Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

I think it will help us to understand what Paul is saying if we get the context here beginning in verse one. So Philippians chapter three verse one. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision, for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.

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 circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of Hebrews is touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless and I count all things but for 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 that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death. If by any means I might gain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, neither have already, were already perfect, but I follow after. If that, I may apprehend that which for also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forth into those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for your word today and thank you for the opportunity to look into it together. Thank you for Jesus Christ, our savior, and the opportunity together here to worship you together, to fellowship, to learn, to grow. Lord, thank you. Thank you for the year of 2023 and for the New Year that is coming tomorrow.

Lord, thank you for every new day that you give us in Christ Jesus, a day to remember the love and grace and mercy of our God. Opportunity to serve you, to share Christ with others in word and in deed. Lord, I pray as we worship you here today that you would be honored. I pray, Lord, that you would be exalted and that you would draw all men unto yourself. It's in Jesus' precious name we do pray.

Amen. Keep your eyes on the prize. What is your goal for 2024 and beyond? No, I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand and tell me your goal, just a thought. Setting goals is a good thing, a biblical thing, which we as God's children should adopt as a way of life.

A new year is a good reminder of that. A new year, a new day, a new month, a new opportunity to pursue what we're going to talk about here mainly this morning. As we see here in the passage, Paul was a goal setter and one particular overshadowed all others in his mind and should ours also. The goal of Christlikeness, to be like who? To be like Jesus.

To be seen by God in the righteousness of Christ, but also to learn to act and behave in his personal life more like the savior every day. When Paul speaks of the resurrection and the prize in this passage, it is Christ likeness which he aspires to and which he had not yet achieved nor would fully until his time here was finished. On that day, he would be presented before his father in heaven, spotless, clothed entirely and completely in the righteousness of who? Of Jesus Christ, his savior. In the Bible, we're told by Paul, as he wrote in Romans eight this, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Well, in order to understand what he means by good, you need to understand God's purpose because good is tied to God's purpose. Well, what is God's purpose? Well, he tells us that in the next verse. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Who is that?

Jesus Christ. That he might be the firstborn among many brethren. What is God's purpose? God's purpose is to change us, conform us to the image of who? Jesus Christ, to make us like Christ to the glory of God and to the glory of Christ who gave his life for us on the cross and is risen again.

That is the goal is Christlikeness. That was Paul's goal is Christlikeness. And the day that he would one day see that to its completion when he stood before the Lord in heaven. First John three two and three says this, behold now, we are the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope, this goal, this purpose in him, in Christ purify himself even as he is pure.

As we have been justified and declared righteous before God in heaven by Jesus Christ, the righteous one who gave his life for us, God wants us to become more righteous day by day in our thoughts, in our motivations, in our goals, in our attitudes, in our actions for Jesus Christ as he molds us to become more like Christ to the day that we stand before him in heaven, perfected and complete in him. This was Paul's goal for tomorrow and the next day and the next day. And finally, the day that he would stand before God and he would see Jesus as he is for he would be what? Like him. Hebrews twelve one and two says this, wherefore seeing we also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us.

And let us run with patience the race that is set not behind us, but what? Before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He's already there. He's waiting for us.

And one day, as he said in his word, if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and what? Receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. He is holding our place in heaven. Praise the Lord. All the redeemed in Christ Jesus.

And one day, we will be there with him and we will be like him, conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. But that doesn't start when you get to heaven. That starts the day you get saved. God is working even today, this past year, and in the year to come to make us more into the image of Jesus Christ. And it should not only be his goal, but it should be whose goal.

It should be our goal to be more like Jesus. It was clearly Paul's goal. That is the goal which should captivate us as God's children. Direct our steps, inform our decisions. It is a pursuit which we can succeed in here in the present as we follow the steps of our savior in life.

Serve our father in heaven. Listen to the spirit that he has given to us and obey his what? Obey his word. But it is also a goal which will always be in front of us until we stand before him on that day in the likeness of Christ our savior. Only on that day will it be fully realized.

Paul looked forward to that day of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. There are some who spend their life pursuing perfect health. Not a bad pursuit, probably a pursuit some of us need to maybe at least slide in there a little bit more than we do. But the person that is pursuing perfect health may get healthier day by day and week by week and year by year, but when do you actually reach the goal of being in perfect health? Well, I don't think for a human being there probably is such a thing because we live in a sin cursed world and, well, the closer you get to it, the older you get and, well, something else falls apart.

As Christians, we are pursuing spiritual health in Christ Jesus And as the person who pursues perfect health might succeed day by day in becoming healthier, we can pursue Christ day by day in becoming more like Jesus, our savior. And in that, we are seeing our goal realized by the power and grace of God in our lives. And by the way, when I stand before Christ one day and I will be perfect in him, I'll also have perfect health, by the way. I look forward to that day. I might even have hair again.

But we don't have to wait for that day to come to become more like who? Jesus. We should be pursuing that today. In this pursuit, we cannot succeed by the power of the flesh but in the strength of our savior. You may become more healthy in the power of the flesh, but you will not become more spiritually healthy in the power of the flesh.

You can eat a perfect diet. You can go and lift weights all day long. It's not going to make you more like who? More like Jesus Christ. The Bible says, wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he, what?

Fall. If you say, I can handle it. I'm not going to give into that, Jim. I've I'm over be careful. Watch out for that little word.

I. I. I. We are able by the power and grace of who? God.

And this is a pursuit that must be pursued on your knees and in his word and walking in his spirit. Ephesians six ten eleven say, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The devil is working against you. Your flesh is working against you.

The world is working against you, but greater is he that is in you than he that is in the, what, is in the world. And Paul tells us in Philippians four, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. I can only do this by the grace of God as he works in me to change me into the image of his son, and he is working. But it should not only be his goal, it should also be ours. In order to flourish in this pursuit, we must also learn from Paul the key of letting go of the past to reach forth to the future.

Philippians three verses thirteen and fourteen. A person held captive by the dreams or failures of the past is of little use in the present and set to fail in the pursuit of future goals. And yet there are many Christians which are stuck in a rut. We're stuck in a rut of the past. Past failures, past hurts.

A person, as a child of God, we must escape and we can't escape the past to run the future. Listen to Paul today and understand we must not sacrifice the future on the altar of past failures and wrongs. Learn to let go, turn our eyes forward. As a Christian, it doesn't matter whether you're 10 or you're 90, there is something to look forward to. There is something to look forward to.

Like the runner described in Hebrews 12, we must cast off the weights which weigh us down in this pursuit. We must lift our eyes to Christ in faith and in hope and determination, looking unto Jesus as we move into tomorrow, next month, next year, which all happens to be tomorrow on New Year's Day. It is what our savior would want, what he does want for us. Look again at verses thirteen and fourteen. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.

Paul says, I'm not perfected yet. I haven't finished my my course. I'm not, quite like Christ yet. God still has some work to do in and through me. But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are where?

Behind. And reaching forth onto those things which are before. I press forward toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, laying up treasures where? In heaven. Pursuing Christ that he might become more like him.

That is Paul's pursuit. That is his goal. You may have other goals for 2024. I have a couple. But there should be one goal that overshadows them all to become more like Jesus, something we need to keep before us as we head into 2024 and in each and every day of 2024.

I want to be like who? I want to be like Jesus. What is it in your life that isn't like Jesus and you know it? Confess it. He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you, give you victory in 2024 if you'll confess it.

Cast that weight aside, whatever may be holding you back. In this passage, Paul begins with admission he had not arrived. He had not finished the work he had set out to do as commissioned by Christ or been transformed completely in his character to be like his savior. He still had much to learn for Christ and much for Christ to change in him. I sing a song with the kids entitled, He's Still Working on Me, and praise the Lord he is.

He hasn't given up and he's going to work tomorrow, the next day, and the next year. He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be. Took him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient he must be because he's still working on me and you. How did Paul know he was working on him still?

Well, he wasn't in heaven yet. He still had still had some work to do. So he pressed forward, laying up treasure in heaven, doing the work of the Lord, keeping his eyes fixed on the prize, the day he would be called home and perfected in the likeness of Christ. As we read through the book of Acts and Paul's letters, we see with what effort and diligence Paul pursued this every day. Convicting thought, do we pursue it with the diligence that Paul did?

We see with or through what pain and fatigue and trials he carried out his mission pressing forward for Christ in his steps. He gives a couple of lists in his letters about those things that he suffered, not as a boast, but in to glorify not Paul, but to glorify who? Christ. What fatigue, what pain, what trials he suffered. And yet, he kept his eyes looking forward.

He let go of the things of the the past because he still had a job to do and stud still had a work to do in him. Peter wrote, for even unto unto for even hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps. That's what the word Christian means, a follower of who? Christ, following in his steps. To accomplish this and stay focused on the work of tomorrow and the prize at the end of the race, Paul could not be weighed down by the concerns of his past.

Paul had to cast aside those weights which would slow him down and trip him up in his pursuit, finishing this course and becoming more like his savior. One of these was guilt. Guilt for the things he had done before meeting Christ on the road that day. What did Paul have to be guilty to feel guilty of? Well, he had disdained, if not blasphemed, the name of Jesus.

That's who he was before he met the Lord. He refused to admit Jesus was Lord. He had abused, arrested, tortured, imprisoned, and consented to the deaths of many of Christ's followers. That's what Paul had done. That's who Paul was before he met who?

Before he met Jesus. He had certainly taught many to reject Christ prior to his conversion, making him a false teacher at that time in his life. Can you imagine the burden that he could have carried around? The deaths of people? The families broken up, parents imprisoned, the people he led astray before he knew Christ.

Can only imagine that weight of guilt. But it wasn't a weight of guilt that Paul carried. It was a weight of guilt that Jesus Christ the son carried on the cross that day. So Paul wouldn't have to carry it later and instead could fix his thoughts and his eyes on the prize and move forward for Christ. Guilt for the sins of the present.

Since coming to Christ, Paul had made mistakes. Paul had sinned many times, both sins of omission and commission. There were times like the rest of us that he made bad decisions. There were times he allowed pride to trip him up. He admitted as much.

There were times he let his tongue get the better of him. No doubt. But he didn't have to carry that weight, increasing weight every day of his mistakes and his blunders and his sins and his stubbornness because Christ Christ carried them and suffered for them on the cross that day for Paul and for me and for you. Paul was a great man of God, but as he points out, the chiefest of sinners. He had much in his past which he had to forget, meaning to purposefully let go by the grace of God because he didn't have to carry the weight of guilt with him every day for Jesus carried it.

He was forgiven so he could lay that weight aside and move forward. Is there still a heavy weight that you're trying to carry? Remember, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just too. Forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Take it to the Lord and leave it there.

He knows our frame. He knows we are but dust. He died on the cross to free us from the penalty and the power and the guilt of sin so that we can pursue the likeness of Christ, so that we can follow in his steps, so that we can be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. In Christ, Christian, you have been forgiven. You don't have to carry that weight anymore.

Let it go. Paul said, forgetting those things which are behind. Oh, so much in Paul's past, but he had to let it go. And he could because he was what? Forgiven.

And so are you. You must take to heart and trust in the forgiveness which is in Christ Jesus. Trust that the blood of Christ does cleanse us from all sin and rest in God's forgiveness and mercy. Jesus said, come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden and I will give you what? Rest.

What was it that they carried that burdened them? Their sin and their guilt. And Jesus said, come unto me and I will what? I will take it from you and I will give you rest. You don't have to carry that burden anymore.

Give it to Jesus. And if you've given it to Jesus, quit trying to pick it back up. Let it go. Move forward for Jesus Christ. As Paul had forgiven much, had been forgiven much, he also had much to forgive.

There's the weight of guilt and there's the weight of wrong, of those who had wronged him. Paul had much guilt for sin in his past, but Paul had suffered much unjustly at the hands of others. Whipped, beaten, imprisoned, stoned, and left for dead, ridiculed, libeled, slandered, lied about, gossiped about. It was Paul's life every time he walked in the city. Sometimes he was welcomed with open arms for a day or a week and then everything what?

Everything went bad because humanity doesn't respond well to the gospel many times because people don't want to hear the truth, humble themselves and repent before the Lord. He had been mistreated, abused unfairly again and again for the cause of Christ. Out of love for his Lord and and those for whom Christ died, he ministered, he suffered, and he was ridiculed often. Yet he did not allow, could not allow those emotional cuts and physical scars. And he had plenty of both to hold him back from ministering for Christ today and tomorrow.

Forgetting those things which are what? The abuses of yesterday are in yesterday, Paul says. I'm going what? Forward. Oh, it would have been easy to wallow in his pain and weariness, in his hurts and betrayals, but he chose to forgive.

He chose to let go and move forward in Christ encumbered by the baggage of bitterness and anger. In Hebrews, the writer says, watch out for bitterness, for that little root that sneaks its way in and defiles your heart and burdens you down. How many a child of God is burdened and held captive by bitterness, that should not be. That should not be. And it isn't doing you any good.

It is only doing you what? Harm. You wanna become more like Christ? Here's what Christ said as he hung on the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

He was talking about the soldiers that drove the nails in his hands. He was talking about the soldiers who gambled at the bottom of his cross for the robe that he had they had mockingly put on him. He was talking about the people that jeered at him that day as he hung on that cross in humiliation, And he was talking about you and me too. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Paul went back to many of those same cities in which he had been so abused and tried again to share the gospel with them, taking more abuse, but sometimes resulting in the salvation of some who had previously persecuted him.

How did he do that? Forgetting those things which, what, are behind. Paul chose to forget how they abused him last time he was there. He chose to leave behind him the person that slandered and ridiculed him last time he was there. And when he saw them, he shared the gospel again in love.

And some of those became children of God because Paul was able, by God's grace, to let go and to forget those things which are behind. I'm reminded of Elizabeth Elliot, widow of Jim Elliot. You don't know the story. Jim Elliot and a number of other men, I think four or five missionaries went down to Central America. They were going to bring the gospel to a tribe that was down there.

Before they had the opportunity, all of them were slain by the very tribe they were trying to reach for Jesus Christ. Years later, Jim's wife widowed Elizabeth Elliott went with some other missionaries back to the very same place, back to the very same tribe. They ministered to some of the very same men who killed her husband. And at least one or more of them became a Christian. How in the world could she do that?

The grace of God. She forgot those things which were behind. Not that she forgot that her husband was killed, but she chose to let them go and not keep them in her heart and mind and make her bitter. Instead, she saw the power of God change the life of an individual who had previously killed the person who brought the message, her husband. She saw victory.

She saw Satan defeated. That was better than bitterness. That was better than revenge. It was revenge against the one who is truly responsible, Satan himself, as he lost the person who came to Christ, and Jesus won because Elizabeth Elliot had learned like Paul, how to forget those things which were behind and move forward for Christ. You can forgive, must forgive.

Choose by God's grace not to dwell upon the hurts and wrongs of others. Paul wrote it this way in Philippians chapter four. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. If Christ has forgiven you of all that he has, you can forgive others. Don't walk into 2024 weighed down with bitterness and anger and hurts, leave them in 2023.

Let Christ give you victory over them. Let Christ free you from them. Let them go. Cast aside the weights which so easily beset you and run with patience the race that is set, what, before you, looking unto Jesus died on the cross, who forgave all our sins, and learned to be more like him, that you might become more like him. If we are to move forward in service for Christ this coming year, we need also to learn, like Paul, how to let the weights go of our guilt and failures of the past and how to forgive and let go of the offenses and hurts of others.

Hanging on to those things does not make us strong. Holding on to those things makes us weak. It doesn't make you strong to carry the weight of guilt that Jesus Christ has already died for. And it doesn't make you strong to stay bitter in your heart. It only makes you weak.

If you're going to win the prize, if you're going to run the race with patience, you need to let go of those weights, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth in those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Begin by letting Christ have you. Have you surrendered to him in faith to be your savior? Have you accepted his sacrifice and forgiveness thereby? You can't forget and leave the things behind if you haven't come to Christ in faith and trusted him to save you from it all.

First, you must do that. If you have done that, then you need to learn to forgive others and accept Christ's forgiveness. If you will, he will change you and he will use you. And 2024 will be a year to thank God for as he changes you into the image of who? Jesus Christ.

As he works through you to reach out and change the lives of others. You don't have to be a preacher to do that. Just be a child of God and live like it. Trust him. Let him live through you.

He will do the change. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for this day. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness and your love toward us, for the opportunity you've given us, for the guilt that you have taken off of our shoulders. And Lord, I pray that you would give us grace and strength and a willingness to forgive others as you have forgiven us.

That we might be the the salt and light that others might see Jesus Christ in us this year, and that you might change us more into his image day by day until the day that we get to see you when we will be like you. Thank you, Lord, for what you are doing. Forgive us, Lord, for our stubbornness. Lord, humble us today. Lord, I pray that if you've touched our heart in any way, that we wouldn't leave this place this morning without having a conversation with you about it.

In Jesus' name, we do pray.