Good morning. Turn with me to
Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three, and we'll be looking at the first
10 verses of this chapter. While you're doing that, let
me just say that it's the privilege is ours to be here in this church
and be members of this church. What a blessing it's been for
Robin and I and I know for my parents too since they've been
here and we're just so thankful to the Lord continually for forgiving
you to us really. And what a blessing it's been
for us for many many years and we trust that the Lord will give
us many more years together. But anyway here we have. the
word of God in Philippians chapter three. Before we look at this, I'd like
us to think, what is eternal life? What is eternal life? What is the one thing which above
all else characterizes eternal life? The word of God gives many answers
to the question, what is eternal life? And they're all good. They're all good answers. But
what I want us to think about today is what, in essence, crystallizes,
what does the word tell us is the most important thing with
respect to eternal life? And what does true worship consist
above all else? Well, in these verses, as you
know, the Apostle Paul tells us in this one simple phrase
that he says there in verse 10, that I may know him, that I may
know him. That's all that matters. You
can't read this passage without recognizing that to pull the
Lord Jesus Christ is everything. You hear the wonder that he,
a sinner, would be found in Christ and the righteousness which is
of God would be his. Well, let's read these verses
beginning there in verse one. He says, Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things
to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs,
beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are
the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might
have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may
have confidence in the flesh, I more so. circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee. Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church. Concerning the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also
count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be
found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of
the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness
which is from God by faith. that I may know him, that I may
know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings. Well, as you read this, as you
hear this once again, you see that these things are real for
Paul, aren't they? He speaks from personal knowledge
and experience of the grace of God, and we see the powerful
effect this has worked in him. You can feel this burning desire
that was the characteristic of Paul in his entire life. This
insatiable passion to know Christ. To know Christ in all his fullness
as a Lord and his grace has been granted to reveal him to us.
To know Christ even as he says in the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings. Why was this the great desire
of Paul? Because of the super abounding
excellency of this person, of Christ. In Christ, Paul tells
us, and we know that in Christ is found this singular righteousness. In Christ is found the righteousness
which is the only righteousness which God accepts. The only righteousness. that God accepts. And found in
Christ is found the righteousness that saves. In Christ, the righteousness
of God is revealed. Do you know Christ? That's the
only thing that matters. How powerfully this truth was
impressed upon me. in a practical situation that
I've told you about before. And let me just say a few things
again about the situation that occurred with one of the men
in New Guinea named Samson, a man that the Lord gave me the great
privilege of appointing into the ministry. And as you know,
I think many of you, that he was struck with tuberculosis
of the spine and it ravaged him and paralyzed his legs and he
was, in the process of dying. And I went to see him. They carried
him out from his village, and he was still at this remote medical
outpost. And I drove there and walked
about two hours and then walked about the last hour because the
road was so bad. And when I got there, he was in bad shape. They tried
to help him by putting his urinary tract was blocked. His legs were
paralyzed. He was in great pain, great distress. And they tried to put in a catheter
and it messed that up. There's no doctor there. And
he was bleeding profusely. And he said, well, we've got
to get you down at least to the main medical center for the Minyamya
area. But there is no doctor there
either, but at least there'd be some, hopefully some better
medical care. And we'll carry you or I'll go
down and get the vehicle. It doesn't matter how bad the
road is, I'll get out here and we'll get you out." And this
is what he said. He said, don't trouble yourselves.
To me and his wife was there and some other relatives. He
said, don't trouble yourself. Look, my back is ruined. My legs
are paralyzed, my urine is blocked, and I'm in great pain. I'm bleeding. Don't trouble yourselves. I know Christ, and that in him I am righteous.
He's done everything for me, and I'm not lacking anything
to go and be with him. Don't be troubled. I rejoice
in Christ. This is what he said. Don't be
troubled. I rejoice in Christ. My only sadness is my young son,
about four or five years old at that time. He said, my only
sadness is for my boy. But I've already told my wife,
do not take him away from these men who preach the gospel. When it seemed that Samson was
dying, This was his hope, hear that? This was his hope that
he knew Christ and was found in him having the righteousness
which is of God. That's all that mattered. This
was what he spoke of then in that critical time and in the
Lord's goodness of delivering him he still speaks of today. This is where he found peace
and this is where he found joy. And look here, Paul writes to
these brethren, what does he say? He says, rejoice in the
Lord. And remarkably, this is the tone
of the entire letter to these Philippian saints. Joy, this
is already the ninth time. He's made reference to joy, to
gladness, to rejoicing. And look over there in chapter
four and verse four, he does it again. He says, rejoice in
the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Now, keep in mind that when Paul
wrote this letter to these saints there, he was in prison. He was
in chains in Rome. And two, the church at Philippi,
the ones who he writes to, were suffering great trials. And the
apostle tells them, rejoice, rejoice. Why? Because they may
suffer persecutions, torture, peril, nakedness, chains, imprisonments,
all that Paul suffered, all that the saints of that time suffered. They may be destitute, tormented,
even to the loss of their own lives, but they have a treasure
of unsurpassing value, which they'll never lose. They have
Christ. Now, Paul puts in this comment
here, he says, For me to write these same things to you is not
tedious, but for you it is safe. He says, what I'm going to tell
you now is of such importance, such vital importance that I'll
never, never tire of reminding you of these things. Never tire
of preaching these things. It's for your spiritual good.
You know, you've heard this passage preached on, I'm sure, many,
many times. And you may feel, well, I've
heard it before, and I don't want to weary you. But listen
to what Paul's saying. For you, it is safe. It's for
your spiritual good. This is so important. Consider, too, that this is the
word of God. If I might say it this way, this
is the word of God. This is the living word of God.
It's like that bin of flour and the jar of oil of the widow of
Zarephath. It doesn't matter how many times
you return to it, you're gonna find food, food for your soul. That's the difference with the
word of God, isn't it? It's a living word, and he speaks
to us through it. Well, Paul says now to these
Philippians, he says, beware, beware. And how important that
warning is for us today as well. Beware, there are those who will
do all they can to take Christ from you. Paul warns the saints
at Philippi, he warns the saints at Corinth, He writes to the
churches in Galatia, he writes to the Ephesian believers, and
he warns them. He warns every single church
that he writes to. He warns them of those who are
propagating a false gospel, a gospel of works righteousness, as he
tells the Colossians, a philosophy of empty deceit. Empty deceit. It may look good,
it may sound good, but it's lying to you, and it's empty. There's
nothing there. It's not according to Christ,
as he says. They're attempting to cheat you
of the very greatest possession that you have. The very greatest
possession. They're attempting to take him
from you. What did Ken read this morning
right at the end of the study? He who has the son has life. He who has the son has life. That's what they're attempting
to do. Don't let them do it. Beware, beware. And then what
follows is one of the most powerful passages to my mind in the word
of God. This is a living example of the
stark contrast between the righteousness which is of the law, all religion
outside of Christ. We could put it that way. You
could look around at all the thousands of churches in Houston
which don't know the gospel. Well, it's just a religion of
empty works. Empty works. No food there, no food for the
soul. And here we have this contrast
between the righteousness which is of the law and the righteousness
which is of God, the only righteousness that matters. And this is all
said, as we know, in this profound personal testimony of the Apostle
Paul. So look there, what does he say
in verse three? Verse two, beware of dogs, beware
of evil workers, beware of the mutilation, for we are the circumcision
who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh. Now Paul says beware of the circumcision. And he uses a startling word
here for circumcision. He says the mutilation. Now,
why does he do that? Well, he's making a point that
circumcision and all those Old Testament laws that were so important
to the people of Israel have all passed away. They've lost
their efficacy. They have no more meaning and
no more purpose. Well, they put such stock in
circumcision. But here's what he's saying.
Once it's lost its purpose, lost its meaning, and has no more
efficacy, what does that right of circumcision become? It just
becomes mutilation. It doesn't accomplish anything
at all. It's just mutilation. But they took great pride in
circumcision and all of these religious rites of service. But they failed to see that all
the forms of worship and ordinances which were God given, yes, they
were God given, but these were all types and shadows. of the
true. When Christ came and accomplished
that great work of redemption upon the cross, all the types
and shadows were fulfilled in him. Completely, fully accomplished. And all of these things that
had proceeded were being fulfilled, passed away. So with the circumcision, think
of this now. Being fulfilled in Christ, this
circumcision made with hands, the hands of the priests on every
male child born into the nation of Israel, this circumcision
made with hands had no further use, no further purpose. What
does Paul say? It's just a mutilation, but we,
but we are the circumcision, he says. Who are we? We are the
circumcision, not the circumcision made with hands, not the shadow,
but the reality. He writes about this to the church
in Colossae. He says, in him, that is in Christ,
in him, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands. by putting off the body of the
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. That's the circumcision
we're interested in, aren't we? That's the true circumcision.
That's the circumcision which is inward of the heart, in the
spirit, made without hands, not of this creation, but wrought
by that tremendous power of the Holy Spirit and that work of
the new birth and the regeneration of the heart. This is the circumcision
that we rejoice in, Paul says. This is the circumcision which
brings us into a place of true worship. And we rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. And really, that's what it boils
down to, doesn't it? Do we have confidence? in ourselves,
or do we have confidence in Christ? Who do we put our confidence
in? Paul tells us what he used to have confidence in. Look there
in verse four. He says, though I also might
have confidence in the flesh. If anyone could have confidence,
it would be me. Though I also might have confidence
in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence
in the flesh, I more so circumcised the eighth day of the stock of
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, concerning
the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church,
concerning the righteousness which is in the law, lameless,
lameless. That's how Paul viewed himself. That's what he had confidence
in, confidence in the flesh. These are the things that Paul
considered so important. These are the things that matter
to him. They're his identity, his vocation, his accomplishments. Well, what matters to you? What
matters to me? These are the things that Paul
trusted in. Paul tells us, and we won't spend
much time on this, you know it, Paul tells us that he was of
notable birth, born of the only blood that mattered, the stock
of Israel. To the Israelite, they thought that was all that
was necessary, born of the stock of Israel. The chosen people
of God out of all the nations, And not only that, Paul was of
the tribe of Benjamin, a significant tribe, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as
he says. And then he tells us three specific
things that he put confidence in. Things which to Paul were of
great weight and significance. This is what he put confidence
in. He says, concerning the law of Pharisee. Now, to the Jew, you couldn't really
get any better than this. Concerning religion, the religion
given by God to the people of Israel, this was the most faithful
and zealous sect. The Pharisees were the teachers
and interpreters of the law. Paul knew the word of God of
Moses and the prophets from the beginning to the end of that
revelation. He studied it intensely and was
a teacher of it to the people of Israel. These Pharisees were
esteemed by the people who kept the law. The religious leaders
too. And I think we often don't recognize
this. The religious leaders of Israel were the ruling class. You see, Israel wasn't a political
entity. It wasn't a political nation,
a political state. It was a religious state. It
was a theocracy. And so the rulers were the religious
rulers. And here was Paul. He says too,
we know in writing to the Galatians that he was, had the best education
an Israelite could ever have. He was schooled in the best schools
of the Pharisees under one of the finest teachers of the law,
Gamaliel. And here is Paul. There's no
question that Paul, as a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, that he
was destined for great things in the nation of Israel. Paul
wasn't some lightweight, some person who just came along in
the nation of Israel. He was a man of great significance,
great stature at that point in time. And Paul, he had great
confidence in this. He had great confidence in this.
Then he says, secondly, in verse six there, he says, concerning
zeal, persecuting the church. Paul tells us also in Galatians,
he says, I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries,
being exceedingly zealous for the traditions of the fathers.
Paul was a star, a religious star in the nation of Israel. He advanced beyond many of his
contemporaries. And two, see he, felt it was
an accomplishment in his zeal of persecuting the church. Paul believed he worshiped and
served God. He was highly educated in the
scriptures, taught the scriptures, observed all the law given by
God through Moses, and like most Jews of the time, he believed
that these were the things that God had given to save them. Paul was sincere in his zeal
for God. He wasn't a hypocrite. He was
sincere in his zeal for God. He persecuted the church, believing
that he was protecting the truth from these heretics who were
preaching Jesus. That's how Paul viewed things.
And he had great confidence in this, that he was this zealous
religious person. He excelled in his religious
dedication. And then thirdly, he says, concerning
the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Blameless. Blameless in his own
eyes, blameless in the eyes of the Pharisees, blameless in the
eyes of the people. Paul, I don't think he's saying
this in a... Hyperbolic way, no. He means
this. This is how he was. He stood,
as it were, before the law, blameless, unequaled in the righteousness
which is of the law. These are the things that matter
to Paul. And we could say, putting that into today, what is it? Anyone who is so involved in any sort of religion, who has great accomplishments,
and yet, what is lacking? What could we say? What was lacking?
Well, what did we begin with? Did he know Christ? No. Did anything, anything at all
that he's spoken of, did any of it matter? Not one little
bit. Not one little bit. These, but
these at that time, these were the things that mattered to Paul.
He put his trust in these things, his confidence in these things.
These are the things that gave purpose and meaning to his life. But he was like his brethren
that he wrote of in Romans 10, where he says, for I bear them
witness that they have a zeal for God but not according to
knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted to the righteousness which is of God. Yes, these things that Paul had
confidence in, these were all his best righteousnesses, weren't
they? And they far outstripped any righteousness that we have,
as it were, in and of ourselves. Paul counted all of these things
as gain, as gain, until what occurred? Until Christ revealed himself
to Paul on the road to Damascus. And then everything changed. Look at verse seven. But what things were gained to
me, these he counted lost for Christ. When the eyes of Paul
were opened to see Christ in his righteousness, then everything
he put confidence in, everything which had meaning, everything
which gave satisfaction, everything which he trusted in for righteousness,
he summed up in one word. Loss. Loss. Why? That he might gain Christ. Here he was on the road to Damascus. Just cast your mind back to that.
Here he is on the road to Damascus and he's going forward in his
zeal for God as he saw it, persecuting the church, breathing out threatenings. and Christ comes and meets him
on that day, and his physical eyes are blinded. Do you remember
that? His physical eyes are blinded, but by God's grace, he was given
those spiritual eyes to see Christ and his glory. And when he sees that, he sees
Christ in all of his surpassing excellence. He sees a righteousness
which is of God, And he looks upon this righteousness of Christ
and its purity and its burning holiness. And he looks upon all
these things that he trusted in and sees them as rubbish,
as loss, as loss. God commanded light to shine
out of darkness, to shine in his heart, to give him the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He saw Christ as the one in whom
is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. A person
of unsurpassing worth gained and only gain. When Paul saw Christ and understood
the righteousness of God which is in Christ, this is what he
says. He saw himself as the, or I should
say he saw himself as the prophet Isaiah tells us, but we are all
as an unclean thing. You remember? How did he see
himself before? Blameless, blameless. But now
he sees himself as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. All his righteousnesses, nothing
but loss. He says, indeed, I count all
things loss, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things
for Christ Jesus my Lord. Now, I want us to think about
that for a moment. He says he's, he hasn't just
said, I can count them as loss. I consider them as loss. He says,
I've suffered these. This isn't just a hypothetical
statement. You know, so, so many of us are
quick to say we would do this. We'd count it loss. But when
the rubber hits the road, do we? Well, Paul is saying he not
only counted these things as loss, all of his best things,
he says he suffered the loss of all of these things. This
was a reality. All of his very best things.
Think of what this meant to Paul. To become a disciple of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Think of what it meant in this
world. He lost all of the esteem that
he had. He lost the privilege he had.
He lost the position he had. He lost the power he had. He
lost the prosperity he had in this nation. He lost comfort. He lost health. And he lost even
his most precious possession, his own righteousness. All things lost. We won't go
into all of these things, This was the reality. This was
the reality. Why? What was it that was of
so much greater value than all of these things? And every one
of us here should consider that. Would we consider all these things
lost for Christ? Think of that. Everything. This is no exaggeration. Paul
is saying he's, suffered the loss of all of these things,
we could say his entire life, that he might gain Christ. I count all things lost for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. What could
we say? We could say that Paul has found
that one pearl of great price. And when he finds that one pearl
of great price, what's he willing to do? He's willing to go and
sell all that he has to gain that one pearl, because it's
of surpassing value. It's of excellent worth. And
this is all that matters. Is that your concern? Is that
your concern? Is that my concern? Is this our
thinking? Do you know anything of what
Paul is speaking about? Have you gained Christ? Or are
you just busy with all the outward forms of religion? Perhaps you
leave off sin, or at least most of it anyway. You come to a church,
a church that preaches the truth of the gospel. You join the church. You hear the word as everyone
else hears the word. And they get baptized and in
time you feel, well, I'll get baptized too. They sing hymns
and you sing hymns. They go to conferences and you
go to conferences. but have you gained Christ? That's all that matters. You know, the Lord Jesus says
in Matthew 7, a well-known passage, he says, not everyone who says
to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name,
cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your
name? And then I will declare to them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice
lawlessness. There are no words more horrifying
for anyone to hear than these words spoken by Jesus Christ,
I never knew you. I never knew you. And this is the tragedy that
not some, listen to what Jesus says, not some, but many, many
will say to Christ in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in your name, cast out many demons in your name and done many wonders
in your name? They think the will of the Father
in heaven in terms of entrance into the kingdom of God was gained
by doing all these things. But no man was ever made righteous
or ever will be made righteous by doing, even if the things
that he does are good. Listen, even if the things he
does are good. even if the things he does are
right, even if the things that he does are in Christ's name. What does Paul say? Look there
in verse nine, he says, and he found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that
I may know him. and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings. Well, Paul tells us right here in these
two verses what it is to gain Christ. Have you gained Christ? What
is that? It's to be found in him and to
know him. That's to gain Christ, and to
gain Christ is to gain everything. One thing the apostle knows now
is that he doesn't want to be found in his own righteousness.
No, no, not anymore. Paul wants to know Christ and
be found in him, not having his own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. Paul knows and he understands
that he has no righteousness in himself, that if he's ever
to find a righteousness acceptable to God, it must be found in Christ. The righteousness that he needs
for justification and life resides in this person, the Lord Jesus
Christ and no one else. The righteousness of Christ which
is imputed to all who believe for justification. Now listen,
the righteousness which is imputed to us for justification is still
Christ's righteousness. It's not found in you and I.
It's found in him. It resides in him. And it becomes
ours by the gracious imputation of God. Here's how John Bunyan
put it, and he put it so well. He says, indeed, this is one
of the greatest mysteries in the world, namely, that a righteousness
that resides with a person in heaven should justify me as sinner
on earth. Paul wants only to know Christ.
And this is the desire of every true Christian, that I may know
him. In Thessalonians, we read of
the great day of judgment, when the Lord, it says, is revealed
from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on those Listen now, on those who do not know God, and on those
who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In that day, let me just picture to you, in
that day, as it were, Paul stands before the righteous judge. Will
Paul say, Lord, Lord, I did many wonderful things in your name.
I preached the gospel in many places, even to the ends of the
earth. I suffered greatly for your name.
I prophesied in your name and did many wonderful miracles in
your name. I raised up churches in many
places in your name. Is that all true? Yes, it is,
isn't it? Every single statement is true. Will that be Paul's confession
in that day? No, no, no. Where will Paul look for righteousness
in that great day? Where? Not in himself, not in
anything that he's done. Paul knows that his righteousness
is but filthy rags. He knows too that even all that
he's done in God's grace. Now think of this. Think carefully.
Even all that he's done in his life according to God's grace
is nothing in terms of a justifying righteousness because it's tainted
by his own sin. Tainted by his own sin. Where
will Paul find righteousness in that day? Where will you and
I find righteousness in that day? In the judge standing right
before our eyes. Think of that. Paul knows that the only righteousness
that he needs, the only righteousness that God accepts, resides in
this person before his eyes. He knows that all the righteousness
that he could not do, Christ has done. And all the sins for which he
could never pay, Christ has paid it all. For what sin will Paul
be judged? For what sin has not been satisfied? The confession that Paul will
make will be I know Him. I know Him and He is my righteousness
and my salvation. To know Him, to know Christ,
this is all that matters for life and for eternity. Amen.