Philippians 3v1-4v1
Notes
Transcript
Paul has been exhorting the Philippians to stand firm together and to put Jesus first.
Yet we know that so much gets in the way. When it comes to standing together for the gospel, we have so much that could divide us.
When it comes to putting Jesus first, there is so much that we cling on to and prioritise above him. At the heart of all our struggles is our struggle with the pride of our hearts.
How do we rejoice in the Lord while battling the temptation to rejoice in so many other things? Paul shows us how. First, by giving us a command to rejoice. Then, by warning us against false confidence. Then, by showing us his own desire for Jesus and his hope in Jesus.
In short, Paul shows us what it means and looks like to treasure Christ. And because he’s writing to a church and not to individuals, and because we know that he is setting an example for them, we can assume that he wants them to treasure Christ not simply as individuals, but together as a church.
We all treasure something. But treasuring Christ above everything else is hard. That’s why we need to treasure Christ together.
And not only that, but we want everyone to find joy in treasuring Christ, and so we want to help others come to know and love him with us.
Treasuring Christ together is therefore an important theme for us to consider as a church. It’s important for us to get to grips with how to treasure Christ as a family, helping each other, pointing each other to him, delighting together in him. First thing…
To treasure Christ together means to…
Rejoice in Christ together
Rejoice in Christ together
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
Let’s remember that Paul was writing from prison. And the Philippians were experiencing trouble and persecution. How could Paul command them to rejoice? What could he rejoice in, and how could he expect them to rejoice with him? From a worldly point of view Paul seems to be unthinking and tactless.
It would be like me visiting someone in hospital who had just been told that they had a terminal disease, and singing Don’t worry, be happy!
What makes Paul’s command right and doable? It’s what he directs them to rejoice in – rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in Jesus!
Keep celebrating together the gospel of Jesus. Remind each other constantly of the grace of the cross of Jesus, and the triumph of the resurrection of Jesus, and the certainty of sins forgiven through Jesus, and the sure hope of being in heaven with Jesus so that you will find joy in Jesus at all times.
In fact, it is paramount that they do this, especially while they’re suffering. If they didn’t rejoice in Christ through it, they might despair of Christ, which would be disastrous.
That’s why Paul says that he’s happy to keep repeating his command to rejoice in the Lord, because it is a safeguard for you. Remaining joyful in Christ is the ultimate safety from despair in suffering for Christ.
The work of making Christ known in a world that doesn’t want to know him is always a struggle. To do that most effectively, we need to grow as a church. Both in number and in maturity and in mission.
We’ve seen numerical growth recently, praise God. We’ve seen several people make professions of faith, praise God. We’ve been able to move into this bigger venue, praise God!
But we are to face many setbacks, failures and discouragements. There are changes that need to be made as a growing church, and change is always hard. Means difficult decisions, sacrifices, etc.
What will keep us going through it all? We can keep each other going by rejoicing in the Lord! We must always remember why we are working hard in the church, why we are exposing ourselves and our faith to a world that doesn’t want to know or ridicules us for what we believe.
We must always remember that when we make changes or start new things, it’s because we want to make a big impact with the gospel in MK. It’s all because we want to treasure Christ and help others treasure him with us.
Rejoicing in Christ will mean looking beyond our circumstances and what we’re going through as a church family, and looking to Jesus as our highest and most precious treasure.
We must keep rejoicing in Christ to keep Christ our treasure. Another way we are to treasure Christ together is to…
Boast in Christ together
Boast in Christ together
Paul quickly changes his tone from encouragement to warning. So much so that it seems like he has changed subject.
But actually, his encouragement to keep rejoicing in the Lord is strongly linked to his warning about putting confidence in the flesh. He warns the Philippians against a group of Jews who insist that Gentiles must be circumcised before they can be saved and become one of God’s people…
Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.
These men cannot rejoice in Christ because they boast in the flesh. Paul says we are not to do that…
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
We worship and rejoice in Christ because we know that our salvation and our righteousness come from him alone, and we contribute nothing to it.
We can’t earn our way into God’s good books by doing certain things to our bodies or by keeping certain rules. We are accepted by God through faith in Christ alone. We can’t take any credit for it, because it’s his work and he should get the glory.
Paul says that we can’t take credit for what Jesus has done. Nor can we add to what Jesus has done. It’s all from him. So Paul says…
Don’t boast in the flesh – it’s worthless!
Don’t boast in the flesh – it’s worthless!
He says in v4 ‘if anyone thinks he can boast in the flesh, I can boast more!’ Then he lists all the ways in which, as a Jew, he could boast.
circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
He is the perfect Jew! He was born into the right family and he grew up to do all the right things. But he says…
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
These advantages as a Jewish born, well-educated, well-connected Pharisee are useless before God. They don’t count for anything towards my salvation.
It’s not surprising that for most people brought up in a Christian home by Christian parents, there came a point in their life where they realised that they had to decide for themselves whether to follow Jesus or not.
We can’t boast in the flesh! Either our family heritage or our own efforts. We need to count whatever we think is to our gain as loss. We can’t allow ourselves to boast in the flesh, and neither can we let each other boast in the flesh. Why? For the sake of treasuring Christ together. If we boast in the fles,h we cannot boast in Christ, and we won’t treasure Christ. Don’t boast in the flesh – it’s worthless! But Paul goes further…
Don’t boast in anything – it’s excrement!
Don’t boast in anything – it’s excrement!
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
It’s not just the flesh that Paul refuses to boast in, it’s everything that he might be able to boast in or cling to or rejoice over or treasure. Everything else other than Christ is rubbish, which is a polite English way of talking about excrement. Poo!
We flush poo away down our toilets because we don’t want to keep it in our homes, or in our lives, or have anything to do with it ever again! It’s of no value to us whatsoever.
That’s how Paul talks about anything other than Christ that we might be tempted to boast in or treasure. It’s so worthless that it can be compared to what we flush down the toilet!
Yet how often do we hold onto things to boast in or treasure? Be it gifts that we feel we have, or good deeds that we think earn us brownie points, or even our discipline in keeping a regular quiet time. Even the good things that we do can become bad things if we boast in them or treasure them above Christ.
But Paul says such things are to be counted as worthless for the sake of boasting in Christ and treasuring him above everything else. He is of infinite value compared to anything else. So Paul says we should…
Boast in Christ alone – he’s awesome!
Boast in Christ alone – he’s awesome!
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, 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 is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
Our biggest boast, our only boast, should be that we are found in Christ, united with him, saved through him and nothing else.
It’s Jesus who gives us his righteousness through his death on the cross, where our sin was laid on him and his righteousness given to us. We don’t have a righteousness of our own, nor can we earn righteousness for ourselves. All we have comes from Christ alone, and therefore we should boast in Christ alone.
And it is by faith, which is itself a gift; not by works, precisely so that no one can boast. We must give God the credit and the glory through Jesus Christ.
To truly treasure Christ together, we must be rejoicing in Christ together and boasting in Christ together. Finally, we must be…
Hope in Christ together
Hope in Christ together
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Because Paul treasures Christ above all else, and because his hope lies in the future glory of being with Christ in the resurrection, he considers it a joy to share in the sufferings of Christ. He talks about becoming like Jesus in his death.
We saw something of what that means a few weeks ago in ch2 when we learnt about the mind of Christ. Christ became a servant and suffered in our place, and Paul wants to share in the servanthood of Christ, and is even willing to suffer for Christ because he knows where his hope lies!
But his hope doesn’t only affect the future but the present as well…
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.
Our future in Christ is certain. Our hope is real. Therefore we can forget what is behind. We can let go of the things of earthly things that we rejoice in, and we can flush away all the worthless rubbish that we boast in, and we can press on toward the goal – our eternal hope in Christ our ultimate treasure!
We may at times be tempted to give in because it feels like too much is being asked of us. But we must fix our eyes on our highest treasure found in Christ alone.
And we must keep helping each other to do it. When we see each other getting into a rut of despairing in our circumstances, we need to help each other to be rejoicing in Christ instead.
When we see each other boasting in things that have no value, we need to help each other to boast in Christ instead. When we see each other struggling because we’re suffering for Christ and finding it hard to keep going in serving him, we need to help each other to keep our eyes fixed on our hope in Christ instead.
It’s all about Jesus! He is our treasure and our reward. He is our prize and our hope. There is no other like him. Let’s treasure him together!
