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Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul was facing a new beginning, when
he wrote the book of Philippians. He had been in prison for two years. But
now, the time for his release was drawing near.
The apostle Paul, facing a new beginning, now makes some new resolutions
in Philippians
3:10-11:
(1) That I may know him,
(2) and the power of his resurrection,
(3) and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death;
(4) If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
(1)
Verse 10 "That I may know Him"
Maybe we are surprised: “Here was the old Apostle Paul! He had known
Christ all his life—He had even written epistles and books about Christ.
But He still wanted to know Christ.
And this morning, perhaps we have known Christ since childhood; we listen
to sermons on Christ; we have even been in Seminary and read the Life of
Christ in Greek.
Yes, we may know about the life of Christ, but do we really know Him from
experience and from our loving heart?
Some years ago, I was preaching in Korea. And I saw an old Korean pastor
with a very old Bible. He showed me his Bible--and I noticed that every
verse in the Bible was underlined, or marked in red. He obviously loved
every word of the Bible.
I asked him to turn to 2 Chronicles (because I know that most Christians
seldom read 2 Chronicles). And again every verse there was underlined.
Suddenly behind me, another Korean pastor said: "A dirty Bible is a
clean Christian." Then another pastor continued: "But a clean
Bible..." And he stopped there.
Dear brothers and sisters, do we have a clean Bible or a dirty Bible? As
we live our Christian lives, is our Bibles marked by our daily experiences
with Christ?
When Leonardo Da Vinci was painting "The Last Supper," he asked
a friend to critique his painting.
"Oh that's wonderful," exclaimed the friend.
"What's wonderful?" asked Da Vinci.
"The cup, the cup--it's beautiful!"
At once, the famous painter realized that he had painted the Last Supper's
CUP to be too beautiful, and it was detracting from the person of Christ
Himself.
And so, he took a brush, crossed out the CUP, and painted it to be less
prominent.
Today, people love this painting of "The Last Supper," because
they see the person of Christ first.
The Early Church loved Christ very much. They were willing to even die for
Christ. How could they love Christ so much?
In 1 John 4:19, they replied: "We love, because He first loved
us." Christ first loved them, and they could not help but love Christ
in return.
One of our “Knowledge Base Articles" is a record of Christ’s
Longest Night. Study it and see how much Christ loved us, and
sacrificed Himself for us.
That night, the night He was betrayed, He was taken all over Jerusalem
(from Gethsemane to Via Dolorosa to Golgotha)--He did it all for you, for
me.
Paul said: “That I may know Him.” When we really know Him, we will
truly love Him.
(B)
Verse 10 "And the power of
His resurrection,"
There are many great religions in the world today. Every religion had a
founder buried in fancy tombs. And they still fight over the tooth of
Buddha in India, or a bone from their founder's tomb.
Some years ago, scientists took the soil from the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem—traditional
site of Jesus’ tomb—took the soil to London for minute analysis. They
could find no bone fragments among the soil!
Christ's tomb is empty. He is risen. There is hope; there is life. The one
event that changed the fearful, cowering disciples into fearless,
effective soulwinners was the resurrection of Christ!
One day before, they were meeting in close doors, with windows shut. But
when they knew that Christ was alive, they openly preached at the Temple.
What a great life for Christ was that of Apostle Paul! He completely
changed the church's vision and outreach. His enemies said he turned the
world upside-down. Within 40 years, the Roman Empire became a Christian
Empire.
Paul started out persecuting the church. He was so dedicated, he was not
satisfied with Jerusalem, but was going to Damascus, when Christ met him.
That was the turning point: Once he knew Christ was risen—was
actually with him—nothing could stop him!
(C)
Verse 10 "And the fellowship of His sufferings, being
made conformable unto His death;"
How can we share in Christ’s suffering and death? It is being willing to
sacrifice ourselves, to suffer the loss of name and position, to stand up
for what is right, yea, even to DIE for Christ.
The Book of Revelation describes the Great Tribulation and the fierce
activities of Satan. How could believers win over Satan?
Rev. 12:11 gives us 3 secrets for victory over Satan.
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death."
(A) By the blood of the Lamb. Always emphasize the Cross of
Christ, the blood of the Lamb;
(B) By the word of their testimony. Strong, steadfast
testimony. Don’t be afraid to let people know you are a Christian. If
you stand fast, Satan has no power over you; and
(C) They loved not their lives unto the death. Don’t be
afraid to die—when Satan meets someone who is not fearful of death,
Satan will leave right away.
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Several years ago, I was in Korea and visited a
unique place. It is called the Korean Martyrs' Memorial Village.
No one lived inside this Village. It was a village
set up to remember the hundreds of Christian martyrs who died for Christ
when Christianity was introduced into Korea for 100 years.
At the main entrance was a large marble monument. On
the wall is a POEM, written by a martyr.
"Life has only one death
Why not die to death;
One who dies to death,
Forever need not die;
When one refuses to die--
Living blissfully is not life;
Christ has died for me--
I now die for Christ."
Let me continue describing the Korean Martyr’s
Village. As we entered the main building, we saw hundreds of pictures of
martyrs on the walls. All the photos of martyrs are of the same
size—with the martyr’s name, date of martyrdom, and a short
description.
Then as I went around looking at the photos one by
one.…I saw my own picture.
No, it was not a picture, but really myself!
How did they do it?
In one of the picture frames was a MIRROR. And so I
could see myself! Etched into the mirror were these words: "I can be
a martyr."
Paul said: “That I may know the fellowship of His
suffering and death.”
It was St. Francis of Assisi who said: "Let me lose my life, to find it, Lord, in Thee."
A group of missionaries went to the darkest part of
Africa. The natives warned them of the danger to their lives. Their
answer: “We died before we came.”
Jim Elliot the martyr said: “He is no fool who
gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
When we give to God even our very best, we will find
Him returning to us His very best: which is Himself.
Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
To be living, yet a sacrifice; to be a sacrifice, yet
living!
Paul said: “To share in His suffering, becoming
like Him in His death.”
(D)
Verse 11 " If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of
the dead."
We are shocked and surprised with this statement. In
fact it is a doubting statement! Here Paul seems to be doubting his
resurrection.
BUT he himself had said in 1 Cor. 15:19—“If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Paul was
very sure about the resurrection in all the Pauline epistles.
The answer is in the Greek word for
“Resurrection” here. The Greek word here is not the simple word Ress
(“Anastasis”). Here Paul used a compound word—two words combined
into one—“ek-anastasis.”
The meaning of “ek” is “out of, better, more
beautiful.” Therefore, it should be translated: "Perhaps I might be
'more beautifully' resurrected from the dead; perhaps I might have a more
glorious resurrection.”
In other words, Paul was not longing for the
resurrection. All Christians would be resurrected when Christ comes! What
he was aiming for, was a more beautiful resurrection, a resurrection that
is full of rewards and praises from Christ.
Preaching about the Great White Throne Judgment is
only part of my ministry. Another equally important ministry is to warn
people of ANOTHER Judgment. It is for Christians; it is called the “Bema
Seat of Christ.” What will happen in that Judgment for Christians?
2 Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
The Greek word “APPEAR” can be translated:
“Turned inside out.” They tell me that to iron a shirt, the best way
is to first turn it inside out, and iron it first.
I think there will be many surprises that day before
the Judgment Seat of Christ. Many Christians may tell the Lord: “But,
Lord I thought that…” But thinking, without examining is wrong;
thinking, without loving, is wrong. The Judgment Seat will finally clarify
many activities of Christians to be “good or bad.”
1 Cor. 3:12-15--
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day
shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall
try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he hath built
thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer
loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
And this is exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying
in our passage--
Yes, Saved, but as if from fire. It is as if at
midnight, somebody called out “fire,” and you come out in your
pajamas.
Resurrected, Yes, every Christian will be
resurrected when Christ comes. But will it be the more beautiful
resurrection? The resurrection full of rewards and praises from Christ –
or just a simple resurrection (all our works on earth burned up in an
instant!)
Perhaps some of us might ask: But on what basis will
Christ judge our works at the Bema Seat of Christ?
Col. 3:23-24 And whatsoever ye do, do it
heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye
shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
Christ.
“Whatever you do” includes a lot of things; in
fact, it includes everything in our Christian life.
“Do it as for the Lord, not for men”--
Monday, don’t go to work for the boss. Later at
home, take care of the children for the Lord. Wash those dishes for the
Lord;
If you do it for anyone else (your boss, your
husband, your wife, your pastor)—everything will do up in smoke!
“Ye
shall receive the reward of the inheritance"--And this is why Paul made the new resolutions
“to know Christ,
to have the power of His resurrection, to fellowship in His suffering--because
He is aiming for the More Better Resurrection when Christ comes again!
CONCLUSION:
That
I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of
his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I
might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
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