The Christian Pursuit (Philippians 3:12-16)
The Christian Pursuit
Philippians 3:12-16
January 5, 2014
Well I know it’s been close to a month since we’ve been in our Sunday night study of Philippians – (the holiday season can wreak havoc on a book study)
But tonight we want to get back in the flow and study of this letter
Paul wrote to the church in Philippi.
• You will remember that the Philippian church was in Europe.
• Paul planted this church on his 2nd missionary journey.
(remember Lydia and the place of prayer outside the city)
• They were a good and faithful church.
• They were poor, yet faithfully contributed to Paul’s needs
• They were also a persecuted church.
• And Paul wrote them this letter from prison encouraging them in regard to their attitude in the midst of suffering.
The first two chapters spoke a great deal to their attitude in suffering.
• Find a reason to rejoice
• Find a reason to endure
• Find someone to encourage
Then we heard Paul’s request that they be selfless
• Consider one another as more important than yourselves
• Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit
• Look out for the personal interests of others
• Be like Jesus
• Do all things without grumbling
• Follow the example of men like Epaphroditus
And that is how the letter began.
Then most recently we entered chapter 3
In which Paul identifies a concern for the Philippian church.
They were encountering false teachers.
Paul was very direct in verse 2 when he wrote, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.”
There was a group of people who were threatening
To lead the Philippians away from their pursuit of Christ.
These men put all their emphasis on their works of the flesh.
They boasted in their religious accomplishments.
And they trusted in their own religious resume.
And Paul knew that following their example would ruin the Philippians.
So he wrote to warn the Philippians
And expose the fallacy of this new influence.
(3) “for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,”
You remember that Paul taught us how to distinguish
Between a true believer and a false one.
• The Sincerity of their commitment (“true circumcision”)
• The Substance of their worship (“worship in the Spirit of God”)
• The Subject of their glory (“glory in Christ Jesus”)
• The Source of their confidence (“put no confidence in the flesh”)
And then he gave his example in this regard.
Paul was one who used to be one of the dogs.
Paul used to be one who put much confidence in the flesh.
And if anybody ever had reason to do so, it was certainly Paul.
(5-6) “circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.”
Paul understood the draw to earthly accomplishment.
Paul understood how attractive it was to achieve a great resume.
However Paul learned none of those things were as valuable as Jesus.
So from there we studied Paul’s auto-biography.
(7-11) “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul laid out for the Philippians how,
Even though he had achieved great religious success,
He willingly lost all those things.
And he gave three reasons why:
• The Value of Knowing Him (8)
• The Virtue of Trusting Him (9)
• The Victory of Following Him (10-11)
And so Paul taught the Philippians not to follow those false believers, those dogs, who put all their confidence in the flesh.
The flesh profits nothing.
If the Philippians want to pursue something, let it be Christ.
And that is where we left off a few weeks ago.
Tonight we pick up right where we left off
And move forward in this great chapter.
Last time we saw:
• Paul’s Religious Past
• Paul’s Relentless Passion
Let’s add two more to that list tonight.
#1 PAUL’S RIGHTEOUS PURSUIT
Philippians 3:12-14
Paul just revealed to the Philippians that
He would willingly lose everything in order to gain Christ.
In fact all of his earthly achievements were “rubbish” to him
If he could gain Christ.
• In Christ he got righteousness
• In Christ he got fellowship
• In Christ he got resurrection
Paul wanted to gain Christ and to be completely like Him.
That was the goal.
But here we find Paul admitting that he is not there yet.
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect,”
Paul greatly desired to be like Jesus,
But he in no way wanted the Philippians to think
That he had somehow already attained it.
We know better.
We’ve all read Romans 7
Romans 7:18-19 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”
Paul had the desire for perfection, but he had yet to achieve it.
Even here in verse 13 he said, “Brethren, I do not regard myself has having laid hold of it yet;”
So Paul was not claiming perfection.
Paul was not telling the Philippians to copy his character.
What Paul was telling the Philippians to do is to copy his desire.
Paul wasn’t righteous, but he was striving for it.
(12) “but I press on”
(13) “reaching forward to what lies ahead”
(14) “I press on”
It wasn’t Paul’s perfection they should copy,
It was Paul’s righteous pursuit of righteousness they should copy.
And as we look at these three verses a little more closely,
Let me give you three reasons for Paul’s righteous pursuit.
1) HE WAS DRIVEN BY DISCERNMENT (12)
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”
In that verse Paul’s honest discernment really comes to the forefront.
There were two things there that Paul was sure of.
• One is that Christ Jesus laid hold of him for a specific purpose.
• The other is that Paul had not yet achieved that purpose.
On one hand he knew Christ’s desire for his life.
On the other hand he knew he wasn’t there yet.
Those two realities proved to be a driving force in Paul’s life.
Paul said that he wanted to “lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”
That phrase alone is astounding.
• Paul didn’t go seeking Jesus
• Paul didn’t capture Jesus with a plan in mind
• Paul didn’t “lay hold” of Jesus.
• Jesus did that to Paul.
• It was Jesus who confronted Paul
• It was Jesus who “laid hold” of him.
Paul didn’t go to Jesus with a plan in mind,
Jesus went to Paul with a plan in mind.
What was that plan?
Some would say so Paul could be a messenger to Gentiles (and that is true), but even simpler than that.
Jesus laid hold of Paul for the same reason he lays hold of each of us.
That He might make Paul righteous.
We know what Christ seeks to do with every single follower.
John 13:8 “Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
It is righteousness Christ desires.
And this is in perfect harmony with the eternal desire of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:3a “For this is the will of God, your sanctification;”
Ephesians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”
Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Christ may in fact have a specific ministry calling on a life,
But his universal calling for all believers is that
They be righteous like He is righteous.
Christ saved us so that we could escape sin and be righteous like Him.
This is why Christ laid hold of Paul.
This is why Christ laid hold of you.
That is the goal; that is the aim.
And it is part of being discerning that you recognize that.
• The goal of Christ is not to make you happy
• The goal of Christ is not to make you healthy
• The goal of Christ is to make you holy
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
Christ wants you holy; that is why He “laid hold” of you.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE THAT?
So did Paul.
BUT HE ALSO RECOGNIZED THAT HE WASN’T THERE YET.
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect”
Paul knew what the goal was, but he also knew he hadn’t yet reached it.
He was under no delusion about his personal righteousness.
So if Christ wanted him holy and he wasn’t there yet, what was left, but to pursue holiness?
“but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”
So Paul was driven by discernment.
The understanding that Christ wanted him holy,
And he wasn’t there yet.
Let me give you another reason for Paul’s righteous pursuit.
2) HE WAS DRIVEN BY DISCONTENMENT (13)
“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,”
We talk a lot about contentment for the Christian.
We are to be content in our circumstances and content with our resources.
But we are never to be content in our pursuit of holiness.
Paul certainly wasn’t.
How could he be?
He had not “laid hold of it yet;”
You can’t be content with something that you don’t yet have.
And that is a problem with many believers today.
They are not yet righteous, they are not yet holy,
But somehow they have managed to be ok with that.
What that is, is being content with unrighteousness.
That is just being satisfied with being less than Jesus intended.
And that was not Paul.
He was not content until he was all that Jesus intended.
And notice his statement:
“forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,”
In no way was Paul willing to sit down
And rest on all that he had accomplished.
There was no room for spiritual retirement in Paul’s pursuit.
• “I’ve done my time”
• “I’ve done enough”
• “Look at all I’ve accomplished”
Where not phrases Paul ever entertained.
He never looked back over his life and figured that was enough.
He purposely forgot his past accomplishments and pushed forward.
Two churches come to mind here.
Remember Sardis?
Revelation 3:1-2 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.”
They were the church that was resting on its past accomplishments.
They were not finished, but they were content.
Or remember Philadelphia?
Revelation 3:11 “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Unlike Sardis, Philadelphia had been faithful.
They had remained steadfast and kept pushing forward.
In fact Jesus told them that they had already passed their test.
However, their race was not quite over.
They had no more hurdles, but they still had to finish.
Jesus command, was “Don’t quit now”
And both of those churches make for a good encouragement to us.
It really doesn’t matter where you’re at on the track,
You still aren’t finished with the race.
• You may be very early on, and have a lot of work to do and hurdles to jump.
• You may be nearing the end, and have completed most of your task.
But either way, you are not yet finished.
Don’t stop now.
Don’t be content with where you are, you haven’t laid hold of it yet.
You can quit and sit down when your race is finished.
Acts 20:24 “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
So you see why Paul had such a righteous pursuit.
He was driven by discernment – He was driven by discontentment
3) HE WAS DRIVEN BY DESIRE (14)
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
No Paul had not achieved it yet
And no that wasn’t ok with him
BUT WHY WAS PAUL SO EAGER TO FINISH THIS RACE?
“I press on toward the goal FOR THE PRIZE of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul ran
Paul endured
For the same reason that runners in a race do today – they want the prize.
Now I know today there is a lot of recreational running that goes on,
Where people just run because they convince themselves they enjoy it.
But listen:
The Christian race is not a recreational run.
There is a goal to reach, there is a prize to claim.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
Paul was running “for the prize”
And you may remember that statement he made at the end of his life:
2 Timothy 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
• That is why Paul wouldn’t quit running
• That is why Paul wouldn’t quit pursuing
PAUL WANTED THE PRIZE
James Merit said:
“It doesn’t matter what this world thinks about your ministry. It doesn’t matter what the politically correct, the intellectually elite or the financially powerful think about your ministry, or what the deacon with the spiritual gift of criticism thinks about your ministry. It doesn’t matter if anyone else is standing and clapping when you hit the finish line as long as Jesus is! I want the crown, but the greatest privilege of my existence will be to cast that crown at the feet of Jesus on bended knee and proclaim Him as my Lord.”
That is what Paul was talking about.
I could quit now, but then I’d get no prize.
And that was the reason for Paul’s righteous pursuit.
• He hadn’t achieved what Jesus wanted for Him
• He wasn’t ok with less than what Jesus wanted
• He wanted the prize
And because of that he pushed forward
He reached forward
• He wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.
• He wanted the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.
And he was pursuing it with everything he had.
So we’ve seen Paul’s religious past, Paul’s relentless passion, Paul’s righteous pursuit
#2 PAUL’S RESOLUTE PLEA
Philippians 3:15-16
Paul has shown the Philippians what makes him tick,
Now it is time for the exhortation.
“Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude;”
It’s hard to fully know what Paul meant by “as many as are perfect”
It could either be:
• That he was talking to true believers who have been made righteous
positionally.
• That he was speaking sarcastically point out that everyone needed this.
Either way works, and either way still pushes to the same end.
And Paul said to those people, “have this attitude”
Now if you are keeping score, this is the second time Paul has specifically addressed the Philippians in regard to their attitude.
Philippians 2:5 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,”
And the 2nd is here.
The first time taught us to treat our life as unimportant (as Jesus did), this time Paul teaches us to pursue the life that is.
When you put them together it is that
Every believer needs the attitude to let go of their own personal interests and pursue Christ-likeness.
Paul wants the Philippian church (and all believers who have yet to achieve perfection) to have sell out to achieve it, as he did.
He wants us to imitate his passion and pursuit of holiness.
And then he says:
“and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;”
In other words, if you don’t want to listen to me,
Then listen to God, He’s saying the same thing.
It is God who chose you and is conforming you into the image of His Son.
It is God who said “Be holy as I am holy”
So if you don’t want to listen to me, then listen to him.
But either way I want you to pursue
The righteousness Christ intends for you.
(16) “however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”
That “same standard” is Christ.
He has always been the standard
He will always be the standard
And Paul says, all I want for you is to keep pursuing to be like Christ.
And this was the main issue of the chapter.
See those dogs, those evil workers, those false circumcision
Had approached the Philippians and were trying to shift their focus.
For those men the goal wasn’t to be like Christ.
Their goal was to be like each other and to boast in their works.
They took the focus off of being like Jesus and put it on being religious.
And Paul wrote this chapter to make sure that
The Philippians did not fall into that trap
And lose sight of what has always been the main Christian pursuit.
Be holy, Be perfect, Be righteous.
This was Paul’s concern for the Philippians (and everyone else)
2 Corinthians 11:1-2 “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”
It was always holiness.
And it is the same for your life and mine.
• We are not called to be religious
• We are not called to be patriotic
• We are not called to be Baptist or American or whatever
We are called to be holy and our pattern is Jesus.
Christ has called us to follow Him
God is working to mold us into His image
And Paul says this should be the pursuit of your life.
• Don’t lose sight of Christ
• Don’t minimize the importance of Christ-likeness
• Don’t start trusting in the works of the flesh
• Don’t live for worldly commendations
• Forget what you’ve done
• Push for what Christ desire
• Drive for it, reach for it, run for it, and don’t stop until it is achieved.
The Christian Passion is to know Christ
The Christian Pursuit is to be like Him
