Word of Salvation – Vol. 48 No.18 – May 2003
I Press On
Sermon by Rev J Haverland
on Philippians 3:10-14
Scripture Readings: Philippians 3:1-14; James 2:14-26
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We can see from our text that the apostle Paul resolved to press on towards the goal of knowing Christ and the final prize of salvation. And the purpose for a sermon on this text is to urge you to press on to a greater knowledge of Christ and His final salvation.
Sometimes young people get to the end of their schooling and they have no idea of what they want to do after that. They have no sense of purpose, no goal, no aim, no preference for work. Hopefully, as time goes on and they try different things, they will discover what they like and what they are interested in. Yet there are people who seem to go all through their life without any clear goal. They are aimless, wanderers, drifting through life with no clear direction.
The Christian is not like that, and the Apostle Paul was not like that. He spoke for every believer when he wrote these lines about his aim and object as a believer. Let’s consider this as we look at his purpose, his pursuit and his prize. As we do this, ask yourself whether this is your purpose in life? Is this your pursuit? Are you striving for this prize?
1. In verse 10 he tells us that HIS PURPOSE in life was to know Christ.
By this he meant a personal knowledge. The Hebrew word for ‘know’ was used to describe sexual intercourse – “Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived…” (Gen 4:1 NASB mgn). The word ‘know’ conveys intimacy, closeness, a personal knowledge.
Jesus talked about how we should ‘remain’, or ‘abide’, in Him and He would remain in us. Again, you get a picture of an intimate, living communion between two people. This is what Paul is describing here when he writes, “I want to know Christ…”
But there were specific things about Christ that he wanted to know. He wanted to know the power of His resurrection. The power of God was displayed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That displayed “the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead” (Eph 1:19-20). The resurrection of Jesus showed that He had triumphed over sin and death and Satan.
This resurrection power of the Lord Jesus is available to believers through our connection with Jesus. Christians are united with Jesus in His death and resurrection, which means that when Jesus was raised, we too were raised. We were raised from spiritual death to live a new life. Paul wanted to know Jesus and experience the power of the risen Lord in his life.
That should be your desire and prayer – that Jesus might be at work in your life by His power so that you can resist temptation and overcome sin; so that you can fight against your enemies – the world, the flesh and the devil. Sure, often our battles are small and unspectacular; but each battle is important and each one is an opportunity to see the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus at work in your life. Each battle is an opportunity to become more holy and more like Jesus.
Paul also wanted to know “the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings”. This seems like an anti-climax after that first phrase; why go from power to suffering? Yet to share in Christ’s sufferings is a common theme in the New Testament – both in the gospels and in the letters. Jesus Himself said, “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). He warned His disciples that if men hated Him they would hate them too; if they persecuted Him then they would persecute them as well. Earlier in this letter Paul wrote, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him” (1:29).
Let’s remember that our suffering will always be different from the suffering of Christ. His was unique because he died as the payment for sin. He suffered as a just and righteous man for the sins of the unjust and sinners. We suffer because we are sinners. We suffer for our own sins and because of the evil of others in the world.
Yet Paul knew that there was a purpose in his sufferings (Col 1:24) and that God would use it for his ultimate good and for His own glory (Rom 8:28). This is why he wanted to know “the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings”. He knew that beyond these sufferings there was death, and after death there would be the resurrection of the dead – and he wanted to be part of that. So he lived with a sense of purpose.
You need to do that, too. Aim to know Christ – this is a great purpose for life. Pray that you might know Christ’s victory in your life. And don’t shy away from sharing in His sufferings because the resurrection will come when Jesus returns.
2. Verse 12 describes THE PURSUIT of this purpose
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already become perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
There are two ideas here: What he already has and what he still must grasp. What Christ has laid hold of and what he must lay hold of.
He tells us that Christ has taken hold of him. Jesus did that on the Damascus Road in Saul’s sudden conversion. Jesus grabbed hold of him and turned his life around. He set him in a new direction and gave him another purpose for living.
But that’s not all. The Lord also gave him all the blessings of salvation – blessings Paul has already described in the previous verses: How he “gained Christ” and was “found in him”, and how God gave him the righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
Along with all that came the benefit of being adopted into God’s family, having his sins forgiven, and being given eternal life. Jesus took hold of all the benefits of salvation and gave them to Paul. And he will give them to everyone who believes in him – also to you!
But Paul also knew that he had to take hold of these things for himself. He had to lay hold of them, to grasp them, to win them.
He knew that he had been given many benefits but he had not yet obtained all there was to obtain, nor had he already been made perfect – so there was more to do.
He needed to keep pursuing these things so that he could become more and more conformed to the likeness of God’s Son (Rom 8:29), “transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory” (2 Cor 3:18). He wanted to be an imitator of Jesus in His character, speech, attitudes and behaviour.
He is focussing on his responsibility. So he says, “I press on…”
The word he uses means to pursue after, to strive for, to aspire to, to seek. It has the sense of a single-minded striving for a goal; a total concentration of mind and effort; an earnest seeking after something you really want to obtain. “I press on…”
Jesus has given me eternal life – I want to grasp hold of it fully. He has forgiven my sins – I want to enjoy freedom from the power of sin. He has given he the right record of Jesus – I want to live up to that. “I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
Can you say that? Are you pressing on? Are you growing in Christ? Do you want to become more like Him? Are you striving to make progress as a Christian? Are you using all the means available to you in prayer, in reading the Bible, in attending worship, in taking part in the fellowship meetings? Sure, these things in themselves don’t make you a Christian, but they are means the Holy Spirit uses to help us grow – make use of them.
It’s easy to coast along as a Christian; to go into cruise control; to level off; to plateau; to think, “This is far enough, this is enough striving, enough sacrifice, enough effort.” Often we are too easily satisfied.
The Apostle Paul wasn’t content with what he had gained – and I dare say he was a lot further along as a Christian than any of us! He wanted to press on! He knew that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” were found in Christ (Col 2:3) and he wanted to explore these and make them his own. Do you? Is that your goal? Are you pursuing this as an aim? Are you striving to know Christ better?
Paul had a purpose: To know Christ.
He pursued that purpose: to press on to lay hold of Christ.
3. He did that because he wanted to gain THE PRIZE
“But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (13b-14).
He resolved to forget what was behind. Earlier he had described his life in the past as a strict pharisee. He told them that all those things he had counted as profit he now considered a loss for the sake of Christ. He forgot about all those things. He counted them as rubbish compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ (vss 7-8).
Maybe you need to do that, too. Forget the successes you had before you became a believer, the achievements you took pride in, the position you had attained, the wealth you had accumulated. Don’t look back to those things. Remember Lot’s wife who was judged by God for looking back to the pleasures and sin of the city of Sodom. Don’t make the mistake of harking back to the bad old days.
You also need to forget the sins and failings and mistakes of the past lest those hold you back. We have a saying, “It’s no good crying over spilt milk”. Remember that when God forgives your sins he does that completely and totally. He hurls “all our iniquities into the depth of the sea” (Micah 7:19). As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Ps 103:12). Don’t look back and dwell on past sins.
And don’t look back and live in the past. Some people excuse themselves by saying, “I’ve never been all that motivated as a Christian, so why start now? I’ve never attended the afternoon worship, so why change a bad habit at this stage? I’ve always been an impatient person, so that’s just the way I am. I’ve never been able to be regular in my devotions, so I guess that’s the way it is.” To make these excuses is to live in the past. Instead, forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead.
Eric Liddell was a famous Scottish runner who ran in the Olympics in 1924 in Paris and won the gold medal in the 400 metres. He was a Christian and he had made big news at the time by refusing to run the 100 metre heat which was being held on the Sunday. His story has been described in a beautiful movie called, “Chariots of Fire”. He said to his sister, “God made me for a purpose, and He also made me fast; and when I run I feel His pleasure.” He strained towards the finish line. That was his goal because he knew that if he crossed the line first he would win the prize. He was single-minded in his running, determined, focussed on the goal.
He was also single-minded as a Christian. After the Olympics he spent the rest of his life as a missionary in China. He strained toward what was ahead, keeping his eye on his eternal reward.
You need to be the same. Go for gold. Run with determination. Don’t look back. Avoid distractions. Many a race has been lost because the runner looked around him. Many a person has been lost because they have become taken up with the pleasures of this world rather than the treasures of eternity. And many a believer has not been as useful or as effective as they might have been because they have been distracted by their sport, or their hobbies, or too much emphasis on their work, or by pleasure and parties. None of these things are wrong in themselves, but while everything may be permissible, not everything is beneficial. Consider what will be most beneficial to your growth as a believer and the progress of the Kingdom of God and lay the other things aside. Strain toward what is ahead.
Press on to win the prize.
A runner who comes first wins the gold medal – that is his prize. A Christian who perseveres to the end is given the gift of eternal life – that is the prize. It is a prize given by grace. It is not earned.
Nothing in this life can compare to the eternal weight of glory that God will give to those who love Him. This is a prize worth winning. It is a reward worth striving for.
Make the purpose of your life a growing knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Press on to pursue that goal so that you can take hold of the benefits that Jesus has gained for you. Keep going for the prize that God will give to all who love Him.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2).
Amen.