Claiming Your Inheritance
Philippians 3:17 - 19, Acts 17:18, Philippians 3:12, 8-9, 16, Galatians 6:7 - 8, 4:1-9,
Philippians 3:20 - 21, Romans 8:19, 23, 25, 1 Corinthians 1:7, Galatians 5:5, Hebrews 9:28,
1 John 3:2
July 8, 2004
I. So far in Philippians 3 we have heard Paul say that we are to Rejoice in the Lord, and that we are not to put any confidence in our own abilities to make ourselves right with God.
A. He has said that we are to make our relationship with God and our service to God, our top priority in life, and not give our devotion to things that don’t have the lasting value that our relationship with God does.
B. He has told us that our walk in the Lord is to be a walk of maturity and it is vital that we grow up in our relationship with God.
C. There is no doubt the greatest need among Gods people is to live up to what they already have in Christ. Most of us live far below our exalted position in Christ. Paul’s plea to the Philippians was that they live up to what they had already attained, namely a righteous position in Christ.
D. Now Paul moves on to the next point in what he is saying and that is in addition to a walk of maturity, we are to walk a walk of watchfulness.
(Phil 3:17 - 19 NIV) Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
II. There were then and have always been those who teach false doctrine. In the first part of this chapter Paul was dealing with the Judizers. These were people who were saying that you had to be circumcised according to the Jewish law to be a Christian. It is possible that he is still referring to them, but it is more likely that he is talking about a group of people here who were called Epicureans.
A. The Epicureans were followers of the Greek Philosopher Epicurus, who lived in Athens. Paul had dealt with some of his followers when he was in Athens.
(Acts 17:18 NIV) A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
B. Epicurus taught that the aim of philosophy should be happiness and pleasure, not absolute truth. He said that experience, or our perceptions, general notions, and passions or affections were the test of what was right and wrong, not reason or absolute truth. In other words he said that right or wrong was only in found in our own desires.
C. Epicurus considered ethics to be based on what would bring lasting pleasure.
D. The basic guidelines for the these people was, be a glutton if you want, be sexually immoral if you want, steal if you want, because the only thing that governs right and wrong is what brings you the most pleasure or what makes things the easiest on you.
E. All that sounds really familiar, because we live in society that really says the same thing in a different way. We hear things to day like "if it feels good do it"and "don’t worry be happy", or what I am doing only affects me so what I think is ok.
F. Those are nothing more than cute ways to say what Epicurus said. And those are the things that Paul is warning us against.
G. Paul is telling us to beware of such people. Beware of people who try to twist truth of God’s word to fit a situation in a way that justifies their living how they want to or in a way that they say is best.
H. Paul says that people who do that, are enemies of the Cross. Their real God is their own desires, in other words they twist the absolute truth of God’s word to fit what they want instead of aligning what they want with the truth of God’s word.
I. Paul is telling us that their minds are so fixed on Earthly things, their own pleasure, and having things the way that they want them that they ignore what God has said the guidelines for living should be.
III. Paul is telling us that our walk with God should be a walk of watchfulness, he is saying that we should follow his example and not the example of the Judizers and Epicureans, and other teachers of false doctrine.
A. Paul was not trying to say that he was perfect, because he has already told us in this chapter that he was not perfect.
(Phil 3:12 NIV) Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
B. Being perfect is not a requirement for standing up for what is right, we don’t have to be perfect to take a stand for what God says is right, anymore than being perfect is a requirement for accepting Jesus.
C. But, we have been commissioned by God to proclaim his truth, and that is what we are to do.
D. We are to mature in our relationship with God so that we can be an example for others. We are to study and learn God’s Word, so that we will know what it is that we are to take a stand for, and we are to dedicate our lives to God so that we can be an example for others to see.
E. Paul went so far as to say that he cried over the spiritual welfare of the Christians that he was writing to, because those who were living in such a way as he was talking about were destroying themselves. He said their destiny is destruction.
F. There are two ways to look at what Paul is saying about destruction. The first is obvious those who reject Christ and the salvation that is in him, which Paul has just talked about in the passage before this, and who are living their life outside of salvation through Jesus are on a course toward and end of eternal destruction, and separation from God.
G. But we have to remember that Paul is writing to Christians. Its possible that even though Christian will not be separated from God, if they have accepted Jesus, they can still destroy the closeness in their relationship with God, and take a path of destruction in the here and now.
H. Even though we are forgiven of our sin in terms of whether we go to heaven or not we can still damage the closeness of our relationship with God, by refusing to live within the guidelines that God has set up for life.
I. Sin, even forgiven sin, creates a barrier in our closeness to God, and it leads to the destruction of our day to day relationship with Him.
J. As I said last week each day can be a step closer to living more of heaven everyday, if it is a step toward aligning our lives with God, but in the same way each step the other way is a step toward destroying the benefits of our salvation that come from our closeness to God.
K. Even though Christians can’t undo their salvation, because that is based on what Jesus did on the Cross and not what they do or accomplish they can destroy the benefits the relationship brings here and now by refusing to live the way God says that they are to live.
L. Eternity is sure when we accept Jesus. Paul has already said that it is not our righteousness that makes us a Christian.
(Phil 3:8 - 9 NIV) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
M. However, as Paul says in verse 16 it is to be our goal to live up to what we have been given.
(Phil 3:16 NIV) Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
N. Refusing to live up to what we have already been given in Christ is what Paul is warning us about we are not to be put off track, we are not to get off course in the race, by listening to false teaching, and deciding that what we think is best takes priority over what God has said is right.
O. If we do that we are living a life that will lead to the destruction of the benefits of our salvation.
(Gal 6:7 - 8 NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
P. Paul has already said that salvation comes only through Jesus’ righteousness. In Galatians he is writing to Christians and the eternal life that he is talking about is not about whether we go to heaven or hell because that is already decided, it is about what they live in the here and now.
Q. What Paul is saying is that if we live the way God says that we should live then we will reap the benefits of our salvation, and have a life with more peace, and satisfaction, in the here and now, and if we give in to our own desires and selfish interests then we will destroy the benefit of having a closeness to God in our day to day lives, that brings peace.
R. Boil it all down and it says you can choose to live more heaven here on Earth or more of hell here on Earth by the priorities that you choose. Earth is the in between, and you can choose the state of life that you have, by which direction you choose to travel toward.
S. If I want to get closer to Weatherford from this church I go South, if I want to get closer to Decatur I go North. The same is true with heaven and Hell. If I want to be closer to heaven I move in the direction that God has said will bring me closer to Him, if I want to move closer to hell I move in the direction that will move me away from Him, and that choice is made by my priorities, my actions, and my choices.
(Gal 4:1 - 9NIV) What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God--or rather are known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
T. Paul is telling us, hey you have been made children of God. We have the right to call God daddy. We have been given the rights of heirs of God. You are free from the control of sin, why would you want to return to being a slave.
U. What reason could their possibly be for giving up all the you have been given in Jesus, to live enslaved again by your own selfish desires? What is there in this world that can compare to what you have been given in Christ?
V. If Paul was living today, he would have probably ended that sentence with, DUH?
W. There is nothing in this world that we can gain by following our own self-centered desires and wants, that can even get close to what we have been given in Jesus.
IV. Paul goes on in verses 20 and 21 to nail down what it is that he has been trying to get across.
(Phil 3:20 - 21 NIV) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 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.
A. Paul says this is not our real home, so why do we want to get attached to it and its ways.
B. Why do we want to put down roots here, that tie us to what is here when the real goal is to move closer to what we were intended for, what we were created for, what we were redeemed for.
C. The people of Philippi were living there as colonists while their citizenship was in Rome. Their residence in Phillipi was temporary. Paul was trying to use what they understood to make his point.
D. Even though Christians live on earth their true citizenship is somewhere else. The true home a Christian is in heaven.
E. This is the direct opposite of what Paul was talking about verse 19. Believers are to look with anticipation for the return of Jesus. We are to live everyday as if it were the day that He will come back, because it might be the day that he comes back.
(Rom 8:19 NIV) The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
(Rom 8:23 NIV) Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
(Rom 8:25 NIV) But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
(1 Cor 1:7 NIV) Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
(Gal 5:5 NIV) But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
(Heb 9:28 NIV) so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
F. We are to live our lives every day in such a way as to wait for, long for, yearn for the day that we will be changed, and transformed into what we were originally created to be.
(1 John 3:2 NIV) 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.
G. We are to long for the day that we will be made completely like Jesus, but until that day comes we are not to be satisfied with anything less that making every effort to align our lives with God in such a way that we can become as much like Him as it is possible to be, on this Earth, so that we can experience as much of heaven as it is possible to experience while we are here on this earth.
H. When Jesus comes back, we will not have to deal with any of the limitations that come with being human, we will be made to be like Him, but that is no reason to accept anymore of those limitations in the here and now than are absolutely necessary.
I. We are to strive as Paul said to run the right course, to finish the race, even if we can’t get all the way to the finish line before he comes back, we are to get as close as we possibly can.
J. We are to discipline ourselves in such a way that move further toward our real home more every day that we live. Because this world is not our home.
K. This life is not the life that we were intended to live. And, by our choices, and where we place our priorities we can choose to live more of our true calling every day, but that is dependent on how much we make it our priority to align our lives and our actions with God design.
L. Don’t wait for Jesus to come back to claim your inheritance make the choices that will bring more of your inheritance into the life that you live here and now.
Fred Craddock tells the story of a time that he was on vacation. He and his wife had found a quiet little restaurant where they looked forward to a private meal, just the two of them. While they were waiting for their meal they noticed a distinguished looking white haired man moving from table to table, visiting guests. Craddock whispered to his wife, "I hope he doesn’t come over here!" He didn’t want the man to intrude upon their privacy. But that’s exactly what the man did. "Where you folks from," the man asked. "Oklahoma," said Fred. "Splendid State, I hear. Although I’ve never been there. What do you do for a living?" "I teach homiletics," Said Fred hoping that this would scare the man off. "Oh, so you teach preachers, do you! Well, have I got a story for you!" And with that he pulled up a chair and sat down. Dr. Craddock said he groaned inwardly thinking to himself, "Oh no! Here it comes. Another preacher story. It seems like everyone has one." At that point the man stuck out his hand and said,
I’m Ben Hooper. I was born not far from here across the mountains. My mother wasn’t married when I was born so I had a hard time. When I started school my classmates had a name for me, and it wasn’t a very nice name. I used to go off by myself at recess and during lunch time because the taunts of my playmates cut so deeply. What was worse was going down town on Saturday afternoon and feeling every eye burning a hole through me. They were all wondering just who my real father was. When I was about 12 years old a new preacher came to our church. He preached hell fire and brimstone.
He scared me and fascinated me all at the same time. I would always slip into church late and leave early so no one would see me. I feared that if anyone saw me they would ask what a boy like me was doing in their church. One day the preacher said the benediction so fast I got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. I could feel every eye in the church on me. Just about the time I got to the door I felt a big hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see the preacher looking down on me. He said, ‘Well young man, I see a resemblance in you. You look a lot like... Why you’re the son of.. the son of...’ I cringed and figured here it comes. And then he said, "Why you’re a son of God!" And slapping me on my bottom he added, "Now go out and collect your inheritance."
At that point the white haired gentleman looked across the table at Fred Craddock and said, "That was the most important single sentence ever said to me." And with that Ben Hooper bid his good-byes and moved on to another table. Suddenly, said Fred Craddock he remembered how on two occasions the people of Tennessee had elected an illegitimately born man to be their governor the man named Ben Hooper.
M. Don’t let forgetting who you really are keep you from being all that God created you to be. Work everyday toward collecting your inheritance.
N. I can’t think of any better time to start doing that than today.
