Skip to content Joy in Being Found in Christ | Philippians Part 07 | Rev Paul Jeyachandran Jul 14 · 54 min ...more
316K followers
Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
316K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
0:00 Today, we're gonna study Philippians chapter 3 verses 1 to 11. Joy in following Christ. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly father, I thank you for this day. Thank you for speaking to our hearts.0:12 I pray that the Holy Spirit will be our teacher. Give us listening ear and a heart that is willing to obey in Jesus' name. The people of God said, amen and amen. Joy in following Christ.0:23 Philippians chapter 3 verses 1 to verse 11. I want you to imagine this. This letter has been brought back from Rome by Epaphroditus and he is now in0:34 Philippi reading this letter to the people of God. And as he is reading this, chapter 3 verse 1 comes to highlight. Finally, my brothers, delight,0:45 rejoice in the Lord. Paul says, rejoice in the Lord. And I want you to imagine this. Maybe at that time someone stopped Epaphroditus and said, Epaphroditus, I want0:57 you to know, I want to ask, is Paul really rejoicing? He is in Roman prison, chained to a Roman guard. He has no privacy. Is he rejoicing in this circumstance right1:09 now? And if Aphroditus would have said, Yes, Paul doesn't rejoice in the circumstance, but Paul rejoices in the Lord in the midst of his circumstance, even in1:21 spite of his circumstance. Hallelujah. And I'm sure the jailer, the Philippian jailer who got saved in Acts chapter 16, he would have said, I can testify to that. When I threw him in prison1:33 in Philippi, when I threw him in Silas and put them in chains myself, They begin to sing songs. They were worshiping God. They were rejoicing and praising until they they the whole earth1:45 shook and they continued to rejoice and praise God. I'm a witness to it. My family got saved that evening. Can you see the picture? Paul is a man who trusts in God so1:57 much that his heart is filled with delight. There is a rejoicing. There is a thanksgiving that comes from his heart. And it's not in the circumstances, but it's anchored in the2:08 Lord. Hallelujah. Want you to pay attention to this. As believers in Christ, as disciples of Jesus Christ, our soul needs to be anchored and rooted in2:20 this fountain of joy. You and I have joy unspeakable because we are filled with grateful hearts, because we are filled with the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. Something2:32 that he has done for us causes us to rejoice no matter what it is. That is why I believe this portion of Scripture is so important for us even in this season.2:44 Rejoice. Hallelujah. But Paul knows that while you and I need to be rejoicing in the redemption that we have, there are joy stealers, There are joy robbers that will come and subtly move2:56 us out of joy in our discipleship journey. Paul goes on to write about the subtlety of the danger that we face and then the distinctiveness of following Christ. I'm going to give you3:08 2 lenses through which you see this passage. Philippians chapter 3 verses 1 to 8, we can say this, that Paul exposes the ultimate folly of fleshly3:20 confidence. And secondly, from verse 8 all the way to verse 11, we can actually say Paul expounds the ultimate fulfillment of following Christ. So let's look at it 1 by3:32 1. Paul exposes the ultimate folly of fleshly confidence. Verses 1 to verse 8. Look at verse 1. It says, Finally, my brothers, rejoice3:44 in the Lord. And then he goes on to say, To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Paul is considering the safety of the believers3:55 in Philippi. And he says, I want to remind you some things. I want to write to you some things that I may have written in other letters, but at the same time I am writing this to you because it is safe for you.4:07 See, a pastor's heart is to protect the flock. Protect the flock from what? From the distortion of the truth, from the dilution of the truth, from the deception that will come and be prevalent in the4:19 last days. And Paul in another place actually emphasized this. In Acts chapter 20 when he was leaving the Ephesian church, he looked at the leaders and he says in verse4:31 28, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church which he obtained with his own blood. And then he goes on to say,4:43 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you. Look at the language. Fierce wolves will come in, and they will not spare the flock. And from among yourselves4:54 men will arise, men speaking twisted things, and they will draw men after themselves. I want you to listen to me carefully. Paul knew that there will be fierce wolves that will rise5:06 up. That means the church needs to be protected, protected by the truth. That's why you and I, we need to pay attention to what Paul writes in this passage of Scripture because Paul5:18 understands that there is a danger at the doorstep. Look at verse 2. In Philippians chapter 3 and verse 2 he goes on to say, Look out for the dogs. Look out for the5:29 evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 times he uses that 1 word, look out. It's the English word beware. It's almost like a command. It's an5:41 imperative. He says, I want you to be constantly on the lookout. Beware of the dogs, of evildoers, and those who mutilate the flesh.5:53 Now who are these people who mutilate the flesh? In fact, in another translation it says, they are the people who belong to the false circumcision. In other words, these are Judaizers.6:05 Who are Judaizers? Judaizers are people who are from the Jewish faith. They are following the traditions of Moses and then they followed Christ. Then they became a Christian. So these are6:17 Jewish believers. And these Jewish believers, they walk into a Gentile church and tell the Gentiles, if you really want to be saved you have to become a Jew first6:28 and then you place your faith in Christ. In other words, Jesus placing your faith alone in Christ is not enough. You need to be circumcised and follow the law of Moses.6:40 Only then you will be saved. In other words, they were giving them fake news. What is the fake news? Jesus plus circumcision equals salvation. That's the fake news.6:52 Because the good news is Jesus plus nothing is salvation. So they were giving them the fake news. So here, Pont continues to write about these are the people you need to look out for. And he calls them7:04 dogs and he gives them 3 descriptions. He says they are dogs, they are evil doers, and they are mutilators. In other words, they are not people of the circumcision. They7:15 want to not just circumcise your flesh, they actually want to mutilate you. In other words, they are mutilators. And this is a play on word. I will touch on it later. And this is what Paul says. 3 things about them.7:27 Dogs. Why dogs? You know Jewish people considered Gentiles dogs because they are ceremonially unclean. And here Paul says he is writing to the7:39 Jews, the Judaizers, people who have been born again from the Jewish background. He says to them, they are dogs. That means they are ceremonially unclean. They are scavenger dogs.7:51 They are people who are out here to devour you. They are coming in to devour. See the fierce wolves, scavenger dogs. That's the picture he wants you to catch. The second thing he goes on to say is they are8:02 evildoers. What about evildoers? Evil doers because it is not that they claim to do the work of God. They claim to do the work of the law, but they are actually doing8:14 works of evil. That's what it means. They are evil doers. Even though they, on the superficial level, whatever they say makes sense because they are following the law of Moses, but yet when it comes to8:26 salvation, that is an evil thing because they are putting Jesus plus circumcision equals salvation. And thirdly, he goes on to say they are the mutilators. They8:38 come here to ask you to circumcise. Look, this is not a new thing. This is this is the whole book of Galatians. He wrote a whole book because there were people coming to the Galatian church and they were distorting the8:49 truth. Look at Galatians chapter 1 and verse 7. The Bible says in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 7, there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. And these are the Judaizers. They come into the9:01 church and they say Jesus plus circumcision equals salvation. But what Paul is saying is they are dogs. Are evil doers. All they want is just cut off some of your flesh, but9:13 it doesn't help you in any way. Then he goes on to say something. This is something that you and I need to pay attention because in the old days this was the problem that they were facing, isn't it, in the early9:25 church? In Acts chapter 15 and verse 1, indeed Paul took this matter all the way to the Jerusalem council and because this was the problem. What's the problem? Some men came down from Judea and were9:36 teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Look at that. Unless you are circumcised, you cannot be saved.9:48 Jesus plus circumcision equals salvation. That is the fake news, not the gospel. And so Paul takes this head on and he says that you will also hear this 1 day.10:00 There will be false teachers that will come in and they will want to steal the joy that you have in the Lord, the freedom that you have in the Lord. So you and I need to watch out for the evil doers, for the dogs, and10:12 the mutilators. And the reason why he goes on to say this so clearly is because he contrasts them with people who are of the true circumcision.10:24 In verse 3 he says, For we are the true circumcision. In other words, they are the false circumcision but we are the true circumcision. You who worship by the spirit of10:36 God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Just like he gave 3 descriptions for the for the people who are doing evil. They are the dogs, evil doers, and mutilators. He10:48 gives 3 descriptions for people who truly belong to the circumcision. And he says, how do I identify them? 3 things. A worship by the spirit of God, glory in Christ, and put no confidence in11:00 the flesh. I want you to pay attention to this. 2 words that he uses. 1 is the false circumcision and 1 is the true circumcision. The false circumcision, he calls them the mutilators,11:12 Katatome in Greek. And who are the true circumcision? The true circumcision is peritome. And he contrasts these 2 and he says, You've got to pay attention because the11:24 moment you add something to Jesus, you say that what Jesus did on the cross is not enough, I need to do my work, the moment you add something else, whether it's11:36 circumcision, whether it's baptism, whether it's taking communion or something else as a work, what happens is you would not be saved because Jesus alone11:47 saves. And that is what he was trying to highlight here because this is the danger. The reason why this is important is because today we are not facing circumcision as an issue, isn't it? But you know what?11:59 There are people who claim to be Christians because they come from a good Christian background. They would say, My great grandfather built a church in my country, in my city. You know, my12:11 parents have been faithful Christians. They've been attending church. I saw I've been attending church since I was young. Or I have taken a baptism when I was a baby. Or I have been confirmed into the church when I was a12:23 baby. Can I humbly say this? Babies cannot take baptism because there is no evidence in the scripture that babies need baptism. I want you to listen to me carefully. Baptism is something that you do as a result of12:35 acknowledging that Jesus Christ is your savior when you have senses and acknowledging that today I believe in him. It's a personal salvation. So here, nothing of this ritual will ever save you. That is the whole12:47 point. And that is what Paul is trying to highlight here. Because in that day and age, it was circumcision. But in this day and age, it could be something else. So you and I, we need to pay attention to this.12:58 That Paul says here that they are not the true circumcision. They are just a mutilation. Whereas we are the true circumcision. I wanted to take you to Romans chapter 213:11 and look at verse 28 and verse 29 because the circumcision is for people who are from the Jewish faith, isn't it? The descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people are13:22 called to do circumcision. Every male that was born in the descendant of Abraham was called to be circumcised. But the Bible says in Romans 8 2 and verse 28, for no 113:34 is a Jew. Paul writes and he says, No 1 is a Jew who is merely 1 outwardly nor is circumcision outward and physical. In other words, but Jew is 113:46 inwardly. A circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. Listen to me carefully. 1 who is a Jew,13:58 who is a Jew? The 1 who is a Jew is certainly someone who is inwardly and circumcision is not a matter of external14:11 surgery, but it's an internal transformation of heart. And that transformation of heart produced by the Holy Spirit. That's what Paul is writing here. So I want you to listen to me carefully. Paul goes on to14:22 say, Just because you're born in a Jewish home doesn't necessarily make you a Jew. Who is a true Jew? A true Jew is someone who has faith in God in his heart.14:34 His heart has been circumcised. He loves God. There is a change of heart in his life. So circumcision is not just external, a physical surgery. Circumcision is the condition of14:46 the heart. That's what he is talking about. So he says, even in the Old Testament, those who claim to be Jews, they are not really Jews unless there is a heart change. That is what if you14:58 read in Jeremiah chapter 9. Go home and read Jeremiah 9. And you'll find that in the passage God actually says, even if you circumcise, there's no difference between you and the other Gentiles who circumcise as well15:10 because in Egypt and other parts of that that region also circumcised. And they are not Jews. So God was saying that unless your heart has been circumcised, you truly15:22 are not a person who has a covenant relationship with God. Listen to me. In the same manner, those who come to faith in Christ, it's external things that you do that makes you a Christian. It is your heart15:33 transformation. It is your belief in Christ. And as a result, the Holy Spirit comes and indwells you and transforms your life from the inside out. Hallelujah. Now that is15:45 a disciple of Christ. So here, Paul gives you 3 things in verse 3. I want you to pay attention to these 3 things. He says, We are a true circumcision. We15:57 worship by the Spirit of God. Number 2, we glory in Christ. And thirdly, we put no confidence in the flesh. Firstly, he says, we worship by the Spirit of God.16:09 We are the true circumcision. You know in the Old Testament, the Lord prophesied through prophet Joel that 1 day God will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. And16:21 indeed in Ezekiel he says, My Spirit will dwell with them. In their heart, I will give them a new heart. I will write upon their heart my laws, the Lord says. When was this fulfilled?16:33 In the Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured upon the church and the church was birthed. Hallelujah. Indeed, the spirit of God is a sign for us16:45 that we are the true circumcision. Indeed, we are the true descendants of Abraham. Why? We are the seed of Abraham because Christ is the seed of Abraham and in Christ, we are the seed of Abraham.16:57 Therefore, because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, it is a sign that we are the true circumcision. That's what he is saying. See, when you think about the Holy Spirit in the Bible, in the New17:08 Testament, Holy Spirit is given to us for 3 things. 1, he is given to us as a sign that we are children of God. Hallelujah. Not only that we are the church and the children of God because the Holy Spirit now17:20 indwells us. Secondly, it is also we are sealed unto salvation, the Bible says. It's a guarantee. Holy Spirit is a guarantee. What does it mean to be a guarantee? You know, if a man17:32 loves a woman, he gives her an engagement ring. The engagement ring doesn't mean that they are married. It means that he promises her that I will take you as my wife 1 day17:44 in a soon, in a very, in a short runway. I'll make you my wife. So he's promising her and giving her a guarantee that we are gonna have a future together. That is exactly what the holy spirit is.17:56 He when he has been given to us, the holy spirit has been poured out into the church and we have him indwelling us. It is a guarantee we have been sealed with the spirit. We have the guarantee that we belong to God.18:07 Hallelujah. He's coming back for us. Praise God. Thirdly, Holy Spirit. The Bible says he bears witness with our spirit that we belong to God, that we are the children of God. He continuously bears18:19 witness. He intercedes for us. He continuously bears witness. The Bible says here we are the true circumcision because we worship God in the spirit. That word worship there includes18:30 not just singing songs and praising him but also the sacrificial work, sacrificial service that we do. That's what Paul wrote in chapter 2 about Timothy who sacrificed and served,18:42 the church. At the same time, Epaphroditus who sacrificed and served for Paul that met the needs of Paul. Here he says that worship, we do it by the spirit of God. Isn't that what18:54 Jesus said to the Samaritan woman? 1 day you and I will worship him not in a temple but we will worship God who is a spirit. We will worship him in spirit and in truth.19:06 Hallelujah. We are that generation. We are the ones who have the spirit of God given to us as a guarantee, as a seal, and as a witness. Hallelujah. Therefore, we worship God in the Spirit of19:18 God. Praise God. I want to share with you. If you ever think, if you ever have doubts whether you are a true Christian, how would you ever know that you are a true Christian?19:30 You are not a true Christian just because you show up in church or you serve in church or you do ministry. You only are a true Christian if your heart has that worship unto the Lord.19:41 That means you can't wait. You want to serve God. You want to worship him. And you want to You have a deep affection for him. You have a delight in him. And you have a19:53 quiet confidence in him. You who are resting and trusting in him in every circumstance. That's the worship. That worship comes in our lives because we have the Spirit of God within us.20:05 Secondly, he goes on to say, They glory in Christ Jesus. What does glory in Christ Jesus mean? Glory in Christ Jesus means we boast in Christ. That means we make Him everything. It is20:17 not Jesus plus what we do that gives us the blessing or gives us the room to be in the kingdom of God. It is Jesus alone. Therefore, we give ourselves completely20:29 praise him, to worship him, to adore him, and live daily our lives to get to know him more. Hallelujah. And thirdly, he goes on to say that they put no confidence in the flesh. 1 of the20:41 characteristics of a Christian is a person who doesn't have confidence in the flesh because we know flesh doesn't desire God. In our flesh, there so much20:53 carnality in our flesh, so much worldliness in our flesh that it yields to the temptation. So we need to crucify our flesh and we need to put no confidence in the flesh. And that is exactly21:05 what Paul tries to highlight here. So as he is saying this, Paul knows that there will be people who will talk about circumcision as the key thing for them towards salvation.21:17 And Paul says, If you guys are going to boast about your fleshly effort, I have more reason to boast. If you're going to trust in your own effort, I have more reasons to21:28 trust in my own effort. Look at this in verse 4. He says, this is what he goes on to say, Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh, if anyone thinks he21:40 has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more, circumcised on the eighth day. And then the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law a21:52 Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Paul goes on to say, if you want to talk about works, if22:04 you want to talk about what effort that you have placed and boast about your own effort that guarantees you a place in the kingdom. Paul says, let me talk about my record. Let me talk about my22:16 upbringing. Let me talk about things that gave me confidence. And this is what he's talking about. He says, Paul's Jewish pedigree and performance. I'm going to list 7 things22:27 that Paul lists here and I want you to take it down. Firstly, he says, it's the pride of ritual. He was circumcised on the eighth day. See, every child of22:39 Abraham, descendants from the line of Abraham, they will circumcise the child on the eighth day. Many other cultures do it when the child is about teenager. But only the22:50 Hebrews, they do it on the eighth day. And he says, I'm circumcised on the eighth day. You can see the records in Tarsus where he came from. Secondly, he says the pride of relationship23:03 of the people of Israel. Look at that. The people of Israel. He knows he's from the line of Abraham but he's from the line of Jacob because Jacob is the 1 with whom23:14 God made a covenant and Jacob became Israel. So he's specific to say, I'm from the tribe of Benjamin. Thirdly, he goes on to say the pride of respectability because I'm from23:26 Benjamin. What is Benjamin? Benjamin was actually the favorite son of Jacob because he was the only son that was born in the Promised Land and23:38 because he was born as a second child from Rachel. Jacob loved him so much. He was a favorite son. Not only that, out of the tribe of Benjamin came the23:50 first king and King Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. And God had actually given the Benjaminites, the area surrounding Jerusalem and24:02 including the Temple Mount. So the Temple Mount was an inheritance for the Benjaminites. So God had a special place for Benjaminites. And they actually pledged their loyalty to David and his24:14 household and the kingdom of Judah. So here he says, I'm from the tribe of Benjamin. It's a respectability. Thirdly and fourthly, he talks about the pride of race, a Hebrew of24:25 Hebrews. Wow. Why he mentions a Hebrew of Hebrews? Because those days when the Hebrews, when the Jewish people were dispersed, sometimes24:37 they lived in Greek areas and they adapted the culture of the Greeks. So they became Hellenistic Jews. But Paul says, I have, my parents have been24:49 Hebrew and truly adopted to the culture of the Hebrew people. So I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. So he had pride in his race. Then he goes on to say, the pride of religion. As to the law,25:01 a Pharisee. See, today when you talk about someone who has a Pharisee, it means that someone who is quite regimented, quite legalistic, a fundamentalist.25:13 Whereas in those days, a Pharisee is someone who has a higher standard of living. In fact, they not only follow the 10 Commandments, they have 6 13 commandments. Not only do they have so many25:25 commandments, they follow so much traditions that have been passed down from centuries. And they have the elitist in the Jewish faith. And Paul says, I'm a Pharisee.25:36 In fact, he was trained under Gamaliel. And so Paul goes on to talk about pride in these things. Then he says, the pride of rigorous actions as to zeal a persecutor of the25:48 church. See, Paul had a zeal to cleanse Jerusalem of anyone who is a defractors from the faith. And Paul went on to persecute the church as a result. And here he says,26:00 I had pride in this. Finally, the pride of reputation. The reputation is that he was under the law, blameless. Under the law, blameless. Look at26:12 that. You cannot be sinless. No Jew will ever say that he's sinless. But Paul says, I'm blameless. In other words, if you go and trace my records, if you go and check everywhere, they will be able to26:24 tell you that I followed my life closely to the law of Moses and I had a I was a strict observant of the law. So he was blameless. So in all these things, he is26:35 actually saying to himself, these are the things I can boast about. But then when Paul takes a record of all the things that he can boast about, all the things that he can trust in his own self effort, Paul actually26:47 says, these things I count as dung. I count it as loss. Look at this in verse 6, in verse 7, sorry. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of26:59 Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss, verse 8, because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I suffered the loss of all things and count them as27:10 rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Listen to me carefully. Paul says, whatever I found as gain. Gain in what aspect?27:22 You know, the sec the Judaism come and say, Jesus plus circumcision equals salvation. Paul says, it's not just circumcision. I have so much I gained27:34 in my previous way of living life. As a as a follower of the law of Moses. I was blameless. I was doing all this. All this record. He puts it in the profit and loss27:46 statement and he says, all these things, I consider them as rubbish. I count them as loss. That word in verse 8, the word rubbish, is the English word, 427:58 letter word, that you tell your children never to use. It's dung. It's manure. It's the human excrement. And this is exactly what Paul says. This is this is how it is in the28:10 eyes of God. So when Paul writes and says to them, if you come and boast about your works before God, that it's your through your work, you have the key to the kingdom of God. Or through your28:21 work, you can enter into the heaven and into the kingdom of God. Paul says no. Why? Because all your works, they are like filthy rags before God. Isaiah chapter28:33 64 and verse 6, the Bible says, We all have become like 1 who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Look at that. It's the polluted garment. It's the28:44 soiled menstrual cloth of a woman. It's the dirty cloth. And he says it's filthy rags before God. And this is why you and I, we need to recognize that we cannot boast in our28:56 own effort. You cannot add anything to Christ for your salvation. You and I has been called by God to trust in him. Not only to trust in him, to rest in him. And29:08 through his righteousness, you are saved. Through his finished work on the cross, you are saved. But when you come before God and you boast about your own effort and your own work, this is what29:20 will happen. God has to reject you. See, in another portion of scripture, Paul actually goes on to explain this in even more in detail. In Galatians chapter 3 and verse29:31 1, he actually says in chapter 3 and verse 1, 0 foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? In other words, how can you be so foolish that you now, rather than trusting in Christ29:43 alone, you now trust in your own effort. How can you be so foolish? And indeed there are people who want you to go and trust in your own effort. So Paul writes and he says in chapter 5 and verse29:55 12, I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves. Why just cut the foreskin alone? Why not remove the whole organ? That's what he is saying.30:07 Why don't you emasculate yourself if you want to trust in your own ability? Because it will never be good enough before a holy God. And so Paul was saying in chapter 5 of30:18 Galatians, and look at this in verse 2, if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. And if you accept circumcision, you are obligated, in verse 3, you30:30 are obligated to do every law, keep the whole law. But if you are severed from Christ, in verse 4, but if you trust in all this effort, you are severed from Christ30:42 and you have fallen away from grace. Look at the language that Paul uses. If you trust in circumcision, then Christ will be of no effect to you. That's why Paul says, whatever gain I30:54 had in my effort, today I consider them as loss. The reason I consider them as loss and consider them as dung is because they add no advantage to my31:06 life. Christ alone is my advantage. Hallelujah. And that's exactly what you and I, we need to come back to. So Paul exposes the ultimate folly of fleshly31:17 confidence. Secondly, he goes on to say, Paul expounds the ultimate fulfillment of following Christ. Look at this in verse 8. He says, the reason why I do this, indeed, I count31:29 everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Jesus, my Lord. I love it. See, Paul is a man who is a brilliant writer. I want you to think about this.31:41 In chapter 2, he actually says, have the mind of Christ. And then the mind of Christ is that Christ did not grasp equality with God. He did not count31:53 equality with God a thing to be grasped, isn't it? And he also says humility is to count others better than yourselves. He uses that word count. And here in chapter 3, he uses32:04 twice or 3 times the same word count. So you see a pattern between chapter 2 and chapter 3. Chapter 2 is similar in The writing is similar here. He says, Jesus left all32:16 his privileges and humbled himself, emptied himself, and then God exalted him. Here in chapter 3, Paul writes about all the things that was privileged for him in Jewish pedigree. And32:28 Paul considers all of them as rubbish and he humbles himself and he trusts Christ so Christ will now exalt him. And today, here we find a beautiful picture like this. The whole32:40 nation in Paul chapter 2 Paul says, the whole world will 1 day confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Here in chapter 3, Paul confesses Jesus Christ is my Lord.32:52 Hallelujah. So in the second part, this is what he is saying. The whole reason why I consider every of my effort as dung, as rubbish, is because I want to just33:04 follow Christ. I just want to know Christ, the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. And the Bible says in the next line he says, I consider, I suffered all things for his33:15 sake and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Hallelujah. I want to know Christ. I want to gain Christ. Not only I want to know him and I want to gain him. In verse 9, he goes33:27 on to say, I want to be found in him. See, I want you to catch this. This is the most important truth that I want you to hear. See, gospel is this,33:40 that when Christ died on the cross, you died on the cross. When Christ died on the cross, he carried all your sin. He who knew no sin became sin so33:52 that you who do not know righteousness can become the righteousness. There was a divine exchange. He took your place so you can take his place. Here the Bible says in verse 9, and be34:03 found in him. See, this is the salvation truth. To be found in Christ. I want you to think about this. To be found in Christ. That means34:15 when God sees you, He doesn't see you. He sees you in Christ and therefore He accepts you. Hallelujah. That is the gospel truth and that is the salvation truth.34:27 Do you know what is a sanctifying truth? What is a sanctification truth? It is when people look at you, they see Christ in you. That means when others look at you, they find Christ in you.34:39 That is the sanctification truth. Every single day I want Christ to grow in me. I want Christ to take over my life. I want Him to have the Lordship over my life. Now that is Christ in34:51 me. But here Paul says, I want to be found in him so the salvation truth is God has put you in Christ. Hallelujah. He has become for me35:03 wisdom from God, Paul writes. He has become for me righteousness and sanctification and redemption, Paul writes in Corinthians. Do you know that Christ is now your everything? He is35:15 not only your high priest who intercedes for you. He is seated at the right hand in making intercession. His very presence in the right hand of the father is making intercession for you. In other words, as he is, so are35:26 you in this world. God sees him and He accepts you. That is salvation. Hallelujah. I believe in Him and therefore I am35:38 saved. Listen to me carefully. You know, a professor was talking to an unregenerate man. In other words, a man who is not born again. And he was highlighting35:50 to him the need to be born again. And this man said, Well, I don't see a need to be born again. You know why? Because I know of people who are not born again, but they live a36:01 very good moral life. They are humble. They are generous. They give to the poor. And they are very good people. But at the same time, I also know some Christians who claim to be36:13 born again, but they live a very wicked life. So I don't see a need to be born again. That's what he meant. So the professor went on to help36:25 him understand what it means to be found in Christ, the need to be born again. The professor went on to explain by drawing 2 rectangles on the36:37 ground. And 1 of the rectangle, he said, this rectangle represents an unregenerate person. He is living in a state of unregeneracy. Now listen to me36:48 carefully. Imagine this rectangle to be like a state of Colorado. In Colorado, there are 3 levels someone could live. 1, someone could live in37:00 in Pikes Peak, on the summit of Pikes Peak. And, this Pikes Peak is 14000 feet high. So that means this person37:12 has morally high ground. They do everything right. They live a morally good life. But yet, they are in the state of Colorado. Or someone could be37:24 living in the sea level. They're just living an ordinary kind of life. But then there is a person who works in a mine thousands of feet under the ground, below the ground.37:36 No matter where you live, you're still in the state of Colorado. That's the state of unregeneration. In other words, that37:48 person needs to be born again. No matter how morally good they are, no matter how wicked they are, they are still unregenerate. The same thing applies in another38:00 rectangle he drew and he says, look at this. This is the state of a regenerate person. In other words, you could live in this on a mountaintop. In38:12 other words, you are now living in the peak as a spiritually person who is who is trusting God and depending upon God every single day, and you are spiritually fervent in the Lord. Or you're a person who38:24 is just an average kind of a Christian. Very average. You just do the basic things and you don't do anything. There's no deep hunger for the Lord. Or you could be a person who is living way below38:35 in worldliness, in carnality, and even in sin. But you may still be in that state of regeneration. So this is what he's highlighting. I want you to think about this.38:48 He says there are 2 states. You can be only in 1 state. And even if you have been as a person who is morally so high, and yet if you are unregenerate, then you will39:00 still end up in hell. But if you are a person who is regenerate, you have a faith in Christ. And because of his faith in Christ, he39:11 truly can be saved. I want you to listen to me carefully. Why is this so important, Pastor? To be found in him is salvation truth. But what is the sanctification truth?Show more
Paul Jeyachandran
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.