Progress and Joy for the Church

At the beginning of the Fall, we began a Sermon Series working through a part of the Bible called Philippians. Over the last few weeks, we took a break from Philippians to have a short Christmas-time series about the birth of Christ. But this morning we’re going to pick up where we left off in Philippians, to consider the example God has given us to follow of right living.

You may remember, this part of the Bible is actually a letter. The Holy Spirit of God stirred up an apostle of Christ named Paul to write this letter. And he wrote this letter to the church in the city of Philippi, which is why this book is called Philippians. The Philippians appear to have been doing a lot of things right. Paul, personally, has been encouraged by their partnership with him in the gospel. But Paul also recognizes that the wellness of the Philippian church is being compromised by infighting, by intimidation from people who were hostile to Christianity, and by influence from false teachers.

So over the course of this letter, we’ve seen that Paul has been seeking the progress and joy of the Philippian church. He doesn’t want the Philippians who have been doing well to become proud or complacent. And he doesn’t’ want the Philippians who have been struggling to become discouraged or bitter. But he wants to urge on the whole church, to press ahead with faith in Christ, in the ways of Christ, until the day that their salvation is brought to completion in the day of Christ.

These themes are continued in our text this morning. So if you have a Bible nearby, please turn with me to Philippians, Chapter 3. I’ll be reading from Philippians, Chapter 3, starting at verse 17. But before we get into the text, please pray with me:

[Pray and Read Text]

An Example of Right Teaching and Right Living

Living as a Christian isn’t just about knowing the right answers to Bible questions. Knowing the Bible is important. You and I should absolutely aim to understand what the Bible teaches about God, sin, salvation, the Church, and the second coming of Christ. We should aim to have good theology.

But we shouldn’t make the mistake in thinking that being a complete, well-developed Christian is just about learning how to give the right answer to certain questions. There is also great importance in living out the right answer. If we really believe the truths of the Bible, they will necessarily have an impact on our character, our convictions, and our conduct. The rightly-lived Christian life involves both right doctrine (orthodoxy) and right practice (orthopraxy).

And in our text this morning, Paul holds these two things together. He shows how both of them are important for the Christians in Philippi, for our church in Mount Pleasant, and for every community of God’s people.

In our text this morning, Paul gives a command, in verse 17, telling the Philippian church to follow godly examples. Then, in verses 18 through 21, Paul gives two reasons why the Philippians should take his command seriously – he gives a caution against false teachers, and calls the Philippians to faithfully live out of their Christian identity. And then in verse 22, Paul concludes by calling the Philippians to stand firm in the Lord. So as I walk through the text, these will be my main points. Point 1: A Command to Follow. Point 2: A Couple Reasons Why. And Point 3: A Call to Stand Firm.

A Command to Follow Our Example

So first, in verse 17, Paul gives the Philippian Christians a command to follow his example. He tells the Philippian Christians, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

It’s quite possible that when you think of imitating someone or something, that word – imitate – it might throw you off a bit. Because usually when people talk about imitation, we usually think of something that’s a cheap knockoff of the original – something that’s artificial rather than genuine. Imitation vanilla extract might look the same in the bottle. It might have a similar taste – but it really isn’t the same as the real thing. It’s a cheap alternative. It’s fake. So this command, “join in imitating me” – it might sound like Paul’s just asking people to mimic a couple of his mannerisms – to do something that even a troop of trained monkeys could do.

But Paul’s commanding the church into something much more rigorous. He wants the Philippians to pattern their lives after his life – his whole life. He’s calling them to affirm the same truths, with the same attitude, affections, ambitions, and actions – all of it. The goal here isn’t just to superficially replicate a few outward behaviors on Sunday mornings. This command isn’t just about living out your faith when you’re around Christian friends, or when it’s convenient. But Paul’s calling them, and he’s calling us, to follow his example, by consistently living with right doctrine and right dealings. That’s the basic thrust of the command here.

Let me quickly clarify here. People like you and me – we are not automatically, naturally on good terms with God. If you read the Bible, you’ll soon recognize that there’s a fundamental problem with the desires of your heart. You’re a violator of God’s law. You aren’t a good guy in God’s eyes. You’re an outlaw.

Many people understand this, I think. But they assume that they can bring themselves back into good standing with God by imitating Paul, or by doing any number of other good works. But even if our works seem good to us, the Bible makes it clear that our attempts at goodness fall short of what true rightness. We can’t be brought into a right relationship with God by our work, but only by trusting in the work of Jesus. He lived perfectly on our behalf to bring us true righteousness. And he died in our place to bring total forgiveness from our wrongdoings.

So Paul’s command here doesn’t tell us how to gain freedom from our sin. But he’s explaining here what it means to live as someone who has been set free. It makes no sense that Christians would keep circling back to the toxic mud of sin, selfishness, and stubborn pride. Instead, they should live as people who are now free to live for God, by following Paul’s example. That’s Paul’s point here.

And I think for many of us, when we first hear Paul’s command, “Join in imitating me,” it sounds quite simple! It sounds to us like a nice little game of “Simon Says.” Easy, right?

But this command is actually much bigger – much more demanding – than it might initially seem to be. It would have been a much easier command, if Paul would have just told us to do service projects in the community once a month, or to pray five times a day facing Jerusalem, or to give a certain portion of our money to the church. Because commands like these are very defined, and limited. You’d be able to check a box on your list, and use the rest of your day to pursue your own priorities. In that kind of arrangement, God would get something like 10% of your life, but then you’d still be in charge of the remaining 90%.

But this isn’t what Paul is calling us into. That way of thinking doesn’t fit with how the Bible talks about the Christian life. If you’re familiar at all with Paul’s life, you’ll recognize – Paul doesn’t view any part of his life as being his own. He belongs to God. His whole life is for Christ. At the very beginning of this letter, you might remember that Paul identified himself, not as his own master, but as Christ’s servant. And in Chapter 1, verse 21, Paul doesn’t say “to live is an opportunity for me to pursue my earthly dreams and passions.” But instead he says, to live is Christ.” And Paul says that this is the life we are supposed to imitate! Paul’s life isn’t an exotic specimen of what it means to be a missionary or a Super-Guru of Spirituality. Paul’s life shows us what it looks like to be a Christian.

Paul isn’t just addressing this part of the letter to the elders of the church – to pastors or leaders or deacons. And he isn’t just speaking to men, either. In the Greek language, the plural brothers was used, not only to refer to groups of men, but also to refer to mixed groups of men and women. Paul is directing this command to the whole church. Paul’s manner of life – his obedience, his earnestness, his integrity – it shouldn’t be uncommon in the church. It should be the norm.

Of course, imitating Paul doesn’t mean that we all need to be locked up in Rome for our faith, like he was. His point isn’t that every Christian needs to travel the world, to be involved in evangelism and church planting. But all of us need to live out of the conviction that all of life is for Christ. Whether we have roles as engineers or educators, parents or singles, students or self-employed – we need to carefully consider what does it actually mean to hold together right doctrine and right doing in our day to day lives?

When visitors and unbelievers come into our church, or any church – I’m not primarily concerned about what they think about the pastor’s cleverness, or the music, or the architecture, or the cookies that are put out after the service. Our primary concern should be (to ask) are we actually living as the people of God should live? Are we sincere in our worship? Are we hungry for God’s Word? Are we bold in prayer? Are we engaged in each other’s lives? Are we generous with our time and resources? Are we obedient to his commands? Are we active in making disciples? Can people tell, by looking at the rhythms of your life, that you’re intimately acquainted with God? These are the things that really matter when it comes to living as Christians, imitating the example of Paul.

It’s also important to note, though, when Paul says, “Join in imitating me,” this is one of those commands that you can’t obey if you’re not in regularly community with other believers – if you’re not part of a church. The Greek word here literally means something like “imitate me together.” The Philippians are told that this is something they need to do side by side, as partners and co-laborers.

And this is important to consider – because I think that we can all to easily detach ourselves from people in the church, and to view faith as something that’s just personal – something that only involves me. But Paul makes it clear here that Christianity is lived out in fellowship with other people. The Church needs you, and your obedience, and you need the Church. If we work together, to encourage one another to imitate Paul’s example, it will create a healthy culture for the church – to make us who we ought to be. But if the normal pattern of our lives is to withdraw from each other, to be disinterested in God’s commands, and to live for the world and its approval – just think about what sort of impact that will have on the other families of the church. Think about the pattern you’ll be setting for the kids here. Think about the grief it will bring to the elders of the church. We are called to follow the example of Paul, and to do it together.

Of course, we can’t physically, visibly see Paul’s life. But here in the church, God gives us men and women of faith who are putting their faith into practice, as Paul did. And in view of this, Paul not only says, “Join in imitating me,” but he also adds, “and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” We are instructed here to identify people who are walking on the same path as Paul, and to watch them. Learn from them. The things that we keep our eyes on will impact what we fill our mind with, and what we set our heart on. So take this command to heart, and keep your eyes set on the people who are most consistently pointing you to the ways of Christ.

A Couple Reasons Why

Reason 1: Because of Our Awareness of Corrupt Guides

And Paul gives us two reasons why we should keep Paul’s command, here. First, we should imitate Paul’s example because of our awareness of corrupt guides.

Verse 18 starts with the word for – which we could also translate as because. We are to imitate Paul’s example, and keep our eyes set on others who do – because “many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.”

One thing I want to clarify here before we move on is who are these people that Paul’s talking about? Paul says that there are many – many people – who he’s told the Philippians about before, who walk as enemies of the cross. It may seem at first here that Paul is simply talking about people who are openly hostile against Christianity – people who are physically persecuting the church. But that’s not actually the type of enemy that Paul has in mind here.

Paul is instead warning the Philippians against people who claim to be leaders in the Christian Church, but who are, in reality, walking as enemies of the cross. And when we understand this, Paul’s words here make much more sense. He’s commanding the church to follow his example, because he knows that false teachers will come along claiming that they are Christians, but who will practically be living as enemies of the cross. And Paul has felt the need to speak to the Philippians about these people on past occasions, as he indicates in verse 18, because they aren’t openly violent enemies who are obviously dangerous – but these are disguised enemies, who distort the gospel message.

And when these enemies of the cross come to mind, it brings Paul to tears. Paul is distressed, certainly because of the lostness of these unfaithful leaders – but I’m sure more than this, he’s distressed because he knows how destructive these teachers will be in leading people away from the truth! They’ll show themselves to be enemies of Christ, not by attacking the message of the cross with their words, but by undermining the message of the cross with their way of life.

And in verse 19, Paul describes the lives of these people: “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”

You’ll notice that there are four parts to Paul’s description here. First, Paul explains that these unfaithful leaders are on a wrong road – one that will end in destruction. In the moment, these unfaithful leaders might appear to have a lifestyle that’s more compelling or comfortable. Paul anticipates that that this’ll probably be the case. But he wants us to know up front that looks can be deceiving. The rightness of a road shouldn’t be measured by how effective it is in gaining earthly power or pleasure. Instead, we need to find the right road that will lead to life – the road of divine truth. All other roads lead to destruction.

Paul then goes on to explain that these unfaithful leaders are serving the wrong god. He says that “their god is their belly.” It’s a bit of a strange comment. At first glance, we might assume that these people are falling down and worshipping their stomachs, or eating too much. But when Paul uses the word belly here, he isn’t literally talking about our stomach. But the Greeks at that time associated the belly with feelings and emotions, just like how we might talk about having a gut instinct.

So the problem here, that Paul identifies, is that these artificial Christians they aren’t submitting themselves to the Almighty, living God of heaven and earth. Instead, they’re worshipping and serving a false god. They’re worshipping themselves, their emotions, their feelings. These people might follow along with the Bible for as long as it says what they want it to say – for as long as they like what it says. But as soon as God’s Word commands them to do something they don’t like – well, then they make excuses. They look for ways to reinterpret the Bible, or to question its accuracy. They present themselves as moral, but then practice their sins in the utmost secrecy. This is what it looks like to walk as an enemy of the cross.

And Paul points out a third description of these people: they have a wrong boast: they glory in their shame. The enemy of the cross operates under the delusion that the most glorious person in the universe – the person who’s most important and most deserving of his life – is himself. But the person who lives like this is foolish. We don’t have any glory in ourselves to brag about it. The one we should adore – the one who truly deserves our attention and admiration is Christ. This is who the genuine Christian will point us to. But the enemy of the cross will draw people to himself instead.

Paul then closes out this verse with a fourth description of these unfaithful leaders. He explains that they have a wrong mindset: “with their minds set on earthly things.” These people are more concerned about luxury on earth than about living with God. And brothers and sisters, Paul warns us about people like this because he knows that we’ll be tempted to find that way of life attractive! Paul urges us imitate his example, because he’s aware of these corrupt guides.

Reason 2: Because of Our Identity As Christ’s People

But there’s a second reason he gives for why we should follow his lead – and that’s because of our identity as Christ’s people. Instead of verse 20 beginning with the word “But,” the Greek word here is actually For, or because – the same word at the beginning of verse 18. So in verse 20, Paul is continuing to give reasons for why the Philippians should imitate him.

They should imitate his example, “For 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.”

In a very general way, Paul is reminding us that our beliefs should guide our behavior – that having right doctrine and right practice need to go together, as I’ve already said. But more specifically here, Paul wants the Philippians to embrace their identity as citizens of heaven, who belong to Christ, and who are awaiting a future of resurrection and glory.

As I mentioned a few months ago, the Philippians had a special understanding of what citizenship meant. Even though Philippi was in northern Greece, the city had been given special status as a formal Roman colony. Many of the inhabitants were granted Roman citizenship. And this was quite an honor, because Rome was by far the most powerful global empire of the day.

Yet Paul’s point here is that the Philippians now have something better than Roman citizenship. God has delivered them out of the domain of darkness, and has transferred them into the kingdom of his beloved Son. They’re now citizens of heaven. And being a citizen of a place – that’s a reality doesn’t stop.

See, Christianity isn’t just a hat that we take on and off. It’s unimaginable that we would take breaks during the day, where we take off our Christian hat and live like pagans or atheists for a few hours. Because if we are in Christ, it doesn’t just mean that we have a new hat. We have a new head – a new heart – a new homeland. Those aren’t things you can just take on and off.

Heaven, our homeland, should be on our mind. We should worship Christ, rather than our whimsical appetites and feelings. We have a promise, here, in the text that our Savior will use his almighty power to transform us, and make us glorious and new. Why would we turn our backs on that, and continue lusting after the dirtiness and shamefulness of sin?

Do you realize what it means to be a Christian? It’s all too easy to forget who we are, and what we’re called to! But Paul is urging us to remember the way of life that belongs to our heavenly citizenship. We should be aligned with heaven’s customs, eager for heaven’s cleanness, and enraptured with heaven’s king.

A Call to Stand Firm

Paul then concludes this point, in verse 1 of Chapter 4, by calling the Philippians to stand firm: “Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.” This is my last point, “A Call to Stand Firm.”

Paul is actually speaking very passionately here, as he wraps up his point. He affirms his deep love for the Philippians – the way that he values them highly as his joy and crown. And his call to stand firm here – it communicates urgency.

“Stand firm” is the sort of thing that generals say to their soldiers on the eve of battle, when they’re protecting the people and the country that they love. “Stand firm” is the sort of thing you tell people when there’s something at stake – when you’re about to be faced with trials and temptations. There’s a seriousness here. Paul tells the Philippians stand firm – to stand firm in the example they have received from him. To stand firm against the enticements of unfaithful leaders. To stand firm on the truth of the gospel.

I’m not sure if you’ve thought of doing this before, but there would be wisdom here, for us to set aside time to consider what our manner of life has been like. Where has our time been spent? What purchases have we been making? What have our thoughts been occupied with? Are we imitating Paul’s example, or are we not?

We should search the Scriptures to make sure we’re standing firm in right doctrine – we should absolutely follow Paul’s example in that way. But some people make the mistake of thinking that doctrine is the only thing we need to hold fast to – that as long as we confess the right truths, then we’ve mastered what it means to be a Christian.

But being a Christian isn’t about mastering a certain system of doctrine – it’s about being mastered by Jesus Christ. In addition to standing firm in Paul’s teaching, we should also search the Scriptures to make sure we’re standing firm in right practice. Our character and conduct should match that of the apostles. If we’re understanding the Bible correctly, these things will never be in conflict with each other. True Biblical teaching should produce in us the same fruitful faith that it produced in Paul.

But if we’re going to stand firm in the ways of Christ, in the Christian life, we can’t assume that it will happen effortlessly. We need to know our Bibles. We need to keep our eyes on those who walk according to Paul’s example. We need to set our minds on Christ. And if we aren’t making time to reflect – if we aren’t honestly thinking through what it means to live out the teachings of the Bible – then we really shouldn’t expect that we’re going to be able to stand firm.

But Paul insists that this is something that demands our attention – not tomorrow – not next year – but this is something you need to grapple with today, as you move ahead into 2025. And he speaks this way out of love. And I hope you understand, what we see here isn’t just the love of Paul – but the very love of God. We have a God who is concerned about where we’re headed! He desires for us to know him, and to enjoy the goodness of his ways. It’s out of a heart of love that God gives us his commands, and calls to us with urgency.

Don’t push aside the love of God here. But embrace his commands. And follow the example of those who are walking as ambassadors for the cross. And let’s do this together. Please pray with me: