Be Wary

Philippians 3:2 Beware of cdogs, beware of devil workers, beware of ethe concision.[1]

I.   Dogs

     A. Require

     B. Retreat

II. Deceivers

     A. Rewrite

     B. Remove

III. Destroyers

     A. Ravage

     B. Ruin

Introduction:  Last week we considered as The Apostle Paul encouraged the church at Philippi with the whole truth of the Bible.  Rejoice in The Lord!  If we can keep our attention on rejoicing in Jesus even in the midst of all that is trying to take our attention away from Him, we will remain victorious.

But how do we know who we can trust.  How can we know that we can trust Paul?  There are those who consider his apostleship to be counterfeit.  In Acts we learned of one called Matthias who had been elected to replace Judas Iscariot as the twelfth apostle.  Yet we have all these writings from this one called Paul who once was called Saul.  Before Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, he did everything he could to destroy the truth of Jesus.  Now here he is telling churches to trust his teachings.  Who else in the Bible says that we can trust Paul?

In Peter’s epistles to the churches, Peter encouraged us to be steady in our faith.  Peter spoke of Paul this way in 2 Peter 3:14-16, “14 mWherefore, beloved, seeing that ye glook for such things, be diligent nthat ye may be found of him in peace, owithout spot, and pblameless. 15 And account that qthe longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, rspeaking in them of these things; in which are some things shard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and tunstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” [2]

We must trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance to know when our admiration and attention is being diverted away from Jesus.  Those who compiled the New Testament were inspired to include Paul’s writings and we can still trust Paul’s writings today.

When Paul wrote the word “finally” in the first verse of Philippians 3, he was not finished writing.  He was telling us the finality of faith.  Trust Jesus!  Here in the very next verse Paul is telling them and us what to beware of.  We must be wary of anything that attempts to take our attention and praise away from Jesus.  Other things will always be there to distract us but we must be diligent in not allowing anything to dilute our attention from our Lord and Savior.

Scripture:  Today’s scripture is Philippians 3:2.  When you have found it please rise to your feet for the reading of God’s written word.

Prayer: Please be seated

Message:  First point in this verse; beware of dogs.  Yes I believe that the Bible is to be taken literally.  Yes I understand that Rachael loves her dog.  Yes that dog certainly takes a lot of my attention.  Because Paul said to beware of dogs, should I get rid of Buddy?  If I for an instant believed that Rachael and I have flipped the word D O G around so that dog has become our G O D, I would say it’s time to get rid of the dog.  Bible searches tell me that we are to take care of our animals so there must be another lesson here.

The Jews considered any race other than theirs’ to be Gentile and therefore dogs.  Even Jesus insinuated that a Gentile woman was a dog in at least one instance in Mark 7:24-28, “24 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of xTyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. 25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: 26 The woman was a ||Greek, a sSyrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. 28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” [3]

Jesus upset a bunch of customs here.  First, there was no man in the house when Jesus went in.  Second, the people who lived there were Greek, dogs, and not Jews, God’s children.  Third, Jesus was dealing with a demon.  The other disciples failed when they attempted to cast out a demon while Jesus and the three were preoccupied on the mount of transfiguration. 

Jesus brought His glory, His miracle to the Gentiles that day to that Gentile woman’s daughter.  Yes the Jews considered others to be of less importance and a hindrance that must be dealt with.  The Jews considered anyone other than Jews to be dogs.

If you leave a dog alone it will tend to itself and become wild so that a person cannot trust it.  Dogs, if trained however, can become totally obedient yet totally dependent on their master.  This requires much attention and devotion.  A person needs to understand what a commitment it is to take care of another before taking the position of master for a pet.  No matter what you do, a dog will always be a dog and never a person.  No matter what you do, for some Jews no Gentile would ever be equal in importance to a Jew.  It’s a test we are still failing.

Beware of allowing anyone who feels they have been treated as subservient to become a cause that might take your attention off Jesus.  If we stay true to Him as Lord, there will be no subservient races.  We are equal brothers and sisters in the family of God.

Point two; evil workers are those who attempt to deceive others into believing that good is bad and bad is good.  There were, and still are those who reasoned that since Jesus came for the forgiveness of sin then if a person has accepted Jesus, sin must okay now for that person.  Here is Paul’s answer found in Romans 6:15-17, “15 What then? fshall we sin, zbecause we are not under the law, but under grace? gGod forbid. 16 Know ye not, that hto whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, ithat ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart kthat form of doctrine †which was delivered you.” [4]

Today there are those who attempt to rewrite truths in the Bible concerning certain abominations.  They have done an amazing job of brainwashing as there are denominations that have taken a cause against anyone who attempts to preach the gospel of confession and repentance.  Many apparently have decided to remove the fact that God created us in His image.  Society now seems to be brainwashed into thinking that it is OK to hate those who insist that sin is something not to be accepted but is to be confessed.  God accepts our confessions when we admit our sin and ask for the strength to repent.  It is pure evil to deceive a lost soul into believing that they don’t need forgiveness.  We all do so need forgiveness.  It is never too late until He says it’s too late.

Point three; Beware of the concision.  In verse four, Paul continued by explaining that Jews were known as the circumcision.  In Jewish custom when a boy baby reaches the age of eight days old, somebody plays a terrible trick on him.  If you don’t know what that is see me after church and I’ll try to explain it.

An incision is to cut flesh such as a surgeon does in an operation.  Circumcision is to cut around the flesh.  Concision is to cut through the flesh.  Paul was literally warning of those who mutilate the flesh as a perverted form of worship to a foreign god.  There are still some who take weird pleasure in harming themselves in this way today by cutting themselves as a form of self-punishment. 

Let me tell right now, if you learn that I have cut myself, it was an accident.  I have scars from knives, saw, files, screwdrivers, and I’m not sure what else.  Every scar is the result of me messing up.  If you have a tattoo or have pierced yourself for some reason, don’t expect me to.

People take what they were born to be and change that now.  Society has decided that it’s okay to call yourself any number of things and I can’t keep up with them all.  Either you are a boy or a girl.  There are exceptions and Jesus even addressed that. In Matthew 19:11-12, “11 But he said unto them, nAll men cannot oreceive this saying, psave they to whom qit is given. 12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, rwhich were made eunuchs of men: and sthere be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to oreceive it, let him receive it.” [5]

A eunuch is infertile.  In other words they don’t possess the possibility of reproducing children.  We therefore should not attempt to make those who are different in that way to feel inferior.  Personally I have been an ignorant idiot in the past and might by my stupidity helped push someone over the edge into thinking that they need to change themselves.  I have asked forgiveness for this.  To destroy a person so that they accept that which is an abomination is as great a sin as the act of abomination.

The concision Paul spoke of here spiritually is anyone who cuts another out of the family of God by persuading them that they are ruined and not worthy of God’s love.  There are those today who are ravaging the faithful into thinking that acts against God are to be acceptable now.

Christians are being fooled into thinking that they are the ones who sin when we attempt to show love to others by helping them to accept the mercy and grace that God has to offer.  People are being ruined emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  God makes no mistakes that humans need to cut away.  It is our sin nature without God to make mistakes.  His essence is to love us and include us, not to destroy us.

Prayer:

Invitation:  We have covered a bunch of ground with one verse today.  The whole truth of this verse is we must not be persuaded that anything is as important as rejoicing that Jesus is Lord!

Paul was not finished when he said finally.  My prayer for you is that when you became a Christian you were finally through seeing with your eyes and began understanding with your heart.  That should be your prayer for me.

Joshua knew what would happen when they reached the Promised Land.  He charged those on the west side of the Jordan with these words in Joshua 22:1-5, “1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, 2 And said unto them, Ye have kept aall that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: 3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. 4 And now bthe Lord your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, cwhich Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side Jordan. 5 But dtake diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, eto love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to fcleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” [6]

Aim high and take heed as we sing…

c Ps. 22:16, 20. Isai. 56:10. See Matt. 15:26. So Gal. 5:15.
d So 2 Cor. 11:13.
e Comp. Gal. 5:2.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Php 3:2). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
m 1 Cor. 15:58.
g ver. 13, 14. So Jude 21. See 1 Cor. 1:7.
n So 1 Cor. 1:8. Phil. 1:10. See 1 Thess. 2:19.
o James 1:27.
p Phil 2:15 (Gk.).
q See Rom. 2:4. So ver. 9.
r Comp. Rom. 8:19? 1 Cor. 15:24? 1 Thess. 4:15?
s So Heb. 5:11.
t See ch. 2:14.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 2 Pe 3:14–16). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
x See Matt. 15:21.
|| Or, Gentile. Comp. Matt. 15:22. See Rom. 1:16.
s Matt. 4:24. ver. 24.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mk 7:24–28). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
f ver. 1. Comp. 1 Cor. 9:21.
z See ver. 2.
g See ver. 2.
h See John 8:34. So ver. 20. Comp. Matt. 6:24.
i For the construction comp. Matt. 11:25. Luke 10:21.
k So 2 Tim. 1:13. See ch. 2:20.
† Gr. whereto ye were delivered. Comp. Luke 1:4.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ro 6:15–17). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
n 1 Cor. 7:2, 7, 9.
o ver. 12. 2 Cor. 7:2.
p Comp. ch. 20:23.
q ch. 13:11.
r 2 Kin. 20:18. See Gen. 37:36 marg.
s 1 Cor. 7:32. & 9:5, 15. Comp. ch. 5:29.
o ver. 12. 2 Cor. 7:2.
[5] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mt 19:11–12). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
a Num. 32:20–22. Deut. 3:18–20. ch. 1:12–17.
b ch. 21:44. & 23:1.
c See ch. 13:8.
d Deut. 6:6, 17. & 11:22.
e Deut. 6:5. & 10:12.
f ch. 23:8. See Deut. 10:20.
[6] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jos 22:1–5). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.