THIS ONE THING I DO PHILIPPIANS 3:7-15

THIS ONE THING I DO “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.”

Things I now consider loss 1. Whatever was to my profit. 2. Circumcised on the 8th day. 3. Israelite. 4. Benjamite. 5. Hebrew of the Hebrews. 6. A Pharisee. 7. Zealous. 8. Faultless.

Things I now want to GAIN 1. Christ, 3:8. 2. Knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, 3:8. 3. To be found in Him, 3:9. 4. The righteousness that comes from God and is by faith, 3:9. 5. The power of his resurrection, 3:10. 6. The fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, 3:10. 7. Becoming like Him, 3:10. 8. Maturity, 3:15

I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST To Know experientially, not an intellectual knowledge. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2:5. “He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Phil. 2:7-8.

I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST FOR HIS SAKE I HAVE LOST ALL THINGS, 3:8. He was probably disinherited, shunned by his family, perhaps divorced by his wife if he had been married (as Pharisees were supposed to be married).

I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST I HAVE NOT YET ATTAINED IT, 3:12. There is room for improvement. There are 3 stages of our salvation… Justified—declared not guilty, “we have been justified through faith” Rom. 5:1. Sanctified—we are growing toward perfection, Christ likeness, 3:14. Glorified—we shall be transformed, 3:20.

I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST I PRESS ON (I FOLLOW AFTER, KJV) TO TAKE HOLD OF THAT FOR WHICH CHRIST JESUS TOOK HOLD OF ME, 3:12. “Follow”, 80 times in the Gospels. First time, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men,” Matt. 4:19. Last time, “You must follow Me.” John 21:22.

I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST I PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL, 3:14. To know Christ=preachin’ How to know Christ=meddlin’ The picture is of a race, a runner completely forgetting his opponents whom he is leading in the race, stretching forward to win the prize.

1 Cor. 9:24-25 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence “Having found in many books different methods of going to God, and diverse practices of the spiritual life, I thought this would serve rather to puzzle me, than facilitate what I sought after, which was nothing but how to become wholly God’s. This made me resolve to give the all for the All. So after having given myself wholly to God… I renounced, for the love of Him, everything that was not He, and I began to live as if there was none but He and I in the world.”

John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”