WEBVTT 00:00:00.220 --> 00:00:05.600 Invite you to take your Bible from Philippians chapter three, halfway through a series together on Joy and the Broken. 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:11.880 And the book of Philippians is all about rejoicing and regardless of circumstances. 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:19.000 The Apostle Paul writes a book about joy and rejoicing in prison of all places, and demonstrates us how it's possible for us as believers to 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:20.640 rejoice in what Christ has accomplished. 00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:23.480 Joy in the broken. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:30.740 I want you to know as a church family, when we study or we preach or teach messages here on Sunday morning, we have a style that we like 00:00:30.740 --> 00:00:31.500 to do. 00:00:31.540 --> 00:00:36.250 When we do so, we do something called expository preaching and teaching, where we go through a book of the Bible. 00:00:36.480 --> 00:00:38.710 We like to break it out verse by verse, so we have a better understanding. 00:00:39.340 --> 00:00:44.780 Sometimes we do things topically, and we like to particularly go through books of the Bible together. 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:48.040 And that is because God desires for us to know His Word. 00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:55.300 And so when we go through each book of the Bible, understanding as it was written, we grasp a better understanding of our own personal study of God's Word. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:02.920 One of the reasons that we do this, and we love to do this, is because the same questions people have been asked or were asking thousands of years ago, 00:01:03.140 --> 00:01:07.660 as it relates to life and its purpose and meaning, are the are the same questions we ask today. 00:01:08.580 --> 00:01:12.710 Sometimes I think because our technology might advance, we like to think that we're smarter. 00:01:14.020 --> 00:01:14.900 for than our own good. 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:15.340 Really. 00:01:15.340 --> 00:01:22.740 But we like to think we're smarter than past generations, when in fact, when you study scripture, you see the same common questions about life and its meaning have always been 00:01:22.740 --> 00:01:24.760 asked, and people have always desired to know. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:26.270 And so we go through books of the Bible. 00:01:26.740 --> 00:01:30.780 We not only understand the questions they're asking, but we see how it relates to our lives. 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:39.020 When it comes to the thought of rejoicing, it's particularly important to us to understand that God has created you to rejoice and enjoy your relationship with him. 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:44.680 And in fact, in Philippians chapter three and verse one, that's exactly where Paul starts. 00:01:45.600 --> 00:01:48.220 And when he talks about joy and rejoicing. 00:01:49.620 --> 00:01:50.620 Guys are going to have to click for me. 00:01:51.240 --> 00:01:52.860 He talks about joy and rejoicing. 00:01:52.860 --> 00:02:00.240 He is reiterating what he's already shared with us in the previous chapters, which is why he says further as a further explanation. 00:02:00.740 --> 00:02:03.160 My brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. 00:02:03.160 --> 00:02:08.960 It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:17.560 And when the Bible shares certain truths with us, when they are specifically important for the life of a believer in Christ, the Bible is 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:18.460 repetitive. 00:02:18.580 --> 00:02:24.180 In fact, sometimes it's painfully repetitive, and how many times it may mention a specific truth. 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:30.860 Just this sort of rejoicing and joy found in the book of Philippians is mentioned 19 times within this passage. 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:38.900 And Paul gets to a place having concluded in first couple of chapters, and he reminds everyone, and this is what it's about rejoicing in your relationship 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:39.520 with the Lord. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:44.500 It's important that I remind you of this because it's central to your walk in Christ. 00:02:47.160 --> 00:02:50.420 When it comes about the idea of reminding us as people. 00:02:52.040 --> 00:02:53.080 I think it's important to do. 00:02:54.140 --> 00:02:55.030 And so does the apostle Paul. 00:02:55.500 --> 00:02:58.080 One of the reasons is we're forgetful people. 00:02:59.640 --> 00:03:05.840 No matter how many times you might hear something to those that your mothers may have said, you just have a thicker skull, honey, than most children, right? 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:07.060 That was me, right? 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:14.160 And so I repeat those things several times as Paul saying, just so that we can remember within our minds the important things and keep 00:03:14.160 --> 00:03:16.680 those main things, the main things. 00:03:17.820 --> 00:03:25.140 When I was in college, one of the difficult things I found when it came to studying, especially when I wasn't attentive to what the information I needed to learn because I couldn't figure out what was important 00:03:25.140 --> 00:03:31.380 to my life, I would have to read it several times, like ten, 20 times the same chapter. 00:03:31.820 --> 00:03:32.240 I get distracted. 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:33.170 There goes a squirrel. 00:03:33.440 --> 00:03:34.100 Forget what I read. 00:03:34.160 --> 00:03:34.640 Start over. 00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:39.300 I'm not one of those that has the photographic memory to retain. 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:45.260 And when I was studying for a test as a, as a kid in college, I was reading about early church fathers. 00:03:45.420 --> 00:03:52.740 And one of the things I recognize about one of these early church fathers, I think it was Augustine, he said that he read the same information 00:03:52.740 --> 00:03:55.020 repeatedly rather than multiple books. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:00.270 And the reason was, is he wanted to retain and he found the way, the best way he learned was through repetitive reading. 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:08.640 And Paul comes to this place in Philippians and rather than simply repetitive reading, he just says, I'm just going to repeat it for you so you don't have to go back and read it 00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:08.940 again. 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:12.920 So your mind can see how significant this is in your walk with Christ. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:19.820 God has created you for relationship in him, and that relationship is intended to rejoice in what he's done for you. 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:28.620 And the reason that Paul tells us that we are to rejoice in Christ is because there is a system that the world embraces that's contrary to our 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:29.680 identity in Jesus. 00:04:30.020 --> 00:04:36.580 And the less we remind ourselves of what Christ has done for us, and the more we live in the system of the world, the less likely we're going to rejoice in Christ. 00:04:37.840 --> 00:04:44.960 In fact, in just a few moments, you're going to see that when Paul starts talking about our rejoicing in Christ, he says in verse one that this is a safeguard for you to remind you about 00:04:44.960 --> 00:04:51.980 your rejoicing in Jesus, because the world system that's coming against, particularly Paul and the people he's interacting with is 00:04:51.980 --> 00:04:52.700 religion. 00:04:53.900 --> 00:04:56.280 And Paul is about to go after religion. 00:04:56.400 --> 00:04:58.850 You're going to specifically see it in verse five and six. 00:04:59.220 --> 00:05:06.380 But don't neglect what Paul is saying in verse five and six over the bigger course of what Paul is trying to say in driving us to the goal 00:05:06.380 --> 00:05:08.920 of what God has created us for, which is rejoicing in him. 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:18.800 Paul is going to talk about what it is that comes against his rejoicing in Jesus for the ultimate purpose that we might rejoice in Jesus. 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:27.040 Paul's going to say some very specific things about religion and some very particular things that he wants us to recognize, and identifying what 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:29.840 it does for us and robbing us of our rejoicing in God. 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:34.840 But he's not doing it because he's living a life to just hate on religion. 00:05:37.260 --> 00:05:40.460 He's doing it because he wants us to recognize the beauty of who Jesus is in our lives. 00:05:42.340 --> 00:05:44.220 And to be able to let go of everything else in our lives. 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:48.600 That gets us counterintuitive to what Christ is about for us and in us and through us. 00:05:50.840 --> 00:05:53.880 And allow us to rejoice in the simplicity of our relationship with Christ. 00:05:55.740 --> 00:05:56.460 To let go of those things. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.980 And so Paul says it's about rejoicing in Christ. 00:06:03.260 --> 00:06:05.980 And recognizing what you have in Christ is a safeguard for you. 00:06:07.140 --> 00:06:13.140 And continuing to remind yourself of what Jesus has done for you is what produces that rejoicing in you. 00:06:14.660 --> 00:06:20.500 And we can rejoice because circumstances regardless do not own you, but Christ does to those who put their faith in him. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:25.740 You rejoice in a future security because of what Christ has done for us. 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:28.920 We rejoice in the past that's been cleansed and washed new in Jesus. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:34.080 We rejoice in a God who loves us even in the moment, despite our sin, because of what Christ has done. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:37.580 And the world will try to erase that. 00:06:39.580 --> 00:06:42.640 It's love is extended in our society based on a performance model. 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:47.440 You don't get love which is not what love is. 00:06:47.460 --> 00:06:51.180 But in our society you don't get love because of the worth of who you are. 00:06:51.200 --> 00:06:53.540 You get love because you earn it according to our culture. 00:06:55.440 --> 00:06:56.460 But according to Jesus. 00:06:58.180 --> 00:06:59.080 He loves you despite you. 00:07:00.820 --> 00:07:02.600 Even a life that walks contrary to him. 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:04.420 Christ, love you and giving his life for you. 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:08.500 Jesus gives all things to you that you may rejoice in him. 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:12.980 It's a safeguard to remind yourself of what Christ has done because of what Christ has done. 00:07:13.020 --> 00:07:16.040 It's not about what you do, but what he has done for you. 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:19.190 And so Paul goes against religion. 00:07:20.760 --> 00:07:23.720 As a safeguard to the believers that they may continue to rejoice in Jesus. 00:07:25.900 --> 00:07:30.360 But a reminder to us and all of this in talking about religion, it's about rejoicing. 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:39.320 And so Paul says in verse two, talking about religion, watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh, for 00:07:39.320 --> 00:07:46.340 it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, we who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence 00:07:46.340 --> 00:07:49.480 in the flesh, though I myself have reason for such confidence. 00:07:51.820 --> 00:07:58.860 What Paul is beginning to identify for us in this idea of religion is that Jesus brings us rejoicing and everything that he's accomplished, and religion puts us back 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:00.340 under the weight and burden of guilt. 00:08:01.960 --> 00:08:07.780 Religion brings a sense of guilt and insecurity, not knowing how your relationship truly lies with God. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:15.720 And so you always feel under obligation and performance before the Lord, hoping that you could just do enough to earn your righteousness before him. 00:08:17.880 --> 00:08:20.180 And Paul uses specific words in referring to that. 00:08:22.580 --> 00:08:25.380 He says in verse two, watch out for those teachers. 00:08:25.460 --> 00:08:25.860 They're dogs. 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:31.140 Not only not only, not only are they dogs, but they're also. 00:08:31.520 --> 00:08:32.559 It's also evil doers. 00:08:35.020 --> 00:08:39.679 In our society today, we have the tendency to look at religion, that quote unquote do good, and we call it good. 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.860 But what Paul says about it here is that it's its evil doing. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:44.840 It's not bad. 00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:45.680 It's evil. 00:08:45.880 --> 00:08:46.760 Why would Paul say that? 00:08:48.540 --> 00:08:55.800 Because when we try to bring anything before God trying to merit the righteousness that Christ has already achieved for you, it's an insult to Jesus. 00:08:58.520 --> 00:08:59.980 Galatians 221 tells us. 00:09:01.540 --> 00:09:05.440 For if righteousness could be achieved through the law, Christ died needlessly. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:14.560 And to come before God and suggest that you could offer anything to earn a righteousness that Christ didn't already pay for by giving his entire life as an insult to 00:09:14.560 --> 00:09:14.980 God. 00:09:15.020 --> 00:09:19.160 And if there was another avenue to do such, Jesus would have never given his life. 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:22.780 And to say that you earn it. 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:26.250 For a God who's given it and sacrificed everything. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.020 Is to spit in the sacrifice that he's given for you. 00:09:32.760 --> 00:09:39.840 And so Paul looks at the thought of religion and says, not only is it robbing you of rejoicing, and it's making you guilty, and it's bringing you this insecurity and 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.430 it's evil because it mocks what Jesus has done. 00:09:43.560 --> 00:09:50.900 And so he says, those mutilators of the flesh and referencing to circumcision he's about to talk about in verse three, he talks about the 00:09:50.900 --> 00:09:54.600 Judaizers at this time, trying to tell the Christians that they need to observe the law. 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:56.870 And by observing the law, one of the things they have to do is circumcision. 00:09:58.560 --> 00:10:05.580 And God brought circumcision to the Old Testament as a demonstration of a place where God would meet them in the most intimate of moments. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:09.600 And I don't know about you, but when I think about intimate moments, circumcision would be included under that umbrella. 00:10:12.520 --> 00:10:13.040 It was a model. 00:10:15.520 --> 00:10:18.010 A model on the outside of what Jesus wanted to do on the inside. 00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:21.720 And no matter how much religion you want to put on it. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:24.400 Whatever you do externally. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:27.130 We'll never change you internally. 00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:29.480 Christ does. 00:10:31.500 --> 00:10:33.030 Which is why he says in verse three. 00:10:34.220 --> 00:10:35.360 For as we who are the circumcision? 00:10:37.100 --> 00:10:43.680 We who serve God by His Spirit, which is within us, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh. 00:10:45.880 --> 00:10:47.410 It's never been about what you've done. 00:10:48.880 --> 00:10:56.280 It's about placing your faith in what Jesus has done for you on your behalf, and you have the opportunity to rejoice in that, because now His Spirit resides in 00:10:56.280 --> 00:11:00.040 you, and wherever you are, you rejoice in Christ and wherever you are. 00:11:00.040 --> 00:11:04.100 You can worship the Lord because His Spirit is with you through what Christ has done for you. 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:06.220 And you can always rejoice. 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:11.880 And a religious way of thinking runs counter intuitive to that. 00:11:11.880 --> 00:11:16.350 Rather than accepting and embracing what Jesus has done, we begin to live out for our own righteousness. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:22.280 And so Paul then gives us an illustration as if he wants to drive that point further home. 00:11:22.300 --> 00:11:26.160 He says, listen, if religion was it, then the Jewish people would have had it right. 00:11:26.180 --> 00:11:27.760 They had God's law, God's word. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.420 And following that, if that was the way to do it, then they would have had it. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:33.300 And so Paul gives an example from his own life. 00:11:33.300 --> 00:11:40.580 He says, though I myself have reason for such confidence, if someone else thinks they have reason to put confidence in the flesh, 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:41.460 I have more. 00:11:42.100 --> 00:11:46.340 So no matter how good you think you are, I'm better circumcised on the eighth day. 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:47.400 Not me. 00:11:47.400 --> 00:11:50.360 Of the people of Israel, not me of the tribe of Benjamin. 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:52.400 That's not me, of a Hebrew of Hebrews, not me either. 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:55.430 In regard to the law of Pharisee, that is never going to be me. 00:11:55.540 --> 00:12:01.040 As for zeal persecuting the church, as for righteousness based on the law, he was perfect, faultless. 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:09.200 And Paul's looking at all this and saying, if you think religion is the answer, I have lived it to the highest hill that you can climb. 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:10.940 I'm telling you. 00:12:13.180 --> 00:12:15.600 It robs you of the rejoicing with which Christ has done for you. 00:12:18.160 --> 00:12:19.160 Maybe you asked this morning. 00:12:20.180 --> 00:12:25.440 Or we could ask, according to this passage, how do I know if I am living in religion instead of rejoicing in Christ? 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:29.880 Let me just give you this thought and see how you complete it in your own mind. 00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:36.250 You don't have to say it all out, but if you come before the Lord and you say, God, you should accept me because. 00:12:37.800 --> 00:12:38.860 Or God. 00:12:38.880 --> 00:12:40.500 I am worthy of your love. 00:12:41.180 --> 00:12:41.520 Because. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:45.000 How do you finish the thought? 00:12:46.540 --> 00:12:50.280 I can tell you, Paul's already given us an idea of how that thought should start with us. 00:12:50.280 --> 00:12:57.560 And he said, when he says in verse three, for it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by the spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no 00:12:57.560 --> 00:13:00.060 confidence in the flesh. 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:08.740 If you come before the Lord, and your reasoning for why he should accept you is to do with anything out of your performance, you have put confidence in 00:13:08.740 --> 00:13:09.220 the flesh. 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:16.320 And so Paul says in this passage, when it comes to you before the Lord, there should be no confidence in anything you have ever 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:17.300 done to earn his love. 00:13:20.660 --> 00:13:21.880 I like the word no in Greek. 00:13:23.180 --> 00:13:23.900 It means no. 00:13:26.800 --> 00:13:27.720 Absolutely none. 00:13:30.040 --> 00:13:32.570 And so when you come before the Lord and you say, God, you should accept me because. 00:13:32.760 --> 00:13:33.920 Or God, I'm worthy of your love. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.140 Because if your answer is anything other than Jesus. 00:13:38.260 --> 00:13:40.410 It's contrary to what Paul is saying about the gospel here. 00:13:42.280 --> 00:13:44.180 You've put confidence in the flesh. 00:13:45.900 --> 00:13:50.080 The Bible tells us in Isaiah 59, all our righteous deeds are filthy rags before God. 00:13:52.280 --> 00:13:53.600 Meaning it's not about what you do. 00:13:55.280 --> 00:13:56.840 But about what's been done. 00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:04.140 And so Paul then goes on in verse seven he says, but whatever were gains talking about the religion and the heights of religion that he lived for, whatever 00:14:04.140 --> 00:14:09.020 were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:17.360 What is more, I consider everything I lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.030 I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:27.540 Paul says in verse seven, let go of your religious identity. 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:36.340 Let go of the things that you think allow you to merit God's favor because of the height of that religion leads to 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:38.570 a road that is empty. 00:14:40.400 --> 00:14:45.580 You're never going to embrace Christ who is before you, holding on to a religion that controls you. 00:14:47.340 --> 00:14:54.560 In fact, when you read the epistles, if Paul was interested in us living the law of the Gentiles, obeying the Old Testament law, you would find within the epistles, 00:14:54.560 --> 00:15:00.460 Paul would share for us what that law is and how to abide by it, but rather what Paul says throughout the Gospels. 00:15:00.560 --> 00:15:04.620 Instead, he told the Gentiles, do not join the circumcision or the people of the law of first Timothy. 00:15:04.920 --> 00:15:12.060 For he said things like, don't burden the Gentiles with the law in acts 15 and verse nine and ten and 19, when 00:15:12.060 --> 00:15:18.320 Jesus, what Jesus wanted to do to our heart, overlooked the superficial law, but rather was a transformation in our lives. 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:25.660 In Galatians 321 and 14, the law was simply a foreshadowing of things to come in Colossians chapter two, 00:15:25.680 --> 00:15:27.700 verses 13 and 23. 00:15:29.140 --> 00:15:32.340 The Old Testament law has been rendered obsolete in Hebrews 813. 00:15:33.300 --> 00:15:35.520 Christ is the end of the law in Romans ten four. 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:41.700 We're no longer under the law in Galatians 325 and the whole point of the law. 00:15:42.640 --> 00:15:43.930 Was to show us our need for Jesus. 00:15:44.300 --> 00:15:45.760 Romans seven 7 to 9. 00:15:48.140 --> 00:15:49.760 Religion robs of rejoicing. 00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:55.060 Because rejoicing is all about accomplishing the accomplishment of what Christ has done. 00:15:56.420 --> 00:16:03.560 And if you're constantly worried about meriting God's favor and finding his love and grace in your life, if that is your concern, you'll have no opportunity to 00:16:03.560 --> 00:16:07.800 rejoice in what's been accomplished because you're so worried about your position before him. 00:16:11.160 --> 00:16:12.160 Paul's identity in this passage. 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:20.830 It's about who you are in light of who Christ is, and your understanding of that gives you opportunity to rejoice in God all the days of your life, because you rest secure in him. 00:16:23.760 --> 00:16:26.010 What's the religion that keeps you from rejoicing in Jesus? 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:31.020 Can I tell you when it comes to religion that keeps us from rejoicing in Jesus? 00:16:31.040 --> 00:16:32.750 It doesn't have to be an organizational gathering. 00:16:34.140 --> 00:16:37.100 It could be something personal to us that we've placed before the Lord. 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:38.440 We all have a religion. 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:41.580 And so Paul's coming to this passage and saying it's lost. 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:48.660 And he's saying, let go of the things that make you that you think, make you worthy of God, and let go of the things that you think make you unworthy of God. 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:50.660 Let go of the things you think that are important. 00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:52.220 Let go of the things you think that define you. 00:16:52.260 --> 00:16:54.100 Let go of the things that you have let define you. 00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:55.800 Let go of the things you've placed before God. 00:16:56.020 --> 00:16:58.860 Let go of the things you've placed as a substitute for God. 00:16:59.560 --> 00:17:00.550 Let go of religion. 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:02.060 Let go of dreams, let go of habits. 00:17:02.180 --> 00:17:02.900 Let go of your means. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:03.960 Let go of it all. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:05.260 They do not define you. 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:06.460 They do not control you. 00:17:06.460 --> 00:17:07.839 They do not sustain you. 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:09.750 They do not bring you eternal satisfaction. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:12.119 Just us. 00:17:14.540 --> 00:17:17.880 Which is why, at the height of religion, Paul says in verse seven. 00:17:18.900 --> 00:17:20.000 And I have let it all go. 00:17:21.060 --> 00:17:22.560 Because of what Jesus has done. 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:23.500 And my place. 00:17:26.819 --> 00:17:31.520 Jesus continued to point people to what he was about to do on the earth. 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:36.760 Not to conform us to the law, but transform us from the heart. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:40.880 While the law rested on the external, Jesus became personal and intimate. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:47.920 And as he hung on the cross and said, it is finished thinking of your behalf, the payment that he would pay his desire was that 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:55.060 you would look at the rest of the world, and in response to the payment that he made for you, he would you would say to the world, it is finished, 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:56.520 and I embrace Christ. 00:18:00.020 --> 00:18:01.040 Maybe this morning. 00:18:01.040 --> 00:18:03.220 Maybe religion doesn't make you feel guilty. 00:18:03.220 --> 00:18:03.640 But maybe. 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:10.940 Maybe there's something in your past that you hold on to that makes you feel guilty, not realizing just how much Christ has extended his love for you by 00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:16.480 dying for those things that have separated you and isolated you from him. 00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:19.840 Maybe you've been trying to cover those sins with religion. 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:24.600 Maybe you've been worried about your past, wondering how God and others will respond to it. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:28.680 And can I just be honest this morning and tell you. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:30.820 Jesus sees it all. 00:18:32.580 --> 00:18:34.390 Religion can't mask it. 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:36.540 Jesus sees it all. 00:18:36.540 --> 00:18:37.680 He sees your skeletons. 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:38.930 He sees your scars. 00:18:38.940 --> 00:18:40.150 He sees your mistakes. 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:41.620 He sees your sins. 00:18:43.300 --> 00:18:47.000 He even looks at you and sees the future mistakes you're going to make before you already make it. 00:18:47.060 --> 00:18:48.860 And he still loves you and he still died for you. 00:18:50.860 --> 00:18:54.830 He loved you before you tried to fancy yourself up in religion. 00:18:54.860 --> 00:18:54.920 He. 00:18:55.080 --> 00:18:58.420 He loved you when you walked away from him to pursue empty dreams. 00:18:58.420 --> 00:19:01.120 He loved you when you shook your fist at him in anger. 00:19:01.340 --> 00:19:01.500 He. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.960 He loved you and he gave himself for you. 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:05.800 It's as if he hung from the cross. 00:19:05.820 --> 00:19:08.280 And he said, I did this for you. 00:19:08.280 --> 00:19:09.460 What else would I die for? 00:19:13.100 --> 00:19:15.980 Can I tell you this morning if you have trouble trusting in the Lord. 00:19:17.780 --> 00:19:18.800 Best place to begin. 00:19:20.180 --> 00:19:21.920 What's the focus on the love he's extended to you? 00:19:23.820 --> 00:19:26.480 To understand what Paul says to this idea of loss. 00:19:28.320 --> 00:19:29.660 Because loss is all about love. 00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:38.540 Lost for the first time in your life, according to Paul in verse seven, gives you the opportunity to let go of the things that you thought were so important before your Lord, and just embrace 00:19:38.540 --> 00:19:42.500 the God who has extended his love to you by pursuing you with his life. 00:19:45.080 --> 00:19:45.540 Can I tell you? 00:19:45.540 --> 00:19:48.420 One of the loneliest moments I think exists for us as people. 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:57.120 Is when we pursue our lives and dreams, only to get to the end of it and realize it's left us empty and 00:19:57.120 --> 00:19:59.300 meaningless and never been fulfilled. 00:20:01.820 --> 00:20:05.760 And Paul's looking at the thing that his culture valued most and saying. 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:07.780 That was my religion. 00:20:09.760 --> 00:20:11.760 And the road to that was empty. 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:15.700 And so you may look at Paul and you think, man, he gave up a lot. 00:20:15.700 --> 00:20:19.560 You think of the prominence that he had in his society and his culture and the way people would have viewed him. 00:20:19.840 --> 00:20:26.880 And, I mean, if he existed today, would it free tickets to Real Salt Lake in the jazz and the zoo and everything that he ever wanted, people would just worship the ground he walked on and he gave 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:28.720 it all up for Christ. 00:20:31.060 --> 00:20:33.050 Jim Elliott was a missionary to the Akan Indians. 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:38.280 He gave his life for the Lord, and he had this famous quote that still resides today. 00:20:38.280 --> 00:20:43.660 He says he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:50.700 Paul saying in this passage, yes, I did lose something, but in comparison to what I gained, it can't. 00:20:50.800 --> 00:20:51.840 It can't even relate. 00:20:53.720 --> 00:21:00.920 And so when Paul thinks about this idea of religion and he thinks about this relationship to Christ and everything that he has in Jesus, he says, he says 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:07.960 to us in verse eight, what is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:11.550 lost all things, and I consider them garbage. 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:14.840 I will just be clear on what Paul is saying here. 00:21:14.840 --> 00:21:22.100 So the text comes to life for us, but when Paul uses when Paul calls his lifestyle apart from Jesus and religious living 00:21:22.100 --> 00:21:28.660 garbage, the word that he's choosing to stay here is scuola, which is a Greek cuss word. 00:21:29.100 --> 00:21:30.440 Your Bible has a cuss word, right? 00:21:31.100 --> 00:21:33.330 Now, I'm not advocating that everyone now go out and cuss. 00:21:33.540 --> 00:21:34.600 That's not that's not what I'm saying. 00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:38.420 But when Paul is recognizing here, he's saying it's dung, it's garbage. 00:21:38.820 --> 00:21:39.500 It's doo doo. 00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:43.740 When you walk, you know what it's like if you've got a dog, you walk across the yard and then. 00:21:43.840 --> 00:21:44.460 Then there it is. 00:21:44.460 --> 00:21:44.760 Right? 00:21:44.820 --> 00:21:46.080 You're in it before you know it. 00:21:46.140 --> 00:21:48.980 And the thought that comes to your mind is not pure, right? 00:21:49.100 --> 00:21:49.700 We know it. 00:21:51.100 --> 00:21:55.020 And that's what Paul is saying here was just trying to enjoy my yard, man. 00:21:55.860 --> 00:21:56.780 And then I stepped in it. 00:21:58.220 --> 00:21:58.570 And I thought. 00:21:59.840 --> 00:22:01.200 I thought it was what I was looking for. 00:22:02.620 --> 00:22:03.150 But I was wrong. 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:05.920 And I laid it all down. 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:09.210 And not only did I find Jesus. 00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:12.150 But now I have opportunity to rejoice. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.740 Because there is hope in what God has done. 00:22:18.100 --> 00:22:25.100 And so Paul says in verse nine, he defines exactly what this is and be found in him not having a righteousness 00:22:25.100 --> 00:22:32.120 of my own that comes from the law or religion, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on 00:22:32.120 --> 00:22:34.280 the basis of faith. 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:40.640 So if you were to ask the question this morning in religious context, how can you undo your past? 00:22:42.320 --> 00:22:44.400 The answer is you can't. 00:22:46.280 --> 00:22:53.660 Whenever you do something sinful against a holy God, it lasts for eternity and there is no amount of good you can ever do to undo 00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:54.720 that wrong. 00:22:54.740 --> 00:22:54.900 You can't. 00:22:57.280 --> 00:23:01.220 But the beauty of verse nine is Jesus did. 00:23:03.140 --> 00:23:07.080 What you could never hope to do in your own strength Jesus did for you. 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:16.460 People wonder and look at the life of the Christian and they think, well, if it's all about just faith, as it says in verse nine, then what stops you 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:18.740 from going out and living like hell the rest of the time? 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:21.480 The answer is this. 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:23.720 It's God's love. 00:23:26.100 --> 00:23:33.740 When you understand everything that Jesus has done for you on your behalf, not owing you anything, and 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:40.780 in the darkest of moments of your life, and the sin that you carry, and the skeletons that you try to hide and mask in religious living, that Jesus knows that 00:23:40.780 --> 00:23:43.720 and Jesus still love you and Jesus still died for that. 00:23:44.360 --> 00:23:47.800 Never in your life will you ever experience a love to that degree. 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:55.580 Never in your life will you ever see a love that even compares to the love that's been extended to you by the King of Kings, who has humbled himself to the point 00:23:55.580 --> 00:23:58.080 of a servant and died the most despicable death. 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:06.260 And when you realize the love that has begun to embrace you and accept you as you place your faith in what's been accomplished for 00:24:06.260 --> 00:24:11.040 you, the result within your soul is one that rejoices in everything that Jesus has done. 00:24:12.600 --> 00:24:13.240 And religion. 00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:14.940 Robs that. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:18.740 Because as Christ has accomplished that for you. 00:24:20.120 --> 00:24:24.540 Religion then goes and tells you, and now you must merit the love that's already been extended to you in Christ. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:34.100 Verse three told us, put no confidence in the flesh. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:42.410 It's all about the righteousness through which Christ has given to you, as you have placed your faith in what has been accomplished. 00:24:42.620 --> 00:24:43.400 Look what Paul says. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:46.530 He goes crazy in verse ten he says, I want to know Christ. 00:24:46.620 --> 00:24:51.720 Yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings. 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:53.060 We are American. 00:24:53.060 --> 00:24:54.620 We like our comfort and luxury. 00:24:55.660 --> 00:24:56.540 And he says, suffering. 00:24:57.820 --> 00:24:59.320 Becoming like him in his death. 00:25:00.140 --> 00:25:01.120 What is he talking about? 00:25:02.280 --> 00:25:02.900 And why? 00:25:03.100 --> 00:25:05.720 Why would Paul want to suffer to the point? 00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:10.880 And let me, let me just let me just explain to you what I think Paul's getting across and his willingness just to want to suffer for Christ. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:14.790 I think one Paul wants to experience. 00:25:16.980 --> 00:25:17.240 Christ. 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:20.000 To the extent that Christ loved. 00:25:22.360 --> 00:25:24.780 Knowing that Jesus has suffered so much for us. 00:25:24.780 --> 00:25:31.040 Paul wanted to endure similar circumstances just to understand how deep Jesus's love goes for him. 00:25:34.020 --> 00:25:40.170 The torture that he endured and the things he gave up to become a servant for Paul. 00:25:42.420 --> 00:25:43.120 Not only that. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:48.540 I think Paul knows that the only thing this world can do to us. 00:25:49.900 --> 00:25:50.960 His harm us physically. 00:25:52.380 --> 00:25:55.180 But it never has the ability to touch her soul. 00:25:56.800 --> 00:25:57.700 It belongs to God. 00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:06.660 And when Paul is willing to lay down himself physically for the sake of Christ, there is nothing at that point this 00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:09.860 world can do that can tempt him from following Jesus with his life. 00:26:12.080 --> 00:26:18.460 When your love for Christ and your understanding of what he's done for you is so deep that you don't even care what the world does to you. 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:25.440 It demonstrates that there is nothing that has the power to pull you away from your walk and rejoicing in Christ. 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:33.560 In fact, first Peter four one says, when you, when you will suffer for what is godly sin, has no power 00:26:33.560 --> 00:26:34.200 over you. 00:26:36.760 --> 00:26:38.040 Belongs to Jesus. 00:26:40.600 --> 00:26:43.120 And here's the beautiful thing that happens in verses 11 and 12. 00:26:45.280 --> 00:26:45.740 Paul says. 00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:48.540 And so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 00:26:48.540 --> 00:26:55.620 Now, not that I have already obtained all of this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold 00:26:55.620 --> 00:26:58.260 of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:03.300 When Paul began to identify in his life what Christ has done for him. 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:07.440 He understood that Jesus took hold of him. 00:27:08.540 --> 00:27:13.900 And no longer does he have to carry the guilt of his past on his shoulders, having to earn God's love. 00:27:15.220 --> 00:27:21.240 But now he understands God's love has been given to him and the things of the past that weighed him down. 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:25.540 He's now able to let go that he can look to the glorious future through which Christ has called him. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:29.460 Religion put them in bondage. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:32.220 But Jesus said I'm free. 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:35.700 And it was through that freedom. 00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:40.280 He has opportunity to rejoice in what God has accomplished. 00:27:41.860 --> 00:27:42.840 So let me explain this to you. 00:27:44.600 --> 00:27:47.720 We called this morning's message God is a Cubs fan. 00:27:49.510 --> 00:27:49.760 And. 00:27:49.760 --> 00:27:49.860 And what? 00:27:51.020 --> 00:27:51.910 What does that even mean? 00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:54.180 Because I didn't know there was baseball in the Bible, right? 00:27:55.060 --> 00:27:55.360 God is. 00:27:55.520 --> 00:27:56.340 God is a Cubs fan. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:59.000 Well, if you know anything about the Chicago Cubs, um. 00:27:59.800 --> 00:28:00.740 They're sad. 00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:06.680 Every year the fans get so excited that they're going to win the World Series, and every year they're just bad again. 00:28:07.360 --> 00:28:12.140 I like that the fans have short tum memory loss, but they could just never get over the hump. 00:28:12.140 --> 00:28:13.380 They can't even make it to the playoffs. 00:28:13.600 --> 00:28:15.830 I mean they did once and like maybe in the last ten years. 00:28:17.380 --> 00:28:20.060 But they just keep rooting and keep cheering and keep hoping. 00:28:21.800 --> 00:28:23.560 And God, they're looking for a miracle. 00:28:23.560 --> 00:28:30.660 And God is like a Cubs fan in that he has this love and this hope, and he's cheering over you and he's dying for you. 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:35.340 And he's rejoicing in those who put their, his, their faith in him and trusting him. 00:28:35.340 --> 00:28:35.440 God. 00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:36.920 God is a Cubs fan. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:41.240 But here's the difference between the Cubs and those who have Jesus on their side. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:45.340 Is that the victory of the world Series is already guaranteed for you. 00:28:46.500 --> 00:28:47.600 Because Jesus has won it. 00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:53.020 And no matter how daunting the season may look. 00:28:54.700 --> 00:28:57.200 And no matter how much you may feel like you lose. 00:28:59.380 --> 00:29:01.840 Jesus has stepped in on your behalf and he's declared the victory. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.300 When it comes to the Christian life. 00:29:08.020 --> 00:29:12.000 The victory of the Christian life is really all about how quickly you lose. 00:29:14.040 --> 00:29:21.200 When you have a willingness of everything that you bring before God with an answer to the question, God, you should love me because and you're willing to just lay it down, let it go, and embrace 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:24.100 Jesus and declare it all lost for the sake of Christ. 00:29:25.320 --> 00:29:25.900 That's victory. 00:29:27.860 --> 00:29:29.470 And this is how it relates to us as believers. 00:29:31.160 --> 00:29:32.140 Let me just say unbelievers first. 00:29:32.320 --> 00:29:39.360 Those who haven't put their faith in Christ yet, those who haven't had forgiveness of sins in Christ yet, those who don't know what it means to have salvation in Christ. 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:45.430 Yet when you come before Jesus and you lay it all down and you embrace what Jesus has done for you, that is the victory. 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:52.520 But for you as a believer as well, the Christian life is continued to be lived in victory. 00:29:52.520 --> 00:29:59.860 When you understand, not only do you count it as lost once in your life, you count it as lost as always in your life, so that Christ meaning 00:29:59.860 --> 00:30:04.580 and purpose and value and what he's done for you can ring true over you. 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:07.680 Let me tell you what I'm not saying this morning. 00:30:09.040 --> 00:30:09.700 I'm not saying. 00:30:09.860 --> 00:30:11.360 Please leave here and call yourself a loser. 00:30:12.560 --> 00:30:12.740 Right? 00:30:14.540 --> 00:30:17.100 But what I am saying is, when you leave today, cannon is lost. 00:30:19.540 --> 00:30:21.580 So while Paul started with in verses 1 to 2. 00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:27.320 As our understanding to recognize that in Christ we get the privilege of rejoicing. 00:30:29.840 --> 00:30:31.630 Has nothing to do with you. 00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:34.770 But has everything to do with the goodness of who Jesus is. 00:30:36.780 --> 00:30:43.780 And the moment you allow the world to place a value system on you apart from Christ, it begins to rob you of the rejoicing that you can receive in Jesus. 00:30:45.760 --> 00:30:48.140 And maybe in place that comes shame and guilt. 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:50.950 Maybe you find yourself in bondage. 00:30:52.780 --> 00:30:58.500 But what Paul is saying for the life of the believer, as you come to know Jesus, you can continue to rejoice in Jesus. 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:05.740 Because when the moment looks dark, when the game looks like it's lost, Christ has already declared victory over 00:31:05.740 --> 00:31:06.440 those moments. 00:31:06.500 --> 00:31:08.800 There is nothing that can control you. 00:31:08.800 --> 00:31:11.500 There is nothing that has authority over you. 00:31:11.540 --> 00:31:14.020 It all belongs to Christ.