Rejoice In The Lord And Beware Of Those Who Place Confidence In The Flesh Series

Date: 12/26/18

Lesson #21

Title: Rejoice In The Lord And Beware Of Those Who Place Confidence In The Flesh

• “Special Notes” and “Scripture” are shown as endnotes.

• NIV Bible is used throughout unless noted otherwise.

Scripture: Philippians 3:1-3 (NIV)

(1) Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. (2) Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. (3) For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh

Introduction

We come to a passage that some will say is one of the most amazing passages in the history and life of Paul. We get a little inkling here of the passion in this man's heart for the Savior. But before he talks about that, he takes up the question of what the flesh can do and doesn't do. In other words, we are going to see things that hinder our knowing Christ.

If I were to give you a theme for chapter three, I would say "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering." This is Christian experience—to know Him. Not so much to know about Him, but to really know—Him. This is experimental knowledge.

Commentary

(3:1) Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

Paul starts the chapter with certain things that hinder our really experiencing knowing Christ. In verse 1 he is saying, "I don't mind writing to you about these things because for you, “it is a safeguard." He then adds, “My brethren, rejoice in the Lord.”

You know, it's easy to rejoice in the things of life. It's easy to rejoice when you get what you want. It's easy to rejoice when you have your own way. But here the basis for rejoicing for a Christian never changes: "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice." He always has a good reason to rejoice. It never changes. We are not to rejoice in gifts or accomplishments or service, but we are to rejoice in Him.

You know, we're too often affected by our circumstances, and when our circumstances are not very good, we whine and we grumble; we're not very good people to be with, are we, anyone of us? We get so occupied with ourselves; and, when circumstances are not very good, we expect everyone to sympathize with us—and, in fact, we sympathize with ourselves. But, my friend, when Christ is the source of our joy, we can rejoice regardless of our circumstances. Circumstances were bad, but, you see, the ground for his joy hadn't changed. So Paul says, “Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord!” ["Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord."] I say again, these dear Philippians had suffered for the Gospel. Their circumstances were pretty tough, but so was Paul's. He had been in jail and beaten up in Philippi, and now he's in Rome, and he's chained to soldiers. Yet he could say "Finally, my brethren{1], rejoice in the Lord, and to write to you is not going to be a hard thing because I have you in my heart." What a tremendous place the people of God had? in this man's heart.

You know, I find so many Christians who are in great, great need due to the tests and trials of life. Some are in very, very difficult circumstances; and yet Paul says, they are no worse than mine. I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I'm here at Rome chained to soldiers, I've been beaten up, and I’ve been persecuted. Yet he could say, "Finally, my brethren{1], rejoice in the Lord.”

(3:2) Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.

Watch out for those dogs

Here is more repetition, the threefold "watch out" [“beware” is a better word to use here.] and one of the most dramatic warnings in Scripture.

The term “Dogs” applies to those who have unholy tastes and desires; Jesus warned the multitude about them in the Sermon on the Mount: "Do not give what is holy to dogs . . .” (Matthew 7:6). Furthermore, the status of dogs in that ancient culture was a far different thing from what it is in our own. The dog in America today is a loved and appreciated creature, but the dog was held to be most contemptible in ancient times. Dogs in the east are mostly without masters; they wander uninhibited in the streets and fields, and feed upon the internal organs and entrails of an animal [offal], and even upon corpses; compare 1 Kings 14:11; 1 Kings 16:4; 1 Kings 21:19. They are believed to be unclean, and to call anyone a dog is a much stronger expression of contempt there than it is here; 1 Samuel 17:43; 2 Kings 8:13. The Jews called the Gentiles “dogs,” because the Gentiles were not included in the covenant? they called them Dogs; and themselves, the children of the Most High. Now, they are cast out of the covenant and the Gentiles were taken in; therefore they are the dogs, and the Gentiles the children. The Muslims called Jews and Christians by the same name. The term “dog” also is used to denote a person that is shameless, impudent, evil, scowling, dissatisfied, and contentious, and is evidently the meaning employed here. The prophet Isaiah compared the false shepherds of Israel to dumb dogs, lazy dogs, and greedy dogs (Isaiah 56:9-11).