Safeguarding Your Joy
Phil.3:1-11

Paul begins Phil. 3:1 with a command for the believers to rejoice in the Lord. Look at Phil. 1:18; 2:17, 18. It is Your Choice to Rejoice! Is faith in God to make us gloomy or glad? Are we people who cannot have any fun or are we to be people of real joy?
Paul is about to repeat himself to the Philippians. Every good teacher knows that for people to really get a hold and grasp what he is talking about, he must repeat himself. Paul was not reluctant to repeat himself; actually it would assist the believers in Philippi to be firm and to keep them from falling. For them it was a safeguard. “For you it is safe.” The BIG IDEA here is that rejoicing in Jesus Christ will make them steadfast and stable. Their joy in the Lord would make them able to stand. Paul is saying, let me give you a few principles to stabilize your joy. We have a tendency to be up and down. We have a tendency to be inconsistent. We can all rejoice, but there are also elements that exist that will kill our joy, too.
1. Watch OUT for Legalism, v.1-6
“Keyword” to overcome legalism: GRACE!
Beware, beware, and beware! What must we beware? Of one thing: a legalistic attitude.
? Beware of legalism:
Beware of DOGS, that speaks of their character; beware of evil workers, that speaks of their conduct; beware of the concision, that speaks of their creed. Again, we see that it does matter what church we go to. It does matter what we believe about God. Not all religions are the same. Not all faiths in God are valid.
ILLUS: Paulo Coelho, who promotes a syncretistic New-Age faith, is now the second-best-selling writer in the world, surpassed only by John Grisham. Not yet a household name in the United States, the Brazilian novelist has sold more than 27 million books. His works have been published in 117 countries and translated into 43 languages and have become the No. 1 bestseller in 18 countries. The Coelho craze is catching on in the United States. His books have sold over one million copies here, spurred on by a photograph of President Clinton reading The Alchemist, the book that established the writer’s worldwide reputation. Coelho invokes the deities and teachings of every major religion and many of the minor ones. Though he claims currently to be a Roman Catholic, he says he has "explored different religions," including Buddhism, Wicca, Hare Krishna, and the occult. On his website Coelho explains, "I believe that each and every religion, when chosen with sincerity, leads to the same God" (World, 7/1/00).
Watch out for dogs, Paul says, for they will bite. Beware, he says. This is a present tense verb, emphasizing the continual nature of it. This kind of dog that Paul speaks of is not the clean house dog, but the dangerous pit bull that is starved for a meal. This is the kind of dog that feeds on the refuge and filth of the streets and carries rabies and disease. This is the flea-bitten, mangy, starved scavenger that Paul speaks of. He calls them evil workers. They are wasters of good energy. They are actively at work, but in an evil direction. They were mutilators of the grace of God. These who Paul warns of sought to mix GRACE and WORKS, Christ and the LAW. They were legalists. Now, what is legalism? Legalism is not seeking to live a holy life separated unto God. Someone who does not drink, smoke, or curse is not necessarily a legalist. Let me give you a definition of legalism:
Legalism is substituting rules and regulations for salvation and sanctification. It is making some work essential for either salvation or spirituality. Paul defines what legalism is not in Phil3:3, We are the circumcision…That means, we are the true people of God. We are the ones truly forgiven and made pure in God’s sight.
? TRAITS of those who are not legalists:
a. We serve the Lord in the Spirit: We do not walk after the flesh! Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, Gal.5:16. The ground of our confidence is not what WE DO in this flesh. My works in this flesh cannot save me, and I must not even mix one work to God’s grace.
b. We boast in the Lord Jesus: We do not boast in our flesh or in the things that we DO to save us or to keep us or to make us spiritual. Our confidence is IN HIS WORK. This word is translated “rejoice,” “glory,” and “boast.” For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should BOAST. That is, glory or rejoice in their own works.
c. We put no confidence or trust in the flesh. We do not say that what we DO will save us. We do not trust in the flesh, but in the Lord! It is not EXTERNALS, whether our religious works, our racial descent, or any outward ceremony.
? Traits of legalism, from the superstar of legalism:
Paul next recounts his past life as the superstar legalist before his conversion. Here is Paul’s point: If there was anyone “good enough” to be saved by their own works, IT WAS ME! If anyone could trust in their flesh to be saved, I COULD MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE! He had done everything humanly possible to keep the law. He was “good.” Look at my religious pedigree! Top this, Paul is saying.
He had done all the RITUALS. I was circumcised. I was baptized. (v.5a)
He was of the JEWISH RACE. (v.5b) Of the tribe of Benjamin. Nah-nah-nah nah nah nah! Benjamin! One of the sons of Rachel, one of Jacob’s favorite sons.
He was RELIGIOUS, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Works religion is man’s attempt to get to God. Christianity is God’s grace in saving man.
He kept all the RULES, as touching the law, a Pharisee… The Pharisees expanded the Ten Commandments into 619 other commandments. Measured humanly by the righteousness of the law, Paul was blameless.
He was zealous. He opposed those who opposed him.
Ultimately, legalism is serving the Lord in the flesh, making our boast in our works, and putting our trust in the flesh. The legalist trusts in the flesh! The word “confidence” is used twice, and the word, “trust” is the same Greek word. That is, the legalist trusts that the works of the flesh will save him and the works of the flesh will sanctify him.
For example, the legalist will say, I am a BAPTIST church member, therefore I am saved, or I have been baptized, therefore I am saved. I read my Bible every day, therefore I am spiritual. I pass out tracts, and therefore I am spiritual. Or, I am spiritual because I don’t smoke, drink, go to movies, or whatever else you can think of. Spirituality is not by the works of our flesh! Spirituality comes by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives making us holy.
The legalists in Paul’s day were Judaizers. They said that salvation and sanctification was Christ plus works. You must keep the dietary laws, the Sabbath days, the circumcision command. The Judaizers had made circumcision essential to salvation.
Those who add rules to salvation are dogs.
Live each day by GRACE! Grace and joy go together. It is the same root word in the original language.
It is not wrong to strive to be holy, but we must not think that salvation or sanctification comes about by our works, by our keeping the rules
Watch out for Legalism! Next to safeguard our joy we must:
2. COUNT ON Out What really counts, v.7,8
“Keyword” : PRIORITIES!
A. Paul ADDS UP all those things he thought was gain and realizes they were in fact loss for Christ.
Paul did a numbers crunch and realized what was really valuable. It is like he does an AUDIT on his legalist life before salvation, and he says, “I thought I was spiritually RICH in my RELIGION, living right and doing right and serving God, but in fact I was spiritually BANKRUPT! I thought I was rich but I realize now I was hopelessly IN DEBT! I thought that my life was counting for something and that I was GAINING favor with God but in fact, everything I had done and was doing was a LOSS for God’s Kingdom.” I thought that all of the PERSONAL GLORY (his reputation) I had was my gain, now I realize that MY gain was Christ’s loss.
**Let me ask you a very serious question: Is it possible for a very sincere religious person to THINK they have favor with God but still be lost and on their way to eternity without Christ and without hope? Yes. Paul was SINCERE but sincerely wrong about his religion and relationship with God. He thought he was saved but he was lost. Here is Paul before his salvation, counting all of his religious background and experiences. Oh, look at all the FAVOR and MERIT I will gain from God on the basis of MY RIGHTEOUSNESS and MY WORKS. Like a miser would count his coins and put all his trust in his treasure, Paul counts off the things that he had put his confidence in.
When he received God’s free gift of eternal life, however, he realized that all those things that he had counted as gain, were actually loss for the cause of Christ.
The things that had PROFITED PAUL were actually loss for Christ. In other words, the things that benefited Paul did not benefit Jesus, His cause and His church.
Paul counted all the things he considered gains and they added up to one big loss! Here is Paul’s profit and loss statement. He compares his past religious legalism with his present relationship with Jesus and he says, those things were worthless. The things that I thought were gaining me SALVATION and SPIRITUALITY were in fact a LOSS to my spiritual condition. Paul was a man of great prestige and position before he was saved. Look at me, he probably thought when he watched the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen. Look at me, when he had the power to throw those Christians in jail. Look at my position and pedigree!
B. Then, we see that Paul LOST ALL THOSE THINGS THAT HE WAS COUNTING ON.
One day, however, Paul lost all those things that he was counting on and do you know what, IT DID NOT MATTER because HE WAS BETTER OFF! All those things that he had prided himself in, he lost and IT DID NOT MATTER because HE WAS BETTER OFF! The rituals that he was counting on to save him, the religion that he boasted in, his race, and the rules that he kept, and his reputation that he thought would earn him favor with God, he lost! You know what: IT DID NOT MATTER because HE WAS BETTER OFF! Now, as a believer, he counted those things that he used to count on and all together, it was a pile of manure. That is why it did not matter, for all those things added together were worth a pile of MANURE! All of his good works and religious works were just a pile of COW CHIPS as they say in Kansas! In other words, the things that he was counting on to save him, to earn him merit or favor with God was just a pile of manure.
The point is: people often do not come to Christ because they think they will lose the respect of their family or friends. They will have to change their religion. The thought is frightening. What you find when you do come to Christ is you will be better off with JESUS ALONE than everything else you count valuable now!
After he lost the things he was putting his trust in, he actually recounted them and realized that all together they were worth a pile of manure. That is what all the religious works he had done were really worth.
What is the point, if we are going to safeguard our joy? We must COUNT on what really COUNTS. If it is for MY GAIN, it does not count. If it is for GOD’S GLORY, keep it. It counts. Do all to the glory of God.
Watch out for Legalism!
Count on what really counts!
3. Rest IN true righteousness, v.9
Keyword: FAITH!
Paul now says, these things that I used to count up and count on are all a pile of dung to me now. I realize that things I once regarded as treasure are really worth absolutely nothing!
Paul realized that his righteousness was nothing but filthy rags and the only righteousness that could save him was the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He needed to have the righteousness of Jesus Christ IMPUTED to him BY GRACE through FAITH. Paul could not trust in his own personal righteousness to save him. Only Jesus could save him.
Paul had to REST IN TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS, the righteousness of Christ.
All religions are man’s attempt to establish his own righteousness. Christianity is trusting in the righteousness of Christ. Christianity is God giving us HIS righteousness.
*Romans 9:30-10:13.
Wiersbe says, “When Paul trusted Christ, he saw God put Christ’s righteousness to his own account.”
Watch out for legalism Count on what really counts Rest in true righteousness
4. Live By Knowing Him, v.10
Keyword: AMBITION!
Now, my number one goal is to KNOW Jesus Christ. Our ambition must be to know Jesus so we can glorify Him. The word here speaks of intimate, experiential knowledge. This kind of knowledge is personal and progressive. He does not just want to know ABOUT Jesus, but he sought to KNOW Jesus. There is a difference between knowing ABOUT someone and knowing someone. I know ABOUT Rudolph Guliani. I know he is the mayor, that he has cancer, and he wants to build a stadium on the west side of Manhattan. I do not know him, though. I know my wife. I talk to her and listen to her. I go places with her. I know what she likes, and what she doesn’t like. I know what she likes for me to do, and I know what she doesn’t like me to do. I know where she lives and when she wakes up and goes to bed. I know HER. Personally, intimately, and progressively.
A. Know HIM, His person B. Know the power of His resurrection C. Know the passion of His suffering: At the heart of Christianity is the cross. To know Him, is to know how He suffered for us.
The goal: To walk in the fulness of Christ, to walk in the power of His resurrection.
Do you know Jesus? Do you know what Jesus likes and what he does not like? I know where Jesus lives. I talk with Jesus and Jesus talks with me.
Christianity is knowing CHRIST in a PERSONAL WAY. We often say, I received Jesus Christ as my PERSONAL Savior.
How well do you know Jesus Christ? Do you let Jesus Christ speak to you? Do you talk to Jesus Christ?