Sermon Brief
Date Written: August 25, 2011
Date Preached: August 28, 2011
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Series from Philippians
Sermon Title: An Admonition to the Faithful
Sermon Text: Philippians 3:1-3 [ESV]
Introduction:
1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. 2Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
As we have come thru the book of Philippians to this point, we have seen how Paul has been focusing on the church itself and challenging them to live a life that is worthy of their calling in Christ Jesus. He has challenged them to Walk the Talk, and he has given them four examples of how… Epaphroditus, Timothy, himself and Jesus Christ!
His focus in on this church being the church that God has called them to be… to NOT be distracted by the world… to not be intimidated by the world… to NOT allow their own selfish desires to rule their hearts… but to be faithful and submit to the calling of Christ in their lives and Walk the Talk…live their faith out loud!
As we end chapter 2 and begin chapter 3 we find Paul shifting gears just a bit, as he transitions in 3:1 by encouraging the believers in Philippi to REJOICE… I have just given you four great examples of how to walk the talk and live out your faith… and I would write these things to you over and over again if I had to… it is WORTH my efforts…
Paul then shifts the focus of his comment away from the examples of how to Walk the Talk… and he reveals 3 examples of what all believers MUST avoid, so that their life will shine out in a world of darkness! Paul’s desire is to point these believers toward the truth and away from evil…
But before Paul gets to that subject, he wants these believers to REJOICE in what they have in Christ! They have salvation and many examples to look to for inspiration to serve and live out their faith! Let’s look at v.1
1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you…
Paul wanted these Philippian believers to know that his encouragement and challenge to them was not something he regretted OR something he was angry in doing, actually it was quite the opposite! Paul felt compelled to challenge them to be fully willing in their spirit and submissive in their walk with Christ…
Paul was not upset or bothered about seemingly having to tell them and challenge them in this manner, here Paul reflects that he would do it again and again, and he would never grow tired of doing it… if it would help them to live the life God has called them to live… living their faith out loud!
At this point in the letter Paul has laid out the challenge of living out our lives FOR Christ and now these believers had to make the choice… they could choose to live out their faith and be true to their calling in Christ… or they could choose to be selfish and self-centered.
So as we move forward we find Paul warning these believers in v.2-3 and basically what Paul is saying here is that when they DO choose to live out their faith and WALK the TALK… that is when the enemy will come against them the hardest, and that the enemy will come against them in many forms! Let’s look at v.2 to see just what enemies Paul is speaking about…
2Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh…
Let’s take this verse in segments… the 1st segment is Paul’s challenge for the people to ‘…look out for the dogs…’
I mentioned this several weeks ago, but I want to refresh your memories about how significant this statement is for the believers of Philippi, and ultimately for all believers today.
First, we need to understand that the ‘dog’ of the 1st century was not the domesticated animal what we know dogs as today. In the 1st century dogs ran in packs just like wolves, and they were scavengers and attacked what was weak enough for them to kill. They were hated by the Jewish community… hated because of their vicious nature, but also hated because they were considered to be ‘unclean’!
Paul is using the most heinous example here to describe those who are coming against the Christian faith. For those who do not see Jesus as Savior or those who believe Jesus was only PART of the solution, but that there was MORE to salvation than just Jesus.
Paul describes these men that teach Jesus is NOT all sufficient, as dogs… they are spiritually unclean and seeking nothing more than to placate their own desires. Have you ever heard the phrase about eating when someone says, “I’m waiting on you like one dog waits on another…”
That statement is a humorous statement but it reveals the true and ultimate selfish nature about wild dogs and their inability think of others.
Now all you animal lovers out there, don’t get too excited, I have heard the stories of how this dog or that dog has done something FOR someone, by either rescuing them or some other act… You are not comparing apples to apples here! Those dogs have been loved, cared for and trained, but the dogs I speak of are wild dogs who have known nothing of love or care!
The people Paul is speaking about here are people who do NOT know or understand the love of God and have NOT experienced His grace. For them it is all about regulation, rules and rituals… they have NOT experienced the life changing grace of God!
These people come at believers like a wild dog… and can do the damage of a wild dog! Tearing away at your witness and seeking to devour all of who you are in their zeal to impose rule, regulation or ritual! Paul says to avoid these people!
The 2nd segment of this challenge is for the people to, ‘look out for the evil doers…’
Like the wild dogs in the 1st statement, in this statement, Paul is addressing those people who seek out their own selfish desires. Well preacher a wild dog seeks his selfish desires, and you are right to a point.
The wild dogs Paul was speaking about were the Judaizers who believed they were speaking FOR God… but here Paul tells the believers to watch out for those who do NOT seek to do things for God… but only seek to do evil!
When you submit yourself to the Lord and dedicate your life to WALKING the TALK, the enemy is going to come against you with ALL he has… full bore and fully loaded! This is when we see many believers fall in their faith because the outside world attacks them!
Here Paul tells these believers that they must avoid these evil doers at all costs. Evil doers will seek to distract you and take you away from your pursuit of God and doing His will!
The dangerous part about evil doers is that they do not always LOOK the part… many times they portray themselves as believers and know all the right things to say, but in the end their goal is destruction! If someone is seeking to sway you away from what God has called you to do… you need to avoid them…
What Paul is implying in this passage is that those who seek to distract you from your calling in Christ…they are the EVIL DOERS we must avoid!
And finally Paul warns against those who ‘mutilate’ the flesh…’ Here Paul is again speaking about a group of Jewish believers who had succumbed to the false teaching that for one to be FULLY saved that they had to enter into a physical covenant with God, just as ALL Hebrews had done since the time of Abraham. They must be circumcised.
But Paul is very adamant about this and he tells the believers in Philippi that what they are asking them to do (in circumcision) means NOTHING to God now, it is an empty ritual that has lost its meaning. In other words, all it does is mutilate the flesh!
The implication here is that there are going to be people in your life that seek to add things to your walk in Christ that do nothing FOR your walk in Christ… it only tears it down!
I believe that Paul was a firm believer in a very simple approach to church and doing the will of God. God called us to one very simple calling as the church… we are called to ‘go and make disciples’… that is our charge, that is what our focus has to be! If you are trying to add to this, you are adding to what God wants and that is going to mutilate your witness!
The Gospel message is very simple and straightforward, but that does nt mean it is not important. For things to be important they do NOT have to be complicated. So often we try to make thing harder than they have to be… Watch out for those who would pile burden upon burden upon you in your walk… they are nothing more than mutilators of your spiritual flesh!
Paul warns these believers about these three very REAL threats to their walk in Christ, but then Paul wants to encourage them, and in v.3 we find Paul reassuring them that THEY are on the right side… that they are headed in the right direction! Look what he says in v.3…
3For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
The ‘mutilators of the flesh’ that Paul had warned about were concerned about the physical act of circumcision, but here Paul reveals that what is important is the spiritual act of circumcision… the act of our hearts being transformed by Christ!
What we WERE before is changed because Christ has cut away the old and we are a new creature in Christ! Paul comes out and makes a direct correlation with these mutilators of the flesh… and he declares that WE are the circumcision, who is the WE Paul was speaking about?
He actually describes the WE in the next phrase of this verse. He says, WE who worship by the Spirit of God AND glory in Christ Jesus! In other words, WE who believe Christ is Savior… WE who have accepted Christ as Savior… WE in whom Christ was now dwelling… WE are the circumcision! We have been cut away from the world; we are now FAR different than we were before…
And then Paul wraps this statement up with a statement that speaks to the nature of our service to God and our walk with Him. Paul says, ‘WE put no confidence in the flesh…’
This statement means that those fleshly things that were once done to assuage the wrath of God are NO LONGER valid… under this NEW covenant, Jesus has done it all… we can no longer DO anything to affect our sin!
In the OT the people would perform physical acts and bring physical things to the Temple to deal with their sin, but after Christ, this is NO longer God’s way! God had used the sacrificial system to reveal to the people how futile it was… but now with what Jesus has done and based on what Jesus said on the cross… IT IS FINISHED! There is nothing more for us to do… it has all been done!
We cannot place any confidence in our fleshly actions that will enhance our standing with God… our standing with God is based fully upon His grace, mercy and salvation that came THRU His son Jesus Christ!
Basically Paul is telling the Philippian believers AND all believers today as well… it matters NOT what you do… it only matters to whom you belong!
This does not give us license to sin or do what we want or live how we see fit… We have great freedom in Christ, but our freedom is to be tempered with obedience and submission to Jesus as Lord! Paul says that we are NOT to place any confidence in the flesh…
Conclusion:
So this morning if you have been encouraged by the challenge of Paul for you to WALK the TALK, understand that this was his calling all along… God called Him to minister to the Gentiles and this message is for ALL people!
You too have been called by God to minister to the world around you… In Matt 28 Scripture says that you are called to “Go unto all the world...and make disciples!”
The phrase “Go unto all the world…” is a phrase that actually means ‘as you are living your life… as you are going thru your life…” it means DAILY! It means everywhere you go, everything you do, everyone you see… you are called to tell them about Jesus!
We use that verse for Missionaries and we stress the part of the verse that says, “unto all the world…” but in reality it starts right here, with YOU! You don’t have to leave this country, you don’t have to leave this state, you don’t have to leave Orleans parish, you don’t have to leave New Orleans, and you don’t even have to leave your own neighborhood… You can GO YE THEREFORE… even if it means walking across the street!
We are called by God to walk the talk and to do this we must be willing to live our lives in a worthy manner, and to do that we must be able to avoid some things… Paul uses 3 examples of those who seek to distract you in your service to God… Paul warns you to avoid these distractions! Are you on the look out for them? Are you avoiding them and focusing on God?
Finally Paul stresses some very important information for believers to hear… WE are the called and chosen ones! WE are those who have been set aside in Christ for God’s glory!
IT is not anything we do… it is not anything we can say… but it is ALL about who God is and what He has already done! We are the circumcision… we are who Christ has cut away from the world… to be used of God!
We have to realize that our flesh is meaningless… we can place no confidence in ourselves, because we will fail, we will let God down! But when we place our trust in Him, He has promised He will NOT let us down!
We glory in the fact that Christ is our shepherd and we give honor to God for calling us into His kingdom… and we place NO confidence in our own abilities or talents! We can use our ability and talent to glorify God, but it is NOT going to garner us any favor with God on its own!
God is seeking out those who want to serve… Christian, God does not want you sitting on your hands, He desires you to be USING your talents and abilities FOR Him and His kingdom! If you are NOT busy serving, you are being disobedient… and disobedience is sin against God. Won’t you surrender to Him today and submit in obedience to His calling on your life?
If you are here today and you do NOT know Jesus as your Savior… I want to tell you there is NOTHING you can do to earn your way into heaven! God is NOT going to take a look at all of the ‘good’ things you have done and tell you that you are welcome into paradise!
There is only ONE way into God’s paradise…into Heaven with God for all eternity and that is thru His Son, Jesus Christ! Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except thru Me!”
You cannot earn your way into God’s good grace, but the good news is that Jesus has already paid the price needed for you to know God and be a part of His family! All you CAN do is accept Jesus’ gift and submit to the Lordship of Christ in your life! This morning this altar is open for those who want to see their eternity changed forever! As Ken leads us in our hymn of invitation… won’t you come?
