WEBVTT 00:00:05.633 --> 00:00:06.065 Good morning. 00:00:06.065 --> 00:00:06.500 Church. 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:09.132 How are we doing? 00:00:09.132 --> 00:00:10.000 It's great to be with you. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:11.566 This morning it’s great to see you. 00:00:11.566 --> 00:00:13.166 Welcome to Valley View. 00:00:13.166 --> 00:00:17.666 I am the student pastor here and my name is Colby Flowers. 00:00:17.666 --> 00:00:19.100 I am preaching this morning. 00:00:19.100 --> 00:00:21.199 Thank you, John, for the opportunity to do that. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:25.666 And we are continuing in on our series here in the book of Philippians. 00:00:25.666 --> 00:00:32.665 So if you would turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter three, we will have the the words on the screen for you. 00:00:32.665 --> 00:00:36.832 But we highly encourage you to get in the word yourself. 00:00:36.832 --> 00:00:37.966 So turn there with me. 00:00:37.966 --> 00:00:39.133 Philippians chapter three. 00:00:39.133 --> 00:00:42.533 We're going to cover 11 verses one through 11. 00:00:42.533 --> 00:00:46.566 And I'm really excited about the what the Lord has for us in this passage. 00:00:46.732 --> 00:00:57.600 Believe what we are going to look at is of crucial significance, important significance for the Christian faith as we see it all throughout Scripture. 00:00:58.299 --> 00:01:08.299 Before we jump in there, I don't know if you can relate with me, but when I was going through school, I had to take life skill classes. 00:01:08.566 --> 00:01:11.566 It was kind of our part of our requirement to go through school. 00:01:11.566 --> 00:01:14.299 I had to take classes on typing. 00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:22.066 I took a typing class where you had, you had a teacher telling you you had to stare at the screen and you couldn't look down at your fingers to to learn how to type. 00:01:22.066 --> 00:01:25.066 Now, I took another, home ec. 00:01:25.266 --> 00:01:29.832 That didn't help me much, but I have a I have a wife who's a great cook. 00:01:29.832 --> 00:01:32.533 But you had to learn the basics of cooking. 00:01:32.533 --> 00:01:41.099 And then I took a career class, which basically helped you figure out if you want to go to college, if you want to go into the workforce. 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:45.000 It helped you, learn how to build a resume. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:51.599 And so this class I remember the importance they gave to resumes. 00:01:52.066 --> 00:01:55.566 And I think all of us can in some way, shape or form. 00:01:55.566 --> 00:02:00.799 We all relate to this because resumes were just a part of our life as a part of our society. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:09.532 It's a part of our culture that you're supposed to build a resume, to then reflect to a future employer if you should get the job or not. 00:02:09.532 --> 00:02:14.165 And my wife is actually in human resources, she, is a part of that process. 00:02:14.165 --> 00:02:26.165 And she's told me on several occasions how she sort of whittles down the large group of people down to a smaller pool of candidates, so that she can select them to take the next step in the hiring process. 00:02:26.165 --> 00:02:28.532 And the resume is crucial. 00:02:28.532 --> 00:02:33.199 But there's one thing that sometimes can outweigh the resume. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:37.800 There's there's one thing that sometimes can become trumpeted, so to speak. 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:40.633 And the resume is not as important. 00:02:40.633 --> 00:02:42.765 And we sometimes say it this way. 00:02:42.765 --> 00:02:47.332 If you know somebody who knows somebody, right. 00:02:47.332 --> 00:02:58.932 So if you know somebody on the inside or you know somebody that is dealing, in the company, then you get an extra step, an extra leg that your resume might not be able to get you. 00:02:58.932 --> 00:03:06.665 And so often the best applicants for jobs don't have the best resumes, but they know somebody who knows somebody. 00:03:06.665 --> 00:03:09.432 And so we're going to see this morning. 00:03:09.432 --> 00:03:22.366 It's an important idea that we're going to see here in Scripture is this the value of knowing Christ infinitely surpasses your personal resumé of works. 00:03:22.366 --> 00:03:34.032 We're going to see these two ideas of knowing Christ and building or developing your own personal resumé of being good, and what Paul is going to do. 00:03:34.032 --> 00:03:45.500 He's going to address some opponents in the church, and they were going around basically attacking Christians and shaming them into believing something that they shouldn’t. 00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:47.733 And so we're going to be in Philippians chapter three. 00:03:47.733 --> 00:03:53.832 Turn there in verse one is where we're starting, and let's read what Paul has for us this morning. 00:03:53.832 --> 00:03:55.432 Philippians chapter three, verse one. 00:03:55.432 --> 00:03:57.165 It says this. 00:03:57.165 --> 00:04:02.133 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. 00:04:02.866 --> 00:04:05.400 So Paul's making a transition even in this verse. 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.265 He's about to start landing the plane of this, this letter that he's written to them. 00:04:09.265 --> 00:04:18.565 Finally, he's getting to the end and he tells them once again, rejoice! Rejoice not in your circumstances, but rejoice in the Lord. 00:04:18.565 --> 00:04:25.966 As he said over and over again in this book, he says, to write these same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. 00:04:26.733 --> 00:04:31.833 It's possible Paul could be hinting at a past letter that he wrote to the Philippians. 00:04:31.833 --> 00:04:42.199 It's possible he was even referring or talking about something that he already addressed with them, but he's writing something to them that he's already spoken of. 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:57.100 So this is an important idea of what he's about to be about to get into that he's sharing again in this letter, and it's safe for him to write because he's in prison and he's sharing this important truth with them all the way in Philippi. 00:04:57.100 --> 00:05:00.966 And this is where we get to Paul's main point here. Verse two. 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:07.899 He says, look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers. 00:05:08.766 --> 00:05:13.665 Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 00:05:13.665 --> 00:05:22.100 Now Paul encountered some opponents, people who opposed him, and they were called Judaizers. 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:25.800 You might even hear in the name Judah, the word Judah. 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:32.300 Basically, this group of people were Jews who were claiming that you must become a Jew. 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:36.899 Before you can become a Christian, you must keep the law. 00:05:36.899 --> 00:05:45.833 You must keep the ceremonies, you must keep the mosaic covenant and specifically, you must be circumcised before you can become a Christian. 00:05:45.833 --> 00:05:51.165 That's not a great, It's not a great method of getting new believers to come to your to your side. 00:05:51.165 --> 00:05:53.899 But this is what they would shame Christians into doing. 00:05:53.899 --> 00:05:56.699 But but Paul cleverly does something here. 00:05:56.699 --> 00:06:02.699 He reverses their own language because often they would use language like dogs. 00:06:02.699 --> 00:06:08.199 These Judaizers would call Gentiles dogs, uncivilized. 00:06:08.365 --> 00:06:09.432 Well, Paul switches it on them. 00:06:09.432 --> 00:06:13.233 He says, you all need to look out for these dogs. 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:15.766 He calls them evil doers. 00:06:15.766 --> 00:06:21.833 This group of people were literally compromising and going against the core teachings of the gospel. 00:06:21.833 --> 00:06:23.665 So he says, look out for the evildoers. 00:06:23.665 --> 00:06:28.132 And finally he says, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 00:06:28.132 --> 00:06:34.100 Now why that's interesting is because they really shamed people into getting circumcised. 00:06:34.100 --> 00:06:42.100 So Paul, in a negative way says, you are shaming people to mutilate the flesh just for the sake of becoming a Christian. 00:06:42.100 --> 00:06:46.365 But Paul says, listen, it's not about circumcision that makes you a Christian. 00:06:46.365 --> 00:06:47.966 He says it in verse three right here. 00:06:47.966 --> 00:06:54.632 He says, for we, that's the church believers in Christ, for we are the circumcision. 00:06:54.632 --> 00:06:56.699 We're the true circumcision. 00:06:56.699 --> 00:07:00.565 We have circumcised hearts, hearts that are devoted to God. 00:07:00.565 --> 00:07:08.800 It's not something that we have done something in our flesh by our own human effort that has made us good and right with God. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:10.899 But it's something that's happened in our heart. 00:07:10.899 --> 00:07:13.365 So he says, we are the circumcision. 00:07:14.333 --> 00:07:19.365 He says we are they who worship by the Spirit of God and glory. 00:07:19.365 --> 00:07:21.132 Or another word there could be. 00:07:21.132 --> 00:07:28.899 We boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:35.565 So Paul here is speaking to the church and saying, listen, we are the true circumcision. 00:07:35.565 --> 00:07:40.533 We worship by the Spirit of God, that is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. 00:07:40.533 --> 00:07:43.199 And not only that, we boast in Jesus. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:47.899 We don't boast in ourselves, which is what this next line is. 00:07:47.899 --> 00:07:51.000 We put no confidence in the flesh. 00:07:52.132 --> 00:08:00.466 Now, if you've read Paul's letters or other things Paul has written, he uses this word flesh quite often and often. 00:08:00.466 --> 00:08:04.699 He doesn't mean it to be the physical skin that we have. 00:08:04.699 --> 00:08:08.233 He means something deeper, something spiritual. 00:08:08.233 --> 00:08:15.300 It's something that's equal to like your mind or your heart, your soul, something that's inside of us. 00:08:15.300 --> 00:08:24.632 So when he says the flesh here, he's talking about a place in us where sin still lingers, it still has an effect on us. 00:08:25.766 --> 00:08:34.166 The Bible has been his Bible is clear that even though we accept Christ, that we still have this ongoing issue with the flesh that's dwelling in us. 00:08:34.166 --> 00:08:36.133 So think of it this way. 00:08:36.133 --> 00:08:44.100 The flesh is a is a base of operations for sin, if you can think of it that way. 00:08:44.100 --> 00:08:50.600 It's where our pride boasts in our own human effort. 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:53.332 It's the place where sin is moving. 00:08:53.332 --> 00:08:55.066 It's the place where sin is tempting us. 00:08:55.066 --> 00:09:02.200 It's the place where sin is getting in our in our minds and our hearts, tempting us to follow after sin. 00:09:03.666 --> 00:09:06.533 And so Paul is saying we don't put confidence in that. 00:09:06.533 --> 00:09:09.265 We don't put confidence in boasting in ourselves. 00:09:09.265 --> 00:09:12.000 We don't put confidence in our own human effort. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:21.765 So our flesh, the dangerous part about this is that our flesh is searching for ways to boast in ourselves. 00:09:22.432 --> 00:09:29.000 It's constantly looking for things to point out and say, look what I did there, look how good I am. 00:09:30.033 --> 00:09:35.133 Look at the the things that I've done, the things that I've achieved, the things that I've been born into. 00:09:35.133 --> 00:09:36.332 That's what our flesh is. 00:09:36.332 --> 00:09:40.832 It looks for ways to elevate you with pride in yourself. 00:09:42.066 --> 00:09:48.299 But instead, what we should do is we should remain rooted in the gospel. 00:09:49.365 --> 00:09:54.133 See, the gospel as the Bible shows us is the exact opposite of that. 00:09:54.133 --> 00:09:55.666 It's not about you. 00:09:55.666 --> 00:10:00.966 As I tell our students all the time, it's not about you, it's about Christ. 00:10:01.066 --> 00:10:03.700 And Paul's about to unpack that. 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:07.566 But then he says something really interesting here in verse four. 00:10:07.566 --> 00:10:15.899 He says, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. 00:10:15.966 --> 00:10:19.399 So it says we shouldn't put confidence in that. 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:26.466 But just for the record, I kind of have some grounds and reason to put confidence in the flesh. 00:10:26.466 --> 00:10:30.166 It's kind of funny what Paul's doing here, but here's what he's about to do. 00:10:30.166 --> 00:10:31.600 This is so interesting. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.232 Paul is so clever. 00:10:33.232 --> 00:10:35.066 He's so wise. 00:10:35.066 --> 00:10:46.533 He's going to set up this argument that's going to dismantle these Judaizers, these people who would say, we need to put confidence in our own ability. 00:10:46.533 --> 00:10:48.566 And he's setting them up. 00:10:48.566 --> 00:10:51.200 Here's my first point for us this morning. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:54.365 We need to look out for false teachers. 00:10:55.899 --> 00:10:58.899 We need to look out for false teachers. 00:10:59.732 --> 00:11:17.100 I don't think that all of us, or any of us maybe are naive in this room to think that there are bad false teachers out there, but sometimes I think we can we can easily fall into the trap of listening to people that appear wise and appear godly, but they really aren't. 00:11:18.332 --> 00:11:26.533 From social media to Sunday morning pulpits, you can find false teachers everywhere, and often they'll have big followings. 00:11:27.265 --> 00:11:32.332 They dress really nicely, they communicate in engaging ways. 00:11:32.332 --> 00:11:36.000 They do outrageous things to get attention. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:39.633 All the while they disguise themselves as godly teachers. 00:11:39.633 --> 00:11:56.033 But if you really just stop to listen to them, they're actually teaching things that are not the gospel, which is so important for us today in a social media technological age that we have to be careful not to be naive, that there are false teachers all around us. 00:11:56.033 --> 00:11:59.899 And you're probably thinking to yourself, well, Colby, how do we know you're not a false teacher? 00:11:59.899 --> 00:12:02.100 That's a great question. 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:05.033 Great question, and I hope you would be asking that. 00:12:05.033 --> 00:12:11.566 You would be taking what I'm saying and lifting it up against God's Word and say, does this make sense? 00:12:12.566 --> 00:12:17.732 If my words don't don't come from God's Word, don't listen to me. 00:12:17.732 --> 00:12:19.500 You heard it from me. 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:30.299 And I mean you say that, Pastor John, if Pastor John says things that are not in God's word, don't listen to them because we want to get everything we know from God's Word. 00:12:30.365 --> 00:12:33.466 So you know how you can tell who's a false teacher? 00:12:33.466 --> 00:12:35.899 Are they preaching God, God's word? 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:37.533 Are they coming from God's Word? 00:12:37.533 --> 00:12:40.066 And are they centered in what God has said? 00:12:40.066 --> 00:12:41.966 Period. 00:12:41.966 --> 00:12:44.100 But I love what Paul's about to do. 00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:46.133 He's going to dismantle these Judaizers. 00:12:46.133 --> 00:12:49.600 Look what he says at the second part of verse four. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:57.166 He says, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. 00:12:58.299 --> 00:13:03.700 Paul's like, listen, if anyone thinks that they can boast in themselves, I've got more. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:07.533 If anyone can boast, it's me. 00:13:07.533 --> 00:13:11.100 If anyone in this place, any Judaizers, says that they can boast. 00:13:11.100 --> 00:13:17.066 I have a greater ground and greater ability to do it because I'm better than them. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.600 And what Paul's about to do is so clever. 00:13:21.466 --> 00:13:27.799 And he he does it in a way that would be very applicable to these people. 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:42.832 So we've talked throughout this series that these Philippians had a Roman, they were fixated on the Roman culture and Roman government, the Roman Empire, and there were a lot of people from Rome who moved to Philippi. 00:13:42.832 --> 00:13:50.200 So what Paul's about to do is, is he's about to give a Roman version of the career ladder. 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:51.533 You know, what the career ladder is right? 00:13:51.533 --> 00:13:59.600 Like, you take this step, you get you get a promotion, you get promoted, and you keep climbing the the ladder up until you reach the highest point. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:03.200 And what Paul's about to do is, is doing the same thing. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:09.666 It was called a cursus, honorary, literally meaning course of honors. 00:14:10.066 --> 00:14:12.600 And what they would do in the Roman government. 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:16.832 Roman officials would have to start out at the lowest rung. 00:14:16.832 --> 00:14:18.500 As a centurion in the army. 00:14:19.466 --> 00:14:30.000 But then once they they got their time in, they would move up the next rank and then the next, and they would go through, training and leadership and speaking. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.200 They would they would work in athletics. 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:34.332 They would work in all the various parts of society. 00:14:34.332 --> 00:14:38.399 And step by step, they would work their way up. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:43.066 And so what Paul's about to do is about to give his own Jewish version of that. 00:14:43.166 --> 00:14:45.966 So these people would know what he's saying. 00:14:45.966 --> 00:14:48.365 So I want you to catch what Paul's about to do here. 00:14:48.365 --> 00:14:52.200 Paul is about to say, better than everybody. 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.265 Look at this. In verse five. 00:14:54.265 --> 00:15:02.732 He says, I've been circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. 00:15:04.066 --> 00:15:08.166 Paul is saying here, these are things that I've inherited. 00:15:08.466 --> 00:15:11.265 I was circumcised on the eighth day. 00:15:11.265 --> 00:15:18.865 God told Abraham, Genesis 17, when your sons are born, you need to circumcise them on the eighth day. 00:15:18.865 --> 00:15:23.765 Paul's like, that was me. I did it, I got it. 00:15:23.765 --> 00:15:27.200 Next thing he was of the people of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.832 I'm as Jewish as you can be, a Jew. 00:15:29.832 --> 00:15:31.966 I'm the Hebrew. I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. 00:15:31.966 --> 00:15:36.332 I'm the pristine example of what it means to be a Jew. 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:44.033 He's already showing I have inherited everything that I could possibly need to be the best Jew possible. 00:15:44.033 --> 00:15:47.466 But then he talks about things that he's achieved, that he's done. 00:15:47.466 --> 00:15:51.100 He says, as to the law, I was a Pharisee. 00:15:52.265 --> 00:15:54.732 I was a strict adherence to the law. 00:15:54.732 --> 00:15:56.000 I always kept the law. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.365 In fact, I kept things that weren't even in the law, that were outside of it. 00:16:00.365 --> 00:16:05.100 I was strict, I was rigorous, I was religious. 00:16:05.332 --> 00:16:17.533 Then, he says, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, he was so zealous and so passionate about being a Jew that he persecuted the people who supposedly were their enemies. 00:16:17.533 --> 00:16:19.200 That's how much he was. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:22.066 He was there at the the death of Stephen. 00:16:22.066 --> 00:16:25.033 And I'm sure as many other Christians. 00:16:25.033 --> 00:16:32.432 But then he says, finally, probably the highest of honors, he says, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.232 Paul saying, externally I was perfect. 00:16:37.432 --> 00:16:41.533 I kept all the laws, I kept all the ceremonies, I kept all the standards. 00:16:41.533 --> 00:16:46.166 I kept all the things that I needed to do to be a good Jew. 00:16:47.899 --> 00:16:50.365 You see what Paul's doing? 00:16:50.365 --> 00:16:55.500 He's saying I did everything perfectly externally. 00:16:55.865 --> 00:17:00.100 I inherited all the honors I could, I achieved all the honors that I could. 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:03.100 I was at the top of my game. 00:17:04.833 --> 00:17:09.932 Now, see, for us, it's not too big of a step to see how we do that today. 00:17:09.932 --> 00:17:12.333 Isn't. 00:17:12.333 --> 00:17:15.333 I was born in a Christian family. 00:17:15.766 --> 00:17:18.299 I attend church regularly. 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:20.599 I've read my Bible. 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.932 I've been baptized. 00:17:22.932 --> 00:17:27.900 I had an emotional response at a at a worship service or at a camp or at a revival. 00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:29.900 I walked the aisle. 00:17:29.900 --> 00:17:31.833 I gave some money. 00:17:31.833 --> 00:17:49.299 I served in this ministry, and we developed what we might call a resume, a resume of works, a resume of righteousness, saying in my head, in my flesh, that is why I'm saved, because of what I've done in the family I've been born into. 00:17:51.732 --> 00:17:53.365 I have achieved it. 00:17:53.365 --> 00:17:54.932 I have done it. 00:17:54.932 --> 00:17:58.365 I am saved because what I've done. 00:18:01.965 --> 00:18:05.865 Friends, I hope you listen to me very carefully this morning. 00:18:05.865 --> 00:18:15.432 It is possible to be disguised as a Christian, but continue to place confidence in your flesh. 00:18:16.066 --> 00:18:25.833 It is possible to have the banner of Christianity over you, while you still think to yourself, I can earn my way to God. 00:18:27.833 --> 00:18:43.665 If I can only do enough, and I can only be enough, if I can only have this, the certain honors and qualifications, if I can only develop and build a great resume for God to look at, and then God is going to look down and say, that's a good person, they're getting into heaven. 00:18:44.165 --> 00:18:48.500 That is one of the greatest deceptions we have in the American church today. 00:18:50.665 --> 00:18:53.133 So what does Paul do? 00:18:53.133 --> 00:18:56.133 He says, I'm the most perfect Jew that you can find. 00:18:56.133 --> 00:18:58.833 But look what he says in verse seven, church, listen. 00:18:58.833 --> 00:19:05.865 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 00:19:05.865 --> 00:19:21.200 Whatever gain, whatever reputation, whatever resume, whatever qualification, whatever certification, whatever thing that I could have accumulated is a loss for the sake of Christ. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.200 I want you to hear what he's saying. 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:33.333 All our inherited and achieved honors do not compare to what Christ offers us. 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:46.200 You can spend a lifetime seeking to qualify yourself to be a Christian, and it won't come anywhere close to what Christ offers you. 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:53.900 So my second point for us this morning stop trying to build a resume of righteousness. 00:19:55.099 --> 00:20:01.400 Stop trying to formulate and build a resume that you can maybe show God and say, God, look at how good of a person I am. 00:20:02.633 --> 00:20:05.566 Look at all the things that I do. 00:20:05.566 --> 00:20:07.365 I'm here before the church starts. 00:20:07.365 --> 00:20:09.865 I'm here after the church ends. 00:20:09.865 --> 00:20:11.799 I attend regularly. 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:20.000 I read my Bible, I pray. I was baptized, all the things that we could possibly come up with friends is... 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:25.165 that is not your identity as a Christian. 00:20:25.165 --> 00:20:30.465 Don't turn a good thing into a God thing by saying, I can be good enough. 00:20:31.865 --> 00:20:33.833 You can't. 00:20:33.833 --> 00:20:36.066 Neither can I. 00:20:36.066 --> 00:20:40.299 And Paul is dismantling this idea that was present in the early church. 00:20:40.299 --> 00:20:43.299 But, friends, it's still present today. 00:20:45.133 --> 00:20:46.665 He goes on here in verse eight. 00:20:46.665 --> 00:20:49.965 He continues to elaborate what he's saying. 00:20:49.965 --> 00:20:57.833 Indeed, I count everything as loss indeed mean more than that. 00:20:57.833 --> 00:21:10.333 Furthermore, I count everything is lost because of the surpassing worth of --here it is. Catch this-- knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 00:21:10.465 --> 00:21:24.165 So he puts these things in opposition to each other, working for God and knowing God, being good enough and knowing the one who is good. 00:21:24.165 --> 00:21:28.566 Now, I'm not going to stand up here and say that we shouldn't obey God and live a life of obedience. 00:21:28.566 --> 00:21:35.066 But our salvation has nothing to do with what we've done, but simply by knowing. 00:21:36.165 --> 00:21:39.066 That's where salvation begins. 00:21:39.066 --> 00:21:40.599 So listen. 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:50.299 Knowing Jesus is infinitely more valuable than the best righteous resume that you can build. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:22:00.266 And by knowing I don't just mean knowing about Jesus, I mean knowing Jesus in a personal, ongoing relationship. 00:22:00.266 --> 00:22:02.000 That's what the word means. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:10.633 It is an intimate relationship between what I'm knowing and not just that, but I know theologically who Jesus is, I know what the story is. 00:22:10.633 --> 00:22:11.799 I know the Bible. 00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:16.266 So to know Jesus in that sense is infinitely more valuable than anything you can do. 00:22:17.633 --> 00:22:21.465 And friends, isn't that more comforting? 00:22:21.732 --> 00:22:27.732 Jesus even said, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 00:22:27.732 --> 00:22:32.732 Rest from your labors, rest from your work, rest from trying to be good enough. 00:22:32.732 --> 00:22:36.799 Rest from trying to present yourself in such a way that God will accept you. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:41.665 No, it's by knowing Christ. 00:22:42.266 --> 00:22:56.865 3 is so important this is eternal life that they know God and that they know His Son Jesus. 00:22:56.865 --> 00:22:58.099 Knowing. 00:22:58.099 --> 00:23:05.000 So the question you have to ask yourself this morning is not whether you've been attending church lately is it do you know God? 00:23:05.566 --> 00:23:08.066 Do you know him? 00:23:08.066 --> 00:23:13.599 Because Paul says that is salvation, but he keeps going. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:14.700 Second part of verse eight. 00:23:14.700 --> 00:23:15.799 He keeps elaborating. 00:23:15.799 --> 00:23:17.833 He keeps pressing this forward. 00:23:17.833 --> 00:23:23.700 For his sake---that's Christ--- I have suffered the loss of all things. 00:23:24.833 --> 00:23:27.232 I count them as rubbish. 00:23:27.232 --> 00:23:31.932 Another word for that is dumb human waste. 00:23:31.932 --> 00:23:36.766 All those things that accumulated, my resume, nothing. 00:23:36.766 --> 00:23:38.865 Why? 00:23:38.865 --> 00:23:42.700 In order that, so that, because. 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:45.700 I may gain Christ. 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:52.932 Notice you have to lose something before you gain something. 00:23:53.465 --> 00:24:05.532 I think there might just be this myth or false teaching today that if I can do like 50% of the work then Jesus can do the rest of the 50. 00:24:05.532 --> 00:24:10.432 If I can be 70% good enough, then Jesus can fulfill my 30. 00:24:10.432 --> 00:24:16.633 If I can fulfill 99% of good enough, and then Jesus, you can take the rest of the 1%. 00:24:16.865 --> 00:24:19.665 That's not the way it works. 00:24:19.665 --> 00:24:25.133 Paul says you have to lose yourself before you can gain Christ. 00:24:26.865 --> 00:24:29.732 How important is that? 00:24:29.732 --> 00:24:38.532 Before I can know, or before I can take a step of faith, I've got to lose myself. 00:24:38.532 --> 00:25:02.333 It's not based off of my righteousness, what I can do, it's based off of what Christ has done, which he elaborates on here in verse nine again, And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, this is crucial, that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. 00:25:02.333 --> 00:25:08.232 You see the difference, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. 00:25:09.133 --> 00:25:13.665 So Paul gives us two forms of righteousness here. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:19.932 There's a fake form that really doesn't get you anywhere, and that's a righteousness from the law. 00:25:20.566 --> 00:25:28.365 But then there's true righteousness, perfect righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus. 00:25:28.365 --> 00:25:31.365 That is the true righteousness. 00:25:33.232 --> 00:25:35.000 So here's if I can bring this to a point. 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:38.333 And this is the crux of the message right here. Here it is. 00:25:38.333 --> 00:25:45.599 Faith strips us naked of our pride in self righteousness. 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:49.566 Faith literally takes all of the things that you can probably say, God, I've been good enough. 00:25:49.566 --> 00:26:00.566 Faith takes all away so that God can clothe us with his perfect righteousness that comes through Jesus. 00:26:00.932 --> 00:26:03.566 That's what faith does faith in. 00:26:03.566 --> 00:26:07.200 God says, I can't be good enough, but Jesus was. 00:26:07.965 --> 00:26:09.432 I can't do enough. 00:26:09.432 --> 00:26:12.165 But Jesus did. 00:26:12.165 --> 00:26:20.200 There is no amount of good that I can do to reach the perfection that God requires of us, but someone already did on my behalf. 00:26:21.165 --> 00:26:25.133 And faith strips you down and says, I can't trust in myself. 00:26:25.133 --> 00:26:28.133 I'm at a zero and Christ is the hundred. 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:29.965 That's the picture. 00:26:29.965 --> 00:26:41.932 Paul is saying everything that I have, I have to count as a loss so that I can gain Jesus, that you can gain Christ until you lose yourself. 00:26:42.165 --> 00:26:44.865 Luke 923 and 24 says it so clearly. 00:26:44.865 --> 00:26:50.400 Jesus says, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:27:06.266 For whoever would save his life or try to keep his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 00:27:06.465 --> 00:27:11.665 Are you willing to lose yours so that you can have Jesus? 00:27:12.099 --> 00:27:18.932 Paul says he counted all his rubbish, worthless. 00:27:19.165 --> 00:27:23.266 Last two verses of our passage this morning. Verse ten. 00:27:23.266 --> 00:27:31.633 Paul continuing to push this idea, and he's got a goal in mind that I may know him. 00:27:31.633 --> 00:27:42.500 Christ, there's the knowledge again that I may know him personally, but also to know the power of his resurrection. 00:27:43.665 --> 00:27:46.266 Don't you want to know that today? 00:27:46.266 --> 00:27:56.232 To know Jesus personally into one day, know the power and experience his resurrection, his will, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death? 00:27:57.432 --> 00:28:09.000 Paul was not naive to think that following Jesus means everything is going to be easy, but following Jesus is worth the cost of suffering and eventually death, because he would suffer for his faith and eventually die. 00:28:10.165 --> 00:28:17.266 But he understood that the goal in mind is to know Jesus and His resurrection forever. 00:28:17.266 --> 00:28:22.000 And then verse 11, this is his his conviction right here. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:31.665 He says that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 00:28:31.665 --> 00:28:40.232 Sold out, whatever it takes, whatever I've got to say no to, I'm willing. 00:28:40.665 --> 00:28:47.599 And often the things that we aren't willing to say no to, for Christ's sake, is an idol. 00:28:48.766 --> 00:28:49.566 But Paul says, I. 00:28:49.566 --> 00:28:51.566 I don't want any of it. 00:28:51.566 --> 00:28:55.299 I just want to know Christ in the power of his resurrection. 00:28:55.299 --> 00:29:09.599 So for you and I, we must maintain a firm conviction to press on, and that is toward the goal to know Christ and attain his resurrection. 00:29:10.532 --> 00:29:14.099 That's what we should daily strive and keep in mind as we're pressing forward. 00:29:16.165 --> 00:29:22.365 My final point for this this morning is this it's as simple as I can make it. 00:29:22.365 --> 00:29:25.365 Know and trust Christ. 00:29:26.732 --> 00:29:29.732 If I can make it any more simple. 00:29:30.465 --> 00:29:37.432 If you want to know salvation, if you want to experience life change. 00:29:37.432 --> 00:29:39.965 It's not about being good enough. 00:29:39.965 --> 00:29:46.133 It's not about mustering enough energy, doing enough good things. 00:29:46.465 --> 00:29:51.066 We encourage you to come and know Jesus. 00:29:51.165 --> 00:29:57.566 We encourage you to come and trust Christ. 00:29:57.732 --> 00:29:59.833 That is what we're called to do. 00:29:59.833 --> 00:30:02.833 That's what Jesus invites us to do. 00:30:04.766 --> 00:30:13.900 But as we begin to close the barns, going to come back up and there to play another song for us, it's a song called In Christ Alone. 00:30:14.965 --> 00:30:20.865 A song that I believe highlights and shows the exact message of this passage. 00:30:22.900 --> 00:30:26.165 But let's not get to our challenge. 00:30:27.032 --> 00:30:30.032 I want you to consider this for yourself. 00:30:30.766 --> 00:30:43.099 Does your righteousness depend on your resume of works or knowing and trusting Christ alone? 00:30:45.432 --> 00:30:46.066 Not me. 00:30:46.066 --> 00:30:48.633 Plus, Jesus. 00:30:48.633 --> 00:30:51.633 It's Jesus 100%. 00:30:52.200 --> 00:31:02.932 Can you say today that you know Jesus in a personal relationship, and that he 100% is the reason why you can stand before a holy, perfect God? 00:31:04.566 --> 00:31:06.465 I want to give you a hypothetical question. 00:31:06.465 --> 00:31:09.133 As I close. 00:31:09.133 --> 00:31:10.365 Hypothetical situation. 00:31:10.365 --> 00:31:28.532 This isn't the most biblical understanding of heaven, but what if then of your life you go to heaven, you approach the heavenly gates and you see Saint Peter standing there welcoming people in and turning people away. 00:31:28.532 --> 00:31:36.032 And you finally get up to the point where you're meeting Peter face to face and he asks you a question, who are you? 00:31:36.032 --> 00:31:39.032 And why should I let you in? 00:31:40.299 --> 00:31:43.299 Now, some of us might say, I mean, I speak for myself here. 00:31:43.299 --> 00:31:48.965 I might say, well, I'm Colby Flowers, I'm the pastor on Earth. 00:31:49.066 --> 00:31:51.000 It's pretty good, dad. 00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:51.799 It's pretty good husband. 00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:54.799 On some days. 00:31:55.700 --> 00:31:58.400 Had a couple kids. 00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:01.400 I've worked really hard. 00:32:01.500 --> 00:32:07.532 I actually went around to different places on Earth, and I shared my faith with people. 00:32:07.532 --> 00:32:12.232 I even found myself on stage time preaching the gospel. 00:32:12.333 --> 00:32:14.000 I did discipleship with students. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:18.633 I discipled teenagers and adults. 00:32:19.500 --> 00:32:24.732 So I guess looking at my life, I've got a pretty good resume. 00:32:25.165 --> 00:32:26.365 I think I'm a pretty good person. 00:32:26.365 --> 00:32:29.365 I think I should get in. 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:44.833 I can imagine Peter pausing and thinking for himself just for a second and saying, that resume, as good as it is, will never be good enough to get into heaven. 00:32:45.232 --> 00:32:47.500 Never. 00:32:47.500 --> 00:32:50.500 And I can't let you in. 00:32:52.766 --> 00:32:55.766 But what if we took Paul's approach? 00:32:57.133 --> 00:33:03.465 And when Peter asked us that question, we say, I'm a sinner. 00:33:04.299 --> 00:33:06.932 I'm broken. 00:33:06.932 --> 00:33:10.232 I've lived a life of sin seeking to rebel against God, of. 00:33:10.232 --> 00:33:17.432 I've done horrible things in my life, let alone the things that have crossed my mind and the things that have entered my heart. 00:33:17.432 --> 00:33:20.432 I've spent my money sinfully. 00:33:20.766 --> 00:33:23.766 I've acted sinfully. 00:33:23.965 --> 00:33:33.633 And so if I look at my life and you ask me that question, should I be led in? No, you shouldn't let me in. 00:33:35.165 --> 00:33:38.732 But I met someone named Jesus. 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:51.400 And he said I could come. 00:34:05.566 --> 00:34:11.733 Not based off of what I could do, but what he did for me. 00:34:13.500 --> 00:34:16.800 And I placed my faith in him. 00:34:17.365 --> 00:34:20.365 That's why I think I should get in. 00:34:21.666 --> 00:34:25.065 And Peter opens the door. 00:34:25.132 --> 00:34:27.132 Come to the father. 00:34:27.132 --> 00:34:30.132 Come see your glorious Savior. 00:34:33.365 --> 00:34:46.000 If there's anyone in this room who doesn't know and trust in Jesus, I plead with you, take that step of faith today and stop trying to be good enough. 00:34:47.965 --> 00:34:52.266 I'll live most of my life trying to be good enough. 00:34:52.333 --> 00:34:58.132 They didn't get me anywhere but the day I met Jesus. 00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:02.000 That opened up the gates of heaven to me. 00:35:02.666 --> 00:35:05.666 Not because I deserved it. 00:35:05.865 --> 00:35:12.032 I'm sure everyone in this room can say I'm the worst of sinners. 00:35:12.565 --> 00:35:15.565 But because of what Jesus did. 00:35:16.766 --> 00:35:19.032 I get to go and be with my Savior forever. 00:35:19.032 --> 00:35:24.865 If that is you today, but you take a step of faith to say, I want to know and trust in Christ. 00:35:24.865 --> 00:35:30.865 But I'll also say to you, as a Christian who were tempted to go back to put confidence in your flesh, did you say no to it? 00:35:32.965 --> 00:35:35.400 I'm not going back to that. 00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:37.666 I can't be good enough. 00:35:37.666 --> 00:35:43.532 The guilt that I'm experiencing that's not from God, that's from my flesh. 00:35:43.666 --> 00:35:44.833 You're saved today. 00:35:44.833 --> 00:35:47.365 Not because of what you do or who you are. 00:35:47.365 --> 00:35:52.800 You're saved because of what Jesus has done and who he is. 00:35:53.266 --> 00:35:57.532 So as we sing this song, I ask for one of two things for you. 00:35:58.532 --> 00:36:04.865 If you don't know Christ yet, I pray that you would join in singing this song for the first time and to say that Christ alone. 00:36:04.865 --> 00:36:06.800 My hope is found. 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:13.333 He is my light, my strength, my song, this cornerstone, this solid ground firm to the fiercest drought and storm. 00:36:13.333 --> 00:36:16.800 What heights of love with depths of peace. 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:20.199 So much beauty in this song that you would sing that for the first time. 00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:21.465 And you wouldn't mean it. 00:36:21.465 --> 00:36:32.565 But if you're a Christian and you've been a Christian for a long time, that you would sing this as a reminder that it's Christ alone that has saved you, and I encourage you to stand to your feet. 00:36:32.565 --> 00:36:33.800 And now he's going to lead us in a song.