Where does your pride come from?
Thursday night we had our bowling league—EXPLAIN—175 avg, most improved player—26 pins
ALL PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS MEANT NOTHING THAT NIGHT.
The 10th hole at Stone Hedge--$5,000.
Yesterday, I registered for classes—smart, getting a degree…
Where should we get our source of joy and pride from?
Phillipians 3
Rejoice in the Lord—take joy and pleasure in Him. Not in accomplishments or things. He has already told them, but he is willing to tell them again.
The Smartest Dog Ever
As a butcher is shooing a dog from his shop, he sees $10 and a note in his mouth, reading: "10 lamb chops, please." Amazed, he takes the money, puts a bag of chops in the dog’s mouth, and quickly closes the shop. He follows the dog and watches him wait for a green light, look both ways, and trot across the road to a bus stop. The dog checks the timetable and sits on the bench. When a bus arrives, he walks around to the front and looks at the number, then boards the bus. The butcher follows, dumbstruck. As the bus travels out into the suburbs, the dog takes in the scenery. After awhile he stands on his back paws to push the "stop" button, then the butcher follows him off. The dog runs up to a house and drops his bag on the stoop. He goes back down the path, takes a big run, and throws himself -Whap!- against the door. He does this again and again. No answer. So he jumps on a wall, walks around the garden, beats his head against a window, jumps off, and waits at the front door. A big guy opens it and starts cursing and pummeling the dog. The butcher runs up screams at the guy: "What are you doing? This dog’s a genius!" The owner responds, "This dog’s no genius. It’s the second time this week he’s forgotten his key!"
You know how easy it can be to forget something—Friday, I almost forgot my wife’s vitamins; and that could have had disastrous results. So here, Paul is disappointed to tell them again, because it’s important. It needs to be said, multiple times.—Rejoice in the Lord. SAY IT!!! MULTIPLE TIMES
Now-he goes on—watch out for those dogs. Mutilators of the flesh—they taught circumcision was necessary. It’s necessary to do something in order to get saved, you have to cleanse yourself to get saved. It’s like cleaning up for a shower.
These people were so caught up on the outside, the physical, the part that shows, rather than the inner condition. THEY WORE THEIR CHRISTIANITY ON THEIR SLEEVE BECAUSE IT NEVER REACHED THEIR HEART. They weren’t the real deal.
Who is—we are of the circumcision--Colossians 2
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature,[1] not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
What does that mean? Circumcision is just a reflection of what should be an inward decision, but it carries no weight. Putting off the sinful nature. That’s what spiritual circumcision is, and these dogs had no idea what it was.
True spirituality—Those who worship by the Spirit of God, glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.
The man who sang that song—Michael English—has a fantastic voice. But he didn’t glory in Christ Jesus. He spent time trying to satisfy his own desires, and he paid the price. He’s back, but at what cost, at what detriment.
But if you really want to brag about your accomplishments: Here’s Paul’s list:
1. Circumcised on the 8th day—the day set aside for that (Leviticus 12:3)
2. of the people of Israel—he was of the right lineage
3. of the tribe of Benjamin—the second son of Rachel (the first—Joseph), remained loyal to the Davidic line of the throne.
4. Hebrew of Hebrews—born of Hebrew parents—raised in all the traditions, even though he lived in a pagan city.
5. Pharisee—he knew the scriptures, but not only that, all of the traditions that were put in place to help people “obey” the scriptures. He was chief among them.
6. zealous—Passionate. He loved what he did. And here, when it talks of zeal, persecuting the church—it means he loved what he did so much that he hated all else that was a threat to it.
7. Legalist righteousness—faultless. Quite a claim, but it means, if you looked at the outside, you could find no fault. He was perfect. EXPLAIN.
He taught Sunday school, preached sermons, did all kinds of great and wonderful things. Went to bible college, taught Sunday school, built buildings—sometimes we get so focused on the outside, the exteriors, the accomplishments, the LOOK AT ME FACTOR.
Matthew 6
1"Be careful not to do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Jesus would say that again of fasting, and warn of those with the LOOK AT ME FACTOR.
LOOK AT ME FACTOR—MANY WILL SAY, LORD, LORD, look what we’ve done in your name.
Paul says that true spirituality doesn’t focus on one’s self. It focuses on God.
VERSE 7—Profit and loss. It’s an accounting term. Take your checkbook—profit is a plus, loss is a minus. ILLUSTRATE PROFITS AND LOSSES—WHAT I DID FOR MYSELF, PLUS FOR ME, MINUS FOR GOD.
Speaking of loss--
The Funeral Dance
There was a great loss today in the entertainment world. The man who wrote the song "Hokey Pokey" died. What was really horrible is that they had trouble keeping the body in the casket. They put his left leg in....Well, you know the rest.
I had six bright yellow golf balls yesterday when I started. Do you know how many I finished with? NONE. I lost them all. THE THINGS WE MOURN AS LOSSES IN THIS WORLD, AND PAUL IS MOURNING OF THE ACCOMPLISHES HE MADE, BECAUSE HE CONSIDERED THEM LOSSES FOR CHRIST. WOW!
He counts everything loss—dung—waste, save for knowing Christ Jesus—the surpassing Greatness of knowing Christ Jesus. You see, he’s willing to give up everything, just to know Christ, and be found in him.
Paul wants to make it known that there is a righteousness that comes not from doing all the things we do; it comes just from having faith in Christ. All the stuff we do; teach Sunday school, go to church, ALL THAT—doesn’t make us a bit more righteous than we were the moment we were saved. BECAUSE RIGHTEOUSNESS DOESN’T COME FROM US, IT COMES FROM GOD. Now, does this mean we can sit on our spiritual lazy-boy chairs and coast our way to heaven? Of course not, and we’ll look at that next week. But when it comes to earning righteousness, we can’t do it.
Paul would right something very interesting in Romans: 4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
This is the crux, in verse 10—I want to know Christ. And the power of his resurrection. And the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, and becoming like him in death. WHY—TO SOMEHOW ATTAIN THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.
What does Paul take pride in, his joy? Where does it come from? CHRIST.
I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. SOMETIMES, AFTER I’VE PREACHED A POWERFUL SERMON, I’VE SAID TO LYNELLE, “BOY, I DID GOOD TODAY.” And that is wrong—there’s only one thing that should give me joy and pride, knowing Christ.
How about you? What is your joy in? Are you desiring to know Christ more? Are you focusing on him, or yourself. It can be very easy to get caught up in the LOOK AT ME FACTOR. Instead, we should be looking at Christ.—What was Paul’s command—Rejoice in the Lord.
