Of Infinite Value

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 4th of October, 2026.  Today's service also included observance of Holy Communion with our Lord.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Family, think of what is most important to you.  Sadly, in our current society, “things” have taken on the most importance for many people.  The best name-brand clothes, the newest cars, the largest houses – these are what matter to them.  Even life itself pales in importance to things for some.  We’ve all heard the horror stories of folks being killed for their possessions, even just for their sneakers.

These people have no thought of tomorrow, only of today.  They don’t care about anything other than themselves, about what they can get, about what someone else can do for them.  Self-serving, self-loving, maybe even self-idolizing.  When Jesus commanded us to love others, He meant other people, not other things.

There once lived a Pharisee named Saul.  He was a good Pharisee, a devout Jew, faithful to God’s law and Jewish custom.  And while he never personally saw or knew that heretic blasphemer, that rogue preacher from Nazareth, he was dead set on putting an end to the new movement this Man started, this New Way they called it.

At that point in his life, this was the most important thing to him - this mission, this goal.  But then he met Jesus while on a dusty road to Damascus, and everything changed.  Please listen and follow along to what that meeting meant to Paul, as he recorded in the first 14 verses of the 3rd chapter of his letter to the Philippians, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin — a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not yet achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 

--Philippians 3:1-14 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.  And now, Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be moved to value the gift of our Lord Christ Jesus above anything this life has to offer.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

The little Our Daily Bread periodical once published this short article:

A story is told of a man who loved old books.  He met an acquaintance who had just thrown away a Bible that had been stored in the attic of his ancestral home for generations.  "I couldn't read it," the friend explained.  "Somebody named Guten-something had printed it."  "Not Gutenberg!", the book lover exclaimed in horror.  "That Bible was one of the first books ever printed.  Why, a copy just sold for over two million dollars!"  His friend was unimpressed.  "Mine wouldn't have brought a dollar.  Some fellow named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it in German."

Ahhhh…  one man’s trash…  Some folks simply can't see the true value in things, in ideas or concepts, or even in other people.  And sadly, too many people can’t see the infinite value in knowing Jesus.  That’s where we come in, that’s why Jesus gave us the mission to tell others all about that value.  Jesus is our treasure, and can be theirs, too.

To say that Paul was profoundly affected by that encounter with Jesus would be an understatement.  In the common vernacular, he did a complete 180.  One day he was mightily persecuting the church, and all in the name of God, and then three days later he was the church’s greatest supporter.

In those three days of blindness and total dependency on others, Jesus spoke to him, giving him all the knowledge and information needed to spread the Gospel everywhere he went, and now all in the name of Jesus.  He learned the truth, and the full value of that truth.  And he set about sharing that truth to safeguard our faith.

That truth also led him to realize that he, and we, can put no confidence in human effort, in human constructs, in the things we make, no matter how accomplished or talented the maker might be.  We can rely only on Jesus.

Then Paul lists some of his credentials that put him in high standing in the Jewish community.  He was a pure-blooded child of Israel, haling from the house of Benjamin – Jacob’s youngest – a real Hebrew.  He was an obedient Pharisee, strictly adhering to the Jewish customs and laws, zealously persecuting the church, righteously obeying the Law of God.  All this would have held him in high esteem, much like a good, well-paying career, a big lovely house, a nice new car, a loving wife and family, and service to the community would hold a person in high esteem in today’s society.

At one time, this was precious to him.  A good name and reputation, good standing in the community, and an important mission to accomplish, were all of great value to him.  But now Paul had come to realize all this was worthless, when compared to what Jesus had done for him.  “Yes,”, Paul exclaims, “everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Everything else is worthless.  All our cars, all our jewelry, all our houses and money and tools and appliances and all our things are worthless when comparing to simply knowing Jesus.

Knowing Christ is of infinite value.  But how do we know that we know Him?  The Apostle John, in his 1st letter to the early church, tells us how…

1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins — and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

3 And we can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

--1 John 2:1-6 (NLT)

How can we be sure that we really know Jesus?  How can we make that great value ours?  To truly know Jesus and gain that infinite value, we must follow Him and obey His commands.  We must live our lives as Jesus did.  We must love others, without conditions, without expectations of reward or even of being loved in return, ever willing to give and to forgive.

Family, we have been given such a great gift in the faith to follow Jesus as our Lord.  And when we strive to live as Jesus lived, obeying His commands, we will realize and understand the infinite value just in knowing Him, as Paul realized and understood.

So let’s get out there and follow the most basic commands Jesus gave us, the mission He set before us, to spread the Gospel and make more disciples.  In this we will be showing the love of Jesus through our love, that fewer will be left behind when He returns.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the treasure of infinite value.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for filling the Apostle Paul with Your Holy Spirit, with so much fire and strength and determination that he spread the Gospel throughout the known world, making disciples of Gentiles when rejected by his own people.  His work and dedication are an example for us all.  Please help us follow Paul’s lead in carrying out the mission Your Son Jesus gave us.  Help us live our days in a way that is more pleasing in Your sight.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to You and our Lord Jesus, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for allowing us to know You.  By Your words and Your deeds, recorded for us by the faithful Gospel writers, and by our prayers and service, we grow ever closer to You.  Please help us follow more closely the example You set.  Help us live more closely as You lived, so that we can share in the infinite value of Your glory.  Help us show Your love through our love.  And in showing Your love, help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.