I want to begin today with a little three question true or false pop quiz. And no, this is not some stupid Facebook quiz. These are serious questions. True or false: Jesus went to the cross to destroy death and to give you the gift of eternal life. I hope you answered "true."

True or False: Because of what Jesus did for you on the cross, your sins are forgiven, you are covered in the righteousness of Christ, you are declared holy and just before the throne of God. I hope you answered "true" to that one too.

Question three; true or false: On the day of resurrection you will experience never-ending joy and peace as you stand face-to-face with your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By now, I guess you have figured out that there were no trick questions, and that the answer to that question is also "true."

So then why do things like criticism bother you so much? Why do you sometimes worry about the future? What are you sometimes unhappy with how your life has turned out? Why – if you know all that – are you so often dissatisfied and discontent? You see, you just scored 100% on THE pop quiz. You made an "A." Yet, you seem to be failing when it comes to actually living out your Christian life.

Our text for today is from the Book of Philippians. One of the major themes of that Book is the power of the Gospel to make a substantial difference in your life, to give you joy and peace, no matter what. In verse four of this third chapter, just a few verses before out text, Paul writes: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice."

Now some of you might be thinking, "Come on Paul. Come on Pastor. Rejoice in the Lord always? You don’t really expect us to take that literally do you? You don’t really believe it’s possible to rejoice during the tough times, to rejoice during the hard times, do you?"

Well let me answer that question with a question. What was going on in Paul’s life when he wrote this letter to the church at Philippi? What might have caused him to be so out of touch with reality that he could write such a remarkable thing? Was he on some sort of dream vacation? Had he just won the lottery?

Just in case you don’t know the answer to that question, I’ll tell you the answer. Paul wrote this letter while he was imprisoned in Rome. Paul understood how painful life could be. He was getting some opposition from some people in Corinth who were claiming their lineage as grounds for their authority. Things like being Hebrew, or an Israelite, or a descendant of Abraham.

Paul could claim all of those things himself, being even able to trace his lineage all the way back to Benjamin, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, who was a son of Isaac, who was a son of Abraham.

He wrote in 2 Corinthians 11: "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. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, in 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 brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and in thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure."

Paul knew how painful life could be. And yet despite all this, as he sat there in prison about to be put on trial for his life, he was somehow able to write those astonishing words; "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice."

Now I don’t know about you. But it doesn’t take all that much for me NOT to rejoice in the Lord. I don’t rejoice when it costs $50 to get a half a tank of gas. I don’t rejoice when I drive down the road from that fast food restaurant, finally get a chance to dig in and eat, and discover that what I have is not what I ordered. I don’t rejoice when I open the washing machine, only to discover that I forgot to take those paper towels out of the back pocket of my jeans. I’ve found it really hard to rejoice in being single again.

But Paul, unlike me, was able to rejoice in the Lord always. Paul was able to rejoice in the Lord despite being repeatedly beaten and tortured and tried. And if we wonder why, our text gives us a clue.

I’m going to read verses 8-11 again. While I do, picture in your mind's eye Paul sitting in a prison cell and writing these words:

"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 rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

So, do you see what gave Paul strength, what gave Paul hope, even in the most hopeless of situations? He considered everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. He considered everything rubbish, (or as the Greek word “σκύβαλα” means literally – refuse, rubbish, dirt, dung) in order that he might gain Christ and be found in him.

In other words, Paul was given strength, courage, hope, and joy, all because he knew Christ Jesus his Lord and knew that one day he would see him again, face-to-face. As he says here, the unshakable goal of his life was to attain, by the grace of God, the resurrection from the dead. Why? Because Paul knew in the day of resurrection he would finally be with his Lord and Savior forever.

So, how was Paul able to rejoice in the Lord always? How was he able to write those amazing words while sitting in prison? If you take home nothing else from this sermon, take this home today; knowing that he would one day be with Jesus – knowing for certain what his future would be – changed him in the present.

That’s what he means by his well-known words of verses 13 and 14; "But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

You see, Paul knew that his prize was certain. Paul knows that the prize would one day be his. This is what gave him confidence to keep straining forward – that is what gave him the confidence to keep pressing on – no matter what. You see, what we know our future to be can actually change our present.

In February 2008, Maj. Phil Packer was struck by a rocket blast while serving with the British Armed Forces in Basra, Iraq. He suffered major heart and spinal injuries — enough that medics told the now-paraplegic soldier that he would never walk again. But they were wrong — wrong by a whopping 26.2 miles.

Last summer, Maj. Packer completed the Flora London Marathon — on crutches — only one month after a year’s rehab allowed him to finally take his first step with them. Starting the marathon with the main race group, he finished it 13 days later. He covered roughly two miles a day, and the whole journey took him 52,400 steps.

When you’re told you’ll never walk again, every step is worth counting. And when each race day consists of 4,000 painful steps, you probably count each limp and remember every one of them.

His herculean efforts were more than just an amazing story of human will and overcoming the odds. His marathon was a fundraising movement to donate more than £1 million (about $1.5 million) to Help for Heroes — a charity that rebuilds the torn-up lives of people injured in military service.

As Packer successfully limped toward his funding goal, he was joined each day along the road by scores of tear-drenched supporters. Families of lost soldiers. Entire schools of inspired children. Cops. Firefighters. Politicians. Onlookers caught up in the seemingly transcendent journey.

Packer’s marathon was neither his first nor his last fundraising challenge. Before his wheelchair-bound legs would even work, he recognized the one-year anniversary of his war injury by rowing across the English Channel. After the marathon, Packer took on Yosemite’s infamous El Capitan — one of America’s hardest mountains to scale. He accomplished a four-day summit almost entirely by upper-body strength developed through his training regimen of 4,000 pull-ups.

Maimed by a rocket blast. One year later rowing the English Channel. Two months later taking his first step. One month later limping through a marathon. One month later scaling El Capitan. We could call that 17-month run inhuman. But it’s actually superhuman. Few can agree with the apostle Paul the way Maj. Phil Packer can. "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal."

Jesus Christ went to the cross to destroy death and to give you and me the gift of eternal life. Because of what Jesus did for you on the cross, your sins are forgiven, you are covered by the righteousness of Christ, and you are declared holy and just before the throne of God.

Because Jesus rose from the dead, you can be certain that you too will rise. And on that day of resurrection, you will experience never ending joy and peace as you stand face-to-face with your Lord and Savior. That’s what your future will be. That’s the prize you have already won.

What does this mean for you today? How does knowing this change your life today? I will leave you with the words of Paul found in Philippians 4:4-7; "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is as hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hears and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.