Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the book of
Philippians, the New Testament book of Philippians. This is
a letter that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to
write to a church in the city of Philippi. And the title of
the message today is Rejoicing in Christ. rejoicing in Christ. And I'll be starting at the first
verse of this chapter. Often on this program, what I
like to do is to pick a chapter of the Bible and go through that
chapter, verse by verse, and that's called expository preaching.
It's a good way to preach because it doesn't take anything out
of the context. And even when I preach on one
verse, I try to preach it within its context. So many people make
the mistake of taking verses, even words, out of the context
that they're written in and try to interpret them and try to
understand their meaning, and it's impossible to do so. Context
is so important. And so I'm going to start at
verse one here, and I want to show you the context here in
Philippians chapter three. And my plan is, in the next several
messages, is to go through this chapter. But we're talking about
rejoicing in Christ. Now, it starts out, verse one,
Philippians chapter three, the apostle Paul is writing to the
believers in the church at Philippi, and he says, finally, my brethren,
brethren in Christ, not physical brethren, but spiritual brethren.
And that's important. Now, it's another thing that's
important to understand here is that churches like Philippi,
these were considered Gentile areas where Paul went out and
preached the gospel and the Lord planted a church in certain cities
like Galatia and Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, all of the These churches
were made up of believing Gentiles, but also believing Jews. And
then there were also others who went out preaching another message,
a false gospel, who tried to infiltrate these churches. But
look here, he says, finally my brethren, brethren in the spirit,
sinners saved by the grace of God, the elect of God is what
the Bible calls them. They're those whom God chose
before the foundation of the world and gave to Christ, placed
all of the responsibility of their salvation upon Him and
Him alone. And so the ones He came to redeem,
they are justified If they're true brethren, they're justified. That means their sins are forgiven
and they are declared righteous based upon Christ's righteousness,
imputed, charged, accounted to them. And they have been brought
to faith in Christ. So finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. Now, it's important that we understand
this. Rejoice here means to be glad. It means to have joy. That's
what it literally means. But now this is not, when I entitled
this message Rejoicing in Christ, we're gonna look at that down
in verse three, where there's another word rejoice that means
something else. But here, rejoice in the Lord
means to be glad in the Lord. And that's what a believer is
commanded and instructed to do. Looking to Christ, finding my
salvation in him and him alone, and rejoicing in Him, being glad
in Him, knowing that I have nothing in myself to recommend me unto
God. Knowing that I have no way of
saving myself or keeping myself safe, it's all in Christ. And
so I rejoice in the Lord. And then Paul writes, to write
the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous or burdensome,
but for you it is safe. Now Paul, when he addressed these
churches or wrote these churches, he had the same message. It's
the Gospel message. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
that message over in Romans 1, 16 and 17. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
who believeth, the Jew first, the Greek also. For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, from the
doctrine of Christ to believing sinners. As it is written, the
just or the justified shall live by faith. So Paul often repeated
himself. I get accused of that very often
from people. But I don't mind it. Because
if you're a believer, I can tell you this, it's not burdensome
or grievous to me to preach the same message. But for you, it
is safe. It is safe. Because you see,
the preaching of Christ crucified and risen from the dead is the
safety of God's people. That's how we are saved and how
we're kept saved. Kept safe. Now in verse two,
he says this. Now listen to this. He says,
beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision. Now
what would inspire Paul to say that? Here he's talking about
rejoicing, being glad. And then in verse two, he brings
a negative to him. Beware, be wary, be on guard. Be ready to recognize this and
not get involved with it. And he says dogs. What's the
word dogs mean? Well that's like an old stray
dog, a cur dog that nobody wants. Often, the self-righteous, unbelieving
Jews would refer to Gentiles that way, Gentile dogs, some
animal that nobody wants. And he says, beware them. Well,
Paul, why would you use such strange language, such harsh
language? He says, beware of evil workers. Well, what's he talking about
there? Surely he's talking about the immoral, irreligious segment
of our society. Well, no, that's not who he's
talking about here now. Now, believers, true Christians,
should not engage in the behavior, the immoral behavior of unbelieving
people. That's true. And the Bible deals
with that in other passages. But when Paul says, beware of
dogs, beware of evil workers, he's not talking about what we
would consider the evil, immoral, irreligious segment of society.
Who's he talking about? Well, he says it right here in
this phrase, beware of the concision. Concision. Now in the next verse,
Paul says in verse three, we are the circumcision. The circumcision,
you know what circumcision is. That was the rite that the Jews
were instructed to go through since Abraham of the male children,
cutting off the foreskin of the flesh on the eighth day after
they were born. But back up there in verse two,
he says the concision. Now, what we have there is kind
of like a play on words. And verse three tells us what
he means for we are the circumcision. The concision, the word concision
actually is a word that could be closely defined as mutilation. Mutilation. And what he's talking
about here is he's talking about Jewish men and women, or Jewish
men, who claim to believe the gospel, who claim to be Christians,
And they would go out into these Gentile churches and they would
insist that the Gentile believers be circumcised, the male believers
be circumcised in order to be really saved, in order to be
truly righteous and acceptable on God's side. So what they were
doing is they were adding their works to the work of Christ. Now it's important that you understand
this or you won't get this chapter. These were people, Jewish people,
who claimed to be Christian. Who claimed that Christ was their
only hope. Who claimed that Christ was their
salvation. But they would say, you have
to be circumcised, you Gentile men, have to be circumcised in
order to be saved, to be really saved, to be really righteous,
to be accepted with God. So they brought in the law of
circumcision and added it to the work of Christ for the salvation
of sinners. Well, Paul, just lays it out
on the line and he says, all they're doing is mutilating you. There is no religious reason. There's no way that you can fit
the physical rite of circumcision into the plan of salvation and
the gospel. There's no way you can do that.
And he says, these men who are Jews, Israelites, who come along and try to get
the Gentile men to be circumcised in order to be really saved or
really righteous or really accepted, they're not doing you any good
at all. They're actually denying the gospel. And so he says in
verse three, he says, for we are the circumcision. Now what
does he mean by that? And he's talking to the believers
there. We who believe in Christ, We are the circumcision. And
you know, the Jews often refer to themselves as the circumcision.
And they've referred to the Gentiles as the uncircumcision. Well,
Paul says, they think that they're doing right. They think they're
saved, but he said, we are really the circumcision. Well, what's
Paul talking about? And how could he talk to a Gentile
who had not been circumcised that way? Well, here's the key. And listen very carefully. What
Paul's talking about here in verse three, for we are the circumcision,
is spiritual circumcision. It's called circumcision of the
heart. Spiritual circumcision of the
heart. And if you'll look over in Romans
chapter two, the last two verses of Romans chapter two gives us
a really good explanation. of what Paul is talking about.
And he says here, verse 28, and here in the context he's talking
about how the Jews who sought righteousness and salvation by
their law-keeping, including their circumcision, how they
didn't make it because no sinner can be saved by their works.
No matter how hard you try, I don't care if you're a Jew or a Gentile,
you cannot be righteous, be made righteous in God's sight by your
works. The only way a sinner can be
made righteous is by God's grace based upon the righteousness
of Christ imputed to him, charged to him, accounted to him. I have
no righteousness in myself. My righteousness is Christ. And
that's really the theme of what Paul's saying in Philippians
3, but listen, look at Romans chapter 2 and verse 28. Paul writes here, for he is not
a Jew, which is one outwardly. Now, when we talk about salvation,
We're not talking about what you are by natural birth, your
race, your ethnicity, or anything like that. For he is not a Jew
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh. And then Romans 2 29. But he
is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the
heart. Now you understand what Paul's
talking about over in Philippians 3, we are the circumcision. He's
saying we've been circumcised in our hearts. And circumcision,
let's read verse 29. He is a Jew which is one inwardly
and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in
the letter. Not according to the law, see?
Whose praise is not of men but of God. You see that? That's the whole issue there.
He's talking about circumcision of the heart, not circumcision
of the flesh. And over in, turn to Galatians,
chapter six, in the last part of the book of Galatians. Now,
what was going on in the church at Philippi was going on in the
churches of Galatia too. There were Jews who claimed to
be Christian who entered into these churches and insisted that
the Gentile believers be circumcised physically. in order to be really
saved, really righteous, really accepted with God. And Paul writes
in Galatians chapter six, verse 14, he says, but God forbid that
I should glory, that I should boast, or I should have confidence,
save or accept in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. My confidence, my boast is not
in anything I do or don't do. It's not anything that God's
done in me or through me. It's in the cross. The person,
the glorious person, and the finished work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what I do on this program.
That's what I do when I stand up in our church and preach a
message. I brag on Christ. I boast in him, not in myself. And so he says, God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
cross means his death, his blood, his righteousness that he accomplished
by his death wherein he was buried and arose again the third day
because of the justification of his people. He put sins away
and he worked out a perfect righteousness whereby they could be accepted
with God. And listen to the rest of this
in Galatians 6, 14. By whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. What Paul means there is because
I glory in nothing but the cross, glory in nothing but Christ.
What he's saying there is that gives me a different relationship
with the world. Because I look upon the world,
the unbelieving world, as being cursed, cursed of God. And the
unbelieving world looks upon me as being cursed of God when
they really understand what I'm saying. But look at verse 15
of Galatians 6. Now he said, God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross. He says in verse 15, for in Christ
Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything. That's physical circumcision.
It means nothing. That's what he's saying. Doesn't
avail or accomplish anything as to spiritual life and salvation. It availeth neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. It doesn't matter if you're a
Gentile who's uncircumcised. That has no bearing on your justification
before God. Your sins being put away. Your
righteousness established. Your circumcision has nothing
to do with a right relationship with God, physical. But he says,
but a new creature or a new creation. Now what is the new creature?
The new creation. Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5,
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. He's a new creation. So what Paul's saying, look,
God forbid that I should glory in anything except the cross
of Christ, the glorious person, the finished work, the blood,
the righteousness of Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection.
And in Christ Jesus, physical circumcision doesn't accomplish
anything, doesn't add anything. And physical uncircumcision doesn't
take away anything. It's all in Christ Jesus. And
the only thing that matters is a new creation, a new creature. What is the new creature? It's
a born again person. It's a person who has been circumcised
in heart. Circumcision of the heart. That
Christ said, you must be born again. You must be given a new
heart, a new life, spiritual life. By nature, by nature, we're
spiritually dead. See, we fell in Adam. Romans
5, 12. Sin entered into the world and
death by sin, for death passed upon all men for that all sin.
And as a result, we're born without any spiritual life. We're born
spiritually dead. And that's why Christ said, you
must be born again. So go back over to Philippians
3 in our text. Paul says, beware of these people
who claim to be Christian, who come in wanting to add physical
circumcision, like as the Jewish state under the old covenant
from Abraham, in order for you to be more saved or holier or
more righteous. Verse three, for we are the circumcision. He's talking about we've been
born again. Jew and Gentile, if you believe the gospel, that's
the evidence that you've been born again, and he gives three
evidences here. He says we are the circumcision,
number one, which worship God in the spirit. Now, the word
spirit there, if you've got a King James Version, it's probably
in small letters. Some interpret this to be the
Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity,
and it could go either way. When he says we worship God in
the Spirit, if it's the small s, it means that we've been given
new life from God. We've been given a new spirit,
we've been given a new heart, and we worship God in sincerity
and truth. And if it's the Holy Spirit,
it means that we worship God as the Holy Spirit leads us and
shows us and guides us in the Word of God. And basically, here's
what it is. We worship God, the true and
living God, as He is according to the revelation of Himself.
Now, the unbelieving Jews claim to worship the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. but they were worshiping an idol.
You say, well, how can you say that? Listen, any sinner who
approaches God, his idea of God, expecting God to save him or
bless him or receive him based upon any works that he does or
hasn't done, that's not the God of the Bible, who believes that
that God accepts him based upon his circumcision, physical circumcision,
for example. That's not the God of the Bible
because he won't have that. Back over in Cain and Abel. Cain
came to God based on the works of his hands. He didn't know
the true and living God because the true and living God forbids
that. The true and living God won't accept that. Abel came
to God with the blood of a lamb, picturing Christ. That's the
true and living God. So we worship God, we serve God
in the Spirit. And then secondly, he says, we
rejoice in Christ Jesus. And that's what we're talking
about. Rejoice. Now remember back up in verse
one, he said rejoice in the Lord. Well, that means to be glad.
But it's a different word here in verse three, when he says
rejoice in Christ Jesus. In fact, it's the same word that
is translated glory over in Galatians 6.14, God forbid that I should
glory. And what Paul's saying here is we know we've been circumcised
in heart, we know we've been born again because we worship
the true and living God according to the Spirit in sincerity and
truth. We rejoice in Christ Jesus, that
means we boast in Christ Jesus. We have confidence in Christ.
He is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and He's
our redemption. He's my whole salvation. My physical
circumcision means nothing. Christ is everything. His glorious
person, His finished work. For therein, the gospel wherein
the righteousness of God is revealed, that's the merit of His whole
work of redemption on the cross as the surety, the substitute,
the redeemer of His people. And then he goes on in verse
three, he says, and have no confidence in the flesh. We have no confidence
in the flesh. And the flesh there, what he's
talking about is anything that he can do. And he goes on in
the next verses to describe that, and I'll get to that. But Paul,
when he talks about the flesh, you know, the term flesh in the
Bible is an interesting term. Sometimes it's talking about
the physical body. Jesus Christ is the Word made
flesh. Sometimes the word flesh talks
about the sin principles that reside in us. Unbelief, darkness,
ignorance, evil motives, evil goals, evil thoughts. That's the flesh. And the reason
that's called the flesh is because these evil principles, sinful
principles within us work their way out through our physical
bodies. When we use our eyes or our brain
in evil ways, our hands, or when we walk in an evil walk. And
so it's called the flesh. But what Paul is talking about
here is the best that the flesh can do. The best that I can do
in myself, by my works, I have no confidence in it. My confidence
of salvation, my confidence of being saved, my confidence of
being kept under glory, my confidence of being justified, knowing that
my sins have been totally washed away. What can wash away my sins? Well, my boast is in Christ,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. You see what I'm saying? And
so all that the flesh can accomplish at its best, religion, morality,
whatever it is, I don't have any confidence in it. My confidence
of salvation and righteousness, my confidence of sanctification,
my confidence of all the blessings that God has for me is Christ
Jesus and not the flesh. God does, listen, God, I can
never put God in a situation where He owes me anything but
damnation and wrath. My confidence is Christ and I'm
blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. And everything else, I count
it but dung. Now we're gonna see that here
in Philippians chapter three. Rejoicing in Christ is believing
in Christ by the power of God. If you've been born again by
the Spirit, your confidence, your faith is not in yourself
or even in your faith, but in Christ alone, crucified and risen
from the dead. He is my righteousness. That's
what it takes. He is the way of righteousness.
It's all by his merits, by his work, by what he accomplished. And I'm the recipient of that
by the grace of God. Grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so we are the circumcision
that we believe the gospel because we rejoice evidence by rejoicing
in Christ. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today and may the Lord be with you.