Calvary Bible Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan

How many of you watched the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics Friday night?  What an amazing spectacle! There’s sure to be incredible stories that come out of this competition. It amazes me to think of all the effort and training that the athletes, many in their teens, have put into preparing for this event.

One of the great Olympic stories of all times is the story of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympic Games.  Even as there is controversy over this year’s games being held in China, there was controversy in 1936 over the games being held in Nazi Germany under Adolph Hitler’s regime. Hitler was outspoken in his racist views proclaiming white superiority.

Owens was a 22 year old black man from Ohio. There in Berlin right under Hitler’s gaze, Owens won four gold medals in Track and Field: the 100M dash, the 200M dash, the 100 M relay, and the long jump. In each of those events he tied or set new world records. Owens proved the Nazi dictator's racist theories wrong and became an American hero.

Sadly, the rest of Owens life wasn’t marked by the same kind of success. Prior to the Olympics, his athletic prowess had opened the door for him to attend Ohio State, but Owens never completed his degree. He took advantage of his immediate fame to earn quick money at sports exhibitions around the world where he raced local sprinters and even race horses. As those opportunities dried up after a few years Owens tried to launch a dry cleaning business. After a year he ended up filing bankruptcy. In the 50’s and 60’s he was prosecuted for tax evasion. He became a chronic smoker who died in 1980 at the age of 66.

Owens still had moments where his fame was rekindled. He was asked to represent the United States as a goodwill ambassador on various occasions. President Ford even presented him with the Medal of Freedom.  But these events were just the fading afterglow of a one time accomplishment. After Owens won those incredible Olympic races, it seems that he gave into the temptation to stop running hard in the race of life.

The same temptation faces us as Christians. Many of us have had spiritual high points in our lives, times when God may have worked powerfully in us. Can you think of some in your life?  We can place so much stock in our spiritual high points and achievements that we stop running hard after God. We just try to hold on to the afterglow, but in doing so we become spiritually complacent, passive, and lukewarm.  Our Christian life loses its excitement and joy.

Today our study of the New Testament book of Philippians brings us to a passage where Paul explains that true Christian joy is found in continuing to run hard after God.

Let’s read Paul’s words in Philippians 3:1-16.

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

Paul’s thoughts about finding joy in this passage could be summarized with two statements: (1) Forget What Lies Behind and (2) Reach Forward to What Lies Ahead.

Forget What Lies Behind

What does Paul mean by forgetting what lies behind?

Note here that as Paul begins this section of his letter, he repeats the call to rejoice in the Lord in verse 1. We’ve seen that this theme of joy runs throughout Paul’s letter to the Philippians. He uses either the noun ‘joy’ or the verb ‘rejoice’ fourteen times in just four short chapters.

Why was it so important for Paul to emphasize joy? I suspect that Christians in Paul’s day fell into the same trap that many of us do. The trap I’m referring to is our tendency to center our spiritual lives not around joy, but around guilt—guilt over the sins I’ve committed and guilt over the good things that I’ve failed to do.  Does that happen to you?

I’m not saying that all guilt is bad. There are times when guilt is legitimate. On the other hand, we also tend to use guilt to control other people. We do it as parents.  Pastors can be particularly skilled in it.

Do you know what happens when we build our lives around guilt? Life lacks joy. When I fall short, I feel guilty. When I do well, I don’t feel joy— instead I feel a selfish pride. I look down on everyone else with a distorted sense of my own superiority. But that doesn’t last for long.  Someone else will surpass me, and I have to guilt myself into doing some other work of goodness.  We don’t have to live that way.

Back when Paul wrote this, there was a particular group of people bringing this kind of thinking into the church. They were Jews who claimed to have become Christians. They apparently accepted that Jesus was the Messiah, but they did not really come to grasp the concept of God’s grace and the joyful way of life that flows out of it. They just imported their legalistic Jewish ways into Christianity. They tried to compel Christians to focus their lives on obeying all the details of Jewish law and tradition. Paul calls them “dogs,” “evil workers,” and even “the false circumcision,” because their teaching contradicted the gospel of God’s grace.

I have not encountered many people today who call Christians to be circumcised and follow all the Jewish rituals. But the concern here isn’t necessarily which rules are being pressed. The issue at stake here is this legalistic mindset that revolves around guilt.

How do we respond to this kind of thinking?  We forget what lies behind.

Paul goes through a list of his accomplishments here. He had followed all the rules. If anyone had grounds to boast, it was Paul. But none of that really contributed to his spiritual life. In fact, relying upon these things would have tripped him up.

Look again at verses 7 & 8: But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…

Paul actually viewed his religious accomplishments as loss. In other words, in some sense they hurt him more than they helped him. He says he considered them rubbish, refuse, excrement.  In some way these accomplishments would draw him away from his focus in seeking and relying upon Jesus Christ.

What kind of accomplishments do we need to forget?  Paul’s list may spark some ideas for us.

First, Paul mentions his heritage: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews (v. 5). Obviously, Paul didn’t have any influence over any of these details of his life. It was his heritage and background.  But the tendency is to look at a background like this and to take such pride in it that you assume that it sets you apart spiritually.

Do people do this today? I think sometimes we as parents push this upon our children. We are rightly concerned about protecting them from the onslaught of temptation in the world. But this can subtly become a source of spiritual pride for both parents and children. We can assume that this gives us and them a leg up spiritually. If we think that, then we don’t understand the gospel.

All of us are sinners, regardless of our heritage. Some of us have just done a better job at covering it up. The danger of having a godly heritage is that we can foster a double life, being good on the outside but condescending and selfish in our hearts. Yet, we assume that we’re still an upright Christian person.

Paul’s advice is to forget your heritage. I’m not saying to reject it in anyway.  Having a godly heritage is a blessing in many ways. Paul didn’t reject his Jewish heritage. But you have to put that aside when it comes to your spiritual life today.

The same is true for those of us who lack a godly heritage. That doesn’t matter in Christ. Forget about it.

Paul mentions a second boasting point: his doctrine. He says in verse 5, “as to the Law, a Pharisee.”  The Pharisees were a school of interpretation of the Jewish law. The Sadducees were the liberal Jewish group.  They rejected much of Jewish tradition and embraced Greek thought and ideas. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were the conservatives who held strongly to the Jewish traditions. They pursued purity in belief and conduct.

When Paul became a Christian, he didn’t have to reject all of his previous doctrine.  Much of it was accurate. His doctrinal fidelity could have been something for him to boast in. He could have assumed he was spiritually superior to others because of his commitment to the truth. In doing so, he would have stifled the sense that he needed to pursue Christ.

The same thing can happen to us. It’s important for us to believe the right things, but if we’re not careful we can sit back and grow spiritually complacent and prideful in our knowledge. We shouldn’t forget what’s right, but we should forget that as something that sets us apart. Don’t rely on your knowledge or orthodoxy to say that you’re doing well spiritually.

Paul’s third boasting point was his zeal.  He was so passionate about his Jewish faith that he persecuted Christians. It’s easy for emotional enthusiasm or zeal to become the focus of our spiritual lives. We can fall into seeking an experience with God.

The danger is that zeal can very easily be misdirected. Paul should have listened to the claims of Christians and given them careful consideration. Instead, his zeal drove him away from the truth.

Even today, I see Christians getting passionate about different issues and causes. Passion is good. God wants us to be passionate.  But our passion should be directed toward Jesus Christ.  We need to forget other things.

Paul’s final boasting point was his obedience. That’s right. Obedience can also become a hindrance to our spiritual life. Again, it’s good and right to obey God. The issue is our attitude. If we approach obedience in our own strength without reference to Christ, it hurts us more than it helps us.

The person who has successfully obeyed, thinks, “I’m a really good person. I’ve got life under control.” The person who has failed in obedience thinks, “I really need to clean up my life.” Both attitudes draw us away from Christ. We have to forget about our previous obedience and seek Christ today. 

We also have to forget about our previous disobedience. Some of us get mired down thinking that the sins of our past keep us back from God. That’s not true. Once we have repented of our sins, nothing keeps us apart from God.

The author of Hebrews said it well: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” (Hebrews 12:1).

All of these areas, our heritage, our doctrine, our zeal, and our past obedience can be good things in and of themselves. But good or bad, when we focus on them rather than focusing upon Christ, they encumber us.

Think about an Olympic runner. Earlier this year American athlete Tyson Gay ran the 100M dash in 9.68 seconds. To put that in perspective, his average speed in that race was just over 23 miles per hour. Commentators are saying that whoever wins the 100M dash will be the fastest man alive. When Tyson Gay or other runners go out to race, they don’t wear backpacks. They don’t wear work boots. They don’t wear blue jeans. They strip away every encumbrance in order to be as fast as possible.

When you or I continue to seek joy and righteousness in past events and accomplishments, it’s like we’re trying to run weighted down. Those things hold us back. Paul says forget what lies behind, instead…

Reach Forward to What Lies Ahead

What does Paul have in mind here?  I think he is getting at the very heart of Christianity. Christianity is about knowing Jesus Christ.  Paul says, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

What makes knowing Christ so valuable?  Why would I want to know Him?  Can you answer that question?

You might answer, “Knowing Him is the way to heaven.”  That is true, but that doesn’t really answer the question. The whole point of going to heaven is so that I can spend eternity with Christ. Why would I want to spend eternity with Christ? “Well, eternity with Christ is certainly better than hell.” True, but that still doesn’t answer the question. All of our religion seems pointless if we can’t answer the question – Why?

I think Paul answers the question in verse 10: that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.

We love power, whether human feats of strength or the show of mechanical power from a supercharged engine. But those are just toys compared to the power we see in creation. Haven’t you ever been mesmerized by the awesome power of a thunder storm?

I think we love the feel of power, because we as people find ourselves so often helpless. If the storm is big enough, there’s nothing we can do. But it’s not just storms, it’s people. People do things against us.  And it’s not just people, it’s our own heart. We find within our own hearts evil desires and urges that we cannot suppress.  And it’s sickness. We keep thinking that science will enable us to conquer sickness and pain, but it doesn’t. And it’s death. Try as hard as we will death cannot be conquered by human efforts.

In Jesus Christ, we come face to face with ultimate power. He is the one who tamed storms with a word. He is the one who healed sickness with a touch. He is the one who walked on water. He is the one who conquered death by rising again. He is the one who brings that resurrection power to bear upon your heart and soul to set you free from bondage to sin.

I want to know Christ because I want to personally experience His resurrection power in my life, but not just power. We can also experience the fellowship of his sufferings.

What does Paul mean by that?  Fellowship is such a religious word.

The original Greek term used here is koinonia. Koinonia simply means “sharing.” It’s a picture of friendship. Friendship often begins with sharing food, but then it moves onto sharing thoughts and feelings. Fellowship is sharing life. At its deepest, it’s having someone who never leaves your side, who’s with you through thick and thin, who listens, who gives advice, who rejoices with you and cries with you.

I think most people think that they’ll find that kind of relationship in marriage, but even the best marriage falls short of that. No other human being can ever fully identify with you, but Jesus can. When you face physical pain, Jesus identifies with you. He faced unimaginable pain in his crucifixion. When you face betrayal and loneliness, Jesus understands. In his final hours, his closest friends turned away from him.  When you face temptation, Jesus sympathizes with you. He endured the ultimate temptation from Satan himself.

I want to know Christ because I want to experience the closeness of having someone who truly knows me.

How can we have this kind of relationship with Christ?

It begins with faith. I have to believe that Jesus is God the Son. I have to believe that his sufferings were more than history. They were the complete payment for my sin debt with God. I have to believe that his resurrection truly happened, and that his power is available for me today.

When we reach that point of belief, Paul says that we gain Christ. Look at the end of verse 8: …so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith…

In other words, God makes us righteous when we believe. Sin is like a barrier between us and God, but when he makes us righteous he pushes the barrier aside so that we can have a relationship with Him through His Son.

Knowing Christ, then, is the daily experience of living with his power and his friendship. But you have to understand, that our world constantly seeks to obscure that power and to draw us away from that friendship. That is why Paul says this in verses 13-16: “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”

Knowing Christ is not a one time event, it is an ongoing process of going through life with Him. And the ultimate goal is what Paul mentions in verse 11: attaining to the resurrection of the dead.  In other words, there will come a day when the struggles are over, when I find myself waking in the likeness of God in the presence of Christ in heaven. But until that day, I must forget what lies behind, and keep reaching forward to what lies ahead.

Conclusion

What does all this have to do with joy again?

We tend to think that finding joy is an event, like winning a gold medal. But it’s not like that. The joy isn’t the medal, it’s the race. It’s the experience of pressing on through life with Christ as He walks with me and upholds me by His power.

In verse 1, Paul doesn’t say, “Rejoice in your heritage, or your doctrine, or a past experience, or even past obedience.” He says, “Rejoice in the Lord.” Our joy is that our Lord Jesus Christ is with us through whatever test or trial we have to endure. Every day in every situation we have to press on, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.