Press On!

Several years ago there was a runner in a long distance race who had just made the last turn on the track and saw the finish line up ahead. He had already ran lap after lap after lap and was significantly ahead of everyone else in the race. Because of this gap, he looked up into the stands - possibly to find a teammate or a parent - and he slowed down. As he slowed down the cameraman panned out and another runner was closing the gap… The front runner had no idea what was happening but the fans in the arena began to erupt as his lead had all but evaporated and he found himself in an unfamiliar position: Second place. As both men crossed the finish line it was obvious that the runner with the lead had taken his eyes off of the finish line and was looking all around because he thought his position was secured. This race went viral and coaches everywhere have used it as motivation to their athletes to never lose sight of the finish line and to celebrate after they cross that line, not one moment before.

You would think that because of the embarrassment suffered by this runner that this type of thing would never happen again, right? Wrong! People love to celebrate prematurely. Baseball players celebrate what they think to be a home run that hits off the top of the wall and they only end up at first base because they celebrated instead of running out of the batters box. Basketball players celebrate a 3-pointer because it looks like its going to go in but it ends up hitting the rim and rolling out. We celebrate our grades during the semester only to slack off down the stretch and we drop down a letter. We love to celebrate before it’s appropriate to and this same mentality drifts from our secular lives into our relationship with our Lord and Savior.

So many people view being baptized as the end of the journey. I’ve prayed the prayer, I’ve been dunked, therefore God doesn’t care what I do the rest of my life - I’m free to celebrate and live however I want. Others are tempted to view the Christian life like that of our occupation and whenever we hit 65 we’re free to cash in our retirement and coast until Kingdom come as we celebrate the works of our past. Others are dramatically saved from a past of sin and they celebrate God’s amazing grace but they don’t know what to do next. The Bible isn’t against celebration, we read in the Bible that salvation is a celebrating matter! However, celebration isn’t the end. There’s more in store. Philippians has been reminding us of the joy that we have in Christ and if you’re a Christian this morning you should be full of joy as you reflect on all that Christ has done in your life and you should celebrate His greatness! But celebration can’t stop us from being agents of transformation in our world. As a Christian, as long as there is breath in your lungs, God has a purpose for you and that purpose is to know Him more and to bring Him glory with how you live your life.

Today as we continue in Philippians 3 we’re going to see that in order to glorify God with our lives, we must grow in humility and understand that we’re still a work in progress. That we must press on and pursue what Christ has in store!

Philippians 3:12–21 CSB

12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. 16 In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained. 17 Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. 18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things, 20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.

We’re All A Work in Progress (12-14)

Immature Christians or false teachers might believe that they’ve arrived and can rest on the sidelines. Some people think that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross not only makes us innocent before God but it makes us perfect so that God doesn’t care what we do or how we live anymore. There were some in Philippi who taught a doctrine called perfectionism - they took Matthew 5:48 literally and believed that we as humans could be perfect.

Mature Christians recognize that they haven’t arrived yet - they’re still under construction. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian for 50 days or 50 years, Christ has a plan and purpose for your life and part of that plan is for your to continue to seek first His Kingdom and become more like Him. This is why even older Christians must practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible reading, corporate worship, and serving. There’s no early retirement for a Christian. There’s always more work to be done!

See Hebrews 12:1-2 - running metaphor. We’re not passive as we pursue Christ, instead we’re passionate in this pursuit!

Hebrews 12:1–2 CSB

1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We can never earn our salvation but as those who have been saved, we are to expend effort to work hard to pursue holiness as Christ finishes what He started (Phil 1:6)

Imitate Paul and acknowledge that you’re a work in progress and forget as you run. Don’t ignore your mistakes and repeat them, but trust that you are forgiven and run after Christ. Deal with sin and chase Christ. Flee from sin and run to your Savior. Paul does this in his letters as he initially calls himself the worst of the apostles then the worst of christians then the worst of sinners. As we follow Jesus, we should grow in our appreciation of His greatness and our sinfulness. Flee from your sin. Also, flee from your previous pride and boasting in self. Don’t live in a previous state of complacency or victory whenever Christ is calling you to move forward. Remember you’re a forgiven sinner and run after Jesus.

Paul says that this is the one thing that he’s going to do - forget the past and reach toward what is ahead. What is that one thing for you? If you have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus and if He is at work in you, what is the “one thing” in your life that you need to surrender today? What is a habit that you need to break? What is a spiritual discipline that you need to start?

Matt Perman wrote a book several years ago called What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done and in this book he argues that Christians not only live differently but we think differently because of what the Gospel does in our lives. The Gospel not only changes what we do, but how we do what we do! Think about your work or your schooling - a major temptation in our lives is to strive for efficiency or to get as many things done in as quickly as humanly possible. Others strive for quality over quantity and our goal is to be very thorough in what we do and to be the best we can be. Efficiency and thoroughness are good things - but the main thing can’t be us. It can’t be another human or organization. The main thing in why we do what we do is we serve and glorify our God.

See, you can read any how to book and walk away with 5 tips on being better at something. We have how to books for everything! How to be a better parent. How to be a better husband. How to be a better employee. How to be a better boss. How to be a better citizen. How to be a better fisherman. Our society loves how to’s - but here’s the problem with how to’s. 1) We’re all different and a how to for one person probably will be different for another person, but more importantly, 2) You’ll never be perfect at what you’re studying. You’ll never be a perfect parent, husband, employee, boss, citizen, or fisherman. You and I are all works in progress. We all have room to improve in areas in our lives, but our goal of getting better shouldn’t primarily be that we get to be better at strictly one area of our lives. Paul’s goal is to pursue Christ. Anything we do in church and in our lives must be with the same focus - to pursue Christ. As you pursue Christ and study His Word, other areas will blossom too. It’s incredible how the Bible addresses the questions that we have and if we’d take seriously our responsibility to meditate on God’s Word we’d be better parents, husbands, employees, bosses, citizens, and probably better fishermen too! Yet, so often we want the quick fix that we’re not willing to do the daily work of forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead and spending intentional time with our Savior through prayer, worship, and reading His Word.

As we spend time with our Savior, He changes us. This is a daily process that will take our entire lives. If you’re here this morning and you’ve been saved by grace through faith in Christ, then understand that you’re still in need of the Gospel as God continues to change you and shape you to be more like Jesus each and every day. We’re still a work in progress, and that’s a beautiful thing because He promises to never leave us and to finish His work in us! Don’t get to a place in your life where you think that you’ve arrived and don’t have to look to Jesus any longer - we will never get to that place! Our prize in the end is to know Christ fully. T

We’re All In Need of Jesus (15-17)

If our prize is to know Jesus and to acknowledge that we’re all a work in progress, it follows that we all need Jesus - whether we think that we do or not. Some of us understand our great need for Jesus, but many others don’t see that need. Baptist Press released an article on Tuesday of this past week of a study conducted by the American Bible Society on the 2022 State of the Bible. Among people who claim to have a personal relationship with Christ in the Gen-Z, Millennial, and Gen-X groups, fewer than 1/3 actually are practicing Christians. This means that we have millions of people in our country who believe that they have a personal relationship with Jesus but they’re not doing anything with that relationship. No church membership. No Bible reading. No corporate worship. There are so many in our world who fit this mold as well! Jesus, yes. Church, no. Let’s flesh this idea out just a little bit - why are we all in need of Jesus Christ?

Every single one of us needs food. This is why Walmart is as popular as it is in Salem, in the United States, and even in Guatemala (yes, there were Walmarts there too)! We all need food and we know that we need food and even if you are able to grow certain things at your house, chances are that you still need to go to the grocery store for some things as well. Why? Because we all need food. Whenever you and I go to the grocery store, though, we can’t select what we want and take it and go back home - that’s called stealing. We have to purchase our food and the things that we need. For many of us, even with inflation and other difficulties, we go to the grocery store and we purchase what we need and we come home. The price might be an inconvenience and we might have to budget a little bit differently, but we get what we know we need. There are some in our world, though, who can’t afford to eat. Whether it’s in Europe, South America, or right here in the Bible belt - there are people in need but they can’t afford what they need. No one signs up to be this person. They are looked down upon. They can’t boast in what they’ve made because they’re in need. Times are hard for this person. Yet, what the Bible tells each and every one of us is that this person is us. Sure, we might be able to afford our grocery list at Country Mart or Walmart… But the Bible tells us that we’re all in need of a Savior because of our sinfulness and that we are powerless to afford or deserve One. You can’t go see your stock broker and cash out all of your investments and then come before Jesus with enough money to afford His bill - it doesn’t work that way. We can’t afford Him. We can’t deserve Him. Yet, we need Him even more than we need food. Where is our hope, then? We need Jesus, but we can’t deserve Jesus and we can’t pay Him back for what He’s done? This is the good news of the Gospel

Ephesians 2:4–5 CSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

The truth found in Scripture is that we cannot save ourselves but that we are saved because of God’s grace and mercy and love in sending His Son to die in our place on the cross! This is the truth that Paul rejoices in throughout Philippians and this truth should lead us to rejoice today as well - we are all sinners in need of a Savior but in Scripture we read that Christ died for sinners and saves us from the punishment of our sin. Because of Jesus, we have hope today and we know from Philippians 3:9-11 from last week that we have the ultimate hope of resurrection and spending eternity with our Savior. Therefore, Paul argues that there is something for us to do today. Because of Jesus and because of His love and grace, we are saved to serve and live a changed life.

As we serve Jesus and we grow in our understanding of who He is, we need others to help us. In order to be mature, we need someone who is mature to help us along the way. Think of a person who has helped you in your spiritual development. Maybe a parent or grandparent. Maybe a pastor or Sunday school teacher. Maybe just a good friend or mentor in your life. We all need people like this in our life to pour into us and encourage us to grow to be more like Christ day in and day out. We need these types of examples and one of the places that we can find such examples is church! Come to Sunday school or come to Wednesday night Bible study and fellowship with people who genuinely want you to grow in your spiritual walk. Just last chapter Paul recommended Timothy and Epaphroditus to this congregation and said that they needed to listen to these brothers because they are faithful servants of Jesus. Here he says that they need to pay careful attention to people who walk the walk and talk the talk. Just as we all need Jesus, we all need a church family to belong to and to be encouraged by. Bring this home this morning - not only do you have someone like this to look up to in your walk, but whenever other people look at your walk with the Lord, do they view you as being a Godly example to look up to? Don’t feel the pressure to be perfect, we’ll never be that… But based on how you live your life, could Paul write a letter of recommendation to your church family or your friends to imitate your life?

That’s a lofty statement - but as we seek to follow Jesus, that should be our goal as we mature in our walk, that people would see Jesus in us and that we would glorify Him in all that we do. This all starts with our need for Jesus and our response to His amazing grace.

We’re All Going to be Changed by Jesus (18-21)

Even if you don’t respond to God’s grace, though, Jesus will change you. In the state of Missouri when it comes to our weather, we experience all 25 seasons and we experience them often out of their normal order! We don’t just have summer year round like Florida and we don’t have a rainy season and a dry season like Guatemala and we don’t have constant winter like other places do. We experience winter, spring, second winter, summer, fake spring, second summer, really hot summer, and then about 2 weeks of fall before winter hits again! We experience it all here and I hear so many people complain about the weather. I don’t like the snow, I wish it wouldn’t snow… If you don’t like the snow, you’re living in the wrong place! The opposite is true: I don’t like the 100 degree heat, I wish it would cool off… If you don’t like 100 degree heat then you’re living in the wrong place. See, our preferences don’t always dictate what happens. In Missouri you’re going to get snow storms and you’re going to get 100 degree days and literally everything in between regardless of what you like.

This is how things are with Jesus. You might love Jesus and Jesus will change your life. You might hate Jesus and Jesus will still change your life. Your opinion about Jesus doesn’t change the fact that He will change you - just like our opinion about the weather won’t change the forecast. How does Jesus change us? On the positive side we see in the Bible the things that Jesus does as He changes us: He gives us peace, love, hope, and joy. He gives us access to God. He gives us confidence in uncertain times. Think of a way that Jesus has changed your life this morning - perhaps you had a previous habit or action that you did that you no longer do because of Jesus’ power and presence in your life! Jesus is all about changing graves into gardens and He still does this today! Not only does Jesus change our lives today but we know that because of Jesus, if you’re a Christian, you will spend eternity with God. This is great news how Jesus changes our trajectory for all eternity! But, not all who call Jesus Lord are His genuine followers

Matthew 7:21–23 CSB

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’

See, there are some who either purposely or accidentally live as enemies of the cross and maybe they believe that they’ll be fine. So many people believe today that you can live your truth and they can live their truth and as long as you’re nice to one another everything is ok… Jesus isn’t ok with that, though. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and King Jesus gets the last word. Jesus has the keys of eternity and He will send you to eternal celebration or eternal condemnation. He will change your life! Some people in Philippi are focused on the wrong things. Verse 19 says that they’re focused on earthly things and their glory is their shame and their god is their stomach and their end is destruction. Do you know anyone who is focused on the wrong thing today? Do you know anyone who instead of pursuing the Kingdom of God is far more interested in the Kingdom of man? I certainly do - and we’re all tempted to live as citizens of earth rather than citizens of heaven, on earth. Tony Merida shares that our culture glorifies things that we should be ashamed of. We celebrate what offends God. Our world glorifies sexual sin, greed, disrespect, and laziness. Don’t follow this path - and don’t despise such people - like Paul we should weep over these people who are lost and in error. As we weep, we must guard our heart and ask ourselves what we’re living for.

How can we live as citizens of heaven? How can we guard against these types of errors and problems? What is the antidote? To pursue Christ and Christ alone. The be united with other believers and follow the example of those who have gone before us (v. 17) and to live as a citizen of heaven while on earth (v. 20).

Whenever you keep your eyes on Jesus and you are filled with His eternal hope, you begin to see things clearly. Though today is hard, Christ is coming back. Though you’re struggling with sickness, one day sickness and pain will be no more. Though you’re confused and persecuted, one day you will reign with Christ. See, if you’re a Christian, this life is the worst it’ll ever get for you. But if you’re not a Christian, this life is the best it’ll ever be. This world has much to offer, but its best pale in comparison to eternity in glory with our Savior. If you’ve been changed by Jesus today, ask yourself this: What does Jesus want me to do today?

CS Lewis once shared that the Christians who did the most in this present world were those who thought the most about the next. We look around and we see that so many churches and Christians are growing cold and stagnant and part of that reason is that we’re not looking ahead to what is awaiting us. See, if I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am saved by grace through faith in Christ and that I’m going to spend eternity with Him and that God desires for me to glorify Him and to proclaim the Gospel to all nations then what does it matter if there are people who don’t agree with me? What’s the worst that this world can throw at me if I’m sealed by God and guaranteed to be with Him forever? So many people want to change the world… But the only way we as Christians can do this is by trusting in God’s power in us and living each day with the confidence that we belong to Him and that He has saved us and that He will continue to transform us each and every day.

Conclusion

The more you mature in your Christian walk with the Lord, the more you should realize how far Christ has brought you and how far you still have to go! We’re all a work in progress and our eyes must be fixed on Jesus as we run in this race. We don’t look back at our shortcomings or our successes - we look ahead at Christ’s cross. We don’t celebrate prematurely, we keep our foot on the gas pedal because we are called to press on and proclaim the good news of Jesus with a lost and dying world. As we run this race, let’s think of a couple of things to do:

Don’t: Let Go and Let God - Do: Press On and Pursue God

We’re not called to be passive in the Christian life - we’re called to be active. Paul is encouraging these people to train for a race and to get through opposition and difficulty as a unified group. Our only hope to do this isn’t to be passive in difficulty but to press on through it and to seek God’s face. We don’t “let God” do anything - He is the King of all! We are called to pursue Him and to live as citizens of heaven each day here on earth.

Don’t: Get Stuck in the Past - Do: Look Ahead to Jesus

Everyone has a past (good and bad), but Jesus is all about changing our past for His glory. Don’t ignore your past because Jesus might use your past or your testimony to point someone else to Him - but don’t get bogged down and certainly don’t boast in your past before Jesus. Look to Him for your satisfaction and salvation.

Don’t: Live as an Enemy of the Cross - Do: Live as a Child of the King

If you have not done so already, today can be your day of salvation as you repent of your sins and ask Jesus to forgive you and to change your heart as you follow Him as Lord and Savior. Don’t continue to live as an enemy of the cross - today you can be adopted into God’s forever family and be changed by His grace.

Wherever you are at today, continue to follow after Jesus because we all have room to grow.

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