Last Sunday morning I concluded
the message by making reference to Philippians chapter 3. Let's
pick up right where we left off last week. Philippians chapter
3. We're going to go over some very
familiar ground, but as Paul said to the Philippians, for
me to teach and preach the same things to you indeed is not grievous. but rather for you it is safe.
And oftentimes preachers, especially young preachers, seem to think
they need to find something nobody else has ever said or written
on, find a text nobody else has ever explained, and give you
something unusual. I hope I don't ever try to give
you something unusual. I've got something real plain,
but very needful. The chapter begins with an exhortation. a very, very sweet exhortation. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. What a word. Our God commands us to joy. Rejoice in the Lord. The word rejoice is used ten
times in these four chapters of Philippians. We are always
in the depths of our hearts and souls to rejoice in the Lord. I don't mean pretense happiness. I don't mean a show of giddy
religious nonsense. I do mean this, no matter what
our providential circumstances, no matter what our providential
experiences may be, We who are gods, we who have Christ for
ours, have reason to rejoice, always at all times, not in our
circumstances. Our problem is that our tendency
is to look upon things and events and circumstances as reasons
for joy. Things will never give you joy. They'll give you temporary, excited
moments of happiness. Things will never give joy in
your soul. Everything in this world, even
the sweetest, dearest relationships you have in this world, will
give you a mixture of pain as well as joy. Sooner or later
you're going to have the pain of watching somebody you love
suffer. Sooner or later that That little grandbaby we don't
over gonna cause you to weep, either in sickness or in rebellion
or in death. Sooner or later, you're gonna
have problems. Sooner or later, everything here is going to give
you pain. You can mark that down. If you
find your joy here, you lose your joy here. If you find your
joy in things, you lose your joy in things. Rejoice in the
Lord. Well, preacher, what do you mean?
Rejoice in the Lord always, the apostle says in chapter four,
verse four. Again, I say rejoice, let your moderation be known
to all men, the Lord's at hand. Rejoice in his greatness. This is our God. This is my, we've waited for
him. We've waited for him. This is
our savior. We will rejoice in the greatness
of his person. I have the great privilege of
being married to this dear lady over here, and I have great satisfaction
in our relationship regardless of what else happens, regardless
of what else takes place, regardless of what else goes on in this
world, regardless of how much pain there is in this body or
how much pain there is in this heart. I have great joy in the
fact that this is mine. This is my life. This is part
of me. Oh, how much more? Regardless of the pain in my
heart, regardless of the pain in my body, regardless of the
pain in this world, this is my God. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the power of his blood,
it cleanses from all sin. Rejoice in his perfect righteousness,
the garments of salvation, linens clean and white, whereby we stand
accepted before God. Rejoice in the abundance of his
grace, always sufficient. At all times and in all things,
he says, my grace is sufficient for you. Rejoice, my brother. Rejoice, my sister. in the immutability of his law.
He set his heart on you from eternity. Nothing's ever changed. Nothing will ever move him away.
Rejoice in the glorious thing we read of in Romans 8 describing
the rule of his providence. It is his hand which continually
and effectually governs the universe for our benefit. and rejoice,
rejoice. You remember how our Lord told
his disciples when they came and said, Lord, the very demons
of hell are subject to us. He said, don't pay any attention
to that, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
Your names are written in heaven. This is the exhortation with
which Paul opens this chapter. Rejoice in the Lord. God give
me and give you grace to do so for the glory of Christ and for
the good of his people. It's amazing, utterly amazing,
how contagious misery is. I meet folks who are grumbling
and whining all the time. First thing you know, you find
things to grumble and whine about. If you don't find that, just
their misery makes you miserable. It is also amazing how contagious
joy is. Being around pleasant, joyful
folks just somehow rubs off, somehow has a way of making your
day a little brighter for the glory of God, for the good of
his people. Father, teach me to rejoice in
your good prophetess. Teach me to rejoice in my God
and Savior. All right, secondly, verse two
gives us a serious warning. This warning is as serious as
the previous exhortation was sweet. Beware of dogs. Now, you don't have to guess
who he's talking about. You can write this down in your notes,
in the margin of your Bible. He's talking about those folks
described in Deuteronomy 23, 18. He's talking about male prostitutes. Male prostitutes, particularly
religious male prostitutes. He's talking about false prophets.
That's what he's talking about. You see, false prophets, all
of them without exception. are men who have prostituted
themselves, and prostituted the glory of God, and prostituted
the truth of God for their own benefit, to satisfy their own
lust. Listen to, no, just turn back
here to Isaiah 56 for a moment. Show you what I'm talking about.
Isaiah 56. In verse 10, the Lord God describes
these fellas, these dogs. His watchmen, that is those who
claim to be God's servants, watchmen, they're blind. You see that? They're blind. It doesn't say they have a little
vision, it says they're blind. It doesn't say they see some
good thing, it says they're blind. They're blind. Isaiah 50, 16. They are all ignorant. Totally
ignorant. totally ignorant of all things
spiritual, totally ignorant of the gospel, totally ignorant
of those things pertaining to the glory of God in Christ. They
are all dumb dogs. I can't imagine anything on this
earth more worthless than a dumb dog. One of my sisters, one time had
a dog, didn't bark. They got the dog because he was
specially bred not to bark. I thought, my soul, all you can
do with that thing is feed him and clean up behind him. That's
the worst mistake I can imagine. A dog that won't bark. Dumb dogs. Dumb dogs. They cannot bark. Sleeping, lying down, loving
to slumber. Nothing on this earth aggravates
me more than for someone to Find out you're a preacher and they
make some smart comment about the lazy life of a preacher.
And I'd pop them, except I know it's so. Lazy, sluggish, sleeping, lying
down, loving to slumber. I'm talking now about these dogs,
now God's servants. Yea, they are greedy dogs. Greedy, which can never have
enough. You can't give them enough fame.
You can't give them enough recognition. You can't give them enough praise.
You can't give them enough applause. You can't pat them on the back
enough. You can't give them enough of anything. They are shepherds
that cannot understand. Here's the reason. They all look
to their own way. Every one for his gain from his
quarter. False prophets. are self-serving
men. All of them. Beware of dogs.
Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. See that
back in Philippians 3? Evil workers. This is a warning
against those who teach, preach, and promote any system of religion
that is man-centered. Any system of works-based religion. Any system of free will religion.
Beware of evil workers. This word evil workers here,
as Paul uses the term in this context, refers to Arminian free
will legalist. Men and women who teach and preach
that God's salvation depends somehow upon you. That God's
salvation is determined somehow by something you do or something
that's in you. They're described in verse 16
here in Philippians 3 as enemies of the cross, evil workers. You see, man-centered, works-based,
free-will religion is the single greatest cause of evil in this
world. Exactly right. Man-centered,
works-based, free-will religion is the single greatest cause
of evil in this world. Read the first chapter of Romans
and tell me it's not. It's exactly right. The problem
in society, primarily, is not the dope house, and it's not
the whore house, it's the church house. That's the biggest problem. The biggest problem in society
is not the road house, but the church house. Free will works
religion. Matthew chapter 7, many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, Have we not prophesied
in your name and cast out devils in your name and in your name
done many wonderful works? And our Lord said, I will profess
to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work
iniquity. Casting out devils, work iniquity. Prophesying, work iniquity. doing wonderful works, work iniquity. Well, preacher, how can that
be? It robs God of His glory in that where His glory is most
manifest. It tramples underfoot the blood
of Christ, declaring that it is a common, ordinary thing of
no special efficacy or benefit to anyone. They do despite to
the spirit of grace declaring that God by his spirit does not
do anything in reality. They gradually abuse and abase
men so that man is brought to his lowest and most contemptible
estate by the exercise and faith of free will works religion. breaks into his lowest and most
base estate. Beware of the concision. Same
folks, these dogs, these evil workers, the concision, these
are fellas, meaning women who cut and mutilate and torture
their bodies in the hope of winning God's favor. Preacher, who does
that? I don't know if anybody does,
oh yes you do too. Folks who talk about fasting in the religious
sense, not the biblical sense. Fasting as it's set forth in
the New Testament, whatever it was, was not something you showed. It was not something you demonstrated. That's what the Pharisees did.
That's what we're talking about right here. Our Lord said when
you fast, wash your face and go about your business. Our Lord
said, don't tell anybody. If you told anybody, it wasn't
fasting, not as he describes it. That which is described by
our Lord as a fast is the burden of a heart that so consumes a
man, that is so taken up with a specific issue, that his appetite
no longer demands something of him that's natural, but rather
his heart set on God for a period of time. How fast? Twice a week. How about
you? These folks who mutilate the
body, they say, this is what I do for God. I don't eat. I don't have fish certain days
of the week. Certain periods of the year,
I give up things for God. I quit. I quit eating asparagus
for a few days. Certain times of the year, I
just don't do some things. That's how I serve God. You may or may not have read
in history books and discovered that monastic life, that sweet,
pious, you know, those fellows who walk around in their robes
and they're just so devoted to God. What they do in those monasteries
is they separate themselves from all worldly pleasure. That's
what it's talking about right here. That's exactly what it's
talking about here. But preacher, what about folks
associated with us? The whole religious world says
this is what Godliness is. Don't do this, don't eat that,
don't go there, don't do... Isn't it amazing how many don'ts
there are in religion? Not too many do, just don't.
Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. Because
they imagine that cutting the flesh is godliness. They imagine
that somehow torturing the flesh is devotion. In essence, Paul
is saying this, beware of Christless religion. Beware of any religious
custom, doctrine, or service that centers in you and causes
you to look at you and then turn and look at others. Beware of
evil workers. Beware of the concession. These
fellows are dogs. All right, now look at verse
3. Here we're given a description of true religion. For we are
the circumcision. True religion is Christ-centered,
not man-centered. Spiritual, not ceremonial. A
matter of conviction, not a matter of creed. Inward, not so much
outward. Look at it. We're the circumcision. We are God's true people. His
covenant people. The Israel of God. Abraham's
children. We are God's Israel. All right, who are they? Which
worship God in the spirit. I know exactly what that text
means. I know exactly what it means. I keep praying to experience
it constantly. Worship God in here. Not one,
two, three times a week in here, in the spirit. Not through pictures
and emblems and crosses and all that nonsense. I'm in here. In here. I don't carry, and I don't, please
forgive me, I'm not suggesting anything bad by it. I don't like
carrying a wallet. That's the biggest reason. I
don't carry pictures. Now, I do keep some in my briefcase
to show folks who my wife is and who my children are and my
grandchildren and all that stuff. But I don't need a picture in
my wallet set up on my bed every night when I'm traveling to remind
me of that woman. I don't need that. I've got her
in here. You understand that? She's right
here. Right here. We worship God in
the spirit. in our hearts by his spirit,
by our spirits. That means we walk with him in
here all the time. We worship God in the spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord, he said.
All right, we who are his rejoice in Christ Jesus. That is to say,
we trust Jesus Christ alone, placing all confidence in Him
as our Savior. We rejoice in Him. Preacher,
you talk about your sin. What hope do you have before
God if you're so full of sin? Christ. But you've got to have righteousness.
I know that. Christ. But you've got to be
holy. I know that. I know that, Christ. But you, how do you expect to
stand before God when you've fallen so often? He is all my
salvation and all my desire and it doesn't matter what I experience
or feel or think or do in the teeth of all. I trust Him. It's called faith. But trust
Him. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus.
So God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. I deliberately, purposefully,
constantly seek by the grace of God to put down every imagination
of confidence in and had no confidence in the
flesh. That's who God's people are, buddy. No confidence in
the flesh. No confidence in our experiences,
in our emotions, in our feelings, in our desires, much less than
our imaginary excellencies of the flesh. The privileges of the flesh,
the feelings of the flesh, the works of the flesh are no basis
of confidence before God. But I pray three times a day. But I read my Bible through twice
a year. But I don't give 10%, I give 20%. I give 30%, I give
50%. I pass out so many tracts every
week. I do this, I do that, I do. No confidence in the flesh. But
Pritchard, you don't know what experiences I've had. You haven't
had any like Paul had. You don't know how noble I've
been. You haven't been quite so noble
as this Saul of Tarsus was. But you don't know what good
works I've done. I know what you haven't done.
You haven't come close to being what this fellow was. But he
says, I have no confidence in the flesh. But you don't know
who my parents were. I talked to a fellow on the phone
last Sunday. He started acting like he wanted to know something.
And Shelby gave me the phone. I talked to him a little bit,
tried to answer some questions. And then he started wanting to
teach me something. Producing a godly seed. Raising
a godly seed. Wanting to know what I thought
about practicing birth control. I said, well, I don't care. If
you want to have 20 kids, have them. I don't care. If you want
to have one, have them. That's all right. I don't care. Hold
on. We've got to raise up a godly seed because we raise up our
children and they have a better chance of being saved than if
they weren't our godly seed. I said, man, you're a blasphemer.
You don't have any idea what you're talking about. You have
any idea what you're talking about? No confidence in the flesh.
Because a child related to Bobby Estes, you think that gives them
a foot up on God? A foot down, maybe! Oh, no. No, no confidence in the flesh.
No confidence. Here's an example of self-denial.
Look at verse 4. Mark was damned. Just
mark it down. I'd suggest that you write it
down because you'll forget. Every principle of religion out
yonder is wrong. Mark it down. Mark it down. Every
principle of false religion is wrong. There are no exceptions. No exceptions. Every doctrine
of false religion is wrong. Their doctrine concerning the
deity of Christ, concerning the Trinity, concerning eternality,
concerning the Word of God, every doctrine out yonder is dead wrong. Mark it down. Mark it down. And
every principle they teach about religion is wrong. This is what
they teach about self-denial. The ladies, you know, try to
look Kind of like a fence post that's been bleached in the sun
for a long time. Oh, it's called cotton in this. Fix themselves up the most homely
way. Go down that chapter of liberty,
folks call themselves simple folk. Simple folk. No, self-righteous
folk is the word. Self-righteous folk. You've got
to admire their ways. I don't admire a thing about
it. I admire their produce. That's all. That's all. I'm just as serious as I can
be. I don't admire a thing about it. Not one thing. I despise
it. I despise every fabric of it. Here's what self-denial is. Though
I might have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh
that he hath wealth he might trust in the flesh, I more. circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a pharisee concerning
zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which
is in the law. Blameless. Why? Paul said, I was on the
cradle roll in Sunday school before I was ever born. And I
was raised up in the most strict sect of the fundamental Baptist
that was going in town. And I didn't do anything wrong.
I didn't go to the picture shows, and I didn't smoke, and I didn't
cuss, and I didn't drink, and I didn't shoot, because Mom and
Daddy told me I ought not to do those things. And that's right. Concerning outward righteousness
required by outward behavior, nobody could look at this boy
and say this boy was a bad boy. Nobody. A good boy. Good boy. Touch him, the righteousness
was in law blameless. I'll throw in a little extra
lumber, it won't cost you a thing. Please don't come to me and start
making excuses for your kids or relatives or anybody else.
You say, well, you know, he doesn't exactly believe right, but he's
a good Christian boy. No, he ain't. Is she a fine Christian
girl? No, she's not. Not if she doesn't
trust God. No, he didn't believe God. No,
sir. No, sir. No confidence in the flesh. Paul
said, I was all that stuff. He didn't know God. He didn't
know God from a bumblebee. He had religious notions, that's
all. Verse seven. For what things were gained to
me, I counted loss for Christ. This is what set me apart from
everybody else. I was fit, shined, and polished.
I was trained right, educated right, and everybody whose opinion
meant anything to me looked at me and said, there goes Saul. Always knew he'd make something
of himself. Always knew where he was going. Always knew. Knew from the time I first saw
him, that young man was going to be something. He said, that's stuff that was
gained to me. I counted loss for Christ and you've got to. You've got to. You've got to give up your righteousness. I mean that, give it up. Totally. There's not a shred
of good in you. All the good there is in you
is sin. unrighteousness. All the good
there is about you, it's just about you. Just like this coat. I put it on and I take it off. And when I take it off, I ain't
going to miss a thing. I don't have any attachment to
it. It's just a coat. All the facade of good, the stuff
you stand in front of the mirror and say, well, I'm beginning
to get a few wrinkles, but I'm still good. I'm not a fool as
I used to be, but I still have. You've got to say no to it. Get rid
of it. There's not a shred of good in
you. I recall sitting one time in my study. I'm sure I've told
you this. It's been years ago. There's a preacher sitting in
my study. He's sitting at my desk. He had his feet propped
up on the desk reading, and we were just sitting chatting. I was
sitting back in the easy chair. It's been years ago. None of
you would know him, so don't be wondering. He said, well,
Brother Don, I was just reading about David and Bathsheba, and
I thank God for one thing. I never touched another woman
other than my wife. And I just, I don't know why,
I just blurted it out. Might have been because I was
22 or 23 years old. I said, did you ever have a chance? Oh, that's that star chap. Oh, I thank God. I thank God
I, I thank God I, that's just like saying I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I And this is how I look at them.
I count them, but duh. All my past religion, all my
past All my thoughts religion, all my free will works religion,
all my self-righteous religion, all my religious experiences,
all my religious training, all my religious notions, all my
religious ideas, my God included, I count but done. Everything that I had as a delusion
before, I count but done. You see, self-denial, this is
an essential aspect of saving faith. Though it increasingly
comprehends all aspects of life as we grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ, self-denial begins with the denial of all
personal worth and merit as the grounds of our hope before God. Here's a legalist of highest
order, laying aside the filthy rags
of his self-righteousness for the blessed, pure, perfect righteousness
of Christ. Paul counted all his fleshly,
carnal, natural privileges, his natural religious distinctiveness,
his educational advantages, has nothing but done before God.
He placed no confidence in the flesh. He found that one pearl
of great price and sold everything he had to get it. Everything. Everything. I was talking to one of you recently.
I said, the toughest thing I ever did in my life was to give up
my former religion. I expect Baba had about the hardest
thing he ever had to deal with. Give it up. Give it up. Give it up. Give it up. Just give it up. Give up your
righteousness. This was done once by this man,
Paul, Saul of Tarsus. on the Damascus road when the
Lord saved him. God struck him down, spoke to
him out of heaven. Other folks heard something going
on, but they didn't hear his voice. And struck him blind with a brilliant
light shining from heaven. And he laid flat on his back
and he said, Lord, what will you admit to? From that day on, no confidence
in the flesh. Give it up. But this is a decision that has
to be made every day with increasing, growing commitment
and consecration to Christ. He counted all things but done
for Christ. How come? How come? What was the cause of this self-denial? What is it that inspires such
consecration and commitment? What made this man willing to
forsake everything and follow Christ? He was inspired and motivated
by four great ambitions. Look at the last line of verse
8. That I may win Christ. Oh, what an ambition. The life of faith is the lifelong
pursuit of Christ. I don't know what you're talking
about, Preacher. If you ever fall in love with somebody, I
mean flat, head over heels, fall in love with them, and then get
to love them, there's a big difference. There's a big difference. Big
difference between falling in love and loving somebody. Just
flat fall in love with them and then get to loving them. You
will spend your days seeking to win the object of your love
to you. Seeking to get her. I mean get
her. This dear lady You know, she
dopes on me like she does on grandbabies, more. And I've got her. I've got her. I have no question about it.
I just have jealousy. When I was 20, yeah, but not
anymore. Got over that a long time ago.
Got over that a long time ago. How come? Because I've got her.
She's mine. She's mine. I don't have a question
about that. Not concerned about somebody coming and taking her
or what? Not at all. But I'm more concerned about
winning her than I've ever been. Devoting myself to her. Devoting myself to her. How come? Because I love her. I want to
know her. I've been living with her now
for 32 years. Oh, but I want to know her. I've never, I've never been loved
by somebody like this before. I want to know her. You understand
what I'm talking about? Oh, I want to win him. Oh, I know he's mine, but I want
him. I want him in my hands, in my
heart, in my mind all the time. on Him. He's the treasure hidden in the
field. He's the pearl of great Christ. He's the one thing needful.
I count all things but loss that I may win Christ and be found
in Him. Found in Him. This is the believer's standing. This is what Christianity is.
This is what salvation is. It's to be in Christ. Religion
is knowing doctrines and facts. Salvation is knowing God. There's
a big difference. Religion is knowing what I believe. Christianity is knowing whom
I believe. Religion is being reformed. Salvation is being
regenerated. Religion makes men new converts. Christianity makes them new creatures.
Religion, that's being in the church. Salvation, that's being
in Christ. In Him. In Him. In Him. Like a branch grafted into the
tree. Just one. In Him. In Him. To be in Him is to be
forgiven. To be in Him is to be redeemed.
To be in Him is to be justified. To be in Him is to be righteous.
To be in Him is to be accepted of God. To be in Him is life. that I may know him. I want to know him. This great benefactor of my soul, this one who loved me and gave
himself I want to know the mystery and
glory of His being, the riches of His grace, the greatness of His salvation,
the benefits of His mercy, the wonders of His covenant, the
depths of His love. I want to know Him. to have nothing
else before me. Nothing else before me. When
I was a boy, I remember, I don't remember the year, but I was
just a kid, 10, 12 years old. And the surest way to get me
to do something was tell me not to do it. And there was an eclipse. And they told us, they said,
now don't look at the sun during that time. They said, you can't
do that. It'll hurt your eyes. Not mine. So the eclipse came
and I looked. Didn't look long. You'd hurt
your eyes. Found out. As a matter of fact,
I got what they call just temporarily sunburnt eyes. All I could see. If I was looking at David, I'd
just see specks. See David and specks of sun already. Just see,
see sun everywhere. Everywhere I looked, just saw
the sun. So look on the Son of God, the
Son of Righteousness. Look full in His face and God
give me sunburnt eyes so that I see Him everywhere, everywhere. I want to know Him in the power
of His resurrection. This is not talking about some
Pentecostal charismatic fuge-humping, hymn-book-throwing experience.
No. He's talking about substance.
The power of his resurrection is the power that declares me
justified. The power of his resurrection is the power by which I have
life. It's called resurrection life. The power of his resurrection
is the power which guarantees my own. The power of his resurrection is that by which we live. Giving
us hope of everlasting life. Assurance of acceptance with
God. My Savior's yonder. Yeah, I'm accepted. Yeah, I'm
justified. Yes, I'll be with Him. And gives
us confidence while we walk with Him in this world. Walking with
Christ in the nearness of life, in the
power of His resurrection. I wanted to dominate, control,
and direct my life in all things so that I'm continually made
new by him. I want to know him in the fellowship
of his sufferings. There is reference here, I'm
sure, to knowing that when he died, I died. There's reference
to that. But that's not something that
we are striving to know. No more of it, yes, but to know
Him and the fellowship of His sufferings. I was looking at
this thing this morning right before you folks started coming
in. The sufferings of Christ are
His glory. That's it. That's the thing that
consumed His life. That's the revelation of the
glory of God. That's the means by which he
entered into glory. That's his glory and his praise
forever. To know him, Bobby, in the fellowship
of his sufferings is to so know him that his suffering is my
glory. My only boast, my only trust,
my only confidence. My glory, God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom I
am crucified unto the world and the world is crucified unto me.
Being made conformable unto his death. This is what that means. I have
no question about it. Entirely consecrated to the will
of God. and the glory of God. Perfectly
submissive to God. Motivated by nothing but love
for God and love for his people. That's the ambition of faith.
One more thing, verse 11. If by any means, I might have
paid for the resurrection of the dead. I can't have what I've been talking
about yet. But one day soon.