If you have your bibles with you this morning, would you turn in your bibles to Phil. 3:13&14
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in God in Christ Jesus.”
I want you to be UP on this scripture and to insure you are up on it I want to say a few words about the word UP. It is just a small two-letter word this word UP and it is easy to understand the meaning of the word UP if we are referring to toward the sky or the top of a list, but why then do we wake UP in the morning, and why does a topic come UP at a meeting? Why do we speak UP when we want to be heard and shut UP when no one wants to hear? Why will the time come when our friend Harold Albrecht name will be UP for election, and at the end of the year, Carol Dorsch has to write UP the year end reports.
The little word is often unneeded but such is our fascination with it that we often use it anyway! Your smile brightens UP a room, … yes – a heart of gold and teeth to match! Someone polishes UP the silver, while another locks UP the house. You should see what Will and Sara have done to fix UP a house. A man and woman are thinking of moving and he might say, “It’s UP to you dear,” as they wait for Terry Kaye to tell them real estate prices are going to go UP.
Sometimes the word holds special meaning for us like, “A new mom needs to rest Up because he might be Up the rest of the night if there is a build UP of sound from the babies cradle. She might turn to her husband and say “Get UP, the baby is upset and crying up a river so you’d better be UP and at it!”
Jackie may stir UP trouble, while Florence will line UP for tickets, and Jerry works UP an appetite. If being UP is better than being down, why is it Rollie that it is usually bad to be “UP the Creek without a paddle.”
When Daniel gets dressed, is one thing, but to dress UP is something quite different! He wears a tie then! Wanda, when your children Joslyn and Bobbie eat it is one thing, but when they eat it all UP that is much better. Why do we open UP a drain when it is stopped UP? Jeff why is that you open UP the shop in the morning and close it UP at night?
We seem to be a little mixed UP about this little word Up, so to be UP on UP we ought to look UP – Up in the dictionary. When we look UP UP, we see that Up takes Up about a third of the page with definitions adding UP to about 30. If you’re Up to it you might try making UP your own list of the ways UP can be used and see how many you get UP to. If you don’t give UP or get fed UP you might end Up with a hundred or more.
When the sky looks like rain we say it is clouding Up, but when the sun breaks through we say it is brightening UP, or clearing UP. If the sun gets too hot we say things will burn UP or dry UP which is what some of you are beginning to wish I’d do, so I guess I’ll shut Up about UP before you rise Up against me.
Anyway, like I said, I just want us to be UP on our text, because what we’re not UP on we are so often down on.
Why is it that some people appear to succeed in life while others fail? Is it heredity, environment, luck, chance, fate, circumstances, parentage, money, or education? What is the reason? These things, in some instances have no doubt had a bearing on success, but history is replete with countless examples of people who have had few or none of the advantages life can offer and yet they have become magnificently successful. What is the reason?
Let me ask you this morning, do you want to live life to it’s fullest potential for you? IF you do then you must evaluate the past and plan for the future. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “If we fail to plan we plan to fail.” We don’t want to be ones who watch life go by, but we want to be difference makers.
In our text for today, I believe the apostle Paul gives us some of those keys or laws we need for success in our lives. You could call them God’s laws for success and I am absolutely certain as I share with you today – if you choose to ignore them you will NOT ultimately succeed. In our text there are 4 laws in particular that you cannot ignore if you want to succeed in the coming days. How many of you really want to succeed with the rest of your life?
First of all Paul says: “This one thing I do.” Paul makes it very clear that he is not going to wander aimlessly – he has a definite purpose in mind, a goal toward which he is headed. The importance of having clearly defined goals and objectives in our lives cannot be overestimated. I am convinced that this is where many people fall. Right off the bat they miss out not abiding by this first law. “Focus on one main priority and purpose.”
How about you? Can you say, “This one thing I do.” If so, then what is it that you do? Now there is the BIG question. If like Don Quixote’ we jump on our white war-horse and go riding off swinging our sword at windmills and shadows in every which direction, we will not get very far. If we could just focus on one thing, there is no telling what we could accomplish!
In this day and age it is not surprising that people seem to lack purpose and direction. Between the fluff and froth that comes from the media, and the increasingly godless education system, there is very little to define clear purpose and cause in our lives. For instance, the evolution that is taught in school underscores that we are products of random chance and that we all evolved from a cosmic accident with no defined purpose. It should come as no surprise that people who are fed that sort of nonsense for the first quarter of their lives in school are hard pressed to be people with a defined, thought-through purpose in their lives.
Others would argue from a New Age perspective, (whether they recognize it as new age or not) that everything that we do has purpose to it, but it is hidden in the recesses of our psyche and has not yet reached our conscious mind. They would say that it is a result of all that has happened to us in life, and we are drawn along by this fatalistic force, and what will be- will be.
The bible gives us no such contradictory signals. It makes it abundantly clear that the God who created the world has given a purpose and a time to everything under heaven. In Psalm 139, and Ephesians, 2 we read that God has a specific purpose for our lives and then because of the privilege we have of FREE WILL we must accomplish that purpose in our lives. The scriptures make it very clear that God has a very clearly defined and specific will for each and every person here! If we fail to seek Him, to listen to Him, to renew our minds so that we can find and follow what that good and acceptable and perfect will of God is for us, our lives will end up in needless, tragic failure.
We have a purpose! There is a cause! Are you living according to the purpose of God for your life? The junk heap has been created for those things that do not fulfil their purpose. We had a can opener someone donated to the church a number of years ago that looked great! It was shiny and clean, the chrome sparkled and the little wheely do-hickies turned just fine, but the sum of the parts did not work together to open a can, so guess where that can opener ended up! _________that’s right – the garbage.
Outside of the city of Jerusalem there was a place called the valley of Hinnon. We know it better as “Gehenna” which is the word translated in our English bibles as the word HELL. Into the valley of Hinnon was cast all the refuse and garbage from the city, – the things that no longer served any useful purpose. There was always a fire burning in the valley of Hinnon as the garbage was consumed. The apostle Paul tells us that someday all that we have built into our lives will be tested by fire. Only that which is of God will remain!
Paul makes it very clear that He has a purpose, but even more importantly, he had a singleness of purpose. This ONE thing I do! What a difference there would be if we would have real focus in our lives.
It is the integration of personality and all our faculties into one single purpose that brings to bear the stuff of greatness. It has been noted that every great life that has ever been lived; by anyone who has ever accomplished anything significant for good or for evil, whether it be the Apostle Paul, Florence Nightingale, David Livingston, Martin Luther, William Carey, or John Calvin. Any person who has accomplished much, has had this consuming singleness of purpose.
The handle of an axe only has one defining purpose. The weighty end of the head has no other purpose than to bring the inertia of the swinging handle to bear upon that thin sharp knife like edge, so that the wood it hits will split apart. When those purposes combine together properly, the wood yields to the purpose.
Our lives are not unlike that. If our purpose is to fly and we build a huge engine with stubby, tiny wings we won’t succeed. If we build wings a mile wide but don’t have the strength to empower them, we won’t succeed either. There needs to be an integration, where each part is moving towards the same goal. Looking beyond our personal lives, …if Rosebank Church hopes to accomplish anything of a significant eternal nature, it too will need an integration of purpose and effort towards a focussed goal to see the success God has intended for His church. If we as a church don’t share the same goals and purpose in the days to come, not only will we accomplish little, the enemy will highlight and accent our confusion, and our cross-purposes, so as to be a disgrace before God and a watching world. Like rowers in a 10 man sculley, we must be pulling together, headed the same direction, staying in step and listening to the same captain.
Everything an athlete does is focussed on one thing. The prize. His sleeping, his eating, his exercise, his nutrition program, his thinking and his study are all focussed on the mark of the prize. Is that true in your life? Is there a singleness of purpose that dictates to the other areas of your life, how you should live, what you should take in, what you should think to accomplish your goal.
Paul said, “This one thing I do” What is this? Well he defines it very clearly for us in our text, which brings us to our second law. The first was to focus on one main priority and purpose.
The second law is to forget that which is behind.
This is an amazing thing Paul is saying when you consider that the scriptures are full of verses that instruct us to remember things. Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup” Jesus said, “You do remember me until I come again.” Hebrews says, “Remember where you have come from and repent.” Remember! Remember! Now, in these laws of success we are told to forget!
Two elderly couples were enjoying a friendly conversation when one man asked the other, “Fred, how was that MEMORY CLINIC you went to last month?” “Outstanding,” Fred replied, “They taught us all the latest psychological techniques – visualization, and association. It made a huge difference for me!” “That’s great! I need to go there. What was the name of that Clinic?” Fred went blank, as he thought, and thought, but try as he might he couldn’t remember. Then a smile broke across his face and he said to his friend, “What’s the name of that flower with the beautiful fragrance, the long stem and thorns?” “Do you mean a rose?” “Yes, that’s it!” Then he turned to his wife and said, “Rose, what was the name of that memory clinic I attended?”
One of the greatest secrets in life for you and for me is our ability to know what to remember and what to forget. Many people are rendered useless failures because they remember what they ought to forget and forget what they ought to remember. This is a tragic thing. We ought to forget those things that debilitate us. Memories of past failures, memories of pain and hurt we have suffered, memories of rejection. I believe that as we remember these things it forms another link in the chains that Satan uses to bind us to the ground like some chained bird. No matter how much we want to spread our wings and head into the sky the chain yanks us back down.
My great prayer for us is that we might recognize that we are new creatures in Christ. Old things are passed away, He is the God of new beginnings! He is the God of second chances! He invites prodigals to come home regardless of the past. It is He who has promised us here at Rosebank this morning, “You and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” Will you choose with me to believe that is true? O, you won’t totally forget the past, but you can choose to reject the thoughts of the past that debilitate and weigh you down. Your continued rejection of the accusations, fears, and hurtful memories of the past your enemy Satan would stir up, will weaken Him and cause Him to flee from you as you purpose to “Do this one thing, Forgetting that which is behind and pressing forward toward the mark.”
The first law is one of single minded focus.
The second law is to forget that which is behind
The third law is to reach forward to those things which are before.
Paul uses here another Greek athletic term which literally means the eye outstrips the reach. We must stretch. We must be reaching, extending ourselves, our hands, our feet forward as far as possible. How many of you here enjoyed being a part of “Track and Field” events? Do you recall the coach would always tell you in the long jump to stretch the hands and feet forward in the jump as far as you possibly could. The sprinter was told to lean into the race, stretching forward as far as possible. We need a godly enthusiasm attached to the goals we feel led to set. Our goals need to be goals that exercise our faith….that really stretch us. The word in the KJV is to PRESS which means to bear down, with focussed energy and aim. It is a way of life. It is not something we do once and forget it. It is a way of living. It is a life of discipline.
OH NO! I used the “D” word! Yes, it takes DISCIPLINE to reach forward, to press ahead. The disciplines that over and over and over God calls us to if we are to lead fulfilling fruitful lives in Him. We need the daily disciplines of being in His word, – before Him in prayer, – in regular fellowship with each other and in relationships that call us to accountability and spur us on to do exploits in the name of our God, instead of just watching life go by. We need an eagerness of heart and a godly ambition to make a difference for Him in a world that is so desperately needy.
The first law is focus on one main priority and purpose.
The second law is to forget that which is behind
The third law is to reach forward to those things which are before.
The forth and final law is to press toward the mark for the prize.
In Greek the word we have translated as press or reach forward literally means to pursue with great energy and vigour. The connotation is that it will involve work. It won’t just happen to you. Is that where you have fallen down in the past? Have you prayed and then just waited for things to happen to you, supposing that God would drop it all in your lap? One of my favourite sayings is, “Faith alone will save you, but saving faith will never be alone.” What you do in life is an exhibit of your faith, and Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The faith that brings you into the maternity ward of Christendom, when fed will sprout feet to carry you from the Maternity Ward of your Christian life to the Maturity Ward of doing works of faith and service in a world that looks for you to be the hands and feet of God to them. Am I preaching works will save you? NO! But friends I am telling you very plainly, if as a Christian you are not pressing, exerting, and yes- working hard at fulfilling your purpose in God, then you will not succeed in fulfilling that purpose and you will have failed in being as useful to the Lord as He wants you to be. In the start of our text Paul, with all he had done and endured, said he had not yet apprehended, but then he affirms immediately a decision to re-double his effort, his resolve, his godly goals and to press, pursue, and stretch himself yet further towards the mark. The mark, or target as the Greek word means was Christ-likeness. It was for Paul – doing and saying the things that please the Lord in absolute obedience.
Now friends, please understand that this morning I have told you how a Christian ought to live, not how to become a Christian. The two approaches are very, very different. We can not do anything to merit our salvation and become a Christian. “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Whoever believes in me will not perish, but will have eternal life.” Paul said to the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Believing faith brings you into the family of God. Believing faith in Christ’s forgiveness of your sin, and his substitution for you on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin is what introduces you to the maternity ward of being a new baby Christian. You are born again! Applied faith, practical faith, will cause you to walk in the Spirit out of the maternity ward into a life of single-minded purpose. Into a new life where you choose to forget the failures of the past and where you stretch forward in eager pursuit of the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Friends there is a GREAT CAUSE worthy of all we are, all we have and all we can be.
There is no resting on past laurels in the Kingdom of God. Leisure = loss in the kingdom and if you stop peddling the bicycle you will eventually fall over. The world cries out, “More R & R! – Rest and Relaxation!” The Spririt of God cries out, “More R & R – Redeeming the time and Reconciling others to Christ!”
In closing I want us to look at the future that stretches before us in 2007 and I want to call us to the wisdom of walking in the laws of God we have considered today.
Who, with me today will say, “This one thing I do?” Your priority and focus in the coming days will be “Christ-likeness,” being conformed to His image. Lining your life up with the first commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your being.” You know in your heart of hearts that God is dealing with you about having your priorities straight in this approaching year. May I just say here, that while I was preparing this message the Lord reminded me of an old analogy regarding the narrow path of righteousness and the broad path that leads to destruction. I feel impressed this morning that someone here has been living a very double standard in your life. You appear to be pretty good when your around the folks at church, but there is a side of you that wants to enjoy the broad path of the world too and you have one foot on the narrow path and one on the broad path. The narrow path goes up and the broad path goes down and God has designed gravity in such a way that you never fall UP!
Who will join me today in the resolve to forget the past, with its failures and its fears and its influence on us? Who, will decide with me today to reject those memories that are destructive and keep on rejecting them when they rear their ugly head, choosing rather to concentrate on what lies ahead.
Who will join me this morning in reaching forward, in stretching ahead, in making that conscious exertion, to – dare I say it, to discipline yourself with the necessary elements to help you reach your single minded purpose.
- For some that will mean a resolve to be in the Word every day
- For some the greatest area of weakness you know must change is the area of prayer, private and corporate.
- For some listening today, the stretch God is calling you to is one of becoming a vocal witness, of sharing your faith in the coming year, rather than being a silent witness.
- Some of you know that God is calling you to exert yourself by getting involved in body life, by serving in some capacity of need within this local congregation. By fulfilling your purpose in the body you will help the body fulfil its purpose.
I believe God wants us to see many new people come into Rosebank this year, not because numbers mean anything, but because God wants our influence in the community and for his Kingdom to expand. As I share with you today I know that God is speaking to some of you about being team members in this great goal.
Finally, who will join me in fixing your eyes so clearly on the prize this morning that you won’t be distracted by the events that continue to unfold in this sin-sick world you live in. You would say, “Pastor, by God’s grace I will focus the days to come, I will forget what is behind and press forward in a new beginning with God. I will show my eagerness, through my discipline, and I will, with God’s help refuse to watch life happen this year. I will be one who makes a difference by God’s grace.