Let me just take a moment and summarize the book of Philippians so far. It has been Paul's instructions on how a Christian basically should think. You've probably noticed that throughout the book. It is what kind of a mindset a Christian should have so that he might live according to the gospel of Christ. So we saw first that the Christian assembly, that's us, the church, is to have a unified mind in striving for the gospel. It says in Philippians 1.27, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Now, one of the principal duties of the church is to contend for the gospel. We are to protect it, to promote it, to promulgate it and to proclaim it as the power of God unto salvation. And our mindset is that nothing will deter us from that. We are to be unified in that great objective of exalting the gospel of Jesus Christ. But also, Paul has taught us that we are to have a lowly mind. Do you remember that from Philippians chapter 2? Take a look at Philippians chapter 2 and verse 3. And it says there, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Now, this is a fundamental of the Christian life, and it runs so counter to a worldly mindset. The world says, think of yourself as better. The world says, reach and grab for all the gusto. The world says, look out for number one. But God says, let each man consider others better than themselves. Let every man think on the things of others, you see. Nothing is to be done through strife or vainglory. In verse three, fighting and bickering and self-promotion is the opposite of Christian character. Christian character is lowliness of mind, and it is such a beautiful mindset, isn't it? Humility is lovely, it is non-threatening, it is peaceful, and it is very, very Christ-like. In chapter 2, then, Paul gives us the great example of lowliness of mind, and it is the mind that was in Christ. Take a look at Philippians 2.5. It says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Now, though Christ was very high, of course, in his pre incarnate state, Christ became very low. He was in the form of God in verse six, and yet he made himself of no reputation in Philippians 2.7. Now, to me, it is startling to think that God could be humble. It's not one of the attributes that we generally think of when we think of God, but this is exactly what we see in Christ. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, it says in Philippians 2.8. And if God, who is great, can be humble, how much more should we who are not great be humble? If Christ is your great example, then humble yourselves. Humble yourselves before God and humble yourselves before men, and especially let humility be the mindset in the church. It is a shameful thing when arrogance and conceit and strife reign in a church. We need to thank God that that is not the case here. Now, when we come to chapter three, We are to have the mindset that Christ is everything. Look at Philippians 3.1. It says, finally, my brother, rejoice in the what? Lord, not Judaism, not those old Jewish rituals, but rejoice in the Lord. You see, Christ is everything. Specifically here in chapter three, Paul says that Judaism is to be abandoned in favor of that better thing. which is Christ. We do not need the types anymore. We do not need the pictures and the shadows anymore. We don't need the rituals anymore, you see. We have Christ, and He is all we need. Paul laid aside his Judaism, we see, in chapter 3, and he counted it loss in order to win Christ. I think we would do well to fall in love with Jesus Christ. We would do well to rejoice in Christ. We would do well to have our hope squarely in Christ and to abandon hope in everything else. And so our mindset is to forsake everything else in order to be found in Christ. Look at Philippians 3.10. And Paul says there, and be found in him. Now, Paul has just said, I'm counting everything else lost so that I might know him and be found in him. In verse 10, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Now, this morning, we're going to consider the next mindset which Paul encourages upon us. And you might be surprised to find that it is the mindset of hard pursuit after the ideal of holiness. The passage that we are about to consider, beginning in verse 12 of chapter three, is a passage about sanctification. It is a passage that describes our responsibility during this life. Now, we all know that salvation has many parts, and Brother Camp is teaching us these things in our Sunday school hour recently. And some of those parts of salvation take place outside of us, don't they? Election, the redemptive work of Christ, Even justification takes place outside of us in the courtroom of heaven. So God chose us before the foundation of the world. That obviously occurred in an objective sense, outside of me. It is a positional truth. It happened outside of us before we were ever born, you see. We were born 2,000 years after Christ performed his redemptive work. Justification is a legal action by God that declares us righteous in Christ. It is an objective thing that occurs outside of us in the courtroom of heaven. But salvation also includes a work inside of us, doesn't it? And sometimes we call that work sanctification. Now, I found that there is more confusion and disagreement about sanctification than there is about almost anything else in the Bible. There are all kinds of opinions when it comes to sanctification. Some claim that sanctification is purely positional, and I will admit that there is plenty of evidence in the Bible that sanctification in some way is positional. Brother Camp referred to several verses this morning where God has already sanctified us, you see. And He has done that in a positional way. He has set us apart. He has made us holy positionally. So there is a sense of the positional nature of sanctification. And there is a sense in which we are sanctified when we believe in Christ. There are verses in the Bible that talk about being sanctified once we believe. God does set us apart for his purposes. The Bible says we are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son when we believe. But it is also clear that we are not made perfect at the moment that we believe. Anybody here been made perfect? Anybody here was made perfect at the very moment that you were converted to Christ? Not in a practical sense, only in a positional sense were you made perfect. The old sin nature is not eradicated, is it? Old habits are not changed immediately. Sin is still an issue even after we believe in Christ. And so it seems that sanctification is not complete at the moment we believe in Christ. That's not all there is to it once we believe that the war is not over, is it? It's just starting. Others say, no, we need to be sanctified at some point after we believe in Christ. But they teach that sanctification is a second blessing from God, you see. The first blessing is when you believe in Christ and you're justified, then sometime later, whether it's months or years, you receive the second blessing and you are made perfect. It's almost like a magical thing. And these are sometimes called the holiness churches, you see. They believe that in this life you will reach perfection and it is done by a second administration of the Holy Spirit in your life. They believe that when God baptizes you with the Holy Spirit, that's that second blessing, then you become perfect in your walk. with Christ. And so they believe that there is the possibility of perfectionism in this life and it results from some special work of the Holy Spirit in your life. I don't believe that the Bible teaches any such thing as that. I believe that the Bible teaches that God saves us with the ultimate purpose of holiness in mind. This is the great goal which God will perform for us. We will be made holy. But the Bible also teaches that during this life our responsibility is to pursue holiness. Holiness is that ultimate perfection that God has designed for us, and we are to chase it. We are to chase it like a greyhound chases a rabbit around the track. We are to pursue it relentlessly like the hound dog pursues the rabbit in the field. Notice what Paul says in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12. He says, not as though I had already attained. So apparently Paul had not had the second blessing, right? He has not already attained. Either were already perfect, but I follow after if that I may apprehend. And then he says, 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. Now, I want you to see that in the life of the Apostle Paul, it was a constant striving. He followed after. He pressed toward. And it seems that this striving for holiness is a lifelong pursuit. It is not some gift of the Holy Spirit that comes on us and lifts us immediately to a state of perfection. Rather, it is a lifelong struggle to apprehend or to lay hold of that holiness to which we are ultimately called. Now we're going to learn a bit about sanctification by Paul's example and we're going to dissect his example bit by bit. So let's take a look at Philippians chapter 3 verse 12 and he says, not as though I had already attained either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." So the first thing that I want you to notice about Paul's example is that Paul was apprehended by Jesus Christ. Everyone see that in that verse? When we talk about the work of salvation, we certainly understand that it is a work of God. We talk all the time about that here. The very concept of redeeming fallen men comes from the mind and heart of God and springs from his great attributes of love and grace. Electing a people to save is a work of God. It is not a work of man at all. Devising a plan of redemption was a work of God. When Christ became a man, it was a work of God. Even the crucifixion of Christ, even though sinful men nailed Christ to the tree, the Bible says it was according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. And you have to say that if any man is saved, it is because he was apprehended of God. It is God that reaches down and apprehends the sinner. God takes hold of the sinner. and saves him, and that's all you can say. The conversion of the Apostle Paul is a vivid example of being apprehended by God. You remember that Saul was on a mission to rid the land of Christians. He considered Christians to be the enemy of God and the enemy of Israel and Judaism, and with hatred in his heart he was on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians. But while en route Jesus Christ arrested Paul. The resurrected Christ appeared to Saul in all of Christ's glory, and Christ took hold of Saul and took him into custody, and Saul became a bondservant of Jesus Christ. This is the nature of salvation. God apprehends the sinner. It is not the sinner laying hold of God, but it is God laying hold of the sinner. We often think that the sinner moves God to save him in some way, perhaps by believing. But in reality, it is God who moves the sinner to believe. It says in John 1, chapter 1, verses 12 and 13, But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. even to them that believe on his name, but the next verse is really important, which were born, you see. God gives them a new birth and then they believe and become the sons of God. It says, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, you see. Here is the order. The sinner is born of God. Then the sinner receives God by faith and becomes the child of God. And God always is the initiating force. It says in Acts 13.48, And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained to eternal life did what? You notice the order there? As many as were ordained to life, they believed. So many people get that backwards. They think that when you believe, God then ordains you to life. No, sir. God ordains you to life, and then you believe. And in our text, in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12, Paul says that he hopes to apprehend that for which he was apprehended for Christ Jesus. Now we should never get that backwards. We should never suppose that we first apprehend God, but we should give glory to God for first apprehending us, you see, unto salvation. So we see that Paul was first apprehended by Christ Jesus, but then notice secondly that Christ apprehended Paul for a certain purpose. You have to kind of read with some understanding here and read carefully. You'll notice that our God is a purposeful God. God never acts arbitrarily or without purpose and Christ Jesus saved Paul and saves all sinners for a purpose. Paul says, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended. You see how there's a purpose of God there that's in view? His apprehension of us was for a purpose. Paul acknowledges that God saved him for some reason. God had a high purpose in mind for saving Paul. Now the question would be then, what was this purpose that God had in mind in saving Paul? Certainly God had many purposes for Paul, just as he has many purposes for you and I. God intended to use Paul in a mighty way, and Paul was to be the apostle to the Gentiles, and Paul was to write many of our New Testament Bible books. But this is not the purpose that Paul is expressing in our text. God had a much higher purpose than that for Paul. Hard to imagine, but he did. God saved Paul with the high purpose of raising Paul to a state of perfection. It is that ultimate prize to which all saints are destined. It is called the high calling of God in our text. It is that state of glorification. That is the ultimate purpose of God for Paul and for the saints. You see, God takes a wretched sinner like Paul, a murderous man, and marks him out for glory in heaven. And he intends to take him all the way to moral purity and purity in every other way. Oh my, that is our destiny in Christ. It seems impossible. But that is the prize that awaits us in the end. We will no longer be rebellious sinners, but we will be glorious and obedient servants of Christ when sin is ultimately removed from us. Paul describes it as a state of perfection which is the ultimate purpose of God, not only for Paul but also for all saints. Now we have seen that Christ apprehended Paul and that he apprehended him for the purpose of changing him and perfecting him. But I want you to also see that Paul had not attained this perfection in this life. Take a look at verse 12 again. He says, not as though I had already attained, either were already made perfect. Now please consider that this was the preeminent Christian of the early church. This was a man who had a miraculous visitation by the resurrected Christ. He was personally taught by Christ after his conversion He was the apostle to the Gentiles. He was the founder of many early churches. He wrote many of the Bible books, and at the time he wrote this in Philippians, he was at the very end of his earthly ministry and his earthly life. He was in prison in Rome, and he expected to be executed at any time. He had fought the good fight. He had run the good race, and at the very end, he says, I have not attained the purpose of God in my life yet. I am not perfect yet. And so we find that the purpose of God in our life, purity and holiness will not be finally attained in this life. The idea of perfectionism in this life does not match up with the experience of Paul, wouldn't you say? Paul admits that he has not attained it and that he is not yet perfect. Now some people say that God has given us everything we need to live a perfect life here on the earth. And that if we simply yield to the Holy Spirit, then earthly perfection is not only possible, but to be expected. Have you ever heard that before? I've heard it from someone that used to be in our church here. But that is a big if. You see, God has chosen not to remove our sin natures. God has chosen not to remove us from this mortal body just yet. And our flesh wars against the Spirit such that perfectionism is not to be expected in this life. And Paul admitted that he had not attained. Now you and I would have to admit that we also have not attained. Assuming that everyone here would admit that you have not attained perfection yet. We are just like Paul and we must admit that we are not already perfect. Now, this is not an excuse for sin, is it? We don't throw our hands up and say, let's just go ahead and sin since we are not yet perfect and don't expect to be perfect in this life. But it is a realistic view of our present weak and imperfect condition. So we have seen that Christ apprehended Paul and that he apprehended him for the ultimate purpose of changing him and perfecting him but that Paul admitted that he had not yet attained perfection. But I want you to see next that Paul pursued after that ultimate goal of holiness in this life. He says in verse 12, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after. if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Now, even though the perfection of holiness seems to be a rabbit that we cannot catch, nevertheless, it is our constant pursuit. We chase it relentlessly. We desire to lay hold of it. We know that it is the ultimate goal of God in our lives. We know that we shall someday have it in glory, but we want as much of it as we can have even now. And so we see that Paul followed after it and that he pressed toward it. But I want you to see next that holiness is our eternal calling. The Bible indicates that God had a purpose for us from all eternity, and that purpose was not just to bring us to heaven and set us on a cloud and let us strum a harp for all eternity. His purpose was to change us from the vile creatures that we became due to sin. He wants to change us into holy ones. God has a purpose. to restore us to clean hearts and to holy living. His purpose is to change us from sinners into saints. He says in Romans 1-7, To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. That word saints simply means holy ones. What is amazing is that God calls us saints now. He says you are saints, positionally. By position we are saints, but God's purpose is more than just to have us be saints by position. He has called us to be saints by practice and saints by very nature. Listen to what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4, 7. In 1 Thessalonians 4.7 Paul says, For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. Notice that holiness is our calling. It is our eternal calling. It is the thing that God has determined to do for us. He is going to undo the thing that was done to us by Adam. He is going to reverse the curse in our life. He is going to raise us up from the fall, and He is going to sanctify us wholly, the Bible says. That's W-H-O-L-L-Y. Take a look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. verses 23 and 24, and there it says, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, that is calleth you unto holiness, who also will do it. And then in Ephesians 1-4 it says, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy. It's His calling for us. It's God's eternal destiny for His people. It is very important to know to what God has called us. Some think that God has merely called us to happiness. And certainly happiness will be our partner for all eternity, but some say he has called us to forgiveness of sins and the enjoyment of heaven, and yes, he has done that, too. But our primary calling is to holiness. If we are not made holy, then we shall not be made happy. We are called first to holiness. and the blessings of heaven are wonderful byproducts of that calling. Only holy creatures can inhabit heaven, and God has determined by His eternal purpose to make us holy. He has called us to be holy, and by His great power He will make us holy. To make us holy is the purpose for which God has apprehended us. It is the reason why Paul was apprehended, and it is the reason why we were apprehended. Paul was apprehended on the road to Damascus, but you and I were apprehended on a road also. We were on the road to destruction. We were on the road to damnation and eternal sadness and despair. We were on the road to eternal wretchedness. We were on the road to eternal separation from a holy God because we were unholy. But God apprehended us. God stood in our way and would not let us go. Just as God stood in the way of Paul and would not let him pass, so God stood in our way and would not let us pass down the road to destruction. Why did God do it? Because he has called us to holiness and he will not let us continue down an unholy road. He apprehended us because he set his heart upon us in eternity. He determined to love us. And so we apprehended us. He determined to make us holy. And so he apprehended us. I hope that you understand that you have been apprehended by Christ and he has diverted you from an unholy road. He has put you on a holy detour and you are now walking down a road that leads to holiness. Now, you are not there yet, but like Paul, you are following after. You are pressing on toward that wonderful day. when holiness will be fully realized in you. You are walking down that road which leads to the ultimate purpose which God had for you when he called you. And that purpose is holiness. Now, Sonia and I have taken a couple of trips down to the Gulf Coast and even to Florida a time or two to the beach. And when we back out of our driveway, it doesn't look like the beach at all. There are no palm trees swaying and no sand. But along the way, the scenery begins to change, you see, and by and by it begins to look more beachy, doesn't it? And when you get closer, you can smell the salt and the beach and the air. And you begin to see palm trees and you see shops selling beach equipment. And you know you are getting close because things begin to look more like the beach. And when we are on the road to holiness, things should begin to look more holy along the way. As we travel the road, we should notice that our hearts are becoming more like Christ. We should see the palm trees of humility arising in our hearts. We should notice the salty smell of Christian unity and Christian love springing up. The closer we get to our final destination, all the Christian virtues should begin to come into view in our lives. It is a long road to holiness. There are bumps and turns and mishaps along the way. But if you have been called to holiness, if God has truly called you to be holy and blameless before him, if God has truly apprehended you for the purpose of holiness, Then he will keep you moving down that long road and he will cause you to pass the mile markers one by one. When you set out on your Christian journey, you will first pass mile marker number one, and that marker will say faith. That is the beginning of the journey, but along the way you will pass other markers. Soon you will pass the marker called truth. for the word of God is an early essential in your Christian journey. And you will soon pass the marker called prayer and supplication, for you will not get far without that. After a while, you will notice that things are looking more holy all the time, and you will pass that marker called gentleness and then the one called goodness, then meekness and temperance. and you will know that you are inching closer to your final destination. Somewhere along the way on your Christian road you will notice that the scenery has changed. You will no longer see things that you saw before. The works of the flesh are fading away. No more adulteries, no more uncleanness, no more hatred and strife and drunkenness and revelings. And you will notice that the old ways of sin are fading away and the new ways of holiness are coming into view. All of this seems to happen almost imperceptibly along the way, but God has called us, you see, unto holiness. And finally, we look up and notice the great changes that have happened to us. Now, after your long trip to the beach, when you finally reach Beach Boulevard, you look out the window and you catch your first glimpse of the ocean and you get so excited, don't you? And everyone in the car shouts, look, there it is, the beach. And finally, one day we are going to reach our final destination toward holiness and we will look up and we will be astonished when we finally see Jesus Christ. You see, Christ is that ultimate goal. Our goal is to be like Christ. And that last mile marker will say the righteousness of Jesus Christ attained. Oh, how glorious it will be on that day, how our hearts will well up inside of us on that day when we shall be like Him. But until that day, our duty, is to increase day by day in holiness. We are to follow after it. We are to press toward it. Our text puts it in the context of a race. We are racing toward that final destination. And we are to press on with our eyes fixed ahead. Look at verses 13 and 14. He says, 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. Now, in this context, You are running toward holiness. We are passing mile markers along the way and we are making steady progress. Paul says, don't look back. You know, a runner doesn't look back to see who is chasing him, this only slows him down, and we are not to divert our attention from this great goal of holiness. If you fell down in the past, don't look back. If there were sins and shortcomings in the past, Paul says, forget them and move on. Lastly, I want to point out that with regard to our pursuit of holiness, there are two workers. Now, you know from much teaching here that the work of salvation is a work of God and the work of justification is purely a work of God. Man doesn't contribute to that at all. And the work of sanctification is also ultimately a work of God. God is the principal worker in sanctification. He calls us with a heavenly calling. He apprehends us along the way. He efficaciously moves us along the way of holiness. But in sanctification, by God's plan, there is also work for us to do. We have a duty to follow after it. We don't just sit in our easy chair and say, OK, God, do it to me. But we have a duty to press on toward it, we have a duty to try to apprehend it, to try to lay hold of it, to try to lay hold of that for which we are apprehended. Would you bow with me, please? Our Heavenly Father, we Come to you now, and we thank you for your wonderful grace to us. We thank you, Lord, that you stood in the way and apprehended us. Lord, we would have gone down the road of destruction to the very end unless you stood in our way and diverted us. We thank you, Lord, that we have been apprehended by the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, now help us to make diligent efforts to apprehend that for which we were apprehended. and that is holiness. Let us, Lord, keep holiness in view, never looking back but looking forward unto holiness, looking forward to that great day when we will be made perfect in holiness, but also striving and working and pressing toward holiness even in this life. Lord, change us. Thank you for changing us so far and we pray that you would continue to change us and to make us more like Christ day by day. We pray for these things in Christ's name. Amen.