Rejoice | Part 9 | Philippians 3:12-16 | I Press Toward the Mark
We’re there in Philippians 3. Of course on Sunday mornings we’ve been going through this series entitled “Rejoice”. It’s a verse-by-verse study through the book of Philippians. Of course Philippians has this theme of having joy or rejoicing. The word joy and the word rejoice are found all throughout the book over and over. I’ve told you this every week but this book is about joy and really about Jesus and about the joy that can be found in Jesus. As we’ve been walking through this book, we’ve been having the Apostle Paul teach us about how to rejoice in the Lord.
In this passage that we find ourselves in this morning the Apostle Paul gives us an illustration for the Christian life. He uses this analogy which is found a lot in the Bible about the Christian life being a race. Notice Philippians 3:14. “14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”. This is probably one of the most popular if phrases and verses in the book of Philippians and even in the entire Bible. The Apostle Paul it seems to me from scripture was a fan of sports. He must have enjoyed playing sports and he used sports analogies throughout his epistles.
1st Corinthians 9:24 “24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”. Then he says “25 And every man that striveth for the mastery…”. He’s talking about an athlete who is exerting himself and engaged in the idea of striving for the mastery. He says “25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things…”. The word temperate means self-control or to control self. That’s what we’re learning about on Sunday nights – not living an undisciplined life but living a disciplined life. “25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”.
Here he is looking at athletes who have to have self-control to win at a high level and their diet, sleep routines and exercise routines must be very controlled. They do it for a corruptible crown. In the same way we ought to be athletes engaged in this race of the Christian life. The difference is that we do it for an incorruptible crown. We’ve got the Olympics going on right now and people talk a lot about it and we have athletes from different countries engaged in different sports. Of course this is the idea that the Apostle Paul is referring to. Someone who is an Olympic athlete is not someone who does sports or does these things on the side. They are focused. They work hard. They are temperate in all things.
“…Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”. Verse 26 “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:”. He’s saying that he isn’t in this thing half-heartedly. We need to decide as Christians that we are fully in to serve God. I’m not playing games. See, we play football or we play sports as a game. But an Olympic athlete doesn’t do it as a game. Now they’re playing a game but it’s not a game to them. He uses this boxing analogy of “beateth the air”. He’s saying that when he boxes, it’s not this shadow boxing where you just kind of beat the air. He’s saying that if he gets in a fight, he wants to hit somebody.
Notice verse 27 “27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:”. This is the idea of living a self-controlled life, a disciplined life. “…lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”. The word castaway there is talking about being disqualified. And of course in the Olympics you often hear about people that get disqualified because they’ve cheated or they started at the wrong time or they did the wrong thing. He uses these analogies of sports of being an athlete and he used him throughout his epistles.
Go to Galatians 5:7. Notice what Paul said to the Church in Galatia “7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?”. He said you ran well but then you stumbled. You got hindered that you should not obey the truth. Go to 2nd Timothy 4 and this is Paul at the end of his Christian life. He says “7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”. The idea there of finishing your course is like finishing the marathon of the Christian life and being able to say “I fought a good fight”.
Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,…”. He’s saying that we are like in this arena being watching by a great crowd of people. He says “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”. See, the Apostle Paul often used this analogy of the Christian life as a race that we were to run. We are spiritual athletes to be disciplined, to keep under our body, to bring it into subjection that we should not be castaways. And he uses this idea of running and winning.
Philippians Chapter 3. The Apostle Paul delves again into this analogy that he loves. This analogy of a race, of winning the race, of pressing toward the mark. And what he does is he tells us how to win the race. He says we as Christians are on this race called the Christian life. But not everybody wins, right. That’s how the Olympics work. Not everybody that competes wins. He says not every Christian that gets on the racetrack finishes the race and wins the race. He says but you can win and I can win. And what the Apostle Paul does is he tells us how to win the race of the Christian life. He tells us this is what winners do, this is how winners live. And I want to point out to you this morning and we’ll go through it as quickly as we can. We will look at 4 things that the Apostle Paul gives us in this passage in regards to how to be a winner in the Christian life, how to win, how to be a champion for Christ, how to win the race of the Christian life. Not everyone who competes wins and there is something that makes winners or champions different than the rest, different than the losers. You say, what are those things?
Philippians 3:12 “12 Not as though I had already attained,…”. The word attained there is referring to the goal, referring to the finish line, referring to the end. What he is striving to get. He says not as though I had already attained. Now here’s what’s interesting. The Apostle Paul is writing to the Church at Philippi from a prison cell or from house arrest in Rome. In the chronology of the life of the Apostle Paul, we are now later in his life. We’re not speaking to or reading from a young Paul. We’re reading from an older man who has already accomplished a lot for the cause of Christ. This is now Paul not after his first missionary journey or 2nd or 3rd. He is a man that has started many Churches, a man that has already written a lot of scripture or is now in the process of writing a lot of scripture. He is a very accomplished individual. And here Paul says these very humbling words “not as though I had already attained”. We sometimes use the expression “I’ve not arrived yet.”.
“12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect:”. The word perfect in our King James Bible means to be complete, to be mature, to be whole. Paul is stating that he hasn’t attained yet but the thing is that at the time of this writing, Paul is arguably the greatest Christian on earth. I mean at the time of this writing, Paul is arguably the greatest soul winner, the greatest evangelist, the greatest Apostle, the greatest Christian leader, the most accomplished Christian servant on planet earth. He is a winner by every measure of the understanding.
Yet we see what made him a winner. You say what is the difference between winners and losers? I’d like you to notice first of all the desire of a winner. What is the desire of a winner? The desire of a winner is to always get better. The desire of a winner is not to say “I’ve arrived. Look how great I am. Look how amazing I am. Look how many Churches I’ve started or books I’ve written or sermons I’ve preached or conferences I’ve been to.”. Paul says “12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: “.
Verse 13 “13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:…”. He says I have not arrived. I am not done. I am not finished. I still have work to do. See, the desire of a winner, the difference between a winner and a loser, the difference between the athlete that goes on to win the gold and win the championship is that their desire is to get better. They don’t fall for this lie that says “I’ve arrived. I’m good enough.”. See, an athlete who wants to win needs to realize that they can always get better, they can always do more, they can always accomplish more.
Go back to 1st Corinthians 15. Now when it comes to the Christian life, the desire to be a winner is this healthy dissatisfaction. Now the reason I say it must be a healthy dissatisfaction or maybe we can put it this way a divine discontentment is because dissatisfaction and discontentment are generally a negative thing. In fact, the Apostle Paul later on in this book is going to give us an entire speech on this idea of being content. He says “I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content.”. So we’re not talking about being complainers. We’re not talking about being whiners. We’re not talking about being disgruntled, discouraged, depressed. That’s not what we’re talking about when we talk about having a desire to win. We are dissatisfied but it is a healthy dissatisfaction. We are discontented with where we’re at. You could think of the word or phrase “divine discontentment”.
How do you strive to be a winner? First, desire to get better. 1st Corinthians 15:9 “9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.”. Now notice what he says in verse 10. “10 But by the grace of God I am what I am:…”. See, this was a man that was content with where he was at. He says that he has come a long way and he isn’t complaining when he says that he hasn’t apprehended. He said that God had done a great work in him. He says “9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”.
Hey don’t ever forget that whatever you are, you are by the grace of God. Now we ought to be able to say “by the grace of God I am what I am”. But let’s not forget that it is not “I” that do it. He says “…yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. You say, “Well how can I be this spiritual athlete that desires to do more, that wants to get better.”. Well first of all you must be content. But secondly, go back to Philippians 3. You must not be complacent.
See, there’s a difference between being content and being complacent. Being content says “by the grace of God I am what I am by God’s grace.”. God has brought me here and if God chooses not to allow me to grow further or be blessed further then that’s okay. I’m going to learn to be content in whatsoever state I am in. See, the desire of a winner is to get better. They must be content however if you want to win you must not be complacent. What does it mean to be complacent? It means that you’re apathetic. It means that you think anything is good enough, you don’t strive to get better. We should be content but not complacent.
Notice the Apostle Paul says “12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect:…”. He is saying that he knows he can get better but he is also content. Notice these words “…but I follow after,…”. He says that there is something he is pursuing, following after, trying to get at. He says “but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”. See, when he said that he hadn’t attained, he wasn’t complaining, he wasn’t discontented. He was content. He said “by the grace of God I am what I am”. But he is also showing that he isn’t complacent either. He was saying that he was working at getting better.
Let me tell you something, if the Apostle Paul from the prison cell in Rome can say there are things he needs to work on, then there are things that we need to work on also. Paul can say that he has not attained and neither have we. The desire of a winner is to get better. What is the secret to doing that in a healthy way? You need to be content and not complacent. See, leadership is the ability to make accurate assessments. Self-leadership is the ability to make accurate self-assessments, to be brutally honest with yourself, to not lie to yourself. This is what self-leadership is.
I’m often amazed by people who have decided in life that they’re just going to be like the ostrich and just put their head in the sand and hope everything works out. I understand that people have different personalities. But I talk to people whose finances are a mess and you ask them how much money they have in their bank account and they have no idea. They haven’t looked at it. They can go ahead and put their head in the sand if they want but the only way to get better is to be brutally honest. Open up that bank statement and take a look at it. If you say that you want to lose some weight, you might have to get on the scale. You have to be able to accurately self-assess, be brutally and not lie to yourself. Paul looked at his life and said that there were things that he needed to work on. We must be content but not complacent. We must be able to look at ourselves and see the areas we need to fix and make better.
When it comes to your Christian life, you ought to be able to look in the mirror. Didn’t James say that Christian maturity is the Christian that can take the word of God like a mirror and look at it and face the truth. The person who can identify the problems and fix them rather than ignoring them. That’s what self-leadership is. Let me tell you something men, if you’re unwilling to actually look at a situation and see the problem then you are not cut out for leadership. You’re not cut out to be a leader. Problems are ugly and nobody wants to deal with them but as a leader you must be able to look at the good, the bad and the ugly. A leader must not put their head in the sand. A leader has to be able to say “I’m not right when it comes to the Christian life.”.
You have to take an inventory of your Christian life and ask yourself honest questions. Questions like “How is your personal Bible Reading going? How is your prayer time going?”. Get a Bible Reading chart and just go through it and mark it each day. You say “I don’t want to chart it but I’ll just read it every day.”. Look, if you’re not charting it then you aren’t reading every day. The fact that you don’t want to track it would say you have something to hide. Tracking it will keep you accountable. Some of you might want to start tracking how often you actually show up to Church. Some of you need to start tracking how often you come soulwinning. You might need to start tracking how much time you actually spend praying each day. Some of you need to open up your bank statements to see how faithful you are giving your tithes and offerings. All I’m saying is that none of us have attained. Paul said that he didn’t want to be a loser. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings but I’m trying to help you be a winner. I want you to be able to track your life and say that you are happy with what you’ve accomplished. I want you to be able to look at the mirror and track your schedule and be thankful for where you are at. The goal is to be content but not complaining and not complacent.
Let me just be clear. If you’re doing less today for God than you did yesterday, you’re by definition backslidden. If you’re doing less soul winning today than you did last year, by definition you are backslidden. If you’d doing less Bible reading or less Church attendance or whatever than last year then you are by definition backslidden. You say, “I don’t like you telling me that.”. I’m sure these athletic champions didn’t like hearing that the run was better last week than this week but do you want to win? See, the desire of a winner is to get better. At work you have to ask yourself what you can do better. As a husband you have to ask yourself what you can do better. As a wife you have to ask yourself what you can do better. You need to ask yourself where you are failing as a wife, as a mom, as a father in the ministry, in areas you volunteers and serve. You have to ask yourself if you are getting better.
Look, we ought to be content but we ought not to be complacent. He says “12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after,…”. This is something that he is going after. Look, we are to be content but we ought not be complacent. So he says “12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”.
So we see number 1 – the desire of a winner. What is it? To get better. Let me give you a 2nd thought this morning that the Apostle Paul gives us in verse 13. First of all we see the desire of a winner. Secondly, I’d like you to notice the direction of a winner. A winner is always heading forward. Now notice what he says in Philippians 3:13. “13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,…”. See, a winner focuses on their priorities. In a book called the 7 habits of highly effective people, 1 of the chapter is called “First things.”. This is what winners do. They figure out what the priorities are. They figure out what the most important thing is and they put that first.
I love that phrase 1 thing. The book we’re having them read for our Men’s Leadership Class right now is called “One Thing”. I saw it at the airport one time and I picked it up because the title caught my eye. The one thing wasn’t from the Apostle Paul but it was a good book. Paul said “This one thing I do”. That phrase has a spiritual implication. Let me give you 1 example.
The one thing is your priority. See, winners focus on their priority. You will find that athletes that are really good at their sport are usually only good at that one sport. It’s rare to find a champion in 2 different athletic sports. Why is that? Because they focus on just 1 of those sports. Paul said that he had a desire to get better and then he says that winners have a direction. They have a place and they are directed in a certain way. They are directed toward this 1 thing.
Luke 10:40 “40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”. Mary and Martha have Jesus over at their house for fellowship and Martha is doing all of the work. She is cumbered about with much serving. She begins to complain to Jesus. She says “dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?”.
Notice verse 41 “41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”. See, when Jesus showed up, Mary put everything down and sat at the feet of Jesus and began to commune with Jesus, talk to Jesus, fellowship with Jesus, spend time with Jesus. Jesus said that she did the right thing. There are lots of things that you can do or get involved in but 1 thing was needful. “42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”. See, Paul said “this one thing I do”. Winners focus on their priorities. Winners decide that although there are many important things or things they could do, they will focus on the biggest thing.
Go to Matthew 6:33. “33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”. See, what do winners do? They focus on first things. They focus on their priorities. They realize there are lots of things they could do but there’s only one thing they should be doing and that one thing is God. You’ve heard me say it before. God is the goal. Let me tell you something, be careful about being distracted. See, the Devil often tries to get people off by getting backslidden, by getting into sin, by getting into all sorts of things. But you know what the Devil often does to good, godly Christians? He knows he won’t get you into drugs, alcohol and things like that. But he tries to distract you with too many good things, too many hobbies and extracurricular activities. I think those things are good and you ought to enjoy yourself and enjoy life. I’m not against that. But be careful with allowing things to become too big in your life. Your life should be about 1 thing.
Just last week Brother Joe invited my family to play some ping pong with them. I’m not against things like that. But be careful about allowing these extra-curricular activities to distract you away from the 1 thing, to distract you away from the most important thing. And by the way, let me just say this to some of the more mature Christians here. I appreciate you guys trying to get some of these younger Christians involved in fellowship but be careful about getting them to do extracurricular activities that you can do but they can’t. You might have character to show up for Saturday soulwinning and also have an event on Saturday afternoon and show up to Church on Sunday. You might have the character to do that but they might not. My wife and I are often frustrated when we put a major event on a Saturday for Church and everybody has a good time and then half the people don’t show up to Church on Sunday. You say why is that? We call it lack of tenacity. We’re trying to be nice. Really laziness is the idea. Here’s what I’m saying if your party or get together is keeping people from showing up to Church on Sunday then focus on the one thing. Now you may be mature enough to do all the extracurricular stuff but sometimes others aren’t able to do that. It might be a good thing but it wasn’t the 1 thing necessary.
We need to get to the place as individuals where we are mature enough to say what we can handle and accomplish. I have three to-do lists at our Church. If you talk to our staff, we’ve got to-do lists after to-do lists after to-do lists. We’re all into to-do lists. At least I am into them so our staff has to be into them. I’ve got three personal to-do lists. Daily things, weekly things, monthly things. There are some things I have to do every day. There are some things I need to do every week and there’s some things I have to do every month. And I have to keep track of all those if I’m going to accomplish everything I’m supposed to accomplish. So I’ve got those lists for myself. On the top of the list, I’ve got this note that say “From now until your kids are grown, this is all that I can do, should do and must do. I just realized that I don’t have the ability to do as much as maybe as other people can or maybe I don’t have the talent or energy. There’s only so much that I can do. I just had to figure out how much I could accomplish and that is all that I will do until my kids are grown. Why? I need to focus on the 1 thing.
In the Book of Nehemiah, they tell him to come down and have lunch with them and he turns it down because he says he has something more important to build. There are some things that are not sinful or wrong but maybe it’s distracting. Some of you moms need to shut off Facebook because I’m doing a great work. What is that work? It’s called homeschooling. It’s called “my children”. I’m just telling you that winners are always heading towards their priority. They put first things first. Paul said “but this one thing I do”. He said I’m focused on this one thing. I’m trying to accomplish this one thing. I’ve got one thing I’m trying to accomplish and I’m focused on.
Notice secondly the direction of a winner. Not only do winners focus on their priorities but I’d like to notice secondly the direction. Philippians 3:13 “13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”. You see, in that 1 thing there is a 2-step process. “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”. See, winners have a direction. The direction of a winner is always heading forward. What does that mean? It means that they focus on their priorities. There is one thing they put first. It also means that they focus on the future. They focus on what’s before them.
Let me let you in on a little secret. You can’t do anything about your past. You ought to put the past in the past. That’s why they call it the past. See, winners don’t sit there and focus on their past. Winners realize that if they’re going to win, they must focus on the future. There’s only thing I control and that is from now to the future. I want you to notice when Paul said this he wasn’t just a guy giving a little pep rally going. Paul was arguably the greatest Christian on earth at this time. But let me tell you something, Paul had a past.
Go back to 1st Corinthians 15:9. “9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle,…”. What that means is that it wasn’t even suitable for him to be an Apostle. “9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.”. Before Paul was the great Paul, Paul was a terrible Saul. Who persecuted the Church? Paul was a terrible Saul who had Stephen the first martyr in the New Testament era put to death. Paul had people imprisoned, people died, families were broken up as a result of Saul of Tarsus.
Go to 1st Timothy 1:12. Notice what he says. “12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;”. He says that he is thankful for what God has done in his life. He is thankful that Christ Jesus enabled him and put him in the ministry. “13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious:…”. Paul is saying that before he was saved, he caused harm to people, physical injury to people. “but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”. Paul had a past. Paul had some guilt. Paul talks about being willing to give up his salvation, be accursed for the sake of his kinsmen according to the flesh. Romans 9:3 “3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:”. We know Paul meant it because it was penned down by the Holy Ghost but I think it would be hard for us to say this and actually mean it.
Paul is saying that he would be willing to give up his salvation and give it to someone else if it were possible. What is that? It’s a guilty conscience on Paul’s behalf. I’m not beating up on Paul. Paul talked about the damage he cause to Christianity and Paul wants to make up for his past. Here’s all I’m telling you. Paul had a past. There were things he felt bad about. There were things that he said he wished he could go back and redo it. Paul understood that the best thing to do with your burden is to make your burden a bridge. He said forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Paul said there are some people that might never get saved because of things he did under his influence. He feels like blood is on his hands and he would be willing to give up his salvation for them. Obviously Paul understood that wasn’t possible but Paul wanted to live the rest of his life trying to get as many people saved as possible.
You can’t run a race looking backwards. You can’t be focused on a finish line while constantly looking back. I’m not trying to minimize sin or make excuses for sin. I understand that our heart should break over sin and we should have repentance over the sin that has hurt others and that we should allow that burden to be a bridge. But let me tell you something. You also need to take comfort in the fact that God forgives and God forgets. Hebrews 10:17 “17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”. Look, the fact that you got right with God does not remove the consequences from your sin. Your husband or your wife or your kids might not forget your sins. However, the Bible says that God will forget your sin. I’m not minimizing sin. I’m not minimizing the past. All I’m saying is that you can only control what is in front of you. We must forget those things which are behind. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Psalm 103:12 “12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”. Jeremiah 31:34 “34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”. 1st John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”. I’m not telling you that your heart shouldn’t break. I’m not telling you that we shouldn’t have burdens over the things that we’ve done in the past. What I’m telling you is that it is idolatry to allow it to stop you. You are thinking God is not big enough to forgive you. Is Jesus blood not powerful enough to wash away your sins? If he is then we need to forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before.
By the way, how do you know if you’ve done a healthy job forgetting those things which are behind? We should have a healthy remembrance of our sin. You say how do you know if it’s healthy? Here’s how you know. How do you respond to the preaching of God’s word to that sin? See, some people carry this guilt around for sins. For example, if you are divorced and the Pastor gets up and preaches against it, what is your response? If you dealt with that sin in the past correctly, you will be happy for me to get up and preach against it as a warning from those in the future that would make that mistake. You would have the attitude that they need to know how terrible it is.
Paul said “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”. See, a winner has a direction. We see the desire of a winner. What is it? To get better. We see the direction of a winner. What is it? To head forward. I realize that people come to this Church and regret having not heard this preaching earlier but just forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before.
So we see the desire of a winner, we see the direction of a winner. Notice thirdly, we see the diligence of a winner. Notice these 2 words in verse 14. “14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”. To press means to move into a position by exerting continuous force or energy. It’s the diligence of a winner. When you see an athlete that wins the championship, you can count on the fact that they put in the energy to win the prize. Let me tell you something, the Christian life requires work. Salvation is by faith alone. But then God wants you to work out your own salvation after you are saved.
1st Corinthians 15:10 “10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”. When they were sleeping, Paul said that he was working. When they were relaxing and taking the day off, Paul was labouring. He was putting energy into the work and making sure that it got done. He said that he laboured more abundantly than they all. See, there is the desire, direction and diligence of a winner. Someone who is going to win, they have to put in the work. It’s going to require work for you to walk with God.
Look, I’m not trying to beat up on people but I get sick and tired of hearing people say that someone got a good marriage because they just got lucky. They married the right person. They married their soulmate and that’s the reason why their marriage is good. Or people say that if someone raised their kids well that they are just really good kids by nature. Nothing happens by luck. It happens by hard work. A good marriage is a good marriage because 2 sinners who could walk in the flesh but decided to put in the work to have a good marriage. The Bible says that all kids are bad. We’re all sinners. It takes effort to train them correctly. Starting a Church requires work. Being faithful requires work. Being healthy requires work. Don’t make an excuse for yourself and just say that others got lucky or had talent or good genetics. No they worked in order to win.
How do you win? You work. The diligence of a worker. Paul said that he laboured more abundantly than they all. Tenacity is getting up and doing what you are supposed to do. Years ago, I had a young man come up to me and tell me that God had called him to the ministry. He asked what he needed to do to prepare. I told him to work on showing up to Church each Sunday. He got offended and quit the Church. Let me tell you something. God can’t use you if you can’t rise up early in the morning. Get up early, show up for soulwinning, show up for Church, get int your Bible. It takes work. But if you want to win then you have to work. No Olympic Athletes just got lucky. They got that gold medal because they put in a lot of work.
The desire, direction and diligence of a winner. It requires some tenacity. Look, some of you need to realize that being tired is not the same as being sick. Everybody will say “I’m not feeling well.”. What do you mean by that? Do you have a fever? Does your head hurt? If it’s just because you are tired, we are all tired. I feel terrible every day. Just get up and do what you’re supposed to do. Show up for work. Show up for homeschooling. Show up to Church. Show up to your Bible Reading. It’s not like those serving God are just doing it because they have a superpower or endless energy. All people get busy, get tired, etc…I have 6 kids and a family and we show up to Church. I’m just telling you that if you are going to win at life then you need to learn some tenacity.
Look, 100 people showed up yesterday for soulwinning. I’m sure they were all tired. They had to work all week. They have to feed their family. But they showed up to soulwinning. Paul said that he laboured more abundantly than they all. That’s why he won. That’s why he succeeded. Let me tell you something. If someone has godly kids, have the common decency to tell them that they did a good job rather than saying they got lucky. They obviously put a lot of work into it. If someone has a good marriage, they must have put a lot of effort into it. It’s not because they married their soulmate.
We see the desire, direction and diligence of a winner. Desire is to get better, direction is to head forward, diligence is to put the work in to get up early and do what you’re supposed to do. I’d like you to notice lastly this morning the destination of a winner. A winner has a goal. There’s a finish line. Notice the prize and the purpose. Verse 14 “14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”. What is the mark? It’s the finish line. It’s the goal in the Christian life. “For the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”. The most important thing as a Christian is that you are pressing toward that mark. Whatever position you have, just press toward that mark.
Let me say that it is more important my position as a Christian than as a Pastor. It’s more important for me to be a good Christian than a husband or father. And by the way, if you are a good Christian then that will make you a good husband and father. It will make you a good Pastor. It will make you good at whatever role you have. The most important thing in your life is to be a Christian, to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The Bible says that they seek for a corruptible crown but we as Christians seek for an incorruptible crown. They do it for something that will decay but us for something that will last forever.
I want you to notice not only the prize but also the purpose. Verse 12 “12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”. Apprehend means to catch up to or grab. He is saying that he wants to get what Jesus went out and got. People make statements like “I found Jesus”. I didn’t know Jesus was lost. The Bible says that you were lost, you were lost in your transgressions and sins. The Bible says that he came to seek and to save that which was lost. You didn’t find Jesus. Jesus found you. And literally for the Apostle Paul, that was the case. He was on the road to Damascus and Jesus showed up. Jesus told Paul that he needed to go listen to a soulwinner and get saved. Then Paul says that he has given his life to try to apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
See, he is saying that Jesus apprehended him or found him. That means you were saved for a purpose. God saved you for a reason. He didn’t just save you. He gave you a purpose. Paul says that the prize is the glorified body. The prize is this crown. The prize is his eternal glory in heaven. The prize is also living a life of purpose on earth.
My wife and I were talking recently about depression and discouragement and we were testifying to the fact that by the grace of God that neither of us have really dealt with that. I realized that depression is a real thing and people deal with it. Of course there have been times when we’ve been discouraged or things haven’t gone well in our lives. But I don’t know that we’ve ever really dealt with depression in that clinical type of sense. She mentioned to me that the only time that she can really think of that she maybe experienced depression was when she was a teenage girl before she was saved. She said that she remembers just being a young lady and living life and on a Sunday night they’re kind of getting ready to go back to school on Monday. Then she kind of wondered to herself if this was all that life was. Go to school, do fun things on the weekend and then get up and live your life again for the weekend. She remembers just having this deep sadness like is this all life is? Do you know why so many people are on anti-depressants and trying to drink away their lives and sorrows? It’s because there is no purpose in their life. They are just aimless. Paul said that he had a purpose for his life. He had a goal to apprehend. He said that he realized that God saved him for a purpose and a plan. He said that he was heading toward that mark.
God said to Jeremiah “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”. God said to Jeremiah “for I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end.”. Let me tell you something. God saves you for a purpose. And the prize of being a disciplined athlete headed in the direction of winning the race is that you get a prize in heaven. But you get to live with some purpose on earth. You get to get up every day and realize there is a purpose for living. God’s doing something in your life. “By God’s grace I am what I am”. Be content but not complacent with where you are. Try to work to head toward a prize or a goal. What is the goal? The goal is to get close to God.
The things in your life; your job, car, house, clothes, are tools given in order to serve God. The sad thing is that we make our job God. Fellowship is a tool but we make fellowship God. Things are a tool but we make them God. You’ll never be happy until you realize that the goal is God, to draw close to God, to draw nigh to God, to know God. Like Paul said “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection”. So we see the desire of a winner, the direction of a winner, the diligence of a winner, the destination of a winner.
I want you to look at verses 15 and 16 as we close today. Verse 16 is a bit of a review of verse 15. Verse 15 “15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”. Let me say that the Christian life is a race but the Christian life is a team sport. We do it together. We were created for community. The Christian life is not a sprint where we are all lined up beside each other and trying to beat each other. The Christian life is a marathon that we are all in together and we’re all trying to run together. Let us run with patience. Let as many of us as be perfect get to the finish line. I’m not in competition with you. I’m trying to get to the finish line with you.
So here’s a question for you. Are you going to win? There are some things that separate winners from losers. Paul said “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”.
Let’s pray.