If you will, turn back with me
to Philippians chapter three. I have now for some time been
dealing with the subject of false religion, about Satan's presence in this
world, about his power, about his influence in the world
over men and women, deceiving them with all power and signs
and lying wonders. Antichrist religion has completely
covered the earth. No matter where you go, there
it is. It's massive, it's powerful,
and it's deadly. And I have two reasons for talking
so much about this. First of all, because I want
you to know it when you see it. I want you to understand it when
you hear it. And I want you to avoid it like
a plague, because that's how the scriptures define it. It's a plague. Did you know that there was a
disease in the Bible that's associated strictly with
sin? And that's leprosy. That's a
plague. A plague. And that's false religion. And then the second reason I
have for preaching so much on this subject is because our verse-by-verse
studies are dealing with it in the book of Revelation. I can't go through the scriptures
and give you a verse-by-verse study and skip all the verses
because I've talked a lot about them. If we're going to deal
with them verse-by-verse, let's deal with them verse-by-verse. But this morning I want to lay
all these things aside and focus on a more positive note. I want
to direct your attention to what the believer has by the grace
of God and in whom he has it. So I'll be talking here this
morning to those of you who have ears to hear, and who have an
experiential knowledge of the grace of God in your hearts.
And I'll be talking to you who don't, and telling you what it
is. My text this morning is Philippians
3, verses 1 through 12, and my subject is this, found in Christ. Paul turned loose of everything
he had for this one hope to be found in Christ, to be found
in him. The church at Philippi was no
different than the church right here at Louisville. Not a bit different. It was a
mixture of people just like you got here this morning. Some run
businesses, some work for a living, some were retired. The church
of Philippi was no different than this church. Someone came and preached the
gospel and men and women heard what was being preached and they
believed. They believed. Sounds simple,
don't it? But that's what happened. Paul
came. Paul preached. Some believed. And there was
enough who believed that they began to gather together in a
group Read the scriptures, worship God. And Paul stayed there and
he taught them for months and months and months. So you say,
well, so somebody comes, somebody prays. Sounds simple, don't it? And though the way and the means
are relatively plain and simple, yet the obstacles which must
be overcome are beyond our power and ability. The sinner must be slain. Now, I'm not to take an axe and cut
his head off. I'm not to take a sword and pierce
his heart. I'm not to get a bunch of people
together and catch him after church and go beat him up until
he confesses these things. But the sinner must be slain. Somebody told old Ralph Barnard. One time he said, you can catch
more flies with honey, Brother Ralph, than you can with vinegar. And old Ralph thought about it
a minute, and he turned and looked at him. He said, I ain't trying
to catch flies. I'm trying to kill sinners. The sinner must be slain. He
must be put to death. That man who thrives, that man
who hopes in himself, that man who trusts in himself, that man
who abides in himself, he glories in himself, he has to be slain. That old man must be put to death. The sinner must be slain. He must come to see himself as
he is, dead in trespasses and sin, dead in his nature, dead
before the law, dead as far as having any value in himself. We are together become unprofitable. No profit in us. We're dead. We're dead. The sinner must come to see himself
bound. Bound. Bound by a fallen nature. I don't know how to explain this
to you young children, but I'm just going to tell you what the
Bible says. You're bound by your nature. That's why you think
the thoughts sometimes that you think. That's why you do what
you do. That's why you go against your
parents' will. That's why you sin against law. That's why you sin against love.
We're bound. Everything we do, everything
we think, everything we say, it's bound by this nature. Men
say man has a free will. He has a free will. He does.
He has a free will to move anywhere within his bounds. Within the bounds of his nature,
he can move all around. Move all around. But he can't
break free from the bounds of his nature. Bound by a fallen nature. Bound
by the massive influence of antichrist religion. Only in eternity will
we know the full effects of false religion. It's in our heads,
it's in our mind, it's in our ways, and even those of us who've
been on this way for a while, we still have those thoughts,
we still battle with those things that were preached to us when
we were just little guys. Everybody, every place, telling
us things that are contrary to the word of God and the way of
God. We're bound. You know, sin has a lot more
to do with what you are than what you do. They could lock you up in a prison,
take away all the objects that you hope for out of the picture,
and you'd still be a sinner, and you'd still hate God. It
has a lot more to do with what we are. You don't become a sinner
when you sin, you sin because you're a sinner. Our Lord said it's not what goes
into the mouth that defiles the man. The Pharisees said the strong
drink would defile him and so on and so. He said it's not what,
eat pork, now according to the law it's gonna defile you. He
said, it's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man,
it's what comes out of his heart. Well, what comes out of his heart?
Evil thoughts. You ever have evil thoughts?
That's where they're coming from, out of his heart. Adultery. Idolatry. Blasphemies, lies, treachery,
all these things come forth from the heart. That's what defiles
the man is his heart. And then thirdly, the sinner
must see himself lost. Having no direction, not knowing
where to go, what to do. You ever been lost? You ever
come to that place where you just didn't know? You needed
somebody to tell you that Ethiopian eunuch riding on a chariot, he
done seen the height, he seen the pinnacle of religion, he
went to the feast day, he went through the holy days, he went
and saw the whole thing. And came away as ignorant as
he was before he went. And he was standing there reading
in his Bible, in the book of Isaiah, and God sent him a preacher,
sent Philip out there. Out in the wilderness. And he ran along beside that
chariot, kind of joined himself to that chariot, and he looked
up there and that man was reading a scroll, the scroll of Isaiah. And he said, hey, bud, he said,
do you understand what you're reading? He said, how can I? Except some man tell me, how
can I? You ever been lost? Don't have
a direction. Don't know which way to turn.
Don't know what to do. Can't call upon God because you
don't know God. Not going to call upon those
idols that you were raised with because they're powerless. You
don't know. You're lost. You need direction. You need somebody to tell you.
Look to Christ. Look to Christ. The sinner must
see himself lost, not having the right direction. Brother Scott was hunting one
time with one of the men at the church. And the man hunted a little bit
too late and it got dark. And they were way up in the mountains
of West Virginia. And those of you who wasn't raised
around mountains, if you go down the wrong side of a mountain,
And you're trying to remember in your head this valley went
here and this valley. You're on the other side of the
mountain. And before you know what's happening, you're going
away from where you want to be instead of coming toward where
you want to be. And he come down the mountain and there was a
road there. The road led over where Scott parked. Scott was
already down at the truck. And he said, I heard Daryl coming
down off the mountain. And he said, I could hear him.
And he got down so far and he stopped. And he said, I didn't
know what was going on. He said, and I sit there and
watched. And he said, and he went sideways. He said, I could
hear him go sideways. Went way over that way till he
couldn't hear him anymore. And he said, I sat there and
I listened. And pretty soon I heard Darryl coming back. And he went
way over this way. And he was gone for a little
while. And then he said he'd come back.
He said, I heard him go back up the mountain a little bit,
and then he come back down the mountain. He said, after about
two hours, he said, I heard this voice. Where's the road? Where's the road? Somebody tell
me, where's the road? Scott said, it's right here,
Darryl. He come on down to the truck. You ever been lost? Huh? You ever want to cry out in your
heart, where's the road? Ever been lost? Discovering the heresy of your
doctrine. Anybody here know anything about
that? God ever showed you that what
you believed when you were being raised was heresy? Not even in the Bible. Did He ever show you the heresy
of your doctrine of righteousness and your doctrine of atonement? Find yourself on the wrong path
and that's just the beginning. Then somebody has to come and
show you the way. And then the sinner must come
to see his guilt. He's guilty before God. He didn't
know that. He was wandering around as a
supposed righteousness. That's what Paul said. You think
you got hope in the flesh? I got more than you. You want
to get back in the Bible and find out who salvation's for?
It's for the Jews. He said, I was born a Jew. It's
for the circumcised. He said, I circumcised the eighth
day. Abraham's hope is to his seed.
He said, I'm born of the tribe of Benjamin. What's your birth? You think you got some hope in
the flesh? He said, I more. You want to talk about righteousness
according to the law? He said, I was blameless. That
apple you stole, he didn't steal it. He left it alone. Those taxes you wouldn't pay,
he paid his. You see what I'm saying? He's
blameless. You want to talk about zeal?
Let me tell you something about zeal. They took a preacher and
he preached to them. He preached the sovereign grace
of God. And they took that man out and
bound him and stoned him to death. And Stephen, I mean, that was
Stephen. And Paul held the coats of the
men who stoned him. He went down and sought out papers
from the court, from the priests, so he could go out and bring
these men in to be put to death who were worshiping God. You
want to talk about zeal? He said, I persecuted the church
in my zeal. Oh, one day God came, on horse
that proud rebel, put his face in the dirt, and showed him he
was guilty before God. Guilty. Guilty. He said, I was alive once without
the law, but when the commandment came, when I saw that spiritual
law, and came, he said, I died. I died. Can you and I confess our sins
and condemnation and justify God in our own condemnation?
Can we say in our heart, God, you'd be just if you sent me
to hell. You'd be just. That's what I
deserve. That's what I deserve. Can we
do that? David did. He said that he confessed
his sin and said that thou might be clear when you judge, that
you're clear of all charges. and justified when you speak. I'm going to tell you something.
When God saves a man, He arrests him. He convinces him of his
sin and then He convinces him of the righteousness of God in
Christ. And He convinces him of judgment
satisfied. He assaults the house of the
strong man and he overcomes his evil presence. And when God saves
a man, He makes him a new creature. He don't leave that old heart
in him. He takes that heart out and puts in him a heart of flesh. God saves a man, He sends His
Spirit to regenerate him and set up His abode in him and reign
in grace over him. And God gives to His people the
gifts of repentance and faith. He gives bread to hungry sinners. I tell you when you'll come and
you'll sit and you'll tune your ears in when God makes you hungry. You won't miss a word. You'll
get you a little pad and a pencil and boy, all of a sudden you
intended to take down the main points, but all of a sudden you're
writing down everything he says. Because you're hungry. God gives bread to hungry sinners. He gives the water of life to
thirsty souls. He points the way to lost sinners. He gives life to dead sinners.
He gives pardon to guilty sinners. And He justifies chosen sinners
before God Almighty. Paul remembers and confesses
his old hope to the church and he tells them to do with theirs
what he did with his, throw it on the dung heap. You feeling good this morning
because you thought about somebody? You feeling good this morning
because of something that you call righteousness, something
you're thinking in your mind and heart as some kind of righteousness
before God? Take it out and throw it on the
dung heap because that's all it is. And that's what Paul said
he did with everything that he hoped in. All of this old mess
that was in his heart and mind, he took it out and threw it on
the dung heap. And then he says 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've suffered
the loss of all things, all his reputation. Paul had reputation. And he said, do count them but
dung that I may win Christ. What does that mean, to win Christ? That's a strange word to use,
isn't it? He wanted to win Christ. What's
that mean? That means to have the victory.
Isn't that what it means to win? To have the victory. And John
said this, is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith. And our faith is in Him who is
the victory. Faith is the hand that lays hold
on Christ and to have Him is to have the victory. And he said,
I've suffered the loss of all things that I may win Christ. Faith sells all that it has to
obtain the pearl. That's what it does. That old
man had that pearl. He said, oh, I got to have that.
I've never seen anything like that. He was a collector of pearls. He said, I've never seen anything
like that. That's a one of a kind. How much you want for that pearl?
Everything you got. Well, that's a lot, but I got
to have that pearl. So he gave him, emptied out his
wallet, laid it there. He said, I'll just take that
pearl and go put it in the car. Oh, you got a car? One car. Well, if I don't have a car,
how am I going to get? Oh, you got a job? One job. Well, if I don't have a job,
how am I going to pay for my house? You got a house? One house. Everything. Everything. Well, he said, that's a lot.
But he said, I got to have that pearl. So he gave him the pearl. And he started to walk out the
door and he said, now wait a minute. He said, I'm going to let you
drive my car. But if I send somebody over who
needs it, you're going to let him use my car, ain't you? Huh? If I send somebody over
to your house, you're going to let them stay in my house, aren't
you? You're gonna take that money
that you earned from my job, and if you see some of my people
need it, you're gonna give it to them, aren't you? Because
it belongs to me. But you can have all these things,
and you can use all these things. But you remember this, they're
mine. They're mine. Faith sells all that it has to
obtain the pearl of faith. Faith leaves everything behind and walks in an ark. He didn't take anything with him. Old Noah just walked in an ark. There's his house, there's his
job, there's his family, there's his people. Walked in the ark. Faith leaves their father's house,
goes to an inheritance that God's gonna show them. You see what Paul's saying? Oh,
he said that I might win Christ and be found in him. There is in the light of man's
total depravity God's righteous condemnation and Satan's universal
influence. One hope for sinners like you
and I, and that is to be found in Christ. Everything God has
for sinners is in Christ Jesus the Lord. In Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It's all in Him. Well, what does
it mean to be found in Christ? Well, in the context of Philippians
3, 9, it means that we're found not having our own righteousness,
but the righteousness of Christ. Do you walk that way? Believers
do. They walk in the righteousness
of Christ. You see a believer walk and he's
got joy and he's got happiness and he's got peace. How can he
have those things? because he's not walking in his
righteousness. If he were, he'd be upset all
the time. He'd be down in the dumps all
the time. But he's not, because he has
a perfect righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. And a righteousness given to
him of God that don't make him proud, but it has the opposite
effect. He's humble. He's thankful. And he loves God for it. By faith, we have seen, understood,
and trusted in the righteousness of our Redeemer and representative,
Jesus Christ. And those who are found in Christ
are found walking in the righteousness of Christ and trusting in His
righteous obedience and His faithfulness as their own. How can that be? For God chose
us in Him and put us in Him by a covenant union before the world
began. I mean like a man and a woman
is joined in holy matrimony by a covenant union, and they become
one. Even so, by covenant union, God
made us one with His Son. Under most civil laws, the husband
is responsible for his wife's debts, and vice versa. God joined us together by an
eternal act of election, and in the eyes of Him, we're one. We're one. What's it mean to believe? It
means that you understand that, and that's the way you see things.
You see yourself in Him. And the more you see yourself
in him, the more garbage you take out and throw on the dump
heap. Just throw it on there. The rest of your life, you know
what you're going to be doing? Getting the trash bag, going
out and throwing it on the dump. The whole rest of your life,
that's what you're going to be doing. And praising him for it. And the manifestation of that
union is when the Son of God, the Eternal Word, was made flesh
and dwelt among us, took to Himself our flesh permanently. Oh, I
love that sermon that man preached up at 13th Street years ago.
I found the old tape, but it's about gone. The sound is going
down on the tape, old cassette tape. There's a man in glory. And if there's one, there might
be two. Because there's one man in glory,
that's the insurance that all his people gonna be with him
in glory. Scripture says that God that
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ blessed us with
all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ according as
he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. And then this holy union is further
demonstrated by faith. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you. When a man and
a woman's hearts join together, they embrace each other and they
become one flesh. And the union produced by faith
is one which results in the embracing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Read
the Song of Solomon. It's about Christ and His beloved. They embrace one another. They
become one with one another. Listen to this, husbands, love
your wives according to the law. That's not what it says. It says
love your wives as Christ loved the church. Oh, but you don't
know my wife. I don't have to. I know his people. I know my own heart as he revealed
it to me. And my wife could never possibly
do anything that went above that. Could she, huh? Love your wives
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it to cleanse
her. If you be found in Christ, he'll
be found in you. Is that right? If you've been found in Christ,
it'll be because Christ is found in you. And then watch this,
verse 10. He said that I may know him. Oh my soul, I want to know him.
I don't want to be deceived. I'm like Paul. I don't want to
preach to others and find myself a castaway. I want to know Him. To know Him is eternal life.
To know Him is to know God. John said, And we know that the
Son of God is come, and hath given to us an understanding,
that we may know Him that is true. But that's not all. that we are in Him, that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is eternal life. This is
eternal life. To know Him is to know why God
poured out His wrath on His Son, wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we're healed. All we like sheep
went astray. We turned everyone to his own
way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was cut off out of the land
of the living for the transgression of his people. And it pleased
the Lord to bruise him, and he hath put him to grief, when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Then he'll see his seed. Who's his seed? That's Christ
and all that are found in him. He'll see his seed, he'll prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his
hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. Can you imagine
God who sees all things? looking
at you, Winston, and being satisfied. You ain't satisfied with yourself,
and I ain't either. But if I be found in Christ,
God looks on me in perfect satisfaction. To know him is to know the grace
of God. There's no reason for election The ordination of Christ to his
offices, the execution of those offices, and even the work of
the Spirit in us. There's no reason for these things
except the sovereign grace of God. No wonder old Newton sang Amazing
Grace. How sweet to sing. To know him is to know the love
of God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation
for our sin. And God commendeth His love for
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And then very quickly, verse
10, that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection.
This sheds even more light on what it means to know Him. The
word in the scripture for the physical embrace of a man and
a woman who are husband and wife is the word no. No. Joseph knew not Mary until after
Christ was born. It is an experiential manifestation
of that union. And I personally believe that
this is what Paul's yearning for. When he says, I want to
know Christ, is he wants to be one with him in all things, in
everything. Not just in what we call the
doctrines of grace, but also in the fellowship of his sufferings.
I want to know him. I want to know something about
the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering.
I want to be made conformable unto his death. I want to know
him. I want to fully be one with him. What does that mean, fellowship
of his sufferings? First, it means to share in the
benefits of them. That's the first thing it means.
Oh, I can fellowship in his sufferings. I see my sins and his sufferings
being put away. I see God fully justifying himself
in the forgiveness of our sins and his sufferings. So I fellowship
in his sufferings in that respect. And secondly, we know and have
fellowship of his sufferings as he did in our daily lives. He said, if the world hates me,
you know it's going to hate you because it hated me first. And then he says to be made conformable
unto his death, dying daily unto sin, having the affections with
the lust crucified, the deeds of the flesh mortified. But also
it means bearing always in these bodies the dying of our Lord
Jesus. That is, being continually exposed
to death for his sake. And then he says in verse 11,
if by any means that I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead, a true union will be known as it continues in this
union for all eternity. Not as though I'd already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after. And what
this means is I'm not come saved yet. That's what that means. I'm not perfectly conformed to
the image of God's Son yet. Will I live in fear and dread
and die without hope or will I finish the course with a loving
conviction and die with a good hope and look at that resurrected
that resurrection of Christ with an expectant joy. How will I
go out and meet God? Well, here's what to do. He tells
us what to do. Forgetting those things which
are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Press toward the mark, the victory
in Christ, the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Now let every man who hopes in
the perfect salvation in Christ, who glories in His perfections,
have this mind to pass on even unto death. Let this mind be in you. May
the Lord enable us to do this and be found in Christ. Oh, he
said, if I could just be found in Him. Found in Him. That's what salvation is. That's
what salvation is. And that's what coming to faith
in Christ is. It's understanding that you find
yourself in Christ. Find yourself trusting in Him,
resting in Him, glorying in Him. That's salvation. Now, he said,
don't lose that. You keep that till you die.