Philippians 3:8.

Clint Miller

[0:00] Good morning Village. Have a seat. My name is Clint. I’m a lay pastor here at [0:05] Village Church. It’s good to have a chance to share how to God’s Word with [0:09] you this morning. I always enjoy a chance to get up here and talk for a [0:14] really long time. Take up your time and hopefully that won’t be too much the [0:19] case this morning. Hopefully we will hear from God this morning. I know He’s spoken [0:26] to me through this text many, many times in my life. And so if you’ve been here,

[0:31] we’ve been in a series called Anchors. And what this really has been is each [0:36] leader of the church picking just one verse that has been life-shaping at some [0:45] point in our walk. And then it has also continued to be a verse that we’ve [0:50] returned to many, many times really to keep us following Jesus, keep us [0:56] enduring as we seek the upward call that Paul mentions. And so really this [1:04] text, really number one, I just hope today that if you’re like me, you tend to

[1:11] find yourself kind of swaying from Christ and kind of earning yourself or [1:17] at least practically earning favor with God. If you kind of tend to fall back [1:23] into that religious mindset, hopefully this text will serve as something to [1:30] guard you from that. And then number two, it just keeps me from focusing on Christ, [1:35] knowing that He is the pursuit of my life and that it would be a vast mistake [1:42] to go after anything else. And so those two things really keeping me from

[1:47] learning and keeping me on a road that is in constant pursuit of Him. And so [1:55] really that’s what we’re gonna see. We’ll be in Philippians 3, 8 this morning and [2:01] we will go ahead and get started. Let me pray for us and then we’ll get into it. [2:07] Father, just thankful for Jesus, Lord, that we don’t have to have confidence in [2:13] the flesh, Lord, that we can glory in you, that we can boast in you because of the [2:19] work that you’ve accomplished on the cross through your death and resurrection.

[2:25] Father, you have made a way for us to be reconciled to God and Lord, we are [2:31] foolish, often returning to reliance on ourself, to putting confidence in the [2:40] Father, help us to be a people who repent and believe not only just once but over the [2:51] course of our entire Christian life. Father, help me today, help us to hear from you, do the work [2:57] that only you can do. Let me pray this in your name, amen. So Philippians 3, [3:05] verse 8. Let’s go ahead and read it. It says,

[3:10] Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ my Lord. For [3:18] His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I might [3:25] gain Christ. All right, so in Philippians, really just to kind of catch us up a little bit on the [3:31] context, the background, Paul really is reason for writing, at least here in chapter 3, is Paul’s [3:39] writing to address false teachers. He’s writing to address the Judaizers and these are really [3:45] people who are going around and basically saying that the blood of Jesus isn’t enough to

[3:51] reconcile you to God. It’s not enough, that you need more. And specifically, they wanted people [4:00] not only to just confess Christ, in fact, really what they were more focused on and mostly focused [4:06] on was obedience to the law, following the Jewish law, and then also circumcision, which is part of [4:13] the Jewish law. And so Paul’s writing, because this infuriates him, because it’s a false gospel. [4:21] It’s a false gospel and so it needs to be forcefully refuted and that’s what we see in [4:27] the book of Revelation, that’s what we see in Philippians and really that’s why some of those

[4:32] books are my favorite because they clarify the gospel. They clarify it and we need it constantly, [4:39] day in and day out. So at this point, Paul’s heard the gospel. Jesus has come, he’s saved him, [4:46] he’s gone around, he’s planted a church at Philippi. This happens, if you want to read about it, in [4:51] Acts 16, that is his work at Philippi. He goes around, he casts a demon out, the people get mad, [4:59] they take him to court and he’s got to go. If somebody came, cast a demon around, out of [5:07] people in my town, I’d probably want to keep them around, but they didn’t. They didn’t like it,

[5:11] it was upsetting to them, it was costing them money and so Paul had to go, he had to move on. [5:18] But now, Paul is writing back to these believers in Philippi and these are people that he loves. [5:25] He has gospel admiration for them, he loves them deeply, but at this point he’s in prison. [5:32] He’s in prison and if you read through the beginning of Philippians, you’ll see he’s unsure [5:37] of his fate. That famously is where he talks about to live as Christ, to die as gain, [5:45] which is a text by the way that caught me off guard eight years ago. It’s like,

[5:51] that’s not how I think death would not be gained. So what’s this guy talking about? Where’s this [5:58] heart from? And then consider, is mine wrong? Is mine wrong? Is to live Christ, is that really [6:05] what it’s all about? And so Paul is in prison and he’s not sure what he’s going to happen. [6:11] He’s writing back to the Philippians, they’ve sent him, they’ve aided him, [6:15] they’ve partnered with him in the spread of the gospel through various areas, [6:19] they’ve supported him and so Paul is writing back to him and really in this section of Philippians,

[6:26] this is what he’s addressing. Basically there’s two groups of people and this is true for them [6:32] and it’s true for us this morning. There’s people who put their confidence in God, [6:38] there’s people who put their confidence in Christ, they trust Christ. How can I be received by God? [6:45] My trust is in Christ, his finished work, his death and resurrection. It’s one option. [6:52] It’s only one other option really. Confidence in the flesh, you earn it, you’ll make it, [6:58] you’re good enough. If you just obey enough, if you just live your life well enough, you will go

[7:05] and be with God forever in heaven. This of course isn’t the case. This of course isn’t the case and [7:14] this is what Paul is writing to refute. Jesus is the only way to be reconciled to God. There is no [7:23] other way. That’s why he says that he boasts in Christ, that he glories in Christ, that he glories [7:31] in Christ. He doesn’t put any confidence in the flesh. Now Paul’s an interesting case here because [7:37] at one point all his confidence was in his flesh and this is what we can kind of see. [7:44] Let’s check it out here in verses four through six. So this is coming out of Philippians 3,

[7:51] verse four through six. It says, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh, [7:59] also if anyone thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the [8:06] eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, [8:13] a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, a Pharisee, [8:22] as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Okay, [8:28] so really Paul here is saying, look, I’m the man. That’s really what he’s saying. He’s like,

[8:37] look at this pedigree. This is an MVP type of statistics if you want to look at it that way, [8:44] right? He’s got a resume that, hey, he’s like, look, these guys, these Judaizers that are putting [8:50] their confidence in the flesh, right? I’ve got more. I’ve got more. I’m better at their game [8:59] than they are. And guess what? I’ve come to realize I’m not good enough. That that whole resume [9:06] is really what he has in mind in verse eight where he’s talking about loss. What kinds of [9:11] things will Paul lose? He’s got to lose his religious accolades, his trophies, the things

[9:19] he’s banking on, the things that he’s building his life on to be reconciled to God.

[9:29] So here he is. He’s adamant. He’s saying, look, what’s worth more? What’s worth more? Now, [9:37] for us, if you’re like me, you might have grown up in church. I grew up in church and [9:41] it’s a great thing. My kids are growing up in church. I hope yours are too. It’s a great thing [9:48] for them to be raised in the way of the Lord. But as I grew up in church, I kind of just, [9:57] I was kind of like Paul. I thought I was good. I thought, man, why would God accept me? [10:06] Why would God accept me? And it was really if I was truthful because I was good. I had a really

[10:13] difficult time understanding that I was a sinner. And part of that reason was everybody in the [10:21] church, we all did, we went to church. It’s a good thing, right? We didn’t cuss. We didn’t [10:26] smoke or drink as a family, right? We did righteous and whole things. We weren’t out like the people [10:33] of the world, like the quote sinners of the world. And that was me. If you’d have told me out of [10:40] been like, look at that guy. Look at that guy. And we still do that. I still do that. It’s a [10:48] struggle. But the reality is we have to understand that we ourselves are deeply, deeply in need of

[10:58] God’s grace. We are not good enough. No matter what we do, Paul’s trophy case looks better than yours. [11:09] It looks better than mine. But it is not good enough. In fact, Paul forcefully renounces it.

[11:21] So Paul, he thought of, what he thought of gain, really if you go back to verse 7, [11:26] we’ll just read that for a minute here, verse 7 before verse 8, obviously, but whatever gain I had, [11:33] I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of [11:38] Christ. So really the picture that Paul’s giving us is an accounting table, right? On one side, [11:43] you have the things that are profitable. On the other side, you have the things that are loss, [11:47] the things that are negatives, the things that will bankrupt you. And so on Paul’s side of the,

[11:54] at this time in his former life, as before he was converted to Christ, all these things that he [12:01] just listed would have been seen as gains. These are good things. These are gains. These are things [12:07] that are profiting me. This is what my life is about. On the other side of it, there was a loss [12:13] column. Is there anything in it? Functionally for Paul, what was in it was following a crucified [12:20] messiah. That wasn’t gain for him. That was loss. In fact, as the way the movement, the new Christian [12:29] movement picked up, the reason Paul forcefully fought against it was because it was a direct

[12:35] threat to everything that he built his life on. If it was true, his life was a sham.

[12:44] He didn’t like that.

[12:48] Paul went after him. He locked him up. I mean, people were scared of him. The guy Jesus sends [12:54] to tell him about his new life in Christ is scared to go see him. He is a vicious, vicious man. He’s [13:03] there at the stoning of Stephen. Murder is on Paul. This is a guy who, again, boasting in all his [13:12] works later on in the New Testament after Christ, he’s calling himself what? The chief of all sinners. [13:19] The chief of all sinners. Paul’s table here has gotten completely flipped around. [13:25] It’s gotten completely flipped around. What he once counted as gain, he now counts as loss.

[13:31] If Jesus did come for sinners, again, Paul’s striving had to go. Jesus shows up.

[13:40] Of course, Jesus, his main mission is to save sinners, to build his church. [13:45] Paul is an Israelite. What’s Jesus doing? He’s coming, he’s showing up.

[13:50] Jesus didn’t just come for this little tribe of Israel. He came for the nations. [13:55] He came to build the church. He came to graft the Gentiles in. Paul didn’t like that. [14:02] They’re sinners. They’re dogs. They’re dirty in his former life. That’s how he would have seen them.

[14:10] Friends, Paul doesn’t define what’s valuable, and neither do we. Paul doesn’t define what’s valuable, [14:17] and neither do we. God does. When you look at your life, if you’re setting up this accounting table [14:22] and you’ve got gain over here, you’ve got loss over here, understand that you’ve already taken

[14:29] a step that’s probably unwise. Who determines gain and loss? God. God alone. This is his world. [14:39] You don’t define what’s good and what’s bad. You don’t define what’s profitable and what’s [14:43] not profitable. He does. Paul’s first mistake, he thought that, I can define that.

[14:54] Guys, our value, our columns, the things that we want the most, it’s gotta be Jesus. It’s gotta [15:02] be in line. That’s what God says. You know what’s worth the most in the universe? Me. [15:07] You know what you need? Me. You know what you should pursue with your life? Me. That’s it. [15:15] That’s the most valuable thing. And so part of the problem here is, is in our functional life, [15:22] Christians, what we end up is doing, usually, if you’re like me, two things. If you have a [15:30] religious background, fine. If you don’t, you probably still do this. Everybody does it. We all

[15:35] like to build our own standard. We all like to lower the standard. So the standard is God’s [15:41] holiness. God’s the one who determines what the standard is, what the law is. [15:50] We don’t. But you know what we do? We lower the standard. So if the Holy Spirit works in you, [15:55] this is one of the benefits of the Holy Spirit that maybe we don’t like, [15:59] shows you your sin. You’re growing in the knowledge of your sin. Is that happening in your life? [16:06] Are you growing in the knowledge of the depths of your sin? Are you realizing how much of a

[16:11] sinner you are? It’s not that much fun, is it, all the time? I mean, if you’re like me, it’s like, [16:17] man, this is a, I can get down on myself easy. But one of the things that we do to kind of cower [16:25] out of that is lower the standard. We like to lower the standard. So if I can’t meet God’s [16:31] standard, and we can’t, even in the Spirit, we fall short of him. But if I can’t meet God’s [16:36] standard, a lot of times what I’ll do is I’ll just bring it down, make my own standard. [16:42] If I’m honest, I don’t even really meet that standard. That’s frustrating. But what do we do?

[16:49] We lawyer ourself, right? We get it, we get out of it. We keep on pretending that we are doing okay. [16:57] Friends, are you repenting on a daily basis? Are you? If you’re not, you’re falling into a [17:04] religious pattern of making your own standard and thinking that everything’s honky dory. [17:11] Everything’s dandy. I struggle with this. We all do. You should be. Okay? Remember, [17:18] Psalm 34, 18, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and he saves the crushed in Spirit. [17:26] The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and he saves the crushed in Spirit. Friends, we should

[17:32] be a broken people, broken from our sin, and that ought to not leave us hopeless, but cause us to [17:39] learn from it and turn to Christ. See him in our place. Believe the gospel. Another tendency here [17:47] is performance. You can’t perform your way to God. Are you good with God? I mean, functionally, [17:54] do you really think that you’re good with God? If it was all over today, would you go be with him? [18:00] We were on a plane, or I was on a plane a couple weeks ago, and I get geeked out when I get on a [18:06] plane, and you get in the seat, and it starts to move, and you just, I don’t know, if you’re like

[18:11] me, it’s like, this could be the end. This could be the end. And I mean, every time I get on a [18:20] plane, that’s what happens. That’s what’s going on in me. It’s just, you start to think, I start [18:26] to think about what a plane is. This is a giant metal object, and it’s about to be thrust up into [18:32] the air. If the engine sputters, can it really sustain this heavy thing through the air? [18:38] I don’t know how it works. I’m not an aviation engineer by any means, but it feels terrifying [18:46] to me. And so as you start to think of it, it’s like, man, if this is the end, will I be with

[18:53] Christ? And so where do you go from there? You’re like, well, how am I doing? That’s kind of my [19:02] tendency. How am I doing? Am I good enough? That’s a ridiculous mindset. This is the [19:12] essence of the Christian faith. We believe the gospel. I’m not good enough. I have to trust it. [19:18] Trust the work of Jesus. Hey, I’ll be there face to face with him, not on the basis of my own [19:24] works, but on the finished work of Christ. When he took my place on the cross, he took my sin on [19:30] his shoulders. The wrath of God that I deserved was poured out on him, and he says it’s finished.

[19:40] It’s done. Believe that. Believe that. But test yourself. Performance. Are you performing? [19:48] Are you performing? Are you functionally performing? Is that your basis for being right with God? [19:56] Number two this morning, pursue the surpassing worth of Jesus at all costs. Pursue the surpassing [20:03] worth of Jesus at all costs. So as we’ve seen, Paul reflected on his life and really he said, [20:09] everything I’ve built in my life, everything I’ve earned, I now count as lost. But here, [20:15] we need to see why. Because the reality is, in your life, you will chase what is of greatest value.

[20:23] In your life, you are currently chasing whatever is of greatest value to you. [20:31] It’s true. So the question is, what is it? Is it functionally Jesus? Are you functionally in [20:38] pursuit of Jesus? Or is it something else? Is it something else? Jesus says, where your treasure is, [20:47] that’s where your heart will be. Is your treasure Christ? Does he surpass all value? Are you after [20:56] him daily, every day of the week, in your life, in your work, in your recreation, in your family [21:04] time? Are you in pursuit of him? Are you in pursuit of him in those environments?

[21:12] And so, you know, what Paul valued was not Christ at one time. So what caused them to just dump it? [21:21] I mean, nobody just dumps everything that they value, right? I mean, we all value our savings [21:26] account, right? You wouldn’t just go dump it. Let’s get rid of it. Of course not. Something else [21:34] would have to come along. And this is the message, really, that we see. And Paul’s message here in [21:38] Philippians 3 verse 8 really matches it well with what Jesus said. I easily could have used this [21:45] verse as parable as an anchor verse. Essentially, it’s the same message. So let’s go to Matthew 13,

[21:53] 45 to 46. Matthew 13, 45 to 36. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search [22:01] of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value went and sold all that he had and bought it. [22:10] So this text, like I said, fits the message. It fits Paul’s message here in Philippians 3. Jesus [22:16] says, here’s what it’s like to come to me. Here’s conversion. By the way, this is a picture of [22:22] conversion. Also, Paul’s life, what we just read in Philippians 3 is a picture of Christian conversion. [22:28] You’re included in that. If you’re a Christian, your conversion needs to look like that. It needs

[22:34] to look like this. And so this parable here, I love it because you’ve got a guy. He’s all about [22:42] value. He’s out in search of what’s most valuable. He’s a jeweler, right? He’s out in search of fine [22:49] pearls. And what does he find? He finds one pearl that surpasses all value. So what’s his question? [22:56] Naturally, how do I get it? What’s it cost? What do I need to do? Well, the text answers the question [23:04] simply. He went and sold all that he had so that he could get it. It means everything else had to go. [23:10] He couldn’t get that pearl without everything else that he valued being put in the background,

[23:17] gotten rid of. And so really, for Paul, forsaking and counting loss his entire identity, the life [23:28] that he had built, the position that he had got, the accolades, the respect. Paul was a respected [23:36] man. I mean, he was high up. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was. That position, I mean, a lot of [23:44] people would have loved to have that position. Paul calls it loss. So yes, conversion is [23:52] definitely the picture of what’s happening here. Now, I also want to talk about, so this is true at [23:59] conversion, but it’s also true through our lives, isn’t it? I mean, don’t we constantly have to be

[24:05] after this? I think this is a message that we see in verse 7 and 8 from Paul. So first in verse 7, [24:10] I want you to notice the progression. Paul’s not only decided that all of that was lost, [24:16] but he’s continued in his decision. He’s continued in it. So let’s check it out in verses [24:24] 7 and 8. So Paul recalls in verse 7, in his conversion, he counted, right, his past tense. [24:31] Then in verse 8, I’ll count, present tense. He still agrees with his previous [24:41] decision. And now it’s also continuing to work out. In fact, it’s not just something that he’s

[24:47] thought. He’s actually suffered the loss of all things. He’s actually done it. He suffered the [24:52] loss of all things. And then it continues here. It says, I count them rubbish, dung. Okay? Rubbish [24:59] can be translated to dung. So Paul forcefully feels this. So the question is, do we feel this [25:06] in our heart? Is this a daily thing for you? Do you feel the weight? I feel the weight on [25:13] a daily basis of things competing for me to live for. Right? I mean, almost every day, every week, [25:22] there are things that are contesting to draw my affections, to convince me that, hey, if you live

[25:30] for this, your life will be great. I mean, some of mine are pretty dumb, frankly. So I’m a hobby [25:38] guy. I like woodworking. I can easily get kind of drawn up into, basically, honestly, I think if I [25:48] was unconverted, I would have a serious, serious problem. I’d be all about woodworking. I’d be [25:55] after as much money as I could so that I could get more tools, so I could get more equipment. [26:01] I’d have a sawmill in my yard. My neighbors would hate me. It’s just, I mean, honestly, it contends [26:10] for my attention, my affections, and it lures me away from Christ. It lures me away from Christ.

[26:17] And so the reason that Paul calls these things loss is because they’re not getting him Christ. [26:23] Okay? The things in our life that are luring us away from Christ are not necessarily inherently [26:29] bad, but what’s the problem with them? They’re not getting us Christ. Friends, we need to pursue [26:38] Christ. We need to go after him. We need to go after him, and that really is a process. So there’s [26:47] four ways I just want to encourage us this morning to quickly look at. I took these things. So [26:55] practically, I mean, how does this play out? What does it mean to functionally count Christ’s gain,

[27:00] go after him, and count everything as loss? I mean, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to go home and [27:06] sell all your goods, get rid of your house, become homeless, and just, I got Christ. I mean, [27:14] that’s not functionally what this is. It’s a parable. So if we go here,

[27:22] John Piper helps us with four things. So let me read them to you real quick. It says, [27:27] how do we functionally do this? It means that wherever I’m called upon to choose between [27:33] anything in the world and Christ, I choose him. Whenever I’m called to choose from something, [27:40] anything in the world or Christ, what will I choose? I’ll choose him. That could be your life. [27:46] That’s a reality for Christians around the world. Renounce Christ or die.

[27:54] Which would you do this morning? Which would you do? Are you really prepared to say, [28:01] I choose Christ, even if it cost me that? Even if it cost me that? That may never be a reality in [28:08] your life, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared for it.

[28:14] Number two, it means that I will deal with the things of the world in ways that draw me nearer [28:19] to Christ. I will deal with the, again, I will deal with the things of the world in the ways [28:26] that draw me nearer to Christ. So Philippians 4, 12 to 13, it’s a popular verse, at least verse 13 is, [28:37] I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, [28:44] I have learned the secret to facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things [28:51] through Christ who strengthens me. Now this means basically in everything whether things are going

[28:58] really well or things are bad. Whether Paul’s in prison or Paul’s, I mean, he’s got a nice setup, [29:06] things are going well, he’s not suffering, he’s figured out how to treasure Christ in any [29:15] circumstance. It also means to hold things loosely. It also means to hold things loosely. We have, [29:23] we may have, but in everything we maintain Christ as treasure. We may have things that the world has, [29:32] but Paul’s pretty clear here. You better watch that those things don’t grab your heart. [29:37] You hold them loosely. If they get in the way of you being generous, if they get in the way of you

[29:44] going after Jesus, if they get in the way of you making disciples, if they get in the way of you [29:52] gaining the surpassing value of Christ, they gotta go. And we need to be serious about what that is [30:00] in our life. What’s getting in the way of you gaining Christ? There’s always something trying. [30:08] Number four, it means if we lose much, we still maintain our treasure in devastation, [30:15] whether it be cancer, whether it be death, financial loss, status loss, whatever the case,

[30:23] our task is the same, treasure Christ. We’ve been looking for a house, my wife and I, [30:30] I think it was Wednesday, and we, if you know anything about houses right now, it’s really hard [30:37] to find one, and you better be ready to buy one immediately when you find it, and it’s probably [30:42] going to go for more than it’s worth. And so it’s a very frustrating process, but we finally found [30:49] one that we both liked. It was kind of what we envisioned when we went into the process, and [30:55] we saw it, we had our offer in, we got our hopes up, we’re like, man, even if they counter back,

[31:00] we’re going to counter back, and we’re going to get it, and we didn’t get it. [31:04] We didn’t get it. And so it’s like, oh man, this, these weeks of struggle are finally going to end, [31:13] and it’s devastating to a point. And so I’m just sitting there trying to write this for this week, [31:19] and like, man, treasure Christ in this moment. And I did, and I can, you know why? Because he’s [31:27] better, he’s more valuable than that house. He really is. Doesn’t feel like it in the moment, [31:34] but he showed up. He showed up when I saw him. And so friends, treasureing Jesus in these times,

[31:45] in hard times, cancer, a lot of us have people around us sick, deaths happening, treasure Christ, [31:53] treasure Christ. Thirdly, this morning, life is about knowing Jesus more, life is about knowing [32:03] Jesus more. Paul continues, and so in verse 9, if we just pick up there real quick, it says, [32:13] and as he continues out verse 8, he says, [32:17] that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from [32:22] the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends

[32:29] on faith, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Friends, Jesus is the righteousness that [32:36] we need. I mean, let’s just think about it. You got Paul’s accolades on one side, you got Jesus’s [32:42] accolades on the other. I mean, even if you’re Paul, it’s like Jesus didn’t sin. He didn’t sin.

[32:53] He submitted himself in everything. He humbled himself even to the point of death on the cross. [32:59] He was about the glory of the Father. He was a sinless Savior, and so that righteousness did [33:08] not earn him death on the cross, but rather he obediently, in obedience to the Father, went to [33:14] the cross not so that he could pay for our own sin, but that he could pay for our sin, not his sin, [33:21] our sin, the sin of the world. The Father would pour out the wrath on him. Paul recognized that [33:27] Jesus was the righteousness from God, and that man, in order to gain God, must be made righteous.

[33:35] We must have Christ’s righteousness imputed to us, given to us. Isaiah 53, 6 puts it well, [33:44] all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on [33:51] him the iniquity of us all. The iniquity, my sin, my resume,

[34:01] filthy rags, that’s what it is, Clint Miller’s body of work,

[34:07] sin toward God, Christ on the cross takes the wrath, takes the punishment, finished, finished, [34:17] finished.

[34:20] But this is conversion, this is the surpassing value, that is surpassing value, his righteousness [34:25] is better than yours, life with God, that’s amen, right, that’s it. But this is not the ending point, [34:33] conversion’s not the ending point. When we come to Christ, yes, we’re justified before him, [34:39] but we start to know him, we start to have a relationship with our Savior. This isn’t like [34:46] somebody who rescued you at the pool because you couldn’t swim, and then you never saw him again.

[34:53] You get to know your Savior, you get to know him, you get to walk with him, he’s made you his, [35:00] you get that? He’s made you his, he’s made me his, I’m his, I’m in relationship with him, I’m knowing him. [35:11] Verse 8, the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, then again in verse 10 he picks up [35:20] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and I may share in his suffering. So to know [35:26] Christ, Paul’s view of it here at least is basically meaning to experience the power of his [35:32] resurrection and share in his sufferings. The surpassing worth of knowing Christ is linked to

[35:37] verse 10 and further explained by verse 10. So what does it really mean? To know Christ relationally, [35:46] you encounter him through the gospel, you meet your Savior,

[35:50] he’s made you his, you know him. I mean think about that, it’s crazy, right? I mean this is like, [35:56] we just don’t think about this enough. We know the creator of the universe. [36:01] Like if I drop some other names out here like LeBron James, right? Oh you, I know LeBron, [36:08] you guys would probably be in all of that. Who’s LeBron to Christ? Who’s anybody on this earth? [36:18] Who else would you rather know? I mean you know the creator of the world. If you’re in Christ [36:22] this morning, if he’s made you his, if you believed on him, you get to walk day in and day out every

[36:29] second of the day in a knowing relationship with Jesus Christ, the creator and sustainer of the [36:36] universe, right? When we know Christ, it’s intimate, it’s personal, it’s experiential.

[36:48] Galatians 2.20, I’ve been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who [36:55] lives in me and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me [37:02] and gave himself up for me. So I mean in this text we’re dead. We participated in Christ’s death [37:08] and his resurrection. It’s he that now lives in us through his spirit. We’re alive with him. This is [37:14] an intimate relationship. It’s a shared life. It means we walk with him, we talk with him, [37:20] we pray to him. It’s a shared life. So if you’re sharing your life with Jesus, now a lot of us

[37:28] know that you know when we came to know either your spouse or if you’re dating somebody upon [37:35] meeting them, right, you knew them and then what did that lead to? You wanted to know them more [37:41] and so if you were a guy, your time kind of in the guy circle, all of a sudden you’re [37:46] MIA in the guy circle, you’re with somebody in your eyes surpassing value, you’re with them, [37:53] you’re pursuing them at the cost of something else and you continue to want to know that person and [38:00] so we need to continue to get to know Jesus. We need to continue to share time with him. We need

[38:08] to be in conversation with him. We need to lean on him but it also means we walk with him in the [38:15] new power that he gives us. We are dying to sin and we’re living to him. We’re following him. Now [38:22] look, if you’re in relationship with Jesus, it also means you’re following. It means you’re [38:28] doing what he’s doing, not the other way around. So the fact that I know Jesus, I’m in relationship [38:34] with Jesus, like I’m not the head of that relationship. Okay, I’m not the one wearing the [38:40] pants. I’m not dictating what it does. If you know Jesus, it means you’re linked to him and you’re

[38:45] following him into the very areas and the very mission that he lived out in his life. You can’t [38:52] know him and not be a part of that. Okay, you can’t know him and not be his disciple. You can’t know [39:00] him and not do the work that he was about. Okay, so when it comes to knowing Christ, we need to [39:09] think that way. Are we knowing him really in a way that is not only relationally with him but [39:18] making us more like him? That’s leading us into this world. In fact, he ends here, we’ll end here [39:23] where he talks about it’s not only this but we share in Christ’s sufferings. Friends, in this

[39:28] world, if you share life with Christ, if you’re following him, if you’re in relationship with [39:34] him, it’s going to be costing you. You’re going to suffer. You’re going to lose clout

[39:41] in circles. You’re going to lose friends. Everything becomes subject to being taken [39:49] and that’s the way of it. But take heart. Christ is of surpassing value. My encouragement this [39:55] this morning is, is this what we’re really after? Is Christ your most valuable, sought after [40:03] thing that you’re chasing with your life? Are you chasing something else?

[40:11] Friends, Jesus has paid the price and he has come and he has made us his own. And so friends, [40:17] if you’re in here this morning, you know Christ, know him more. He’s worth it. There’s nothing [40:25] else more worth it. There’s nothing else he can do that’s going to build a life that’s worth [40:32] knowing Christ, knowing him now and knowing him for eternity. As the band comes up this morning [40:40] and we shift into a time of communion,

[40:47] if you’re in here and you are depending on your own righteousness, you’re depending on your works,

[40:57] you’re trying to earn your way to God, my encouragement to you would be repent of that. [41:04] Turn from it. You can’t do it. Christ came to take your place. Christ came to to give you his [41:13] righteousness because yours isn’t good enough. So this morning, if you’re in here and you believe [41:22] that you know Christ, you want to know him more, you want him to be of most value in your life [41:29] practically, you want that theology to meet up with your practice like it did in Paul’s life.

[41:36] And these tables are open to you. Come, partake, his body broken for us, his blood, [41:43] his new covenant with us. It’s secure, it’s finished. Come partake, know him [41:49] and let’s go after him with our lives.