Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Philippians chapter 3 as we look at moving forward in the work of God.  I have called this study “Don’t Look Back!” because I think many of us get caught in the trap of living in the past. Thus, this morning we are going to learn some lessons that Paul was teaching the Philippians about pressing on toward the goal, not losing sight of the finish line. As you are turning there, listen to this true story. We are told:

            Well-known commentator and author Eric Sevarid said that the best lesson he ever learned was the principle of the “next mile.” He recalled how he learned the principle:

            “During World War II, I and several others had to parachute from a crippled Army transport plane into the mountainous jungle on the Burma-India boarder. It was several weeks before an armed relief expedition could reach us, and then we began a painful, plodding march out to civilized India.  We were faced by a 140-mile trek, over mountains in August heat and monsoon rains.

            In the first hour of the march I rammed a boot nail deep into one foot; by evening I had bleeding blisters the size of 50-cent pieces on both feet.  Could I hobble 140 miles?  Could the others, some in worse shape than I, complete such a distance?

            We were convinced we could not.  But we could hobble to that ridge, we could make the next friendly village for the night. And that, of course, was all we had to do . . .”

            Eric Sevarid used the “next mile” principle many other times during his career, whether the task was writing a book or writing scripts for radio and television.

- Bits and Pieces, February, 1990, pp. 11-12

            You see, instead of looking back and trying to live in the past, they kept their eyes forward, moving on, not looking to the future, but taking it one step at a time. And by doing that they were able to make that 140-mile trek!  With that said, let’s begin reading in Philippians chapter 3, starting in verse 12 and see what the Lord has for us this morning.

            As I read through these verses I find they can be broken down into three main points.  First of all, in Philippians 3:12 we see a realistic view of self. Then in Philippians 3:13 we see Paul lay down the principle that we need to learn from the past, don’t live in the past.  And lastly, Paul tells us that we need to press on toward the goal in Philippians 3:14. And so with the remainder of our time this morning we are going to be looking at these three main points and see what we can glean from them and apply to our own lives, helping us in our walk with the Lord.

1.  REALISTIC VIEW OF SELF – PHILIPPIANS 3:12

            There are some Christians, some churches who feel that once you are saved you have reached the point of perfection, they sin no more!  How foolish that kind of thinking and teaching is. Think about it, the sin of pride already has them!  John tells us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us . . . If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

I John 1:8, 10.  You see, we still have these corrupted bodies of flesh and Paul longed for the day, and so do we when the Lord “ . . . will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”  Philippians 3:21.  These bodies of flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God but we will be transformed, we will receive new bodies made in the heavens.

            Thus, Paul had a realistic view of himself, he did not think more highly of himself than he should and recognized God was still working in his life, molding and shaping him into the man of God He wanted him to be and then one day he would be received up into glory with the Lord.  Thus, Paul was aware that he had not attained this perfection yet, he was aware of his shortcomings which caused him to press on, to be all that God wanted him to be! In fact, the idea here is that the goal Paul had set for himself was the goal that the Lord had set for his life!

            Now, in saying that, heed the warning. As you read through the Scriptures you find those who didn’t finish well in the race they were in.  They started out strong but in the end something happened that took them off course. And the reality is, the reason for their failure is they lacked the zeal, they took their eyes off of the Lord and they then stumbled!

            We can read of Noah, a great man of God who, after the flood, after following the Lord he became drunk and at the end of his life we are told, “And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.  So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.”  Genesis 9:28-29.  The last 350 years of his life were silent!

            Then there was Moses who was the Deliverer of the Jews from their bondage in Egypt.  He was the great Lawgiver and yet, he too did not finish well. In Numbers chapter 20 the children of Israel are complaining again about not having water to drink and that it would have been better to remain slaves in Egypt than to die in the wilderness like this.

And beginning in verse 7 we are told, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.’  So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, ‘Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?’  Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.  Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’”  Numbers 20:7-12.  The deliverer of Israel did not get to bring his people into the Promise Land even though he lead them for forty years in the wilderness!

And there are others that are examples of God’s people who started out strong but did not finish well, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Let me give you a few examples to show you what I mean. First of all from the Scriptures we see a man named Caleb who started out strong and as they entered the Promise Land we are told of what he was like as the land was being divided up in Joshua chapter 14 as he said, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.  Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God.  So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’  And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old.  As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.  Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said.”  Joshua 14:7-12.  He not only started out well, but at the age of 85 he was finishing well the course that God had set for him.

Here are some other examples to show you what I mean about finishing well. George Mueller finished well.  After establishing an orphanage for 2,050 children, he continued to raise all the support for the orphanages, even while traveling 200,000 miles.  The day before he died at age 93, he was still handling orphanage correspondence and protesting that he felt fine.  Then there is Oswald Chambers who lived only 43 years and yet those 43 years were a lifetime that many never achieve.  He served the Lord in Egypt ministering to British soldiers and he often said, “I don’t care what God does, it’s what God is that I care about.”  His journals and sermons even after his death continue to bless people around the world.  Many of you may even use his devotional, My Utmost for His Highest!  And John Sung who was a brilliant Chinese student who had a Ph.D. in Chemistry.  After several years at Union Theological Seminary where his faith was tested, and six months of forced confinement in psychiatric wards, he was released to return to China for 15 years, a highly effective but exhaustive ministry.  Thousands were converted and revival broke out wherever he spoke.

What enabled them to finish well?  I think Paul tells us, giving his life as an example in I Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.  And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.  Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.  But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”  Paul was focused on the Lord, he pressed on, he didn’t give up, he disciplined his body, starved his flesh and fed his spirit and kept the faith!

Folks, we too have not attained glorification on a practical level, we are not perfect, but we do need to press on, not give up.  Reach for what God has for your life; don’t go after something that will hurt you, that will be destructive in your life, something that will cause you not to finish well!  Have a realistic view of yourself; it will help keep things in perspective for you!

2.  LEARN FROM THE PAST, DON’T LIVE IN THE PAST – PHILIPPIANS 3:13

            If Paul focused his life on the past, the things he did before he was saved, it would have incapacitated him for the present work.  Paul was persecuting Christians, dragging them out of their homes, arresting them, even consenting to their death, like that of Stephen for his faith in Christ.  And I’m sure that there were things even after he was saved that occurred that he wish didn’t happen and yet he was able to let them go because his eyes were focused on what the Lord has for him here and now!

            Churches today are filled with people, with Christians who are spiritual cripples because they hold onto grudges, sins, bitterness, tragedies of the past, refusing to let them go. Others try to live in the past making it into some kind of utopia and that too can paralyze you from the present work that God wants to do.  Paul, in Galatians 4:9 rebukes them by saying, “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?”  Don’t fall prey to Satan’s schemes of living in the past, not letting those past hurts go.  If you don’t let them go you will be ineffective in your walk, you will be living in the past instead of the present!

            Many Christians are like the Floogie Bird.  “What is a Floogie Bird” you ask?  Well, Harry S. Truman tells us that, “Men who live in the past remind me of a toy I’m sure you all have seen.  The toy is a small wooden bird called the ‘Floogie Bird.’ Around the Floogie Bird’s neck is a label reading, “I fly backwards, I don’t care where I’m going. I just want to see where I’ve been.”  We should not be like that!

            Then what should we do?  Paul tells us that we are to be “reaching forward” which is a word that speaks of stretching. Think of it like this, a muscle that is stretched to its limit, like that of a runner who is stretching, straining to reach the finish line. Instead of reaching back you are moving forward, living for today and seeing what God is going to do.

            Here is a good rule to follow regarding this:

            To escape the distress caused by regret for the past or fear about the future, this is the rule to follow: leave the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to his good providence; give the present wholly to his love by being faithful to his grace.

- Jean-Pierre de Caussade in The Joy of the Saints

            And Warren Wiersbe tells us:

            Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you.  We must learn from the past but not live in the past.

- Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe

            We are also told regarding the past:

            Margaret Storm Jameson, the English author, once expressed the view that we all spend too much time living in the past, feeling regret for lost joys or shame for things badly done.  Even when our minds turn to the future, she said, we spend an inordinate amount of time longing for it or dreading it. “The only way to live,” she said, “is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle . . . Work at your work.  Play at your play. Shed your tears. Enjoy your laughter. Now is the time of your life.”

- Bits and Pieces, July, 1991

            Here is the thing folks.  We can learn from the past, which is good; it is what we should do so we can grow into the likeness of Christ, learn from our mistakes and our successes.  The problem comes when we want to live in the past, we can’t let go of the past and we become ineffective in our walk and we don’t grow, we become stagnant.  Think about it, family fights, fights with friends, why do they go on?  Because we refuse to let the wrong go, be it real or perceived and thus, the past is holding us back from living in the present and we lose out!

Let me close this section with these words for you to think about, I think they are powerful. We are told:

            I was regretting the past

            And fearing the future . . .

            Suddenly my Lord was speaking:

            “MY NAME IS I AM.” He paused.

            I waited. He continued,

            “When you live in the past,

            with it’s mistakes and regrets,

            It is hard.  I am not there.

            My name is not I was.

            When you live in the future,

            With its problems and fears,

            It is hard. I am not there.

            My name is not I will be.

            When you live in this moment,

            It is not hard.  I am here.

            My name is I AM.”

- Helen Mallicoat

            May we not forget that fact, that He is the Great I AM and as we live in the present we are allowing our will to be conformed to His will. Yes, at times it does take some straining, some stretching on our part. In fact, this is in the middle voice, which indicates to us that we are to do the stretching ourselves!  And think about it, how many times do we give it our all for the things of this world and thus, should we give any less to the Lord?  Of course not. We are to learn from the past, we are not to live in the past!  Remember the story of Lot’s wife who instead of looking to what was ahead she looked back to Sodom and became a pillar of salt.  Many Christians do the same; they are crusty and dry because they are looking back and not living in the present!  May we learn the lesson.

3.  PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL – PHILIPPIANS 3:14

            Here is the dedication of Paul to press on toward the goal.  Paul was bearing down upon the goal, his eyes were fixed upon it, nothing was going to distract him from reaching it, and nothing was going to get in his way.  What is the goal for Paul and ultimately for us?  The ultimate goal is to be with Christ forever.  Paul was not looking forward to death, but meeting his Lord and Savior and that brought him great joy as he pressed on.

            Too often there are so many distractions in our lives that cause us to lose focus, to take our eyes off of the goal, which is Jesus Christ, to live for Him and ultimately to be with Him. Many follow the crowd instead of the Lord, which can lead us down the wrong road, and it will as this story illustrates for us.  We are told:

            In a recent NCAA cross-country championship held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn. One competitor, Mike Delcavo, stayed on the 10,000-meter course and began waving for fellow runners to follow him.  Delcavo was able to convince only four others to go with him.  Asked what his competitors thought of his mid-race decision not to follow the crowd, Delcavo responded, “They thought it was funny that I went the right way.”  Delcavo was one who ran correctly. In the same way, our goal is to run correctly – to finish the race marked out for us by Christ.  We can rejoice over those who have courage to follow, ignoring the laughter of the crowd.  “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness . . . “ (2 Tim. 4:7-8).

       - Loren D. McBain, Mesa, Arizona.  Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 3

            The point of the story is simple.  The world outside of Christ is moving away from God, they are going in the wrong direction and they want you to follow them.  Years ago there was a computer game, it still may be around, called Lemmings.  These creatures were to get from point A to point B, with many obstacles in their way.  The thing with Lemmings is they play follow the leader and if one was to fall off a cliff they all would follow and the game would be over!

            Tragically many Christians are like Lemmings, following the crowds instead of the Lord.  The world may laugh at you, think you are foolish, make fun of you, but don’t let that stop you from fixing your eyes upon Jesus.  Paul, in Hebrews 12:1-4 tells us, and this is from The Amplified Bible, “THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. [Ps 110:1.] . . .

. . . Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds. You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood.”

            Look to the men and women of faith to encourage you in the race.  Paul was speaking of the Old Testament saints in Hebrews chapter 11 as the cloud of witnesses who were willing to sacrifice all to finish the race and obtain the prize that God had for them – eternal life with Him!

            Have you ever been walking and not paying attention to where you are going, what happens?  Chances are you are going to stumble and you may even fall.  Now what do you then do?  Do you just lie there on the ground and just give up?  No, you get right up, usually as quickly as possible!

            In our Christian life we tend to do just the opposite. We fall and we lie there. We give up. We don’t press on, we let things move us from the course that God has set for us. Don’t let difficult times, seemingly impossible situations stop you, God is on your side and the work that He started in you He will complete in you!

            Some of you may remember the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, a great movie and it gives us the story of Olympic runner Eric Liddell who won a bronze medal for the 200-meter and a gold for the 400-meter race as he ran for Scotland.  After that he went to be a missionary.  Interestingly, back in the 1924 Olympics he refused to run his best event, the 100-meter dash because it was being held on a Sunday.  Because of that he was accused of being unpatriotic and legalistic. But he stood his ground, he stood strong and would not give in and God honored that in his life.  In fact, he entered the 400-meter dash, which was not held on a Sunday, the Lord’s Day and even though it was not his best event he won a gold medal!

            But one year before this event there was another race that played out like some Hollywood movie.  When the gun went off and the race started, Liddell tangled his feet with J. J. Gillies of England and he went tumbling to the ground. He sat there dazed for a moment, not knowing whether he could get up, when the official screamed, “Get up and run!”

            So he jumped to his feet and took off after the pack, which was now a full twenty yards ahead of him. In a quarter mile, that’s a big distance to try to make up.  In his unorthodox style of running he took off after the pack. He pulled into fourth place ten yards behind the leader, J. J. Gillies.

            With forty yards to go, he pulled into third place, then second. And right at the tape he passed Gillies as he stuck out his chest and won the race!  He then collapsed on the track in total exhaustion.  Medical personal had to assist him off the track that day, but he finished the race and he won!

            An article appearing the next day in The Scotsman newspaper said, “The circumstances in which Liddell won the race made it a performance bordering on the miraculous. Veterans whose memories take them back thirty-five years and in some cases longer in the history of athletics were unanimous in the opinion that Liddell’s win in the quarter mile was the greatest track performance they had ever seen.”

            What a powerful lesson for us to learn and apply to our lives. It doesn’t mater how many times you get knocked down, get back up and set your eyes upon Jesus not only the author of your faith but also the finisher of your faith!  As I close this morning let me leave you with this story. We are told:

            The snow covered the ground, and three young boys were playing in it.  A man said to them, “Would you like to try to race, with the promise of a prize for the winner?”

            The boys agreed, and the man told them that his race was to be different.  “I will go to the other side of the field,” he said, “and when I give you the signal, you will start to run.  The one whose footsteps are the straightest in the snow will be the winner.”

            As the race commenced, the first boy began looking at his feet to see if his steps were straight. The second lad kept looking at his companions to see what they were doing; but the third boy just ran on with his eyes fixed on the man on the other side of the field.

            The third boy was the winner, for his footsteps were straight in the snow. He had kept his eyes on the goal ahead of him.

            A long time ago, another man using similar words taught the same principle. It was Paul who said,          “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” (Phil 3:13, 14).

- Treasury of Bible Illustrations

            May we learn the lessons that God has for us.  To have a realistic view of yourself.  To learn from the past, don’t live in the past.  And finally, to press on toward the goal – Jesus Christ.  And as we do, we will be able to say as Paul said at the end of his life because none of those things moved him from the course that God had set for him and he told Timothy, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”  II Timothy 4:6-8.

The Amplified Bible puts these verses like this, “For I am already about to be sacrificed [my life is about to be poured out as a drink offering]; the time of my [spirit's] release [from the body] is at hand and I will soon go free.  I have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble) fight, I have finished the race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith.  As to what remains] henceforth there is laid up for me the [victor's] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me and recompense me on that [great] day — and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and yearned for and welcomed His appearing (His return).”  II Timothy 4:6-8.

May that be our hearts desire, to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith that has been entrusted to us and one day we will go and be with the One we love so much, our Lord and Savior, our prize!  Keep your eyes focused on Him and you won’t lose!