YouTube video sermon
Philippians 3:1-11
Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Philippians 3. As you’re finding your spot, I want to take another moment and thank my friend and colleague, Ryan Ferguson, for filling in for me last week while I was away. Not only did he bring an encouraging message to love God and love each other, but he turned around, rather frequently, to face the choir, to make them feel included, to engage with them – something that I haven’t customarily done but something that I will now try to incorporate into my preaching and delivery. So, Ryan, if you’re watching, thank you for caring for the flock while I was away.
There are some questions that we all eventually have to answer that will determine the significance of our lives. For example, “Is it more important that I make money or make a difference? Is it more important that I make a living or a life? Is it more important to get what I want or give others what they need?” In other words, you’re going to find yourself from time-to-time – if you take life seriously at all – asking yourself this question, “What difference do I make?”
You’d be surprised how often a pastor asks that question. You’d be surprised how often a guy like me, a guy who does what I do, asks that question. You get discouraged. You get deflated. Things don’t always go the way you want them to. Things don’t happen the way you want them to happen. Things don’t move and quick as you want them to move, and sometimes you wonder, “What difference do I make.”
Do you know what a doppelganger is? It’s a German word that literally means double-walker. A doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike. It’s your twin. A living person that looks like you, but who isn’t you. I’ve met a lot of people in my life, but I’ve never met someone exactly like me and you’ve never met someone exactly like you. There are no two people exactly alike. There are people who are very, very close in appearance and very close in preference, very close in their likes and dislikes, but dig deep enough and no one is exactly like anyone else. We’re all snowflakes. We’re all unique and different. Why is that?
I believe there’s a divine reason for that. God has made us different so that we could make a difference. It should make a difference to you that you make a difference. It should really be important to you to make a difference realizing that your time on this earth to make a difference is not only relatively brief, but you never know when it will end.
The other day, I read about an Uber driver who was starting his very first day. He picked up his very first passenger on his very first day, and they were driving down the road when, without warning, the passenger tapped him on the shoulder and simply said, “Excuse me sir.” When he did, the Uber driver screamed, lost control of his car, nearly hit a bus, jumped the curve and stopped just inches from going through a plate-glass window into a grocery store.
Everything was silent for a moment and then the driver said, “Man, you scared the daylights out of me!” The passenger, shaking like a leaf, said, “I’m so sorry. All I did was tap you on the shoulder and say, ‘excuse me sir.’” Well, the Uber driver dropped his head and said, “You know, it really isn’t your fault. You see, today is my first day as an Uber driver. For the past 20 years I’ve been driving a funeral hearse.”
Listen to me. One day death is going to tap you and me on the shoulder and say, “Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, ma’am, your time is up.” We don’t know when. We don’t know where. We don’t know how. But that tap is surely going to come, and when it does, one of the questions that we will ask is: “What difference did I make?” Well, Paul is going to speak to that this morning and I want us to consider it as well. Follow along with me as I read Philippians 3:1-11.
1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh – 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
“Father, we pray now that You will come by the Holy Spirit and teach us from the Bible – that, in the words of R. Hudson Pope, You will ‘make the Book live to us, O Lord;’ that You will ‘show us Yourself within Your Word,’ that You will ‘show us ourselves, and show us our Savior, and make the Book live to us.’ For Jesus’ sake we ask it. Amen.”
I believe there are at least two things that will determine what difference you make and here they are: what you know and who you know.
As I’ve studied history, I believe that outside of Jesus Christ, there’s never been anybody that’s ever lived that got a bigger bang for their buck out of the life they lived than a man named Paul. I don’t believe anyone who has ever lived had a more productive life, got more out of his potential, or had a greater long-term impact than this man. Think about what he accomplished. Without any internet, without any radio, without any TV, without a cell phone, without a computer, without automobiles, trains, airplanes or any other form of modern technology, he took a seed called “the gospel” and he planted it as far as he could as long as he could and the result was the explosion of Christianity that we see thriving all over the world 2,000 years later.
Every time I think about what Paul did with little/no money, with little/no man-power, with little/no staff, I find myself asking the question “How did he do it? How did he pull that off. What was the secret to his unbelievable influence and impact?” Well, right here in Philippians, Paul tells us three (3) things that he knew that allowed him to make an eternal impact with his earthly life. And we can know the same three (3) things and have the same impact that he did in our own lives. What are those three things:
We Must Know The Supreme Person Of Jesus
This is not original to me. It’s been said and I think 100% accurately. At the end of the day, it’s not what you know; it’s who you know. Paul is looking back on his life – all the people he met, all the things he learned, all of things he accomplished. When he adds it all up, he makes this incredible statement, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8, NIV).
Let me tell you what Paul is doing. In effect, he’s looking at his life like an accountant. On one side of the ledger, he describes all of the things he thought were gains and profitable in his life – things he thought were his assets. Then, on the other side, he lists all of the things that he considers liabilities. When he compared all of that to knowing Jesus, he moved all of the asset column to the liability column and said it was a total loss.
That word “loss” is used only one other time in the New Testament. Luke uses it in Acts 27 when he’s describing the shipwreck that Paul was involved in on his way from Jerusalem to Rome. It describes the complete loss of all cargo onboard. In other words, Paul went back to his life before knowing Jesus and he looked at everything that was so important and when he compared it to knowing Jesus, he realized it was unimportant and he metaphorically threw it overboard.
How about you? How about your list? What do you consider to be gains? What are the most important things in your life? What’s your life all about? Academic achievements? Some people have more letters before and after their name than my entire name. Financial stability? Some people find significance in the number of commas and zeros in their retirement account. Communication skills? Leadership abilities? Athletic trophies and team records? Business awards? Musical gifts? Physical beauty? What is it for you? What is it for me? Maybe you’re not a Christian. Maybe you’re a skeptic. Maybe you’re still on the fence when it comes to this guy named Jesus. Listen, if Paul is right and you don’t know Jesus Christ, then it’s a total loss for you. C.S. Lewis said this, “He who has Christ and everything else has no more than he who has Christ alone.” That’s it. Everything is nothing without Jesus.
In fact, Paul said that everything ever conceived, achieved, or received in life was “garbage.” This is the only place in the entire New Testament where this Greek word is used – skubalon is the word. It means waste thrown to the dogs, table-scraps, dung, refuse. Any left-over eaters in the house. Ever open that left-over container and not know what you were looking at because it had been in the back of the fridge for a year? Yeah, that left-over container that looks more like a furry pet than a former food item. That’s the image. If you don’t know Jesus, then everything else is moldy, smelly, furry, magot-ridden, bacteria-laden garbage.
Take your titles and your treasure, your position and your possessions, your awards and your achievement, your trophies and the car in your garage and if you do not know the supreme person of Jesus you are bankrupt.
The word “know” (“knowing Christ Jesus”) doesn’t refer to intellectual knowledge; it refers to personal, private, intimate, experiential knowledge. It’s one thing to believe in Jesus. It’s another thing to hear about Jesus, think about Jesus or even talk about Jesus, but that’s an entirely different thing from knowing Jesus. Knowing about Jesus will never move the needle in your life. Knowing about Jesus will never make a difference in your life. Knowing about Jesus will never make you different. But if you know Jesus, then He makes all the difference. Remember this, the Bible wasn’t written so we would know about Jesus; it was written so we might know Jesus. If you want to make the greatest positive difference in life as you possibly can, you must know the supreme person of Jesus.
We Must Know The Supernatural Power Of Jesus
Paul knew it was not enough just to know the person of Jesus. You also need to know (in a real way) the power of Jesus. Look back at verse 10, “that I may know Him (YES) and the power of His resurrection…” The greatest power the world has ever seen, known, or heard of is resurrection power. See, it’s one thing to have the power to kill somebody, but it’s a totally different thing to have the power to bring that dead person back to life. There’s not a computer, an engine, a chemical compound or any other kind of power whether it be electrical or nuclear that can pull that off. Bringing a person back from the dead takes resurrection power.
What Paul is telling us is amazing. If you stare at that sentence and phrase long enough and think about it deep enough, then what you discover is that the power that God used to raise His Son from the dead is available to you and me. It’s not just power that you put it in a jar and put it back on a shelf like those batteries you bought at Dollar General. Paul said this is the kind of power you want to walk in. This is the kind of power you ought to work in. This is the kind of power you should worship in. This is the kind of power you should witness by. We ought to be a living breathing testimony of the power of God. Let that sink in.
It’s one thing to believe in the power that raised Jesus from the dead. It’s another thing to know that power and experience that power in your daily life. The risen Lord didn’t just come back from the grave to save us. He sent the Holy Spirit to live in us. Think about it. As a follower of Christ, we’re told to turn the other cheek, love our enemies, not keep a record of wrongs, keep the ten commandments, and so forth. We can’t do that in our own power. It’s impossible.
Sure, there are some people that say nothing in life is impossible. Well, I beg to differ. There are a few things that are absolutely impossible. For example, you can’t dribble a football in the same way you dribble a basketball. Oh, you might be able to bounce it back to yourself once or twice, but you can’t run down the hall dribbling a football. You can’t barbeque pancakes. You can put them on a pan and then put the pan on the grill, but you can’t just pour batter on a regular charcoal or gas grill. Here’s another thing you can’t do. You can’t lift a baldheaded man by his hair. You can’t slam a revolving door. You can’t get bubble gum out of a cashmere sweater. And you most certainly can’t keep spam calls off of your cell phone – I don’t care what “no call” list you subscribe to. And there’s something else that’s impossible and that’s living the Christian life apart from the power of God. You can’t do it.
If you know the God of power, then you can live in the power of God. Do you know how you get that power? By asking for it, believing you received it, surrendering to it, and then living like it’s true. I want to walk in the power of God. I want to worship in the power of God. I want to witness in the power of God. I want to show the power of God in my life and I want people to see the power of God in my life. I heard an old southern GA pastor once say, “Lord, fill me, and thrill me or kill me, but I do not want to preach without the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Here’s the truth. There’s no sin in this world that has enough power to control anyone who knows the supreme person of Jesus, and who has the supernatural power of Jesus. Let’s be practical. You do have the power to control your thoughts. You do have the power to discipline your body. You do have the power to persevere through problems. You do have the power to turn the other cheek. You do have the power to live by the golden rule. You do have the power to take the world by the tail and make it your slave and not your master. If you want to make a real difference in your life as a parent, as an employee, as a boss, as a son or daughter, as a neighbor, as a friend, as a citizen, you must know, show, and grow in the supernatural power of God. And the good news is that if you want it, you can have it.
We must know the supreme person of Jesus and we must know the supernatural power of Jesus. Finally, let me warn you to brace yourself, because the third thing Paul says he wanted to know and we must know if we are going to truly make an eternal difference in life is the suffering passion of Jesus.
We Must Know The Suffering Passion Of Jesus
Look at verses 10-11, “that I may know Him (YES) and the power of His resurrection, (YES) and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, (UM, NO THANKS) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” God’s goal for all of us is to become just like Jesus. If you and I are going to become like Jesus we don’t just enjoy the view from the mountaintop; we also have to endure the trouble in the valley.
You have to admit that attending Mountain Hill Church is a pretty neat experience. I used to tell my boys, “Guys, you get the privilege of seeing the Upstate of SC from a position that not too many people get.” Honestly, there are people in Travelers Rest, and Greer, and Landrum, and Greenville that see our mountain from a distance but never get the opportunity to come up here. (Of course, anybody is welcome to come to church here, but in normal, everyday conversation, there are folks that haven’t been up here – and likely won’t.) And I’ve learned that although we worship God on the mountaintop, we walk with God in the valley.
There’s no such thing as a suffer-free, pain-free Christian life. If you stand for Jesus and speak truth, you’re going to suffer rejection. No matter how much you love Jesus and how much you love others, if you’re a person that seeks to live according to the Word of God, then you’re going to eventually suffer hurt, and heartache, and potentially physical harm. If you make up your mind that you don’t care what Congress says, or what the polls say, or what anybody else says and just determine to know nothing but what the Bible says, then you’re intolerant, you’re bigoted, you’re judgmental, you’re narrow-minded, and you’re a fundamentalist. That just comes with the territory. But here’s the thing that I’m learning, there’s nothing that will focus you more on Jesus, draw you closer to Jesus, make you more dependent on Jesus, and give you more of a desire to know Jesus, than when you know His sufferings.
In her book Glorious Weakness: Discovering God in All We Lack, author, wife and mother, Alia Joy writes the following (and with this we’ll conclude).
In the summer of 2012, I knelt over the frail shell of a child, my son, strapped to all manner of medical monitoring equipment. His body failing, his frame thinning, the medical staff at Arkansas Children’s Hospital was at a loss. They had no answers, no direction. He was an anomaly, they said, and they’d need to regroup after making him as comfortable as possible. Though the medical community struggled to sort it all out, my faith community seemed to have every answer.
“God would provide,” one said, “because God would respond to my great faith.” “God was setting up a miracle,” another said. “God works all things together for good,” (Romans 8:28) I was reminded. Platitude, platitude, platitude. I smiled through all of them, even nodded. Silently, I wondered. Did all those words amount to anything – well-meaning though they were? Hunched over my son, all those platitudes haunting, my phone rang.
I looked at the screen, read the name. It was a pastor from a more reformed church in my hometown, and as I answered the phone, I wondered what platitude I might hear. [Would it be] “there was a purpose in my son’s suffering? Everything has a Kingdom purpose?” After an exchange of greetings, I clenched my jaw. Stiffened. Braced myself.
Through the phone, I heard only three words: “I’m so sorry.” There was a pause, and then he told me to holler if I needed anything. He said he’d be praying, and that was that. It was a moment of selfless solidarity, a moment in which this man of the cloth didn’t force-feed me anemic answers or sell me some fix-all version of a bright-and-shiny gospel.
Instead, he did the work of Christ himself; he entered into my suffering. And years later, after a long season of healing (both my son’s and my own), his words served as a reminder of the Christian response to suffering – we enter into it together, share in it together, lament with each other.
I suppose it’s natural, our tendency to try to run from suffering, to somehow try to drag other folks from their own. We, Christians, use the holy tools at our disposal (particularly, the misinterpretation of Scripture) in an attempt to pave a path around suffering. The problem is that’s not the way of Christ.
Dear friends, you may touch more lives in the valley than you ever will on the mountaintop. And I simply remind you, as you remind me, that we will make more of a difference in this life when we know the supreme person of Jesus, the supernatural power of Jesus, and the suffering passion of Jesus. Let’s stand and sing about it – Hymn No, 526: The Solid Rock.