PHILIPPIANS 3:12-16 KEEP MOVING FORWARD2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Philippians 3:12-16 Keep Moving Forward

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Amen. As we spend some time together here in Philippians chapter 3 this morning, I've titled the message, Keep Moving Forward. Keep Moving Forward. This is essentially what the Apostle Paul is saying that he himself does here in Philippians chapter 3.

He spends the first part of the chapter talking about his past and how he has let those things go. And now as we head into verses 12 through 16, he describes this pursuit, this chasing after, this moving forward in his relationship with God. And so we're going to be looking at the Apostle Paul. And as he uses himself as an example, he's challenging us and encouraging us to

to follow suit, to keep moving forward in our relationship with God. And so we're going to look at three things to help us do that, to help us keep taking steps forward, to making progress in a relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. The first thing to consider this morning is found in verse 12, and that is find God's will for you.

I want to encourage you this morning to find God's will for you. Looking again at verse 12, it says, There's a few things that we could consider here in this verse, but first just looking at that last part of the verse.

Paul here is describing the intention to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. And so you get this picture here. Jesus has grasped hold of the Apostle Paul. And Paul says, I want to grasp hold of Jesus for which he has grasped hold of me. Now you can think about the idea of why did Jesus lay hold of the Apostle Paul? And sometimes perhaps in our minds, we would immediately think that

Jesus grabbed hold of the Apostle Paul because, well, he knew how powerful he would become as a minister of the gospel, how Paul was used to write much of the New Testament, how he was used to plant churches all throughout the region, all throughout the known world of the time, the Roman Empire. You might be able to think about, you know, Jesus grasping hold of the Apostle Paul in order to accomplish so many things on behalf of the Lord.

Or you might think of it more that the Lord Jesus grabbed hold of Paul because like with each one of us, God desires relationship with us. And so he grabbed hold of the Apostle Paul in order to enable the Apostle Paul to have relationship with him and the Father because of the forgiveness of sins. And so you could look at these things or maybe throw in another couple options there. Why did Jesus grab hold of Paul?

But I think the summary of that is it was for God's will. Paul is saying here, I'm trying to lay hold of God's will for the purpose that he grabbed hold of me. That's what I want. Whatever his will is, whatever his purpose is, whatever it is that he is desiring, I am

pressing forward to grasp hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. And that includes ministry. It includes all of those things that the Apostle Paul did, but it also includes relationship with God, and it includes anything else that God has in store for him. Commentator F.B. Meyer puts it this way, Our Savior had a distinct purpose in view when he apprehended us. Its full scope was only known to him.

Let us strive that we may not fail to realize His ideal. There is a purpose that God has in your life. Probably not just one single purpose, one simple little thing, but a lifetime of purpose, a lifetime of activity, a lifetime of relationship, a lifetime of conversations, a lifetime of ministry.

God has a purpose for your life, just as he had a purpose for the life of the Apostle Paul. And so Paul says, look, my Savior had a purpose in view. He has something in mind. That's why he saved me. That's why he grasps hold of me. And so I'm doing my best to grasp hold of that purpose, to fulfill that thing for which he has called me to.

In some ways, perhaps you could think about the will of God as a moving target. It's not a simple, you know, here's one line to like resolve the will of God in your life for all of your life. But the will of God for your life changes and flows according to your life and along with you. That is something we will be always shooting for, always working towards, always seeking to, as I often describe it, staying in the center of God's will.

For me, in my mind, that picture is the Old Testament nation of Israel as they were out in the wilderness. And there it tells us that God led the children of Israel with a cloud over them by the day. And at night, that cloud would turn into a fire.

And so they would have this, you know, very real presence of God. And their objective was to stay with God. When the cloud would move, then the people would move. When the fire would move, then the people would move. When the cloud would stay, then the people would stay. They would stay right where God was, right where God wanted them to be. And so this morning, when I say find God's will for you, that's a good picture of what I think that we need to be working towards.

It's a good picture of what Paul is describing here. Jesus has laid hold of me. He has a purpose in mind. He has some things to accomplish. He has some works to do. He has some conversations to accomplish between me and him and between me and others. And so I'm pressing on to accomplish that. Paul says at the beginning of verse 12, not that I have already attained or am already perfected.

you kind of have to start. If you're going to be finding God's will for you, you have to start with the understanding, I have not attained. Many times we look up to the Apostle Paul because, of course, he is the Apostle Paul, right? He was inspired by God to a great degree. He ministered greatly. And so much of what we study is written by the Apostle Paul here in the New Testament. It ministers to us greatly.

And this man of God who knew God in such a great capacity is still declaring towards the end of his life, I have not attained. I am not already perfected. Not the idea of perfect in the sense of sinlessness, but perfect in the scriptures usually speaks of completeness. The work's not done is what Paul is saying. I'm not finished. God's not finished with me,

But at the same time, God's not finished in me. There is still more progress to make in seeking out God and his will. And so this is the mindset of Paul, a good encouragement for us, a good pattern for us to follow. I've not attained. I have not yet been perfected or completed. But instead, he says, I press on. This word to press on means,

It can speak to the idea of a hunt. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, I press carries the idea of intense endeavor. The Greeks used it to describe a hunter eagerly pursuing his prey. You get the hunter who has his eyes set and he's fixed and he's chasing after, he's putting himself in pursuit in order to catch the prey. That's the idea here that Paul is saying, I press on, I'm a hunter. I'm a hunter.

And I'm seeking to find the will of God. I have my eyes fixed on it. I'm chasing after it. I'm not going to give up until I find the will of God and I lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. I want to lay hold of that which Jesus intends to accomplish in me and through me.

Now, one thing that's interesting to consider about this is the Apostle Paul at this time is in prison. He writes the letter of Philippi or the letter of Philippians to the church of Philippi, but he's in prison in Rome at this time. If you're thinking about the New Testament context, this is Acts chapter 28, where Paul is taken from Jerusalem to Rome. He's waiting to stand before Caesar to give his defense.

and he's in custody there in Rome for a couple years. By the time Paul gets to Rome, he's already been in Roman custody for four years. It's at the end of his third missionary journey. He's arrested in Jerusalem. But there's some time that passes. It takes a while because the Romans don't really know what to charge him with, even though he was taken into custody really to save his life. The Jews wanted him killed,

And so Paul appealed to Caesar as a means of preserving his life, but also most likely by inspiration of the Lord because the Lord told him he would testify of the Lord in Rome. And so he's been in custody for four years. He gets to Rome. He's in custody for another year or two before he actually appears before Caesar. And it's from that context. He's been in prison for four years. In that context, he says,

I am not already perfected. I haven't attained. I'm pressing on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. And I think that's really interesting to consider because Paul here is not talking about, I need to plant more churches. And so I'm just planting churches, planting churches, planting churches, trying to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. He's describing this active pursuit of the will of God in his life, this active pursuit of God

the fullness of his relationship with God, but he's not talking about doing more stuff because he can't. He's imprisoned. He's chained to a Roman guard. And even there in that context, being in prison for four years, Paul is able to pursue the will of God and to grasp hold of that which Christ has laid hold of him. He's able to seek out a better alignment with the will of God.

He's seeking to pursue and develop a closer relationship with God. He's able to find God's will no matter what circumstance he's in. And so again, Paul here is a great example for us. No matter what circumstance we find ourselves in this life, no matter what things that we're experiencing, even if we're in custody for four years, our mobility, you know, our movements restricted and confined,

there is still the opportunity to have a hunter's view, seeking out the will of God, pursuing to know God and to explore all that he has for us in our relationship with him. Find God's will for you. We saw on Wednesday, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 17, where Paul said, "'Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.'"

Paul encourages you to not be unwise. Don't be foolish. It's foolish to not understand God's will for you. So don't be foolish. Instead, find God's will for you. Seek out, be like the hunter, pursue and grasp hold of that for which Christ Jesus has grasped hold of you. Well, moving on to verse 13 and 14, we get the second point to consider this morning, and that is aim to finish your race well.

Aim to finish well this race that has been set before you. Looking at verse 13 again, it says, Paul here kind of reiterates, I have not attained. I don't count myself to have apprehended.

I haven't grasped hold of that yet. And so here's what I do, Paul says, one thing that I do. Now there in verse 14, he describes what he is working towards. He says, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. As Paul says, I press toward the goal, that word for goal, you could also understand that as the finish line.

It was the word that was used as a goal marker. It was the end of the race, the end of the course on which the runner was running towards. It's the finish line. You know that streamer banner thing that they put across, you know, the front? Like that's the goal, right? Paul says, I press toward the goal. I'm working towards the finish line. I'm working hard to finish well. I don't count myself to have apprehended.

That is, my race isn't over yet. My course is not complete. I haven't finished what God has set before me, what God has called me to. And so he keeps himself in this perpetual state. And again, it's something for us to consider for ourselves because there are times where we feel like we have apprehended. Not so much that we would claim perfection, but that we would think, you know, I've done enough. I know the scriptures well enough.

I have served the Lord to a great degree. I have fulfilled, you know, these many things and I know the Lord and I know what he's like and I know how to walk with him. And we can find ourselves kind of lulled into a complacency where we feel like we've apprehended. We feel like we've got enough of the Lord that we can kind of coast.

And maybe we do that with a conscious decision, or maybe it's just kind of a subtle thing that happens and we're not even realizing that that's the attitude that has grown and developed in our hearts. But whichever way, if that's the case for you, let Paul's example really challenge you and remind you we need to have this understanding, I have not apprehended. I'm not done yet. There is much more ahead.

that God has for me. And so Paul says, but one thing I do, I don't count myself to have apprehended. Instead, here's what I do. He says, I forget those things which are behind and I'm reaching forward to those things which are ahead. Here's what I do. I forget the past and I reach forward to the future. Now, as Paul talks about forgetting the past, he's not talking about actually losing that memory from his mind. The idea of forget...

is the idea of, well, here, let me give you Warren Wiersbe's definition. He says, to forget in the Bible means to no longer be influenced or affected by. It simply means that we break the power of the past by living for the future. When it tells us that God remembers our sins no more in the scriptures, it's not in a way that, you know, that that memory could not be recalled.

But it's that those actions are never held against us again. It's not that God can't remember. It's not that God's forgetful, right? But it's that deliberate choice that has no bearing on the present or the future. And God says, for those who believe in him, your sins are cast as far as the east is from the west. He doesn't remember them. Your sins have no bearing on your present or your future as a believer because God refuses...

to allow those things to influence or affect your relationship with him. And so for us, we're looking at the Apostle Paul as he says, I forget those things which are behind. He's saying, I'm refusing to be influenced or affected by those things. I'm going to break the power of the past by living for the future. Now, when you think about the Apostle Paul's past, you could kind of go in two directions. You could be looking at his BC days, right? Before Christ,

He was a persecutor of the church. He hated all things Jesus. He thought he was serving God by causing Christians to blaspheme and renounce the name of Jesus. And perhaps that's the past that he's forgetting. But I don't think so. Paul's not just, you know, trying to overcome his failures in the past. Although that certainly is something that you and I may deal with and wrestle with. And so it applies, forgetting those things which are behind.

We are new creations in Christ. We have sinned. We have failed in many ways. But the Lord's mercies are new every morning. And so we have the opportunity to forget those things which are behind. But as you look to the previous verses of Philippians, I think that the Apostle Paul, when he's talking about forgetting the things which are behind, he's not talking about his failures in that sense, but really his accomplishments behind.

He's talking about the things that he had going for him in a relationship with God. Again, prior to his encounter with Jesus. But I would suggest that that continues on to the things that he had done in his ministry over those 25 years of ministry that took place between his conversion and this moment as he's writing this letter. Paul had done much for the Lord. Three missionary journeys, planted multitudes of churches, churches.

accomplish great things. But here Paul is saying, I'm forgetting those things which are behind. If anybody could say, you know, hey, you know, I've done enough for the Lord. I think it would probably be the Apostle Paul, right? I've done enough for the Lord. I've planted a bunch of churches. I've been in prison for four years on behalf of the Lord. I've done enough for the Lord. I've accomplished enough. I've made it far enough. I've worked hard enough. But Paul says, I'm not going to let those things influence me.

I'm not going to look to the past and say, look, I've done all of these things. And so therefore, here's what I'm going to do now. No, instead, I'm going to keep myself in this place of all of those things have been done. All of the past is the past. But what's important right now is for me to look ahead to what God still has in store for me. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1, we have this great encouragement. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.

All of those great men of faith from Hebrews chapter 11. Maybe we could throw in the Apostle Paul in these cloud of witnesses. These who have trusted the Lord and walked with the Lord and been faithful to the Lord. Since we have this great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Lay aside the sin. It easily ensnares us. It's going to trip up our race. It's going to slow us down. We're not going to finish well if we're bound up in sin. But it's interesting, the author of Hebrews also says to lay aside every weight. And weights can be a variety of things, but it's anything that slows you down. And if it's the past, if looking at the past and looking at all that you've done for the Lord up to this point, if that becomes a focus, it begins to weigh you down.

So that you're not looking to finish the race. You don't have that goal of the finish line any longer. You're not running as hard as you can to finish the race because you feel like I've ran far enough. I've ran fast enough. I've done enough.

And when it comes to our relationship with God and our walk with God, that is not to be the attitude of our heart. We need to set our aim on finishing well. And so Paul says, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I press toward the goal. I'm pressing on. I'm pushing forward towards that finish line, towards that goal that won't be satisfied until tomorrow.

Well, that upward call of God in Christ Jesus, that reality of the presence of God with Jesus. Until the rapture takes place, until I go to be with the Lord, I'm pressing on to that finish line. In my head, I was thinking about it like an engine. You know, when you are getting on the freeway and you turn onto the on-ramp and you stomp down on the gas pedal, right? Your engine's like, yes, give me a good workout.

RPMs start to increase. You're just like, you know, if you have a manual, you know, you're flowing through the gears. Maybe you skip second, jump right to third. You're just like, boom, I got to get up to speed to get on the freeway, to get into traffic, right? But then you get on the freeway, and then what happens? You put it in fifth gear, and I mean, you're going, and you have the gas pedal going, but it's nothing like when you're getting on the freeway, right? You're really just kind of coasting. You're just kind of maintaining. You just give it enough gas, right?

to keep the pace that you want to keep as you're heading down the freeway. I think that's perhaps a picture for us many times in our Christian walk. You know, there are those seasons where we gun it, man, and we are all for the Lord and we are chasing after him, we're pursuing him. But then we kind of reach a point where it's like, all right, I've got cruising speed and

I have a good working handle on the scriptures. You know, I kind of know the Lord pretty well and I've done some things for the Lord. And so now I'm not gunning it anymore. And so the engine is mostly just idling. Just, you know, a little bit here or there, just, you know, giving it a little gas here and there so that we can have a little bit of momentum going forward. But it's really just maintaining where we're at. Well, for the Apostle Paul, 25 years after his conversion, right?

After 25 years of walking with the Lord and ministry, he says, I still have my foot on the gas. I'm still working that engine. I'm not coasting. I'm not trying to, you know, just maintain, but I'm working to finish the race that God has set before me. As I was thinking about this, it began to speak to me a little bit more personally too, because, well, 25 years ago,

there was an event that was called Summit that we went to as a youth group. And it was Summit 94, 95. It was like a New Year's Eve to New Year's Day kind of thing. 25 years ago. That's the point in my life where I look back and go, man, that's when I really connected with the Lord. I knew the Lord my whole life growing up. I understood that God existed. I was seeking a relationship with God. But it was on that night that...

Man, I really connected with the Lord. That was 25 years ago. And so looking at the example of the Apostle Paul, I have to ask, is my foot still on the gas? Am I still seeking after and pursuing after? I came home from that retreat, that retreat, the youth conference that we went to, the theme of it was bedroom Bible college. And so I went home and I had the materials that they gave me and I was just like in my bedroom doing my own Bible college. And I was like,

Like learning the scriptures, seeking out, and there was a pursuit of those things. 25 years later, do I have that same drive, that same intensity? Am I aiming to finish well? Or have I kind of, you know, accomplished enough, got enough forward, know the Lord well enough to just now kind of coast and maintain? And I just, you know, need to give a little extra here or there just to keep the momentum going. No, no.

I need to aim to finish my race well, to run to win the race. Aim to finish your race well. Well, finally, we'll look at verse 15 and 16 for the third thing to consider, and that is maintain your changed behavior. In verse 15 and 16, it says, therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind. And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. Here, Paul encourages us to maintain the progress in the behavior, in the lifestyle, and the activities, and the work that God has done in our lives. You know, something happens within us. We can settle down and be satisfied with how much we've attained.

Not like Paul, forgetting the things which are behind, but kind of looking back and saying, look at the things that I have done. Look at the things that I've gone through. Look at all that I've experienced. And when we become satisfied with the progress, the next thing that happens is we begin to relax our standards.

We begin to relax and allow perhaps some compromise into our lives. We begin to relax and allow things that we used to be involved in, but God delivered us from, but now we find ourselves slipping back into those old behaviors. And here Paul is encouraging us, maintain those changes that God has made in your life. Don't slip back to the old ways to how it used to be. Maintain the work that God has done.

Stay there in that new behavior, in that new lifestyle that God has called you to. Now in verse 15, he says, therefore, let us as many as are mature have this mind. The mind that he's referring to is what he's been talking about. His mindset is I haven't attained. I'm pressing on. I'm aiming to finish well. I'm seeking out the will of God, even though I'm bound here in prison. He says, if you're mature, you're

take on this mindset if you have maturity as a believer this is the mindset that you ought to have let us as many as are mature have this mind and he says look if you think differently in other any other areas hey god will reveal that to you it if you have the mindset of man i need to continue to draw near to god and walk with god and know god and find god's will paul says look there's a lot of room for us to disagree about all kinds of different things

But if you're seeking out the Lord in that way, God's going to reveal to you those things. And so, yes, there's room for disagreement. There's room for different opinions and different perspectives on a variety of subjects and topics. But if we are seeking out and pursuing relationship with God, finding the will of God, aiming to finish our race well, well, those things that we disagree about, Paul says, look, God will work those things out.

He's able to bring clarity to those things. We don't have to get caught up and bent out of shape. We don't have to let those things derail us. No, just keep seeking out the Lord. Keep pursuing that race to finish well. And the Lord will reveal to you those things where you think differently, where you don't understand fully what it is that God has said or that God is doing. But even if you don't understand, Paul says in verse 16, nevertheless. So if you think differently about some different things,

That's fine. God's going to reveal that. But in the meantime, he says, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. Whether or not we understand and agree with everybody or agree with, you know, leaders or agree with whatever, whether or not that's all in place, whether or not we understand all the things that God is doing in our lives, nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained,

to the state or condition of progress that God has already accomplished in our lives. Let us walk. And this idea of walk, Paul uses a lot in his letters. Again, it speaks of our behavior, our conduct, our lifestyle. And that's why I made the point, maintain your changed behavior. To the degree that God has changed your behavior, he says, let's maintain that. Let us walk by the same rule. Let us continue in that changed behavior.

Let's continue forward and not slip back. I like the way that the New Living Translation puts this verse. The New Living Translation for verse 16 says, but we must hold on to the progress we have already made. Hold on to the progress that you have already made. What has God done in your life? I would ask you to consider, have you found yourself engaged in things that God has previously delivered you from?

Have you found yourself slipping back into patterns, attitudes, activities that God at one time, he set you free. He removed those things from your life. But now in this state of coasting, in this state of complacency, there has been a rewind of some of those things that God has done. And you find yourself saying those things that you thought you would never say again or doing those things that you thought would never happen.

Getting caught up in things that you thought for sure you were done with those things, but now they've crept back in because your pursuit of the Lord has become relaxed, slack, loosened. The Apostle Paul here provides us a great example. We're in a dangerous place if we're just barely just trying to keep coasting. If we're just trying to maintain speed on the freeway, like, okay, we got enough spirituality, enough of the Lord, enough of the scriptures, enough of ministry, enough

I'm good. And we try to just coast from there on out, we're in a dangerous place. Paul says, we need to keep moving forward. Keep making progress, drawing near to the Lord, developing our relationship with the Lord, seeking to find out God's will for me. And in different seasons of our life, God has all different things in store for us. You might be a children's ministry worker for one season of your life, but that may not be the whole rest of your life.

And in a new season where that's maybe stripped away and you didn't even want it to be stripped away, but it's stripped away. And yet at the same time, that doesn't mean that God's done and that his will for you is finished and that there's nothing left for you. Again, Paul here in prison for the past four years or more, he's saying, I'm still working hard to seek out, to find out the will of God. I want to move forward in understanding his will and living that out, walking in the things that God has for me.

Because I aim to finish my race well, Paul said. I want to reach that goal. I want to reach that finish line. And I'm not in the race just to finish, but I'm running to win. Paul says that in 1 Corinthians 9, right? Run to win the prize. And so Paul says, this is what we are to do. Let's have this mind. Do you know the Lord? Do you walk with the Lord? Let's have this mindset. Put aside the things that are behind. Don't let those things hold you back, whether they were good or bad.

And you look at right now, what is God's will for you? Aim to finish your race well and make sure that you maintain your changed behavior. It's a good indicator. It's a good red flag. If you find yourself slipping back into those old habits, it's a good indication of where you're at with the Lord, where you're at in the first two things. When we find ourselves slipping back into those things that God has brought us out of, we're not seeking to find God's will for us.

We don't have that intensity of hunting and seeking to find what it is that God has said for us in this moment. We're not aiming to run well, to finish well when we're slipping backwards into those old things. No, let's maintain those things.

Let's hold the standards and let those slips, let those things that creep back in be the reminder for us to go back to the drawing board. All right, I need to forget the past. I need to find God's will for my life, aim to finish my race well so that I can maintain the work that God has done in my life. Keep moving forward. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us as we consider these things, Lord.

There's things you want to speak to us about our lives and your will for us. I pray, God, that you would stir up within us, Lord, that thirst, Lord, that fire to know you and to not be satisfied until we understand your will, Lord, that we can ensure that we are right where you want us to be. And so, Lord, draw us near to you, I pray. Minister to our hearts that we might know you, that we might hear from you. And I pray, God, that you would give us a passion, a

and intensity, Lord, in seeking you that we might finish the race well. Help us not to settle, Lord, for the things that have been accomplished, but to continue to look for what you desire to do, to continue the course that you set before us. And so, Lord, I pray that you would help us to keep moving forward in our relationship with you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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