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You can turn in your Bibles to 
Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. The book of Philippians is primarily 
a joy of rejoicing and thanksgiving. That's the general theme as we 
read throughout Paul's epistle to the Philippians. It doesn't 
carry the indicting weight like a book of Galatians, where 
right at the outset, essentially, Paul is laying into the Galatians 
for their departure from gospel truth. That isn't the Philippians 
problem. It doesn't carry the same sort 
of doctrinal precision. And by that, I mean the detailed 
laying out of doctrine concerning justification and sanctification, 
like the book of Romans, per se, which Paul, of course, also 
wrote, though there is doctrine in it. But with those things 
said, there are some problems at the church in Philippi. There's 
a problem with discord, congregational discord. Paul deals with that 
in Philippians one and two, specifically versus twenty seven of chapter 
one to chapter two, verse verse 12 or the end of chapter two. 
at verse 18 before he gets into Timothy and Epaphroditus. Another 
problem in the church is a problem with persecution. Paul briefly 
alludes to that in Philippians 1, 27 to 29. Another problem 
in the church, one that we'll see in the course of our reading 
this morning and this evening, is in Philippians 3. And it's 
a problem of false teachers coming into the church and teaching 
another gospel. And Paul warns the Philippian 
Christians of this in the context of issuing a command to rejoice 
in the Lord. And we're going to look at verses 
1 to 3 of Philippians 3 this morning, and then the remainder 
of 4 to 10 this evening. But let's read Philippians 3, 
beginning at verse 1. 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 the spirit rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence 
in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence 
in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may 
have confidence in the flesh, I more so. Circumcised the eighth 
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew 
of the Hebrews, concerning the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, 
persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in 
the law, blameless. But what things were gained to 
me, these I have counted lost for Christ. Yet indeed, I also 
count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all 
things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be 
found in him not having my own righteousness, which is from 
the law, but that which is through Christ, through faith in Christ, 
the righteousness which is from God by faith. that I may know 
him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings 
being conformed to his death, if by any means I may attain 
to the resurrection from the dead. Amen. Let us pray. God, we thank you for our time 
now in this act of worship, the preaching of the word. We do 
pray again that you would bless preacher with that measure of 
the spirit, measure of the spirit also to the hearer, Lord God, 
that all that is done this morning would most certainly exalt the 
Lord Jesus Christ upon the praises of his gathered people. And Lord 
God, that it would be unto the end of the praise of your grace 
and unto the end of the praise, the glory of your precious name. 
And it's in Christ that we pray. Amen. Well, this particular section 
here begins Paul's ending of the letter, and many pastors, 
many preachers have joked at the words, finally, my brethren 
here, beginning of chapter three, because Paul goes on to not really 
finish the letter. But in a sense, he is finishing 
the letter in this way, is that he's bringing the closing admonition 
to rejoice in the Lord and this rejoicing in the Lord for Philippian 
Christians is to take place by means of various things. And 
we're going to look at a couple of those this morning and this 
evening. Here in the section that we read, Paul is giving 
an admonition to rejoice in the Lord. He's providing some means 
by which they are to do so. They're to beware false teachers 
and they're to rejoice in the certainty of their rightness 
in the faith. in proper religion. And then 
he goes on to present a hypothetical argument to to dispel or to disprove 
the claims of the false teachers. And then he goes on to set forth 
the reality of what the true gospel is and what salvation 
by that gospel looks like. We're going to look at three 
things this morning. We're going to look at the command, 
verse one, The warning, verse two, and the contrast, verse 
three. But just to introduce this particular 
section, did you rejoice this morning in the Lord? You see, 
Paul gives that as a command here, but it's for certain reasons 
and we'll get to that, but the Christian, in a sense, shouldn't 
need a command to rejoice in the Lord. It is by virtue of 
the fact that he is Christian that he should be rejoicing in 
the Lord. And did you rejoice in the Lord 
when you woke up this morning if you're here and you are a 
saint of his? Did you rejoice? It should have 
been the case that when we wake up in the morning, we are not 
to be like those who are outside the covenant camp, those who 
are outside Christianity, who devised wickedness in their bed, 
according to the psalmist. It is not to be the case with 
us that we are to open up our eyes and rejoice in all fleshly 
things, save for eternal things, which are the Lord Jesus Christ 
and the glories and the riches of his person and his work. You 
see, when we open our eyes and cast them upon creation. We don't 
look upon creation and we don't ponder the works of men's hands, 
because what is creation but the work of God? When we draw 
our first conscious breath and we wake up in the morning, we 
are not resting upon the power of our lungs, but upon the power 
of the God of heaven and earth who breathed breath into us. 
When we consider providence and the goings forth, the rolling 
along of time and of history, We are to rejoice in Christ who 
upholds all of those things by the word of his power. When we 
dwell upon our salvation, our redemption, we're rejoicing solely 
and alone in the work of God. We don't rejoice in our power. 
We don't rejoice in our volition. We don't rejoice in any perfections 
in us because there are none. But we rejoice solely and alone 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfection of the triune God 
in bringing us from darkness to light. And so hopefully you 
did rejoice this morning. Though we are fallible, we are 
sinful, hopefully by the imperfect declaration of the preacher, 
by the perfect empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we will leave 
this place rejoicing this morning. Paul firstly issues this command 
to rejoice. And isn't that a gracious command? 
Rejoice in the Lord. You see, this is a command. Finally, 
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Oh, Christianity, what a weariness. 
What a weariness for me to want to be brought into this place 
with all of these burdensome commands and precepts and statutes. Finally, brethren, rejoice in 
the Lord. You see, the commandments of 
the Lord are not burdensome. Why? Because he doesn't present 
to us an economy of salvation whereby we must perfectly adhere 
to all of his divine precepts or else he'll cast us into the 
lake of fire. But rather, he sent that perfect 
one who perfectly adhered to every jot and tittle of his precepts. And by believing in him, we have 
that everlasting life. Finally, my brethren, rejoice 
in the Lord, a gracious command. Paul is writing this. But remember, 
ultimately, who is writing this, brethren? All scripture is God 
breathed. The Lord God in gracious and 
merciful condescension empowers Paul to write these words, and 
it is most certainly, of course, God breathed scripture. Finally, 
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. God is writing. Rejoice in me. 
Rejoice in me. And this is what we are to do. 
This gracious command comes on the heels of a number of things. 
Contextually, we need to see this. It's a general principle 
and we'll get there to rejoice in the Lord. But there are certain 
reasons why they are to rejoice in the Lord. The Philippian Christians, 
first off, In contrast to being sorrowful over Paul's imprisonment, 
they are to rejoice in the Lord. The Philippian Christians are 
not to be sorrowful or found in despair over the fact that 
Paul is currently in prison. In verse 12 of chapter 1, he 
writes, But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which 
happened to me, being in prison, have actually turned out for 
the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident 
to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains 
are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the 
Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold 
to speak the word without fear. So do not be sorrowful over my 
imprisonment. It has been God owned and truly 
God ordained for the progress and the propagation of the gospel 
of truth. And so, again, do not be sorrowful, 
but rather rejoice in the Lord. They are not to be sorrowful, 
what follows after this, over Christ being preached by wrong 
motives. As long as it is the Christ of 
Holy Scripture being preached, Paul says, rejoice. What then 
at verse 18? Only that in every way, whether 
in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and will rejoice. So they 
are to rejoice in the fact that whether it is in pretense or 
in truth, Christ is being preached. They are not to be stressed and 
in anguish and in anxiety over the fact that they are being 
persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. Do not be stressed, 
do not be anxious, but rejoice in the Lord. Why? Verse 28 of 
chapter 1, not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is 
to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that 
from God. Why? For to you it has been granted 
on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to 
suffer for his sake. Rejoice in the Lord, because 
these things are proof of the perdition, the damnation, the 
anathematizing of those unbelieving apostates, but for you of salvation. These things are the simple reality 
and the joyful reality that you've been granted to believe in Jesus 
and you've also been granted to suffer for his sake. So be 
joyful in that. They were not to be sorrowful 
over the fact that Epaphroditus was sick. Chapter 2, verses 25 
to the end of the chapter. They're not to be sorrowful over 
Epaphroditus being sick. In fact, Epaphroditus was upset, 
disappointed that the Philippian Christians were grieving over 
the fact that he was sick. Rejoice in the Lord. I may have 
physical ailments. The Lord can heal. I may be plagued 
physically, but this I know, I'm safely in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and in him I have eternal life, and so do you. So don't 
grieve, don't be sorrowful, but rather rejoice in the Lord, because 
Christ supplies, Christ grants, and Christ brings great comfort. So they are not to be sorrowful, 
anxious, stressed over these providential elements, but rather 
to rejoice in the Lord God. Specifically, with regards to 
the immediate context, we see that they are to rejoice in the 
Lord, not to rejoice in themselves. They're to rejoice in the Lord, 
not to be carried off by this false teaching, by this heresy 
whereby these false teachers are propagating. Have confidence 
in your flesh, have confidence in circumcision, the physical 
circumcision of the flesh to be accepted before God. Do not 
have confidence or rejoice in anything of that sort, but rather 
rejoice in the Lord. They were not to be stressed 
and pressured to break and join the ranks of those who rejoice 
in the flesh. Secondly, brethren, the general 
realities of Christianity, that they're to rejoice in. Paul opens 
up the letter by saying, Paul and Timothy bond servants of 
Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi. 
You see, we've said it before, but you ought never to simply 
skip over the identification of the recipients of an apostolic 
letter to the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi. That 
statement in itself is glorious. It is blessed who are saints, 
but those who are holy, not in and of themselves, but by saints. It means divinely set apart. 
by God unto service in his kingdom, saved solely and alone, set apart 
by the triune God, man, holy passive in this divine exercise 
of sovereign and amazing grace. set apart, wholesomely cut off 
from the world and disposed unto service in the religion of the 
Lord Jesus Christ to the praise of his name. So whenever you 
see Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, Corinthians identified as saints 
in Christ Jesus or something of the like, see yourself there 
also as a saint of the most high God set apart by triune power. unto service to Christ and his 
truth and his kingdom. So they are to rejoice in the 
Lord. Why? Because the Lord brought them 
from that place of worldly obedience, from that place of deadness and 
sin and transgression, to a place where they are safely in the 
sovereign and sanctifying grip of the King of Kings. They're 
also to rejoice in the God who finishes what he starts. Because 
Paul had confidence, according to verse six of this very thing, 
that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it 
unto the day of Jesus Christ. Rejoice in the Lord, because 
yes, trials, yes, congregational discord, yes, false teachers, 
yes, ungodly persecutors. But this I know of a verity and 
of a truth, that he who began a good work in you will complete 
it unto the day of Christ. They are to rejoice in the glorious 
perfections of the person and the work and the exaltation of 
Jesus Christ. You see, we have something to 
rejoice in. The unbeliever has nothing truly 
to rejoice in. Oh, sure, there may be these 
temporal satisfactions of the flesh, these pleasures that they 
entertain and that they gain much from, whether it's food 
or drink or sexual intimacy. I don't want to say intimacy 
because it is not all of these sins of the flesh seeking after 
certain things for gratification. not giving thanks to God for 
the food, for the drink, not waiting for holy covenantal arrangement 
by divine ordination to engage in intimacy, but rather filling 
themselves with all the satisfactions of this lower world. That is 
not true joy. It is only the Christian who 
has true joy. It's only the Christian who's 
been wholly set apart. It's only the Christian who can 
be in that group, that number of people who are safely in the 
grip of the Redeemer's hand. And it's only that Christian 
that that is only the Christian who can look, who can read verses 
6 to 11 of Philippians 2, where it speaks of deity coming in 
flesh in a virgin. being humiliated in this lower 
world, having nowhere to lay his head, unlike foxes and unlike 
birds, who comes in the incarnation and dwells among men of ignominy 
for the salvation of his people. It's only the Christian who can 
cast his eyes upon the fact that this Jesus became obedient to 
the point of death, even the death of the cross. Madness, 
folly, scandal, offense. The stuff of mockery to the unbelieving 
eye, to the unbelieving mind. But the Christian rejoices. The 
Christian rejoices in this so-called madness. The seconds of the Blessed 
Trinity being put to death upon Calvary's tree. That this one 
who Christians say fixed the stars in place is now fixed in 
place upon a tree. Madness. To the Christian, it's 
the wisdom and the power of God. And in that we rejoice. You see, 
we may have trial. We may be beset by various afflictions. We may be beset by seasons of 
providential frownings. Remember, principally, God is 
in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. 
He orchestrates and he connects and he does all things according 
to the counsel of his own will. But remember, as bad as it gets 
out there and as bad as people are to you and as wicked as we 
can be, There is a Savior who died upon Calvary's tree. Right? As bad as things get, as horrible 
as we think we are sometimes, and we are, but as down as you 
can get about yourself, as down as you can get about others, 
there is a Savior who died upon Calvary's tree if you are believing 
in him. So there's joy. There's always 
joy for the Christian. There is always joy for those 
who are in Emmanuel's number. Consider thirdly, under the command, 
the repetition of Christian truths and Christian admonitions is 
a wholesome and necessary exercise. Notice what the text says here 
at Philippians three. 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. You're going 
to hear that you're going to have heard over the course of 
however many years you've been at Free Grace Baptist Church, 
a lot of repetition. And I really do hope that you 
don't roll your eyes at repetition. Oh, here we go again. Didn't 
we hear this two weeks ago? Didn't we hear? Haven't we heard 
this text preached before? You see, the preacher and the 
pastor. Now, if someone comes up here and just reads the same 
sermon every Sunday, well, that's not wholesome repetition if they're 
just reading from a script. But hopefully, you know where 
I'm getting. Christianity demands and Christ demands wholesome 
repetition of Christian truths and admonitions. Why? Because 
we're sinners. Because we haven't yet arrived 
at perfection. Because we are in constant need 
of Christ, gospel, the triune God. Because we're in constant 
need of admonition, exhortation, command. Because we are in constant 
need of fatherly chastisement, which is a good thing. We are 
in constant need of rebuke, realignment, reconfiguration, etc. And so when the apostles rehash, 
recycle or reclaim or reproclaim truths and certain admonitions, 
glorious repetition. Glorious repetition, because 
look at the content of what Paul is saying again. He's speaking 
about the perfect, justifying work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we also need negatively 
is the warnings against false teachers. We need that wholesome 
admonition because, brethren, the vanity and the folly and 
the madness of these heretics back in the first century is 
not confined to the first century. The same ungodly madness has 
been perpetuated year upon year, decade upon decade, century upon 
century. Salvation by works, as Spurgeon 
said, is a crime. Salvation by works is a crime. It is a criminal doctrine, he 
said. It was the title of one of his 
sermons. Why? Because it casts asunder the 
grace of God. Because it casts into the mud 
of horrific religion the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll get to that in more detail 
tonight. But wholesome repetition is a 
good thing. Not only is it not tedious for 
Paul. Why? Because Paul loved to write. 
Bring me the parchments. It's not a tedious thing for 
Paul. Paul's in prison. And what does he want? He wants 
the parchments. He wants to write. He wants to pen glorious verses 
about his redeeming king. Not just that, but he also wants 
to pen those glorious verses so that the recipients of his 
letters will rejoice in the Lord. Right, so it's not tedious to 
continue to write about the gospel. Oh, cast away the ABCs of Christianity 
and give us whatever else. No, the ABCs of Christianity, 
blessed repetition. That there is a triune God, holy 
and marvelous, that deemed it well before the foundations of 
the world to choose people in Christ. And to bring to bear 
the perfect providential reality of that, that there are a people 
fixed, innumerable, in Jesus Christ before the foundation 
of the world, and all of history and time marches towards that 
victorious day when that bloody one would be nailed upon the 
Roman cross to die for sinners, to rise again, and to ascend 
to the right hand of the majesty on high, to live always to make 
intercession for those chosen in him. before the foundation 
of the world. It is a blessed reality and it 
is wholesome repetition to continually deliver the things of the glorious 
gospel and to continue to deliver the wholesome admonitions to 
the people of Christ. But for you it is safe, he says. 
He closes that verse with. It's not tedious for me, Paul 
says. It's not troublesome. It's not a weariness. Oh, here 
I go again. No, Paul rejoiced in that. But 
it is safe for the recipient. because it is a boon to his soul. By the wholesome repetition of 
Christ and him crucified, we are girded up and we have our 
stronghold. We have our fort against invading 
armies of madness and folly, the opinion and the philosophies 
of an ungodly world. It is by the repeated admonitions 
to beware of dogs, to beware of evil workers, To beware of 
the mutilation, that we are defended against the horrific proclamations 
of those who seek to do violence to the finished work of Jesus 
Christ. It is safe for the recipients, 
for Paul to engage in wholesome repetition. Secondly, notice 
the warning now. Verse two, beware of dogs, beware 
of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. It's striking language, 
isn't it? Paul would have nothing of political 
correctness in the arena and the marketplace of ideas. Right? Dogs, evil workers, beware of 
the mutilation. No, we need to we need to have 
a love in and sing Kumbaya where Catholics and Muslims and Protestants 
and Jehovah's Witnesses can all gather together for the greater 
good. No, anyone who seeks to attack the doctrine of Jesus 
Christ is not just someone who has another idea in the marketplace 
of ideas, but is a dog, is an evil worker. Now, Paul isn't 
necessarily pointing his finger at a sweet old lady being deceived 
in the pews of a kingdom hall, though she's got her problems. 
And if she remains there, she is an enemy of the gospel of 
Christ. But Paul is pointing the finger at these false teachers 
who would come to people helpless and in need of a Savior and proclaim, 
this is how you get to Emmanuel's land. If you're a male, you need 
to cut your flesh. You need to cut your foreskin 
and adhere to the Mosaic law in order to gain acceptance before 
God. You see, such who proclaim against 
the grace of God, who frustrated, as Paul says in Galatians 2, 
Such who do this cast the grace of God into the muck again of 
ungodly religion and trample upon the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Paul doesn't take it lightly. 
How dare you come into our homes? How dare you seek to come into 
our churches? How dare you come to seek after 
the flock of the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaim? Yeah, Christ is 
good. But you need to cut your foreskin 
also. What madness men contrive. What 
madness men contrive in order to gain satisfaction, in order 
for their own selfish ambition, in order to feed the vanity of 
their own minds and of their own braggary. To say that, oh, 
yeah, it is good that the seconds of the Trinity descended from 
the pinnacle of glory, entered into this lower ignominy to endure 
the madness of an earthly life, to die upon Calvary's tree, to 
shed his blood for guilty sinners. Yeah. But you also need to sever 
the skin. Of your member. In order to really 
be accepted. Madness. Madness. Oh, and it isn't it isn't just 
that. But the subtleties and the evil 
craftiness of people working in other elements of works based 
salvation or other approaches to works based salvation. If 
you ever hear, yeah, Jesus Christ is good or yeah, I realize Jesus 
Christ died for us, but. Be very careful and be ready 
to say dog. Be ready to say evil worker. 
Because it is solely and alone the work of the triune God from 
first to last, midst and throughout, without a helper that avails 
before that thrice holy God. It's not us. Whether it's the 
severing of the foreskin or whether it is legalistic impositions 
and canons tacked onto the finished work of Jesus Christ, you're 
a dog. You're an evil worker and you 
are just like this mutilation. What does this mean here, though, 
kids, just so you understand when I when when I'm explaining 
this, when Paul writes, beware of dogs, he doesn't mean that 
you have to now sell your puppy and sell your dog. Beware of 
literal physical animals, the dogs. No, Paul is speaking when 
he says dogs, when he says evil workers and when he says mutilation, 
he's speaking of one group, one group of individuals, one group 
of heretics. one group of false teachers. 
They are most likely, as we've alluded to but not identified 
them by name, the Judaizers that were infecting the church at 
Galatia. Also, those who were teaching that circumcision must 
avail and that adherence to Mosaic law must also avail in order 
to be saved. They are dogs. They are evil 
workers. They are the mutilation. They 
are dogs because they bite and they snarl at apostolic doctrine. one reason why they're called 
dogs. They bite and they snarl at the doctrine of the Apostle. 
Oh, Christ alone, justified solely and alone by faith, not by the 
works of the law. Shall any flesh be justified? 
Madness. You must also. You must also. They're dogs because 
they bite and snarl at the Christ of truth and the truth that's 
proclaimed in his holy word. They're dogs also because, like 
the hunting dogs of Psalm 22, they pursue their prey and they 
surround them and they fall on them. We read that concerning 
Jesus in Psalm 22. The dogs have encompassed me. 
The dogs have surrounded me. The dogs have encircled me. Most 
likely a reference, yeah, maybe to the Romans, but most likely 
to the apostate Jews who ultimately, by wicked hands, delivered him 
up to be crucified. Such are those in Paul's time 
who seek to cast asunder the finished work of Jesus Christ 
by works righteousness. They are dogs. They're surrounding 
the faithful, seeking to pounce on them, fall on them and to 
eat them up and consume them in their madness, their false 
teaching and their apostasy. But most likely what the language 
is referring to, though all that certainly is there, is that Paul 
is using the language of the Jews and turning it upon the 
heads of the Judaizers. You see, the Jews would call 
Gentiles dogs. In fact, Jesus himself, not with 
malice, but uses this idiomatic language when he's dealing with 
that Canaanite woman. He says the children eat the 
bread, not the dogs, to paraphrase. And then the woman says, but 
even the dogs eat the scraps which fall from the master's 
table. You see, Jews used to call Gentiles dogs because they're 
outside of the camp of the faithful. They're outside of our covenant 
reality. They had in mind that ethnic 
and that geopolitical covenant reality. And so these Gentiles 
were outside of them, and so they called them dogs. Their 
madness of their idolatry, etc., etc. And in cases throughout 
the Old Testament, that is a wholesome language being employed by God's 
covenant people against those who are engaged in idolatry to 
a multiplicity of deities. But, of course, the Jews in this 
time used it wrongly of those who were outside of Jewry. So Paul is using the language 
of dogs and he's turning it upon the heads of these Judaizers. Ultimately, why? Because though 
they were claiming to be part of the covenant community, they 
by virtue of their proclamation of works-based salvation have 
put themselves out of, they were never in, but they are effectively 
outside of the covenant community because it is only those who 
are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone that are part 
of the covenant. So he uses that language, that 
idiom, to describe them. They are evil workers because 
they are crafty in their employment of methods to gain disciples 
after them. Is it not the evilest of works 
to go after one who professes belief in the Lord Jesus Christ 
and is resting solely and alone upon his finished work to gain 
him as a disciple to turn completely away from that declaration of 
faith. To steal one, to try and steal 
one who is safely in the arms of Jesus, of course they cannot. Why? Because the Good Shepherd 
holds them in that inseparable and impenetrable grip of sovereign 
power. But it is the evilest of works 
to seek to gain one of those sheets, one of those sheets to 
believe in this madness, in this false teaching of works-based 
salvation. They are the mutilation, Paul 
says. We could also read that if you 
have another version, it might say, beware of the false circumcision. Old renderings say beware of 
the concision. What Paul is saying here, again, 
he's using language that, yeah, their boast is in physical circumcision, 
but because their boast is in that and not in Christ, they 
are the false circumcision. They boast that their circumcision 
is right, that their circumcision avails before God, But the circumcision 
that avails before before God is and always has been the circumcision 
of the heart. He'll go on to say we are the 
circumcision. See, this word is set in opposition 
and contrary to mutilation. The one Paul uses in verse three, 
they are the false circumcision by false claims. They are saying 
that they are the covenant people of God, but it is certainly the 
opposite. So Paul says, beware of them. And we need to we need to appreciate 
here the reality of warnings in our Bibles or the importance 
of warnings in our Bibles and the importance of warnings in 
the church today. You see, there really are false 
teachers out there. There really is bad doctrine 
out there. And we are really to care about that reality. I 
mean, you just you just have to go you just have to travel 
from Chilliwack to Vancouver on some main streets, some side 
streets and freeways also to see the various competing bodies 
of philosophies for your minds and the minds of your children. 
And it isn't the case that every building, unfortunately, brethren, 
it isn't the case that every building that has the word Christ 
on them, that every building that has the word God on there, 
that every building that has some word that is close to Christian 
idioms and Christian language is safe. We need to beware of 
the dogs. We need to beware of the evil 
workers because they're everywhere. And they are very often, actually 
more often than not, wolves in sheep's clothing, as Jesus warned. You see, the wolves to seek the 
sheep, it's easier to get them when they are in sheep's clothing. 
If you're to pass off a counterfeit bill, You don't want to just 
grab one from the Monopoly box and say, here, this is how I'm 
paying for my whatever. No, the counterfeit comes up 
with something that looks identical to the original, but he has wicked 
and nefarious motives. So to the false teachers. That 
is why we need apostolic warning. That is why we need warnings 
from this pulpit is because there are wolves in sheep's clothing 
out there. There are false teachers everywhere 
and we need to know the truth. We need to hold on to the truth. 
And we need to seek to defend it and reject those who oppose 
biblical Christian teaching. Now notice, thirdly, the contrast 
in our text. We had the command, verse 1, 
the warning, verse 2. Now we have the contrast, verse 
3, for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, 
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Paul reverses the language from 
the last word he used to describe the false teachers. He says, 
for we are the circumcision. You see, they're to rejoice in 
the Lord and to beware of these false teachers, because we're 
God's people. We're God's covenant people. 
We don't rejoice in the flesh. We rightly rejoice in the Lord 
in whom there is only true rejoicing. We will not be such as to mutilate 
the body in order to gain acceptance with God. But rather we are the 
true circumcision who have that circumcision which is made without 
hands. And isn't this a it's a great 
identification for Christians for a number of reasons. First 
off, and again, Paul is using this to rightly define who the 
true circumcision is and who the false circumcision is. They are only the circumcised 
who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, 
he goes on to identify who the true circumcision are. They threefold 
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no 
confidence in the flesh. See, the circumcision, circumcision 
in the old covenant, we need to get this, was never a means 
in that administration to gain acceptance with God. We're not 
dispensationalists. We don't believe that there was 
a dispensation of circumcision, a dispensation of obedience before 
God in order to be reconciled with him or in order to gain 
favor. Circumcision was a sign and seal 
of that covenant whereby people were identified as in union with 
Abraham. They were unified with that covenant 
head, Abraham, and were identified as the covenant people so that 
they could be set apart by the world around them. so that they 
would be that identified God-favored people, the people that would 
bring the progeny of the Messiah, that would bring the Messiah 
to bear in this lower world. Circumcision, though, always 
pointed to a spiritual reality. It always pointed to that reality 
of an inward circumcision, and God always said this in the Old 
Testament. He would say, as a command, circumcise 
the foreskin of your hearts and be stiff-necked no longer. But 
he would go on to say after that what the divine reality is. I 
will circumcise the foreskin of your hearts and I will put 
my spirit within you so that you will walk in my precepts. 
So all here, though, is using the language that the Jews used 
of themselves. We are the circumcision, a claim 
to ethnicity, a claim to being descendants physically of Abraham, 
a claim to all of these things. But in truth, the circumcised 
are really those who believe in Jesus Christ. If you're if 
you're still with me here, turn to Romans, turn to the book of 
Romans. If you're able to navigate there 
to chapter two, we see some of this same language. This same 
language of who the true Jew is. You see, there are claims 
to to descendency, to being the descendants of Abraham. There 
are claims to ethnicity that they are exclusive by virtue 
of their ethnicity in God's people because they're born into national 
identification and national prominence. But notice here at verse 23 of 
Romans 2, you who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God 
through breaking the law? For the name of God is blasphemed 
among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written. For circumcision 
is indeed profitable if you keep the law, but if you are a breaker 
of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised 
man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision 
be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, 
if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written 
code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? Now, without getting 
into detail, Paul is using hypothetical arguments. with regards to the 
law and circumcision with respect to the Jews. But we won't get 
into that right now. Notice verse 28. For he is not 
a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is 
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the 
heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not 
from men, but from God. You see there the true definition 
of the circumcised, those who boast in their ethnicity, boast 
in their righteousness, boast in their religious activities, 
boast in anything else, save for the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, are not the circumcised. But those who are Christian are 
the circumcised, for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor 
is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he 
is a Jew who is one inwardly, who has the circumcision, Of 
the heart, what does that mean? Being born again. What does that 
mean? Being regenerated, being born 
from above. When Paul uses the language of 
his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. That's 
the circumcision of the heart. When Peter writes, you were born 
again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. through the 
word of God, which lives and abides forever. That is the circumcision 
of the heart. That is true circumcision. And. It should be our hope. That our Pato Baptist brothers 
would fight through the mire of tradition to see the clarity, 
the clarity of this text as it pertains to those who are truly 
covenant members. You see, in the New Covenant, 
covenant members, just like the Old Covenant, are ones who are 
circumcised. But you see, in the New Covenant, 
the greater reality ratified and wrought out by Christ is 
that the circumcised in the New Covenant are all those who have 
the circumcision of the heart. All of those who have that circumcision 
of the heart are the covenant people are true Jews. This is 
what the Bible sets forth everywhere. And so were they to cast off 
their perversion of Christ's ordinance, they would embrace 
the blessed reality of the true circumcision, the true reality 
of covenant inclusion. All those who worship God in 
the spirit. rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence 
in the flesh. All of those who are truly saved, 
who are Christians, are those who make up the covenant community. Notice the language that Paul 
continues to use here, the threefold description. They worship God 
in the spirit. The uncircumcision worship God in the spirit. We 
do not, they do not, worship God with outward, empty, external 
ritualism. You see, it was the approach 
of these dogs, these evil workers, these of the mutilation, to approach 
God and to seek favor with him religiously and worshipfully. 
I know that's not a word by external rights of washings and ceremonies 
and circumcisions and all of these things, a heartless approach 
to God, whereas the true circumcision, the true Jew worships from the 
heart. You see, the joy, the joy is 
there for the true circumcision. And they approach from that position 
of joy, from that position of thankfulness, from that position 
of being holy and raptured in the saving power of our perfect 
God. And so we worship God in the 
spirit. You see, it is only the case 
that new covenant members, that covenant members in the new covenant 
have the spirit of God first by virtue of salvation. We have 
been by the spirit of God called from out of darkness into marvelous 
light by the spirit and the word of power. We as Christians have 
that reality of the abiding and indwelling spirit. He dwells 
within us. We have the surety and the guarantee, 
the Holy Spirit, which is the seal, our surety, our guarantee 
of our future redemption, according to Ephesians and chapter one. 
We have the Spirit as that measure given from God that we might 
rightly and that we might properly worship and interpret the word 
and gain illumination from God's revealed will. We worship God 
in the Spirit. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. Don't 
we? If you're a Christian here or 
if you say you're a Christian and you don't and you don't rejoice 
in Christ Jesus, then you're wrong. Now, I grant, as Spurgeon 
did in that wonderful Lord's Day sermon, Lord's Supper sermon 
many years ago, that the Christian can have a langer, the Christian 
can have a coldness. We grant that. But the Christian 
is always quick in that. To repent and to fly back to 
that place where the cross is glorious. Where everything about 
Christ is glorious. Now, I'm not saying that he apostatizes 
and comes completely back. What I'm saying is there are, 
because of remaining corruption, there are things, there are times 
and there are seasons where there seems to be other things put 
first. Spurgeon said even of himself, there are times where 
I think I have almost forgotten my Savior. I have to be reminded. by God and by the word that, 
yes, my Savior is glorious. Yes, my Savior is there for me. That's one of the reasons he 
said, Paul wrote, with regards to the institution of the Lord's 
Supper, do this in remembrance of me. Why? Because as those 
with remaining corruption, we are prone to wander, prone to 
leave the God that we love. That's why, again, wholesome 
repetition is necessary. But we are those, brethren, who 
rejoice in Christ Jesus. Don't we? And time would not 
allow before the second coming of Christ to exhaust all of the 
reasons why we are to rejoice. We just have to think about the 
fact, brethren, that the second of the Blessed Trinity. Praise 
of angels. Right, the praise of angels. In his pre-incarnate glory, angels 
can't cast their eyes upon them, have to hide them with wings. You know, the prophet is just 
is just laid, laid before the glory of the pre-incarnate Jesus 
in Isaiah six, John says in John 12. And he's allowed to look 
at him. It's not because anything was 
great in Isaiah. But he was allowed by God to 
look the pre-incarnate glory of Jesus Christ. And unlike mad, 
charismatic evangelists, he didn't just shave. or drive to Tim Hortons 
with them, not making this stuff up. He pronounced an oral curse 
upon himself before the majesty of Jesus Christ. Woe is me. Woe is me, for I am undone. For my eyes behold the King, 
the Lord of hosts. Right? This one comes down from 
that place of exalted glory. comes into our lower world. And 
brethren, again, if he if he had come in the incarnation, 
dwelt in a mansion on the hills of Jerusalem. Oh, amazing condescension. Oh, merciful coming forth into 
this world, the Savior, the second of the Trinity, God, truly God 
dwelling in a mansion in Jerusalem. Amazing condescension. OK, but 
he comes further, doesn't he? He's a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. Men mock him. Men seek to kill 
him. Jesus had to, engaging and employing 
his divine prerogatives to protect the redemptive endeavor, had 
to hide himself with divine power from those seeking to throw him 
off a cliff, seeking to stone him. It's the second of the Blessed 
Trinity who upholds all things by the word of his power. This 
is the second of the Trinity who gave breath to all those 
Jews mocking Him. To all those ungodly men who 
spit on Him. And Jesus, this one, comes into 
this world to die for sinners. Right? To die for sinners, brethren, 
who mocked Him. You ever think of that scene 
of the cross? You ever think of that scene 
of the cross? Unbelieving Jews. casting dispersions upon God. Right. Looking upon Jesus, this 
one promised over centuries to come and to be the suffering 
servant, mocking him. Some spit on him. And brethren, we cast our eyes 
in that scene. And what do we read? Not too 
many days after his resurrection, We see in his ascension, we see, 
in fact, the next the next day, the day of Pentecost. Who are 
saved on the day of Pentecost? Jews. Unbelieving Jews. It is not a stretch. It is not 
a stretch. To say that there were those 
on that day of Pentecost who, by the power of God, now laid 
their eyes of faith upon the exalted king of glory that were 
on that day of the crucifixion, saying, you set yourself free 
from their Messiah, mocking him. It's not a stretch. Those who 
once said his blood be upon us and our children are now availing 
by his blood and rejoicing in it. Blessed Redeemer, blessed 
Savior, we rejoice in Christ Jesus because he is perfect in 
his person. Perfect in his perfections, all 
his glorious attributes. We rejoice in Christ Jesus because 
of the perfection of his work. Not that the perfection of his 
person is out of view here, but Paul is honing in on the perfection 
of his work as he's going to get to that. How dare you ungodly 
dogs drag that doctrine through the mud. We rejoice in Christ 
Jesus because he is the perfect champion of salvation. Cut your 
flesh to add to the perfect work of Jesus. Dogs. Dogs. And lastly, have no confidence 
in the flesh. I'm sure we've touched on this. 
We have during the course of this sermon. Primarily in view 
is the act of circumcision. But that's not all that's in 
view, because Paul goes on to give his resume. What also does 
boasting in the flesh look like? Circumcised the eighth day, primarily, 
of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of 
the Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, 
persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in 
the law, blameless. You see, there are multitudinous 
ways of having confidence in the flesh. We'll get to it tonight, but 
don't be a baptized Pharisee. Right, we derive that Pharisee 
who's with the tax collector at the temple praying. You know, 
thank you, God, that I'm not like this other man. Thank you, 
God, that I fast. Thank you, God, that I tithe, 
et cetera. We derive. But don't be the baptized Pharisee 
that in your Christianity you seek to boast in your flesh while 
deriding others because they're not like you. Don't heap up to 
yourself your own little canons, your own little checklist of 
reasons why you can boast in your Christianity and boast before 
God. Brethren, perseverance in the 
faith, perseverance in Christianity depends not upon anything that 
you do. That's our confession. Perseverance 
depends not upon our own free will, but upon what? upon the 
immutability of the decree of election flowing from the free 
and sovereign grace of God, by the merits and the intercessory 
work of Jesus Christ, by the seal of the Spirit, the perfection 
of the oath of God and the covenant of grace. Brethren, our salvation 
depends solely and alone upon the triune God, wholesome repetition, 
here it comes now, who from first to last, midst and throughout, 
saves without a helper. We rejoice in Him and we have 
no confidence in the flesh. If you're here this morning and 
you are not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have confidence 
in the flesh to some degree. It may be confidence in your 
own system of epistemology, that's the doctrine of knowledge, your 
own philosophy. It's the love of wisdom. You 
love your own wisdom. There's Christianity thing. I 
don't know. Or it's Christianity thing. I'll 
say I'll stay close. I'll stay close. I got some friends 
here, some family. It's kind of neat. We can talk 
about stuff before and after church, and I kind of like some 
people. But, you know, this whole Jesus thing, I'm going to put 
that off. I'm going to put that off. Don't, Terry. Don't dangle. There are multitudinous 
ways of being ushered into eternity. Ushered into eternity. Vehicles 
on the road. Maladies. Things falling from 
the sky. You read reports of... I'm not 
making light of it. People dying on a golf course 
because a tree fell. People dying sleeping in their 
house because a plane crashed into it. Or a drunk driver, you 
know, went over the curb and into their bedroom. Don't think, 
because you're not, that you are unbreakable. Don't think 
that you are immortal. Oh, there is an ever-dying soul. 
And that is what you need to be concerned about. If you're 
not safely in Jesus Christ, be convinced of this thing. There 
is judgment for you and it will not go well. Depart from me, 
you wicked, into the lake of fire reserved for the devil and 
his angels. And that will be a righteous 
declaration and a holy and a right one. Because time and again, 
you broke the law of your creator and lawgiver. Because time and 
again, you trampled upon his precepts and laughed at those 
who worship the one who only ever perfectly kept them. Do 
we perfectly keep them? No. Have we ever? No. Christians. But we were once 
those who denied the Lord Jesus Christ and who lived after our 
iniquities, but by grace, By the amazing and victorious grace 
of God, we rejoice in Him. And we call upon you to rejoice 
in this blessed Savior. Why would you set this one away? 
Why would you put Him on the shelf? You can't. But you know 
what I mean. Why would you put Him there? Glorious in His perfections. Comes down. If you want a hero, 
kids, Jesus Christ. If you want a hero, Jesus Christ. Okay? You can't take your hockey 
cards with you into eternity. You can't take your favorite 
animated superhero with armor into eternity. We have this false 
idea of who heroes are. We have this false idea of condescension. We marvel when a politician stops 
walking along his path to his limo to shake hands with us civilians. Or, you know, when someone famous, 
perhaps, you see at an airport, oh, you know, running over to 
him, sign my flight ticket. Oh, wow, he talked to me. We 
have a horrible idea of condescension. The only act, brethren, of true 
condescension ever is when the son of glory descended from that 
pinnacle of glory and came and fleshed in a virgin for a life 
of humility. It's the only act of true condescension 
ever. So only marvel at that one. Only 
marvel at that one and only have this Christ as your hero, because 
he is the only one that can safely bring you into that blessed eternity 
where we'll forever sing, Hallelujah, what a Savior. So kids, believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Adults, everyone, believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And brethren, 
rejoice in the Lord. Guard the truth or to beware 
of false teachers. Guard the truth with your hardest 
grip. And we'll see what truth Paul 
has in view here, because the greatest attack upon the truth 
always comes upon the work of Jesus Christ, that perfect work. And we'll see that tonight. But 
until then, rejoice in the Lord and those who currently do not 
believe in him and find in him all proper things. for eternal 
life, all glorious things for life now. And you'll rejoice 
in him also. Let us pray. God, we thank you 
so much for the gospel. We thank you so much for Jesus. 
We thank you, Lord God, for what he did and who he is. Truly, 
Lord Jesus, we praise you for coming into this world, for departing 
glory, for coming into this lower world. to live a perfect life 
of obedience to your father, a perfect, joyful walk of obedience 
to your father's law on our behalf. And thank you also on our behalf, 
Lord Jesus, that you died upon Calvary's tree so as to perfectly 
secure the salvation of a multitude that no man can number. And we 
do pray that we would rejoice in you. That that rejoicing would 
be seen. Being wary of those who seek 
to oppose your truths. That we would guard ourselves. 
That we would guard our hearts and our minds. and that we would 
rejoice in the fact that we are of the circumcision, not that 
done in the flesh, but that which is done by you upon the heart 
in sovereign grace, and that we would rejoice in Christ Jesus, 
that we would worship you in the spirit, and that we would 
certainly, most certainly, find no confidence in the flesh. We 
pray that you'd go with us now. Help us to glory in truth. Help 
us to glory in the Christ of truth. Help us, Lord God, to 
seek in this lower world to live in a manner worthy of our calling 
by grace. And it's in Christ's name that 
we pray. Amen.