Introduction
One October afternoon in 1982, Badger Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, was packed. More than 60,000 die-hard University of Wisconsin supporters were watching their football team take on the Michigan State Spartans. It soon became obvious that MSU had the better team. What seemed odd was that, as the score became more lopsided in favor of the visiting team the cheers and joy of the Wisconsin fans grew louder. How could they cheer when their team was losing? It turns out that seventy miles away the Milwaukee Brewers were beating the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of the 1982 World Series. Many of the fans in the stands were listening to portable radios--and responding to something other than their immediate circumstances.
In much the same way, we who are citizens of heaven should be rejoicing even though our circumstances are not ideal here on earth. We are to have the perspective of eternity.
Since those who are saved are citizens of Heaven, Paul wants us to have a spiritual mind, that is to think from Heaven’s point of view. Verse 19 says that those who are enemies of the Cross “mind earthly things.” Conversely, those who are saved should mind Heavenly things. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Lot chose the plains of Sodom because he was earthly minded. Moses refused the pleasures and treasures of Egypt and allowed himself to be mistreated with the people of God because he was heavenly minded. In Matthew 16:23, when Peter got onto Jesus for saying that he would one day suffer and be killed but then rise from the dead, Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Romans 8:5–8 says, “5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Because our citizenship is in Heaven, we are to set our minds on Heaven. We need to start the New Year with the right mind set. Set your minds on Heaven, establish a Heavenly mind set, and have an eternal perspective. Then and only then will we have the joy that Paul speaks about in the book of Philippians. We can only “rejoice in the Lord always” when we have set our minds on Heavenly things. 2 Co 4:18 says “as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Only those who are saved are citizens of Heaven. Paul is weeping in this passage because some have not been saved. They are called “enemies of the Cross of Christ” because they are trusting in their good works or their religion to get them to Heaven instead of the finished work of Christ on the Cross. I urge you today to forsake your good works and trust in Christ and his death on the Cross for your salvation. Then, and only then, will you be a citizen of Heaven.
Since our citizenship is in Heaven, these things are true:
Our names are written in Heaven.
People born in Philippi had the privilege of being Roman citizens even though they were hundreds of miles from Rome. Their names were on the registry of Roman citizens. When we get saved, we become citizens of Heaven even though we don’t live there, and our names are written down there.
Only those whose name is written in Heaven will enter into Heaven. In Philippians 4:3, Paul talks about the saved in Philippi whose names are in the Book of Life. Revelation 21:27 says, “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” And I am glad to say that there are no erasers in Heaven. Once your name is written in heaven, it is always there. That does not give a Christian a license to sin and disobey God, because he cannot lose his salvation. No, anyone who is a true Christian will be serious about following Christ and living in obedience to Him. But our names can never be removed from Heaven’s roll.
Someone might take your name out of their will because of something you do, but God will never take your name off Heaven’s roll.
One might say, “My name is on the church roll.” That’s great, but is it on Heaven’s roll? There will be some who have their name on the church roll but they don’t have their name on heaven’s roll, because they have not been saved.
When we travel, we do not go to a place far away without making a reservation. We call ahead and have them reserve our room in our name. A place in Heaven is reserved for all those who trust in Christ alone to save them. No one will enter Heaven without having their name written down there.
D.L. Moody said, “Many are spending their time and strength for a home down here, with its shallow luxuries and fleeting joys. But what will all the mansions of earth do for you, if you have secured no title to a mansion in the sky?”
Luke 10:20 say, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” This is the source of our joy, not our circumstances, not our health, or our wealth. It is the fact that our names are written in Heaven. Is that the most exhilarating thought you can possibly have? Do you live in holy realization of this, or do you take your identity from your bank account or your dress size?
Is your name written in Heaven? I am glad I am an American citizen. It is a wonderful privilege and one that should not be taken for granted. However, what difference does it make if I am a citizen of America but not a citizen of Heaven? What about you? Have you repented of your sin and by faith come to Christ as your Savior so you can have your name written in Heaven?
Since we are citizens of Heaven, we should have Heaven’s values.
In verse 19, Paul talks about the false teachers who have earth’s values. "Their god is their belly.” This means they were gluttons without self control. They valued only fulfilling the desires of the flesh. Also, “they glory in their shame.” They seek to glorify themselves instead of seeking to glorify God. If we have Heaven’s values, we will not seek our own glory but only God’s. We will not value the praise of man, but only pleasing God.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 says, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
I have heard it said, “Christians are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.” I disagree. I think we are too earthly minded. You cannot be too heavenly minded.
1 John 2:15-17 says, “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” James 4:4 says, “You adulterous people, Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God.
“Loving the world,” means loving the value system of the world. Many Christians today love the world’s value system, but they don’t love people. We love materialism. We love pleasure. We love popularity. We love prestige. We love passion, possessions, and position. But God loves people, and he wants us to love them too. If you’re going to be a friend of God, then you’ve got to care about what he cares about and stop caring about the things he doesn’t care about. God doesn’t care about your image. He’s not interested in your popularity, your net worth. He’s interested in your character—not how you look but who you are. An essential step toward friendship with God means choosing to value what God values.
Having Heaven’s values does not mean that believers are to neglect the affairs of earth with endless contemplation of eternity. It just means that believers are not to be concerned only with the trivialities of the temporal. When heavenly values dominate our minds, they will produce godly behavior and make us more like the Christ we love.
Since we are citizens of Heaven, we are to obey Heaven’s laws.
In verse 17, Paul admonishes his readers to imitate him as he seeks to be just like Christ. Here we see that Paul’s life was governed by Heaven’s laws. In Ephesians 4:17-32, God’s Word tells us, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
These are just a few of the laws of Heaven we read about. This is the way we are to live as citizens of heaven. In Luke 6:46, Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I tell you.” The Bible is our rulebook. Heaven’s Laws are found in the Word of God. God’s Word is our authority.
Last week, when I was talking about looking out my rearview mirror, I failed to disclose a very notable thing that happened. I was pulled over by a state trooper for speeding. I was not paying attention and was ignoring the laws of the road. Graciously, the trooper gave me a warning instead of a ticket even though I was going 13 miles over the speed limit. Ignoring the laws of government usually doesn’t end well. But ignoring God’s laws never ends well. And those who are citizens of Heaven should be obeying God’s laws.
We do not obey God’s laws to earn his favor and go to Heaven. Law keeping doesn’t save anyone. But we obey God’s laws because we love Him and want to please Him as His children.
John Bunyan was a great preacher of the gospel, back in the seventeenth century in England. The government was trying to control the church in those days and they said to him, “Mr. Bunyan, you must register to preach the gospel, if you are going to preach the gospel in England.” He said, “I’ll have no strings on my message. I will not register.”
They put him in a prison—dark, damp, and dirty. He didn’t even have a bed to sleep on. He had a little girl who had epilepsy. He had a wife who was living in poverty. They closed the doors of his church. Other preachers had signed—they were preaching, and their churches were open. But John Bunyan was in prison, and he said, “I will not sign.” They put the license right outside his jail cell. All that he had to do was just to reach through the bars, pick it up, and sign it and they would open the doors, and he would be free. But he stayed in that prison and he refused to obey men rather than God. And while he was in prison, he wrote the book Pilgrim’s Progress.
Bunyan understood he was a citizen of Heaven and he had to obey God rather than men.
Since we are a citizen of Heaven, we are to look for Heaven’s Lord.
In verses 20, 21, Paul says “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.” The fact that Jesus is returning is a powerful motive for holy living. 1 John 2:28 says, “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”
Scripture exhorts us to watch, pray, be ready, eagerly expect, wait for and look for the return of our Savior. If we are watching for His return and anticipating it, it will change the way we live. If you are expecting a very important guess to your house, do you take time to clean the house or do you just leave everything lying around? If you are like my wife, you clean everything. You vacuum, you dust, you mop. You want the house to be clean when your guest arrives. The same should be true with our lives if we are expecting the Lord to return. We should make sure all sin is confessed. We should make sure our hearts are clean, our minds are clean, our attitudes are right so when he comes we will not be ashamed.
1 John 3:2 says 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
Paul says in our text in verses 20, 21 when Christ comes, we will receive a glorified body like the body of Christ. Our lowly body will be changed to a glorified body. 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 says, “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” At that moment, everything on earth will be worthless to us. We need to live every day with eternity’s values in view.
In Matthew 24:36-44, we read, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man……..Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
That is the day when we will finally be like Christ. We will be sanctified. We will be wholly holy! He who began a good work in us will complete it on that day. (Philippians 1:6) We need to be looking for His return.
God has changed our hearts and our minds already. Then, he will change our bodies. Our bodies are not yet redeemed. Our spirits are redeemed, but not our bodies. But one of these days our bodies are going to be redeemed, and we’re going to be made like the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re not going to heaven in these bodies. We’re going in changed, glorified bodies. Not only does that mean we will not have sickness and pain any longer, it means we won’t have temptation any longer! Hallelujah!
If you are a citizen of Heaven, you should be looking for Heaven’s Lord. Look for his return. Live every day as if this will be the day Christ comes.
Conclusion:
As we embark on this New Year, we need to all make sure we are saved and citizens of Heaven. We need to make sure our names are written in Heaven and not just in the church’s roll book. Have you called on the name of the Lord to save you, to forgive you of sin? If not, do it now as we start this New Year off.
If you are a citizen of Heaven, start the New Year off with the right mindset. Mind Heavenly things, not earthly things. View everything here on earth from a Heavenly perspective. Value what God values. Value character, not comfort. Obey Heaven’s laws, not just the laws of the land here on earth. Surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and allow God’s Word to be your final authority as you look for the return of Jesus Christ.
