Now open your Bibles with me
to Philippians, the third chapter. Now this is a most familiar Scripture
which you've heard many, many, many times. But let's read it
again and pray that all of us might indeed hear as Lydia heard. Now, this is the letter to the
church at Philippi, and in chapter 3, Paul says, finally, my brethren,
finally, rejoice in the Lord. This is one of the themes of
this book. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice in
the Lord. About ten times. The Apostle
exhorts us to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice. And that doesn't
mean outward emotion altogether. It may lead to that. But this rejoicing is in the
heart at all times. I rejoice in the Lord, David
said, at all times. Rejoice in the Lord. In heart,
in spirit. And he says, to write the same
things, the gospel, redemption, the person and work of Christ,
to write the same things to you, to me indeed is not and never
will be tiresome, will never be grievous or tiresome. And
for you it's safe. You need, all of us need to hear
the gospel over and over and over again. Promises of God in
Christ Jesus. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. And then in verse
2, he warns this church against false preachers. And we are literally
surrounded with them. They were too. And there were
false prophets in the days of national Israel. And Peter said,
there shall be many false prophets in these days. Beware, and Paul
is strong. Oh, how strong he is in denouncing
these covetous men. He says, beware of dogs. Dogs. And the reference there
is to Isaiah 56, verse 10. You might want to turn over there
and note the Scripture. Verse 10, you might want to look
at this. He says, his watchmen are blind,
these men who claim to be his watchmen. They're ignorant. They're all dumb dogs. They cannot bark, sleeping, lying
down, loving to slumber, and they're greedy. Greedy dogs which
can never have enough. They're shepherds that cannot
understand. They all look to their own way,
every one for his own gain, from his own quarter. They're covetous
men, not interested in God's glory or the good of the people,
but their own well-being and welfare. And you beware of them.
Beware of evil workers. These are religious men, too.
You know, in Matthew 7, when our Lord said, Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
He said, Many will say unto me in that day, Why, Lord, we preached
in your name, and we did many wonderful works in your name.
We cast out demons in your name. And he said, I'll profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye evil workers. Beware of these greedy dogs. Beware of these evil workers. And beware of the concision.
That's the circumcisers. People who demand that you, like
I said this morning, do something. to gain favor with God, that
you do what they require you to do. They're circumcisers,
they're organizers, they're legalizers, even baptizers. But they want
you to do something that they may glory in your flesh, stand,
or raise your hand, or write in, or send something, or all
this thing, do something, do something. That's the circumcisers. They're flesh merchants. That's
what he calls them. Flesh merchants. They're sole merchandisers. They're
not interested in the person, because the person to them is
just a means of gain. You have to beware of them. Beware
of them. And they'll come to you in sheep's
clothing. Inwardly, they're ravening wolves. They'll devour you. Dangerous. Dangerous. Even Satan changes
himself into a minister of light. Is it any wonder that his ministers
present themselves as ministers of righteousness, holiness, morality? Beware of them. Listen to verse
3. We are the circumcision. That's Israel. We are true Israel.
Who is true Israel? Everybody claims to be true Israel. Well, who is true Israel? What
are the marks of someone who is truly the child of God, the
elect of God, the prophet of God, the minister of God? Who
is true Israel? Well, he said there's three undeniable
marks. The first one is this, they worship
God in the Spirit. Not in the form, not in the letter,
Not in the doctrine. Not in the flesh. Not in the
tradition. Not in the custom. In the Spirit. Heart. That's where they worship
God. They worship God in the Spirit. Broken, contrite spirit. Their hearts, like I read this
morning, that man after God's own heart. Heart to heart. heart to heart they worship God. And secondly, they rejoice in
Christ Jesus. It's what our subject is tonight.
He's all and in all. He's all to them. He's their
wisdom. He's their righteousness. He's
their sanctification. He's their redemption. He's their
life. He's their salvation. He's their
foundation. He's their hope. He's their security. He's all and in all. They rejoice
only in Christ, not in anything, in experience, or profession,
or works, or heritage, or ancestry, nothing. Nothing. They rejoice in Christ. Christ
alone. Christ alone. Alpha, omega, beginning
or end, they rejoice in Christ. Only in Christ. That's the circumcision. And thirdly, they have no confidence
in the flesh. Mine or yours or anybody else's.
No confidence. They build nothing on this flesh.
Nothing. There was a noted preacher on
television last Sunday, or Sunday before. Brother Thornberry was
telling me about this. And he was busy trying to get
people to do something, to give, or be good stewards, or tithe,
or witness, or win souls, or come to church, or be faithful,
or just do something. Because he said, there's going
to be a difference between people in heaven. There's going to be
some folks that get some rewards, and some folks that don't. There's
going to be some folks glad, and there's going to be some
folks sad. But that's not the heaven of
this book. And that's not the grace of this book, and that's
not the God of this book. The first shall be last and the
last shall be first. The thief on the cross who died
in the eleventh hour, who never worked, who never walked, who
never witnessed, who never washed, will be walking side by side
with the Apostle Paul in the same glory, in the same love,
in the same mercy. There are no rewards. Christ
is my reward. Christ is our reward. We rejoice
in Christ. Anything that a believer does,
God enables him to do it. Any gift a believer has, God
gave it to him. Any service a believer renders,
it's not him, it's Christ in him. Why should we take credit
for what we don't do? He does it. Christ can do it. That's the hope of glory. Don't be taken in by that foolishness. If you've got to be persuaded
to honor God and love God and serve God for a reward, you haven't
heard the gospel yet. And then he says, though I might
also have confidence in the flesh, if you want to talk about what
you've done and who you are, He said, let me talk about who
I am and what I've done. If any man thinketh he hath whereof,
he might trust in the flesh, do you? Does anybody want to
talk about faithfulness and loyalty and morality and zeal and enthusiasm
and intellect and all these things? You want to boast of that? Listen
to me, verse 5. Why, he said, I circumcised eight
days like the Lord Himself. An Israelite of the stock of
Israel. More than that, of the beloved
tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin! I didn't come from
Simeon or Dan or one of these others. I came from Benjamin.
I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. My house and lineage is pure
all the way back. Hebrews. I speak Hebrew, he said. As touching the law of Pharisee,
I climbed to the highest recognition in the Jewish religion, just
under the high priest of Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, taught
by Gamaliel. Concerning Zeal, I persecuted
the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. Outwardly, the law, I kept it
to the letter. But these things, listen, but
what things were gained to me, those I counted loss, total loss
for Christ. I burn them, I bury them, I cast
them behind my back. Don't even mention them. Don't
bring them up. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things, everything,
heritage, ancestry, relatives, works, religion, all of these
things, I count all things that I've ever done, ever given, but
lost for one thing. for the excellency of the glorious
excellency. And most of you here tonight
know something about this, the excellency. That's what the book
of Hebrews is all about, the excellency of Christ over all
things, over angels, over Moses, over the law, over the priesthood,
over Abraham, over all things. I count everything but lost for
one thing, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. That's what he's talking about
when he said, oh, that I may know Him. Know Him. I don't want to know, especially
know about Him. I want to know Him. Not just
to be well-versed in the doctrine of Christ, I want to know Him.
Oh, I count everything but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom, for whom I have suffered
the loss of everything." And he did. Sitting in prison when he wrote
this, this noted individual, this man who was known by kings,
This man who was known personally by the high priest, this man
of whom they said much learning that made you mad, the court of Caesar, it cost
him an awful lot to preach the gospel. But he said, that's all
right, I do count all these things but dumb. I count them but dumb. But you're somebody, Paul. He
used to be. He used to be. that I count all these things
but rubbish. Rubbish. That's so hard, so difficult
for some folks to do. Count it but rubbish. But he
counted it but rubbish that I may win Christ and be found in Him. In Him. Not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ. We don't live by faith. We live by Christ. We live by Christ. We don't live
upon faith, we live upon Christ. And this righteousness is through
the faith of Christ, the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith, through faith. Through faith. Oh, that I may know Him. What
is he saying here? He's saying this, eternal life
is an impossibility. Is an impossibility, not even
a possibility of a man having eternal life apart from Christ.
It's an impossibility. John wrote in 1 John, this is
the record, God has given us eternal life, this life's in
His Son. And he that hath the Son hath
life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. There's
not even a possibility apart from Christ of having life. What's
he saying here? He's saying that resurrection,
look down here in verse 11, if by any means, verse 10 says that
I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable to His death, if
by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.
I tell you, a lot of folks in this world are counting on being
resurrected. They're counting on someday when
the trumpet blows and the angel of God shouts and the Lord Jesus
descends from heaven with a shout. They're counting on being raised
and going with Him to glory. But I'll tell you, resurrection
is a fantasy apart from Christ. You know what He said to Martha? She believed in the resurrection.
She said, Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother wouldn't
have died. He said, your brother will rise again. She said, I
know he'll rise in the resurrection. He said, Martha, I'm the resurrection. Apart from me, there's no resurrection. I'm the resurrection and the
life. You're looking at the resurrection. He that believeth on me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. You believe this? Believest thou
this? Apart from Christ, resurrection's
a fantasy. It's a dream, a dream world.
Christ is our resurrection. He's the first begotten from
the dead, and because He lives, we live. Peace with God is an impossibility
except in Christ. Entrance, access into the presence
of God is an impossibility without Christ. Look at Romans 5. Listen
to this. In Romans chapter 5. Powerful scripture here. Listen.
Therefore, Romans 5 verse 1, Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is my peace. He made peace
through the blood of His cross. He said, My peace I give unto
you. The world can't give you any
peace. My peace. Listen to the next verse. By
whom? Not by what, by when. By whom? Also we have access by faith into this grace. By
Christ we have access into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice
in the hope of the glory of God. This is so clear from the Scriptures. That's the reason Paul said to
write the same things to you. The same things to you. To me
it's not tiresome. For you it's so important. It's
so safe. Colossians 1.19 says this, you
don't need to turn to it, you know what it says, it pleads
God that in Him should all fullness dwell. You know what that word
fullness means? Fullness. I looked it up. Fullness means
completion. Completion. Fullness means to
finish, to level out. Fullness is that which fills
up. as content and levels out. It pleased God that in Christ
should all fullness. Everything in Him. So eternal
life apart from Christ is the impossibility. Resurrection apart
from Christ is a fantasy. You're whistling, those people
are whistling by the cemetery. Peace with God is an impossibility
without Christ because Christ is everything. In Him dwelleth all the fullness,
completion of God bodily. And I want to read you Ephesians
1. I do want you to turn to that. Look at this, Ephesians 1. Listen
to this verse. This is so powerful. I'm going
to begin reading with verse 17. Verse 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. In the knowledge of Him. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His
calling what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
to us who believe according to the working of His mighty power."
I'm not going to read that again. Did you, Serena, hear all that?
His. His. His. Listen. "...which He
wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him
at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all
principalities, and power, and might, and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and
gave to him to be the head over all things to the church, which
is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all and in all. Is it any wonder that Paul said,
Oh, that I may win Christ? and be found in Him. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that
flood, lose all their guilty stains. Come thy fount of every
blessing. Fount of every blessing. The
only fountain around. He stood on that last day of
the great feast, and after the people had finished all of their
three days going through the motions of religion, and were
going home, and He stood on the last day of that feast, and He
cried as they departed from Jerusalem, Ho! And they turned and listened.
He said, Everyone that's thirsty, come to Me, and out of your belly
shall flow rivers of living water. Boy, they'd been three days in
the doctrines, and three days in the sacrifices, and three
days in the ceremonies, and three days in the religion, and three
days in all this going through the motion. He said, come to
me. Come, thou fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing
call for songs of loudest praise. Here I raise mine Ebenezer hither,
by thy help I am come, I hope by your good pleasure, safely
to arrive at home. Let me show you five things and
I'll quit. Five statements for you to remember.
Christ Jesus, all and in all. Well, I'll tell you this, He's
all in the first creation. Scripture says He's before all
things. Glorify thou me with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. You read Proverbs
8 sometimes, talking about Christ and His glory from the beginning. He's all. Before all things,
He made all things. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. And Paul said in Colossians,
they were made for Him. And by Him they are held together.
And He has all authority over all things. Thou hast given me
all power in heaven and earth. And Hebrews says He is the heir
of all things. God has vested everything in
Jesus Christ. That's so. And because all things
are His, created for Him and controlled by Him, then you believers
rejoice. He can make all things work together
for your good. That's right. The only way, and
I hear every religious A person in this world, quote, and all
things work together for good, not unless he's in charge. He's
in charge. All things. Secondly, Christ
is all and in all, not only in the first creation, but in the
new creation. John Flavel said this, He's all
from the Father. Don't expect anything else. But
He's enough. He's all from the Father. Secondly,
I love this, He's all to the Father. This is my beloved Son. Hear Him now. It's just something about a beloved
Son. And this is my beloved Son. This
is my ordained, anointed, appointed, beloved Son. And they said, we'll not have
this man reign over us. Old Pilate said, I washed my
hands of his blood. He's still washing them in hell,
I imagine, too. Trying to. He's all from the Father. He's
all to the Father. And listen, he's all with the
Father. The Father said He has exalted
Him above all exaltation and given Him a name which is above
every name that is the name of Jesus. Every knee is going to
bow and every tongue will confess He is Lord to the glory of God. And He is all that a man needs to come
to the Father. He is sufficient. That's right. He's all from the Father, He's
all to the Father, He's all with the Father, and He's all to anyone
in order to come to the Father. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. Thirdly, Christ is
all in the Gospel. Christ is the Gospel. What did
Paul say? He said, we preach Christ. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you except Christ. It's Christ who sent us to preach.
As my Father has sent me, even so send I you. It's Christ who
gives us the gifts to preach. It's Christ that we preach. You
take away Christ, the preacher has nothing to preach and no
reason to preach and ought to quit preaching. Is a man in darkness,
he's the light. Is a man a sinner, he's the one
who came to save sinners. Is a man hungry, he's the bread.
Is a man thirsty, he's the water. Is a man poor, he's the riches.
Is a man weary, he's our rest. Is a man weak, he's our strength.
Is a man dying, he's the resurrection and the life. Maurice Montgomery preached here
one time and he presented several things I'll never forget. The difficulty that faces us. The awesome challenge before
us. He said, there's a holy God whom
I cannot please. In the flesh, no man can please
God. But Christ did. Christ pleased him, my substitute. Secondly, he said, there's a
holy law that I can't keep. Try as I may, I can't keep the
least jot or tittle of that holy law. But Christ did. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law, I came to fulfill it. And he kept it in every jot and
tittle. Far above us. He said, thirdly,
there's a righteousness which God demands which I cannot produce. But Christ did. He is our righteousness. He fulfilled
every requirement, every law, every commandment perfectly.
He loved God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and
his neighbors himself. Fourthly, there's a sin I can't
put away. I just can't put it away. Can't even forget it. But Christ did. He bore our sins in His body
and put them away. And He said He'll remember them
no more. There's a justice that I can't
satisfy. God must be just. God's a just
God. And I cannot satisfy His justice. Justice, the law has a claim
on me that I cannot fulfill. But Christ did. He came and died
just for the unjust, enabling God to be just and justify that
He might bring us to God. Sixthly, He said there's a judgment
that all men must face that I cannot endure. It says, all men, small
and great, shall stand before God. The sea gave up the dead
which were in it. Death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them. And I saw all men stand before
God. I supported unto men once to
die after that judgment. And I'll tell you this, I don't
want to be in that crowd. I don't want to be in that crowd.
Because I can't handle it. All I have to say is guilty.
But for the believer, there is no judgment because Christ has
satisfied all that judgment for them. Put it away. There is therefore
now no judgment to them who are in Christ. And then, seventh, there is an
eternal death for all who sin. The soul that sinneth shall die. Now how am I going to escape
that? Death. For sin. Well, He died for me
and for you. And we don't face that death.
That's the reason He said, He that believeth on Me shall never
die. Fourthly, Christ is all before
the creation, in the creation, in the new creation, in the gospel. Fourthly, Christ is all in the
worship of God. God gave us the Lord's table. That's an ordinance. He gave
the church. But it's meaningless without
Christ, isn't it? He said, as often as you eat
this bread and drink this cup, you shall not death till I come.
Christ is all concerning the table and the worship of the
Lord in communion. The Lord gave us baptism, but
what's baptism without Christ? It's meaningless. It's a form.
When you bring an infant and put water on his head, that's
meaningless form. Baptism is the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ. The sinner standing in the pool
saying, with Christ I died, I'm buried out of sight, this old
man, old flesh is dead, I'm risen with Christ to walk in newness
of life. Baptism without Christ is meaningless. What about praise? What about
singing praise in worship? Now unto Him who is able to keep
you from falling. Unto Him who loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own precious blood. All praise is unto Him,
the Lamb who is worthy. What about prayer? Whatsoever ye ask the Father
in my name. There is one God, one Mediator
between God and men. One Advocate. If any man sin,
we have an Advocate. The Lord's table, baptism, Praise,
prayer, all of it without Christ is meaningless. And then, fellowship. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. We talk
about fellowship. John talked about fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son. That's where the fellowship
is. We fellowship with one another in Christ. And that's the basis
of it. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 9, listen.
God is faithful by whom you are called into the fellowship of
His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the
same thing, that there be no divisions, schisms among you,
that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind And
the same judgment, whose mind? The mind of Christ. The church is not an organization
that's brought together for social purposes or for community welfare
purposes. It's the body of Christ. And
our fellowship's in Him. Now, we do these things as God
enables us. But our fellowship's in Christ.
He's all in the worship of God. Alright, here's the last thing.
Christ is all in every grace. Is it any wonder that the Apostle
Paul said, oh, that I may win Christ. Be found in Him. That I may know Him. The power
of His resurrection. Listen, every grace. It's all
about Christ and in Christ. Let me share this with you. Number
one. Shall we speak of faith? He's the author and finisher
of faith. Shall we speak of love? He said, you love one another
as I love you. Shall we speak of hope? Christ in you, the hope
of glory. That's faith, hope, and love.
It's all in Him. Shall we speak of forgiveness? Be ye kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God, for Christ's
sake. forgave you. Shall we speak of
humility? Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ who thought it not robbery to be equal with
God but made himself of no reputation. Shall we speak of giving? The
whole 8th and 9th chapter of 2nd Corinthians talks about giving
and sums it up with this, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. Shall we speak about the Holy
Spirit? Christ said, when He's come, He'll take the things of
mine and show them to you. He'll not speak of Himself. He'll
glorify Me. Shall we speak of perseverance? Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling and present you faultless before His presence
with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior,
Jesus Christ. Shall we speak of discipleship?
and service, our Lord knelt and washed the feet of His disciples.
And He said, if I, your master, have washed your feet, you ought
to do the same. That's the basis of Christ. Eternal life, an impossibility
without Christ. Resurrection, a fantasy without
Christ. with God and access to the Father
without Christ.