Sermon Cloud

How to Lose Confidence in Yourself                            Philippians 3:1-12

OPENER: Arnold Schwarzenegger who has either starred or appeared in over 30 movies is probably best known for his role as the Terminator. But more recently he is known as the current governor of CA which has earned him the title the "governator". Most of you probably remember how the Terminator became Governator of CA. Many in the state of CA had become very frustrated with the governor at that time - Gray Davis, over his handling of the state finances. Mr. Davis had only been in office for his 2nd term less than a year when a movement to remove him became a reality. IN the end nearly 5 million people voted yes to recall Governor Davis.  Another name for a recall vote is a vote of NO CONFIDENCE. The voters are saying they have no confidence in his ability to effectively lead.

TRANSITION: The subject of confidence comes up here in Philippians 3. Here Paul urges the Philipians to do something very similar to what Californians did a few years ago - cast a vote of no confidence, not against a church leader or political leader, but against themselves. Paul's concern is about the teachings of a group, known as the Judaizers, will lead them astray and cause them to have the wrong kind of confidence - confidence in their own attempts to make themselves acceptable to God.

I. The Wrong Kind of Confidence
IN verse 2 Paul begins with a three-fold warning that comes like a judge banging his gavel indicating he really wants them to take this seriously.
*Beware of Dogs! Beware - Evil Doers, Beware - Mutilators. (2-3)
We've all seen a sign like this - and we all know what it means!
It does not mean come play with the pit bull in the back yard.
It means this dog in this yard is gonna tear you up if you trespass.
The dogs Paul speaks of are not unlike the dogs behind the fence with the sign - only they have gotten loose and are terrorizing the neighborhood.
To refer to another human as a dog is to say he is among the lowest in the social scale. (DBI) Here's why.
Dogs (KUWV) IN the Greek it refers specifically to a street dog capable of violence and filthy habits and were considered unclean by Jews.
Therefore Jews commonly referred to uncircumcised Gentiles as dogs.
Who were they? Simply put - they were either Jews who has professed faith in Jesus and believed that full compliance with the Law of Moses was required for a person to be saved.
Or they were Gentiles who had given into their pressure to be circumcised and were now propagating the doctrine. 
You may recall this issue came up in Acts 15 where Luke tells us: Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. (Acts 15:1-2)
As you may remember, Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to meet with the other apostles and elders to discuss this issue. The verdict - "it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we [Jews] are saved, just as they [the Gentiles] are.”

The point being - circumcision does not save - never did.
And now that Christ has come the old requirements of the Law to be circumcised in the flesh are no longer applicable.
Gentiles are accepted on the basis of grace which is received by faith alone in Jesus Christ - but this did not settle the matter!
Some continued their campaign to have Gentiles circumcised - why?
Paul revealed their motives to the Galatians: The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. (Gal. 6:12-13)

This is why Paul also calls them "evildoers" they have evil intentions - specifically to convince them Jesus is not sufficient and that is evil.
Allt hey really want to do is torture you for their own pleasure.
They are alot like Sid in Toy Story - Sid lives next door to the boy Andy. And Sid is one twisted kid - he finds great pleasure in dismembering and mutilating toys. He will even take parts of toys and put them together and make these frankenstein like toys, or he will blow toys up with fire crackers - thats what these Judaizers are like - they are like SID.
Beware the dogs! Beware the evil-doers! Beware the mutilators! They are NOT who they claim to be - not of the true circumcision.
**WE are the [TRUE] circumcision (3)
See circumcision was meant to be a sign of an inner cleansing - it was never meant to be the actual "cleansing".
And in Romans Paul says: [true] circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. (Ro 2:29)
It is something that takes place within and is done by the Holy Spirit.
They have circumcision - we have the Holy Spirit and worship by him!
We glory in Christ and Christ's righteousness is sufficient.
We put no confidence in the flesh - cut or uncut.
You've probably heard the idiom: call your bluff - it comes from card games like poker where bluffing about what you have in your hand is part of the game. But a good card player knows when someone is bluffing and will "call their bluff" which involves forcing them to show their cards.
Paul calls the Judaizers bluff by showing his own cards. 

***Paul Shows His Cards (4-6)
They think that just because they have been circumcised they have bragging rights - I have even more.
I was circumcised on the 8th day as commanded in the Law. Im not some Johnny-come-lately. Can these mutilators claim the same?
I am a full-blooded Jew from the tribe of Benjamin who was one of his father's favored sons.
I have a Masters degree from Pharisee Theological Seminary.
And my zeal for the law - I was putting Christians in jail and even participated in the murder of some - I was blameless in my law-keeping.
You cant get any more Jewish than Paul.
But Paul's eyes had been opened to something greater - something that caused him to vote no confidence against his flesh, his DNA, his training.
And he chalks it all up to a bad investment in the end.

II. Confidence in the Flesh - a Bad Investment
*Paul's Profit and Loss Statement (7-8)
A Profit and Loss statement shows whether a company made or lost money. On the statement the bottom line shows which.
Paul's bottom line showed an enormous loss.
But whatever was to my profit, I now consider a loss.
At the end of the day when all of my accomplishments, my DNA, my zeal, knowledge and education are added up - they miserably fail to benefit me or help me at all - they left my bottom line in the red.
I had all of this and still I did not have a CLUE who God really was .
And this is why I have come to realize that there is nothing that I could add to my resume, experience or qualifications that could ever put me in the black save this alone - the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. (more than just a loss he says..) I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.(8)

This word 'rubbish' is significant. Most translators are too polite. See the word refers to substances that are commonly placed in one of these (toilet). Or at best it refers to nasty, smelly garbage that no one wants to smell - its repulsive (gag reflex) - it has no value.
In fact that's how he viewed everything in life that stood in between himself and Christ.
Anything that prevented Paul from receiving all the benefits of knowing Christ belonged in the sewer - this comes down to an analysis of values.
**What We Value is What Defines Us
Now if I can for a moment speak more directly to the teens in the room - you all are faced with a tremendous challenge because you all are being told everyday the exact opposite of what I am telling you right now.
Whether it is popularity, being accepted by your peers. Maybe you identify with a particular type of music and feel that this particular musical culture adds significance and value to your life. Maybe its drugs, maybe sex, sports, maybe its hanging out with certain 'so-called-friends'.
I cant address every possible thing - but each of you have something in your life that you value more than Christ - and this thing defines you.
Paul is saying such things are bankrupt - therefore they belong here (toilet) because thats what these things are in comparison with knowing Christ - they are "dung" so don't look to them for self identity and value.
Adults are not immune to this either - we have different things in our lives that get in between us and Christ and guess where they belong? (toilet)
Jesus said: whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. Luke 9:24 (NIV)
Life only makes sense when Jesus is Lord over it. It only has value when Jesus defines it. And it is only worth living when it is lived for Jesus.
This is why Paul refers to the greatness of knowing Christ as surpassing anyhting and everything else.

III. The Surpassing Greatness of Knowing Christ
*Knowing Christ is the basis of our standing before God(8-9)
Knowing Christ is not only the only thing that gives our lives any meaning and value, but also it is the basis upon which we are made right with God.
Today is what we in the reformed theological tradition call "Reformation Sunday".
I dont want to assume everyone knows what the Reformation was so let me describe it briefly.
I certainly believe that the Reformation was a movement of God which reawakened the church to the gospel which had become obscured by rituals and corruption.
Most of you know about Baptist Churches,  Lutheran, Presbyterian and even Episcopalian.
What you may not realize is that all of them are a result of the Reformation.
It was from the Roman Catholic Church that the Lutheran, Presbyterian/Reformed and Anglican/Episcopal churches came to be.
One day a Catholic monk found himself as the catalyst that started the Reformation.
As a monk he had a troubled conscience. No matter how good he was, no matter how many times he went to confession and no matter how hard he tried - he lacked confidence that all of his "goodness" was sufficient to escape God's divine wrath.
Here's what Martin Luther wroteas he reflected on his experience: "I was a good monk and kept my order so strictly that I could claim that if ever a monk were able to reach heaven by monkish discipline I should have found my way there. All my fellows in the house who knew me would bear me out in this. For if it had continued much longer I would, what with vigils, prayers, readings, and other such works, have done myself to death."
Sound familiar? Sounds like Paul's past as a pharisee.
Through a series of events Luther found himself in sharp disagreement with the RCC over what must be done to be made right with God - a dispute not unlike Paul's dispute with the Judaizers.

In both cases the dispute was about confidence in the flesh. As Luther saw it the church was teaching people to put confidence in their own moral achievements to be made right with God by teaching that their prayers, their good works, among other things were meritorius. Luther's response to this was the same as Paul's to the Judaizers - "I have lost all things...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 and is by faith." (Phil. 3:8-9)

Paul voted "no confidence" against his own righteousness - his own achievements - and considered all of it as only fit for the toilet.
And why was he so hard on human effort? Because it is powerless to achieve righteousness - powerless to live lives that are worthy of Christ.
** Power of Christ's Resurrection-the basis for our confidence (10-11)
To know Christ is also to be united with him in his perfectly holy life, his death and in his resurrection by faith.
To elaborate: Jesus' perfect sinless record is given to us - his righteousness imputed to us - its not our own righteousness - and it comes to us by faith - Jesus perfect record becomes yours and mine when we put our faith in him.
And just as we are united to Christ in his life - we are united to him in his death and in his burial - this is what he means by "sharing in [Christ's] sufferings" and "becoming like him in his death.
In Romans 6:7 Paul says - "anyone who has died has been freed from sin" - so if we are united with Christ in his death by faith - its like we have died - we are freed from sin's dominance and power. But it does not end there - being united with him in his death also means we are united with him in his resurrection. Jesus is the first to be raised from the dead and the promise of the gospel is that we will all receive the same glory and will be made like him. But in the mean time - some of that power is made available to us today so that we might live our lives in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel. We live our lives on this side of heaven in the power of Christ's resurrection and it is the power of Christ's indestructible life that serves as the foundation for our own lives and the basis of our confidence. We put no confidence in our fallen, corrupted flesh - no we put it in the power of the risen Christ.  And this power is made available to us today. So ask yourself this morning - what else on earth could possible compare to this?