|
|
RESURRECTION POWER…are you plugged in?
Phil. 3:1-11
To get anywhere in life we have to work hard. Even your own touch football team has to work hard to achieve its outstanding results. Now, I know that most of you may think we just run out onto the field and throw a football around, hope we get some tries and at the end of the game shoot off home to a nice fresh shower - but Andrew, our fearless captain, knows what it means to achieve results. He gets us out on Monday afternoons in the paddock beside the church here to train. And when I say train, I mean train. If we don't run hard enough, then there he is right behind us with a large stick or throwing mango's at us to make us run harder. If we drop the ball when doing passing practice, then watch out, there is Andrew again making us do 50 sit-ups for every dropped ball - no wonder only a handful of us get to football training.
Well, actually, Andrew isn't really like this - but we do train Monday afternoons.
Coming back to my first statement though, it is true that we have as a belief that we need to work hard to get on top.
Chuck Swindoll shares this story in his book 'Laugh Again'. He says:
"I met a man who told me he needed to work harder at being happier. He said he had been reared in an ultra serious home. "We didn't talk about our feelings . . . we worked. My father, my mother, most of my sisters and brothers bought into that way of life, somehow we all had the idea that you could achieve whatever you wanted in life if you just worked hard enough and long enough." And then he came to the crux of his concern: "Funny thing . . . in my sixty-plus years I have achieved about everything I dreamed of doing and I have been awarded for it. My problem is that I don't know how to have fun and enjoy all these things hard work has brought me. I cannot remember the last time I laughed--I mean really laughed."
As he turned to walk away, I thought this throwaway line was the most revealing thing he said: "I suppose I now need to work harder at being happier."
I reached over, took him by the arm, and pulled him back close enough to put my arms around him for a solid, manly hug. "You've worked hard for everything else in your life," I said quietly. "Why not try a new approach for joy? Trust me on this one--hard work and long hours do not achieve a happy heart. If it were, the happiest people on earth would be the workaholics. And I have never met a workaholic whose sense of humor balanced out his intensity."
The problem for us is that human achievement does result in earthly rewards, and this fuels the fire for more achievement leading to greater rewards. But this is a problem because we transfer working hard to earn money, security etc, to working hard to pleasing people, gaining acceptance from people, gaining prestige, gaining happiness, gaining contentment.
It seems that we are motivated to do more when our efforts are noticed and rewarded. And we encourage this. Universities award scholarships; companies give bonuses; the film industry offers the Oscar; the television industry, the Emmy; the music industry, the Grammy. When many of us come face to face with these publicly upheld 'hero's' most of us are awed simply by being around them. Let me share with you a true story that highlights this fact:
There was this tourist who was standing in line to buy an ice cream cone at a shore in Beverly Hills. To her utter shock and amazement, who should walk in and stand right behind her but Paul Newman himself! Well the lady wasn't going to give into the temptation of falling at his feet, even though she was rattled, she determined to maintain her composure. She purchased her ice cream cone and turned confidently and left the store.
But, after she left, she realized that she had left the counter without her ice cream cone, so she waited a few minutes until she felt all was clear. She then went back into the store to claim her cone but as she approached the counter, the cone wasn't in the little circular container where she left it. She stood there trying to figure out what might have happened to it. Then someone tapped on her shoulder. She turned around and there was Paul Newman who then told her that if she was looking for her ice cream cone, she had put it into her purse.
It seems that for the ordinary everyday person, we try hard, but we can become disillusioned when our goals and dreams are not met.
Sadly, this ideology is also in our churches. We strive to please others; some of us get involved in the work of the church simply to try to please others or even the Lord Himself. Some of us even feel as though, like the man Chuck Swindoll was talking about, we need to work hard to have Christian joy, but ironically, that joy is expressed through serious faces and lack of fun. Is that what God says?
In Phil. 3:1 Paul says "rejoice in the Lord". In fact Paul says this many times in his letters to the various churches.
So why do we strive so hard? Well, I think it is because we are so influenced by the world's ideologies that we give into the temptation to believe that earthly honors will automatically result in heavenly rewards. But how close is this to humanistic thinking. If we believe that by working hard and accomplishing more than most, we will earn God's favor and receive His nod of approval, then we need to come back again to the fact we are saved by grace alone. That means not by human effort, achievement, or level of importance which is the very thing Paul is addressing in this passage we are looking at today.
2. BEWARE OF THE SELF RIGHTEOUS (VV2-4a)
Philip. 3:2-4
Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh-- 4though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
Why did Paul use such strong langauge and who was he talking about?
Wherever he taught, the Jews followed him and tried to undo his teaching. Paul's teaching is that we are saved by grace alone. This comes as the free gift of God, and we can never earn it but can only humbly accept what God has offered to us; and this offer of God is to all people throughout the world.
In contrast, it was the teaching of these Jews that, if a person wished to be saved, he must earn credit in the sight of God by fulfilling the many deeds of the law. Not only this, but they taught salvation belonged to the Jews only and no one else, and that, before God could have any use for him, a man must be circumcised and in this way become a Jew.
Here Paul warns against the deception of works orientated salvation. He says:
Now many of you know I breed Border Collie's. I love dogs, they are great companions and very lovable when they want to be - they can also be pains when they want to be. So in our society today, generally speaking, we like dogs who are obedient and well behaved.
When Paul was writing this, the view of dogs was very different. The dogs were the pariah dogs, roaming the streets, sometimes in packs, hunting amongst the garbage dumps and snapping and snarling at anyone who came near them. So when Paul used this term about the Jewish teachers, he was using extremely offensive language. You see he used the very name the Jewish teachers would have applied to the Gentiles, and here he throws it back at them. There was a Rabbinic saying, "The nations of the world are like dogs." So this is Paul's answer to the Jewish teachers. He says to them, "In your proud self-righteousness, you call other men dogs; but it is you who are dogs, because you shamelessly pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ."
(ii) He calls them evil workers, workers of evil things. The Jews were certain that they were workers of righteousness. It was their view that to keep the Law's countless rules and regulations was to work righteousness. But Paul was certain that the only kind of righteousness there is comes from placing oneself entirely upon the grace of God. The effect of their teaching was to take men further away from God instead of to bring them nearer to him. They thought they were working for good, but in fact they were working for evil.
I guess Paul was probably aware that some of these Jews would have been thinking, "This guy wouldn't know what he's talking about. How can he come waltzing in and criticize an institution that has been around for thousands of years". I think this is probably the case because he then talks about himself as a Jew.
Philip. 3:4-6
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised 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; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
Paul knew what it was to be a proud Jew, he knew what it was to legalistically follow the law, he knew what it was to be proud and self-righteous - but it got him nowhere. Paul had the family upbringing of a devout Hebrew home. He was circumcised at the appointed time by the Law, he was trained in the ways of the Law as a Pharisee, he came from the most elite tribe of Israel - the tribe of Benjamin, and he served the Law well by trying to snuff out the Christian church before becoming a Christian himself. Paul had it all in terms of being a devout Jew, more so then even some of his accusers, he even says in terms of legalistic righteousness that he was faultless. But then, as he recalls all this he says in verse 7 "I count it all loss for the sake of Christ".
As I have previously mentioned, in the Christian Church, even though we acknowledge faith by grace and not works, we still find ourselves erring on the works or legalistic side of the ledger.
I cringe when I hear people say, the King James Bible is the only Bible you should read. Or "that contemporary music in churches is of the devil". No wonder newer Christians get confused because they hear all kinds of theories. We must be careful that our beliefs are consistent with God's truth and not based upon mere human logic or legalistic beliefs without biblical foundation.
But please, don't throw the baby out with the bath water. There are Christians today who say that 'all things' are acceptable because we are freed from the Law. Folk, freedom from the Law, or legalism, are not the same as doing whatever you please. Obedience to Christ is still paramount, and without obedience to Christ we become wishy-washy Christians who do not uphold true Christian character as taught in both the Old and New Testaments. And so it is in verses 8-11 where Paul describes what true righteousness is.
Phil. 3:8-11
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 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
What changed Paul's life - He met Christ and gave his whole life to Him. In verse 7 Paul said he considered the things about being a devout Jew as loss for Christ. But in verse 8 he states this again, saying "But, hang on, not just my Jewish life, but I consider everything a loss in caparison to knowing Jesus Christ. It seems for Paul that it was once he considered all things in his life as loss for Christ's sake that he then started to really live.
Folks, it is not a matter of us working harder to get nearer to God. The Lord has already made the passage of a true and intimate relationship open for every single one of us. You don’t get closer to God by forcing the issue - it is more a matter of letting go to God and letting God do what He wants to do in and through you. That takes obedience.
If we are serving the Lord simply out of a desire to prove our worth to Him, then we are on the wrong road - and it’s a road to despair, frustration, and disillusionment. We will burn out, we will feel spiritually dry, we won't be at peace in our relationship with our Lord - simply because we are serving God out of selfish motives - as honorable as they might seem. Paul says there is something more important then proving your worth to God - that is living a righteous life.
Now, you might be saying, "Now I'm really confused? So far you have said to me Scott, don't work or strive towards pleasing God, and yet you now say live a righteous life. To live a righteous life means I have to work in order to obtain that righteous life.
Well, does it? Or is there more to the picture?
Let's take more of a look at some of the things Paul says here. First he speaks of everything being a loss compared to knowing Christ.
This is an amazing statement from Paul. He was one of the most legalistic fella's around. In spite of this, here he is, writing some of the most freeing and sensitive words there are in terms of a relationship with God. The most important thing isn't working to prove his worth to God as it used to be, but the most important focus is knowing Christ.
When he says this here he doesn't mean knowing about Christ. It is not some kind of intellectual knowledge of certain facts or principles. It is more. It is a personal experience of another person. Paul is saying that the most important thing is to personally know Christ. It is a term of intimacy, the same that describes the relationship between a husband and wife.
That means letting go of your heart to Christ, letting go of your fears to Christ, letting go of any sense of distrust to Christ, letting go of anger, frustration, hurts of the past, pain, sorrow and so on. Let these go because in the terms of an intimate loving relationship with Christ you know these things are safe in His confidence - that is knowing Christ. Knowing his love, knowing he wants the best for you and me, knowing that His greatest desire isn't us proving the point to Him, but tenderly following Him trusting the path He takes us on.
It is as we take this path, which is a path of obedience, that we will then know the power of Christ's resurrection.
I think Chuck Swindoll sums up nicely the transformation in Paul's life. He says,
"For Paul, rather than being driven by a confidence in the flesh - his own works and effort, his consuming passion was to spend the balance of his life on earth knowing Christ more intimately, drawing on his resurrection power more increasingly, entering into his sufferings more personally, and being conformed to His image more completely. His dreams of making it all on his own were forever dashed on the solid rock of Jesus."
For Paul, Christ's resurrection wasn't just some kind of past event in history. It wasn't just something that happened to Jesus. It was a dynamic power that worked in the life of a Christian. Why?
Because:
So, when we are united with Christ by trusting in him, we experience the power that raised him from the dead. That same mighty power will help us live morally renewed and regenerated lives. But before we can walk in newness of life, we must also die to sin. Just as the resurrection gives us Christ’s power to live for him, his crucifixion marks the death of our old sinful nature. We can’t know the victory of the resurrection without personally applying the crucifixion.
Next Saturday night Mandy is being baptized. Now the baptism in itself doesn't make a person more righteous. But what a person says through baptism that they have identified fully with what Christ did on the cross was take away their sins. That is, they are prepared to publicly state, through baptism, they have put their old sinful nature to death - which is symbolized by going under the water. Coming out of the water is identifying with Christ's resurrection. It is symbolic of the new life we have in Christ. This is something commanded of us. It is not a legalistic image performed by Baptists, or an induction ceremony performed for admittance of a member. What it is, is an act of submission to the Lordship of Christ in one's life. If you are struggling with the idea of baptism then I would like you to ask yourself why? Often it is more a matter of pride or unwillingness to let go of all to Christ. This is not always the case, but often it is a lordship issue for a person. What is Jesus saying to you about this?
The resurrection of Christ is the guarantee that this life is worth living. It is the guarantee that death is not the end of life and that there is a world beyond. It is the guarantee that nothing in life or death can separate us from Him if we are in that personal relationship with Him.
Because of this confidence, because we have the joy of the power of Christ's resurrection, because we have the joy and freedom that comes from knowing Christ intimately, then, Paul says, we have fellowship of sharing His sufferings, becoming like him in death.
Now was Paul suggesting that the Christians do something crazy, like some religious nuts are doing around the world, and taking their own lives for the sake of a higher cause? I don't think so, although, being a Christian in those days was certainly a health hazard.
What Paul is saying is that suffering with Christ in this life precedes the glory we will share with him in the life to come. He says in Romans 8:17 "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
There is a price for being identified with Jesus. What kinds of suffering are we to endure? To live as Jesus did—serving others, giving up one’s own rights, resisting pressures to conform to the world. So, to be like Christ in his death means to serve him in costly ways, ways that spell destruction for old habits and patterns. But know this…nothing we suffer can compare to the great price that Jesus paid to save us.
CONCLUSION
So, living a righteous life is knowing Christ intimately; living by the releasing power, and joy that comes from it, of the resurrection; and, becoming transformed and identifying with Christ in death.
You know, we have two options:
The first is spending our lives trusting in our own achievements. This brings us the glory now but leaves us spiritually bankrupt. That's exactly where Paul was before he met Christ - personally. Imagine what his life might have been life had he never listened to Christ's call and touch upon his life?
The second is to stop today and trust in what Christ has accomplished on the cross. Doing this gives Him the glory now and provides you with perfect righteousness forever. This is the path Paul followed and calls us to follow.
Which option makes the best sense?
Let me read to you a poem written by a man who realized the option he should follow.
I had walked life's path with an easy tread,
Had followed where comfort and pleasure led;
And then by chance in a quiet place---
I met my Master face to face.
With station and rank and wealth for goal,
Much thought for body but none for soul,
I had entered to win this life's mad race--
When I met my Master face to face.
I had built my castles, reared them high,
Till their towers had pierced the blue of the sky,
I had sworn to rule with an iron mace--
When I met my Master face to face.
I met Him and knew Him, and blushed to see
That His eyes full of sorrow were fixed on me;
And I faltered, and fell at His feet that day
While my castles vanished and melted away.
Melted and vanished; and in their place
I saw naught else but my Master's face;
And I cried aloud: "Oh, make me meet
To follow the marks of Thy wounded feet."
My thought is now for the souls of men;
I have lost my life to find it again
Ever since alone in that holy place
My master and I stood face to face?
When Paul said he counted all loss, what he achieved was to find a new more meaningful life - and that can be the same for you and me as we allow the Lord to hold in His hands our lives.
By Scott Douglas, Burdekin Baptist Church, 22nd November 1998