Press On Toward the Goal
Bible passage: Philippians 3:12-16
“12. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Let us give thanks to our Father God for protecting and guiding us with abundant grace and love throughout the year 2024. Let us also extend our thanks to all the workers and members of the congregation who faithfully served and diligently fulfilled their missions in various places.
Thank you, Homecell Leaders and Immanuel Choir, for your special songs tonight! The final day of this year already arrived. Standing at the turning point where we bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one, each person may feel a variety of emotions and have many different thoughts. Particularly, these feelings can vary greatly depending on each individual's circumstances. Those who are healthy and prosperous may look forward to the new year with bright anticipation and gladly let go of the passing year.
However, for those who are sick, have faced failures, or are trapped in despair, the passage of time may feel unbearably sorrowful, and they may be filled with worries about what lies ahead. Yet, regardless of the circumstances we are in, by looking at God's Word, I hope that we can all receive grace together and, as the theme of today's message suggests, advance toward a blessed future in the new year. It is often said that life is like a marathon; It is not a sprint, but a long-distance race. A long-distance race can be compared to our journey of faith. Some people run too fast in the beginning and give up halfway through. Others get tired from running for long, stop, and walk. Still others competitively keep other runners’ pace and get worn out quickly.
They eventually stop and drop off the race. Some runners may not be able to run fast. But, as they constantly practice, they gradually improve and at some point, they can run faster and longer. What about your journey of faith? Having heard the Gospel of Holiness, you were overjoyed and diligently shared the Gospel with your family members, relatives, neighbors, and whomever you met. You would listen to sermons even while walking on the streets or driving and earnestly pray and fast to cast off sins and evil you discovered. But with the passing of time, didn’t you think, “I have run hard enough. Let me take a break”? Didn’t you consider yourself ahead of others and stop running? But, if you take a break or stop in your life of faith, you don’t stay where you are but backslide. The enemy devil doesn’t miss out on that opportunity and attempts to take away your faith completely.
The Book of Philippians is thought to have been written approximately five or six years before Paul's martyrdom. At that time, Paul is believed to have been in his 60s. From the day he first encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus in his youth, Paul tirelessly preached the Gospel, establishing many churches. Now, he had even set foot in Rome to share the Gospel. Unfortunately, however, he found himself imprisoned in a Roman jail. At this point, wouldn’t it be reasonable for someone to think, "I’ve done enough. Let me rest a little. Let me take things slower"? Yet, surprisingly, Paul says the exact opposite. Look at verses 13 and 14: “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Dear beloved congregation, In the same way, you too, I urge you to only press on forward, fixing your eyes on the Lord. I pray that in 2025, you will stand on the rock of faith and only march forward no matter the circumstance, thereby winning God’s love and recognition!
Dear brothers and sisters, Your Christian lives can largely be divided into three types. Some believers press on forward without ceasing. Others stop after running a little and just stay where they are. Still others backslide in faith. People who press on forward diligently keep the commandments out of love for God and keep growing in faith. Believers who just stay where they are have become sluggish or insensitive in heart. Not following the desires of the Spirit, they show no improvement. As for those who are backsliding in faith, the Holy Spirit have been or is being quenched in their heart. They are losing even the faith they have had. God desires for us to become fervent in faith and heart and keep marching forward. If you indeed have faith, you can press on without ceasing, only looking ahead. God would answer whatever such children ask of Him. He will rejoice over them with joy and prepares beautiful heaven for them. Then, what should we do to keep pressing forward in faith without ceasing?
1. First, we must set the right goal and remain unwavering.
Here, a goal represents our vision or hope. People who spend each day without goals and those who set goals face different outcomes. People who have goals improve themselves with perseverance and hard efforts even though they find their current situation bothersome and challenging. But, those without visions or dreams are quick to give up in the face of a trouble. In our journey of faith, we should have the right goal. Some Christians may attend church because they appreciate the favor of those who guided them. Others don’t leave the church because they have met the Lord and experienced the living God.
But they just habitually attend worship services without any desire to carry out God-given duties and build up rewards. But with these kinds of faith, we cannot overcome the enemy devil. We may even have our current faith taken away. Having accepted the Lord, we have to set our goals on heaven, long to meet and experience God always, and desire to achieve growth of faith. If we look at the fathers of faith who were used for precious purposes, God first gave them visions and hope. And then, they accepted the visions with faith, held onto them without ceasing, and obeyed. In other words, they planted visions in God.
One of the biblical figures who set an example of planting visions in God and receiving blessings is Abraham. God promised Abraham in Genesis 15:5, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants be.” Believing in the vision and hoping to bearing fruits, Abraham dwelt by the oaks of Mamre. He grew his vision, looking at the stars at night and the fruits of the oaks during the day. Since Abraham grew the God-given vision with all his heart, will, and sincerity, he received not only eternal life but blessings of good health, long life, children, and wealth, becoming the source of all blessings.
What kind of visions has God given to you and what kind of goal have you set? We have gone beyond putting our hope in heaven. We have harbored visions and goal to reach places shining like the sun in heaven. Our ultimate destination, our goal, has been New Jerusalem. We have longed for sanctification, not loving the world. On top of that, we have tried to become men of whole spirit resembling Father God’s image. We have hoped to carry out our duties well and build up many heavenly rewards. This is planting visions in God. But, what would happen if you waver in your goal and stop growing and nurturing your vision?
You won’t be able to attain to your goal. Let’s say you have led a passionate Christian life with a resolve to enter New Jerusalem. But at some point, you find yourself slow to change and your goal for New Jerusalem wavering. Then, this is so foolish. As you had your serious disease healed or your problems resolved and received great grace, you must have made a firm resolution saying, “God, I will keep walking this way. No matter how rough the way is, I’ll run towards the God-given goal without ceasing and give glory to You.” But, have you not had a change of heart at some point and wavered to the right or to the left? If you find yourself having been deceived and wavered by your environments, feelings, or worthless words, then you are not worthy of God’s promises and blessings. James 1:7-8 tells us, “For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Therefore, once we have set a goal, we should remain steadfast without wavering. To do so, we have to cut off worldly things and what distract us and cast off what have to be cast off.
Then, we can keep our goal from wavering and press on forward. From 2 Corinthians 11:23 onward, we find how Apostle Paul suffered for the Gospel. He overly devoted himself for the sake of God’s kingdom and His righteousness and Jesus Christ and the Gospel. But, knowing that walking his way with a steadfast heart was God’s will, Apostle Paul didn’t spare even his life. Even as he went through a severe crisis numerous times, with the Holy Spirit inspiring him, he didn’t want to avoid it or take a break. Instead, he pressed on with exceeding hope and joy. He was able to confess boldly in 2 Timothy 4:8, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
I challenge you to have faith that no matter the trouble, if you steadfastly press on toward the goal with joy, you can also receive the kind of blessings Paul received. You have to examine whether your goal has wavered or has been replaced. Even after you have set a right goal, it’s important to check whether you’re planting your visions in God. If you’ve indeed planted a vision, your life would be different. Having your life entirely focused on hope for New Jerusalem, you ponder over how you can become sanctified and bear fruits. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you do all to the glory of God., and having set a right goal, you never waver in faith.
As said in Hebrews 12:2, may you fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith and only press on forward, holding fast the goal of New Jerusalem!
2. Secondly, to press on toward the goal, we must give our best effort and run tirelessly.
Nowadays, young people easily say to one another, “You don’t need to try that hard” and recommend giving up. Once they feel a little tired, they give up and many of them fail to challenge themselves with determination. But, on our journey to heaven and to New Jerusalem, we are not to take a break because we are exhausted or make half-hearted efforts just because we are not capable enough. Why? It directly relates to your life. Suppose you have a problem with your heart or lung, you would have a hard time breathing.
Would it make sense for someone to say to you, “If it’s difficult, then stop breathing. Do as you like”? If one of your family members has become sick and lost appetite, would you say, “Stop eating. Do whatever you want”? Wouldn’t you get him to eat even if he doesn’t want to? In our life of faith, casting off sins and achieving sanctification is a battle that involves the pain of cutting off chunks of your flesh. How could it be easy to turn away from the ways of sin and love people whom you hate? But, since you have set your goal on beautiful heaven, you tearfully cry out in prayer to cast off hatred and beat your chest in mourning. Since you can’t be sanctified on your own, you fervently pray without ceasing, asking for the Holy Spirit’s help.
If you make half-hearted efforts in sanctification and prayer or take a break because you feel tired, you can never attain to your goal. As you get into the habit of praying and working for God’s kingdom with all your strength and sincerity, you can change yourself and grow in faith easily. Each person has different capabilities. Especially, new believers find it hard to pray. But, as they learn from and imitate how their leaders pray, they can pray better and better. They can cry out in prayer and get inspired by the Spirit. Once they receive tongues, it becomes easier. That’s how they improve themselves and pray better. I hope that you won’t do anything half-heartedly or habitually like praying, attending worship service, discovering and changing yourself, working for His kingdom, etc. In whatever you do before God, you are to put all your strength, sincerity, and efforts.
Only then can you grow in faith and bear fruits. In so doing, you can daily press on towards New Jerusalem. As you wake up in the morning, you start your day with prayer. And, you are careful with your thoughts and deeds, hoping for a sanctified life. You also do your best in everything including your duties at school or workplace or in your family. As you attend Daniel prayer meeting, wrapping up your day, you put all your sincerity, love, and strength into each word of the praise songs and each word of your prayer. As such efforts keep piling up, you grow in faith and press on towards New Jerusalem. May this service lead you to make a resolve to lead such a great life of faith in the New Year! As you live so, I pray that Father God would provide His great grace and strength, enabling you to live a victorious life.
3. Third, to press on forward toward the goal, we must continually march on for the prize of the upward call of God.
Today’s passage says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” And our Lord promised in John 14:1-3, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” Heaven where we will all enter is an extremely beautiful place without tears, sorrow, concerns, pain, and evil. In that beautiful kingdom, God prepares our dwelling places and rewards depending on how much we lived by the Word of God, how much we cast off evil and resemble our Lord, and how faithfully we fulfill His duties.
These are the prize of the upward call of God. No matter how beautiful and glorious earthly things are, they will vanish away shortly and cannot be even compared to things of heaven. So, shouldn’t we make ourselves more clean and become more faithful to receive more valuable things in everlasting heaven? Anticipating this prize, our Lord and many fathers of faith pressed on in joy even amidst tribulations. Particularly, Apostle Paul went through a lot of persecutions and hardships. So, God showed him heaven. After seeing heaven, Paul never complained or stopped despite any hardships facing him. Rather, he carried on with his duties in joy and gratitude. He confessed in Acts 20:24, “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the Gospel of the grace of God.”
Paul considered whatever was to his profit in the world as loss and pressed on for God’s kingdom and His righteousness, looking to heaven alone. Our fathers of faith like Abraham, Jacob, and Moses also marched on forward, looking to heaven and rewards and lived a life of glorifying God. In 2025, may all of us march vigorously with hope for heaven! We shouldn’t become lax after receiving answers and blessings or seek rest in the face of a trouble. Even after performing great power and bearing abundant fruits at an overseas united crusades, His Emeritus Senior Pastor never said, “That’s enough.” He always wished he had given God greater glory and never sought rest.
He could have been satisfied with what was done and put himself at ease based on all the achievements. But instead, he was always filled with the desire to accomplish things more perfectly and more greatly, giving joy and glory to God. So should we. The dreams and visions we have received in this end time are to build the Grand Sanctuary and evangelize the world. Since we still have many things to accomplish, we are to forget about our past achievements and only press on towards our goal. Philippians 3:16 tells us, “However, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.” The verse urges us to press on without a change of heart until all is accomplished. Thus, we are to keep marching on toward the goal until we attain to the perfection in faith and until our Lord comes back. We are to strive all the more, making ourselves better than how we were yesterday.
At times, our change may seem slow and no visible fruits are to be seen. Even so, if we press on without ceasing, at some point, we will see fruits and achieve growth of faith. In doing so, we can attain to the goal. Therefore, until all is accomplished, until our Lord descends to the Air or He calls our souls, may all of us march toward the goal all the more vigorously.
4. Fourth, to press on toward the goal, we must leave behind the things we need to discard along with the old year.
The past year is now fading into the records of history. As 2024 passes away, there are things we must let go of along with the old year. Ephesians 4:22 says, "Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires." When people move into a new house, they often discard old belongings. This is because old furniture doesn’t fit in a new house. Similarly, as we welcome the new year, we too must leave behind old things. Old thoughts, old emotions, old habits, old behaviors, and old hobbies - anything that is not pleasing to God - must be discarded. At the end of a year, people often desire a fresh start. They wish to leave behind the misfortunes and burdens of the past and start anew. They want to forget the unpleasant events and the mistakes they do not wish to repeat.
Today's message also tells us to discard what needs to be discarded, particularly the habits corrupted by deceitful desires. Additionally, we must leave behind the things that grieved the Holy Spirit along with the old year. For believers, the Holy Spirit resides within each of our hearts. We are instructed not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 states, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” For those striving to live a proper life of faith, it becomes impossible to live according to their own stubbornness or thoughts, as the guidance and conviction of the Holy Spirit come through God’s Word. The Holy Spirit desires for us to live in accordance with the truth of the Word. However, there are times when we are drawn by the desires of the flesh and act according to them. If we grieve the Holy Spirit for too long, nothing we do will prosper.
We must leave behind the things that grieved the Holy Spirit along with the old year. We should let go of the anger, resentment, harsh words, hatred, and wicked thoughts we have harbored in the past. If there is any resentment lingering in your heart now, it too must be discarded with the old year. At times, even among church members, conflicts and feelings of displeasure can arise. This can happen, for example, when someone causes a loss to you or speaks wrongly about you. Such experiences can stir up anger. However, Scripture instructs us not to let the sun go down while we are still angry. We must cast away these feelings now.
Harboring such feelings allows the devil to enter our hearts, leading us to follow his schemes. Ephesians 4:27-28 states, “Do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” Conclusion Dear brothers and sisters, Our Lord came down to this earth as the Son of God, proclaimed His will, completed the Redemption, and fulfilled the law with love. He shared the Gospel of Heaven only according to God’s will and healed people of all diseases and infirmities.
By ultimately dying on the cross, He opened the way of salvation for all humanity. As He walked the path of suffering, sacrifice, and death, our Lord pressed on without ceasing at all. Imitating our Lord who fully accomplished God’s providence, we have to strive for perfection so that He would compliment us by saying, “You have done all things assigned to you. Well done!” What God desires from us is perfection in all areas. Each one of you as well as this church has a duty assigned by God. You shouldn’t work to an extent satisfying men’s standards but to the point where you can satisfy God and receive His compliments. Thus, we are to march forward without ceasing until we become praiseworthy in God’s eyes. We are to live a life in which we only seek God’s glory, whether we eat or drink or whatever we do. Our God wants this church to become the salt and light in this end time, save numerous souls, and mightily expand His kingdom. Since we have been assigned such tremendous duties, above all, we are to become united by the cords of love, the truth, and the Holy Spirit.
For a single person to carry out ten tasks would require a great deal of time and effort. But if ten people work together, being united as one, they can accomplish more than ten tasks much quicker and more efficiently. Likewise, once we are united, wherever we go, we can save souls and God’s works definitely follow. I pray in the name of the Lord that none of you will drop out of this race of faith but run even faster, thereby partaking in the glory of shinning like the sun in everlasting heaven. - END -
