|
 1 of 4
 
SERMONLiving with JesusThe surpassing greatness of Christ is worth our everything.Francis Chan
Text: Philippians 3:1–10
Topic: What it really looks like to follow Christ
From the editor:
Just below, you'll find a few introductory remarks from Francis Chan about his sermon. We want to encourage you to go ahead and watch the message on the audio player embedded in the transcript below or listen to the message by clicking here. It's quite powerful to take in Chan's sermons "live" before reading them. Also, to learn more about Francis Chan, read Francis Chan's Crazy Love, a special article by our sister site, Today's-Christian.com.
Introductory remarks from Francis Chan:
Philippians 3:1–11 has been a passage that has disturbed me for years. I would always struggle with the suffering mentioned in verse 10. As I studied it this time, though, God opened my eyes and allowed me to genuinely desire the fellowship with Christ that comes through suffering.
Becoming a Christian in the '80s, I was taught much about the "benefits" of accepting Christ, but little about the cost. It wasn't until a few years ago that I was taught about the actual joy that could come with suffering. It took a while for me to believe it. While I used to pray that I could skate through this earth with little suffering, I now pray with Paul that I could "share in [Christ's] sufferings."
The idea of martyrdom always appealed to me because of the benefits of spending eternity with the knowledge that I gave my earthly life for the cause. I just didn't want to go through the pain. There was a secret desire to die as a martyr, but to do so painlessly—a bullet through the brain or something of that sort. I know that sounds silly, but I'm just being honest! This passage took away my fears, for the most part, of suffering for Christ in any way. It has allowed me to see it as a good thing. In a time when Christians are doing everything they can to avoid the suffering, persecution, and poverty of Christ, Paul's words are critical. We need to be consumed with Jesus and Jesus alone.
Rejoicing in the Lord, not in what you've done
I love Philippians 3:1–10, because in it, Paul talks about being obsessed with Jesus Christ. He talks about being consumed to the point that everything is about Jesus—not about balancing your life or adding a little religion. He talks about getting to the point where Jesus is all that matters. That's why he writes in verse one: "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you" (ESV).
"Rejoice in the Lord." If you rejoice in the things of life that go up and down, they're going to affect your mood. But if you rejoice in the Lord, you have a "constant" in Jesus. Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's always on his throne. Knowing that you have him as your Savior—that you have an intimacy with him—you cannot help but think, That's my one constant in life. Paul says you should rejoice in that. He says it's no trouble to write the same things again, because we all need to be reminded to rejoice in the Lord.
After the reminder to rejoice in the Lord, Paul writes in verse 2: "Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh." Paul says we need to rejoice in the Lord, and we need to look out for people that are going to keep us from focusing on Jesus. He calls these people dogs. When you hear the word dogs, you probably think, Aaaaw. But that's not what the Philippian church was thinking when they heard the word dogs. Dogs were disgusting to them. They were the scum of the earth—scavengers. When Paul mentions dogs, he is talking primarily about a group called the Judaizers—Jewish people who were focused entirely on the law. It's significant that Paul calls these people dogs, because that is the term the Jewish people used to refer to everyone who didn't believe in Yahweh God, who didn't believe in the goodness of God, his righteousness, his promises. Instead, they tried to find or create their own gods and systems of righteousness. Jews would look at them and say, "You do not believe in the true God, you dogs." But in this text Paul turns the term on fellow Jews saying: Wait a second! Now you are the ones that aren't relying on the promises of Yahweh! You are the ones who have created your own works-righteousness system. You are the dogs.
This is a foreign thought to many of us. To be politically correct, you don't call anyone a dog, right? Everyone's a good person. If they have created a system of works where they think they're going to go to heaven, you know what? They're good people, because they're working, they're trying. But that's not the way people spoke in the ancient world. That's not the way the apostle Paul spoke. He called such people dogs. He called them evildoers. Why? Because they're taking the focus off of God and putting it on themselves. They are putting confidence in their own flesh.
Paul goes on to refer to those who put confidence in flesh as "those who mutilate the flesh." I know it's kind of a weird thing to talk about, but let's talk about circumcision. When you study the Old Testament, you find that God instituted circumcision as a way for a person to align themselves with God. It was also a sign for people to separate themselves, saying, "I'm a believer in the promises of Yahweh. I believe in his goodness. I believe he is my deliverer." Circumcision was like putting on a team jersey, saying, "I'm a part of this team. I believe in the goodness of Yahweh." But circumcision was never meant to be a work by which you earned the favor of Yahweh God. It was just a way of saying you believe in the goodness of Yahweh God. What some people were doing in Paul's time—including these Judaizers—was to take circumcision and turn it into some type of work that helped them earn righteousness. They thought, If I do this, then I'll gain favor with God. But Paul doesn't even believe that they have the right to call what they are doing circumcision. He uses a different phrase. He says they are mutilating their flesh. They are cutting themselves up for the sake of their own glory, for their own righteousness. He says to the Philippian church: Beware of people like that—people who say you have to do this or do that to get the grace of God. These people are dogs. They are evildoers. Stay away from them. Don't call them good people. They're trying to keep you from trusting in the promises of God—his goodness and forgiveness and grace.
Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord." Don't rejoice in what you've done. That's what the Judaizers are doing. He says: We are the true circumcision, the real thing—we who worship by the Spirit of God. When you hear the phrase "worship by the Spirit of God," most of you think of singing, because we've reduced the idea of worship to singing songs. But that is not what the people Paul wrote to had in mind. When they heard the Greek word for worship, they weren't thinking about singing. This particular word for worship carries with it the idea of servanthood or service or coming under the authority of someone. When Paul says we are the true circumcision, he is saying that we are the ones who are really following Jesus because we're coming under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. A true follower is a person who says, "If that's what the Holy Spirit of God wants me to do, I'm going to come under that authority. I'm going to serve him. I'm going to follow him." That's much harder than singing! True followers of Christ are those who glory in Christ Jesus; those who brag about what Jesus did on the cross; those who brag about him rising from the dead. We glory in him and not by anything we've pulled off. The real followers of Yahweh put no confidence in the flesh.
 share this page
| | |
Free Newsletters
RSS Feeds 
The Practical Journal for Church Leaders
|
|
|
|
|
|
Printer view
by 6 members.
back to top
