So we are in Philippians chapter 3 verses 1 through 3. Our series is Joy and Gratitude in Christ and the title of today's message is Beware. Beware. Let us read by God's grace as most of you are standing the word of God. Finally my brothers rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me. and it is safe for you. Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. And God bless His Holy Word. Father, I come before you today to ask for your grace and your mercy as I speak to your people those things which you have laid upon my heart through study and through prayer. Lord, I pray that the word spoken here would first minister to me, would first cause me to examine myself and first cause me to do, oh Lord, what this word calls me to do, to be aware, to look out for the dangers of false teaching, to examine, oh Lord, my walk before you. And then I pray that by your grace, you would use the same word spoken to do the very same thing in this, your beloved people. I thank you for all the new faces, and I thank you for some familiar faces whom you brought back to us. And now, O Lord, let everything, and I mean everything, fall by the wayside. May we forget about lunch and problems and bills and relationships, and may we, for the next 45 minutes to an hour or so, listen attentively to what the Spirit has to say. Because I think, Lord, you can change our lives dramatically if we were to come to you with open hearts today. I pray that you would do this thing and that you would do it for your glory and your kingdom and the honor of your son. In Christ's name, amen. Amen, you may be seated. Well, church, we're starting chapter three. Three months later, we're starting chapter three. So, praise God. I'm excited that you guys are here and that we get to do this today. Then we are, by the grace of God, going to examine a couple of things, but the most important thing that I want us to consider today as a church and as a people of God is, what is a true believer and a false believer? What does true confession and a false conversion look like? Because I do think And I believe this to be true, that our churches are filled with what I call mere converts, or almost Christians. People who think that somehow they're okay with God, when they're not. Today's purpose then is not to talk you out of salvation. I never want to do that, to talk you out of the fact that you think, walk out of here going, I'm not saved, and maybe you are. But today's purpose then is, if you are saved, for you to know what is expected from you, Right? And what true salvation looks like. And if you're not saved, and think you are, to strip away any false ground that you might be standing on. Because ultimately the most important thing for any human being is to stand rightly before God through Jesus Christ. the Lord and Savior of humanity. And I say this to you not because you know I'm a pastor and I'm supposed to, but today because I deeply care for you and I want you to know that I deeply care for you. And I want you to consider the fact that you need to do a self-check to see if you are truly within the faith. Because scripture first commands us to do so. And in an age and in a time where many people think that they're converted. But they're not. They're going to one day stand before God. And that false conversion before God is going to be stripped away. And they're going to be shown to not be His. And that's going to be a tragedy. To die thinking you're okay. and wake up in eternity and realize that you're not would be the most horrific of things, don't you think? And so today, I pray that you would pay attention to what we're going to be speaking about. We're going to do this all while also taking special heed to the apostles' warning to look out, to be aware of, to be on guard against the false that leads us away from the true fellowship with Christ. We know the following about profession versus true conversion, and I need you to understand this. These are things that Bible talks about. I'm going to give a couple of points in the introduction right here that are absolutely true. I'm not debating these with you. I'm not going to ask you to think to see if they're true. These are absolutely true because Scripture tells us they're true. So the first assumption or the first truth that I want us to consider is this. First, Not everyone who says Lord is actually a true Christian or true believer. And we find that in Matthew, in case you want to look it up later. Chapter 7 verses 21 and on to 23. Not everyone who says Lord, who says Jesus, who says I love Jesus, is truly a Christian. I need you to understand that. Okay? And that's not my opinion on the matter. Jesus Christ said, says, many will come to me on that day and say, Lord, Lord, did we not do these things and this other stuff? And the Lord's going to say, get thee hence, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Okay. And the Pharisees and Jews all believed that they were going to go to heaven because they were Jews and they knew God as they thought. And the Lord came and stripped them away of every false confidence. So not everyone that says Jesus is Lord, Just because they say it in the words. And I know what you're thinking. Scripture says anyone who says Jesus is Lord is a believer. But that's talking about more of a heart confession than just saying the words. Not anyone, not just everyone that says Lord or says I'm a Christian is a believer. That's a fact. And that's a fact spoken to us by Christ. Fact number two for your consideration. Not all that respond to the gospel are truly saved. We've been taught in our churches that as long as someone walks down the aisle, or raises their hand, or writes their name on a card, that they've been saved. Pastors frequently have people come up and they pray, pray this prayer after me, the sinner's prayer, you've heard of this. Nowhere found in scripture. And they have them come up and say, pray this magic prayer, and now he assures each and every one of them as they leave that they're what? Christians. You prayed the prayer, you are now a what? Christian. That is not true. It's not found in scripture, and it's not right. Just because I prayed a prayer 20, 30, 40 years ago, if I've never lived a life that demonstrates the work of repentance, if I've never had Christ reigning and ruling over my life, if I'm not committed to Him, if I'm not following Him, just because I prayed a prayer one time, does not make me a Christian. Does everybody understand that? That's nowhere found in scripture. And it is a false assertion by which to build your life on. Well, I prayed. You know, 15 years ago I prayed. So I'm good. I'm a Christian. I'm going to go to heaven. Despite the fact that I don't love God. That I don't study His Word. That I'm not seeking Him. That the evidence of salvation is not upon me. That the fruits of the Spirit are not flowing out of my life. You know what? But I prayed. And so I said the magic words. There are no magic words, I'm sorry to say, that gets us into heaven. Fact number three. There are some that look to be genuine. By the way, let's back up to that one fact. Not all that respond to the gospel are truly saved. I want to give you scripture for that. And that's the parable of the sower found in Matthew chapter 13 verses 18 and on. In the parable of the sower, Jesus says that a sower went out to sow and he spread out some seeds. Some fell on the hard ground, never gave any fruit and it was gone. Some fell on the ground that was infested with weeds and for a while it looked like they were what? growing, but the cares of this world, the weeds, choked them out. Some of them fell among the stones, and it also grew. It also planted, but when the sun came up, it was burned up. And then some fell on the good ground, according to the word of the Lord. So notice that out of the four examples that Christ gives, three respond. The hard ground does not respond. But three do respond. And out of those three, only one is truly. So notice what the Lord is saying that you can have a response, you can be at church, you can grow for a while, but your life is what indicates to you whether there's been a transformative relationship built upon the rock Jesus Christ or not. And so just because people respond, you know, to a crusade or to a message, does not make a Christian. A Christian will be known by their what, everyone, according to scripture? Fruit. Correct? But how you live. Now, it's not our works that save us, but our works testify of our salvation according to the Word of God. Fact number three. There are some that look to be genuine and are not genuine Christians. There are people that look to be, you scratch and sniff, they look to be Christians. They come to church. They say they've been saved. They get baptized. They come to church. They learn all the hymns. They do all these things and they look to be good. But time will tell with all of us. Time will tell, right? Whether we continue or not. And I submit to you a portion of scripture that you can study for that, so you can see it. That's found in Acts chapter 8. Simon, the magician, supposedly repents, and he starts following, and he starts walking, and he gets baptized. And then later on Peter turns around and says, your money perished with you. Right? Your money perishes because I see that there's an iniquity inside your heart. So he started off okay, it seemed like for a while. But time is the ultimate indicator. Whether you persist, whether you continue forward. Thus, the apostles warn us then, because of these three facts, to do a self-examination. Scripture tells us these things, that we need to check ourselves. And so, let's look at 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Paul the Apostle writing this says, Examine yourselves. To see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves? That Jesus Christ is in you. Unless indeed you fail to meet the test. Isn't that sobering words from the Apostle? He says, check yourself. Test yourself. Look deep within. Do you love God? Ask yourself that question. Do you follow God? Is your heart bent upon God? Do you long for the things of God? Unless you fail the test and find out that you're not truly His. So scripture commands us to do this, doesn't it? To look deep within. David does it in the Psalms when he says, Lord check my heart and see if there's any evil ways within me. He asks God to open his heart, to lay it bare, to strip away any false confidences that he has. So that he can genuinely know if he's the Lord's or not. That is today my prayer for you, that you would do these things for yourself, for your sake. Amen. So let us look what Paul the Apostle says to Titus in chapter 1 verse 16. They, a group of people, profess to know God. Notice that there is a profession of faith. Do you see that? They say, I know God, I am a Christian, says Paul. But they deny Him by their works. Does everybody see that? So is it works that save us? Church, please say no. But works are an indicator. Jesus said, by your fruits you shall be what? Known. So that the works that come out of your life will demonstrate if you love God. If you're living in sin and refusing to repent. If you're doing the things that God is telling you are wrong. If you have no desire for His Word. No desire for prayer. No desire to live a life that honors God. Yet you want to come to church and say you're a Christian. There's something wrong with your profession. Notice these people profess to know God. But their life, demonstrated something different. But they deny Him by their works. They are, read with me, detestable. They are what? Disobedient. They are what? Unfit for any good work. Their life demonstrated the opposite of their profession. Okay? So how do you check yourself? Look at your life. That would be an indicator for us. So scripture then tells us that we need to consider these things and look and do a self-examination. Unfortunately, despite the repeated warnings in scripture, many people are deceived about their true spiritual condition. So let me give you some common false things that I hear from people. They want to prove to me that they're a Christian, not that I'm God or anything, but they want to say, I'm a Christian and this is why. And these are false proofs. Somehow they've got it in their head. Some preacher said something sometime where they thought that these things made them Christians. Number one, false proof number one. They are resting on a hope of salvation on a past event, like we talked about. Some prayer, some card, some thing that they did at one point. Someone told them, you pray this, you're good. A fruitless profession is meaningless. Number two, a false proof of salvation. I get this one a lot. A superficially moral life. I'm a good guy. If there is a heaven, When I get there, God will say that I'm a what? Good person. I never hurt anyone. I never stole from anyone. I did everything I could. I raised a family. I was a loyal husband. I worked. I paid taxes. I didn't live off anybody. I had to live and let live. I'm a good person. Hell is filled with people who think they were good people. There is none good, says scripture. No, not one. And I need you to understand that. If you are sitting here going, you know, I'm good, I go to church. That's another one people say. I'm good pastor, I've been at church ever since. I mean, I was born a Christian. By the way, there's no one that's born a Christian, right? But I was born a Christian, I've been going to church all my life. I'm a good person. You're building your home upon sinking sand. And when death comes knocking, everything you built will collapse. Because a Christian understands something about himself. I'm not good. I'm a sinner and I need Christ. I've messed up, I've lied, I've cheated, I've stolen, I've committed adultery, at least in my heart, if not actually. Right, I've done, I've broken every commandment. God gave us 10 and I broke each one, hundreds of times. If you sin once a day, just in your thought, that'd be 365 sins in one year. Multiply that by how old you are. And that's if you just did it once a day. If you had a wrong attitude or wrong thinking. So I draw you back to the fact that if you think because you are a moral person that you're going to make it into heaven, you are wrong. It is impossible to make it to heaven with a superficially moral life. Morality for morality's sake is nothing. The rich young ruler proves this to us. The rich young ruler comes to Jesus and he says, what must I do to earn salvation based on my works? Basically is what he's asking. And the Lord Jesus then takes him to the law and shows him how he's a lawbreaker. Sell everything you have. And the Bible says that he leaves, he leaves rejecting Christ. He leaves tormented because he didn't want to give up his idol, his money, his God, his money. He thought he was a good person. When Jesus says, keep the law, he says, I have kept the law since the day of my, what? Youth. I'm a great moral person. And Jesus showed him that there was no one that kept the law. No one that can be justified by his own works. The only justification we have is in Christ. We're sinners and we need Christ. I say this to you because many, this one's the one that's closest to my heart. Beloved, if you're sitting here thinking that somehow you get to heaven because you come to church and you have to put up with me for an hour of preaching every Sunday and somehow that because you've done your time and you believe some of the things I've said that you're going to make it into heaven, you will not. The only way you make it into heaven is if you have personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And I cannot say this with enough love for you, that I'm saying it now. Check yourself. Check yourself. One of my students once told me, Mr. Ramona, check yourself before you wreck yourself. And I thought that was interesting. I don't know if you've heard that before. That's what scripture calls you to do. Before you wreck everything you thought you had, check yourself and look. Look deep within. Don't lie to yourself. As a matter of fact, don't look within. Ask God to look within. Ask God to reveal to you who you are like David did. Because the heart is desperately wicked above all things. Who can understand it? Listen, this is what Isaiah says about morality. If I get this going, there he is. Isaiah 64, 6 says, We have all become like one who is unclean. All of our righteous deeds, all of our morality are like a polluted garment. I like the New King James Version. Filthy rag. I like that a little bit better. We all fade like a leaf and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. This is the state of every single human being on the face of the planet today, according to the Word of God. This is where we're at today. The mere knowledge of the facts of the Gospel. And this is another thing that I come, another false proof. People think because they have mere knowledge of the facts of the Gospel, that this is evidence of salvation. I know the Gospel. I've talked to people and I said, you know, do you know the Gospel? Oh yeah, I'm a sinner, Jesus came, He died, He died on the cross, and if I believe in Him, He'll wash me clean, and I'm saved. And they believe because they know that, they have that knowledge that that's what saves them. But I warn you that the book of James says that even the demons know the truth. And what? Tremble. They do more than humanities do. They know it and they what? Tremble behind it, but they are not going to be saved. Just because you know something, doesn't mean that you know it in your heart. Does that make sense? That it's taken root in your life. So, knowledge of the Gospel truth itself does not save you. Unless you bring your life under captivity to that truth. Here is another false proof that people point to me. This is why I'm safe. I have religious activity. I go to church all the time. I'm a deacon. I'm a this. I'm at church. I do all the rituals. I take communion. I'm a Christian because of these things. If your heart's not right, all these things are meaningless. As we're going to see in a little bit, Israel believed that to be the case, when they circumcised themselves. They thought because they were circumcised, they performed that religious activity that they were good. And God comes and says to them, because you circumcised yourself on the flesh, but you don't circumcise your heart, your lives before me. He says, then your circumcision is uncircumcision. You're not right with me. So religious activity is nothing. In the Old Testament, God says to the prophet, He says, I hate your offerings. Who commanded the offerings in the first place? God. And He says to them, I hate your offerings, because you're bringing them to me as something that you do as a religious activity, but your hearts are far from me. So that then your offerings became nothing. to God. You can give all the money that you have in this world to God's garden church. It won't buy your entrance into heaven. You can do all the religious activities that you want to do. It's not going to help you. Unless you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ, you're desperately lost. So this false belief that somehow because I have religious activity, I'm okay because I'm in service to the name of Christ, I'm okay. That is not true. So let us then look at a true conversion. Let us look in then verse 1. The apostle says in verse 1a, Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. What does a true Christian look like? Well, a true believer first rejoices in the Lord. That's the difference between all the things that we've spoken about and this. A true Christian is known because he rejoices in the Lord. He rejoices in the Lord. And let me explain that to you a little further. Here Paul connects rejoicing to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Commanding believers to rejoice, not for rejoicing sake, but to rejoice in Jesus Christ. Our joy, our right standing comes in relationship to Jesus Christ. A Christian is interconnected. A Christian is held tight to Christ. And as far as he's in Christ, he has joy in his life. Amen? So this is the first mark of a Christian. He rejoices but not for rejoicing sake. He rejoices in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The sphere in which our joy exists then is in our relationship with the Lord. When you meet a Christian who has no joy in his life. When you meet a Christian who is up and down and all over the place all the time. Then you have to ask yourself, or ask that Christian, or ask of that Christian, why is he not rejoicing in Jesus Christ? And let me explain that joy is not happiness. Right? Those are two totally different things. Happiness is an emotion that comes and goes depending on the outside circumstances and how they affect me. Joy is right standing in God and knowing that I'm right with God. And that the promises that He's made to me are true and that He's coming back for me. And there's a difference, isn't there? Because nobody's asking you to be in a car accident and say, but I'm full of joy. And walk down, skipping down the freeway because you're feeling like, no, no. Happiness and joy. You can have a moment in which you mourn. A moment in which you weep in life. You can have tragedy come and still have the joy of the Lord. Knowing that you're right with God and that you're going to heaven one day. Amen? And having that be your hope that you grab on to in those dark times in your life. Biblical joy, says John MacArthur, produces deep confidence in the future that is based on trusting God's purpose and His power. It results in the absence of any ultimate fear, since the relationship on which it is built is based On the eternal and on the unshakable. I know on whom I believed. Amen. I know that Jesus Christ said, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am you shall also be. I know that to be true. I grab on to those things. I know what the angels said to the apostles that they were standing there looking up. Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up? The same Jesus who ascended in the clouds will further come one day likewise. I know that the Lord is coming and I know that He's gone to prepare a place so that where He is I may also be there. I know these things and in the midst of my darkest times I grab on to those and I rejoice in the fact that I'm still His. rejoicing in the Lord. A Christian rejoices in the Lord. That's mark number one of a true believer. Mark number two is found further in that verse. In verse 1b and 2 it says, to write the same things to you is no trouble to me and it is safe for you. What is he reminding up? Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. Paul the Apostle makes the point that a true believer rejoices in Jesus. Point number two, a true believer shows discernment. Say amen to that. Because I am tired of how many people walk around this life with no discernment at all. making the same decisions over and over again, living life the same way, trying to get different results, doing the same thing, making every bad choice they can, and then they come and they say, I'm a Christian. A true Christian shows what? Discernment. shows discernment according to the Word of God. And let me explain what discernment is to you. It's understanding and living rightly and making right choices. True believers exercise good discernment in applying the filter of truth found in scripture to what is heard and seen from others. In life situations, immediately the Christian goes back to, what does the Bible say? What does God say? What does the Bible say? What does God say? We spoke about that yesterday in our theology class. A true Christian understands that real knowledge doesn't come from the empirical, what he feels. It doesn't come from reasoning, what he thinks. It comes directly from God. And that God is outside of man, and God knows all things, and is above all things. God will never steer me wrong. God will never make a wrong emotional decision, unlike us. God will never reason the wrong thing. God knows the past, the present, and the future. And so as a Christian then, I know that I come to God as my source. And what does God say on the matter? What does God want me to do in this matter? What does the Word of God command in this matter? And then I purpose to do what God has said. That is discernment. That's explaining. You'll never go wrong. You might make decisions that you didn't want to make. You might make decisions that your senses didn't agree with, your heart didn't want to make. But you will make the right decision every single time. Have you ever heard someone say, I just follow my heart? Anybody? I just follow my heart. They're the most tragic people ever. Why? Because the Bible tells us that the heart of man is desperately wicked above all things who can understand it. To follow your heart will only lead you into trouble. And have you ever met someone who makes decisions based on what he thinks only and he's the Almighty God that knows everything? He's going to make every wrong decision in life. But if you meet someone who makes this decision based upon the Word of God and what God says, despite how he feels about it, he's going to make every right decision every single time. That is discernment. True Christians love God and are bound to Him by His Word. Listen, Paul says, it's not a troublesome thing for me to remind you of these things. Paul keeps telling them the same thing over and over again. Why? Because he's a pastor. Have you ever felt like I'm repeating myself saying the same things over and over again sometimes? It's good. You need that, says Paul. We need to be reminded, don't we? We need to be brought back to what the Word of God says. Paul, because he loves them, reminds them, and because I love you, I remind you of these things, you need to check yourself. Notice that to be often reminded produces safety. That's what Paul says. He says, for me it's no trouble, but for you it is safe. It is safe. What does he mean by that? This constant exhortation that comes from the Word of God, from the pastors that God has anointed. If heeded by the sheep, produces safety, and keeps the flock of God pure and undefiled. As far as I'm reminding you, and as far as you're listening and obeying, you're going to do well. Amen. The problem is when there's a disconnect, when I'm either not reminding you of the right things, or you're being reminded, but you're not listening. When there's a disconnect between those two things, then that's when our lives end up in tragedy. But as far as we're being reminded of the Word of God, through prayer, through reading the Word of God, and listening to our pastors preaching the Word of God, and as far as you're listening to the Word of God, you're going to do well in life. This is what the Word of God says. Notice what the Apostle tells true Christians. He says to Christians that we need to be aware, to look out for, to be discerning of false teachers. Paul uses the following three terms to describe the false teachers. And before I get that, beloved, listen, pay attention. We at God's Garden Church do not say we're the only true church of God. That's a mark of a cult, by the way. If you ever hear a church say, we're the only ones, run, out the door. Okay, that's number one mark of a cult. But we here at God's Garden also understand that there are many churches, many, many, many, many churches who proclaim to be teaching the truth of God and are not. We also here understand that there are many people who say they're preaching God's Word and are leading people astray and wrecking their lives. And the problem is that the sheep are following blindly. As long as the person says he's a Christian and he has a TV program, we're going to listen. And we're not asking ourselves, what is he saying? How does it compare to scripture? How does it compare with authentic Christianity for the last 2,000 years? Did the church ever believe this nonsense before? Was anyone in the church history ever saying these things? We don't ask ourselves these questions. Well he's on TV. And he's a pastor. So he must be a man of what? God. And I should listen to him. And the problem lies not with them. I blame them. But I also blame us. The true ministers of God who have not equipped the sheep to know the truth of God. And the sheep bear responsibility for not feeding on the Word of God. So there's plenty of blame to go around. You need to feed on the Word of God, beloved. I don't know how to tell you, I say this every Sunday, but you need to be feeding on the Word of God. Beloved, if you're not eating, you're starving. You need to be feeding on the Word of God. And then I need to study and present to you the truth of God. And you need to walk rightly with God, so that you can have a discerning spirit. A while back ago, I think it was a theology class that we did here. I showed a video of a false prophet. That's commonly known by everyone on TV. Telling the people that God had given him a word from this other false prophet. That Jesus Christ himself was going to appear at one of his crusades. In the flesh. On stage. To commend him for his good work. Within the next month or so, I think it was. It's been over three years since that has happened. Jesus never appeared on stage. As the church railed against this guy, pushed him out the doors, called him a false prophet, kicked him out. Now he continues to spread his lies. Do you understand? Any discerning person, and what bothered me was the audience all saying, praise God, Jesus is going to be at the crusade. And I thought, I looked at all that audience, I said, not one of them has discernment. Not one of them says, wait a minute, the Word of God says that Jesus Himself said while walking on the earth, that the Father Himself hadn't revealed to Jesus walking on earth at what time He would come again. No one knows the day or the time. That Jesus isn't going to make a bodily, you know, hey, how's it going guys? You know, at a concert or something, shake hands, kiss babies, and then leave again. This isn't a political event. Not one of those persons said, wait a minute, that's not the way that things work. Nowhere in scripture has that ever been seen. Now one of those persons had discernment. That's what led me to hurt for the people of God. You need to have discernment. Amen? And so listen to what Paul calls false teachers. He calls them dogs. Beware of the dogs. Did you hear that? Dogs. He's not talking about the cute little puppy that you bring home and you want to play with. He's talking about the mongrel scavenger that's outside. Vicious, flea-infected, right? Just the dog that you look at and just gives you the creeps. These are the mongrel dogs that ate trash and plagued the ancient cities. They sometimes attacked people and sometimes ate people. Jezebel was eaten by these dogs. And just like these dogs, the false teachers were like them. Why? Because these dogs were unclean. They were vicious and they were dangerous. And Paul is saying of false teachers, they are unclean. They are vicious in destroying lives. They are dangerous to the church of God. He says to you, be aware of them. Look out for them. Notice it's not just my job as a pastor to protect the flock, although it is. The flock itself also has to be what? Aware. Vigilant. Looking. Studying scripture. Comparing what is being said with the Word of God. So that you're not led astray. So that you don't bring in poison to your life. So that you're not taken off to the side and been devoured. It's your job to actively pursue holiness for God. Remember we talked about sanctification being synergistic. It was an act of God and man. We need to move forward in that direction and seek God with all that we have. These dogs were unclean. Now how many think these words are harsh? They are. They're intended to be by Paul. You don't call someone a mongrel dog unless you're looking for a fight. Am I correct? It's just not something nice to say to someone. Paul doesn't seem to care. We live in a PC culture, don't we? Politically correct? And this is what I'm supposed to say as a pastor. As long as everybody believes what they want to believe, and as long as they don't infringe on what I believe, and I believe what they, then we're okay. And when a Christian calls out someone that says he's a Christian, and calls him a false teacher, immediately the church says, you can't do that. Where's your love, brother? And in case you think I was preaching at a church, I was a visiting pastor for what was supposed to be one month and ended up being over a year. And I was preaching from the pulpit and I called out Joel Osteen from the pulpit as a false teacher. I called him out and I gave examples why. I got a call from the pastor. He says, I gave you my pulpit not so you can call out a fellow brother. And I said to that pastor, you're right. I shouldn't be calling out a fellow brother, but I did and I called out a false teacher. There's a difference. Do you see? There's a difference. I said, look at this video, look at this thing. He said, look at him on TV when he said this and this. This man is not a Christian. Some of you are probably shocked that I'm saying this right now. But he's not a Christian. He's leading millions of people to the gates of hell with his false loving. He has a wonderful smile. I want to like him too. I want to have him at the barbecue. He's a best friend kind of guy. So positive. And if he were a motivational speaker, somehow, without the scripture, then let him do what he's going to do. But he gets up and he's talking from the pulpit, as if God's truth was coming out of his mouth. And it's not. It's leading people away. He's a false teacher. Paul called them out by name, in other portions of scriptures. It is not unloving for me to say, this person is wrong, you shouldn't listen to them. It is actually love for you that compels me to do this thing. Because I love you and I warned you. And I know that when I first got here, I said something to that and I had people in the office. People going, wait a minute, how come you... But I thank those people. They didn't come in here with an attitude. They weren't kicking down doors. They don't want to throw me out of town. They're like, but they were highly offended. They wanted to find out and we talked about it. And we saw the videos and we talked it. And to your credit, church, most of you said, you know what, I never thought about it that way. So I praise God for you. But that wouldn't happen in a lot of churches. It's just not okay to call out a fellow Christian. He's not a fellow Christian. Jesse Duplantis is not a fellow Christian. God knows Creflo Dollar is not a fellow Christian. Who am I forgetting? Benny Hinn is not a fellow Christian. Joyce Myers is not a fellow. And the list goes on. These people are not teaching the truth. They're teaching some truth with some lie. That is poison. God is truth. In Him there's no lie. Do you understand? So about a year ago I gave you a list of people that I listen to that I think are wonderful pastors. Wonderful men of God who preach the truth. And some of you even added to the list. How about this guy? I didn't even hear about that guy. There are plenty of wonderful Bible teachers out there to listen to. Let's not waste our time listening to the false. Amen? This is discernment. So listen. Many people would say these words are harsh. They're unloving. But in actuality, they are the epitome of love. To warn someone against destructive heresy shows love. Hence why Paul says, beware of the... False teachers? No. He says, beware of the what? Dogs. He calls them out and he uses a slur against them. Because of what they do to the church. But not only that, he calls them, the next thing he says, beware of evil workers. He calls them evil. He calls them dogs. How does Paul feel about these guys? This is scripture, right? He calls him an evil worker. What's an evil worker? Someone who thinks that by their works they're going to get into heaven. External rituals and ceremonies without God Himself. Many participate in ceremonies and church attendance, but as far as they are not repentant and seeking God, these supposed good works are instead evil works. And God takes no pleasure in them. To come to church week after week and not listen to the truth and bow down to the truth. And think that somehow because you came to church you're going to go to heaven. Is an evil work in the eyes of God. You might as well stay home. Because you're rejecting the truth that God has given to you. Do you see that? You're not doing God any favors. When you come to church, God's not going, he came to church, oh, I'm so happy. I missed him. It doesn't work that way. We come to church to worship and seek God. To hear from God. To hear the truth of God. And if you're coming here, closed off to the truth, and saying, well, I did my thing. Check. You might as well stay away. It benefits you nothing. It's an evil work. So many people are checking the box, thinking that that's going to get them into heaven. It's not so. That's an evil work. The epitome of evil work is found in the book of Jeremiah. And if somebody remembers the chapter, you can yell it out. But Jeremiah stands up before the people of God, as they're literally bringing their lambs to be sacrificed. Something that God had commanded. And as they come to him, Jeremiah gets up, moved by the Spirit of the Lord, and says, People, thus says the Lord, will you come to me? and bring your offerings and then go home and steal, murder, cheat, commit adultery, and then come to the temple and say, we are delivered because this is the temple of the Lord? He says, not so. Do you see the passion that he had? He says, you're coming here and you're saying, you're doing all this ceremony and you're going home and living the same way you've always lived. And you think because you did a ceremony, you're going to be okay with God? God is not impressed with ceremony. Neither should we be. We need to be concerned with honoring God and loving God with our lives. Notice he calls them dogs, evil workers, and then he says, they're the mutilation. They're the mutilation. Those who mutilate the flesh. And this is what he means. The Jews had a covenant with God and God had spoken to them. And He had said to Abraham and before that to Moses, He had said what? Circumcise yourself and circumcise your children on the eighth day. That circumcision, and if you don't know what it is, you can look it up in the medical journal somewhere and kind of be aghast. But for those of you who do know what it is, Okay? It was a cutting off of the foreskin within the male. And it was supposed to show that you were cutting off from you the world. Taking off part of yourself, right? So you wanted to be pure before God. That's what it was supposed to be. Right? And it was supposed to happen on the 8th day. Something that God commanded. Something that God commanded. But like I said before, What ended up happening, it became a ceremony. The Jews then started just circumcising their heart, but they didn't understand what God had said before that. When God said, circumcise yourself on the eighth day, He also spoke about circumcising your heart. Obviously, you can't cut off a piece of your heart, right? What God was saying, what? Go inside and tear away the world, and then live holy for God. And then do this as an outward symbol of what's happened, what? Inwardly. Kind of like baptism in that sense, right? As far as the Jews, they forgot the heart. They forgot to love God and seek God with their heart. They were just as much in the world as ever before, even worse. But they were performing the ceremony, and God says at that point, this is uncircumcision. You're not circumcised, because your heart's not circumcised. Does everybody understand? And then Paul makes the argument later, that the Gentiles, who were not circumcised, were circumcised. Because they gave their hearts to the Lord. So because their hearts were right before God, then God saw them as being what? Circumcised. And the Jew who was outwardly circumcised didn't give his heart to the Lord. He was what in God's eyes? Uncircumcised. And how do you like them apples? Right? Hear the Jew telling the Gentiles, you're not good enough because you're not circumcised like we are. And God says, they're better than you are. Because even though the outward flesh is not circumcised, the heart inside is. And you, even though you're circumcised in the outward flesh, your heart is far away from me. I guess what it boils down to is a matter of the heart, isn't it, beloved? It's your heart. It's your heart. Ceremony is okay. Baptism is okay. The Lord's Supper is okay, if your heart's right. But if you're doing these things and your heart's wrong, then it's just ceremony. Empty means nothing. Coming to church means nothing. Reading your Bible means nothing. Nothing means anything if it's apart from loving God and really seeking God. Giving your money to the poor. Moving to Calcutta. Like, what was her name? Mother Teresa, right? I think it was. Living your whole life serving the poor and doing this. All of that means nothing if your heart's away from God. first the heart to God, then the works of God in our lives. Amen? Do you understand? I hope you're understanding, because this is very important for you and for me to consider today. This is extremely important for you and I to consider. So these Jews, Paul is calling them mutilators. Wait a minute, it's something God commanded, but because it was without the heart, he said you're just mutilating yourself. And you're mutilating others for no reason. Is that what he's saying? Now, there were Judaizers. Can you say Judaizers? These were people who were Jews, who said they came to Christ. But said that what Christ did on the cross was the beginning. But you needed to live as a Jew. You needed to get circumcised. You needed to adopt the Jewish way of living. And if you did that, and believed in Jesus, you were saved. What was the problem with that? They were adding to the work of the cross. Listen to this. This is very important. Anyone that tells you Jesus is great, plus you need this, is a liar and a deceiver. Did you just hear what I said? Jesus plus is a lie. It's Jesus only. Amen? Jesus only. Jesus plus means nothing. When someone says, yeah, yeah, you've got to be a Christian. Being a Christian is great. Plus, you need to be circumcised. They've added to the Gospel, it's a falsehood. Jesus is wonderful. Jesus is wonderful. Plus, you need to be baptized. It's Jesus plus baptism. They've added to the Gospel. Do we need to be baptized? Yes. Is it a command? Yes. Does it add to the cross? No. No, it does not. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, you need to believe in Jesus plus become a messianic Jew or believe... No. It's Christ and Christ alone. Say Amen. That's huge. And these guys are telling the Christian Gentiles that are converted, we're glad that you came to Jesus. Now you need to do this and then you'll really be a Christian. Paul calls them what? Mutilators. He is unhappy with him. Judaism that preached to the work of Christ on the cross was insufficient apart from keeping the law and the covenant of circumcision were an abomination to Paul. Beware of anyone adding to the cross. This is a false doctrine. This is a false doctrine. Anytime someone wants to add to the cross, they have stepped out of the side of Christianity. And notice then verse 3a. This is another sign of a true believer. So what is the first sign of a true believer? A true believer rejoices in the Lord. Second was what? A true believer shows discernment. Correct? Listen to the third. A true believer verses according to a word of God. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God. We are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God. Those that love God and worship God rightly are the circumcision of God. True believers then worship. True believers worship in Spirit. True believers worship in Spirit. We don't come to church to clap louder than everybody else. We don't come to church to say, look at my voice, it's so much better than all of your voices. By the way, if you've heard me singing, you know that's not true, okay? We don't come here to impress someone with how well we play the guitar, how well we sing, how loud we can sing, how well we can clap, how well we can stay in tune with the music. We come here to worship the living God. We come to worship the living God, because he is worthy of praise. And we do it in a spirit. And by the Spirit I don't mean running down the aisles and screaming and setting ourselves on fire. What I mean in the Spirit is with a heart that desires to love God and seek God with everything we have. Genuine worship that overflows to God. It is supernatural. The Holy Spirit generates that type of worship in our heart. I remember the Word of God in John chapter 4. Many of you have thought of it already. The Samaritan woman who has an encounter with Christ and says, where should we worship God? On this mountain or in Jerusalem like you Jews said. And Jesus says, you worship what you don't know. We Jews worship what we do know. For salvation is of the Jews. But the time is coming We're neither on this mountain or in the temple. Will you worship God? But God is seeking those who will worship Him. Finish it with me. In spirit and in truth. Two keys to worship. Spiritual. By spiritual people who have been redeemed. And second of all, in truth. Worship has to be based upon truth. Our songs choice have to be based on truth. Our worship, our words to God have to be based on truth. Everything we do has to be on right doctrine and right thinking and loving God rightly. So worship has to be in spirit and in truth. That's what Jesus tells this woman. Worship is based upon peace with God. And peace with others. And not based upon circumstances. And let me explain what I mean by that. Worship doesn't happen here only on Sundays from what? 10 to 10.40? Worship is an everyday thing in your life. Whether you're singing, or you're meditating on the Word of God, or thinking of God, or trying to live rightly, everything you do as a Christian should be worship to God. Your words to each other. Worship to God. Everything should be in worship to God. Does that make sense? And it comes from a foundation of peace. Those people who speak wrongly, who cause division, who cause problems, who are constantly looking for strife, are doing so because they are not living in peace with God first. If they were at peace with God, they wouldn't have these issues. So you need to be a person who's living in peace with God. Correct? Content where God has placed you. Content in how God has given you life. Content with what God has given you. Not seeking more. Loving God for what He's done for you. And as long as you live in peace with God, every single moment of your life is going to be worship to God. It's going to be seeking God. Don't you want a life that worships God? In everything you do, don't you want to be known as a worshiper of God? Someone who just constantly offers worship to God. By the way, he's living in the way he's singing. Worship is not just singing to God. And I think that's the fault of the church. We call it what? Worship. We're like, oh, it's time to worship the Lord. And so we thought about worship as only the songs that we sing on Sundays or whenever. And is that worship? Yes, absolutely. Is that all that worship is? No. Our lives are supposed to be worshiping God in everything we do, according to the Word of God. So beloved, I challenge you to be a true worshiper of God. Base your life upon God. That's what a true believer does. A true believer, a true believer according to the Word of God, loves God. Rejoices in the Lord. A true believer has discernment in the Lord. A true believer worships in the Spirit. And look at verse B of chapter, verse 3. It says, It says, we are the circumcision and worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus. And glory in Christ Jesus. A true believer then, listen, glory is in Christ. Do you see the difference between the false and the true? The false is, my works, I say Lord, I prayed a prayer, I'm a moral person, I, I, I. A true believer what? Rejoices in the Lord, shows discernment in the Lord, right? Worships God in spirit and truth, glories in Christ. Do you see the different focus for a true believer? Everything he does is based upon whom? Christ. Everything a false convert bases is on I, on what I've done. I want you to consider that. True believers glory in Christ. Our boasting is in Christ Jesus. And what He has accomplished for us. We leave no room for the flesh to exalt itself. We know that our very breath belongs to God. Our very breath belongs to God. That's what Daniel says to Belshazzar the king in the book of Daniel when he says to them, listen, You took the instruments that were holy for God, and you used it for this terrible orgy party, and you've dishonored God and everything. The very God who holds your breath in His hand, to Him you have not given glory. Daniel makes the assertion that God holds every single one of your breaths in His hands. You're all going to die one day. But not until God is determined that it's your time. And so if God holds our very breath, let us spend every waking moment, every breath that He's given us, and worship Him. Let us exalt Him. Let us say it's because Christ... This is what the Reformers understood. They said, you know what? We place no confidence in the flesh. We glory in Christ. That's why the Reformers said, it is by grace alone. It is by faith alone. It is through Christ alone. It is what God has done and not what I've done. We understand the depravity of man. We understand that in me, says Paul, that's in my flesh. Nothing good dwells, as we're going to see in a little bit. We understand that we need Christ. That it is Christ who has done the work. I'm standing here as a regenerate man because of what Jesus Christ has done. And what He's done alone. He has called me. He has elected me. He has sanctified me. There was one day when my election meant my calling. And God made me aware of who He was and saved me. It is because of Jesus Christ that I stand here. And I've done nothing to deserve this. Not one thing. It is God and God alone. How many of you feel the same way? Then give glory to God. Don't glory in yourself, glory in Christ. What He's done. He has been good to you. The last thing a Christian does, remember a true believer, a true believer rejoices in the Lord. According to what we've read, a true believer exercises discernment, a true believer worships in spirit, a true believer glories in Christ. The last thing I want to say about a true worshiper of God, a true believer, a true believer, and we kind of touched on it, puts no confidence in the flesh. That's the last part of that. Notice he says, and glories in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. It would seem synonymous, but I want you to understand. A true believer gives all the glory to God, At the same token, a true believer puts no confidence in me. I know what's going to happen when I start relying on myself. I'm going to wreck myself again. Amen? And we need to understand that. The flesh here represents man's fallen, unredeemed humanness. It pictures human ability apart from God. Unlike the many who boast according to the flesh, I'm a moral person, I'm a good person, I give to church, I do this, I pray the prayer, I'm a great guy, I've never hurt anybody. That's relying on self. A true Christian puts no confidence in the flesh. As I said before, we understand total depravity. It's a doctrine that the reformers brought to the table based on scripture, saying that man is totally depraved. It doesn't mean that we're as evil as we can be. but that man is essentially wrong. We're born wrong. We live wrong. We make wrong decisions. We hurt others. And unless we come to Christ, we will die wrong. Man is depraved. Man needs Christ. Without Christ, man is lost. I hope that you understand the depravity of your soul apart from Christ. I hope that you can look back at a time when you would say, yeah, if it wasn't for Christ, where would I be now? For those of you, if you have any false assurance of salvation today, I pray that I've stripped those away and that you can look at yourself truly in God's mirror, God's law for the first time and realize that you're a sinner and that you need Jesus Christ above everything else. Coming to church hasn't saved you. Knowing about God hasn't saved you. Being a moral person hasn't saved you. Mentioning the name of Christ hasn't saved you. Participating in religious activities has not saved you. Only Jesus Christ can save you. False repentance concerns itself with conduct. True repentance with my inner condition. False repentance deals with the symptoms. True repentance deals with the disease. Only true repentance, which puts no confidence in the flesh, leads to salvation. If you've never repented, I pray that today would be the day. Amen. Let us pray. Father, I thank you for your word, for this beautiful Lord, unbroken word.