Knowing Christ Above All | Pastor Cody Harlow August 31st, 2025- Philippians 3:1-11

In chapter 2:1 17 he was rejoicing that he was being poured out for the sake of the Philippian believers. He was calling the Philippians to rejoice in verse 18 of chapter 2. And now he gives that command to rejoice in the Lord. And we're tempted to rejoice in all sorts of things, aren't we? Like when the doctor calls you and he has good news, right? That's a reason to say woohoo. Yeah, that's that's awesome. Or if there's a happy news from a friend, a friend is expecting or maybe they got a promotion at work. We celebrate that. We rejoice in that, a birthday party. And there are lots of things that make us happy. And yet here Paul, he instructs the Philippians to find their joy in the thing that never changes. We serve an unchanging God. He has not changed one bit from Genesis to Revelation. He's the same God and he's consistent and he is faithful. And this isn't something something new that Paul is calling them to do. Paul has hoped in the Lord to send Timothy to the Philippians. He has confidence in the Lord that he is going to visit them soon. And now he's grounding joy not in whether or not he's liberated from being in chains as he is in prison. He's he's not tying his joy to whether or not people are going to follow his teaching that he's writing here in the book of Philippians. He is tying his joy into the Lord because the Lord never changes and is the abundant source of joy for the Christian. And so that leads us to the first point here is that our joy is anchored in Christ. Our joy it must be in order for us to be genuinely joyful with an everlasting abundant joy. It has to be firmly secured to the person and work of Jesus. And this rejoicing in the Lord is not a Pauline thing. It's a Biblical thing. As we see in Psalm 32:11, it says, "Be glad in the

Lord and rejoice. Oh rejoice and shout for joy, all you upright in heart." Later on in chapter 97:12, "Rejoice in the Lord, oh, oh you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name," the psalmist continues in chapter 104:34, "May the meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord." And let's be honest, rejoicing in the Lord is very difficult when life's circumstances aren't the best. I mean, as a parent, when your kid is acting up and behaving in a way that you've taught them not to behave, it's hard to rejoice in the Lord in that moment. Amen. Kids, I hope that you're hearing that, right? Or when you do get a call from the doctor and it's not a good report, it's hard to rejoice in the Lord. And so, how can we o obey this apostolic command when joy is difficult? Well, we have to remember that joy is a is a God-given choice. Even when the circumstances are dark, remember Paul, he is in chains right now. He is kept under guard by Roman soldiers, the Ptorian guard. And yet his joy and his hope is so contagious that all the guards know that he is imprisoned for Christ. Also, we should know that the Gospel it is what gives us grounds for our everlasting joy. One day all of the things that weigh us down, all the things happening in the world and you know we live in this 247 news cycle of rage, right? You know all those things are going to pass away. All the division, all the anxiety, all the diseases that bring suffering, all of the death, all of that sin that permeates us and our world is going to be brought at a glorious end. Amen. >> And I look forward to that time. We're not going to have to worry about

All the stuff that competes for our affection and occupies so much of our minds. And thank the Lord for that. That because of the eternal hope, because of Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection, we can abide with an eternal hope that all this stuff that we're worried about, we're not going to have to deal with eventually. And I can't think of a much better reason to rejoice. I can't think of one. But Paul, he transitions from the internal threats of division within the Philippian church to the external threats that exist and threaten the church in Philippi and even the church today. And Paul, he warns against Judaizers in the book of Galatians. And in this book, he has these three repeating phrases here. He says, "Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh." That can be understood as watch for them. Okay? Set a guard. See all these people and he flips the script against these foes of the Gospel and he's who they were going around from church to church saying in order to be saved in order to be justified in the sight of God before you can be saved you have to become a Jew first. Well, how did that look for the men? They had to be circumcised. In other words, they had to submit to the law of Moses. And that was a common issue a as Christianity began to spread upon among a primarily Jewish population during that time. And it continued for years in that primarily Jewish audience. And yet here we see that Paul, he receives a vision as he's being called to minister to the Gentiles. A vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia was standing there urging him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into

Macedonia, concluding God had called us to preach the Gospel to them. Well, who is the them? It's the Macedonians. Who are the Macedonians? They're not Jews. They're Gentiles. And so God has called them to go and minister to what the Jewish people would refer to as dogs in that time. And so what Paul is doing here is he's flipping the script. He's turning it against those that would pervert the Gospel. And the truth is that while while Jews claim to have that privilege, they stand out against the new covenant blessings because they were clinging to these fleshly markers of things like circumcision and dietary laws and things like that. Now, please remember that Paul is talking about those that pervert the Gospel, not Jews in general as we understand them today. We live in a crazy world, so please understand what I'm saying in context here, okay? Paul, he is calling those people who add to the work of the Gospel. And I call it a work because it's Christ's work. He calls these people evildoers or as we would understand them, evil workers, people that do evil. In other words, they are presenting themselves as humble laborers of God, but they believe in a works centered Gospel. He calls these people mutilators of the flesh. In other words, circumcision is of no value apart from Christ. And what's crazy is that these people, they thought they were doing God's work. They thought they were doing the right thing and yet they are ambassadors of Satan himself. And that's the way that goes, isn't it? That's what happens is that people, they get deceived. So many times we may be tempted to place barriers where God hasn't placed them for people to come to Christ. What does God require for people to be saved? To turn away from their sins and to trust in Christ. That's it. That's the That's it. You don't have to be baptized. You don't have to join a church. You don't

Have to give money. You don't have to do any of that. You have to repent of your sins and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it doesn't matter if you come from a pagan background, a church background, a white background, a black background, a Hispanic background. What matters is that we who trust in Christ are, as Paul describes here, circumcised in our hearts. Once again, this is not a Pauline saying. This is a Biblical saying from the book of Deuteronomy. Look at what it says. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn. And I want you to look at what Paul describes here in Philippians chapter 3 as those who are truly God's people. These are characteristics. They worship by the spirit of God. In other words, they live a life of worship empowered by the Holy Spirit. And that calls back to what Jesus said in John chapter 4. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. For the father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. It's not about ritual. It's about relationship. It's not about tongues as some people would say about this passage. It's about trusting in Christ. It's not about observing rules and regulations. It's about obedience to the Holy Spirit with a heart of gratitude and devotion because of the salvation that we have. But it these people, they also glory in Jesus Christ. You see, we boast in the work of Christ alone by embracing his humility and we point others to the work of Jesus. Look at Christ crucified. Look at what he did for your soul. Turn away from your wicked ways and trust in Christ. And those who are God's people, we don't put any confidence in our flesh. It's not about our effort. It's not about our

Rituals. It's not about any of those things I mentioned earlier. It's about your relationship with Jesus. Which leads us to this second point is that there's this false confidence that Paul exposes here. Is there an advantage of being a part of Israel? Absolutely. Paul, he affirms that in Romans chapter 3. Paul himself was a Jewish Jew, right? I mean, that in the best possible way and that he obeyed the law to the tea. He goes through and he points out all the different ways that he was qualified to think of himself as a good person in God's sight. Paul's pretty bold, isn't he? He says, "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more." And anyway, if we were to put it in this way, if you think that you're good enough for God, I thought I was better. And I have the evidence to back it up. That's what Paul's saying. Look at this. He circumcised Israelite, Pharisee, zealous blameless. I mean, can you compare to that? If we were to put this in modern terms, someone might say, "I was born into a Christian family. I was baptized as a baby or dedicated. My family, they come from a strong heritage of faith. All my family are Christians. They're all believers. My family name is respected in our area. We have a strong legacy in the church. I was raised going to church. I know the lingo. I sing all the hymns. I know all the theology. I know the Scriptures better than most. I lived according to my convictions, corrected errors, and fought heresy. I was a moral co person who didn't drink, who didn't smoke, who didn't cuss. I went on mission trips. I served in the church. I did all the right things. You ever heard that before? I know I have. And what does it all gain? What does it all amount to? What did all of this rigid religiosity give to Paul? He says

Here, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ." It's loss. All of it. The morality and the goodness, it's loss. Paul uses these accounting terms here of gains and losses. All those things, they weren't neutral. They weren't good. You know what they were? They were liabilities. All things. He says, verse eight, it says, "Indeed, I count everything as loss." Everything. You're telling me everything, Paul? That's what he said. Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. What about his Roman citizenship? What about the success in ministry? What about the possessions? What about all those good things? All these are loss compared to knowing Jesus Christ. Do you believe that? >> Do you believe that? And do you live your life like that's true? It's one thing to say, "Yes, I believe that." But it's a totally another thing to change your life to mean it. We have to count all things as loss. In fact, Paul, he continues, "For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ." All those things from his past, all his righteousness, it's rubbish. Not just not just garbage. This word is the English equivalent of dung. Many commentators, they say it's a much more vulgar word than what I will say from this pulpit here. In other words, what is our good works? What are our good deeds? What is our heritage? What is it all before knowing Christ? Nothing. It's worthless

Compared to knowing Jesus. And yet we live our life for dung. Back in the 1700s when ships were crossing the North Atlantic, sailors if they were going through those terrifying storms that are in the North Atlantic, they would oftent times take cargo and just throw it overboard. All the fur that they spent so much time collecting and trading for, all the gold that they were taking with them, they would just throw it overboard. Why? It's because it's nothing nothing compared to life. What good is fur if you're dead? What good is gold? What good is being a successful captain if you're dead? Ultimately, all of these things are garbage compared to the salvation that is in Christ. Paul, he continues by saying, "And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ." Paul, he begins to walk through this complete salvation of the Christian, which when we talk about being saved, we generally mean being justified, right? That's what we generally mean. Paul, he contrasts these two different kinds of righteousness. There's this righteousness that comes from obedience to the law which is worthless. It's like having a big giant cubic zuconium ring, right? It might have the glimmer. It might have the sparkle, but it's not a real diamond. Ultimately, it doesn't have any value. You see, salvation is the precious jewel. God's righteousness is a gift that is received through faith in Jesus Christ. It's a righteousness that is gifted to us. The theological word there is imputed. That we receive that as a free gift. That God no longer sees your sin. He doesn't see all those things that you think qualify you when you become a Christian. He sees only the

Righteousness of the son of God on you. And it's given to us as a gift the moment that we're born again by the spirit of God. >> Romans chapter 3, he says it this way. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation that means a payment by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. And we are united with Christ by being found in him as Paul says, not having a righteousness of our own, but a righteousness that comes by faith. Look at what he says in Galatians here. And yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law because by works of the law no one will be justified. Martin Luther, the reformer, he said in his commentary on that passage in Galatians, he said, "For Paul, flesh means the highest righteousness, wisdom, worship religion understanding and will which the world is capable of. In other words, it's the best of the best that man has to offer. Therefore, the monk is not justified by his order, nor the priest by his mass and the canonical hours, nor the philosopher by wisdom, nor the theologian by theology, nor the

Turk by the Quran, nor the Jew by Moses. In other words, no matter how wise and righteous men may be according to reason and the divine law, yet with all their works merits masses righteousness and acts of worship, they are not justified. Salvation is the gift of God in Jesus. And so, you might be tempted to trust in your own works of righteousness. You might be reassured by other people's opinions of you. Well, my mom thinks I'm a pretty good person. Or others speak very highly of me. What does what does that matter before a holy and righteous God? He's not calling up your references. He knows your heart and your soul. Salvation is the gift of God. So don't be deceived because nothing apart from faith alone in Jesus Christ saves you. >> John G. Patton. He was a Scottish mi missionary to the new Hebdes. He was translating the Bible into the local language. And he was really struggling to find an equivalent word for faith in that language for faith or even belief. And one day a native came into his hut exhausted from a long journey. He had come in the evening and he flopped down in this chair. He stretched out his legs and he said in his own tongue, "It is so good to lean my whole weight on this chair." And so Patton, he immediately realized this is the perfect expression for saving faith in Christ. It's about leaning all your weight upon him. He used that phrase in his translation to convey the meaning of faith. Not just a partial trust or a superficial acknowledgment of God's sovereignty, but a complete resting of oneself on Christ for your soul. And Paul, he returns to this idea of knowing Christ. Man, if we would just really understand the joy of knowing Jesus and of the everlasting hope of knowing him and growing in him, we would understand the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. If

We could just understand the treasure that he is. And when Paul says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, he's talking about that ongoing fruitful building of sanctification. It's where we know Christ, where we grow in Christ. And Paul's desire, his supreme desire above all of his other desires is to know Christ. Is to know Christ. Now, what does he mean by knowing Christ? He means it in a few different ways. Firstly, in a relational kind of way. There is this sense of covenant intimacy that he's communicating in knowing Christ. It means being in a relationship of mutual love like that of a family. Right? Believers, we are fully known by God according to the word. But if anyone loves God according to 1 Corinthians 8, he is known by God. He continues on in later on in that same book, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. God knows you. He knows you intimately. He knows you closely. He knows you better than you know yourself. And in spite of that, he still loves you. So believers are fully known by God and we come to know Christ personally. In another book that he wrote, "From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Jesus wasn't simply just a man or a good teacher. That's knowing him according to the flesh. We don't think of him that way anymore because he's very God of very God." Why do we know that? Because we know him, we understand him. Paul, he says this, but now that you have come to know God

Or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world whose slaves you want to be once more? So, there's this relational knowledge, but there's also this experiential knowledge. Knowing Christ involves a firsthand experience. Just as Christ knew no sin in a sense of never committing it, Paul, he longs to experience Christ deeply. Jesus, he said, "This is eternal life that they know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Also, there's this participating knowledge that Christ means sharing in his life. Paul, he seeks to live out the Christ pattern, suffering with him like Good Friday and rejoicing with him like Easter Sunday. Here's what he says. But God's firm foundation stands bearing the seal. The Lord knows those who are his. And let everyone who's who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. For Paul, knowledge of Christ is not this abstract thing. It is lived out daily in salvation known as sanctification. We are growing in Christ, knowing the Lord because God knows us in him removing that sin from our lives. The same sins that you wrestled with 20 years ago may not be the same sins that you wrestle with now because of that process of sanctification. And I thank God for it. For Paul, his knowledge of God really began on the Damascus road. And it continues as the spirit empowers believers to endure suffering and to grow in Christ and to look forward to the resurrection. And for you, it began the moment that you were justified. And God, he begins to work out that salvation in you as you work out that salvation. And this knowledge is made full by the power of the resurrection. It's a transforming power. As Paul, he writes this, "If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ

Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. It's more than just affirming the resurrection. It's about experiencing the spirit's resurrecting power in your life every day. Because the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is now at work in you as well. And he dwells in you and he enables you to put to death the deeds of the flesh and to live in that newness of life. That resurrection power, it guarantees our future bodily resurrection and it empowers our personal growth rate now to grow in holiness. And Paul, he seeks to share in Christ's sufferings to follow Jesus Christ and him crucified to walk that path. Paul, he does not see his suffering as redemptive. He doesn't see it as salvific as in being justified. It's a sanctifying process. But he also sees it as the inevitable result of being united with Jesus. Just as Christ's obedience led to the cross before glory, so believers share in the suffering right now here on this side of eternity so that we may share in his glory at the resurrection. Paul he says becoming like him in his death. He talks about this conformity to death, this daily dying until this resurrection glory. And this is what we would call the third step of salvation, glorification. That's what we call it as Paul, he writes here in verse 11, that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Paul, he looks ahead to that bodily resurrection which is the completion of our salvation. So yes, we have been saved. We are being saved. We will be

Saved. Our salvation is a past event and that we have been justified. It's a present event and that we are being saved and it's a future event and that we will be saved. And we can entrust our whole souls to him. This is that final link in the golden chain of redemption that Paul he writes about in Romans chapter 8. For those whom he forneew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he will also glorify. Now Paul, he says, "If by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection of the dead." He's not talking about an uncertainty in his salvation. Okay? He talks about keeping his body under discipline. Like in 1 Corinthians 9, he says, "But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." Okay, he's talking about this beautiful tension that we see in that we have the assurance of God's promise and yet we also have this personal call to persevere in the faith to live for the glory of Christ. First th this verse it doesn't threaten the loss of our justification but our disqualification from the prize because perseverance is real assurance rests in God's persevering grace. And so what does all this mean? Well, this passage, it stands as a warning against every attempt to add to faith in Christ as the basis of our salvation. You can't do it. I can't be good enough. You can't be good enough. So whether circumcision in Paul's day or baptism or rituals or morally performing, salvation rests in Christ alone. You see, trusting in works based righteousness is a common temptation and it's a deadly

Belief even among professing Christians. And Scripture insists your flesh cannot save you. Only the righteousness that comes from God in Christ will stand in the day of judgment. This truth it also shapes how we live. If we believe in justification by faith alone, by grace alone, then we must not divide as a church on external lines of race or class or status or how long someone's been in a church or how short they've been in a church or whatever. To do so contradicts the very doctrine of grace that we profess. In this passage, it also reminds us that we must not place any confidence in the flesh, not only in salvation, but also in our ministry. You see, if we rely on business models and marketing strategies and cultural appeals to sell Christianity, well, what are we doing? We're we're moving away from trusting in Christ and into our own understanding. The Gospel of the crucified and risen Savior will always be offensive to the world. But it is the only one and true message that brings salvation. And our task is to hold fast to the Gospel and to proclaim it with faithfulness and to trust that the spirit of God is going to work. And he's going to work through it and he's going to be faithful through it because he's promised that he will. See, at the heart of Paul's testimony is this truth that everything he once considered as gain. His heritage, his morality, his zeal, his faithfulness, his obedience, he now considers as loss for the sake of Christ. And that's the same starting point for every believer. We have to be stripped of our confidence in ourselves. Whether it's in our goodness or our reputation or even our religious practices, we must all rest in Jesus Christ alone. And yet and yet Paul's words are not just about his conversion. Okay? They're about his conviction as

Well based upon the truth of God's word. Even after decades of being in ministry, he is still clinging to Christ as his only foundation and his only hope and his only salvation. And so we see this challenge in two ways. Firstly, do we hold our comforts and our possessions and the things that soothe us with open hands to Christ? Are we ready to surrender them if faithfulness to Christ requires it? Second, are we actively using all that God has entrusted to us, our homes, our resources, our health, our influence for his glory where we're not counting them as anything, right? Nothing apart from him. To truly prize Christ above all others means longing for others, our children, our families, our grandparents, our neighbors to know the Lord Jesus Christ. The surpassing worth of knowing Jesus is that it humbles us. It sanctifies us. It delivers us from sin. It gives us a life of worth and value in him. Unlike earthly knowledge and our accomplishments, this knowledge cannot be lost. It only grows throughout eternity. And for this reason, we can say with Paul, I count everything as lost as lost compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Head, heart, hand. And we say head, heart, hand because you should know something from the sermon. You should believe something from the sermon from the passage and that the sermon and the passage cause us to live our lives and to change our lives in light of the passage. And so, take a look at this. God, he wants you to know that knowing Christ is worth more than anything because only his righteousness counts before God. Knowing Jesus and the power of his resurrection is the most valuable knowledge in the world and we should pursue it. Heart God. He wants you to believe that Christ alone is your

Righteousness. Your standing with God rests fully on him, not on anything that you do. And so abide in him and grow in Christ. In hand. This is one of the ways that you can live this out is that God wants you to live with open hands by pursuing Christ as the greatest treasure. Imagine what your life would look like if every joy, every struggle, you viewed as God's way of trying to draw you closer to Jesus. That's the life that Paul invites us to live here in Philippians 3. And so let's step forward today counting all else's loss and pursuing the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus as our Lord. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you so much for this time. We ask for your grace and your mercy on our lives. Help us to know you. Help us to pursue that knowledge of who you are. Because you are worthy. You're worthy of it all, God. Of all of our hopes and our affections and our desires, of all of our abilities and all of our goods and resources, God. All of it is for you. And so I pray that you would help us to live like that's true. Compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, I can't think of anything that even compares. So Lord, help us to live like that's true. In the meantime, deal with our hearts. Help us to trust in you. We love you, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen. Now, we've got some folks that are leaving for Mexico on Saturday. And so what we want to do is we want to invite our Mexico mission team. I think Diana and the Clayboss are coming up here along with others from Concord Baptist. We're going to be going to is it Waka? Yep. And so I would invite you if you know these folks to come up and lay hands on them and pray for them. If you want to pray for them to have good health,

Safety while traveling you know that their ministry will be fruitful as they go and do this eyeglass clinic. So yeah come forward and just lay your hands on them and we're going to pray for these folks that we know and love. Our Lord God, we do thank you so much just for Diana, for Maggie, for Chuck. Thank you for Larry, Mary, and others that are going on this trip to Mexico. God, we thank you for vision 316, and we thank you for our u many years long partnership with them. We thank you that as a church we've been able to help prepare them through washing glasses and through doing all the measurements and things like that, Lord. But right now, I just pray that you would prepare these three people from our church to go forth and share the Gospel with future believers down in Mexico. God, I pray that lives would be transformed, that the spirit of God would just rest mightily on our brothers and sisters that are going. We pray that their ministry would be fruitful. We pray that people would learn about the abundant worth of knowing you, Jesus. Father, we pray for health. We pray that you would preserve them, God. We pray that they would have great energy and strength. We pray that you would provide the flights to go smoothly, God. And that everything from the luggage arriving safely to you know just everything would just be abundantly smooth and we just love you and we commission them now. We pray for your favor on them in Jesus precious name. Amen. >> Church, we love you. Go in peace. Thank you.