Study the Word

Guest (Male): With the importance of staying yielded and obedient to the Holy Spirit, here's Pastor Thom Keller.

Pastor Thom Keller: As the Holy Spirit reveals truth to him, he will continue on that fast track. But then something comes up, and the Holy Spirit convicts him to stop it, and he says no. His spiritual journey will stop dead in its tracks. The Holy Spirit won't take a detour around that sin and keep the journey going. No, you will stop dead in your tracks.

Guest (Male): On the fast track, or have you gotten off track? It's not an uncommon occurrence, and I'm happy to say there's a remedy. We'll hear all about it on today's Study the Word with Pastor Thom Keller, as we continue in Philippians. We'll pick up in chapter 3, verse 15, and discover how to resist compromise and stay on track. Now with today's lesson, beginning with an investment strategy, here's Pastor Thom.

Pastor Thom Keller: Now, for all of you who have the stimulus money coming in and want to really cash in and make a very great investment in the stock market, there are some expected corporate mergers that you can get in on the ground level with to invest in. Some of these are, watch for these consolidations. Number one, Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W.R. Grace are going to merge. They're going to be called Hale Mary Fuller Grace.

Polygram Records, Warner Brothers, and Zesta Crackers are coming together. They're going to be Poly Warner Cracker. FedEx is expected to join its competitor UPS and become Fed Up. And Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become Poupon Pants. Well, you know, if you've been studying business, you know that right now the world is infatuated with mergers. That's the big thing in business.

But as Christians, that is actually Satan's greatest strategy against us once we get saved, to try to merge us back again into the old fast lane and the compromise that comes with that. In today's lesson, Paul tells us how to defeat Satan's strategy to merge us back with the world. So let's dig in. Philippians 3:15: "Let all of you who are spiritually mature agree in these things. If you disagree in some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold onto the progress we have already made.

Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows that they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, their belly. They brag about shameful things and they think only about this life here on earth.

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control." Boy, there is so much good material here. But going back just to verse 15 to start, "Let all who are spiritually mature agree in these things. If you disagree in some point, I believe God will make it plain to you."

Paul says that those who are spiritually mature will agree with these teachings. But he says, "But if you disagree with these teachings that I'm giving you, I believe God will make it plain to you." ESV says, "I believe God will reveal it to you." NIV says, "I believe God will make it clear to you." And there is actually a very profound truth here with very practical applications. Firstly, let's look at the context. In verse 8, this is the teaching that he's teaching.

It says, "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage so that I could gain Christ." That's what he's saying. If you disagree with us, God can make you understand. So practically, let's say that you're leading a small group Bible study and you teach verse 8 during your study, and someone in the group raises their hand and says, "I don't agree with that. I don't think I have to discard everything in order to have Christ."

He says that right in front of everyone. Now, what's your responsibility as a teacher as far as dealing with his comment? Well, again, this is a comment. This is what he's arguing with, verse 8. It says, "For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage so that I could gain Christ." He said, "I don't believe you have to do that." Well, Paul says here that your role as a teacher is not to try to change their minds. That is God's business. God is able to tell them if they are wrong on this matter.

Romans 14:3 makes the same point dealing with meat. These are non-essentials. "Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don't. And those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else's servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive his approval." He says let God tell them whether they are wrong and right.

And in 2 Timothy, Paul tells Timothy to talk meekly and courteously to those who are mixed up concerning the truth. Mixed up, not clearly disobeying, not clearly bringing divisiveness, not clearly disobeying what they know is right and true. But what if the dissenter argues with you about some clear teaching in the scriptures? In this case, they don't just disagree, but they defy and argue with scriptural teaching.

In 1 Corinthians, as Paul addresses women speaking publicly during church services, he says this, again, a non-essential. 1 Corinthians 4:35, "If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings." Now, as you would guess, Paul anticipates some pushback from this, and so he says this in verse 36, "Or do you think God's word originated with you Corinthians?" He's speaking about that issue.

"Are you the only ones to whom it was given? If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself." And verse 38, the next verse says this, "But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored." King James says it this way, "But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant." Paul is saying if they argue, ignore them. Don't argue back. Ignore them. If they are ignorant, let them be in their ignorance.

He says you are not to argue over non-essentials. Titus 3:9 makes this point: "But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless." 2 Timothy 2: "Again, I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights." Same chapter, verse 14: "Remind them of these things and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good but only ruins the hearers."

But what if a person continues to speak divisive words and tries to bring division in the church through this? We're given the answer in Titus chapter 3: "Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful, and they stand self-condemned." In Greek, it means to shun or avoid. Barnes, a commentator, said this: "He is to be admonished twice if need be by those in authority. And then, and only then, if he does not repent, he is simply to be avoided."

"This is to be the end of the matter so far as we are concerned. The power of the church there ceases. It has no power to deliver him over to anyone else for persecution or punishment or in any other way to meddle with him. He may live where he pleases, pursue his own plans, entertain his own opinions or company, provided he does not interfere with the church. And though we have a right to examine the opinions which he may entertain, after two warnings, our work with him is done."

So that is how we are to deal with one who is divisive in the church. But how is the church to deal with leaders, teachers, preachers who teach or preach wrong doctrine, essentials of the faith? Well, we're clearly told this in 2 John. It says, "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him. For he who greets him shares in his evil deeds." In the New Living Translation, it says it this way: "If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don't invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement."

"Anyone who encourages such people," this is strong, "anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work." Do you know, folks, that if every church of every mainline denomination would have done this, if they would have kicked every preacher out of their churches when they first heard the preacher preaching wrong, heretical doctrine, the mainline churches in America would still believe in this book, the entire book. Now, some still do, but tragically, as you know, many do not.

And listen, folks, this is serious. If you're listening on the radio or you're watching on the internet, if your church teaches anything contrary to the essential doctrinal truths of the Bible, I would suggest you make an appeal to the leadership to correct this. Make your case, and if they won't follow the word, get out of that church. Listen, is the Bible true? Do you believe it? Then listen again to 2 John 1: "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them, because anyone who welcomes him shares in their wicked work."

And don't think that this is strange or extreme that you should have to leave your church on account of this. Paul anticipated this. He anticipated them coming and you needing to leave. In fact, he warned the church daily of this very thing. In Acts chapter 20, Paul speaking: "I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you. This makes me cry just thinking that could happen here. Savage wolves will come in among you and not spare the flock. Even some of your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them."

"Be on your guard. Remember that for three years, I never stopped warning." This is how seriously Paul took this. "Remember that for three years, I never stopped warning each of you day and night and with tears." So in review, number one, don't argue about non-essentials. Number two, if someone does argue about non-essentials and they create dissension, give them two warnings and then avoid them. Number three, if a leader comes, a teacher comes, and teaches wrong doctrine, do not let them back in the building.

I remember a story about Chuck Smith. Chuck Smith was the founder of Calvary Chapel. He was a gentle, kind, loving man. Don McClure, who was one of his early guys, said that on the campus one time when Calvary was really big, he saw Chuck, who was a big guy, take a man and physically eject him from the campus. And Don said, "I've never seen Chuck like that." And he said, "On Monday when I went to the church, I said, 'Chuck, what happened? You ejected that man.' He said, 'That man was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I was getting him away from the sheep.'"

I thought, well, that's a pastor's heart. You see that? That's with tears, three years with tears. If a leader comes and teaches wrong doctrine, do not let them in the building. Going on to verse 16: "But we must hold onto the progress we have already made. We must obey the truth we already learned." NIV says it this way: "Only let us live up to what we have already attained." And folks, there is a very important takeaway here. God won't take you onto new levels and new degrees of understanding until you live up to what you've already been taught, until you obey the truth that already has been revealed to you.

Listen, we're all on a spiritual journey. It's just like a journey in a car across the United States. The faster you drive, the more ground you will cover and the more you will see, the more experiences you will have. And the same thing is true of your spiritual journey. The faster you grow spiritually, that will determine how much ground you cover, how many blessings you see, and how productive your life will be for the kingdom. Because the goal is to get off a diet of just milk and to move onto meat.

And what is it that determines your speed? What is it that determines your diet? Your willingness to obey God based upon the truth he has revealed to you thus far. Let me give an example. Let's say that there's some guy on the fast track. When I say fast track, I mean a guy that gets saved and he just rockets. He just grows fast. He gets saved and right out of the gate has a hunger for the word, a passion for the word of God. He can't get enough. New truths are springing to life in his mind, and the Holy Spirit uses that new truth to begin to clean him up.

He's convicted about swearing, he stops. He's convicted about pornography, he stops. He's convicted about pot, he stops. And as long as he continues to obey the word of God as the Holy Spirit reveals truth to him, he will continue on that fast track. But then something comes up, something he's not ready for. Maybe he's sleeping with a girl outside of marriage, and the Holy Spirit convicts him to stop it, and he says no. His spiritual journey will stop dead in its tracks.

The Holy Spirit won't take a detour around that sin and keep the journey going. No, you will stop dead in your tracks. I have known people, you have probably known people, who were really on the fast track. And then the Holy Spirit convicted them that they needed to forgive someone for something that was done to them, maybe a parent or a former spouse or a friend or a sibling, and they refused. "I can't do that. I'm not going to do that." Well, that refusal won't just impede their spiritual journey. That refusal will stop them dead in their tracks.

In fact, it'll stop them so suddenly they're going to need a spiritual airbag to keep them from smashing their head because of that instant stop. Hebrews 5:13, 14 says this, NIV: "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Living Bible says it this way, I like this: "You will never be able to eat solid spiritual food and understand the deeper things of God's word until you become better Christians and learn right from wrong by practicing doing right."

You'll never be able to eat solid spiritual food and understand the deeper things until you practice doing right, the truth that God has revealed to you. Listen, always remember this: truth, faith, wisdom, knowledge, they are all progressive. They are all progressive. As we obey, God opens our minds to new understandings because it is the Lord that opens our minds. Luke 24, verse 45: "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures."

And when God opens your mind to new thoughts, obey, because obedience is the key to seeing God. Because obedience leads to a pure heart, and without a pure heart, you will not see God. How do you get a pure heart? Stop sleeping with your girlfriend. It's the pathway to a pure heart. Stop smoking pot. It's the pathway to a pure heart. Because Jesus said, "If you want to see me," people tell me this all the time, "Look, I just want to see God. I want to hear from God. I don't hear from him like other people hear from him. I don't see him like other people see him." Matthew 5:8, here's the answer. It's simple. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Going on, verse 17: "Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine and learn from those who follow our example." New King James says, "Join in following my example." You know, this always sounded a bit prideful to me, almost grandstanding. "Hey, follow me. Follow me as I follow Christ." Well, it's interesting looking up the Greek in this. The Greek word for follow here is symmimētēs, and it is a co-imitator. It means to follow together.

So it softens it quite a bit because Paul is really saying, "Hey, walk with me as we follow Christ together side by side." I like that. Do you like that? Well, there's a problem. Paul two other places says the same thing, but he uses a different verb. 1 Corinthians 4:16: "Therefore I urge you, imitate me," Paul says. Same book, chapter 11, Paul says again, "Imitate me as I also imitate Christ." Different verb. In Greek here, the word for imitate is mimētēs, and this is not a co-imitator, but an imitator. An imitator.

Back to the original problem. But John MacArthur says this, I like it: he says, "Since all believers are imperfect, we need examples of people who are less imperfect than we are." It's pretty good, isn't it? I like that. Going on to verse 18: "For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows that they are really enemies of the cross of Christ." Now, these are false teachers who are enemies of the cross, which means their teaching rejects salvation by the cross alone through Christ alone by grace alone.

And Paul says anyone who teaches salvation by works is automatically, by definition, an enemy of the cross. Why? Because they deny the power of the cross to forgive and save, and instead shift that over to works. And Paul says this in verse 18, "with tears in my eyes." Why tears? Out of compassion for their immortal souls, of these who are lost and on their way to hell because they're trusting in works to save them.

Philippians 3:19, listen again: "Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things." Here we see that there are three marks of false teachers. Number one, their god is their belly. Number two, their glory is their shame. They glory in the thing they should be ashamed of. And their minds are focused on the earth instead of heaven. First, their god is their belly. Every human being on the face of this earth is tempted to yield to, to give in to, sensual desires and fleshly appetites.

How are we to deal with these temptations? Well, in one of only three ways. The highest form of control over these desires is by the Holy Spirit convicting us, helping us. And this can only take place in the life of a born-again believer because only born-again believers have the Holy Spirit living in them. Galatians 5:16: "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." You won't yield to those sensual desires.

Guest (Male): That's Pastor Thom Keller on Study the Word, and he's in a study of Philippians right now. Would you like to give this a second listen? Either go to our website at ccleb.com or visit our YouTube page. Simply subscribe to our channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon, and there you can watch our services live or on demand. That includes this series in Philippians. For those interested in a CD copy, call us at 717-273-5633. Once again, that's 717-273-5633.

Teaming with Study the Word financially makes it possible to reach people all around the world. Please consider sending in a gift today. You can give online at ccleb.com or call 717-273-5633. If you prefer to write, jot down this address: Study the Word, 740 Willow Street, Lebanon, Pennsylvania 17046. We also want to invite you to join us for a Sunday service either in person or online. For more information or to watch the live stream, visit ccleb.com or again go to our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon. There's much more to come in Philippians. Don't miss a moment of the journey on Study the Word with Pastor Thom Keller. This program is presented by Calvary Chapel Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and made possible through your generous support.