Rubbish
3/3/97
Candidate Tape
1/20/02 PM
As the lonely prisoner sat quietly, he paused for reflection as he added another sentence to the letter he was writing to his dear friends. He thought back on his childhood and remembered all the dreams he once had. In fact he had accomplished all that he hade set out to do with his life. He had gone to the finest schools and colleges. He had studied with scholars and great men. He had obtained a high status in his religious organization. He was blameless according to the law. He had obeyed even the silliest of laws out of piety. Of course, it also helped that he was of pure religious heritage. He was one of the few that could trace his roots all the way back to the patriarchs of his faith. With all the degrees he had obtained and all of the clout of his family name, he was just about perfect.
As he completed another sentence in his letter he paused again to reflect on that one fateful day that everything changed in his life. He was sitting blind in a strange house, in a strange town, not knowing what to do next. His entire world had been shattered. Everything that he had worked so hard for and all the status and power that he had once yielded meant absolutely nothing now. He had been stripped down of everything that was precious to him. All because his man made righteousness had collided head on with the purest righteousness of God.
Again he picks up his pen and writes these words:
Philip. 3:4-11 (best read out of the “Message” version)
though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: [5] circumcised 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; [6] as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
[7] But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What 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 [9] and 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. [10] I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
What is Rubbish?
1. Refuse; garbage
2. Worthless material
3. Foolish discourse; nonsense
Illus.
When I was young we had purchases an older house. My Dad, who knew a little about everything, decided to remodel the house. So every Saturday my parents woke me up and stuck a hammer in my hand and we went to work. With hammer and crow bars my sister and I tour into the plaster walls. We tour the slats down and completely stripped everything off of the walls. For a ten year old boy I was in hog heaven. Just think, I had permission to destroy the house. It was great!!
Needless to say, we got the privilege of making weekly trips to the local land-fill to dump the plaster and slats. Other than the smell that place was neat. There was all sorts of neat little things people had thrown away. I kept wanting to fill the truck as fast as we were emptying it.
I realize that people make a lot of garbage. What was funny about the whole thing was, most of the things in the land fill were at one time given great regard in someone’s home. Just think, That new computer you purchased this weekend will some day find its rest in a land-fill, or furnace. Maybe not anytime in the near future we hope. But someday it will be resting among all the neat things in the land fill.
The same thing could be said about a number of things we regard highly. Our jobs, our homes, our cars, our friends, our status, our clothes, even sometimes our family members. In Short every thing that is temporal.
Paul’s Rubbish
1. Circumcised on the eighth day - Only a true Jew was circumcised on the eighth day.
2. Of the stock of Israel - Descended from the patriarch Jacob. His blood line was so pure he could trace it all the way back.
3. Of the tribe of Benjamin - The first king of Israel came from the tribe of Benjamin. This was the only tribe that did not revolt under Jeroboam.
4. Hebrew of Hebrews - Born of Hebrew parents and one who unlike many of his countrymen, could still speak the Hebrew language.
5. A Pharisee - One who meticulously observed the whole mosaic law.
6. Zealous - Out of Zeal for Judaism he had persecuted the Church.
7. Blameless in the Law - He was found blameless according to the law.
Paul’s Gain
1. That I may Win Christ - Paul is never satisfied with his present knowledge of Christ. He is constantly longing for a deeper fellowship with Him.
There is no end to the possibilities we have in Christ. Our goal should be to long for a deeper fellowship with him.
2. To be found in Him - To be found in Him now and not only in death. As the manslayer was found in the city of refuge, where he was safe from the avenger of blood. (Num 35:25)
3. Not having any righteousness which can be called mine - This is referring to the right relationship found solely in God and not self. (Self—Surrender)
4. Faith in Christ - Trusting in a Savior who is in full control of all.
5. That I may know Him - A personal, experiential knowledge of Christ.
6. The Power of His resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering - To experience the resurrection power in his own life. And then to fellowship in His suffering knowing that all is in His grace and power.
7. Being made comfortable unto his death - Being able to die to the things of this world and also die in Christ.
What is our response to this?
How should we respond to such a scripture? Is this type of commitment only reserved for men and women such as Paul?
Philip. 3:12-17 (better read in the Message version)
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13] Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
[15] All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. [16] Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
After finishing the letter, the man silently fell to his knees and began to thank God for all that He had done. God had taken all the rubbish out of his life and had replaced it with something that had eternal significance. Though the man had not yet completed his journey, he knew one thing for sure; His dreams were now planted solidly in the eternal foundation of Christ.
Let us follow Pauls example!
