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| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Psalm 18:1,2 Psalm 30:1,2 Psalm 30:4,5 Hymn 1 Psalm 98 Scripture reading: Philippians 3 Catechism lesson and text: Lord's Day 17 and Philippians 3:10-11 |
Beloved congregation of Christ,
Back when I was in seminary I learned about something called the 3 AM test. It goes like this: you’re a preacher and your wife wakes you up at 3 AM and asks you not only what your sermon is about, but especially why it matters. If you can’t tell her at 3 AM, then you’re not ready to preach it. Before you preach, you’ve got to know what the Bible passage is about and what difference it makes for people’s lives. Someone once said that if you can’t answer the question of “so what?” you’ll be preaching to a “who cares?”
Our Catechism reflects that kind of an approach in Lord’s Day 17. It doesn’t spend any time on the fact of that moment when Christ rose from the dead. Today people often question the historicity of Christ’s resurrection. But not our Catechism. It assumes it and then just goes straight to the question: “So what? Christ has risen from the dead, what difference does it make? How does it benefit us?”
Paul’s writings in the New Testament are similar. He spends a little bit of time on the historical fact of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. But most of his writing about the resurrection has to do with why it matters, the question of “so what?” While it’s grounded in something that really happened in historical time and space, the focus is on the theology of the resurrection, its ultimate meaning and relevance for us as Christians.
That’s what’s happening in our text from Philippians 3:10-11 as well. Notice how it’s framed in a personal way, using the first person singular. Paul speaks about himself with the pronoun “I.” In doing this, he means for every Christian who reads this to say this along with him. This way of talking should be your way of talking and my way of talking. As we learn to talk this way, it’s impressed on us again that what happened with Christ isn’t just a matter of history. It’s something that impacts our present and our future. So I preach to you God’s Word from Philippians 3 and the theme of the sermon is:
I want to know Christ
- I want to know Christ in the power of his resurrection
- I want to know Christ in the fellowship of his sufferings
In the verses right before our text, Paul was addressing a threat to the Philippian church. There were enemies of the gospel known as Judaizers. They claimed to believe in Jesus, but they were adding to what Christ had done. So according to these Judaizers, not only did you have to believe in Christ, you also had to be circumcised and had to follow the Jewish dietary laws and so on. In response to that, Paul says that when he turned from being a Pharisee to being a Christian, he left all that behind. He counted it all as loss, as rubbish. When he said that, he was implying that everyone who is a Christian should do the same. We should leave behind any notion of adding to what Jesus has done for us in his perfect life and his death on the cross. His atonement and his righteousness are all we need to be right with God – the moment you try to add to that, you’re undermining the gospel.
Now having that righteousness that comes from God through faith, Paul writes about his aspiration going forward, his goal or purpose. It is to know Christ. Though there’s nothing inherently wrong with our Bible translation here in verse 10, I think the NIV rendering makes it clearer that Paul is speaking about his goal, purpose, or aspiration. The NIV says in verse 10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” and so on. I want to know Christ.
Now of course that raises the question: what does it mean to know Christ? Back in verse 8, Paul wrote about how he already knew Christ. He has known him since he became a Christian. You could also say he knew about Jesus before he became a Christian – after all, he was there when Stephen was preaching before the Jewish council in Acts 6 and 7. What you have to understand is that this idea of “knowing” in the Bible is multi-layered.
There is knowing about someone like Paul did with Jesus before he became a Christian. Just knowing some facts about someone is a superficial way of knowing. Many people know Jesus in this simplistic way. But then there’s also knowing someone deeper in the experience of a loving relationship with them. This is knowing with the heart, knowing someone personally and intimately. This is the kind of knowing the Bible speaks of in the Old Testament when it says that this or that man knew his wife. This knowing in the experience of a living relationship is what we’re supposed to have with Christ as Christians.
This is the kind of vital knowing Paul had as a believer. Then why would he say that he yet aspires to know Christ? “I want to know Christ.” Because he wants to grow in this knowing. And the direction in which he wants to grow in this knowing is first of all in the power of Christ’s resurrection.
That leads us to ask: what is “the power of Christ’s resurrection”? This refers to the power which caused the resurrection. If we want to know what that power is, or better yet, who that power is, then we have to look elsewhere in the New Testament. Paul says in Romans 1:4 that Jesus Christ our Lord was “declared to be the Son of God in power according to/through the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.” Similarly, 1 Peter 3:18 says that Christ was made alive in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of Christ’s resurrection. He is the one who brought life to Christ when he lay in the tomb.
So Paul is saying he wants to know the same Holy Spirit who powerfully raised Christ from the dead. He wants to know the power of the Holy Spirit in an experiential way, by his own experience of being continually raised up to a new life in Christ. Really what Paul is writing about is the second benefit mentioned in Lord’s Day 17 of our Catechism. “By his power we too are raised up to a new life.” By his Holy Spirit, we are resurrected. Theologically this is referring to our sanctification. This is the process of growing in holiness.
It involves the death of our old nature and the coming to life of the new nature. This passage from Philippians focuses on the last part of it, the coming to life of the new nature. Every Christian should long for and pray that he or she would know by experience the power behind Christ’s resurrection, the power of the Holy Spirit, in helping us to grow spiritually in both faith and obedience.
What’s the opposite of power? It’s weakness. Weakness is what we have without the power of the resurrection, without the Holy Spirit. We are weak and sinful creatures. But the Holy Spirit is almighty God, all-powerful, able and willing to give us his strength.
Then how do we come to know the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit? There’s no magic formula. It’s not complicated. It begins with prayer. Our sanctification always begins with prayer. It’s by praying and asking for the power that raised Christ from the dead. We plead for the Holy Spirit, for his presence and power in our lives. And then we also have to remember the sword of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has an instrument or tool he uses so we grow – that is the Word of God. Reading it for ourselves, reading and studying it with others, listening to it preached – these are all ways the Holy Spirit works his resurrection power in our lives. If you pray for the power that raised Christ from the dead, but then neglect the power of the Word of God, you’d have to wonder if you really meant what you prayed for. The Spirit and the Word work together for our sanctification. We need them both. So not only pray for the power of Christ’s resurrection in your life, but also let the Word of God speak into your life.
Paul also writes here in verse 10 about knowing Christ through sharing in his sufferings and becoming like him in his death. Now this is curious, isn’t it? When we think about suffering, we don’t thing about it as a positive thing to want in our lives. We do what we can to avoid or alleviate suffering. If we have a headache, we take aspirin or ibuprofen or whatever. Why would you want to suffer? But here the apostle Paul says that’s exactly what he wants. He wants to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Why?
This has to be understood in two ways. First, it has to do with the dying of our old nature. What’s left of our old nature must be put to death. This is going to involve suffering. Just as Christ suffered on the cross, we’re going to suffer as we struggle with the leftovers of our old sinful nature and put them to death. It’s not easy, but this is how Christians share in Christ’s suffering. As he put it, we take up our cross daily and follow him. To take up your cross is take up an instrument of suffering and death. The suffering is what we experience, just like our Saviour did, but the death is the death of what remains of sin in us. Because we have the Holy Spirit living in us, this is something Christians desire. If you’re a Christian, you should want to suffer in this way because you want to stomp out the sin in your life. It’s going to be a struggle, there’s going to be suffering, but it’s worth it. Growing in holiness is a reward in itself, giving you greater measures of joy, peace, and assurance. But God also promises that our suffering as we battle sin is going to be rewarded in the end too. Eternal life is a free gift of grace in Christ, but there are differing degrees of glory waiting. Those who have fought harder in the battle with sin and suffered more will be rewarded with more glory in the age to come.
So first the suffering here has to do with the dying of our old nature, or to use an old term, mortification. Second, the suffering here has to do with external forces brought to bear on us by those who hate Christ. This has to do with persecution. Christ promised that if the world hated him they would also hate those who follow him. What’s more, that hatred wouldn’t just stay in their hearts. That hatred would translate into hateful and violent actions. Jesus even said in John 16:2, “…the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” Over and over Christ and the apostles warned us as Christians that if you take your faith seriously in this world, you’re likely going to face opposition, maybe even violence, maybe even death. This is what happened to our Saviour, persecution was part of his sufferings and lead to his violent death.
Now the question is: why would Paul or anyone else for that matter want to share in those sufferings, even becoming like Christ in his death? How could that be desirable? Well, you have to realize this kind of attitude is found elsewhere in the New Testament. Peter said in 1 Peter 4:13 that when you face a fiery trial of persecution, you should “rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” Peter learned that by experience. In Acts 5, he and other apostles were brought before the Jewish religious leaders because they continued to preach the gospel. At the end of it, Peter and the other Christians were beaten and then released. Then it says something really interesting in Acts 5:41, “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” For the name of Jesus. They were rejoicing that they’d been persecuted, that they were sharing in Christ’s sufferings. What made them glad was how they’d been identified with Christ, with his Name. People looked at them and saw and heard Jesus through them. That is something desirable. That’s something we should all want for ourselves.
So the application at this point is not so much to pray that we can share in Christ’s sufferings by being persecuted. Instead, it’s that we should pray that people would look at us and see and hear Jesus. That’s the most important thing. And as they do, we will likely share in his sufferings, it may even lead to becoming like him in his death – maybe not death on a cross, but a martyr’s death. If that happens, it’s not a bad thing. It’s not a wasted life. Yes, it’s wrong and evil for people to persecute Christians and kill them. But there’s also something beautiful about a Christian who loves the Lord so much that he or she would rather suffer and die than deny him. It’s beautiful because it shows the worth and value of Christ. He’s worth more than our lives and so to be counted worthy to suffer dishonor for his name is a good thing. Having something like that happen to you as a Christian isn’t something to be feared. Like Paul in his Roman prison, if we’re faced with prospect of suffering and dying for Christ, we should want to be able to embrace it.
Now we come to verse 11 and Paul adds that the resurrection from the dead is what drives him. There are a few things to notice here. First of all, Paul isn’t speaking about the general resurrection. Remember that the Bible teaches that at the end of this age, when Christ returns, all the dead will be raised. Everyone. There is a resurrection of glory and a resurrection of shame, one for believers and the other for unbelievers. Paul is specifically writing here about the resurrection that awaits believers, that glorious resurrection where our bodies will be made like his glorious body.
Next, the language in verse 11 might sound a little tentative or unsure. “That by any means possible,” he writes. That’s referring to the uncertainty about his present situation, not any uncertainty about his future destination or outcome. When he’s writing the letter to the Philippians, Paul is in a Roman prison. He’s unsure of what’s going to happen to him. He might be in his last days. He might be facing suffering and a violent death. He just doesn’t know. That’s what’s behind the “by any means possible” in verse 11.
Another important thing to note here is that this isn’t about earning our resurrection from the dead. Scripture is clear elsewhere that our glorious resurrection is based on what Christ has done for us and only that. As our Catechism says in Lord’s Day 17, “Christ’s resurrection is to us a sure pledge of our glorious resurrection.” Resurrection is a benefit of Christ that comes to us completely by grace. We haven’t earned it and actually we can’t earn it.
What Paul means here in verse 11 then is that whatever happens to him, he looks forward to his glorious resurrection from the dead. He looks forward to the age to come. In that day, he will live in his body again, but there will be no more suffering due to sin. Having now personally experienced the full power of Christ’s resurrection, there will be no more having to kill the remnants of the old nature. That suffering will be gone. But in that day, living in his resurrected and glorified body, there’ll also be no more suffering at the hands of Christ’s enemies. They will all have been conquered, whether through conversion (like happened with Paul) or through judgment. A glorious resurrection means no more mortification or killing of sin and no more persecution. That’s what Paul was looking ahead towards. That’s what we as Christians ought to be looking ahead towards as well.
Really what this passage comes down to is discontent. We often think of discontent as a negative and often it is. We’re unhappy with our lot in life and ultimately unhappy with God who’s ordained things the way they are. But here we see Paul as an example for Christians being discontent in a holy way. He doesn’t know Christ enough. He wants more experiential knowledge of Christ. He doesn’t know the power of his resurrection enough. He wants more experiential knowledge of the powerful Holy Spirit. He doesn’t know suffering enough. He wants more suffering, wants to become more like Christ in his death. He wants to know the battle against sin more intimately, the joy of bearing Christ’s name before his enemies more regularly. This is all discontent and here it’s not at all sinful. Paul is eager for change in his life. He’s not happy for things to remain the same.
Loved ones, that’s supposed to be your story and mine too. The Christian life isn’t supposed to be a plateau. Instead, it’s meant to be a slow steady climb. Yes, sometimes there are dips, but it’s supposed to be a steady trend upward overall. That’s what we should want. If you want it, pray for it. If you want it, keep going to the Scriptures to learn more about how to do it. So let me ask you: do you want to know Christ? Do you want to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings? I pray you do. AMEN.
PRAYER
Father in heaven,
Like the apostle, we want to know Christ. We want to know the power of his resurrection. We want to know by experience the power of the Holy Spirit raising us up to a new life. Please grant that to each of us. We want to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. We want to know more and more the experience of struggling with sin and growing in holiness. Please help us with that by your Spirit and Word. We want to make Christ heard and seen in this world. We want to be identified with him, and if that means suffering for him, we want to be able to embrace that, like Paul did. Please give us grace with your Spirit to that end. And Father, we, like Paul, look forward to the resurrection from the dead. We look forward to a bodily existence with no sin, no enemies, no struggle. Please hasten that day with the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Dr. Wes Bredenhof, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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