Lose Your Religion, Choose Your Relationship!

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, April 17,2016 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister MESSAGE 10 in Philippians Sermon Series ( Living A Joy-Filled Life ) Lose Your Religion, Choose Your Relationship! Philippians 3:1-11 (NKJV) The apostle Paul spent most of his ministry in jail. He was gone so much of the time he never had a home or permanent address. There are no records that Paul ever married or had any children. He never had his own radio broadcast or TV ministry. By his own admission he was not a good speaker. Physically speaking, historical records describe Paul as an odd-looking man who was small in stature, bald-headed, bow-legged, with bushy eye-brows meeting in the middle and a long nose. Yet despite all these very unimpressive things about Paul, second only to Jesus Christ, he stands out as the most influential man in the New Testament. What was his secret? What was it about Paul's life that left such an indelible mark on Christianity that remains to this very day? Well, we will learn the answer to those questions in tonight's message. Please turn with me in your Bibles to our scripture text in Philippians chapter three. And let's read verses 1-11.

2 P H I L I P P I A N S 3:1-11 (NKJV) 1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. 2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 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 9 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; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

3 NO psychiatrist or therapist could ever give you and me better advice on how to live a joy-filled life than the apostle Paul gives us in these first eleven verses of Philippians chapter three. You won't find this secret in any book written by Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz. In these eleven verses Paul counsels you and me to do two things if we want to discover the secret to joy-filled living. First of all, Paul counsels us to... I. LOSE Your RELIGION (vs. 1-7) 1. Normally when we think of someone losing his religion we think of someone letting out a few swear words when he hits his thumb with a hammer or when he can't get the lawnmower started or when someone cuts him off on the highway. 2. But in these first six verses Paul tells us that losing one's religion is actually a good thing! In fact, he is telling us that the day he lost his religion was one of the best day of his life! 3. In verse 2 Paul warns the Philippians about those who were trying to cram religion down their throats. 2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!

4 4. Notice the three strong terms Paul uses to describe these false teachers. (A) First he calls them DOGS DOGS. When we think of dogs we think of our adorable, pampered pet pooches. That's not the image Paul has in mind here. He is thinking of the dirty, despised, diseased scavengers that roamed the roadsides in packs scrounging for any morsel of food they could find. That's how Paul wanted the Philippians to see these false teachers. He wanted them to see them as dirty scavengers. (B) Next Paul calls them WICKED MEN. In the eyes of the LORD, any man who preaches and teaches a false gospel is wicked. Paul is simply calling a spade a spade. (C) Then Paul calls them MUTILATORS MUTILATORS. Boy that's pretty gross isn't it? What is Paul talking about? He is referring to the false gospel being preached by these false teachers. They were teaching people that in order for one to be saved one had to be circumcised and follow the religious laws and rituals of Judaism. In other words, CHRIST ALONE is not enough to save you. You also have to practice our brand of religion if you want to be saved. 5. Now, notice what Paul goes on to say in verse For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,

5 6. What Paul is saying is that the true Christian understands that true worship is not about the rituals we perform, it is about the attitude of our heart. 7. Unfortunately, a lot of people who profess to be Christians are missing joy and passion in their life because they are more focused on being religious than building a relationship with Jesus Christ. RELIGION can never, I repeat NEVER serve as a substitute for A RELATIONSHIP with the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, RELIGION is often the enemy of a true relationship with Jesus. RELIGION often comes between us and Jesus. One can perform all the right religious rituals and say all the right religious sounding words, and jump through all the right religious hoops and still not know GOD. RELIGION without THE RELATIONSHIP is COLD...DEAD...LIFELESS...and MEANINGLESS! 8. No one knew that better than the apostle Paul. Why? Because at one time he was one of those self-righteous religious Judaizers he is warning the Philippians about.

6 9. Look again at verses though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 10. Paul has just rattled off seven credentials he once boasted about on his religious resume. a. I was circumcised on the eighth day That means he was a proud Jew from the time he was born. b. I was of the nation of Israel He had a pure blood-line that traced all the way back to Jacob. c. I was of the tribe of Benjamin. That was the same tribe as Israel's first three great Kings: Saul, David and Solomon. d. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews He wasn't raised a Hellenistic Jew, he came from a family of Hebrew speaking Jews who practiced the customs of the Hebrew people. e. I was a Pharisee a member of the strictest, most orthodox, most patriotic sect of Judaism.

7 f. I was a persecutor of the Church In other words, I was a zealous defender of Judaism. g. I was righteous and blameless In other words I religiously obeyed every law of Judaism. 11. After rattling off his sterling religious credentials notice what Paul says next in verse 7... But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. He is saying, I lost my religion! I tore up my religious resume'. I came to realize my religion was keeping me from the most important thing of all, and that is a personal relationship with the LORD JESUS CHRIST. On a practical level here is what Paul is saying to you and me... Don't base your confidence of your salvation on the fact you were raised in a Christian home...or how many years you have been a Christian...or the fact that you are there every time the Church doors are open...or how much money you have given to the Church...or how many years you taught Sunday School...or how many offices you have held in the Church. Those things may give you a sense of pride and they may impress other people, but none of those things tip the scales of salvation in your favor one bit, so LOSE YOUR RELIGION and...

8 II. CHOOSE Your RELATIONSHIP (vs. 8-11) 8 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 9 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; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 1. That 8 th verse is the key verse here. Look at it again very closely: 8 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. 2. Not only Paul count all things as loss with regards to his past life as a devout, religious Pharisee; he continues to count all things as loss in his present life as a Christian. Now think about that! Paul wrote fourteen New Testament books...established fourteen Churches we know of, and possibly as many as twenty. He made three missionary journeys preaching the gospel all over the known world. And he mentored many young men to become preachers.

9 3. Now those are some pretty sterling credentials by anyone's standards. And yet Paul concludes I count these things as loss...in fact I count them as rubbish compared to knowing Jesus Christ in a close, personal relationship. That word rubbish refers to human waste or cow manure. 4. What Paul is saying is when I think of the works I have done for Christ, and the works Christ has done for me, mine are a pile of manure by comparison. 5. Imagine if you will, Jesus is here in the flesh this evening, seated in any one of the pews down here. And one by one each of us gets up and tells of all the things we have done in the Church over the years. I I did this And I did that! And I was this for so many years And I was that for so many years. And then we offer the floor to Jesus. He stands up, and without saying a single word, He raises His arms, and the sleeves of His robe drop down revealing the nail scars in His hands. Then He sits back down. I don't know about you, but I would like to think that at that very moment I would consider everything I had boasted about to be rubbish compared to knowing the One Who gave His life for me.

10 6. What Paul is saying is I want more than a head knowledge about Jesus. I want to know more than facts and information about Jesus. I want more than Theology. I want to KNOW JESUS PERSONALLY! I want to KNOW JESUS INTIMATELY! I want to WALK WITH HIM AND TALK WITH HIM EACH DAY I want to KNOW HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS which makes my righteousness look like filthy rags by comparison! I want to KNOW THE AWESOME POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION...Paul is actually looking forward to the day when he lays aside his old earthly body and the day he resurrects from the dead as did His Savior. I even want to KNOW THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS, I want to know what it means to be hated and ridiculed and scorned for identifying my life with Jesus. I want JESUS...NOTHING MORE...NOTHING LESS... Just give me JESUS!

11 C O N C L U S I O N All of us are familiar with the story of the ill-fated TITANIC. For years after the TITANIC sank many true stories came to light. This is one of them. One of the wealthy women aboard the TITANIC was in her cabin when the order to abandon ship was given. There was no time to pack her possessions. She noticed two things on the dresser in her cabin: her jewelry box full of expensive jewels and a bowl of oranges. Having been instructed not to bring anything with her the woman was faced with a critical decision. She made a rapid assessment of which would be of the most value to her and she wisely abandoned her jewels and grabbed the bowl of oranges. She had recognized that the oranges would give her nourishment on the open sea and her jewels would be absolutely worthless. Think of this world as the TITANIC. This world is sinking and she's sinking fast. If you and I are to be SAVED we are going to have to make a critical choice: Do I want to TRUST IN MY RELIGION TO SAVE ME? Or do I want to TRUST IN MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST? In light of what Paul has tauht us here this evening the choice is obvious isn't it? LOSE YOUR RELIGION, CHOOSE YOUR RELATIONSHIP! But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. (Philippians 3:7 NKJV)