Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same things unto
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. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinks that he hath whereof,
he might trust in the flesh I more than all. Circumcise the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and of
Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is of
the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and 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, and do count them done, that I may win Christ,
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection. and the fellowship of his sufferings
being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Now look at those
places where Paul said, I count all but lost for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ. It has been less than a month
now since we had a sermon or a study on the subject from this
very chapter of heavenly citizenship. So we can mention it very briefly
this time. The account of Paul taking the
gospel into Philippi you have in Acts chapter 16. In the 16th
chapter of Acts on a missionary journey is a record and an account
of Paul and his ministry among the Philippians. And we might also notice that
the Philippians had sent Paul a love offering, as we recalled
in the other study, sent it by the hand of Aphrodite. And Paul
writes this letter back thanking them for the offering of him
to him, and also giving further instruction. He writes this epistle
that their care of him has flourished again, and he likens it unto
a sweet savor, as it were, unto God. In the third chapter, the
apostle now sounds a very strong warning against a certain class
or a certain kind of false teacher. It is hardly to be doubted, when
we read what is here, that they were Judaists. They were Judaists
who preached circumcision and endeavored to impose circumcision
upon the Gentile converts. They were Judaizers, that is
Jews, who preached circumcision and law righteousness. although it would seem that such
false teachers as these had not made great inroads yet in and
among the Philippians. They had not been very successful
at this point, yet no doubt Epaphroditus gives Paul the report, and so
he addresses it as he writes this epistle back unto them. But if they had not been successful,
Yet were they present in almost every place where the gospel
had been preached, and where a church of the Lord had been
raised up, and where the Christian gospel and the Christian way
was being practiced. And in each place it would seem
that they came in that they might trouble the brethren, that they
might pervert them out of the way, and bring upon them again
the yoke of bondage and of Judaism. So Paul warns them to keep up
their guard diligently against these heretics that might come
among them and seek to impose unscriptural things upon them. You notice, as we read, that
he uses a threefold description. He says, or sounds the warning,
Beware, beware, which literally means behold them, look at them,
search them out and see them. Be on the lookout. Fasten your
eyes upon this sort of teacher and of people. Observe them and
do so constantly and diligently. Don't let them go unobserved
or unchecked in their way are propagating a false teaching. Then note something else. Rather
than just straight out call them by name, as he did in one epistle
of Timothy, he uses very derisive terms, very insulting terms that
he might describe and ridicule these heretics. Look at them
there. He says, beware of dogs. Now this was a very derisive,
a very derogatory term. It was a word of deep reproach
in those times and in the East. It was applied to the Gentiles
by the Jews. They called them dogs. You'll
see that in Matthew chapter 15 and verse 26. And regarded them
as the outcasts and the offscourings of society. Hear Mephibosheth
use this language in 2 Samuel 9 and verse 8. When David sent to Lodibar to
fetch Mephibosheth into his own house, the reaction of Mephibosheth
was this. He referred to himself as a dead
dog. How shall such a dead dog as
I be so blessed by being brought into the house of the King? Nowadays,
a dog is considered almost a member of the family, but Paul uses
a term according to Eastern usage and language. Beware of dogs. An insulting term on those false
teachers. Secondly, we notice, Look, he
said, to the evil workers. And this is not just a second
reference to a second class of teachers, but the same class
is described as evil workers. Evil workmen, Paul calls them,
because of what they were doing and attempting to do. John Eady
wrote that the adjective that is used here evil, describes
their character and their being, that they were base and they
were malicious men and malicious people. Their intentions are
evil toward the church and the people of God. Their works and
their teaching are the same. And they work diligently at their
aim of spreading their errors wherever people were meeting
in the name of the Lord. Now, this most contemptible term,
he saves for the last one. Look at it. Beware the concision. Notice how it's spelled because
it is sarcastic on the part of the apostle. Beware of the concision. Now, this is the only time that
this particular word is used in our New Testament. But it
seems clear that Paul is using it in reference unto the Jews
who taught that their circumcision marked them and made them the
children of God. They taught that their circumcision
was an advantage because it marked them and identified them as the
children of Abraham and also as the children of God. You remember
in Acts 15, verse 1 and verse 5, that these Judahists came
down to Antioch and they insisted, except the Gentiles submit to
circumcision, they cannot at all be saved. But Paul, in circumcision,
while so perverted, as in this way referred to it in a derogatory
term. It is not that he is running
down the divine institution of circumcision, for in its time
and for its purpose it was ordained of God. But here, Paul seems
to be using absolute satire and biting sarcasm as he refers to
them by this title derisively The concision. And he derisively
calls them that. Not the circumcision, but the
concision. It was not that Paul is so anxious
to tear down the ordinance of circumcision as divinely instituted,
but he fully addresses that matter in other places in the Scripture
and gives believers the proper view. of circumcision as it is
set forth in the Scripture. But in our text here, he uses
what is called, in grammar, an alliteration. He uses the word
in that sense in this particular place. Or a similar sounding
word. An alliteration. A word that
sounds like or sounds very similar unto another, but is opposite
in its meaning. And some expositors use the term
here, slashers. Beware of the slashers. Others refer to it as the mutilators. Beware of the mutilators. That when circumcision was applied,
according to the covenant with Abraham, this was one thing. But when it had to be made to
have saving efficacy by the Jews of that day, and necessary unto
salvation, it is a useless slashing or mutilation. That's all Paul
can see in it. If you're going to make this
a part of your righteousness, If you're going to claim that
this is a part of your justification before God, if you do it for
that purpose and to that intent, it is nothing more than a slashing
or a mutilation. It is abolished in Christ as
to its original use to be reinstituted as necessary to salvation is
so great an error that Paul calls it concision, the slashers, the
mutilators. Now the truth is, whether it
be circumcision or whether it be baptism, both can only be
administered to the outward part of the body and unto the flesh,
neither reaching the inward nature or reaching unto the heart. But
coming into verse 3, and the opening word for, and let's notice
it very carefully, because that ties it to the last phrase of
the second verse. Beware the concision. And it also makes a very strong
contrast. They are the concision, we are
the circumcision. In other words, they are but
the slashers, they but cuts, but we are the true circumcision. And why Paul says that, we'll
see in a moment. They slash and they cut and they
call it circumcision, but we are the circumcision. Now that's
very important. Some versions lay out the contrast
in this way. Beware the false circumcision,
for we are the true circumcision. And the next phrase implies for
us the nature of that circumcision that Paul is talking about. The ones worshiping God in spirit,
these are the ones that are circumcised. And of course, that circumcision
is not of the flesh, but it is of the heart. Paul writes in
Romans 2, 25-29, perhaps the best description of circumcision,
and it's giving away to the circumcision of the heart that's to be found
anywhere in the Scripture. We won't go there. You may be
already familiar with it. But it gives the relation of
a true Jew A natural Jew and a true Jew of a natural fleshly
circumcision and of true circumcision. The circumcision which is of
the flesh. There is another circumcision
that is of the heart. In Colossians 2 and 11, he mentions
it again in that light. He says to them, you are circumcised
with a circumcision made without hands. Now the word circumcision
literally means a cutting around or a cutting away. So then spiritual
circumcision, heart circumcision, is described in Colossians 2,
11, the last part, putting off the body of the sins of the flesh
by the circumcision of Christ. made without hand. Even under
the old economy, when fleshly circumcision was in force among
the Jews as an ordinance from God, there was also the counterpart,
heart circumcision. You'll see that in Deuteronomy
10 and 16. You'll see it again in Deuteronomy
30 and verse 6, that even Under that economy, there was a circumcision
of the heart. And it was the greater circumcision. It was the spiritual circumcision
rather than the outward. Now, coming back to Philippians
3 and verse 3, and Paul's words again. We are the circumcision. By we, he means we Christians,
we believers. We saints of God, Gentiles as
well as Jews, literally, we are the ones having the true circumcision. If any are to be called the circumcision,
it is us who are in Jesus Christ. Then it makes the contrast. Beware
the slashers or the concision, for we are the true circumcision. Then there are three things which
Paul mentions in connection with this circumcision that were not
to be found anywhere among the concisionists as he calls them. Three things as confirming that
we have the true spiritual circumcision of the heart. Number one, We
are the circumcised who worship God and serve God in the Spirit. We are the circumcision worshipping
God. So we could flip it about. We
who are worshipping God in the Spirit are the circumcision. Spiritual worship from the heart
to out and worshipping our great God. The concisionist only worship
in a legal and an outward and a formal and a ceremonial way. In the letter they serve and
they worship. We serve God in spirit. It was also Paul who wrote in
Romans 1 and verse 9, God is my witness whom I serve in the
gospel of His Son. Then the second thing that we
have there in Philippians, we are the circumcision and rejoice
in Christ Jesus. We do not rejoice in Moses, not
in the law, not in fleshly outward circumcision. We glory in Christ
and boast only in the cross where He died, not in fleshly descent
from Abraham or any do we boast, our boast is our union and relationship
with Christ. And while it was true, as in
Romans 2 and verse 23, the Jews made their boast in the law. Yet they that are Christ's glory
only in Him, that is, in Christ, in His person, in His work, in
His offices, His blood, His death, His gospel, and His so great
salvation. These are the ones who have a
circumcised heart and are the circumcision, worshiping Jesus
Christ, glorying in Him and in no other. We read these same
things in 1 Corinthians 1.31, 2 Corinthians 10 and 17, He that glories, let him glory
in the Lord Jesus Christ. If there is any glorying to be
done, let it be in Christ. Now thirdly, we notice, we are
the circumcision, and catch this one, and have no confidence in
the flesh. We are the circumcision who have
no confidence in the flesh. Now the word flesh is a very
broad, multi-meaning word in the Scripture and in the New
Testament. So how does Paul mean it when
he uses the word flesh? One way he uses it is in his
controversy with the Judaizers as in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse
18 and Galatians 6 and verse 13 where in those places the
word flesh means, as John Gill notes in his commentary, carnal
descent. Birth privileges are genealogy,
especially Abrahamic descent. We have no confidence in that. Paul's reason is we have confidence
in nothing but Christ Jesus, His death, His cross, and His
person. And in nothing do we do with
anything concerning the flesh. We have no confidence in it as
a saving power or ability. Now, coming to verse 4 of this
same chapter, Paul makes a strong point concerning boasting in
the flesh, whether we ought to consider it As a digression on
the part of Paul, temporarily, I do not know. It's hard to say.
John Eady said the apostle goes off, as he says it, by alluding
to his own history and experience. Here Paul is going to give us
an insight into his experience in time past in Judaism. Now it takes its rise from the
last words of verse 3. We have no confidence in the
flesh. Now notice, we, Paul includes
himself among the ones having no confidence in the flesh. But then look at verse 4. The
apostle tells those who boasted in the flesh. Those who boast
in the flesh. that as far as the flesh is concerned,
if any man among them had any reason to boast in the flesh,
Paul says, it would be me. If any among men have reason
to boast in the flesh, it would be me. He was one of those having
no confidence in the flesh, however, this is not because He lacked
the credential. And to prove his point, notice
what he sets forth, his Jewish pedigree. And we'll look at it
briefly. The first thing that he mentioned
that he might, if he wished to boast, or needed to boast, could
boast in above all others. And the first thing that he mentioned,
we notice, is his circumcision. Circumcised the eighth day. Possibly because This was made
the focal point or the most controversial point of the argument as put
for the essence of their religion. He had a legal and he had a legitimate
circumcision exactly as prescribed in the Mosaic law. Leviticus
12 and verse 3. His parents gave him that Right
on the exact day that the law of God required it. On the 8th
day for a male baby. Verse 5 in our text, he says,
circumcise the 8th day. Not 10, 12, 15 a month. On the 8th day. The exact day
that the law required that it be done. And scholars say that
the Greek word here is very exact and distinctive, and that what
Paul is really saying here is this, as to circumcision, an
eight-day one. That's what he said. As to circumcision,
I am an eight-day one, or an eight-day man is how it might
be in the Greek. This even many Jews could not
claim. Many true Jews and descendants
of Abraham could not claim to have had it on the exact day
described by the law, nor could a proselyte over to the Jewish
religion make the boast that he had it on the eighth day.
Even Abraham was a grown man when circumcision was instituted
to him, Genesis 17, and verse 11. And Timothy in Acts 16 and
verse 3 was a young man when the art of circumcision was administered
to him. So not just circumcised, says
Paul, but circumcised on the appointed day according to the
law of circumcision. His was not delayed for any reason. Now, another reason to boast,
he names a second thing, and that is his stock of Israel. Notice that as to his pedigree,
three things are true in verse 5. He was by race an Israelite. His tribe was that of Benjamin,
and he was a Hebrew of Hebrew as an offspring of his parents. In other words, His bloodline
was pure and absolute Israel, without any racial mixture whatsoever. No Gentile blood found anywhere
in the family of Saul. And he was not a proselyte. He was brought up from birth
in this religion. He was of the tribe called Benjamin. What's significant about that?
mentioning that. Well, maybe a couple of things.
First of all, Moses spoke of this tribe as beloved of the
Lord in Deuteronomy 33 and verse 12. And some people think that
it was the tribe of Judah that had in its territory both the
capital city and the temple where worship and sacrifices were made. And Benjamin was one of the two
tribes along with Judah that made up the theocracy when the
ten tribes revolted away. And his parents had even named
him Saul after the first king of Israel. But there's more when
we look in the end of verse 5. For as to his view and as to
his practice of the law, What was Paul's relationship under
the law of God? He belonged to the Pharisee sect
of Jewry. A Pharisee is what he had been. He was raised a Pharisee. He lived a Pharisee. He practiced
the religion of the Pharisee. In fact, in Acts 22 and 3, I
was born in Tarsus. yet brought up at the feet of
Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the
law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God." That's Paul's path. Acts 26 and verse 5, he says
to them, after the most straightest sect of our religion, I lived
a Pharisee. Phariseeism is what I espoused
and what I practiced. And he mentions two more things
here. in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 6. Number one, he
said, concerning zeal, you want to talk about your zeal for the
things of God? You want to talk about the zeal
for your religion, zeal for the Phariseic view. I persecuted
the church. Few of them could say that. Paul
could say honestly, I out of my zeal for Judaism and against
Christianity, I persecuted the church of God. Galatians 1, 13
and 14, he mentions it again. And the second thing he said,
as touching the righteousness of the law, or concerning the
righteousness of the law, I was righteous because blameless. Now what a claim. Look at that.
I was righteous because blameless. Of course, he was ignorant at
that time, for he later confessed it was the law that slew him
and showed him that he was a sinner. Thus, Paul could outboast all
of them. If it was a boasting contest,
then all of them that boasted according to the flesh, all of
these Pharisees zealous, Paul could outboast them all. But then beginning with verse
7, and let's look carefully at that, he tells how he now must
view these things from the Christian perspective. And I'm going to
read verse 7 again. But what things were gain to
me, I counted loss for Christ. What things were gained then,
I now count loss, and that for Christ." That what He wants viewed
as gain or profitable, because it is the same word used in Philippians
1.21, to die is gain. And that's the same word that
we have here. And the thing by which He was
given, He means the things just mentioned in verse 5 and in verse
6. But now those same things I count
lost on account of Christ." Ah yes, what I once reveled in,
boasted in, what I once had great pride in, I now count but lost
for Christ. He now views them in a whole
new light. He'd come to be of a different
and another opinion concerning them. They had lost their luster
in the mind and the heart of Paul. And this was on account
of Christ. Not because he quit religion.
Not because he became an atheist. But because on account of Christ. For the sake of Jesus Christ,
I count all these things but lost. Yea, and the loss of such
things, he says, became a great gain. and the gain was Christ. Nor is Paul done with this matter,
because as we look in verse 8, he restates the firmness of that
conviction again. I still do. I go on counting
or deeming or reckoning all things to be lost of that nature. And then he tells us why. But
first, let us survey the passage to see how firmly Paul states
his conviction. Verse 7 again, look at it. My
gains I count loss. And then look at verse 8. I count
all things lost. Again in verse 8. I have suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but done. Or the word might be refuse or
rubbish or off scourings or scraps. thrown out to the dog somewhere.
I now count those former things as refuge. Now, does the question
enter into any of our mind? But how can Paul say these things? Were not circumcision, the law,
Judaism, divine institutions, were they not established and
set up by God? The answer? These were to remain
only until Christ came into the world. And beside, Paul is speaking
in verse 5 and 6 from his old Jewish standpoint. Now, he so
freely counted them all lost. And the reason of it? For the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Paul got a great exchange. What
he lost was nothing compared to what he gained. all former
gains now fade into nothingness in the light of the surpassingness,"
is a word that we might apply under this. For Paul uses a word
here that clearly expresses to his readers the thought of to
surpass in value or worth, to excel, to be superior, to be
excellent, the surpassingness of the knowledge of Christ. to
emphasize this word as at least five times in the New Testament. And the other four times the
word is rendered like this very quickly. In Romans 13 and 1,
let every soul be subject to the higher power. That's the
word that we have here, higher. And then in Philippians 2 and
3, it is translated better. And then in Philippians 4 and
7, it is which passage. which passes understanding. He's talking there about the
peace. The peace of God that passes understanding. It excels
or exceeds all comprehension. It is beyond comprehension. That
is the word. Finally, in 1 Peter 2 and verse
13, it is translated supreme. That is, all of these in the
King James. Paul does not refer to a mere
knowledge of Christ. He is referring here to a spiritual
and saving knowledge of the Christ and is doing so in the context
of salvation, knowing Him by His saving grace and death upon
the cross. Look in our text, verse 7. Farmer
things are counted lost for Christ. Verse 8. For the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord. And again, that I may win Christ,
or that I may gain Christ. And then in verse 9, that I may
be found in Him. Verse 10, that I may know Him,
and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering. And Paul even includes being
made conformable to the death of Christ the Lord. Certainly. Paul was no loser by his losses. His losses were gain. And he recognized that surpassing
gain, just as the gains of some might lead to loss. For example,
a man gains the world and loses his soul, as Jesus warned us,
just as one might do that. For example, what did Paul call
Lose. What does he mean by loss? All boastings in Abraham's ascendancy,
all sectarianism, all circumcision, trust in that birth that I am
a true Hebrew of Hebrews, all of that I count but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Calvin noted
something. A. He said that he had to renounce
all trust in descent. I, the Jews, said, we are Abraham's
children. That was their vote. We are Abraham's
children. Paul renounced all confidence
in his descent. B, he had to divest himself of
that false estimate of his own personal righteousness in his
works. And C, he had to divest himself
of that personal confidence in his zeal. I'm very zealous. Many people are zealous. Many
people have zeal for a particular religion, but it's not according
to knowledge. Yet in return, he was circumcised
with a circumcision, not made with hands. He had a special
relationship and union to Jesus Christ. He had a place of his
own righteousness. He had the righteousness of the
faith of Christ, a surpassing righteousness, so that his loss
was gain. In casting over all that he had
trusted in before, in coming he found gain in Christ. It seems that Paul, in his speaking
of his becoming a Christian, makes two very good points for
us in his New Testament writings. I'll just mention them quickly.
Number one, in Galatians chapter 1, He said, I never would have
quitted Judaism except for the sovereign work of God in me. I didn't do this on my own. God
chose me from my mother's womb. He called me. He took me. He
captured me. I did not quit Judaism except
by God's great sovereign power. Never would Paul have given it
up except God had called him away from it. He was able to
count it as nothing. Secondly, he says, and I now
count as worthless to save the soul what I once excelled in
and what I boasted about. Now, Paul sets up a great example
and valuable lesson for us in closing, and that is that a person's
own righteousness, boy, people today are filled with self-righteousness. that a person's own righteousness
are no more than filthy rags in the sight of God. And in saving
a sinner, saving a sinner, God will strip them of their pride,
and of their boasting, and of their arrogance, and take away
the high opinion that they have of themselves, because we have
heard so much in the last twenty years about the debilitating
effects of low self-esteem in our country and the need for
everybody to have high self-esteem. No matter what a rascal they
are, they ought to have high self-esteem. But let me tell
you, God will put one in the dust when he comes in his humbling
grace and applying his mercy. He will cast one down in the
dust like a worm of that dust, he will abase, he will humble
before he exhausts. God resists the proud, you remember,
and giveth grace unto the humble. All trust in merit and worth
must die that one might live in Christ. You must come empty-handed
to the Savior. Don't bring your worth or your
trinkets of self-righteousness You must come empty-handed. It
says one of our hymns that sometimes we sing, In my hand no price
I bring, Simply to the cross I cling. Now, some would say,
maybe, Oh, listen, I'm a child of a preacher. I was raised in
a preacher. My daddy was a deacon in a church
for 40 years. I've heard the Bible all my life. And another might say, I've lived
a good life. But let me tell you, none of
these things can save you. And you'll be glad to part with
them for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ our Lord
when He applies His grace. The desire of Paul is summed
up in verse 9 as to why he counted all things but loss, and let's
read it in closing. To be found in Him, not having
mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith." And he goes on to say, "...that I may know him,
the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering."
Paul left all for Christ. He counted all former excellencies,
all former zeal, all former religious observances as done that he may
know Christ, and he found it a good and a worthy exchange,
and he commends it to others as well. Suffer loss of all things
for the gain of Christ. It's like to die is gain in Philippians
chapter 1. How horrible is death! But it is a gain. To do so is
gain. All right, thank you. Let's stand
for a word of prayer, please.