I'm reading this morning from
the book of Philippians, Philippians chapter 3, and I read, Finally,
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
to me, indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision, for
we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. God, through Paul the Apostle,
is speaking to his people in the church at Philippi. This
is a letter to the church. He calls them brethren. He tells
them to rejoice in the Lord. He rejoiced in the Lord God,
who He is, what He has done, where He is, reigning, ruling,
seated on the circle of the earth. He rejoiced in the Lord Jesus
Christ, His person, His work, His work of redemption, His work
of salvation for them. And he wrote this and preached
this over and over again. Everywhere he went, he had one
message, Christ and Him crucified. To the Corinthians he wrote,
I am determined not to know anything among you, say, Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. That is the determination and
the message of every true God called preacher. To preach Christ
and Him crucified. So he says, to write the same
things to you, to me, is not grievous. But for you it is safe. It is salvation. Beware of something
new. Beware of those who are telling
and hearing of some new doctrine. He says in verse 2, beware of
dogs. Now he's talking about religious
leaders. He's talking about false prophets. He's talking about false preachers.
He calls them dogs. And in Isaiah chapter 56, this
is what it says in verse 10. His watchmen are blind, they're
ignorant, they're dumb dogs. Speaking of those who are supposed
to be watchmen, who are supposed to be watching for wolves, watching
over the flock, feeding the flock. He said they're dumb dogs. That is, they cannot bark. They
will not bark. They will never say anything
about sin or the judgment of God or say anything to offend
anyone. Sleeping, lying down, loving
to slumber. Greedy dogs can never get enough
That's what he says about these false prophets. He says, beware
of them. He says, beware of them. They're
evil workers. The Lord Jesus Christ in his
Sermon on the Mount. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? In thy name have
cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful work. In
the name of Jesus, we've preached. In the name of Jesus, we've done
many wonderful work. And he said, I will profess unto
them I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity. Workers of iniquity, he calls
them. Evil workers, Paul said. Beware
of them. They come in God's name, in the
name of Jesus, and they do many wonderful works, supposedly,
in his name. Yet the Lord calls them workers
of iniquity. Evil workers. Why is that? Because
they do it in their own name. The Lord Jesus Christ said, let
a man come in his own name and him you will receive. Do you
notice how preachers all over the television and all over the
airwaves are promoting themselves and their names? More so than
the name of God, than the name of Christ. They come in their
own name. They come for their own glory.
They come for their own honor. They do it for money in order
to build big buildings. All in the name of God, but Christ
calls them evil workers. He says evil men and seducers
wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And so Paul
warns the church, beware of these dogs. Beware of these evil workers. Beware of the concision, he calls
them. The concision, which is Another
term for circumcision. The Jewish leaders of that day,
and still today, were very orthodox, strict Jewish scribes, Pharisees,
but the Lord called them hypocrites. He always called the Pharisees,
the scribes, hypocrites because that means they were doing what
they were doing for show. It was the appearance. It was
a form of godliness without the power thereof. They appeared
religious. They appeared moral to everyone.
But the Lord knew them. The Lord who looks on the heart.
And he said, they're full of extortion and excess. And he
said, they're whited sepulchers. They're dead men that appear
outwardly moral and upright. Paul said he was the same way
until the Lord saved him. He said, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Touching the law, I was a Pharisee,
zealous concerning the righteousness of the law. He thought he was
blameless, but he was lost. So Paul says, beware of them.
And he knew from experience. He said in verse 3, we are the
circumcision. We are the true people of God. Now, circumcision was a mark
that God gave to Abraham, who is often called the father of
the faithful. from whom all Israel descended.
But circumcision was a mark to distinguish God's people from
the rest of the world, from the Gentile world. And that mark
of circumcision was in the flesh. It required the removal of some
flesh of men. But now, true circumcision, true
circumcision is of the heart. Paul wrote this in Romans chapter
2, and this is a circumcision that is done to men and women. It's the circumcision of the
heart which says in Romans 2, he is not a Jew which is one
outwardly, neither is circumcision outward in the flesh, but he
is a Jew which is one inwardly. Circumcision is that of the heart,
in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of
men, to be seen of men, that is, but of God. Marks in the
heart of God's true people. Marks in the heart, not in the
flesh, that they're chosen of God. The marks of God's chosen
people, operated on by the Spirit of God. Circumcision of the inner
man. All right, here they are. Three
marks in Philippians 3, verse 3. Three marks of the true people
of God. So many claim to be true people
of God. Christians, children of God,
do you? But here are the three characteristics
of God's true people. In verse three, it says, we worship
God in the spirit. God's true people worship God
in the spirit. They worship God. Now, worship
means to love, to adore, to praise, to honor, give all honor and
praise to God. We worship God as God. Oh, God is not God because you
let him be God. That's another God. That's a
God who cannot say. That's a man-made God. The God
of the Bible, the true and living God, is to be worshipped as God. God is God. Holy. Sovereign. Omnipotent. Omniscient. Omnipresent. God over all. The creator. The
sovereign. The sustainer of life. The giver
of life. God who upholds all things by
the word of his power. He says we worship God. We worship God. We give all honor
and praise and glory to God and God alone. So many worship man. They worship his will, his works,
his decision. They worship their own will and
works and decisions. So many worship the church, their
denomination, their priest, their preacher, even Mary. God's people
worship. They praise, honor, and glorify
God as God. Back in the day of our Lord on
the earth, many followed Him and He turned and said, you follow
me because of the loaves and the fishing, because of what
I give you. Some others, He turned and said,
you follow me because of the miracles, because of the excitement,
you see. Well, one day coming down from
the mountain, there was a leper, a leper, a man dying of leprosy. A man without any hope, without
any strength, without any help in himself to save himself from
death, sure death. An unclean leper. And he came
down, the scripture says, he fell at the feet of the Lord
Jesus Christ and worshipped him. He called him Lord. This is true
worship. to worship God as a leper, as
an unclean thing, as a sinner in need of mercy, a sinner in
need of grace, a sinner in need of salvation, a sinner in need
of the Lord Jesus Christ's blood, righteousness. It's to worship
God, he says, in spirit. He said God's people worship
God in the spirit. That is, from the heart, the
inner man, the true man. Not this fake spiritual mumbo-jumbo
you see throughout religion today. The waving of hands. All of this
false Pentecostal show of religion. That's another spirit. That's
not the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of God takes the things
of Christ and shows it to His people. And they worship God
in the Spirit from the heart. The inward man. Not with an outward
show. The Lord Jesus Christ said they
worship God in spirit and truth. as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is the truth. They worship God as they hear
the gospel preached. The gospel of God's sovereign,
electing love, mercy, and grace in Christ Jesus. They worship
God for Christ, His blood, and His righteousness. Which brings
me to the next point. The true marks of God's people
are they worship God in the Spirit. They rejoice in Christ Jesus. So many rejoice in so many things. They rejoice in their religion.
They rejoice in their church. They rejoice in the choir, the
music, the programs, their emotional meetings. Ask them. They'll tell
you. Ask for a Sunday service. They'll
tell you. Oh, the music was so beautiful.
Oh, the feeling it gave me. Oh, the preacher's sermon. He
preached on how we need to do this and need to do that. I ran
into a woman in a restaurant one time after a Sunday service.
And she kept talking about a choir that came to sing to her church. But if you would ask the true
people of God after a worship service, they would tell you,
oh, we heard Christ and Him crucified. We heard the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. God's true people rejoice in
Jesus Christ, Him, His person, His work, the great work of redemption
He accomplished on Calvary's tree. They worship Christ. That
is, the covenant head, the second Adam, the substitute, the Messiah,
the mediator, the intercessor, the great high priest, their
prophet, priest, and king. Jesus, the Savior, the Lord,
our Savior. They worship Him. They worship
Him. And the last mark is they have
no confidence in the flesh. God's true people have no confidence
in the flesh. Confidence means trust. Something
you feel sure of that gives you assurance. Something that leaves
you thinking that you are a child of God. Well, God's people have
no confidence in the plan. Ask the average person. 99 out
of 100 will say, I'm a believer. I'm a Christian because I accepted
Jesus. Because I gave my heart to Jesus. Because I was baptized. I was
christened. I am a member of the church.
I never miss a mass. I never miss a Sunday school.
I feel sad. Not God's people. Their confidence,
their hope, their salvation is completely in the Lord Jesus
Christ. His person and His Word. No confidence
in the flesh. No fleshly feelings. No fleshly
works. Nothing they've done but all
that Jesus Christ has done. Is that your hope? These are
the three marks of God's true people. What about you? Tune
in next Sunday as we bring you another message from College
of Works.