Finishing the Race - Philippians 3:15-4:3 (Apr 14) Myles Holmes

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Thanks so much, Mike.

So good to be with you this morning.

And it's a privilege to open up God's word.

It's a privilege to worship with you.

And uh it's moments like that as we sing about the glory of God and his power.

That I just can't wait to be in heaven and look beside me and see you there and to know that we did it.

We made it.

And uh it's such it's my privilege.

It's my privilege to think about Bacon Fest too.

I just I love the gra I look forward to the graphic every year of what they'll come up with Bacon Fest.

Can we put that graphic up on the screen?

I just think it's so beautiful.

I want to see it again.

Maybe it'll come up, I don't know.

Last year I made a bacon, uh we called it the meat log.

It was the inside was cheese, and then it was ground sausage that was, you know, the cheese was wrapped in it, and then it was wrapped in bacon and then smoked for a number of hours, and it was about as gross as it sounds.

But it was really good.

Um, so many, so much is happening in the life of our church, and Bacon Fest isn't it.

Uh right now in kids' ministry, there are four volunteers who are training for the first time, and we can just praise the Lord for them.

And uh I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the people who have been there for weeks and weeks and weeks serving, are so thankful for all of our kids' volunteers, but I think that's just that's just really shows a sign of health in our church and really commitment to what the Lord is doing in those young lives in that church as they uh in those rooms as they learn the gospel.

Uh this afternoon after this service, we have eight people come into step one.

Uh over the last few weeks, two, I've I've had two conversations with people who have been saved.

And and I I just highlight these things for you so that you have this understanding that God is doing a work in our midst, and we don't want to miss it.

And so we're opening up God's word right now, and I would uh urge you not to miss what the Spirit might do in your life as we fix our attention to what he has to say to us.

And one of the reasons why I share, hopefully, those encouraging numbers for you is because I don't know about you, but but I look around in the context of our church landscape these days, and I there's a lot to be discouraged about, isn't there?

As you think about, you know, maybe the Christians that that at one time you you kind of walked with.

Maybe it was a church or or even this church or a youth group or or another set of friends that you had and they they were walking with the Lord.

I just find, isn't it true that increasingly like more and more people are not making it?

They are not enduring in the faith.

And I could think of a long list of people who I thought, like at one point they were so solid with the Lord.

Their walk was so good, but now I look at them and it's like either they've completely fallen away from the Lord, or there's just kind of this spirit of apathy, like they just have not made it.

And of course, we could talk about the statistics, but I just I don't feel that we really even need to talk about the statistics.

That right now, probably coming to your mind, there are many just practical examples of people who have not made it.

That's a sobering question, isn't it?

It's the question that begs us to ask why this is so.

Why, why are so many people failing to endure?

And it's not just out of philosophical inquiry that we ask this question, you know, I wanting to know the details.

It's really personal in a lot of ways, isn't it?

Maybe you're here this morning and you feel like, man, I might be one of those statistics.

Like I just I don't know if I'm really making it.

Like I am really struggling here.

Like I can think back to a time in my life when I when my walk with the Lord was so much better than it is now.

Like I was on fire for the Lord, and now I just, like, I just I don't have the desire.

I'm not in the right place.

I know I'm not in a good place.

Or maybe you're just looking at this the statistics of how many people have failed to endure and you just have this desire.

Like, I don't want that to be me.

I want to make it.

Another reason I ask this question is because as a pastor, I've I've really given my life to this cause.

To be a pastor is to be a shepherd, and and it is this God-ordained position to care for God's sheep.

And what does a shepherd do apart from take the sheep from one destination to another?

And I just have this desire that God has planted in me from a young age, just to be used by him as an instrument in his hands in order to help people make it.

I long for that day, and this is what drove Paul too in Colossians 1.

He talks about this, for that day that those who he influenced, and I pray that those that I have influenced would be presented mature before the Lord.

That day where we stand in heaven and we look around and we see our brothers and sisters in Christ, we see the people that we have labored in ministry with, we see the people that we've spoken the truth and love to, and they are there too.

And there's this, I don't know if like you can imagine it, like you lock eyes, and in that moment it's like we've made it.

We made it.

The goal is achieved, we've arrived at the destination.

Well, Paul had the same desire for the Philippian church.

He loved these brothers and sisters perhaps more than any other New Testament church he wrote to.

Reminded as we've worked through Philippians numerous times, Paul talks about how he longs for their progress.

So much so in that in Philippians 1 verse 25, considering whether he he it would be better to depart and be with Christ or remain and labor for the gospel, he says, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all.

Philippians 1:25

Listen to this, for your progress.

For your progress.

It's for this reason that Paul was brought such great comfort in his belief in Philippians 1 verse 6 that those in whom God has begun a work will be brought to completion.

Philippians 1:6

God finishes the works that he begins.

And it's because Paul cares so deeply for the church, and ultimately what we can understand this morning, because God cares for you, that Paul wrote these inspired words in Philippians chapter 3, verses 15, and we're gonna go to chapter 4, verse 3.

Philippians 3:15

Because God has this desire for you this morning, and it is this eternal desire that you make it.

God is for your endurance.

This morning I want you to understand that God is, so to speak, rooting for you to endure in the faith, to stand firm in a world that is so filled with distractions, in a church landscape where so few are making it.

I want you to understand that God is for you.

He wants you to make it to the destination.

And Paul, this really this desire of God for the Philippian church to make it overflowed in Paul.

Let's read these words together.

Chapter 3, verse 15.

In fact, I'm gonna start in verse 14 for some context.

He says, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Let those of us who are mature think this way.

And if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you, even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

I entreat Yudia and I entreat Syntachi to agree in the Lord.

Yes, I ask you also, a true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

Paul wants these Christians, you notice in verse one that I don't know if you could like heap loving language more on people.

Did you notice that?

Like, if you even if your spouse, who you know loves you the most, woke up this morning and said what Paul says to the Philippian church in verse one, you'd be like, okay, it's a little too much, buddy.

Calm down.

Therefore, my brothers whom I love and I long for my joy, my crown.

What's the count up to?

We're at five, right?

Stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved, six times in one sentence.

Paul just cannot get over how much he loves this church, and he's expressing this desire for them to make it, and he wants them to understand this.

You'll notice that from verses 12 to 14, and then into verse 15, there is a dramatic switch from the personal first person, where Paul shared his testimony of how he pressed on towards the Lord.

But notice something interesting happens in verse 15.

He says that let those of us, let those of us who are mature think this way.

And what Paul is going to get at is this reality that if you are going to make it, the thing that is absolutely necessary in your life is that you are connected to a group of people who are also on the same destination as you.

I think this is a real challenge to us in our culture of individualism, where as Paul talks about, you know, making it, he he no longer talks about you in the individual.

He no longer even talks in the second person so as to say, you better make it.

If you're mature, you better think this way.

He goes to the plural.

Let those of us, let those of us who are mature think this way.

The Christian's not saved to an island.

When a Christian confesses Christ, they are saved into the church.

And the church is the thing that God has designed, as messy as it is all the time, it is the thing that God has designed to protect us, to keep us, to cause us to endure.

This is why so often when I'm talking with someone who maybe is struggling in their faith, the first question that I start asking is questions surrounding their fellowship.

Surrounding, like, who are you walking with as a Christian?

And I gotta tell you, of all the conversations I've had with people who are struggling, I could almost say that that I have never found a person struggling who has been deeply connected in relationship with other believers.

In other words, you could say this always, always it is the case that they are walking alone, that they have either isolated themselves or been isolated from true, close gospel fellowship.

And so I say to them, like, if you were to tell me you've been walking alone and you're growing like crazy, like your life with the Lord has just never been better, I would say that's an anomaly to me.

In fact, I would say I don't believe you at all.

Because I've just never seen it.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm certainly saying this, that it is an anomaly.

And what you will find is that the the children of God who are most integrated into the life of other believers are those who are most passionate for the Lord.

This is the way that God designed us.

We're not designed to walk alone, we're designed to walk in community.

And if we're gonna make it, Paul wants this planted deeply in our minds and hearts that if we're going to stand firm, it must be in the context of true gospel fellowship.

Paul wants to get so practical, but I want you to see this first that this is what Paul is talking about.

Look here in verse 15, as Paul makes this dramatic shift from personal testimonial language about his pressing on towards the goal of pursuing Christian maturity.

He says in verse 15, let those of us who are mature think this way.

Here's what God's doing this morning.

God is showing you and I an essential mindset we must have.

There is a mindset, it's a mindset that all who will make it to heaven's gates, all who will sing that song we just just sang, rejoicing in the holiness of the Lord in heaven, it is a mindset that every Christian must have.

Notice that Paul targets the mind.

Let those of us who are mature think this way.

In other words, Christian maturity is not marked by the number of years that you follow Jesus.

For Paul, Christian maturity is not even marked by anything uh visible and physical that you can see.

It's not marked by the number of hours you spend in Bible study and prayer, it's not marked by the number of ministries that you serve.

Certainly these things are fruits of Christian maturity, but as Paul looks to the heart of Christian maturity, what Paul recognizes is that it's proven by the way that you think.

What Paul says is that the mind of the mature Christian is constantly caught up with growth.

Let those of us who are mature think this way.

Ultimately, this way of thought is summarized in verse 12.

Not that I have already obtained this or I'm already perfect, but I press on to make it my own.

The mind of the mature Christian is constantly thinking about this pressing on.

That means the mind of the immature believer then is apathetic to growth.

Or maybe they're not apathetic, maybe they really want to grow, but they've kind of grown like this despondency, this like lack of belief that they ever could grow, and so they just don't press on.

Paul says that the mind of a mature Christian is the mind that is constantly thinking, How can I grow in the Lord?

In other words, you could say this, and this is so backwards to us that that really the mark of a mature Christian is a person who recognizes how far they have to go.

You see this so clearly actually in the original language.

Let's talk about some Greek for a moment.

The word that Paul uses for mature here in verse 15 is a noun.

The noun in the Greek is pronounced tilioi, from the base telios, which means end, perfection, maturity, completion.

It's interesting that Paul uses it in the verb form in verse 12.

He says, not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, that is tiliu, the very same Greek verb form that is used in noun form in verse 15.

What Paul is saying is this I'm not already perfect, but then in verse 15, you can translate it like this.

What he says is, if you are perfect, this is how you think.

It's a bit of a contradiction, but but Paul is pointing our attention to this: that in reality, Christian perfection is recognizing how far you have to go.

That is Christian maturity.

In other words, the more you mature, the more you realize you just have so much farther to go.

Isn't this true in all things?

Isn't this true in like knowledge?

You remember when you're a teenager?

In fact, maybe you've got some teenage kids here, you could nudge them here.

This is a good moment for them to recognize.

You remember when you thought you knew everything?

You just like came to this point in the world, I love it, I love it.

You came to this point in this world where you where you're just like, I just know what I'm doing, I know how to succeed.

You even would tell your parents, you know, listen, you don't know anything, okay?

I know, I know.

I'm the younger generation, I know what to do.

And you start to realize, don't you, the longer, the older you get, you start to realize, like, I actually know nothing.

There comes that point in your life, you know, you reach out to your parents, you're like, listen, I'm sorry, I thought I knew stuff.

I don't know anything.

And isn't it true that that the most mature adults really recognize with humility how much they just don't know?

And so it is with the mature Christians.

When you find a mature Christian, you will find someone who is intimately aware with all the ways that they have not made it, all the ways that they have not grown.

This is why, if you're here and you know, you're kind of feeling the spirit pull you into a deeper relationship with the Lord, and you're saying, Well, you know, I just got so many things to fix in my life before I can take that step in obedience, before I can do that, I just gotta get my life together.

You actually have it so backwards.

The people that God wants to use are the weak people who recognize their weakness and they say, God, I know you're gonna use me despite this, and so I'm gonna press on.

I'm gonna press on.

And so it begs us to ask the question are we really mature?

And if your answer to that question is no, I have so much growing to do, I have all these areas in my life where I just like, I know I have not made it, then I want you to know that you are thinking like a mature Christian.

And if your answer to that is, well, I'm I mean, I'm doing I'm doing really well.

I got things figured out, I want you to know that you are walking in immaturity, that this is not fertile soil for growth.

Remember that the person who penned these words, Paul, Paul says, Let those of us who are mature think this way, is also the one in verse 12 who said, I am not, I have not obtained this and I'm not already perfect.

It's also the person of 1 Timothy 1:15 who said, I am the chief of sinners.

1 Timothy 1:15

In other words, on the leaderboard of sin, where you get points for sinning, Paul says, I'm number one, I am at the top.

And so it is with our Christian lives.

The more we grow, the more we learn there is so much more growing to do.

Now, Paul goes on to say that this got ought to be the very thing that ties us together as a church.

And so notice what he says in verse 15 as he continues on.

He says, And if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Paul looks at the church and he says, Listen, I know that in a church of so many people in Philippi, there are going to be differences of opinion.

But let this thing, this pressing on to Christian maturity, let this thing be the thing that unites you together with each other.

And if there are things where you think otherwise, if there's things where you disagree, God's gonna reveal that to you.

But if you agree on this thing, if the mature among you are passionate for growth and maturity, then let that drive you towards unity.

And this is something I love about our church.

Can I just say, as a pastor, I think that that as a church, we do this really well.

We have our eyes set on a mission that Jesus Christ has given to us in the Great Commission.

And so, in so many ways, we are such different people, and in so many ways there are such differing beliefs in this place, and yet we're able to major on the major and minors on the minors, and look towards the commission that Christ has given us to make disciples and say, if it doesn't get in the way of that, then I can walk in unity with these brothers and sisters in Christ.

The mission that Christ has given us is meant to be the thing that unites us together in fellowship.

We're after maturity.

And so listen, you can disagree on all sorts of things with our church, and I am sure that you do.

I don't know that I've met anyone who's like, oh yeah, this is like a perfect church.

You guys are doing everything perfectly.

The reality is that as you've been here, the longer you're here, there's probably like a running list you have of things that you would change.

Sadly for Joel, that list usually has to do with things he does, isn't it?

Worship is the constantly the center of the things that we would change.

Ah, the meet, not enough hymns.

And then someone over here is way too many hymns.

The lights are too bright.

I can't see my Bible in here.

The lights are too dim.

Things that we disagree with can center on preaching.

He preaches too short.

I made that one up.

No one's ever said that.

But he preaches too long.

It's too confusing.

It's not funny enough.

It's too much humor.

It's it's this, it's that, all these things that we we would do things differently, but what is the thing?

How can we look past all those things, those practical things that we do differently?

Maybe even minor theological differences we have that come up in preaching.

How can we look past it?

Well, it is right here when what's driving us to fellowship is this desire for growth.

Then and only then can we walk together in Christian unity.

That's why I love the mission of this church.

You know it.

Hopefully by now we exist.

See lost people saved, saved people matured, and mature people multiplied all for the glory of God.

It's directly taken from the great commission that Jesus gave to his disciples to go and make disciples.

That's what we're all about.

And listen, if your main thing is like some theological hobby horse you have, it's just like it is not gonna be long before you are here and you're just disgruntled and leave because you've made that the main thing.

And if your main thing is some sort of like practical Worship thing that you have.

It's not going to be long before you leave here because we're just not satisfying that main thing.

But let me tell you this: if your main thing is making disciples and growing yourself and growing in the way that you are used by the Lord to then make disciples, I think what you're going to find here is that there are a lot of people who still have a lot of maturing to do.

And all of a sudden you will look at that, the way that this church is not at all perfect and has so much growing to do, and you'll say, This is my mission field.

There are people here who I can speak the truth in love to, and you'll also look at your own life and recognize that there are people here who can then speak the truth and love into your life.

That these people both need you and you need them.

Paul says, if we want this maturity, it's gotta be done in community.

Well, four things then, four practical ways that we by gospel fellowship press on to this maturity that Paul gives us.

The first thing I want you to see is in verse 17.

There, Paul says, brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

First thing I want you to see is that if you want to grow in Christian maturity, then the thing you must do, if you're going to endure, if you're going to make it, the thing you must do is firstly, you must follow godly examples.

Paul looks around and he looks for a practical, tangible example of what he is talking about.

Like who are the people who are pressing on towards Christian growth?

Who are the people who really get it, who are maturing and growing?

Now he has the confidence then to look at his own life and say this listen, if you want to live a Christ-like life, do what I'm doing.

Join in imitating me.

In other words, Paul's saying, I'm imitating Christ, and if you want to know practically what that looks like, then follow me.

Now again, we remember who Paul is commending these people to follow.

The very person Paul said of himself, I am not perfect.

I am the chief of sinners.

But he says, listen, if you want to know what growing looks like, then follow me.

Christian, what we need, what we are so what we so desperately need in our life is not a perfect Christian.

What we need is a Christian who is growing towards that perfection.

Let me tell you that there will be nothing more encouraging in your life than to be around someone who, when you first meet them, you admire.

And then to quickly realize, because we realize this about our heroes pretty quickly, don't we, that they're not perfect.

But then over a span of time to see that they are growing.

And that people who are farther along in the faith than you still have growing to do.

Well, we don't need then is the perfect church.

In so many ways, that's what's so often we're looking for is this perfect group of people.

And I pray in in all honesty that our church never becomes that.

Like I pray that that our mission to see lost people saved, saved people matured, mature people multiplied is like this wheel that keeps turning and lost people keep being saved, so that in our presence there's always like these immature new believers who they still have so much growing to do, so that when someone comes into our doors, they're like, wow, these people are really messed up.

That's what we want.

Like, we don't I'm sure that you've experienced this kind of community.

Have you ever experienced like the perfect kind of community where everyone kind of puts on a mask?

And to become that kind of part of that community, what you do is you learn the lingo, you learn the Christian ease, you learn when to say the right thing at the right time, you learn how to fit in, and you never pursue any sort of vulnerability.

Never let anyone in on this reality that you are not exactly like every other person.

Growth in this kind of community is learning what to say and when to say it.

But here, Paul's calling for something different.

He's calling us to find a group of people who are not perfect, but are serious and adamant about Christian growth.

And the command for us then is to join these people and watch them.

That means that that much of Christianity is about plagiarizing other people's lives.

It's about looking at surrounding yourself with other people that you can look at and you say, like that, Lord.

Like I wanna be, I want to love God like that.

I want to love my wife like that.

I want to raise my children like that.

I want to perform in the workplace like that.

Isn't it interesting?

You know, I've almost been the pastor here for two years, and I've preached thousands of minutes.

Not in one day yet, that would be a record length of a sermon.

But collectively, I've preached thousands of minutes on the stage.

And let me ask you this question: how many things that I have said over those thousands of minutes that many of you have been here for many of those?

How many of those things do you remember?

I can ask you this.

Two weeks ago, I preached here.

Do you remember what I preached about two weeks ago?

Because I don't.

I forget as well.

And some of you guys are like, wow, this guy's a really bad preacher, but I also know that about the amazing preachers that I've listened to.

Like, they say so many things and I forget so many things.

I have uh gotten my Bachelor of Theological Studies and my Master's of Divinity.

I've spent years in school, and I have, to be honest with you, forgotten even some of those classes.

Sometimes I'll take a look at my syllabus, I'm like, I don't even remember taking that class.

All these words these professors said, and I've just forgotten them.

I have read hundreds of books, I've been to dozens of conferences, like I have been in it, but when it comes to practically remembering what people have said, like I there is not much.

But you know what?

I have never forgotten?

I have never forgotten the godly example of people that I have walked beside.

And the thing that the Lord has used and uses in all of his children's lives is the godly example of Christians who walk alongside them, of whom they can look to and say, like that.

And I can think about this so practically in my life.

Like I don't know if it's more practical for me.

I didn't grow up in a Christian family, and in a lot of ways, I never had the example of a godly father, or even, you know, like a father who could show me what it means to love a wife and love his children.

I had none of that.

And so for me, it was all like I started from the bottom, and I had to look at other people, and I had to say, What is what does it mean to be a husband?

I've never had a good example of this.

What does it mean to be a father?

I had nothing else.

And so I can look at my life and I can look to specific people.

I can think about Pastor Ian, who so many of you know.

And the way that he taught me to be a pastor and to think biblically.

I think about Pastor Brian, whom you also know.

And the way that he taught me to pursue godliness.

You know, Pastor Brian is one of those people that if I went on a conference with him and shared the same room, I would expect he's so close to the Lord sometimes.

I'd wake up in the morning, he'd already be in the Lord and like levitating or something.

That's how close he was to the Lord.

And I looked at his life and I said, like that.

I've had the privilege of a number of men throughout my life pour themselves out to me.

They've said so many things.

I've forgotten them all, but I have not forgotten the example of men like Rob Cripps, of many professors like Kurt Wellham and Dr.

Haken and other godly men.

Ben McIntyre, Steve Fisher, Mark and Matt Sylvester, many friends who have walked alongside me.

I say all these names, you know none of them, but I say this to say that one of the greatest blessings of my life is that God has surrounded me with all these godly examples that I look to them and I say, like that.

And one of the greatest blessings of walking in this church and being a part of this family is looking around, and there are so many people whose lives I look at and I say, like that, Lord.

I want, I want to be, I want to do it like that.

This is what we need.

In day and age where Jesus is not with us to show us exactly what we do, we look to those who are imitating him, and we say, like that, Lord, follow these godly examples.

This is the map to making it.

And the first step is that you follow godly examples.

Well, the second thing I want you to see that we must do is we must flee from enmity.

We must flee from enmity.

Notice what Paul says secondly here in verse 18.

He says, For many of whom I've often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things.

I want you to notice something important here.

Paul is really drawing a lot of parallels between the mature Christian and now these Christians who walk as enemies of the cross.

Notice that mature Christians are to think a certain way in verse 15 and therefore walk a certain way in verse 17.

It is a thinking, it is a meditation of the mind that then leads to the fruit of living and walking for Christ.

Begins in the mind and it leads to the life.

Well, notice with these people, it's the exact same, except that as you think about their minds, instead of these thoughts of maturity and what we'll find soon, heaven, it says in verse 19 that their minds are set on earthly things.

Therefore, they don't walk according to the example that they have in Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus in verse 17.

We're told in verse 18 that they actually walk differently.

They walk as enemies of the cross.

The greatest problem with these enemies of the cross is that their mind is set on earthly things.

This is the source of their problems.

And I want you to understand what God is revealing to us as well, that it is also the source of our problems.

The source of our disobedience, it begins in the mind.

It begins with the way that we think.

It's like that for us.

It was like that for these in verse 18 who are walking as enemies of the cross with their minds set on earthly things.

And because their mind was so consumed with earthly things, you notice in verse 19 at the beginning there that it says, their end is destruction.

They're not gonna make it because their God is their belly.

Those who have their minds set on earthly things have no higher authority than their own appetite.

Their creed is this: I want and therefore I pursue.

I hunger for, therefore I chase after.

There's no higher authority in their life than bodily appetites.

They do not bow in submission to the Lordship of Jesus.

They bow into the submission of their own appetites, pursuing what they want, what they think will make them happy.

And the irony is that they think they are free, but they are not.

They are a slave to their sinful desires, and they are shackled onto a path that is leading to eternal destruction.

Their God is their belly.

Even though they're serving their own bodily appetites in a way that's leading to their destruction, they're not ashamed of it.

For in verse 19, it says they glory in their shame.

They brag and they boast about the self-indulgent behavior that they glory in as though it makes them something to behold, as though it makes them something special.

Now, again, church, notice where this begins.

Notice what God is showing us.

This begins in the mind.

They do this with minds set on earthly things.

Paul is stressing something so important for you and I this morning, and it's this: your thoughts matter.

Your thoughts matter.

It is your thoughts that ultimately lead to your eternal destination.

Why are these people, why is their end destruction?

Paul says, answer, because their thoughts are on earthly things, and therefore, because they're thinking about earthly things, they're led to pursue earthly things.

Therefore, they walk as enemies of the cross, and their end is destruction.

Now, this is so important for many of us because so many of us don't think critically about the thoughts that we have.

We just kind of allow our minds to go and we don't ask whether this is a fruitful thought or not.

There's such danger when we have no self-control over our thoughts because earthly thoughts lead to walking as an enemy of the cross.

Walking as an enemy of the cross leads to eternal destruction.

And so, loved one, can I ask you a question?

What have you been thinking about this week?

Suppose that, you know, in our day and age, this is probably more and more likely, but suppose we could get like an MP3 audio file of your thoughts this week.

And I had a button and I clicked it and it started playing over the speakers here for everyone to hear.

And can I ask you something?

Would you be ashamed of what you have have thought about, of the places that your mind has gone to?

Or would you recognize that you have thought about some honorable things?

And loved one, let me just remind you that God hears our thoughts.

He knows that in that deepest, darkest place that you go to in your mind, God is there.

You cannot escape.

And God is calling you this morning to think about your thoughts.

To ask this question: what is your mind set on?

Like, what do you think about most of the time?

This is why so often, as the writers in the scripture think about growth in God's people, they get immediately to thinking.

Think about Psalm 1.

Psalm 1 is like the handbook for the Israelite.

How to, like, you want to live a life that pleases God?

Psalm 1 is it.

And Psalm 1 says this that the man is blessed who meditates on the law when day and night.

You want blessing in your life?

Then fix your thoughts on things that are above.

It is as simple in so many ways as this.

It's not easy, but it's so simple as this that as you fix your eyes on things that are above, blessings will flow into your life.

But we so often set our minds on things that are below.

Therefore, we seek earthly pleasure.

We are never satisfied, always wanting more until it leads to our eternal destruction.

The command then is to flee this type of thinking, knowing the path that it puts us on, a path of destruction.

But notice here that it's really a twofold command.

Not only are we to flee this type of thinking, we're also to put on a certain type of thinking.

And Paul talks about this in verse 20.

It says, But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Also, you notice a third thing that we must do if we're going to make it, the third thing we must do is focus on expectations.

There's a type of thinking we must flee, and there's a type of thinking we must embrace.

It is a heavenly thinking where our mind is consumed with thoughts of God and of heavenly and spiritual realities.

And I want you to recognize this has always been the battle for God's people.

It is a battle of the mind.

This is why when Paul in Romans 12, we've already talked about Psalm 1, but Paul in Romans 12, as he then urges the church to be transformed in light of the gospel, he says that that transforming will happen by the renewing of your mind.

What does that mean?

Well, it means we put off the sinful thoughts of the flesh and we put on the thoughts of the spirit.

We renew our minds so that we no longer think as the world thinks.

Now we think through the lens of Jesus Christ.

Growth happens by this renewal of heavenly, gospel-centered thoughts, as you push out these earthly thoughts to make room for heavenly gospel thoughts.

This is why Paul says our citizenship is in heaven here in verse 20.

This is not the first time that Paul has used this word, citizenship.

This is the noun form of what he says in verse 27 of chapter 1, where he says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.

You notice a little footnote there that a literal translation of that is that we would behave as citizens who are worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What Paul is pointing our attention to is though we are Canadian citizens, if we're in Christ, if we've placed our faith in Jesus Christ, our citizenship eternally is in heaven.

And so Paul writes this to Christians and Philippi, who are currently under Philippi citizens of Roman rule.

And in the Roman Empire, Caesar Augustus was given credit as being the savior and the ruler of the world.

And in many ways, for many Romans, he was.

Caesar Augustus had restored peace to Italy and many other regions in Rome.

And so as people lived in this sort of war-free era, they looked to Caesar Augustus and they said, He's our man.

And they bowed their lives in homage to him.

Philippi would have especially been this, understood this.

Augustus had been kind to them and conferred onto Philippi all the rights of being under a Roman Empire.

And so, in many ways, Philippians would be, would feel this sort of urge to kind of give their allegiance to Augustus.

But in contrast to this earthly governing power, Paul sets up a parallel power and he says, Listen, if this is like your the strongest power on earth, I want to show you something amazing here.

I want to show you the power of Jesus Christ.

See, rather than setting our minds on earthly things, on earthly pleasures, on earthly powers, and pursuing these earthly pleasures, Paul calls us here to set our mind on heavenly pleasures, on heaven from where we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christian, consider these words for a moment.

Set your eyes on verse 21.

Consider the truth of these words that Jesus is returning, and one day he will return and he will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Can I ask you something?

Is there anything that you are pursuing that is as powerful as the power that Jesus will display on that day where he returns?

And because you are united to him, you will defeat death.

Does anything in your life have that sort of power?

Does anything that you're pursuing, is anything that you're pursuing able to raise you from the grave?

You know the answer.

The answer is no, there's nothing.

There's nothing like that power, and yet so often we're so short-sighted because our minds are not set on heaven that we're pursuing these things that are like their power is just pitily in comparison.

Jesus will come and he will take our lowly body.

I mean, do I have to preach the low what the lowly body is?

Don't you feel it right now?

Sitting in these seats, your back is aching.

You woke up this morning, you could hardly stand up.

Let alone talking about sickness, letting alone talking about the suffering that our world is in.

He will transform these lowly bodies that are broken and sinful to be like his glorious body.

Perfect and eternal.

He will defeat the one thing in us that no one has been able to defeat.

All sorts of challenges have been overcome throughout human history, but no one has overcome death.

And Jesus is saying this that so long as your allegiance is to him, he will overcome even death for you.

This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians, even death is yours, because you don't have to fear death because you will die, you'll close your eyes, and you will be risen to new life again, and death will be defeated.

Death is yours, it's your victory.

Paul's looking at the things in our lives and asking us this question: why are you pursuing these things that have no power to give you any joy?

They have no power.

You know, material riches and possessions have no power to give you eternal life.

Everything rusts and fades.

Being liked by other people, it is a fleeting pleasure that cannot compare to the eternal pleasure that will be brought to us in eternal life.

Is there anything that is so worth pursuit as Jesus Christ?

The obvious answer is no.

So then, Christian, why are we so obsessed with it?

Why are we so obsessed with it?

We're in a world filled with so many distractions.

And in a moment in clarity like this, you and I can say, Yeah, of course.

Why why would we ever pursue any of these things?

But the reality is we go out in this world and we're convinced, man, that like there are some things that are worth pursuing, and we take our eyes off Jesus Christ and we pursue this thing, which leads to this last point Paul leads us to in verse one.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I long.

Whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, stand firm.

Stand firm.

Here's the last thing you must do if you want to endure.

You need to fight for endurance.

This idea of standing firm, it's a military term in which you hold your ground.

It is this active, it's kind of like a uh in one sense it's active, and in another sense it's passive.

In other words, what Paul is saying is keep on keeping on, keep on standing in the right place.

Stand firm.

Now you'll notice why he says this in verse one, because in verse two, he's gonna get to a really practical way that the people in Philippi are not standing firm.

He points to these two women, Udia and Syntiche, and he treats them there to agree in the Lord.

Now we're not told what the problem is.

In verse three, we're not even told who the companion is that is to sort of step in the middle and be a mediator.

But I believe what the reason why Paul leaves out these details that seem so essential to us is because he wants to draw our attention to this: that the reason we must fight for unity is because of this.

First, that these women who are disagreeing have labored side by side with me in the gospel.

There is one place where you can find in this world where people will have, if you're a believer and you have set your mission to be the mission that Jesus Christ has given you, there is one place where you will find absolute unity, and that is in the church.

You know, the world, it just doesn't have its mission.

It doesn't care what Jesus calls for your life to be.

It doesn't labor after the same things for you.

Maybe in many ways their life looks the same, but they certainly are not after the same things as you.

There is one place, it is in true gospel fellowship, that we can experience uh standing side by side with people who labor with us.

For that reason, Paul entreats these two women listen, don't let these little things cause disunity in your life.

Look past it because both you guys are laboring for the same thing.

Labor after the same cause, we're after the same thing.

Look what else Paul points our attention to, though.

It says, who labor side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers.

Listen to these words, whose names are in the book of life.

God has a book.

He tells us about it in Luke chapter 10, verse 20.

Luke 10:20

He says, Your names, if you're in Jesus, your names are written in eternity.

This is phenomenal truth that Jesus came to save, we're told in John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

He came to save those whom the Father had given to him.

Your name's in the book of life.

If your faith is in Jesus Christ, your name is in the book of life.

And on that day where you appear before the Lord, he will open that book and find your name there because you are truly a child of God.

One word, in one sense, as we think about making it, as we think about the need for endurance, as we look at our own life and we're saying to the Lord, God, I want to make, I want to make it to the end.

How do I do that?

In one sense, the answer is you're gonna make it.

If your name is in the book of life, like you are gonna make it to the destination.

This is what Paul again says in Philippians 1 6 that those who God began a good work and he will bring to completion, you are going to make it.

Here is what God has shown us this morning: a map.

A map that on each of those days, on that day, each of us will be able to pull out and show us how we we did it.

Here's how you endure.

Here's how you're gonna make it to that day.

You follow godly examples, you flee from enmity, you focus on expectations, and you fight.

You fight for endurance.

Let's pray together.

Father, we bow in your presence.

And God, we thank you for your love for us.

God, a love even greater than Paul's love for the Philippians, where he stacked phrase on phrase just to express his love for them.

Lord, you love us with such a greater love that is proven in that you sent Jesus Christ to save us.

And God, having sent Jesus Christ for our salvation, you have brought us on a journey that we are now in the midst of.

If our faith is in you, Lord, we're in the midst of this journey.

And God, you have promised us this reality that if our faith is in you, we are going to make it.

You finish the work that you begin.

And if you began a work in us, we're gonna make it.

God, so confident of this are you that you have written our name in the book of life.

And so, God, we give you all the praise that on that day that we stand before you, God, that we sing of your praise and glory, we will declare that it has been because of you.

And God, we thank you for moments like this where in your word you show, you show us a map of what it's gonna look like.

God, you show us how we must follow godly examples, we must flee from enmity, we must set our minds on heavenly things.

And we must fight, Lord, for this endurance.

And so, God, we give you all the praise.

Lord, thank you for your grace, thank you for your goodness towards us.

Lord, we praise you that you're gonna bring us there.

And we sing the song of praise to you out of a heart of thankfulness for that reality.

We pray this in the name of your son.

Amen.