MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2019)
TEXT: Philippians 3:12-21; 1 Timothy 1:13-15
ILL. Look at the picture of the man up on the screen. It is the face of someone you have undoubtedly seen many times before.
He grew up in the toughest part of Houston, TX, in a family of 7 children, a perpetually drunken stepfather, & a mother who struggled to support them all. Being large for his age, he became a bully & a troublemaker, constantly getting into fights at school & in the neighborhood. Then, at age 15, he quit school.
He joined the Job Corp & moved to CA. where a supervisor offered to train him to be a boxer. He did very well & was chosen to be on the U.S. Boxing Team for the 1968 Olympics where he won a gold medal.
Then, at age 19, he turned Professional & won 45 of his next 47 fights, including, at age 24, defeating Joe Frazier, the World Champion title holder. So now he was the WBA & WBC Heavyweight Champion of the world. Four years later, at age 28 he lost the championship & retired.
Then 10 years after that he came out of retirement & the result was one of the great sports stories of the 1990’s. At age 45, 20 years after he had first retired, & being more than a decade past the prime of most fighters, he knocked out his opponent, Michael Moorer, & regained the Heavyweight Championship of the world.
Almost immediately, advertisers flocked around him, wanting him to endorse their products because, they said, “George Foreman has become the hero of every old, fat, & bald person in this country.”
A. Now how do we face growing older? I think a couple of mistakes that many of us make are:
#1, we try to deny or disguise the fact that we are getting older. And certain slogans become popular with us: “You’re only as old as you feel.” “Life begins at 40.” “Those aren’t wrinkles, they’re expression lines.” And we have a lot more of them, too.
# 2, The second mistake we make is in thinking that when we get older we’ll be relieved of our responsibilities - that we can lean back & fade into the sunset.
When we’re younger & raising children, with all the stresses of life, we look forward to vacations. We take off with the family, go wherever we want, & do anything we choose. Our vacations are great!
And it is often during such vacations that we begin to fantasize about retirement & being able to live like that for the rest of our life. But that can get boring after a while.
ILL. After he retired, one man wrote, “I get up in the morning & dust off my wits. I go out, get the paper & read the obits. If my name is missing, I know I’m not dead. So I eat a good breakfast, & go back to bed.”
B. Our Scripture text this morning is Philippians 3:12-21. And when we look at it, you need to realize that as Paul wrote those words, he’s a prisoner in Rome, awaiting trial & possible execution. He’s also an old man, & he knows that his life is winding down. So it’s important we hear what he has to say.
In vs’s 12-14, Paul writes, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind & straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
I. FORGET WHAT IS PAST
A. The first thing Paul tells us is, “Forget the past. Don’t bask in it. Don’t dwell on your achievements.”
Paul had many attainments. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, & a strict Pharisee. His credentials as a Jew were faultless. But Paul says, “When I compare all that to knowing Christ, those things are as trash.”
B. Then Paul says, “Let God wipe away your sins.” In 1 Timothy 1:13-15, Paul writes, “Even though I was once a blasphemer & a persecutor & a violent man, I was shown mercy… The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly…
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.”
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners & Paul says, “I’m right there at the top of the list. I’m the worst! But because of Jesus I've been forgiven!"
ILL. There’s a bumper sticker that says, “If Satan reminds you of your past, you remind him of his future.” I like that. He’s going to hell. But if your sin is forgiven, you’re headed in a different direction.
ILL. We used to sing a chorus that went like this, “Gone, gone, gone, gone, yes, my sins are gone. Now my soul is free, & in my heart’s a song. Buried in the deepest sea. Yes, that’s good enough for me. I shall live eternally. Praise God, my sins are gone!’
II. ACCEPT THE PRESENT
Paul then talks about the present. Vs’s 13 & 14 say, “Forgetting what is behind & straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize…”
Another Bible version says it this way, “I continue to stretch forth. I continue to reach for the prize that is before me.” That is why I call this sermon, “Never Too Old to Stretch.”
ILL. Several years ago Herman Silva ran in the New York Marathon. The race is 26 miles long, & Silva was ahead of everyone else. But as he came to the final bend, he turned in the wrong direction.
People started yelling at him that he was going the wrong way. But so intent was he on the race that he ran 40 yards in the wrong direction before realizing what they were yelling.
I can’t imagine, after running nearly 26 miles, how exhausted he must have been. But he had to turn around & run back the 40 yards, turn in the right direction, & then push himself hard to sprint toward the finish line because some of the other runners had almost caught up.
He won the race by 2 seconds – the closest finish in history for the New York Marathon.
APPL. Now my point is this: Even when you’re close to the end of the race of life it's possible to make a wrong turn. But if you’ll listen to the warnings & turn around, you can still cross the finish line & win the victory.
Paul looked at himself & saw his own imperfections. But even while in prison, he says, “I’m still pressing on. I’m still stretching forth.”
ILL. The Family Circus cartoon strip some time ago had Billy speaking to Jeffy, & Billy was philosophizing. He said, “Yesterday is the past. Tomorrow is the future. And today is a gift. That’s why we call it ‘the present.’” I like that. Each day is a present from God.
In Psalm 118:24 the Psalmist says, “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice & be glad in it.” So accept the present & use it for God.
III. PURSUE THE FUTURE
A. Next, Paul tells us to pursue the future. We need a purpose, something to do, something to hope for, something to stretch forward to. But the tendency when we get older is to ease up. Some even say, “When I retired, I really retired. I bowed out of everything.”
Yet nothing in the Bible ever suggests that we are to retire in our service to God. In fact, it seems that as people got older in the Bible they became more useful to God. God used them in the twilight of life in ways that He wasn’t able to use them when they were younger.
When we retire from a secular occupation that just sets us free to be of more service to Him. When I dedicated my life to Christ I didn’t dedicate just 40 or 50 years, I dedicated all my life to Him. I want to be used as long as God gives me the strength & has something for me to do.
B. In the 14th chapter of the Book of Joshua, Caleb is 85 years old. He comes up to Joshua as they’re conquering the Promised Land & he says, “I’ve still got it. See that mountain over there? I want it. That’s where the Amalekites are & they are well fortified. But let me take the mountain.”
At age 85, Caleb leads them up the mountain to victory!
C. Now in the last verses of this passage Paul gives some specific challenges.
1. Vs. 16 says, “Let us live up to what we have already attained.” He is talking about personal growth, & he’s saying, “Even though I’m older I want to continue growing.”
We need to establish goals all the way through life: To grow in our knowledge of the Bible, to grow in our prayer life, to grow in kindness & love. And I trust that you are doing that.
2. Next, he urges us to grow in our influence upon others. Vs. 17 says, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, & take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”
Paul realized that he was influencing others, so he said, “I need to be a good example for them.”
In vs’s 18 & 19 Paul goes on to say, “As I have often told you before & now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
"Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, & their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.”
Do you feel Paul’s tears? He looks at the world & sees people who are focused on all the wrong things & he says, “I tell you this with tears.”
Does it bother you when you see people wasting their lives away? Does your heart break for them? Paul says, “Mine does.”
3. Finally, he says, “My goal is my eternal reward.” Vs's 20-21 say, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
"who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”
We’re going to get new bodies some day. No more wrinkles. No more aches & pains. No surgery required. Everything will be new!
Right now we have a choice. We can either live out our life fearful of growing old, fearful of being helpless, fearful of being a burden to somebody else, or we can live eagerly awaiting our Savior’s return.
ILL. Jack Benson was a missionary to China. He was held up by some bandits who took all his valuables & then held a gun to his head & forced him to kneel in the road. They told him they were going to kill him.
Benson knelt calmly, maintaining his composure through it all. The bandits asked, “Aren’t you afraid? We’re going to shoot you.” Benson replied, “Afraid of what? I’m just going to meet my God.” And they killed him.
When he heard about this, E.H. Hamilton, a fellow missionary, wrote these words:
“Afraid of what? Afraid to feel the spirit’s glad release? To pass from pain to perfect peace? The strife & strain of life to cease? Afraid of that?
“Afraid of what? Afraid to see the Savior’s face? To hear His welcome & to trace the glory gleaned from wounds of grace? Afraid of that?
“Afraid of what? Afraid to enter into heaven’s rest, & yet to serve the master blessed, from service good to service best? Afraid of that?”
CONCL. Are you afraid of what life holds for you? Are you afraid of the days & events that are before you?
Yes, you can live in fear. But the Bible says that perfect love casts out fear. God loves you, & if you respond by loving Him back, fear will leave & peace will come in its place. And you will rejoice throughout the days of your life until the Savior comes for you.
We give you the opportunity to accept Jesus as your Lord & Savior this morning & earnestly pray that you’ll do that today.
INVITATION HYMN
