Put No Confidence in the Flesh

In one paragraph

Van preached his first Sunday morning message at First Baptist Jackson from Philippians 3:1-14, working through Paul's argument that everything the world counts as gain is rubbish compared to knowing Christ. He came to it fresh, having spent the week wrestling with the same temptation Paul describes: leaning on personal credentials and experience rather than on Christ alone. Paul opens with a...

Read together

1. 1 John 3:2 read aloud to lead into worship before the service
2. Psalm 86 quoted before the offering prayer: 'You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you'
3. Ephesians 2 referenced in the offertory prayer about God setting up good works beforehand for us to step into
4. Philippians 3:1-14 the main passage of the sermon, covering encouragement, warning, Paul's resume, counting gains as loss, eternal gains, and pressing on to the prize
5. Romans 2:29 cited to explain that circumcision is a matter of the heart, not a fleshly thing
6. Acts 9 Paul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, the moment his gains and losses flipped
7. Philippians 2 poem about Christ's humility, servanthood, obedience to death, and exaltation above every name
8. Jeremiah 9:23 the Lord telling Israel not to boast in wisdom, might or riches, but to boast in knowing the Lord
9. Galatians 6 Paul saying far be it from him to boast except in the cross of Christ, by which the world has been crucified to him
10. Hebrews 11:26 Moses considering the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking to the reward
11. Matthew 13 the man who finds treasure in a field and sells everything he has to buy it
12. 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul saying he worked harder than any of them
13. Colossians 1:28-29 Paul toiling and struggling with God's energy that powerfully works within him to present everyone mature in Christ
14. Philippians 4:13 cited as a famous verse taken out of context: 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'
15. John 9 Jesus healing the man born blind, used to illustrate spiritual sight and the man's testimony 'I was born blind, and now I see'
16. Philippians 4:4-7 read as the closing benediction about rejoicing, prayer, and the peace of God guarding hearts and minds

Talk about it

1. Van described Paul's list of credentials in Philippians 3 as a kind of resume, and then said Paul counted it all as rubbish compared to knowing Christ. What do you think makes it so hard for people to let go of the things they have worked hardest to achieve?
2. Van pointed to Paul's encounter with Jesus on the road in Acts 9 as the moment everything flipped for Paul, and he noted that Paul's physical blindness came right alongside his receiving spiritual sight. Has there been a moment in your own life when something became clear to you spiritually that you had been missing before?
3. Van used Jim Elliot's quote, 'He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose,' and connected it to Paul giving up his fleshly gains to be found in Christ. What are some things people in our culture treat as permanent gains that will not actually last?
4. Van drew a distinction between working to earn righteousness and pressing on because Christ has already made us His own. How do you personally tell the difference between straining forward out of gratitude to God and straining forward out of a feeling that you still have something to prove?
5. Near the end of the sermon, Van quoted the man born blind from John 9, 'One thing I know, I was born blind, and now I see,' and applied it to pressing on with the spiritual sight Jesus gives us. What does pressing on actually look like in your day-to-day life right now?