Philippians 3

Let's start out in Luke chapter 9, verse 67 through 62. So, once you get Philippians chapter 3 down, stick a finger there, something, hold your thoughts, and then head over to Luke chapter 9, verse 67. And as we're all turning there, I would like to commend Jesse and the hard work he's doing. You know, he's coming up here, getting in front of everybody, one. Two, he's conducting. Three, he's trying to sing and do it all at the same time. I know how hard that is, because I've done it. I did it back in high school. It's something that you learn, but it's not something that comes easy. And so, what he's doing, he's doing a great job. And so, I'm seeing some great improvements as he's learning to lead in that fashion. And so, don't be too hard on yourself, man. You're doing good. All right. But anyway, Luke chapter 9, verse 57 says this, And it came to pass, that as they went in the way, a certain man said to him, Lord, I will follow thee whatsoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes hath holes, and birds of air hath nests, but the Son of Man hath not wear the Lamb's head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first, and bury my father. And Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another said, Lord, I will follow thee. But let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, look at that. It's fit for the kingdom of God. Paul's desire, as he's writing in Philippians, is that Christians may grow to be disciples of Christ. Yes, effective disciples. Growing children of the Lord. And of course, his whole idea that he's coming around is this, in verse 27 of chapter 1, only let your conversation be of the coming of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let your life be a life worthy of the gospel. Let's go to God in prayer. Lord, we come to you now and we just praise you for this day. I praise you for the ones that have taken up and served and fashioned in ways that they normally hadn't this morning. Lord, we praise you for the preacher this morning who came and preached this morning and opened up your word and the message that we received from you, God. And I pray that you will help us to apply that to our hearts. I praise you for just definitely taking up that leadership role and that growth that we're seeing. And even in Amelia, she's progressing as a musician and doing some wonderful things for your honor and your glory, God. Lord, we praise you for just how you've blessed us with the ability to praise you in many different ways here. God, I just ask you to just be with me now as we break open your word together and that you will bring back everything that I've said, everything that you have impressed on my heart. That, Lord, I may speak it. And that's everything that is said this evening. I pray that it will be honored and glorified by you, Lord, that you may exalt it and that you may lift it up. God, we thank you for Jesus, salvation in him and his infamy. Amen. But as I was saying is that Paul desires that the Christians grow, that the Christians are strong, that they are living a life worthy of the gospel of Christ. And that, as he said in chapter 2, that his labor, he told them to work out their own salvation with care and trembling. He said that he doesn't desire that his labor was in vain. He doesn't want to see at the end of the day that all that was done there at Philippi was for naught. And so we come to where Jesus talked about, talked to the people that came and said, I want to follow him. And Jesus laid out some things about those that are going to follow him. They may not have the comforts of an actual house. Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but you may not have a place to lay your head. He gave other examples. And ultimately, when it comes down to it, for us Christians, as we're living this life, we have to come to the reality of this. What is most important to us? What is most important to us? Is it Jesus Christ? Or is it this life? Is it the life to come? Or is it the life right now? Jesus, it was a blessing to hear that song, Amelia, that she had played. I've got a mansion just over the hilltop. You know, it says in the verse, I'm satisfied with just a cottage below, but I've got a mansion waiting on me. I've got a mansion waiting on me. And satisfied with what we have here. Above all, above all, Jesus must be our all. And that brings us into Philippians 3, verse 1, where it says this, Finally, my brethren, rejoice. Philippians 3, verse 1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Paul, as he's addressing the Christians, one of the first things he brings up is rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the salvation you have. Rejoice in Jesus Christ. Get your focus on Him. And then he goes on to say, To write the same things to you. To me, indeed, it is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Paul, as he's addressing the Christians, he's already poured out his heart to them in chapter 2. He talked about how much he cared for them. In fact, he sent Timothy and also one of the Christians that were actually from there back to check on them, to be with them. Paul has a desire for the growth of these Christians in Philippi. They are in a hard spot. If we remember, Philippi was where Paul cast out the demons out of that lady who was giving fortune-telling, telling their future. There was a bunch of perversions going on there. There were many things that were against God and His Word. And Paul desires that they grow. And so, this is the warning that he gives them. That it's not grievous for him to give again, but for him it's safe. It says, Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision. Beware of the concision. He's actually telling them to beware of infiltration of the concision. What is the concision? I'm going to be talking about that a little bit more in detail, and why concision is used there. But Paul is referring to the Jews that are not saved. He's referring to those that would come in and distort the gospel that is of grace by faith, and not of works. Those that would come in and change it to something that's not. I wanted to look at three different ways that he's talking about this infiltration of the concision that's coming. And he says this. He describes them as dogs. Beware of dogs. Why dogs? See, we have to understand what does that word mean to that culture? It's hard to understand here. I think we can get a view of it, but it's hard to understand. I've gotten a real realization of it back from going down to Mexico. There they have problem with strays, and they have dogs rolling all over the place. You can see how they behave differently than what we see here. Yes, you do see a stray here every now and then, but they're everywhere. And you see dogs that they're constantly wandering from place to place. Generally, they're going to stay around the same area, but you look at them, they're wondering. You don't know where they're going to do, what they're going. Half the time you look at them, you wonder, is it safe? Is it going to be all right? They're just a block down from me. Is that dog going to tear me up? They're going place to place. When they use dog in this context, especially in Jewish context, it's synonymous with heathens. It's synonymous with unclean things. Proverbs chapter, I forgot what chapter it's in, but in Proverbs it talks about the sinner who returns back to his sin. It's like a dog returning to its vomit. It's literally how it puts it. Ultimately, Paul's describing those that are infiltrating as dogs. Dogs were predominantly disdained among the eastern cultures, especially and including the Israelites, according to the papal dictionary. He doesn't just stop there in describing them as dogs. He continues on and adds on to this. Beware of evil workers. It's not just Jews necessarily that are not saved, that have not received the grace of Jesus Christ and do not believe that Jesus is Messiah, but it's also those that just work evil and desire to do bad things and mislead the church. They have a mission. They have a goal, and their goal is to corrupt that which is good. And finally, he describes, beware the concision. Of course, all this talks about infiltrating the concision or infiltrating the church, the body of Christ. He says to beware the concision, and that word concision, do y'all know what that means there? Literally, it means mutilation. Beware the mutilation. Why would Paul use such a word, concision, in place of circumcision? Beware the circumcision. I would submit to you this, that circumcision has a special place in the vocabulary and in the meaning of it, and Paul's going to explain that, as explained in other portions of Scripture. He uses this idea in a kind of a not-so-friendly way, kind of calling them out, calling them a different name that really you wouldn't hear called of the Jews. And he uses this word, the mutilation, and so they are desiring to come in and mutilate the gospel message that Paul has delivered to them and that they have received. We continue on. In verse 3, it says, We are the circumcision. We are the circumcision. Of course, Paul's writing to the people in Philippi, the Christians there in Philippi, and he says, We are the circumcision. But isn't circumcision only reserved for the Jews? Physically, if you were to identify as a Jew, physically you need to be circumcised. Spiritually, it's a different matter. What is God concerned with? What is God's focus? That's what we need to get to the heart is, what is God's focus? Is it outward or is it inward? Is it physical or is it spiritual? So, God, through Paul, gives us the answer to this. Of course, circumcision was established in Genesis chapter 17, verse 9 through 11, but spiritual circumcision. Turn to Romans chapter 2, verse 26. So, beware of the mutilation, beware of the concision, because they desire to come and corrupt the grace of the gospel. Romans chapter 2, verse 26. Verse 26 says this, Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee by who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Paul's referring when he says, here in Philippians chapter 3, verse 2. Chapter 3, verse 3, For we are the circumcision. We are in the family of God. We are Christians. We are the children of God. Beware. Because those that would desire to mutilate the gospel, true circumcision, are desiring to come in and perverse the message which was once delivered to them. I'd like to say, Brother Chris, he did a good job this morning. I do think he did a good job in presenting a clear presentation of false teachers. It really stepped on my toes this morning, because that's where I was going next with this, but he did it fine. But ultimately, we do need to beware of false teachers. Ultimately, we need to beware of the dogs, the evil workers, the ones that would come in to mutilate the gospel. For we are children of God. We are the circumcisions which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. We have no competent in the flesh, Paul says. So that brings us to this next point here. It says that those in John chapter 4, those who desire to worship God will worship Him in spirit and in truth. It says we which worship God in spirit, we must have salvation. We must be part of that truth. Romans chapter 7, verse 5. If you will, turn there to Romans chapter 7, verse 5. It says, For when we were in flesh, the motions of our sins which were by the law did work in our members and bring forth the fruit of death. See, sin worked out with death in our lives, but Jesus Christ brought us to life. We go and read in verse 7. It says, What shall we say then, is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I have not known sin, but by the law. For I have not known much except that the law hath said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin taking occasion by the man that wrought in me all manner of conspicuous fraud. Without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which remains alive I found to be dead. But sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me. For sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it slew me. Wherefore, the law is holy and the commandments holy and just and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid that sin, that it might appear sinful, were to death in me. By that which is good, that sin by the commandment might be exceedingly sinful. Sin is worked out in our lives. We see the effects of it. But Jesus Christ delivered us from that law of sin. We continue on in verse 16. It says that then I do that which is good. I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more that I do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. And for I know that in me there dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present with me for how to perform it, that which is good I find not. For the good I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more that I do, but sin that dwelleth in me. It jumps down to verse 25 and says, I thank God through Christ Jesus our Lord, so that in the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Chapter 8 verse 1, Now there is no, therefore, no condemnation to them that are Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. By the Spirit of God being within us, we have new life. We are made new, all of us are. We can give glory to God. We can rejoice in the Lord, as Philippians chapter 3 verse 1 says. And by rejoicing, by focusing on God, by focusing on His Word, when those evil factors will come in to pervert the gospel, we can stand firm. We continue on in Philippians chapter 3 where it says this, Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. The question that I want to ask is this, what were those of the concision coming in and teaching? Now, oftentimes, of course, he's having to write, he's wrote this to several others before. He's obviously wrote this to the Philippians before, at least told them. See, the Jews would come in and they would say that the gospel is not enough. Jesus Christ salvation and faith is not enough. You still need the law. You still need works. You still need to live by it to attain salvation. Now, I will say that through the gospel, we have salvation. We should see what the law says and obey the Lord in it. Christ came to not do away with the law, but to fulfill it. And He says to those, Though I might have confidence in the flesh, if any man thinketh that he hath to wear of, he might trust in the flesh, I more. And so Paul says this, If anybody can live out the gospel, or can live according to the law for salvation, if anybody can get close to it, he's the one. Now, we have an infiltration of those coming outside physically. But I will say that even us as Christians, we also have an infiltration mentally. Though our pride, our flesh that would rise up against us. So we need to be aware, yes, of those that will come in with false teaching, but we also need to be aware of seeing that false teaching, applying it, and thinking that we have something more to trust in. We see what Paul says in verse 5. It says, Circumcised was the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews, as teaching a law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what thing were gained to me? Those I counted for loss for Christ. If confidence in the flesh was what was needed for salvation, Paul could say that, yeah, he had it. One, he was a Jew. Romans chapter 3 says that the Jews were advantaged, firstly because they had the oracles of God. It goes on, he says that he was circumcised the eighth day, as commanded in Genesis chapter 17. He was of the tribe of Benjamin. What's the importance of the tribe of Benjamin? See, Benjamin, as the tribe of Benjamin came Saul, the first king of the nation of Israel. Likewise, of the tribe of Benjamin, it was one of the most elite tribes of Israel, according to the Williamson commentary. He was a Hebrews of Hebrews. He had the status, when he says Hebrews of Hebrews, he spoke Hebrew. He wasn't a Hellenizer. He didn't adopt the Greek culture that came in. He stayed true to the Hebrew. He stundered under Gimelel. He was in Gimelel, and he was a member of the Sanhedrin. Gimelel himself was a doctor of the law. He was trained as a Pharisee. And he says concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness, which is the law, blameless. Paul, of all men, if anybody could obtain salvation through words, he was the closest. But even still, he needed a Savior. See, we must be aware of false teaching that would come in. That's what Paul's getting at. And Paul presents the case, if anybody can do it, I can. But I can't. And we continue on. It says, but what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. He was zealous to persecute the church. He pursued the church from town to town, trying to get all he could to condemn them to death, to condemn them in some way, form, or fashion, to try to appease the gospel from going out the way it did. That loss, and this is where we see the passion of Paul. When it says the loss there, those things I counted lost for Christ. It means to be forfeited over. See, of all these good works that Paul said that he could do, he said, all these I give up, I forfeit them over. Why? I do it for Jesus Christ. Why do you think he said that? Why do you think he went to that degree of saying that I forfeit everything I have for Christ? Acts chapter 9 verse 1, if you'll turn over there, Acts chapter 9 verse 1, and we'll see the conversion of Paul. See what happened. Of course, we need to beware of false teachers. Paul gave the case, and he's given the case that any work for salvation does not work, that we cannot be good enough on our own. Nor can we allow ourselves to gain pride and say that we are the great Christian we are because of our own works. But everything's because of Jesus Christ. And it says in verse 1, And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus and the synagogue, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near to Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick a fence to freaks. And he trembled and astonished and said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the man which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul rose to the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man, but they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. And he was there three days and nights without sight, neither did he eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple of Damascus named Ananias. And he said, and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am their Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the street which thou call straight, and inquire of the house, Judas, of one called Saul of Tarshish. For behold, he prayeth. It's an amazing thing that's happened. See, the grace of God has been shown to Saul, who will later be called Paul, the one who was going out to persecute Christians. And at that moment that Jesus appeared before him, he called Jesus Lord. And that moment recognizing him as the Lord. And he said, verse 12, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand upon him, that he might receive his sight. And then Ananias answered and said, Lord, I have heard by many of this man which evil he hath done to the saints in Jerusalem. And here he hath authority as chief priest above all that call on my name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is chosen vessel to me to bear my name before the Gentiles, the kings, and the children of Israel. And I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went on his way and entered into the house, putting his hands on him. And said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appears unto thee in the way as I came, hath sent me, and the mightiest received thy sight, and be ye filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scaled, and received sight forthwith, as it arose and was baptized. And when he had received the meat, he was strengthened. And then all certain days were disciples which were at Damascus. Paul in Philippians chapter 3, after giving all of his merits, saying, this is why I would be good enough, he said, Yet I count it lost for Christ. When did he make that decision? You know, I believe he made it at that moment he saw Jesus in Bethlehem as Lord. He says in verse 20, In straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. And that all that heard him were amazed and said, Is it not he that destroyed them which called on his name in Jerusalem? And he came hither for that intent, that he might bring them down unto the chief priests. But Saul increased more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt in Damascus, proving that this is very right. And after that many days were fulfilled, and the Jews took counsel together. See, Paul understood what the law provided. It provided a schoolmaster. It was a way to know what we needed, that we needed help. But Paul, when he accepted Christ as Savior, it changed everything. He said, I'm going to forfeit all of this up for Christ's sake. Verse 8 in Philippians chapter 3, it says, It says, Yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ. Paul says that I not only forfeit all these things, I want to know the Lord. All these things that I have had in my life, I give them all up for the Lord, that I may know Jesus. You know, he sat and learned from Jesus in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul gives on and says that I've learned from Jesus. He was a space of three years. And when he confessed the name of Jesus there in Acts, what was he giving up? Realistically. And that brings into retrospective, if we are to confess the name of Jesus Christ, though we may not have to give up as much as Paul, are we ready to give it up? Jesus Christ, when the young man came, those that came to him saying I wanted to follow him, he gave them the hard reality that to follow me, you may be without. Paul, he made penance for a living when he needed to. He was supported by churches to go out on the mission field. But if he hadn't of confessed the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, where would he have been? For Tom's sake, I'm not going to read all the other Scriptures. But Paul probably would have been in a good spot. A whole lot better than where he was. Physically, that is. He wouldn't have had to suffer. He wouldn't have had to get beaten so many times. He wouldn't have had to get first beaten. He wouldn't have had to ultimately die. He would have probably lived a pretty good lifestyle, a pretty good life in the course of obeying the law. But yet, living in sin. And if he had not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, where would he have been? He said, because of what Jesus did for me, all of what I had, all of what I could have had, I've given it up for the Lord. And as our musicians come forward for the invitation. He says, I've counted all things as loss. I've given it up. Let's pray. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 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