Episode 7: Confidently Treasuring Christ (3:1-11)
It’s all about confidently treasuring Christ today as we open up the Bible over a cup of tea together. Who could you chat through this part of the Bible with, helping you to drive it to your heart?
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Why does Paul call the Philippians to rejoice? What's at stake if they don't?
As we see contrasts in this passage, how does it grow our view of Christ?
What does it look like for you to intentionally rejoice in the Lord, whatever your circumstances are at the moment?
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Felicity: You're listening to the 2 sisters in a cup of tea podcast. A 20 minute burst of bible chat over a cup of tea and an English style biscuit as we make our way through a bible book over the course of the season and drive it to our hearts. Whether you've been listening for a while or have just found us, we're so pleased you're here. And we're really grateful to Christian Focus for sponsoring this season. Jonathan Edwards was a seminal figure in American church history for a number of reasons and has inspired many to godly Christ centered lives.
As a young man, he wrote himself a list of God honoring resolutions and unbelievably stuck to them. This book, Following Jesus in the Age of Quitters by John Gillespie, takes the resolutions and walks us through them, definitely helping us see how they are bible rich, help us follow Jesus, and are worth our attention. The book is in the format of a series of short devotions, and I think everyone would benefit from dwelling on them. Grab a copy wherever you get your books.
Sarah: Welcome to 2 Sisters and a Cup of Tea. My name is Sarah. I live in the UK. This is my sister Felicity. She lives in the US. And today, we're jumping back into Philippines chapter 3 verses 1 to 11, and we're really looking forward to getting into this part of the book. Give us a glimpse into your biscuit or tea choice for today.
Felicity: Well, I'm just glad you've asked about the biscuit situation. Oh, good. Well, you see, what happens around here, it's a very cultural thing, this. The girl scout cookies. I wonder whether any of our English listeners are aware of this. I reckon we've probably come across it in films and things. It's a real thing. People come and knock on the door, and they want you to buy their, like, it's Girl Scouts knocking there. And they want you to buy their cookies, and there's an array of possibilities. And, wonderfully, there's a gluten free Girl Scout cookie.
Sarah: Oh. What flavour is it?
Felicity: It's good. It's kind of fudgy.
Sarah: Okay.
Felicity: I can't remember the exact name of the flavour because I've only got the biscuit here. But it's definitely got a fudgy kind of flavoriness. K. But it's surprisingly good.
Sarah: Do you buy a box? Do you buy one? How does it work?
Felicity: Yeah. You buy a box.And in the box, there are, like, 2 columns of biscuits. But they'd really like you to buy more than one box. But as we're English and we're not entirely convinced that these are high quality biscuits, we're going for the one box at this stage. This is our 2nd year round. You know, just, you kinda feel like you have
Sarah: Is there not more to support the Girl Scouts rather than the quality of the cookies?
Felicity: Well, yes. That is true. But, I mean, bonus if you get good cookies in it as well.
Sarah: Okay. Fair enough.
Felicity: So all in all, I'm quite pleased with it so far. So, Sarah, we've been in Philippians. We have been eating biscuits while we've been in Philippians, but we have also been in Philippians for a few weeks now, and we've actually been in for longer than that as we've been preparing to have these conversations. And the reality is that while we've been in Philippians, actually, we've unexpectedly both had quite heavy seasons over the course of these last few weeks. And so I feel like we've been saying to each other, well, we're all in for this heavenly mindset. We're wanting to say with with Paul, to live is Christ and die is gain. Mhmm. But also, the emotions are so real. And it's not so much that we're the ones going through acute suffering, but we are watching close people to us. Kind of they're in the heart of the suffering. And what do we what do we do with that? So you've got this kind of mindset and the desire and yes, yes, yes. And then actually, suffering's hard and emotions are overwhelming. What's your wisdom into that?
Sarah: Oh, I don't know if I've got much wisdom, but I take, my cue from Paul in this book where he he deeply feels, doesn't he? He deeply feels for this church family and for the safety of his fellow workers. He, you know, he talks about his own anxiety. He talks about the depth of feelings. So I take it that we're not to ignore how we're feeling. It's not like I must have this mindset, and therefore I cannot feel what's going on in the kind of crucible of suffering. And the Psalms would say that, wouldn't they? They would say lament deeply, grieve deeply, give voice to your emotion. But also don't stay there as in, like, it there's permission to to sit in it, but also don't let that be where you stay as in keep lifting your gaze to to the resurrection hope that we have and that we're gonna be coming on to particularly in this chapter. And I think that's where we've we've been talking a lot to one another, isn't it? That we've kind of been seeking to listen to one another, kind of grieve and lament over the situations, but also seeking to point one another forward, because actually it is really clear and clarifying the hope that we have in the face of suffering.
Felicity: And that's that's the word I've yeah. Clarifying. Having that hope while also being emotional. And that's okay. Yeah.
Sarah: Yeah. And, yeah, it's kind of holding those 2 intention, isn't it? Why don't you read, for us, Felicity, our next chunk of Philippians chapter 3 verses 1 to 11, and let's get into it.
Felicity: Love to. Chapter 3 verse 1. Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus and who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the 8th day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law, a Pharisee. As for zeal, persecuting the church. As for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and be found in him. Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. The righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
I want to know Christ. Yes. To know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Sarah: Thank you. So struck with that last verse, which is really big stuff to say, but let's not start with the last verse.
Let's go back to verse 1 and start there first of all because this is also a really surprising thing to read, isn't it? That he could've gives this firm command to rejoice in the Lord because it's a safeguard for them to do so. And that that's just a surprising way of talking about rejoicing, isn't it?
Felicity: I think that's it. Like, is that how we think of joy? Because I think when I know I know I am to rejoice, and I really do see that Jesus is something to rejoice in, not something, someone to rejoice in. But do I see that as a necessity, or is that a kind of bonus extra? I feel like sometimes that's how my mind can go. Well, it's good if I'm feeling joyful about this, but also let's just get on with it and do it. So the idea that rejoicing would be a safeguard and a safeguard in very real danger, this opposition here is is the the language that he's using is intense to describe it.
And so joy really does seem to be an actual defense, not just a kind of, like, you know, a slightly fluffy one. But if if this is the opposition yeah.
Sarah: But it's joy in the Lord, isn't it? I think it's really important to kind of emphasize that that it's not just have joy.
We've just been talking about the intensity of emotion in the midst of suffering. And, actually, you can't just, like, click your fingers and therefore have joy, but it's joy in the lord. And what's it a safeguard against? It's against those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh, those who boast not in Christ Jesus but in works. It's a kind of religion works based thing.
And it's just really that language, as you were saying, is really, really stark, isn't it? There's no beating around the bush there. That is, yeah, dogs is a kind of that's that's the opposite of clean. Evildoers is the opposite of good. Mutilators are the flesh. Just everything about that actually kind of conjures up, yeah, kind of pagan priests and what they may do. Like everything about trusting in works over boasting in Christ is condemned in this language here, isn't it?
Felicity: Yeah. And it's really emphatically flesh related, isn't it? The repetition of that word flesh.
Which is ironic because I think the main perpetrators of this at the time would be the circumcision party. You know, those people kind of around and about who are saying do this otherwise you're not gonna be right with God. And they were supposedly the most spiritual people. So actually it's kind of counter to what you might think. And I think one of the things here that Paul just kind of he empties all his fleshly boast. It's empty, isn't it? It's such a list that he has here of what could be the guiding
Sarah: So It's so good, isn't it? And the fact that he all through the letter he's using his own example to encourage this church family, isn't he? He's gonna be teaching through his example.
And then we see it again here in the way that he's kind of willing to kind of squash all of his examples, squash any works, anything that he had to boast in the flesh. He's like, it's literally nothing because of what he's gained in Christ. And that kind of it's the kind of contrast, isn't it? The comparison that we see is so big and so clear here that works by your own righteousness is nothing. It's it's but dirty rags, it's garbage, he says.
Felicity: Yes. Very distinctly there, isn't it? That everything but this this idea of surpassing worth, it's not just this it's these things and then Jesus is a bit better. It's actually Jesus just knocks these things into into the rubbish tip. Like, there's there's no place for these things. And again we have that it's always helpful isn't it the repetition thing but and down in verse 9 we get it's through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes to God on the basis of faith. Yeah. Contrast to the fleshly stuff that's being spoken of here is that which is of faith and that is in Christ. So through Christ we have righteousness, and it is of surpassing worth because that is the only thing that gets us life. And this hope
Sarah: But also just the reality that works actually doesn't talk about the person of Christ, does it? And yet in when he's talking about what he gets with Christ, it's it's relational. It's knowing Christ. It's gaining Christ. Faith in Christ. I want to know Christ. That repetition of this is a relationship he's been given through faith which is wholly different to I'm going to work my way up somehow to heaven. Like it's really beautiful actually when you just stop to read those words and those phrases of how knowing Jesus and how intimate that relationship is he has with him.
Felicity: I love that. That's such a good point, that just relational aspect there. And it's quite profound what he's saying here, isn't it? I want to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. And we've seen that pattern all throughout Philippians. We saw it back in chapter 2. We saw Christ step down as a servant in obedience to the cross and we've seen Paul pour himself out like a drink offering and we've seen Timothy and Epaphroditus model it as well. And here we get this is actually what it is to follow Jesus is that there are sufferings and to become like Jesus in that way. And that is hard isn't it? That's not like just a light kind of thing. Oh yeah. This is just the way I've gotta walk. This is actually hard. And in that to have the relational, like, gold dust that you're you're mentioning there.
Sarah: But in that in in he he knows it's hard and that's why he says you need to rejoice in the Lord, isn't it? As in, like, if you when are we most tempted to take our eyes off Jesus? Well, for me, it's when life gets hard. And either I kind of start trusting in myself or in my works or maybe as in the other thing he kind of says I've lost you know, everything is a loss compared to the surpassing worth of the known Christ. So he kind of takes all the things and works and says actually they're nothing compared to Christ. But actually, if I think about it, when the rubber hits the road, when suffering comes, where am I tempted to ditch Jesus? Well, it is for one of those things, isn't it?
Felicity: Yeah. And to make life a bit easier. And I can imagine that if you're being opposed in the way that the Philippians seem to be, that I I if I was hit if I was getting hit by opposition by someone who would be better described as dogs, I imagine that's pretty intense. So the likelihood is that I'd be tempted to, well, yeah, move into something a bit more acceptable, a bit more fleshy rather than faithy. And I think yeah.
Sarah: Yeah. Something that just makes your life a little bit easier and just not quite so much opposition. It's very tempting, isn't it? Yeah. It's very tempting.
Felicity: And I love though that how he ends it there in verse 11 that's attaining to the resurrection from the dead, and that is it, isn't it? The certainty of Jesus' return. And we had it back in chapter 1 in the prayer, that that real certain reality of Jesus's return and what that means for us. And here then the certainness of that here. So even though you suffer, even though you participate in the sufferings that you might become like him in death, but this, the resurrection from the dead is real and true and hope. Certain hope.
Sarah: Yeah. Which is really helpful, isn't it? We were talking a bit earlier before we pressed record on that kind of the power of that verse 10 and 11, the kind of resurrection sandwich, isn't it? The power of I want to know the power of his resurrection and you've got the resurrection from the dead which is we're saying is the final day of Christ, and in the middle you've got the kind of sufferings. And actually how do you sustain those sufferings? How do you keep going in the midst of them? Actually the power of his resurrection. We have his life giving spirit in us. We know the encouragement from being united with Christ, as chapter 2 says. We have comfort from his love and we- and we- yeah, we know that resurrection that is to come as well. And so that that gives us hope, doesn't it? It enables us to press on as he then will continue to do, say, in the next part of the chapter.
Felicity: That resurrection sandwich that we've just termed that, the the technical term for this resurrection sandwich. But as we were saying earlier in our, in our chat before before we read, that clarifying reality of suffering that makes the resurrection hope all the more desirable and real and essential. I think as you see the suffering, and not just I don't think you have to be going through suffering yourself to to see this, but even if you just look around the world and see that suffering is a reality, life is hard. And to be a Christian is not choosing the easy route. In order to really keep going with that, in order to really press on towards heavenwards like Paul's saying, then we need that resurrection hope has to be absolutely real. Like clarifyingly just that's all I'm interested in. And suffering really helps, I think, to focus us on that hope.
Sarah: Yeah. No. Big time. Okay. So then let's as we keep driving this to our hearts then, so he's saying it's a command, isn't it? Rejoice in the Lord. Well, okay. What does it look like to do that then? Intentionally, what is it like for you to rejoice in the Lord in the midst of hard times knowing that it is safe? It's a safeguard for me, that it's actually essential for me to do this so that I don't get swayed by other things. What does it look like on the ground?
Felicity: Yeah. So as I've been mulling this, I I my mind has gone back to the grumbling that was talked about in the previous chapter. You know, don't grumble but shine like stars. And I was thinking, well, often it's circumstances that make me grumble. I look all around and I'm just a bit discontent. I'm just a bit, my eyes go down. I'm just like well this this this. This is all the reasons why I'm actually not rejoicing. So I think that as I look up and I stop grumbling because I'm not so bothered about what's going on around me. As I look up and I catch sight of Jesus as we've been dwelling on in chapter 2 then I'm more and more likely to rejoice. And I think though that is an intentional thing because of my own volition I'll probably just keep grumbling and just be caught up in My eyes go down but actually intentionally okay I'm gonna dwell on Jesus, rejoice in him, contentment in him. I think it does lead into that kind of thing. What about you? What's your strategy for rejoicing? Your strategy?
Sarah: Remembering that it's rejoicing in someone, not just trying to kind of muster up the joy, I think is really helpful. So rejoicing in the Lord. Praying. Praying. Casting my gaze to him and asking him, Lord, please help me. I'm really struggling to rejoice in you at the moment or to see you in the midst of these circumstances. So, Lord, please help me to see to see more clearly. I guess it's that coming coming back to Paul's prayer, isn't it? Actually, Lord, grow my love for you that I may discern what is best. And what is best here is to rejoice in Christ and all that he is. And I think and I think, yeah, particularly over the last few weeks, couple of months, I've seen the real value of starting I've actually could've set myself a challenge of trying to memorise some of this book. And I've seen the real value of just literally having these words to my to call to mind, and to therefore give myself hope and to help me to rejoice in him, which, yeah, has been really, really valuable to do.
Felicity: Good idea. A challenge indeed. I'm gonna take it and run with it. Take the challenge. Go. Sarah, do you wanna pray for us as we as we finish?
Sarah: I'd love to. Our heavenly father, we thank you so much for these words and we thank you for this command to rejoice in you, to rejoice in Christ for it is safe for us to do so. Father, please would you help us. Where we don't feel like doing this, please would we see the value and the importance of this command. And Father, we just thank you so much that as we read these verses we are reminded of what a gift it is to know Jesus and to be known by him.
Lord, would we see more and more of his surpassing worth, grow our love more and more for Jesus, that we would then be able to discern what is best and that we would want to stand firm in the midst of sufferings and rejoice in you. And we pray this to the praise of your glory. Amen.
Felicity: Amen. Well, it's good to be lifting our eyes even just by being in these verses, isn't it? Looking heavenwards. And we will be back next time for the second half of chapter 3, moving into chapter 4. And in the meantime, do check out our website, www.twosistersandacupoftea.com. We have lots of resources on there, recommendations of books and all sorts of things. You can easily access all our seasons, all our episodes.
There's blogs. There's all sorts. Do check it out. 2 sistersandacupoftea.com, and we will look forward to seeing you next time. See you then.
Bye bye. Bye bye.
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