Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Phil 3:12-14

Title:  Striving! 

 

*Introduction*: The other day as I was going into one of my accounts, I see an old man walking with a cane heading to see the same doctor.

As this slow moving elderly man approached the steps, I hurried passed him up the steps to hold the door for him.

As When I opened the door at the top of the steps for this man well into to his senior years, and this man said to me from the bottom of the step landing, I can make it, you don’t wait for me.

Usually, I would wait but this old man had look on his face and went inside.

A minute or two later he comes inside and sits down then complained about how low his was going to wait.

When I looked at his old man and his persistence to reach his destiny, I thought about how faithful and determined the senior saints are in their walk with the Lord.

Unlike, some of us young people, the senior don’t let anything stop them from making it into the house of the Lord faithful.

They don’t care about the rain.

It they got pain or sickness that is not killing they will do their best to get to church.

It because they been thru too much and God has been good to them so they kept striving no matter what to reach their goal of seeing the Lord!

My beloved, we can learn something from our Senior saints i.e. to striving I got to do this from myself!

Like that man did not want me to help him, there are something in your life you got to strive for yourself!

Here in the text, Paul is reminding the Philippian church that they should never stop striving to meet the goal of Christian maturity.

It seems that there were some stagnant Christians there in midst who need a little kick start to continue to live a victorious life.

Paul is encouraging them thru his own testimony not to be satisfied where they are but they can have greater if they keep on striving.

But if it was anybody who had any reason to be complacent and just chill in their life it was Paul.

In this chapter, Paul reminds us he really was.

He tells to be like him and put no confident in the flesh.

That he was circumcised on the 8th day, of the stock of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrew, knew the law, a Pharisee who had zeal and persecuted the church.

Paul was somebody.

But he didn’t let his status keep him from wanting more in his life thru Christ.

Seniors, you may be at a certain age and did some things and been thru some things, don’t stop striving!

Paul had a holy discontent which is our first point.

*I.

**Discontent 12-13a*

In order for you to want more in life you have to have a level of /dissatisfaction/ where you are now.

You need to have a holy discontent.

Holy discontent is when God is pricking your heart, pulling your strings to move you into your purpose and to a new level in Him.

But some of you are getting it twisted.

Your discontent is not only moving away from God it is moving you /past/ God!

You are and have abandoned his process because you are not willing to wait or be obedient or turn away from your sin.

You are frustrated but it is not godly.

Paul in the text is discontent in his present situation.

He says /“not that I have already, either were already made perfect (I haven’t arrived) but I follow after (pursue), if I may apprehend (grasp, acquire) which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus/ meaning Christ has grabbed him.

That is good news!

Paul doesn’t have it but he /wants/ it.

He is in hot pursuit of the very thing that grabbed him.

His discontent left him with a /desire/ for the Lord.

/The seniors can testify/!

Aren’t you glad the Lord grabbed you!

Love snatched you.

Your discontent should move you toward God.

Don’t you dare settle!

That is too many of our problem.

But what is so bad it that church folk get complacent, stagnant and arrogant.

That is why you stopped coming to pray and bible study.

You lost your passion, you are no longer committed.

You settle in bad relationships.

You go thru the motion.

And you go for the tricks of the devil.

We got content and the enemy is winning because of the next point.

We have lost what Paul had…

*II.

**Devotion to the Lord v. 13b*

Verse 13b says, “/one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind…/” If you are going to strive to live victoriously, you have to be devoted to one thing.

This is important phrase for us today.

One thing!

It points to singlemindedness.

This /one thing/ focus is necessary to be successful in anything.

Jesus mentioned this phrase in scripture when he wanted redirect someone’s attention on what really mattered.

One thing thou lackest,” said Jesus to the self-righteous rich young ruler (Mark 10:21).

“One thing is needful,” He explained to busy Martha when she criticized her sister (Luke 10:42).

If you are going to progress in any area of life you have to concentrate on the one thing.

Too many Christians are involved in too many things.

We are a jack of all trades and master of none when it comes to faith.

We spread our faith out thin instead of concentrating of Jesus.

Our faith is on the numbers, our ability, in people and our job.

Imagine how life would be if you put all your efforts on Jesus?

For Paul, nothing else matter but Jesus.

His hope was built…

This section of scripture in context is written in athletic terms as athlete in training.

Professional athletes put in countless hours developing so they can compete at a high level.

They don’t want to end up on the bench.

I wish, we as Christians, adopt this same devotion in our walk with the Lord.

In Christ, some of us are /scrubs/ who will always be on the bench and not in the game because we got bad work ethics.

We are losing because we are ineffective because we don’t train for the game of life.

Concentration on one thing is the secret to power.

But there are things in your life that take you away from our concentration in life i.e. your past.

Everybody got a past.

It is bad enough that people want to always bring your past up as your try to move forward, /but you do it to/.

You are the one who says that you are not good enough.

You are the one who says my past or age is going to stop me.

But here Paul gives you a reminder.

He says that you have /to forget about those things behind you…/Tell your neighbor to forget about it!

The Lord forgets so why don’t you.

Forgetting breaks the power of you past.

You may not change what happened but forgetting changes its meaning.

Don’t look back at your past!

An athlete can’t look back while running a race.

If he does, he will lose speed, his direction and the race itself.

Spiritually, you can’t look back if you are trying to move forward.

Look at what happened to Lot’s wife!

You got to forget about you past.

/I am here to encourage some senior that there are some things that happen along time ago to forget about it/!

To /forget/ means to no longer have influence.

Your past has no more influence on you!

The Greek word has an even stronger meaning, Paul says to put you past into oblivion.

It is an active word.