We’ve been moving through the book of Philippians and are halfway through the letter now. Paul writes this letter while in prison for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. I’d like us to watch a short clip of Paul as he addresses the church. Watch and listen to him as he reminds us of Who it is that he is teaching about…(video clip – Peter Vik)
Today we move into chapter 3, and I want us to pay special attention for what it is that we all need to have as our main goal in life…(Graham h. to read scripture)
Philippians 3:1-11 (New International Version)
No Confidence in the Flesh
1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
2Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
v.1 – Paul has been giving much instruction on how to live in humility, with Christ as our example. He has taught that we should not only expect good things in our lives as followers of Christ, but we should also expect to suffer in life as well (as Jesus did). He’s told us we should not argue or complain…about anything. He has affirmed the promise that God will complete the work that He Himself started in us, that is our salvation. And he has reminded us about the importance of relationships, with each other, and especially our relationship to Christ.
And so Paul comes to this point in the letter, and seems like he is about to being it to a close with the phrase, ‘finally’. But like a sermon on Sunday mornings sometimes, the final point can bring with it a few sub-points; and the sermon goes on for a little longer, just when you thought it was almost finished. But the sub-points in the conclusion can often be as or even more important than what we’ve heard so far. We are brought to attention again, and the focus at this point in Paul’s letter is…rejoicing!
How often to we have to be reminded to ‘rejoice’, be happy, celebrate, turn that frown upside-down, get up and dance, have a good time, and tell others why you’re happy? Is it predestined for Christians to be glum, sad, down-in-the-mouth, grovelling, walk all over us, kind of people? Why, of all people, it is those who have found new life in Christ who have reason to celebrate, to be full of joy, to have a kind of ‘glow’ about them. We are SAVED, how good is that? It’s GREAT, it’s AWESOME, it’s something worth rejoicing about!!! Look ahead at chapter 4:4, rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, and I say it again, REJOICE! Be glad, be happy, let it out, let others see it in you and in the way you live.
Then in verse 2, Paul gives another warning. This is the continuing message, the ongoing sermon. Some theologians feel this may actually be a separate letter written to the Philippian church, but at around the same time, thus put together as we see it in our bible today. Regardless, it is definitely of Paul, and it is definitely a message we need to heed to.
He warns of the ‘dogs’. These were the Judaizers of that day. Those who taught that believing in Jesus and trusting in Him was not enough; one must ALSO be circumcised, follow the law, and work for their salvation, when it is CHRIST ALONE that we need, nothing more, nothing less. We are saved by grace, it is a gift from God, so that we cannot boast about what WE’VE done for our salvation, but boast only in what CHRIST HAS DONE to save us!
Let me be perfectly clear…we cannot do ANYTHING that is good enough, great enough, or worthy of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, imperfect, mistake-making people. We are in no way, shape or form of any significance in this universe when compared to the One who created this universe. How could we possibly be worthy of His grace and mercy? Only by the fact that He cares for us, and sent His Son, Jesus Christ as a sacrificial offering for OUR sin, so that we might be reconciled back to our Creator. What could we give in order to ‘pay’ for our salvation? Nothing! What does any ritual or outer action make in terms of pleasing God?
Paul refers to circumcision, the outer sign of being a Jew, part of the family-line of Abraham, and simply following the law set out before Christ. And really, it make no difference what we do on the outside…it is what has been done on the inside, the spiritual circumcision of our heart that matters. Look at Galatians 6:11-16, as another reference to this subject.
11See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! 12Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. 14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. 16Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.
Paul lists all the things that he COULD put confidence in…all the things that he has accomplished. He was circumcised, he’s a Jew; of the tribe of Benjamin, he knows the law…perfectly, and he carried it out to the letter, even killing Christians because they didn’t follow it, and as for following all the laws of men and the temple…perfect, faultless. This guy Paul has a pretty awesome résumé. If you were looking for someone to hire as a judge over the laws of the land, Paul would be your guy.
A bodybuilder has confidence in his or her strength, but what happens when the muscles begin to atrophy? Models have confidence in their looks, but what happens when skin starts to sag? The entrepreneur has confidence in their abilities, but what happens when their skills or product becomes obsolete? The musician has confidence in their popularity, but what happens when no one is interested in listening to your songs anymore? The athlete has confidence in their speed or agility, but what happens when they get a little older and just can’t keep up with the team anymore?
What happens when we put all our hope in ourselves and then discover that we just aren’t good enough? What happens when we realize that God is God, and we are not?
Suddenly, all the stuff that we thought was so important to us, so valuable to others, so good looking on our resume…it all becomes worthless, junk, garbage, trash, loss, rubbish.
So Paul says about all the things he listed off about himself. He takes his almighty resume and tosses it all in the trash. The family heritage doesn’t mean anything. The education is actually worthless. The law degree can’t keep him out of hell. And all those good deeds in the name of legalistic righteousness? Those actions weigh heavy on his heart.
So what does he do? He throws it all away. He comes to the realization that all he’s done and all he ever could do, all amounts to exactly nothing. For us, it’s like saying that all we are and all we’ve done is just junk, and we’ve got nothing of any value in ourselves, our actions, our accomplishments, our bloodline, our job, our possessions; all of it is just a waste of time and talent…compared to knowing Christ.
You see, it’s not what we have done for God but what He has done for us. We sing the song by Casting Crowns called, Who Am I? It’s a song that reminds us that we are nothing, God is everything. Who ARE we that God should love us? Who are we that God would DIE for us? When I look into a clear evening sky and see the stars and planets that seem to go on into infinity, I get this feeling of being so small in this universe, and then I think that though I am so small and insignificant, God loves me. And it’s not because of anything I have done, but it’s because of what He has done for me. WOW!
Is it possible for someone to think that they need to do something to please God and work hard in some way in order to be MORE acceptable to Him? Sure…and I think there are people, Christians, who feel that somehow they are not quite saved yet, and so they better do some good in order to make it into heaven some day. Their assurance level is really low, they’re nervous about whether or not they are on God’s ‘good enough’ list. Well God is not Santa Claus. He does not judge our salvation on what we have done…that is judged simply on whether or not we KNOW His Son, Jesus Christ, and have put all of ourselves and simply lived for Him, not ourselves.
The good things we do, the great things we do, the little things we do, all in the Name of Jesus, are to be an outpouring of the fact that we are saved by Him, and simply want to serve Him and serve others because we ARE saved, not in order to BE saved.
And the more we KNOW Him, the more we will want to be like Him. People these days idolize all kinds of people. We call them celebrities. The media follows their every move, publishes it on Twitter, and suddenly we all know what they had for breakfast that day, and who they were with for lunch, what they wore, what kind of pet they have, and what car they drive, and hairstyle they’re wearing, and every other detail of their lives. And some folks will try to emulate their favourite celebrity by dressing like them, acting like them, talking like them, and carrying little dogs around in purses like them…they pretty much worship them.
I would not be surprised if some people know more about a celebrity they follow than they do about members of their own family. How sad is that?!
The One we need to know, the One we MUST get to know is Jesus. Paul says he wants to KNOW Christ. How do we get to know Him? How do we get to know anyone? We must spend TIME getting to know them. These days, you can get to know someone pretty well by simply Googling them, or checking them out on Facebook or Twitter or some other computer networking site. But that only gives you a small glimpse into who they really are. To really get to know someone, we must spend time with them on a personal level. In order to find out what they think, feel, believe in, put value on, have as priorities, we have got to spend a great deal of time with them, in a way studying what they’re really all about.
With Christ, that means we have to study what He’s really like. We do that in a few ways: First, we can study His character by reading about Him in Scripture. And we can read about Christ in every book of the Bible, from Genesis to The Revelation we see Jesus in every aspect of God’s plan for us, His creation, His children to come home to our loving Father in Heaven. But we will only discover that for ourselves if we delve into the Word on a regular basis, make it a priority in our daily lives, and make it of a higher importance than turning on the TV or the computer, or our hobbies and holidays. This Book contains life because this Word contains Jesus! Read it, study it, learn from it, and yes, memorize as much of it as you can.
Secondly, we have to converse with Him. How have we gotten to know the friends we have in our lives? By talking with them and finding out what they are like, and telling them what we are like, sharing stories, sharing needs, sharing joys, asking questions, finding answers…together. That’s what friends do, and that is what we can do with God. If we are going to find out what He wants us to do for Him, we shouldn’t just wait for a scroll to fall from heaven…here’s your instructions for the day my friend…no, we should ASK HIM! Talk to Him, PRAY! Prayer is so vital to our relationship with God. How can we get to know Jesus if we don’t talk to Him. And I don’t mean just a quick prayer at the table before we gobble down our dinner. Every part of our day should be a conversation with God, as if He were right there with us during every part of our day, because guess what…HE IS!
And finally, (and I do mean finally by the way), we have to share in living the kind of life that Jesus did. We live for Him, sharing in the sufferings He did. Jesus was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrow and familiar with suffering Isaiah tells us. How familiar with suffering are we? Or are we too comfortable in our western civilization to really know what suffering is? The truth is, if we call ourselves Christians, then we should be prepared for being despised by the world, rejected for our beliefs, sad at the fact that so much of the world is so far from God, and willing to die to ourselves that Christ might live in and through us.
And all this, not so much for our sake, but for the sake of those who don’t yet know who Jesus is. So that they can see Jesus in us, in you and in me, in order that they too can be saved by His grace, and the message of the Gospel of Jesus will spread like a light in the darkness, a beacon for the world to run to, a safe haven from the grip of hell and death, rest for the weary, a firm foundation in the midst of sinking hopes and fears.
Jesus is Lord, and I want to know Him, more and more every day. What about you?
