Philippians 3:14-16
Only Ever Forward
This epistle is not primarily a doctrinal epistle. It has doctrine
in, important doctrine; but that was not Paul’s purpose for writing
this letter. This letter is more personal and practical. Paul was
in prison. He did not know how things would go for him in prison, so
he wrote some friends to encourage them.
Isn’t it strange how some people, when they need encouraging, find it
in encouraging others? That is what Paul did.
This selection is very practical. It was Paul telling his friend to
move only ever forward.
How does one move only ever forward?
I. \\#14-16\\ Walk the right direction - FORWARD
Phi 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
A. \\#14\\ A Mark Is Set - There was a mark out there that Paul
was stretching to reach.
1. Paul was not a young man, either in life or in Christ.
2. Even so, he had not reached everything he wanted to reach.
3. What can we say of this mark?
a. It was a PRIZED mark.
(1) The prize is what belongs to the winning athlete.
(2) Athletes have a make-up foreign to me.
(3) For them to do what they do, they must:
(a) …long for the prize.
(b) …work for the prize.
(c) …sacrifice for the prize.
(4) I have never found an earthly prize that could
move me that way.
(5) Every Christian should find a heavenly prize that
will move them.
b. It was a HIGH prize.
(1) It was not a common or easy to attain prize.
(2) The prize that Paul sought was more lofty, more
noble, more spiritual.
c. It was a CALLED TO prize.
(1) A calling means someone called you.
(2) The prize Paul sought, he was called to seek by
God.
(3) God calls every Christian to seek this prize.
4. This prize was not salvation.
a. Some believe that Paul’s words here indicate he feared
he was not saved or least lacked the confidence of
eternal salvation.
b. Now, don’t just brush that off without at least
reading what Paul said.
c. Speaking of himself, Paul wrote:
(1) \\#9\\ "be found in him"
(2) \\#10\\ "That I might know him"
(3) \\#11\\ "If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection from the dead"
(4) \\#12\\ "Not as through I had already attained"
(5) \\#13\\ "I count not myself to have apprehended"
d. As I have told you before, there are Bible passages
when taken by themselves might teach that one could
lose their salvation.
(1) What we must do is look at the whole Bible.
(2) Remember Paul is the one who also wrote:
2Tim 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer
these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for
I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I have
committed unto him against that day.
(3) That is not a man who was fearful of losing his
salvation.
(4) How do we reconcile the two?
5. By understanding that Paul was not worried about God’s
relationship with him, but his relationship with God.
a. The two are different.
b. God has forgiven, adopted, and predestined us.
c. That is what God has done for us, but what have we
done for God?
d. Paul’s mark was to live a life in service for Jesus
Christ, winning souls and pointing me toward the
glory of the new life in Christ!
e. This is a good desire for every believer to have.
f. It causes us to go only ever forward.
B. \\#15\\ A Challenge Is Given
1. The phrase I want you to get comes from several words in
this verse: "Let us… be thus minded."
2. However, before I can discuss that, I probably need to
discuss the phrase that interrupts those words: "as many
as be perfect."
a. The second phrase might make some think the first
phrase does not apply to them.
(1) They might say, "I am not perfect so Paul was not
speaking to me."
(2) Paul admitted he was not perfect either:
Phi 3:12 Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect….
(3) Do we have a contradiction? Was Paul saying he
was not perfect in one verse then half-way
declaring he was in another?
(4) I don’t think so.
b. The perfection that Paul spoke of in verse 12 was in
behavior.
(1) No Christian who lives in the flesh will ever be
perfect in their behavior.
(2) It is not possible.
c. The perfection Paul spoke of in verse 15 was in the
heart.
(1) While Christians cannot be perfect in their
behavior, they can in their hearts.
(2) The best definition I ever heard of a perfect
heart was Bill Gothard who said, "The perfect
heart is the heart that holds nothing back from
God."
(3) Every Christian should have a perfect heart, and
if so, every Christian should have the same mind
as Paul.
3. Which takes us back to the original phrase, "Let us… be
like minded." We should only ever be moving forward!
C. \\#16\\ A Resolution Is Made
1. Whatever we have attained, don’t go backwards!
2. Many make New Year’s resolutions.
a. It is not important what you decide on January 1st.
b. What is important is what did you accomplish by
December 31st.
c. Too many people think making a decision is the
victory.
(1) Making a decision is not the victory.
(2) Accomplishing your goal is the victory.
3. Our goal is to only ever move forward but that can only be
accomplished if we never fall backward.
4. This must not be a thought we have but a feat that we
accomplish.
II. \\#17-19\\ Follow the Right Leaders - The godly
Phi 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me,
and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an
ensample.
Phi 4:9 Those things, which ye have both
learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me,
do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
A. Twice in this section, Paul holds himself up as the kind of
person the Philippians ought to follow.
1. That is not a proud boast. It is a statement of fact based
on the change God had and was making in Paul’s life.
2. There came a time in Paul’s life when Paul asked and
answered a question:
a. If I am not a model of Christ, when will I ever be?
b. Paul was no longer a young man, either in life or in
Christ.
c. Like many of us, he was well seasoned in life and
sprinkled in the salt of years.
d. If, at this point, he was not a man who could be a
model of Jesus Christ, when would he ever be?
e. Perhaps your answer is that I am not a model of Christ
because I do not live a good enough life.
(1) Then perhaps your question should be changed
somewhat.
(2) What I am doing today so that I will be a model
of Christ tomorrow?
3. Every born-again Christian should be different, growing,
and capable of leading others.
4. However, Paul was not merely setting this has his goal. He
was fully aware and willing to be a model of Christ, on
display before the lost world.
5. Paul was giving a practical command.
a. Pick someone who lives like Jesus and follow them.
b. That is what the church is about.
c. It is about seeing how others have done it and it
worked, or how others did it and it did not work;
but regardless, we see others setting an example for
us from which we can learn.
B. \\#18-19\\ Paul also warned of the wrong kind of leader to
follow.
Phi 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you
often, and now tell you even weeping, that they
are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
1. Note that there are parenthesis enclosing verses 18-19.
a. That means these two verses are not part of Paul’s
main thought.
b. As Paul was encouraging the Philippians to follow the
RIGHT kind of leader, he expressed his thoughts on
the WRONG kind of leaders.
2. \\#18\\ Notice the term that Paul used of the wrong kinds
of leaders, "they are the enemies of the cross of Christ."
a. There are actually two kinds of enemies.
b. Paul only mentioned one here, but there is another.
c. What are the two kinds of enemies?
(1) There are the enemies of the cross who would keep
us from salvation.
(2) And there are the enemies of the Christian who
would keep us from sanctification.
d. Some things could be said about both.
(1) They are inside the church.
(a) The greatest enemies of the cross are not
the ones outside the church who defile and
blaspheme God, His Person, and His name.
(b) The greatest enemies of the cross are those
on the inside of the church who call
themselves "religious" and "Christians."
(c) Remember, the wolf in sheep’s clothing does
not have to be snarling and biting to be a
wolf.
(2) These would consider themselves as Christians,
good men, godly men, Biblical men.
(a) Perhaps they preachers, pastors, evangelists,
missionaries.
(b) But Paul called them "enemies."
e. In this text, Paul was not dealing with those who were
enemies of sanctification but of salvation.
(1) Paul called them this because they drove men away
from the redemption what Jesus’ work on the
cross had provided.
(2) Mark both of these enemies and avoid them for
they are here for your harm and not your help.
3. \\#19\\ Paul described the enemies of the cross.
a. "whose god is their belly" - The worship for what they
can get not what they can give.
b. "whose glory is their shame"
(1) One’s glory is the outward manifestation of
the inward purity.
(2) It is a visual of the best a person has to
offer.
(3) The best these have to offer is shame.
c. "who mind earthy things" - They are much more
concerned with the size of their paycheck, their
401(k), their popularity, and so on than their
service to God or to His people.
4. \\#18\\ Paul told us two more things.
a. The end of these enemies is "destruction." That does
not mean they lose their retirement. It means they
lose their souls.
b. Paul was weeping over these people being in the
church.
(1) This was the church at Philippi.
(2) Paul started that church and loved those people.
III. \\#Phi 4:1\\ Stand in the right position - Fast or Firm
A. Notice the love that Paul has for these who have followed
Jesus. He called them by five different names and used one of
them twice.
1. "brethren" - A term of family endearment
2. "dearly beloved" - Uses this name twice. They are the
loved.
3. "longed for" - Paul desires to be with them again.
4. "my joy" - The source of Paul’s joy was seeing souls saved.
5. "my… crown" - Paul considered himself already rewarded by
having seen them saved.
B. "Therefore"
1. The word ties what Paul had said about moving only
forward and following the right kind of leaders to what
he is about to say.
2. What was Paul about to say?
C. "Stand fast."
1. The title of the message is "Only Ever Forward."
a. The title implies forward motion. One cannot move
forward if he is standing still. He must keep
putting one foot in front of the other to move
forward.
b. Yet we all know that in the Christian life, sometimes
we cannot move forward.
(1) Sometimes we must rest.
(2) And sometimes although we would like to move
forward, we cannot. The path appears blocked.
c. So what do we do when we cannot move forward? We
stand fast or firm.
2. Notice Paul did not say, "Sit comfortably."
a. If one is going to rest or wait, why should he not sit
and be comfortable?
b. Because sitting implies a completed job.
c. We may be resting but this is not a place to get
comfortable.
d. We are just passing through.
3. Consider also that our strength comes primarily from our
lets.
a. Perhaps you are extremely strong in your upper body.
b. Good, but most strength still some comes from the
legs.
c. You cannot use that strength if you are sitting.
d. So don’t sit. Stand.
Paul was nearing the end of his ministry. He was sharing some things
that he had lived. May God help us to live them as well.
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