From Religion to Rest

Q: What does the Bible say about rejoicing in the Lord?

The Bible encourages believers to rejoice in the Lord as their source of joy, emphasizing that true joy comes from Christ alone. In Philippians 3:1, Paul exhorts believers to 'rejoice in the Lord.' This call to joy is central to Christian life, as true joy is found not in oneself or in external circumstances but solely in Christ Jesus. The apostle emphasizes that he has no cause to rejoice apart from Him. Rejoicing in the Lord embraces gratitude for His attributes, redemptive work, and ongoing presence in believers' lives. David's reminder to 'rejoice in the Lord at all times' (Psalm 34:1) echoes this sentiment, illustrating that our joy can endure even amidst trials.

Q: How do we know we should not have confidence in the flesh?

The Bible teaches that confidence in the flesh is futile as no man can please God through works; true acceptance is found in Christ alone. Paul explicitly states in Philippians 3 that we should have no confidence in the flesh. In verses 4-6, he lists his own religious credentials, asserting that even his impressive background is of no value when it comes to securing favor with God. This principle teaches that our spiritual standing cannot be established by our works, moral behavior, or religious heritage. Instead, the flesh is described as utterly corrupt and unable to meet God's holy standards. All confidence must reside in Christ, whose righteousness is fully sufficient for salvation and acceptance before God.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to seek to know Christ?

Seeking to know Christ more deeply leads to spiritual growth and understanding of His power and suffering, which strengthens our faith. In Philippians 3:10, Paul expresses his desire to 'know Him and the power of His resurrection.' This pursuit of a deeper relationship with Christ is vital for a believer's spiritual maturity. Knowing Christ goes beyond mere intellectual knowledge; it encompasses a personal and intimate relationship that transforms how we live and respond to trials. Paul illustrates his longing for deeper communion, emphasizing that understanding Christ's power impacts our lives and enables us to share in His sufferings. This reflective growth is essential for embodying the essence of Christian discipleship.

Q: What does counting all as loss for Christ mean?

Counting all as loss for Christ means renouncing all earthly achievements and relying solely on Christ for spiritual worth. Paul's declaration in Philippians 3:7-8, where he counts all things as loss for the 'excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,' illustrates a profound truth for believers. It emphasizes a total surrender of one's previous identity anchored in achievements, tradition, or morality in favor of a life centered on Christ. This renunciation is not simply an act of giving up but represents a joyful exchange where the believer gains Christ, the ultimate treasure. It reflects the understanding that earthly success pales in comparison to the richness of knowing and being known by Jesus, transforming one's life and priorities.

Q: How does Paul describe the marks of true Christians?

Paul describes true Christians as those who worship in spirit, rejoice in Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh. In Philippians 3:3, Paul outlines three distinguishing marks of genuine believers. First, they worship God in spirit, indicating a heartfelt devotion rather than mere ritualistic practices. Second, they rejoice in Jesus Christ alone, recognizing Him as their source of righteousness and joy. Finally, they place no confidence in the flesh, acknowledging that their standing before God does not arise from their works or moral efforts. These characteristics serve as a foundation for authentic Christian identity, contrasting sharply with the self-righteousness of legalism and external conformity.

Now, I've got a most interesting
topic today. I'm going to speak to you on
this subject, from religion to rest. From religion, its activities,
its endeavors, its wheel spinning, its uncertainty, from religion
to rest, to peace. Now, if you're interested in
this subject, I want you to open your Bibles to Philippians chapter
3. I'm going to be dealing individually
with each verse. Romans, or rather Philippians
3, verse 1 through 14. Now, turn there to Philippians
3, verse 1 through 14. Now, I do not know, I do not
know of a chapter in God's Word which has a clearer message for
this particular religious day, like Philippians 3. Now, really,
I do not know of a chapter in God's Word that has a clearer
message for this day and a chapter, the message of which is most
applicable to this day than Philippians chapter 3. And these first 14
verses, now this will help you if you're taking notes, write
these three things down. We have in verse 1, 2, and 3,
Paul's exhortation or advice. We have secondly in verses 4
through 7, Paul's experience. And then in verses 8 through
14, we have Paul's expectation. Now, that's my outline. Paul's
exhortation, Paul's experience, and Paul's expectation. Now, here's my prayer. This is
what I'm asking God. I'm asking the Lord, the Spirit
of God today, if he will anoint this particular message and make
it a special blessing to everyone who hears it. I do know this. The poet put it this way. He
says, we've listened to the preacher, and truth by him has been shown,
but we need a greater teacher from the everlasting throne,
because application is the work of God alone. I can tell the
truth, straight, scriptural, biblical truth. But, and it'll
reach these ears, but it'll never reach a man's heart unless God,
by His Spirit reveals it to the heart. All right, let's look
at verse 1, Philippians 3, Paul's exhortation. He says, Finally,
my brethren, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, rejoice
in the Lord. Now, this is the theme and watchword
of every believer, rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
my joy. He is my song. He's my cause
for rejoicing. Not in myself, but in Him. I have no cause to rejoice except
in Christ. I rejoice in Him. He's my only
cause of rejoicing. He's my source of joy. He's the
fountain of joy. He said that my joy may be in
you, that your joy may be fulfilled. I rejoice in the greatness of
His person. I rejoice in His incarnation. Don't you? I'm glad He came to
earth. I rejoice in His righteousness. I'm glad I don't have to look
to my own, aren't you? I rejoice in His atonement. I rejoice in His sin offering.
I rejoice in His ascension. I rejoice in His intercession.
I rejoice in His return. I rejoice in His presence. And
you know, if we know Him like we should, as Paul said, we can
even rejoice in afflictions. Rejoice in our trials, knowing
that they come from Him and knowing that they'll work together for
His glory and our good. In fact, David said, Rejoice
in the Lord at all times. Let His praise continually be
in your mouth. So that's the first exhortation
or word of advice Paul gives to us, to believers. He says,
Rejoice in the Lord. You're not going to find much
outside of Christ in which to rejoice. and nothing in yourself. Rejoice in Him. And then he said
this, he says, continuing his exhortation, he says, To write
the same things to you to me is not grievous, that is, it's
not tiresome, but for you it's profitable. They must have said
about Paul what they say about me. They say of me, well, you
hear Mahan once, you've heard all he's got to say. He preaches
the same gospel all the time. That's what Paul said he did.
He said to preach the same things, to write the same things, to
declare the same gospel, it's not tiresome to me. I not only
rejoice in the person and work of Christ, I rejoice in the gospel
over and over and over and over again. It's never tiresome, never
tiresome. But I tell you this, he said,
not only is it not tiresome to me, but it's profitable for you.
Because hearing the gospel over and over again will keep your
mind on Christ. And hearing the gospel over and
over again will keep you from self-righteousness. And hearing
the gospel over and over again will keep you from errors of
spirit. How can you hear of His love
and not love? How can you hear of His mercy
and not show mercy? How can you hear continually
of His grace and not be gracious? How can you hear over and over
again how He was rich for your sakes, He became poor, and not
be generous? See what I'm saying? And hearing
the gospel over and over again keep you from false doctrine.
You won't be susceptible to every wind of doctrine that passes
over your head and comes near you. So Paul says, Rejoice in
the Lord. and to preach and write and declare
the same gospel to you, the gospel of Christ Jesus over and over
again. I never get tired of it, and it's profitable for you."
And then he says, beware of dogs. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil
workers. Beware of the concision. Preacher,
what's he talking about? He's talking about false preachers.
He calls them dogs. That's what Isaiah called them,
dumb dogs. Dumb watchdogs that don't bark.
Greedy dogs that care only for themselves. He calls them evil
workers, workers of iniquity. That's what Christ called them
at the judgment in Matthew 7 when they said, We preached in your
name, did many wonderful works and cast out devils. He said,
I never knew you, workers of evil, workers of iniquity. Beware of these dogs. Beware
of these evil workers. Beware of these workers of iniquity.
Beware of the concision, the circumcisers, The false preachers
who glory in the flesh, who glory in numbers, who glory in outward
show, who glory in vain show in the flesh, they glory in these
things. They glory in vastness, greatness, how many, how much,
how big, how long, instead of, he said, rejoice in the Lord.
Beware of these fellows now. Don't be taken in by them. He
says, we're the true circumcision, we're the true Israel, we're
the true sons of God. And then he gives in verse 3
there, three marks of those who are true preachers, true Israel,
and true sons of God. And he says, here's the three
marks of those people who belong to God, who glory in God, who
are servants of Christ. Number one, they worship God
in spirit. They worship God in heart, not
in form. not in uniforms, not in ceremony,
not in processionals, not in traditions, not in candle burning
and fleshly displays. That's not how they worship God,
by all standing at the same time or sitting at the same time or
holding up their hands at the same time or saying the same
thing or kneeling at the same time or forming a processional.
They worship God in heart. Wherever they are, with whomever
they are, they worship God in spirit. God's a spirit. God is spirit. And they that
worship God worship Him in spirit, not in form and tradition and
flesh and fleshly displays and these sort of things. That's
not worshiping God. Worshiping God's when my heart
is God and when my heart adores God and when my heart praises
God and when my heart bows to God. Not only do they worship
God in spirit, they rejoice in Jesus Christ and in Christ alone. He's their wisdom. He's their
sanctification. He's their righteousness. He's
their redemption. Joyous in Christ. They look to
Christ. Rest in Christ. Trust in Christ. Have faith in Christ. And thirdly,
they have no confidence in the flesh. None at all. And what flesh are we talking
about here? No confidence in the flesh. Well, we're not talking
about you saying, I've got no confidence in any man living.
I do. I do. I have confidence in my wife.
I have confidence in my son. Have confidence in my daughter.
Have confidence in some of our folks at the church. They're
people of their word. He's talking about this. He's
talking about put no confidence as far as your relationship with
God, as far as the forgiveness of your sins, as far as your
acceptance with God. Put no confidence, spiritual
confidence in the flesh. No confidence in your works of
righteousness. No confidence in your religious
feelings. and your religious emotions and
your religious profession, no confidence in the morality of
this flesh, this flesh is not moral, it's not spiritual, it's
carnal, it's fleshly. Could my tears forever flow?
Could my zeal no longer? No, these for sin could never
atone. God must save and God alone.
So when Paul says, this is the mark of a true believer, He worships
God in spirit, not in tradition, form, and ceremony, an outward
show, calling God Lord with his lips. His heart loves God. And
he rejoices only in Christ. And he has no confidence in any
religious experience or duties or works or doings or feelings
to appease a holy God or anybody else's doings. You see what I'm
saying? This is a good exhortation. Paul
says, Rejoice in the Lord. Keep to the gospel. And don't
you put any confidence in the flesh, as far as God's concerned,
because in the flesh no man can please God. In the flesh dwelleth
no good thing. Christ said the flesh profiteth
nothing. All flesh is grass. Isaiah, exhorting
the preacher, says, Comfort my people and cry out, and the servants
of God cry out. What shall I cry? Cry, he said.
Somebody cry. He said, well, what shall I cry?
What do they need to hear? Two things. All flesh is grass,
and behold, you're God. That's the twofold message of
the pulpit. There's nothing good in man,
and all good's in God. There's no light in man, God
is light. No truth in the flesh, truth
is in God. There's no power in the flesh,
all power is God. He's able to save. All flesh
is grass, behold your God." Isn't that a good exhortation? All
right. Now look at verse 4. Let's look
at Paul's experience. He had just said, have no confidence
in the flesh. And he's speaking here of religious
flesh. Religious flesh. We can't have any confidence
or peace before God in our religious works, in our religious deeds,
in our religious duties. We can certainly have some confidence
in men as far as men and women are concerned. Many people are
true to their word or they'll die trying to be true to their
word. They'll die trying to fulfill their promises. You can believe
them. It'd be an awful situation if
you didn't believe anybody. But as far as God is concerned,
before God, there's none good, no, not one. Before God, there's
none righteous, no, not one. Before God, there's none that
understand it. Before God, the flesh, prophetess, nothing. All
right, he asked in verse 4. He just said, have no confidence
in the flesh. And then in verse 4 he says,
do any of you boast in your flesh? If any man think he hath whereof
to glory in the flesh, read it there, I more. Do any of you
glory in your works, in your religious works, in your traditions,
in your denomination, in your heritage, in your profession,
in your righteousness, in your gifts? In your ability, in your
talent, do you have confidence in your old profession, in your
old experience? Do you have confidence in your
religious background? Do you think that you can bring
these things before God and say, God, I went to church all my
life, and my mother and father were Christian people, and they
raised me right, and I never did do this, and never did do
that, and never did do the other. Like a preacher I heard on TV
a few nights ago, he'd never tasted whiskey, never tasted
wine, never smoked a cigarette. Never. You think these things
are gonna have any weight with God? You have any confidence
in your flesh? Well, Paul said, if you do, if
you do, I got more to boast of than you ever thought of. Why,
he said, I was born of the tribe of Benjamin. I was a Hebrew of
Hebrews. I was a Pharisee. I was a member
of the Sanhedrin. I graduated from the leading
seminary of my day, the school of Gamaliel. I was zealous for
the law and for the truth of the Old Testament. I was blameless
before the law. I was the most respected, moral,
religious teacher in my whole nation. So there you have it. But look at the next verse, verse
7. But all of these things that
were so important to me and such gain, all these things that were
gain to me, I thought they were good. I thought they were good. I thought they were gain. But
all this flesh and all these duties and all this self-righteousness,
I found to be utterly worthless, worthless, loss in the light
of God's goodness and God's justice. I found them, rather than helping
me, rather than helping me, I found that these professions and experiences
and gifts and doings and righteousness, I found rather than helping me,
they were a stumbling block keeping me from God's mercy, keeping
me from God's Messiah, keeping me away from Jesus Christ, the
true righteousness of God. So I heaped all these things
together, all these big, great, powerful, important aspects of
my whole life in every area of religion. I heaped them all together
and I said, I count them lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Jesus Christ, my Lord. Oh, I'll tell you this, and I find
it almost 40 years of preaching the gospel, people who come to
see, come to understand through the Word of God, by the power
of the Spirit, they quit playing the game of religion. They quit
going through the motions. They quit looking back to an
old experience that stayed old. They quit trying to find peace
in works and self-righteousness. People who come to see, through
the Word of God, the awesome, infinite holiness of God, the
holiness of God and the righteousness of God. People who come to see,
by the Word of God, the awful, utter ruin of humanity. spiritually dead, who come to
see the inability of this flesh at its best state to please the
Holy God. People who come to see the glorious
gift of God's grace, the unspeakable gift of God's love, Christ Jesus,
in His person and work, in His obedience and death, in His suffering
and sacrifice, in His mediatorial intercession, all who see Him
turn their backs on their old tradition and on their old experiences
and on their old religion and on their old works and count
all those things but loss that they may win Christ and be found
in Him. It's always true. Our repentance
not only includes a repentance for sin, but it includes a repentance
of dead works and repentance of our righteous rags. And we
turn loose of all our idols and we turn only to Christ. That's
what Paul says. That's his experience. He's saying
now to any of you, we are the true Israel who worship God in
spirit, in heart, who rejoice only in Christ, who have no confidence
in anything identified with, related to the flesh where God's
concerned. No confidence. Do you have confidence
in the flesh? You're going to go back and try
to prove you're saved by something that happened 30 years ago? A
feeling, an experience, a profession? You're going to go back to when
you were a preacher or a teacher or a Sunday school teacher or
a choir leader? or something, or when you had an experience
down in the woods, behind a barn, under the shed, at the front
of a church, at a mourner's bench, and try to bring that before
Almighty God as your hope for eternity, you're going to go
back and see the fact that you never did this and never did
that, and tried to live right, and bring that fleshly rotten
rags before God as your covering. Why, He said, I got more than
you'll ever... You put all yours together, and I'll top every
one of them. I was this, that, and the other,
He said. Hebrew of Hebrew, Pharisee of the Law, before the law blameless. But I counted all the things
that were gained, that I held to, that I looked to, that are
rested in, that are built upon, I counted them lost, that I may win Christ." You think about that. You say, but preacher, I've given
my life to religion. Paul was 40 years old. He'd given
not only his life, but his soul to it. He'd kill for what he
believed. He had blood dripping from his
hands because of what he believed. All right, let's look at his
expectation. He said, yea, doubtless, without a doubt. I count all these things but
loss. My family, my friends, my future. My works, my deeds,
my efforts. My tradition, my learning, my
heritage. My profession, my experiences, my morality. And my friends,
if you want me to make it stronger," he said, I not only count these
things but lost, I count them but dung, garbage, rubbish, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him. At one time, Paul felt that he
could find favor with God by who he was and what he did. That's
right. Oh, but when God revealed His
holiness, Paul said, I died. When Paul saw his own sin, the
sin of his religion, that's where he lived, was in religion, the
worthlessness of all his deeds, of all these years, when he saw
Christ as his perfect righteousness, Christ as his redemption, Christ
as his sanctification, Christ as the fulfillment of all God's
requirements, Paul said, I renounce. Everything I've ever done, ever
said, or ever given, or ever claimed to be, I renounce it.
I count it but dumb. He lost ceremonial bondage and
gained Christ's freedom. He lost a false peace, a phony
peace, and he gained real peace. He lost pretended glory, and
he gained eternal glory. You know where all the fullness
of God dwelleth? You know where all the fullness
of God dwelleth? Not in your water baptism. Not
in your mourner's bench. And not in your preacher's hand.
And not in your religious denomination. You know where all the fullness
of God dwelleth? All the fullness of His love,
of His mercy, of His grace, of His forgiveness, of His power,
of His deity, of His kingdom. All fullness dwelleth in Christ. and you are complete in Him. That's plain as I can make it.
And then let me give you something here, Paul's expectation. In
these verses, Paul declares that he has three goals. This man
who was wrapped in religion, this man who was wrapped in the
false rags of religious tradition, this man who gave his very life
to religion, morality, and laws, and dues, and the misery of all
that religious tradition. And God broke the shackles, and
God set him free in Christ. God brought him to the Redeemer,
made him a new creature in Christ. Now he loved God from the heart.
Now he served God, not for reward, not out of fear, but because
he loved the Lord. And he had three goals. When
he was awakened to the holiness of God and saw Christ as his
righteousness, He said, I got three goals. Number one, look
at it. He said that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. That's my goal. Not having my
own righteousness, which is of the law. I have none. The law
does nothing but expose my corruption and confusion. Yours too, if
we get a good look at it. So I want to win Christ. And
I want to be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by the
faith of Christ, by the obedience of Christ, by the faithfulness
of Christ. And secondly, he said, oh, secondly, that I may know
him and the power of his resurrected life. You say, didn't Paul know
Christ? Oh, yes. What's he saying here? I want
to know him better. You know, I get the idea some
people walk down an aisle and make a profession except Jesus,
and then they say, Good-bye, Lord. I'll see you in heaven.
I'm all fixed up now, you know. But Paul wanted to learn Christ
and to know Christ and to grow in the grace and knowledge of
Christ. He said, I want to know Him. I seek after Him. And I want to know something
about the power of His life, of His resurrected life, of His
glorified life. Christ laid our sins aside and
died for them and came out of the tomb in the power of God
in a glorified body. And Paul said, I want to know
something about the power of that resurrected life. And I
want to know something about the fellowship of His sufferings.
I want to be counted worthy. to suffer for His sake. I want
to bear in my body the marks, the scars of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want to sit on the sideline
and watch others engaged in this battle of truth and this battle
for the glory of God. I want to be right in the middle
of it. I want to know the fellowship of His sufferings. I want to
walk with Him like Enoch of old. That's my goal, to win Christ
and be found in Him, to know Him. Do you have a friend that
you've known for two or three months, four or five months?
When you've known him five years, will you know him better? Will
you walk closer? You will if he's a real friend.
And that's the way Paul's talking about the Christ. I want to know
him better, and I want to know the power of his resurrected
life, and I want to know the fellowship of his suffering.
And you know his third goal? That I may attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. He said, I hadn't already attained.
I'm still in the flesh. I'm not perfect. You know, these
people that claim to be without seeing, claim to be perfect,
did they never read God's Word? Paul said, I'm not perfect. He
said, I haven't laid hold, apprehended, laid hold upon that for which
I've been apprehended of Christ. Nevertheless, he said, forgetting
those things which are behind, I press forward. toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of Christ my Lord. Those are
my goals. You know he doesn't mention a
thing about a crown or a reward in heaven. He said, I want to
win Christ, know Christ, and rise from the dead in His glory. Now this message is from religion
to rest. And on the back of it is the
death of death. Write for it. Send $2. We'll
mail it to you. God bless you.

From Religion to Rest

What does the Bible say about rejoicing in the Lord?

How do we know we should not have confidence in the flesh?

Why is it important for Christians to seek to know Christ?

What does counting all as loss for Christ mean?

How does Paul describe the marks of true Christians?

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From Religion to Rest

What does the Bible say about rejoicing in the Lord?

How do we know we should not have confidence in the flesh?

Why is it important for Christians to seek to know Christ?

What does counting all as loss for Christ mean?

How does Paul describe the marks of true Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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