LIVING TOGETHER BY THE RIGHT PATTERN
Philippians 3:17-4:1
INTRODUCTION
A. How Christine lays out a pattern to sew by:
1. She spreads it out on the table, and I will come home to find the dining room table taken over by her material as she cuts out a pattern.
2. The items she is cutting out do not look like what she is going to sew, but when she follows the pattern, it will look like it is supposed to. You have to use the right pattern to make it right.
3. She has found that the pattern has to be right for the person the clothing is being made for. She went to a sewing workshop and had a pattern specially made for her.
B. In Philippians Paul discusses how we are to live together in Christ, and here we come to see that if we are to do so we must live by the right pattern – vs. 17.
1. Guarding our faith, living up to what we have attained comes when we live by the right pattern.
2. This was true in the early years of the church, because believers needed practical guides for how to live. That is what Paul gives them here.
3. It is still true today.
4. Specifically we are to imitate Paul’s conduct.
a. He uses a word that means to mimic together, kind of like playing follow the leader.
b. At first glance, the pattern Paul is giving us is egotistical, but we need to put it in the context of how Paul perceived his conduct: 1 Corinthians 11:1 – "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."
c. We saw the example of Paul in vss. 7-14.
d. We are to gain our pattern from others who model Christ in their lives. We are to live like those who are trying to be like Jesus.
• Timothy set this kind of example – 1 Timothy 4:12 – “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
• The Thessalonians had become a model – 1 Thessalonians 1:7 – “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”
• Young men and elders are to be models – Titus 2:7 – “In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness.” 1 Peter 5:3 – “…not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”
• Now we are to be models with them as we live by the right pattern.
KEY STATEMENT
There are two reasons we need to live by the right pattern: the first is negative; the second is positive.
WE SHOULD LIVE BY THE RIGHT PATTERN BECAUSE...
I. ...MANY LIVE AS ENEMIES OF THE CROSS – Vss. 18,19.
• At first glance this seems like a repeat of Paul’s discussion earlier in the chapter about denying the flesh and putting no confidence in it.
• There is a similarity in the thought here, but Paul is now carrying his argument on further to where we are to stay away from even the influence of those who live controlled by earthly things.
A. Those controlled by earthly things are enemies of the cross of Christ.
1. This matter of how we are to look at earthly things is an important matter.
a. Paul had often discussed it with the Philippians before, as have some of us. We saw this in 3:1-16.
b. It was an emotional issue for Paul: He had told them with tears, the tears of genuine caring for them – and especially for those who would listen.
(1) Christine cries easily; she cried once at a Hallmark card commercial on TV.
(2) Dr. Wayne Shaw cries when he preaches; he really cares about his message and the people he is preaching to.
(3) There was a day in which people made impassioned pleas for Christians to give up earthly things, but we have become a church of materialism.
2. What is an enemy of the cross? They are people who focus on material things.
a. This is urgent because a person cannot be saved unless they come to the cross for salvation.
b. We were all enemies of the cross once – Romans 5:10 – “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Colossians 1:21 – “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior…”
c. We have a picture of an enemy of the cross in Acts 13 with the case of Elymas.
d. Why were these materialistic people enemies of the cross? 1 Corinthians 1:18, 23, 24 – “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The cross calls for change, but causes these people to stumble in its demands. If we are to give up earthly things and so not be enemies of the cross, we must submit to the demands of the cross.
B. Look at the results in the lives of people who live as enemies of the cross:
1. Their destiny is destruction.
a. Paul here has the eye of a parent for a child: A parent will often see that a child has made a mistake and even though it looks good then, it will lead to later problems.
b. Ministers see this happen with people in counseling.
c. So Paul says that even though this philosophy going around in his day and again in our day sounds good and may bring prosperity, the end result is destruction for eternity.
2. Their god is their stomach.
a. Some people have odd goals:
Can you imagine riding a bike 60 miles per hour while eating donuts?
Roy Wehling can. Well, sort of.
Roy won the annual Tour de Donut in Staunton, Illinois, a couple of years ago, riding his bike 30 miles in 31 minutes. Well, sort of.
Contestants get to take five minutes off their total time for every donut they eat during the race. Roy finished in a little more than two hours, but he wolfed down 18 donuts while he was at it!
Roy had eaten nine donuts in the race a year earlier. "This year," he said, "I tried to double my donuts and have a good road time."
b. These people may be in the church and even appear spiritual.
c. Their real god, though, is their own selfish appetites and having them satisfied.
3. They glory in themselves, but that is to their shame, in contrast to Jesus who scorned the shame of the cross – Hebrews 12:2 – “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
4. The bottom line of all this is that they are not thinking with the same mind, or even trying to, but they only think about the things of the world.
Paul Azinger’s friend Mike got on an airplane one day and saw one of the strangest things he had ever seen in his life. The man sitting next to him in first class was dressed in a bathrobe and slippers. The man’s seat was a beautiful leather chair, but my friend’s was simply made of fabric. The man said to my friend. “I see you have noticed my chair. This chair is made of the finest leathers money can buy.” Then Azinger’s friend noticed that the man had a mahogany tray table. Again, the man said, “Ahh, you have noticed my gorgeous tray table.” Azinger’s friend looked up and saw that the guy had a ceiling fan. The rich man was also surrounded by a VCR, a television set, a CD player, and a computer.
Azinger’s friend was flabbergasted. He asked the rich man, “Why would anyone go to the expense to have all these things installed in an airplane?” The man replied bluntly, “Because this is my home.”
His friend thought, “What a shame! A place that was intended to be a journey, he has made his home.”
C. Contrast that with Augustine:
His greatest problem was immorality. He had two mistresses and an illegitimate child. He wanted deliverance, but only after he had satisfied his appetites. He wrote how he prayed, "Lord, make me chaste," while he knew that he was actually adding under his breath, "but not quite yet." He wrestled with this hindrance to his belief for years. But near Milan, Italy, at a friend’s one day, God brought him to the end of his resistance. He sensed himself being told to "pick up and read" while he strolled in his friend’s garden one day. He found there a Bible opened to Romans 13:13,14, read it, and gave himself to the Lord.
II. ...WE LIVE AS CITIZENS OF HEAVEN – Vss. 20,21.
A. Our citizenship is in heaven and that is what we ought to seek.
1. Paul emphasizes it is us he is talking about – the true believer – and so stresses the difference between the enemy and the true believer.
a. Normally the conjunction “but” or “for” would appear first in the passage.
b. Here, though, Paul places “our” first. It is an awkward construction in English, but one that makes an emphasis in Greek.
2. The Philippians would find it a most apt metaphor that they were citizens of heaven, because they were citizens of Rome, although they did not live there, and they were proud of that fact. Most of them had not even been there.
a. They would understand that they had the same relationship to heaven.
b. We face this conflict as Americans, because we want our citizenship here, but we need to realize that our most important citizenship is in heaven.
3. The Bible paints us as foreigners and strangers on earth – Hebrews 11:13 – “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.” 1 Peter 2:11 – “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”
4. Much more could be said about how we are to wait for Jesus’ return and what our condition is while we wait, but Paul here simply says our citizenship in heaven is marked by the fact that we wait and keep on waiting.
a. As the early church did, we are to wait as the gardener waited for the owner – “Today, Not Tomorrow.”
On the shore of beautiful Lake Como, nestled in the Italian Alps, is a lovely old villa, perhaps two or three hundred years old. For years the grounds have been immaculately kept by a trusted old gardener. One day some tourists were complimenting him on his work. “The owner must come here frequently to supervise your work,” one of them said.
“No, sir,” answered the gardener. “He has been here only once in fifteen years and then I did not see him.”
“Well, then, how do you get your orders?” came the next question.
“They come from the owner’s agent, who live in Milan,” the old man replied.
“Then he must come here often.”
“No, not often, perhaps once a year or so.”
“This is quite amazing,” said the tourist. “You have no one to supervise your work, and yet the grounds are as neat as if you expected the owner to come back tomorrow.”
“Today, sir!” came the old gardener’s firm reply. “Not tomorrow, today!”
b. Lord Shaftesbury, the great English social reformer, said near the end of his life, “I do not think that in the last 40 years I have lived one conscious hour that was not influenced by the thought of our Lord’s return.” That was the motive behind his social programs; think of what would happen is that were our motive for what we do.
Are you looking for Jesus’ return? If you are motivated by prejudice against other Christians or others in general, whether they are black or white, rich or poor, cultured or culturally naive, or whatever they may be – then the return of Jesus Christ has not made its proper impression on you. If you are contemplating some sin, perhaps a dishonest act in business, perhaps trifling with sex outside of marriage, perhaps cheating on your income tax return – then the return of Jesus Christ has not made its proper impression on you. If your life is marked by a contentious, divisive spirit in which you seek to tear down the work of another person instead of building it up – then the return of Jesus Christ has not made its proper impression on you. If you first protect your own interests and neglect to give food, water, or clothing to the needy as we are instructed to do in Christ’s name – then the return of Jesus Christ has not made its proper impression on you (Boice).
B. The fact that we are citizens of heaven can be seen in how Jesus will transform our bodies, even as he has already transformed death.
1. The cape at the southern end of Africa for many years was considered to be a fatal barrier to all shipping. Whoever was caught in its swirling waters went down to a watery grave. It was called the Cape of Storms. But finally a bold explorer sailed around it and opened for Europe and the world a new route to the East Indies. He changed the name of it to the Cape of Good Hope.
2. Jesus has done that to death. By his resurrection he changed it from something to be feared, to a sign of great hope.
3. What a difference that can make in how we face death – as seen in the difference between death in the same year of Colonel Ingersoll and Dwight L. Moody – all because our citizenship is in heaven.
In the year 1899, two famous men died in America. The One was an unbeliever who made a career of debunking the Bible and arguing against the Christian doctrines. The other was a Christian. Colonel Ingersoll, after whom the famous Ingersoll lectures on immortality at Harvard University are named, was the unbeliever. He died suddenly, his death coming as an unmitigated shock to his family. The body was kept in the home for several days because Ingersoll’s wife could not bear to part with it; and it was finally removed only because the corpse was decaying and the health of the family required it. At length the remains were cremated, and the display at the crematorium was so dismal that some of the scene was even picked up by the newspapers and communicated to the nation at large. Ingersoll had used his great intellect to deny the resurrection. When death came there was no hope, and the departure was received by his friends as an uncompensated tragedy.
In the same year the evangelist Dwight L. Moody died, and his death was triumphant for himself and his family. Moody had been declining for some time, and his family had taken turns being with him. On the morning of his death his son, who was standing by the bedside, heard him exclaim, “Earth is receding; heaven is opening; God is calling.” “You are dreaming, father,” the son said. Moody answered, “No, Will, this is no dream. I have been within the gates. I have seen the children’s faces.” For a while it seemed as if Moody was reviving, but he began to slip away again. He said, “Is this death? This is not bad; there is no valley. This is bliss. This is glorious.” By this time his daughter was present, and she began to pray for his recovery. He said, “No, no, Emma, don’t pray for that. God is calling. This is my coronation day. I have been looking forward to it.” Shortly after that Moody was received into heaven. At the funeral the family and friends joined in a joyful service. They spoke. They sang hymns. They heard the words proclaimed, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Moody’s death was a part of that victory.
4. One day he will transform our bodies, so they will be like Jesus’ body after the resurrection – and all our weaknesses and diseases will be gone.
5. With that as our view of death and our final hope as citizens of heaven, we ought to live by the right pattern.
CONCLUSION
A. We have some great motivation, then, to live by the right pattern of those who follow Jesus, although we often get off track:
A man bought a new hunting dog. Eager to see how he would perform, he took him out to track a bear. No sooner had they gotten into the woods than the dog picked up the trail. Suddenly he stopped, sniffed the ground, and headed in a new direction. He had caught the scent of a deer that had crossed the bear’s path. A few moments later he halted again, this time smelling a rabbit that had crossed the path of the deer. And so, on and on it went until finally the breathless hunter caught up with his dog, only to find him barking triumphantly down the hole of a field mouse.
Sometimes we as Christians are like that. We start out with high resolve, keeping Christ first in our lives. But soon our attention is diverted to things of lesser importance. One pursuit leads to another until we’ve strayed far from our original purpose.
B. So we ought to stand firm like that in the Lord – 4:1.
1. That was the stand Martin Luther made at the Diet of Worms, when on trial for his belief. He would not compromise, but said, “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise; God help me.”
2. The question today is: Will you make your stand in the Lord and live by the right pattern?
