My text tonight is found in Philippians 3, verse 7, where the apostle Paul says, But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. And I want to speak to you this evening on Paul's spiritual arithmetic concerning salvation. He's been doing some counting up in this passage. And he realizes that the things he once counted in his favor, doing him good before God, were actually of no value. And the thing that he counted as loss and rejected, he realized it was the prize and it was of the greatest value. And he sought then to receive it. Paul in this passage is really giving a word of testimony. warned the Philippians to beware of certain people in verse 2. Beware of dogs, and that's not the four-legged variety, it's really those who were spiritual dogs. The dog was unclean in Bible times, and there were those who set themselves up as preachers, but really they were unclean, they were false prophets. He says, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers beware of the concision. And he was really warning them of those who taught salvation was by the works of the flesh. He then went on to tell them of his life experience. That there was a time in his life when prior to his conversion, He sought salvation in the flesh. But then he was confronted by the Lord and converted to the Lord and his outlook completely changed. Now he had testified before. He gave a word of testimony in Acts chapter 22. And if you read that chapter, you will discover that he emphasizes there the events that took place at his conversion and how he was actually converted. He spoke about the time. In verse 6 of Acts 22, he highlights that it was at noon as he traveled the road to Damascus. His salvation, he testified, took place at a specific time. I can't say with the Apostle Paul, it was at noon, or it was half seven, or it was a quarter to eight, but I know it was the evening time, in the month of July, in the year 1993, that I was saved. Salvation happens at a specific time, and Paul could look back and he could say, there was a time It was noonday, I was traveling to Damascus, and there on that road, He was saved. It took place at a time. Can you look back? Do you have that time in your life when specifically you know, I was saved and I got right with God? Salvation isn't a process. It's an act. And it takes place in a moment of time. He emphasized that when he testified in Acts 22. He also emphasized there was a voice that spoke to him. I'm just referring to the passage in Acts 22 in verse 7. He said that he heard a voice, and it was the voice of God. It was a voice that exposed his sin, It was a voice that convinced him that Jesus was the Messiah, and it was a voice that called him unto Christ. Friends, at that time when God saves sinners, He speaks to them. Sometimes He speaks through the preaching of the Word. Sometimes His Spirit is working just directly on the heart, showing the individual, I am a sinner. Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah who was to come into the world. He's the only Savior and I must come to Him. But when God saves a sinner, He speaks to that man or that woman. And that's what Paul's emphasizing as he testified in Acts 22. There was a time There was a voice. And then there was a response when Paul submitted and subjected himself to the Lord. He responded in Acts 22 and verse 10, what shall I do? Or as it is in Acts 9, when it actually took place, he said, what will thou have me to do? And in conversion, a sinner submits to, and he responds to the Lord, he or she, in repentance and faith. That's what he was doing. That's what happened. And he's emphasizing that. And those are the basic elements of a testimony. When someone testifies of God's saving grace, they testify of a time when God dealt with them, God spoke to them, God called them, and they responded, and they passed from death unto life. Have you had such an experience? I trust you have. But in Philippians chapter 3, it's not those outward elements that Paul is emphasizing, but rather he is giving us his reasoning and his thinking before he was converted to Christ and how it changed when he met Christ and received Christ. And it's as if he's doing some arithmetic. For a number of times he uses the word counted. Verse 7, I counted loss. Verse 8, I counted all things but loss. Verse 8 again, and do count them as dung. but done that I may win Christ. And you can see, look at verse 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. And it's as if he's doing some arithmetic. He's counting up. He counts what he thought was gain, and then he realized it was loss, and then he counts what is truly gain in relation to the salvation of his soul. And verse 7 sums it up so well. What things were gained to me before he was saved? Those I counted loss for Christ. There's Paul's spiritual arithmetic. in relation to his salvation. And from this text, let's consider in more detail a number of things. I want you to consider, firstly, Paul's assessment of the past. He's speaking about outward things that he thought would merit him favor and salvation before God. And he says he once counted them as gain. What things were Gihon? That's in the past tense. There were things that Paul counted as bringing him Gihon before God in the past. And it's the language of the businessman. It's as if he's taking the pen and he's writing down in one column all his perceived assets, which he felt were in his favor, and he's counting them up. But once he was saved, he realized that rather than bringing him gain, they were actually bankrupting him. They were a loss to him, and they were leading him to a loss. In fact, he says, Now I count them but dung, something that was abhorrent, something repulsive, something to be rid of. But before he was saved, he counted, he thought these things were bringing him gain and favor and merit and salvation, earning him salvation before the Lord. And what were they? Well, they're summed up in verse 5. For he says in verse 4, If any other man thinketh that he hath were off, he might trust in the flesh, I more. If any man thinks he can boast in, or glory in the flesh, and in the works of the flesh, for salvation and for merit before God, I can give a better boast. I can boast more. And then he lists them. And I've summarized them in three. He speaks about his relations, or his pedigree. He says, of the stock of Israel, and Hebrew of Hebrews. Of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews. I can trace my pedigree right back to Abraham, the father of the faithful, the one that God took and entered into covenant with, that from him the Messiah would come into the world, of whom He would make a great and mighty nation in Old Testament times. who would be His peculiar people unto Himself. I can trace it right back to Abraham, through Benjamin, the son of Jacob, one of the fathers of the twelve tribes. I'm a Benjamite. I have Israeli blood, Jewish blood. I'm in Hebrew off the Hebrews. He could boast in his relations, in his pedigree. He could boast in his rights. Circumcised, the eighth day of the stock of Israel. Aye, the Old Testament sacrament, the sign of the covenant that the Messiah would come into the world through the descendants of Abraham, the earthly descendants. That Old Testament sacrament that symbolized, yes, the Messiah would come through the line of Abraham, but also that the Israelites needed the new heart, the new birth, the cutting off of the flesh, a new heart. And just according to the law, he was circumcised the eighth day. He had the Old Testament rite and sacrament. He could boast in his relations, he could boast in his religious rites, he could boast in his religion. Look at what the end of verse 5 says, as touching the law, a Pharisee. The Pharisees were the strictest sect within Judaism. They specialized in studying the law. They sought to live it out outwardly in their lives. And you'll notice what he says in these verses. He goes on to say, touching the righteousness which is of the law blameless. I lived it outwardly. Friends, that's why Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, do you remember what he done? He showed the people that the law was spiritual. He said, the law says, thou shalt not commit adultery, but I say unto you, if you look at a woman in your heart to lust after her, you've committed adultery already. And he was showing the people that adherence to the law outwardly was not sufficient. If you base your salvation and hope to get to heaven by keeping the law, keeping it outwardly is never enough. Paul says, outwardly I kept it all, but still inwardly his heart was sinful. He could boast in his rites, in his relations, and in his religion. He counted it all game that under God, surely, born of the tribe of Benjamin, the Old Testament covenant people of God, surely, having the rites and the sacraments of the Old Testament church, it would carry favour with God, Surely going through all of the law, both its morals and its ceremonies and its services would give him fever with God. Yet he says, when I was saved, I realized all those things that I counted gain, they're really loss. Because while they have a place, We should thank God for our Christian and our evangelical heritage, our Christian parents, our grandparents who taught us the gospel, for Christian churches that preach the gospel that we can attend to. Yet, that heritage, those relations will not save us. They'll not give us one ounce of favor with God in taking away our sins. We're told in John 1 verse 12 and 13 that we're born again, not of the will of man, nor of the flesh, nor of blood. That's earthly blood, but of God. The rites and ceremonies, whether they're old or New Testament, cannot wash away our sin. And all the services of the sanctuary will never give us peace with God. And therefore, Paul says, when I met the Lord on the Damascus road, the things that I counted as gain, I realized they were loss because they were keeping me from the Savior. And whatever your trust, whatever you count as gain, spiritually, if it's anything other than the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is truly loss. Because salvation is not by works of righteousness, which we can do, but by his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration. And that's what happened, Paul, on the Damascus road. His assessment of the past, the earthly, the fleshly, the religious things I trusted in, I boasted in, to gain me favor with God in a place in heaven. I now count them as done. because none of those things could take my sins away and make me ready for heaven. Only Christ could. That brings us to the second thought tonight. You not only have Paul's assessment of the past, but you have his assurance, his assurance in the present. Look at verse 7 again, what things were given to me, those I counted lost, for Christ. He has the assurance now that he is Christ. And he has the assurance that on the Damascus road, Christ became his. And he speaks about a great transaction that took place, and you'll see it in verse 9. He says, My great desire to be found in Him. Not having mine own righteousness. That's what Paul was trying to do. From he was old enough to understand. From his teaching at the feet of Gamaliel. He was trying to establish his own righteousness by the law. But when he met the Lord on the Damascus road, he says his thinking had all changed. My desire now is to be found in Christ, not having mine own righteousness, which is off the law. but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." And when Paul met Christ on the Damascus road, he had this assurance that he had the righteousness of God which is by faith. No longer is he trying to establish his own righteousness. No longer is he trying to work for his own salvation, but rather he has received a righteousness from Christ that reveals for him the righteousness which is of God by faith. In Christ, Paul had a righteousness. that revealed for him. Can I say to you tonight, it is a required righteousness. Matthew 5 and 20, Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, Accept your righteousness, exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said, you need a better righteousness than the Pharisees. There's Paul, and he's a Pharisee, and he's going about to establish his own righteousness. He's keeping all the Jewish feasts. He's keeping all the Jewish ceremonies. He is the Jewish sacrament. He's going to the synagogue. He's reading and studying the law. He's seeking to live it outwardly in his life, so that men can't point a finger and say, you've broken this command, or that command, or the other command. Jesus said, if you're going to get into the kingdom of heaven, you need a better righteousness than the Pharisees. If you want to get into heaven, friends, you need a righteousness that avails before God. And it's not a righteousness you can provide for yourself. It's a required righteousness. Let me say to you, it's a revealed righteousness. Romans chapter 1, verse 16 and 17, one of the great verses of the Protestant Reformation, I'm not ashamed, Paul said. The Gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Now, this is a verse I didn't understand for years. A number of years after I was saved, I could never understand it. I had to learn it in Bible college, one of Hammond's hundred texts that Dr. Paisley made us learn off by heart. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed. And I remember hearing Dr. Alan Kearns preach on these verses on one occasion, and it was like a light flicked on in my mind. For therein In what? In the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, for therein, in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. This saving righteousness for sinners is revealed in the gospel. And what is revealed in the gospel about this saving righteousness? 2 Corinthians 5 and 21, He hath made Him, the Father hath made the Son, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. He died an atoning death. He was made sin for us who knew no sin. He took our sin and paid the debt for it that He would give to us His righteousness that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And the Gospel reveals how that Jesus Christ came in His life to provide A perfect righteousness in His sinless life, in His atoning death. He has provided a righteousness for sinners in and by the gospel. And it's revealed to us in the gospel. It's not only a required righteousness. It's not only a revealed righteousness. But to benefit you it must be a received righteousness, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Or as Paul put it in verse 9 of Philippians 3, and be found in Christ, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ. We have a righteousness of God in Christ by faith. Or as Paul put it again in Romans 10 and verse 10, He said, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. The moment the sinner believes on Christ from his heart, he believes unto righteousness. God, the theological term is God imputes righteousness to him. He gives it to his account. It is received by faith and by faith alone. For Christ, Romans 10 and 4, is the fulfillment, the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. The moment the sinner believes in Jesus Christ, he becomes their righteousness. And his is a perfect righteousness. that reveals before God for the sinner. And Paul in conversion had that assurance that he would be found in Christ and was in Christ righteous before the Lord. Let me say to you tonight that you will either be found before God in your own righteousness and your righteousness is in his side or his filthy rags. They are defiled and unclean, and they'll never get you to heaven, but you will either be found in your own righteousness, which is of the law, or you will be found in Christ's righteousness. The one will never avail and never save, because you've broken the law, and you cannot keep it perfectly. The other, Christ's righteousness is perfect and it saves the sinner. Which one are you found before him tonight? Paul's assessment of the past, the things that I thought were gain and giving me merit and favor with God, now I count but loss. His assurance for the present. I count them lost for Christ. And in Christ, He was righteous before God. That brings me tonight to the final thought. And with this I'll briefly close. We have not only His assessment of the past and His assurance for the present, but we have His anticipation for the future. What things were gained to me, those I counted loss? For Christ. And he goes on in these verses to speak about His anticipation for the future in Christ and with Christ. Look at the end of verse 8. That I may win Christ. Look at verse 11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Look at verse 14. I press. toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You know, the world told Paul that Christ brought him loss. He suffered the loss of all things. He lost his reputation. He lost his position in Judaism. He lost his friends. But he found Christ. And with Christ he had great gain. Do you remember what he said in Philippians chapter 1 verse 21? But for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And that's our anticipation for the future. We have Christ now in our hearts, but when we die, It will not be lost. It will be gained. For Christ is the heir of all things. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We will attain to the resurrection. We will be glorified with Him. The vile body will be made like unto His glorious body. We'll enter into the inheritance that we share with Him in the eternal kingdom. We will gain the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. What a way to sum up our eternal inheritance in Christ. The prize of the high calling of God. in Christ Jesus. It's eternal life. It's our inheritance as heirs of God because we're joint heirs with Christ. It's a resurrected and glorified body and soul. It is a place in the eternal kingdom to reign with Him. Paul lost nothing, really. A few earthly things, but I tell you what he gained in Christ was so much more. And as he counted it up, he said to have Christ is great gain. I trust that you will have Paul's testimony. I trust you will have Paul's mindset. And you'll do Paul's arithmetic. That before conversion, all those things you thought were gain, that they're really loss. Might be pleasure, might be sin. For Paul it was religious rites and ceremonies. They're loss. that I might win Christ and be found in Him. And the Lord bless His Word tonight, the wall of our hearts, and give thanks for His saving righteousness in the gospel