Jesus is Better NICS

Jared Callison

Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Philippians 3:1–8

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Introduction

How’s everybody doing today? I’m a little nervous. Do you know why? You guys are scary. It’s really scary to speak at christian school chapel. It would be easier to go to prison and speak to harden criminal then talk to you guys.

But you know why? it’s not your fault. The reason it’s so hard to speak to you guys is because you have written on your forehead. I don’t care. You know why you don’t care. Again for the most part it’s not your fault. Because many of you have grown up in homes with parents that call themselves christian, you go to a school where teachers call themselves christian, your forced to go to church with people claim to be christians.

But boy do they not act like it. You watch that for long enough and you begin to think this whole christianity thing is dumb and not worth my time. And then you sit in chapel and have to listen to some guy you don’t know who brings candy to bribe you into being happy.

Favorite passage in the Bible

This lesson may have a dramatic impact on your life although I doubt it. But my goal is get something stuck inside your head that simply won’t leave. Like a song that gets stuck in your head...

I want a little phrase to be stuck in your head.

Here’s the phrase here’s the big idea of the lesson this morning. It’s very profound.

JESUS IS BETTER - SLIDE

Better than what you may ask? He’s just better.

Phil. 3:1-8

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 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— 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: 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; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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

What in the world is Paul talking about in these verses? Well let’s walk through them a little slower.

Who is Paul Talking about in these verses?

Who is Paul talking about in these verses? They are Jews who are claiming to be Christian. I say they were merely claiming to be Christians because of what they were putting their confidence in. They grew up in the jewish tradition and then when Jesus came, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven they made the “conversion” to the Christian faith. But their was one major, monumental problem. They believed they still had to follow the law. They believed in Jesus, they may have even thought he was God but they still believed salvation was earned from following the law.

Look what Paul calls these people.

He calls them dogs?

Was that an insult or a compliment?

My Junior High Self used to call people dogs...

That is not what Paul is doing here. In this culture dogs were looked down on. They were street animals. They were despised. So Paul is saying look out for dogs look out for despicable people.

But why were these people so despicable? Because Paul says they were evil doers. Now we will touch on this again but what made them evil doers?

Who is Paul talking about and why does he call them mutilators of the flesh?

He’s talking to Jews. He’s talking to Jews who have been circumsiced and Paul calls what they are doing mutilating the flesh. Why would Paul calls this God ordained sacred tradition a mutilation of the flesh? There was nothing wrong with the tradition there was nothing wrong with the law. It was the confidence they put it in. They still believed they could earn their way to heaven. They still believed they could earn GOd’s favor. They still put their confidence in the flesh. What they could do. How well they could obey.

They believed in Jesus. They believed he was God. They believed in the gospel. But they didn’t believe it was sufficient. They didn't believe it was enough. So they added to the gospel. They added their good works to the gospel.

But the gospel is perfect. You cannot take anything away and you cannot add anything to it. Any addition to the gospel fundamentally changes the gospel. Any addition to the gospel no matter how small takes what was perfect and completely ruins it. Any addition to the gospel takes it from perfect and makes it no better than pagan idolatry.

Paul calls them mutilators of the flesh because he wants people to understand that what these Jews are doing is no better than the followers of Baal from the Old Testament. Remember the story of Elijah from 1 Kings. When he challenges the followers of Baal to see whose god is greater. So they go up to Mt Caramel and the worshippers of Baal go first and erect this alter to Baal and they begin to dance and pray to Baal and ask him to cast down fire from the heavens. But nothing happens. So Elijah starts making fun of them. He says maybe Baal is taking a nap or maybe he is going to the bathroom and is too busy to do anything for them.

So the worshippers of Baal begin to go harder. Listen to what they do.

1 Kings 18:27–29 (ESV)

28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

They mutilated their flesh until blood began to pour out hoping that Baal would see their dedication and prove himself to them. But their was no voice, no one answered, no one pid attention.

So hear what Paul is saying. To put confidence in your flesh makes you no better than the followers of Baal. To put confidence in the flesh make you no better than those psychos who danced all night long and slit their wrists hoping this made up god would hear them.

To put confidence in the flesh makes you no better than the child sacrificers of moloch, or the followers of Buddha, Allah, or Mormonism. To put any confidence in your own performance to earn the favor of a Holy God makes you no better than a pagan. You must repent. You must turn to God and accept his free gift of salvation. You must forsake all confidence in your flesh.

To put confidence in the flesh makes you an evil doer and keeps you from gaining Christ. We must value Jesus as supreme over whatever abilities whatever confidences we have in ourselves. Jesus must be preeminent.

Which is exactly what we see Paul doing.

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: 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; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

What is Paul saying in these verses?

Paul just explained why if anyone was able to put confidence in the flesh it would be him. From the very beginning of his life he was raised right. He came from the favorite tribe. He was a Hebrew of hebrews. Under the law he was blameless. He was so zealous for what he believed was right that he persecuted the church. If anyone was ever to put confidence in their flesh it was Paul. If anyone was going to be able to earn their salvation it would have been Paul. But what does he do?

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss.

Why??? Why does he count every advantage he has as loss? Why does he forsake all confidence in the flesh?

for the sake of Christ.

Because Jesus is Better! Jesus is better than any confidence in the flesh. Jesus is worth giving up all hope in our own abilities. Jesus is worth giving up any amount of pride that we have. He is worth humbling ourselves.

We are by nature so proud. But if we are going to gain Christ we must forsake all confidence in our flesh.

And understand that Jesus is better than anything we can do in our own abilities.

It’s only when we forsake all confidence in the flesh will we be able to understand that Jesus really is better.

But then Paul takes it a step farther.

8 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

What does Paul say Jesus is better than?

Jesus is not only better than any confidence in the flesh Jesus is better than all things!

Look at what Paul says. He just gets done saying that he has forsaken all confidence in his flesh so that he may gain Christ. But then he takes it a step farther. He says indeed I count EVERYTHING as loss compared to the surpassing worth of know Christ Jesus my Lord.

This is the only time in all of Paul’s writings that he refers to Jesus Christ as my Lord. In every other instance Jesus is referred to as our Lord. But as Paul looks at His life it’s like he begins to get sentimental. He looks at everything he has lost everything he has given up and he says he’s counted everything as loss compared to knowing Christ as my Lord, my master, my King.

HE says for His sake I’ve suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order to gain Christ. That word for rubbish is actually kind of interesting. It has two meanings. The KJV translates it as dung. The ESV translates it as rubbish or trash. But Paul is actually being a little vulgar. Essentially what Paul is saying is that everything compared to Christ is crap.... it’s garbage… it’s trash....

<<<<trash juice or vomit story>>>>>

DO you here what Paul is saying here? He is saying that there is literally nothing else compared to Christ that is of any value. Compared to Christ everything is rubbish, everything is insignificant, everything is empty of value.

Which means there is literally nothing you can give up for Christ that will not be worth it in the end. Jesus will always be worth it because Jesus will always be better.

There will not be a moment not a second in all of eternity when you will regret giving something up for Jesus. Because when you really encounter Jesus when you really begin to understand who he is and what he’s done you realize there is nothing worth holding onto. Everything is rubbish because Jesus will always be better.

Jesus is better than fame.

Jesus is better than freedom

Jesus is better that money.

Jesus is better than man’s approval.

Jesus is better than straight A’s

Jesus is better than you dream job.

Jesus is better than family.

Jesus is better than your hobbies.

Jesus is better than sleep.

Jesus is better than food.

Jesus is better than a big house.

Jesus is better than your free time

Jesus is better than a new car.

Jesus is better than Tik Tok

Jesus is better than your comforts.

Jesus is better today, tomorrow, next week, and for the rest of your life Jesus will always be better so what in the world are you holding back for. Why aren’t you giving everything up for him??? What are you waiting for???

Now that’s one thing for me to say. But let’s look at what all Paul has given up what has Paul counted as loss?

Freedom -

We hold freedom pretty close to our heart here in America don’t we?

Where is Paul now again?

How was the church started in Phillipi again?

Paul had been imprisoned in a sewer. The way prisons were believed to work back then is that prisoners were essentially chained to spots in a big room. And the whole room worked kind of like a funnel. Everything drained down towards the center of the room. At one point in one of Paul’s imprionsmnet he was chained in the intermost part of the prision was essentially chained by the drain where any bodily fluid that may be disposed would run down towards Paul. SO when Paul tells the Church in Phillipi that everything compared to Christ is crap. They believed him and you should too.

Comforts

Paul gave up his comforts. Paul was beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, and mocked. He went through more pain for the name of Christ than you and I could ever imagine and he gets towards the end of his life and he says it’s all rubbish compared to Christ. Because Jesus is better than your comforts. Why are we so adverse to change? Because we like to be comfortable and because we don’t believe Jesus is better.

Health

Paul gave up his health. I would have loved to hear Paul’s interactions with his own personal doctor Luke. You see Paul due to everything he did was not a healthy man. He was actually quite sickly. Luke who wrote the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts followed Paul around and took care of him and I’m sure Luke being a doctor pleaded with him to slow down to heal but Paul kept coming because compared to Christ health is rubbish. Because Jesus is better than our health. I wonder how many times we’ve prayed for people to heal when what they really need is for God to bring them closer to Jesus through their ailments. I wonder how many times we’ve put our health above God. How many times we’ve placed our physical health above our spiritual health. Jesus is better than our health.

Job

Paul gave up his job. Paul was on track to be a leading Pharisee. He would have had money, prestige, and power. But he gave it all up for Jesus. He could have had money and power as a Pharisee instead he made tents for a living. He gave up his dream job for tentmaking… Why? Because Jesus is better.

Roman Citizenship

Paul counted his Roman Citizenship as loss. Paul was writing to the church in Phillipi and the phillipians had the incredible advantage. They were actually Roman citizens and so was Paul. That was an incredible privilege. At this time historians estimate that there were roughly 65 million people under Roman control but only 900,000 thousand were actually citizens. This church was citizens of the greatest empire this world has ever seen. To be an actual citizen of Rome was a great honor and the source of great pride.

Sound familiar church? Anyone else proud of the American citizenship? I am.

But only 12 verses later after saying everything compared to Christ is dung listen to what Paul says.

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

This would not have been missed by these readers. Paul is calling them to consider their roman citizenship as dung compared to their heavenly citizenship.

Do you.

We sure are tempted to put our American citizenship on the same level as Christ here in America aren’t we. But let me tell you this.

Compared to Christ. America is junk. Compared to Christ America is nothing. Compared to Christ America is cr

Money

Paul gave up money. He could have been wealthy instead he was poor. But he found more wealth more value in Jesus than anything this earth could give.

One of my favorite verses in the bible is

Matthew 13:44 (ESV)

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

When you find Jesus you find something more valuable than anything this world could offer. When you find Jesus it’s like you find a treasure hidden in a field a treasure that is worth more value than you could ever hope to attain. So you bury the treasure back up and go and with JOY sell everything you have and you buy that field.

Why do you buy that field? Because it’s better than all of your possession combined. The same is true of Jesus because Jesus is better.

Compare that parable to the rich young ruler.

Matthew 19:16–22 (ESV)

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Both men walked away from a great treasure. The man in the parable walked away with great joy and sold all that he had. The rich young ruler walked away with sorrow. Why? One understood the value of the treasure before him the other didn’t. Which one are you today?

I have been trying to paint a picture of the greatness of Jesus, the value of Jesus today. How will you leave the service this morning. Will you run away from this building this morning ready to give up everything for Jesus or will you walk away with sorrow because you have great possessions great comforts?

Here Paul is writing this letter to the phillipians chained to a Roman solider 24 hours a day stuck in his home. We know what it’s like to be stuck at home… But here Paul is chained stuck in his home but you can’t help but see him write this letter with a smile on his face and a tear in his eye as he recounts the joy of knowing Christ as Lord. The reason so many of you are miserable, grumpy, discontented is because you are half hearted. You know enough about God to feel the guilt of your sin but you have not yet valued him enough to give him your life. (say it again)

Would you do it today. Would you believe that Jesus really is better. Don’t wait.

Can i challenge you with one last thing. The only way to really find that Jesus is better is to actually risk something. You will never be fully convinced that Jesus is really better until you take that step of faith and take a risk.

A few summers ago I went to SLC and I challenged the teens to risk something for Jesus. To risk something for Jesus and see if he really is better.

So they did. I watched this group of anxious, shy, introverted teens walk up to total strangers and risk something for Jesus. They risked being screamed at, risked looking like a fool, risked screwing up, risked being made fun of, and can i say as a shy socially awkward person myself there are few things that scare me more than talking to strangers.

So this was not a little step for these teens. They took a plunge. And guess what they found out. Jesus is better. He’s worth the risk. He’s worth your life. Give it to him.