Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

On our way back from New Hampshire, Grace and I stopped at Niagara Falls.

Four of the five great lakes feed into the Niagara River, and then into Lake Ontario.

You remember the great lakes, don’t you?

Remember the word HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior - HOMES.

Those lakes send an average of 770,000 gallons of water over the edge of Niagara Falls every second.

That’s 3,080 tons of water, or 1,230 Ford F150 pickup trucks.

And it travels over the edge of the falls it moves at 20 miles per hour.

Imagine throwing a piece of wood into the water above the falls.

The current would take hold of it, and rush it along toward the precipice.

A vast amount of water with enormous momentum would carry it over the edge, and down 160 feet to the whirlpool below.

The point is this.

Over the centuries many have tried to paint spiritual life as being caught in that kind of a powerful, wild flow.

What could be more powerful than being carried along by God, passive and surrendered to His will and Spirit?

The problem is that the Bible never tells us to “let go and let God,” not even once.

To the contrary, the apostle Paul tells us here that, even after 30 years of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, he is utterly committed to pressing on toward the resurrection and all that it means.

But isn’t God working?

Absolutely; there is no question that He is constantly at work in the lives of His people.

Philippians 1:6 says that God is doing a good work in us, and He will not stop until it is complete.

Philippians 2:12-13 says that are to work out our salvation because God is working in us so that we both want to, and are able to, live in faith and obedience.

Without question, God is at work.

And equally without question, we are to live in faith and obedience to Him.

What is life all about?

The ultimate aim of life, Philippians 2:10-11 says, is resurrection to eternal life, and all that it means: intimacy with God, freedom from sin and shame and temptation, never again facing death or loss or grief or hardship, an eternity of love and peace and joy with our God.

Because God is at work in us, we are not meant to simply float along like a stick in the river, going with the flow, but to be active participants in God’s work in this world.

Press On

Let’s look to Philippians 3:12-19.

Paul talks about pressing on.

That means being in active pursuit of a goal, running a race toward a definite finish line.

No one is done until they’ve crossed that finish line.

Now, Paul makes it clear that he has not yet been resurrected or been made perfect, or crossed the finish line yet.

But there is no doubt that he WILL cross the finish line, because Jesus has taken hold of him.

I love this picture!

Several weeks ago my granddaughter, Lucy, and I walked to my mom’s house, about half a mile away.

We had to cross 13th Street, which is a fairly busy four-lane road.

We walked out of our house, and down the sidewalk, and as we got close to 13th Street, I took Lucy by the hand, since she is only six, and lives in farm country, where traffic is unusual.

I took her by the hand so that she would, without fail, reach the other side.

She also held my hand, by the way, but that wasn’t the important part.

Her security wasn’t determined by her grip on me, but by my grip on her.

I gave her direction.

She couldn’t wander off.

And I gave her protection.

I’m a much bigger target, and if I needed to, I would have picked her up and carried her across.

And, I gave her strength.

It’s a long way across a busy street, but I helped keep her moving.

That’s what Jesus has done for us.

He has taken hold of us, so that we, without a doubt, reach the other side.

He has laid hold of us; He has taken us by the hand.

He gives us His direction in His Word, His protection through His name, and His strength by His Spirit.

He takes hold of us so that we will reach the other side, so that we will be raised physically from the dead and receive eternal life.

Leaving False Advantage Behind

The finish line stood out so greatly for Paul that he says, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on.”

We know exactly what Paul means by “what lies behind.”

It’s his identity as a circumcised Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, his religious pride as a Pharisee, his religious zeal as a persecutor of the church, and his religious accomplishments as one who kept the law blamelessly.

By the way, can I point out that Paul doesn’t say “having forgotten what lies behind,” as though he did it once, and can’t remember what those things are.

No, he says “forgetting,” something that he has to do on a regular basis, maybe even on a daily basis.

At one time he had considered all of these things to be gain, but realized that they are loss in comparison of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.

We can also leave our false advantages behind.

Being good?

Leave it behind.

Baptism?

Leave it behind.

A strong religious history?

Leave it behind.

Giving money to the church?

Leave it behind.

Those are false advantages.

They aren’t necessarily bad things, but they can’t help you cross the finish line.

Only Jesus can do that.

So let’s do what Paul did.

Let’s forget all the things that we once thought would give us an advantage.

Let’s agree that they can’t help us, and leave them where they are.

Let’s trust that Jesus Christ has taken hold of us, and will not let us go, or fail to get us across the finish line.

It’s hard to let go

It’s hard to let all of those things go.

Paul knew it, so he appealed to those who are mature in the faith, have this same attitude.

What if you aren’t convinced?

God will show you, he says.

If in any of these things you think differently, God will reveal that to you.

It’s not a matter of opinion, now; Paul doesn’t say that one thing is true for him, and another is true for you.

No, spiritual maturity can be measured by our willingness to forget what lies behind so that we may more fully reach forward to what lies ahead.

But at the same time, Paul is very tender and kind, and is happy to wait for the Lord to bring the specific persuasion to those who need to hang on to this or that.

Just make sure you that you don’t abandon the Gospel for the sake of those things.

Keep living by the same standard to which you have already attained, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the sufficiency of Christ as our Savior.

Jesus won’t fail

The Son of God has never failed to follow the Father’s will, not even once.

So what do you think about what Jesus says to us in John 6:37-40?

Will Jesus cast you out?

He says He won’t, ever.

Will He fail to accomplish the Father’s will?

He says He never will.

It’s the will of the Father that Jesus not lose even one of those whom the Father has given Him, but that He would raise each one of them to eternal life.

God the Father has commanded His Son to raise you from the dead, if your faith is in the Son.

Will the Son disobey the Father, and NOT raise you from the dead?

Never!

Jesus.

Will.

Not.

Fail.

Write those words next to this text.