The book of Philippians chapter 3. Philippians the third chapter, beginning at verse 1. Philippians 3. Listen as I read the Word of the Lord. I'm just going to read the first three verses. It sets the stage for what we're going to study this morning. Finally, my brethren... Well, that word finally could be translated moreover, because this word is usually used in a conclusion, but it's not the conclusion. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision who worship God in spirit. Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Let's pray. Blessed Father, blessed Lord Jesus, blessed Spirit, all members of the Godhead on board this day, With everything that's happening with the church as it has gathered in his gathering this morning We worship thee our father We worship thee our son. We adore thee Blessed spirit you help us in worship and so help us in these moments together be a that personal teacher of ours to give us illumination and understanding of the Word of God. Be our strength to help us apply and live the Word of God. Be our confidence that we might proclaim the Word of God, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the power does not reside in us, but it is in the Word. Bless the Word of the Lord as you've blessed it through the ages, as it was spoken through the prophets, through the apostles, through the pastors in the early churches, the elders. The church was established and the church grew through the Word of God. Bring that about this morning, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. It's believed by serious scholars and evangelical leaders that chapter 3 down to chapter 4 verse 1 is a diversion. was necessary, as Paul was writing this particular letter, something may have come to mind that necessitated that it be addressed before he moved on. And one of the things that needed to be addressed is the exposure and the reality of what was happening not only here at Philippi, or could happen, didn't say or indicate that it was, because he gives a warning. And that is of false teachers. In verse 2, three times he warns them. And the word beware, beware, beware. Three times emphasized here to show the gravity, the seriousness of what was being set forth here. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the mutilation. Judaizers were going throughout the ancient world, wherever Paul was, ministering to them and coming and attempting to impose upon them some of the rigors and works of the Mosaic law. In particular, circumcision was paramount in their theology, along with Sabbath-keeping and other noted things. And so He warns them here. And I believe what He's trying to communicate here, and I think it's culminated in verses 10 and 11 where He exhorts them as a result of what He has said in the previous nine verses, that in order that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, to know Christ, to know God. We've been looking at Christian ideals. And the ideal of the Christian life is, first of all, we live for Him. Secondly, that we have the mind of Christ, which is humility. And here, that is to know Him and to know Him in a unique way. Not the way that the Judaizers would be propagating, but in the way that Paul had taught them from the very inception of his ministry there in Philippi. And so he warns them about these false teachers in verses 1 through 3, and he encourages them that It's, and for lack of a way, I'm kind of paraphrasing, it's not bothersome for Paul to reemphasize some points here with respect to their Christian maturity and their safety. It's not tedious. It's not burdensome. It's not overwhelming. It's not something that, you know, do I have to do this? I thought I made this clear once before. Why do I have to revisit it? But that's the reality in Christian ministry, is that you're constantly teaching things over and over and over again from different passages, and hopefully they homogenize together in a coherent understanding of things. And sometimes it can be tedious. You tell people and they didn't get it. You tell them again, they didn't get it. Well, It's not bothersome for him. The reality is, he says, it is safe. And so what he's emphasizing here in this first point is, under the warning aspect of it, is the safety of warning. I mean, if a bridge is out ahead, don't you want some type of warning? The highway department to put signs up and say a bridge is out? Or somebody just happened, they've washed out, and he's waving his hands and giving a warning of danger ahead. You want somebody to warn you if there's impending and serious danger. And so, it's safe for them. It's always safe. And the Word of God is given for that purpose, to rebuke and to correct and to instruct in righteousness. The Word of God is meant constantly to put up those signs before us so that we are safe in our walk with the Lord. Some have translated that word, tedious, irksome. irksome, you know, there's a task out there and it's irksome for you to do it. And you do it again and again and again. But it's not with the Apostle Paul because he understands the welfare of the people to whom he is writing. So then he proceeds forward in verse two and gives a warning to them about false teachers. in emphasis. Beware, beware, beware. And when it's intricate like that, it's very important. Very, very important. It's not to be overlooked. Notice how he describes those about which he speaks and warns. First of all, he calls them dogs. It was a term that was used by Jews of the time to refer to Gentiles. But it was a term of derision. It was a pejorative term, kind of an insulting term to refer to people as dogs, because dogs by Jews were considered unclean. And even in that day in the Roman world, the Greek world of that day, there were cynics that were known as philosophers. They were regularly called dogs. But in this context, given the specific error with which he is dealing and refuting in this passage of Scripture, he's using this in harmony with these three warnings to refer to those who are Judaizers. And it would be, on one level, an insulting term. If these false teachers had made their way into the assembly here in Philippi, the reasons some may question as to whether they are there, we know from Paul's ministry at Philippi that there was not a large enough Jewish community to have a synagogue in Philippi. Lydia, from that time, originally being from Asia Minor, was over there. She was a seller of purple. She met with a group of people praying by a river. It was a small contingent of Jews, not very large at all. So that's to say that It could either be those who are Jews, but more likely Judaizers, and some of them may have been proselytes to Judaism. That is, they were Gentile converts and bought into the lie, and they became zealous in the pursuit of advancing this agenda that somehow their teachers had set forth. But he's referring to them all by these three titles. They're called dogs. Clearly a term of derision. It may have been a powerful insult, a mild insult, no telling how they took it personally. But one writer suggested that when they heard this word dog, that immediately they would have recoiled from that designation. They're not dogs. Gentiles are dogs. We're not unclean. We're setting forth the true religion. It's interesting also that In one of the background commentaries that I use quite frequently, InterVarsity Press puts together, in the city of Rome, ancient Rome, where pets and watchdogs were prevalent throughout the city, there were signs set up with this designation, beware of dogs. And I know some people in my neighborhood that have signs in their yards, and I take them very seriously. They have it up there, beware of the dog. Because he's dangerous. Some of them are aggressive. Some will attack you. At least they'll bark at you. Our neighbor next door has a dog, when they first brought it in, just constantly, incessantly barked. Anytime we went out in our backyard, oh man, it's annoying. Wasn't afraid necessarily they would harm us. But beware of dogs. Beware of dogs. And then he uses the designation evil workers. That's a very powerful term in light of Judaizers who thought that they were clean, purified, that they were living the religion that God had designed for his people. Yeah, an admixture of Christianity along with a whole bunch of Judaistic practices. And so, He calls them evil in their intentions. Their goal, their motive, ultimately, is to move people away from Christ. And this has happened throughout history. The 19th century is a testimony to the arise of so many groups. In church history, I call it the Restoration Period. There's an attempt on several cults, and I hate to include it, but the Church of Christ is a cult. Not in the fullest expression of that sense, where they would deny the deity of Christ, but they add things to. the grace of God trying to make Christianity palatable, yet at the same time demonstrate the grace of God that arose in the early part of that century as a result of the second great awakening, an attempt to purify existing Christianity into something better and something more noble. And then there arose out of that period, around the Civil War time preceding that, the Seventh-day Adventists, which is another advocate and another expression of what I call Galatianism. And Galatianism is full-orb Judaism that Paul had to address and describe them as basically teaching another gospel, which is not a gospel. Anytime you add to the grace of God, anytime you alter this message, even in the slightest, you have done damage to it. Peter, even by his association in Galatians chapter 2 with the Gentiles, initially, when he came up to Antioch, he was associating with Gentile believers, and then a contingent from Jerusalem came up there, and all of a sudden, he begins to keep a distance from these Gentile believers, not wanting to upset or offend these Jews that had come up from Jerusalem. Probably Judaizers. And Paul takes his bony finger and sticks it in his chest and says to Peter, you're out of line. You've destroyed the grace of God. You're saying that these Gentiles have not been elevated to the same position that Jews have. Through the grace of God that happened on the day of Pentecost. that happened with Cornelius and his elevation out of that Gentile, even though he was a God-fearer, a God-worshipper, he was elevated out of that. And so, Jews and Gentiles are brought together on an equal footing. And Peter, through his dissimulation, had, in essence, undermined the doctrine of justification by faith. by grace alone, through faith alone, through Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. That's the emphasis of the gospel. That's how serious it is. And then, not only the Adventist movement coming out of that time, Mormonism arose out of that period, that milieu of things, and an attempt to bring restoration and purity to religion, using some of the Bible as a pretext for what they established. And again, out of that came the restoration movement, the Jehovah's Witnesses, again, trying to bring purity, again, They felt, and even in our day and age, there are those who come along and say, we have a new insight, we have a better way. And it all is that Galatian heresy, where we're trying to add to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not sufficient in and of itself. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ sets, in its purity, sets forth the reality of salvation by grace, through faith alone, apart from works. And that's the case. And those who present some alteration of it are evil because they have detracted from the grace of God. You see. Even Arminianism, evangelical Arminianism does the same. I remember my friend Roger, who's with the Lord, Roger Evans. Many of you knew him. He had ministered in our midst. He was a close friend of mine for over 30 years. Graduate of Dallas. And he was a strong student of what was called Gnosticism. Gnosticism again, surfacing at the late period of the first century and then in full-blown in the second century. He said to me, any time you ascribe to man to be able to do something that only God can do, that's paganism. Anytime you ascribe to man something that he can do, that only God can do, that's paganism. And it falls under the condemnation of an accursed message. Let him be accursed. Some believe that they have the ability, by faith, to be born again. That's not true. You don't have the power to bring forth the new birth. What did John write in his gospel in those early verses in the prologue? But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right or the authority to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name, who were born," that's past tense, and it's passive voice, who were born. The active faith was not the element that brought about the new birth. The new birth was the element that brought about our faith. He made us alive in Christ. So we need to be careful there. Now I know that sometimes there's confusion in the gospel presentation, because I came up in that milieu of fundamental Christianity and was exposed to those things, but God began to show me those things that are clear with respect to His Word. The one thing that is characteristic of a genuine believer is that even though truth may be Presented to him and he says I don't understand that or I can't comprehend it. I'll stiff arm that or something like that That's a serious serious thing. You could disagree with me, but at least think about what I say. I So he's warning them here against false teachers. He calls them evil workers. And then he calls them, beware of the mutilation. And it's interesting, there is a figure of speech, and I'll not give you the name of it, but basically it emphasizes two words that end in the same sound. the same sound, and so there's a play on these two words, and the two words is the word mutilation, and then in the next verse, circumcision. Mutilation and circumcision. Instead of them being, and emphasizing circumcision, in reality, what they have done is mutilated the message. They have mutilated the message. For he says, we are the circumcision. We are the circumcision. They end it the same way, so the Greek reader would see those and understand that figure of speech, that these two words play off of each other. Mutilation. And that's what the word meant. It was that mutilation, which in Elijah's day on the Mount of Carmel, when there was this challenge by Elijah to the true and living God, they were to set up altars, and the God who answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice would be the true God. Well, these men, In the morning, they're crying out to their gods to no success. And Elijah said, well, has your god gone on a vacation? Is he asleep? Or something, ridiculing them with a little irony, sarcasm. And so they began to mutilate and cut themselves to try to get their god's attention through self-mutilation. It was a heathen practice. Not saying that circumcision in and of itself was, because God prescribed that as an ordinance for Abraham and his descendants. Beware of these who mutilate themselves. They're dogs, they're evil workers. For we That is, you, my readers, we, those in company with me, in my entourage, as I write this, I'm in Rome, I'm writing this letter, and there are some believers with him. We, here in Rio Rico, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, we are the circumcision. Now the circumcision to which he's referring is an Old Testament concept that was translated even to the nation of Israel, who, even though they had physical circumcision, they did not have circumcision of heart. And the imagery there is that there's been a figurative cutting, a way of sin, on the heart of man through regeneration, through new life, and it emerges as a new creation in Christ Jesus. We are the circumcision. The idea there is the true circumcision. And the evidence of that circumcision is that we worship God in the Spirit. We worship God in the Spirit. Some would understand that as instrumental, meaning, if that's true, it would be translated, we worship God by the Spirit, or through the Spirit. Regardless of which way you take it, instrumental or sphere, The reality of our worship is a work of the Spirit of God happening within the people of God that directs our attention toward the true and living God and His Son, Jesus Christ. That's the reality of those who've been truly circumcised in heart. It changes the focus totally of their lives, and it happens through the instrumentality of the Spirit. Now, I'm inclined to the view that it's in the sphere of the Spirit. We worship in the sphere of the Spirit, and that would be illustrated in the book of Ephesians. In one sense, Ephesians 5 verse 18, do not be drunk with wine wherein is dissipation or excess. but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." It is Spirit-generated worship through the singing of hymns. That's why we sing hymns. We sing songs with content to them, that have doctrine in them. that direct our worship in the understanding of the true and living God. And then it says, giving thanks always for all things to God in the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So in the midst of this singing, in the midst of this worship, is expressions of gratitude or appreciation toward God. And that happens by the Spirit. Prayer is an exercise in which the Spirit of God participates Paul describes that in Romans 8, when we don't know how to pray as we ought. In other words, our communication is not clear. The Spirit of God is able to take our stammering and our stuttering, and maybe even miscommunication, and interpret the intention of our heart before God. He interprets. The Spirit of God is instrumental in your prayer life. As you pray, He's there. He's in your side, but He's also functioning in relationship with the Father, interpreting what you say. before there, even though you may not understand clearly. And the Spirit is at work in the collection of this gathering of the saints together in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Call your attention there. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? He's referring here collectively. This building is not the habitation of the Spirit. It's you, the living building. a building which Jesus Christ is building with living stones. You are the habitation of God. So it's in that context where true worship, the worship of God, takes place in the realm of the Spirit. And it could be by the aid of the Spirit, obviously. But the Spirit is vitally involved. and worship. But the moment you introduce something beyond the true and real gospel, you have contaminated worship. Because then it becomes a performance. You're trying to somehow impress God. That's what a lot of churches do today. And I believe that's why a lot of this entertainment baggage, I call it, in the church today is a detraction from the true worship of the living God. Worship in the spirit, we rejoice in Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus. Joy permeates this letter. He opened this letter and said, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Our joy, and I believe it's our satisfaction, associated maybe with elation, but our satisfaction is in Christ. Our contentment is in Him. He's the one who makes us happy. He's the one who gives us joy. It's in Christ Jesus, not in circumcision. not in aberrant forms of worship. And finally, he says, and have no confidence in the flesh. And that would be the sinful flesh that may express it in our human flesh. Paul says that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, no good thing. No confidence there. Our confidence is in God. Now in verses 4-11, he guides his readers into what I call true theology. He starts off by contrasting it with bad theology. Verses 4-6, notice what he writes. And though I also might have confidence. Notice the repetition of this word through here. Confidence in the flesh if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh I More so Now he's going to give us a little biographical and historical information about his own life if anyone can do some bragging and It's not these Judaizers who are evil workers trying to corrupt you. It's me. So he's contrasting what he is saying here with what the Judaizers would say. They place a lot of emphasis on circumcision. Now, if a person was an Orthodox Jew, generally, unless there were some circumstances that intervened that made it impossible. He as a practice was circumcised on the eighth day. That was critical. Notice he says circumcised the eighth day. Muslims practice circumcision, but they correlate it with Abraham's second son, Isaac. believing that he was circumcised at 13 years old, so they circumcised their sons in their 13th year as part of a practice. Those who are adults coming to faith and the Judaizers come in, they're older, usually. They passed the eighth day. And these adults, males, who are circumcised in conformity to what these Judaizers are teaching, can't boast an eight-day circumcision. And so he's setting up some things if he wanted to be confident in, this is it. Circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel. In other words, his pedigree is pure. He can trace his ancestry clear back to Jacob through one of his sons, Benjamin. I'm of the stock of Israel, and notably and particularly the tribe of Benjamin, which was one of the two faithful tribes, at least when the nations split. And out of it came the first king of Israel, Saul. And it's believed that Paul, in his original name, Saul, was named after that great patriarch of the nation of Israel, even though he defected and became unfaithful. He was named after him, of the tribe of Benjamin. Hebrew of the Hebrews. There were Hebrews who were part of the Grecian culture of the day. They were Hellenized in their Judaism. It wasn't pure. And we know that Paul, in his testimony, asserted that he was born in Tarsus. But he was sent to Jerusalem and trained at the feet of Gamaliel. And he was trained there to be of the strictest sect, and that was the Pharisees. But he originally, under the tutelage of his parents and practiced in synagogue, manifested that particular traits that were characteristic of a true Hebrew. A Hebrew of the Hebrews. And concerning the law, because he was instructed in that particular area by Gamaliel, a Pharisee. Very strict, the strictest sect of Jews in Jerusalem. These are considered to be part and parcel of who he is, endemically, part of his personality, part of his upbringing. But now, in Judaism, as he's developed as an adult, verse 6, he tells further proof, his practice concerning zeal, and that was a term that was applied to people who excelled Beyond the normal, they were extraordinary. Concerning zeal, the proof of my Judaism was seen in that I persecuted the church. He attempted to extinguish the church. Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, As far as people observed him, and as far as he examined his own life, he says, blameless. I've kept it. I've been devoted. But there's a conjunction here, and it's a conjunction of contrast, and the contrast is glaring. All of this stuff that I excelled in, and received just by being an Israelite. But what things were gained? To my benefit is the idea that those things that were gained to me, these I have counted loss. Counted loss. There is nothing for him to hold on to in that expression as benefiting his relationship with the true and living God. These things I count loss. Doesn't bother me an iota that these things are gone. Matter of fact, I want it that way. But indeed, I count all things lost. And here's this introduction in verse 8. I count all things lost for the excellence that is theirs of superiority. Nothing passing it. It is far passing. The excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Now think about that. All that he had had up to that point. He may have been a man in his thirties when he came to faith in Christ. We don't know exactly how old he was. When he came to faith in Jesus Christ, he jettisoned all of that. The knowledge of Christ Jesus. Jesus said in his high priestly prayer, this is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. Salvation is predicated on an intimate relationship of knowing God personally. When one is converted by faith in Jesus Christ, now he knows intimately the true and living God. He knows Him. And that knowledge far surpasses anything that the universities have to offer. Anything that the schools of learning of our day and age cannot surpass the knowledge of knowing Christ. Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And again, he recounts the things that he had and are gone now. and he counts them as rubbish. A word could be understood to mean scat or dung. Or it could be the rubbish that were the leftovers from meals and they would feed to the dogs. The dogs would eat the scraps of the table. Regardless, the picture of what he had in his previous life is not painted with pretty words. And that's why in our study of Hebrews that we're embarking on in Sunday school now, why on earth, why on earth would any of these Jews who've come to faith or at least expressed interest in Christ turn away from following Christ and go back into Judaism? So the argumentation of the book of Hebrews is on the excellency of Christ over every institution that the Jews had. There's no reason to turn back there. Because what we find in Christ and the salvation that He accomplishes far transcends All of that's a picture, it's a type, it's a shadow, it's a prophecy of what would be to come. And God has spoken to us in these last days through His Son. Salvation in Christ transcends. Anything to be found in the religions of the world. I often think when I hear people presenting their view of Christianity Just for it for instance I have some Arminian friends who believe you can lose your salvation I tell I Don't need that kind of Christ I Need a Christ who can save and does save to the uttermost I I need a Christ who is constantly there interceding for me. I need a Christ who is an advocate in heaven. I need a Christ whose death on my behalf is infinite in nature, because my offense against the Holy God is infinite in nature, and I can't pay for it. And I can't keep it. I don't have the strength. I would have failed long ago if it depended upon me. And think of yourself, if it depended on you to hang on to this salvation, you couldn't do it. I don't want that kind of Savior. I want someone who's going to be with me all during my Christian walk. And when I step out of line, He takes me to the woodshed. He disciplines every son whom He receives. And if we're without discipline, we're not sons, but bastards. We're illegitimate. That I may gain Christ, he says. Or as some translations put it, that I may win Christ. That's it. It's Christ, Christ, Christ. The knowledge of Him transcends any knowledge. I count all things lost for Christ that I might attain this knowledge of Him. And then verses 9 and 10 are critical, I think. in understanding what I call true theology. Be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. This is justifying righteousness. It's imputed righteousness. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness' sake. And it's by faith, and faith alone in Christ, the righteousness which comes from Him. That's the source of this righteousness. It's not by your human effort. Any righteousness that you do is Christ working in and through you to produce it. It's by faith and faith alone. With the result that I may know Him. That's a purpose statement. It's a conclusive, it's a purpose statement of result or outcome. That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. The emphasis is on that first phrase. And what flows out of that explains that, how I am going to know Him. I will know Him by the power, the force of the power of His resurrection. Look back at Ephesians chapter 1 with me. Ephesians chapter 1. Paul again stresses there in a prayer to the saints in Ephesus and to us, the importance of this. Verse 18 tells us, "...the eyes of your understanding," this is chapter 1, "...being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly places." That's the power that Paul wants to know to advance and accelerate his knowledge of Him. And it is the knowledge in context of the excellence of Christ in salvation compared with that which is in Judaism. Judaism falls flat on its faith to provide you nothing but condemnation. The salvation that is in Christ is the only way to the Father. The only way to the Father is through Christ. And that component of resurrection is seen in Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 4. where he ends that section dealing with the doctrine of imputation, the imputation of righteousness to us who are believers. Verse 24, But also for us it shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. who was delivered up because of our offenses, that's His death on the cross of Calvary, that brought about pardon and forgiveness, and was raised because of, or for, our justification. that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection. He knew through His resurrection that the knowledge of Christ and His righteousness was not His, but was imputed to Him. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. It is the gift of God. Back to our text real quickly. I'll wind down. God helping me. In your knowledge of Christ, in your relationship, do you understand that your salvation is based on what we call the finished work of Christ? It's based on what He did. on the cross of Calvary to obtain redemption and pardon. He was placed in the tomb, and He rose from the dead, and thereby affirms our justification. Living, He loved me. Dying, He saved me. Rising again, He secured my justification. secured my justification through his resurrection. And the proof that he's made that transition and knows him is because of the fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to his death. That's what he experienced after his conversion. In Damascus, immediately, the Jews sought to destroy him, to kill him. And all throughout his life and ministry, there was that opposition, suffering. It was one of those bona fides, one of those good faith expressions that he was a follower of Jesus Christ because of the hatred. even of the most religious people, the Judaizers of that day. Their opposition, they're trying to undermine him at all times. You know, if we don't understand this, we don't understand our salvation. We really don't. Let me just close here real quick because of the sake of time. The Pew Research Center did a survey of American Protestants. And of course, this broadly includes Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and a whole host probably of Evangelicals. And they found in this what Protestants believe 500 years after Luther 40 per 6 believe faith in God alone is needed to get in heaven However 52% believe both good deeds and faith in Christ are needed to go to heaven 46% said the Bible provides all the religious guidance that Christians need. 52% said in addition to the Bible, Christians need guidance from church teachings and traditions, which is illustrative of the confusion that exists within Christianity. People don't know what they believe. They don't know whom they believe. It's Christ. It's Christ. that I may know Him in this saving fashion. Do you know Him this morning? Have you made that transition out of death to life? Out of spiritual darkness into light? Out of bondage, chained in sin, into freedom? That's all a work of God. There was no way I could throw off those shackles of sin. There's no way that I could restore my eyesight spiritually. There's no way I could have understood the grace of God. It was God seeking me and drawing me to Himself. And so on that morning, April 2, 1967, God moved upon me in a very real and tangible way to believe in Him. After which, and I was thinking about this, you know, I've had my ups and downs, my struggles through my Christian life. But I, that moment, those moments in that auditorium at South Baptist Church in Flint, Michigan, were transformative. They were transformative. Has your Christianity transformed your life? Do you seek Christ? You're a disciple of His. God help us. God help us in these days. A lot of us don't understand the cost of following Christ. We want a Christianity of convenience. God never intended our Christianity to be one of convenience. It demands sacrifice. The story is told in a memoir written by a man, a Muslim man, converted. His name was Daniel Nayeri. It's about his mother. It's a story of his mother's conversion. She was a very devout Muslim. Brought her to saving faith in Jesus Christ. And with that, she gave up wealth, she gave up social status. She was forced to flee, eventually, Iran, under a death threat. But she was willing to pay the price. Nayyari writes about one example of her costly faith. Now just think about this. You say, well that's nothing. It would be nothing here in the United States. But maybe not so. On one occasion, she hung, in her vehicle, she hung on the mirror a necklace in her car, which seems a harmless thing, not too reckless. And he says, my mom's not like that. It had a cross on that necklace, just a small cross on that necklace. And after she left her car, came back out to the car, there was a note written and stuck to the windshield. It said on that note, Madam Doctor, she was a physician, if we see this cross again, we will kill you. We will kill you. Her husband, Daniel's father, he says to my dad, he wasn't a Christian, And he says, this is the kind of story that proves his point. By her doing that, he accused her of picking a fight. In other words, she was antagonizing somebody and picking a fight. When she could have just lived quietly and securely without that. And there wouldn't be any headaches, heartaches, difficulties. And she just kept her head down and just kind of navigated softly and quietly through life after that point. And she stopped telling people. Well, he said, my mom took the cross down that day. And then she got a cross so big it blocked half the windshield. And she put it up. Why would anybody live with their head down in their Christian experience? He says, besides, the only way to stop believing something is to deny it yourself. To hide it. To act as if it hasn't changed your life. Well, one thing for sure, it changed Paul's life. One thing for sure, it changed the lives of the people at Philippi. And it's changing lives today. My question is, has it changed your life? Has it changed your life? It's real. Heaven and hell are real things. And it's only knowing Christ. That's one of the ideals of the Apostle Paul when he came to faith on that Damascus road. The goal of my life, the ideal of my life is to know Him. To know more about Him. To know Him intimately. Experientially. Through the power of His resurrection. Through the fellowship of suffering. Do you know Him? Has He changed your life? Honestly, has He changed your life? Are you a new creature in Christ? I invite you to know Him. You say, well how does that happen? By trusting Him. If you sense that urge, that desire, just call on His name. Lord save me. It doesn't have to be profound. Doesn't He have to be in a form of woe called a sinner's prayer? It's just turn in faith to Him and call upon Him to save you. Lord, save me from my sins. It's penalty. Save me from its power. And save me from the presence of sin someday when I go to heaven. Let's close in prayer. Father, It is with thanksgiving that the power of the living Christ is real. It's real in His Word. It's quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. The Spirit of God works in power through the Word, transforming lives. May in this assembly the seriousness of this whole thing be understood And may the Spirit of God work in the heart, transforming it and turning that mind toward God. Opening blind eyes. Unlocking the shackles of sin. Opening deaf ears that they might hear and understand the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.