Pastor’s Pen Pulpit

July 16, 2006

BEYOND FORTY

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:10-14

Today we are commemorating the 40^th anniversary of our church. Much has been accomplished here for the glory of God. Good leaders have come and gone. Many who have attended and served in this fellowship have either moved away or gone on to be with the Lord whom they served. To share in this commemoration, I’ve chosen Philippians 3:10-14 as a challenge to all of us to look beyond forty years and into the next forty - if the Lord permits. I’m sharing the passion that the Apostle Paul shared with the Philippian believers as an example and challenge. So let's look at our passage.

Paul alludes to his consuming drive to be perfect as his Savior is perfect. He then lets us know that he hasn’t achieved that coveted goal as yet. He goes on to say that, “I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” To lay hold of something is to possess whatever it is you are laying hold of. Jesus Christ laid hold of Paul in order to conform him to His own perfect image. Paul writes that even though he hasn’t achieved that yet, there is one thing that consumes him, “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Paul is not saying that he discounts what he has accomplished for Christ in the past as nothing. Rather, he puts all the victories and defeat of his past life out of his mind and in doing so, sets his mind on the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. This is not to say that Paul was working his way to heaven. Our eternal life is secure the moment we trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. And yet as believers we, like Paul, because of what Christ has accomplished for us, desire to become more and more like Him. The Apostle John put it like this: “And now little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming (I John 2:28). “

Beloved, let us never stop our pursuit of growing in Christ. Let’s make the years beyond forty a time of moving forward in the Lord. Let’s not rest in what we have accomplished here on 59^th and Downey Avenue, thinking that we have reached the supreme goal for our church or ourselves. Neither let past hurts nor defeats ruin our future opportunities for God. Make a pact with God to push on for Christ. Say to yourself, “Self, I’m determined to walk closer and work harder for the Lord Jesus Christ than ever have before” and mean it!

God bless and keep looking up. As Dr. M.R. DeHaan often said,

“PERHAPS TODAY!”

Have you ever wished you could be two places at the same time? How nice if Eva and I could do that today as we would love to be there with you. Eva has had the privilege of serving the Biola University Board of Trustees for many years and as a “thank you” to her, they gave the two of us the gift of an Alaskan cruise. As we wanted to take *Penelope along, we drove rather than flew to Seattle from where we sailed, visiting a daughter and two brothers along the way. Our thoughts and prayers are with you today and we will have lots of pictures to share when we return!

*My faithful, cherry red, electric scooter.