Sermons by Ken Trivette from The Living Word

 The Book of Philippians (Study 15)
A SERMON WORTH REPEATING
Philippians 3:1-3

1. Being a preacher, I have great interest in preachers and their preaching. I listen, observe, and glean from what they say and how they say it. I once heard a preacher say that there are two kind of preachers that made them want to preach. The one's who can and the one's who can't.

2. Someone has said that preachers fall into four categories:

3. Preachers are notorious for being long- winded. I think of a preacher that came to the breakfast table with a cut on his cheek. His wife asked him what had happened. He told her that he was concentrating on his sermon while shaving and had cut himself. His wife said, "Maybe you should concentrate on your shaving and cut your sermon."

4. Let me say a word in defense of long-winded preachers. Paul's sermon to the Philippians has lasted 2 chapters. In says in Vs.1, "Finally my brethren," and then preaches 2 more chapters. 

5. Actually, Paul was not stating that he was about to close. He does say, "Finally, brethren," in 4:8, and closes. But when he made the statement in 3: 1, "Finally my brethren," the word that he used means "the rest." He was saying, "I have spoken to you about certain matter, now, let me talk to you about the rest of the things on my heart." 

6. I do not know if Paul was longwinded, but I do know that he didn't hesitate to preach a sermon that he had preached before. He says in verse 1, “To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”  

7. The “same things” that Paul referred to were things that he had previously written them about. He had written them once about certain matters, and now writes them again about the same matters. He repeats himself and reiterates himself.

8. He adds that it was not grievous for him to do so. The word “grievous” speak s of that which is irksome or troublesome. Paul was saying that it was not irksome or troublesome for him to say the same thing twice or more than once. Instead, he says that it safe for them if he does.

9. I have heard a few sermons that I wished I had never heard the first time. But I have also heard a few that I wanted and needed to hear again. Paul was saying that it was safe and needful for them to hear again what he had to say.

10. Paul was concerned about their spiritual safety. He wanted to protect their Christian life from certain dangers. In other words, he didn't want to see certain things happen in their life. That's the reason he preached the same sermon twice. It was a sermon worth repeating. Notice the reason.

 1. HE WANTED TO SAFEGUARD THEM FROM A COLD CHRISTIAN LIFE!

1. Paul begins by saying in verse 1, "rejoice in the Lord." He tells them that he don't want their heart to become cold and their Christian experience to become rigid.

2. I think of what Matthew 24:14 says, "…many are called and few are chosen." One little boy in Sunday school quoted it, "Many are cold and a few are frozen." I say that he was more truthful than he realized.

3. A song leader who couldn't get the congregation to sing, paused between stanzas and pointed to an uncooperative man and said, "Sir, would you stand and lead us in a frown."

4. God never meant for the Christian life to be a burden but a blessing. It is not to be the kind of life that should make you look like you are about to cry. It should be the kind of life that makes you want to shout.  

5. In the book of Philippians Paul more than once stated that the Christian life should be a joyful one. For example, we read in: 

(1: 18) "I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. "
(1:26) "That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ... "
(2:2) "Fulfill ye my joy."
(2: 18) "For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me. "
(4:4) "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. "  

6. A little boy was so excited about a card he had received in Sunday school entitled, "Joy From God." On the Church bus going home, his card slipped from his fingers and blew out the window. The little boy cried out to the driver, "Stop the bus. I've lost my joy from God."  

7. Here's a message well worth repeating. Don't let your heart become cold. Keep yourself happy in the Lord. Keep your soul filled with praise. Don't let your Christian life become rigid. Notice what Paul says about the matter of rejoicing. 

A. This Rejoicing Is Commanded.

1. Paul said, "Rejoice in the Lord." Notice this was an instruction, not a suggestion. Rejoicing in the Lord is not of marginal importance and it is neither an optional extra. It is commanded of us as believers. Just as we are commanded to be holy as believers, we are commanded to be happy as believers.

2. Now you say, how can you command someone to be happy? The aim of the command is that we should not let anything rob us of your joy, happiness, and praise.

3. How can you obey this command and keep your soul rejoicing. Notice, that this rejoicing is "in the Lord." The secret is to not let anything come between you and Christ.

B. This Rejoicing Is Continual.

1. The tense of the command is to keep on rejoicing in the Lord. As one writer translated it, "Go on constantly rejoicing in the Lord." It is to cultivate a heart of joy and happiness that is not affected by the good or bad.

2. Again the key is, "in the Lord." If your happiness depends on good things then when bad things happened then you are stripped of your joy. But if the Lord is the source and reason of your joy, it will be a joy that is constant and continual.

1. Safeguard Yourself From a Cold Christian Life!

2. HE WANTED TO SAFEGUARD THEM FROM A CORRUPTED CHRISTIAN LIFE!

1. The message was worth repeating because there is the danger of being corrupted by those who seek to corrupt us. Notice Vs.2, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.”

2. Just like today, in Paul's day there were false teachers who sought to corrupt people doctrinally and spiritually. Jesus on several occasions warned about false teachers and told us to be on our toes and watch out for their corrupting teachings and ways. He said in Matthew 24:4-5, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”

3. Peter said basically the same thing in 2 Peter 2:1, “But there were false prophets also ~ among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

4. These false teachers are on the radio and TV. Their books  can be found in the bookstores. They are plentiful, popular, and persuasive. Paul’s message worth repeating was to safeguard the Philippian believers from being corrupted by such false teachers. Paul said, "Beware." Watch out for them was his command. Notice how he described these false teachers.

 A. They Were Devouring.

 1 .Paul called them "dogs.” When he spoke of dogs he was not talking about cultured canine's. He was speaking of the filthy scavengers that existed in his day. In those days there were packs of mangy, flea-bitten, vicious, starved scavengers that ran the streets and garbage dumps. They did nothing but devour and destroy.

2. I don't know of a better description of false teachers and prophets than "dogs." They are spiritual scavengers and predators that devour and destroy. Have you ever noticed that the cults and false teachers spend very little time reaching the sinner, but are always after the saints? Church people are their primary target. They want to make other church members their converts. They are like a pack of mangy dogs.  

B. They Were Depraved.

1. Paul also calls them "evil workers." The word "evil" speaks that which is depraved. These false teachers were corrupt on the inside, thus they were what they were on the outside. As John Phillips describes them, "They were men of fair words and foul conduct." They may call themselves good but they are bad. (Exploring Philippians)

 C. They Were Deceiving. 

1. Paul spoke of the "concision." This word was a spin off of the word circumcision. There was a group in that day called the Judaizers. They did not deny that faith was an essential element in salvation, but they added works as a prerequisite for salvation.  

2. Several years ago, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., was taken ill with a step infection of the throat. A new medicine call sulphanilamide was tried with amazing success. The publicity of the case caused the drug to be in great demand. A pharmaceutical company in Tennessee conceived the ideal of preparing the drug in a liquid instead of a powder form. They dissolved it in diethylene glycol -a substance very much like anti-freeze for automobiles. It proved to a costly and fatal preparation. Before its use could be stopped 61 people had died. A harmless lifesaving drug in one form became a fatal death-dealing potion in another form. It was not something that was taken away that made the drug deadly, but something that was added. 

3. What these false teachers were teaching was just a spiritually deadening and damning. They were not taking away anything, only adding to it. False teachers say a lot that is right. But it is the wrong they add to the right that is deceiving. That's how people get hooked on these TV preachers and corrupting Christian TV stations. They say many right things but they add their personal doctrines to the truth, perverting the truth of God and leading others astray.  

4. They were not only devouring and depraved, but were also deceiving the people by what they taught. Three times Paul said, "Beware." You get the ideal that he wanted the Philippians believers to safeguard their life from being spiritually and doctrinally corrupted.  

5. Don't give them your time. Don't give them your money. Don't give them your hearing. Don't give them anything. Don't give them a chance to corrupt you. Safeguard your heart from being corrupted. 

1. Safeguard Yourself From a Cold Christian Life!
2. Safeguard Yourself From a Corrupted Christian Life! 

3. HE WANTED TO SAFEGUARD THEM FROM A CONFUSED CHRISTIAN LIFE! 

1. Notice vs.3: “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” 

2. After Paul described the false he described the real. He names some essentials and foundational stones of the Christian faith. He seems to be saying, "I want you to be grounded. I don't want you confused and uncertain about these things. I want them settled in your heart.”  

3. May I say, that when it comes to the essential and foundational matters of our faith, we need to be settled. We should not be confused and ignorant of these matters, but have them nailed down in our heart and mind. 

4. He says, "For we are the circumcision." Paul was making reference to a physical ordinance that was symbolic of the Abrahamic covenant. There were Christian Jews who were insisting that in order for one to become a part of the kingdom of God this physical ordinance had to be observed.  

5. Paul says in verse 3 that those who have put their faith in Christ are the true circumcision. He was declaring that real circumcision was a spiritual matter and not physical.  

6. Then he declares three great essentials of those who are truly saved and a part of the kingdom of God. He speaks of certain things one should not be confused or uncertain about.  

A. The Privilege of Salvation. 

1. First Paul speaks of how we "worship God in the Spirit." To a Jew access to God was limited. " I It involved a special place and a special " person. But Paul declares that we all have access to God and the privilege of worshipping Him.  

2. This is an unlimited access. It is an unhindered access. It is an unrestricted access. It is "in the Spirit," or "by the Spirit." We have a personal relationship with God that allows us the privilege of being of being in God's presence. 

3. The Christian experience is not something physical. It is something spiritual. To the Jew, God dwelt in a building. But Paul declares God dwells in a body. As believers we don't need a priest to get to God, God has come to us.  

B. The Person of Salvation. 

1. Secondly Paul says, "Rejoice in Christ Jesus." The word "rejoice" that Paul uses in this case means to "boast in." Paul is saying that our ground of boasting is the Lord Jesus.  

2. The songwriters said it well:  

Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to Thy Cross I cling.

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand.  

C. The Provision of Salvation. 

1. Finally Paul says that we are to "have no confidence in the flesh." Paul was saying that salvation does not come by what we do, but by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus and the salvation He purchased and provided.  

2.  These things need to be settled in our heart. Don't be cold, corrupted, and confused. That's a message worth repeating!  

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