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"The enemies of the cross of Christ..."

Text: Philippians 3:18

ENEMIES OF THE FAITH

We cannot afford to be naive about the fact that not all who call themselves “Christians” are true believers. The Philippians were very gracious people and sometimes they were prone to err because of a lack of good judgment. Paul had to write to remind them that they must be on their guard against people who were in fact enemies of Christ.

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping, that they are
the enemies of the cross of Christ.”

Philippians 3:18

1. “For many walk”

a) Paul was not speaking about people who make mistakes from time to time.

b) He was describing people whose walk was perpetually bad (This is brought out by Paul’s use of the present tense to describe the false teachers/ false brethren.)

c) The sad reality was that there were “many” whose lifestyles were negative.

2. “Of whom I have told you often”

a) This was not the first time Paul mentioned false teachers/false brethren.

b) These were the “tares” Jesus warned about in His parable (Matthew 13:36-43)

c) Paul felt that he needed to speak about these false people “often”.

3. “And now tell you even weeping”

a) It was with a sad and heavy heart Paul wrote about them again.

b) He wept even as he wrote about these false brethren.

4. “That they are the enemies of the cross of Christ”

a) This is the bottom line.

i) These were not “brethren”.

ii) These were not “friends”.

iii) These were “enemies” (“foes”).

iv) They were dangerous because they were deceitful.

b) A number of things that identify them

i) Their doctrines.

ii) Their “walk” (life).

iii) Their focus was not on the Lord Jesus and the Cross.