I don't usually preach an entire
chapter in one message, but I believe that I've been impressed by the
Spirit of God to bring this message from Philippians chapter 3. I
couldn't get away from it. I've entitled this message Paul's
Autobiography. And this is one of Paul's autobiographical
statements about himself. And I think that is so interesting.
This is the man that God used more than any other man to expound
the gospel of the grace of God. And this is a very special chapter.
I pray that the Lord will bless it. He says in verse one of Philippians
chapter three, finally, my brethren rejoice. Now this is a different
word than the word used rejoice in Christ in verse three, that's
rejoice or glory in Christ or boast in Christ. And this has
something to do with a joy in Christ. Rejoice in Christ Jesus. He said in Philippians 4.4, rejoice
in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Now
this joy that he's speaking of doesn't have anything to do with
circumstances. Now all of us like circumstances that are pleasant,
but this doesn't have anything to do with that. He says rejoice
in Christ. I want to read you a passage
of scripture from the book of Habakkuk chapter three, beginning
in verse 17. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of
the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat. The
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd
in the stalls. Now, what's good about that? What's pleasant about that? what he says, yet I will rejoice
in the Lord. You see, there's always a time
to rejoice in the Lord. Even if nothing else seems to
be good, I will rejoice In the Lord, I will joy in the God of
my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and
he'll make my feet like Heinz feet and will make me to walk
upon mine high places. Rejoice in the Lord. Now to write the same things
to you. I asked Lynn just this week,
I said, well, is there anything that you could point out about
my preaching? I asked her that fairly often. I always wince
getting ready for what she's going to say, but I need to.
I need to. And she said, well, she said,
sometimes you can be repetitive, but I don't see how you can avoid
it. And I can't avoid it. I realize that, but think about
this. to write the same things to you. You know, I love continually
speaking about being justified by Christ, where I have no guilt
because I have his righteousness. I love to talk about his electing
mercy and grace. It doesn't get tired to me. It's
a reminder to me that salvation really is by grace. I love to
be reminded of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, how he gives
life. I love to talk about the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus, how he made payment for my sins. And
I now have no sins before God, they've been paid for. You know,
I don't get tired of that. And for you, this is safe. You know, hearing the same thing,
I know sometimes somebody says, I know where he's going with
that. Well, I'm glad you do. I'm glad you do. Now I want to be
able to present the truth in a fresh way. So it doesn't seem
stale and old. I want to, I want to preach the
same old things in a fresh way, but I better be preaching the
same things. And if I'm not, there's no safety in that. He
said, to write the same things is not grievous. It's not vexing,
but for you, it is safe. Verse two, beware of dogs, beware
of evil workers, beware of the concision. Now here, he's talking
about preachers. Now you can read that on the
surface, is he talking about canine dogs, might be, or is
he talking about evil workers, people who go out and sell drugs
and do all kinds of horrible things like that? And the concision,
that word means mutilators, people who actually amputate. What's
he talking about? When he's saying beware of dogs,
he's saying you have some discernment concerning what a dog is. The
Judaizers called the Gentiles, Gentile dogs. He said, they're
the dogs. These men who preach another
gospel. Beware of evil workers. They
talk about good works, but they're nothing but evil workers. And
this word concision is a play on the term circumcision. He
says, beware of the circumcision, but he goes ahead and calls them
the concision, the mutilators. Turn with me for a moment to
Galatians chapter five. Turn back a few pages. Verse 11, and I, brethren, if
I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then if the offense of the cross ceased, I would that they were
even cut off, which trouble you. When they talk about circumcision,
I wish it would be cut the whole way. That's what he's saying.
Now he says that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Somebody
says that seems kind of crude. It's not. Beware of dogs. Have some discernment. Be able
to know the difference between that which is true and that which
is false. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware
of the concision, the mutilators. Four, verse three, we are the
circumcision. We're the true circumcision.
Now, physical circumcision was the outward physical token of
the Jews, of God's people. But understand this, that's meaningless. It's just a meaningless law if
I don't understand the gospel. Paul says, we are the circumcision,
not just the people who have gone through the physical act
of circumcision. We're the true circumcision and
he gives three marks. This is the true spiritual Jew. Now, if you're a believer, you're
a Hebrew, you're a Jew, you're circumcised and your circumcision
has been that of the heart of the spirit, not of the letter.
And listen to these three marks and see where you come up. We
are the circumcision, number one, which worship God in the
spirit. You see, he cannot be worshiped
in the flesh. Did you know that? God cannot
be worshiped in the flesh. The flesh profiteth nothing in
anything spiritual. We are the circumcision which
worship God and we worship him for who he is. We worship Him
in all of His glorious attributes. We worship Him in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit, in that Spirit which He has given
in the new birth. You see, the natural man doesn't
have a spirit. He's got a body, he's got a soul, but he didn't
have a spirit. The spirit was lost in the fall. But when God
gives somebody life from the dead, they now have a spirit.
And with that spirit, they worship God. We are the circumcision,
which worship God in the spirit. The Lord said, God is spirit.
And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. And there's what's necessary
for the worship of God, a new nature given by the Holy Spirit
being birthed of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the gospel.
There's no worship where there's not truth. You might have religion,
but you don't have worship. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. And here's what that looks like.
When people worship God in the spirit, you know what they do?
They rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now there the word rejoice isn't
talking about a feeling of joy. It's talking about confidence,
glorying in, boasting in, resting in. There's only one, there's
only one place we have confidence. In Christ. Nowhere else. in Christ. Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's all I glory in. Not in
my preaching, certainly not. Good grief, I don't have anything
to glory in. All I have to glory in is Christ. And that's true
of every believer. Now wherever there's the true
worship of God, there will be this glorying in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You look nowhere else for God's
favor or acceptance, only in Christ. And you know what happens
every time somebody glories in Christ? They have no confidence
in the flesh. That's so simple. Look in verse
three, for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus. And everybody who does that has
no confidence, no confidence. in the flesh. Anything that has
anything to do with my flesh, anything that I've done, I have
no confidence in it. You know, every believer really
believes that there's nothing in them to have confidence in.
I'm, by nature, totally depraved. There's not one thing about me
that is spiritual, that it's nothing but sin. My glory is
only in the cross. Now that's what happens when
people worship. I know a lot of people talk about worship.
Well, I'll tell you when you worship, when you rejoice only in Christ
Jesus and you have absolutely positively no confidence in the
flesh. Now he gets into his autobiography. He says, In verse four, though
I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more. Now, if there's somebody that
can trust in the flesh, if that could be done, Paul says, it
would be me. Now look what he says about himself.
He says in verse five, I was circumcised the eighth day according
to what the law prescribes of the stock of Israel. I'm a pure
blooded Jew. of the tribe of Benjamin. That's
that favored tribe. Benjamin was the favored son.
And I came from the tribe of Benjamin and Hebrew of the Hebrews. As touching the law, I was a
Pharisee. Now, what is a Pharisee? A Pharisee
simply means a separated one. I really believe that something
that I did separated me from somebody else. Like the Pharisee
in the temple, God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are. He didn't say, I thank you for
your grace. He didn't say, I thank you for the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He didn't say, I thank you for the Holy Spirit.
He said, I thank you. I'm giving you the credit that
I'm not as other men are. And he talked about what he did
and did not do. That's the religion of the Pharisee.
That's the religion of the natural man. They think there's something
I do that separates me from somebody else. And Paul said, that's what
I was touching the righteousness, which is in the law. I was a
Pharisee. Verse six, concerning zeal. I wasn't dead. I was zealous. I believed that
what I believed was right and what everybody else believed
was wrong. And if somebody didn't believe
what I did, I felt it my moral responsibility and obligation
to persecute them because they were so wrong and so far away
from that which was right. So he said, concerning zeal,
I persecuted the church. You remember when Stephen was
stoned They laid their coats down at the feet of a young man
named Saul. Saul of Tarsus, the Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church. Touching, and this is what I
find so amazing. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law. He's talking about Ten Commandments.
I believed I was blameless. I believed I never told a lie.
I believed I never stole anything. I believed I didn't covet. I believed I never murdered anybody. Go on and on down the line. He
said, I believed that I was blameless before the Ten Commandments.
Now, can you imagine anybody doing that, even if they didn't
understand the Ten Commandments? Obviously, he didn't understand
the Ten Commandments, or he wouldn't have said something like that.
But still, look at the effort this man must have given in trying
to keep the law. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, I was blameless. I only know one other person
who said something like that, the rich young ruler. He's the one
who said, all these have I kept for my youth up. Now, what a
pedigree. This is my autobiography touching
the righteousness, which is in the law. I was blameless. I don't
think anybody here would make that claim. Did you ever believe
that? I might've thought I kept two
or three commandments, but not all 10. He thought I was blameless
before that law. Have you ever known anybody like
that? Verse seven, but what things were gain to me? Those I counted loss for Christ. Now, one time I considered my
religion, my Pharisee, my being a Hebrew of the Hebrews, my righteousness,
which was of the law, being blameless, I considered that a gain to me.
That was on the plus side. That was to my advantage. Hold
your finger there and turn back to Galatians chapter one, verse 13. For you've heard of my conversation
times past in the Jews religion. I love the way he calls that
the Jews religion. He didn't call it the truth.
He calls it the Jews religion. That's all it was. John uses
that term a lot, the Jews religion. You've heard of my conversation
times past in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure, I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. And I profited in the Jews
religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more
exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. Oh, how he profited. in the Jews religion. He thought
it was game to it. But what does he say? But what
things were game to me, those I counted loss, rubbish, garbage,
positively harmless. They've gone from the pro column
to the con column. I used to consider them game.
Now I consider them nothing but garbage. Verse eight, yea, Doubtless,
there's no doubt about this. I count all things but loss,
garbage, refuse of no value for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of
all things and do count them but dumb. Dumb. that I may win Christ and
be found in him. I count all these things of my
past religious experience, rubbish, loss, with absolutely no value
in comparison to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord. Now, when the Lord makes himself
known to you, you'll see your religion for what it is, rubbish,
without value. And notice how he says, for whom
I've suffered the loss of all things. Now let's consider what
he lost. He lost self-righteousness and gained Christ's righteousness.
He lost bondage and gained freedom. He lost the favor of man and
gained the favor of God. Now he said, these things that
I have counted, loss. 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 and do count them
but dumb. Now, I can't tell you how sick
it makes me to hear somebody talk about what they've lost
for Christ. What I've given up for Christ,
what I could be. I could be making money now. I could have been
very successful, but because of what I've given up from Christ,
I'm held down. What did Paul think he lost?
Next time you flush the commode, do you get upset over what you
lost? Now that's what Paul calls it. Well, you're being crude. This
is Paul, this is not me. He said, I count it but done. That I may win Christ and be
found in Him. Now Paul says, this is my desire. I want to win Christ and be found
in Him so that when God comes looking for me, He simply finds
me in Him. That's all I want. And you know that's all I want?
That's all I want. I don't want him to come finding
me. Well, I'm defending the truth.
I'm preaching the truth. I'm praying. I'm reading the
scriptures. I'm seeking to suppress sin for his glory. I'm seeking
to whatever it might be. No, I simply want to be found
in Christ so that all God sees when he sees me is Jesus Christ. That's what I want. And he expounds
on that in verse nine. I want to be found in him. And
here's what that means. Not having my own righteousness. I don't want to have anything
to do with having my own personal righteousness. You know why?
Because it's filthy rags. That's all it is. There's nothing
about it that could commend me to God. not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, my efforts at obeisance, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which is of
God by faith. Now, this is what it looks like
to be found in him, to not have God not looking at me in my own
righteousness, What about your faith? My faith is the faith
of Christ, His faithfulness. He believed God perfectly. He
said, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. My faith is
so weak, I'm looking to His faithfulness. Being saved, listen to this.
If you're saved, if you're accepted by God, you have the very righteousness
of God. Not your own righteousness, but
the righteousness of God. Their righteousness is of me,
saith the Lord. And this is only known by faith.
Being found in him, not my own, being 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, what is the one evidence
that you have this righteousness? To him that worketh not, but
believeth, and listen to this name of our God, but believeth
on him who justifieth the ungodly. His faith. is canon for righteousness. Now if you work not, are you
trying to work your way into heaven? Are you somebody that
sees, I cannot be saved by my works in any way to any degree. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifies the ungodly. You know your only
hope is that God justifies the ungodly for Christ's sake. That
man's faith is canon for righteousness. Now let's go on reading. Verse
10. First, I want to be found in
him, and secondly, I want to know him. I want to know him. I don't want to simply know about
him. I want to know him. I want to be his friend. I want to be his child. I want
to be somebody he has saved, and I want to be his friend.
I want to be like Abraham, the friend of God. God spake to Moses
face to face as a man speaks with his friend. I want to know
him so that he counts me as his friend. And that is the privilege
of every believer. I want to know him. I don't want
to simply know about him. I want to know him. And I want
to know the power of his resurrection. The saving power. When he was
raised from the dead, all of God's elect were saved. All of
God's elect were justified. All of God's elect were sanctified. We were even given life quickened
together with Him before we were even born. Now, I want to know
the power, the omnipotence of His resurrection. I want to know
Him. I want to be found in Him. I
want to know Him. I want to know the power of His resurrection.
And I want to know the fellowship of His sufferings. You know what
that means? I want to know that I had a part
in what He did. I had a share in what He did,
that when He died, He died for me. When He lived, He lived for
me. When He died, He died for me.
When He was raised, He was raised for me. As He's right now seated
at the right hand of the Father, He's representing me. I want
to know that I had some part in what He did, not by way of
contribution, but that what He did, He did for me, and I'm resting
in Him. And then he says, I want to be
made conformable unto his death. In Philippians chapter two, we
read, he became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. And you know what I want to do? Sure not much of a good, do a
bunch of a job of doing it, but this is what I want. I want to
be obedient. I want to deny myself. I want
to take up my cross and I want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
He became obedient unto death. I want to be an obedient child. If by any means, verse 11, if
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
This is my goal, to attain to the resurrection of the dead,
to be able to behold his face in righteousness and to be satisfied
by waking in his likeness. That's my goal. That's my goal. I want to attain to the resurrection
of the dead, that I'll be just like the Lord Jesus Christ when
I'm raised up. That's what I'm looking for.
Verse 12. It's not as though I'd already
attained. Either were already perfect. I'm not there yet. Obviously
I'm not yet perfect like I will be. But I follow after. I pursue. Now I know I haven't
attained. I know I'm not perfect. Paul
was so well aware of his own sinfulness. Now here's the only
time I think it's okay for someone to say, I'm not perfect. Somebody
says to me, I'm not perfect. Hello? Yeah, obviously. And the same
thing with regard to me. If I say I'm not perfect, you
can say, yeah, that's an understatement. But here we have Paul saying
this. Paul saying this. And he says, I'm not perfect. I've not attained. I am well
aware of my sin, but I follow after if that I may apprehend,
if I may lay hold that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. I want to lay hold of him as
he has laid hold of me. I want to be apprehended. I want
to apprehend him the way he has apprehended me. I love that song. Hail sovereign love that first
began the scheme to rescue fallen man Hail matchless, free, eternal
grace that gave my soul a hiding place. Enwrapped in thick Egyptian
night and fond of darkness more than light, madly I ran the sinful
race, secure without a hiding place. But thus the eternal counsel
ran. Almighty love, arrest that man. I've been apprehended. I felt
the arrows of distress and found I had no hiding place. Verse 13, brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. One thing, one thing, this one
thing. I do. David said, one thing have
I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, to dwell at
the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Now, once again,
when I was a boy, I'd read that passage of scripture or hear
that passage quoted, I'd think, who wants to be in that house
all day long? I mean, you know, Christ Jesus is the house of
the Lord. This is talking about abiding
in him, being found only in him. One thing if I desire the Lord,
that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire his temple. The rich young ruler came up
to the Lord said, good master, what good things will I do that
I might inherit eternal life? And the Lord said, why call us
out me good. Now, the reason he said that
is because the rich young ruler didn't know who he was. He was
saying, I see you're a really good man. And how can I reach
your level of goodness? And he didn't know who the Lord
was. And the Lord said, keep the commandments. You want to come on that ground?
Okay, here you go. Keep the commandments. And he
named five of the six of the tables of the law regarding man
and man, thou shalt not, you honor your father and mother,
you'll not lie, you'll not steal, you'll be sexually pure, you'll
not, but the one he left out was thou shalt not covet. He
didn't mention that. And the fellow said, All these
have I kept from my youth up. And the Lord said, one thing
you lack. But that one thing you lack is
everything. See, this man didn't know he
was eating up a covetousness. He said, go and sell what you
have and give to the poor. You'll have treasures in heaven
and come and follow me. And he went away very sorrowful. One
thing you lack. And then I love the story of
Martha and Mary. The Lord has come to their house.
Martha's busy serving. Mary just sits at his feet and
listens to him while Martha's doing all this work and doing
all these things. But there sits Mary. She said
to the Lord, Lord, don't you care that she's not doing anything?
Bid her that she help me. You don't tell the Lord what
to do. And the Lord said, Martha, Martha, you're careful, you're
troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. What Mary's doing. Sitting at
my feet. That's a good place to be, isn't
it? And hearing my word. She has chosen that good part.
And thou shalt, it shall not be taken away from her. We have
Paul saying, and I love this. I wish I could enter into this.
I hope I can learn something about this. One thing I do, forgetting, forgetting what's behind, forgetting the good stuff, forgetting
the good experiences. Now, why would you want to forget
good experiences? Because what we'll do is we'll make a savior
of them. We'll try to get assurance from those good experiences.
Well, I remember when I, whatever it is, when the Lord did this
for me, well, forget it. Forget it. All that counts is
right now. Forgetting the bad stuff. Forgetting
the unpleasant experiences. You know, I'd love to come up
to somebody and say, I'm sorry for the way I did you. What are
you talking about? I don't even remember. Wouldn't it be something if we
could just forget everything? Forgetting, now Paul said this
is what I do, forgetting what's behind it, it's past. I'm not
gonna think of the quote good things, I'm not gonna think of
the bad things, just forget them. Wouldn't that be a blessing to
just forget? Wouldn't you like to be so taken
up with what's before you that you forget everything behind
you? Taken up with the Lord Jesus Christ like that. And he says,
this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forth, stretching for those things which are before
the Lord Jesus Christ. having my eyes on him. You see,
if you look to him, he's before you, isn't he? He's before you. Reaching forth unto those things
which are before, verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Now, believer,
what a high calling you have. It's called a heavenly calling,
it's called a holy calling, and it is a high calling, isn't it? You know, there's no such thing
as mundane in any believer's life. You have a high calling
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, to preach his gospel, to be his
witness. What a high calling. I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The calling of perfect conformity
to His image. That's your future. David said,
I'll be satisfied when I awaken my likeness. That's your future.
And that's what we are to press toward. Verse 15. Let us therefore, as many as
be perfect, mature, be thus minded. If you have any maturity, think
just like I'm thinking. I want to win Christ to be found
in Him. I want to know Him. I want to know the power of His
resurrection. I want to know the fellowship of His sufferings.
I want to be made conformable unto Him in His death. I want
to attain to the resurrection of the dead. I want to forget
what's behind and reach forth unto that which is before. Now,
anybody that has maturing, any maturity, be thus minded. And
if in anything you be otherwise minded, if you're not seeing
this, God shall reveal this to you. You're not gonna stay thinking
that way. If you're a believer, God will
reveal this to you. Verse 16, nevertheless, where
into we've already attained, let's walk by that same rule.
Let's don't go backwards. Let's don't go backwards. Where
into all we've already attained, let us walk by that same rule,
let us mind the same thing, Christ and his glory. Brethren, be followers
together of me, and mark them which walk so as you have us
for an example. Follow my example. What I've
been saying to you, let that be your desire, your goal. For many walk, verse 18, whom
I've told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they're
enemies of the cross of Christ. Now he's talking about preachers
once again. enemies of the cross of Christ. What more horrible
place could there be for God to call you an enemy of the cross
of his son? And anybody that doesn't preach
the gospel of Christ is an enemy of the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Whose end, verse 19, is destruction. That's their end, condemnation. Whose God is their belly. They're not serving God, they're
serving themselves. They're seeking their own good
and their own welfare rather than the welfare of God's people.
Whose glory is in their shame, what they ought to be ashamed
of. The glory in who mind earthly things, not heavenly things.
It's all of the earth. For our conversation, every believer,
our citizenship is in heaven. From whence we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you love it when we sing
that song, when he shall come with trumpet sound? Oh, may I
then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless
to stand before the throne. And that's what we're doing.
Our citizenship is in heaven. We're not citizens of this world.
The Lord said my kingdom is not of this world. We're strangers
here. We're pilgrims passing through.
Our citizenship is in heaven and we're awaiting the second
return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can't wait when everybody's
gonna see him as he is. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Verse 21, who shall change. our vile body. Now, I've got a vile body, a
sinful body, a weak body, a dying body, but he's going to change
it. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. I'm going to have a glorious
body just like the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what we're
waiting for, without sin, without an appetite for sin, perfectly
conformed to His image. He's going to change our vile
body that it may fashion like unto His glorious body. according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself. Now here is why this is gonna
happen. His ability. He said to those two blind men,
do you believe that I'm able to do this? Yea, Lord. Do you believe he's able to change
your vile body and make it like unto his glorious body? Yea,
Lord. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able. That's all of our
faith is in his ability, not in our ability, but in his ability. I'm persuaded he is able to keep
that which I've committed to him. against that day. Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, being fully persuaded that he was able. to do everything he promised
he'd do. Now may Paul's testimony, I realize
there's some points of Paul's autobiographical language we
can't enter into. I can't enter into touching the
righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless. I can't
get hold of that. Can't at all. But I can get a
hold of this. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Let's pray.