Please turn with me to the book of Philippians, where we're resuming our series on joy this morning by means of this letter of Paul. We want to look at the joy of knowing Christ, and we want to see that in verses 1 through 11 of chapter 3. So let's give our attention once again to the reading and hearing of God's word. Remember, this is God's inerrant, inspired, and infallible word, and it is the truth. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from 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, being conformed to His death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. May he add his richest blessing to the reading and hearing of it this morning. Remember that all flesh is as grass and the flower of the grass, but God's word abides forever. Amen. I don't know how many of you pursued some sort of athletic career. Maybe your athletic career lasted all of two months in third grade. For some, it could have been longer as you pursued things in middle school and high school and then received a scholarship on into college. And then there are those who make it even beyond college to go professionally into basketball or football or hockey or baseball or golf or another sport. And yet, if you are to be a dedicated athlete, it's going to consume every aspect of your life. And as a result of your interest and desire for the sport that you're committed to, there are things that are present in your life that you would say, this interferes with my ultimate goal and consequently, in light of what lies ahead and what's before me, I let that go. that I may gain what is ahead." Some of the sacrifices that you might have to make include the way in which you spend your time. There will have to be a commitment that you make, that you give up chunks of free time with friends or family just so that you can go to a gym and work out or you can then practice and hit another ball and another ball and another ball, hours and hours on end. You might watch footage of how you swing your club or the plays that you made in the last game so that you might learn your strengths and weaknesses and overcome that. You have to be mindful of what you eat and put into your body. You probably work with a doctor or a trainer to make sure that you have exactly the right breakdown of carbs and proteins and fat so that you might have the precise amount of strength. And yet as you do that, there's certain things that you're gonna have to eat or drink that you would say any other time, no way. And there's things that you really, really like that you're going to have to say, I can't have that. You have to get the right amount of sleep. And once the alarm goes off, you have to then get up and you follow your schedule each and every day. Weekends you can't take off. Holidays you can't take off. You can't then have cheat days in terms of the way in which you sleep. It's got to be precise. It has to be exact. And even if you have injury, you work through injury in order to get through it. You can't take any time off, no break, so that you might then be able to go forward and exceed and excel in your craft. This complete and total commitment to this one thing that is before you that you have said is of value and importance in your life that everything else falls away and is cast aside just so you could achieve this one end and goal. Well, the Apostle Paul sets for us in our verses here in chapter three, verses one through 11, that great thing, that glorious thing, that wonderful thing. And he says, it's simply this, the joy of knowing Christ. That's it. Now, I don't say that's it, as in it's no big thing. It's huge. I mean, that's the heart of the Christian life, to know Christ. And yet Paul says in light of that, that's the key, that's the thing. And that's the thing then that should drive us, and direct us, and fill us, and consume us, and encourage us, and strengthen us, empower us, embolden us, and give us direction. And so this morning we wanna see how this one thing, the joy of knowing Christ can cause us then to be strengthened, empowered, and directed in our Christian life. As we look at this joy of knowing Christ, Paul, at the first part of this, basically encourages us to protect this joy. In verses 1 through 6 or so, he encourages us to protect this joy. And then in verse 7 through 9 or so, he says that there is then a preciousness to this. And then he concludes simply with, well, what is the possession of the joy of the knowledge of Christ? And so this morning we want to see just simply this beautiful reminder that when you take the Christian life and you look at everything that is involved with it, it all comes down to just simply seeing that you are to know Jesus Christ and find true, real joy in it. In seeing that, firstly, we need to see that it must be protected. Look at verses one through three, particularly. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, for me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it's safe. Beware of dogs, of evil workers, of mutilation, for we're the circumcision to worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." As we come into this third chapter of the book of Philippians, we've already made it through the occasion where Paul, eleven times over in the first two chapters, has mentioned joy or rejoicing. He's struck this note in various ways. He's noted his own particular joy for the church there at Philippi, the joy that he has in Christ on their behalf. He also notes the joy that he has in seeing the advancement of the gospel, verses 12 through 18, no matter the situation. And even as he's in prison, he still has this sense of wonder and amazement in connection with Jesus Christ. And then in terms of the crux of it in verses 27 of chapter 1 through chapter 2, he goes on then to note that as they look to Jesus and see then this example of humiliation and this life of lowliness, that they in turn would fulfill Paul's joy as they would reflect this in their life. And so having hit the theme or the note of joy many times over, he then comes to chapter three and says, rejoice in the Lord. Now, some people look at this and go, well, was Paul just being a preacher where he's only halfway through his book and says, finally? No, that's not what that's about. It's rather instead the idea of, here's another thing to set before you. Here's another reminder. Consider also this, or consider once again. Because notice what he says, for me to say the same thing to you isn't tedious, but for you, it's safe. When you think of safety, what do you think? Something that protects, something that is helpful, it's useful, it keeps you from being hurt or harmed. And so Paul here is saying, look, I'm reminding you to rejoice because I want to see that protected in your life. Particularly why? Well, their context. Remember in Paul's history that wherever he went, he always had people coming after him, giving him a hard time about preaching the gospel. If you read through the book of Acts, you see how there were either the Jews themselves in the synagogue who would hear Paul and his recognition of Jesus Christ being the promised one, and they immediately said, we can't have that here, and they'd run them out of town. Well, you found some of those individuals who crept into the church as well. These individuals recognized Jesus Christ, but they said in addition to Christ, you still have to keep certain things in the wall, one of which was circumcision. You still had to follow after particular rules regarding meat and what you would eat, and they would know other requirements. Well, Paul was concerned for the church at Philippi that these individuals would begin to come in and consequently steal their joy by telling them, in order for you to be a good Christian, yes, you love Jesus and yes, you appreciate him, but you also must then do these particular things. And so for the sake of protecting their joy and knowing Jesus Christ, he then says, warning, warning, warning. He says beware three times. He must be pretty serious about that, huh? What does he say to watch out for? Dogs, evil workers, and the mutilation. Now is Paul saying that he's a cat person? No, that's not what he's telling us here. He's not saying you got to love cats and hate dogs. He's noting these individuals who in turn would come in and desire of them or of the church at Philippi to follow after legalism. And he says these false teachers are like wild animals. Dogs in Paul's time were not domesticated animals. They had no owner and no home. They traveled in packs. They were a lot like wolves. They were flea bitten, mangy, and vicious. They were scavengers that basically would travel on the streets. They would look for garbage. They would turn it over and eat it. They were viewed as being unclean. And Paul is saying these teachers who pride themselves outwardly of their own righteousness in accordance with the law, they're dogs. In fact, in the book of Revelation, Jesus, or John, right towards the end of that letter, notes those who are outsiders. And he lists all sorts of sin, idolaters, murderers, liars, fornicators, sorcerers, and dogs. So this isn't a term of affection. What up, dog? This isn't a pet. This instead is one who would travel in a group that would seek to pursue garbage and come against anyone who would stand against them so that they in turn would attack. And Paul is saying that those who wanted to uphold the ceremonies and traditions and the customs of the law that have already been fulfilled in Christ are unclean. They're outsiders. He also calls them evildoers. That seems a bit harsh or evil workers. Why? Because anyone who is ultimately elevating something to the point to bind someone else's conscience and say, if you are to love God, you must, Yeah, honor Christ, but also, what are they encouraging? What are they leading one towards? Evil, separation from God, the appearance of that which is good, but ultimately devastating to their own soul. In appearance it seems okay, in certain points it seems good, but ultimately it's bad, it's wrong, and it will cause all sorts of calamity and destruction in anyone who follows after it. Paul is giving the warning against false teachers that although they seem sincere and dynamic and have great appeal and commitment and mass people following them and building up all sorts of wealth, if they are denying the truth of the gospel and if they are directing you away from Christ alone, or they're encouraging you to not follow Christ exclusively, to know Him and to see the joy that is found in Him, they're doing wrong, they're doing evil. And so Paul says, watch out for them. And lastly, then the mutilators, requiring outward things, particularly the practice of circumcision, in order to be able to have a position or standing before God. The Bible is quite clear that the point of circumcision wasn't simply to put a mark on you outwardly, Two times over in the book of Deuteronomy, while the practice was occurring, God said, look, it's not good enough that you've got the mark outwardly, you need to circumcise your hearts. There needs to be a cutting away of sin internally. There needs to be a removal of sin spiritually. And Paul is noting, look, if Christ has fulfilled this ritual, if He shows that cleansing is found in Him, that as those who are united to Him have a covering and a position of cleanness, then why does this need to continue to happen outwardly? It's meaningless. Romans chapter 2, verses 25-29. Romans 2, verses 25-29. speaks to this very point, and he says if circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law, but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you, who even with your written code and circumcision are transgressors of the law? That sounds an awful confusing, doesn't it? Here's what he's saying. If you got the mark outwardly, but nothing's happening inwardly, then you're a breaker of the law. Furthermore, there are those who aren't even marked out outwardly and yet are following it inwardly. What does that say about them? Where then is the importance and the value of the thing outside? That's why he says, one who is a Jew is one who is inward in that which relates to the circumcision of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. This may seem harsh, but what is Paul ultimately noting? This joy must be protected because this standing, this position, this hope, this confidence, is ultimately connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ the gospel is at stake. Because if we somehow are able to recognize that Jesus is fully God and fully man, the son of God who took on human flesh, who lived a perfect life, who suffered under the righteousness of, or the righteous wrath of God in order to satisfy for all of our sins and through his death, we then have the coverage that we need by his blood, to have then a standing before God, and yet we would say, yeah, all of that is good, but you need to add this other thing over here. Then we've lost the gospel. And so Paul is saying, this needs to be protected. It's very dangerous to make one small change and consequently say, mostly, mostly, mostly Jesus, with this slight exception. As I was preparing for this morning, there was an account of President FDR, who had strep throat. They gave him a new drug. I couldn't pronounce it, so I didn't write down the name of the drug, but they gave him this new drug, and it had amazing results in his life. So there was immediate demand. So this company, a pharmaceutical company out of Tennessee, sorry Mosley's, came up with a solution in powdered form, and yet they added one ingredient. They just tweaked it a little bit, one little thing, one teensy-weensy thing, and the consequence of this whole thing. And as they distributed the powder, 61 people died. One slight change. The gospel has far greater importance. You see, for in the gospel, we see that our eternal destiny is at stake. And therefore, the joy and the knowledge of Christ must be protected. But Paul notes that there is a preciousness to this. Look at verse seven. There's the preciousness, the gaining of Christ. Now, in terms of what is gained. Look at Paul's own ledger. Basically, what Paul is doing here in verse 7 is he's creating this column. And if you would take one big piece of paper, and if you drew a line down the center, and he says, all these things are loss, all these things are gain. And as he looks at all his gains, he considers his life, and partially this is also then to shut up those who would come against the church at Philippi that would require all sorts of amazing obedience to the law. And he lists four things from his inheritance and three things that he acquired in his life to note all of his personal gains. He said, I had a status, circumcised the eighth day by the appropriate ritual. I didn't become a Jew by means of proselytization. I was born and bred, and therefore, my parents followed the rule. I can trace my lineage back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I was of the best tribe of Israel, a faithful one, the one that belonged to the woman whom Jacob loved, Rachel. The only son that was born in the land of promise, who was faithful at the time of division, and even produced the first king. Beat that. I'm a true and legitimate Hebrew. I'm at the top of the Israeli food chain. My family was characterized by all the customs and all the practices of the Jews, and I met those time and time and time and time again. And beyond that, as I got older, I had all sorts of righteousness, I had all sorts of zeal, and I was the upper echelon of religion. I was conservative in my living. I was strict in my approach to God. I was devout. I set myself apart from the rest of society so that I ensured that I wouldn't become unclean by the uncleanness of another. And I loved it so much that I sought to get rid of the Christian church. I was convicted in my rights and in my beliefs. I hated any and all who offended God. And so I sought to make sure that this worked and this happened. and say, you know what, I kept the rules. I was a rule keeper. I followed the letter of the law. I kept up with the ceremonies. I kept up with the legality. I kept up with the morality of it. I was far superior to all others. I had self-value, self-worth, all sorts of merit, all sorts of good. There wasn't anything that was lacking. Yet what does he say? I've got all of this over here. I can look at all these things and go, this is amazing. And anyone would look at me and say, Paul, you're it. Paul, you're it. You've got it. What does he say? All of this gain? Isn't it dangerous for us to do this as well? There are times where we can pride ourselves on being a lifelong church member, being a model Christian. We're well-read, well-studied. Make sure we only associate with reforms. I saw a cartoon the other day where the difference between men and women would be that women, if they had a time machine, they'd go back to grandma to see what grandma was like and visit with her. Men who were reformed, they'd go back to visit Calvin and they would tell him, don't burn cervidas. The point being is it caused all sorts of trouble from Armenians. All right, it didn't work. But anyway, the point being is that there are certain men and certain guys and individuals who are just so set on, I've read this, I've studied this, and we start then making sure that in the reformed food chain, we're making our way up. Church officers. Every time the door is open, we're at every event. We've been baptized at the appropriate time. We've never missed a Lord's Supper. We provide financially to the church. Some may even give more than others. But is that really where the preciousness of your Christian faith lies? Do all those things in relation to your membership and your modelness and your being well-read and well-studied and these opportunities for work and involvement and participation and doing all these things, does that give you true worth and true value in the eyes of God? Is that truly what keeps you going in terms of your Christian faith? Because what happens when you can't make it? What happens when you can no longer start to read? What happens when your model starts slipping? Or what happens when you feel that the church is moving away and so you have to pull away and you no longer can be a member anywhere? What happens when you lose your money? What happens when a disease hits and you miss out on opportunity to partake of the Lord's supper? Are you finding your joy in your value and worth? Are you finding your joy in your background, or in your salary, or in your attainments? Or in the titles or possessions that you have, or the services that you provide, or even the character that is manifest in your life? Christianity isn't about exchanging one religion for another, or one creed for another, or simply adjusting one system to another system. It's ultimately all of us in relation to Christ. And even if we were to take our best things, Paul says our best isn't good enough. He says it's rubbish. Do you know what that's describing? This is the equivalent of a first century expletive. Think about a port-a-potty on a warm day. That's what Paul is noting here. The smell, the stench, the filth, the worthlessness. Your righteousness is at best an outward pietistic port-a-potty." Never thought I'd put those words together. In comparison to what? What does Paul say? The excellency of the knowledge of Christ. To be found in him. not having my own righteousness, but that which is in the Lord Jesus." The preciousness is all found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is it all contingent and based on Him? because he's the only one who's ever come into this world as fully God and fully man. He's the only one who has ever entered this world who did not have the taint of sin on him in whatsoever manner because he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, not by the means of an earthly father, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. And therefore he shows us that he is dignified and he has worth and he has value and he is precious. He shows that He can fully represent us because He's like us in all things, yet without sin, and yet at the same time, He's able to also represent us because He can take the burden of God's wrath against our sins, being fully God. He shows Himself to be the one who has the greatest, the greatness regarding His work. Because He's set by His life of obedience. an example of excellence. And yet he humbled himself, he lowered himself even to the point of death, death on a cruel cross, death on a cross that was accursed of God, thus assuring that the shame of sin came upon him and the wrath of God was poured out against him. And yet God then exalted him to the height of exaltation so that he then would be a glorious and ascended on high. He did it all in the manner of the greatness. of love for His people. And Paul says there is a preciousness to know, to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that no matter the circumstance, no matter the hardship, no matter the difficulty, no matter the pain or the suffering, that by belonging to Christ I am assured and have confidence that there is nothing that can separate me from the love of God in Christ. It's the point in knowing, as we sang in the hymn in preparation for this sermon, no guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. Jesus commands my destiny. That is the root of joy. And hence, because of who he is, that preciousness shines forth. So how is it then possessed? Notice the order that he sets this. Resurrection, suffering, death. In some respects, you could argue that Jesus was just the opposite. Death, suffering, resurrection. In other words, Jesus took upon himself the sentence of death, and through his dying on the cross, he suffered the wrath of God. And consequently, God then assured us of that which he has secured by his resurrection. But God works in us just the opposite. The possession of this joy in knowing Christ begins as God, by his Spirit, works new life in us. We're dead in our trespasses and sins. God makes us alive by quickening us through the power of his spirit so that resurrection power brings us to life spiritually. But then that resurrection power continues in us to bring us all the way to glory. by that resurrection power, then God does the work of sanctification, so that as we then endure sufferings under the name of Jesus Christ, as we live in this world, as we are taught by our difficulties, as we engage in the hardships of this world, as God teaches us and disciplines us and leads us, we then are united to Jesus Christ by means of struggle, so that we then continue to see our dependence upon him. And we see his resurrection power continuing to be at work in us. And consequently we die more and more to self and live more and more unto him. The beauty of this then means that as Christ works in us these things, there is a standing that we have. This whole warning that Paul has given to the church at Philippi, this desire that many people want this day is this, how can I be right with God? Not by means of yourself, but only by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God will grant that to you as you look to Jesus Christ by faith. Your self-effort won't get it. Your best works in this life won't get it. Your religious ritual won't get it. Only Jesus Christ will. Are you longing for that position? Do you see how you've put forth various efforts and you've made different sorts of steps in order to try to give you that sense of peace or that sense of strength or that sense of comfort or hope and yet you find that it's failing or that it's lacking, that even it's your best efforts and yet time again it burdens you and it overwhelms you and it smells and it's not enough. call out to Christ, look to the righteousness that God has given to you through his son, and ask him to grant it to you, that you may know it. Those of you who have received that, do you find this joy in knowing Christ? The way in which you can further strengthen your knowledge of Him is by means of the things listed earlier. But the things listed earlier aren't an end to themselves. Our worship, our praise, our fellowship with one another, our opportunity to pray, our opportunity to read God's word is all so that God would use it in our life to cause us to further see, understand, reflect, and grow into intimacy that we have with our Lord and Savior. Through worship and praise, by means of prayer and the word and sacraments, God strengthens our union with the Lord, so that we might then be further intertwined with him. And yet this ought not happen only on Sundays, but we ought to take opportunity daily to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Jesus Christ. By doing so, note the further strengthening, encouragement, and power you may receive. To further know then Christ at work in you. You wrestle with some besetting sin in your life. Christ has resurrection power to strengthen you. You struggle with discouragement in your life or feeling down or lonely. Consider the fellowship that you have in being joined with your Savior. I notice the hope that ultimately lies ahead, to one day attain that perfect knowledge of Christ being brought before us, not simply at a distance, but face to face, intimately, as he would raise us up on the last day and join us with himself and all of his saints to bask in the real outward working of the reality of his knowledge. May you find joy in knowing Christ. May you treasure it by keeping it safe from those who would want to steal it. May you see it as being precious and may you possess it fully and completely. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we pray that as we reflect on the beauty and wonder of who you have given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you would pull away from us anything that would interfere with knowing him or that would somehow belittle the Lord Jesus. There's many things that can get in the way. They easily get in the way. They often get in the way. Help us protect the joy of knowing Christ so that you in turn may strengthen us more and more and direct our steps to seek you in all things. Please help us in this and teach us how to do so even as we pray saying, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,