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The Distinctive Qualities of the True Christian, Part 4 (Philippians 33) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: May I invite you to take your Bible and turn
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: to Philippians chapter 3 as we return again to this
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: wonderful portion of Scripture, verses 1 through 3. The Scripture says, Finally,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same
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  Speaker 1: things again is no trouble to me, and it is
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  Speaker 1: a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs. Beware of
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  Speaker 1: the evil workers. Beware of the false circumcisions. For we
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: are the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit of
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  Speaker 1: God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence
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  Speaker 1: in the flesh. We come in our study now finally
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  Speaker 1: to verse 3, that great, great definition of a Christian
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  Speaker 1: as one who worships in the Spirit of God, glories
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  Speaker 1: in Christ Jesus, and puts no confidence in the flesh.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: We've been looking at this portion of Scripture from the
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  Speaker 1: vantage point of discerning the distinctive qualities of the true Christian.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: We have looked at some implicit qualities in verses 1
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  Speaker 1: and 2, and finally now we come to the main
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  Speaker 1: point of the text, the explicit qualities in verse 3.
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  Speaker 1: These are the things that identify a Christian as a
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  Speaker 1: true Christian. Paul says we are the true circumcision. meaning
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  Speaker 1: that we have a circumcision that is inward. We have
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  Speaker 1: a cleansing that is inward, not just outward. The false
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  Speaker 1: circumcision has an outward mark, and you know well that
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  Speaker 1: the Jews thought that their outward external physical circumcision gave
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  Speaker 1: them special privilege with God. He says that is a
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  Speaker 1: false circumcision. That which is outward is meaningless. It is
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  Speaker 1: the circumcision that is inward that marks the true Christian.
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  Speaker 1: So we are the true circumcision, not cleansed on the
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  Speaker 1: outside by surgery, but cleansed on the inside by the
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  Speaker 1: power of the Holy Spirit. So the Apostle Paul here
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  Speaker 1: then is contrasting in verses 2 and 3 the false
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  Speaker 1: with the true. I pointed out last time that that
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  Speaker 1: is a rather common thing in Scripture. The New Testament
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  Speaker 1: is very concerned to compare the false believer with the
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  Speaker 1: true believer. Now you might think that that is something
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  Speaker 1: that occupies our church and this time and my ministry
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  Speaker 1: and not everyone's or every time or every ministry, but
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  Speaker 1: that's not the case. Throughout the history of the church
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  Speaker 1: since the New Testament, it has been a major thrust
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  Speaker 1: to speak to the matter of who is a true
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  Speaker 1: Christian and who is not. And so I speak to
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  Speaker 1: you in continuity. I speak to you as one coming
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  Speaker 1: out of a long line of those who speak for God,
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  Speaker 1: pastor teachers and spokesmen for the Word of God, who
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  Speaker 1: must affirm to you the distinctions between a true and
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  Speaker 1: a false believer. The false believer we have already considered
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  Speaker 1: in verse 2, and now we consider the true believer.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: But before we look specifically at the characteristics, let me
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: share a little bit of background. A couple of months ago,
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  Speaker 1: I had a privilege. I received a letter inviting me
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  Speaker 1: to write the foreword to a book. That in itself
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  Speaker 1: is not unusual. I receive letters like that all the time.
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  Speaker 1: People asking me to write a foreword to a book
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  Speaker 1: is not at all unusual. But what was very unusual
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  Speaker 1: about this request was that the book was written in 1661.
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  Speaker 1: Usually when I receive a manuscript, it comes from the author,
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  Speaker 1: and the author asks if I would be willing to
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  Speaker 1: write a foreword. In this case, the author is long
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  Speaker 1: in the presence of the Lord, over 300 years. So
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  Speaker 1: to receive a book written in 1661 and be asked
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  Speaker 1: if I would write the foreword was a unique experience.
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  Speaker 1: And as I proceeded to read the book, peruse it,
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  Speaker 1: scan its great truths, I became very excited about it.
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  Speaker 1: It was written by one of the Puritans by the
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  Speaker 1: name of Matthew Mead, M-E-A-D. The title of it is,
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  Speaker 1: The Almost Christian Discovered. Typically archaic Puritan language, The Almost
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  Speaker 1: Christian Discovered. He wrote the book because he wanted to
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  Speaker 1: address a very significant problem. the problem he wanted to
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  Speaker 1: address was the fact that there were many people who
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  Speaker 1: thought they were saved and weren't there were many people
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  Speaker 1: who claim to be saved and weren't so he was
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  Speaker 1: addressing the problem three hundred years ago that Paul was
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  Speaker 1: addressing nearly two thousand years ago that we are now
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  Speaker 1: addressing today because as I told you last time in
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  Speaker 1: the New Testament where the gospel is presented It is
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  Speaker 1: often followed up by instruction as to how to tell
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  Speaker 1: a true respondent to the gospel from a false and
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  Speaker 1: deceived one. I had occasion recently to receive the book
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  Speaker 1: with my foreword in it. And by the way, it
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  Speaker 1: is now available in the bookstore. And I reread it.
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  Speaker 1: And I was fascinated as I went through the book.
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  Speaker 1: And I want to share just a couple of things
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  Speaker 1: with you that came out of it. More than a couple,
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  Speaker 1: a list. In fact, I want to distill 120 pages
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  Speaker 1: into a brief few words. Matthew Mead has a long
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  Speaker 1: section in the book of about 120 pages in which
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  Speaker 1: he addresses how far a person can go and still
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  Speaker 1: not be a true Christian. How far a person can
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  Speaker 1: advance toward heaven, toward Christ, toward God, and still not
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  Speaker 1: truly be saved. And these are the things he suggests.
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  Speaker 1: A man may have much knowledge about Christ and yet
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  Speaker 1: be but almost a Christian. A man may have a
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  Speaker 1: great and eminent gift, yet be but almost a Christian.
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  Speaker 1: He means by that a speaking gift, a leadership gift.
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  Speaker 1: A man may have a high profession of religion. He
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  Speaker 1: may be much in external duties of goodness and yet
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  Speaker 1: be but almost a Christian. A man may go far
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  Speaker 1: in opposing his own sin and yet be but almost
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  Speaker 1: a Christian. A man may hate sin and yet be
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  Speaker 1: but almost a Christian. A man may make great vows
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  Speaker 1: and promises, strong purposes and resolutions against his sin, and
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  Speaker 1: yet be but almost a Christian. A man may maintain
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  Speaker 1: a strife and a combat against sin, and yet be
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  Speaker 1: but almost a Christian. A man may be a member
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  Speaker 1: of the church, and yet be but almost a Christian.
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  Speaker 1: A man may have great hopes of heaven and yet
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  Speaker 1: be but almost a Christian. A man may be under
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  Speaker 1: visible changes, altered life, and yet be but almost a Christian.
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  Speaker 1: A man may be very zealous in matters of religion
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  Speaker 1: and yet be but almost a Christian. A man may
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  Speaker 1: be much in prayers and yet be but almost a Christian.
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  Speaker 1: A man may even suffer for Christ's sake and yet
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  Speaker 1: be but almost a Christian. A man may outwardly obey
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  Speaker 1: the commandments and yet be but almost a Christian. A
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  Speaker 1: man may perform external worship, yet be but almost a Christian.
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  Speaker 1: And a man may have faith and yet be but
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  Speaker 1: almost a Christian. Amazing list, isn't it? In fact, if
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  Speaker 1: you were to kind of reverse the list and read
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  Speaker 1: it another way, it would sound like you were describing
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  Speaker 1: a Christian, someone who has the knowledge of God and Christ,
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  Speaker 1: someone who has great and eminent gifts, someone who professes
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  Speaker 1: true religion, who does duties of goodness, someone who opposes
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  Speaker 1: his sin, hates his sin, makes great vows and promises,
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  Speaker 1: strong purposes and resolutions against his sin. a man who
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  Speaker 1: strives in combat against sin, a man who's a member
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  Speaker 1: of a church, who has hopes of heaven, whose life
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  Speaker 1: has had some visible changes, who is zealous in matters
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  Speaker 1: of religion, who prays, who may even suffer because of
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  Speaker 1: his association with Christ, who outwardly seems to obey the
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  Speaker 1: commandments and performs external worship and believes. You might say, well,
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  Speaker 1: that's got to be a Christian. Matthew Mead is right
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  Speaker 1: in assessing, however, that you can have all of those
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  Speaker 1: things and be but only almost a Christian These are
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  Speaker 1: not enough. These are not enough. Well, what does it take?
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  Speaker 1: What is the evidence? What is the mark of the
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  Speaker 1: true Christian? Well, we go from the outside to the
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  Speaker 1: inside when we come to verse 3. And let me
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  Speaker 1: just share with you these three simple statements that identify
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  Speaker 1: the true Christian. They have nothing to do with his
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  Speaker 1: outward conduct, his outward profession, his outward behavior. They have
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  Speaker 1: nothing to do with His church membership. They have nothing
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  Speaker 1: to do with His religious duties. They have nothing to
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  Speaker 1: do with His external professions. They have nothing to do
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  Speaker 1: with the fact that He might not like sin in
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  Speaker 1: the world. He might not even like sin in His
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  Speaker 1: own life. They have to do with what is inside.
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  Speaker 1: They have to do with His character, with His nature,
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  Speaker 1: with something that no one sees, but eventually that everyone sees.
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  Speaker 1: because it works its way out. And that's what I
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  Speaker 1: want to share with you. I want you to understand
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  Speaker 1: it very, very thoroughly, so listen carefully. Number one, a
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  Speaker 1: true Christian is one who worships in or by the
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  Speaker 1: Spirit of God. That is to say His worship is supernatural,
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  Speaker 1: not natural. His worship is generated by the Spirit of God,
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  Speaker 1: not by His own will, His own desires, or by
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  Speaker 1: some ceremonies, or some ritual, or some liturgy, or some structure,
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  Speaker 1: or some code. He is a worshiper of God, but
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  Speaker 1: His worship is that which is produced from the inside
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  Speaker 1: by the indwelling Holy Spirit. And thus it is transcendent worship.
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  Speaker 1: It reaches a plane beyond the external. The world, frankly, folks,
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  Speaker 1: is filled with people who worship. But their worship is
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  Speaker 1: not prompted by the Spirit of God dwelling in them.
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  Speaker 1: It is prompted by culture. It is prompted by tradition.
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  Speaker 1: It is prompted by guilt. It is prompted by fear.
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  Speaker 1: It is prompted by a desire to be accepted. It
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  Speaker 1: is prompted by self-righteousness. It is prompted by a desire
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  Speaker 1: to be a popular person. It could be prompted by
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  Speaker 1: a myriad of things. It is prompted by the desire
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  Speaker 1: to expiate sin, to remove guilt, to solve problems, to
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  Speaker 1: gain blessings. It could be prompted by many, many things.
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  Speaker 1: But the only true worship is that which is prompted
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  Speaker 1: by the Spirit of God indwelling, and the only people
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit of God indwells are Christians, therefore they are
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  Speaker 1: the only ones who worship by the Spirit of God.
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  Speaker 1: The first then quality that marks a true Christian is worship.
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  Speaker 1: There is deep within the true believer a longing to
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  Speaker 1: glorify God, a longing to worship God, to serve God.
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  Speaker 1: Now let me see if I can't dissect this term
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  Speaker 1: worship a little bit for you so you'll get an
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  Speaker 1: understanding of it. The first quality then that marks a
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  Speaker 1: true believer is worship. We should not be surprised by that.
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  Speaker 1: That is our character. Go back with me to John
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  Speaker 1: chapter 4, and I would just put you in touch
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  Speaker 1: with a passage of Scripture that really does elucidate this
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  Speaker 1: point as well as any in Scripture. Jesus in John
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  Speaker 1: 4 is confronting a Samaritan woman. She has discovered by
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  Speaker 1: what he has said about her life that he knows
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  Speaker 1: everything about her and that that knowledge was not available
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  Speaker 1: to him through normal means, so he must be a
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  Speaker 1: man of God. He told her all about her dissolute life,
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  Speaker 1: all about her immorality, all the men she's lived with,
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  Speaker 1: and so forth. And she understood that he was speaking
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  Speaker 1: on a supernatural level, so in verse 19 she says,
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  Speaker 1: I perceive that you're a prophet. She knows that he
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  Speaker 1: has got some supernatural source for his information. Now that
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  Speaker 1: she knows he represents and speaks for God and that
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  Speaker 1: he's plugged into the supernatural, she wants some information herself.
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  Speaker 1: So she wants to know about worship. She is a Samaritan.
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  Speaker 1: The Samaritans had set up worship on Mount Gerizim. They
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  Speaker 1: were half-breeds, half-Jew, half-Gentile. They had been rejected by the
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  Speaker 1: Jews who were very zealous of their racial purity. And
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  Speaker 1: these intermarrying half-breeds were hated and despised by the Jews. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: they were not given access to the temple at Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: nor to the worship that was conducted there, so they
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  Speaker 1: had to develop their own system of worship which they
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  Speaker 1: did in Samaria on Mount Gerizim. Since they also did
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  Speaker 1: not have the Scripture, they accepted only the Pentateuch, not
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  Speaker 1: the whole Old Testament, they were limited as to what
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  Speaker 1: they knew. So they had developed a hybrid kind of
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  Speaker 1: independent worship on their own mountain according to their own rules.
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  Speaker 1: She then says to Jesus, she knows He's a Jew
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  Speaker 1: and a prophet of God, verse 20, our fathers worshiped
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  Speaker 1: in this mountain, Mount Gerizim. And you say that in Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: you Jews, you people, that in Jerusalem is the place
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  Speaker 1: where men ought to worship. In other words, she's saying,
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  Speaker 1: what place do you worship? You're a prophet of God,
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  Speaker 1: I've been confused by this. The Jews say it's Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: our fathers say it's here, what is the right place
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  Speaker 1: to worship? Now that I'm being confronted by this man
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  Speaker 1: of God, I want to deal with my life. I
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  Speaker 1: want to worship God. I want to make my life right.
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  Speaker 1: Which mountain do I go to? In effect, verse 21,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus says to her, Woman, believe me, an hour is
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  Speaker 1: coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall
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  Speaker 1: you worship the Father. He's simply saying that the hour
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  Speaker 1: is very soon to come when you will see that
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  Speaker 1: it is not relevant which mountain you worship in. It
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  Speaker 1: is not an issue of where in the sense of geography.
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  Speaker 1: It is an issue of spirit. It's what's in you
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  Speaker 1: wherever you are, not where you are. And so what
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  Speaker 1: He is saying to her is that worship is a
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  Speaker 1: way of life. Worship is a way of life in total.
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  Speaker 1: He's saying, lady, the time is going to come very
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  Speaker 1: soon when it will be eminently clear to everyone that
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  Speaker 1: worship is not in a place. And, of course, it
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  Speaker 1: wasn't long until the destruction of Jerusalem ended worship there.
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  Speaker 1: And so He is simply pointing out to her that
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  Speaker 1: worship is something on the inside, not at a place.
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  Speaker 1: And the second thing He says about worship is in
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  Speaker 1: verse 22. He says, you worship that which you do
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  Speaker 1: not know. He confronts the fact that Samaritan worship was ignorant.
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  Speaker 1: They only accepted the Pentateuch, therefore they were limited as
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  Speaker 1: to their understanding of the Old Testament and of God's
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  Speaker 1: revelation and therefore of God. So they had developed their
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  Speaker 1: own kind of hybrid worship, and it had a lot
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  Speaker 1: of paganism mixed into it. So He says to her
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  Speaker 1: two things. One, I want to make this clear, worship
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  Speaker 1: is not in a place, it's in spirit. Two, worship
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  Speaker 1: isn't done any way you desire to concoct it, it's
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  Speaker 1: done according to truth. So He says in verse 22,
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  Speaker 1: we worship that which we know, for salvation is from
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  Speaker 1: the Jews. In other words, God has brought revelation about
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  Speaker 1: salvation through the Jews. The writers of Scripture were Jews,
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  Speaker 1: to the Jews was revelation. was given the Scripture, the
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  Speaker 1: oracles of God, as Paul says in Romans chapter 3
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  Speaker 1: and chapter 9. So the Jews then had the truth
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  Speaker 1: in Scripture. The Samaritans didn't have that, so they were
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  Speaker 1: worshiping in ignorance. The time was coming when no place
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  Speaker 1: would be the place, and worship was to be in
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  Speaker 1: spirit and truth. Now that is the essence of worship.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't where you are. There are a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people who go to church to worship, go to temples
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  Speaker 1: to worship. We've got temples up and down this block,
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  Speaker 1: as you know. In the middle is a Jewish synagogue
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  Speaker 1: that is, in a sense, a substitute for the temple
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  Speaker 1: which no longer exists for Israel. On the other end,
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  Speaker 1: you've got a Buddhist temple where people go to worship.
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  Speaker 1: On this end is Grace Community Church where I'm sure
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  Speaker 1: there are some people who think they go there to worship.
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  Speaker 1: You don't go anywhere to worship. You worship as a
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  Speaker 1: way of life because worship is in what? Spirit. In spirit.
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  Speaker 1: In heart. It's internal. All we do here is collect
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  Speaker 1: all of you worshipers for corporate expression. You don't have
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  Speaker 1: to come here to worship. You can worship anywhere you are.
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  Speaker 1: I hope you do. Worship is in spirit. And worship
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  Speaker 1: is according to revelation, according to truth, what God has
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  Speaker 1: revealed in this book. Not any way you want to
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  Speaker 1: do it. It isn't being done right anywhere else on
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  Speaker 1: this block, by the way. Because it isn't being done
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  Speaker 1: according to the Word of God. A lot of people
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  Speaker 1: who worship in ignorance, the world is filled with them.
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  Speaker 1: And who worship in a place, that's not true worship.
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  Speaker 1: So he says in verse 23, an hour is coming
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  Speaker 1: and now is with my arrival, the Messiah, when the
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  Speaker 1: true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth.
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  Speaker 1: Now notice this, for such people the Father seeks to
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  Speaker 1: be His worshipers. Let me ask you a question, why
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  Speaker 1: did God save you? To be what? A worshiper. That's
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  Speaker 1: what it says. You were saved to be a worshiper.
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  Speaker 1: God is spirit, verse 24. And those who worship Him
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  Speaker 1: must worship in spirit and truth. You see, God saved
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  Speaker 1: you to be a worshiper. So what is the truest
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  Speaker 1: thing about a Christian? A Christian is a what? A worshiper.
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  Speaker 1: That's exactly what Philippians 3.3 said. What is the true circumcision?
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  Speaker 1: Those who worship in the Spirit of God. And if
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  Speaker 1: you worship in the Spirit of God, how are you
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  Speaker 1: going to worship? You're going to worship in spirit and
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  Speaker 1: in truth. You see, you were saved to be a
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  Speaker 1: true worshiper. So how can you tell a true worshiper?
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  Speaker 1: How can you tell a true Christian? They worship God
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  Speaker 1: from the inside according to the Word of God. The
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  Speaker 1: world is filled with people, now mark it again, who
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  Speaker 1: worship in a place according to a design that is
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  Speaker 1: not biblical. They're not true worshipers. They are the false circumcision,
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  Speaker 1: not the true. They are deceived. Now let's take the
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  Speaker 1: word worship for just a moment Going back to Philippians 3,
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  Speaker 1: the word worship here is the word latruo. It means
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  Speaker 1: to minister, to serve, to worship. It's a big encompassing word.
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  Speaker 1: Let me give you what I think might be the
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  Speaker 1: best way to define it. It means to render respectful
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  Speaker 1: spiritual service. Some people think worship is just saying things
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  Speaker 1: that praise God, singing things that praise God, thinking things
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  Speaker 1: that praise God. That's worship, but that's not all it is.
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  Speaker 1: Worship finally comes down to how you live. It does.
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  Speaker 1: It finally comes down to how you live. In Hebrews
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  Speaker 1: it says, do good and share. Why? For with such
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  Speaker 1: spiritual sacrifice, such worship, God is well pleased. You see,
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  Speaker 1: every part of your life is worship. The word latruo
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  Speaker 1: means worship, but it also means service. It isn't just ethereal.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't just cognitive. It's immensely pragmatic and practical. It
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  Speaker 1: does mean that you render from the heart homage, glory, honor, praise, adoration,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: respect to God. It does mean that you sing with
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: all your heart to the Lord as we've done this morning.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: It does mean that you pray and extol His virtues.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: But it doesn't end there. It also means that you
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: serve Him. That's worship too. In fact, the priest of
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: the Old Testament, when he led in worship, led by
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: doing deeds of sacrifice. So this is what we've been
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: saved to do, to worship God. Now, let me help
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: you to understand maybe some of the ingredients, just a
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: simple little way to look at it. It involves some components.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: If you want to look at your heart and say,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: do I worship God? Here's a little list of things
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: to expect to find. The heart of worship, first of all,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: loves God and loves Christ. Let's call that affection. There
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: will be within you a great affection for Christ, a
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: great love for God and Christ. You will feel that.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: You will express that. When songs of praise are sung,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: your heart will be lifted up. When you read through
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: the word of God, you will be so encouraged and
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: you will feel such love for God and love for Christ. Affection.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: You see, Romans 8, 7 says that the unsaved person
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: hates God. The saved person loves God. Love. In fact,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: we are to love him with all our heart, soul, mind,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and strength. But there's a love for God. There's affection
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: for Christ. There are people who fear God. who fear Christ,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: but the true Christian has a healthy sense of awe,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: but has an overwhelming sense of love for God and Christ.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: There's an affection there. It may not be all it
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: ought to be, but it's there. Secondly, there will be
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: a delight in God and a delight in Christ. More
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: than love, there will not only be the emotion of affection,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: but there will be the emotion of delight. This is joy.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: This is joy. In other words, your thoughts about God
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: bring you joy. Your thoughts about Christ bring you delight.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: You love to think about Christ. You love to talk
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: about Christ. You love to read about Christ. There's a
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: delight in all of that. The contemplation of who God is,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: who Christ is, what God has done for you, what
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Christ has done for you, the contemplation of all of
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: that brings you joy. There's a delight there. Let me
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: give you a third word. think about there is a
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: confidence there there's a confidence there we could even call
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: it peace the true Christian in worshiping is adoring with
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: affection is delighting with joy and is also enjoying a
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: confidence that brings peace That's part of worship. In other words,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: there's a sense that I'm not concerned about my own prosperity.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I'm not concerned about my own things. I am so
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: at peace in my relationship to the eternal God and
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: the eternal Christ that my confidence is all in Him.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: That's such a marvelous thing. Now, Where do you get
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: love and where do you get joy and where do
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: you get peace? Galatians 5, fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: You see, it's the Holy Spirit that produces this. That's
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: why He says we worship by the Spirit of God
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: or we worship in the Spirit of God, either word.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: It is the Spirit of God that comes to take
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: residence in us that produces affection for Christ, delight in Christ,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: and peace from Christ. And that's the character of our worship.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: There's a loving element. There's a rejoicing element. There's a
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: peaceful element. Have you ever noticed the music that we sing?
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Some of it is just rejoicing, isn't it? Some of
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: it is just almost fun, and it should be. Exhilarating, thrilling.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Some of it is meditative and deep and loving and
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: adoring and And some of it is calm and gentle
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: and peaceful. See, all of those are simply ways in
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: which the songwriters have put these qualities of worship into
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: musical expression. That's what the Spirit produces. Love, joy, peace
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: in Christ, in God. Flowing out of that, a couple
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: of things come. One is devotion. Because of that, there
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: is an unusual devotion to God and Christ. We're talking
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: inwardly now. In the heart, there's a total devotion to
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: God and Christ. We could say it this way. It
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: is a love that knows no rival. It is a
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: delight that knows no equal. It is a peace that
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: knows no comparison. Nothing competes. Nothing really can compete. The
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: love and the joy and the peace that we feel
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: toward Christ knows no equal, knows no competition, has no rival.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: That's the kind of worshiping heart we're talking about. Matthew 4.10,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Jesus said, You shall worship the Lord your God, and
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Him only shall you serve. That's the characteristic of a
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: true believer. We are the true worshipers whom the Father
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: sought first. to worship Him. So how do you know
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: you're a true Christian? Worship from the heart. Not because
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: you do external things, but because you love God, you
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: love Christ, you delight in them, there's a sense of joy,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: you have a peace in that relationship that passes all understanding,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: a calm in the midst of the storm, and all
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: of that causes you to be singularly devoted to Christ
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: and God, and you look nowhere else for what only
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: they can provide, right? That's a worshiping heart. And believe me,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: only the Holy Spirit can produce that. Only the Holy
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Spirit can produce that. The Holy Spirit is the divine
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: initiator at work in the depths of the human heart.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: He transforms a person's life so as to promote worship.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: And only the Spirit can do that. So we say
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: again that true Christians are not known because they attend church,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: because they perform religious rituals, because they do certain good duties.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: Christians are known by what's in their heart. Now let
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: me give you a corollary to that. Consequently, you and
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: I can't always know who's a real Christian, right? Because
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: we look at somebody doing stuff on the outside, we
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: can't see the heart. Man is stuck with the outward appearance,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: but who sees the heart? God does. Let me take
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: it a step further. You're the only one who can
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: really know your own heart. 1 Corinthians 2, no man
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: knows the spirit of the man but the man. That's
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: why 2 Corinthians 13, 5 says examine yourselves. I can't
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: examine you. You can fool me because you can do
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: all the outward duties. You can be an almost Christian,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: and I can't tell the difference. God knows it. Don't
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: you be deceived. You examine your heart. Do you worship
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: God like this? Or is your worship simply something you
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: do in a place and according to your own rules?
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Or do you worship in spirit and in truth, loving God,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: delighting in Him, enjoying the peace and confidence and assurance
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: that comes because all your trust is in Him, being
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: devoted to Him faithfully and having no rival? That's the
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: essence of what forms true worship. And then out of
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: that kind of relationship comes praise and adoration and service.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: And you live your life as an act of worship.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: You live your life as a living sacrifice for holy
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: and acceptable unto God, Romans 12. And that's the way
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: you are to live your life. It is a living sacrifice.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: It is an act of worship. Second quality in Philippians
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: that marks a Christian, and we'll just briefly look at
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: the last two. It says, a Christian also glories in
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. What does this mean? Well, the word glory
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: is a marvelous word, kalkomenoi. The verb means to boast,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: only to boast with exultant joy. To boast in the
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: sense that this is what I am most proud of.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: It is a word that Paul uses, I think, 35 times.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: And all the other New Testament writers put together only
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: use it twice. Paul loved it. It could be used
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: in a bad way. In Galatians 6.13, he talked about
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: those who boast in the flesh. But in the next verse,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Galatians 6.14, he talked about boasting in the cross. What
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: does he mean? He means my joyful boast as a
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: believer is all in Christ Jesus. That is the character
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: of a true believer. What are you saying by that?
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: What I am saying by that is this, that the
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: true Christian gives all the credit for all that he
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: is to Christ. That's the bottom line. You know how
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: you can tell a false Christian? They take credit. They
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: believe that because of their religious duties, they've earned favor
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: with God, or if they do more good things than
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: bad things, God will accept them. They believe that they
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: have the ability to please God in some way and
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: gain merit for themselves, gain approval for themselves. One of
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: the most mind-boggling errors that I've ever read about is
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: the Catholic theology that says that by my deeds I
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: cannot only earn merit for myself, but if I earn
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: more merit than I need to get into heaven, my
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: extra merit goes into the treasury of merit to be
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: applied to somebody else to get them out of purgatory.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: What that says is not only can I by merit
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: earn my own salvation, but I can over-earn it and
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: apply what is left to someone else's salvation. There is
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: no treasury of merit for the super achievers. And a
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: true believer will never claim any merit and never claim
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: any credit. The true believer will always boast only in
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. That's why 1 Corinthians 1.31, Paul says, let
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: him who boasts, boast in the Lord. And he says
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: it again in 2 Corinthians 10.17. You see, those whose
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: hearts have been circumcised find their only point of pride
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: is in Christ. Paul says, I am what I am
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: by the grace of God. Christ is the focus. Christ
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: is the all in all. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, 2,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: I am determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: That's all. That's all I want to know. That's all
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: I want you to know. He gets all the credit.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: He gets all the glory. He is all my pride.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: He is all my boast. Paul expands it down in
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: verses 8 and 9. In fact, he's going to expand
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: all these things, as we shall see in future weeks.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: He says, I count all things to be lost. What
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: are you talking about? All the things that are true
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: about me, all my good works, all my pedigree. He's
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: just given his pedigree there. He said, all of that
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: is loss. He says, I have suffered the loss of
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: all things and I count them but manure in gaining Christ.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Christ is everything, I'm nothing. That's a true Christian. Now,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: you may go to church. And you may sing songs,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: but if you are feeling that you have done something
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: to earn your salvation and you've stacked up merit with
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: God and you should get a little of the credit
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: and you're glorying and boasting and exulting is not only
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: in Christ, you're not a Christian. The true Christian puts
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: all the credit where the credit must be put. See,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: That means they've come and committed everything to Christ. All
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: my pride is Christ. All my joy is Christ. All
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: my boast is Christ. All my life is Christ, right?
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: People say, well, do you mean that when you become
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: a Christian, you have to acknowledge Jesus as Lord? Yes.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: You literally give Him your life. He becomes all your
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: joy and all your delight and all your boast. Oh,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: there are a lot of people who want Christ's grace,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: but not His government. There are a lot of people
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: who want Christ to be priest who pays the penalty
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: for their sin but not prophet who tells them what
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: they must do and certainly not king who has authority
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: over them. A lot of people will take Christ as priest,
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: pay the penalty for their sin. A lot of people
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: want the benefits of the cross who don't want to
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: bow to the crown. A lot of people want heaven
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: but not the narrow way. There are a lot of
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: people who want the gift but won't want to take
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: it in empty hands. A lot of people want the
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: pearl but won't sell all. But for the true Christian,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Christ is all, Christ is all, Christ is all. He
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: is our life, is He not? He's our Lord and Savior.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: He's our life. He's our pride. He's our boast. We
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: glory in nothing but the cross of Christ. We're determined
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: to know nothing but the cross of Christ. All the
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: credit is His. All the glory is His. That's the
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: true Christian. One writer says, Christians are the circumcision precisely
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: because they take no pride in what they might do
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: by themselves to earn God's favor, but only in what
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: God in His favor has already done for them in
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. End quote. That's right. We have the attitude
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: of the prodigal. We come to God and say, Father,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: I am no more worthy to be called your son.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: I'm not worthy of anything. All the glory is yours.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: All boasting is in Christ. The true Christian is consumed
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: with Christ. Paul says in Romans 15, 17, Therefore in
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting. In Christ.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: How about you? Is all your boast in Christ? All
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: your pride in what He's done for you? All your
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: rejoicing in Him? Is all your life in Him? Is
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: He all in all to you? Do you live for Christ,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: breathe for Christ? That's a true Christian. And lastly, the
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: third thing he says about a true Christian is they
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: have no confidence in the flesh. This goes along the
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: other two, doesn't it? If all the glory goes to God...
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: and all the boast is in Christ, then you certainly
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: can't put any confidence in the flesh. What did it
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: earn you? What did it get you? What did it
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: gain you? All the flesh will do is destroy you.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: What do you mean flesh? Unredeemed humanness. My own ability
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: apart from God. And I have no confidence in the flesh.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: That's different than the Jews. The Jews placed all their
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: confidence in the flesh. They were descended from Abraham physically.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: They had a physical surgery called circumcision. They physically performed
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: the ceremonies and they outwardly did the duties of the
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: Mosaic law and the traditions. It was all the flesh.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: And you know what? It got them nothing. Romans 3,
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: 19 and 20 says that no one, no one will
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: be redeemed by the flesh. By the deeds of the flesh,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: nobody gets justified. Man's unredeemed humanness has no ability. All
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: it can do is sin, sin, sin, sin. And confidence
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: in the flesh damns the soul. Read Romans 3, 19
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: to 20. That's what it says. It shuts out true salvation.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: It is the religion of human achievement. It is false.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: It is damning. F.B. Meyer wrote, all through the epistles,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: the flesh stands for self. the self that seeks to
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: justify itself, that endeavors to sanctify itself, that is always
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: fussily endeavoring to win men for God but has never
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: learned to be submerged beneath the mighty tide and current
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: of God's Spirit. If your religious life is one of
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: self-effort and self-complacency, you must stand back. It is not
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: for you to handle the priceless pearl. Your eyes cannot
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: detect its superlative beauty, excellence, and worth. But let all
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: humble souls who have nothing in which to glory save
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, who put no
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: confidence in themselves but wholly rest upon the unmerited grace
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: of God, lift up their faces with exceeding great joy.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: These are the true children of Abraham. End quote. What's
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: the key word here? Humility. Humility. True Christians are humble
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: when they look at themselves. They see their flesh as sinful.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: What we're talking about is repentance, folks. God gives grace
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: to the humble. James 4.6, James 4.10. God gives grace
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: to the humble. That's part of a true Christian's character.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: We're humble about our own abilities. I can't earn heaven.
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: I can't please God. I can't merit salvation. I am
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: what I am by God's grace. So I turn from
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: sinful self-effort to salvation by grace through faith. I forsake
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: any goodness in my own flesh. I rely totally on Christ,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: totally on the Holy Spirit. I give all the glory
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: to God. That's a true Christian. That's repentance, which means
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: turning from your sinful self. Now listen to what I
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: say as we draw this to a conclusion. Very important.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: The almost Christians, might feel a certain natural kind of conviction.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: Might feel bad about sin. But I want you to
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: understand the difference. There is a natural conviction that is
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: chiefly related to scandalous sins. The unsaved person, the almost Christian,
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: the religious but not saved person, will feel bad about
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: scandalous sins. Not because he or she feels bad about
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: the sin, but they feel bad about its consequence. So
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: we can say it this way. They feel bad about
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: what their sin produces. They do not feel bad about
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: the evil in them that produces the sin. That's the difference.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: Natural conviction feels bad about the scandal. Natural conviction is
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: repulsed by child abuse, by rape, by mutilation, by cruelty,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: by mass murder. That scandalizes even the natural man, and
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: he feels convicted that that is wrong, mostly because it
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: impinges upon someone else. not because in its root it
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: is evil. So he doesn't like the evil that sin produces,
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: but he never recognizes the evil that produces sin. He
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: doesn't understand the wickedness of nature. You see, natural conviction
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: is chiefly related to the obvious sins, but true spiritual
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: repentance touches the deep, secret, undiscerned sins of hypocrisy, pride, envy,
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: hardness of heart, rejection of Christ. That's the difference. The
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: ones that don't scandalize anybody because people don't even know
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: about them. Natural conviction deals with my conduct. Spiritual repentance
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: deals with my condition. Natural conviction deals with the symptoms.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: Spiritual repentance deals with the disease. Very important. Natural conviction
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: makes a person shy away from God because they feel fearful.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: Spiritual repentance makes a person run to God for forgiveness.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: Very different. Very different. Spiritual repentance means putting no confidence
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: in the flesh. You know that there's nothing in you
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: that's good. It's rotten to the core. But you see,
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: a person with natural conviction, just feeling bad about the
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: scandalous things their sin produces, feeling badly about what happens
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: on the outside, feeling bad about their conduct, doesn't ever
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: deal with the wretchedness of their condition and doesn't see
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: in the flesh the inability to ever produce anything good.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: So what you have here marking a true Christian is
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: nothing more than one who sees the filth and the
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: wickedness of the flesh and turns in repentance from that
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: to God. What marks a true Christian? Worship in spirit
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  Speaker 1: and in truth. giving all the credit to Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 1: who is their only pride and joy, and repentance, which
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  Speaker 1: turns totally from the wretchedness of the sinful condition to
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  Speaker 1: accept the salvation that only comes through God's grace. That's
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  Speaker 1: the true circumcision. Certainly it's my prayer that that is
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  Speaker 1: you that you truly know the salvation God sent His
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  Speaker 1: Son to bring. Let's pray together. Our Father, again we've
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  Speaker 1: been reminded today of the majesty of Your Word. Oh my,
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  Speaker 1: how potently it speaks, how it penetrates our hearts, how
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  Speaker 1: it opens our understanding to the things that are the
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  Speaker 1: way they are and why. Minister to every heart. May
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  Speaker 1: the true circumcision rejoice. May the false circumcision come to
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  Speaker 1: true faith. Save them, Lord. Make them worshipers. Make them
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  Speaker 1: those whose only boast is Christ and who turn to
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  Speaker 1: from the flesh to you. For Jesus' sake, amen. You've
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  Speaker 1: been listening to John MacArthur, Bible teacher with Grace To You.
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  Speaker 1: For free access to all of John's lessons and a
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  Speaker 1: listing of study Bibles and books available for sale, visit
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  Speaker 1: Grace To You's website at gty.org. John MacArthur and Grace
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  Speaker 1: To You reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: copyright policy is available at gty.org, and it includes instructions
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  Speaker 1: for and limitations on duplicating this digital file.