Philippians 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Communication is important. Personally I do not like to text people if I am going to have a discussion about something. I have discovered that it is too easy to misunderstand a person through texting. People tend to read into what is written, rather than reading what is written. It is also possible to twist a person’s words when speaking with them. However, in speaking directly with a person, you can correct a misconception better.
We know that the Pharisees were very “good” at twisting what the Scriptures said and what Jesus said. However, they were also exposed as hypocrites time and time again.
Unless a person truly knows someone else they will not understand what they are saying. In our text, I would like us to focus on verse 10. The apostle Paul had been saved now for a while. He had been personally trained by the Lord Jesus Christ for the work of an apostle. Earlier in his life, he had poured his energy into learning all he could about being a Pharisee. He had sat under the teaching of Gamaliel, one of the most informed Pharisees of that time.
When the Lord Jesus Christ confronted him on the road to Damascus, he was stopped in his tracks. He was given opportunity to stop and reconsider the direction he had chosen in life. He assumed that he was doing the work of God in persecuting born again Christians. He consented to the death of Stephen. He was going to Damascus to stop the spread of the Gospel. He thought he knew God, but he did not know Him at all. His understanding of God was based on lies. Gamaliel had accepted lies and was able to pass those lies on as facts to people like Saul/Paul.
When the Lord stopped Saul on the road to Damascus, he was directly confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to understand that he was fighting a losing battle. He was on the wrong side. He was humble enough to acknowledge that fact. He demonstrated what true repentance looks like. He turned to God and thus away from what he had formerly assumed was the way to go. As we mentioned he was trained for the apostleship by the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the twelve apostles were directly trained by the Lord Jesus Christ. A true Biblical apostle had to be personally trained by the Lord Jesus Christ. There are no Biblical apostles today. There are people who claim to be apostles, but they are not apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 10, the apostle Paul was directed to write about the need to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing Him in this context is more than just knowing His name. In Acts 17:28 God directed him to write this:

Acts 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

There is no life outside of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. God created man in the first place. Man is nothing without God. More significantly, man is nothing without God’s salvation. Thousands upon thousands of people have lived and died and gone to hell. Thousands more are headed that way. Some of them are quite busy and doing big things in the eyes of man. However, they do not know the Lord and they are not interested in knowing the Lord. They are so preoccupied with self, that they refuse to listen to the work of God in their hearts, seeking to bring them to the place of salvation.
They do not know the Lord. There are thousands of professing Christians who do not know the Lord. They know His name, but they do not know Him. The few of us that are seeking to follow Him, because He saved us, also need to get to know Him much better.
The apostle Paul was busy preaching the Word. He knew the Lord much better than many of us ever will. Yet, he was directed to write about the need to know Him. He needed to know the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.
Knowing Christ is a lifelong endeavour for the true child of God. It requires that humble walk with God each and every day of our lives. The same holds true for born again Christians on the human level. I have been married to my wife now for just over 51 years. There are some things I have learned about her. I know her better than I know any other person, but I really do not know her very well. I am still learning. The only way I have come to know her as I do, is by spending time with her. I need to listen to her and I need to understand what she is saying. If I listen with half an ear, I will only get less than half of what she is saying. What she is saying is more than just words.
That is why I like to speak to the person, rather than text them. I want to hear what the person is actually saying, through the tone of the voice, etc.
When it comes to God’s Word, the Holy Spirit indwells the true child of God. We can understand what God is saying if we are saved and walking humbly with the Lord. We will need to be students of the Word, who do not come with a closed mind and preconceived ideas. We need to come with a humble heart that is willing to receive the truth and be changed by the truth. That begins with salvation.
The same is true for human relationships among born again Christians. That is why the local church is so important. A true local church is a family. In order to know one another, we need to spend time with one another. We need to put aside our perceived idea of the other person, and actually listen to the person. We need to observe the person. As we take an interest in the individual we will discover who they truly are. You cannot do that through live-streaming or texting. You need to be able to observe the person and listen to the person in order to know what they are about.
John was directed to write about the fellowship that saints have with God the Father and with the Lord Jesus Christ and with other saints. If God’s Word does not govern our hearts and lives, we cannot know the Lord, nor one another. God has put certain individuals on this earth to guide others to knowing Him. The apostles and prophets are seen in the Scriptures. The evangelists, pastors and teachers are present with us. The apostles and prophets were directed by God to give us the Word of God. They were moved by the Holy Ghost in doing so. Those who are saved are indwelt with that same Holy Ghost. He is the One Who will guide the true child of God in understanding the Word of God.
There are people today who despise men like the apostle Paul. There are many people who hate Jesus Christ. They use His name as a swear word, but they do not know Him as their Saviour and Lord. They are miserable people who are headed for hell. They need to repent and be saved.
We need to be like the apostle Paul in our text. We need to be saved first of all. Then we need to make knowing the Lord our lifelong pursuit. The indwelling Holy Spirit will be directing us to know the Lord better.
That is a rewarding pursuit. If we make that our goal, God will direct us and we can come through life successfully, just as Paul could write in II Timothy 4. He was not lying when he talked of fighting the good fight of faith. He was ready to lay down his life. He had already been doing that for a number of years. He wanted Timothy to carry on the work of God. The work of God is the worthy work.
We need to take the time and effort to know Him. That way we can enter into that joy that is reserved for those who are His committed servants. The more we know the Lord, the more we will appreciate others who are seeking to know Him as well.
Pastor Bartel