Experiencing the Joy of the Spritual.

circumstances and stuff that's happened in our life and not one single one of us that's here this morning or that's listening on live this morning, none of us can escape the trials of life. If you live on this earth, guess what? There's going to be trials and tribulations. Job said, man that is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. How many of you this morning were born of a woman? Every single one of you ought to draw your hand. Brianna, you went hatched. Raise your hand. You have a mama. So every one of us was born of a woman. So because we are born of a woman, guess what? We're going to face trials and circumstances. We're going to face problems. And so another fact though is also not only are we going to face circumstances, but we're going to face false teachers. False teachers are everywhere around us in this life. They're going to confront you and no matter which way you turn, you're going to be confronted with all these different ideas of how to handle life, of how to face these trials. And so what Paul is reminding us, he says, finally my brethren, we know of our salvation. We're confident in our salvation. Finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. And then he talks about here, he says, he goes on and he says, to write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Safe. In this world of circumstances, in this world of false teachers, wouldn't it be nice to have a safe place you can go to? Isn't it a place that you can with confidence, without having to have your antennas all up and just enjoy the goodness and graciousness of God? Well, guess what? There is a safe place. And that's Jesus Christ. Go to Jesus Christ. Rejoice over what Christ has done for you. We've talked about it in Ephesians. We've been talking about it in Philippians. But man, when you start thinking about everything that God has done for you, from the time that He adopted you, He justified you, He's reconciled you to the Father, He saved you, He loves you, He is continuing delivering you in this life, He's guiding you, He's securing you. All of the things that God has done for us, we are blessed with all spiritual blessings. Amen. And so man, instead of thinking about the circumstances and the bad stuff of life, we need to keep ourselves and focus on the presence of Jesus Christ. We need to focus on what Christ has done for us. No matter what comes upon us, we'll never face anything that can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. Romans 8 and verse 35. He says, not what, because there's no circumstance that can separate us, so He uses the word who. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are what? More than conquerors. More than conquerors. Life is tough. Life is hard. Circumstances are not good. But listen, we are more than conquerors. Why? Through Him. Who's Him? Jesus Christ that loved us. And then Paul goes on and he says, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. See, rejoicing, when we talk about joy and we take that joy and we use it as a verb form of rejoicing, allowing that joy to come out of ourselves, is connected to a relationship. You cannot have joy without a relationship. You cannot rejoice without a relationship. As a matter of fact, joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit, isn't it? It comes to us because of Jesus Christ. And so my life is in Jesus Christ and His control. My life is in His hands. Therefore, I am more than a conqueror. I am persuaded that nothing can separate me from Jesus Christ. And so when things don't go my way, when things don't work out according to my plans or my desires or what I want, guess what? We don't focus on the circumstance. We don't focus on the false teachers. We focus on Jesus Christ. Why? Because as we learned last week, He has been given a new name a couple of weeks ago. What's that name? He's the Lord. He's Lord. He's the One that makes His choices. He's the One that controls all things. Do you realize the Bible says in Colossians 1 that by Him and through Him and for Him were all things exist? Every circumstance and situation that comes about our life, God is in control. God is allowing it. It's there in our life. And so instead of focusing on that, let's focus on Jesus Christ. That's the mindset that Paul had in chapter 1, right? For me to live is Christ. If I'm here, no matter if He's in prison, He's suffering, He's changed to a Roman guard, but He said, guess what? I'm still living for Jesus Christ. My life is still about Jesus Christ. What happens if they kill me? What happens if I die? I'm going to be with Jesus Christ. So guess what? Whether I'm alive or whether I'm dead, my whole life, eternity is focused around Jesus Christ. And that's this mindset. Rejoice in the Lord. And then he says, accept the number two thing that we do is not only rejoice in the Lord with this spiritual mindset, but we have to accept the safeguard. We have to accept the safety that has been given to us. Notice what Paul says. He says, after the period, rejoice in the Lord, period. Then he says, to write the same things to you, to me, indeed is grievous, but, contrast, for you it is safe. Repetition of truth is not a bad thing. Paul says, I'm fixing to repeat something. I'm fixing to share with you something that you have heard before. What's he doing? He's giving them a safeguard. He says, this is not grievous. It doesn't hurt me. It doesn't sadden me that I have to repeat this. He says, it actually brings me joy because it's for your safety. It's where you can go in this world of circumstances and situations where you can find safety and joy. And so he gives us, first of all, this general warning. He's repeating this issue that was brought up. What is he repeating? He's repeating from Philippians 1, verse 27. If you look back a couple of chapters, he says in chapter 1, verse 27, he says, let your conversation, your lifestyle, be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. That whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs and look, that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Our conversation is our lifestyle. What should our lifestyle be? Our lifestyle should be a portrait of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You ought to be looking like Jesus Christ who loved you, who died for you while you were yet a sinner. Christ died for you. We walk around as Christians and we don't look like someone that is dead that's been given life. Do we? Do we? When you read in the Bible, man, do you remember the lame man that was laying there from the day of his birth and Jesus healed him and what did he do? He jumped up rejoicing God and praising God. The blind Bartimaeus, you remember? He was born from the day that he was born. He was blind. But all of a sudden Jesus Christ touched him and his eyes were opened up and he said, man, I've always been blind, but now I can see. There was joy in his life. There was a difference. There was a change. And you and I were dead in our sins. But Jesus Christ gave us life. He gave us eternity. He gave us a home. He adopted us as His children. He forgave us of all of our sins. He declares us righteous. He seats us at the right hand of the Father with Himself. Wow! He did all of that for us. Your life ought to be a portrait of that gospel. He gave us two examples of Christ in chapter 2. A humble service and a single focus. In Philippians chapter 2 and verse 3, remember He said, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. And then He said in verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. It's a mindset. You've got to focus on Jesus Christ. The reason that we're not happy, the reason that we don't have joy in our life is because we're not focused on Jesus Christ. We're focused on the circumstances. We're focused in this world and everything that is going on. And you remember what did He tell them in chapter 1 verse 28? He said, and in not being terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. All of the adversaries out there. Everybody that is against you. Everybody, every situation and circumstance. Guess what? Paul said, don't be terrified by your problems. Don't be terrified by those that want to harm you. That want to take you away from the gospel. But on the other hand, what are we to do? Instead of being terrified, we are to be a picture of salvation. Jesus has saved me by grace through faith. By grace. I didn't deserve it. He did it by grace. It was a gift. Not of my works, lest any man should boast. And so He tells us in chapter 1 verse 29, He says, for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe. See, believing is the part that we want to focus in. We want to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He says it's not only unto you given on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. See, there's believing, there's accepting Christ, but where did Christ, when Christ humbled His mind and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made of Himself no reputation, where did that take Him? It took Him from the palace, from the throne of God, from the presence of God, to the death of the cross. When you choose Jesus Christ as your Lord, Jesus said, if they've done it unto Me, then what makes you think that you're above your Master? If they did it to Me, they're going to do it to you. And so notice here what we find, this conflict that is going on in our life. And He goes on there in verse 30. He says, you having this same conflict which you saw in Me and now hear to be in Me. What He's telling the church at Philippi in chapter 1, and this is what He's getting to and repeating in chapter 3, is stay true. Walk worthy of your calling. Stick together. Be of one mind. Be focused in the faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We've got a world that's divided today. We're divided in everything from politics to religion to what the Bible says to you name it and it is there. This church, this congregation ought to be a safe place where at least we can come together and we can relax knowing that salvation is by faith alone. That's what we stand on. That's what we guard. And so this is the general warning. Now we come to chapter 3. That was the general. That's why He's writing this letter. And now we come to chapter 3 and He's repeating this. He went back to chapter 1 and now He's repeating this in order that He might give us the specific warning. And here's the specific warning in chapter 3 and verse 1. But, for you it is safe. It's not grievous to Me, but for you it is safe. Not grievous means to cause fear or reluctance. Paul says, I am not repeating this to give you more fear. I'm not repeating this in order to make you reluctant. I'm not reluctant when it comes to Christianity. That is not Paul's purpose. Paul, I don't want to scare you with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But guess what? Knowing that there's going to be danger, knowing that there's going to be problems, knowing that there's going to be adversaries becomes what? Our safety. Because you can be prepared, right? We've got a group that's fixing to leave to go to Mexico as soon as our singing is through this afternoon. And guess what? We already know there's going to be problems. We already know there's going to be things that are going on that are out of our control, that is out of our situation. But guess what? Knowing that they're going to be there, you can be better prepared when you get there and get to them. And that's what Paul is saying. See, there's safety in knowing what all Jesus Christ has already done. There's safety in knowing that guess what? Jesus Christ died, but did He stay in the grave? Absolutely not. On the third day He rose again, right? And He's seated at the right hand of the Father. If my Lord, my Savior, Jesus Christ suffered and died, but God rose Him from the dead, don't you think if we suffer even to the point of death that we're going to be with God for an eternity? To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. See, it's that safety net of knowing, yes, there's going to be problems. You know, unfortunately, we have these false teachers today that teach people, you get saved and all your problems are going to go away. Amen? I pray I never told anybody that, and I pray I never tell anybody that. And I usually tell people, guess what? Are you sure you want to be saved? Because when you're saved, guess what? Your problems are just fixing to start. You think you've had problems before. Wait until after you've convinced yourself to Jesus Christ. And so Paul says, I'm not writing this so that you will have fear or reluctance. What he's saying is I'm actually excited. I'm actually excited to share this because why? It is a safety net. It is a safeguard for you. And Paul is wanting to protect the members of Philippi. And Paul is wanting to protect you and I today. Yes, there's going to be bad situations and circumstances. There's false teachers out there. But listen, we can be safe within ourselves. What do we need protection from? What do we need protection? Well, we need protection from false religion. We need protection from false teachers. Christians that are fake. Christians that are hypocrites, that wear one mask to church and then they live some way else other there. That word safe means to trip or to cause to fall or even to overthrow. And Paul is not wanting us to fall or be tripped up. Paul is wanting us to find a spiritual safe dog, a safety place where we can come and go. And if ever there was a time in history that we need someone to stand up and to warn people about false teachers and fake Christians, it is right now today. And Paul was willing to do that. Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 56, 10. It says his watchmen are blind. They are all ignorant. They are all dumb dogs. They cannot bark. Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. He said those that are supposed to be looking out for God, in God's Word, guess what? They are asleep. They are lazy. They are not doing anything. And guess what? We have a whole generation of pastors that are doing the same thing today. They are walking into the congregation and telling you, you can feel good. You ought not be having all of these problems. You are not doing this. But guess what? The world is not getting better. And there are people out there that want to deceive you. There are people out there that want to trip you up. There are people out there that want to make you to stumble. But Paul was faithful. He was faithful when he began his ministry and he was faithful all the way until he finished this ministry to speak up and to stand up for others. You go back to Acts 20. And it says in Acts 20, verse 28, he said, Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous 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. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn every one night and day with tears. Who were warning the people? Paul was. Paul said for three years, day and night, I warned you that when I step out, when I'm not there to protect you, when I'm not there to give you this safety, there's going to be people that are going to come in and mess up. And that's where the context, the specific warning comes in in verse 2. Look at what he says in verse 2. Beware. I'm writing this so that you can be saved. And he gives us three bewares. He says, Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, and beware of the concision. The last beware of the concision literally means the false circumcision. Those of the false circumcision. And then look at what he says in verse 3. In verse 3 he says, For we are the circumcision. We. Who's he talking to? He's writing to believers at Philippi. And he says, We are the circumcision, which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. So Paul's saying beware. What to beware of? What are the dogs? What are evil workers? What are those of the concision? These are all false workers and false teachers. They are those that are being compared and contrasted between what is, we are the circumcision. We are not the false circumcision. And so he's making this contrast here. He's showing us these different circumstances. And I don't mean the process, but what he's talking about is the importance of it. The Jews looked at circumcision as a sign of God's favor. And I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this this morning, but I want you to understand that circumcision was what was required of God to the Jews in the Old Testament. You go back and you study circumcision, you will see that when He called them out of Egypt, what did He tell them to do? Every man had to be circumcised. And then what was the covenant with God? If you obey Me, I will bless you. If you disobey Me, I will curse you. Right? Everybody heard that? That's the whole Old Testament, right? And that was what the Jews grew up under. So what was the first act of obedience? The first act of obedience was circumcision. Every male child on the eighth day after their birth, every one of them was circumcised. They didn't forget it. They didn't delay it. It was consistent. Why? Because they wanted the blessings of God. And you see that all of a sudden, that over time, what happened with circumcision? Over time, circumcision was used as a weapon. You remember the men that raped Dinah? And what did they say? You raped her, now you need to marry her. But you can't marry her until what? All of your men be circumcised. So guess what? He said, now we're going to circumcise you. And it says then on the third day, what did they do? While their men were still sore and down, they came in and destroyed them all. See, circumcision wasn't offered to everyone, but they used it as a weapon. And you can go through it. You can follow this act. But circumcision, because what happened when they left Egypt, you remember there was Egyptians that came out with Israel. And he said what? If you're going to claim their God, if you're going to follow Jehovah, and you're going to leave with them, then you have to identify with them. And that identification is circumcision. And so circumcision was this picture of being God's chosen person. And so circumcision, and there's a lot more that I could talk to you about, but I think I've shared enough that we get the point today that somewhere along history, the Jews missed the point of outward circumcision, and it was that it was only to be a symbol of the circumcision of the heart. See, what was supposed to happen, because the women couldn't be circumcised, so it was only on the man. The man was considered the leader. What was it? It was a choice. When they left out of Egypt, what did they do? They chose God. Abraham, when God chose Abraham, He told him what? Be circumcised. Show Me that you've given Me by your heart by giving Me your foreskin. And there's a lot that goes into that through the shedding of blood and everything else. But the Jews departed from this reality of circumcision as symbolism, and they left themselves committed only to the symbol. Today, Christianity does the same thing with its two symbols. A lot of religious groups today look at baptism as only a symbol, and they forget about what it's a symbol of. The Lord's Supper. The Catholics teach that when you observe the Lord's Supper, you're actually eating and becoming one with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. What are they doing? They're recognizing and elevating the symbol above what is the purpose of the symbol. And so, that's what Paul is warning about here. That's what Paul is talking to them. Baptism, in a lot of our religious circles, has become this means of salvation. In other words, you can't be saved until you follow the Lord in scriptural baptism. That is false. Hopefully, here in the next few weeks or the month, we voted on it. Hopefully, right here, and I needed it here before earlier. Any of you got a steady hand and good at tracing? We're going to put up here Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 on this side, and we're going to do verse 10 on this side. 2, 8 and 9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is a what? Gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. That's what we believe. Salvation is by grace. Nowhere in that verse is baptism mentioned. Nowhere in that verse is the partaking of the Lord's Supper mentioned. You are saved by grace. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are symbols. Baptism is a symbol that you have died to your own life, that you have been buried with Christ, and that you are resurrected to a new life. See, you can't be baptized until you have been saved. It's got to take place in the heart before it can take place in the baptistry. And the same thing is true with the Lord's Supper. You can't identify with the body of Jesus Christ and sacrifice until you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and that you have identified with Jesus Christ. But they're only symbols. We come back to Ephesians 2 and we are saved by what? Grace. Grace. It's a gift. You do absolutely nothing for it. Verse 10 says, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. The circumcision, the outward, takes place over here after it has already been given as grace in the heart. Then it is performed outwardly. And that's what he's talking about here. Paul fought in his entire ministry. You go back to the book of Acts and Paul was fighting it there because Paul would go out and do what? He was preaching to the Gentiles. He was preaching to Jews. And he was teaching them what? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Right? That was his message. And people were being saved. And they were coming. And what was Paul doing? Paul would get these believers together and he would organize and get them to be a church. And then all of a sudden, Paul would move on down the road and start preaching to some other community. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And lo and behold, what would happen? Either some Judaizers, some Jews, would come from Jerusalem to the congregation that Paul had started and said, that's great. I understand you have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. But, if you really want in the financial income of God, if you really want in the blessings of God, then you have to be circumcised. Because you go back to the Old Testament and the Old Testament says what? The first act of obedience to a Jew is circumcision. And so what were they doing? So Paul, if you go back and you read Acts 15, Paul finally had enough of it. And so what did Paul do? He headed to Jerusalem. And he went before the apostles. And they argued. And they fought over this. Do you have to have circumcision in order to experience the blessings of God? And Peter, who was a Jew, who was one of the apostles, stood there and said, you know what? There were Gentiles that when they believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they received the Holy Spirit the same way we did. How did Peter receive the Holy Spirit? In Acts chapter 2, go back and read it. They were gathered in one room. And what happened? They weren't doing nothing. They were waiting. As a matter of fact, we know, on this side of history, they had been waiting ten days. Now, most Baptists have done give up and gone home by then, right? And so we'd have missed it all together. But they're still waiting. They're hanging in there. And finally, on the tenth day, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, the Holy Spirit did what? Fell upon them. They didn't do anything to get it. Jesus told them to do what? To go to Jerusalem and wait. And so Peter said, you know what? These people, when they received Jesus Christ, they did the same thing as we did. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. So Peter finally made the conclusion that guess what? The solution to our problem is circumcision has absolutely nothing to do with salvation. You have to be saved first. And just because you're circumcised or not circumcised has nothing to do in the New Testament with the blessings of God. And so that's what he's teaching them. And so notice what he says here. I've got way ahead because I'm not using all of this, but look what he says. So now back to our context. He states in verse 2, Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision. Now let me ask you a very serious question this morning. How many of you have struggled with doubt about your salvation? How many of you have ever had anxiety about your salvation? You know, I'm a minister. I've been pastoring for 35 years. And you know what? Some days I struggle with doubt and anxiety. Paul struggled with it all the way up until his death. He said, I pray every single day that I would have been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and myself wind up a castaway. But look what he's telling us here. He's telling us beware of the dogs. And who are the dogs? There's two words in the New Testament that are used for dogs. One is the domestic house pet. How many of you have a dog in your house? That's the house pet. That's not the word for dog that he used here. The word for dog here is a wild dog. Like a coyote, a wolf. Not some pet that you're going to feed, right? And want to sit at your table and love on you. These are dogs. And what he's referring to is these Judaizers. Because the whole entire ministry of Paul, what were they doing? They were nipping at the heels and biting and barking at Paul. Yes, you have been saved, but if you really want in on the blessings of God, then you need to be circumcised. And what were they doing? They were ending up preaching another gospel. And they were constantly... The same way we have preachers today. Yes, you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can be saved, but if you really want the special blessings of God, you'll be baptized. And you want to take your spiritual life to a whole other level? You ought to observe the Lord's Supper. You ought to be here when the Lord's Supper is given. See, that's what these dogs... And Paul refers to them as dogs. Because why? They're preaching another gospel. We are saved by what? Grace! Through faith. What is faith? Trusting God. And so Paul is saying, I am repeating this to you again. Salvation has absolutely nothing to do with worse. It has everything to do with grace. And so when I have doubts, when I have anxiety about my salvation, you know what I do? The same thing I do on Sunday mornings a lot here. I go back in my mind to Central Missionary Baptist Church in Bastrop, Louisiana in the spring of 1979 to this side of the altar right here from the altar to the first pew. Right there is where I said, You know what? I'm going to die and go to hell if God, You don't save me. Will You come into my heart and give me eternal life? Just like by faith. Immediately, when I by faith trusted in Jesus Christ, He saved me. So when I have doubt, when I have anxiety, did the right church baptize me? You know, we've only observed the Lord's Supper twice this year. Are we observing the Lord's Supper enough? Are we doing it too much? Right? You know, I want to be in the good will of God, right? I want His blessings. And so when going, we check these boxes of all of these works that we have to do. But that is another gospel. And so He said, These dogs, those that try to teach you that you have to do something else besides faith and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I like to call them joy killers. Because we don't have joy. There's something that is separating us from the love of Jesus Christ. He calls them dogs. He calls them evil workers. And then He sums it up. He says, And those of the circumcision. The concision. And then He says in verse 3, He's going to give us the answer. And we're going to get to this, not next Sunday. Dad's going to fill in for me next Sunday. The Sunday a week from now, we're going to get to His conclusion to this. And this is where He's going, but I wanted to introduce it today. In verse 8 of chapter 3, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dumb that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God, by faith. And then He's going to jump down in verse 17 and He's going to say, Brethren. Again, reminding them of that salvation and that relationship. I wasn't born of the same mother, but we share the same father. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as you have as an example. But before we get there, before we get to that point, Paul makes this contrast between these joy killers and these joy proclaimers. He says, Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision. Verse 3, For we are His circumcision. We have been saved. We have accepted the gift of grace through faith. And then what? On the opposite of a dog, what was the dog? The dog was saying, Yes, you may have believed on Jesus Christ, but you need to be circumcised. So the contrast to that is what? We are already saved and so what? We worship God in spirit. In spirit, why? Because it's not with what I do outwardly, it's who I am inwardly. Because Jesus Christ saved me. And I am kept by the power of God. Nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus Christ. So the opposite of a dog is someone that worships in spirit. The opposite of an evil worker is those that rejoice in Christ Jesus. There is nothing that I can do that God gets overly excited about. Right? I can say, Man, you can come out this morning and say that was a great sermon. And if it wasn't by Jesus Christ or Jesus Christ, if I did it in the flesh, then guess what? God doesn't care. And so he says, the opposite of evil workers, those that are working, always trying to get the approval of God. Uh-oh, I'm going to sign up and sing a special so that God will make me happy. Oh, I'm going to give my offering this morning so God will be happy with me. I'm going to read my Bible today so God will be proud of me. He said these are evil workers. But he said the opposite of that is those that rejoice in Christ Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to worship today. Thank you, Lord, for today to be able to eat with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for the opportunity to sing and praise and worship and lift up our burdens and our cares with each other this afternoon. See, we start looking at things. It's not a service. It's not about me. It's about Christ Jesus. Thank you for what you have done and what you are doing through us. And then, those of the concisions, the mutilators. He says the opposite of that is those that have no confidence in the flesh. It's not what I do that impresses God. It's who I am. And I am to be a portrait of the grace of Jesus Christ. And the problem with Christianity today is we are trying to be a portrait of Christianity. We're trying to show people, look at what a good Christian I am. Right? And then what happens? The minute we slip up, what do they say? You hypocrite! You hypocrite! You're claiming to be Jesus Christ and you said that? You're claiming to be Jesus Christ and you act that way? You claim to be Jesus Christ and I saw you over here? Why? Because we're trying to be a portrait of Christianity. We're trying to fit to the norm of what does Christianity say I should look like. And Paul says, guess what? All that's going to do is bring sadness and brokenness and destruction into your life. Paul says, I am repeating this because I want you to have joy. And I want you to understand, here is joy. Not worshiping God in the flesh. It doesn't matter. Brother Philip picked some great songs today. They fit perfect. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ, right? Nothing. And he picked some great songs today, but guess what? It's not about the songs that he picks out. It's not about what I preach on Sunday morning. It's not about how much money you give or your attendance this morning. No, we worship God in spirit. We rejoice in Jesus Christ. He gives me the opportunity to sing because I was dead, but now I'm alive. I'm not perfect. I'm not without sin, but guess what? I've been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. And so therefore, I rejoice in Jesus Christ. I'm not what I ought to be, but praise God, I'm working to what I should be. I have no confidence. I can't do it. Only Christ can do it with me. So what is he trying to do? They're in the bottom of your bulletin. Let me skip way ahead here because I want to give you the comprehension. Here's the spiritual reality of what Paul is trying to tell us here this morning. If you want to have joy, you've got to have a spiritual mindset. You can't worship God in the flesh. Anything! Anything outside of grace is no good. For we are whose workmanship? His. Jesus Christ. Why? Because we were created in Jesus Christ. How did I get in Jesus Christ? For by grace are you saved through faith. We're created in Jesus Christ. So you can't worship God in the flesh. So I don't care how much you jump up and down. I don't care how much you just sit there and don't say anything. You cannot worship God in the flesh. You worship God in the Spirit. You rejoice in the work of Jesus Christ. Christ gives you the ability. You're dead. You shouldn't be here this morning. The fact that you're able to get out of bed and be here is by the grace of God. You're alive because of His grace. You rejoice in the work of Jesus Christ. And number three, you are confident in Christ not self. I can't do it. If they're looking for me to come down there and bring revival in Mexico, I can't do it. Brother Austin can't do it. But guess what? I know one who can. Jesus Christ. Why aren't you here this morning to worship? Why are you here? Why did you come this morning? Are you here to praise Jesus Christ for what He did in your life? Or are you trying to impress Him? Because if you're here this morning to impress Jesus Christ, guess what? He's not impressed. You come and giving up your time getting up in the morning, getting dressed and driving to church is a little consolation to one that left heaven and the glories of God and came and suffered as a man and died a humiliating cross having never sinned. Why are you here? What are you rejoicing in? What makes you happy? And where's your confidence? Where's your confidence? If you walk out of here, guess what? If you come here to impress yourself and impress God, you're going to walk out of here and you're going to still be filled with doubt, anxiety, because I don't know if I'm doing the doubt. But if I walk out of here with confidence in Jesus Christ, guess what? That's where my safety is at. That's where my confidence is at. Nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus Christ. And I can leave Arkansas and head down to Mexico and you can mark my word, no matter what happens to me, whether I come back or whether I don't, you know that I am serving Jesus Christ. I am preaching Jesus Christ. If something happens to me, I died sharing Jesus Christ. If nothing happens and I come back and I'm here in two weeks, guess what? I'm still going to be serving Jesus Christ. That's what it's about. That's where you find your joy. That's the safety that we can have. The confidence that we can have. For by grace are you saved through faith. That not of yourselves, it is a gift of God as we stand for our salvation.