This One Thing

Introduction

Good morning. If you will open in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 3, the book of Philippians, chapter 3. As you consider what Paul’s writing there, and you think about the songs we’ve sung this morning, those are some of my favorites. I appreciate Tim leading those. If we think about Jesus and God being all that we have promised, answering all that we could ask for, truly being our all in all. That’s a powerful claim. And of course, if that claim is made, then we should trust in God. We should be willing to submit to him and truly live changed lives. It’s no surprise or consideration for me this morning that when I preach or anyone speaks at the 9 o’clock hour here, we look around and see it’s going to look a little bit different in a couple hours, as the Lord wills, if it’s a normal Sunday.

In fact, if you look around in a couple hours, you’re going to see probably double the people. I haven’t seen the number, and perhaps our ushers can confirm that later this morning. But, and yet, while we are here, there is a consideration to not only worship God, to not only thank God and praise him the way he deserves to be praised, but to examine not just do I attend services, but truly am I devoted to him no matter what? Is there any aspect of his law? Is there any aspect of his requirements in submission and obedience that I am lacking in? In Philippians chapter 3, verses 7 through 11, we’re already read this morning, but if you look with me in verse 12, Paul says in this famous stretch of verses, not that I have already obtained this or I’m 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. That is the Christian mission statement. We are pressing on. We are seeking to take the prize to answer the call that is in Christ Jesus. But before we get there, you consider in Philippians chapter 3, and the first several verses, we’ll start with verse 2, and consider how Paul worked his way to this powerful conclusion. And verse 2 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 of 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 lost 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 in 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.

Perhaps this is a well known Bible chapter, and at the end of the chapter, we see, of course, verse 20 that our citizenship as Christians 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. We know verse 20, we know verses 12 through 14, we know even to some extent verses 7 through 11. But consider with me for just a minute. As we go through day by day by day, it’s very easy to fall in a regular routine, isn’t it? This is how we do things, this is how we do our job, this is how we handle our home, this is how we get ready to handle the home and to do our job.

1. Put No Confidence in the Flesh

And then the next day comes and you kind of do it all again. And of course, depending on your schedule, you have places to go, people to see, things to do, and we get busy doing them. But when you think about Paul in Philippians chapter 3, this life is very different. There’s no rut or routine in what Paul is saying. When you consider his change, that only makes sense. Of course, in verse 2, he says, look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. He’s talking about the Jews. And if anyone reads Acts chapter 8 in the first three verses, you see that Saul was not only a religious, zealous Jew, as he claims several verses later, but he was responsible for dragging off Christians, committing them to prison.

He was there when Stephen was stoned. And you consider then in verse 2 who are the dogs, who are the evildoers? Well, the end of verse 2 defines it, those who mutilate the flesh. In verse 3, Paul says, We are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Paul says, We’re not there anymore. These Judaizing teachers who are pulling people away from Christ have missed the point. Whether they were saying Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised according to the law of Moses, or whether they were teaching simply you had to submit to the law of Moses and ignore Christ or take part of the law of Christ. He called them look out for the dogs, a term that the Jews would have been all familiar with in calling the Gentiles for so many years.

In verse 3, though, Paul’s point is strong. We are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. While many of us aren’t Jews and don’t have that type of background that says, I am, I am a Jew, I am from Abraham, I am from David, I am from the lineage that Jesus came from. I am something, I am special. I was given the law of Moses. Can we really say as the end of verse 3 concludes, that I put no confidence in the flesh? Is it pretty easy to kind of look back? And if someone says, Tell me about yourself, and what do we start with? Well, we start with maybe where we work, what type of degrees we have, what type of family background we have?

At what point on the list does being a Christian come? At what point on the list does our God who has given us everything come in? If that’s not on the tip of our tongues, it shows that it’s not in the middle of our hearts. In verse 4, Paul tells us, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone could care about his pedigree, about his resume, it was Paul. And in verse 4, he starts to give us some of that. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. You want to play the resume game, you want to play the credentials game? Paul says, I’m going to win that one. I can bang that drum better than anyone.

Verse 5, I was circumcised of the eighth day. Not only was he following the Jewish law, but he was of the people of Israel, and particularly of the tribe of Benjamin. So not only was he part of God’s chosen nation in the past, but when you think about Benjamin, which side did they associate themselves with? When the kingdom divided, and when you had Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Benjamin aligned with Judah, with the true people of God, those who held out longer, at least, as history records, before being taken away for their transgressions against God. But it doesn’t stop there in the middle of verse 5. You see, he continues, a Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law of Pharisee. He was trained, as we know from the book of Acts, by Gamaliel.

He was taught up by one of the best of the best. He was going to be a good leader in the church. And as it came to the Jewish law and the Jewish ideal, he was a Pharisee. That is, he held to the conservative religion. He strictly adhered the law. As we know from the Pharisees, strictly adhered to what they made as law as well. You consider this resume, and it speaks for itself, and yet in verse 6, he even describes his effort level. And I wonder if we have even close to what Paul’s effort level was for Judaism here in verse 6. If we have that type of enthusiasm for Christ. In verse 6, as to zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. As to righteousness under the law, I was blameless.

Is that something that could be said of us in our faith of Christ? Are we zealous enough to go out and to make an impact on others? Paul was willing to persecute the church because he thought they were a false sect. They were a false way. Sometimes I have to admit, I don’t even want to trouble someone I go past in a checkout line, even in this country of religious freedom, because I don’t want to rock the boat. I don’t want to cause a problem. As to righteousness under the law, blameless. He was obedient to what he thought was right at any cost. And of course, when Jesus had appeared to him on his way to Damascus in Acts chapter 9 and said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

2. Count All Things as Rubbish

We know that he went to Ananias. He was baptized, he became a Christian. And then verse 7 holds true. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. In this country, we are absolutely uniquely blessed to not have to give up our Christianity to have a good job, to be of good standing, to have a good family set up. But can I ask, would we give up everything? If it meant that’s what God required? Would we be willing to give up all? Cancel all, count all as rubbish, as we’ll see in just a few moments. Consider, would you be willing to give up anything? I’m thankful and bless everyone and thankful by God that he allows us to be here together at the 9 o’clock hour to make the necessary sacrifices to be here.

But what sacrifices do we make every day? Are we planting seeds that we will reap in heaven? Are we laying a foundation that won’t be eaten away at by moth or rust, that won’t be stolen by thieves? Are we trusting in God? Consider in Philippians chapter 3 and in verses 7 and 8. Do we really consider all to be rubbish? Verse 8 continues, 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. What did Paul have to give up to be a Christian? Well, when you go back and you consider he was a Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law, he was a Pharisee, as to zeal, he was a persecutor of the church.

What did a Jew give up to become a Christian? Everything. Why is it that in the book of Hebrews there was this constant admonition to be together, to encourage one another? Because Jews would lose everything. They would lose their social structure. They would lose their economic structure, or at least it was at risk, if they denied the faith that they were born into, and for so many generations their family had adhered to. And Paul was no exception to that. In fact, when Paul became a Christian, we learned from, again, the Acts Account in Acts 9 and 10 that he had a hard problem even fitting in with the church because they were afraid of him. Am I really going to consider my life and the things in it?

3. Moses Chose to Be Mistreated With the People of God

Count them all as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Or do I try to fit in as much in the world as I can while keeping the hold of Christ? You see, there’s a big difference in trying to maintain a faith in Jesus and going all in, counting all as rubbish, all as lost for the sake of Christ in order to gain him. In Hebrews chapter 11, I know that’s hard to see now. In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 23, turn there with me in your Bibles. You’ll see an example of an old Testament figure of faith who gave up everything, who really faced a sacrifice and chose to trust in God. In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 23, the Hebrew writer says, By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured to see him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. I want to key in on verse 25 and 26. Is my life anything like this? Am I willing to take any steps like Moses did? In verse 25, you see the first of his two choices.

Choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God. He chose that path. And what did he give up? Then to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. In verse 26, the second choice, he considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. He gave up everything. You want to talk about sacrifice. You want to talk about giving up standing in this life. Try giving up being heir or being around Pharaoh’s throne room when Egypt was at a decent power level. Moses was willing to give up everything, but I’m not just concerned about giving up everything and vague platitudes this morning that say, do your best, count all as rubbish. Consider what Moses chose again in verse 25. He chose to be mistreated with the people of God in verse 26.

He chose the reproach of Christ. He was willing to not just give up something great in this life, he was willing to take on suffering. And all of a sudden, I have to really do some self examination, don’t I? Because Paul was willing to give up his family background, his strict training of Gamaliel, his Hebrew of Hebrew status as to the law of Pharisee status, his zealous nature for God within the system of the law of Moses. What have I given up to become a Christian? It may be that many here this morning have given up family ties or good, a good family relationship. Maybe friends, maybe other loved ones. But can we really say that we choose? There’s a proactive decision to move forward into being mistreated with the people of God, to choose the reproach of Christ.

You see, there’s a big difference between doing good things, trusting in God when everything’s working, and choosing to be mistreated. And yet note the decision mechanism for Moses in verse 25. He wanted to be mistreated with the people of God. In verse 26, why did he do that? Why did he choose the greater reproach of Christ? That last phrase. For he was looking to the reward. What we’re going to see about looking to the reward is Moses saw this in the Old Testament time, and Paul sees this in New Testament times. If we are forward looking, trusting in our God who has given us all, who is our all in all, who has given us everything that he has promised that if we simply submit to him, he will bless us richly.

4. That I May Share His Sufferings

If we believe that, that is life-changing. And you see that from Paul in Philippians chapter 3. Turn back there and consider as we move forward into verses 9 through 11. In verse 9, it sounds very familiar, and be found in him that is 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, 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. Do you see how Paul and Moses share that attribute? I suggest this morning that’s an attribute that to follow Christ, you must share in.

I must have. In verse 10, that I may know him in the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings. Yes, this passage is great. This passage is encouraging. We’re heading on, we’re looking for that one thing. We’re straining forward, forgetting what lies behind. We’re looking forward to where our citizenship is in heaven. We are, yes, as Paul says in verse 11, seeking by any means possible to attain the resurrection from the dead, but no, it can, it will, it must involve suffering. Jesus’ ways do not run with culture. It does not run with social circles of the day. It didn’t 2,000 years ago. Why would we think it would now? Jesus demands our everything. Moses understood that, giving up the treasures of the house of Egypt, choosing the reproach of Christ.

Because he knew it was greater, because he was looking to the reward. Paul chose to give up all that he could have had, all the standing, all the leadership he could have been appointed in in the Jewish system. And he counted all things as rubbish. And I have to ask, am I willing to give up everything? But even under that, am I willing to give up anything? Oftentimes, isn’t it the easiest to sin when we just don’t want to let go of what we have? People lie because they want to keep a good face. They want to have the rewards of whatever they’re giving a falsehood about. People steal because they want something that they can’t or don’t already have. Oftentimes the devil just tells us, you can have this.

You deserve it. Or you don’t have to face that. You don’t have to go through this. And yet Moses, Paul, and most of all, Jesus, our Lord, faced sufferings. Why? Yes, it was the plan of God. Yes, he needed to die for the sins of the world. But in what sense are we going to share in his sufferings? Because when Jesus lived righteously, evil, vile, sinful man hated him for it. And it will be no different with us. That is why we see what we do in Galatians chapter 2. Turn over there with me. It’s just a few pages over in most of your Bibles. I suppose for those of you, some of you with bigger print, it might be a few more pages. But in Galatians chapter 2, you see the well-known passage in verse 20.

Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I have been crucified with Christ. That not only is Paul’s command, that echoes what Jesus says in Luke chapter 9, verses 23 through 26, where we are to deny ourselves daily, taking up our cross and following after him. This is a sacrifice. This is hard. You don’t sign up for this. You like to come to church and you like to hear that things are easy. I don’t like hearing that things are going to be hard, that life is tough. When we face obstacles that aren’t of a spiritual nature, what do we like to do with them?

Some people have different reactions. Some people hide.

There’s some people who charge and try to take them on head on. They say, I’m going to talk my way through this, I’m going to pound my way through this, we’re going to get through this problem. And then there’s a lot in the middle. But when it comes to following after Jesus, there must be sufferings. Why? Because Jesus faced it. And if we’re to walk in the footsteps of our Savior, we will face it too. And that poses an interesting question for me. If there are all these warnings about facing sufferings and blessings if we’re persecuted for righteousness’ sake. And I don’t feel like I’ve been persecuted. I don’t feel like I’m suffering. I don’t feel like I’m giving up anything. I have to ask the question, am I?

Am I truly sacrificing? Giving up that which cost me something. One man was quoted as saying, giving is not measured by what you surrender to Christ, but by what you withhold. I think that’s an interesting phrase because it shows us that you can give a lot. But if you’re holding back, perhaps similar to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5 or many other examples. We’re not all in. And when you read Paul’s words in Philippians chapter 3 and verses 9 and 11, you see that he will do anything in verse 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Then, of course, when we come to verses 12 through 14, we face the question, am I straining forward? Not that I’ve already obtained this or I’m already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

5. Straining Forward to What Lies Ahead

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do. Forgetting what lies behind. And do you see this word? Straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Now note the moniker in verse 15 Who thinks this way? Let those of us who are mature think this way. And if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Again, that sounds incredibly similar to what Moses did. Why was he willing to choose to be mistreated with the people of God? Why was he willing to take on the reproach of Christ? For he was looking to the reward.

What do we as mature thinking Christians do? Forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead. What strain do I face? Because there’s a lot of sacrifices we have to make in this life and in this wonderful country. But I have to say for myself, I often don’t like long drives. If I have to drive over an hour, that’s a really long way. I was raised in a city. That’s what you get. But if all I’m sacrificing is some gas and some time and some anger management on I-4, is that really sacrificing? Is that really suffering? Am I really submitting myself entirely to God’s will? We have to be willing to push boundaries, not for the sake of pushing boundaries, not for the sake of trying to be persecuted, but it will happen.

If you live righteously in a world full of unrighteousness, you will be targeted. It can happen to you. It has happened to prophets of old, to Jesus and to his apostles and prophets. It is coming. But perhaps the reason we don’t face this persecution is because we are camouflaged. I’m not at all one for camouflage. I don’t think anyone actually wearing the camouflage that’s often worn actually makes you blend in with anything because we do live in a city. So when you wear green and brown, it doesn’t really blend you in with all the brick buildings and the pavement. But maybe we try to spiritually camouflage ourselves. And can I tell you that when we try to hide in with the darkness, we will be dark.

And we won’t be with Christ. There is no camouflage in Christianity. There is only a willingness to strain forward, knowing it is difficult, that the journey will be hard and long. But it’s worth it. That’s what Paul had told us already in verse 11. That’s what he presses on to in verse 14. For the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, that is our everything. And as Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2 say, again, I know you can’t quite see that very well. We are running the race with endurance. But to do that, we have to lay aside the sin which clings so closely to us. But how are we going to run that race? When you look at Hebrews chapter 12, and you see verses 1 and 2, but also 3 and 4, we have to look to Jesus.

6. Consider Your Ways

He is our way. He has done it. We know we can do it because of Him, and we know we can trust in Him to deliver on His promises. Paul was willing to go all out. Moses went all out. But consider with me one final passage aside from Philippians chapter 3 this morning. I want you to look in your Old Testament at the book of Haggai. The minor prophet Haggai, I’ll give us all a moment to get there. I had a marker there. It’s cheating. But as you turn to the book of Haggai, consider as the people of Israel, as the people of Judah have been restored, returned from their captivity. That came because they weren’t all in with God. They weren’t straining forward to please God.

They were mixing in the idolatry of the nations around them, the sins and the ease that came with a life unburdened by keeping the law of Moses diligently. They were taken into captivity. But then they returned, and Haggai is prophesying to these people, and you see in verse 2, thus says the Lord of hosts, these people say the time is not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet. Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough.

You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it, and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce, and I have called for a drought on the land and the hills on the grain, the new wine, the oil, and what the ground brings forth on man and beast and on all their labors.

What was the problem? They dwelt in their, as verse 4 says, paneled houses. They’re taken care of. They’re comfortable homes. While the house of the Lord remained in ruins. Verse 4. The response from that in verse 5 and in verse 7, the Lord is telling the people recalculate, reconsider. In fact, consider your ways. I think it’s easier for me to be like the people of Haggai’s day. Because the people of Haggai’s day weren’t just sitting around and not doing anything for the Lord. There had already been various restoration attempts. They were coming along. Now the house of the Lord wasn’t finished, but that wasn’t that they were just like atheists sitting around not doing anything in the name of God. But their priorities were exposed by God in two different ways.

First of all, in verse 4, we already noted they were dwelling in their paneled houses, but what were they living like in verse 5? And what did God do about it? When he said, consider your ways, what did they consider? How much they had sown, and yet they could barely harvest. They ate but were never filled. They drank but never had their fill of drink. They clothed themselves, but no one is warm. They earned wages, but they put them into a bag with holes. That is what living life without Jesus is like. It’s striving after the wind. You can go forward, you can go backwards, you can work really hard, you cannot work at all, but it’s worth nothing. You will always want, you will always need, because Jesus alone has our answers.

Jesus alone offers not only salvation, but a peace that surpasses understanding. God is our everything. It’s not just that we should count everything as rubbish. It’s not that we should be willing to give up everything. It’s that we should be straining forward towards that call that is available only in Christ Jesus our Lord. That means sacrifice. That means planning. That means difficulty. But if we don’t, we see how God treated the people in the days of Haggai. He pointed out to them the vanity of their ways. They could work all they wanted, but they would never be filled. And the reason given is why in verse 9, you looked for much, and behold it came to little. And when you bought it home, I blew it away.

Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. I said this morning that those of us who are here at the 9 o’clock hour have made a special sacrifice, and that’s a wonderful thing. But there’s more to it than just being places on time. We have to be willing to make a sacrifice. There is work in the Lord’s kingdom to do. And while we don’t have a temple of the Lord to rebuild at this time, there’s evangelism to be done. There’s people to be helped. There is love to be shown. And most importantly, there are our lights which need to be bright and shining, as Philippians chapter 2 says, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.

Conclusion

Are we willing to be those lights? Are we doing this one thing? Forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward towards the goal. It’s a difficult choice. Paul made it. Moses made it. The people of Haggai’s day, at least in chapter 1, had not made the correct decision. What choice will I make? Will you consider these things this morning in this week? Every day consider. Am I dwelling in a paneled house? Or am I serving the house of the Lord? Will you go to God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious, loving, and powerful Heavenly Father, we recognize that you alone are the giver of all things. We praise you and thank you for that. We recognize that you alone are mighty, you alone are eternal, and you show us perfect love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Please forgive us of our wrong, cleanse us of our iniquity, help us to turn our lives to you, to trust in you, and to be able to make it through this life which will come with obstacles and sufferings. Forgive us of when we take the easy way out. Give us strength, courage, and conviction to get through the difficult times. Help us to read your will, to envelop ourselves in understanding more about you. And most of all, help us to take on your attributes and to show them to others, to love perfectly as you have first loved us, to forgive others as we want to be forgiven by you, to show mercy and honor to others, recognizing that you have made us all, and in that way we are eternally grateful and special to be called something in your sight.

Thank you for sending Jesus the Christ to die on the cross for our sins. We pray that we don’t get distracted looking to the left or to the right, but that we will strain forward. We will not be held back by things in the past, but that we will make the necessary commitments and sacrifices to you to strain forward and to one day be with you forever. We’re so thankful for allowing our citizenship to be in heaven, and we eagerly await that. We pray that in all things and all ways we glorify you, and that today, as we worship you, it will be done in spirit and truth as you have decreed. We pray all these things in Jesus the Christ’s name. Amen.