We welcome you to the tabernacle podcast brought to you by the tabernacle Baptist church in Hickory, North Carolina. If you'd like to learn more about tabernacle, you can visit our website, tabernaclebaptistchurch.com. You can find other sermons like this one on Apple podcast, YouTube, and sermon audio. It is our prayer that God has used this message to be an encouragement to your heart. I would like for you to take your Bible and go with me to the book of Philippians. We'll look at two verses in Philippians chapter three, and we'll look at verses 13 and 14. Then we will probably look at all of the verses as we progress through the message. I want you to look with me in verse 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul must have been a sports fan, at least to some degree, because you're going to find throughout the New Testament, he makes reference to athletic contests He makes reference to wrestling. He makes reference now here to a runner in a race. In fact, he makes that reference more than just a few times. As we come to Philippians chapter three, again, we find him making reference to an athletic contest, a runner in a race. And as he thinks about that runner in the race, he thinks and applies that to the life of a Christian and the goal of the Christian life. And he says to us in verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Notice those first three words in verse 14, I press toward. I'm pressing on the upward way. New heights I'm gaining every day. That's what the songwriter wrote for us. The word press has a couple of ideas. First of all, it has the idea that we are in a pursuit We're in a pursuit, we're striving for something. What are we striving for? The prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. There's a greater prize than the earthly crown that the athletes would win had they finished the race first. There's a greater prize than that, there's a heavenly crown. And so he's pursuing that. He's not seeking to please an earthly judge, he is seeking to please his heavenly judge. So we're to press on, we're to pursue, but we're also to press on and to persevere. To persevere. It's not easy to press on. If it were easy, then everybody would do it. And so the Apostle Paul writing to the Philippians, encouraging them in their Christian walk in life, is encouraging them to press on. And I want to encourage you this morning to press on. You know, we live in a world that makes it difficult to run the race. We live in a world that is contrary to us. And then we have our own flesh, our own sinful tendencies to deal with. that makes it difficult for us to run the race. And then we have a roaring lion, as we've noted the last two weeks in our study of Ephesians 6, who is seeking to devour us. It's not easy to run the race. It's not easy to press on. And the Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Philippi, telling them that it is important that they press on. And I want to say to you this morning, it's important that the church in Hickory press on. May God help us to press on. Now I want you to note three truths this morning. Three things that you and I need to remember as we strive to press on. Notice first of all that we are to press on forgetting what is behind. Press on forgetting what is behind. Notice, if you would, the wording in verse number 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. In other words, I'm not finished, I haven't finished the race, I haven't won the crown, but this one thing I do is I strive to run the race, forgetting those things which are behind. You see, oftentimes, if we're going to run the race, we learn that we can't look back while we're running it. Maybe you've seen highlights over the years of people running their race, or maybe a football player running down the field, he's got the ball, he's striving to the goal line, and the defense is closing in on him, and he might look back. And when he looks back, he might get off course and slow down because he's taken his eyes off the goal line and put his eyes on something else. He's looking back. And Jesus said, there's no man who puts his hands to the plow and looks back that is fit for the kingdom. You see, the devil knows that if he can get us to focus on what is behind us, if he can get us to keep our eyes on the past, He can paralyze us in the present, and he can hurt our prospects in the future. And so we find here, Paul said, I have to forget those things which are behind. Now, Paul tells us that the things which were behind him were his past pursuits. Paul was a Pharisee, a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Notice if you would please in verse three, for we are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. He's warning them, verse two, against the Judaizers who would say, you have to follow the rituals of Judaism, you have to follow the ritual of circumcision if you're gonna be a true believer in the Lord. But that was not true. And so Paul is saying to them, beware of these false teachers, beware of those who would bind you into that system, because we worship God in spirit, we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and notice this, we have no confidence in the flesh. You see, one of the things that Paul had to do as he forgot the things which were behind, he had to forget the achievements of the past. Notice his achievements. Verse four, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. In other words, my religious credentials were pretty impressive. That's what Paul is saying to us. He goes on to list them, circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. He said, I was the best. Judaizer, I was the best religionist I could possibly be. I was pursuing after that prize. I wanted to be respected, I wanted to be admired, I wanted to achieve great things in the religion of the Jews, but I found out that I was pursuing the wrong goal. So everything I had worked for, the Apostle Paul said, I had to be willing to give it up. Notice what he says in verse seven. But what things were gained to me, the thing I wanted most. What is it that you want most? Money, recognition, material goods, a position, a relationship. What is it that you want most? What is it that you think you have to have apart from God? Paul said, the things that I thought were gain, I counted loss for Christ. He said in verse eight, yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung, barn, yard, waste, manure. That's what the things of this life meant to me in comparison to Jesus. He was willing to forget the achievements of his past. He was willing to forget about his ambitions and his goals and the things that he thought would bring him happiness. Why? Because he discovered a newer calling, a higher calling, a heavenly calling. Not only then do we see that Paul was willing to forget the achievements of his past, but we must recognize that Paul was willing to forget the afflictions of his past. In 2 Corinthians chapter number 11, Paul, in defense of his apostleship, enumerates his suffering, what he had been through as an apostle to get the message of the gospel to people across the world. And here at Corinth, he was being criticized and there were people who were saying he wasn't really an apostle at all. Imagine the people that he had won to Christ and discipled and taught. now saying that he wasn't really an apostle. So he begins to speak to them concerning his apostleship and listed his sufferings and they were many. He was stoned, he was beaten, scourged with the Roman whip. He suffered hardships and financial difficulties. He went through it, he was hated, he was scorned, he was opposed. For what? For preaching the truth of God's word. Afflictions. In the news we find, in fact not much in the news, you have to look for it to find it, how that the Christians in Nigeria are being murdered by Islamists in Nigeria. Why are they being murdered? For their faith. for their faith in Christ. Their afflictions, I saw a video of a group of Nigerians in a church that had been burnt, the roof was gone, the furnishings were gone, just the walls and they were in that building singing hymns to God. You see, if we're going to live for Jesus in this world, we're going to have to deal with affliction, suffering and trials. Oftentimes, affliction keeps us from moving forward. But Paul would say to us, press on through the afflictions. Press on through the disappointments. Press on through the discouragement. There are times when we're going to face discouragement. There are times when people are gonna disappoint us and things are gonna disappoint us and circumstances won't work out the way we thought they might. We're gonna have to press on. Press on through disagreements. You know, Paul and Barnabas were quite a missionary team. And after their first missionary journey, as they were given the report and ready to take the second one, they had a disagreement about whether or not they should take John Mark. And that tandem, that powerful tandem had such a disagreement that they parted ways. But they didn't quit serving God. And disagreements come, difficulties come, despondency comes, persecution comes to us. But we're gonna have to learn to press on. There are people who have been paralyzed in their service to the Lord because of past hurts. Paul said, I've learned that Jesus promised that his grace was sufficient for me in all of my hurt. You see, if I'm going to press on, then I've gotta be willing to forget the afflictions. I gotta be willing to forget the achievements, and I have to be willing to forget the accusations from my past. You know, Satan is the accuser of the brethren. The Bible says he accuses us before God night and day. What does Satan like to do? He likes to remind us of the sins of our past. It might have been as recent as yesterday, but the devil doesn't seem to forget. The Bible tells us that if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. The Bible tells us that if any man is in Christ, he's a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. I'm here to tell you this morning that God, our God, is the God of the second chance. And the third, and the fourth. And Peter said, how often do I forgive my brother? Seven times, 70 times seven, the Lord said. What did the Lord mean? As many as it takes. What does that mean for us? As far as his willingness to forgive us, as many as it takes. And the Bible says that God removes our sins. He chooses to remember them against us no more. But Satan, he doesn't forget. And he reminds us of the sins of our past. And I think about the Apostle Paul, who called himself the chief of sinners. In this passage, what did he say? I persecuted the church. Why? In pursuit of the Jews' religion. In pursuit of that religion, to be recognized, to be somebody, I persecuted the church. Later on he would say, because of that, I'm the chief of sinners. I want you to know that if Jesus can save the chief of sinners, he can save you. If Jesus can forgive the chief of sinners, well, he can forgive you. If Jesus chooses to no longer remember the sins of the chiefest of sinners, then he chooses to no longer remember yours. So the next time Satan points his accusing finger at you and brings that thought against your conscience to say, you can't serve God, you can't be a faithful Christian, you can't lead your house, you just remind him what Jesus has done for you. And then remind him of the future that he has. You see, if we're gonna press on this morning, we must press on forgetting what is behind. Secondly, if we're gonna press on, we must press on focused on what is before. Forgetting those things which are behind, and he says in verse 14, reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. That word reaching forth, it has the idea of extending oneself, of stretching. I think about the homestretch of the race, right? The last so many yards or so many furlongs of the Kentucky Derby and the horses running to the finish, they're on the homestretch. I want you to know you and I are on the homestretch and our reward is in front of us. So we should run with greater exertion as we come down the homestretch And he says in verse 15, let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded. How are we to think as we come down the home stretch? We're to be heavenly minded, not earthly minded. Heavenly minded. You see, earthly mindedness will keep us from running the race. We'll be preoccupied with the things of this life. But we need to be heavenly minded and remember that we must keep eternity's values in view. And so it was the knowledge of what was before the apostle that strengthened him to press on. I mean, how does a guy with that kind of past keep serving God? It's the knowledge of what's before him. Well, what was before him? Well, he had a heavenly purpose. Notice if you would again here in verse 14. I pressed toward the mark for the prize of the, would you say the next two words with me? High calling. He had a new purpose. Not to just be approved of by men and be applauded by the religious leaders of the Jews. No, he had a new purpose. To please the Lord Jesus Christ. To serve God with his life. Notice if you would in verse number nine of this passage. He says, and to be found in him. in Christ, in a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Can I ask you a question this morning? Are you in Christ? You may be here today, all of us are or were in Adam. That means the descendants of Adam in our natural condition, in sin. That happens to us naturally. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the question is, are you in Christ? How do you get into Christ? By faith. Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again, meaning born of the Spirit. There must have come a time in your life when you recognized that you're a sinner. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That He died on the cross and He suffered for you. He made the payment for your sin on the cross. He suffered your death and your judgment. He was buried and He rose again. And if I'm going to be in Him, then I must come to Him by faith, acknowledging who He is and His sacrifice for me, confessing my sin and calling on Him in faith. And if I do that, I'll be like Paul, found in Him. Not having, notice verse nine, mine own righteousness, which is of the law, you see my righteousness won't cut it. For the Bible teaches us that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. The best human beings can do. is as filthy rags in the sight of God. That's why Jesus came and became a man without ceasing to be God and lived a perfect sinless life for us so that his righteousness would be extended to us. See what he says in verse nine. But that which is through the faith of Christ, that's believing on Jesus, the righteousness which is of God by faith. You receive his righteousness when you receive him by faith as Savior. So we have a heavenly purpose. We're in Christ. And our purpose now is to know Christ. Look at verse 10. That I may know Him. That I may know Him. Not simply know about Him, but that I might know Him personally. To enter into fellowship and communion with Him. And the power of His resurrection. To experience resurrection life. The power of the Spirit of God in me. To identify with Him in His sufferings. He says, in the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. That's quite a statement. He says, I want to know him in the power of his resurrection, but I also want to be acquainted with him in the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. You see, in order for the Spirit of Christ to live fully manifest in me, I must learn to die to self. And it is the fellowship of his sufferings that brings me to an awareness that I'm nothing apart from him. And his grace is totally sufficient for me. I must be focused on what is before me. I've got a heavenly purpose. To know him, to be with him for all eternity, to be like him. I got a heavenly prize. A heavenly prize. I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You see, Paul lived every day with this thought in mind. At some point, my life is gonna be over. The race is gonna be finished. And then he thought about when the runner's race was done, how that the runner would appear before the Bema seat. That was the judgment seat. And the judge would recognize the runner if he had strived or if he'd striven lawfully, if he'd ran lawfully, if he'd stayed within the rules. Well, then he received the reward. Usually a wreath laid upon his head, the accolades of all those who were there, the acknowledgement that he was the winner. But Paul said, one day I'm gonna stand before the righteous judge. I'm gonna stand before the ultimate judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he will reward me not with an earthly crown, not with a temporal crown, not with the accolades and approval of men, but with his approval. You see, Paul longed to hear the words of Jesus say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Can I ask you a question? How often do you think about the judgment seat of Christ? How often do you think, when you determine the daily outworking of your lives and your plans and your actions, do you consider that you're gonna stand before Jesus? And he will acknowledge if you have done well, or if you have not. It's a sobering thought, isn't it? When I was a student at University of Tennessee, I took a job at United Parcel Service, and I talked about that a moment ago, and I worked the midnight sort, probably not a good choice for a kid going to college. Went to work at 11, got off about 2.33 in the morning, I had class at 7.50. Do you think I made all those classes? I didn't. And I had this recurring nightmare that I've gotta go to class. And I haven't been there all semester. And I'm getting an exam. And I've not read it, I've not studied it, I'm not prepared. Well, I want you to know there's coming an exam day. Have you been to class? Are you ready? Are you prepared? Paul said, I've got a prize. It's a heavenly prize. And it's worth what it takes to run this race. So he said, press on. Press on. Press on forgetting that which is behind you. Press on focused upon that which is before you. And then lastly, press on following with those beside you. You know, it's interesting, we don't run this race by ourselves. We run it together. I was in high school and I went to a Christian school and then after 10th grade, our Christian school closed and so I went to another school, and I was playing basketball on the team, and the coach said, you have to run a mile in six minutes, or you can't be on this team. And I don't know that I'd ever even timed myself, and I started running around my neighborhood, and we figured about four laps on the neighbor, or maybe two laps in the neighborhood was a mile, and it was up and down, and all kinds of good stuff. and just tried to get ready to run that six minute mile. And I'll never forget when we got out there on the track with the whole team, it made a difference. I'd been running by myself around the neighborhood, but now I'm with the team. And what the team did is help each other out, pick each other up. I remember we had a track coach, Coach Irwin, and he said, fellas, when you come around the first lap, I'm gonna be counting out the seconds, and here's where you need to be. And that stuck in my mind, because when I came around the first lap, I was listening to him, and I was okay. Came around the second lap, I was okay. Can't run the third lap, I'm still okay, and along the way, some of my buddies are way ahead, some of my buddies are way behind, and most of us are kind of together, and we're just trying to encourage one another. One friend of mine just started walking, and I thought that's not gonna cut it, and we tried to encourage him. Finally, we got around to the finish line, and I heard him say 536, and I thought, well, I made it, thank God. I remember watching a friend of mine, his legs turned into rubber, you know, walking off that track. But we made it. We helped each other. And that's what Paul is saying here in verse 16. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. All of us, God's people, this church, this local assembly, we have the same purpose in sight. We're not to be earthly minded, we're to be heavenly minded. So he says in verse 17, brethren, be followers together of me. and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example." He said, follow my example and then find others who are living according to the same pattern and follow them. You see, it's interesting in a church, there are people who have been faithful over the years. They've demonstrated a track record of faithfulness. They've been through some difficulties, they've been through some trials, but they haven't given up on God, and God certainly has never given up on anyone, including them, and those are people that you can learn from. Those are people that you can walk with. You young mothers and you young couples trying to figure things out, dealing with your children, why don't you talk to some families that have walked through some things and some trials and struggles. Get hope, get encouragement, get instruction. The older men are to teach the younger men and the older women are to teach the younger women. This is the way God has established this thing. You see, we're in a race together, not alone. And the worst thing any of us can do is get isolated from God's people. Sometimes when we're dealing with hardships, I've noticed the tendency of some is to withdraw. That's the worst time to withdraw from God's people. That's the time you need God's people more than ever before. And so he says, we're walking together. and there's an example for us to follow. But I think not only that, there's an example for us to set, isn't there? If I'm following the example of others, here's something I gotta keep in mind. There are others coming behind me who need an example. That means they're watching me. That means they're watching you. And you have to press on. because you have to consider those who are beside you. He warns them in verse 18 about those who are among them, but who are not really walking with them. He said, for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. There are people, he said, that you know in Philippi who aren't heavenly minded, they're earthly minded. Don't follow them. Don't follow them. Who are you following? For our conversation, that means our lives, our manner of life, is in heaven, from which also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Ultimately, our lives are in heaven. Our hope, as we sang this morning, is in heaven, not in this world. If we have hope in this life only, we're of all men, Paul said, most miserable. So we need to follow the faithful example of others and we need to set an example for others to follow. Hey, your children are watching you through the hardships. They're watching you through the hurts. They're gonna pick up on this They're gonna replicate and duplicate what they're seeing. There's a pattern that he speaks of here when he uses that word ensample in verse 17. The very last word, that word ensample, it just simply means pattern. What pattern do you demonstrate? Well, I'm faithful when things are going good, not so much when things are going bad. Or maybe, when things are going bad, I'm in church, but when things are going good, I'm not. It's funny how that works. What pattern? When there's disagreement, when there's disruption, when there's disappointment, what pattern have you established? I'm thankful that God gave me two parents who were not perfect, but who were faithful. I'm so thankful for that. They taught me things. They taught me to work. Taught me to take responsibility for myself. It taught me to be faithful to God's house. It's a pattern that they established and we as God's people must establish a pattern because we're not in this race alone. There are others running beside us. So what does the Apostle Paul say to us this morning? Press on. Why does he say that? Because he knows the tendency within us. The tendency is to wanna quit, to give up, to allow the past to bind us and paralyze us, to forget about the future and get preoccupied with the present. So he says, press on. The Bible tells us that we are not to be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Why does the Bible tell us that? Because we have a tendency to get weary. And the Bible tells us that we're to consider the Lord Jesus Christ, who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. You say, well, I'm tired. I want to quit. I'm hurt. You don't understand. Consider Jesus. He does. and hear the admonition of the apostle. Press on. Press on. Forgetting what is behind. God will give you the grace for the hurts of the past. God will help you to deal with the accusations of the wicked one. Press on, focus what is before you. The prize, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And press on following of those beside you. Thank you for listening. We pray that God has used his word to speak to you today. If you'd like to learn more about Tabernacle, you can visit us online at tabernaclebaptistchurch.com. There, you'll find additional information about our church, opportunities to partner with us financially, as well as other resources that we hope can be a help to you. May God bless you and thank you once again for listening.