Laying hold of Eternal Life Philipp3.1-11 11-22-2020
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Children’s Thought
Children’s Thought
Have you ever played a game
where everyone wins
if they try, if they participate?
Do you like to win with everyone else?
As I look at Philippians chapter 3 with the adults this morning,
we are going to talk about how to win eternal life,
how to lay hold of it.
Eternal Life is living together with God, even if we die before God returns.
To get Eternal Life with God we have to do 3 things:
we need to repent and ask Jesus in our heart
we need to try to please God, imitate God and
we need to trust in His work because He paid the price. Our trying to please God, the good deeds we do are never enough to earn our way to heaven but Christ can get us their if we trust in Him.
Can we follow those 3 steps to get to be with God in heaven?
ask Christ in
try to please Him and
trust that He can get us in.
Let’s Pray
Let’s Pray
Laying Hold of Eternal Life
Laying Hold of Eternal Life
Our passage today begins with
Philippians 3:1 Finally, My brethren....
Philippians 3:1 Finally, My brethren....
If you are NOT familiar with preachers and preaching,
you might think Paul is about to stop.
But it only means
the Paul, or the preacher is rounding a corning and is getting near the stopping point.
He is not there yet.
As we read through this passage, we will see that Paul is turning his focus to how to obtain eternal life.
His instructions start with two commands
Command one
Command one
Is found in verse one
1 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.
What was the command?
Rejoice in the Lord.
Christians should be joyful people!
Not every day but
more often than not
we should be joyful!
Granted, even that is easier for some than others.
Notice Paul didn’t say
I hope you have joy
I hope things work out so you can have Joy
No, Paul commanded
Rejoice.
That tells me there is choice involved in us finding joy in a day.
Our lives are not just deterred but what happens to us.
We make choices
we can choose most days to rejoice.
Some time ago, in coaching,
I came to realize that how I chose to rejoice that my cup is half full
instead of fussing that it’s half empty.
I would be willing to bet,
you can do that too.
You can choice to be joyful
and your life will be better if you do.
If it’s not a real choice,
then why command it?
Happiness may depend on only good things happening to us, but
Joy is a choice and Joy comes from God.
Command two
Command two
2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.
In the Old Testament circumcision was a sign that you were a man in the Jewish culture and faith.
But in the New Testament, gentiles did not have to become Jews to have a relationship with God.
To the Greeks, circumcision was a mutilation of the human body. It was offensive to them.
To the Greeks only barbarians cut themselves or made markings or patterns on their bodies, such as tattoos. If we read about the Greeks we will learn that only criminals and some slaves were tattooed, marked so others would know their character or status.
The only exception for normal Greeks seemed to be sometimes a unit of soldiers would take on a symbol, a mark of their group.
Yet some of the Jewish Christians, couldn’t get past their tradition and wanted to make all Christians into Jews. They would try to convince the early Christians to get circumcised and follow the Torah, the whole law of God. We call these people Judaizers, people who insisted Christians must become Jews to be in a right relationship with God.
They would worry people, “You are not really saved, unless you get circumcised” they would say to new believers.
Paul called them what?
Dogs - not an affectionate term
evil workers
and the false circumcision
Then in verse 3 he says
3 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—
Circumcision has gone from an outward sign, they you are in the covenant relationship with God, to
something that happens in your heart
in fact this is what Paul says in Romans about who is a Jew and who is circumcised.
27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
So, Circumcision of the heart is letting God cut out of your heart and life, wickedness, greed, malice and many other things.
Amen? Amen!
So our two commands were
Rejoice and
Watch out for those legalistic Judaizers.
Worldly Status
Worldly Status
Many things can improve
or diminish our status in society.
Having a good family,
good grades
good tutors
good schools
the right friends
awards, scholarships
the best jobs.
the better job
the better house
the nicest close
being the fastest
the toughest player
When it came to status for a Jew in the New Testament times
Paul had all the achievements of status possible.
He outshines them all
but he calls it worthless.
Follow me as we read his words
as he stacks up his pedegree in comparison to the average Judaizer.
4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
So Paul was circumcised on the right day
the 8th day
Paul was a Jew,
His tribe was Benjaminite, one of only two tribes that returned from exile.
The Benjaminites had extra rules beyond the 613 commands in the Torah.
How close did he follow the law
he was a pharisee
Was he Zealous for God
Paul persecuted the early church
persecuted people to death
His righteousness according to the law
Faultless.
As one times, Paul was a man, any Jew should honor and praise.
We can have pride over our status:
our heritage
our achievements
our grades
our good looks
our money, cars, house or houses.
Wouldn’t you and I like to have such a good pedigree in
things our culture values, just like Paul had in the New Testament culture?
Yet this is what he says about his heritage and
his personal achievements
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
He counts is all loss.
Useless stuff.
Soon we will see he says it again in stronger terms.
Compared to knowing Christ, those status things of the pasts are worthless to him.
8 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
Knowing Jesus
Gaining Christ is worth more to Paul then any heritage
any achievements
he had ever gained in his life
If fact he calls all his prior status
garbage.
If fact the translators are being kind their,
I read the word refers to the worst smelling waist,
the worst smelling manure that you could find.
So far I would have to elect pig sty manure,
that smell permeated some of my closes for years.
years after helping my father in law look after pigs,
I could still smell the pig barn when taking some items from the dryer.
Perhaps you know of something worse smelling.
Paul would say,
compared to knowing Christ, all his awards and inheritance stunk and was worthless.
He chucks it all to gain Christ.
And not to just gain Christ
but to be found in Him
to be staking his life on Jesus Christ righteousness
which comes
as he said,
from faith in God.
9 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.
There is no doubt in the Gospels that Jesus expects His followers to OBEY His commands
and if you are not obeying, you are not “in” Christ.
But that doesn’t mean we are to trust that we are ever going to earn our salvation.
We must never let pride make us think we are earning our salvation.
If we let our pride convince us we are so much better than others
and that we are earning our ticket to heaven,
then we have become one of those accursed dogs
Paul was talking about at first
we have become someone to beware of.
What did Paul want
10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
He wanted to be like Christ.
I hope we all want to be like Christ
to have His attitude and love toward people
To have his wisdom and to speak to peoples needs
that would be wonderful.
But Paul even wants to be like Christ in His suffering and become like Christ in his death.
Wow. that is sincere faith.
Why did he want these things
11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Somehow to attain the resurrection from the dead.
Was Paul wavering in his faith here?
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
No, Paul has no doubt that he will be raised from the dead when Christ returns.
When he says
11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Paul is expressing that he doesn’t understand the mechanics of being
re-animated
but he has no doubt God can and will raise Paul from the dead.
Just as I don’t know how God will raise us from the dead if we die in Chist,
but I have no doubt that he can and will raise us up.
Is that worth an Amen? Amen!
Hallelujah Jesus
Amen.
Conclusion
Can I wrap things up here by telling you a story?
Pam and I have been following some super heros in our resting time.
To have a super hero,
you have to have some super villans.
So we were watching a show the other night and there was this bad guy who wants Eternal Life
And he searched long and hard for this ancient and powerful idol
Of course you know this is all fiction right?
Ok
So the villain found his idol
and he says the special incantation and something happens.
That’s when the villain, starts shooting people
dead.
Each time someone died, the idol gained more power
and so did the villain.
The villains so called eternal life
came at the cost of others live.
We know that is fiction but
many people think eternal life comes from believing in God
without changing their behavior
that is fiction!
. . . . .
Others believe they have eternal life because of all the rules they follow
and push others to follow,
but that is fiction too
Eternal Life is only available through Christ
and only available to those willing to humble themselves and say
my works were never going to be good enough
I trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ for my salvation!
What about you?
Do you trust in God
but fail to follow His lead into a new life in Christ?
Or do you follow the other extreme,
obeying Christ but trusting in your own obedience
forgetting to trust in Him,
forgetting to trust in Jesus finished work on the cross?
Or do you do both
After asking Him into your life
do you do all you can to obey Him,
relying on His power to change you and
do you still trusting ultimately in Christ saving work on the Cross
to pay the penalty for your sins.
that is were we all need to be but
If you have fallen into one of the fallacies ,
and today want to make a change.
Give that to Christ this morning as we close in prayer.
Give that to Christ this morning as we close in prayer.