All That I Am--

All The TimePhilippians 3:4-11 

Adapted from a Jay McPhearson sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?

SermonID=116889

“O the wonderful Cross bids me come and die and find that I might truly live.

(Isaac Watts)For us to have true life in this world we

must die to the stuff of this world.For us, the church, to be a light in this world, we must reflect the light of the

world, which is Jesus.We can’t reflect that light, if we are hanging on to the past, if we are hanging on to hurt,

if we have pride in ourselves.

The cross gives us one message of surrender and true gain.

The world, or the crowd, gives us a different message that often puts self first.

So what I’m going to ask you to do this morning might sound foreign, or even

unnecessary.

It is vital in the life of the Christian to daily surrender everything to Jesus.

The length of your Christian life is determined by your desire to surrender everything, all that you are, all the time.

Say that with meALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.

Paul came to the point in his life where he said

ALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.

Paul came to the conclusion that our confidence, our self-worth, our value

comes not in degrees, titles, positions, heritage or talents but it comes from who

we are in Christ.

Philippians 3: 4 ESV though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If

anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the

people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a

Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,

blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of

knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not

having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness

from God that depends on faith—

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his

sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain

the resurrection from the dead.I see three things that will hopefully bring us to the conclusion of giving all that we

are all the time.We have to:

Philippians 3: 4 ESV though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If

anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the

people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a

Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,

blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Lose Confidence in Self

I didn’t say have no self-confidence.

Romans 12:3 ESV For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to

think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that

God has assigned

Don’t find pride…

In the things you have done or what you have accomplished

In your past victories or even your Christian walk

Pride makes a person stop.That’s why it comes before the fall.

It literally makes a person fall when you are running this race that is the Christian life

and you begin to be prideful about whatever it is you will stop.

It’s at that point you are not running the race that is the Christian life.

2 Chronicles 26 tells the story of King Uzziah.

He became king when he was 16.It says that his mother did what was right

in the eyes of the lord just as his father had done.

So you have this 16 year old king, with a righteous upbringing.

2 Chronicles 26:13 ESV Under their command was an army of 307,500, who

could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones

for slinging. 15 In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skillful men, to be on

the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones.

And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. 16

But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to

the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of

incense.We have to be careful of our pride as well.

Say those words with meALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.

Realize the trade off --

Paul says, 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

If we are going to know Christ

If we are going to surrender everything to Christ

If we are going to gain Christ

We have to look at our lives in the same way Paul looked at his.

The word “gain” is plural (more than one) - it’s like Paul had counted his past reasons

for confidence one by one -- lining them up.

Starting with Verse 5 -- 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; 6 as to zeal, a

persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

But he had a change of heart, I now consider loss¨ -- the word loss is singular -- meaning Paul no longer counted his profits as single reasons for confidence -- but he

saw them all together in one lump.Say those words with me

ALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.What Paul was and did was nothing. What

Christ had done was everything.

We Must LoseIn The Same Way Paul Lost

We can probably stack up our profits, our victories, our talents, and our knowledge

and be proud of what we’ve accomplished.If God has called you to do something and you follow through when He gives you the

victory there is nothing wrong with boasting in what He has done in your life.

God gives you the victory so that He can receive the glory that’s the way it works.

The problem even for Paul was the ease of getting to the point where you don’t give

the glory, and you stop.

Some of you this morning have stopped, you’ve stopped growing, you’ve stopped learning, you’ve stopped leaning church, it’s time that we get back to the point, or

maybe even arrive for the first time and live out the idea that Christ is EVERYTHING.One of the commentaries said this, “That road, from self to Christ, is a long one.”

Put To Rest Things that don’t matter,

opinions and preferences.

The devil wants us to hang out at the crossroads of opinion and preference.

Because when we do we STOP doing the commission of the church making

disciples, baptizing them and teaching them obedience.

The church should be an atmosphere of grace, trust and freedom but it can’t be if opinions and preferences rise to the top.

Say those words with meALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.

Here’s the second thing that will help us reach that as a conclusion we must see as

a goal to:

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of

knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not

having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness

from God that depends on faith—

Gain Christ

See What The Real Value Is.Our world is good at selling us false values

and we buy into it.If it feels good we should do it regardless of

who it hurts.The world says rely on yourself.

The world says that you can earn your goodness by what you do.

Paul looked at all the titles he had, all the heritage he had, all the knowledge he

possessed and he called all of that RUBBISH.

Maybe the exeGeses companion Bible puts this in our Ozarkian hill folk language, well

the rubbish part.

Philippians 3:8 ECB Yes indeed, I still deem all loss for the superiority of the knowledge of Messiah Yah Shua my Adonay: for whom

I lost all and deemed to be hound dog droppings to gain Messiah

The word here translated "dung" was often used in Greek as a vulgar term for fecal

matter. As such it would most likely have had a certain shock value for the readers.

This may well be Paul's meaning here, especially since the context is about what

the flesh produces.(NETnotes)

It was holding him back from gaining Christ.

It was holding him back from being found in Christ.

Paul feared standing before God by himself.

After his conversion, Paul feared relying on his own righteousness, and his own works

as God’s source of judgment on his life.

How is it that Paul the apostle, the missionary, the writer of most of the New Testament was scared of being in front of

God?

Wasn’t he righteous enough? Surely, the writer of most the New

Testament could lean on his works and God could judge him by that right?

Paul’s Understanding

We are too sinful to do enough good to be declared good by God.

God does not ask for good works, but for faith if you remember Abram.

Genesis 15:6 ESV And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as

righteousness.

The trouble with righteousness based on what a person can do is that it is always self-righteousness, providing a basis for

pride.

A person who desires to gain Christ relies not on the pride in accomplishments or talents but on the grace given through

faith.

Paul makes it clear that if he relies on a righteousness of his own, based on his

own achievements that he will accomplish God’s recognition, but fall short of true righteousness because that is based on

Paul, and not what God has accomplished in Jesus.

There is a hint of this even in the Old Testament that righteousness comes from

God.

Jeremiah 23:6 ESV In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'

Paul tells the church in Corinth 1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us

wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

Say those words with meALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.

Gaining Christ for Us

Happens the same way

A resolve to view everything we have and all that we are RUBBISH.

A removal of the things in your life that

don’t belong.

When New Year’s Eve comes a resolution can mean a new direction with our attitude, our speech, our finances, and our school

work.

Don’t just resolve to go in a new direction, allow Christ to lead you as you fill your life

with HIM.

Gaining Christ for Us

Filling Your Life With Him

Paul told the Ephesians to put on the full armor of God he includes a list of the

different pieces of armor.

For us to be daily strong in the Lord and in His mighty power we have to equip

ourselves for everything we will face every distraction, every persecution, every

struggle and every temptation with full dependence on the faith that we have in

Jesus that’s how He becomes your righteousness, your holiness and your

redemption.

That’s how when you stand before God you won’t be alone but you can boast about the mighty work Jesus has done for you and in

your life.

Say those words with me

ALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his

sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain

the resurrection from the dead.Knowing Christ is the good conclusion

Paul hoped to reach.It is in knowing Christ that we can also

know the power in his resurrection.

Know Christ

Knowing about Christ is different than truly knowing Christ Even Jesus says:

Matthew 7:21 ESV "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom

of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not

prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty

works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart

from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

So how do we know Christ like Paul wanted to know Christ?

He gives us a few things to know about Christ.

The power in his resurrection.

Paul is not content to know Christ as a fact of history, but to know Him personally as the resurrected ever-living Lord of his life.

Christ died for you, but He did not stay dead!

The Bible says that He was raised by the power of God.

We can know God’s mighty power in our lives not only for our salvation, but in

everyday life as well.Who wouldn’t want power in their lives, in your marriage, in your work, environment,

in your relationship with your children?Not the power that leads to destruction but power from God, to know what you are and

who you are.Those are good things. He continues:

The Fellowship Of Sharing In His Suffering.

I’ve probably lost some of you on this. You say the "S" word and we automatically turn

off our hearts.

You might want to shoot a basketball like Michael Jordan, but are you willing to

shoot free throws until you can’t lift your arms.

We want the crown and the victory without the cross and the suffering.

When we suffer we don’t suffer alone I’m not talking about basketball.

Matthew 10:22 ESV and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who

endures to the end will be saved.

If you wear the name of Christ you will suffer, through trials of many kinds.

But the picture He paints is not one of isolation.

There is a fellowship of sharing in His sufferings.

He’s right there with you.

He understands what you are going through, because He’s been there.

He’s been locked in this body of flesh, restricted just as we are so that He could

be our prefect sacrifice.

Becoming Like Him In DeathWhere do I sign up for hanging on the

cross?Where do I sign up for the beating that

most men died from before they ever got to the cross?Right here.

Say those words with meALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.

His death was painful, and horrible.But it was also the greatest display of

God’s love for us.

While he is saying I’m willing to go to the cross, he’s also saying I understand the

complete love on display.

I want to show that love in my own life.

Paul is telling us, “Church, live a life of love because you are dearly loved children.”

While you may never have to go to the cross for Jesus, you can, you must demonstrate his love in your life.

There is a reward for wanting this closeness with Christ

Everlasting Life,The Resurrection Of The Dead.

We will die some day.We will stand before God, either alone and on our own merit (which is not where you

want to be) or with Jesus, and what He has done for us and through us.

There will be everlasting promise or everlasting punishment, only two options.

I’ve heard people argue that a loving God wouldn’t send us to everlasting

punishment; but the Bible says that He loved us so much that He gave His son so that we would believe and have everlasting

life.

God didn’t create hell for us. The Bible says that hell was created for the

devil and His angels.

Matthew 25:41 ESV "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you

cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

If you go there you are going to be in a place for eternity that was not created for

you.You church, people of God, were created for life with God for eternity. And what He wants is nothing less than all of who you

are all the time.Say those words with me,

ALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME.

ALL THAT I AM ALL THE TIME That’s big isn’t it?

Seriously.If you sign up for this how will it change

your marriage, your family life, your work habits, your worship, your spare time, your

spare change, your friendships?This isn’t something to do without

considering all of those things.

What if you move towards Christ this morning, and live this principle of all that I

am all the time and people notice a difference in your life that you have to

explain.

What will you say?

Here’s a suggestion: 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss

for the sake of Christ.