Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

TO KNOW HIM

1. Paul, upon discovering Christ, was fascinated:
   1. By the suffering of our Lord - Phil. 2:6-11
   2. And by the power of His resurrection - Rom. 1:4; 6:4
2. He made the resurrection of Christ the very pivot of our resurrection: 1 Cor. 15:12-18
3. What is more, he sought and found the signs of true happiness and life in the study of the life of Jesus Christ our Lord:

1. The incentives that motivated Paul's attachment to Christ:
   1. It was the Person of our Lord -
      1. His meekness - Matt. 11:28, 29; 21:5
      2. His Might in counsel and His Prudence in judgment - Isa. 9:6
      3. His power - Matt. 28:18
      4. His majestic character - Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3
   2. His singular life -
      1. One of total self-denial and service - Acts 10:38; Phil. 2:7
      2. He was holy and separate from sinners - Heb. 7:26
   3. His unmatched mastery in teaching the truth - Matt. 7:29; John 7:17
2. The price Paul was willing to pay for his attachment to Christ:
   1. He counted all else but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
   2. He suffered the loss of all things.
   3. And he counted them but dung, that he might win Christ - Phil. 3:8
3. He gloried in the cross of Christ and was very proud to be able to say:
   1. "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" - Gal. 6:17
   2. "For God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" - verse 14.

1. Our counting will be different:
   1. "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ" - Phil. 3:8
   2. "I count not myself to have apprehended" - verse 13.
   3. Had the rich young ruler been minded like Paul, the end of his life story would have been different - Matt. 19:16-22
   4. Had Orpah, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, been minded like Ruth, the end of her life story would have been different - Ruth 1:12-18
2. Resolve:
   1. Forgetting the things that are behind; that is not always too easy to accomplish -
      1. "Remember Lot's wife" - Luke 17:32; Gen. 19:26
      2. That was the great stumbling block of the young man who wanted to know the way to life - Matt. 19:16-22
   2. Setting the face, like a flint, toward the mark that is set before us - Isa. 50:4-7
   3. Ready and willing to die, if need be, for the name of the Lord Jesus - Acts 21:13; Gal. 5:17; 2 Cor. 4:10
3. The supreme and primary objective of every effort -- "That I may be like him":
   1. That is the central truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- Christlikeness! Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:1-3
   2. Because, to be Christlike, means to be godlike, for He is the image and likeness of God the Father - Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4
4. Friends in Christ:
   1. Do we have this vision of our relationship to Christ so vivid in our minds?
   2. Has Christ, his life, his death, and his resurrection become the science of our life, as was the case of Paul?
   3. Do we really stretch every nerve, put forth every effort to attain unto the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ? If not, then why not?