Introduction
In March 2014 an Italian call centre worker called Claudia Moretti discovered a safe in the house she had inherited from her uncle. Imagine how her face broke into a smile when she opened the safe door and found 100 million Italian lire in cash.
She went to the Bank of Italy in Rome to convert the cash into euros, and was told that when Italy adopted the euro in 2002 the government agreed to exchange old currency only up to December 2011. To her dismay, Claudia was three years too late. All coins and notes presented after that time became totally worthless.
Today, as we continue in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we will come across another riches-to-rags story; but this time - take note - because it involves you.
There is a thing in this world that takes every inherited advantage, every human privilege, every penny you’ve worked for, every natural ability, every hard-earned qualification, every exhilarating achievement, every source of pride in your life and reduces it to being as valuable as piled up, stinking, rat-infested street garbage.
And if you want to find out what that is, listen closely please to today’s passage, which begins in chapter 3, verse 1.
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh – though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Prayer…
Joy in your life
Some people seem to live by the maxim “Start each day with a smile. Get it over with!” Not Paul. “Rejoice in the Lord” he says in v1. He’s going to repeat that exhortation in 4.4; “rejoice in the Lord always.”
As Max Lucado says, “Not just on paydays, Fridays, good days, or birthdays. But rejoice in the Lord always.” Is joy springing from your life in the Lord this morning?
Our young people have been learning a little acronym these past few months; one I learned when I was their age incidentally. J.O.Y. Jesus, others, you. Put Jesus first, put others second, then put yourself last. That’s the secret to having joy in your life. It’s true, that’s how you live joyfully.
No wonder Paul says, “It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”
Claudia Moretti thought she had found joy in all those stacks of banknotes when she opened her safe, but how much happiness can money really buy you?
Let me read you five quotes from some of the wealthiest men who have ever lived. Oil entrepreneur John D. Rockefeller; “I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness.” Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie; “Millionaires seldom smile.” Railroad pioneer and stock market speculator Jay Gould; “I suppose that I am the unhappiest and least satisfied man on earth.” Shipping mogul and financier Aristotle Onassis; “I seem to have spent my life in a golden tunnel looking for the outlet which would lead to happiness. But the tunnel kept going on.” And Petrochemicals tycoon John Paul Getty; “I find all this money a considerable burden.”
Beware of the dog
Last Sunday, at the end of chapter 2, we saw how Paul encouraged the Philippian believers to welcome and appreciate and honour people like Timothy and Epaphroditus. But now, Paul feels he needs to warn the church about the kind of people they, and by extension we, should watch out for.
The language is severe, and it has to be, because young churches everywhere were under serious threat from people intent on harming them with their deceptive and defective teaching. Verse 2 is basically a “Beware of the Dog” notice.
According to a report in The Guardian newspaper last year, an average of 42 Royal Mail employees are attacked by a dog every week in the UK. There were 2,206 such attacks in the year to 31 March 2024, a 15% increase on the previous year, which was itself 15% higher than the year before that.
Many postal workers sustain life-changing injuries. According to the Communication Workers Union, 1,000 postal workers have had a finger or part of a finger bitten off through letterboxes in the past five years.
And I bet all their owners say, “Oh, Sniper doesn’t mean it, he’s just being friendly, he's only playing...” All dog owners talk like that, don’t they? Even when your leg is hanging on by a thread following their overenthusiastic welcome.
These so-called “dogs,” were off their leads, barking and biting around the churches Paul had planted. Their spiritual descendants are still around today, and when their false gospel prevails, churches lose more than a finger; they lose their soul, their freedom and their power. They choose take a path that leads inevitably to their decline and death.
So Paul’s warning, “watch out for the dogs,” in v2 is designed to awaken our attention and impress upon us the serious nature and dire consequences of this threat. This is highly relevant to us and indeed to every Christian, and every church, in every age.
These “dogs,” as Paul calls them, spearheaded a movement that was very prevalent in the early church. They were Jewish believers in Jesus who insisted that Gentile converts to Christ must also embrace the entire Jewish Old Covenant in order to be real Christians.
Acts 15 (which is situated about 10 years before this letter was written) says, “Some men came down from Judea [Jewish] to Antioch [Gentile] and were teaching, ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.’” That’s pretty categorical; you cannot be saved.
So this was going on for over a decade now and it became a critical battleground in the early church. Titus 1.10, written perhaps 5 years after Philippians, shows us that they were annoyingly persistent. “There are many rebellious people,” it says, “full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.”
Philadelphia-based church leader Philip Ryken says, “Some of the simplest Bible songs for children contain some of the soundest theology. Consider the following chorus beloved of many small children:
Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord.”
Abraham was a very important figure to the people who were infiltrating these young churches and teaching salvation by faith in Jesus, plus the works of the law. If these guys taught any children’s Bible songs when they visited these new church plants, Philip Ryken adds, they might well have gone something like this:
Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, but you are not. So let’s all get together for a little surgical procedure we call circumcision!” (Not sure how you’d fit those new lyrics into the melody to be honest. Maybe Joe and the band can help us with that)!
These guys were saying, “Faith in Christ is great. We’re all for it. The more, the merrier in fact. But it’s not enough. You need to add to upgrade on that if you really want to be saved.
For example, you should observe all the special ceremonial days. And you have to abstain from all non-kosher foods. And you need to practise all our man-made customs. And there’s one important requirement if you are male. So form an orderly queue, gentlemen. And, if you don’t sign up to all this, you are not really born again.
You are not a child of Abraham, so you’re not a child of God.” And Paul says, “No, no, no! No, then. No, now. And no, for all time.”
More is less
Any addition to the gospel that seeks to improve it is actually a subtraction from the gospel. In fact, worse than a subtraction; any added extra to the gospel amounts to its cancellation, its invalidation, its nullification. If you attempt to supplement the gospel of grace, if it’s Jesus-Plus-Anything for salvation, you no longer have the gospel at all.
If ever we accept the message of these infiltrators, these “dogs,” we effectively reject the perfectly sufficient person and work of Christ as being inadequate, and deficient, and not enough to save us. We can never accept those terms! Salvation is, and always will be, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
What makes you confident today that you will one day stand blameless in the presence of a holy God? What do you bring to the table that makes you sure you can do that?”
I could brag that I was christened as a baby, I had a mum who was on the church flower rota, I went to Catholic school run by strict Irish nuns, I served as an altar boy, I got confirmed by a bishop, I went without chocolate once for the entire six weeks of Lent, I got a C in Religious Studies at school, I once went on a pilgrimage, I’ve sat on a church council, and I’ve never taken drugs. Look at me, everybody! I could be pretty delighted with myself.
But Paul produces a list of his own privileges and achievements in v5-6 that puts mine, yours, the pope's, and everyone else’s in the shade.
The first four refer to his inherited privileges by birth.
And the last three list his outstanding personal achievements.
If ever somebody could seriously impress with a flawless religious CV and impeccably pious qualifications it was Paul. No one else plays in the same league, let alone the same team.
· Circumcised on the eighth day (my birth is legitimate)
· Of the people of Israel (the nationality on my passport is correct)
· Of the tribe of Benjamin (I’m from good stock)
· A Hebrew of Hebrews (I’m fluent in the ancient language of the Jews)
· As regards the law, a Pharisee (I can quote the Old Testament chapter and verse)
· As for zeal, persecuting the church (I’m fanatically committed)
· As for righteousness based on the law, faultless (I have kept all the religious rules)
Religious rules are always about the externals. You have got to bathe in this particular river. You mustn’t eat this or that food. You need these beads to pray properly. You’ve got to fast for a month. You males have to be circumcised. You females have to wear a full-length robe that covers everything but your eyes. You must wear a turban. You must wear a skull cap. You’re not allowed to drink any alcohol. You have to buy crystals, joss sticks, dream catchers and fill your house with new age tat. You mustn’t cut your hair. You must cut your hair. You’ve got to face east to pray.
But religious rules always bring negativity. Instead of comparing ourselves to Jesus and therefore becoming more humble, religious people compare themselves to others and become more judgmental. Religion does not - and cannot - change hearts.
Wayne Grudem asks, “If I were to die tonight and stand before God's judgement seat, and if he were to ask me why he should let me into heaven, would I begin to think of my good deeds and depend on them, or would I without hesitation say that I am depending on the merits of Christ and am confident in him as a sufficient saviour?”
If God were to ask you today why he should let you into heaven, how would you reply? Hopefully, you would say, “My trust and confidence this morning are decidedly not in myself, but in Christ alone. As it says here, I put, v3, “no confidence in the flesh.” That’s what it means.
But if you are a Christian, when you face God to give an account for your life, when God says, “Right, let’s assess your performance” and then holds up a long and embarrassing list of sins, though not as bad as mine, and when he says, “Hmm, this doesn’t look good,” you can point to Jesus and say, “Oh, I’m with him.”
So in v7-8, Paul says, “Whatever were gains to me [my religious heritage and credentials] I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”
All his religious achievements are like those old Italian lires in that safe; utterly worthless and useless. Everything that previously stacked up in his profit column he has now moved over the loss column. “I’ve lost everything,” he says.
Once he became a Christian he was likely disowned by his family. He was persona non grata in his religion. He couldn’t continue teaching in the places he used to teach. Overnight, he lost his income, his security, his friends.
Now he’s in chains so he’s lost his freedom. And he’s contemplating the real possibility that very soon he could lose his life too.
“But,” he says, “that’s no big deal, because I’ve got Jesus in my profit column now and he far outweighs all that other stuff put together. “I consider that all garbage” he says. In fact, he uses some pretty strong scatological language.
He’s saying, “I flushed all that stinking waste down the pan.” Why?
“That I may gain Christ, v9, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own… but the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”
The safety pin was a very simple idea, but it is still ranked among the top 50 inventions of all time. Rob Shaw in his 2003 book Great Inventors and Inventions put it in the top 30.
Its American inventor, Walter Hunt, sold the patent to his design to settle a $15 debt with a friend. Had he kept the patent, it would have made him a millionaire several times over. He could have become one of the richest men of the 19th century, but instead he threw it away because he didn’t realise the value of what he had.
Whatever he considered profit ($15) was now rubbish compared to the incomparably greater alternative of keeping that patent certificate. Hanging onto our religious achievements to save us - is like prizing that $15 only to let the fortune of a lifetime slip away.
The heart of the matter
And then, finally in v10-11, Paul moves on to talk about his ambitions for the future. Look with me please at v10.
“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul has mentioned knowing Christ already in verse 8, saying it is of surpassing worth. But now he says, “I want to know Christ.” It’s like in Ephesians 1 it says we already have all things in Christ, then two chapters later it says that God can do immeasurably more in us than all we can imagine.
Paul had been apprehended by Christ on the road to Damascus. He began to know him at that moment. But years later he says, in effect, there’s always more of Christ to know. There’s always more of his greatness to discover. There’s always more of his wisdom to glean. There’s always more of his joy, and faithfulness, and comfort to experience. There’s always more of his grace to enjoy.
Who wants to know more of the power of his resurrection? Most, if not all of us, I suspect. Who wants to know more of the fellowship of his sufferings? Hmm, maybe not quite so much. But Paul puts these two things together, because they are so often two sides of the same coin.
Many Christians long for revival to sweep their nation; I do. If you do as well, consider the experience of George Whitefield in the 18th century. He was at the centre of a great revival that transformed Britain and the eastern United States. He tasted the power of the resurrection in an extraordinary way. But he shared in Christ’s afflictions.
Whitefield was criticised and insulted in the newspapers, lampooned in song and ridiculed in plays performed at every theatre. He was pelted with mud and rotten vegetables and excrement when he preached in the open air. He even survived an assassination attempt.
Depending on where you live, you can suffer from subtle snubs, not so subtle marginalisation, or more direct mockery. In some countries, where persecution is embedded, you can face demotion, sidelining, dismissal, false accusation, bullying, harassment, imprisonment, or even death.
This was Paul’s world, he was in prison after all, but such was the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, he just wanted to know him more.
Ending
So there you have it. The utter uselessness of religious credentials. Versus the surpassing value of knowing Christ.
Are you trusting in any virtue or ability or quality or achievement to rack up your spiritual credit score? Throw it in the trash today.
Are you still religiously measuring yourself against others? If so, I urge you to lay that down at the foot of the cross today.
Are you counting everything you once held dear as loss compared to knowing Jesus or do you still treasure what is spiritually worthless? Is it time you shifted column A into column B?
That surpassing worth of knowing Christ; have you experienced that yet? If not, give your life to him today and you’ll never be the same again.
However long you have known Christ, have you settled into a comfort zone or are you passionate to know him more? Let’s all press on to know the Lord and his resurrection power, whatever it costs. Because whatever it costs, it’s worth it.
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