Pressing Towards The Goal

Pressing Towards the Goal

Philippians 3:4-14

We live in a world today in which many people have to motivations other than to get through another day. People seem to have nothing to live for. Drug abuse, alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, fear, and a general sense of despair has gripped the American nation. Many people have various worldly desires they wished to pursue. Some want to be professional athletes. Others desire to be an executive in a Fortune 500 company. There are many other goals people would like to attain. Some of these seem to be good goals, others no so good. The problem is that many think the game is rigged against them, that the rich and powerful have held them down while they reserve the good positions for their own children. So, people give up and say: “What’s the use in trying?”

There are a few who persevere against all odds and obtain their dream, at least as far as this life is concerned. There are a few Cinderella stories. But for the many, they become the Walter Mitty’s of this world. One could take this morning’s Scripture and apply it to this life. We can follow Churchill’s advice to “Never give up!” But when one faces death, what boast is it to say “I did it my way.” Queen Elizabeth the First did indeed accomplish much in her life against all odds. She avoided execution in the tower from the hands of her sister Bloody Mary. As a woman in a man’s world, she ascended to the throne. Under her rule, England became a great power. Under her leadership, the Armada was defeated. she became world famous and exceedingly rich. Yet when death knocked at her door, she is alleged to say she would give it all up for another day of life. All of this glory to end with such personal despair!

I am not against setting personal goals, as the Lord wills. Perhaps you might desire to get great gain (James 4:13-15). But note that James say “if the Lord wills.” James also castigates the values and oppression of the rich over the poor. But the poor also err when they are jealous of them and do not consider that at their end, they will lose everything. The poor thinks that he would be happy if only he was that rich man. But the rich are not happy either. You can find them in the drug and alcohol rehabs. They commit suicide also. They are often the most angry people on earth and project their self-hatred on others.

Now let us look at the Apostle Paul. He had gained a great reputation as a Pharisee. He was well-respected. He was well educated. He was positioned to become great in the Jewish world of his day. He was highly motivated to succeed as well. He boasts that as a Pharisee he excelled his peers. But Saul of Tarsus was not a happy man He raged against the early Christians. He had them arrested, jailed, beaten, and even killed. This is in spite of the dignity he had observed in the death of Stephen of which he was a witness. Stephen had something which Saul did not yet have, something worth dying for.

This all changed when Jesus confronted Paul on the Damascus Road. His life was forever changed by God’s grace. His original goal was to be a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He did not realize that the end of his life would have been hellfire. He had murdered people in his zeal. Now he would bring the words of life to the Gentiles. He had belonged to a group which means by definition “separated ones.” As a good Pharisee, he certainly would have separated himself from Gentile contacts. But now, God had separated him unto the gospel to all, especially the Gentiles. (Romans 1:1).

When we come to the Epistle to the Philippians, we find Paul in a Roman prison, being kept by the Praetorian Guard, which indicates that he was probably in Rome. The threat of execution loomed large. It was not certain that Paul would ever again be released. In other words, he was at the end of the road. He had suffered much over his years of ministry. He recounts the beatings, imprisonments, stoning, shipwrecks, and other indignities he had suffered. He also had seen much fruit as well. God used him to found many new churches in Asia Minor, the region of Galatia, Macedon, Greece, and other places. The city of Philippi was one of these church plants. It did not seem to be a likely place to found a church. There were not even ten Jewish men in the city to found a synagogue. He finally found some women, including Lydia, praying and worshiping the LORD at a riverbank. Then after Lydia and her house believed and were baptized, Paul ran afoul of men who were merchandising a slave girl who was possessed of a python spirit, who probably made her “prophesies” at the nearby Temple of Delphi. He and Silas ended up being beaten with rods by the lictors and thrown into prison, from which God released them by means of an earthquake. The jailor and his household believed and were baptized. A new church had been founded.