In the sermon 'Pressing Forward' based on Philippians 3:12-14, Jason Dohm emphasizes Paul's exhortation to the Philippians to actively pursue spiritual growth and maturity. Paul acknowledges himself as a 'work in progress,' highlighting that he has not yet reached perfection but strives to attain the purpose for which Christ has taken hold of him. The sermon underscores the importance of forgetting past achievements and failures to focus on the present and future spiritual journey. Paul urges believers to have a single-minded focus and urgency in pressing toward the goal of becoming more like Christ. The ultimate prize is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, which is depicted as a treasure beyond compare. The sermon calls for believers to engage in good works prepared by God, emphasizing that the Christian life is a continuous race toward spiritual growth and kingdom fruitfulness.

So our sermon text this morning is Philippians chapter 3 verses 12 through 14. Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press forward to the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this text that you have us in.

We pray that you will send your Spirit among us and speak through Jason as he brings this to us. I pray that you will show us what it looks like to press toward the goal. Please help us to look at our lives and examine where we're falling short of pressing toward the goal of Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is Pressing Forward.

The Apostle Paul is issuing an urgent, urgent appeal to us to move forward, to reach forward, to press forward with all vigor and diligence towards the goal. These are very helpful words. I pray that the Lord would use them mightily among us. In our last text, Paul said that he counted all things lost for the excellent worth of gaining Christ. In other words, there was this beauty in Christ, there was this value in Christ that he would happily give everything for.

In his mind, it is actually the exchanging of garbage for treasure. This is how Paul views the great exchange when we give our lives to him And by repenting and believing, lay hold of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection by faith. We are trading something, but Paul wraps up everything that he used to consider valuable to him, and even the very best that he could do and produce on his own. He says, I now regard that as garbage, rubbish or dung, as we studied in the text last time. So, I am bringing my garbage and I am trading it for treasure.

Well, who would agree to such a thing? The Bible teaches that God agrees to such a thing that He is willing to part with treasure, to offer treasure, and to take your garbage off your hands. This is what it means to gain Christ. You walk away from something that is really of no value at all, and you claim forever a treasure that is beyond compare. This is why the Gospel is scandalous.

It's so hard to believe that God would offer such a no-brainer, such a treasure, for the little that we can bring to Him. Paul says that all that I'll part with for the exceeding worth of gaining Christ, knowing Christ, being found in Christ, and laying hold of His righteousness by faith. In today's text, Paul turns to an intense focus on the present and the future. He's been looking back and saying, in my flesh I had all these advantages which God taught me that I can't trust. He's looking back on all the advantages that he has.

He is looking to the past, but now he is intensely focused in these three verses, verse 12, verse 13, and verse 14, on today, the present, and on the future. He tells us how he views his present state and the state of his mission, the mission that God has given him. So this is what we are going to get in these three verses. Paul is going to say, this is how I regard my present state before God, and how I view the state of the mission that God has given to me. As we go to the text, let's go to the text in prayer.

Our wonderful, holy God. Holy God. We pray that if our Lord Jesus should return at some point in our lifetimes, that we would be found straining forward, reaching forward, pressing toward the thing for which you have saved us. That This grand purpose for saving sinners would be more and more fulfilled in our lives as we are given progress at the hands of your Holy spirit. This is what we see in the text and this is what we long for in our lives.

I pray, God, please use your Word in a mighty way in our lives to thrust us forward and give us progress. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Because this is part of our Memory Text for the quarter, we're really getting a triple dip on the text. We recited it together, and then Timothy read it as the sermon text. I want to read it again, all three verses, and then I want to draw out four main points from those verses.

Hopefully your Bibles open, and follow along as I read Philippians 3 verses 12 through 14. Alright, not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do. Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Here's the first point I'd like to draw out of this text. Point number one.

Paul views himself to be a work in progress. If you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's work progress. This is how Paul views himself. He thinks he's a work in progress. He believes that he is not a finished product.

Verse 12, the beginning of verse 12, Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, or to come at it from the opposite way, I have not already attained. I am not already perfected. He's not talking about moral perfection here. The word really means complete or brought to maturity. He's declaring himself to not be complete, to be a work in progress, to not be a finished product.

Paul has just said in the preceding verses that he gladly walked away from everything to know Christ. He made the exchange of rubbish for treasure. He was happy to do it. It's such a sweeping, definitive statement that Paul thinks that You and I might think that he is on the mountaintop. He can't reach any higher.

There is no more progress to be made because he has walked away from everything in order to gain Christ and know Christ, and now he has gained Christ by faith, and laid hold of his righteousness by faith, and he is in Christ. And so we might be tempted to think, he is done. So Paul comes so quickly with the correction to say, I'm not done, and I know I'm not done. There's a wrong mentality here, and Paul is pushing back against it. It's the mentality that says, I have arrived at any point in your life before you're dead.

The mentality that says, I've arrived, I'm on the mountaintop, there's no higher to reach, there's no further to go, is the wrong mentality. So Paul pushes back against that now. Here's what we find in people who have made a lot of progress. They don't think they're closer to the finish line. They're actually more aware of distance to the finish line.

This is the mark of the mature. Not having more and more of a feeling of, I'm almost there, I'm almost over the finish line, but having a growing awareness that I didn't know how far it was to the finish line. They're not less aware of it, they're more aware of gap and distance to the finish line. That's very common. The more mature we get, the more we are going to find this.

Early on in the Christian walk, New believers are tempted to think, I'm on the edge of arriving. Then you live a little longer, and you actually begin to know Christ better. Christ is the standard. Being conformed to Christ is the finish line. Complete conformity to Christ is the finish line.

The more you begin to know Christ and know yourself, this is our problem in thinking we're close. We don't know Christ enough, we don't know ourselves enough. But the longer you live in the faith, and the more you study the Word of God and sort of see the image of Christ set before you, and see the image of yourself and your heart set before you, you begin to see the gap is a lot further to the finish line than you had imagined. Sorry to discourage you, new believers. This is how it works.

Paul says, no, we can't think that way. We can't be thinking that we have arrived. That's not true. There is a reason that Christ laid a hold of me, and I'm not all of that yet. This is exactly what the text is saying.

Christ laid hold of you, Christian, for a reason, and you're not almost there. His purposes are not nearly fulfilled in you yet. So Paul says, I am pressing on to take hold of that. I want to lay hold of the great purpose for Christ having shed His blood for me. Is there a text that would give us clarity about this great purpose?

Yes, I think there is. Turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, Paul speaks about the great purpose that God has in mind when He saves us. Romans chapter 8 verses 28-30. I'll be reading Romans chapter 8 verses 28 through 30.

Follow along. Paul writes, And we know that all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. Here we are given the great purpose that those who love him are brought into Christ and would be conformed to the image of a son, that he Christ might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called.

Whom he called, these he also justified. Whom he justified, these he also glorified. Our goal is not to be like Paul. Paul is exemplary in many ways. There are many things that you see in the life of Paul that you'd say, I would love more of that.

There's nothing wrong with that. But Paul himself said, follow me as I follow Christ. The standard is not Paul, the standard is Christ. And Paul is chasing the standard. So we are to chase the standard.

Not chase Paul, but chase Christ, because that is who Paul was chasing. That is the image that Paul was longing to be conformed into himself. So Paul, as mature as he seems to us, doesn't look like Christ yet. He looks more like Christ than he used to, but he longs to look so much more like Christ than he does. If you read Paul and his letters, he is very aware of his sinfulness.

He is very aware that there is a distance between his current state, what he's been conformed into, and what he needs to look like. Because the standard is Christ. Now let's apply this. By the way, I'm going to be applying as we go along. So In each of these four points, I'm going to end the point by applying.

There won't be a separate section for application at the end, because we'll be just applying as we go. This is where comparing ourselves among ourselves is deadly. We cannot do that. We learn that from this text. It's no good to compare ourselves with ourselves.

No one in the room is the standard. If we compare ourselves among ourselves, when you get into the top 25% or at least you think you are in the top 25% of the people in the room in spiritual maturity, you are going to slow down. But if your eyes are fixed on Christ, you will feel like, I need to accelerate, not slow down. We do this, it is natural, it is inescapable, that we sort of have a sense, I think I'm a little ahead of him and I'm a little behind her. Now, we're not always right about that, but it is very natural to have a sense of that.

I am ahead of him, I am behind her. I have a ways to go to get where she is. Doing that ignores the great truth that nobody here is the standard. Jesus is the standard. And when we fix our eyes on Him, we see that we need to accelerate.

There's no time to slow down. Because the image is so beautiful, and valuable, and precious, There is no time to slow down. The image is so beautiful, valuable, and precious that we don't have time because there is progress to be made today. He made today, again today. So the standard for you and for me is Jesus Christ, and it will not do to compare ourselves among ourselves.

Point number two. Paul views the mission that God has given him to be ahead. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's mission ahead. Paul views the mission that God has given him to be ahead. To use being in the driver's seat of a car as an analogy, it's through the windshield not the rear view mirror.

The windshield is right at the front of the car. That's what you're looking through to see everything that's ahead. The rear view mirror is the mirror that's stuck to the windshield that you use to look at everything that's behind you. The mission is through the windshield. It's ahead.

George W. Bush, our president before Barack Obama, got in all sorts of trouble. You may remember this. We swept through Iraq in stunning speed, conquering that country, invading and taking control of that country. President Bush visited an aircraft carrier and behind him was this massive banner that said, Mission Accomplished.

He got in all sorts of trouble for that, because though we did conquer the country quickly, we won the war quickly, but winning the peace was a different thing, and you know we're fighting there now. The mission was not fully accomplished. This would be like us on the aircraft carrier with the banner in the back, mission accomplished at midlife. This is not how races work. Being ahead at the halfway point?

Does anyone even remember? Do you get anything at all? You are not even guaranteed to finish being ahead at the halfway point. Verse 13, the halfway point. Verse 13, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended.

That's how the verse starts. Here's how the verse ends. Paul says, I'm after those things which are ahead. Those things which are ahead. See them through the windshield, not through the rear view mirror.

There's a wrong mentality here, and Paul is pushing back against it, and it's the mentality that says, I've done enough. I'm leading at the halfway point. Or I'm doing well at the halfway point. Jesus Christ has bought me with His blood. That banishes the notion of done enough.

Away with the notion of done enough when it is the blood of the Son of God that has bought you. If you were deadly effective in making progress every day for the rest of your life, it would be nothing compared to the price that was paid for you. Do you understand that? That is reality. That is truth.

We won't be deadly effective at making progress every day of our lives. There will be ebbs and flows in the Christian life, if Christian life has taught us anything. Even if we could, to get to the end and then offer that up and try to have it compared with the price that was paid for you, it would be so insufficient. I believe that there is a text that gives us clarity about these undone things. In other words, the fact that the race is not finished.

Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. A favorite text for us, but we'll go there again. Ephesians 2, verses 8-10. Here's what Paul writes, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." So That is verses 8 and 9.

It talks about how we are saved. It is a gift. You don't do it. God does it, and you lay hold of it by faith, but God gave it to you. We are stripped of all ability to boast in this, because it was all the work of Christ.

Even faith is a gift. Now verse ten, the following verse. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Verse 10 talks about, you're saved what then? Here's the what then for those who have been saved by grace through faith.

You're His workmanship. You're created for good works that God prepared in advance. God already had them in His mind. He made ready for them in advance. It is our job to walk in them.

I think it's implied, it's fair to say that God is leading us into good works and He's made everything ready and He leads us into the good works so that we might live for him to be glorified. Paul is assuming that those good works lead up to the day of death. I'm combining what he says in our text in Philippians. As he writes from a prison cell, and he could be days, weeks, or months away from martyrdom, he is talking about pressing forward. It matters, Paul's situation as he writes these things, doesn't it?

He might be very near the finish line, but Paul is not saying, I have a sense that I am done. Paul is saying, I am reaching to the things that are at the edge of my grasp. This is Paul's mentality, even in a prison cell, and what could be weeks away from his martyrdom. He is assuming that these good works that God had in his mind beforehand and that God all along has been leading him into are going to lead up to the day of his death and he is going to be straining forward until his last breath and then he gets to be with Jesus. He has already spoken about this in Philippians.

If you are back in Philippians, which I would encourage you to be, back in chapter 1, verses 21 and the beginning of 22, remember Paul writes, For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. So That's during that portion of chapter 1 where he's analyzing, would it be better for me to live or to die? It sure would be sweeter to die and go be with Jesus, but I know that if I live, it will result in fruitful labor. Paul understands that God grants his children fruit from their kingdom labors, and there to engage wholeheartedly in those kingdom labors fruitfully, God gives the fruit, until their dying breath.

Now let's apply this. No matter how much you've done, it's a lot less than Paul. He's a better church planter than me, times a zillion. He's more steadfast in his prayer life than you and me, times a zillion. Paul is not our standard, but if he was our standard, we would still not compare favorably.

No matter how much you've done, it is a lot less than Paul when he had written this letter, and it is infinitely small compared to the price paid. So we should be eagerly pressing forward, anticipating that God has prepared in advance fruitful things for his kingdom." Say that again. This is a mouthful. We should be eagerly pressing forward. Don't you get this when you read verses 12, 13, and 14?

And Eagerness and Paltry. Get at it! Here, let me at it! Like, let me out of this place. And I'll go back to Philippi, and I'll encourage the Brethren there.

Corinth, Ephesus, how many places can I get back to before the end, before the last breath? When I read our text, I see a man straining forward, reaching, straining forward, reaching, grasping, eager to be fruitful while he can be fruitful. So There are these things made ready for us by God. This is not just Paul. This is Christians.

This is the Lord's people. God has made things ready for us. Good works that we should walk in them. And God wants us eager to do it for our joy. This is not we can have joy or we can go work for the Lord.

No, the greatest joys are working and being fruitful for the Lord. Aren't we learning that as we live longer in the faith, and we see some fruitfulness in our lives, and it's just joy to have God working in you in a fruitful way. And It should make us eager to strain forward like we see Paul. Let me have the work. God has made some things ready for me and it will be fruitful for His kingdom and I'll get joy from it.

God will get glory from it. Let me ask you a question. Who gets cheated if you hang back? Now, there's more than one answer to that question. I think there's more than one answer to that question.

But I think the one who gets cheated most, because we believe in a sovereign God, if you hang back, I don't think there is going to be anything essential to his kingdom that doesn't get done. He has the ability to do it with me or without me. I get cheated the most when I hang back. I'm robbing myself of joy when I hang back. So are you.

Point number three. So stop stealing from yourself. And I'll stop stealing from myself. Point number three. Paul is clinging to two verbs, forgetting and pressing.

If you're filling in blanks on the handout, forgetting and pressing. Paul is clinging to these two verbs, Forgetting and pressing. Let's look at them one by one. Verse 13, forgetting those things which are behind. Now the Bible teaches in many places a holy remembering.

When I say holy remembering, meaning remembering for God, a kind of remembering that serves God. A kind of Remembering that is set apart to advance God and his interests in our lives. The Bible does teach a holy remembering. A great example of that is the entire book of Deuteronomy. Over and over and over again in the book of Deuteronomy, do not forget.

Don't forget is the message of Deuteronomy repeatedly. And when we look at those instances, it's talking about our sins, our errors, our failures. Don't forget those so that you don't repeat those. The purpose of remembering sins and errors and failures is that next time we're smarter. We've learned from those things.

So don't forget that that's a holy remembering of those things. It serves God's purposes. It advances God's purposes in our lives when we remember there. In Deuteronomy, many times when it says, don't forget, God says it in associations with the wonders that He has worked on behalf of His people. Don't you dare forget the wonders that God has worked on behalf of His people through the millennia, through the centuries, and in your life.

That is a holy remembering. The Bible does not call us to forget everything. Paul is not contradicting the many places in the Bible that God calls for a holy remembering. But Paul is acknowledging that the Bible also teaches in many places a holy forgetting. We'll call it holy forgetfulness.

Christians are to have a holy forgetfulness. Holy just means set apart for God. A forgetfulness that's set apart for God. God has His purposes in advancing himself and his interests in this kind of forgetfulness. Whatever would keep us from forward motion, whatever would keep us from moving forward with all diligence, should be pushed aside in holy forgetfulness.

The things that would keep you from progress. On the one hand, to whatever extent our past accomplishments cause us to slow down or stop. Forget it. Forget them. So on this hand, we have the good things, things accomplished.

Even fruit for the kingdom. Paul is saying, all my successes in turning the world upside down. Again, we have the example of the author here before us. He turned the world upside down, but he's not allowing that for one second to make him think, I'm done. He's saying, I need to subject all that kingdom fruitfulness to a holy forgetfulness to the extent that it would keep me from continued forward motion.

We have a modern term for this. It's called resting on your laurels. A laurel is a crown woven together by leafy branches and it comes from Greek culture where the winner of a race or a victorious general would would get a laurel this leafy crown put on his head as a sign of victory right mission accomplished runner or mission accomplished general And so resting on your laurels would be saying, I won. And that's the end of that. This is a call not to rest on our Laurels.

Think of Paul. All the victories he's had. Now he's in jail. If anyone has a claim on resting on his laurels, it's Paul. But again, Paul says, I don't, so you can't.

He strips us of that ability by saying, I have no right to rest on my laurels. On this hand we have those good things that might cause us to slow down or stop. On this hand we have the bad things. To whatever extent our past sins and failures are paralyzing us, we must forget them. To whatever extent your past sins, errors, failures, are paralyzing you, withholding you from progress, you must forget them.

You must subject them to a holy forgetfulness. That does not mean that it doesn't matter what I do today because tomorrow I have this commandment to cling to to forget it. So it just won't matter. So it's sort of a trick to allow me freedom to disobey God. It simply means that what I did yesterday cannot be allowed to keep me from progress today.

Did you get that? What I did yesterday, even if it was very sinful, it was wrong, it was a failure, It is not allowed to keep me from progress today. It does not let me off the hook from making progress today. This is the no wallowing rule. You know what wallowing is.

You just become so preoccupied with sin and failure that you allow yourself to just stay there. We are not allowed to just stay there. We have to repent, turn away from that, turn towards God, and step forward, and reach forward, and press forward. You are not allowed to stay there in the mud and wallow around like a pig. That's forbidden by this text.

Paul simply didn't have time to wallow. And the reality is, neither do I, and the reality is, neither do you. We cannot say, because of the sins of yesterday, I cannot be an ambassador for Christ today. The Bible has not left us a choice on that matter. If you are in Christ, you are an ambassador.

You might be a great ambassador, or a lousy ambassador, or something in between, but we have been declared to be his people ambassadors. And so we are exhorted, commanded to get about it. To get on with it. Because we are that. Yesterday's performance does not determine whether I am an ambassador for the Kingdom of Heaven today.

I am if I am in Christ. I am. Now get about it. That was forgetting those things which are behind one of these verbs that Paul is claiming to. Now pressing, the end of verse 13, the beginning of verse 14, reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal.

There are two things I think we should see here. One is a single-minded focus. Single-minded focus. One thing I do. One thing I do.

Paul had time and energy for one thing, and it was making progress. Secondly, urgency. Pressing and reaching are utterly incompatible with half-heartedness. Can we just agree on that? These are not the words you use for lukewarmness, half-heartedness.

Pressing? Half-heartedly. It's just a contradiction in terms. Reaching half-heartedly. No.

Think of an army pressing forward. That's the description. We have an army pressing forward. What does it make you think of? Even if there's withering fire, with all speed and urgency, they're moving forward, and persistence.

If they're pressing forward, they're not to be deterred by conflict. They're going as far as they can, as fast as they can. This is what we are called to. As far as we can, as fast as we can. With persistence, in the face of resistance.

This is Paul. Single-minded focus, with urgency. The Kingdom of God is designed to be millions and millions of people, believers, with that mindset, pressing forward together. This is really an unstoppable army. Imagine if every Christian had the mindset that we're called here today.

Yesterday was yesterday. And I'm not wallowing in that mud. I'm repenting. I'm turning away from that. I'm turning towards God.

And I'm stepping forward with single-mindedness and with urgency. And now All Christians around the world are doing that. Stand in the way of that army at your own peril. Paul speaks to this. Us.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, I'll be reading 24-27. Paul writes, 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 is exhorting us to have a mindset as if there were only one prize and we're all going for it. So this is how the Olympians train. There's one gold and they all want it and they all know only one can get it and so They deprive themselves of sleep, of eating the things they would want to do, of doing many things that they would want to do. They forego that because they know that there is only one person who is going to get it, and there are many after it.

They commit fully to going for it. Paul says, Christian, go do likewise. If this was the only thing that scripture says, This would make us not want to cooperate with each other, help each other forward. So we have the other scriptures, there are boundaries around this. You don't take this to mean that there is only one prize.

Paul is saying we should have a mindset as if there is only one prize, and the things that the unregenerate will do to win a perishable prize, we should be willing to do, to go after the imperishable one. Go for the imperishable one. If they are willing to do it for junk, perishable things, then we should be willing to do it. Each of us, act like there's one and all go for it. With with single-mindedness, with urgency.

Let's apply this. There are good things in my rear-view mirror. Fruitfulness for the Kingdom. There are bad things in my rearview mirror, sins and failures. Are they keeping us from making the progress we should be making?

You've got them too. You've got your own list of kingdom fruitfulness, and of sins and failures. To what degree are those things holding you back from making the progress you should make? Neither one can. That's what our text is teaching us.

We're not allowed to let either one of them keep us from progress. We are called to progress. The way forward for us is to be single-minded and urgent. Now, what has you double-minded? What are the diversions of civilian life that a soldier should not have entangled himself with?

What are the diversions of civilian life that no soldier who wants to meet the objective would ever entangle himself in? So you've got a list. You're already thinking. Hopefully, you're still paying attention. Things are popping to mind.

This is a diversion for me. It may be very lawful things. Often These are lawful things. In other words, I can't look and say, you're sinning doing that. But it's keeping you from single-minded pursuit of kingdom fruitfulness.

What is keeping you from feeling the urgency that we're called to in this text? What is making you sluggish? In both cases, these are our idols. Might be time for some idol smashing. It's a refreshing to smash an idol.

Should be doing that on an ongoing basis, identifying them and smashing them. We'll be glad. Point number four. Paul has a crystal clear objective. The Prize.

If you're filling in blanks on the handout. Objective, prize. Paul has a crystal clear objective. The goal is clear in his mind. It's the prize.

He wants the prize. He wants the reward. He's after the reward. He's chasing the reward. He's reaching for the reward.

He's pressing towards the reward. Now what is this prize? It's called the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. For those who are in Christ Jesus, there is an upward call. A calling upward.

Come up here! Take your place! That's what it means. For everyone in Christ, there is a call. Come up here and take your place.

Come up here and get what has been made ready for you. There are two texts that I think unfold this for us. First, just listen to 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9, I has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who loved Him. The upward call.

Come up here and get the things that I've made ready for you. Your eyes have never seen anything like it. Your ears have never heard anything like it. Your heart has never conceived anything like it. Come up here and get it.

Right on. That's what I want to hear. Come up here and get it. Secondly, 2 Timothy 4. My heart can conceive a lot of wonderful things.

I've seen a lot of wonderful things. I've heard of a lot of wonderful things. My heart can conceive of a lot of wonderful things. God says, I'm calling you upward to way better than that you can't even imagine. So, acting like the athlete who's going for the gold, and cheating yourself of sleep, waking up really early in the morning to train, and not eating a lot of the things you would want to eat, not spending your time how you might otherwise spend it, it will be so worth it.

The prize of the upward call, come up here and get what I prepared for you, is so unbelievably inconceivably wonderful that the sacrifices will seem like nothing. That's the point. Now, 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 6 through 8. Paul says, 2 Timothy 4, verses 6-8 Paul says, 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 only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing." Paul here is like he is right at the finish line, really, this time. And he is looking for the prize, The crown of righteousness that Jesus Christ will give, not just to Paul, and not just to world-changing nation-changers, but to all those who have loved his appearing. The crown of righteousness. Paul just wants to be poured out to the very last. Imagine if you could finish your life saying these things, I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race. I am ready for the crown. It is there for all those who have loved his appearing. It's there. It's easy to apply this.

The time of rest and pleasure is ahead. Does that mean that there's no rest now? No, that's not what that means. Does it mean that there's no pleasure now? No, that's not what that means.

It means that we're not at liberty to give ourselves over to rest and pleasure now. We'll give ourselves over to rest and pleasure then. Now, rest and pleasure serve kingdom fruitfulness. In other words, God has made us in a way that makes us need rest and need lawful pleasures in order to keep going forward. Our rest and Our lawful pleasures should serve the pressing forward, not stand in opposition to it.

That's what the Lord's Day is. One of the key functions of the Lord's Day is to make us more fruitful, not less. To come away and be with God for a day makes you ready to re-engage the fight again. If you cheat the Lord today, you're cheating kingdom fruitfulness. No doubt about it.

I wish I had Wilberforce quotes but we don't have time. Someday I will trot out the Wilberforce quotes. They are fantastic. About how the Lord's day served that purpose in his life and allowed him to outlast more gifted contemporaries. Listen to what Jesus says in John 9 verse 4.

Jesus says, I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no one can work. That's what Jesus said. As long as it's day, I've got to keep working. The night is coming when no one is going to be able to work.

That's true for me and you too. A time is coming when the opportunity to bear fruit to God's glory for his kingdom is gone. Rest then. Give yourself over to rest then. But for now, work.

Work with joy and expectation. Make progress with joy and expectation of the things that the eye can't see and the ear can't hear, and the imagination can't even grab hold of, because it's so wonderful. Work now, while it's day. God, I thank you for this text. I do pray that you would make us fruitful, that you would help us to make progress, not just working for your kingdom, but becoming conformed more and more into the image of your Son.

So Make us fruitful in who we are becoming. Make us fruitful in the advancement of your kingdom and engaging in the Great Commission. I thank you for this text, which holds us back from the things that would make us sluggish, and has us pushing forward with single mindedness and diligence. May it be so among us in Jesus' name, Amen.