Philippians 3:1-2 "Beware!"

That you start making your way there today. This is a chapter that is absolutely very near and dear to my own heart. We have some very interesting things that are taking place here in this chapter in this wonderful book, this letter to the Philippians written by Paul.

Before we begin, let us go ahead and pray just over the message today, over us hearing these things, our ears, our thoughts, our minds when it comes to this text for us.

Let's pray.

Lord God, I thank you God, just for the privilege it is Lord to open your inspired word Lord, this which reveals the things that we ought to know about you Lord. God that reveals the way that we are to behave as your creation.

Lord it gives us the obedience that is desired from this new creation of which we are Lord as born again believers. So Lord God, I would ask that as this text is read today, Lord, that as a message is given to it Lord, that hearts would be convicted, minds would be changed, hands would be put to work Lord, all for your glory and for the advancement of your mighty kingdom Lord, which you are the king of.

So Lord, we say this in the name of that king, Jesus the Christ, amen. Let's go ahead and read verses one through three out of Philippians chapter three. Finally, my brothers rejoice in the Lord to write the same things again is no trouble to me and it is a safeguard for you.

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation or your translation might say false circumcision, for we are the circumcision who worship in the spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence to the flesh.

Let us pray.

Lord God, as this last verse here that we have read says, Lord God, let our boast be in you and in you alone today Lord. God, if we have come through these doors today looking at even an ounce of what our fingertips could provide to you Lord, let us cast those things away.

Lord, let us have no confidence in anything that we do Lord, but let our confidence be fully and focused only upon Jesus the Christ Lord. God, this is pleasing to you. This is what it means to have circumcision.

In this text Lord, is to look to the one who died for us.

So Lord, let us beware of your exhortation here in verse two. Let us remember that these things are a safeguard for us and we say this to you in your name, Jesus the Christ, amen. So the context of these verses as a reminder is that Paul is writing these things while he himself is in prison, while himself is in chains.

He's writing this to the church of Philippi here. And last week we examined how, we saw a couple different things taking place. We saw Timothy and this other gentleman, these pastors, these men that are of high esteem is what we are told in verse 29, to hold these type of men, men that love God, that love the sheep, that pastor the flock of God, that we're to look at those kind of men and we're to hold them in high esteem, that we shouldn't look down upon such,.

But that we should actually hold these type of men up.

Within the faith, that we should look at them and recognize them as individuals that God has placed in our lives. And we are to do this if they have a proven worth. That is what verse 22 says, that Timothy has this proven worth about himself, that as time has gone on, we've seen that Timothy continues to do that, which the Bible tells him to do, that he has a love for the bride of Christ.

And so therefore it's a proven worth. And we are to see men like Timothy as great men, giants of the faith in this way. So here in verse one of chapter three, we have this final word that said in here, finally, my brothers, this is something that takes place in this chapter, in this text, as he transitioned.

When we look at the last two chapters, there's some things that we could say and look at in here that are important for us, that are maybe the theme of verses one through two. I think one of the primary things that we've seen is humility, it's humility.

That's what we've seen all throughout chapter two is that Christ who is of greatest, highest worth, he becomes this lowest of low servant and dies for us, humility.

And that we're to mimic that,.

That we're to emulate that in our lives and especially in our own body here today. And that's what we would even see in verse 14 in the makeup and the setup of the church that we are to do all things without grumbling.

That here in verse one, he says, finally, my brothers, he again refers to this church here, this church that is many miles away from him, he calls them his brothers. He's called Timothy, his son. He sees those that are in Christ as much more than just friends, as much more than just acquaintances, but as brothers and sisters do all things without grumbling.

We've talked about this already in weeks prior, but when the world looks to the church, they should not see a dysfunctional family. They should not see a family that is broken up or anything along those lines, but they should look at it and they should see a family that has brothers and sisters, those that love each other, that do things without grumbling, that are subject to one another, that do not forsake their own assembling, but those that encourage them to do good work.

So that's what the world should look at and see the church as. And so here in verse one, now Paul is transitioning to another theme of this book, I would argue. Finally, my brothers, he's changing topics.

He's said here to hold these type of men up and now he's saying, look, this is finally my last exhortation is this. And this is gonna be a continual theme that we see in these last two chapters of chapter three and chapter four.

And I would argue, and I think that the theme that we see in here is rejoicing in Christ in all things. Rejoicing in Christ in all things. Recognizing the supremacy of Christ in all situations. I think that that is the theme that we have in here that we could argue for for verse three and four.

So there's a little bit of a contextual change that takes his place here. So again, finally, my brother, so this change takes place, he recognizes his family, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord.

To write the same thing to you again is no trouble to me. Where has Paul already said this to this church? We'd see it just in a prior text here in verse 18 of chapter two. It says, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and in this I rejoice.

So Paul's saying it's no trouble for me to write the same thing to remind you of this truth that you ought to rejoice in the Lord Jesus today. Rejoice in the Lord. It's not, it's almost as if Paul is sitting there and saying, again, where's Paul at in this text?

It is so important to remember, where is Paul at in this text? He's in prison. And what is he telling the church to do? Rejoice in the Lord. Would that mean that Paul's most likely rejoicing in the Lord while he himself is in chains and bondage?

Absolutely. Is he telling the church over there, hey, you ought to be very terribly heartbroken for me and focus only on my situation? No, he's saying rejoice in Jesus. Rejoice in the truth that he has died for you.

Rejoice in this. This is not something that should cause you to scour or be sad in my situation, but you need to rejoice in the Lord over even where I am at today. This saying of rejoice in the Lord is something that can often be very difficult for us to do and to implement in each one of our lives.

Notice that the text does not say to rejoice in Cheetos or in anything else in life. It's saying rejoice in the transcendent one, the one who is the truth, the way, and the life. To rejoice in that which is the solid foundation, Jesus the Christ.

So how?

How are we to rejoice in the Lord in all things?

How are we to do this?

How do we go about this as a church? It's easy to just say something like that. It's another thing to actually implement it in our sorrow. It's another thing to implement it in our gain. It's another thing to implement it in all these type of situations.

So how are we to say and perform and do this, rejoicing in the Lord? Turn with me just to the next chapter, in chapter four, verse 11 to 13. This is a text that we'll preach through one day in our church, but 11 through 14, or 11 through 13, excuse me.

Not that I speak from what I want, for I learn to be content in whatever circumstance I am in. I know how to get along with humble means. And I also know how to live in abundance. In anything, in all things, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry.

Both having abundance and having suffering need. Paul is saying he has learned a secret to life, something that many people don't know. That whether it's in the great highs of our life or it's in the lowest valleys of our life, Paul has found a secret to how he needs to live.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Turn just back to the previous chapter. Let's look at verse seven to eight. This is probably a text that we might get to next week or we might not, but verse seven through eight.

But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.

I think that the answer of how do we glorify God, how do we rejoice in the Lord is obvious from scripture. Anytime pain or anytime good things become the primary focus for a Christian, it has become the very thing that has taken our mind captive rather than Christ Jesus.

Our attention, our rejoicing as a creation of God that has been turned from dead in our sins so that of living in Christ Jesus must be focused on the creator rather than creation. First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31 says, whether then you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.

Let me ask you this. This is an interesting question. When was the last time you drank a cup of water.

For the glory of God?

When was the last time you ate chicken that you got off your Traeger or your barbecue? When was the last time you ate chicken to the glory of God? When was the last pleasure you had whether it was eating chocolate, cake or a cookie to the glory of God?

This is an interesting question and maybe the question needs to be asked of how do you do this? This week, these last many weeks, there have been many sweet treats that have been made, many delights that my wife has even made for myself.

But I was thinking about this this week. She made a delicious cherry crumble, I believe is what she was calling it. And as I was eating it, she's leaving the room so I can now say what I really wanna say about all this stuff.

As I was eating it, I was so thankful to the Lord that God not only created my tongue, but he created my tongue with taste buds. That not only has the Lord created my wife, Emily, but that he has brought her to me and that I've been able to marry her and that she went from not knowing how to cook to making this remarkable dish for me this week.

Thank you, Lord, I rejoice in that. As I was eating the cherries, I was rejoicing in Andy and Marilyn who brought the cherries. I was rejoicing in the fact that they have a cherry tree in their front yard and oh, how sweet those cherries were this week.

Thank you, Lord, for doing that. Thank you for producing Christians that wanna bless the members of their fellowship in church. Thank you, Lord, for that. Thank you, Lord, for providing a wife that would want to provide in this way, not only this, but she made this crumble on top and I'm thinking it's a crumble that I got from a grocery pickup at the store.

Thank you, Lord, for having people that were getting paid at the store to bring us these items so that the crumble could be made. Thank you, Lord, for the sugar that went into it. Thank you, Lord, for the harvest from the farmers that were able to gather these items to make this meal.

That's what went through my mind this week as I was preparing for this text. How often do we participate in things and we're just thankful for the item rather than the Lord providing the means of those things for the item to be made?

This can be done in so many ways and in so many times, but we must remember that whenever our focus turns from rejoicing in the Lord over that thing, whatever that thing is, and it turns into something to elevate that item above the glory of God Himself, it has surely become an idol to us.

Consider that the next time you grab your wonderful cup of water, your wonderful treat that you eat today. Consider that the next time you hug your children that you love oh so dear. Consider that the next time you hold the hand of your grandchild.

Think about how can I rejoice in the Lord over this? Even in the hardships, how can you rejoice in the Lord over this? It's a hard question to even ask, but it can be done because remember, where is Paul at in this text?

Is he eating the cherry crumble in his kitchen to rejoice over the Lord? He's in chains when he writes this. He's in suffering when he writes this. He's in pain and terrible turmoil when he writes this.

But where does he say that his focus ought to be? Rejoice in the Lord.

You can almost imagine that Paul,.

As these chains are around him and he's rejoicing. Lord, I am bound, but your word is not bound. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the reminder that these chains have given to me that your will will be done, Lord.

Thank you.

Lord, thank you for the substance to make me remember that though I am hungry, you have filled me beyond all things, Lord.

Thank you.

Rejoice in the Lord, all things at all times.

It's terribly difficult to do, but look at why Paul tells us to do this. He says it's not a trouble again for him to do this, to write this truth to the people again, but it is for the purpose of being a safeguard for us.

If your eyes turn even for a moment from your Savior, if they have done that even today, you must run back to him. To tell this to you, brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble even for I myself to tell you that today.

It is a safeguard.

It is what keeps us focused on God. It is what helps us rationalize the atrocities and the hardships and the good things and the great things of this world. It is to be focused through the lens of our mighty God.

Beware of the Dogs, Evil Workers, and False Circumcision

Verse two, beware.

The title of today's message is beware. What has Paul said that the rejoicing in the Lord, what is it to be a safeguard from? Dogs, evil workers, and mutilation.

Now, we will talk about today Judaizers.

Because that's what was going on in the day of Paul. That was the common enemy of the Christian church of that day was these Judaizers. We'll define who that is here in a moment, but consider again, why is Paul writing beware in this text?

He's talking about dogs, evil workers, and this false mutilation. What does scripture teach about dogs? Let's just think about what is a dog in that day of Paul. Psalm 59, six, it says, they return at evening, they howl like a dog and go around the city.

Very interesting. In that same chapter, in another verse, it says, they return at evening, they howl like a dog and they go around the city. That is the exact same verse. I would have to turn there to do it, but the point of it is what is being painted for a dog in that day.

It was those that would run around the city seeking that which they could devour. They were almost like this vile, evil thing in that day. Beware of dogs. Beware of that who can eat you,.

That can destroy you, that can harm you.

Now, historically, the Jews, this is very, very interesting. The Jews saw the Gentiles as dogs. They saw them as the ones that would be around the city that would try to take God's people away from them.

They saw Gentiles as dogs. But who is Paul now referring to as the dogs? The Jewish people of that day who are telling the Christians that they ought to be circumcised to be true Christian. Paul has flipped the script in this way for the people.

He's writing this to probably most likely a majority of Gentile believers here in the book of Philippians who probably are very aware of that terminology that was used against them. You are dogs, Church of Philippi.

And he's saying, you beware of the actual dogs. You beware of the Jewish people, the ones that seek to destroy you. You beware of this. Then he says, beware of evil workers. So dogs, they seek to consume, they seek to attack, they seek to harm evil workers.

What is the work that is being spoken of? Well, let's first consider two verses. Galatians 2, verse 16, it says, "'Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be justified.'".

This is the apostle Paul that's writing this. "'So that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, since by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.'". When we look to Paul and we take his advice from scripture, we can often sometimes elevate him to having the supposed righteousness that he himself has obtained through his ministry.

No, he's saying in this text that his way of obtaining righteousness is the same way that you and I do. And that is by having faith in Jesus Christ apart from the works of the law. Galatians 2, verse 21, it says, "'I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law,'' meaning if what you do, what your obedience is, brings about righteousness, then Christ died needlessly, as that verse says.

Christ died in vain. There was no reason why Christ even died for you if you think that you can earn righteousness through your own obedience. So when we look at what Paul is writing at in here, "'Beware of dogs, they seek to consume, they seek to harm, they seek to destroy you.'".

And how are they gonna do this?

Evil workers.

They're ones that teach you have to be obedient in order to have salvation. See, this is a very strange thing today for us, for Judaizers, what are Judaizers? These are men in that day. So you think about context, Old Testament, you were born of the family of Abraham, you were circumcised on the eighth day, that was the sign unto everyone that guess what?

You are Jewish. So in that day, shortly thereafter, when Christ comes in and he fulfills this, he has implemented, instituted the new covenant, which is sins being forgiven, iniquity is not being remembered anymore, that he has performed this, as we read from Hebrews chapter eight in our Bible study, multiple times throughout these weeks, that new covenant language that's in there, Christ institutes it.

You have men now that are coming into the church and saying, you are not a true Christian if you are not cutting off your own foreskin. Seems very strange for us to hear this today, but that was common practice in that day for these Judaizers.

You have to remove your own flesh in order for you to have the sacrifice of Christ. These are evil workers. They are dogs because they are pushing this on a people who had faith in Christ, they were seeking that they would look at their own flesh for confidence.

They were wanting men and women to be deceived to go back under a yoke of law. This is why they were evil workers. This is why and how they are dogs. But you might even think to yourself today, we don't have men or women going in the church saying such things.

Brothers and sisters, oh, we do. We don't have men that go in and talk about circumcision per se, but we do have men that go into the church today and teach that baptism is necessary for salvation. Christ then died needlessly.

Should a believer in Christ be baptized? Yes, they should out of obedience as a childlike love for their father, but not as a requirement to obtain the finished work of Christ. They have made Christ die needlessly.

We do have men that go into the church today teaching that unless you behave in this culturally appropriate way, and we can think of a list of things for today in the United States, then you are not a Christian.

Christ then died needlessly. We have freedom in Christ. I would rather have something that is old and outdated, that is biblical and is obedient to what God's word says rather than the standard of men today.

I could care less about how the world might negatively think about myself by doing such. This would be known as legalism. We'll talk about this here in a moment. We do actually have men that go into the church and say if you don't tithe a certain amount, if you don't dress a certain way, or if you don't act the way that they act, or you do not say the words that they say, or even if you listen to music that is the music that they don't think you should listen to, then you are not a true Christian.

Christ then died needlessly.

Brothers and sisters,.

You are not set free from sin because you are doing something. You are set free only because of what Christ has done. This topic of legalism is no better than Judaizers. And Paul very clearly tells us, but even if we are an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to the gospel we have proclaimed to you, let him be accursed.

As we have said before, so I say now again, if any man is proclaiming to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the favor of men or of God? Or am I striving to please men?

Or am I still trying to please men? I would not be, if I were trying to still please men, I would not be a slave of Christ.

Look at this,.

Beware of the mutilation. Beware of this act of men trying to do something in order to say you have to do this in order to have salvation. My mind immediately goes to all the requirements that the modern church says today that you ought to be doing for salvation or you ought to be behaving as a Christian.

Did you know there's some Christians that say a true Christian wouldn't go hunting, you're killing God's creation.

That's not right.

You're not a true Christian.

Beware of dogs.

You're not a true Christian if you listen to Hillsong, right? And I'm not getting into all these minutiae of things. I'm not a big fan of Hillsong. I wouldn't listen to them, but you have made a requirement in order to be a Christian.

Beware of evil workers. You go to the restaurant, you see somebody drinking a glass of wine at dinner table. Oh my goodness, they're drinking alcohol. They can't be a true Christian. Beware of mutilation.

We sit and we look from our high position and we often look at people like the Amish and we say, man, that is weird, right?

That is weird.

They put all these requirements on themselves and guess what they're doing? They're saying you can't be a true Christian if you use electricity or you do this or that or this or this, right? They have put standards to a community that say you have to do this in order to be this.

Brothers and sisters, we're no better than that when we sit and make extra biblical standards to meet the requirement of what we think is Christian. If God's word says something, then yes, it's true. But we ought not to add that which is not in God's word to a requirement of salvation.

Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of mutilation. Legalism and a false workspace salvation is in it all. Verse three, for we are the circumcision who worship in the spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.

Brothers and sisters, we will come back to this verse next week. We do not have enough time today to examine. Each one of these words here in these verses could be a message of its own. So let us go ahead and pray us out for today and let us go home, read this verse again, for we are circumcision who worship in the spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence to the flesh.

Let us go home and read this with our families today. Let us consider what this is teaching for us.

And let us go ahead and pray.

Lord God, I thank you, Lord, for these wonderful verses, these verse one and two that we were able to go through.

As a church.

Lord God, I would ask, God, that you would open our eyes to beware of dogs, to beware of evil workers, to beware of mutilation, Lord, and God, let us remember what you have done for us and let us boast in that alone.

God, let us rejoice in you in all things that we do, whether we eat or whether we drink, let us do it unto your glory and Lord, let us again, as said, put no confidence to anything that we could ever provide.

So Lord God, I would ask today that this would be encouraging, that your will would be done in each one of our lives and God, just be glorified today. We say this in your name, amen. Brothers and sisters, if you can't glorify God by driving your car home today,.

Don't drive your car home.

Let's stay here at church until you can figure out.

How to drive your car home for the glory of God.

I think we all have those tools though, so go home today, glorify God, whether you eat or you drink, glorify him. Let us go ahead and stand as we sing our last song.