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?

Wealth | Application

Okay, as promised, here is the practical application portion of the Wealth sermon. These are eight ways to get to know Jesus, the ultimate treasure:

1. Meet Him.
Have you met Jesus? I don't mean, have you met people who know Jesus? I mean have you met Him?

He once told a woman who met Him by a well that if she knew who He was, she'd ask Him for living water, meaning salvation (John 4:7-14). Meeting Him + knowing who He is will = being saved.

You've probably heard who He is: the Son of God who died to reconcile Christians with God. Now, you just need to meet Him. Turn to Him in prayer, introduce yourself (a sinner) and ask Him to help you accept the living water of salvation. Place all your faith and hope in Him for life now and eternal life later.

Meet Jesus through salvation.

2. See Him.After I met the woman who would later become my wife, we saw each other nearly everyday for weeks. That's how we started to get to know each other.

If you've met Jesus through salvation, you'll need to see Him regularly to get to know Him better. You can do this through the Bible. It's all about Jesus.

The Old Testament predicts and prepares for Him. The New Testament shows us His life and explains His teaching. The whole book points to Jesus.

So read it.
Study it.
Meditate on it.
Memorize portions of it.
Listen to it.
Think about it.
Talk about it.
Listen to other people talk about it.

You will not grow rich in the knowledge of Jesus without being in the Bible. I promise.

See Jesus through the Bible.

3. Live with Him.
Once you start seeing Jesus regularly, you'll see things in your life that need to change. There will be promises to believe, commands to obey, warnings to heed, principles to which to adjust your thinking. You'll need to ask Jesus to help you apply all these things to your life.

Don't worry, Jesus is with you through it all (Matthew 28:20).

Live with Jesus through application.

4. Speak with Him.
It's really hard to get to know someone without speaking with them and, you guessed it, prayer is our avenue of communication with Jesus.

He's there for you. He should be the first person you turn to (John 14:14). In the morning, in the car, before you open the door to your workplace, as you brush your teeth, etc.

Speak with Jesus through prayer.

5. Focus on Him.
It's been said that the modern trinity is Hurry, Worry, and Busy. It keeps us from the holy trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

You may never hear silence again if you don't intentionally withdraw. So, make a regular habit of taking out the ear buds, pausing Pandora, logging off of Facebook, etc., etc. until you're alone in the quiet. Then you can focus your mind and heart on Jesus for a little while.

If you don't do this, Hurry, Worry, and Busy will grind you through each day until you've lived your entire life without spending quality time - just you and Jesus.

Focus on Jesus through silence and solitude.

6. Love Him.
As you get to know Jesus better and better, something will begin to bubble up in your soul. Awe mixed with affection. This is called worship.

You'll want to magnify His glory with your lips and your life. Go for it.

Love Jesus through worship.

7. Serve Him.
What we do for those in need, we do for Jesus (Matthew 25:41-46).

Feed the hungry.
Hydrate the thirsty.
Welcome the outsider.
Clothe the naked.
Visit the sick and imprisoned.

Serve Jesus through serving those in need.

8. Share Him.
A joy unshared is a joy not fully experienced. Not sure who said that; but I know it's true. That's why whenever we encounter something joyous (a beautiful sunset or our child's first steps), we immediately want to share it with someone.

To fully experience the joy of getting to know Jesus, we need to share Him. Share Him with those who haven't yet met Him (evangelism and missions) ans share Him with those who are getting to know Him already (fellowship).

Finally, these are merely ways to get to know Jesus better. Please don't roll your sleeves up and work on any of these things thinking they'll make Him love you more. He loves you already. Just spend some time with Him and get to know Him.