This message was preached Justin at Word of Grace Church on the November 15th, 2015. To listen/download the audio please click here
Q. How we can stay focused in this great calling that God has given us?
It’s said of Eagles that they fly
very high and don’t fly in groups. And they can see a prey from 5kms. The wind,
other birds, even the rain doesn’t affect the eagles. It is completely focused
on its goal.
We become effective when we are selective. The world steps aside to let those pass who know where they are going,
who are focused. Even a slight deviation
can be disastrous.
In March 6, 1987- Eamonn Coghlan,
the Irish record holder for 500 m race was running in Indianapolis in a qualifying
heat. With 2.5 laps left, he tripped. He managed to get up and catch up with
the others. Just as he was about to cross the finishing line, he came onto the
inside and relaxed because there was no one nearby. But he did not see that
there was someone running on the outside that overshot him and finished the
race seconds before him. All his efforts were rendered useless because he lost
sight of the finishing line.
In Hebrews 12:2 we are called to fix
our eyes upon Jesus who is the author and finisher of our race. We all have
goals in life. What was Paul’s goal? Philippians
3:10- I want to know Christ. This
was his burning desire. He’s not saying this at the beginning of his life, but
at the end. He was a great pioneer and at this stage. He encountered Jesus in a
very dramatic way, but he still lives with the longing to know Christ.
When God touched Paul’s life on
the road to Damascus, God talks about his purpose for Paul’s life. In Acts 9:15- he says to Ananias “Go! This man is my chosen
instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the
people of Israel.” Paul’s goal in life is that for which God has
taken hold of him at Damascus.
Philippians 3:12-14: Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at
my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold
of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself
yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
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
Q. How can we remain focused
till we cross the finish line?
1. We need to have a clear perspective of the race in which we are
involved: in verse 12, we see that Paul has not reached his goal. This is
our starting point. In Philippi, there were those who felt like they have
already arrived. But Paul says that it is not so. “Not that I have already attained.”
Then he says, “or am already perfected”. Paul
says he is still a work in progress. That is what we all are.
All of us who have met Jesus have
begun that race. You and I are not called to settle down in our spiritual walk.
We are called to be sojourners. There is a long way to go to attain the purpose
for which God has called us.
Elijah after Mount Carmel when he
was threatened by Jezebel says I’ve had enough, I give up. But the angel of the
Lord says to him that he still has a long way to go.
In our Christian walk, we attempt
to settle down because of various reasons. But we walk with the Lord. This is
just a beginning and we are a work in progress.
2. To press on: In verse 14 Paul
says that he wants to press on. The Greek word means persecute. The root word
comes from ‘chasing’- As a hound
chasing a fox relentlessly. That is the picture Paul has in mind when he talks
about pressing on. There is urgency in taking hold of that for which God took
hold of us. It’s very important that our
goal is the same as God’s goal for us.
William Wilberforce when was discouraged because of his defeat in
his fight against slavery, he opened his bible and a small piece of paper- a
letter by John Wesley- fell out of it. It said, “unless the divine power has
raised you up, I see not how you can win in your battle against that abominable
practice of slavery. Unless God has raised you for this very thing, you will be
worn out by the opposition of man and the devil. But if God is for you, then
who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Be not
weary of well doing. Go in the power of his might.” He later on succeeded in
the abolition of slavery in England.
The Christian walk is not our decision to follow Christ. It is God’s
plan in our lives- his calling and work in our life. We run the race
because God asked us to run this race for him. Therefore we are not our own. He brought us with the precious blood
of Christ. That’s foundational. That’s how we need to press on.
In order to press on to that
glorious calling we need to do two things:
1. Forgetting what is behind: Past is a good
friend but a bad roommate
Q. How
do we forget things?
Paul says he
refuses to live in the past. We cannot wipe out the past- the hurtful things
that have happened. But we chose not to look back, not to remember. We choose
to look forward.We need to
forget both our past failures and our past achievements.
Paul had a past
of failures. In Acts 7 he gave the approval of killing Stephen. Acts 8 he went
all over the place persecuting the church. In Philippians 3 Paul says he was a
great persecutor of the church and he wants to forget that. In 1 Timothy, he
says I am the greatest of all sinners. He says I don’t want my past to be a
hindrance in moving forward. Satan, the accuser wants to remind us of the past.
But praise be to God as he has forgiven all the sins and the past is dealt with
already. We need to choose not to look at the past, forgetting our failures
We also need to
forget about our achievements. We like to live on how God worked in our life
and our own achievements in life. Paul had a great heritage. He came from a
good family background, but he says, what things were gain to me, I have
counted them as loss for Christ. We have to forget those things and look
forward in our race.
2. Straining toward what is ahead: Thomas
Edison, in one experiment, he needed one thing, for which he searched the whole
of Ceylon, Burma, China until he found that material he needed for the filament
and his experiment became a success. We are called to strain towards the call
for which God called us. In 1
Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul gives the example of a boxer. Paul talks about the
discipline and strict training that is involved in our Christian walk.
Q. What are some of these disciplines?
It is our personal quiet time, prayer life and fellowship with one
another. How are things in your life? Are you struggling with them? Or are
they completely neglected? These things help us grow in the Lord.
In a race, the winner is decided by a fraction of a second’s
difference where one person pushes himself ahead by just that much. In our
Christian walk, we are called to cross the finishing line.
Q. What is the motivation?
Paul says, I run towards the prize that is set before. The prize is
not only for winners but for all those who finish the race. We need to be
focused till we finish the race.
In 1968, the Olympics were held
in Mexico City. The ceremonies were all over. The spectators were prepared to
leave. When the public announcer asked them to remain in their seats they were
surprised. John Stephen from Tanzania, covered in blood, was a marathon runner entered
the stadium. He had fallen down halfway and hit his head on the pavement, was trampled
on by the other runners. Then he got himself up and reached the stadium.
Next day the media asked him, why
he did what he did even though there was no way of winning a prize? He said, my
country did not send me 11000kms to start the race but to finish it. Phil 1: 6 Paul says, “Being confident of this, that he who began a
good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”
That’s the calling of God in our
lives. May the Lord help us, the one who is so faithful in calling us, will
help us complete the race for which he has called you and me.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
