Morning, I want us to look at
the book of Philippians chapter 3. Now, we have looked at these
verses together before in the past two years, and if we are
on the radio two more years, we will probably look at it again.
For in the very words of the Apostle Paul, to preach or speak
of the same things to you, to me, is not grievous. I do not grow tired of this,
but for you it is safe. That's what he said here in verse
1 of Philippians chapter 3. He says, Finally, my brethren,
or that is, in conclusion, or the last thing I want you to
Consider and have on your mind in the closing of this letter
Finally my brethren now. He's speaking to the believers
at Philippi The believers that's who he's writing to Saints in
Christ he says in verse 1 of chapter 1 Incidentally I despise
a wholesale use of the word brother as I do the word Christian for
all men are not brethren in the Lord Well, he says to believers,
finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. And that is who
believers do rejoice in, not in themselves, not in their church,
but rather in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He is their cause
for rejoicing. He is their object of worship. And so Paul writes and says to
write the same things to you. or the things I have already
been writing of and speaking of, the same things, it is not
grievous to me," he said. I do not grow tired of repeating
the same things, but rather enjoy them. But he says, for you it
is safe. It is safe to hear the same old
story over and over again. In verse 2 he says, beware. He
tells us to beware of three things. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil
workers. Beware of the concision. Now,
who are these dogs he's telling us to beware of? Certainly not
speaking of a canine, but he's speaking of dogs which are spoken
of in Isaiah 56, verse 10. And you can look that up for
yourself sometime. Isaiah 56, 10, which speaks of
preachers, false preachers. who are as dogs, barking dogs,
lazy, greedy dogs of prey that prey upon people. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers, he said. Evil workers, workers of iniquity,
are those whom Christ spoke of when he said, many will say,
And to me, Lord, Lord, we've done this, we've done that, we've
preached, we've prophesied, we've cast out devils in your name,
in the name of Jesus. And Christ called them workers
of iniquity, evil workers. That's who he's speaking of,
religious workers that do all they do in the name of Jesus,
yet they're doing it for money, they're doing it for their name,
for themselves, and so on. And then he writes, beware of
the concision, or those who appear to be orthodox Jews or believers. Beware of the concision. And
he goes on to say in verse 3, now, we are the circumcision.
We are the circumcision. We are the true people of God. are familiar with this thing
of circumcision. It's something that God gave
back in Old Testament days as a mark that distinguished his
people from the people of the world. Circumcision. And though it was a mark in the
flesh, yet it was a hidden thing. You know what I speak of, circumcision. It's still practiced today for
sanitary reasons. Well, this mark in the flesh
that distinguished the people of God from the rest of the world,
Paul says in Romans chapter 2, the true circumcision is a mark
that is inward, not outward. True circumcision, or that which
distinguishes God's people from the rest of the world, from unbelievers,
is an inward mark. A mark on the heart. That's what
he said in Romans 2. Circumcision is of the heart. And a true Jew or a child of
God, a chosen follower of God is one inward, not outward. Not outward show, but inward. Alright? He goes on to give us
three marks that tell us what true circumcision is. Verse 3.
We are the true circumcision which worship God in the Spirit. God is who we worship. We worship God. That's what we're
doing, he said. That's what believers do. That's
why they do what they do. They worship God, Him, His person. Not what they can get out of
Him, but rather they worship Him, His person, His character. In spirit, he said, we worship
God in the spirit or that is from the heart, not in an outward
show or form or ceremony or going through the motion, the motions
and emotions, but rather we worship God in the spirit from the heart.
Read on. He says the next mark is we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. He is our cause for joy and rejoicing. We rejoice in who Christ is,
who Christ is and what Christ has done. The whole cause for
our rejoicing is that God was in Christ manifesting himself,
reconciling his people to himself, manifesting God to mankind. Christ is God that manifests
in the flesh. And why did he come? He came
to save his people from their sin. That's why he came. And
that's what God's people rejoice in Christ for doing, saving them
from their sin, not giving them a large bank account, not saving
them from their arthritis or some disease, but rather in him,
their Savior, Savior from their sins. And he goes on to say with
a true circumcision, because we have no confidence in the
flesh, we have no confidence in anything to do with flesh. Paul said in Romans 7 concerning
himself, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And there's nothing,
that which is flesh is flesh as scripture says. And we have,
believers have no confidence in the flesh, not our own flesh,
not the flesh or the person of a man, be it a preacher or a
priest, anything to do with the flesh, not any thing that happened
to us in the flesh, no emotional experience in the flesh, no commitment
or saving experience or some profession of faith we made,
not the flesh. No, we worship God in the spirit.
And we have no confidence in the flesh. God is spirit. They that worship him, Worship
Him in spirit and in the truth, which is Christ Himself. We have
no confidence in the flesh. Nothing to do with the flesh.
And so we do not worship Him with anything having to do with
the flesh. Not outward signs, not robes
and crosses and candles and fleshly ornamentation. No. We don't need
those things. We don't use those things. God
is Spirit. We worship Him from the heart
with His Word, rejoicing in His Son. Verse 4, Paul says, now,
if anyone has any confidence in the flesh, he says, I have
more reason to have confidence in the flesh than anybody. There are some, he says, that
do have confidence in the flesh, or that is, think that they have
something that commends them to God and before men. Well,
he says, I have more. Any other man thinketh that he
hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I have more. And here's
Paul's account of himself, his past religious life. Verse 5, he says, I was circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel. According to the law,
Jewish law, the eighth day a young Jewish boy was to be circumcised,
according to the law. And so Paul was. And he says,
I was of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. In other
words, he could trace his lineage, his heritage back to the tribe
of Benjamin itself. He knew for a fact he was a Jew,
a Hebrew of the Hebrews. In other words, a Hebrew boy
born of Hebrew parents. Read on. As touching the law,
or that is concerning Jewish law, I was a Pharisee. I was
a doctor of the law. I was an expert in the law. I
was a scholar, a Bible scholar. Verse 6, he writes, concerning
zeal, that is, enthusiasm for God and for my religion. He said,
well, I persecuted the church. I was so zealous of my religion
that I went out and persecuted those who did not believe as
I did. Read on. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. Concerning the outward keeping
of the Jewish law, Paul said, I was blameless. My, my, what
a self-righteous Pharisee Paul was. And yes, that's what he's
speaking of, self-righteousness, Phariseeism. Concerning the law,
he said, I was blameless. Oh, people, and if you'll read
for yourselves over in Romans 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, the Apostle
Paul's testimony concerning the law, why, he says it's spiritual. He said, before I heard what
the law was all about, he said, I thought I kept it. And oh,
this is so true of so many. persons today who are going about
to establish their own righteousness, as Paul said in Romans 10, zealous
for God but ignorant of the true God, going about to keep the
law, yes, even the Jewish law, when they're ignorant of it,
when God requires perfection not just outwardly but inwardly
of the heart, of the thought, of the motive. And Paul tells
us there in Romans This keeping of the law to perfection with
the inward man, with the motive, with the thought, is impossible
for man to do. Because the law, by the law is
the knowledge of sin. He went to great lengths to tell
us that in Romans. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. That's why Paul said, when the
law came, when I found out that the law was spiritual, when I
found out the strict requirements of the law, both outward and
inward, it killed me. It slew me. And all I saw was
that I was guilty. Guilty. Well, Paul writes on
verse 7 here of Philippians 3 and says, those things that were
gain to me, I counted loss for Christ. In other words, religion
was great gain to Paul then. He was Saul back then, and religion
was great gain to him. Why, he had the favor and approval
of many, and rich, mind you. And religion today is a big business,
and many men and women are getting rich off of it, and are well-known
and famous, making names for themselves. But Paul lost it
all for Christ. Verse 8, he says, Doubtless I
count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things. all of my past, all of my attainment,
all of my prestige, all of my Pharisee-ism. And he says, I
count it but dung. Yes, dung. that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
that is, this religious facade, this outward perfection or morality
which is of the law by me keeping the law. No, I want to be found
in Christ having His righteousness. The righteousness of God imputed
to me. The righteousness of God which
is Christ Himself. That's what Paul is saying that
he wanted to win and be found in and have the righteousness
of God which is Christ. Christ, that I might know Him,
he said, that I might know Him. He is salvation. Christ. The law is death, but Christ
is life. Oh, may it be so with some religious
Pharisee who hears this message this morning. It may be so with
me. Until next Sunday, may the Lord
bless His Word.