Stand Firm

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Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Let's start reading at verse 17.

That's where we pick up.

Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as you have us for an example.

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,

whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly,

and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

For our conversation, or citizenship is how we'll describe that here in a little bit,

for our conversation is in heaven.

From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

who shall change our vile body,

that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,

according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for,

my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

And that's the phrase that we use as the title of our thoughts today,

and that is stand firm.

Stand fast.

Building on his personal testimony throughout the chapter 3 of Philippians,

Paul is now moving towards his conclusion of this section at least.

We'll get into his conclusion of the whole letter in chapter 4,

but now he's moving into the conclusion of this section

that really kind of acts independently within the book.

It's a general discussion of salvation and what true Christianity is set against

and contrasted with false Christianity.

And as he moves into this conclusion,

what he's dealing with is the Christian's perseverance.

He's encouraging them now, after he's discussed the truth of salvation,

that these believers in Philippi would continue in the faith,

that they would persevere in this truth that they have acknowledged and have professed.

And the scriptures warn of, and many of us have witnessed of,

people that make a profession of faith in Christ,

but at some point along the way in their life,

they deny that faith and fall away from what they had once professed.

And it's hard for us to imagine that.

What goes on in a person's heart and mind

that they would be confronted with the gospel of Christ

and see, at least on the surface,

the value that comes from a relationship with God through Jesus.

And then at some point, they completely abandon

what at one time they professed to follow in faith.

And this becomes a continual theme throughout the New Testament.

As the writers of the New Testament books

and these pastors and these apostles,

they continually encourage these believers to persevere.

Continue in the faith.

Continue in what you have acknowledged.

Continue in your faith.

And these believers in Philippi were facing both hardship and temptation.

Their hardship was related to the continued persecution of the church

by both the Jews and by Rome.

And Paul was even writing to them,

as you understand, toward the end of a four-year imprisonment,

he's writing this.

And there would be great temptation to fall away

in the midst of that kind of hardship.

Paul knows that.

And he's encouraging them to continue in the faith

despite the persecution.

Their temptation came at the hand of the false teachers

that we've studied in this book.

That we're trying to draw them away from the faith.

And there's really two statements in the verses that we just read

that I think points toward the fact

that Paul is actually dealing with perseverance

as he addresses these people as true believers.

The first one's in verse 17.

Look at the very first word.

He refers to them once again as brethren.

And we've talked about before,

this word for brethren in the New Testament

is a reference to true believers.

So Paul writes to them assuming that they are the good seed,

assuming that they are true believers

that have truly followed Christ.

And he's encouraging them to persevere in that faith

rather than writing to them as if they are not true believers

and trying to encourage them evangelistically in that sort.

So we see now how his mind is really shifting.

It's not that he's trying to call them to salvation.

He's calling them to persevere.

Brethren, he believes these people to be true Christians

and he's encouraging them to persevere in that.

And then look at verse 1 in chapter 4.

He says,

therefore, because of all of these things

that I have just written to you in chapter 3

but especially because of these last few verses,

therefore, he says,

stand fast in the Lord.

Stand firm.

Don't waver.

There was a serious concern for Paul.

He wasn't writing to them as a leader

that was concerned about losing his following.

He was writing these things out of a deep love

that he had for these Christians.

Look at the endearing terms that he writes

in verse 1 of chapter 4.

Look at all of this.

Six different times he expresses his love.

Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved,

longed for, my joy, my crown,

and then again, my dearly beloved.

There's a deep love and concern for these people.

There's a deep concern for their soul.

And so he writes to them in this love

and he speaks this truth in love

as Ephesians 4 tells us that we're supposed to do.

But he speaks truth to them in these verses.

He doesn't mince his words

and he doesn't sugarcoat anything,

but we see that all of this is coming

actually from the depths of his love for these people.

And it's indicative of a true servant of God

to have that kind of heart.

Paul essentially in these verses

becomes the typical effective influencer

as he coaches them to continue in the grace of God.

In fact, coach probably would be

the most appropriate title to give him in these passages.

They describe as he instructs and warns

and encourages them just like any leader

that wants to see the best for his or her followers.

Think about the teachers and the coaches

and the Christians and pastors that you've had in your life

that did this for you,

that they led you in this way.

They instructed you.

They told you what you needed to do

and whatever it was you were pursuing.

They warned you about the things

that would derail your progress

and then they would encourage you.

They cheer you on, right?

That's essentially what Paul becomes in these verses.

He instructs them first,

this is what you need to do.

Then he warns them about the potential things

that would take away from that.

And then he spends those last couple of verses

in chapter three encouraging them,

which is the awesome part of this passage

that we study today.

In these verses,

Paul reduces the likelihood

of our perseverance to two things.

He says that we're to follow the right people

and we are to focus on our heavenly citizenship.

That if we are to persevere,

it will be because we've followed the right people

and we have focused, set our minds on heaven.

Let's first look at the instruction

to follow the right people.

Look with me at verse 17.

He says, brethren, be followers together of me.

The word translated as followers here,

it means to imitate or to be an imitator of others.

And there is a sense in which imitation

can be merely external

and really of no benefit to us in our Christian faith.

But what Paul is calling them to in this passage

and by extension calling us to in this passage

is emulation.

Now, what I mean by that is to say

that imitation could be simple mimicry.

We could find a Christian

or we could find somebody

that we're impressed by in some way

and we could pattern our methodology

and we could pattern our actions

purely externally after this person.

But that's not exactly what Paul's calling

these people to do.

He's calling them to emulate him,

which means to match or even surpass someone

by means of imitation.

So what he really wants for them to do

is take what he just wrote

about his passion in following Christ.

And it wasn't that he was concerned

about them behaving like he behaved,

but that they would believe like he believes.

And so he's saying, be followers of me, church.

Be followers of me as I pursue Christ

as the singular lifelong focus of my life.

Follow me in doing that.

He wasn't trying to build his following further.

There wasn't an egotistical means

of writing these verses.

It was directly related to the previous verses.

In fact, look with me at verse 13 and 14.

He said, brethren, I count not myself

to have apprehended, I'm not perfect,

but this is the one thing that I do.

Forgetting those things which are behind me,

that is all of those accolades

that he had listed earlier in the passage,

forgetting all the things that I once thought

as valuable and necessary in my life,

and pressing forward, reaching forth

unto those things which are before.

And he says, I press toward the mark

for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Now, at first glance, it may seem

that Paul is being a bit egotistical.

Well, that's not at all what he's being.

He already mentioned in chapter one,

if you remember back in his writings from prison,

he mentioned that he didn't care

that people followed other preachers,

so long as those preachers were directing them to Christ.

He was only concerned that the Philippians

emulate him insofar as he emulated Christ.

And he set the premier example for this.

Think about the Philippians

as they would go through this persecution and hardship.

When they would have the Romans that,

in Philippi, that would try to devastate their beliefs,

or when they would have the Judaizers

that were plaguing the church at this point

to come in and try to devastate,

when they would be threatened with physical harm

because of their faith,

who would they then look to as an example?

How about the man that spent the last four years

in a prison chained to a Roman guard,

but all throughout that stayed faithful to the Lord?

It's not that he's building a following.

He's saying, look, when you go through hardship,

follow me as I have followed Christ.

When things get difficult, don't give up.

Don't abandon the faith.

Follow me.

Follow the example I have set for you.

What about when the false teachers

really began to bear down,

and with their eloquence of speech,

they tried to use their words to deceive us

and to trick us and to turn us away,

and he says, do what I have done.

Stay passionately faithful to the gospel,

the simplicity and effectiveness

of the gospel of Jesus Christ

that you have come to believe

and that you have seen God use in your life.

He says, follow me.

And we come to a passage like that,

and we immediately have to ask ourselves,

who are we following?

Are we emulating people that emulate Christ?

And then we immediately have to ask ourselves

the question after that,

is my life worth following?

Could I look at my kids and say,

Ashlyn, Harper, follow me.

Follow me as I follow Christ.

In the way that I pursue Christ with my life,

that's the way you need to do it.

I wonder how we could answer that question.

It's a convicting thought, isn't it?

What if everybody in our church decided this week

that you were gonna be the example

that they followed in the way

that they lived out their faith,

in the way that they dealt with hardship,

in the way that they dealt with temptation,

in the way that they dealt with false teaching,

in the way that they studied their Bibles,

in the way that they prayed?

Would you feel comfortable enough

to be like Paul and say, follow me?

Not because you want a following of your own,

but because you know your eyes are set first on Christ.

And anybody that comes and follows you as an example

is actually gonna wind up following Christ

as their example.

That's what Paul's saying.

Look at this next phrase.

He says, mark them which walk so,

as you have us for an example.

Now this is a further proof, I think,

that Paul wasn't trying to preserve

his own personal following.

Mark here is the same word used in verse 14

that we read just a moment ago.

Paul said, I'm pressing toward the mark.

It means to set one's gaze.

And as we understand Paul's testimony there,

he was saying, I have set my gaze

in this race of the Christian life.

I have set my gaze on Christ.

I've set my gaze firmly fixed on him.

I'll turn neither to the right hand nor to the left.

I will pursue Christ as the singular,

passionate focus of my life.

And then he turns and he uses the same exact word

for the way that we're to view others

and follow others by example.

He says, set your gaze on other believers

that are passionately setting their gaze on Jesus Christ.

Same word.

Mark them.

Mark them.

Take notice of the people in your life

that are truly following Christ.

Ultimately, our gaze is to be set on Christ.

But here we're told that a means of getting focused on Christ

is actually by setting our gaze on others

who are passionately pursuing the Lord.

And the truth is,

godly examples are a gift from God.

And we need to seek them out.

And we need to follow them and set our gaze upon them.

Well, who exactly is it that we're supposed to mark?

How can we find such people to emulate in following Christ?

And the clear direction here is found in the word walk.

Look with me again at 17.

Brethren, be followers together of me

and mark them which walk.

This refers to outward behavior

that reflects an inward belief.

In fact, lifestyle reflects the authenticity

of professed belief.

Jesus said you will know them

by the fruit of their life,

which is another way of saying talk is cheap.

Talk is cheap.

It doesn't matter what a person says

if their example in their life

does not follow what it is that they profess.

Yes.

Identifying godly examples

is not just a matter of how they talk,

but how they live.

In chapter one in verse 28,

if you'll look back at it just real quickly,

I said I wasn't gonna review and this is why

because it all gets sprinkled in anyways.

Remember what Paul said in verse 28 of chapter one.

In nothing, be terrified by your adversaries.

Now their adversaries were severe.

Their adversaries meant potential death.

And torment for the faith.

Now imagine if Paul had said that,

but what everybody knew

to be indicative of Paul's character

was that when he actually faced

that kind of persecution,

he typically cowered away

and softened up on his stance on the gospel.

You ever known anybody like that?

They talk real big

when they're around other Christians,

but when they actually come

to confront an unbeliever

that's contesting their faith,

it's easy for them to kind of cower back

and maybe soften their stance on the gospel.

And Paul's saying,

no, that's not what we're following.

We're following people

whose walk matches their talk.

Their behavior is actually a reflection

of what they're saying,

of the inward faith.

And so essentially,

he's not saying again,

mark them because of what they say.

Mark them because they live out

the truth of the gospel.

And so when Paul said

that the Philippians had us for an example

in verse 17,

we think that this certainly

would have included Timothy

and Epaphroditus,

which we met in chapter two,

which tells us something specific

about who we can follow.

Paul was an apostle

that they were to emulate.

Timothy was a pastoral figure

that they were to emulate.

But do you remember

who Epaphroditus was?

Epaphroditus was just a church member.

He was their messenger

to send Paul this gift,

to send Paul these words of encouragement,

to check up on Paul.

Epaphroditus, as far as we can tell,

maybe he was an elder in the church,

but as far as we can tell,

there's no other description of him.

Guess who he is?

He's just a Christian.

He's just a faithful believer.

So how do we find people to follow?

We don't just look at leadership

or people that have a title

or people that have a position.

We find people who walk the talk,

who not only proclaim the gospel,

but they live the gospel,

and then we're immediately encouraged

by the fact that we don't have to be

in a position to be one of those people.

Just because you're not in a position

of authority or have a title

that indicates leadership

doesn't mean you can't be a spiritual leader.

Seek out people to emulate

and then commit to be a person worth emulating.

As Kent Hughes says in relation to this,

the apostle is calling the Philippians

to join together in imitating both himself

and the collective pattern of his fellow soldiers,

including the men and women in the Philippian church

who walked according to the example

of those who indeed pursued Christ.

And so Paul gives this instruction.

Follow the right people.

But then comes the warning.

Look at verse 18.

For many walk

who are actually the enemies

of the cross of Christ.

As often is the case,

Paul's instruction is set

within the context of a warning.

It's necessary for us to set our gaze

on those who are passionately pursuing Christ

because our paths will inevitably cross those

who are actually enemies of Christ

and the gospel.

Sometimes those enemies are obvious.

They come in the form of atheism

and agnosticism and other forms of religion.

Sometimes they're not so obvious.

They come with the label of Christianity.

And they claim that Jesus is the one that they follow.

The warning that Paul gives here

indicates that our vigilance is absolutely necessary.

It implies that this is a constant danger for us.

Why?

Look at the verse.

For many walk.

Many people walk.

This isn't something that's gonna come up

once or twice in the course of your Christian life.

This is something you might deal with every single day.

People who take on the name of Christ,

people who take on the label of Christianity,

but they're far from friends and followers of Christ.

They're actually enemies of the cross.

And as we have come to understand in recent days,

many of you that have watched that documentary

that I recommended to you a couple of weeks ago,

American Gospel, shows this clearly.

How easy it is to be deceived by those

who take on the name of Christ

who are actually enemies of the cross.

So be vigilant, Paul says.

Set your gaze on those who are truly following Christ

so that it's not easy for you to be turned away

to those people that are not following Christ,

that are actually enemies of the cross.

What makes someone an enemy of the cross?

Any belief that takes away from the sufficiency of Christ

in salvation is an enemy of the cross.

Any belief that minimizes the significance of sin

is an enemy of the cross.

Any lifestyle that does not reflect the truth of the gospel

is an enemy of the cross.

And I believe here Paul's warning these Philippians again

about the Judaizers.

Remember, it's not that they denied Christ completely.

They claim to be followers of Christ.

They just didn't believe that Jesus was enough.

They thought that it took morality and adherence to the law

in order to truly be saved.

Jesus is a part of that for them,

but he's not all of that for them.

Look at this next phrase that Paul says in verse 18.

He says,

Many walk, of whom I have told you often,

this is a continual warning in the scriptures,

and then he says this,

And I now tell you even weeping.

He stirred emotionally in this moment.

Why?

Because he loves these people.

He's concerned that they continue in the faith.

Think about who he may be referencing here.

He says, I've told you often,

perhaps the Judaizers that were plaguing the church,

perhaps the false teachers that were leading them away,

were actually people that at one time

were professing Christians in the Philippian church.

And then to magnify that warning,

he says in the very next verse,

whose end is what?

Destruction.

Contributing to the seriousness of the warning

is the shocking proclamation

of the eventual demise of those

who deny and abandon the gospel.

rather than eternal life,

the path of these enemies of the cross

actually leads to eternal destruction.

And anyone that will follow their path

will face that same devastating end.

This phrase is so important

because it speaks to the reality of eternal hell.

And it reminds us that there's no such thing

as close enough when it comes to salvation.

Jesus can't be a part of your belief.

He must be your belief.

True salvation only comes to those

who will forsake all and follow Christ as Lord.

There's no goodness in us.

There's no religious work so effective

that we could ever earn salvation.

It only comes to those

who will abandon every work of morality and religion

and trust in the death and resurrection of Christ

alone for their salvation.

As C.H. Spurgeon said,

if Christ be anything,

he must be everything.

If there is anything of value in Christ,

if he is who he said he was,

he must be everything to us in salvation.

He cannot be just a part of it.

He cannot be just a form of obtaining salvation.

He must be our salvation.

And our culture of tolerance

would say that these people are perfectly fine

because they have Jesus as a part of the equation.

But the Bible says unequivocally

that their end is destruction.

It's destruction.

And that reminds us that we need to be careful

not to affirm an individual's salvation

when the scriptures clearly deny it.

Again, Paul's saying this with love,

but he's saying it with boldness too.

Perhaps the shock that came to these Philippian believers

as the letter was read to them,

as they pictured the people

who had now mingled the truth of Christ

with the false way of the Judaizers,

and they're thinking,

really, the destruction?

I thought that maybe they'd be okay

because they said they're followers of Christ.

But they weren't true followers of Christ.

And Paul says their end is destruction,

and if you're deceived by them,

your end will be destruction as well.

It wouldn't lead to a lesser Christian experience.

It would lead, ultimately,

to a denial of the faith and the true gospel.

Well, how do we identify who these are?

Paul helps us here, and quickly,

we'll just contrast and compare

the walk of an enemy of the cross

with the walk of a follower of Christ.

Look again at verse 19.

The first thing he says is indicative

of the enemy of the cross

is that their God is their belly.

In other words, they are consumed

with their own satisfaction and pleasure.

When it really comes down to it,

what they're looking for,

what they're even looking for in Christ

and in the church

is pleasure and satisfaction, fulfillment.

Well, what does the follower of Christ do?

Verse number 10.

In other words, the follower of Christ comes

and says, even if it means suffering,

I will consume my life with pursuing Christ.

The enemies of the cross are concerned

with their own fulfillment.

The followers of Christ will sacrifice

every pleasure that they have

in order to know him and to follow him

and to conform their lives to him.

The second thing Paul says

is indicative of an enemy

is that they glory in their shame.

They take pride in their goodness

and self-righteousness.

They're proud of their religious works.

They're proud of the morality

that they've developed.

But what does the follower of Christ do?

Look back at verse three.

That rejoice in Christ Jesus

and have no confidence in the flesh.

The true followers only boast

is in the cross of Christ.

They recognize there's nothing good in them.

They are Mephibosheth

that comes to Christ and says,

who am I as an unworthy dog

to receive your kindness?

Not a look at what I've done

to earn what Christ is giving.

Finally, Paul says,

they mind earthly things.

Their focus is on the pleasure

and concerns of this life.

They're looking for their best life now.

When the scripture says

that this life is awful,

anything that good comes to us now

is of God's grace.

Our best life isn't now.

Our best life is to come

as he gets to here

in just a few moments

in these next verses

as he begins to talk about heaven.

But the people that are enemies of the cross

may have Jesus as a part of their equation,

but what they're really concerned with

is earthly things.

They're wrapped up

in everything that's happening in this life

when the true follower of Christ does what?

Verse seven.

What things were gained to me,

I counted loss for Christ.

They leave the cares and the concerns

of this life behind

in order to know and follow Christ.

You see the difference in these two people?

One is completely consumed with self,

while the other is completely consumed

with Christ Jesus.

That's the difference between a follower of Christ

and an enemy of the cross.

So set your gaze, church,

on the followers of Christ.

Pursue Christ and set your example

as other Christians in this room

that sit around you every week

that are worth emulating in their life,

the way they walk with Christ,

the way that they follow the Lord.

Emulate them.

Stay off the social media if you got to.

Avoid the clickbait if you have to.

Stay off of YouTube and the Christian radio

if you have to.

And look out people that you can see

the evidence of the fruit of their life

in your local church and emulate them.

Follow Christ as you pattern your life

after other Christians

that are faithfully following the Lord.

Well, that's a little bit about

his instruction and warning.

Look at verse 20.

I love this.

This is so encouraging.

For our conversation or our citizenship

is in heaven,

from whence also we look for the Savior,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like any great coach,

Paul has given his instruction

and he's issued his warning.

Now he endeavors to cheer them on

and encourage them as they persevere.

Have you ever had someone truly encourage you

in something that you are ready to give up on?

Bob, perhaps you dealt with this

in your basic training for the Navy.

Maybe somebody would tear you down real hard

and then they'd try to build you up

right when you're ready to give up, right?

You ever had experiences like this before?

It doesn't look like it right now,

but I do like to run

even though I'm not very disciplined

at doing it very much right now.

And Andy and I have had the opportunity

to run some races over the last couple years,

some hard races, some difficult ones.

And anytime I would do that

and I would get in one of these training programs,

I was very careful to follow the instruction

to do the right things

and to train the right way.

And I was careful to heed the warnings

that if you're gonna run the right way,

you're gonna have to cut out some things.

You're gonna have to cut out some eating

and some things that would derail that.

But when it came down to race day,

the big races,

there's inevitably a moment in the race

where you're thinking,

why am I doing this?

What do I possibly have to gain from this?

This is hard.

I'm miserable.

I don't really like to sweat all that much.

There's a lot of people around me

and they're getting too close.

There's just a lot of things that I don't want.

Why am I doing this?

Why am I doing this?

And in those moments,

what would always be encouraging,

what helps get you to the finish line

is all of the people that line the roads

and they're cheering, right?

They're cheering.

They're encouraging on.

They've got their funny signs

or they're doing whatever.

Inevitably in those races for me in the long ones,

at some point along the race,

Julie and the girls would be waiting.

Somewhere on the course,

usually probably about halfway through.

13, 14 miles in,

Julie would be there and she'd be waiting.

And I would run through

and I knew she'd be there.

And all it took was for me to see her.

I knew why she was there.

She was there to remind me,

to cheer me on,

but to encourage me on all this work

that has gone into this day.

All of this training that has gone in.

And what she essentially does

is she sets my focus back on the finish line.

I'm gonna finish the race.

I'm gonna finish what I'm doing.

That's what Paul's doing here in this passage.

He's instructed them.

He's warned them.

And now he takes two verses

and he just gets their mind focused

back on the finish line.

Think about heaven, he says.

Keep your mind set on what is to come.

It's gonna get hard.

Things are gonna be miserable for a little while.

There's gonna be a lot of temptation,

but stay focused on heaven.

And look at how he does it.

For our citizenship is in heaven, he says.

This is our citizenship.

In contrast to the enemies of the cross

whose minds were set on earthly things,

he reminds these believers

that their true citizenship was actually in heaven,

not Rome.

Now what's listed as conversation here

is a form of the same word

that's used in verse 27 of chapter one.

Just flip back a page and look at it there.

Remember we talked about this

on living a life worthy of the gospel in verse 27.

He says, only let your conversation be

as it becometh the gospel of Christ.

The root of this word is the word polis.

It means city.

It's the same word that we get our English words,

police and metropolis and politician

and things like that.

It's a reference to a city.

And what Paul is saying in verse 27 of chapter one

is he's using a verb that says that our behavior

is to be like what we claim we are.

We are citizens of heaven,

therefore we are to act like Christians

is what he's saying in chapter one in verse 27.

When we get to chapter three in verse 20,

he's not using the verb form of this word,

he's using the noun form of this word,

which essentially is just reminding these believers

that you belong to heaven.

He's not telling them to do anything in that verse.

He's just reminding them, hey, heaven is your home,

not Philippi, not Rome, not the United States.

It's heaven is your home.

In 127, he's calling them to live like Christians.

In chapter three in verse 20,

he's calling them to long for home, long for home.

Ashlyn can get homesick sometimes

when she goes off for a few days

and she'll get real weepy

and we'll have to call her on the phone

and try to comfort her in those ways.

What is it that she's longing for?

She's longing for home and everything that comes with it.

It's not that she's not enjoying her time

with Papa and Nana in Gastonia.

It's just that where she really wants to be is home.

That's the picture Paul's painting here

when he says your citizenship is in heaven.

He's saying it's not necessarily

that you're gonna hate everything that happens on earth,

but remember, this is not home.

This is not home.

Don't mind the earthly things.

Don't get so wrapped up in the politics.

Don't get so wrapped up in everything that's happening here

that you forget that this isn't home.

Heaven is home, long for home.

D.A. Carson wrote a fantastic paragraph about this.

Here's what he said.

Genuine spirituality cannot live long

without an attitude that is homesick for heaven,

that lives with eternity's values in view,

that eagerly awaits Jesus's return,

that anticipates the day when Christ himself

will bring everything under his control

and will transform our lowly bodies

so that we will be like his glorious body.

And he says thoughtful Christians

will not see themselves, first off,

as citizens of Great Britain

or the United States or Canada.

We are citizens of heaven.

Only that citizenship has enduring significance.

And he says happy is the believer

whose epitaph was the couplet.

Of this blessed man let this praise be given.

Heaven was in him before he was in heaven.

What a great statement that is.

That's what Paul's getting them to think of.

Our heavenly citizenship reminds us

that everything in this life that we have to endure

is only temporary.

This will come to an end.

Coronavirus will end.

It may be through death, but it will end.

And if your citizenship is in heaven,

what awaits you is perfection

and the glory of Christ.

What awaits is far better

and is worth the struggle of persevering in the faith.

You don't need your best life now.

If this is the best life that we can come up with now,

then what's the point of all of this?

What are we following Christ for?

The best life is ahead.

And so he reminds them,

hey, long for home.

This will be over soon.

Heaven's real and it's coming.

Your citizenship is there.

Keep your eyes focused on that.

Secondly, he says, we look for the Savior.

Look at verse 20 again.

Our citizenship is in home.

Out of that place or is in heaven.

Out of that heaven is where we look for the Savior,

the Lord, Jesus Christ.

This name for Christ is so significant.

Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus Christ.

Yahweh, Jesus, Messiah is what it is.

He's everything.

This is everything that he says that he is in chapter two

and that great few verses there about the deity of Christ.

What did Jesus tell his disciples in John 14?

He said, I go to prepare a place for you.

And I will come again and receive you unto myself.

Why?

That where I am, you'll be there also, he says.

What exactly is heaven?

The Bible uses the term in three different ways, actually.

Sometimes when it says heaven, it's a reference to the sky that we can step out and see.

Sometimes when it says heaven, it's a reference to outer space.

Most of the time, it's a reference to the place where God dwells.

And Paul here is referring to that place where not only God dwells,

but where the believer will find his ultimate and eternal dwelling as well.

There's really not a lot that we know about heaven.

John gives us the best description that he can in the book of the Revelation.

But what he uses there is really mostly metaphorical language.

Streets that are like unto gold or a river or a sea that is like crystal.

And he does his best to picture for us, but really, we don't know what heaven will be like.

But that's not the point.

Paul doesn't say, our citizenship is in heaven from which we look for streets of gold.

Or our citizenship is in heaven from which we look for mansions.

Or our citizenship is in heaven from which we look for pearly gates.

Or our citizenship is in heaven from which we look for yada, yada, yada.

He says, our citizenship is in heaven from where we look for Christ.

What is heaven?

Heaven is where Jesus is.

there's one thing that we're absolutely certain about,

that we will be with him there.

We long for heaven,

not because of the fanciful descriptions of its beauty,

but because we long for Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

And this makes sense, right?

If our singular pursuit in the Christian life

is to know and conform to the person of Jesus Christ,

then it's not to experience material blessing.

So then the prize of heaven then

also is not material blessing.

The prize of heaven is Jesus.

Look again at what Paul said in verse 14.

He said, I press toward the mark for the prize.

I've set my gaze on the goal

in order that I may receive the prize.

The goal and the prize in that verse is the same thing.

Jesus is the goal to know him

and to conform my life to him.

And he's also the prize.

That when this life is over, what is heaven?

It's Jesus.

It's Jesus.

How awesome is that?

We're to look for him,

to eagerly await his return.

What motivates us to persevere?

It's this promise of being with Jesus for all of eternity.

There's some people that find this description of heaven disappointing.

And if that disappoints you,

that heaven is really the presence of Jesus,

I think it would be worth it

to examine your life to see if you're actually an enemy of the cross

rather than a true follower of Christ.

If Christ is who we follow,

then he is the ultimate prize.

Everything else that comes with heaven,

the beauty and the significance,

the blessing of it,

is secondary to Christ.

He's the goal.

He's also the prize.

Finally, we'll be done.

Who will change our vile body,

Paul says in verse 21.

Who will change our vile body

unto his glorious body.

We've talked about the three tenses of salvation

and how they're represented in this passage.

There's past tense,

that is we have been saved.

That's justification,

that's the moment of conversion and regeneration.

Then we talk about sanctification,

that is we are being saved.

God is continually and progressively

fashioning us into the likeness of Christ.

And then there's glorification.

That's verse 21.

This is our future glory.

This is when we will be saved,

ultimately and finally,

once and for all.

Once we get the justification,

the other two are guaranteed.

That's the blessing of it.

But what does he say will happen

in this glorification?

He will change our vile body

unto his glorious body.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead

will transform us ultimately

into his image and glory.

That's what he says in verse 21.

According to the working,

that is the power,

whereby he is able even to subdue

all things unto himself.

Well, what is the ultimate fulfillment of that?

He has subdued death even unto himself.

So that Paul can reflect back

on the earlier parts of the passage

and he can say that I may know him

in the power of his resurrection.

Why?

Because the power of his resurrection

means that we will get new bodies.

Because of that power,

we will get to experience

a complete transformation in eternity.

The scriptures teach us that at death,

our spirit goes to be with Christ in heaven,

but our body is laid in the grave.

Marty and Faye is going to a funeral today.

They're gonna see this.

That body, if that person was a believer,

their spirit is with Christ today.

Their body's here

and their body's gonna go into the grave.

What happens when Jesus returns,

the Bible says,

is that those bodies are resurrected

and then are transformed,

that we are given a new body.

What kind of one?

Like in verse 21,

that's fashioned like unto his glorious body.

We get one that's fit for heaven.

One that has no sin.

Neither does it suffer the effects of sin.

There's no sickness.

There's no pain.

There's no more death.

It's a perfect body,

meaning that it will be free

from the possibility of sinfulness.

What a glorious future that is.

What a glorious future that is.

What a motivation to continue in the faith.

Heaven's our home.

We get to be with Jesus.

And when we're there,

he's gonna give us a body

that is fit for heaven.

There's a lot of passages we can turn to

that we won't do that

that talks about this.

I would like to point out

1 Corinthians 15 though.

Here's what Paul says.

He says,

this I say, brethren,

that flesh and blood

cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Neither does corruption

inherit incorruption.

And then he says,

behold, I show you a mystery.

This is hard to understand,

but this is what will happen.

We shall not all sleep,

but we shall all be changed.

In a moment,

in the twinkling of an eye,

at the last trump,

for the trumpet shall sound

and the dead shall be raised incorruptible

and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption

and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible

shall have put on incorruption

and this mortal shall have put on immortality,

then shall be brought to pass

the saying that is written,

death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting?

O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin

and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God,

which gives us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then he finishes all that up.

He's referencing the same glorification.

He finishes all that up

with another motivation to persevere.

Here's what he says.

Therefore, my beloved brethren,

be steadfast, be unmovable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord

for as much as you know

that your labor is not in vain.

This toil of this life,

the struggle of the temptation,

the struggle of the hardship

and the persecution is not in vain

because at the end of this,

God is gonna transform us all.

So stand firm, Paul writes to these Philippians.

A few weeks ago,

I came across this hymn.

I think it was actually Ravi Zacharias

just before he passed away.

He had posted this hymn

that was one of his favorites.

It was written by an English Puritan

named Richard Baxter in 1681.

And it's called,

Lord, It Belongs Not to My Care.

The entire hymn is really fantastic.

I would encourage you to look it up.

But here's what he says in the last stanza.

And I think it's so fitting for this discussion.

Baxter says,

My knowledge of that life is small.

The eye of faith is dim.

But tis enough that Christ knows all.

And I shall be with him.

I don't know a lot about heaven.

Eternity will tell that story for us.

My eye of faith can at times be dim.

And sometimes it's hard to stay the course.

But for me, it's enough

that Christ knows what I do not know.

And all of these things are

under the subjection of his power.

And I'm comforted by the fact

that in heaven,

whatever it may be like,

I'll be with him.

We must first know what it is

that we're to stand firm on.

That's why Paul spends most of chapter 3

defending the gospel,

refuting the Judaizers.

Once we've settled our theology,

we must know how to continue in that truth.

That's by following the right people.

Keeping our mindset on heaven.

On the future.

True Christians will persevere.

But this is how they will persevere.

Following the right people.

Keeping their focus on heaven.

And I think we should examine ourselves.

Who are we following?

And where's our focus?

I think we should rejoice

in the glorious future.

I don't preach on heaven enough.

I told Julie the other night,

I've been excited to get to this.

I should have broke this up into two parts,

but I didn't want to do that

because I wanted to get to this today.

Because there is such a glorious future

that awaits us.

And I can exhort you every week,

but if I don't take the time

to point you back to the rejoicing

of heaven and of Christ,

then that's not very much fun, is it?

But the Bible talks about it all the time.

And we should rejoice in that future.

And rejoice in that glory.

And then we should commit

to stand firm on the gospel.

And at times that will mean weeping.

Weeping for those we love

that have turned away.

It requires vigilance

to mind and guard our influence.

But we should commit

to standing firm on the gospel.

Thank you for listening to this sermon

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