Do you Know Him? Part 2

Those who serve by the Spirit boast in Jesus Christ. The give glory to Jesus knowing that every act of kindness, service, grace, mercy, goodness, comes from Him. They have the humility Paul speaks of in chapter 2, having set their mind on Jesus, the Spirit is transforming them into the image of Jesus. So the fruit of their life looks like Jesus, and they are compelled to give Jesus all praise and glory for it. Joni Eric Sontada said her smile was from heaven, meaning it was not of her own strength, but the strength of Jesus inside of her that keeps her motivated to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home, even as a quadriplegic. She finds great joy in making much of Jesus because Jesus is her confidence. I like Steve lawson’s view here. He says of boasting in Jesus:

“True believers are those who are continually boasting in and about Jesus Christ and giving praise to him. We boast in what we find our confidence in. Any success that we have in our daily lives is attributed to the Lord. The one who is always glorying God in the Lord Jesus Christ and serving in the Spirit of God, seeking and finding security and satisfaction in him, is the one who has abundant joy.” (Lawson, Steven J. 2017. Philippians for You.)

Putting confidence in Christ in the midst of struggle with sin; personal or cooperate. Work inside (personal) out (cooperate). When sin rears its face are you putting confidence in Christ or your flesh? To put it in the flesh is to believe that sin will deliver the joy it promises.

Those who know Jesus reject all hope in the flesh (Philippians 3:4-6)

What does Paul mean when he says “hope in the flesh?” Its a reference is to circumcision and what circumcision means to the Judaizers. The Jews put their hope for salvation in physical and external ceremonies such as such as ancestry and privilege. The flesh anything on which unredeemed human nature depends for salvation, anything apart from Christ. Matthew Harmon notes, the flesh is “the weakness and frailty of humanity living under the bondage of sin and death in this present evil age. Using himself as an example Paul lists seven false hopes one should reject if they know Jesus.

Rejecting hope in the flesh means you,

Reject hoping in Religious Ritual (Phil 3:5)

Philippians 3:5 ESV

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;

Paul was was not converted into Judaism. Converts could not say they were circumcised on the 8th day. Paul could put his hope in his religious ritual as a grounds for salvation because 8th day circumcision was an expected covenant rite (Gen 17:12; Lev 12;3). God surely would not reject a true Jew who kept ritual. Many today do the same thing in the church by putting their hope in infant baptism or church membership. On the Baptist side of things, we have some in the church whose parents were faithful believers, and sense they were “born into the church” and have maintained their membership, they are confident they will enter the pearly gates of heaven. Ritual will do nothing for you. Sadly, there are too many ritual church goers suffering God’s condemnation hell because they put their salvation in the hands of ritual.

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

There is no confidence in your ritual, or your works. It is God’s lavishing grace he set on you as a gift, the gift of His Son Jesus Christ.

Reject hoping in Religious Ethnicity (Phil 3:5)

Philippians 3:5 ESV

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;

Paul was a true Jew by his ethnicity. He was a true dependent of the people of Israel, such people like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When God changed Jacobs name to Israel, God’s designated people where now called Israel, and Paul could make that ethnic claim. Paul was by birth part of God’s covenant people. The history of Israel should compel you to realize there is absolutely no hope in your ethnicity. Although it is true that Israel is God’s chosen nation, the gospels veal that his own people have rejected him. Jesus came to his own people , the Jews, and they wanted nothing to do with him. That has been Israel’s troubled history. God refers to them as a stiff necked people who are hard of heart and slow to believe. If you are Jewish and you think for second you will be spared God’s condemnation because of your ethnicity, your hope is hopeless. Furthermore, if you are white or black or Korean or Hispanic or Arabic and you think God has chosen your race for some special reason to be superior and full of his favor, you are dead in your sin and need the redemption of Jesus.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Revelation 7:9–10 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

There is no confidence in your ethnicity. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb-Jesus Christ.

Reject hoping in Religious Position (Phil 3:5)

Philippians 3:5 ESV

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;

Why is the tribe of Benjamin important to Paul? Because of Benjamin’s position. Even though Benjamin was the smallest of the tribes, it was favored in Israel. Benjamin was the favored youngest son of Jacob. Israel’s first king, Saul, was a Benjamite. When the promised land was divided up, Jerusalem was a city in Benjamin’s land. The temple was built in Jerusalem. When Israel suffered civil war, Benjamin stayed faithful to David and his descendants. Paul could hope in his religious exaltation, his position as a Benjamite.

There are many in the church who think because they are pastors, deacons, missionaries, or a powerful family in the church that their position give them confidence in their salvation. Jesus confronted the Pharisees and Scribes arrogance for believing their position in the temple was confidence enough to stand before God. That same prideful arrogance finds its way in the church, and just as they stood condemned before Jesus for hoping in their religious position, so will you if you do the same. Everyone of us is broken. The only hope we have for reconciliation and restoration with God and each other is the redemption Jesus gives through his death, resurrection, and ascension.

Reject hoping in Religious Heritage (Phil 3:5)

Philippians 3:5 ESV

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;

To be a Hebrew of Hebrews is that like his parents and ancestors before him, he was a pure Hebrew in every sense. He spoke the language, he observed all the holidays, and he followed a strict interpretation of the law. He was the son of a Pharisee and educated at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). In his mind he belonged to an elite race, trained to follow the purity of the law, unlike the hellenized jews, and he defended the Temple with passion. Paul’s confidence could be in his religious heritage. He was Jewish born and Jewish bred, and when he died he would be Jewish dead.

There are many in the church who are depending in the religious heritage to save them in the day of judgement. You see it in Catholic families, Baptist families, Lutheran families, methodist families, all believing because their tradition and heritage is like a special covenant within the new covenant. Since they were baptized into the church as infants or dedicated by their parents, and since their entire family is baptist, they are good with the Lord, or grafted into the body of Jesus. This is a false hope. Your heritage will not save you.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Your faith must be in Christ alone, not the church or your family connection to the church. Those who know Jesus reject hoping in their religious heritage.

Reject hoping in Religious Law (Phil 3:6)

Philippians 3:6 ESV

6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

The Jewish historian, Josephus, gives some insight to Pharisee culture. Pharisees were known for being strictly devoted to the Torah, keeping every detail. Their name, Pharisees, comes from an Aramaic term denoting “the separated ones, separatists.” Although they were small in number, approximately 6,000 men, they were heavily influential on the culture. These were devout men of prayer, worship, sacrifice, and careful study of not only the Mosaic Law but also their own traditions. This is important because they believed in the resurrection of the righteous and the eternal condemnation of the wicked. Only those who uphold the Law are considered righteous. So they made it their life's ambition to hope in the law.

Paul enjoyed the privilege of belonging to a group that was morally superior than the rest of Hebrew society and culture. He identified himself as one of the spiritual elites in Jerusalem. Matthew Harmon recognizes that as a Pharisee Paul believed that the reason Israel remained under foreign rule was that God was punishing them for their disobedience to the Law. Thus it was essential from the standpoint of the Pharisees to maintain the firm distinction between Jews and Gentiles. So, Paul could say with a clear conscience, he was one of God’s true people. As Walter Hansen notes, “as a Pharisee his life was totally law-centered, law-controlled, and law-promoting. No matter how far the Philippian Christians might try to go in their attempt to observe the law in their quest for holiness, they could never achieve the superiority attained by Paul in his Pharisaic devotion to the law. (Hansen, G. Walter. 2009. The Letter to the Philippians. The Pillar New Testament Commentary)

It is real easy for us to be Pharisees. In my own experience, I have viewed people, brothers and sisters, through the lens of Phariseeism. For example, I have a set of standards that I parent my children by. My standards are inspired by the Bible, but they are not God’s word, nor are they the standards that other parents need to paren their children. And yet, I have lost count on how many times I would judge other parents through the lens of my “standard.” Maybe the way I look at parenting may be biblical and even helpful, but it is not the law of the land. It does not make you a bad parent or unfaithful parent to parent your children differently than I parent my children.

You will meet people in the church who have their own standard of the Christian faith. They will have a high view of morality, which is good, except for when you make it the standard to get into heaven. Having high morals falls short of eternal like with Christ by themselves.

Steven Lawson spoke of being by the bedside of a family member who was on his death bed. In his dying days, he was trying to explain the gospel to him. He read to him Ephesians 2:8–9 and talked about salvation as a gift of grace. His family member’s response was at first, “I was in the Boy Scouts.” That’s fine, but keeping the code of some group doesn’t merit eternal life. It didn’t for Paul as a Pharisee, and it won’t for us either. Salvation isn’t by rule keeping.

I am reminded of a quote by William Gurnall. He says,

“The archer may lose his game by shooting short, as well as shooting wide. The gross hypocrite shoots wide, the most upright moralist shoots short. He may and often does take his aim right as to the particular and immediate end of his action, but always fails in regard of the ultimate end.” William Gurnall

Reject hoping in Religious Zeal (Phil 3:6)

Philippians 3:6 ESV

6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Before he was Paul, Paul was Saul. Saul was born a Roman citizen in the city of tarsus (Acts 22:27-28). Educated by the infamous Rabbi teacher Gamaliel to the strict obedience to the Torah (Acts 22:27-28). As we have already seen, He thought of himself as “Hebrew of Hebrews” of the tribe of Benjamin and a devote Pharisee (Philippians 3:4-5). He was zealous for Yahweh and the temple and the people of the “Way” threatened his view of God. The was a problem with Paul’s zeal. The problem was that Pauls’ zeal was stirred by his voew of God, but his view of God was obstructed by unbelief.

Saul’s heart was dark and hard toward God. We know that because he could not see Jesus as God’s Messiah, the Son of God. His heart was unbelieving of Jesus. Unbelief hardens and darkens your heart as it did Saul’s. As a result, Saul’s heart hates the light.

John 3:19–20 HCSB

19 “This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.

His heart is hard with unbelief so that his mind is veiled to understanding the truth.

2 Corinthians 4:3–4 HCSB

3 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Saul saw the gospel as absolute foolishness and rejected the Spirit’s call to repent and believe.

1 Corinthians 2:14 HCSB

14 But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

Spiritual blindness comes from sinful unbelief that rejects God’s way of salvation. That is the way of every human being in their fallen condition. When the bible says you are dead in your transgression and sins, it is saying you have no spiritual ability to see God, to believe God, or respond to God. Your heart is spiritually dark with unbelief unable to see the light of truth in Christ.

Have you ever paid attention to the lyrics of John Newton’s Amazing Grace?

“Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see.”

What is John Newton revealing about himself before he was saved? He says he was a wretch, an old English word used to describe a very bad person in an unfortunate state. He says he was lost, in the dark, so blind he could not see. What couldn’t he see? God’s grace of salvation. God’s offer of new life. God’s kingdom coming. Lost and blind describe his depraved nature. In his natural sinful condition, he was such a wretch, he could not see God, believe God, or respond to God. He needed God’s grace to intervene and do something.

Friend, that describes every one of us who does not know the saving work of Jesus Christ. We are all Saul’s at heart. We hate God and his ways. We are dead in our sins with darkness ruling our hearts producing dead works of the flesh. The work of Saul’s flesh was religious zeal apart from God that sought to arrest God’s people. That should cause some of you in the church to shutter.

Putting on religion apart from Jesus may reform your life but it can never transform your heart.

Paul’s religious zeal led him to work hard for the temple, the place where he believed heaven was supposed to meet earth for God to meet with his people, the Jews. He could not see that Jesus was the new temple, and it was by faith in Him that God would dwell with his people. He believed he was working hard for God, religious zeal, but in fact was working against God. That is why you cannot hope in your zealousness. Your zeal must by Spirit-empowered and directed.

Jesus sought Paul on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9). Jesus lit up Paul’s darkness, removing the veil, and giving him eyes to see Jesus as His Savior and only hope for eternal life. One Jesus removed Paul’s unbelief, Paul’s zeal was turned in the right direction because Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 9:17–18 ESV

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

Once Ananias was done praying, Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit. he was given new eyes to see, both in his heart and his head. The Spirit empowered him to fulfill his calling and commission with a Christ-horning church supporting zeal.

Reject hoping in Religious Works (Phil 3:6)

Philippians 3:6 ESV

6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Finally, Paul says he was blameless. That is, he kept the law. He is not saying he was perfect or sinless. No, what he is saying is that he kept the law so well that he felt justified before God. Paul was a self-righteous man, much like the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-23. In his mind, he had kept the commandments since his youth. Paul felt no need to have the righteousness of another.

When a pastor named Michael was still in seminary, he took a required course in “clinical pastoral education.” Each seminarian was assigned to be a chaplain in a hospital or other institution, and one night each week was on call for emergencies. Late one night, the phone rang, and Michael was called to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in the Chicago suburbs.

A 16-year-old girl had been driving at night with friends, and she had backed into a light pole. The pole had broken off and then fallen forward, crashing down onto the car. A 12-year-old friend in the car had been severely injured; in fact, she was brain dead when she arrived at the hospital. Michael walked with the 12-year-old’s family as they went through the wrenching process of realizing the truth and allowing the life support to be removed.

The following morning, Michael visited the hospital room of the 16-year-old driver. Physically, she was recovering well, but emotionally, she was distraught knowing that her actions had killed her friend. “I’m going to be like a daughter to her parents,” she told Michael. “I’m going to go over to their house everyday and baby-sit for them. I’ll wash dishes for them every night. I’ll go over there every week and mow their lawn.”

Do you see what the young girl was trying to do? She was trying to justify herself by working off her sin. The reality is, though, no matter how hard she tried, she could never replace their daughter. She could never fill the debt, she could never do what was needed to make up for her actions. That is the state of every human being apart from Christ. We have sinned so greatly against our Holy God, that nothing we do could ever make up for the debt we owe.

That is the problem with all the worlds religions. They are works-based righteousness. They demand you work hard to hope for salvation-its not even guaranteed. The gospel is imputed righteousness. We need Jesus’s righteousness, which is what Paul says in

Philippians 3:9 ESV

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—

Lawson wisely says, “We need Christ. He lived the life we should have lived, and then He died the death we lawbreakers should have died.

Let me ask you, Where is your confidence? Are you trusting in your rituals, your ethnicity, your position, your heritage, your law keeping, your zeal, or your obedience to the law? Paul says that a genuine Christian puts no confidence in these things. Our confidence lies in another, namely, Christ. Put your trust in Him!

Last week I mentioned Dr. S.M. Lockridge pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego, CA, and his sermon “That’s My King. Do you Know Him?” He asks one question, “Do you know Him?” He sounds the refrain of this question throughout the entire sermon as he describes Jesus as the sovereign King and Savior of the world. The repetition of the question was meant to probe your heart to ask, “Do I really know Jesus? Do I know Him as King? Does my faith reflect I know him? Does my life reflect I know him? Does my commitment to His church and the advancement of His kingdom reflect I know Him? Does my use of the short time I have on earth, my God given gifting, my bank account reflect I know Him? Do I live as if Jesus is my King?

Do I know Him? Do I put my confidence in Him alone for life now and for all eternity? Is Jesus the object of my religious ritual, is he the image I’m being conformed, is he the King whom I serve, am I a new creation in Christ, is my hope built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, is he fire of my zeal, the the love of my obedience? Do you know Him?

Those who know Jesus safeguard their faith with joy, serve by the Spirit, put their confidence in Christ, and reject any hope in the flesh.

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