Let us turn to God's Word. In
the portion of Scripture that we read, the third chapter of
Paul's epistle to the Philippians, and we'll read again from verse
11 to verse 14. Philippians 3, verses 11 to 14.
If by any means, says Paul, I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead, 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. 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. Observe something
of the language that is used by the Apostle as he seeks to
give expression to something of his desire here in verse 11
and the beginning of verse 12 we find this word to attain if
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead
not as though I had already attained either were already perfect and
the word that he uses has this idea of reaching forth, even
arriving, and we see then something of his desire that he might arrive,
arrive at that blessed end that he speaks of in verse 14 as the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He speaks very much of the great
truth of the resurrection, he mentions Christ's resurrection
there in the 10th verse, that I may know Him, and the power
of His resurrection. But then also he speaks of the
general resurrection here in verse 11. This is what he desires
to attain, even the resurrection of the dead and there is a connection
as we know between the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and
that general resurrection that will be at the end of time. Now is Christ risen from the
dead and become the first fruits of them that slept says the Apostle
to the Corinthians. Christ's resurrection is the
first fruit, the guarantee then of that fullness of the harvest,
the great harvest at the end of time, the resurrection. And
the Puritan Richard Sidd speaks of that general resurrection
as really the beginning of glory, by the end of glory. That's not
to deny of course that when the believer dies, His spirit immediately
returns to God who gave it, just as his body is laid in the ground. It is absent from the body, it
is present with the Lord. But there is that awaiting the
general resurrection, and that is really the commencement of
all that fullness of the glory that God has laid up for his
people. Remember the golden chain that
we find there in Romans chapter 8 verses 29 and 30. That chain
that begins in eternity where God foreknows his people and
God foreordains and predestinates his people. He has made an eternal
choice of them. It begins then with his sovereign
love whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. And where
does it end? Ultimately, it is their glorification
that is spoken of there in Romans 8 and verse 13. That glorious
end. And this is what Paul is expressing
something of his desire for. He has a strong desire for the
end, for heaven itself. Remember how he speaks back in
the opening chapter of the epistle? Those striking words in verse
21 of the first chapter, for me to live is Christ, he says,
and to die is Gaia. And how he feels it. He says,
I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire. to depart and
to be with Christ which is far better than nevertheless to abide
in the flesh is more needful for you. All we desire is to
be where Christ is and yet at the same time such is the great
love and affection that he feels towards these Philippians and
to those other churches that under God have been the means
of their establishment. that he feels this tension within
himself. He would depart, he would go,
he would be where Christ is and yet at the same time he yearns
over these Christian believers and he wants to be one who would
minister to them. Time and again we see Paul expressing
his desire, his love to Christ And how that love of Christ constrains
him and that love is seen in the affection that he bears towards
those that he administered to. Now, this morning I want us more
particularly to concentrate on the expression of his desire
as we find it here in chapter 3 at the end of verse 12 and
through verse 13. and particularly this word apprehend. In verse 12 he says, I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do for getting those
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before. We need to take account, of course,
of the very words that are employed here in Holy Scripture. We believe
in plenary inspiration, we believe in verbal inspiration, that the
very words that were employed by the apostles here in the New
Testament, by prophets and others in the Old Testament, the very
words that they spoke and that were written in the Hebrew of
the Old Testament and the Greek of the New Testament, those are
the very words of God. It wasn't that God simply inspired
these men in their thinking, and then that having been inspired
to think the right thoughts, they then expressed themselves
in their own words. No, it's far greater than that. The very words are the words
of God. There's a mystery We don't believe
that they were mere automatons, that God simply dictated the
words and they wrote the words down. They are writing out of
the fullness of their own soul's experience. Paul is doing this,
as he expresses something of his desire. They are very much
the words of Paul, but they're more than the words of Paul.
Such is that doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures
that we are persuaded that they are the very words that God himself
inspired by the way in which he dealt with this particular
man and others. And so we do well to take account
of particular words. Now we've remarked already on
those words that we find in verses 11 and 12, where we twice have
the word attain. If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect. And remember what we
said concerning that verb to attain, it means to reach, to
arrive. But I want us more particularly,
as I said, to concentrate on these words that we find at the
end of verse 12 and in verse 13, this idea of spiritual apprehension. Words that he uses here, the
verb to apprehend. I follow after if that I may
apprehend that for which also, he says, 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 and reaching forth unto those things which
are before. Spiritual apprehension, then,
is the theme that I want to consider. something of with the Lord's
enabling and the significance of the word. What is it to apprehend? In a sense we're to think in
terms of Paul here speaking about how the Lord had arrested him. The policeman might apprehend
a criminal. And what is it to apprehend?
Well, this particular Word that used here literally means to
lay hold off. That's the basic meaning of the
word. And Paul was laid hold of, he was seized. And he speaks
of that, does he not hear? at the end of verse 12. I am,
he says, apprehended of Christ Jesus. How the Lord Jesus Christ
has laid hold on this particular man. And the Lord Jesus Christ
lays hold on all of his people. If we know anything of salvation,
the Lord himself must be that one who has taken hold of us,
seized us. Now, how is this? How does the
Lord apprehend his people? Well, at least we can see this
in a number of ways. First of all, is it not a truth
that Christ has laid hold of his people from eternity? He took hold of them in terms
of the eternal covenant. when the Father made choice of
them and committed them into his hands. He can say, as we
have it there in Hebrews chapter 2, we were reading that chapter
only earlier today in our readings at home, Hebrews chapter 2 and
verse 13, he quotes the language of the prophet Isaiah, Behold
I and the children which God hath given to me. O God, the Father gave to him
a people, gave to him his children, in terms of that eternal covenant. And so we are to recognize that
in that sense they were laid hold of from all eternity. He says in his great high priestly
prayer to the Father, John 17, Thine they were and Thou gavest
them mercy. All mine are thine, and thine
are mine, and I am glorified in them. They were chosen in
Him, were they not? As we read in Ephesians chapter
1. Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. There is that sense
in which we have to recognize that they were eternally laid
hold of when they were committed into His charge. And because
of that, we recognize how that Christ has come for them in the
fullness of the time. Has He not, in a sense, laid
hold of them by means of His incarnation? He has come where
they are, He has come to take hold of them. Again, we have
it there in that second chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews,
for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
He has likewise taken part of the same." Why the incarnation? Why has the Lord Jesus Christ
descended into this world? Why is it that He has taken upon
Him a human nature? It is that He might redeem that
people that were given to Him, that He laid hold of in terms
of the eternal covenant. Again there in Hebrews 2.16 we
are told verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but
he took on him the seed of Abraham. He was a particular people. It
was Abraham's seed. And Abraham of course is the
father of all them that believe. It is those who will come to
faith that the Lord Jesus Christ has become incarnate for. But
it is interesting there in that verse, Hebrews 2.16, to observe
the alternative reading in the margin. Verily, it says in the
margin, he taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham
he taketh hold. There we have it, you see. He
has apprehended, he has seized hold of the seed of Abraham,
even in the incarnation. He has come to identify himself
with his people to be all together as they are. To become bone of
their bone and flesh of their flesh. And so, when we think
of the manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ has laid hold of
his people, It's not only in terms of the eternal covenants
when the Father gave them to him and he took hold of them
as his own, but he has come for them in the fullness of the time
of the Incarnation. He has taken hold of them by
identifying himself all together with them. But then there's a
third one. in which the Lord Jesus Christ
also takes hold of his people. And it is, of course, in their
experience. He doesn't only take hold of
them eternally in the covenant, he doesn't only take hold of
them historically in the incarnation, but he also takes hold of them
experimentally. when he comes into their lives. And how does he come into their
lives? By that efficacious grace of God. By that effectual call
that comes by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What does Paul
say here concerning himself? And this is very much an experimental
part of the epistle, is it not? Philippians chapter 3 It's similar
to other portions such as Romans chapter 7 or Galatians chapters
1 and 2 where we find the Apostle saying things concerning himself
and his own experiences. Because remember how he tells
us in the opening chapter of the first epistle to Timothy
that he is the patron. The patron to them which should
thereafter believe. He's a typical believer. There
are certain principles in his experience that are applicable
to all Christians. And I say that this third chapter
of the Philippian epistle is one of those portions where Paul
speaks of himself. And what he says does not relate
to those who are the true people of God. What was Paul's experience
then? He was apprehended, personally. Oh, it was such an intimate thing
this. The Lord Jesus Christ came into his very life. Isn't that
what he is saying here in the words of our text? I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus laid hold of that
man. The Lord Jesus sees that man.
He was arrested. He was arrested. We sang it just
now, of course, in our opening hymn, that lovely hymn of Jehoiada
Brewer. Thus the Eternal Covenant ran,
Almighty Love arrests that man. It's not enough to see it in
terms of the Eternal Covenant. where in Christ, as I say, laid
hold of that people that were given to him, not enough to see
it historically, in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when
he identifies with these people and takes hold of them, it has
to come into our very souls. We have to know these things
in our own experience. And that was Paul. I said just
now we have these portions wherein he does say something of his
experience, these experimental parts of the epistles. There
in Romans chapter 7 was one of the portions that I referred
to. Look at what he says there at verse 7. What shall we say
then? He's the law, sin, God forbid,
nay, I have not known sin. See how he's speaking now of
his own experience. I, that's me, Paul, I have not
known sin but by the law, for I have not known lust except
the Lord had said thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,
all manner of evil desire, for without the law sin was dead. For I, was alive without the
law once, when the commandment came, sin revived and I died
out, he was made to feel the reality of his condition as a
sinner. When the law came he thought,
you see, that he was one who was a keeper of the law. He thought
he was blameless before the Lord of God. That's what he says here,
is it not? Look at verse 6. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. That's what he thought of himself.
He lived the life of a pharisee. He was an upright man. He was
a man who kept the commandments of God outwardly. And yet when the Lord came, when
he came into his soul, when that tenth commandment thou shalt
not covet, seized hold of his conscience. Why he was made then
to see that he was full of all manner of evil. The psalmist
says the pains of hell got hold upon them. And that was Paul's
experience. He was arrested, he was made
to feel what he wants. He was brought into that terrible
place. where he felt the conviction
of his sins. He was plunged into the ditch. Look at the language of poor
Job. Oh, remember the deep experiences
of that man when God had such personal dealings with him. He says there in chapter 9, if
I wash myself with snow water, make my hands never so clean,
yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall
abhor me. What is he speaking of? It is
the same as what we referred to in the psalm, the pains of
hell getting hold of a man, the man being brought to see that
he is a sinner. The law, the law worketh wrath,
the law is administration of condemnation, And this was the
experience, I say, of the Apostle Paul. He was arrested. He was
brought low. He was laid to the ground. We
have the record of it, of course, there in the 9th chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles, where we find him bent on the destruction
of believers, breeding out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He journeyed and came near Damascus,
and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven,
and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou,
Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And he, trembling and astonished,
said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Oh, he was apprehended,
He was apprehended of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's that word,
it's those words, those verses that we read there in Acts chapter
9 that he is speaking of here in our text this morning. This
is how the Lord apprehended him. What does the Lord do? He arrests
the sinner. And he brings the sinner down.
He makes the sinner to see and to feel what he is. He plunges
him in the ditch. But it doesn't end there, does
it? When the Lord arrests a man, that's only one part of the Christian's
experience. He is brought to see and feel
what he is as a sinner. But it's not enough simply to
see ourselves as sinners. We need something more. We need
to know that there is salvation for sinners. We need to know
the blessed application of that work that the Lord Jesus Christ
wrought and accomplished for sinners. See how the Lord continues
to speak to Saul of Tarsus there in Acts 9.6. What does he say?
Arise. Oh yes, the Lord arrests him
and brings him down, humbles him to the dust, makes him to
feel himself to be not a righteous man, that was his pharisaic righteousness. All that stripped away. But when the Lord strips him
of everything, he doesn't leave him lying in the ditch. No, he
says there in Acts 9, 6, arrives. And we see something very similar,
do we not, in the experience of Daniel. Thank God that these
things are all written. and they're written for our learning
are they not? Throughout the Word of God we
have the experiences recorded of these gracious men who knew
the salvation of the Lord. There in Daniel chapter 10 remember Daniel's remarkable
vision Daniel chapter 10 verse 8 he
says therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision And
there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned
in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the
voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words,
then was I in a deep sleep, on my face, and my face toward the
ground. And behold, a hand touched me,
which set me upon my knees, and upon the palms of my hand. And
he said unto me, O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the
words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright. For unto thee
am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word
unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not,
Daniel. For from the first day that thou
didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before
thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. O Daniel's vision, you see, he
sees something of the glories of God, and what does he say?
His comeliness is turned into corruption. He's made to feel
his sin, the pains of hell getting hold upon him. But the Lord,
though he humbles him to the very dust, and here he is, you
see, his face toward the ground, but then the Lord touches him
and tells him to stand upright. Stand upright, he says, for unto
thee am I no saint. And when he had spoken this word
unto me, I stood trembling. For the Lord, though he arrest
his people, he doesn't leave them. He doesn't leave them there
wallowing in the mire. He has come as that one who will
yet acquit the sinner. The sinner is made to stand before
his God. His own righteousness is, he
must see, to be useless. This is Paul's experience, is
it not? Though he can speak so much of
his own pedigree, here in the former part of this chapter.
See how he speaks at verse 4? 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. circumcise the 8th day of the
stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin and Hebrew of the
Hebrews as touching the law of the Pharisees concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blindness, oh he's got all of this, all this wonderful
pedigree, the right parentage, the right connections, belonging
to that strict sect of the Pharisees, living the life of the Pharisees,
But it's all useless. All his own righteousnesses are
in vain. And that's what he's brought
to you, sir. That's what he's brought to recognize. The one
thing above all that he desires, verse 9, ought to 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, God's righteousness. All that righteousness wrought
out by God manifest in the flesh. He can be delivered, can he not?
He can be acquitted. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. Says God, I have found a ransom. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
one who has come to redeem his people. He is the only one who can save
the sinner. And this is what happens, you
see, in Paul's experience. The Lord himself arrests him,
strips him of everything. He stands accused, but not accused
forever. In time, there is that blessed
acquittal. The Lord himself has wrought
a salvation for him. so he speaks in the words of
the text that I may apprehend that for
which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus brethren I count
not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do for getting
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. As the Lord apprehended
him, so he also desires to apprehend, that I may apprehend, he says. I cannot myself to have apprehended.
All this is the one thing that he desires, you see. And what
is it? It's that that is laid up before
him. It's that that is laid up before
him. He has in a sense, we might say,
this blessed preoccupation, this great desire to be where the
Lord is, to be in heaven itself. See how he concludes the whole
chapter? Verse 20, our conversation, that
is our citizenship, is in heaven. from whence also we look for
the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body
that he may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself he wants to know all that fullness of salvation
that salvation that is for body as well as for soul he wants
heavenly heaven, that holy, happy place where sin no more defiles,
where God unveils His blissful face and looks and loves and
smiles, that's what He wants above everything He wants to
be where the Lord is, it's that that's laid up that He will seek
to lay hold of all the Lord has laid up for His people such a
glorious salvation now see what It entails, in Paul's experience
here, two things. There is to be a forgetting,
and there is to be a following. Brethren, I cannot myself to
have apprehended, he says, but this one thing I do. Forgetting
those things which are behind. There is that that is to be forgotten. Now what is it in particular
that he wants to forget? Well, it's not really so much
his sins, the sins that he was once guilty of, because those
sins are no more, those sins are all forgiven. Isn't that the great promise
of the eternal covenant of God? There in Jeremiah chapter 31, Verse 33, This shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and
write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall
be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord. For they shall all know Him, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." There it
is, you see, his sins are gone. I will forgive their iniquity,
says God. The promise of the new covenant.
I will remember their sin no more and then again. Later, that
lovely verse that we find in Jeremiah 50 and verse 20. No, that's the wrong reference. Yeah, verse 20 it is. Jeremiah
50 verse 20, In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord,
the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall
be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found,
for I will pardon them whom I reserve. As far as the east is from the
west says the psalmist, so far as to remove their transgressions
from us. He doesn't need to forget his
sins, this man, when he says here in verse 13, this one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind me, those were
already gone, they were already forgotten, God's forgotten them,
God's forgiven them. Strictly speaking then, it's
not those sins that are being referred to here, nor Is it that
legal righteousness that he would once have made so very much of? Those things that are spoken
of there at verse 4 and the following verses. Why he's already counted
all those but loss. I counted lost for Christ he says, yea
doubtless I count all things but last 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 dumb it's not even that imagined righteousness
that he's referring to what is he speaking of then here is that
that he must forget I count not myself to have apprehended, but
there's one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind."
Ultimately it's his gospel labors that he forgets. All that he
had done in seeking to fulfill that ministry to which the Lord
had called him, his gospel labors were to be
forgotten. Remember what we read, the language of the Lord Jesus
Christ, at the end, in that great day, the day of the final judgment,
there in Matthew chapter 25, verse 37, Then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee, and hungered and
fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee
a stranger, and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? Or
when saw we thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me. You see the language of the righteous here. All that
they done Why they don't count that for anything, really. Those
things are forgotten. And this was Paul's experience,
was it not? How does he view himself? In
spite of all his great labours in the Gospel, he's less than
the least of all saints, he's the least of the apostles, that's
how he writes to the Corinthians there in the 15th chapter and
verse 9 of 1st Corinthians, less the least rather of the apostles
not worthy to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church
and then he speaks in Ephesians 3 of himself as that one who
is less than the least of all saints, in his typical Pauline
language you cannot get below the least. If you're the least,
there's nothing lower than that, and yet Paul says he's less than
that. In a sense, he coins a word, he says he's the leaster. He's
the leaster of all sons. Oh, this man you see, though
I be nothing, he says, though I be a cipher, a zero, a nothing, I'm the chief of all sinners.
You see, he forgets everything about himself. He forgets everything
about... nothing at all. Not just forgetting
the sins that he was guilty of, not just forgetting his self-righteous
wife, but even forgetting all that he had done in seeking to
serve the Lord Christ. It all means nothing to him.
Oh, it's just one thing and one thing only, and we see it in
this passage, do we not? Look at what he says in verse
12, I follow after, he says. I follow after. Again in verse
13, reaching forth onto those things which are before me. pressing towards the mark for
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. What does he desire? It's Christ,
it's all Christ. He wants to win Christ. He wants to be found in Christ. He wants to know Christ. Look at the language that he
uses. verse 8 following, I count all things but last 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 done that I may
win Christ all that's the prize to win Christ to be found in
Him not having mine own righteousness which is of the Lord 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. I press toward the mask for the
pride of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Oh, He wants to apprehend something.
What is it that He wants to apprehend? It's Christ He wants to comprehend.
It's interesting, you know, this word that we have here that we
sought to lay such emphasis upon this morning, this word, to apprehend. I follow after him that I may
apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended. It's exactly the same word that
we find in Ephesians chapter 3 and verses 18 and 19 but there it rendered comprehend and this is part of Paul's prayer
is it not? His prayer for the Ephesians that Christ may dwell
in your heart by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in
love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge that he might be filled with all the
fullness of God this is what Paul wants to apprehend in a
sense he wants to comprehend that that is beyond comprehension
he passes knowledge he says all friends are we those who have
such a desire all God grant that we might have a desire a real
hungering and thirsting for Christ to know him this is life eternal
he says to know the the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
they have ever seen. He wants heaven. And what is
heaven? Heaven is Christ. Wherever Christ
is, it must be heaven. The Lamb is all the glory in
Emmanuel's land. The bride eyes not her garment,
but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but
I am my King of grace. not at the crown he giveth, but
at his nail-pierced hand. The Lamb? Oh, the Lamb is all
the glory in Emmanuel's Lamb. This is what Paul would apprehend. You see, the Lord has laid hold
of him, and he would lay hold of his Lord. And all that we
might be those who desire that, to lay hold of him. To lay hold
of him now by faith. All but to long for that time
when faith will be taken up with song. when we see Him as He is and
when we are made like unto Him and conformed to His blessed
image. I follow after, says the Apostle,
if that I may apprehend that for which 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 unto those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.