Press On in Christ

February 3, 2019 Background Scripture: Philippians 3:1 – 16 Lesson Passage: Philippians 3:7 – 14 It can be very difficult to let go of the past—especially when we can recall some measure of success or achievement. The Apostle Paul reflects on this as he writes this letter of joy to the church at Philippi. That congregation was established by Paul on his second missionary journey out of Antioch. By the time of this letter, the congregation was fairly organized in that they had officers, bishops and deacons, among them. Paul must have been most proud of them. There was no doubt about the Holy Ghost’s involvement in the founding of that congregation. Paul had an itinerary that did not include visiting the area, but his itinerary was changed in a vision that redirected him into Europe. There, Paul met the first group down by a river having prayer. Paul began the work of evangelism among them and that led to the establishment of a Christian congregation as well as beatings and imprisonment for Paul and Silas. Through it all, the congregation had survived and even thrived. They were organized and were continuing the work Paul started among them. Paul was writing to encourage them to continue to press on in the work and personal spiritual development. In this letter, Paul shared with the church his motivation and methodology for pressing on in Christ. Paul was motivated by the conversion experience he had. Jesus had laid hold on Paul and now Paul was attempting to reach the goal Jesus had set before him. Paul was determined to become more and more like Christ. He was willing to suffer for Christ so that he might experience the resurrection that Christ had experienced. Paul wanted all of his priorities to be focused on this future event for him. That type of focus on the future requires letting go of the past. It can be easy to let go of the pain and suffering of the past. In fact, we try hard to do that anyway. The challenge is letting go of past successes. When we have obtained a degree of wealth, positions of prominence, and the favor of our society, we like to linger in those times. And when those times are over, we like to reminisce about the “good old days”. It is not so easy to let go of our past perceived success. But Paul exhorted the church that if they were going to press on in Christ, then even the success of the past must be released. Paul enumerated many of his own successes as an example of what he was willing to discount in exchange for the future promises of Christ. Paul had a clear pedigree as far as family lineage was concerned. He knew which tribe of Israel he was from. He knew he was properly circumcised as required by the Law. He knew that he had a clean record and reputation among the religious leaders of Israel in terms of his lifestyle. He had even become one of the respected leaders of Israel’s religious community. All of those successes, Paul was willing to count as trash in exchange for the knowledge he had received of Christ. Paul knew that none of those things could provide the future promises that Christ was offering. Therefore, pressing on in Christ required relinquishing the joy of the past so that his focus would be totally on his future calling. He had to forget those things and press on. Robert C. Hudson January 7, 2019