August 31, 2003
Morning Worship
Text: Philippians 3:10
Subject: Everything for Christ
Title: Possibilities
I love it when I read my Bible and things just begin to jump off the page at me. That is what happened to me this week and that is why I am preaching this sermon this morning. I have given this sermon the title “Possibilities”. The reason for the title is that I often think that as believers in Christ we do not live up to our possibilities.
Lincoln Steffens once wrote, “Nothing is done. Everything in the world remains to be done or done over. The greatest picture is to yet be painted. The greatest play is not yet written. Nothing is perfect. There is no perfect airline. There is no perfect government. There is no perfect law.
Faucets still drip as it did years ago in the Stiffens household. As He and his seven-year old son tried to fix it, he had to admit that his generation could not make a fit faucet. “But” said Stiffens, referring to his son, “”he may. There is a job for him and his generation in the plumbing business, and in every other business. Teach your children that nothing is done, finally and right; nothing is known, positively and completely; that the world is theirs – all of it.”
Bits and Pieces, April 1990, p. 7.
There is a lesson for Christians in the story I just told. We tend to think along the lines of belonging to Christ and making our way through this life the best way we can waiting to see Jesus – either when we leave this life or when He comes back for His bride. But as I read more and more in the Bible, I realize that there is so much more for us. The possibilities are limitless. Now you are probably thinking at this point that you have heard this all before. That may be so. But I am going to preach it anyhow. Why? Because I want you to do more than just hear it. I want you to get it. I want you to let it sink down into your subconscious so that you just know that it is the truth and you would never doubt it.
I am going to read today from Philippians 3:1-11, but I am going to really focus on verse 10. In the first part of chapter three Paul wrote about relying on the flesh to save you. There were those who you know followed Paul and perverted the gospel. Paul said that if they could have confidence in the flesh, he could also. He gives all his qualifications for human righteousness. But in verse 7 he says that all the things he once saw as gain he now counted as loss for Christ. Paul gave up all those things and counted them as rubbish so he could gain Christ – not in his own righteousness, but in the righteousness that is from God by faith. That leads us up to where we want to be today. Once we recognize our works for what they are and where our righteousness comes from, we can move on into another level of our spiritual walk. Pay close attention today, because what I say today may change your life. What we once considered gain is now considered loss -
I. So that I may know Him.
A. What does it mean to know? According to Webster’s dictionary, know means, “ to apprehend with the conscious mind, to recognize, to have acquired skill in, to be informed about, to have committed to memory, to possess knowledge, understanding or awareness of something.” One other definition, which is noteworthy, is, “to be acquainted with by experience”. The original Greek word refers to knowledge that has a beginning, a progress, and a realization. It is the recognition of truth by personal experience. Paul says, “I want to experience Him.” We experience Jesus when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. That is just the beginning. The word means that we continue to grow in our knowledge of Him. It doesn’t have to stop. It will reach completion some day.1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” Knowing Christ means experiencing Him. Now listen, I have been in churches where I have heard people say, “Boy that was a good service. I really felt something today.” It doesn’t mean they know Jesus. Knowing requires two - way communication. Knowing involves intimacy and transparency from both parties. Only when we bare our souls and share our weaknesses with Christ can we truly know Him. Only when we, like Paul, can count all things loss, can we gain Christ. Now who can know Him?
B. Paul made it personal. “that I may know Him…” an honest relationship with Jesus is not just for the super-spiritual. In 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul assures us that Jesus is for all. “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” If Paul, a sinner made it personal – he wanted to know Jesus – who else do you think can do it? It is for everyone. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What is it about knowing Him that is so special? Being assured of eternal life. Being assured that He will never leave you nor forsake you. He has given you His Spirit to dwell in you. Knowing Jesus personally opens up the door to know so many other things about Him. It opens the door for all the promises that He has given us in the word. Paul wasn’t satisfied just being saved.
II. He wanted to know the power of His resurrection.
A. The resurrection. I’ve read this passage so many times and I have always put the emphasis on the resurrection. The literal meaning of the word is, “standing up again.” It is about going from death to life. Romans 6:3-5 says, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we had been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” If this is where Paul is placing his emphasis then he is saying, I want to know Jesus and I can’t wait till the resurrection. But if you study about Paul (You can’t read much of the New testament without finding out something about Paul) and read the things he wrote, you may conclude, as I have, that his focus is not on the resurrection, but the power involved in the resurrection.
B. The power. Paul wrote in Romans 1, “Jesus Christ our lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead.” If this is the emphasis then Paul is saying, “I want to know Him and the power that resurrected Jesus. The Greek word translated “power” is dunamis and it means a force, specifically miraculous power accompanied by the miracle itself. I want to know that kind of power. Did Paul have much to say about dunamis ? What did he write in 1 Corinthians 2:4? “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” He knew that if it were not for the power we have to live and move and have our being, we would just walk through life being saved and not being able to do anything but wait for Jesus return. That is not the kind of Christian life that we are intended to have. God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of POWER…! Why did Paul focus on the power so much? Because he knew that if the church was ever going to move forward, it would only be in the power of the Holy Spirit working through the church. Paul understood something else as well. To those whom much is given, much will be required. If you are going to walk in power, you will have opposition.
III. The Fellowship of His sufferings.
A. Fellowship. The dictionary defines fellowship as “the companionship and comradeship characteristic of group solidarity or the friendly exchange between individuals that springs from shared work, shared religious practices etc.” A fellowship is something that is entered into freely by choice. The Assemblies of God is not a denomination but is a cooperative fellowship which individual churches have entered into freely and by doing so agree to adhere to the governing authorities of the fellowship. The same could be said about being a Christian. We enter into it by our own free will and in doing so we commit ourselves to living according to the standards set forth in the Bible. You cannot be a Christian and live by your own set of rules. That is not a fellowship. The Greek word koinonia is often used to refer to a partnership or participation in a society. For Christians it refers to the intimate bond that is held among those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. Paul wants to experience that fellowship.
B. The sufferings of Christ. How can one have fellowship in the sufferings of Christ? In the original text, the word translated “suffering” can mean a hardship or pain, or an emotion or influence that someone has gone through. Jesus said in John 15:18-20, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.” So, when we think of fellowship of sufferings we tend to relate that to the fact if we belong to Christ we will experience persecution. That is true. Isn’t that what is happening in Montgomery, Alabama right now? Isn’t Judge Roy and in reality, all of Christendom being persecuted for its beliefs? But I want to take the idea a little further. Turn over to Colossians 1:24. Paul wrote to the church in Colossae, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.” Look at how the Amplified Bible states this, “[Even] now I rejoice in the midst of my sufferings on your behalf. And in my own person I am making up whatever is still lacking and remains to be completed [on our part] of Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church.” Our sufferings or afflictions are not the same as those of Jesus. He bore our sins, paid the price for our iniquities, in order to restore us to the Father. So, what does Paul mean here when he says that we are making up what was lacking in His afflictions? Jesus said while on the cross, “It is finished!” His redemptive work was complete. But the work of mediation between a holy God and sinful man continues. Well, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father so He is no longer the direct contact between God and sinners. He has left that work to us, the church. We stand in the gap for sinners. We open the doors to eternal life by sharing the gospel message. We pray for those who need healing. We are Christ’s representatives here on earth. We re-present Him to others. There is a sharing that is taking place – a fellowship if you would – among those who are called Christians. We are together filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. What is lacking are all the healings, miracles, signs and wonders that Christ would have performed had He still been here on earth, but has left for His people to do. So instead of experiencing a fellowship of His sufferings through pain and affliction and persecution, we should be experiencing fellowship by continuing the work that He can no longer physically do, because He has gone to the Father, but has left us to do. How?
C. Being conformed to His death. Jesus stated in John 12:24-26, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Conclusion:
Let us go back now a try to tie everything together. Paul wrote this concerning himself but is true for every believer. First, we want to know Christ and not just know about Him. We should experience the truth through personal contact with the Savior. Second, we should desire to know the power behind His resurrection – the Holy Spirit. He is the power source behind everything we can do as Christians. Third, if we expect to have the kind of fellowship whereby we are filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, we will be conformed to His death and transformed by the renewing of our minds. You know, the world and much of the church will tell you that you cannot pray for people and expect things to happen. But I believe that our passage today tells us that is precisely what we are expected to do. If we know Christ and the power of His resurrection, we will belong to a fellowship of those who long to continue the work that Jesus began with His suffering, and has now left for His church to complete till He returns. We will do this by being conformed to the attitude that Jesus had by giving up all in heaven to come to earth and being transformed by the renewing of our minds. Remember these words. Know, power, fellowship, suffering, conformed, transformed. Don’t let anyone talk you out of the work you have been given to do and the power you have to do it. The possibilities are limitless.
