I. Intro: Fire Cleans Out Huxley’s Stuff?
Years ago, one of Southern California's infamous wild fires destroyed the home of best-selling writer Aldous Huxley. He and his wife barely escaped with their lives. But Huxley's manuscripts, his collection of letters from "great" people of his day, and his expansive library of valuable books which had taken years to amass, were all destroyed. All his earthly possessions lay in ashes on the ground.
? "It was a hideous experience," he later told his good friend Anita Loos. "But it did make me feel extraordinarily clean."?
It shouldn’t take a wildfire to release us from our bondage to our earthly interests. Like Paul, “count everything as loss.”
II. Bragging Rights (vv.4-6)
A. Context: Paul has just finished encouraging the Philippians to:
1. Rejoice in the Lord
2. Watch out for “the dogs”—Judaizers
3. Remember they are the true worshipers (by the Spirit, not the flesh)
B. Paul makes himself an example of what the Law alone produces
1. He emphasizes his pureblood Hebrew genealogy
a. Circumcised on the 8th day (as required in Gen.17:12, 21:4, Lev.12:3)
b. Tribe of Benjamin—one of Rachel’s two sons, and an “elite” tribe who, with Judah, remained faithful to David’s lineage to form the southern kingdom
c. “Hebrew of Hebrews”—Hebrew parents who lived like Hebrews, even in a pagan land (Acts 22)
2. He emphasizes his rich religious education
a. Pharisee—raised to strictly keep the law
b. Zeal—Paul staunchly defended Judaism against anything that threatened it, including the Church
1) The insanity in the Middle East is not new—this mentality has existed for literally 1000s of years
c. Blameless—Paul kept every external law perfectly
III. Turning Point (vv.7-9)
A. Everything that might have been regarded as valuable, he regarded as useless (v.7)
1. In accounting terms, these assets did not appreciate, they had actually already depreciated in value
2. He had counted on his staunch religious commitment to be righteousness, but all God ever sees in that from any of us is PRIDE
3. Luke 18:9-14--"9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10'Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get." 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.'”
Paul was the Pharisee, not the tax collector
B. Cashing out his former “assets” as actually liabilities (v.8a)
1. "Knowing Christ Jesus”—personally experiencing Christ was, to Paul, a completely new economic perspective
2. “Suffered the loss”—from his prior perspective, Paul gave up everything he valued when he claimed Christ
3. “Rubbish”—worse than trash, his prior credits and achievements were akin to human waste
C. A new investment: Christ (v.8b-9)
1. “gain Christ”—acquire new stock that never depreciates
2. “A righteousness of my own that comes from the Law”—anything made by the flesh, for the flesh, is dead and will rot; this cannot save from sin
3. “Faith in Christ”—the purchase of heavenly stock, so to speak, that has eternal value and never declines in value—in fact, the only thing of heavenly value…
4. “the righteousness from God”—it isn’t even our goodness; it’s investing in God’s goodness (faith—confidence in someone else’s ability to pay the debt)
IV. New Purpose (vv.10-11)
A. For the Here (v.10)
1. Oneness with Jesus is only possible if God has already granted us righteousness… Jesus’ righteousness, because He was the only righteous One
2. Paul wants “to know Him”—not know information about Him, but personally and intimately Jesus as an actual person
3. “the power of his resurrection”—the power that raised Jesus is both physical and spiritual, and available to us
a. “Share his sufferings”—Jesus has gone through all the trials we’ll face, and His Spirit can strengthen us as we go through them, too
b. “Become like him in his death”—as Jesus died to make a way, we live to help others find the way (and maybe we’re called to die, too)
B. And the Hereafter (v.11)
1. “by any means”—Paul knew nothing he had done could make him right, only Jesus could do it, and Paul didn’t care HOW He did it
2. “resurrection from the dead”—not just physical resurrection, but that of salvation—being saved from spiritual death to spiritual life
V. Conclusion
A. Righteousness is not inherited, it is conferred. Our background and training may point us in the right direction, but they have nothing to do with our standing before God.
B. Anything apart from Jesus that claims to bring us closer to God will actually serve only to take us away from Him.
C. When we claim Jesus fully—both the blessings and the curses—we start to get a glimpse of the eternal rewards we have through Him.
