Now let's open our Bibles again
to Philippians chapter 3. Who are the true people of God? There always has been and always
will be arguments and debates on this point. Who are the true
people of God? Well, we are, of course. Who
makes up the true church? We do. The Jewish people boasted
of their heritage. They said, we're the true people
of God because of our heritage. We have Abraham to our father.
That settles the issue. There's no further argument,
no further debate. We have Abraham. Christ said,
if Abraham were your father, you'd do the works of Abraham.
And they claimed to be the true people of God, the true church,
because of their heritage. And then the ceremonialists.
He boasted of his circumcision. Paul said, I was circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin.
I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. I had a Hebrew mama and a Hebrew
daddy. These Sabbath days and religious rituals and ceremonies,
that proves that we're the true people of God. We do the things
that God outlined to Moses, and that makes us the people of God.
You don't do them, so you're not the people of God. The legalist,
he says, we are the people of God because we do the works of
God. We tithe, we fast, we give alms,
we're not adulterers, we're not extortionists, we're not this,
that, and the other. Our morality proves that we're
the people of God. I thank you, God, I'm not like
other men, I'm like you. I'm not like this publican down
here. I'm the people of God because my works prove that I'm the people
of God. And then the fundamentalists boast in his doctrine. Christ
looked at a group of Bible scholars one day, theologians, doctrinalists,
and he said, you search the scriptures, and they did. These scribes and
Pharisees and Sadducees were not ashamed to read the Scriptures
on the street corners. They lived in the Scriptures.
They breathed the Scriptures. They studied the Scriptures.
They read the old manuscripts. Every jot and tittle had to be
just right. He said, you search the Scriptures.
In them you think you have life. You think because you know the
Bible, you're the people of God. You think because you're orthodox
and you're doctrinally exact and correct, and you would argue
over just the least little thing, the least variation from your
doctrine. You search the scriptures, in
them you think you have life. The Word of God, the Word of
God, the Word of God, that's our hope, that's our foundation.
And too often, that's our salvation. And then another, the modern
religionist. We're the people of God because
we've made our decision. We've decided for Jesus. The
preacher came along and said, you don't want to go to hell,
do you? And we said, no. And he said, well, God loves
you. And we said, good. And he said, Christ died on the
cross and was buried and rose again. Do you believe that? Yes.
Well, you're saved. And I am? Yes. And you are the
people of God. Well, hallelujah. I'm the people
of God because I believe that Jesus died on the cross. I believe
there's one God and I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross.
I don't know too much about him and don't have too much love
for him and don't have too much interest in who he is or what
he did or why he did it. But I'm saved, the preacher said
I was, and I can't ever be lost. And we're all going to heaven.
when we all get to heaven. And the modern religionist says,
we are the people of God because we've accepted Jesus as our Savior. But Paul's description of the
people of God is a whole lot different from that. Look at
verse 3 of Philippians 3. He says, we are the circumcision. We are the true people of God.
We are the circumcision, the true circumcision, who indeed
do fulfill that for which circumcision was intended. In the spirit and
not in the letter. In the spirit and not in the
flesh. One is a form, the other is the spirit. One is in the
flesh, the other is in the heart. One is done by men, one is done
by God. Let the ceremonialist boast. Let the doctrinalist boast. Let
the legalist boast. Let the modern religionist rest
in his refuge of lies. Paul said, we are the true circumcision. We are the true people of God,
who? Three marks of the people of
God. And it'd do well to camp here
a long time. Paul, under divine inspiration,
wrote this. Paul, directed by the Holy Spirit,
wrote this, Holy men of God spake as God led them. This is God
breathed. He said here are the marks of
the true people of God. Three of them. They worship God
in the Spirit. They rejoice in Jesus Christ. And they have no confidence in
the flesh. Let's look at them one at a time.
We are the circumcision, that for which circumcision is intended.
Not the cutting of the flesh, but the cutting of the heart,
the renting of the heart, the taking away of the old carnal,
evil sins of the heart. We worship God in the Spirit.
The true believer is known for his worship. He is one who worships
God in the Spirit. Turn with me to John 4. Let's
see what this is all about. In the fourth chapter of John,
our Lord was talking with a woman, a woman at the well. And this
woman was talking about her heritage, her religious background, her
father's. She said in verse 20 of John
4, our fathers, our denomination, they worshiped in this mountain.
And you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought
to worship. Jesus said, Woman, believe me,
the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain nor
at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know not what. We know what we worship, salvations
of the Jew, but the hour cometh and now is when true worshipers,
you with me? true worshipers, the true people
of God, the true church of God, shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. My friends, God is a spirit,
and they that worship Him, worship Him in spirit. How do you build
God a house? The heavens won't contain Him.
The earth is his footstool. How do you build God a house?
How do you restrict God to a cathedral or a temple or a building or
a chapel? What material substance do you
bring God who made all things? What are the words? What are
the words you use to exalt Him who made the tomb? What are candles
to Him? I see people burning candles
all the time, trying to worship God by burning candles. What
are candles to Him who made the sun? What are processionals to
Him before whom all creatures stand at every moment? Our Lord said, well did Isaiah
say of you hypocrites, you approach me with your lips and your hearts
are far from me. You bring your processionals,
you bring your candles, you bring your tithes, you bring your offerings,
you bring your body, you bring your words of praise, you build
your cathedrals and temples, you approach me with your flesh
and your lips, but your hearts are far from me. God is a Spirit. God is a Spirit. And they who
worship Him, worship Him in Spirit. What is it to worship God in
Spirit? We're not talking here just of
the Holy Spirit. Of course, that's included because
there's no man who can worship God except in the Holy Spirit.
No man can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit takes the things of God and reveals them unto us. What
we're talking about here, worshiping God in spirit, in attitude, in
heart, in the inner man. Look at Romans 1, verse 9. Romans 1, 9. And you think I'm
not on something important here? You think this is not the very
heart of what we ought to preach? Who are the people of God? We
all claim to be, but Paul says, who are the people of God? Christ said, you worship, you
don't know what you worship. True worshipers worship God in
spirit. And that's the mark of the true
people of God. And Paul said in Romans 1, 9,
God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel
of his Son. We've got religion so highly
organized today, men are running here and there. Our enthusiasm and our zeal and
our efforts and our fleshly programs are unmatched. unparalleled in
the history of religion. We're doing, doing, doing, but
we're missing the one ingredient that God commands, worshiping
God in the Spirit. It's been so long since most
people have been in a worship service. It's been so long since
most professing churchmen have ever worshiped God. We serve
God, Paul said, in the Spirit. When we build these buildings,
we're building them for ourselves, I think, not so much for God,
because God doesn't dwell in buildings. I wonder what kind of favor we've
done God after all. Maybe we've done ourselves a
big favor, but how much have we done for God? Paul said, I
serve Him in the Spirit. I worship Him in the Spirit.
What is this spirit? What's the spirit of reverence?
It's the spirit of fear. Turn to Psalms 89. It'd do well
for you to turn to these verses and look them over and perhaps
mark them. We've played church long enough, I think. It's time
we got down to business and found out what God said, because He's
our judge. In Psalm 89, verse 6, who in
the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons
of the mighty can be like unto the Lord? God is greatly to be
feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him." God is greatly to be feared and
to be had in reverence. I think you'd be miles ahead
this morning if you For a little while had God in
true, sincere, honest reverence and a heart fear as you held
him in your heart and beheld him with your thoughts. And if
you went out this week and passed out 10,000 tracks, I really believe
that. If for just a moment God is greatly
to be feared, to be esteemed, to be held in awe, our Father
which art in heaven. If I could just say this with
the deep meaning of my soul one time today, hallowed be thy name. I mean and mean it and feel it
and experience it and walk in it. To this man, God said, well,
I look. to the man of the contrite heart who trembles at my name. I wish a spirit of reverence, then a
spirit of praise. Turn to Psalm 150. They worship
God in spirit, in a spirit of reverence, in a spirit of praise.
Listen to it. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God. Not say it, do it. in the sanctuary, His sanctuary. Praise Him in the firmament of
His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts.
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the
sound of the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery
in heart. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance. Praise Him
with the stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the
loud cymbals. Praise Him upon the high sounding
cymbals. Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. spirit of praise. We are the
true people of God who worship God in the spirit, in the spirit
of reverence and fear, in the spirit of praise, in the spirit
of thanksgiving. Enter into his courts with thanksgiving. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name for the Lord is good. enter into his presence with
thanksgiving. I wonder how many of us started
this day with a spirit of murmuring, complaining. Worship God, not play church,
not get together and sing and shake hands and pat each other
on the back and read a few verses of Scripture and rejoice in our
doctrinal orthodoxy. Worship God. Enter into his presence with
thanksgiving, or don't come, or don't come. And into his courts
with praise. Be thankful unto him. And then
a spirit of humility. O Lord, when I consider the heavens
the work of thy hands, what is man that art mindful of him?
What in the world is this mass of flesh, this guilty son of
Adam, this weak, infirm, afflicted child of darkness that God should
pay any attention at all to me? David said, Who am I, God? And
what is my house that you should show mercy to me? Humility. Depths of mercy can there be?
Mercy is still reserved for me. Worship God in the spirit of
humility. In the spirit of submission,
Eli, God said that judgment was going
to fall on your house. Your sons have blasphemed the
name of the Lord, and you didn't correct them, and God's going
to slay them. And Eli said, in the spirit of
submission, well, it's the Lord. Let him do what he will. Job,
you were a wealthy man, and now you're broke. You were a family
man, and now you're alone. You were a popular man, and now
you're despised. You were a healthy man, and now
you're racked with pain. And Job bowed his head and worshiped
God, and he said, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away,
Blessed be the name of the Lord. You reckon we've ever, any of
us, ever come anywhere near worshiping the Lord? Job worshiped the Lord. Admire how God blessed him. He
knew God. He walked with God. He said,
though he slay me, I'll trust him. That's spirit. Worship God
in the spirit. I'm not talking about running
around here singing, everybody happily saying amen. This bit
of light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Everybody's happy to say amen.
People have been happy on their road to hell. But this true child
of God is a man who worships God in the spirit, in the spirit
of praise, in the spirit of reverence, in the spirit of thanksgiving,
in the spirit of humility, in the spirit of submission. Lord,
what would you have me to do? what would you have me to do?
I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll tell you the position
in which I'm going to serve. I'll tell you the class I'm going
to teach. I'll tell you the time I'm going
to sing. And I'll tell you what I'm going to give. That's us. But the true worshipper of God
says, Lord, what would you have me do? And I'll wait till you
reveal it to me. And then I'll do it by your grace.
That's the spirit of submission. And then they worship God in
the spirit of faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. Must believe. Not ought to. Must. Must. Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief. I believe with the strength you
gave me to believe. I believe with the will you gave
me to believe, and if I believe any stronger, you'll have to
increase my faith." And he worships God in the spirit of love. Paul
closed that first book of I Corinthians and said, if any man, if any
man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. You say, what does that mean?
Let him be accursed when Jesus comes. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels and have not love, I'm like a sounding
brass and a tinkling cymbal. And though I have all faith so
that I can remove mountains and understand all prophecies and
mysteries and have not love, I'm nothing. And though I give
my body to be burned as a martyr, and bestow my goods to feed the
poor, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." Worship the two
great commandments Christ said. The first is this, thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind. It's not how many doors you knock
on, or how many people you witness to, or how many tracts you pass
out, or how much doctrine you memorize, or how many books you
read. It's to love the Lord thy God. That's worship. That's what he
says. Let's go back to the text and
move along. We are the true people of God.
I want to be. I don't want a denominational religion. Everybody's got some kind of
religion, everybody's got some kind of God. I want to know the
living God, the true God, revealed in the Word. They worship Him
in spirit. Now watch, and in truth, and
in truth, this is the true God. I'm not left to my imagination
or my carnal thoughts about God. He's revealed in His Word. He's
revealed in His Son. He's revealed by His Spirit.
Christ said, this is eternal life, that they might know Thee,
love Thee, the true God. Christ said, when He, the Spirit
of truth, is come, He'll guide you into all truth. I can't just
have a God. I've got to know the living God,
the true God, the God of creation. By Him were all things made in
heaven, all principalities and powers. Sovereign God. God said to Nebuchadnezzar, I'm
going to put you out in the field so you know the Most High God
ruleth in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
this earth and giveth it to whomsoever He will. He's a God of sovereign
mercy. He said to Moses, I'll be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. He is a holy God. God revealed
Himself to Isaiah as a holy God. He is the God of Christ our Lord. And He is revealed in Christ
our Lord who said, I and my Father, one, he that hath seen me hath
seen the Father. The true circumcision, the true
people of God, they worship God in spirit and in truth. The true God. They don't fashion
them a God or make them a God. by their own thoughts and imaginations,
they worship in spirit the living God. And then secondly, look at Philippians
3, and they rejoice in Christ Jesus. They rejoice in Christ Jesus. What is this rejoicing? This rejoicing is such a degree
of joy that it amounts to exaltation, to glorification, it amounts
to boasting. It is such an exaltation of mine
that it breaks out in total praise and in total adoration. And this
place is given to Jesus Christ. Exaltation of mine so great that
it amounts to glorification, exaltation, true adoration, and
praise. That's the reason Paul said,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name. He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. We rejoice in His person. Mary
said, My soul doth rejoice in God my Savior. Jesus, oh, how
sweet the name. Jesus, every day the same. Jesus,
let all saints proclaim His worthy name forever. Jesus, oh, how
sweet the name. His person. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,
and all things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake to our fathers by the prophets, hath
in these last days spoken to us by his Son, who is the brightness
of his glory, the express image of his person, Jesus, fairest
of ten thousand of my soul, Jesus, rose of Sharon, Jesus, lily of
the valley, Jesus, my foundation and hiding place. Jesus, the
shadow of a rock in a weary land. Jesus, oh, how sweet the name. Exaltation, adoration. The name
is so precious. Just to say it is sweet on my
lip. Just to think it is dear to my
mind. Just to embrace it is precious
to my heart. The Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice. Those who are the
true people of God, they rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, in
His person. Just to hear somebody speak His
name is so refreshing. To hear somebody use His name
in vain is so tragic. It's so heartbreaking. It stings. You know, today's movies, They
don't have to use our Lord's name like they do. And the people of God who see
the television and other things, how it stings and how it hurts
and how it grieves, when that name which is above every name
is brought down into the darkness and depravity and the gutter
and the filth of a foul-mouthed creature. speak His name. We rejoice in His person. And
then we rejoice in His office. He's our surety, our eternal
surety. He's our Savior. Under you, I
bring you good news. Under you is born a Savior. He's
our mediator. There's one mediator between
God and men. I'll show you how depraved men
are. You don't hear the movie makers
saying, Mary, damn you, do you? They don't curse Mary. They don't
mash their finger and holler, The Virgin Mary. They holler,
Jesus Christ. Their idols are precious to them.
They're so bloated with their self-righteousness and so corrupted
and permeated with their evil thoughts of God that they can
blaspheme the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ and revere
a name of an idol, a human being, a fallen daughter of Adam. They
made God out of her. put God on the shelf. Isn't that
tragic? We rejoice not in Mary. She was
highly favored among women, but she was a sinner, saved by grace.
They don't say, they don't match their finger and say, well, Jude,
damn it. Saint Jude, you know, that's
one of their idols. Or Saint Christopher. No, it's God. Isn't that tragic? Why don't
the movie makers curse Jude or Christopher or St. Patrick? No,
they're hallowed holy men. But Jesus Christ, God will not hold him guiltless
that taketh his precious name in vain. He's our high priest. He's our
Lord. My Lord and my God. We rejoice in his person, in
his name, in his office, in his work. He of God is made unto me wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, near, near, so
near to God. I cannot nearer be in the person
of his Son. I'm as near as he. That's why
he's so precious. He brought me to God. It was His love for me that nailed
Him to the tree, to die in agony for all my sin. For my own guilt
and blame, the blessed Savior came, willing to bear the shame
of all my sin. Oh, what a Savior is mine! In Him, God's mercy is combined. His love will never decline. He loves me, and He loves me. the true people of God. I have
every reason to believe that I'm one of the true people of
God. I really do. I have evidence and assurance
because I worship God in the Spirit. I'm really not concerned
too much about the outward ceremonies and rituals. The fewer, the less
of them, the happier I am, really, aren't you? The less gaudy show,
the more simplicity we have, I'd be willing to go with you
out in the backwoods and build a brush arbor and try to worship
God in the spirit, in the spirit of humility and submission and
reverence and fear and love and faith and joy and Jesus Christ,
our precious, precious, precious. Now wait a minute, one more mark. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. Are you with me? Now, to understand this, you
have to consider three things that are called flesh in the
Scripture. Come on, stay with me now. There are three things
that are called flesh in the Scripture. We have no, not some,
not a little bit, not very little, but no, no confidence in the
flesh. The flesh in the scripture refers
to the material and the external privileges which belong to this
worldly life, such as wealth, honor, fame, greatness, strength. That's the flesh. Everything
that's identified with or associated with this worldly life. Jeremiah,
let's go over there and I'll show you that. Jeremiah chapter
9. And this world is very appealing.
It's very appealing. This material, physical world
is appealing. This flesh, this body, the health
and wealth of it, it's appealing. The strength, the power, the
beauty, the glory. Thus saith the Lord, Jeremiah
9, 23, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches. But let him that glorieth glory
in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord,
which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, righteousness in the
earth. For in these things What things? Loving kindness, judgment,
righteousness. In these things I delight, saith
the Lord. We'd better get on God's, in
tune with God's channel. We'd better get on the Lord's
wavelength here and take our confidence and our trust out
of these things. Strength, health, wealth, power,
intellect, all of these things. This is the world. This is the
world. What shall it profit a man if
he gained the whole world, everything this world has to offer, and
lose his soul? We have no confidence. We have
no confidence in promotion, possessions, political power, any of these
things. And secondly, the flesh here
refers to the outward duties and works of religion. especially
the ceremonies of Moses. No confidence in the flesh. Look
down here at verse 4. Paul said, though I might have
confidence in the flesh, if anybody else thinks he has any reason
to have confidence in the flesh. I was raised in a Christian home,
Paul. I grew up in the church. I went
to church and Sunday school every Sunday. I had a long line of
awards that reached down to my waist for being there every Sunday.
I read my daily Bible readings. I won all the sword drills. I
could find anything in the Bible. I was baptized when I was ten
years old. I was catechized, confirmed. I was sprinkled. I
was this, that, and the other. I was a deacon. I was a Sunday
school teacher. I was the chief usher. I was
the song leader or the pianist or something like that. I was
this. I did all these. Paul said, you got something
that you can have some confidence in. Back up, boy, he said. Back
up. Back up. Let a man in here that's
got some confidence in the flesh. I circumcised the eighth day
of the stock of Israel. My great-great-granddaddy was
Abraham. And my great-great-granddaddy
was Jacob. And my great-granddaddy was David. And my mama was a Hebrew, and
my daddy was a Hebrew. And I was a Pharisee. I was promoted
to the highest religious post that could be held on this earth.
And the law, the ceremonial law, and the outward commandments,
I walked in them perfectly. Now you just stack that up beside
my flesh that I glory in, have confidence in. Where's your little
Sunday school class? Put it beside that. Where's your
baptism and sprinkling and confirmation? You know what Paul said all that
amounts to? Rubbish. I count it but rubbish. Rubbish! I count it but rubbish! Don't
want to hear it spoken of again, don't want to hear it breathed
again, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. We have no confidence in the
flesh. That's true people of God. One
more. is this fella right here. Right
here. I got no confidence, Cecil, in
myself. None whatsoever. My hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and His righteousness. And God
turns me loose, I'll go to hell. If God's restraining hand doesn't
hold me, I'll fall. If God Almighty doesn't, by His
Spirit, continue a work of grace, I'll quit believing. I'll lose
my mind. I'll lose my motives. I'll lose
my motivation. I'll apostatize. I got no confidence
in the flesh. And that's the people of God.
And they've been taught of God. Turn to John 6, just a minute,
let me show you one verse and I'll quit. John chapter 6. John
chapter 6. And the Lord Jesus Christ says
this in verse 44. He says, No man can come to me
in this way, come to me as to believe on me, to receive me,
except my Father which sent me draw him. And I'll raise him
up at the last day. It's written in the prophets,
and they shall all, they shall be all taught of God, taught
of God. That's what God teaches His people,
to worship Him in the Spirit, to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
to have no confidence in the flesh. And every man that hath
heard and learned of the Father, comes to me, and him that cometh
to me I'll in no wise cast out." You say, Preacher, if what you're
saying is true, if this is true worship and the true people of
God and the true church, where on earth is this generation headed?
with their gimmicks and goals and entertainment and numbers
and fleshly familiarity with deity, I don't know where they're
headed. My heart is broken for them,
but I can't speak for them. I know where I'm headed. I can
say with Joshua, for me and my house, we're going to try to
know the living God. Come thou with us, and we'll
do thee good. That's all I can say. If you're
tired of what you're hearing and what you're seeing and what
you've been doing, come thou with us. That's what Moses said
to his father-in-law, wasn't it? Come thou with us. We're
the people of God. We're walking with God. At least
we're walking in that direction anyway. We're endeavoring to
know him. Paul said, Oh, that I may know
Him. We haven't apprehended, we haven't arrived, we haven't
attained, we're not already perfect, but we're pressing towards that
mark. I know who it's in. It's in Christ. Oh, that I may
know Him and the power of His resurrection. If by any means,
he said, I might attain to the resurrection of the dead, I haven't
attained it. But I know who is the resurrection and the life. And it's not a blessed denomination,
and it's not a preacher, and it's not an evangelist, and it's
not a moral code, it's Christ the Lord. And I may win Him and
be found in Him. Our Father in Heaven, we want
to praise Thee. O God, idolatry is a fearful, fearful
sin. Falling down before an idol,
God, whatever His name, is an abomination. Lord, may it be
so of us. May we say with the Apostle,
we are the circumcision because we do in a frail way, but we
do, not like we want to, but we do worship God in spirit. We do, we rejoice in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We do not have any confidence
in the flesh. May it be so, for Christ's sake,
amen.