Pressing On

Working on something to consider this morning. Let me start it this way as some of you know, I Repeat myself a lot. And if you didn't know that ask my wife and she will fill you in. And I I know I do it and yet there are certain things that I say over and over again, but I try to say them with meaning and.

Pressing On as a Christian Responsibility

And the reason why I said that is I'm gonna ask you to open your Bibles to Philippians chapter 3. One of the things that I find myself repeating is press on. I say it to The Saints all the time. I say it to my kids.

I That's because I say it to myself. And I thought about it and I said, you know what let's let's try to dig a little bit into it and Consider. So read with me Philippians chapter 3. Starting at verse 12.

We'll read through verse 14 and I will say I'm gonna try to look at a lot of scripture this morning. Actually, there's 14 different verses. I want to try to look at if we have time. But I made sheets.

So if anybody wants the verses so you rather don't have to write them down. I've got them and I'll give them to you. But let's just read these. These words as Paul says this in verse 12 Philippians chapter 3 not that I already attained.

Or I'm 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 don't 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 towards the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. So as I said, I wanted to take a few minutes and Try to try to have us consider. What does that really mean? To press on.

I Have six specific things. I want to look at and I'm gonna again turn to a lot of scriptures but if you were to have one thought of what press on means. What would it be just kind of give me a synonym for pressing on?

Okay, yes the there's different ways to do it. I think the King James says follow after brother. NAS says press on right brother. And yours is. What yes me, okay. All right. Um, what what else Richard you had your hand up?

Okay.

Whatever I say strive makes sense for me. Okay strive. At this point yes. Because otherwise we're gonna get into the lesson.

So.

Let's just let's just think about it. I would say this also that pressing on is a. Let me ask you this question. Would you agree to pressing on is a corporate? Responsibility for every body of Christ for a church for a local body.

That the church has certain each local assembly has certain things that they must do to press on to to move forward to persevere. I would also say to you that pressing on is.

Very.

Individualistic at the same time because if you look what Paul says just note what he says not that I Have already attained but I press on that I may lay hold. And then he says in verse 13 brethren I do not count and on and on this one thing.

I do. I press so this reality.

Is.

You and I are responsible before God having been Saved by his amazing grace to in whatever way move forward. That pressing on in in many ways is to move forward. But there are certain I'm gonna say there are certain Ingredients that are involved in that and those are the things I want to look at this morning.

I want to look at six different. What I would say would be ingredients to pressing on now. You might not agree with them all. I do think there are more but I think time will restrict this so I want to mention six.

And I want to say this to us. There's a time and there's a place to everything under heaven. Agreed. That's what it says and in God's Word and and so pressing in pressing on at times might involve more of one.

I'm gonna use the word ingredient. Maybe more of one ingredient at a certain time than another but that you and I are to never lose sight of. All the ingredients that are involved. In other words if a person is all overly concerned Let's say with with running which I'm going to say is one of the ingredients of pressing on.

If they're overly concerned with running They might not Remember or consider or neglect the part of pressing on that says that we are to wait.

Or stand.

So that you and I have to consider ourselves in our Christian life and in the life of pressing on towards that mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus to Understand that we ought to be balanced.

Because there are times when I do think because of certain situations we might have to lean on one thing more than the other and that you and I are to never lose sight that there is a reality of Having an even walk.

Because I really think that's where we ought to be is We we ought so just think of it real quick this way. Many people's lives are like this.

Great.

Anybody's life not like that. Okay, I believe we ought to be able we ought to become more and more able in Pressing on to have in whatever way you want to have this. To not be moved so much to be constant to be stable to be.

Always.

Striving always pressing on always moving forward. And I am NOT in no way trying to undermine the reality that God is absolutely sovereign. Right. It is it not God who works in us both. To what? Will I'm do right.

And we've been created in Christ Jesus and Ephesians. To what? Unto good works, so I'm not trying to Diminish the reality of the sovereignty of God and how God moves in us works in us. But what I am trying to do and what I want to do this morning is to try to highlight That it's our own responsibility.

To press on in whatever way we can define it or whatever way we can look at the ingredients each one of us have been.

Charged.

To move forward to not be. Continually in the same if you will. Spiritual condition. All the time. Unless it's at the point where we've become able to what. What does Paul say he can have everything and then he get what?

Have nothing. He said I can abound in all these things. Paul had learned to be content. So that's what I want to try to do this morning. So the way I want to do this is again, I want to look at six different things and then support it by the scriptures, but I do want to mention when Paul says this in Verse 12 and again in verse 14 where he says.

I press on. Certainly I'm no Greek scholar. But I know that that's a verb. And I know what a verb does. A verb is what? It's an action word, right? So it's it's something that denotes action and what it really means is to pursue something or someone.

Almost to the point like a persecutor or Prosecutor would prosecute someone they follow after them. They did. All their energy is directed in that way. In other words when I first saw candy I Hunted her down a stalk.

I pressed on. I Prosecuted her.

Against the restraining order.

Against the restraining order, but but really to press on it really means to go after something with a whole lot of effort. It really means to have a if you will a zeal for it. So again, if you and I think about this thought of pressing on It's it's an individual thing.

It's our responsibility and Guess what? It happens at all points. In other words to say to us somebody who just comes to Christ that they need to press on would that be a good thing. To say to them. Yeah to someone who's Been in Christ for 10 years.

Would it be good to say to him you need to press on? Sure. For someone who's been in Christ for 50 60 years Is that principle still not in place that they ought to press on? So again, there's never a point in our Christian experience in our Christian life that in our walk before God we aren't to pursue these things and work at them and Seek to accomplish it.

So with that in mind, like I said I have the verses written down if you don't want to do it or if you want and the first one I want to look.

At is.

Run.

Would you agree with me that to press on means to run. Let's look at a couple of verses. I want you to turn to the Psalms for a minute. Psalm 119. And this is where I'm just really gonna mention them because of the sake of time, but at the same time I do think these verses Psalm 119.

And we're gonna look just that one verse for now and it's verse 32. Well, I just let me read verse 31 to look what the psalmist says. I Cling to your testimonies. Oh Lord Do not put me to shame. Now here it is.

I will run In the way of your commandments for you shall enlarge my heart the thought is at least to me. They're pressing on and.

This.

Ingredient about running is not just some haphazard thing. We do not just run it all over the place. It's not chaotic, but rather. Look what he says, I will run in the way of your commandments. See, that's the thing we need to press on and we need to press on with the the thought of God's Word and God's commands if you will being the guardrails.

You're not running and again. Take it from a race. If you in a race and you run and you run in the wrong direction. Well, that's not gonna do you any good or if you run sideways that's not gonna do you you have to run according to the guardrails that are set up so that I think that we can say that that running and pressing on well running is part of pressing on that you and I need to understand that it's and We need to have those guardrails around us.

You think about why God gave us his word. He gave us his word to instruct us. He gave us his word to lead us. He gave us his word to help us to run the race. All right, Isaiah chapter 40 again, I Just picking out some of the verses about some of these things and in Isaiah chapter 40 in verse 29.

He gives power to the weak. Speaking of what the Lord does and to those who have no might he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fail. But those who wait on the Lord and we'll come back to that a little bit shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles. Here it is. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not be faint. They're pressing on again it is something that you and I need to consider and That it is Something we do to expand we have to expend strength to run.

Again, I don't know about you. I Was never a jogger. How many people in here really into jogging? Yeah, I mean just think about when you jog and it's a it's strenuous it's it's I see those guys on the bikes riding with those Spacesuits on and the helmets and stuff and I don't I have no idea why they do that.

I mean, I I guess they I know there's a an adrenaline kind of thing that Comes out of it. I jogged for a little while, but not right now brother, like you say I jog to the refrigerator myself, but the point is Here's the thing.

I think we have to be careful above about with this. Well, what is it? I or why? Well, I'll just look at that if we're gonna run we can't be lazy. You and I have to ask ourselves Am I pressing on and am I lazy about doing it?

What do I expend the strength to run and the strength certainly comes from the Lord? But nevertheless, you know, it's it and I read it this week. Again it says in priorities that slothfulness or laziness casts into a deep sleep and The idle soul will suffer hunger.

Slothfulness cast into a deep sleep and the idle soul will suffer hunger. So let me ask us to think about that that pressing on really has a lot to do with expending strength and running and running in a specific direction and running forward not backwards.

Did you and I have to consider this? All right. Here's another one. We'll get through these first Corinthians chapter 9.

Again.

We could spend a lot of time on this one, but I do want to at least mention it first Corinthians chapter 9. Yeah, first Corinthians chapter 9. I Noticed a lot of verses this morning, but I think it will Help us to think about it.

So Listen to what Paul says in verse 24. He says 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 have obtained it for everyone who competes for the prize is tempered in all things and then they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we For an imperishable crown therefore I run thus not one uncertainty.

Thus I fight not as one who beats the air and then he talks about discipline in his own body, but there is another.

Exhortation.

There's another in listing of the ingredient of this idea of Running, is that our focus by the way? Is that our focus in our life to to run the race that is set before us? Or are we just Stuck here and this is very individualistic.

It is very personal this is something that you and I have to wrestle through in our own thinking and in our own lives as well as in a Setting of a body a local body. Christ. All right, one more on this one and that is in Hebrews chapter 12 should be familiar to us 12 1 therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witness.

Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run With endurance the race that is set before us again. This whole idea of pressing on involves The ingredient of running.

Pursuing the Knowledge of the Lord

Okay, I want to look at something else too and This one is and it might be translated in a different way in your Whatever translation you use but this that pressing on has another ingredient and it's one in which We ought to follow.

We ought to pursue we ought to keep track of we ought to Consider in our in our running that we need to follow what is Set before us. So here's a verse and I really enjoy this verse. Look in Hosea or a minute Hosea chapter 6.

And again, I know we're doing a little bit of Turning this morning. That won't that won't hurt us. Look at Hosea chapter 6 and just read this with me. Says this come Let us return to the Lord. He is torn, but he will heal us.

He is stricken, but he will bind us up after two days. He will revive us on the third day. He will raise us up that we may live in his sight. Let us know. Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. That word is translated Many times as follow.

Let us pursue pursue what? Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. How many of us would say that we read our Bibles? Because we want to know more about God. There's a there is a Tendency at times people read the Bible just to attain facts and I'm not saying we shouldn't do that.

Well, what I am saying is part of pressing on is to follow in order to understand more of God who he is In his attributes in his being. This is what we talked about when we had our conference if you will that that it really was.

One of the ingredients or one of the things concerning the fear of the Lord is that we follow to know him. Not just know about him but to know him. Would you and I say that in our pressing on since we first came to Christ that We can at least say to some extent that we think we understand more.

Because we've been following after him. I think that's essential for us in pressing on. All right, John chapter 21. I don't think I'm stepping on Keith's feet because Keith probably won't get to chapter 21 in the gospel of John till.

Okay.

2027 I'll take those odds. But I just want again highlight this idea and this is where Remember. Jesus said to John that he would. He would be around for a while if you will. And in Peter Verse 20 Peter turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following who had leaned on his breasts at the supper and Said Lord, who is this who betrays you.

And and Peter seeing him said to the Lord, but Lord, what about this man? Which is a whole lot of. There's a whole lot to think about with that. But nevertheless Jesus said to him if I will that he remains to like come what is that to you you?

Follow.

Me.

That's why I say brothers and sisters In order to press on we got to be following him following after him. To know more of him no more about his glorious being in his character. No more about our cells in light of his glorious being in character.

Would you not agree that that as we press on not only do we see or ought we to see God? More and more glorious, but we ought to see ourselves more and more ruined more and more in need of a Savior. I Do believe that's part of the Christian pressing on that we because we become more familiar with who God is and his light Sheds light on our darkness.

That I see myself much more today a sinner than I ever thought I was and that should be something that Continues on so pressing on has a lot to do with following. That we put on Christ and by that that we become more and more like him.

Pursuing Peace and Holiness

All right. Here's another one Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. In verse 18 it says this for he who serves Christ and these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. I can't get the context of all these verses won't have enough time, but look what he says therefore let us pursue or if you will let us follow the things which make for peace and For the things by which one may edify another part of pressing on the striving for peace.

That you and I need to see that we are to be peacemakers and become more and more in that sense a peacemaker. I Read through the Proverbs every morning just to as a First wake up because otherwise my mind gets filled up with junk.

So I try to read Proverbs one or two Proverbs every morning and try to consider for and so this week I read one and it talks about it said it was an honor for a man To stop striving and then it said this any fool can start a quarrel.

Huh?

It's the honor of a man to stop striving. Because any fool could start a quarrel or anybody any fool could start an argument part of pressing on is to follow a path of peace. What does it say? It says that we ought to Live peaceably with all men, right?

Would you say you're more of a peacemaker than a strife maker? Would I be able to say that? Should we be able to say we are more peacemaker of a peacemaker than a striver? I think so. And again, if you will Just one more verse on this in the Hebrews chapter 12.

Verse 14, which again probably familiar to most of us and I want to say that as you turn it to Hebrews 12. One of the reasons why I believe Memorizing the Bible is so important Is because of this. Not just to know where the scriptures are.

It's to know what the scriptures are teaching. It's to know How to press on. It's to know how to run the race. It's to know how to follow. Not just for the sake of memorization verse 14 Hebrews chapter 12 pursue peace with all men and holiness.

Without which no one will see the Lord and here we can spend a lot of time on this one, right. Because it ties Following and pursuing with holiness. But it also connects it with peace. So if I'm become if I'm pressing on like I said, I should become more of a peacemaker than a strife maker.

These are the ingredients friends that are that I believe are foundational and and and you and I need to do it. Okay. The next one is we need to fight. Part of pressing on it's to fight. You remember what I said at the beginning?

There's a time and a season for everything under heaven.

So sometimes.

My point was sometimes we might need to run more than we need to fight. Sometimes we might need to fight more than we need to run. But these are all ingredients about pressing on and that you and I need to consider it, okay.

A couple of verses on this Psalm 144. Psalm 144 Hey, brother, Mike, is it easy to to find things in that fancy Bible of yours?

Yeah.

See I can flip through these dirty pages anytime.

All right.

Look at this verse 1 psalm 144 Blessed be the Lord my rock who trains my hands for war and My fingers for battle. Part of pressing on is at times we need to fight. Now what fighting means we could spend a lot of time on but my point is one of the ingredients of pressing on is That there are times to fight.

Even as it says in Ecclesiastes, right? There's a time for war and there's a what time for peace. There's a time to speak and there's a time to refrain from speaking. All right, let's jump to the New Testament real quick.

First Timothy. First Timothy chapter 6 again. Just trying to lay out some of these ingredients. First Timothy chapter 6. Paul says to Timothy in verse 11,. But you O man of God flee these things. Pursue righteousness godliness faith love patience gentleness.

Then he says this fight the good fight of faith lay hold of eternal life to which you were called and have confessed the good Confession in the presence of many witnesses. We ought to fight the good fight.

Can we say that can we say that that we are pressing on in order that we would be better Equipped to fight. Fight against what? Fight against evil. Fight against error. Fight against us in a sense to War against even our own selves at times.

I'm going to show you this at the end the last one but the whole point is There is a Battle that continues on isn't there and that if you and I are gonna press on and we're gonna have to get into the into.

The battle.

Again I'm gonna say to you friends that this thing This thing is big this whole idea of being too lazy to press on To being Unwilling to run Unwilling to follow unwilling to fight. Alright last one on this Ephesians chapter 6 familiar, right.

Yet.

Important verse 12. Well, actually. First 10 finally my brethren be strong in the Lord in the power of his mind and put on the whole armor of God that You may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against Principalities against powers against the rules of darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Part of our pressing on entails. Fighting the good fight. How many of us would agree that too often we fight the wrong fight.

Right. And not only do we fight the wrong fight, but we do with a whole lot of zeal. We ought to be those who because of our Diligence and again, I'm not undermining the sovereignty of God. I don't believe I'm trying to highlight the responsibility of man.

Do not they are they not?

Connected together.

Otherwise, we might as well just be the like the hyper Calvinist. Well, if God's gonna sanctify me, he'll just sanctify me. If God's gonna save he's gonna save. Huh? Yeah, I mean. And not only that it's a shirking of our responsibility which is Not pleasing to the Lord, okay.

Waiting on the Lord

Try to get through these. Another ingredient is that we ought to wait on Lord. No, I don't know about you, but I find it easy to fight. Then I do the way. Except again my fight too often is the wrong the wrong battle.

How many times I'm like the fool I could start a fight but you and I are to wait on the Lord. So it's for this now. I want to look at a couple of verses in the psalm. So turn to the Psalms if you will.

And we'll start at Psalm 27. Psalm 27. Okay, verse 14 wait on the Lord and Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait I say on the Lord the part of pressing on friends encompasses. Carries the thought of at times Waiting on the Lord standing still.

Waiting on him. From Psalm 52 verse 9. Psalm 52 I will praise you forever because you have done it speaking about How God Judges and says Because you have done it and in the presence of your Saints, I will wait on your name for it is good.

Again waiting tiring in a sense resting how many of you would agree that when you know, you're gonna do something and It's maybe it's something you don't want to do or maybe it's something you want to do.

Time seems to go slower right, I mean. If you have planned a vacation, I mean we planned a cruise. What'd you go last fourth of July? We went on the cruise. Yeah. And my kids were going with us and so it was supposed to be a lot of fun it was a lot of fun.

But I remember how my kids and even.

30 days away. It's.

Definitely like it's 29 days away. It's like.

It seems like it takes forever.

To get there. And you and I sometimes I think that's where we need to be. We need to just simply be waiting on the Lord. Now at the same time that doesn't mean we forget these.

That's why I say this is this is a.

This is a Thing that we need to do and not get out of balance with it and not neglect one. But at some points in our lives one might be more What's needed than others in Psalm 62? There's another? verse that speaks to this Psalm 62 in verse 5.

My soul.

Wait.

Silently for God alone. For my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. There's that thought again and both sisters. I guarantee you I just picked out a few.

Whether you and I are to wait on him and again There's a time and a place for everything under heaven. The last one I'm gonna look at under this. It's familiar to us. Acts chapter 1. I thought about this because as many times as I've read this this thought of Didn't jump out to me as much as many other things but in Acts chapter 1 in the very beginning right.

And get to chapter 1. That's the one thing about a dirty Bible sticks together. That's the only problem with it. Act chapter 1 verse 4. And being assembled together with them He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.

Which he said. You have heard from me that they had to wait they had to if you will Do nothing. Instead of doing something and that you and I when we are Seeking to press on there are times When doing nothing is exactly what we ought to do instead of just trying to remedy things.

Solve things.

Complete things finish things. Did you ever read a scripture and all of a sudden you say so I really don't know what that means. Yeah, right. And then.

You wait.

And sometimes It's a day It's almost like the cloud moving the children of Israel. Whether the cloud stood still for for an hour a day a week a month. Whatever it was the children weren't supposed to move until what?

To look to the cloud moved and have you not read something or tried to think through something. And and it seems like the cloud doesn't move and It might be a day and it might be a week and it might be a month.

And then all of a sudden the cloud moves and you understand or at least you think you understand. That's part of pressing on That we run follow we fight we wait. Before I run out of time. I want to look at this one.

Striving, Resisting, and the Battle Against the Devil

We ought to.

Strive.

Turn to the gospel Luke. Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13 and just one verse under this but I do think this is.

A.

Pretty pretty vivid if you will in Luke chapter 13 so in verse 22 just it says as a as he Jesus went through the cities and villages teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem one said to him Almost can get the picture some guy in the crowd Lord are there few who are saved.

And he said to them Strive to enter through the narrow gate for many I say to you will seek to enter and will not be able that thought of striving. That's a real vivid word. It's where we get the English word agonized.

Was this think about it and it really had to do with. As much as I could tell it had to do with like athletes competing Almost like two wrestlers. I don't I don't know how many of you have ever wrestled in high school.

I did. It was totally embarrassing. I Could tell you a story about it, but I won't have time. But anyway, I got pinned in like three seconds but if you think about what it means it means to Agonize with someone else with the thought of pinning them to the mat.

That you and I and I'll press it on. We need to truly strive and I'm gonna say we need to strive against the old man. What does it say put off the old man put on the new man? How we doing? How we doing here?

Do we strive in pressing on? Or is it? Well, I gave it I gave it a shot listen, if you're gonna if you're gonna win and be a Wrestler just to use that. Do you not think that that's gonna take a lot of effort on your part and agony?

I can remember those days in the wrestling room man, it was ten minutes it smelt like.

Terrible.

Just a lot of BO but it was where people were striving. People are grappling. Did you and I really have to? Press on. And it requires energy. And it requires strength. And you know what brothers and sisters don't matter whether you're a man or a woman.

Doesn't matter whether you're young or old. Doesn't matter whether you're single or married. Doesn't matter about anything. You and I are responsible to press on. Each one of us every one of us. And can you not.

I got one more person and we'll stop. Can you not think of the benefit that we would have for others if we truly were doing this.

To ourselves.

My goodness, we'd be. I would be of such more worth to you and benefit to you. By me running and following and fighting and waiting and striving. Last one. We are too. And this probably could be interpreted or translated.

But I just said it as resist. It could be to withstand which is what we just read in Ephesians but one verse. James chapter 4 verse 7. Again, I hope these are familiar verses to us or at least we've thought about them.

James chapter 4 Verse 6 says. But he gives more grace. Therefore. He says God resists the proud. But he gives grace to the humble. And here it is verse 7. Therefore submit to God resist the devil and He will flee from you.