Untitled Sermon (5)

Bible

We are in a very powerful section in ch.3

the truths in here are key.

as you can tell from our title

“That I may gain Christ”

there is no better gain then Christ!

This section shows us how we gain Christ

Which is enough to look at for one Sunday.

I originally wanted to cover v.7-16

and had to divide more and more

as I kept studying.

to where today we are looking at v.7-9

but because there is still so much value

in reading all v.7-16

we will read it

to catch the direction Paul is going

because it is so good!

then zoom in to the part we will focus on.

to see how Paul will get there.

pray

read

Philippians 3:7–16 NKJV

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

Here we see in loosing self righteousness

but in gaining Christ

everything done in the past

whether its righteous or not

it holds no power.

so press forward to Christ His call

to know Him,

to where we will know the power of His resurrection,

and the fellowship of His sufferings

Press forward to what is ahead the upward call in Jesus!

What an amazing section we are in here.

with so much to dive into

Paul gets there by starting with

gaining Christ.

starting at verse 7

Philippians 3:7 NKJV

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

what does he mean what things were gain?

everything he had mentioned in the section above.

all his self righteousness.

being a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, etc.

I say these are etc.

but these things were

once very important to Paul

its what his life was ALL about.

he now counts it as a loss for Christ.

so every good and righteous deed he had done

every act of devotion

every commandment kept

every part of the law He followed

why???

this is kind of a shocking statement.

especially to anyone who claims to be righteous by their own merit

this is a shocking statement to any religious based person

to the many people thinking their good deeds

will balance out their bad ones.

because Paul was very religious,

dedicated, & in the eyes of man

a very good man.

If we had to compare self righteousness to Paul

we all would fall very short (v.4)

and he says he counts all his works,

all those good deeds, as loss

why is he counted it as a loss?

Here in verse 7 he says for Christ

if we look at verse 9 we see that in Christ

we receive a righteousness through faith from God

and so no longer need the law for our own righteousness.

That changed his life th way He was living

becuase he didnt just receive righteousness

but a relationship

which is what we read in verse 8

Philippians 3:8 NKJV

8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

so why does he call it a loss?

it is all a loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus..

we need to slow down here.

because his entire life has changed based on this.

he was living one way

and now calls the way he was living is a loss.

and is living in a new way, with a new life.

for a man extremely religious.... this is an extreme change.

it contains a message

that took one of the most religious,

self righteous men ever

to call all he had done a loss

this should grab our attention.

This means for us it contains a message of great change too.

“count all things loss, for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus”

Lets break this down:

excellence = surpassing

this shows this is far greater

much better, it excels

knowledge = “γινωσκω”

this knowledge is not just an intellectual knowledge

its a knowledge based on experience.

for example its one thing to

know that steak is good

its another thing

to know by experience that steak is good.

to taste it

that is the word knowledge here

To experientially know Jesus

to be getting know Jesus in a deeper way

This is speaking towards a relationship

Paul is wanting to grow in this

he has a ginosko goal

To be getting to know Jesus closer.

which is why he says

I suffer the loss of all things

then says i count my self-righteousness as rubbish

because works do not even compare to the opportunity

we are given to get to know Jesus more

he counts it as loss

counts it as rubbish that he may gain Christ

then verse 9 adds

Philippians 3:9 NKJV

9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

while this gives us the picture

that while we once were lost now we are found in Him

by faith

its pointing us to a closeness with Him

with this goal to gain Christ.

What does Paul mean to gain Christ?

to know him more intimately.

which he describes in verse 10

Philippians 3:10 NKJV

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

that i may know him

shows us why all this is here.

We been made righteouss

and count all is loss

that we may know him

and this is the word ginosko again

the whole point its to know Him more

Paul has a desire to be close to Him

to know him closer to and deeper

in the good and the hard times

as he says

in the power of the resurrection

and in fellowship of suffering

While the great times with the Lord are great

the hard times with the Lord connects us to the Lord in such a special way

Getting to expereince His compassion

His help

His love, having His hope

Pauls goal in all this and is the goal for us i

in gain Chrit

know Christ

desire to be close to Him

in the blessed moments

and diffcult moments

It would seem here that Paul is welcimng the suffering

to share with Christ in the suffering