Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

As Paul continues to encourage his listeners to allow their faith in God vertically impact others outwardly, he draws on a common example of his day and age: prizes.

How many of you like winning a prize?

How many of you will do just about whatever it takes to win a prize?

One of the themes we find in the New Testament are races and this is something that we’re familiar with today with track and field and various races that we watch on TV.

In a race you’re going to run with a singular goal in mind: to win.

Think about this, if you were to go up to Michael Jordan and ask him why he played the game of basketball, what do you think he’d tell you?

He plays to win championships.

If you were to go up to Usain Bolt and ask him why he ran track, what do you think he’d tell you?

He runs to win a gold medal.

Why do these athletes strive to win and get first place in what they do?

Because they put in a whole lot of work and dedication to their craft to settle for anything less than that.

If you’re going to wake up at 4am to train and eat a certain way and only drink certain things you’re doing all of those things for a purpose: to be the best you can be so that you can win the prize.

Think of the Christian life as this type of race.

If the goal is becoming like Christ then we have to pursue that goal with everything that we have.

The stakes are high - there are 2 outcomes: Heaven and Hell.

Jesus tells us this much in the Gospels as He talks about how there is a house built on the solid rock and the house built on sinking sand.

There’s the narrow path and the broad gate.

There are those who are in Christ and there are those who are against Christ.

We’re all running the race, but only some will reach the prize.

Let’s read about what Paul shares about our goal as followers of Jesus Christ.

Perfectionism? (12-17)

According to a study conducted back in 2018, 33% of college students in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom said that they feel as though they must display perfection in order to secure approval from others.

In recent years this has been a growing reality for many people of all ages and backgrounds.

You don’t have to admit it to others, but how many of you struggle with being a perfectionist at times?

This is an honest struggle that so many of us battle with day in and day out.

We might brush it off as though we have high standards, but if we’re not careful we can be left out in the cold of anxiety or depression simply because we expect ourselves to be perfect and if we fall an inch short of the mark, it’s a colossal failure.

If you’ve ever struggled with perfectionism, take heart today with what Paul shares in the opening verse of our text in Philippians 3:12.

Paul shares that he hasn’t quite reached the goal and is not already perfect.

Some so called Christians believe in this doctrine of perfectionism and this was being taught by some false teachers in Philippi and Paul is correcting them and warning his friends.

Consider the danger of the two extremes of perfectionism in the church and in your life.

On the one side maybe you struggle with perfectionism and you feel awful whenever you mess up and you feel like you are irredeemable because you’ve simply messed up.

Your desire to be perfect leaves you wondering how on earth Jesus Christ could love you and save you because you feel like you fall woefully short of the mark.

If this is you, take heart and rejoice in knowing that we will never be perfect on this side of glory regardless of how hard we try!

The other extreme is very real but it’s in the opposite direction.

Because of this final truth that we’ll never be perfect while on earth due to our sinful nature, some people simply stop trying.

Instead of keeping their eye on the goal of being more like Jesus they replace Christlikeness with complacency.

Instead of having a passion to look more like Jesus they have a passion to just go with the flow and leave sanctification for a future day instead of the present day.

Paul shares that even though he isn’t perfect, he’s still taking effort to reach the prize.

Even though he falls short, he still wants to look more like Jesus.

Perfectionism will leave you feeling depressed in your sinful condition, don’t fall into that trap but also don’t fall into the idea that our actions and Christian walk do not matter at all.

It does!

We’re commanded to grow.

We’re responsible to go and make disciples.

We’re expected to engage with those around us and proclaim the Gospel.

There is work to be done buy into the lie that says that you’re perfect the minute you become a Christian.

This lie is perpetuated by people who look at passages like Matthew 5:48 and others

At the surface level this verse sets quite the lofty standard and it feels unattainable because it by definition is.

This is why it’s important for us to understand the context of Matthew 5:48 and the entire sermon on the mount for that matter.

God is giving His expectation for His disciples in this passage.

Jesus is calling His listeners to grow in becoming who we will one day be today.

The pattern isn’t in our perfection, instead it is in Jesus’ perfection.

We know that we aren’t perfect because of what we find in Scripture.

Whenever we look at the Old Testament we are reminded of God’s holiness and “otherness” than sin.

In Isaiah 6 Isaiah has a vision of the throne and he says that he is ruined because he is a person of unclean lips and he is from a people of unclean lips - what does this mean?

Simply that Isaiah is a sinner and he is from a people who are all sinners and God, meanwhile, is not

In the New Testament as we’ve looked at already, we find that we all are not righteous, we are not good enough on our own.

We can’t be perfect by ourselves - we’re still sinners, yet through the grace of Jesus Christ there is hope

Through Jesus’ work on the cross, our sins are dealt with… Therefore, Paul’s point and our reminder, is not to place our hope and confidence in our personal works of righteousness in order to gain our entry to heaven.

That can’t be our goal.

Instead, we focus on Jesus’ work first.

He paid it all!

Therefore, we work to imitate Him in all that we do and to glorify Him as 1 Cor 10:31 shares to do all to glorify God.

Our hope is not placed in our perfection, it’s in Christ who was perfect in our place.

Just as an athlete trains for his race, Paul is pressing on to his goal which is to be more like Christ.

Think about your own walk with the Lord this evening.

Are you pressing on to be like Christ and training accordingly or are you coasting because you think that it doesn’t really matter?

Are you tempted to go with the flow of the world so that God’s grace can increase?

Or, are you tempted to justify yourself based on your own actions?

Both of these are dangers that we can’t fall in to.

We keep our eyes on Christ and we imitate Him in all that we do.

We follow what the preacher of Hebrews said

Whenever you run the race, keep 3 things in mind:

Don’t get distracted by other things

If you’ve ever driven in a car you know that your car has a rear view mirror.

Why is it there?

To help you stay safe and to make sure that you’re not going to hit something.

But whenever you’re driving on highway 65 or I44, you wouldn’t dare drive only looking at your rearview mirror, would you?

No! Why not?

Because you’d crash!

What do you primarily look at whenever you’re driving a car?

Out the windshield - you look in front of you and to the sides in order to stay safe and focused on what’s ahead.

In life we all have a rearview mirror that we can look at in order to think about our past and that’s not bad… Paul didn’t just stop talking about his previous life before Christ, he mentioned it throughout his ministry.

But where was Paul’s focus?

Forward.

It was Upward on Christ and it was Onward on what Christ had in store for him.

Let us do the same and stop being distracted by the past.

Press on toward the goal

Run toward the finish line - don’t just run aimlessly.

For Paul, the goal is to progressively grow in Christ and to hold fast to His Word.

To have a direction and arrive where Jesus wants us to be.

Reach the finish line

Don’t stop short of the goal - this goal is promised.

God makes good on His promises.

Keep on fighting sin and following Jesus.

Earthly Rewards? (18-19)

As inspiring as this passage can be, Paul gives a stern warning in verses 18-19 about some who live as enemies of the cross and pursue the wrong thing.

Think for a moment about some of the things this world says matter most.

Possessions

Popularity