In Christ Alone (Phil. 3:2-11)

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In Christ Alone, Our Hope Is Found (Phil. 3:2-11)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on September 17, 2023

A man one day was writing the love of his life … her name was Betty. He wrote:

My dearest Betty,

I love you beyond words. Webster does not have in his dictionary the necessary vocabulary to explain the depth of my love for you. Thoughts of you dance across the portals of my mind. You are my all-consuming passion. So enraptured am I regarding my love for you that the Pacific Ocean would be like a pond if I had to swim it. I could do it as long as I knew you were awaiting me on the other shore. The heat of the Sahara Desert would never impede my progress to you, knowing that you would be the oasis that would refresh me when I arrive. There would be no inconvenience I wouldn’t endure for you. Climbing Mount Everest would only seem like getting over an ant’s hill if I knew you were at the precipice. All I’m simply saying to you, my darling … is that my love for you transcends time and space.

Signed, Sam.

P.S. I’ll see you Saturday night if it doesn’t rain.

Now I’m sure you would agree with me, Sam was only full of a bunch of noise. Sam could talk a good game but he didn’t go very deep. While he could verbalize overcoming the elements to get to his love, a little bit of rain would keep him away. It’s easy to verbalize being an overcomer. It’s easy to say the words, “I am victorious. I’ve been made victorious in Christ.” But it’s a whole different thing to not let the rain slow you down. It’s a whole different thing to take your position as an overcomer and turn it into your practice of overcoming.[1]

We are preaching through Philippians. As we begin today, are we committed to Christ? Are we trusting in faith in Him for salvation or our good works? Are we ready to suffer to know Him more? Paul addresses those subjects in today’s passage.

My theme today is:

In Christ alone, our hope is found.

  1. To start, Paul warns them to beware! (Phil. 3:2-3).
    1. We will begin this section, but first, let’s put this in context. A text without a context is a pretext for whatever you want it to mean.
    2. Last week, we looked at Phil. 3:1. That was a very encouraging passage. Paul encouraged them to rejoice in the Lord.
    3. This whole letter has been about joy and unity. I believe that is important for the section we are getting into.
    4. In Phil. 1:12-18 Paul reflected on his imprisonment, yet he had joy. The Gospel was advancing.
    5. We have that well-known passage “To live is Christ” in Phil. 1:19-26.
    6. In Phil. 1:27-30 Paul wrote about living worthy of the Gospel.
    7. Phil. 2 was about humbly serving the Lord.
    8. Then, we come to Phil. 3:1 and rejoicing.
    9. Now, why does the context matter?
    10. The context of the whole Bible is important. I have been giving you the context within this letter, but really this letter fits within the Pauline epistles, the Pauline epistles fit within the New Testament. The New Testament follows the Old Testament. All of that is important. We have to keep all of that in mind. The Old Testament points to Jesus in every book. The New Testament Gospels write about Jesus. The book of Acts gives early church history. The epistles exhort us, but they also do teach theology.
    11. We are in the epistles. Paul is writing a letter to the church at Philippi and to us. He exhorts them and us in unity, joy, and Christian living. This letter is inspired by God.
    12. He has been writing about unity and joy. So, what would threaten that?
    13. He is about to tell us what threatens their unity and their joy.
    14. Philippians 3:2–3 (ESV)
    15. 2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
    16. Paul says, “Look out,” or some translations say, “Beware…”
    17. He is concerned. If you are at a baseball game and say, “Look out,” there might be concern about a baseball coming your way. This is a concern.
    18. “Look out for the dogs,” why?
    19. As you likely know, he is not concerned about actual dogs.
    20. “Dogs” was a pejorative term for a group.
    21. I believe he is referring to a group called the “Judaizers.” This group taught that they still needed to keep the Jewish law.
    22. That is why Paul says, “Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.” He is referring to circumcision, and he calls them evildoers. This was settled in Acts 15. Gentiles did not need to keep the Jewish Law except abstain from sexual immorality, meat sacrificed to idols, things strangled, and blood.
    23. In verse 3, Paul says that they are the true circumcision.
    24. Why does he say that?
    25. He explains it. They worship by the Spirit of God. They glory in Christ Jesus. They do not put confidence in the flesh. In other words, they do not put confidence in externals like circumcision.
    26. They worship in Spirit (John 4:23-24).
    27. Paul is talking about a circumcision of the heart.
    28. This verse mentions all three members of the Trinity: “God” (the Father), “Christ Jesus” (the Son), and “the Spirit of God” (the Holy Spirit).[2]
  2. Paul’s confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3:4-6).
    1. Philippians 3:4–6 (ESV)
    2. 4 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: 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.
    3. When Paul says that they should not have confidence in the flesh, he was the right person to address it.
    4. In Paul’s past, he had some achievements.
    5. He says he has more reasons to have more confidence in the flesh than others.
    6. “Flesh” in this context means human achievements.
    7. Verse 5: circumcised the eighth day… that is how it was supposed to be (Lev. 12:3).
    8. He had not received circumcision in his thirteenth year, as Ishmaelites did, nor later in life, as many Gentiles did who converted to Judaism (e.g., Acts 16:3).[3]
    9. He is of the people of Israel.
    10. However, Paul will be getting into the idea of circumcision of the heart, which the Old Testament writes about (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:26ff).
    11. He is of the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the second son of Rachel (Ge 35:18), and one of the elite tribes of Israel, who along with Judah, remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty and formed the southern kingdom (1Ki 12:21).[4]
    12. “A Hebrew of Hebrews…” I believe this means that he has ancestry that is Hebrew. He was not a proselyte. Further, this could mean he can read the Scriptures in Hebrew and/or that he spoke Aramaic, the national language of Israel in his day.
    13. As far as the law goes, he was a Pharisee, which means he cared about the law.
    14. Verse 6: as for zeal, he persecuted the church.
    15. He was blameless in righteousness under the law.
    16. He knows what he is talking about.
  3. Paul counts his gains as loss for the sake of Christ (Phil. 3:7-11).
    1. Philippians 3:7–11 (ESV)
    2. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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.
    3. In verses 7-11, Christ is mentioned by name or pronoun 10 times.
    4. Verse 7 is saying that for all those gains that he had mentioned, Paul counts them as loss for the sake of Christ. Jesus is better.
    5. In verse 8, Paul builds on this idea.
    6. He counts everything as loss for the “surpassing” worth of knowing Christ Jesus His Lord.
    7. Knowing Christ is more valuable than anything else.
    8. A little girl came to her father and asked him for a nickel. The father reached in his pocket, but he didn’t have any change. All he had was a twenty-dollar bill. He knew that was a lot of money, but he figured that his daughter had been a good girl. He decided to give her the twenty.
    9. The little girl said, “Oh no, Daddy. You don’t understand. I want a nickel.”
    10. “No, honey, you don’t understand. This is a bunch of nickels. This is a twenty-dollar bill.”
    11. But the little girl didn’t understand. She said, “Daddy, why won’t you give me a nickel?”
    12. He tried to explain. He tried to tell her how many nickels were in a dollar, and how many dollars were in a twenty-dollar bill. She wasn’t getting it.
    13. So she started crying and having a temper tantrum. “Daddy, you said you were going to give me a nickel. Why won’t you give me a nickel?”
    14. That’s exactly what we do. We settle for a nickel when God offers us twenties.[8]
    15. Notice he says that Jesus is His lord.
    16. Is Jesus your Lord?
    17. He continues saying that he will count them as rubbish in order to gain Christ. Gaining Christ is far better.
    18. Paul continues in verse 9.
    19. He wants to be found in Christ. He wants to be found not having a righteousness of his own from the law, no, a righteousness that comes from faith in Christ.
    20. This righteousness in God depends on faith.
    21. In verse 10, Paul expands on this. He wants to know Him. He wants to know Christ.
    22. How much does he want to know Christ?
    23. It is all loss with the purpose of knowing Him. The direct object of “know” is 3 things:
      1. power of His resurrection,
      2. sharing in His sufferings,
      3. becoming like Him in death…
    24. Power first and then sharing in sufferings. He does not want power to avoid sufferings. We would think the resurrection power could make us avoid suffering, but it is not that kind of power.
    25. What power? Eph 1:16-2:6: The power that raised Jesus from the dead…
    26. Does he think sharing in Christ’s sufferings adds merit to his salvation? No, he likely thinks it is only fair since Christ suffered so much.
    27. He wants to know the power of His resurrection.
    28. He wants to share in His sufferings.
    29. He wants to become like Him in His death.
    30. In verse 11, he closes this part up, based on what he has written, he wants to attain the resurrection by any means possible.
    31. Is this about him trying to earn his salvation?
    32. He probably meant that he wanted the power that resurrected his Savior and was within himself because of the indwelling Christ to manifest itself in his life for God’s glory (cf. Rom 6:4; Col. 3:1; Eph. 2:5–6).[9]
    33. I believe he is talking about persevering to the end.
    34. Sharing in Christ suffering means more than suffering for Christ but allowing Christ death to shape all of life.
    35. Christ took on the form of a servant, and we take on the form of Christ in His death.
  4.  Applications:
    1. Can we only trust in Jesus for salvation and not in works (Phil. 3:2-8)?
    2. Or, are we thinking that we live a good life?
    3. Are we trusting in the externals, such as: baptism, church attendance, Sunday school, etc for merit with God (Phil. 3:2-8)?
    4. Can we count all of those externals as excrement compared to knowing Christ (Phil. 3:8)?
    5. Is knowing Christ the best (Phil. 3:7-11)?
    6. Are we prepared to suffer for Christ (Phil. 3:10-11)?
    7. Are we trusting that our righteousness does not come from works but faith in Christ (Phil. 3:9)?
    8. Are we prepared to persevere to the end (Phil. 3:10-11)?
    9. Are we prepared to stay close to Christ when our family excludes us?
    10. Are we prepared to stay close to Christ if the Bible is illegal?
    11. Are we prepared to stay close to Christ if it is illegal to go to church?
    12. Can we stay true to Christ if our workplace calls us to deny part of the faith? Suppose our workplace will make us condone or endorse abortion? Suppose we are a pharmacist and must sell the morning-after bill or other abortifacients. Can we stay true to Christ?
    13. Suppose we are a pediatrician, nurse, hospital employee, or counselor, and we are required to aid a teenager (or younger child) transition to another sex. Can we stay true to Christ?

In 1856, Henry Brown, a slave in Richmond, Virginia, decided he didn’t want to be a slave anymore. Henry Brown found himself a box, a small wooden crate, and postmarked it to an abolitionist in Philadelphia, which was free territory. Henry Brown got inside the box, sealed the box from the inside, and mailed himself to Philadelphia.

Henry Brown was banking on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver him. He was in slavery and needed to be delivered. The abolitionist got the crate. When he opened the box, Henry Brown stood up, after being in that box for three weeks, and said, “How do you do, sir. My name is Henry Brown and I was a slave. I heard about you being an abolitionist, so I’m entrusting my future to you.” That was a big risk. It was an oxygen risk, a risk of being discovered, and a risk of going hungry. But when Henry Brown stood up in Philadelphia, he was a free man. Henry Brown rejoiced because the risk was well worth the inconvenience. Living a committed Christian life involves taking a risk. It involves having faith that Jesus is going to come through for you. But living a committed Christian life is a risk that is well worth the inconvenience.[12]

Prayer

[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 42–43.

[2] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2285.

[3] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 3:5.

[4] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Php 3:5.

[5] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2285.

[6] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Php 3:5.

[7] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Php 3:6–8.

[8] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 43.

[9] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 3:10.

[10] R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 2113–2114.

[11] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 3:11.

[12] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 42.

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