In Philippians chapter 3, we find the Apostle Paul giving
us four great ambitions of faith. As I prepared this message Friday
evening, I thought to myself, we're going over some very familiar
territory. But as Paul says here in verse
one to these Philippians, for me to write or to preach or to
teach the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous.
That is, I don't mind it at all. But for you, it's safe. The things
I have to say this morning are absolutely essential to your
spiritual safety and to mine. The text begins in chapter three,
verse one, with this delightful exhortation. Finally, my brethren,
here's a man in prison, and he's writing his final word to these
Philippian believers who were so dear to him. He says, finally,
my brethren, we are one in Christ, one in heart, one in the fellowship
of the gospel. We are one people in the Lord.
Rejoice in the Lord. Now at your leisure, when you
read the book of Philippians, you'll find that Paul used that
word rejoice 10 times in these four chapters. And he's telling
us that God's people ought to be a people who rejoice in Christ. We recognize our sin. Let us never, ever, ever fail
to recognize, acknowledge, repent of, and confess our sin before
God. But we also, believers do, we
recognize that Jesus Christ has put away our sin and we're accepted
in Him. We have reason in the teeth of
our tears to rejoice. He's put away my sin. My soul,
if anything on this earth will make you rejoice, that should.
I walk before God robed in the righteousness of Christ. We have
many things in this world which break our hearts. Many sorrows,
many hard things to bear, which cause our eyes to run with tears. Some pains we won't get over
as long as we live in this world. Won't happen, won't happen. I recall hearing someone say
recently to a friend who's Husband had died unexpectedly, fairly
young man. He said to her, it's been my
experience. You won't get over it. You just
learn to live with it. And you're gonna have pains you're
not gonna get over in this world. Not gonna get over. You learn
to live with them and live with the pain while rejoicing in the
Lord. You see, the believer's joy is
not in happenings. The believer's joy is not in
events. The believer's joy is not even
in people and relationships on this earth. We rejoice in the
Lord, our God and our Savior. We rejoice in His providence
and His promise. In the teeth of pain and heartache,
we recognize my Lord did this. My Lord has brought this to pass.
I'll honor Him. I'll rejoice in His promise to
do me good, and I'll trust Him to fulfill it. Rejoice in who
He is. Rejoice in what He's done for
you. Rejoice in His wise and good
providence. Rejoice in the prospect of everlasting
glory with Him. Rejoice in His presence. When
nobody else understands, He does. When nobody else hears, He does. When nobody else cares, He does. Rejoice in the Lord always, he
says in chapter four, verse four, always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known
to all men. The Lord's at hand. The Lord's
at hand. Oftentimes in the midst of difficulties,
I'm going through sorrow, pain. I recall when Shelby was enduring
the grief of watching her mother die. She often turned to me,
just took my arm and said, I'm glad you're here. Let me tell
you something. I'm glad Christ is here. All the time. Take his arm by
faith and walk with him in joy. He is your God and Savior. Now look at verse two. Here's
a serious, serious warning. Beware of dogs. What a strange
word. He's not talking about the kind
of dogs that chase you on your bicycle when you're riding or chase you
through the woods when you're walking. He's talking about people. He's
talking about preachers. Preachers. Preachers. Religious
leaders. Teachers. He warns us here to
beware of false prophets. Do you know of all the warnings
given in the New Testament? Our Lord warns us about nothing
so much as He warns us about false prophets and false religion.
Because those are the most dangerous things we face in this world.
He calls these false prophets dogs. Dogs. Because that's exactly what the
Word of God calls male prostitutes. Listen to this, you don't have
to turn to it, but I want you to turn to Isaiah 56, and listen
to this. In Deuteronomy 23, and I've said
this to you before, a lot of folks around here, especially
folks who don't pay much attention to the context in which they
build their doctrine, they'll tell a fellow he ought to never
sell a dog. He'll sell a dog because he can't pay tithes on
the money. That's idiocy, that's idiocy. The text they get it
from is in Deuteronomy 23, 18, and this is what it says. Thou
shalt not bring the hire of a whore or the price of a dog into the
house of the Lord thy God for any thou. For even both these
are an abomination to thy God. And when he speaks of the price
of a dog and the price of a whore, he's talking about the same thing.
He's talking about female prostitutes and male prostitutes. And here
the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit of God, declares to us that all
false prophets are just male prostitutes. They are men, well,
it was in his day, we got some females like them today, but
they are men who willingly prostitute the gospel of God, the glory
of God, and the truth of God for their own gain. Nothing's
more abominable in the world. Look in Isaiah 56, verse 10.
His watchmen are blind. They're all ignorant. They're
all dumb dogs. Dumb dogs. And you wonder why
I don't want to be identified with preachers? Dumb dogs. They can't bark. I can't think
of anything on this earth more useless than a dog who couldn't
bark. All they do is eat and leave a mess. And that's exactly
true of preachers in our day. Sleeping, lying down, loving
to slumber. Lazy, buzzards. Lazy, indolent,
self-serving, greedy. Yeah, they're greedy dogs, which
can never have enough. Always looking for advancement.
Stepping up another rung in the religious ladder. Move from one
church to another so they can make some advancement, make some
position. They want a name. They want some position. They
want some power. They want some influence. They want some money.
They want some benefits. Greedy dogs. They can never have
enough. They are shepherds that cannot
understand. You can talk to them about things
of God they can't understand. They cannot understand. How come? Because they're not interested.
They're looking after themselves. They all look to their own way. Everyone for his gain from his
quarter. I don't care how sweet he seems.
I don't care how often he goes and visits your grandma and sips
tea with her and talks about her arthritis. I'm telling you,
they are absolutely useless, worthless, contemptible human
beings serving themselves. Beware of dogs. Paul Mahan said
here one time, especially those that wear collars, beware of
dogs. Beware of evil workers. This
is a warning against those who teach, preach, and promote any
system of man-centered, works-based, free will religion. And it doesn't
matter what the religion's called. I can't... I can't say this so plainly that
I can get everybody to understand it. But free will works religion
is the religion of man. It doesn't matter whether it's
a tribesman in New Guinea worshiping a totem pole and thinking that
he's going to gain some kind of immortality or his relative's
will by eating the flesh of his dead relatives. Or whether you're
talking about a Baptist or a Presbyterian or a Buddhist or a Hindu, it
doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Free will works religions all
the same. It declares that salvation Immortality, eternal life, acceptance
with God, whatever your notion of God is, is ultimately determined
by and dependent on you and something you do. Doesn't matter what brand
you call it. Beware of evil workers. Well, let's see if I can show
you for that from the scriptures. Turn to Matthew chapter seven. Matthew
chapter seven, verse 22. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Well, we spent
all our lives preaching. In your name have cast out devils.
Oh, these must be of God. Look how they cast out devils.
Listen, they perform miracles in thy name, have done many wonderful
works. We perform miracles, we build
hospitals, we send out missionaries, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we,
we, we, we. All the time, we, I, I, I, I.
Look what I did, look what I did. Then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. You see, man-centered, works-based,
free will religion, is the single greatest cause of evil in this
world. The good works of religion without
Christ are the most abominably evil works done in this world.
I had but one daughter, now one granddaughter. I'd rather have
them exposed. I'm as honest as I can be now.
I will be crystal clear. I would rather have them exposed
constantly to pimps, pushers, and prostitutes than have them
exposed to preachers and religion. I'm dead serious. Nothing's more
evil. Nothing's more evil. Self-righteous,
free will, works-based religion, man-centered religion, robs God
of His glory and gives it to man. Tramples underfoot the blood
of Christ, said it's worthless and what I do means something.
Due despite to the spirit of grace, saying God can't do anything
by His grace without my consent. They gradually, finally, abase
man to his lowest, most contemptible estate while he thinks he's got
God in his hip pocket. That's what Romans chapter one's
all about. Folks ask me about the moral decadence of our age,
homosexuality, the perversion, the prostitution, the fornication,
the adultery, the drunkenness, all of it. Ask me about all this
stuff. Oh boy, Hollywood's to blame, no church down the road's
to blame. Read Romans chapter one. When man does not glorify
God as God, but rather glorifies man as God, sets himself in the
place of God and worships the creature and serves the creature
more than God as one who is God, when he worships himself, then
God gives him over to a reprobate mind and says, let's see what
your works will do for you. And they just get worse and worse
all the time. Evil workers, as Paul uses the term here, are
Arminians, free willers, and legalists. People who teach that
God's salvation finally depends on you. They teach God's salvation
depends on you, God's waiting on you, God wants you, God tries
to, and everything's up to you. Evil workers. Beware the concision. Mutilators. It's an unusual word. It refers to people who cut themselves.
I am sure Paul refers to both the Jews and to the heathen Gentile
pagan religions, the Jews teaching continually that men should circumcise
themselves in the name of God, continuing the Old Testament
ordinance by which the new birth was represented. And so he said,
beware these folks who cut themselves. And also the Gentiles who taught
asceticism and this horrible teaching that somehow by mutilating
yourself, you can find greater spirituality and acceptance with
God. He's a preacher. Give me an example. You go to the confessional booth
and you Confess that you've committed
bad, bad things. And the preacher says, all right,
now go do this. Preacher says, go do this. And you do penance.
That's what he's talking about. Well, but there's not any folks
here going to a confessional booth. You're right. There are
folks who observe special things. Protestant churches now, and
Baptist churches too, are so full of papacy, you can hardly
distinguish one from the other. Most of you know folks who observe
Lent, that time of the year when people who despise spinach decide
they won't eat anymore. Give something up. God will accept
you. Give something up. Quit doing something. God will
accept you. That'll make you better. People who teach that
you ought to have certain taboos. What did Paul call it? Touch
not, taste not, handle not. They teach that the kingdom of
God really is meat and drink, not righteousness and peace.
They teach the kingdom of God and holiness and uprightness
is obtained, spirituality, not salvation. Oh no, we wouldn't
say that. But real salvation, real spirituality,
real acceptance with God. You get that if you don't do
this, and you don't do that, and you don't eat this, and you
don't drink that, and you do this, do the other thing, then
you concision, mutilators, folks
who think you attain spiritual favor with God Almighty, that
you obtain acceptance with God to one degree or another, both
by what you do and by how you suffer for Him. That's what he's
talking about. In essence, Paul is saying this,
beware of Christless religion. Beware of any religious custom,
tradition, practice, doctrine, or service that centers in you
and encourages you to focus attention on you. Now look at verse three. Here
we have a description of true religion. For we are the circumcision. Now when Paul uses this word
circumcision in this context, as he commonly refers to believers
as being the circumcision and the unbelievers as being the
uncircumcision. He's not talking about the physical
ordinance of the Old Testament. It has nothing to do with that
except as it pictured something. In the Old Testament, the circumcised
were those who had the filth of the flesh cut away. They were
those who were God's covenant people. They were those to whom
alone God had promised himself and given himself. They were
those to whom alone God promised his care and his protection.
They were those and those alone who rightfully claimed they were
the children of God. Now this is what he says, we
are those many women born of God. sealed into the covenant,
who rightfully claim God is our father and we're his sons and
daughters. Can you rightfully claim that,
David? Can you, Lindsay? Rightfully. I belong to God. I belong to God. Oh yeah, yeah,
I was raised in church. Oh yeah, I claim that. I was
baptized when I was a baby. I was always in church. Oh, yes,
I can claim that. I can claim that because I remember
when I made my decision for Jesus. Let's see. We are the circumcision
which worship God. We worship God, Gary. Not men,
not our ideas of God. We worship God. as he's revealed
in Jesus Christ in this book, in his true character. And we
worship Him. We worship Him. We fall before
Him. We adore Him. We adulate Him. We praise Him. We extol Him. We worship God in the Spirit. We worship Him in the Holy Spirit. All true believers do. We walk
in the Spirit. We worship Him in our spirits. We worship Him inwardly, inwardly,
inwardly, inwardly, and we worship Him spiritually. Our worship
is not carnal, ceremonial, and outward deeds, but rather our
worship is spiritual. We worship God in the spirit. in the spirit. I told these folks
up in Gettysburg this week, I dealt with this text just a little
bit. I said to them, listen, if God ever is pleased to allow
y'all to build a building, don't have any steeples and crosses
and stained glass windows and that idolatry. We don't need
that trash. It's just trash. It's trash. To go back to it, it's just trash.
If you got them at home, burn them. Get rid of them. Don't
do it. Don't use it. We worship God in spirit. Oh,
but that makes me feel closer to God. That's the problem. That's
the problem. But that makes me feel more spiritual.
That's the problem. That's the reason not to do it.
But that makes me feel like I've come into God's presence. That's
the problem. We worship God in spirit. In
spirit. and rejoice in Christ Jesus.
The word is we find our confidence in Him. What is it that gives
you joy? What is it that gives you joy?
Really, gives you joy? Confident acceptance with God. Anything else gives you greater
joy than that? Confident acceptance with God. On what basis? Christ Jesus. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. We
trust Him alone, placing all our confidence, all our hope,
all our faith in Him. He's made of God unto us wisdom
and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. We're complete
in Him. Look at the next line. And have no, no confidence in
the flesh. But what does that mean? Exactly
what you think. We place absolutely no confidence in our flesh, in
the experiences of it, in the emotions of it, or in the imaginary
excellencies of it. The privileges of the flesh,
the feelings of the flesh, the works of the flesh are no basis
of confidence before God, no matter how great they may seem
to me. Now preachers, that just knocks the props out from under
us. I ain't done yet. Look at verse four. Here's an
example of something which is at the essence of saving faith. Self-denial. Though I might have
confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinks that he has
whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. You think you're
good? Hang on. I was circumcised the
eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of the Hebrews. He said, I've been in Sunday
school since before I was born. My mama enrolled me in the cradle
roll. As touching the law, I was a Pharisee. I was the biggest
big shot among them. Concerning zeal, I was so zealous
for the glory of God, I was willing to kill men for the glory of
God, persecuting the church. Touching righteousness, which
is in the law, I didn't cheat anybody. I was always upright. I was blameless. No man could
point his finger at my character and conduct and say that man's
a crook. No man, no man among whom I live
could point his finger at me and say, that man, he's not upright.
He said, concerning the law, I was blameless. He's not talking
about blamelessness before God, that's obvious. He's talking
about blamelessness in his conduct before men. But what things were
gained to me, all my goodness, all my religion, all my pedigree,
all my experience, all that mama and daddy taught me, all that
my mama and daddy stood for, all that my kinfolk stood for,
all those things that were gained to me, I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord." What's he talking about? What's he talking about in the
context? Well, we ought to You know, I could have been a star
football player with the New England Patriots. That's not
what he's talking about. Boy, I used to be somebody. That's not what he's talking
about. Rex, he's talking about all his religious heritage. That's
exactly what he's talking about. Look at it now. I count it loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, for whom I have and
willingly do suffer the loss of all things. And this is what
I consider them. The kind of stuff, Oscar, you
rake out of your barnyard. Dung. Just dung. Dung works for dung gods. You
see, self-denial 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 before
God as a grounds of acceptance with Him. Here's a legalist of
the highest honor, laying aside the filthy rags of his self-righteousness
for the blessed, pure, perfect righteousness of Christ. Paul
counted all his fleshly, carnal, natural religious privileges,
all his religious distinctiveness, all his educational advantages
as nothing but dung before God. He placed no confidence in the
flesh. He found that one pearl of great price for whom he sold
everything to get it. Have you? This was done on the Damascus
road. when God saved him by his grace. And it was a decision
that he made every day with increasing, growing commitment and consecration
to Christ. He counted all things but done
for Christ. Why? What inspired him? What was the cause of such self-denial,
such consecration, such commitment? What made this man willing to
forsake everything and follow Christ? What was it? He was inspired,
motivated, and driven, driven to the point of utter obsession
by these great ambitions that I may win Christ. What an ambition. I have over the years given you
many definitions of faith, and I'll emphasize the one that's
most prominent in the context of what I'm preaching. Let me
give you one more. The life of faith is neither
more nor less than the lifelong pursuit of Christ. Pursuing. I've been married to
that dear lady there for 31 years. I started pursuing her when I
was 17 years old. Then I got her just a couple
of years later. And I've been still pursuing
her for 31 years. I still pursue her. I still seek
her. So a prince, he's married to
her. He's talking nonsense. That's nonsense only to a man
who doesn't know what it is to spend his life pursuing the love
of a woman. I've been pursuing Christ 34
years. And every day, constantly, unlearning
all I had sought to learn before. Don't! I may have you. Here's another ambition, and
be found in Him. Be found in Him. But preacher,
aren't you in Christ? Of course I am. Sure I am. The
only person who is interested in being found in Him is one
who's in Him. Be found in Him. That's our standing before God
right now. We're in Him. And I want with all my heart
to be found in Him now. And when I come to leave this
world, found in Him. And when I come to stand before
God in judgment, found in Him. Found in Him, not having my own
righteousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which
is of God by faith in Him. That I may know Him. Know Him. I want to know Him
and the power of His resurrection. Skip, that's the power by which
we live. We're born again by the power of the resurrected
Christ. The power of His resurrection in which I want to know Him is
that power of resurrection in which I avowed to walk before
Him when I confessed Christ in believer's baptism and lifted
my hand to God so that I walk with Him in the newness of life.
I want to know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings. I want to know what He did at
Calvary. There's no knowledge of God until you know what took
place at Calvary. I want to know what He accomplished.
All those things. I want to know how He has put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. How He has brought in
everlasting righteousness by His obedience to God in my stead
and my covenant surety. But there's more than that. Paul's
talking here, Lindsay, about wanting to know that I have participation
in that. How can you know? You thought
of believing limited atonement, believe Christ just died for
his elect? Of course we do. Of course we do. But how can
you know you're part of it? By feeding on him, leaning on
him, resting in him, believing him. I want to constantly walk
before God, Bobby, looking to Christ alone for everything. being made conformable to his
death. Here's the ambition of my life. I want to be conformed to Christ
in his death. How can that happen? How can
that be? When our Lord was about to go
to Calvary, what did he say? What did he say? Merle, he said,
not my will, your will be done. That's conformity to Christ.
God make my will molded to your will, surrendered to you. Why did he do it? For the glory
of God. He was consecrated to God. That's
what I'm seeking. consecration to God. Why did he do it? Because he
loved God more than himself and loved God's glory more than himself
and loved God's people more than himself. Father, teach us by your grace to count all things but done
for Christ. And give us grace to pursue him,
that we may be found in him. And cause us by your grace to
know him. Oh, grant that sinners here may
be brought to know the power of his resurrection. Give us to know our Lord Jesus
in the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death. Bow us to your will. Consecrate
us to your glory. Teach us to love you and to love
one another for Christ's sake. Amen. Okay, let's have him.