Everyone thanks me for coming.
I'm thankful to be able to come here. I'm thankful you are. The
Lord's kept you and kept His light here. It made me think
of Paul writing to Galatians and said, Brethren, I beseech
you, be as I am for I am as you are. You have not injured me
at all. You know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached
the gospel unto you at first, and my temptation, which was
in my flesh, ye despised not, nor rejected, but received me
as an angel of God, even as in Christ. You all receive me well
every time I come. Terribly thankful for it. I'm
also thankful of the time difference while I'm getting ready in the
mornings here on Sunday I can listen to my pastor on the first
service. I'm gonna steal a line from him
this morning. He said a lot of folks don't
Come to church service except for on Easter And he said every
time they come if they come once a year all they hear is about
this cross resurrection He said I'm doing them a favor So I'm
going to preach something different to them, you know. Show them
Christ somewhere else in the scriptures. So we'll look in
Philippians 3, verse 1. Paul wrote, Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord, to write the same things to you. To me,
indeed, is not grievous, but for you it's safe for me to stand
up here and preach the same message to you every time. Christ and
Him crucified. That's not grievous to me to
study the same thing over and over. And for you all, it's safe.
It's safe for you. But for you, it's safe. Verse
2, beware of the dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware
of the concision. And this will be our text in
verse 3. For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit
and rejoice in Jesus Christ and have no confidence in the flesh. This passage for me has been
a great blessing and I feel that the Lord has given me something
to share with you. I read this and the Lord gave
me some light on it. I wanted to write a sermon and
preach just to the young people in our congregation back in Ewing
that grew up under the sound of the gospel. Because that's
how I grew up. I didn't spend a lot of time in false religion
growing up. The Lord provided me with consistent pastors that
consistently preached Christ and Him crucified out of these
scriptures to me. So I wasn't exposed to those things. I thought
I had something just for them because I understand the struggles
and the specific trials that come with growing up that way.
But the more I studied it, the more broad it got, the bigger
the application got. So today I want to speak chiefly
to all the Lord's people. And by that, I will see those
that are in a season of confidence in Christ, those that may be
in a season of doubt while they're in Him, or those that are His
that don't yet know they're His. It hasn't been revealed to them.
So by default, my points will conflict with those people and
their views that believe in anything other than Christ. One of the
commentators once wrote, every time the gospel is preached,
the disturbed are comforted, and the comfortable are disturbed.
So it's not my job to offend you. Clay gave me that advice
a couple weeks ago. He said, don't try to be offensive.
The gospel is offensive enough. So I'm not here to point out
crooked sticks. Hopefully, if the Lord will bless
me, I'll lay down a straight stick, and he'll show the difference.
But each member of Christ's body is given their own strengths
and their own weaknesses, and that fits together, complements
one another. And that's, we've been talking
the last day or two, that shows forth in the building itself.
Where we are, I work on the air conditioner, and somebody else
paints, and they can build a door, and have carpenters, and somebody's
good at different things. Ladies keep the place clean and
know how to make it look pretty. We're not good at that. But the
Lord fits us together to accomplish that work operatively, but He
fits us together spiritually. So when one brother is strong
in one area and the other one is weak in that area, it balances.
They are there to comfort each other. Then it will be flip-flopped
later on. So, I thought that there was something
in these experiences that I had that was different than those
that grew up outside of the gospel. And so that's why I was always
interested when I traveled or I get to meet new people, I want
to hear how the Lord brought you all to hear the gospel. That
tickles me to death and I'm eager for that. One, because I'm excited
to not see What a wonderful choice you made, what a wonderful decision
you made. I like to see how the Lord works. I like to watch Him
in action, and it pleases me and comforts me. But when I was
younger, I always thought I was jealous, and I thought people
that grew up in false religion, whether they were Catholics or
whatever they were, And the Lord pulled them out of that. I thought
they have something better than I have. They have a better proof.
They have an experience that they can look to and say, I know
I'm the Lord's. And so I always feared when I
was growing up from a young age, do I know Christ or is it a head
knowledge? I believed I never had a problem
believing in God. I knew there was a God, but did
I believe God? I never had a problem believing that man fell in an
Adam. They fell there in the garden.
But did I fall in the garden? That's what I was worried about.
So I hope today the title of my message is proof of circumcision.
What Paul's addressed here in Philippians. And I hope to briefly
show what's meant by spiritual circumcision. And I want to expound
on the three points that Paul lays out for us here in his text.
So, we can answer that question, am I the Lord? From this pulpit,
the Lord has provided faithful men that stand up here and they
tell you, the Lord chose a people before the foundation of the
earth. He put them in Christ, Christ came here, lived perfectly,
satisfied the law, Christ died for those people. Spirit comes
into each of those people, turns them on and quickens them, gives
them life. And he'll call every one of them to him, he won't
lose any. But am I one of those people? Am I one of God's elect? So we'll look here in Philippians
3.3. Paul writes, for we are the circumcision
which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Jesus Christ and
have no confidence in the flesh. So who's this we that Paul's
talking about? Is that just the Jews? Is it
just the people that's physically circumcised? No, he's addressing
the Lord's people. He wrote in the beginning of
the epistle, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at
Philippi. That's how it begins, this letter
begins. He also uses the definite article
there, the. He didn't say we that are circumcised. He didn't say we that will be
circumcised in the future. He says we are, right now, we
are the circumcision. So what is this the circumcision? So if y'all turn to Genesis 17,
this is where circumcision was first mentioned in the Scriptures. I may have y'all turn a little
bit today, but it's helpful to see it. Genesis 17, verse 9. God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt
keep my covenant therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their
generations. And this is my covenant which
you shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee.
Every man child among you shall be circumcised and you shall
circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. And it shall be a token. We saw that last night, didn't
we? It shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
Physical circumcision is a token. It's a picture of something else
that happened. It's that covenant that the Lord made in Abraham.
It's not just an outward act, but it's a promise to his people
that are in Christ. Not the physical Israel, but
the spiritual Israel. That's who it's a promise to. It's those people that are brought
to know that Christ is their all. The elect, the sheep, not
the goats. And in Abraham's lineage, through
that, is the true firstborn of many nations. That's from the
line of the tribe of Judah came. He was brought to have the feeling
of our infirmities. He was the acceptable sacrifice.
That outward act of circumcision is only a symbol. It's a picture,
it's a token. It's a heart work that the Lord
does on us. Almighty comes into you. That's where we're spiritually
circumcised. It's a heart work. So is that
consistent with the Scriptures? Am I really digging deep? Am I showing symbolism and going
too far with it? So let's look in Romans chapter
2. That's what Paul told us there. Romans 2 verse 28. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh.
But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, the circumcision that
is of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose
praise is not of men but of God." This is also in Colossians. You can turn to the right a couple
of books there to Colossians 2. Colossians 2 verse 11, In whom
also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, and putting off the body of sin of the flesh by the circumcision
of Christ. Look down at verse 13. And you,
being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath He quickened, He did that, together with Him, having forgiven
you all trespasses, Christ is the one that performs that heart
work. And Paul wasn't the only one to prove that. Moses told
us in Deuteronomy 30, he said, And the Lord thy God will circumcise
thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart and all thy soul, that thou may live. So we know that circumcision
spoken in the scriptures, that's something that's inward, that's
done. And that's a beautiful picture too, when that child
was circumcised the eighth day. The child didn't, they didn't
ask the child's permission. It's eight days old. The child
didn't have anything to do with that. The father, the elder,
that home is the one that circumcised that child physically. And it's
the same thing in the heart. Lord comes in at new birth. We
have as much to do with our new birth as we did our first birth,
our physical birth, didn't we? But now that we know that Paul
is talking about a spiritual circumcision, how do we know
if we're one of those that are spiritually in the heart circumcised?
So he tells us clearly. Let's look back at our text here
in Philippians 3. He gives us three points here
that declare what the elect children of God do and are. But I'm going to present these
in odd order. I think if we look at them in
reverse order, if I work through it backwards, we'll see it a
little more clearly. I'm sure many of you have heard
the three R's. We're ruined by the fall, redeemed by the blood,
and regenerated by the Spirit. And so that's our gospel, isn't
it? That's the good news. He did
that work for us. So let's read this text again,
Philippians 3, verse 3. For we are the circumcision,
one, which worship God in the spirit. That's what a regenerated
spirit can and must do. Number two, and rejoice in Jesus
Christ. That's because of his absolute
redemptive work. And three, and have no confidence
in the flesh. That's because we knew that we're
ruined. We were ruined in the fall and
we haven't kept the law. So let's begin with the last one and work
our way to the first one. So first, the circumcised of
God have no confidence in the flesh. So what part of this old
fleshly nature, this old man that's in us, what part of that
don't we have confidence in? Well, we don't have confidence
in our ability. Let's look in James 4. James chapter 4, verse 13. Go
to now. You that say today or tomorrow
we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy
and sell and get gain, whereas you know not what shall you shall
be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is
even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanish
the way for you ought to say what you ought to tell. And it's
telling them plainly is what should say. If the Lord will,
we shall live and do this or that. But now you rejoice in
your boastings, and all such rejoicing is evil." We know it's
true, don't we? How often do we tell one another,
tell a brother or a family member or anybody else, oh, I'll come
down Tuesday and I'll look at your hot water heater or something,
and then I forget or I don't show up. And Obi was coming down
here last time. I'll be there to preach Saturday
evening. Not if that ain't the Lord's
will, you won't. We know that, don't we? We can't have confidence
in this flesh and our abilities. There's nothing we're able to
do. We have no confidence in our will. Look here in Romans
7. Romans 7 verse 17. Now then, It is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. I have
a desire to do what's right, and I can't find the way to do
it. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which
I would not, that I do. We know what's right and wrong.
And we will either intentionally or unintentionally pick the wrong
thing every time. I've watched me do it. But we
were talking yesterday, I wake up every day in the morning and
I think today I want to serve the Lord. I want to be a servant.
I want to do something to help the brethren, and I don't want
to bring reproach on the gospel. I want to study today. I want
to see the scriptures. I want to listen to some sermons.
I hope the Lord opens my heart. And between me rising up out
of that bed and getting in the sink to brush my teeth, I'm worried,
well, what time am I going to get to this appointment? Did
I get gas last night in my truck? Do I need to do this? Oh, I wonder
about the kids. We've got to take them to this
event or something like that and it's completely gone from
my mind. I want to do right and I know
what doing right is, but how quickly this flesh forgets and
goes away with it. But I know not to worry about
those things. I know better than to be concerned
to that, because the Lord's providence will rule. We have a sovereign
God. And not only do we have a sovereign
God, that wouldn't give any comfort to anybody. A lot of people,
I thought that was important. When I was young and I wanted to argue
doctrine, I thought election was it. And I would stay up late
at night and argue with people at school or wherever, whoever
would listen. And I said, if you don't believe election, that's
the heart of the gospel. And the Lord showed me something.
And so as a young believer, many other young believers too, I
was bent on arguing that the Lord is sovereign. Well, if the
Lord, if Satan was sovereign, what comfort would we have if
he was evil? We would have no comfort in that at all. Our sovereign
God is holy. What he does is right. We measure
our good from what he sets as good. So that's where our confidence
is. We have a holy and sovereign God. But I know that. And so
you think I wouldn't get frustrated in things during the day. But
how quickly I do, I'm prone to wonder. The other thing we don't
have confidence is we don't have confidence in our religious acts.
Look over to Acts 17. Acts 17 verse 24. God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples which are made with hands. Neither
is worship with man's hands, as though he needed anything,
seeing that he giveth life and breath in all things." We know
outside of Christ, we can't worship God. This building has no effect
on the Lord. He's not worshiped in a physical
building. He's working in that building
that's His church. And it says, through men's hands as though
he needed anything. A lot of, Brother Bob was saying
this morning, there's a lot of people, I could, we could put
signs up out front, I could change this message, just tweak it a
little bit, not a lot, just put a little bit of leaven in there,
and we could pack this place up. I can be a very good motivational
speaker, I'll keep you entertained, keep your attention, but that's
not what, What salvation's in is, it's not in entertainment.
The Lord doesn't need nothing. I can tell people that God needs
you. He needs your money, He needs
your time, He needs this. He needs nothing. He brings sinners
to it. We're the ones in need. That's
the problem. We don't have a God that's in
need, we have a heart that's in need. But we can't worship
God outside of Christ unless He gives that to us. Our Master
said this in Matthew, said, Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And have we not
cast out devils and done many wonderful works? They physically
casted out devils. That would look to a sign, wouldn't
it? And then I will profess, Christ
will profess to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye
that work iniquity. Our emotions might look good,
but our motives are bad. It feels good to go out and try
to do something you think is good, But that's what we get
when we look to ourselves and not look to Christ. So the last
thing we don't have confidence in is our heritage. Adam was
our federal and seminal head. And Eve ate the fruit and she
didn't even know she was naked until Adam ate the fruit. That's
whenever she knew she was naked. That's whenever Adam did it because
he was the head. And so the Lord had commanded Adam to not eat
of the fruit even before Eve was made. I wonder why that's
important. We were given to Christ before
we were made, before Adam was made. We were put in Him, and
He's our head. So whatever He does, I told you
that yesterday, the world's judged on two people. It's out of Adam,
his work, his nature, or you have the nature of Christ. It's
one of the two, and that's it. That's all the Lord sees. So
we were put into Christ before we were ever made, just like
Adam was charged with Eve before Eve was made. Some people think
that it's not fair that man fell on Adam, that they get angry,
that they want a chance. That's fine. But I got a pretty
good example of this. It's not fair that we're all
judged by this guy. I want my own shot at it. I'll give you
an example. There's some countries in this
world you can go to. And you can love them and support
them, be their biggest cheerleader, and say, oh, I just love these
folks. And that does not matter. You're an American. You show
up there, and they will cut your head off with a carpet knife
as fast as you can blink. Why? Because that's what you
are. I used to tell people when I was in Europe for a few years,
the world wasn't too happy with America at the time. And they'd
say, oh, are you American? I'd say, oh, no, I'm Canadian.
And that's, oh, okay, and that was fine for a few minutes, and
real quick, as you all know, that's not gonna fly. It comes
up pretty quick, and I'm not from there. But in the garden,
Adam and all of his nation became hated by God because they failed.
And from that point forward, we haven't gotten any better.
The world today, they got it all upside down. They'll tell
you, oh, we're learning more. We're evolving and progressing.
We're getting better as a society and we're helping people. No,
we're not. We're getting worse and worse every day that passes. The Lord lets this place go on.
But the Lord shows us our frailty and He brings us down and shows
us what we are. He humbles us. Like Job and Nebuchadnezzar,
our pride is stripped away and we're made to know that we aren't
worthy and we're not able And we aren't willing to come to
the Lord, and He has to draw us. So then what happens? What's
our only hope out of that? That promised seat of Abraham.
We have no hope in rejoicing ourselves, but we have hope in
that, in Him, in Christ. The one that was willing, the
one that was able, and the one that was worthy to be praised. The one that's worthy to have
joy in. And that one He is the one that redeems us. So we saw
our first point, those circumcised, they have no confidence in the
flesh. So secondly there in our text, those circumcised of God,
they rejoice in Jesus Christ. Rejoice in Jesus Christ. What
does that mean? What does it mean to rejoice in something?
It means to celebrate in to be pleased in, to express joy in,
to delight in. So if you rejoice in someone,
you find them precious. Scripture says, now unto you
who believe He is precious. That's who we rejoice in. Look here at Galatians 6.13.
We'll turn together. I'll just read it to you. Galatians chapter 6. Verse 13, for neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised,
that they may glory in your flesh. That's soul winners. They put
the burden back on you, because I did something. Look at all
these people I recruited. I got 15 people to confess Christ. That's their building themselves
up. Verse 14, but God forbid that I should glory, save, except. God forbid that I should glory
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world
is crucified unto me and unto the world. This whole world is
dead to me and I'm dead to it. But why? What separates me from
the world? Well, it's because of what happened
on the cross. That's what's make, who makes
the difference? Who makes a thee to differ? Christ
does and his work does. So we already know that there's
a debt that we can't pay. We saw that partially yesterday.
We owe that debt to God the Father and we can't even enter in his
presence. You have to be holy to be in his presence. We are
not justified in any of our actions, our thoughts or our desires,
none of it, from conception to burial. We're not justified in
anything that we do. So how can we have peace with
God? We are given and put into Christ
before the world was. Just as Adam got that charge
about the tree before he was made, Christ was our holiness,
our righteousness, and our redemption, our wisdom before Adam was made.
It was effectual then. I think I told you that before
on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah was there.
Christ hadn't died yet. They were already there and the
apostles knew them. They said, oh, that's Moses. We should build
an altar to him. How could they be in heaven? How could they
have communion physically on a timeline? Christ hadn't died
yet. That's because he said he would. And when God says it is,
it is. That's the difference. But Christ
lowered himself below the angels. He took on a human form. He lived
a perfect life outwardly and inwardly in the eyes of God the
Father and in time. And that appointed time, that
perfect timing, He laid down His life. No man took it from
Him. No one's ever done that. He's
the only one. If I said right now, alright,
that's it. I'm leaving. And fell over and I gave up my
spirit to the Lord. Nobody can do that. Can't choose
to do that. But He did. He laid down His
life for the elect and was crucified on the cross. But not just the
physical act of punishment. There's a lot of movies out there
and stuff that the cross was beaten and disfigured and He
was and that was horrible. But he suffered the separation
from God. God separated from God. The Lord
turned His countenance upon him. He was forsaken. We'll never
be able to explain that in this life. We have eternity to learn
what it is. But that was God's separation
for him. But the whole time through that,
he fully, he trusted the Father. He lived perfectly and knew that
the Fathers would raise him because he said he would. He trusted
the Father. And that work, obedience, and that motivation, that's what
the Lord sees when He looks at His elect. He sees that of Christ. Incidentally, that's what hell
is. There's a lot of fire and brimstone
where I come from. But the Scriptures state that
every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. What? That Jesus
crossed His Lord. What to confess is to tell the
truth. If you're in a court, you confess
something, you just tell them what you know. Every knee and
every tongue will confess, Jesus Christ is Lord. That means they'll
know Him, and then they'll be sent away from Him. So that's
the gnashing of teeth and the worm that does it all. Have you
ever been homesick or had a loved one pass away or something, and
you're just miserable? And it's like something's pulling
it to be anyway. Maybe I'm just, I might be a
big baby, but the inside just draws up like something's eating
at you, and you grit your teeth and just moan. Because you love
someone, you know them fully, and they're not with you. That'll
be eternity for people. One day, everyone will know that
Christ did what he did, how holy he is, what his righteousness
looks like, and they'll know his work, and love him for it,
and then be cast away from it. That'll be the eternity of that
worm that never dies. But we rejoice in the work that
Christ performed. We get to see it now in those
people that the Lord saves. He teaches us and we get a glimpse
of that now. We rejoice in His ability. We rejoice in His willingness. We rejoice in His sacrifice for
us. We rejoice in that He fully and totally accomplished the
work by Himself. And He's seated at the right
hand of God and He governs all things. But we're the only things
that rejoice in Christ. We're the only ones. Scripture
says those in heaven rejoice in Him, our brethren that are
already with Him. It says the angels praise Him, and the Holy
Spirit testifies of Him, makes a stone to Him, and magnifies
Him. And the Father is pleased only in Christ. So it was, well,
when Christ was baptized there by John the Baptist, but later
on there on the Mount as well, Matthew 17, it says, While he
yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold,
a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. If I mention this
before, I try to tell everybody, I heard a preacher preach this
and I grasped hold of it. So I told you this before, it's
okay, you can hear it again. But that's the shortest sermon ever. The Lord God Almighty, God the
Father, said, this is my beloved son. He declared who Christ was.
He said, in whom? How is God the Father pleased?
How do we make God happy? God wants this. God doesn't want
for anything. How is He pleased? In whom? In Christ. That's how He's pleased.
I'm well pleased. And then He gives us a declaration.
Hear ye Him. We tell sinners who they are.
We tell them who Christ is. And we say, look to Him. Like
Don says, people get mad at election, say it. Try it out. It's good. If you've never looked
to Christ, look to Him now. Why not? Watch what will happen. If He gives you the heart to
do it, turn to Him. But when we are redeeming Christ and giving
all, we're giving everything, we're giving life, all the spiritual
blessings, what does that new creature do? First, we have no
confidence in the flesh. Secondly, the circumcised in
the heart, they rejoice in Jesus Christ. So what does that, once
that happens, what happens? What does that person do? So
thirdly there in the text, those circumcised of God, they worship
God in the Spirit. That's what a regenerated spirit
does. Christ said in John to the woman
at the well, John 4 says, but the hour cometh and is now when
the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
For the Father seeketh such to worship him. He seeks, he finds. John 4, 24, God is a spirit and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. We gather
in this building We don't come in here to see people put on
a show, and what a fancy tie I have, and oh, he's so good.
I have family members I love today that are so excited that
I'm here because I'm preaching on Easter. And they don't care
what comes out of my mouth. They just hope I don't drink
too much water, or stumble through my notes, or get lost, or, oh,
you spoke very well, and you've got to do it on Easter. If that's
all that it is, you're not going to get any benefit from it at
all. It's the same message today, yesterday, today, and forever. I said that and then I got lost.
We don't come here to exalt ourselves, to put on airs. Like the song
says, we come into this house and gather in His name to worship
Christ our Lord. That's why we gather. That's
the most important. This book is the most valuable
possession you have in your home, ever will be. And the gathering
of the saints and the preaching of the word is the most important
thing that will ever happen in your life. what's happened here
today, what's happened here before, and whenever you get a chance
to listen to the gospel preached, there's nothing more important.
And we've treated this so. We come in here to worship, but
why? Because the Lord brings us down, shows us what we are,
and we're like the publican there in the temple. We cried, God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. But thankful to Christ's accomplished
work, we can come boldly to the throne of grace. the throne of
grace. Believers don't come to the throne
of judgment, of fear, do we? No, we come to the throne of
grace. Romans 8.15 says, for you have not received the spirit
of bondage again, we haven't been put back into it to fear,
but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father. And that spirit we are given,
we don't fear God's wrath. But we cry, Father, Father, Abba,
Father, right? That's where we direct our needs.
We direct our concerns, our joys, our thankfulness. And I hear
that often. Daddy, Daddy, I got four little
ones at the house. So anytime I hear that, there's
just a couple of different things it could be. They've got something
really nice they want to show me. or they have a terrible trouble,
well, they think it's a trial as much as an eight-year-old
can or whatever. They have a horrible fear or trouble or trial they're
going through and they want to come to me to handle it, you
know. Or they just want to tell me, Daddy, Daddy, I love you.
They text now. They text me yesterday, did you
make it okay? How'd it go? You know, they want to know.
But those four little ones, they have full access to me. They
can approach me boldly. They're my children, aren't they?
And within my ability in this physical world, as the Lord enables
me, they're in good hands. I will take care of them. I'll
provide for them. I'll protect them. I'll train
them up. I'll rebuke them when they need it. And then I'll turn
around and hug them right after, won't I? How much more so does
our Heavenly Father do that to His children? Those who are circumcised
in the heart. He's able. I think I am, and
I'm not, and I know I can't protect them. His providence has something
different. But the God of providence, whenever
He directs men's lives, is He able to keep you? Of course He
is, isn't He? We fear him, we honor him. So a note on fearing
the Lord. I asked my dad one time, I said, how do we fear?
I had a lot of weird questions when I was a kid growing up under
the gospel. I said, how do we fear the Lord?
Why would I want to be scared of somebody? And he said, no,
just like an earthly father. You start out in life physically
fearing your father. You're scared of getting You
physically fear your father. But as time goes on, you grow
in knowledge and you grow in love. Now you honor your father.
I fear my father. I want to protect his name and
be a good example for him, a good representation for him. But how
does that happen? Is that the child? You all see
my children sometimes. They say, oh, they're so nice.
Aren't you so glad my eight-year-old chose to sit still in service?
No, that's the effectual work of the parent, of the father,
isn't it? That's what our father does. He effectually works in
us, and he starts out, shows us what we are, shows us that
physical fear against the law and what we are, and we're scared
of him. First time I really grasped that,
I was scared to death. I realize now the Lord would
be completely just. He has to be just. He killed
his own son. What was he going to do to me?
I deserve to die. And then as through his work
and his training and his love, that transition to, I don't want
to bring reproach on this gospel. And that keeps happening. I'm sure I've read that too.
The older I get, the worse I'm going to see myself. I must decrease
so he must increase. That's what he does for me. Let's
turn to Romans chapter 8 real quick. Romans chapter 8 and verse 5. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit
do the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death. Be worried about this world stuff. That's nothing but
death. There's no satisfaction there. But to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. Why? Because the carnal mind
is enmity against God. By nature we hate God. For it
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but are in the Spirit, a new life in us. If so, be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. If you don't have Christ
in you, you're not of Christ. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness." We have no reason to have concerns for things
on this earth. That's what the Lord is telling
us. The things of this world, the carnal mind, anything on
this big rock, there's nothing but death in it. There's no satisfaction,
nothing that lasts. But that new life in us, that's
what lasts. During Colossians 3 verse 1, Colossians 3 verse 1 says, If
ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.
For Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections
on things above, not on things on the earth. Don't worry about
the things here. Look to Christ. For ye are dead. And your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then ye shall also appear with Him in glory." We
saw that a couple of times ago. We're going to be made like Christ,
and then we can see Him face to face. You can't enter the
presence of God unless you're holy. He made us that way. And
why would we worry about that? There's a story of a man that
was on a boat going from the east coast to England. And they
were on the lowest level of the boat. It was the cheapest ticket.
There were rats running all over and it was terrible. And the
one guy was tore up. He was scared of the rats and it was disgusting
and they had hard tack to eat and it was just miserable. And
he was just always telling everybody about it. And the other guy was
just happy as a lark. He didn't care. He was like,
oh, that's fine. And he said, how in the world
are you so at peace? He said, oh, my grandfather died. He said,
as soon as I get to England, I get his inheritance. He said,
I'll be a millionaire. So 25 days on this boat, I don't
care. I'll sleep down here in the dredges
of the bowels of the ship. Don't bother me none. Isn't that
us? If the Lord shows you, we have the inheritance of Christ.
We're going to be his bride. That's going to be our husband
in heaven. Why am I worried about stuff here? It's just a temporary
boat ride. I'll sleep down here with the
rats and eat bad bread. It don't matter. But how quick
we forget, too, isn't it? Where does this hit home? Clay
tells me at the end to drive it home. So, back to those three
R's there in our text. Has the Lord brought you through
His wisdom and His providence and allowed you to see and shown
you that you are ruined by the fall and that you have no confidence
in this flesh? Has He done that? Then has He
shown you that His Son paid for your soul in full and given you
eyes for Christ only? Has He showed you to look for
Christ? To have Him as your hope and your worth, Christ as your
righteousness. If He's done those things, does
your regenerated heart, that new man in you, does it praise
Him right where you are, in the Spirit? You don't have to get
up, you don't have to, if you're out eating, you can pray to the
Lord in a restaurant and not put on a show and grab hands
and all those things. On that plane ride here yesterday,
and I can tell you this evening on the plane ride home, When
we take off and land, I've had a lot of bad experiences on airplanes
in the past. When we take off and land, I don't move, I clench
down, and the Lord humbles me and I pray to Him. That's rejoicing
in Him in the Spirit and He blesses me. He gives me peace in Him.
But if the Lord God Almighty has shown you these things, shown
you your need of Christ, and that Christ is all and in all,
and you're able to praise God for that perfect salvation of
His Son and for His holiness in all things, then you can rest
in the proof that you've been circumcised in the heart. That's
how we know. If those things, and all three
of those things, there's nothing you can do. Like John tells us,
1 John says, Brethren, what do we have to do? Believe on Christ
and love the brethren. Believing and loving, that's
two things you can't choose to do. I can't choose to believe
something. If I think this kind of car is
the best car on earth, I can buy another brand or whatever,
but I still think that one's the best one. Deep down inside,
I can do everything else, but you can't choose to believe,
you can't choose love. If the Father's done all those things
for you, rest in it and know that you've been circumcised
in the heart. And then what do you do? Do you
brag about it? No, you just rejoice in the Spirit.
You praise God for it, don't you? Sometimes I'll read this as a
beginning, because it's applicable anytime. But after you say all
those things, they're in Jude 1, or Jude 1, verse 24. It says,
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and present
you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever. Amen. All right, brethren, let's
pray together. Father, forgive us. Show us what we are. Shortly
after, Lord, show us who Christ is. Point us to Him. Give us
that heart that Thanks you for it and thanks you for the work.
The only comfort we have in this world, Lord, is what you've done
for us and your sovereignty and your holiness. Make us latch
on to you and serve you. We want to be faithful laborers
in this vineyard, Lord. We can't do that unless you make
us that way. Like Moses of old, you've made this mouth and you
can put words in it. Do that for us, Lord. As you
promised, keep us till the end. Christ will lose none of us and
bring us all to Him one day. Let that be our confidence. Let
that be Christ's experience is what we lean on, not our experiences.
Let you be true in every man a liar. Lord, we thank you for
this day and thank you for these brethren. Thank you for keeping
us here. It's in Christ's name that we
ask. Amen.