The text for us this evening comes again from Philippians, now in chapter 3. I'll be reading the first three verses. What I'd like to do today is, before I read, I'm going to go to the Lord in prayer. So pray with me before we turn to the Word of God. Great God in heaven, as we come before your Word, we are humbled. We pray that you would give us wisdom give us understanding and discernment that we would not seek to come over your word but submit to it that we would come under your word and pray as as matt mentioned that you would indeed bless the words of my mouth that they would be a blessing to your people pray that you would watch over the words of my sinful lips and the meditations of all of our hearts that these things would be pleasing and acceptable in your sight lord jesus for you are our strength and our redeemer amen Now it is fitting again that Jeff's sermon and my sermon very much follow along the same theme, but I'll talk more about that in a moment here. As you're turning to Philippians chapter 3 in the Pew Bible, that's page 1249. I'll just read the first three verses as Paul is transitioning. He's talked about these godly examples that we are to follow, and then now he's going to transition into examples that we ought not to follow. What are poor examples of imitation of Christ? So Paul says here in Philippians chapter three, finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Hopefully you can see how this theme of this passage very much fits with the sermon that Jeff gave us this morning, and it's fitting that this text immediately follows after last week's sermon, last week's text, lest we have a false understanding of imitation of Christ and why we imitate Christ. What is it that we're seeking to do? It's not that we are seeking in some way to be more righteous, but we are seeking to be like Christ because of our love for Christ, our joy in the Lord, as Paul begins this section by saying. And then warnings of what we might become if we do follow after this, if we seek to have a fleshly righteousness, if we seek a righteousness on our own account. Now after considering several examples of godly men, Paul warns against this pharisaical view of the law, that leaven of the Pharisees, that leavens the whole loaf. Hopefully you noticed that in Galatians chapter five. He's referencing the very words of Jesus. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, that we might think that we can be righteous by our own works, by something that we've done before God. Yet here we observe a comparison between real and false perfection. Notice that it's those who are not truly perfect in that they are not aligned with Christ, and yet they think that they're perfect. But what has Paul been pushing all of chapter two? If you are aligned with Christ, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Because you are perfect, You then can eagerly serve. You can rejoice in the Lord. You have opportunity to rejoice in the service that you give. So the comparison between what we considered in the last several messages of true imitation of Christ and a stark contrast of false imitation of Christ. And Paul will talk more about that in the next section as he looks to his own life and his own life as a Pharisee. What is it that he brought to the table as a Pharisee? trying to contrast with what he is teaching in looking to himself now, looking to Christ and his example, and looking to the last two examples we had of Timothy and Epaphroditus. My first point is that our joy and confidence is found in the Lord. Hopefully you can see that clearly in the first two verses. Our joy and confidence is found in the Lord. It's not anywhere else. It's not in our fleshly works. It's not in our boasts of works in the past. It's not in anything that we've done, but only in the Lord. And Paul begins this section there in verse one by saying, finally, this is what he has been working toward as he's built up this argument throughout all of chapter two. This is the point. Rejoice in the Lord. Where is our joy found? He's mentioned joy several times throughout his letter, but joy is found in the Lord. We rejoice in the Lord. So Paul is able to emphasize one of the most important truths of Christianity, especially as it regards our own hope of salvation. What is our hope? What is our joy? And why do we work in service to the Lord? It is because of the work of Christ, it's because of his humiliation and exaltation in heaven that we can work and find joy in our service. And so he says here in verse 1 that we are rejoicing in the Lord. It's explicit here. It's not just that you, Christian, must rejoice, but you can rejoice and you must rejoice in the only thing you can rejoice in, in the Lord. Here, Paul says our joy. Later in verses four through 11 of chapter three, he'll talk about our confidence. How do we have joy? How do we have confidence in the next day, in the work that we do, in our lives that we live? This is something that he's already emphasized before but he's eager to make that same emphasis again for their spiritual safety. He says to write the same things to you is no trouble to me. And it's actually good for you that I remind you of these things that I speak this joy to your life again that I remind you and point you back to Christ. He looked at this in chapter 1 verses 27-28. He looked at it again in chapter 2 verses 2-4 and then finally in chapter 2 verses 14-16. Notice there are four commands here, that we are to rejoice in the Lord. That's the first command. But following quickly after that first command to rejoice in our only joy, rejoicing in the Lord, he issues three warnings, three commands of warning. Look out, look out, look out. We have joy, but we cannot be naive in our joy. Rejoice in the Lord, but look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh." Notice that he uses this term, dogs. Some of you may know that this is actually the term that the Jews would use for Gentiles. This is what they called them, you Gentile dogs. And it wasn't, when we see dogs here, it's not talking about our beautiful, nice show dogs that we take to the dog show, they're all bathed. No, these are dogs that were mangy mutts. They scrounged around the streets, going up and down the refuse pile, looking for garbage so that they could satisfy themselves. They were unclean animals. Unclean animals, dietary, dieterically, or however you say that, you couldn't eat them, but they were unclean, they were filthy dogs, right? Filthy animals. And so Paul is flipping this idea on its head that he is writing to Gentiles. And he says, these people who would make you follow the law, the Levitical law, these people that would make you circumcise yourself, they are the dogs. They are the ones who mutilate the flesh. They are the evildoers. If you were to study Scripture and see how Scripture uses this term of dogs, we would see that the dogs in Psalms are the ones who cry out for Christ's crucifixion. We would see that the dogs are the most wicked, the most evil people. The people that you do not want to be associated with. And that is who this party that Paul is warning against, that's how he identifies them. And it's very likely that he is speaking here of Judaizers. Those who are claiming to be in Christ, but also claiming that you must follow the law. They are legalists. commanding the Philippians and commanding elsewhere, as we saw in Galatians, that you have to do these things if you want to be a true Christian. You have to follow specific rules if you want to please God. But Paul uses three words here to describe them. They're dogs, they're evildoers, and they're mutilators. Speaking very specifically of circumcision. Their cutting has nothing to do with being righteous. Their cutting is merely a mutilation of the flesh. In cutting, they are actually cutting themselves off from God. And so he makes a contrast with that between verses two and three. I'll talk about that a little bit more. But in their cutting, they are not aligning themselves with Christ, but clearly aligning themselves against the teachings of Scripture, teachings of Christ and his disciples. The joy that we have in Christ is not like our earthly joys, not like our worldly joys. And we can experience, we know the experience of worldly joys and how quickly they fade away. It can be vividly compared to buyer's regret. Maybe if you're like me, you spend time searching for the exact item that you want. You want to read the reviews on it, read what people have said about it, read about all the different things that this item does. And then maybe you have to plan to buy it. It's not something that you can actually pay for right now. So you begin saving for that thing. It becomes a long-term process and you save and you plan. And then finally, once you buy it and you have the opportunity to use it that first time, it just doesn't live up to all those expectations that you had. Maybe there's a better one and now you want the new one that just came out. Or maybe it just never actually lived up to the expectations that you had for it. That's what earthly joys are like. Earthly joys are temporal. They will never satisfy us. But Christ does. In the Lord we can rejoice. That's what Paul tells us. Rejoice in the Lord. Because the contrast, the temporal joys fading away, is that eternal joys last forever. And Christ is eternal. There's no real joy apart from Christ. Nothing in this world will last. Family, friends, success, possessions, all that fades away. But Christ does not fade away. Christ stands with us forever. These sorrows that we have in this life are only temporal. Yes, our joys are temporal, but the wonderful part of all of physical life being temporal is that our sorrows in this life are temporal. They do not last forever, and that's something to rejoice over. That our joy, true joy, is eternal joy. That we shall be with Christ forever. We cannot have confidence in the flesh. As Paul has said here, made clear, look out, look out, look out. Do not be like these Judaizers that have tried to put confidence in their work, tried to put confidence in their service, in everything that they've done. Do not be like them. We cannot have confidence in our denomination or our church. We can't have confidence in our pastor or our family. We can't have confidence in our friends, our education, or our Bible reading plan. We can't have confidence that Christ is pleased with us because of our prayer life, or maybe looking to the message from last week. We can't have confidence and stand before the Lord by saying, I go to church twice on Sundays. That's not what gives us confidence. What gives us confidence is our joy in the Lord, and that's what Paul wants to make clear right here. We have joy in Christ. And so we can serve in joy and seek to be with Him because it's not a meritorious work that we do, but a joyful work that we do, an eagerness to serve because we are already united to Christ. And that's the outworking of our union with Him. It gives us liberty to enjoy these blessings in and through the eternal lasting surety of Christ, that Christ has done all. And so we don't have to be fearful that our prayers are enough, or our Bible reading is enough, or our attendance in church is enough. All of these things don't ever have to be enough because Christ is enough. And that gives us the liberty to enjoy them. So Paul wants the Philippians to understand the joy of that and feel the freedom of that, and I want you to feel that as well. Now perhaps, speaking of this mutilation that the Judaizers have done, maybe you've seen that in our own day. Maybe not personally but if you've seen videos of worship in India or the Middle East where these these men and women will put barbs and hooks into their flesh and carry around these weights so that they can make a work that is satisfactory before their gods or at the very least get the attention of their gods so that they can have their prayers answered. They can be heard. worshippers here are trying to do something because they know that they do not measure up. All of our imitation is not dependent upon our work. We do not imitate Christ so that we can be righteous and God will say, you are like Christ enough, I want you to be a part of me. No, God has already made us a part of Him and so we desire to be more like unto Christ. Our imitation of Christ is a joy and the working of the Spirit in our lives. Because as Paul has already said, it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. He works this desire in us. As I've already said, our works are not for merit. We are not working to please God, but we are working out of grace. Grace is a gift. God has gifted us with the joy and the eagerness to serve Him, and so we return back to Him what He has already given to us. gifts of grace. We are able to find joy and even success in imitation and working out our salvation with fear and trembling because we are building upon a sure foundation and laboring in the spirit. We are united to Christ and his all sufficient work. We don't wonder as I said that we have done enough because we know that Christ has done enough. This brings me then to the second point. Worship in spirit and glory, not in the flesh, glory in Christ. We see this in verse 3. Worship in spirit and glory in Christ. Here, as I've said, Paul is contrasting, I'll read the verse again so that you can have that for context. Paul says, we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and we put no confidence in the flesh. Paul is contrasting this cutting of the Judaizers with the true cutting of circumcision. Their cutting is a cutting off. They are a concision. They are those with cutting. But they are not circumcision. What is circumcision but a matter of the heart? As Old Testament has said, and Paul repeats elsewhere in Scripture, it's not a matter of whether or not you have cutting on your flesh. It's a matter of whether or not the Spirit has worked in your heart. What is it that Jeff read for us this morning and last week, but from Ezekiel 36, 26, that we have a new heart put in us. And then that following chapter of the dead bones that rise up, that is the work that is done. It's not a matter of whether or not you have cutting on your flesh. And so the action is not what makes the difference, but the reaction. The reaction to the work of the Spirit upon you. That is what makes the difference, and that is what Paul is pointing out. We worship by the Spirit. We're not worshiping by our own intuition, our own ingenuity. You know what I think God would like? You know how I worship God? We worship according to Spirit, according to the teaching of God's Word. God has revealed how he wants to be worshiped. And in John 4, he says to the Samaritan woman, God is Spirit, and those who worship, worship in Spirit and truth. That's what Paul is pointing out, that we are worshiping according to the truth of the Word and the teaching and guidance of the Spirit internally, not by man, not by the works of man. And we glory in Christ. We put no confidence in the flesh. We rely wholly on Jesus person and work. He is our motivation. He's our motivation because he has done all we can work because it's not dependent upon our work. And so we have confidence to work wholeheartedly. His presence is our consolation. I'll turn briefly here. We read a portion of Galatians 5, and I'll read a portion of Galatians 6 here as well. If you're just taking notes, I'm going to read Galatians 6, chapter 6, verses 11 through 16. Paul says here to the Galatians, see with what large letters I'm writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised. And only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation, that new heart that is put in you. From Ezekiel 36. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. That is what Paul is articulating here in Philippians chapter 3, that He is our strength. Christ is our boast, our strength, and His righteousness is our righteousness. You probably remember the analogy I used of the rollercoaster, riding on the rollercoaster and holding on tight, hoping that your strength would keep you in the rollercoaster, but knowing that it's not by your strength that you stay in. This is a similar idea here that what are we relying on to keep us in? It makes no sense to rely on human strength. And that strength that we have is not strength but weakness. Paul goes on to talk about this. All these glories that I had as a Pharisee, do you know what he compares it with? Likely you do know what he compares it with, but he compares it with rubbish. with garbage. Likely he's referring back to those Judaizers who are dogs climbing around in their refuse pits. That's what his righteousness is. And so he doesn't look to that. He looks to something greater. He looks to Christ. In Jeremiah 17, the prophet uses a comparison. of the man who relies upon his own strength versus the man who relies upon God's strength. And he's playing off of Psalm 1. Psalm 1, we know that the blessed is the man who, right? And what is the analogy that is used? He is like a tree, a strong plant, a tree planted. by streams of waters. That is a strong plant fueled and nourished by the waters of God. It will not die, it bears fruit in every season. But what does Jeremiah 17 says? The man who relies upon his own strength, if you're making notes you can note Jeremiah 17 verses 5 and 6, the man who relies upon his own strength is like a shrub in the desert. Now some of you perhaps have done gardening or at least will be able to understand this. If I took an azalea bush and I planted that azalea bush in the middle of the desert, how long would that azalea bush last? Azalea bush needs shade, it needs water. It's not gonna last a day in the desert. And so we will not last if our strength is reliant upon, if we are reliant upon our own strength. And that's what Jeremiah 17 wants us to understand. And that's what here Paul wants us to understand. I know I've been jumping around to several verses. Hopefully that's not confusing for you. I'm gonna look at one other place, Romans chapter two. Again, if you're taking notes, you can just note Romans 2, verses 28 and 29. And what I'm gonna do here, I'm gonna read the words of Paul, but I'm gonna change every time he says Jew to the word Christian. Paul says, for no one is a Christian who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Christian is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart by spirit. Not by letter. His praise is not from man, but from God. What is our boast? It is the strength of God. It is in God. Our boast is the Lord. And whose pleasure are we seeking? Not man's. We're not seeking to please our fellow church members. We're not seeking to please the world, but we're seeking to please God, as Paul has said to the Romans there in chapter two. Our praise is not from man but from God. Working for the sake of show is worse than useless. It would be one thing if I said, well, I'm gonna work and that work will be so good because it'll show others and it'll benefit them. That would be one thing if it didn't have any equal standing. If ultimately we came back and said, well, it didn't help others and that show, that work that you did for show, didn't benefit them. That would be equal. But it is worse than that. When we work and we try to demonstrate something, we work for the sake of showing others our righteousness. What we're actually doing is making ourselves separate from Christ. We're saying I'm not aligned with his righteousness. I'm going to step away from the righteousness of Christ so you can see the righteousness that I have. Now all of us know if we step away from the righteousness of Christ and we say God look at me and my righteousness. There's nothing to be seen but unrighteousness. So we do not want to step away from Christ to show our righteousness, but rather to step and unite ourselves so that we can, as Paul says, rejoice in the Lord and have confidence in Christ and glory in Christ. Our worship, our offering up to God, find their fulfillment not in our sincerity or diligence or our accomplishments, but only in Christ. Do you know that the Spirit does not ask those believers, are they circumcised? Do you know that the Spirit then does not ask those believers, did they go to church twice every Sunday? The Spirit asks, are they united to Christ? Our union with Christ, as Jeff said this morning, that is our glory, that is our boast, that is our motivation each week. And when the devil comes to speak against us, we are united to Christ. He has no say against us. Nothing he says can take us away from Christ. When the Judaizers come in and say, where is your righteousness? We don't look to anything that we have. We look to Christ. He is my righteousness. That is our boast and our confidence. And so we can worship in joy. Worship in the Spirit knowing that His righteousness is our righteousness. So we notice then the results of a comparison of real and false imitation of Christ. Paul demonstrates later on in his own life a desire to press on. And this is what he's called the Philippians to do and called us to do. Because we are united to Christ, we press on. We press on to serve him. Something he'll talk about later on in chapter 3, press on to this calling. But he's already talked about it in chapter 2 that we are working out our salvation with fear and trembling. The result of our union with Christ, because we are perfect in Christ, We can work, work out our salvation. We can know that the Spirit is working in us, that God is working in us. Because we have a true example of godliness, a true Spirit that is working in us. Then we have the freedom to live by the Spirit and to worship by the Spirit. We have the desire to cleave to Christ. What will follow, as I said, in Philippians is Paul's pointing to his own righteousness. In case you don't get it from these three verses, Paul's gonna speak about all the things that he had. The Judaizers are gonna come to the Philippians and perhaps already have and say, well, we have these things, what do you have? And so Paul comes and he says, I had those things and they were rubbish. They separated me from Christ so that I was all unrighteousness. When the Judaizers come to us, we do not look to our own righteousness, but our union with Christ. They're truly circumcised. Those who are truly circumcised, they don't boast in their circumcision, but in a circumcised heart that the Spirit has worked in their being. In Christ, in their union with Him. that Christ dwells in our hearts. So then indeed, Christ is the glory of our past. He is, as the text says, the joy of our present. And ultimately, he's the hope of our future. With that, let us go to the Lord in prayer. Great God in heaven, what a blessing it is to read from your word, to have consolation from you. We ask and pray that you would work this text in our hearts, that we would better understand your righteousness, which is imputed to us, better understand our union with you and this new heart of flesh that you have given to us. May we not be tempted by the Judaizers to live a righteousness to show off to those around us, to our brothers and sisters, but may we be motivated only by you and a love for you and eagerness to serve you and to be with you, Lord. Pray that you would strengthen us this week as we go out to serve you. Give us an eagerness to serve you. We pray for all these things in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.