Heavenly Citizens: Persevering, Not Quitting

July 6, 2022

Book: Philippians

Audio Download

Bible Passage: Philippians 3:4-16

This morning, we are going to see that The work and the person of Jesus Christ is paramount in persevering and not quitting through life’s most painful events.  Everything we do this morning will build from that idea.
Before we dive in, just a little bit of background info on Paul. And I’m sure Pastor Michael has walked you through some or all of this, but we’re just going to recap a little bit because some of us may not have heard it, and it’s crucially important to our passage this morning.

Background info: Paul is writing this from prison, probably in Rome about 30 years after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In those 30 years, the apostles had gone out preaching the gospel, under heavier and heavier threats of persecution. Acts 8 tells us of a young, zealous man named Saul who was aggressively persecuting the church to the point of murders. And he approved of them. Not long after that, Saul met Jesus on a road to Damascus and had his life changed by the encounter with the Christ. He then turned evangelist and started becoming an enemy, like Christ, of the ruling religious classes. Eventually he would end up stoned, beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and then imprisoned again.

Now usually in a message we preach a few points and then an application toward the end. I’m doing it a little different this morning. I see three different movements in this passage, so I’m breaking it down into sections, and at the end of each section, I’m going to give some questions, that will be your application/response/reflection. So with all of that as the backdrop, let’s dive in to Philippians 3

Philippians 3:4-7
4  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. 

1. Right standing with the God of Scripture does not come from our credentials (vv. 4-7) 

Last week Paul said not to have confidence in the flesh. He’s continuing that thought now in verse 4. “If you think you have any confidence in your flesh, I have more.” This seems like a brag and not even a humble brag at that. I have coming up one of my favorite and most nerve-wracking times of year. Performance review cycles. And you who work, know exactly what I mean. For me, I fill out a self-evaluation of my performance for the year. And I wrestle with this b/c I want to list all the great things I’ve accomplished while also trying not to seem like I’m bragging. Paul’s list of credentials might not make sense to us today, but they were significant in his time to his people. He’s basically saying “I’m not just the cream of the crop, I’m crème de la crème.” And then he runs down his impressive list of accomplishments:

a. Circumcision on the eighth day after birth, exactly as specified in the Mosaic law (Leviticus 12:3) – we talked about that last week
b. Israelite ancestry
c. Tribal origin is Benjamin, from which came the first king of Israel (Saul, another name for Paul)
d. Hebrew practice and heritage rather than Hellenistic (meaning that they kept the language, dress, and customs rather than the Hellenists, which adopted the Greek language, dress, and customs)
e. Phariseeism
f. Zealousness to the point of persecuting the church
g. Observance of the law so perfect that no one could find any fault in him

But notice this: that when Paul came to follow Jesus, he lost all those achievements. “Whatever I had (past tense).” “I counted as loss (Greek: perfect tense — completed action, continuing results). In the original language that means that suffered the loss, I counted it as loss, but it still affects me.” Paul suffered the loss of everything that gave him community, identity, social standing, and significance. It’s likely that this cost Paul all his relationships: rabbi, friends, disciples, family. You ever wonder why we never hear anything about Paul’s family?
Other apostles: Peter had a sick mother-in law, so we know he was married. Simon and Andrew were brothers. James and John were also brothers and left their dad Zebedee to run the family fishing business while they went with Jesus.
Speaking of Jesus, he had his family, Mary and four brothers named in Matthew 13:55 (James, Joseph, Simon, Judas) and sisters mentioned in the following verse. But we never hear of Paul’s family. Probably because that’s one of the losses he suffered. It stands to reason since Pau says “he has lost all things.” So I’m wondering this morning…

What do you go to for your sense of righteousness? Do you run to a list of accomplishments? Is it your degree, your GPA, your annual salary or your bonuses? The size of your retirement account? How much you serve at church? How
much you give? Your perfect attendance award, for those of us who were raised Baptist?

Where Paul says he lost it for the sake of Christ, he doesn’t mean that Christ benefitted anything from it. Jesus doesn’t get anything from the loss Paul encountered. But what Paul got, despite that loss, was Jesus. He’s saying here, and will continue to say, that in and through this loss he knows more of Jesus, feels closer to Jesus, and even shares suffering with Jesus.

Response: What are the things that we are holding on to too tightly that they hinder us from knowing more of Jesus?

Philippians 3:8-11
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.

2. Right standing with the God of Scripture does not come from our experience (vv. 8-11) 

Paul is reiterating this idea that he counts everything he had as loss. In fact, he even uses a strong word here: rubbish. In the Greek it’s the word skubala (trash, refuse, dung). Now this part is one that I often hear taught in a way that has never made sense to me. Here’s why: you have the Apostle Paul, he’s had his life transformed by Jesus, he’s writing one chapter earlier about the humility of Christ. In other letters he refers to himself as “the least of the apostles,” “the least of all the saints,” and the “greatest of sinners.” And then I hear guys take this passage and teach it like this: I count all things as rubbish compared to Christ! You want my wife, take my wife! You want my kids, take my kids! I want Christ!” But that’s not what’s happening here. I don’t think that’s truly faithful to this text. Why?

First, in context, what Paul is talking about is anything that would give him confidence in the flesh. Those things are rubbish, dung. Second, because most of the people teaching the text that way haven’t experienced the kind of loss that Paul has. If anything, they might even be looking forward to some idea of suffering with a sense of bravado.

But Paul isn’t looking forward with false bravado. He’s looking back while having already lost those things. And he still feels it. Notice that it’s in the present tense now “I count everything as loss” “I count them as rubbish”. Present tense. The only thing that’s past tense here is “I have suffered” which is rendered from a Greek verb form that implies a completed action, a done deal — loss with finality. But notice that Paul also sees Jesus as supremely valuable. “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” So yes, he has lost all things. Yes, it’s been hard. But Paul endures this. Why? Because of the value of knowing Christ. Because of the value of (End of verse 8) gaining Christ. Why? Because verse 9, being “found in him[Christ], 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.”

In gaining Christ, Paul realized that he gained true righteousness, or right standing with God. Paul’s life experience and expertise of the law only brought a false righteousness but knowing Jesus brought true righteousness. And the goal of this is in verses 10 and 11: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Let me break it down here. Paul is saying Jesus is so supremely valuable that Paul realizes that everything he has lost is like rubbish to him. He has no confidence in his fleshly accomplishments. He knows that the only way toward true righteousness is faith in Jesus. So He’s pressing on to know Jesus and he longs to know Jesus so deeply that he is even identifying where his present sufferings are like sharing in Jesus’s sufferings. He longs to experience the full benefits of Jesus’s resurrection power in his life.

Now, Paul isn’t talking about persecution or martyrdom here even though he did experience much persecution. He’s talking about suffering the loss of everyday things. And yet he is saying that this is like sharing in Jesus’s sufferings. Now, most of us would not even consider sharing with Jesus in his sufferings, or if we do, we do think about persecution/martyrdom. But, like Paul, many of us do share in Jesus’ sufferings much more than we realize. Jesus felt abandoned by God on the cross and by friends in his time of need. Jesus felt the weight of anxiety as he was praying for in the garden, sweating blood while his friends fell asleep.

Jesus felt the weight of grief as he lost a close friend. He entered that grief with his friends. He became a man. He experienced hunger, thirst, pain, ridicule, rejection. He experienced every temptation that is known to man, therefore he is able to empathize with us in our weaknesses (Hebrews 4). He experienced life. And he experienced, as a person, that life is broken and life is painful. I think that we need this reminder here this morning in Austin, Texas 2022. In the midst of a (still) ongoing pandemic, (still) ongoing political unrest, (still) ongoing cultural shifting going on in our country. Inflation. People are still getting sick, people are still dying, people are still struggling with mental health. We keep saying “it’s been a hard year” for like what, the last 3 years? 5? Jesus shares in our sufferings and we share in his. Probably more than any of us realize. We are not alone in our suffering.

Response: Where do you need to be reminded that Jesus is near to you in your suffering? Are you able to receive that Jesus has suffered very much like you have/are suffering?

Philippians 3:12-16
12  Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  13  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  14  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  15  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.  16  Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

3. Right standing with the God of Scripture does not come from our efforts (vv. 12-16) 

“Not that I have already obtained this” – Paul is saying I’m not there yet. Everything that I’ve just said, I’m not there yet. I want my own resurrection experience, but it hasn’t happened yet. I’m not already perfected yet. I don’t know Jesus enough yet! When was the last time you and I said that? So Paul says “I press on.” I keep going. I keep striving. I don’t know Jesus well enough yet, so I don’t give up. Why not? “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” And there it is. Paul could have said, I press on to make it my own by trying harder, by studying the Scriptures more, by serving at church more, but he had already been there, done that. He knew that was fruitless.

Paul knew that his right standing with the God of Scripture did not depend on his own efforts. It depends on the work and the person of Jesus Christ. The thread of hope throughout this passage is the completed work of Jesus. And it is because of that right standing with God through the work of Jesus that Paul has his reason for pressing on. You see it in verse 9 where Paul says “I have righteousness that comes not from myself but from God through Jesus.”

You see it in verse 10 where Paul is saying “oh that I might know his resurrection power.” And here, where it’s important to remember that Paul is in prison. He was facing a trial that could end his life. And he says “I press on to make it my own because Jesus has made me his own.” There’s one other thing here, verse 13: “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus.” The last part of that sentence is a sports analogy. I know that because I went to a youth camp and they printed that verse on a t-shirt and they talked about it for a whole week. But the first part of that sentence catches my attention every time.

Now, I have struggled with this part. I had to work through it a lot because the way I’ve often heard this passage taught is that we should just forget about the past and move on because Christ has saved us. So if we were abused in the past, Christ has restored us and made us whole, so forget what lies behind. Or maybe we made a tragic mistake years ago, and then Christ saved us, so forget what lies behind.

Since Christ has saved us we are a new creation, so whatever has happened in our past, it doesn’t really matter, and there is an element of truth to that, but nowhere in Scripture are we commanded or encouraged to just dismiss or bypass past pain and suffering. In the immediate context, this sports analogy, this race is not necessarily the race of life, but it’s more specifically the race of life with Christ. It’s our walk with Christ, our journey with him. And in that walk with Christ, there are incredible, awesome things that happen and there are some terrible things that happen. And Paul is saying “I’m not looking back at anything that I have or have not accomplished for Christ. I’m looking ahead, I’m looking forward to attain my ambition which is to know Christ more fully. He’s saying “I’m forgetting everything that I have accomplished in Christ because that might actually distract me from knowing him more.” And even more so, forget everything that hinders your faith and obedience in Christ.

I learned this the hard way, not by running but by mountain biking. I was out with a friend one day, first time on a new trail. I came upon a fork in the trail and took the left trail that dropped into a long, flat run. My friend was behind me hit it with more speed and caught more air than he anticipated. I heard it, and I glanced back to see him land on the trail right as I was headed off it. Same idea. Whatever happened back there, whatever stumble, whatever wrong turn, whatever you do, you keep moving forward. Straining forward. Paul is describing the manner in which he is running the race.

And so that’s what Paul means by “forgetting what lies behind.” Now, I’ve said that our right standing with God does not depend on our own efforts, but then we’re looking at Paul writing about forgetting and striving, and pressing on. That sounds a lot like human efforts, doesn’t it? So why spend all this time talking about these things?
Because in the end, it’s not about human efforts, it’s about Christ. Paul isn’t spending effort trying to accomplish righteousness, he’s spending effort trying to know Christ. Remember, Paul is writing this from a prison cell, awaiting trial that could end his life. And in these moments, it’s not his credentials he’s holding on to, but the resurrection of Christ. The work and the person of Jesus. The risen and victorious prophet, priest, and king.

Because the gospel is not just that Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect, sinless life, was crucified and died as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and was resurrected overcoming the power of death. It’s not just that Jesus did all of those things that are impossible for us to do. It’s that he also experienced everything that is common to us. Pretty much, whatever you’ve been through or going through, he’s been there or pretty close. He’s walked through the betrayal, the separation, the abandonment, the suffering, the grief, the anxiety, the anguish, the loss.

Response: Are there areas in which you feel like just giving up? In what ways do you need to go to Jesus for perseverance?

Lastly and I’ll close with this, I want you to see verse 15: “Let those of us who are mature think this way…” This is an encouragement, not a heavy command. It’s not there to put a burden on us, but Paul is trying to encourage us to see life in this way.
Listen, I get it. I understand that it might be really hard for some of us to think this way. 2020-2022 hasn’t been a very good start to this decade has it? Maybe it’s not the pandemic fatigue, maybe it’s a history of trauma, abuse, PTSD whether from military service or not, maybe we’ve just suffered some losses or some heavy disappointments. Maybe struggling with anxiety or depression. Or maybe both. Or maybe it’s a physical ailment. I talk to a lot of people who just feel the weight of everything right now. And that part about forgetting what lies behind? What about those of us who cannot forget the sins we’ve done or the sins done against us?

Some of us here this morning might even be wondering if we can press on. We’re weary. The weight of everything is crashing in on us. The idea of thinking like this might be stifling to us. Let me show you something.

a. Moses (Numbers 11:15) “Just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”|
b. Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-14, esp. v4) ““I have had enough, LORD. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.””
c. Job (3:11) – “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?”
d. Jeremiah (20:14) – “Cursed be the day I was born! The day my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!”
e. Jonah (4:8) “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

These are just a few examples from the Old Testament. These guys felt that they couldn’t or shouldn’t press on. But they did. Every single one of them. Then we have Paul in the New Testament here saying “keep pressing on.” The testimony of the saints that have gone on before us is a resounding “yes, keep pressing on.” And it’s not just the Bible guys either. I think there’s probably a lot of us here today that have been there in the past. And they would probably all testify that those who pressed in to Jesus felt the abiding presence of peace and comfort and they felt more of Christ. And that’s what Paul is talking about when he says “I want to know more of Christ.”

Heavenly citizens are people of perseverance. Why? Because in Jesus, we have right standing with God. We have union with Christ, that when suffering hits, he identifies with our suffering and we experience more closeness with him.

The work and the person of Jesus Christ is paramount in persevering and not quitting through life’s most painful events. He is the victorious and risen prophet, priest, and king. He has come to give us life, and to give it abundantly. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. And in him, we will find rest for our weary souls. Let’s pray.