Sermon Recap | Wealth

Philippians 3:1-11

In this passage Paul makes it clear that the greatest wealth one can ever find is knowing Jesus.

He writes that at one point in his life, he had gathered a wealth in religious accomplishments (verses 5-7). Yet, when he met Jesus, he looked at these so-called riches and saw them for what they really were: "loss".

What he means is that what he thought was beneficial to him turned out to be detrimental because it hindered him from knowing Jesus.

More than that, he says that everything is detrimental in comparison to knowing Jesus (verse 8).

Someone calculated that Bill Gates amassed so much wealth in a 25 year period that he was making a staggering one million dollars per hour (around $300 per second).

This means that if he were to have seen a $1,000 bill on the ground on his way to work one morning, it would actually have cost him money to take four seconds to pick it up. It was that profitable for him to go on about his business.

Paul is saying that it is so profitable for us to know Jesus, that we take a loss when we spend our energy toward any other end.

He takes it a step further in verse 8, calling everything that distracts from knowing Jesus "rubbish". Rubbish is a word without sting; but if I were to write the literal translation of Paul's word I'd get in trouble.

Let's just say that anything that distracts you from knowing Jesus is about as valuable as what your neighbor's dog leaves in your front yard...

TV, Internet, work, family, church - all rubbish if it distracts you from Jesus. And all extremely valuable if it helps you to know Him more deeply.

Perhaps you are joyless because you focus your passion on work, leisure, even church rather than the Treasure that is knowing Jesus. And you're in spiritual poverty.

Perhaps you're joyless because you keep your eyes on your bank account or your Facebook news feed rather than your relationship with Jesus.

Perhaps you're joyless because you've been spending your life gathering a wealth of rubbish.

Now, let this confront you. This is about you. You personally. Because you cannot see Jesus through another person's eyes. You cannot know Him through another person's brain. You cannot love Him through another person's heart.

Don't think that because you often see your worship team or your pastor seeing, knowing, loving Jesus that you are seeing, knowing, loving Jesus too. You can't do these thing vicariously.

Have you ever worked with someone who was so smitten with his child that he talked about him all the time? Always sharing with you the cute things his child did the night before. And then one day, that coworker brings his child to work and you bend down and say to him, "I've heard so much about you, I feel like I know you."

But immediately you see no recognition in his little eyes. He has no idea who you are. And you really don't know him either.

I shutter to think of how many in our churches will see Jesus when He returns and look into those unfathomable eyes and say, "Jesus! I've heard so much about you, I feel like I know you..." And then they'll hear those terrifying words, "Depart from me, for I never knew you."

Get to know Jesus. Get to know Him as your savior. Get to know Him as God, part of the Trinity, glorious and worthy of worship. Get to know Him as a man, humble and self sacrificing. Get to know Him as Lord and King, valiant and worthy of our loyalty and obedience. Get to know Him as the Good Shepherd, loving and gentle with His flock. Get to know Him as the Living Water and the Bread of Life, all sustaining and fulfilling. Get to know Him as the Treasure that destroys all other treasures.

I'll post the practical application part of the sermon later this week. In the meantime, examine your relationship with Jesus. How well do you know Him?