Hello, welcome to Scattered Groups, Session 7, and Season 3. This is our finale for a while, and we'll resume in another month. I'm glad you're here as we open our Bibles to Philippians, Chapter 3. Hosts, thank you for making this possible. In the next couple weeks, we'll be asking for new hosts to join the ranks of hosting these small groups. And what a blessing these groups have been. Thank you all the participants who participated the last several weeks. It's an exciting time of year with school starting for all of our students, both college and elementary and secondary. And pray for all of our students as they head back. We'll be talking about learning and growing here in just a moment. But let's pray and ask the Lord's blessing on our study today. Father, we thank you for this time to gather in fellowship, to encourage one another, to challenge one another, and to edify and build others up. We thank you for the Scatter Group hosts and their great service of opening their homes up each week. And we pray that as we have this session, it'd be just an encouragement and a help And we look forward to regrouping and coming together for season four in just another month. And so Lord, we just commit the scattered group ministry to you. We pray in Jesus name, amen. All right, so we're in Philippians chapter three. This is message seven of joyful confidence. Next season, we'll wrap up the book of Philippians and joyful confidence. We have about a chapter and a half or so to go by the time we get to there. Well, school has started or is starting soon. And the start of the school year is full of excitement, sometimes some anxiety, enthusiasm maybe. And let's pray for all of our students and staffs. We have an academy here. Let's pray for all of our homeschoolers and our public schoolers and our Christian schoolers here at the William Baptist Academy as well. But when you think about another school year, You think about growth. You think about development. You think about learning and changing. And truly, that's part of the Christian life. We're to learn, and to grow, and to change. Metamorphosis is a great term found in Romans 12, verse 1. and it means to be transformed and changed. And God wants that in our lives. It's expected. Growth and change are expected aspects of the Christian life. Sometimes Christians shy away from that word change. They're afraid of it. Or they're uncertain about the idea of the word growth, but it's expected. Sometimes Christians and preachers even will make social media posts and they'll be in conversation and they'll say things or they'll post things that does not make theological sense. It doesn't make sense of theology. One preacher was lamenting on how others had grown in their knowledge of the Bible, and had changed some parts of their life or ministry. What a foolish post! We're supposed to grow in our knowledge of the Bible, and that knowledge of the Bible should change us. And I think that maybe he was trying to hold on to man-made traditions or some Americanized idea of Christianity, something that the Bible doesn't actually teach. And that was a sad, it's a sad post when you see things and people debating and and causing issue over things like that, we're to grow and that growth results in change and ultimately we'll be like the Apostle Paul to grow in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ to become more like Him. Now the easy thing to do is to remain the same with no change. But that's going to cost you something. I like the old adage, if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. I love that. If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. Well, the Apostle Paul was hyper-educated, yet he did not know the Lord. He gives a joyful testimony, to the Philippian church about the Lord Jesus in this passage. And he writes this letter, this book of Philippians to a church. You know, church ministry is important and church participation should be important to every Bible-believing Christian. And if church participation isn't in your repertoire of things, I encourage you to get it in because you, your family, your kids, those around you, y'all need it. We need it. We need the participation. in church life, and so he shares his story with the church. We read some of these verses last time, but let's begin verse 1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, to write the same things to you. To me, indeed, is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware, it means to look out, to be aware of what's happening. Beware of dogs, Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision. Go back to last week's message if you're interested in this text in more detail. For we are the circumcision which worship God in His Spirit and rejoice in Jesus Christ and have no confidence in the flesh, no persuasion or trust in the flesh. Though I might have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust the flesh, I more circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." He said, all those things, the accolades, the achievements, the education, the background, the stuff that I did, the works that I were a part of, were refuse, they were dung. But he says, I put all that aside, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him, in the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his sufferings, be made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if I may apprehend, that for which I am also apprehended of Christ Jesus." The Lord here is really using Paul to encourage us and challenge us to know Christ for ourselves. uses the word attained in verse 10 and 11 he says if if by any means i might attain into the resurrection of the dead it means to come opposite or face to face to come down or to reach apprehended means to lay hold of and to seize we're going to unpack that more in the start of the next season of scattered groups we'll be looking at those verses in the next couple a little bit more but you get the idea with the words attained and apprehended is that he was reaching for something and he achieved some things he reached out and grabbed some things But he said, I found something to grab a hold of that's a lot better. And he's talking about his faith in Jesus Christ. Now his pedigree was good, but it's not the same thing as knowing Jesus in verses 1-6. The zeal that he had for religion was contagious, and it rubbed off on a lot of people. But it was not the same thing as enthusiasm for Jesus in verse 6. The accolades, the achievement, the approval of men was encouraging, in verses 7 and 8, but it's not the same thing as being accepted by God. personal performance, based, this performance-based righteousness, personal righteousness, performance-based righteousness, it left Paul feeling shallow. In verse nine, you see Paul, and before he became Paul, he was known as Saul, he realized he was believing in the wrong things. He had been living a life, hyper-religious, super-zealous, all enthusiastic, full of education, full of learning, full of growing, but he was learning and knowing things that were not the right things, and the best things. Paul realized he was believing in the wrong things, and he had a new goal in verse 10. Notice what it says, that I may know Him. That I may know Him. That's the goal of education as we start a new school year. That's the goal of Bible Christianity. That's the goal of your church participation in the church gathered and the church scattered. It's that we would know the Lord Jesus Christ. Why do you pray and read the Bible? Why do you read study guides? Why do you study the scriptures? It's so that you would know the Lord Jesus. Why do you have Christian friends who hold you accountable? Why do you have Bible studies that you participate in? It's so that we would know the Lord Jesus. You see, by faith in Christ, we can know God forever. We are declared righteous by faith. We are saved by faith. We know God by faith. We serve the Lord by faith. There's a fantasy story that recounts the return of Jesus to glory after his time on earth. And this is a make-believe story, but just bear with me for a moment. Jesus bore the marks of the cruel cross and shameful death, and the angel Gabriel approached him and asked, Master, do they know all about how you loved them and what you did for them? No, replied Jesus, not yet. Right now, only a handful of people in the Middle East know. Gabriel was perplexed. Then what have you done to let everyone know about your love for them? Jesus said, Well, I asked a few people, Peter and James and John and Paul, and I've asked them to tell people about me. Those who are told will tell others, and then they'll tell others, and my story then will spread throughout all the earth. Ultimately, everyone will know about my love. Gabriel frowned and said, But what if they fail? Do you have another plan? to which Jesus responded, no, I'm counting on them. Now that's a make-believe story, but I like the idea of Jesus counting on them. I mean, you think about it, there is no plan B. Jesus gave us the gospel, and he gives us his love freely, he shares that with us, and he wants us to share it with others. He wants us to give the gospel to others. Well, Saul, before he became Paul, had a lot of things going for him, but he did not really know God. You may have religion as you watch or listen today, but not know God. You may have rituals that you practice faithfully, but not really know God. You may have an education, but not have the first clue about Jesus Christ and how to have a relationship with God the Father through him. Well, let's consider some things here. By faith in Christ, we can know God forever. The secret ingredient for life, and salvation, and for righteousness, the secret ingredient is faith. It's faith. And it's not just faith in faith. It's faith in Jesus Christ. It's faith in the finished work of the resurrected Jesus. So what do you do when you realize you believe the wrong things? What do you do when you realize that you have believed the wrong things? Paul gives us some indications as to what we do. In verses 7 and 8, we should count the cost. But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ? Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them, but dumb, that I may win Christ. You have that word count there. It's a mathematical term. It's an accounting term. And he's starting to add some things up. He's starting to do some figuring about the value of some things. So when you count the cost of previous choices and life decisions and things that you previously believed, you assess the values of life choices. You discern where faith in the wrong things led you astray. Now, if you've been around a while, if you've had some life experiences, you can reflect and look back at some things, right now even, and say, oh, here's where I went wrong, here's what I should have done differently, and maybe you have some regret, but discern where faith in the wrong things have led you astray. And then compare the gain of knowing Jesus, compare that to the loss of not knowing Jesus. Add up, here's all the benefits, here's all the blessings of knowing God the Father through Jesus, and what it's done in my life, and how it's changed the trajectory of my life, and compare that to when you previously believed something wrong, or something that was not what the Bible teaches. And then realign your values with Bible truth. Not man-made tradition, not misleading rules or faulty theology. realign your life with Bible values. At the beginning of the Reformation, Martin of Beslew, Switzerland, came to the knowledge of the truth. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. He was afraid, however, to let his friends know that he no longer believed the falsehoods of the formal Roman Catholic Church of the day. He wrote these words on a parchment, and he said, O merciful Christ, I know that I can be saved only by the mirror of thy blood. Holy Jesus, I love thee. It was a confession of faith on his part. He removed an old stone from the wall of his house, and hid that parchment inside of the house. Well, that was found over 100 years later, and somebody read it and said, oh, Martin of Besley believed in Jesus. About the same time, Martin Luther of Wittenberg, Germany, also found the truth of Christ, and he boldly confessed, my Lord has confessed me before men. I will not shrink from confessing my Lord before princes and kings. And we know what followed with Martin Luther in the Great Reformation. and how he turned people back towards an understanding of Christianity based on the Bible, and not on false teaching. You see, no one knows of Martin of Basel. Nobody knows about him, but we know of Martin Luther. He counted the cost, and he wanted to win Christ. He realigned his life with Bible truth. Number two, then, confess the cross. In verse 8, notice at the end here, he's confessing the Lord I have suffered the loss of all things, and to count them but dung, that I may win Christ." Now, he says in verse 8, he says that this all has to do with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Now that's a personal confession. He's confessing that Jesus Christ is His Lord, and He is His God. Is Jesus Christ your God? Let Jesus be my Lord. Have you been saved? Have you trusted Christ for yourself? And then he says that I may win Christ. In other words, he wants to win other people to Christ, so that they would have a profession of faith in Jesus. So he's telling others of Jesus and His salvation. The new priority is not religion. He was hyper-religious, but now it's a relationship with Jesus Christ, and he wants to win Christ and tell others of the Lord. One person wrote, then, how can evangelism be defined? The New Testament answer is very simple. According to the New Testament, evangelism is simply preaching the gospel, the evangelist. That's what the gospel is. It's the good news. Evangelizing, therefore, is not simply a matter of teaching and instructing and imparting information to the mind. It's more than that. Evangelism includes the endeavor to elicit a response to the truth that's being taught. It is communication with a view to conversion. It is a matter not merely of informing, but also of inviting. And so Paul says, I'm going to win Christ. I'm going to invite others to know Jesus. And then finally, know the boss. So count the cost, confess the cross, and know the boss. This is relationship. In verses 9 and 10, be found in him. That means he's saved. In him is an important phrase. Be found in him. not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know, it's the word ginosko, it means to know, to recognize, or to perceive, that I may know him in the power, that's the word dynamite, might and strength, the dynamite, the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship, koinonia, commonality, communion of his sufferings, the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. You see, we need to count the costs, confess the cross, and know the boss. Brother Lawrence, a Puritan of years gone by, said, let us give our thoughts completely to knowing God. The more one knows Him, the more one wants to know Him. And since love is measured commonly by knowledge, then, the deeper and more extensive knowledge shall be, so love will be the greater. And if love is great, we shall love Him equally in suffering and in consolation. Be found in Jesus. Know Him as your Savior. And then know Jesus. There are several ways. Know His righteousness. That means We're not going to be bragging about our works and our achievements and our abilities. 2. Know His power. His power over sin and death. This indicates victory. Know his sufferings at the cross. This includes the pain that we'll have, the struggles that we'll have as well. And then know his life. Know his life. Notice the word conforming, being conformable unto his death. That just shouts Galatians 2.20 as I read that verse and read that idea of being conformable to his death. Galatians 2.20 says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. What do you do when you realize you believe the wrong things? count the cost, confess the cross, and then know the boss. The goal of Bible Christianity is that God would be our God, that we would be his people, and friends, that includes us knowing him in a personal way. So keep growing, keep learning, and keep changing to become more like Christ. Please take some time to answer these questions and then pray with your group. God bless.