Let's turn in our Bibles to Philippians
chapter 3. Let's go to the Lord before we
begin. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for this day. We thank you for the privilege
to come here and hear your gospel preached. Lord, we pray now you
would bless it to our hearts, enable us to hear and believe
you. For Christ's sake, we ask it. Amen. Alright, Philippians
3 verse 4. Paul had said, as believers,
we have no confidence in the flesh, and he said in verse 4,
though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof, he might trust in the flesh.
That's what it is to have confidence in the flesh. It's in some manner
to be trusting in the flesh. He said, if any man thinks he
hath whereof, he might trust in the flesh, I more. circumcised
the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of the Hebrews, is touching the law of Pharisee, concerning
zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which
is in the law blameless, What things were gained of me, those
I counted lost for Christ. He doubtless and I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. For whom I've suffered the loss
of all things and do count them but dumb. That I may win Christ
and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness
which is of the law but that which is through the faith of
Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. Do you count everything about
yourself and everything about all your former religious confidence
as dung, that you might be found in Christ
alone? That's what true God-given repentance
and faith is. That's what true God-given faith
and repentance does. True repentance is denying self. It's not simply denying some
sins. It's denying our entire self
in all our works. And it's true faith is desiring
to be found in Christ alone. He said there, doubtless I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord for whom I've suffered the loss of all things. But to
make certain that nobody misunderstands that he has some regard for those
things that are all loss. He said, and I count them but
don't. In other words, I really, I didn't
lose anything. It was all worthless. Every bit
of it. That I might win Christ and be
found in Him. He speaks of two kinds of righteousnesses
here. Two kinds. The first is no righteousness
at all. It's what he's counting all to
be done. He said, I want to be found in
Christ not having my own righteousness which is of the law. That's what
he said I count but done. The second is the only righteousness
there is. It's the righteousness of God.
He said, verse 9, but that which is through, the righteousness
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. Now first of all, before God
converted Paul, his confidence, what he thought was his righteousness,
was himself and what he had done to him,
what he was and what he was doing, all based on the law. That was
his confidence. He said, circumcise the eighth
day. You know, today there's a lot of people that think baptism
is the New Testament equivalent of circumcision. That's why they've
used this child circumcised the eighth day to justify infant
sprinkling. Sprinkling's not even baptism,
but there's no warrant for baptizing an infant or an unbeliever period
in the New Testament. Circumcision, we saw last week
the picture of what the Lord does in the heart. The Spirit
of God regenerating the child of God and giving a new heart.
We're as helpless, the sinner is as helpless as an eight-day-old
child. We can't do this to ourselves
any more than an eight-day-old child could do it to himself. It's the Spirit of God that must
birth us again. Paul said, verse 5, of the stock
of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Paul
must have been of the half tribe of Benjamin that did not split
away from Judah because he mentions the tribe of Benjamin. You know,
there was a half tribe that stood with Judah Christ came through
the tribe of Judah. There was a half-tribe of Benjamin
that stood with Judah, and then the other half forsook them and
became their enemy along with the other ten tribes of Israel.
Paul was probably named after the first king in Israel, which
was Saul. He was a Benjamite, Benjaminite,
Benjamite. That's probably who they named
Paul after when he was Saul. Many put confidence in who their
family is. That's part of the reason why
they sprinkle infants. But God makes his children. He made us his children by electing
us by free grace before the world was made. That's how you became
a child of God in eternity, by the free and sovereign grace
of God. God's elect were redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ so that
God would be just to send the Spirit of God and circumcise
us in the heart and birth us into the family of God. That's how you come to be a child
of God by being created anew by the Spirit of God and birthed
into the Kingdom of God. And that's through the righteousness
of Christ. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of children. God predestinated His people
unto the adoption. He predestinated the hour when
He would send forth the gospel, send forth the Spirit, and birth
us into the kingdom and house of God. And listen, you don't
become a child by Him, by the new birth. We're already children. The scripture says, because you
are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
heart, crying, Abba Father. You're already a child, already
a child. Biological family is not the
family of God. Our Lord Jesus looked at folks
who believed on Him by God's grace and He said, these are
my brethren. Those born of God, given faith
in Christ, they are brothers and sisters in Christ. Fathers
and mothers. One family. And they're called
out of every kindred, tribe, and tongue under heaven and made
to be in one family. The household of God. He said
in verse 5, it's touching the law of Pharisee. The Pharisee
was a sect. like what we would call a denomination.
And Paul's confidence was he was a Pharisee. He was a Pharisee. The Sadducees was another sect. The Nicolaitans were another
sect. The Pharisees were the strictest. They, in our day,
they would be what we call fundamentalists, conservative. That's what they
were, the strictest law-abiding lawmongers there were. but just
like denominations today. The Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the Nicolaitans didn't like each other. They thought, each thought there
was something wrong with the other. One thing they agreed
on, rejecting Christ. And they do today too. Righteousness is not in a denomination. God's people are one. were one. Because, as Ephesians 4 verse
4 says, there's one body, there's one spirit, even as you're called
in one hope we'll be calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all who's above all and through all and
in you all. And somebody will hear that and say, what about
all these different denominations and all these different religions? I'm not reasoning from man up
to God, I'm telling you what God says. God says there's just
one God, one faith, one spirit, one Father who's in all. By the Holy Spirit we've put
on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. whether it's neither Greek nor
Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free, but Christ is all in and in all. Paul said, and if you
be Christ, he said, you're all one in Christ Jesus. That's so
of God's people. I mean, if you're born of one
spirit, taught by one spirit, aren't you going to be in agreement?
God's people are in agreement. We know Christ is all. We know
we don't have any other righteousness but Christ. And we know we're
sinners. Ruined sinners. Verse 6, he said,
concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness
was in the law blameless. And I put these together because
they go together. Paul persecuted the church because
of the enmity of the law. As Saul, he thought he was righteous
by his law-keeping. He thought he was blameless by
his law-keeping. And as far as outward goes, he
would have been, as far as men were concerned. But for that
reason, because he thought he made himself to differ by his
law-keeping, he hated others that he didn't think was as righteous
as him, but especially he hated the church of the Lord Jesus
because they came declaring Christ is the only righteousness of
his people. Christ fulfilled the law for his people. And Paul,
Paul held the coats of them that stoned Stephen to death. The one way Christ's church,
the very one way that we're made one so that we stop condemning one
another using the law and exalting ourselves over one another using
the law is that the Spirit of God has made us see through faith
that our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the law for His people. And through
faith in Him, God imputes the righteousness of Christ to us
which means everyone who believes on Christ has the exact same
righteousness. No difference. No difference. That's the only thing that'll
make a man quit condemning others when they fall or when they don't
measure up to him is when he makes you to know you're the
sinner whose only righteousness is in Christ and that makes you
know that's so of my brother and my sister. That's what'll
keep us from condemning one another. Can you prove that from Scripture?
We saw it last time. He said, Christ is our peace,
who hath made both Jew and Gentile one. He broke down the middle
wall of partition between them. That law was just like if there
was a wall going right down between this center aisle, dividing this
side from that side. That's what the law did with
Jew and Gentile. Because the Jews thought they
were righteous by their obedience to it and they called Gentiles
dogs because they never had the law. But Christ came and abolished
in his flesh the enmity. Even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances and made of himself of two, Jew and Gentile,
one new man. So make in peace. That's what
I'm saying, he makes you see he's your only righteousness,
whether you're a Jew, a Gentile, male or female, rich or poor,
educated, uneducated, whatever you thought the difference was
that gave you a leg up over somebody. By Christ coming and laying down
His life, He makes you know there was no difference in you naturally
than anybody else. You were a vile, wretched sinner. And in Christ, there's no difference
in you than any other believer. Perfect, complete in Christ. Christ came and He preached peace
to Paul. He made Paul see himself as the
sinner. whose only righteousness was
Christ. He made him see all his works
were sin. Look over at Romans 7. Paul had all this confidence
in the things he was doing. And look what Paul says here.
Romans 7 verse 8. He said, But sin, taken occasion
by the commandment, his own depravity, his own blindness. He took the
commandment and he said, and it wrought in me all manner of
concupiscence. Everything that he just listed
that he had confidence in, that was all manner of concupiscence.
That was all manner of evil. Trusting in all those vain confidences. For without the law, sin was
dead. He didn't think he was a sinner. He couldn't hear the
law. For I was alive without the law
once, but when the commandment came, when the Lord made him
hear what the law says, sin revived and I died. Everything that he
thought was in the plus column became a loss. for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. And not only did it become lost,
Paul said, I count it all done. Worthless. Totally worthless.
That's true God-given repentance and faith. To count everything
that you had formerly, you had confidence in, all your former
religion, everything that you boasted of, that you thought
made you righteous or holy. I have no confidence in it. It's
nothing but dung. Christ is all." That's true repentance
and true faith. Paul didn't say this. He didn't
say, you ever heard this? Paul did not say, now I was saved
when I was in that religion, and I was in there with those
Pharisees, and I was persecuting the church, and killing God's
people, and putting all my confidence in myself. I was saved then,
but then later I just came to the doctrines of grace. He didn't
say that. A man that says that, he hadn't
counted that former will-worship done. He hadn't counted it, no. He thinks he profited him in
some way. Man's still trusting in that.
Paul didn't say, my brethren, the Pharisees. He said this,
in Romans 10, he said, my prayer, my heart's desire to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. He didn't say they were
saved. He said, I pray God will save
them. I bear them record they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted to the righteousness of God, Christ Jesus. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. Paul didn't say of those who
were preaching and mixing law and grace, he didn't say, well,
we disagree a little bit on our doctrine, but we're all exalted
in the same God, and we're all headed to the same place, and
we all have the same destination. He didn't say that. He said,
if any man preach any other gospel than you have received, let him
be accursed. Why do some folks who profess
to believe salvation by the sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus,
the people who claim to believe the doctrine of grace, why do
they embrace will-worshippers as brethren and claim to have
been saved under that? Why do they do that? Usually,
usually, the first reason is they got confidence in that vain
religion. That's the first thing. They
hadn't been called out. They come out bodily, just like
Israel came out of Egypt bodily, but they didn't come out in part.
And number two, usually they got family in that, and they'd
rather offend God than offend their family. The Lord said,
he that loveth father, mother more than me is not worthy of
me. and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me." See, Christ, when He really grants you repentance,
and you've been born from above, and given faith in Christ, the
Scripture says, you will not be ashamed of Christ. That means
to say, everything that I was in was done, and Christ is all. That's what it is not to be ashamed
of Christ. God's child would rather offend, we don't want
to offend anybody. We're not trying to offend anybody.
But if somebody's going to be offended at us for trusting Christ,
we'd rather offend family or our former religious companions
than God. We're not ashamed of Christ. Let's talk about this one true
righteousness now. That's the false righteousness,
all that stuff Paul was trusting. Here's the true righteousness.
The righteousness of God. What is the righteousness of
God? It's Christ Jesus alone. It is the Son of God in human
flesh, Christ Jesus alone. When Paul said that his countrymen
had not submitted to the righteousness of God, he didn't give a doctrine
and say that's righteousness. No, he said, for Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness. To everyone that believed, Christ.
They're not submitted to the righteousness of God, for Christ
is. He's the righteousness of God.
His name is Jehovah Sidcanu, the Lord our righteousness. Our righteousness is the Lord
Jesus. Paul said, I want to be found
in Christ alone, having His righteousness alone. That which is through
the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. Christ is the righteousness which
is of God. He is. God gave His only begotten
Son. He's the Son given. He's the
child born, the Son given. According to the flesh, He's
the Son of David. But according to God, He's the
Son God gave. He took flesh. He's the God-man. He's the only one in whom God
delights. The Lord Jesus is the one in
whom God delights. When we keep seeing in Isaiah,
when God speaks of Himself as the Holy One, thy Redeemer, He's
the Holy One. He is the Holy One of Israel. He's the Redeemer of Israel.
He's the righteousness of Israel. He's the one who brings our offended
God, who we offended, and His people together in one. He's
the one mediator between God and His people. He's Christ. He's God's anointed. He's God's
choice. He's the one God chose and trusted
all His elect to for Him to save. She shall bring forth a Son and
shall call His name Jesus. Why? For He shall save His people
from their sins. He's God's Lamb. When Abraham
was going up that mountain, and Isaac was a pretty good-sized
fellow, he had enough sense to know we can't go before God without
a lamb. He said, Father, here's the fire,
here's the wood, where's the lamb? And Abraham said, My son,
God will provide Himself a lamb. That's who Christ is. That's
God. That's God providing Himself
and He's the Lamb God provided. That's who Christ is. He's God's
high priest. All those high priests that were
made, men didn't make them high priests, God made them high priests.
God chose them from among men so that they could offer sacrifices
to God on behalf of the people and so that they were touched
with the same infirmities the people were so they could have
compassion on them. Our Lord Jesus is God's high priest chosen
from among his brethren, touched with the feeling of our infirmities
yet without sin, so that not only has he made the sacrifice
well-pleasing to God for his people, he's the one who comes
to us and is able to console us and comfort us and succor
us because he knows exactly the weaknesses of our flesh. That's who He is. That's who
the Lord Jesus is. See, the righteousness of God
by which God's elect are made righteous is the Lord Jesus. It's His faithfulness. It's His
obedience. It's His doing. It's His dying. When Paul says there, he says,
I want that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ. That's Christ's faithfulness.
That's His doing. How do we have that righteousness? How is that righteousness given
to us? What must we do to receive that righteousness? He said,
verse 9, it's the righteousness which is of God by faith. It's by God regenerating us and
gifting us with faith to believe Him that God imputes the righteousness
of Christ to us. The faith of Christ is imputed
to us. His obedience is imputed to us. You know where I'm going to go.
Let's go back to the left there to Galatians 2. This is one of those verses that's
changed in almost every new translation. You change one word in this verse,
and it changes the entire meaning of this verse. Here's how it
should read, Galatians 2.16, Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not
by the works of the law. By the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Faith of Christ is Christ's faithfulness,
His obedience. Faith in Christ is you trusting
that obedience. That's a, you change that word
of to in, that makes it entirely that God's righteousness is manifest
by your faith in Christ. Your faith in Christ, you have
faith in Christ because God makes you see you made righteous only
by the faithful obedience of Christ. That's what faith believes. You know, the reformers preach
justification by faith, and over time, you know what that's turned
into? That your act of believing justifies you. Your act of believing
does not justify you. Christ justified His people.
God gives you faith to believe the faithfulness of Christ, and
God declares you in the court of your conscience justified
by what Christ did for you. Only in that sense does your
faith justify you. Only in the sense that it receives
the righteousness of Christ and relies entirely upon His doing.
What does Paul say here? He says, I want to be found in
Christ. I want to be found in Christ.
Everything God has for His people is in Christ. Everything. Let me just give you these scriptures.
You can jot these down if you want to, but let me just give
you these scriptures. I'll send you the notes. Listen to this. Everything God has for His people
is in Christ. Colossians 1.19, It pleased the
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. Ephesians 1.3
says, Before the foundation of the world, God the Father blessed
His people with all spiritual blessings in Christ, according
as He chose us, in Him. 2 Corinthians 5.21, He hath made
Him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. In Him. Our righteousness is
not in us, our righteousness is in Christ. Romans 3.24, His
people were justified freely by His grace to the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus. 1 John 3.15, He was manifested
to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. What's in you? Nothing but sin. What's in Him? In Him you have
no sin. 1 Corinthians 1.2, it's not only
justification, Well, this is true sanctification. 1 Corinthians
1, 2, the church of God is sanctified in Christ Jesus. God sanctified
us when He chose us in Christ. Christ sanctified us when He
redeemed us. And the Spirit of God, you know what He does when
He sanctifies you in the heart? He sanctifies you into Christ.
He makes you put all in Christ and trust Him alone. That's true.
Holiness of heart is to look totally away. What men preach
is holiness is you start looking at yourself and put confidence
in yourself. And you know, that's godliness.
Listen, I know that sanctification will have an effect on a sinner.
and it will make you want to honor God and live for Him and
sell us for good works. But have you ever noticed when
Paul is talking to Timothy about godliness, he says without a
doubt, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh, seen of angels, justified in
the Spirit, raised up again in the glory. He doesn't say nothing
about you and me. True godliness is when the Lord
creates a new heart and makes you behold everything that He
has for you is in Christ, so that you are sanctified into
Christ. Into Christ. 2 Corinthians 3.14,
the veil was upon our heart. How is it done away? It says
it's done away in Christ by the Spirit of the Lord. Galatians
3.26, we're children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Romans 8.31, there's therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2.6, back there when
He raised Christ from the dead, He raised all His elect up and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2.1 says our consolation
and our comfort of love is in Christ. When the Lord comes and
comforts you and consoles you in the heart, He's not pointing
you to you or doing something to make you see something in
this world to comfort and console you. He's turning you away from
everything here below so that you find all your comfort and
consolation in Christ. Philippians 3.3, we just saw
it last week right here. We're the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh. Look down at verse 14. The prize
of the high calling of God is where? In Christ Jesus. You know what Ephesians 1.10
says? And this is what that means. The prize of the high calling
of God in Christ What does that mean? Ephesians 1 10 says, in
the fullness of time, in the dispensation of the fullness
of time, that means when God's finished with everything, He's
going to gather together all His redeemed in heaven and all
His redeemed in the earth in one, even in Christ Jesus. Everything's
in Christ. Nothing is outside of Christ.
Everything is in Christ. That's why Paul said in verse
9, I want to be found in Him. Don't you? Isn't that where you
want to be found? Let me ask you, if you knew today you were
going to die and stand before a holy God who knows everything
you have ever done, thought, said, everything about you, knows
you better than you know you, where do you want to be found?
Do you want to be found trying to speak to God about some obedience
that you've worked out by the law? I don't. I do not. I do not. I want to be found in Christ. That's where God's people want
to be found. True faith says everything else that came before
that I trusted in, I counted dumb that I might be found in
Him. Not having a righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is by the faithful obedience
of Christ alone imputed to me because God came and taught me
this gospel and gave me life and gave me faith to behold Him
and trust Him. For you that are yet trusting
in yourself, I pray this will be God's predestinated hour.
Send the gospel into your heart, crying, Abba Father. If He does,
you'll do just what Paul did. Paul said, immediately I conferred,
not with flesh and blood. It didn't matter what Gamaliel
thought. How many years Paul sat under
Dr. Gamaliel hearing everything he had to teach him in his cemetery.
He didn't confer with flesh and blood. He believed Christ. And that's what you'll do. And
you'll count everything you ever put confidence in, including
everything about your own self, you'll count it dung, that you
might be found in Christ Jesus alone. And for you that believe
Him, that He has granted repentance and faith, do what Paul did. Look at Philippians 3.13. He
said, this one thing I do. And notice it's one thing. It
looks like there's two things here, but it's one thing. He
says, forgetting those things which are behind. and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
What's your confidence that you're going to continue running this
race looking only to Christ and continue forgetting all those
things that are behind? What's your confidence that you're
going to do that, Paul, and persevere in faith to the end? What makes
you think you're going to do that? Paul didn't have any confidence
in himself that he would do that. Here was his confidence that
he would do that. He said, I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And
the life which I now live in the flesh, in this body of death,
the life I live now, is by the faith of the Son of God. By His faithfulness to me, working
in me, keeping me, looking out of me to Him alone. And it's
that same faithfulness by which He laid down His life for me.
Paul said, I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. That was Paul's confidence. So, by his grace, you just keep
forgetting everything that's behind. I wonder how many times
Paul thought about that awful sight when he sat there and held
the coats of those men that stoned Stephen to death. That was his confidence at one
time. He said, persecuting the church. But now he said, I forget
it all. And I look to Christ and I press
toward him. I pray that's what he'd make
us do. Father, we thank you for this Word. We pray you bless
it. Keep us. Lord, make us truly, truly, truly
have no other confidence but the Lord Jesus alone. Make us
continually count everything about ourselves and everything
that we ever had confidence in to be worthless, worthless dumb. Make us forget it, leave it behind,
and press on toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgive us, Lord,
remembering what we ought to forget and not being able to,
and forgetting what we ought to remember. And keep us, Lord,
by your faithfulness. Keep us looking to Him. In Christ's
name we ask it. Amen.