Subject: Paul’s Strategy for Success
Text: Philippians 3:12-14
Introduction: Paul, who is the writer of our text, provides a strategy for the Philippian Church as they move forward to become the best that they could be for Christ. Rather than be complacent with where they were, the Philippians needed to set their sights higher. The Apostle Paul gives this church his personal testimony because Paul was never one to let circumstances conquer him. Rather, with the help of God, he was determined to fulfill his God-given purpose. In this text, Paul’s attitude, dedication, and determination shine through in a powerful way.
If, as men and women of God who have different perspectives, needs, and desires, we are to run this race with patience, we will need strategies for successfully completing our God-given purposes. They are so many things in the world that claim our attention and so many goals to reach until it is difficult to stay focused in these busy, perplexing times. How can we reach our potential for Christ? How can we give Him our best?
Apostle Paul sets a good example on how to succeed in the Christian race. He ran his race with a wholehearted commitment and gave every effort to win Christ. He wants the Philippian Church to strive for excellence. He understood the high price to be paid, because he had paid it himself. It would take diligence and exertion to attain what God desired for them and for every one of us, but the price is worth the effort.
Many of us in the body of Christ become motivated and excited about our futures and destinies. We make bold declarations of faith about who we are and where we are going, but many fail to reach their goals in life because they have no strategy for success. A strategy is a well thought out, workable plan for making progress. Our goal of becoming the best we can for the kingdom of God will be challenged. For this reason, Paul tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8)
We have an adversary, Satan, who desires to stop our progress. We are challenged by Satan who wars against us; he tries to defeat us. Therefore, we must have a workable strategy in order to overcome him, but we are challenged by our own limitations. All of us have limitations, but limitations do not have the power to rob us of success, if we have a workable strategy. In this text, I believe Paul offers us a workable strategy.
By strategies, games in sporting events are won or lost. For example, in baseball, a blunt can be just as important as a home run. In basketball, a free throw can be just as effective as a three-pointer. In football, making a field goal can be just as important as a touchdown. The difference is the strategy.
Apostle Paul had a great affection for this church. Its benevolent, caring congregation supported his ministry throughout his career. He wanted them to succeed and flourish in the kingdom of God. Every child of God should be striving for excellence. To fulfill my God given purpose is my greatest desire. If you and I are going to be successful in running this Christian race, that is, to live a life of purpose and to obtain a good report with desired results, we must have a strategy.
Apostle Paul is very open with us in the Scriptures. In the book of Acts, we are allowed to experience many of his trials, hardships, and struggles in his personal travels. In First and Second Corinthians, we witness his personal ministry. Notice the following two passages from First and Second Corinthians, where Paul defends his apostleship and ministry. He talks more about his ministry in these two books than in any of his other books in the Bible.
In First Corinthians 15:8-10, Paul argues of his apostleship, " And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, and am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me."
Then in Second Corinthians 11:5, Paul describes his ministry by saying, "For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles, but though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge..." The idea is that Paul labored as a debtor to Christ. He was overcome with love and appreciation that Christ had called him and was using him in His service. Then Paul confessed that he had less natural talent, less natural ability, and though his speech was rude he was able to accomplish more than all the other apostles. Paul learned how to maximize the moment. He learned how to labor more often, to be more productive, and to get better results than the other apostles did. How could this apostle accomplish so much? He had what appeared to be rather serious limitations.
Paul had a history. He persecuted the Church of God publicly. He arrested believers and testified against them. His reputation was well known for wreaking havoc in the Church. Even after his conversion to Christ, he was originally rejected by the other apostles because they were afraid of him due to his history, a dark past. His friends were few, his enemies were many and suffering was his lot. Yet, he was successful in running the Christian race.
His presentation was weak. He was not a great speaker, Paul referred to his speech as rude, uncouth, unpolished, not smooth or eloquent. His appearance was weak, as were his eyes. He really did not measure up to the other apostles in appearance nor in presentation in the physical sense. However, Paul had a great message of truth, in spite of a weak delivery! Peter was more robust, and Apollos was more eloquent, but Paul was quite effective. In First and Second Corinthians, Paul attempted to justify his being called an apostle.
He was not one of the original twelve. Paul describes himself as "one born out of due season." He was not in the company of Jesus during his earthly ministry. He did not witness the miracles of Jesus. Yet, his ministry was more successful than some who accompanied Jesus daily. Paul expanded the kingdom of God. Not only did he establish more churches, but also he wrote two-thirds of the New Testament books. Why did Paul have such an impact? This writer thinks that it is because Apostle Paul developed "strategies for success." Those strategies being, (a) Paul selected his message - Christ and Him crucified. (b) Paul selected his target group for ministry - an apostle to the Gentiles. (c) Paul selected the target areas for his preaching ministry - where the Gospel had not been preached.
In writing to the church at Philippi, Paul offers them and us a strategy for success in our pursuit of excellence. After we come to know the Lord personally and intimately, we must go on to perfection. In Philippians 3, Paul gives his personal testimony of how he ran the Christian race and offers several suggestions that we might use as strategies.
Strategy Number 1: Be willing to confess shortcomings. "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect..." In pursuit of excellence, Paul recognized that he had not arrived. Anyone who strives for excellence must have a willingness to confess their shortcomings and admit that there is room for improvement. It is hard to move forward when you feel like you have already arrived. In our lives, there are some things that God alone has to do in us, but there are other things we must do for ourselves. We cannot do God’s part, and God will not do our part. A willingness to admit and to confess our shortcomings is an indication that we recognize room for improvement.
Before we can disciple others, we must be willing to discipline ourselves. "Proverbs 25:28 reads, "Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit." If we are going to be successful in running this race, we must have control over our own spirit. Controlling our spirit, emotions and intellect require discipline. We must discipline our minds. "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." (Proverbs 23:7) We must discipline our will, that is, will to do the word of God in every area of our lives. We must discipline our emotions, that is, take authority over how we feel. We must discipline our bodies, that is, take care of our physical vessels. If we do our part, God will do the rest!
Strategy number 2 - Have a certainty of aim. "But I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus..." What is your aim? Are you certain? A certainty of aim has to do with life focus, the things we pursue. Paul was saying, “I have found my calling, and I am in hot pursuit of fulfilling my purpose.” I know what God wants me to do, and I spend my time, my energy, my resources and strength in the pursuit of purpose. Fulfilling the purpose of God was Paul’s passion. It was that for which he lived. What is the driving passion of your life?
A story is told of a greyhound racing dog. Until a few years ago, the greyhounds were euthanized when they got too old to race. They were no good for breeding and too old to race. A group of ladies started an adoption agency whose sole purpose was to find good homes for these dogs. A man’s daughter adopted one of the greyhounds. When he visited her home at Thanksgiving, she showed her father the beautiful greyhound she had adopted. After dinner, he went in the backyard to visit with the dog. He asked the dog, “Greyhound, how are you doing? Did you ever race in Miami? Did you ever win? The stately greyhound responded, “Life is good! I have a big yard to play in, three square meals a day and an owner who loves me.” He continued, “Yes, I ran in Miami and won five times!” The man asked, “Did you get too old to run?” The stately greyhound responded, “No, I quit.” The man asked further, “Why did you quit?” The greyhound called him a little closer and said, “I found out the rabbit wasn’t real.”
Many “rabbits” in the world are not real. We are constantly being bombarded with things trying to claim our attention, so we must have a certainty of aim. Be careful what you spend your time chasing.
Strategy Number 3: Pull the curtains on the past. Satan has a way of bringing up our past failures, mistakes and sins. He tries to condemn us with the mistakes of the past. "I am forgetting those things which are behind." (Philippians 3:13) Paul would not allow his past to prevent him from fulfilling his purpose. We must not allow our past to keep us from our future. Paul’s attitude seemed to be the past was real. It happened. Mistakes were made, and I am sorry. I have repented and forsaken my sin. It is over. I am covered by the blood of Jesus. The old “Saul” is dead. I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. I am forgiven, delivered. A part of your strategy in going forward must include pulling the curtains on your past. Your mistakes, sins, shortcomings and other skeletons, are behind you, so forget them all! They are called "skeletons in your closet" because they are dead and need to be buried. Take a text, eulogize those bones, and lay them to rest. Jesus came, suffered, bled and died as penalty for the sins of the world. You have been forgiven. You are free to go! Go into your future! Go fulfill your purpose in Jesus name! You are free!
"This one thing I do...reaching forth unto those which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)
Paul seemed to realize that he could do not everything. He could not reach everybody, everywhere, all the time, so he concentrated his effort. He focused in on "one thing." The one thing that he could do well, he would do. He maximized his results through a concentrated effort.
If the enemy cannot discourage us from our God-given assignment, he will try to overload us. Many times the enemy’s most effective weapon against servants of God is busyness. Trying to do too many things will rob us of our effectiveness. We must give ourselves to the one thing we are called to do. Overloaded hands are ineffective hands. For example, Coca-Cola makes refreshing soft drinks. They have variety of flavors, regular and diet, cans, bottles, and fountains. They make almost any size from 6-ounce, 10-ounce, 16-, 20-, 24-, ½ liters, 1, 2, and to even 3 liters. You can purchase them over the counter or in machine. Coca-Cola is all over the world because of a concentrated effort. They did not get in on the computer boom. They did not get into the pharmaceutical market. They did not get into building amusement parks. They focused on one thing, ice-cold refreshing soft drinks, and they have turned it into liquid gold. Coke exhibits concentrated effort.
Paul clearly understood his call, and he gave himself to one thing, preaching the Gospel of the Lord Christ. He preached Jesus and Him crucified. He preached to the Gentiles and in places where the gospel had not been preached. He had one goal, one purpose, and one desire, “that I may win Christ.”
Paul uses some very strong words in this text, “Reaching forth” and pressing towards”. The phrase, “Reaching forth”, means straining towards the goal, leaping over obstacles, running through troops, breaking down barriers and doing whatever else is needed to overcome. The literal idea is the picture of a man climbing up a ladder, standing on the top rung, and even getting up on the tips of his toes in order to accomplish his goal. Then the word “press” means to act on with a steady force, to push against; to push close together; to squeeze out, to remove wrinkles; to keep moving forward; to keep on asking and urging. Paul uses these strong words because he wants us to understand what it takes to be successful in this Christian race. There is a price to pay in pursuit of excellence. Many may not be willing to pay the price, but this is a powerful strategy of success. This is probably not for everyone, only for those who are willing to strain forward, leap over obstacles, run through troops, break down barriers, act with steady force, push against and keep moving forward. Those willing to exert concentrated effort in the pursuit of excellence in reaching our God-given tasks will have great success.
