BCF Philly | Pastor Ken Sheppard | Getting where God wants you to go by Any means Necessary

Paul refuses to act like he has already arrived. Philippians 3:12-14 puts spiritual maturity in plain sight: Christ has taken hold of believers, and believers must keep pressing to become what Christ saved them to be. Perfection does not mean acting like somebody never struggles. Perfection means becoming complete, spiritually mature, more and more like Jesus. Paul had written letters, planted churches, suffered for Christ, and led people to Jesus, yet Paul still said, “I have not achieved it.” No believer can afford to get spiritually comfortable.

Spiritual maturity requires honesty about the flesh. Paul’s struggle in Romans 7 gives hope to people who know what is right but still find themselves wrestling with what they do. Sin does not make believers hopeless, but pretending that sin is not there keeps believers stuck. God can use an honest testimony about alcohol, getting high, bad decisions, or whatever else was in the past to show somebody that Christ still saves, changes, and keeps people.

The past can hold people captive, whether it was bad or good. Guilt, rejection, anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness can become baggage that interferes with the race. Old successes can become idols too, when people keep staring at one mountaintop moment and refuse to believe God has more ahead. Saul had enough in his past to keep him down forever, because Saul hunted Christians, imprisoned them, and approved of their deaths. Christ transformed Saul into Paul, and Paul refused to let either his old sins or his later accomplishments stop him from moving forward.

Paul’s command to forget does not mean pretending the past never happened. The past must be dismissed from the mind as the thing that controls the direction of life. Some people need to let go of memories; some people need to let go of people. Temporary pleasure, old relationships, and somebody who keeps circling back like a boomerang cannot be worth missing the eternal prize. Salvation is God’s free gift, but rejecting Christ carries eternal consequences.

Paul keeps his viewpoint and his pursuit pointed in the same direction. The heavenly prize becomes clear enough that he runs after it with dedication, energy, and persistence. The Christian life is not a careless walk with distractions everywhere; it is a race run with eyes on the prize. Heaven means eternal rest, fellowship with loved ones in Christ, and above all, living forever in God’s presence. Every circumstance may be acknowledged, but no circumstance should be allowed to make believers surrender their purpose. Christ calls His people to press on until they finish faithfully and hear, “Well done.”

Key Takeaways

• 1. Spiritual maturity never becomes self-satisfaction.
  Paul’s honesty tears down the idea that age, titles, church experience, or past accomplishments mean somebody has reached the finish line. Spiritual comfort can quietly become spiritual decline because it stops seeking correction, healing, and growth. Christlikeness remains the goal as long as life remains. [1:01:08]
• 2. The past must not run the race.
  Guilt over sin and pride over success can both keep a person looking backward. God does not deny what happened, but God refuses to let what happened have the final word over a redeemed life. Paul’s conversion shows that even a dark past cannot overpower Christ’s transforming grace. [1:08:24]
• 3. Some people must be left behind.
  Old relationships can become spiritual hindrances when they continually pull the heart toward compromise. Temporary comfort, attention, money, and pleasure are poor trades for the direction God has prepared. Wisdom sometimes looks like blocking the number, closing the door, and refusing to reopen what God is trying to remove. [1:16:01]
• 4. The prize shapes the pursuit.
  Paul runs hard because Paul sees clearly what is ahead: becoming like Christ and receiving the heavenly prize. A blurry view of eternity produces a distracted and half-hearted race. Heaven, fellowship with God, and hearing “well done” give present obedience its weight. [1:27:26]
• 5. Hard circumstances cannot cancel God’s purpose.
  Paul wrote from prison, but prison did not make Paul quit running. Sickness, grief, rejection, and trouble may change the conditions of the race, but they do not remove the call to press on. Christ supplies strength for every part of the race, including the parts that hurt. [1:40:35]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [49:29] - Philippians 3:12-14
• [53:32] - Getting Where God Wants You to Go
• [55:35] - Spiritual Maturity Is the Goal
• [56:09] - You Have Not Arrived Yet
• [1:01:49] - The Danger of Spiritual Comfort
• [1:06:23] - Refuse to Be Captive to the Past
• [1:11:00] - Saul’s Past and God’s Grace
• [1:16:01] - Letting Go of Old Relationships
• [1:22:20] - Viewpoint and Pursuit Must Align
• [1:27:26] - Keeping Eyes on the Heavenly Prize
• [1:33:09] - Running the Race Faithfully
• [1:40:35] - Purpose in Every Circumstance
• [1:42:09] - Invitation and Closing Prayer

1. What does Paul say he has not yet obtained in Philippians 3:12-13, and what does he say he is doing instead?
2. What two directions does Paul describe in Philippians 3:13—regarding what is behind him and what is ahead of him? [01:06:53]
3. In Romans 7:15-19, what repeated conflict does Paul describe between what he wants to do and what he actually does?
4. What parts of the past can become baggage in a believer’s race, including both painful experiences and successful moments? [01:08:45]

1. Paul says that Christ Jesus has made him His own before Paul says he presses on. How does Christ’s hold on believers give them hope and strength to keep growing rather than trying to earn salvation?
2. Paul’s word “perfect” in Philippians 3 does not mean pretending never to struggle; it points toward spiritual maturity and becoming more like Christ. What difference does that make for believers who feel discouraged by ongoing struggles? [01:01:29]
3. Paul had a violent past as Saul, yet he became a faithful servant of Christ. How does Saul’s conversion show that guilt over past sin does not have to control a redeemed person’s future? [01:11:13]
4. Paul learned to live faithfully in need and in abundance. What does Philippians 4:12-13 teach about facing hard circumstances without surrendering God’s purpose? [01:41:18]

1. Where might spiritual comfort be showing up in your life? Is there an area where age, church experience, a title, or past growth has made you less open to correction and continued growth? [01:01:45]
2. Paul’s honesty about his struggle gives believers room to be honest too. What is one struggle, temptation, or weakness that you need to bring into the light with God and, when appropriate, with a trusted mature believer? [01:00:15]
3. Is there something from your past—guilt, rejection, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, or even a past accomplishment—that keeps pulling your attention backward? What would it look like this week to stop letting it control your direction? [01:09:00]
4. Are there relationships, habits, online connections, places, or conversations that repeatedly pull you toward compromise? What healthy boundary might help you protect your walk with Christ? [01:17:33]
5. What does the heavenly prize mean to you personally: being with God forever, becoming like Christ, resting from suffering, or seeing loved ones who belong to Christ? How could keeping that prize in view change one decision you need to make this week? [01:29:13]
6. Think about your present circumstances—whether they involve grief, sickness, financial stress, rejection, or another burden. How can you acknowledge that hardship honestly while still taking one faithful step forward in your race? [01:40:35]