WINTER QUARTER SUNDAY SCHOOL 2012-2013

“THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST’S LORDSHIP REVEALED FROM ROME”

UNIT TWO: PHILIPPIANS…REVELATION OF CHRIST’S PATTERN TO THE CHURCH

“THE JOY OF PURSUING CHRIST…GAIN THROUGH LOSS”

Sunday School Lesson No. VIII January 20, 2013

Presented by Rev. Frank Davis, III Pastor-Teacher

Lesson Text: Philippians 3:7-11

Required Reading: Philippians 3:1-11

Motto Text: Philippians 3:7, “But what

things were gain to me,

those I counted loss for

Christ.”

Reliable Resources: Precepts for Living (UMI); Union Gospel Press Expositor and Illuminator; Libronix Electronic Library; MacArthur Study Bible; Thomas Nelson Open Bible Notes; Word Search 9 and 10 Electronic Library; Notes on the New Testament by Albert Barnes; Turning Toward Joy-The Book of Philippians by Dr. David Jeremiah

LESSON INTRODUCTION

Beloved, again our lessons in Philippians focus on the joy of knowing and living for Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul, though being imprisoned at Rome, found it a great opportunity to write to the believers in Philippi and encourage them to be faithful and joyful before the Lord. This week Paul writes as an accountant as he encourages the church to rise above the pursuits of pleasure and personal aggrandizement. He challenges the Philippians to take inventory of their lives as an accountant balances financial books. They as well as we will find that the things we count as most important are usually less important when compared with Christ’s eternal plans. Paul will post on the ledgers of life the things that his religious counterparts pursued after, and what he pursued after. We will discover that Paul’s joy came from pursuing Christ and His righteousness. In fact, the things of the world that appeared to be most important, Paul said he counted them as “loss,” “dung,” or “refuse” in order that he might gain the total excellent knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord!

Anticipated Power Points:

·  A Bankrupt Past. Philippians 3:1-6

·  A Balanced Present. Philippians 3:7-9

·  A Bountiful Perspective. Philippians 3:10-11

LESSON OUTLINE

“The Joy of Pursuing Christ…Gain Through Loss”

I. A Bankrupt Past. Philippians 3:1-6

“Paul begins by saying that it is for the Philippians’ own safety that he again raises the subject of salvation by grace alone (v. 1). Paul is never more emotional than when he reiterates the great truth of the grace of God as he did with the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:17-38). Just as he did with the Ephesians, Paul warns the Philippians that “evil workers” or Judaizers (“beware of the mutilation”), will come in among them to lead them astray (v. 2).” David Jeremiah. Organized religion of any sort cannot replace the pure grace of God through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

As Paul expressed by explaining all he had been in his religious past under Judaism, a past filled with a lot of titles and trappings; but it counted in God’s eyes as nothing, refuse, dung or simply a “bankrupt past!”

Beloved, please remember the words of Paul to Titus in 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Beloved, anything shorter than the grace of God and blood of Jesus Christ is simply bankrupt to secure God’s eternal salvation. (Again, read Paul’s past pedigree and not its vanity! (vss. 4-6)

II. A Balanced Present. Philippians 3:7-9

Paul now teaches the true values he has gained against the counterfeit values he has now lost. Again, MacArthur describes gain as “an accounting term that means ‘profit.’” Loss is a term that describes business losses or liabilities. Christ balanced the books of Paul’s life. He was no longer a bankrupt religious person, but a saved servant of God through the imputing of Christ’s redeeming righteousness, Who literally transferred His righteousness to Paul’s account.

What Paul thought was valuable to God (vv. 4-6), he discovers is worthless when blinded by the righteousness which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! II Corinthians 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” As a Pharisee, Paul’s goal was to become righteous with God by the power of his religion and rigorous discipline in his flesh. But now, through a faithful relationship with Jesus Christ, he has discovered that true righteousness cannot be attained, but it is imputed by Christ. (Read Romans 4:1-8)

Concerning verse 9, MacArthur declares: “Paul was ‘in Christ.’ His union with Christ was possible only because God imputed Christ’s righteousness to him so that it was reckoned by God as his own.” We might call it today, “direct deposit.” God literally places into our spiritual bankrupt lives the pure righteousness of Christ our Saviour and we move from “zero” to “Hero,” “Death to Life.” This causes the true believer to want to know Christ more intimately and point towards a bountiful perspective for the future.

III. A Bountiful Perspective. Philippians 3:10-11

Once Paul’s understanding of his gains and losses were set in priority, he was ready to fully pursue Christ with all joy. Thus we now examine his bountiful perspectives. Paul’s future in Christ rested in his intent to know Him deeper and intimately.

vs. 10 “That I may know Him.” According to David Jeremiah, “The word ‘know’ (v. 10) is the word for intimate knowledge, the knowledge of experience (Matt. 1:25). Today, we know Christ that way through His Word and through prayer, also through dependence on the Spirit as He reveals the words and works of Christ through us (Gal. 2:20).” But how can we pursue Him in this intimate knowledge? Dr. Warren Wiersbe says it this way…That Paul would know Christ by a:

1. “Personal Experience” (His Knowledge, vs. 8, His Righteousness, vs. 9. (Matt. 10:24 explains, Deny Self, Take up the

Cross, and Follow Him.)

2. “Powerful Experience” (The Resurrection: It is God’s Dynamite!)

Resurrection assures our forgiveness. Rom. 4:25

Resurrection assures our power for living. Rom. 6:4

Resurrection assures our own resurrection. Rom 8:11

3. “Painful Experience” (To suffer like our Lord)

I Peter 2:21, “If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him…”

4. “Practical Experience” (Practicing what we preach, even unto death if necessary). Gal. 2:20; Rom. 12:1-2

Finally, I add to the words of Dr. Warren Wiersbe:

5. Perfect Experience in verse 11, which explains Paul’s bountiful perspective of one day being raised from among the dead. Many of us call it “the rapture,” to be caught up to meet the returning Saviour in the air. I Thess. 4:16-18

CLOSING

Beloved, are you pursuing Christ and experiencing His joy? We who are in Christ have no confidence in this flesh, but are gaining profits while laying aside the futile liabilities of this present world. Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary once said, “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

Bibleway Missionary Baptist Church, New Orleans, LA & Little Bethel Baptist Church, Amite, LA

Mailing Address: Post Office Box 19768, New Orleans, LA 70179

Phone: (504) 486-7876 Website: www.thestudyhour.com

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LOOKING AHEAD: January 27, 2013 Philippians 3:12-16

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