Let's Be Clear

Do you have a joyful, confident relationship with God?

And I want you to think, your relationship with God,

is there joy in it?

And are you confident that He is your Heavenly Father?

If you don't, I pray that you will

by the time you leave this service today.

That God will show you what needs to take place in your life.

That you'll sense Him calling you, enabling you

to make that kind of commitment.

But if you do, what are you basing your confidence on?

You know, it's one thing to be confident.

I mean, there's times when I'm confident.

I could outrun Jake Alexander back there.

I mean, I think that sometimes.

But that's a stupid thing to think.

So sometimes we can be confident about things that's not true.

That's not real.

There's no basis for it.

And so as we go through this message,

think about, if you say,

I am confident about my relationship with God,

is it a solid confidence?

Is there a reason for it?

A God-given, God-accepting confidence?

I want you to turn with me back to the book of Philippians.

We continue our study.

I was off last week, and Ralph Carter did a great job.

Lisa and I watched the service,

and he just did a great job.

I enjoyed the message, powerful message,

and I appreciate him coming and preaching.

But this morning, I want us to go back to where we were,

beginning a new chapter, chapter 3.

And I want us to see in this some things we need to be clear about.

That we can leave here this morning knowing

that we do have a joyful, confident relationship with God

for the right reason, that he approves.

Philippians 3.1

Finally, brothers, rejoice in the Lord.

Lord, to write the same things to you is no trouble to me

and is safe for you.

Look out for the dogs.

Look out for the evildoers.

Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.

For we are the circumcision,

who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus

and put no confidence in the flesh, in ourselves.

In what we do.

Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh,

I have more.

Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel,

of the tribe of Benjamin,

a Hebrew of Hebrews,

as to the law of Pharisee,

as to zeal,

a persecutor of the church,

as to righteousness under the law,

blameless.

But whatever gain I had,

I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed,

I count everything as loss

because of the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake,

I have suffered the loss of all things

and count them as rubbish

in order that I may gain Christ

and be found in him,

not having a righteousness of my own

that comes from the law,

comes from obeying the law,

but that comes through faith in Christ.

The righteousness from God

that depends on faith.

That I may know him

and the power of his resurrection

and may share his sufferings,

becoming like him in his death,

that by any means possible,

I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul is going to point out some things

to help us to be clear

and confident

about our relationship with the Lord.

Let's look at it.

Let's be clear about where we find Christian joy.

Look at verse one again.

Finally, my brothers,

rejoice in the Lord.

We'll stop there.

The word finally

is used here to make a transition.

Paul is not like someone

who might give a speech or a sermon

and about halfway through

or three quarters through

will say finally.

And you think it's about over,

but it's not.

He is just,

that's just his way

using that word here in this context.

It could be translated then

or furthermore,

because he's got a lot more to say

in this letter.

He begins this section

by calling attention to joy.

We're going to define it

a little bit later,

but it's Christian joy.

And that's one of the main themes

of this letter.

We have seen

in earlier studies

one of the things Paul

repeats over and over again

about there is joy

to be found

in a right relationship

with Jesus.

We as Christians,

of all people in this world,

we have a lot to rejoice about.

He talked about his own joy

and about the Philippians,

the members of this church,

their joy.

Now,

I want to remind you

of something we looked at

when we first began this study.

There is a difference

between Christian joy

and the emotion of happiness.

Happiness is an emotion

that mostly occurs.

We're happy

when things are going our way,

when we have good health,

when people are treating us

in a good way,

a positive way.

Well,

when people don't treat us well

and things are not going our way,

we are not happy,

are we?

And that's just life.

That's just who we are

as human beings.

Sometimes we're happy,

usually based on our circumstances.

Sometimes we're not

because of our circumstances.

Happiness comes and goes

in everyone's life.

Christian joy is different now.

It's really a part of the fruit of the Spirit.

As Christians,

with the Spirit of God living within us,

He works in us to develop our character

and joy is really a character quality.

It's also an attitude.

But Christian joy is not without emotion.

There is pleasure in Christian joy

when you understand that pleasure

basically means to be pleased.

The word pleasure uses the noun

means to be pleased.

So as Christians,

in our relationship with the Lord,

there should be a lot that pleases us.

A similar word to this idea of Christian joy

is contentment

or having peace in your soul

or a sense of peace,

rightness with God.

And this kind of joy

is not really dependent

on our circumstances.

You know, you can

be going through a hard time,

strained relationships with somebody maybe,

sickness,

a lot of uncertainty in your life.

And you know,

you're not just excited about it,

thrilled about it,

you're not happy about it,

but you can,

as you draw close to the Lord,

sort of be at peace with it.

Be content in terms of

you're able to deal with it.

And the idea that

you're going to approach that situation

seeking to please the Lord

regardless of how you actually feel.

That's what we're talking about.

Now Paul explains the source of such joy

in verse three as he says,

rejoice in the Lord.

That's the first time he has said

rejoice in the Lord.

He's talked about joy or rejoice

nine times up to this point.

This is the first time he says

rejoice in the Lord.

Knowing Jesus is our Savior and Lord

gives us reason to rejoice,

to be pleased,

to be content.

Doesn't it?

You know,

most of us in this room,

we have at least one close relationship

with someone

that it just pleases us

to be with them.

Now I hope

that's your spouse

if you're married.

But it could be,

could be your child,

unless they're a teenager.

It could be a friend.

There's just somebody in your life,

hopefully,

and you may have more than one,

that having a relationship with them

just makes you more content,

even in hard times

when, you know,

difficult times goes on.

You know,

I've thought about that.

Brian's my friend.

And I truly,

there's a lot of times

I have joy,

it pleases me

to spend time with him.

But when life's hard,

if I'm sick

or I'm just in turmoil,

I don't really care

if he's around.

I want Lisa there.

I'm serious.

Lisa makes everything better.

Don't you,

I hope you have somebody

in your life

that just having them there

makes everything better.

Well, that's how the Lord

should be if we're Christians.

We should have such a relationship

with him,

we're able to talk to him,

we sense his presence,

and just knowing

that he's promised

to never leave us

nor forsake us,

no matter what,

knowing him

gives us a sense of joy.

It pleases us.

It makes things right.

Now,

having a relationship

with the Lord

does have other benefits.

Your sins have been forgiven.

The guilt should be gone.

No Christian should live in guilt.

You are an actual child of God.

The Lord has promised

to always be with you

throughout your life

here on earth,

and when you die,

he's going to take you

into heaven.

He's going to walk

with you

into paradise.

And so,

there's a lot of reasons

why we should be able

to rejoice

in the Lord.

Now,

I want you to note,

Paul says,

to write the same things

to you

is no trouble to me

and is safe for you.

I'm taking that

to mean

that Paul has

talked to these people

a lot about joy.

When he was with them

earlier in this letter,

he could have even

written another letter

we have no,

you know,

we don't know about

that he talked about joy.

He talked about joy

a lot with them

and it never got old

to him.

And he doesn't want it

to get old

to them

either.

He talks about

at the end there.

It is no trouble

to me

and it is safe

for you.

Rejoicing in the Lord,

focusing on him

like we're talking about,

is good for our

spiritual health,

our spiritual well-being,

our spiritual safety

even.

You say,

how will that be?

Well,

it would help us

to stay off

the emotional

roller coaster

that occurs

when we allow

our circumstances

to dictate

our mood,

our emotions.

And some people

do that more

than others.

I mean,

some people in here,

you know,

you're sort of like

a flag in the wind.

Whatever the situation is,

it gets you down,

it gets you up.

You're just dependent

on what is happening

around you

to determine

your mood,

your emotional

status or stability.

And that's not healthy.

We need to rejoice

in the Lord,

focus on him,

find peace,

rest,

contentment in him,

and that will help us,

protect us,

our sanity,

our emotional stability,

as well as our

spiritual stability.

Now,

what could you do

that would help you

to rejoice more

in the Lord,

to focus more

on him

on a daily basis?

You know,

one thing would be

to begin each day

talking to him.

Spend some time

in prayer.

Spend some time

reading God's word.

Focusing on the Lord

as you begin the day

or at some point

during the day.

A lot of people

in this room,

you spend a lot of time

on the road,

mornings and afternoons

going to work,

going to school.

What do you do

during that time?

Could you

maybe turn off

the radio,

iPod,

or whatever it is

you listen to?

Could you maybe

have some quiet time

as you drive

and just talk

to the Lord?

Focus on him?

Could you

maybe listen

to some Christian music

or some Christian teaching

that would help you

to focus more on him?

or even to grow

in your relationship

with him,

in your knowledge

of God's word?

Find ways

that you will be able

to focus more

on the Lord

throughout a day

because that's

what it's going to take

for us to really be able

to rejoice in the Lord

and find safety

or stability

just on a regular basis.

Now the next verse

helps us see

that rejoicing

in the Lord

doesn't make us

immune from the

harsh realities

of life

nor the negative

emotions

of being human.

Look at number two.

Let's be clear

about who we can

trust to teach

the Bible.

Paul warns

the Philippians,

this church,

about false teachers

in a very strong way.

Look at this verse two.

Look out for the dogs.

Look out for the evildoers.

Look out for those

who mutilate the flesh.

You think Paul was smiling

when he wrote those words?

You think he was

in a happy mood?

He was angry.

I think he was red-faced.

I think you could hear

it in his voice.

He was angry

as he thought about

these people,

these false teachers.

Here's who they were.

If you're familiar

with the book of Acts

or you've read

some of Paul's letters,

you know that

Paul's sort of

plan of action.

He went to a place,

he preached the gospel,

people were saved,

he started a church,

he did his best

to get them off

on the right foot,

doctrinally,

practically,

trying to help them

to understand

who they were in Christ

and how to grow.

But after Paul left,

in many of his churches,

there was a group

that came in.

They were Jews

who also claimed

to be Christians.

Bible commentators

refer to them

as Judaizers.

They were trying

to make Jews

out of Christians.

And they would come in

and say,

yeah,

what Paul preached

was okay,

it is important

to trust in Jesus,

but that's not

the whole story.

Their goal

was to make Jews

out of those Christians.

They would say,

Paul didn't tell you

the whole story,

the full gospel.

What they would say

is you've got to obey

the Old Testament law.

You've got to keep the law.

You've got to practice

the Old Testament circumcision.

That's important

for you to do.

And as a faithful Jew

obeying the law

and trusting Christ,

you will be okay.

So they were Jews,

false teachers,

telling the Gentiles

they've got to become a Jew.

And that just

incensed Paul

because it was a lie.

They were undermining

the truth

that he had been teaching them.

And Paul made it clear

in his letter

to the Galatians

that these Judaizers

were preaching

a different gospel

than he preached,

not completing his,

a different gospel,

which meant

it was no gospel

at all.

Look at what he says.

Galatians chapter 1

Galatians 1:6–8

verses 6 to 8.

In Philippians,

his anger

is toward

the false teachers,

not these people.

In Galatians,

he's angry

about everybody.

The false teachers

who are coming in

behind him

and undermining him

and these very church members

who are embracing that,

believing that,

being led astray.

Look at it.

I am astonished

that you are so quickly

deserting him

who called you

in the grace of Christ

and are turning

to a different gospel,

not that there is

another one,

but there are some

who trouble you

and want to distort

the gospel of Christ.

But even if we

or an angel

from heaven

should preach to you

a gospel contrary

to the one

we preach to you,

let him be accursed.

Let him be

eternally condemned.

That's how strongly

he felt about

the purity of the gospel,

preserving it

and going after those

who would try to dilute it

or undermine it

or change it.

Look at how Paul

describes them.

Let's look back

in the verse.

Dogs.

Now don't think about

your pet at home.

That is not

the kind of dog

Paul had in mind.

That is our dog,

Molly.

She's a good dog.

Let me say this.

I do not believe

in reincarnation.

That is heresy.

That is moronic.

But if reincarnation

is real,

you want to come back

as Lisa Stone's dog.

You'll have the best dog

life that a dog

could have.

That's a fine dog.

But that's not

who Paul is calling

these false teachers.

Look next.

That

vicious,

wild,

scavenger

kind of dog

that roamed

the streets

of the day,

nobody's pet.

when Paul

called these people

dogs,

it was a hateful

term

of scorn.

It was about

as strong

an insult

as he could say.

Jews

in Paul's day

condescendingly

often called

Gentiles

dogs.

dogs.

And a lot of times

Gentiles

returned to favor.

Then Paul

next calls them

evildoers.

He considered

what they were doing,

undermining the gospel,

leading people astray

as doing

evil.

And then those

who mutilate

the flesh,

that's what Paul

thought of

circumcision

if it's added

to the gospel.

It's nothing

spiritual.

These

false teachers

taught a salvation

by works

is what they were

doing.

It was a man

made religion,

a man made

salvation.

But Paul

tells us here,

salvation is work

of the Spirit

of God.

Salvation is work

of the Holy Spirit

who indwells

us as Christians.

The gospel

calls everyone

look to Jesus

Christ

for your

salvation.

There's nothing

you can add

to it.

Don't even

try.

Look at this,

verse 3.

For we are the

circumcision.

He's talking about

spiritually here.

He's talking about

how in Romans

it says it this way,

the Holy Spirit

circumcises our

heart.

He's just talking

about how God

does the work

of salvation

in these kind

of terms.

For we're the

circumcision

who worship

by the Spirit

of God

and glory

in Christ

Jesus

and put no

confidence

in the flesh.

our good

works,

our keeping

the law

and all

these kinds

of things.

Paul wants

to make sure

that the

Philippians

understand

I know

what I'm

talking about.

Paul wants

them to

understand

that if

anyone could

be right

with God

by doing

what these

false teachers

say,

I could

and I

would.

Look at how

he describes

his heritage

and his

good works.

He says,

though I

myself have

reason for

confidence in

the flesh

also,

if anyone

else thinks

he has

reason for

confidence in

the flesh,

I have

more.

It's like

one of the

greatest Jewish

resumes

that a Jewish

leader could

have.

Look at

this.

Circumcised

on the

eighth day,

of the

people of

Israel,

of the

tribe of

Benjamin,

a Hebrew

of Hebrews,

as to the

law,

a Pharisee,

as to zeal,

a persecutor

of the church,

as to righteousness

under the law,

blameless.

Paul was a

Jew's Jew

from birth.

And as he

grew up,

as he went

through his

adult life

until he came

to Christ,

he never

wavered.

Now,

I want us

to pause

here and

think about

what Paul

is saying

because the

idea here,

the concept

here is a

matter of

life and

death.

It's a

matter of

spending

eternity

in heaven

or hell.

In

Paul's

day,

many Jews

thought they

could score

points with

God because

they were

born a Jew.

They tried

to keep the

Ten Commandments

and that's

what the

false teachers

were teaching.

today,

in this

community,

maybe in

this church,

some people

think along

that same

line,

what about

you?

Think with

me.

Were you

born into a

Christian home?

Did you have

godly parents?

Have you been

to church

basically all

your life?

Well,

those things

are great in

that they gave

you the

advantage of

having Christian

role models right

there in your

home.

You had the

advantage of

being taught the

Word of God

and you still

know a lot

that you learned

even at a very

young age.

But I want

you to

understand,

your parents'

faith and

your Bible

knowledge and

your church

attendance has

absolutely nothing

to do with your

personal salvation.

In fact,

our exposure to

Christian role

models like in

our homes,

our exposure

to biblical

teaching,

God expects

us more

accountable.

God expects

more of you

and me if we

grew up in a

Christian home

and been taught

the Word of

God more than

someone who

was a pagan,

an ungodly

home and never

even heard

anything that

was in the

Bible.

You say,

I don't know

about that.

Look at what

Jesus said in

one of his

parables.

Everyone to

whom much

was given

of him,

much will be

required.

That's the

principle of

life.

Even as a

Christian right

now,

if God has

given you

spiritual gifts

and talents

and abilities,

I mean,

you're sharp.

By the grace of

God, you are a

sharp Christian,

talented,

a lot of

abilities.

God expects you

to be using them

for his glory and

the good of the

people around you,

including this

church.

We are

accountable for

what God

brings into

our life,

what God

gives us.

Think about

this.

Have you

behaved yourself

pretty good

most of your

life?

I mean,

there's a lot

of people in

this room,

not Mike

Sterling-Kinney,

but there's a

lot of people

in this room

who've been

good people

most of

their lives.

You

listened to

your parents.

You weren't

defiant,

rebellious.

You have

tried to

obey the

laws of

God and

man.

In fact,

there may

be a lot

of people

in this

room that

you've

sort of

lived a

Andy Taylor

of Mayberry

kind of

life.

You've

just been

good.

But I

want you

to understand,

your good

works may

and probably

have made

your life

in this

world better.

But God

is not

impressed.

And you

have not

earned

anything

before God

by your

good life

and good

works.

Unless you

have lived

an absolutely

perfect life

and never

sinned,

you,

no matter

where you

came from

or what

you've done,

you are

not

acceptable

to God

on your

own.

You're

not.

You may

be a whole

lot better

than the

person sitting

beside you

in the pew.

You may

be a lot

better than

a lot of

people that

you know.

That's part

of our

problem.

We like

to compare

ourselves.

You know?

I would

never compare

myself with

Rudy Gray

sitting over

there.

You know,

I just

couldn't,

I couldn't

measure up.

But I

can compare

myself to

Mike Sterling

Kenny,

okay.

So you

shouldn't

sit on the

front row

with a

suit on.

That just

gets my

attention.

You see

what I'm

talking about?

You think

to yourself,

I am a

pretty good

guy and

maybe you

are in

this

community,

comparatively

speaking.

But before

God and

his perfect,

righteous,

holy standards,

you are a

sinner.

You can

do nothing

to change

that.

You can

do nothing

to overcome

that on

your own.

We need

to understand

this as

Paul points

out next.

Look at this

quickly.

Let's be

clear about

what ultimately

matters.

Verses 7

and 8.

But whatever

gain I had,

I counted as

loss for the

sake of

Christ.

Indeed,

I count

everything as

loss because

of the

surpassing

worth of

knowing Christ

Jesus my

Lord.

For his

sake I

have

suffered

the loss

of all

things and

count them

as rubbish

in order that

I may gain

Christ.

I want you

to look at

what Paul

called his

previous

religious

resume,

his assets,

rubbish.

R.C.

Sproul explains

what he meant

by that.

Look,

some scholars

contend the

Greek word

for rubbish

is actually

the ordinary

slang term

for dung

or may

refer to

garbage

thrown out

to dogs.

This stuff

had value

before Christ

but now

it is to

be flushed

away.

Christ is

now the

only thing

that counts

and Paul

put everything

else away.

Everything

that Paul

the Jew,

everything

that Paul

the good

guy in his

day thought

was important,

his heritage,

his good

works,

was really

worth

nothing,

I mean

absolutely

nothing

in terms

of securing

God's

favor.

Do you

really

understand

that?

Everything

that you

think makes

you special

or that

gives you

some kind

of special

standing

before God

like your

family,

your church

attendance,

maybe your

talents,

your gifts,

your education.

It's

worthless,

absolutely

meaningless

in terms

of gaining

God's

favor.

And anyone

who tells

you otherwise

is a false

teacher.

Anyone who

tells you

otherwise,

they're a

dog,

a scavenger

dog.

They are

evil doers.

Don't

listen to

anyone who

denies or

ignores the

fact that

you are a

sinner,

totally

dependent upon

God's

grace and

Jesus'

righteousness

for your

salvation.

I want you

to hang

on to your

hats on

this.

Whoever

tells you

otherwise

is a

false

teacher,

even if

that's your

parents

or your

grandparents

or Joel

Osteen

or anyone

else who

denies

the clear

teaching of

the Bible

that we're all

sinners,

we cannot save

ourselves,

we cannot earn

our salvation.

But don't

think I'm

being overly

harsh or

hard.

I'm just

preaching

what Paul

in Galatians

said.

Look again,

but even if

we or an

angel from

heaven should

preach to

you a

gospel contrary

to the

ones we

preach to

you,

let him be

accursed.

That's how

strong it is.

That's how

important it

is that you

not be

misled by

any human

being in

this world

when it

comes to

how you

are right

with God.

Last thing,

let's be

clear about

how we

become right

with God.

Let's look

at verses

9 and

10.

And be

found in

him,

not having

a righteousness

of my own

that comes

from the

law,

but that

which comes

through faith

in Christ,

the righteousness

from God

that depends

on faith.

Let's stop

there.

Paul describes

salvation as

having a

righteousness

that comes

through faith

in Jesus

Christ.

Now what

does he

mean?

Well the

word

righteousness

simply means

to be declared

right with

God.

Don't stumble

over it,

sort of a,

look at that

word,

what does that

exactly mean?

It means to

be right with

God,

or to be

declared right

with God

by God.

God declares

us to be

right with

him,

when we

put our

faith in

Jesus as

our Savior

and Lord.

We will

never be

right with

God by

obeying

God's

law,

by doing

our best,

by trying

harder.

The good

news of

this passage

is that God

sent his

son into

this world

to be

our Savior.

Jesus

perfectly

obeyed

God's

law.

And when

we put

our faith

in Jesus

and trust

him,

we become

one with

him,

then his

obedience is

credited to

us.

Jesus took

the punishment

that we

deserve because

we've broken

God's laws

when he died

on the

cross.

And so

when you

trust Jesus,

you become

one with

him,

and his

death on

the cross

counts as

your death

to sin.

If you

don't have a

relationship

with God

through faith

in Jesus

right now,

I want

to encourage

you to

turn to

Christ in

faith.

It may

be that

you came

into this

room this

morning,

never thought

about it

like this

before,

but you

are really

trying to

work your

way to

heaven.

You're

trying to

balance the

scales of

being good

here and

doing a

little bit

more when

you're bad

there.

You're really

thinking God's

going to accept

me based on

what I do,

the good I

can do.

But that's

totally wrong.

The only way

God's going to

accept you

is to admit

you are a

sinner, you

cannot save

yourself, repent,

change your mind

about living this

way, put your

trust in Jesus

and Him alone.

Call upon Him

to save you.

Surrender

control of your

life to Him

as your

Lord.

I want to

ask you,

if you died

today,

this day,

and you

stood before

God and He

asked you,

why should I

let you into

heaven?

What would

you say?

Think about it

for just a

moment.

You died

today.

And all of a

sudden, you

stand before

God.

He looks at

you and says,

why should I

let you into

heaven?

What would

you say?

Would your

answer include

anything about

who you are,

who your

family is,

or what you

have done

to earn

your place

in heaven?

If you're

going to

answer like

that,

you're trying

to save

yourself.

And you'll

never get in.

The only

acceptable

answer

is that I

am trusting

in Jesus

and Him

alone

for my

salvation.

when we

come to

God,

be very

clear about

this.

When we

come to

God, it

doesn't matter

who we

are,

where we're

from,

or what

we've done.

All that

matters is

that we

come to

Him by

trusting

Jesus.

And that

is the only

way that He

will ever

accept anyone

when we're

united to

Jesus by

faith.

Let's pray

together.

Father,

show us

now if

we have

reason to

have

confidence

in our

relationship

with You.

But Lord,

make it

crystal clear

that anyone

here who is

trusting in

themselves and

who they

are, what

they are,

what they've

done, they

fall short.

They can't

save

themselves.

But Lord,

help us all

to see, to

be reminded,

to be

encouraged,

that if we'll

just admit our

sin, our

failure,

and hate it

and turn from

it, and

trust Jesus

and rest in

Jesus.

We will be

forgiven because

He died for

our sins.

We will be

righteous because

we have His

right standing.

So help us,

dear God,

to make the

kind of

commitment or

to just simply

say thank

you so that

we can all

leave here this

morning with

joyful confidence

that we have

a right and

good relationship

with you.

Let's just

pray and

listen to the

Lord and

respond to

Him as

He wants us

to during

this time.

Thank you.