Paul and the Jailhouse Ministry (Pt 6)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning all!
Did you all have a good week?
I’m glad to see you all, always blessed to you my friends, and as I say, im encouraged by your desire to worship.
Let me ask you a question? - What did you do for Jesus this week?
As you went about your days, How did you meet Him? How did you reflect Him? And how did you serve Jesus?
This is truly what our days are to be about my friends, they move, revolve about the Savior. And how blessed we are to have Him in our lives, to have Him as our Lord.
So this morning we are moving into Philippians chapter 3, and Paul is reminding those believers at Philippi what they must be mindful off as they live in relationship with Jesus.
This relationship, partnership that He has entrusted to us His servants is indeed special.
Let me ask you… where would you be without Jesus? Well the answers are vast, but all lead to death… but thanks be to God that He saved us, took us where we were and brought us into His glorious light.
So this morning lets advance to Philippians chapter 3… we are going to look at the first 11 verses...
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.
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 9 and be found in him, 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— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Remember, Paul is in prison, he has heard of their plight the things there and He seeks to instruct them.. As a father, he desires the best for His children.
So as you look at this passage I see the reminders Paul is sharing with them as they seek to grow and walk with the Lord. So my friends, be reminded of what is necessary in your walk with the Lord in a world of sin and distraction, evil and lostness...
Here is what we must be reminded off..... 4 thoughts
1. We must be reminded to Rejoice in the Lord,
2. We must be reminded to be careful of others,
3. We must be reminded to put no confidence in the flesh and lastly
4. We must be reminded that our goal is to know Jesus Fully.
1. We Must be Reminded to Rejoice in the Lord...
1. We Must be Reminded to Rejoice in the Lord...
This sounds relatively simple, but it truly isn’t.
It is tough to rejoice when walking through a struggle… and for the lost, it is impossible - for they do not know His grace and mercy.
But remember, Paul is speaking to the church, to the redeemed.
And here the call is to remember, rejoice in the Lord.
Verse 1
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 cared for the church at Philippi as a Father cares for His children…Paul is not coming to an end of this message to them with the use of the word “finally” here, in reality it says in spite of… what ever they were to keep going...
They faced struggle after struggle at times, but no matter their circumstance, their hope was in Christ and with that they could rejoice.
Think about their struggles… a city that could be hostile, not appreciative at times of their presence.
And then there were the Judaizers The Jewish people who had confessed Christ as Lord, but could not lay aside their Jewish ways of practice, and thus they added, they demanded there be works to come along side of faith to ensure salvation.
Paul has spoke against this many times.. how can you have joy, how can you have peace if our salvation depended on you… How can that lead you to joy?
Simply it cannot.
The call is for us to rejoice in in Jesus.. remembering what He has done for us, in the joy that He never leaves us or forsakes us and prepared a place for us in the future.
My friends, if you have nothing else by Jesus I would declare to you that you are rich....
Let me stop here and ask you a question.... a very practical one. be honest in front of Jesus...
Do you rejoice in Him every day regardless of that day and the challenges you face… ???
Paul says later in Phil 4:4 this..
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Remind yourself to rejoice in the Lord that you might see Him and his glory more readily each day.
Now lets move on to my second thought for today....
2. We Must be Reminded to Be Careful of Others
2. We Must be Reminded to Be Careful of Others
We must be careful of others.... I remember many years ago telling my son, to watch out for others, and as a young boy, just 6 or 7 he said “Daddy, no one will hurt me...” And it broke my heart to tell him, yes they will, you have to be careful.
There are always those who will oppose you, seek to hurt you and the church… Why? They are more influenced by the devil than they are the Lord.
People say… no… not true.. But it is… I’ve seen it so many times…
Lets go to our text...
Verses 2=3
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—
Paul makes three sharp statements here and each one begins with a warning :
it is watch out for or look out for...
A. Look out for dogs..... This is a harsh term, Eastern people groups generally hated dogs… Jews often described the Gentiles as dogs, but here Paul called these Jewish believers, these who were Judaizers, Paul refers to them as dogs.
Its like Paul thought of Judaizers as packs of dogs. These dogs roamed the country side looking to pick off the weak and sickly creatures The Judaizers were looking to take hold of those who were not theologically grounded, not strong in their faith and convictions… On these the Judaizers would prey upon… teach and lead them astray.
B. Look out for Evil Doers.... Think of the Judaizers, they added works to their faith, thinking they were saved not only by faith but by their good works. Thus they had pride in their exemplary lives. What they thought were good works, well they were not. Instead all they did was become a stumbling block to others
C. Look out for those who mutilate the Flesh… This is really a play on words, it is speaking about those who required male believers be circumcised in order to be saved. Circumcision was the first requirement of the law, that symbolized ones approach to God. In the OT every male child was to be circumcised on the 8th day of life. But in the NT, remember one is saved by faith in Christ alone, no works were involved. So to say a person must be circumcised had no meaning in Christ, you were just cutting the flesh.
There are others who will always tell you what you need to do to be right with God when in fact God has already done everything in Christ to satisfy the penalty of sin
All a person needs is Jesus...
For the body of Christ, God didn’t desire an outward expression of our faith, He truly desired an inward expression first and foremost.
Consider the Jewish community, every male child was to be circumcised on the 8th day and thus given to the Lord. But for many Jews, being of a tribe, having life whereby they had obeyed the covenant the Lord made with Abraham concerning the flesh, circumcision… that was it… they were to keep the law, which no one could do… They thought that was all that was necessary for being God’s children...
Paul says those who are truly God’s children are those not having been obedient to the laws of the flesh But those who have had the heart circumcised first and foremost.
Paul speaks of this in Romans 2, 25-29
My friends, it is always a matter of the spiritual heart of man, what we do or do not do for God is an indication of our spiritual heart health.
Let me ask you a question...
How is your heart?
Is it soft and easy… easy to follow God, to hear Him… or is it hardened and difficult...
Today is a time of heart health check.
Now lets talk about confidence, is it in us or God… let look at it my third point.
3. Put No Confidence in the Flesh…
3. Put No Confidence in the Flesh…
The Jews always always considered themselves better the rest of the world because they are descendents of Abraham…
Paul reminds his brothers and sisters at Philippi that while they glory only in God and the redemption that have in Christ, they should never put confidence in the flesh, in their own works… like the Jews do...
Lets go back to verses 3 and 4....
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:
But when thinking off the outward life.... Paul said if anyone has the reason to boast, it was he...
And listen to what he says in verses 4-6
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.
Paul says if anyone could boast in the flesh, it would be him. He lists 7 components to his background. Some heredity and some achievement.
Paul was a true Israelite.
A. Circumcised on the 8th day.. If his opponents were circumcised, so was he.. He was in accordance with the law, a 8th day person.
B. A person of Israel - natural descendant He goes one to describe how this could be
C. The Tribe of Benjamin (The last son of Rachel, whom Joseph aka Israel loved ) Born in Tarsus, some may have thought his background and family were greek in nature, a Hellenist .... He was a true Jew
D. A Hebrew of Hebrews, a person who was born of the nation, a person who could read and study their Hebrew language.
And then next he mentions his achievements as a Jew
Paul as a young boy had made the correct choices, arriving in adulthood with 3 measures identifying who he was as a Jew.
E. As to the Law- a Pharisee. He had chosen to be a pharisee. Why? They loved the law, the strict interpretation for it and its ethical consistency
F. As to Zeal - Persecutor of the church.. Jewish men were often measured in their commitment to the Lord in how they opposed foreign religions and culture. Paul truly took this to heart, we know this from his journey to Damascus.
G. As to Righteousness to the law, - Blameless … Outwardly, he has a perfect record, No one had every accused him of breaking the law (Man that is) So he showed himself blameless...
But no matter what he has obtained, He counted it all for loss, there was no meaning in it in comparison to the joy of knowing Jesus.
It is all worthless
The things we might be able to obtain in this lifetime are of no value apart from Christ my friends.
Things can be special, they can be worth while, they can have meaning but understand at the end of our days, without Jesus nothing in our life has meaning, because we have missed the greatest blessings of life.
Jesus gives life eternal, He brings satisfaction to this life and He completes this life. In Christ we are whole...
Do you know the satisfaction that Jesus brings or are you still wandering in your achievements and cannot find true meaning to life....
The greatest goal of life is to Know Jesus...
And this is my last point my friends..
4. Our Goal is to Know Jesus… Fully...
4. Our Goal is to Know Jesus… Fully...
Verses 8 and 11 are two verses that impact us right were we live, it shouts to our goal in Christ.
Ask yourself this question: how well do you know Jesus?
How much time have you poured into prayer, reading the word, listening for Him, and serving even when its tough.
I believe my friends that we are called to know Jesus.... fully.
Lets look back to the text…
Lets look at the verses 8-11
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 9 and be found in him, 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— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul says that He has suffered loss for the sake of gaining Christ… being found in Him, having believed by faith, not works....
And with being found in Him… Paul says my goal is to know him.
I love that....
What is He saying....
To be found in Him is far better than anything, you have His righteousness not a righteousness dependent upon your efforts with the law. Essentially, to be in Christ mean you were in His clothing, the white robe He has supplied to His children, not the old clothing we used to wear, dirty, tore and weathered.
You see my friends to be found in Christ lead to a life changing, life shaping purpose of knowing Him.
Paul’s deepest desire was to know Jesus to the fullest… regardless of where it led him, He wanted to Know him, this word to Know ( in the Greek tou_ ) is a knowing of have walked with a person, you now them well. Like best friends…
Here is a great question, is Jesus your best friend?
Then, Paul pulls out two ideas that complement one another.... The power of Christ resurrection and the fellowship or sharing in His sufferings.
These provide a foundation if you will for us, the followers of Christ, and a model for growth also
A. So the first one is the power of His resurrection or as in verse 11, attaining the resurrection from the dead.
B. The second to share in His sufferings, becoming like him in death...
What is Paul speaking about… with these ideas… He longed for the complete attainment of his salvation.
He like us are saved, but that is only a portion of what God has promised to all those in Christ. Paul longed for it all,
He had walked closer and closer to Jesus each day, and at times has suffered for Him, now in prison. He longs to minister to those he loves, but at the same time He looks for the fulfillment of his life in Christ.
Richard Merrick says it best...
Resurrection power achieves the entire process. Paul’s longing to know Christ, therefore, was a longing to be like Christ in his glorified state.
For now, he was daily as we are being confomred to Him in His death.
Christ was submissive to the Father, thus He took upon himself the cross and death. We are like Him in His death when we daily surrender self to be more like Jesus, thus we die to self and become more like Him
Dont you want to be like Jesus.. in every area?
Yes we do...
What are you doing to obtain that… How are yo living?
What is God leading you toward....
Be obedient now… be made more like Him until the time we see Jesus..
Be reminded… Be like Jesus/
Pray.....