Four Sundays ago, I brought a
message from the first three verses of Philippians chapter
three, if you would turn there again with me. I entitled that
message, Three Marks of a True Believer, Philippians chapter
three. Those three marks that we discussed
at that time are found in verse three. First true believers worship
God in the spirit. We talked about how the child
of God has no confidence at all that there's any salvation and
any outward external service that they do for God. We worship
God from our hearts. True worship is in spirit and
in truth, the Lord Jesus said. Secondly, from verse three here,
we see that the true believer rejoices in Christ Jesus. He is our joy. It's Christ alone
that the child of God rejoices in for it's in Christ alone that
there is salvation. He's the only one that can save.
We rejoice in him. And thirdly, the true mark of
a believer is that they have no confidence, none whatsoever
in their flesh and what they do. The safe center does not
rest, does not trust or find any hope, as I said, in any external
work or performance. There's nothing we do, nothing
we can do, and there's no one that we can trust to commend
us to God besides the Lord Jesus Christ. We have no confidence
in the flesh, no confidence in anything that we do in the flesh.
All our confidence is found in what Christ has done for us. The apostle Paul goes on to say
in verse four here, that if anyone had any reason to have any confidence
in the flesh, that it was him. If there were any... eternal
value or merit in family ties or religious ceremonies, self-righteous
works, obedience and keeping the law in order to be saved.
Paul said if anyone had any reason to put any confidence in the
flesh, to take any glory in the things that they did, that it
would be him. Paul's religious credentials
were no doubt quite impressive. Impressive to men, but not to
God. If the righteousness that a sinner
needs in order to be reconciled to God came by the law, Paul
may have been at the top of that list. But the Lord had revealed
to him and the Lord reveals to all his people that their personal
works and their personal merit and their personal standing could
never ever satisfy God. If you're going to present your
works to God in order to be accepted by God, then those works are
gonna have to be perfect, for they must be perfect to be accepted. We've never done anything perfect.
Everything that we do is tainted by our sin. And that's exactly
why the law could not save, Paul said, in that it was weak through
the flesh. And Paul went on to say, I won't
frustrate the grace of God. And friends, I don't want to
frustrate God's grace either. Paul knew what many today don't
know. He knew that if he could obtain
the righteousness that God required by the law, then Christ had come
and Christ had died in vain. If you and I could do something
for God that God would and God could accept, then Christ came
and he died for nothing. He's dead in vain, Galatians
2.21. Now Paul goes on here in verse five and six to list his
credentials, personal achievements, only to turn right around in
the next two verses, seven and eight, to renounce them. He says
he was circumcised the eighth day. He was a natural Israelite. He was of the tribe of Benjamin.
He had a Hebrew mother and he had a Hebrew father. He was a
Pharisee. He was among the strictest sect
of the Jews. Why, he was so zealous for the
things of God according to the law that he persecuted the church. With respect to the observing
of the law, he said, I was blameless. That would be difficult to do.
As far as the law was concerned, Paul dotted every I and he crossed
every T and he was blameless. But notice in verse seven, he
says, but what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. At one time, Paul felt that all
these things, all these credentials that he had, was necessary for
acceptance with God. Paul thought that these things
were necessary to obtain the righteousness of God and believe
that they somehow entitled him to favor with God. But then the
Lord showed him differently. And when God revealed Christ
to Paul, he saw all these pedigrees and these credentials and achievements
to be absolutely worthless in and of themselves. When God shows
a sinner as he did Paul, that all true spiritual wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption was in Christ,
that which was once everything to Paul becomes nothing and Christ
becomes everything. And that's the way it is with
every child of God. When Chris and I were talking last week,
Chris was raised under this gospel that we preach. He heard it most
of his life. And he said, what used to be
only words have now become life. Boy, that's the profession of
a child of God. What once was just words, oh,
they now are life. That's what Paul's talking about
in verse eight. He says, yea, doubtless, and
I count all things but loss 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 done." Paul renounced
all his Jewish ceremonies. You know, I was thinking yesterday
as I was preparing this, when the Lord saved me, I renounced
all my Baptist ceremonies. You say, well, how so, brother?
Well, I renounced my free will and I renounced the decision
that I might even renounce my baptism because I was baptized
under a false gospel. Everything that I was putting
trust in just had to go. That's what Paul did. He said,
I counted all but done. Paul abandoned all his worldly
honor and his religious reputation. In the church of the Jews, Paul
was somebody. He gave up substance. He gave
up comforts. He gave up advantages. Let me
say this. Believers always gain more than
they give up, more than they lose. Being in Christ, wow, we
gain everything. Paul lost his self-righteousness,
but he gained Christ's perfect righteousness. Paul lost all
his ceremonial bondage and he gained full liberty and freedom
in Christ. Oh, there's such liberty in Christ,
such freedom. Paul lost false peace and he
gained the peace of God that passes all understanding. Paul lost his pretended glory
and he gained the eternal glory of God in Christ Jesus. He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. You see, God gets all the
glory and the salvation of sinners. Paul counted everything as loss,
a total loss, compared to the priceless privilege of knowing
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so do some of you. Paul took
everything that he was, and everything that he did, and everything that
he had, and everything that he had accomplished in the name
of religion, and he counted it but done. And that word means
what you think it is. It means manure. It means garbage. It means rubbish. You know, I
hear people say things like, well, I've been saved all my
life. Garbage. My pastor used to say
that's just a little too long. And it is, isn't it? I've heard
men and women say, well, if I had been there when they crucified
the Lord Jesus, I would have stopped it from happening. Rubbish. Rubbish. Nothing but garbage. Well, I've been a deacon. I've
been an elder. I've been superintendent of Sunday school. I've been a
preacher for 40 years. It's nothing but dumb. As one
old boy says, dad, in 50 cents, I'll buy you a small cup of coffee,
senior coffee at that at McDonald's, and that's only if you're over
60. In other words, it means nothing.
It doesn't mean a thing. It's dung, it's manure, it's
garbage, it's rubbish. And we had better count it as
that. Paul did. Paul took all his religious heritage
and all his religious deeds and all his religious works and all
his religious zeal. Oh, he was a zealous man. Why,
he murdered people that worshiped Christ. He held the coats of
those who stoned Stephen. talking about zealous, but now
he piled all these credentials and all these things up on the
curb. And he said, haul it away. It's nothing but garbage. Why
did Paul do that? Well, he tells us right here
in verses eight and nine. He said that I may win Christ
and be found in him. Someone asked brother Scott Richardson
one day, they said, is having Christ enough? And he said, it
is if he's all you have. Now what he meant by that was
that Christ plus anything of ours causes us to come up short.
But Christ alone is all we need. He provides everything for us
that God requires of us. And this was Paul's one determined
purpose. This is what I want you to see.
This was his single desire. This was his heart's only sincere
hope that he may win Christ and be found in him. Paul counted
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
his Lord. It says here in verse eight.
What is the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus? Have you ever really thought
about it? You know, all knowledge of Christ is not excellent. Might
say, well, brother David, what are you talking about? Well,
the demons have a knowledge of Christ. And it's not an excellent
knowledge. James said, thou believest that
there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe
in truth. That's not an excellent knowledge.
Those legion of demons that possessed that demoniac at Gadara. They
said, we know who you are. When the Lord Jesus came, they
said, we know who you are. You're the Holy one of Israel.
What have we to do with the Jesus, thou son of God? Have you come
to torment us before the time? You see, they knew who he was,
but that's not the excellent knowledge that Paul's talking
about. Judas had a knowledge of Christ. He walked with the
Lord for three and a half years. He ate with him. For all practical
purposes, he lived with him. He talked with him daily. And
when the soldiers in the garden of Gethsemane came to take him,
they said, which one is Jesus? And Judas portrayed him with
a kiss. Judas knew which one was Christ.
He had a knowledge of him, but it wasn't an excellent knowledge.
Nicodemus had a knowledge of Christ, but he didn't know him.
He had no excellent knowledge of the Lord Jesus. He said, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God, but he didn't
know Christ was God. Big difference. And that is excellent
knowledge. People came to John the Baptist
and they said, are you the Christ? You see, they knew that there
was a Christ. They knew that there was a Messiah
coming. Many asked the Lord himself. They said, are you the Christ?
They knew that there was a Christ that had been promised, but they
didn't know the Christ. He was standing right in front
of them. The excellency of the knowledge of Christ is to know
him as the Christ. Now, let me say that again, that's
very important. The excellency of the knowledge
of Christ is to know Him as the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. What's Paul talking about when
he speaks of this excellency of knowledge? He said, it is
the excellency of the knowledge found in Christ Jesus, my Lord. Verse eight. And we see here
that this excellent knowledge is found in Christ Jesus. You'll
find it no place else. You don't have to go any further
than just His name to find this excellency of knowledge. Christ
Jesus. It says multitudes. Excellent
knowledge is found in His name. Christ means anointed. Jesus Christ is the anointed
of God. The word Christ means ordained. Christ is the one God ordained
to become and save His people from their sin, Matthew 121.
Christ means Messiah. Jesus Christ is God in human
flesh. Only God can save you from your
sin. There was no man on earth that
could. So God from heaven became a man and he came into the world
to save sinners. The excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus is to know Jesus as the Christ. Do you know Jesus
as the Christ? He's the only one that could
do for you what you could not do for yourself. What does the
name Jesus mean? Christ Jesus, that's his name.
Well, Jesus in the Old Testament is the word Joshua, and Joshua
means God, my Savior. Joshua means Jehovah, my Savior. Thou shall call his name what?
Jesus, God, my Savior, Jehovah, my sacrifice, because he shall
save his people from their sin. His name is Christ Jesus. You
don't have to go any further than that to see the excellency
of the knowledge of Him. Paul said, I count all things
lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my
Lord. Jesus Christ was Paul's Lord. Is He your Lord? He's the Sovereign
Lord. Why, His name is above every
name. He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The Father
hath highly exalted Him. God has given Him a name that
is above every name. And one day very soon, at the
name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow and every tongue will
confess that Jesus Christ is what? He's Lord. Do you know
Him as Lord? Again, verse eight, Paul says,
yea, doubtless. And I count all things but loss
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 that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Oh, I love
that statement. 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." Now that word win there in verse
eight means to gain, that I may gain Christ, have Him as my substitute. Have Him as my sacrifice. Have Him as my Savior. Have Him
as my surety before God. Oh, that I might gain Christ.
If you're found to be in Christ, you won't be trusting in your
own righteousness that's of the law. You will be trusting for
your righteousness by the faith of Christ. Do you see that? We
see that often in scripture. It's not our faith in Christ
that saves us. It's the faith of Christ that
does. Our faith in and of itself really doesn't amount to much
because it's high one day and it's non-existent the next. We're
on the mountaintop one day, oh, we're down in the valley the
next. But our faith is in Christ's faith. That's a good way of saying
it, isn't it? We believe and trust, we have
faith in what Christ has done for us by His faith. We've got
to be found in Him. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Not found in church, not found
in doing, not found in working, but found in Christ Jesus. Found
resting in His perfect fulfillment and satisfaction of God's law
and justice. Boy, that's where I want to be
found. Resting in Him. He died the just for the unjust
in order to make us who are the unjust just and to bring us to
God. That's where I want to be found.
That's a place I can rest. Come to Christ and you'll find
rest for your souls. That's what he said. I want rest
for the soul. I want to be found in the Good
Shepherd's fold. I want to be found in Him. I
want to be found in the blood of the everlasting covenant.
I want to be found in my perfect representative. I want to be
found in the excellency of knowing Him. Look at verse 10. He said
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death. I want to be found in His death.
I want to be found in His burial. I want to be found in His resurrection. I want to be found in His ascension.
I want to be found in Him at the right hand of God, the Father. I want to be found in Him at
the judgment. I want to really know Him. I
love how the Amplified Bible here translates Paul's words.
Paul said, I want to become more deeply and intimately acquainted
with Him. I want to know the power that
flows from His resurrection. I want to share in the fellowship
of His sufferings. In other words, I want to be
healed by His stripes. That's what it is to fellowship
in His sufferings. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
Heavenly Father, let me suffer in Christ's sufferings, not my
own. That word fellowship there means partnership. I want to
be a partner in his sufferings for me. I don't want what I deserve. I tell you all the time, I don't
want justice when it comes to me. I want mercy. I don't want
what I deserve. I want what I don't deserve.
I want the mercy that can only be found through Christ's sufferings. I want to be made conformable
to His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension,
His intercession and glory. We have to be made conformable
according to what Paul says. We have to be made conformable
unto His death. We have to die daily to sin.
We have to die daily to self. To die to Christ is to trust
in Him alone for our righteousness, and not to trust in anything
that we do, that we have, or that we are. Paul says it's all
dung, it's all manure, it's all rubbish, it's garbage. Look at
what he says in verse 11. If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead. What is meant by the power
of His resurrection? the power of his resurrected
life or the power that flows from his resurrected life. What
does resurrection say? What does that mean? Well, resurrection
says this. It says that the full penalty
for sin is paid. It's paid in full or God would
have never raised him from the dead. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Christ was raised
without sin. When he died on the cross, he
died under the condemnation of my sin and guilt and your sin
and guilt, child of God. When the Lord came out of that
tomb, he came out without our sins. Where were they? God put them away. no longer
to be found as far as the East is from the West. His resurrection
says more than that. It says that the righteousness
of God is mine. The righteousness of God, dear
believer, is yours. He was made sin for us that we
might be made the righteousness of God and healed. His resurrection
says even more than that. It says that we have full acceptance
with God. It says that we're accepted in
the beloved and the Lord Jesus is the beloved. When God raised
Christ from the dead, He raised His people up together with Christ
and He seated them with Him in heavenly places because we've
experienced the power of His resurrection. His resurrection
says that he dies no more and I die no more in him. The Lord
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that liveth
and believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Do you believe that? Oh, that
I may obtain the resurrection of the dead. Now, let me just
take a moment here to tell you there's a twofold resurrection.
There's a spiritual resurrection of the dead, and there's a physical
resurrection of the dead. The spiritual resurrection is
seen in Ephesians 2.1. It says, you have he quickened,
that word means made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin. That's talking about being spiritually
dead. You remember what God told Adam? He said, the day you eat thereof
of this tree, you shall surely die. Adam ate of it and he died,
but he died spiritually because he lived on for 930 years. This is talking about being spiritually
dead and being spiritually made alive. All men spiritually died
in Adam. The Bible says by one man, sin
entered into this world and death by sin. The wages of sin is death. When Adam sinned as our representative,
as our federal head, we died in Adam. Death passed upon all
men for all have sinned. We're born into this world and
we're born in sin. We're conceived in iniquity.
We're shaping in iniquity, the scripture says. We're estranged
from the womb. We've brought forth from the
womb speaking lies. In this world, we're without
God, we're without hope, we're without Christ, we're without
help. So the same power and the same
spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the same spirit and
power that must give you an high life. That's why Chris said they
used to be just words. Now they're life. That's a work
of God in the heart. That same power will raise us
from a spiritual grave. It's the spirit that maketh the
life. The flesh profiteth nothing. That's a spiritual resurrection.
Oh, that I might know the power of that spiritual resurrection.
But there's also a physical resurrection. Turn back to John chapter five
with me. I think you can let your place
go here. If not, we'll come back to it.
Here in one chapter, within just a few verses, we find both the
spiritual and the physical resurrection spoken of by our Lord. John chapter
five and verse 25 of John five, We read where our Lord here said,
He said, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. Now in another place, our Lord
said, he that heareth my word and believeth on me hath everlasting
life. We hear Christ speak through
this Word. That's the way God speaks to
us today. In these last days, He's spoken unto us by His Son
through this Word. Jesus Christ is the Word of God. We hear Christ through His Word.
We're quickened by His Word. We're regenerated by His Word.
We're made alive. We're born of the Word of God. The scripture says, of His own
will, He beget us. How? With the Word of truth.
and that is spiritual resurrection. Now look down at verse 28. Here
the Lord said, marvel not at this, for the hour is coming
in which all that are in the graves, buried in the graves,
shall hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done
good, and that simply means done good by trusting in the work
of Christ's righteousness, those that have done good unto the
resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, and that's
accomplished by trusting in your own righteousness. He said, unto
the resurrection of damnation. Now, what Paul is saying in our
text is that his one desire was to be among those in both resurrections,
to be raised both spiritually and physically in Christ's likeness. to be made conformable unto his
death. That's what David said. David
said, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I
shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Oh my, we're
gonna be given resurrected bodies that possess no sin. Boy, isn't
that something to look forward to? Sin is in everything that
I do. I think I see it more clearly.
I think you do as you get older. I've heard Brother Mahan and
several others say that. The older you get, the more conscious
you are of your sin. But one day when this body is
laid in the grave, it's going to be raised again incorruptible. This corruption, this corrupt
body is gonna be raised incorruptible. And this mortal body is gonna
be raised into immortality. And when I see Christ, I'll be
just like Him. Believers are right now, right
now satisfied with their Savior and their substitute. How could
we not be? He's perfect. And He's imputed
to us His perfect righteousness. I'm not satisfied with myself.
I'm not, but I'm sure satisfied with him. One day soon, I'll
be satisfied with myself though. And that's when I awaken his
likeness. I'll be fully satisfied with
myself when I'm conformed perfectly to his image. That's what Paul
is saying in verse 12. Do go back to Philippians three
with me. I want you to see these verses and I'll begin to wrap
this up. In verse 12, Paul says, not as
though I have already attained, either we're already perfect,
but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also
I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. You know, what Paul says of himself
here also goes for us. We haven't attained unto perfect
holiness. We don't yet have perfect knowledge. We don't yet possess perfect
happiness. Why? Because of sin. Now our
sanctification is perfect in Christ, but it's not perfected
yet in me. Not yet. We know in part because
we see through a glass darkly. Sin causes us not to see clearly. As long as sin dwells in us,
our faith is imperfect. But we press on. We press on. We follow after. We forget those
things which are behind us and we press on to those things which
are before. I'm waiting for that day that
I have a resurrected body without sin. I desire to lay hold on
that for which Christ has laid hold of for me. We want what
the Lord purposed and purchased for us on Calvary. full redemption,
full and free. We desire to be like Him, conform
perfectly to His image. And as I said, this corrupt body
is gonna put on incorruption. This body is dying and it's decaying. My, I only have to look in the
mirror every day to see that. But one day soon, this corruptible
body is gonna put on incorruption and I'll be perfect just like
Christ. This mortal, frail flesh is going to put on immortality.
That's talking about a new body without sin. And I can't wait. Oh, how I look forward to that
day when I see Christ, I'll be just like Him. Don't you look
forward to that? Of course you do. May God be
pleased to make it so for Christ's sake and for His own glory. Amen
and amen.