Press On, Lay Hold, Forget, Reach Forward

10-8-23

Hoonah-Hadley

Philippians 3:4-14

Call to Worship Psalm 80:7-15

Daily Verse Philippians 3:12-14

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethen, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

When Malcolm said ring the bell the way it ought to be rung, the apostle Paul does that here.These are some of the most tried and tested, trusted, steadfast, solid, unshakeable, encouraging words known to man.You may have heard it said, “Don’t give advice, a fool won’t heed it and a wise man doesn’t need it.”This is not advice, but wise counsel sent from above. There is a prize attached to it, to the “upward” call of God in Christ Jesus. We live in a world that has always had light and darkness, good and evil, right and wrong, joy and concerns, heaven and hell, discouragement and encouragement, a downward spiral and an upward call.Herein, the prize of the upward call.If you are in the hearing or reading of this word, you are in the grip of the Almighty.Jesus Christ, God’s Son is laying hold of you.There are 3 sub-titles in the NKJV New Geneva Study Bible for chapter 3: “All For Christ”, “Pressing Toward the Goal” and “Our Citizenship in Heaven”.In vs. 1 Paul says, “rejoice in the Lord”, and then in vs. 3 he says “rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”He says, if you want to talk confidence in the flesh, I’m all that, “I more so.”He’s not boasting, he’s saying, have none of that.

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Many commentaries and sermons on these verses use the analogies of sports, races, athletics, and that’s ok, it’s not a bad thing to participate in such things or have some level of fitness, but you don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to rejoice in the Lord or “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ”The medal or trophy the athlete wins is temporary, the prize Paul speaks of here is heavenward, eternal. In vs’s 4-6 Paul is saying ‘I’ve been there, done that.’ Essentially, he was in the game, on the field but playing for a loosing cause. You’ve heard the saying, “I spent the first 30 or so years of my life serving the devil, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life making him pay for it.” “Concerning zeal, persecuting the church…” . Here we are 2000 years later, little has changed concerning the flesh, the church, and persecution. Vs. 7 “But what things were gain to me, these I counted loss for Christ.”This is all encompassing, there is only one apostle Paul, “concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”You want to talk about being dedicated to the “letter” of the law, this was it, Paul was the king of it. Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” We can ask ourselves here, what we consider “gain” in our lives. We can only suggest that if you are flat broke but have Christ, you are rich, and likewise, if you are rich, but Christless, you are poor. Surely our God who is the God of abundance and prosperity wishes neither of these upon us. Vs. 8 is the exclamation mark concerning the matter. “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.”Not only does he consider everything a loss, for Christ’s sake, he has lost “all things”. You don’t have to sell the truck, but you might consider it’s standing in your life.

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Galatians 6:8 tells it like it is. “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature, will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (NIV) Whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap. The KJV and NKJV use the term “flesh” here and Paul recognizes and considers “everything” and “all things” a loss compared to knowing Christ. Paul, a persecutor of the church, an accessory to murder, saved by grace, considers everything a loss? We can only pray that God will bring us to this place in our lives get on board with Paul that “all things” might be lost for Christ’s sake. Phil. 3:8 concludes “I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ.” This, an extraordinary notion for us to “consider”. Remember, he who sows to the flesh will reap destruction. Paul is leading us to salvation here, saving us from destruction. Vs. 9, and this through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, not through the law. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith and heaven are inseparable, we’ll not attain the later without the former. Unless we have the faith of a child, we will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. You either believe or you do not. Set the “rubbish” at the curb on garbage night. Vs. 10 “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection…” Write this on the tablet of your heart, put it on your steering wheel, on your mirror, over your door, on your wall, meditate on it until you know Him and the power of His resurrection. It is a power available to all, less we take another breath without it and remain powerless in things above. Vs. 12 “Not that I have already attained…” Confession, I did this and am going there, but right now, in the present, I don’t have it all together. The closer we get to death the more honest we become. Humility.

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Vs. 13, “I count not myself to have apprehended. ”We love to talk about where we’ve been and where we’re going. We’ve done great things and have big plans for the future, but right here, right now my life is a mess. We are master’s of disguise. It is blatantly obvious with the cloths we wear, physically, makeup, jewelry, hairdos, but not so apparent with our spirit. We want to control everything and everybody, even our dogs. We spend a lot of time, energy and money protecting our image, or should we say, creating an image that quite frankly is about as far from the truth as you can get. Rev. 3:17 “…and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. ”Rev. 16:15 “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garment, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed. ”I count not myself to have apprehended. I don’t have it all figured out. I don’t have it all together, never did. Here, let me hold my wound while I help you heal from your scars. This tasteless life of mine is filled with indulgences to cover up its emptiness. What I have built to protect and insulate myself has imprisoned me.“…but I press on…” Progress. Lean into it, get up, believe, move forward in a positive direction, pray, stand. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” Don’t sit there, don’t stay there, don’t leave the way you came. Take a closer walk with Thee.“…to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ”Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord has hold of us. We are in the grip of the Almighty. We are His and He is ours. Live in light of His love for you, His mercy, His grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, justice, comfort, purpose and plan for your life. For Christ’s sake, take hold of He who has a hold on you. Vs. 13 continues, “…but one thing I do…”If there was ever just one thing we did, we’d do well to make it this.

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“Forgetting those things which are behind…” There is a story about 2 brothers, one very successful according to the world’s standards. Nice home, cars, businesses, money, all the strappings as they say. The other lives in a bar, his life has been rift with addiction, shame and brokenness. In a conversation with the former, he said, “every time I have a conversation with my brother, he is going backwards. I’m a forward thinker, how can we do it better, make corrections.” In another conversation with a dear friend who happens to be an attorney, I asked his counsel on a business deal that went south. I’ll never forget his response, “It’s better to take one on the chin and move forward. Redouble your efforts in a positive direction.” I listened to him, applied that wisdom and I will tell you, it beats being stuck in the mud. You get stuck in the mud, get a shovel and start digging. Vs. 14 “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” We set goals in life, have lofty ideas, we want to save the world, but as the preacher said after the service to the young man, “One life at a time.” In football there is a “goal” line, and if you don’t cross it, you don’t score. Herein the apostle sets a goal before us, it is the “prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” There is a prize, one we’ve got to look up for, we recognize when we hear the call. Yea, we’ve made a mess of things in the past, we confess our weaknesses but forget about that, lean into it, answer the call on your life, take hold of that which Christ Jesus has taken a hold of you. It is the greatest thing you will ever do, it is the best thing, and at the end of the day, the only thing that will matter.

Press On, Lay Hold, Forget, Reach Forward. Amen!