Title: “4 Distinguishing Marks” Script: Phil. 3:1-3
Type: Expository Where: GNBC 7-16-23
Intro: Carol and I like to watch a lot of mysteries and crime dramas. If the victim survives an incident or attack, or if there was an eye witness, the detectives usually sit down with the person or persons, and asks: “What did he/she look like? Did he have any distinguishing marks on him? Tatoos? Scars? Birth marks? Hair color? Facial hair? General size and build. Why? Trying to distinguish one specific person in a sea of people! Distinguishing marks are important for investigations. What are the characteristics of a “true believer in Jesus Christ?” Church attendance? Tithing? Baptism? Taking communion? Carrying a Bible to church? Listening to Christian radio station? According to the Apostle Paul, in this section of Scripture, NO! Now, each of these items are important for the Christian, if done with the right motives. However, Paul does list at least 4 distinguishing marks that should be seen on every born again Christian.
Prop: Exam. Phil. 3:1-3 we’ll notice 4 qualities that mark the lives of true believers of Xst.
BG: 1. Going thru book of Phil, written by Paul from (Most likely)Rome (although Ephesus and Caesarea are other options.) in about 60-62 AD.
2.Several objectives seem to be in mind in the writing of Philippians: instruction and caution, informative – how he was doing, address divisions and promote reconciliation, introduce Timothy
3.
Prop: Looking at Phil. 3:1-3 we’ll see 4 qualities that should mark our lives as believers.
I. True Believers: Rejoice in the Lord. V. 1
A. Christians are told to Rejoice!
1. Joyful Christian living is to be a calling card of the disciple of Jesus Christ.
a. “Finally” – could be understood “furthermore or so then”. Often when we use the word “finally” we mean “in conclusion”, however, here it represents a transition in the Apostle’s thought or writing.
b. Philippians is the most joyful book in the Bible — the apostle Paul uses the Greek words for joy and rejoicing sixteen times in only 104 verses. And yet he writes from a dingy Roman prison, a place we would typically associate with misery and trial, which most people assume are the opposites of joy. He’s surrounded by every conceivable obstacle to joy, so why does he seem so happy?
2. The Christian is to be a joyful person!
a. Illust: If your soul has been saved please make sure that you and I tell our faces! Smile! Be glad, be grateful, be gregarious, be gracious! Be joyful! Illust: Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes jr. once said that he would have considered the ministry had not all the pastors he knew in his childhood acted like funeral directors!
b. In the book of Philippians, one of the key words is “Joy”. Arguably, it is the most important theme. However, the theme of “joy” is not only in Philippians, it is also a recurring theme in the NT, appearing at least 150x’s in the NT! Joy! Joy! Joy! Joy in being saved! Joy in Jesus! Joy in hope! Joy in purpose!
B. Biblical Rejoicing is Tied to a Relationship.
1. You may ask what it is that I mean by this statement.
a. “rejoice in the Lord” – there is a sphere in which our joy as Christians exist. Our joy is inextricably intertwined to our relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ. You cannot have one without the other! (To quote Sinatra!)
b. Rejoicing is an act of the will. It is a decision to CHOOSE to obey God rather than obeying my emotions. The result is a new Supernatural Emotion brought about by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
2. Christian “joy” is not to be confused with happiness.
a. “happiness” is closely associated with the word “happenstance”. Happiness takes place when something I perceive as favorable or advantageous takes place to me. Therefore, it is linked to a perceived positive outcome. “Joy”, however, persists in SPITE of suffering, weakness, loss, even death. Biblical joy instills a deep confidence based on God’s person, His purpose, and His power!
b. Illust: We just spent a week with one of the more joyful individuals I know. Anna is a Polish young woman. Born Albino with accompanying health problems. Vision problems. Came to Christ at a camp about 10 years ago. Joyful! Happy! Sings like an angel.
C. Applic: We have joy because ultimately we have Jesus! There is no need for fear because our hope is based on the eternal and unshakeable and unchanging nature of God!
II. True Believers Demonstrate Discernment. Vv. 1b – 2.
A. Christians are to Demonstrate Discernment in their lives.
1. Why should one develop discernment?
a. Read vv. 1b-2. Paul is implying something in this statement. It is important. Look at what he is saying: “Be discerning!” False teachers spewing legalism and works related righteousness were infecting the churches in Galatia and Philippi and beyond. Paul was stuck in Rome. He desired believers to become discerning. Illust: Have you ever wondered why often times Bible Churches have about 95% of sermons Expository preaching and teaching? Not usually a large diet of topical sermons? Because want to build discernment in the hearts and souls of their people. Best way is not to become familiar with the fake or counterfeit but rather, be saturated with the truth!
b. Illust: A Christian apologist once said: “Many people assume all religions are fundamentally similar and superficially different. However, the truth is the exact opposite. All religions are superficially similar and fundamentally different!” Let's take a brief look at the "all religions are essentially the same" idea. Suppose I say that I've just got into literature in a big way. This last year, I've read William Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf and Tolkien, and throw in Harry Potter and The Very Hungry Caterpillar—and I've concluded that every author is identical. Would you conclude that: (a) this is the most profound statement on literature you've ever heard? Or would you conclude (b) that I don't have the first clue what I'm talking about? I suggest that you'd probably choose (b). Now, what about the statement "all religions are the same"? Doesn’t it likewise suggest that the person making it hasn't actually looked into any of them? Because once you do, you realize it's not that most religions are fundamentally the same with superficial differences but the reverse is the case: most religions have superficial similarities with fundamental differences.
2. Notice the harsh words Paul uses to Describe these false teachers who preyed upon Christians lacking discernment.
a. Illust: I can still remember the first time I ever saw a rapid dog in public. I was about 6 yrs. old. My mother and I were at my brother’s baseball game. There was this mangey cur that was acting really erratic, foam coming from mouth..people began to withdraw, parents began to pick up kids and go to their cars. Dog was filthy and dangerous! Interestingly, the Apostle Paul compares these false teachers upsetting the believers as Philippi and other places to a similar picture.
b. Paul refers to these false teachers as “dogs”! kuon – Don’t think of Truthie, or Sadie, or Luther or even Bandit or Luther or even in a stretch, Reuben! No! These were not nice domesticated family pets. These were terrifying pack scavengers who plagued shepherds and often times cities, even to the point of attacking humans. Due to their habitual unclean nature as scavengers, the Jews despised them, and it became a derogatory term associated with Gentiles!
B. We need to be Discerning Because False Teachers aren’t just Wrong, they are Workers of Evil!
1. A false teacher of the Gospel is someone not to be tolerated.
a. Paul makes it very clear that false teacher aren’t just in error they are immoral. What we might find surprising — both from Jesus and his apostles — is how revealing the everyday lives of false teachers are about their falseness. They are not just false in their teaching, but also in their living. Beneath their doctrinal error, however subtle and deceptive, we will find ethical compromises in tow. They take time to be seen. But they will come. Here’s how Jesus prepares us in Matthew 7:15–20: Jesus calls them ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing! Illust: can I tell you where one of the biggest arenas Christians need to show discernment in today? Listening to podcast preachers/teachers. It amazes me the people that Christians will listen to. Has there even been an internal call for these men women? Has that calling been approved and confirmed by any recognizing body? Do they have any training? Do they know the first thing about hermeneutics or theology? Why is their word taken as truth and the local church pastor/elders not even consulted? Completely undermines church authority. – If anyone tells you that you must add anything in the flesh to the salvation you have in Christ to stand right before God, please tell them to go back to hell from where they came!
b. “false circumcision” – Paul gives us insight into who these teachers really are. Judaizers! Judaizers taught that keeping the law and being circumcised was the requirements for salvation. Paul kind of makes a play on words here. Judaizers were upsetting new Gentile believers by telling them that they MUST be circumcised and keep the law. Paul, says: “I would that they go and mutilate themselves!” Now, I want to be delicate here, but I also want you to get the full force of what the Apostle is saying! He is literally saying: “I wish that these false teachers would go out and castrate themselves!” That’s pretty clear! Not saying to be graphic, but to be clear how important a matter salvation by grace really is!
2. Never forget, salvation is by GRACE alone through FAITH alone!
a. The Jews zealously observed outward religious ceremonies yet their hearts were completely detached from God so that their “circumcision” had actually become “uncircumcision! The symbol, isolated from reality is meaningless!
b. No ritual, not circumcision, not baptism, not communion, nothing, can transform the human heart! Only regeneration by grace through faith!
C. Applic: Demonstrate discernment, get into the Word!
III. True Believers Worship in the Spirit. v. 3a
A. Worship is a Supernatural Activity that is Empowered by the Holy Spirit.
1. As Christians our lives are indwelt by the HS.
a. The indwelling HS prompts true and honoring and acceptable worship out of a love for the Lord. Since the Holy Spirit indwells all Christians (Rom. 8:9), only Christians can truly worship the Savior, Jesus Christ.
b. Illust: Remember in John 4. Jesus is at the well of Sychar, in Samaria. There He meets up with the woman with not just a shady past, but a very dark past! Jesus begins to really hone in on this woman’s immoral life and she attempts to change the subject so as to speak about “religious things”. You remember she begins to talk about where it is that people should worship because the Samaritans worshipped on one mountain and the Jews another. In v. 23 of that passage, Jesus says that “True worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.”
2. What does it mean to worship the Lord in Spirit?
a. Christian worship engages both heart and head. It necessitates true doctrine about the Father and his Son, and their partnership in rescuing sinners, and due emotion about that doctrine. It is both an affair of the heart and an affair of the mind. Dr. John Piper sums it up as “strong affections for God rooted in truth.” Worship must be vital and real in the heart, and worship must rest on a true perception of God. There must be spirit and there must be truth. . . . Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half-full) of artificial admirers . . . . On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship. ( Desiring God, Piper, 81–82)
b. So the essence of true worship is not external, but internal — heart and head, emotion and thought, spirit and truth — whether we’re talking all of life as worship (Romans 12:1) or corporate gatherings for worship. “While the external forms that our worship takes are not insignificant, they are not the essence.” Yet we’re so prone to identify worship with the externals: how nice (or shabby) the building is, how many are in attendance, how good the music is, how gifted the preacher is, whether someone near us is doing something on their smartphone other than reading a Bible app or taking notes, or whether one of the worship leaders is waving a hand distractingly or doing those odd facial expressions or swaying or even jumping. But while the external forms that our worship takes are not insignificant, they are not the essence.
B. What Does a True Worshipper Look like? In other words am I one?
1. The word “worship” means “to render respectful spiritual service”. True worship goes beyond praising God, singing hymns and worship songs, listening to preaching, giving an offering, praying, singing a special number. The essence of worship is living a life of OBEDIENT service to God. True worship involves every aspect of our lives.
2. Illust: Human beings are wired for worship, and what people worship is what they ultimately serve. Did you get that? We ultimately serve who we worship. It’s why when it comes to serving others in the name of Jesus, it is not just an act of kindness or charity — no; rather, it is a way of exalting the Savior; and worshiping Him in a manner that is holy and pleasing. Just look at Romans chapter 12, where the Apostle Paul urges us to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is true and proper worship.” So friend, roll up your sleeves and serve others in Jesus name – even if it’s hard. Whether you greet guests at your church, visit the elderly at a nursing home, or wipe the drool off of your 3-month old baby — when you see it as an act of worship that is holy and pleasing to God, you can’t help but serve with a smile.
C. Applic: Christians worship in Spirit and in Truth.
IV. True Believers Glory in Christ and Put no Confidence in the Flesh. V.3b&c
A. True Believers glory in Christ. V. 3b
1. Our boast as Christians is in our Lord!
a. Illust: A pastor, a boy scout, and a scientist were the only passengers on a small plane. The pilot came back to the cabin and explained that the plane was going down but there were only three parachutes and four people. The pilot then added, "I should have one of the parachutes because I have a wife and three small children." So he took one and jumped.
The scientist jumped up almost immediately and said, "I should have one of the parachutes because I am one of the smartest individuals in the world and I am in the middle of research that could save the planet." So he took one and jumped. The pastor turned to the Boy Scout and with a sad smile and said: "You are young and I have lived a rich life, so you take the remaining parachute, and I’ll go down with the plane." Then the Boy Scout said, "Relax, Reverend, the smartest man in the world just picked up my knapsack and jumped out!" One man’s boast can be another man’s salvation.
b. “glory” describes a boasting with joy about what someone is proud of. The Apostle Paul uses the term 35xs in the NT. Think of what people boast in: kids: their fathers or mothers, athletic or intellectual or musical abilities, boast in our favorite football or baseball team or…, boast in our jobs our kids, our place of employment, our retirement accounts, our toys, whether we are children or adults. We love to boast. It is rooted in pride. Christian boasting is rooted not in pride but rather in grace and knowing that one is an undeserving recipient of God’s grace in Christ Jesus. True Christians give credit to Jesus for the good things in their lives. Something good happens to us: “Thank you Jesus!”
2. In Contrast the False Believer Boasts in the Flesh.
a. II Cor. 11:18 – Paul says that many Christians boast as the world does… What does this mean? It means that they boast in their good works, in their religious activities, their donations. They believe that in some way these earn them favor with God. Yet what does Ephesians 2:8-9 say? (READ).
b. It is this truth that led the Reformers to declare the Biblical truth that sinful man can do nothing to improve his spiritual condition before God. Salvation is Sola Fide (by faith alone) and Sola Gratia (by grace alone). ANYONE who thinks he or she can earn God’s favor by their own works gives undeniable evidence that he or she lacks saving faith!
B. True believers put no confidence in the Flesh v.3c
1. The “flesh” means man’s fallen, unredeemed humanity. It represents human ability apart from God. From a biblical perspective, the flesh is "that which is contrary to the spirit" (see Galatians 5:17). The flesh and the Spirit are two opposing forces that exist within a believer. The Spirit is just that—the Holy Spirit. The flesh is the part of a believer that disagrees with the Spirit. The makeup of a believer is different from that of an unbeliever, in that an unbeliever does not have the Spirit of God indwelling them. In the case of an unbeliever, the flesh is in agreement with the spirit of that unbeliever. Paul says "our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Romans 6:6). What Paul is describing when he says "the body of sin" is the flesh. When a believer's old self, sometimes called the "old man," is crucified—by this Paul means brought to faith in Christ, in His redemptive work on the cross—the Spirit indwells the believer, and a "new man" is created. A "new self" with a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). This new nature, or new man, is now in conflict with the flesh, because the new man is on the side of the Spirit.
2. Illust: About 10 years ago Tiger Woods had a spectacular fall from grace, so to speak. One minute he was this squeaky clean, one of the highest paid sports star, the toast of the golfing world and the next it was revealed he was a serial adulterer and prescription drug addict, who sponsors no longer wanted to know and a laughing stock all over the world. Interviewed and he said: “I was living a lie, I really was. And I was doing a lot of things that hurt a lot of people. And stripping away denial and rationalization, you start coming to the truth of who you really are and that can be very ugly.” To the best of my knowledge, I believe, Tiger Woods is a Buddhist, not a Christian, but what he said here is very true. A lot of folks are in denial about their true condition – they think of themselves as good as, and often even better than, others. Certainly the Pharisees thought that, and I tend to think there is a little bit of Pharisee in all of us. But once we stop justifying ourselves, and stop rationalizing our sins as things we do “just because that’s the way I am,” or because “that’s the way God made me,” or whatever, and strip away the pretense and the hypocrisy we come to an ugly truth, that deep down inside every one of us is a carefully concealed individual who is self seeking, totally depraved and deeply sinful. That is why we take no confidence in the flesh.
C. Applic: Don’t trust in your flesh for a minute friend. Rather, trust in Christ!
