Jack Hibbs - Finders Keepers, Losers Winners (01/23/2026)
Finders Keepers, Losers Winners
Turn to Philippians chapter 3 this morning—Philippians 3. If you’re new to the church, we’re marching through the Bible in the book of Philippians. We now come to chapter 3:7-9. And previously in chapter 3, Paul has been announcing to us—and it’s quite shocking—Paul has been announcing to us this: that with all of his religious qualifications—that he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, that he was circumcised on the eighth day, that he was of the tribe of Benjamin, concerning the law he was blameless, he was a Pharisee, concerning his zeal he persecuted the church—Paul the apostle, before he met Jesus, was the most absolute awesome religious individual you could have ever met.
Paul’s Impressive Credentials
All of our religious duty combined—this is no exaggeration—could not match the doings of this man previously known as Saul of Tarsus. Even in secular history—Saul, you know him as the apostle Paul—was a legend when it came to education. His famous Jewish scribe or rabbi teacher wrote in his own secular writings that he could not keep Saul with enough books—he consumed books. He was brilliant. Today, the greatest convert to Christianity the world has ever known—the apostle Paul—with all of his acquisition of status, fame, fortune—mind you, back in those days religion was a very profitable thing because it was highly educated, highly influential, and many governmental leaders needed the religious position of people to pave the way.
Paul’s Zeal and Transformation
Powerful man—on top of that, he had a sincere zeal to follow God, and so he went out to kill Christians. Half of the book of Acts—or I should say a quarter of the book of Acts—recounts that very thing. And now he writes to us in our study last week when he says all of these acquisitions of religious attainment equals nothing. And he focused on the fact that the Judaizers were those who accepted Christ—I say «accepted Christ» like this—but they said, you know what—yeah, believe in Jesus, but you got to do these things. You got to keep these rules, and then you can really be a member of the body of Christ.
Circumcision Debate
And their big selling point was circumcision—believe in Jesus, trust Jesus, but you got to do this, and we start with circumcision. And Paul the apostle said, why not this—if circumcision added to your faith in Christ is the way to go to heaven, why cut a little bit of the skin off? Take the whole thing. No, I’m not kidding—he, that’s the word he used—the word «mutilate, ” and that’s the English word „mutilate”—cut it off. If you think that by self-mutilation of flesh will make you acceptable to God, then why don’t you just take the whole thing and be holy? He was being sarcastic to drive the point home—nothing you and I can do will impress the mind or heart of God.
Christ’s Sufficient Sacrifice
Because why? Because there’s nothing you can add to the salvation of Christ at the cross—nothing. Jesus did that—He died on that cross for our sins. The Old Testament prophet said that He would come, die on the cross for our sins, be resurrected from the dead. Why did He do that? Because you and I could not save ourselves. So today we come to verses 8 and 9, and the title of the message today—look at it carefully: „Finders Keepers, Losers Winners.“ Oh, you hesitated—“Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers.» Remember when we were little kids—“Finders keepers, losers weepers»?
Childhood Saying Applied
Why would that happen? Remember when we were in the fifth grade or whatever, and Johnny had his hat, and we liked it, and Johnny got up to go get another carton of milk, and we took his hat and said, «Hey, finders keepers, losers weepers.» Hey, that works in the fifth grade, but it doesn’t work now—you are expected to return the thing, right? You don’t keep it. Well, when it comes to Christianity, it’s absolutely amazing, because finders keepers—number one: have you found Jesus Christ personally? Do you know Him?
Losers Become Winners
I’m not asking you—did you add Him on to your morality? That’s unacceptable to God. «Well, gosh, Pastor—I’m so good in all these areas—I’ll just add on Jesus.» Wrong. And then secondly—losers in Christianity become the winners. What do I mean by that? Mark this verse down before we get into the full scale of this—in Matthew 16, verses 25 and 26. Listen to what Jesus says: «For whoever desires to save his life will lose it”—that’s amazing—meaning if you live your life to play it safe, all about you—what you want, what you’re living for—then you turn to others and you tell them it’s all about what you want—you live for me, you serve me.
Losing Life to Find It
Jesus says you’re going to lose your life—He doesn’t mean you’re going to die prematurely, doesn’t mean that you’re going to, you know, hurt yourself and fall into a ditch—He means at the end of your life being lived, you will lose your soul because you’ve lived a self-centered life. He goes on in Matthew 16—He says, „But whoever will lose his life for My sake will find it.“ You want to find your life? Stop thinking about you—stop living for you—and start thinking about Christ and start living for Christ. He’ll transform your life.
Profit of Gaining the World
It’s coming to that place of being a loser—that’s how you win. Christianity is a funny thing, you know—it’s not a religion, it’s a relationship. It’s an experience that only by surrendering do you have the victory—that only by giving up your life do you find life—only by quitting do you finish. How is that? It’s pretty amazing. Jesus went on in Matthew 16, verse 26—He says, „For what profit is it to a man if he should gain the entire world”—imagine if you’re the richest guy in the world—if you’re the Bill Gates or the Zuckerbergs of the world—“and he loses his own soul?“
Counting All as Loss
That means there’s an end coming—or „what will a man give in exchange for his soul?“ And that’s the key that Paul launches off into in Philippians 3:7, 8, and 9—is the fact that there is nothing in this world that you can give in exchange for your soul. It’s not your color—it’s not your creed—it’s not your status in life—it’s not the money you have or don’t have. So Philippians 3:7—Paul says, „But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.“
Two Forms of Righteousness
Verse 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”—by the way, notice how many times the word „things“ appears in these verses—“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.» Immediately verse 9 tells us that there’s two forms of righteousness—one is acceptable to God, and one is not.
Man’s vs God’s Righteousness
Now look, church—I love you, you’re beautiful, glad that you’re here on this wonderful day—but if this stings, if this hurts, you got to take it—just sit down. The ushers have been instructed to lock the doors—you’ve got to take this, you got to listen. There are two forms of righteousness revealed in the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. One is man’s attempt to justify himself before a holy God—man’s attempt: do whatever you can—transform yourself, reinvent yourself, remodel—Extreme Makeover—your 12 steps to self-improvement. The world is full of this—I’m not knocking it exactly—but you can’t go to heaven on those steps.
Self-Righteousness Exposed
And then there’s the righteousness that God accepts—and that’s Jesus. You say, «Well, okay—that’s good for you, Pastor—but here’s the deal: I’m really, really good.» Clearly you’ve not met me, Jack—you ought to meet me, because I’m really something. And if you only knew me, you’d love me—and if you only knew me, you’d know that heaven would do good to have me. Let me tell you something—you have a standard, and you are judging your life based upon the standard you’ve erected. And yet here’s the truth—Romans chapter 2 tells us you can’t even live up to your own standard—the standard that you’ve set.
All Have Sinned
Whatever your immorality is—you don’t think it’s right for people to lie—yet Jesus says all men are liars, right? Ladies—oh, that was weak—you should have jumped on that one. I’m not going to give that one again. The Bible says all men—all men and women—are liars. Did you know that? We lie by nature—did you know that? It’s part of our fallen nature. How big was the fish? It was that big—no, it wasn’t. We had such a great time—no, you didn’t. We lie—it’s in us.
Discovering True Value
And the fact of the matter is, there’s a righteousness—we have standards, and we fail. That’s why God gave us the law—the law, the Bible makes it very clear, that the law was never given to save anybody. «Well, I’ve kept nine of the Ten Commandments”—you only need to break one, and we’re guilty. But see, self—man-made justification that leads to self-righteousness—says, „I can do this on my own.“ The Bible tells us that no, we can’t. Christ has come to the cross, and He died there for us. And Paul is saying, if you want to go toe-to-toe with righteous achievement, Paul says, „I’ll lay down the human standard—boom—here it is. Match this one.“ And all of us fall short.
Things Counted Loss
The first thing we see this morning regarding „Finders Keepers, Losers Winners“ is this: it’s only true if—number one—you have discovered the true value of those things. And there’s a little bit of sarcasm with this—those things have no true value when it comes to salvation. Hear me out—are you a good student? Great. Have you achieved things in life? Do you own that company? Have you been a great parent? Are you a great salesman? Are you a great—are you a Christian? „Yes, I am.“ Then all those things that you and I are able to do in our humanity are things that we should be doing to the glory of God, because God has given us the ability—and that’s fine.
Human Achievements vs Salvation
Do you have degrees stacked higher and higher? Fantastic—great. But none of these achievements can translate into the currency of heaven—you can’t take your status, your money, your influence, your looks, and then say, „God, look at me—God, let me into heaven.“ Paul is a perfect example of the fact that he could not equate—he could not reach the standard of perfection. Jesus does that. So when we talk about these things—verse 7—He says, „But what things were gain to me”—you got to circle the two words „what things, ” because it’s really one Greek word—“what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss.“
Everything Lost for Christ
The word „what things“ is—I said one word—and it means this: those things that were, those things that whatsoever, those things that happened—we would say „those things that was.“ I know that’s not right verb or word usage, but you know—“those things that was in my life.» Paul is saying everything up to the moment I met Christ is nothing—instantly my ego is slapped in the face—instantly you and I, if we’re listening right now, we’re challenged by that. «Wait a minute”—because by nature we are proud—proud. We’re proud—you’re proud, I’m proud.
Pride in Identity
For example—I think, I don’t have to think long—it’s already in my head—although it’s kind of hard to hang on to this one these days—I was born and raised in California. That used to be a cool thing—I’m a native Californian. Now it’s like, „Sorry.“ Oh, even better than that—San Diego is my hometown—no, nothing better—San Diego, right? See—take a little pleasure in that. Say, „Well, I’m what—fill in the blank.“ „Well, I am a what—fill in the blank.“ See—we find status on that. „I’m this—I’m that.“ Watch out—Paul had all right, but he didn’t.
Gain Counted Loss
Those things could be dangerous—it’s not that they’re bad—we can make them bad. „I go to this church or that church”—watch out, that can be bad. We have to be careful. And then he uses the word „gain”—listen, this is true only if I am a winner by losing. As a Christian trusting Christ, I surrender to Him. It’s only true if I discover the value of these things and put them in their place. The word „gain“ here is an amazing word, because it means this: that which is gain or to someone of status—it means money, influence, control, recognition.
Royal Decree of Loss
The word can imply—depends on the sentence—it can imply this: emotional gratification—it’s to be recognized in a crowd. There is a gain—Paul says, „I have been recognized in a crowd, ” the apostle Paul would say. And he said all of these things—these things, these things that were gain to me—no, they’re absolutely nothing. And that’s a hard thing for us—these things I have counted loss. The word „counted”—and I know we’re dissecting this apart, and we have to do this for theological reasons, but I pray it will come to an applicable reason in a moment—it means the word „counted”—he’s counted loss—it means that he has been instructed.
God’s Revelation to Paul
It’s not something he’s determined—listen, it’s not „I found this out”—he’s understanding that God has shown him something—that God has shown him that all that he is prior to Jesus Christ—having done the math, he makes a conclusion. The word here „counted“ is to make an act or decree by an official statement—it means a statement by royalty. Paul is saying someone higher than myself has made a decree, and He’s taught me this. Paul is saying Jesus has shown me this—that all of my life’s acquiring of position and status—Jesus has shown me personally by royal decree—it’s all loss.
Loss of Self-Effort
„Loss”—that word means this: to come to the point of understanding that what we have acquired to this moment without Jesus Christ can be dangerous—that’s a weird word, huh? So what does this matter? Paul is saying to us that with all of our attempts to impress God—to maybe tell Him, „Lord, I prayed so long today.“ „Oh, Lord, I gave this much money today, ” right? „Oh, I did this—I went down the freeway off-ramp, and I saw that person hungry, and I drove around, went to McDonald’s, came back around, gave them a burger—God, did You see that? I know it was a cloudy day or foggy day—I hope You saw that.“
Liberating Surrender
You did a good thing—but your motive—Paul says, listen—I have surrendered. This is liberating—if I say it correctly, and if you’re listening, this is liberating. Paul says I don’t even look back at those previous things—I leave it alone, 'cause I can’t know. Paul says I’ve given that up—my motive. I can’t sit—I’m not even qualified to judge my own motives—I leave it to God. The past—it’s lost with Him—it’s His. But I’ve done these things—I can’t tell you why, Paul would say.
Transformation by Christ
And then Christ comes into your life—He changes your life from the inside—not religiously going to church, not religiously doing this or that—an actual encounter with Christ. You can actually write down the fact that I know what it is to encounter Jesus Christ. And Paul is able to say that—a transformation takes place. And now what he’s doing—because look, Paul did so much more good after meeting Jesus. Jesus—how is that possible? Because listen—he was transformed.
Doing Good from Relationship
Here’s the thing—he did the good because God had done a work in his heart. He didn’t do the good to earn God’s favor—he didn’t go act righteously to get the smile from God, because God had given him His smile. Paul got up and did the right things because he got to. Why do you do what you do—because you have to, or you get to? Can you imagine—can you imagine a husband coming home and saying, „Sweetheart, I want you to cook me my favorite meal tonight, and I want you to serve it with, you know, candles.“ „Oh, what’s the occasion?“ „The occasion is I was at work all day today, and I didn’t cheat on you once—isn’t that great? So go ahead—cook it up.“
Love vs Duty
You know what she would say to him? She would say, „You’re going to McDonald’s.“ Husbands are not supposed to cheat on their wives—you don’t get a happy face for not cheating on your wife, for crying out loud. You’re married—that comes, that’s the norm. It’s—listen—I’m married, I’m in love—I don’t cheat on my wife. It’s not some badge of honor—“Whoa, babe—glad I’m home—barely made it in the door—wow, didn’t cheat on you once. I hope you know tomorrow could be another day—I don’t know.» We don’t get kudos for what we’re supposed to do out of relationship, do we?
Keeping Things in Place
Another important thing to understand this—in verse 7—is that it’s only true if you keep those things in their proper place. Paul says in verse 8—“Yet indeed I also count all things loss.» Things—this word is a different word. He now—watch—since becoming a Christian, he puts all things of the flesh as lost. This is encouraging to me, ladies and gentlemen—we’re talking about the apostle Paul, the greatest convert to Christianity. This man’s works have changed worlds, and Paul says, «I still count those things as lost.»
Ongoing Counting as Loss
It’s a present meaning—it means everything in the past is gone, and the stuff that’s happening right now I leave with God, because in my life—Paul—imagine Paul could preach the gospel, a thousand people get saved, raise somebody from the dead, turn right around and trip over Peter’s sandal, and stand up and say, «Peter, you big jerk—you’re nothing but a big overgrown fisherman—you drive me nuts—you and your babbling from the Galilee—you, who—I don’t like you.» And then he’s convicted and goes to Peter and says, «I’m sorry, Peter—what just happened a moment ago? Jesus doesn’t talk like that—that was Paul. I’m sorry—please forgive me.» Read Romans 7—he understood that.
Holy Spirit’s Conviction
That even to the things in the current—that doesn’t mean we have a license to sin—you can’t even think like that if God’s in your heart. You want to live and walk with Him. But when you trip over Peter’s sandal—and it happens—I know you look so saintly out here, but it happens—I mean, you know it happens—you’re to repent of it. The Holy Spirit’s speaking to you. Listen—don’t speak out loud, but have you ever sensed—I’d like to use the word «heard, ” but I don’t want to mislead you—have you ever heard the Holy Spirit speak to you?
Superiority of Christ
Doesn’t like—He has a voice like this: „Jack, I saw that.“ He doesn’t talk like that—He talks with your own voice in your head, but you know it’s not you. You would never bust you—have you noticed that? You are always saying, „I’m okay—I like me—we’re doing fine—I’m a legend in my own mind.“ That’s how we think. And then God speaks, and He uses—I think I’m convinced of this—I think He uses our voice to speak His truth into our lives, because our voice is the only voice we’ll listen to. But you know it’s not you—the whole sentence structure is not normal for you. And He’s saying, „What are you doing? Don’t do that—I told you not to do that. I love you—listen, I love you, but you’re still going to get a spanking if you keep this up.“ You don’t talk to yourself like that—the Holy Spirit talks to you like that. God is speaking to you—He’s leading you.
Excellence of Knowing Christ
The third thing that we see regarding this—in verse 8—is that it’s only true—that is, „Finders Keepers, Losers Winners”—that’s only true if you see the superiority of Christ versus those things. Jesus is greater than—friends, if you and I could get to heaven by some acts of our own, then Christ died in vain. He either died for all of us, or His death was in vain. He says in verse 8: „For the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.“ Some have said that this is the most meaningful verse in all of the Bible for those who believe in God—that the excellence of the knowledge of Christ.
Pursuit of Knowing Jesus
Think about it—you and I, by God’s grace—God has opened up your heart, I hope I’m talking to all of you this morning, and I pray this—I pray this now—if you do not get this, I pray that God would quicken your heart—He’d poke you right in the heart—that the greatest desire of the true believer is to learn more about Jesus. It’s all about Jesus—Jesus, Jesus—I need to know more about Jesus. Even the person that is awakening to God speaking in their life will say things like, „I don’t know enough about Jesus—I need to know Him.“ The knowledge of Him—and that pursuit is the greatest pursuit in all of your life.
Christ First in All
You can be a scientist—you can be an astronaut—you can be—I don’t care what it is—but nothing will trump the pursuit of God and knowing Him in life—period. I don’t care what it is. Imagine if we had—and thank God we do—but think about—the mayor was sitting in the front row for a service—think about we had mayors who love Jesus, police who love Jesus, dads who love Jesus, moms who love Jesus, presidents who love Jesus, congressmen who love Jesus—imagine that for a moment. Whatever their attainments are—those things are counted loss because it’s Jesus at the top in life—Christ first.
Handling Jesus in Heaven
In 1 John chapter 1, verse 1—John says: „That which was from the beginning”—that is when creation happened—“which we have heard”—he’s saying that when creation happened, God was there—“which we have heard, ” says John, „which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled.“ Can you imagine—John is saying that we saw Jesus—we heard Him—we touched Him. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Actually, it is going to be amazing someday, huh? We’re going to see Him—do you understand that? We’re going to touch Him.
Intimacy with Christ
I don’t think there’s going to be a stanchion around the throne where you can’t get near Him—“Now keep your voice down—we’re coming into the throne room—we just pass by—take a picture.» I don’t think so. I don’t know how it’s going to work, but if—listen—if my grandkids can crawl into my lap—I’m sorry to say this, but a couple weeks ago I was in the foyer talking to somebody, and my grandson came walking up—I didn’t see him coming, but I felt him grab my leg, and immediately I went down on my knee and gave him a hug, gave him a kiss. And the person I was talking to was a little bit upset that he interrupted—“I love you, but I could care less.» You want to know why? It was my grandson.
Divine Disappointment Needed
He said, «I find that highly offensive.» Listen—you won’t when Jesus does it to you. He’s going to be there in heaven, and you’re going to walk right up there and grab Him by the leg—you’re going to give Him a hug, and no one’s going to be upset about it, and it’s all going to be fine. I believe if God allows humanity to interface like that—how much more God? How much more God? I can’t wait—and I’m glad that we don’t exactly know what it’s like. «I know, Pastor—have you read the book about the guy that saw heaven?» I don’t want to read the book—I don’t want to be disappointed. Seriously—if Paul couldn’t talk about heaven, I’m not going to talk about it. I just know it’s going to be amazing.
Fellowship with Christ
And the truth of the matter is, we’re going to handle Him. John goes on—1 John 1, verse 2—he says—or verse 1 he says «concerning the word of life”—“the life was manifested”—that is revealed to us—“we’ve seen and we bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father was manifest to us.» Verse 3: «And that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us—and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.» That is amazing, church.
Church’s Relevance Crisis
Listen—we need maybe a divine disappointment—we might need a divine disillusionment until we understand fully and completely. I think we need a divine devastation—meaning this: if we as a church get stripped down to where we ought to be—in the sense that I’m not talking about anything external—I’m talking about distractions—99% of them reside in our own heart and our minds. If we get stripped down to what concerned the first-century church—you read the book of Acts, and you love it, and you want to go to a church like that—really? Do you really? Because they were concerned about the cross—they were concerned about sin—they were concerned about the lost—they were concerned about doctrine—they were concerned about prayer.
Holy Spirit’s Power
Does that concern you? Do those things? Because that’s church. And I personally believe this is one reporter’s opinion—that we are now in the 21st century, and I’m beginning to wonder what in the world—or I should say where in the world—is the church? She’s absent without leave or without permission—she’s where is she? The church in America, for example—where is she? How can these evils in our culture go unaddressed? The church—the church has abandoned its influence to the civic leaders. The church used to be the banner carrier.
Relevance Misunderstood
«Well, you know—we need to be relevant.» Do you now? You can buy books on how to start a church—it’s all about being relevant. Really? How about this—God who made everything—He’s relevant. «Oh no, no—you need to do this—you can’t have chairs like this, you have to have chairs like that—you can’t have, you got to have this kind of lighting, you got to have this kind of verbiage, you got to have this kind of website, you got to have an app this way, you got to have this thing that way—why? To be relevant.» Excuse me—the Holy Spirit is relevant—He’s relevant. He’s the One that does it all, right? Hang on—we need to get back to Him—the power of the Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit.
Carnal vs Spiritual
Ladies and gentlemen—He is the Holy Spirit. But no—it’s, «No—we’re a church—we’re so relevant that we can get drunk at our church—we’re so relevant.» «We’re so relevant—come and we have smoking sessions at the church—we’re so relevant.» Really? Holy Spirit needs that, right? Churches need that? Hey—you know what churches need to do? Whatever they need to do—if the Holy Spirit’s not building the church—did you get that? It’s kind of sarcastic—I’m doing that intentionally—if the Holy Spirit’s not there, what are you going to do? «Well, we got to be relevant.» What does that really mean? We’ve got to be just like the world so they come—really?
Naked Cowboy Example
Did you see—a week and a half ago—it’s all over the web, it’s all over the news—go ahead and put this slide up—of this—this is crazy. You know the Naked Cowboy in New York City—have you ever been in New York City? The Naked Cowboy’s in the middle of the street there at Times Square—you know what I’m talking about? Well, he’s naked—I mean, he’s not really naked—he’s wearing his Fruit of the Loom underwear for real, a guitar, and boots—sings—it’s his business—he actually gets paid—that’s his thing, okay? Well, this is not Times Square—this is a church service in New York City, and the whole leadership said it was our attempt to be relevant.
Cross vs Carnality
What are you trying to do—have people like you, or to get them to the cross to love Jesus for who He is and to understand that the world is unholy but God is holy—that the church ought to be that city that is set on a hill, that is a gleaming fortress of hope for people to run into and find actual meaning to life? And to understand—can you imagine Paul the apostle showing up to this service? Seriously—listen, I would hope that Paul the apostle or Jesus or Peter could show up to this service and sit down, and at the end of the service say, «Okay—praise the Lord.» Don’t you want to have that happen in your church?
Harsh Reality of Eternity
But listen—when the Holy Spirit’s not at a church, you got to do this stuff—you got to speak carnally to people to get their carnal response, and you’ll never get a soul into heaven. I think Satan laughs at such things. You say, «Man, that’s harsh.» You know what—eternity without Jesus—that’s harsh. Jesus Christ—the Bible says—came into the world to save sinners—then sign me up. I want to go to the front of the line—if He saves sinners, I’m one.
Small Life Without Surrender
But today—if you want to do the opposite of what Paul is saying—if you want to say, «No—I’m want to protect my life—I got to win”—then listen—you are going to have a very, very, very, very small life, and you’re going to have a horrible ending, because the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Does that offend you? This last week—as I said—I was sick, and the doctor—I went there—my throat was just, I could hardly breathe—it was so swollen shut. And I go to the urgent care thing, and the doctor goes, „Stick out your tongue.“
Doctor’s Diagnosis
First of all, he walks in the room—he’s like this—“Stick out your t—» And I’m thinking—and then he decides to look, and he—“That’s very infected.» «That’s why I’m here.» And he goes, «We need to just swab that to get a culture on that—hang on—10 minutes.» Comes back—he seriously just goes, «I don’t know what this is—we’re going to take another one and send it out. I’ll call you later.» And then he grabs my throat, and he’s hurting me—“Does it hurt here?» «Yes.» «How about here?» «Bad.» «How about there?» «Worse.» And you know what—it dawned on me—what am I thinking about?
Straight Truth Needed
I’m not going to have a picnic with this guy—we’re not going to go to the movies after this is over—it’s not a dinner and a date. He’s a doctor—I want him to tell me what’s wrong. He’s not out to win a personality contest with me—I want him to tell me straight up. Listen—today Jesus is saying, «I tell you straight up—you need Me.» Jesus is saying you can’t go to heaven on your goodness—there ain’t no goodness in heaven but God. The people who are in heaven are sinners who have been saved by Him—do you understand that?
Accounting Terms
No one drags their righteousness into heaven—“Hey, Father, Son, Holy Spirit—me.» No—it’s Him—and all those who He has saved. And so the doctor told me with painful news that I needed this stuff, okay—and that’s what he was there for, and that’s what I was there for. If the doctor would have said, you know, «There’s something wrong—I’m just not going to tell you what it is, though—I don’t want to hurt your feelings—so you just go around—you just kiss everybody you can find—you go ahead and lick door knobs for all I care—just spread the love around”—that would have been a quack, right? No.
Rubbish Compared to Christ
And the second thing is this—in verse 8—is that Paul teaches us accounting terms—accounting biblical truth for ourselves. What does that mean? Concluding—he says „and counting them as rubbish”—all of these achievements of religious acts or status—he says „rubbish.“ The word is amazing—I’m not going to elaborate because it’s actually too graphic to talk about—there’s young people here in the service. The word „rubbish“ here—I’ll simply put—the word means waste, like human dung—human waste. That’s the word he used.
God’s Righteousness Imputed
Wow—Paul is speaking of himself—all of my achievements—the word means a wild dog won’t even get near this stuff. A wild dog will get near about anything, but if there’s human waste on the path the dog’s going down there—it’s like the dog will just „uh-uh.“ And Paul says that’s my acts of righteousness without God. He does the math, and it’s beautiful—Paul does the math, but it’s God’s numbers. He comes to this conclusion—“I’m a big loser—nothing I can do can impress God—can’t save myself—but God sent Jesus.» And so I do the math, and God has asked me to believe what Jesus has done for me—and I’m going to do that.
Hidden in Christ
And the moment that happens—God’s mathematics is all that Jesus Christ merits, provides—are now deposited like a keyboard stroke or like the moving of a mouse click—the righteousness of God is labeled over your life. This is pure theology—see, I don’t feel it—He didn’t ask you if you feel it. God said this is what I do. So if you could see what I can see—there’s 3,000 people sitting here right now—that’s a lot of people—a lot of faces. You know what—it gets real personal if I do this right now—I can only see you, okay? Like this—go ahead and do this—I need all of you to do this—come on, okay—do this.
In Christ Vision
All of a sudden—look how small—look around—just don’t look at me—I’m—look around. I don’t know what’s with some of you—you just can’t do it—you just like, «I’m too righteous to do this.» So here’s the deal—in the vast crowd—imagine God looks at you. The Bible tells us that God sees us in Christ Jesus—inside you. Go to Russia—you get the matryoshka dolls—inside a doll is inside a doll, inside a doll, inside a doll. You’re in Christ—God looks at you—listen—for you, He’s the person. Jesus Christ is your personal Lord and Savior—that means He sees the masses—He died for the sins of the world—but He’s so amazing because He does this with you—I see you.
Lost in His Life
The beautiful thing is—because you’re in Christ—God the Father looks, and He’s looking, and He sees—and He sees what? «Jack.» He sees Jesus—“Jesus—where’s Jack?» «Jack’s in Me—I got him covered, Father—he’s in Me.» When God the Father—in His righteousness, it’s the nature of God—when He views a sinner that’s been redeemed, He sees the righteousness of His Son Jesus. Listen—you may or may not take the salvation work of Christ seriously at the cross, but guess who does? God the Father does. God looks at the cross, and He says, «I will forgive all those who are behind that cross—who are hidden behind that cross—and He’ll do it.»
Faith in Christ
And He does it—and when that happens, you are transformed. There’s no more any rules to keep—did you know that? No more rules—rules don’t apply to my life anymore because it’s love. «What do you mean?» If the speed limit is 55 miles an hour—if I love God, I’ll go 54—I’ll go 55. If I love me, I’ll go 56—I’ll go 106. The faster I go, the more love I have for me—think about it. «Thou shalt not”—“thou shalt not”—and „thou shalt not.“ Now—not for the Christian—it’s „I don’t have to”—“I don’t have to”—and „I don’t have to.“ It’s no longer rules—it’s „I know what God did for me—I love Him for it—and so I want to obey Him because Father knows best.“ Big difference.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I invite You into my life. I’m asking You to change me. I receive Your Holy Spirit—the conviction and the hope I have, I place in You today. I proclaim Jesus having died for my sins, having risen from the dead—He is my Lord and Savior. So help me, God—in Jesus' name, Amen.