Well, it was good to see you all here again this evening as we look together at God's word and we worship him in spirit and in truth. If you have your copies of God's word, I'd ask that you go ahead and open to Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three, that's where we'll be camping out tonight. Last time we looked at Philippians 3 verses 4 to 9. And in our time last month, we primarily focused on the list of self-righteous credentials that Paul gave to the church to demonstrate that if self-righteousness, if a personal self-righteousness could get us access into heaven, he had it. I mean, compared to most people, Paul would have had no problem in his assurance if self-righteousness got us into heaven. But he contrasts this to true salvation that we have in Christ. He found the treasure in the field when he saw Jesus, and he realized that his own self-righteousness couldn't earn him anything. It was as filthy rags. And so just to recap from last week, I want to start, or last week, last time, I want to start by reading Philippians 3 verse 4, and we'll continue on our primarily, we'll primarily focus tonight on verses 10 to 11, but in a moment I'm going to make an application one more for last time to verses 8 and 9, but primarily we'll be looking at verses 10 to 11. But in context, starting with verse 4, though I also might have confidence in the flesh, If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so, circumcised on the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning righteousness, which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted lost for Christ. Yet I need also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I might 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. but 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. I want to make one more application, like I said before, to verses eight and nine before moving on to verses 10 and 11. Some of you grew up in churches where performance was primary. The gospel was taught, yes, but underneath it was a teaching that in order to really be saved or really be pleasing to God or really be acceptable to God, you had to have your own righteousness and your own obedience. You had to have your own works to account for it. If you weren't performing well, obeying, showing up, reading your Bible, having daily devotions, leading in family worship, volunteering, etc. God was upset and you weren't very acceptable to him. The place of obedience was transferred from really our sanctification to us being acceptable and justified before God. You were made to feel guilty and burdened. You were made to feel unsaved and out of God's grace if you were struggling with obedience or you had sin. It would be much like Christian in the book Pilgrim's Progress getting his burden back. after it rolled away to the tomb. And some of you may have struggled with that. You remember that time in your life where you felt the true freedom that comes with Christ, that He truly has saved you, that your guilt is gone, that your sin really is paid for. But then the hard road of the Christian life took its place, and maybe 10, 15 years later, you find yourself thinking, am I really saved? I've struggled with the same sin over and over again. God must not be very happy to me. My burden is now back. If that's the case, then listen to these words that I just read in Philippians 3, starting with verse 8. Listen to what Paul says. Yet indeed, I also count all things lost. for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, from whom I've suffered the loss of all things." Now, I want to pause. He's not talking about possessions here. He's not talking about, I've lost my house, I've lost my car. I've lost my job for the gospel. I've lost these things. I've lost friendships. Now those, those were true in some essences. Paul had lost a lot of physical things, but he's not talking about that in the category. He's talking about his obedience. He's talking about his self-righteousness that he had spent his whole life, maybe 20, 25 years worth of his life trying to earn salvation. He says, I count all of that now as loss. and I count them as rubbish. Why? 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. Before faith in Christ, Paul had tied his salvation to his works and he worked hard to earn his salvation. He was the best of the best, but when he met Jesus on that Damascus road, he realized his works were his filthy rags. He saw how far away from true righteousness he really was. But at the same time, he learned that Jesus is his perfect righteousness. God opened Paul's eyes to see that when it comes to being justified, when it comes to being right with God, The converted idol worshiper down the street who had lived a life in pagan ritual who was saved was just as justified as Paul who had spent his life trying to please and obey God. Just as justified. The same in Christ. You may be someone who has been fighting against the same sin for years and years, or a person who's tried to do right before God for years and years. And those are good things. It feels like you will never conquer it though. And it weighs you down. You may think, well, if I just try harder than I can beat this, or only when I beat this sin, I will be acceptable. But the harder you try, it seems like the harder you fall. Listen to me tonight. Listen to what I just read. That is not the gospel. That's a man-centered religion. The reality is that Jesus came into the world to save whom? To save sinners. to save sinners completely, not to save those who are halfway good or somewhat good. He came to save the most wretched ones, the ones who realize their own wretchedness, their own sinfulness, that they can't earn it. And he came to save them. And when it says saved, it means completely. It doesn't mean to help them along, to give them a boost. No, it means he came to rescue them and to bring them home. Brother, sister, we are called to obey God. We are commanded to pursue righteousness and not sin. Don't hear me that I'm saying it doesn't matter. But disobedience is not tied to your justification at all. It's not tied to you being made right with God or acceptable with God. If you're here tonight and you're carrying a burden of sin, Run back to the finished work of Christ on the cross. He is your righteousness. He is your hope. He is your confidence. Satan wants you to focus on the hopelessness of your sin. He wants you to just focus on your sin and how bad of a person you are. Because it steals away from joy in the finished work of Christ. He wants you to look at yourself and not to Christ. He wants you to make you feel like you're separated, that you're unloved, that you're the outcast of God's family. But Paul says, in contrast to this, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the finished work of Christ on your behalf. Rejoice that your name is in the book of life. As the hymn goes, rejoice, give thanks, and sing. 1 John 4.10 says, and this is love, not that we loved God. but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Jesus has won. Now, yes, we are called to obey, but it's in light of already being justified, already being in the family of God. So I'm not saying with your sin, oh, just try harder. You first run back to Jesus and realize that he's won it for you. And then it's in light of that that you deal with your sin, knowing that he conquered it already. Please don't try to think if I just try harder, Jesus would be happy with me or pleased with me. That's not the gospel. That's a man-centered religion that every other false religion in this world does. It wants you to start here. But the gospel is we start with Christ. Oh that we would have the mindset of Patrick, the missionary to Ireland in the 400s. Patrick writes, I know for certain that before I was humbled, before I was saved, I was like a stone lying in deep mire. And he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and indeed lifted me high and placed me on top of a wall. And from there I ought to shout in gratitude to the Lord for his great favors in this world and forever. that the mind of man cannot measure. There is freedom from the burden of guilt and sin in Christ. God has promised to help us in our fight of remaining sin. And Paul moves on now to show the pursuit of Christ and the power of Christ in us. Paul has learned this and is now exhorting the Philippians to follow his example. And through, because it's in the word of God, he's exhorting you and I tonight to follow the example we have of Paul. So verses nine to 11, we'll be focusing on 10 to 11, but I wanna start with verse nine just to get it into context again. Verse nine, and being found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. And here's Paul's example. 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. So the first example from Paul that we have is that I may know Christ, that I may know Christ. The word no here means to learn to know, to come to know, to get a knowledge of, to become known. This word carries the idea of intimate knowledge, such as a husband and wife have in their relationship and in their bedroom. Our marriage relationship should be a reminder of the type of spiritual and relational intimacy and love that we are to have with Jesus himself. So when you think about your marriage to your spouse, that should only be a pointer of the depth and even more depth that we should have with our Savior. Now you could ask, well, doesn't Paul already know Jesus that I might know him? I mean, doesn't Paul already know him? Well, in answering to this, Don Carson writes, quote, what is astonishing is that verse 10 was written by an apostle who had known Christ for almost 30 years. This book was written about 30 years. Most people think 30 years after Paul's conversion on the Damascus Road. So 30 years he's been walking with Christ, preaching Christ, suffering for Christ. And he says, I want to know him. Don Carson continues. I want to know Christ, Paul writes, though he does know him. What he means, of course, is that he wants to know him better and better. The riches bound up in Christ are unending. We shall spend all eternity getting to know him better, and we shall discover that knowing him is knowing God, and the exploration is eternal and inexhaustible." End quote. So what priority is knowing Christ in your life? What priority is knowing Christ in your life? You know, I'm ashamed to write that. I'm not just saying that. I'm ashamed to even ask that, because my life is so far from that. I mean, it's so easy to get caught up in just this or that, or the family, or the church itself, or different things like that, and my own fight with sin, and all these things with work, with life, and the whole day can go by. And at the end of the day, you might say, well, how have you grown in your relationship with Christ? Or what time have you spent with Jesus himself? And you might think, wait, I've done maybe a lot for him. You know, I might've prayed for some people, I might've read my Bible, but how much time has that been really spent getting to know my Savior? J.C. Rowell says true Christianity is not simply believing a set of abstract truths. It involves living a daily personal communication with a person. This knowledge is not just knowing more about Jesus like we would a historical character. I've been reading and listening to some biographies on St. Patrick. And it's really a fascinating life that he had. He was a missionary to Ireland in the 400s. He brought the gospel to Ireland in the 400s. And his story is remarkable. And I want to know more about him. I have an interest in knowing more about the history in Ireland. And he's one of the major parts of the Christianity in Ireland. And so I've been reading some about him. But I can know about Patrick. I mean, I can know stuff about him. but I can't know him, not personally. But that's not what Paul's talking about here. He's not talking about just learn the historical facts about Jesus. No, he's speaking relationally. I want to know Jesus personally. And he's exhorting the Philippians who had never met Christ, know this Savior of yours. Yes, know about him, but are you in relationship with him? You know, hopefully for the rest of my life here on Earth, I would be able to say to my wife and to you about my wife that I want to know her. Now, I hope you know what I mean by that. You know, I don't know anything about her and I want to get to know this woman I'm living with, but I want to know her better. Yeah, there's that phrase, husbands always date your wife, never stop dating your wife to get to know her, to grow an intimacy with her of a knowledge of her, to grow in relationship with her. And we could say that maybe about our spouse, or we could say that about a close friend. I wanna keep on growing and getting to know this person. That's what Paul's talking about with our knowing Christ. One of my favorite Fernando Ortega songs says, in the morning when I rise, give me Jesus. And when I am alone, give me Jesus. And when I come to die, give me Jesus. Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus. You can have all this world, but give me Jesus. It's one of those songs, it's kind of like, all I have is Christ. It's really difficult to sing as you're singing it with part of you is like, yes, and the other part is like, I'm so far from this. It's this longing we have, isn't it? This knowledge takes faith. That's what's hard about knowing Christ in this kind of relational way. It's all based on faith. It takes faith to believe the words in our Bibles and to pray to one we can't see. You know, so many of us are probably like Thomas in the scripture. We have to see to believe. Remember, Thomas was one who Jesus had risen and the apostles had seen him and said, Thomas, he's, or some of the apostles had seen him and Thomas, we've seen him. He, he's alive. And Thomas says, I'm not going to believe you until I can feel the hole in his hands. And I can feel where they're pierced aside. And we have that beautiful account where Jesus talks to him about that. And Jesus lovingly shows him, okay, Thomas, feel my hands. That's the love and compassion of our Savior. He doesn't say, you didn't believe me, Thomas, how dare you? No, he lovingly says, Thomas, I know you're like this, feel my hands. But then he even, in love, rebukes him and says, you believe because you've seen, but blessed are those who believe who haven't seen. That's not to say it's not hard. I'm a very physically minded person. Yeah, I see to believe in so many ways. Faith is a struggle. This type of knowledge of getting to know Christ relationally is a struggle. It takes prayer. It takes, can I say, power. I also want to say another word to those who struggle with the thought of having to do good in order to be pleasing to God, drawing back from what I started with. If you're this way, the focus of your life is gonna be upon your obedience. But for the one who sees Christ as his righteousness, the focus will be joy in Christ because they see him as their righteousness. It will be out of that focus that a desire to obey will come from. The justified person should not see the commands in the Bible as a task list to check off, but as a way to be conformed to the likeness of Christ. because we've been saved by such a great Savior. Now, when you're sitting here, you might just say, I'm unable to do this on my own. Stephen, what you're talking about takes a power and an ability I don't have. And that's exactly what Paul says in the next part. So number two, not only knowing Christ, but he says the power of his resurrection. Not only does Paul want to know Christ more and more deeply, he wants to know the power that's at work in him. To get a clear understanding of what Paul's saying here in verse 9, turn over with me to Ephesians 1. Keep a finger in Philippians 3, because we'll turn back to it in a minute. But Ephesians chapter 1, if you want to follow along. One book back. Ephesians 1, starting at verse 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling. What are the riches of his glory of his inheritance? in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. Just in case you didn't catch what verses 19 and 20 said, let me read them again. in what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe. Now, what kind of power? According to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead. How much power does it take to raise a human from the dead? If someone was dead and I went to Greg and said, Greg, raise him from the dead. Greg would hopefully say, I can't do that. I can't do that. None of us here have the ability to speak life back into a dead person. That takes a power greater than any human being has. It took power to give life back to the physical body of Christ. Now Paul isn't talking about Christ's deity, because God the Son cannot die. But Christ the man could, the incarnate Son could die, and he did. But he was raised with a mighty power, and he was exalted into heaven. And Paul is saying that that same power that rose Christ from the dead is now working in us, in the new birth, in our sanctification and glorification. How often do you think that that same power that raised Christ from the dead is now at work in you? Don't you want to know and experience that power at work in you? Not only did Paul want to grow in his knowing Christ, but he wanted to grow in knowing the power at work in him to be conformed to Christ's image and to do what Christ called him to do. Now, if you're like me, you sometimes may think, well, I don't feel that power working in me. And if we're honest, we probably on a lot of days say, I don't feel like the power of Christ is working in me. You may have been like me and sitting maybe where you're sitting and there's a Sunday morning and the pastor's preaching on the working of the Holy Spirit and the power in us. And there's been sometimes I've heard that and gone, I don't feel that right now. I mean, I feel like I'm, Just trying to make it. But it's those times I need to be reminded that at first, this power is that what is working in me isn't an instant surge of energy, like getting an electrical shock. And that may be how my mind sometimes works. Well, when you feel the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, it's going to be like sticking your finger in a soccer ball. There it is. Well, that was good. Got my dose. No, it's not that at all. It's a sustaining power, not a microwave power. You know, microwave sanctification isn't God's way, but he gives his children power daily to walk in his ways. Secondly, we may not feel this power at work in us because we're trying to do it ourselves and not asking God for the help that's needed. You know, God in his mercy, if we think we want to do it ourselves, we'll sometimes in love say, okay, You wanna do it yourself, do it yourself. You know, much of the time, I'm very much like the little kid who's learning how to do things, and you're trying to help them. No, Daddy, I'll do it myself. Well, don't we do that to God? We see these commands, or we see these things, I'm told to love my wife, or to work hard, and to do these things, to love one another, and I think, okay, I can do this myself. And God, in his mercy, while he's still with me, may, okay, Let's see how well you do on your own, son. Just to remind me, Stephen, when I tell you something in my word or I ask you to do something, ask me for the help to do it. So we may not feel this power because we're trying to do it on our own. But we need to work out our own salvation, knowing that it's God who's working in us. The two work go, the two go hand in hand. It's not us work without God, or God does all the work and we just sit here lazily. It's a combined effort. Remember what Paul wrote back in Philippians 2. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. That's a heavy command. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for his good pleasure. So you have this mighty command. Work out your own salvation. Obey all that I've taught you. Be conformed to the image of Christ. Love one another. Do hospitality, like we heard this morning. But it is God who's working these things in you. Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 15, I labored more abundantly than they all. I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. So God works these things in us. And I think sometimes we either think it's this burst of energy that we're supposed to feel, because we're a very feely people, or we aren't asking. Remember what James, in the book of James, you have not because you've asked not. God desires for us to ask, to seek, to find, to trust in him for this type of work. Don Carson writes, according to Paul, the power that raised Jesus from the dead is a power that is a work in us to make us holy. to make us a fit place for Jesus to dwell, to enable us to grasp the limitless dimensions of God's love for us, to strengthen us so that we have great endurance and faith and lives constantly characterized by thanksgiving. It takes extraordinary power to change us to become like that. Stephen Lawson writes, Paul wants to experience more of the power of Christ in his life. He does not want to live a mundane Christian life that could easily be explained by his own natural abilities. He wants to trust in this knowledge of Christ to grow more intimate with him and to know the power of Christ in him so that he would have no room to boast and that anyone who saw his life could not say a human could do those things. He wanted people to look at him and say, there's only one way this guy could be that way, and that's gotta be an outside something working in him. There's gotta be a God working in him. There's gotta be God himself working in this man. That's what Paul means. Seek out that power and trust in that power that's at work in you and I. Not only does this power help us to know Christ more, to battle our sin, but it is present when we suffer. Number three, the fellowship of his sufferings. Turn back to Philippians three, Philippians three verse nine, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. Jesus said in this life, you will know suffering. Paul has already addressed this in chapter one of Philippians. For to you, it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. In writing to Timothy, Paul says, yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Jesus even said in Mark 8.34, whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Take up a means of execution and follow me. He's basically saying, die to yourself. This is not an easy road. So why do we suffer? We suffer because Christ suffered and we still live in a sinful, cursed, anti-God world. If they hated Christ because of his righteousness, how do we expect that they won't hate us if we are being conformed to his righteousness? Martin Luther said, they gave our master a crown of thorns. Why do we hope for a crown of roses? We can be tempted to think, well, I want to know Christ more, and I want to really experience the power of his resurrection in me, but I don't want to suffer. It's an oxymoron. Let me try to explain why. To be made like Christ. means we will suffer. We will suffer because sin hates holiness. It is much like the parable of the wicked vinedressers who kept beating the servants of the master and then they killed even the son of the master. We are going to suffer if we look like Christ. I want to make a funny illustration. Imagine everyone in here tonight wore a blue shirt like the one I'm wearing. And imagine this room is full of people, all blue shirts, basically all the same color. But Alan decides, I'm going to wear red. Now, let's say you stood up and looked around at the room. What's the first person you're going to see? It's going to be Alan. Why? He stands out. You see a room of blue, you're going to see the red one. It's kind of like if you ever watch a sporting event where two rivals are playing and you have the home team section and everybody's wearing the home team colors and you see the guy who's wearing the away team's colors and you're, for one thing, and that's a brave dude. And number two, you just pick him out. Why? Because he stands out. Therefore, if we pursue Christ and he works in us to make us more like him, we're gonna stand out. We're gonna be the red shirts in the blue shirt room. To reflect on what we've already looked at, if we grow in knowing Christ, and to know more of him, and we know the power at work in us to obey his commands, to be conformed to his image, to love one another, to pursue that righteousness, we will stand out. I mean, we already see what society does to a person who it disagrees with. We're living in a cancel culture age. You don't like it? We're going to shun you. How much more for those who look like the righteousness of Christ? We're going to stand out. But it's here in the midst of suffering, Paul says, the fellowship of his sufferings, the koinonia of his sufferings. Jesus said, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And he means partly when we suffer. Remember that your dear Savior suffered more than you will ever suffer. We're called to be in his likeness in the way of his sufferings, to have fellowship in his sufferings, to be married in the sense to his sufferings, that we won't run away from them, that when they come and we're standing up for Christ and we look like him, that we're not gonna shun away from it. But just remember that he went through more than we would ever go through. There may be similarities that you have with the sufferings of Christ, but Jesus walked through fire into the brunt of it. Just remember what the hymn says, man of sorrows, what a name for the son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim, hallelujah, what a savior. Bearing shame, scoffing rude. In my place, condemned, he stood. He sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Jesus suffered in this world, yes, but he suffered in a way that you and I will never have to because he faced hell for us. He took our place. Not only does he know suffering with family, with rejection from family, suffering from persecution, suffering from rejection, suffering from being tired a lot, suffering from dealing with people a lot. It's hard, it's difficult, he knows all those things. But he endured something for us in our place that we'll never have to endure. So he knows suffering on a deeper level than you and I will ever know. And so when he asks us to suffer on his sake, he's not doing this as one not willing to do it first. And we also have a savior who, in your suffering, knows exactly what you're going through, and he can identify with it, and he knows how to pray, and he knows exactly what you need, because he's been there. You know, sometimes the greatest help we can have from people when we're looking for help, or we're looking for someone to help us with something, is someone who's already been through what we've been through. Sometimes it's very comforting if we're going through something, to have someone beside you said, I've been there. I know what this is like. Let me help you. Let me help you with what helped me during that time. This is why we read that the apostles rejoiced when they suffered in Acts 5. So they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Listen to another quote by Patrick who He was writing about his experience when he was bringing the gospel to Ireland. He says, for daily, for daily, I expected to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion arised, but I fear nothing because of the promises of heaven, for I've cast myself into the hands of almighty God who reigns everywhere. As the prophet says, cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you. So the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. And then this leads fourthly and lastly, the resurrection from the dead. Look at Philippians three and then the last half of verse nine, fellowship of sufferings being conformed to his death. If by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Now this is on the heels of suffering, and I think Paul is drawing our minds back to the Christ hymn that we looked at a while ago in chapter two, where in the middle of this hymn it says, Christ humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross. Conformed to Christ's death, I think means being humbled like Christ. It doesn't just mean physically dying. is included, but it means being humbled. Like Christ, it's bearing shame, not to be the served, but the servant, to be a foot washer, to be ridiculed. But this is done with a hope of the resurrection and being exalted with Christ. You and I will suffer in this life. We will die unless Christ returns first, but the crown is awaiting. and we will be raised again. Turn over to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter, if you want, I'm gonna read a pretty lengthy section of 1 Peter 1, so if you wanna follow along, I'm gonna start in verse three. And just hear what Peter's saying in these verses. We've read this several times as our call to worship. 1 Peter 1, starting with verse three, Bless me the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again, has adopted us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away. reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, there it is again, through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This powerful reminder of this inheritance that awaits us, that we've been adopted, that we have an inheritance, that we have everlasting life in Christ. And then Peter says, but for now, you're suffering. Because he's writing the people who probably thought, well, wait a minute, we have this inheritance, we have this God who's conquered sin and he's gonna reign. Why am I suffering? How long is this gonna last? And Peter's writing, yes, this is going to last, maybe for your lifetime here on earth, but here's what awaits you. There's pain now, there's suffering now, but look ahead, see what awaits you. Back to Philippians 3, Paul says in verse 10, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Now the phrase, if by any means, does not mean that Paul is unsure that he will be resurrected. Sometimes we see that word, if, and we think, okay, this means it might not happen. If by any means, Paul? Well, Don Carson again writes, the phrase by any means, and the original probably suggests that Paul is uncertain as to the timing and circumstances of this experience. Might it come to him, and he's talking about the death of Paul, might it come to him in his lifetime so that he receives a transformed, resurrected body without passing through death? Or will he die and then rise from the dead? Either way, by any means, he will attain to the resurrection from the dead. By any means of death or whatever may happen, he is going to obtain the resurrection. Now, I think that's very applicable for us, isn't it? We're not sure what we're going to experience in this life. You may be called to suffer on a greater level than I may. I may be called to suffer on a greater level, humanly speaking, than you might be. We're not sure of what's going to come our way in this life. We're unsure the means that God will call us to suffer or even the means how we're gonna die. Will Jesus come back before we die? Will we hear that trumpet and see the dead rise before our very eyes and then we ascend with them to meet Christ as Christ is descending to us? If not, will death be quick or will it be slow? How are we gonna die? When are we gonna die? We're unsure. You and I don't know the details. But what Paul's reminding us is that what we are sure of is that after suffering, after death, comes the resurrection from the dead. We don't know the story in between us and them and all the details, but we know what's going to happen in the end. When Jesus was at Lazarus' grave right before he resurrected him, He says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. Before his death on the cross, Jesus said to his disciples in John 14, 19, a little while longer and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. And they were probably wondering, what? Because I live, Jesus, of course you live. But how much more of that makes sense after they saw Christ die, and three days later, he rose from the dead, and then, oh, that makes sense now. Oh, Christ died, he was raised because he died and was raised when I die. I am raised because I'm in him, and everything he has is mine because I'm in him. Even the power of his resurrection is in me. Look at Philippians 3, just a few verses later in verses 20 and 21. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. So in conclusion, remember what we've looked at in verses 10 to 11. that I may know him, to grow, pursue, growing, and not only knowledge about Christ, but a relationship with him through faith, to 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. Well, to end the night, I wanted to read Psalm 63. So if you want to follow along, turn over to Psalm 63. As I was thinking about knowing Christ in verse 10, that knowledge of growing in relationship with him and that longing, that desire that hopefully we have as believers and we should have and we should pursue I wanted to close by reading this psalm. This is such an intimate psalm of love and desire and longing for God. Just listen to these words, starting in verse one of Psalm 63. Oh God, you are my God. Early I will seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you. in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you. Thus I will bless you while I live. I will lift my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips. When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, because you have been my help. Therefore, in the shadow of your wings, I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind you. Your right hand upholds me. But to those who seek my life to destroy it shall go down in the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be apportioned for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him shall glory. But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped. Let's pray. Father, what we just read, what each one of us can probably say that that is a longing of ours, but oh, how dim that longing might be for some in this room. That we read those things and we long to have that kind of a thirst for you. Or we long to be even thirsty for you or thirsting to be thirsty. We're longing to be longing for you. We're desiring to be more desirous of you. Help us, oh Jesus, to know you. Increase our faith. Increase our desire to know you more. To know the power that is at work in us. To ask you for help. To seek you. To humble ourselves before you. To not run away from suffering. Help us, Lord, in our culture, in the way we see our culture running, that we would not be afraid to stand out for Christ, that we would not try to hide in the shadows, that we would not try to just have enough godliness to get by, as if that's anything, but that we would run after our Savior. And if that means suffering, then Lord, help us to know that you're gonna be with us during that. Because we know that even when we die, we will be raised. Our life really is with you. So help us, we ask. In your name, we pray these things, Lord,