Kaleo San Diego Church

Philippians 3:15-21

15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. 17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame--who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

INTRODUCTION

At the foot of one of the Swiss Alps is a marker honoring a man who fell to his death while attempting to climb to the top. The marker gives his name and then this brief epitaph “He died climbing.” This should be the epitaph of every Christian. We should be able to say with confidence as we slip from this world into the next that “we did climbing” as we climbed upward toward the prize of grabbing hold of Christ and living like Him.

Last week we spoke about assurance of our salvation. We also spoke about two camps that make conflicting truth claims; one says you can never be sure of your salvation, another says that you can not only be sure, but be practically perfect in this life. I mentioned that if we believe in Jesus Christ as our savior, by God’s grace through faith we are made positionally perfect before God, but our flesh wars against our spirit and we have to strive toward being practically perfect in this life. In other words, we are to strive toward being like Christ.

This week I want to touch on how this happens and drive it home so that you can work these things out practically as you realize who you are positionally.

I want to start with a question. Do you have confidence that your life is lived in such a way that you can say “if I died today, I can say with complete honesty I died pursuing Christlikeness.”

Let me make a more common illustration. If you were to be taken this very moment, what would be your eulogy given by faithful brothers and sisters? In other words, what would those brothers and sisters closest to you say at your funeral?

Would it be said you were kind?

Would it be said you were hospitable?

Would it be said you knew quite a bit about the bible?

Would it be said that you talked constantly about being a Christian, but it didn’t really look like it from your life?

Would it be said it seemed like only your mind was engaged with Christ, but not your heart?

Would it be said you “died climbing?”

Would it be said that you made in impact the size of a crater, or that you were barely a blip on the screen?

This is what I want to discuss this morning, as we look at the last few verses of chapter 3 of the book of Philippians. If you have a bible, please turn there and we’ll jump right in.

People who make huge impacts in this world do so because they have a single-minded commitment to reach their goals. If that goal is to conquer the world, succeed in their relationship to their spouse, grow a successful business, or win a championship, they are willing to do what most of us do not do- they are willing to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to achieve their goal.

The same can be said in our life with Christ. There is no hidden secret, or lock-tight methods, or shortcuts to a life in Christ that makes an impact on the world for the truth and reality of Jesus Christ.

Whenever we watch someone move closer to their goal of Christlikeness in this life and in their ministry, it is because that person has chosen to give maximum effort to their life in pursuing Christ.

It really is that simple.

Let me just remind you that this idea of dying while ascending is not foreign to our history. There are countless multitudes that have chosen to pursue Christ with all they have as they go hard after God and it cost them their life.

The sad truth is that few of us have that kind of commitment to the cause of Christ. I won’t get into all the reasons for our laziness but I believe one of the main reasons is our assumption that we exist for our own satisfaction. We are told that our primary goal is life is to have all of our perceived needs and desires met. Then we’ll truly be happy, then we’ll be content, and then we’ll be fulfilled.

We then come to church and the church offers a modern view of the gospel which agrees with this hedonistic philosophy of life. God becomes a big piñata which we whack with a magical stick called the “prayer of Jabez” or some other ridiculous mantra we’re supposed to chant until this magical stick splits God open so all our needs and desires are met.

Scripture disagrees with this view because it presents Jesus to us as a sovereign King and Savior at which every knee will bow in submission and obedience (Philippians 2:10).

This “need based theology” is totally opposed to what God teaches us in His word. Our satisfaction and human need is not the goal of salvation or our growth in Christ. The goal of salvation is for you and I to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. So our growth in Christ looks out to Christ, not inward to ourselves and our felt needs. The goal of living for Christ is not our satisfaction in “things” but in God.

Is it wrong to possess money and things? No. What we see in the bible is righteous rich and righteous poor. We see wicked rich and wicked poor. The issue is not whether you are rich or poor, the issue is whether you are righteous or wicked. We can have things in this life, but when those things become our goal in life instead of a hard pursuit of God, we have crossed the line into idolatry.

Material hedonism, that is the pursuit of pleasure in things, promises us life and pleasure but instead gives us death and misery. Only Christian hedonism, that is the pursuit of pleasure in God, will give us true happiness, true joy, true life and true freedom.

STUDY

Verses 15-16- 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

Paul wasn’t alone in his race. Every one of us our in this race together. We are postionally right and perfect before God, but we are in a race with one another to be practically right and perfect before God.

Every true follower of Christ should have this same attitude that Paul had. We are supposed to be totally and completely focused on making the most effort to pursue our prize which is Christ and a life like His.

Paul makes the argument that he knows there will be some that don’t agree with him and his zeal for God. He basically states that God will give them the same message. God will correct them through His Word, His Spirit or through His discipline. God will do whatever it takes to make us realize our need to pursue a life like Christ.

Paul then says we are to line up and follow in line. We are to keep to the path we have been following. We are supposed to keep running in the same lane.

As is usually the case with Paul after telling us what we are to do, he then gives us the “how” to do it.

Paul lays out for us three practical ways of pursuing Christlikeness.

I. FOLLOW GODLY EXAMPLES

Verse 17- Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.

When we hear this we think of perfect examples that don’t exist and so we don’t follow anyone. This is not what Paul is saying. Paul new he was not what he wanted to be practically, but he calls others to follow him because he is following Christ.

The bible shows us Paul’s failures as well as his successes. Had Paul been perfect he wouldn’t have been an example to believers. We need to follow someone who is not perfect so we can see how to overcome our imperfections; someone who can show us how to handle the struggles of life, it’s disappointments, and it’s trials. We need to see how to handle pride, how to resist temptation, and how to put sin to death. Christ is the perfect model and pattern for us to copy. But Christ was perfect and had always been perfect. Paul was a fellow traveler who was journeying toward a prize and who at times stumbled along the way.

Then Paul says to watch those who follow him. He is telling us to focus on those whose daily walk is according to the pattern that Christ laid down for Paul, and that Paul laid down for the church at Philippi , and those in Philippi laid down a pattern which was passed for 20 centuries to this day by brothers and sisters who follow Christ as Paul did.

II. FLEE FROM UNGODLY EXAMPLES

Verses 18-19- For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame--who set their mind on earthly things.

Paul gives four descriptions of the enemies of the cross in verse 19.

He talks about their doom, their deity, their disgrace, and their disposition.

1. Their Doom

Verse 19a- whose end is destruction,

The sad truth of all of those individuals that oppose the only truth of salvation, which is the cross of Christ, face the same fate. They will ultimately meet their final destiny and be destroyed eternally in hell. Paul is speaking to the Judaizers that try to add to what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross so that God will forgive us. They tried to strip it of its power and instead they are ultimately stripped of life.

2. Their Deity

Verse 19b- whose god is their belly,

Paul uses their belly as a metaphor to refer to a constant pursuit of sensuality and fleshly desires. When we refuse to worship God and instead worship our sensual impulses, God considers it a worship of another god, that god happens to be our own appetite.

3. Their Disgrace

Verse 19c- and whose glory is their shame-

We shame ourselves when we boast in ourselves. This is the most extreme form of wickedness— when we try to exalt ourselves above Christ. Paul says that their glory is actually their shame. The freedom we claim we have when we are loosed from the bonds of Christ is actually the worst kind of slavery. It’s a slavery that is so wicked that it tells us we’re free. So we do things we shouldn’t do and we regret it later. Have you ever been drunk and did and said things you woke up the next day regretting? This is a poor example, but the same vein. It is an assumption of freedom that shames us and brings us into bondage and regret.

4. Their Disposition

Verse 19d- who set their mind on earthly things.

What we focus on in this life proves what we say. Anyone who wishes to be a friend to earthly sensualities that oppose Jesus proves our disposition before God. The enemies of the Cross, whether the add to the cross or take away from it, are to be avoided, and never imitated.

III. FOCUS ON GODLY EXPECTATIONS

Verses 20-21- For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

The common denominator in our motivation for pursuing a life of Christlikeness is the ultimate hope of His return. Since He is in heaven, you and I should long for His return to take us to be with Him.

Paul didn’t have much interest in the sensual pleasure of this world. But what Paul did have an interest in was the return of Jesus Christ for His own:

2 Corinthians 4:8-10- 8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

 

2 Corinthians 6:4-10- 6 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

 

2 Corinthians 11:23-29- 23 Are they ministers of Christ? --I speak as a fool--I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness-- 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

 

This view of Christ led Paul to a place of freedom from his demands and felt needs. He was willing to do and have done to him whatever was necessary for him to attain his prize. He climbed, and raced, and fought, and wrestled, and boxed and ultimately was beheaded for his pursuit of Christ and a life worth living. It cost him his head and in his last letter before his departure from this world, as his day of being with Christ came, he didn’t whine or complain. He didn’t ask to be rescued. He didn’t demand a recount in the verdict. He simply said to Timothy: 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

The hope of Jesus Christ returning gives us motivation and security, as well as accountability. We know that we are passing through this land, and are citizens of heaven. Our real home is there with our Lord.

And so we wait…but this waiting is not passive or boring. This waiting is to be “eager” for our savior. We are not waiting for some event, we are waiting for a person, Jesus!

His return ends the struggle for you and I against sin, against pain, against isolation.

If you and I die before His return, our spirit is temporarily separated from our body. The body goes into the grave, while the spirit goes into the presence of God. Heaven is now occupied by “the spirits of the righteous made perfect (Hebrews 12:23). Then one day our spirits will be joined again to our bodies at His second coming.

Jesus will totally transform the bodies of all believers to make them fit for heaven. Believer’s bodies will be refashioned and redesigned. Christ will change the present body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory. Like Christ’s resurrection body, we will have resurrected bodies that will be recognizable. We will be able to eat, talk, and walk, but will not have the physical restrictions of our present body. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared and disappeared at will, even entering a room when the doors were locked.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49- 35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?" 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

 

Sin, weakness, sorrow, disappointment, pain, suffering, doubt, fear, temptation, hate, and failure will give way to perfect and increasing joy, perfect and increasing pleasure, perfect and increasing knowledge, perfect and increasing comfort, and perfect and increasing love.

Our salvation doesn’t just deliver us from hell, its goal in our redemption is to transform us into conformity with the body of His glory.

Christ has the power and rank and one day will use both to accomplish our transformation.

As we run our race, do we have this same confidence as Paul?

Does this description of how to run our race resemble you and I? That is the question we must ask ourselves this morning.

Can you say with confidence that if that day were to come this day Christ Himself would say “He Died Climbing?”

Let’s pray.

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