Philippians 3:4-6 (RSV; emphasis added):  4 Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:  5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee,  6 as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless.

    B. He Poured Himself Out as a Sacrifice to the Lord:

Philippians 2:17  17 Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

    C. He Suffered As Christ Did:

2 Timothy 2:8-9   8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel,  9 the gospel for which I am suffering and wearing fetters like a criminal. But the word of God is not fettered.

Colossians 1:24  24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

2 Corinthians 6:3-11  3 We put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,  4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,  5 beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger;  6 by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love,  7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;  8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;  9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed;  10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.  11 Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide.

2 Corinthians 11:23-27  23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one -- I am talking like a madman -- with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.  24 Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.  25 Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea;  26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren;  27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

    D. Total Commitment to Serve Others for Christ Jesus:

2 Corinthians 1:17-20  17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans like a worldly man, ready to say Yes and No at once?  18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.  19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we preached among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No; but in him it is always Yes.  20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God.

II. Yet, In a Sense, It Was No "Sacrifice" at All to Gain Christ Jesus:

A. The Gain of Surpassing Worth:

Philippians 3:7-11  7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  8 Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ  9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith;  10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  11 that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

B. How to Gain Christ: The Fundamental Confession of Faith (Kerygma)

Philippians 2:9-11  9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,  10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 C. Great Joy And Abundant Blessings in the Holy Spirit:

1 Thessalonians 1:6  6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit;

1 Corinthians 14:18  I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all;

2 Corinthians 12:1-4  I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.  2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.  3 And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows --  4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

Romans 15:18-19  18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed,  19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ,

2 Corinthians 12:10  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.


Discussion Question:

What fears, plans, ambitions, and desires keep me from handing over my life fully to the Lordship (the control) of Jesus?