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Guest (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we're passionate about helping you understand God's word and apply it to your everyday life through clear, practical Bible teaching. That's why we want to invite you to sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical encouragement, ministry updates, and information about upcoming resources, all delivered right to your inbox. Sign up today at connectwithskip.com. That's connectwithskip.com. Now here's today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: About 100 years ago, there was a baseball player who became an evangelist and his name was Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday, one of the things he said—he said a lot of things, but one of the things that I always loved that I read that he said—is he spoke a lot about joy. He said, "If you have no joy," he was speaking to the church, "there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere." So it's always good to from time to time ask ourselves, "Has my joy sprung a leak?"

There's a lot of reasons why you would not be a joyful person. But there's more reasons why you should be a joyful person. I can think of reasons that your joy would be challenged. You could have personal circumstances that sap your joy. You could have a disease you're fighting or a diagnosis you're facing or loved ones you're having trouble with, difficulty with, or you feel overworked, or you have doubt about spiritual things. There's a number of reasons that you could probably pull out and say, "Well, the reason I don't have joy is for this reason or for that reason."

But as soon as you do that, you have a problem. And the problem's name is Paul the Apostle. Because in this letter, he speaks about joy and rejoicing 16 times. It's a repetitive theme. In fact, it's so repetitive that he is going to acknowledge that he repeats himself and he'll say, "For me to write the same things is not tedious, but for you it is safe," even though I've repeated this theme about being joyful.

The reason I say that's a problem is because if anybody had a reason in life to not be a joyful person, it would be him. He had every reason not to be joyful, and yet he was. He is writing from jail. He is writing to the church at Philippi. When he first went to Philippi, he went to jail. So he has spent a lot of time behind bars, falsely accused, beaten up for his faith.

You remember that he went to Philippi based on a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." He gets there looking for the man from Macedonia, sees no one, but he finds a few women meeting down by the river for prayer. He goes down there, shares with them, preaches the gospel to them. A woman named Lydia opens up her heart to the gospel.

But there was another gal who was demon-possessed who was an annoyance to Paul. Paul cast the demon out of her. The people who were using her to get money from her by her trade reported Paul. Paul and Silas get put in jail. At midnight, Paul and Silas are singing praises to God. Again, there's the joy. They get sprung out of prison, but they have problems everywhere they go.

So if anybody had an excuse to say, "Well, the reason I'm not experiencing joy is because I'm writing to a church where when I went there I was put in jail, I'm writing from jail, I have a two-year prison sentence in Rome, before Rome I was in Caesarea locked up for two years. There's plenty of reasons why I'm not happy." But I didn't say happy, I mentioned joy. Happiness is outward, it depends on what's happening. Joy is inward, it's irrespective of what is happening.

So when Paul, and he'll mention it again and again and again, writes about joy, if we hide behind our problems and circumstances to not be joyful, the Apostle Paul will always pose a problem to us. So that is a constant theme running through this letter, as we have seen, 16 times. I mentioned he's writing from jail. We've already mentioned before that he has spent a lot of his time and life in ministry behind bars.

Nobody ever plans on going to prison. That's never a life goal that a person states when he's in school. It's never a career choice. "I plan to be a prisoner when I grow up." But that seemed to have been Paul's lot. And I've told you before, just mentioning it again, that I am glad for one that he did go to jail, because in jail he birthed the letter to the Philippians and to the Ephesians and to the Colossians and to Philemon when he was in this one prison sentence stint.

In the letter of Philippians, it's a very different kind of a letter. There's no doctrinal correction like in the book of Galatians where he's writing to correct a theological issue. There's no behavioral correction like when he wrote to the Corinthians. First Corinthians was all about correcting several behavior issues they were having. It is a love letter of Paul to a church that had captured his heart.

He was tenderhearted toward them. He had deep love and affection for them and they for him. They had supported him. And so he is writing. The only slight issue that he had is one that he's going to get to in chapter four, where there is an argument between two women in the church at Philippi that seems to have grown into a church issue. So he's going to mention them by name and tell them, "Get over it, correct it, make good on it, move on." But that's it.

Other than that, it's this beautiful letter where he does set forth doctrine, but nothing to correct, nothing to admonish. And now we get to chapter three. And what's interesting about chapter three, not in the first verse but in the second verse, his language now becomes stronger, almost harsh, which was intentional because he wanted to shock his audience. Why shock them? Because there were people among them who were threatening their joy. And they were threatening it by legalism.

So watch this. Verse one. "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs," that's the harsh admonition. "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."

Now, I read those three verses and I'm going to go back and unpack them. That's why I'm glad we go verse by verse, and then we stop when time's up and we just pick it up next time. He says in verse one of chapter three, "Finally, my brethren." Now, don't mistake that word for Paul saying, "I'm almost done," because the word finally sounds like Paul is saying, "Okay, now in closing, I'm almost done here." Because if you look at Philippians as a whole, this is the midway point.

There's four chapters. He's completed two chapters. Now he says finally, my brethren. But that doesn't mean I'm done. Remember, he's a preacher. So finally doesn't mean finally. In fact, he's going to use that word again in chapter four, just skipping ahead and noticing in verse eight of chapter four where he says, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true..." Now, that finally is landing the airplane. But he's still circling right now.

So when he says in chapter three, verse one, "Finally, my brethren," I think a better translation would be, "Furthermore, my brethren." He's adding some fine points, but he's not finally done with his letter. So, furthermore, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Now once again, to tell a group of people in Philippi—they were struggling, they had their own persecution issues—to tell a group like that to rejoice would be shallow advice unless it came from somebody like Paul.

Unless it came from somebody who himself had suffered and presently was in the midst of suffering, when somebody like that says rejoice, it's not shallow, it's profound. There's something to it. So, furthermore, my brethren, rejoice and keep on rejoicing. Something you should notice about that little command, rejoice. It is, not that you have to remember this but I'll just tell you, it's in the present active indicative in the Greek language.

Which is a command to rejoice not just one time, but to continue and continue and continue over and over as a matter of practice to rejoice. So furthermore, brethren, rejoice and keep on rejoicing is the command that he gives. Present active indicative. The fact that a sufferer gives a command to be ongoingly rejoicing tells me a couple of things. It tells me number one, that joy has less to do with what is going on around you and more to do with what is going on inside of you.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, friends like you help connect people around the world to the life-changing truth of God's word through clear, verse-by-verse Bible teaching. And this month, we'd like to thank you with a practical resource designed for the challenges of everyday life. When you give, you'll receive Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Living, a collection of four lifestyle booklets from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Through Pray This Way, Technicolor Joy, Unforgiveness: Forgiveness vs. Sweet Revenge, and Standing Firm in Unsettling Times, you'll discover biblical wisdom for prayer, joy, forgiveness, and finding peace when life feels uncertain. We'll send this special collection as our thanks when you give $30 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let's return to today's teaching.

Skip Heitzig: It's possible to have joy no matter what's going on around you because of the peace that you experience inside. And that is a beautiful and unique promise for the believer. I don't know what you are facing, I don't know what is going on around you, but I do know that you can have a fullness of joy going on inside of you. So the fact that he makes this kind of a command using this kind of Greek structured language tells me that joy is more about what is going on inside rather than what is going on outside.

And secondly, that joy is not automatic, but it's something that has to be learned. Do you understand what I mean by that? It's not automatic. It's not like, "Okay, I'm just going to wait around for the joy." It's something you intentionally enter into cognitively by directing your mind toward certain things. And we're going to get really in-depth to that in chapter four: "Whatever things are true, pure, noble, of good report, think on these things."

So it has less to do with what is going on around you, more to do with what's going on inside you. Number one. And number two, it's something that is learned. It's not automatic. Paul said, "I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content." Something you learn. It's not automatic. You know, David was being hounded, David was being persecuted, hunted and hassled by King Saul. And at one point in his life, he felt like he was surrounded by enemies and had very few friends.

Second Samuel chapter 30, one of my favorite little Old Testament verses, says, "So David," listen, "David encouraged himself in the Lord." I have done that. There've been times where there's nobody around to encourage me. They don't know the depth of what I'm going through. I don't really know who to talk this through to. But I find that I can just like I have counseled others and consoled others, I can counsel myself in the Lord.

So it's something that you learn, it's not automatic. Again, I'm just underscoring the fact that 16 times in this letter Paul talks about having joy, rejoicing, "I rejoice, I'm happy about this and that," and he has no reason outwardly to be that joyful. So it's a choice he has made to focus on something that has happened inside of him more than what's going on around him, and he is something that he has learned to do. It's his outlook. Joy is his outlook because Jesus is his up-look.

When Jesus is your up-look, joy can be your outlook. So he says, "Furthermore, finally, my brethren, rejoice," but notice what he's to rejoice in: "rejoice in the Lord." Now, if he were to say, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in your circumstances," they'd be scratching their heads over there in Philippi going, "What?" Or "rejoice because of the people that are around you," because sometimes that can be good, sometimes not. But it's rejoicing and the source is rejoicing in the Lord.

And then he says, "For me to write the same things to you," so he knows he's repeating himself. He's said this before, he's saying it again, rejoice. They're probably going, "Why does he keep repeating himself?" You know, kids, when their parents repeat themselves, did your parents ever repeat lessons to you? You know, when my dad would get on one of his spiels when I was a teenager, I wanted to roll my eyes. I knew what he was going to say, I knew what was coming, I'd heard it a hundred times.

But there was a reason he repeated himself. Because obviously I had forgotten what he had told me that he was now repeating himself about. And he wanted to remind me. So maybe the Philippians are feeling a little bit like, "Well, this is childish. You've told us this before, Paul, we get it." But he says, "It's not tedious for me, for you it's safe." It's safe because you have people around you who are stealing your joy. There are grace thieves among you.

And that takes us to verse two. Here's the warning: "Beware of dogs." That's a pejorative. "Beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!" When Paul says beware of dogs, he's not issuing a warning to the mailman, beware of a dog as you deliver the mail. He is using a very strong word from the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 23 that was used to describe male cult prostitutes, called in a pejorative fashion in Deuteronomy 23 "dogs." A male cult prostitute. It's a very strong word.

Interestingly, some of the Jewish people 2,000 years ago, the very orthodox Jews, regarded Gentiles as Gentile dogs because dogs were unclean animals, they're scavengers, they mutilate carcasses. You know, when it says beware of dogs, he's not speaking about your Fido, your little pet at home that you love and cuddle up on your bed. I don't know about you but my dog sleeps at my feet every night on my bed. He's not speaking about your pet.

He's speaking about the dogs that are everywhere in the Middle East that roam up and down the streets and are scavengers. And he is speaking, whereas Jews would use it to speak of Gentiles as dogs and the Old Testament speaks of male cult prostitutes, usually from the Gentile world, Paul is using this word to speak to Jewish legalists. How offensive would that be? "Beware of the dogs." Why would he call them dogs? Because they are evil workers.

They are saying you are saved by good works. And if anybody says you are saved by good works instead of by grace alone, Paul says they're dogs. "So, well you need Jesus plus membership in the church." Dog. That's what Paul would say. "Well, you need to just believe in Christ and go through these sacraments." Dog. Any time you add to the gospel, Paul would put you in this category. Very strong language. It would have shocked his audience.

So on one hand he's saying, "Furthermore, brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Beware of the dogs!" And he wants to shake them with this. Beware of evil workers. They think they're doing good but they're doing evil. Why is it evil? Because basically when you're saying, "I'm saved by works," you're saying what Jesus did on the cross is not enough. I must add to what he did by what I do. And that's very, very dangerous. That's legalism.

And then to get even harsher, "Beware of the mutilation!" Do you know what he's referring to? Jewish circumcision. Every eighth day or the eighth day of a male child's life, a Jewish child is circumcised. That's the ritual of the law. It has been going on since the Old Testament. Paul refers to circumcision, if you are saying you have to be circumcised in order to be saved, he calls it a mutilation. And the word he uses for mutilation referred to Gentile pagan mutilation.

The Gentile temples would have rites where the Gentile pagans would cut themselves when they would worship their gods. You remember when Elijah was on Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal would cut themselves and dance around that little fire they were building? It's that kind of mutilation, pagan mutilation. He's saying if you are trusting in circumcision for your salvation and Judaism ritual for your salvation, he calls them a dog, but he's saying what you are doing is no better than pagan Gentile mutilation.

How strong is that? Very, very strong. Now why would Paul be so tough on them? Because legalists and legalism mutilates God's grace. It takes this beautiful free gift that God confers his righteousness upon you and tears it to shreds like a dog and mutilates the beautiful grace of God. That's why Paul is strong. "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers," these are people who are saying you're saved by good works, and "beware of the mutilation."

And so you know he is talking about circumcision. Verse three: "For we are the circumcision." I would insert a word there: "We are the true circumcision." He's speaking obviously of a spiritual cutting away rather than simply the ritual. "We are the true circumcision who worship God in the spirit and we rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh."

When the Apostle Peter went to a Gentile's house named Cornelius, and Cornelius had gotten a vision, Peter came and shared the gospel with him, when Peter got back to Jerusalem, there were men within the church at Jerusalem who rebuked Peter. And this is what they said, "You went into the house of a Gentile and you ate with him. Shame on you! You went into the house of a non-Jewish person." Peter said, "God showed me that I cannot call unclean what God has cleansed."

Then a few chapters later in chapter 15, after Paul's first missionary journey, he goes back to Jerusalem. There's a conflict about what is going on in that northern city of Antioch. You remember when the apostles convened together and there's a group of people in the church—they're Jewish believers—but they say to the council in Jerusalem, "Unless a person is circumcised and keeps the law of Moses, he cannot be saved." That was the straw that breaks the camel's back. That's when Peter and Paul stood up and showed how God opened the door of faith to the non-Jewish world, the Gentiles, simply by believing. And it was a huge pivot, and it was a wonderful moment in church history.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God's word with people around the world, bringing biblical truth, encouragement, and hope to those who need it most. And this month, we'd love to thank you for your gift of $30 or more by sending you Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Living, a collection of four lifestyle booklets from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Pray This Way, Technicolor Joy, Unforgiveness: Forgiveness vs. Sweet Revenge, and Standing Firm in Unsettling Times. These practical resources will help you apply God's truth to everyday challenges and grow deeper in your walk with Christ. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. We'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.