Good morning. Please go ahead and turn your Bibles to Philippians chapter three. I'll be reading verses 15 through chapter four, verse one. Give you a second to get there. Hear you then the word of the Lord. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and their glory and their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await the 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. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord my Beloved. Well, of course you saw the title of this, this is Final Destination, but it is interesting, when talking about final destinations, almost everyone, believer or unbeliever, still thinks that no matter what, they will all go to heaven. Nobody can imagine that hell is real, that hell is true. Nobody thinks that this loving God, who they say loves all people unconditionally, would ever send a single sinner to eternal damnation. Yet Jesus is very clear on the subject, as are the Apostles, that hell is real, hell is hot, and everyone who is not in Christ Jesus, or to phrase it differently, anyone who is not in Christ Jesus will die in their sins, be judged by the Son of God, and finally be cast into hell itself. Why? because if they don't know the Lord, or better, if Christ does not know you, you will go to hell. prepared for the devil and his angels. There is a final destination. If you are saved by faith in Christ, you will live forever. If you don't have faith in Christ, you will die forever in eternal death and torments in the lake of fire. Now last time we saw Paul encouraging the Philippian Christians to press on in their faith, striving for the full knowledge of Christ and sinless perfection which is had in Christ on the day when Jesus returns. He said, we must forget what lies behind us from our former lives of confidence in the flesh and strain forward to what lies ahead, aiming, of course, for the great goal, the final prize. If we will reach this final destination, then we must consider our subject under these headings. Number one, call to a godly imitation. Two, the final destination. And three, the need to stand firm in Christ Jesus. I pray the Lord will lead us and guide us by the Holy Spirit as we realize the implications of these things for our lives and our souls. So let's go ahead and look at our first heading and this one is the call to a godly imitation in verses 15 through 17. I'll read again. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. In these first two verses of our text, Paul tells these Philippian Christians who are mature to think this way." Well, think in what way? Well, he refers to everything that he has been teaching them in this epistle so far. Like Paul, they need to be focused on Christ and the full perfection that we will attain when he returns. None of them are perfect yet, but will be. Paul never claimed to be spiritually perfect, nor are the Philippians, nor are the false teachers who tried to mislead this church. Paul says, let us, which includes himself, who are mature think this way, but if they don't, if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you, or God will make it plain and clear to you. So if they differ on some minor point of application, they are defective, God will open their hearts to understand the truth, doing so by His Spirit. One scholar said this, Paul probably believes that God will do so through this very letter, this very epistle that is before us. Paul continues, only let us hold true to what we have attained. Here he speaks of his main point, these Philippian Christians shouldn't be fixated or focused on those who disagree. Rather, hold true to what we have attained. And what is that? What is that? It is the spiritual maturity already mentioned in verse 15. If they are mature, they should be focused on Christ, and in Christ we should strive for perfection. Again, they are not perfect yet, but they are to strive for it every day as followers of Christ. We should apply this principle consistently in our lives, hold true to it, walk in it daily. If we need more light to understand this principle, then go to the Lord in prayer who will give you more light, but only to those who are walking in the light already. So having called us to grow in spiritual maturity and to hold fast to what we have attained, Paul calls them not to follow those in error, the false teachers, but to stay the line, keep the course. How? Well, you can look at verse 17. brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us." He calls them brothers or brethren, which includes brothers and sisters, for he does love them and he does care about them. Always remember that. He does care about them very, very much. So now, excuse me, he issues two commands, which is, first of all, join in imitating me, and second, keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example that you have in us. Paul includes himself as well as his co-laborers in Christ. Now, did you know that for children, their greatest examples in faith and practice, the people that they will imitate, will primarily be their parents or grandparents or siblings and other relatives. Do you see, then, why it's so important that they have set good examples in their lives? They will imitate you. Foul language? Don't be surprised if they repeat those vile words that you might say. Overindulgence, whether eating or over drinking? They will do as they see you do. Spousal abuse? Don't be surprised when little Johnny grows up beating his wife after seeing you do it time and time again. Pretty terrible, right? It is. Be the godly examples that they need in their lives. Glorify God in all of your life. The little ones, all those around you, they are watching. They're watching you and they're looking for the reality of your faith. And so Paul wants these Christians to have a model to follow. If we are brothers and sisters in Christ, then your attitudes, the heart, speech, and daily conduct should be seen and heard in that. Paul is in essence saying, imitate me, because they need a model to follow. Paul strives to follow Christ in great humility and Christ-centered trust. He isn't being a braggart. He's following Christ and calls for them to do likewise. He points to Christ as a chief example and so he calls them as he did the Corinthians, be imitators of me as I also am of Christ. Don't forget Paul was taught by Christ and so he strives to live for Jesus and they must too. Follow me as I follow Christ. So Paul tells them to imitate him in his faith and his walk and his humility and trust in Christ. is holding fast to the gospel. Likewise, they can see the examples of Paul's co-laborers in Christ, for they walk by faith too. They cling to Christ and his perfection as well, longing for that day, which leads to our second heading, the final destination, and there are only two destinations, only two, And I'll read verses 18 through 19 right now. For many of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. Well, here we see Paul expressing his emotions about the situation. Some are not walking as they should. They may have professed to be Christians, but their own lips have proven that to be false. They have tried to deceive these Philippian Christians. They have kept other unbelievers from being converted, and they have dishonored God by doing so. These were not a few ungodly men, but many of them. Paul had warned the Christians there not to be deceived by them. He was brought to tears because of these ungodly false teachers. They were wicked and they were enemies of the cross of Christ. Notice Paul described them in four ways in verse 19. Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, they glory in their shame, and had set their minds on earthly things. This is what they lived for, which is living for sin. Why is Paul brought to tears? Because he knows their end is destruction. They will die in their sin and rebellion. They are false teachers seducing the church and they will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to hear their own condemnation. Basically out of Matthew 7, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many deeds of power in your name? Jesus will say, I never knew you, Go away from me, you evildoers." That is their final destination. They should be afraid. They should be terrified. But they don't believe it is their final destination, but they will see it. God has ordained their end shall be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11 15 However, that is not our destination. We are not to be like them. Rather, we imitate Paul as he imitates Christ. Look at verse 20 and 21. But 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 to subject all things to Himself. So there are only two destinations, only two, no more. There is heaven and there is hell, nothing else. No abominable doctrine of purgatory, which is another intermediate state where believers must burn for millions or billions of years until their sin is finally atoned for or purged. No, for Christ has atoned for all of our sin and we immediately go to heaven at death. Even now, we are citizens of heaven. We are on this earthly pilgrimage, if you will, until we die or when Jesus comes. We are strangers in a strange land, pilgrims if you are, but we are not of this world. We are citizens of heaven because of Jesus Christ. While there are those who are earthly minded, we are not. We are heavenly minded, longing for Jesus. On the days of Rome, Caesar was declared to be the Savior. He was a counterfeit Savior, a fake Lord. They called him a Kourios, but he is not Kourios. Only Christ is Kourios, who is Lord. He was a fake Lord who couldn't and wouldn't save a single soul. Christ alone is the Savior and Lord and we wait for our Savior to come and transform these sinful corrupt bodies to be like His glorious body. So let this motivate you to greater godliness to produce more holiness in your lives. We must look away from earthly pleasures and pursuits and look to Jesus who comes for you and me. Even when Jesus comes to judge this world, we still see Him. We still know Him as our Savior. And He will transform us by the same almighty power which enables Him to subject all things to Himself, for He is God and man, He is Lord and Christ, and He loves you. So wait for Him. Be patient for His coming, for He will come in great power, but we must abide in Him always. Always. leading to our final heading, the need to stand firm in Christ. Chapter 4, verse 1. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. So while we wait for him, and we must be busy while we wait for him, we must stand firm in Christ. Again, Paul calls them his brethren, for he loves them and he longs to see them, especially on that day when Jesus returns. That is what they look for and long for, the return of Christ, and so do we. He calls them my joy and my crown, and yes, he is relating this to all that he has said so far in this epistle, but he speaks now with a tender affection for his beloved Philippian Christians. These believers will be regarded as his reward and seal of his apostleship in Christ Jesus. They are as a crown to his head, and he is ready to present them to the mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he is tender toward them, for he is exhorting them to stand firm in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? because they must not drift away by the seduction of the wicked ones who seek to destroy them. They must stand firm, they must abide, they must remain in Christ all the way to glory, no longer having confidence in the flesh, but having our minds and our hearts set upon the Lord who loves us and saved us. Likewise, we have a battle before us, and we must stand firm in Christ too. not to be fearful, but knowing God is in control. The gates of hell will not prevail. The gospel will continue to go forth with great power, but the battle is already won in Jesus Christ our Lord. One day He will come for you. You need to be ready. You need to stand firm. Do not waver and do not doubt. But are you trusting in Jesus Christ or not? Your destination awaits. What will it be? Will it be heaven or hell? I pray that you trust and put your faith in Christ alone for your salvation, and I pray for that every day. Father, we do thank you for your word, O Lord. We pray, bless it to us and stir our hearts, Lord, by your Holy Spirit. And Father, open the hearts to hear your word, to hear the gospel, that they may repent and believe upon Jesus Christ for the salvation of their very souls. We do ask, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.