Ron Dunn Podcast - That I May Know Him

Episode Date: July 24, 2019

From the series "That I May Know Him"

That's the most steps I've climbed in a year. Do I need to stand beside you and hold you up? Well, no, I think not. Thank you, Brother Tom. Just let me catch my breath for a moment after climbing those stairs. There's 16 steps to my study at home. It's unfortunate it's on the second floor.

And I didn't get up there for about six months. And so I knew I was going to live when I was able to make it without stopping halfway up those 16 steps. But it's a joy to be here this morning. Actually, it's a joy to be anywhere. And there was a time I was laid up for seven months, and there was a time when I really didn't think I'd be anywhere here on earth after a while. But then it became clear that I was. But there was a point when I was in the hospital that I did despair of my life. One night, as a matter of fact, one of the nurses is a member of our church,

and she was there present that night when they thought I wasn't going to make it. And then on December the 21st, our wedding anniversary, they released me from the hospital, and I went home and was not able to do anything but just lay in bed. Had no strength whatsoever, couldn't eat, couldn't feed myself. And I thought, well, I'm not going to die, but I'm going to live an invalid the rest of my life. And as I lay there, really believing that I would probably never again preach, that my preaching days were over,

I began to feel sorry for myself, as you're wont to do in those situations and I begin to think of what value am I to anyone now because ever since I can remember, preaching has been my life. That's been the joy. That's been the thing that's kept me going. I don't know what I would do if I weren't able to preach the Word of God. I believe that's what God created me to do. And I believe in eternity that's what God foreordained me to do.

But it began to look as though I would never do it again. And after two or three months at home, I began to feel like reading a little bit. And so the Lord led me, I guess, I think it was, to the letter to the Philippians. And I began to read and study the Philippians. And I got on the computer and ordered all the commentaries that I didn't have on Philippians and I began to do an in-depth study on Philippians and God began to speak to me out of all of it but there was one particular passage that God zeroed in on my heart

and I want to share that with you today. So if you open your Bibles to Philippians chapter 3, I guess I need to begin reading with verse 1 and then read through verse 10. Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 through 10. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision. For we are the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.

Although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh, if anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more circumcise the eighth day of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews,

as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to the righteousness which is of the law, found blameless. But whatever things were gains to me, those I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through

faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, so that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. Now I want to read again the 10th verse because this is the verse that God especially spoke to me from. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. As I lay there in my bed thinking of what value am I now because I can't do anything for myself. I certainly can't preach. I may never preach again.

God both encouraged me and rebuked me. As I studied this passage, and Paul is going back through his own life story, and he talks about all the things that were an advantage to him as far as commending him to God, and he mentions both his natural heritage. He said, I was circumcised the eighth day of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal of persecutor of the church, as to the righteousness which is in the law found blameless. And he said, all these things I was counting on to commend me to God.

All of these things I was certain would bring about my salvation. But then he says in a strong word of contrast in verse 7, but whatever things were gained to me, those I've counted as loss for the sake of Christ. What things were gained to me, in other words, the things that he mentions in verses 5 and 6, those religious things, his heritage and his achievements, he counted as loss. But then as I read on in verse 8, he says, More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ. Now there's a difference. He had already counted those things in verses 5 and 6 as loss.

All of those things that had to do with religion and heritage and his achievements, he had counted them as loss that he might gain Christ. But now he takes it a step further. And he says, not only that, I count all things, not just those things that were religious, not just those things in verses 5 and 6, but I count anything, everything, all things but loss for the surpassing knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ

in order that I may know him. And it was the all things that first attracted my attention. And I lay there and I said, well, of course, I have counted the loss of these things. I was brought up a Baptist. I was a Baptist even before I was a Christian. And I was brought up a Baptist. I was a Baptist even before I was a Christian, and I was brought up in the church, and I've done all of those things, but I have never counted on those things for my salvation. I was baptized at the age of nine, but I've never counted on those things for my salvation. I went to Sunday school and summer camp and all of that,

but I never counted on those things for my salvation. But then he says, not only that, but he says, I count all things, whatever it is in my life, that I think might commend me to God and make me valuable to God, I count those as rubbish. And I began to apply those all things. And those all things to me meant my health, meant my ministry, meant my preaching. And I realized that not only was I to die to those things

that I thought would save me, which I'd already done, but those things which I was now engaged in or had been engaged in that I thought somehow made me worthy or somehow gave me my worth or my identification, my ministry, my serving God, my preaching, even those things were to be counted as rubbish. And he says, as he comes to the culmination of this passage, in order that, so that, I may know him.

And I realized that my vocation, which I had thought all these years was preaching, that my vocation was not preaching or serving the Lord, but my vocation was to know him. To know him. Well, Paul says that I may know him. Well, he already knew him, yes, but he says I want to know him more. And the idea here is that I want to know him more intimately, more completely. I want my relationship to the Lord to deepen and to grow

even until the point when I see him face to face. It's not just a matter of knowing him in salvation, but it's a matter of everyday life of coming to know him closer and more personally and more intimately than you've ever known him before. That was the goal of Paul's life. The goal, the aim, the ultimate of Paul's life was not his service, not his ministry, not anything else, but it was that he might know him in a deeper and ever-increasing, more intimate way. And I realize that that's really what my vocation is, that my worth is not contained in whether or not I'm healthy, whether or not I can get up and walk around,

whether or not I can serve the Lord, whether or not I can preach, whether or not I can serve the Lord, whether or not I can preach, whether or not I can do anything else, but my worth is to be found in this, that I may know him. And you can come to know him in a deeper and more meaningful way, lying flat on your back. If you're an invalid all of your life, that doesn't keep you from knowing Him and increasing to know Him. As you come to know a wife or a husband every year, as you become more intimately acquainted and you begin to know their ways and understand their thoughts, and so you and I are to take as our vocation simply that day by day and moment after moment

we may increase in our knowledge of him, that I may know him. But then there's more to it than that. This knowing of Christ that Paul speaks of in the 10th verse has two aspects to it. Now, a casual reading might say, you might think there were three things that Paul was wanting. One was that I may know him. The other was that I may know the power of his resurrection. And the other was that I may know the fellowship of his suffering. But that's not the way the Greek text reads. It reads in something like this, that I may know him, and knowing him means to experience the power of his resurrection and to be a participant in his sufferings.

In other words, as you come to know him in a deeper and more intimate way, you begin to experience the power of His resurrection. That life-giving power that God has given us that enables us to live as Christ wants us to live, that enables us to overcome temptation and to overcome sin, that enables us to do and to be all the things that God wants us to do. We are to know Him, and you cannot really truly know Him without experiencing the power of His resurrection. As Ephesians 1 says, the power that now raised Jesus from the dead is now working in us.

I tell you, it takes the same power to save a little child as it took to raise Jesus from the dead. And that kind of power is working in your life as you come to know him. And I'll tell you something, it takes the same kind of power to overcome temptation as it took to raise Jesus from the dead.

That's why you ought to be anxious to be around a new convert. Why? Well, lightning has just struck there. I mean, resurrection power has just lighted upon that child because it took resurrection power to save him. And you always ought to be wanting to get around to a new fresh born Christian because right there, you're right in the aura of resurrection power. The same power that Jesus, that raised Jesus from the dead, operates in us, you see. And Paul said, knowing Christ means also

knowing Him in the power of His resurrection. And let me ask you today, do you enjoy that resurrection power in your own life? Do you experience it in your own life? Are you made conscious of it in your own life? Are you experience it in your own life? Are you made conscious of it in your own life? Are you aware as you live day by day that there is a power operating in you that is beyond anything this world can ever know?

It's the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Well, but it's not only that. It's also the fellowship of his suffering. The power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. My dear friend, what Paul is saying is that there is no knowing him as he wants us to know Him. There is no growing deeper into Him without not only experiencing the power of His resurrection in our daily lives, but also sharing in His sufferings.

Now, there's something that struck me as I looked at those statements. The power of His resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. I thought how strange it is to put those two together. You would think that if a person had the power of the resurrection within him, he could rise above suffering. That he could put down any kind of tribulation or trial that he was

going through. And there are a lot of people today in the Christian church who see an inconsistency between having the power of the resurrection. They are what we call triumphalists. They believe you can overcome anything, and you don't have to submit to anything. You don't have to endure anything that you did not want to do. Why? Because you have the power of the resurrection working in you.

But I want you to know that Paul saw no inconsistency between knowing the power of his resurrection and at the same time sharing in his sufferings. So it struck me as strange that you would put these two together. Now, I would never have put them together. And yet what the apostle is saying is this. The reason we know the power of his resurrection is so that we'll be enabled to share in his sufferings.

And what this whole verse is saying is that you cannot know him in the deep way that you need to know him without sharing in his sufferings. There is no other way. And those of us who would try to escape suffering, trials and tribulations will never know Jesus in the way that Paul wanted to know him.

It is only as we participate with joy, he says to the Philippians, to the Thessalonians, it is only as we participate in those sufferings that we know him. There is no knowing him without participating in his sufferings. So I lay there in my bed and I said, well, bless God I'm participating in his sufferings. Hey, how about that? I mean, here I am flat on my back. My daughter's had her foot amputated.

My wife has lymphoma. And, you know, you'd think that God be good enough to let one thing happen at a time. But all these happened at once. And here I am flat on my back with an uncertain future and I say well Paul doesn't have anything on me I'm participating in his suffering

I was wrong I was participating in suffering alright and I believe every Christian does. But he speaks of the sufferings of Christ. That's something more than just mere suffering. That's something more than just merely being sick. The sufferings of Christ. Now, Paul does not mean here the redemptive sufferings of Christ, of course,

implying that Christ did not suffer enough on the cross to save us, for we know that he did. But in Colossians chapter 1, he says, I fill up that which is lacking of the sufferings of Christ. And I want you to notice in verse 29 of chapter 1, Paul says, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. Now, in salvation, suffering is just as much a part of your salvation as is believing. They're both gifts of grace. And so we all endure suffering, and if we think that we can rise above it, then we'll never know him.

And he goes on to say, being conformed to his death, we'll never be conformed to the spirit and the temper of sacrifice that was in Christ when he suffered. Well, what are the sufferings of Christ that you and I are to enter into? Well, to find out what the sufferings of Christ were, we need to go back to the main section of this letter. Everything before it and everything after it flows from this main section.

And that's Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11, that great hymn of Christ to humble himself. You know that. And I'll not read all of it, but I just want to read a few verses. In verse 5, have this attitude or this mindset in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. There are the sufferings that Christ endured that we can share in. What are the sufferings of Christ?

There are three main statements in those verses that I want to share with you. First of all, the Bible says he emptied himself. The sufferings of Christ began when he emptied himself. Now that word empty means to be made of no effect. It doesn't mean that he emptied himself of his deity it doesn't mean that he emptied himself of his divinity and became less than God no it doesn't mean that at all but rather it means that he emptied himself

of all his privileges and prerogatives as the son of God you see Jesus being in the position that he was in all his privileges and prerogatives as the Son of God. You see, Jesus being in the position that he was in could have used that position as a stepping stone to gain even more glories than he had even at that time. But when it says he emptied himself, it means that he did not use his position or his power as a means to advantage himself. While he could have reached out and snatched at or grasped at even more

and more glories than he already had, he considered that not something to be held on to, not something worth being grasped for, and so he refused to use his position, his power, his prestige. He refused to use it to gain self-advantage. That was the suffering of Christ. A verse came to me while I was looking through this, and that's Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2.

It's one that we're all familiar with. It says, We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Now watch this. Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame? Now most of the time when we read that, we read it like this. Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame?

In other words, the joy was the joy that he knew he would have when he saw people redeemed by his blood. When he saw children and grown-ups like these we saw today baptized in his name and testifying that they'd received forgiveness of sins. Oh, the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising his shame. Well, I'm sure that's true, only that's not what this verse is saying. That's not at all what this verse is saying.

It says, who for the joy the little preposition for there is really the preposition anti or anti which means instead of or in exchange of for instance antichrist a substitute for Christ against Christ

instead of Christ and the participle set before him literally means lying at present the things lying before him at present so that Williams translates it like this, in exchange for the joy lying before him. In other words, Jesus did not say, I'll go to the cross because I know I'll have a reward, and that reward will be the joy of my heart when I see men and women come to Jesus

Christ. No, that's not what he's saying there at all. He's saying that the joy that was set before him was that joy that was lying before him, that joy that was lying at hand, that was right then present. What was that joy? The joy of his fellowship with the Father. The joy of the worship of the angels. The joy of the glories of heaven.

Now, he could have held on to those joys and those glories and grasped them, but instead of that joy, he endured the cross, despising the shame. You see, it makes the thing, it makes a whole different matter. That's a part of his emptying himself. He could have clung to that joy. He could have clung to that preeminent position, but he refused to do so. He refused to use his position as a means to advantage himself.

And we're to share in that suffering. We are to empty ourselves. In other words, you and I are not to use our power, our position, our influence as a means to advantage ourselves. And this is more carefully explained if you go back to chapter 2, when he says in verse 4, Do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interests of others. And in verse 3, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,

but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Now that's contrary to everything this world believes. You are to use whatever influence you have to advantage yourself. But only a fool would not use his position and take advantage of it to gather more to himself. Oh no, but if you and I are going to share in the sufferings of Christ,

it means that we look upon not our own interests, but upon the interests of others. And we use our influence and our position and whatever power and prestige we have not to advance our own cause, but to advance the cause of others. That's the suffering of Christ. How many of us this morning can say we are participating in the sufferings of Christ?

The second statement he makes is this, that in verse 8 he humbled himself. First of all, he emptied himself he made himself of no effect and then he humbled himself you know it's interesting this is what it means to be divine this is what it means to be God to be God and to be divine

and to have the greatest position and power in all the universe doesn't mean getting it means giving and he humbled himself the word means lowliness of mind. It means to take the lowest place. He humbled himself. Now, you know, I talk about this false humility that we see a lot of. You know, people say, oh, I'm just no good. I'm just of no value. I can't do anything.

I don't have any talents. That's not humility. That's pride. Nor does it mean that kind of servility that is always, oh, saying I'm willing to do anything. I'm willing to serve. Oh, I'm willing to serve, I'm willing to serve, and just always focusing on what you're doing.

That's not humility, that's pride. But I think the most common form of that humility is what I referred to earlier. It's where we're saying, well, I'm just nothing, you know, and I'm not worthy. Well, we already knew that. You don't need to inform us of that. You see, humility is not whipping yourself.

Humility is forgetting yourself. True humility focuses not on self, but focuses on others, you see. He humbled himself. Imagine that. He took the lowest position is what it means. That's why he became a slave. And for us to humble ourselves in the way that Christ did

includes our becoming a slave, having no rights of our own whatsoever, nor insisting upon our rights, but serving without question, without hesitation, our Master. Jesus not only emptied Himself, but He also humbled Himself. That's the suffrage of Christ

in which you are to participate. But there's one other statement. He says He humbled Himself. And how did He do this? By becoming obedient He says he humbled himself. And how did he do this? By becoming obedient. King James says obedient to death, even the death of the cross.

Now, if you're not careful, you'll take that to mean he was obedient up until the time he died. All his life he was obedient. The only thing that cut off his obedience was his death, and that's not what that passage is saying at all. He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. In other words,

Jesus' obedience to the Father meant death for him. In other words, Jesus had said, I had rather die than disobey my Father's will, obedient unto death. And then to make it even worse, even the death of the cross, the most shameful and humiliating of all deaths of that day. To share in the sufferings of Christ means that we become obedient,

even to the point of death. It means that you and I had rather die than disobey our Father. You see why we need the power of the resurrection? But I want to tell you something. Knowing Jesus the resurrection. But I want to tell you something, knowing Jesus involves that. Obedient even to the point of losing friends. No matter what my friends say or want me to do, I'm going to be obedient to what I know is God's will,

even though they cast me off as a friend. Obedient even to the loss of friends. Obedient even to the loss of a job. And I'd rather lose my position, I'd rather lose my job than disobey what God has shown me to do. Obedient to the point of losing a church I tell you there are a lot of pastors

as your own pastor will tell you there are a lot of pastors that are clinging to their churches simply because they've refused to be obedient to the Word of God and they've compromised. But do I know Jesus in such a way that I'd rather lose my position, I'd rather lose my job

rather than disobey my Lord. Disobedient to the point of losing a second election to the presidency. Obedient to the point of losing my seat in the House or the Senate. That regardless of what political correctness says, which I think is the most damnable doctrine that's ever come out of hell for us today, regardless of what that says, you know, I don't think you can be politically correct

and biblically correct at the same time. You just can't do it. I mean, sooner or later, you're going to run into a conflict. And so here is a Christian who says, I want to know him more than anything else. I want to know him. And as I come to know him, I understand that that means participating in his sufferings. And one of that suffering was becoming obedient to the point of death, obedient to the point of losing my reputation or losing my friends or losing my position

or losing my power. Whatever it is, I'd rather die. That's what Jesus said. That's what Jesus said. Now, there's one more phrase that I want us to look at in closing. And this phrase really explains everything else that's been said in verse 10.

That I may know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, being constantly and always shaped, fashioned to his death. That I may always be continually being made like Jesus in his death. The spirit of self-sacrifice that led him to that. The willingness to do for others. The willingness to obey the Father's will in all things,

being made conformable to his death. You see, to know him is to be like him in his death. I'm not talking about physical death, although that might come. I'm not talking about by being crucified on a cross. I'm talking about the attitudes and the spirit and the mind that led Christ to his death. See, that's why Paul says at the beginning of this great hymn in verse 5, let this mind be in you, this mindset be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. Well, that's what God has said to me. I may not say the same thing to you, but He has shown me that my value to God and others

is not in my preaching, my ministry, my service, but it's in knowing Him and coming to know Him in such a way that the power of the resurrection enables me to empty myself and to humble myself and to be obedient even to the extremity of death. Thank you for listening to this message by Ron Dunn. the extremity of death. For more on Dunn materials, including sermon outlines, devotions, scanned pages from a study Bible, books, CDs, MP3s, and DVDs, visit rondunn.com or the Sherwood Baptist Bookstore, the source. Sermons are also available on the Ron Dunn Podcast.