Philippians 3:17-4:1 Feb 24, 2013 #1847page 1
17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 1 Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! (NIV 1984)
Hi Kids,
[Show a telescope] Who can tell me what this is? It is a telescope. What is it used for? We can see things far away more clearly, like the moon. [Show a rifle scope] What do you suppose this is? It is called a gun scope. A shooter uses it to see clearly the target, maybe a target like this [hold up a target], so that the shooter makes sure to aim at the correct spot. Telescope, gun scope, I also could have shown you a microscope used to make real small things look bigger, they all have the word “scope.” It is a word that means to see or to look at something closely.
The man whom God guided to write the words we will read from the Bible for the sermon is named Paul. He teaches us today to watch what the people who know what the Bible says and who love Jesus do. As we learn what Jesus teaches us to do as his disciples, as we see other Christians doing what the Bible says, we learn how to please God and how to thank Jesus for saving us. And doing what God wants because we love him is this in our life [hold up the target]. Keep learning from the Bible so that you can see God’s target clearly. Trust his words and follow them because you love Jesus.
Fellow Redeemed who follow Jesus as your Savior and perfect role model,
“I am but a stranger here, heaven is my home” we sing recognizing that we are just visitors to earth as it is now, plagued by sin and inhabited by sinners. Along with the many joys we have because of God’s blessings, we also have many heartaches, disappointments, and troubles because we have to deal with sin and fight against the devil’s temptations. Through all of this we are to keep our “bags packed,” so to speak, for the moment God will call us out of this existence to heaven where we will be home forever living in nothing by joy and glory. I say “bags packed, so to speak” because we can’t take any earthly stuff from our current life to our heavenly life. The point is that we need to be ready to take the trip at all times.
The preparation for this trip is simple. Keep your faith in Jesus intact at all times. This we do by trusting his gospel for forgiveness and then obeying his law as the fruit of this saving faith so that the devil can’t steal our faith. With this as our goal, Paul reminds us today that A CHRISTIAN HAS TWO TARGETS. One is that we (1.) Use faithful Christians as your role model (v. 17-19). The second is to (2.) Treasure your citizenship in heaven. (v. 20-4:1)
A good role model is someone who walks their talk, and whose talk matches the Bible. The command “take note of” literally is the “scope” word from the children’s explanation. We are to “Scope out,” to inspect and look at carefully who we mark as our target, our role models to follow. It is the same word Paul wrote in Romans 16:17, “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.” It is important who we pick to “imitate” because we are asking them to influence our thoughts, attitudes and purposes for living.
Paul urges us to pick “those whosenormal and ongoing daily life islivingaccording to the pattern we gave you.” Paul and those leaders he trained set an example that would be the imprint on the lives of those who listened to them. Jesus said that “by their fruit you know” the kind of person (Mt 7:20) an individual has become. And so, to find proper role models, it is necessary to look within the family of faith, not at the world. The people whom the world wants to follow encourage sinful thinking because they are not listening to Jesus. Importance in this life, wealth on planet earth, pleasures that satisfy my sinful nature, these are what the worldly model offer.
The Apostle directs us:“join with others in following my example…according to the pattern we gave you.” One of the responsibilities of being an apostle like Paul, or a pastor like Timothy, or a Christian leader is toset a good example for living a Christ-pleasing life. In fact, Jesus requests it from every Christian, “let you light so shine before mankind that they may see your good works and honor your father in heaven” (Mt 5:16). The word “pattern” in v. 17 means the imprint left on a material after a die is placed on it and struck. The imprint is identical to the die. So, pick people who teach and live what Jesus did. Let their words and actions be seen in your words and actions.
Paul warns us that we are not live “as enemies of the cross of Christ.” By going to the cross Jesus showed love and humility. Enemies of the cross exhibit the opposite—selfishness and self-indulgence. Human thinking concludes that believing in a person put to death on a cross is foolish, because after all, people don’t rise from the dead. The law that naturally lives in us denies that Jesus’ death paid for all our sins and that God has forgiven us by grace through faith as a result. Why? Because sinful thinking is convinced that somehow I have to do something to earn God’s love. This rejects grace. And the result is that “their destiny is destruction.” When everything is said and done, because they have chosen to reject Christ they end in hell. Once there, the eternal ruin of these unbelievers is sealed permanently.
God’s apostle explains that “their god is their belly.” To satisfy their own sinful appetites is their goal in earthly life—greed, gluttony, drunkenness, sexual immorality, lust for power, and anything else that comes from the sinful nature in every one of us. Their “thinking” totally focuses on “earthly things,” on what I can have right now that pleases my sinful nature and takes care of my earthly life--well fed, safe, lots of toys. They take pride“in their shameful” choices holding up their sinful behavior as a trophy.
Paul cries at the shameful direction that many people are taking. For our eternal welfare he pleads with us, “Join other Christians in imitating me.” It is correct to be copy cats. It is wise to imitate Paul because he followed Christ (1 Cor 11:1). And Paul never lost sight of the blessing and target, “But our citizenship is in heaven.” Therefore, Treasure your citizenship in heaven. (v. 20-4:1)
Philippi was called “little Rome” by some people. It was a retirement community of many Roman soldiers. They were proud of their Roman citizenship. They cherished their special privileges as Roman citizens: protection, honor, etc. They dressed as Romans, spoke as Romans, and wereloyal to Rome as their native land. But Paul reminds them that Roman citizenship had no eternal benefits. In reality the Roman Empire has been defunct for 600 or 1600 years depending which history you read.Its leaders are all dead and powerless.
“But our citizenship is in heaven.” We, by faith as the result of God’s grace, are citizens in his kingdom that “is not of this world.” Our names are recorded there and our rights as free from everything that has sin attached to it are secured to be there. We are traveling home as we live our earthly life because heaven is our permanent residence. “And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jesus promised to return and take us to where he now is as our exalted Lord. Jesus is our Savior who did all the fighting so that we can be citizens of heaven. He squared off in hand to hand combat with the Devil and whipped him in every temptation. He submitted to his Father’s will and let his enemies capture him and crucify him. He paid God for all our sins by suffering the total punishment of the Almighty Holy God’s anger that we deserve to suffer in hell. He forced death to release his body by rising from the grave as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15).He “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Jesus’ “power…enables him to bring everything under his control.” There is nothing, there is no one who can force him to do what he does not want to do. He is in control doing whatever he chooses. He never does anything wrong or makes sinful things happen. He turns disasters, the results of sin, into blessings for Christians. All this power he exerts simply by what he says like he did at Creation, like he did when he told our heart “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” This power Jesus will use to change our physical body when we die to “be like his glorious body.”
Our bodyis not an evil prison from which our soul needs to be delivered someday as some earthly philosophy promotes. Our body is a wonderful creation by God that has been attacked by sin. Jesus will take our body that is scarred, weak, frail and mortal because of sin, raise it from dust or ashes and change it into the same body that for eternity is perfect, glorious and immortal. Our body will be perfect to match our glorious soul in heaven. And instead of living in a sinful atmosphere where we cannot see him, Jesus will change our existence so that we can see him face to face and all of God’s glory forever. The reason for Paul telling us this is because he wants us to “stand firm in the Lord.”
You, like the Philippian Christians, are loved by Paul. He longs to be with you, to have you join him in heaven. The fact that you and all who believe his words that the Holy Spirit has breathed through Paul’s preaching are in heaven, that is Paul’s joy and crown. He is not bragging, but is happy for us and with us. Your fruits, your following Jesus and mature Christians as your role models, your living with God’s commandments as your only target by which to praise your Savior, you keeping your focus on heaven and Jesus life, death and resurrection as the only way to get there, doing these things constantly and consistently, this is how your “stand firm in the Lord” and reach your eternal home, the glorious life in heaven. Amen.