LET YOUR JOY BE IN THE LORD
Philippians 3
YOUR DUTY TO BE JOYFUL
V:1 Finally, my brothers,
rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you
again, and it is a safeguard for you.
It is the duty of the Christian
to be joyful. His nature has been changed to one focused
on the Lord. It is part of
your spiritual DNA
a. We should rejoice because we have a
savior
b. We should rejoice because through the
savior we have eternal life.
c. We should rejoice because we have a Lord
we can trust.
d. We should rejoice because we have the
Word of truth.
e. We should rejoice because we have a Lord
over our troubles.
f. We should rejoice because we have a Lord
we can take refuge in.
g. We should rejoice because our strength is
in Him.
h. We should rejoice because Jesus is the
Lord of our provisions.
Every day we need to remind
ourselves not to seek joy in circumstances,
but to seek the joy that
surpasses all understanding.
It is the joy that we have
that is a safeguard against sadness and frustrations.
It is the joy in The Lord that
we have that overlooks envy, criticism, and hateful
behavior.
GUARD YOUR EARS, THE DOGS
ARE TALKING
V:2 Watch out for those dogs,
those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are
the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ
Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons
for such confidence.
There are two types of dogs in
the Bible. There were those who were pets (Matthew 15:27), and those considered
unclean (Matthew 7:6). The unclean dogs
were strays,
those without a master.
According to Barnes' notes, the term dog was used to describe
a person who was shameless,
impudent, malignant, snarling, dissatisfied, and
contentious. Some Jews who
followed the Law considered non-Jews as dogs.
Here Paul is referring to dogs
as the Jews who opposed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
advocated the circumcision of
all male Gentile believers to be accepted as Jewish proselytes.
Paul fully understood that
attitude, because, before his conversion, he persecuted
the Church for their belief in
Jesus as Lord.
With the death of Jesus on the
cross, the definition of circumcision was changed
from circumcision of the flesh
to circumcision of the spirit. Justification is not by
works of the flesh, but by
faith in Jesus Christ.
Every person who accepts Jesus
as Lord and Savior has been circumcised in the
spirit. We are made clean by
the Word of truth (John 15:3).
Even today there are those who
hold on to a doctrine of work salvation.
There are those who discredit
you because you do not measure up to their
standard of righteousness.
We use the word dog today most
often referring to men who abuse women and
families. We have to be
careful not to judge people by what we don't know or
by what someone said, thus
becoming dogs ourselves. Beware of the dogs, don’t
let it be you.
PURSUE HUMBLENESS, NOT
PRIDE
V:4b. If anyone else thinks he
has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the
eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the
church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
There are times we need to
look in the mirror before we point the finger at someone.
Paul confessed his past sins
of pride. He himself had been a dog. His resume of
pride included his birth
family, his race, his nationality, his education, his connections,
his works, and his
self-righteousness. He was a troublemaker until Jesus called him
out (Acts 9:3-9)
We are not all that. We got
some sins we need to work on. What sins we see in others,
we have been that and more.
Thank God, Jesus keeps calling us out.
BEFORE JESUS WE WERE STRAY
DOGS, NOW WE ARE HOUSE PETS
V:7 But whatever was to my
profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider
everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I
may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own
that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the
righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and
the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain the resurrection
from the dead.
Paul was high on the horse. But
Jesus had to knock him down and showed him how
blind he was. Paul had
considered himself a model citizen and the perfect
example of Jewish
righteousness. His knowledge and zeal for the Law were above
his peers. He had such a high
position that he was granted permission to take soldiers
to seek out followers of Jesus
and bring them to be persecuted.
Once his eyes were open to the
spirit of the law, he was able to see Jesus as Lord
and Savior. Paul was taught by
one of the best Jewish teachers of the Law (Acts 22:3),
but his teaching was void of
spirit. Once his eyes were open and he was filled
with the spirit, he was able
to see Jesus through the Old Testament scriptures.
When Paul looked at the pride
he had before his conversion, he counted it as
garbage. Once Paul knew the
truth, he was set free from the condemnation of
the law.
Like Paul, whatever we lost
from our past before Jesus, is nothing compared to
what we gained in fellowship
with the Lord. There is no experience we will
ever have greater than the
Love of Jesus. I remember how proud I was of my
college degree and my position
and status in the corporate world. It was not until
all that was lost that I found
joy in my commitment to Jesus. As I look
back
I know without a doubt that it
is Jesus that has taken care of me and my family.
STRIVE TOWARD THE UNLIMITED
GLORY OF CHRIST
V:12 Not that I have already
obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take
hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting
what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the
goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
What we need to understand is
the unlimited power of Jesus. We might be able to
estimate the weight of the
sun, moon, and stars. We might have some limited
understanding of what keeps
them in orbit. We have no knowledge of what it took
to create them from nothing
and put them in orbit. We can estimate and guest and
that’s all we will have.
I know of no man that died,
laid in a grave for thee days dead, and was resurrected
to life again other than
Jesus. I cannot claim to know what power it takes to
bring a person to life after
death. But I am proud to be made part of Jesus's
death and resurrection. I am
favored by the mercies of God to press toward the
goal of being like Jesus.
We know we have sinned and
fallen short of the Glory of God. Like Paul, we must
forget about the past and
press toward the prize of eternal life.
ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO
GUIDE YOU
V:15 All of us who are mature
should take such a view of things. And if at some point you think differently,
that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have
already attained.
All believers have some
knowledge of the Word. Your maturity is based on your
study of the Word and what you
have learned from the personal application.
Anything we don't know and
don't understand will be made plain through the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
If anyone teaches a word that is different from the
Word of truth you know, the
Holy Spirit will alert you to its deception.
We should not live by the
standards of the world. We should live by the Word of
truth we know. We should allow
the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us to things
unknown to us. With the Holy
Spirit guidance will come to the right understanding.
FELLOWSHIP WITH
BROTHERS/SISTERS IN CHRIST
V:17 Join with others in
following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to
the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say
again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their
destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their
shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
Be careful who you listen to.
We have the Word of truth in print. We have
examples of Christians living
in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The
Philippians had only the
teaching of Paul and maybe one or two other Apostles
as their example of the Gospel
truth. It was unlikely that the average
believer
had a copy of the Old
Testament. They relied mostly on oral traditions.
We have no excuse for being
ignorant of the Word of God. It is our choice to
study or not study the Word.
Those who do not study are susceptible to the
lies and deception of the
enemy. The enemy can be anyone. Preacher, teacher,
or person on the street who
uses the Word of God to promote their agenda.
The only agenda the believer
has is the agenda of Jesus.
HEAVEN NOW, HEAVEN FOREVER
V:20 But our citizenship is in
heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21
who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will
transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
I think it is difficult for us
to understand that this world is not our home. We spend
all our time building homes
and careers. All of our stuff is located here. We accumulate
stuff and buy more stuff. We
are not ready to leave.
No matter how much we attain,
we can’t take it with us when we die.
There is no doubt that we are
headed for a physical death before obtaining immortality
in our eternal home. We have temporary
residence on this earth.
This is not our home, we are
just passing through. The best we can do before
we die is to leave a legacy of
God’s righteousness on the minds of those around us.
Our faith in Jesus has made us
aliens to this land. We are just passing through on
our way to heaven. Jesus is
coming back to take us to a new home in heaven
that He has prepared for us.
We will be transformed from mortality to
immortality to eternal life
with Him. (John 14:1-3)
Our goal is to stand fast on
His promises and wait for His return while rejoicing
in fellowship with Him.
REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS!
CLASS QUESTIONS
IN TIMES OF PEACE, WHERE IS
YOUR JOY?
IN TROUBLED TIMES, WHERE IS
YOUR JOY?
IS THERE ANYONE YOU CAN BE
MAD WITH?
Rev. M. Mitchell
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