Well, may it please God now to
help us for a little while to meditate in his word. And I would
direct your attention to the chapter we read, the third chapter
in the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, and we'll read the
third verse. The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians,
chapter three, and reading the third verse. For we are the circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh." Well, we're thankful to know
the Apostle Paul who wrote this epistle to the Philippians was
indeed a man of God. And he was able to write great
truths influenced by the Holy Spirit, which he knew in his
own heart, and we're thankful for it. And as we read the Word
of God and the wonderful truths it contains, may we find an echo
in our heart, so that it's not just a mere book, not just a
mere historical account of situations which occurred many years ago,
but it is the Word of God to our souls today. and the apostle
begins in this chapter of course there weren't any chapters in
the original but he comes down he says finally my brethren rejoice
in the lord surely that's a wonderful statement and surely it should
be that which you and i desire to come to and to be able to
say finally indeed the most important thing is to be able to rejoice
in the lord to be able to rejoice in what he has done his great
and glorious work and so tonight although we have dark things
around us and a dark scene perhaps in our own hearts yet to realize
the wonderful blessing that we are able to come and to join
with the apostle and say yes finally my brethren rejoice in
the lord well it's a good introduction is it not to this third verse
that we have before us this evening and the Apostle starts this third
verse by saying for we are the circumcision well of course being
a Jew he was by custom circumcised and therefore he was of the circumcision
but he really directs us to the great blessing of not being circumcised
in a legal way which in actual fact was just a shadow of the
circumcision of the heart. That means the heart which lies
and has been pricked to the heart under a true sense of sin. This is the effect of God's circumcision
in our heart in having the hardness of the heart removed God does
that we are hard-hearted by nature what a mercy if the Lord looks
upon us and doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve and the
iniquity of it lays to open view in pain and contrition of heart
about it sometimes joy and shame for it and sometimes loathing
it and the consequence really is of putting off of the body
of sin and of the flesh so the Apostle is clear he tells us
we are the circumcision but then he explains what that really
means in a spiritual sense because if we are those who have had
our heart circumcised, then we shall understand what the Apostle
says when he goes on to say and to speak these wonderful words,
which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. So who is he describing? He's describing the Church of
God. He's describing those whose heart
has been opened to receive the Word of God. He's addressing
those who recognize their lost condition before a holy God and
have no hope in and of themselves. And they are those who are numbered
amongst the true worshippers. What a blessing it is for you
and me to be numbered amongst the true worshippers. that worship God in the Spirit. You see, this isn't just a formal
worship, this isn't just a fleshly worship. There is much fleshly
worship in the world today. There's much fleshly worship
sometimes in the so-called Church of God, where people come to
really satisfy some sense within them but no real desire to bow
down and to worship the ever-living and true God, because the born-again
child of God will indeed worship, they will bow down, they will
adore this great and glorious Saviour who has saved them from
their sin, who has delivered them from the wrath to come,
which worship God. What a mercy it is tonight if
you and I are numbered amongst those who worship God, the ever-living
God. God is not to be mocked. God
is high and lifted up. We cannot pretend to worship
when our heart is far away. What a blessing then tonight
if we are amongst those who worship God and in a right way worship
God in the Spirit. what a mercy that is, you know,
in the Gospel of John, in the fourth chapter, the 24th verse,
we read this, God is a spirit, and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. That means that anything
less than this is just hypocrisy. Anything less than this is not
real, it's not reality. but what a favour if you and
I are found tonight amongst those whose heart has been moved by
the Spirit of God. We are then classified as those
who are of the circumcision and amongst those then who do truly
worship God. You see, we're listening tonight. Have we come to listen or have
we just come to satisfy just some feeling that we have which
we should come and listen but you and i want something done
within us in the spirit in the spirit what a blessing it is
when the holy spirit comes and moves us moves our hearts and
that we are amongst those then who are of these who are truly
circumcised you know in the Colossians the second chapter the 11th verse
we read this in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands you see natural circumcision was obviously done
with hands but that which is spiritual is done without hands
in putting off the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision
of Christ it goes deeply doesn't it into the reality of religion
and it is without hands because it is the work of the spirit
it is the work of God which worship God in spirit well tonight then
may be found worshipping God. And if we're a true worshipper,
you know, we bow down in our hearts. It may not be physically,
it may be physically sometimes, but it would be bowing down to
God and to confessing our sins, acknowledging what we are and
pleading for mercy and pleading that the Lord will reveal himself
unto us as he does not unto the world. the Lord does reveal himself
to his people as their great and glorious Saviour and that
you see brings into our hearts a wonderful effect it brings
into our hearts a melting effect because we see that the Lord
God has looked upon us and has had mercy upon us and hasn't
dealt with us as our sins deserve and so Tonight it will be a great
blessing if we are amongst the true worshippers which worship
God in the Spirit. Now you can only tell as you
examine yourself whether you are one of those who are worshipping
God in the Spirit. If you are moved by the Spirit
of God, the Lord God is influencing you in your worship. you recognize
you're standing before a holy God the true born-again sinner
recognizes the holiness of God and trembles before such a God
and yet there is that good hope that this great God will not
cast them off he will remember them still and what will they
be doing they'll be coming in the words of the public and say
God be merciful to me a sinner. What is that? That's worshipping
God in the spirit. It's not like the Pharisee who
justified himself. It's like the publican who didn't
justify himself at all. But what did the Lord say? I
tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than
the other. So may we have the evidence tonight
that we are those who do worship God in the Spirit by the wonderful
favour that we have, the evidence that we have, the Lord has dealt
or is dealing with us in love to our souls and is showing us
what we are in the eyes of a holy mighty God and causing us to
cry unto Him for mercy and favour. That then is the situation which
we have here, which worship God in the Spirit, those who are
truly circumcised. And then he goes on to this great
statement again, very similar to the opening words in this
chapter, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. And it's important to
note that these two things are linked together. They're linked
together because There must be to every born-again saint rejoicing
in Christ Jesus. It won't be just a mere formality. It won't just be a form of words. It will mean something because
Christ Jesus will be precious to us. And He'll be precious
to us because we will have the evidence that the great Lord
himself has died in order to take away all our sins and as
we would have pleaded God be merciful to me a sinner and we've
had the result of the gracious words of the Savior perhaps coming
into our hearts yeah I love thee we're neverlasting love and what's
the effect effect must be to melt us down to realize the God
of the universe has condescended to look down upon us and rejoice
in Christ Jesus now this is the real evidence of the blessed
work of God in the soul to rejoice in Christ Jesus because it means
the Lord Jesus Christ is lifted up He is extolled, He is honoured
and He is glorified and that is the whole purpose of you and
me on the earth is to glorify Christ in the things that we
do, the things that we say we're not here on this earth just to
wander through it in some aimless way just seeking the pleasures
of time but to be seeking those blessings which Christ alone
can grant to us. And so, what a wonderful thing
this is, if we are amongst those who rejoice in Christ Jesus. But how will that come about?
It will only come about as we realise our need of a Saviour. And as we have that need of a
Saviour, it may be we find ourselves in the line of that hymn I came
to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad." We may be virtually
at the end of all things, perhaps, as the poet says, at wit's end
corner, but nonetheless it's that kind of situation, that
kind of place where the Lord comes and meets with us and speaks
to us and encourages us and gives us the encouragement to believe
that he has loved us for more eternity and because he's loved
us so much he's been willing to give his life to lay down
his life so that you and i might possess life now when the holy
spirit gives us a view the evidence The Saviour came into this world
in order to redeem our souls. We know He came into the world
to redeem millions. But it comes down to this. It
comes down to whether the Saviour came into this world to redeem
your soul and to redeem my soul. And if we have the evidence of
that, what cause there is to rejoice? Rejoice in Christ Jesus. Well tonight I hope we might
be directed to the Lord Jesus Christ and what does that mean?
It means being directed to Calvary, the place of the cross, Golgotha,
the place of a skull, and there to see by faith the Lord Jesus
Christ suffering and dying on our behalf. he stood in our place
he bore the punishment instead it is a truth really beyond our
understanding to think that almighty God that one who created all
things should have taken notice of such an unworthy person as
you and me and not only taken notice of us but watched over
us, and still watching over us, and still guiding us, and still
directing us, and not leaving us, but granting us His favour,
granting us that great and glorious instruction to look to Him, look
unto Me, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now this is the wonderful
work of the Spirit, you see, worship God in the Spirit, and
rejoice in Christ Jesus, they are linked together, and it's
wonderful to behold the truth of these things, because when
you and I come to Calvary, when the Holy Spirit leads us there,
and we view the Lord Jesus Christ dying on our behalf, what happens
then? The light of the glorious Gospel
shines into the heart and that is an eternal light which will
never go out it is the light from heaven and what a wonderful
blessing that is now let us look into our own hearts and see whether
the light of the gospel has shone the light of the gospel is the
death of the lord jesus christ dying on calvary's cross to take
away all our sins so that we are amongst those who are redeemed
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ there would have been
times there would have been a long time perhaps in our life when
such truths meant nothing to us and the words that we read
in Lamentations is it nothing to you O ye that pass by now
we were reading perhaps the Word of God on many occasions. It
didn't have any effect upon us. It meant nothing to us. We understood
it perhaps as history, but it didn't touch our hearts. But
when the Holy Spirit comes and leads us to Calvary, there we
see the gracious Saviour gloriously dying on our behalf, bearing
the punishment in stead. Then when that light shines,
what's the effect? We rejoice in Christ Jesus. We must rejoice in Christ Jesus. We cannot do anything but rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and we won't want to do anything other than
to rejoice in Christ Jesus. And therefore it's not a surprise,
is it? that the Apostle commences this
chapter with these words, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Well, tonight, in the midst of
a dying world, in the midst of a world in chaos, to let us be
found looking up, looking up to the Savior. See, there is
rest. rest for the soul in this restless
world we see don't we everybody today rushing around trying to
find a solution to stop this virus progressing but you see
the lord god omnipotent reigns you know it would be a blessing
if men turn to god we know not what the future holds but it
would be a wonderful blessing if through these solemn things
which they are, very solemn, they are the means of a wonderful
time of blessing. And so, you know, you and I should
pray for it, that through these sad scenes there may be much
blessing to follow, because the result will be much rejoicing
in Christ Jesus, much rejoicing in what He has done, and then
we will realise why such things have come about. We don't know
the future, we don't know the Lord's purposes, but it's good
when you and I can come and commit our way unto the Lord, to trust
also in Him, believing that He will bring to pass everything
that is needful for us, everything that is good for us. He will
bring to pass. Our God reigns. rejoice in christ
jesus well i hope tonight we really do rejoice in christ jesus
because the effect is it's god honoring now we don't want just
a mere lip service many people today just give a mere lip service
the hymn writer said something must be known and felt felt in
the heart and moving by the Holy Spirit to incline us to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ and to look to him for salvation
which will bring about this wonderful rejoicing in Christ Jesus and
so for we are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and
in truth and rejoice in Christ Jesus yes rejoice in what he
has said enjoy rejoice in what he has done and then the apostle
goes on and tells us and have no confidence in the flesh now
we would think that it was obvious that we cannot have confidence
in the flesh but nonetheless it is needful that the apostle
should make a statement like this so that we may not look
to ourselves we may not depend upon ourselves we may not pat
ourselves on the back and say well that was well done or well
said or well read no it's all of grace it's all of God's favour
and it's all of God's blessing it's all of his sovereign grace
so that you and I shall not have any confidence in the flesh because
if we have any confidence in the flesh you know what it will
do it will detract from the glory of God because we will be claiming
a part of that because of what we did and sometimes we forget
that God is a jealous God God will have the honor and he will
have the glory and we should be very careful to recognize
that great truth and be concerned in our little lives the Lord
does have the honor and the glory and that we do not have confidence
in the flesh our flesh will perish sometimes we feed the flesh our
flesh will perish it'll disappear it'll go to dust the spirit lives
forever my friends, as we read this account in this third chapter
of the Philippians, we see how the Apostle so gloriously rejoiced
in Christ Jesus and had no confidence in the flesh. It speaks to us
about his great desire of being found nearer to Christ. He tells us of his pedigree,
it was a good pedigree, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, he tells us what
he was doing, but then he comes and says, but what things were
gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. There he was,
you might say with calculating on the pluses and the minuses,
and he comes and he tells us that what were gained to me those
things would appear naturally to the flesh to be good were
loss for Christ and that's a good word, a good testimony and then
he goes on to confirm it 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
countenance but done that I may win Christ His great concern
was to know Christ more. His great concern was to win
Christ. It far exceeded anything on this
earth. And he says, and be found in
him. We all need to be found in Christ. May none of us be left outside. May none of us be found perishing
in our sins. But may we indeed. be amongst
those like the Apostle desire to be found in him not having
my own righteousness really confidence in the flesh which is of the
law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness
which is of God by faith you see God gives faith you and I
can't produce faith you may think we can we can't it is the gift
of God And what a blessing if God gives you and me faith to
believe, faith to trust in the Lord, faith to worship God, and
faith to rejoice in Christ Jesus, for that I may know Him, and
the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings,
be made conformable unto His death." You know, sometimes if
we read that, we can perhaps shrink from it and think, I don't
really want to be a partaker of that fellowship of his sufferings
but it is a blessed and it is a wonderful position because
it brings us very close to Christ and you and I may think well
it's going to be a very terrible path it may not be Christ do
us very graciously but he does sometimes allow us to enjoy fellowship
with his sufferings and in that path it puts everything straight
everything right we don't then complain because we're blessed
we're blessed forever blessed that i may know him and the power
of his resurrection the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto his death if by any means i might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead oh the apostle had his sights
fixed on the right path, on the right way. He had his sights
fixed upon Christ. As we read earlier, for me to
live is Christ and to die is gain. What was he doing? He was
rejoicing in Christ Jesus and he had no confidence in the flesh. Well, may our confidence be in
our God. may our confidence not be in
the flesh the flesh perishes the flesh passes away but my
friends our soul lives forever and it's a great blessing if
the Holy Spirit comes upon us and convinces us of such a truth
it's a great truth that people today live as though they are
naturally living forever on this earth And yet, as we see around
us today, men and women dying without any hope and being left
to die. I read today, they said in Italy,
people who are over 80 years of age, they're going to leave
them to die. It's a very sad position, isn't
it? But if we're ready to go and
to be with Christ, which is far better, That's a wonderful prospect,
isn't it? It's a glorious scene before
us, far superior to anything that this world can bring to
us, so that we can say then with the Apostle, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. Well, this verse is a very wonderful
verse really, this whole chapter. This third chapter in the Philippians
is a very wonderful chapter. We ought to say, I suppose, the
whole epistle of the Philippians is a very wonderful epistle.
I suppose we should say the whole Word of God is a very wonderful
book. And what a privilege it is for
us today, in the midst of the turmoil which exists, to have
such an anchor, an anchor in Christ. And may our anchor indeed
be cast within the Bible, and it may be fixed upon none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we have our hope, our confidence
in Him, and not in the flesh. And therefore, to rejoice tonight
in Christ Jesus, in His great salvation, don't wander away
from the cross, keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus, realise what
He's done to redeem our souls, So that we tonight may indeed
go on our way rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Well, we'll leave these
comments there. May God bless his word.