Good News: The Gospel Is Worth It All
Notes
Transcript
Philippians 3:4-11
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: 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 to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 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. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Think back to a younger version of you. I’m sure that you had some dreams and aspirations that you wanted to fulfill. For me, of course, I wanted to go to the NBA. That was the dream job, that was my biggest goal, if would have got there I would have felt like I would have arrived. And perhaps you had some type of ultimate goal yourself. Maybe you wanted to get such and such degrees and be considered the world’s best expert in your field. Perhaps there was some trade or business, and you wanted to be considered the best that every did it. Maybe you wanted to become rich by being an acting or singing. Whatever that was, or is for you imagine now that all your dreams were going to come true. Whatever it is that you wanted in, whatever it is you aspired to be, whatever was going to bring you the most satisfaction in this world, it was yours.
But what if you had everything you had the life that you dreamed for on this earth, but you had to live without God? Would a relationship with God be worth it to you? If we were to rephrase the question we could ask is a relationship with God your greatest desire?
Last week, we began our study in Philippians 3, and we talked about how we can find true, lasting joy when we are in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Remember, Paul warned the Philippian about these false teachers called Judaizers who were teaching that the way to know God and grow in your relationship with Him was by keeping the law. These people were very religious, but they were without God. Their confidence was in their flesh. They depended on their religious actions in order to earn them a relationship with God.
And at one time, Paul was right there with them. Paul had a list of credentials that would have been impressive to anyone at this time. They would have thought that if anyone had God’s favor upon them it was Paul. From a religious standpoint, He is what the people of that day sought to be. This is what Paul had his confidence in. This is what brought Paul joy. This is what brought Paul significance, But none of these things brought Paul into a relationship with Jesus.
And today, people find their significance in many different things. In their money, their nationality, the jobs, their success, their popularity, their talents. But do any of these things have a greater value than a relationship with Jesus Christ?
There are many people who don’t choose to follow Jesus because of FOMO. Fear of missing out. They think that if they trust the gospel and follow Jesus they will miss out on something that this world will have to offer. But here’s the good news. The gospel is worth it all. There is nothing in this world that will bring more value, more satisfaction, more significance in your life than a relationship with Christ.
This morning I want to share with you the changes that took place in Paul’s life that caused a great shift in his priorities. Really what we are going to see is a testimony of Paul’s life before and after he came into a relationship with Christ. I believe this will be a help to anyone who may be considering becoming a Christian and starting their relationship with God, and also to those of us who want to grow in our relationship with God as well.
Transition: First notice this
Change in His Evaluation
Change in His Evaluation
As Paul warns this church about these false teachers, he gives us a glimpse of what his life was like before he met Jesus. Basically, Paul says that if anyone could have earned their way into heaven by good works it would have been Him. In verses 4-6, Paul lists his credentials. Philippians 3:4-6
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: 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 to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Paul says that he was circumcised on the eighth day. He was religious from the time he left the womb. The Mosaic law required that Jewish male boys be circumcised on the eighth day. As we mentioned last week, this was to symbolize that there must come a time when this boy heart must be cut by the Word of God and set apart to live holy unto the Lord. So Paul started out on the right foot when his parents kept this religious tradition.
Next, Paul says that he is of the people of Israel. He boasted in his nationality. Israel was God’s chosen nation. They were the people through which the Word of God was received and spread. It was considered to a spiritual privilege to be born an Israelite.
Not only was Paul born into the nation of Israel, but he was of the tribe of Benjamin. He had in impressive family heritage. The tribe of Benjamin was one of the two elite Israelite tribes. They boasted of great leaders like Joshua and King Saul. Along with Judah, Benjamin remained loyal to King David when the nation as divided. In addition, the capital city, Jerusalem, was in the land allotted to Benjamin. So it was in there land that the temple was built and sacrifices were made.
Next, Paul says he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Paul was a traditionalist. Paul was born to Hebrew parents, and was raised according to Hebrew traditions. He was a die-hard Hebrew. He knew the language, he understood the culture, and he was as religiously Hebrew as anyone could be.
The fifth credential that Paul lists was as the law, he was a Pharisee. He lived by an impressive standard. The Pharisees were the man most committed to the Old Testament Scriptures. This group believed the Scriptures, they studied the Scriptures, they taught and preached the Scriptures, and they were deeply devoted to following the Scriptures. They were so careful to keep the law that they even added to it so they could put up “fences”. The idea was that even if they crossed the fence they would not break the law. This was a morally superior group of Jews who kept all the rules.
Next, he says as to zeal, a persecutor of the church. Now this doesn’t sound like a good thing to us, but understand this. When Paul persecuted Christians, he thought that he was doing the work of God. Paul was not a luke-warm person. He was all in. He was passionate. Especially about the things of God. The teachings about Jesus went against the the Jewish traditions, so in his sincere passionate zeal he persecuted the church to protect what he though was right.
Finally Paul says as to righteousness under the law, he was blameless. People that looked at Paul would says that this was a good as a person that there was. He wasn’t claiming to be sinless, but he was saying that there was no area of the law that you would be able to find him breaking. He sought to live a good, moral life.
Paul saw all of these things as assets. These were the things that he thought brought his life value. These are the things that he had put his confidence in to be accepted by God.
At this point, Paul’s life looked something like this.
Gains/Losses
But then we read in Philippians 3:7
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
One day something changed. Something caused him to reevaluate. This change took place back in Acts 9. So if you want to look there real quick we are going to read this account. Acts 9:1-2
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Remember Paul, who at this time had the name Saul, was very zealous and was vehemently opposed to anything that went against the teachings of Judaism. So Saul went to the high priests to get permission to round up any Christians, known as those belonging to the Way, in Damascus and bring them to stand trial with the hopes of putting them to death. But look at the next few verses
Acts 9:3-6
Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
While on the road to persecute Christians, Paul is blinded from a bright light that knocked him off of his feet. It’s Jesus himself. Asking Paul why he is persecuting him. From that moment on, Paul’s life was changed. He obeyed Jesus’s command to go into Damascus and wait for further instructions.
It was at this point that Paul realized that all the good things that he was doing under Judaism. All the pedigree and prestige that he had. It all meant nothing if he did not have Jesus Christ.
His evaluation changed to look something like this....
Gains/Losses
Paul says in Philippians 3:8
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
Paul had a lot of good things going . But knowing Jesus had surpassing worth. That means that it had ultimate worth. Supreme worth. There is nothing that was more valuable than knowing Jesus.
Paul says that all those things that he counted as gains before, he know valued them as rubbish. Trash. The Greek word that is used there actually refers to animal poo. Those things are of the lowest of value compared to knowing Jesus.
An encounter with Jesus caused a radial shift in what Paul valued.
But it’s important to notice this. Paul wasn’t looking for this change. Jesus was the one the that was seeking Paul. And if you are listening this morning and you do not know Jesus. You have never begun a relationship with him. This is Jesus calling you. You may not get the bright light and voice of Jesus stopping you while you are driving to Walmart. But right now, Jesus is calling out to you and saying. Hey! why have you rejected me. Why are you not following me? He is calling out to you. He wants you to submit to him as Savior and Lord and choose to follow Him. Is there something that’s holding you back? If you don’t know Jesus its time for you to reevaluate. There is nothing in this world that should keep you from following Jesus.
Change in Righteousness
Change in Righteousness
Philippians 3:9
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—
What does it meant to be righteous? It means that you are satisfying the moral requirements of God’s character. To put it into simpler terms, it means to be sinless or morally perfect. Scripture tells us that none of us can truly be descried as righteous. Romans 3:10
as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
But there’s the problem. Without being righteous, one cannot enter into heaven. Now before Paul met Jesus, he was trusting in his own righteousness. Remember, his moral behavior was second to none. He described himself as being blameless when it came to the law of Moses. Compared to everyone else, Paul was one the best. But Jesus said himself in Matthew 5:20
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
These religious leaders which included Paul were great at keeping the rules, but Jesus said that if someone was going to be able to work their way into heaven, it would have have to be beyond what these religious sticklers could do. You would have to be perfect. Something that not even these Pharisees could do.
You see when Paul met Jesus, he realized that his own righteousness was not going to be good enough. He was going to need the righteousness of God. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul writes.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
So check out this exchange. Jesus was the only person who walked this earth and lived without sin. He is the only one that can say that He was righteous because He was the Son of God. But when Jesus went to the cross, He took our sins upon ourselves. It says that he actually became sin. He experienced the Father’s anger and wrath that we deserved for our sins against Him. And in exchange, we got Jesus’s righteousness so that we may be found in Christ. You see when we are saved, God begins to view you through the lens of Jesus. We are protected from God’s judgement for our sins and we know that we have been forgiven because we are covered by the righteousness of Christ.
Two things that we can point out about this righteousness . First it’s from God. It’s a gift from Him. There is nothing that we can do to earn it or deserve it. It’s only through the grace of God that we can be saved.
And the second thing is how we can receive this righteousness. Paul makes it pretty clear in Philippians 3:9
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—
This righteousness comes through faith. You must believe the truth of the gospel and place your faith in Jesus Christ alone. Not Jesus plus being a good person. Not Jesus plus going to church. Not Jesus plus getting baptized. It’s Jesus plus nothing. The righteousness of God comes from faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross and the power of His resurrection. That’s it. A verse we are probably familiar with, Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
It by God’s grace that he draws us to Him, that we have that encounter with Jesus through the preaching or teaching of His Word. And we place our faith in Him alone to be the righteousness that we need to enter into heaven. That’s it God’s grace and our faith in Jesus produces God’s righteousness in us.
After Paul met Jesus, there was a change in his valuation, there was a change in his righteousness. And finally, there was a
Change in His Desires
Change in His Desires
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,
That phrase “That I may know Him” has the idea of Paul wanting to continually know Jesus more. He wants to constantly grow in his relationship with God. He wants to know Him more, and more, and more. You see Paul desire changed. It was no longer all about Him. It was all about Jesus. He wanted was no longer concerned with earning praise from other men. He concern was gaining a greater knowledge of God. This was his greatest desire. And Paul tells us what that looks like.
He says “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection”. Paul wanted to experience more of the power of Christ in his life. He doesn’t want to live an ordinary life. He wants to do extraordinary things in the name of Jesus. But in order for this to happen, Paul needed a deeper connection with Christ.
You see every believer has the Holy Spirit living inside of them, and this same Spirit is the what brought Jesus Christ up from the dead. As we know God more, as we get into a deeper relationship with Christ, that power from God becomes more evident in our lives. We need God’s Holy Spirit power in order to live a godly life, to resist the temptations of this world, to endure the trials that we will go through, and to make disciples of all nations.
I know that often times we think of the Christian life. We think of the things that we are supposed to do and the things that we are not supposed to do and we think to ourselves, I can’t do it. Well you are right. In your own power, there is no way to live up to the standard of God’s Word. But through the power of the Holy Spirit. By relying on His strength. We can break the chains of sin. We can live godly in this world. We can walk confident that we have been freed and forgiven by Jesus. His power is what we need.
Living in the power of Christ’s resurrection sounds good to us, but next Paul says that we might share in His sufferings and become like him in his death. We can understand why Paul would have the desire to know Christ and gain more access to His power. But why on earth would he want to be like Him in suffering and death?
This is not to say that Paul enjoyed suffering in any facet, but Paul understood that following Jesus meant that experience persecution. When Paul first chose for follow Christ, Jesus said Acts 9:16
For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
And if anyone knew about suffering for the sake of Christ it was Paul. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 Paul lists the sufferings that he endured for the sake of Christ as he defended himself as God’s apostle.
Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Compared to the life that Paul lived as a Pharisees. This was tough. He truly did suffer great loss. But Paul could still boldly proclaim that knowing Jesus was worth it all.
Paul said to his son in the faith Timothy. 2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
This shoots down any idea of a prosperity gospel. Choosing to follow after Jesus doesn’t mean that everything automatically becomes easy. We will still go through difficulties. We may face opposition, but we can do so knowing that God is right there with us. It is often in these trials that we come to know Jesus more.
The third thing that Paul now desired is in Philippians 3:11 where he says
that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
After following Jesus, Paul now looked forward to the day when he would be like Jesus. He was sharing in the sufferings of Jesus death, and he would also share in the His resurrection. This is what we call glorification. The time when our life is over here on earth, we finally stand face to face with Jesus, and we received a new body free from the aches and pains of this world. Free from the stains of sin. We will be like Jesus.
When he says by any means possible he is not saying that he isn’t sure whether or not he will happen. But Paul isn’t sure if he will have to die before he is glorified. The believers that are alive when Christ returns will not have to experience death, but will be instantly changed into their glorified body. Paul wasn’t sure if he would be alive when Christ returned or if he would be resurrected, but he knew that in whichever case he would eventually be glorified through Jesus Christ.
Christians Paul’s new desires should be our desires. We should want know God more and more each day. We should want to experience more and more the power of God. We should be willing to accept that sufferings and trials in this world that we may gain a greater understanding of the sufferings of Christ and be able to identify with more closely with Him. We should be longing for the day that we can finally meet Jesus. I know there are things on this earth worth living for. And as long as God has you here, you should live your days serving Him. But it doesn’t hurt for us to desire to finally leave the cares of this world and be with Jesus.
Here is the main thought that I want you to get this morning.
Knowing God will change everything that you know.
Knowing God will change everything that you know.
Now when we talk about knowing God we are are not talking about knowing about God historically or intellectually. Knowing Christ means to experience him intimately and personally. Nobody truly comes to know Jesus and is the same.
You see before Paul met Jesus, he though that he had it all together. He thought he knew how to get into heaven. He thought he knew what it meant to live righteous. But when he might Jesus it changed his entire perspective. He realized that he was a sinner that was in need of the mercy, grace, and righteousness of God. He realized that he did not need to keep a list of rules in order to earn God’s favor, but he needed to follow God’s word out of his love and devotion to Christ. He thought he knew it all. He thought he had everything under control. But when he met Jesus, it changed everything he thought that he knew.
And the same is true for us here today. When we begin a relationship with Christ, it will change us. And the more that we come to know Him. The deeper into His Word we get where we learn His character. The more that we understand the implications of the gospel. The more we will change our perspective to God’s perspective.
There are some that may not want to change. There are some who fear that if they follow Christ they are going to miss out. But you need to ask yourself which is more important. What do you value most? A relationship with Christ? or whatever the thing is that is holding you back?
In Luke 18, we find the story of the rich ruler. This wealthy man came to Jesus and asked how he could inherit eternal life. First Jesus told him that he needed to keep all the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not murder, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and your mother. The rich man was like cool! I’ve been doing all of that since I was a child. But then Jesus said there’s one more thing that you need to do. Sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, and follow me. Well this extremely rich man couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was very sad, but he wasn’t going to give up his wealth and follow Jesus. I know it seems tough for Jesus to ask that, but Jesus had to reveal something in his heart. That rich man placed more value on his worldly possessions than he did on following Jesus. He didn’t want to give up his lifestyle here on earth to know God. Will you be like the rich ruler he places more value on something here on earth than you do on a relationship with Christ.
When Paul met Jesus, it changed his evaluation, it changed his standard for righteousness, and it changed his desires. Yes, there are some big changes that will take place if you choose to follow Jesus, but I want to assure you that Jesus is worth it all.
If you are here this morning and you have never come to know Jesus. You may know about God. You may have been to church, but you have never really began a relationship with Christ. This is your Damascus road moment. Jesus is calling out to you right now and he wants you to follow Him. Don’t let anything in this world keep you from answering that call.
For those of us that do know Christ. Each and every day we have decisions to make . Are we going to allow the things of this world keep us from knowing God more deeply. It’s easy to get distracted. It can be easy to give into temptation. It can be easy to slip into complete apathy. We need to make sure that we are not putting a greater value on worldly things and seeking after those things more than we seek after Christ. I encourage you examine your life. Is there something , it may not even be something sinful. But is there something in your life that you have assigned more value than your relationship with Christ and it is keeping you from knowing Him more deeply.