Benefits of Being Believers - Part A

What was once shining to Paul is now the goal was once important to Paul is now important.

What was once supercooled to be esteemed to be aspire to is now rubbish for this divorce verse seven. Chapter 3 what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ did 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 I count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ believers around the world suffer for their faith and imprisonment, harassment and even death. Like Paul know that the benefits of following Christ far outweigh the consequence today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip shares how you can fully embrace the benefits of being a believer in Christ.

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Philippians chapter 3. Everyone of us makes choices every day and what choice works is that we make our choices and that our choices turn around and make us define who we are as people, so that every decision that we make. It counts, you know, sort of like flypaper there's two sides to a piece of flypaper but it makes a huge difference to the fly which side he chooses to land on, and when believing in Jesus means getting beat up and thrown into prison and being ridiculed and mocked. And when believing in Christ means a loss of freedom being chased by assassins having to hide out for your very life. When believing in Jesus means you get pain and sorrow and even cost you your life. The question is why do it if believing in Christ, and following his plan, and being surrendered to him could possibly mean you losing everything. Why make that choice. What are the benefits from making that kind of a decision. Is there any payoff for that kind of pain and I bring that up because typically when a person gives up something they do it to gain something if a person quits his job. Usually it's because he's found a better job if a person marry someone is because they see the benefit of not being alone any longer. If you give something away to replace it with something else or you want to get the feeling of that all true mystic love for sacrifice whatever you have made, but let's just say you win the lottery and it's a $3 million ticket you one. Somebody comes your door knocks on the door and says I have a check for $3 million for you if you were to Satan I'm good. I don't need it I found something better while everybody wants to know what could be better than that Paul the apostle made such a choice and he now sees the world very very differently than how he wants saw the world what was once shiny to Paul is now Dole what was once important to Paul is now unimportant. What was once supercooled to be esteemed to be aspire to is now rubbish to this apostle, verse seven of chapter 3, but what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ did 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 I count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ that's an incredible statement. The reverse is also true. Those things that he once thought were dull and ordinary and despised. He now values, he says, continuing on in verse nine 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. I venture to say this happened to you at some point in your life. Sort of figured out that all the things you thought were cool and important that all taste the same. Any longer. They don't have the same appeal. Everybody who comes a Christ finds their appetites change should certainly happen to me. I used to think the last thing I'd ever want to be in life is a Christian, but I thought that Christians are boring people who like boring things. For some odd reason they go to church a lot.

I can't figure out why. But then I met Christ and everything changed everything radically change the way I looked at life and so my friends noticed the changes and they set a height secure like different now, and we keep invite you back to the parties you want to party anymore. What's the deal and I said look, I do not put it to you guys except just to say I have something much better. Oh really will tell us about it.

Is it a better drug. I so well. It is a high but not like you think.

And so when I started explaining what it is to believe in Jesus you could just see their body language.

You've seen it is like. Please stop. Stop right there and they were trying to figure me out. I select let me just put it to you this way, the best way I can help you understand it's like this I been eaten. TV dinners my whole life and somebody just gave me steak and lobster is sorta hard for me to go back to the TV dinners I've tasted something much better than what I've been feeding some of them got it. Most of them didn't know, it's funny. There are commonplace items, commonplace possessions that suddenly gain value when we discover they have been owned by famous people. So, for example, Napoleon's toothbrush sold for $21,000 would you pay $21,000 for a gnarly use bacteria written toothbrush. Well, somebody did because of the law.

Napoleon Hitler's car sold for $150,000. Winston Churchill's false teeth for $20,000 now. Thank you. The pictures good.

Jackie Onassis is fake. Pearls were even real fake pearls sold for $211,000. JFK's golf club sold for $772,000 know what change the value ownership source change the value it's where they come from the changes the value so what Paul does here. He says this. I used to think these are again now their loss. I've got something better. Paul assigns value to five areas of life, all of which come from Christ and hence their valuable those five areas will briefly look at today. They are knowledge position righteousness fellowship and glory or to be more specific, the knowledge of Christ position in Christ righteousness by Christ fellowship with Christ and glory like Christ.

Would you go back with me to verse eight we looked at that last time, but there's a particular word that shows a benefit in verse eight he speaks of knowledge yet. Indeed, I count all things loss why Paul why are you saying no to those things. What could be better than all that you entertain here it is 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 that you do you know that the Bible describes believers as people who know God that's how the Bible describes us. We know God.

I have two books by that name. What is called knowing God by JI Packer fabulous book changed my life. The other book is called knowing the face of God by Tim Stafford, both excellent books. What sold me on them was the title knowing God. It describes the Christian life. Jesus himself spoke of this when he said I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own no me when Jesus prayed to the father in John chapter 17 he said this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent the apostle John tells us this is the whole reason Jesus came first John chapter 5 verse 20 and we know that the son of God has come, and he is given us understanding so that we can know the true God and Jeremiah the prophet in predicting the new covenant that we enjoy said this would be the key element he said no more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying no, the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. Now all of this language is where we get the notion of having a personal relationship with God.

I know God is ago I had a male, a mailman mail carrier who brought me mail every day and and I don't know why but somebody once asked me do you do you know your mailman and so I started describing him always about this tall has this kind of a bill, walks a little funny usually wears these no gray mailman shorts and I was describing about it dawned in the I'd never met him.

I didn't know him, I knew facts about him and what I was telling my friend when he asked me do you know him as I was answering this question with the wrong answer. I I was saying will I know certain attributes about him, but then there came a day when I thought I would introduce myself to my introduce myself to them, got to know a little bit about him, his background, his family now. I knew him. I've met him will that's how it is so often when it comes to God. Yes somebody. Do you know God and they can spout off our spout out knowledge tidbits. They know certain attributes of God. Certain doctrines of God, they tell you a lot about him.

They know a lot about him but they do not know him. Paul the apostle who used to be Saul of Tarsus certainly knew a lot about his God the Jewish God, but it wasn't until the Damascus Road experience when Jesus so abruptly introduced himself to Saul of Tarsus that he began really knowing him. So we have a knowledge that's a benefit we know God. No, this is like the ultimate name drop you know people like to drop names. Well, you know, the president of the company you know were were friends or the mayor yeah were really close.

We play golf once a week, drop names you have the ultimate you can say really. I know God God and I were like this fact, I just spoke to him this morning. No one Paul says knowledge here or knowing God. It's a word that means a personalized experience personal involvement or personal familiarity is the word good notes go, it means far more than intellectual knowledge. It means far more than theological knowledge. You can just look at Paul the apostle this this dude before he was Paul the apostle knew a lot already. He knew Greco-Roman culture. He knew several languages. He knew theology he could debate and converse with rabbis. He knew secular philosophy so we could stand on the Areopagus in Athens and freely quote their authors brilliant, knowledgeable man, but nothing nothing in Paul's mind compared to knowing Christ. That's why he calls it. Look at what he calls it. He didn't say just knowledge, but I've counted all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge word excellence means surpassing worth inestimable value. It is excellent knowledge. It is more valuable than JFK's golf clubs or Napoleon's toothbrush. It is an excellence of knowledge and notice how we refers to the Lord. He didn't call him a Christ the Lord or our Lord.

But what my Lord is personal it is. Some people like to talk you can it just like a dead giveaway that they don't know the Lord. Oh yes, you know that big guy in the sky the good Lord will the good Lord is he your good Lord, Paul calls him personally, my Lord. Question, how do you get to know God. I like to answer this way, how did you get to know your parents. You had to be born right officially you met your parents.

The day you were born you don't remember if you were to young but it happened okay so you got to know your parents.

First of all, by being born.

You get to know God by being born again. Jesus said you must be born again, and so our first birth was physical and a brought life. Our second birth is spiritual. It brings salvation and this is what enables you to know God, the new birth, so the first benefit is knowledge. The knowledge of Christ. Second benefit is position. We have position verse nine Paul says and be found in him no stop right there. One of Paul's favorite things to do in his writings is to describe Christian believers as people who are in Christ.

That's how he describes us, which makes Christians unique from all other belief systems because a Buddhist never speaks of being in Buddha will never hear a Buddhist say that I am in Buddha will never hear a Muslim say they are in. Mohammed will never say a CR here Hindu say I am in Vishnu or in Shiva or Indonesia or any of the other 330 million gods. They believe in you are in all of them you'd be disintegrated. I suppose, but we are in Christ, 87 times the New Testament says we are in Christ. What is that mean we're united to him in his life.

His death his resurrection. His life is in us. Galatians 220. Paul describes it by saying I am crucified with Christ is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and who gave himself for me that's that's him describing what it is to be in Christ. But let's drill down a little further, let's make it a little more practical. What is it mean to be in Christ. It means this that when God looks at you when you are before God, you are identified with Jesus Christ them illustrated when you get into your car. If I were to follow you to the Berkeley when you get in your car. When I look at you I see your car.

I might see you through the windshield.

If it's not too tinted here in it, but I can I see the car you're in that car. If you then drive home and step into your house. You might wave at me to the kitchen window, but when I look at you I see the home. The edifice that you are now in.

If you decide to travel to another city get in an airplane and fly away. I look up in the sky you're up there but I see the plane so to be in Christ means this when God looks at you. Now he sees Christ he sees Christ no longer sees your imperfections your failures and your sins he sees the Savior who died for them so you can't go 60 miles an hour on your own. But in a car you can you can't fly through the air at 500 miles an hour but in a plane you can you can't get to heaven by yourself, but in Christ you can you are in Christ. That position is a monumental benefit. So we have knowledge we know God we have position were in Christ. 1/3 benefit is righteousness.

Verse nine he says be found in him, not having my own righteousness now. He talked about how he worked hard for his own righteousness in previous verses, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that that is that righteousness which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. The happiest day of Paul's life is when he stopped trying to be righteous and believe that he was righteous because he was in Christ is like he's been patent hard his whole life trying to work for. We realize I'm accepted. I've been given a righteousness God has made me that way. Now the word righteousness.

Would you agree is a pretty important Bible word right it's used a lot in the Scriptures. The New Testament uses that word a lot. Let me tell you what it means.

Righteousness is the word D Kia soon a witch means to have a right standing before God are to be right with God. Righteousness is being right with God having a right standing or being accepted by God.

Now think of it.

Paul spent his whole adult life trying to manufacture a righteousness before God. How by externals by rituals by works. We read the list already. You try to get right with God by keeping the rules to try to get right with God by leaning on his religious heritage he try to get right with God by practicing legalism as a Jewish Pharisee and he failed. And that day he discovered that failure was the happiest day of his life because he found that true righteousness can't be produced. True righteousness must be provided. He tried to produce it. He tried to manufacture and the Damascus Road experience that whole experience made him realize I can produce it, but it has been provided for me. There's this cool little thing. This been going on since the 1990s. In malls across America called build a bear, if you seen the build a bear workshop Bilderberg springs okay so it's it is a it's a great idea, but the thought behind it and they put out 160 million of the sex was pretty successful, but the idea is simply forget somebody else's idea what a teddy bear ought to be. Make your own size, years, eyes look skin. You can even get away from the teddy bear to Pokémon figure if you want or Star Wars figure if you want. You build your own bear its incredibly a genius idea blocked when it comes to spiritual matters. I have discovered the world is absolutely fixated on this approach with God to build a better approach is build your own way to God approach. Build your own road to heaven. Build your own righteousness that the message from the series. The stories of the Bible is a very good thing.

Walking where the stories took place is at a whole another level skin is planning his next tour and you can be on. Here's the invitation from Skip urine for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture so unique to that country.

Now I've been to Israel and number of times over the years and I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the Scriptures unfolded where Jesus lived taught and healed. It just never gets old will start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north. Seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River will spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the Temple Mount Calvary, the garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of olives and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study, and lots of fellowship. The Bible will come alive to you in a way never has before. I hope you'll join Lenny and me on what is always an unforgettable. I can't wait to see you in his lucid dreams can come true for you. Start planning and saving out to Israel with Skip Heitzig formation, inspiration, cruises.com/C a VQ that's inspiration cruises.com/tune in tomorrow Skip Heitzig. It explores what it means for you to have fellowship with God and experience his glory. One of the castle Skip Heitzig presentation of connection communications through