Goal of the Knowledge of Christ

Introduction and Reading of Philippians 3:7-11

0:02 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, October 25th, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Wattville, New Jersey. Now let us turn together to Paul's letter to the Philippians, Philippians chapter 3. Let each of us who is able to read follow as I read Philippians 3, verses 7 through 11. Philippians 3, beginning the reading with verse 7.

0:32 The Apostle Paul writing, a measure of his own spiritual biography, Howbeit what things were gained to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea, verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death, if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection, resurrection from the dead. Let us again seek the face of God in prayer for the present aid of the Spirit as we seek to understand the Scriptures.

Prayer for the Holy Spirit's Aid

1:48 Our Father, we have confessed in the hymn we have sung our consciousness of need for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What we have confessed in the language of the hymn, we now with one mind and heart acknowledge in our prayer, before you, and remind you of your promise that you would delight as a heavenly Father to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask you. We do come asking, for we recognize that his present and his powerful ministry is not a luxury which we can afford to do without in this hour, but oh, how desperately we need his presence. Send him upon us. Send him upon us with mighty power to take the things of Christ and reveal them to us. Hear us then as we draw near in the name of your beloved Son.

Understanding the Context of Philippians 3:11

2:50 Amen. In a counseling session this past week, I was reminded of the fact that there are probably not a few of you in this congregation who, in order to increase the profit received from the ministries of the Lord's Day, purchased the tapes of the previous Lord's Day and listened to them sometime throughout the week. Now, for those of you who engage in that practice, suppose you put on one of the tapes in your car tape deck on Monday or Tuesday or on your home cassette deck or on your little home cassette player, and the first words which came out of the speaker were these, If by Sunday... If by Sunday means I may stir you up to more love for Christ.

3:46 Well, if those were the first words you heard coming out of the tape deck, you would understand that you had broken into the middle of a sentence and that you could make very little sense out of the words of the teacher or preacher unless you pushed the rewind button or punched the rewind button and went back to the beginning, the beginning of the train of thought which led into the statement, If by some means I may stir you up to more love to Christ. You would recognize immediately the impossibility of understanding that fragment of thought apart from the thoughts that preceded it. Well, our text this morning is such a statement of the Word of God. Verse 11, If by any means I may...

4:41 If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. And if you have your Bibles open before you and are looking at them, which you ought to be doing, you will notice that the sentence which ends with the last word dead in verse 11 actually begins in verse 8. And so verses 8 through 11 constitute one sentence. Furthermore, if you look at the beginning of verse 8, you see that it's...

5:11 intimately connected with the thoughts that precede it. Yea, verily, something is added to what has gone before. And so it is impossible for us to arrive at the proper meaning of the Apostle and his meaning is the meaning the Holy Ghost intended in verse 11 unless we pause long enough to push the rewind button and to catch the train of thought that leads into it and in a real sense, is culminated in the language of verse 11. In verse 2, the Apostle is issued the warning concerning the influence of the Judaizers.

5:52 And in contrast with their teaching concerning who are the true people of God, he describes God's true people in verse 3. Then in verses 4 through 6, he gives us a record of all of the advantages which he had by birth and by subsequent birth, which according to the teaching of the Judaizers would have put him in good stead before God and men. But in verse 7, he gives us an evaluation of all of those advantages. He counts them now to be nothing but one big loss.

6:29 Whereas once he considered them a very extensive list of gains, what things were gains to me, he now regards them as one loss. Then in verse 8, he underscores and amplifies that statement by telling us that his continued reckoning of all of those things is one of loss for the surpassingness of the knowledge of Christ. And for this knowledge of Christ, he was willing to lose everything that he might gain Christ and be incorporated into Christ. Then he tells us in verses 9 and 10 the nature of the blessing of God.

7:11 The blessings he thus received when he took all of his previous gains and counted them but loss that he might be found in Christ. What did he gain? He tells us in verse 9 that he gained an objective righteousness which answered to all the demands of God. And then he entered the framework of an intimate communion with God in Christ.

7:35 A communion and fellowship of which Christ in his person was the focus. One in which Christ in his redemptive activity was the framework. And that brings us then to verse 11. If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection of the dead, having told us that the focus of this knowledge and communion with God was the person of Christ, that the framework was the redemptive activity of Christ, he now tells us in verse 11 that the fruition, or the end of this communion and fellowship with God in Christ is nothing less than the resurrection by Christ. So you have the focus of that knowledge and communion, the person of Christ, that I may know him. The framework of that knowledge and communion and the fellowship of his suffering, the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering being conformed, conformed to his death. And now what does he envision as the fruition or the goal of that knowledge?

8:48 He tells us it is nothing less than the resurrection by Christ at the last day. If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. Now having backed up our tape player, now let's put it on forward. And we will consider together the meaning of the words of our text.

Exegetical and Theological Difficulties of the Text

9:11 Now as we read the text in our English translations, it does not appear that there should be any great difficulty in ascertaining the precise meaning of his words. However, when we examine the text in the language in which the apostle wrote it, there are immediately some very definite difficulties. There are exegetical difficulties, that is, difficulties connected with ascertaining the precise meaning of the words, and then there are theological difficulties, that is, having ascertained the meaning of the words, how do they harmonize with the rest of Holy Scripture? And when we find such difficulties, we should never be embarrassed. We are in good company. When Peter read the words of Paul, he found exegetical and theological difficulties. Peter could say in 2 Peter 3.16,

10:08 Our beloved brother Paul has written some things, which are hard to be understood. So, one apostle was not at all embarrassed to say that he found the words of another apostle at times difficult.

10:24 And the difficulty lies in the language of apparent uncertainty. Look at the text. If by any means it is language that seems to be intimating uncertainty, that the apostle is not quite certain that he is not quite certain that he is not quite certain that he is not quite certain that he is not quite certain that he is not quite certain that he will attain to the resurrection of the dead. And then the second great difficulty is the unique language by which he describes the resurrection.

10:51 In the original, he uses a compound word found only here in conjunction with resurrection. Instead of the ordinary term for resurrection, he sticks a preposition in front of it. And if I were to give a wooden literal rendering, it would be, if by any means I may attain unto the out-resurrection from among the dead ones. And so, there is this unique language which poses a difficulty along with the language of apparent uncertainty.

Clarifying 'If By Any Means I May Attain'

11:24 Well, without wearying you with all the details of how I have resolved to my satisfaction the difficulties of the text, let me try to conduct you in a brief survey of the meaning of these words. First of all, when he wrote, if by any means, I may attain, what did he mean? Well, these words are what we could call a mild or a modest way of expressing purpose or aim. Notice in Romans 1.10 a similar construction. It is not an identical construction, but it is a similar construction. Romans 1, beginning with verse 9, For God is my witness, whom I serve in the spirit of the gospel of his, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request, if by any means, now at length, I may be prospered by the will of God to come unto you. He says, my request have this goal or purpose or intention that I may be prospered by the will of God.

12:40 by the will of God. by the will of God. by the will of God. by the will of God.

12:40 by the will of God to come and see you. In Romans 11 in verse 14, you have a similar construction again. I speak to you that are Gentiles inasmuch then as I am an apostle of the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy them that are of my flesh and may save some of them. And then in Acts 27 in verse 12, you have a similar construction.

13:10 You have a similar construction with respect to an intention touching a journey. Acts 27 in verse 12, and because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to put to sea from thence, if by any means, with a view to, with a purpose, that they could reach Phoenix and winter there. So when the apostle says, if by any means, he is not expressing the uncertainty of one who thinks that the ultimate issue is in doubt with regard to his own spiritual pilgrimage. For this is the man who in other places has stated, I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. This is the man who said that nothing would separate him from the love of God which was in Christ Jesus, his Lord. Well, then we come to the words, if by any means, I may attain. And sometimes when we use the word attain, we bring to it the connotation or notion of merit or gain by purchase or gain by something that I do.

14:30 But the word itself has no such connotation. A literal translation of the word would be to arrive at. And it's the very word used in Acts 16.1 with respect to that translation that I have given.

14:47 Acts 16 and verse 1. And he came, he arrived also at Derbe and at Lystra. And you find a similar usage in Acts 18 and verse 19. So we could translate it, if by any means I may arrive at and now this unusual terminology, the resurrection of the dead.

The Unique Nature of the 'Out-Resurrection'

15:16 Now the Bible clearly speaks of a general resurrection of all men at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in power and glory at his second coming. And for any who may have come from a background in which the second coming has become a second, third and fourth coming, I would simply say and simply remind you it is his second advent that winds up time and ushers in eternity. And the Bible, I say, clearly teaches a general resurrection of all men, the righteous and the wicked. Three key texts.

15:58 First of all, from the lips of our Lord, Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31. Matthew 25, 31. But when the Son of Man shall come, come in his glory and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all the nations. And then a great separation occurs between the righteous and the wicked in this graphic description of the general resurrection and general judgment.

16:38 And then in Acts chapter 24, we find the Apostle Paul teaching the same thing. Acts 24 and verse 15.

16:49 Having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there shall be a resurrection, both of the just and unjust. A resurrection is coming which will involve the righteous and the wicked, the just and the unjust. And then that great, great picture of that general resurrection and judgment, Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15. I will not read it.

17:18 Most of you are familiar with it, in which John says he saw all of the dead being yielded up and standing in the presence of God who sits upon his throne and some are ushered into life, those whose names are in the book of life, those whose names are not there, are cast into the lake of fire. Well, in the light of that biblical doctrine of the general resurrection, why does the Apostle say, I have counted all things lost that I might gain Christ and be found in Christ in order to have the blessing of an objective and perfect righteousness, to know the blessedness of an intimate knowledge of God in Christ, to know Him in the power of His resurrection, fellowship in His subordination, offerings conformed to His death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection. If all men, saved and lost, are going to be resurrected with or against their wills, why should he say that he regards as the fruition of this experience of counting all things as lost for Christ the blessedness of attaining to the resurrection from the dead? Well, for the simple reason that the same Bible which clearly speaks of a general resurrection

18:46 speaks of the resurrection of the righteous in a unique sense as the resurrection. For you see, the resurrection of the righteous is the consummation of all of the work of grace in them and all of the manifestation of grace towards them. And because the, the Bible is essentially and primarily the record of God's mighty deeds on behalf of the redemption of His people, the resurrection of the righteous as the climactic event in their own experience of grace, it should not surprise us that it receives a peculiar and a unique emphasis. You find it in the words of our Lord in Luke chapter 14 and verse 14. Luke 14 and verse 14. Perhaps we should back up to verse 13.

19:49 But when you make a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they do not have wherewith to recompense you, but you will be recompensed in the resurrection of the just. And here our Lord speaks of the resurrection of the just. The resurrection of the just. The resurrection of the just.

20:11 The resurrection of the just. The resurrection of the just. Not as though it were a separate resurrection distinct in time from the resurrection of the unjust or the ungodly, but because it is the time when the believer enters into his consummate joy and reward. We find a similar reference in Luke chapter 20 and verse 35.

20:35 And Jesus said to them, The sons of this world marry and are given in marriage, but they that are accounted worthy to attain that world. Now notice, And the resurrection out from among the dead ones neither marry nor are given in marriage. And here you see the resurrection out from among the dead is spoken of as a distinct blessing of the people of God.

21:05 Well, what our Lord is doing is setting the framework for the very language of this passage. The resurrection out from among, among the dead ones, which is the peculiar blessing of the people of God. When Jesus speaks in John 6 in verse 40, He says with respect to His own activity as the Savior of His people, For this is the will of My Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Well, isn't the Lord going to raise all men at the last day?

21:43 Well, He is. But here He is speaking of a raising up of His people unto the consummate blessings of the life and salvation which He came to bring to them. And you find a similar emphasis in the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 20 and 52, verses which have been pressed by some to teach a doctrine of universalism. No, no, no, no.

22:10 Paul's concern is to teach the doctrine of the resurrection as it pertains to the people of God. And in that context, he speaks as though no one else were to be resurrected. But we know that all men will be resurrected from the Bible's teaching of the general resurrection. But we begin to understand what Paul is writing in Philippians 1 when we view it in the light of an equally clear biblical teaching that the resurrection of the righteous at the last day a resurrection to life and bliss is so uniquely the resurrection that Paul can speak of it as the end that he has in view, the ultimate fruition of all that God has done in him to make Christ the pearl of great price to him. Well, in summary then, what do we say? I submit that the meaning of the words is precisely what it appears to be in a first reading, of the English translation. Namely, that it was in the hope and expectation of partaking in the consummate bliss and unspeakable privileges of the resurrection of the righteous at the last day that Paul was motivated to count all things but loss for the knowledge of Christ

23:38 that he was motivated to embrace in particular the fellowship of Christ's sufferings being conformed to his death. If you were to come to Paul and say, Paul, why do you count all things as loss for Christ? He would say that I may attain unto the blessed, blissful, out-resurrection from among the dead that is the portion of the people of God. Paul, why are you willing to regard all things as dung to gain Christ's glory?

24:12 and be found in Him? He'd say, don't you get my message? Haven't I made it clear? In order that I may attain to the out-resurrection from among the dead ones.

24:24 Paul, why this passion to have an objective righteousness from God in Christ? Why this longing to know Him in the communion of His sufferings, in the power of His resurrection, being conformed to His death? He says it is all to this end in order that I may attain, I may arrive at the out-resurrection from among the dead ones. That resurrection which is the peculiar privilege of the people of God in the last day.

Two Great Principles of the Christian Faith

25:00 Well, having I trust to the satisfaction of your judgment, shown the connection of this text with what precedes as we push the reverse button, having given what I trust is a satisfaction and conscience-gripping explanation of the words that it secures your judgment as indeed being the meaning of the words. Now consider with me what is the heart and the burden of the message this morning. The two great principles of the Christian faith embodied in these words. The two great principles of the Christian faith embodied in these words.

25:42 And the first one is this. The perspective of the world to come is dominant in the thinking of a true Christian. And then secondly, the pattern of Christ's work is regulative in the experience of a true Christian. Now those are two of the most fundamental principles of real Bible religion.

Principle 1: The Dominance of the World to Come

26:10 So gird up the loins of your mind and seek to come to the truth. And grapple with these principles with me. Principle number one that forms, as it were, the very raw materials out of which the Apostle wrote these words is this. The perspective of the world to come is dominant in the thinking of a true Christian.

26:34 Now Christians have always been lampooned and mocked out as the people whose religion promises them pie, in the sky, by and by.

26:48 And any intelligent Christian glories in that mockery.

26:55 When people say, ah, your religion is one that just promises pie,

27:03 we should never be embarrassed. We should never be bullied into trying to develop a so-called social consciousness that in some way matches that of the humanist and of the worldling and of the social activist who has no world but the now world. If we know our Bibles, we know that there are blessings and provisions that flow out of the Gospel into the present life. The Bible says godliness has promise of the things of this life.

27:35 Seek first the kingdom of God and these things shall be added unto you. Yes, if we know our Bibles, we know that it addresses itself to the necessities of this life and there are promises to encourage us with respect to the things of this life. And furthermore, if we know our Bibles, we know that intelligent biblical Christians filled with the Spirit are concerned with the matters of this life. They know their Bibles well enough to know that they are told, as we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially to those of the household of faith.

28:09 They know their Bibles well enough to know that God condemns the cavalier way in which someone says to a needy brother, well, brother, be warned, be filled, go your way, as though he can dress himself and fill himself with his brother's words. Let us not love in word only, but in deed and in truth. Yes, that teaching is there in the Bible and Bible Christians have always acknowledged those words and lived in the light of them. But the Scriptures do assert again and again that the best is yet to come and that our eyes are to be fixed primarily upon not this word, but the world to come that is ushered in at the return of the Lord Jesus and the out-resurrection of the dead of the people of God. Isn't this what our Lord said in Matthew chapter 5 to His afflicted people? Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad.

29:14 Why? Because through the organized efforts of intention, intelligent Christians, you will ultimately take the ascendancy in the economic, political, and social realm and when you get in power, you can really give it to the humanists.

29:30 That's the teaching that's abroad by many in our day in the name of Reformed Christianity.

29:37 Planning for the long range as it were Christian militant takeover of society. That is not what Jesus said. He said rejoice and be exceeding glad. Great is your reward.

29:58 He said you can take me in a football now. Glory awaits you in the world to come.

30:05 He went on in that very Sermon on the Mount to say do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break through to steal but lay up for yourselves treasures where in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt and thieves do not break through and steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be. And if your treasure is even the noble vision of seeing a Christian society on earth your treasure is on earth and not in the heavens where Christ says it belongs. I didn't write those words my friends. Those are the words of the Son of God.

30:50 Then we turn to a text such as 2 Corinthians 4.18 The Apostle that amazing, man no wonder they called him a madman though his brilliance oozes out of every line of his writings people just couldn't figure him out and the reason they couldn't is they tried to interpret him by the boundaries of this life and Paul says the key to interpreting me is not to be found in viewing me bounded by this life suffering so greatly so continually he takes all of his sufferings and he calls them his light affliction 2 Corinthians 4.17 for our light affliction which is for the moment works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory now notice while we look he's going to tell us the focal point of the gaze of his spiritual eyes while we look not on the things which are seen but on the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal that was his vision the vision of one whose perspective had the world to come dead center as it were

32:18 continually evaluating viewing reacting to everything that he could see and touch and all that impinged upon him in the light of that fixation of the spiritual eyes upon the unseen eternal world of spiritual reality now that did not make him insensitive nor indifferent to physical realities he was willing to stay up to the wee hours of the morning making tents that he might support himself while engaged in evangelistic endeavors he's the man that planned as it were the whole benevolence offering for the poor saints in Judea he was the man that planned was not indifferent to men's bellies. He was not indifferent to the provisions for his people who worked close to him. He could say to the Ephesian elders, these very hands have worked to supply the needs of those of you who stand in my presence. No, no. Here was

33:18 a man deeply involved with the practical world, yes, but the perspective of the world to come dominated the inward vision of the soul. It's interesting that when the apostle would describe a real Christian, he does so in terms of this very thing. He says, there's a crown of righteousness laid up for me, 2 Timothy 4, a crown of righteousness laid up for me and for all who, and now he's going to describe Christians. He could have said for all who are believers, for all who are in Christ, but he doesn't describe them that way. He says for all who. Through love is appearing. Now what is it to love is appearing, but to have a heart that is fixed in this perspective of the world to come, knowing that the best is yet to come, whatever I may receive at death. Philippians 1, far better than what I now have, that is not my hope. Death is not my hope. It is the out-resurrection from among the dead, when

34:25 in the integrity of body and soul I shall be brought. I shall be brought into the very presence of my Lord, made like unto him in body as well as in soul. Well, I say then this text, Philippians 3, 11, embodies this great principle of the Christian faith. The perspective of the world to come is dominant in the thinking of a true Christian. So when you dig down beneath all the spiritual mathematics that the apostle wrote, you will find that the principle of the world to come is dominant in the thinking of a true Christian. So when you dig down beneath all the spiritual mathematics that the apostle has been dealing with, all my gains I counted lost, and in place of them I have but one commodity, Christ, and in that commodity I have a perfect righteousness, I have as it were open to me the tremendous history of the knowledge of God in Christ, and I yearn to know him more and commune with him in the power of his resurrection, fellowship of his suffering, and he says it's all with the view, if by any means I may attain to the glory of the Lord. And he says, and bliss of that resurrection to life and to the consummation of salvation. But then the second great principle is this, not only that the perspective of the world to come is dominant,

Principle 2: The Regulative Pattern of Christ's Work

35:46 but the pattern of Christ's work is regulative in the life and experience of a Christian. Now, what I mean by these words is simply this. The pattern of Christ's work for his people has been constituted the norm for his work in his people. The pattern of Christ's work for his people has become the norm for his work in his people.

36:20 Now, what was the pattern of Christ's work for his people? Well, listen to his own words in Luke 24. And verse 26. He's talking to those dejected disciples on the road to Emmaus.

36:35 They are dejected because they had a misunderstanding with regard to the pattern of Christ's work for his people. And so he says to them, Luke 24 and verse 25. And he said unto them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all, that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?

37:13 He says you're so foolish and slow to believe what is set forth in your Old Testament scriptures. There is a pattern to Messiah's redemptive work for his people, a pattern of suffering first and glory. To follow? Then when the New Testament writers reflect upon this, they pick up that theme.

37:37 First Peter 1 and verse 11. Notice the language of Peter so parallel to that of our Lord. First Peter 1 and verse 11. Speaking of the prophets, we'll back up to verse 10.

37:53 Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace, which should come unto you, searching what time or manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did point unto. Now notice. When it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow them. The prophets were conscious that when they spoke of Messiah, they spoke within a pattern of suffering and then glory.

38:30 And they did. And they didn't understand what they were saying. And may I say by an aside, beware of the so-called historical grammatical approach to scripture that says scripture means nothing but what the writer at that time understood it to mean. The prophets wrote far more than they understood.

38:49 Far more than they understood. And they searched. They couldn't fit the pieces together. They saw a pattern.

38:57 A pattern of glory. A pattern of suffering. But it was a pattern in which the suffering preceded the glory. And they couldn't fit it all together.

39:07 But the pattern was there. So when our Lord speaks to those dejected disciples, He can go to the language of the prophets and show them ought not Christ to have suffered and then to have entered into His glory. A pattern of suffering and glory. And what did Paul write in this very epistle?

39:26 Philippians 2. He spoke of that pattern. He spoke of that pattern. Christ humbled Himself becoming obedient unto death even the death of the cross.

39:35 Wherefore, God hath highly exalted Him. So what was the pattern for our Lord? It was humiliation leading to exaltation. It was rejection leading to vindication.

39:51 It was suffering issuing in alleviation. It was the bloody sweat, the bruising, the brokenness, the forsakenness of Gethsemane in Golgotha that led to the glory, the majesty, the wonderful bliss to our Lord of the open tomb and the exalted throne. Now you see the Apostle Paul in writing of his desire to know Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death said, I do all of this if by all, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. And why did he say that?

40:35 Because he understood this great principle that the pattern of Christ's work for His people, humiliation, then glory, suffering, then exaltation, the pattern of Christ's work for His people has been constituted by God the norm for His work in His people. And how? How do we know that he understood that? Because he expresses it explicitly in several texts of the New Testament.

41:08 Romans 8, 16 and 17. This is not something for a special few. This is not something just for apostles or highly spiritual Christians. In Romans 8, the apostle says in verse 14, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these, are the sons of God.

41:31 For you've received not the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If, and don't you lay claim to any one of the blessings of the preceding three verses, if you don't pass the test of this if clause,

42:03 what God has joined together, don't you dare put asunder. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.

42:19 What was the pattern of his work of redemption for us? It was suffering followed by glory. What is the pattern? The pattern of God's work in applying that redemption to us?

42:35 Precisely the same. Possessed of a righteousness that is objective to us and is utterly perfect in Christ so that our sufferings have no redemptive value whatsoever. It is nonetheless true that everyone who is accepted in the Beloved with a righteousness external to him, and imputed to him by virtue of, in union with Christ, is so united to Christ that he longs to know him in the power of his resurrection, fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to his death, if by any means he might attain to the resurrection from the dead. He has come to understand to some degree that as surely as redemption was provided for him in the pattern of his Lord's humiliation, and the glory that followed, so that redemption will come to him in the same framework, having embraced that Savior. The life history of the Savior in a sense is reproduced in all who are in him and belong to him. If we suffer, we shall be glorified. Now again, my friends, I didn't write that there.

43:54 The Holy Ghost did. I didn't put it there. Oh, but you say maybe in the Greek it means something else. No, it doesn't.

44:05 Greek or English, there's only one way to make it mean something else, and that's to twist the Scriptures. Let it be confirmed at the mouth of another witness over in 2 Timothy, the same apostle writing, says this, 2 Timothy 2, beginning with verse 10, Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Faithful is the saying, Faithful is the saying, Faithful is the saying, Faithful is the saying, you see, this was a common saying, it was common verbal coinage in the early church. You have these faithful sayings, little sanctified, we would say, sanctified clichés that the people of God would speak one to another because they capsulized fundamental truth, either doctrinal or practical. Faithful is the saying, Faithful is the saying, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

45:15 In other words, if we see that pattern, the pattern of suffering and glory to come, rejection now, acceptance then, if beholding that we back off and say, I will not have that pattern reproduced in me. I will come to reign and I will come to glory, bypassing suffering, bypassing rejection. And in so doing, there is a denial, not the denial that is the fall of a moment of weakness a la Peter on the night of the crucifixion, but denial in the sense of rejecting that pattern as operative in my life and choosing an easy path with an easy road. The Word of God says He'll deny us. Why? Verse 13, if we are faithless, for that's what causes that denial, is a defection from faith. He abides faithful. He cannot deny Himself.

46:15 And that's not said to give comfort to the person who denies the Lord and turns away that God is faithful and will still make it in the end. This is the Lord who said, He that denies me before men I will deny before my Father who is in heaven and He's faithful and He'll keep that word. That's the meaning of the text. And to push any other meaning into it is to rest.

46:39 That's the meaning of the scriptures. And then we bring the third witness, 1 Peter chapter 4. Notice now all I'm trying to do is by a very selective consideration of a few passages demonstrate that this is a fundamental principle of true Christian experience. That the pattern of Christ's redemptive work for us becomes the norm of His work in us.

47:06 1 Peter 4, beloved, do not think it strange. concerning the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you to prove you as though a strange thing happened unto you. But inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, same language as Philippians, you have the word for partake, fellowship, koinonia. As much as you are partakers, sharers, participators of Christ's suffering, rejoice!

47:38 That at the revelation of, His glory you may rejoice with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, because the spirit of glory and the spirit of God rest upon you. The spirit of glory rests upon a man marked for glory, and no one's marked for glory who doesn't come to it by way of suffering.

48:08 So I say the text that we're examining this morning, Philippians 3, 11, contains two of the most fundamental principles of the Christian life. Namely, principle number one, that the perspective of the world to come is dominant in the thinking of a true Christian. Principle number two, the pattern of Christ's work is regulative in the experience of a true Christian. Having opened up the meaning of the text, having underscored the two great principles embodied in the text, as we conclude this morning, we ask the question, what is the message of all of this to our hearts?

Urgent Exhortation: Keep Principles in Heart

48:48 What is its present message to us sitting in this building this morning? Well, let me suggest it is first of all a word of urgent exhortation. A word of urgent exhortation. And the exhortation is this, that we as the people of God must keep these two dominant principles continually in our hearts, our thinking.

49:14 Our best is yet to come. Our way to that best will follow the pattern of Christ coming to His best. And we must always keep those principles before us. We must not allow ourselves for whatever apparently legitimate reason to become earthbound in our perspective.

49:39 And I know I'm speaking to many who are enmeshed in this. In the legitimate concerns of making a living and caring for the children and keeping the car on the road. I know I live in that world as well. But God calls us amidst the most legitimate busyness of this life to have our hearts where our treasure is, even in the glory that is yet to come.

50:05 In the language of Peter, we must set our hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought to us at the resurrection, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1.13 This is why the disciples, when they went around to the early Christians, recorded in Acts 14.22, they said that through many tribulations you must enter the kingdom of heaven.

50:30 How did they know that? Not because they had a special word of prophecy. They understood this principle. If you've got the real thing, you're going to have it worked out in you the same way it was worked out in you.

50:42 It was worked out in your Savior. Suffering now and glory to come.

Hearty Consolation for the Suffering

50:48 But then this not only contains a word of urgent exhortation, but for some of you I hope it is a word of hearty consolation. Do I speak to a child of God who this morning smartingly feels the fellowship of Christ's suffering? You feel very keenly the pressure of Almighty God through you. Through His providential dealings as a powerful instrument conforming you to the death of Christ.

51:21 That is conforming you to the state of our dying Lord's holy will in which you are being pressed either to choose a path of unrighteousness or to choose the path of righteousness though it leads clean through rejection, agony, suffering, suffering, misunderstanding, personal loss.

51:49 Ah, dear child of God, it is the fellowship of His sufferings that is the harbinger of sharing in His glory. And in the midst of it, remember with Paul, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame. And now we need, you enter into that same perspective.

52:17 Who for the joy set before me, knowing that in that hour when we hear His voice summoning us to His presence, when we are part of that mighty out-resurrection from among the dead ones called before Him not to be scrutinized unto damnation but publicly vindicated prior to our being ushered into His everlasting kingdom. Come, ye blessed. O child of God, what is our present pain and agony compared to the glory that awaits us? The suffering, the rejection, the loneliness, the agony perhaps unknown to any but you and God are God's certain pledge of the glory, the vindication, the joy, the exaltation, that is sure to come. If we suffer, we shall reign. It is certain, it is certain. But this text not only is a word of urgent exhortation.

Sober Self-Examination for All

53:28 I trust to some a word of hearty encouragement and consolation. But it ought to be for many of you here this morning a word of sober self-examination. Let me ask you two simple questions this morning. Question number one.

53:46 What is your fundamental perspective on life? Earthly or heavenly? The world that is now or the world that is yet to come? Can't be both because Jesus said both are too demanding.

54:04 They are like two masters who are giving orders from morning till night. And He said you can't serve two masters. Can't serve two masters. What is your fundamental, I didn't say perfect, I said your fundamental perspective.

54:17 Is it the perspective of the world? The perspective of the world to come? Do you evaluate your present relationship to your so-called virtues and good deeds and religious heritage? Do you evaluate everything in the light of that day when only a righteousness of God and in Christ will stand you in good stead?

54:42 Do you evaluate the hardships and the difficulties attached to true discipleship in the light of the glory that is surely to come? Now the reason some of you are not Christians lies right here. You know enough about the Bible to know that this cheap let's go play, have a good time, tap your feet, smile 27 hours a day Christianity's heresy. You know enough about your Bibles to know that though the Christian life is a life of joy, it's not a life of giddiness.

55:18 And though it is a life of peace, it is not peace, divorce, from suffering and rejection and misunderstanding. And the reason some of you lay back and refuse to join the ranks of Christ's disciples is you're afraid of the reproach, the suffering. My friend, you know what you need to do? Measure that present reproach and suffering against the agonies and the torments of hell.

55:47 What are the frowns of a few fellow mortals to the frown of a mighty God when He says, Depart, you cursed one, into everlasting fire. And God won't say it with a smile and that's why I won't. When God in Christ says those words, it will cause the entire moral universe to come to an awestruck silence. My friend, fearful of the cross, fearful of reproach, fearful of hardship, fearful of the pains associated with discipleship, those fears may be very real, but they're unfounded. Fear not them which kill the body, but after this have no more that they can do. Jesus said, Fear him who is able to destroy soul and body in hell. These are not the scare tactics of a preacher unless you're prepared to accuse Jesus of that.

56:54 He said it in the context of having outlined the hardships of discipleship. But He said in the face of them, Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. If you're afraid of anything, be afraid of the God you'll meet at the general resurrection who'll throw you into hell if you don't turn from sin and embrace His Son.

57:14 You better take that seriously, young man, young woman, older man, older woman. I ask that first question then. What is your perspective? Then I ask the second question.

57:27 Have you embraced from the heart the fact that you'll go to heaven within the same framework as the path Jesus, walked in His way to heaven? This is just another way of describing the narrow road that leads to life. And there is no other. And Paul understood that.

57:51 And you see the Judaizers didn't. You see how this touches the very nerve centers of the Judaizers? What were they doing? They were coming along to the Philippians and saying, Look, look, there's no need to go on in this suffering rejection way.

58:08 Having your fellow Jews, those who were converted from the nation of Israel, having them continually oppose you and persecute you, and having your Gentile friends who have their ornate temples and their priests and their rituals mock you and say, Well, you've got no priests. You've got no ritual. You meet in simple little homes and you have no gods to see. You want to get rid of all that reproach?

58:36 Then come, you see, into circumcision. All the trappings of the external mosaic ritual and all the reproach and pressure from Jew and Gentile, pagan Gentile will be gone. Paul says, Yeah, that's all fine and well. But what will happen in the last day?

58:54 He said, I'm prepared here and now to count all of that loss that I may gain Christ and be found in Christ. And I'm prepared to know Him in the power of His resurrection and fellowship of His sufferings. If by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead, that's God's appointed way to attain that blessed, glorious resurrection to life. And for that, I'm prepared to sacrifice all.

59:24 Are you? If you're not, then my friend, you don't want to be a Christian bad enough. You just don't want to be a Christian bad enough. Because there's no other kind of Christian recognized in the Bible.

Closing Prayer

59:40 May God grant that the perspective of the Apostle will become ours and that we with Him will count it a privilege to know our blessed Lord in the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means we with Him may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Let us pray. Our Father, we are so thankful that we have in our hands a written and infallible revelation of Your mind and will. And to the extent that we have rightly understood and proclaimed and applied that word this morning, O may Your Holy Spirit seal it to our hearts, not as the word of men, but as it is indeed the word of the living God. May it bear fruit in some of Your people who are in a peculiar circumstance of suffering. O Lord, rivet their eyes upon the glory that is surely theirs to come. But if that suffering is due to their commitment to the path of righteousness, O may they regard it as a pledge from You that glory is theirs.

61:05 And may the spirit of glory rest upon them in supportive and encouraging power even this day. For those, our Father, whose hearts have been laid bare and been found wanting this morning, help them not to shrug these things off. Help them not to drown their consciences by willful forgetfulness of what they have heard. But, O Lord, draw them powerfully and efficaciously to Yourself.

61:34 Seal Your word to the manifold needs of all of our hearts. Minister to us by the Spirit. And may the blessings of Your grace rest upon us as we leave this place. We plead through our Lord Jesus Christ.

61:50 Amen.