Lord, we ask for your blessing.
Lord, we pray that you would meet us where we are at, exactly where we are at.
Lord, your word is a blessing to us, and it's a blessing in different ways at different times.
We've all come from different weeks, so Lord, whether this, your word will be an encouragement
to us this morning, will be a conviction to us, will exhort us, will comfort us, whatever
it may be, maybe all of those things. Lord, would you do it, and do it by your spirit.
Lord, we thank you for this day where we remember the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit
given to us. Lord, let us trust that you are active amongst us, even now. We pray this in
Christ's name. Amen. If you have one of these, turn with me. Page 14 will be on 14 and a little
bit of page 16. Before we jump into God's word, a bit of an introduction. So during World War
II, there was a wealthy Serbian man who was a spy for German intelligence, a man named Dusko
Popov. He hated the Nazis. So what does a Nazi spy do? One that hates the Nazis, he goes to
MI6 and offers his service to the British. And he becomes one of the most valued spies for
the Allied forces. In the late summer of 1941, MI6 sends him to New York. He has some very
valuable information and he meets with J. Edgar Hoover himself, the head of the FBI, a very,
very famous, maybe infamous figure in American history, meets with J. Edgar Hoover and shares
with him some key intelligence saying that there would be a likely attack by the Japanese on Pearl
Harbor. Someplace, well, it wasn't so much Pearl Harbor as it was in Hawaii on the naval base, so
maybe it was Pearl Harbor. For whatever reason, whether J. Edgar Hoover decided not to pass it along
or he did pass it along and it got nixed, that information was not acted upon. That warning
was not heeded. And five months later, Imperial Japan made a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor,
the American fleet there, and just over 2,400 souls perished.
Warnings are valuable things. They're valuable things to consider, particularly when they come from
a trusted and reliable source. However, I mean, we often struggle with warnings, and for a variety of
reasons. They tend to create more anxiety than they do alleviate anxiety. Even when we recognize that
following a warning would be beneficial, we are hesitant to heed the warning, to deviate from our status
quo. And we do it, again, for all sorts of different reasons. And when we ignore such a warning that turns out to be true,
is this not the source of great regret?
A lot of frustration.
So a couple thoughts. Why do we struggle with warnings?
The first, put just very practically, in our day, we are very oversaturated with warnings and polemical discourse.
Social media, both the source and
the means by which such warnings and polemics are amplified,
it's just, it's a non-stop 24-hour news cycle.
Social media, all sorts of media,
just kind of washing over us. Warnings, watch out for this, don't do this,
avoid these plastics, avoid these foods, avoid these people, avoid these politics,
and it continues on and on and on.
And so, we can become inoculated with such warnings.
But the second reason, and I'm sure there's more than just two, but I'll just offer a couple.
The second reason, I think, is a much deeper human problem, why we don't heed warnings.
Warnings cause confrontation.
And confrontation can be very uncomfortable, for it disrupts
the way we live, and oftentimes our comfort.
We are told we are doing something wrong,
or what we are doing will lead to some kind of danger or pain or discomfort.
We think changing could be even more
uncomfortable than
if we just kept things the way they are.
We know that behavior and habits,
certain ones that do not lead to flourishing,
need to be stopped.
Reform needs to happen in our lives.
But change is costly, and change is scary.
And we can be all too excellent at
convincing ourselves that the source of these warnings,
they're not to be believed.
In the same way that Hoover, for whatever reason,
seemed to disbelieve this Dushko Popov.
But there's a place for warnings and polemics.
It's a huge part, actually, of the Christian faith.
From the very beginning, we'll see this in our text,
but if you go through the Gospels,
if you go through the Acts of the Apostles,
there is a bombardment of false teachings
and pushback against the Christian faith,
and against Jesus as the Messiah,
and against this picture of what human flourishing ought to be.
And it constantly needs to get battled and pushed back.
There has to be an offensive and a defensive
with the Christian faith.
Heresy has existed all throughout Christian history.
It continues to exist to this day.
The Apostle Paul, we come to our text now,
the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church in prison,
himself put in prison in a very unjust way.
A lot of leaders that saw Paul as a threat threw him in jail
or created the environment for him to be imprisoned.
And he is writing to this church he loves in Philippi,
in Macedonia, present-day Macedonia.
And his desire is to see them flourish.
And if you haven't been following along,
or if you just need a bit of a refresher,
because we haven't been in Philippians for a couple weeks,
the letter is a joyful one where Paul is really holding up the life of Christ
as the exemplary life to follow.
He loves these people.
He wants them to grow in their maturity.
And now he gets to a section where he is actually going on the defensive,
so to speak, and defending the faith
and issuing warnings for the church
to not just hear, but to act upon.
So we'll break up our text into three sections.
We'll look at a warning,
we'll look at a reflection,
and we'll look at a call.
So we'll jump right in the text.
We'll start in verse one.
And we'll continue on from there.
This is what it says.
Finally, my brothers,
it's a bit of a catch-all term for brothers and sisters.
It's a term of affection for a group of people.
Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things to you
is no trouble to me,
and is safe for you.
I'll stop there before we continue on.
Paul does not immediately begin with warnings.
Instead, he offers this affectionate reminder to the church
to find joy in Christ.
The letter of the Philippians is called
the joy-filled letter,
or the letter of joy,
or the epistle of joy.
And we see once again Paul making reference
to the importance of joy within the Christian life,
and specifically,
the joy that is found in Christ.
And I think he is reminding the people of this
because such joy in Christ
can easily fade away in the face of such difficulties,
especially some of the difficulties
that we're going to see in the next few verses.
Rejoicing in the Lord.
A reminder.
And I think it's important for us to remember as well
that Paul is reminding the people
to have joy in the Lord
because joy is less of this feeling that we have
and more of a practice
that we need to foster in our own lives.
It is a choice oftentimes
to embrace joy,
which seems like, you know,
willing ourselves to have a feeling
seems a bit counterintuitive.
It will make sense as we continue on,
but Paul is really imploring these people,
these Philippian men and women,
to practice having joy in Christ,
to embrace it,
to fashion their life around it,
to turn towards Christ himself.
In fact, he'll continue on,
again, this idea of joy
that's marbled throughout Philippians
and especially our section.
It is a reminder that joy in Christ
isn't just a disposition of the heart,
but it's actually the means
and source of stability
for the entire Christian life.
So with that as a bit of an intro
that Paul reminds his,
a reminder rather,
that Paul reminds the church,
he gets right into the warnings,
verses two and three.
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.
Three warnings
about three types of false teachers.
Now, they could represent
three distinct groups
or just one collective group.
The reality is,
the text, Paul's a bit ambiguous.
He is not specifying
who these people are.
They could be, again,
three different groups.
They could be a bit of a catch hall.
We're not exactly sure
what he's referring to,
but what we can discern
is that regardless of who
these people are,
these false teachers
are ones that are Jewish leaders
or teachers connected
to the Old Testament
or the Old Covenant,
but also connected to the church.
and they have profoundly obscured
the freedom that the gospel offers.
And this freedom,
particularly to non-Jewish Christians.
It would seem that at the very least
that they are promoting a teaching
that says Gentiles,
in order to become Christians,
need to first become Jews
or at least adopt a ton
of the traditions.
They're imploring the church,
especially, I guess, pagan men,
that they ought to be circumcised,
which is the covenantal sign
of ethnic Israel
that we read about
in the story of Abraham.
Paul is having none of it.
He's having none of it.
He states that they are not promoting
the biblical view of circumcision at all.
And there's a bit of a play on words here
because in the original language,
the word for circumcision
would be to cut around.
Obviously, that's what happens.
But when he says mutilators of the flesh,
he is saying they are cutting off.
That they have such a messed up,
broken, profoundly obscure view
of what circumcision is,
what it was meant to be,
that they aren't ones that cut around
but actually cut off completely.
And there's a bit of a double meaning here as well
because not only are they ones that cut off,
they dismember,
but in promoting such a theology
and a practice,
people that follow them
are dismembered from the church.
Bit of a double meaning here as well.
Again, Paul is having,
he is having none of it.
He states that they are not promoting
this biblical view of circumcision
for that sign in the flesh
of being included in the covenant community
has always had to include
also a circumcision of the heart.
What is that?
I mean, to sum it up,
there's more to be said about it,
but it's the trust in God
and in his promises,
to have faith in the one true God.
They are misreading the Bible,
misunderstanding how God relates to his people,
and misleading the Philippians
into a spiritual,
a kind of spiritual death.
Paul refutes this in no uncertain terms
in verse three where he says,
for we are the circumcision,
not them.
We are the circumcision
who worship by the spirit of God
and glory in Christ Jesus
and put no confidence in the flesh.
The real circumcision,
the real mark of being
in God's covenant community
is the one who worships
and serves the Lord God by faith,
empowered by the spirit.
I mean, he sums it up in verse three.
You could double click any of these
and it would be well worth your time,
but nevertheless,
the real mark of being
in the covenant community
is the one who worships
and serves the Lord by faith,
empowered by the spirit,
living for the glory of Christ
and therefore not putting confidence
in the outer signs
as if they are enough,
as if we curry God's favor
by doing merely the things
that he has asked us to do,
but having hearts
that are so self-centered,
not turned towards him.
It is the opposite of what he wants.
And what is remarkable here
is that he is certainly,
certainly including non-Jews
who are Christians
into this company of people
that are called the circumcision.
People that have not been circumcised,
people that aren't a part of Israel
are now called a part of the circumcision
because of faith,
because they are circumcised
in their hearts.
And just in case that wasn't clear enough,
Paul then gives his spiritual
and ethnic and cultural
and traditional bona fides,
so to speak.
It's as if he's saying,
listen, if this was the way to God,
just merely following traditions,
I'd be at the front of the line.
This is why he says this.
Look with me at verse four.
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.
Circumcised on the eighth day
of the people of Israel,
the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrews,
as to the law of Pharisee,
as to zeal,
a persecutor of the church,
as to righteousness
under the law,
blameless.
Verse seven,
but whatever gain I had,
whatever gain I had,
I counted as loss
for the sake of Christ.
Before we go on,
let me just say this.
I think this is a very important thing,
especially given the past year we've had
and how our public discourse
has played out
since the terror attacks
in Israel in October of 2023.
This text is not an anti-Jewish one.
This is not Paul turning on his people.
This is not a stick to beat
unbelieving Jews over the head with.
We can't disregard
God's people,
Israel.
Paul has not turned on his people.
Paul is not disregarding
the entirety of the Old Testament.
He is not saying
that to be a Jew matters not at all.
Paul is saying
what the Old Testament
has always said.
That is,
salvation is by faith.
It's not in keeping Sabbaths.
It's not in keeping holidays.
It's not in keeping
dietary laws
and the giving of alms
and charity.
What Paul's saying here
is that
there's a proper way
of ordering
our loves
and our lives
that result in a life of faith
in the Messiah
rather than in the things
or the people
or the status
or the ethnicity
or whatever it may be.
So,
Paul is in line
with Jesus here.
If you remember,
Jesus in Luke 14,
verse 26,
he says this.
I would say equally,
maybe even more provocative
than what Paul is saying here.
If anyone,
this is Jesus,
quote,
if anyone comes to me
and does not hate
his own father
and mother
and wife
and children
and brothers
and sisters,
yes,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
I think what Paul is doing
is using a type
of Semitic hyperbole.
Paul is saying
something very similar
to what Jesus is saying.
The reality is
Paul doesn't hate
his Jewish identity.
He is one.
He can't change
who he is.
He is not disparaging
of his ethnicity,
but he's simply stating
that he does not place
any,
any eternal confidence
in it.
His ethnicity
and heritage
are therefore
appropriately ordered.
In fact,
Paul says,
he continues on,
right,
in verse 7,
if you will read that again,
but whatever gain I had.
So he gives quite the list,
but then he says,
whatever,
which is a bit of a catch-all
for everything,
whatever it may be,
whatever that I have
put my gain in,
I count it as a loss.
He is further broadening
this list to include
anything that we could
possibly put our
eternal hope in.
Many of us in this room
have worked extremely hard
to obtain their education,
their career
to build businesses,
to serve faithfully
as public servants
or in the armed forces,
have strived really hard
reading dozens of books
on how to be a good parent
and a spouse,
how to create a home
that nurtures
and gives life,
to care for people,
to give charity.
These are all beautiful
and wonderful pursuits.
However,
if we elevate them
to a position
of eternal significance,
they are,
as Paul says
in verse 8,
rubbish.
And I will just say this,
the polite,
lovely people
at Crossway,
I guess they came up
with the English
Standard Version,
very nice way
of saying excrement,
but it's not even excrement
that they say.
It's a bad word,
starts with an S.
Like it is,
Paul is really
saying something
like listen,
anything,
anything apart from Christ
that you put your hope in,
it is excrement.
And you know
what it's supposed to do?
It's supposed to make you
feel uncomfortable.
And maybe some of you
are feeling uncomfortable.
Maybe if I actually said it,
you'd really say it.
I'm not going to say it.
But you're supposed
to feel uncomfortable with it.
What, my family?
My career?
The business I've built?
The charity
that I'm a part of?
I mean,
you name it.
Think about it.
Take a minute.
Think about that thing
that you value,
that you're proud of.
By the way,
it's not bad
to be proud of something
that you've worked towards,
but that you've put
an extra degree
of hope in.
Paul is saying,
you've turned it
into excrement.
It's a very jarring thing,
he is saying.
So he's warning
the Philippians
to avoid
these false teachers.
And really,
anybody,
it's not just
the Jewish false teachers,
it's any ideology,
any philosophy,
any other religion,
anything
that is pushing you
away from Christ
and towards
a false
sense of
eternal hope
to avoid
such teachers.
false
spirituality,
it devalues
Christ,
and it
will have the effect
of elevating
the self
to a very
disgusting
level.
So what follows
is a reflection.
Paul will,
he'll hone in
on what it means
to have
properly ordered
loves
and a properly
ordered life
and a properly
ordered
whole series,
a hierarchy of hope,
so to speak.
showing us
that the Bible
is incredibly
wise
and actually
this is for
our joy.
What it does
is it relieves
us of the
burdens we carry,
it frees us
to live
and love
in a properly
ordered way.
So,
the second point
of reflection.
Look with me
at verses 7
and we'll read
to verse 11.
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
may share
his sufferings,
becoming like him
in his death
that by any
means possible
I may attain
the resurrection
from the dead.
The only gain
that will satisfy
our deepest
longings,
that will give
us real,
true,
genuine,
eternal
satisfaction
is Christ.
It's Christ.
To have Christ
is to be united
to him,
to know him
is of surpassing
worth.
Again,
Paul,
right,
just previously
is saying,
if anybody
has confidence
in the flesh,
it's me.
Boom,
boom,
boom.
All of it
is nothing
compared to
knowing Christ,
to being found
in him.
This is because
we are created
to know Christ
and be known
by him,
to have a
relationship
with the living
God,
to be his
friend.
And if that
seems old hat
or this is just
a classic thing
that is said
in church,
I think it's
because the
church has been
lazy in reducing
the entirety of
the Christian life
into the phrase
it's not a
religion,
it's a
relationship.
But let's just
take a moment
to consider how
bold of an idea
this truly is,
that God has
made a way for
us to be his
friend.
human beings
are deeply
relational.
There's no way
around it.
A few weeks
back,
maybe you'd
remember if
you were here,
I talked about
the real life
Mowgli,
the story that
the Jungle Book
was written
about.
It was a
boy that
was lost
in the woods
and was raised
by a pack
of wolves.
No human
interaction
and as a
result,
never learned
to talk.
The best
he learned
to do
was smoke.
He died
in his
early 30s.
It was a
really horrendous
story.
But he didn't
have that
human relational
component.
And really,
there is no
way around it.
We are built
to know
and be
known.
We cannot
exist in a
healthy way
without meaningful
relationships
where bonds
of deep
friendship and
camaraderie are
developed and
are reciprocal.
And when we
don't have that,
we suffer.
We have all
the money we
want,
we have all
the opportunities
we want.
If our
relationships are
broken down,
we suffer in a
very, very
deep way
to be vulnerable
with people,
to have
friendships that
are deep in
their depth.
This is what it
means to be
human.
This is how God
has designed
us.
And so the
Bible is
incredibly wise
in this regard.
from the opening
paragraphs of
Genesis,
we see God
creating human
beings and
then creating
them to be
together.
And not only
that, the
implication of the
garden account
in Genesis and
then all of what
comes after that
is God walking
with man in this
relationship.
In the cool of
the day, there's
this really
profound picture of
what it means to
know God and be
known by him.
And because of
the fall, because
of sin entering
into the human
condition, almost
the entirety of
the Bible, I'd
say the entirety
of the Bible is a
story about how
we're trying to
figure out a way
to connect with
God again.
Except we fail
time and time
and time and
time and time
over.
Why?
Because we,
although we know
our deep desire
to know God and
be known by him,
our attempts to
achieve it are
futile.
we treat people
as a means to
an end.
We snub our
nose at the
lordship of
Christ, of
God.
To put it
another way,
humanity has
disordered loves.
They have put
trust and hope
and security in
created things and
not the creator.
And the result is
a further
perpetuation and
alienation from
God.
The Bible describes
this as enmity
with God.
We are not his
friends but actually
hostile enemies.
So the only way
that this is
remedied is not
through continual
willpower but
through the
provision that
only God can
give, that God
himself will make
us right.
or put another
way, that we
would have
right standing
before him.
Only he can
deal with our
disordered loves.
Only he can
make unrighteous
people righteous.
Only he can
mend what was
torn.
Only he can
clean what is
stained.
Only he can
offer his
friendship to
his enemies.
He makes the
first move.
He takes the
initiative in all
of this.
It's really a
remarkable thing.
And our
response is to
receive it by
faith.
James chapter
2 reflecting on
the life of
Abraham says
that Abraham
trusted in God
or believed in
God and it was
counted to him as
righteousness.
And Abraham was
called a friend of
God.
A human being
is a friend of
the infinite
uncreated one.
It really is a
remarkable thing to
meditate upon and
to dwell on.
This is what God
offers.
This is what God
has done.
And this is what
Paul is getting at
here.
The ultimate prize and
desire of the human
heart is friendship
with God and this is
the surpassing worth
that Paul is talking
about in verse 8.
This is the high
point of our
existence.
And it is so
ultimate, it is so
ultimate that the
power of the
resurrection,
sharing in the
sufferings of
Christ, being like
him in his death,
even having Christ's
righteousness imputed
to us, him making
us right, it serves
the purpose of
knowing God.
The high point is
knowing God.
All this stuff is
interconnected.
I don't want to
start parsing out
all of this, but
knowing God, and I'll
just say this,
living forever without
knowing God isn't
heaven.
It is a type of
hell.
So it would be
great where we
were risen from the
grave, never to
taste death again,
but then we continue
on in this life.
Maybe we'll make
friends, maybe we
won't, maybe we'll
suffer loss, maybe we
won't, maybe we'll
be disappointed, maybe
we will hurt people,
but it continues on.
We don't know God,
we're not known by
him.
That isn't heaven,
that's a type of
hell.
So you see, the
ultimate prize isn't
the resurrection, the
resurrection leads us
to the ultimate prize,
which is Christ
himself, friendship
with God.
Years and years ago, I
had a layover in
Paris.
I was young and
single, I didn't, I
had a bit of money,
it was 11 p.m.
till 8 a.m., I was
going to see the
sites, I was going to
meet locals, this was
going to be great.
I was going to
take the train down
to whatever station
is at the Notre
Dame Cathedral, I
looked at it, it's
beautiful, it's all
lit up, and like
within an hour I'm
cold, I'm lonely, I'm
hungry, I have nobody
to hang out with, I
feel like this is not
what I envisioned.
We could go to the
grandest place in the
world, paradise on
earth, or in the
heavens, and if we are
alone without Christ, I
am telling you it will
not be worth it.
We are made, we are
made to know him, this
is what the pinnacle of
life is all about.
The prize is Christ,
being friends with
him, everything flows
to this, everything
flows from this, this
is reality itself, he
has made it possible
through the cross, he
has mended what has
been torn, again
healed what has been
diseased, and all of a
sudden we begin to see
what a rightly ordered
life can look like.
What a prize, God
himself, a friendship
that will never be
reneged, we will never
experience betrayal,
there will always be joy
and gladness and love to
be enjoyed for eternity.
The best friendship you've
had, and the best moment
in that friendship you've
ever had, it is on
steroids forever, it is
wonderful, it's something
that we can't quite
comprehend, but this is
the promise made to us
in Christ Jesus.
So, if we can consider
the warnings again, we
begin to see how this is
something that we can't
purchase, this is
something that we can't
have because we've amassed
so much wealth, this is
not something that we can
build towards, or give
towards, it's not a
transaction whereby we go
to God with more black
than red, or we say, I
have done everything in
the flesh, I am
circumcised.
We can't get that because
it is not our initiative
that connects us with God,
but his with us.
So what does this do?
It obliterates boasting,
it obliterates pride.
And to teach something
else, these false
teachers, maybe some of
us, God forbid your
pastor, but to teach
something else is hellish,
and it is evil, and it is
dismembering.
It promises something that
can never deliver, it robs
us of joy and delight in the
friendship with God himself
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God, we can also begin to
see that this really is a
joyful message.
What is being offered is not
one of difficulty, because
what we're going to see
next, right, in verses, in
verse 10 and 11, Paul is
talking about suffering like
Christ and even sharing in
his death, that doesn't seem
like a joyful thing, but what
ends up happening is that our
priorities shift, and such a
friendship marks our life, and
we see life through the lens of
friendship, eternal friendship
with Christ Jesus, not through the
broken lens of this world, and we
get the honor and privilege of
participating in the
reconciliation of the world.
We begin to be the tools in the
master's hands.
God uses us to achieve his means,
not because he needs us, but
because we get to participate in
it.
We get to see people come to this
beautiful realization as well.
But we live in this world, and when
the rubber hits the road, again,
Paul is reminding this church,
because the joy is almost certainly
faded, when the rubber hits the
road, we struggle to trust in
Christ. We struggle to believe in
his promises.
We struggle to believe that his
friendship is really on offer, and
is really ours forever, that he is
enough to satisfy us.
So Paul, in this final section, will
help us to recognize and admit our
frailty, and look to Christ for
help, and it really is a call to
look upwards.
And this will be our final section,
and we'll wrap it up with this.
Let me read verses 12 to 16.
Page 16, if you're following along.
Not that I have 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 toward the goal for the
prize of the outward call of God in
Christ Jesus.
Listen, we have heavenly citizenship.
If you have put your faith in Christ, if
you are baptized in him, you have
heavenly citizenship.
It's a wonderful thing, but you live in
an earthly reality.
We have a great day, and we have a great
time to be swayed, and we have a great
time to be swayed, and tempted to trust in
ourselves, and this world, and the promises of
wealth, and pleasure, and comfort, instead of
Christ himself.
This is our reality until the day we breathe our
last, or Christ comes home.
And such a life, it cannot be lived in
perfection.
It will be full of setbacks and slip-ups.
And Paul recognizes this.
Thank you to Paul, but thank you to the
Lord for recognizing our continued frailty, even
though we are saved.
And what does he say?
He doesn't give in to defeatism.
He says, no, no, no, I press on to make this
reality my own.
And this, I think, is potentially one of the
greatest promises and realities for us today.
Verse 12, I press on to make my own.
Here it is.
Because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
The language here is that he has taken hold of
me.
If you remember the Apostle Paul, he's on his
way.
He was Saul of Tarsus at the time, the
disciple of Gamaliel, the Pharisee full of
zeal on his way to Damascus to imprison
believers, bring them back to Jerusalem to
suffer, maybe to be killed.
And Jesus knocks him on his rear end and
takes hold of his life.
Takes hold of his life.
And Paul is saying, Christ has done this.
And for anybody in Christ, that's what has
happened to you.
He has taken hold of you.
Before you could take hold of him, he has
taken hold of you.
And friends, this means that he has a grip on
your life that is far greater than your grip
on him.
And in response, what do we do?
We seek to obey him from that place of love and
security.
Because Christ Jesus has taken hold of the
Apostle Paul, Paul can now take hold of Jesus.
He has taken hold of Jesus.
Pursuing his prize, which is Christ himself.
It's all by faith in what Christ has done.
The call of God is to himself as a prize.
This is it.
This is the Christian faith.
It really is that.
It is not the call to a paradise where we will
just have hedonistic pleasures forever on tap.
That is not the call.
The call is a friendship with the one true God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, where we will know
the divine love and we will see him with an
unveiled face.
Throughout church history, this has been called
the beatific vision.
That we will know God and be known by him and we
will be in his presence without a veil, without
anything separating us.
We will just be in his presence.
And it will be the culmination of our existence.
So you see, going back to the warning,
this warning isn't like a downer.
This warning is a gift to us.
It's a reminder that, listen, putting our hope
and our strength in the flesh, whatever that may be,
it will not bring us joy.
It will not spill over into eternity.
It will not help us to flourish.
And it certainly won't cause us to see God's face
and to enjoy him forever.
So friends, let us not waste our time with these things.
The things of this world, they cannot provide us with
the presence of God.
Let us consider them as a loss.
Let us properly order our lives by God's strength
and understand that the real worth in life,
the real surpassing glory and worth of what it means to be a human being
is knowing Christ and being known by him.
So let us heed these warnings
and remember that Christ has made us his own.
And take that to the bank, okay?
Let's pray.
Lord, we are a frail bunch.
We read your word.
We are gripped by your gospel.
And the reality is by Monday, maybe Tuesday, maybe this afternoon,
we will begin to forget.
We will have a lapse in our memory.
We'll begin to trust in other things.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Lord, remind us every day that you have taken hold of us
and that out of that we can take hold of you,
that the friendship that you have promised us in eternity begins right now
and that you will help us as we strain towards heaven,
as we look towards you and remember that you have called us up.
Lord, help some of us, maybe all of us,
to not dwell in the past,
whether that is in regret or in pride,
but instead let us look forward.
Let us look to Christ.
What a wonderful prize.
What a wonderful gift that you have given us.
Friendship with you.
Amen.