Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture
to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary.
It is so great to have all of you with us as always.
Now this week we're going to pick back up and dive right back into our series on joy
as we explore the book of Philippians.
Now the last few weeks we've been learning, I should say the last couple of weeks, we've
been learning about different types of joy as we've been going through this wonderful
book.
In week one we looked at the joy that could be found in those rough times as we continue
to serve the Lord.
Last week we looked at that joy that can be had in serving others and really just getting
out of our own minds and changing our focus or I should say shifting our focus from ourselves
to others.
And this week we're going to look at another type of joy that's basically found in our
belief or our faith as we look to the Holy Spirit.
Now for those of you who have your apps or your Bibles or those of you even just taking
notes, go ahead and join me now.
We're going to dive into Philippians chapter three and we're going to be looking at the
first four verses.
So Philippians three verses one through four.
The Bible says, Further my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.
It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard
for you.
Watch out for those dogs, those evil doers, those mutilators of the flesh.
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in
Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reasons for
such confidence.
So starting right out the gate, the first thing that we see here is furthermore.
So I'll remind you that this book was not written as a book, it was written as a letter.
So what we're looking at here when we see that word furthermore is a continuance and
we're being reminded to keep in mind everything that we've already read, those first two chapters.
So we got to keep that stuff in mind.
Paul, basically what he is doing here is he went through and he's like, you know what,
let's get back to basics, let's just do a quick review again.
And he uses the word as a safeguard.
So basically it's a reminder, right?
Because we all need reminders every once in a while about different things.
That's why even when you hit the workforce, you have that continuing education, right?
You think, hey, I'm going to get out of school and I'm going to be done, yes.
And then you're an adult and you find out, oh, it never stops.
Dang it, right?
So the same kind of thing, as I say, hey, let's keep it review, let's keep it fresh.
That way we don't have to worry about straying, right?
You see, there's a reason for this as we see it in the Bible.
As a matter of fact, if you look it up, the Bible itself, it's not even just in this letter,
right?
It's not just this book.
It's cross-references itself literally thousands of times, right?
If you go online, you'll even be able to see all these graphs and stuff with different
colors and lines going from New Testament to Old Testament and book to book and all
this.
It's absolutely incredible.
There's no other book that has that kind of cross-reference within it.
Like I said, this is done to ensure that everything in the Bible is supported.
The repetition, it's also there to help us to remember things.
It looks like just like in school, okay, repeat after me, right?
We all have that teacher is just like, hey, okay, say this after I say this.
It's there.
Is there ever a reason?
Because repetition helps.
It helps to remind us.
It helps us to recall.
It helps with so many different things that we don't just hear it.
We actually learn it.
Not only that, this is why the Bible is able to speak to us even on a real basic level
as it starts to guide us in our lives and just suddenly correct us when we're just starting
to come to know of Jesus.
We don't even know him yet, but we're getting to know him.
Then of course, as you go into that deeper relationship, more and more so.
Also by hearing it and repeating it and learning it and knowing it, this helps us to know when
we're hearing false doctrine.
Now we might not necessarily be able to recall, oh, it's this book and this verse, da-da-da-da.
Some people are in an encyclopedia like that.
They just had that instant recall.
But there's enough there where when we're hearing something like, that's not quite right.
I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong, but I know something here isn't right.
Even at that basic level, the word speaks to us.
When we have it within us, it helps us on so many different fronts.
Even Jesus, when he is being tempted, Jesus is the word, but what did he do when Satan
was there and was trying to tempt him?
He took the scripture and he used the scripture against him, right?
The sword.
This right here, this is just again, another reminder of just how important it is that
each of us reads the Bible for ourselves and gets to know it.
Not just read it for reading sake, but actually get to know it.
This truly is a living document.
You're going to find something different every time you read through it.
It's wonderful like that.
Interestingly here though, Paul, he continues on and he makes a statement.
He says, those dogs.
It's kind of like in modern times, like, oh, you dirty dog, right?
Or, oh, you dirty rat.
It's the same kind of thing.
It becomes very apparent when he mentions mutilating the flesh.
Get a little tongue tied there.
We know who he's talking about real quick because he's talking about Jewish Christians,
Judaizers.
We see the same type of people today.
These are those people who hold onto the law of the Old Testament.
It's like, oh, you got to do...
They're very legalistic.
You have to do this.
You have to do that.
When the moon is at this angle and the clock strikes this time and the crow caws so many
times.
They hold onto all these old things and they have this belief that because of that, that
they're doing all these certain things, that those things basically elevate them and bring
them closer to God.
They start looking down on other people.
I shouldn't say kind of.
They do it.
They believe that their works, the things that they do, earn them some sort of merit.
They're a VIP.
They don't even understand that faith is the important element.
You can do all sorts of things, but if you don't have faith and you don't have that belief,
well, guess what?
Your works amount for nothing.
They're very prideful.
As a result, they believe it's the things that they do that are important, not their
faith.
It sounds an awful lot like the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
It's like, oh, I do this and I do that, so I'm so much better than this guy.
Jesus steers right at us and says, well, no, it's going to be that guy.
That guy is who is favored, actually.
It's real easy to put the spotlight on actions.
It's just as easy to try to take the glory that's there away from God and put it on ourselves
as a result.
We basically try to push him out of the limelight and step in.
Things become about that almighty me, me, me, and I, I, I, I've done this and I've done
that and I make things so great and you have all this because of me.
Instead, appointing to Jesus like we should.
Saying things are so... What we should be doing, like I said, we should be pointing
to Jesus saying, hey, everything that's good here is because of him.
Anything that's good that's happened, anything good that you've heard, anything that's good
that's spoken to you, anything that has blessed you, it is all because of Jesus.
But instead, our pride steps in and it makes a really big mess of things.
There's certain things.
You can have a little pride in, but we cannot forget.
It's all to Jesus' glory.
He also brings up the Holy Spirit here, which in itself, what he's doing is he's emphasizing
how important the Holy Spirit is in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is... He's always with us.
He doesn't leave us.
He's with us, speaking to us, trying to guide us.
Whether we listen or not, that's a different story.
We don't always do what we're told.
We don't always do what we're asked, but he's there and he say, hey, you need to do
this.
Sometimes, we get so caught up in the things that we want, we lose sight of whether we
need those things or not.
We start looking for signs in all the wrong places.
We're trying to create signs in our own mind and we get wrapped up and all this stuff of
the world, ooh, pizza, cars, clothing, jewelry, this show, that show, this actor, this musician,
whatever, and all this noise, and it drowns out the voice of the Holy Spirit.
We're not hearing it like we should.
We're not doing the things that we should.
We lose sight.
We think it's a sign that he's showing us and say, hey, you need to have this, but in
our mind, we're so caught up in our own nonsense that we think we're seeing something that's
there.
We're basically creating our own sign and not actually listening to what God's telling
us.
That impulse buy at the store.
You're sitting there and you're going through the checkout and you see that candy bar, like,
ooh, that's my favorite candy bar.
I love this thing.
I love the zero bar.
It's a sign.
God's talking to me.
He wants me to have this candy bar.
I know the doctors told me I need to stop eating them and it's messing with my blood
sugars and all this other health stuff, but hey, guess what?
It's because you want it.
You're putting your wants before the needs of the Spirit, and you're being selfish is
what's happening here.
You think, oh, just because it's... Even though it's always there, you're thinking
this one time, oh, it's a sign.
I'm supposed to have it.
Even though it's always there.
You know what?
Hey, wake up.
Put it back.
Stop looking.
This isn't a devil made me do it type of moment.
You're tripping yourself up.
We are our own worst enemies.
As much as we like to blame the devil and the forces of evil for everything, the truth
is quite often we make the choices ourselves.
We're not forced to do anything.
We choose the sin that we want to go into.
Carrying on.
Philippians 3 verses 4 through 6, the Bible says, if someone else thinks they have reasons
to put confidence in the flesh, I have more.
Blessed on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of Hebrews.
In regard to the law of Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for righteousness
based on the law, faultless.
Face value?
It really sounds like Paul's boasting here, doesn't it?
He's putting out that resume.
This is where I come from.
I have all this.
This is how I've been blessed.
Really though, he's doing the opposite.
He's putting it out there.
He had a tremendous resume.
For those days, if you're looking at it like this was the guy, he was the man.
He was respected.
He was well regarded.
He had a solid background for that day for where he had come from.
However, what he's doing though is he's actually pointing out that even though he has all these
things, he holds all these honors and da da da, right on down the line, none of these
things meant a thing.
It's like that old song, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ring, do what, do what,
do what, right?
Nothing.
In Acts 9, we could actually learn about his conversion to Christianity and it becomes
clear that his actions in life up to that point, regardless of how impressive they were
to the masses, they fell really short of the measuring stick that God uses.
It was actually God's grace and his faith in God that made the difference.
Nothing he did, regardless of what his intent was at the time or his understanding, none
of it amounted to anything that would please God.
The only reason he brought up his credentials was to show the Judaizers that he understood
where they were coming from and as such, he was easily able to point out that they were
wrong because he had stood in the same position in his own life.
He walked that mile in those shoes, so he had the experience and made many of the same
mistakes.
Ultimately, though, it was God who corrected him.
There's nothing of his own doing.
It was God, God's grace, God's mercy, right?
This right here, this is where it's starting to get a little...
Well, I should say get a little.
This is where it's starting to get fun.
All right, so looking at Philippians 3 verses 7 through 11.
Verses 7 through 11, the Bible says, but whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for
the sake of Christ.
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of their surpassing worth of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord.
For whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and be
found in him.
Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
I want to know Christ.
Yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings.
Becoming like him in his death and so somehow attaining the resurrection from the dead.
All right, so Paul, he's using that word gains here again.
Gains, again, he's talking about his credentials, his background, his accomplishments, all the
things that he had done in his life, his many blessings and the regard with which other people
held him.
This is something we all carry some sense of pride about, right?
Those good things in our lives, those awards and that stuff that just worked out so great.
That's the stuff conversations are made.
That's the stuff we like to share with others, right?
He's saying regardless of how great so many of these things are, as far as he was concerned,
it's all trash.
Just get rid of it.
It's nothing.
It meant nothing.
It was just absolute garbage.
And it's all garbage compared to having a relationship with Jesus.
Our faith in Jesus is so much more precious.
Our relationship with Jesus is of far more value than anything we could possibly own.
It's far greater than any accomplishment or merit that we may earn.
Think about it.
It is of so much value that the devil does not want you to have it.
It is the only thing he actually cares about stealing from you.
He does not care what you do for a living.
Your job is meaningless to him.
He does not care what kind of car you drive, the clothes you wear, the jewelry you wear,
right?
He doesn't care how well you can throw a ball or not throw a ball or play an instrument
or smash things.
He doesn't care about who you date.
He doesn't care who you marry.
Matter of fact, his sights aren't even on you until you have a relationship with Jesus.
And the closer you get to Jesus and the more developed your relationship becomes with him,
the more vicious the devil gets in attacking you.
And he redoubles those efforts to try to pull you away from Jesus, to pull you away from
that relationship, to trick you into thinking that he doesn't love you anymore, right?
Of all the things, of all the blessings, all the relationships in our lives, we need to
recognize Christ for who he is and just important he is to us because of that.
This is why Jesus should be at the forefront of every aspect of our lives and why we should
work daily to continue to build our relationship with him, right?
It's something that should become stronger and deeper every day.
You see, Paul gave up everything for Jesus.
He gave up family, he gave up friendships, he gave up his very freedom.
Remember, he was writing from jail.
He was in jail, but not for the first time, mind you.
So he gave up a lot.
He knew the joy that could be found while still suffering.
It was in Jesus.
He knew the joy that was found in serving others.
Jesus.
And he knew the joy that comes not from the world, not of the flesh, but from our faith
in him, our belief in him and everything that he's going to do for us and his promises for
us and what he has in store for us.
You see, there's a distinct difference in people of faith and when they pray compared
to others.
I'll bet many of you hadn't noticed this, but next time you go to a church service or
something or you're around people, listen to how they pray.
Other people, when I say people of faith and then others, all right, so others, those are
kind of just go through the motions and everything.
Others, they ask for things, right?
Lord, please help me find my missing socks.
I know it's a silly example, but follow me here.
Lord, help me find those socks.
They mean so much to me, right?
The faithful on the other hand, they don't ask, they don't demand, they give thanks.
Lord, I thank you for the blessing of the socks you lead me to.
Again, I know this is a silly example, but you'll hear it.
Matter of fact, when you start listening to your own prayers, you might even start recognizing,
hey, I need to adjust the way I'm talking to the Lord, right?
Because it's a reflection of your own faith.
Remember, thanking God after receiving a blessing, that's an act of gratitude.
Our thanking him before the blessing, that's faith.
See, faith, it's saying you know Jesus is going to provide you with what's best in your
life, all right?
Faith isn't knowing God is going to provide something specific, right?
It's just knowing that he's going to provide for you one way or the other.
Going back to our silly example of socks, it very well could be that he helps you to
find that worn out, holy sock that needs to be tossed out.
Or he might lead you to the store to buy some new ones.
That's probably a good idea, right?
Or might even get it as a gift from somebody, right?
I've had a couple Christmases, I've gotten a pair of socks from people, some with coffee
on them, some with other little things.
It's possible.
See, the thing that we need to keep in mind is God has more ways to provide for us than
we can fathom.
Heck, he might even teach you how to knit and let you knit your own.
Who knows, right?
So moving on, Philippians 3 verses 12 through 14, the Bible says, not that I have already
obtained this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that
for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press
on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
See, we all need to have goals and Paul's telling us his own.
And really, the goal that he has here, that he set, this should be the goal for every
Christian.
See, there I go, tongue-tied again, every Christian.
Simply put, what he's saying is we all need to strive to be more like Jesus and to do
everything that Jesus has called us to do.
You see, Paul wasn't at that finish line yet, neither are we.
But the thing is, especially when it comes to the church, a lot of us are still just
spectators.
We go to service, we listen to what's being preached, we listen to podcasts, we listen
to things on the radio, we'll read things, we'll say little niceties, God bless you,
bless your heart.
But when it comes to inviting people to listen to the word or sharing our testimony with
them, reaching out to those living in darkness and not knowing Jesus, well, you know, most
will tell, oh, I'll pray for you.
I'll pray for you.
No!
Stop and pray for them right then, right there.
Show them the love of Jesus and get to work.
Our mind you love is an action, not just words, it is an action.
You don't just tell someone you love them, you show them, right?
People look, it's time to put up or shut up.
If you don't mean it, then don't say it.
Because if you say it and you're talking about something without meaning, guess what?
You're lying.
You're lying, that is the polar 180 degree opposite of Jesus.
We've all been given a mission and it's on us to make sure that we're seeing to our training
and making sure that it's getting done and then getting to it.
We have so many things to train us and prepare us.
We just don't take advantage of it.
We need to invite people to go with us, go to church, go to praise and worship night.
Invite them to listen to a podcast or to read a book.
Just invite them.
Invite them, invite them, invite them.
There's so many people out there that just aren't going because they're waiting for someone
to invite them.
Studies have proven this.
And to talk to them about how these things work in your life to grow your relationship
with Jesus.
That itself is your testimony, right?
Getting into the final stretch here guys, Philippians 3 verses 15 through 21.
So verses 15 through 21, the Bible says, all of us then who are mature should take such
a view of things.
And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Stand together in following my example brothers and sisters, just as you have as a model.
Keep your eyes on those who live as we do.
For as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears.
Many live as enemies on the cross of Christ.
Their destiny is destruction.
To God is their stomach and their glory is their shame.
Their mind is set on earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there.
The Lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his
control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Paul was trying to set the same example that was set for him.
When we look at the military or even first response services, we're talking about being
part of something bigger than yourself.
That's one of those things that's used in recruiting.
Even in the news, this person they chose to be part of something bigger than themselves
and they stepped out.
And why is that?
Well it's because you set aside your wants.
You make sacrifices in order to look after others, to do the better good, to bring hope
and light in those times of darkness and despair.
And you know going in when you volunteer to do these things that it is a thankless vocation,
a thankless job.
So it's no surprise.
And walking a Christ led life?
Oh it's a lot the same.
It really is.
You have to volunteer to do it.
You have to see it through.
It's hard.
People are going to pick fights with you.
They're going to slam it.
You're going to make fun, right?
Say things to meaning, try to put you in a bad light.
You know you're going to be in positions where you don't want to be because you don't know
when you'll get to eat again, when you'll get to sleep again or for how long, let alone
you know the things that fill your head when you do try to lay down and put your head on
that pillow.
Knowing that you're going to lose friends and possibly family because of what you're
doing and because of your beliefs.
You're going to get put in tough positions that you prefer not to be in.
What task you'd rather not do.
But you have to carry out.
You've been entrusted to carry these things out.
Being a follower of Christ may well put you in some if not all of these positions at some
point.
To this day, there are still people dying for Christ all around the world.
There are some places where it is downright deadly to be a Christian.
And doing these things, stepping up to that plate, it comes down to maturity as a Christian,
that Christian character.
What are you willing to do to accomplish what Jesus has called you to?
What are you willing to do to ensure the good news is taken to the world?
What sacrifices are you willing to make for the gospel?
As Christians, we're citizens of heaven.
That's what Paul said here.
Our citizenship is in heaven.
So to put that in perspective, we're citizens of heaven and we're on a missionary trip to
this world.
We're all missionaries to this world.
And we're here to promote those things that are of God and to repeat those things that
are not.
You are called by Jesus.
And I'll remind you, he does not call the equipped.
He equips the called.
It is by faith, not sight, that we move forward.
Because we do so with the knowledge that God is going to provide everything that we need
to accomplish what's been set before us.
And with that in mind, we also need to be patient and remember that all these things,
all things are in his time, not ours.
Now one last note here, as we're almost there, just bear with me a few more moments.
We noticed that there's some criticism here at the end.
Paul has a little criticism and it's towards those same Judaizers.
Those same people that we deal with today, those self-centered, prideful people who chase
after their own desires, their own wants before all else.
With him, it's all about I, all about me, forget the other guy.
Those people who look at their freedom as being their own instead of being blood bought
by Jesus.
So what Paul was doing here was he was encouraging the Philippians to follow his example and
work towards becoming more Christ-like while being wary of the traps and snares of the
world.
You know, none of this is perfect.
We're all going to fail at some point.
We're all going to fall.
But it's about getting back up, repenting, and then getting back on the path of following
Jesus.
If we rely on ourselves, if we rely on the world and all those things in it and all the
stuff that it tells us, we're going to fall into misery and we're always going to be chasing
after joy without actually being joyful.
However, when we do our best to listen and follow the Holy Spirit, we're going to find
joy in things that we never could have imagined.
We're going to do things that we never thought we would do.
We're going to engage with people that we wouldn't have come in contact with before
a relationship with the Lord.
We will find that joy in our faith and our belief in the Holy Spirit and in Jesus.
Remember, you are loved and you are blessed.
Now go and be the church.
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
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We look forward to hearing from you all.
God bless.