Introduction:
A. I read the story of a senior citizen who was driving down the highway when his cellphone rang through his Bluetooth car audio system.
1. He pushed the button and answered the phone, it was his wife.
2. The elderly man’s wife urgently warned him, saying, “I just heard on the news that there’s a car going the wrong way on Highway 401. I know you are on that road on your way home, please be careful!”
3. The elderly man replied to his wife, “Honey, you won’t believe it. It’s not just one car going the wrong way on the highway, it’s hundreds of them!”
B. Brothers and sisters, the reality in life is there are only two kinds of people in this world: those who are going with the flow of traffic and those who are driving against the flow.
1. Now obviously, when we are talking about actual driving on real highways, we must obey the law and follow the proper driving direction.
2. But if we use driving and the flow of traffic as a metaphor, then we realize that Christians have a challenging calling.
3. We are called to live and walk in God’s ways, and to move with God’s flow, but that puts us against the prevailing worldly flow of traffic.
4. We find ourselves in the same predicament that the senior citizen found himself in – driving against the flow of traffic.
C. In our text today from Philippians, Paul points out to us that there are only two kinds of people:
1. There are those who have their eyes on this world and its pleasures and are living accordingly.
2. And in contrast to them, are those whose eyes are on heaven and it’s ways and they are living accordingly.
3. As we will see, Paul puts it in terms of where a person’s citizenship is.
a. When our primary citizenship is in this world, then our eyes, minds and hearts are mostly focused on worldly things.
b. But when our primary citizenship is in heaven, then our eyes, minds and hearts are mostly focused on spiritual things.
4. My aim today is to help us evaluate where our focus is and to help us determine to keep our focus on the spiritual.
5. Let’s see how Paul develops these truths in our text for today and let’s begin where Paul began by looking at “Dwellers on Earth who are Citizens of Earth.”
I. Dwellers on Earth, and Citizens of Earth
A. Paul began today’s section of Scripture with the bold directive – “Follow my example!”
1. He wrote: “Join with others in following my example, brothers and sisters, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” (Phil. 3:17)
2. Paul has made similar appeals in his other letters.
a. “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example.” (2 Thess. 3:7)
b. “You became imitators of us and of the Lord…” (1 Thess. 1:6)
c. “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1)
3. Why did Paul charge others to follow his example?
a. Was it because he was conceited and just enjoyed having people follow him?
b. No, it was because he was concerned about others and was doing his best to be a good example for others to follow.
4. Truthfully, most people are followers rather than leaders.
a. Therefore, people are looking for someone they can imitate.
b. Paul wanted others to know that he was intentionally trying to be the best example he could be so that others could follow his example.
c. Most of us would be uncomfortable making a statement like Paul’s and we would rather say, “Do as I say, not as I do,” or follow my example only at certain times, and I will tell you those times.
5. Over the years, we have heard many high profile athletes say, “I don’t want to be a role model for others. Don’t follow my example.”
a. But unfortunately, others are going to follow our example whether we like it or not, or whether we are aware of it or not.
b. Therefore, it is best if we strive to have the kind of life before God that is a good example at all times.
6. All Christians should be the best example we can be, but our ministers, elders and deacons, and their wives need to be especially vigilant about providing a good example.
a. Our brothers and sisters in Christ need our good example.
b. Our children need our good example.
c. And our neighbors, friends, and coworkers need our good example.
7. Later in our text we will see that Paul shared more about a good example that has the right focus, but before he did that, he described some who were very poor examples.
B. Paul was so upset by how some people were living and the damage of their example, that he said that he wrote these things with tears.
1. Paul wrote: 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. (Phil 3:18-19)
2. There has been a lot of speculation over the years about whom Paul was speaking about here in verses 18-19, and one commentator listed no less than 18 possibilities.
a. Paul may have been referring to the hostile anti-Christian world in general.
b. Paul may have been referring to a group who advocated a particular form of false teaching.
c. Paul may have been referring to the Judaizers he discussed earlier in the chapter.
d. Or Paul may have been referring to certain members of the Philippian congregation.
3. But, whomever Paul was talking about, he gave a devastating assessment of them.
a. Let’s look at the characteristics of their wrong example so that we can avoid adopting them
C. First, Paul said they are “enemies of the cross of Christ.”
1. This characteristic could be very general or very specific.
2. Specifically, they may have been individuals who taught and preached against the saving power of the cross.
a. They may have been people who denied the resurrection of Jesus and the salvation that was accomplished at the cross.
3. Generally, anyone can be said to be an enemy of the cross who leads people away from Christ either by their words or deeds, even if unintentionally.
D. Second, Paul said that their “destiny is destruction.”
1. And really, how could their end be other than destruction if they oppose Christ?
2. The destruction that enemies of Christ experience begins with the natural consequences in this world that they reap from their sin, and their destruction is concluded and complete in being kept out of an eternity in heaven.
E. Third, Paul said that their “god is their stomach.”
1. I don’t believe that gluttony is the specific problem Paul was referring to.
2. Rather, I think Paul was describing a people who live for themselves and live to feed their own uncontrollable appetites for sin.
3. Those who are focused on the things of earth worship their appetites as if they were gods.
4. In every civilization in every time and place, there have been these kinds of individuals who deny themselves nothing that they desire, and it becomes their god.
F. Fourth, Paul said that “their glory is their shame.”
1. These kinds of individuals boast about the very things that should make them be ashamed.
2. These individuals are actually proud of their sins.
a. They might be the ruthless business person who boasts about their dishonest gains.
b. They might be the adulterer who boasts about their ability to manage their secret encounters.
c. Or they might embrace the homosexual movement, and movements like it, that are proud of their ungodly and unnatural lifestyle.
3. The things they glory in are truly to their shame and will result in God’s judgment.
G. Finally, Paul described them in general saying, “their mind is on earthly things.”
1. For these individuals, their whole focus and orientation is on the things of the world.
2. They are caught up in all the traps of this earth, and they are spiritually blind and deaf.
H. Paul’s primary point is: Don’t be like these individuals - don’t follow their example – for their destiny is destruction.
1. In contrast to those individuals are a whole different category of people who are dwellers on earth, and are citizens of heaven.
II. Dwellers on Earth, and Citizens of Heaven
A. Paul wrote in verse 20: “But our citizenship is in heaven.”
1. As I have explained before, Philippi, being a Roman colony was a “Rome away from Rome.”
2. There was a great sense of pride in their Roman citizenship, and so in Philippi they followed Roman law, Roman customs, Roman language, culture and dress.
3. Building on that concept of citizenship, Paul was saying, in so many words, “Just as the Roman citizen never forgets they belong to Rome, you must never forget that you are a citizen of heaven, and your conduct must match your citizenship.
B. Let’s think for a minute about how different earthly or American citizenship is from heavenly citizenship.
1. How different is earthly language from heavenly language?
2. How different are earthly laws and heavenly laws?
3. How different are earthly leaders and heavenly leaders?
4. How different is the earthly cause from the heavenly cause?
5. When we make those comparisons it becomes obvious that they are truly worlds apart.
6. And yet, we are called to live on earth while we are molded and directed by heaven.
7. And it must be obvious to everyone around us that our true citizenship is in heaven and we live in a way that says, “This world is not my home…”
C. Paul goes on in this section of verses to remind us of the wonders of our heavenly citizenship.
1. Paul wrote: 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. (Phil. 3:20-21)
D. First, we notice that there is the wonder of the sure return of Christ.
1. I like the statement I put on the church sign this week: “Jesus said ‘I’ll be back’ way before Arnold did.”
2. As the apostles stood looking into the sky after the ascension of Jesus, the angels said, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
3. In John 14, Jesus comforted His apostles with the idea of going to prepare a place for them in God’s heavenly mansion and He promised, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (Jn. 14:3)
4. The apostle Peter wrote: “The day of the Lord will come…” (2 Pet. 3:10)
5. And some of the final words in the final book of the NT are these words: He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Rev. 22:20)
6. For the Christian (a citizen of heaven) the promise of His coming is not spoken with a sense of dread or apprehension, but with a spirit of joyful expectation.
7. The sure return of Jesus undergirds our confidence and hope as disciples of Jesus and citizens of heaven.
E. Second, we notice that another wonder of heavenly citizenship is the sufficient resource.
1. Our Lord Jesus, whom we are waiting for, has the power to bring everything under His control.
2. While Jesus was on the earth, He regularly demonstrated His power over everything as He cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, and even controlled the winds and waves of nature.
3. How wonderful it is to know that the One we belong to, the One who rules over our heavenly citizenship has the power to sustain all things and to do anything that needs to be done.
4. In the apostle Peter’s second letter, he reminds us of this, saying: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)
5. Our heavenly citizenship guarantees sufficient resource of every spiritual thing.
F. Finally, we notice that another wonder of heavenly citizenship is the splendid resurrection.
1. Paul may have been speaking to those who were having doubts regarding the difficulties connected with the resurrection body.
2. It was something Paul wrote about extensively to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15.
3. But this is not something that we need to doubt or worry about, because our God has the power to do what He has promised, and that is to transform our lowly bodies so that they are like His glorious body.
4. I don’t have the knowledge or ability to explain all there is to know about the resurrection body, and so I like the simple explanation that the apostle John gave: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
5. How wonderful and hopeful it is to know that our lowly bodies – so characterized by limitations, frailty, pain and death, and so prone to sin – will be raised to glory and to immortality – we shall be like Him.
Conclusion:
A. So, as we bring today’s sermon to a close, let’s ask ourselves some questions:
1. First, which citizenship is influencing us the most? Our earthly citizenship or our heavenly citizenship?
2. Second, whose example are we following?
a. Think of the Christian life as a long parade from earth to heaven – at the head of the line is Jesus, the Captain of our salvation –step by step Jesus is leading His followers to glory.
b. Then following Jesus are the apostles and other leaders before us – Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ” and I say the same thing to you today, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
c. We all need mentors, models, heroes – people who are farther along in the spiritual journey who can keep us pointed toward the Lord.
3. It is all a matter of basic orientation.
a. Are we individuals whose lives are oriented toward this world, or are we oriented beyond this world to eternity?
b. Do our goals, hopes and values reflect the higher order of things to which we are called?
B. The apostle Paul was a citizen of heaven even though he was a dweller on earth.
1. When Paul wrote to the church at Colosse, he gave them a nice summary of the things we have been talking about in this sermon: 1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col. 3:1-4)
2. What powerful and wonderful truths!
a. Set your hearts and minds on things above…toward God’s thrown.
b. For our lives are now hidden with Christ in God!
c. When Christ who is our life appears – Jesus is coming again!
d. When He does, He will take us with Him into glory!
C. I want to close with a story titled “Keep Your Fork” (Perhaps you have heard the story before).
1. Perhaps you have been to a funeral where someone was laid in their casket with a fork in hand.
a. This was one of Doris Coomey’s requests for her funeral and it based on this story.
2. There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live.
a. So as she was getting her things in order, she contacted her minister and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.
b. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.
3. Everything was in order and the minister was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.
a. “There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly. “This is very important,” the young woman continued, “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.”
b. The minister stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.
c. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the young woman asked. “Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the minister.
4. The young woman then explained: “My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!”
“So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder ‘What's with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them: ‘Keep your fork...the best is yet to come.’ ”
5. The minister’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman goodbye.
a. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death.
b. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did.
c. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge.
d. She knew that something better was coming.
6. So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come.
a. Jesus is coming soon and our citizenship is in heaven and so the best is yet to come!
Resources:
The Bible Exposition Commentary, Philippians, by Warren Wiersbe, Victor Books, 1989
