Bible Study Series: The Book of Philippians
Bible Study Philippians 3.12-14 Pressing On - The Higher Call of Christ
By Fraser Gordon
Last time we looked at verses 8-10 of Chapter 3. Paul's main theme was that he wanted to know Him and the power of His resurrection. He wrote about the importance of knowing the Lord Jesus and discovering all that He has for us. Today we're going to look at Chapter 3 verses 12-14. I love this little passage in Philippians and as we head into the new year of 2025 it’s a good one to start with.
To lay hold of
Php 3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
Paul said that he had not attained everything and that is a great joy to me. All that there is in Christ is available to every one of us but here we have Paul saying that he had not attained everything. Paul had been a believer for around 25 years and was one of the greatest Christians around at the time. He had seen visions of heaven and been caught up to the 3rd heaven and there were things that he couldn’t comprehend or even talk about. He was 100% committed to the cause of Christ and yet he writes that he hadn't attained or was not already perfected. Some Christian leaders like to say they've arrived. They think they are superior to every other believer. The apostle Paul is probably one of the greatest Christians ever and he says he hasn't arrived or been perfected. Other leaders unfortunately give the impression that they have it all together, have arrived and are living in the fullness of God. Unfortunately when they sin and fail they wreck the lives of many of the Christians that follow them. But Paul is very different.
Paul then writes that he has to lay hold of that for which he was also laid hold of. The question then remains. Has God laid hold of us? Has God laid hold of me and has He laid hold of you? When Paul says that he has to press on and lay hold of these things it means there is something to grasp. You would never go to a morgue and expect a corpse to lead a godly life because a corpse is dead. Similarly we're all born dead in our sins. We have no ability to follow the ways of Christ unless we have been born again and been risen from the dead. For that to take place means that God must invade our little circle of life and lay hold of us. Has the Hound of Heaven pursued you? Has He convicted you? Has he laid hold of you? Do you know the time when you were laid hold of by God? So the first thing that has to happen to a believer is that they have to be laid hold of. We have to be convicted of sin and be born again from above. So what is the purpose in God laying hold of you and me? Well Romans Chapter 8 is probably one of the simplest verses that spells it out.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
The purpose for which God has laid hold of us is the full scope of salvation, past, present and future. We are called to be conformed into the image of His Son. So when God lays hold of you and me it is for a purpose. Paul writes that I press on that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me, that God may have His will and His way in my life to conform me into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That His will may be perfected in us and that He may use us to be a blessing to this world and to those around us. That is why God has laid hold of us. Instantly that puts an obligation on us as believers. We are required to act toward it and respond to that which we've been laid hold of.
No Fishing
Php 3.13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
In verse 13 Paul starts to write about our actions and what we need to do if we've been laid hold of. How do we apply ourselves? Paul doesn’t claim to be spiritually superior to everybody else either. Paul writes about our past, our future and our present and he starts with the past, forgetting those things which are behind. How many of you are reminded of the failures of your old life before Christ laid hold of you? The sin that caused ruin, all your bad decisions and the mistakes you’ve made. All those things can dominate your thinking. You need to forget the things which are behind you.
Your mind can be your greatest enemy as it reminds you constantly of your past failures, sins, of the hurt and misery that you may have done to others. It’s also one of Satan's tricks; he wants to remind us of our past because he knows that if he can get you preoccupied with it it will bring guilt and you will not be resting in the finished work of Christ. He gets us preoccupied with our past so that we cannot become preoccupied with the living Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is the accuser of the brethren and he will sometimes use other people to remind us of it. But we need to remember that our sins are forgiven as far as the East is from the West. I love this quote by Corrie Ten Boom which says; “God has removed all our sins as far as the depth of the sea and He's put a sign on the bank which says no fishing”. We need to remember not to fish where things have been put into the depths of the sea.
God has removed our sins by the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has forgiven us for every wretched thing we have done so we don't need to go dragging it all up and reminding ourselves of the guilt, frustration and the disappointment over the past. God doesn't remember them so we shouldn't remember them either. Remember that Paul had his failures and his sins. He was a persecutor of the church dragging christians before the authorities and he sat there in approval as Stephen was stoned. Paul is no different to me and you.
Do you remember the Israelites in the wilderness? They were always looking back to Egypt, always hungering for the life they once had. We are exhorted in the scriptures to not be like Israel of old. Another example is that you often hear Christians talk about the good old days of God's blessing. God turned up and there was revival or the moving of the Spirit. They're living off what happened back then which is another form of looking back. They're not living for the resurrection of Christ today, the good and the blessings that He brings into our lives right now. Another example is golf, one of the sports I love. Now golfers win in the top 2 inches. In other words what goes on in the brain affects what goes on in the body. Forgetting those things which are behind is true in the spiritual life and also true in the natural life. It’s also true on the sports field.
Now I love golf and I’ve always played it even as a child. So now let me tell you a story: I tee off and spray my drive into the trees. I've got a whole lot of trees in front of my ball and it's an almost impossible shot to make. The sensible thing to do is to chip out to the fairway, take my extra shot and play on from there. I might lose one or two shots at the most. Well I see a little gap between the trees near my golf ball. The gap seems a lot larger than it is and I think I can make the shot. So I hit my ball. It hits a branch on the tree and bounces back and puts me in a worse position. But I can see another gap and I think I can make that shot. I hit the ball and clunk. I hit the same tree and it bounces into the long grass. I then have to hack it out. Before I know it I'm sitting on the green and I've made a triple bogey or something crazy like that. I walk to the next hole and what is going through my head? “If only I hadn't done that, If only I had taken my extra shot and chipped out, I wouldn't have lost the 3 or 4 shots that I ended up with.
What goes on in the top two inches of your head is important. I see many golfers that are annoyed with themselves for the failures they made in the beginning of their round. I know right there and then that their game is wrecked because they cannot let go of the bad decisions they made on a previous hole. The only way to do it is to let it go and say, “yeah, I made an absolute mess of that but I've got 17 more holes that I can make those shots up”. If I carry on playing the game always looking back and am disappointed, my game is wrecked. I come across Christians who are not free from the guilt of past decisions, not free from the sins that have caused misery and wrecked their lives and the lives of others. We have to forget those things which are behind us and reach forward to those things which are ahead.
David Livingstone was a missionary to Africa and he was asked the question when he came back, “Where are you going next?” He replied, “I don't care where I go as long as it's forward”. We must forget those things which are behind and reach forward to those things which are ahead. The whole context of this is almost like sprinting. Have you ever watched a sprinter running? Their head is still and their eyes are on the finish line. They're not running down the track looking behind them. They’re looking at the finish line where they need to get to. We need to forget about the past and look toward the future, toward the finish line. This whole passage in Philippians is about finishing your race and finishing it well. You see the Christian life is like a marathon; it's not actually a sprint and we need to run this race right to the end.
Stuck in the middle
Php 3.14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul is writing about the past, the future and the present. There's actually another group that is not looking back or looking forward, there's a group in the middle. This is portrayed for us by the nation of Israel. There was a group that always looked back and hungered for the things of Egypt. All these died in the wilderness except for two men, Joshua and Caleb. Then there was a group that looked forward to all the inheritance and the promises that God would give them in Canaan. But there was also another group of people who we find in Deuteronomy. The tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh came to Moses and said, “Do not take us over the Jordan”. Now the Jordan represents death and resurrection. These tribes had found good land and wanted to remain there because of their large herds of livestock. They didn't want their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan. They didn't want to go through death and resurrection. They didn't want to reach forward to all the inheritance and promises that God had for them. While they didn’t want the inheritance for themselves these tribes were prepared to fight on behalf of the others. So Moses agreed because they were willing to go into battle so other tribes might inherit the land of Canaan. He said to them, “If you do this thing, then yes, you can come back to this land on the other side of the Jordan”.
Some believers who are interested in the cause of Christ will help others to go on but they themselves are content with what the world has to offer. They are stuck in the middle. These three tribes wanted the land because it was good for their livestock and they were willing to take it as opposed to their inheritance in Canaan. This is true of many Christians. I can see it in my own life and I can see it in many other Christian lives too. We need to be careful of this. Paul writes about pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God. We need to be careful that we are not stuck in the middle. Yes, we may be interested in the cause of Christ and the things of God. We might want believers to go on but for us just like the tribe of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, we're content here with our earthly lot. We need to beware that that is not us because God has so much more.
The upward call
The word press in the Greek means to agonise or to make an effort. You have to take action and there is perseverance and discipline involved as Hebrews 12.1 reminds us, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Paul is pressing and agonising toward the goal. Was this true of the Lord Jesus Christ Saints? Yes it was. It says in Heb 10.5,7 When He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me… Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-- In the volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God.' " Everything about the Lord Jesus Christ allowed the Father's will to be done in His life. He pressed toward the upward call that was on Him. He said in John 12:49-50 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak." When He was on the mountain talking with Moses and Elijah, they talked to Him about the Father's will. Then he set His face like flint toward Jerusalem. He was pressing toward the upward call of His Father.
So what is this prize Paul writes about? Is it heaven one day? Is it being with Christ? Is it a crown that you may or may not receive? All of those are benefits of the calling we receive. The prize I believe is actually the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. You see before I was saved I had a downward call to sin and ruin. It called me continually but since Christ laid hold of me I now have an upward call. So for me the upward call is the prize itself. The Lord Jesus Christ called me to something that is good, true and holy. The upward call is that you and I have been laid hold of. God the creator of all the universe has laid hold of you and me and come into fellowship with us so that He can give us rest, call us a saint and His beloved. He loves us with the same love that He loves His one and only Son. We are called to His purpose and to be a blessing. This is the prize I press toward, the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The prize isn't heaven one day it is being called by God Himself into a relationship with Him whom we can call Abba Father. To me everything else is a benefit. Heaven one day is a benefit of that, future crowns in heaven are a benefit, to rule and reign with Him is a benefit. That we have been laid hold of and received this upward call is the greatest prize. The prize is the call itself. I had a downward call but now I have an upward call and that is a glorious thing. So we are called and we are called to finish well.
Ernest Shackleton
The other day I watched a documentary about Ernest Shackleton and when I was watching it I thought, “Wow, we Christians need to be more like this”. This passage of scripture in Philippians is about running the race, pressing on and laying hold of the things that God has for us. It’s about forgetting the past and applying ourselves, increasing and reaching forward toward them. It speaks of the perseverance that we need in this race which is a marathon and we need to finish well.
Ernest Shackleton was an adventurer who was called to Antarctica. He chose about 28 men to go with him and it was interesting who he chose. He didn't just take anyone who was willing to go; they went through an interview process. He chose people who had resilience and were positive despite setbacks. He couldn't afford to take people on this expedition who were moaners or complainers and gave up when any hindrance came. He looked for specific character traits in the men he chose and Christians we too need to be resilient. The men Ernest chose had to remain positive despite their circumstances.
He and his men set out for Antarctica but never arrived because the ship got stuck in ice. Winter was coming and they were stuck in the middle of a block of ice about 150 miles long. What do you do when you're stuck on a block of ice? Well they played games and they did all their duties as normal. Shackleton didn't want them to be idle because he believed that depression would come if they were. So they were stuck on a block of ice floating around the Southern Ocean. Now pressure from the ice started to build up on the sides of the ship and it started to break up. They had to abandon the ship with the dogs, all the goods, the food and everything else needed to set up camp. They were locked on that block of ice for 280 days. All they had for fire was the wood from the boat which they watched get crushed to pieces and break apart.
They were 346 miles from the nearest land. They worked as a team with food from the ship and they caught seals and penguins. Soon however the food ran out so they decided to shoot the dogs and eat them. Because they had run out of food they also decided to move camp. They walked for 14 days on the floating ice and it was such hard work that they only traveled 7 miles in 14 days. They set up a new camp and called it Patience Camp. Of all the things they needed at that time it was patience. And so they waited. Then all of a sudden the warming water started to break the ice apart and they abandoned the ice camp into life rafts. They paddled for four days in these rafts which had no rudder or ability to sufficiently steer. They ended up in the open sea paddling for 108 hours with no rest or sleep to a place called Elephant Island. They didn’t think they would survive there so Shackleton decided that he and 4 other men would set sail to try and reach South Georgia Island.
They sailed for 16 days with 30 foot waves and a 20 foot row boat. They finally arrived in South Georgia but unfortunately had landed on the wrong side of the island. Three of them including Shackleton tracked across to the other side to get help at a whaling station leaving two men with the boat. Finally after 532 days they had their first contact with men. He retrieved the two men with the boat and then Shackleton attempted to rescue the remainder of his men still on Elephant Island but the pack ice prevented them. Finally on the fourth attempt he hired a tugboat and was eventually able to rescue his men. It had been 4 1/2 months since he had left them with only four days of rations left. Miraculously they all survived, not one person perished. They had been away for over two years in total and had all survived. Six years later Shackleton returned to South Georgia island but unfortunately had a heart attack and died. He was buried there and a gravestone with his name on it marks his grave.
This is an incredible story of perseverance, survival and the ability to keep going forward despite enormous obstacles. While I was listening to this incredible story of perseverance and survival I thought that's how we need to be. Saints we are in this world but we are not of it. The race we are in is a marathon and we need to finish well. When I watched the movie I thought about the men Shackleton chose to take with him right at the beginning. He chose men of resilience that would go forward and press toward their goal. Saints we need to be resilient and we need to press forward to the upward call of God. We need to finish and we need to finish well.
Father, we thank you that you've laid hold of us. We thank you that we once had a downward call but now you've given us an upward call. We thank you that we don't need to remember the things of the past, there is complete forgiveness and our sins are removed from us. Father, we reach forward to all that you have for us and we thank you most of all that you've called us. We thank you for the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ that you are alive and that you are alive in us. We give whatever it is we are facing to you and we ask that you take it and lead us forward. Thank you for this great calling we have received. A great high upward call that you have called us to. Thank you for all that you have done for us in Jesus name. Amen.
God bless Saints.