CWC- Epistle Lesson - Lent 5 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Philippians 3:514
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; {6} as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. (7) But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (8) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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 is through faith in Christthe righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. {10} I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, {11} and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. {12} Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. {13} Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, {14} I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Bag of goodies (trash or treasure)
IA1 “I consider everything a loss.{8}” What do you think Paul included in “everything” when he made that comment. University of Tarsus education? Roman citizenship? Intellectual brilliance? Financial standing?
2 Paul wasn’t thinking of any of those. He tells us what he was thinking about in verses 5 & 6: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; {6} as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. All of these were things that Paul earlier in his life was convinced would make him acceptable to God.
B1 Now what Paul had thought was on the profit side of the ledger, he considered to be loss. (Phil 3:7) But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (8) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” That list of things which I read before, not only did not give him righteousness with God, but they had actually been hindrances for Paul to have a right relationship with God because those things had led him away from Jesus.
2 Now Paul not only considered that list of things to be worthless rubbish when compared to Jesus, he also says because of Jesus he actually had lost many of them. “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Because Paul had become a Christian, he had lost his position as a respected member of the Hebrew community, his role as a leader among the Pharisees, and his power as an arm of the Sanhedrin to persecute Christians.
C1 “I consider everything a loss.” What comes to mind first for you with that word “everything”? Our prestige at work? The toys we have? Our influence on others? Our achievements in life?
2 What about things similar to what Paul was thinking of? Born into a Christian family. Have generations of ancestors who were Christian. Confirmed. Do a good job at living a godly life. Notice and point out false teaching. If we conclude that these things at least in part make us right with God, then they are diverting us from Jesus.
D1 It doesn’t matter what family we are born into, how many generations of Christians there are in our ancestry, if we went through some religious procedures, how moral we are, or whether we can notice falsehood or not. In order to be right with God, we have to be perfect. And we aren’t.
2 But it is difficult to consider all those things to be loss, to be worthless. Are we willing to throw out all our little “advantages” which we insist help make us right with God? Are we ready to say, “I know these are (rubbish) trash next to the perfection God demand from me?” Are you a success? Only if the Holy Spirit has led you to understand your best attempts to make yourself right with God are trash.
IIA1 What had changed Paul’s mind so radically about what was trash and what was treasure? Jesus had appeared to him, knocked him off his horse, blinded him, told him he was persecuting God by persecuting Christians, and told him he was to spread the message about Jesus to Gentiles.
2 Jesus had led Paul to know who Jesus really was. Paul’s phrase in the text is: {8}the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. After Jesus’ appearance to Paul, Paul knew Jesus wasn’t a heretic leading people away from the Law of Moses. Jesus was and is the Christ, the promised Messiah, the Savior or the world, who could be that because He was and is truly God.
B1 Why did Paul consider knowing Jesus to be such a treasure? Because Jesus solved Paul’s need and desire for righteousness. Paul’s goal in life was to be righteous in God’s sight. That’s why he had tried so hard to keep the law. That’s why he had been a Pharisee. That’s why he tried to be faultless. Jesus had convinced Paul that righteousness comes from God as a gift.
2 Notice that gift of righteousness from God is connected with Jesus. Paul wanted to “gain Christ {9} and be found in him, having a righteousness which is through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” Paul had been led by Jesus to trust that his sins had been washed away in the blood of Christ, that he had been rescued from death and hell as punishment for his sins because of the suffering and death of Christ, and that he was covered with the holiness that Jesus had lived for him as his substitute. That was Paul’s treasure - he was righteous in God’s sight because of Jesus.
C1 Paul was looking forward to something else because of his connection with Jesus. {10} I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, {11} and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Paul had shared in the sufferings of Jesus because of all the persecutions he had experienced as a witness for Jesus. We know that Paul later shared in the experience of dying as Jesus did because he openly confessed that Jesus was the Son of God.
2 Paul was certain that he would rise from the dead because Jesus Himself had risen from the dead and promised that Paul also would. But Paul hadn’t experienced any of that yet. In order to experience that, he would have to die. Whether it was death by persecution, by disease, or by old age - that would be how Paul would attain to the resurrection of the dead. He was looking forward to that experience.
D1 What is our treasure? Jesus - because He is the Christ anointed by God to be our Savior. Jesus - because He is the Lord, true God from eternity, qualified to be our Savior. Jesus - because He gives us forgiveness of our sins through His death on the cross. Jesus - because He rescues us from death and hell by experiencing it for us. Jesus - because He gives us the righteousness which He lived in our place so that we are holy in God’s sight. Jesus - because His resurrection makes us confident of our resurrections to an eternity of perfection with the Lord.
2 Are you a success? Only if the Holy Spirit has led you to know that Jesus is our Treasure.
IIIA1 Paul continues: {12} Not that I have already obtained all this. We know he hadn’t attained the resurrection from the dead yet. Why? He was still alive. We know he hadn’t attained becoming like Jesus in his death yet. Why? He was still alive.
2 He helps us out so we know more precisely what he was thinking. “or have already been made perfect.” He knew Jesus was his Savior. But his knowledge wasn’t perfect. He trusted Jesus as his Savior. But his faith wasn’t perfect. He suffered with Jesus. But his joy in doing so wasn’t perfect. He lived his life for Jesus. But his godliness wasn’t perfect.
B1 How did Paul respond to this lack of perfection? {14}“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Jesus took hold of Paul when Paul became a believer in Jesus the Savior. At that point he had eternal life - a relationship with God that wouldn’t end. However, for as long as Paul was living in a sinful world as a sinner, he was not fully experiencing what was his.
2 So, he was “pressing on to take hold of it.” Paul was righteous in God’s sight through Jesus. He was working real hard at actually being righteous. He hadn’t attained it. He wouldn’t attain it in this life. But he still was working hard at it. If he didn’t work hard at it, his focus would not be on the goal that Jesus had in mind for him - eternal perfection with Jesus.
C1 Paul underlines his thought with a reference to athletics. Just as a runner might lose a race because he doesn’t concentrate, so the Christian who gets distracted from living His life to the Lord may lose the blessings God has in store. “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, {14} I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
2 The focused runner never looks behind. He would lose direction and speed. He always looks ahead to the finish line. Paul didn’t look back to the time in his life when he was persecuting Christians. He would have been diverted by guilt and grief. He didn’t look back to the time in his life when he was a successful missionary. He would have been diverted by pride. He looked ahead to what it would be like when he was going to be with Jesus in eternity. And he tried to achieve as much of that as he could every day of his earthly life.
D1 Nothing has changed. We are holy in God’s sight. But, we are not holy in our thoughts, words, and actions. We live our lives to the Lord. But, we are not perfect. We trust that Jesus is our Savior. But, our faith isn’t perfect. We suffer with Jesus. But, our joy at being connected with Jesus isn’t perfect. We do what God wants with our lives. But, our enthusiasm isn’t perfect.
2 But, with Paul we don’t look back. Grief and shame over our failures will divert us. Pride and self-satisfaction over our successes will divert us. Just keep looking ahead at what it is going to be like when we are with Jesus in eternity. And then try to attain as much of that as you can every day in this life. Are you a success? Only if the Holy Spirit has led you to stay eternity-with-Jesus focused.
LORD Jesus, please help me to keep knowing what is trash and what is Treasure.