“The Value of Knowing Christ”
Sunday, March 21, 2010; Philippians 3:4b-14



Introduction: In our shopping, we usually want to find something that is of value to us, at a price we can afford. When Tami and I realized that our van was at the place where it needed to be replaced, we knew we couldn’t afford a Lexus, or BMW, or a Mercedes. But we still wanted a car that would serve us well and be good quality. We had seen the Hyundai Sante Fe on the road when we were driving back from Arizona, and thought we wanted something of that style. So one afternoon we went to Hyundai, then we looked at the Toyota RAV 4 and the Honda CRV. In the end, for the money we could afford, we felt the Sante Fe was the best vehicle. Since then we have been very happy about our choice.
In life, we too want value. But we aren’t always sure how to get it. As I’ve said before, Lent is a time to evaluate where we are, and where we should be in our lives. In this morning’s Lenten sermon I want to talk about the value of knowing Christ.

I. Confident in the flesh- (Philippians 3:4b-5; Matthew 19:16-26)

a. Paul- The apostle Paul starts off our passage by letting us know that people put a lot of confidence in themselves; confidence in the flesh. Now while it is good to be confident in some ways, we can be overconfident. The battle in Paul’s time is about being circumcised or not. Since Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles (the non-Jews), the Jews were upset because he was allowing them to become followers of Christ, and children of God, even though they weren’t circumcised. This was causing them to be prejudiced by thinking that they were better because they were circumcised.
Example- This reminds me of the Dr. Seuss story “The Sneetches,” that I read to my daughter Tiffany’s class a couple of weeks ago. It starts like this…
The Sneetches, by Dr. Seuss
Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars…. Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small.
You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all…But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches Would brag, “We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches.”…With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they’d snort, “We’ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!”…And, whenever they met some, when they were out walking, They’d hike right on past them without even talking.
When the Star-Belly children went out to play ball; Could a Plain Belly get in the game? Not at all…You only could play if your bellies had stars
And the Plain-Belly children had none upon thars.
The story goes on to talk about how the Sneetches without stars on their bellies were jealous of those who did. One day a man comes with a machine that can put stars on their bellies. So they do it, thinking that it will make them equal to the others. Then the original ones with stars get upset and have their stars taken off. All the while making the man with the machine rich, spending all their money to be like or different from the other. The end of the story is wonderful…
Then, when every last cent of their money was spent, The Fix-It-Up Chappie packed up. And he went…And he laughed as he drove In his car up the beach, “They never will learn. No. You can’t Teach a Sneetch!”…But McBean was quite wrong. I’m quite happy to say. That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day…That day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches. And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches…That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether they had one, or not, upon thars.
Paul is saying here in Philippians 3 that he could boast about all his Jewish qualifications (circumcised on the eighth day, Hebrew of Hebrews, tribe of Benjamin, and on and on), but that is not what is important.

b. Us- This is so true with us as well. We like to put confidence in our flesh, thinking that what we do is so special. And if you think about what the human race has accomplished it is quite amazing. We have created the computer and the internet, the television, the airplane, the rocket, the automobile, and on and on I could go. We can travel underwater and into space. We have learned how to cure many diseases.
But this confidence has also led us to do some terrible things… We have created instruments of destruction like bombs, and landmines, poison gas bombs, rocket launchers, assault rifles. We have learned how to clone human beings. And like Paul was talking about, we have used prejudice to deeply injure others. We put confidence in the flesh, thinking that we are better than others.
On top of this, the confidence we put in the flesh can keep us from God. When we think we are capable, then we feel we don’t need anyone else, including God. Why do we need God if we can do it on our own? And doesn’t this start early in life. I know my kids, at an early age, would say to Tami and me: “I do it.” They want to do it on their own. They only want our help if they can’t do it themselves.
How true this is when it comes to our relationship with God. We only turn to God in those times when we can’t handle something on our own.
In Matthew chapter 19 a rich man came to Jesus to ask Him how he could be saved. At first Jesus tells the man that he needs to follow the commandments (because this is how all Jews thought they would be saved). The man tells Jesus he has kept all the commands (which couldn’t be true, but he thought it to be true); here you see his confidence in his flesh. Then Jesus decides he is primed for the truth, knowing that this rich man has put his confidence in his riches and in his lavish lifestyle. Picking it up in Matthew 19:21-26, “Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ 22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’ 26Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

II. Gains and Losses- (Philippians 3:5-11; Genesis 17:12)

a. Comparing gains and losses- Paul then turns to the idea of gains and losses. Of course if you have ever looked at a balance sheet, you know that on one side you put your gains, and on the other side you put your losses. After you have put everything down on the paper, you hope that your gains outnumber your losses. And this is what Paul does.
Paul first talks about what he has gained. Let’s go back to look at Paul’s pedigree: 1. Circumcised when he was eight days old. This was done in accordance with the commandment that God gave Abraham for all the Jews. Genesis 17:12- “He that is 8 days old shall be circumcised among you.” Paul stresses the fact that he was born into the Jewish faith and thus has experienced the blessings and privileges known because of that.

2. He was of the tribe of Benjamin. Not only was Paul an Israelite, he belonged to the elite tribe of Benjamin. It was from the tribe of Benjamin that the first king of Israel had come. Even his original name, Saul, was from the great kings of Israel King Saul. In essence, Paul had a sense of aristocracy because of this.

3. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Jews were all over the world, and they would not allow themselves to be assimilated into the world. They were faithful to their religion wherever they went. But in some places the Jews would forget their language and would become Greek speaking Jews. A Hebrew was a Jew who not only was of pure racial descent, but also retained the Hebrew language.

4. A trained Pharisee. The Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day. There were not many Pharisees, and the Pharisees held great power. They would separate themselves from the common people and the common life.
These were some of the gains Paul claimed to have in his life. On the other side were his losses… Paul speaks of this in verse 7- “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.” The same list is here on the loss side. We will talk in a moment why Paul feels this to be true.

b. What constitutes a true gain?- If we were to think of our gains and losses, we might list on the gains side, things like family; job; the fact that we have a place to live; our friendships; the possessions we own; the fact we live in a country where there are many freedoms, including the freedom to worship God. These gains would be those parts of our lives that we felt were a blessing to us.
On the losses side you might list things like: financial troubles; relationship troubles; health issues; maybe even being born into a family that didn’t give you the privileges of someone else; your job you don’t like or the fact that you don’t have a job; for others it could be something like not being able to get pregnant or lacking an education. Some might even consider the color of their skin a loss, especially if they have faced great persecution and prejudice.
Here in Philippians chapter 3, Paul reorients the thinking of the Jews, and for that matter all who follow Christ, about what a gain is. To understand what is a gain, you have to have the right mindset. That is why Paul starts by talking about gains and losses. If we think our gains are based on the flesh and by what we have, then we will struggle to understand what God has put into this world to be a gain for our sake. But if we allow our minds to be reoriented by Paul’s teaching, then we will turn our minds to think of gains as that which is associated with Jesus Christ.
That is why Paul uses specific phrasing in this passage. We see Paul say things like: “regard as loss because of Christ;” “regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ;” “regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
For Paul, the gain is found in Christ and in knowing Christ. Later in the book of Philippians, Paul talks about knowing what it is to be in need, and what it is to have plenty. Paul has experienced both sides of the coin. From this experience, and the experience of coming to know Christ, Paul determines that the only gain worth experiencing is to know Christ. All other things that we might consider to be a gain in life, is like rubbish compared to this gain!

III. What we gain in Christ- (Revelation 3:20; Philippians 3:8;
1 Corinthians 1:15; Mark 8:34; Matthew 20:28; Acts 20:35)

a. Knowing Christ- Last week I was given a cute and wonderful story. It is the story of a pediatric nurse who, when listening to the hearts of these little children, would let them take the stethoscope, put it up to their chest, and listen to their heart beat. One time when she was doing this, she gave the stethoscope to this four-year-old named David and said: “What do you suppose that is?” David listened attentively, and then looked at the nurse with excitement and said: “Is that Jesus knocking?”
In Revelation 3:20 Jesus is speaking, and He says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” For us to have gain in Christ, we first have to know Christ. To know Christ, we must open the door and invite Christ in, and let Christ change us. If you have never done this, it is not hard to do. You simply humble your heart and mind before God, and pray for God to forgive your sins. Then let Christ cleanse you of your sins, and fill you with the Spirit of God.
There is a wonderful booklet called My Heart Christ’s Home, by Robert Boyd Munger. In this book our body is likened to a home. Just like there are many rooms in a home, so there are many rooms in our body. The Study is the mind, the control room of the house, where all that we look at and take in (like magazines, books, movies, etc.) affect our thinking. Then there is the Dining Room. This room represents our appetites and desires like money, fame, and degrees. There is also the Living Room. The living room is the place where Jesus wants to meet with us and talk. The next room is the Workroom. This is the work that we do, and can include work that we do for the Kingdom of God. There is also the Rec Room, the place where we have our fun; the Bedroom, the place where our sexual desires reside; and lastly the Hall Closet, where we keep our hidden sins. For us to invite Christ in, we have to give him all the rooms of our body; we have to give Him our whole being!
We have to have the attitude that Paul has when he says in Philippians 3:8: “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.”

b. The blessings of being in Christ- So what is the value of knowing Christ? What are the blessings that we gain when we are in Christ? There are so many that could be talked about here, but let me mention a few…

1. Salvation in Christ- Jesus was willing to struggle for us by going to the cross and enduring the pain and ridicule of this event. Why would Jesus be willing to suffer and die for us? Why was He willing to endure suffering and pain? Because He came to save us from our sins. Because He knew that this was the plan to reconcile us with the Father. Because He wants us to spend eternity in heaven with Him. He gave Himself up to save us. As the apostle Paul tells us in
1 Corinthians 1:15- “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

2. Lordship of Christ- Next we have the Lordship of Christ. It isn’t enough just to have salvation. To know Christ is to understand that Jesus wants to be our Lord and to guide our lives. This is because Jesus knows that we will make many bad choices if we choose to be the lord of our own lives. Even worse, Jesus knows that Satan will come to deceive us, and by such will be the lord of our lives. That is why Jesus tells us in the gospel of Mark, 8:34- “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”

3. Grace of God through Christ- When we have given ourselves over to Christ in this way, and Jesus is our Savior and our Lord, then we experience the grace of God which comes to us through Christ. Paul talks about God’s grace often in his letters, as he says in the beginning of both Ephesians and Philippians: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul uses this many times as his greeting to those whom he is writing. But on an even deeper level, in Ephesians 1 Paul talks of the grace of God which comes to us as forgiveness, and then there is the grace of God making His mysteries known to those who are in Christ, along with the promise of eternal life that is even secured through the deposit of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

4. Giving nature of Christ-Lastly, for our purposes today, there is the giving nature of Christ which comes to those who are true followers. Jesus Himself reminded us of His nature, when He said in the gospel of Matthew 20:28- “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Our Lord, who is God in the flesh, and who could demand people serve Him, has shown the example of giving Himself for the sake of others. Why? Because Jesus tells us in Acts 20:35, “… ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Jesus knows that when we are more prone to give than to receive, then we will bless others in our giving, and ultimately we will be blessed through our giving. The blessings will come back to us by God and others!

Conclusion: I know for a fact, that my life today, with Jesus, is so much better than my life was before Jesus. That doesn’t mean my life is void of problems or issues. I have plenty of both. But it does mean that my life is more blessed. I could count gains verses losses in regards to physical possessions or the lifestyle I think I want to live. Or, I could count gains in losses like Paul did: Paul was more concerned with knowing Christ, serving Christ, and growing in Christ than he was about anything else in his life. Paul knew that giving himself up for Christ is what would bring him the greatest amount of blessing both here on earth, and ultimately in heaven. So our challenge, and joy, is to seek to know Christ all the more each day. We do that through giving ourselves over to Christ, being with the body of Christ, and serving Christ in this world. Let us commit to do just that as a people of God, and as a church. Amen.