Text: 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have been made perfect, but I press on tot take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul expresses his desire to achieve what God had in store for him. One paraphrase of Philippians 3:12 says, “I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be… I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing.” Few of us ever evaluate our spiritual lives, though we do take inventory of each other. Note Paul’s personal spiritual evaluation here: “Not that I have already obtained all this” “or have [already] been made perfecte” (mature) “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it” Make no mistake about it, Paul had a holy, passionate desire to “press on,” “to lay hold,” “to forget,” “to reach,” and to “press toward” QUESTION? “How long has it been since you sat down in a private place with an open Bible and an open heart and asked the Lord how you are doing spiritually and told him that you are ready, set to grow?” I am really challenged by Paul’s personal spiritual evaluation. Paul did not regard himself as having laid hold of everything God had for him. He had been the moving force of Christianity in his day. If anyone could pride himself on what he had done, it would be the Apostle Paul, yet he still sensed a need for growth. This passage is all about growth into Christlikeness. I want to hang Paul’s thoughts on 4 words: “Are we there yet?” I. THE PERCEPTION OF WHERE THERE IS. (v. 12a) Paul begins with an explosive disclaimer “Not that I have already obtained all this or …been made perfect” This statement is loaded with honesty and vulnerability, but also security. Paul is saying, “If my life were a fruit orchard, here and there you would see fruit beginning to form, but it is not yet full-grown. There are signs that something is happening in my life, but I have not yet become mature.” James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Paul’s statement… A. …SPEAKS OF AWARENESS. “not …already obtained” – the prize pursued; Christlikeness Philip Crosby says, “There is a theory of human behavior that says people subconsciously retard their own intellectual growth. They come to rely on clichés and habits. Once they reach the age of their own personal comfort with the world, they stop learning and their minds run on idle for the rest of their days. They may progress organizationally, they may be ambitious and eager, and they may even work night and day. But they learn no more.” Louis Armstrong, “There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them.” B. …SPEAKS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT. “or have already been made perfect” –a goal to reach or to accomplish. Apparently Paul was dissatisfied with his present spiritual condition. Remember, those who think they have reached spiritual maturity will not see the need to pursue a better condition. Paul had not reached a state of non-development. Paul’s ultimate goal still lay ahead of him. Chinese Proverb, “If we don’t change the direction we’re going, we’re likely to end up where we are headed.” My Aunt Virginia (my mother’s sister), in answer to the question, “where are you going,” used to say, “to hell, if I don’t change my ways.” Although I was less than 10 years of age when I heard her repeat that phrase, it rang in my ears when many years later I officiated and preached at her funeral. II. THE PURSUIT OF THERE... (v. 12b) …describes… A. …DILIGENT PURSUIT “but I press on” – the achievement of his life goal required his life-long endeavor. It was one thing for Paul to perceive his need, it was another thing all together to pursue it. To “press on” speaks of an aggressive, energetic endeavor. D.L. Moody, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something, and that which I can do, by the grace of God, I will do.” Rusty Rustenbach, “You and I live in an age when only a rare minority of individuals desire to spend their lives in pursuit of objectives which are bigger than they are. In our age, for most people, when they die, it will be as though they never lived.” To “press on” is both a hunting and an athletic term. Stalking the prey with unrelentlessness or to run as to gain a victory; out to win. John Maxwell“You will never find out what you can do until you do all you can to find out.” (John Maxwell) B. …DIVINE PURPOSE. “to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” – to seize, to overtake. Paul’s goal in life was consistent with Christ’s goal in saving him. That purpose for which God saved us is also the purpose for which we live. NOTE: Paul did not compare himself with others; he compared himself with himself and with Jesus Christ. The mature Christian honestly evaluates himself and strives to do better. To “take hold of” is to possess. Steward B. Johnson, “Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves, to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today, to do our work with more force than ever before.” Warren Bennis,“It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.” “to take hold of” – to apprehend or arrest. Paul was on his way to Damascus to arrest believers, when Christ arrested him. Paul wanted what Jesus wanted for his life. He wanted to lay hold of that for which Jesus had laid hold of him. Often in the Bible, we are warned against a false estimate of our spiritual condition. In the book of Revelation, we notice the following such examples: The church at Sardis had “a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” They had reputation without reality. The church at Laodicea, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” when in God’s sight, it was “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” In contrast to the Laodicean church, the believers at Smyrna thought they were poor when they were rich. Samson thought he still had his old power, but in reality it had departed from him. Judges 16:20 says, “And she [said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ So he awoke from his sleep, and said, ‘I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!’ But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.” The question was asked of 50 people, all in their late nineties, “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?” 1. I would reflect more 2. I would risk more 3. I would do more things that would live on after I am dead QUESTION: What did Paul want to lay hold of? Christlikeness What does Christlikeness look like? Like Christ In the trade of silversmith, the artist was one who used to boil raw silver and ore, to remove impurities. He would watch the top of the molten pot, and when impurities rose above the heavier silver meatal and floated on the surface, he would scrape these off and discard. He would perform this action over and over again, scraping off impurities. The silversmith knew that the silver had achieved the desired level of purity when he could gaze into the pot and see his own reflection looking back up at him. So it is with God the Silvermith, whose refining of our lives often involves the painful processes of "turning up the heat" and "scraping" at the surface of our characters, until we reach a desired level of purity---one in which He can see His very reflection. “Doing nothing for others is the undoing of one’s self. We must be purposely kind and generous, or we miss the best part of existence. The heart that goes out of itself gets larger and full of joy. This is the great secret of the inner life. We do ourselves the most good doing something for others.” (Horace Mann) 8. Helping “The man who keeps busy helping the man below him won’t have time to envy the man above him.” (Henrietta Mears) Lawrence D. Bell - “Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things and I’ll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things.” III. THE PRESENT IN RELATION TO THERE. (v. 13) (there being Christlikeness) 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead" A. …involves AFFECTION. “Brothers” – Paul addresses his family in Philippi with the gentle, intimate, affectionate term. He had endeared himself to these people. A part of what he realized he was to continue doing during the present--as he continued to pursue Christlikeness--was to care for the baby Christians entrusted to his care. Galatians 4:19, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.” Paul was a leader that desired God’s best for his family of faith. B. …involves ASSESSMENT. (v.12b) “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it,” – blessed discontent; “I am not there yet in the present.” Psalms 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (A yearning for God or Christlikeness) Phil. 3:13 is an honest appraisal; Paul is being vulnerable. What integrity! QUESTION: What is integrity? “Integrity” means wholeness, entireness, completeness. The root word integer means untouched, intact, entire. Integrity is to personal or corporate character what health is to the body or 20/20 vision is to the eyes. A person with integrity is not divided (that’s duplicity) or merely pretending (that’s hypocrisy). He or she is “whole”; life is “put together,” and things are working together harmoniously. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books. They are “integers.” lf Paul could not say he had arrived, how motivating must this have been to the Philippian baby Christians he was spiritually fathering? Paul moves quickly from consideration to concentration consideration: Up to now; so far; at this time, he says, I've not “taken hold of” or “apprehended” the object of my pursuit. concentration: “but one thing” – again Paul’s assessment was based on integrity; single purpose; a single pursued goal. The person with integrity also has a single mind, a single outlook (“eye”) that keeps life going in the right direction. After all, outlook helps to determine outcome; “a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8). “Jesus also said that the person with integrity has a single will; he seeks to serve but one master.” “one thing” – also implies focus or concentration; remember that maximum effort without focused concentration is useless. EXAMPLE: Airline Pilot “We are making great time but we have lost all sense of direction.” Upon assessment, Paul realized that, in order to move forward and grow, he needed to… 1. FORGET. “fugeddaboutit!” “Forgetting those things which are behind” – expresses Paul’s future orientation. To forget means to be no longer influenced by. Not that you do not remember them, but your mind is not fixed on them any longer (moving on). You do not look back on them in such a way that they impede your further progress. Forget about what? “those things…” such as… (a) …His Pre-Christian Life Philippians 3:4-8 – “though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ. Key Word: “behind” – rear view mirror (b) His Present Christian Life Philippians 3:12-13a - 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, ….13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. (c) His Progress in the Christian Life Combating self-satisfaction, he said “but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” 2. REACH/STRAIN. “straining toward what is ahead” This pictures a runner straining every muscle to reach the finish line. Seeking to make progress in the race; eagerly anxious to step into all the purposes God has purposed for him. Stretching and Straining will call for discipline.