So, today's message is called,
That I May Know Him. Open your Bibles again to Philippians
chapter 3. Or continue our study in this
wonderful, wonderful book. It's written by Paul, who's under
house arrest or in Rome. He's allowed to have visitors. He has a Praetorian guard guarding
him all the time. And it's written to the church
at Philippi. Now remember, he's writing to
Gentile believers, right? Former idol worshipers. Former idol worshipers. And they're
born again. They've heard the gospel. God
saved their souls. They found out they were redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. They had no idea until the Lord
saved them, just like us. Isn't that wonderful? And then
God lets us in on the fact that he redeemed us 2,000 years ago. So they're rejoicing in the salvation
that they have in Christ. And Paul, remember we looked
at two ambitions that Paul had last week. There's four ambitions.
I got this from Henry Mahan, these four ambitions, and I just
wanted to bring them out. The four ambitions that Paul
had and he wrote about in Philippians chapter 4. And he's a born-again,
blood-washed believer writing these things. The first one is
in verse 8, which we looked at last week, that I may win Christ
and be found in him. Remember? And then verse 9, and
be found in him. And today's is found in verse
10, that I may know him. And then the last one, which
we'll do next week, will be in verse 11, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Now in these statements,
he's not questioning whether he's in Christ. He's already
in Christ. He's already in Christ. Remember last week we saw when
he said to be found in him that he's desiring that The change
that God has made in him will be reflected to others. Remember
that? That they would see, there's
something different about this fellow. That's what that means,
to be found in Christ. That people would say, oh, he's
a follower of Christ, or she's a follower of Christ. We don't
go with the flow, do we, of religion, no. So today we'll be looking
at Paul's third ambition, which is found in verse 10, that I
may know him. And the word gnoska is used here. It has an idea of an intimate
knowledge, like a husband and wife, so that I may know him
intimately. He knows us intimately, doesn't
he? Because when he says to those who he's casting away in Matthew
7, he says, I never gnosked you. I never knew you. Meaning there's
no intimate relationship there. He didn't save them. But Paul
says that I may know Christ. Christ already gnosked us. He
already knows us intimately. Paul's desiring to grow in the
grace and knowledge of Christ. That's what this is bringing
forth. It has nothing to do with works. It's a desire to love
Christ more, to know more about him. Not that Paul can boast,
because we know Paul said, I boast in Christ, which is what we say,
right? We got nothing to boast in, do
we? But we boast in our Savior who saved us from all our sins
by the shedding of his precious, precious blood. Let's read verses
8, actually verse 7 to 11. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ, Christ. Yea, doubtless,
I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things and do count them but dung." Remember dung there
is the things cast to the dogs. In the Greek it's useless things.
So Paul's saying, what he's saying, he's saying all my religious
works are fit just to be cast to the dogs. It's useless. That's
how I feel about my past religious work. Is that how you feel? Nothing. I used to think I could gain
merit and favor with God by doing something. Oh, I'll go out door
knocking. I'm going to go out and do this. I'm going to go
out and do that. I'm going to do all this. But it was all about me. Oh, my. Now, do I witness still? Of course, now. I love it. Love
when God opens the door. That's the key, though. When
God opens the door. Oh, then I'll boldly confess
Christ. And I live my life before others,
just like you do. Living our lives in Christ, before
Christ, right? In Christ, before others. My,
oh, my. He says, and do count them but
done, that I may win Christ. and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. So to be found in him. Not have my own righteousness,
because our own righteousness is that which is fit to be cast
to the dogs, right? That's what Paul's saying too.
And what are we clothed in, beloved? Someone tell me, what are we
clothed in? Amen, sister. Christ's righteousness. That's
right. That's what we're clothed in
now. It's wonderful. Look at verse 10. And here's
where we're going to get our text. That I may know him and
the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Now, these are wonderful
ambitions, aren't they, for the believer? For us, too. I may know my king more. And
not in a works mentality either. I just want to know more about
him. I want to learn more. Because,
think of this, the more we learn about him, Sister, we were talking
about this, Sister Carol, the more joyful we become. The more
in love we fall into with our king. Think of this, the more
you know your spouse, the more you fall in love with
them. Think of how long you all were
married to your spouses, or still are, and think of how, when you
first started, oh, you love each other, it's this, oh yeah, I
feel good, right? Oh, we finally get to be together.
And then life happens, and there's a few little ups and downs. But
as you get older, your love grows even more. Isn't that amazing? It becomes deeper and deeper
and deeper. That's what Paul desires, to know Christ more. That way, in that way, that intimate,
you know, that I know him. Oh my, we know we see through
a glass darkly, but this is a good, a good, good, um, encouragement
for us. It really is a good exhortation
for us. Now you want to talk, people
talk about practical Christian living. This is practical Christian
living. Except you don't have to write a book about it and
all this stuff. It's already right here. And you notice something? You notice something? It's all
Christ-centered. It's all Christ-centered. Oh
my. So when people are telling you
you gotta do this and you gotta do this in the flesh to be like
this, that's not true. We're gonna see in Sunday morning,
that's transactional. Do this and get that. God's salvation's free. It's full. Oh my. So let's read verse 10 again. We'll look at this saying and
Lord willing we'll look at the rest of the verse too. That I
may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his suffering being made conformable unto death. Now in the book of
Proverbs chapter 30 verse 15 This is neat. I never saw this
verse until putting this study together. Proverbs 30, verse
15, it says, there are three things which are never satisfied.
Yea, four. Say not, it is enough. This can be truly said of our
love for Christ, right? We want it to grow. And how does it grow? Not by
our works. But it's the fruit of the Spirit,
isn't it? And we desire for our love for
Christ to grow, don't we? We pray, Holy Spirit, please
bear that fruit in me by your power and might. Because without
you, I can't do nothing. Lord Jesus, without you, I can't
do nothing. And you know what? Here's the thing. We're not even
conscious of it. Because the more we hear the
gospel, and the more we hear about our Savior, the more we
grow in love, right? Isn't that amazing? The more
we learn about him, eh, Brother Brian? The more we fall in love
with our King. Sister Marsha, isn't he the fairest
of 10,000 to our souls? Oh, my. Isn't it wonderful? I'll tell you why. It's wonderful.
So this can be truly said about the fire of love for Christ,
which is kindled in our hearts by God the Holy Spirit. It burns
with an insatiable desire towards the Son of God, doesn't it? We never had that before we were
saved, did we? Oh, it's amazing. And think of
this, Paul had for many years known and loved and preached
the crucified risen Savior, for many years. Yet, we see a desire for him
to know him more. Tell me more about my King. Tell
me more about my Savior. Do you know a sermon without
Christ is a waste of time? A total waste of time. A sermon
about what you have to do to gain merit and favor with God
is a total waste of breath. We preach Christ and Him crucified. My, oh my. What the old-timers
used to say, we preach man into the dust and God sovereign. High above. And we rejoice, don't
we, when we hear that message. We fall in love more. Do you
ever stop and consider how foreign it was to the Philippians and
other idol worshipers? See, they're gods. You had to
do something to appease them. It was all transactional. Do
you ever think of how foreign it was for these Gentiles to
hear about a God who gave himself for them? And they didn't have
to do anything, Charlie? Do you ever think how strange that
would have been for them? You see, we're going to see in
Acts today that the Epicureans and the Stoics, they thought
this was so strange, what Paul was talking about.
Because Paul wasn't preaching a transactional God. Paul was preaching the one true
God who saves sinners all by himself and because it pleases
him to do so. That was so foreign to them.
And now he's writing to born-again, blood-washed saints, trusting
in the same Savior we are. Isn't that amazing? the Lord Jesus Christ, God in
the flesh, who died for sinners. And we who are born again can
say, that's me. That's me. Luke and Charlie and I were talking
out front this morning. And I'm so proud of Luke. He's
going to get his master's. And I said, we were talking about
who has their master's in the church here. And Luke was mentioning
Kathy. And do you have your master's?
No? OK. And I said, well, I got my
master's. Like this, right, Charlie? And
I said, I'm master of sinnership. That's me. I got that a long
time ago. Oh my, isn't it true though?
We're all got bastards of sinnership, don't we? Oh my. My, oh my. So true. Oh my. But isn't this amazing? And isn't it amazing how when
we go through trials and tribulations, remember, Paul's suffering for
the faith, right? Think of the trials and situations
that we've all went through. Steve went through a great trial.
Kathy and Dan, right? And all of us. Sister with your
foot and all that. Things that we've, heartache
too, right? Things, just different things
we've gone through. And has the Lord not just carried us through
it all? And what does that do? That causes
us to fall in love with Him even more, doesn't it? That causes
us to rejoice even more. Not just because he did that
for us, because of who he is. Because of who he is. God. God. Now, I want us to burn this into
your heart. God is for us. When a trial comes up, always
remember, God is for us. God's for me. No matter what it is, God's for
me. And he loves us with an everlasting
love. No wonder he said, you love me because I first loved
you. His love's from everlasting, beloved. And then he lets us
in. Oh my! And then he manifests his love,
beloved. Oh, he manifests his love by
going to Calvary's cross and suffering and bleeding and dying.
And it pleases him to do so. But that's not the end, is it?
Then he rose from the grave victorious. And he is sovereign king right
now. People say, oh, he can come back
and establish the kingdom. He's already a king. He's already
reigning, isn't he? Is anyone going to pull him off
that throne, Brother Brian? No. He is master over all. That's the one who saved us.
That's the one who keeps us. And sister, like we were talking
about, that's the one who never sleeps or slumbers. You ever
think of that? God never sleeps or slumbers.
We're sleeping away, enjoying our night's sleep. We wake up
in the day, and sometimes we think, oh, man, He's always with
us, no matter what comes our way. And He's always for us because
He loves us. Isn't that wonderful? If God
before us, amen, who can be against us? It's God that justifies,
isn't it? Who can condemn us? No one. Is
that real, Wayne? Yeah, it's real. It's our unbelief that gets clouded
in there, isn't it? And we're like Peter, Lord, help
our unbelief, Lord, please, please. Oh my. So Paul had many years
loved and preached Christ the Savior. He desired, we see, he
still desires to know him more. Oh, and surely these words are
written in the book of God for our instruction, right? Because
do we not go through times where we're up and down? Oh yeah, we
do. But His love is steadfast, never
changing. Charlie, there's never been a
time when Christ didn't love us. My. That's amazing, isn't it? That's absolutely amazing. And
that's true for every single believer. Even when we were dead
in sin. What a Savior. What a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ our Lord. William Mason wrote this, he
said, such is the nature of faith that, like riches to a miser,
the more they increase, the more the desires of his heart increase
after them, as his wants are greater than his possessions.
We just desire more of Christ, don't we? I was talking to Donnie,
I said, I just want to pour my life out. He goes, I know, brother.
He goes, it's bursted out, isn't it? And I said, yeah, it's just
bursted out. My oh my. So that we who are the redeemed
of the Lord marvel at the fact that because our souls are in
a living union, we now see Christ by faith. We now see Christ by
faith. We were dead in trespasses and
sins, weren't we, Travis? But we've been made alive by
the Holy Spirit of God, born again. We have a living union
with Christ. My oh my. And by faith, now think
of this, what a change of mind, right? Repentance is a change
of mind towards God. What a change of mind that what
we thought of God in our imagination and who we know now God to be.
Hey Sister Marcia, oh my, it's like night and day. And it's so comforting, isn't
it? It's so comforting, beloved, to know that we are in the hands
of He who holds everything together, all the universes and stars and
everything. He knows them all by name. That's
the one who's got us. No wonder he said, no man's able
to pluck them out of my hand or my father's hand. He's God. See, people, oh, yeah, I'm not
gonna get off on that tangent. I'm just not, I'm not, I'm not
gonna get off on that tangent. I'm gonna keep right here where
we're going. Oh, so in Christ, he's our living head, right?
We're the body, he's the head. In Christ, the believing sinner
has been shown our great need, which is to be saved from our
sins. You know, hell is a place where
we go to because if we have no ransom for our
souls, right, it's a due payment for our sins. And people say,
well, you know, I remember when I used to go out street evangelizing
and you ask people, you want to go to hell? Absolutely no
one wants to go to hell. So in the bow your head, repeat
your prayer world, it becomes fire escape. But what's the main reason Christ
came to this world? And what did he save us from,
sister? Amen. That's the key right there. He
came to save his people, and he came to save us from our sins. That's the key, isn't it? That's
the key. And isn't it wonderful? He paid
for every single one of our sins, because they were all in the
future, weren't they? All our sins were in the future.
He saved us 2,000 years ago. Somebody says, well, not future
sins. They're not forgiven. Well, all my sins are in the
future. And he paid it all. So I'm going
to trust him. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. No wonder Paul says, I want to
know him more. I want to know him more. I desire to know him
more. This one who saved my soul. Oh
my. And so now our hearts cry for
more of him, doesn't it? More. Tell me more about Christ.
Tell me more about my Savior. And Paul, like all believers
in Christ, He's not satisfied with anything in this world.
The world is now just trinkets, isn't it? It's just trinkets,
beloved. But oh, look to Christ. Look
to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls. And if you're
a born-again, blood-washed believer, your heart will leap for joy at the one who saved us. God
himself. Oh. And to know that he's forever
present with us. To know that he'll never leave
us nor forsake us. Oh my. And the knowledge of Christ
while we're in this mortal state becomes a paradise of peace.
Now, think of this. When I say a paradise of peace,
there can be storms brewing in our lives all around us. You
ever notice this? And yet we have a peace. You ever notice that? Steve,
you talked to me about that. Those storms of what you went
through, and you had a peace, knowing that God was gonna take
care of you. Steve just kept telling everyone, God's sovereign,
and he's gonna take care of me. Yeah. Isn't that amazing? And he did. And Steve, I remember
talking to Steve, and you said, whether I live or die, it's in
his hands. Hey, that was wonderful, brother,
to hear you. It was a testimony to God's grace
and mercy. But isn't it amazing? We still
always have that peace. And that can become a paradise
for us in this world amidst all the troubles. I'll tell you what,
it's a lot easier to let him who holds the world in the hollow
of his hand. Bear the burdens of this life,
this world, our country. It's a lot easier giving them
to him, isn't it, than worrying about it. Right? Oh my. And remember this, beloved, because
we suffer. I did a message on Thursday. Real trials. They are real. Real things we go through, right? But let us ever know that he's
right there with us, carrying us through, ever with us. No wonder Paul wanted to know
more about him, to know him more in love, right? Because he's
had all this experience of how God's taken care of him through
all these trials and situations, and not destroying them even
before he was saved, right? Because he's one of the elect. and then using him in a mighty
way. My oh my. There's a godly jealousy in our
souls now, isn't there? Lest some object should steal
the affection of our hearts from Christ. You ever think of that? How strange that is compared
to how we were before. Vicki and I, when we were younger
in our marriage and everything, younger, but when Josh was younger
and Crystal was younger, we used to sit and talk with them and
say, well, you know, dad and mom love you very much, but we love
God more. And they'd be like, what? We
said, we taught them, God has to be first. Even with Vicki and I, we love
each other dearly. but we love God more, right? There's a jealousy in
our hearts to keep Christ at the foremost, isn't it? And that wasn't there before
we were saved, was it, Sister Marsha? We didn't have that at
all. It was all about me. Oh my, isn't it amazing, the
transforming grace of God? And think of this, that's not
normal for us to think that way. So we're being conformed to the
image of Christ, beloved. It's remarkable. And even Paul
saying, remember Paul hated Christ? He was going and hauling people
out of their houses and throwing them in prison. And now he hated
him. Now he's like, I love him and
I want to know him more. That's a miracle of grace, beloved.
And that's what God's done for every single one of us who are
born again. Blood washed saints. Isn't that,
let us rejoice. No wonder Paul said, I want to
know him more. I want to know him more. Oh, oh, oh, that I might know him
whose love toward me is constant, perfect, and faithful. Constant,
perfect, and faithful. That's what our, think of this. Does God love us, who are his
people? Yeah, absolutely, right? Does he love us with an everlasting
love? Yeah. Let us live in this. I'm going
to close early, see? Let us live in this. I've only
got through two pages of four pages. I thought I was going
to get through more. But this is a good stopping point. Let us always remember this. that God loves us with an everlasting
love. It's real. Sometimes it's hard
for us to understand that, isn't it? It's hard for us to grasp
it, but it's true. As a matter of fact, the scripture
says, and this is the Lord, the Master saying this, that when
he purchased us with his precious blood, he says that those who
are in Christ, the Father loves us as he loves Christ. That just makes my mind, but
it's true. John 17, take a look, it's amazing. So think of this. No wonder Paul
wanted to know him more, because this is the one who saved his
soul, redeemed him by his precious blood, and this is the one who's
loved him, because God's the same yesterday, today, and forever,
right? and put ourselves in there. Isn't
this wonderful? This is the one who loves us
with an everlasting love. And that love is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. What do we say? Glory to his
name! Praise the name of Jesus. Oh
my, what a savior, what a redeemer. Brother Travis, can you close
us in prayer?