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Perseverance of the Saints - Philippians 3:1-11 - The Surrendered Life · Mount Eaton Church

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  Alright, turn to Philippians chapter 3.
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  So when I first did this message I was like, it's going to be easy to handle, it's not
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  that hard.
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  There's nothing majorly controversial in this message at all, so that's a good thing.
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  But it's actually going to be quite difficult because what I end up sharing, I didn't realize
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  just how important legacy and how much worth we put in to our work and how important that
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  legacy is to many people.
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  And Paul deals with this issue quite forth-frontly and to be honest with you, when you read it
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  you go, all these verses are amazing.
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  But it leaves you questioning.
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  It really is going to challenge you.
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  There's quite a bit here.
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  Paul is dealing with the doctrine of Christian living here and it's really dealing with the
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  issue of the heart.
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  So you're going to start seeing that as we go through this.
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  So before that I want to pray and ask God to direct my words that I teach the full counsel
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  of His word.
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  Father, I want to come before you.
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  You are the sovereign.
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  This is your word.
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  You have given us the privilege to open it, to read it, to learn of you, to taste and
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  see that the Lord is good and you have given us the responsibility to be good stewards
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  of your word, to teach the full counsel of your word and help us to grasp the importance
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  of it even when things are uncomfortable for us and that we honor and glorify you and that
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  we align our hearts, our wills to your will.
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  And Lord we praise you and thank you in Jesus' name, amen.
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  So first principle.
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  Failure to warn is a failure to lead.
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  Failure to warn is a failure to lead.
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  It's kind of interesting that Paul starts off chapter three really in his letter, in
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  the middle of his letter with this like statement.
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  And you're like, it seems a little out of place considering where it was at, but it's
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  not actually.
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  So Paul warns the Philippians.
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  So failure to warn is a failure to lead.
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  Ezekiel 33 verse six says this, but if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not
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  blow the trumpet so that the people are not warned and the sword comes and takes any one
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  of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at
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  the watchman's hands.
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  In other words, the watchman has a responsibility to warn you of what is coming.
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  If we do not, yes, your sin is on you, but the life or the blood of that person would
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  be on my conscience, my responsibility, and God will hold me accountable to that.
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  That's why I warned quite a bit.
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  It's not always fun to warn.
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  But nonetheless, we have to do it.
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  And Paul does the same thing here.
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  The Philippians one verse, Philippians three, verse one and two.
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  Finally my brothers rejoice in the Lord.
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  They're like, oh, starting off good to write the same things to you is no trouble to me
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  and is safe or can be relied on and is true for you.
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  That's what that word safe means.
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  That word safe is not safe for you in that it's a safety.
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  No.
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  In other words, these things that I'm writing to you, though they are the same things, it's
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  not a big deal and can be relied on and is true.
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  You can bank on it.
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  It's good for you.
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  Verse two, look out, keep your eye out for, that's what this word means in the Greek.
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  Look out means to keep an eye out for, for what?
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  For the dogs.
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  Look out for the evildoers.
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  Look out for those who manipulate the flesh.
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  Here Paul gives warnings three times.
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  Thank you.
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  Thank you so much.
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  Paul gives warnings about these particular dogs, these evildoers, these mutilators of
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  the flesh.
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  You have to keep an eye out for these people.
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  That's the point.
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  They'll come in and ravage and cause you to do evil and, and then they will manipulate
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  you to do what they want you to do.
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  Look out.
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  So he gives a warning and then all of a sudden everything else changes in this conversation.
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  He warns them because of this reason basically.
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  And that's what we're going to see here.
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  Principle number two, the true Christian is a true worshiper.
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  The true Christian is a true worshiper.
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  John four, John four verse 23 through 24 says, says this, but the hour is coming and is now
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  here when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father
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  is seeking such people to worship him.
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  God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.
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  Why do, why does Paul give this statement?
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  Right after he warns them of these particular people because these particular men who are
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  dogs and evil doers and manipulate the flesh want the people of Philippi to do something
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  they should not do and they won't.
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  That's what's special about this particular church.
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  They are extremely obedient to, to the word of God.
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  This is what Paul says for we are the circumcision.
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  We are the true Christians who worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus.
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  Do you hear that?
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  We are, we're not, we're not the true Christians based on an outward circumcision.
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  We are the true Christians based on the circumcision of the heart.
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  We are the true believers, the ones who are truly sealed and belong to him.
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  That's what circumcision was.
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  It was a seal, a proof that they were God's people or they were the people of promise.
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  But they, they rejected the promise.
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  So the true worshipers are the ones who are the true circumcision because they are worshipers
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  by the spirit of God and glory in Christ.
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  The proof of the true Christian is the spirit of God in the believer and the glory of Christ,
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  the result.
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  And these people put no confidence in the flesh.
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  This word, no confidence in the flesh is not an issue of me putting confidence in my sinful
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  nature.
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  That's a bad teaching.
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  That's not what he's saying here.
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  In other words, their confidence being in the flesh is they are not the people of God based
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  upon their outward seal of the circumcision.
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  Their position before God is not based upon their physical circumcision.
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  That's what it means to put confidence in flesh.
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  Before God, I'm a believer because I'm circumcised.
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  Paul saying no.
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  You're a believer because you worship God by the spirit and glory in Christ.
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  That's the sign of a circumcised heart.
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  But Paul says this in verse four, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh.
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  If there's anyone who can brag on the reality of my position before God as a Jew, no one
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  can compare.
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  Now think about that.
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  In other words, I am the Jew of all Jews.
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  That's what Paul's basically saying.
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  See principle number three, your confidence should never come from what you know, what
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  you have, what you've done, or where you're going.
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  Your confidence must always be in Christ.
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  Your confidence never comes from what you know, what you've done, what you have, or
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  where you're going.
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  It should be Christ and Christ alone.
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  Carnal things and your flesh will always fail you, but Christ will never forsake you.
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  Philippians chapter three, 4b through six.
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  If anyone thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.
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  And so what Paul does is he builds his argument about his Jewishness.
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  And this is what he says, I am the man when it comes to these things.
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  First, circumcised on the eighth day, check.
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  Of the people of Israel, check.
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  Of the tribe of Benjamin, check.
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  Of Hebrews of Hebrews, check.
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  As to the law of Pharisee, check.
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  As to zeal, persecutor of the church, check.
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  As to righteousness under the law, blameless, check.
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  There is no one.
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  He was going to be high priest, trust me.
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  This guy was the man.
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  If he had any reason to brag on his Jewishness, he did.
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  But his Jewishness is not what made him circumcised of the heart.
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  All the things that he can brag about, that he can build confidence in, the things that
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  he built his fame on, are nothing.
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  He can rightfully brag that he's an amazing Jew.
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  How many times do we build so that we have a legacy?
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  His legacy is unmatched.
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  How much time do you put into your work?
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  Do you put into your projects?
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  Do you put into your house?
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  Do you put into everything you do so that, so when it's all said and done, you have a
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  name.
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  I have confidence in these things.
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  Paul deals with this quite dramatically.
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  Next principle.
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  This is the shocking part.
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  Everything you have worked for and you perceived as success will be forgotten.
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  Your lasting reward is Christ and Christ alone.
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  Now, Pastor Joe, what are you trying to say?
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  No one will remember you.
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  Now, I don't know about you.
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  I said this in, this is the hard part, I said this in first service.
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  I don't know anybody from like 1910.
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  Do you know any famous people from like 1910?
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  Charlie Chapman.
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  That's about the only one I can remember and that's only because he was funny.
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  That's all I remember.
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  But do you know anything about that man's life?
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  Do you even care?
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  Because they all get forgotten.
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  All the work you'll ever put in in your life will be forgotten one day.
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  And Jesus says this, Matthew 6, 19 through 21.
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  Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy or where
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  thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither
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  moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure
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  is there your heart will be also.
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  Your legacy, what you work for, what you know, what you've done, what you have, where you're
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  going mean nothing.
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  But we put our confidence in all of that trash because we think I'm going to leave a legacy.
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  I'm going to be remembered.
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  Success is not what you accumulate or what you've done.
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  True success is what you have you invested in the lives of God's people.
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  Because one day we're all going to die and be forgotten about.
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  It's hard, but look what Paul says, Philippians 3, 7 and 8.
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  But whatever gain I had, I count as loss for the sake of Christ.
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  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
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  Jesus my Lord.
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  In other words, all the things that Paul had every reason to brag about and say, I am successful.
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  I am the man.
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  All the reasons he has the right to brag that he is the Jew of Jews and is the promised
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  of God is rubbish, means nothing.
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  He counts them as as if he never had it.
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  It's loss.
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  It's like all of his wealth has been bankrupt.
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  For what reason?
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  Just for knowing Christ.
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  The surpassing worth of knowing Christ.
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  How much, how important is that to you?
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  What is the worth of just knowing him and for the sake of Christ?
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  In other words, I'm willing to get rid of all of it just to know him.
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  What a value.
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  And we have his declaration right here.
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  And how much time do we spend knowing him?
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  Last principle, true surrender is the willingness to lose everything to gain only one, Christ.
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  Take all the stuff, trash it.
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  Jesus.
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  Is he enough?
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  The ultimate act of surrender is to die.
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  Philippians chapter two, verse five through eight says this, have this mind among yourselves,
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  which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality
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  with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a slave, being
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  born in the likeness of men, being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming
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  obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.
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  If the ultimate act of surrender is death, Jesus left a perfect example.
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  He surrendered to the will of the father.
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  I did not come to do my will, but the one who sent me.
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  The words I say are his words.
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  He ultimately did everything the father wanted him to do.
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  Ultimate surrender.
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  This is what Paul says chapter three, verse eight through 11.
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  For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish.
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  In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own
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  that comes from the law.
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  Now let's stop there for a minute.
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  For Christ's sake, all things trash.
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  Dump material.
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  All things compared to Christ, trash.
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  Rubbish.
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  Dung.
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  Worthless.
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  Means nothing.
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  In order that I may gain Christ, that I may gain salvation and that I be found in him.
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  Now this is important because we talked about this doctrine.
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  If I'm in Christ, I'm in the father.
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  That's called eternal security.
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  Yes, it's real.
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  Illiterate, depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance
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  of the saints.
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  In Christ, I'm his forever.
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  So not only do I gain Christ, but now I'm found in him and the righteousness that I
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  could claim based upon my flesh is not a righteousness at all.
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  So he was, according to the law, blameless.
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  No, he's guilty in reality because the righteousness he has is not his own righteousness.
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  Here's what it says, but the righteousness, parentheses, the righteousness that comes
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  through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
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  Say sola fide, faith alone.
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  The very faith I have is from Christ and the very faith that I get from God depends on
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  him.
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  Now, this very faith that comes through, that which comes through faith in Christ, my righteousness,
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  this righteousness that is from God depends on the very faith or the very gift of faith
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  that he's given me.
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  Why is this important?
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  Because you don't have faith apart from Jesus.
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  One, dead things don't have anything.
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  And if we're dead in our trespasses and sins, that means you're dead.
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  Secondly, just because I push a window up and it doesn't fall on my neck is not faith.
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  That's physics.
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  Faith is supernatural.
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  Not everybody on the earth has faith.
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  Unbelievers don't have faith because only faith comes from God.
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  And you can't have faith unless you have God.
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  And this is what he says in verse 10, in order for me that I may know him and the power of
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  his resurrection, I have to have a faith, a righteousness from God that depends upon
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  the gift of faith that he's given to me.
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  That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings and become
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  like him in his death.
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  Do you get that?
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  Because of the righteousness that comes from God depending upon faith, I now can know him,
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  the power of his resurrection, may share his sufferings with joy.
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  That's why he says, finally, brothers, rejoice in the Lord with joy.
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  And I will become like him in his death, not just like him in my life.
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  We love to be like Jesus living like him, but when it comes to surrender and sacrifice,
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  we don't want anything to do with that.
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  But God says here that we become like him in his death, that if we die, we live.
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  And if we live, we live to Christ.
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  We want true freedom, die.
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  That's the answer.
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  Why?
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  That by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
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  That whatever it takes, if I'm becoming like him in his death, I will attain by any means
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  possible his resurrection.
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  Here's the proof, more proof, I'll give you more.
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  It says, if you want to be my disciple, take up your cross daily, deny yourself, and follow
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  me.
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  So taking up your cross means you got to what?
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  Die.
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  You must deny yourself.
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  Second scripture, and I use this a lot, Romans 12 verse 1, therefore, I urge you, brothers,
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  in the view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing
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  unto God, for this is your reasonable act of worship.
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  What's it require?
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  Death.
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  When a pastor and a teacher tells you you can have your best life now, run, because
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  your best life is death.
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  You get your best life when you die, not now.
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  By any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
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  What does that mean?
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  That ultimately, my body, when it is resurrected, will become like his body, and I will be complete.
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  And what did God say in Philippians chapter 1?
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  His ultimate purpose is to what?
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  To finish what he started.
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  He is faithful to complete the work that he has started in you, to be like him, that I
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  may know him, share him, and become like him in all things.
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  Why?
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  Because he has predestined us to be conformed into the image of his son.
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  The secret to the Christian life is death.
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  Death brings freedom.
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  If you're fighting to live, you're enslaving yourself.
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  But if you fight to die, you will find freedom.
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  So Paul says here, don't be remembered for all the stuff you think you can do.
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  It's better to be forgotten and store up treasure than to store up treasures on earth and think
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  that you're going to be remembered.
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  What matters today matters.
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  Don't worry about tomorrow.
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  Worry about today.
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  I knew it was going to get quiet because you matter today.
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  Father, I want to thank you so much for your faithfulness and goodness.
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  Thank you, Lord, for these hard truths, but nonetheless so important because out of all
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  things in our entire life that you give us and grant us on this earth, the only thing
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  that matters, the only person that matters, the only legacy in which we could leave that
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  matters is Christ and the wonderful gospel of Christ.
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  May everything we do lead us to that one moment where what we leave is him.
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  And Lord, we praise you and we thank you in Jesus' name.
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  Amen.