00:00:00:27 – 00:00:23:58
Clint Loveall
Hey guys, thanks for joining us as we continue through Philippians today. Hope everything is going well. Hope you’re doing all right. We are in the third chapter of this book. Moving into verse 12. Glad to have you with us. If you weren’t with us yesterday. Please either take a pause on this study and go back to that one.

00:00:23:58 – 00:00:51:21
Clint Loveall
Or when this one is done, you go back and get that one because they are connected. They’re very much tied together, and they’re both wonderful passages. Just a few verses here. We’ll start with anyway, 12 to probably 16. Then we’ll come back. We’ll have some discussion. Paul writes not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own beloved.

00:00:51:21 – 00:01:14:48
Clint Loveall
I do not consider that I have made it my own. But this one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on to the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then, who are mature, be of the same mind. And if you think differently about anything, this to God will reveal to you.

00:01:14:52 – 00:01:43:22
Clint Loveall
Only let us hold fast to what we have attained. These are beloved words. I think this passage is is pretty well known, I think, in the context of the book of Philippians. Probably some favorite verses for people. Remember yesterday that Paul said he would trade all of his earthly accolades and status designators for, for the glory of Christ?

00:01:43:22 – 00:02:08:19
Clint Loveall
And so now he says, not that I already have done that, not that I’ve reached a goal, but I continue to strive after the goal. And this is wonderful language, Michael. This isn’t you know, it’s for those of us who live in what we call the reformed tradition. And it’s always tempting to try and make Paul, a reformed theologian, which isn’t fair, but this would work pretty well.

00:02:08:24 – 00:02:36:13
Clint Loveall
He says, I, I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. And the beauty of that is that Paul deeply understands that whatever we become in Christ has first to do with Christ, it is always about him first and not us. We strive. We try to be good disciples. We preach and proclaim and forgive and all of the other components of the Christian life.

00:02:36:18 – 00:02:58:52
Clint Loveall
Because of this central claim that Jesus Christ has claimed us, that he has made us his own, and that sets us on this journey that Paul is referring to. Michael, I there’s lots of great stuff to come, but what a what an incredible place for Paul to start.

00:02:58:57 – 00:03:34:52
Michael Gewecke
I think that this text is so beautiful because it gives us an opportunity to understand that Paul doesn’t look at life as being an endless void, that he doesn’t have any clue what the path is leading towards. There’s a kind of faith filled confidence here that what is happening on this side of eternity is leading us towards a confident reality, that we can put our hope and trust in.

00:03:34:57 – 00:04:11:07
Michael Gewecke
On the other side of that eternity. And it is amazing because it’s not just like ship over the sea, off into the distant, voyage into the horizon. This is very practical, and it connects in a really beautiful way. I realize that this is a text that we’ve already seen yesterday, but I think you have to understand, it leads into this idea of having the righteousness from God based on faith, knowing Christ in the power of his resurrection, how sharing of his sufferings is becoming like him in death.

00:04:11:12 – 00:04:33:58
Michael Gewecke
If in some way I may attain the resurrection from the dead, then moves on, not that I have already attained this. And this is a really important question. What is this? This could reference that righteousness. This could represent that hope of resurrection, that hope of restoration, right? That this is essential or have already reached the goal. But I press on that.

00:04:34:01 – 00:04:54:45
Michael Gewecke
This is the thing. The hope that we have today is the fuel that moves us forward towards the reality of what God intends to do and what God has revealed to us through Jesus Christ, what he will do in the future. That’s what makes the Christ Him in chapter two. So important. That’s what makes the previous section so important.

00:04:54:45 – 00:05:18:59
Michael Gewecke
Per your comments leading off this study, Clint, you need to know that the reason why we press on is not because we’re guaranteed the path that’s going to become clearer, or the path will be broader, but rather because we know that when Jesus Christ lived out his life, even to the point of suffering and death, that is beyond that, that God resurrected him and raised him to the highest heights.

00:05:19:08 – 00:05:41:35
Michael Gewecke
And here again, we see that it’s not our own work here in verse 13, but rather it is fundamentally the work that Christ has done and is therefore his calling us forward, that we respond to that. That’s the beautiful tension in this text, is that at one point, it’s about the thing that God has done that calls us ahead.

00:05:41:40 – 00:05:52:18
Michael Gewecke
And on the other point, it’s about us responding to that and actually doing something that moving us ahead in our life, in our faith, that it’s dynamic in that way.

00:05:52:22 – 00:06:11:37
Clint Loveall
It’s certainly dynamic. There’s also a little bit of a temptation, I think, in this we’re going to see another beautiful Philippians favorite verse as we make our way into chapter four down the road a little ways. But I think Michael.

00:06:11:42 – 00:06:48:59
Clint Loveall
There is a tendency, a temptation to read this through our own lens. Yeah. You know, the idea here that Paul says because of Christ, I do this and I do that. But sometimes we’re so inundated with the idea of self-importance and, you know, self-reliance that we have at times taken these verses and, and made them into kind of self-help or motivational text.

00:06:48:59 – 00:07:18:01
Clint Loveall
You know, I forget what’s behind me, and I strain forward. I can do anything I’ve chase after. Well, it’s not that that might not be in there somewhere, but it’s not primarily what Paul is trying to say. Paul is saying that unchained to the past, set free in Jesus Christ. We strain forward. We are eager to move forward.

00:07:18:10 – 00:07:55:50
Clint Loveall
We push forward against opposition and barriers which are most often ourselves. And we do so to take this prize the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. This is not a self-help or a, you know, a kind of good for your ego, pat on the back kind of text. This is about moving forward in life because of Jesus Christ, not because of my own strength, not because of my own ability, but because Jesus Christ has, in Paul’s words, made me his own.

00:07:55:55 – 00:08:20:49
Clint Loveall
And in response to that, I now make my life about the one who has claimed me, who has made me his own. And to do that, I strain forward for that. What he calls this wonderful phrase the heavenly call or the upward call of God in Christ Jesus and I. And I think, you know, again, these are wonderful words.

00:08:20:49 – 00:08:40:09
Clint Loveall
But when people get them printed on things or tattooed on to, you know, it’s just it’s it’s tempting to hear something like that and somehow think that it’s about my own strength. When I think, ironically, Paul has in mind exactly the opposite.

00:08:40:13 – 00:09:08:43
Michael Gewecke
Feel free to check me on this. I don’t know if I’ve thought down this line exactly with this text before, but I wonder if it’s true that where we get off track when we put these words on coffee cups, or when we put them on shirts or bookmarks in our Bible, that kind of thing. I think the temptation is to think that these are primarily or even chiefly words of encouragement.

00:09:08:48 – 00:09:37:31
Michael Gewecke
A kind of you can do it sentiment that they are encouraging, don’t get me wrong, but I, I think what you’ve got to recognize is this is sandwiched in between Paul recognizing the difficulty of the calling that he’s received. We just had that. And then look at the end. We not got to it yet, but 15 and 16, you know, the be mature the same mind if you think differently, you know, hold fast.

00:09:37:33 – 00:10:07:03
Michael Gewecke
God will reveal to you that there’s a kind of awareness immediately after these words that there’s division, there’s human just trying to sort it all out happening in the midst your it’s not all just simple flowers, unicorns and rainbows. This is a very earthy, very reality based comment. And so when Paul’s talking about pressing on, when he’s saying that he’s straining for that prize, I want to be clear.

00:10:07:08 – 00:10:40:15
Michael Gewecke
I think you have to hear in Paul’s words, there’s an awareness. He’s in prison, where he’s in prison, there’s debate. But we know that is he goes on his life. He’s more and more aware of the fact that his call may require his life, and the fact that he’s willing to say, pressing on this is the thing that I’m willing to do, because that’s the call I’ve been given and the prize that I’m given in the hope of being like Jesus, being caught up in the resurrection of Jesus, that that that hope makes all of this worth it.

00:10:40:15 – 00:10:59:49
Michael Gewecke
And you’ve got to think in your back of your mind what we just had that whole talk of, I’ve got this great pedigree, but all of that I count is rubbish compared to Jesus Christ. And here you see that lived out in the action. What is Paul call the church in Philippi that you press on for what purpose?

00:10:59:49 – 00:11:20:54
Michael Gewecke
Not self advancement, not larger churches, not bigger buildings, not a larger impact in the world? No, because Jesus Christ has called us so. Therefore we are called to give up, to suffer, to serve, to follow in his way, knowing no matter what happens to us, the prize is much greater than the struggle we experience on this side.

00:11:20:58 – 00:11:49:36
Clint Loveall
I do think there is a word here, Michael, for those moments where life is beating us up, where things are hard, where we’re struggling, I, I do think there is something to be said for getting up, putting a foot in front of another, pressing on. I do think that’s in the text. I think what can get lost is that is not about how strong we are.

00:11:49:40 – 00:12:20:31
Clint Loveall
That is about how strong Christ is, that that is about how strong his claim on our life is. And so I do think this is a wonderful passage of encouragement. It’s not it. It’s not a passage of, you know, self-congratulation or hey, look, look how great I’m able to do this. This is about Paul saying, yeah, we can we can get we can move ahead, we can move forward.

00:12:20:31 – 00:12:46:51
Clint Loveall
We can take that next step. We can pursue the heavenly calling. But not because of ourselves, because of the grace and strength of Jesus Christ. And then you you mentioned these last couple verses, Michael, and I think they’re great. Let us who are mature be of the same mind. And if you think differently, God will also reveal this to you.

00:12:46:51 – 00:13:21:07
Clint Loveall
There’s a there is such, optimism, such hopefulness in that the idea that God can be trusted in our moments of disagreement, in our moments of different opinions, that we can take a breath. And even there we can press on, believing that God will reveal it to us, that what God wants for us is goodness and unity and his work to be done in and through us, and therefore we can trust his revelation.

00:13:21:12 – 00:13:56:25
Clint Loveall
That’s a beautifully patient and hopeful word to a church that will learn in the near future. Is not unfamiliar with some, some disconnect, some difference of opinion. And so, those verses are, again, you and I sit on the side of the fence as people who do their jobs as pastors and that’s such a such an encouraging word in a moment of disagreement to just hear Paul say, Trust God.

00:13:56:25 – 00:14:01:12
Clint Loveall
And if he’ll sort it out, but really good.

00:14:01:17 – 00:14:28:27
Michael Gewecke
I also think the last verse would be really easy to skip, and we would miss something important if we did only let us hold fast to what we have attained, that those words are short in terms of the quantity as we have them translate in English. But Clint, they’re large in their capacity because I think what we forget Christians have missed this mark in every generation of the church.

00:14:28:31 – 00:15:15:18
Michael Gewecke
We become dogmatic about the things that we believe. Everyone should believe. And there are as many Christian families as you can possibly imagine, whether by denomination or by theological stripe. And and, Clint, when you see these words, there’s great beauty in even that childlike faith kind of way. Holding on to the things that you can be confident. And just yesterday I was with a group of people and we were talking about grief, and we’re talking about how in moments of grief and darkness, having lost someone, having lost something that has made a huge impact on your life, how that can bring a moment of doubt, it can bring moments of great struggle.

00:15:15:23 – 00:15:34:42
Michael Gewecke
And what is important to hear from Scripture is there are times and there are seasons in which the best we can do is to hold on to what we have been given. Jesus Christ is enough, the Gospels and enough. The good news that God loves you. God gave himself for you, that these things often feel to us to be elementary.

00:15:34:49 – 00:16:09:13
Michael Gewecke
We skip by these things towards, theology for oh one where we want to get into the nitty gritty about this translation. And what does this word mean in this doctrine? There is wisdom in recognizing the importance of the fundamentals of the faith. Paul stakes his life on that. He stakes his life that even when there are places, when we don’t see clearly, we can be confident in the Christ who we do see clearly, the one who gave himself for us, the one whose resurrection provides for us the promise and the hope of what God will do for us.

00:16:09:18 – 00:16:29:40
Michael Gewecke
That’s enough. And if that’s all you can hold on to today, that that’s not you being accommodated. That’s not you reaching for the least. At some places, the best we can do is to hold fast are what we have been given. And I just think simple words are easy to read by. But the hope, the promise, the gift of them is that that is enough.

00:16:29:45 – 00:17:10:39
Clint Loveall
Yeah. There certainly a lot of takeaways here. The idea of breaking with the past in order to move ahead of holding fast to what we have attained, even as we press on toward the goal of Christ Jesus, who has claimed us there. I mean, there’s sermon after sermon and very. Spiritual theology at work in this passage. And as we’ve seen consistently in this book, Paul has just such an incredible gift for cramming a great deal of meaning into not very many words.

00:17:10:39 – 00:17:27:09
Clint Loveall
And so we as those who inherit that gift from him, we are grateful for his, skill, his eloquence, his thoughtfulness as we now get to benefit from these words as they guide us, help guide us in our own faith.

00:17:27:14 – 00:17:46:37
Michael Gewecke
I think that we would all do well to read these words. We would also do well to read the letter that surrounds them. And, this is one of those texts, Clint. You could return to time and time again, different seasons of life. You’re going to find different treasures waiting for you here. And it would be wise for us all to avail ourself of it frequently.

00:17:46:37 – 00:17:54:42
Clint Loveall
I think you could start every day with this passage, and it would be a long time before you thought you didn’t find it helpful anymore. Yeah.

00:17:54:46 – 00:18:10:58
Michael Gewecke
Thank you for spending time with us. We confess in the 18 minutes that we’ve been together, there’s only so deep you could go into a text that’s limitless. So thank you for spending this time with us like this. If it’s been helpful, encouraging, challenging. If you’ve seen the text in a new way, subscribe so you don’t miss studies like this.

00:18:11:09 – 00:18:12:28
Michael Gewecke
We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

00:18:12:32 – 00:18:13:06
Clint Loveall
Thanks, everybody.