Paul’s Autobiography (Philippians 3:4-11)
Paul’s Autobiography
Philippians 3:4-11
December 8, 2013
Last Sunday night we entered this new section in the book of Philippians.
After spending two chapters encouraging the Philippians to be people who rejoice, Paul now gets specific as to who they are to rejoice in.
Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.”
Paul wanted the Philippians not only to rejoice,
But to specifically rejoice in Jesus.
Paul wanted them to take the time to contemplate how important Jesus is in their life and to reflect on what we have in Him.
The reason for this was that rejoicing is a “safeguard”
Why did they need a safeguard?
Because there were many false teachers running around.
Philippians 3:2-3 “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,”
There was a whole group of false teachers threatening the church.
• Their religion was skin deep.
• They boasted in their religious works.
• They put confidence in all they had done.
And they were very dangerous because their egotistical and showy religion actually tempted others to join in with them.
And that is what Paul was concerned about.
So he wrote this chapter to remind the Philippians to rejoice in Jesus,
To remember who He was and all He had done and in doing so
To protect themselves from the heresy of the Judaizers.
Last week we saw this opening warning
And learned how to spot one of those dogs.
If you want to see the difference between one of those dogs of the false circumcision and a true child of God, then you look at four criteria.
1) The Sincerity of their Commitment
“we are the true circumcision”
Our circumcision is of the heart, not the flesh,
And it in no way is meant to replace Jesus.
Our religious ordinances are merely a symbol of what he has done for us.
Look if a person’s religion is only skin deep, or if it effects the heart.
And look to see if their religion is their means of salvation or not.
2) The Substance of their Worship
“who worship in the Spirit of God”
Again this simply means that true believers really do worship.
(Since all true worship is done in the Spirit)
It isn’t tradition, it isn’t liturgy, it is heart worship.
Israel were those who honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him.
That is not a true child of God.
They love the Lord with all their heart.
3) The Subject of their Glory
“and glory in Christ Jesus”
• What do they brag about the most?
• What do they boast about the most?
In their speech, when they talk, is all about what they have accomplished,
Or is it all about what Jesus has accomplished?
Where do they boast?
4) The Source of their Confidence
“who put no confidence in the flesh”
And finally, what is it that they are trusting in for success in the future?
• Do they smile at the future because they are so good at what they do?
• Do they have confidence toward eternity because of their own works?
A true child of God knows that there is nothing good in their flesh at all.
Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”
A true child of God is poor in spirit.
They have learned that they are spiritually bankrupt.
They have embraced the statement of Isaiah:
Isaiah 64:6-9 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever; Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.”
A true child of God would never present their resume to God
As a means of acceptance.
They have no confidence in their flesh whatsoever.
• A true believer is crucifying the flesh.
• A true believer makes no provision for the flesh.
• A true believer walks by the Spirit so they won’t follow the flesh.
But they never put confidence in it.
And that is the argument Paul is going to continue for us this evening.
In fact he goes on to say:
(4) “although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:”
Paul says, true believers don’t trust their flesh for salvation,
But if they did, trust me, I could outdo all of them.
It is part of his warning.
Paul is not boasting in his flesh, he is not even proud of his past.
Many times in the Scriptures he laments who he used to be.
However, in order to silence those who did boast in their flesh,
Paul revealed some of his resume.
His point is this.
• These guys boast in their flesh, and that is foolish.
• For even if the flesh was worth boasting in, theirs isn’t even that
good.
• If we wanted to boast about human accomplishment, I could blow
them out of the water.
And incidentally, this isn’t the only time Paul does this sort of thing.
2 Corinthians 11:16-29 “Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also. For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face. To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison. But in whatever respect anyone else is bold — I speak in foolishness — I am just as bold myself. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? — I speak as if insane — I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?”
Paul didn’t want to debate the merits of the flesh,
But if forced to do so, he could certainly win.
That is what he is doing here.
He is reinforcing his point that even if they can,
True believers put no confidence in the flesh.
Two main points (we’ll break them down more)
#1 PAUL’S RELIGIOUS PAST
Philippians 3:4-6
Here he sets out to show that if it came down to religious work,
None of these Judaizers could hold a candle to him.
And look at his resume.
(5-6) “circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.”
And just take a moment and look at
What a tremendously decorated past Paul had.
(It isn’t worth much for getting a person into heaven,
but as far as the world was concerned, it was impressive)
“circumcised the eighth day”
Obviously this was required for all Jewish boys.
But even in saying this, Paul elevated himself over any proselytes
Who had converted to Judaism later in life.
“So you became a Jew at age 35, well, I was faithful from the time I was eight days old!”
It was to point out that he had no embarrassing past.
He had no skeletons in his closet.
From the beginning he was faithful
“of the nation of Israel”
This would be a slight to any Gentiles who converted to Judaism.
Maybe you became a Jew, but I was born one.
Paul wasn’t just a convert, he had Abraham’s genetics.
“of the tribe of Benjamin”
Most Jews, since the exile, couldn’t tell you which tribe they were from,
But apparently Paul’s lineage had been preserved.
But then to be from the prestigious tribe of Benjamin.
• Benjamin was preserved with Judah as part of the Southern Kingdom.
• Israel’s first King (Saul) was from Benjamin
• Mordecai was from Benjamin
• When the Promised Land was divided, Jerusalem was in Benjamin’s allotment
Benjamin was a prestigious tribe.
“a Hebrew of Hebrews”
Even amongst Jews, there was a growing division.
We had Hellenistic Jews and we had native Hebrews.
The Hellenistic Jews were those who had adopted Greek culture and language.
But not the Hebrews.
• They were loyalists.
• They hadn’t been diluted, they hadn’t rejected their roots.
Paul was a Hebrew and one of the best of them.
Even among the Hebrews, Paul stood out as really devout.
Incidentally the first person to be called a Hebrew was Abraham.
When Lot was kidnapped and messengers came to tell Abraham.
Genesis 14:13 “Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram.”
The word “Hebrew” meant “one who crosses over”
It referred to a man who jumped the river.
A man who has entered our land.
It was a slang and even derogatory term.
It would be like calling a Hispanic person a “wet back”
Well that is what they called Abraham.
It referred to one who was different.
By Paul’s day it was a title that was embraced.
“I stood apart even from those who stood apart”
“as to the Law, a Pharisee;”
Pharisees were known for their strict adherence to the Law.
They even adhered to the rabbinic traditions.
They strained out a gnat from their water.
They tithed mint and dill and cumin.
No one was more strict to the Law than a Pharisee.
“as to zeal, a persecutor of the church”
No Judaizer could claim this.
They tried to proselyte the church,
But none of them actually tried to destroy it.
You want to talk about zeal,
Paul set out to completely annihilate the church.
That is ambition.
Which of these false converts could claim as much commitment as him?
“as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.”
Furthermore, you could take the Law and hold it up to Paul,
And at least in an outward legalistic sense, Paul was blameless.
And the point he is making is obvious.
We don’t measure the flesh, but if we did,
I could blow them out of the water.
I have more reason to put confidence in the flesh than anyone I know.
And yet, you will see that the flesh means nothing to Paul.
What follows is the missing part to Paul’s testimony in the book of Acts.
When Paul shares his testimony in Acts
He gives all the outer events and changes that occurred.
Here we see how Paul’s heart changed.
He didn’t quit being an outward Jew and start being an outward Christian.
Paul’s heart completely changed toward Christ.
And this is the difference Paul is trying to reveal.
True children of God don’t just give lip service to Jesus,
They love Him with all they are.
Paul’s Religious Past
#2 PAUL’S RELENTLESS PASSION
Philippians 3:7-11
And what a statement we find in verse 7
“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
• All of that stuff I worked so hard for…
• All of that stuff I was so proud of…
• All of that stuff that distinguished me as somebody…
All of that stuff “I have counted as loss”
It is stuff that I willingly let go of.
It is stuff that was a necessary casualty.
• I didn’t try to add Jesus to my Judaism.
• I didn’t try to be a Christian Pharisee.
• I didn’t try to be a Benjamite Hebrew Missionary.
I willingly let go of all of that.
No more Benjamite
No more Hebrew
No more Jew
Now it was all Jesus.
How many people today try to follow Jesus and yet never let go of their former manner of life?
• We have cowboy churches
• We have biker churches
• We have beach churches
And it’s not that all of those people can’t be saved,
It’s just that we are not trying to hold on to our old identity.
I don’t even particularly like the term “Messianic Jew”
When Peter and Paul and those Jews got saved, they didn’t call themselves “Messianic Jews” they called themselves “Christians”
1 Peter 4:15-16 “Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”
And that is what Paul is saying here.
I’m not clinging to my heritage, I lost all of that “for the sake of Christ”.
Some would ask, WHY?
Well, that is precisely what Paul answers.
He gives three reasons why he would no longer cling to his fleshly accomplishments, but would now cling to only to Jesus.
1) THE VALUE OF KNOWING HIM (8)
“More than that, I count all things to be lost 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,”
Sure I lost my Jewish heritage…
Sure I lost my Pharisaical position…
But that’s not all:
“More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”
Paul didn’t just lose his religious pedigree,
He willingly lost everything to know Jesus.
His status…
His job…
His reputation…
His wealthy…
Any of the things Paul might have had,
He willingly let them all go for Jesus.
And isn’t that the call?
Matthew 4:18-20 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”
Matthew 4:21-22 “Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”
Matthew 8:21-22 “Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.”
Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Luke 14:33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”
Luke 19:8 “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
I think you get the point.
Jesus never offered to join your existing life.
His offer was to allow you to be “born again”.
If you would forsake your life, He would give you a new one,
But He would not renovate the existing one.
And Paul says, I took that offer.
I actually traded my old legalistic life of labor for an intimate personal relationship with the God of the universe.
Paul said, “for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.”
And I know I’ve told you before, but the word for “rubbish” there
Is actually the word for “manure” and it is the street term.
Lest you think Paul was just being religious,
He made no bones about it that his old life
Was worth nothing compared to knowing Christ.
And this is a truth we see in Scripture.
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
And you’ll remember there, that the issue in those parables
Is not the cost of the kingdom, but the VALUE of it.
We have a treasure hunter and pearl dealer.
Both knew what things were worth.
And they didn’t bat an eye to trade all they had to acquire the kingdom.
They never even though about what it cost,
Because what they gained was so much more valuable.
That is what Paul said.
Compared to Christ everything else is manure.
I had all those earthly accolades,
But I more than willingly gave them up because I gained Christ.
It’s the value of knowing Him.
Christians don’t boast in their flesh, because they know
That compared to Christ, their flesh isn’t worth anything.
WE HAVE CHRIST!!!
The Value of Knowing Him
2) THE VIRTUE OF TRUSTING HIM (9)
“and may be found in Him, not have 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,”
By now we should all know the value of righteousness.
Very simply put, God is righteous and if you are not,
You do not get to go to heaven to be with Him.
Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
Unrighteousness only lands you square in the middle of the wrath of God.
That means that man needs righteousness.
And throughout the history of the world man has two ways in which he has tried to obtain it.
One is by your own effort, the other is by someone else’s effort.
Now Paul spent much of his life trying to obtain righteousness
By his own effort.
He called it “righteousness derived from the Law”
In fact back in verse 6 he said that in regard to that righteousness
He was “found blameless”
As far as human works and human righteousness are concerned,
Paul was the cream of the crop.
He went as far as a man could go in that regard.
However, that righteousness is faulty,
And falls far short of the righteousness God desires.
Romans 3:19-20 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
That path doesn’t work.
But the second path is when man trusts in someone else for righteousness.
Christ takes His perfect righteousness and imputes it
To all those who place their faith in Him.
This is “the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”
Paul said:
Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
God’s righteousness only comes through faith in Christ.
And that is again why Paul was so eager
To leave everything behind and get Christ.
Not only do I get the value of knowing Christ,
But I also get His righteous virtue.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Why wouldn’t I gladly lose all things to gain Him?
In Him I get righteousness.
Value of Knowing Him, The Virtue of Trusting Him
3) THE VICTORY OF FOLLOWING HIM (10-11)
“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 attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul knew that following Jesus was a wonderful thing.
By following Jesus he would get POWER
“the power of His resurrection”
This is not yet Paul saying, “I know I’ll rise”, that comes later.
This is Paul putting the power of Christ’s resurrection to work in his life.
Romans 6:5-7 “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”:
Paul was talking about the power of the resurrected life.
In Christ I get victory over sin.
I no longer have to do it.
• “who will set me free from the body of this death?”
• “thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
When Paul gained Jesus, He gained power over sin.
By following Jesus he also got FELLOWSHIP
“the fellowship of His sufferings”
Suffering is part of this life whether you are a Christian or not.
We’ve been learning about the sin curse.
And with or without Jesus you are going to suffer.
The difference is that with Jesus, you never suffer alone.
In your suffering there is actually fellowship.
• He walks with you.
• He sticks by you.
• He teaches you.
• He comforts you.
That is victory over despair and fear.
That I know regardless of what I face,
My fellowship with Christ will not be forsaken.
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In suffering we don’t get abandoned.
We get fellowship.
He is our fourth man in the fire.
And by following Jesus Paul also got CONFORMITY
“being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
We read it earlier:
Romans 6:5 “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,”
In Christ, I died to self, and through Christ I will conquer the grave.
That is victory over death.
Paul knew that when He gained Christ He gained victory over SIN,
Victory over DESPAIR, and victory over DEATH.
When you follow Christ you really do get it all.
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
You may in fact lose this life,
But it pales in comparison to the one you gain.
And that is Paul’s point.
There is a whole group who boast in their own accomplishments
And who trust in those works for their future deliverance.
Paul says, “I used to do that too, and I was good at it”
But I found something more valuable than all of those works.
I found something that made those works look like manure.
I found something that caused me to quickly throw those works away.
I found Christ.
• I found the value of knowing Him
• I found the virtue of trusting Him
• I found the victory of following Him
And because of that, there is no reason
To ever want to go back to the flesh again.
And this is Paul’s message to the Philippians.
Don’t get sucked in by those people
Who put all their focus on their religious works.
Those people are phonies.
Instead, you learn to rejoice in the Lord.
• He is the value
• He is the virtue
• He is the victory
He is the One you want, because when you get Christ, you got it all.
There is nothing else you need.
Spend your life pursuing Him and rejoicing in Him.
And that is the encouragement to you tonight as well.
Think about what you got when you got Christ.
And don’t be seduced into thinking there is more out there than Him.
Let your whole life go and latch on to Jesus, you will not be disappointed.
