Stand Firm

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.480 --> 00:00:08.189 The word for this evening comes from Philippians chapter three, verses Seventeen, through 2 00:00:09.310 --> 00:00:13.109 chapter four, verse one. So I'd invite you, if you have your 3 00:00:13.109 --> 00:00:20.149 bibles, to turn there with me, Phippians chapter three, starting with verse 4 00:00:20.829 --> 00:00:29.420 seventeen. As we continue walking our way through Philippians. Brothers, join in 5 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:34.619 imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you 6 00:00:34.780 --> 00:00:38.729 have in us. For many of whom I've often told you, and now 7 00:00:38.890 --> 00:00:42.969 tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the Cross of Christ. 8 00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:49.850 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly and they glory in their 9 00:00:49.929 --> 00:00:56.039 shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, 10 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.920 and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who 11 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:07.030 will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that 12 00:01:07.189 --> 00:01:14.349 enables him even to subject all things to himself. And Chapter Four, verse 13 00:01:14.510 --> 00:01:19.379 one. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for my joy 14 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:26.780 and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved Amen. May 15 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:37.129 God bless his word to us this evening. You may be seated so. 16 00:01:37.730 --> 00:01:42.849 I have a two year old son, Jonathan, as well as a three 17 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:49.879 month old son as well, David. But what's NEAT is that my two 18 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:53.879 year old son has sort of gotten to the stage in his life where he 19 00:01:55.079 --> 00:02:00.040 imitates everyone and everything he sees and hears and it going on around him and 20 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:07.150 it's really endearing to me because he's copying me. It's sort of flattering. 21 00:02:08.229 --> 00:02:15.580 When I take my backpack of books and leave the House to go work and 22 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:21.740 study at Rincon Mountain, Jonathan wants to come with me and so he picks 23 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:23.780 up his diaper bag and says can we go, let me get my shoes, 24 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:31.090 let's go. When I ride my bicycle and leaving the house, he'll 25 00:02:31.729 --> 00:02:36.330 come along on his tricycle and say can I tag along, can I follow? 26 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:42.969 When I'm washing the dishes, he's right there washing the dishes to wanting 27 00:02:43.009 --> 00:02:46.800 to help, wanting to be there, wing to copy me. He does 28 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:53.560 what he sees me doing, what others do around him, and so I've 29 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:58.710 learned, though, that this is not just a particular stage in life, 30 00:03:00.069 --> 00:03:01.710 it's not just something that two year olds do, it's something that all of 31 00:03:01.750 --> 00:03:06.310 us do. It's, in fact, it's just the way God designed us, 32 00:03:06.349 --> 00:03:09.990 that one of the best ways that we learn is by imitating someone else, 33 00:03:10.629 --> 00:03:14.900 by copying them, watching them, seeing how they do things and then 34 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:22.740 following along. We learn by imitating others. Budding musicians, they imitate the 35 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:30.569 techniques of the greats. Athletes will practice again and again the moves of their 36 00:03:30.650 --> 00:03:38.330 favorite sports players. Parents, if you think about this, parents often practice 37 00:03:38.409 --> 00:03:45.439 the same kind of disciplinary habits and interactions, what methods of interacting with their 38 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:49.599 kids that their parents did with them as because, you know, it's what 39 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:53.439 they've seen, it's what they've experienced, just what they know. But, 40 00:03:54.159 --> 00:04:01.469 as at last example suggests, sometimes imitating others can be a dangerous thing. 41 00:04:03.030 --> 00:04:10.180 What it really boils down to is who are you imitating? Who are you 42 00:04:10.419 --> 00:04:14.300 coppying? Who are you following? Who is leading you in this way? 43 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:18.060 And that's Paul's point in our passage this evening. Who Are you, in 44 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:27.089 imitating be can he says here basically that whoever you are imitating, it's that 45 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:34.129 shows where your allegiance is. Whoever you imitate shows where your true allegiance lies. 46 00:04:35.810 --> 00:04:41.720 And I talked about allegiance intentionally because in this passage, and I don't 47 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:44.720 know if you caught it as we were reading, but there's there's a lot 48 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:49.519 of political language in this. It's actually a very politically oriented and charged passage 49 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:58.709 it one of the key phrases in terms in this passage is citizenship, being 50 00:04:58.750 --> 00:05:01.949 a citizen of Philippi, of Rome, and then he talks about being a 51 00:05:02.029 --> 00:05:06.500 citizen of Heaven. And so it all boils down to, Paul, says, 52 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:13.019 a question of citizenship, where it is your allegiance lie? And Paul 53 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:15.980 wants us to realize that in terms of spiritual citizenship, there's really only two 54 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:21.209 options. Either you belong to the city of God or the city of Man. 55 00:05:23.449 --> 00:05:28.129 You can't have dual citizenship. It's impossible. It's one or the other. 56 00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:34.170 And whichever city you belong to is then demonstrated by what you do, 57 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:42.399 how you act, who you follow. So Paul flushes us out, for 58 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:46.519 us in our passage, first by telling us to image state him, and 59 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:50.870 then by giving us two reasons why we should be imitating him. So first 60 00:05:51.709 --> 00:06:00.509 the imitation of Paul reads me again verse Seventeen Brothers Join in imitating me, 61 00:06:01.310 --> 00:06:05.980 and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in 62 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:12.139 us. And if you're a Christian here this evening, Paul's words here, 63 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:20.290 imitate me can be kind of disconcerting. Imitate me. It's something that we're 64 00:06:20.290 --> 00:06:27.490 not too comfortable with saying on our own, is it? When we talk 65 00:06:27.569 --> 00:06:32.000 about imitating me, imitate me, follow me, do what I do, 66 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:36.519 say what I say, act how I act. When we say it, 67 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:42.680 we're saying, look at me, I'm a cut above the rest. Might 68 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:46.670 just look at my work. It speaks for itself. I'm the top dog. 69 00:06:47.269 --> 00:06:51.910 This is something, an honor that I'm worthy of. And so we 70 00:06:51.990 --> 00:06:58.870 wonder, is this what Paul's actually saying? It's he being arrogant here? 71 00:06:59.029 --> 00:07:00.620 Is He being friedful? And that that too sounds kind of weird. We 72 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:03.899 don't want to say that. So what's going on here? What is Paul 73 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:12.259 talking about? Because it sounds like it's boasting, and it's interesting him, 74 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:17.449 as Chris preached a couple weeks ago here, if you look further back in 75 00:07:17.529 --> 00:07:24.050 chapter three, Paul says I could boast. I have every right to boast. 76 00:07:24.050 --> 00:07:26.889 In fact, just look back with me at versus five and six. 77 00:07:28.089 --> 00:07:31.519 He says that he could boast about his resume if he wanted to. Actually, 78 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.800 starting with verse four, though, I have reason reason for confidence in 79 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:39.480 the flesh also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the 80 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:44.870 flesh. I have more circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, 81 00:07:45.069 --> 00:07:46.629 of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the 82 00:07:46.750 --> 00:07:50.910 law of Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church, as 83 00:07:51.029 --> 00:07:56.949 to righteousness under the law. blameless. He's saying, here's my pedigree, 84 00:07:57.470 --> 00:08:00.860 you, you can see it for yourself. Just go and ask anyone. 85 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:05.899 I could boast if I wanted to, about my accomplishments and my achievements. 86 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:11.420 He says that he could. He is someone who should be imitated in the 87 00:08:11.699 --> 00:08:18.529 eyes of the world. Paul is the pinnacle of Judaism in a lot of 88 00:08:18.610 --> 00:08:24.769 ways. And yet Paul says all that is worthless compared to the righteousness that 89 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:31.360 he has found in Christ, compared to that perfect obedience that has been counted 90 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:37.360 as his. In comparison to that, everything is like Dune. It's worthless, 91 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:41.750 it's filthy, it's vile, has no value and meaning and worth. 92 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:50.110 And so Paul here is telling us to imitate him, not in his strength 93 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:56.259 but in his weakness, not in his sufficiency but in his dependency, not 94 00:08:56.419 --> 00:09:03.379 in his confidence in the flesh, but in his confidence in Christ, telling 95 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:09.659 US imitate his faith. That's what he's talking about, and so this is 96 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:15.529 completely counterintuitive. We wouldn't this isn't what we would think or say when we 97 00:09:15.690 --> 00:09:20.009 say imitate me. We wouldn't normally look for these qualities in a role model 98 00:09:20.090 --> 00:09:28.720 either. Weakness instead of strength, humility instead of, you know, force 99 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:35.240 of personality. He's saying that. Well, when we think about role models, 100 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:39.669 when we think about who to follow are the question that comes to our 101 00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:45.350 mind is what will get me furthest ahead? Whom can I imitate? Who 102 00:09:45.389 --> 00:09:48.309 Can I study under? Who Can I be apprentice to? That will be 103 00:09:48.470 --> 00:09:52.700 the most benefit to me? He says, no, this is not his 104 00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:58.779 thinking. Here. Paul is telling us to be deliberate and intentional instead about 105 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:05.700 becoming, as Jesus said in the beattitude, poor in spirit. That's what 106 00:10:05.980 --> 00:10:11.090 Paul is talking about. He's calling us to realize that I had, I 107 00:10:11.289 --> 00:10:16.529 and you have no resources, no accomplishments, no achievements, nothing that could 108 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:22.720 earn us anything with God. That in his sight, we come to him 109 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:28.320 with nothing in our hands. So we have to cling solely to Christ. 110 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:33.240 So imitate me is Paul's way. of saying, imitate my hope and dependency 111 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:39.950 on Christ. In addition, this command here doesn't just tell us to imitate 112 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:45.350 Paul. What else say? He says here in verse Seventeen, and keep 113 00:10:45.389 --> 00:10:48.470 your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 114 00:10:50.460 --> 00:10:56.620 And so he's telling here also to extend this imitation to those godly Christians in 115 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:01.539 your midst who are walking in the same way, who have the same faith, 116 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:07.169 who have the same dependency on God and others. Paul is telling you 117 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:11.610 to seek out these people and to, as he says here, literally fix 118 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:16.330 your eyes on them, to observe them, watch them, see how they 119 00:11:16.450 --> 00:11:22.720 react to certain situations, interact with them, be mentored by them, sit 120 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:28.080 under their teaching, as it were, under their way of life, and 121 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.990 learn from them as well. And so, if I can make a bit 122 00:11:33.029 --> 00:11:41.429 of application here, who here at covenant would you see as being someone like 123 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:48.980 that, someone godly whom you could imitate, someone who you could be mentored 124 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:56.139 by and matured by because they're following the same faithful way of life that Paul 125 00:11:56.220 --> 00:12:01.330 is talking about here? Obviously your pastor and your elders, but who else? 126 00:12:03.129 --> 00:12:07.490 Paul talks and titus to versus two through five, about what godly men 127 00:12:07.610 --> 00:12:11.450 and women look like, folks that you can sit under and learn from. 128 00:12:13.649 --> 00:12:18.279 Do you have any of those here that you could talk with? Orn just 129 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:26.039 listen, to listen to their experiences as they've walked through life. And so 130 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:30.269 the last thing I want to say before I move on from this point is 131 00:12:30.350 --> 00:12:33.990 that this task, Paul says, is a community effort, and it's at 132 00:12:35.070 --> 00:12:39.029 first word there that he talks about not in the English. The English is 133 00:12:39.070 --> 00:12:48.019 brothers, but that join in imitating me. It's it's it's a utterly unique 134 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:54.220 word. It's actually the only time it's ever used in any Greek literature ever, 135 00:12:56.419 --> 00:13:01.649 and so it's possible all that Paul just coined this word to describe what 136 00:13:01.769 --> 00:13:07.529 he's trying to get at. He's talking about being coimitators, commics, if 137 00:13:07.610 --> 00:13:13.639 you will, those who are encouraging each other and building up each other as 138 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:20.879 together, we as a body imitate Paul and the Godly ones in our midst. 139 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:26.080 It's that. It's that idea and friends. That's a it's interesting because 140 00:13:26.309 --> 00:13:31.789 that is a picture what the church is supposed to be. There are no 141 00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:39.909 Lone Ranger Christians. It's impossible it's not how God designed it, the author 142 00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:43.500 to the Hebrew says in chapter ten. Let us consider how to stir up 143 00:13:43.539 --> 00:13:48.539 one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as 144 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:52.299 is a habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the way, 145 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:58.730 as you see, the day drawing near. And so we have this responsibility 146 00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:05.809 together to be encouraging and pressing on, keeping each other accountable as we walk 147 00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:11.600 this walk of faith, as we follow after Christ and after those that he 148 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:16.960 has put us under. And so that's the first point, the imitation of 149 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:22.679 Paul. And then Paul gives us two reasons why it's important to imitate him. 150 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:28.110 In the first reason is this. It's easy to be deceived and go 151 00:14:28.190 --> 00:14:33.950 astray. Look with me again at verses eighteen and nineteen. For many of 152 00:14:35.070 --> 00:14:37.860 whom I've often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk 153 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:43.259 as enemies of the Cross of Christ. Their end just destruction, their god 154 00:14:43.379 --> 00:14:48.860 is their belly and they glory in their shame, with mindset on earthly things. 155 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:58.129 And so Paul is saying here, basically, don't be deceived. See, 156 00:14:58.210 --> 00:15:01.210 he cares too much for the Christians at Philippi to let anyone pull the 157 00:15:01.289 --> 00:15:05.529 wool over their eyes as to what a true Christian is supposed to look like. 158 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:13.480 These people that Paul talks about, these enemies of the Cross, of 159 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:20.440 Christ, from the context, seem like they are at least claiming to be 160 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.149 Christians. They are folks who are in the church or sort of maybe on 161 00:15:24.230 --> 00:15:31.509 the periphery of the church gathering. They claim to belong to Christ but their 162 00:15:31.590 --> 00:15:37.299 actions, their behaviors don't match, they don't line up, and so, 163 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:41.860 as a result, you hear this sadness in Paul's voice here, which actually 164 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:48.539 kind of rare to see this sort of emotion in his writings. He says, 165 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:52.570 I tell you, even with tears, they walk as enemies of Christ. 166 00:15:52.929 --> 00:15:56.809 So who are these enemies? Let's let's look at this a little bit 167 00:15:56.850 --> 00:16:03.960 more. They are probably those who are claiming to be Christians, but they're 168 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.279 not. Their Counterfeit Christians. And so Paul is already, in this chapter 169 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:14.879 and chapter three, introduced us to some phonies. Back in verse two, 170 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:19.190 Paul Talks About look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, 171 00:16:19.230 --> 00:16:23.750 look out for those who mutilate the flesh. So Paul is introducing US here 172 00:16:23.870 --> 00:16:29.389 to those that we know as the Judaizers, those who are trying to force 173 00:16:29.429 --> 00:16:34.139 Christians, those in the body of Christ, to follow the ceremonial laws of 174 00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:38.980 the Old Testament, saying that these are still applicable and valid for you today, 175 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:47.409 particularly circumcision and especial diet, that the Kosher Diet. And so they 176 00:16:47.490 --> 00:16:51.529 believe, these judaisers believe that you had to do these certain things in order 177 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:56.490 to be acceptable before God. You had to bring your works with you to 178 00:16:56.730 --> 00:17:00.769 him. But Paul's response to them in verse two, as we read, 179 00:17:00.889 --> 00:17:07.319 is harsh. He calls them dogs and mutilators of the flesh, but in 180 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:15.470 verse eighteen, in our passage, he cries. It's an interesting contrast, 181 00:17:15.589 --> 00:17:21.470 even in the same chapter, about two different enemies of Christ. And so, 182 00:17:21.829 --> 00:17:23.950 as a result, these probably are not the same groups of people. 183 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:30.779 The ones here in verse eighteen are probably those that we would term Antinomians, 184 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:36.619 those who are against the law, those who say the law doesn't applied to 185 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:41.619 me anymore at all, even the Ten Commandments. I'm I've been forgiven by 186 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:45.410 Christ. His righteousness is mine and as a result, I can live however 187 00:17:45.450 --> 00:17:52.410 I want. Essentially, that's what they're saying. And yet the whole point 188 00:17:52.009 --> 00:17:57.490 of our passage this evening is that it does matter how you live, how 189 00:17:57.640 --> 00:18:07.559 you walk, who you imitate. Faith produces fruit, friends, that's pretty 190 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:14.670 good literation. Faith produces fruit. If Jesus had has counted you right in 191 00:18:14.829 --> 00:18:18.710 his sight, then he is at the same time also working in you, 192 00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:25.470 sanctifying you, purifying you from your sin. You have to have both. 193 00:18:26.109 --> 00:18:29.819 You have to have both. As Jesus says, a good tree will produce 194 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:37.140 good fruit. You can't have one without the other. As Paul writes and 195 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:41.339 Romans Chapter six, verse two, how can we who have died to sin 196 00:18:41.529 --> 00:18:47.930 still live in it? Some possible? It's wrong. It grates against the 197 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:51.529 way that thing the way that God has designed it, the way things are 198 00:18:51.690 --> 00:18:55.009 supposed to be. And so, out of gratitude to Christ for all he 199 00:18:55.089 --> 00:19:00.119 has done for us, we should seek to be holy. We should seek 200 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.440 to imitate Paul, just as Paul in First Corinthians Eleven, verse one, 201 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:12.670 says I imitate Christ. And so, tragically, these people are deceiving themselves 202 00:19:12.710 --> 00:19:18.430 about who they really belong to. Paul doesn't leave us and suspense here as 203 00:19:18.549 --> 00:19:23.660 to their destination. He says that their end is destruction, and then he 204 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:30.299 goes on and says their God is their belly, which probably is not just 205 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:37.099 referring to gluttony, it's probably also referring to sensuality and lust. There's this 206 00:19:37.579 --> 00:19:42.289 whole self indulgent lifestyle that these people are involved in, in deeply committed to. 207 00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:48.809 And so what's being communicated here is that these pseudo Christians, as a 208 00:19:48.890 --> 00:19:53.240 result, then glory in their shame. In other words, their consciences have 209 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:00.640 been so seared by repeated sin over and over and over that they don't feel 210 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:04.920 anything anymore. There it. There's no pangs of conscience, no guilt when 211 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:11.349 they do disobey God and as a result, they boast in it, they 212 00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:15.349 brag about it, about what they do and what they've done. And then, 213 00:20:15.470 --> 00:20:19.430 lastly, Paul says, their minds are set on earthly things. So 214 00:20:19.549 --> 00:20:25.619 this is where their true allegiance lies. As John says in a first John 215 00:20:25.740 --> 00:20:29.859 to verse fifteen, if anyone loves the world, the love of the father 216 00:20:30.220 --> 00:20:33.819 is not in him. And so these people, Paul is saying, they've 217 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:38.849 been sucked into a love of the world, they've been sucked into the things 218 00:20:40.049 --> 00:20:44.809 of the world and as result, the love of the father is not in 219 00:20:45.130 --> 00:20:55.480 them, and so this it would be tempting to just sort of like move 220 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:02.720 on at this point. I think it's appropriate, particularly given Paul's grief over 221 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:07.509 these people, to just just sit here and reflect for a second on us 222 00:21:07.390 --> 00:21:15.309 and to ask the question. Do we love the world? Where have we 223 00:21:15.869 --> 00:21:21.220 exchanged the love of God for the love of the stuff of the world, 224 00:21:22.859 --> 00:21:25.940 as John Says, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes 225 00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:30.460 and the pride of possessions? Do you, when you look at yourself, 226 00:21:30.539 --> 00:21:40.410 do you see such things in you? Maybe you're not going out and you 227 00:21:40.450 --> 00:21:47.559 know committing these committing it fornication and whatever else that these folks were doing, 228 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:59.079 but do you, when you look at Yourself, See Laziness, see self 229 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:06.589 indulgence? When you look at your heart, what do you see? That's 230 00:22:06.630 --> 00:22:11.910 what Paul is asking us to do, to examine ourselves. What are your 231 00:22:11.950 --> 00:22:17.099 darling sins, as the other assistant pastor at rank on is fond of saying, 232 00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:22.779 what things would you hold onto and maybe you know are wrong, but 233 00:22:22.980 --> 00:22:30.450 you just can't quite give them up because they're too dear to you. And 234 00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:37.329 so, friends, is Paul says elsewhere, run to Jesus, give them 235 00:22:37.490 --> 00:22:41.730 to Jesus recognize that they have been paid for at the cross, but that 236 00:22:42.250 --> 00:22:47.119 you then the penalty has been paid, but that he is also freeing you 237 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:52.839 from the power of sin as well, not just its penalty. The spirit 238 00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:56.519 is at work in you, changing your heart, and so give those things 239 00:22:56.599 --> 00:23:02.670 over to Christ. So that's reason number one why we should imitate Paul, 240 00:23:02.710 --> 00:23:07.069 all because it's easy to deceive ourselves. But then Paul also gives us a 241 00:23:07.109 --> 00:23:11.789 second reason, this one more hopeful, and it's that where citizens of Heaven, 242 00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:17.859 we read with me again versus twenty and twenty one. But our citizenship 243 00:23:17.980 --> 00:23:21.420 is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus 244 00:23:21.420 --> 00:23:26.819 Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by 245 00:23:26.859 --> 00:23:32.690 the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. And so 246 00:23:32.849 --> 00:23:37.849 that word citizenship there, citizens of Heaven, that it's a loaded term for 247 00:23:37.930 --> 00:23:44.359 the Philippians, because Philippi, the city, was a Roman colony. It 248 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:48.799 in BC forty two, I believe Julius Caesar fought a battle or not. 249 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:53.240 Julius Augustus Caesar fought a battle there and defeated his enemies and as a result 250 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:57.910 granted Philippi the right of being a Roman colony and, as a result, 251 00:23:59.390 --> 00:24:03.230 if you were a citizen of Philippi, you were also a citizen of Rome, 252 00:24:03.990 --> 00:24:08.230 with all the perks and privileges that that brought with it, the legal 253 00:24:08.349 --> 00:24:15.420 system and good roads and protection, and meant a lot to the Philippians. 254 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:18.579 They were very proud of the fact that they were Romans, and so the 255 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:26.769 Philippians got what Paul was talking about. Here he's making actually a very subversive 256 00:24:26.369 --> 00:24:37.130 claim. He's telling him that our citizenship, your primary citizenship, is in 257 00:24:37.329 --> 00:24:45.359 heaven, not Rome, and that that is just mindboggling, considering the political 258 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:53.470 situation at that time. Rome was the world. It was the world economically, 259 00:24:53.549 --> 00:25:00.670 militarily, politically, that was it. He's saying this is more important 260 00:25:00.710 --> 00:25:07.539 than that. First and foremost, your citizens of Heaven, and Paul Supports 261 00:25:07.579 --> 00:25:12.660 His argument by calling Christ two titles that would only have been used at that 262 00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:21.220 time, at least publicly, of Caesar, the titles savior and Lord, 263 00:25:22.289 --> 00:25:27.609 and those two titles actually were minted on the Greek coins of that day as 264 00:25:27.650 --> 00:25:33.329 well, reminding everyone just who was in charge. Caesar is savior, he 265 00:25:33.450 --> 00:25:40.640 rescued us, he delivers us from disease and war, protects us, and 266 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:49.230 he's also our Lord. He rules the known world. Paul is saying we 267 00:25:49.390 --> 00:25:56.789 have a better savior, one who is not just rescued us from foes abroad, 268 00:25:57.549 --> 00:26:02.309 but one who has delivered us from the punishment that we deserve for our 269 00:26:02.349 --> 00:26:07.220 sin. We have a better Lord, one who doesn't just rule a small 270 00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:12.140 portion, a corner of the world, but one who one day, every 271 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:18.099 knee will bow to and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 272 00:26:18.099 --> 00:26:22.730 as Paul has already talked about here. In Philippians too, this is your 273 00:26:22.809 --> 00:26:30.490 better savior and this is your better Lord. And then, as Paul announces 274 00:26:30.569 --> 00:26:36.839 here, he's coming back. When he comes, when he returns, and 275 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:41.759 in that day again, when Caesar came to a city, when he visited 276 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:48.430 a city, it was a huge celebration. Our Savior and our Lord is 277 00:26:48.549 --> 00:26:53.910 coming to visit. And Paul here is saying you're better savior and Lord is 278 00:26:53.950 --> 00:27:00.150 coming, not to visit but to stay, and he's bringing with him something 279 00:27:00.230 --> 00:27:06.099 far better than Caesar could ever give. He's going to make you and he's 280 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:11.980 going to remake you. He's going to give you a resurrection body conformed to 281 00:27:12.180 --> 00:27:18.769 his own glorified body. So Paul's Point is that Christ is better than Caesar 282 00:27:19.529 --> 00:27:26.730 and he's coming soon. Paul just sort of at the end of this verse 283 00:27:26.809 --> 00:27:30.319 twenty one then just throws out the sort of tagline at the end. It's 284 00:27:30.359 --> 00:27:36.559 really funny actually, by the power that enables him even to subject all things 285 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:42.319 to himself, compared to the power of Christ in his coming, the power 286 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:47.950 that can totally change your body and transform you, at his coming, into 287 00:27:48.150 --> 00:27:52.670 his likeness perfectly, to a body that will not experience pain and sorrow and 288 00:27:52.829 --> 00:28:00.539 suffering when all evil has been crushed under his feet. Compared to that kind 289 00:28:00.579 --> 00:28:06.380 of power, the power of Rome is nothing. Your truces and ship, 290 00:28:06.619 --> 00:28:14.730 your betters and ship who you are as citizens of Heaven. And then Paul, 291 00:28:15.170 --> 00:28:18.609 lastly, the wrap us up, sort of ties all these things together. 292 00:28:18.730 --> 00:28:23.970 And Chapter Four, verse one, therefore, my brothers, whom I 293 00:28:25.089 --> 00:28:30.240 love and long for, my joy and crown stand firmed us in the Lord, 294 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:37.720 my beloved and so Paul began by telling us and teaching us to imitate 295 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:45.670 him. But here, at the end, he tells us to stand firm. 296 00:28:45.470 --> 00:28:49.869 There he told us to walk in this particular way here, he tells 297 00:28:49.910 --> 00:28:59.700 us, don't move, stay still, stand firm, be rooted and rooted 298 00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:03.539 in Christ. It's as if he's saying, let me simplify all this for 299 00:29:03.660 --> 00:29:07.500 you. Let me just boil it down. Do you want to know what 300 00:29:07.579 --> 00:29:12.170 the mature Christian Walk Looks like? It looks like standing still on that sure, 301 00:29:12.210 --> 00:29:18.930 unshakable rock. It looks like sinking your roots deep into him, less 302 00:29:18.970 --> 00:29:23.049 the the storms of this life would knock you over. It looks like giving 303 00:29:23.049 --> 00:29:27.079 up everything simply to grab hold of the one who is grabbed hold of us 304 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:34.319 and brought us to himself, and in doing so, Jesus then redefines who 305 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:41.950 we are. He takes the weak, the unlovely, the despised, and 306 00:29:41.190 --> 00:29:48.230 makes us beautiful, beloved jewels in his crown. You're my crown, in 307 00:29:48.309 --> 00:29:55.140 my joy. This is a one to whom we owe everything. We owe 308 00:29:55.140 --> 00:29:59.539 him our life, we owe him are allegiance, we owe himm are obedience. 309 00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:03.619 And this, friends, is why we must trust him, trusting him 310 00:30:03.619 --> 00:30:07.849 with all that we are, all that we have, day in and day 311 00:30:07.890 --> 00:30:14.089 out, following after him. Amen, let's pray