05-05-13 Beware! Beware! Beware!

Do you ever memorize Scripture?

Do you ever encounter passages in the Word

where you find yourself thinking,

“I don’t just want to read this,

I want to consume it,

I want to somehow get it inside myself.

I want to make it a part of me

and my thinking.

I want to be like that!...like that passage.

I want to consume it

with the hope that it will consume me.”

We are entering a passage in Philippians 3

that has affected many Christians throughout history just that way.

It’s found in Phil. 3:8-14 and begins with the words,

“More than that I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...”

We are not going to get to that passage this morning,

but we are going to begin to approach it.

We are going to look at the statements

Paul makes that lay the foundation

for that remarkable passage.

And I need to warn you that

the passage we are moving into

is going to take us back into a discussion that we have been in and out of

for as long as I’ve been teaching.

But that’s OK

because it is a theme that is woven

throughout the entire New Testament writings

and structured into the good news

in a way that causes us to bump up against it again and again and again.

It’s the issue of the difference between

FLESH and SPIRIT.

Our study of Philippians has brought us to

chapter 3, verses 2 and 3.

I’ll read the verses for us

and then we’ll dig into them:

Phil. 3:2 “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;

Phil. 3:3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,...”

Now keep in mind

what Paul is doing in this letter.

He’s writing from prison

to his fellow Christians in Philippi

offering them the principles

that enable us to cope with the really hard times in our lives,

the times in which we feel as though we, too, are in prison.

This is Paul’s last phone call to his friends,

this is Paul saying,

“Here are the things that really matter,

the things I may never have another chance to tell you,

and the things I don’t ever want you to forget.”

And our study has brought us to a passage

in which Paul wants to warn them about something.

Three times in this 2^nd verse

Paul says, BEWARE!

Beware of the dogs,

beware of the evil workers,

beware of the false circumcision;

This verse is carefully designed

to affect us the same way

a very unusual street sign affected me years ago.

During the early 1970’s,

back in my single days,

I spent several years on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad,

helping some fellow missionaries

begin a church on the Island.

The first year I was there

I used a motorcycle for transportation,

a little 90cc 2-cycle Kawasaki

that would top out at about 70 mph

but had great acceleration and was incredibly easy to maneuver.

It was a sweet little bullet

that got me around the island.

I lived on the north end of the island,

just outside the capital city of Port-of-Spain,

but several times during that first year

I got on my Kawasaki

just to get away and go explore the island.

One of those trips

took me to the southern end of the island,

on a little jungle road

I’d never been on before.

It was a beautiful tropical day

and I was zipping down the road

going about 45 or 50 mph

and I passed a road sign that read:

SHARP CURVE AHEAD.

Now, I was 23 year old,

on a motorcycle,

and, if anything,

that sign made me want to speed up a little.

I mean, curves were one of the things

I did really well.

But then something happened

that actually made me hit the brakes.

I passed two more signs

before I got to that curve.

The one I had just passed had read:

SHARP CURVE AHEAD.

The next one I passed read:

VERY SHARP CURVE AHEAD.

But it was the third sign

that finally really got my attention.

It had just 4 words on it:

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

I slowed down,

and I’m glad I did.

I see Paul doing the same thing for us

here in 3:2 when he says,

Beware of the dogs,

beware of the evil workers,

beware of the false circumcision;

The word we have translated as BEWARE here in this verse

is translated other places in the New Testament

as “consider”

“take care”

“take heed”

“be careful”

“watch out”...

It means literally “to look at”,

and it’s used here by Paul

to say, “keep your eyes wide open, my friend”.

He’s warning us about a danger

he knows we would most likely

never anticipate on our own,

something he knows

could have a devastating

and even tragic impact on us

if we’re not prepared for it.

He warns us about evil

within the perimeter of the Family of God.

Some time ago I was with a person in the emergency room

when the nurse was asking the patient

a number of questions about their condition and their medical needs.

But then the nurse asked a question I would never have anticipated.

She said, “Do you feel safe at home?”

It’s a tragic comment on the society in which we live

that such a question needs to be asked,

but it does.

In God’s design,

when the family is functioning as it should

home is the ultimate safe place for us to be.

After a full day out in the world,

if things are as they should be,

when we walk in the door we’ll find ourselves thinking

and maybe even saying out loud,

“Its just really good to come home!”

In God’s design “home” is intended to be the ultimate safe place,

where you are secure,

and protected,

and accepted just the way you are.

And when the family of God,

the church,

is functioning as it is designed to function

it too is designed to be

that kind of safe place,

a place where we can risk being ourselves,

a place where we can dare to bring

some of the hurt

and the brokenness

and the tender places out into the open

and find ourselves feeling protected

rather than attacked.

And the New Testament has a great deal to say

about how we can effectively create

that kind of environment

within the local church.

Paul knew that as a local body

begins to grow in its ability to create

that kind of secure environment

we will begin to let down our guard,

we’ll begin risking a little trust

in our relationships with one another.

That’s a healthy thing.

It’s an essential thing

if a church is ever to grow as God intends.

If maintaining a good external image

at the expense of honestly dealing with the growth issues in our life

becomes the bottom line in a church

it’s all over.

Do you remember Ananias and Sapphire?

The account of their tragically short lives within the family of God

is recorded for us in Acts chapter 5 if you’d like to read it on your own.

They discovered that great social status could be gained within the church community

by giving the appearance of great generosity.

And so they conspired together

to sell a piece of property,

keep some of the profit for themselves,

but then tell the church body

that they were giving the entire proceeds

to the needs of their fellow Christians.

Do you remember Peter’s response to those two

when they decided that creating an impressive facade,

and external image

was of more value than living honestly before their fellow Christians?

Acts 5:4 "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God."

The result of their deception was tragic for all concerned,

but it was essential for God’s design for the church

that His people knew that no facades are needed

and none are wanted within His family,

and that developing the freedom

to risk honesty and trust

is job #1 within the family of God.

But, having said that

Paul does not want us naive -

he wants us to know

that evil always has and always will thrive within the church world

and he doesn’t want us to be caught off guard.

This is something that Christ Himself

prepared us for through several of the parables He told His disciples.

Matt. 13:24 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

Matt. 13:25 "But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.

Matt. 13:26 "But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.

Matt. 13:27 "And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'

Matt. 13:28 "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' And the slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'

Matt. 13:29 "But he said, 'No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them.

Matt. 13:30 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

He pictures His family as a field,

and each of His people

as a little grain of wheat He has planted.

But then Satan comes along

and plants weeds in among the wheat,

and weeds that, when they first sprout,

look very much like the wheat.

And you know what He’s telling us, of course -

“Child of God, don’t be surprised

when even within the boundaries of the church

you discover that there are enemies among us.

He says the same thing

in the parable about the mustard seed.

Matt. 13:31 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

Matt. 13:32 and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

What He describes here

is a mustard plant that runs amuck.

If it had grown as God intended

it would have become just a small garden herb.

But something goes terribly wrong with this particular plant

and it grows and grows and grows until it becomes a tree,

one large enough for the birds of the air to nest in its branches.

We know from other parables in this same section

that Jesus uses the birds as an image of those in league with Satan

and His message to His people is clear -

do not be surprised when you discover

that Satan uses the world of religion and even the organized church as his home base

and does some of his most destructive work under its banner.

And Paul is doing the same thing for us

here in Philippians 3:2-3.

Beware the dogs,

Beware the evil workers,

Beware the false circumcision.

He’s not talking about evil men and women in the world at large.

He’s talking about those who snuggle up close to the Body of Christ

and use it for their own ends.

The language Paul uses in verse 2

is mostly designed to get our attention.

Beware of the dogs!

He’s not talking about that miniature schnauzer, Pepper,

who was such a big part of our family for so many years.

He’s using strong language of condemnation,

telling us that there are predators within the framework of the Christian community,

men and women who approach the people of God

as a pack of dogs would approach

a potential kill they can feed off of.

Now, Paul gives this warning

without offering any specifics about these dogs

because the specifics take on different appearances

in different cultures and different times throughout history.

But in our own culture

some of what he’s warning us about

certainly involves some of the things that take place within the industry of religion in our nation.

And it truly is an industry

with a very targeted market base

and a highly refined product.

And even when we are aware of it

and try to fight against it

this industry mentality seeps into our church world.

Churches are viewed as separate little businesses

all in competition with one another,

striving for the image, or the program, or the technique

the will give them an edge over the completion.

And using the name of Christ and the cause of Christ

to help bring in the money is mainstream stuff.

I remember years ago

hearing a prominent radio preacher trying to expand his outreach.

He told about their plans to extend broadcasts into South America and Asia,

and then he quoted Christ’s statement in Matthew 24:14 that, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Then he strongly implied that if we would all send him money

then he would preach the gospel to the whole world

and Christ would then return.

Folks, that’s beyond sick,

but it’s common stuff within the industry of religion.

Beware of the dogs...

And then, Beware the evil workers...

Here again he does not define the nature of their evil,

but with this phrase he gives us permission to call evil by its name,

even when it’s all dressed up in its Sunday best

or when it’s quoting Scripture

or published by Scripture Press

or broadcast daily on Moody Radio.

And when Paul uses these incredibly harsh words, DOGS and EVIL,

with his own example

he’s saying, “Child of God, use your own God-given discernment,

and when you discover evil within the family of God

have no fear of calling it by its name.”

Steve Brown, a wonderful radio Bible teacher,

is fond of saying, “that’s from the pit of hell and smells like smoke!”

when he would encounter something within the church world

that he knew was contrary to the truth.

I like that!

Beware the false circumcision...

Here again, he doesn’t yet define who they are,

he simply warns us that they’re there

and hints that they dress themselves up to look like us,

but it’s all an act for their own selfish goals.

Now Paul comes back to these people

towards the end of the chapter

and gives us a little more insight

into how to recognize them

in verses 3:18-19.

But even here, he tells us more

about their inner motivations

than he does about the specifics

of how to recognize them.

In those verses he says,

Phil. 3:18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,

Phil. 3:19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

He tells us they are enemies of Christ,

he tells us their ultimate end is destruction,

and then he tells us that the driving force in their life,

the thing they really worship is their own appetites - their own lusts,

to the point where they even glory

in things they should be ashamed of.

He concludes by saying

their focus is here and now - making this earth system work for them.

These is strong words,

and strong warnings.

This is Paul saying, “Open your eyes,

and keep them open,

because these guys are within the Family of God,

looking like us,

and sounding like us,

and using us for their own selfish ends.”

But how can we tell who they are?

Well, Paul does something here

that is typical of the way God arms us against lies and deceit and deception

in the world around us.

He prepares us for recognizing the false

by describing what the real thing looks like.

Years ago I heard a person

describing how federal agents who are working in the counterfeit money division are trained.

He said that the agents are not given examples of counterfeit money,

they are given the real thing and then required to examine it in extreme detail,

until they know every aspect of its look and feel.

Once they know what the real thing looks like

spotting the fakes is easy.

And so, immediately following Paul’s strong warnings

about the corruption we will always find lurking under the Christian banner,

the next thing Paul does

is to give us a powerful 3 point description

of what the real thing looks like in the family of God,

3 characteristics

that, if we are seeing them accurately,

will give us strong assurance that we are dealing with true fellow son or daughter of the King.

They are found in Philippians 3:3,

but we’re going to wait until next week before we look at them.

But just to prepare us for where we’re headed,

let me say that with these three qualities

Paul is saying,

“When you think you see these things in the life of another person

you are very likely dealing with a real Christian,

and this is a relationship

in which it is worth risking some trust.

And when you DON’T see these things,

no matter how Christian they may sound

or look

or talk,

no matter how big their Bible

or how many verses the quote

BEWARE!!!”

And I also need to say that

there is no fool-proof way to determine

whether any other human being

is truly a Christian.

The only way we could ever do that

would be to see their hearts

and the only human being

who has ever been able to do that

was Christ.

Our perceptions of one another

are flawed at best.

That was the whole point of that wheat/tares parable we looked at a few minutes ago -

the laborers came up with the same type of solution

we initially come up with:

‟Hey! If there are a bunch of fakes

running around in here,

lets get the bums out!”

And Christ says, ‟WRONG! You do not have the skill to perfectly tell the difference.

If you try it, you will also destroy some real believers.”

I don’t want to build an empire on these parables,

but I don’t think it is unreasonable

to say that Christ is also suggesting in that wheat/tares tale

that when we are young in Christ

we still look a great deal like a tare.

In other words,

these three characteristics of the true believer

become an increasing part of our life

the more we grow in Christ.

The real warning Paul is offering

is to be on guard against those who claim maturity

and seek authority in the Body of Christ

and yet do not display these qualities.

Now, with all of that as background

our time is gone

so we’ll need to wait until next week

to look at these three credentials of the real thing.