Rejoice in the Lord
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THE READING -
THE READING -
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— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
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PRAYER
PRAYER
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
[Illus] The man walked up to my uncle in his front yard and asked, “When you stand before God and he asks you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven,’ what will you say?”
The answer to that question reveals where our confidence is when it comes to salvation.
Some people appeal to future knowledge. “Oh, I think I’ll know when the time comes.” But what makes them so sure?
Some people appeal to moral record. “Oh, I think I’m a pretty good person so, I think God is going to let me in.” (This is really nothing more than sinful pride in one’s moral identity or good works.)
Some people appeal to moral record. “Oh, I think God will let me in. I’m a pretty good person.” But how do you know?
Others though appeal to religious record. “Oh, I was baptized. I went to church. My daddy was a pastor. One time, I even read the Bible all the way through.” (There is sinful pride here as well, but here the sinful pride is in one’s religious good works and that can really trip some people up.)
Others though appeal to religious record. “Oh, I was baptized. I went to church. My daddy was a pastor. One time, I even read the Bible all the way through.” But are you certain that you’ve done enough?
[Inter] Are you confident that you will go to Heaven? What is the grounds for your confidence?
Another way of asking this question is, If you got into Heaven, what would be your reason for rejoicing?
[Context] This morning we come to a new section in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi.
The word “finally” at the beginning of sounds like the letter is coming to a close but Paul wrote more after this “finally” than he did before it.
The word could be translated as “moreover” or “furthermore” and that’s what Paul meant as he moved into a new section of material.
No, by God’s grace, Paul still had more to write for the benefit of the Philippians then as well as for us this morning.
[CIT] This morning we’ll look at verses 1-3 in which Paul commanded the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord, warned them against those who would rob them of that joy, and revealed to them the identity and practices of those who rejoice in the Lord.
[PROP] As we study these verses we’ll see that faith in Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected is the only sure grounds of our confidence, the only true reason for our rejoicing in salvation now and in Heaven to come.
Another way of asking this question, What is your reason for rejoicing?
[TS] {see below}
MAJOR IDEAS
MAJOR IDEAS
First, let’s notice THE COMMAND: Rejoice in the Lord (v. 1a).
First, let’s notice THE COMMAND: Rejoice in the Lord (v. 1a).
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
[Exp]
[Exp] This is a clear command that God issues to every Christian, to all of Paul’s brothers and sisters in Christ. We followers of Jesus are to express our joy, express our gladness, or express our happiness in the Lord Jesus.
[Exp]
That phrase “in the Lord” is an important qualification on this command. We are not just called to rejoice but to rejoice in the Lord!
How do we do that? First, let’s think about how we don’t do that.
We don’t rejoice in the Lord by looking to our circumstances.
Most people are slaves to their circumstances.
If their circumstances are good, they’re happy. If their circumstances are bad, they’re sad. If they’re enjoying their jobs or marriages, they rejoice. But if they’re not enjoying those things, they get the mopes.
But rejoicing in the Lord Jesus is to set our joy on a circumstance that will never change; namely, that Jesus lived perfectly, died sacrificially, and rose triumphantly to save us from our sins and bring glory to his Father!
When the house burns down, you won’t be “happy in the house,” but you can be “happy in the Lord” because Jesus lived, died, and rose for you!
That circumstance will never change, so rejoice in the Lord!
We also don’t rejoice in the Lord by looking to others.
People are notoriously unreliable creatures. Just after they promise to come through, they fail to show up.
Now, it’s not always our fault that we are notoriously unreliable. We are creatures and we often lack the power to keep our promises no matter what. I might promise to pick up the kids, but something as simple as a flat tire could keep me from keeping that promise.
That’s why its foolish to set your joy and happiness on other people. Either intentionally or unintentionally they will let you down.
But rejoicing in the Lord Jesus is to set our joy on Someone who will never let us down. After all, he lived the perfect life before God that we should have lived. Although he had no sin, he died the death for our sins that we should have died. He rose from the dead to newness of life so that through faith in him we too can be counted as dead to sin and alive to God!
Jesus is the One who never lets us down, so rejoice in the Lord!
And we don’t rejoice in the Lord by looking to ourselves.
This is the worst place to find your joy and happiness!
Do you know what the common factor is in all my failures? ME! I’m the problem!
If you don’t see this about yourself then you are blinded by sinful pride and it will take a miracle of God for your to see yourself for the wretch you are, but you should ask him for that miracle anyway. You should pray, “Lord, show me that I’m the problem so that I quit looking to my self for happiness and joy and gladness.”
Jesus, however, is not a wretch. He died to save wretches, but he’s not a wretch. He has never failed. He has never gone to sleep with regrets. He doesn’t look back on mistakes he’s made because he has made no mistakes.
He died for our imperfection but HE IS PERFECT, so rejoice in the Lord!
Now, the specific grounds of our rejoicing in the Lord Jesus is found - this is what we are rejoicing in when we rejoice in the Lord. Paul writes, “(to) be found in (Jesus)...
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
Oh this is it! This is the gospel! The good news!
That we sinners are declared righteous (i.e., declared perfect) before God, not by keeping the law, but through faith in the perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ, who “knew no sin” but became sin on the cross “so that in (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God,” ().
This is the Doctrine of Justification and it our grounds for rejoicing!
Justification is “God’s declaring a sinful person to be ‘just’ on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ,” (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms).
Now, if you want to marvel at the justification that God has provided for us in Jesus Christ, you need to read Romans. Listen to a few excerpts...
Romans 3:23-
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-
who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Romans 4:25
And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
Romans 5:16-18
[App] This justification - this being declared righteous - through faith in Jesus Christ is the grounds for our confidence in salvation!
[Illus]
It’s the reason we are commanded to rejoice in the Lord!
[App]
I think you’re going to feel this even more as we come to this next part.
[TS] {move straight to THE WARNING}
Notice THE WARNING: Look out for the dogs (v. 1a-2).
Notice THE WARNING: Look out for the dogs (v. 1a-2).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
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.
[Exp]
[Exp]
[Exp] The justification that we before God have through faith alone in Christ alone is a truth that we need to be continually reminded of, because there are false teachers who would love to lead us away from it.
[Exp]
Paul had warned the Philippians about this brand of false teaching in the past and he was glad to do so again. These false teachers were known as the Judaizers.
The Judaizers sought to impose Jewish laws and rituals on Christians in Paul’s day.
They were actually making the claim that one could no assurance of salvation, no confidence in having been justified before God, unless they kept the Jewish law and observed the Jewish rituals.
These were likely the “opponents” that Paul referred to in ...
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
-
The Judaizers, whether they realized it or not, surely had a frightening message. If a person could only be saved by keeping the Jewish law, they were certain to be condemned, because it is impossible for anyone to keep the law of God perfectly.
The law cannot justify us before God because in our disobedience to the law we proved ourselves to be unjustified.
Therefore, we need a justification outside of ourselves; we need a righteousness that is alien to us; and that’s exactly what God provided for us in Jesus Christ!
Anyone who would lead us away from faith alone in Christ alone as our justification before God is a evildoing dog!
These false teachers are the false circumcision or those who merely mutilate the flesh without circumcising the heart.
Circumcision was the mark of the covenant for the Jewish people. It signified being severed from the sinful flesh of man and sealed unto God. To bear the mark of circumcision was to bear the mark of God.
As the it, to bear the mark of circumcision was to bear the mark of God.
But the outward mark was to reflect an inward reality; the mark of circumcision in the flesh was meant to reflect the mark of circumcision on the heart. Listen to ...
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
:
Also, ...
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
And listen to what Paul writes in ...
For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
By warning the Philippians about these dogs, these evildoers, this false circumcision, these mere mutilators of the flesh, Paul is trying to keep the Philippians “safe.”
Paul is attempting to keep the Philippians from stumbling in their faith; Given the seriousness of the subject (justification), he is attempting to keep them from stumbling into hell.
Paul is attempting to keep the Philippians from stumbling in their faith.
Given the seriousness of the subject (i.e., justification by faith alone in Christ alone), he is attempting to keep them from stumbling into hell.
The only safe place from the wrath of God is in Christ alone through faith alone.
[App] Trying to keep the law perfectly is as impossible as turning water into wine with a thought. It would be like trying to calm a raging sea with your voice. It would be like trying to feed thousands and thousands and thousands of people with five loaves and two fish. It’s as impossible as walking on water, raising the dead with a command, or raising yourself from the dead (; ).
Know anyone who can do impossible things like that?
[App]
I only know One and his Name is Jesus!
Through faith alone in him alone his perfect record of law keeping become my perfect record of law keeping; and my disgusting record of law breaking died with him on the cross!
You see, if I depend on him alone for salvation, I’m saved! Faith alone in him alone is a fountain of living water leading to eternal life!
But if I depend on him and my own obedience to God, it’s like a poisoned well. Sure, there’s water in it, but if you drink it, you’ll die.
The only way to be saved from God’s wrath that bears down on you because of you sin, is by faith alone in Jesus alone!
[TS] {move straight to THE REALITY}
Finally, notice THE REALITY: We are the circumcision (v. 3).
Finally, notice THE REALITY: We are the circumcision (v. 3).
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
[Exp]
[Exp] The true members of God’s covenant people are those who have been circumcised in heart. The Holy Spirit has in fact given them a new heart that is dead to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We born again followers of Jesus Christ are the true circumcision!
[Exp]
That’s the reality and because of that reality, here’s what we do...
We worship by the Spirit of God.
We glory in Christ Jesus.
We glory in Christ Jesus.
We put no confidence in the flesh.
We put no confidence in the flesh.
This worship is not primarily external. It is supernaturally internal, meaning it takes place in the heart before its ever expressed outwardly.
The Spirit’s regenerating power; his awakening our dead hearts by God’s grace through faith in the atoning working of Jesus Christ as our only justification before God; that reality fuels our worship and gives meaning to all our external expressions of it.
[Illus] “The Holy Spirit hasn’t been in that church for years.” I hear that from time-to-time.
[Illus] “The Holy Spirit hasn’t been in that church for years.” I hear that from time-to-time. I was once asked to come pray and share my testimony for a certain ministry that was going to have a professional baseball player give his testimony as well. I decided not to, however, when I learned that the professional baseball player was known for saying, “Every baptist church I’ve ever been to is dead. There’s no move of the Holy Spirit in those churches.”
I was once asked to come pray and share my testimony for a certain ministry. That same ministry was going to have a professional baseball player (someone I never heard of) give his testimony as well.
I decided not to, however, when I learned from another pastor that the professional baseball player was known for saying, “Every baptist church I’ve ever been to is dead. There’s no move of the Holy Spirit in those churches.”
What would say? Have you said things like? Do you think that’s true about baptist churches specifically? Do you think that’s true of all churches generally? Here’s the most important question, “By what criteria are we measuring the Spirit’s presence in a church?” Or asked in the language of v. 3, “What does it mean to ‘worship by the Spirit of God’?”
What do you think? Do you agree? Have you said things like before?
Here’s the most important question, “How are we measuring the Spirit’s presence in a church?” Or asked in the language of v. 3, “What does it mean to ‘worship by the Spirit of God’?”
It doesn’t mean that we will be moved to tears. It doesn’t mean that angel feathers will fall from the ceiling. It doesn’t meant that we will jabber on in unintelligible gibberish. It doesn’t mean that people will be healed.
It doesn’t mean that we will be moved to tears. It doesn’t mean that angel feathers will fall from the ceiling. It doesn’t meant that we will jabber on in unintelligible gibberish. It doesn’t mean that people will be healed. It doesn’t even mean that people will be saved.
To worship by the Spirit of God means precisely what I’ve already said. It means to worship God from a heart that has embraced the grace of God in Jesus Christ by the indwelling work of the Spirit; seeing that grace of God in Jesus Christ as the only means of our justification before God.
To worship by the Spirit of God means precisely what I’ve already said: It means to worship God from a heart that has embraced the grace of God in Jesus Christ by the indwelling work of the Spirit.
It is the glad response to seeing the grace of God in Jesus Christ as the only means of our justification before God.
Worship by the Spirit of God is a joyously grateful response by the saved to the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Simply put, worship by the Spirit of God is a joyously grateful response by the saved to the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Sometimes people say a church is dead, that there is no move of the Spirit, because the service doesn’t end with everyone crying or whipped up in some other emotional frenzy.
But real worship, “worship by the Spirit,” has only one aim: to ascribe to God his worth in response to the gracious gift of his Son. That’s the Spirit’s work. Jesus said in ...
But real worship, “worship by the Spirit,” has only one aim: to ascribe to God his worth in response to the gracious gift of his Son. That’s the Spirit’s work that he works in the redeemed! Jesus said in ...
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
Worship that is not centered on Jesus is not worship by the Spirit!
Worship that is not grateful to God for the death and resurrection of Jesus as the atoning work of grace, which has saved us from the wrath of God, is not worship by the Spirit!
W
Where worship is focused on Christ there the Spirit is moving!
Where worship is focused on Christ there the Spirit is moving!
People have said to me, “I just love Emmanuel. I just don’t understand why it doesn’t grow.” I want the church to grow as well. I pray that God would grow his church. I am not, however, willing to do what is displeasing to God in order to grow the church.
We live in a consumer age and the church is often expected to act like a business in order to attract consumers. The bottom line in any business is sales and you can’t make sales without consumers. So, a business will do whatever it takes to most effectively draw in consumers. Businesses pander to customers in order to satisfy their demands. When businesses doesn’t do that, the customers take their business elsewhere.
Now, that’s the way it works in business, but its not the way it works in the church. At least, its not the way it should work in the church.
The church is not a business!
The church doesn’t produce a consumer product, it makes Christian disciples.
It doesn’t offer a service to customers, it proclaims a Savior to sinners.
It doesn’t seek to satisfy the demands of consumers, but aims to worship God in Spirit and truth (i.e., from the heart in obedience to God’s Word).
Sometimes people ask, “What do you have for my children at your church?” Other times its, “What do you have for my teenagers at your church?” And still other times its, “What kind of college ministry or singles ministry do you have?”
You might disagree, but I think these questions and others similar to them are just various ways of asking the same question, “What does your church offer me?”
But that question reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of why the church exists. The church exists to ascribe to the Creator his worth, not to satisfy the demand of the consumer.
You can tell churches have forgotten this today, because in larger measure they remove everything that could be offensive to people even if that thing pleases God and will do anything to draw people in even if it means running God out!
The wrath of God (i.e., preaching on the reality of hell) makes people uncomfortable. So, it’s gotta go!
The exclusivity of Christ (i.e., preaching on Jesus as the only way of salvation) makes people uncomfortable. So, it’s gotta go!
Our own convention sends survey after survey and then at least by implication says, “Here’s what the lost people want. Give it to them!” But the lost soul doesn’t know what is needs!
When we make these kinds of decisions we should ask ourselves the questions Paul did in ...
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Worship by the Spirit of God glories or boasts in Christ and not in self (i.e., it puts no confidence in the flesh). Worship is not about me or any other man, woman, or child. Worship is about Jesus alone for it is through faith alone in him alone that we are saved!
We put no confidence in the flesh.
[Illus]
Our worshipping, our glorying, our boasting is in Christ!
[App]
Those who rejoice in the Lord make there banner...
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.
[TS] {conclusion}
[TS] {end}
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Glory to God! Let’s pray.
Notes
Notes
“I know I’m saved because I walked the aisle and I prayed with the preacher and I was baptized and I got a certificate that says I’m Christian now!”
“I know my son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, friend, or neighbor is a Christian because I saw God do something in their heart during that revival or youth camp or church meeting.”
The question is not, “Did you see it?” but rather, “Are you seeing it?”
“safeguard” = not to trip; Paul is attempting to keep the Philippians from stumbling in their faith; Given the seriousness of the subject (justification), he is attempting to keep them from stumbling into hell.
“write to you again” = ; the bit about the “opponents”
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Deut
in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations.
“Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.
For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Believers Exercise Discernment
God, the apostle declared, prefers uncircumcised but obedient Gentiles to circumcised but disobedient Jews. True “circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit.” No ritual—not circumcision, baptism, communion, or any other—can transform the heart. And only those with transformed hearts can please God.
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Believers Exercise Discernment
Katatomē (false circumcision) literally means “mutilation”; the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) used the related verb katatemnō to describe pagan religious mutilation in Leviticus 21:5 and 1 Kings 18:28.
The NASB uses the phrase “false circumcision” to describe the circumcision of the false teachers that Paul warned against. The ESV calls them “those who mutilate the flesh.” The Greek word literally means “mutilation” but “false circumcision” is still helpful, for a circumcision that didn’t take place in the heart was a false circumcision, nothing more than a mutilation of the flesh.
In the same way, an religious act we are more familiar with like baptism is “false baptism,” unless there has first been a baptism of the heart. If that’s the case, its nothing more than getting wet. Or take worship for example. When worship isn’t from the heart, it’s false worship; nothing more than singing songs or listening to a speech. How about service? Service when not from the heart (which means that it is aimed at the glory of God) is false service; no different from any other good deed done to make oneself feel better about oneself.
“worship in the Spirit of God” (v. 3a) - hose words in a similar context to what we find here in . Those words in refer to the Doctrine of Justification and that’s Paul’s concern here in as well.
[Illus] “The Holy Spirit hasn’t been in that church for years.” I hear that from time-to-time. I was once asked to come pray and share my testimony for a certain ministry that was going to have a professional baseball player give his testimony as well. I decided not to, however, when I learned that the professional baseball player was known for saying, “Every baptist church I’ve ever been to is dead. There’s no move of the Holy Spirit in those churches.”
What would say? Have you said things like? Do you think that’s true about baptist churches specifically? Do you think that’s true of all churches generally? Here’s the most important question, “By what criteria are we measuring the Spirit’s presence in a church?” Or asked in the language of v. 3, “What does it mean to ‘worship by the Spirit of God’?”
It doesn’t mean that we will be moved to tears. It doesn’t mean that angel feathers will fall from the ceiling. It doesn’t meant that we will jabber on in unintelligible gibberish. It doesn’t mean that people will be healed.
To worship by the Spirit of God means precisely what I’ve already said. It means to worship God from a heart that has embraced the grace of God in Jesus Christ by the indwelling work of the Spirit; seeing that grace of God in Jesus Christ as the only means of our justification before God.
Worship by the Spirit of God is a joyously grateful response by the saved to the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Sometimes people say a church is dead, that there is no move of the Spirit, because the service doesn’t end with everyone crying or whipped up in some other emotional frenzy.
But real worship, “worship by the Spirit,” has only one aim: to ascribe to God his worth in response to the gracious gift of his Son. That’s the Spirit’s work. Jesus said in ...
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
Worship that is not centered on Jesus is not worship by the Spirit. Worship that is not grateful to God for the death and resurrection of Jesus as the atoning work of grace, which has saved us from the wrath of God, is not worship by the Spirit.
Therefore,
Where worship is focused on Christ there the Spirit is moving!
People have said to me, “I just love Emmanuel. I just don’t understand why it doesn’t grow.” I want the church to grow as well. I pray that God would grow his church. I am not, however, willing to do what is displeasing to God in order to grow the church.
You see, we live in a consumer age and the church is often expected to act like a business in order to attract consumers. The bottom line in any business is sales and you can’t make sales without consumers. So, a business will do whatever it takes to most effectively draw in consumers. It will pander to customers in order to satisfy their demands. When a business doesn’t do that, the customers take their business elsewhere.
Now, that’s the way it works in business, but its not the way it works in the church. At least, its not the way it should work in the church. The church, it should go without saying, is not a business. The church doesn’t produce a product, it makes disciples. It doesn’t offer a service, it proclaims a Savior. It doesn’t seek to satisfy the demands of consumers, but aims to worship God in Spirit and truth.
Sometimes people ask, “What do you have for my children at your church?” Other times its, “What do you have for my teenagers at your church?” And still other times its, “What kind of college ministry or singles ministry do you have?” You might disagree, but I think these questions and others similar to them are just various ways of asking the same question, “What does your church offer me?”
But that question reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of why the church exists. The church exists to ascribe to God his worth, not to satisfy the demand of every human being who walks through the door.
You can tell churches have forgotten this today, because in larger measure they remove everything that could be offensive to people and will do anything to draw people in.
The wrath of God (i.e., preaching on the reality of hell) makes people uncomfortable. So, it’s removed.
The exclusivity of Christ (i.e., preaching on Jesus as the only way of salvation) makes people uncomfortable. So, it’s removed.
When we make these kinds of decisions we should ask ourselves the questions Paul did in ...
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
But I also have heard people say, “Oh, that church is just wonderful! The Spirit was moving! I felt so close to the Lord.”
Paul wrote those words in a similar context to what we find here in . Those words in refer to the Doctrine of Justification and that’s Paul’s concern here in as well.
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Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Believers Worship in the Spirit
The indwelling Holy Spirit prompts true and acceptable worship out of love for the Lord. Since He only indwells Christians (Rom. 8:9), only they can truly worship their Savior.
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Believers Worship in the Spirit
God saved believers to worship Him. It is those “true worshipers [who] worship the Father in spirit and truth” that “the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” True Christians are those who worship God from the heart in obedience to His Word.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Believers Worship in the Spirit
True worship involves every aspect of life.
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Matt 10:37
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“glory in Christ Jesus” (v. 3b)
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Worshipers Glory in Christ Jesus
Kauchaomai (glory) describes boasting with exultant joy about what a person is most proud of.
Thus, some translations don’t say “glory in Christ Jesus” but “rejoice in Christ Jesus” (KJV) or “boast in Christ Jesus” (HCSB).
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
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.
What would say? Have you said things like? Do you think that’s true about baptist churches specifically? Do you think that’s true of all churches generally?
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Worshipers Glory in Christ Jesus
True Christians give the credit for all that they are and have to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Worshipers Glory in Christ Jesus
They obey the biblical injunction “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17; cf. Pss. 20:7; 34:2; Jer. 9:23–24; Gal. 6:14).
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Worshipers Glory in Christ Jesus
In contrast, false believers “boast according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 11:18), believing that their good works and religious activities earn them favor with God. But salvation is “by grace … through faith; … it is the gift of God”; it is “not … a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9; cf. Rom. 3:27).
Most people worship in a way that makes them feel good about themselves.
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“put no confidence in the flesh” (v. 3c)
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Worshipers Put No Confidence in the Flesh
The flesh represents man’s fallen, unredeemed humanness; it pictures human ability apart from God.
Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary True Worshipers Put No Confidence in the Flesh
it is a distinguishing characteristic of the redeemed that they “do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (8:4), because “the mind set on the flesh is death” (v. 6; cf. v. 13) and “those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (v. 8).
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Let me try to explain justification.
Imagine that you are a major criminal guilty of the most vile things with a list of crimes so long there’s not enough paper in the world to print them on.
Imagine you, the major criminal, are arrested and brought before the judge who not only has your record of criminal activity but, thanks to pervasive digital age in which we live, has video evidence of every crime you’ve ever committed.
The judge asks you, “How do you plead?”
Now, in that moment something strange happens, as you consider the judge’s question and look at the stunning magnitude of your crimes, you’re broken. You once bragged about you crimes. You once boasted about the crimes you would commit in the future. But now, you’re not proud. There’s no boasting from you. There’s just brokenness.
The judge clears his throat and asks again, “Ahem. How do you plead?”
You know you’re guilty, and you know that, because of the vileness of your crimes, you’ll be sentenced to death, but you say anyway, “Guilty, your honor.”
But then something else strange happens. The judge says, “You’re right. You are guilty. But if you will believe that I have paid for your sins, then this court will acquit you of your crimes and declare you justified in the eyes of the law.”
Confused, you look up and realize that its Jesus, the Judge, on the bench with scars on his hands and feet from where he paid the price for your sins on the cross.
With eternal gratefulness, you leap at the good news that Jesus offers to you! “Yes, I accept! I believe! You paid the price for my law-breaking! You and you alone!”
Then Jesus says, “In that case then, in the matter of God vs. major criminal, I declare you innocent. Case closed.”
But that’s not the end of the story.
If that’s your story and you believe in Christ, you don’t leave the courtroom having been declared justified in the eyes of the law and return to your boastful law breaking. You’ve repented of your law breaking, how can you live in it any longer?
However, if that’s your story and you believe in Christ, you don’t leave the courtroom having been declared justified in the eyes of the law and then begin to keep the law as if your justification now depends on your obedience to the law. No, you know that it was not the law that saved you, but the Judge!
Your justification depends not on your obedience to the law but on the Judge who died in your place and rose from the dead to justify you before the law.
You see, we all fall short of the glory of God, which means that we fail to measure up to the perfect character of God, which is revealed in the law.
If our righteousness is measured next to the law (i.e., next to the holy character of God), we will be condemned. In fact, we are condemned.
Now, God can’t just dismiss our sins with a shrug and say, “Don’t worry about it.” If he did that, he wouldn’t be just. Our sins offend his holiness and being just, God must demand that a price be paid for that offense. That price is death. When finite creatures such as we are offend our infinite Creator, what other price could there be?
It wouldn’t do for us to pay a fine or serve a limited amount of time in prison. If that were the case, the punishment would not fit the crime and justice, God’s holy and perfect justice, would not be served.
But God has made a way to be both just in punishing our sins and the justifier of those of us who will accept the good news he offers.
God sent his Son Jesus to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He took on flesh and walked among us, living perfectly in-line with the law of God. He died willingly and sacrificially on the cross as the sinless sacrifice for our sin. His resurrection from the dead was God’s definitive declaration, “Justified!” and so all those who are hidden in Christ through faith.
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Some people appeal to future knowledge. “Oh, I think I’ll know when the time comes.” (This is really nothing more than a dismissal.)
Some people appeal to moral record. “Oh, I think I’m a pretty good person so, I think God is going to let me in.” (This is really nothing more than sinful pride in one’s moral identity or good works.)
Others though appeal to religious record. “Oh, I was baptized. I went to church. My daddy was a pastor. One time, I even read the Bible all the way through.” (There is sinful pride here as well, but here the sinful pride is in one’s religious good works and that can really trip some people up.)
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[Illus] To understand the hopelessness of obeying the law, an analogy might be useful.
You remember the story about the disciples in the boat when Jesus came walking on the water. Jesus came to them and Peter got out of the boat to walk on the water with Jesus. For a moment he was fine, but soon he saw the wind and waves and went under. He cried out, “Lord, save me,” and Jesus immediately did so.
Now, the story of Jesus walking on the water is not about the law (at least not directly), but, as I said, it might be helpful for us to think about the hopelessness of the law in these terms.
Think of the water in that story as the law. Peter is us. And just to keep things simple, Jesus is Jesus.
The only to be saved is to walk on the water, which is to say, the only to be saved is to perfectly obey the law.
Just as walking on the water was impossible for Peter apart from faith in Jesus, so being counted righteous according to the perfect standard of God’s law is impossible without faith in Jesus.
The moment we try to “walk on the water,” we begin to drown and drowning leads to death.
The only way to be saved is by someone who can walk on the water, which is to say, someone who can keep the law of God perfectly and that someone is but One person, Jesus.
So, as we are drowning in our law breaking, God in his mercy allows us to recognize our dire situation and we cry out as Peter did, “Lord, save me!”
And if we do that in faith,
And if we do that in faith, Jesus will immediately reach out and take hold of us, rescuing us from drowning in a sea of our own law breaking.