Sermon Brief
Date Written: September 7, 2011
Date Preached: September 11, 2011
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Series from Philippians
Sermon Title: Glory “Daze” of Yesteryear
Sermon Text: Philippians 3:4-11 [ESV]
Introduction:
Today is the anniversary of one THE most horrific attack against our nation in its history. Ten yrs ago today… what has become known simply as 9/11 is forever etched in our minds. We who were old enough to remember FULLY remember WHERE we were, and WHAT we were doing!
Ten yrs ago today… our nation changed! Before 8:41am ET our nation’s economy and outlook were booming. We were on the top of the world… we were the world’s SOLE super power… we were the beacon to the rest of the world…
But there was a dark side to our nation 10 yrs ago… 10 yrs ago we were a nation that had come to think that it was SELF-SUFFICIENT… that it was US that was all powerful… we had become a nation that no longer looked to God for guidance. We had leaders who spoke of God, but we also had leaders who suppressed the speaking about God.
To the outside world, our nation had become a country who had abandoned God OR looked like a nation who believed God was not important or even real. We spoke about God in one sentence and lived AGAINST God in our actions and how our society accepted sin and sinful lifestyles! This was not something that happened overnight but happened over a period of 60+ years.
But this sentiment that abandons God has NOT always been the mantra of our nation…
Our nation was founded by men who believed in God and believed that God was an integral part of each man’s life AND the life of a nation! These men were not perfect… these men were not Southern Baptists… then men would not all agree on doctrine, but what they DID believe was that God was Supreme and that all men answered to Him and that all men were blessed because OF Him. All of what we have and all we are able to do comes FROM God… this was there mantra.
They believed God did not wish the Gov’t to force religious practices upon its people, and they pressed for religious freedoms and religious diversity. They sought to establish a nation where UNDER GOD all men could live free and seek happiness in an environment to true liberty.
Again… they were not perfect and they had their flaws… but my point here is that this nation was founded on the principle of God being Supreme… and that God was a integral factor in the governance of our nation.
The phrase “In God We Trust!” is imprinted on ALL currency for our nation! This phrase is actually the official motto of our nation much to the disapproval of many anti-religious groups. This phrase was 1st used on the coins back in the 1860s and ultimately in 1956 was voted by Congress to become our national motto and that it should be placed on ALL coins and currency. Coincidently, this was the same year that Congress voted to place the words “Under God” INTO our nation’s pledge of allegiance…
The phrase “In God we trust” is a phrase that represents an attitude that there are things in this universe that are larger than ourselves and that there is a Supreme being out there upon whom we can trust and rely upon.
And although “In God we trust” IS the official US motto, our nation FAR from lives out that motto, and over the past 60+ yrs we have all but abandoned that attitude in almost every public venue of our nation.
Instead of “In God We Trust” our nation has mostly become a nation of people who have placed their TRUST blindly in the Gov’t… for the most part our nation has become a nation that places its trust in MAN over God. In other words… we have become a nation that puts confidence in the flesh of humanity over the sovereignty of a loving and holy God.
On 9/11 a wake up call was delivered by a terrorist group, and the ripples of that wake up call have been shaking things up for the past 10 yrs and I believe will continue to shake us up until we learn to trust in God… and stop trusting in ourselves!
Today, we are going to look at a passage of Scripture that tells us where our trust should reside, and on WHOM we should rely… Let’s look at Phil 3:4-11 (ESV)
4though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for 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; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Here we find Paul speaking to the very issue of placing one’s trust in the things of this world… Paul calls this ‘the flesh’… Paul says these things because Paul knows that placing our confidence or trust in the flesh is something that can come easy and is the natural reaction to circumstances.
We can rest assured that even the great Apostle Paul had to deal with the ‘flesh’ and had to battle with this issue in his heart on a constant basis… However we find that at this point, Paul had come to the place in his walk with Christ that he had been able to overcome this pitfall, but Paul knew that it was only because of Christ in Him that gave him the strength… Paul mentions this more clearly in Phil 4:13 [ESV] [show/read verse]
As a nation we cannot rest in what WE as the United States of America have accomplished… even though we have been a beacon to the world for over 200 years… our efforts and accomplishments will never be able to sustain us, and the main reason for the greatness of the USA is NOT in ourselves, but it is in our God! God is what made the USA great… and we are best served if we remember that fact!
Likewise as a ministry and fellowship here in New Orleans… Oak Park has a reputation for being a church that is a mover and a shaker. Oak Park was THE church on the Westbank for many yrs… however, now circumstances and situations beyond our control has left this fellowship struggling and seeking an identity…
What Paul is saying here is that our identity is NOT found in our accomplishments… our identity does not come about because of what we DO, but our identity should only be based on to whom we belong!
And as much as it pains me to say this, many of our members today do not find their identity in the Christ they profess as Lord, but they have come to define themselves as Oak Park church members and find their identity in the glory days of yesteryear… and because of that, they cannot see what God has for us NOW in today’s circumstances and situations. Because of this… Oak Park stands at a precipice, in that we must decide in whom we shall trust! Shall we be like those brave men and women of the 1st century that said, We will serve Jesus… OR are we to be like so many who have come before us and say, we’ll serve Jesus, but before we can do that, we have to provide for ourselves…
There is a grain of truth in the thought that we cannot go forward without our dedicated and vigilant service… but what we have to ALWAYS understand and comprehend is that it is only through God working thru our service and obedience that we enjoy His grace and blessing! And even when grace and blessing seem to be unattainable, Jesus will deliver on His promises…
Let’s take a look at these verses and see what God’s word can tell us and show us about our service to Him, and how we must NOT place our confidence in our own abilities but place them in God!
In v.4 Paul lays out a statement about reliance on the ‘flesh’ and that if ANYONE should be able to rely on and trust in their fleshly nature and accomplishments it would be him… [read v.4 again here]
4though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
Here he tells the Philippian church that he had all the criteria needed to be valued and worthy of God…at least all the criteria the world believed one would need.
But Paul says that his ‘flesh’ accomplishments were nothing in the scheme of things and that he would NOT place any faith or trust in the things HE could do… and the implication here in this verse is that Paul was NOT going to allow his self-confidence and background change the way he served or ministered to those around him.
So often we can get carried away in actually believing all the ‘good things’ that people say to us! As humans, we are deceived by the constant stroking of approving hands… and it is because we LIKED to be stroked and told that we are doing things right! That is human nature… and we like to place our faith in our own human nature!
Paul is telling these believers NOT to look to themselves, but to continue to look to the example he had already given them in Jesus Christ in the previous chapter. I believe I am NOT out of line in saying that Paul was a very confident and boldly courageous person!
His preaching and teaching in the face of persecution reveals a man who’s heart is focused on God… Paul was confident in Christ, but Paul had always been confident, Paul had always been a man that was SURE of himself!
Let’s look at WHY Paul believed that if ANYONE had the right to have faith in their own accomplishments… it was HIM!
5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews…
So why was Paul so confident? Well what Paul lays out for us is divided into 2 parts… the first is his heredity, that he was BORN into the people of God! The 2nd were his achievements in serving God thru the Law!
First we see Paul saying, “Circumcised on the 8th day, of the people of Israel”… speaks to a man who is full compliance with the covenant of Abraham and Moses… the covenant that proclaimed the nation of Israel as God’s people! Paul was saying HE was part of God’s people and had fulfilled the Mosaic covenant… this was also ties Paul to the Old Covenant, but he has already proclaimed that the New Covenant is in Christ alone, and physical circumcision was unnecessary!
“of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews…” this phrase was another affirmation of his heredity in God’s people! He was out of the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe that was a statement that affirmed that heritage!
A Hebrew of Hebrews revealed to the Judaizers that Paul was indeed qualified to argue against them… but also to the rest of the church that Paul knew what he was speaking about when it came to the Jewish perspective! Paul’s pedigree was SOLID… he was PART of God’s covenant with Israel because of the actions of his parents and because of his birthright!
America was founded by religious men, who believed in God and man’s right to worship God how he saw fit, but recently, in our nation, those beliefs in God have waned… as a society, we have come from a nation that accepted the premise that God was Supreme and we have become a nation where the existence or even the need of God is questioned on a regular basis…
Our nation has become the epitome of those who place confidence in the flesh… But here Paul is telling us that we should not do this! Paul was actually MORE qualified to place confidence in the flesh because BEYOND his birth pedigree, he had ‘earned’ a high standing with his many accomplishments. He says in v.5-6…
as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Here Paul is proclaiming his accomplishments within the nation of God. When it came to the LAW Paul was a Pharisee, meaning that he was one who not only KNEW the law, but he obeyed the law down to the smallest detail… Paul had been a fervent follower of the law and held all around him accountable…
How fervent was Paul? He was what the Bible would have described as a zealot… Paul confesses to this very things in this verse when he says “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church…”
A zealot is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure what they believe takes place… Paul was willing to do whatever it took to ensure what he believed AND the sanctity of the Mosaic Law y which he had been taught! Paul saw this movement about Jesus as a movement to abolish the Mosaic Law and replace it with something he considered heresy and blasphemy! In his mind these people were not FOR God but they were actually against God, and because of this zealous belief Paul struck out at them and persecuted them as much as he could!
Paul tells the Philippian church these things to once again establish his knowledge and heart with them… He wanted them to know and understand that he had an intimate and in depth knowledge of the Law, but that Christ had changed him and NO LONGER was his heart’s focus on the letter of the law, but it was NOW focused on the spirit of the law as demonstrated by Christ on the Cross!
Paul was a Hebrew by birth, by ritual, and now he is saying that he was FULLY Hebrew by his former actions and attitude! But Paul continues on by saying, “…as to righteousness under the law, BLAMELESS…” This is a statement that tells the Philippian church that Paul had done EVERYTHING as per the laws of Judaism… they would NOT find where he had ever strayed from the Law… he was blameless because he had kept the law…
Now for many this resume of Paul’s would have been impressive and more than enough to qualify him to place confidence in the flesh, but for Paul this was NOT to brag about, in fact, Paul decries this part of his life almost with a melancholy attitude, almost as if he did not want to remember that time of his life!
You may be sitting there and wondering to yourself… “Preacher, what does this part of Paul’s life have to do with me?” OR you may be wondering, “Preacher, what does Paul’s life have to do with Oak Park Baptist Church and our fellowship?”
Well let me first say that I have truly struggled with this passage for this week and it was very hard for me to write this sermon… but I believe God has used this Scripture to reveal to me, a truth that we as a fellowship MUST come to grips with before we can move forward and grow and become what God wants us to be…
What is that truth? Well, this church is a modern day Paul (of sorts)… This church was birthed in a compassion for the gospel, and fueled by a sense of winning the lost!
Born by the very blessing and favor of God and God’s favor was upon this church throughout all those early years. This church honored God and God began to honor them, and in the 1960s and 1970s this church experienced meteoric growth in attendance, buildings and offerings! On the outside, things were great as Oak Park had the reputation as being THE church on the West Bank!
Paul had that same reputation… as he was the star pupil of Gamaliel who trained the High Priests… Paul was on the fast track to becoming the High Priest of all Israel. By the time Stephen was stoned outside of Jerusalem, Paul was rising fast in the eyes of the religious leaders!
By the 1980s Oak Park had become a BEACON of what a church should be, and had garnered all sorts of attention from the local association, the State convention, and even from the SBC… If ever a church had a reputation to stand on and accomplishments to hang their hat on… it was OAK PARK!
But here is where Paul takes the confidence in the flesh and all of his accomplishments and puts them into perspective! Let’s read on…
7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
In v.7 what Paul is basically saying is that all of these accomplishments, all of the praise piled upon him, all of the accolades he had received actually counted for nothing in his eyes, he says that he counts them as LOSS when he compares them to Jesus Christ and his calling in Christ…
In other words, what Paul was saying is that all the success in the world was completely unworthy of praise when it came to serving Christ! Paul accounted all personal achievement and/or heredity affiliation as being worthless when it comes to his spiritual service to Christ and the worth of his knowing Christ as Savior!
What Paul IS saying here is that CHRIST is the focus… Christ is what matters and not our accomplishments! Personal achievements are placed in perspective… any thoughts of grandeur are tossed to the side… and the only thought is service to the King.
Now as much as it pains me to say this about the country I dearly love, I MUST! America! This is YOU! This is God speaking to our country… our nation thru the Apostle Paul! God is telling our nation to take all our past achievements and successes and count them as WORTHLESS and to focus on serving Him once again!
Submitting to God and serving God made this nation great because God blessed that service… we will never be the great nation again that we were once, if we are not willing to submit to God’s calling as a nation… if we are not willing to place God first!
Likewise, as much as it pains me to say this about people whom I dearly love, I feel compelled to say, Oak Park, this is YOU! I believe that this passage of Scripture is God speaking directly TO Oak Park thru the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippian church. God is saying… to take all your past achievements and successes and count them as WORTHLESS!
It does NOT matter what we accomplish as a church… anything we can hang our hat on as OUR accomplishment is garbage… that is what Paul is saying! We are to count any of our achievements or successes as worthless, in comparison to knowing and serving Christ!
So what does this mean for the people of Oak Park Baptist church? Well it means that YOU did not build this church… God did! It also means that all accomplishments this church and/or this fellowship has accomplished are to be considered WORTHLESS in comparison to our current obedience and service to Christ and His WORTHINESS!
Those days of God using this church to be a beacon of light here on the Westbank are NOT bad things! But when we focus on them, we lose sight of what God has for us in the future! I believe that we can remember those great times of the past WITHOUT distraction our vision to the future and where God wants us to be…
However, when we focus on what it used to be so much, those past successes can AND does lead us into what I would call a glory “Daze” This happens when we long for those days long ago so much that we are dazed and confused cannot see what God has for us…TODAY and in the future!
Paul goes onto explain his reasoning for WHY he counts his accomplishments as loss…
8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul says that it is BECAUSE of the WORTH of Christ… because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…it is worth enough to Paul that he had abandoned all for Him! Paul wanted ALL of his life to be about Jesus… as he continues his explanation in v.9…
9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
Paul knew that ALL of his faith and righteousness were from Christ… and Paul also understood that NOTHING he had accomplished was worthy of righteousness, no matter how valuable the world saw it… no matter how hard he had worked for it! Paul desperately wanted the church in Philippi to understand his desire for being IN CHRIST! He continues in his explanation in v.10…
10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Paul seeks to know Christ in his FULLNESS… He wants to know the power of His resurrection, and I believe ALL of us who profess Christ want to know the power of the resurrection! But how many of us are willing to do what it takes to get there?
For Christ to experience the resurrection, He had to give ALL of himself in great suffering and death… Paul understood this and this is why he says, “…and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death…”
People the road we travel as believers is not a road that is for the weak… we are called to surrender ALL of who we are to Christ… we are called to experience all of who Christ is and wants us to become…even if that means we are called to face death for His sake! Let’s look at v.11…
11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul then gives the ultimate statement… he says, ‘…that by ANY MEANS POSSIBLE…’ do you fully understand that statement? Do you fully realize the meaning of what Paul is saying and calling us to do the same!
He is saying that we are willing to do WHATEVER it takes… whatever God called him to do! That must be our prayer as well… whether to serve Him here in our community OR if it is to go to somewhere else in this great big world to serve Him!
This statement… if we truly are honest about it… means that we have to be WILLING to give up all we have ever worked for, all we have ever treasured in our hearts… all we have ever dreamed of for the sake of serving Him!
We do know that our direct mission as a church is that God is calling Oak Park to serve Him in this community. We are called to make disciples, IN THIS COMMUNITY! We are called to disciples those new converts… IN THIS COMMUNITY! We are called to do this because when we are faithful to that calling, then obedience, further discipleship, and Christ glorifying evangelism will begin to happen and other disciples will be made! True and effective discipleship starts in the hearts of each church member… the question is, “Are you ready to be HIS TRUE DISCIPLE?”
If you are… then you must be willing to LET GO… let go of the past, let go of your accomplishments, let go of all things you hold dear, let go of what you have worked so hard to build… You are called to let it ALL go and give it to God, and then allow HIM to work THRU you to build HIS kingdom! Are you ready today?
Today you have heard how Paul describes how HE had to let go of everything he held dear, but was willing to because of the surpassing worth of Jesus Christ! Christ changed Paul’s life and He can change yours too… today if you are struggling and seeking something to fill the void in your heart… Jesus is calling on you to surrender to Him today… won’t you come as Bro Ken comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation!
