The Joy of Knowing Jesus | Liberty Live Church 2.22.26

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ What a joy it is to worship a God who does not waver in His ways. We can be confident in Him this morning. He is faithful. He is true. And He is never going to change in that regard. So let's lift up a shout of praise today, because we know that we know that You will never let us go. Amen. ♪♪ ♪ You've been good, good for all my life. ♪ Come on, y'all know it. ♪ So nothing could ever change my mind. ♪ ♪ And You never break a promise. You're constant in all You do. ♪ ♪ Yours is the way, the truth, the life that I will choose. ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go. ♪ ♪ Every low and every high, You are faithful all the time. ♪ ♪ I've tasted and I've seen. You've been so, so good to me. ♪ ♪ God, I know that I know You're faithful all the time. Oh. ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time. Oh. ♪ ♪ No, I won't look to the left or right. And I will keep heaven in my sight. ♪ ♪ And no, I will not be shaken. And nothing is moving me. ♪ ♪ Oh, I've got faith to shore up things I cannot see. ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go. ♪

♪ Every low and every high, You are faithful all the time. ♪ ♪ Oh, I've tasted and I've seen. You've been so, so good to me. ♪ ♪ God, I know that I know You're faithful all the time. Oh. ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time. Oh. ♪ ♪ Oh, I won't stand on words of man. God, I'll stand on Yours instead. ♪ ♪ All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it's in Your name. ♪ ♪ And the world cannot deny all that You've done in my life. ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my praise, all of it in Jesus' name. ♪ ♪ See, I won't stand on words of man. God, I'll stand on Yours instead. ♪ ♪ All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it's in Your name. ♪ ♪ And the world cannot deny all that You've done in my life. ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my praise, all of it in Jesus' name. ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my praise, all of it in Jesus' name. ♪ ♪ I know that I know you won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every low and every high you are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ I know that I know you won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every low and every high you are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, I've tasted and I've seen, you've been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ God, I know that I know you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Whoa, you're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Whoa, you're faithful all the time ♪ Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. He's in this room this morning. We're gonna keep singing of His faithfulness because He is here right now. Lord, we love you, and we bring our praise to you today. Amen. ♪ If you listen, you can hear it ♪ ♪ The sound is breaking through ♪ ♪ You can hear Him roaring, see Him running ♪ ♪ The lion's in the room ♪ Yes, He is. ♪ Hearts are stirring, heaven's coming ♪ ♪ The Lord is breaking through ♪ ♪ Fear is fading, strength awakening ♪ ♪ The lion's in the room ♪ ♪ The lion's in the room ♪ ♪ He is reigning now, the king is on the move ♪ ♪ Tearing strongholds down, our God will never lose ♪ ♪ Everything must bow to the lion, to the lion in the room ♪ We worship you, Jesus. ♪ A mighty warrior, Lord of armies ♪ ♪ He's fighting for his own ♪ ♪ Demons crumble in this moment ♪ ♪ As Jesus takes his throne ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus takes your throne ♪ ♪ He is reigning now, the king is on the move ♪ ♪ Tearing strongholds down, our God will never lose ♪

♪ Everything must bow to the lion, to the lion in the room ♪ ♪ To the lion in the room ♪ ♪ He is reigning now, the king is on the move ♪ ♪ Tearing strongholds down, our God will never lose ♪ ♪ Everything must bow to the lion, to the lion in the room ♪ ♪ In all hell, the lion of Judah ♪ ♪ In all hell, the king on his throne ♪ ♪ Lift up your eyes and behold him ♪ ♪ The lion's in the room, he's in his place today ♪ ♪ The lion's in the room, he's in his place today ♪ ♪ In all hell, the lion of Judah ♪ ♪ In all hell, the king on his throne ♪ ♪ Lift up your eyes and behold him ♪ ♪ The lion's in the room, the lion's in the room ♪ ♪ If you listen, you can hear it ♪ ♪ The sound is breaking through ♪ ♪ Hear it roar, sing and burn it ♪ ♪ The lion's in the room, heaven's stirring ♪ ♪ Heaven's coming, the Lord is breaking through ♪ ♪ Hear his fame, strength awakening ♪ ♪ It's raining now, the king is on the move ♪ ♪ Tearing strongholds down, our God will never lose ♪ ♪ Everything must bow to the lion, to the lion in the room ♪ ♪ To the lion in the room, oh, bow with me today ♪ ♪ It's raining now, the king is on the move ♪ ♪ Tearing strongholds down, our God will never lose ♪ ♪ Everything must bow to the lion, to the lion in the room ♪ ♪ We bow before you now, the lion's in the room, the lion's in the room ♪ ♪ You reign, you reign forever, the lion's in the room ♪ ♪ You reign, you reign forever, the lion's in the room, the lion's in the room ♪

♪ Our creation suddenly articulate ♪ ♪ With a thousand tongues to lift one cry ♪ ♪ And then from north to south and east to west ♪ ♪ We'd hear Christ be magnified ♪ ♪ Oh, don't you wanna hear His praise today? ♪ ♪ And where the whole earth echoing His eminence ♪ ♪ His name would burst from sea and sky ♪ ♪ And from rivers to the mountaintops ♪ ♪ We'd hear Christ be magnified ♪ So make this your prayer this morning. You wanna see His glory. So oh, Christ be magnified, let His praise arise. Christ be magnified in me. Oh, Christ be magnified, from the author of my life. Christ be magnified in me. Let's sing, oh. ♪ When every creature finds its immortal melody ♪ ♪ And every human heart its native cry ♪ ♪ Oh, then in one enraptured hymn of praise ♪ ♪ We'll sing Christ be magnified ♪ ♪ We lift high the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Sing oh, Christ be magnified ♪ ♪ Let His praise arise ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Oh, Christ be magnified from the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ Well, Good Morning Church families, we continue to worship this morning. We have a time of celebrating believers baptism and we just sang in that song,

the phrase Christ be magnified from the altar of my life. And we think about an altar, it's a place of surrender and sacrifice. And I think in all these testimonies today, you're gonna hear that each one of them is bringing something to the world. the altar of their life to surrender to God. And first up, we have Sarah, and she was sharing with me in the back that she's been going through a very difficult, yeah, let's see, a very difficult custody battle with her children. In fact, they're overseas right now, and it's created emotional depression, even suicidal thoughts, and she's here today to realize that she can't control that, so she's here to surrender the outcome of all this to God, trusting Him. So it's an honor to baptize you, my sister, this morning, in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to walk in the holiness of Christ. And next up, we have Amber. And the end of, you can just face everybody there. The end of last year, a lot of difficult things just facing her and creating just a lot of angst in her own life, and so she's back at church, and there's three things that she's realized she's had to surrender to God,

her marriage, her family, they have some children, and most importantly, just trusting God. It's been difficult for her, so she's here today to say that she's surrendering all that to God and to follow in believers' baptism. And so, Amber, it's a joy to baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to walk in the holiness of Christ. And next, we have Brianna, and Brianna, her first Sunday was last week. She came to Lifetrack, and she's here today. Brianna also has had some very difficult things. She had an abusive marriage, a loss of a mother, people that she thought loved her and walked away, depression and suicidal thoughts, and so she realized last week that she can't control that, and so she's here today to surrender all of her life to the one who has it in her hands. And so, Brianna, it's a joy to baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to walk in the holiness of Christ. Lord, we thank you that that's not a meaningless symbol, but we can stand and declare a faith in you and a confidence in what you've done. Sorry about that. Sorry about that, Ethan. We have John and Brittany, they're here together,

and John was saved when he was young, but he's here to support his wife. You'll hear a little bit more about her. He realized he walked away from God and just decided he could do it on his own, but he's here today to surrender that to the Lord. So you come over here, John. No, other side, there we go. Come over on this side, there we go. To surrender to God, and it's a joy to baptize you, John, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to walk in the holiness of life. Please wait right here. And then finally, we have Brittany here, and Brittany, she just admitted in the back. She said, you know what? I was trying to have a little bit of God and a little bit of the world, and she got into a lot of new age stuff and realized it's demonic, and she has walked away from it. She's written a book about it, actually, and she's here today to render everything to God, realizing that He is the only way to have fullness of life. So I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to walk in the holiness of life. Please sing this with me. ♪ Sing I won't bow to idols ♪

♪ I'll stand strong and worship you ♪ ♪ And if it puts me in the fire ♪ ♪ I'll rejoice cause you're there too ♪ ♪ I won't be formed by feelings ♪ ♪ I'll hold fast to what is true ♪ ♪ And if the cross brings transformation ♪ ♪ Then I'll be crucified with you ♪ ♪ Cause death is just the doorway into resurrection life ♪ ♪ And if I join you in your suffering ♪ ♪ Then I'll join you in your eyes ♪ ♪ And when you return in glory ♪ ♪ With all the angels and the saints ♪ ♪ My heart will still be singing ♪ ♪ My song will be the same, oh ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified, let his praise arise ♪ ♪ Arise, Christ be magnified in me, oh ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified from the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me, oh ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified, let his praise arise, oh ♪ Christ be magnified in me. Oh, Christ be magnified from the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. Thank you, Jesus. Give Jesus the highest praise in this place. Jesus promised where he's lifted up, he'll draw all people to himself. And some of you just heard through baptisms, things in their story that you identify with. You know what it is to lose a spouse, to lose a mother, to lose a parent and struggle with grief. You know what it is to struggle with depression, to struggle with suicidal thoughts. You know what it is to be on the opposite side of that. And I'm asking, do you know what it is to receive what you need in Jesus Christ?

Because Jesus said, I've come that you might have life and life to the fullest. I'm here to tell somebody this morning, Jesus Christ has everything that you could ever need or ever want. And I'm telling you, he's here. He's here. One of my favorite, this is true, y'all. One of my favorite types of weather is rain. Because I had a middle school teacher tell me growing up that every time it rained, God brought me to her mind and she prayed for me. And it gave me a new thought about rain. I'm telling you, all throughout scripture, rain is a sign of the spirit of God and the refreshing power of God. So you might have walked in here this morning and got a little wet, got a second shower this morning before you came to church. But I'm telling you, God's spirit is here. And you can be refreshed by the spirit of God and strengthened by him. Is anybody excited to be at church today? Come on, give somebody a high five, a handshake around you. Tell them it's going to be a good day in God's house. Well, you can be seated and turn your attention to the screens. Good morning and welcome to Liberty. We are so glad you're here. If today's your first time joining us, we'd love to say welcome home. That's right, Jenny. You can text CONNECT to 40371 or visit one of our Next Step centers after the service today and let us know how we can assist you on your faith journey. Liberty is one church in multiple locations all over Hampton Roads and online with a passion to change lives, communities, and the world for Jesus Christ. To learn more about who we are and what we believe, visit us at LibertyLive.Church and follow us on social media for updates, encouragement, and bonus content. Here are some important things happening soon. Have you been thinking about foster care or adoption or are you currently a foster care or adoptive parent? We want to invite you to a dinner to provide encouragement, resources, and meaningful connections. The event will take place on Friday, March 6th at the Hampton Campus. For more information or to register, text NEWS to 40371. If you haven't heard, our One Day Revival has been rescheduled for Sunday, March 8th. So be praying about who you want to invite to join you. And if God has been stirring your heart to be baptized, listen.

Here's your answer. Let revival be your day. Text BAPTISM to 40371. In fact, do that right now. BAPTISM to 40371. Liberty High School students, I want to invite you to experience more of God at Saturay on Saturday, February 28th at the Hampton Campus. Come experience powerful worship, practical breakouts, and life-changing prayer sessions that are going to help you grow closer to God. This focused time of prayer and fasting is going to help you grow deeper in your faith and experience God's presence. For more info and to register, text NEWS to 40371. Liberty family, it's going to be a great day in church. We're praying God speaks to you through today's message. So grab your Bible, something to take notes with, and let's jump into the message. Well, good morning, Liberty. Who's glad to be in church on a rainy Sunday morning? I want to welcome all the Liberty family and our guests at every location and those of you who are joining us online. I know we have those who are men and women. in the creational facilities. We have those who are watching, our military family community around the world, and then missionary families. So right now, everybody put your hands together and welcome all the family. I wanna remind you that we are just two weeks away, two Sundays away from our one day revival, March the 8th, and many of you know that you need to follow in believers baptism. I wanna encourage you to do it on this day. Just text baptism or baptize, either one, to 40371. There are those that watch online from all around Hampton Roads and different states.

We would love for you to come in person. Just get to the campus nearest you on March the 8th. We want you to be a part of this one day revival as well. Some I know have not been back since COVID, but you faithfully watch every week, and I thank you for staying connected. And I wanna encourage you, be in person on March the 8th. You know, last week we had Lifetrack. Lifetrack is our membership class, and it's the way you become officially part of the family here at Liberty. And there was a family, listen to this, a family that joined last Sunday, and when asked how did you find Liberty, here's what they said. A seven-year-old came up to us at Sam's Wholesale and handed us an invite card. Now, it doesn't get any better than that. I'm just telling you, if God could use a seven-year-old to get somebody to join this church, I want you to know God could use you to invite somebody to revival on March 8th. And I want you to be inviting and praying for people to come. Well, I wanna remind you, we just started the It's Life podcast. January was our first one. We just recorded February's. It'll drop this week on Tuesday. It's always the last Tuesday of the month.

And so I want you to check it out. I want you to share it with friends. Tammy and I tell our story this month about our love story, how we met and married, and it is very crazy. Yeah, that's the best way I can describe it, all right? But I also want you to know that it's not just for couples or those who are married. We talk a lot about singleness and challenge singles, and so I want you to please help us get the word out. You can go to YouTube and watch it, or you can listen to it wherever you listen to podcasts. Well, I wanna thank you for your investment in student camp. And every year, there are those who will provide scholarships so that money is not a hindrance for a student to go to camp. Last year, we had 854 to attend camp, 183 decisions. 96 of them got baptized at camp. Come on, let's praise Jesus. One more time. And so I wanna encourage you, if you have sponsored a student in the past, we would love for you to do that again. And there's a drop-down box online where you can do that. So thank you, thank you, thank you for the investment in the next generation. And I wanna remind high school students that this Saturday, everybody say, this Saturday, it's gonna be from 9.30 to five o'clock this Saturday at the Hampton Campus,

but it's for all high school students at all campuses. It's gonna be a day of prayer and fasting. There's gonna be incredible worship, teaching, breakout sessions, and actual prayer time. A lot of water to keep you hydrated, all right? We want you to be saturated with the Spirit of God. It's gonna be a great time, and I hope that you'll be a part of it. We're in a series called, help me out there, production. Everybody say, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Living with joy. Take your Bibles and turn to Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three, woo, there you go. See what happens when you praise the Lord? That's right. I want you to know that that is what the message is today. We're in a series in the book of Philippians, just going verse by verse through it, and now we're at chapter three, and the title of the message is this, the joy of knowing Jesus. The joy of knowing Jesus. Paul warns about a false confidence, and it wasn't just back in Paul's day, it's in our day. We live in a world that's obsessed with credentials, status, with self-righteousness, and Paul calls believers to re-evaluate where you're putting your confidence.

Re-evaluate what truly matters in life. Re-evaluate what real value is in life. The first thing we read is this. Number one, write this down. Rejoice in everything because of Christ. Rejoice in everything because of Christ. Look at verse one. Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me. to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Now notice, he starts out by saying further. The King James says, and finally. But he said finally in chapter three. So don't y'all ever complain that I say finally, and then I preach another 10 minutes, all right? Finally, furthermore, he says rejoice in the Lord. Now a lot of people rejoice today, but they're not rejoicing in the Lord. They rejoice when they get a raise. They rejoice when their team wins. They rejoice if they get a good report. But if you're a Christian, are you with me? You can rejoice, listen, when your team loses. You can rejoice when you get a bad report from the doctor. You can rejoice when it costs you money because you're not rejoicing in your circumstances, you're rejoicing in the Lord. If you've got it, say I got it.

We're talking about how to live with joy, and I'm teaching you a way to live. And it comes straight from God's Word. Joy is the noun. It's mentioned in every chapter in the book of Philippians. But then he uses the word rejoice, which is the verb. That means you gotta stir up the joy that God's already put inside of you. Jesus puts the joy in you, but you gotta stir it up. You gotta remind yourself of it over and over again. That's why in chapter four, he's gonna say rejoice in the Lord always. And I will say it again, rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. You know, it's important here that in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. The Bible says let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Let me tell you, when you start praising God, when you start giving thanks in everything, when you start rejoicing, God shows up. Let me tell you, he occupies the praises of his people. So when things go wrong, you've got two choices as a Christian. One, you can complain about it and handle it on your own. I don't recommend that. Or you can start praising God and watch the angels of heaven usher in the King of glory. And he moves in on your situation. Now let me just tell you,

even when you can't rejoice in your circumstances, you can rejoice in the Lord. It may not change your situation, but it'll change you. We have values here in our church and one of them is choose joy. And it is a choice. We are choosing to see life through our Savior and not through our situation. Paul is choosing joy in prison. So make it practical. Who did I welcome at the beginning? I welcomed men and women in correctional facilities. Even in correctional facilities, you could have joy. I talked to our military families. Even in the military, you could have joy. Tough assignments. I talked to our missionary families. Even in tough assignments on the mission field, you can have joy. You can have joy at school. You can have joy at work. You can have joy wherever you find yourself and it's a choice. You know, on Sundays, our campus pastors from the other sites, they will text me a report. They'll tell me how many they baptized or how many we had in attendance or what God did. And I love getting it, but you know what? When they text me and say, oh, attendance was up today,

I say, praise the Lord. When they text me and say, oh, the rain kept people from coming today, my answer is always the same. I say, praise the Lord. Because by rejoicing in the Lord, I'm not rejoicing in people they're fickle. Hello? And so I want you to get this. I'm talking about how to live. This is a true story. A man in our neighborhood a few years ago had his suburban packed. He was taking his daughter back to college. It was like seven in the morning. It was 30 degrees. He started the suburban, let it warm up, went inside, came out, it was gone. Somebody stole his suburban. Well, I knew he was a Christian and I went running down there to him and I said, what happened? He said, somebody stole my car. I said, let's pray right now. I said, Lord, this is your child and that means, God, your suburban got stolen. That's exactly what I prayed. Now you laugh, but it's the truth. When your life becomes his life, then your problems become his problems.

And so I pray that way all the time. I said, Lord, your washing machine's broken. Lord, your car needs tires. Your car, God, is broken down. Because I'm telling you. If you understand everything is from Him and for Him, then you can just praise Him, and when you do that, He's got it. And I'm telling you, this will change your life. It's kind of like a thermostat versus a thermometer. A thermometer reflects or records the temperature. A thermostat sets the temperature. And I want you to know, rejoicing is setting your spiritual thermostat. Now Paul said here, it'll be a safeguard for you. You remember back in this verse? It'll be a safeguard for you. He is saying here, listen, I told you this when I was there with you, and now it's no trouble for me to put it in writing, because you can't be reminded too much that you need to rejoice in the Lord. Repetition is a great way of learning. It's Black History Month. Let me tell you, the anointed old great preachers, black preachers from the past, they would teach preaching like this. And every preaching class I've been in, they still teach it today. You know what it is?

Number one, tell them what you're gonna tell them. And then you tell them what you need to tell them. And then you wrap it all up. There's your third point. You tell them what you just told them. I want you to know, that's great preaching. It really is. That's exactly what Paul's doing. He said, it doesn't bother me to say this again to you. It's for your safeguard. It's gonna be for your good. And if you look at my points today, you will see me saying three things over and over again. The first one is rejoice in everything because of Christ. Now, look at what he says here in verse two. Watch out for those dogs. Let me tell you in the Greek what it literally translates. How about them dogs? That's what it means. Now, if you're new here, you didn't get that. I am from Georgia. It's my home state and I'm a big Georgia Bulldog fan. And so I had to throw that in there, okay? That's not what it means. But you know what? We love our dogs, don't we? We love them too much. You know, I do want you to know this is in the Bible. Make this a memory verse. Write it down, Ecclesiastes 9.4.

A living dog is better than a cat. Write it down, Ecclesiastes 9.4. It literally says a living dog's better than a dead lion, but you get my point. A lion is a cat, all right. I'm just teasing, I'm just teasing. All right, here it is. We think that dogs are man's best friend and we love our dogs too much. Here's our dog, Dexter. Yeah, now see, that's the kind of response. You can't help but give. I'm telling you, he's so cute. That's him in my office. He comes to work with me anytime Miss Tammy has got errands to run or work to do and he's gonna be at home alone. I can't leave him by himself. He comes with me. He's on the back of the couch right there. He's wearing a sweater. God forbid he get cold. Twice this week, we had him with us and we went to eat and I went in and I left him in the car and we ordered our food and I said, Tammy, I'm gonna ask him if he can come in. I said, listen, I got my little puppy out in the car in a crate. Now I understand if he can't come in, but would it be okay if I just left him in the crate

and put him right there at my feet? They said, let me ask the manager. The manager said, you bring him in, go get him. I was at another place yesterday, last night and it was getting about dark and it was getting cool outside and I asked the manager and they said, oh, we can't let any pets come in. I said, well, let me ask you this. You got outdoor seating here. I said, would you care if I just sat out there with him? And they said, oh no, we'll turn the outside heaters on for you. They turned on the heaters and everything for my Dexter. Yeah, we crazy. Crazy. Listen, I asked God to forgive me for being so judgmental. I used to look at people and when they put sweaters on their dogs, I thought, don't y'all know God gave him a coat to begin with? He was made for the outdoors, not now. No, no, no. Oh, it's different. He's got his own bed, he's got his own treats and as sure as I'm standing here preaching, he turned one year old in January. We went down to the pet store, got him a birthday cake and a candle. I'm telling you, we're crazy.

Lost our mind about that dog. Here it is. The term dog, though, was a negative term to the Jews, referring to Gentiles. You know, in SEC football, seriously, we say there's nothing meaner than a junkyard dog. And Paul said the same's true about church. Nothing meaner than a junkyard dog. See, these Judaizers came in like a pack of dogs. And when he says here, look back at it, watch out for the dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh, then he's gonna say here, for it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, boast in Christ, and who put no confidence in the flesh. And the bottom line is, the Judaizers did right the opposite. And they basically said, it's okay if you wanna follow Jesus, but you still gotta keep the law. You gotta be circumcised. And so, he said they run around like a pack of dogs. They're mean as a junkyard dog. He said they're going from church to church, causing trouble, fracturing the fellowship, causing people to doubt and question what Paul was teaching. Hear me, some of the meanest people you've ever met go to church every Sunday.

Beware of the dogs. Beware of the legalist, the Pharisees. And you gotta make sure you're not one. Hello? Is my mic on? It's the religious crowd that killed Jesus. Now watch this. Paul said, no, it's we who are the circumcision. Why? We serve God by the Spirit, we boast in Christ Jesus, and we put no confidence in the flesh. How do you know a genuine Christian from a false believer? Right there it is. First of all, we serve God by the Spirit. God is a Spirit. You gotta worship Him in Spirit and in truth. We boast in Christ Jesus. Watch out for people that boast in anything else other than Jesus. Did you know that Jesus even said about the Holy Spirit now? He said, when He comes, He'll bear witness of me. If the Holy Spirit is really in you, He's gonna bear witness of Jesus. And then it says, and we put no confidence in the flesh. And listen, the longer you live, the longer you're saved, the greater the temptation to put confidence in good works and in the flesh. We gotta guard against that. The Bible says, in our flesh dwells no good thing.

Well, number two, write this down. Rejoice in everything, why? Because of Christ. Now, number two, reject everything that's not Christ. Reject everything that's not Christ. Look at it in verse four. Though I myself have reason for such confidence, if someone else thinks they have reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, and in regard to the law, a Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church, and as for righteousness, based on the law, faultless. Now, Paul gives us here his resume, and it's pretty impressive. It's his pedigree and his performance. But hear me, if you say that salvation is anything plus Jesus, it ruins everything. It's not Jesus plus anything. Anytime you start Jesus plus, then you're saying the cross was not enough. It's not Jesus plus confession, or Jesus plus confirmation, or Jesus plus baptism, or Jesus plus liturgy or knowledge. Listen, salvation's not Jesus plus speaking in tongues. And if you were raised the way I was, here's the way we said it. It's Jesus plus don't.

Don't drink, don't cuss, and don't chew, and don't date girls who do. That's the way I was raised now. And so he says here, hey, when it comes to circumcision, I was ritualistic. You know, we had LifeTrack last Sunday. That's the way you join our church. They were basically saying in Paul's day, these Judaizers, before you could become a Christian, you had to be a Jew. And the way you become a Jew is through circumcision. I want you to know, we had new members class last Sunday, and you can join Liberty Life Church, and no surgery is required. Hallelujah. All right? Did you know for every one mile of road, there's two miles of ditch? And there are two ditches you gotta stay out of in the Christian life. Are you awake? Say amen. There's the ditch of legalism. and the ditch of liberalism, and I'm not talking politics, I'm talking theology. Let me tell you, there are those who say it's never enough, you gotta keep another rule, and there are those who say anything goes, and you gotta stay out of both of those ditches. I grew up hearing things like this.

If you have not been shaved, you can't be saved. I'm serious. I mean, facial hair was of the devil. No, no self-respecting Christian would have facial hair. Well, I guess I got over that, amen? Listen, there was a day and time when they'd measure the length of your hair, when they would measure the length of your dress, when they'd say, women can't wear makeup. I'm all for it, amen? Hey, listen, they would have all of these rules about music. You couldn't listen to any kind of music except the kind they liked. See, that's the problem with legalists. They've got a measuring stick, and they're going around measuring everybody else, and nobody measures up to them, because they think they're the standard, and I'm telling you, Jesus is the standard. He is our righteousness. And let me tell you about that crowd. They're miserable. They're miserable Christians. Paul says here, I am from the race of the Israelites. He's talking about ethnicity. Salvation is not based on race. It's based on grace. He says, I was from the tribe of Benjamin. You talked about respectability.

That'd be like a Rockefeller, or your last name being Vanderbilt, or a football player whose last name is Manning, or a politician whose last name is Kennedy. He said, oh man, I got the last right name. I am from the tribe of Benjamin. That's where the first king came from, and they're the only ones that remain true to David to the very end. He says, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I had the right upbringing. Some of y'all think you're special because you speak Aramaic. Paul said, I not only speak Aramaic, I speak Hebrew. He said, I'm a Pharisee. Religiously, he was better than them. It was the highest status he had already achieved him. He said, as far as zeal, I'm a radical. He not only stood by and held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, he was a terrorist himself, a religious terrorist. Going out, persecuting the church. Religiously, he says, I was righteous, I was blameless. It means he was moral. But get this, what he thought was assets were really liabilities. What should have been a spiritual advantage to him became a disadvantage. And if you're not careful, you can be raised in church, live a moral life, and thank God if that's your testimony,

but that better not be where your confidence is. I'm saying to you, what is a blessing can become a barrier. Paul went so far down the road of self-righteousness, he found out it's a dead end street. Write this down, morality can keep you out of jail, but it can't keep you out of hell. Where's your identity? It's not in being single or married. It's not in your degrees. It's not in title. It's not in how much you have or how little you have. I'm telling you, our joy, our identity is in Jesus alone. If there's ever been a passage that's really religion versus relationship, it's the passage we're studying today. And here's what Paul says, the world needs less religion and more Jesus. Less religion and more Jesus. Well, that brings me to my third point. Receive everything that is Christ. Rejoice in everything because of Christ. Then he says, reject everything that's not Christ. And then he says, that means you're gonna receive everything that is Christ. Look at what he says here in verse seven, but whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

He didn't just know about Jesus, he knew him as Christ the Messiah. He knew him as Lord of his life. For whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them garbage. Some of your Bibles will say dung, and it means exactly what you think it means. That I may gain Christ. Compared to knowing Jesus, he said, all the stuff this world has to offer is rubbish. Dung. It's kind of like the trophies in our attic. Did you know we've got trophies all in our attic from all four of our kids? From little league, middle school, high school, and when they were young, they lined their room with those trophies and it meant everything to them. But now at this stage of life, they are meaningless. Tammy and I can't even get them to come pick them up and get them out of our attic. They don't want them. Meaningless. And that's exactly the way status is, wealth is, and accomplishments in this life. Meaningless compared to knowing Christ. It's all gonna go up in smoke. When we lived in Arkansas, we lived right next to Fort Chaffee, the army base, and they had a big wildfire

and they told us we had to evacuate our neighborhood because it had jumped the street. This wall of fire was headed toward our house. We were skiing, water skiing, up in Northwest Arkansas. So our neighbors called and friends called and said, hey, they're evacuating the neighborhood. What do you want us to get out of the house? First thing I said, get my preaching Bible. They said, okay, what else? Well, you can get more than one thing. Tammy said, get my pictures, family pictures. And then we were there and the kids got upset and I said, y'all, we can't do anything about it. We can enjoy the day and we can water ski. Lindsay was in the water. I said, now you get up the first time. I'm a good dad. I mean, kind of push them, you know. I said, now you get up. Well, she started crying. I said, baby, we're not gonna lose anything in the fire that we were planning on taking with us anyway. No, you're not gonna lose anything in the fire that you're planning on taking with you. Now you get up and ski and let's have fun. And that's why you have to think about stuff in this life. What Paul was saying is this. I'd rather have Jesus than anything the world affords today. Look at what he said in verse nine. And be found in him not having a righteousness of my own

that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. The righteousness that comes from God on the basis of, everybody say it, faith. It's not works, it's faith. I want to know Christ. Yes, to know him in the power of his resurrection and in the participation. I learned it in the King James, the fellowship of his suffering, becoming like him in his death. And so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Listen, as I try to wrap this up, I want you to hear the message today. Our confidence is not in what we've done, but in what Jesus has done. His reward, his righteousness, his resurrection. God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Righteousness, it means a right standing with God. And you can't have a right standing with God that you earn. It only comes through faith. Paul wanted God's approval more than man's approval. Everything that he gave you on his resume got the approval of the Jewish people. But he wanted God's approval. And I'm saying to you today, in the It's Life podcast that we just recorded, I hope you'll go see it.

We tell our story and it is very unconventional because our love story is this. I was engaged to somebody else. And I realized that Miss Tammy was my best friend. And so I had to swallow my pride. Listen, I was on staff at the church in that small town, and the girl I was engaged to was a member of the church. Great Christian girl, member of the church. Let me just tell you, that's swallowing a lot of pride and taking a lot of hits. But listen, I had to break that engagement if I wanted to gain Miss Tammy. Sister wives were not in her vocabulary whatsoever. You know what I'm saying? Like, if you're gonna be with me now, you're gonna have to break that engagement with her. Listen, I knew that. And so we had never dated. We had never held hands. We never kissed. I asked her to marry me on Tuesday night. She said yes. And on Friday night, we went out for the very first time. Go listen to the story, it's crazy. But let me tell you, when I asked her to marry me, she said, it was like the father just spoke to her and said, trust me, just say yes. And I'm telling you, that's what knowing Jesus is like. That's why you need to say yes to Jesus today. I heard Matthew West tell the story that he and his daughter went to a father-daughter

camp in California. And one of the exercises there is an instructor took them in the woods, blindfolded the daughters, told them that their father would lead them through the woods with these three instructions. Listen carefully. I will never leave you. You can ask me anything and only listen for the sound of my voice. I'm going to say it again. I'll never leave you. You can ask me anything. Only listen to the sound of my voice. As they began to guide their daughters through the woods, the instructor gave them the signal you can no longer guide them with your hand. And a little later, they gave the instruction you can no longer speak to them unless they ask you. Well, you know what happened. They got off track. They got separated from their father. And then the counselor came along and said, I say you're separated from your father. Follow me and I'll get you back on track. He led Matthew West's daughter down into a ditch. And Matthew West is watching all this happen and he's just hoping, praying that she'll remember the instructions. And sure enough, it came back to her, the first instruction, I will never leave you. And she said, Daddy, are you still there? He said, yes, baby, I'm still here. He said, I couldn't help but just cry. He said, I said, yes, baby, I'm still here. And at that moment, he led her with this voice because she asked out of the woods. And he said, God taught them a valuable lesson that day, that what was true about them in that situation is true about us and our heavenly father.

He'll never leave us. You can ask him anything. And all you need to do is listen to his voice. And I want you to remember those three things as we prepare to come to the altar, as we prepare for you to respond today, I want you to come praying scripture. What have we studied today? Paul said, I want to know you. You come to the altar today and you say, I want to know you. I want to know you. I believe that you're the way, the truth, the life. I want my identity in Christ and Christ alone. You come to the altar today saying, I want to know you and the power of your resurrection. Jesus, watch this. He has the power to cancel sin. You don't have to live in bondage. You can live in freedom. And you just come today saying, God, I don't want to live in sin anymore. I want you to come pray for somebody else, for the revival on March 8th. Listen, the power of his resurrection means that he brings dead people to life spiritually. And I want you to pray for that to happen on March the 8th. Paul said, I want to know you and your suffering. I want you to come praying today knowing that Jesus is suffering on the cross, paid for all of your sin. We know that he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, that surely he bore our sorrows. And you can come today knowing that by his stripes we're healed. You need healing today? You come. You ask him. I want you to come pray in scripture.

It ends by saying, no, the power of your resurrection, the fellowship of your suffering, but it says to be conformed to your death. You tell Jesus, I want to be like you. You tell him, I know that life's not about fulfilling my dreams, but being conformed to your image. And so I want to die to self and live to Christ. Look at your prayer today. As you come, you pray those scriptures and see what God will do in your life. And I remind you that it is possible to have everything you ever dreamed of, status, title, money, and still have nothing. The rich young ruler came to Jesus. He was moral. He was devout. But the Bible says he went away sorrowfully, not with joy, not with what we're talking about in Philippians. No, he went away sorrowfully. Why? Because he didn't realize that without Jesus, you have nothing. You have nothing. Don't make the same mistake today. Jesus can't fill you if you think you're already full. If you've got everything that you think really is a value in this life. So I'm saying, say yes to Jesus today. Here it is. One day you're going to die. You're going to stand before God. And when he says, why should I let you into my heaven? You can't show him your resume. Paul says, your resume will be no good. Your performance, your pedigree will be no good.

You can't say, look at what all I've done for the Lord. All the mission trips I've been on, all the groups that I've attended, my perfect church attendance, all the money I've given. to the Lord's work, none of that will get you into heaven. Only one answer, one answer only. Jesus died for me, and I put my trust in Him. Would you bow with me for prayer? Pray something like this right now. Just say, dear Lord Jesus, I know I cannot save myself. I ask you to forgive me for rebelling against you, going my own way, doing my own thing. And right now, I ask you to be my Lord and my Savior. I trust in your death on the cross alone, and your resurrection from the dead to save my soul. Thank you for doing for me what I could not do for myself. Hear my prayer, in Jesus' name, and everyone said, amen. Church family, can we rejoice with those who just prayed that prayer? I want you to stand all across this room. We're gonna enter the most important moment of this message. If you made the decision today to follow Jesus, you can text yes to 40371. We'd love to start a conversation with you. You can grab the connection card in the seat back in front of you, and let us know the decision that you're making. But better yet, I wanna invite our staff and volunteers down to the front. They're gonna be open and available to pray with you and pray over you in what you're walking through

in your life. And my encouragement for you is to not leave without doing business with God and putting into practice the very things that we just heard preached. In these final few moments of this service, the first thing we're gonna do is rejoice. We're gonna rejoice in Jesus and the gospel. A lot of you are walking through some hard circumstances and situations, and I wanna tell you, this invitation, as we worship, as we pray, as we dwell on the truth of the gospel, this invitation is your moment to rejoice. But the second thing we're gonna do is we're gonna reject everything that is not Jesus. Can I be honest with you, church? There are too many doors open in our lives that allow the enemy to work in our lives and in our homes and our families. And if you know of an area of your life that is open to the work of the enemy, it's time to come to this altar. You could kneel right where you are, and let's reject everything that is not of Jesus. We don't want the work of any other spirit, but the Holy Spirit. And that's why the last thing that we're gonna do in this service is receive all of who Jesus is. I'm telling you right now, as we worship, as we pray, you can receive the fullness of the gift of the Spirit of God.

Listen to me, His Spirit is here. And so receive Jesus now. I want you to respond even as I pray, and then we'll worship together. Holy Spirit, we know you're here, and we welcome you here. And we reject every spirit that is not the Holy Spirit. And we ask that right now in this moment of response that every single person would personally do business with you before they leave this place. Lord, we're choosing to rejoice in you over circumstance, over every situation. In fact, we wanna know the power of your resurrection. And God, I believe that the suffering in our lives is opportunity for us to see the fullness of who you are, your power at work in our lives. And so we're surrendering to you. We're rejoicing in you. We're rebuking everything that's not your spirit. God, we wanna do business with you. And so right now, Holy Spirit, come. Would you move? Would you work? Even as we respond to you, receive our praise and worship. Meet with us now. It's in your holy, precious name, the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. Let's respond together. The power of your resurrection.

It's in your holy, precious name, the name of Jesus that we pray. Meet with us now. We're rejoicing in you. We're rebuking everything that's not your spirit. Even as we respond to you, receive our praise and worship. Meet with us now. The wondrous cross It's in your holy, precious name, the name of Jesus that we pray. On which the Prince of Glory died My richest gains I count by loss And pour content on all my pride So see from His head, His hands, His feet Sorrow and love flow mingled down Did e'er such love and sorrow meet O'er thorns composed so rich a crown? Oh, the wonderful cross Oh, the wonderful cross Bids me come and die And find that I may truly live Come on, sing. Oh, the wonderful cross Oh, the wonderful cross All who gather here By grace drawn near And bless Your name Were the whole realm a major mine That we're offering for too small? It's so amazing, so divine

It demons my soul, my life, and my all Oh, come on, sing. Oh, the wonderful cross Oh, the wonderful cross Bids me come and die And find that I may truly live So wonderful Oh, the wonderful cross Oh, the wonderful cross All who gather here By grace drawn near And bless Your name We bless Your name We bless Your name So fall like rain Holy Spirit, fall like rain Holy Spirit, have Your way Let Your glory fall down Let Your glory fall down Fall like rain Holy Spirit, fall like rain Holy Spirit, have Your way Let Your glory fall down Let Your glory fall down We don't want to rush this moment, so respond as the Lord is speaking to you, but you are welcome to leave, and we'll see you next week. We love you so much. Liberty family, what an incredible day in church this morning. We are so grateful you joined us, and if you took a next step in your faith, we'd love to hear about it, so scan this QR code or text connect to 40371, and if today was the

first day that you accepted Christ, we want to congratulate you and come alongside you in this faith journey, and we're going to send you a free Bible, so write Bible in box one, and we'll get that out in the mail to you this week. Liberty family, there's so many ways to get connected all week long. Make sure you check out our It's Life podcast on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. A brand new episode is going to drop this Tuesday, and follow us on social media to stay current with all of our events, and for bonus content, we love you online family, and we'll see you next week. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Auld Lang Syne