He w an ted God’s righteousness which was not man-made. God’s righteousness is received by faith in Jesus Christ. It is appropriated by grace. Would you like to follow Paul’s philosophy of life? He was willing to live for the Lord, or die and live with the Lord in glory. From a purely selfish basis he would rather have been with Christ, which is far bet ter. In the stage of development in the lives of the Philippian believers, it was necessary for him to remain behind for the time being. If anybody under heaven ever knew Christ it was Paul. Yet note his prayer. “That I may know Him.” He wanted his realization to be in power of Christ’s resurrection, in the fellowship of His sufferings, be ing made conformable to His death. He wanted to share with Christ in everything. He wanted to conform to the Saviour’s sufferings. He didn’t feel he had arrived. He, better than anyone else, knew in his heart that he was not yet perfect, mature or complete. This, however, was the aim of his life. The word “apprehend” means to lay hold of. In the old days, the police world seized a culprit by getting two fingers down the back of the neck, pressing the knuckles into the jugular vein. In this way, with these pressure points covered, he could be marched along to jail very easily. Paul says, “That’s the way the Lord took hold of me on the road to Damascus.” He had been bent on destruction of the church. The Lord directly changed his out look and purpose. He further ex plained, “I’m sure that everything the Lord planned for me on that Da mascus Road is not over yet. I want everything He has for me.” 13
A l l o f u s , I am sure, enjoy per sonal testimonies of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the most penetrating is to be found in Philip- pians 3:7-14 wherein Paul explains how the Lord has used and blessed him. Many of us can learn a great deal from what such a personal word of victory and triumph in Christ ac tually means. Here was the witness of current events in the Apostle’s life. The test of a good testimony is one that speaks little of self but much of Christ. You may not think it is as dramatic or impressive, but the point is not what we think, but what God indicates. Paul isn’t talk ing about what he’s done, but, rath er, what are his goals, aims and pur poses in life. Obviously Paul previ ously had reason to be a proud man. It may have been one of his major sins, even as pride will plague us, too. Of course, Paul had human rea son to be proud of his ancestors and of the society to which he belonged. After all, he had achieved much. These had been the things that meant everything to him. Then one day Christ met him on the Damascus Road. As a result, he got a new sense of values. These things now meant l i t t l e to him. Contrariwise, the things which meant nothing before now m e an t everything. “Those things I was counting gain, now meant nothing.” Paul put Christ on one side of the scale, and all these things on the other. The Lord out weighed them all, even the very best of his life. He declared that if he lost everything he had previously held dear, he wouldn’t consider it anything at all in the light of his having obtained Christ. He desired above all else to be found in Christ.
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