Let us turn then to the Word
of God and the chapter that we read, Philippians chapter 3,
and reading again verses 10 and 11. Philippians 3, 10 and 11,
that I may know him, the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his
death, that by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. And in these words, of course,
the Apostle Paul is expressing something of his desire. And such desire is a real mark
of the grace of God in the hearts of a man or a woman a desire
to know God. The Lord Jesus says this is life
eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. And now we witness that desire
time and again in the language of the Psalms. and his yearnings after God. He wants to know that God is
with him, that God is his God. Psalm 42, as the hearts panteth
after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after the old God. My
soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come
and appear before God, the soul? There are many verses we might
refer to here in the Book of Psalms, Psalm 63 for example. Oh God, thou art my God, early
will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee, my
flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water
is. See thy power and thy glory so
as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Oh, we those who know what it
is to have such ardent desires, such strong longings after God. Now we see the same, of course,
in the experience of Job in all the mystery of God's dealings
with that man. He cries out, Oh that I knew
where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat. It is, I say, one of the marks
of the people of God that they have these longings and these
ardent desires to know God, and the more they know of God, the
more they want to know of him and to understand something of
his ways and his dealings with him. See how Paul here in verse
11 says, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. I find that if, the significant
words, it's the if not so much of doubts, but of the difficulty
that this man feels. We see something very similar
in what Peter says there in 1 Peter 4, 18, if the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? If the
righteous scarcely be saved, he's not speaking of doubt there. There's no doubt that the righteous,
those who are the justified, in the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall
be glorified. When he uses that expression,
if the righteous scarcely be saying, it's not so much doubt,
but it's difficult. And it's the same here with regards
to the experience of the apostle. This chapter, of course, is one
of those remarkable portions in Paul's epistles where he speaks
of himself, as we've said before, These epistles are full of doctrine,
of experience, and of practice. The play, as our dear late friend
Sidney Norton used to say, and with Paul, often it's the former
part of the epistles that deals with the great truths of the
gospel. Remarkable doctrinal portions are to be found. We
have it here, of course, particularly in the in the second chapter
where he speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ and his person and his
work and then having dealt in the former part of the epistles
with the doctrine when we come to the end of the epistles we
find Paul spelling out the practical implications how the practice
will follow where there is a real embracing of the truth of the
gospel, a real delighting in the doctrines will be evidenced
then by fruits, by practical godliness. But also, woven into
Paul's epistles, there are these portions where he does speak
of himself and his own experiences. He has to defend himself when
he's writing to the church at Corinth, he has to speak of his
own ministry and so forth. And he does it on other occasions.
We have that great seventh chapter in the Epistle to the Romans,
of course, which is very experimental. He speaks of his own experiences
there, remembering that he is a pattern to all them that should
hereafter believe there are those principles that we can draw from
the writings of Paul concerning what would be the experiences
of those who are truly the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
where text tonight is found is one of these portions that is
really experimental. And I want to center your attention
in particular on the words that we have here at the end of verse
10. The end of verse 10 here in Philippians
chapter 3, he speaks of the fellowship, the fellowship of his, that is
Christ's offerings, being made conformable unto his death. And addressing from these words
the believer's sufferings and the believer's sanctification. The fellowship of his sufferings
being made conformable unto his death. And these two things,
first of all then to say something with regards to the believers'
sanctification. Now, previous to this, of course,
you will observe that he has been speaking of the great doctrine
of justification. And he expresses his desire here
with regards to that doctrine. He says he wants to be found
in him that is in Christ, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ the righteousness of God by faith. Now, justification
is very much a judicial term. It has to do with judges. It
has to do with law courts. And we're reminded of that in
the Old Testament with regards to the duties of the judges in
Israel. how Moses, in his writings, speaks
of what their duties are. The opening words of Deuteronomy
chapter 25. He says, if there be a controversy
between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may
judge them, then shall they justify the righteous and condemn the
wicked. How the judges must judge righteous
judgment. They must clear those who are
innocent and they must condemn those who are guilty. Then shall they justify the righteous. The innocent person is declared
to be innocent, to be righteous and the wicked is to be condemned
because of his wicked deeds. And we must always, when we consider
the great doctrine of justification, think in those legal terms. And the righteousness that Paul
is speaking of there in verse 9, of course, is the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has to come to realize that
really he has no righteousness of his own. He thought that he
had a righteousness when he was a Pharisee. As he says in verse
6 then, he was touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless.
He thought he was a blameless man, a righteous man, acceptable
to God. But he had to learn in the school
of Christ that he was a sinner. That all his righteousnesses
were as filthy rags. And the only righteousness that
can save a man is that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, which
is reckoned to the account of the sinner. And I don't want
to dwell on justification, we have looked at it on previous
occasions, but he goes on then really to speak of sanctification. And that's what he is dwelling
on here in the 10th verse, that I may know him, power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable, mark that word, being made conformable onto his
death, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. So to say something
first of all with regards to sanctification. Now, it's a word
that's often misunderstood and we have to remember the basic
meaning of the word, of the verb, to sanctify. It literally means
to set something apart. To set something apart, as it
were, to a particular use. And in scripture, to sanctify
is to set something apart to holy use. All the vessels in
the tabernacle, in the days of Moses, they were all sanctified,
or consecrated, They were set apart solely for the service
of God. And those various concoctions
that they made for anointing oil and so forth, they were not
to be put to any common use. They could only be used in the
services of the sanctuary, the services of the tabernacle, even
the priests. themselves had to be set apart
had to be sanctified and uh... we see how the word is used in
that sense in the opening verse of that general epistle of jude
speaking of believers as those who are sanctified by god the
father preserved in jesus christ and called there we see the three
persons in the godhead the father the son and the holy spirit and
the part that each has in the great work of salvation. Our believers have been eternally
sanctified by God the Father, set apart by God the Father,
in that they are chosen unto salvation. And then they're preserved
in Jesus Christ. Preserved in Jesus when my feet
made haste to houses, good John Kent. even before they're called. They're called ultimately by
the Holy Spirit, that effectual call, that efficacious grace
of God that comes into their souls, but even before then,
they're preserved in the Lord Jesus Christ, preserved to come
to the experience of that salvation that He has wrought, and they
experience it by the calling of the Holy Spirit. And so we
remember the basic meaning of the word to sanctify is simply
to set apart. But to set apart to a purpose.
And what is the purpose? Well, they are to be conformed
to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the other part of sanctification,
conforming to Christ. What are those who are called?
They are to be followers of the Lord Jesus. Paul says, to the
Corinthians be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ
and again look at how he addresses these Philippians in verse 17
brethren he says be followers together of me and mark them
which walk as ye have us for an ensemble and then we have
that passage verses 18 and 19 in parentheses He really carries
on what he is saying from verse 17 to verse 20 for our conversation. Our citizenship is in heaven
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are to be those then who
are followers of Paul, yes, but principally they are to be those
who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is as they
are followers of Christ, obedient to the precepts of his gospel,
that there will be evidence of the truth that they are those
who are justified in Christ. I like the remark of the old
Puritan, Richard Sibbes, he says, whoever brags of justification,
he must show it in his sanctification. These two things come together,
sanctification and justification. And as I said, observe this word
at the end of verse 10, conformable. He speaks of the fellowship of
his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. And the word here means to make
of the same form. To make of the same form. There's
an identifying then with the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ,
he sat while he was calm and as identified with his people.
He is the eternal son of God and yet he comes in the form
of a man. He took not upon him the nature
of angels, but he took upon him the seed of Abraham. For as much as the children were
partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise took hearts of the
same. Again we have it here in the
second chapter of course. And we made himself of no reputation,
took upon him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men,
being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ in us has
come to identify himself with his with his people. We read of God sending his own
son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. God has made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him, only as he were conformed to the image of his people in
order to do all that is necessary for their salvation. Christ died for the sins of his
people. He took all that sin to himself
and made a great substitutionary sacrifice when he died there
upon the cross. And the believers, union with
Christ, is expressed as they also die. They died for their
sins. So they don't die for sin, but
they die to sin. And so they are conformed to
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are those who are to die
to sin. And this is a vital part of their
sanctification. And now the apostle brings this
out When he writes in his epistle to the Romans, he speaks time
and again of them dying. He speaks of mortification, putting
to death. Look at the language that we
have there in Romans chapter six. Verse six, he says, knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For
he that is dead is freed from sin. Verse 11, likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign
in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. And then, going in Romans chapter
8 verse 12 he says therefore brethren we are debtors not to
the flesh to live after the flesh for if you live after the flesh
you shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortify to put
to death the deeds of the body ye shall live here is the believers
sanctification there he is being more and more conformed unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. As we have it in the words of
our text at the end of verse 10, being made conformable unto
his death. All this mortification. And what
is this mortification? You know, the old nature does
not, by degrees, become better The All-Nature is not made more
and more holy. There's no such thing as that
sort of progressive sanctification. No, that All-Nature has to die,
has to be put to death. It never changes. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, says Christ. That which is born
of the Spirit is Spirit. And that's why the believer has
to be born again. must receive a new nature. He
becomes a partaker of the divine nature. And when that happens,
of course, he knows something of that conflict in himself,
in his own soul. how the flesh lost us against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary
one to the other, Paul says, and ye cannot do the thing that
ye would. Or the believer's soul, in that
sense, is something like a battlefield, there's a conflict going on with
him. Think of the question that we
have back in the Song of Solomon, what will you see in the Shulamites?
as it were the company of two armies. This is such a conflict,
such a warfare. This is part and parcel of what
we call the good fight of faith. This mortifying the deeds of
the body. Now, we think of the experience
of the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes to die. We sing sometimes
those words of Joseph Swain, Concerning the crucifixion of
Christ, the pangs of his body were great, the greater the pangs
of his mind. Though he suffered in the body,
crucifixion was the most cruel form of execution. What agonies
he must have known as he hung there upon the cross, his back
had been lacerated, a crown of thorns had been pressed around
his temple. And now, nailed to the cross. There he lay, as he were upon
the cross, hanging, dying. Those pains were terrible, but
the hymn writer is right when he says the pangs of his soul
were greater. Previous to that, in the garden,
all what dreadful conflicts raged within, when sweat and blood
forced through the the skin. The Lord Jesus Christ knew then
great anguish in his own soul and the believer also experiences
soul anguish in sanctification and in the mortification of sins. In that sense you see he is being
made conformable unto the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I referred
to that great 7th chapter of the epistle to the Romans where
as we said the apostle is speaking of his experiences what does
he say there? verse 14 we know that the Lord
is spiritual but I am carnal soul under sin for that which
I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate
that do I I delight in the Lord of God, he says, after the inward
man. But I see another Lord in my
members, warring against the Lord of my mind, bringing me
into captivity to the Lord of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself
serve the Lord of God, but with the flesh the Lord of sin. This is Paul's experience as
he is sanctified, as he has been conformed. Again, we're familiar
with those words that he writes to the Galatians, 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, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself or being made conformable unto his death. All this sanctification then
is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we think of
the context here in this particular chapter, the beginning of the
chapter, Paul is speaking against the legalists. And the language
is very strong. There were those, you see, they professed to be converts
to Christ. They were Jews who professed
that this Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, but they wanted
to bring these Gentile believers unto the Lord of Gods. They wanted
these Gentile believers to receive the right of circumcision and
become getters to the Lord of Gods. But what does Paul call
them? He calls them not the circumcision,
he calls them the concision, in verse 2. And the word, you
see, speaks of illegal cuttings in the flesh that was forbidden
in the law of Moses. Beware of dogs, beware of evil
workers, beware of the concision, you see. For we are the circumcision,
which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. The circumcision, that is those
who are truly converted to Christ's spiritual circumcision. They
worship God in the spirit, they rejoice in Christ, they have
no confidence in the flesh, they look to nothing of themselves. It's all in the Lord Jesus Christ
and the spirit of Christ. If he through the spirit to mortify,
put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Christ must
have all that glory in the sanctification of his people as he has all the
glory in their justification. All their righteousness is in
Christ. That's justification. And all their holiness is in
Christ. That's their sanctification. the language that we have at
the end of 1 Corinthians 1, that no flesh should glory in his
presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
that as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the
Lord. And so this sanctification, think
of the The basic meaning of the word it is to set aside to holy
uses, but then having been set aside it must be conformed more
and more to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mortifying
of the deeds of the body. But besides that inward conflict,
that spiritual warfare within, there are also outward trials. and sufferings. And often these
two are related, the inward sanctification and the outward sufferings. And
we see it in the language of John Kent, in the hymn 758. What does he say? Today He deigned to bless us
with a sense of pardoned sin. Perhaps tomorrow He'll distress
us, make us feel the plague within, all to make us sick of self and
fond of Him. And so what do we have here?
It's the fellowship of His offerings. It's the fellowship of Christ's
offerings being made conformable unto his death. As the head has suffered, so
too must the body suffer. And what are believers? They are the body of Christ.
There's a relationship between the various members of the body.
And Paul brings that blessed truth out when he writes in the
twelfth chapter of the first Corinthians He says, where the
one member suffer, all members suffer with it. Or one member
be honored, all members rejoice with it. For now are you the
body of Christ and members in particular. And now the Lord
Jesus Christ as the head of that body feels, feels for his body. in all that that body is suffering. And we see it even in the early
church. There is Saul, the Tarsus, that great arch-persecutor of
the church, thinking that he is doing God service. Why, he even speaks of it earlier
in this chapter. His zeal concerning zeal, he
says, persecuting the church. He thought he was doing God service. He's breathing out threatenings
and slaughter to the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
goes to Damascus with letters from the Jewish Sanhedrin back
in Jerusalem. He's going to lay hands upon
these Christians and the Lord meets him there. And what does
the Lord say to him? Acts 9, 5, I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest. For when he says to the Lord,
Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. That was Christ being persecuted. He was being persecuted in his
body, in his people. In all their affliction, he was
afflicted. We read in Isaiah 63, nine. And
as Christ identifies with his people in their sufferings, so
they, through their sufferings, are identifying with the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the wonder of it, is it
not? For that is the great privilege of the believer, to be so identified
with the Lord. Joint heirs with Christ, if so
be that we suffer with him. and mark the evidence that we
are those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. If so, be it that
we suffer with him. And Paul reminds these Philippians
at the end of chapter one, he says, unto you it is given in
the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to
suffer for his sake, having the same conflict. which he saw in
thee, are now here to thee in men. From whence have they received
their saving faith? It has been given to them. Faith
is the gift of God. Unto you it is given, how it
is given, in the behalf of Christ. All the gifts of salvation come
from the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that one who has been exalted
at God's right hand. He has received gifts for men,
yea, for the rebellious also, we're told. He bestows this precious
gift of saving faith. It is given in the behalf of
Christ to believe on him. Ah, but not only to believe on
him, but he says, but also to suffer for his sake. Where there is saving faith,
there will also be the trying of that faith. And Paul knew it, having the
same conflict, he says, which he saw in me and now here to
be in me. Paul goes on, does he not, to
speak of his bonds in Christ. This is one of the prison epistles,
Philippians. One of those letters that he
wrote when he was there in Rome, under some sort of house arrest.
He did not have liberty anymore. He's writing, as it were, from
prison. It's the sufferings that he is
having to endure for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
remember, when he writes to the Corinthians, how he reminds them
of all that his ministry had cost. He has to defend himself. Because false apostles, false
teachers had crept in to that church and turned those believers
against the apostle. And he speaks of his sufferings
there in 2 Corinthians 11. Verse 23 he says, Are they masters
of Christ? That's those who profess to be
apostles like himself. I speak as a fool. I am more. In labors more abundant. in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of
the Jews high times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods.
Once was I stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck.
The night and the day I have been in the deep. In journeyings
often in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils
by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in
the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness. It is all the fellowship, the
fellowship of Christ's sufferings. And what was true in the experience
of the apostle will also be true in the lives of those who with
him are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. That fiery trial. God says, Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as
though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch
as ye are partakers of Christ's suffering, that when his glory
shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. The fellowship of the sufferings
of Christ. What fellowship then between
a broken-hearted Saviour such as Jesus Christ was and that
wholehearted sinner? Why, the sacrifice of God is
a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise. The believer then is to Rejoice
in all that he endures for the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, look at what he says writing
there to the Colossians. In chapter one, verse 24, he
says, you know, rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill
up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh
for his body's sake, which is the church. is not, for the moment,
suggesting that there is anything lacking in the sufferings of
Christ. Christ's atoning death has accomplished all of salvation.
It has accomplished even the sanctification of believers.
For by one half in Him, perfected forever them that are sanctified,
we are told. But here is poor, you see, the
desires to be servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. to be serving
the body of Christ, the church, his fellow believers. Well, this
is the calling, then, of those who do know, saving them, our
Lord Jesus Christ, that I may know him, he says. We need more
than to know about the Lord Jesus Christ. We need that knowledge
that, as we said at the outset, is spoken of by the Lord himself
in that high priestly prayer of John 17, life eternal, to
know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the lowest sin. Lord, to have that real knowledge,
that experimental knowledge of the Lord is a cost to you. If any man will come after me,
he says, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow
me. There's a daily cross to those
who are the Lord's. There's a fellowship of his sufferings.
There's a being made conformable unto his death. Or that in all
the Lord's dealings with us, we might prove that what he is
about is only for our souls' eternal good, our eternal sanctification. May the Lord be pleased to bless
these truths to us tonight and help us to make that distinction. It is an important distinction
that must be made between the justification spoken of in verse
9 and that sanctification that we have here at the end of verse
10. Now justification, remember to justify is a judicial term. It's the reckoning of the righteousness
of Christ to all his people, that righteousness imputed to
us. When it comes to sanctification,
it's said that the Lord imparts. He will make us conform unto
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might find that in him
is all our holiness. as is all our righteousness. Let the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us. Amen.