Sunday, October 27, 2024
Counting my gains as garbage (adapted from Ps Susan Hoover’s sermon 27/10/24 on Philippians 3.
As I sat in a group of high net worth people along with a HNW banker for dinner this week, I can’t but compare my relative poverty to their achievements and wealth. Yes God is restoring and elevating me gradually but there is something that I desire in my heart for them to possess, something more precious than all the world’s rubies and diamonds, earthly treasures and kingly riches. Life is not complete without Jesus. When we have Jesus, we already have the best. Nothing can compare to Him!
Yes God does give us material things on earth to enjoy, but the measure of a man’s wealth is not in his achievements, the accolades and wealth, but in his character and how he has invested in eternity.
ETERNITY
The Lord Jesus said, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Christianity is about eternity. It is not a religion. We are on earth to prepare for eternity! If we don’t have the one most precious thing in our life which is Jesus, it’s all VANITY as King Solomon said.
As Paul wrote,
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. (Philippians 3:7-8).The Message version
Paul was an esteemed Jew and a Pharisee of Pharisees and persecuting Christians before his conversion. He said all his achievements are rubbish, dog dung or garbage (NIV) compared to knowing Jesus. Through faith in Christ and not works, we have the righteousness of God imputed to us.
I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith (Philippians 3:8-9, NIV).
NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH
3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence (Philippians 3:3-4).
God allowed many worldly things I had stripped away from me. Perhaps to get me to refocus on Him instead of wordily things. It is to grow me and strengthen me. Without developing my character, wealth will destroy me as the world is full of temptations. Whatever could go wrong, went wrong. Therefore I have no confidence in the flesh. I repented and now let the Lord guide me through the intuition of the spirit. God had to strip me of worldly things to make room for Him. As Ps Susan said, knowing Jesus is a journey not a one-off event at an altar call. Many things crowded out my time for Him. I had to spend more time to discover the depth and width of His inexhaustible blessings, riches, love and revelation of what I had in Him. We have to spend time together to develop relationships and likewise with the Lord.
The Bible says, Spirit of truth, which is the Holy Spirit will testify about Jesus (John 15:26). A quote from John Piper: “The Holy Spirit does not do his work apart from the gospel because his work is to open our eyes to see Christ displayed in the gospel…” Ultimately, only those who recognize Christ can discover all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and know the secret treasures of God.
Nothing can stop us now to our glorious destiny that God has predestined, as we now have the full armour of God (Ephesians 6:13). “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them (the world),” and, “… in order that you may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.” (Matthew 13:11). Indeed to those who do not believe, He is a stone that causes them to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. Unwillingness on the part of the people to receive Jesus' message of the kingdom was the reason that He taught in parables.
PRAY FOR THEM
There will always be people still critical of us, and of our faith in Christ. Pray for them, as they do not have the revelation of the righteousness and salvation in Christ. Pray that their spiritual eyes open. Pray for those who hurt us, left us, wronged us; as no one deserves a Christless eternity.
The danger when you don’t believe in your Creator is not that you will believe in nothing. The danger is that you will believe in absolutely anything. An orphan in search of his or her biological parents is gullible to any prankster posing as a parent (ie any religion).
Today is 27 October 2024 AD. AD means AFTER DEATH. After death of who? It’s not after the death of Buddha or Mohamad. It’s the death of Jesus. Human history is split into 2 halves. BC means before Christ. So Jesus did leave heaven to be here with us in the flesh on earth. Its recorded by many historians. No one can deny that Jesus was on earth 2024 years ago.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). No one can deny Jesus was on earth. So this statement either makes Jesus the biggest liar in history or it’s the truth. There is no in between! The Muslims will say that Jesus is only a prophet which is an “in between”. But clearly Jesus was on earth and those were His actual words. It is like Pastor Peter telling his son; “I am your biological father”. Its either the truth or the biggest lie. There is no in between. He either is or isn’t. Likewise, Jesus is the only way to eternity or He is biggest liar.
The only way to eternity is through Jesus. Lao Zi the ancient philosopher who is believed to be the founder of Taosim wrote the Dao De Zing (道德经) which I have read the English version. The Dao which means “way” in Chinese refers to Jesus.
Lao Zi
According to Taoism, the Tao is the “way of the universe “and is the first cause or cosmic force behind nature’s order. It implies an impersonal force rather than a personal Creator.
A careful look at the “Tao Te Jing” or “Book of the Way” in English, believed to be written by Lao Zi, has this confession: “I do not know His name. Name Him ‘ Tao’ possibly. For the lack of a better word, I call Him the Almighty”1 Lao Zi clearly refers the Tao as a person. Although Lao Zi is regarded as the founder of Taoism, he really had nothing to do with many of its religious doctrines and practices. He has even been misrepresented as being the Tao himself. But clearly he acted only as the messenger of the Tao1.
What is this Tao? The book states that the Tao is the “very progenitor of all things in the world”2. In the opening chapter, Lao Zi wrote that the “Tao can be told but is not the ordinary Tao. The name [of the Tao] can also be given, but that is not the ordinary name as well1.” Thus the Tao is not an ordinary Tao way or wisdom.
Does the Tao foreshadow Christ? In chapter 4, verse 4 Lao Zi writes that the Tao looks like Someone’s Son. He said, “I do not know whose son He is, He was before any king [born into the world] 1. ” “I am the Way (Tao), the truth and the life”3 is similarly found in another classical book.
The Tao has two faces, yin and yang, which oppose each other, but yet are one. The book On I-Ching reads, “In the I-Ching, there is Grand Terminus, which produced the two elementary Forms. One is Yin, and one is Yang. ” In I-Ching, Yin means the Earth, dark; and Yang means the Heaven, bright. Genesis 1:2 reads, “And God saw the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. ”
3. John 14:6
Confucius 孔丘told his disciples in his analects (which I have read the English version) that he is not the saviour of the world. He told them that he is not worthy to even carry the sandals of the coming saviour. He says if the saviour was to come it will be from the west. They didn’t go west enough and brought in Buddhism from India. If you look at the map of the world you will notice that further west of India is Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
Mencius another Chinese philosopher who was around 500 BC, around the time of Prophet Daniel predicted accurately the coming of Jesus 500 years ahead.
KNOWING CHRIST
Let’s all know Christ (Philippians 3:10) in an ever renewed and deeper way. Press on to what more Jesus has prepared for us. His riches are inexhaustible. The word KNOW is gnōseōs, is to know Jesus personally and not just head knowledge.
Remember that the greatest investment you can make in your life is on something that will outlast it. And that is eternity!
