Sunday, April 14, 2024 – Mme Pasteur Billey
Philippians 3
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me
Paul was a man known to many – famous. He was full of zeal for the things of God.
He had dual nationality – Roman and Jewish. He had everything a man could dream of having.
But yet, he said:
But those things which were gain to me, I looked upon as loss, for Christ’s sake. And even so, I regard all things as loss, because of the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, for whom I have renounced everything, and I regard them as mud, in order to gain Christ.
He looked at all these things as a loss.
How is this possible?
At what point did his perception change?
How can someone wake up one morning and declare that this house, this car, this bank account, this job…are all trivialities?
Who has opened His understanding? Who removed the veil from her eyes?
So he can see what’s precious and what’s not.
It was when he came to the knowledge of Christ, that he was able to regard them as mud.
Yet things that were dear to him, things that were precious to him.
But he saw that there was something more precious, something greater than those things to which he had previously been attached.
It is the knowledge of Christ.
What does it mean to know Christ?
His Word.
He’s not talking about getting to know Christ physically – inviting him into his home, eating together no
When Paul came to Christ – the Lord Jesus had already ascended to heaven.
So it’s not a question of physical knowledge.
But it’s about communion through the Word.
Saying, I regard these things as mud – Paul didn’t say that having a house isn’t a good thing, but these things must not take the position of Christ in your heart.
When he announced publicly that he had become a Christian, his former friends decided to kill him – they looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
The world will always look upon Christ-seekers as fools.
For while the world is looking for material things, the Christian will be looking for Jesus.
When the world declares that such a thing is precious, the born again declares that Jesus is more precious.
Beloved, the communion of his word is what we must seek.
Indeed, Jesus is the Word – the more you know the Word, the more you will grow, go from depth to depth, know how to listen to it, and thus be able to discern what is bad from what is good.
That’s what Paul did – And when you get to that level, it’s like the parable of the hidden treasure.
Mat 13.
44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
That’s what happened to Paul, coming to Christ – he found what is needed, what is precious beyond all that exists.
Philippians 3.8
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Beloved, the excellence of knowledge will lead you to the light.
The Word of God is light, it opens the eyes – removes the blindness, takes away the veil of this world and leads the person to be focused on the essential.
The more you give yourself to the word, the more you will see Christ and the world will diminish in you.
Philippians 3. 9. And to be found in him, not with my righteousness, which comes from the law, but with that which is obtained through faith in Christ.
We know that Jesus said
John 15.4. Abide in Me, and I in you…
** How can we do that? How can we make Jesus dwell within us?
By swallowing Jesus with our mouths? No.
It is by keeping and abiding in the Word that Jesus abides in us.
Beloved, when we know how to carry the word, when we give value to the word, then this word will begin to work in us.
And Paul found this secret – I will abide in Him so Christ will abide in me.
Beloved, let us abide in God’s word.
When it came to the law, Paul was without fault. He had not sinned according to the law, for he followed all that was written. But this is not about the righteousness of the law, but the righteousness of faith.
How do we obtain faith?
Faith comes from what we hear – So, faith comes from the Word.
Everything comes back to the word.
Through the Word, we are justified.
Through the Word, we have access to the glory of God.
Through the Word, we have faith…
However, by the law, you do many things by yourself, to get and you glory in it.
Glory is for yourself.
To be righteous, I have to accept the Word, I have to accept that this Word works in me then I would get this righteousness.
When Paul heard the voice of Jesus, he saw the light. So he gave his life to Christ and began to walk with Him. (Acts 9:3-4)
He didn’t see Jesus physically. The experience he has had is by word of mouth. It’s the revelation he’s had of the Word he’s heard and received – which he’s made his goal.
All that I can know and know is of no importance compared to knowing Him – Christ.
That was his goal.
He wanted to go deeper. He wanted to be conformed to Jesus, even to the point of death – nothing else mattered.
But how do you get to know him? Only through the Word.
It all comes back to the Word.
If we don’t know God’s word, we’re lost.
For through his word, we are healed, delivered, set free, we grow, we know the truth, the world of darkness is exposed…
Everything was created by the Word.
Through his word, we consist and exist.
To neglect the Word is to neglect the blessing of Christ.
And if we don’t see the power of this word – it becomes a tragedy.
Let’s not take things lightly anymore. When the Word, we look at the person through whom it passes – then the Word loses its power in us.
We need to take the Word at face value without looking at the physical person preaching or exhorting us.
Others made mistakes in the Bible when Jesus spoke – these people looked at Jesus’ past, his looks, his family…because of this, Jesus couldn’t perform miracles in their midst.
We must not forget that it is the word that transforms.
Consider this:
A man went fasting to rid himself of the spirit of anger within him.
After 40 days of youth and prayer on the mountain, he returned and found the door to his house locked.
After an hour of waiting, he began to praise the Lord.
But after 2, 3, 4 hours… His wife didn’t come home, so he started to get impatient.
And much later when his wife arrived, he started yelling at her. So much so that his condition seemed worse than before. His wife was more than surprised.
Beloved, this brother didn’t do the right thing, his prayer wasn’t based on the Word – he didn’t focus on the Word.
It’s the Word that transforms.
It says in
John 8.32, And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
When you stand on the Truth which is the Word – you are able to uproot anything.
If you don’t give importance/value to the Word, it can’t transform you.
It was this brother’s mistake.
It’s the Word that transforms.
If you want promotion, it’s through the word of God.
If you want healing, it’s the word.
Deliverance, restoration, transformation…. It’s the Word of God.
When you connect with this word, you’ll surely see receiving fruit. And you’ll have consistency in your prayer.
Rivers of water will flow through you continually, for it is written in
John 7. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
You’ll pray with ease.
John 8.
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
For those who believe in Him, Jesus said – what my disciples must have is my Word – don’t stray from my Word.
This is the secret of growth, of the maturity of disciples – Abiding in my word.
Beloved, we must become true disciples-we must not warm the pews/chairs of the church only-we must be testimonies.
The Word is truth – Once you have the Word in you 100% – your life changes.
If something in your heart wants to prevent you from accepting/believing the Word, destroy it!
Speech always comes with a purpose. It’s a treasure, a weapon we’ve been given.
Never neglect the word – accept it with all your heart.
LET US PRAY →
Lord Jesus
Anything blocking my understanding is broken.
Anything that rejects your word in me will be destroyed.
Every foundation of doubt blocking your word be consumed.
Every idol in my heart be overthrown.
Everything in my heart, my thoughts that pollutes my walk be turned upside down.
In Christ, I am a new creature, old things have passed away, curses have passed away.
Everything is new.
Lord, I belong to you.
I renounce the world and its attractions.
May everything in me glorify you.
Be exalted in my life every day,
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.