If you'd like to follow along,
I want to be in Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three,
I want to begin reading in verse eight. 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, 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, 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. And I'm gonna stop right there,
just for the moment. This world, the world, even the religious world, does
not understand Here's the key word, true Christianity. True Christianity. I put that
modifier in there on purpose because there is a true Christianity
as opposed to a false Christianity. I have a tendency to notice that
in commercials when they say something's really true and I
say that as opposed to being just plain true. There are false Christianity's
plural Just as there are false Christians we are warned against
these by Jesus Christ himself and by his apostles Jesus Christ
even told of one day some were going to come to him and say
Lord we cast out devils in your name and preached in your name
prophesied in your name and done many wonderful works in your
name and And he's gonna look right at him and say, depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. I never knew
you. They will say unto me, Lord,
Lord, Lord. They'll call him Lord. But what's
the iniquity they're guilty of here? Now, prophesying in his
name, if it's truth, is a good thing. Casting out devils in
his name and doing many wonderful works in his name. How can that
be bad? But be iniquity be iniquity You're
saying that's not me saying that's Jesus Christ saying How can that be bad these false
preachers who are gonna come to him Are false preachers They're
gonna come to him Those false preachers do not know Jesus Christ. How can that be? It says they
preached in his name. Actually, no they didn't. How
can I say that? Jesus Christ told them, I never
knew you. You understand there are people
out there that preach all around saying, You can be lost, and
then you can be saved. You can be saved, and then you
can be lost. And then you can be saved again, and then you
can be lost again. Christ said, I never knew you. You never knew
me. You never knew me. I never knew
you. Because if Christ never knows
you, you have never known Christ. And that's the truth. And I can
tell you one thing. I heard Henry say this on a message
the other day and I thought it was worth writing down because
I understand this. You may never hear Christ speak
to you in grace or God speak to you in grace, but I can guarantee
you one thing. If you haven't, you will hear
him say, depart from me. You'll hear that. And that is
one of the scariest thoughts that I have ever had. That worries
me. And the title of this message
is That I May Know Him. That I May Know Him. And I wanna
begin in verse eight, of course. Just for overview. Yea, doubtless
I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord. And we'll get into what that
means. for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but dung. Dung. You understand, Paul was
a Pharisee, a Hebrew of Hebrews. He had position, he had status,
he had power. He had authority, he had a letter
that said that he could put people in jail. He counted all that but dung.
Once he became to know Christ he came to know Christ And be
found in him Now being found in him is not
the same thing as being chosen in him Although you will never
be found in him unless you're chosen in him It is two different
things being found in him is dependent upon being chosen in
him and But there are those now who are
chosen in him who have not found themselves in him yet. They will
be, but they have not. Paul is writing to those whom
God, by his Holy Spirit, has called out into newness of life. Paul is writing of being a believer.
How can you tell? Look at the next statement in
this verse. not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law. You understand? Even if you don't use the word
law in that, the unbeliever always thinks he's got some kind of
righteousness before God. Not before men, but before God.
I know, I've been there. I remember being basically as
irreligious as you can be in a person. and basically being
as ignorant of this book as almost anyone can be. But I would think
to myself, I didn't say it out loud, that I was a pretty good
fellow. I was one of the good guys. I
didn't steal. I didn't rob. I didn't murder. I didn't do
this. There were some things I did
do that I wasn't real happy about. But I didn't ever brought that
part up. You understand? I had my own little bit of righteousness,
whether it was by the law or not. But I've had it. But the believer comes to know,
I have no righteousness before God. No true righteousness, no
real righteousness. Not having mine own righteousness. And this is the thing, only believers
will know they have no righteousness of their own. The unbeliever
never knows it. Excuse me. Because being found
in him, It means that I have no righteousness of my own. No
righteousness in me. I know that in my flesh dwells
no good thing. And in him dwells all the fullness
of God. The only righteousness that I
have but that which is through the faith of Christ. Of God are
you. in Christ Jesus. That's what it means to be found
in him. Of God are you in Christ Jesus. Not of yourself and God. Not
of God and yourself. Of God are you in Christ Jesus. By grace, through faith, and
that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. The righteousness
which is of God by faith. Because what's it say? of God,
are you in Christ Jesus? It says this, who, Christ Jesus,
is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He's everything. But I want to
be found in him and be found in him, right? What's the next
verse say? that I may know him. I want to
be found in him that I may know him. This is Paul's prayer, and
this is, I believe, the prayer of every believer. Do you want to know Jesus Christ? Do you want to know him? I mean,
it's a simple question, I understand. But you understand, a lot of
people go to church every Sunday, maybe every Sunday night, maybe
every Wednesday. But if you talk to them, they
don't seem to have any knowledge of or any interest in the Savior,
the Lord of glory. God manifests in the flesh. But believers do have an interest. Believers do know him. But you understand, being found
in him precedes knowing him. That's the way Paul wrote this.
Believers do know him, not through schooling, not through studying. Because studying and learning
come after you know him. You can't Educate anyone to know
Christ. I wish he could. I remember Earl
saying that. He wished he could. Wish he could
open up our heads and just pour it in there. But it doesn't work
that way. Because this, understand, this
is, Paul said that I may know him. He didn't say that I may
know doctrine. He didn't say that I may know
theology. No, I wanna know him. Now, doctrine
and theology will follow knowing him. He's going to teach you. He's going to send you a pastor,
a preacher, someone to preach the word of God, this word. And
you will grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. He's promised it. His apostles
preached it But there is only one way to
know him Jesus Christ has to give life and to reveal himself
to everyone that the father has given him Matthew 16 and verse
15 you have turned there. He was talking to his disciples.
He had asked his disciples Whom do men say that I am? And some
of them said he was John the Baptist. Some say you're Elias. But Christ looked at him and
said, he saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. To know Christ is revelation,
takes revelation. Revelation from God because to
know him, to know Jesus Christ is not the act of a natural man
as he is born. To know Jesus Christ is the work
of the Holy Spirit. It's a work of God. Well, 1 Corinthians,
I'm gonna turn back here just a couple of pages. Chapter two tells us this plainly. Let's see, oop, on the wrong
side. 1 Corinthians two, verse 10. Well, verse nine. But as it is
written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him?
Even so, The things of God knoweth no man, but, but the spirit of
God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God,
which things also we speak. Not in the words which man's
wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual, but the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. To know Jesus Christ is not a
natural act. It takes the power of God. It
takes the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal to you who Jesus Christ
is. Not who you think he is, not
who you want him to be, but who he actually is. And Paul also wrote this in Galatians
115, but, when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. What? To reveal his son in me. That I might preach him among
the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Jesus
Christ, knowing Christ, is of the spirit of God. It is of the
Spirit of God. How can I know? When can I know
Jesus Christ? I only got one answer for that.
When it pleases God. When it pleased God. That's what
Paul told us. That's what Jesus Christ himself
told us. God must reveal his son, and
here's the thing, what Paul said, he didn't say he revealed his
son to me. He said, when God revealed his son in me, in me,
in me. God must reveal his son in you,
or you will never know him. I can preach, Walter and Paul
can preach, and we can preach Christ to men and women. endeavor To preach Christ to
all who will hear we're on the internet We're on YouTube we
have our own website. We're on sermon audio We're here
But it takes the power of God to reveal his son in you in you because to know him is to know
that he is all my salvation. You understand, faith is God's
gift and I love it, I'm glad, I'm happy, but my faith doesn't
save me. You understand? I love doctrine.
I like to learn, I like to study. I like to see what God has done
for me, what he is doing, what he shall do, what he has done
in the past. But doctrine doesn't save. Doctrine
doesn't save. What is it? Faith is the gift
of God, and faith is not our foundation, our refuge, or our
help. Jesus Christ is our foundation
Jesus Christ is our refuge. He is our help We find we do not find rest hope
or comfort in our faith but in Christ So I've said it here many
times and I'll say it probably many more You know doesn't say
hold fast to your profession. It says hold fast your profession
in him your profession, that he is all. We don't find anything
in anyone other than Jesus Christ. I cherish our friendship. I cherish
our relationship. I really love this assembly.
I love gathering together with you people. But you understand
my primary relationship is to him. My primary, the only reason
I'm here is because of him. Faith is in Christ Jesus or it's
not his faith that he gives. We know him, he's our foundation,
he's our refuge, he's our help, he's our rock upon whom we stand. And he's our rock upon whom we
build. Paul wrote it this way, I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that he is
able to what? To do it all. To keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. He's able to do it
all. I know whom I have believed. He didn't say, I know what I
have believed. A lot of people put more emphasis
on the what and not enough on the whom. Because here's the
thing. If you know whom, the what will show up. The what comes after the whom. The whom determines the what.
But it says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. To know him is to know the power
of his resurrection. Literally, it means the force
of his resurrection. The resurrection of Christ Jesus
was a resurrection of forceful power, literally and physically,
because Jesus Christ was physically raised from the dead. I know
him, I know him. I'm not going to go into that. Just this one thing. Therefore doth my father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again.
No man taketh it from me, his life. But I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. The resurrection of Jesus Christ
was a resurrection of power. God manifests in the flesh, raised
himself from the dead. Now, we are to know him and the power
of his resurrection. How do I put this? His resurrection was a
proof of what he suffered on the cross, an acceptance that death could not hold him. Death could not hold him. He became the perfect sacrifice
for sin. Not his own sin, he had none,
but for our sin. You understand? The power of
his resurrection shows us that our debt is paid in full. His sacrifice of himself was
the perfect substitution. He suffered in our place and,
unlike us, he rose again from the dead. His resurrection was a resurrection
in power, was a perfect resurrection. understand Believers are not
free from the debt of sin because we believe Although we do believe
I am free from the debt of my sin Because he died rose again
and He paid my debt and set me free That's the power his resurrection
And it says the fellowship of his sufferings. Paul's not telling
us your sufferings are like unto Christ. Paul's not even saying
his own sufferings were like unto Christ, because my sufferings
are nothing compared to what Apostle Paul went through. Paul says we have a grasp, just
a slight grasp maybe, a light grasp seeing it through a glass
darkly of Christ's sufferings for us. for us. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised to death for our
iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. And it is with his stripes that
we are healed. Believers know Jesus Christ suffered
for us. They know, we know that he took
in his own body on the tree our sins and suffered and died and
was buried and resurrected. He suffered the death that we
could not suffer. He became our substitute and
he took the place of every person that the Father gave to him. Jesus Christ died our death. And we are being made conformable
unto his death. I looked that word up, conformable,
and it says believers are made to assimilate his death. So what's that mean? Believers are made to know That
the life we now have We only have because of his death and
burial and resurrection We are nothing without him Nothing without
him and we right now Have everything in him in him In Christ Jesus, we are to know him and to know
him every day. There's no way to know him, to
know Christ Jesus. without Him knowing you first. Christ knowing precedes your
knowing. All that the Father gave to Christ
shall come to Christ in life everlasting. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God, Jesus Christ whom thou has
sent That I may know him Psalms 40
in verse 4 put it this way Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord
his trust Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection. Walter, you said this a little
while back, I think, and it made me think of it when I was reading
this, that I may know him. There's a account in Luke, I'm
not gonna turn there. There was an old fella there
by the name of Simeon. And Simeon, old by this time,
was told by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was with him,
was told by the Holy Spirit. It was revealed unto him by the
Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And when they brought Jesus to
be circumcised, brought him to the temple as the time was, Simeon
was there and he took that young child an infant, toddler, however
old he was, I don't know. But Simeon looked at this frail
infant, this child, and saw the Ancient of Days. He looked at this young human
being and saw, what did he say? Now, Lord, let thy servant depart
in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Simeon knew him, even there as
a child, as a young one. Simeon looked at him, but he
saw God manifest in the flesh. He looked at this young human
being and saw salvation. before Jesus Christ had done
anything. Simeon saw him and knew him. Simeon knew the Lord's Christ. And those that know him want to know him more. Because you understand, Paul
said this all He didn't say that I knew Christ, or that I knew
him. No, that I may know him. Present
tense. Knowing Christ never ends. Knowing
him will never end. And if you don't know him now,
you never have. If you don't know him today,
you never have. That I may know him and the power
of his resurrection. and the fellowship of his suffering. I want to know him. I want to
know him today. I want to know him tomorrow. Heavenly Father, we are thankful
for this time, this place. God, you have been so good to
us in this world. You have given us your only begotten
well beloved son. And he lived and he died and
he was buried and he rose again and he's ascended to sit at your
right hand. Lord, thank you for the salvation
that you have given to us. Thank you for our Lord Jesus
Christ. He is our salvation. Be with
Walter and Paul as they come to preach this morning. Give
them the words we need to hear and help us to hear and understand
them and help us to know your son. In his name we pray.