Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20081116.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Philippians: Living God's Great Calling Of Godly Servanthood
Part VIII: Following Paul's Example To Shift From Worldly To Heavenly Goals
(Philippians 3:15-4:1)
  1. Introduction
    1. Living in this life when all seems to go well can lure us into a false sense of security, a security that quickly evaporates when life suddenly becomes problematic in times of trial!
    2. Actually, godly servanthood causes one to shift from harboring worldly ambitions to hold to heavenly goals, a shift that equips him to live above the spiritually draining effects of this troubled world and function in blessed stability. Paul explained such living in Philippians 3:15-4:1 as follows:
  2. Following Paul's Example To Shift From Worldly To Heavenly Goals, Phil. 3:15-4:1.
    1. Paul urged those of his readers who were spiritually "mature" to have the mental orientation he had just described in Philippians 3:9-14, the orientation of pressing for heaven's goals and values, Phil. 3:15a NIV.
    2. Paul was confident that if in any way his readers disagreed with this directive, God would reveal it to them, for God wanted His people to have a heavenly orientation in all realms of living, Philippians 3:15b.
    3. Nevertheless, to the degree his readers realized they were to live for God's heavenly goals and values, Paul urged them to maintain such a commitment, Philippians 3:16.
    4. Consequently, Paul urged his readers to follow his own example, and to keep looking to the examples of other godly leaders who lived with this same focus on the heavenly life to come, Philippians 3:17.
    5. Such a focus on godly examples was designed to offset the influence of the bad examples of the false teachers the Philippians faced (Phil. 3:18), and Paul described their errant focus in Philippians 3:19:
      1. The false teachers, "incipient Gnostics" who believed in living in sensual indulgence since they thought the body was evil and would be destroyed anyway, were destined for destruction in their souls as they trusted in the flesh and not in Christ's sufficiency, Phil. 3:19a; Bible Knowledge Com., N. T., p. 662.
      2. The false teachers made their stomachs, i.e., their fleshly appetites, their god, Phil. 3:19b; Rom. 16:18.
      3. The false teachers thus heaped praise on themselves versus giving glory to God in boasting in their wicked fleshly indulgences, acts that should have made them ashamed, Philippians 3:19c; Ibid.
      4. The false teachers thus depended on earthly things to gain merit before God rather than trusting in the unseen God by faith for spiritual blessings, Philippians 3:19d; Ibid.
    6. In contrast to these false teachers, the believer had a "citizenship" that was from heaven (Philippians 3:20a NIV), a statement that had great historical significance for Paul's Philippian readers (as follows):
      1. Following a famous Roman civil war battle that occurred between the forces of Brutus and Cassius and those of Anthony and Octavian (later Caesar Augustus) in 42 B. C. near Philippi, the city was established as a Roman colony with its inhabitants being given "special privileges." (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., p. 1682, "The Church at Philippi."
      2. For Paul then to claim that his Philippian readers had a citizenship that surpassed their special Roman privileges at Philippi, a citizenship from heaven, was to call them to forsake trust in the prized privileges granted to them from Rome in favor of the blessings of heavenly citizenship, Phil. 3:20a.
    7. Of course, Paul included the special blessings of heaven that no Roman emperor could give, 3:20b-21:
      1. Paul's Christian Philippian readers were waiting for the appearing of the heavenly Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who would save them from this life's woes, Philippians 3:20b.
      2. Specifically, Christ would transform their lowly mortal bodies to be like His glorious body by the power that enabled Him to subject all things to Himself in vast superiority to any Roman rule, 3:21!
    8. Thus, Paul called his readers to stand firm in their hope of heaven in the Lord, Philippians 4:1.
Lesson: Paul called his Philippian readers to Christian maturity, a life lived in accord with their heavenly destiny that far outclassed what this life could offer in contrast to what the Gnostics taught.

Application: (1) May we live in line with our heavenly destiny and values versus putting our hope in what welfare this mortal life can offer. (2) In so doing, may we mature to live in stability in all we face versus living in sin and dreadful instability that occurs when this life presents us with calamity!