Happy New Year

Well, I finished the last year writing out a message, so I decided to start the New Year with another one. I hope it will be an encouragement and a blessing to you.

Pressing On Toward the Mark


Text: Philippians 3:14

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Introduction: Throughout life we will come across milestones, specific events that can be life changing or life confirming. For example, when you accepted Christ and were saved, it was a life-changing event. You became a new creation in Christ. When you graduated from high school or college it was a life-confirming event. You had taken a big step forward in your life. Certain birthdays and anniversaries are considered to be milestones and gemstones are used to honor them. Silver marks a 25th anniversary, gold the 50th, and a diamond the 75th. Our church is about to celebrate its 40th anniversary. If you didn’t know, the 40th gemstone is a ruby.

Our theme for this year is Pressing On For Thee at Forty. The ruby seems appropriate as the blood red color reminds us of the blood Jesus shed to secure our salvation and establish the church.

Let us consider what is the mark, and what is the prize? The mark is often represented as heaven and the prize our rewards, but that idea misses the point. The mark is Jesus Christ, and the prize is salvation. So then, what does it mean to press toward Jesus Christ? Romans 8:29 says that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son. If the mark is Christ, then pressing to the mark is becoming more like Christ. We need to ask ourselves as a church, after forty years, are we continually becoming more like Christ? Is your pastor leading you to be more Christ like, and are you becoming more like Christ in your daily walk?

David wrote, “I shall be satisfied when I awake with your likeness” (Psalm 17:15). If it is the destiny of every Christian when we get to heaven to be like Christ, shouldn’t we be trying as much as we can to be like Christ now? So, how do we get there? How do we press toward the mark? What are we pressing for? Let me give you some ideas.

I. Holiness (I Peter 1:16).

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Peter quotes a command given by God in Leviticus 11:44-45 to be holy. God cannot abide sin in His presence, and if there is sin in your life the first thing you need to do is get your heart right with God. You can never be holy without a clean heart. Clean up your thoughts, words, and actions, the places you go, the people you meet, the things you do. You should make your activities acceptable to God.

You need to repent of specific sin; not just a generic “forgive me for whatever I’ve done wrong.” Search your soul, examine yourself, and confess specific sins, not to me, not to a priest, your relationship is between you and the Lord. Tell the Lord where you have failed and ask His forgiveness. When Isaiah saw God on the throne and the angels calling out, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts,” he cried out, “Woe is me” (Isaiah 6:5).

He confessed that he was a man of unclean lips. What he meant by that I don’t know. Maybe he had a problem with swearing or cussing. Maybe he had a penchant for repeating off-color jokes. Maybe he was arrogant and condescending to people. It doesn’t matter what, he repented and he was cleansed. When we repent of all sin in our lives and get our hearts right with God, then we are pressing on toward holiness.

II. Purity (1 Timothy 5:22).

Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep yourself pure.

If there is any area that people everywhere have trouble with it is the idea of moral purity. Unfortunately, Christians have as much trouble with this as non-Christians. If you can find people who have kept nine of the Ten Commandments, the one they’ve likely broken is number seven, immorality.

Sex is all about us. It’s commercialized; it is on TV and movies, in novels, it’s everywhere. The way models and movie stars are fawned over for nothing more than showing off a beautiful body, you would think sex rules the world. And it probably does. The National Education Association wants to teach sex, emphasizing the gay lifestyle as being normal, to five year olds in kindergarten. That’s how wicked our society has become.

Young people will often say, “I can get involved, I know my limits, I’ll stop in time.” But they never do. They don’t know their limits. They don’t understand that when the fire of passion is ignited it’s hard to put out. Middle aged and old folks haven’t figured it out either. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). In a moment of passion you never know what you’ll do.

Paul tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, “and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). Don’t go where sin is; don’t put yourself in a place where you will be tempted. You’re not strong enough to stand in your own strength against the “wiles of the devil.” Peter compared Satan with the king of beasts.

We lived in Africa for fourteen years. We’ve seen 500 pound male lions in the wild. A lion roaring nearby will make your hair stand up. You’ve never heard anything so ferocious. Satan as a roaring lion will devour you if you play with sin. The answer is to flee youthful lusts and keep yourself pure.

How? By following after righteousness, faith, charity, and peace (2 Timothy 2:22). Hang around with friends who call on God with pure hearts. Surround yourself with friends who will encourage you to live a pure life.

Young people, old people, all people, don’t throw away your life over moral sins. Proverbs 2:19 says that you will never reach your full potential in life if you give in to immorality.

You get your heart by pressing toward holiness; you keep your heart right by pressing toward purity.

III. Integrity (Proverbs 4:23).

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

A person of integrity is one who is true, honest, a person of conviction, with strong moral principles. Integrity is undivided in its thoughts. That is, a person of integrity is not double-minded. He knows what is right and what is not, and he doesn’t compromise his convictions. He will always to the right thing.

I’m not a drinker. I’ve never been a drinker. When Proverbs says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise,” I take that to mean not to be deceived by it. So I don’t imbibe. I’ve seen the affects of it on too many people who have thrown their lives away, ruined their families, even died. I had a friend who broke the Navy’s twelve hour “bottle to throttle” rule, went flying when his head was not clear, and crashed into San Diego Bay. I’ve had friends killed by drunk drivers. Some Christians will disagree with me on whether you can take it in moderation or not. That’s fine, I believe they are wrong, but this is my position and I will not compromise on it.

Back in 1986 when I was flying here at Cubi Point, the Navy base put together a package four-day tour to Hong Kong. Operations were slow and nine of us at my squadron took leave and went on the tour. The other guys went just for the nightlife. I wanted to tour the place and go shopping. One night one of the guys invited me to go with them. He said, we understand your religious position. You don’t have to drink, just come sit with us. We’d like to talk to you. I politely declined. For one thing they weren’t just drinking, they were going to topless bars. For another, if I had gone, even if I didn’t drink, my presence with them would justify in their minds that I thought it was okay for them. I wanted no part of it.

When I was in Marine Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, one weekend my platoon was the duty platoon. We weren’t allowed to go anywhere but into Quantico town, which was on the base, in order to eat. Saturday evening I went with about ten other candidates to eat. They all ordered beers and when the waitress came to me I ordered a large milk. She looked at me funny and laughed and said okay. The guy next to me said you might at least order a coke to make it look like you’re drinking with us. I said that’s exactly why I ordered milk. I don’t want anyone to think I’m drinking with you. When they all ordered another round I told the waitress, “I’ll have the usual.” It got a big laugh from everybody.

Listen, I’ve heard people say they go to bars and drink because it opens up opportunities to share the Gospel with people. Frankly, I doubt that, but the end never justifies the means. “It is never right to do wrong to get a chance to do right” (Bob Jones, Sr.).

As a person of integrity, people should be able to say about you that you are true to your word. You are dependable. You will always do what you promise, and you will always stand by what you believe.

You get your heart right by pressing toward holiness. You keep it right by pressing toward purity. You demonstrate that your heart is right by pressing toward integrity.

IV. Wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Knowledge is simply the accumulation of facts. But there are people without conscience who ignore the truth and manipulate the facts. We see that in public school textbooks that have perverted the truth about such things as the first Thanksgiving. They say the Pilgrims thanked the Indians for helping them through the winter, when in fact they invited the Indians to join them in thanking God. We see it in political correctness that denies the Christian heritage of our Founders, refusing to even allow their writings to be taught in public schools because of a perverted twisting of the concept of “separation of church and state.” We find it in Obama’s public statements about the contributions Muslims have made in the building of America. This is because there is no fear of the Lord in the lives of the people who manipulate the facts.

The fear of the Lord gives us a proper understanding of the facts, but it is wisdom that will help us make the proper application of the facts in our lives. Proverbs 2:2 tells us to listen to wisdom and apply our hearts to understanding. Wisdom will guide you in holiness, purity and integrity.

So, how do you get wisdom? You won’t get it watching TV. Not from politicians. Not from dirty movies, romance novels, or gossip magazines, and certainly not in the life of arrogant, stuck up movie stars who think they own the world because of their fame and money. No, you find wisdom in the Word of God. James 1:5 says that if you lack wisdom ask God for it. He will not scold or rebuke you for asking. He’ll give it to you if you are serious about applying it.

When you press toward wisdom it will help you maintain holiness, purity and integrity in your life.

Conclusion: We are at the start of a New Year, a time for new beginnings. For many it’s a time to put 2014 behind them and start over. For others it’s a time to build on the successes of 2014 and press on. As a church we are approaching our 40th anniversary. It is not a time to rest, but a time to press on and to determine that we will continue for another forty years as God enables us. Individually it is time for us to make a greater effort than ever before to press toward the mark of being like Christ. It doesn’t matter if you are 4, 14, 40, 54, or 74, or anywhere in between or beyond, keep on pressing on “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”