Your Biggest Spiritual Problem

Well, good morning. Our sermon text today is Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 through 11.

Philippians 3:1–11

I think that's page 922 in the Pew Bible, if you want to follow along there.

As you turn there, let me pray, and then I'll read for us.

Lord, indeed, how we need you.

Lord, we need you for absolutely everything.

It's in you that we live and move and have our being.

We depend on you each moment of every day, and we depend on you right now in this moment as we come to your word.

That by your spirit, you would open our hearts and our eyes and our minds and our ears and our wills to receive what it is you have to say to us.

So speak, we pray, God, through your word once again.

Give us hearts that hear, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

All right, Philippians chapter 3, let me read verses 1 through 11.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Paul says,

Well, as we come to a new chapter here in the book of Philippians, it's worth taking a second and getting our bearings of where we are in this book.

In chapter 1, after giving thanks for what God is up to among the Philippians, Paul tells them about his own situation in prison.

He gives them an update of how he's getting along.

Then at the end of chapter 1 and right into chapter 2, Paul's main exhortation of the book comes.

Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Christ, the one who laid aside all of his heavenly privileges, became a servant, died on a cross, and who was exalted to the highest place.

Live a life worthy of this good news.

Shine like stars in the midst of the world.

Hold fast to the word of life.

And then at the end of chapter 2, Paul holds up Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples of what he's talking about.

Examples of Christ-like service.

Lives worthy of the gospel.

Worthy of our imitation.

And so as chapter 3 opens up, it looks like Paul is sort of about to wrap things up.

Finally, brothers, he says.

But then, surprisingly, he goes on for two more chapters, right?

If you've been reading along in the D.A. Carson book on Philippians, Don Carson jokes,

One child allegedly asked his dad what the preacher meant when he said,

Finally, and his father muttered in reply,

Nothing.

Well, the reality is the word finally here probably doesn't mean this is the last thing I'm going to say.

It was a bit of a connecting word in Greek that could often mean something like,

So then, or as I was saying.

And as Paul was saying back in verse 18 of chapter 2, we're meant to rejoice in the Lord.

But quickly, Paul moves to his next subject.

And this is something we see here that apparently he had gone over before with the Philippians.

Perhaps when he was with them in person.

This is something he had taught them before.

You see, some lessons, some spiritual truths are so important that we need to hear them again and again.

Paul says,

There's no trouble for me.

And ultimately, it's for our good, for our safety, he says even.

And what Paul is about to tell us is this.

That your biggest spiritual problem isn't what you think it is.

The biggest threat to the church, the biggest threat to your soul, isn't what you think it is.

You know, if you were to take stock of your sort of moral or spiritual resume,

what would you see as your greatest liabilities?

What do you think is hindering you the most from entering or thriving in the kingdom of God?

What is it that keeps you from Christ?

Well, perhaps you would think about your moral failures.

You'd think about your besetting sins.

The ways you just don't seem to have enough self-control.

The ways you keep falling short.

But this passage is telling us that our greatest threat isn't our moral failures or our besetting sins.

It isn't your sins that ultimately keep you away from God.

It's your righteousness.

It's not all the things you've done wrong.

It's all the things you've done right that threaten to kill you spiritually.

And if you can understand the danger of what we're going to call self-righteousness,

if you can understand the danger of that, then maybe for the first time you'll really understand what the gospel is all about

and what it means to really know Christ.

So to get there, I want to look at our passage in three parts.

First, we're going to look at what self-righteousness looks like.

Second, we're going to see why it's empty.

And third, why knowing Christ is so much better.

So what it looks like, why it's empty, and why knowing Christ is better.

So let's start by seeing what self-righteousness looks like.

And we see this in verses 2 through 6.

Paul starts by saying, look out for the dogs.

Now, in the first century church, there were Jewish Christians who held and who taught

that in order to be saved, to be in a right relationship with God,

and to be a part of his people, you had to be circumcised.

We read about this earlier in the service in Acts 15.

Their argument most likely went something like this.

From the days of Abraham, God commanded Israel to be circumcised as a sign of his covenant with them.

That was how you knew who was in and who was out of the people of God.

And so, Gentiles, you must be circumcised too, or else you can't be saved.

No circumcision, no salvation.

It's as simple as that.

Just read the Old Testament.

But Paul, along with the rest of the apostles and church leaders in Acts 15, disagreed entirely.

In light of the gospel, the good news of what Jesus, the Messiah, had done,

the church came to see that circumcision was a temporary external sign that pointed to the radical inward work

that God would do through the Spirit when the Messiah came.

There was nothing wrong with getting circumcised.

Paul and many other Jewish believers in Jesus were happily circumcised.

But circumcision did not and could not put someone in a right relationship with God.

And thereby, it could not define the people of God anymore.

Only Jesus could do that.

Who through his death, resurrection, and outpouring of the Spirit brought about forgiveness of sins and new life for all who believe.

Thus, Paul will say, the true circumcision, that is, the true people of God, the truly cleansed ones,

couldn't be found among those who insisted on a surgical procedure.

Those who, he says, mutilate the flesh.

But the true people of God, the true circumcision, were found among those who worship by the Spirit of God

and glory in Christ Jesus.

Because true circumcision is of the heart.

And the heart can only be cleansed through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So when Paul says, watch out for the dogs,

he's being heavily, heavily ironic.

Because law-abiding Jews, what they would do is that sometimes they would call those kind of unclean Gentiles,

they'd call them dogs or evildoers.

But Paul, you see, is turning the tables.

He's saying, if you insist on circumcision as a requirement for salvation now,

that makes you the unclean one.

In fact, to do that means it's not even true circumcision anymore.

Now, you can't tell this in our English translations,

but Paul is actually doing a play on words here at the end of verse 3.

In Greek, you see, the word for circumcision is peritome.

But Paul says these false teachers are so far from what God intended

that what they're promoting is nothing but katatome.

It's not circumcision.

It's mutilation.

Strong words, isn't it?

But they're strong words because so much is at stake.

And yet, how about for us?

It's so much at stake today in all of this.

You know, we may not be tempted to find our status through circumcision.

I doubt anyone here is tempted to say,

you know what I need to do to be saved in addition to believing in Jesus?

I think I need to be circumcised.

I haven't met anyone like that in over a decade of ministry.

But that doesn't mean that we're immune from what Paul calls confidence in the flesh.

That is basing our identity, basing our status before God and the people of God,

basing it on something that we find in us.

Now, lest we think that Paul is disagreeing with a circumcision party

just because he can't measure up to their standards,

he goes on in verses 4 through 6 to say,

look, if anyone has a spiritual resume worth boasting in, it's me.

You know, it's not like Paul's the kid who made fun of the school band

because he couldn't play an instrument, right?

He's not the kid who sort of says that sports are stupid

because he got cut from the team.

No, Paul can play this game better than anyone else.

But as he unfolds his sort of moral resume,

what we find is that these verses start to give us something

that's like an anatomy of self-righteousness.

We see as Paul unfolds his spiritual resume

all the ways in which we too are tempted

to base our status on something that's found in us,

to place our confidence in the flesh.

It's interesting that sociologists will distinguish

between three categories of social status.

There's a scribed status, something that sort of is yours by birth.

There's achieved status, something that you get through the doing.

And then there's sort of master status

that sets you apart from everybody else.

And Paul here in verses 4 through 6

actually sort of mentions all three.

Now, as we said, a scribe status is something that you inherit

or that you receive.

And Paul starts out by saying that he was circumcised on the eighth day

of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,

a Hebrew of Hebrews.

In other words, when it came to his parents,

when it came to his pedigree,

when it came to his heritage,

his was impeccable.

He was no mere convert to Judaism.

No, he was circumcised on the eighth day

just like the law said.

He could trace his lineage back through Hebrew parents,

back through the tribe of Benjamin,

that one tribe that stuck by Judah

and the house of David in ancient Israel.

He could trace his heritage back through the patriarchs and Jacob.

No one could dispute with Paul's pedigree,

with his ascribed status.

Now, I wonder, is that where you find your status,

your worth?

In your family name,

in your spiritual heritage.

Perhaps you can trace your family tree back

to a great saint or a great missionary.

Perhaps your parents or your grandparents

or even your great-grandparents

were great men and women of faith.

Or perhaps they were great upstanding leaders

in their communities,

that you come from a family that's done much good,

very respectable, very honorable,

very worthy,

and you carry their name.

And for you, it's a great source of dignity.

Now, of course, there's nothing wrong

with being proud of your heritage.

There's nothing wrong with celebrating

and enjoying your family,

your cultural identity.

Yes, we should do that.

But is that what you lean on?

Is that where your ultimate confidence lies?

Paul goes on.

He doesn't just talk about his ascribed status,

his parentage, his pedigree.

He talks about his achieved status.

Now, achieved status is something that you enjoy

by virtue of kind of your personal accomplishments.

As to the law, Paul says,

I was a Pharisee.

Now, the Pharisees were the Jewish party

in the first century

who were the most attentive,

the most scrupulous in keeping the law of Moses.

And not just the law,

but the traditions of the elders too.

You know, the Pharisees were sort of like

the group to be a part of.

They were like the inner circle

if you wanted to be serious about God's law.

And many people in the first century

looked at the Pharisees as the heroes,

as the good guys,

because they took it all very seriously

and they actually tried to do it.

You know, there were lots of Jews in Paul's day

who could say they were circumcised on the eighth day,

yada, yada, yada.

But only some had the achieved status

of being a Pharisee.

So what's your achieved status?

Is it a degree on your wall

with a well-known name attached to it?

Is it a neighborhood or a size of home

that you've been able to move into?

Or perhaps more subtly,

is it a group of friends,

a social circle that you've been accepted into?

Is it a political party or cause

that you align with?

Is this where you're finding your worth,

your confidence, your status?

Is this what you think defines you?

And do you look down ever so slightly,

maybe, on those who don't share this status

or this party affiliation with you?

Or if you don't look down,

maybe you do find yourself thinking at times,

man, I'm so glad I'm not like those other people.

But Paul doesn't just list his pedigree.

He's a Hebrew of Hebrews.

He doesn't just name his party.

He's a Pharisee.

He goes on to talk more deeply

about his performance.

Beyond acquired and achieved status,

there lies what sociologists would call

one's perceived master status.

Paul says,

as to zeal,

a persecutor of the church,

as to righteousness under the law,

blameless.

Now, on the surface,

this feels like the most extreme thing

on Paul's spiritual resume, right?

This is the thing that makes him

most unlike ourselves.

We think, whoa, Paul,

you've like totally gone off the rails now, right?

But, you know,

I think more of us are like Paul

in this respect than we realize.

Of course, I don't think any of us

would boast in persecuting the church, right?

But we do consider it a virtue

to be zealous for the right causes.

And when Paul says

he's blameless under the law,

he doesn't mean that he was sort of

sinlessly perfect.

No, he means that he kept the law

as best he could,

and when he failed,

he kept to the sacrifices

and ceremonies in the law

that were in place

to atone for sin.

So in that sense,

he was blameless.

He did what the law asked.

And when he failed,

he took advantage

of what the law provided.

He did.

It's just like us today.

No one of us would say

that we're perfect, right?

But many of us would say

that, you know,

we're good people.

We do our best.

And in that sense,

we think we're blameless.

Ironically then,

when we look at our own hearts,

we all carry around a sense

of our own master status.

That we're on the right side

of the issues,

and we're basically good people.

And that's where our confidence

so often lies.

We may not put too much stock

in our pedigree,

our acquired status,

as sociologists say.

We might not put too much weight

in our party affiliations

or our accomplishments,

our achieved status.

But, you know,

we all have this

unshakable sense at times

of our own master status.

That when it comes to God

and when it comes to others,

we have a righteousness

that meets the mark.

We think that God will accept us

based on our performance.

So this is what self-righteousness

looks like.

You know,

it doesn't look like being

a sort of self-absorbed jerk,

always looking out for number one.

No.

It looks like simply

placing your confidence,

finding your status

or your worth

in your own pedigree

or accomplishments

or performance.

And that means

that it's probably

the most natural thing

in the world.

And it describes

all of us.

And yet our text goes on.

Not just to show us

what this looks like.

It goes on to show us

why it's totally empty.

Self-righteousness

might be the air

that we breathe,

but in reality,

it's a vacuum.

Let's look again

at verses 7 through 8.

Paul says,

but whatever gain I had,

I counted as loss

for the sake of Christ.

Indeed,

I count everything as loss

because of the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ Jesus,

my Lord.

For his sake,

I've suffered the loss

of all things

and count them as rubbish

in order that I may gain Christ.

I remember when our kids

were little,

for a time,

they were into

Thomas the Tank Engine.

Are you familiar

with Thomas the Tank Engine?

It's this great British show

about different colored

talking trains

that live on this island

and every episode

they get into

some sort of trouble

and they have to help

each other out

and it always works out

in the end

and it all takes

only about 10 minutes.

It's great.

And of course,

like any good kids show,

you don't just watch the show,

you also buy the toys

and the merchandise, right?

So for a while,

we had quite a collection growing.

Some through our own purchases,

many through the generosity

of others who had outgrown

Thomas the Tank Engine,

we had quite a collection growing

of little Thomas the Tank Engine toys,

little trains and little tracks

that you could put together

and it was quite fun actually.

And then one weekend,

we decided as a family

to go to the town of Essex,

just east of here in Connecticut.

And in Essex,

they have a real working steam engine,

a legitimate steam train

and you can go for a ride.

So one weekend,

we thought we're into trains.

Let's do this.

So we did.

And you know,

when that steam engine started up

and we got to see firsthand

the sort of massive amounts

of steel and coal and smoke and fire

and when it started to move

and we could feel its power

and you could hear the pressure

of the wheels

and you could feel the blast of the whistle.

You know,

I realized anyway

that up until that point,

even though I had watched hours

upon hours of Thomas the Tank Engine

and it had played for hours more,

I realized at that point,

I had had no idea

what a steam train was really like

until I was face to face with one.

And the real thing

made all the other toys

seem like toys.

And that's what Paul is saying here.

He's saying that when you are confronted

by the reality of Jesus,

Jesus,

the truly righteous one,

when we get a good look at him,

then all of our own righteousness,

anything we might have considered gain

in our eternal bank account

is suddenly revealed

to be what it truly is.

Nothing.

Look at Jesus revealed

in the pages of the New Testament.

Look at how his interactions

with others are always marked

by perfect patience

and unflinching truth

and ceaseless grace.

Look at how Jesus' obedience

to the Father

never wavers.

His obedience never wavers,

not just when the crowds are gathering

and his fame is growing,

but even when he's betrayed

and abandoned

by his closest friends.

Even when he's condemned

by his own people

and handed over

to the Romans

to be unjustly executed.

Look at how in his resurrection,

he doesn't return

and sort of shame

or condemn

his lapsed disciples.

No,

he comes and he restores them.

And look at how

in his ascension

to the Father's right hand,

even now,

he continues

to intercede perfectly

on our behalf,

never wavering,

never tiring.

When you get a glimpse

of the truly righteous one,

we see that our emptiness,

our righteousness is empty.

It's nothing.

And for Paul,

he goes on to say,

you know,

it's actually less than nothing.

He says,

for his sake,

I've suffered the loss

of all things

and count them as rubbish

in order that

I might gain Christ.

Now,

here's a deep spiritual truth,

friends.

You see,

our self-righteousness

isn't neutral.

It's negative.

If it's the thing

we're resting our life on,

then it's the very thing

that keeps us from Christ.

Why?

Because if we are confident

in our own pedigree,

or our own performance,

then we simply

don't have much need

for Christ.

Why would we need

a redeemer

if we're fully capable

of saving ourselves?

Why would I need

a new status?

Why would I need

a new life

if my life's okay?

You see,

the reality is

there's no middle ground.

there's no both

and between

holding on

to self-righteousness

and truly

knowing Christ.

You have to

let go of one

to really

have the other.

Jesus

is

Lord,

and he

will be

truly known

in no

other way.

you can't have

Jesus

merely

as an example.

You can't have

Jesus

merely

as a sidekick

to sort of

prop up

your own agenda

of self-righteousness.

you have

to know him

as Lord

or you don't

know him

at all.

If you want

to know Christ

and enter

into a life-changing

relationship

with him,

as Paul says,

to gain him,

to be found

in him,

then you have

to transfer

your trust.

You have to

step out

from depending

on your own

righteousness,

your own pedigree,

your own performance,

and you have

to place your

trust in him

alone.

You have to

consider that

stuff as less

than nothing

compared

to who he is.

But is it worth it?

I mean,

make no mistake

about it,

what Paul is

talking about here

is a radical

shift in identity

and it is

a costly shift.

I've suffered

the loss

of all things

he says.

Think of the friends

that Paul lost.

Think of the

the security

and the social

networks that

Paul lost.

Some people

speculate that

Paul,

given that

most Jewish

men in his

time were

married,

and he never

talks about

his wife

in his

letters,

some people

speculate that

Paul maybe

even lost

his spouse,

that she

walked away

from him

because he

was a follower

of Jesus.

What losses

might it mean

for you?

A loss

of intimate

friends?

A loss

of career

prestige?

Is knowing

Christ

really better

than just

sticking with

our self-righteousness

and getting

on with life?

Well,

at the end

of our passage,

Paul explains

why Christ

is better.

He's shown us

what self-righteousness

looks like.

He's shown us

why it's empty

and now in

verses 9-11

we see

why Christ

is better.

Let's pick up

reading at the

end of verse 8.

Paul says,

for his sake

I've suffered

the loss

of all things

and count

them as rubbish

in order that

I may gain

Christ

and be found

in him.

Not having

a righteousness

of my own

that comes

from the law

but that which

comes through

faith in Christ.

The righteousness

from God

that depends

on faith.

That I may

know him

and the power

of his resurrection

and share

his sufferings

becoming like

him in his death

that by any

means possible

I may attain

the resurrection

from the dead.

So Paul

mentions two

great gifts

that come to us

when we are

united to Christ

by faith.

The first

is Christ's

righteousness

the second

is Christ's

resurrection

power.

In verse 9

Paul tells us

about a new

righteousness

a new status

a new acceptance

that we receive.

But look at

how different

it is.

Our old

righteousness

comes from

the law.

Our new

righteousness

comes from

God.

Our old

righteousness

depends on

us keeping

the law.

But this

new righteousness

depends not

on our works

but on faith.

That is it

doesn't depend

on our own

performance.

It depends

on the

performance

of another.

Jesus

perfectly

kept the

law.

Jesus was

the only

completely

righteous

one.

And through

faith in

Christ

we're vitally

united to

him like

a husband

is united

to his

wife

and that

means what's

true of

Christ

is now

true of

us.

And when

God looks

at us

he sees

the righteousness

of Jesus

because we're

united to

him through

faith.

Can you

imagine the

sort of

peace you

would have

if you

knew that

you're standing

before the

only judge

who really

matters

God himself

if you knew

that you're

standing before

that judge

was utterly

and finally

settled

that you

were totally

and completely

accepted

once and

for all

forever

because of

the finished

work of

Jesus.

Can you

imagine if

you had

nothing to

fear

no condemnation

or shame

to dread

that God

looked upon

you and

wasn't weighing

your good or

bad deeds

but was

utterly

accepting

you.

And because

there was

nothing you

did to earn

that righteousness

there was

nothing you

could do

to lose

it either.

And if

that brings

peace

oh imagine

the joy

it would

bring into

your life.

Imagine

the joy

of knowing

that your

status is

secure before

God.

That God's

love for you

will never

change.

That it

won't go

up and

down depending

on whether

you've had a

good day

or a bad

day.

That's why

Paul can

talk so

much in

Philippians

about joy.

That's why

this whole

chapter starts

by saying

rejoice in

the Lord.

You know

legalism

self-righteousness

it never

leads to

joy.

But receiving

the righteousness

of God

through faith

in Christ

that's the

wellspring

of joy.

Because it

doesn't move

and it

doesn't

change

no matter

what hardships

come.

No matter

how many

times we

fail.

There's

joy.

But Paul

says Christ

doesn't just

give us his

righteousness

and with it

all the peace

and all the

joy.

In verses

10 and 11

Paul talks

about knowing

Christ and

the power

of his

resurrection.

You see

when we

trust in

Christ we

don't just

receive a

whole new

status before

God.

That is

Christ's

righteousness.

We also

receive a

whole new

principle of

life within.

The same

power that

raised Christ

from the

dead now

lives in

us.

What does

that mean?

Well it

means that our

lives look

more and

more like

his.

As we

follow him

confident in

our status

before God

we launch

out to

live the

life that

Christ has

for us in

his power.

And as we

share in

his sufferings

our lives

display more

and more of

his character.

Through the

power of

Christ in

us by the

Holy Spirit

this resurrection

power rather

than growing

harsh we

become patient.

And rather

than growing

resentful we

become gentle.

And rather

than growing

fearful we

become bold.

This is what

we mean by

the term

sanctification.

Becoming more

and more like

Christ throughout

our lives.

And the

end point of

sanctification

is what we

call glorification.

Being totally

made new in

the resurrection.

resurrection.

That's where

our text

ends.

Becoming

like him

in his

death Paul

says verse

11 that by

any means

possible I

may attain

the resurrection

from the

dead.

Other

translations like

the NIV they

put verse 11

this way they

say and so

somehow

attaining to

the resurrection

of the dead.

Some even

read if

perhaps I

might attain

to the

resurrection of

the dead.

Now okay

at first

that doesn't

sound too

confident does

it?

It's almost

like Paul

saying well

I might not

make it.

Okay

but when

Paul says

if somehow

he's not

actually expressing

doubt or

anxiety

he's expressing

humility.

It's not as

if Paul doubts

whether God

will raise him

for Christ's

sake.

He's very

confident in

that.

We read

that all

over Paul's

letters.

Go back

to the

first chapter

of Philippians.

Paul says

look if I

die I'm

going to be

with Jesus.

It's a

done deal.

So Paul

isn't expressing

a doubt here

about whether

God will raise

him for

Christ's

sake.

Rather what

Paul is

expressing here

is the

fact that

he doesn't

deserve it.

Which puts

Paul right

back in the

place of

trust.

Trust not

in his own

resume but

in Christ.

Placing no

confidence in

himself.

Placing all

confidence in

Christ.

And this is

the same for

us.

In ourselves

we don't

deserve the

resurrection

power of

Christ.

Either in

this life or

in the life

to come.

But Christ

graciously gives

it to us.

He gives

us not just

the great gift

of justification

of being

righteous but

he gives us

the wonderful

gift of

sanctification.

being made

more and

more like

him.

Again

imagine

what your

life would

be like

with that.

Imagine

what hope

you would

have in

the face

of

discouragement

or despair

if you knew

that your

present and

your future

weren't simply

going to be

the product

of your own

strength.

but you

knew that

you were a

participant in

the power of

Christ's

resurrection and

that God would

use even

hardships and

trials to

bring about

transformation in

your life.

Promising that

even on the

far side of

death there

was indestructible

hope.

Imagine how

much hope

that would

give you for

change in the

present that

you're not

stuck anymore.

And imagine

how this would

change how you

view your

fellow believers

too.

You know if we

live inside a

paradigm of

self-righteousness

then our

capacity and

power to

change lies

solely in

us.

It's a

totally closed

system.

And in that

paradigm after

a while you

start to lose

hope that

people can

actually change

don't you?

But if the

power of

Christ's

resurrection really

does live in

us.

if together

we've left

behind that

self-righteous

paradigm and

we've considered

knowing Christ

to be what's

most important

and his power

lives in us

then there's

always room for

hope.

So the

surpassing worth

of knowing

Christ really

is better.

It's better

than clinging

to our

performance and

pedigree and

all the sort

of privileges

that come

with that

because those

things can

never really

bring what

Christ gives

righteousness

and life.

As Tom

mentioned in

his pastoral

prayer today's

Reformation

Sunday.

It's kind of

the Sunday

of the church

year when we

remember the

Reformation.

And the

message of

this passage

is really

what the

Reformation

was all

about.

That

righteousness

and life

before God

come by

grace alone

through faith

alone in

Christ alone

to the glory

of God

alone.

You know

if God

called your

life to

account today

what answer

would you give

him for your

life?

He created

you.

He made

you.

He sustains

you.

He cares

about your

life so much

that he will

one day

call you to

account for

it.

Where would

you put your

confidence

before his

throne?

Would you

hand him

your resume

and hope

that it

was enough?

Would you

point to

your performance

or your

pedigree?

Or would

you say

in the words

of the old

hymn,

nothing in

my hands

I bring

simply to

the cross

I cling.

There's only

one way to

be right

with a holy

God and

that's through

the perfect

righteousness

of Christ

and it's

given to

everyone who

believes.

And if that

describes you

Christian,

what's keeping

you from

knowing Christ

more and

more?

Is there

still some

area of

pride that

you cling

to?

Still

something that

you try to

put alongside

Christ for

your identity,

your status,

your worth?

If so,

lay it down.

Count it as

loss.

Stop making

it your

confidence

because there's

nothing better

than knowing

the surpassing

worth of

Christ Jesus

our Lord.

let's pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

as the

first verse

of this

passage

commands us,

we want to

take a

moment and

rejoice in

you,

to be

glad and

give you

praise for

the gift

of Jesus

and the

gift of

knowing him.

Lord, fill

our hearts

with the

confidence

and joy

and peace

and hope

that come

from knowing

the free

gift of

righteousness

and life

that are

found in

our Savior.

And God,

open the

eyes of

all of us

in this

room to

behold Christ

and to

trust him

more deeply.

and for

those who

haven't yet

placed their

trust in

him,

oh God,

would today

be the day

of salvation

for them.

Call them

to yourself,

I ask.

In Jesus'

name,

amen.

Amen.