Grasping for Glory, Part 2

We found ourselves in last week,
Philippians chapter 3, and we’re focusing on verses 12 through
14. As we have done in weeks past,
we want to put this in the context, the greater context of chapter
3, where Paul is dealing with the troublemakers that were no
doubt already in Rome and dogging Paul’s every steps. but also
were likely found even in Philippi. And for that reason, Paul begins
this chapter with an almost shocking epithet in calling these perpetrators
of evil, those that were adding to Christ and to the simplicity
of Christ’s work on the cross, they were adding works. And Paul
calls them dogs, evil workers, even the false circumcision. Their celebration of these external
rights had no meaning whatsoever, nothing valid to them. Paul goes
on to lay out and articulate in verse 3, who were the true
children of God and what were they marked or distinguished
by? They are those who worship in
the Spirit of God. In other words, their worship
bleeds out and affects everything that they do. It’s not just the
fact that they attend a worship service on an occasion, but they
worship. They are devoted in their life
to the or rather, they are devoted in their life in the Spirit of
God. They put the glory in Christ
Jesus and they put no confidence in the flesh. And it was that
that Paul used to identify the true believers. But he goes on
from there to. really obliterate any confidence
in the flesh. And he uses himself as the argument,
as we spent some time on in verses four through seven. And he ultimately
concludes that any of those things that in some kind of earthly
sense seemed to be a gain to Paul, Paul counted his loss and
he heaved them, as it were, into the sea in anticipation and hope
of laying fully upon Christ. Paul knew that he couldn’t take
both. Paul knew that both would do
him no good because in trying to grab and maintain hold on
the one, he would lose grasp on the other, that is Christ,
and he would be found empty. The remaining verses of that
great section were what Paul looked forward to gaining in
full. He already possesses Christ.
He already possesses the righteousness of Christ. But he presses on
and he keeps yearning for the time when he will lay hold of
those things in full. First of all, a saving knowledge
of Christ. Look at the end of verse 8. He
says that I may gain Christ. He desired something beyond just
a casual knowledge of Christ. It was that very reason that
he had considered everything that he possessed in his humanity
as rubbish, as worthy to be thrown out. And as we saw to throw overboard,
not only Does the Christian gain a saving knowledge of Christ
that Paul sought the righteousness through faith in Christ to be
found fully in him? To be found fully in Christ,
not having a righteousness of his own, but the righteousness
which comes from God on the basis of faith. And the third thing
that the Christian seeks to gain fully, the blessings that are
gained to us or that we gain in our loss. The third thing
was the glorification by association with Christ. And all of those
things we saw were in a unique verbal form in the New Testament
there that said that, in a sense, they were already and not yet
at the same time. We do not possess them in full,
but that’s what made Paul yearn ever more for them. And it’s
in that context that in writing to the Philippian church, Paul
turns just by way of a brief adjustment. It’s still the same
context. He’s still dealing with the Philippians
and with the detractors and with those who would seek to add to
Christ. But Paul turns the subject matter
a little bit in verse 12 when he says not that I have already
obtained it. or have already become perfect.
All of those things that he’s just spoken about, the salvation,
the righteousness in Christ, the glorification with Christ,
all of those things are in view. But Paul says the last thing
that I want to be characterized is complacent, as one who thinks
and acts and feels like he’s already gained it in full and
lives accordingly. Look at verse 12. Not that I
have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I
press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which I
was also laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard
myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do, forgetting
what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I
press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus. We began last week in just noting
that there were not only those that were trying to add the celebration,
the recognition of Jewish rights to Christ’s already accomplished
work on the cross. There were already those Judaizers
that were seeking to add some of the Jewish ritual to Christianity
and to blend it into a kind of a hybrid. Paul had already addressed
those, but there was another group seemingly lurking in the
background. And Paul will address them in
verses 18 and 19, but he alludes to them here. And he alluded
to those so-called perfectionists who really believe that in some
way, shape or form, they had already arrived, that they possessed
some kind of perfect standing before God. Not for Paul. And
Paul uses himself once again to correct this error by saying,
not that I have already obtained it or have become perfect. And
since we are in a bit of a review, I figured we could step back
and take a historical look at what has taken place in the church
with regards to this doctrine. It has plagued the church throughout
the church’s existence for nearly 2000 years. There have been seasons
of recurrence of this idea, this doctrine that we can now in the
here and now as Christians already attain to some kind of perfection. And it’s changed in flavor a
little bit over the years, but the error is always still the
same. Obviously, these things are built
upon a misunderstanding, which in various interpretations of
a number of passages have commended people to this idea of being
able to arrive at some kind of perfection. Jesus’ own words
in Matthew 5, 48, be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect,
set forth the possibility Even the goal, the standard, if you
will, for a Christian and basically people seized upon that and with
a variety of interpretations arrived at the conclusion that
if Jesus commanded it, we must be able to attain to it in this
life. Clement of Alexandria. Clement
of Alexandria was one of the first to really advance this
idea that we should seek perfection in this earthly life and sanctify
even the secular things of our life and elevate everything to
a level of perfection. He believed that that kind of
perfection could be attained through obedience to God and
prayer and keeping the commandments. He absolutely laid claim to the
fact that we must call on the grace of God. But perfection
wasn’t just the standard. Perfection was the goal and perfection
was an attainable goal to Clement’s origin. And some of these men
you’ve heard about in your… These aren’t necessarily heretics. Some of these men you’ve heard
about in context with good things of Christian history. Origen was another one. Origen
believed that we could attain some degree of perfection, and
he believed that knowledge was the key to that. And so he made
knowledge and a rejection of the external world. And so you
had some degree of asceticism that Origen brought into his
Christianity. where if we just set aside the
world and worldly desires and just ate bread and only the meagerest
of preparations and abused our bodies and made our bodies slaves, That
rejection with the external world and all those human emotions
and all of those things origin to thought that with effort assisted
by God’s grace, we could attain some kind of perfection. And
you could probably even hear that that is a precursor for
the next wave that hit the church in monasticism. Monasticism was
essentially the The monks would adhere to some of these things
and advance some of these ideas. One of the most extensive attempts
at achieving some kind of Christian perfection was found with this
group. They advocated solitude in order
to stay away from all sin and sinful influences. Their goal
was spiritual perfection. But they were overwhelmed by
the sense of their own unworthiness, as one said, and by the increasing
worldliness of the church. And so you have this negative
influence, which is always present in the church as being the driving
force for the desire for perfectionism. And in that sense, our own day
is probably ripe for this movement all over again. They renounced
all encumbrances of the world. They took up their cross, prayed
without ceasing, but their monastic communities developed, which
not only sought perfection by resigning from the world, but
also through this asceticism to approach God in some kind
of earthly perfection. Augustine and Pelagius waged
war over this. See, Sunday school does relate
to church and church to Sunday school. Augustine and Pelagian
battled over this. Pelagian thought we were basically
good. And so if we’re basically good
to start with, perfection isn’t that far off on the horizon.
Pelagius merely attributed the moral laxity in the church of
his day to just a blasphemous living, which was really just
blamed on the Christians themselves because he rejected this idea
of original sin. Sin was simply a bad habit that
could be overcome by an act of the will. And if it could be
over, if little sins could be overcome by an act of the will,
then one like another, like a series of dominoes could be tipped to
where one could, in Pelagius’s mind, achieve perfection. There
were others, Aquinas battled this and began, pardon me, rather
began to advance this in his battle with the flesh and with
the battle of worldliness in the Catholic Church and began
to advance these ideas, even among those who should have known
much better. He looked at the series of adhering
to God’s word as a treasury of merits. And that is where the
whole idea of works in the Catholic Church was advanced just tremendously. The reformers, reformers came
along and really stood in the face of this idea. They held
to Augustine’s view that we are sinful, that sin remains in humanity
to death, that spiritual perfection is completely impossible in this
life. And because of that, that was
a core feature of the Reformation era. Flowing out from that, you
had a return to this. As worldliness returned to the
church, the pietists arose. Which were marked by a quest,
a constant desire for personal holiness and an emphasis on devotion
as over against doctrine. As if the two can be divorced,
they stressed personal holiness marked by love and obedience.
And often it resulted in this over-scrupulous legalism that,
just like the Pharisees, pried into the lives of the very members
and drove the church apart. The ones that followed them were
the Quakers. The Quakers held to a doctrine
of real holiness rather than imputed righteousness. And the
Quakers believed that we could be perfect in our obedience. As I said, it’s been a cycle.
It’s been a cycle over 2000 years and you follow them with the
Wesleyans who believe the same thing. If you know anybody who
comes from a Methodist background knows that that is a core feature
of the Methodist and Wesleyan movement. But it’s not a new
thing. It probably still is very prevalent
even in our own day and age in various circles. The idea that
we can be perfect. Not just that we possess the
righteousness of Christ and that in him God sees perfection. God sees Christ, but that we
can actually, through effort, even the application of God’s
grace, we can arrive at some kind of perfection. And it was
plaguing the Philippian church and would destroy it if it ran
its course. And so Paul uses himself, Paul
uses himself to correct the Philippian church. And he said, not that
I have already obtained it or have become perfect. I don’t
succumb and submit to this foolishness. I don’t own some kind of a self-righteous
perfectionism that seeks some kind of adherence to God’s standard
through a series of obedience by God’s grace that leaves me
at a state of perfection. I’m not so naive to think that. Neither am I going to sit back
and wait and twiddle my thumbs and wait for God to change me
and to make me better. That was the opposite error.
Paul’s great desire was to gain Christ, but he sure didn’t think
that he had already laid hold of it or had already become perfect
in some moral or spiritual sense. Paul says, as one stated, that
he had not come to the place in his Christian life where growth
and spiritual maturity had either been completed, beyond which
there was no room for further development, that neither had
he come to the place where he was just willing to sit back
and rest. Paul knew that he had a need
for a greater knowledge of Christ. It’s that for which he prayed
for his churches on a regular basis. Paul knew that he needed
to perfect his own holiness. 2 Corinthians 7. Paul knew that
he had weaknesses. Paul often prayed for the weaknesses
of his fellow churches. Paul knew that perfection was
the direction, but he had not arrived there.
Paul knew that he had struggles against sin and fear. Take you back to Romans 7, just
in your mind’s eye. When Paul wrote these words,
Paul wasn’t just being theoretical. Paul wasn’t looking back, as
it were, over his spiritual shoulder. Paul is digging into the depths
of his heart in Romans 7, and he knows the Christians battle
with sin and with sinfulness and that the battle is not over.
We know that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh sold into bondage. to sin. What I am doing, I do
not understand, for I am practicing what I would like to do. Pardon
me, for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I’m doing
the very thing that I hate. But if I do the very thing I
do not want to do, I agree with the law, confessing that the
law is good. So now no longer am I the one
doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Paul knew it was a battle.
Paul knew it was an ongoing battle and Paul knew that the battle
was not over. We, as Johnstone said, have just
a brief occasion to examine ourselves by the standard which God has
given us in the character of His Son. We find every day abundant
cause to acknowledge great sins. Sometimes, he says, a candid
self-examination almost makes us despondent. What Christian
among us hasn’t had that season? Well, we don’t even feel like
coming to church. We don’t feel like having a quiet time. We
don’t feel like being around other Christians. We almost feel
despondent because of the level of sinfulness and the fact that
we still battle the same things. What Christian doesn’t know that
battle? We are grasping for glory. As we began last week, And we
began to look at those four guiding aspects of the Christian’s race
for heaven. Paul is using the same imagery
that many of us have had privilege to see on TV of these Olympic
Games. That’s the image in Paul’s mind.
Paul wasn’t sitting on the bench. Paul hadn’t finished the course
already basking in glory. Paul was still in the race and
reaching forward and would not quit. And that’s the image that
he wants to put forth. And I said that there were four
guiding aspects of the Christians race toward heaven. We are guided,
first of all, by our efforts corrective. This is where we
began last week, where Paul said, not that I have already obtained
it or have already become perfect. That was the fact of the matter.
That’s the truth. Paul had not arrived and Paul
knew it. Paul knew his theology. He knew
the theology of God and he knew the theology of man. Paul knew. That was the corrective. That’s
what kept him in the race. That’s what kept him pressing
on was the facts of the matter. It was the facts of the matter
that kept him reaching ever forward. But there was a second guiding
aspect of the Christians race, and this is where we left off
last week. We are guided by our efforts corrective. We have to
have effort as Christians. It’s guided by the fact of the
matter that we have not obtained it or become perfect. But the
goal is also in view and the goal is a corrective for the
Christian. What is the goal? I press on,
says Paul, in order that I may lay hold of that. for which I
was also laid hold of by Christ Jesus. I press on. I use strenuous
effort. I put everything in me into this
effort of reaching forward to what lies. It’s a strong word. It’s an exceedingly strong word.
It’s an athletic word. When Paul says in Romans 14,
19, we pursue the things which make for peace, we put everything
we have into it as Christians in the church to maintain peace
and unity and oneness. 1 Corinthians 14, 1, pursue love. Yet, Ernest, he doesn’t say to
leave off love in your pursuit of spiritual gifts. Pursue both. Yearn for both. Stretch for both. As one said, as we saw last week,
the pursuit is not a groping after something undefined, nor
is it prosecuted without any feeling of doubt as to the attainment
of its end, though he had zealously pursued the law. As a son of
Israel, he was now pursuing the righteousness of faith with even
greater zeal. I press on, said Paul. I push. I am in the fight. I am in the battle. I am in this
race and I’m in it to win. I press on, he says, in order
that I may lay hold of that for which I was also laid hold of
by Christ Jesus.” We saw in graphic terms that Paul was laid hold
of on the road to Damascus. Turn to Acts if you would. We
have a few minutes by way of review. And we didn’t go here
last week and merely alluded to it. So let’s go to Acts and
let’s find out what is he talking about when he says, I was laid
hold of by Christ Jesus. Watch how graphic the language
is in the book of Acts. And it continues even in Paul’s
testimonies about that incident through several passages in the
book of Acts. Turn to Acts 9. Let’s take it
at verse 1. Now Saul, still breathing murder
and threats against the disciples of the Lord. And if you read
it that way, you miss it in its entirety. We’re looking for evidence
that Paul was seized by God. and you have your first piece
of evidence right there in that opening line. Now Saul, still
breathing threats and murder against the disciples. This was
no gradual conversion. It wasn’t like Paul was invited
and let’s reason together and let’s dialogue through the Scriptures.
That’s not at all what happened. Paul was in the midst of persecuting
the very church of Christ. Now Saul, still breathing threats
and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high
priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at
Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, both
men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. This
is a man whose heart was not reforming. This isn’t a man who
maybe was having second thoughts about how he was conducting and
living his life. This isn’t a man, you know, kind
of steeped in some kind of subtle grace of God softening his heart. Look at verse three, as he was
traveling, it happened. I mean, this is graphic language.
He was seized by God and everything in this passage tells us so.
As he was traveling, it happened that as he was approaching Damascus,
suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. As I said,
every word of this passage tells us that Paul was seized. And
he fell to the ground. Violent words. And heard a voice
saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he
said, who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up! and enter the city
and it would be told to you what you must do. It didn’t give Paul
options. Jesus didn’t say, would you kindly
rise to your feet? Would you please go to such and
such a city? Would you please wait for directives
from us and heed our requests? That’s not at all what happened.
The men who traveled with him, this is how graphic it was. They
stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Saul
got up from the ground and though his eyes were open, he could
see nothing. And leading him by the hand,
they brought him to Damascus. And he was three days without
sight. This was a traumatic and profound
event in Paul’s life. And because of that, it says
that he neither ate nor drank. It wasn’t a directive by God. He
was absolutely stunned because he’d been seized. He was on the
way to do something else. And all of a sudden, God has
hold of the scruff of his neck. There was a disciple at Damascus
named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, I mean, Ananias,
talk about being seized. Ananias didn’t want any part
of this ministry. He said, Here am I, Lord. And
the Lord said to him, Get up. Go to the street called Straight.
Inquire at the house of Judas for a man named Tarsus, named
Saul, for he’s praying. He has seen a vision. A man named
Ananias. Come in and lay his hands on
him so he might regain his sight. Oh, no problem. Sure, Lord. Here I am. Send me. What was
Ananias’ response? But Ananias answered, verse 13,
Lord, I have heard from many about
this man, about how much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem.
And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all
who call upon him in your name. But the Lord said to him, go.
For he is a chosen instrument of mine, you know, that word,
it speaks of an implement, a weapon, a tool. God grabbed Paul up like
a tool. No more than a tool in God’s
hand. God seized him. He laid hold
of him and Paul knew that and he never forgot. He never forgot
that overwhelming moment. And he never forgot that language,
the sense of the moment. In Acts chapter 26, Paul recounts
that same scene and he recalls that when he said, who are you,
Lord? The Lord said, I am Jesus whom
you’re persecuting. And then he adds this, but get
up, stand on your feet. For this purpose, I have appeared
to you to appoint you as a minister and a witness, not only the things
which you have seen, but also the things which I will appear
to you. God seized hold of Paul and he
put him in the ministry and he had a purpose for him from the
very beginning. And it’s not unlike what he does
with every saint. We didn’t go seeking God. God
seeks us just like that beloved brother in John chapter nine.
It wasn’t enough that he got his eyes. God wanted his heart
and Jesus went after him. It was a seizure. And it left
Paul with that graphic thought in his mind that, you know what,
if God seized me, He seized me for a purpose and I need to put
forth the same or similar or like effort in my desire to lay
hold of that for which God laid hold of me. Christ seized him that he might
seize the prize. The Lord had laid hold of him
with that grasp, that sharp, sudden grasp that we read about.
It wasn’t this process of conversion. It wasn’t this prolonged, gentle
thing where Paul was argued into heaven. It wasn’t, as one said,
a daily ripening of his views and opinions. That’s what some
people actually in their arrogance think. That’s how they got into
heaven. They just slowly, basically reformed themselves in their
thinking and their understanding of who God was. I sought him.
It’s not the case at all. So what was it that God laid
hold of Paul for? Paul says, I press on in order
that I may lay hold of that for which I was also laid hold of
by Christ Jesus. What was it? And I’ll tell you, in short,
it was Christ likeness. Godliness. It was perfection,
but it’s the process thereof that Paul is after. He’s not
thinking that he’s going to arrive any time soon, at least. He wrote
in similar thoughts to the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 2 13. Paul said to those saints, he
said, we should always give thanks to God for you. Brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning.
for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the
truth.” It was Christ-likeness for which they were laid hold
of by Christ. Ephesians 2.8-9 often quoted. You know, we always stop at 9.
We’re always reticent to add that 10th verse. But Ephesians
2.8-10 is what Captures that great thought of the apostle. By grace, you have been saved
through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of
God, not as a result of works that no one should boast, for
we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. It was for Christ’s likeness
that Paul was saved. It’s for Christ’s likeness that
any person is saved. That is the goal. That is the
end. That is the desire. And Paul
wasn’t there yet. And because the goal was out
there on the horizon, Paul kept pressing on and would not stop. There’s a fourth corrective. Pardon me, there’s a third ahead
of myself. We’re grasping for glory and
we’re looking at four guiding aspects of the Christians race
for heaven. We’ve seen that we’re guided by our efforts corrective,
we’re guided by our efforts goal and we are guided by our efforts
mindset and it’s similar, but totally different than what we
saw earlier in this verse. When Paul says in verse 13, brethren,
I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet. It is an
echo of what was already stated. It’s a reiteration and even he
accentuates upon what was said, but it’s different. In verse
12, he states the facts of the matter. The facts of the matter,
not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect.
Those are facts that are laid out for me by God Himself. God’s
Word dishes out the data and builds the case that we have
not arrived, nor will we arrive in this earthly life. We have
not become perfect. Paul knew that those were the
facts of the case. But that’s not what he says here. What he says here is I don’t
regard myself as having made hold of it yet, and that’s very
different. The word here, is a beautiful
Greek word, logizomai, to reason with the mind, to count, and
I’m not talking about numbers, but to count with regards to
reckoning, to count it all joy, to reckon, to judge, to take
those facts, put them into our mind and churn out a logical
conclusion. It’s used 33 times in Paul’s
epistles. Three times only in the Gospels,
one time in Acts, one time in James, one time in Peter. For
those of you of the Flat Earth Society who think that Paul wrote
Hebrews, you can add one more. This word, logizimai, it has
the sense of the conclusion of the mental process. It’s not
just the mental process, but it’s the conclusion of the mental
process. It’s the result of mulling over
the facts of the matter. You know, in our day and age,
noothetic counseling has become a big deal, right? Noothetic
counseling is just tithami, placing into the mind good things. And as I told you at the start
of the book of Philippians, phroneo, another Greek word, is a key
word in the book of Philippians. Because Paul was concerned with
the thinking of the Philippian church. And Paul knew that if
he could only adjust their thinking, if he could put these things,
tithani, into the mind of the Philippians, their nous, he would
change their behavior. Paul just models it. That’s all
Paul does here is just model it. He says, look, I know the
facts of the matter because I stated them up front in verse 12. But
you know what? After mulling it over, after
thinking it through, I do not regard myself, logizomai, I do
not consider or reckon myself as having laid hold of it. Yet
it affected my thinking. It changed my thinking. It has
to change my thinking, and God’s Word must do that if it’s going
to be effective at all. I, as opposed to those antinomians
in your midst, do not regard myself as having laid hold of
it yet. That’s Paul’s simple conclusion. It has the force, really, of
looking back on this process of a discussion and calmly drawing
a conclusion. And Paul said, you know what?
When I’ve looked at the facts of the matter, not the least of which
is the fact of his own life, I’ve concluded that I do not
regard myself as having laid hold of it yet. But one thing
I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what
lies ahead, I press on. Now, I’ve heard more sermons
than I care to on this one little phrase, forgetting what lies
behind, because most often In fact, I think 95 percent of the
time, if I’ve heard 100 sermons on it, 95 percent of the time,
what most people use this little phrase to do is to is to call
us away from mulling over all those sinful deeds. But if you
consider the context, Paul isn’t talking about his sinful life.
He’s not talking about, you know, being stuck and stopped up because
of the sinful life in his past that he kept replaying in his
head. In the context, if you remember,
he had just laid out all of his earthly virtues. His calling
and his heritage and all of his celebration of all those Jewish
rights. He’s talking about all of his
accomplishments. You know what Paul does? He takes
us to his trophy case. He says, you see all this? I
don’t even think about it anymore. It means nothing to me. But it could. It could include
that sinful past. It’s certainly possible that
as heinous as it was in Paul’s heart and mind, he knew well,
he remembered the facts. He hated the fact that he had
persecuted the church. And because of that, he didn’t
even feel like he was worthy to be called an apostle. It’s
not like he forgot it. But I just don’t think that that’s
the part that’s in view, but it’s possible. What really is
in view, in my opinion, is the successes, the great things that
he had already accomplished for Christ. He says, you know what? If I rest on my laurels, if I
pause for a minute to think about those things, that’s a minute
that’s taking out of a pursuit. And I’m in the race and I’m in
it to win. Most of them, most commentators
looked at this as the part of the Christian course that Paul
had already run. Christian course. These are all
those things that Paul had already accomplished by God’s grace.
Paul wasn’t ashamed. Even in his Christian life, Paul,
it’s not like Paul forgot and wanted to forget everything that
he’d been through because he brings it up on a regular basis. Turn with me. We have a minute.
We have ten. Turn to 1 Corinthians 4. It’s
not that Paul never thought about the past. You know, he passed
by the trophy case every day. He saw people whom, by God’s
grace, he had been allowed to be part of leading to Christ. He preached. He saw great churches
established. It’s not like he could avoid
the image of the trophy case. But he said, you know what? The
race isn’t done. I’m not going to rest because
God allowed me to plant the Philippian church. I’m not going to rest
because I’ve ministered to the Corinthians, the Thessalonians,
the Colossians, because who knows what else is out there to accomplish
by God’s grace? He didn’t ignore his past, look
at 1st Corinthians 4, look at verse 11. To this present hour,
we’re both hungry and thirsty. We’re poorly clothed, roughly
treated. We’re homeless. We toil, working with our own
hands when we are reviled. In other words, he says, we have
been. When we are reviled, we bless. When we’re persecuted,
we endure. When we are slandered, we try to conciliate. We have
become, as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things until
now. It’s not like Paul is forgetting all that. Paul’s living it. Turn to 2 Corinthians. verse
11 or chapter 11, 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul lays out this,
you know, these are his momentary light afflictions. And it will make us blush when
we consider what Paul considered momentary light afflictions.
Are they servants of Christ? Verse 23, I speak as if in saying
I far more so in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten
times without number, often in dangers of death. You know what
he’s doing? He starts at the top shelf of the trophy case.
He says, here’s this and this and this. And I won this. And
here’s the ribbon for that. And here’s the great big trophies
for this. It’s not like he can forget about it. It’s not like
he’s telling us to. Five times I received from the
Jews 39 lashes. Look at that one. Three times
I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times
I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I’ve spent in the deep.
I’ve been on frequent journeys in dangers from rivers, dangers
from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the
Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers
on the sea, dangers among false brethren. I’ve been in labor
and hardship, many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst,
often without food and cold and exposure.” And he’s not even
done. He hasn’t even gotten to the
scrapbook yet. You know, there’s all kinds of other things. But
Paul, he’s not saying that he totally forgets about it because
it’s obvious that he couldn’t. What he says is he doesn’t use
the memory of what God had already done in him to encourage himself
in some kind of self-satisfaction where he could relax and kick
back, put on the Greek laurel, as it were, and wait for Jesus
to come back. Paul said, no way. I can’t do
that. All those things that Christ,
by his goodness and grace, has allowed me to be part of and
to contribute to the kingdom of God, I just don’t want to
rest on those. There’s more to accomplish. It’s not that he doesn’t remember
them, it’s not that he doesn’t know about them anymore, but
his mind isn’t fixed there. It doesn’t look back on those
in such a way that they’re going to impede or prevent some further
progress. And for us, you know, sometimes
we get this idea, well, I taught Sunday school once, you know,
and I can remember somebody that wanted us to give out an award
after somebody had taught Sunday school for a year. Paul wasn’t about to be sidelined
by this unnecessary elation, either from whatever labors he’d
been given or his honors or his sufferings or the successes that
God had given to him or whatever history he had or the prospects
or God’s grace that he daily enjoyed or the spiritual gifts
that were given to him by God. The reason is because Paul didn’t
look back over his shoulder to the past, but he was looking
to the future. Not at what had already been and been already
accomplished, but what was still to be accomplished. As one said
it, satisfaction is fatal to progress. If we’re content to
rest on our laurels, To count those great things that God has
already allowed us to accomplish. We’re never going to accomplish
another thing. Not only that, not only does
he say forgetting what lies behind, but reaching forward to what
lies ahead. And there’s the flip side. And it’s a graphic word,
as we’ve seen from the start. It’s a word from the foot race
of the Greek games. where the body of the racer was
bent forward, straining to reach the tape, his hand is outstretched
and his eyes fastened on the goal of the finish line. The
verb is extremely graphic and it pictures the runner straining
every nerve and every muscle as he runs with all of his might
towards the finish line. And, you know, sometimes we read
this and we don’t we don’t even have an earthly idea in our Comfortable
American living room. When we read that, I press on. I press on. I dare say we have no idea the
extent and the graphic nature to which that was true for Paul. Paul gave everything that was
in him to the advance of that great
goal of knowing Christ and laying hold of Christ and being like
Christ. Paul said, I put everything that’s
in me. One said it this way, the apostles did not detain himself
with things that were behind, nor did he linger among things
around about him, but he stretched forward to things which he had
not yet reached. Progress was made by him and
that progress is still the law of the Christian life. Never
satisfied, still a sense of want, never saying enough, but crying
still more. Forward, yet forward and nearer
and yet nearer the mark. That is the Christian life. Let’s pray. A merciful King, we desire to know You. We long
to be with You. We desire that You would do Your
work in us and that You would change us and make us more and
more conformed to You and to Your image. Lord,
we desire that You would do this work in us and rather As Paul,
looking back at our list of accomplishments, Lord, we see how far, how very
far we have to go. Lord, we’re not even in the stadium.
We can’t even see the finish line. Sometimes, as one said,
we’re so distraught by what we see in our lives, we don’t even
know if we’re in the race. Lord God, for those who doubt
and wonder, There is a Savior. The Savior is the Lord Jesus
and He’s paid it all. And just coming to Christ and
coming to faith puts us in the race. But it’s a marathon. It’s a long and lengthy race.
It’s one that will not be concluded in this lifetime. And so for
us, it’s one step after the other. Looking to you for the grace
to put one foot down. And to grow in grace and to set
aside the things that encumber us and weigh us down. And to ever desire to take the
next step. God grant us that grace. For
your glory. It’s in Christ’s name that we
pray. Amen. Okay.