Good morning. If you'd like to turn with me and your Bibles to Philippians chapter three, we'll be resuming our time in Philippians. Philippians chapter three will be in verses eight through 11 this morning. Philippians three verses eight through 11. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. If you remember back, for those who are here, back to November, we stopped partway through chapter three, talking about all the reasons Paul had to put confidence in the flesh. We talked about ritual, heritage, position, passion, and morals. all things in which Paul had reason to boast before men, and yet before God he counted it all as loss for the sake of knowing Christ. Paul lays out this righteousness of the flesh for all to see and says, if anyone can claim this righteousness, I can. And yet he deems this righteousness of the flesh forsaken. We arrive today at the conclusion of Paul's argument, having left us with sort of a question, where then is genuine righteousness found if not in all of these things? As much as this is a crucial question, where then is genuine righteousness found? We don't often encounter such a question in the day-to-day. Perhaps more often we're confronted with a similar question, though different, where then is the genuine product found? Maybe you face this difficulty Christmas shopping. You know that someone wants a particular product. It's got a given name, brand, and it's sometimes difficult finding that particular thing. Though that name provides assurance of genuineness, quality, value, which often comes at a cost, genuine is not often cheap. As you know, there are numerous other manufacturers who know what the real deal looks like and knows it's expensive, and they say, well, we can just provide a cheaper product, a lookalike, and we'll, you know, we'll get close. Sure looks like the real deal. Now, sometimes that product is a total letdown. And it isn't even close to what you were hoping for. You regret the decision altogether and thought, I should have paid the extra dollar for the real thing. But other times, it turns out to be a good deal. I don't know about you, but when I buy headphones, I'm not looking for a name brand because I know I'll lose them. So for me, the cheap headphones and the knockoffs are a great deal. And sometimes that's just the case. But there's no name. There's not a lot of quality or value, but they do the job. But here's the key question. If everyone accepts it as good enough and a great deal, is it still less than genuine? If everyone accepts it as good enough and a great deal, is it still less than genuine? Suppose everyone were to accept counterfeit currency all of a sudden and said, eh, good enough, I'll take it. Is it still less than genuine? Well, yes, it's counterfeit, right? No matter what anyone says about it, whether it's accepted or not, it's counterfeit. Paul is trying to make a similar argument and to eliminate the middle ground, the good deal, if you will. This righteousness, according to the flesh, it's not a good deal to be settled on. It's outright counterfeit, no matter what everyone says about it. It's accepted by many if we're honest, and yet at the end of the day, standing before God, it's counterfeit. Certain places in society that will look at our righteousness, our ritual, our heritage, position, passion, morals, and say, good enough. That's acceptable as if it were a bargain deal. Paul says there's no middle ground. There are no good deals. There's only one genuine righteousness. So let me show you where this genuine righteousness is found. The brand name righteousness, if you will. Our main point this morning, genuine righteousness is received from God through faith unto union with Christ. Three simple points. from God, through faith, unto union with Christ. Let's consider from God, verses eight and nine. More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, from whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ. Verse nine is our key verse, and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. Paul has finished making it absolutely clear that he has forsaken the counterfeit righteousness of the flesh for the genuineness of Christ. Paul uses three descriptors of the Christian's relationship to Christ. Knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, one. Two, gaining Christ. Three, being found in him. I want us to just make a brief observation here. These probably aren't too unfamiliar with us, but I don't know that we put them together very often. Have we ever thought that being a Christian is to know Christ, to have Christ in us and be in Christ? If you look through The High Priestly Prayer in John 17, you see each of these descriptions. This is how Christ sees us, to know him, to gain him, to be in him, but also him to be in us. We might ask this question in an evangelistic conversation. Do you know Christ? Do you have Christ as your own? Are you in Christ? Do you belong to him? Each can be stated alone, but there's no point in which one can be true and the other cannot. These are all one idea of being a Christian. If we truly know Christ, we have him as our own. If we have him as our own, as our Savior, then we are his. Paul adds a description to this union with Christ that likewise cannot be separated from the others. Verse nine, not having a righteousness of my own. This is this fundamental descriptor of all of these realities of being in Christ. We do not have a righteousness of our own. It's describing the state of being found in him. These two things are inseparable. We can say with absolute assurance, to be in Christ is to be declared righteous, for we have a righteousness not of our own making. There is no point in our Christian walk, being in Christ, that we do not stand as completely and wholly righteous before God, from beginning to end. That is absolutely true. Anyone who would try to push our righteous standing before God into the future, as in, this is a nut, yet you must pursue it, is an attempt to get more effort out of the believer. It's just a misunderstanding of the source of our righteousness. Paul wants to make this clear, and so he says it twice. not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law. Secondly, the righteousness which comes from God. This is the glory of the gospel that is rejected by every other religion. The perfect, genuine righteousness which God requires of his image-bearers is fully and freely provided in Christ. As image-bearers of God, we all know to a degree what is true and right by God's common grace. often a common understanding, many but not all recognize that murder is wrong. That's somewhat universal, you would think. Theft is wrong. Even cheating on your spouse is shameful. Yet in response to that recognition of the genuine righteousness that we see as being image bearers in our conscience, so many seek to make an imitation rather than seek the maker for the genuine product. Oh, I can make something pretty close. I'll give it a good try. There's a certain pride in doing it yourself, after all. Maybe you know the feeling. I can say I've been there. We're faced with a project around the house, but rather than pay someone else to do it, you take on the project yourself, even if you know it isn't going to be perfect. Because at the end of the day, you get the satisfaction of saying, I did it myself. I confess, I've been there. Now certainly, sometimes doing it yourself is just more economical. But suppose it were cheaper to have the professional do it. Suppose it were free. A professional offers to fix your leaky roof at no cost to you, but because of our pride, we say, I'll do it myself. That's crazy. Who would do that? We can all admit that, but that's the temptation, as foolish as it appears when you really look at it, that the devil throws at us every day, causing us to question what we know to be true in the gospel. Is the righteousness of Christ freely given to you, really free? Is the righteousness of Christ really sufficient? Maybe you need to add to it. Look at how much better your behavior is than everyone else. Surely your righteousness is good enough. You don't need the perfect righteousness of Christ, you just need to get close. What will other people think when they hear your righteousness was free? Sounds a little tacky. In response to such temptations, we ought boldly reply, there is one genuine righteousness, and it bears the name of Jesus Christ. Only with this righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, not of ourselves, can we stand before God on judgment day, and as believers, we can say, that righteousness is mine by the grace of God. This idea of Christ's righteousness can seem somewhat nebulous at first. What does that look like? What does that mean? We have in Jesus' own words in Matthew 5 that Christ came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. How often do we read the Gospels and see what Jesus is doing and immediately jump to application saying that's what I need to do. As believers there's nothing wrong with seeking to imitate Christ but if our imitation is in pursuit of an imitation righteousness a righteous standing before God, then our imitation is just secular religion. I'm gonna say that one more time. If our imitation is in pursuit of an imitation righteousness, that righteousness meaning a right standing before God, then our imitation is just secular religion. There are so many religions that look at what Jesus did and what Jesus taught and acknowledge some good thing in it and try to imitate him. That's just religiosity, it's not Christianity. When we read the Gospels, might we first, and fundamentally, behold the perfect record of righteousness and love, sacrifice and faithfulness that has been credited to our account through faith? All that Jesus did before we ever say, let's be like him, we must admit, that is the righteousness that I need. That righteousness is mine through faith. When Christ resisted temptation in the wilderness, before we consider how we resist temptation, might we say that righteousness is ours through faith? When Christ extends grace upon grace to the sick and the sinner, before we consider how we forgive one another's, might we say, that righteousness is ours through faith. When Christ patiently and mercifully bears with his disciples, and before we consider how we are patient with one another, might we say, that patience and forbearance, that is righteousness for me through faith. When Christ fulfills all love in dying on the cross before we consider how we lay down our lives for each other, might we recognize that that righteousness is ours through faith? Only when we see that our righteousness is found in the perfect life of Christ through faith can we imitate rightly his perfect life as we ought. in faith with hearts of worship, knowing I stand rightly before God, and so I imitate him. Before we ever hope to worship and honor God with righteous living, we must first receive the perfect righteousness of Christ by grace through faith. Let's consider our second point, through faith. comes alongside our statements of righteousness in verse nine, and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. Again, twice over, Paul ensures we recognize this righteousness is according to faith. A simple statement can be misconstrued. in a number of different ways, and so it's important to understand what faith is and what faith is not. One might put it this way, faith is the well and not the water. What is a well without water at the bottom? Well, it's just a hole in the ground. If a man, recognizing his thirst, goes and digs a hole in the ground, calls it a well, what has he accomplished? If someone recognizing their need for righteousness before God goes and establishes a pious form of spirituality and calls it faith, what has he accomplished? Faith by itself is not a new righteousness or a new law that earns God's declaration of righteousness. There's a certain respect for faith generally because it distinguishes someone from atheism or secularism. And that's what we're avoiding most of all, isn't it? But having faith generally isn't what makes a man or woman righteous. We must ask the crucial question, faith in what? I'm afraid there are many who identify as people of faith, having put great effort into building wells that are just dry at the bottom. The faith through which we are declared righteous is the well which delivers the water of life, that is Christ. Jesus speaks of himself to the woman at the well. John 4, verses 13 and 14. Jesus answered and said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. This water which Christ provides in himself in his own righteousness is received through faith. It is not the worthiness or the beauty of the well which gives life, it's the water. In fact, I believe there are many with beautiful ornate wells that are dry and many with feeble holes in the ground providing an abundance of living water unto eternal life. How many mosques, temples, cathedrals are built reflecting the nature of the faith who gather there? Beautiful, ornate, and yet dry because there is no Christ in their faith. In contrast, how many churches across the world are there who gather in secret at night, crammed into someone's living room for fear of persecution, reflecting the nature of their faith? Humble, ordinary, perhaps weak and yet overflowing with living water because there is Christ in their faith. Now you may have noticed that this conversation regarding faith goes far beyond the point of conversion. For every believer, there is a moment when God graciously grants us faith for the first time, and we trust in the sufficiency of Christ's life, death, and resurrection for our salvation, in which we are declared righteous in that moment, at that point and forevermore. Yet I believe Paul is describing an ongoing exercising of that faith through which he received the righteousness of Christ. Verse seven, he talks in the past sense. We want to go back in chapter 3, verse 7 of Philippians. But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. It's true in one sense that Paul has counted in the past as loss all those things in which he might have put his faith or righteousness. Yet, verse 8, more than that, I count presently all things to be lost in the view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. There is an ongoing counting as loss, those things which may hinder the faith in which we have eternal life. The faith that saves, that grants us the perfect righteousness of Christ, is the faith that sustains us. And there is no point in which that faith ought to deviate from the sufficiency of Christ. The devil would have us believe it so. You started in faith, but now you need to add to it. Perhaps there are some here with feeble faith. I hope you would take heart in what God has done and will do with feeble faith in the sufficiency of Christ. God saves wretched sinners, granting them the perfect righteousness of Christ through feeble prayers of faith. It is not the strength of our faith which delivers, but rather the strength of the object of our faith. And the more we experience the sufficiency of that object, Jesus Christ, our faith is strengthened. How do you come to grow to trust something? Well, you lean on it time and time and time again, until it's not even a thought anymore. The first chapter of James immediately addresses this as a matter of first importance. James 1, verses 2 and 3. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Perhaps there are those of us who are gifted to come to the conclusions Paul has, time and again, without much thought or difficulty. Faith is to be founded in nothing other than Christ and his righteousness for me. That may come easy for some. Perhaps for others of us, it is the trials of life which show to us how this well and that well simply cannot satisfy. such that we rely solely on the sufficiency of Christ to save us, sustain us, and satisfy us. Perhaps you've heard the quote of Charles Spurgeon, I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the rock of ages. God in his sovereignty uses trial and suffering that our faith may be removed from every empty well so that we can be saved, sanctified, sustained, and satisfied in Christ alone through faith. This is an ongoing Christian labor of faith. Not returning to those things in which we've trusted in times past so that our exclusive trust would be in Christ alone. How many times did Israel try to return to those things that they thought themselves secure in? Ah, let us go back to Egypt. In God's gracious sovereignty, we encounter various trials to drive us to the sufficiency of Christ. As much as this labor will continue as long as this life lasts, it's not a labor we do alone. Being a part of the church allows us to benefit from our brothers' or sisters' faith when we face trials of various kinds. I think perhaps we can all look back on dry seasons in which our faith was weak, or perhaps you're in a season like that today. I'd encourage you. There are brothers and sisters in this church who would be more than willing to encourage you with their faith in this season. For those of you who enjoy the abundance of faith that comes from years of trial and maturing in Christ, if I may, keep an eye out for those who are in those dry seasons. That might be a good question to ask over coffee with a younger believer. When was the last time you experienced a dry season in your faith? they might be in one in that very moment. You may be the one person in that brother or sister's life in a position to encourage them with the faith God has given you. Thus far, we recognize that genuine righteousness, the righteousness bearing the name of Christ, comes not of ourselves, but from God. And that through faith, a faith which trusts in Christ alone. But Paul doesn't stop there. There's a purpose to this salvation, which has been found through faith. We can go back to Paul's three descriptions of the Christian, knowing Christ, gaining Christ, being in Christ, and having already established the root of this relationship with Christ, faith in him for righteousness and salvation, we can turn our heads to the fruit. We've addressed the root, we can go to the fruit, the purpose. Unto union with Christ, our third point this morning. Verses 10 and 11, Philippians 3. That, purpose in that, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. In order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. All the fruit of this being found in Christ is to be united with him. not just spiritually, but also character and likeness, a likeness in both his death and his resurrection. Jesus made sure his disciples understood that as my followers, you will walk in my footsteps. It seems rather elementary, but it bears repeating, John 15, verses 18 through 20. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. Because we are not of the world. Because we are united with Christ completely, not partially, we share in his experience as righteous image bearers of God in a sinful, rebellious world. There is no resurrection without death. Thomas Acampos, a monk of the late medieval church, wrote a devotional titled The Imitation of Christ. In it, he writes this, Jesus today has many who love his heavenly kingdom, but few who carry his cross. Many who yearn for comfort, few who long for distress. Plenty of people he finds to share his banquet, few to share his fast. Everyone desires to take part in his rejoicing, but few are willing to suffer for anything for his sake. There are many that follow Jesus as far as the breaking of bread, few as far as drinking the cup of suffering. Many that revere his miracles, few that follow him in the indignity of the cross. even in the late medieval period. So distant from all the comforts and luxuries of our modern day, the prosperity gospel in a similar form was offering a kind of partial union with Christ, a union of resurrection without death. There are perhaps two empty wells the world would forever cling to, life and comfort. And there are two things which are noticeably laid aside in Jesus's life and ministry, life and comfort. Let's be clear for a moment. Being in a state of suffering and willingness to die doesn't mean we're united with Christ. But being united with Christ by nature of that union means we follow our loving Savior even unto death and suffering. I hope in considering this, we would not diminish the emphasis of Paul's statement. Beginning and to end, twice over, Paul's ambition is to experience the resurrection of Christ, the power of it in defeating death. And I hope the same would be true of us. Let us worship and hope in the resurrection which has been promised to us, yet not separate the resurrection from the person of Christ, who has united us with himself even in his suffering and death. I'm sure you've all been to a wedding at some point and heard the pastor say something like, dearly beloved, I don't know if they say that anymore, but dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Jack and Jill. Later on in the service, the bride and the groom often recite vows to each other, including a commitment to love each other in that union, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health until death. If the bride or the groom were to remove the worse, the poorer, the sickness, the death, you might ask, what kind of union is it? It's no union at all if it's only maintained in the blessing and wealth. On the good days, I'll be there. On the bad days, who knows? There's no interest or union with the person at all, just the benefits that come from the relationship at that point. As soon as it stops being good for me, I'll leave. If it's not inappropriate to look at the union of marriage in this way, perhaps we can do the same with the relationship the church has with Christ. Should the church find itself committed to Christ only as long as the blessings come? Might we appropriately ask a similar question? So were you interested in Christ or just the blessings, the benefits of the relationship? The premise of Paul's interest in knowing the power of Christ's resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings and being conformed to his death, all of these things is to know Christ himself, the person, the bridegroom. This is the nature of a true and healthy union. Husband and wife devoted to each other for better or for worse in death and in resurrection. In this perfect union, the two can truly know each other. That is the reward I fear we often overlook when we consider our relationship with Christ. We ask, what do I get out of this relationship rather than how do I know him? That's Paul's ambition here. that I may know him. The purpose of our being made righteous through faith is that we would be united with Christ and truly know him. Thus far, it's only natural that we might make personal application along these lines as we ought. But again, I'd like us to consider a corporate application with a question. Can my fellow church member benefit from my union with Christ such that they see him and know him better? If I may, I have seen trial and difficulty in this very room that is marked by an enduring faith that so wonderfully portrays Christ. Thank you for the example you set for the rest of us in your endurance. I hope you would know your faith in those moments as a benefit to us all. For the rest of us, myself especially, might we hear these words from William Still, a mentor to Sinclair Ferguson. From the moment that you stand there dead in Christ and dead to everything you are and have and ever shall be and have every breath you breathe thereafter, every thought you think, every word you say and deed you do must be done over top of your own corpse or reaching over it in your preaching to others. Then it can only be Jesus that comes over and no one else. At times, life's trials and hardships lay us so low that the only thing we have to offer to others is Christ because there's no life in us but Christ's. To those willing to serve, speak, love through such hardship, thank you. Your continued faithfulness through it all is noteworthy. In these words, though, I believe still is speaking to those of us who have a little more strength and means that need to be counted as loss, as Paul has said, that only Christ would be visible in our serving, our speaking, our preaching, and all we do. By God's grace, may others see Christ in us through our faith and our union with him in his death. In Christ we know and receive a genuine righteousness through faith in Christ. There is no other righteousness that is good enough, because only this righteousness from God unites us with Christ, a unity in which we truly know him, his death and his resurrection. Though we share in his death today, we will one day together attain to the resurrection from the dead as Christ did. Might we labor for the good of the church today in the hope of that glorious resurrection? when we will fully and finally be united with Christ in righteousness. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this free gift of righteousness that is offered to us through faith in Christ. I pray you would strengthen us, help us to be aware of the temptations that the devil throws at us to say that this righteousness might not be enough. give us an assurance that we can boldly come before you on the merits of Christ. And when we read of him and we recite those stories, even to our children, we might behold the righteousness that has been accomplished for us. Lord, let us be a church that lives according to that living water, that we would depend on nothing else and we would be quick to encourage, that we would gain an awareness, a concern, a compassion for those who are in the driest of seasons and be eager to encourage them, lift them up, point them to Christ with the sufficiency that you've given us. Unite us together as a church as we are more and more united to you in your death.