Philippians 3:4-8

“4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:

“5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;

6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

“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”

It’s Time To Trade It In!

Introduction

Paul received a new name from Christ when He was converted on the road to Damascus. His name used to be Saul.

Paul used to be a man who went strictly by the Law and persecuted Christians for following Jesus who is the fulfillment of the Law.

Now that Paul has found the truth in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, he now counts all he learned from the Law as garbage, rubbish, and dung compared to the excellence of his and our Savior.

We have learned a lot of valuable things in our lifetime. But like Paul did, we have to count this knowledge inferior to the knowledge of Christ.

What Used To Be Good Is Lost For Christ

It was good for Saul to place confidence in his flesh, or so he thought…before he encountered Jesus.

He studied under great teachers of the Law. So it was good for him to place his confidence in what he learned.

He was steeped in legalism which is defined as strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code.

It can also be defined as something that restricts the flow of the Holy Spirit.

Paul even held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, a devoted Christian Deacon, and killed him. (Acts 7:57-8:1)

But out of all he learned, all he experienced and all he practiced couldn’t compare to what he discovered in Jesus.

What Paul Lost was Garbage Compared To What He gained In Christ

There is nothing more valuable than knowing and having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Nothing or no one else can save us aside from Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 declares: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””

There is only way we can be saved and that is thorough the shed blood of Jesus!

Illustration

Let’s say we’re driving a car that is old, rusted, with one mechanical failure after another.

We love that car because it’s the car our grandparents drove and it was handed down our parents, and they handed it down to us.

Every time we think we’re getting somewhere, it breaks down on us and we don’t ever get there or when we do arrive we’ve missed out on what we wanted to do when we got there.

But we refuse to trade that old beat up car in for a newer and model that will carry us where ever we need to go.

We ride by a car dealership and decide to take a peek, and the salesman convinces us to try a newer model.

We finally decide to trade it in and when we do, we discover life without setbacks, delays, and aggravation.

In the same way Paul had to trade in that old vehicle of legalism and hatred away to receive a new vehicle to ride around in until God called him home.

What Do We Need To Trade In?

There’s nothing more valuable to us than a knowledgeable relationship with Jesus.

What we thought was valuable is nothing when we compare it all to Jesus.

Paul said he count it all as dung, rubbish, trash, and of no value.

Some of us are riding around in an old vehicle that has a bunch of trash in the trunk. That trash could be a number of things.

Is it a spirit of adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkeness, revelries and other trash?

Is it faith in this New Age religion?

Faith in our ancestors.

Faith in ill-gotten gains (lottery, stealing, falsifying documents…)

…and so forth.

What have we placed our confidence in? Is it what we own, learned, read, and practiced?

Conclusion

Some of us are still using vehicles that have fallen apart trying to get to a place in Jesus!

Some of us have flat refused to trade in that old vehicle with all the junk in the trunk.

I remember when I rode around in that old vehicle. Someone who knew Jesus tried to get me to trade it in but I kept refusing.

But one day I met the maker of the old and the new vehicle. He showed me all the new features:

A GPS touch screen navigator which is His word, God’s Positioning System.

He showed me the new AC system, that will cool me down when I’m in a fiery trial.

He showed the airbag system that would activate when I get in one of life’s crashes.

And he showed me the cruise control that would get me there using the right speed which is His divine timing and purpose.

IT’S TIME TO TRADE IT IN!!!