Philippians chapter 3. I'm entitling
the message in the form of a very important and vital question
I want us all to consider. Now here's the question. What
is salvation? What is salvation? Do I have it? Am I saved? What is salvation? Very vital and important question
for all of us to consider. Well, the answer is found very
clearly in verse 9 of Philippians chapter 3. That I may be found,
that I may win Christ, verse 9, and be found in Him. Being found in Christ. You see, the answer is clear. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
He is the Savior. He is the Savior that saves.
He is God, our Savior. Being the Savior, He is salvation. I mean, that's pretty simple,
isn't it? Being the Savior, He is salvation. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sin. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved. Salvation by the grace of God,
by the mercy of God, by the love of God is only revealed and found
in Him, in Christ. Being found in Christ is salvation. Now, are you in Him? Am I? I asked myself that question. As we read earlier from Acts
16, Paul spent time in Philippi preaching the gospel of Christ,
and the Lord blessed his ministry to the calling out of some of
the Lord's elect, Lydia, the little girl that was demon-possessed,
the Philippian jailer, and many others. God, by His grace, had
a people there and called them out through the preaching of
the gospel. Now remember as well, when Paul pens the words back
to these believers some years later to the churches in Philippi,
Paul writes this back from a jail cell. He not only wound up in
jail in Philippi and was released by an earthquake sent from God,
but now he's in Rome in jail for preaching the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And like as he was in jail in
Philippi with Silas, And after they were beaten, they were rejoicing
and praying unto the Lord, and finally he writes here, my brethren,
verse 1, Philippians 3. Finally, finally at last, brethren,
rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing to you,
to me indeed, is not a burden, but for you it's safe. I could
bring this message from Philippians chapter 3, next Sunday, the following
Sunday, and the rest of the Sundays of this year. And you know what? It would be safe for you because
it's God's Word. It's God's truth. Now I'm not
going to do that, but I am going to do this. I'm going to bring
the same message. Not from Philippians chapter
3. But I'll bring the same gospel message to you next week. Salvation
by the grace of God. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice
in the Lord. Do you know this is the watchword
of this epistle? Turn to Philippians chapter 4,
verse 4. When should we rejoice in the
Lord? When all the sky is blue and all the lights are green.
I got the world by the tail on a downhill pole. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. What about if when you walk out
that door they waited out there to tie you up, to beat you, and
to put you in prison for coming here and worshiping? Would you
rejoice in the Lord then? I pray by His grace that we all
would rejoice in the Lord always, in all things. Sickness, health,
life, death, poverty, wealth. Rejoice in the Lord always. Even
though Paul was in prison, he never called himself a prisoner
of Rome, but rather repeatedly called himself, remember, the
prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore he could always rejoice
in the Lord no matter what our circumstances may be Believers
can always find abundant reasons to rejoice in the Lord in the
Lord now We rejoice in the greatness of his person, don't we? Look
right across the page, verse 6, Philippians 2. Who being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. We rejoice in the Lord, In His
incarnation, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We
rejoice in the Lord and the greatness of His person. We rejoice in
the Lord and the power and efficacy of His atoning blood. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all our sin. We glory
in His sovereign love unto us. God, who is rich in mercy, for
His great love wherewith He loved us. Even when we were dead in
sin, we glory in the marvel of His wise and good providence,
don't we? Philippians chapter 4, turn there,
look at verse 19. But my God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by the Lord Jesus Christ. All things are working together
for good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. We rejoice in the power of His
everlasting intercession. He ever lives, think about it,
right now, right now, the Lord of glory, bodily ascended to
glory, sitting right now, seated right now upon the throne of
glory, ever living to intercede for us right now, right now. living to intercede for us. So, rejoice in the Lord. Look
at verse 2, Philippians 3 verse 2. Beware. Beware. Beware. Three times he says this. Three times. Beware. Beware. Here's a warning. Here's a warning. Beware of those, as he says in
verse 18, who are enemies of the cross of Christ. Beware of
those who are enemies of the cross of Christ. Beware of the
dog, the two-legged dogs. The false prophet. Beware of
the false preacher. They're evil workers. They're
evil workers. They transform themselves into
an angel of light. preaching for righteousness,
their own morality, as it says in 2 Corinthians 11. So beware
of evil workers, beware of them that would mutilate the flesh
in the name of God, and say that recommends us unto God. So there's
a warning in Scripture, all through Scripture about false prophets.
Our Lord said this in Matthew 7. Beware of false prophets which
come unto you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. So beware, beware, beware of
them. Paul warned his church about
those who would come and try to add something to the work
of Christ. And certainly it is an evil work
to say that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is not enough in salvation. I trust many of you listen to
the radio broadcast This morning, if you didn't, it'll be posted
on Sermon Audio tomorrow morning. But Paul warned the Galatians
about that, didn't he? If righteousness comes by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. Those who are evil workers who
preach that salvation is not totally accomplished by Christ
alone. That is, they would say, you
must bring something to it. You must add something to it
to really make it effectual for you. That's an evil man. That's
a false prophet. That's an enemy of the cross
of Christ. You mean something I do makes the work of Christ
effectual? That doesn't even sound right, does it? Because
it's not right. He accomplished salvation. Therefore,
he says in verse 3, he describes, we are the true Israel. We are
those who are truly circumcised. And if you look at the reference
there, it's to Romans 2 verse 29. A true Jew is not one who
is outwardly circumcised, but that circumcision is of the heart
by the operation of God. And the other reference there
to Colossians 2.11 said it's the operation of God without
hands. It's God who operates on the
heart. It's God who makes us new creatures in Christ. And
the fruit of that is this. We worship God in spirit, not
in tradition of the fathers, not in relics of the flesh. We
worship God in spirit. The fathers seek as such to worship
Him in spirit and in truth. And then it says, we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. We rejoice in Him alone, in His
fullness, in His grace. You see, of His fullness have
all we receive grace for grace. We rejoice in Christ, don't we? We worship God in His Spirit. And then thirdly, he says this,
if God's operated on your heart, these three things are true.
You desire to worship God, to honor Him in your heart, your
mind, so don't you? You rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ, His person and His work, and then the third evidence of
having that operation of God on your heart is having no confidence. No confidence. My flesh are yours. That is, we do not trust the
flesh for salvation. We have no confidence in the
flesh. It is the spirit that quickens,
the flesh profits. What's that next word? The flesh
profits nothing. Nothing. You get it? Nothing. Zero. The flesh, the flesh, the
flesh. Add zero one million times and
what is the sum? add one million sinners together,
and what do they all add up together? Less than nothing and vanity. Vanity. No confidence in the
flesh. It's the spirit that quickens
the flesh, profiteth nothing. Let us, who are believers before
or after regeneration, never have confidence in the flesh.
Paul, the apostle, writes this, in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. And then Jeremiah penned these
words, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, that maketh
his flesh his arm, his strength his power, whose heart is departed
from the Lord. You see, We worship God. That's our desire. That's why
we come here together, isn't it? To worship God. And to do
that, do that in our spirit. In our spirit. And to rejoice
in Christ. And to have no confidence in
the flesh. In verse 4 down through verse 6, I went through this
in the reading. I'm not going to go back over
it in much detail. But Paul gives a rather long
list of things that he thought at one time gave him confidence
in the flesh. One time he thought these things
recommended him to God. One time he thought these things
surely secured my salvation. You know, most folks today think
exactly the same thing that Paul thought right here. I know I
did, before I knew the gospel. I cut my teeth on works religion.
I grew up in works religion. I knew all about it. And I thought,
because I did or didn't do certain things, that certainly I merited
God's favor. Well, that's works, isn't it?
After God saved me, I realized later that, like Paul, it's all
done. It's all done. Saul of Tarsus
one time boasted in these things. He said, I'm zealous of the tradition
of my fathers. Circumcised the eighth day considered
the most valid circumcision. You remember in Luke chapter
2, when the Lord Jesus in his body as a baby, eight days old,
they brought him to the temple to be circumcised, honoring the
law, even in his infancy. And he says there, I'm of the
stock of Benjamin, that beloved son of Jacob, the Hebrew of Hebrews. He was a full-blooded Jew concerning
zeal. For the law, a most self-righteous,
self-serving Pharisee, among whom the Lord said, You are they
that justify yourselves before men, that God knows your heart.
That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the
sight of God. But Paul thought being a Pharisee,
certainly, Certainly, because I'm a Pharisee, that that merits
something, doesn't it? Maybe you reckon because I'm
a preacher that that recommends that I get... No, no, not at
all. Not at all. All my preaching
is just dumb. I mean, as far as any merit goes,
as far as any righteousness goes, it's just dumb. Concerning zeal,
Pharisee, he persecuted believers unto death, even stood When they
stoned Stephen to death, he held the coat of those that said,
Amen. Throw another one. Throw another one. Dashed out
his brain. He said, Oh, that's a good thing. Concerning righteousness, he
said, By the holy law of God, look what it says down there
in verse 6. He said, I'm without guilt. I'm not guilty. I'm not
guilty. Isn't that exactly what most
folks think today? They're not guilty. Ask somebody
tomorrow, just ask them, are you a guilty sinner? Oh, wait
a minute, whoa, no, mm-mm, no, no, no, not me. You see, Christ
died for the guilty. If you're not guilty, you don't
have a savior. Only the guilty folks need saviors.
But Paul said, you see how far one may go in religion and not
know Christ? As a matter of fact, he hated
the Lord Jesus Christ. He hated the revelation of God. He hated the revelation of God.
Do you know what the revelation of God is? The Lord Jesus Christ. He hated Him. Therefore, he hated
God. Now, look at verse 7, underscore
this little word, B-U-T, B-U-T. He would have stayed right there
in his self-righteous, filthy rags, stinking before God, going
to hell in his self-righteousness, self-serving, self-centeredness,
but for one reason, but God. Now who made you to differ from
another? What are you doing here? Why aren't you down the street
somewhere where the gospel denied, where the gospel hated? But God,
but God, he made the difference. Who made you to differ from another?
God made the difference. This, you see, the reason that
this is so powerful to me is because this is my testimony.
And if you're a believer resting in Christ, this is your testimony. There was one day when I was
very religious and lost. And there was one day when God
crossed my path and taught me the gospel. And made me to count
everything but the Lord Jesus Christ had done, but God. That which meant everything to
Saul of Tarsus, now being taught of God, made an object of the
Lord's mercy. What was one time a plus to him
and a gain to him is now is nothing but loss. You see that? What things were
gain to me, now I count loss, loss, loss. You know what that
really is right there? That's repentance. That's what
repentance is. It's a change. Don't you see
a change in this man? Now who changed him? I mean, he was headed to Damascus
to do damage. He was on a mission of seek and
destroy. He wasn't seeking the Lord. The
Lord was seeking him, and then unhorsed him, put him in the
dust, broke his heart, made him cry out, Lord, what will you
have me to do? But one time, one of those things
I thought were gain to me, now I count all but loss, loss, loss,
ruin, ruin. Now Christ is all and in all
to him. Now look at verse 8. Yea, doubtless. Now I like that
kind of language. This is a no-brainer. I mean
this is a no doubter. You remember that old baseball
commentator, Joe Nuxall? You remember Joe? Red's on the
radio, remember him? And every time Joe and Marty
called a ball game and when old Pete Rose got up there or Johnny
Bench or Perez, one of those guys, hit a home run, you remember
what old Nuxie would say? That's a no doubter. I mean,
it's out of the park. And that's what he's saying right
here. This is a no doubter. Doubtless. Doubtless. Doubtless,
I count all things, not some things, all things, all things,
all things, loss, loss, ruin, dumb, garbage in the waste can,
all things, loss, because now I have an excellent knowledge
of Christ. I have an excellent knowledge
of Christ Jesus, He's my Lord. You see, salvation is knowing
the true and living God. You remember we read in John
17 verse 3 so many times, this is eternal life? This is eternal
life? That they might know Thee, the
only true God, Jesus Christ. Oh, doubtless, I count everything
else, everything else lost. for the excellent knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of everything,
all things, and do count all things dung." That's a pretty
strong word, isn't it? You know what dung is? Rubbish,
garbage, that which is cast out. You see, when we compare everything
and anything to the Lord Jesus Christ, it has to be dumb because
of the superior of His excellent person and work. Everything else
must go but Christ. Everything else. That's why He
said, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus, that I may win Christ, that I may
gain Christ and be found in Him. Be found in Him. Be found in
Him. All things lost. Because now
I have all spiritual blessings in Christ. Everything else is
meaningless. Everything else is secondary.
To have the real knowledge of God as He's revealed in Christ.
Now listen, the only way, this is the only way God is known. God is revealed in Christ. The
only way we can approach the invisible God is through the
visible God-man mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now how are
you going to approach the invisible God? How? Tell me where he is. How are you going to get there? The only way we can approach
God is in Christ. Our Lord said, I'm the way, I'm
the truth, I'm the life. No man comes to the Father but
through me. You see, there's one God and
one mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. God who commanded the
light to shine had a shine of the darkness to give us the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God. Where might we see the
glory of God? Where might we worship the true
and living God? Only in the Lord Jesus Christ,
in the face of Christ, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Apostle Paul later,
when he's about to lose his head in 2 Timothy, there when he writes
his last letter before he's beheaded for the gospel, says, I know
whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded He is able
to keep me, to keep all things which I've committed unto Him.
You see, this is the testimony of every believer. the false way and have gained
by His grace the true way, the true and living way, worshiping
the true and living God. We lost false peace and have
gained lasting and real peace with God through the Lord Jesus
Christ. He made peace for us. We lost
spiritual death and have been given the abundance of eternal
and spiritual life in Christ Jesus. We have lost spiritual
bondage and have gained true freedom. redemption, deliverance
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Stands fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ has set us free. Oh, that I may count everything
else lost, dung, ruin, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him. You see, once we were lost, Without
God, without hope, and without Christ. Now we're found. Once lost, now I'm found in Christ
Jesus. You see that? I'm found in Him. Now this is what all of us need,
to be found in Him, whom to know with eternal life. This is where
salvation, redemption, and righteousness is found. in Christ Jesus. Now let me give you another way
of illustrating that. I told you just a minute ago
about Joseph of Mary brought the babe, the Lord Jesus, eight
days old, unto Simeon in the temple to be circumcised according
to the law. And Simeon took that baby from
the arms of Mary, received that baby, eight days old, looked in his face, and said,
Lord, let me now thy, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. A baby, eight days old. He's
God. He's God our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Salvation is in a person. This
is where salvation, redemption, and righteousness is found in
Christ. Someone might say, well, I've
joined the church. That's not what I'm asking. Are
you found in Him? Someone else may say, well, I've
made a religious decision. That's not what I want to know.
I want to know, are you found in Him? Well, I've been baptized. That's not what I want to know.
I want to know, are you found in Christ? How are sinners found
in Christ? Pretty good question, isn't it?
Look at Philippians chapter 1 verse 6. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus? You remember? Who of God is made
unto us? You see, I don't put myself into
the family of God. That's something God does. The
new birth is from above. The new birth is from above. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6,
Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Whose work is it? Of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth. How does a sinner get
in Christ? Not by anything we do, but of
him are you in Christ Jesus. That's 1 Corinthians 1 verse
30. But of him are you in Christ. Oh, to be found in him. Now, he gives a negative. You
see verse 9? He gives a negative. Not. You see that? Not. not found
in him by having my own righteousness, which is of the law." Now that's
what he thought before. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. We're not found in Christ because
of our morality or because of something we do in the flesh.
We're not found in him by something we do, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. Here's this little word again,
big word in scripture, but, but that which is through the faith
of Christ. You see how that's written? by
the faith of Christ. You see, the righteousness the
believer enjoys is the righteousness in Christ, through Christ, by
Christ, in Him. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. Trying to do the best we can
will not produce any righteousness. Not by trying to do the best
we can, not by my personal obedience, not by trying to produce a righteousness
of my own. It's not by touch not, taste
not, handle not. The righteousness most folks
have is the religion of not. The righteousness of not. Touch
not, taste not, handle not. But rather, the righteousness
the believers enjoy is through the obedience of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see that? Now, this is written
in Scripture many times for us to see, but turn back to Galatians
chapter 2. I've pointed this out more than
one time, but that which is through the faith of Christ, or the righteousness
that we have is by the faithful obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. His obedience unto death. That's
what he's saying there. In Galatians 2, look at verse
16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not by
the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified before God. Now turn to Galatians chapter
3, verse 22. The Scripture hath concluded,
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Christ might be given
to them that believe. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputeth righteousness without works. The faithfulness of another,
the obedience of another, The righteousness which is of
God. Now where is this righteousness
that justifies this sinner? Where does it come from? Where
does it come from? Is it something that we muster
up? Something that we work up? No. The righteousness which is of
God, or we can say it this way, which is from God. given unto
us. Christ is the Lord our righteousness. And it's by faith. By faith. By faith. The just shall live
by faith. Now it works. Faith. Faith. Faith. Now, I want to give you just
a couple more things. Verse 10 and 11. Verse 10 and
11. Paul says in verse 10, that I
may know Him. I want to gain Him. I want to
be found in Him. I want to know Him. Now, it's
not just that I want to know about Him. I want to know Him. Now, you can know about someone.
I mean, I know something about Abraham Lincoln. But I don't
know him. You see what I'm saying? And
this is just not knowing about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
not saving faith. I want to know Him. A personal,
intimate union and relationship with Him. Whom to know is life. I want to know Him. I want to
know Him this way. I want to know Him. Believers
do know Him, but we desire to know more of Him, more of His
resurrection life, more of His giving power, more of His sovereign
love, more of His mercy, more of His grace. To know more of
His resurrecting power, more how He raises us from the dead
by His grace. You have to be quick until we're
dead. More of the fellowship of His sufferings. What is the
fellowship of His suffering? Now I thought about these things
a long time. That I may know Him in the power of His resurrection
glory. You see, the gospel is the power
of God and salvation. To know more of the fellowship,
fellowship with His suffering. Does that mean we need to be
nailed to a cross and suffer and know it, to have fellowship
or intimate relationship with the Lord who died, to know more
of His suffering, what His atonement, what His blood unto death, what
His bloody death accomplished for us. And here's the scriptures
I want you to jot in there. 1 Peter 3.18 For Christ once
suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust, that He might
bring us unto God, to know more of the fruit of His atoning work.
That's the fellowship of His suffering. To be intimately acquainted
with what the Lord accomplished in His death, in His sacrifice,
in His blood, in His atonement, that it cleansed us from all
sin, that it appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. And then thirdly, He said, being
made conformable unto His death. Now look at that a long time.
Being made conformable unto His death. What did we read a moment
ago in Philippians 2 verse 8? He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. What is being made conformable
unto death? You know what it is? Submission.
Submission. Submission. Believers are submitted
unto the Lord. In other words, the Lord prayed
this, didn't He, in the garden? Not my will, thy will be done. That's being made conformable
unto his death, submitting to the Lord's will, rejoicing in
the Lord's will. Now I thought about this, when
young Samuel came to Eli the priest and told Eli that God's
going to kill his two rebel boys, remember what Eli said? It's
the Lord. Let Him do what He will. That's
submission. Submission. Verse 11, If by any
means, by any means, I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. If any means, that is to the
means God has ordained, that we might obtain, not earn, we
obtain mercy by His grace and power. Resurrection from the
dead. Not only a bodily resurrection
in the last day, but also implied here is our spiritual resurrection
from the dead right now. And it's by His will, by His
way, by His work, and by the wonder of His grace. And I could
work on those four things. But I'm not going to. Because
I don't want to wear you out. But salvation is by His will,
isn't it? If His own will beget He us with the word of truth."
It's by His way, isn't it? The way of mercy. It's by His
work. Salvation is His work, not ours. He prayed, Father, I finished
the work You gave me to do. And salvation is by the wonder
of His grace. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Now you see why that's one of
my favorite chapters? I have to say that's one of my favorite.