That I May Know Him

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There was a time in Paul's life when all that he wanted was to be the best Jew that he could possibly be.

In fact, his entire life was consumed with religious performance that he sincerely thought was capable of making him righteous in God's eyes.

But after experiencing the risen Christ on that road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9 that we just read,

Acts 9 · chapter mention

he realized that his life was spent laboring relentlessly for a salvation that's actually impossible to earn.

It's at that moment that he began to understand that despite his zealous commitment to God through Judaism,

his death would still result in condemnation and ultimately separation from God for all of eternity.

Rather than be honored by God for doing his best,

Paul realized that he would actually be rejected by God for not being good enough.

And upon this realization, he trusted Christ,

and he left behind all of those achievements that he had been working for,

for 30 years of his life perhaps.

He left it all behind.

So what was once an all-consuming pursuit to do the best that he possibly could,

to build up his list of religious achievements and good works,

now his own all-consuming pursuit and passion was to know Christ.

And to know Christ in a greater way,

and then to share this gloriously freeing gospel with others.

And that's ultimately what this entire chapter of Philippians 3 is all about,

the glorious gospel of Jesus.

Having spent half of his life following a lie,

Paul became passionate about exposing that deception.

Exposing the deception of the Judaizers

and to the legalism that was beginning to creep its way into the church.

And he focused on pointing the Philippians to the true gospel.

Now as we've studied in the last couple of Sundays,

in verse 2 he gives a warning to the church,

specifically a warning against the legalists, the Judaizers.

And then in verse 3 he gives a comprehensive description

of what true Christianity actually is.

Now he's turning to his own personal testimony

as a way of providing a defense of the truth of salvation by grace

through faith in Jesus alone.

The truth is sometimes the most effective way of sharing the gospel

and helping people to understand the truth of the gospel

is by simply sharing with them

the impact that the gospel has had on you personally.

What was at one time one of the most faithfully committed Jews

of the first century

was now one of the most faithfully committed Christians.

And these verses help us to understand

what made the difference for Paul.

In fact, we can really ask that question

as we jump into these verses.

What is it that made Paul go from being so committed to Judaism

to now being so committed in the other extreme

to Jesus Christ and Christianity?

Well, let's look at it together.

In verses 4 through 6 we see,

if you want to write this down in your notes,

the futility of self-righteousness.

The futility of self-righteousness.

Look with me again at verse 4.

Paul says,

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh,

if any other man thinks that he has whereof

he might trust in the flesh, I have more.

And then he goes through and he provides this description.

Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel,

of the tribe of Benjamin,

a Hebrew of the Hebrews,

as touching the law, a Pharisee,

concerning zeal, persecuting the church,

touching the righteousness which is in the law,

I was blameless.

You can almost sense an expectation on Paul's part here

that the Judaizers that he had just warned against

might accuse him of being envious of them in some way.

That's often how things like this go.

Someone experiences something

or they have achieved something in their life,

and if there's a group that rejects that achievement,

it's easy to pass it off as if,

well, they just don't understand.

They just don't have it.

Perhaps as this letter was read to the Philippian church,

and maybe even other churches

that would have been in that area,

perhaps Paul anticipated that some of the Judaizers

would say he's only envious of us

because he hasn't achieved what we've achieved,

and saying he's only rejecting us

because he's not a Jew like we are,

or whatever it was.

Paul was both a Jew and a Roman.

That's what was interesting about his life,

and perhaps there had come a time

where some of these Judaizers

were unfamiliar with his testimony.

Maybe they truly didn't know what his life was like before,

and they just passed him off as being lazy or insecure,

stating that it's easier to reject their teaching

than to live up to it.

Of course, that's just conjecture on my part.

It could be that Paul just simply thought

that this was the most appropriate defense

to reveal the nature of his own life prior to conversion.

In any case, he launched into this series

of religious achievements

that would have made him

one of the most elite Jews in all of Judaism.

This wasn't just he was really good

at following all the rules.

This was Paul was one of the best of the best

when it came to being a Jew

and leading the nation of Judaism there in Jerusalem.

And doubtlessly,

it would have put some of these prideful Judaizers to shame

to hear exactly what he had to say.

But the purpose of it was not to boast

in what his life was like prior to salvation.

The purpose in him sharing this testimony

is to prove the futility

in one's own goodness and sincerity

as a means for earning salvation.

If Paul, being far more righteous

than these other Judaizers

that had crept their way into the church,

if he being far more righteous than they

had found his own pursuits worthless,

how much more then should they consider

their pursuits to be without value

in terms of eternity?

If even Paul could not earn salvation,

surely they who had fallen far short

of his accomplishments

could not earn salvation either.

So Paul shares seven of his religious qualifications

that he found out were actually disqualifying.

And I'm gonna group them into two different categories

for us to understand.

We'll just go through them quickly.

The first category is pedigree.

The second category is sincerity.

In fact, it may be helpful for you to write that

if you've got your scripture journal with you.

Write down the first one in verse five,

we see Paul's pedigree.

Now, I've heard that there are two great days

in the life of a boat owner.

Anybody own a boat or you've owned a boat before

in the past?

I've heard that there's two great days

in the life of a boat owner.

The day that he buys a boat

and then the day that he sells the boat

are the two best days in his life.

Now, I've never owned a boat,

but I have made a transaction

that I feel like helps me

to somewhat understand that statement.

About a year and a half ago,

I bought our family a very overpriced puppy.

Many of you have met her

if you've been over to the house.

She's a German short hair pointer

and we named her Getty

after our favorite hymn writers, actually.

And I remember, Ashlyn will remember this too,

being so excited as we drove to Rocky Mount,

North Carolina is where we picked her up.

Our friend, actually last week,

Marissa Wright was here

that helped us with the piano last week

while Michaela was gone.

And it was her husband, actually, Austin.

His family breeds German short hair pointers

and he had convinced me

to buy one of these puppies from his dad

from this new litter that they had.

And so Ashlyn and I drove

all the way to Rocky Mount, North Carolina

to go pick up this puppy.

And we were excited about it, weren't we, Ashlyn?

We were so excited.

I had all of these dreams for Getty.

I had this dream that she was gonna help me

with my marathon training,

that I was gonna run with her

and she was gonna help me with that.

I had these dreams that she was gonna help teach my girls

good responsibility and how to have chores

and things to do around the house to help.

Julie and I would stay up late at night

watching YouTube videos on how to train dogs.

And we fully believed that we would have the capabilities

of training this notably energetic

yet intelligent breed of dog to obey our every command.

The problem is, as it turned out,

I'm not a very good dog trainer.

Getty's not very fun to run with

and the girls absolutely hate

picking up poop out of the front yard.

When we went and picked up Getty,

Mr. and Mrs. Wright provided us

with a copy of Getty's Pedigree.

It's a document, if you're familiar with it,

it's a document that traces back her heritage

and her lineage that helps us understand

what we should expect in terms of her health.

If we wanted to train her to be a show dog,

we would have to have certain documents

that would prove that she was a purebred,

German, short-haired pointer

and all of these kinds of things.

And so we're given this pedigree,

we're given this and it's supposed to let us know

exactly who she is, what she's like,

what it's supposed to be

as far as her background is concerned.

And it tells us that Getty is as good as it gets

when it comes to GSP pedigree.

Now the first four descriptions that Paul gives

in relation to his Jewish pedigree

shows us that Paul,

as far as his lineage and his heritage was concerned,

in being a true Israelite,

was as good as it gets.

In fact, it would be very difficult

to find somebody that was more qualified

in this sense of having a good Jewish pedigree.

Let me just mention the four things quickly

that relate to this pedigree.

The first thing that he says

is that he was circumcised the eighth day.

Now the literal translation of this

means that he was an eight-dayer.

It meant that he was circumcised by his parents

seven days after his birth

in strict compliance with the Abrahamic covenant.

You can read that in Genesis 17

or in Leviticus chapter 12.

Leviticus 12 · chapter mention

And the point is, Paul was an insider

as far as the nation of Israel was concerned.

He was an insider from birth.

From the very beginning,

he was treated by his parents,

he was raised by his parents

in exactly the way that the law said

a child was to be raised.

And that began with him being an eight-dayer.

Now the second description that he says

is that he was of the stock of Israel.

He was of the stock of Israel.

This had to do with his national race.

Now it was possible for a non-Jew to be an eight-dayer.

But Paul came from a pure line of Israelites.

It wasn't just that he was a proselyte to Judaism,

that his parents had just wanted to move him

into this identification with Israel.

So even as a pagan child,

he was circumcised seven days after his birth.

That's not what happened with Paul.

Paul's line, his lineage was of true-blooded Israelites.

In fact, the term Israel and Israelite

that Paul uses here was an inside term,

which Jews referred to themselves as.

Others would have referred to them as Jews,

but only Jews called themselves the children of Israel.

So it was significant what Paul's saying here.

He says, I'm an eight-dayer.

I am of the true stock of Israel.

Thirdly, he says, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin.

Now there was significance to this,

because Benjamin was the only tribe

that had stayed loyal and faithful to Judah

in the divided kingdom.

Eventually, when Judah went into captivity with Babylon,

Benjamin went into captivity with them.

After 70 years, when they came out of captivity,

Benjamin came with Judah

and helped to resettle the nation in Jerusalem.

Israel's first king was a Benjamite.

His name was Saul.

Perhaps his parents had even named him

after Israel's first king being a Benjamite.

So in addition to his pure bloodline,

Paul was from one of the most respected tribes.

Do you see how he's beginning to build this pedigree?

I'm an eight-dayer.

I'm of the true stock of Israel.

I'm from one of the most respected tribes in Israel.

And then he gives us a fourth one

that kind of reemphasizes and summarizes it all.

He says, I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews.

Now, this reemphasized Paul's lineage as being elite.

Though he was born outside of the Holy Land in Cilicia,

his parents were sure to raise him

as a faithful Jew in Jerusalem.

He was not only an eight-dayer.

His parents had not only fulfilled

everything that the law had said parents,

Jewish parents were supposed to do with their children.

But when most of the Jews in this culture

were Hellenized by Greek culture,

Paul was raised with Hebrew as his first language.

Not only was he raised with Hebrew as his first language,

he was sent to the best Jewish school in Jerusalem.

Acts 22 says that he sat at the feet of Gamaliel,

who was a famous rabbi of the day.

He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews.

Not only was his lineage and his pedigree short,

but his parents had painstakingly taking every effort possible

to have him in the best Jewish schools,

listening to the best rabbi available at the time.

He did everything that he was supposed to do.

He was an elite Jew.

And the emphasis of this pedigree showed

that Paul was not a mere proselyte to Judaism

as many of the Judaizers might have been.

His family wasn't saved, or not saved,

but his family wasn't converted to Judaism later on in his life.

They had always been Jews.

He was as good as it gets when it comes to national heritage.

And this meant something significant to these Jews

who cared greatly about their heritage and their lineage.

But the second thing that he says, or the second category at least,

is sincerity.

Sincerity.

Now you see this in the last phrase of verse 5,

and then again in verse 6.

The first four traits had to do with pedigree.

The last three had to do with Paul's passion

in following God through Judaism.

And listen to this description that he gives.

The first one that he says in verse number 5,

he says,

Now the Pharisee movement, or denomination in Israel,

came during the intertestamental time.

There was a 400-year gap between the last prophecy in the Old Testament

to when John the Baptist came on the scene in the New Testament.

400 years where God was silent with his nation.

And during that 400 years,

the nation of Israel had abandoned and turned away from

the true worship of God like they had done many times before.

And so for noble reasons,

there was this movement started from within Israel

that was known as the Pharisees.

Now the word itself means separated ones.

They were separatist.

That's what they were.

And they were immeasurably committed to following the law

and had even developed hundreds of their own traditions

that they taught alongside the law

as if it was just as important.

And they followed them to the extreme.

Unfortunately, what started as a noble task,

their zeal was negated by their belief

that lawful obedience could earn salvation.

At the time of the New Testament writings,

there was only, according to Josephus Flavius,

there was only 6,000 of these men

that even existed in the world.

Only 6,000 Jews that were willing

to commit themselves in this way to the law

and to these other traditions.

Not only was Paul one of these elite separatists,

but he came from a line of Pharisees

according to his own testimony in Acts 22.

Now many people believe that not only was he a Pharisee,

but they believe that Paul was also a member

of the Sanhedrin.

And we don't have this explicitly stated in the scripture,

but it's very possible that he could have been.

The Sanhedrin was a group of 70 men,

elite leaders among the elite leaders

of the nation of Israel.

And they basically ruled the Jews in a spiritual sense.

They cite Paul's persecuting authority,

the fact that he was chosen and allowed

to persecute the church in this way

as showing a sign of authority

that could have only come from the Sanhedrin.

The fact that Paul was single and had chosen to be so

was an indication that he very well

could have been a part of the Sanhedrin.

He had committed himself to the fullest extent

to be distracted by no other relationship.

And then his role in the martyrdom of Stephen,

they cite all of these things as evidence.

The bottom line is he was as committed

as you could possibly be to the law and to Judaism.

Touching the law, I was a Pharisee.

Here's the second thing he says.

Concerning zeal, persecuting the church.

I heard this week that zeal consists of two components.

One is love and one is hate.

Zeal is to love something so much

that you hate everything that is against it.

And Paul loved the law so much

that he loathed everything that seemed to be against the law,

especially Christianity.

And so Paul had taken it upon himself

to lead a group of persecutors

that were wreaking havoc among the early church.

He was a murderer.

He was taking men and women out of their homes,

delivering them to Jerusalem,

putting them in jail,

standing them in trial before the Sanhedrin.

And if they stayed committed

to the doctrines of Jesus Christ,

they were stoned to death.

This was all led by this man.

So when he says concerning zeal,

as far as my passion and my sincerity for the law

and my sincerity and passion for Judaism,

I persecuted the church and I did it extremely.

Although this persecution was immoral and sinful,

it wasn't illegal.

He'd actually been tasked with this

by the high priest to carry it out.

It wasn't an underground operation.

And Paul truly believed that what he was doing

in leading this persecution

was actually pleasing to the Lord.

That it's what God wanted for him,

that it actually made him right with God.

And then finally he says,

touching the righteousness,

which is of the law,

I was blameless.

Now Paul didn't believe himself to be sinless.

That would have gone against the Pharisaical belief.

But he did see himself as objectively blameless.

And he was.

When it came to the Pharisees' interpretation

of the Old Testament law and of their traditions,

Paul was above reproach.

He was unable to be accused.

He lived an exemplary life

that consisted of good works and religious commitment.

Kent Hughes said,

Paul speaks of his blamelessness as an objective fact,

as incontestable as his circumcision,

his membership in the tribe of Benjamin,

and his persecution of the church.

All of these tangible things that Paul said,

you can't deny that I'm these things

as far as my pedigree.

I can prove it to you.

He says with that same confidence

and same objectivity,

I was blameless according to the law.

Now here's the point of all of that.

If it was at all possible to earn salvation,

Paul could do it.

If anybody could,

it would be Paul.

But even Paul said that his list of accomplishments

was not able to make him righteous

before the holy God.

He learned that the grace of God only could save him.

And he was concerned with exposing

the deception of this teaching

to these churches,

especially Philippi.

Now many people today believe

that their religious pedigree and sincerity

can get them to heaven.

The prevailing thought of the day

is that a good God

would never send good people to hell,

but rather he will instead be gracious

and lenient to those

who try hard and do their best.

But that's not at all

what the Bible teaches about God or salvation.

The biblical teaching is that God is perfectly holy.

And in that holiness comes justice.

And in that perfect justice

is zero tolerance for sin.

He doesn't grade on a curve.

No one will stand before the judgment

hoping that God will be lenient

because they just did their best.

Now while a Christian heritage

is not inconsequential,

salvation is not inherited

or passed down from generation to generation.

I can't give it to Ashlyn and Harper

the way that I can give them

other material possessions.

It doesn't work that way.

Neither does sincerity equal salvation.

Many people are sincerely wrong.

There's no such thing as being close enough.

No points are awarded

on the basis of passion and effort.

It's either all Christ or nothing.

So Paul says there is futility

in self-righteousness.

The second thing quickly,

he talks about the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ.

That's in verses seven through nine.

The surpassing worth of knowing Christ.

Now in these verses,

Paul utilizes accounting terms

to illustrate the futility of self-righteousness,

but the value of knowing Christ.

Now I want you to picture if you would,

Paul pulls out his spiritual ledger.

He's talking about gain and loss,

debits and credits using accounting terms.

Now according to Paul,

before his conversion,

when he pulled out his spiritual ledger,

on the debit column

was a list of all of his sinful deeds.

He lists all the things that he had done wrong,

all the bad thoughts he had had,

anything he would have considered sinful

was listed in that debit column.

But in the credit column

was everything in verses five and six,

his pedigree and his sincerity.

And in Paul's mind,

so long as his credit column

outweighed his debit column,

he would make it into heaven

and earn eternal life.

And this is how many people view salvation.

As long as their good column

exceeds their bad column,

they believe that God will accept them.

Paul said after being confronted

by the risen Christ in Acts chapter nine,

everything that he counted as a credit

was actually revealed to him to be a debit.

The good works and religious commitment

that he thought was helping him

was actually damaging to him.

It was pulling him away

from the only thing

that could possibly give him credit.

And so therefore,

when he came to know Christ,

all of those things in verses five and six,

all of those accomplishments,

all of those achievements,

he scratched out and moved

from the credit column

over to the debit column.

He said they were good things

and maybe I had great zeal

and maybe the Lord was using me

in some way or another,

but those things were actually

pulling me away from Christ.

They weren't pushing me towards Christ.

They were actually a debit.

They were working against me,

Paul says.

The only real credit anyone could have

comes from the surpassing value

of knowing Jesus Christ.

Now there's only one thing listed

in Paul's credit column

and that is the righteousness of Christ

that comes by faith.

But in order for Christ

to be in his credit column,

he had to let go of all the other things

that he had formerly thought should be there.

Let's read the verses together.

Look at verse seven.

Paul says,

what things were gained to me,

those I counted loss for Christ.

I had to let go of those things

in order to gain Christ.

And then he reemphasizes it

and he says,

yea, doubtless,

I count all things but loss

for the excellency of the knowledge

of Christ Jesus my Lord,

or as your scripture journals probably say,

it says,

the surpassing value

of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,

for whom I have suffered the loss

of all things

and do count them but dung

that I may win Christ

and be found in him.

And being found in him,

Paul says,

is not my own righteousness

which is of the law,

but it is that which is

through the faith of Christ,

the righteousness of God

by faith.

The only way that Christ

could be in his credit column,

the only way that he could actually

gain salvation

and eternal life

is if he let go

of all the other achievements

and cling solely by faith

to the righteousness

that comes by faith

through Christ Jesus.

Now Paul equates

in this passage salvation

with this phrase,

knowing Christ,

or the knowledge

of Christ Jesus my Lord.

Now the Greek word here

does not refer to

an intellectual knowledge,

but an experiential knowledge.

It's not enough

to know about Christ,

but one must know him personally.

This kind of knowledge

indicates that intimacy

that is found

in a personal loving relationship.

It's equivalent

to the Old Testament usage

of knowing someone

in marriage.

It's not that you know

about your spouse,

but you know them

intimately

through your personal

fellowship

with them.

The Judaizers

knew all about Jesus.

They knew everything

there was to know

about him intellectually,

but they did not know him

experientially.

And in that sense,

they were no different

than the demons

in James chapter 2

James 2 · chapter mention

and those standing

in judgment

in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

In fact,

let me read those verses

to you.

James chapter 2

James 2 · chapter mention

in verse 19

if you want to write

down the reference.

James says,

thou believest

that there is one God?

Good,

thou doest well,

but even the devils

believe

and tremble.

James says,

a purely intellectual knowledge

of Jesus Christ

is not enough.

Even the demons

know about Christ,

they have better theology

than we have.

They know everything

there is to know

about Christ,

but that doesn't mean

that they belong

to Christ.

And then as we read

a couple of weeks ago

in Matthew chapter 7,

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Jesus said,

many will say to me

in that day,

Lord, Lord,

have we not prophesied

in your name?

We have preached

about you, Jesus.

And in thy name

have cast out devils.

We have demonstrated

power in your name,

Jesus.

And in thy name

done many wonderful works.

All of these things,

we put your name

and Christian

on the name

of our non-profit organization.

And then I will profess,

Jesus says,

I never knew you.

Again,

that same term.

And then he'll say,

depart from me,

ye that work iniquity,

evil worker,

not good worker.

Now what's the difference

between knowing about Christ

and knowing Christ?

You have to answer

that question.

The demons know

about Christ,

but they will not

submit to Christ.

Those in Matthew chapter 7

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

know all about Christ

and even take on

the label of Christian,

but they're not trusting

only in Christ.

The difference between

knowing about Jesus

and knowing Jesus

is submitting to him

as Lord

and trusting only in him

for salvation.

That's the difference.

It's not enough

just to know about him.

You must know him.

And until you're willing

to trust Christ alone,

apart from your works,

you cannot experience him

in an intimate,

personal relationship.

Listen how Jesus taught this

in a parable

in Matthew 13.

Two parables actually.

In fact,

write down that reference.

Matthew 13, 44 and 45.

Jesus said,

again,

the kingdom of heaven,

which is a reference

to salvation,

again,

the kingdom of heaven

is like unto a treasure

hidden afield.

The witch,

when a man hath found

this treasure,

he hides it

and then for joy

goes and sells

all that he has

to buy that field.

In other words,

a guy's coming along,

he finds a treasure

in a field

and he finds that

that treasure

is way more valuable

than anything else

that he has.

So he goes home

and he sells all of his goods

and he sells his house.

He has nothing left

and he goes

and he takes it

and he buys that field

in order that he can

gain that treasure.

And then in verse 45,

he gives another parable.

He says,

again,

the kingdom of heaven

is like a merchant man

or a retailer

seeking goodly pearls

who when he has found

one pearl

of great price,

he went and sold

all the land

or sold all that he had

and bought it.

So this retailer

comes through,

he's got a thriving business,

he finds this one pearl

of great price

and he sells his business

and everything

that goes along with it

in order to get

this one pearl.

And Jesus says,

that's exactly

what salvation is.

You can have

all of these things,

you can have all

of these religious accomplishments,

you can have

all of these things

you're trying to achieve,

things that are making

you happy right now

that you think

will bring you joy

in life

but when you finally

come to understand

the treasure

that you can find in me,

you'll give up

all of that stuff

in order to have me instead.

That's exactly

what Paul is saying

salvation is.

All of these things

I had worked for,

Paul said,

all of these achievements

I had had

were nowhere near

the surpassing worth

of knowing Jesus Christ.

And then he takes it

a step further

in verse number eight,

he says,

for whom I have suffered

the loss

of all things

and do count them

but dung

or rubbish

or excrement

that I may win Christ

and be found

in him.

Think about Paul's life

before conversion.

He had everything

that a man like Paul

could ever want.

He had power,

he had authority,

he had friendship,

wealth,

honor,

fame,

accolade,

everything that this world

pursues.

Paul had it

and he had it

at a young age.

He was not an old man

at this point.

He had done so well

in his pursuit of Judaism

that he had accrued

everything that a person

could ever want

in Judaism.

He had it all.

But when he trusted Christ,

all of that became loss

and he suffered

the loss of it all.

Instead of friendship,

what Paul now had

was abandonment.

Even some of his closest companions

in the ministry,

aside from just a few,

eventually abandoned him.

instead of wealth,

he was poor

and he relied on

whatever he could make

in making tents

or whatever gifts

some of these churches

would pass his way.

Instead of honor,

he was tortured,

imprisoned for four years

and put to shame.

But he said,

all of those things

that I once lived for,

I now count as trash.

in order to know Christ

and be found in him.

You may look at that sacrifice

and think it's not worth it.

It's not worth that kind of loss.

It's not worth losing my family.

It's not worth losing my friends.

It's not worth losing my job.

It's not worth losing my money

or my hobbies.

You may say,

the cost that Paul paid

that Jesus calls us to

is way too great.

But think about

what unbelievable treasure

Paul had found in Jesus

that he was willing

to continue

in that type of suffering

for Christ's sake.

No one was forcing Paul

into this.

Think about what he gave up.

What kind of value

is there in Christ

that not only

would he suffer that loss,

but he would remain

in that suffering

for the rest of his life

willingly.

Why?

In order that he might

know Christ.

Jesus said in Mark chapter 8,

Mark 8 · chapter mention

if any will come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me.

And then he says,

for whosoever will save his life

shall lose it.

Everybody that tries to hang on

to all the stuff,

living your life

for the wealth

and the fame

and the friendship

and all the other things.

Save up all of that stuff.

Eventually you're going

to lose it.

You can't keep it forever.

Eventually it will all be gone.

But whoever

will lose his life,

give all of that up

in order to follow me,

Jesus says.

For my sake

and the gospels,

the same shall save it.

What they will end up

getting in eternity

is far greater

than anything

they're trying to hold on to now,

Jesus says.

And then he asks this question

that I'm sure you've heard before.

What shall it profit a man

if he gain the whole world,

gets everything that he wants,

but he loses his own eternal soul?

And then Jesus says,

what are you willing to give

in exchange for your soul?

What is it in this life

that's so worth holding on to

that you're unwilling

willing to let it go

in order to truly follow Christ?

That's the question Jesus asked.

There's not a thing in this world

that could ever compare

to the surpassing value

of knowing Jesus,

the excellency of the knowledge

of Christ Jesus, my Lord.

Paul traded those pleasures

in order to stand before God,

not having his own righteousness,

but having the righteousness

of Christ.

And we have to ask the question then,

are we willing to give up all

in order to follow Christ?

Have we found in Christ

the treasure that's hidden in the field

and the pearl that's of great price?

And if we haven't,

what is it that you see

as more valuable

that would prevent you

from following him

or trusting him?

There's the futility

of self-righteousness.

There's the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ.

And then quickly and finally

in verses 10 and 11,

there's the ongoing pursuit of Christ.

Look at what Paul says.

That I may know him.

This is what he wants

more than anything now.

This is his passion.

This is his pursuit.

I want to know him

and the power of his resurrection

and the fellowship

of his sufferings

being made conformable

unto his death

if that by any means

I might attain

into the resurrection of the dead

or eternal life.

Once Paul had tasted

of the goodness of Christ,

he wanted more and more

and more and more.

Verses 10 and 11

reveal Paul's ongoing pursuit

of Christ.

The man that was once

consumed with self-righteousness

was now utterly consumed

with Jesus.

But these verses

aren't speaking

to the process

of sanctification.

Paul hasn't got there yet.

He's going to get there

in verses 12 to 16.

That's what we'll study

next Sunday.

He's not talking about

sanctification,

this pursuit of righteousness

after salvation.

He's talking about

the salvation

and the benefits

that Jesus brings

in salvation.

He wants to experience

those things.

He's passionate about

knowing Christ in that way.

And there's three of them

that he mentions here.

Power,

partnership,

and life.

Let me just mention them quickly.

First thing he says,

I want to know the power

of his resurrection.

The power of his resurrection.

Now the resurrection

was the ultimate display

of the power

of Jesus Christ.

If we were going to

reference his power,

it was seen ultimately

and in its greatest extent

in his resurrection

from the dead.

Now Paul had realized

in his pursuits

for salvation,

there was no power

within himself

to gain salvation.

He couldn't be good enough.

He couldn't do enough

religious things.

He had all the zeal,

all the partnerships,

all the things

that you could ever want.

And it wasn't enough.

He realized in himself

there was no power

for salvation.

So he says,

all I want to know

is Christ

and the power

that he has

to bring salvation.

I want the power

of Christ.

I want the power

of his resurrection.

The only thing

that can actually

bring me life.

The only thing

that can actually

bring me salvation.

Paul said

that I may know him

and that kind of power

because in me

is no power at all.

I need the power

of Christ

and I want it,

he says.

Then he says

the fellowship

of his sufferings.

This is partnership.

This is partnership.

He wasn't saying

that he desired

to suffer.

Nobody wants

to suffer.

What he was saying

is that in Christ

he had someone

who understood

the suffering

that he would experience.

Rather than go

through the difficulties

alone,

Paul partnered

with Jesus

through the power

of the Holy Spirit

in suffering.

This is a benefit

of salvation

in Christ Jesus.

Not only do we

experience his power,

the only power

that can save,

but he then partners

with us.

And when we have

to let go

of all those other things

and we suffer

the loss

of all things

in order to gain Christ,

we are partnering

with him.

We have fellowship

with him.

It's the same word

that Paul used

in chapter 1

when he thanked

the church at Philippi

for partnering

with him in the gospel.

He said,

I have this partnership

with Christ now.

Christ is with me.

Everybody else

may abandon me,

but Christ is with me

and he has strengthened me

and he is helping me.

And he said,

I want to know Christ

in that way.

And then the last thing

that he has

or mentions

is being conformable

unto his death

or becoming like him

in death

is what that means.

And then he says,

in becoming like him

in death,

I am brought life

through the resurrection

of the dead,

through his resurrection.

And this is a little weird.

I really think

these two phrases

work together,

but as verse 11 especially

is a little bit difficult

as far as piecing the words apart

and really grabbing

and understanding.

Here's what I think it is.

Paul explained it this way

to the Galatians

in Galatians chapter 2.

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

You know the verse.

He said,

I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless,

I live.

Yet not I,

but Christ lives in me.

In the life

which I now live

in the flesh,

I live by the faith

of the Son of God

who loved me

and gave himself for me.

When Paul says

I'm crucified with Christ,

he's not talking about

a literal crucifixion.

Paul was still living.

Of course,

he hadn't been crucified.

He was talking about

putting to death

the old man,

the old way,

the old sin

in order to be given

new life

in Christ Jesus.

And in putting to death

the old man

and his sin,

he was crucified

with Christ

in that way.

He became

conformed

to the death

of Christ

and only by conforming

to the death

of Christ,

spiritually putting himself

to death,

was he able to attain

the resurrection

of the dead,

the eternal life

that only Christ

can give.

And Paul said,

that's all I want to know.

I just want to know Christ.

I want to know his power.

I want to know his partnership

and I want to know the life

that only he can bring.

What a wonderful testimony

that is.

I'm thankful that

God gives us this

here in Philippians 3.

Not only as

an inspiring look

at the life

of a man

who loved Christ

probably more

than any of us

ever have,

but to be moved

by the grace

of God

in his life,

to see exactly

how awful

Paul was,

yet God loved him

and gave him

this power

and gave him

this partnership

and gave him

this life.

And that's exactly

the salvation

that God offers us.

it doesn't matter

what your past

is like.

It doesn't matter

how many good works

you've trusted in

for salvation

up to this point.

If you'll just let go

of those things

and follow him,

he will save you

and you will reap

those benefits too.

Only he has that power.

Thank you for listening

to this sermon

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by Lakeside Bible Church.

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