"4 although I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ"
Good Morning Beloved,
Welcome to worship, we're so glad you're here.
We would like to welcome our brothers and sisters in Kenya. We are praying for all of you.
In the world in which we live, nearly every aspect of our lives is based on performance. Our jobs: raises,
positions, promotions. Education: grades, graduations, Latin names at
the end of a degree, and anything that ends in "of the month."
Sports: positions, batting order, play time, minor leagues, MVPs, and
of course win and loss records. Credit scores, reputation, industries like the
performing arts, politics, and even some relationships, based on
performance.
However, the opposite is true with Christ. We are not to have a checklist of things that need to be done to be saved, nor to
stay saved, nor to be a good Christian. Furthermore, we should not impose our lists upon
others.
The world is filled with the religiously sincere, people very sincere in their religion, they make great effort, personal sacrifice, they dare not miss a church service, they pray certain prayers, wanting to please God. God is not impressed. Like Paul, our view of our lists should be counted as a liability rather than an asset. And
we should repent of their position in our lives.
Our aim should not be
religious service or practice for our position, but should be an
intimate knowledge of our loving Lord. And I don’t mean simply an
intellectual assent, but a relational knowledge, abiding in, dwelling
in, walking with. This will require pursuit of Him. As knowing any person
does. Learn of Him, desire Him, seek Him with the aid of the Holy Spirit
until you find Him, and continue to deepen your relationship with Him.
Ditch the list, pursue Christ. Knowing Christ causes us to relinquish all things and gain righteousness, power, and life in Him.
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Father we thank You for the Word You have for us today. The truth is so clear cut, yet so many fail to see it. Thank You for the gift of salvation which we can receive just as You offer it, we needn't attempt to add or remove anything from Your wonderful divine plan. Salvation by grace through faith in Christ.
Lord we pray that will be many today who will choose to receive it.
In Christ's name
Amen
Today's Message: That Don't Impress Me!
Open with me your Bibles, to the third chapter in the book of Philippians, today in our on going study of Philippians, we'll be looking at verses 4 through 8 in chapter 3. I would like to encourage you to follow along with me as I read to get it set it our minds. Philippians 3:4-8.
"although I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More
than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing
value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ"
In verse 4 Paul says "although I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason:" Paul says if anyone has a mind to put confidence in the flash, I have more. Certainly to a higher degree than the Judaizers who were afflicting Philippi, at least most, if not all of them. Keep in mind, he is not saying this to boast, he is not placing confidence in the flesh nor validate spiritual superiority. Paul is simply making this bold claim for the sake of argument. Paul knew what is was to be a Jew, to be a Jew in the highest sense of the term. Yet, he willingly and deliberately abandoned it all, for the sake of Jesus Christ. "I have it all, in every sense I'm an authentic Jew, I have a consummate pedigree, I consider it all worthless. Because when it comes to Christ, none of it can gain salvation. And as
for zeal, if anybody should have confidence I should, because
as to
zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. I was a persecutor of the
church."
Salvation is by grace through faith alone, not as a result of human accomplishment, or of good works, Simply defined, grace is God’s unmerited favor. If you did anything to earn it or deserve it, it is not grace. Because of sin, we all are alienated from God in His holiness. Christ lived a perfect life and died on the cross as the substitute for sinners, Works say that faith came of itself without the gift and without the working of the Holy Spirit.
Many people misunderstand the nature of saving faith. Having a general, vague faith in God, "whoever He may be," that is kind of like
positive thinking. "I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a
flower grows! I believe in the basic goodness of people and the goodness
of God. Everything will turn out for the fine." But that is
not saving faith. They are being mislead through false teachers that simply making the decision to accept Jesus Christ constitutes saving
faith, even if there is no repentance and no subsequent obedience to Him as Lord.
Let me put it another way, that's about as logical as submitting an application for employment, being offered the position, and accepting that position, without ever expecting to do the job for which you're being hired!
Verse 5 "circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;"
Not only did the Jews place their faith in the rite of circumcision
for salvation, they also had come to believe that being born a Jew meant
a special relationship with God. The Jews took this seriously. To know
you were a Jew virtually insured you a position in heaven. Paul said, "I’m not just a Jew, I know exactly where I came from because my blood
line is as pure as it can be."
One day when Jesus was talking to some Jews about salvation, He had told
them that they could know the truth concerning salvation, and that truth
would set them free from the bondage they were in. Jesus was speaking of the spiritual bondage that a lost person is in,
how they are bound and doomed, and the Jews answered Jesus by saying, "We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?"
Paul says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."
In other words you should think those thoughts that Christ thought. You
should have the mind of Christ that was expressed in the incarnation. By
incarnation we mean when Holy God became man. That is the attitude we
should have, an attitude of humility that makes us willing to give up
what we have for the sake of others. We tend to think of our own
self-interests. We tend to think of our own rights. We have created a "Me, me, me generation." Everyone thinking of his or her own needs and not about
those of others.
I believe this is a day when we need to look to the example of Jesus Christ, Who is
the ultimate example of true humility. There was no limitations to the amount
of humility that He demonstrated. Despite His Divine majesty, He took off His heavenly robe and came down in the form of a man.
So, in verse six, we see the emphasis on the great majesty of Christ. It says, "Who,
being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something
to be grasped." It said he is in very nature God. Jesus is God almighty.
If you are really going to appreciate the true humility of Jesus Christ
the key is to grasp this aspect of Jesus that He is Almighty God.
Paul asserts that Jesus Christ was God and without any apology. His glory
was the very glory of God. Jesus did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped. What did Paul mean by this? In other words,
Jesus was God in His nature and did not need to hold on to that. He did
not need to defend it. He was God. He did not have to consider this
something to be grasped or held on too. Jesus possessed the glory of
God. It was not something He had to defend, hold on too or fight for.It
is amazing when we consider what the Bible tells us when man first
committed sin in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and
they were tempted because they would be like God. In other words they
wanted to receive the majesty to become like God. It brought the fall to
the world.
Jesus Christ is God and He
was beyond humiliated, even to the lowest point.
Now here is Jesus Christ who had that, who is God. He does not hold
on to that but willingly humbled himself. Verse 7 says, He was made
nothing. He emptied himself, stripped himself of all insignia, all
outward appearance of the divine to walk as human flesh on this earth.
To take on the full nature of a man. Like a king who would discard his
robes and his crown to walk among the peasants and be one with them.
Jesus Christ put aside his heavenly robes and became one of us. He
became a man just like us. Taking on the nature of a servant. Jesus
Christ came not to be served, but to serve. That was His humility. He
possessed supreme authority yet became a servant to others.
Christ, it
says, being found in human form. Here is His true humanity. Jesus became
human. He didn’t just appear as God with the appearance of a body. He
became human. Jesus took on the full human nature with all the human
characteristics. He grew in a human society as each of us has. He being
God took on full humanity.
There were two things that Jesus could
not do before He took on humanity. He could not suffer and He could not
die. But now these are things He could do to the full extent. Because He
humbled himself He would know suffering. And suffering as no one had ever known
suffering before. He would know death, even the most despicable death of
a criminal. He experienced that humility of humbling Himself to the
point of death.
In verse 8, we see the example of humility. Here, Paul communicates a message of humility. He is telling them they need to
put their own selfish interests aside and follow the example of Jesus
Christ in humility. It is the ultimate illustration of humility. Jesus
humbled himself. Won’t you heed the message of Paul and live in
humility? Won’t you put aside your self-interests and live by the
example of Christ who humbled himself more than anyone else?Humility
is the example of Christ. If you say, "I want to be a good Christian,"
it's simple, you must follow Christ in the attitude of humility. Only if you will
humble yourself and allow Jesus to be your example and motivate you to
the service in humility will you truly be able to be the Christian that
you would like to be and that God would have you to be.
We see that Christ set an example of humility. In verse 8 we see a
further example of Jesus Christ. We see the example of obedience. Jesus
Christ was obedient. His example extends beyond humility to obedience.
Jesus placed himself as a servant to do God’s will and he never shrank
from that. Jesus was human like other men, yet he was different in that
he was perfectly obedient. He never was disobedient at any time to what
God would have for him. He lived always in the will of God. Jesus
obedience went to the ultimate, that of death. He was obedient unto
death. There is the ultimate test of obedience.
Here we see Jesus set the ultimate example of obedience. He was obedient
to the point of death. His whole mission in coming to earth was about
that death on the cross. He came to die. He was obedient and never
shrank from his mission, which included death. He went beyond merely
death, but he died a shameful death. A death of crucifixion the most
degrading death known. It was torturous and shameful. It was to be a
curse to die on a cross. Jesus was willing to go to that extreme of
death on a cross.
The cross was the extreme of torture, not only was it most painful, it was public. They
chose the cross because it was the most disgraceful and humiliating death imaginable. Yet Jesus was
obedient to death, even death on a cross. What a contrast to go from a
throne of glory to a death as dishonorable as the cross. To be God
all-powerful and to go to the cross seemingly helpless. To be the savior
of the world and to die on the cross and be mocked when they said, "You
saved others why don’t you save yourself?" What an example of obedience
Jesus demonstrates to all of us.
In Closing...
It was because of your sin and mine, that in God’s love for us, that Jesus took
this step of obedience. His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow. Jesus
Christ fell on His face and said to His Father, if it is possible let
this cup pass from me. Let me not go through this on the cross. Then He said, nevertheless, not my will but yours. It was an
example of complete and willing obedience. That is how Paul
wanted to motivate the Philippians to be obedient. He used the example
of Jesus and His ultimate obedience to the Father.
Beloved, this should serve as an
example for all of us to commit ourselves to complete obedience to Jesus
Christ. Jesus said if you obey my commands you will remain in my
love. He said just as I have obeyed my Fathers commands and abide in His
love. Jesus was obedient to the Father and experienced the great love
that the Father has. They had a great relationship because of His
obedience. Jesus is saying to each one of you, if you will obey His
commands and be obedient to Christ you will abide in the love of Christ
as He abided in the love of the Father.
We know the cross was not
the end. That was simply the entrance into glory. When we put a cross
up as a symbol, we put an empty cross because Jesus rose again and His
death on the cross was not the final word. It was an entrance to the
glorification and victory of Jesus Christ. It was because Jesus defeated
death on the cross that we celebrate new life in Christ. It was because
of his obedience that we have Good News and a story to tell.
If Christ was willing
to do this for you won’t you live in obedience for him?
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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