Stages in the Pursuit of Christ — Stephen Kaung

The Pursuit of Christ and the Power of His Resurrection

Will you please turn to Philippians chapter 3. We will read from verse 10 Through verse 14. Philippians chapter 3 verse 10. To know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings.

Being conformed to his death. If anyway, I arrive at the resurrection from among the dead. Not that I have already obtained the price All am already perfected but I pursue. If also, I may take possession of it seeing that also I have been taking possession of by Christ Jesus.

Brethren I do not count to have got possession myself but one thing forgetting the things behind and Stretching out to the things before I pursue. Looking towards the goal. For the price of the calling on high of God In Christ Jesus.

May we have a word of prayer dear Lord as we get it together here this morning. It is the cry of our heart that there is nothing between Between us. And I said we pray that a light will search us take away any darkness That may still be upon our heart.

Oh Lord shine Shine upon us. May the glory of the Lord Not only feel this place but feel our hearts Lord. We want to see thy glory and deliver us. From all things thou art our treasure. Thou the one that we seek for Oh Fearless Oh Lord Glorify thyself.

We commit this time into thy loving hands. We pray that thy spirit Will break open thy living word and Speak to each of our hearts Lord. We long to be thine. Holy died died we serve it. May glory be unto thee.

We ask in thy precious name. We are sharing together all this matter on pursuing With passion it is true that our life is a pursuing. But it is very important that we know what we are pursuing after. For long we have been pursuing Things Under the Sun we think that these things Will satisfy our life, but thank God Gradually we discover as Solomon said Vanity of vanities all Is vanity there is nothing permanent nothing eternal Nothing real Nothing last forever all our labors and In vanity, but thank God by his grace He opened our eyes as soul of tosses.

Saul of Tarsus and the Revelation of Christ

But he was on the way to Damascus Persecuting the church. He thought he was serving God. He was building up his righteousness That one day when he should appear before God he will pass. But thank God on the way to Damascus a great light shone upon him blinded His naked eyes.

But open up His inner eyes he saw The Lord of Lord that delivered him turn him around From seeking the things Under the Sun and really began to seek the things In heaven he told us himself When this light shone upon him.

When this revelation was given to him he began to count all things but loss What he considered was gain In his past history. He now saw that it was all loss. Worse than loss it was filthy and it is all because of the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

From that on He began to pursue with real passion After Jesus and After his long experience of pursuing he testifies to us. He share with us his experience What he had gone through What he had discovered What he had experienced of Christ Jesus, and this is something That we would like to fellowship together this morning, so it will be the steps or the stages In our pursuit of Christ we find that in verse 8.

But surely I count also all things to be lost for the account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord an Account of whom I have suffered the loss of all and count them to be filled.

Gaining Christ Rather Than Trusting in Self-Righteousness

Now, why did he do that? He said that I May gain Christ and as our brother mentioned last night He put a qualifying Clause behind it. What does he mean by gaining Christ? He said and I May be found in him Not having my righteousness which would be on the principle of law.

But that which is by faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God through faith. In other words when he began to see the Lord He gained Christ what he considered as his own gain the righteousness That he had accumulated through the years.

By keeping the law the letter of the law now through Christ Jesus He got the real righteousness. Because his own righteousness is as the Bible say or as filthy rags That will not cover his nakedness. We thought sometimes we were well-dressed covered before God but actually in the light of God.

These are but rags. They cannot cover our nakedness before God and by gaining Christ He gained the righteousness through Christ Jesus to put it in another way. We say he got saved and as soon as he got saved He immediately Set before him the goal the mark and the mark is To know him.

From Knowing Christ as Savior to Pursuing Christ Himself

That is the pursuit of this young man to know Christ now dear brothers and sisters. This actually is a most important step. When we are saved, what do we know of Christ? We know Christ Jesus as our Savior.

We know that he had died for us. We know that he had forgiven our sins. We know that he had given us his own life Eternal life. We know that we are saved. We have gained him to put it in another way. We are profited By what he did on Calvary's cross for us.

We are forever thankful for that if ever we recall the day When he came to the Lord Jesus. We came as sinners destined for death. No hope no God. But when we came to him we look at Calvary. We saw there He died.

He shed his blood for the remission of our sins our sins all forgiven the heavy load upon us was gone. Peace reigned in our heart our Relationship with God was resumed. We can lift up our heads and say Abba Father we know the work of Our Lord Jesus it is his work on Calvary's cross that saved us deliver us from eternal death and Give us life.

But brothers and sisters Even after we have been saved in our mentality it is still Christ for us. We still centered upon his work His death now, we do not want to minimize His work despise his death Because his work is the foundation the basis of our salvation.

We are ever thankful For what our Lord Jesus Has done for us but dear brothers and sisters there is a danger and the danger is Because we came to him By his work so we look to his work Instead of himself.

We want him to do this for us To do that for us To supply our every need. We look him to bless us. We are still so self-centered as if even Christ himself Surrounds us. But we are the same. We seek for his blessing and Everything is based upon his work.

No doubt and Thank God for that He did all things for us. But brothers and sisters if we make his work as the goal of our pursuit Then what will happen to our Christian life we will be as the Corinthian believers.

These Corinthian believers were corrupt morally Wise worldly and Thank God through Jesus Christ and him crucified. They were redeemed They were saved. But after they were saved all that sought for from Christ Is his work.

Work this for me work this Work that Gave me this gave me that Supply me support me bless me that's all they desired and Because of this They remain as babes In Christ, you know a baby He's always an attraction to everybody.

Not only to the eyes of the parents, especially the grandparents. But in the eyes of everyone every baby is pretty. Every baby is real. You see it's lovely, but we have to remember. A baby is one who depends everything upon others to put it in a bad way.

A Baby is the most selfish person in the world. Everything is for me. Everybody is for me. And he cannot wait as if he has right To everything and brothers and sisters Are not many believers today are like this.

We look to Christ Jesus. We believe in him. But what is our attitude towards him? Do this for me. Can't wait right away. I'm the important person and if we take that kind of pursuing We will remain a selfish Christian we will remain babes in Christ.

We will become carnal Christians. Thank God we are Christians. But we are carnal Christians. We still live according to the flesh To our flesh we live for ourselves and Christ is for us and thank God he is for us.

There must be One day when instead of seeking depending only on the work of Christ And be so self-centered we began to see. We want to know him from his work we are brought in and by his work. We want to know him not just enjoying what he has done for us.

But we want to know him what kind of a person he is. What kind of a God whom we serve. We want to know his character his real being and We want to follow him we want to be like him. We want to fulfill his desire his purpose in us.

And brothers and sisters this will be a Great day you remember in John chapter 6 Our Lord Jesus is always full of passion Compassion and love. How he used five fish five loaves and two fishes to feed 5 ,000 people.

Because he has compassion on them and because of this these people Sought after him and our Lord Jesus said you do not come to me Because of me you come to me because Of bread labor not for the things That are decayed and then our Lord began to share with them.

He said your forefathers ate the manna from heaven. It was given by God. But they still died, but if you eat me If you drink of me You will have eternal life you will never die. And when people began to hear that Not only the people but even many of his disciples in other words Many people are following him.

But many of his disciples They began to say that's hard say We don't understand this and they left him and then our Lord turned to his twelve disciples Whom he had called Especially to himself to be with him and to train them and the Lord said Don't you also?

Want to go you're free to do that. Thank God for Simon Peter. He said Lord to home. Shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we believe in you. We know You are the Son of God brothers and sisters.

They did come one day to you to realize that it is not What he did for you, but he it is himself he has the word of eternal life. He is the Son of God. We believe in him. We have nowhere to turn. No one to follow.

We are forever Stuck with you. We are yours a B Simpson the founder of the Christian Alliance. He wrote a Hey, it is called himself. He said once I want a blessing now. I see the Lord once I sought for feeling.

But now It is his word once his gifts I Wanted but now the giver of once I sought for healing but now Himself. So dear brothers and sisters Always you're seeking for something out of our Lord Jesus. Something of his works of his blessing towards us.

Always seeking Himself we want to know him and to know him is eternal life. To know him is to know his character. To know him is to be transformed and to conform to his image. To know him is to follow him.

Do we really want to know him? Do we make him our goal our mark and it is to him That we pursue with passion we will not Turn aside we are willing to count all things but loss For the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and brothers and sisters When this desire is created in our hearts To know him we are set on the right course.

This is the beginning of Real Christian life and to Paul the Apostle Through his long life of following the Lord he shared with us his own experience. How from step to step One step at a time he pursued After Christ to win he said To know him and the power of his resurrection.

Knowing the Power of Christ’s Resurrection

The first thing to know him Is to know the power of his resurrection. Now brothers and sisters we often Thought what we need to know is His death because it is his death on Calvary's cross That brings us into the family of God if our Lord Jesus came into this world.

Live for thirty three and a half years on earth. Live a perfect life. Demonstrate to us what God is like and then on that mount of figuration He was lifted up and returned to heaven without going through death.

What will happen to us? Even today there will be only one man In heaven and will forever be one man. But thank God He came down from mount of ascension of Transfiguration he set his face to Jerusalem.

He went to Calvary And there he died for us. It is his death that redeems us. It is his death That brings us into the family of God. So our emphasis Is more on his death. But brothers and sisters as you read the New Testament when you open the book of Acts and you see When Peter and the 11 first preached the gospel of Jesus Christ What is their emphasis?

Their emphasis is Let you people of Israel know That the one whom you have crucified God has raised him up from the dead and he is now crowned anointed as Lord and Christ. In other words you find in the Bible we are Not Clearly called To believe in the death of the Lord Jesus in order to be saved Even though this is a truth.

This is a fact. But what we are called to believe is not his death But his resurrection life. When the early apostles brief preach the gospel Their emphasis was always on resurrection of Our Lord Jesus you remember you Romans chapter 10 Verse 9 it is said If you believe in your heart that but if you confess With your mouth That Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart That God has raised him from the dead You are saved.

We are saved by believing that God has raised him from the dead and we do confess him with our mouth and Why is it so? Because if our Lord Jesus went to Calvary and there he died and If he never be raised again How do we know that God has accepted his substitute.

So brothers and sisters the gospel Emphasizes on the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus it is by his resurrection That we receive life. So the first thing to know about the Lord Jesus After we have Received the benefit of his death is to know the power of His resurrection the Lord himself tells us.

I am the resurrection and the life. In other words the Calvary is his work his death is his work. But so far as he himself is concerned He is life. He said I'm the first and the last the living one. Once I died, but I am living for ever and Holding my hands the keys of death and of Hades.

In other words, you'll find the Lord himself is not dead. That is his work. The Lord himself is life he is the eternal life. He is the resurrection life he has gone into death robbed death of his power and Come out in victory.

This is the power of his resurrection. And thank God brothers and sisters we who have believed in the Lord Jesus We have his life in us. It is not a life of death. It is a life eternal and this life is powerful.

There is nothing more powerful that resurrection life. Because it overcomes even death. Now who can? Overcome death. Once you are swallowed by death, you'll never come out. But our Lord Jesus enter into death Overcome it and Come out in victory.

And he holds in his hand the keys of death and Hades so in other words The life that God has given to us in Christ Jesus Is an overcoming life? It is a life That is above everything. There is nothing that can conquer that life and This power of resurrection life is in each and every one of us.

So the first thing that we know our Lord Jesus himself is to experience the power of his resurrection. We are living in this hostile world as We have mentioned before once we belong to this world and Because we belong.

Therefore it was easy. But now We do not belong to this world. We belong to our God our Lord. So Living in this alien world running against the current is Not an easy task now, how can we as Believers to live in this hostile world.

We need power. The power of resurrection life if our Lord Jesus should leave us on this earth as orphans We have to fight our own ways. We have no chance. But thank God He gave us life. Resurrection life in us and He's proving to us That his life in us is more than able to overcome every obstacles every trials every tribulations.

No Christian can live on this earth by himself. The only way we can live on this earth is by the power of His resurrection. Is it not true in our own experience. After we believe in the Lord Jesus we try to overcome temptations.

We try very hard. We even pray very hard. But the more we try and pray the less we are able to overcome. Why. Because no Christian can live a Christian life by himself or herself. It is a time for us to wake up to see that we cannot live a Christian life, but thank God we can because We have the power of his resurrection in us.

If we really turn to him in all things There is nothing above us. But all things will be under our feet. So the first thing to know him is to know his life. That's knowing him not just knowing his teaching, you know, sometimes We who have been Christian for years We have heard a lot.

And if fortunately we read a lot we know a lot but that doesn't help us. That does not make us grow in Christ only when we experience his life the power of his resurrection life. Then brothers and sisters We began to really Know him.

I believe brothers and sisters More or less every one of us here who have believed in the Lord Jesus In some way maybe a small way we have some experience of the resurrection life of the power of resurrection In our lives, but Unfortunately, we still lead upon ourselves and that is our problem if only We can know the power of his resurrection and This we have to know by experience.

Maybe after many failures When a try comes We know it is wrong. We try to fight against it. We put our whole force against it. We pray very hard but it doesn't work and after many failures we begin to remember That we have a life with us.

Who is able to know the power of his resurrection? That is knowing him because he is and then the second step is to know the fellowship of his suffering. You notice the word suffering is in plural number in other words, there are number of kinds of sufferings.

Fellowship in Christ’s Sufferings

To put it simply There are two kinds of the suffering of Christ. Well, we call it vicarious suffering and that is when our Lord Jesus Bearing our sins upon his body and There he was crucified on the cross.

He went to the winepress as it were all by himself. He bore the wrath of God overseen all by himself and Because of what he did for us We are atoned We are redeemed. We are saved and this kind of suffering No one Could share with you.

No one is qualified To have any part in that kind of suffering. We only reap the fruit of that suffering Thank God for that, but there is another kind of suffering Which we call it non Vicarious suffering and that is a suffering That he calls us to have fellowship with him now fellowship simply means sharing the same with him as he has suffered so We will suffer With him and what are these sufferings?

For instance when our Lord Jesus came into this world the one thing that he suffered was obedience to his father. He was a man Having his own will Even though he was sinless and yet he has his will but our Lord Jesus throughout his life Never for a moment he will Follow his own will.

He was always waiting For the will of the father And he was obedient to it. He told him us himself. I Cannot do anything by myself. I cannot say anything On my own. My time is not mine. Everything is the father Who sent him?

He came here to do the will of the father. And whatever the father said he said. Whatever the father did he did Whatever the father's time Was his time. Do you think it is easy? It is very hard for us To be obedient to God.

We want this we want that we want to be free. We want to have our own opinion our own way we choose Ourselves the obedience There involved sufferings. Your flesh will suffer. You have to deny yourself Withhold yourself put yourself to death Before you can really be obedient and our Lord Jesus was obedient To the father even to death and death the death of the cross.

You remember when he was in the garden of Gethsemane? How he prayed Lord deliver me from this cup. But if it is thy will May thy will be done Not my will but thy will be done as the perfect man sinless man the cleanest man on earth To put all the sins of the world upon him all the dirt filth upon him That was unbearable So far as human nature is concerned.

But he said not my will But thy will be done. He drank the brothers and sisters. This is a kind of suffering That he calls us to follow To share with him. Do you find it is hard? To deny your own will and to do the will of another is it not our pride Being hurt.

Who am I to listen? I can't do anything that I want to this is self but brothers and sisters a Christian life is a life of obedience. The Lord Jesus said deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me yoke With me.

I'm meek and lonely. Learn and you will find rest in your soul. The Lord want us to fellowship with him. You know brothers and sisters today's Christianity Tells us Christ has suffered for us therefore We do not need to suffer suffering.

It's a foreign word To Christians today We think that if we believe in the Lord Jesus, there will be no suffering only blessing. But if you read the Word of God This is not so the Word of God is full of sufferings as our Lord Jesus suffer for the will of God so we also must suffer.

Is that thought. That mindset Ever comes to us. Why is it that we rebel against God? We murder against God. We don't want to suffer. We want to be blessed. We think that we believe in the Lord Jesus is for this reason He has suffered all that we need not suffer anymore.

Brothers and sisters not that kind of suffering Obedience have you ever suffer in obedience To the will of God if you do you know him. That's what he is. That is his character. That is his life. Not only that When our Lord Jesus was on earth he suffered For righteousness sake the world is wicked.

The world is full of unrighteousness if you want to live a righteous life In this unrighteous world you have to suffer and that's the reason why our Lord Jesus while he was on earth He suffered so much.

He suffered the opposition of The Scribes the Pharisees those in authority Because he refused To do anything that was not right in the sight of God. Do we ever Suffer with him for righteousness sake are we taking the easy way?

Try to mingle with the world and escape any suffering. It is a real trial to believers today. But if you want to know him You have to know his righteousness and to suffer. What? Misunderstanding what persecution even to death to our Lord Jesus and the same thing will happen To those who follow him and learn of him.

So there are many many things Our Lord Jesus suffered For the sake of the church how he travailed How out of his sight throughout blood and water to build the church and We who follow the Lord as the Apostle Paul said I travel Travelled for the church To see that a church is being built.

Do we suffer for that or do we think the church is a place of pleasure? Our Lord Jesus suffer For his sympathy His passion compassion towards the world. Whenever a person suffers He suffers. Are we do we really take upon ourselves?

The character of our Lord Jesus and that is sometimes We wonder why? Why is it? The first thing we know is the power of his resurrection and then We know the fellowship of his suffering. I think now we know because unless We know the power of his resurrection We have no way to fellowship With his suffering.

Thank God He has provided a Christian life is not a life left to ourselves. A Christian life is a calling and Wicked calling he has already supplied the power. So by the power of his resurrection life We are able to share with him In his suffering.

Today people Look at suffering as foreign To Christian a Christian should not suffer. So what kind of Christianity? Do we have today the way of the cross? Is now few have found it but it leads so brothers and sisters This is true Christianity.

This is really knowing Christ and Are we ready for it? Then you'll find being conformed To his death now is not his death Brings us life already. It is by his death that our sins are atoned. It is to die with Christ on the cross that we will live in Christ today.

Conformity to Christ’s Death

But here you'll find we ought to be conformed To his death. You remember in Romans chapter 12 verse 2 Do not be conformed to this world But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That you may be able to prove What is the good and perfect?

Acceptable will of God. Brothers and sisters one we were once we were conformed to this world. The world is like a mold and we all were conformed in that mold and Out of that mold we come out the same but God has delivered us out of this world and has transformed us into the kingdom of the son of his love and You find that our Lord's death Is also a mold it is more than just He died for us.

But it is a mold and we are to be conformed into that mold. What does it mean it means only one thing That his death Put everything That is outside of God To death is it not true that in our lives Even after we have believed in the Lord There are still many things in us That are not of God some may be of sin.

Some may be of the world some may be of ourself some may be even from the enemy and And anything that is not of God died in the death of Christ and we are to be conformed into the death and Only after we are conformed to the death that we will be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ as the Apostle Paul says death I Daily die.

Death works in us. That life may work in us. And in other people, this is the way of Christian life and the Apostle Paul is pursuing step-by-step Experiencing all these things. But even so he said anyway You got a worse.

He is not so sure Not so confident. He's a epic. Anyway, I may arrive at the out resurrection from among the dead. Now brothers and sisters we have to remember that The resurrection the word resurrection here is not the just the word in the original Greek it is out Resurrection, you know in the Bible we are told that all who believe in the Lord Jesus Who have died at the coming of the Lord when the trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall return?

Then the dead Who died in the Lord Jesus? Will all be raised And be changed and put off incorruptibility and They will all be taken up to the air to meet the Lord in the air that is the resurrection of the just and The resurrection of the unjust will wait Until thousand years later, but here you find It is out.

In other words with Paul Arrive at resurrection of the dead. It's sure the Lord Jesus said I'm the resurrection resurrection in the life. He who believes in me and died he shall live again. There is nothing to be Hoping for it is sure.

But why is it Paul said that I may arrive at the rest out resurrection from among the dead because the Bible tells us There is a resurrection Which is called first Resurrection. You'll find that in Revelation chapter 20.

What is first resurrection? First resurrection is out resurrection. It is not another resurrection because all resurrection of the just will come together but out of the resurrection There will be some Whose resurrection is out?

Resurrection its first Resurrection. Now, what is the difference? The difference is Those who have part in that out resurrection They will reign with Christ for a thousand years. You'll find that in Revelation chapter 20 and that is what Paul is looking for.

Who will come to this out? Resurrection. Only those Who know him the power of his resurrection the fellowship of his suffering conformed to his death and These are the people Who may arrive? At our resurrection from among the dead.

It is the time to receive the prize of the high calling That God had caused in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, so even with Apostle Paul He said I do not say I have arrived. He wrote this letter when he was in Roman prison.

He said I do not say I have arrived. I forget the things that are behind me and Stretching myself out with all my effort towards The mark I pursue. Dear brothers and sisters. This should be our attitude.

Do not come to a time When you sit down and Said that's enough. I have arrived you haven't not until when Paul wrote 2nd Timothy before his martyrdom. And he had assurance I Run the course. I Have fought the good fight.

I have kept the faith and now the crown of Righteousness was waiting for me and not only for me but for all who desire his return brothers and sisters. Are we waiting? For the return of the Lord. Are we ready?

For his return if we pursue with passion. By the grace of God he will enable us to arrive, but if we Abuse the grace of God may the Lord have mercy to us. Shall we pray dear Lord thou has shown us? The way to know thee we have.

Will you thank and praise thee? Because thou know the way is the way of the cross. We thank thee that thou has already prepared Provided for us thy resurrection life Christ in you the hope of glory. Oh, we thank thee For the mystery of the gospel we pray that each and every one of us here by thy grace Will pursue stretching out towards the mark Until we hear thy voice and faithful servant.

Come into the joy of the Lord. We give thee glory in thy precious name.