Philippians part 3

Seeking the Kingdom First—Together

We continue this week with chapter 3 of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. As we’ve seen in the first two chapters, the main theme through the letter is maintaining the health of the congregation which is primarily remaining unified in their mission and faith. Chapter 1 showed evidence of their unity and health in their compassion for Paul and the Philippian community. Though the church is concerned about Paul’s imprisonment, he tells them it is for their benefit and his own salvation that he is where he is. The church is seeing growth despite the persecution they are facing. Chapter 2 is Paul’s encouragement to maintain unity through humility. They are to humble themselves just as Christ humbled himself, and in doing so, they will stand out as examples in this corrupted world.

Now, in chapter 3 Paul turns his attention to the goal of the Philippian Church, as well as the goal of every believer—to know Christ and make Him known. And this goal is achieved through the same theme we have seen—unity and humility.

Unity and Humility will lead us to the greatest goal of knowing Christ and making Him known.

This truth is not new with Paul. In the middle of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The “things” are the necessities of this world—food and clothing. Jesus is making the point our Father in Heaven knows exactly what we need, so there is no need to worry about chasing after such things. If we believe He will care for us, then let’s seek after the greatest thing which is knowing our God. Jesus gives us the key to overcoming worry, “Seek after the kingdom of heaven, and let God take care of everything else.” That’s why Jesus concludes this part of the sermon with, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” In other words, “Let tomorrow worry about tomorrow, there is enough to do today.”

And so, it is with this mindset that Paul tells the Philippians to focus on what matters most, because the Lord will take care of the rest. Paul isn’t even concerned about his own imprisonment because he knows the Lord will take care of him whether he is in prison or out of prison. The Lord will do the same for the Philippians, and He will do the same for us today.

Now, what does ‘not worrying’ have to do with unity and humility? Well, consider the nature of worry. It is the need to control a circumstance or figure out a problem. Typically, we think of ‘worry’ as the feeling something bad is going to happen, or may happen. True, but that feeling leads us to believe there is something we can do to avoid the ‘bad’. Trusting in the Lord requires us to recognize He is in control, not us. That kind of trust takes humility. Maybe something ‘bad’ will happen, but if we are in the Lord’s hands, that ‘bad’ will ultimately be for our good.

And so instead of worrying about things outside our control, Paul tells the Philippians to focus on what they can, and what matters most. Let’s begin reading.

No Confidence in Worldly Gain | Philippians 3:1-11

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 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: 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; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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 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—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.

Philippians 3:1-11

What is the opposite of worry? It is rejoicing. The Philippians need not worry about Paul, they should just simply rejoice in the Lord. Their unity will come when they rejoice in the Lord together. But, there are people in their midsts that will break that unity causing division and worry. Paul calls them “dogs” and “evildoers.” They teach a false doctrine that is based on human merit rather than the grace of God. Their teachings are not that different from heresies we find today. The central idea in their teaching, and in false teachings today, is that if we work hard enough, God will love us more, and in turn we will be blessed more. They promise wealth, reputation, success, and whatever other worldly gain they can, if you will just do what they say. There is one simple problem with these teachings, though. That isn't the Gospel.

False teachings always seem plausible because they tend to promise worldly blessings in return.

It is no accident that he uses the term ‘dogs’. These people are Judaizers, and in the ancient world, the Jews regularly described Gentiles as ‘dogs.’ Paul turns this insult onto them. The Gentile Philippians do not need to concern themselves with these Jews because they are the real dogs. They are perverting the Gospel of Grace with extra regulations based on human merit. They teach that in order to be a good Christian, you have to be a good Jew first. Paul’s argument is simple—that notion is utter trash.

In fact, if anyone had reason to talk about how great of a Jewish person they were, it would be Paul. He was circumcised on the 8th day (the most appropriate day), from the tribe of Benjamin (the best tribe), had the greatest reputation, a Pharisee of the Law, a persecutor of Christians, and whose morality was labeled “blameless”. But all of that, Paul says, is “rubbish” compared to knowing Christ Jesus. It is all useless.

The riches and fame of this world is worthless without knowing Jesus Christ.

Jesus said it this way in Mark 8:36:

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Mark 8:36

Perhaps God has blessed you with some wealth and some reputation. Perhaps you come from the “good family.” That’s fantastic. But, if you miss out on knowing your Savior, you will have lost the most important thing you can—your soul.

And this recognition requires humility. We take great pride in our life’s achievements, and rightfully so. Nothing great in life comes without hard work and great difficulty. And yet, even our greatest achievements mean nothing without Christ. Look again at that last verse in our passage—“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.”

Notice that Paul is not content with merely knowing about Christ, but seeks to know Christ personally and know the power of his resurrection. This knowledge is experiential. Paul seeks to pattern his own life to the life of Christ, even if that means sharing the same sufferings including death by execution. His hope is that he “may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Paul’s prize is eternal life in the new age. He is not content with the trappings of this age. He seeks the greater prize of the next age.

In our current age, we consider the “here and now” more important, or at least better, than whatever may come later. Why wait for a gourmet meal when I go through a drive-thru and eat now? Why plough through a large book that could take me weeks to read when I can just watch the movie? The same could be said of our desires for quick gains and easy money. Why concern myself with storing up treasures in heaven when I can have my cake now? C. S. Lewis puts this attitude into a better perspective in Weight of Glory.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses

It’s not that good things in this life are bad. It’s that heaven, and more importantly knowing Christ, is just so much better!

Pressing On to What Matters Most | Philippians 3:12-21

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. 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, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 3:12-21

Paul knows he is not perfected, yet, but he keeps pressing on anyway. And, pressing on requires him to leave behind the past. In his list of accomplishments, Paul also listed persecuting the church. He could very easily allow the guilt of his former life keep him from serving. But he chooses to leave behind that guilt and press on towards Christ.

You see, there is another type of pride that we don’t often think of as ‘pride.’ It is the self-centered focus that comes with guilt over past mistakes. It cripples us from serving the Lord because we don’t think we are worthy enough or qualified. The reason we can still call this attitude ‘pride’ is because it is still an attitude of believing we know better than God. Think about it. God calls you to repent of your sin and follow Christ. You agree and surrender to Christ. He then says, “I need you to go serve in this area” or “Go talk to that person about salvation in Jesus’ Name.” When your response is, “I’m not worthy to do such a thing” or “I’m not qualified because of the things I have done in the past,” you are essentially saying, “God, you’re wrong, and I know better.” Now, we would never word it like that, but that is basically what we are saying.

The humility needed to serve the Lord demands that we let go of the past—past hurts, past sins, and past failures.

The past is the past. Our sins of the past are just that—the past. If you believe the Lord loves you and can save you, then consider the timeline of events that led you to that conclusion. First, there was God. At whatever point in eternity past, the Lord chose to create this world knowing what would become of it. That means everything here is not an accident including you. And, knowing we would fall in to sin, the Lord established the means of our salvation sending His Son to pay the price for our sin and open the way to heaven. That work was accomplished about 2,000 years ago. This fact means that almost 2,000 years before you were born, Jesus went to the cross for your sins—past, present, and future. God has purposefully allowed you to exist, knowing all the failures you would have, so that in this present moment of your life, you could fulfill the tasks He has laid before you.

After thousands upon thousands of years of work, and planning from eternity past, do you really have the pride, the arrogance, to say, “Sorry, God, I think you might be wrong on this one”???

No, that kind of arrogance is for those who still have not surrendered to the Lord Jesus, and “their end is destruction.” For us, who know the Lord and know the power of the resurrection, we press on to the prize of knowing Jesus and seeing the new age. Our citizenship is in heaven, and our hope is in the new heaven and new earth in which we are transformed into the glorified state that is promised to those who follow Jesus Christ.

And so, as we consider the truth today: Unity and Humility will lead us to the greatest goal of knowing Christ and making Him known,