May turn back to Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three, we noticed this morning, Paul's possession of Christ, verses seven and eight, where all things that had been gained to him, he counted lost for the excellence of Christ Jesus, his Lord. And then he spoke of his position in Christ, verse nine, that I may be found in him. not are and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. He is speaking there the doctrine of justification.

Justification is an act of God's free grace, whereby he pardons all our sins and receives us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. Those two aspects of justification, the pardon of sin and the imputation of Christ's righteousness. These were the things that these were foundational for the Apostle Paul in his conversion. These were the things that caused him to press on and to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the foundation, as we noted this morning, upon which sanctification then takes place or growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll focus on that this evening, the privileges that we have in Christ, not that Our possession and position are not privileges. Those are to be sure. But Paul then begins in verses ten and following to highlight some specific things concerning Christ about what he wants to grow in his knowledge of with reference to the Lord Jesus.

So I'll just pick up reading in chapter three at verse seven and will read to the end of verse fourteen. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him. and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. If by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead, not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of laid hold of me.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do. forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Father, we thank you for the written word and we thank you for the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul and for the example that he serves in the pages of Holy Scripture. We thank you that he points us to Jesus Christ, that he teaches us good doctrine concerning justification by faith alone. We thank you, Lord God, that our salvation is not dependent upon our performance. But our salvation is secured through Christ our Lord.

God, thank you for pardon for sin. Thank you for the imputation of righteousness. And thank you that you preserve us by your grace and for your glory. And we just pray now that you would fill us with your spirit and help us to understand your word.

And we pray through Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

Introduction: Knowing Christ

Well, notice, first of all, Paul speaks of the knowledge of Christ. He had already spoken in verse eight of gaining Christ. He spoke of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, in verse eight. And now he says again that I may know him.

What is it about Christ that Paul wants to know? Well, he's going to specify some very specific things here in just a moment. But it is important for us to see that justification by God's grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was the beginning for the apostle Paul. Once he came into this saving relationship with the Lord, it wasn't as if he said, well, now I don't need anything more.

Very often, Christians believe once they come to know Christ, well, they certainly don't need to read or pray or study or learn. Well, it was just the opposite with the Apostle Paul. Coming into this saving relationship with Christ meant the ability now to know Christ. And hopefully it is that way with each and every one of us.

That as we profess faith in the Savior, that as we have been born again, that as we have been justified and received the forgiveness of sin and the imputation of Christ's righteousness, that it moves us to want to study. It moves us to want to learn. It moves us to want to know Jesus more and more, because ultimately, in the final analysis, that's what a Christian is. He or her is somebody that loves Christ, that wants to know Christ, that wants to be near Christ.

When all is said and done, that should be the defining thing with each and every one of us who names the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian life for Paul was about growing in the knowledge of Christ. The Christian life for Paul was about learning the scripture, was about learning about Jesus person. What is or who is Jesus as a person?

He's unique in the history of man. He was the only one or he has been the only one. that is both God and man. When we speak of Christ as a person, we are speaking of one glorious person in two natures, the divine and the human. We call that the hypostatic union of Christ, that these two natures are in one person, they're unmingled, there's no confusion, and he's one glorious person. forever and ever.

When we speak of the work of Christ, we think of his incarnation, the fact that he left heaven above. He left exaltation. He left the place where angels were praising him and singing to him, holy, holy, holy, according to Isaiah six. and he comes in this world. He is born in a born of a woman.

He is born under the law, and he is. He does this in order to redeem those who are under the law. His work includes his perfect life in obedience to his father. His work includes being delivered up onto Pontius Pilate.

His perfect life or his perfect work includes his death at Calvary and all that that was significant for. Remember this morning we spoke of him as a substitute. His work was substitutionary in nature. He went for that cross so that you and I don't have to.

He suffered and bled and died so that you and I don't have to. He cried out on the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me so that you and I never have to. The work of Christ includes all of those aspects of his doing and his dying and then of his rising again on behalf of his people. You see, there is enough there to keep us occupied and to keep us busy for an eternity to study the Lord Jesus, to learn of Christ, to understand his person and his work.

One commentator said from the moment of his conversion on the road to Damascus or on the road to Damascus, Paul had come to know the risen and exalted Lord. He had been brought by grace into an intimate personal relationship with the son of God. And from that time on, he had made it his ambition to know him. He found in Christ an inexhaustible fullness of knowledge, but there was always more of him to know.

That's a beautiful statement from that time of his conversion. He wanted to grow in his understanding of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. That's what he says there very specifically in verse 10,

Paul's Thirty-Year Pursuit of Christ

that I may know him. And remember that when Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, he had been a Christian for about 30 years. I think it's pretty typical for someone when they get saved to be really studious, to want to talk about the Lord, to want to witness, to want to read good books pretty soon after they've gotten saved. And then after they've been saved for a while, they sort of start growing a little bit cold and a little bit distant.

And then they begin to be they begin to rationalize it. Well, you know, God's not going to cut me off. I'm not on fire like I once was, but I'm not an apostate wretch. I'll just sort of glide my way into heaven based on that glorious doctrine of justification by faith.

Well, that's simply not true of the Apostle Paul. There was no end to the honeymoon for the Apostle Paul. You know what that means? You go on your honeymoon, it's great, it's wonderful.

You look at your wife, you look at your husband, they can do no wrong. It's almost like the sun shines through them. Everything about them is beautiful and radiant. And then about five or six years into your marriage, you're like, wait a minute, what happened to all that sunshine?

How come we've got so many cloudy and rainy days? The honeymoon is truly over. Well, that never happened with Paul. Thirty years as a Christian man, he writes in Philippians 1 verse 21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

It's a beautiful statement. I love it. Go back there for just a moment. Philippians chapter one.

Philippians chapter one. at verse nineteen, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. He knew that whether he died or whether he lived, Jesus would be glorified. He says for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Said it before, I'll say it again.

What do you do with a man like this? I mean, face it, brethren, he was in prison in the Roman Empire in the first century. Christians were despised in the Roman Empire. Why?

Because they were considered atheists. Isn't that an interesting twist? They were considered atheists. They didn't subscribe to all the gods of the Roman Empire.

They maintained allegiance to one God, even Jesus Christ. And for that, they were considered to be without God. See, in the Roman Empire, you could have all these various gods. You could have all your various truths.

It was a very relativistic, very much postmodern in its display of religious liberty as what we face today. The one thing, however, that was not tolerated in the empire was intolerance. and the Christians were intolerant. They would not call Caesar Lord and Savior. They would call Jesus Lord and Savior.

For those of you who do not know this in the first century in the Roman Empire, Caesar was exalted as a God. You were supposed to offer him religious worship. This is one of the reasons why Jesus is referred to so many times as Lord and Savior. It is against the against the idea that Caesar was Lord and Savior.

So if you worship Caesar, you could have all your other gods as well. But if you worship Christ and you excluded Caesar, then you brought down the wrath of the Roman Empire right upon your head. So everything was legit. Pluralism was fine.

As many gods as you wanted, as long as you were giving homage to Caesar. Well, the Christians wouldn't do that, so they face persecution. And so Paul understands this, and he realizes the chances are, is that he's going to be killed or executed by the Roman state. Now, in this imprisonment, he wasn't actually executed.

This was from A.D. 60 to 62. He ultimately was released in A.D. 62. This is where the Book of Acts ends with him in prison. Well, these letters were written while he was in that imprisonment.

After he got out in 1862, he continued on in some ministry, probably until about the mid-60s, when he did ultimately die under Nero. He had his head chopped off because he called Jesus Lord and Savior, and he would not call Caesar Lord and Savior. So he knew, based on his doctrine, based on his commitment, based on his allegiance to Christ, that the reality existed, that he would be put to death for the cause of Christ. And so he says, for to me to live and to die, for me to live as Christ and to die as King.

So, like I said, what do you do with a man like that? You let him go from prison so that he lives on? It's Christ, as far as he's concerned. You take him out to the Coliseum and you feed him to the lions?

What's he going to do? Cry and moan and whine and lament? No, he's going to say, go ahead and feed me to the lions, for to me to die is gay. I get more Christ.

I get to be with Jesus. I get to go to Emmanuel's land. He had been a Christian for thirty years when he wrote these things. Brethren, don't ever grow content with distance between you and God.

Don't ever just say, well, the honeymoon's over. I can just be like several other wretches in the Christian life that sort of just fumble along and mumble along and limp along. No, don't accept that. Have this kind of a mindset.

Be Pauline in your in your Christianity. Say with him. Verse ten, that I may know him, and then he gets very specific in terms of what he wants to know. We might we might read verse ten this way that I may know him.

That is, and then he speaks of two specifics with reference to what he wants to grow in his knowledge of regarding Christ.

The Power of the Resurrection

The first that I may know him. and the power of his resurrection, and then secondly, the fellowship of his sufferings. Isn't that interesting? Note the order you would think fellowship of sufferings would come first and then power of resurrection because as we know Christ first suffered the cross and then he went on to the crown. That is the pattern in the example for us as Christians.

We must first suffer the cross and then receive the crown. But Paul puts the crown first and then speaks of the cross, and I think he does this for a very specific reason. Quoting O'Brien, he says, by drawing attention, first of all, to the power of Christ's resurrection, the focus falls upon the strength and motivation for suffering. In other words, when he says here that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, I want to know that power, because when I know that power, I am then enabled by God's grace to know something of these sufferings.

We have to go through a world of tears. We have to go through a world of persecution. We have to go through a world of pluralism that does not like our exclusive claims to truth. They get angry about it, they get upset about it, they may imprison us, they may execute us.

In order to effectively do this, we must tap in, if you will, to divine power. So, he speaks first of knowing Christ's resurrection power. He goes on to say, fellowship in suffering, the ability to endure suffering for Christ's sake, becomes possible and rich in meaning because of the power of his resurrection. It's a beautiful way that Paul speaks of it here.

I want to know him. I want to know specifically resurrection power, because when I know resurrection power, then I am able to participate in or fellowship with him in his sufferings, in his cross, in his hardships, in his difficulties, in his trials. If I don't have that power undergirding me, I may not make it. I may abandon the faith.

I may become an apostate. So when you study Christ, it is very excellent for you to study the power of his resurrection. And I think what's in view here is that power evidence in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

Resurrection Power in Ephesians 1

Go back to Ephesians one for just a moment. Ephesians chapter one, the power of his resurrection is the life giving power of God, the power which he manifested in raising Christ from the dead. That's what's in view here this morning. In Sunday school, we considered biblical hermeneutics or how to interpret the Bible.

And I mentioned by way of illustration, a man who is teaching how much we need power. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. We need power like they had in the book of Acts. And I second that we need power, but not so that we can go out and work mighty miracles, not so that we can go out and speak in tongues, but

Power to Suffer and Persevere

we need power so that we can suffer. for the Lord Jesus Christ. We need power so that we can persevere by God's grace. We need power so that we can maintain a faithful witness in this lower world when everything and everyone may be against us. Again, it's very difficult for us in a country where we have liberty, albeit there is many encroachments upon those liberties.

We have a lot more than what they had in the early Roman Empire. Paul's audience knew what it was to suffer, and they knew what it was to have this increased hostility against them because they were believers on the Lord Jesus Christ. So, in order to effectively partner with Christ in suffering, in cross-bearing, they would need that power, that understanding of God's power. Notice in Ephesians chapter 1.

Verse fifteen, therefore, I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints do not cease to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers. Paul is praying for Paul is telling them how he prays for them. Notice first verse seventeen that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened.

That's what he prays. He wants them. To have that enlightenment, he wants them to have understanding. He wants them to grow in wisdom and the knowledge of Christ.

Notice, secondly, that you may know what is the hope of his calling. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? And that you may know verse 19. What is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe now?

How does he illustrate that power toward us who believe? Verse nineteen, according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be had over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. So in Philippians three, Paul wants to grow in his knowledge of the power that God displayed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For when he understood that power, when he knew something of that power, he was then fit and equipped to enter into the knowledge of suffering, to know what it is to partner with Christ in the cross.

Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings

Notice in verse ten that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. We saw this morning, we looked at Second Corinthians 11, what the apostles suffered. pretty amazing stuff. None of us, I am confident, have tasted anything like what Paul went through on behalf of Christ. In this very epistle He is telling the Philippians that they are suffering, or they will suffer.

Notice in Philippians 1 at verse 29, he says,

Suffering as a Gift to Believers

For to you, it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here is in me. The language of verse twenty nine is literally, it has been graciously given to you. It is a gift, it is kindness, it is mercy, it is goodness from God. Not only that you believe in his name, faith is a gift.

You didn't conjure it up, you didn't work it up, you didn't have it there existent, and then you fired it into being. No, it is a gift from the living God. But that is actually incidental in the text. What Paul highlights is that it has been graciously given to you to suffer on behalf of his name.

I know we don't think this way. I know that when there is suffering or trial in the Christian life, our first response generally is, God, why are you doing this to me? It is first and foremost, what's all these bad things happening to such a nice guy like me? Lord, is this what I signed up for?

Is this what I put my name on the dotted line for? I thought being a Christian would make me happy. Let me just, you know, sing and dance zippity-doo-dah all the way to heaven with little bluebirds just flitting around my head and the sun shining and beaming upon me. And no rainy days and no gloomy times and no sadness or no trials.

I thought, Lord, when I signed up, my family would be perfect. Everybody would be taken care of. Everybody would be happy and holy. And I would just be a happy camper in the Lord Jesus.

Paul says that's not what you signed up for. You signed up for suffering. That's God's way. That doesn't mean from cradle to grave in Christianity, all we do is suffer.

That's not what it means. It doesn't mean you can't actually have happiness and joy and sunshine and happy families and all those sorts of things. But this is a reality, brethren. When you are a Christian in a godless society, you cannot expect to go unmolested.

You cannot expect to live as a Christian in a godless world and not have the devil harass you and not have the world harass you. It has been granted to you not only to believe in him, but also to suffer. It was true of Christ. As I mentioned before, the cross came first. and then the crown.

The Pattern: Cross Before Crown

Notice in chapter two, verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of man and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. Even the death of the cross. You see, the cross came first for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then came the crown. Verse nine. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. You see, that is the pattern.

That is the way that is how God has designed it.

James and John: Baptism of Suffering

Remember James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They come to Jesus and his earthly ministry. And they say, Grant, Lord, that when you come into your kingdom, that one of us can sit on your right and the other can sit on your left. What was Christ's words to them?

I have a baptism to undergo that you don't know anything about. And he wasn't talking about water baptism there. The word baptism also has the idea of to be overwhelmed. Doesn't mean just sprinkle with a little bit of water.

It means to overwhelm. It was used to capsize or used with reference to capsized ships in battle. So when Jesus says, I have a baptism to undergo, he's talking about his death. He's talking about the crucifixion.

He's talking about being overwhelmed by the wrath and fury of God. But then he highlights to James and John, you will, however, know something of this baptism. They would suffer prior to their entrance into glory. James Acts chapter 12.

He was beheaded by Herod. John was on the island of Patmos. for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. He was exiled on a rock, basically. It wasn't a big place, the Isle of Patmos.

It wasn't Sandals. It wasn't Club Med. It wasn't some retirement community. He didn't just walk down to the beach and sip cold beverages and frolic in the water.

He was in exile for the cause of Jesus Christ. You see, that's the pattern. You and I are going through a difficult trial. It is called life.

So I tell my kids, welcome to life. Life isn't fair. Search the Scriptures. Where does it say life is fair?

It doesn't. especially as a Christian. Now, I don't want to say everything's bad, everything's wretched, and God's against you, and everything you do, that's just bad. No, but it is to punctuate that there are trials, and there are tribulations, and there are difficulties in the Christian life. Paul, remember, was sitting in a prison in the Roman Empire in the first century.

Paul, remember, had already written 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians was already written by the time he wrote this. So all those things that we read this morning in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, he'd already experienced that. He'd already been stoned. He'd already been beaten with rods.

He'd already been beaten with the Jewish whip. He'd already received these things. So he knew what it was to suffer. So as he's in a prison cell, as he's studying the person in the work of Christ, what he wants to know is the power of his resurrection so that he will be fit and able to know his sufferings as well to participate with him to fellowship with him to partner with him in his sufferings being conformed to his death.

Attaining the Resurrection

And then when he says, if verse eleven, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. It almost sounds hypothetical. It almost sounds like it may not happen. The New American Standard gets it right.

He said it says in order that I may attain. It's a reality, it's going to happen, there is no conditionality here. He's been justified by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He will attain to the resurrection of the dead.

So he wants to partner with Christ, not only in his suffering, he wants to partner with Christ not only in his death, but he wants to partner with Christ ultimately in glory. that I or if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. So, from this Roman prison cell writing to the Philippians, he is future oriented. He is thinking about that day when Jesus shall come when all the dead will be raised from the dead and all men will stand in judgment. The wicked will be cast off into hell and the righteous will be taken up into glory where they shall live with Christ forever and ever.

That's what Paul wants to know. That's what we should want to know as well. I think we want to know a lot of things sometimes that really aren't that important. I mean, all of the Bible is important, I'm not suggesting that it isn't, but there is something of a priority.

We should know justification. We should know God, we should know the Trinity, we should know Christology. There's some certain fundamental doctrines that we ought to have down. But if we don't get those things down, it really doesn't matter what we think about these things over here.

You see, for Paul, he wanted to know this power so that he could live the Christian life. And then he describes in verses 12 to 14, and we'll just read this, maybe make a comment or two and then end.

Pressing On: The Life of Sanctification

He says, not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on. that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. It's not a great description of sovereign grace. I want to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has already laid hold of me. He knows he doesn't just press on and persevere and go after this prize because he's Paul and he's this or that.

No, he says, Jesus has already laid hold of me. He says, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do have this single mindedness about the apostle Paul, this determination This focus, this drive, but one thing I do for getting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

That is sanctification. justified freely by God's grace through faith in Christ. This is how we are to live the Christian life. We are to be given fully and all and solely to serving the Lord God most high. May we with him say, but one thing I do, I press forward.

That's a Christian. There's times when it may be very small. You might look at the life of a Christian and it kind of goes like this. And sometimes you think, wait a minute, wait a minute, what's going on?

It's going forward. That's what it's about. Go forward. There's going to be trial.

There's going to be suffering. There's going to be difficulty. There's going to be sorrow. There's going to be sadness and agony and crying and tears.

And there may be times when you say, well, I just don't think I can keep going. Get this mindset. One thing I do. Imbibe the mindset of the Apostle Paul.

He's in a prison here. He doesn't know he's going to get out. I think he has a certain confidence, according to Philippians, that he will get out. But he doesn't know for sure.

He doesn't know for certain. He's in a prison cell. What would you be writing about? Get me out of here.

Send me a cake. Put a file in it. Send me some arsenic so I can kill the guards. Launch an armed assault.

Get me out of this place. I belong out in the world preaching the gospel. God saved me to be a preacher. Bust me out.

That's not what he says. When he's sitting in that prison cell, what does he want? I want to know Christ. I want to know Jesus.

I want to know the power of his resurrection. I want to know the partnership of his sufferings. That's what I want. That's what matters to me.

That's what's important. That's what needs to be important for us.

Application: Want to Know Christ

Whatever our situation, whether in a Roman prison or we're not in a Roman prison, these things ought to be true of us. You say you've been justified by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Then you should want to know Christ. You should want to study the Bible.

You should want to read it. You should want to pray. You should want to talk to Christians about it. You should want to be in church.

You should want to go to Bible study. You should want to listen to things you want to fill your mind with the knowledge of God's holy word, because it's through this that we come to know Christ, the power of his resurrection and the power of his sufferings so that we may be conformed to his death and so that we may attain to the resurrection from the death. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank you for your word, and we pray that you would help us to value and prize Christ, as we see Paul does here in this letter. We ask, Lord God, that as we eat this bread and we drink this wine, we would remember the Lord's death on our behalf. God, this most significant event in the history of the world Father, I pray that we would not treat these things lightly, that we would not approach these things with any levity or any any frivolity, but we would be sober minded. And yet we would manifest and demonstrate that joy of the Lord, that as we consider Christ's broken body and shed blood on our behalf, that these things would cause us to rejoice in the eternal life that he has secured for us.

God, thank you for your mercy and thank you for your grace. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Scripture References

• Isaiah 6:3
• Acts 12
• Philippians 1:19-21; 1:29; 2:5-9; 3:7-14
• Ephesians 1:15-23
• 2 Corinthians 11