumping his fist in the air as he approaches the finish line, Paul declared, 'At the end of his life, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course.

I have kept the faith. In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day.'" 2 Timothy 4, 7 to 8. So in his determination Paul was looking down and looking up. So look what we've seen here in verses 13 to 14. Paul's focused fixation. He was devoted. He was devoted. "This one thing I do," the verse says. "His direction was forward, not backward, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward of what lies ahead. His determination was downward and upward.

I press on or I bear down toward the goal of the price of the upward call of God and Christ Jesus." And real quickly I'm going to do what Paul did. I'm just going to ask you as brothers and sisters, I'm going to ask you, how are you doing here? And I'm going to tell you as brothers and sisters, this is the kind of life that we need, that we need to have and we need to be living all together, all together. Then number 4, a proper perspective in verse 15.

Now here Paul begins to conclude this section of his teaching and as he does he calls the Philippians to have the proper perspective in regards to the manner of living that he has set before them. And I want us to see that he points out two kinds of Christians in the Philippian church and he addresses or he teaches both kinds. First he addresses the mature. Look at verse 15, "Let those of us who are mature think this way." And what way was Paul talking about here? He said, "Let us," meaning there were some who were like Paul, all inclusive language, he says, "Let us who are mature in living as I have described, let us think this way.

Let us think the way I have been describing." Albert Barnes says that Paul was calling them all, the Philippians as well as himself, he was calling them, and I'm quoting, "to be united in the effort to obtain the prize and to become entirely perfect." United, unity. Barnes continues by saying, putting these things in Paul's words, "Let them put forth the same effort which I do forgetting what's behind and pressing forward to the mark." So notice he was pointing out the mature and he was calling them the have and to keep this mature way of thinking.

Maybe they were being tempted to leave this kind of thinking behind, maybe from the influence of the Judaizers. And for us, if we're mature, see the mature live like Paul is talking about here. We understand that the Christian life as described by Paul is what we should live and continue to live. Maybe we need a reminder to make sure we continue to think this way and live this way. And you know, in contemplating over this today, I just wrote down the word work and effort and responsibility. We have a responsibility here. This takes effort here. This is spiritual work here.

And this is the way we should think and continue to think about the Christian life. But then secondly, the immature. He addresses the immature. Look at verse 15, "Let those of us who are mature think this way," and notice the transition, "and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you." Here Paul is addressing the others. Those in the Philippian church who think otherwise are contrary to what Paul had taught. He was saying that if there are any of you who think the Christian life is different, may God reveal these things to you also as He has done for us.

And my question for us is this, are there any here or any in our church who think the Christian life is not a race? Where we strain and press forward with all we have? Is there any in our church who think the Christian life is not pressing down and bearing down towards the upward goal? And if we have people like that in our church, they're in error. Some you know think that coming to faith in Christ, you just come to faith in Christ and it becomes a downhill coast. Some think that coming to faith in Christ, you know, life becomes like a cruise ship trip.

Some think that coming to faith in Christ, the work's done and then it requires minimal effort, but that's not what Paul says. And if you think that the Christian life is anything but a race where we strain forward and bear down, that tells you that you're immature. This tells us that you're immature. So the requirement of a proper perspective, the Christian life is comprised of the mature who see things like Paul and those who are immature who do not. And notice one more thing. This is a call for unity. This is a call for unity. This is a call to be united in these things. That was Paul's heart.

And then number five, and this will be rather short, a continual conformity in verse 16. Here Paul is concluding this section of teaching where he does two things. He uses himself as an example. You might think, wow, he has used himself a lot. He has. He's being autobiographical and he calls them to press on for the prize and he shows them that they needed one last thing to press on for the prize. Simply spiritual, a continual spiritual conformity. Look at verse 16. "Only let us hold true to what we've attained." Now the new American says, "However," which means one last thing in the original.

So Paul is saying, "However, one last thing, let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained." And what Paul was saying was this, "Hold true or keep living the standard that has been attained." That phrase, "Hold true or keep living," simply means to follow in line and to keep in line. And this simply means that believers who have reached maturity in the Christian life must hold true and keep in line in this kind of living. The standard has been achieved and they need to stay in line with it. But before we say, "All right, pastor, I got it." We need to see that verse 16 is also a very big warning.

This is a call to a continual conformity that must not be seen as a pat on the back, but as a big sober warning. I ran across this in some Warren Wiersby material. He really helps here. And I'm quoting, "Bible history is filled with people who began the race with great success but failed at the end because they disregarded God's rules. They did not lose their salvation, but they did lose their rewards." I Corinthians 3, 15. It happened a lot. Genesis 19, 1 to 38. Samson, Judges 16, 1 to 31. Saul, that would be Kingsaw, 1 Samuel 28, 1 to 25. And 1 Samuel 31, 1 to 13. And Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5, 1 to 42.

And Wiersby goes on to say, "And it can happen to us." Wiersby goes on to say, and I'm quoting, "It is an exciting experience to run the race daily, looking unto Jesus." Hebrews 12, 1 to 2. "It will be even more exciting when we experience that upward calling and Jesus returns to take us to heaven. Then we will stand before the bema to receive our rewards." But I'll add to that. It will not be exciting if we do not continually conform to the life of pressing on for the prize, like Paul has described. So, you see the big warning? Now, as I close the question, how do we stay in the race? You might say, "Pastor, all right, I see it now.

I see the race. How do I stay? How do I stay in the race so as to press on for the prize? I don't want to disqualify myself." MacArthur gives four divinely provided resources to help us stay in the race here. I took this from some of his material I ran across. I knew it was so good. I've really abbreviated it quite a bit. Number one, stay in the Word of God. Stay in the Word of God. Peter says in 1 Peter 2, 2, "Like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation." You cannot grow up in your salvation without the Word of God. We've got quite a few babies in the life of our church.

What happens if we do not give those newborns milk? They don't grow. Number two, prayer. Prayer. Paul prayed and he prayed that the Corinthian believers may be made complete. Remember they had some lacking. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. 2 Corinthians 13, 9. And we know that they struggle with great immaturity and not only did Paul write to them to instruct them towards maturity, he says that he prayed for them as well. So we pray for others. We pray for ourselves. Stay in the race. And then number three, following examples and mentors.

Here we see that Paul was putting himself before the Philippians as an example over and over and over and over. In verses 1 to 11 Paul was an example for the priceless privileges from knowing Christ. And here in verses 12 to 16 Paul was an example for pressing on for the prize. So yes Christ is our ultimate example but we need examples and mentors. And you've got to have living, breathing, mentors and examples in your life. And then trials. Trials.

Peter says in 1 Peter 5, 10, "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you." Trials are meant for a purpose. Trials come to all Christians. I've heard it said that you've got two kinds of Christians. Those who are going towards a trial and those who are coming out. So notice, I think MacArthur is right. He gives forward divinely because they come from God, provided resources to help us stay in the race. Stay in the Word, stay in prayer, follow examples and mentors in trials.

So Paul's example pressing on for the prize.