Dead Religion or New Life?
(Philippians 3:1-3)
INTRO
1. Many of you know that I love the music of the 20’s and 30’s and old time radio from the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s.
2. Because of MP3 formatting of discs, I have discs with over 100 shows on them…all available Jack Benny programs (the greatest radio comedian).
3. Jack Benny also made movies. His last movie, "The Horn Blows At Midnight" was a big flop, so they make fun of it constantly.
4. In one episode, Jack walks past a movie theater showing The Horn Blows at Midnight.
5. He asked the girl at the ticket window if she had sold a lot of tickets.
6. Haven’t sold one all week…Jack buys one….
7. Later he confronts the manager: girls said not selling tickets, yet the theater was almost filled…
8. He said, "we rented it to the morgue this week."
9. "You mean they are all dead?"
10. "Yep," said the manager, "but the funny thing is that this movie is so bad that three of them got up and walked out!"
11. May I suggest to you that many people in our churches are spiritually dead, not unlike those in the theater.
12. There is a big difference between a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and outward religion.
13. That’s why Jesus said we need to be born again…to be raised to spiritual life.
We cannot earn a relationship with God, but must submit to His verdict that we are lost, helpless, and sinful, and that the only cure is to believe that Jesus bore your ugly ways and sins on the cross, shedding His blood to save you from the wrath of God and from yourself, rising again as a victor.
Main idea: The riches of a relationship with the true God through faith in Christ alone cannot compare to the bankruptcy of merit religion.
I. Dead or FALSE Religion (2)
1. Teachers of this way are called DOGS
1. "Dogs" here do not refer to house pets, but scavenging packs that plagued the cities…sort of like we think of rats…not a complimentary term
2. The Jews often referred to gentiles as the "dogs" and themselves as Children of the Most High. These false teachers in the church who insisted that Christians must keep the Laws of Moses to be saved are called "dogs" by Paul
· Nowadays, this position is called, "covenantal nomism," the idea that you enter the New Covenant by faith in Christ but stay in the covenant by keeping the 10 commandments and other Old or New Testament laws; it is growing in popularity…similar to Roman Catholicism (synergism)
3. What this tells us about name-calling, labeling false religious leaders, and Jesus statement, "Judge not lest you be judged…."
2. We are to beware of them, not OBLIVIOUS
1. Too many Christians do not recognize false teaching
2. If they do, they either live in denial or think it is acceptable
According to Pollster George Barna, " Born again Christians are more likely than non-born again individuals to accept moral absolutes. Specifically, 32% of born agains said they believe in moral absolutes, compared to just half as many (15%) among non-born agains. (2002)"
3. Comes back to this question: what is the measuring stick of truth; human reason or Scripture?
4. We tolerate freedom to teach any religious position in society, but not within the church:
In Rev. 2:2, Jesus said to the Ephesian church, "I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false."
In Rev. 2:20, to the church at Thyatira, Jesus said, "Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants…"
3. We should view their teachings as EVIL, not just different
4. Their hallmark is RITUALISM and WORKS salvation
5. Paul is trying to prevent in Philippi what happened in GALATIA
Galatians 3:10-14 reads, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us… so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."
The riches of a relationship with the true God through faith in Christ alone cannot compare to the bankruptcy of merit religion.
II. A Living Relationship With the TRUE God (1,3)
"finally" = the remaining
1. Brings JOY from the assurance of salvation (1)
(1) this joy can only come from being IN THE LORD
Psalm 51:12, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Isaiah 12:3, "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."
(2) false teachers consider resting in the Lord PRESUMPTION
· they hold their followers by fear; the fear of being lost
· my experience and Marylu’s in Catholicism
· But those who know Christ and adhere to the truth of Scripture are not bound by fear because they know they are safe:
· Hebrews 2:14-15 reads, "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."
(3) this concept is so CRUCIAL that Paul keeps repeating it (see 4:4)
(4) this verse does not imply we need to MANUFACTURE enthusiasm, but is more like "revel in the fact that God has freely forgiven you, that you are secure, and that God is now your best friend and let those realities hit you."
This kind of joy comes from (1) solid doctrine and (2) personal trust!
· [According to a recent poll] 88% of Catholics and a majority of Presbyterian and Methodist evangelizers [those who actively try to share their "faith"] believe that "if people are generally good, or do enough good things for others during their lives, they will earn a place in heaven."
National & International Religion Report, August 23, 1993.
[Source: www.higherpraise.org]
· I read about an instant cake mix that was a big flop. The instructions said all you had to do was add water and bake. The company couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell -- until their research discovered that the buying public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. Apparently people thought it was too easy. So the company altered the formula and changed the directions to call for adding an egg to the mix in addition to the water. The idea worked and sales jumped dramatically.
[Source: www.higherpraise.org]
2. Circumcision of the HEART makes our spiritual life distinct from the false teachers
"Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer." (Deut. 10:16)
"The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." (Deut. 30:6)
"A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God." Romans 10:28-29)
So who does the circumcising? Do we, or does God? The best answer: we should want and crave for God to bring us to spiritual life….He has to do it….
(1) we worship the SPIRIT
I agree with C.H. Lenski, one of the greatest Bible scholars of all time, who translates the verse, "For we on our part are the Circumcision, those worshipping God’s Spirit and boasting in Christ Jesus and not resting confidence in flesh."
The most basic use of the dative case, "indicates the one for whom or in whose interest an act is performed." (Dana and Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p. 84).
What the ancient covenantal nomists believed about the Holy Spirit
(2) we glory in CHRIST
You cannot really appreciate Christ if you think you have to earn your own salvation. Although Christ was a theologian, an ethicist, a rabbi, a prophet, and king, He is first of all a Savior, someone who does the saving…ALL of it; we are therefore completely PROUD of our Savior and gladly wear His Name.
(3) we have no CONFIDENCE in our ability to merit God’s favor
Luke 18:9, "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable" (Pharisee and Tax Collector)
Like the Tax Collector, we say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
The riches of a relationship with the true God through faith in Christ alone cannot compare to the bankruptcy of merit religion.
CONCLUSION
1. What about you? Are you right with God, saved, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or do you think God will accept you because you are trying?
2. Towards the end of the 19th Century, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel awoke one morning to read his own obituary in the local paper. It read: Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before, and he died a very rich man.
Actually, it was Alfred’s older brother who had died. A newspaper reporter hat bungled the epitaph,
But the account had a profound effect on Nobel. He decided had lived for the wrong kind of thing: the means to kill people efficiently and for amassing a fortune in the process. So he initiated the Nobel Prize, the award for scientists and writers who foster peace.
Nobel said: Every man ought to have the chance to correct his epitaph in midstream and write a new one.
3, It is not too late to turn from trusting in your own ability to earn God’s forgiveness and to cast yourself at God’s mercy because of what Christ did for you.
