Well I want to turn your attention
back to Philippians and the third chapter this morning, the third
chapter. You probably think I don't need
to preach on this because I guess it must be one of the most frequently
quoted passages of scripture. Because it's so clear as to what
the true gospel is and the standing of the people of God in the true
gospel. But, nevertheless, we're coming
back to it. We're working through the epistle
sequentially, and so this is the passage that we will look
at this morning, the first nine verses. In chapter two, Paul
has commended Timothy and Epaphroditus to the people. He's talked about
the ministry gifts which are given. Ephesians 4, God gives
ministry gifts to the church that he might build up the church.
that he might strengthen it, that he might equip it, that
we might not be children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine,
you know, going like a balloon, wherever the wind blows, it goes
that way, you know, it can't steer itself, it just goes where
the wind takes it, and that's what a lot of people are like
in matters of religion. They have no control over where
they're going. They just go where the wind of doctrine blows them,
the wind of fashion blows them. But no, he gives ministry gifts
to build up his church, to edify, to solidly put us on that foundation,
anchored to the rock, which is Christ. And then Paul says, finally. So I think it was Paul that wrote
finally, because he thought, well, I've told them everything
I want to tell them. But the Holy Spirit had more to tell
this church at Philippi and more to tell us. Because although
Paul, the man, says, finally, my brethren, he goes on for another
two chapters. So the Holy Spirit has more to
say, more than what he said so far. And he says, Finally, my
brethren, rejoice in the Lord." Encouraging. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Peter prayed
in his prayer that we might rejoice in the Lord. You know, what makes
you glad? Child of God, what makes you
glad? What thrills your heart? Is it
not the thoughts of God? Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice
in this one that you person, a sinner, like anybody else.
If you're a child of God, you know this God. You know Him. You know the sovereign, majestic
God, who is creator of all things. The one who is high and lofty
and dwells in unapproachable light, and yet the one who delights
in mercy, and is merciful to sinners, and is God our Saviour,
For in sovereign grace he saves his people from their sins. Rejoice
in this God. Rejoice in, what am I? Where
am I from? Where am I going to? I know the
living God. I know where I am in him. I know
my feet are on solid ground. I know where I am. He's just
and unchanging, yet he's the one who has justified the ungodly. Rejoice in this God. Don't just
rejoice in some weird notion like religion does, where it
has no basis for rejoicing, but rejoice because in the gospel
you have a basis for rejoicing. for your sins would drag you
down justly to hell. But in Christ he has saved his
people from their sins. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice in him. Rejoice in God
my Saviour. Rejoice in him. Rejoice that
you know him, or as Paul says to the Galatians, that you know
God, or rather are known of God. It was one of our brethren in
America, I think it was Morris, wasn't it, who said, because
his mind's going, and he said, you know, he said, I'm so glad
that it says it doesn't depend on me knowing him. He knows me. He knows me. Not just that I
know him, but that he knows me. Praise God that He knows me,
that you know God or rather are known of God. Rejoice in God
my Saviour. Do you despair at your situation
ever? I'm sure you do. You often do.
Rejoice in the Lord. Let me take you back to one of
the extremes, it's the 1500s. And those who trusted Christ
truly are being burned at the stake. Can you imagine a more
traumatic set of circumstances than going to that pyre to be
burned at the stake? What a cruel, cruel, wicked way
to kill somebody. What a dreadful, dreadful thing
to do to another human being. And they went rejoicing. They
went rejoicing. singing praises as the flames
licked round them. Why? Because of what they could
see. They could see that they were going to glory. For to me
to live is Christ, but to die is gain. I know I'm going into
his eternal presence. This is the doorway into his
eternal presence. Oh, it's a stormy, choppy sea. It's an unpleasant crossing,
but he is taking me to glory. And the gospel is the basis for
rejoicing, because Christ is its center and its son. Rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. Rejoice in God our Savior. Rejoice
in Him. But, he says, because he's telling
them, to say the same things to you indeed is not grievous. For you it is safe to keep repeating
the gospel. In fact, if you're a true child
of God, you don't want to hear anything other than the gospel. You don't want to go anywhere,
you don't want to hear anything other than the gospel. You don't
want any religion which is just all about all being good people
together because it's worthless, it's futile, it's pointless,
it's a waste of time, it has no eternal currency. You want
to hear of Christ and rejoice in him. But he says, verse 2,
but beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. Dogs. He's not talking about
you know people fine I like dogs I like lots of dogs but you know
it does concern me that there are people who think that their
dog is a person in a fur coat it isn't it's a dog it's a dog
but he's not talking about canines he's talking he's using the terminology
to talk about those people who are religious opposers of the
gospel. Religious opposers of the gospel. And in his day, it was the Jews,
it was the Jewish hierarchy. of the Pharisees and the high
priests and all. He calls them dogs and evil workers
and the concision. Dogs is what the Jews called
the Gentiles. Do you remember when Jesus met
that Syrophoenician woman who came to him? And I forget what
the thing was. She came to him asking for mercy. She came pleading. And he said
to her, it isn't right to give the children's food to the dogs
You're a Gentile dog. It's not right to give the children's
food to the dogs. Ah, she said, but even the little
dogs. I'm a little dog, she said. I
acknowledge it, I'm a little dog. Even the little dogs can
lick up the crumbs that fall from the children's table. Powerful. What the Jews called the Gentiles.
He says now, they are the dogs. They are the evil workers, they
are the concision. He says, they are evil workers,
they are twisters of doctrine. Twisters, they've got doctrine,
but they twist it for their own purposes. Peter talks about them,
2 Peter 3.16. In all Paul's epistles, he says,
are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned
and unstable rest, twist, as they do also the other scriptures. unto their own destruction. They
twist it. Religious folks who twist the
scriptures and doctrine to their own destruction. And he calls them the concision.
You know, the Jews said they were the circumcision. They were
the ones that had the right of circumcision, which was the mark
of God's covenant with Abraham. And it was what marked them out
from the others round about. He said, we are the circumcision. And Paul calls them the concision,
which means the mutilators. The mutilators. He says, beware
of them. Beware of these religious zealots, the mutilators. What
does that mean? How do we apply it to us today?
Let me put it this way. He says, beware of religion,
all of it, that seeks in any measure improvement of standing
with God through the flesh. In any measure, however small. He says, beware of them. Beware
of those who in any measure put any confidence in the flesh for
standing with God. Any measure at all, however small. Bill always used to use an illustration
of a glass of water which was perfectly good to drink. How
many drops of cyanide could I add to that glass of water and you
would still be prepared to drink it? I tell you, if you saw me
add one drop, one drop out of thousands of drops in that glass
of water, you wouldn't drink it, would you? Because it's poison.
Even one drop poisons it. And Paul says that about these
religious folks who bring any measure of improvement with God
through the flesh. to their standing with God. You
know, they say, they say, oh, yeah, well, you believe Christ,
but now you must do this, that, and the other. You must get yourself
more sanctified. You must do these other things.
Must do, must do, must, it's law, it's law. By the works of
the law, no flesh justified in his sight. It's a drop of poison
in a glass of water. Don't touch it. He says beware
of them, beware of them. Now contrast those people that
he's calling dogs and evil workers and the concision. Contrast those
with the ones we saw in chapter 1, in verse 15 of chapter 1. Some indeed preach Christ even
of envy and strife. and some also of goodwill. The
one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add
affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I
am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding
every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached,
and I therein do rejoice. Yea, and I will rejoice. we saw
when we looked at that passage that Paul couldn't possibly rejoice
in anything that was in any way the work of dogs, evil workers,
and the concision. These were people who were preaching
a true gospel of Christ, but out of envy and strife because
we're in the flesh and it's sad that these things happen. You
know, we're separated from brethren who believe exactly the same
things as we do in respect of standing in the gospel. And I
find it very sad and I don't understand it. And do you know
what the barrier is? It's just a denominational barrier.
Because we don't submit to their particular standard of discipline.
But in every other respect we agree with them entirely. And
it's very sad that we're separated from them. They're the only other
real brethren in this country that we've got apart from a handful.
But there are others, there are others, who add fleshly works
in some little measure or some larger measure to the gospel
of Christ. And they are what Paul calls dogs, evil workers,
and the concision. And he says, beware of them.
Beware of them. For they are not the true people
of God. They're not. In maintaining the
truth, we will meet religious opposition. Whether it's just
sidelining or whether it's out-and-out opposition. But in maintaining
the truth of the gospel of grace as it's declared in the scriptures,
we will meet with religious opposition. Sometimes it's subtle, it's always
pernicious. It comes, Jesus warned his disciples,
beware, Satan comes as an angel of light. Oh, he seems so reasonable,
such a nice man, how could he be... Angel of light. could deceive
even the elect, if it were possible. But it isn't possible, for God's
people cannot be deceived, ultimately, cannot be. Paul warned the Ephesian
elders about these people. Acts 20 verse 30, he says, Also
of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things,
to draw away disciples after them. He says, even amongst your
own number beware. men shall arise speaking perverse
things." So, this is the question, how do we know that we, people
who believe the gospel we believe, are the true people of God? And
you know this verse so well, but I'm going to expound it,
God willing, this morning and open it up for you. Three markers,
in verse three, of how we know that we are the true people of
God. We are the circumcision. We are the true people of God.
The Jews thought that they, Israel, was the true people of God, and
indeed it was, in picture. But he says, no, we are the circumcision. We are truly the ones who are
God's people. And there are three markers.
We worship God in the spirit, we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have no confidence in the flesh. As simple as that. We
worship God in the Spirit, we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have no confidence in the flesh. Tell me, you know, those
that will tell you that the true marks of true believers are that
they obey the law of Moses, and that they do this, that, and
the other, can you tell me where in that verse it says anything
about the law? where it says anything about
the law being the believer's rule, not in the slightest. It
doesn't say a word about it. It says we are the true circumcision,
the true people of God, because the true people of God worship
God in the spirit. Worship God in the spirit. True
worship is not just something you do in a building when you
gather together on a certain day with a priest in his robes
or whatever other stuff goes with that gathering. No. True
worship is a spiritual thing. It's a thing of the heart. It's
a thing of the new man of God. It's, I tell you, those that
gather for worship in a physical building do not worship God.
If you don't worship God in your heart, I don't care where you
go or what you do or what you bow to, anything of that matters
nothing. True worship is that which goes
on in the heart, not just at one particular time, but all
the time. True worship is worshipping of
God in the Spirit, and it's a thing that can only be exercised by
the new man of God's Spirit. The flesh cannot worship God
in the Spirit. The flesh of the old man reformed,
and a leaf turned over, and made new, and sanctified progressively,
that cannot worship God, for the natural man doesn't receive
the things of the Spirit of God, never mind worship God. doesn't
receive the things of the Spirit of God. There was nothing to
do with the things of the Spirit of God. There must be. This is
why Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. Unless
a man is born again, Unless a man is born again of water and of
the Spirit, he says you cannot see the kingdom of God, you cannot
know anything to do with it. It's not a thing the natural
man can do, because he doesn't discern those things. So this
worship is nothing to do with external fleshly things that
we sense with our physical senses. Contrast it with what the world
considers proper religion. You know, people have said of
our gathering here, we're not a proper church. What is a proper
church? What is a proper church? Is it
one that has religion and icons and buildings and robes and rites
of worship, etc., etc.? Structures? Let's not just think
about, you know, Anglo-Catholics and all that sort of thing. Think
about those that are so proud of their tradition. You know,
they may not have robes and stained glass windows, but I tell you,
they've got all the things that make them feel good when they
go and sit in that building. Oh, do you know it's been there
so long, and isn't it absolutely the gold standard of the truth,
and oh, they've done this, and they've done that, and they know
these people, and they know those people. No. No. That's not worshipping
God. We worship God in the Spirit. Samaritan woman said to Jesus,
she said, you Jews say that, you know, when he put his finger
on her sin, she said, oh, I perceive you're a prophet. You Jews say
that it's Jerusalem you should worship him, but our fathers
say it was in this, and he says, woman, I'm telling you, the time
is coming when those that worship God truly will worship him in
spirit and in truth, not in this mountain, not in Jerusalem. Only
the new man born of God's spirit can do this. For without the
new birth, there's no spiritual discernment. Never mind true
worship. John 3 verse 6, that which is
born of the flesh is flesh. Don't expect spiritual things
of it. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. But that
which is born of the spirit is spirit. There must be a new man. Romans 2.29, he is a Jew, he
is truly one of God's people, who worships God in the Spirit,
which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the Spirit, and not of the letter, whose praise is
not of men, because of outward things that we do, but of God.
Because of where, why would there be praise of God? Because of
where we're looking, of where we're trusting. The new man is
a new creation of God. A new creation, you know, the
work of the Trinity. God the Father chose a people
out of pure, sovereign grace before the beginning of time.
He put them in his Son who covenanted to come and pay the price of
justice, to satisfy justice in time for them. But they're still
children of wrath, even as others, until the Holy Spirit comes.
and makes them aware, and brings them to life, and gives them
faith to believe Christ, and apprehend the things of the Spirit
of God, and the gospel of His grace, and makes them a new creature. So, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things become new. Only those who are truly born
of God's Spirit are able, and actually do, worship God in the
Spirit. Religious order, religious structure
is no guarantee whatsoever of spiritual life. We are the true
circumcision who worship God in the spirit. Do we? Do you? Do I worship God in the spirit,
truly? Secondly, we worship God in the
spirit, secondly, we rejoice in Christ Jesus. I've touched
on this already in the introduction, but what is it to rejoice in
Christ Jesus? What is it to rejoice in him?
When he was brought as an eight-day-old baby by Mary and Joseph to the
temple, there was the old man Simeon there who was waiting
to see the salvation of Israel. And he knew by divine revelation
this baby was the promised Messiah. was the promised Christ of the
Old Testament, that in this one baby that he held in his arms,
all the Old Testament messianic prophecy was fulfilled. What
was that all about? That Old Testament messianic
prophecy? It was about God showing his
people how he'll save them from their sins. How he in sovereign
grace will effectually accomplish the salvation of his people from
their sins. That they might be just with
him. How shall a man be just with God? In that which the Messiah
would come and do. Where is he? We need to see him.
Simeon's there waiting. And they bring this eight day
old baby. And he holds him in his arms
and he says, now I can die in peace. for mine eyes have seen
the salvation of God." He's come. That which God has promised,
He's come. He rejoiced in Christ Jesus. He rejoiced that here
was God come in the flesh to save His people, to save Him
from His sins. to save him from that sin debt. For he knew in time it was necessary
that he take upon him the flesh of the children, that he come
in perfect manhood, that he come to secure the justification of
his people. It's to rejoice in him, to rejoice
in his person, to rejoice in his glorious Godhead. Turn over
a couple of pages. You don't have to if you can't
get there quickly, but I'll read it to you. Colossians 2 verse
9, For in him, in this one, Christ Jesus, dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. All the fullness of the Godhead
in him dwells in this man who came. And you, his believing
people, are complete in him. You know, you listen to religion
and it will tell you you're 99.9% there in Him, but there's still
a bit for you to do. And unless you do it, you've
got no God. No. He says you are complete
in Him. Complete in Him. Which is the
head. He's the head of all principality
and power. In whom ye also are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. in putting off the body
of sin of the flesh by the circumcision. He's done it all for his people. In him, rejoice in him, rejoice
in his perfect manhood, that he came when the fullness of
the time was come. God sent forth his son, made
of a woman. with the flesh that we have,
made like his people, because his people have sin which must
be punished, and the soul that sins, it shall die, and the price
is the life, and the life is in the blood, and the blood must
be shed. And so if he's to save his people, he must come, the
infinite Son of God, and his infinitely perfect and pure blood
must be shed as the price of justice for the sins of his people.
To achieve that which was necessary, to redeem fleshly sinful children
Hebrews 2 14 and 15 for as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood he also this glorious Lord Jesus Christ in
whom we rejoice he also himself likewise took part of the same
flesh exactly the same flesh made of a woman that through
death that through his death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver his people,
deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage, but he's delivered us. He's delivered
his people. He is able to save to the uttermost
those who come to God by him, for he's satisfied all things
that God requires. He's fully man, yet manifests
the infinite Godhead. As I said earlier in the study,
John 1.18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten
Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. He has made him known. And again,
I'll quote what I often quote, but Philip, you know, when Jesus
has said he's the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes
to the Father but by him, and where he's going, you know, he's
gonna take them to be with him, he's preparing mansions for them,
and don't be afraid, you know, Peter in his flesh has said,
all will desert you, but I won't desert you. And Jesus says to
him, oh yes, you will. And then he says, but don't be
afraid. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house
are many mansions. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life." And Philip says, this is all well and good, but just
show us the Father. Reveal the essence of the Godhead
to us. And that will do. That will suffice.
Philip. Have I been so long with you, and you have not known Me?
He who has seen Me has seen the Father. In Christ is the manifestation
of all the Godhead. Rejoice in Him. He has honored
the law for His people. He has fulfilled it. He came
and was made subject to the law. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem those who were under the law. He was made under
the law to fulfill it, to magnify it, to honor it. God's law is
honourable, and he came and magnified it, in fulfilling it, and his
people did in him, for we were counted in him, the bride of
Christ, and all of God's elect in him. What I can't do in the
flesh, he has done in my stead and for me, in my place and form. Rejoice in him, rejoice in him. When you stand, we all must stand. It's appointed to man to die
once and then the judgment. We must all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. And what will your plea be before
that judgment seat of Christ which will be so terrible for
so many, but so glorious for the people of God? Where are
your sins? He's taken them away. Where's
your righteousness? He's made me the righteousness
of God in Him. Fully paid. Rejoice that He has
delivered me from this body of death. Oh, wretched man that
I am, said Paul in Romans 7. He talks about what it is in
the flesh, wrestling with the flesh when there's a new man
there who wants to do the things of God and that flesh is constantly,
who shall deliver me from it? Surely this flesh will drag me
down to hell. No, he says Christ has delivered
me. from this body of death. He's delivered me from it. And
the result, there is therefore now, the very next verse, there
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, who have
this new man of the Spirit of God within. There's no charge
can be brought against them. Thirty verses further on in chapter
eight of Romans, who shall bring anything to the charge of God's
elect? When we stand before judgment,
if we're in Christ, who shall charge us? And Satan is the accuser
of the brethren. Satan loves to charge the children
of God with law-breaking, with breaking God's law. But who shall
bring anything to the charge of God's elect? It won't stick.
Why won't it stick? Because there's no case. There's
no case to answer. Why is there no case to answer? For Christ
has paid the price of redemption. He's paid for the sins of his
people. The fire of God has already fallen. The ground is burnt and where
we stand is ground that can burn no more if we're in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is this where we rejoice? Of
course it is. No condemnation, no accusation, no charge that
can stick. Again, it's a while since I've
quoted this in, but I'll quote it again. My sin, oh the bliss
of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the
whole. Do you know, for years, when
I was hearing what people were telling me was the gospel, I
never knew that. I never knew that till I heard
the true gospel faithfully preached. My sin, oh the bliss of this
glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but all of it, is nailed
to his cross. And I bear it no more. I am crucified
with Christ. All of the accusation of the
law that was against me is nailed to his cross. I bear it no more.
I look to him. He's dealt with it all. the bliss
rejoice in Christ Jesus what a place of refuge is our Lord
Jesus Christ for the one fleeing from the vengeance of the law
like the cities of refuge in the books of Moses the cities
of refuge you know when the manslayer who'd accidentally killed his
neighbor and and the relatives of the neighbor come for vengeance
against that man and there were cities of refuge and Christ is
our city of refuge They were places where the rash justice
of the vigilante could not get the one who had accidentally
killed his neighbor. And Christ is a city of refuge
to us. What a place of refuge to flee. The law cannot get you, Satan
cannot get you, the accusers cannot get you. What a shelter
from divine judgment is this one in whom his people rejoice.
The man, as Isaiah 32 says, that he's the man who is as a hiding
place. a hiding place from the justice
of God. The shadow of a mighty rock in
a weary land. That's quoted in a hymn, isn't
it? Those words. The shadow of a mighty rock in
a weary land. Rejoice in Him. Why would any
true child of God be satisfied with anything other than this
glorious Lord Jesus Christ? Your own righteousness? Your
own works? A tiny little bit? Just add tiny
little bit Paul says, verse 9, I want to be found in him not
having my own righteousness, which is of the law. My own righteousness? It's filthy rags. Its vile, revolting,
filthy rags is my own righteousness. I don't want that. I don't want
to bring it. I don't want to try and pay with it. I don't
want to sew it onto the seamless robe of the righteousness of
Christ. I don't want any of my own righteousness, for my own
righteousness will only condemn me. My own righteousness will
only poison the glorious gospel of saving grace. No, that righteousness
which is what I think I earn by the law The righteousness
I want is that which is through the faith, not my faith in Christ,
but the faith of Christ, who did all things to save me. The
righteousness which is of God apprehended by faith in Christ. Yes, we believe Him and that's
how we apprehend it. That's how we know it's ours.
Dogs, evil workers, concision, religion, in other words, it
doesn't rejoice. You go around the churches that
call themselves churches, see what they preach, listen to their
sermons, see if you can hear Christ in it. I know one of you
did recently, and the question was asked, did you like it? And
the answer came, no, because there was no Christ in it. I
couldn't hear Christ in it. And if there's no Christ in it,
there's no rejoicing, there's no satisfaction, there's no peace.
This man, This Lord Jesus Christ, this God-man, if you believe
in Him, you will rejoice in Him like you rejoice in the most
precious thing you own. Because, to you who believe,
He is precious above everything else. above all your family relationships,
above every material possession you might ever have, above all
of your ambitions for this life, if you truly believe Him, it's
great to do things, it's great to have ambition, it's great
to be productive, it's great to do all these things, but above
all else, says Jesus, trusting Him. You know, that's why he
said, if a man doesn't hate mother, father, husband, wife, he's not
talking about you physically, you know, me starting to hate
my wife and she started, no, he's talking about in comparison,
Christ must be supreme in everything, absolutely. And then finally,
no confidence in the flesh, and we'll just be quick with this.
No confidence in the flesh for favor with God. I don't have
any confidence in any decision or belief of mine, no. I trust
him. I trust him, who gave me those
things anyway. I don't put any confidence in
any progressive sanctification that I might do, that I'm not
quite as bad as I used to be. I don't put any confidence in
that, no confidence. No, I don't. Grow in grace by
all means, but don't put any confidence in the fact. You know,
people used to say, oh, such and such a thing is not good
for my sanctification. You heard that? In religious,
it's not good for my, don't be ridiculous. If you're truly sanctified,
you're sanctified in Christ, not in anything you do. You cannot
get better at sanctifying yourself. The flesh is corrupt. Not in
my morality. Not in my tradition. We know
we did Gilbert and Sullivan trial by jury recently, and the jury
men, they look on the man who's let down his bride and they say,
you know, what a terrible cad he is. I used to be like that,
but I'm not anymore. Now I'm a respectable man. I
don't do anything like that. No, we have no confidence in
anything like that. No confidence in our morality,
our tradition, our respectability, our ancestry, our genes, our
wealth, our status, our connections, our good works. I told you once
about an elderly French lady that we met in a bed and breakfast
and how proud she was that she'd been baptized as a baby in a
particular cathedral, that had been blessed by a particular
set of saints, and how it must stand her in so much better stead
for eternity because she was baptized there. No, no confidence
in the flesh, let's come a bit closer to home, that's extreme,
that's Catholic superstition. What about Reformed Baptist churches
that can have just as much fleshly clutter that they trust in, really,
in truth? You know, they don't like the
doctrine of Happy Jack, here he is again, I'm getting it all
in this time, aren't I? Happy Jack, Well what's your doctrine? You must know certain things
before you can be a member of our church. I'm a poor sinner
and nothing at all. And Jesus Christ is my all in
all. But surely you've done this and
you've done that and surely you've... I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. Look at the man who had more right than any other to
have confidence in the flesh. Just quickly, we won't be long.
Paul says this, if you think you've got confidence in the
flesh, then I've got more. There's nobody got more religious
confidence in the flesh. He was circumcised the eighth
day. That was the right way, wasn't it? Of the stock of Israel.
Ah, but they were a mixed crew. Oh no, Paul was of the tribe
of Benjamin. That was the tribe that had the
most impeccable record of faithfulness. A Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching
the law. A Pharisee, the strictest sect
of the Pharisees. Concerning zeal, was he zealous?
I bear them witness, he says, of the Jews in Romans 10. They
have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, not according
to gospel knowledge, and as a result he persecuted the church. He
was there when Stephen was stoned to death, consenting to his death.
Touching the righteousness which is in the law in the eyes of
other men, they couldn't bring any accusation against him. But
all of that which was gain, it was that on which he put all
of his confidence, he counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless,
I count all of those things but loss. They're things I want to
get rid of. They're ballast I want to throw
overboard. It's not worth anything if the result is the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, but I don't care because they're done. They're
manure, they're rubbish that I might win Christ and be found
in Him. The flesh values those things. The new man of God's spirit counts
something else as excellent. The excellency of the knowledge
of Jesus Christ. Is that not the most excellent
thing? The excellency of the knowledge of Him. Christ is all. Oh, you're too Christ-centered.
You cannot be too Christ-centered. Christ is the sum and substance
of everything we preach and believe. Are these the marks of us as
a fellowship, as individual believers? Do you see that this is the true
knowledge of God? Only in this is the true knowledge
of God. Only in this. You cannot get it physically
any other religious place. All other things must be counted
as done. Do you fear that God might have passed you by? You
hear all these things and you believe the truth of them, but
you've heard that God's sovereign and He's a God of election, and
if He hasn't elected you, there's nothing you can do because the
wind blows where it lists. Well, hear what God's Word says.
Isaiah 55, verse 6 says this, And if you do, Jeremiah 29, 13
says this, And ye shall seek me, and find
me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart, and I
will be found of you, saith the Lord, and our Lord Jesus Christ. when he was ministering, said
this, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
to you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. This is the words of our Saviour.
And he that seeketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened. Or what man is there of you whom,
if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? If you ask
God, he won't give you that. Or if he asks a fish, will he
give him a snake, a poisonous snake? If ye then, being evil
in your sins, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good
things to them that ask him? Amen.