What are You Counting On? | Unshakeable Joy - Philippians 3:1-11 | Tony Walliser (3/8/2026)

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Silverdale's Lead Pastor is Tony Walliser.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Well, good morning. It is so great to see all of you here worshiping with us today. If I haven't had a chance to meet you personally, I'm Tony Walliser. I'm one of the pastors here at Silverdale. And we're so grateful that you've chosen, even though you've probably lost an hour of sleep, you've chosen to worship with us today. I'm so grateful for that. If I um you know, if I haven't met you, you know, I would love to get a chance to meet with you more personally in the future. Um I have the privilege today to share with you God's word. So this one I encourage you to go and take your Bibles, open up in the New Testament to the book of Philippians, Philippians chapter 3, turn to Philippians 3, and then you can also do this. You can take out these Bible study outlines that we provide for you. We give you these so you can follow along and take notes as we study God's word together. You know, as a church, we've been working our way through this incredible book, the book of Philippians, and we've entitled the series Unshakable Joy. And the reason why is because it's written by the Apostle Paul. He's in jail, he's facing a very bleak future, and yet he experiences joy. And he writes this letter filled with joy. And one thing that he keeps reminding us over and over again is that if you want to have joy in this messed up life, it is only found when you put your hope and trust in Jesus Christ. And so that's the theme that keeps running through, and that's how he starts Philippians chapter three. Notice what it says in verse one. Paul writes, My brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me, and it's a safeguard for you. Now, this is the sixth time that the Apostle Paul has encouraged us to rejoice, right? Paul's a good teacher. He knows that one of the keys of learning is repetition. And so he said so far, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. And just in case we miss it, hey, we need to make sure we are finding our joy. Where? In the Lord. Paul doesn't say, hey, find joy in your work. Why? Because work can sometimes be a hassle. Or find joy in your spouse. Well, sometimes they drive you crazy. Or find joy in your kids. Well, sometimes they act like fools, right? Or find joy in your money. Well, guess what? The stock markets crash. Or, you know what? Find joy in your house. Well, sometimes it's a mess, right? Listen, all those things are counterfeit. They give you temporary happiness, but they cannot give you the deep joy you're all looking for. It is only found in the Lord, right? Because many times things appear to be good and they're actually not. You've probably heard this story before. It was a middle school principal in Oregon. Um he had a problem with some of the girls in that school. So they were coming to school and they were putting on makeup in the bathroom, and then after they'd put on the, you know, the lipstick, they would then kiss the mirror. Okay? And so you had all these lipstick marks all over the mirror, and the girls just thought it was so funny. Ha ha, and you know what? There's my lips, and there's your lips, and that's my you know, lipstick, and all those kind of things. Well, it was a hassle for the cleaning staff. And so he told the girls, hey, would you stop it? It's really causing the cleaning staff a lot of extra time, and they just laughed it off. No, right? And so he decided I've got to get a little bit more creative. And so what does he do? He brings the girls into the bathroom and says, Hey, you know what? We told you to quit, you know, you know, kissing the mirror and that kind of stuff. I want you to see how long it takes for the custodial staff to clean this. So he asks the custodian to come and clean it. So this custodian gets, you know, a mop sort of like this, you know, and dips it into the toilet and then starts cleaning the mirror, right? Amazingly, nobody kissed the mirror anymore. Why? Because what they thought was so funny and fun, because it was the rage of the school, it ended up being nasty and disgusting, right? Well, that is Philippians chapter 3. The apostle Paul is going to say, all these things I thought were bringing life to me were actually bringing death. All these things I were pursuing to give me joy didn't give me joy. I thought I was so wise I was acting like a fool. And so what Paul's gonna ask us is, what are you counting on? What are you looking to to make you right with God? What are you looking to to bring joy in your life? And what Paul's gonna do, he's gonna first talk about the wrong things that we count on, that he used to do, believe in, and then he's gonna point us to the main thing that will really give us joy, which is Jesus Christ, okay? And so I want you to jot it on your outline. Let's look at the negative first. First of all, some of you are counting on your religion. Counting on your religion. Okay, your religion's gonna make you happy. Your religion's gonna bring you closer to God, right? And the fact is, is that some of you think that religious activity and going through the rituals and those kind of things are gonna bring you closer to God. But I need to remind you that the most religious people on the planet were the ones that crucified Jesus Christ, right? And so what Paul does, he has some pretty harsh words to speak and call out these religious people. Check it out, look at it in verse 2. He says this watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. Now, when we see the word dog, we think of our pets, you know, we've got them potty trained, they live in the house with us. No, no, no. In the first century, dogs were mongrels, right? They were scavengers, they would run around in packs, they were disease carriers. Paul was saying, nobody wants to be called a dog, right? And yet Paul is calling these religious people dogs. He calls them evil workers. What does that mean? That means they're religious, they're doing a lot of things. They think they're doing good. Paul says they're actually doing evil. And then he calls them mutilators of the flesh. You go, what is that? Well, he's talking about circumcision. Look at the next verse. He says this. Boast in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. Now you may go, what is circumcision? What is that all about? Well, in the Old Testament, the Jewish people, a sign of the covenant was circumcision. That if you entered into a covenant relationship, a special relationship with God, the outward sign of it, just like we do baptism, the outward sign in the Old Testament was circumcision. And so, you know what? It was a big deal. And so what happens is the Apostle Paul, he's now a follower of Jesus, he's going to all these different towns in the Roman Empire, and he's preaching the gospel. And people believe. Jews and Gentiles believe in Jesus Christ. And then Paul establishes a church made up of Jews and Gentiles. And then he'd leave that church and go to another town. And typically, what would happen? You had these, we call them Judaizers, these leaders from Jerusalem. They would come to these churches and they'd basically say this to the Gentile Christians, which is the majority of us in this room. They'd say this. They'd say, Hey, we're so glad and happy that you've received our Messiah Jesus. But now you need to go all the way. You need to become a true Jew, and you men need to get circumcised. And all the Gentile men are like, say what? What are we gonna do? Now what? Right? And Paul calls them mutilators of the flesh, right? Why? Because they're asking people to do something God's not asking them to do. You see, religious people are focused on the external circumcision. Paul says, hey, true followers of Jesus are circumcised in the heart. You're focused on the externals of your religion. You know what? We worship in the Holy Spirit, not through your traditions and rituals. You know what else? You boast in all your fleshly accomplishments. We're gonna boast in what Jesus Christ has accomplished. That's what we're gonna do. See, the fact is, is that there's a lot of religions in our world today. A lot of false religions, right? We can talk about cults like Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons, and they got this secret underwear they wear in their temple. Or you got big religions like Muslims, right? You know what? And they women, you need to wear your burqa and they're all their Sheila and all that kind of stuff, right? But there's secular religions. You know that, right? They don't call it a religion, but they act like it's a religion. You go, like what? Well, like, you know, transgender philosophy. Talk about mutilators of the flesh, right? In the name of compassion of their children, they mutilate their children, right? You have a lot of people that are passionate about something, and it's their religion, right? You may remember a couple of months back, um, there was a Baptist church in Minnesota. You had these rioters that came in right in the middle of their worship service, and they're screaming and shouting and you know, and just you know, blowing whistles and saying, we're righteous and you're unrighteous. You join us, we're doing the right thing. And it scared the kids half to death. They begin to start crying, they thought they were gonna get shot. I mean, it was just it was a mess, right? Why would this group do that to a worship service? Because they believe they are right, right? They're more righteous. Listen, everybody's got a religion. They may not call that, but that's their philosophy, that's their world. And Paul says, you look, whatever it is you're striving after that would be your religion that makes you so righteous, Paul says, if it's not Jesus Christ, you're just kissing toilet water. It's not worth anything. So the first thing Paul says is, hey, you're not going to get any joy and rightness with God through religion. He does a second thing, jot this down. Counting on your background or your race. Counting on your background or your race. Some people think that their ethnicity makes them superior to other people or makes them closer to God than other people. Paul said, you know what? I used to think that way. I'm a Jewish guy and used to think that me being a Jew has made me really super special. Look at how he puts this in verse 4. He says, this if anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised the eighth day of the nation of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews. Paul says, if anybody wants to brag about their Jewishness, it's me. I'm a true-blooded, true blue Jew, right? And he gives example. He says, I was circumcised the eighth day. What does that mean? That means he wasn't a proselyte. He didn't convert later on to Judaism. He was born a Jew. Not only that, he is from Israel. What does that mean? Well, you know what? Abraham had two sons, one was chosen, one was not. You know, um Isaac had two sons, one was chosen, one was not. Paul says, I'm from the chosen line of Israel. Not only that, you know what? I mean, basically, what Paul's saying is, hey, be like an American going, my folks came over here on the Mayflower, right? That's how far back I go. And then not only that, he says, the tribe of Benjamin. You go, what's so significant about the tribe of Benjamin? Tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin was the youngest of the 12 kids, right, of Jacob. He's from his true love, Rachel. And Paul says, that was my great great grandmother, right? And not only Benjamin, that's where the first king came from, and when there was a civil war in Israel, Benjamin was the only tribe that stayed true to Judah, right? Paul basically Paul's saying, you know what? I am of this respectability group. You know, I mean, it'd be like the Gilded Age when you say, I'm of the Rockefellers or I'm of the Vanderbilts. Paul says, that's who I am. I'm a Benjamin, right? And then what else he says? He says, I am Hebrew of Hebrews. What does that mean? That means that his family maintained the Jewish culture. They maintained the Hebrew language. Everybody else was converting to the society around them, but not Paul's family. No, no, no. Everybody else is speaking Greek. Paul says that in my house we spoke Hebrew. And he's like, Whoa, look at me. I'm something special. And you know what's crazy is that somehow we think we're better than other people based on our ethnicity. Happens even today, right? I mean, if you take a tour to the Holy Land, um, typically you'll spend half of the day on the Western Wall. You know, what's the Western wall? It's the outer wall of the old temple that existed back in the day of Jesus, okay? So the Jewish people, that's the only part left of the old, old temple, so the Jewish people will go there and they'll pray. And if your tour guide will typically say to you, hey, why don't you go ahead and go there and pray as well? And then they'll say something like this. They'll say, Look, we know you can pray to God anywhere in the world, but here it's a local call, right? So what are they saying? They're saying, we are closer to God than anybody else's, right? I mean, the fact is, is people have that kind of mindset. Right? Race continues to divide us, right? Whether it be the Ku Klux Klan, thinking white people are more superior, you got Hitler trying to produce the Nazi race. Let me just remind us all every one of us, every person on this planet is made in the image of God. And if you cut me, I bleed red, and so do you, right? Ain't no difference. Nobody's better than anybody else. Make sense, right? So Paul says, I could brag about that. It doesn't do me any good. It's just kissing, you know, toilet water. And he goes, you know, I could brag about my background, right? And how I was raised, my education, all that kind of stuff, right? People brag about their education. Well, I graduated from Harvard. My kids go to Macaulay, right? You Christians are so ignorant, I can educate you, right? You know? Or people think, okay, your background, right? I mean, your background, that's what makes you special. Look, I'm a son of an immigrant. I'm proud to be an American, but that don't make me any better than anybody else in this world, right? We're we're all equal, folks. I mean, the fact is, is you know, well, my my my daddy was a Baptist preacher, my granddaddy was a deacon. Awesome. God has no grandchildren. Either you're a child of God or you're not. Whatever you're basing your goodness and joy on, if it's race or your background or your education, you're just kissing toilet water. Right? So then Paul gives a third area that is the wrong thing to count on. What is it? Counting on your righteousness, counting on your righteousness, counting on your goodness. Okay, I'm gonna have joy because I'm gonna follow God, I'm gonna do the right thing, and it's gonna be good, right? And Paul says, hey, that was me. Look at it in verse 5. Regarding the law, man, I was a Pharisee. Regarding zeal, persecutor of the church. Regarding righteousness that is in the law, blameless. Right? I mean, do you know any people that go, look at me, I'm blameless, I'm the perfect one? Paul did, right? That's the way he saw himself. He said, I was a Pharisee. What's that, right? Well, Josephus is an ancient Jewish writer. He says that Pharisees was the leading sect among the Jews, those that interpreted the law most correctly. I mean, that you know, the Pharisees were like, you know, religious marines. We're the few, we're the proud, we're the Pharisees, right? And you go, what does it mean? Pharisee literally means separated ones. That they would separate themselves from society and devote themselves completely to trying to obey the law. And Paul said, I did that perfectly, right? And he said, so much so that I didn't just keep the law. If anybody else was getting out of line, I'd get them in line, right? That's why he hated Christianity. He sought a sect of Judaism. And so he went from town to town, place to place, house to house, arresting people. He helped in the stoning of Stephen and other Christians. Why would Paul do that? I mean, Paul was a religious zealot. He was a radical terrorist. He was a radical, but he was radically wrong. There's a lot of radicals in our world today. And most of them are radically wrong, right? Now, Paul said, I tried to keep the law so perfectly that I would be considered blameless. You go, how do you do that? Well, think of it like this, okay? Imagine that if we're a legalist, we got our, you know, we got our list, right? And I got my righteousness list, and here's all the things I should do, and here's all the things I don't do, right? And you know what? And if I do all the do's and I don't do the don'ts, right, then what happens is I'm blameless. God's gonna love me more than he loves you. And I got my list, and I'm checking my list, and I'm trying to make sure I follow the list, right? Let me ask you something. Do you find people that are legalists like that, filled with joy? No, right? If you're just a list follower, then guess what? There's no joy in that. What I've discovered is that legalists, there's not only no joy, they're also some of the most critical judgmental people you'll ever meet, right? Why? Because they're striving, trying in their own strength to find joy and find getting closer to God, and it doesn't work. I heard one person put it like this. He said, Um, imagine that you and your family, you know, are going on vacation to the Smoky Mountains, and you got a new car, and you're you're driving up the mountain, and as you're driving up the mountain, suddenly you see these other people, they're out of their cars and they're pushing their car up the mountain. You go, Well, that's sort of weird, right? And then you stop and you get gas, and while you stop and get gas, one of these pushers come up to you and say, Uh, how are you doing? And you go, Well, I'm pretty good. Where where are you going? Well, I'm I'm driving up the mountain here. And then he looks at you and goes, You know, we used to be like you. We were once drivers, and now we're pushers. And you're like, Well, okay, well, why is that? Well, we've matured now. And we we we have a deeper understanding of what's right and wrong, and and we're pushers now, and we believe it's better if you push rather than drive. And and you know what you need to do? You need to be a pusher. And um, you know what, it's better for your exercise and it's better for the environment. And let's just think that you're dumb enough to believe them. And you go, okay, I think hogs push. Okay, family, everybody get out. We're pushing the car up the mountain, right? Let me ask you something. Is anybody happy? No, everybody's miserable, everybody's mad. Why? Because all you're doing is striving. Paul is saying, that is how I used to be. Listen, trying to gain favor with God with your own good works and righteousness is like a treadmill. You're working hard, but you're not getting anywhere. Paul said, I lived that way, and it was like kissing toilet water. Make sense? So, Paul says, those were the things I was counting on. They didn't work. So, folks, what do you need to count on to find joy and closeness with God? You ready? Here it is. Number four, jot this down. It is counting on your relationship with Christ. Counting on your relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not about religion, it's not about your righteousness, it's not about your race, it's about your relationship with Jesus Christ. Notice how the apostle Paul says this in verse 7. He goes, but everything that was gained to me, everything that I was counting on, I have counted to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be loss in view of the surpassing value of what? Of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. See that word knowing there? It's not just head knowledge knowing, it's experiential knowing. Right? I mean, there's a lot of people that have head knowledge religion and they got head knowledge about Jesus and they have the facts about Jesus, just like they have facts about George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, but that don't do nothing for you. You know what you need? You need to have a real knowledge of Jesus Christ. You need to know him and have a relationship with him. Just like a husband and wife can know each other. The Bible says this. The Bible says that Adam knew Eve and she became pregnant. That's the kind of knowledge. That you can have an intimate relationship with Almighty God, right? You go, how? How can you and I have that kind of intimate relationship with Almighty God? So glad you asked. The Apostle Paul tells us three things jotted down. First of all, what you gotta do if you're gonna have that kind of relationship, you gotta turn from the counterfeits. You gotta turn from the counterfeits. All the things you were trusting in, all the things you were looking to, thinking they're gonna give you life and joy, you gotta turn from them. Look at it, verse 8. Because of him, Christ, I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be what? To be dung. Paul says, all my former life, my former religion, all that kind of stuff, me striving to be righteous, all of that is dung. You go, what is that? It's actually a pretty graphic term. It means sewage, it means waste, it means poo poo. Okay? Right? Most of you know a I grew up on a hog farm, and one of my jobs was to scrape the stalls of the sows. The sows would give, you know, birth to little baby piglets, right? And they were in a confined little cage, and I'd have to scrape out the poop for a few days, right? Fun, fun doing that, right? Um, or you know what? I've got a dog. I take the dog on a walk and he poops in my neighbor's yard. I don't like it, but I gotta pick up his poop, right? Paul's saying, you know what my former life was and all that stuff? Here it is. Just a bunch of poop, right? That's all it was, right? Listen, if you really want Christ, you can't keep striving for the world. You can't keep believing the lies of the world. You've got to repent of that. You've got to say, you know what? I'm turning from myself. I'm turning from this world. I'm turning to Jesus Christ. Why? Because it's all just a counterfeit. The world thinks it's awesome, and it's not. It's just a counterfeit. I heard recently about this guy who he um he bought um Super Bowl tickets to the past Super Bowl. He was so excited. It was one of his life dreams to go to the Super Bowl. When he got the tickets in the mail, he's so excited. You know what? He got tickets for himself and his whole family. They have all these flights to California. They book hotels for the entire weekend. They're super excited. They go to the stadium, right? And as they go to the stadium, then it was discovered that the tickets he got online were counterfeit. They weren't real. He couldn't get in, right? All his hopes, all his dreams, all that money, all his effort, all it was good for was the trash. That's what Paul says. All these other things we're counting on, they're just trash. Okay? So if we repent of that, then what do we need to do? Okay, first you gotta repent. Then secondly, jot this down. You need to have faith in the true Christ. You need to have faith in the real thing, which is Jesus Christ. You know, religion ain't gonna do it. Your righteousness ain't gonna do it. Your race ain't gonna do it. No. How do you have a relationship with Jesus? Only one way. Faith. Trust in Him. Look at it in verse 8. So that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through what? Through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God based on what? On faith. The Christian life is not about you striving, it's about you trusting in Jesus Christ. It's not about you working harder to somehow be acceptable to God. No, it's trusting in the complete work of Jesus Christ. That's what Paul is saying here. Paul has this huge paradigm shift where he realizes something. Wait a minute. The prophet Isaiah was right. What did he write? Look at it. All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. Let me just tell you something about your pastor. Tony Walliser on his best day, filthy rags. Any righteousness I got, it's all through the blood of Jesus Christ. And the Apostle Paul, he thought he was a spiritual billionaire. Now we realized he was bankrupt. He was so prideful. Now he's Mr. Humble. He's learned the gospel, and so must we. Here's the good news of the gospel. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin has left a crimson stain. He's washed it as white as snow. That's the beauty of Jesus Christ. So, are you in Christ? You go, I don't know if I am or not. Well, have you placed your life in his hands by faith? Have you said, Lord, I'm surrendering my life to you. I'm trusting you with my life. That's how you get in Jesus Christ. Let me see why I illustrate it like this. I have here a couple of um envelopes. And um one envelope is um has a U.S. postage stamp on it, right? And then the other one has the Tony mail stamp, okay? And so um I worked really hard for this stamp right here. It's actually bigger than the other one. I think it looks nicer than the other one. Um it has forever on it, right? I had AI produce it for me, right? And so here it is. Now, guess what? If you had a letter and you wanted to mail it and you put it in the Tony mail envelope, and the postman comes by, he's gonna look at it and go, okay, who's playing a trick on me? What little kid is playing a trick on me? And guess what? It doesn't matter how impressive my stamp is, it ain't going nowhere. Right? If you want your letter to be delivered somewhere, you got to have the official stamp to take it somewhere, right? Well, it's the very same way. You can try in your own righteousness and your own goodness, it ain't gonna get you anywhere. You better be in the envelope of Jesus Christ. He alone will bring you into the presence of a holy God in heaven, right? And so Paul says, okay, if you want a relationship with Christ, first you must turn from all those other things you've been striving after. Secondly, by faith, you must trust Jesus with your life. That's how you enter in that relationship. But then there's a third thing. Jot this down. Number three is walk in fellowship with Christ. Walk in fellowship with Christ. The apostle Paul says, you know what? I just don't want a surface knowledge in relationship with Jesus. I really want to know him. That's my goal. I really want to know the Lord like he knows me. Notice how Paul puts this in verse 10. My goal, my ambition is to know him, to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death. Paul says, Hey, I really want to know Jesus. I want to walk with him, I want to have fellowship with him. Let me remind you of what the Christian life is. We've complicated it. The Christian life is simply this: taking a walk with Jesus. Walk through life and include Jesus in it. When you're walking through the trials of life, bring Jesus with you. When you're walking through the triumphs of life, bring Jesus with you. Walk with Jesus. That's the Christian life, walking with Jesus. And as you begin to walk with Jesus, you'll get to know him and you get to experience him. Paul says, in what ways? Well, you get to experience his resurrection power. Now, all of us as Christians, like, whoo, sign me up for that class. I want the resurrection power class. Absolutely. I want some in on Jesus' resurrection power, right? I want resurrection power over sin and over Satan and over sickness. Give me some resurrection power, Jesus, right? We're all up for that one, right? And then Paul says, okay, yeah, absolutely. You get to experience some of that, but you also get to fellowship with his sufferings. And we're like, I don't want that one. I'm gonna pass on that class. I don't want to know Jesus like that, right? But let me tell you something. So many of us as Christians, we want a trouble-free, no pain life, no suffering. Can I tell you that is a shallow life? If you really want a fellowship enhancer with the Lord, walk with him through the sufferings of life. You know, I believe that I could have had a microphone, I could go up and down these aisles, and I could ask each one of you about hard, difficult trials of suffering in your life, and you could probably all tell me a story. But then if I came back around and I said, you know what, tell me when in your life Jesus seemed the most real and intimate to you, and almost every one of you will say the same story. I've seen it hundreds of times. Why? Because it is in the fellowship of suffering, walking with Jesus through the suffering of life, that we really get to know him like we've never known him before. So here's my question Do you really know him? Have you turned from the counterfeits of this world? Have you repented and trusted in Jesus with your life? And now are you choosing to walk with him? And if you will, Paul says you will know him. His power and his joy even in the midst of suffering. Folks, that's how you rejoice in the Lord. Amen? Let's pray together. Father, thank you so much for your word. I thank you, Lord, for calling us to attention. Forgive us, Lord, for chasing after the things this world offers us rather than trusting in you. Lord, would you please commune with us today, even as we take communion? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.