Just as soon as Brother Larry
Criss finished reading the passage he read back in the office, I
knew that I'd have to preach what I prepared for tonight another
time. Turn with me, if you will, to Philippians chapter 3. This is one of those blessed,
blessed passages that will pretty well preach itself, so you just
follow along. as I read to you these 21 verses
and make some brief comments. Finally, this is not Paul's last
word, but he uses this word finally to say, to sum up everything,
my brethren, what a blessed word, brethren, adopted We are in the
family of God as the sons of God, redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ, the one with God's darling son, who is himself
our elder brother, my brethren. That's my brother. That's my
sister. what tender affection there is
in that term. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice not in your family, your
earthly family, not in your experiences, not in your possessions, not
in your work, not even in your experiences. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord and your
joy will always be full. Rejoice in the Lord and you will
always have reason to rejoice. Rejoice in who He is, God our
Savior. in all the glory by which he
makes himself known to us in the saving of our souls, rejoice
in him. Rejoice in the Lord, the Lord
of all things, the Lord of all providence. I have said rejoice
in the providence of the Lord. That's a mistake. Rejoice in
the Lord of Providence. We have all stood beside caskets
of folks we love dearly. Some who have gone out into eternity
without God, and our hearts feel the bitter pain of knowing that. Some have gone out to eternity
to be with our God, and our hearts still are filled with the bitter
pain of their absence. It's impossible to rejoice in
bitter experiences, but you can rejoice in the Lord in the midst
of bitter experiences. Rejoice in the Lord. Look over
in chapter 4, verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. Paul is writing to us by inspiration,
having declared to us what Christ has done for us as our Redeemer,
and he says now rejoice. Having declared Him in all His
great glory as the Lord, rejoice. Let your moderation, that word
It's only used one other time in the scriptures. In 1 Corinthians,
Paul uses it to speak of the moderation of Christ. But there
the word is translated, the gentleness of Christ. Let your gentleness,
your unruffled ease, that's the word. Your undisturbed peace,
that's it. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. The Lord is at hand. He is God
with you. God at your elbow. God standing
at your side all the time. Oh, God, teach me not only to
believe that, but to realize that and to walk in the joy of
that. Be careful for nothing. But in everything, by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known
unto God. Pour out your heart to God and
quit pacing the floor like God didn't exist. Martin Luther,
the shovel, was reading to me a passage from a biography of
his wife, And she reminded me of an experience Luther had on
one occasion, as the strongest of men at times do. Luther was in a fit of despondency,
just in utter despair. And his wife couldn't do anything
to help him. Nobody could cheer him up. Nobody could get him
to quit looking within himself. And one day she got up. and put on a black dress, and
a black hat, and a black veil, and walked into the study as
if she were fixing to go to a funeral. And Luther looked at her and
said, Why, Katie, where are you going? Who died? And she said, God died. I'm going
to his funeral. And Luther looked at her and
said, Why, how foolish are you, woman? She said, Well, you act
like he died. I presumed he had. Good enough. And that took care of it. The
Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing. But rather
he says, rather he says, the peace of God now, rejoicing in
him who is at hand, making a supplication known to him who is at hand,
the peace of God which defies imagination. The peace of God
all the psychiatrists and psychologists and philosophers in the world
can't fathom. The peace of God, you just can't
imagine, shall keep your hearts. Keep, like the bank vault keeps
your money, like a guard keeps the encampment. shall guard and
protect your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally,
there's that word again. This is some of what I'm saying.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what are those
things? All things relating to the Lord
who's at hand. All his person, all his work,
all his character, all his revelation, all his gospel, Whatsoever things
are honest. Hmm, reckon what that's talking
about. Did you ever meet an honest man? I mean really honest. Absolutely honest. Not on this
earth, but there's one who's honest. And those things that
are honest, those things that have no cunning, no craftiness,
no deceit, are the things relating to the Lord. Whatsoever things
are honest, read on. Whatsoever things are just, righteous,
equitable, Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are a good report of good news, whatsoever
things are revealed in the gospel, if there be any virtue, if there
be any praise, think on these things, think on these things,
and rejoice. I'll write back here in chapter
3, verse 1 again. Paul says to The same things to you, to me
indeed, is not grievous. I make no apology, and I'm not
in the least bit embarrassed to continually declare to you
the gospel of God's free grace. I make no apology, and I'm not
in the least bit embarrassed to constantly point you to Christ
and call you to worship, to believe, and to follow Christ. But for
you, it's safe. I am determined, he said, not
to know anything among you. Save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's going to be the only thing
I talk to you about, the only thing I preach about, because
that's the only thing you need. I make no apology for proclaiming
to you the same glorious gospel truths I have proclaimed. Beware
of dogs. Now the word is used throughout
the scripture with reference to false prophets. You recall
back in the Old Testament, God gave a law regarding prostitutes
and dogs. He said, don't bring the hiring,
the pay, the money of a prostitute or a dog into my temple. Now
some silly folks, a good many I have known, And so I couldn't
sell a dog because I can't tie the money to a dog. I don't accept
it. That ain't what he's talking about. That ain't what he's talking
about. He's talking about don't bring the price of a male prostitute
clothed in religious garb into my house. He's talking about
dogs, false prophets. Dogs who love to slumber and
cannot bark because they love to slumber. Greedy dogs seeking
after their own things. Brother Paul Mayhem preached
this one time. He said especially those who wear collars. Beware
of dogs. Beware of dogs. Who are they? They're evil workers. Beware
of the concision. Those who mutilate. Those who would mutilate the
flesh. Those who preach salvation by
works. Salvation by what you do. Represented
in the teaching of circumcision. Those who tell you that, now
we know that salvation is by grace, salvation is in Christ,
but you've got to do your part. We know that salvation is of
the Lord, but your will is really the determining factor. We know
that salvation is God's work, but don't expect that anybody
should tell you the truth who tells you you don't have to work
for it. Beware of those fellows. They are mutilators of the flesh. They mutilate the body physically,
and they would, if they could, mutilate the very body of Christ.
Those who are of the concession teach you that you attain holiness
and righteousness in some measure, to some degree, by depriving
yourself of this or by giving yourself that. Beware of such. Well, how do you know that's
what it's talking about? The next word, for. Because. This is the basis of my warning.
This is the basis of my admonition, both for you to rejoice in the
Lord and for you to beware of all workmonger religion. We are
the circumcision. I thought the Jews were the circumcision.
They are. That's us. We are the circumcision. The people whom God promised
to give to Abraham for a seat, the circumcision. The Old Testament
nation and physical seed of Abraham, the nation of Israel, were but
symbolically pictures of that which is truly the church of
the living God and the Israel of God. We are the people of
God's covenant, which is what was represented in that circumcision. Circumcision God gave to Abraham
and to Israel for a temporary sign of a seal of the covenant. By this seal, God sealed the
sons of Abraham physically into the covenant he made with Abraham.
But it was a picture of something far greater called the circumcision
of the heart made without hands. And that's the work of God the
Holy Spirit in regeneration. Now these things are what circumcision
was. Circumcision was a mark. A mark of sonship. A mark that
this man who is circumcised is heir to God's covenant and all
the blessedness of it. Circumcision was a painful mark. You remember when that band of
Jacob's sons Decided to destroy the people who had defiled their
sister. They made a conniving deal with them. They said, all
you fellas be circumcised and we'll give you our sisters to
wife. They said, well, we'll take that deal. They didn't know
what they were getting into. They'd never seen it. And that
night, while they were so sore they couldn't get up, The sons
of Jacob arose and killed them every one. Circumcision is a
painful thing. And when God Almighty comes by
the power of His sovereign grace and His Spirit and gives life
to a dead sinner, revealing in that sinner what he is, his sin,
his corruption, his defilement, the justice of God in sending
Him forever into hell. It's a painful thing. Painful. You cry, woe is me. I'm undone. But at the same time, it is a
blessed mark. For the circumcision declares
you are God's. Christ formed in you is the revelation
of God's everlasting grace to you. And it's a permanent mark. Read on. We are the circumcision. We are the true people of God.
The people of God's covenant. The people who worship God. The
only people who do. Which worship God, now watch
this, in the Spirit. Worship God by His Holy Spirit. in His Holy Spirit, in the realm
of the Spirit, that is, in faith, and worship God spiritually. Worship God not by carnal ordinances
by which we hope to make ourselves holy, not by carnal ceremonies
by which we hope God will look upon us with favor, but we worship
God in the Spirit. God is Spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. We are
the circumcision who worship God with hearts of faith in Jesus
Christ the Lord, being born again by the Spirit of God. We worship
God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. The word speaks of confidence. You can't rejoice in anything
in which you have no confidence. We have confidence in Christ
Jesus. We rejoice in Christ. I am confident. I am confident not only that
He is, but that He is God my Savior. Confident that His blood
has put away my sin. and made me holy before God,
confident of His righteousness, confident of acceptance with
God in Him, confident in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh. No confidence before God because
of who I am, where I came from, what I have done, am doing, or
shall do, or because of anything I've experienced, of the greatest
nature in this world. No confidence. Some of you were
raised by folks who believe God. That doesn't give you any hope
for God. You've been raised by believing parents. That doesn't
give you one thing. Not one thing. Talk to, memorize
scripture from your infancy. That doesn't give you one step
up on God. Folks been baptized, let's call it baptized, with
a water sloshed on their face when they're babies, because
they think that's going to bring them into a closer relationship with
God. Doesn't give you one thing. Doesn't give you one thing. Been
in church, made a profession of faith, been baptized. You
talk to somebody about salvation. Well, I remember when I went
to the church and got saved. No, you didn't either. No, you didn't. I remember when
I went to the altar. No confidence in the flesh. I
remember when I was baptized, if you got to put your finger
on a time, or an experience, or a deed, and by which you say,
this tells me I am God's own child, you don't know God from
a billy goat. That's just fact. That's just
fact. No confidence in the flesh. Pastor, you sure that's what
he's talking about? Let's see. Verse 4. Though I might have
confidence in the flesh, He said, now you thought I was going to
boast about your experiences and boast about your pedigree
and boast about being of the stock of Abraham? If any other
man thinketh he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
any man among you, that's a big statement. That's a big statement. I more. I've had better experiences
than you. I've had better pedigree than
you, I've known more than you, and I've experienced more than
you. Read on. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel. He said, I've been in Sunday
school since before my mama gave me birth. They enrolled me in
the cradle row. I was circumcised exactly according
to the law, and my pedigree goes right back to Abraham. Not only
that, read on, of the tribe of Benjamin. I'm a double Hebrew,
a Hebrew of the Hebrews. There's not anybody out there
who traces pedigree in the godly line, as they say, better than
I can. As touching the law, I was a Pharisee. Obedience to the
law, outward ceremonies. What did the Pharisees do? They
fasted twice a week. They prayed three times every
day. kept by their outward ceremonies
the Sabbath day all the time. They gave tithes of everything
they possessed. The Pharisees were such fine,
upstanding religious folks that the Jews had a common saying,
if anybody goes to heaven, just like you do about folks you think
are good. Surely he will. Surely. Well, I know. I know. I can't
tell you how many times I've had folks come up to me when
I get done preaching, red in the face, mad as a wet hen, because
I've preached plainly that there is but one gospel and one Savior.
And they recognize mama or daddy or grandma or grandpa or husband
or wife. Somebody's dead and they didn't know God. And they
come up to me, don't tell me my daddy's not in heaven. If
anybody ever went to heaven, he did. He was a good man. You
confirmed just what I said. And confirmed you don't know
him either. Confirmed you don't know him either. He said, I was
a Pharisee. This is what the Son of God said
about that. Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into
the kingdom of heaven. That means, Bob Duff, you've
got to have something better than you can do. You've got to
have somebody else's righteousness. And only his. The righteousness
of Christ. Read on. This is what he said
about being a Pharisee concerning zeal. Some of us think they're
zealous in religion. I was persecuting the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law. That outward righteousness commanded
by outward obedience to the law? I was blameless. Now remember,
Paul is not just standing up on testimony night, giving the
testimony to impress folks. He's telling the truth. He's
writing by divine inspiration. as touching the righteousness,
all the righteousness revealed in the outward observance of
the Mosaic wall. That's everything required in
outward religion. I was absolutely blameless. Wow, what a statement. But that's nothing compared to
this. But what things were gained to me, all my earthly relations,
mama and daddy, brother and sister, grandma and grandpa, the priesthood
I knew so well, my fellow religious leaders, all my deeds of goodness. Do you see that? Everything I
ever did or felt, or thought was good. What things were gained
to me, those things by which I thought I stood head and shoulders
above everybody else, I counted loss for Christ. Throw them away. I counted those things to be
worthless trash. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, I count everything garbage except this, to know Christ,
to know Him, and know Him, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and watch what it says, and do count them just
manure. You've often heard me use the
expression with regard to all false religion. It is barnyard
religion, nothing else. I know in this day of what's
called political correctness, that's another word for political
lying, we're supposed to respect all religion. I don't respect
anything about this world or any religion of this world. I
count with my God the wisdom of this world to be foolishness.
How about you? I count it all just manure, especially
the religion. Just dung. Read on. For this
purpose, that I may win Christ. Every time that's horrible serpent of pride and
self-righteousness arises, cut off its head immediately, and
count it but done, lest it take your heart from Christ." That
I may win Christ. This is the prize. And be found
in Him. Watch this. When I stand before God Almighty,
And there's a day coming when I shall. You too. I want to be found in Him with
not one scintilla of a thought of a thread of my own righteousness. God, please keep stepping me
Please keep making me know myself. Please keep exposing my sin and
my righteousness for the filthy rags it is. Not having my own
righteousness, which is of the Lord, but the righteousness which
is of God through faith. The righteousness that is mine
through the merit and virtue of the faithful obedience of
Christ, my substitute, the righteousness that is mine through the gift
of faith God has given me, by which I lay hold of Christ and
take him for my own, the righteousness which is of God through faith, that I may know him." Know him. Soon, that dear lady and I will have
been married for 37 years. And I know her, I think, better
than any human being living. Maybe even better than I know
myself. And I'm just getting to know
her. And I want to know her. How often I sit with the grandchildren
on my laps and they'll go up on my chest and I look at them
and I say, oh, I want to know you. I want to know you. I've known the Son of God in
the daily manifestation of His grace since I was 16 years old. And now, Larry, I'm just beginning
to commence to get started knowing Him, maybe. Oh, I want to know
Him. Know Him this way. Now watch
this. That I may know Him in the power of His resurrection. I want to know what it is to
walk before God as a new creature. To walk before God as a man. to whom God will never charge
sin. To walk before God as a man who
has a clean record that can never be sullied or deviled. To walk
before Him as a man forgiven of all sin, past, present, and
future, because of Him. And the fellowship of His sufferings. What a word that word fellowship
is here. I want to know Him as a man who was one with Him in His suffering. Darvin, that's what faith is,
isn't it? One with him and his sufferings. God demands righteousness. I can't give it, but I have. God demands satisfaction. And if I went to hell, I couldn't
give it, but I have. For when my Redeemer cried, it
is finished. He brought in everlasting righteousness
and completely satisfied all the demands of God's holy law
in justice for me. And I was in Him. I was crucified
with Christ. When He died, I died. Read on. In the fellowship of His sufferings,
and I want to know Him, being made conformable unto his death. Here it is. Nevertheless, father,
not my will, thy will be done. That's it. What is it that took
him to the cross? You read it just a few minutes
ago. This commandment have I received of my father. I therefore laid down my life
for the sheep. As the bond-servant, he said
the Lord's opened my ear and I didn't turn away. I'm his bond-slave
forever. As the Nazarite, He took a vow
unto God as he came forth from his mother's womb, saying, Lo,
I come to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is in my heart. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. And he did it. utterly, completely,
absolutely surrendered and consecrated and dedicated to the will and
glory of God from the womb to the tomb. Oh God, so conform
me to my darling Savior. If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead. He's talking about the
future resurrection. He had already experienced spiritual
resurrection. He had already experienced the
first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection, on such the second death shall
have no power. He's talking about resurrection glory. He says,
I haven't got it yet, but I keep pressing toward the mark for
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This
is what I see. All right, let's get down to
verse 15. Let us therefore as many as be
perfect. Boy, don't you wish that was
translated a different way. At that time, because there's a
monkey wrench in there, he doesn't lay down. No, no. Well, it means complete, it sure
does. Well, it means mature, it sure does. It means perfect,
it sure does. Perfect in Christ. What did God
say concerning His servant Job? He's a perfect man. Mark the perfect man. Perfect. Perfect. In yourself, nothing
on this earth but corruption and sin, deceit and lawlessness
and blasphemy. In Christ. In Christ, perfect,
with his spotless garments on, I am as holy as God's own Son. If any man, let us therefore
as many as be perfect, be thus minded, that is, you take this
to be your goal, your aspiration, set your heart on this, and if
in anything you'd be otherwise minded, if you still got some
other thoughts, If God's made you a new creature
in Christ, if you're perfect in Christ, God shall reveal even
this unto you. Nevertheless, whereunto we've
already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind
the same thing. As you therefore have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Children of God, ever
walk before God by the sweet rule of faith in Christ, ever
minding Him, ever set your heart on things above, not on things
below, but on things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand
of God, where your lives are hidden with Christ in God, where
your treasure is, There your heart will be, where your treasure
is, O let your heart be also. Brethren, be ye followers together
of me, do what I have told you, and mark them which walk so as
you have us for an example. For many walk Many you know, many who would
have you to follow them as preachers and pastors and teachers, many,
your own kinsmen, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even
weeping, they are, what does that say, the enemies of the
cross of Christ. These dogs, the concision, those
who would teach you the salvation, righteousness, acceptance with
God, somehow hinges on you. They are the enemies of Christ
and His cross, not the friends of God. Whose end is destruction. Whose God is their belly. They
live all together for themselves. from themselves and by themselves. All they seek is the gratification
of their lust, every blessed one of them, whose glory is in
their shame. They glory in their righteousness
the very thing of which they ought to be ashamed, who mind
earthly things. That's what all carnal religion
is, earthly things. Now watch this. for our conversation,
our life, our fellowship and communion and life. It's not talking about our manner
of speech, though certainly that's included. It's talking about
the lives we live. Our truest life is in heaven. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death, did Paul say? That's what I'm standing
here in. A living man in a body of death. Thanks be unto God through Christ
Jesus our Lord. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. To them that walk in the Spirit.
That's what he's talking about. Our life in the Spirit is from
heaven, from which also we look for, we anticipate, we confidently
expect the Savior. And what a word it gives for
Him, the Lord, the One in control, Jesus, the Savior, Christ, that
One spoken of and promised from way back in Genesis 3.15 when
God gave the first gospel promise. Who shall change our vile body
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. I put an article in the bulletin
for Sunday by Brother Charlie Payne. Some of you all remember
him. I've told you I'm sure several times about my last visit with
him. Charlie was about 56, 57 years
old. Faithful man, elder at 13th Street
Church in Ashland. Everything that is in print by
your pastor today. Trace it right back to that man.
For my entire life as a preacher, from the time I met him, first
time I read off a bulletin, he was in our house. He read it. He said, send me
everything you write that's great. He was just being nice and encouraging
me. But I did. And he sent them to everybody.
He ran them off, copied them, sent them to folks all over the
place. To make a long story short, that's how the publishers first
got hold of those things. Last time I visited Charlie,
I knew he was bad off. I didn't know how bad off. I
started to leave and said, Charlie, we'll be praying for you. I started to walk out the door.
And Charlie looked up at me, his wife was sitting on bed beside
him, he knew how bad things were. He said, well I'm going to come
out of here better, or well, either way will be alright. Well. And soon, I shall be completely
well. You too, who are the circumcision,
who rejoice in Christ Jesus. worshiping God in the Spirit,
having no confidence in the flesh. He shall change our vile body
according to the working whereby he is able, even to subdue all
things unto himself. Now, just read verse 1, chapter
4. Therefore, my brethren, who dearly
beloved and longed for my joy and my Stay right here. Don't let anybody move you from
Christ. So stand fast in the Lord, my
dearly beloved. Now, let's read verse 4 one more
time, chapter 4. In the light of all this, rejoice
in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Let
your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Amen.