WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.380 Philippians chapter 3. 00:00:06.379 --> 00:00:09.980 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:11.019 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.420 Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. 00:00:37.980 --> 00:00:43.939 If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. 00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:51.820 Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:54.539 As to the law, a Pharisee. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.039 As to zeal, a persecutor of the church. 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:02.000 As to righteousness under the law, blameless. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:08.180 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:16.879 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:23.519 For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:28.039 In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:35.560 Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.679 The righteousness from God that depends on faith. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:48.820 That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. 00:01:49.240 --> 00:01:54.360 And that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:56.100 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:56.099 --> 00:02:12.219 Heavenly Father, wherever we're at, whether we're searching for you or we've known you for a long time, 00:02:12.939 --> 00:02:16.259 each of us need to know Christ more. 00:02:16.459 --> 00:02:22.620 And I pray that your word would reach down into each of our hearts and transform us. 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:25.939 So I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:30.879 Well, have your Bibles open. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:33.420 Philippians 3. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:38.599 Here's what God wants us to do today. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:41.340 Here's what he wants for us this week. 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:43.219 Here's what he wants for us for our lives. 00:02:43.219 --> 00:02:51.319 This command is so important, so urgent, he repeats it emphatically. 00:02:52.620 --> 00:02:53.620 Rejoice. 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:54.640 Rejoice. 00:02:56.020 --> 00:02:57.259 Rejoice in the Lord. 00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:02.879 It's not optional in the Christian life. 00:03:03.200 --> 00:03:10.460 This isn't because rejoicing empowers living a life that pleases God. 00:03:11.920 --> 00:03:15.860 We need to rejoice in the Lord if we're going to live a life that pleases God. 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:22.040 Now, Paul, when he commands us to rejoice, he's not like someone talking to a depressed person. 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:22.800 Just be happy. 00:03:23.940 --> 00:03:25.560 He's not unhelpful like that. 00:03:27.580 --> 00:03:30.600 He's not saying, just fake it. 00:03:30.880 --> 00:03:32.200 Fake it until you make it. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:39.300 He's not saying just, Christians, you need to put a smile on your face and be cheerful. 00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:42.980 Just forced like a clown's makeup. 00:03:44.660 --> 00:03:50.000 This command, this is repeated in chapter 4, verse 4. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:51.980 Rejoice in the Lord always. 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:53.300 Again, I will say rejoice. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:56.280 He's picking up what we've already heard in chapter 2, verse 18. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:01.400 You could say that this whole letter is just soaking in this theme of rejoice. 00:04:01.480 --> 00:04:02.280 We need to rejoice. 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:08.460 What we're going to be spending the rest of our time in Philippians in, chapters 3 and 4, 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:10.599 is teaching us how. 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:15.199 How to think so that we can rejoice in the Lord. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.459 Today we're going to look at how to think about our righteousness. 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:24.379 Next week we're going to look at how to think about our future. 00:04:24.660 --> 00:04:27.040 We're not who we want to be yet. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:32.300 How do we cope with that fact and still rejoice? 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:38.620 And then in the final week, how do we have peace amidst trouble and anxiety? 00:04:38.900 --> 00:04:44.660 And how do we rejoice in sacrificially serving God? 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:51.340 So the rest of our time, Philippians, is I hope you're looking forward to this 00:04:51.340 --> 00:04:53.060 because we need to learn how to rejoice. 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:56.680 I don't know about you, but I need a fight to rejoice. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:04.220 If we learn to think like Paul, we're going to learn to rejoice in the Lord always, 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:06.500 not just individually but together as a church. 00:05:10.140 --> 00:05:15.379 Don't we have a great God whose urgent command to us, 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:18.280 be happy in me? 00:05:22.820 --> 00:05:25.000 Well, what gets in the way of that? 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.939 Well, let's dive into our passage today. 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:31.019 We'll start where Paul does. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:33.120 There's a huge threat. 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:41.040 This threat can prevent someone from becoming a Christian in the first place. 00:05:41.220 --> 00:05:44.899 It's probably the main thing that prevents people from believing. 00:05:44.899 --> 00:05:55.679 It can make a life lived for God absolutely a waste, total waste. 00:05:56.239 --> 00:05:59.399 It can produce pride. 00:06:02.579 --> 00:06:05.039 Look out, look out, look out. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:06.319 He repeats it three times. 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:09.899 He's probably speaking about the Judaizers. 00:06:10.539 --> 00:06:13.579 They come along and say, great, you believe in Jesus. 00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:14.459 That's fantastic. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:17.979 You need to get your life in order. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.039 You need to obey God's moral standards if you want to be saved. 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:25.219 Believe in Jesus, sure. 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:26.360 You need to obey. 00:06:30.039 --> 00:06:33.000 And so Paul, the language here, he hasn't blown a fuse. 00:06:33.099 --> 00:06:36.279 He's using sharp irony. 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:41.099 He's taking what they boast in and turning it against them. 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:45.800 You call the Gentiles dogs? 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.759 You think you're the pure ones morally and ritually? 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:57.199 No, that confidence in yourself makes you the dogs. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:07.439 You are these missionary workers going around saying, you better live up to God's standards to be saved. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:08.800 You think you're serving God. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:10.139 No, you're a worker of evil. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:15.719 You're boasting in circumcision and forcing others to be circumcised. 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:18.539 You're mutilating. 00:07:19.539 --> 00:07:21.019 You're mutilating the body. 00:07:21.300 --> 00:07:23.899 That's incredible language to speak of circumcision. 00:07:23.899 --> 00:07:36.339 He's trying to convince the Philippians church and convince us today, don't listen to this way of thinking for a second. 00:07:37.859 --> 00:07:40.639 Verse 3, we are the circumcision. 00:07:40.739 --> 00:07:42.539 The emphasis in this verse, we. 00:07:43.979 --> 00:07:45.379 We are the circumcision. 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:46.939 We are the people of God. 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:55.079 We don't put our confidence in ourselves for salvation or even our ability to obey. 00:07:55.879 --> 00:07:59.180 We don't put confidence in our flesh, in our body, in our efforts. 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:02.399 We boast in what Christ has done. 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:09.259 We rely on the spirit of God at work in us, which we've already heard in chapter 2, verse 13. 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:14.920 It is God who works in you to will and to act for his good pleasure. 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:18.920 We are the people of God. 00:08:19.020 --> 00:08:20.500 Don't listen to this thinking. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:32.659 Now, I suspect we don't, if you're anything like me, we don't take this threat seriously enough. 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:38.759 And maybe we don't quite understand how pervasive it is. 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:45.700 This is going to be a bit of a change of gears, okay? 00:08:45.779 --> 00:08:49.519 But think back to Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve. 00:08:49.779 --> 00:08:55.399 What was the very first thing Adam and Eve did after they sinned? 00:08:55.419 --> 00:08:56.899 What was the very first thing? 00:08:57.019 --> 00:08:59.179 And this isn't rhetorical. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:00.419 I'd love someone to answer it. 00:09:00.419 --> 00:09:06.079 They hid and they covered up. 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:08.099 They clothed themselves. 00:09:08.419 --> 00:09:15.719 They realised they were naked and they clothed themselves with pathetic clothing. 00:09:16.259 --> 00:09:17.019 It didn't work. 00:09:17.019 --> 00:09:21.120 Because they'd lost their righteousness. 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:32.259 They had lost their ability to stand before God and be fully naked and seen and know they have confidence. 00:09:32.699 --> 00:09:33.460 They've lost it. 00:09:35.439 --> 00:09:40.819 And so they had to clothe themselves with the purpose of the goal of it. 00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:46.140 We all try and clothe ourselves. 00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:54.220 I remember in high school wearing the same outfit as a best mate down to the shopping centre. 00:09:54.220 --> 00:10:01.600 And there was this tight shirt that was just tighty, whitey, I think. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:02.920 I don't know if that's the best one. 00:10:03.140 --> 00:10:04.440 Like a Calvin Klein model. 00:10:04.540 --> 00:10:07.220 The only problem was I wasn't a Calvin Klein model. 00:10:07.380 --> 00:10:08.640 But it's embarrassing. 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:12.600 And even though I'm sharing it, I feel special. 00:10:13.420 --> 00:10:15.220 Then I have to reach further. 00:10:16.920 --> 00:10:18.260 She's trying to clothe herself. 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:20.980 There's no righteousness. 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:25.120 Australian Open is on. 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:27.620 Tennis player, Hall of Fame, Chris Evatt. 00:10:28.020 --> 00:10:30.020 Winning made me feel pretty. 00:10:31.780 --> 00:10:33.080 She had to win. 00:10:37.160 --> 00:10:39.720 Chariots of Fire, Olympic sprinter Harold Abrams. 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:41.560 His girlfriend, it's just a race. 00:10:42.160 --> 00:10:43.379 It's just a hundred metre race. 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:48.600 He's saying, no, I have ten lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:52.860 We try and clothe ourselves. 00:10:55.920 --> 00:10:59.720 Why do mothers often fall apart when their children aren't doing well? 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:05.700 Of course there's compassion, but there can be more to it. 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:08.420 I need to be seen as a good mum. 00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:11.140 I need to look at myself in the mirror as a good mum. 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:16.000 Why do men fall apart often if their work isn't doing well? 00:11:21.060 --> 00:11:21.540 Ability. 00:11:22.140 --> 00:11:23.140 Now, am I more godly? 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:23.840 I don't think so. 00:11:24.180 --> 00:11:28.520 I think I've just got a different place I'm trying to clothe myself with righteousness. 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:30.640 And we've all just got different places. 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:31.440 We're looking for it. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:47.360 The deadly prideful human condition is we try and clothe ourselves rather than coming to God in his grace for him to clothe us. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:12:01.100 The usual testimonies of coming to Jesus that we hear usually, they go along these lines. 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:11.159 I was spiralling down in destructive things, whether that's addiction or anger, relational dysfunction. 00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:13.800 But then I found the forgiveness of Jesus. 00:12:13.920 --> 00:12:15.460 Now, praise God for that testimony. 00:12:15.659 --> 00:12:16.899 I'm not having any go at that. 00:12:16.899 --> 00:12:18.679 But listen to Paul's testimony. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:19.679 It's very different. 00:12:21.779 --> 00:12:25.620 I had so much gain. 00:12:26.579 --> 00:12:28.759 So much gain as a religious man. 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:32.439 My religious resume was second to none. 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:38.120 I challenge anyone to be a better man than me. 00:12:40.340 --> 00:12:45.340 I am the model of religious devotion and knowledge and privilege. 00:12:46.079 --> 00:12:46.799 I had it all. 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:52.019 I was no convert to Judaism. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:53.299 I was born. 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:55.379 I was born into the Covenant people. 00:12:56.459 --> 00:12:58.799 Of all the tribes of Israel, I'm in Benjamin. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:02.340 I'm one of the two who stayed loyal to King David. 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:02.960 I've got pure blood. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:08.480 I've got pure blood, is his claim. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:08.960 My upbringing. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:10.960 My upbringing. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:20.980 Some Hebrew families, yeah, they're Hebrew, but really they're Greek in terms of how they lived and how they operated as a family, even their speaking. 00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:22.700 But I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:25.460 We grew up on the law. 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:27.200 And then he turns to his achievements. 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:29.200 I was a Pharisee. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:36.300 I was passionately following the traditions and the law, 613 laws. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:38.100 I was an activist. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.240 I was on fire for the temple. 00:13:41.500 --> 00:13:43.759 And I was blameless. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.360 He's not being ironic here. 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:46.840 He's saying no one could fault me. 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:47.340 No. 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:52.800 I used to repent of my sins. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:54.840 I always knew my sins were wrong. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:58.279 But now I've met Jesus. 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:00.960 I repent of my goodness. 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:04.000 I repent of my righteousness. 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:09.820 It led me away from God. 00:14:12.440 --> 00:14:14.240 Away from a Savior. 00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:19.639 That's a Christian. 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:23.659 A Christian is someone who repents of their goodness. 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:28.779 Not just their sin. 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:34.039 There was a man called Nathan Coles. 00:14:34.180 --> 00:14:39.100 And he heard George Whitefield preach in America in the Great Awakening. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.080 And he called himself a Christian for many years. 00:14:42.139 --> 00:14:42.740 But he said this. 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:47.399 My hearing him preach gave me a heart wound. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.720 By God's grace, my old foundation was broken up. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:58.279 And I saw that my righteousness could not save me. 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:09.519 What good thing? 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:14.459 What gifts from God even do you need to repent of? 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:17.620 That's a weird question, isn't it? 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:25.139 Not because they're bad in themselves, but you're using them to clothe yourself. 00:15:26.419 --> 00:15:28.639 You're using them as your confidence. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:37.559 When you confess your sins, do you not only confess the obvious sins like lying and anger and whatever else. 00:15:38.439 --> 00:15:41.080 Do you confess the good things that you're relying on? 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:52.860 In my experience, it's often the good things I'm relying on that makes me so angry because something's getting in the road. 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:56.680 Or it makes me deceived because it's under threat or something. 00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:01.259 We need to repent of our righteousness. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.819 Let's learn to think like Paul, verse 7 and 8. 00:16:07.899 --> 00:16:11.979 Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 00:16:11.979 --> 00:16:17.019 Indeed, I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. 00:16:18.099 --> 00:16:24.740 For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. 00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:31.279 A Christian is someone whose whole value system has been turned upside down. 00:16:32.419 --> 00:16:38.820 A Christian isn't just someone who's used to do bad things and now you do good things and try and believe good doctrine. 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:42.899 Your value system, our value system has just been upended. 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:46.720 Three times, I consider, I count. 00:16:47.899 --> 00:16:50.980 He's using accounting terminology. 00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:55.340 And I'm going to show up how little I know the accountants in the room. 00:16:55.580 --> 00:16:57.420 But assets and liabilities. 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:01.560 The things that had long been in my assets column. 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:05.480 They're worthless. 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:14.200 It's like this nest egg house. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:20.059 You've been pouring your funds and your maintenance in all your life, ready for your retirement. 00:17:20.660 --> 00:17:22.059 And the economy collapses. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:24.079 It's worthless. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:25.000 Utterly worthless. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:32.960 It's counting what we think as an asset as loss. 00:17:33.120 --> 00:17:34.200 It's useless. 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:34.299 It's useless. 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:40.860 It's not just his past legal righteousness. 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:43.460 Verse 8, he goes further. 00:17:43.620 --> 00:17:45.500 Indeed, I count everything as loss. 00:17:47.900 --> 00:17:50.019 Totally the worst thing for you. 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:57.079 It could be the worst thing for you if you rely on it as your sense of being somebody. 00:17:57.079 --> 00:18:07.919 If you take up a ministry position this year because you want to bolster your sense of worth, that's going to be destructive for you and probably harmful to the church. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.400 We've got to count these things. 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:14.460 We've got to count these things as loss. 00:18:15.080 --> 00:18:19.720 They get in the way of true joy in Jesus. 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:24.500 He goes further. 00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:28.700 The word rubbish is really excrement. 00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:36.680 I count them as I'm still deciding how bold to be in this moment. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:39.640 How many emails do I really want to receive? 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:49.620 The word of God is less worried about this word than I am. 00:18:49.619 --> 00:19:03.739 All my assets, like being a great pastor, being, I don't know, a competent man, it's like the dog poo you've stepped in and you want to get it off with a stick. 00:19:04.019 --> 00:19:04.799 It stinks. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:04.859 It stinks. 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:14.419 I remember when I was flat sharing, we came home and the freezer had stopped and it was full of meat. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:16.159 Have you ever had that? 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:18.059 It is disgusting. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:23.180 Even now it's like I need a control, not vomiting. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:25.279 It is a stench. 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:27.299 I consider it like that. 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:42.299 Anything I once boasted in, it's worthless, more than worthless, it's putrid, it's unclean. 00:19:43.419 --> 00:19:45.079 Not that they're bad in themselves. 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:48.240 It's because we try and clothe ourselves with them. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:57.599 We've got to count them as harmful, revolting. 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:03.559 We can't just do that by looking at them and thinking that way. 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:04.920 We've got to compare it. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:10.380 Compared to the matchless worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.539 Verse 9, and be found in him. 00:20:16.539 --> 00:20:17.880 To be found in him. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:25.079 Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.720 The righteousness from God that depends on faith. 00:20:31.740 --> 00:20:34.799 Do you know the illustration of the two coats? 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:36.819 There's a white coat and a black coat. 00:20:37.620 --> 00:20:44.259 And when Jesus died on the cross, he takes the black coat of all our sin upon himself. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:46.640 That's what happened on the cross. 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:49.140 He took all that sin. 00:20:49.360 --> 00:20:52.140 And that is, we praise him for that. 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:52.940 That's incredible. 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:59.400 But then his white coat of righteousness comes onto us. 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:05.019 We mustn't forget that side of what happened. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.700 There was an old brother who was dying and he wrote to a friend, 00:21:12.700 --> 00:21:16.580 I thank God for the obedience of Jesus Christ. 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:20.680 That's his dying thought. 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:26.000 Because he's clothed in the obedience of Jesus Christ. 00:21:29.140 --> 00:21:30.100 It's a gift. 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:31.059 It's from God. 00:21:31.059 --> 00:21:37.980 Now, I love that illustration. 00:21:39.139 --> 00:21:42.359 I probably should have actually done it, but found in him. 00:21:42.980 --> 00:21:46.740 It's not just this monetary exchange or something. 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:47.579 We're in him. 00:21:47.779 --> 00:21:49.159 I want to be found in him. 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:55.420 It's relational language. 00:21:55.540 --> 00:21:59.580 I want to know him deeper than a husband and wife with a healthy marriage. 00:21:59.660 --> 00:22:01.779 I want to know him that intimately. 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:10.680 God sees Paul. 00:22:10.859 --> 00:22:15.759 He sees, if you're trusting Christ for your righteousness, brothers and sisters, 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:18.720 he sees us bound up. 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:21.019 We're located in him. 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:22.779 My Samuel. 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:23.579 My Aurora. 00:22:23.579 --> 00:22:33.759 God is calling us to share Paul's intimate language, knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. 00:22:35.939 --> 00:22:36.419 My. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:39.199 He goes on. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:40.960 We'll see it more next week. 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:43.720 Christ Jesus has made me his own. 00:22:48.419 --> 00:22:49.839 Nothing compares to that. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:54.500 He's all yours by faith. 00:22:54.740 --> 00:22:58.980 Just lay your confidence in yourself down and he's yours. 00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:04.500 There's a hymn. 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:07.779 Lay your deadly doing down. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:10.879 Down at Jesus' feet. 00:23:12.779 --> 00:23:16.419 Stand in him and him alone, gloriously complete. 00:23:17.459 --> 00:23:18.480 That's the Christian. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:24.259 The surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. 00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:32.420 Well, that changes everything and it changes Paul's goal now. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:37.920 So verse 9 is really, to use theological terms, he's talking justification. 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:44.620 This is my standing before God and before the world and myself. 00:23:44.619 --> 00:23:48.879 Verse 10 is really describing sanctification. 00:23:49.059 --> 00:23:50.099 I want to know him. 00:23:52.239 --> 00:23:54.019 I want to know him more. 00:23:54.659 --> 00:23:55.819 I know him now. 00:23:55.919 --> 00:23:56.500 I'm in him. 00:23:57.459 --> 00:23:59.059 But I want to know him more. 00:23:59.859 --> 00:24:02.539 And then verse 11 is glorification. 00:24:03.339 --> 00:24:04.359 I can't wait. 00:24:04.699 --> 00:24:09.239 I can't wait till I'm with him in presence and in body. 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:19.519 So before someone's converted, often they're content with their spiritual condition. 00:24:19.620 --> 00:24:22.039 They shouldn't be content, but they are content. 00:24:22.380 --> 00:24:23.400 They're not bothered by it. 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:26.220 And they're discontent with their worldly circumstances. 00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:27.279 I need more money. 00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:27.839 I need whatever. 00:24:28.940 --> 00:24:31.319 When you become a Christian, you get more content. 00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:32.759 I don't need all that. 00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:37.960 And you get discontent spiritually, even though you've got peace with God. 00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:41.039 I want to be more like him. 00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:42.900 I'm not there yet. 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:44.559 I want to know him more. 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:49.220 There's a proper discontent in the Christian life. 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:57.360 I can't wait till I don't sin anymore and I'm glorified with him. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:04.339 I want to know him more and more, says Paul. 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:07.079 And I think this knowing is deeper than intellectual. 00:25:07.259 --> 00:25:09.600 He's using experiential terms. 00:25:09.740 --> 00:25:10.960 I want to know the power. 00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:15.480 I want to know the power, that same power that rose him from the dead. 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:21.400 That, yes, we know Christ through his word. 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:23.259 We live off every word of God. 00:25:24.360 --> 00:25:26.759 But I want to experience him. 00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:32.940 Interpreting that experience by the word of God, I want to experience him more. 00:25:35.579 --> 00:25:40.160 And the focus is on two words, his power and the fellowship in his sufferings. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:49.980 If our value system has been turned upside down and our goal now is, he's the best thing. 00:25:50.120 --> 00:25:51.060 I just want to know him. 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:59.880 Be ready for conflict because we enter the same conflict that Jesus entered when he came into the world. 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:06.460 We're going to be against the hostile world, constantly pressuring us to, he's not worth anything. 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:11.079 We're going to be against our sinful flesh. 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:17.100 There's a part of me that really loves just indulging my sinful nature. 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:18.559 Get ready for a fight there. 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:20.140 And we're going to be against the devil. 00:26:21.779 --> 00:26:23.460 He doesn't want you to boast in Jesus. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:27.559 There's a dying. 00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:46.960 To know him better, par for the course, the norm, I think it's God's, it's at least God's main pattern of how we get to know him. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:49.059 I'm hesitating. 00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:56.960 I think it's his only pattern of how we know him more is through dying, is sharing in the cross. 00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:03.079 Sharing in the struggle against sin and the world and the devil. 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:08.639 But obviously that's not the ultimate goal. 00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:16.139 I want to share that with Jesus, that struggle, so that I know his power. 00:27:16.140 --> 00:27:24.860 I want to experience the power of God at work in me to change me and God using me in a world for fruitfulness. 00:27:24.859 --> 00:27:49.019 I think this is kind of like the teenager who is open that you're a Christian and you come to church at school and you taste the loneliness and rejection that Jesus tasted. 00:27:49.019 --> 00:27:56.079 But you also experience the power of God. 00:27:57.240 --> 00:27:58.980 Knowing God is fantastic. 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:01.799 Being, belonging to his people is fantastic. 00:28:02.859 --> 00:28:07.839 There is a dying and yet there's a knowing the power of God. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:12.980 I think it's like the man who's lost his reputation at work or with friends. 00:28:13.939 --> 00:28:17.159 Even in church circles, you've lost your reputation. 00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:21.099 People are thinking, you fear people are thinking the worst about you. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:26.240 You're sharing Christ's humiliation. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:35.319 But that is the very pathway of communion with God that is so much sweeter than you knew when you were fit and healthy. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:44.500 Now, it's probably loads of other ways, but this is the way we experience the power of knowing Christ more. 00:28:49.259 --> 00:28:50.799 I want to know him more. 00:28:52.460 --> 00:28:53.519 His power. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:29:05.319 Now, as much as Paul's goal is to experience Christ more and more, verse 11, his eyes are set there. 00:29:08.379 --> 00:29:09.539 I can't wait. 00:29:09.879 --> 00:29:13.339 I can't wait till I'm raised bodily with him. 00:29:13.940 --> 00:29:15.700 Now, it says by any means possible. 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:18.279 He's not expressing doubt of his salvation. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:22.079 That does not make sense because he's saying I'm righteous in Christ. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:24.379 So he's not expressing doubt. 00:29:24.839 --> 00:29:27.639 He doesn't know how he's going to reach that goal. 00:29:27.740 --> 00:29:28.460 Am I going to die? 00:29:28.579 --> 00:29:29.220 I'm in prison. 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:32.240 Is the order for my execution going to be tomorrow? 00:29:32.419 --> 00:29:32.679 Maybe. 00:29:34.119 --> 00:29:38.119 Am I going to keep on and going to be alive when Jesus comes back? 00:29:38.179 --> 00:29:38.439 Maybe. 00:29:39.819 --> 00:29:40.960 What does tomorrow bring? 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:41.639 I'm not sure. 00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:51.520 Aren't we given such wonderful ways of thinking to fight for joy? 00:29:53.360 --> 00:29:55.480 It's not just be happy. 00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:57.420 Think like this. 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:04.519 The guilt for what you did on Friday. 00:30:06.539 --> 00:30:09.380 Now, if I'm triggering, I don't know what you did. 00:30:09.560 --> 00:30:15.779 But if the guilt for what you did on Friday, you can go, God, that was really bad. 00:30:15.779 --> 00:30:25.839 The next time you're disappointed and devastated by what's happening, don't pray, 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.039 I changed my circumstances, God. 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:34.339 Now, you can pray for change, but make our deeper prayer, okay, I'm losing this, 00:30:34.460 --> 00:30:36.339 but it's not my righteousness. 00:30:36.339 --> 00:30:44.259 I know I've got something much, much better. 00:30:46.639 --> 00:30:51.779 When someone in the church isn't meeting your standards or they're not meeting God's standards, 00:30:52.899 --> 00:30:58.919 we can be thinking, I want them to know they're found in Christ. 00:31:06.339 --> 00:31:09.240 We have such resources to fight for joy. 00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:16.480 My brothers and sisters, whom I long and long for, my joy and my crown, 00:31:17.339 --> 00:31:20.919 stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. 00:31:22.459 --> 00:31:29.740 Deadly doing, the deadly assets we're clinging to, that we might let go of them. 00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:35.179 And, Lord, dare I pray that if we won't let go of them, take them from us. 00:31:36.339 --> 00:31:43.079 So that you might help us to know the joy of being found in Jesus 00:31:43.079 --> 00:31:48.259 and the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, our Lord. 00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:51.220 I pray this in Jesus' name. 00:31:51.419 --> 00:31:51.699 Amen.