2024-02-25AM- Truly Trusting Christ

The transcription is about the Apostle Paul's testimony of his own life and his realization that true salvation comes from trusting in Jesus Christ alone. He emphasizes that nationality, wealth, good works, and religious affiliation cannot save a person. Paul counts all his achievements as loss and considers them worthless compared to the knowledge of Christ. He urges listeners to trust in Jesus for salvation and not rely on their own efforts. The message emphasizes that Jesus is the only way to God and that nothing else can earn His favor. Praise the Lord. Let's read together Philippians chapter 3 beginning with verse 3. The Apostle Paul here writing this letter to the Philippian church. We are the circumcision of the Jewish nation which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Here's what he's saying. We're the Jews which worship God in Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Not all Jews did. But we are those which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he have whereof he might trust in the flesh, I'm more. of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Would you pray with me? Lord, thank You so much for what we have experienced thus far in this service. Thank You for the words which we have heard, such encouragement today, reminding us that we are free. Hallelujah. Thank You, God, for the forgiveness of sins in all who You have saved in this place, and all that You are willing to save. I pray You'll have Your way on me. Anoint this vessel, God, that I say just what You want me to say for the edifying of the church, for the reaching to the lost. In the name of Jesus, Amen. I want to try to preach for a title this morning, Truly Trusting Christ. Truly Trusting Christ. The Apostle Paul here gives this testimony of his own life. And if there was anyone who could ever have trusted in himself for his own salvation, it would have been the man who was writing this letter to the Philippian church. The Apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus. But things changed for him. It seems that in his life he had everything going for him. He was a Jew, he acknowledges here. He was they of the chosen people, those whom the Scriptures would come through. His ancestry could be traced all the way back to that great patriarch, Abraham himself. He was of the chosen people of God, the Jewish nation. He was of the right nationality. His family name was great, and he could trace it back. He said that he was of the tribe of Benjamin. You remember that Benjamin was Jacob's youngest child, and highly favored of Jacob. Benjamin was one of those two tribes that didn't follow after Jeroboam, after the division of the nation of Israel. An exclusive tribe. So you would say he was from the right family. It was bearing right on down the line. And his knowledge, his extensive knowledge of the law of Moses was in the eyes of his peer, flawless. He was the man. His education and the zeal that he had, had propelled him into the religious elite within his society. He kept the law just as well as any man in that day could keep the law. In fact, anybody who knew him and knew of his dedication to his religion would find him blameless. They couldn't find fault in this man. The elite. He was one of the high. But the Apostle Paul came to the place where he realized, I must truly trust Christ Jesus. And once this great man, with all the pedigree, with all the experience, and with all the education, with all the zeal, and with all the right lineage, when he had fully surrendered himself to the authority of the One whom God hath highly exalted and given a name which is above every name, Paul declared that all of those things that were so important and exalted himself in society, all those things which had meant so much to him, all those things which had called him into special privileges in his culture, in his society, and in his religious circle, all these things, he said, are counted loss to me. He recognized that all those things that made him appear as so special in the sight of man, that they were actually the things that were holding him back. He said these were destructive to my soul. That everybody thought was getting me closer. All those things that people thought made me more worthy for the salvation of God. He said these were the things that were destructive to my soul. And now, he declares, I've given it all up, counted it all loss, suffered the loss of all things, so that others who would suppose that those were the great things, those were the, he said, they're gone. I don't want them, I don't need them, because if I put my confidence that I'm of the tribe of Benjamin, then I'll leave behind Christ and I'll have no hope for my salvation. And the day that we live in isn't a whole lot different from the people back then. Too often people are pinning their hopes for salvation on who they are and the things which they have done. But nobody should make the mistake and confuse that nationality has anything to do with salvation. A skin tone will never help you get closer to God or gain His favor. A man might be rich, but it does not bring him closer to God. Neither does poverty bring someone closer to God. A religious affiliation will not do you an ounce of good on the day of judgment. You can commit your life to helping others or to good causes, but it will never save a soul from sin, for the works of the flesh have never helped anybody get closer to God. The only hope for the soul is to count all of our efforts as loss, for the excess of excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Lay your complete hope in Jesus Christ, whom the Bible says God has raised from the dead. It's Jesus. It is Jesus, the One who is at the right hand of the Father, ready and waiting right now to make intercession for you on your behalf. It is Jesus Christ, the Bible says, who is able to establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus. I want everyone to understand, there is absolutely no hope for salvation outside of Jesus Christ. No hope! Nothing! Your possessions, how you've been raised, Brother Michael was saying he was raised different from a lot of others that are in this place, and Brother Camden, you've had a good raising thus far, but it didn't allow you better access. We all come through Jesus Christ, and there is no hope in any other name. The Apostle Peter preached this, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The Apostle Paul counted all things, but loss, I've suffered the loss of all things, he said. He says it three times in this little passage, loss. It's loss to me. I've suffered the loss of all things. I counted all loss to me, all of the things which I thought benefited me. But the Apostle Paul even went a step further in the description of his former life, how different it was from the life that he lives now. He said all of those things that he had considered good through his life, he now considered them to be dung in exchange for the excellency of a knowledge of Christ Jesus. Those things weren't just useless, they were worse than useless. Those things weren't just something I prefer not to have around. That's something that I absolutely did not want to have around. But it was a refuse now to him that absolutely disgusted his mind, and he wanted those things that were hindering his relationship with God to be as far away as could be possible. And if you are going to truly trust Christ Jesus for the salvation of your soul, you must relinquish these things of the idea that you have anything of value that might help you to curry favor with God. If you're truly going to trust Jesus Christ, you have to get rid of the idea, I can do something and then maybe He'll help me. I can try this. I can quit this. And maybe I can get closer to God. Do not make the mistake that many out here in the world are making now and think that you can do something to curry God's favor. This world is full of religion, lots of different religions. And you know, there are those that they even have some of the same stories that we have. You'll hear others tell in their religion, they'll talk about a man who built an ark and rescued the world from the flood. You'll hear others teach about creation by God alone. And there may be some similarities between these Old Testament stories. Some will tell you about a man named Jonah who was swallowed by a whale and then rescued. But nobody else has what Jesus said. Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again. And Jesus Christ is the only means by which that may happen. Some will tell you if you'll work hard enough, if you'll outbalance the bad works by the good works, if you'll give enough, if you'll pay, if you'll talk to a man, you can work it all out. Jesus Christ is the single way to get to God. Some may feel like that they've got money. And that should offer them, you know, money, they say, makes the world go round. But it doesn't impress God. God doesn't need your money. The Bible tells us that the earth, the whole earth, is the lawrence and the fullness thereof. The world, everyone that dwells in this world, belongs to God. God spoke to Israel through the psalmist Asaph, and he said, look, if I was hungry, I wouldn't tell you. Because the earth is mine and the fullness thereof. There's nothing that you have that could offer the rich and the poor. They both meet together, but the Lord is the maker of them all. Some might feel like they could come with influence. Influencing is kind of a big thing out there from what I understand on social media. And people who want to make money can feel like that they can turn the influence, and they've got enough. God doesn't need the influence, your influence, in this world. Because God's got it all taken care of. He is sovereign over the entire creation. And He does not need man's ability to influence other people. He said, thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool. He said that the King's heart, like the rivers of water, I just guide it like I want it to be. God's got all the influence that He needs and doesn't need anything from man. The Bible says that all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. All things were by Him were all things created in heaven, in earth, visible and invisible. Thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. God doesn't need man's influence on somebody else. Because as much as we've tried to give the gospel to somebody, it's not until the Spirit of God begins to move on that heart and makes the difference. Some might say, well, I'll bring my talent, my ability. Over the years there have been secular singers who've risen up and put out their gospel albums. And their beautiful singing inspires people and makes people cry and makes people listen to secular singers, makes church people listen in to them. But you know, God doesn't need all that talent. If God wanted to, He could pick up one of those stones out there and make it sing prettier than anybody that you've ever heard. And if there is ever the thought that occurs to man that there is something in him that is worth saving, that's a false notion. Because God did not look down on this earth and look and say, what a great people. I just need to fix them up a little bit. To truly trust Christ is to understand and acknowledge that there is nothing that you could do to gain eternal life. It's one of the basic truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the foundational things that we have to gain a relationship with God. Prophet Isaiah declared this in 64 and 6, we are all an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We all do fade as a leaf. Our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. Listen to what the man says. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. What a picture this prophet is painting for us, trying to make us understand. Man at his best. All the goodness of man. All of the righteousness of man. Man's greatest attempts at being holy are all just like some unusable, discarded, vile piece of cloth that needs to be shoved far away. It is good for nothing. Righteousness. All of man's righteousness is like that filthy rag. When men try to portray men as basically good, they are coming against the Scriptures. And God sees man a whole lot different than man sees man. God sees through all that shallow definition of goodness. And His assessment is this. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men just to see if any did understand and seek God. But they are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that do it good. No, not one. And the Apostle Paul talked about us before our conversion. Foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Paul declares his own lack when he reminded himself of the Lord. We had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. We acknowledge that salvation from sin, the gift of eternal life, the opportunity to be washed whiter than snow, comes not from any redeeming qualities that are found within man, but it is all according to the mercies of God. Hallelujah. One of our foundational verses, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Jesus told Nicodemus that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus said this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Paul preached in Antioch, through this man is preached the forgiveness of sins. It is abundantly clear in the Scriptures that no one gets saved by his own accord. That eternal life is granted not by the efforts of man, but by the gift that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of sins is not earned, but is gifted because of what happened at Calvary. And this Jesus, who is God in the flesh, being sinless, bearing the sins of the entire world, is the only means by which any man may rid himself of his own sins. And if you are going to get to God, it will be through Jesus Christ. And to truly trust Christ is the beginning of a relationship with God. It didn't begin with the good works. It didn't begin with the good giving. It didn't begin with church attendance. It didn't begin with Scripture memorization. But a relationship with Almighty God begins with trusting, truly trusting Christ. And when we come to the knowledge and we begin that relationship with Christ, there are many wonderful, amazing promises that come with trusting God. We get to the place where we have this entire Bible that we are able to trust God through these promises. When Jesus said that He would be in the midst where two or three are gathered, He meant that. That all began with trusting Christ Jesus. When He said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, He meant it. And that comes to those who have trusted Jesus Christ for the salvation of the soul. When Jesus said, I go away to prepare a place for you, that is exactly what He meant. And you can truly trust God. He is true to His Word. When you have placed your confidence all the way in Jesus Christ, you believe what He said. You believe that the poor in spirit are blessed. You believe that the merciful are blessed. You believe that the meek and the mournful and they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness are blessed. You believe that the pure in heart are blessed. The peacemakers and those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. You believe that according to His Word at the end of this life there is a crown of righteousness awaiting you. These are the blessings that come with truly trusting Jesus Christ. You believe that there is a time that He is going to say, well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of the Lord. You believe that one day He will say to you, come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, all because you truly trusted in Jesus Christ. But do not be deceived that the promises that we have from Jesus Christ, when we truly trust Him, that the promises that are in this Bible, do not be deceived to believe that they are unconditional. Because God has given us conditions. The same Jesus who promised a reward in heaven also said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Now there are those that will teach you all you've got to do is confess your sins. And that's it. It's done. You believed in Him, you're good for all the rest of eternity. But there's more to the story. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Well, what if we don't keep His commandments? Well, then you're going to have to push aside all those promises that you had been counting on. If you're going to truly trust Jesus, you'll embrace His call to living a holy life. To trust Jesus, to truly trust Christ, is to pray as He prayed, not my will, but thine be done. It is trusting Him, truly trusting Him, that He knows what is best for our lives. Truly trusting Jesus Christ isn't just escaping the damnation of hell and the lake of fire which is there. But it's whatever He asks of us, we trust Him and we say, everything. Everything belongs to You, God. I'm not holding back anything. And when His holy Word demands us a life to not love this world or the things of this world, we instantly obey that. When He says to come out from among the world and to be separate, we don't have a problem with that when we truly trust Christ. When we read in the Bible to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them, we are thankful that we've got one who cares so much about us and He loves us so well that He'll direct us into life. And we completely trust the direction that He gives. Truly, trusting Jesus is to completely trust Him and commit your life to Him. Completely. We've heard testimonies this morning of those who are amazed that He took my sins away. Amazed that He would set one like me free. That amazement ought to lead us into obedience because we truly trust Him. And we acknowledge Him, not only as Savior from our sins, but as the Scripture calls Him, King of kings, Lord of lords, because we truly are trusting in Christ. It's so much more than what you can do, but it's what He has done. That we put our trust completely, entirely in Jesus Christ. My last name really has gotten me nowhere in this world. My dad, my grandfather, my great-grandfather really never made a name for themselves. I wasn't able to throw down my name and get me in anywhere. So I couldn't count on that. But Barron Trump, he could probably use his name every now and then to gain access somewhere. But when he feels the touch of Almighty God and conviction for his sins, his name will mean nothing. Your name may be what it is. And you may say I've been brought up in church, and I've been faithful, and I know the songs, and I memorize Scripture. My school curriculum is even based on Christian principles. But until you enter into that relationship through Jesus Christ, you're lost. All the rest of it doesn't matter. Has it helped you thus far? Well, Paul would say, I got a lot of knowledge back then, but it didn't save me. I learned a lot about God, but it didn't save me. I learned what to do, how to sacrifice. I knew the holy days. I knew the feasts, and I knew what to do in them. But nothing saved me until I came face to face with the only begotten Son of God. And I confessed all my sin and all my knowledge and all my privilege to Him and laid it all down and allowed Him to save me. Would you stand with me? Father, thank You so much for this saving grace that we may truly trust in Christ. God, You know us all here. We know each other's names. We know much of each other's background, but there's no one that will impress You until he kneels down, until she falls before You and confesses Jesus Christ to be Lord of my life. So I'm praying today, God, You see us here. I ask You, Lord, to move as only You can. You have moved in this place multiple times. God, we commit the remainder of this service into Your hands that You will do as You see fit in Jesus' name. Amen. And I can't help but to make an invitation. Do you know Christ in the free pardon of your sins? Without Christ, there's no hope. Without Him, there's nothing but hopelessness ahead. And so the altar is open. Is there somebody who slipped up and need to get back? That's been talked about this morning. There's a way back and it's the same path that got you there in the first place. It's through Jesus Christ. Would you like to trust Him today? Would you like to trust Christ today? There's an altar and He will meet you here. Let's everyone come in. And if you'd like, and the Holy Ghost is moving on you saying, I've chosen this time. I've chosen this place. I've chosen no other means but Jesus Christ. I give to you opportunity today to be saved. To be saved. To be saved. To be saved. To be saved. To be saved. For there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Just to take Him at His word. Just to rest upon His promise. Just to know the saint, the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him. How I prove Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. I'm true, can be saved. O Lord, raise me up. I'm true, can be saved. Trust Him. Just trust Him. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life.