Turn to the book of Philippians
chapter 3. And before we get into the lesson,
I want to recap just a little bit on the lesson last week,
back in verse 7. Of what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I
count all things, but lost 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." Now this flesh and this world and false religion leaves
men and women hoping in themselves. That's the loss that Paul's talking
about. He's not talking about a loss
of finances or anything like that. He's talking about a loss
of his religious hope. And his subject all the way through
this chapter is that righteousness of faith, that righteousness
of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But this world, as best
it can, promotes a philosophy that God is a superstitious myth. that to believe in and worship
this invisible deity is just something for the weak-minded.
I'm talking about this world, this world in its highest order,
in the teachers and philosophers of this world. And while it might
serve some good, they don't really go to great lengths to try to
disprove or prove. because of this reason, because
while it might serve some good in promoting morality, and it
does. They see it that way. That's
the way they see it. It serves some good in promoting
morality and constraining men from sin. But in the end, it's
man who must better himself or provide for himself so that he
himself or mankind as a species look to themselves to save themselves. That's the philosophy of this
world. And then we have to deal with
the flesh. Every honest man, every honest
woman must confess the weakness and depravity of the flesh. We're
ignorant. We're uninterested in God. We're not interested in who God
is or what God's going to do or what God has determined to
do or God's purposes. We're not interested in those
things. We're interested in life. We're interested in what's going
on here in this world. We're ignorant and we're uninterested
in God and we're willing, willing to steal and willing to murder
and willing to lie. We're full of pride and jealousy
and envy. We're ready to give in to our
every passion, whatever that is. Whatever that is. If it's to gain the whole world
and lose our soul, we're ready to do that. We're ready to give in to its
passions, the passions of this flesh and lust, and we love darkness
rather than light. We love darkness. We might tolerate
light, but we love darkness. And then we have to deal not
only with flesh and with the philosophy of this world, but
we have to deal with false religion. And false religion is no more
than deceived men and women who have mixed the philosophy of
this world and the desires of this flesh with the things of
God. They stirred these things all together and made them a
potion. And it's called false religion.
They encourage men and women to look to themselves for a righteousness
to satisfy God. They look to themselves to reform
their ways and their deeds and their habits. They tell men and women to keep
some of God's law. It's OK. You don't have to keep
the whole law. Just keep some of it. Just take the most important
parts of it And then we know you can't keep it to perfection
because you're not perfect, but if you'll do the best you can,
God will accept that. That's false religion. False
religion would have men and women to believe that God simply pardons
sin. He takes a big eraser up there
in the sky and he's got your sins all wrote down and he goes
over and erases them and lets you start over with a clean slate. False religion encourages men
to hope in and rest in their emotional experiences. And false
religion encourages its hearers to have confidence in certain
ceremonies and customs. If you do this, if you observe
the Sabbath day, and if you tithe, if you're a faithful tither and
you observe the Sabbath day, and you come to church on Sunday
morning, you don't have to come Sunday evening, but if you can
make it on Sunday morning, And we know you're busy working,
so you don't have to come on Wednesday night. But just the
most important parts. Pick out those ceremonies. But
in the end, it's a religion of works. It's man attempting to
save himself. It's man trusting in himself.
It's man worshiping himself. And these things, whatever they
are, baptism, and church membership, and aisle walking, and what some
call praying through, and speaking in tongues, and catechisms, and
emotional experiences, and decisionism, and law keeping, and on and on
and on the list goes. These are the things which at
one time are gain to those whom God has called out of darkness.
And they suffer the loss of these things. They put great hope into
these things. Some of you in this place, you've
made professions of faith in the past. You've accepted some
kind of a doctrine, some kind of a creed. You've accepted that.
And you've had some kind of an emotional experience that drove
you to it. And you've accepted that. And
you're resting your soul on that. You're resting your soul. That's
where Paul was at. He was resting his soul on what
these Pharisees had taught him. what his mother and father had
taught him, what his sisters and brothers had taught him.
He was resting in those things. And those things which were gained
to me, he said, I counted loss. I counted loss. I let them go. I let them go. Well, how come
he counts them lost now? They were something substantial
to him in the past. Why does he count them lost now?
Why does he look on those things now? Because now he sees the
person of Christ. And he counts all those former
hopes as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord. He saw something better. He saw
something better. And he sees in Christ the full
sufficiency of God. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him. He sees
in Christ one sacrifice for sins sufficient to put away his sins
forever. All of the old priests, Paul
said, stood daily ministering and oftentimes offering the same
sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, Hebrews
10, verse 12, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down at the right hand of God. a full sufficiency in his
sacrifice. And the believer sees in Christ
a righteousness wrought out for him by a Savior, which he thankfully
and lovingly receives by faith, which is the gift of God. And
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. You cannot honor the law or exalt
the law any higher than you do when you receive and walk in
the righteousness of Christ. He honored that thing. We say,
well, we're not perfect. We can't keep it perfectly. Yes,
but he can. And he did. And he didn't do
it for himself. He did it for those who believe.
And then, fourthly, Christ is our life. Paul said, for me to
live is Christ. It's Christ. Christ is our life. We find in Him a full sufficiency
of life. He that hath the Son hath life.
That's where life is. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. He'll never perceive life because
that's where the life is. That's where it is. And Christ
is a full sufficiency of power. He told those apostles before
he sent them out to preach, knowing that they'd all be martyred,
he said, all power in heaven and earth is given unto me. Go
ye therefore and preach my gospel. How much power is given to him?
All of it. All of it. Power over what? Everything. Everything in heaven, earth,
and hell. All power, all authority, all ability, all power given
unto me. Believers don't need to scheme
and plot and plan to make things happen. We find in Christ our
Lord a full sufficiency of power. John, he'll work it out. I don't
have to. All I need to do is follow the
revealed will of God. I know in general how God saves
sinners. He saves sinners through the
preaching of the gospel and through the work of the Holy Spirit.
That's all I need to do. I don't need to plot and plan.
I don't need to butt and hole you back in the corner. I don't
need to call you aside out in the parking lot. All I need to
do is stand up here and tell you the truth. And all God's
elect will be given ears to hear. They hear. And they not only
hear, but they receive. They submit. They bow to the
things of God. But the natural man, he receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to
him. Neither can he know them because they are spiritually
discerned. Listen to these Scriptures. The preparations of the heart
in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Where
is it from? The Lord. What is it? What is it that He does? The
answer of the tongue and the preparations of the heart. That
is of the Lord. The heart of the king. What king? Every king. is in the hand of
the Lord, just like those rivers of waters. And He turneth it
whithersoever He will. And in His times, times of catastrophe,
and times of war, and times of salvation, and times of reprobation,
beginning times and ending times, fulfilling times and quiet times,
in His times, that's what the Scripture said, He shall show
who is the blessed, and only potentate the King of kings and
Lord of lords. I'm telling you this, how quickly
the soul turns loose of its confidence in itself and lays hold of the
sufficiency of Christ when God gives them eyes to see. That's
when they'll do it. They'll turn loose. They'll turn
loose. Paul said, I do count these things
but dumb that I might win Christ. What things? His old righteousness. Let me tell you something. People
hold value in those old righteousnesses. I did. I did. I held value in
those things. My old experiences, my hour walking
and my kneeling down and praying and submission and all that.
That was things of great value to me. And I count them the same
as Paul does. They're just dumb. That's all
they were. Just garbage. Just garbage. Philippians chapter 3 verse 9.
Now watch this. In the light of everything that
I've said, listen to what he's saying. Verse 9. That he might
win Christ, he tells us that up there before, and be found
in Him. 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." To
be found in Christ, what is that? Kathy and I went to San Diego
here the other day to preach in a little conference out there.
You know what I found in my suitcase when I got there? I found what
I put in it. To be found in Christ. What's
he going to find in Christ? Everything that he put in Christ.
That's what he's going to find there. Everything. Our life is
hid with God in Christ. Isn't that what Scripture says? All that the Father hath given
to me, He said, they're going to come to me. And of all them
that cometh, he said, I will in no wise cast them out. They're
not going anywhere. They're going to come. What's
he going to find in Christ? He's going to find what he put
in Christ. Or when did he put us in Christ?
Before the foundation of the world. And then to be found in
Christ is to be found believing on Him. That's what Paul's talking
about here. To be found in Christ. To find
my hope in Him. My hope in Him. All those that
the Father chose in Him will come to Him and believe on Him
and trust in Him and find rest for the soul. We don't rest on
a day. We don't single out a day. We
don't celebrate the Sabbath. Our Sabbath is Christ. He is
our rest. God rested from creation trusting
in His Son to do what He purposed to do with Him. And Ephesians
1, verse 12 says that we should be to the praise of the of His
glory who first trusted in Christ. Who did? God did. And Paul said again in Hebrews
4, 10, speaking of those very things, he that is entered into
His rest, God's rest, he also is ceased from his own works
as God did from His. The believer desperately wants
to be found in Christ. You know why? Because that's
where the blessings are. Isn't that what he says there
in Ephesians chapter 1? That God the Father has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ.
Everything God has for chosen sinners is in Jesus Christ. He's
their righteousness. He's their atonement. He's their
Lord. He's their High Priest. He's
their Prophet. He's their King. And then watch
this, Philippians 3 verse 10. We won't be found in Him not
having our own righteousness. And then he says that I might
know Him. Not just know about Him, but
that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection. What's
that mean? Well, Paul talks about that over
in Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 19.
And he is praying for these men and women that God would reveal
to them these mysteries, these mysteries of grace. And to show
them what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe. Now listen. According to the
working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He
raised Him from the dead, He likens this thing of regeneration. He likens this thing of effectual
calling unto the resurrection of Christ. It's the same power,
the same authority that justified and raised Christ from the dead
that raises the dead sinner whom Christ justified from the dead. and then seated him far above
all principality and power and might and dominion and every
name that's named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come. And hath put all things under
his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the
church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all. And you hath he quickened who
were dead." You see what he's saying here? When God raised
up Christ from the dead, He raised us up together with Him and made
us sit together with Him in glory. And that justifying, redeeming,
and life-giving power by which He is raised, which Christ was
raised, is the same power by which we are born of God and
given the gift of faith. Oh, He said that I might know
Him. and the power of His resurrection, and then listen to this, and
the fellowship of His sufferings. Christ suffered for the glory
of God. Paul said, that's what I want
to do. I want to suffer for the glory of God. I want to know
what that is. Wouldn't you like to know what
that is? I don't know that I've ever suffered for the glory of God. But that's what Paul longed for.
He said, I want to know what this is. I want to experience
this in my soul. Christ suffered the just for
the unjust. Christ suffered for God's chosen
people. And Christ suffered according
to the purpose of God. Verse 11, If by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that, for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Brethren, he said, I count not
myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind. What things? All those things
he took out and put on the dunghill. Forgetting those things which
are behind. and reaching forth unto the things
which are before, I pressed toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Now, there's two things
I want you to see here. I want you to see, first of all,
that there's a beginning to this resurrected life. There's a time
when it begins. We're not born again and again
and again and again. We're just born again one time.
That's a one-time event. We're born again one time. And this new birth is an act
of God's sovereign grace. And through this birth and the
preaching of the Gospel, God's people are given the power to
become the sons of God. Through this new birth, the believer
receives a new nature. And this nature enables him to
repent This new nature enables him to believe and to understand
what's being said to him. This new nature enables him to
reason together with God. This nature enables him to see
things as they are and make him willing. Willing to hear and
willing to bow and willing to serve. And he experiences these
things in his heart. And he experiences these things
in his mind. And it's the washing of regeneration
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Listen to how Peter says
this. He's talking about the new birth
here. I Peter chapter 1. Listen to what he said. He said,
seeing you have purified your souls in believing the truth
through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, being born
again. Huh? Being born again. And then the second thing I want
you to see is that the believer who is born of God matures and
grows in grace and knowledge of Christ. If an infant, what
would you think about it if you had a baby? One of you young
ladies had a baby. And the baby never grew. The
baby just stayed an infant. Never learned how to talk. All
it did was whine. You had to keep changing its
diaper. You had to keep tending it. It never grew. Just stayed
an infant. At the very least, it'd get your
curiosity up, wouldn't it? Huh? But isn't that what folks
who call this thing a one-time experience, ain't that what they're
doing? They never grow in grace. You know, a child, it don't stay
on baby food. After a while, baby food don't
get it. It wants pork chops. It wants mashed potatoes. It
wants something with some vitamins and nourishment in it. It don't
want to just sit and eat that old mush. It wants something
substantial. And yet, we have people who profess
faith who just remain infants. They never grow. They never mature. And there's something wrong with
that. There's something wrong with that. Faith grows. Faith
learns to walk. Faith learns to work. Faith goes
through trials, goes through troubles. It learns to live this
life of faith. It learns how to do that the
same as our infants learn how to live in this world. God to let believe, the Scripture
says in Hebrews 10.39, they believe to the saving. of the soul. It
says, Christ is a son over his own house, whose house are we
if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm
unto the end. And then in 1 Corinthians 15,
Paul said, we'll be saved through this gospel that we believe and
this gospel wherein we stand if we keep in memory what was
preached unto us, otherwise we believe in vain. Our faith is
just vain. Faith is the evidence of life,
and that which is alive eats and drinks and loves and worships
and walks and serves. Accepting some facts about Calvinism
is not eternal life. Adhering to doctrine, even right
doctrine, is not eternal life. Eternal life is to know God.
And it's to know Him through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eternal life is to embrace Christ. and to trust Him and commit yourself
to Him. It's to bow to Him and surrender
to Him, rest in Him and walk with Him. And Paul said this
work was an ongoing work. It's a continuing work. It's
a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly work. It keeps on going. And
this, he said, is what I do. This is what I do. Verse 13.
Listen to him here. "...forgetting those things which
are behind." and reaching forth unto those things which are before.
What's before? Maturity. Maturity. Strength. Assurance. What else? Heaven itself. Heaven itself. A refuge from that box from death. A refuge. What's before reaching
for? What's before being perfectly
conformed to the image of His Son? That's what we reach for. That's what we want. That's what
we want. We want the full promise, the
full inheritance. And we reach for that. And while
you're reaching for it, you forget about this back here. You forget
about this back here. They tell me a successful runner
doesn't run. He doesn't run the race. I was
watching him the other day on the Olympics. And when they run
these races, they don't do this. While they're running, you fall
over the fence. They look where they're going.
They look at the finish line. That's where they run. Let somebody
else look back. And that's what Paul's talking
about here. Just forget those things. Forget
these things. These things hinder you. Reach
forward. Reach for that finish line. Reach
up there. That's what this chapter's all about. To be found in Him.
found in Him, reaching for Him, desiring Him, resting in Him,
rejoicing.