449: Where Are You From? | Dave Sloop

Introduction

Good morning everyone! It's good to see you. Welcome home Tim, we've missed you man. Yeah, give it up for Tim. Landon, thank you for thinking that that's a good picture of me. It looks like I'm like, not sure I agree with what Paul Miller was saying. If you look closely at that picture, I'm not a big fan. But we're so thrilled that you're here.

As we mentioned last week, we're taking a break from our series on the Book of James. And we are focusing on some passages during this Lent season. We're reflecting on our brokenness. The fact that we are a fallen humanity. It's the very reason that Christ had to come and die and rise again, which we'll celebrate in about five weeks.

But this morning we're going to be looking at Philippians chapter three and the first part of Philippians chapter four. So if you have a Bible, I would encourage you to turn there. And as you're turning, I want to ask you a question. How many of you have ever been blindsided by something?

The Blindsiding Story

Okay, I want to tell you a story about a time I was blindsided, not metaphorically, but literally. I was at a party with some friends. This was a couple of years after I graduated college and it was an outdoor party. I'm in the yard, someone's backyard. We're just chatting. I was actually chatting to a girl, and my friend Matt, he looked from the distance and he saw me having a conversation with this girl and he thought to himself, you know, it would be really funny if I just tackled Sloop right in the middle of this party.

So I'm talking, I had no idea what was going on. And all of a sudden, Matt comes barreling down full sprint. He had some friends kind of egging him on. He full sprint lays into me and he just buckled me. Have you ever seen a body fold in half? I mean, that is what happened to me. I just folded in half and it, he lifted me off the ground. I had no idea what had just happened. Suddenly, everybody's pointing and laughing. It was, I have nightmares sometimes about this moment in my life.

But I think back up about that moment sometimes and I think, you know, if someone had just warned me right before you got there, what would I have done different? I would have either dodged him or I would have turned around and widened my stance and put my shoulder into him to give it right back. Because when you see danger coming, you stand differently. But if you don't know that it's coming, you might be on your heels. You might be an easy target like I was.

The Call to Stand Firm

This last verse in our passage today, I don't know if you caught it, it's Philippians 4, verse 1 — not Deuteronomy where my bookmark is. Let's turn there.

Philippians 4:1 — Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Paul says, stand firm. In other words, this is a warning, but it is also an invitation. Throughout Paul's writings, he will say to you and to me and to the people that he's writing, watch out. If you think you're standing firm, be careful that you don't fall. Be wise about how you live because the days are evil. Watch out.

Paul is telling us that we need to watch our lives. We need to stand firm because we live in a world where it will be difficult to successfully follow Christ. And if you don't know that going in, you are a sitting duck. You're a target. Stand firm, he says.

But this passage is unique because he doesn't just say stand firm. He says, stand firm thus. Now, this is not how you and I talk. This is ESV. We talk like NIV, specifically NIV 1984. We might say, stand firm in Christ in this way. And that is what that word 'thus' in the Greek means. Stand firm in this way.

This verse begins with the word 'therefore.' And if you're reading your Bible and you ever see the word 'therefore,' what do you do? You look back to find out what it's there for.

Paul is teaching you and me in this passage how we can become people who stand firm in a world where everything, the odds are stacked against you to succeed in your pursuit of Christ. You live in a body that does not want to follow him. It's called the flesh. And you live in a world that does not want you to follow him.

Paul is going to teach us how do you become the kind of person who stands firm? Look at what he says starting verse 17.

Imitating Paul and Others

Brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. Paul says, imitate me.

I want to make four observations about this verse. What is Paul inviting them to do? First of all, he says mimic me. That's what that word means. The Greek word is sumi mateis, and it is a combination of two words. But the m mateis is mimic. That's where we get the word mimic. Copy me. Watch how I'm living and do what I do.

Then he says watch out. Look actively for other people who are living according to the example that we gave you.

Here's the first observation: The mature Christian life is a life that you can see. It is visible. You can see it on someone. In fact, maybe many of you have a testimony about when you first started following Christ. It was because you saw somebody else and you thought, there is a different kind of hope in that person. They walk differently. I want what they have.

The mature Christian life is a life that you can see. Why? Because the Christian life is not merely something that we believe. It is something that we do.

If you notice the Greek word that Paul uses here, I'll read it again in verse 17: He says keep your eyes on those who walk according to the pattern of the example that you have in us. Paul isn't so much concerned with what we profess but with what we practice.

That's not to say that what we believe is important. In fact, we might say that what Paul is talking about here is a kind of believing that gets down into your life and it turns into doing. The Christian life, it is a doing life. It is not just what we profess. It's what we practice. It's what we do. It's how we live.

Paul says copy me. It's going to require some action and some effort on your part.

Here's the third observation: That word that I shared earlier, copy me, sumi mateis. It means, and this is a quick plug, if you are not in a life group, if you're new to our church but you have not gotten plugged in, if you don't have some kind of small group where you are talking with other people about what it means to follow Christ, to become more like him, you're missing out on one of the most crucial aspects of the Christian life. You have got to be with other people following him.

Okay, here's the fourth observation: First of all, it is a life that is visible. You can see it on someone because it's something that you do. It's something that you do with other people. Here's number four: It is necessarily, therefore, something that you must choose.

None of us in this room is going to accidentally follow the pattern of Paul. You're not going to do it. You're not going to accidentally become like Christ. It will always be a conscious decision. It will always feel like you're walking uphill. It will always feel like you're going against the grain because you will be.

That's why you need to stand firm. Listen to some of the words that Paul is going to use in this chapter about what it feels like to follow Christ.

He says, "Whatever is to my prophet, I count at loss." Following Christ successfully is going to involve sacrifice. It's going to involve losing some things that you used to think were better.

Paul is saying, "I count it loss." You know what that means? That means he's choosing on purpose to see something that he used to love as not that valuable anymore. He says, "I see it rubbish that I may gain Christ."

Here's something else: Paul is going to say, "I don't consider that I have obtained all this, obtained all this. I'm not perfect yet." He says, "This one thing I do: I forget what is behind me, and I press on towards what is ahead of me."

That verb 'press on' — it can keep going — is what it means. Whatever life throws at you, whatever trial, whatever circumstance, you press on towards the goal for which Christ has laid hold of me.

I've not yet fully laid hold of him, he says. But I strive forward — it is the Greek word — I strain towards him. It is the picture. The Greek word is to lean forward. It's like a sprinter in a race who lives his life this way.

He lives his life straining with every muscle in his being to finish well. He is reaching for Christ. And he says, "Follow me as I follow him." It will always be a conscious decision to pattern our life after Him.

So the question is, "What is your pattern?" We all have one. The question is, "Who have you patterned your life after?" And this is the reason that this is so important to Paul.

He's going to tell you the next word in verse 18 is: The reason this matters is because if you don't pattern your life, if you don't choose on purpose to walk like Christ walked, you are going to be pressed into a different mold.

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world." Paul is going to tell you there are two paths you can walk in this life. You can walk as Christ or you can walk like the world. There are the only two options.

Let's know what he says in verse 18. He says:

For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

He characterizes these people as enemies, not just indifferent to Christ, but enemies of Christ. Do you know those are really the only two options? You are either in love with Christ and following him or you are His enemy. There is no one that is neutral.

This is how Jesus talks. You're either with me or you're against me. And this is how Paul talks. To be an enemy, not just of Christ, but an enemy of His cross.

What does that mean? See, most people would not take offense or no, most people wouldn't agree with the statement, "Are you an enemy of Christ?" Most people would say, "No, Jesus, I have no problem with Jesus." He's a good man. He's a good example. A role model. Jesus is great.

What people take issue with is the cross of Christ. Jesus did not come primarily to be a role model. He came to die so He could be your King. And it cost Him His life.

The people that Paul is describing in this passage are people who are living as if His cross was unnecessary. Listen to what he says. Listen to how he characterizes it.

He says they're in His destruction. They're God is their belly. They glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things.

Let's take those in reverse order. He says their minds are set on earthly things. They're fixated and focused on this earth, this world, this experience of life on planet earth. Jesus would say, in the parable of the sower, that one of the biggest reasons that the word of God has choked out in us is the cares of this world. It can be good things. It can be a career that's fulfilling. It can be other relationships. It is concern and care for this world, this group of people.

Their minds are set on this life. What was the second thing? Their glory, he says, is in their shame. They delight in things for which they should be ashamed. Is it possible to be someone who professes faith in Christ but to be proud of something for which we should be ashamed? We have to be very careful. We see that all over churches today.

And by the way, the fact that Paul weeps for these people is likely evidence that who he is talking about here are people that profess faith in Christ but are living as enemies. They glory in what they should be ashamed of.

Here's the third thing: Their God is their belly. What does he mean by that? I think this is a metaphor for someone who just indulges whatever pleasure or sensation their body tells them to go indulge. You just give your body whatever it wants. Indulge it. This is a picture of someone who has made their, he says, their God is their belly.

See, when something or someone is your Lord, you do what it tells you to do. That's what the flesh is at war with God because it's constantly telling you to do things that God wouldn't want you to do.

He says these people, their God is their belly. And then he says their death or their end is destruction. There's a way that seems right to a man, but at the end it leads to death. This is the path. This is one alternative path.

And notice it's the same exact word — some walk — is enemies. It has nothing to do with what they profess. It's how they live.

And then Paul says this in verse 20:

But our citizenship is in heaven.

Present tense. He says, "We are not like them." Or as one of my favorite modern-day poets says, "They not like us."

Oh, I get it. You guys are Drake fans, okay? They're not like, "We are not like them," but we are citizens of heaven — present tense, right now.

And this is an analogy that the Philippians would have understood because they were a colony of Rome in Greece. And they weren't waiting, by the way, to go back to Rome. They, the ones who colonized Philippi, they came there to bring the distinctives of Rome to Greece.

And that is precisely what you and I are called to do. See, we're not waiting to go to heaven. We bring the kingdom here. Dallas Willard said, "The gospel is not so much learning how to get to the kingdom of heaven after we die. It is learning how to live in the kingdom of God now." We bring the kingdom here.

We are present tense. We are citizens of a different kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. And then it says this,

And from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We await a Savior. And who is this Savior? He is the Lord. Jesus is Savior, and He is also Lord. Do you know how many times that word Savior is used for Jesus in the New Testament? 24. Do you know how many times He's referred to as the Lord? Over 700.

He is both. But my question for us today is, do we live as if He is Lord? Do we do what He says?

The people Paul is talking about in this passage, he says they're God is their belly. They do what their body says. He's saying, "You're different. You do what the Lord Jesus Christ says."

He continues. In the contrast, we'll continue. He says, "From a way to 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 things to Himself."

Notice the contrast: They're God is their belly; your Lord is Jesus Christ. They do what their body tells them to do. You do what the Lord Jesus Christ tells you to do.

They have their minds set on earthly things. You are eagerly awaiting a Savior from heaven. You look to heaven. Your mind is on eternal things.

They glory in their shame. We glory in Christ, His glorious body. See, it's the same language being used in both. Their end is destruction, and your end is a glorious transformation.

Your lowly body, he says, will be transformed to be like Christ's glorious body. There is coming a day when you will shed this flesh that is at war with God, that does not want you to serve Him.

In one day, you're going to get a new body, and it will match your new nature. It will not fight you anymore. Paul says, when the perfect comes, the imperfect passes away. For now, we know in part, we prophesy in part, but then we shall fully know Him even as we are fully known.

There is a day coming when you will fully know Him, when you will be able to fully worship Him because you will live in a perfect new heaven and new earth with a perfect body that longs to love and serve Him.

He is teaching us here that part of standing firm is becoming someone who eagerly awaits His return. You know, I think we've kind of lost this doctrine in the church a little bit. We don't talk about the second coming of Christ that much, but do you know He's coming back?

And have you noticed when you read the New Testament, these guys, they talked like it was about to happen. In fact, I wonder if you've ever read and thought, gosh, these guys, they missed it. They misunderstood. They thought He was coming back, but it's been 2000 years and He still hasn't come back. I guess they missed it.

Or maybe. The fact that they lived as if He was coming back any moment, and the fact that they wrote as if He was coming back at any moment, is evidence that that's precisely how God wanted them to live. And it's precisely how He wanted every generation that would follow to live: as if His return was imminent. It could happen at any time.

You know why it's important to live that way? Because when you think someone's about to come back, you don't mess around with building bigger barns on this earth to store your things. You care less about building your own kingdom here, because you're concerned about His kingdom. Because you know that this world is passing away. It is a vapor. But your new body and your soul will live forever in His presence in a new heaven and a new earth with a real Savior who is really coming back.

Do you believe that? Do you live as if it's true? I wonder for those of you that have kids. If you've ever had someone come visit, a relative, a parent, a grandparent, a friend — I don't know if your kids are like my kids — but often my children, especially Claire, will sit outside. And just last weekend, her cousin Vivian and my father, Doc, they came for her birthday.

And there's this eagerness, this waiting for her to get there. And when she sees the car coming down the street, she's through her. Through her. Do you know why? Because she loves Vivian. She knows Vivian, and she longs to be with the one that she loves.

As you begin to love Him, you will long for Him to come. You will. I think Paul would tell you and me: the more you copy me, the more you imitate me as I imitate Christ, the more you die to yourself and believe that the kingdom of heaven is better than what's here on earth, the more that you press on, the more that you strive, the more you will fall in love with Him, the more you will be able to say with Paul, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." The more you will experience the truth and the reality of His presence being better. And the more we practice His presence, the more we long for His return.

Conclusion

Do you know, in the last book of the Bible, on the last page, it's the last chapter, three times Jesus says something. He says,

Behold, I will come soon.
Behold, I will come soon.
Surely I will come soon.

And what does John say? And this is my prayer for every single one of us, including myself, that we could say what John would say instinctively: Amen, Lord, come soon.

Do you live with that kind of anticipation? Then perhaps you need to copy more. Perhaps you need to imitate what it means to follow Him, and as you do, you will fall more in love with Him, and you will long for His coming.

Let's pray.
Father, thank you for your word. Lord, we do desire to be like you. We know it won't happen by mistake. It's going to be a choice, but we thank you for the promise of Scripture, that as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we are working with your power that is in us, but the willing to act according to your good purpose.

Father, I pray for anyone who might be here today who recognizes that they have been living as an enemy of your cross. Lord, but today they could go from being an enemy to becoming a child. And for that, they don't have to do anything. All they have to do is receive by faith the gift of your sacrifice upon the cross.

And for those of us that have been following you for a long time, God, I pray that you would cultivate in us a desire to run hard after you, to be singularly focused like Paul was on pursuing you, of striving for you, of straining after you, and that you would cultivate in us a heart that wants to see you come back because we love you and we long to be in your presence. Pray in Christ's name, amen.