Let's open our Bibles, please, to the book of Philippians today. We are continuing systematically to go through the teaching of the Word of God. We have arrived to Philippians chapter 3. And today I would like to read just the first few verses of Philippians chapter 3. A very important chapter as Shaul Paul was writing to the believers at Philippi, very much concerned about their spiritual state. And he was writing something that is extremely important, and I believe we need all the help of the Lord to understand it. Notice what he says in Philippians chapter 3. And I'll read the first six verses. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.

To write the same thing to you, to me indeed, is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision, for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, If any other man think that he has whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more, circumcise the eight day of the stock of Israel, Of the tribe of Binyamin And Hebrew of the Hebrews As touching the law a Pharisee Concerning zeal, persecuting the church Touching the righteousness which is in the law Blameless And I'll stop with the reading here It's an amazing passage, beloved brothers and sisters that it's sometimes not easy to speak about this passage, especially as a Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah.

The history of our people is so rich that we are so thankful that the Lord has chosen us to be part of this nation of Israel, a nation that has been chosen by God. But on the other hand, Israel as a nation need to be a redeemed nation, just like any other nation in the world. In other words, when God have elected Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the 12 tribes of Israel, God have elected a nation not only to have the physical line, the physical seed of Abraham, meaning that there will be descendants of Abraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but he had chosen a nation because he wanted this nation to have the spiritual relationship with God.

And so, Shaul, Paul, was one of these individuals, who was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and yet he became a believer in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and now he's writing to a local assembly which were most of them non-Jews to encourage them and to help them to realize that the object in their lives must be the person of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. And so in chapter 1, verse 21, he reminded them that the Messiah is our life. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. In chapter 2 and verse 5, he told them that the Messiah is the example for the believer.

Let this mind be in you, which was in the Messiah Yeshua, in Christ Jesus. But now in chapter 3, he's writing to them and the theme of this chapter is the fact that the Christ, the Mashiach, ought to be the object of the believer. He's our life, chapter 1. He's our example, chapter 2. But he's also to be the object of the believer. So what happened here? Look at the scene. Paul again, remember, he's in prison in Rome. He cannot come to Philippi right now. he was there once and twice he led these Philippians to become believers in Yeshua the Messiah the Lord used him to form the local assembly in the city of Philippi but now he is in prison but what do you think he is hearing?

not only that there was disunity among the brothers and sisters in the local town of Philippi but apparently there was also the danger of some creeping in and begin to teach the believers that salvation is on a basis of works and so he is coming to them telling them listen beloved brothers and sisters I'm going to tell you something I am not ashamed to repeat it again and again and notice by the way in the first three verses of our chapter he gives them a warning in verse 1 and he's telling them finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you to me indeed it's not grievous but for you

it is safe in other words what he's telling them something is very jewish repetition if you're going to go to any of the conservative jewish circles the leading rabbi will teach these jewish boys to repeat again and again passages from the torah from the tanakh What the Apostle Paul is saying to these non-Jewish believers now in the city of Philippi To write the same thing to you, to me It is not grievous I don't have any problem to write to you again and again The same thing that I've already told you before when I first met you But for you it is safe Why do we teach the Bible every Friday and every Saturday?

I remind you brothers and sisters We are not a club we are part of the body of Mashiach the purpose that we are coming to the meetings is to study the word of God it's to have the person of Yeshua the Messiah before us we are focusing specifically on the scripture on the word of God and we trust that with the help of the Holy Spirit of God we will grow spiritually and understand the word of God better and become useful for the Lord and the Lord's service in due time and so Paul in prison is saying brothers and sisters of the Philippians listen I'm writing to you this letter and I'm mentioning again something

to you that I've already said to you in the past something listen beloved brothers and sisters rejoice in the person of the Lord it comes from the Greek word Kyrios which is really speaking about the fact that they are to rejoice not to be dependent upon what's happened but rejoicing has to do with our link to the Lord Jesus to Yeshua the Messiah it doesn't depend upon what's happened usually we are happy when things are happening good for us and when things are happening bad for us we are not happy at all and here the apostle Paul is saying no it's much more than depend upon what's happening I want you to rejoice in your

link with the Lord He is the one that loved you He is the one that came from heaven He is the one that became a man He is the one that died on the tree and the cross He is the one that was buried and rose for our justification Rejoice in the person of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah Because when life is over here in this world The only thing that remains is our relationship with God by the way in chapter 1 in verse 18 he already said the messiah is preached and i therein do rejoice yeah and will rejoice in chapter 2 he also mentioned that in this verse 17 and verse 18 yeah

and if i be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith i joy and rejoice with you all verse 18 for the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me notice what he said a little bit further on in verse 28 of the same chapter he said i sent him speaking about apaphaditus therefore the more carefully that when ye see him again ye may rejoice he wanted the believers to rejoice but to rejoice in their link with the person of our Lord Jesus the Messiah because things have been creeping in among the believers things have been taught that were not found in the word of God that Paul Shaul was careful to

seek to teach the sincere word of God and so he's telling them my brother achim shelly rejoice in the lord to write the same things to you to me indeed is not grievous but for you it is safe when we hear the word again the truth of the gospel concerning the person of yeshua the messiah it keeps us safe from any false doctrine that creeps among the people of God brothers and sisters it didn't begin today it already began 2,000 years ago when the body of Messiah was formed false teaching already began some 2,000 years ago and you and I have to deal with it every day of our life even today we are one

of those last ones before the Messiah would come at any time to take us at home with him and so now in verses 2 and 3 he's making a contrast this is very important because in these two verses he makes a contrast between those who are truly saved and truly belong to Yeshua the Messiah and those who are not belong to Yeshua the Messiah in verse 2 he says three things about those who are not believers in Yeshua.

And in verse 3, he says three things about those who truly belong to Yeshua, the Messiah. Notice he says, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. now when it's come to the unbelievers he gives warning notice he used the word beware three times beware of dogs the first time beware of evil workers the second time and beware of the concision the third thing that he said about those that have trusted themselves with respect to salvation, their relationship with God. Now let's go over that a little bit.

Let me just remind you what happened here. We are talking about 2,000 years ago. 2,000 years ago when the gospel was presented here in this world, it began in the city of Jerusalem. The first believers who came to know the Lord Jesus, the Messiah were Jewish. They had accepted him and they were looking and anticipating for the coming of the Messiah. And finally he came. He gave his life on the cross, on the tree. He died on a Roman cross. He was buried and he rose on the third day. And the first early believers were Jewish believers. But then when they became believers in the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, they were rejected by their own brethren.

The nation of Israel did not accept the Messiah. And those early believers were persecuted, were rejected by their own brethren because they have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. And so the Lord gave this revelation to the apostle and he says, listen, the time of Israel restoration is a little bit later, delayed. I'm not going to tell you how long time it's going to be. But in the present dispensation, you go and preach the gospel unto every nation upon the face of this earth. You remember the end of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 28, Yeshua said to them, All power, verse 18, is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I may commend you. And lo, I am with you even unto the end of the age. Amen. That's how the book of Matthew is closing. So the gospel went forth. They went to Samaria, to the Shomron, and some of the Shomronim of the Samaritans became believers. Then they went to the Gentile world, and Cornelius was the first non-Hebrew, non-Jewish person, a Gentile, a Goy, who became him and his family believers in Yeshua the Messiah. Amazing work of God.

While our very own people did not accept the Messiahship of Yeshua. And so the gospel has gone throughout all the nations of the world. But you know, brothers and sisters, when something begins for God, always the enemy comes along and seeks to bring about that which is not according with the will of God. It's not new because it began already in the Garden of Eden. When Abel came and brought the sacrifice, Cain said, no, I'm coming on my own terms to God. And then you can see from there on, it's two groups in Genesis, chapter 4 and 5, the line of faith and the line of unbelievers.

Those were two separate lines. It was throughout the history, including the history of our own people. There were those who wanted to maintain godly order, God's ways in the history of our people Israel. but then there were those who didn't follow the God of Israel. And so in this present time, it's no different. The gospel was preached. But you see, so many Gentiles become believers in Yeshua the Messiah that many of the early Jewish believers were wondering, what's going on? Is that something unique now that the Gentiles has to become believers in Jesus? Are we on a common ground with Gentile believers? And so Peter had to go all the way to the city of Jerusalem in Acts chapter 11 to explain to them how God was working.

In Acts chapter 11, the apostles and the brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, look at this. He said, they that were of the circumcision, they were Jewish believers. They contended with him. And they said to him, you went to men uncircumcised and did it with them. Verse 4, but Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning and expounded it by order unto them, saying, and he began to tell them the story. He said, brethren, God called me to share the message of the gospel with the nations of the world. He used me to open the door to our Jewish people in chapter 2.

He used me to open with the key the door for the Samaritan in chapter 8. He used me to open with the key for the Gentiles in chapter 10. What can I do? Could I go against God? And so in the beginning they were not happy with what he did. Can you imagine a Jewish man going to a home of a non-Jewish person? Eat with them? When the nation of Israel were called to be a separated nation. But when the gospel came, and the Messiah Yeshua came, and it was in the providence of God, in the plan of God, he knew from eternity past that a door will be opened to the nations of the world.

But unfortunately, many did not understand it. So now the Apostle Paul come. And God raised Shaul Paul, again another Jewish believer, to become a believer in Yeshua the Messiah and to preach the message of the gospel to the nations of the world. And you know what happened, brothers and sisters? Wherever Paul went, he went to the synagogue, then he preached the message of the gospel.

Some of the Jewish people in the synagogue opposed their own brother Shaul Paul because he preached the message of the gospel that the grace of God is now open to all the nations of the world and a Gentile does not have to become Jewish in order to be saved and so look what happened go with me for a second to Acts chapter 15 this is an amazing truth that we learn now remember Israel is a chosen nation God called our forefathers to be separated from all the nations of the world but in the fullness of time when the Messiah came and Israel as a nation did not accept the Messiah the door was open to

the nations of the world it says in chapter 15 and verse 1 certain men which came down from Judea they taught the brethren that except ye be circumcised after the manners of Moses ye cannot be saved now underline the word ye cannot be saved in other words what they were telling them and this is so serious because we have many who have been circumcised or many who seek to follow the law of Moses today among our own people who are lost who have no knowledge of God's provision of the Messiah for mankind but now they are going to the nations of the world and tell them unless you are going to be circumcised after the

manner of Moses the law of Moses you cannot be saved in other words they were telling them you have to first of all become Jewish in order to have eternal relationship with God but brothers and sisters is that the way to be right with God to be circumcised and keep certain things to be right with God the greatest of the great you're going to see here in a moment even though he was so faithful and trying to abide by the law of God he not recognized that he has a problem in his own heart in his own nature a sinful nature that needs to be judged and so Paul is writing now to the believers

in chapter 3 of the book of Philippians beware now notice I said The three statement is about those who are really not belong to the family of God.

They are not saved. And that's why the first thing says, beware of dogs. You know, the Hebrew word is kelev or klavim. If you would look, I made a search about the word dogs in the Bible. It mentions so many times in the scripture. But every time it is mentioned in the Bible, it was always in a negative way. You know, you and I, some of us have dogs at home, and we love them as pets. And they say the dog is man's best friend. But in biblical historical time, the dogs were always without. They could not come into the house. They never had the privilege that dogs today have in North America and in Europe and in many countries where they are so privileged to be in home.

They are being treated so well. We actually have in a grocery store a whole aisle that just for dog food. And yet, beloved brothers and sisters, in biblical time, dog, the expression dog is always applied to that one which war without. The first verse in the Bible that mentions the name dog is in Exodus chapter 11 and verse 7. It says, but against any of the sons of Israel, a dog will not even bark. Whether against men or beasts, that you may understand how the Lord makes the distinction between Egypt and Israel. God make a comparison of the dogs to the enemies of Israel. He says even the dog will not bark against the people of Israel because God has a plan to redeem these people of Israel out of Egypt.

Look at Exodus again, chapter 22 and verse 31. You shall be holy men unto me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn to pieces in the field, but you shall throw it to the dogs. Dogs in Scripture always look as the one that are without. Look at another verse, you know, when the Lord Jesus, when Yeshua the Messiah prophetically in Psalm 22 was being opposed by those that were against him. The Bible says, and David is speaking, of course, in Psalm 22 and verse 16, For dogs have surrounded me. The band of evildoers encompassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. When it's come to the Gentile world, they use the expression dogs.

When it comes to the Jewish world, in Psalm 22, they use the expression bulls. Jew and Gentile got against the Messiah and ultimately put Him on the cross and rejected Him. Verse 20 of Psalm 22, Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog. Dog in Scripture oftentimes is looked upon in a negative way and always is one that is without. In fact, in the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 22 and verse 15, The glorified Messiah gave instruction to this angel to speak to John, Yohanan, and he said to him, outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone that loves and practices lying.

In Jewish history, they use dogs oftentimes to express, speaking about the nations of the world, But it's not only in Jewish history, even when the apostle John received the revelation on the island of Patmos from the glorified Messiah. He gave this expression, those that are without, but they're creeping in. And Philippians, he's saying to them, beware. Beware of those that are creeping in, that they really not belong here. They not belong to your local church in Philippi, but they are coming in in order to twist and to teach you something that is not found in the Word of God. But he doesn't stop there. He continues, and he says, in verse 2, he says, even beware of evil workers.

This is the second thing. Notice that? He's warning evil workers. Now, brothers and sisters, listen. This is what Paul was so much concerned about. And he says, the evil workers. And what does he mean when he says evil workers? Those that teach, and you see, there were those already that came to the city of Philippi and says to the brethren, you know, really, you cannot be saved unless you do certain things. Unless you be circumcised. Acts 15.1. Unless you keep certain rules and certain laws. Otherwise, your salvation depends upon your performance. And Paul is saying, beware of evil workers. Why? Because they come and they teach things that are not found in Scripture.

In Ephesians chapter 2, he already said to them, By grace are you saved through faith that it is not of yourself. It is a gift of God. You didn't earn it. You cannot work for that. You cannot do anything on your own. It is a gift of God, not of works. How many times we can say somebody come and he says, no, you've got to earn your salvation. You've got to do yourself the second half. God does a little bit and you do a little bit also. And if you're honest with yourself, you know your heart. And you know that you and I know very well that all the good works that we have done, we have always come short.

We were never good enough. And that's why he says, not of works let any man should boast. Because you see, beloved brothers and sisters, we're going to boast in anything that we do.

God did a little bit and I did a little bit and together we earn my salvation and he says watch it but then here's the third thing that is very very important in our chapter in Philippians chapter 3 in verse 2 he says beware of the concision the words here for concision come from the Hebrew word chituch just the cutting off of the flesh and what he's really saying here in this chapter be careful from those that only have their circumcision but they didn't have an internal relationship with the Lord in their own heart that is exactly what Acts chapter 15 said those of the circumcision came down from Judea and said except you be

circumcised you cannot be saved now let's talk a little bit about circumcision turn with me to Genesis chapter 17 for a moment the reason that we read this text earlier was very important because circumcision on its own is a God given command to father Abraham and his descendants so we read in Genesis chapter 17 in verse 9 and God said unto Abraham thou shall keep my covenant therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their generation this is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee every male child among you shall be circumcised verse 11 and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be

a token of the covenant between me and you verse 12 and he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you every man child in your generation he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger which is not of thy seed he that is born in thy house and he that is bought with money this is verse 13 now must need to be circumcised and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant and the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his skin is not circumcised that soul shall be cut off from his people he has broken my covenant so listen it is a very clear instruction

to our father Abraham it is not that Abraham asked God God should I be circumcised no but God said this to Abraham To Abraham and his descendants, everyone that belonged to Abraham's descendants ought to be circumcised.

Why? Because this is a covenant that I made with the people that belong to me. Every boy must be eight days old and he must be circumcised. Now, if you and I would think about a mark that God would want to put upon a human being in order to show his covenant with him, Why would he choose the fostering of the male man? Well, let me give you an answer, at least a part of an answer. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, it's through the physical relationship between a husband and a wife that a child is born into this world. And this member that God has given a male man in order to have this physical relationship with his own wife is that which produce another human being.

And every time a child is born out of a relationship between a husband and a wife and produce a child, that child received the very sin nature that his father possessed. In other words, what God was going to teach Abraham and his descendants and all of us really, That the very member that God had given in the body of a man is that member that produced another sinner. And he's reminding the people of Israel every time that you are producing a child, this one is a sinner. And this son or child or boy or girl need to be redeemed, need to be forgiven. and so every time when a child is born he is born a sinner and the mark of this covenant that God made with our forefathers was in their foreskin that's why it's called in Hebrew Brit Milah not only the cutting of the flesh but it is a covenant a Brit Milah the circumcision it is a covenant that God made with his people to remind them again and again of the fact that the one that is going to be born by you will be one that needs to have a relationship with me and to have redemption in order that he will be part of the nation of Israel.

But what happened? Circumcision became, you might say, very routine. And every family, every one of us that is Jewish know very well, we did not make any decision about it, but our parents circumcised us. Every boy born to a Jewish family without any hour of our own decision, our parents understood that this is the way we as the people of Israel are commended by God to have this covenant mark in our own body of our own male child. If you notice in the book of Leviticus chapter 12, God places in the law. Please turn with me to Leviticus chapter 12 for a moment. Look at this in chapter 12 in verse 1, 2, and 3.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, if a woman have conceived seed and born a man child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, according to the days of her separation for her infirmity, and shall she be unclean.

and in the eighth day notice that after she has finished with her purification in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised this was given to Israel when Israel came out of the land of Egypt and they received the law on Mount Sinai but now Israel need to have not only the flesh being circumcised but our hearts need to be cut off and circumcised before the Lord And if you would look Beloved brothers and sisters In the remaining passages of the Bible You notice what God said to Israel In Deuteronomy chapter 10 In verse 16 He says Circumcise therefore the foreskin Now notice He doesn't say of your flesh But the foreskin

of your heart And be no more stiff-necked You see the lesson is simply this Israel I have chosen you to be my people but you are still a sinful nation who need to be redeemed and forgiven and I'm not only intended for you to have the circumcision of the flesh while your heart is so far away from me and so he challenged them and he said to them Israel I want you not only to circumcise your flesh but circumcise your heart in other words confess your sins recognize that the way of redemption to be right with God is on a basis of confession and repentance and acceptance of the blood of the sacrifice and then

your heart's going to be circumcised and you're going to be in a right relationship with me but you see what happened unfortunately by the way it's still today many who are being circumcised have no relationship with God whatsoever oh yeah I'm circumcised you see I belong to Abraham and Yitzhak and Yaakov but I don't need God in my life I have been circumcised so the apostle Paul wanted to explain this because those early people who came from Judea Jesus said, except the Gentiles be circumcised according to the law of Moses, they cannot be saved.

And so the Apostle Paul had to deal with it and he says, beware of dogs who are without. Beware of those who only depend upon their salvation on the basis of works system. Be careful, but thirdly he says, beware of those that are, and notice he doesn't use the word circumcision here in verse 2, of the concision it's only having a surgery and that's all he says be careful of them, why he says he's warning because merely to have circumcised flesh does not make one right with God you can read it in other passages in Jeremiah chapter 4 verses 3 and 4 in Ezekiel chapter 44 verses 5 to 9 there are various passages that deal with the importance of circumcision of the heart, not the circumcision of the flesh.

Now what happened? Those Gentiles were not circumcised. They were from the city of Philippi. They did not have to become Jewish, you might say, in order to get saved. They only need to accept what Yeshua, the Messiah, have done for them. And the Apostle Paul says, you be careful. Be careful of false teaching that are creeping all around. It was there 2,000 years ago, and it is here today. He is warning the believers there to be careful with this. Now, turn with me to Romans chapter 2, verses 28 and 29. And here the Apostle Paul is taking the whole human race into the court. He takes the Gentile world, the moralists, and the pagan world, and he found them guilty before the living God and he also take the Jewish world and they were also found guilty he says for he is not a Jew he is not Jewish which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God.

Now remember, he was not talking here to the Gentiles. He was actually directing himself to Jewish people. And he, as a Jew, is speaking to his own brethren here in this text and he says, really? You say you are Jewish because you are a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He says, this is fine. But the true Jew is not the one that has only a physical circumcision. But it's also one that has an inward change of heart. One that has been circumcising his own heart, recognizing that he or she are sinners before God. And the only way of salvation is through the work of the Messiah.

The true Jew, in accordance with the word of God, is one that has physical circumcision and spiritual circumcision as well. Now, you know, most of us have family members who are not believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And they look at us, they say, you have gone far away from where God wants you to be. And then you look at their life and they reject God, reject the Bible, reject the Messiah. But they're Jewish, you see, they're our own family, our own people. But we who believe in Yeshua the Messiah are not right according to them. So who is a Jew? Paul explained this in Romans chapter 2.

A true Jew, according to God's word, is one that is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by birth, but also one who have accepted God's provision for his sin through the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. Let me read you one more verse in Galatians chapter 5, verses 5 and 6. Listen to what it says here. For we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Yeshua the Messiah neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. What he is really saying, beloved brothers and sisters, it does not avail one to be circumcised in his flesh with respect to his standing before God.

It doesn't make one right with God because God wants the circumcision of the heart. And that is so important to understand.

I tell you, almost every Bible teacher today who in some small measure know the Word of God constantly giving this challenge to his hearers remember that you are not saved on the basis of your background your pedigree your achievement you are saved by grace and by grace alone through faith in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and if we know our hearts we know how we fell short of any of the commandments that God had given to us we always seem to fall short of the glory of God like Romans 3 and verse 23 says we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God all of us have failed in one way or

another and all the background and all the achievement and all what we can accomplish does not avail does not make us right with God and now I just want to say I don't for one moment say that it is wrong for a Jewish man to be circumcised it is God given the problem is not with the circumcision the problem is when one is circumcised and he thinks that death makes him right with God no what makes him right with God and when he fall on his knees or her knees and say God be merciful to me a sinner thank you for sending Yeshua HaMashiach to die for my sins which I could not pay for

so now he's saying the contrast now notice that in verse 3 he's saying again three things about true believers though that I truly have acknowledged that they belong to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah notice what he says in verse 3 for we and he is including the Gentile believers who were in Philippi and himself as a Jewish believer at the circumcision which, and he said three things number one, worship God in the spirit number two, rejoice in the Mashiach Yeshua and number three, have no confidence in the flesh number one, he's saying we worship God in the spirit and another, we don't worship God by the human things that we do you know, today we

hear about all sort of things that are going on of the way of worshipping God.

We depend upon all sort of external things to worship the Lord. Is that what we need in order to worship God? We depend upon what kind of rules and all kind of things that man does. You do this way and you do that way. Or we only depend on our hearts being right with the Lord and lifting up our hearts and worshipping the Lord. Yeshua said to the Samaritan woman in John 4, verse 23, He says the hour is coming It is really now When the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth God is a spirit And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth You see, God's seeking such to worship him You know, I was just watching the television The story of the Pope traveling through the United States and you should have seen all the clothing all the waving of the smoke all the things that are going on everybody is having their garments when you look at this and you say is that a way to worship God?

and you see God doesn't want so much to focus on rituals but he wants us to focus on a true sincere worship they come from the heart do you think that rituals what makes God pleased we can have all the rituals in the world and our hearts are not right with God God seeketh those that will worship him in spirit and in truth so the first one they worship in spirit and in truth secondly a true believer is rejoicing in Yeshua the Messiah why we rejoice in him brothers and sisters listen the only reason we rejoice in our Lord Jesus the Messiah is because he paid the price of every sin that I have committed and that you have committed and if we don't have him as our joy and our worship and our adoration in our life who are we going to go to?

who are you and I going to go to? who is going to be the one that is going to make things right for us with God? The priests cannot help. The rabbis cannot help. Moses could not help. Abraham could not help. David could not help. All have sinned. But there is one that we can rejoice in him. And his name is Yeshua. It's because he is the one that paid for our sin. And that's why a true believer not only worships God in the spirit, but he's rejoicing in the work of the Messiah, in the person of the Messiah. Jesus, the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, paid for every sin that you and I have committed.

But thirdly, listen to that. The third thing he said about a true believer, we have no confidence in the flesh. You know that we have a big problem, that we still think that there is some good in our flesh. We don't realize that the Bible declares that all have sinned. There is no good in the human nature. That's why circumcision was pointing to. In this member of the body that God had given to the male man, he uses to produce another sinner. And a new generation come. And every time you and I have confidence in the flesh, it shows that we haven't grown to appreciate what Jesus has done for us.

You and I are believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. How many times we have failed the Lord as believers? How many times we dishonor the Lord in this very flesh that we have? We have said things we shouldn't. We have done things we shouldn't. We have looked at things we shouldn't. We have heard things we shouldn't. In the very same old nature that we have now as believers. Because we have a new nature. This is the divine nature. But we still have this old nature. And how often we have sinned against the Lord. And Paul says we have no confidence. I want you to see what he said.

There are some verses that we need to read. In John chapter 3, Nicodemus was speaking with Yeshua, the Messiah.

in verses 5 it says and Yeshua said verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit in other words he is telling him there is a distinction between the flesh and the spirit the flesh is this old nature that we have that David could say in Psalm 51 in sin did my mother conceive me there is no prophet in the flesh whatsoever look what Paul said about himself in Romans chapter 7 and verse 18 for I know Paul that in me

that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing you know the statement in my old nature dwelleth no good thing you and I might say Paul you could say some good things and a lot of bad things but he says no good thing notice what he says a little bit later on in chapter 7 verse 24 he's closing actually this chapter and he says oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death and then he turned to the Lord and he said I thank God through Yeshua the Messiah our Lord now brothers and sisters Paul is so strong here because he wanted to emphasize the importance that salvation is

not by works it's not by being circumcised it's not by keeping laws and rules salvation is entirely on the basis of the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah and a true believer number one is worship God in the spirit number two rejoice in the person of Yeshua the Messiah and number three have no confidence in the flesh every time when you and I have confidence in our flesh we find ourselves falling on our faces because we always manage to blunder to fall to do that which is not honoring unto the Lord and so he's turning to the Lord he said I thank God through Yeshua the Messiah the one that can help us to live

for God the life that is pleasing to the Lord is the person of Yeshua the Messiah in the power of the Holy Spirit of God so now what he's doing in the next verses in verses 4, 5 and 6 he presents before the Philippians his pedigree his record of ancestry he is now showing listen, do you want me to show you how much I can boast in who I am in my pedigree, in my history I want to show you, I want to tell you a little bit about myself and so I want you to notice that Paul in verses 4, 5 and 6 points to himself and notice he began in verse 4 and

he says though I might also have confidence in the flesh If any other man think that he has wear off He might trust in the flesh I have even more So apparently there were those who came to Philippi And said, ah, Paul is Israeli, he's Jewish But you see, Paul is not as great as we are He is not accomplishing as we are He is not having some sort of thing that we can provide for you They were probably teaching all kind of things and they were blaming Paul, who he is.

What does he have to be boasting in? In Toronto, just a few years ago, there's a new teaching that comes. Somebody always seems to come with a new revelation. Revelation 23, there is such a thing. And Paul is saying, let's go to the basic and I show you what the Bible says about my history. And I can boast in my history, in my pedigree, in my background, in my ancestry, much more than anyone else could be boasting. And notice he gives us a list of sevenfold reasons why he could trust in his own flesh. The first thing he says in verse 5, I was circumcised on the eighth day.

I was not only circumcised, but I was also circumcised at the right day that God had given our forefather Abraham in Genesis chapter 17. Now, why it is very important? Because others have been circumcised at the time when God gave the command to Abraham to circumcise all those that were part of him. In fact, we read that Abraham was 99 years himself when he was circumcised. And if you read later on that Ishmael was also circumcised, but he was 13 years old. And when Abraham was commended to be circumcised and all his family and those that belonged to him all had to be circumcised, Ishmael was circumcised when he was 13, Abraham was circumcised when he was 99, Others have been circumcised at whatever age they were.

But the first one to be circumcised on the eighth day in accordance to the word of God was Yitzchak, Isaac. So Paul said, I am a real descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because I was circumcised at the right day. Not only circumcised like Ishmael when I was 13 years of age, I was circumcised on the eighth day. You remember that God commended our people to circumcise their sons on the eighth day. So that's the first thing. Secondly, you notice what he's saying in verse 5. I am of the stock of Israel. Now bear with me, beloved brothers and sisters. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Yitzhak.

And the promise of the chosen nation was not through Ishmael, who was circumcised when he was 13, Genesis 17, but through Isaac, who was circumcised when he was 8 days old in Genesis 21. But Isaac also had two sons, twins. One whose name was Esab, who was the older, and the younger one was Yaakov. Yaakov's name later on in chapter 32 of the book of Genesis was changed from Yaakov to Yisrael, a prince that representing God. And therefore, all those that came through Jacob, through Israel, became the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel. What really Paul is saying here, not only that I belong to Father Abraham had been circumcised like Isaac on the eighth day, but I am also a descendant of Isaac, but not through Esau, but through Israel, Yaakov.

I have a history, my forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. What a privilege to be part of this nation. Then thirdly, he says, in verse 5, He continued and he said, I am of the tribe of Benjamin. Now Benjamin, beloved brothers and sisters, was the second son of Rachel. She was the chosen of Jacob. He loved Rachel so much and she gave him yourself. But later on she died and she gave him the son by the name of Benjamin. Apparently the Apostle Paul was of the tribe that belonged to Benjamin, a favorite tribe. In fact, there are four men that have been great men in the history of Israel that came from the tribe of Benjamin.

The first one, of course, was the first king of Israel by the name of Saul, Shaul. He was the king of Israel. 1 Samuel chapter 9 was chosen to be, he was head and shoulder. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, but he was a choice of man, not the choice of the Lord. But he came from the tribe of Benjamin. There was another judge by the name of Ehud in Judges chapter 3 who defeated the enemies of Israel and he was from the tribe of Benjamin. And of course we know the story of a man by the name of Mordecai, the Jew from the book of Esther.

He was from the tribe of Binyamin, Esther chapter 2. And of course, the fourth great man, you might say, Shaul Paul. He is from the tribe of Binyamin, the favorite tribe. You know, the tribe of Benjamin was the only tribe that was faithful to the tribe of Judah when there was a division between the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. It was the tribe of Benjamin that remained true and faithful to the tribe of Judah. That's why Judah and Benjamin were representing the southern tribe. Tribe. And so Saul, Paul, could pride himself. And now continue to understand the fourth thing that he said about his pedigree in connection with his people, the chosen people.

He says, I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrew. Ivri min ha'ivriyim. I am a Hebrew that came out of the first Hebrew, namely, Father Abraham. Abraham is called the first Hebrew in Genesis chapter 14. The Hebrew word, evrim, means to cross over, la'avor. He crossed over from one side to the other in order to go to the promised land. And he is called the first Hebrew. Another one, he linked himself to the one that is chosen by God by the name of Abraham. a Hebrew that came out of Abraham the first Hebrew that was chosen by God they continue notice that he says in verse 5 as touching the law I was a Pharisee the Hebrew word parush is one that is expounding the word of God he was linked with the Pharisees who sought to abide by the law of God and of course develop all sort of things that were no more the fundamentals that God had given but they've given all kind of things they've developed all sort of things in Pharisaic history that by today the people who continue today being a Pharisees really drive the people away from the simple ABC of the word of God and he says I was a Pharisee concerning as touching the law I was a Pharisee look what he said about himself when he was testifying there about his faithfulness as a Pharisee.

Acts chapter 26 and verse 4 and 5. My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation, Jerusalem, know all the Jewish people, they know the way I lived, which knew me from the beginning if they would testify that after the most strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. Someone said that at the time when Yeshua came there were about 5,000 Pharisees. That's all. They were so narrow and so exclusive that to become part of this Pharisaic group you must be so devoted to their teaching. And Paul was so devoted to what he understood then. And apparently he must have had maybe his relative, maybe his father was also a Pharisee.

And so he lived a strict life as a Jewish Pharisee. And then next, one of the last things here now in verse 6, concerning zeal, I persecuted the church, the assembly, the believers. You see, he says, you don't want to talk about zeal? Look at the zeal that I had years ago as a Pharisee. I persecuted all those that believed in Yeshua, the Messiah. By the way, he never persecuted a Gentile believer. He always persecuted Jewish believers. As far as he was concerned, if the Gentiles believed in anything else, that's not a problem. But if his own people, the Jewish brethren, became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, then he had to oppose, he had to zeal to say he wanted to stand for the truth of God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And when someone all of a sudden accepted the fact that Yeshua is the Messiah, he was so zealous that he wanted to persecute and even kill many of those who became believers in Yeshua. In Acts chapter 9, when he went to Damascus, he took a letter from the scribes, from the leaders in Jerusalem to bring it to the synagogue in Damascus and to tell, bring those Jewish believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And finally, brothers and sisters, talking about his pedigree, talking about his record of ancestry, he concluded with the last thing in chapter 3 of Philippians in verse 6 he says touching the righteousness which is in the law I was blameless and what he meant by that externally I was following all the rules that had been given to us of course he knew his heart later on And he revealed himself in Romans chapter 7.

But he said, listen, when it's come to righteousness, which is of the law, I was blameless. If you look at the Apostle Paul, you will see a man that had been righteous on a basis of the works of the law, outwardly. But he knew his heart. And the Lord knew his heart. And the Lord had to meet these men on the way to Damascus and to change his life completely. And here are these brothers and sisters, I'm going to close with this. If you notice, in the Gospel of Mark, in chapter 10, verse 17 to 22, in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18, verses 9 to 14, there were those two men who tried to be justified on a basis of works.

And I want to conclude with reading in Luke chapter 18, verse 9. Again, the Lord is telling a parable. He says, And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. And look at the parable, very simple. Two men went up into the temple to pray. The one is a Pharisee, and the other is a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus within himself, and he said, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterous, even as this publican. I fast twice in a week. I give tithe of all that I possess. Very good.

Look at this. Twice a week he is fasting. He gives tithe of all that he has. He prayed constantly. He is thinking that he is not like other men which are like this one that is called the publican. Sound like pretty good, doesn't it? Then the publicans turn in this parable. The publican stood afar off. And he would not even lift it up so much. His eyes unto heaven and he smote upon his breast. And he says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. He was open before God. He was not trying to achieve on some merits, on the basis of something that he does on his own.

think that he's tithing and his prayer going to the temple and on and on and on as if that which will please God and on this basis is going to be right with God and God had to tell to teach this great lesson that it's not by merit it's not by works it is on a basis of the grace of God and through the person of Yeshua the Messiah and so the Lord Yeshua is closing this parable and he He says, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

So Paul is saying as he concludes, listen, I have so much to boast in, but I'm not going to boast in that. I'm going to boast, rejoice in the Lord. He is the one that provides you salvation. It's the link with the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. He is the one that provided for us redemption. And so he's warning the brothers and sisters in Philippi, and I think you and I need that, to be warned not to trust in ourselves. We will fail the Lord every time when we trust ourselves. But as we read, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your way acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. May the Lord help us in the study.