I please God to bless us together
this evening as we consider his word in the Epistle of Paul to
the Philippians and the third chapter and we'll read verses
13 and 14. The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians
chapter 3 and reading verses 13 and 14. 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. In this third chapter of the
Philippians, we have quite a detailed insight into the true spiritual
desires of the Apostle Paul. And they were, of course, written
many years after the Apostle was converted on that Damascus
road. So we see here are these real
living concerns and we may sometimes wonder and think well surely
the Apostle Paul was a great blessed man of God and would
have being wonderfully favoured day by day with so many encouragements
and strengthening in his soul. Well, no doubt he was, but we
also realise that he was, he tells us, a man of like passions
as we are. He wasn't any different, he was
just an ordinary human being. And so, as we realise that, may
we be encouraged to think, Here is a man of God, but just like
we are, and yet we're thankful that he was able, under the Spirit's
wonderful influence, to record and write down those longings,
those desires, after knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it really is a blessing for
us to realise how we need to elevate our desires and our concerns
to be upon those things which are eternal, those things which
are heavenly, because we are journeying through this world.
Indeed, it's spoken of, and the apostle hints at it here, it
is a race, a race that we're on in this journey of life. And there is Like there is very
often in natural races a prize at the end of the road, so there
is a prize at the end of the road for the Church of God. And
that of course is not something which is temporal, not something
which will be taken away. Naturally people run races and
beat records and then those records are beaten and they lose that
prize. And often those prizes are only
for a short period. But when God gives us the blessing
it is, the prize of eternal life, it is a wonderful, glorious gift
that all of us need. And we might say, we must have,
because without that we shall perish. Without that we shall
be found in eternal misery, in endless perdition. in that terrible
place of hell everlasting. How seldom do we really think
about these things sufficiently. I believe if we were able to
ponder them more, it would influence our lives in a right way. If
we were to think, well, I may not see the light of tomorrow,
how would we perhaps spend this evening? How would we spend tonight? Will we just fritter it away? Will we just waste our time?
Or will we be very much on our knees, very much concerned for
that wonderful evidence that we are right to stand before
the judge of all the earth? And yet the reality is none of
us know whether that will be so. And so how important it is. that our lives do demonstrate
and show forth the concern we have about the health of our
souls. Well, the Apostle comes here
and he says, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended
And really what he's saying here is he hasn't actually, as it
were, laid hold of these things. He hasn't perhaps grasped these
things mentally. You may think, well, is that
true, Paul? Are you really being honest? Well, he is. Paul was
an honest man. The Word of God is an honest
book. And so as we read an account like this, we must realise that
here is the apostle, but he's able to leave these things aside,
as it were, because he views the important issues in his life. And how important for us to view
the important issues in our life. He tells us, but this one thing
I do. There were many things the Apostle
did in his life. There's many things that you
and I do in our lives. But here we have this statement
from the Apostle, but this one thing I do, for getting 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. So we have here a view of the
Apostle, And he's reaching forth, he's forgetting those things
which he's passed through. He's not looking back and thinking,
well that was a good time I had at that place and I enjoyed that
party and I enjoyed that situation. Yes, all those natural things,
he's leaving them behind. And he tells us to forget. those things. It's a good thing,
isn't it, to be reminded of that? Because such things are really
vanity, aren't they? And we know that Solomon, in
his wisdom, explored the world to find happiness in this earth. And his conclusion or his vanity
of vanity and vexation of spirit. And so we have this statement
here, this desire by the Apostle, this one thing, to forget those
things which are behind, to not look back, not look back, no,
indeed we're not to look back. And the Word of God tells us,
and it tells us, Jesus says, no man having put his hand to
the plough And looking back is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. Not to look back at those things
which we've left behind, those things which God has delivered
us from, brought us out of. Perhaps not easily, perhaps with,
we might say with broken bones, but God has brought us out. We're
not therefore to go back and we're not even to look back.
So the apostle tells us here, but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind. But there wasn't to be a vacuum,
he wasn't to be in a condition where those things were forgotten
and there was nothing now to do. There was very much to do. There was very much to consider.
And those things were real. And those things were blessed.
And those things were eternal. And those things were much more
important. And so he tells us, reaching
forth unto those things which are before. Reaching forward. And that involves, doesn't it,
some work, some effort. It's not standing still, it's
reaching forth. The apostle knew then the blessings
which were to be obtained through the grace of God. And remember
what he told us previously in this account, in this third chapter. He tells us of himself, he tells
us of his pedigree, And it was a good pedigree. Indeed, he said
he was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of
the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the
law of Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching
the righteousness, which is in the law blameless. So it was
a good pedigree. Well, was he relying on that?
No, he was not. And my friends, we are not to
rely, we might think, on our pedigree. We might think, well,
I've been brought up well, I've been brought to go to chapel,
brought up to read the Bible, I've been brought up to pray,
all good things. But you cannot rely on those
things as saving. Because all of us have to have
a personal religion, a personal knowledge of our Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so he moves on to tell us
then what things were gained to me. Yes, his natural learning,
and as we all know he was a learned man, was brought up at the feet
of Gamaliel, and very well versed in the scriptures, but he tells
us what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. Important as they may have been,
they were of no real value, when he compared himself with the
need for that knowledge of the Saviour. And so he gives us an
expression, he says, yea, doubtless. There was no doubt about it.
And it's true, there is no doubt about it. But sometimes we're
left to doubt, we're left to wonder, with something left to,
as it were, look back. He tells us here, 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 none but done that I may win Christ. That's a very comprehensive statement,
isn't it? Can you imagine the seed in your
life and my life. He tells us everything he counted
but loss. That means he was willing to
lose everything. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he came to be crucified, what did he have? He just had
the garments he was clothed in, and those were taken off him
when he was placed the cross. The Saviour had nothing in this
life. My friends, we have so many things in this life and
it's good if we have the grace to be able to say like the Apostle
here, he counted all these things but loss. They were not important
to him but something was and what was that? It was this. the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Now he was able to wonderfully
say Christ Jesus my Lord. He knew something of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He'd been blessed with something
of the drawing power of the Saviour. He'd been arrested on that road
to Damascus. The Lord had come and met with
him. And now he comes and speaks these
words, the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my
Lord. He counted that knowledge. And
it wasn't something tangible that he could grasp. It wasn't
a pile of money that he could take and put under his mattress
or put in the bank. No, it was that which was a spiritual
blessing which God had given him. And he knew a little of
it. He wanted to know more. The excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, because it was so valuable. It had an eternal value that
all the things of this world do not have. The things of this
world have just a passing value. They're only of value when we
can use them. Once we pass out of time, they
are of no value at all. But the things of Christ are
valuable in this life and are eternally valuable. You see how great a difference
it is? And so the Apostle desires the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Now remember,
He's addressing the brethren, addressing the church at Philippi,
and he's telling them to reach forth unto those things which
are before. And those things which are before
are a greater knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We may perhaps pause, we may
wonder, we may consider that is our testimony, if that is
the true desires of our heart, if that is the real concern of
our souls, that this might be the wonderful blessing that we
really desire, this excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, and be found therefore reaching forth for it. Now, says
the Apostle in this account, he tells us, he says, for whom he'd suffered the loss
of all things. The Apostle had suffered the
loss of all things. No doubt, because of his learning,
because of his status as a Pharisee, he may have had many natural
possessions, we're not told. The truth is that he was prepared
and willing and had given them up and they'd been lost. He'd
suffered the loss of all those things. He may have had to leave
them behind. We know he travelled widely,
didn't he, to preach the Gospel. And he went from one place to
another. And therefore we're told, I've suffered the loss
of all things. And then he gives us a statement
with regards to how he counted them, what value. He put on those
things that he'd lost. Were they of some great tangible
value? Well, they may have been. But
the truth is that he counts them about dung. Well, we wouldn't
think dung is very valuable, would we? It does have some value
to a farmer, but generally speaking, it's not very valuable. And therefore
he tells us, that's how he counted the things that he lost. He counted
them as done. And what did he tell us? 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 the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Well, this is what he desires
to have and to know and to be blessed with. And as we spoke
this morning on this robe of righteousness, how valuable it
is and how, my friends, we cannot earn it. It's not something we
can work for and say, well, I merit this great blessing. No, it's
that which God gives freely. Isn't it wonderful to think that
we have all our unrighteousness. And the Lord comes and gives
us His perfect robe of spotless righteousness. And so the apostle
had a right view of these things. He knew how valuable it was.
You know, if you and I go to glory, we will be clothed with
that righteousness of Christ, His robe. We won't be found in
glory without it. Remember the parable, there was
that person who'd gone into the marriage supper and he hadn't
got a wedding garment. The Lord saw him there, the Lord
brought him out and he was thrown into outer darkness. Yes, into
that terrible place of hell. He was not allowed to stay in
there, he had his own garment on. My friends, none of us will
be allowed to take our own garment, our own righteousness, our own
justification into glory. It would all have been left behind,
as it were. It would all have been lost.
We might be very proud, perhaps, of some of our doings. We may
have chalked up a long list of things that we've done. And we
may be relying upon those things to get us to glory. My friends,
they will be of no value. The Apostle knew they were of
no value. He knew what was valuable, and
therefore he was seeking after it, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. In Him. In Christ. Not left outside, be found in
Christ. And therefore, he says, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law. You see, the apostle
was at one time relying upon his knowledge of the law, the
ceremonial law, the law of God, and the moral law. He was so
well versed in it. He was content to rest in it.
That's what he was doing until he was apprehended on that Damascus
road. He was living his life, satisfied
with his knowledge and his ability. But at that time, it was all
taken away. He lost it all. It wasn't the
way he stood naked before a holy God. He cried out, Lord, what
will thou have me to do? What a change in the apostle's
life. So here we see him then in this
situation now with this wonderful desire, not having his own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. God-given faith to believe the
truth of the Word of God. What a blessing it is to receive
that gift of faith, how important it is, how wonderful it is, how
necessary. And the apostle was blessed with
it and he knew the importance of it. Remember when he wrote
to the church in Ephesus, he came and he told them the position,
having brought them to realise that they were quickened who
were dead in trespasses and in sins, he comes down and tells
them, for by grace are you saved through faith. Well, that's true. He doesn't stop there. And that
not of yourselves, it's not your faith. It's God's faith, which
he gives to you. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift. of God. So my friends, if you
and I are blessed with real blessed living faith, remember what this
is, the righteousness which is of God by faith, we receive it
by faith, not something that we can work on ourselves. It
is this great and glorious gift and it's through that gift that
we believe and it's through that that we are saved. not of works
lest any man should boast. Always come back to that realisation. As you and I are able to examine
ourselves, and may we often do it, it's a good exercise to examine
ourselves to see whether we are in the faith or not. We don't
want to be deceived. We don't want to get to the gates
of death and the entrance into eternity and find that we do
not possess the gift of eternal life. We do not possess the gift
of faith. It's good, therefore, to come
and to examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith or not, to
see whether God has given us this faith to believe. And if
it's given us this faith to believe, you know, there'll be a blessing
in it. It won't be something which will just be a vacuum,
something which is negative. It'll be something which is positive,
because that faith will be to direct us to what Christ has
done. his finished work, because without
that finished work there would be no salvation and therefore
there would be no faith. So to be directed to that view
would be a wonderful blessing which is of God by faith. Yes, says the Apostle, he didn't
count himself apprehended but this one thing he knew, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those
things which are before." You see, these are things which are
before us. These are the valuable things
which are before us. These are things which we need
to know in our hearts, in our soul, not to just remain in our
minds, not just a theory, but a reality. And that reality is
given to us as God gives us that faith to believe. And we know
in ourselves, within our heart, because our spirit is moved by
the grace of God. So we do believe, and it's not
just something functional in our minds, because it has an
effect upon us. And we know that the Lord has
come, the Lord has blessed us with life within, that life which
will never be destroyed. And so having made this statement,
we then see the apostle reaching out, this way. He's reaching
out and he's saying 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
the resurrection of the dead. The apostle was looking forward. He was looking to the end. He
was looking at that time when there would be that great and
glorious resurrection. He wasn't concerned about the
vanities of this world which were passing and would fade away. No, he was looking upon those
things which were and are substantial, those things which are eternal.
Those things which will not fade, will not disappear, those things
which the Church of God are resting on, the foundation of that knowledge
of Christ. And so says the Apostle, that
he might know Him. Yes, he was reaching forth with
this desire. Now, is our desire like that? Day by day, not just in a mere
form of words, forgetting those things which are behind, and
to be reaching forward, reaching forward to those things which
are to come, which are before. The blessing of God in the soul,
the power of His resurrection. Now we can think of the power
of the resurrection as we read in the Word of God, we know the
Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, He was dead, and the Lord
Almighty raised him from the dead. And that was a wonderful,
great and glorious thing. And I think that all the Church
of God will be raised from the dead on that great day of the
resurrection. But there is also that question
of being raised from the dead in a spiritual sense. When the
work of the Spirit comes into our soul, And as we read in that
second chapter of Ephesians, we were quickened, we were made
alive, we were a new creature. It was the evidence of that amazing
change and it was really resurrection power which brought life into
our dead situation. The Lord gave us that life within.
that I might know him and the power of his resurrection. Well to know have we the evidence
of knowing that power that has put life within us. Whereas we
were dead in trespasses and in sins, but by the grace of God
we've been made alive. Oh bless God for the life within,
eternal life which God has given. Well, here's the apostle then,
the power of his resurrection, you know, as we've been blessed
with it. Bless God if you have. If you haven't, seek after it
earnestly. And then to have a renewal of
that in our souls, the renewal of that life, we may have become
very cold and lukewarm and perhaps almost dead. We need the grace
of God to revive us. Revive our spirits just like
this really, this desire to have this power of his resurrection. And then the apostle speaks something
which may be surprising and perhaps we might think unnecessary. He
says, and the fellowship of his sufferings. Why might we think
that is unnecessary? Why might we think it's unusual?
Well, the truth is that the natural mind would, in fact, turn away
from it. But the truth is that Christ
suffered, really, all his life. He was, remember, the holy, righteous,
spotless Son of God. And he was born in this sinful
world, with sin all around him, and Satan attacking him at every
opportunity. And so we have the example of
what the Lord Jesus passed through. And of course it culminated in
that death upon that cross at Calvary, the sufferings of Christ. My friends, sometimes we perhaps
pray that we may be blessed with union and communion with Christ,
which is very good and a right desire, but that will really
not come about unless we understand something of this fellowship
of his sufferings. Because it brings religion into
a different level, into a real level, and then we understand
and we bless God for his great work of salvation, and it is
communion and union with his sufferings. And so the apostle
uses the phrase fellowship, with all of his sufferings. It was
his desire, it was his concern. And perhaps we might be fearful
of praying a prayer like that because we might think we're
going to have to pass through terrible, terrible sufferings
naturally in this world. Well, the Word of God doesn't
tell us that. But sometimes the Lord brings us into situations
and there will be situations which God will bring you into
which will produce a blessing in the soul which is supernatural,
which is that which would do you real good when the Lord comes
and touches your heart and you realise the path he's called
you and caused you to walk in is so that you might understand
something of the truth these words, fellowship with his sufferings. Now the wonderful favour of this
is a wonderful proof of the life of God in the soul. a proof that
you've passed from darkness to light, from death to life, because
there is no fellowship to the world. The world will not understand
the blessing of this situation. There will be no comfort in it,
no peace, no favour, but to the living Church of God to be brought
to realise that the Lord's dealings with us are bringing us to this
situation. Fellowship with His sufferings
will be a wonderful reality and a wonderful comfort. to have
that confirmation that we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here we have this then,
reaching forth, reaching forth unto those things which are before. I suppose we perhaps live sadly
in a day when not much of this is realised. No, the situation
generally is that people are far off. They're not very near
and they have their little formulas in their mind, their little ideas
of what's going to come and what they need. This is a comprehensive
statement if you think about it. Sufferings of Christ is very
comprehensive because it brings to bear so many things in the
life of the Saviour which have wonderful value in them. fellowship
of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, to
conform to these things, to be willing to suffer with him. Again, as I often say, if we
suffer with him, we should also reign with him. Your life and my life will not
be free from suffering, and we can say perhaps that's in a spiritual
sense. It may be in a natural sense
as well, but more particularly it's in a spiritual sense, to
know what it is to walk this path, to be made conformable
unto his death. An apostle says then, if by any
means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. The one thing needful was to
be right with Christ. The one thing needful was to
be ready for his and we for our eternal state. This was the great
need. And so he gives us this expression,
if by any means, whatever was necessary in my life to bring
me to this situation, might it be done. What was he really doing? He was submitting himself under
the mighty hand of God. And my friends, you and I would
need much grace to do that. But it's a wonderful blessing
the Lord brings us into that situation where we are willing.
We're made willing in the day of his power. We're not made
willing left to ourselves. But when God comes and possesses
our hearts and minds, it's then that we're made willing. to submit
ourselves under the mighty hand of God and to be brought to this
place where our desires are to know more of Christ and Him crucified. And so he tells us, not as though
I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow
after, if I may apprehend, for that which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. And we come then down to these
words, 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. So we
have just gone through some of these things which we, by God's
grace, should desire and pray that they might be found, reaching
forth. These things are spiritual blessings.
And then he tells us, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The picture we
have here is not an easy journey. We're pressing forward against
opposition. You know, when we perhaps are
out walking or running and it's very, very windy, you've got
to press forward. And sometimes we might become
very tired in our journeys and we have to press on. We like
to just stop and we like to sit down, we like to take it easy.
But you know sometimes we may have an appointment to make and
we've got to press on to get there in time for the appointment.
Well it's really in a similar situation with regard to our
journey in life. There is a pressing on. Yes, perhaps we think, oh, I
would love to have a rest, I'd like to have a change. No, there's
a pressing on. It's a true following of the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We read He set His face as a
flint towards Jerusalem, the place where He was to be crucified. He didn't back away from it.
We know that he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me, but remember he then said,
nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. We may perhaps
come in our lives to wish that we didn't have to walk a certain
way, but it's good if we're given that grace also to be able to
come and say, nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. As we journey on, as we press
toward the mark, Yes, towards the mark which means the end
of the race, the end of our journey. There it is before us. We may not see the end very clearly,
but it's there. It will be that mark and you
and I are encouraged like the Apostle Paul was to desire to
press on towards that mark, the end of our journey. pressed toward
the mark because there is a prize at the end of the road. And it's
a prize of Almighty God. It's that gift of eternal life. It's the crown of righteousness
with which we shall be crowned when we come to the end of our
race on this earth. And so there is a wonderful and
blessed prospect, isn't there, for the Church of God. It's not
as though we're running a race in vain. We're not just beating
the air. There's a prize at the end of
the road. It's a wonderful thing to look forward to. And it's
worth the pressing. And there is a pressing. And
it's not easy. I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. As we've read this account, no
doubt, we've read it probably many times, it's a very blessed
account, but sometimes we just need to ponder, need to ponder
our own selves before God. Remember, it's not what I think
of you or you think of me, it's not what we think of each other,
it's what God thinks of us, it's what God knows of us. As God
looks right into our hearts, he sees there precisely what
we are concerned about and whether we'll go home tonight and we'll
forget about these things and cast them aside and just carry
on our own sinful life without any real concern about the prize
at the end of the road. But it's a good thing if the
Almighty God brings these things to our remembrance constantly,
and we may remember the desires of the Apostle Paul. And don't
forget that he was an eminent man. Don't forget he was willing
to give all these things up that he might win Christ and be found
in him, having not his own righteousness but that which was given to him
by the gracious and glorious Saviour. I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Well, I wonder in our journey,
journey of life, are we stationary? Are we still? Are we looking
all around? Are we looking backwards? Or
are we looking forward? And are we pressing forward?
And I would desire us then, in this race, to know fellowship
with the Saviour, unity with Him, blessings that He gives,
His righteousness, His faith, the life of God in our soul,
strength to press on, ability to hold on our way, all the favours
which God gives to His suffering Church. as we journey on through
life. Well, may the Lord bless us and
help us to consider these things and realise what the Apostle
said. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. He singles it
out. One thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, 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. Amen.