Philippians chapter 3, we're going through the book of Philippians, and we're coming now to what is termed as a Christ-like example. A Christ-like example. And I'll read verse 11 down to verse 17. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded, and if in anything ye otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk, as ye have walked for us an example. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross. whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Amen. We know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word. In writing to the church at Philippi, Paul testified that before his conversion to Christ, his one aim, his one drive, his one ambition in life, was to do many things contrary or against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. For that reason, Paul, in his unconverted days, he punished Christians and gave permission for their death. However, when the Lord Jesus Christ took hold of Paul, and arrested him by divine power, and called him by divine grace, and forgave his sin by divine mercy, Paul was given a new drive, a new desire, a new ambition, a new purpose in life. It was to have the mind of Christ, to live Christ, to serve Christ, and to walk like Christ. He said, this one thing I do, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. such is the power of the gospel that it transforms a rebellious sinner into a redeemed saint, that God through Christ turns hatred to holiness, He turns the persecutors of the faith into preachers of the faith. He delivers sinners from the power of darkness and translates or transforms them into the kingdom of his dear son. That is the unchanging purpose and infinite power of the gospel towards ungodly and unrighteous sinners who only deserve eternal wrath. And therefore, men and women in this room today, young person, you must understand that if you are not saved by the grace of God In the eyes of God, you're viewed as an ungodly and unrighteous sinner. Now, you may view yourself completely different, but it matters not, because God is your judge. And therefore, he will judge you by his own standard, his own righteous law. And by his law, you stand condemned and unclean and unholy. But He has provided a Saviour who saves from all sin, and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you admit that you're a sinner, and you admit that you've sinned against Him, and you call upon Him for salvation, He is merciful and he is ready and able to save your soul. He's able to transform you and make you a new creature in Christ. As we've said before, religion does not save. The church does not save. Salvation is found by trusting Jesus Christ alone. It's not about how many works you perform. It's not about how many times you go to church, though you should go to church. It's not about how many times you read your Bible, though you should read your Bible. It's not about how many times you pray, though you should pray. Salvation is not found in what you do. It rests upon what Jesus Christ has done and he has died to save sinners and anybody who comes and trusts fully in him will have their sin forgiven. Can I ask, does that sum up you today? Do you, or like, were you like the Apostle Paul? Oh, you have religion, but you had not got Christ. But after you got saved, he realized his religion meant nothing, but Christ meant everything. Paul was then taught by the Savior, and he was given an example, a pattern to follow in living the gospel, because whenever you're saved by the gospel, You're then saved to live out that very gospel. Paul then shared that example with the people of God, those churches that he wrote to by his preaching, by his letters, that they too would walk according to the word of God. That's why at the end of verse 17, Paul said, you have us for an example, or ensemble. The word ensemble, as you have before you in verse 17, is the word that means pattern. And so you could read it that way. You have us for a pattern, an example. The idea refers to an outline, or a figure, or an impression, something that must be copied. And when it is copied, it must be the same, it must be the exact pattern. For instance, our daughter in school, she got homework that she was to draw a picture of the late Queen Elizabeth. So you went online and you got a picture that had her face in that sense. And what she did was she got paper put it on the computer and just traced around following the pattern. You think of those who maybe crochet, I know some here, maybe knit, and what do you do? You have a pattern to follow. And what you do, you follow that wee pattern and do all those wee knots and things like that. And that's what Paul is saying. Paul says that he's received the pattern of the gospel from the Lord, and he's received the pattern of how the gospel is to be lived. And then he shares that same pattern with people. Here's the gospel pattern. Preach it and live it according to the word of God. And when you share it, you do the same thing. Now, I don't know on Facebook, if you've ever seen these things that people do, we should do it sometime in our youth fellowship. It's a game. It's a quiz. You get a whole line of people. And what happens is this, someone draws something on the back of someone's shoulder, or no, I think there's a couple of them, but one of them does this here. You whisper something in someone's ear, you give them a message, and then they pass that message on, and then they pass that message on. And when you've looked at how they do it, whatever was said at the start is completely different to when it gets the end. And the whole point is this, throughout the centuries, something has gone wrong. Churches have begun to take the pattern and they've begun to twist it. They began to do their own thing. And that's why today you've churches that don't preach the gospel. That's why you have a casualty among churches today, because they've taken the pattern and they've done what they want with it. So now they're not living their lives according to the Bible. It's according to how they think the Bible should be lived. And that's why you have in the call that people say, well, the Bible is just out of date. It's not. It's just they've changed the pattern, how to live. And so Paul says, here's the pattern. Here's a way to live the gospel. You've been apprehended of Christ to apprehend. You've been saved for a purpose, to live that very purpose. As we learned last week, it was to walk by the same rule, by the Word of God. And if anybody thinks otherwise minded, the Lord shall reveal that to you. And so Paul says in verse 17, Brethren, be followers together of me. Paul is writing to a company of God's redeemed people. to show them that the purpose they received, the purpose that you've been saved, is to be conformed to the image of God's own Son. That good work that God has begun within you, that will be perfect when you reach heaven. The phrase, followers together of me, as you have before you, means to join. And therefore Paul's saying, brethren, join with me in following Christ. Join with me in striving for Christ's likeness. Join with me in having the same mindset. Join with me in having the same drive that our lives will be moulded and shaped by Jesus Christ. Join with me as I follow the pattern. Join with me as I follow the example that has been given by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I say to this congregation, brethren, believer in Christ in South Grove, join together with me as your minister, as your pastor, as I follow the pattern to walk in the ways of good men and to keep the paths of the righteous, to walk by the same rule, to guide you, to lead you by the Word of God, to be more and more like Jesus Christ. Join together with me. I didn't say follow me. Join together with me as we follow the Savior. Notice Paul's points that I want to bring today of a Christ-like example. I have, you'll be glad to know, two points. But that doesn't mean they'll be short. The first one will be a bit longer, the second one will just be a closing remark. But notice two simple thoughts today. First of all, mimic a Christ-like example. Mimic a Christ-like example. Verse 17, Brethren, be followers together of me. The words followers together are either two words in the English, yet in the original Greek language they are one word. and it's made up of a compound word. Now the compound word is two Greek root words that come together to make one word. And so basically the words follow, followers together, literally mean to imitate. That's what it means, to imitate. In fact, the particular Greek word used in verse 17 is the only time in the New Testament that it is used this one time. But the root word, as I said, or one of those root words is used four times in the New Testament. Three of those times refers to what should be imitated, what should be mimicked. But one of those four times refers to what should not be imitated. And that's found in 3 John verse 11, where John said to believers, beloved, follow not or imitate not, copy not that which is evil, but that which is good. This Greek word reminds us then of the word mimic or to mime. And you know whenever someone uses the word mime, it could be translated as to imitate or to copy. For instance, I'm not a great singer, but if somebody was to hide somewhere behind me and sing something wonderful, and I stood up here and I went, following. You'd just see my lips moving, but you'd hear their voice. But it would come across, wow, he's really singing that well. And what am I doing? I am miming. I am mimicking someone else. It's their voice. I'm just mimicking them. And that's wonderful because Paul is saying to believers, as I imitate Christ by my words and service, join with me. Be imitators together with me. Mimic together with me. Paul is not saying follow me. He's not saying mimic my opinions or my hobby horses or my likes or dislikes. Rather, Paul is referring back to verses 13 and 14. This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forth those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. So when it comes to the aim of the Christian's life, if you're a Christian, your goal, your aim will be like Paul's. to mimic, to imitate, to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we serve together, we do so in oneness with one mind. Paul's chief goal, he is saying, join with me. as we serve, as we strive for Christ's likeness. Make that your chief goal, make that your chief end every single day. Join with me as we serve the Lord to become more and more like Christ. Now no doubt that the church at Philippi, they displayed different personalities. They all came from different backgrounds. They all had different jobs, just like any congregation, just like this congregation as well. A lot of us all come from different backgrounds, different cultures. We all have different jobs and all the rest. Lydia, remember her, she was in the Church of Philippi. Well she came from Asia to Philippi. So she had her job and then you had the jailer at Philippi who was always looking after the jails. So they all had their different backgrounds and things like that. But they all had different motives for being in Philippi, but they were all brought into the fellowship of the gospel by grace. And so Paul is writing to all these believers with differences that join with me as we strive for Christ's likeness. He's telling the church at Philippi, there should be one principle that dominates our motives, the way we think, how we live our lives. It's Christ-likeness. Otherwise, it will cause disorder, disunity, and division. In everything we do, whether we study, we work, or retired, raising a family, it all flows from one and main focus, Christ-likeness. When at school, outside of school, getting home, in the home, in the car, in the tubes, the bus, out and about, I want to be Christ-like. Not singing in church, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound. and then get into the tube and make a sound that's not amazing grace. That leads to the thought. Some of you caught on to that, didn't you? That's very good. Don't ask me to repeat it because I can't remember what I said, but it sounded good the first time. Leads to the thought, in what way then can the church at Philippi, in what way can we mimic a Christ-like example? How can we follow Paul or join with Paul in following Christ? Well, I believe by mimicking godly examples given by the Holy Spirit, that will make a difference in our lives, our families, our congregation, our community, how we treat one another. Notice some simple thoughts I'll just give you briefly here. Mimic Paul's Christ-like example in service. Again, Philippians 1, verse 1, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ. That word servant is the word bondservant. It's the word, it means devoted, surrendered, serving another. It's giving your life as a sacrifice to serve the Lord Jesus. As Paul said in Philippians chapter 1, verse 21, for me to live as Christ. It's saying, here's my life. I give it to you. I'm willing to serve you, Lord. Whatever you want me to do, wherever you want me to go, I'm here to serve you in the local community, in this church. How can I serve you? And I've always said this before. You may say, well, there's a lot of things I can't do, but there's one thing every one of us can do in the service of God, and that is to be in God's house on God's day. That is serving the Lord, and it's serving me. I serve you as I preach to you, but you serve me, you minister to me, you encourage me as you're there to hear the word of God. Follow a Christ-like example then in service, giving your life to serve the Lord Jesus, acknowledging my life is not my own. Notice also, mimic Paul's Christ-like example in sincerity. Philippians 1 verse 3, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." Verse 7, I have you in my heart. Verse 8, God is my record. How greatly I long after you in the bowels of Jesus Christ. Verses 9 and 10, that your love may abound more and more. You see, Paul had a love for the people. of God in the church and he desired them to love Christ and by loving Christ they would love one another and desire the best for one another because such would prevent disunity, bitterness, ill feelings, fault finding and holding grudges. When there's not a love for one another these things are evident Can you say of each one here? Can you say as me as your pastor? Pastor, I have you in my heart. I pray for you. Christ loved his church and gave himself for it. He said in John 13 verse 34, I have loved you. that ye also love one another. The greatest demonstration of Christ's love is at the cross of Calvary, where he gave his life a ransom for the many, where he died for sinners he came to save. But always remember, Christ died for the ungodly. Before you were saved, you used his name as a blaspheme. You maybe said something horrendous, and yet He saved you and forgave you. Mimic Paul's Christ-like example in supplication. Again, Philippians 1 verse 4, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making requests with joy. Verse 9, and this I pray. You see, do you see the connection? When you have love in your heart for other believers, you will pray for them. And that's following a Christ-like example because Christ prayed for his people because they were upon his heart. Again, he prayed for them on earth in John chapter 17. He prayed for them at the cross in John chapter 19. And he continues to pray for them in heaven as we learn from Romans chapter 8. Mimic Paul's Christ-like example in suffering. Again, Paul said in verse 7, 13 and 14, so that my bones in Christ, verse 29, to suffer for his sake. Again, mimic Paul's Christ-like example in speech. This really covers the whole letter. Never forget, Philippians is a letter written by Paul to encourage believers. Counsel where there is division. And he does so to instruct them that in everything, exalt Christ. And when you answer, answer by exalting Christ. Have the mind of Christ. How you talk to, answer, show gestures towards someone, reveals what is in your heart towards them. Do you respect them or disrespect them? Do you uplift them or do you degrade them? Because how you through them is how you will respond to them. Maybe you are annoyed, offended, grieved and you're ready to lash out. Something has been building up and it all comes out and you've let the person know that. You've gave it good to them and you've left them heartbroken, discouraged, confused because they didn't even realize they had offended you. So if we speak with disinterest, hardness, coldness, bitterness, anger, pride, arrogance, disrespectful, degrading, that will be evident. It will not be Christ-like. The whole matter could have been sorted better and biblical by learning from Christ. To have your speech seasoned with salt And whatever situation you may find yourself in, ask yourself the question, this is what I do. How would I want Christ to deal with me? How would I want Christ to respond to me? Again, Romans chapter 15, verse one. A soft answer turneth away wrath. And let that mark you in dealing with husbands and wives and children and whatever else, people in the church, people who maybe do things different than you. A soft answer turneth away wrath. You'll find that Christ answers in love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. He forgives. He puts sin away. He doesn't hold it against you. And yet, we hold things against people. Someone does something wrong, ah, but I still remember you did that. And I still remember you did that. That's not Christ-like at all. And therefore, There's more we could mention, but we all have our differences, personalities, spiritual level, different ages, backgrounds, family. But God has saved our soul, washed us in the blood of Christ by faith, adopted us into one family for the same and ultimate purpose. To follow, imitate, become more and more like the head of the family, the son of God. To love, walk, pray, forgive, care, and do good unto all men, especially unto the household of faith, because that's what he did. mimic a Christ-like example. The Holy Spirit is pleased to use the life of Paul as one example for believers to learn from. Paul writes, Brethren, be followers together of me. Brethren, imitate with me. As I follow Christ, follow Christ with me. As I walk according to the rule set in scripture, as I follow the pattern according to scripture that will press toward the mark, that will lead to Christlikeness, follow with me. Notice finally and briefly, not only to mimic a Christ-like example, but notice mark a Christ-like example. Mark. Verse 17. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk, as ye have for us an ensemble. Here is an encouragement. Paul points out there are other believers who have taken his life for an example, who have followed the message that has been delivered to him. about Christ-likeness and becoming Christ-like in their example. And they're passing that on. You've got Epaphroditus, you've got Timothy, you've got others. They've learned from Paul and now they're passing the same message on. I say that because in verse 18, which we'll come across, God willing, maybe next week, there are some who try to pass themselves off as a good example for Christians to follow. when in fact they are not Christ-like examples. Paul said, For many walk of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. They desire people to follow them. They desire their own divisions. They desire their own groups, their own applaud, their own band as it were. They desire people to follow their opinions and things like that. That's why I always say, when you listen to people, try to connect with people who belong to a church. See these independent people who associate with no church, stay away from them. Because they lead the by-path meadow, they're isolated, they're secluded, and they do no good, and it's not of God. Stick with those who associate with a church because that's the pattern in scripture. When you read the epistles, they're written to churches. And therefore Paul says walk according to this rule. Avoid people who draw you to their websites, their YouTube sites, follow me and there's no connecting for churches because it's not of God. All they want is a following. They're not saying follow together with me, they're saying follow me. Note the difference and be very, very careful. The word walk as you have before you in verse 17 and verse 18 is the same word. It's a standard word meaning behaviour, conduct, manner of living. It summarises everything that Paul has said from chapter 1 regarding living a life that becomes the gospel or live a life that matches the gospel, that is in agreement with the gospel. The believer's one aim above all is to press towards Christ-likeness. If you're a Christian and your aim is not Christ-likeness, then something is fundamentally wrong. There is a desire to delight yourself in the Lord, to go on with God, to follow through with God. This word walk is in the continual tense, meaning to continually behave yourself according to the word, to continually walk and strive after Christ's likeness. Equally true, verse 18, those who are false professors, those who are pretenders, those who try to pass themselves off as an example to follow when they're the opposite. It's the same word, they continually do so. They continually lead you astray. For that reason, Paul said, mark them which walk or which behave. as ye have for us an example." The word mark, as you have before you there, is used six times in the New Testament. It means to consider, to observe, to spy out, to watch, to look. The idea is to examine, to notice carefully, pay attention. And so Paul says, mark them which follow the example set down by us as received by the Lord. Notice carefully how we live the gospel. Notice carefully how we preach up Christ. Notice carefully how we present the Lord in his glorious person. Notice how we seek to uplift the Saviour. It's interesting to note one of those six times is found in Romans chapter 16 verse 17. And notice what Paul said on that occasion. Now I beseech you, brethren, Mark or spy out Luke. Be careful. Watch them, which cause divisions. and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them." So there's Paul's response. Watch for good examples but also mark them which are not good examples. Those who come in to try and cause division, mark them, single them out, clear them off, avoid them. Because if you let them in, they will run riot. Therefore, Paul said, mark the good example. Those who are striving for Christlikeness, those who are pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling, follow them. The word example, as we've learned, is the word pattern. And you'll notice there, it's not in the plural, it's in the singular. That is because there's only one gospel to live, and one way to live the gospel. There's only one way for Christ's likeness, and that's through prayer, reading the Word of God, the means of grace. Paul said mark believers with a Christ-like example. Learn from their prayers how they magnify Christ. Learn in their conversation how they bring the matter back to Christ. Learn in their preaching how they uplift Christ. Preaching today has just become more like political rallies. getting something off people's chest. I could have just, this message today, you know what, I could have done, which probably most people are probably doing up down the land today. I could have just, this message that God's given me, Philippians, don't just set that aside, you know what, people would rather hear something about my opinion on what Trump and the White House, what happened the other day, and just preach the whole thing and that, and people will leave. Oh, I'm glad I knew what the preacher thinks about that. That's what you'll get today, up and down many pulpits. That is not preaching. to what's not. That is what you will get up and down the land today. People turning the pulpit into political scene. I'm not saying something shouldn't be mentioned or an illustration but that's what you will get. Paul said mark them that have for us an example. We focus on Christ, we uplift Christ, we preach Christ and we want to show you how to follow Christ. And that is by pressing toward the mark, by pursuing, by hunting after, by striving after the very reason why you were saved to be like Christ. So I trust believer, as we've looked at these words today, mimic and mark a Christ-like example and follow after them. And by doing so, you will become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the perfect servant of God, who did all things that pleased the Lord, who honored and obeyed the Father. Are you saved today? Well, I trust that you will receive Christ as Savior, because like I said, not every man who stands in a pulpit in England or United Kingdom is giving the truth. There are many who are the blind leading the blind. And there's many who sit in a pew and I say, they just hear something to tickle their taste. Oh yes, they hear about the name Jesus and the name love and all the rest. And Jesus just wants you to love everybody and that's it and you leave. Wow, what a great message today. I'm just to have more love in my life. But more love in your life won't take you to heaven. More life is just to say, just to have more love. It's just another way for you to try and get in bondage, to try and work harder and harder and harder and harder and harder to try and get your way into heaven. I need to love more. Salvation is coming to faith in Jesus Christ. Receiving Him, trusting Him. And then through Him, you will love as He loved. and honor and glorify God. May the Lord.