Intimate Value
Text: Phil. 3:1-11
Introduction
1. Illustration: "Everything in this world has two aspects - how it looks at the moment, and how it will look in the time to come. The easy way may look inviting at the moment, and the hard way daunting. The only way to get our values right is to see, not the beginning, but the end of the way, to see things, not in light of time, but in the light of eternity." - William Barclay
2. Unfortunately, we tend to place value on the wrong things.
a. Money
b. Possessions
c. Fame
3. Proposition: The only thing with lasting value is a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, and the most important aspect of our lives is fostering that relationship.
4. Paul tells us what matters in life is...
a. Worshipping Jesus
b. Trusting Jesus
c. Knowing Jesus
5. Let's stand together as we read Phil. 3:1-11.
Transition: The first most important aspect of our lives is...
I. Worshipping Jesus (1-3).
A. Rejoice In The Lord
1. One of the often forgotten benefits of worship is that it keeps us from sin.
a. It is hard to sin when you are singing praises to the Lord.
b. Worship and sin are like oil and water; they don't mix.
c. Worship is, therefore, a deterrent to sin.
2. Paul illustrates this when he says, "Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith."
a. Paul's encouragement to "rejoice in the Lord" should be considered as a positive preventative to becoming entangled in the false teaching that he was about to expose and condemn.
b. People who are constantly rejoicing in the Lord probably have less chance of succumbing to false teaching than those who do not seem to consider worshiping God very important (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 212).
c. Their joy is to be "in the Lord." The Lord who saves is both the basis and focus of their joy, and in this case it does not refer to a feeling but an activity.
d. It means to express your joy with singing and praise. It is because of their relationship with the Lord it should eliminate all attraction to mere religion (Fee, 291-292).
e. After this transitional comment, Paul states why he issues the warnings that follow.
f. Although he is repeating information he has told the Philippians before, he wants to emphasize its importance as safeguard.
g. His purpose, then, is to keep the foundation of their faith free from the cracks and weaknesses he has seen develop in the commitment of other churches to the gospel (Theilman).
3. After showing the importance of worship he now gives his reason for bringing it up. He says, "Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved."
a. Three times Paul wrote "beware" or "watch out for" to emphasize what he was about to say. In addition to a threefold "beware,"
b. Paul also had a threefold description for these false teachers.
c. He first called them "dogs." He labeled them such because their characteristics resembled those of the wild packs of scavengers roaming the streets at the time, causing havoc wherever they went, in addition to attacking people.
d. Secondly, Paul called them "people who do evil," which implies they actively opposed the gospel of God's grace.
e. Thirdly, he designated them "mutilators." While they claimed to be "the circumcision," Paul said they were really only "mutilated."
f. The normal Greek word for circumcision means "to cut around," however, the word Paul uses here means "to cut to pieces," in other words "mutilate" (Fee, 296).
g. In other words, their mechanical, unscriptural approach to the important rite of circumcision reduced it to mere laceration of the body.
h. Mutilation of the body was practiced regularly in pagan religious rites, but this practice was forbidden in the Old Testament (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 212).
4. It wasn't so much circumcision that Paul had an issue with, but rather with the idea that it made a person right with God.
5. He points this out in v. 3 when he says, "For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,"
a. His use of the pronoun "we" shows that he includes himself and the Philippians in this group.
b. Paul, of course, was a circumcised Jew (cf. v. 5), and the Philippian church was probably composed entirely of physically uncircumcised Gentiles.
c. The common ground between them is their commitment to the gospel. As believers, Paul says, they comprise the true people of God, the true circumcision.
d. How could Paul plausibly make this claim? The Old Testament recognizes that the human heart rather than physical features are God's real concern (1 Sam. 16:7), and it sometimes applies this principle specifically to circumcision.
e. Physical circumcision was a visible mark that identified those who bore it as members of Israel, God's chosen people.
f. At times, however, the Israelites placed such confidence in possession of the physical mark itself that they felt their election was secure even if their hearts strayed after other gods.
g. In these instances, the writers of the Old Testament reminded them that the physical rite should be symbolic of a deeper commitment.
h. They called this commitment "circumcision of the heart," and they looked forward to a time when God would figuratively perform this operation on the hearts of his people so that they might be committed to him.
i. Two aspects of this statement are interesting. (1) It shows that Paul regards confidence in the flesh and confidence in Christ as mutually exclusive.
j. From his perspective, it is impossible to place one spiritual foot on the foundation of the flesh and one spiritual foot on the foundation of Christ.
k. Both feet must be firmly planted on either one foundation or the other.
l. (2) Paul's term human effort, or "flesh," has profound significance.
m. Paul probably considered the term especially appropriate to the problem of the Judaizers since they advocated a literal operation on the flesh and since in both the Old Testament and the philosophical literature from Paul's time the term flesh often signified human weakness, frailty, and tendency to sin.
n. Simply put, Paul's point is that whereas Christians have placed their confidence in Christ, the feet of the Judaizers rest on a fallen human foundation that will inevitably collapse (Theilman).
o. What Paul is saying here is those who are the true circumcision are those who serve by the Spirit and not according to human effort, or the flesh.
p. So the word "worship" in this case does not refer to the kind of worship we do together as a congregation, but rather the service that we as God's people do in the way we live our lives.
q. Rather than depending on religious ritual, we who are the true circumcision live our lives in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (Fee, 300).
B. Worship In The Spirit
1. Illustration: True biblical worship so satisfies our total personality that we don’t have to shop around for man-made substitutes. William Temple made this clear in his masterful definition of worship: "For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose—and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin" (Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, 119).
2. True worship doesn't come from style or format, but rather it comes from the heart.
a. John 4:23-24 (NLT)
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
b. In heaven there won't be any hymnals or video projectors.
c. It won't matter if you prefer traditional or contemporary.
d. In heaven no one will be complaining because they didn't sing my favorite song.
e. Because worship in heaven will be written on our hearts.
f. It will come from hearts that are completely in love with Jesus.
g. And the only things on our minds will be to give Jesus the honor that is due his name.
Transition: Next Paul talks about...
II. Trusting Jesus (4-6).
A. Confidence In Their Own Effort
1. Illustration: The other day our dog Star was laying on the love seat that was covered by a blanket. When she went to get down off of the love seat one of her toenails got caught on the blanket. She began pulling and shaking to try and get herself free, but the harder she tried the worse it got. It wasn't until Daniel got up and released her toenail from the blanket that she get free.
2. That's the point that Paul is making about these religious Jews that thought they could be right with God by their own efforts.
3. He says, "though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!"
a. In verses 4-6 we see a catalog of Paul's own attainments before his conversion.
b. His purpose in giving this list of merits was certainly not to boast. In fact, the opposite is true.
c. He did it deliberately to show the folly of trusting in human merits.
d. His inventory of attainments includes seven items which can be divided into two categories.
e. The first category includes four involuntary privileges that belonged to him because of heredity and environment (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 213).
f. In essence what Paul is saying here is if you want to play that game, that of being right with God through religious ritual, then he would win that game hands down.
4. Look at what Paul says in v. 5, "I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law."
a. First, he was circumcised when 8 days old as required by the Law.
b. By contrast, proselytes were circumcised as adults. Ishmael was 13 years old when he experienced this rite.
c. Secondly, Paul was an Israelite. The term designates God's chosen nation which He selected to represent Him and be His witnesses on earth.
d. Paul also claimed he was a member of a special tribe, that of Benjamin.
e. This tribe alone was faithful to Judah when the other 10 tribes left to form their own kingdom, and after the Babylonian Exile it actually merged with Judah.
f. Lastly, Paul was "a Hebrew of the Hebrews," which informs us that he was raised in a home where Hebrew and Aramaic were used.
g. Many Jews of the day spoke only the Greek language and followed Greek customs, and therefore they were designated "Hellenists."
h. The last three items in Paul's catalog of human merits belonged to him by choice.
i. He chose to be a Pharisee, the strictest of the religious groups of the day (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 213).
5. As if that wasn't enough, he goes on to say, "I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault."
a. Paul's last statement probably functions as a summary of all of these advantages.
b. He was, he says, blameless with respect to the righteousness that comes by the law.
c. This does not mean that Paul thought of himself as sinless prior to his conversion, for his blamelessness would include careful attention to the means of atonement the law provided for those who sin.
d. It means instead that his parents had done everything for him that the law required Jews to do and that he had himself diligently observed the law (Theilman).
e. He also chose to be extremely zealous for what he believed to be true.
f. In fact, he was so zealous that he persecuted the followers of Jesus (Acts 9:1, 2), a practice for which he was sorry the rest of his earthly life (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 213).
g. Paul point is clear - if anyone could earn his way to heaven it was Paul, but he couldn't. He had to trust Jesus to pay the price for him.
B. Saved By Grace
1. Illustration: Christians, we have no right to look down our noses with disdain on unsaved people. We can and should be offended at sin, but not personally offended – offended for God and His holiness. But if we can get it in our heads and in our hearts that when we were dead He gave us life, when we were unknowing He gave us faith, when we were enemies He came all the way down to us to make peace, then we must realize that in ourselves we are no higher and no better than the vilest of sinners and it is God’s grace and mercy alone that has separated us from the rest.
2. The bad news is that we can't do anything to make us worthy of heaven; but the Good News is that we don't have to because Jesus has already done it for us.
a. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT)
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
b. We can't earn it, buy it, or work for it.
c. We can't be good enough, nice enough, or kind enough.
d. We can't give enough, serve enough, or say enough.
e. The only way to heaven is by trusting by faith that Christ has already done the work for us.
f. All we can do is accept it!
Transition: However, the greatest thing in life is...
III. Knowing Jesus (7-11).
A. Knowing Christ Jesus My Lord
1. Paul now shows what all these things that he accomplished meant from an eternal perspective. He says, "I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done."
a. The language here is very similar to a bookkeeper’s ledger in which the accountant would erase the word “gains” or “credit” and writes the term "loss" or "debit." (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 213).
b. Paul renounces his former advantages and gifts which caused him to be head and shoulders above other in regard to keeping the law.
c. He declares that those things that he once thought were important are now worthless because of what Jesus has done.
2. Then he takes it a step further when he says, "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ..."
a. "Garbage" refers to something thrown out as worthless.
b. The apostle considered an intimate and continuous knowledge of Christ as his personal Savior more important than all his former attainments mentioned in the context. (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 215).
c. Paul states that everything is worthless in comparison to knowing Christ.
d. He calls it the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
e. What Paul is referring to here is not knowing about Jesus, but rather knowing him intimately.
f. It means to know him as a child knows their parents, or as a husband and wife know each other.
g. It is the knowledge that has to do with personal experience and intimate relationship.
h. Furthermore, what is interesting here is Paul use of "Jesus my Lord."
i. It is the only time in all of Paul's writings that he uses this phrase.
j. Thus he is illustrates the intimacy of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Fee, 318).
3. Then he continue the thought saying, "and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith."
a. In his beautiful description of all God had accomplished in his life, Paul suddenly took his readers to the future judgment seat of Christ.
b. He realized that every believer will stand before the Lord to be judged for his works after his conversion.
c. The apostle did not want to stand in Christ's presence depending upon his own righteousness because he knew it would not suffice.
d. Instead of his own righteousness that previously had meant so much to him, he wanted to be covered with the righteousness of Christ.
e. He reminded the Philippian believers that this righteousness of Christ comes only from God as a gift, and faith is the medium through which it comes (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 215).
f. When Christ returned or when Paul died, Paul wanted to become one with Christ, that is, living in union with Christ.
g. But his own goodness or ability to obey God’s law would not be enough to save him.
h. Not even Paul, with all his credentials and accomplishments, could have been good enough.
i. The only way for people to be made right with God is through faith. Believers are made righteous by their faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross on their behalf.
j. Being made right with God is his gift to us; it cannot be earned. God secured the gift and then offered it to us.
k. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, God can exchange our sin and shortcomings for his complete righteousness.
l. Believers are offered a gift; all we have to do is accept it. We are considered righteous at the moment we believe, and we gradually work out the fruit of our righteous life on a day-to-day basis as we live in Christ and he lives through us (Barton, 857).
4. Then he brings his declaration to a crescendo when he says, "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!"
a. Next the apostle returned to the present in his thoughts.
b. He realized his earthly life had not ended, so he still had to live with present realities.
c. He wanted to enjoy four realities in his earthly life: (1) to know Christ, or to have a richer experience in Him;
d. The word for know here is the same form used in 3:8, referring to personal, experiential knowledge.
e. To know Christ is more than merely to know facts or doctrine about him.
f. It should be the goal of every believer to know Christ more fully and personally, and that can be a lifelong process.
g. (2) to know the power of His resurrection, or to experience constantly the same power that raised Christ from the dead;
h. Paul also wanted to experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.
i. The power of the Holy Spirit that brought Jesus back from the dead is available to all believers to raise them from spiritual death now and from their physical death in the future.
j. Paul wanted to know this power, personally and experientially, for that power assures Christians of their justification and of their regeneration as they identify with Christ in resurrection.
k. (3) to participate in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of righteousness; and
l. (4) to be conformed to the death of Christ, or to experience the same self-emptying described of Jesus.
m. Paul related the power (dunamis) of the Resurrection to the necessity of experiencing spiritual strength to live an overcoming Christian life on a continuous basis.
n. Many people quote this marvelous verse but leave out the segment relating to suffering and conforming to the death of Christ
(The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 215).
o. Paul next expressed his ultimate desire to be part of the physical resurrection of believers.
p. The Greek term here literally refers to "the out-resurrection from the dead" and vividly depicts the fact that some people will be snatched from among the dead long before the remainder are resurrected.
q. The term "attain" does not imply Paul viewed being part of the first resurrection a matter of works.
r. However, he did emphasize the necessity of constantly maintaining an integral relationship with Christ, because only people definitely related to Jesus via conversion will be included in the first resurrection (The Complete Biblical Library – Galatians-Philemon, 217).
B. Knowing You
1. All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this
Knowing you, Jesus
Knowing you, there is no greater thing
You're my all, you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord
Now my heart's desire is to know you more
To be found in you and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All-surpassing gift of righteousness
Oh, to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like you in your death, my Lord
So with you to live and never die
- GRAHAM KENDRICK
2. The single greatest thing that you can do in your life is to know Jesus!
a. Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NLT)
In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
b. Knowing Jesus is greater than any thing you can achieve
c. Knowing Jesus is greater than any accolade you can receive.
d. Knowing Jesus is greater than any amount of success you can acquire.
e. Knowing Jesus is greater than any mansion you can own.
f. Knowing Jesus than any wealth you can accumulate.
g. I want to know Jesus and experience the power that raised him from the dead!
Conclusion
1. Proposition: The only thing with lasting value is a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, and the most important aspect of our lives is fostering that relationship.
2. Paul tells us what matters in life is...
a. Worshipping Jesus
b. Trusting Jesus
c. Knowing Jesus
3. Do you know Jesus today?
4. Do you want to experience the power that raised him from the dead?
