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Philippians 3 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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And to protect them, as we're going to see, to protect them from the false teaching and false doctrine that was coming out of a particular branch, a group of people inside the church.
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! But I was going to read you this quote by a short quote by Martin Luther, and he said,
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The gospel cannot be heard enough, for it cannot be grasped enough.
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Moreover, our greatest task as preachers is to keep you faithful to this article and to bequeath this treasure to you when we die.
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So the greatest thing that we can have to give you as the people in our congregations he's saying is the gospel, and to entrust that to you.
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And when we die, you'll know that, and you'll treasure it and live in it.
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And so the thing about this passage also is it's such an amazing passage that, though, if I was just to sit down with you kind of one-on-one and walk through the passage, it would be really easy.
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But to actually teach through it, there's like so many different ways.
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So I hope that I just picked a good way to go about it.
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And then we're going to finish the other part of it next week.
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But it all has to do, to some degree, we're going to look at this and ask them three questions.
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The first question is, what awaits us after death?
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What awaits us after death?
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And the answer is the judgment of God.
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God is called the righteous judge in Scripture.
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It's one of the things about God.
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He is a holy, righteous, and pure judge, and the perfect judge, if you want to look at it that way.
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And all of us, every one of us in here, are going to stand in front of the judgment seat of God one day.
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And we have to think of this like in terms of like a courtroom idea.
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And it's something that we can tremble about.
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And probably I remember many times getting scared by when I was a kid.
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And hearing about it, I'm not actually having a good understanding of actually what it was.
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But we have to understand that God's holiness, that's one of the things that God is.
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It means He's totally separated from all things that are sinful and evil.
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It has nothing to do with them.
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And that He's like pure in all His ways and upright and perfect.
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And so His holiness doesn't just mean He's separated from evil, but it also means that He's devoted to destroying evil.
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And how we want God to be that way.
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We don't want Him to be a God that sees evil going on and has no problem with it.
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All we have to do is just look on the news or kind of look around and what's going on in our own country and places in the world.
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And you see like awful, awful, heinous things being done.
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And there's something inside of you, most of you probably, that just says there's got to be justice for that.
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That's wrong.
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Like that's got to be made right.
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And if we who are sinful, if we think that way, how much more would a holy and righteous God.
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And I'm trying to help.
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I've been having a lot of talks with people about God's attributes lately.
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I've been writing about God's attributes and who God is.
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Because how you understand God is going to shape the rest of your life.
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If you have a puny, weak understanding of God, that's probably what your life will look like.
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But if you have a huge biblical idea about God and your knowledge of God is increasing, then God's going to get bigger and bigger in your mind.
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But something about the attributes of God.
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I've come to kind of learn this, that we as humans, as finite human beings, we like to kind of look at God and like put Him in categories called attributes.
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You know, we want to say God is holy, God is just, God is loving, God is gracious, you know, so forth.
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God is omniscient.
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He's all powerful.
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These little things.
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But the truth is that it's not that God is sometimes those attributes.
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You know, we can look at our lives and say right now, you know, I can be a loving person.
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You know that?
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Some of you know me.
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We'll have to know that I cannot be a loving person too.
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And so what happened?
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You know, I can be those things, but I am not those things.
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And that's a major difference because God, not just that God can be loving, it's that God is love and that He is just.
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He is holy.
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And His attributes are brought together in such a way to where His goodness is a demonstration of His justice.
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And His justice is a demonstration of His goodness, vice versa.
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It's also, so when God shows judgment, it's not just He's being just, it's that He's being good.
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He's being loving in that same instant.
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You can't really, it's just our puny efforts as finite creatures to try to understand something of who God is.
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But God will punish evil.
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He will punish sin.
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All those who have sinned and rebelled against God will pay.
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This is what Scripture teaches.
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Old and New Testament, out of the mouths of the prophets, out of the mouth of the apostles, out of Christ.
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This is what is taught.
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There's a payday, if you want to call it that, coming for sin.
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For the wages of sin is death, the gift of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus.
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Romans 6.23, the Old Testament calls it the day of the Lord, the day of wrath.
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It's called many things in the Scripture, but Psalm 7.11 says that God, it calls God the righteous judge.
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And He's going to do like what good judges do.
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He's going to punish evil.
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And if you want to flip in your Bibles, I'm just going to give you just one picture of this.
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Flip to, excuse me, Revelation 20.
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That's Revelation singular, not the book of Revelations, like a lot of people say.
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So Revelation, flip over there.
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I'm going to go into chapter 20.
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And there's a picture of the judgment here.
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And it's kind of sandwiched in between chapter 19, where Christ returns with the armies of heaven,
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and He wipes out all the evil on the earth and kind of brings them to that next stage of judgment.
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And then after this chapter we're about to read is the creation of the new heavens and the new earth,
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where everything is beautiful and awesome and the way it should have been and even better.
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So this is where we find the judgment is actually between these two things,
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the return of Christ and the new heaven and new earth.
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But I wonder how many have actually read this before.
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It's really, really sobering.
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This is John seeing this go down.
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And so look at verse 11.
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It says,
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It says,
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Those are just symbolic meanings for death.
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Simply put, there's a lot more there, but death and Hades.
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I gave up the dead who were in them,
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and they were judged, each one of them,
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according to what they had done.
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Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
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This is the second death, the lake of fire.
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And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life,
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he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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So, chilling, sobering passage to think about.
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This is where we're all going to be one day.
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And we're going to be judged according to what we've done.
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It says that twice in there.
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So, what's going to make the difference?
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Just to walk you through this passage,
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it's a white throne.
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And a throne always, in Scripture,
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means it's a symbol of power, authority, sovereignty.
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And white, meaning like pure and clean and upright.
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And the sheer presence of God's holiness and purity
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causes all the creation that has been tainted by sin
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and messed up by sin to flee.
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That's what happens.
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Like the whole creation just disappears.
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Because think about it.
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This is before the creation of the new heaven and the new earth.
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So, you see that?
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Like it's like fleeing away.
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The old is passing away.
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In front of the very presence of God,
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it just kind of takes off and flees.
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And from God, this is before the new was made.
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And all men, where it says there in verse 12,
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the dead, the great, the small,
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this just means everyone.
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The weak, the powerful, the rich, the poor.
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Everyone from the beggar on the street
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to the most powerful person on the planet.
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All are going to stand before God.
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And it says here that books, books were open.
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Books, books plural.
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And these books record every thought, every word, every deed
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that we've ever done throughout our lives.
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And that's, again, I'm thinking about things I've done right now
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and things I've said
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and how chilling it would be to be exposed.
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There's another, this isn't,
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John's not the first one to write about this.
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Hundreds and hundreds of years before
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John ever came on the scene,
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the prophet Daniel spoke about the same thing.
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You can just write down Daniel chapter 7
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and you'll read the same kind of language here.
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And so they're judged according to what they've done in the books.
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Then it says the book of life
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that contains all the names
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of those who have looked to Christ for salvation,
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those who have been redeemed by Christ,
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hence the book of life.
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They'll have life.
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And they're judged differently
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than the others who are not reading the book of life.
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And so when the people's thoughts, words, deeds, and actions, whatever,
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when they were in light of God's holiness,
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they all fail the test, every one of them.
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They don't meet what's required.
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They all fall short.
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And if their names were not in the book of life,
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they were cast into the lake of fire.
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And I want you to think about that.
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Like, how embarrassed or how frightened would you be right now
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like if I were to say,
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hey, we're going to like watch a video of your life,
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like every thought, word, deed, and action
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that you've ever committed.
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Like, all of you would probably just flee.
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Like, I'm leaving.
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I'm not watching.
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Like, I'm getting out of here.
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I'm running to the mountains and not coming out again.
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That's definitely what I would do.
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I've mentioned this before.
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You're just going to feel utterly exposed.
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Anybody ever felt that before?
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Like, utterly exposed?
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You have for, like, maybe something you've done.
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You've been found out.
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And I've mentioned this show before,
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but I don't have cable or satellite or anything.
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But a long time ago, I was with some crazy friends of mine
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and they were watching a show called
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To Catch a Prayer.
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Has anybody ever heard of that before?
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It's a show that they try to find men who were wanting to have sex with underage girls.
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And they, like, talk to them on the Internet and all these things.
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They set up meetings with them.
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And eventually, these guys, if they keep following through with it,
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and even with the girl, they're saying,
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Hey, I'm just, I'm underage, I'm underage.
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And if they're undeterred by it, they, the cops,
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like, you'll see, they're organized like a meeting place.
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And this is all, like, on video.
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You'll see the guy just kind of creeping around.
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And then all of a sudden, like, a camera will come in his face.
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And, like, the cops will come around him.
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He's just like, oh, my goodness.
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Like, he's caught.
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And, like, this total look of exposure.
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Some of them just break down and cry.
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Other ones run.
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And just a feeling of total exposure being caught on national television.
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You know, many of them have families,
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have real prominent positions in society,
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and they're caught.
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And as bad as that is,
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like, this will be infinitely much worse,
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this, the judgment of God.
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And we all face this.
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And so, you only have just a few places to turn tonight,
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actually less than usual.
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But look over at Jeremiah,
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verse, or chapter, chapter 17.
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It's going to be just a verse out of this.
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Jeremiah 17.
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And this is something that the Lord says.
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He says,
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I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind
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to give every man according to his ways,
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according to the fruit of his deeds.
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So, God isn't just looking at your external,
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you know, just what you do on the outside,
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your outward behavior.
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He's looking, like, right through what's going on in your mind
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and what's going on in your heart.
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And earlier in Jeremiah, chapter 11,
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it says,
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the Lord of hosts who judges righteously,
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who tests the heart and the mind.
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So, this is what God's going to do.
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And it's a day that none of us can escape.
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And so, my responsibility,
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and those of you in here who are followers of Christ,
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is to do our best to help others to prepare for that day
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and also to examine ourselves
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and make sure that we're prepared for that day.
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And you may think this might be a strange way
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to approach this passage in Philippians.
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Flip back to Philippians 3.
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We're going to jump in there.
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But the first question was, you know,
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what awaits us after death?
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And the answer was the judgment of God,
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the righteous judgment of God.
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The second question is,
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what is the wrong way to prepare for that day?
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What is the wrong way to prepare for that day?
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And look back in chapter 3.
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And we'll look at verse 2 there.
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Paul is giving a warning and he says,
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look out for the dogs.
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Look out for the evildoers.
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Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
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And then jump to verse 4 real fast.
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Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also,
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if anyone else thinks he has reason to be confident in the flesh,
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I have more.
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Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel,
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of the tribe of Benjamin,
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a Hebrew of Hebrews,
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as to the law,
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a Pharisee,
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as to zeal,
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a persecutor of the church,
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as to righteousness under the law,
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blameless.
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And he's giving himself as an example of something not to put confidence in.
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And the answer to the question is,
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you know,
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well,
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the question,
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what is the wrong way to prepare for that day?
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The answer is to place confidence in your own righteousness,
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your own goodness,
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produced in your flesh,
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to place confidence in that.
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So when Paul says,
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placing confidence in the flesh,
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you're just saying in your own,
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your own abilities,
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your own,
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your own,
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your own self-righteousness,
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like what you've done,
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how good you are,
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apart from what comes from Christ.
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So that's what he's implying.
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And because our own righteousness will just infinitely fall short of what God's going to require.
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He's going to require absolute,
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total perfection.
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And none of us have that to offer.
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So,
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being the good apostle,
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pastor he is,
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he's like,
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look out,
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beware,
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beware of these kind of men.
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And dogs,
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he uses that description there,
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dogs,
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he might sound like,
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either you're thinking like that's sweet or that's derogatory.
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It's derogatory.
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He's using that kind of like a play on words.
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It's used in scripture as a term of reproach.
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And in ancient societies,
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and in particularly Jewish societies,
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dogs were not like your cute domesticated pets.
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They were seen as like scavengers and dirty,
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flea-bitten,
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you know,
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tramps kind of thing.
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And they roamed the streets and carried like dangerous infections.
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And so they were just kind of saying,
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he's using that figuratively speaking about false teachers.
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They were coming around and saying things that were,
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they were perverting the gospel.
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And particularly this group was a group of Jews and they were called the,
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the Judaizers that would try to,
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to add to the gospel.
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That's what the gospel was like.
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Come by the grace of God and be saved.
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Come with,
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without money and by,
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come,
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you know,
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and be saved by Christ.
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And,
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and they will throw in there,
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plus obeying all the old Testament Jewish rituals and customs and laws.
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They would,
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I'm a Gentile.
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I'm sure that most of you in here are probably Gentile.
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You're,
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you're,
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you're a non-Jew.
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And so they would tell you,
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if you wanted to become a follower of Christ,
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okay,
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well,
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they would tell the men in this room,
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you need to be circumcised.
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And like say like a lot of like things,
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we would need to become Jewish before we became Christian.
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And that's,
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that was like in their mind.
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And this was a total perversion of the gospel.
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The gospel is,
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is Jesus.
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The gospel is not Jesus plus this,
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and that it's come to Jesus and be saved.
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And so he's using this as a term to,
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to say that those are the,
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the Jews that were seeking to be righteous outside of,
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of God's righteousness.
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He was calling them dogs.
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And he calls them evil workers,
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evil doers.
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They're like all their,
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all their energies,
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all their labors were trying to,
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to point people to the law and not point them to Christ.
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And to find a righteous in keeping the law of God.
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And so any attempt,
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and you got to just be aware of this,
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like even when you're sharing the gospel with somebody,
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make sure they understand that they violated the law of God,
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but also make sure they understand that they can't keep that law.
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You don't wait for them to like get their lives together,
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get cleaned up and then come to Christ.
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Cause that won't ever happen.
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They have to come to Christ to be saved and then to be cleaned up by Christ.
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And so then he says,
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this idea of like being a mutilator of the flesh.
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He was,
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he's talking about like the external circumcision that the Jews would have.
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And remember that like circumcision,
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the old Testament was used as an outward sign that had like two different meanings.
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One,
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it identified you as being part of the people of God.
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It was an outward sign that kind of like a,
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like a tattoo or a t-shirt kind of thing.
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Like it showed that you belong to the people of God.
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But circumcision itself is symbolic of something.
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It was expressing the need for God to do something else,
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which was to circumcise their heart and to change their heart.
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And that's,
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so it pointed to a greater fulfillment.
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It was a foreshadowing of what Christ would come and do.
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And so he's basically saying like,
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look,
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it doesn't matter if you got the outward sign or not.
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what matters is like what's going on in the inside.
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So,
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so he says these things like beware of these guys.
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But then it gets around to,
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let's see,
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verse,
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verse four there.
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He basically says,
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if anyone has confidence in the flesh,
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if anybody should have confidence in how awesome they are,
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it's me.
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It's like what he says.
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If anybody should,
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that would be me.
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He's not,
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he's not taking confidence in that,
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but he's just going to make a point to them.
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He wanted them to know that based on his religious pedigree,
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he was far more advanced than any of those guys that were trying to attack him and trying to bring down the gospel.
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And impeccable pedigree.
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And he wanted to outdo everybody like on being the religious,
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awesome,
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upright guy.
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And he did by far.
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And in this text,
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it's as if he's saying,
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I had all these things and I missed it.
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Like I was,
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I was like a guy who was studying the signpost,
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but never went to the location.
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He was like,
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I'm trying to think of an example.
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Like we don't really have like a lot of signs that tell you where this location is throughout Dahlonega.
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Let's just say we did.
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And we were coming here one Sunday morning and we saw a few of you just gathered around one of the signs,
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like a few miles out.
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And y'all were just kind of standing there.
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And I'm like,
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what are you doing?
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And you said,
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well,
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we're,
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we've come to Christ family church.
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And like being,
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hopefully just say,
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Hey,
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uh,
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that's not,
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that's not where we gather.
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That's a sign pointing to where we are.
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Like the party is like down the road,
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like follow me.
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Uh,
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so all these things,
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the law,
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the prophets,
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the rituals and sacrifices,
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all of that were pointing to something.
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And Paul is saying,
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I had all these things and I,
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and I missed the point of it.
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I wasn't,
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I didn't see them for what they were intended to do.
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And he was like weaving his own garment,
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if you want to call it that of self-righteousness.
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He was putting together how awesome he was so that he could stand before God one day.
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And that would have fallen,
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fallen short.
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He was aware of the scripture and Isaiah 64.
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We're going to revisit this next week.
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Uh,
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it says that all of our righteous deeds are as filthy rags.
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And no English translation has been daring enough to actually say what that means.
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I'm not going to tell you what it means either,
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but if you're interested,
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go look it up.
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It's a pretty,
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uh,
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um,
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vivid picture of what our righteous deeds are apart from Christ and how God views those.
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But he's not pleased.
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So he's saying,
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if any of you guys think you were religious and had it all together,
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I'm telling you that I had you outdone by far.
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And then he,
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he gets into,
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we're going to walk through these things.
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And I want you to think about your own life as we walk through some of these things.
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But,
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um,
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sorry,
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I have some congestion.
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So I'm sorry if my voice is scratchy tonight,
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but we're going to look at five things.
25:17
This is all underneath that second question.
25:20
Five things that do not make us right before God.
25:24
Okay.
25:25
Five things that don't make us right before God.
25:28
First of all,
25:30
not by ritual,
25:32
not by ritual.
25:35
You see how it says there in Philippians,
25:38
say he was circumcised on the eighth day.
25:40
And that was the prescribed day for a Jewish boy to be circumcised under the Levitical law.
25:46
So,
25:47
so from the womb,
25:48
Paul went through all the right stuff.
25:50
Like he went through all the proper rites and rituals that were required.
25:54
At that time.
25:55
And he followed,
25:57
followed all of that from the beginning.
25:59
Excuse me.
26:00
Somebody get me,
26:01
uh,
26:02
Zach,
26:02
can you give me some water or kitchen?
26:04
One of you guys.
26:05
I appreciate it.
26:06
Um,
26:06
so,
26:07
um,
26:07
so,
26:07
um,
26:07
um,
26:08
so,
26:07
in the same way,
26:09
we can't be made right with God according to any kind of ceremony or ritual that we have done or are doing.
26:17
Understand that like no infant baptism,
26:22
no adult baptism,
26:23
um,
26:24
whether you're Methodist,
26:26
Presbyterian Baptist,
26:27
and however you view baptism,
26:29
which is an ordinance the church has,
26:31
it's not what makes us right with God.
26:35
When Paul says on the eighth day,
26:37
it's kind of funny in Greek.
26:39
It means I was an eighth dayer.
26:41
I was an eighth dayer.
26:42
Kind of.
26:43
I,
26:43
I obeyed the ritual.
26:44
I obeyed the law and not taking the Lord's supper,
26:49
attending church services.
26:50
None of these things can give us right standing with God.
26:53
So,
26:54
so not by ritual.
26:56
Um,
26:58
thanks man.
26:58
I appreciate it.
27:01
No,
27:01
I'm good.
27:02
Appreciate it.
27:03
And then secondly,
27:05
it's not by race.
27:08
And he says three things kind of about that.
27:12
You could look at them individually,
27:13
but excuse me guys.
27:19
Um,
27:19
he says of the nation of Israel.
27:22
Okay.
27:22
So the nation of Israel,
27:25
he was a direct racial descendant of Abraham,
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Isaac,
27:29
and Jacob.
27:30
He was in that,
27:31
the perfect line,
27:32
born into the very people that God chose in the old Testament to manifest his law to,
27:38
and to,
27:38
and to give his statutes to,
27:40
and who he preserved and protected and delivered and spoke to.
27:45
He was of,
27:45
of that people.
27:47
Uh,
27:48
so,
27:48
so Jews,
27:49
you know,
27:49
relied heavily on their heritage to,
27:52
uh,
27:52
to make them right with God.
27:54
And then he goes on even further.
27:57
He says of the tribe of Benjamin.
27:59
Um,
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Benjamin was the second son of,
28:03
of Rachel,
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Joseph's younger brother.
28:06
and Rachel was the most loved wife of Jacob,
28:11
who became known as Israel.
28:12
That's why it's called the sons of Israel.
28:15
Um,
28:15
Benjamin was one of the most prominent,
28:18
most influential tribes,
28:20
noble tribes.
28:22
Those of you have heard of,
28:23
of Mordecai and Esther.
28:24
They were from the tribe of Benjamin.
28:26
They were the tribe that remained true to David during the civil war for the Davidic dynasty.
28:32
So they were a pretty happening tribe of all the tribes for sure.
28:38
And so it's been interesting is that,
28:40
did you know that like the Jews at this time in Jesus day,
28:44
most of them did not know which tribe they came from.
28:47
And it was,
28:48
uh,
28:49
so many,
28:50
you know,
28:50
hundreds and hundreds of years of,
28:52
of intermarrying and the exiles,
28:56
the Babylonian exile and coming back.
28:57
Most of them didn't know what tribe they came from,
29:00
but Paul was able to say with confidence,
29:02
like my people,
29:05
my family,
29:05
like we remained like true to the tribe of Benjamin the whole time.
29:09
So we know you probably don't know.
29:12
I do.
29:12
It's like what he's,
29:13
what he's trying to say.
29:15
So then he goes on.
29:16
He says a Hebrew of Hebrews.
29:18
This is all under,
29:19
not by race.
29:21
So he was born to Hebrew speaking parents.
29:23
They taught him,
29:24
they taught him all the,
29:25
the,
29:26
the social customs and,
29:28
and,
29:29
and traditions of the people.
29:31
So a rich heritage,
29:32
he's got,
29:34
he's from like the people that you want to be by.
29:37
And so likewise,
29:40
most of us in here are probably be aware of this,
29:43
but just because you're born into a certain family or a certain people group,
29:48
a race does not make you right with God.
29:53
It's living in America,
29:55
even living in the Bible belt doesn't make you right with God.
29:58
People just have this impression.
29:59
There's just so many Christians around here.
30:02
And because it's the Bible belt and it doesn't matter what kind of rank we have in society or in the church,
30:10
you can be a,
30:10
you can be a pastor or whatever.
30:12
It doesn't matter.
30:14
So it's not by,
30:15
not by race.
30:16
It has no value before God,
30:18
not by tradition.
30:18
And thirdly,
30:20
not by religion.
30:22
You look back in Philippians,
30:23
he says,
30:24
as to the law,
30:26
I was a Pharisee.
30:28
And they were the most orthodox of all the religious sects.
30:34
Pharisee,
30:34
the word,
30:35
the word itself means separated ones.
30:39
That's like what it means,
30:40
separated ones.
30:41
And they were very,
30:43
very influential and lived extremely disciplined lives,
30:48
strict lifestyles.
30:49
They were teachers of the law.
30:50
They would have had the entire Old Testament memorized.
30:55
They would have had it right here.
30:56
And they would have taught it and declared it to people.
30:59
And they had the best upright behavior.
31:02
They were the guys who didn't do anything kind of out of line.
31:07
And Paul actually told King Agrippa in Acts 26,
31:11
he says,
31:12
I lived in this group.
31:14
And he says,
31:15
they were the strictest party of our religion.
31:18
And I lived with them as a Pharisee.
31:19
That's like what he said.
31:20
Like we were,
31:21
so I was top of the ladder.
31:24
You know,
31:24
I wasn't,
31:24
I wasn't t-ball or peewee.
31:27
Baseball,
31:27
I was,
31:28
I was pro,
31:28
you know,
31:28
like I was,
31:29
I was the best in the religious system.
31:34
So,
31:34
likewise,
31:36
even the most talented,
31:40
popular Christian pastor,
31:42
teacher,
31:43
author,
31:44
evangelist,
31:46
theological scholar,
31:47
writer,
31:47
whatever,
31:48
it doesn't matter.
31:49
Like it doesn't,
31:50
it's not going to square you away with God one day.
31:51
He's not,
31:52
he's not impressed by how much religion you have and what you've done.
31:59
Reciting prayers,
32:00
going on mission trips,
32:01
going and preaching the gospel to many,
32:03
many people.
32:04
It's not going to make one difference to God whatsoever.
32:07
He's not going to be pleased.
32:08
You still not,
32:10
your name will not be in the book of life.
32:12
Like that's,
32:13
that's what's going to matter.
32:14
He's going to judge you according to the evil you've done.
32:17
And,
32:18
and then here's a big one.
32:21
A shocker.
32:21
This is going to be a question that we're going to talk about in a minute.
32:23
But fourthly,
32:25
not by sincerity,
32:27
not by sincerity.
32:28
That doesn't make it right with God.
32:30
He says,
32:31
as to zeal,
32:33
a persecutor of the church.
32:36
So he makes a point to say,
32:38
of these Judaizers who want to destroy the church,
32:41
I had far more zeal to annihilate the church than any of them.
32:45
Like I had far greater zeal to destroy the church.
32:48
Paul persecuted them.
32:50
He killed them.
32:51
He threw many of them in prison.
32:52
And that was his goal before he was a,
32:55
before he was a Christian.
32:56
So he wasn't just,
32:57
you know,
32:59
you know,
33:00
aggravated by Christians.
33:01
He was out to kill them and destroy them.
33:03
And he had more zeal than any of those guys who were like going out to,
33:07
to down,
33:08
you know,
33:08
to slam the gospel.
33:10
And this is what's scary.
33:12
God really doesn't care about good intentions and,
33:17
and right motives.
33:20
He,
33:20
he doesn't.
33:21
just because someone is genuine about something and believe something,
33:26
you know,
33:27
very zealously does not make it right.
33:29
That's kind of the bottom line.
33:31
You can be zealous about the wrong things.
33:32
I know that.
33:33
I'm being zealous about a lot of ridiculous,
33:35
stupid things in my life that,
33:37
that really don't matter.
33:38
I was wrong.
33:39
So,
33:40
so he was saying,
33:41
I was zealous to destroy Christ.
33:44
What an idiot I was,
33:46
you know,
33:47
so he was zealous about those things.
33:49
So even zeal doesn't make something right.
33:51
So when you turn on the TV or the radio and you hear,
33:55
I know some guys will hear a pastor on the radio or the TV and thought they are so captivating.
34:00
You know,
34:00
like,
34:00
he's just so passionate.
34:02
Like,
34:03
he just must be right.
34:04
And I'm like,
34:04
no,
34:05
no,
34:06
like,
34:06
listen to what he's saying.
34:08
Don't just follow the guy's passion.
34:10
So passion doesn't make you right.
34:11
The guy's sincerity doesn't.
34:13
In Galatians 1,
34:15
13,
34:15
this is Paul writing.
34:16
This is something he says,
34:17
for you heard of my former life in Judaism,
34:21
how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
34:26
And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age.
34:31
So extremely zealous was I for the,
34:34
for the traditions of my fathers.
34:36
So he,
34:37
he reflects back on that.
34:38
It's like that,
34:38
that was me before I knew Christ,
34:41
before Christ came to save me.
34:44
So,
34:46
so good intentions don't make a,
34:47
it's right before God.
34:49
here's,
34:50
here's a verse you can write down.
34:51
I'll read it to you,
34:52
but like,
34:52
it's,
34:52
it's a sobering verse.
34:55
This is Proverbs 19,
34:56
verse two.
34:58
It says,
34:58
desire,
35:00
or zeal,
35:02
desire without knowledge is not good.
35:05
And whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.
35:08
It's like what it says.
35:09
So,
35:10
just because we're passionate,
35:12
you know,
35:13
rah,
35:13
rah about God,
35:15
doesn't make us right.
35:17
We have to have like a right understanding about who God is.
35:20
And then be passionate about that.
35:23
God desires to be worshiped in spirit and truth.
35:25
John four.
35:27
So we can't worship God for like a false idea of who he is.
35:30
He cares about how he's viewed and how he's seen.
35:33
And so,
35:34
uh,
35:34
there's a lot more to say about that.
35:36
But fifthly,
35:36
and lastly here,
35:38
um,
35:39
not by legalistic righteousness.
35:42
And in Philippians,
35:43
as to the righteousness,
35:44
which is in the law,
35:46
I was found blameless.
35:48
So no one can look at Paul's lifestyle and,
35:51
and,
35:51
and say,
35:52
and accuse him of anything like,
35:54
like it looked bad.
35:56
He had it just all together on the outside.
35:59
He was,
36:00
uh,
36:00
no loose living whatsoever.
36:03
And so,
36:05
in the same way,
36:05
our own morality and our own,
36:08
uh,
36:08
if we,
36:09
do you know anybody that's just kind of like driven by keeping the rules?
36:13
I mean,
36:13
you might be that way.
36:14
Just like,
36:15
which isn't a bad thing.
36:15
You should keep the rules.
36:16
I'm just saying that,
36:18
like they're almost driven by that.
36:20
I've got to keep the rules.
36:21
And I can't do anything bad.
36:23
And,
36:23
and to some degree,
36:24
I think that's going to make you right with God,
36:27
depending on how well you keep the rules.
36:29
You don't drink,
36:30
cuss or chew or party or sleep around.
36:33
And so you think that you're,
36:34
you're right with God because you don't do those things.
36:37
And still God's,
36:40
your righteousness is not going to be based on that.
36:43
So all,
36:44
those are all wrong ways to prepare for this day of judgment,
36:47
to like rely on those things.
36:50
Paul's renouncing those things.
36:52
He's saying,
36:52
that's who I was.
36:53
Now that is where I was placing my hope,
36:55
but no longer.
36:57
These are the things that he says,
36:58
I count as loss a little later in this passage.
37:01
I,
37:01
I,
37:02
I forget those things.
37:03
Like I,
37:04
I push those things aside and they were good things,
37:08
right?
37:09
They weren't bad things.
37:09
You just named,
37:10
but he was just saying,
37:11
I have my hope to be,
37:13
to be saved by those things.
37:14
And that's not right.
37:15
So,
37:16
so the last question,
37:18
and then we'll break out in a group such as this one is,
37:21
what is the right way to prepare for that day,
37:25
the day of judgment?
37:27
And that's,
37:28
that's in the whole rest of the passage.
37:30
And that's what we're going to spend next week talking about the whole time.
37:34
But briefly,
37:34
look at verse three.
37:35
For we are the true circumcision who worship by the spirit of God and the glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
37:47
So what's the right way to prepare for that day?
37:51
To put no confidence in the flesh,
37:53
no confidence in your own righteousness whatsoever.
37:57
Nothing you've done.
37:59
And,
38:00
and to look totally to Christ to provide like that righteousness for you and that you can't provide for yourself.
38:06
So he calls the church,
38:08
the true circumcision,
38:11
right?
38:11
Because the true circumcision are those that don't just have an outward sign that they belong to God,
38:16
but they actually have the heart that's been circumcised.
38:19
The heart has been changed by God and regenerated by God.
38:24
And so that's what it,
38:25
what it symbolizes.
38:27
Deuteronomy 30 verse six,
38:29
you could write that down.
38:30
That's,
38:30
that speaks of how God is saying one day,
38:32
I will circumcise your heart and I'll,
38:34
I'll enable you to love me because right now,
38:37
you know,
38:38
apart from my own work,
38:39
you can't love me.
38:40
You,
38:41
you love sin and you despise me.
38:44
And so in the new Testament,
38:46
whenever a circumcision is mentioned to some degree,
38:49
it's synonymous with being born again,
38:52
it's synonymous with the new,
38:53
the new birth.
38:54
Colossians two,
38:55
nine through 13 kind of talks about that.
38:57
So the true people of God actually possess the new heart.
39:02
And not just an outward sign that they belong to God.
39:05
So,
39:05
so I could go to the coolest tattoo parlor and just write like the whole gospel of John on my arm in Greek.
39:13
And it means nothing.
39:15
It doesn't mean that like I belong to Christ at all.
39:19
God,
39:19
God examines the heart.
39:21
And in Galatians,
39:22
he actually says,
39:24
this is something he says towards the end of the book of Galatians.
39:26
It's not by a circumcision or not,
39:30
or non circumcision,
39:31
but a new creation that matters.
39:33
That's like what he says.
39:35
Like,
39:35
it's not that you have a sign,
39:36
an outward sign or,
39:37
or don't have an outward sign.
39:40
You have a tattoo or you don't have the tattoo.
39:42
He's like,
39:42
but what matters is that you're a new creation changed by the Holy Spirit and given a new heart by the Holy Spirit.
39:49
And so where it says that they worship in the spirit of God and the glory of Jesus Christ,
39:55
it means that they're,
39:56
they're the true worshipers.
39:57
They're the ones that worship God for who he actually is and,
40:02
and have the right zeal and they worship by the Holy Spirit.
40:05
That's what happens.
40:07
And I mean,
40:07
huge stressing there.
40:09
They,
40:09
it says that we don't put confidence in the flesh.
40:12
Like we,
40:12
we despair of who we are.
40:15
We have nothing to offer.
40:16
We are,
40:17
our righteousness,
40:18
these are filthy rags.
40:19
So we look to Christ to save us and then turn here and then we're going to read this and then go into groups.
40:25
But Titus three,
40:27
flip over to the Titus three.
40:29
And this is going to sum up this last question.
40:35
Titus three,
40:36
verse four.
40:44
So,
40:45
this will sum up that.
40:50
It says,
40:51
but when the goodness and loving kindness of God,
40:54
our savior appeared,
40:56
he saved us.
40:59
Key word there.
41:00
Saved from what?
41:01
Saved from the wrath of God.
41:03
Saved from judgment.
41:04
He saved us.
41:07
Not because of works done by us in righteousness,
41:11
but according to his own mercy.
41:14
By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
41:17
There's the new birth.
41:18
That's the idea of the Holy Spirit.
41:20
Coming in and changing and making you a new creation.
41:25
Circumcising your heart.
41:26
That's what that's a picture of.
41:28
Verse six.
41:29
Whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ,
41:33
our savior.
41:35
So that being justified by his grace,
41:38
we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
41:43
And that word justified,
41:45
that's what we're going to really talk about even more next week.
41:48
But in a courtroom to be justified is being,
41:51
is the opposite of being condemned.
41:53
You know,
41:54
it means like you're declared to be innocent.
41:57
You can go,
41:58
you're set free because you're innocent.
42:00
I'm going to allow you to go.
42:01
And it says we're justified by the,
42:04
by his grace.
42:05
So that we'll have hope of eternal life.
42:08
And so this is the first part of that is that it doesn't matter.
42:13
Um,
42:14
I,
42:14
I grew up in a Christian home.
42:17
My parents were Christians.
42:19
My grandparents are Christians and my great grandparents are Christians.
42:22
And a rich heritage of people that all love the Lord and poured their lives out to,
42:28
to see the kingdom advance.
42:30
I was born in the South,
42:32
in the Bible belt.
42:34
Um,
42:35
been the church,
42:36
been the church my whole life.
42:39
And I have no confidence in that now.
42:41
I usually think,
42:42
probably when I was a kid,
42:44
I guess I'm more right.
42:44
Cause I'm kind of in this camp and God looks at every individual and he tests their hearts and he tests their minds.
42:51
And he sees where they stand.
42:53
And so if you're here tonight and you don't have,
42:56
if you have been putting confidence in,
42:58
and how good you've been and how many good deeds you've done,
43:03
just throw it all away and just come and just humble yourself.
43:07
Uh,
43:08
at the foot of the cross and,
43:09
and let Christ be all that you need.
43:12
And,
43:13
uh,
43:13
let us take hope in that.
43:15
Um,
43:15
that's what we're going to talk about next week.
43:18
And,
43:19
uh,
43:20
this little book is a,
43:21
is a picture of justification.
43:24
It's,
43:24
uh,
43:24
it's out of an old Testament story called,
43:26
I was Zachariah and,
43:28
and Joshua,
43:29
the high priest who had these filthy garments that he,
43:32
he stood before God.
43:33
And,
43:34
uh,
43:36
cool,
43:36
cool way to learn about that.
43:37
So we're going to look at that next week.
43:40
And then the rest of the verses,
43:42
they're up to verse 11,
43:44
where he says,
43:45
I count all that loss in comparison to knowing Christ and,
43:47
and having Christ as my righteousness.
43:51
So we're going to respond and seeing,
43:53
and then we're going to bust out into the groups.
43:56
Um,
43:56
so let me just pray for us and,
43:58
and Alex and reach.
44:00
I can come up.
44:03
Father,
44:04
we,
44:04
we look to you.
44:07
Lord,
44:09
I,
44:09
I know I can,
44:12
things even come to my mind now,
44:13
things I've done,
44:14
things I've,
44:15
I've said in public and in private behind closed doors that have been utter rebellion against you.
44:22
Things that have dishonored you,
44:27
have brought,
44:27
have brought great harm to me and to others.
44:31
And God,
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uh,
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I know there's nothing I can do to,
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to make myself right with you.
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And,
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and so,
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Lord,
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I,
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I pray that,
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that anyone here that feels that way,
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they would,
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um,
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despair of themselves and they would find complete hope and complete trust in the work of Christ to make them right before you.
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And,
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and to prepare for that,
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that day of judgment,
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that our names will be found in the book of life and that we'll,
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we'll have eternal life and that we'll dwell in your presence and,
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and be with you,
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um,
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for all eternity,
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um,
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all from a gift of grace is found in Christ.
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So,
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so Lord,
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I pray that would be just the meditation of our hearts this evening.
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And,
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and even as we go to bed,
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that we can find ourselves completely in Christ.
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It's in his name we pray.
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Amen.