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Invite you to take your Bible from Philippians chapter three, halfway through a series together on Joy and the Broken. And and the book of Philippians is all about rejoicing and and regardless of circumstances. 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 rejoice in what Christ has accomplished. Joy in in the broken. 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 to do. When we do so, we do something called expository preaching and teaching, where we go through a book of the Bible. We like to break it out verse by verse, so we have a better understanding. Sometimes we do things topically, and we like to particularly go through books of the Bible together. And that is because God desires for us to know His Word. And so when we we go through each book of the Bible, understanding as it was written, we we grasp a better understanding of our own personal study of God’s Word. 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, as it relates to life and its purpose and meaning, are the are the same questions we ask today. Sometimes I think because our technology might advance, we like to think that we’re we’re smarter.
Uh, for than our own good. Really. But we like to think we’re smarter than past generations, when in fact, when you study scripture, you see the the same common questions about life and its meaning have always been asked, and people have always desired to know. And so we go through books of the Bible. We not only understand the questions they’re asking, but we see how it relates to our lives. 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. And in fact, in Philippians chapter three and verse one, that’s exactly where Paul starts. And when he talks about joy and rejoicing. Guys are going to have to click for me. He talks about joy and rejoicing. He is reiterating what he’s already shared with us in the previous chapters, which is why he says further as a further explanation. My brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 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 repetitive. In fact, sometimes it’s painfully repetitive, and how many times it may mention a specific truth. Just this sort of rejoicing and joy found in the book of Philippians is mentioned 19 times within this passage.
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 with the Lord. It’s important that I remind you of this because it’s central to your walk in Christ. When it comes about the idea of reminding us as people. I think it’s important to do. And so does the apostle Paul. One of the reasons is we’re forgetful people. 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? That was me, right? 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 those main things, the main things. 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 to my life, I would have to read it several times, you know, like ten, 20 times the same chapter. I get distracted. There goes a squirrel. Forget what I read. Start over. I’m not one of those that has the photographic memory to retain. And and when I was studying for a test as a, as a kid in college, I was reading about early church fathers.
And, and one of the things I recognize about one of these early church fathers, I think it was Augustine, he said that he he read the the same information repeatedly rather than multiple books. And the reason was, is he wanted to retain and he found the way, the best way he learned was through repetitive reading. 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 again. So your mind can see how significant this is in your walk with Christ. God has created you for relationship in him, and that relationship is intended to rejoice in what he’s done for you. 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 identity in Jesus. 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. 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 your rejoicing in Jesus, because the world system that’s coming against, particularly Paul and the people he’s interacting with is religion.
And Paul is about to go after religion. You’re going to specifically see it in verse five and six. But don’t 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 of what God has created us for, which is rejoicing in him. 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. Paul’s going to say some very specific things about religion and and some very particular things that he wants us to recognize, and identifying what it does for us and robbing us of our rejoicing in God. But he’s not doing it because he’s living a life to just hate on religion. He’s doing it because he wants us to recognize the beauty of who Jesus is in our lives. And to be able to let go of everything else in our lives. That gets us counterintuitive to what Christ is about for us and in us and through us. And allow us to rejoice in the simplicity of our relationship with Christ. To let go of those things. And so Paul says it’s about rejoicing in Christ. And recognizing what you have in Christ is a safeguard for you. And continuing to remind yourself of what Jesus has done for you is what produces that rejoicing in you.
And we can rejoice because circumstances regardless do not own you, but Christ does to those who put their faith in him. You rejoice in a future security because of what Christ has done for us. We rejoice in the past that’s been cleansed and washed new in Jesus. We rejoice in a God who loves us even in the moment, despite our sin, because of what Christ has done. And the world will try to erase that. It’s love is extended in our society based on a performance model. You don’t get love which which is not what love is. But in our society you don’t get love because of of the worth of who you are. You get love because you earn it according to our culture. But according to Jesus. He loves you despite you. Even a life that walks contrary to him. Christ, love you and giving his life for you. Jesus gives all things to you that you may rejoice in him. It’s a safeguard to remind yourself of what Christ has done because of what Christ has done. It’s not about what you do, but what he has done for you. And so Paul goes against religion. As a safeguard to the believers that they may continue to rejoice in Jesus. But a reminder to us and all of this in talking about religion, it’s it’s about rejoicing. And so Paul says in verse two, talking about religion, watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh, for it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, we who boast in Christ Jesus, and and who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reason for such confidence.
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 under the weight and burden of guilt. Religion brings a sense of guilt and insecurity, not knowing how your relationship truly lies with God. 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. And Paul uses specific words in referring to that. He says in verse two, watch out for those teachers. They’re dogs. Not only not only, not only are they dogs, but they’re also. It’s also evil doers. In our society today, we have the tendency to look at religion, that quote unquote do good, and we call it good. But what Paul says about it here is that it’s its evil doing. It’s not bad. It’s evil. Why would Paul say that? 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. Galatians 221 tells us.
For if righteousness could be achieved through the law, Christ died needlessly. 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 God. And if there was another avenue to do such, Jesus would have never given his life. And to say that you earn it. For a God who’s given it and sacrificed everything. Is to spit in the sacrifice that he’s given for you. 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 it’s evil because it mocks what Jesus has done. And so he says, those mutilators of the flesh and referencing to to circumcision he’s about to talk about in verse three, he talks about the Judaizers at this time, trying to tell the Christians that they need to observe the law. And by observing the law, one of the things they have to do is circumcision. 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. And I don’t know about you, but when I think about intimate moments, circumcision would be included under that umbrella. It was a model. A model on the outside of what Jesus wanted to do on the inside. And no matter how much religion you want to put on it.
Whatever you do externally. We’ll never change you internally. Christ does. Which is why he says in verse three. For as we who are the circumcision? We who serve God by His Spirit, which is within us, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh. It’s never been about what you’ve done. 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 you, and wherever you are, you rejoice in Christ and wherever you are. You can worship the Lord because His Spirit is with you through what Christ has done for you. And you can always rejoice. And a religious way of thinking runs counter intuitive to that. Rather than accepting and embracing what Jesus has done, we begin to live out for our own righteousness. And so Paul then gives us an illustration as if he wants to drive that point further home. He says, listen, if religion was it, then the Jewish people would have had it right. They had God’s law, God’s word. And following that, if that was the way to do it, then, then they would have had it. And so Paul gives an example from his own life. He says, though I myself have reason for such confidence, if someone else thinks they have reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more.
So no matter how good you think you are, I’m better circumcised on the eighth day. Not me. Of the people of Israel, not me of the tribe of Benjamin. That’s not me, of a Hebrew of Hebrews, not me either. In regard to the law of Pharisee, that is never going to be me. As for zeal persecuting the church, as for righteousness based on the law, he was perfect, faultless. 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. I’m telling you. It robs you of the rejoicing with which Christ has done for you. Maybe you asked this morning. Or we could ask, according to this passage, how do I know if I am living in religion instead of rejoicing in Christ? Let me just give you this thought and see how you complete it in your own mind. 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. Or or God. I am worthy of your love. Because. How do you finish the thought? I can tell you, Paul’s already given us an idea of how that thought should start with us. 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 confidence in the flesh.
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 the flesh. 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 done to earn his love. I like the word no in Greek. It means no. Absolutely none. And so when you come before the Lord and you say, God, you should accept me because. Or God, I’m worthy of your love. Because if your answer is anything other than Jesus. It’s contrary to what Paul is saying about the gospel here. You’ve put confidence in the flesh. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 59, all our righteous deeds are filthy rags before God. Meaning it’s not about what you do. But about what’s been done. 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 were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 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. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. Paul says in verse seven, let go of your religious identity.
Let go of the things that you think allow you to merit God’s favor because of the height of that religion leads to a road that is empty. You’re never going to embrace Christ who is before you, holding on to a religion that controls you. 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, Paul would share for us what that law is and how to abide by it, but rather what Paul says throughout the Gospels. Instead, he told the Gentiles, do not join the circumcision or the people of the law of first Timothy. For he said things like, don’t burden the Gentiles with the law in acts 15 and verse nine and ten and 19, when Jesus, what Jesus wanted to do to our heart, overlooked the superficial law, but rather was a transformation in our lives. In Galatians 321 and 14, the law was simply a foreshadowing of things to come in Colossians chapter two, verses 13 and 23. The Old Testament law has been rendered obsolete in Hebrews 813. Christ is the end of the law in Romans ten four. We’re no longer under the law in Galatians 325 and the whole point of the law. Was to show us our need for Jesus. Romans seven 7 to 9. Religion robs of rejoicing. Because rejoicing is all about accomplishing the accomplishment of what Christ has done.
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 rejoice in what’s been accomplished because you’re so, so worried about your position before him. Paul’s identity in this passage. 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. What’s the religion that keeps you from rejoicing in Jesus? Can I tell you when it comes to religion that keeps us from rejoicing in Jesus? It doesn’t have to be an organizational gathering. It could be something personal to us that we’ve placed before the Lord. We we all have a religion. And so Paul’s coming to this passage and saying it’s lost. 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. Let go of the things you think that that are important. Let go of the things you think that define you. Let go of the things that you have let define you. Let go of the things you’ve placed before God. Let go of the things you’ve placed as a substitute for God. Let go of religion. Let go of dreams, let go of habits.
Let go of your means. Let go of it all. They do not define you. They do not control you. They do not sustain you. They do not bring you eternal satisfaction. Just us. Which is why, at the height of religion, Paul says in verse seven. And I have let it all go. Because of what Jesus has done. And my place. Jesus continued to point people to what he was about to do on the earth. Not to conform us to the law, but transform us from the heart. While the law rested on the external, Jesus became personal and intimate. 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 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, and I embrace Christ. Maybe this morning. Maybe religion doesn’t make you feel guilty. But maybe. 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 dying for those things that have separated you and isolated you from him. Maybe you’ve been trying to cover those sins with religion. Maybe you’ve been worried about your past, wondering how how God and others will respond to it.
And can I just be honest this morning and tell you. Jesus sees it all. Religion can’t mask it. Jesus sees it all. He sees your skeletons. He sees your scars. He sees your mistakes. He sees your sins. He even looks at you and sees the future mistakes you’re going to make before you already make it. And he still loves you and he still died for you. He loved you before you tried to fancy yourself up in religion. He. He loved you when you walked away from him to to pursue empty dreams. He loved you when you shook your fist at him in anger. He. He loved you and he gave himself for you. It’s as if he hung from the cross. And he said, I did this for you. What else would I die for? Can I tell you this morning if you have trouble trusting in the Lord. Best place to begin. What’s the focus on the love he’s extended to you? To understand what Paul says to this idea of loss. Because loss is all about love. 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 the God who has extended his love to you by pursuing you with his life. Can I tell you? One of the loneliest moments I think exists for us as people.
Is when we pursue our lives and dreams, only to get to the end of it and realize it’s left us empty and meaningless and never been fulfilled. And Paul’s looking at the thing that his culture valued most and saying. That was my religion. And the road to that was empty. And so you may look at Paul and you think, man, he gave up a lot. You think of the prominence that he had in his society and his culture and the way people would have viewed him. And 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 it all up for Christ. Jim Elliott was a missionary to the Akan Indians. He gave his life for for the Lord, and he had this famous quote that still resides today. He says he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Paul saying in this passage, yes, I did lose something, but in comparison to what I gained, it can’t. It can’t even relate. And so when Paul thinks about this idea of religion and he thinks about this, this relationship to Christ and everything that he has in Jesus, he says, he says 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 lost all things, and I consider them garbage.
I will just be clear on what Paul is saying here. So the text comes to life for us, but when Paul uses when Paul calls his lifestyle apart from Jesus and religious living garbage, the word that he’s choosing to stay here is scuola, which is a Greek cuss word. Your Bible has a cuss word, right? Now, I’m not advocating that everyone now go out and cuss. That’s not that’s not what I’m saying. But when Paul is recognizing here, he’s he’s saying it’s dung, it’s garbage. It’s it’s doo doo. When you walk, you know, you know what it’s like if you’ve got a dog, you walk across the, the yard and then. Then there it is. Right? You’re in it before you know it. And the thought that comes to your mind is not pure, right? We know it. And that’s what Paul is saying here was just trying to enjoy my yard, man. And then I stepped in it. And I thought. I thought it was what I was looking for. But I was wrong. And I laid it all down. And not only did I find Jesus. But now I have opportunity to rejoice. Because there is hope in what God has done. And so Paul says in verse nine, he defines exactly what this is and be found in him not having a righteousness 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 the basis of faith.
So if you were to ask the question this morning in religious context, how can you undo your past? The answer is you can’t. 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 that wrong. You can’t. But the beauty of verse nine is Jesus did. What you could never hope to do in your own strength Jesus did for you. People wonder and look at the life of the Christian and they think, well, well, if it’s all about just faith, as it says in verse nine, then, then, then what stops you from going out and living like hell the rest of the time? The answer is this. It’s God’s love. When you understand everything that Jesus has done for you on your behalf, not owing you anything, and 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 and Jesus still love you and Jesus still died for that. Never in your life will you ever experience a love to that degree. 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 of a servant and died the most despicable death.
And when you realize the love that has begun to to embrace you and accept you as you place your faith in what’s been accomplished for you, the result within your soul is one that rejoices in everything that Jesus has done. And religion. Robs that. Because as Christ has accomplished that for you. Religion then goes and tells you, and now you must merit the love that’s already been extended to you in Christ. Verse three told us, put no confidence in the flesh. It’s all about the righteousness through which Christ has given to you, as you have placed your faith in what has been accomplished. Look what Paul says. He goes crazy in verse ten he says, I want to know Christ. Yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings. We we are American. We like our comfort and luxury. And he says, suffering. Becoming like him in his death. What is he talking about? And why? Why would Paul want to suffer to the point? And let me, let me just let me just explain to you what I think Paul’s getting across and his, his willingness just to want to suffer for Christ. I think one Paul wants to experience. Christ. To the extent that Christ loved. Knowing that Jesus has suffered so much for us.
Paul wanted to endure similar circumstances just to understand how deep Jesus’s love goes for him. The torture that he endured and the things he gave up to become a servant for Paul. Not only that. I think Paul knows that the only thing this world can do to us. His harm us physically. But it never has the ability to touch her soul. It belongs to God. And when Paul is willing to lay down himself physically for the sake of Christ, there is nothing at that point this world can do that can tempt him from following Jesus with his life. 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. It demonstrates that that there is nothing that has the power to pull you away from your walk and rejoicing in Christ. In fact, first Peter four one says, when you, when you will suffer for what is godly sin, has no power over you. Belongs to Jesus. And here’s the beautiful thing that happens in verses 11 and 12. Paul says. And so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Now, not that I have already obtained all of this or or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. When Paul began to identify in his life what Christ has done for him.
He understood that Jesus took hold of him. And no longer does he have to carry the guilt of his past on his shoulders, having to earn God’s love. But now he understands God’s love has been given to him and the things of the past that weighed him down. He’s now able to let go that he can look to the glorious future through which Christ has called him. Religion put them in bondage. But Jesus said I’m free. And it was through that freedom. He has opportunity to rejoice in what God has accomplished. So let me explain this to you. We called this morning’s message God is a Cubs fan. And. And what? What does that even mean? Because I didn’t know there was baseball in the Bible, right? God is. God is a Cubs fan. Well, if you know anything about the Chicago Cubs, um. They’re sad. Every year the fans get so excited that they’re going to win the World Series, and every year they’re just bad again. I like that the fans have short tum memory loss, but but they could just never get over the hump. They can’t even make it to the playoffs. I mean they did once and like maybe in the last ten years. But they just keep rooting and keep cheering and keep hoping. And God, they’re looking for a miracle. And God is is like a a Cubs fan in that he he has this love and this hope, and he’s cheering over you and he’s dying for you.
And he’s rejoicing in those who put their, his, their faith in him and trusting him. God. God is a Cubs fan. But here’s the difference between the Cubs and those who who have Jesus on their side. Is that the victory of the world Series is already guaranteed for you. Because Jesus has won it. And no matter how daunting the season may look. And no matter how much you may feel like you lose. Jesus has stepped in on your behalf and he’s declared the victory. When it comes to the Christian life. The victory of the Christian life is really all about how quickly you lose. 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 Jesus and declare it all lost for the sake of Christ. That’s victory. And this is how it relates to us as believers. Let me just say unbelievers first. 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. 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.
But for you as a believer as well, the Christian life is continued to to be lived in victory. 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 and purpose and value and what he’s done for you can ring true over you. Let me tell you what I’m not saying this morning. I’m not saying. Please leave here and call yourself a loser. Right? But what I am saying is, when you leave today, cannon is lost. So while Paul started with in verses 1 to 2. As our understanding to recognize that in Christ we get the privilege of rejoicing. Has nothing to do with you. But has everything to do with the goodness of who Jesus is. 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. And maybe in place that comes shame and guilt. Maybe you find yourself in bondage. But what Paul is saying for the life of the believer, as you come to know Jesus, you can continue to rejoice in Jesus. Because when the moment looks dark, when the game looks like it’s lost, Christ has already declared victory over those moments. There is nothing that can control you. There is nothing that has authority over you. It all belongs to Christ.