Now, we're turning to Philippians
chapter 3, and let's read verses 1, 2, and 3. And I'm going to
keep myself pretty close to this text right here in Philippians
3, verses 1, 2, and 3. Finally, brethren, rejoice, rejoice. It's just not rejoicing here,
it's rejoicing in the Lord, in the Lord, in God our Savior. to write or to preach the same
things to you over and over and over again. To me, indeed, he
says, it's not a burden. It's not grievous. But for you,
it is good. It is safe. Now, in verse 1,
he gives us a strong exhortation to rejoice in the Lord. In verse
2, he gives us a strong warning, beware of dogs. Now, oftentimes, you walk down
the street, and you see a fenced yard, and you see a sign they
put up there that says, Beware of Dog. Well, these dogs here
that he's talking about are not four-legged dogs. They're two-legged
dogs. He's talking about false preachers. Our Lord called them wolves,
wolves. So, beware of them. Here's a
strong warning. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil,
evil workers. Well, Lord, we You remember what
they said in Matthew 7? Oh, we preached in your name.
We cast out demons in your name. He said, depart from me you workers
of what? Iniquity. Beware of the mutilators
of the flesh, thinking by cutting the flesh or by suppressing
the flesh that somehow they gain God's favor or remove his wrath. For we are, and he gives Right
here, strong exhortation, verse 1. Verse 2, a strong warning. And then in verse 3, he gives
us a vivid description of God's Israel, the elect of God. He said, we are the true Israel. We worship God in the spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus, we boast glory in Christ, and we have
no, no, none whatsoever, no confidants in the flesh. Now rejoice, rejoice
in the Lord. You see that? Finally, finally
my brethren, rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, in Him. Now in Philippians
chapter 4, turn just a page to Philippians chapter 4 verse 4.
Rejoice in the Lord. And as I told you earlier, that
is the repeated word throughout these four chapters, is the joy
in him. Rejoice in the Lord. Notice in
Philippians 4, verse 4, Rejoice in the Lord. When? Always. Always. And again, I say rejoice. It's the same thing that David
is saying here in Psalm 62. Turn over there. Psalm 62. To
trust the Lord and to rejoice in the Lord is basically the
same thing. We rejoice in Him and we trust
in Him always, at all times. Psalm 62, look at verse 8. Trust
in Him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. So rejoice in the Lord all the
time. All the time. It's the same thing
as being said over here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Turn over there. Verse
16. Rejoice in the Lord. Now remember
when Paul was writing this to these believers, you remember
where he's at. He's in Rome in prison for the
gospel. And yet he finds great reason
to joy in God. Rejoice, I Thessalonians 5, 16,
Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give
thanks. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Rejoice in the Lord. This is
the theme of this epistle, and this is the life of a believer,
to rejoice in the Lord. Now? When? Now? Right now? It will be the occupation
of glory rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain to receive all honor, glory, blessing and power
both now and forever. We sing unto Him that new song
of redemption unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin
in His own blood. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
joy of our life. Turn to Romans chapter 5. He
is the joy of our life. He is our life. He is our salvation. To you who believe, He is precious. Romans 5 verse 1. Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand and rejoice in hope. of the glory of God. We rejoice in hope. Christ is
our hope. He is our hope. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Believers always have reason
to rejoice in the Lord and to give thanks in Him. We always
have reason to rejoice. We rejoice in the greatness of
His person, in the greatness of His person. Notice across
the page in Philippians chapter 2, we rejoice in who he is, the
greatness of his person. Philippians chapter 2, look at
verse 6, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name, that at that name every knee is going
to bow, every tongue is going to confess that he is Lord to
the glory of God the Father." We rejoice in the greatness of
his person. He is able to save to the uttermost
all that comes to God by him, seeing that he ever lives to
make intercession. for us. We rejoice in the greatness
of His person who is able to save. Now, is He able to keep
us? Well, what does the Scripture
say? What does the Scripture say? Well, the record of Scripture
said that He's not only able to save us, but He's able to
keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence
of God's glory with exceeding joy. We rejoice in the greatness
of His person. He is the mighty Savior and we
give thanks. Don't we give thanks of who He
is? The greatness of His person?
Find Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63. He's no weak, impotent
Savior. He is the mighty God. He is the everlasting Father. He is the Prince of Peace and
He is mighty to save. Isaiah 63, 1. Who is this that
cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Basra? Isaiah 63, 1. This that is glorious in his
apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength, I that speak
in righteousness, mighty to save. He is the mighty Savior, able
to save. We rejoice that He is the able,
willing, almighty, powerful Savior. We rejoice in the greatness of
His person. He is God, our Savior, and we
rejoice. We rejoice. Secondly, we rejoice
in the fitness of His person. He is well qualified to be our
mediator. There's just one mediator between
God and sinners, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man
mediator. We rejoice in the fitness of
His person. He's the well-qualified mediator,
and He is our advocate. You see, He is the anointed of
the Lord. We rejoice in the fitness of
His person. Now notice, if you will, Luke
chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. We rejoice in who He is and what
He has done for His covenant people. Look what it says here
in Luke 4, 18. We rejoice in the greatness of
who He is. We rejoice in the fitness of
His office. He's well qualified to represent
me and to save me by His grace. Luke 4, 18, the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me. He's reading from Isaiah 61,
"...because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captive, and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. He is well qualified to represent
me." He's anointed of God in all of his office. You read back
through the Old Testament, no one held those three offices,
no one person held those three offices, prophet, priest, and
king. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
fulfillment of all, and He held those three offices given of
God. He's well qualified to save me
by His grace. He is that anointed prophet that
God said, I will raise up a prophet from among the brethren, and
he shall speak that which I command him to speak. And those who will
not hear him, God's going to require it at their hand. He
is that anointed prophet to reveal God to me. He is that prophet. He said, I've hid these things
from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto they. You see, the natural man doesn't
understand the things of God. The Spirit of God must reveal
those things unto us. He's well fit, qualified to reveal
the gospel, to reveal Himself to me. God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, shined in our heart to give us
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not only my prophet to teach
me who God is and the way of grace, but He is my priest to
represent me before God. And I must have one who is anointed,
one who is appointed of God. And you read the record through
the book of Hebrews, that's what it's all about, the excellency
and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially not only in
His person, but in His priestly work. We have a great high priest. But you know what's different
about this great high priest of the Lord Jesus? He ever lives. His priesthood never ends. Those
Old Testament priests, under the law, they had their office
for a while. When they were 30 years old and
then they served for a period of time and their office ended.
Either they died or their office ended. But the Lord Jesus Christ
is a priest forever. Not after the order of Aaron.
After the order of Melchizedek. He is that exceeding great high
priest. And you know what our great high
priest does that's so much different? He represents us with a suitable
sacrifice But not with the blood of bulls and goats. He didn't
bring the typical sacrifice, did he? You know what he brought?
He brought his own blood. And doing that, he obtained for
his people eternal redemption with his own blood. Now this
is the priest I need. You see, we rejoice in the fitness
of his person. He is that prophet that I need.
He is that priest that I need. And the third part of that office
is this, he's fit, well qualified, he's king. He's king. So he's a prophet to reveal God
to me. He's a priest to represent me
before God. And he's a king. What does a
king do? He rules. That's right. He rules
and reigns over all things. And the Lord Jesus crying, He
is my king. He is king of kings. And you
know what? I rejoice in the Lord. the Lord. I rejoice in Him."
You see what he's saying here? I rejoice in Him. He is, when
He by Himself purged our sin, He sat down, the right hand of
the throne of the majesty on high. So we rejoice, where? In Him. In the Lord. We rejoice in Him. Thirdly, we
rejoice in the fullness of His person. The fullness of His person.
Find John chapter 1. Here's the testimony of the baptizer
named John. John was sent for witness, to
bear witness of the light. John said, he must increase,
I must decrease. And as soon as the Lord Jesus
came on the scene, what happened to John? God put him in prison. And then
he took his head off. You see, Christ will have no
rival. He must have all the preeminence. He must have all the glory. John
said of him in John 1.15, John bear witness of him and cried
saying, this was he of whom I spake, he that cometh after me is preferred
before me for he was before me. Of his fullness have all we received
grace. Now watch this, for grace. Now, let's learn something here. I don't know a whole lot, but
I think I can teach you a little bit. Grace for grace. The reason,
here we see in this verse, the reason for grace. What's the
reason for grace? Grace. That's what he's saying
there. Grace because of grace. Of His
fullness. We've received grace for grace. Not grace for works. Not grace
for merit. It's grace for grace. For the
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth. came by Jesus Christ. We see we rejoice in the fullness
of His person. Now you've got Philippians, turn
one book to Colossians chapter 1. We rejoice in the fullness
of His person, in the fitness of His person, in the greatness
of His person. You see we rejoice in the Lord,
Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, look at
verse 15. He is the image of the invisible
God. The firstborn, that word there
means, underscore it and write this in the margin, Lord, Lord
of every creature. For by Him are all things created
that are in heaven, that are in the earth, visible, invisible,
whether they be throne, dominions, principalities or powers, all
things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things
and by Him all things consist. And that word there consist,
you know what it means? Held together. All things are
held together by His power. He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He might have the preeminence." And that word
simply means first place. Now look what it says, "...for
it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell."
It pleased who? The Father. Look down here in
chapter 2 of Colossians, "...for in Him," verse 9, "...dwelleth
all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in Him, which is the head of all principality and power. We're
complete in Christ. In Him dwells all the fullness,
the God of God in a body. And that's who Christ is. We
rejoice in the greatness of His person, in the fitness of His
person, and in the fullness of His person, who He is. We rejoice
in the Lord. Now look back at the text again.
In Philippians 3 verse 1, These folks have heard that message
before, Paul writes to them. He says here, to write the same
things or to preach the same things to you, to me, indeed,
is not a burden. It's not grievous. But for you,
it is safe. It is good. It's safe. He's saying
this, I'm repeating myself over and over and over again. And
that's what he's saying here. I don't have a new message. It's
the same message. Some said of Pastor Mahan with
a critical spirit, some in the past have said concerning the
ministry of my dear pastor over the years, they say, well, you
know, you've heard Mahan one time, you've heard him. Because
he had just one message. And we have but one message,
and it's Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul is saying the
same thing here. He said, I'm determined not to
know anything among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To
write the same thing to you, to me indeed, is not a burden. It's good for you. It's good
for you. It's profitable. It's not tiresome
to me. And it's most profitable for
you. It's necessary and it's safe.
One old writer said this, one old preacher of the past said
this, when truth is repeated and newly confirmed, it guards
us against error. And it does. Line upon line,
precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. Isn't that what
Isaiah said? A regular steady guide of true
gospel preaching of the Word of Truth will help the believer
and even it will help the believer to establish him rooted and grounded
in Christ Jesus in the Word that we be not tossed to and fro and
carried about by every wind of doctrine. Spot a phony, and when
you hear a sermon that doesn't magnify the Lord Jesus Christ,
you can spot it immediately. He's not giving God the glory.
And that's because you're rooted and grounded in the Word. A regular,
steady diet of true gospel preaching and teaching of the Word will
help the believer be established, rooted and grounded in Christ
Jesus, and will help even the unbeliever. Even those who have
not yet believed." Well, preacher, what do you mean? I tell you
this, faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of God. There
is a necessity of all men. He told us to go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. Now, that's our
responsibility. That's the command of God. And
we're going to do that by His grace. And we're going to preach
the gospel and leave it in the hands of God Almighty to call
and save His elect. And you know what? He will. He
said, not a one of them will perish. And He does this with
the preaching of the Word. It pleased God through preaching
to call out His people. You see, true gospel preaching
will keep us focused on Christ. Keep us focused on the Lord Jesus
Christ. It will cause us to set our heart
affectionate on things above, on Him. It will keep us looking
to Him. It will keep us from error in doctrine and error in
attitude. A steady diet of teaching and
preaching the Word of God. Now let me show you scripture
on that. Find Psalm 119. Psalm 119. A little verse 103. Psalm 119, 103. That's why we
repeat the things that we preach over and over and over again.
You've heard the same. You've been listening to me now
for nearly two years or so, and you've come to the conclusion
that I have just one message, and that's Christ. Salvation
by grace. Psalm 119, look at verse 103. How sweet are thy word and unto
my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. To thy precepts
I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. To thy precepts I get understanding,
therefore I hate, I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp
unto my feet, a light in my pathway. It'll keep us focused on Christ,
a steady diet of thus saith the Lord. It'll keep us from error
in doctrine and attitude. It'll keep us nourished up and
fed on Christ, the bread of life. Find Acts chapter 20. It'll keep
us nourished and well fed with the bread of life, with the water
of life. And that's Christ. And you know,
we're instructed to do that as ministers of the gospel as elders
of Christ were instructed to feed the flock of God which he
purchased with his own blood. What do we feed them with? Entertain
the troops? I'm not interested in entertainment.
I'm interested in preaching. I'm interested in that preaching
that's true to the scripture that abases the flesh and that
exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Acts chapter 20 verse
28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves. This is Paul's last
sermon to those elders at Ephesus. Acts 20, 28, Take heed therefore
unto yourselves and to all the flock, over which the holy goat
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood, knowing this, that after my departing
shall grievous dogs enter in, wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall
men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples
after them. And remember that by the space
of three years, I ceased not to warn every one night and day
with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, to the
Word of His grace, the Word of His grace. You see what he's
saying there? To the Word of His grace, which
is able to build you up and to give you inheritance among all
them that are sanctified, saved in Christ Jesus. So, back to
the text. Philippians chapter 3, verse
1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice, rejoice in the Lord. Now, verse
2, he gives us a strong warning, a strong warning, beware. Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. He's
talking about false preachers, a threefold description of them.
Notice in this same chapter, in Philippians chapter 3, verse
18 and 19, I think he further describes this group. For many
walk, of whom I've told you often, now tell you even weeping, that
they're enemies of the cross of Christ. These dogs, these
evil workers, these who mutilate the flesh thinking they gain
God's favor, they're enemies of the gospel of the cross of
Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose
glory is their shame, who mind earthly things. So I'm warning
you, beware, beware. You know, the Scriptures are
full of warnings. especially about false preachers. I'll show
you a couple of places here. Find 2 Peter. 2 Peter gives us
a whole chapter, chapter 2, 2 Peter 2. Jeremiah calls them prophets
who prophesy of the lies and the deceit of their own heart
in Jeremiah 23. But Peter here talks about these
in 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2 verse 1. You've got it? But there were
false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be
false teachers among you, who shall privately, secretly, or
stealthily, shall bring in damning heresies, even denying that the
Lord bought them. Even denying that there is a
necessity of a blood atonement in Christ Jesus. They deny the
atonement. denying they need an atonement,
and shall bring upon themselves swift destruction, and many shall
follow their evil ways, their pernicious ways, by reason of
whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." Beware. Beware. Now, 1 John chapter 4,
turn over there, here's another warning. Beloved, 1 John 4, 1. So beware of those dogs. Beware of those evil workers.
Beloved, believe not every spirit. You're talking here about preachers. Prophets. But try the spirits,
whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone
into the world. What would you try them with?
With the Word of God. If they speak not according to
this Word, it's because there's no light in them. I'm looking
at 1 John 4.1. Have you got it? 1 John 4.1.
If they speak not according to the Word of God, it's because
there's no light in them. So beware. And this, notice back
in the text where it says in verse 2 of Philippians 3, verse
2, beware of dogs. Notice the center reference there.
It's Isaiah 56.10. And you know what he calls them
there? Greedy dogs. Lazy dogs. And he calls them dumb dogs. Ignorant. snarling, wrangling,
biting, vicious dogs. That's what false preachers are.
I tell you, you know the Lord calls them the same? He calls
them by this name. Turn over here to Matthew 7.
Beware of those evil workers. Beware of those dogs. And talking about those false
preachers who do not magnify the Lord Jesus Christ, who center
their message on the sinner's will instead of God's grace in
the person of Christ. Matthew 7, look at verse 15. Matthew 7, 15. Our Lord said,
Beware of false prophets, which shall come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly, God knows their heart. They're ravening,
ravening, vicious wolves. You know a vicious wolf, they'll
prey on the harmless. They'll prey on that that weakened
person and they'll stalk them and they'll look at them and
they'll gather together in nothing worse than a pack of wild dogs. And they seek out the weak, the
weak one in the herd and they devour them and attack them.
Our Lord says, you shall know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? No. Now listen,
look what he says here, verse 17. Even so, every good tree
brings forth good fruit. He's talking here about God's
true minister, the good tree, the good fruit, the good news
of the gospel. But a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. You see what he's saying there?
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. Those who sit under a false preacher
with a false message will never be given life." That's what he's
saying there. Does God save people with error? No, sir. He saves them with the
gospel of God's grace. That's why we insist upon preaching
Christ and Christ alone. Now, beware of these dogs, beware
of these evil workers, and then he says, beware of those mutilators
of the flesh. He's talking about those Judaizers
who came along and said to those early converts in Jerusalem and
thereabouts, and some of those Gentiles who were converted by
God's grace through Paul's ministry and Peter's and others, and they
said, except those Gentiles being circumcised after the manner
of Moses, God's not going to save them. Well, the outcome
of that conference there in Acts 15, Peter stood up and said,
we believe, Acts 15 11, that through the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ that God's going to save us Jews the same way
He saved those Gentile dogs by His grace and His grace alone. And that's what he's saying here.
Beware of these. Beware of these. Beware. Beware. Lastly, let me give you this,
in verse 3. So beware of those evil workers,
beware of those who would tell you that something you do in
the flesh, and we can make it that way, something you do, or
some work you do, or some act you perform, or something you
do. If you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing, nothing
at all. It's not flesh. It's the spirit
that quickens. The flesh, prophets, nothing,
nothing, nothing. Now, he describes here in verse
3 a strong description of every believer in Christ Jesus. Every believer in Christ Jesus.
First of all, he said, we are the circumcision. We are the circumcision. Now,
what in the world is he saying here? I'll tell you what he's
saying. Turn here to Romans chapter 2. Believers have been truly
operated on by the Spirit of God. They've been cut in the
heart. In the heart. God, by the Spirit
of God, has spiritually circumcised them and made them a new creature
in Christ Jesus. It's not something outward, it's
inward. Salvation is a heart work. Salvation
is God working in you. Both the will and the do of His
good pleasure. Romans 2. Look at verse 28, "...he
is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, he is a true
believer, a true son of Abraham, a true child of God, which is
one inwardly, and that circumcision is that of the heart, in the
spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God." Now hold on to your seat. Turn to Colossians chapter 2
again. Colossians chapter 2. It's a
circumcision made without hands. It's the operation of God in
the heart. It's God which worketh in you.
God who has begun a good work in you. He will perform it. He
will perfect it. He will finish it. Colossians
chapter 2. Look at verse 9. Colossians 2.9. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him, in Christ,
which is the head, Lord of all principality and power." He is
King. He is Lord. We rejoice in Him. Now look at verse 11. In whom? In whom? Also you are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Now,
two things here, where it says, putting off the body of the sins
of the flesh, that is the Lord Jesus Christ put away our sin,
and He did it Himself. And secondly, it means this,
He's operated on us so much so that we are no longer trusting
ourselves at the body of sins. And it's all by the circumcision
of Christ, the operation of Christ. Now, read the next couple of
verses. We're buried with Him in baptism, wherein also we're
risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God. Even
faith is the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead,
and you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you
all sins. I want that circumcision, don't
you? I want God to operate on me and make me a new creature
in Christ Jesus. Now, look back at the text again. Philippians 3, 3. So that's a
description of true believers. We are the true Israel of God.
God's operated on our heart. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. Now the second thing he says
about these people who are the true believers in Christ Jesus,
the second description he says of them, which worship God in
spirit. We worship God in spirit. Now turn to John chapter 4. John
chapter 4. John 4. Remember the woman at
the well and the Lord Jesus is confronting her with the gospel.
In John chapter 4 verse 23, But the hour cometh, and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is spirit, and they that
worship him, I read that way on purpose, God is spirit, or
God spirit, They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit
and in truth." Spirit and truth. The believer desires to worship
God in the heart, in spirit, in a way of reverence and submission
to Him. Now, listen to me. Tomorrow morning,
you're going to go to work. And either around the water cooler
or around the coffee pot, all you religious cronies, are going
to stand around there and they're going to talk about their meeting
Sunday. And a lot of them are going to
say, oh, I tell you, we had a wonderful meeting. Oh, everybody got so
happy. Oh, we had this and oh, we had
that. Oh, it was such a spiritual time. There is no spiritual worship
apart from truth. Mark it down. Those who worship
Him in spirit and in truth. Christ is truth. We better preach
the true Christ, the Christ who is King, not the one that Paul
warned us about, those who come preaching another gospel, another
spirit, and another Jesus. You see, there's a lot of counterfeits
around. Make sure you're trusting the
right one, the Christ of God. We worship God in spirit and
in truth. Turn over here to Psalm Psalm
111. Psalm 111. You see, we worship
God, who is God. Psalm 111, verse 9. He sent redemption unto His people.
He sent the Redeemer. He commanded His covenant forever. Holy and reverent is His name. We worship God in reverence,
with a reverent spirit. with a heart of submission unto
Him. You see, holy and reverend is
His name. Now, never ever refer to any man who calls Him a minister,
never refer to any man as a reverend. Holy and reverend is His name,
not mine. You can call me Tom, you can
call me Tom-Tom. You can call me Pastor Tom. You
can call me Dead Dog Tom. You can call me Tommy Rock Tom.
Don't call me reverend. Call me friend or sinner or something.
I like old William Huntington, when he used to sign letters,
he would put down on the end of his letter, SS, Sinner Saved. That's a pretty good description.
Holy and Reverend is his name. The only place where sinners
will truly worship is at the throne of a sovereign king. That's
right. That's right. He said, Come boldly
unto the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy. Find grace
to help in time of need. It's the king upon the throne.
Now, oftentimes, people ask us in these days, and you may be
asked these questions, so I'm going to get you up to speed
on this. Oftentimes, people ask these
questions about worship service. And when they find out that we're
gathering here, they might ask you, well, what kind of worship
service do you have down there? And they usually will ask a question
like, well, is it a contemporary worship service? Or is it a ceremonial
worship service? Is it an entertainment worship
service? Is it a traditional worship service? No. I tell you
the answer, you to give. What kind of worship service
do you have down there at Kingsport Sovereign Grace? A scriptural,
biblical worship service where we sit quietly and preach the
gospel and magnify God in the heart. Not with this. That's just flesh. That's all
that is. That's drawing attention to Goal
number uno. Patting yourself on the back.
No, we sit in reverence with a quiet spirit. I think when
we come together in worship, we ought to be very still. As
old brother Muse used to say, don't move a hand nor a hair.
I don't like for folks to get up and move. I don't like for
folks to even whisper a word. Be very quiet in your worship. It shows reverence and respect
unto God Almighty in what we're doing here. And this is a biblical
worship service, to honor God. You see, we are the true Israel
which worship God in the Spirit, rejoice. The true Israel will
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now here's the third thing. We
glory in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this word here, as I pointed
out earlier, is a word that's different than in verse 1. It's
the word boast, or glory in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is no
new thing. Every believer loves to brag
on Christ and glory in Him. I was thinking about this verse
on the way down. I think it's Psalm 34. Turn over
here. This was David's hope. He said,
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name do we give
glory for Thy truth and for Thy mercy's sake. We glory in Him. Psalm 34. This is David's hope
here. Psalm 34 1. I will bless the
Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
with glory in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt
His name together." You see what he's saying there? Now, fine,
here's the same word that's used in Galatians chapter 6. Galatians
chapter 6, exact same word. You can take your computer program
and look these words up. You don't have to be smart to
do that. You just have to know how to use a computer. But it's
good to see what these words are in the original language. Galatians chapter 6, and here's
the same word in verse 14, God forbid that I should glory It's
the same word as we find in Philippians 3, 3. Rejoice, both save, except
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. As many as walk according to
this rule, you want a rule to walk by? Here's the rule. Glory in Him. Boast in Him. Brag
on Christ. Rest in Him. As many walk, according
to this rule, peace be on them and mercy upon the Israel of
God. Now back to Philippians 3. With glory in Christ. With glory
in Him. This is the sum and substance
of our message. Christ in Him crucified. Christ
in Him crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
total hope. of all our salvation. We have
a good hope through grace. You see, we glory in the Lord
Jesus because there's salvation in no other, in no other but
Christ. Now, one more scripture on that.
Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You see, we glory in Christ. Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Where
is that? Jeremiah 9, but find 1 Corinthians Chapter 1, verse
30. Look, let's back up. 1 Corinthians
1, verse 27, "...but God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty,
and the base things of the world God hath chosen, things which
are despised hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are
not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh, no flesh
is going to glory in His presence. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written. And this is
from Jeremiah 9, 23. You see that in the marginal
reference? You can turn and read that later.
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Let him glory in
the Lord. Now back to the text and I'll
let you go. Philippians chapter 3, the last point is this. We
rejoice in Christ Jesus and we have no confidence in this old
wretched man that I am. Paul said, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? Remember what he said? I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We have no confidence in
the flesh. We know something of our own
inherent depravity and sin, and we know that flesh is nothing
but flesh, and it will remain just what it is until we bury
it and put it in the ground, and then one day God's going
to make us a new body. We don't have any confidence
in the flesh. Jeremiah, we read in Jeremiah
17, Cursed is every man that maketh flesh his strength, his
power, his arm." I don't want to trust that which God curses,
do you? That's why we have no confidence
in the flesh. This is exactly why we count
all things but loss, rubbish, that we might win Christ and
be found in Him. Everything God has for the sinner
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're accepted in the Beloved.
He is our righteousness, He's called the Lord our righteousness,
and He is our redemption. Well, what do you think? Rejoice
in the Lord. Beware, we worship God in spirit. Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh.