INTRO.- Here is the kind of profit that most of us think of.
ILL.- A millionaire was asked how he got rich. He said, “Well, I began by buying peanuts for five cents a bag and selling them for ten cents. I worked long hours and all holidays. However, I didn’t become a millionaire for another five years.”
“What happened?” the man asked. “Well, then my father died and left me a chain of hotels.”
Most of us think about profit in terms of money and material possessions.
Here’s a good way to think about money, however.
ILL.- “Shoe Company Says Ho Ho Ho.” PITTSFIELD, Maine, Dec. 15, 2003. Workers at a shoe plant were feeling more than a little tickled when they got their Christmas bonuses that, for some, totaled nearly $20,000.
Instead of receiving typical end-of-year frozen turkeys, the 200 employees of the SAS Shoemakers plant here were handed envelopes when they were called together Friday afternoon.
When Lawrence Wyman opened his, he found a check for $19,000. His wife, Charlene, got a check for the same amount.
The company this year awarded its employees with bonuses of $1,000 for every year worked at the company. Even those who had worked less than a year got $500 each.
The bonuses were particularly uplifting given that most news in the manufacturing sector this year has been about plants closing and employees being laid off.
"They called us all together and said we would each get $1,000," Lawrence Wyman said. "Everyone started clapping and then they said it would be $1,000 for each year worked."
And that’s when the tears flowed. Some estimated that the bonuses totaled $200,000 or more.
SAS Pittsfield is a division of SAS Shoemakers in San Antonio.
WHAT DO WE SAY TO SOMETHING LIKE THIS? Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord for some generous, giving people!
ILL.- And here’s another. Iowa corn company employees get big bonuses. 12/20/2003. ADEL, Iowa -- Christmas came early for 270 employees at an Iowa corn company.
Harry Stine, founder of Stine Seed Co., told his workers they would get $1,000 for each year they have worked for him. That adds up to a $20,000 bonus for some loyal employees who have worked there for 20 years.
The workers sat in stunned silence after he announced the bonuses following the company’s annual post-harvest luncheon last month.
"He said that we’re a can-do kind of people, that we work in the rain and the mud, and that he just appreciated our hard work," said seven-year employee Kelley Muir, 30.
"All of these people help me every day," Stine said. "So it’s not a be-nice thing. It’s just what should be done."
The average bonus check was $4,000. Again, we say, “Praise the Lord” for some generous people.
Often we think in terms of what we can get out of life rather than what we can give. Some people are thinking about giving. It’s refreshing to see people in the giving mode. And truthfully, this is one of the greatest profits in life.
We know that John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved that He gave…” This is why I say it’s refreshing to see people giving.
And here’s the kind of profit that we should appreciate very much, in fact, more than any.
ILL.- On Saturday, Dec. 19th, 2003, Christina Reeves’ uncle by marriage was buried in Batesville, AR. His widow was in church with us the very next day, that is, Sunday night for our Children’s Christmas program. Her name is Alma Lassiter. Listen to her story. She said that her husband Jim (70 yrs. old) went through horrible suffering until he died. He had acute lymphatic leukemia, a disease with which the doctors only gave him three weeks to live. By the grace of God, however, Jim lived six months. Alma says the reason is because they both praised the Lord for every good thing and every chance they had.
The last 9 ½ weeks of his life (from July 22nd to Sept. 26th) she was with him 24/7, in the hospital and out of the hospital. Three different times while he was in the hospital the doctors said he wasn’t going to make it. She would call friends and family members to ask them to pray and Jim pulled through.
On November 21, 2003, they both were baptized. They were immersed. She said, “It was something that we could do together and it made a big difference in our lives.” They attended a church called “the Journey,” which is an evangelical covenant church.
Through it all they both kept praising the Lord for every good thing!
It is always right to praise the Lord and praising does make a different in a person’s life. Good things happen when we begin to praise the Lord! And Alma told me Sunday night that she was going to testify about the Lord every chance she got.
She said there was a definite loss, a definite void in her life since her husband passed away, but she was at peace, knowing that he was with the Lord and being carried for and no longer suffering. Praise the Lord! She is praising the Lord!
Rev. 14:13 “I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’”
Praise the Lord for her husband’s testimony. Praise the Lord for her testimony. Praise the Lord for salvation! And to add to her testimony is this: she is a five-year cancer survivor, thanks to the Lord.
Not everything that the world considers a loss is a loss. In Christ, there is always a profit.
PROP.- In our text, Paul speaks about his own personal profit and loss. What he once considered a profit to his life, he now considered as a loss. But it was a good loss, as losses go. Let’s look at this in two ways:
1- Worldly profit
2- Heavenly profit
I. WORLDLY PROFIT
Vs. 4-8
Paul had many things going for him, which in his day would be a great profit to him as a Jew.
- He was circumcised the 8th day.
This meant that he lived all his life in the Jewish faith. Paul may well have had godly Jewish parents! Good parenting makes a difference! Godliness does rub off.
ILL.- A woman asked Francis Wayland Parker, the educator, “How early can I begin the education of my child?” Parker asked, “When will your child be born?” She replied, “Why, he is already five years old.” Parker replied, “My goodness, woman, don’t stand here talking to me – hurry home. You have already lost the best five years.”
ILL.- James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein, in their book Crime and Human Nature, determined that the cause of crime is a lack of proper moral training among young people during the morally formative years, particularly ages one to six.
It is utterly amazing to me to think that most of what we are today was a “done deal” by the age of six. If this is true, then we parents and grandparents have to do our best to influence our children and grandchildren in a godly way.
What does this mean? Regular church attendance. Involvement in church programs. But even more important, living the faith outside the church. Bible reading at home, prayer time, and Christian service. These things speak very loudly to our children. The lack of them speaks loudly too.
- Paul was of the people of Israel. Paul had pure racial ancestry. He was not of mixed race. Where we may be Scotch, Irish, German and English, Paul was pure Israelite.
- Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin. This tribe was famous for its military power. This might be like saying, “I’m a U.S. Marine.” “The few. The proud.” And “Always faithful.”
- Paul was a Hebrew and Hebrews.
ILL.- You’ve heard of “dyed-in-the-wool” Baptists? What does this mean? It means they are Baptist, through and through. Paul was a “dyed-in-the-wool” Hebrew.
- Paul was a Pharisee. He belonged to the religious/political party known as the Pharisees. There were never more than 6,000 of them at one time. What an elite group they were even though some were the greatest of hypocrites.
ILL.- A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. "Why do people call me a Christian?" the man asked. After a moment’s pause, one youngster said, "Maybe it’s because they don’t know you."
Brothers and sisters, we all struggle with hypocrisy. We all have good days when we are fairly spiritual, but we also have our bad days when we blow it royally. Even the best of our lot, the Billy Graham’s, the Max Lucado’s, etc. struggle with hypocrisy. We all have that side to us because we don’t do everything right.
What’s the answer to our hypocrisy? IT’S CALLED GOD’S GRACE! Thank God for His grace, which endures, which puts us up with us.
- Paul was faultless as far as the law was concerned.
We would say that Paul attended every meeting. Every time the door was open. Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, prayer meeting night, calling night. He attended every revival and every music concert. He taught Sunday School. He went calling on the sick and shut-ins. He made evangelistic calls. HE DID EVERYTHING RIGHT. Paul had a very good record.
What about you? What worldly profits have you accumulated? What worldly accomplishments mean much to you and give you a sense of pride? They could be material possessions. They could be worldly position and honor. They could be certain achievements in life. Whatever they are, would you be willing to give them up in order to gain Christ? We all have to lose in order to gain. We have to go down in order to go up.
V. 7 “But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.”
Paul considered all his worldly gains as some kind of spiritual profit until He discovered Christ. That’s when his thinking and values changed. That’s when he discovered the meaning of true profit in life.
II. HEAVENLY PROFIT
In Vs. 8-11 Paul lists his true profit, which came from Christ.
- Paul gained a personal knowledge of Christ as his Lord
V. 8 “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…”
ILL.- The English poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson, said, “What the sun is the flowers, Christ is to my soul. HE IS THE SUN OF MY SOUL.” Apparently, Tennyson knew something about the sweetness of Christ.
Someone has said that Christianity is not so much a religion as it is a relationship. It is truly a relationship to Christ. Do we know Him? Do we have a personal relationship to Him? How can this be accomplished?
I think it can only be accomplished through a daily walk with Him, meaning Bible reading and constant prayer. We need to somehow get in the habit of praying constantly… talking to the Lord as though He were with us every step of the day. AND HE IS! We need to acknowledge His presence and talk to Him always. This is a part of what it means to know Christ.
- Paul gained a righteousness that he’d never known before
V. 9 “And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own…but that which is through faith in Christ…”
Paul’s past righteousness was based on his obedience to the law of Moses, etc. But he came to discover that his righteousness was nothing but filthy rags. He found a new righteousness in Christ. The same is true for us.
We tend to put a lot of stock in our own “rightness” or righteousness. That we are pretty good people. That we walk the line. That we are faithful in going to church, in giving a tithe, and we are convinced that these things mean a lot in God’s eyes. Oh, is that so?
Brothers and sisters, no matter how right we are. No matter how good we are, our righteousness with never “cut it” with God. This is why Christ died for us.
II Cor. 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might because the righteousness of God.”
Our righteousness comes from Christ. He traded places with us on the cross. We should have been crucified for our sins. We are only made right and righteous in God’s eyes because of Christ! Praise Him! Praise Him!
Knowing what Christ has done for us, however, should motivate us in our Christian living…doing right, living right, etc.
- Paul gained a fellowship with Christ, which would eventually pay off in a resurrected life.
V. 10-11 “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, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
ILL.- Thomas a’ Kempis in his book IMITATION OF CHRIST wrote, “Jesus hath many lovers of his kingdom, but few bearers of his cross. All are disposed to rejoice with him, but few to suffer sorrow for his sake. Many follow him to the breaking of the bread, but few to the drinking of his bitter cup.”
One of the most difficult things to do in the Christian life is to suffer for Christ when doing right. We will suffer for doing wrong. But to suffer for doing right while following Christ is a different matter. How admirable it is. How Christ-like it is.
I Pet. 2:21 “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
Whatever Paul gave up and/or suffered in following Christ was nothing compared to what he received at the end of the road.
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------------
ILL.- Writing in Moody Monthly magazine, Mayo Mathers tells about the first time she saw Keith sitting alone in a pew at the back of the church. He wore a biker’s T-shirt and tattoos decorated each arm. Only 36, he was more faded than his jeans with a worn out, lived-out look in his eyes. He seemed puzzled, as if he wasn’t sure how he ended up in that tiny country church. He was there because someone has invited him. Someone wanted to introduce Keith to Jesus Christ. Someone yearned for him to come to know Christ in a life changing way. Keith certainly needed the Lord. From the first time of his marriage at age 15, his life had gone steadily and tragically downhill.
He’s tried most of what the world had to offer but nothing brought him the happiness, and meaning and peace he craved. Keith was a drug user; an ex-con and he constantly battled alcoholism
Keith returned to church the next week… and the next… and the next. People lovingly reached out to him, accepted him, and prayed for him. Eventually Keith accepted Christ as personal Savior and Lord. He began his new life in Christ with an astonishing passion, yearning to know Christ better and better. Keith devoured his Bible; fellowship became a priority. He faithfully prayed and worshiped. And he grew and grew in Jesus. Oh, he had his difficulties, failures, and setbacks; it was not all-smooth sailing; he lost some battles along the way. But, my, did his life ever change.
Keith lived in a tiny camping trailer parked at the back off his parents’ property. His main passion was his motorcycle. It was his life, his passion; it was all he really had. When challenged to give something to God, he sold his motorcycle and gave the money to the Lord. Needless to say, Keith’s hunger to know Christ and His transforming power had an impact on those around him, both in and out of the church.
Touched by his life, the author of that Moody Monthly article wrote: “After Keith gave his motorcycle to the Lord, I realized that I had forgotten the feeling of such dedication…passion… and hunger for Christ. I stared at Keith, fascinated by his life. He looked like a new man; now I was he one who looked faded.”
Sad to say, sometimes our passion and devotion to Christ does fade. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. We all can be renewed in Christ and find a profit in life that we never knew existed.
