You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace.
Join us.
This morning we're going to look at Philippians chapter 3.
I'd like to read the first three, the first 16 verses.
Philippians 3, beginning at verse 1, and I'll read down through verse 16.
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
Look out for the dogs.
Look out for the evildoers.
Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.
If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.
As to the law, a Pharisee.
As to zeal, a persecutor of the church.
And as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish.
In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.
Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law.
But that which comes through faith in Christ.
The righteousness from God that depends on faith.
That I may know him and the power of his resurrection.
And may share his sufferings.
Becoming like him in his death.
That by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I've already obtained this or am already perfect.
But I press on to make it my own.
Because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.
But one thing I do.
Forgetting what lies behind.
And straining forward to what lies ahead.
I press on towards the goal.
For the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Let those of us who are mature think this way.
And if anything you think otherwise.
God will reveal that also to you.
Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
One of these days my voice will clear.
At least in theory.
You know, this is the time of year where.
And I've been, you see it.
I've been seeing it on social media.
And seeing it all over the place.
It's just that time of year where we all kind of want to take stock.
Of, you know, looking back on the last year.
How's it gone?
And thinking ahead to the new year.
You know, and this is why at this time of year.
We make New Year's resolutions.
We don't make Fourth of July resolutions.
We make New Year's.
Because it's the end of the old beginning of something new.
And I know that there's a lot of different thoughts and ideas about resolutions.
Some people just don't like to make resolutions.
You know, some people do every year.
Some people don't think much of them.
Because it seems almost like an exercise in futility.
And I use that word exercise.
Because it's probably one of those very common themes in some of our resolutions.
You know, it's the season that if you watch television, you're going to see.
Really, you've already seen it.
The exercise machine advertisements are going to multiply.
All the diet programs are going to multiply.
And you're going to see that heavy on TV.
And then what that's going to do, it's going to last for a little bit.
But it's actually going to supply eBay with a lot of new merchandise come February.
Because, you know, it just doesn't get us very far.
The self-help section in the bookstore and on Amazon is by far the most popular.
But again, where does it get us?
You know, regardless of hair color, exercise, makeup, diets, or spandex if the diets don't work.
Or hair transplants, self-management techniques, or other self-help.
All that does for most of us is just increase our frustration with life.
And so, New Year's resolutions are really a waste of time.
And besides, we're grace people.
God loves us unconditionally.
And he accepts us exactly the way we are.
So, here you have it.
That said, you know, if I don't have any resolve to be different,
maybe I've gotten too content with this broken self that I am.
You know, maybe I've come to the point where I've got this very unhealthy sense of contentment
for sinful patterns in my life.
Ways that I damage relationships and other wasteful things.
Yes, I am to accept myself fully as I am, as the broken self that I am.
That is very true.
But yet, am I to be content?
The Bible says, be content in all circumstances.
But does that mean that I have to be content
in all of this junk that still seems to run rampant through my life?
I think the gospel calls me to something different.
Yes, the gospel says it calls me just as I am.
And I am embraced just as I am.
But the gospel comes never to leave me as I am.
The gospel comes to take me somewhere.
And God, because what Christ has come to do in his work of redemption
is to make all things new and all things includes me.
And he's not waiting until the last day when he comes again
and I enter into heaven.
The process has begun.
And it's continuing.
And so this is his desire for me.
And I love in this passage how Paul marries two glorious concepts.
He marries this idea of my full acceptance and embracing of the Father
through the work of Christ alone.
That I am righteous in Christ.
He takes that concept and then weds it with a passion
to be something different.
Because you see, in the first part of this chapter,
there's a lot of passive ideas, passive concepts
where he wants to be found in the righteousness of Christ.
Not because of my works, but I want to be found in Christ.
But then as soon as this, in his next breath,
he says, I press on.
And so how does all this work?
Well, this is what I want us to look at
in this passage this morning.
And so I want us to see a couple of things.
First, we are going to look at this reality of Christ.
The reality of who we are because of the work of Christ alone.
But then secondly, we're going to look at
then the resulting call to pursue Christ.
And then finally after that, we're going to look at
at least I'm going to give you a window
into some personal resolutions
that I think flow from these words of Paul.
First, let's look at the reality of being in Christ.
You know, in the first six verses of this chapter,
I really, this is one of my favorite chapters
in all of Scripture.
Because in these first six verses,
what Paul does, he first gives us a warning
about some false gospels.
In one of those false gospels,
the primary one is putting confidence in the flesh.
And that is simply that I'm going to trust me
to make everything happen.
I'm going to trust me to be good enough.
I'm going to trust me to gain my acceptance before God.
And he calls those who promote such a gospel
dogs.
And he's not using dogs the way we use them,
the word.
We use the word dogs as people.
He's talking about mongrels.
These are beasts that are hated.
So we're not talking about your little pet schnauzer.
This is a junkyard dog who's vicious
and will devour you.
But then he goes through, starting in verse four,
then he goes through his own testimony
of how he used to put confidence in the flesh.
And he said, I did it better than anybody.
He said, I've got the pedigree.
I was a Hebrew of Hebrews.
I was no Johnny-come-lately convert.
I was, I can trace my lineage
all the way back to the tribe of Benjamin.
He said, I was, I was zealous for the faith.
But then he makes this statement and he says,
as to the righteousness which is in the law,
blameless.
How many of you could say that about yourself?
Blameless?
Not me.
Paul was the goodest of the good.
But then he makes this amazing statement.
He said he found something else.
In all of this other stuff,
he said, I counted his loss
because of the surpassing value
of knowing Christ.
And what was it he found in Christ?
He found righteousness
or rightness.
He was right.
He was good.
He was perfect.
He was beautiful.
He was as he should be.
That's righteousness.
And he found that in Christ.
Not in his own works.
Not in what he did.
He found it through faith.
It was passive.
It was something he received.
That he was in Christ right.
It means he was good enough.
It means he was beautiful enough.
It means he was perfect enough
that he would have God's full acceptance,
approval, and delight.
Wow.
You know what?
I'm not right.
And I'm not.
Just in and of myself.
And I think this is the common experience
for all of us.
We feel guilty.
When we do things
or when we don't do things,
when we fail
to keep up that standard,
we know.
We sense it down inside.
We're not right.
But it's not just that.
There's something else.
It's not just guilt
that makes us feel not right.
It's shame.
Because you go and look in the mirror
in the mornings
and you,
what you see
looking back at you
is not right.
You see all the flaws,
all the mistakes,
places where there used to be hair
and now you see places
where there is hair
where there shouldn't be.
And you,
you see parts sagging out
and,
but that's just the physical.
And we work hard
at hiding all of that.
But it's also that behavior,
the words that we say,
the things that we do,
we're just not right.
And we know it.
So what do we do with that?
Well,
our options are
basically two.
The first one is
you fix it yourself.
You become right.
You change your behavior
to be good.
You fix all the flaws
so that you can be beautiful.
Or you just try to
cover them over
and deny that they're there.
It's kind of the
Photoshop approach
to life.
that at least
I can make a good impression
out there
for everyone else
to see.
I can fix myself
well enough
that when people
look at me,
they'll approve
and accept me.
But we still know
the truth.
It doesn't get us
very far.
It doesn't get us
very far.
There's another option.
You can get it
from somebody else.
And this is what Paul did.
As good as he was
and as well as he did,
he could not be good enough.
He could not stand
before God
and say,
I've done enough.
But what he could do
is he could stand
before God
with what he received.
You see,
he was clothed
with rightness.
It was kind of like
being covered
with all of your
dirt and your filth
and your dirty clothes
and ragged pants
and shirt.
All of that is covered
with glorious,
beautiful wedding garments
that you didn't make,
you didn't purchase,
were given to you
and were put on you
by another.
And now,
in those garments,
we're beautiful.
In that rightness,
I am beautiful.
It's amazing, isn't it?
It's amazing.
That's who we are
in Christ.
That's what we get
from Christ
and we receive it
by faith.
That is the gift,
the surpassing value
of knowing Christ
that I can quit working.
I can quit covering up.
I can just enjoy
the pleasure
and delight
and approval
and acceptance
of this holy God.
And that's the gospel.
It has nothing to do
with what we do.
It has nothing to do
with what we can earn.
It's everything to do
with Christ.
Coming to Christ means
I simply quit
this self-centered,
self-focused,
self-sufficient,
self-justification.
And I rest
in a righteousness
which is given to me
that is enough
and will always be enough.
And I'll never be,
when I get to heaven
and stand before Christ,
I will not then
be more righteous
than I am right now.
And it's all because
of Christ.
Think about that.
Every time I think about this,
it just,
it blows me away
because when I look back
at all my failure,
all of the crud
that I can see,
especially you take stock
and look back
over a whole year
and there's plenty there.
But God,
the Holy One,
looks upon me
with delight.
He's not.
He's pleased.
because of Christ.
And we have to get this.
This cannot be diluted.
If we don't get this,
we miss everything.
I stand before God
and I am pleasing to him
because someone else
was righteous
and gave that credit to me.
Now,
that is glorious.
But Paul doesn't stop there.
He moves on.
That truth,
that wonderful theology
does something to Paul.
It doesn't make him
just sit back on his laurels
and do nothing.
It drives him.
It energizes him
for a whole new work,
a whole new pursuit.
And it's not something
that's from self-effort.
It's something else
inside of him
that is now driving him.
And I think,
I want to call our attention,
especially as we look now
in verses 12
down through verse 16.
There's four things
I want us to see
about what is now
at work in Paul.
And the first thing is
there's a new calling.
Look what he says.
He talks about this
upward call
of God
which is in Christ Jesus.
I am called
to something new.
He is called
out of the old.
But he's called
to something.
And this is where
I may have used
this illustration before
but I love fairy tales
because they reflect
realities of,
I think,
even some spiritual realities,
some hopes
that we have.
And one of my favorite
in this is Cinderella.
Cinderella lived
in the ash heap
with these three ugly
brutal stepsisters.
But she was called
to something new.
She was called
out of that world.
She was now called
to live in the palace.
She was called
to be the bride
of the prince himself.
To have nothing more
to do
with the ash bin.
It says,
and in Christ
I am now the bride.
I am more beautiful
than Cinderella
ever dreamed of.
Because I'm with the prince.
I am called
to be like him.
I am called
to serve him.
I am called
to reflect his glory.
And let me tell you something.
This is not laborious.
If you would have
asked Cinderella,
what do you want to do?
She says,
I want to be with him.
Because he's totally
changed my life.
So there's this new calling
out of the old
to glory.
Because we are now
wedded
to
the glorious
prince.
You know,
I experienced this somewhat
when I got married
to my wife,
my bride,
a little over
34 years ago.
34 and a half years ago.
Because I know
for,
when you think about
weddings for so many,
you have
the night before
the wedding,
these bachelor parties
and so forth.
And they're almost
kind of like wakes.
It's kind of a last
ditch
thrill session
before
you take on
the bondage
of marriage.
So it's this,
we're going to celebrate,
you know,
these last moments
of freedom.
We're going to have fun
because that's all
going to end tomorrow.
I'm sorry.
I never had one of those.
And I didn't want one.
Because I wanted to be
with her.
There was no,
this was no labor.
This is no bondage.
This was a fulfillment
of the dreams
of my life.
life.
And it still is.
And so,
for me
to give myself
to her
alone
and now say
no
to everyone
else,
to say
no
to just
a life
of
self-focus,
I'm not
complaining.
Because it's the
great joy
of my life.
And when we
come to Christ,
this is the call
to a glorious
wedding
where our
prince
is the fulfillment
of every desire.
Secondly,
there is this
new focus.
Paul says
in verse 13,
he says,
forgetting what
lies behind
and straining
forward
to what lies
ahead.
I love these
verbs.
As you read
through this,
look at the verbs.
He's straining.
He's not just
leaning.
He's not just
looking.
He's straining.
You know,
this is
how he
describes
his new
calling,
this upward
call.
His focus
is no longer
on the past,
but it's
all on
what's to
come.
And it's
the past,
you know,
we can think
of it in two
different ways.
That past
is,
okay,
I no longer
look on the
negative.
I no longer
look on
the bad
and all
of that
that's behind
me.
It's done.
It's forgiven.
But there's
something else
I turn away
from.
I don't look
on my
successes
either.
You know,
I can go
back in
time and
relive
those glorious
moments and
you have them
too.
Those moments
where you
experience just
a taste of
glory.
Like for me,
it was that
backwards,
over the
top,
catch the
ball in
the air,
slam dunk,
goal on
a foosball
table.
The very
last shot I
took as I
was leaving
World Harvest
Mission,
I left
in glory.
And I can
relive that
and obviously
I do.
It doesn't
count for
anything anymore
because I've
got something
else.
The past,
the negative
is resolved
in Christ.
And even
what was
positive is
swallowed up
in righteousness
which is
far,
far more
profitable
and glorious.
So all
of that,
all that I
would count
as valuable,
it's nothing
now because
I'm looking
forward to
what I have
in Christ.
That is my
goal.
That is my
identity.
And to
that I
strain.
thirdly,
there's a
new passion
in Paul.
In these
verses,
twice he
uses the
same word.
He says,
I press
on.
And that
word is a
strong word.
It's a little
stronger than
what's communicated
in English.
And especially
since this is
a great football
weekend,
this is,
the way I
think of this
word is that
that pressing
on is kind
of the gleam
in the eye
of a defensive
end with a
quarterback in
his sight.
And there's
nothing going to
stop him from
getting there.
That is the
passion now that
is driving Paul
to press on.
He has one
thing in mind.
Notice there
again he says,
one thing I
do.
Just one.
And basically
this is a new
love.
It's a new
heart passion.
And that's
where Paul's
getting his
energy.
And that's
what's driving
him.
We are driven
by our loves.
We're not
driven by our
thoughts,
but the things
that we love
drive us.
And Paul now
had one
love.
fourthly,
there's new
resources.
And you have
to step back
to verse 10.
He says,
I want to
know him
and the
power of
his resurrection.
And in
that power,
that's the
same power
now working
in Paul
that raised
Christ from
the dead.
And a lot
of times we
think that we
are beyond
change.
I have tried
to change
year after
year,
month after
month.
I'm getting
nowhere.
I can't
do it,
but the
Holy Spirit
himself,
the one
who brought
Christ up
from the
dead,
now dwells
in me,
and I
think I
can't
change.
See,
for Paul,
he knew
it wasn't
up to
him.
But he
had a
resource
that now
he could
turn to.
In all
of these
things,
this new
calling,
this new
focus,
new passion,
in this new
resource,
it's not just
true of Paul.
It's true of
every one of
us in
Christ.
So,
what does
it mean?
What does
this mean
for me?
I'll try
to go
through
these
quickly.
But that's
probably one
resolution I
won't
fulfill.
First,
there's three
things.
I need to
develop a
healthier
discontentment.
I need to
develop a
healthier
discontentment
with myself,
with where
I am,
and what
I'm doing.
I need to
more fully
comprehend
the things
that I
love,
and the
things that I
love that
are worthless
and cheap.
Paul says
in verse
eight,
he says,
I count
everything as
a loss
because of
the surpassing
value of
knowing Christ
Jesus,
my Lord.
He said,
for his
sake I have
suffered the
loss of
all things
and count
them as
rubbish.
That word
rubbish is a
four-letter word.
And it
describes
something you
would flush
down a
toilet.
And that's
the value
he gives
all of his
past
accomplishments.
And there
are a lot
of things
that I am
pursuing in
my life
that smell
bad.
And I
need to
know.
This last
fall, I'm
given some
insight into
some of
these things.
One of the
things the
Lord has
begun to
show me,
well, not
show me for
the first
time, this
is a long
running issue
with me,
is that I
can be
very,
very
arrogant.
To the
point which
I will,
any group
of people,
in order for
me to get
attention and
recognition and
acknowledgement,
even just by
way of a few
laughs, I'll
throw you under
the bus.
I'll put you
down, I'll
belittle you,
and I'm not
proud of that.
I hate it.
I grieve
over it.
But that
revelation is
a gift.
Because what he's
showing me is
that there's this
value that I
have is
rubbish.
And we
need to get
rid of it.
And so I
think I need
more of this.
How and
when we're
going to do
this?
Well, one of
the things that I
need to do is a
practice that I
did some years
ago.
I need to have
people praying
for me.
Some of you
think in your
resolutions you
need to start
praying more.
Well, that
might be, and
we'll talk about
that in a
second, but I
need people
praying for me.
I need to go
out and enlist a
few people who
will faithfully
pray that God
would make me
very, very
discontent with
who I am until
I get to the
perfection of
Christ.
Second thing, I
need to develop a
healthier obsession.
And that
obsession needs to
be with Jesus.
you know, what I
find is that I'm
willing, you
know, I fill my
life with so many
things, so many
worthless things.
I mean, they're
not bad in
themselves, but
they're just,
they're not the
best.
And so I need
this year, I
need more and
more to fill my
eyes, to fill my
mind, to fill my
vision with
glory.
Real glory.
So what does
that mean?
Well, how do I
do that?
Well, it probably
means that I start
reading my Bible
from my Bible and
not from my
iPad.
The iPad is
great, especially
the older you get,
you can make that
text really big.
but there's too
many things on
there that are
distracting, that
take my attention,
that again are not
evil in themselves,
but when they
capture the love of
my heart, they've
become evil.
people.
So, I need to
probably put that
away and get
back to filling my
mind, my eyes, with
the vision of the
beauty of Christ.
To read more
from people who
also see this
beauty.
Finally, the
third thing is I
need to develop a
healthier dependence.
A dependence on the
power of God to
transform.
And this is
something I, like
many of you, have
trouble believing.
You know, if I'm
honest, this is
where I struggle
because, like you,
I have tried to
change.
I have tried to
reform my life.
I have tried to do
better in a lot of
these areas.
And sometimes, when I
don't see a whole lot
of success, I get
very cynical.
I have tried to
do better in a
way.
I have tried to
do better in a
way.
I have tried to
do better in a
way.
The problem is, though,
it's me that I've
been trusting and not
him.
And so, instead of
determining myself what
must be done and
determining that I
myself will make it
happen, I need a
different outlook.
work.
It's not up to me.
But I am not
helpless.
And I have not been
abandoned to myself.
I have the spirit.
And to him, I need to
more often, more
constantly turn in
prayer and
dependence that he
might come and do in
me what he desires to
do.
and then rest in his
work.
So how am I going to
see all this happen?
If it's just me, it
won't.
But it has to start
here.
That I am in
Christ.
I am righteous.
I am pleasing.
I have been drawn
near.
I have been approved.
He accepts me.
And I am the
delight of his
heart.
Because I am
his bride.
And that has
to capture my
heart.
So that now
me,
the bride,
who is totally
overcome
by the love
of my bridegroom,
I want nothing
more than
him.
May this
year,
may God
through his
spirit,
give me
a greater
sense
of him.
And I hope
he'll do it for you
too.
Let's pray.
Father,
thank you for
your grace.
thank you for
your love.
Help us to
comprehend it
more fully.
That you would
have our hearts
holy to
yourself.
Because it's
only in you
that we will
find the joy
that you've
promised.
Thank you,
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
For more
information,
visit us
online at
southwood.org.