PHILIPPIANS 3:10-11 | DO YOU KNOW HIM P.2
Notes
Transcript
TEXT: PHILIPPIANS 3:10-11 | DO YOU KNOW HIM P.2
TEXT: PHILIPPIANS 3:10-11 | DO YOU KNOW HIM P.2
INTRO
INTRO
EXPLANATION: Last week we rejoiced in the resurrection of Christ!
EXPLANATION: Last week we rejoiced in the resurrection of Christ!
We looked at the powerful hope that a risen Savior gives to us, and the promise of eternal life that comes with His resurrection!
And the apostle Paul says, “I want to know Christ”
The Greek word for “know” carries with it a deep, experiential knowledge.
Paul didn’t just want to know facts about Christ, he wanted to know Him personally.
He didn’t just want to know about the resurrection of Christ, he wanted to live in light of Christ’s resurrection!
When Paul said, “the POWER of His resurrection”, the word “power” is the Greek word “dynamis” and it’s where we get our English word “dynamite”
The power of the resurrection can break apart the stony heart
The power of the resurrection can demolish the walls of resistance of the Gospel
The power of the resurrection can clear a path of victory that the Christian can walk in everyday!
Paul is saying, to know Christ is the live in the powerful truth of the resurrection of Christ!
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
We not only walk in victory, but we can be solid in our faith, pressing forward in that faith!
The apostle Paul wasn’t one that just sat around and waited for things to happen!
No, Paul was constantly on the move sharing the Gospel!
ILLUSTRATION: One of my favorite passages about the apostle Paul is found in Acts 17.
ILLUSTRATION: One of my favorite passages about the apostle Paul is found in Acts 17.
Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy to make there way to Athens, Greece, and as he was waiting he began to look around.
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Paul looked around and saw the Idolatrous lifestyle of those living in the city, living for there false gods
Consumed with their immorality
And when Paul saw all of the evil going on in the city, Paul couldn’t help but be stirred.
And that stirring provoked a response from the Apostle Paul.
Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
Paul started making his way around town talking to everybody about Jesus.
He went to the place of worship, the synagogue.
He talked to the people who claimed to be spiritual, the devout persons
He talked to the people he met at the grocery store, the market daily.
Paul got so stirred up about the condition of the people, and he knew one thing that could make all the different… THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION!
May favorite part is what v.18 says about the apostle Paul:
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
People didn’t meet the apostle Paul… they encountered him!
You never forgot the day you encountered Paul!
But it wasn’t because there was something about him… it was because of the message he preached!
“He preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.”
APPLICATION: Friend, if you truly know Christ and you’ve experienced the power of His resurrection, that isn’t something you can be quiet about!
APPLICATION: Friend, if you truly know Christ and you’ve experienced the power of His resurrection, that isn’t something you can be quiet about!
What an encouragement last weekend was because of all the guest that we had that were invited by their friends and their family!
For people to have the boldness to invite a someone to hear the greatest news ever told, the power of the resurrection!
But friend, I’ve got great news… Christ is still risen!
We saw the wonderful promise last week, 1 Corinthians 15:20
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Christ did rise again, and He is still risen and alive today!
And that means every day for the Christian is a special day!
Every Sunday is a special service!
Because “Now is Christ risen from the dead!”
And I hope that knowledge will empower you and embolden you to take the Gospel every week and not just the week leading up the Resurrection Sunday!
EXPLANATION: Paul part of having an intimate knowledge of Christ is to live in the power of His resurrection.
EXPLANATION: Paul part of having an intimate knowledge of Christ is to live in the power of His resurrection.
But after Paul says that first part of the verse, he doesn’t put a period… there is a comma and the word “and”
Which means Paul isn’t finished talking about what it means to truly know Christ.
But what Paul says next, almost seems contradictory to what he just talked about.
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
In the first phrase of the first there is victory and joy.
But in the second phrase he mentions suffering and death.
I don’t know about you but when I think suffering and death… victory and joy aren’t the first words that come to mind.
In fact, if it were me or most Christians, we would have been happy to put a period after talking about the power of the resurrection.
I prefer a happy ending!
ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever watched a movie and you reached then end and you were disappointed.
ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever watched a movie and you reached then end and you were disappointed.
Maybe the main character dies, or the bad guy gets away with it.
I hate that!
I’m not into fairytales, but I kinda like it when the good guys win and the bad guys lose.
I want there to be a happy ending!
EXPLANATION: But as Paul writes this verse, he says, “if you want to truly know Christ, you’ve got to experience the power of His resurrection… and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death.”
EXPLANATION: But as Paul writes this verse, he says, “if you want to truly know Christ, you’ve got to experience the power of His resurrection… and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death.”
To know Christ not, only do you need to experience the “Power of his Resurrection”… you have to experience
I. THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERING
I. THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERING
EXPLANATION: The word “fellowship” here has the idea of sharing in an experience.
EXPLANATION: The word “fellowship” here has the idea of sharing in an experience.
Sometimes we will get together and we will say it is going to be a time of “fellowship”
What are we saying?
We are saying we are going to share in an experience.
In my house, that is often surrounding the eating of food.
ILLUSTRATION: As a teenager, I can remember sharing in some times of “fellowship” with my friends.
ILLUSTRATION: As a teenager, I can remember sharing in some times of “fellowship” with my friends.
On Wednesday evenings following our youth group, there were a few of us that would often get together and go out to eat.
There was one such time the sticks out in my mind above the rest.
There was four of us teenagers, Josh, Jeremiah, and Nathan that decided we were going to go out to O’ Charley’s for a bite to eat.
There were a number of good things on the menu, but there was one thing that the O’Charley’s we went to excelled at… their dinner rolls!
And they were free… which was great for a bunch of poor teenagers.
I remember we each ordered some food, I know I ordered some chicken fingers and a water and we told the waitress to keep the rolls rolling.
Now I don’t remember who ate the most, but I know on that night between the 4 of us we ate 54 dinner rolls.
When we finished eating and paid our bill, we walked out to Josh’s 1990 single cab F-150 stick shift and the four of us piled into the seat.
We were packed in like sardines, and in pain from the dumb decision we had made that night.
On that night, we shared an experience I will never forget.
I guess you could say we had fellowship together.
EXPLANATION: Paul says here, to know Christ is to share in the experience of Christ’s suffering.
EXPLANATION: Paul says here, to know Christ is to share in the experience of Christ’s suffering.
To suffer with and for Christ.
The truth is Paul knew suffering for Christ on a level that I doubt anyone in this room would understand.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
Paul knew what it was to suffer for Christ!
In fact the start of this chapter Paul dove in to some of the accomplishments that he had in his life before coming to Christ.
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Paul was at the top of the corporate ladder!
When Paul ascended to his position as a pharisee, he was a young up and comer.
Everyone knew who Paul was.
He was getting things done.
He was the one who took charge in the persecution of the ones who didn’t follow the law, that followed Christ.
While others didn’t have the guts to take the life of someone… Paul was more than willing in the name of religion.
When it came to the keeping of the law, Paul was blameless.
That means they couldn’t even bring an accusation of him breaking the law that would stick.
He was a stickler of these things!
It was his life!
But something happened one day on the road to Damascus to persecute some more Christians.
He met Jesus.
He experienced the power of that resurrection.
And when Paul experienced Christ, everything changed for him!
He turned from being willing to give everything for his religion to giving everything for Christ!
Paul records his testimony in Philippians 3:7-8
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Paul says I gave up everything for the knowledge of Christ.
He “suffered the loss of everything”
But don’t miss the mindset, “And do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”
Can I clarify that for you… He says all of his achievements were nothing but a waste compared to knowing Christ!
You see, for Paul, suffering for Christ was just a path to better experiencing Christ!
Paul gives incredible insight into his position about suffering in Philippians 1:29
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
Paul says you have been given a gift… the gift to believe on Christ.
That’s the gift of salvation!
Praise God for that incredible gift
But don’t miss the last part… the second part of the gift
“But also to suffer for his sake”
Paul viewed the suffering that he endured from Christ, not as a bad thing, but rather as an opportunity.
An opportunity to better know Christ.
And Paul was so willing to suffer for Christ that he finishes v.10 in chapter 3 by saying
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
The word conformable literally means to share in an experience.
Paul says knowing Christ and standing for Christ is so important to me, I’d give my life for it!
It’s worth it to know Christ!
APPLICATION: Friend, do you truly know Christ?
APPLICATION: Friend, do you truly know Christ?
Maybe the question would be better asked today, Do you want to know Christ?
We live in such an easy time and place to be a Christian.
Now, we can see the resistance and persecution on the horizon if Christ tarries His coming, but for now, it’s easy!
We cannot grasp persecution outside of what we may see on the news in some far away country or what we read in a book.
And the truth is, it is because of a lack of suffering that most have such a weak Christianity!
You see, we say a faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted… but we aren’t interested in having our faith tested.
We want the easy path, the road without any bumps in it.
But we have forgotten the promise of Scripture, 2 Timothy 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
It isn’t a maybe or even a probably… it is a definite!
If you live godly for Christ… you shall suffer persecution!
And so most Christians will never truly know Christ intimately because they would rather choose a path of ease, than stand for Christ and face suffering!
We spend all our time begging God to get us out of our trial rather than asking God to conform us into his image through it!
And so often the ones that do begin down the road of suffering choose to turn against God in their suffering rather than become conformable to Him!
It is so easy on the road of suffering to turn to bitterness against God, because “If God really loved me, He wouldn’t allow me to go through this.”
Friend, change your perspective, maybe God has allowed you to go through suffering so that you can know Him on a level deeper than most.
The apostle Paul knew Christ, but it wasn’t because his life was easy, it was because he understood what it was to suffer for Christ!
Friend, maybe God is allowing you to go through suffering to give you an opportunity to glorify Him in a way no one else can.
You see friend, there is no time that more eyes will be on you than when you are going through suffering.
And there is no time you will have a greater opportunity to point others to Christ than when you are going through that suffering.
One preacher said it this way, “God could have given your trial to anyone… but He was so good that He gave it to you, so that you had the privilege to glorify Him through it.”
And friend, glorifying God is the ultimate purpose of our life!
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
ILLUSTRATION: In 1 Peter, Peter is writing to the Christians who were under the persecution and suffering of the Emperor Nero.
ILLUSTRATION: In 1 Peter, Peter is writing to the Christians who were under the persecution and suffering of the Emperor Nero.
It was at the hand of Nero that the apostle Paul was beheaded.
Nero so hated Christians that he would capture them and then have them tied to a stake in his garden.
Then at night he would have them doused and oil and set aflame to light the flowers in his garden as he walked through the paths.
It was to these believers that Peter penned the words of 1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Peter encourages these believers with the unshakable truth that their salvation was sealed.
They could have boldness for Christ because of the power of Christ’s resurrection and the promise of His return.
But then Peter goes on 1 Peter 1:6-7
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
They knew exactly what Peter was referring to when he wrote of their faith being “tried with fire”
Maybe they thought of friends or family who had been tied to those stakes.
Tears may have dampened their cheeks remembering those who had given their lives for their faith.
And then Paul reminds them of why they were willing to make that sacrifice.
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
They did it all because they loved Christ!
Could we say it this way… because they knew Christ!
APPLICATION: Friend, do you want to know Christ?
APPLICATION: Friend, do you want to know Christ?
To know Him will require sacrifice… it will require suffering.
No, you may never be faced with the decision to stand for Christ or to have to give your life.
But what if you decided to sacrifice some things that are much easier?
Like your time to have a faithful walk with the Lord in His Word each day and faithfulness to His house when the doors are open.
Sacrifice your concern of what people might think of you if you talk about Jesus.
Sacrifice your comfort to plug in and serve Christ in some way.
You say, “well that doesn’t even seem comparable to the things that Paul went through.”
And your right… but why would we think that we would be willing to suffer like Paul if we aren’t will to sacrifice in the simple parts of life.
To teach my children that living for Christ sometime may require sacrifice but it is a sacrifice that is worth making!
You see Paul reminds us in v.11,
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
He says one day I will arrive in the presence of Christ when I am resurrected.
Paul knew one day he would stand before Christ… and every pursuit of knowing Christ…
In the boldness from the power of the resurrection
To the fellowship of His suffering.
It was all worth it!
APPLICATION: Friend, the pursuit to know Christ… it is worth it!
APPLICATION: Friend, the pursuit to know Christ… it is worth it!
Maybe today you need to ask God to change your perspective on the “fellowship of his suffering”
You see God isn’t doing something to you… He is doing something for you that He might do something through you!
I hope today you will purpose to Know Christ like you never have before!