The Surpassing Value of Jesus

Introduction

When I was a kid in the 90’s the most valuable thing that I owned were my Pogs.

Pogs were circular pieces of compressed card stock with different pop culture images on them. You collected them and battled with them.

You’d stack them up and then your opponent would hit your stack with a heavier plastic or metal pog called a slammer. All the Pogs that flipped over counted against you. You’d keep playing until someone ran out of Pogs. And the winner would get some of yours.

As a 10-12 year old boy this was the height of warfare and status. You could lose friends over this. Be popular because of this.

My collection of paper circles was extremely valuable to me.

That’s silly, isn’t it? The things we attach value to. The insignificant things we take confidence in?

Our text this morning is Philippians 3:1-11 and in our text we see the Surpassing value of knowing Christ compared to the things we often consider valuable.

That’s Paul’s main goal here. For us to see that Jesus is more valuable than any other thing. And that Jesus is the only place where we can truly place our confidence for salvation.

And in leading up to this Paul first talks about the merit of repeated teaching.

I. Love Repeats Itself (1)

Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.”

Paul is picking up again the topic of joy. He says, “rejoice in the Lord. Let’s talk about this again.”

Tony Merida in his commentary on Philippians points out that every church should be a “same things church”.

And what he means is that the messages of the church don’t change. The gospel doesn’t change. The Word doesn’t change. And so to an extent that means the messages preached to us and taught to us in the various ministries of the church shouldn’t change.

If you hear 3 different pastors in 3 different churches preach this passage that we are in this morning, the messages should be remarkably the same. The illustrations might change, the way the sermon is introduced might change, but the content derived from scripture should be the same. However they get there they should be talking about the surpassing value of knowing Christ.

And this is good. We should not get tired of teaching the same biblical truths and we should not get tired of hearing the same biblical truths.

In this world of constant messaging, where everyone is looking for new things to say and new ways to say it, we can be tempted to, as teachers, to try and find something new to say, and as hearers, we can be tempted to get bored hearing the same truths over and over again.

But you and I should fight these temptations.

Paul says to the Philippians, “it is not trouble to me” to tell you these things again.

Paul is not reluctant to teach the same things over and over again.

And we shouldn’t be reluctant to hear the same things over and over. It’s “safe” for us. It’s ἀσφαλὲς (certain, secure). These truths remind us of what is true and keep us secure in the truth, they help us to know the certainty of what is true in Christ Jesus.

So as teachers we should not get tired of teaching and saying the same things. And as hearers we should not get bored with the truths that keep us safely in the biblical, Christian faith.

And as we continue this morning, our message is exactly about this. In verses 2-6 Paul wants us to see the Marks of a Christian. What does a Christian look like?

II. The Marks of a Christian (2-6)

Before we see what a Christian looks like Paul points to what Christianity doesn’t look like. It doesn’t teach false truth. It doesn’t add burdens on the gospel. And Paul lets us know exactly what he thinks about those who twist scripture and teach false truths. Look at verse 2 with me.

Philippians 3:2 “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”

Paul is talking about the Judiazers here. Those who said that Christians must be circumcised in order to be saved. They added something to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And for this Paul has no kind words for them. He calls them dogs, evil doers, and mutilators of the flesh.

First century people did not have the same view of dogs that we do. Dogs were dirty, scavengers, that brought disease with them. This wasn’t a compliment.

Paul considered them evil doers. To take the freedom of the gospel and put shackles on it is evil. Legalism says Jesus+something else=salvation. It takes salvation as a gift of God’s grace and turns it into an accomplishment earned by human effort.

And Paul calls them mutilators of the flesh. Circumcision as God gave it to Abraham was not mutilation. It was the sign and seal of righteousness by faith in God alone for the Old Testament church.

But when you remove the spiritual meaning of it and use it for legalistic purposes that weakens the gospel, Paul says you are just mutilating flesh.

And three times Paul says about these people that we should, “look out, look out, look out.”

This is a call to recognize that there is great danger in false teaching. We should take it seriously.

We certainly don’t want to be considered false teachers amen? We don’t want anyone to be able to look at us as we walk in our Christian lives and rightly call us dogs, evildoers, or mutilators. So let us know see in our passage the Marks of a Christian. Because Paul follows up in verse 3 with what a Christian is in comparison to these false Christians. Read with me.

Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—”

Paul says it is those who are found in Christ who are the circumcision. And he isn’t talking about physical circumcision but he is talking about those who have been “circumcised in the heart”.

In the rest of verse 3 Paul tells us what those who live by faith are marked by…number 1.

Mark 1: We serve by the Spirit of God (3b)

Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God...”

When Paul says we are the circumcision—he means that we are those who live by faith who do these three things that he lists. The first is that we serve by the Spirit of God.

Romans 12:1 is helpful here in understanding what we are talking about. Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Worship is a whole life endeavor. There isn’t one part of our existence that doesn’t belong to our good God.

We should not make the mistake in thinking that God is only interested in how we worship at church. The majority of your Christian worship happpens outside of the church.

It takes place in your home, at the dinner table, in the small moments of how you interact with people. It takes place in traffic, in line at the grocery store.

And for Christians, we live our lives by the power of the Spirit of God. Not perfectly—we mess up—but consistently.

This means that Christians live in the world different than non-Christians, our wisdom is not worldly wisdom but from the Word of God. Our ideals are not worldly ideals, but are from the Word of God. How we live our lives is a matter of worship.

We are the people who live by the Spirit of God.

Verse 3 also shows us that Christians are those who...

Mark 2: We boast in King Jesus (3c)

Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, who glory in Christ Jesus...”

The Christian life, friends, is a Christ exalting life.

1 Corinthians 1:31 “so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.””

Galatians 6:14 “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

It is a strange thing for a Christian to boast in themselves.

And I’m not saying that you can’t be proud of an accomplishment. Christians are not self-flagellating, we don’t beat ourselves up all the time.

When my wife graduates with her second Masters degree I’m going to be proud of her and she should be proud of herself, but the question is where does the pride lead to?

If Vickery were to proclaim, “Look at what I have accomplished! Look what I have done for myself with my intellectual power! Bow before me peons—bow before the all powerful Vickery.” That would be wholly inappropriate.

For the Christian our boasting should point to Jesus. How did Vickery do this? By the power of Christ! Who made her brain? Our good God! Who gave the resources that provided the opportunity? Our great God. And all of it is meaningless without Jesus dying for us.

Everything we boast about is a temporary glimmer without the gospel. If Jesus didn’t die in our place to rescue us from sin then none of this matters.

All of creation points to the majesty of God and so should the Christian.

The Christian boasts about Jesus. We don’t place our confidence in other, lesser things. The 3rd defining Mark of a Christian that our text shows us that Christians are not...

Mark 3: We are not confident in our flesh (3d-6)

Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision... and put no confidence in the flesh—”

It can be easy to put our confidence in the flesh, can’t it? And we’re not talking about our bodies necessarily—although that can be a place we put confidence.

The older you get the less that happens though. I’ll throw my back out if I dream that I’m doing something physical. If I even watch sports on TV my back is like, “I don’t think so buddy!”

So the older you get the less that one is a temptation.

When Paul says we don’t put our confidence in the flesh, he means that we don’t look at the things of this world and put our confidence for salvation in them.

The Judaizers, those false teachers that Paul is warnning us about put a lot of confidence in their flesh. They put a lot of confidence in the external things of their faith.

We see this when John the Baptist is dealing with them in Matthew 3:8-9 “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”

John said, “You say you’re children of Abraham, but I don’t see any fruit. Abraham had faith and faith produces fruit. You are just clinging to titles and national heritage. If God just wanted physical children he could have raised them up out of these rocks!”

And Paul here does the same thing that John does in verse 4 of our text. He points to his own external, fleshly accomplishments as examples of things we cannot have salvific confidence in.

Philippians 3:4 “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:”

So to the Judaizer Paul says you think you have confidence in your flesh, well if that were true then I would have reason to have more than you.

In verse Philippians 3:7 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” So as he lists these things they are to be reminders and warnings.

They are reminders of what we often put our confidence for salvation in. And they are warnings that we should not put our confidence in these things.

First, thing Paul says...

1. Don’t put your confidence in a ritual.

Philippians 3:5 “circumcised on the eighth day...

We’ve already talked about the importance of circumcision a bit. It was the sign of entrance into the covenant people of God.

Genesis 21:4 “And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.”

This was the command from God to Abraham. And this was repeated in the Mosaic Covenant when God gave his law.

And so this was important. It was so important that when Moses doesn’t give his son the sign of the covenant God threatens to kill Moses. God said your child deserves the sign of the covenant—he is a covenant child and so he should have the sign.

So the sign was important, but it wasn’t salvific. Circumcision couldn’t save anyone. Baptism can’t save anyone.

The message of circumcision and the message of baptism is that we must have faith in order to be saved.

A person can receive the ritual of baptism, but if they don’t have the faith then they have an empty ritual that will only condemn them on the day of judgment.

So Paul says don’t put your confidence in your rituals, not your baptism, not communion, not church attendance, or anything else. Because these things cannot save you.

Paul continues, and says...

2. Don’t put your confidence in your privilege.

Philippians 3:5 “of the people of Israel...”

Paul was a physical descendant of Abraham. He was part of the privileged peopel of God that were chosen from the nations to bear the messiah.

The Jews that Jesus encountered were always telling him, “We’re children of Abraham.

But Paul says you can put no confidence in your privilege.

When we are privileged we often get a sense of entitlement that comes with that.

I’ve traveled to a couple of third world countries and when I go I try to remind myself not to act like an entitled, privileged American.

Like I wouldn’t go to Bosnia and say, “Where’s my Starbucks! I’m an American! Do you know where I’m from?”

Don’t do that when it comes to your salvation either. “I’m good and righteous because of where I’m from!”

Paul says, I’m of the people of Israel but I don’t put my confidence in that. It can’t save me.

Paul also says...

3. Don’t put your confidence in your rank.

Philippians 3:5 “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;”

Paul came from the premier tribe of Israel. The tribe of Benjamin was the honored tribe. When the promised land was divided, Jerusalem, the holy city was given to the tribe of Benjamin.

Kings came from Benjamin.

When the kingdom of Israel split. The tribe of Benjamin remained loyal to Judah and the Davidic dynasty.

This was a source of great pride. But Paul says it can’t save you. Your exalted rank in any part of your life won’t save you.

You could be the most powerful person in the world but your position of power will be powerless to save you. Only faith in the power of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection can save a person.

Paul continues...

4. Don’t put your confidence in your tradition.

Philippians 3:5 “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;”

As far as being Hebrew goes, Paul says I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. I was the most Hebrew guy in the room. But it could do nothing to save me.

People will put their confidence in the religious tradition of their family.

I was sharing the gospel with a guy in Lake View SC—a small town where I served my first pastorate—and I invited him to chruch.

He was a bit offended. My family has been a member of that church for 100 years.

I had never once seen this man come to the church, but he considered himself a member.

If he takes his tradition with him as his confidence on the day of Christ he will see how foolish it was to put his trust in tradition. Because it won’t save him.

5. Don’t put your confidence in rule keeping.

Philippians 3:5 “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;”

Pharisee means the “separated ones”. They took the law of Moses and created a fence around the law.

They were the most moral people of their day.

This is still the default mode of the human heart. Moral people are righteous before God.

There will be many moral people who go to Hell. Becausee their moral superiority above others can do nothing to pardon their sin.

Paul did not put his confidence in his morality as a Pharisee and neither should we.

Paul keeps pointing to his own fleshly accomplishments as reminders and warnings and says

6. Don’t put your confidence in your zeal.

Philippians 3:6 “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”

In Galatians 1:14 Paul says, “And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.”

Here he says he was so zealous for his traditions as an Israelite that he sought the extermination of the church.

He was a defender of his faith....or so he thought until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Zeal will not save you. Salvation does not come by passion. People are passionate about many things that can’t save them.

In Romans 10:2 Paul says you can even have “zeal for God, that’s not according to knowledge.”

There are many religions that are zealous for God but it’s not according to biblical knowledge and as zealous as they can be it won’t save them because they reject Jesus Christ the true man of Zeal.

And lastly Paul says...

7. Don’t put your confidence in your law keeping.

This is different than rule keeping. Rule keeping is, “I mostly do the right things. I’m a moral person. God will overlook the bad I’ve done.”

Confidence in keeping the law, in works is, “I have earned my salvation by the works that I have done. I have done all that God has called me to.” This is the rich young ruler who said to Jesus, “I’ve done all these things!”

We can easily start to believe that we are acceptable to God because we do the right things.

The problem with that is that if you are acceptable to God when you keep the law then you are unacceptable when you break the law and none of us keep the law perfectly.

Our salvation is not an up and down rollercoaster ride. It’s secure in Jesus Christ.

Friends, if you can lose your salvation then I guarantee that you will. But the good news is that you can’t. Because your salvation is not dependent on your ability to keep it.

Our confidence is not in our ability to keep the law but it’s in Christs.

So these are the Marks of a Christian. We are those who serve by the Spirit of God. We boast in Jesus. And we put no confidence in the flesh. For the Christian it is because we know Jesus that we serve by the Spirit of God. It’s becasue we know Jesus that we boast in him instead of ourselves. And it’s because we know Jesus that we place no confidence in the flesh.

We trade all of these things for...

III. The Surpassing Worth of Christ (7-11)

In the last verses of our passage Paul wants to encourage us to give up everything else for Jesus who is more valuable and to seek in Christ: Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification.

Pauls says...

Philippians 3:7-8 “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...”

Paul has just listed all the worldly things that his culture would say is of great value. Paul was ritualistically pure, from the right people, from the right tribe of the right people. He was moral, zealous, and righteous on paper.

He had it all going on for him, but when he held these things up to knowing Christ.

He says, “It’s all loss, knowing Christ surpasses it all!”

Look at the rest of verse 8.

Knowing Christ is so valuable that I have actually “lost” all these things. I am hated by my own people. I am persecuted by them. I am no longer held in the high esteem that I was but it’s completely worth it because I have Jesus!

In fact, Jesus is so much more valuable then the things we place our confidence in that Paul looks back at those things and he says comparitively.

and count them as rubbish,

The word used here is rubbish. It’s a much more polite word in English than Paul used in the Greek. The Greek word means filth, animal waste, excrement.

All of that status, all of that honor, all of that tradition, compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus was like a bag of dog turds. That’s the comparison he’s making.

And friends it is no different for us. When we place our confidence in anything but Christ we are trading what is most valuable for excrement. There is nothing that surpasses the value of King Jesus.

Paul continues, he says, “I willingly lost all of that stuff

in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him,

I gave that stuff up. I gave up my confidence in those things “in order that, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.”

Friends we cannot put our confidence for salvation in Jesus+other things.

We let go of all those lesser things and we know that our only true confidence comes in Christ. We need...

Justification

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—”

Faith in Jesus, faith that God will save you through the substutionary death of Christ is where all people are called to place their confidence for salvation.

We abandon confidence in all other things and we seek to be justified, not by our efforts but by Jesus Christ.

We seek out...

Sanctification

Philippians 3:10 “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”

Sanctification comes after we are justified. It is the process by which we become more like Christ. Paul says I want to share his sufferings. I want to become like him.

Christians want to be more like Jesus and we understand that this means that we too will be persecuted, we too will have to deny our flesh, we too will need to rely on the power of God to live in this life.

But we are joyous to do it because—it is through the crucible of this life that God is sanctifying us toward something greater than what we currently are.

When we are justified by Christ and through sanctification are becoming more like Christ our future is...

Glorification

Philippians 3:11 “that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul says this resurrection from the dead, this glorification is worth attaining by any means necessary—even if Paul has to suffer exactly like Christ did—it’s worth it.

We can put our confidence in a great many things but only Jesus will save us and only Jesus will glorify us making us like Him in his death.

One day Christ will come back and we will no longer live in these bodies of death but we will be glorified. We will live without sin in us or around us.

This is why Paul says that knowing Jesus surpasses everything!

Conclusion

Jesus is certainly more valuable than my pogs collection from the 90’s.

And he's more valuable than any other thing we could place our confidence in.

This morning my charge to you and I is to put our full confidence, hope, and energy into Christ.

Everywhere else that we invest our confidence will only let us down, but in Christ we are made whole, we are made new, and one day we will be made perfect like our Lord Jesus.

We can have confidence in that. Let’s pray.