The Supreme Value of Knowing Christ

Good. Good evening. Honora. I thought I'd start out with the first verse of the first chapter of the book of John. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. If you understand this and you understand the word is referring to our Christ Jesus, that he is God. If you understand this, then perhaps you understand the title of the message tonight from Philippians 3 7-11. The supreme value of knowing Christ. The supreme value of knowing Christ. If you are able, please stand with me as we read chapter 3 7-11 from the book of Philippians. That's right. Amen. The Bible says, "But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Ye doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. for whom I have suffered the laws of all things and do count them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith that I may know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Father Lord, thank you so much again for your holy word.

We thank you for allowing us to come together once again tonight to examine this particular passage to learn the truth from it and to apply it in our hearts. Father, we love you for who you are. We love you for being a loving God. And father, I pray now that you'll be with us tonight. I pray that you'll grant us understanding and that you will grant me clarity through your word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you. Please have a seat. Took some time to prepare for this message. Uh I want to reiterate that I don't take preaching and and studying the word lightly. And so as I was looking at this passage, every person has things they consider valuable.

Some value their career rightfully so. Some value education, some value possessions, what you have, accomplishments, reputation or relationship. We often measure success by what we have gained throughout life. In the earlier verses of chapter 3, Paul gives a personal testimony. He said that he has spent in essence spent many years building a life that many people would have admired. He was respected. He was educated. A lot of people look up to him. He was religious. He was devoted. Yet when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, everything changed. And he reminds us in this passage, Paul discovered the greatest treasure in life is not found in that in what we possess, in what we accomplish or achieve.

The greatest treasure is Christ Jesus himself. And we need to remember that because sometimes we we forget that we forget that he is the treasure. So as we study this passage, we see two truths that Paul covered. The first one from verse 7 to9 is about the righteousness of Christ. We'll dive deeper into those in that truth. And then the second one is the relationship with Christ. And we find that in verse 10 to 11. See the thing that as I was studying this, many people that I know stop at salvation. They are thankful for being forgiven and they are thankful that that they are going to heaven. But this passage Paul shows us that the salvation is much more than receiving eternal life.

Salvation is the beginning of a lifelong and eternal relationship with Christ Jesus. The Christian life is not merely about getting to heaven one day. It's about knowing Christ today. How do you know? How do you get to know Christ? And that really goes back to the verse that I opened up with understanding the word that the word is with God and the word is God. And that word is referring to our Lord Jesus Christ. So now let's examine these two truths as we break them down. The first truth, the righteousness of Christ. In verse 7-9, Paul explains how his entire spiritual accounting system changed when he came to Christ.

In verse 7, Paul talks about casting the loss. But what brings but what things were gained to me? Those I counted loss for Christ. In verse 7, he uses accounting language. It is as though he looked at his the ledger of life, his life, and simply moved everything that he had on the profit side to the lost side, the lost column. Everything that was once brought confidence in him was now worthless as a means of salvation. To illustrate this worthlessness, Paul uses some really harsh words, the word dong, which gives a strong picture of the worthlessness of the things that he once thought was all about life.

He once held these things high in his life. Notice that Paul did not say things that were that these things were necessarily evil, but rather he beca he said that it becomes dangerous when he trusted in them instead of Christ. And I know that sometimes you and I in this life we tend to do that as well. What are you talking about, Pastor Peter? Well, many people today trust in church attendance. You know, got to come to church. Many people trust in baptism, good works, religious heritage, how you were brought up like Paul had mentioned in earlier chap uh verses, morality. But I got to tell you this, none of these things can make a sinner right with God.

None. The prophet Isaiah declared in Isaiah 64:6, he said this, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags." When I first studied this thing as as a as a believer, these kinds of verses didn't really settle with me because I'm kind of like high and mighty. What? Okay. But you get to learn even our best efforts fall short of God's perfect standard. We know that in Romans 3:23 the Bible says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." The moment a person truly sees who Christ is, the confidence in self begins to disappear. And rightly so, we are supposed to be doing that.

We are supposed to be heading that way. We are supposed to be humbling ourselves and bringing Christ. So let me ask you this question. What are you trusting in today? Because if we are trusting anything other than Christ for acceptance before God, we are trusting the wrong thing or the wrong person. Paul's first step towards spiritual gain was recognizing his spiritual bankruptcy. He took all of those things that was on the prophet side and he moved it to the lost side. So the truth is here you cannot gain Christ until you stop trusting yourself. We are naturally look inside as human beings. We are naturally that the response is that you look at you as you number one.

But that's not the way Christ that's not the way Paul is saying as well. So then we look at the the counting the gain. You see that in verse eight. Yay doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. I want you to notice something. Paul doesn't simply speak about what he lost. He emphasizes what he gained. Christianity is not primarily about what we give up. It's about what we gain in Christ. So as we talk about gain, let's look at some gains here. The first gain that Paul mentioned is the gain of knowing Christ. Paul says the knowledge of Christ is of excellency meaning surpassing value.

It's inval Christ is invaluable. You can't even put a number to him. See Paul is not speaking about knowing facts about Jesus. He's speaking about knowing Christ personally. And Jesus said in John 17:3, "And this is the life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent." Eternal life, folks, let me say, eternal life is more than an endless existence. It is a relationship with God through Christ. See, many people know about Christ. They know about Jesus without actually knowing him. Paul teaches that knowing Christ personally is life's greatest privilege.

We get to know him. We get to be in fellowship with him. The second gain that that Paul mentioned is the gain of winning Christ. That I may win Christ. When I first read that, I I was wondering what that meant. See, Paul is not trying to earn Christ. Rather, Christ has become his greatest possession and treasure, if you will. He Christ has become his highest priority, the center of how he lives and his life. And and we know that Christ taught this in Matthew 13:44 a similar truth where he said again the kingdom of Ammon is like unto a treasure hid in a field that which when a man had found he hid it and for joy there thereof goeth and sell it all that he had and buy it the field.

That man was glad he was glad to go and sell everything to get the treasure in that land. See, this is exactly how Paul viewed Christ. Whatever we surrender to our Lord can never compare to what we gain from our Christ. The world says, "What will I lose if I follow Jesus?" But Paul says, "Look at what you get to gain when you follow Jesus." The truth is Christ is not merely the giver of blessings. Let me say it again. Christ is not merely the giver of blessings, but he is the blessing. And then he looked at where he he spoke about the righteousness of position positioned in Christ. In verse 9, Paul said, "And be and be found in him."

These two these words may be the most important words in this passage. Paul's desire was to be found in Christ because a believer standing before God depends entirely on being in Christ. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature." We must remember that that our hope is not found in ourselves. Our security is found in Christ. I want you to imagine this. Take take a few seconds to imagine this. Imagine you standing before God in your own righteousness. Good. You got that picture? Imagine you standing before Christ in your own power in your own righteousness.

You got that picture? I'll tell you the key word there is the imagination. Oh, speak. That's simply an imagination because no one can stand before God. But when we stand in Christ, we stand accepted before God. That is the security there. So some believers live with constant fear because they focus on their failures. While we should confess and forsake sin, our confidence is not in our performance, folks. Our confidence is in our position with Christ. We are in Christ. Now, the truth there is our standing before God is determined by where we are found. And the only way you can be found and be honored by God is if you're standing in the position of Christ.

You Paul went on talk about a righteousness provided by Christ. Verse 9 of our passage. He said, "Not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ." If you read and study more, you'll notice that Paul contrasts two kinds of righteousness. The first one is man's righteousness. The thing about man's righteousness is self-p prodduced, is imperfect, and is inadequate. However, our Lord's righteousness is perfect, is complete, is given by God and received by faith. The Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Justification means God declares us righteous because of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains this. For he had made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made righteousness of God in him. Christ is the key. There's no other position. So the first truth that I just covered is the righteousness of Christ. The second truth in this passage that Paul discussed is the relationship with Christ. And that's very important, equally important, the relationship with Christ. And we see that in verses 10 to 11 of our passage. Having received Christ's righteousness, Paul now moves his position in Christ to his pursuit of Christ.

Notice Paul's desire that I may know him. And this is remarkable. Remarkable because if you look at the time Paul wrote this, he had already been saved for many years. He had planted many churches. He preached the gospel in many areas and written the much of the New Testament. But yet, he still wanted to know Christ more. See, Paul understood that salvation is not the end of the journey. A lot of a lot of people think that once you're saved, that's the end of the journey. It's not, folks. It is the beginning. Many believers are satisfied with knowing that they are saved. Paul wanted much more. He wanted a deeper relationship with Christ.

Now I want to kind of focus a little bit and and talk about the the three desires. The three desires that Paul really wanted. The first one is the desire to know his power. And I couldn't I can't really unh this is a a really powerful desire knowing his power that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Paul desired experience to experience a resurrection power of Christ. And then I think a few messages ago in in uh chapter 2 I preach a little bit about this the power of the resurrection. The same power that raised Christ, yet this is available to every believer. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:19 to20, he said, "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe which we wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead?"

If you haven't gotten it yet, folks, the resurrection was not merely an event to be believed. It is a power to be experienced. Pastor talks about this a lot. You can have the spirit, but you have to turn him on. Turn it on. Okay? It is a power to be experienced. This this resurrection power enables believers like you and I to overcome temptation, to endure trials, to serve faithfully, to grow spiritually, and to live victoriously. Many Christians try to live the Christian life on their own strength and they become discouraged. Jesus said in John 15:5, "I am the vine, ye are the branches. Ye that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much food."

Get this, for without me you can do anything. The Christian life was really never intended to to be lived by your human effort alone. It is lived through the power of Christ. You know we you when we face a lot of struggles, family problems, when we face disappointments or spiritual battles, we do not rely on our strength alone. The same Lord who conquered debt is able to strengthen you, his people today. So perhaps instead of asking how can I handle this depending on self perhaps we should ask the question how can Christ help me through this because the truth is the Christian life is lived through the resurrection power not human strength as soon as you start relying on your own strength alone you're setting up yourself to That was the first desire.

The second desire that Paul had was to know his presence and the fellowship of his sufferings he said. See the thing is most of us we want that resurrection power but a few of us want the suffering. Paul speaks of both in the same verse. The word fellowship means partnership, sharing or communication. Paul desired such a close relationship with Christ that he would even share his sufferings. How about you? See, this does not mean that Christ suffers again for our sins. Rather, it means believers often experience hardship because they belong to him. You experience suffering because you belong to Christ.

Jesus told his disciples in John 16:33, "In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." And the Apostle Peter said in in 1 Peter 4:12, "Beloved, think it is not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you." Paul learned that some of the sweetest moments with God is during the hardest seasons of life. When life is easy, everything is going well, we we tend to become self-reliant. But as soon as it goes south and life becomes hard, we learn to depend on Christ. David wrote uh in Psalms 34:18, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart."

See, many believers ask, "Why is God allowing this trial in my life?" But sometimes we need to realize that the answer to that kind of question is that God wants us to know him more deeply through the trials. Our suffering may become a place of fellowship with Christ. So here's my advice to you understanding this. Don't waste your trials. Because if you haven't been there yet, I know most of us, if not all of us, are have trials. We've actually run into trials. Don't waste it. Allow your difficulties, allow your struggles to draw you closer to the Lord. See, the truth is we often know Christ's presence most deeply in seasons of suffering.

Use it well. The last desire that Paul mentioned is knowing his perfection. And we see that at the end of verse 10 and 11. Being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. See, Paul now looks ahead ahead to God's completed work in his life. conformed to his death. Paul desired for self to die so Christ can live through him. And Jesus taught this and he said this in Luke 9:23. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. The Christian life involves surrender, folks. What do I mean that by that surrender?

But if you live and you believe in Christ, there should be less of self and there should be more of Christ. John the Baptist said this well in John 3:30 said, "He must increase but I must decrease." How are you doing in that? Every day God is shaping believers in his image, the image of his son. In Romans 8:29, the Bible says, "For whom he did forno, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son." Right? God's goal is for every believer to be Christlike. To be Christlike. Now let's look at the hope of resurrection. By if if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Paul is not expressing about his salvation or doubt in his salvation. He's expressing confidence uh and anticipation what is to come. He's looking forward to the day when God's work will be completed. See folks, one day every believer will receive a glorified body and be perfectly like Christ. We know that because it's mentioned in John uh 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now uh are we the sons of God, and it do it does not yet appear that we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." What a promise. See, today we still struggle. We struggle with sin.

Today we still see uh our our weakness. We face weakness. Today we still battle with the flesh. But one day, one day folks, one day we will stand before the Lord completely ch transformed. No more sin, no more sorrow. No more sickness or death. We will be in that glorified body. Yep. The Christian life is not just about surviving this world. It's about preparing the world to come. For our hope is not in this life alone. Our hope is in the resurrection and the future of Christ. Future with Christ. Here's the thing. We ought to keep our eyes on eternity. Remember that God works in your life is not finished yet.

He still have a lot of work to do with you. The Lord who saved you is also changing you and one day he will perfect you. The truth is a believer's future is complete conformity in Christ. So I close with this summation of what we just went through this passage real quickly. In essence, what Paul is trying to say, he said, "In Christ, I have a new evaluation." We see that in verse 7, casting the loss. "A new treasure, count the gain. A new possession, I am found in Christ. A new provision possess Christ's righteousness. A new pursuit, the desire to know his power and his presence, and a new hope. and look forward to his perfection. Paul's greatest desire was not wealth, success, comfort, recognition. His desire was really simple. That I may know him. May that become our desire as well. May we stop trusting in ourselves, rest in Christ's righteousness, and experience his power, enjoy his presence, and look forward to the day when we will be perfectly like him.