METHODIST CHURCH NIGERIA
DIOCESE OF OSOGBO
TWENTY-SEVENTH (27TH) SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME/SEVENTH (17TH) SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY, 4TH
OCTOBER, 2020.
GOD’S WORD TO GOD’S
PEOPLE.
THEME: The thing which
matter most.
Ohun ti o se pataki ju lo
TEXT: Philippians 3:8 & 9
"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 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."
"Nitooto
laise ani-ani mo si ka ohun gbogbo si ofo nitori itayo imo Kristi Jesu Oluwa
mi: nitori eni ti mo ti sofo ohun gbogbo, mo si ka won si igbe, ki emi ki o le
jere Kristi, ki a si le ba mi ninu re, ni aini ododo ti emi funra mi, ti o ti
inu ofin wa, sugbon eyii ti o ti inu igbagbo wa ninu Kristi, ododo ti Olorun
nipase igbagbo."
As
Christians, we have many robbers in life trying so hard to rob us of our joy.
These thieves, who are joy stealers, are the main focus of Paul in chapter
three of his letter to the Philippian Christians. According to Paul, the
stealers of joy are both tangible and intangible things of this world. He felt
that it is easy for human beings to get wrapped up in the worldly things and
forget the things (heavenly things) which matter most. Using himself as a case
study, Paul writes about what things were gain to him including those things
which are behind him and those ones which are before him. (Phil. 3:7 & 13).
He talks about his religious achievements (Gal.1:14), a feeling of
self-satisfaction, morality, reputation, fame and social status. He, however,
made it clear that the things he was living for before he met and knew Jesus
Christ on his way to Damascus seemed to be commendable, but none of these
things - a self-righteous life, obedience to the Law, the defense of the
religion of his fathers and academic achievement gave him satisfaction or
acceptance with God. As a matter of fact, Paul had to lose his religion in
order to gain salvation. And this is the aim of our message today, as many of
us who have been holding on to religion, self-righteousness and Christian
achievements before now should evaluate and assess their relationship with God
and see if they have really gained salvation. We have to discover those things
we carry so high, but cannot in any way take us to heaven, drop them, count
them as rubbish and embrace the things which matter when it comes to running
the heavenly race.
Many
of us are familiar with the story of Saul of Tarsus who later became Paul the
Apostle after his encounter with Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus (Acts
9:1-31) After this experience, his value changed and he discovered that apart
from Jesus Christ, everything he lived for or achieved in life was nothing but
refuse. He felt that he had major in minor all along. In his letter to the Philippians
chapter three, he shows two kind of righteousness: works righteousness and
faith righteousness. And to him, faith righteousness is the one acceptable to
God.
1. Works righteousness (Phil. 3:1-6): Paul started his letter
in chapter three of his Epistle to the Philippians with exhortation which opens
with warning: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the
mutilation" (Phil. 3:2) These three set of people are the Judaizers who
followed Paul around trying to steal his converts, they were false teachers who
tried to mix Law and grace together. They taught that sinners could be saved by
faith and his good works contrary to Paul's teaching that Christians are saved only
by grace through faith in Christ. (Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:3-7) They are people
who also taught that circumcision was essential for salvation (Acts 15:1; Gal.
6:12-18) contrary to Paul's teaching of spiritual circumcision in Christ Jesus
(Col. 2:11; Rom. 2:25-29). To Paul therefore, good works which are only of the
flesh (John 4:19-24) and religiousity profit nothing and can never take any of
us to heaven. The only thing which can take all of us to heaven is the finished
work of Jesus Christ on the Calvary (John 17:1-4; 19:30; Heb. 10:11-14) Paul
knew the futility of trying to gain salvation through good works (Phil. 3:4-6)
He was a circumcised Jew, student of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), a Jewish religious
leader (Gal. 1:13 & 14) and a zealot, and yet he gave all these up for the
thing which matter most the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The same remains
God's standard for anyone who wishes to make heaven today, "seek first the
Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to
you" (Matt. 6:33)
2. Faith righteousness (Phil. 3:7-11): Account of Paul's
conversion in Acts 9 shows that he became a true child of God who trusted Christ
for everything after his encounter with him on the way to Damascus. It was an
immediate miracle of the grace of God which can as well repeat itself today in
the life of any sinner who admits his/her need and turn to Jesus Christ, the
Saviour by faith. Definitely, any sinner who comes to Jesus Christ must be
willing to have a total separation with the works of the flesh and embrace that
which has more value and profitable till eternity. Paul lost some things, but
he gained much more than he lost as a result of his faith in Christ. He measures
what he had achieved in the flesh with what Jesus Christ had to offer, and he
discovered that all the things dear to him were nothing but rubbish when
compared to what he had to gain in Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:7-11) Paul now has the
knowledge of Christ and no longer about Christ which is what many of us have
today. To know Christ means to have personal relationship with him (Jn. 17:3)
and not just to know about him. When we get to know Jesus Christ as our Lord
and Saviour, we are bound to lose our own self-righteousness, but gain the
righteousness of Christ by faith. (Rom. 4:1-8) Human beings are born in their
fallen nature, and spiritually bankrupt, but the moment we embrace and accept
Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we will see God crediting our account
with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, while our debts (sins) will be put on
Christ's account on the cross (2 Cor. 5:22) What a great grace!
My fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters in
Christ, this grace is in Christ Jesus and he is the only thing which matters
most (Matt. 21:42). Never mind, give up all your sinful life style which seem
sweet to you now but it's end is destruction come now and embrace the only
thing which matters most, Jesus Christ the Lord, and you will have satisfaction
now and here-after. Consider life achievements, fame, position, wealth,
reputation and what have you as nothing when compared with the joy and
blessings in Christ Jesus. In doing this, you must be willing to give
everything up, die to sin and self (Rom. 6) and take up your cross daily to
follow Jesus Christ our Lord. You must walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4; Gal.
2:20) as someone who has chosen the only thing which matters most on earth and
in heaven. Our lives as Christian need not depend on cheap earthly things which
are valueless, but on the heavenly things with eternal value found only in
Christ Jesus. Let us begin to look at earthly things from heaven's point of
view so that we can find lasting peace and joy for ourselves. What is that
thing in your life that matter most? Jesus Christ is the only thing which
matters most to me and I have chosen him for life How about you?
Let
us pray
Rt.
Rev. A.K.O. Ogunrinde, JP, FICT.
Bishop, Diocese of Osogbo.
OS-CAN Chairman.
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