Let's open our Bibles today to
the letter of Philippians. Philippians chapter 3. This is
one of the four letters that the Apostle Paul, inspired by
God the Holy Spirit, wrote when he was a prisoner in Rome. It is believed that this letter
was written in about A.D. 60. Philippians chapter 3. Finally,
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, to write the same things to you. To me, indeed, is not grievous,
but for you it is safe. You know, the world always wants
to hear something new. Itching ears. Paul says, it's
not grievous to me to write the same thing unto you. There's
only one gospel. It's never changed, and it's
not going to change. And God's people, we love to
hear the gospel. We love to come together and
worship him, sing these hymns of praise, some of them written
hundreds of years ago. That last hymn that we sang,
Augustus Toplady wrote, we know he lived in the 1700s, a minister
in the Church of England. And what a blessing that hymn
has been down through the ages. What a truth is revealed there. Paul says, it's not grievous
to me to write the same things, to preach the same gospel message. There's only one message. And
that is the message of Christ that will do a sinner good, that
will do God's people good. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil
workers. Beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision,
that is the Israel of God, we are the circumcision, which worship
God in the spirit. and rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh. 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. Circumcise the
eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and
Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee. concerning
zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted loss for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I
count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done, that I may when Christ,
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 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, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before. I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore,
as many as be mature or perfect, be thus minded, and if in anything
ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless,
whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule,
let us mind the same thing, Brethren, be followers together of me,
and mark them which walk, so as you have us for an example. For many walk, of whom I have
told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are
the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose
God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who
mind earthly things, For our conversation or citizenship is
in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working,
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. What a blessing just to read
this chapter. meditate upon the words of the
Apostle Paul that he's given us here. But this morning I want
to speak to us on five words that are found in verse nine. And be found in him. And be found in him. That's my desire. That's my desire today and that's
my desire when one day I'm going to stand before God Almighty
to be found in Him. And I have four things I want
to mention to us this morning from these words that are true
of everyone who is found in Him, everyone who shall be found in
Him. Isn't that your desire? If you're
here this morning to worship God, isn't that your desire? You know that you're going to
meet God. Scripture says that it is appointed
unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment. And isn't
your desire, when you stand before God Almighty, to be found in
Him, to be found in Christ, to be
accepted in the beloved. I have four things that are true
about everyone who will be found in Him. First, all who will be
found in Him will be found in His righteousness. Now Paul put this in the negative
when he said, they will not be found in their own righteousness,
which is of the law. Notice in verse nine, he said,
and be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law. Everyone who will be found in
him will be found in his righteousness. What is meant by our own righteousness,
which is of the law? It means our obedience. It means our obedience to the
law of God. Some people want to just say,
well, to the Ten Commandments, well, that's part of the law
of God, no doubt about it. And that's the righteousness
that men have by their obedience unto the law. But you see the
Lord Jesus Christ, he said, except your righteousness, your righteousness,
your righteousness, your obedience to the law of God, except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of
heaven. What was the righteousness of
the scribes and the Pharisees? It was their attempt to keep
the law, to obey the law. That was their righteousness.
Paul himself, as he confessed before this verse, himself confessed
that he had been a Pharisee. In fact, Paul tells us that at
one time, he saw himself as blameless. Notice that, if you will, in
verse six. He's giving his own testimony
concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness,
which is in the law, blameless. That's how Paul saw himself.
And that's how the Pharisees and the scribes, that's how they
saw themselves. They saw themselves blameless
as touching the righteousness which is in the law, which is
in the law, that is by their obedience to the law. Now, how could a person, how
could Paul, for instance, see and believe himself to be blameless
before the law of God. He made this fatal mistake. He
did not realize that the law is spiritual. In Romans chapter
seven and verse 14, this is what he said, the law is spiritual. He made that mistake and men
today make that mistake. You may be here like that. That's
the mistake that you make. Some people say, well, I'm just
going to try to live by the Ten Commandments. Well, if you could
be blameless, as Paul was, in the righteousness which is in
the law, thinking that the law only deals with outward actions,
not seeing that the law is spiritual, and it's not just stealing something,
It's not just taking something that's not yours that the law
forbids, but it's lusting after something that is forbidden.
It deals with the heart. And the Lord Jesus Christ, of
course, said out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
and murders, and all of these wicked things that men are guilty
of. The law is spiritual. The law
was never given. Here's something that some people
seem to misunderstand. The law was never given for man
to earn or to merit righteousness or to earn salvation. That was
never the purpose of the law of God, never. When God gave
the law, if we just think of the law as the law that God gave
through Moses, and it's called the law of God, the law of Moses,
the law of the Lord, All referring to the same law. That law was
never given for men to be saved by. Was never given for that. The law was given to the nation
of Israel for them to obey, to receive physical blessings in
the land that God gave unto them. And they failed, of course. They
failed over and over and over again. You say, well, preacher,
if the law wasn't given to be a means by which men might be
saved, by which men might have a righteousness, why was it given? Well, that's a good question.
I'm thankful that Paul gives us the answer, aren't you? I'm
thankful that he tells us why the law was given. First of all,
the law, he says, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
That's the first purpose of the law. We read the law and it's
like a mirror. We look into it and what do we
see? We see ourselves. And when we
look into the law, the law says, thou shalt not, thou shalt not. And we see that we have disobeyed. We have disobeyed. And the scriptures
tell us to break one point, to offend in one point, is to be
guilty of the whole law. The law was never given to give
people a way to earn salvation. When God gave the law, if we're
just thinking about the law given at Mount Sinai, man was a fallen
creature and man no longer had the ability. Once Adam disobeyed
God, once he ate that fruit and fell in sin, And all of us inherit
that sin nature. That's what we call original
sin. We come into this world. We do
not sin to make ourselves sinners. We sin because we are born sinners. Man, when the law was given,
he was already incapacitated. He had not the ability to obey
God's law perfectly. No, Paul tells us the law was
given that we might have a knowledge of sin. We might see that we
need a savior. And then in Galatians, he tells
us this about the law. He says, wherefore the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be
justified by faith. That's why the law was given.
It was to show us that we are sinners. It was to take us by
the hand, and he's speaking especially to the nation of Israel there
when he says that, a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. The nation of Israel, by the
law, was kept separate from all the other nations until Christ
came, until the Savior came into this world. If those who will be found in
him, I said, all who will be found in him will be found in
his righteousness. None will be found in their own
righteousness. Is that clear? Am I making that
clear? I don't want anyone to misunderstand
what I'm saying. All who will be found in Him
will be found in His righteousness. None will be found in their own
righteousness. That is, none will be found and
be accepted by God because of our obedience to the law, by
our keeping of the law, because none of us can keep the law. If those who will be found in
him will not have their own righteousness, which is of the law, then whose
righteousness will we have? Well, what does Paul say here
in our text? And be found in him not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, My righteousness,
which is of the law, by me keeping the law, by me being obedient
to the law, Paul said, to be found in him not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. What is this righteousness that
is received by faith? It's the righteousness of God.
That's what it's called, isn't it? And there's many reasons
why this righteousness is called the righteousness of God. One reason, of course, is because
Christ is God. And he's the one who worked out
this righteousness. You know, our Lord in that Sermon
on the Mount, not only did he say, except your righteousness
shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no
wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. He also said, I came
not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill the
law and the prophets. He came to fulfill everything
that the prophet said that the Messiah would do and everything
that the law commanded to be done. He came to do that and
he did that. One of the prophecies is found,
one of the prophecies of Christ as the Messiah is found in Daniel,
the book of Daniel chapter nine and verse 24. And, you know, it's a shame that
people take that verse of Scripture, those two, three verses there,
and they argue over the coming of Christ. And they miss They
argue over the second coming of Christ. And you've got all
kinds of theories and beliefs and some of them say this is
the way it's going to take place. Others say this is the way it's
going to take place. And others, they've got another,
and they take these scriptures that talk about the coming of
Christ, his first coming of Christ, and they completely overlook
that. Which the prophet said he would
do. when he comes into this world.
There's six things that Daniel tells us that the Messiah would
do when he came into the world. Let me read you these six things. First of all, it says that he
will finish transgression. He will finish transgression.
What did our Lord say when he expired, when he was hanging
on the cross? He said, it's finished. I did
it. It's finished. That was one of
the things that he would do. He would finish transgression. In other words, he would finish
the work of redemption, finish transgressions. He would make
an end of sins. He would make reconciliation
for iniquity. Now listen. and to bring in everlasting
righteousness. That's why he came, to bring
in everlasting righteousness and the last two and to seal
up the vision and to anoint the most holy place. He would bring
in or establish everlasting righteousness. And how did he do this? How did
the Lord do this? Well, he did it as a servant. That's what the scripture says
in Isaiah chapter 42. He would do it as God's servant. In Philippians chapter 2, if
you look back to chapter 2, In verse 6, the apostle said, in
verse 6, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and
took upon him the form of a servant. In Isaiah chapter 42, God begins
with declaring, behold, my servant, mine elect whom I uphold. How
did he bring in everlasting righteousness? By magnifying God's law and making
it honorable. Now think about that. By magnifying
God's law and making it honorable. He brought in an everlasting
righteousness. And everyone, now listen, everyone
who shall be found in him will be found in this everlasting
righteousness. How did he do that? How did he
magnify God's law? Well, first, he was made under
the law. He was made under the law. When
you consider his person, that he who he is, that he came under
the law and obeyed the law perfectly, that law that you and I are not
able to obey because we have a fallen nature. He obeyed that
law. Every precept. He said that not
one tittle, not one jot would fall to the ground until he had
fulfilled the law. And then you say, well, how do
we know he fulfilled the law? Because the scriptures tell us
that when he died on the cross, that in Jerusalem, remember,
in that temple, that veil was split. That veil in the temple
was split. And what does that show? It shows
us that the way into the most holy place, the presence of God,
was now opened. He had fulfilled the law. But not only did he fulfill the
law by his perfect obedience, but he also brought in everlasting
righteousness by suffering at the hands of that broken law,
the law that you and I, that his people, had broken. And this is the righteousness
that all shall have who will be found in him, the righteousness
which is received by faith. And I want to ask every one of
us here this morning. Is this your righteousness? Is this what you're trusting
in? Are you trusting in something
other than Christ and his perfect righteousness? that is received
by faith when you receive Christ, when you trust in Christ, this
righteousness becomes your righteousness. If you're here this morning,
I don't care who you are. And you cannot say in truth,
that righteousness is my righteousness. That's the righteousness in which
I hope to be found, the righteousness of Christ, which I receive by
faith, by believing in Christ. A second thing about those who
will be found in Christ, Not only shall they be found in His
righteousness, but they will be found in His love. Look with
me, if you will, in John chapter 13. John chapter 13, verse 1. We read, now, before the feast
of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that
he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the
end. This verse declares unto us that
Christ loved his own. If what most people say were
true, then this verse would not have any meaning. When people
tell us that Christ loved all men the same, then this would
not have any meaning to tell us that he loved his own which
were in the world. He loves his own because his
own were given unto him in a special sense. They are those that he loves
with an everlasting love. You might say, well, how did
they become his own? By gift. By gift, the Father
gave them unto him in an everlasting covenant. They were given to him to be,
first of all, members of his body. They were given to him
to be his bride, his church. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it. Those who will be found in him
will be found in his love because nothing can separate one that
he loves from God's everlasting love. It's one of the wonderful truths
that the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans chapter eight, isn't
it? He goes through a long list of things that people might say,
well, this might separate or this might separate, this might
separate some from the, no, no, nothing shall separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. This
love is God's love and it's eternal. And in the Lord's prayer in John
chapter 17, the Lord speaking to his father said that as you
have loved me, you have loved them, his disciples. Having loved his own, he loved
them unto the end. Everyone that shall be found
in him shall be found in his love. The third thing, everyone
that shall be found in him shall be found in his hand. Notice
that in John chapter 10. In John chapter 10 and verse
25, Jesus answered them, I told you
that you believe not the works that I do in my Father's name,
They bear witness of me, but you believe not, because you
are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. Why is it that men
die in unbelief? Because they are not of his sheep. His sheep believe. Now, it may
be when they're young, it may be You know, as just a small
child, it may be as a teenager, it may be as a young adult. And yes, there's even a few instances
of someone in the very end of their life, even, hearing the
voice and believing in Christ. But his sheep, sometime, as the
old preacher used to say, from the cradle to the grave, Sometime
God is going to cross the path of his chosen people with the
gospel. And they're going to believe.
They're going to hear and they're going to believe. Our Lord is
speaking to people here in this passage that did not believe.
And our Lord said, here's the reason, you're not my sheep.
You believe not because you're not my sheep. My sheep, hear
my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto
them eternal life. They don't earn it. They don't
deserve it. I give unto them eternal life. The wages of sin is death. If God gives us what we deserve,
what we earn, that is eternal death. But the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. He gives His sheep. But what I'm saying here, we'll
see just now, all who will be found in Him will be found in
His hand. Verse 29. Verse 28, and I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them
me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out
of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Now here we see that those who
will be found in Christ are called His sheep, and they're all in
His hand. and in the hand of Almighty God. You notice he doesn't say that
none shall try to take one out of his hand. Satan, he goeth
about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And the Lord
Jesus Christ told Peter, remember Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired
thee, that he might sift you as wheat, but, I have prayed for you. I have
prayed for you. And when thou art converted,
he didn't say, and if thou art converted, no. Satan hath desired
to have thee, that he might sift thee as wheat, and when thou
art converted, Yes, he would be converted. Why? Because of
the intercessor, because Christ continually lives making intercession
for his people. In Hebrews chapter 7 and verse
25, we read that saying, we have such a great high priest. We
will be saved, why? Because he intercedes, all those
that he intercedes for, all that come unto God by him. No one
shall take one out of his hand. I like to think of this like
a lock on a door. At our house, we have a lock
that's on the on the knob of the door. We go in, we turn that
knob. That's the hand of Christ. We're
in His hand. No one's going to take us out
of His hand. Then we reach up and flip the deadbolt lock. That's
the hand of God Almighty. We're in His hand. We're in God's
hand. and no one is going to take one
of his sheep out of his hand. And you know what a shepherd
would lead his sheep out in the morning to find pasture? They
would stay out maybe until it got real hot or when they got
time to come back into the fold. And what would the shepherd do?
He would lead his sheep into the fold, but he would count
them. He would count them. If he took 50 sheep out to pasture,
he wanted to make sure when they came into the fold, there was
50 sheep come back into the fold. And the scriptures reveals to
us that one day the Lord Jesus Christ shall stand before his
Father and he shall say, Father, here am I and the sheep which
thou has given me. And not one is going to be lost.
Not one is going to be taken out of His hand. Are you in His
hand today? You're talking about assurance.
You're talking about life assurance. This is eternal life assurance,
isn't it? To be in the hand of Christ. And the last thing, Turn with
me to Revelation chapter 20. This will be true. I said, these
four things will be true of all who shall be found in him in
that day. They will be found in his righteousness. They will be found in his law.
They will be found in his hand. And let me show you, they'll
be found in his book. They'll be found in his book.
You say, what book is that? Well, the scripture calls it
the book of life, the Lamb's book of life. And here in chapter
20, where we read about that great judgment that's coming
upon all men. Verse 11, and I saw a great white
throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away. And there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another
book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books. The books, you say. There's books
opened and there is a book opened. And all men shall be judged out
of the books. and whosoever name is not found
in the book. Right? Isn't that what it says? And everyone's going to be there.
No one's going to escape. Men will cry to the mountains
to hide them, to cover them from the face of him that sits upon
the throne. But the sea will give up its
dead, Death and hell will be delivered up, the dead which
were in them, and they were judged every man according to their
works, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This
is the second death, and whosoever, whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Those
who will be found in Christ, they're also found in the book
of life. Their names were written there,
the scripture says, from before the foundation of the world. I want to be found in him, don't
you? I trust that all of us here this
morning, I know that's our desire, to be found in him. So what are
we told to do? We're told to look to Christ,
to believe in Him, to flee, to flee to Christ. And then we too will be found
in Him. We're going to sing a