Philippians 3:14
I pursue toward the goal, the mark, for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus.
This is the verse from which our theme is taken. Our dear brother Dana will share with us on the first look, and, God willing, I will share with you, dear brothers and sisters, on pursuing with passion. Our dear brother Lynch will speak on the prize.
Let us read again from Philippians 3, beginning with verse 8:
But surely I count also all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord; on account of Whom I have suffered the loss of all, and count them to be refuse, that I may gain Christ,
and that I may be found in Him, not having my righteousness, which would be on the principle of law, but that which is by faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God through faith.
Dear Heavenly Father, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together at this time before Thy presence. We thank Thee for Thy love for us, in giving us every opportunity to hear Thy word and to be prepared for Thy glorious return.
And Lord, as we gather together now in Thy presence, may the glory of the Lord fill our hearts, that by faith we may follow Thee all the way. How we praise and thank Thee for Thy excellency.
O Lord, draw us, that we may all run after Thee. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, we know that life is a pursuit. Life is not static. Life is always seeking, looking, pursuing, running after something—something that we put up as our goal, as our mark. Only this gives us the meaning of life.
If we have lost our goal, our life becomes meaningless. Everybody is seeking for something, looking for something, trying to get hold of something that is considered precious, important, vital, absolutely needed for a satisfying life.
Some people seek for wealth. They think that wealth will satisfy their life. Other people seek for fame, as if fame is everything to them, and they are willing to labor for it and pay the price for it in order to be famous.
Other people put learning as their goal. They want to be learned, to begin to know. And there are still other people who are seeking for pleasure. They think that pleasure alone is the meaning of life.
Everybody is seeking, running after, pursuing, trying to get hold of something that will satisfy their life and make it happy. But once you get to your goal, immediately you find it is empty. You have to set your goal higher and higher. You are never satisfied. And this is what life really is.
You know, three thousand years ago there was a king, King Solomon. He was the wisest of men. In his old age, after he had experienced everything and searched all things, he came to a conclusion.
So we have in the Bible the book called Ecclesiastes—the Preacher. King Solomon became a preacher. He was to announce, to pronounce, to proclaim something to the whole world on the basis of his findings, on the basis of his own experience.
This is no theoretical statement, because he had everything in his hand. Whatever his heart desired, he would give it to himself. There was nothing missing or lacking. But after he had experienced everything on earth, after he had considered all things under the sky, under the sun, he came out with a statement. That is how he began the book of Ecclesiastes:
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher;
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
What profit hath man of all his labor
Wherewith he laboreth under the sun?
This was his observation. This was his experience. And he shared this with the whole world. He was telling us that everything under the sun is vanity.
No matter what you are seeking—whether it is wealth, he had all the wealth; whether it is fame, he had fame; whether it is learning and understanding, he was the wisest of men; and when it came to pleasure, he tried every phase of pleasure to satisfy himself. But he came to this conclusion: “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” There is no exception under the sun. Everything you seek ends with vanity.
So he said, “What profit hath man of all his labor, wherewith he laboreth under the sun?”
He tells us that everything goes on as a circle. It comes and goes, and it will return again. There is nothing new under the sun. What has happened before will happen again.
Furthermore, nothing will be remembered. Everything is transient, just for a time, and then it is forgotten. There is nothing new under the sun. The eye is never satisfied with seeing, and the ear is never satisfied with hearing. We are never contented, never full. Everything is vanity of vanities.
I wonder, brothers and sisters and friends, after we have traveled on this earth for a while, has it come to your understanding that what this wise man has said is really true? Nothing satisfying—nothing.
But furthermore, he told us that there is nothing better than to eat and drink and be merry. This is life. So go ahead and seek pleasure and seek all these other things, but do not forget: above the sun, in heaven, there is God. He is watching.
He has given people life, and one day He will judge. So, when you go to Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, he gives his advice. After you have seen all the vanities in this world, and you are able to eat and drink and be merry, and you have labored throughout your life, what is the whole of man? In other words, what is the real meaning of man?
Let us hear the end of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep His commandments;
for this is the whole of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Knowing that there is God, the Creator, Who created all things and Who gave all things—He gave us life, He gave us time, He gave us talent, He gave us opportunities—we can enjoy everything that He has given us. But do not forget that one day everything will be judged by Him. Even the secret things will be judged.
In view of that, this wise man, this most experienced person in the world, gave us some advice. How should we live on this earth? What is the whole meaning of man? He said, “Fear God, and keep His commandments.”
You may enjoy everything that He has given to you, but while you are enjoying them, do not forget to fear God and keep His commandments. That is his advice. Do you think this is very wise advice?
About two thousand years ago, there was a young man of Tarsus. His name was Saul. You know, young men of every generation usually set their goal on something under the sun. They seek for pleasure, position, power, honor, and fame.
But this young man was different. Even though he was young, he understood what King Solomon had advised. So he made up his mind: instead of seeking empty, vain things upon this earth, he would seek to fear God and to keep His commandments.
In other words, he was not going to live just for a temporary life. He was seeking for something eternal, something truly worthwhile. So he rejected even all the things of this world. He sought something religious, spiritual. He lived a life fearing God.
The Bible tells us—he himself testified—that he was a Pharisee. Now, we all know that Pharisees were people who studied the Bible, who kept the commandments, who were very careful to keep every letter of the word.
There had been very few Pharisees in every generation, but those who were true Pharisees were really people we would call pious, religious, moral, even legalistic. Every small letter of the word they would try to keep.
And this man himself testified that, so far as the letter of the law was concerned, he was blameless. What a young man he was.
He was trained under the best rabbi at that time, according to all the traditions of the fathers. He was trying to build up his own righteousness, that he might be able to stand before God’s judgment and pass.
But because he was completely trained by the traditions of the fathers, this young man became a persecutor of Christians. Why? Because according to the traditions of their fathers, they considered Jesus an impostor, a traitor of the Jewish religion.
So this young man was a zealous person. He was so zealous that he became a leader in the persecution of Christians. He was never able to persecute Christ Himself, but he persecuted all the followers of Jesus Christ.
Now remember: when he was doing that, he thought he was serving God, doing God a service. He put his whole heart into it.
But one day, while he was going to Damascus with a letter from the high priest to go to that foreign city, to seize people of the Way—those who followed the Lord Jesus—and to bring them to Jerusalem and sentence them, that was his errand.
But thank God, God knows the heart. Even though what he was doing was truly a disservice to God, and he was against the will of God in persecuting the Son of God, Who came into this world to save us, yet God knew that he was sincere.
Therefore, while he was on his way to Damascus, not far from the city, suddenly, at midday, a great light from heaven shone upon him. He was smitten by that light. He fell to the ground, and there he heard a voice:
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?
It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.
This is the voice of our Lord Jesus. He had ascended on high, seated at the right hand of God the Father, and there He was speaking to this young man. This young man did not know Him, but He knew the young man.
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” It was not an angry voice. It was a sympathetic, loving, caring voice. “Why do you persecute Me? Do you not know that what you are doing is hurting yourself?”
We know that when people were farming, they used a horse or an ox to till the ground. They put the horse or ox under a yoke, and the farmer guided the yoke so that the furrow that was made would be straight.
But, you know, an ox or a horse has its own way. It wants to go to the left and to the right. Maybe it sees something good for food, and in doing that it goes in a zigzagging way. So the farmer tries to bring it back.
In the hand of the farmer there was a sharp instrument called the goad. He would use that sharp instrument to touch the leg of the animal, just to remind the horse or ox that it had a master, that it was doing its master’s work, and that it could not go its own way.
If it went on in its own way, it would be hurt. Of course, the farmer touched very lightly because the farmer did not want to hurt the animal. But the animal was so wild that it kicked against the goad, and in kicking it, it hurt itself.
After a few times, even an animal will learn to be obedient, knowing that it has a master.
Now, dear brothers and sisters and friends, when we came into this world, we did not come by ourselves. God gave us life. He has a purpose for each one of us. He is our Master. We are sent into this world to do His errand.
We are not our own. But unfortunately, we do not know that. We try to go our own way. In doing that, God will remind us, gently touch us with some circumstance, with something to remind us that we are not our own. We have a Master.
We came to do the work of God, to fulfill His purpose and not our own. That is what life is really for. And oftentimes we kick against the goad, against our conscience.
Has not our conscience spoken to us once, twice, three times, many times, reminding us what life is really for? But we all rebel. If we continue to kick, we hurt ourselves. But if we listen, then, thank God, we do the job.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this young man heard this voice: “Do not hurt yourself. Be understanding. Be submissive. Do what you are sent for. Then your life will be full and blessed.”
And thank God, this vision on the Damascus road opened the eyes of this young man. He was trying to build up his own righteousness so that one day, when he stood before God, he could pass.
But on that day, the Lord showed him that his righteousness was as filthy rags. It did not cover his nakedness. It only deceived him and would eventually destroy him.
And God, Who is merciful, looked upon him, rescued him, turned him around, and set him on the right track with the right goal.
So this young man, after he had heard His voice and understood, after he saw that vision, realized: it is not himself; it is Christ. Even though he was religious and pious, yet he was self-centered. He was trying to build up himself.
Dear friends, dear brothers and sisters, that is what all of us are doing. We are trying to build up ourselves. Some people are trying to build up themselves for this short time of life. Other people may be wiser, listen to the advice of Solomon, and try to fear God and keep His commandments, building themselves up for eternity.
But even that—we have the wrong mark, the wrong goal, and it will lead us to the wrong end. So thank God, one day, by His mercy, He looked upon us and turned us away from ourselves and toward Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are all pursuing. We are running. We are all seeking. But what is our goal? What is the target? What is the mark that we want to arrive at?
I think this is the most important thing in our whole life. If we choose the wrong target, our life is a waste. More than a waste, it is a loss for eternity.
So it is most important for each and every one of us that we catch the heavenly vision. We need to see Christ Jesus. If we see Him, we will see the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and we will be able to count all things but loss, even refuse, in order to know Him.
But some people may ask the question, “Is there any need for us to pursue after Christ? Is it not true that it is not we who pursue Him, but He Who pursues us?”
When we were yet sinners, lost sheep, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus, to us. He came into this world to be a man among us in order to save us.
He Who knew no sin was made sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He sought us. We were like that lost sheep in the mountain, and our Good Shepherd came to seek us. He found us, took us upon His shoulders, and brought us back to the Father’s home. Dear brothers and sisters, is this not our own experience?
He calls us:
Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
But, dear brothers and sisters, this is only the beginning. Why is it so? If our goal is a dead thing, then you can pursue it, and when you have got it, that is it. That is all.
But remember, our goal is a living Person. It is Christ Jesus. Now, Who is Christ Jesus?
If you read the Bible, you will find that He is more than our Savior. He is our Lord. The Bible tells us that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily.
You know, whatever God is, that is Christ. All the character of God—His love, His righteousness, His holiness, His perfection, His purity, His power, His all-wise knowledge, His omnipresence—everywhere—all the attributes, all the character, everything that you can think of God, dwells in Christ bodily.
We can safely say that when God gave His Son to us, He gave us everything. If you want to ask God for any other thing, God says, “Go to My Son. I have nothing else. It is all there.”
It is through the Son that all the fullness of the Godhead is made available to us. This is what Christ is. He is the infinite One.
And if you set your goal, your mark, on Him—if you want to know Him, to win Him—dear brothers and sisters, there is no end. Not only in this life, but even in the life afterward, we are always pursuing after Him, because He is all in all to us.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we do praise and thank the Lord that, for us who believe in the Lord Jesus, we have set our goal straight. We know where we are going. We know what we are pursuing. And we know there is no end.
More and more we will come to know Him. And to know Him is life, and life abundant. So what a joy that we who have believed in the Lord Jesus and are now pursuing after Him—how blessed, how full of life!
Now, the Bible tells us that we are always pursuing; we are always running. If you take 1 Corinthians 9, you find the Apostle Paul tells us that we are running, running to win. We are combating. We are fighting for that crown, for that reward.
And in Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul himself tells us that after he had seen the heavenly vision, he became Paul, which means little. Before he knew the Lord, he was Saul. Saul means “asked for”; he was the person everybody was asking for.
But now, after he had known the Lord, he became Paul, which means little. He is little, but Christ is great.
Even after he had served the Lord so faithfully for years, he said, “I do not say that I have arrived. I forget what is behind me, and I press on, stretching myself to that which is before me. All I desire to get is that for which He has possessed me, that I may possess all that for which He has possessed me. I pursue.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, whether you have believed in the Lord Jesus just now, recently, or whether you have believed in the Lord Jesus for decades, there is no letting up. Pursuing—we are still pursuing, because there is always something more: more excellency, more glory in our Lord Jesus, that we may come to possess.
Now, how do we pursue? The very word pursue is an active word. When you think of the word pursue, it means that it is not just walking leisurely, taking your time, looking here and there, loitering around.
No. Pursue means that you put yourself diligently into it. It is not casual in any way. It is not, “Take it easy.”
You know, dear brothers and sisters, sometimes we say that after we believe in the Lord Jesus, we think that now everything is rosy. So what should we do after we believe in the Lord Jesus? We are just sitting in a chair and being carried all the way to heaven.
That is the Christianity people are hoping for, but it is a mirage. It is not true, because pursuing is an active word. We are running an obstacle course. The way is not easy. Why? Because we are running against the current of this world.
That is why the Bible sometimes says it is a fight. We have to fight the good fight. We have lots of obstacles, lots of difficulties. We are not hoping to be carried easily into heaven, but we are prepared to fight the good fight of faith. That is what we need to do.
We Christians are too lazy. We are not diligent enough. The Bible tells us, “Be diligent.” After you have faith, add to it virtue, and so on and so forth, that you may enter into the kingdom with abundance. We have to make our calling sure. This is Christian life.
The Lord calls us:
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
Brothers and sisters, when our Lord Jesus was on this earth, did He live a very comfortable, easy, so-called prosperous life? Not at all. Just the opposite.
Think of our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, coming into this world to live a human life. How did He live? He walked the way of the cross. He bore the cross throughout His life, denying Himself.
He would not do anything or say anything out of Himself, even though He was almighty. But in all things He was obedient to the Father Who sent Him. He bore the cross throughout His life until He was crucified on it.
Wherefore also God highly exalted Him,
and gave unto Him the name which is above every name;
that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we need to pursue.
One thing we have to remember: we are now in the twenty-first century. Even in the first century, before our Lord Jesus returned to heaven, He promised us that He is coming.
Every century, every generation, those who love the Lord have been waiting for His return. They are not wrong, because the Lord can return at any time.
But why has He waited and waited and waited until now? Because the bride is not ready.
We are to be His bride. Are we ready for Him? Are we pursuing Him? Are we pursuing other things rather than our Lord Jesus?
Are we willing to count all things but refuse—things from which we turn ourselves away—because we have seen the Lord? This is the way to prepare ourselves. This is the way to spend our life.
And, dear brothers and sisters, there is very little time left. We must pursue, and pursue with passion.
Now, what is passion? We are not talking about the passion and lust of the flesh. You remember in Galatians 5, there are the passions and lusts of the flesh. In our flesh there is passion. Much so-called love is merely passion and lust.
We cannot pursue the Lord with the love and passion of our flesh. On the contrary, we know that our old man, our flesh, and its lusts and passions have been crucified with Christ.
But yet we need to pursue after the Lord with passion. So what kind of passion is that? It is not a passion out of our own flesh.
You know, that young man Saul persecuted Christians with passion, with zeal. But he was wrong. He was doing the very opposite. That has to be crucified.
We have to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow the Lord. But what is the passion that we are talking about?
In 2 Corinthians 5:14:
For the love of Christ constraineth us;
because we thus judge, that One died for all, therefore all died;
and He died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves,
but unto Him Who for their sakes died and rose again.
And Romans 12:1:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service.
Now, that is the passion. In other words, it is the love of Christ which constrains us.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to see the glory of the Lord. Not only when we first believe in Him do we see His beauty—the beauty of the Crucified One. He melts our hearts. He wins our hearts, and we give ourselves to Him.
But all along the way, brothers and sisters, we need to see more and more of His excellency, of His beauty, of His love, and of His greatness.
Abraham, when the Lord of glory appeared to him, by faith went out, leaving everything behind and going where He led. Brothers and sisters, this is passion.
Has our passion waned and grown cold? Is our pursuing slowing down, almost to a standstill? Or is it going backward?
May the Spirit of the Lord search our hearts, search us most deeply, and touch us again with His love. And for the love of our Lord Jesus, brothers and sisters, let us pursue Him with passion.
Our dear brother mentioned Zinzendorf. Count Zinzendorf was a noble. He was trained as nobility. That was in the eighteenth century.
After he was trained at the university, it was the custom at that time for royalty to travel around Europe, to learn more of the culture of that time. So this young man, Count Zinzendorf, went to Paris.
Paris was a place that attracted young people, but to Zinzendorf there was no attraction. He had already forfeited the world and its pleasures.
But one day, when he traveled to Düsseldorf, he visited an art museum. He saw a picture, a painting drawn by an artist who had turned to the Lord while painting it.
Out of his first love toward the Lord, the artist painted a head, supposed to represent the Lord—a bleeding head. He gave it as his gift to the museum.
Every day he went to the museum, hiding behind a pillar, seeing if anybody was looking at the picture, and he prayed.
One day, this young man Zinzendorf visited the museum. He looked at this picture, and he was transfixed.
Under the picture there was an inscription:
I have done all this for thee;
what hast thou done for Me?
Zinzendorf looked at this picture. He could not leave. The museum was about to close, so the guard touched his shoulder and said, “It is time to go.”
He went back to his hotel. He gave his life, all over again, everything he had, to the Lord Who had done so much for him.
And we all know the history. He opened up his domain, welcoming those Christians who were persecuted at that time, and let them settle there.
He devoted his whole life to pursuing them, bringing them together into unity. That was the beginning of the Moravian movement.
Brothers and sisters, that is pursuing with passion.
How about you? Where are you?
May the Spirit of the Lord search every one of us here, that we may prepare for the return of our blessed, beloved Lord.
Dear Lord, Thou hast called us to pursue Thee with passion. Thou hast loved us with passion. What passionate love! Thou hast poured out Thyself to us without reservation, without consideration.
O Lord, may Thy love revive and touch us, that we may truly be love slaves. We do not want to go out free.
Lord, our lives are Yours. May Thou put Thy seal upon each and every one of us. O, do not let anyone go out free.
To the praise of Thy glory, in Thy precious name, the blessed name, we pray. Amen.