SPEAKER_01: Thanks for checking out this podcast from Carterville Christian Church.
SPEAKER_01: We're so glad you're here.
SPEAKER_01: Our hope is that through these messages you'll grow deeper in your faith and experience the life-changing hope of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's jump into this week's teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, C3.
SPEAKER_00: Good to be with you.
SPEAKER_00: This morning we're continuing our study through the book of Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians chapter 3 is where we are today, starting at verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Finish this line for me.
SPEAKER_00: It's not how you start, but yeah, we've all heard that phrase before.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't rocket science for us necessarily.
SPEAKER_00: You and I know this to be true.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us personally know this to be true, and some of us observationally know this to be true.
SPEAKER_00: We've seen people start something and not be able to not be able to finish.
SPEAKER_00: I remember uh I was in probably middle school and I was eating with my family at a at a steakhouse, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And we got, you know, sat down, had our menus.
SPEAKER_00: One of my friends was eating with us for this occasion, and he ordered, I think, like an eight-ounce sirloin, you know, and the waiter brought out our food with with everything, and he looks at his at his steak sitting on his on his plate, and he goes, I thought I'd ordered, I thought I ordered an eight-ounce steak, not a two-ounce steak, you know, and kind of snickered, you know, like this is the smallest thing ever.
SPEAKER_00: And then he proceeded to eat about six ounces of that eight-ounce steak.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people like have started something and not not been able to finish it, right?
SPEAKER_00: And it's not necessarily how you start, but it's it's how you finish.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you saw this video of the Delaware Marathon about a month ago.
SPEAKER_00: This guy, Carson Mello, uh, was cruising to victory, and actually, as he's on his way um to the to the finish line, like the announcer is like announcing his name and saying he's going to win, and he didn't know Joshua Jackson is closing in behind him.
SPEAKER_00: And you see it right here, and I think you'll see it again.
SPEAKER_00: Just meters from the line, Mello like eased up, pumping his fists in the air, turning off his watch, and gets past the official time is he got beat by like 0.87 seconds.
SPEAKER_00: It's not how you start, but it's how you finish.
SPEAKER_00: And we're continuing the series through the book of Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: We're in chapter three, and and last week we asked this question like, do you believe that life with Jesus is better than life without him?
SPEAKER_00: And if so, why?
SPEAKER_00: And we looked at Paul's testimony, really.
SPEAKER_00: Paul like goes through this whole list of things that that he could consider as things to boast in, but he says all of them are all of them are garbage.
SPEAKER_00: Like, none of them mean anything.
SPEAKER_00: If I if I may gain Christ, and what he's really doing is Paul is expanding on his understanding of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he was doing.
SPEAKER_00: Now, make no mistake, like Paul's theology and his understanding of the gospel is that we are saved by grace through faith, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not by, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
SPEAKER_00: That's Ephesians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: And this is why Paul goes into this section in Philippians chapter 3 when he says, Hey, all of those things that I might be able to boast in, they all mean nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Like ultimately, like I'm I'm saved by grace through faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm saved because of what Jesus has has done for me.
SPEAKER_00: All those things are useless, they're garbage, they're rubbish.
SPEAKER_00: All of my works are pointless.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says, he's continuing this thought in our passage in Philippians chapter 3, verses 12 through the end of the chapter.
SPEAKER_00: And what he's what he says now is, you need to get to work.
SPEAKER_00: And it almost seems contradictory, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like it almost seems like this is a contradicting thought, but it isn't.
SPEAKER_00: Because yes, we have received salvation as a result of no earning on our part, but then we continue to work out our out this salvation through our spirit-filled effort to be formed into the image of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of what we talked about back in chapter two when Paul says, Hey, continue to work out your salvation, this idea of sanctification, that we have been saved and now we are being saved.
SPEAKER_00: We are still in this process.
SPEAKER_00: We continue in this sanctification process.
SPEAKER_00: Dallas Willard said it famously this way.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is not opposed to effort, but it's opposed to earning.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you've heard it this way: like trusting in God for our salvation does not omit trying to become more like Him.
SPEAKER_00: Like there has effort on our part.
SPEAKER_00: We're not saved by our striving.
SPEAKER_00: We're actually saved from our striving.
SPEAKER_00: Like we can rest in who God has called us to be and what he has accomplished for us.
SPEAKER_00: But then, yes, we're not saved by our striving, but we're saved from our striving.
SPEAKER_00: And then at the same time, we're also saved to our striving.
SPEAKER_00: A different kind of striving, a striving to be more like Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of what Paul's getting at here in our passage.
SPEAKER_00: Read with me.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna kind of go verse by verse in these first few verses.
SPEAKER_00: Read with me, starting in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Paul says.
SPEAKER_00: Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
SPEAKER_00: Like Paul's picking up, it sounds like he's picking up in the middle of a sentence, because he is.
SPEAKER_00: He's picking up in the middle of a thought right here, and he's he's continuing what he's already been talking about in the first part of chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: Paul picks up like from I want to know Christ personally, I want to share in his sufferings, I want to share in his death like his, and I want to share in the resurrection like his.
SPEAKER_00: And I haven't obtained this yet.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not perfect.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't reached that complete sense of who I am, who I am going to be in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I am, I am who I am right now, but I'm not what I will be in the future.
SPEAKER_00: Like Christ is still forming me to be more like him.
SPEAKER_00: And I love what he says right here.
SPEAKER_00: Paul has all these little phrases throughout his writing that kind of encapsulate the gospel in one little phrase.
SPEAKER_00: And there's one right here in Philippians chapter 3, verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: He says this, I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
SPEAKER_00: You should underline that in your Bibles right now.
SPEAKER_00: Christ Jesus has made me his own.
SPEAKER_00: Like, isn't it nice?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it nice whenever someone's love for you isn't contingent upon what you do?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it nice?
SPEAKER_00: Haven't you experienced love like that?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you are in Christ, then you absolutely have experienced love like that.
SPEAKER_00: Because his love is not contingent upon what you do and what you have done.
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is this is he has made me his own, not because of any result of anything that I have that I have done.
SPEAKER_00: This this uh phrase right here and this verb is in the airist tense, which is a fancy word just to say it's a single complete action, it's timelessly true.
SPEAKER_00: Like Christ has made you his own.
SPEAKER_00: It is it is like he has done it, and it is done now, and it will be done in the future.
SPEAKER_00: It is it is without differentiation, Christ has indeed made you his own.
SPEAKER_00: This is the gospel in short for Paul, right here.
SPEAKER_00: Christ has made me his own.
SPEAKER_00: So he continues in verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 13, brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining towards what lies ahead.
SPEAKER_00: I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He says this little phrase, like forgetting what lies behind and straining towards what's towards what's ahead.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what, like, you're gonna think about this, and we need to understand this.
SPEAKER_00: What lies behind for Paul?
SPEAKER_00: Like, what is behind him?
SPEAKER_00: And I he's just come through this whole list in the first part of Philippians 3.
SPEAKER_00: We've already talked about it a couple different times, all these different accomplishments, but also what lies behind Paul are his failures as well.
SPEAKER_00: That's a it's it's it's a a combination of all the good and all the bad, all the success, all the failure.
SPEAKER_00: Like Paul, like we know that Paul's forgetting everything that he could boast in because it ultimately is not worth it in comparison to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, right?
SPEAKER_00: And like in this, there's something to be said here.
SPEAKER_00: We should not just live off the victories of yesterday, because there's new mercy available today.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I think there's there's something I heard a preacher one time talking about like the the Israelites trying to gather up all the manna that was left over because they wanted to make sure they had enough, you know?
SPEAKER_00: And God's like, I'm gonna give you new manna tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to gather more today for for tomorrow, because I'm I'm giving you new stuff tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we live off of manna from yesterday rather than just taking in the new mercy that God is giving us today.
SPEAKER_00: He's giving us new stuff today.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's saying, like, I leave all the victories, even the good things that God has brought into my life.
SPEAKER_00: I leave those behind because I know there's even bigger and better things ahead.
SPEAKER_00: Like I know he's still walking with me.
SPEAKER_00: I know he's gonna keep providing.
SPEAKER_00: I know his mercy is new.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul's also leaving behind his failures.
SPEAKER_00: And there's there's a long checkered list for Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Like you know this, like his his past is littered, right?
SPEAKER_00: A persecutor of the church, a murderer of Christians, like and Paul can say, I'm forgetting that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not defined by that anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And if there's nothing else, right?
SPEAKER_00: If Paul can say, Hey, I'm not defined by my past, my by my past, then so can you.
SPEAKER_00: Like if Paul can say, I'm not defined by this anymore, like you can too.
SPEAKER_00: You are not defined by your past.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever happened to you in the past isn't the most significant thing that has ever happened to you.
SPEAKER_00: The most significant thing that has ever happened to you in your past is Christ has made you his own.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul's getting at.
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm forgetting what lies behind lies behind it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm straining forward.
SPEAKER_00: And this word that he uses as he strains forward to the prize that's ahead, that God has called him heavenward in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is like a runner racing for the tape, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like Carson Mello failed to do at the end of that race, right?
SPEAKER_00: He's he's reaching for the tape, he's extending for the tape, he's straining forward.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what Paul's saying.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm leaving behind and I'm pressing forward into what God is calling me into.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what he says in verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: Let those of us who are mature think this way.
SPEAKER_00: And if any of you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a better, a better translation of that, of that word, think this way, it would be like, have this attitude.
SPEAKER_00: Let those of us who are mature have this same attitude that he's talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Leave behind like what's in the past and strain forward to toward what's ahead.
SPEAKER_00: Have a single focus on what the Lord is calling us to, of what he's promised, what the reward that awaits us.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul's using the same word that he used, that he uses like 10 times in the book of Philippians, this Greek word froneo that we talked about back in chapter two, this word that means to think and to understand and to be wise.
SPEAKER_00: Like Paul is convinced ultimately that if we are to act in a certain way, we have to think in the right way.
SPEAKER_00: Like our thinking impacts our doing.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, think in this way.
SPEAKER_00: Leave behind what is in the past and only pursue what is in what is ahead, what God is calling you into, the prize that is awaiting you.
SPEAKER_00: Like, don't lose sight of what's ahead.
SPEAKER_00: And then I think what Paul does here is he lands on like the ultimate, like what he's trying to communicate, what his urge, what his plea is to this Philippian church is in verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says.
SPEAKER_00: Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
SPEAKER_00: Let us hold true to what we have attained.
SPEAKER_00: I think he says it in a different way in Philippians chapter 4, verse 1, when he says this, therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
SPEAKER_00: Like you can hear his affection coming through again for the Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I love and long for my joy and my crown, my beloved, and this is his message to them.
SPEAKER_00: Like, hold true to what you have attained, hold fast to it, stand firm in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Don't just start this life with Christ, but finish well.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just how you start, it's how you finish.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, like, how do we finish well?
SPEAKER_00: How do we press on?
SPEAKER_00: How do we keep going?
SPEAKER_00: And luckily for us, I like I think I think Paul kind of lays this out in verses 17 through 21.
SPEAKER_00: So read with me in in Philippians chapter 3, starting verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Paul says.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example that you have in us.
SPEAKER_00: For many of whom I have I have often told you, and now even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
SPEAKER_00: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it 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.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy, my crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
SPEAKER_00: I get the question that I think I want to kind of lead us the rest of the way through this passage is simply this like how do we stand firm?
SPEAKER_00: Like, how do we hold fast to what we have attained?
SPEAKER_00: How do we hold on to this that God has that that what Christ has done for us, that he has made us his own?
SPEAKER_00: How do we hold on to this?
SPEAKER_00: And I think we do it by engaging in discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you see this in verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says, brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example that you have in us.
SPEAKER_00: This is discipleship language if we pay close attention.
SPEAKER_00: Like what ultimately it comes down to is here is like following examples and then also being an example.
SPEAKER_00: Like our faith, though it is personal, was never meant to be private.
SPEAKER_00: It was never meant to be kept to ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Like I've got a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but that personal relationship with Christ was never meant to be just manifested in my own heart and mind.
SPEAKER_00: It was meant to be lived out in a way that is encouraging to brothers and sisters around me.
SPEAKER_00: Like that's ultimately what it's meant for.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is bold here.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I don't know if much of us, if any of us would be as bold as Paul is here when he says, Hey, you can follow me.
SPEAKER_00: You can imitate me, because I'm going hard after Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm following hard after him.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: As I've read this passage, and I as I've read the parallel passage in in Corinthians when he says, Follow me as I follow Christ, like as I've read those and read those growing up, like my mind immediately kind of tries to write it off.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that's you.
SPEAKER_00: Like my mind just tries to write it off immediately.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Paul's gotta be a little crazy here, you know, or at least a little prideful.
SPEAKER_00: Like, how how in the world can he say, like, we know his past, right?
SPEAKER_00: And I know my own past.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to say I'm better than him, but I I know his past, right?
SPEAKER_00: So, like, like how can he say, like, follow me?
SPEAKER_00: Like, join and imitate my life, like be like me.
SPEAKER_00: How can how can he how can he do this?
SPEAKER_00: And some sometimes I I just write it off like this is that's not like really what I how I need to be living.
SPEAKER_00: That's not really what I need to be able to be to say, but I think I think Paul has this genuine confidence in who he is in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And he has a assurance, a blessed assurance of what he is, of the goal that he is pursuing.
SPEAKER_00: So he says this without wavering.
SPEAKER_00: You can follow me because I know who I am in Christ, and I know where I'm going, and you can follow me because this is the way to go right here.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's something here for us.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is the goal for us.
SPEAKER_00: Is your life lived with such conviction, with such integrity, with such faithfulness to Jesus that you can confidently say to those around you, hey, you can follow after me.
SPEAKER_00: Like you can you can follow me as I follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You can join in imitating me.
SPEAKER_00: Like this, in one sense, is the essence of being a disciple.
SPEAKER_00: There's no such thing as a disciple who doesn't make other disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And making disciples isn't just preaching the gospel one time to them.
SPEAKER_00: That's not that's not discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's walking with them and teaching them and correcting them and living life with them.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Paul says in in 1 Thessalonians.
SPEAKER_00: He says he's not satisfied with just sharing the gospel with you.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm not just I'm not satisfied and just sharing the gospel with you, but I also shared my life as well.
SPEAKER_00: Because he has this full picture of what discipleship takes.
SPEAKER_00: That it's not just preaching the word, although that's important.
SPEAKER_00: It's also walking with you in life and and and learning with you and coming alongside of you and encouraging you.
SPEAKER_00: Can others follow your example of how you're living your life for Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Like, could you say confidently and boldly, you can follow me, you can join in imitating me, because I know who I am and I know where we're going.
SPEAKER_00: This is the way to go.
SPEAKER_00: Can you say that confidently this morning?
SPEAKER_00: The other side of this, because it's it's like being engaging in discipleship, is yes, living your life in such a way that it's a it's an example worth following, but it's also realizing that there's other examples you need to be following as well.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's both and.
SPEAKER_00: So the question is like, do you have a Paul in your life?
SPEAKER_00: Like somebody who you're looking to who's who's further along in this walk with the Lord than you are, or who maybe like maybe you're honest with yourself and your prayer life is is just terrible.
SPEAKER_00: So you're you're constantly seeking out somebody who just like excels in that and you're trying to learn from them, you're trying to sit underneath them.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're like just worried about as you're starting your family, and as you got young kids, you're worried about like what this is gonna look like and how you're gonna be able to disciple them well, how you're gonna be able to like have a have a gospel-centered home.
SPEAKER_00: And you see a faithful couple who has just put their head down and like kind of like discipled their kids just faithfully in the Lord, and you're constantly putting yourself under their under their wisdom, under their guidance.
SPEAKER_00: Like you have somebody else that you're going to.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is ultimately how church is supposed to work.
SPEAKER_00: Like that we are both examples worth following, but we also have other examples to follow after.
SPEAKER_00: This is how church works.
SPEAKER_00: By living out my faith, I become an example to others in following Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And when others further along than me boldly live out their faith, they become examples to me.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is what it really comes comes down to.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what it means to be engaged in discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: And it's important because man, there's a lot of terrible examples to follow.
SPEAKER_00: There's a ton of terrible examples.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'm spitting at you guys here.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, there's a ton of terrible examples to follow in this world.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's actually talking about them in verse 18 and 19.
SPEAKER_00: Did you did you see this?
SPEAKER_00: He says, For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you, even with tears, there's there's something here that Paul says, even with tears, I'm telling you this right now.
SPEAKER_00: Like there's there's an affection that Paul still has for these people.
SPEAKER_00: There's a affection that he has for these people who have once belonged to Christ and now walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Like these are people who were in the church and who are now no longer in the church.
SPEAKER_00: He said, they were examples worth following, and now they're enemies of the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Their end is their destruction, their God is their belly, they glory in their shame, and their minds are set on earthly things.
SPEAKER_00: It's set on earthly things.
SPEAKER_00: There's plenty of bad examples to follow.
SPEAKER_00: Like the world is chock full of them.
SPEAKER_00: But when the whole body is engaged in discipleship, like continuing in this process of being formed into the image of Christ, then we both become examples worth following, and then we're surrounded by other examples that are worth following.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is this is the goal.
SPEAKER_00: Like, how do we hold fast?
SPEAKER_00: How do we stand firm in the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: How do we stand strong?
SPEAKER_00: It's by getting to work, by continuing this work of this Holy Spirit, this Holy Spirit-empowered work of being sanctified, becoming more and more like Jesus in a way that we become examples to others, and that as a result, everybody becomes an example worth following, that we that we have, that we're encouraged, mutually encouraged in the faith.
SPEAKER_00: This is how we stand firm, this is how we hold fast.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul also says that if we want to stand firm and hold fast to what we have attained, then we do so by by remembering our identity.
SPEAKER_00: We have to remember our identity.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says in Philippians chapter chapter 3, verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Our citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Our citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Like this statement comes at the end of what I just read in verses 18 and 19.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just read the whole the whole thing again for us.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says.
SPEAKER_00: For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you, even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
SPEAKER_00: But our citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And it comes like this is Paul explaining these people that are now enemies of the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He says, like, where are they headed?
SPEAKER_00: Their end is destruction.
SPEAKER_00: They're on a one-way ticket, on a one-way ticket to misery, eternal misery apart from Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He says, What like what is what's their guide?
SPEAKER_00: Their God is their belly.
SPEAKER_00: They're just following after whatever feels good in the moment.
SPEAKER_00: They're chasing after every every good feeling moment.
SPEAKER_00: That's all they're chasing after.
SPEAKER_00: And what are they proud of?
SPEAKER_00: They glory in their shame.
SPEAKER_00: Like they're they celebrate their wickedness and foolishness.
SPEAKER_00: They elevate it beyond what is even comprehensible.
SPEAKER_00: And he says their minds are set on earthly things, on material things.
SPEAKER_00: And there are so many people in our world that set an example like that to follow.
SPEAKER_00: There are so many people who say this is the example you need to follow.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul interjects and says, Not so with us.
SPEAKER_00: Our citizenship's in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Our citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: This is something Philippians would have understood, because Philippi was a Roman colony.
SPEAKER_00: And Roman colonies were like fractions of fragments of Rome itself scattered throughout the empire.
SPEAKER_00: Like it would have almost been like you're walking into a miniature Rome as you walk into Philippi.
SPEAKER_00: Like they're like the laws and the dress code and the rulers and even special privileges given to Romans, this is actually pretty brilliant of the Roman Empire to do this.
SPEAKER_00: Because what they did as they spread out, as they sprinkled these Roman colonies throughout, what it ended up being was it was a way for the empire to make sure that its people never forgot what kingdom they belonged to.
SPEAKER_00: You hear that?
SPEAKER_00: This is what Paul's saying.
SPEAKER_00: Just as the Roman colonists have never forgot that they belong to Rome, you must never forget that you are a citizen of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Your conduct much must match your citizenship.
SPEAKER_00: Like not this world.
SPEAKER_00: We don't take our cues from this world.
SPEAKER_00: We follow after heaven.
SPEAKER_00: We follow after Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We follow after the champion of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Let's play this out a little bit a little bit further.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a couple questions, maybe for self-evaluation.
SPEAKER_00: As we're thinking about our citizenship in heaven and remembering our identity, have you become so familiar with acceptable kinds of sin that you actually are starting to find them desirable?
SPEAKER_00: Like has has has is there any part of sin that is not still detestable to you?
SPEAKER_00: This is how we've maybe, I don't know, conform to the pattern of this world.
SPEAKER_00: Is whenever sins start becoming, I mean, okay, it's fine, it's not that big of a deal.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is how this kind of starts for us.
SPEAKER_00: And acceptable sin sins is such a subjective term.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to encourage you this week, is if you're struggling with that question right now, I want to encourage you this week to find somebody, to find your Paul this week, and to have an honest conversation with somebody this week and say, like, I don't, like, I don't know, I don't, like, don't explain away whatever the Lord might be playing putting on your heart right now.
SPEAKER_00: Because so many times we justify, we can justify things in our own minds, we can make ourselves look way better to ourselves than we than we actually are.
SPEAKER_00: And so many times we can we can justify sins of gossip and of greed and of unwholesome talk and of crude joking and of sexual sin and of gambling or of drinking or whatever, right?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what you're gonna put into that category of acceptable sins.
SPEAKER_00: But as long as I've got control over it, it's not that big of a deal.
SPEAKER_00: I guess so many times this this happens this happens to us.
SPEAKER_00: This happens to us.
SPEAKER_00: We end up we end up like the enemies of the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Our glory is in our shame.
SPEAKER_00: Like we have we've we've lost sight of what is honoring to the Lord and what's detestable to him.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a second question would be this Are you tempted to live or maybe living in a way that you just do what you want, when you want, how you want?
SPEAKER_00: Like whatever satisfies in the moment is what you're trying to find ultimate satisfaction in.
SPEAKER_00: This is the thing, when Paul describes those who are enemies of the cross of Christ, he says that they're that they live for their own pleasure all of the time.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is their number one motivation.
SPEAKER_00: And because of this, is because this is their number one motivation, like they have begun to celebrate what's detestable in the Lord's sight, their end is destruction, and listen, it makes no sense, it makes no sense to live this way, to live this way like the world does if our citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: It makes absolutely no sense for us to follow in that same, that same pattern.
SPEAKER_00: Remember what Paul said at the beginning of our passage Christ has made me his own.
SPEAKER_00: And if Christ has made me his own, then that means my identity has changed.
SPEAKER_00: I've been bought by the blood of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I'm no longer my own.
SPEAKER_00: I belong to God, I have a new life to live, I have a purpose outside of myself, I belong to a different kingdom, I am changed.
SPEAKER_00: And it's at this point in the text that Paul's voice almost, like almost gets like that James Earl Jones, you know, like Mufasa saying December, remember who you are, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Like that's what it feels like.
SPEAKER_00: But he's like, really, like how do you hold fast?
SPEAKER_00: How do you stand strong?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, remember your citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: You don't belong to this world.
SPEAKER_00: Like we eagerly await the savior from there.
SPEAKER_00: And this is how we hold on.
SPEAKER_00: We also we remember who we are, but we also we look to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we do.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says in verse 20 and 21 Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
SPEAKER_00: Paul paints this picture of what is to come for the Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: And like if if they are to stand firm, like this is what awaits you, if you just hold, hold true, hold fast to what you have attained, if you stand firm in the Lord, like like you're gonna be able to do that because you have heaven in your sights.
SPEAKER_00: And this makes sense.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is this is a common practice for Paul.
SPEAKER_00: It's a common practice for him that he often is doing this.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is doing this often because he realizes hey, walking with Jesus in this world is not an easy thing.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's not all sunshine and rainbows, it's hard, it's tough sledding, it's trials and pain and disease and death.
SPEAKER_00: All of it still comes.
SPEAKER_00: But there is hope beyond this life.
SPEAKER_00: There's hope beyond this life that we can be sure of because Christ has made us his own.
SPEAKER_00: Because he has brought us into his family.
SPEAKER_00: Paul writes of this hope often, and here's what I want to do.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to read several passages over you about the hope that we have awaiting us.
SPEAKER_00: May it be an encouragement to you.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says in Romans chapter 8.
SPEAKER_00: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians 3, if then you have been raised with Christ, then seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on the things that are above, and not on things of this earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
SPEAKER_00: When Christ, who is your life, appears, that you will also appear with him in glory.
SPEAKER_00: Second Corinthians 4 he says, So we do not lose heart.
SPEAKER_00: So our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
SPEAKER_00: This light, momentary affliction, it's preparing us for an eternal weight of glory that is beyond all comparison.
SPEAKER_00: See, Paul is able to have peace, he's able to have perspective, he's able to have joy no matter what circumstances come, because he always kept heaven in view.
SPEAKER_00: Like he was sure of what was to come.
SPEAKER_00: And as a result, it made him more effective as a disciple, as a follower in this life.
SPEAKER_00: I love how C.S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis puts this.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says if you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.
SPEAKER_00: It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one.
SPEAKER_00: See, we become ineffective witnesses because we think like this world is all there is.
SPEAKER_00: This life that I'm living is is the only one I get to live.
SPEAKER_00: But, church, that's not true.
SPEAKER_00: Like we know the day's coming.
SPEAKER_00: We know there's more beyond this life.
SPEAKER_00: We know there's a day coming whenever the Lord will come and he will right all the wrongs.
SPEAKER_00: When we keep heaven in view, it puts our circumstances in perspective.
SPEAKER_00: When we keep heaven in view, it makes the sacrifice worth it.
SPEAKER_00: When we keep heaven in view, we can we can live on mission and we can be radically generous and we can be all in on what the Lord has for us.
SPEAKER_00: But when we lose sight of heaven, we lose our effectiveness in this life as disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Church, let us not become so ineffective in this world because we have lost sight of the goal, of the prize, of the reward that awaits us.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, let us keep our eyes on heaven and let us keep our eyes on the one seated on the throne.
SPEAKER_00: Let's keep our eyes fixed on him who reigns forevermore.
SPEAKER_00: May we remember that we belong to his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: May we live our lives in a way that brings him honor and glory.
SPEAKER_00: I heard a preacher say it this way.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, as you're living your life, keep one eye on the goal and keep one eye on the mission in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: Like keep one eye on the mission and one eye on heaven.
SPEAKER_00: It's not how you start, it's how you finish.
SPEAKER_00: So, like, don't just start this life with Christ, but finish well.
SPEAKER_00: Like, hold fast to what you have attained, stand firm in the Lord, build your life on the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Remember who you are because Christ has made you his own.
SPEAKER_00: Keep heaven in view, press on, press on to finish the race.
SPEAKER_00: And church, finish well.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we're so thankful that you have made us your own.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that that would be our motivation to live lives that are worthy, worthy of you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, not for our own good, not for our sake, but Lord, so that others may see us and bring glory and honor to you.
SPEAKER_00: You're the only one who deserves it.
SPEAKER_00: And so we give it to you right now.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, be be glorified, be praised, be lifted high in this place.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks again for listening to the Carterville Christian Church podcast.
SPEAKER_01: Our prayer is that today's message has encouraged you and drawn you closer to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: To learn more or get connected with our church family, visit CartervilleChristian.com.
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to walk alongside you in your journey of faith.