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Psalm 73:16-28

Psalm 73:16–28 ESV

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 9:1-3

Psalm 9:1–3 ESV

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.

Sermon

Well once again and as always good morning church, I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship. In the house of the Lord.

Most other pastors, never me, but most other pastors they get in trouble because they use a certain word that doesn't always mean to them What the word's supposed to mean. And that word that many pastors often use is the word. “Finally”. Okay, you'll see it when it's like, well, let me get to my last point And then they preach for 20 more minutes, right?” And finally”, let me say this for the next three quarters of the sermon, maybe sometimes. And that's because “finally”, especially when we're preaching doesn't always mean, I'm finally saying what I want. But rather in the list of things, this is the last one, but it might be the most important. It might be the biggest and it might take another 20 to 30 minutes of me preaching to get to the end of it.

Well, Paul will begin our passage for today with the word finally. But he still has two full chapters of Philippians left, so he doesn't mean like I'm ending my letter rather He's trying to get us to see the end of the argument, he's been making In a lot of ways, since the very beginning.

The thought has been growing in Paul's writing to the letter of the, to the church in caesarea Philippi They need to be thankful. And joyful. They need to push for the advancement of the Gospel. They need to live in Christ. Because as Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 1 to live is Christ and die is gain.

So Philippians chapter 1 verse 27: Only let your manner of life. Be worthy of the Gospel live.

A worthy gospel life— What does that look like? It looks like humility. Doing nothing from selfish ambition, or conceit... It looks like living with the mind of Christ within you. It looks like obedience to what God has commanded. It looks like. Doing all things Philippians 2 14 without grumbling or disputing. It looks like the examples that we have in Timothy and epaphroditus. And if you have all of those things together, if you're working through all of these things, living a life worthy of the Gospel. Living a humble life obeying What God has commanded imitating and honoring those that God has placed in our lives. Well then. The end of that life. Is what Paul will write about today.

Philippians 3:1–3 ESV

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—

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open with a word of prayer.

Dear Lord. We thank you for today. We thank you. For the joy that you have given to us, that we know that we are hid in Christ. We thank you for this joy and privilege of being yours of knowing you and more importantly being known by you. Thank you for your love and grace. Thank you for all the precious gifts that you give us your son, your spirit, and today your word, Pray that you would reveal yourself to us, that you would open our eyes to see what you have said and done. Give us ears to hear, help us to be a people who are changed by your word. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. And amen.

Finally now We turn our attention to what Paul is commanding. And it's simply the same thing that's been in the Boiling up in the bottom, overflowing the top, all throughout the book of Philippians. The book of Philippians at its core Is about the joy That we have in the gospel. And so what's his final command here, it's to Rejoice. To have joy.

As so today we will spend our time LOOKING at that Joy. But as we have joy, what I want to encourage us to see. Is that he's calling us to look in.

Look IN

Not in ourselves, right? When you hear “look in”, you might begin to think. Well, this is some self-reflection. We look into ourselves and we find joy in who we are and those things inside of us that make us… whatever… that's not what I mean. When I say “look in” Where do we look in to? We look in Christ.

Finally, my brothers rejoice in the Lord.

The rejoicing that we have comes not from our own strength and might it comes not from who we are… or Apart from the fact that we are in Jesus. Truly this thought this phrase being “in Christ” has been saturating and filling Philippians. that has been a huge part of the theme of Philippians If there's an encouragement in Christ, have this mind which is yours in Christ Jesus. We live in Christ therefore to live is Christ and to die is gain this thought of being in Christ, becomes the identity and the point of what Paul is saying.

So as we try to summarize all the arguments, as we think about what everything that Paul has said so far as we, we begin to look at what Paul has said We “look in” And by that, I mean, we look to where we are in, which is Christ To be in Christ to walk in the new life that he gives us in the victory, in the goodness, in the grace in the mercy of God, that is available to us, in Jesus Christ is the point.

And Paul says in this, you must Rejoice. And this is the easiest thing Paul has ever written. Paul's written a lot of difficult things, right? Go read all of Paul's letters. He's had to condemn Sinners. Teach churches how to kick people out because they live in unrepentant sin, he's had to deal with the difficulty of pain and suffering… He's had to write things. Like, even if I am poured out like a drink, offering upon the sacrificial altar of your faith. I Rejoice. That's a hard one. I'll Rejoice even if it costs me my life… that’s hard… But this one's easy. Rejoice In Christ Jesus.

Rejoice in the Lord, that's easy for him to write. Because that becomes for him, the source of all his Joy. So finally, Rejoice in the Lord. As we weigh out everything else. As we look to this Cosmic scale of all of life in the universe, The point is this. Rejoice in the Lord, You are probably familar with the old song, simple yet profound: rejoice in the lord always. And again I say, Rejoice. That's the point.

To write this for Paul. Is no trouble to me. To write to you in the Lord is where you must find your joy. It's not hard. Because it's true. And maybe this being encouragement to you, We went through Ecclesiastes. And one of the things, the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote was: Enjoy life with the wife whom you love. All of us who are married can attest. That's not always easy to do. And we felt the weight of Ecclesiastes. When the writer of Ecclesiastes said, Vanity, vanity all is vanity. wisdom vanity. Hard work, vanity. All of these things, it's all vanity. So, what's the easy thing to say, rejoice in the Lord! Because he is the only one who will never let you down.

Your work, your life, your spouse, your kids, everything else in the world will let you down. So rejoice in the Lord. Find your joy in him. Because this isn't just easy for Paul to write to write the same. Things is no trouble to me. It's also safe. For the Philippians.

To write the same things to, you is no trouble to me and is safe. For you.

Christ is the one who shelters and cares for us. He protects us. He guards us. He keeps us, he's a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He's the one who has defeated all the enemies of mankind, sin, and death to rest, and find your joy. In him is incredibly safe.

There's a bit of irony in what Paul is saying here because to follow Christ may cost you your life but to find your joy in him is perfectly safe. You will never be let down. If you are in Christ, His Joy will never leave you nor forsake you it's safe. He will hold you and keep you for all time. Look to who we are. In Christ. That's the point. If you hear nothing from this sermon. If you have nothing for this entire series, through the book of Philippians hear this? Find your joy. In the Lord, that is the point that all of this book hinges on.

And it's easy for Paul to write. It's safe for you. As a pastor. It's the easiest thing for me to preach. Find your joy in the Lord and nowhere else. You will be disappointed if you find your joy in anything, other than Christ. Look to Him. Look in. As in look into where you are in Christ, But as after we look in, find our joy security, our safety. In the joy of the Lord. We then have another exhortation. Look out.

Look OUT

We find this phrase three times in verse two, look out. This is a translation of one, Greek word, that's repeated over and over again in the Greek. So we get the same thought as we read in English.

Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evil doers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh

beware.... Be very, very careful. Because there are those who will seek to steal your joy, by changing your mind. And having you believe, and think wrong things about the joy that you get in the Lord.

That's ultimately where we're getting to with these things. The threefold repetition often symbolizes a completeness. This is a complete and total command to look out. And Paul lists for us, three things to look out for dogs, evil doers, and those who mutilate the flesh. Ultimately, he's speaking of one group here, he uses three different words and all of them help illuminate. What exactly it is that we need to be aware of.

He says look out for the dogs. I don't think. In fact, I know Paul doesn't mean literally, hey, there's dogs running around little puppy dogs. You need to watch out because those dogs can hurt you instead. He is speaking of A group of people we would call the judaizers. These were people. Who were teaching. In many churches in many places. That to be a Christian. The simple way to put this is It required Christ AND Jesus AND

Paul has just said, the joy of the Lord... rejoice in him. This is no trouble and it's safe. But then he begins to think, but there are people who may come who will try to convince you that in order to have the joy that you have in the Lord requires Jesus and something else. They'll say you need to be clean. You need to be... Ultimately, their law was their their command was, you need to be following all the right Jewish laws. And these involved things with involving ceremonial Purity. And then something else that we'll talk about a little bit later and then we'll talk a lot about on Thursday, Grace group… If you're in the Thursday groups, if you're on the Tuesday group, you'll talk Tuesday this week at Grace group.... That's just old habit. Saying, Thursday, on Grace group…

But these judiazers say: You need to be clean. They would teach And in Jewish culture. Certain animals and certain things were considered unclean and one of the most unclean was actually dogs. Culturally. The Jewish people living 2000 years ago. Didn't have pet dogs, right? I have two dogs in my house named June and Penny love them to death. Paul's not talking about my pets. When Paul says, look out for the dogs, he wants us to think of feral awful, dogs, that run around, eating garbage, causing a Ruckus and being disgusting creatures.

By calling The judaizers dogs. He's saying they think they are clean but in fact, they are unclean. Why are they unclean? Because they are trying to convince the people that they need. Jesus plus a following of the law, and they don't, they need only Jesus.

Note here, Paul is not teaching that the the Philippians shouldn't lead a holy life. How do we know that? Well, he just taught in the book of Philippians. Let your manner of your life, be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Be humble live like Timothy and epaphroditus. He's convinced us to live a good life.

What he is teaching us here is you don't need to follow the law for the sake of the law. You follow the law of Christ. --That's a phrase he'll use elsewhere — So those who say you need to follow Jesus and do this To be clean, they're dogs and look out for them.

Anyone who comes to you and preaches, Jesus. And They're unclean. Stay away. Look out for the dogs.

Look out for the evil doers. He, he compounds what he's saying, it's not just that these people are unclean. They are, in fact. Evil. It is a vile sin to Proclaim. Jesus. And It is a sin to Proclaim salvation in Christ and it is evil to Proclaim Christ AND…

We stand on. The fancy way to say this.. Would be that we stand on the five solas. This is what we Proclaim salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone. In Christ Alone, according to the scriptures alone to the glory of God alone. There's no needed Works, there's no needed anything to add to how we achieve salvation. And watch out for anyone who tells you Otherwise.

they are not just unclean, they are workers of evil. A few years ago, I was talking to my sister. And we were having a Spirited conversation, it's a nice way to say that. About judging. She thought. I was judgmental. I said, Sure. We all are. Everyone makes judgments. But if you think I judge the world harshly, You should hear the way I talk about those who claim the name of Jesus, but don't actually preach Jesus.

The world is vile sinful their heart set against God, they're bad. But I expect Sinners to sin. But those who claim the name of Christ, but yet preach Christ AND are dogs and evil doers and what's worse They are mutilators of the flesh.

Look out Paul look out for the dogs, look out for the evil doers and look out for those who mutilate the flesh. These judaizers went around teaching. Sure. Gentiles can join the church. If they are first circumcised, that's specifically, what Paul is talking about here.

So he is speaking of the mutilation of the flesh. This is language, meaning. They're teaching you must be circumcised. So it's not just they go around, you have to be clean and follow the law. And they're preaching Christ and and trying to to warp the gospel that's evil, they are teaching Christ. And they are warping the gospel in a way that excludes — in very personal and private and important and painful way — The Gentiles. And Paul says, these people are vile awful. People look out for them. They will rob you of your joy. They will rob you of your security that you have in Christ.

They can rob you of a whole bunch.

The blunt way to put this: You do not need to be circumcised. To be a Christian.

Now, those of us living 2000 years after Paul wrote this, that's like well, duh… But this was Sort of. World. Altering when Paul wrote this, there was a whole Council in Jerusalem where they dealt with. Well, how do we handle this?

And again, this is what we will talk about in Grace group this week, but this sort of short version is For thousands of years before the church, this was how the people of God were marked. But this is no longer how the people of God are marked. Instead, we are marked by our first point, being in Christ.

And when we are there, We are safe and secure and we are God's people. And so look out for those who would add to what is required of you. anything more than faith in Jesus. Repent. And come to him and find a perfect savior, that's it. And in this, you can rejoice in the Lord.

So we look to who we are in Christ and then we look out for those who would seek to add to or warp what the gospel truly is. And then, You can look up.

Look UP

For we Paul says are the circumcision… again. Let's not get caught up in the language of the circumcision. We are the people of God marked sealed and saved by him. We are God's people — Who worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.

To look up. Is to look to Who we are in Christ, and then we look up to honor and glory in him. This command to look up here. I see three different points here again.

So, Paul really likes these threes, right? It's dogs… Evildoers... mutilators… Well here. We have three ways that we are called to look up.

The first is we worship... For we are the circumcision who worship by the spirit of God.

When the spirit is inside of us… the spirit, which is the right of all believers, who indwells, all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ, the spirit at work within us, causes us to worship in spirit and in truth, We worship we glory in him. So, the first way we look up is to worship. In all that, that means, It's it's a life devoted to him. It's singing Praises. It's offering him due glory, honor and praise. We look up by worshiping him. We are those who worship by the spirit of God,

And we (number two) glory In Christ Jesus.

This is an interesting thought here Glory. In Christ.

I'm really good. You all have heard me preach many times. I'm pretty good at letting us all know how awful we are. Wretched often, When I hear the song, Amazing Grace, the line that I most resonate with, is that saved a wretch like me.

But what Paul is saying here is Sure. That can be true, but it can also be true that we glory in Christ. As we look in, right, we got to go all the way back to the beginning here. But as we are identified in Christ, We then shine with his glory. And our Glory becomes the glory of Christ given to us. We got to be careful here. He is the one who has been, given the name above all other names and the name of Jesus. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess. Yes.

But we who are in Christ then shine like lights to the world and Christ becomes our glory. I have nothing. Of my own goodness or strength or might to bring yet I glory in Christ. Part of a kingdom, a nation of priests unto God, the father For my glory is Christ. As we look up part of it is understanding we worship by the spirit of God, but we also glory in him.

And finally, we have confidence.

But where does that confidence? Come from Paul says this negatively. For we are the circumcision who worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence. In the Flesh.

So, where do we get our confidence from? It's Christ. Apart from him, we have no confidence… in him We have all confidence. Here's the point.

We are called. To rejoice. To tell you to rejoice in the Lord is no problem for me and it's safe for you. As you rejoice in the Lord, as you find your joy in him, watch out for those who would seek to steal your joy for the dogs. The evil doers the mutilators of the flesh who seek to add to or take away from the hope and truth of the Gospel. Because here is the truth when we are in Christ. We worship according to the spirit of God, we glory in Christ Jesus and we have all confidence that he who send his own son, will he not with him graciously? Give us all things. That Christ, who conquered sin, and death, and rose victoriously. On the third day will surly save us and keep us. He being the firstborn of the dead will surely save all those who who Call upon his name, we could go on and on and on with the confidence we have in Christ. That's the point.

So Rejoice.

Though, the world is difficult. Though, our calling is high, the we must humble ourselves in all of this rejoice in the Lord.

That's the point.

Let's pray.