Msg #2236 Pressing Toward the Mark II

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

After the Apostle Paul tells the Philippians the “What, When, Where, Why, and How” of pressing toward the mark (Phil.3:8-14), he addresses the “Who”: “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded” (Phil.3:15a). When the Bible calls for a born-again believer to be perfect, “even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Mat.5:48), we are charged to be fully developed and grown into a maturity of Godliness. There is no sinless perfection for us this side of heaven: “if we say that we have not sinned, we make him (God) a liar, and his word is not in us” (1Jn.1:10). The Apostle Paul was not sinless, but was certainly perfect in Christian maturity, as should we be, and if so we will be pressing “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (3:14).

“If in anything we be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you” (3:15b). How does God do that? As a teenager I was taught Psalm 139:23-24 by singing a song:

Search me, O God, and know my heart today;

Try me my Saviour, know my thoughts I pray … ay.

See if there be some wicked way in me,

Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

Free, that is, to press toward the mark. In Paul's next breath he says, “Nevertheless” … no matter, makes no difference, even so, no matter where you are at in this press... press toward that same mark. Whether matured, or maturing, there is a high calling of God in Christ Jesus, … “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (3:20). In 2022, if you are a born-again believer, let's press.

An Essay for week #36 - Sep 4, 2022

Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs220904.mp3

Learn a little more and grow www.GSBaptistChurch.com/theology

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