Paul says; �Rejoice in the Lord. To preach and write and declare the same gospel to you, the gospel of Jesus Christ, over and over again, I will never get tired of it and it is profitable for you.�
Then, He says, �Beware of dogs; beware of evil workers; beware of the concision.� What is he talking about? He is talking about false preachers. He calls them, �dogs.� That is what Isaiah calls them; he calls them �dumb dogs.�
They are greedy dogs that care only for themselves. He calls them �Evil workers of iniquity.� That is what Christ called them at the Judgment in Matthew 7. They said, �We have preached in your name. We did many wonderful works; we cast out devils.� He said, �I never knew you.� These are workers of evil, workers of iniquity.
Beware of these dogs. Beware of these evil workers. Beware of these workers of iniquity. Beware of the concision, the circumcisers, and the false preachers who glory in the flesh. They glory in numbers. They glory in outward show. They glory in vain shows of the flesh.
They glory in these things. They glory in vastness, greatness, how many there are and they glory in how much, how big, and how long they are. He said, �Rejoice in the Lord.� Beware of these fellows, now. Don�t be taken in by them.
He says, �We are the true circumcision; we are the true Israel; we are the true Sons of God.� He gives in verse 3, three marks of those who are who true preachers, who are true Israel and who are true Sons of God. He says, �Here are the three marks of those people who belong to God, and who glory in God, who are servants of Christ.�
First of all, they worship God in Spirit. They worship God in their heart and not in form. I�m not talking about uniforms, ceremony and processionals. Worship is not in tradition, candle burning and fleshly displays. That is not how they worship God.
They don�t have to all stand at the same time, or sit at the same time, or hold up your hands at the same time, or say the same things. It�s not in eating at the same time or forming a processional. They worship God in heart wherever they are, with whoever they are. They worship God in Spirit. God is a Spirit. God is Spirit. �They that worship God, worship Him in Spirit.� It�s not in form and tradition, fleshly displays and all these sorts of things. This is not worshiping God. Worshiping God is when my heart adorns God, when my heart praises God, when my heart bows to God.
Second, not only do they worship God in Spirit, �They rejoice in Jesus Christ� and in Christ alone. �He is their Wisdom. He is their Sanctification and He is their Righteousness, and He is their Redemption.� They rejoice in Christ, they look to Christ and rest in Christ. They trust in Christ, and have faith in Christ.
Thirdly, �They have no confidence in the flesh,� none at all. What flesh are we talking about here when it says, �They have no confidence in the flesh.� We are not saying that we don�t have any confidence in any man living. I do. I have confidence in my wife, I have confidence in my son, and I have confidence in my daughter and folks at the church. They are people of their word.
He is talking about putting no confidence concerning your relationship with God, as far as the forgiveness of your sins, as far as your acceptance with God; put no spiritual confidence in the flesh.
Don�t put confidence in your works of righteousness. Don�t put any confidence in your religious feelings, and your religious emotions, or your religious professions. Don�t put any confidence in the morality of this flesh. This flesh is not moral; this flesh is not spiritual. This flesh is carnal and it is fleshly.
So, when Paul says that this is the mark of a true believer, he will worship God in Spirit. He will not worship Him in tradition, form, ceremony and outward show. He won�t call Him, �Lord God with his lips.� His heart loves God. He rejoices only in Christ and has no confidence in any religious experiences, duties, works, doings, or feelings to appease a Holy God, or anyone else�s doings. Do you see what I am saying?
This is a good exhortation. Paul says, �Rejoice in the Lord, keep to the gospel.� Don�t you put any confidence in the flesh as far as God is concerned. The Scripture says, �In the flesh no man can please God. In the flesh dwelleth no good thing.� Christ said, �The flesh profiteth nothing; all flesh is grass.�
Isaiah exhorting the preacher says, �Comfort my people and cry out.� And the servants said, �What shall I cry? Cry, He said; somebody cry. He said, �What shall I cry? What do they need to hear?� There are two things. �All flesh is grass and behold your God.� That is the two-fold message from the pulpit.
There is nothing good in man and all good is in God. There is no light in man; God is Light. There is no truth in the flesh; truth is in God. There is no power in the flesh; all power is of God. �He is able to save. All flesh is grass and behold your God.� Isn�t that a good exhortation?
From the Henry Mahan sermon, "From Religion to Rest." You can listen to the entire sermon here:
