Joyful Knowing
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Today’s gonna be a great day, a great celebration for us as a church, because it’s gonna be the first time we do baptisms. We have two people here who are gonna be baptized, one is a good friend of mine and Andrea’s. She’s a strong woman of God who was baptized as a baby, but today she’s making that decision for herself. Her parents made that decision for her when she was a baby, but she wants to make that decision for herself. She’s been through a lot this past year and she wants to renew her faith in Jesus. The other person comes from a great family who loves Jesus and loves sharing the love of Jesus with others. It’s a young man who decided he wants to make that same decision for himself. He’s making the decision to follow Jesus, and to share the love of Jesus with others. Can we celebrate that? Can we celebrate the fact that we’re gonna have a couple baptisms today? It’s gonna be a great day, and I’ll say more about baptisms at the end of this message as we continue our series called “Rebel.” It’s called Rebel and it’s all about pursuing another joy, pursuing a greater joy than our culture’s joy which is hedonism.
So let me ask you a question. Do you get frustrated or joyful whenever somebody says, “Whatever?”...Do you get frustrated or joyful whenever somebody says, “Whatever?”...I’m talking it’s date night, you get all decked out, you’re ready for your date, and you’re like where do you want to eat tonight? “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I’m good with whatever.”...Or you’re chilling with some friends, ready to have some fun, and you ask what do you want to do tonight? “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I’m good with whatever”...Your professor assigns a group project, you sit with your team asking who wants to do what task and everyone’s like, “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Whatever”..,What movie do you want to watch? “Whatever.” What kind of pizza do you want? “Whatever.” Are you a Miami, Florida State, Florida, or UCF fan? “Whatever”... Do you get frustrated or joyful whenever somebody says, “Whatever?”...Here’s another question. Do you think it matters what people believe?...Do you think it matters what people believe, or should we just say “Whatever.”...Do you think it matters what people believe, or should we just say “Whatever. It’s cool. It doesn’t matter what you believe, so long as it makes you happy”...... Today we’re gonna be talking about the hedonistic mindset of “whatever” or if you’re a hipster it’s “whatevs.” It’s the topic of “whatever,” meaning it doesn’t matter what you believe so long as it makes you happy, so long as it brings you joy. We’re gonna see if that’s true, especially when it comes to the topic of salvation. So let’s turn our bibles to Philippians 3:1-11. That’s Philippians 3:1-11, the title of today’s message is “Joyful Knowing.” It’s Joyful Knowing... Knowing Jesus leads to a joyful heaven, rather than a joyless hell. Let’s get into it.
Context:
Here’s your context. Last time we talked about how Paul, the author of Philippians, found joy in serving. We talked about how it’s better to be a joyful servant than a joyless king or queen, and in ch. 2 Paul gives us the greatest example of a humble servant which is Jesus. He tells us that Jesus is the greatest example of a humble servant, and he’s done the greatest of deeds when he died for our sins. Now in the end of ch. 2 he gives us two more examples of humble servants. They’re not as great as Jesus, but they are examples of humble servants of Jesus. It’s Timothy and Epaphroditus. They were both humble servants of Jesus, and that’s how Paul ends ch. 2. He ends it by talking about two humble servants of Jesus, but in ch. 3 his tone changes. In ch. 3 Paul’s tone completely changes from being tender to tough. Let’s find out why.
The Word:
Philippians 3:1-11 states this, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.” It’s safe for you. Paul’s giving the Philippians a reminder here. He’s giving them a reminder of something, and he says it’s safe for them. So it’s a serious one. It’s a serious reminder. The tone’s clearly changing in the text.
Again vs. 1, ““Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. 2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.” Notice the tone changes? Notice Paul’s tone changes? He goes from talking tenderly to the Philippians in chs. 1-2 using words like grace, peace, joy, affection, even saying in ch. 1:7 “I hold you in my heart,” present day translation? “I heart you...” Paul’s tender. He’s very tender in his language to the Philippians, but in ch 3 his tone changes. His tone changes and he starts calling people dogs, evil doers, mutilators of the flesh. That’ll start a fight. Men try calling your wife a dog see how that goes down...Students try calling your professor a mutilator of flesh see how far that’ll get you...Paul’s calling people dogs, mutilators of the flesh, and context is important because if we don’t know the context of Paul’s language then we’ll miss the severity of what he’s saying. See when we think dogs we think cute, cuddly, little puppy, but in Paul’s context he’s not talking house dogs, he’s talking wild dogs. He’s talking vicious, wild, aggressive dogs that chase people, bite people, and literally eat the flesh of human corpses. That’s the type of dogs Paul’s talking about. He’s talking about vicious, wild, aggressive dogs and he’s saying look out for people like that. Look out for people who are like dogs, who are mutilators of the flesh. His tone’s clearly changing from tenderness to warning, and it’s because of a group of false teachers called the Judaizers. The Judaizers are a group of religious people who are teaching lies about the faith, they’re teaching lies about Jesus. They’re saying you need to get circumcised and do all kinds of things in order to get saved, in order to get into heaven, rather than just believe in the gospel, rather than just believing in who Jesus is and what he did on the cross. They’re like the religious people today who say you need to dress a certain way, act a certain way, talk a certain way, worship a certain way in order to become a Christian.
Look there’s something wrong with the American Church when one of the first questions people ask is, “What do I wear? What do I need to wear when I come to your church?” I mean what kind of perception are we giving people when they have to be afraid of what to wear to come to church? Man I don’t care what you wear, just wear something. But these Judaizers, just like some religious people today are adding to the gospel, they’re adding to the words of Jesus saying things like you need to dress a certain way, act a certain way, talk a certain way, worship a certain way in order to get saved, in order to get into heaven. It needs to be traditional worship, contemporary worship, Indie Rocker worship. You need to have a King James Bible, a 9 Marks bible study, say 5 Our Fathers, 10 Hail Mary’s, do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around. It’s all kinds of things you need to do in order to turn yourself around, and Paul’s like “No! It’s not true! It’s not true at all. You’re adding to the words of Jesus. He never said you had to do all those things in order to get saved. He said you need to believe in the gospel, you need to believe in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. That’s what makes you a Christian. That’s what makes you saved. That’s what will get you into heaven. You’re not saved by the works of humanity, you’re saved by the works of Jesus” and he starts calling them a bunch of dogs, evil doers, mutilators of the flesh because he’s trying to warn the Philippians to watch out for such people. They’re dangerous, they’re teaching lies, they’re adding to the words of Jesus,” and implicitly what Paul’s saying is that what you believe matters...He’s saying what you believe matters, and knowing Jesus will lead to a joyful heaven, rather than a joyless hell. But these Judaizers are teaching something different and Paul’s taking that very serious. It’s why his tone changes.
Again vs. 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...” We put no confidence in the flesh, meaning there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves, there’s nothing we can do to earn God’s grace for our lives. You can’t be good enough, perfect enough, or righteous enough to gain your way to heaven and the good news of the gospel is you don’t have to. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus already did what you can’t do. He lived the life you should’ve lived, and died the death you should’ve died because of sin. Paul’s saying it’s Jesus who saves not our good works or works of the flesh. He’s saying when it comes to salvation Jesus + Something ruins Everything...When it comes to salvation, when it comes to getting into heaven, Jesus + Something else you must do to save yourself ruins everything. It’s not works of the flesh that saves, it’s the works of Jesus that saves. Then in response to the works of Jesus, we do good works. We don’t do good works to get saved, we do good works in response to our salvation. Jesus + Something ruins Everything. It’s not your resume that’ll lead to a joyful heaven, it’s knowing Jesus that leads to a joyful heaven. Your resume’s not impressive to God.
Again vs. 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 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.” Paul’s basically spitting out his religious resume here. He’s saying he has more reasons to be confident in the flesh, to be confident in his obedience to the laws of God than anyone else. He followed the ceremonial laws of Judaism to the point where he would have been considered blameless by the Jews. Paul’s resume would have been considered extremely impressive by the Jews. I mean we’re talking pure blooded “Hebrew of Hebrews,” able to trace his lineage back to Abraham which is the “tribe of Benjamin,” and he’s a Pharisee which means he’s one of the greatest professors, one of the greatest teachers of Judaism and that makes for an impressive resume. So if anyone had room to boast of their resume, to boast of their good deeds or works of the flesh it was him. But listen to what he has to say about his impressive resume.
Vs. 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.” There’s the reason Paul has so much joy. It’s because he knows Jesus. It’s because he knows Jesus. What he cares about more than anything is knowing Jesus. His resume means nothing compared to knowing Jesus, because knowing Jesus leads to a joyful heaven, rather than a joyless hell. So Paul can care less about his resume and he even calls it rubbish. Check it out.
Again vs. 8 states, “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...” He counts his impressive religious resume as rubbish, and in the Greek this word “rubbish” is a pretty intense word. It means “garbage” or “excrement.” It means “garbage” or “excrement”, and here’s how some of the different translations read. ESV = “It’s rubbish.” NIV = “It’s garbage.” CEB = “It’s sewer trash.” The King James Version = “It’s dung.” The Message = “It’s dog dung.” Apparently you need to specify what kind of dung. The Wycliffe Bible = “It’s a turd!” Man how funny is that, that the word “turd” is in the Bible! If I just offended you then you can email ME at Zack@cityawakening.org...But in all seriousness, Paul’s intentionally using a strong word here to describe that his resume, his religious resume means nothing compared to the resume of Jesus and compared to knowing Jesus. He’s saying compared to Jesus, his resume is a steamy pile of turds. It’s foul, it’s garbage, it’s rubbish! Compared to Jesus our good deeds, our good works, our works of the flesh are like rubbish and they’ll never get us to heaven. It’s all rubbish when it comes to getting into heaven, when it comes to knowing Jesus.
Now listen this is huge when it comes to our heavily de-churched Orlando culture. By de-churched I mean those who have been to church, but no longer go to church. See there’s de-churched, un-churched, and un-reached. De-churched are people who have been to church before but no longer go to church. Un-churched are people who have access to a local church, but have never stepped foot into a local church. Un-reached are people who have absolutely no access to a bible, no access to a church like an indigenous tribe or in places like North Korea. They’re yet to be reached. Orlando’s primarily de-churched, it’s full of people who’ve been to church but no longer go to church, and a lot of times what you’ll get when you invite someone to church is, “Yeah well I’ve tried the whole church thing, I’ve tried the whole Jesus thing and it didn’t work.” I totally agree! If you try church, if you try Jesus it’s not gonna work. It’s not gonna work because you don’t try church, you don’t try Jesus like he’s a pair of skinny jeans...“Oh I like the way these feel, I think I’ll keep them. Actually, they’re a little tight in the glutes. I’ll think I’ll get rid of them.”...Listen you don’t try Jesus you have a relationship with Jesus, and when you have a relationship with Jesus that’s when you experience real life change. So if you’re here today and you’re “trying” this whole church thing again. Stop. Stop trying church. Instead believe in the good news of the Gospel which is that Jesus was God in the flesh who lived, died, and rose again for your sins, and enter into a life changing relationship with Jesus. He’s not a pair of skinny jeans, he’s a relational God who desires to have a relationship with you......If somebody says they’ve tried church or they’ve tried Jesus before, it’s usually a sign that they’ve been misled into thinking Christianity’s about something you must do, rather than about a relationship you enter into. Paul’s saying what matters more than anything else is that we know Jesus, everything else is rubbish. Knowing Jesus leads to a joyful heaven, rather than a joyless hell.
Again vs. 8 states, “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…” There it is again. Paul’s wanting to “know him,” he’s wanting to know Jesus above all else and he says it comes not from his own works, but from the works of Jesus. He says it comes through faith in Jesus.
Again vs. 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.” That’s heaven. He’s talking about heaven here. He’s talking about dying, being resurrected, and going to heaven where he’ll be with Jesus forever. He’ll be with Jesus forever, and he’ll know Jesus more fully than he knows him now. Paul can’t wait for that day to come. He knows that knowing Jesus, will lead to a joyful heaven rather than a joyless hell.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea of the message. Knowing Jesus leads to a joyful heaven, rather than a joyless hell...Knowing Jesus leads to a joyful heaven, rather than a joyless hell...Yet in our hedonistic culture people don’t think that. They don’t think you have to “know” Jesus in order to get into heaven instead they think “whatever.” They think whatever, meaning it doesn’t matter what you believe so long as you’re happy. You can try Jesus and if he makes you happy that’s cool. If he doesn’t, that’s cool too, because it doesn’t matter what you believe so long as you’re happy.” But it’s a lie. Hedonism’s a lie, because it DOES matter what you believe. I mean a Satanist and a Christian can’t both be right. One says Satan is god, the other says Jesus is God. One says don’t trust God’s word, the other says trust God’s word. One says Satan’s telling the truth, the other says Jesus is telling the truth. They can’t both be right. They tell two totally different stories so they both can’t be right. A Muslim and a Christian can’t both be right. One says Allah is god, the other says Jesus is God. One says the Koran is true, the other says the Bible is true. They can’t both be right...and since they can’t both be right, then it means it matters what you believe. It matters what you believe because one will lead to a joyful heaven and the other to a joyless hell. It’s why Paul’s tone changes so much in ch 3. It’s because what we believe matters and he knows the Judaizers are teaching a lie that’ll lead people not to a joyful heaven but to a joyless hell. Paul takes that serious. He takes it very serious, and he pleads for us to turn our resumes over to Jesus because we’re not getting into heaven based upon our resumes we’re getting into heaven based upon Jesus’ resume.
Listen Jesus said it himself when he said, “I’m the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That’s a pretty serious claim to be saying “whatever” too. I mean if Jesus is saying the only way to get to heaven is “through him,” then that’s a pretty serious claim to be saying whatever to...and as a pastor I love you too much to sit up here with a hedonistic mindset saying “whatever” it doesn’t matter what you believe because it does. It does matter and according to both Paul and Jesus if you don’t “know” Jesus, then it’s gonna lead not to a joyful heaven, but to a joyless hell. This hedonistic mindset of “whatever” is a lie. It’s a lie, and it’ll never bring you the joy it promises to bring you. But the gospel tells the truth. The gospel always tells the truth. The gospel teaches that what we believe matters and if we repent of our sins, believe in who Jesus is and what he did on the cross, then we’ll get to have an amazing relationship with Jesus which will to a joyful heaven rather than a joyless hell. Knowing Jesus will lead to a joyful heaven rather than a joyless hell, and today we have 2 people who are gonna outwardly express that belief through baptism. They’re gonna outwardly express that they know Jesus, love Jesus, and are willing to be holy rebels for Jesus. A.W. Tozer once said, “A Christian is a holy rebel let lose in the world.” He said, “A Christian is a holy rebel let lose in the world,” and after we worship we’ll baptize these two people and commission them to be holy rebels in the world. So let’s stand and worship as holy rebels, let’s baptize as holy rebels, let’s live as holy rebels showing people that our greatest joys aren’t found in hedonism or in our resumes, they’re found in Jesus because knowing Jesus will lead to a joyful heaven, rather than a joyless hell.