Philippians 3:13b – 14
“One Thing”
Introduction: Paul
said that he was “pressing on” but there were two things he needed to do to
accomplish that task.
I. “Forgetting
what lies behind.” [v 13]
A. Paul obviously remembered the past:
1. Paul remembered past
accomplishments. [3:4 – 6]
2. Paul remembered bad things:
shipwrecks, imprisonments, and beatings. [2 Cor. 11:24 – 25]
3. Paul remembered bad people: warned
Timothy (2 Tim. 4:14), handed people over to Satan (1 Tim. 1:20).
4. Paul remembered his bad behavior:
crimes against the church (Gal. 1:13)
***** Paul is saying that he did not allow the past to
effect or hinder or alter the direction he was going.
B. The past can hinder us!
1. Preference: to NOT try something
new.
2. Preference: to play it safe and keep
to the known.
3. Preference: to AVOID or STAY AWAY
from possibilities.
4. Sometimes we are motivated by fear
or comfort or shiny distractions.
***** “That’s not how we do it here.” Is this the death
mantra of dying churches?
Transition: Paul focus away from the past (good or bad) and
fixes his energy on what is in front of him.
II. “Straining
forward to what lies ahead.” [v 13]
A. Distractions?
1. “Tyranny of the Urgent” (Charles
Hummel) – confusion between what is important and what seems urgent… “jumbled
priorities.”
2. Reality check: Most of us are
motivated by circumstances and feelings, NOT by what we THINK believe.
3. Attention to what seems to be urgent
(needed to be done) can cause us to lose sight of what is important. (e.g.
Husband/wife… earn money, take care of house… wake up strangers)
4. The truth about PRIORITIES: ultimate
we do what we want (value, believe)
B. Direction?
“Indeed, I count
everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as
rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” [Phil. 3:8 ESV]
1. Belief: “surpassing worth of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord”… BECAUSE NOTHING
is more important.
2. Choice: “I have suffered the loss of
all things” … BECAUSE they are “rubbish.” (KJV = “dung”)
3. Goal: “that I may gain Christ” … BECAUSE
Paul did not hold his ministry or eternal destiny lightly.
“So I do not run
aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I
discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I
myself should be disqualified.” [1 Cor. 9:26 – 27]
4. Value: The actual perspective… “Christ
Jesus my Lord” OR “rubbish?”
Transition: With those things in place Paul is now free to
move forward.
III. “I press
on” [This is the Greek word for “persecute”… as in pursue, chase]
A. Paul puts all the zeal and energy he
used to persecute the church into his pursuit of Jesus.
1. We don’t see this in English but the emphasis of v. 14 is
on the “goal.”
2. Reaching the goal assumes a “prize.”
B. Paul feels the pull of “God’s upward
call in Christ Jesus” [CEB]
1. NOTHING is more important than Jesus.
2. This single pursuit is compelling to the point of
obsession.
“In Christ I have a
righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather
from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based
on faith. 10 The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ,
the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It
includes being conformed to his death 11 so that I may perhaps
reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead. 12 It’s not
that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I
pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for
just this purpose.” [Phil. 3:9 – 12 CEB]
Put another way:
“Because Christ Jesus
has made me his own” [Phil. 3:12b ESV]
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