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All right, amen. Philippians chapter number three. So, before we get started, look at verse number 18. Verse number 18 really sums up the main point here and the emphasis, the urgency, everything that Paul's trying to get across to us, the reader. Verse 18, he says, for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Now, I titled this sermon, The Three Bewares. The Three Bewares. You'll see why here in a moment. Of course, this is gonna be one of those sermons that's definitely not very popular, but it is what it is, okay? Let's get started here. Look at verse number one. The Bible says, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Then he says this. He says, to write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. So, Paul, obviously, explaining something very important here, and we talk about this often, okay? He's obviously written them before. He's obviously talked to them before about these doctrines, these doctrines that we've spent the last two weeks going over, okay? His love for them, the stuff that they've done, their service in God, the fellowship and the unity, being humble, all of those things. He's saying, hey, I want you to understand that it is safe. He's saying, it's not grievous for me. He's saying it is actually safe for you, okay? And you say, well, why are you bringing that up? I'm bringing that up because he's gonna continue that process here. Look what he says in verse two. Beware of dogs, number one. Beware of evil workers, number two. Beware of the concision. So, obviously, he has already warned them about these three groups of people in the past, and he's saying, hey, it's not grievous for me to keep bringing these things up. Now, he doesn't just bring these up to the Philippians. He talks about these things in all of his epistles. He talked about them in Rome, uses different words, synonyms, things of that nature, but he's saying it is safe. So our attitude when we read these things, they come up in the Bible, right? It is safe for us to hear these things multiple times, okay? And there's a reason for that. Think about Paul's heart here, okay? This is the most personal letter that Paul wrote to a group of churches, and as he's writing this, as this is being penned down, he's saying that he's weeping, even just thinking about the damage that these groups of people, the enemies of the cross of Christ, do. And that is how our hearts should be when we hear of people attacking the cross of Christ and degrading Bible doctrine. We should have that same attitude. But look at what he says here in verse two. Let's just get right into it, okay? The three B-wares. He names three groups of people that he wants them to beware of, to be cautious, to be alert to the dangers of. First one, dogs, okay? What are dogs? Is he talking about canines, pit bulls? Well, that's pretty obvious. He should beware of them, especially outsolening. I've told this story before. Kayden and I in Sacramento were walking down the street. Big pit bull just bust out of this person's backyard, and the dog just latches onto my hip, okay? It was one of the scariest things that we've gone through. So yeah, I would agree, you know, beware of dogs, you know? If you're walking up and you're outsolening, and there's a sign that says beware of dog, but you don't see one, rattle the gate first. If you're not sure, you know what? Go to the next door. It's not worth it. We've even had people in this church bitten by dogs because of this. So yeah, okay, but that's not what he's talking about here, okay? That's obvious. We all know that we all should be aware of beasts, animals, things of that nature. This has to mean something else. The question is, does the Bible define for us what a group of people are that are dogs, that God would consider dogs? And I would submit to you the answer is yes. So keep your place there. In Philippians chapter 3, go to Matthew chapter number 15. Matthew chapter number 15. I was looking at a couple different commentaries on this because I wanted to see what some other scholars and preachers how they explain dogs here. And the most common answer that I come across is that was just a name for Gentiles, okay? The Jews just looked at Gentiles as dogs and so really Paul's saying, you know, beware of the Gentiles there. Now, how do you think the Philippians, a Gentile nation would receive that? You know, I don't think they'd go over too well. So we can kind of start to see here, well, that's probably not it. But these people would also say, see Matthew chapter 15, Mark chapter number 7, and that is proof that even Gentiles are referred to as dogs because Jesus called a Syrophoenician woman a dog. Now, I've preached a sermon in the past called the Syrophoenician dog. You can look that up on YouTube. It's still up there for the time being and that will go into great detail. But I do want to cover some of that stuff in here tonight because we need to understand this group of dogs because Paul's saying, beware of dogs. That means we need to understand who they are and why we should be alert to them. What are the dangers of these people? Okay, so let's take a look. Matthew chapter number 15, we're going to look here at verse number 26. Let's take a look here. Matthew 15, look at verse number 26. Actually back up to verse, let's see here. Back up to verse 22, verse 22. So it says this, it says, and behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto him saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her naughty word and his disciples came in beside him saying, send her away for she crieth after us. Okay, verse 24. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped him saying, Lord, help me. Verse 26. But he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. Okay, sounds pretty harsh. It sounds like some pretty harsh language here. And this is where a lot of pastors and scholars will say, see, the Jews, even Jesus just considered Gentile people dogs. Okay, but is that true? We have to rightly divide the word of truth. Let's keep reading. Verse 27. And she said, truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou will. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Okay, now, go back to Philippians chapter number three, and I'm just going to kind of talk and explain this here. So we see this story here, okay, where this Greek woman, this woman of Canaan, the Bible says, comes to Jesus, her daughter's possessed and she's asking for healing, okay? And Jesus, by saying what he said to her, is literally testing her, okay? Because he says in verse 26, but he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. That does not offend her. Okay, she says, oh, that is true, but even the dogs get the crumbs. And so what she's saying is, I'm willing to take anything, any kind of relief. And then what does he do? He says, oh, woman, great is thy faith. Okay, so he actually heals her. So does that mean that he considers her a dog? Does that mean he considers these Gentile people just blanketly dogs? And the answer is no, okay? The question is, why does he say, I am sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel? This is where you really need to understand the Bible and how it's laid out. This is why we've been going through Matthew on Sunday, because obviously we've been taking a break. Well, you go back to Matthew chapter number 10, okay? Matthew chapter number 10 kind of changes things a little bit. Matthew chapter number 10, Jesus grabs all 12 disciples and sends them with himself on a special mission to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, meaning Jews. And in Matthew chapter 10, he specifically tells them, don't go to the Samaritans and don't go to the Gentiles. Now, Zionists love this, okay? Zionists love that. And that's where they like to hang out and that's where they like to stay, because they don't understand the chronology of the Bible. Let's back up for a second, okay? So in Matthew chapter number 10, Jesus tells them, hey, don't go to the Samaritans, don't go to the Gentiles. And it can seem, and it can be pretty discouraging because me and myself and my family, we have sat in churches and heard sermons about this preach and I can remember feeling in my heart like, man, that is, you know, it just seems so hopeless. Like, is that true? The gospel was just for them, you know? And that's how they make you feel. But it's not true. It's not true at all. If you understand how the Bible's laid out, John chapter 4 chronologically happens before Matthew chapter number 10. And what's interesting about John chapter 4 is that Jesus gets a woman by the well who is a Samaritan, not of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He gets her saved. She goes back and tells a bunch of other people. She brings them to Jesus. And during that exchange, they all get saved. Okay? So by the time you even get to Matthew chapter 10, in that special mission where Jesus says, don't go to the Samaritans, don't go to the Gentiles, they've already gotten a bunch of Samaritans already saved. They've already received the word of God. Now, to make matters worse for the Zionist, you could go back to Matthew chapter 8. Well, what's so significant about Matthew chapter number 8? Well, in Matthew chapter 8, there's a very similar story to what you just read in Matthew chapter 15. There is a Roman centurion who has a servant that is ill that needs healing. Okay? And what does he do? He sends and communicates to Jesus that he would like his servant healed. Jesus says, I will go and heal him. Okay? And the Roman centurion says, I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof. All you have to do is basically speak these words and I know that he'll be healed. So Jesus says, wow, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. So before you even get to Matthew chapter number 10, Jesus, and he hadn't had all 12 disciples yet, but the disciples that he had, they had already done great works and gotten Samaritans saved. They had already done great works and found that Gentiles were being saved. So that proves, number one, that not all Gentiles are dogs and Jesus is not saying that. He's testing this woman. Just like he was testing the Roman centurion in Matthew chapter number eight. Very important to understand that. So Jesus already preached to these two groups of people here. So we can see that dogs are not considered or are not, I'm sorry, in the Bible, the word dogs is not just referring to all Gentiles. That, that is not true. That is not what is being communicated there. So back to Philippians three, look at verse number two again. Beware of dogs. Okay, well we just basically just gave you the rundown there, a very quick rundown that it's not referring to all Gentiles like many scholars and commentators and preachers and pastors like to say. So again, is there a place in the Bible where we can get a clear definition of what a dog is? Go to Deuteronomy chapter number 23. Deuteronomy chapter number 23. Let's see if we can answer this question. Deuteronomy chapter 23, let's look at verse number 17. So the Bible says this, there shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel nor a Sodomite of the sons of Israel. Let me stop you right there for a second. Okay? Modern versions, a lot of the modern Bible versions have changed that word Sodomite to male prostitute. And they say, well, because he's talking about a whore and a whore is a prostitute, so therefore the Sodomite here must just be the male version of that like a whore monger. Here's why that's not true right out of the gate. Because the Bible makes a distinction between a whore prostitute or a whore monger. Okay? A whore monger is basically a male slut. Okay? High body count male. Okay? That's what it is. Now not all whores are prostitutes. Not all whores want money. Okay? Some whores just do what whores do. So, and I know this isn't comfortable, but this is what the Bible teaches. Verse 17, God is saying there shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel nor a Sodomite of the sons of Israel. Now, interesting at this point in time, Sodom and Gomorrah had already been blown out and put straight to hell back in Genesis 19, but yet you still see that phrase. Okay? God's trying to teach us something. Now, look at verse 18. That is, he says, thou shall not bring the higher of a whore. Okay? So he does, he does talk about the higher of a whore. Remember, whore, you could, all prostitutes are whores, but not all whores are prostitutes. Hopefully that kind of makes sense. Okay? So he says, thou shall not bring the higher of a whore nor the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow, for even both of these are an abomination unto the Lord thy God. Okay? Let's take a look at how this is laid out here. Verse 17, you see the word whore. Verse 18, you see the word whore. Very simple to understand. Verse 17, you see the word sodomite. Okay? Verse number 18, God uses a synonym here to explain what a sodomite is, and it calls them dogs. Dogs. You say, well, that's pretty unkind. That's pretty harsh. That's offensive. That's misgender. That's all this stuff. You're going to say that to God's face? This is the word of God. This is what he says. Sodomites, he equates sodomites to dogs. Now, why is that? Well, I'm not going to get too graphic or be gross at all, but if you just think about the behavior of a dog and then you come to this church for any length of time, you'll notice and understand very clearly that they're the same. They're the same. I'm sorry, but that's what it is. That is reality. That is the truth. So to answer the question, beware of dogs. Is there a place in the Bible where it clearly defines for you what a dog is? And the answer is yes, and it's right here in Deuteronomy chapter number 23. I'm not trying to be rude. I'm not trying to be crude, but this is the word of God. This is what the Bible teaches. And he says in this passage that both are an abomination. Now, here's the thing. Do we have examples of prostitutes, of whores getting saved in the Bible? Yeah. Are there examples of sodomites getting saved in the Bible? No. They get blown out and put to hell every single time. Judges 19, Genesis 19. Go read about Asa. Go read about Jehoshaphat. Go read about Josiah. Okay? What did they do? Put them out. Took them off the earth. That is how they handled that situation. Okay? Dogs will be dogs. Now, go to Matthew chapter number 7, and let's answer the question, why beware? Why should we be cautious? Why should we be alert to the dangers of dogs? What's the big deal here? Isn't love, love, love is kind, all this type of stuff you hear, be kind? Well, let's take a look at what the Bible says. And you say, well, Jesus would never say that about them. Oh, really? Matthew chapter number 7, so this is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. Okay? And I don't have time to really get deep into this, but if you read Matthew 5, 6, and 7, about this passage where we're gonna read here in verse 6, Jesus is teaching from the book of Deuteronomy. Remember that. And look at what he says in verse 6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs. And the scholar and the liberal preacher jump up and say, wait, that's the Gentile. Really? Matthew chapter 8, did Jesus give that which is holy unto the Roman centurion? Yes, because he healed a servant and said, wow, I am impressed by this great faith that he has. He has better faith than anyone in Israel. That means Jesus wouldn't go against his own advice, his own teaching here. So that means that Roman centurion is not a dog. That means that not all Gentiles are dogs. John chapter number 4, the Samaritan woman at the well. Did Jesus give her what was holy? Yes, he gave her the word of God, gave her eternal life. She got saved and asked for it. Okay? So, obviously, dogs cannot be applied to the Samaritans and the Gentiles, just cart-block. It doesn't work like that. Jesus said, this is his words, these are his words, give not that which is holy unto the dogs. Cannot be talking about just Gentiles and Samaritans. Who is he talking about? The same people that Deuteronomy chapter 23 is talking about. The Sodomites. Now, why is that? Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine. So, I guess an alternate title for this could be dogs and hogs. I don't think that's getting over too well, but I'll save that for next year. Yeah, either cast ye your pearls before swine. Why? Lest they trample them under their feet. Now, if you go and try to show your nice little piggy your jewelry, okay, and look at this. Look at what I got today. What's gonna happen? They don't care. They either wanna eat you or that. Look at what it says. Lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you, meaning rip you apart, tear you up. Okay, I got a blog post on our website about this and I'm gonna bring this story up again. I'm not trying to be rude, but there's somebody who comes by and writes encouraging messages to these freaks out here and what do they do? They come by and they pervert them. Literally pervert them. They make it, I mean, like, pornographic, they pervert what she writes. This person writes. Whatever. I'm sorry, but Jesus said, 7th chapter into Matthew, give not that which is holy unto the dogs. It is what it is. Can't you say, we should try to love them and, you know, just reach out to them and win them over to Christ. Good luck. Come soloing with us. We'll go to some doors with pride flags in them and I'll show you what happens when you try to give that which is holy unto the dogs. You're gonna get ran out. You're gonna have to debate them. It is a disaster every single time, 100% of the time with zero exceptions. The Bible is always true and man is always a lie. This is the way it works. We're better off doing what Jesus said and just understanding, give not that which is holy unto dogs. So, again, why beware? Because they will turn around and rend you. They will waste your time. By the way, the swine there would be a picture of just your average Christ rejecting person. Somebody who is very open, somebody who is very clear saying, I don't want anything to do with Jesus, with the cross, you know, at that point in time, look, it's time to just cut it off. Go on, move on, go find somebody else who is willing to listen. That's how you see Jesus and the disciples operate. We need to operate the same way. So don't waste your time and your energy on these types of people because they will rip you up. They will tear you apart. How many stories do we need to bring up of these other churches around here hiring sodomites and saying we're going to put you in charge of Sunday school because we're all inclusive. You know what always happens in that scenario? This happens time and time again. Molestations. Seriously, I know of a church in California. The old IFB, Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, you know, we all are welcome here. I know this one church, I'm not going to say its name because this is tragic, but this church decided it was going to be a good inclusive church and allow a sodomite to be in charge of Sunday school. You know what happened? That sodomite wound up molesting the pastor's son because you don't think. You're a coward. You can't read the Bible. Jesus told you. Don't give that which is holy unto the dogs. Don't do it. It will ruin people's lives. How many lives can be saved if we would just listen to what Jesus said? It ain't going to happen at this church because we're not going to play that game. We're not going to waste our time and give that which is holy unto the dogs. And to make matters even worse, to make it more clear, Paul's telling the Philippians the very same thing. Go back to chapter number three. Beware of dogs. Who are these dogs? He's talking about sodomites. That's what he's talking about. Be alert. Be cautious because these people, the Bible says, are without conscience. They have, their conscience has been removed. Okay, and this is what we tell people out in the community when we show them Romans chapter one. You know, because people often say, well, why would God allow them to roam around the earth? He doesn't. Look, God gives them this symptom and takes their conscience and they turn into beasts and they lust after each other. That's a sign to governments, oh, that person's a reprobate. We need to investigate and remove from the earth. It's a gift from God. But what does our government do? They take it differently, don't they? They're like, oh, this is a gift. This is great. Everyone should be like them. Everyone should be a sodomite. Everyone should just be whatever they want. You want to be a cat? No problem. You want to identify as a dog? No problem. You want to identify as a T-Rex? No problem. All is good. Just as long as you're not an independent fundamental Baptist and you don't carry around a King James Bible. As long as you don't do that, you can be anything else in the world you want. It's all good. That's why Paul said, beware of dogs. He's very familiar with this because, again, like I said this morning, if you go and study these emperors in Rome, they're just like it is today. It's perverted, reprobate, disgusting. Not all of them, but definitely a lot of them. A lot of issues here. So now I'm going to hop off that. So beware of dogs, we get that. Beware of evil workers. I should have told you to keep your place there. Go to Matthew 7 real quick. Matthew chapter 7. Beware of evil workers. You do a study of the word evil in the Bible. It means to hurt. It's really what the word means. It means to hurt. The Bible does say that God does do evil to people. God will throw people into hell, and that is righteous. That is rightfully so. But God is not wicked. But what would be an evil worker? Well, there's all kinds of examples. You have your low hanging fruit, your human traffickers, your drug dealers, your gang bangers. It's just all unrighteousness. But there's one specific one that I believe Paul's referring to, and that is going to be found here in Matthew chapter number 7. Look at verse 21. Verse 21 says this. Matthew 7, 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Okay? So Jesus is making a distinction here. He's saying not everyone who identifies as a Christian is going to get to heaven. He says only the people that do the will of the Father. Now where can that be found? John 6, 44. The will is that you would see Christ and believe on him. Okay? He's not saying do my will like you have to work your way to heaven. No. He's saying that the will of God is to put your faith and trust in Christ and be born again and you're saved forever. Verse 22 proves it. It says many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have you not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils, there's your Pentecostal groups, and in thy name done many wonderful works. Okay? So Jesus makes this statement here and he says just because you prophesy or preach, that's what that means, preach the Bible in my name, just because you've claimed to cast out devils or maybe you even have like Judas, okay, or done many works in his name doesn't mean you're going to get to heaven because that doesn't mean you've done the will of God. John chapter 6, verse 44, meaning believe on the Lord, be saved. Okay? And then he says in verse 23, and then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. He says I never knew you. Because once he knows you, he knows you forever. So he says I never knew you. Depart from me ye, and look at this, that work iniquity. So what's that iniquity there? Well, that iniquity there, when you have a group of people that identify as Christians, they're preaching the Bible, but obviously they're preaching a false gospel. They're saying you have to do all these things in order to prove you're saved or to be saved, like works, cast out devils, speak in tongues, all this stuff that we're constantly being bombarded with. Okay? Jesus looks at those people and says you're an abomination. In fact, you're a worker of iniquity. And then he says depart from me, I never knew you. Now where does that departure take these people? It takes them to the lake of fire. It takes them to hell. Okay? So again, I bring this up often to refresh our memories and to remind us that just because you knock on someone's door and they seem like a nice Christian, they're baking cookies, oh, do you have water? Okay, if they believe that you get to heaven by repenting of your sins or turning from sins, they're a worker of iniquity. Okay? Now obviously we want to get them on the right track, but these people that are dead set on that, there ain't no help with them. They're evil workers and we need to be aware of them. We have to not trust those people is what the Bible is saying here. Why? Because they will lead more and more people into hell with their false gospel. Verse 24, therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. Now go back to Philippians chapter number three. So that takes care of group number two and then finally he says, verse number three, beware of the concision. Now I looked at the Ryrie study Bible and he says, Paul's warning people here about being aware of people that cut other people up, that mutilate people. Do you think we really need to be told that? You know, do I really need to be told to worry about the Jeffrey Dahmer types? I think we can all figure that one out. That's not what he's saying here. What is the concision? Now if you do a word study on that word concision, it's where we get the word concise, meaning cut to the point or get straight to the point, a good thing. Concision does mean, and this is the only time you see this word in the Bible, which is why it can be kind of hard to define if you just read this verse by itself, but it does mean to cut. That is part of the definition, to cut something into pieces. But verse three defines what that is. Beware of the concision. Verse three, for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. And look at this, have no confidence in the flesh. So what Paul's saying is beware of these Christ rejecting Jews, these Jews that are just focused on circumcision and all these rituals, okay? That is what Paul is saying. Paul's warning us of that. Now, you know, again, I went kind of back into my old church past and I went to their websites and I looked up these verses here on their sermons from a long time ago. And every single one of them either just would completely misrepresent this and just go along with the Ryrie study notes or whatever commentators say, oh, Paul's just worrying about people that chomp people up, or they would just ignore this altogether, okay? And why is that? Because we live in a society that's trying to shove Zionism down our throats every single day. Real quickly, Romans chapter number two. Go to Romans chapter number two. Look at the last two verses of Romans chapter number two. So Paul says in Philippians three, verse three, that we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, okay? Meaning what? We are the real children of God, the real Jew, okay? He says the same thing to the Romans here, okay? So again, if anybody ever tries to ask you, well, hey, what's a Jew? This ought to be your answer. Verse 28, for he is not a Jew, okay? So somebody says, okay, well, what's a Jew? What's not a Jew? You need to go right here. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, okay? Meaning somebody who's gone through a process of rituals or who was just born in Israel or something like that. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, okay? So just because somebody's circumcised doesn't mean they're going to heaven, doesn't mean anything. It's just flesh. Verse 29, but he is a Jew. So how do you become a Jew? But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit and not in the letter, meaning the law, whose praise is not of men, but of God, okay? So what is Paul saying there? But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart. So when a person receives the word of God as truth and they're born again, they're saved, okay, then guess what? They are now a Jew on the inside. They are a child of God. That is what he's saying here. Now, people want to argue, yeah, but there's Jews to, I don't care. I care about Romans chapter 2. I care about Philippians chapter 3. I care about what a real Jew is, okay? And that's one who is saved, a child of God. It doesn't matter if you were born in America, the UK, South America, it doesn't matter, or Israel. You call upon the name of the Lord, you're saved. You're a Jew, okay? It doesn't matter. God is not a respecter of persons and I'm sick and tired of these fake, just stupid preachers pushing this Zionist crap down people's throats. I run into it all the time out here and it's just disgusting and I love to just try to put an end to this with people. So whatever. Verse 3, for we are the circumcision. So he's saying beware of the concision, okay? Beware of the Jews and there's several good reasons that we could highlight for you on why to beware because they creep into churches undercover. This is something they did in Galatia and they caused a lot of damage. This is something we see that they did in Acts chapter 15 and Paul and Barnabas had to go back up to Jerusalem and take care of this issue. Jews who reject Christ have done a lot of damage and they're doing the same thing today. You know these people running around saying, well, Jews are in control of Hollywood and the media and the financing. Look, they're not lying. That's the concision, okay? We ought to beware of that. Beware of where you get your information from, okay? Are they backed by any of these types of people? The Christian needs to pull back and say, hold on. That scientific study, who's that paid for, you know? You know, that could give you some insight. So just understand that, okay? We are to beware of these three groups of people. The three beware. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision because all three of them will damage the cause of Christ. I can't believe you would say that. We ought to arrest you and put you. God wrote it. I believe it. We believe it. Deal with it, okay? Now let's move on from that and look at verse number 4. So Paul, and Paul's proving to us here that he's not an anti-Semite, okay? Look at what he says. He says, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof, he might trust in the flesh, I the more. So he's saying, hey, I've actually got some accolades. I've actually got some things that I've accomplished in the flesh. So if anyone wants to be puffed up, I've probably done more than you. That's what Paul's saying. Look at verse 5. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin. So he even knows what tribe he's from, okay? He's like, I'm from the tribe of Benjamin. An Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisees. So he's a Hebrew, a Pharisee. I mean, Paul's all kinds of things. He's Roman. I mean, Paul has a lot of cards that he could pull, okay, which he did and used them to his advantage and praise God for that. Okay, so he's got the Pharisee card. Look at verse 6. Concerning zeal, hey, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. So, I mean, Paul grew up with strict adherence to the law, the Old Testament law. And, you know, obviously had a great following with that. He persecuted the church. He was there when the deacon Stephen was stoned to death in the book of Acts. Look at verse number 8. I'm sorry, verse 7. But things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. He's saying all that time that I wasted being a Pharisee, the fact that I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews, you know, the fact that I have righteousness in the law, that I followed all these laws, he's like, I count that all as a loss, as a big L when it comes to Christ. Verse 8 says, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. So what he's telling us here is the knowledge of Christ and being able to study the Savior and what he said and what he's taught outweighs any of the stuff that he's gone through, any of the accolades, any of the Pharisee stuff and that's the same for us. Having the knowledge of Christ and having a Bible that you can read and believe and study is more valuable than a college education than how well you did in high school or elementary school or whatever school you've gone to. None of it compares to the knowledge of Christ which is forever and ever. And that's encouraging. That should be encouragement for all of us. Verse 9 he says, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith and that's where it's at. Like we talked about this morning, the righteousness of man is as filthy rags according to the prophet Isaiah. But righteousness which is given to us from God because he paid the bill, he paid the sin debt, that's where it's at. That's where works count because we're now in Christ. Verse 10 he says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. That is what the focus is. That is what he is concerned with and that's what he wants to pass on to the Philippians and to make sure that they adhere to that. Okay but what could overthrow that? Well if you start going soft on the dogs, the evil workers and the concision, all of this stuff here is going to get messed up. Verse 11, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, verse 12, not as though I had already attained. Either were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Jesus. So what he's saying here is I never assume that I have arrived. I know that there's more work to be done, there's more to press on. Look at, he explains this in verse 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. So what Paul is saying here is hey, you know I consider all the works that I've done for Christ in Christ, starting these churches, helping these people out, getting people saved. He's basically saying I forget that in the sense that I don't count that as oh look at all the stuff I've done, I can just slow down and take a break. He's like no, I never lose sight of the end goal. I've got to keep pressing towards the mark and keep doing things. That's what he says in verse 14. He says I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. So Paul's saying I'm not satisfied with all the stuff that I've done. I want to keep going for more, as much as God will allow me to have. That's how you find success in the Christian life. You don't think oh well I've arrived, look I got this person saved, I'm good to go, you know I'm just going to kind of just coast. No, that should not be good enough. You should want more and more and more and just keep pressing on. That's how Paul was to be such of a wrecking ball that he was. I mean Paul demolished this world for Christ. Paul turned the world upside down. I mean what is it like two thirds of the New Testament is about Paul the apostle and his works that he did for Christ. Look at verse 15. He says let us therefore, okay for this reason, so for what he just got done telling us, let us therefore as many as be perfect, be thus minded. You say well I thought nobody could be perfect. Yeah and the way that we speak about it today, but he's saying be complete. Okay so let us therefore as many as be perfect, meaning you're complete, you're saved, you're fellowshipping with a brethren, you're in the word of God. He says be thus minded and if any, or I'm sorry, if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. So he's saying hey, if you even want to be in this mind frame, the right mindset like we talked about last Sunday, but there's something hindering you, be thus minded, be thus minded. If there's something hindering you, God's gonna bring that up. He's gonna show it to you so you can get rid of it and press towards the mark. Verse 17. He says, look at verse 16. He says nevertheless whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Verse 17, brethren be followers together of me. It's so funny that Paul says this because what's one of the other complaints we often hear? You're following man. You're reading a book that was written by man. Yeah, and that college you're defending down there, that Darwinian evolution you're defending was written by man. It always gets them. You know, it always gets them. You're gonna get one of two reactions. They're gonna be like, that's pretty good, which I've had. Or you're just gonna get the finger and a bunch of other words. I mean, it's gonna be one of those two things typically. So he says for many, verse 18, for many walk. Okay? Oh, I'm sorry, verse 17 again. I'm getting ahead of myself. He says, brethren be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. Ensample is an old word, for example, but it's actually stronger. For example, I'm just gonna break this up because it's here. Okay? If you were to go back and sit and kind of watch Genesis 19 unfold and watch the fire and brimstone from God come down and demolish Sodom and Gomorrah, okay, the Bible says that's an ensample, meaning we cannot recreate that, but we can take that as an example, okay, for our lives today, meaning we can be aware of dogs and not allow them to come into church and not give them that which is holy. That's using an ensample as an example because we don't have the ability to call down fire and brimstone. Now, if Asa or one of the old kings were to come back and, you know, be in charge of the nations, they would try to replicate this and we have talked about that before. They would get the arsenal of nuclear weapons, put them all on an island and blow it up. Okay? And I'm not trying to be rude. That is biblically sound. That would be an example of what God did because the Bible says that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah from God, that fire and brimstone was an ensample for those who should live ungodly afterwards. Go read the book of Jude. I know these are hard truths, but this is the word of God. So he says in verse 18, finally, he says, for many walk of whom I have told you often, okay, so again, he's reminding them, I've told you about these people before, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. So he's saying, brethren, mark them which walk good. Mark them which are following truth. He's like, you've got us for an ensample, meaning there's only one apostle Paul. There's only one time that you're going to get these apostles that are ordained by Jesus Christ, handpicked by Christ, who've seen Christ, okay, where they're going around starting churches. He's like, use that ensample, that first time event, that ensample, use that as an example. Model these future churches the same exact way. He's saying, so mark them, but he's also, there's another group that he wants you to mark, and that's the bewarers. That's the three bewarers. So he says, for verse 18, for many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Look, it's our job to defend truth, to defend the word of God, and to preach things whether they're in season or out of season. We have to do this. Why? Because there are enemies of the cross of Christ everywhere that we look, especially in today's day and age, especially in this country. But look what he says in verse number 19. There's a little bit of encouragement for you. He says, whose end is destruction. See, God's people just need to toughen up a little bit and realize, you know what? For these three groups of people, guess what? Their end is destruction. The people that identify as the enemies of the cross of Christ, their end is destruction. Not salvation, not even probation, but destruction. Pause right there. Keep your place in Philippians 3. Go to Mark chapter 9 real quick. We're going to go to Mark, and I'm going to show you just a couple verses in the last book of Isaiah, and then we'll finish out the chapter and be done. Okay, what does that mean? Their end is destruction. What does that destruction look like? Where are these people going to go? How will they be destroyed? Okay, well, Mark chapter number 9, another good one to keep on hand here when people have questions about hell. Let's see here. Look at verse 43. So Jesus is saying, and if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life, meaning eternal life, maimed, than having two hands go into hell. Now, he's not obviously talking about physically cutting your hand off. I don't have time to get through the whole chapter. Jesus is simply saying, hey, whatever it is, guys, that is preventing you from being saved, you need to let it go. Okay, you need to get rid of it because it's better for you to go into eternity without that than to go to eternity into hell with it. So he says this, verse 43. He says, and if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life, maimed, than having two hands to go into hell. And here's what hell looks like, he says, into the fire that never shall be quenched. So understand, the people that are in hell right now, that fire is never being put out. Verse 44, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Okay, and then he goes on to repeat the same pattern for the rest of the chapter basically. But he makes a statement here, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. So what you have here is you have this worm, I'm going to explain that. You have this worm here, it doesn't die, and this fire is never put out. So what does that look like? Isaiah 66, last chapter in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 66. Again, rightly divide the word of truth. Try to get as much definition from the Bible as we can to explain terms in the Bible. Nothing wrong with using dictionaries, but always make sure you check other uses of these words in the Bible. Last book, last two verses, Isaiah 66, same doctrine that we're talking about here from Mark 9. This is the destruction here. It says this, verse 23, and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. So this is obviously after the millennium time period. Verse 24, he says this, and they shall go forth, that they there are the saved, that they there are the redeemed. He says, and they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses, notice that word, carcasses, of the men that have transgressed against me. Who are they? The enemies of the cross of Christ. Okay? Look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me. Look what he says, for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be in a boring unto all flesh. So what Jesus is telling you in Matthew chapter 9, and when you compare this, their worm there means their body, their carcass. Okay? That's crazy. Their carcass will burn forever and ever, but never be consumed. That is the punishment. That is the destruction. That is worse than anything that mankind can even come up with today. And there are some horrible methods of torture that exist in the world today that have always existed, but nothing compares to this. And that, my friend, is motivation for us to get out there and get these people saved. Not the three beware's, but the people that are hanging in the balance. So go back to Philippians 3, just so we're clear. Okay, so verse 18, where we kind of started the sermon, okay, this is about the enemies of the cross of Christ. Verse 19, he says, whose end is destruction. Well, we understand, we got a picture of that, don't we? Whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Okay, very, very important there. Verse 20, he says, for our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that conversation there, he's not saying that every time you open your mouth and talk with somebody, it better be about the gospel. Okay, no, he's saying that when a person is saved, the way this goes, you have the old man, you have the new man. Okay, we ought to have our conversation with the new man, which is going to be spiritual things, and how we relate to that, how we live our lives. That should be dominant. Look at verse 21. We're going to go over these again next week because chapter four starts off with a therefore, so therefore we have to go back and really clear this up. Verse 21, he says, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. We're going to break that down in better detail next week because it's going to be important to really polish off this book and to finish chapter number four. Okay, so we'll get into old man, new man, how that all makes sense. What does that mean? We're going to get all that next week and then we'll roll right into chapter number four and we should be able to finish it. So again, we're going to stop right there. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you again so much, Lord, for everything that you do for us. And I just pray that you'd help us to help people to be aware of the things that you told the Apostle Paul to tell the Philippians to be aware of and help us to not be ashamed of these things, but to understand that hearing these things over and over again are safe for us. We thank you for all that you do for us in Jesus name I pray. Amen.