Look out for the dogs!

 

Philippians 3:2

When I was a small boy we had many people who provided services to our front porch.  Every week the milkman would put milk on our front porch, and he picked up the empty glass bottles that the milk had come in.  I also remember the cleaners, who would come by when he was called to pickup the cleaning, and the guy we saw everyday was the mailman.  They all had one thing in common, they learned who had dogs and to look out for the ones that bit.  Is that what Paul is telling the Philippians in verse two? 

“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”  Have you heard the term “you dog” the person is not saying you have become a dog, but it is used to express astonishment at the action of the person who is being addressed.  In Paul’s letter and often in Scripture, the word dog, is being used as a term of reproach.  Revelation 22:15, gives us clear understanding of the context of what Paul means when using the word “dog”.  “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

So how is the church of 2011 to simulate this teaching into our minds and hearts, who is being referred to as the dogs, the evildoers?   The book of 2 Corinthians 11:13, gives clarity to our question; “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.”  They are preachers and teachers, who are not simply “evildoers” but they are attempting to deceive the church.  The prophet Isaiah had this to say about these false preachers and teachers; “His watchmen are blind; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.  The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough.  But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.”

You may be asking how can we know if our pastor, and our teachers are deceiving us?  I know of only one-way, do what the Secret Service does.  They become so familiar with the real things that any bill that is not the real thing is easy to recognize.  We are to do as the Berean Jews; “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”  (Acts 17:11)  God refers to us as sheep, and that is not a good thing, sheep are not very smart, they can easily be scattered and left without a shepherd and the wolves will devourer them.  You need to watch out for the ones who preach and teach, be noble and examine the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, will lead you into truth.  And you have this duty, to pray for your pastor, your teachers, to encourage them, and to support them, to come alongside as a fellow-worker in the kingdom of Christ.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice