Philippians - Eyes on the Goal

If you and I are going to have joy in our ministry for the Lord, our motives must be right. There must be no hidden agenda in our hearts. We must do what we do with spiritual motives behind them. Our Lord made it very clear in Matthew 5-7 that motive has a great deal to do with the merit of what we do. The Pharisees stood on the street corners and prayed. Why? Because they wanted to be approved and applauded by men, and that's what they got. They got the praise of men. They did not get answers to their prayers.

Why do we give? Why do we sing? Why do we minister? Why do we do what we do? If we're going to have joy in our ministry, our motives must be the right motives, and this is what Paul deals with in Philippians 3. You'll recall that in Philippians 1, he said if you're going to have joy in your ministry, you must have the right message, and that message is Jesus Christ and the gospel. In Philippians 2, he said we must have the right model, and that model is Jesus Christ, the servant of God. There's no joy in ministry if we expect others to serve us. The joy comes when we sacrifice and serve others.

Now in Philippians 3, he gives us three very fundamental motives for Christian service. And this chapter divides itself into three very beautiful parts: verses 1-11, His righteousness; verses 12-16, His reward; and verses 17-21, His return. Let me show you what Paul does in this chapter, and then we'll look at verses 1-11 in detail.

In verses 1-11, Paul takes us down to the bank and he talks about his new values. And one word is used several times: count. I count, I count. The Apostle Paul is measuring his priorities. He's weighing the things that really matter in his life. New values. Paul the accountant, I want His righteousness. That's verses 1-11. In verses 12-16, Paul takes us out of the bank down to the stadium. As you know, the Greek people and the Roman people were quite taken up with sports, even as many people are today. And down at the stadium, the races were going on, either the running races or the chariot races. And in verses 12-16, you have Paul, not the accountant, but Paul the athlete. And he's running the race, or he's driving the chariot, and the key word is not I count, but I press. He's not talking about new values now, he's talking about new vigor. I press, I have a goal that I'm going to reach.

Then in verses 17-21, the Apostle Paul takes us out of the stadium down to the City Hall. And there we examine the records of the citizens. And here we have the Apostle Paul as an alien saying, my citizenship is in heaven. You'll remember now that the Philippians were Roman citizens away from Rome. They were a Roman colony, their citizenship was in Rome even though their address was away from Rome. And so says Paul about the Christian: we are the citizens of heaven, and we have a new vision. What is that vision? We're looking. Notice the three verbs now. Paul the accountant, I count. Paul the athlete, I press. Paul the alien, I look. I look for what? I look for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here then are the three motives for Christian living and Christian service: His righteousness, Philippians 3:1-11, I count; His reward, Philippians 3:12-16, I press; and His return, Philippians 3:17-21, I look.

Let's read together Philippians 3:1-11 now. I will make a few comments as we go along, and then we'll point out what Paul means by counting and by seeking the righteousness of Jesus Christ. "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord." He's been saying this all through the letter, hasn't he? "Rejoice in the Lord." Every chapter of Philippians begins with a phrase "in the Lord." You'll not get much out of this letter unless you can say, "I am in the Lord." "To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe." Some people don't like repetition, but we need it. "Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision," or the mutilation.

Now who's he talking about here? He's talking about a group of people called the Judaizers. Wherever Paul went and won people to Christ, shortly afterward this group would show up, these Judaizers, and would try to lead these people into the law. You see, Paul would go out and preach to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles had never had this experience of circumcision. And so these Judaizers would come along and say, "Oh, you cannot be saved, you can't go to heaven unless you submit to this Jewish ritual." Acts 15 records the contest, the conference that was held in Jerusalem about this very issue. "For we are the circumcision, we Christians, who worship God in the spirit. We don't depend on the flesh and rejoice in Christ Jesus." That word rejoice means boast. We boast in Christ Jesus, not in Moses, or not in our own efforts, or our own desires, or our own accomplishments. We boast 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 has reasons for which he might trust in the flesh, I more." Now Paul gives us his pedigree. "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." That's quite a pedigree. He was not an Ishmaelite who was circumcised at the age of 13, he was not a proselyte. By birth, he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, by choice he was a Pharisee, and by zeal he was one of the leading Pharisees.

Now Philippians 3:7, "But..." Ah, that's a good word. "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and 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 refuse, garbage, that I may win Christ and be found in him." 164 times in Paul's letters you find that phrase, "in him." "Be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto," or arrive at, "the resurrection of the dead." "That I might be found in him." That's justification. "That I might know him." That's sanctification.

Well, Paul is telling us here what he had written down in his journal. It's sort of a slice of his life, isn't it? And he's saying to us, "The motive for my ministry used to be my righteousness. I was a zealous Pharisee. I persecuted the church. I tried to get people to denounce the Lord. When you measured me by the law, I was blameless." Now he didn't say he was sinless, but he was blameless. And yet, says Paul, when I found Jesus Christ as my Savior, and he found me, when he saved me, everything changed. You see, the emphasis here is on character. One of our motives for ministry is that we might receive and reveal His righteousness.

Now I'm going to make a statement that's going to shock some of you, but you think it through. God is more concerned about the worker than he is the work. I want to repeat that now. God is more concerned about the worker than he is the work. He will spend years making a worker, and then that worker will spend a few years doing the work. The Apostle Paul said, "I came to the point where I realized that in Jesus Christ is all the righteousness that I need, and my goal is not my reputation." He says, "I have no confidence in the flesh. My birth doesn't mean a thing to me. My pedigree, my heritage, doesn't mean a thing to me. It's not the flesh, it's the spirit. It's not self-confidence, it's Christ-confidence. It's not the external rituals of religion, it's the internal experience of Jesus Christ. It's not the praise of man, rather it is the glory of God."

If our motive is His righteousness, then we are daily going to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now how can you tell when that's happening? Well, Philippians 3:10 tells you: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." You see, when your ministry is motivated, not by your reputation, but by His righteousness, you want to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll know it because, number one, it will be a very personal experience. You'll come to know Him better, "that I may know him." It's a personal experience. Jesus Christ will not be a stranger to you. He'll not be someone written about in a book, he'll be real to you, "that I may know him." It's a personal experience.

Secondly, it's a powerful experience, "the power of his resurrection." When your motive in ministry is to glorify Jesus Christ, then you reveal that power in your life. God shares his power with you. Now God's not going to give his power to those who want to build their own reputation. God's not going to give his power to those who want to build their own kingdom and be important. But he does give his power to those who are out to glorify him. So it's a personal experience, "that I may know him." It is a powerful experience, "the power of his resurrection."

It's a painful experience, "the fellowship of his sufferings." When you start living like the Lord Jesus Christ, they will treat you the way they treated him. You will be persecuted by the religious people. You will be crucified by those who have religious authority. The more you become like the Lord Jesus, sharing his righteousness and revealing God's glory, the more others are going to persecute you. Paul said, "Yea, all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Not escape persecution, suffer it. This is from 2 Timothy 3:12.

The comfortable Christian who is not paying a price for the life he is living and the work he is doing is missing something. You see, Paul was not persecuted when he was zealously promoting Phariseeism and Judaism. Nobody persecuted him then. They thought he was a tremendous fellow, a great man. But when he gave his life to Jesus Christ, and his motive was His righteousness, then he had to pay a price.

Well, it's a personal experience, and a powerful experience, and a painful experience. Finally, it's a purposeful experience, "being made conformable unto his death, that I might attain," or arrive at, "the resurrection of the dead." I don't think he's talking here about physical death. He's talking about Romans 6 and Galatians 2:20, dying to the old life, dying to the law, dying to that which formerly ran his life, and being raised to walk in newness of life.

Now how do you do all of this? Well, you sit down and you say, "All right, what's important to me?" And if you're doing something that is just for your sake, it's not for Jesus' sake, get rid of it. "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord." Oh, he's the Lord. "For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, count them but refuse." My reputation, the high standing I had as a Pharisee and a rabbi, all of these things that were so precious to me, I look upon them as something to throw on the garbage heap, "that I might be found in him, not having my righteousness, but having His righteousness."

Have you sat down lately and measured your priorities? Are the things that matter most being crowded out by the things that are not really important? Are you sacrificing the eternal on the altar of the temporary and the immediate? What is really important in your life? Now if you want to have joy in your ministry, get off of the detours. If you want to have joy in your ministry, get rid of the junk. Get rid of all this extra baggage you're carrying around. Find out what it is that God wants you to do and do it, and do it that you might glorify Jesus Christ.

Let's read now Philippians 3:12-16 and discover what Paul has to say about spiritual athletics. "Not as though I had already attained," or obtained, "either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." I want to get my hands on all that he got his hands on me to give to me. "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. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, mature, be thus minded; and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, as to that which we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing."

Now in this paragraph we have Paul picturing himself as an athlete. Of course, as you know, athletics were very, very important to the Greek and the Roman world. The young boys were enrolled in the gymnasium very early in life. They were taught how to box and how to wrestle and how to run and how to swim, because the Greeks and the Romans believed in a strong mind in a strong body. And they believed in in developing the body and being strong.

Well, there are some spiritual applications here. Paul is telling us that our motive must be His reward. We are not doing what we're doing to get the praise of men, nor are we doing what we're doing to get a promotion from the denomination or wherever we are. Now there's nothing wrong with a promotion. And there's certainly nothing wrong with people appreciating our ministry, but our motive must be one thing: to press toward the mark, the mark that God set for us, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

What are the essentials for a winning athlete? Now I'm a very poor one to talk about sports because I am not athletically inclined. My brothers are, and my children are, but I'm just not that interested in athletics. But this much I know, if you're going to be a winning athlete, there are certain essentials that you must possess, and Paul illustrates them here in this paragraph in Philippians 3. Number one, dissatisfaction. "Not as though I had already attained." Philippians 3:12. Philippians 3:13: "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended." I have not yet arrived. Any athlete who is going to be a winner has to be dissatisfied with his performance. He cannot rest on his medals or his trophies or his awards.

You see, you and I are not competing with others in the Christian race, we are competing with ourselves. You should strive to be a better teacher, a better preacher, a better soul winner. You should always be dissatisfied with the record that you've got. Now we're not dissatisfied with Christ, don't misunderstand me. We're not dissatisfied with the Christian life, but we should never get totally complacent and satisfied with our evaluation of our own achievement.

The church at Sardis thought it was alive, but it was dead. The churches that Jesus Christ spoke to in Revelation 2 and 3 did not really understand themselves. One church thought it was poor and it was really rich. Another church thought that it was rich, it was really poor. And the Lord Jesus Christ alone knew the true evaluation of those churches. There has to be an honest evaluation in our lives. Paul said, "that I may know him." 30 years after he was converted, "that I may know him." Oh, I need to know him better. The first essential, if you're going to be a winning Christian athlete, is dissatisfaction.

The second is devotion. "This one thing I do." You know, one thing is a good summary of the Christian life. Jesus said to the rich young ruler, "One thing thou lackest." This is Mark 10:21. He said to Martha, "One thing is needful." This is Luke 10:42. The Psalmist said, "One thing do I seek after." This is Psalm 27:4. Paul said, "This one thing I do." This is the single-mindedness that always leads to success, devotion. The single mind of Philippians 1 where he says, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." You know, this unifies your life and it simplifies your life.

Every decision that an athlete makes, he makes with reference to winning the game, winning the race, achieving his goal. The way he eats, the way he sleeps, the way he exercises, there has to be devotion. He is devoted to what he is going to do. You know, concentration is the secret of power. If a river runs all over the place, you have a swamp. But if a river is dammed up and concentrated, you have power.

Now there are many good things you and I can do in this world. There are many opportunities, but each one of us must come to the point where we say, "This one thing I do. This is what God has called me to do." Every two or three years, I have to look at my own life and say, "Now how much extra baggage am I carrying as I run this race? How many directions am I running into?" Devotion, "This one thing I do," which leads us now to the third essential.

We've talked about dissatisfaction and devotion. Let's talk about direction. "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." Now, we should not be controlled by the past. When Paul says, "forgetting those things which are behind," he's not talking about wiping them out of your mind. In fact, when Paul wrote his letters, he talked about things from the past. He told Timothy how that Paul in his past life, how he had been an abusive person, how he had caused others to recant their faith in Jesus Christ. He was injurious, and he was he was zealous for that which was wrong.

Paul does not say we should wipe out of our minds those things that we experienced in the past. In the Bible, to forget means not to allow to control. When you forget the past, it means the past does not control you. The past is a rudder to guide you, but not an anchor to hold you back. So many Christians are anchored to the past. They can't forget past failures and past sins, past embarrassing moments, past things that they have done. When God says to us, "Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more," that doesn't mean that God wipes them out of his mind. God cannot forget. God knows all things. What's it mean? I'm not going to hold it against you. The past is no longer going to have any control over you. Now spiritually-minded people are not controlled by the past, they're controlled by the future.

You see, time comes from the future into the present into the past. We say past, present, future. That's fine for the grammar book, but it's not good for everyday living. Past, present, future is the way unsaved people live, but Christians live future, present, past. We're always living in the future tense. We are looking for what God has ahead of us. He's marked out a course for every one of us. Every one of us has been given a course to run in, a goal to reach. Now I can't be looking at you. I can't be looking around at the other runners. I can't be looking back and see who's behind me. I've got to keep my eyes focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, the prize of His high calling.