Listen now as I read God's holy and precious word of Philippians chapter 3 beginning with verse 20 down through chapter 4 verse 9. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly await for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my beloved brethren, whom I long to see my joy and crown in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge you, Odia, and I urge Sintikki, to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men, for the Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And finally, brethren, whatever's true, whatever's honorable, whatever's right, whatever's pure, whatever's lovely, whatever's of good repute, if there's any excellent, if there's anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Amen. So ends the reading of God's holy word. May he bless it. Please be seated. Back in 1986, I moved to the East End of London, just by White Chapel, made famous, of course, for Jack the Ripper. and right next to the Mile End Tube Station. But when I moved to the East End of London, I was in for a great culture shock, because I didn't understand the culture, and I certainly didn't understand their slang. And so let me read or give you a little bit of their slang, see if you understand it yourselves, because the words are in English, but we'll see. There's a man who had no trouble in strife. So with his bees and honeys, he put on his almond rocks and howdy-dos. And down the frog and toad, he went for a ball of chalk. He landed at the rubber dub where Lady Godiva got him elephant's trunk. And at the cane and able, he sat with Uncle Fred and Rosie Lee. With the dog and bone, he said goodbye to Barney Rubble. Did you get any of that? Again, the words are in English. But how they use them, foreign. Well, let me give you the translation. There's a man who had no wife. So with his money, he put on his socks and shoes and went down the road for a walk, went into a pub and for a fiver, that's five pounds, he got drunk. He sat at the table with some bread and tea. And with a phone, he said goodbye to all his troubles. My point in reading that was simply because if you don't understand the language, if you don't understand the culture, you're going to find yourself lost. And Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians. In an effort to explain the language and the culture of heaven itself to these Philippians, so that they would see who they are in Christ, so that they would see and act according to who they are as citizens of heaven. I don't want you lost. I don't want you mistaken. I want you to understand who you are in Christ. Indeed, our true citizenship, Paul says in verse 20, is that we are in heaven. Heaven is pressing itself down upon us in the way that we are to think, the way that we are to react to adversity, the way we conduct ourselves, even in our daily lives and living. The mode of heaven, the language of heaven, the attitude of heaven is to press upon the way we talk, upon the very attitudes that we carry with us moment by moment. As those who have been apprehended by Christ, we have entered into a world of perfect joy and peace, even those very things that we read about in verse 8. A world where truth and honor and righteousness and purity and loveliness and excellence is the very atmosphere that we're to breathe. The world to which we belong is a world not of this creation. You are of the new creation, of a new world order that comes from without. A heavenly world where the Savior resides in his resurrected body, full of glory at the Father's right hand. And we are eagerly awaiting his appearance back into this world. But because we belong with him, because we belong in heaven, we are to replicate that world. We're to replicate the culture of heaven in the here and now. And so again, these Philippians were having a problem with that very issue. And so Paul writes. Now, one of the things I want us to look at this morning is the importance of the church. Again, the church, as Paul is pointing out here, is a heavenly thing. Yes, the church has its earthly existence, has an earthly presence, but we are to be identified more and more with heaven itself than of earth. Now, I don't know if you think that way, but God wants you to think that way. And that is why the visible church is so important. See, being active in the church, rubbing shoulders with the saints, begins to influence the way we think and the way we do things, so that we become more and more heavenly than earthly. Last year, as many of you know, Lynn and I went back to Scotland. That was the first time we've been back in 20 years. And while we were there, Lynn realized something that was a bit of a surprise to her. The American way of thinking, the American culture had rubbed off on her so much that she realized that she was actually more American than Scottish. I think she was a little bit disappointed with that initially. But that's the issue. Because she's been here for 20 years, rubbing shoulders, talking with Americans, working with Americans, going to school with Americans, worshiping with Americans, the American way began to rub off in the way she thought herself. But the same is true that if we're not careful, the old culture of the world will still creep back into our lives. And so again, I know that some people here might think that Lynn's accent is a little bit difficult to understand. But let me assure you that her Scottish accent is certainly Americanized. In fact, they actually tell her over there, why are you speaking like an American? And here in America, you say, what are you speaking so weird for? Anyway. But once she is with her Scottish friends, once she's on the phone, the dog and bone, with her Scottish family, her accent begins to change, the words begin to change. Again, Paul is writing here that we would stay focused on who we are as citizens of heaven. And to do that, we need the aid of the saints. And to have the aid of the saints, we need to have a better appreciation for what the church really and actually is. So again, notice how Paul addressed the church. Again, even though he himself is an apostle of Christ, one who's been commissioned by Christ to be his ambassador, even though he has a high office, nevertheless, notice how he speaks. He says, brethren. He calls the church brethren. he puts himself at their level. And here he also expresses his heart, his love for them, his affection for them. Because notice that he doesn't just call them brethren in verse one, he says, my beloved brethren. He calls them my beloved. You see the great affection that he has for them? My beloved brethren. But of course, here, he's merely echoing even the attitude of his Lord. Listen to Hebrews 2, verses 10 and 11 for a moment, where there the apostle says, or the writer to the Hebrews there says, for it was fitting for him for whom are all things, and through whom all things are, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren." The Son of God himself became a man. He entered into your life. He entered into this world and its hardships and its dangers, its tears, to share with you your humanity in order to bring you to glory through his sufferings. He identifies with you in your sorrows and in your joys, and he is not ashamed to call you his brothers. You see, the church is more than just a place where we gather together to sing songs, to pray, to hear the Bible read or a sermon being preached. The church is more than just a kingdom where Christ rules as king. Here, Paul hints at what he says in other places, like in 2 Thessalonians. It is the household of God. It is the household of God where all who are in it are brothers and sisters. We are not slaves in this kingdom. We are the children of God. We are brothers to each other, and even more blessedly, we are brothers to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We call each other brothers. But that familial title is only possible because Jesus Christ himself became man, he suffered, he died, and he has now raised us up and given us this title of affection. This is his gift to you, beloved. This is his calling for you. And Paul wants you to hear this. He wants you to understand that you are brothers, you are sisters with one another. And therefore, He's going to go on to say, I want you to treat others in this family with all the dignity and respect and love that that title deserves. But notice that Paul goes also on to say that you are my joy, my crown. Again, this isn't merely poetic language to describe some kind of trophy that he's going to receive at the Day of Judgment. No, Paul loves them so much that he regards them as his joy, as his reward. If someone robs him of them, if he lost them, it was like losing joy or reward. But again, that affection that he has for these Philippians was not natural to him. He was a Jew. Remember he said that earlier in chapter 3? He was a Jew, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee. As a Jew, he looked down upon the Gentiles. Remember how Jews would call Gentiles dogs. But now he's calling these Gentile believers in Christ, my joy, my crown, my beloved, my brethren. He loves them and that affection is born of God. They are beloved by Paul. Why? Because God first loved them. That's what John says in his first epistle. And God demonstrates his love for this people by sending his only begotten son to die on the cross for them. And so again, Paul speaks affectionately towards them because if you love God, you will love what he loves. You will rejoice in what he rejoices over. And the good news is for us that God loves His people. In fact, it's interesting that Paul again here is echoing God in his language. God calls us His joy and His crown. Let me show you that. Zephaniah 3, verse 17. There the prophet says that God will exalt over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, and He'll rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Our God is shouting with joy over your salvation. He is not silent. He's shouting with joy. He's calling you His joy. Isaiah 62 verse 3 shouts out, you know, you will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. There again, the prophet there says that you are a crown in God's hands. Not only you are his shout of joy, you are also his crown, the diadem that he wears. And so Paul here is calling these Philippians his joy and crown because they were first Jesus's joy and crown. Jesus's treasured possession. And I know that this church is his treasured possession because he died. He sweated and he died to claim you as his own. And because of that, you're to regard one another with that kind of dignity. You're to regard one another with that kind of affection and love as well. Now this language of beloved, my joy, my crown, reflective even of the fact that the church is the bride of Christ. One of the most beautiful pictures that we have in the scriptures is that Christ is the groom, the church is his bride. In a few weeks, my son will be getting married. I'm looking forward to watching his bride come down the aisle, decked in all her beauty. picture of Christ and his bride. But hearing of this intimate relationship, again, the heinousness of worldliness becomes even more focused and worsened. In the Old Testament, you know that as Israel took up the culture of the pagans around them, as they bowed down to the idols and to the gods of the nations, they were charged with being adulteresses. Again, their adultery was in chasing after other gods, becoming like the other nations. That's the very nature of worldliness. And because of the intimate bonds that we have with the Lord, when we turn to the world's ways instead of listening and heeding the Lord's ways, it is being likened to the evil of adultery. Again, this should cause us to think about how we react to the things of God, the things that God loves. If a citizen breaks a law, it's wrong, it should be punished, no doubt. But again, there's no intimacy between that person and that citizen and the law. But the problem with adultery, what makes adultery so heinous is that it's a sin against love. That's a terrible shame. Well, as we look at this loving attitude that is to exude from us because of God's own love for us, how do we show that love? And Paul says, well, we show that love first by standing firm in the Lord. Now, again, if you were with us back in chapter 1, verse 27, Paul there says, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Now back in chapter one, verse 27, when he says, I want you to stand firm, remember, he says, whether I remain absent or whether I come, I want you to be like this. I'm longing for this. There, in chapter 1, verse 27, he says that they are to conduct themselves worthily of the gospel, they are to await Paul's visit, but their standing firm is in unity. You see, there he explains what he means by, I want you to stand firm, by being a one spirit. Here, in chapter 4, verse 1, he says that on the basis of the Lord's love for us, As you are now awaiting eagerly for the Lord's return, stand firm in the Lord. And this walking worthily of the gospel, this standing firm is walking in love. It's accomplished by standing firm, the sure hope of the Lord's ever watchful eye and promise of return. This standing firm is a call to unity. It's called walking together, but walking together in love. That word, stand firm, is a military term. It carries with it the idea of resistance against an antagonistic force. And Paul uses this language, he uses this word to remind us that our standing firm is to be in the Lord. A steadfastness that happens because we are united together because of what Christ has done for us. Now, you'll recall some of the other things that Paul said about being in the Lord. He said, now, number one, he said, you know, he is the one who began a good work in you. And because Jesus Christ, because God began this good work in you, he will complete it. Later on, he'll tell us that he will complete it by supplying all your needs. to do the work that he called you to. This union that he calls us to, the standing firm in unity and in love, is a union of the whole man, not just our understandings, not just our hearts, but our consciences, our wills, our gifts, all to be engaged in encouraging one another. This is very similar language to what Barnabas said to the Christians in Antioch. And if you were to turn to Acts 11, verse 23, you see that when Barnabas came to Antioch, when he arrived, he witnessed the grace of God. He rejoiced. And he began to encourage them all with a resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. That's what Paul here is saying. I want you to remain resolute together in love, in unity, in the Lord. Seeing that Christ gave all for us, now all our faculties, all our power, all our nature, every corner of our lives are now to be given to the fight of the kingdom, standing together. Again, I can give you some illustrations of this throughout church history. I think, you know, one of the most famous ones that come to my mind anyway is back in the fourth century. A presbyter by the name of Arius began to teach that Jesus was not the eternal son of God, but rather he was a created being. And incredibly enough, the whole church kind of got swept up with that teaching almost. They began to accept it. But there was an opponent. There was one who stood firm in the Lord against such error and heresy. Athanasius. Now, when he opposed, or when Athanasius opposed Arius, he was banished. He was removed from his pulpit and exiled from his homeland. But he continued to preach and teach against the air. Finally, someone came to him and said, Athanasius, why do you fight like this? Don't you know that you are fighting against the whole world? And Athanasius replied, well, if the world is against Athanasius, Athanasius is against the world. But see, that's exactly what we need to be fighting for. If the world is against Christ, if the world is against his doctrine, then so be it. Let us fight against it. But Paul here says, I want you to fight with each other against the world, not against each other. You know, Luther fought against the world. Eighty-one years ago, one of the founding fathers of our denomination, J. Gresham Aitchin, fought against the worldliness that compromised the church. He was disciplined for standing firm against the whole current of that age. Now, J. Gresham Aitchin once preached a sermon called The Separateness of the Church, where he reminded us that Jesus calls the church the salt of the earth. And he said that Christ, by these words, was establishing the distinction and the separateness of the church. And if the distinction between the church and the world is lost, he says, the power of the church is gone. The church then becomes like the salt that has lost its savor. It is fit only to be cast out and trodden underfoot. And again, he was calling the church to be reminded of who you are, beloved of the Lord, His joy, His crown, the one that He died for, the one that He was raised for, the one that He's now at the Father's right hand interceding for. You are His beloved. You are His brethren. And so fight against the world. Again, we are to find our identity, not in the world, not in the world's ideas, which of course is the path of least resistance. No, our identity is in Christ, it is in his kingdom, beloved. And so this is to be reflected the way we think, the way we behave. I gotta confess, I'm deeply concerned about this. Many today chant for the separation of church and state. Believe me, I want a separation of church and state. I don't want the state dictating to me or to the church how it should preach or how it should act. I don't want the state bullying us by the threat of heavy taxation or penal sanctions if we don't go along with this insanity. But at the same time, I don't hear the chant so loud against the separation of the church and sin. As citizens of an eternal city, we are to be focused on heaven and on eternal things. What do we talk about when the church service is over? Maybe some sporting event only? Some sale at the mall? Some movie or TV show? Paul wants us to be caught up in the awe and the majesty and the glory of God. He wants us to be overwhelmed with the love and the salvation that we have in Christ. Acts chapter 2 and verse 42 gives us a marvelous picture of the early church in Jerusalem. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. This is something that they did continually. How much do we? They felt the sense of awe. Do we? It's obvious from, from the acts. They were a supernatural thing. I wonder if we're superficial. See, our problem is exactly what, what, what the problem that Euodia and Sintiki have. We're not eternity conscious enough. Here were these two women. They had worked together in the struggle of the gospel. They worked with Paul. They had some prominence. They had some giftings, no doubt. Don't know exactly all that they did or all that they said. We're not told here. But here were these two women who, though they worked together now, separated. They had formed factions. Not talking to each other. Stopped working with each other. refraining from expressing their love towards one another. And this was creating a division in the church. Self-love permeates everything around us in this world. It drives us to an entitlement attitude where we think I deserve a better life, a better status, a better plan. I should be treated like this, as though I'm better than the cross. Somehow, they allowed the world's attitude to creep in. The world says if someone hurts you, then you hurt them back. In fact, why don't you hurt them before they hurt you? Do unto others before they do unto you. You hear that. Instead of loving one another, instead of forgiving one another's sins, pushing for reconciliation, even to the loss of their own rights, standing firm in the gospel like they stood firm in their own convictions, willing to let their hurt fester rather than being healed. They cast daggers at one another. Again, that upset the whole church, rather than letting Christ's example that was so beautifully given to us in chapter 2 govern the way they behaved. They were acting like the world, pushing for their rights, pushing for their self-promotion. And Paul here is calling them, I don't want you to think like that anymore. I want you to remember that you're a citizen of heaven. Stand firm in the Lord, remain faithful to what he has declared in the gospel, and live according to that pattern he has given to us. Beloved, when you gather to sing hymns to God, to pray, to bear or to hear him in his words, you know what you're doing? You're turning the world upside down because you are assigning worth and glory to the one that the world despises. Being a Christian, by definition, is being an enemy to the world and being an enemy to its narcissistic attitudes and its self-entitlement. But Paul here is calling us away from that. He's agreeing with the Apostle John, who in his first epistle says this, don't love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life, this is not from the Father. It's from the world. I want you to know the world is passing away. And also it's lust. The one who does the will of God lives forever. Paul says, stand firm in the Lord. Don't be conformed to the standards of this world. Don't be conformed to the way the world reacts to hurt and to pain. And don't react the way the world does in trying to promote self, but serve one another. Humble yourself. If you're faithful to your calling, if you're standing firm in the Lord, you'll act differently than the world. Now, it's easy to overlook that therefore that begins verse 1. But I want you to understand that that therefore is really an important word because it links what Paul said earlier in chapter 3 to what he's going to say in chapter 4. And that means that if there is any hope of standing firm in the Lord, If there is any hope of living harmoniously, then it must come from the fact that we are not only joined to Christ as he bore the cross in his cruciform pattern, but that we also eagerly wait him, because when he returns, he will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory. By the exertion of the power, that he has even to subject all things to himself. Now that promise that he gives us in verse 21 gives us three hopes. Jesus is coming. The world doesn't think he's coming, but Jesus is coming. And he's coming to the help and to the relief of his people. Secondly, when he comes, he will perfect that work that he began. that work that he began in that church, the work that he began in this church, he will complete that work. And thirdly, when he comes, he will subject all things to himself. All creation will be set free from the futility that has been subjected to under sin. And in that day, there'll be nothing but perfection. And we're to stand firm in that hope. We're to stand firm, trusting that one day he's going to return. And when he does, he's going to bring perfection. That tells me something about my neighbor. It means I can be patient with my Christian friend, my Christian brother. Because one day when Christ returns, not only am I going to be perfected, but so are they. I can be patient. I can pray for them. I can serve them with that kind of hope. See, what Paul does here is he removes from us a mere cold sense of duty in the Christian life. Paul is not here with a whip to animate us to action, is he? He's rather putting forth love, faith, and hope as motivating energies that make sacrifices that we give easy. He puts before us even the Lord himself, the Lord, and give her a life. The Lord who died for his bride. The Lord who beautifies his bride. He puts the Lord Jesus Christ in front of you so that your labor, your sweaty labor, would turn to a work of joy and delight. I wonder Does your mind often turn to this great hope of Jesus Christ and His coming? Jesus said at the end of Revelation, Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me. You know, work that's done hopelessly, work that is done without any end in sight, work that is done without any promise of reward is a work that will not be done long. But when Jesus Christ appears, we will appear with him in glory, friends. And that keeps us steadfast, doesn't it? There's a hope. There's an end to all this. There is a Sabbath rest that is yet coming for us. And as we enter into it, all our labors will be put aside and we will wear the diadem upon our own brow. He's coming with his rewards. And because he is going to reward all our work, all our labor, all our service, we can do that work with a cheery heart, full of confidence. that this has great result. Paul said in Ephesians chapter 2, he says, for we are his workmanship. You were created to be his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We're able to stand steadfast in that work which he has prepared for before the foundation of the world. This last week I was kind of musing over my life. And I remember when I was a kid in sixth grade, I took art lessons outside of the classroom. And I remember we were learning how to draw with chalk and charcoal. And I had this picture, but there was something missing in it. I think it was pretty good, if I remember right. There was still something missing in it. Then the teacher came by and took the chalk and just with a few strokes completed the work so that it looked really good. My friends, the Lord is coming and he will finish what by his grace we imperfectly began. His touch is gonna beautify So stand firm in the Lord until he returns. Because the promise here is not only will he reward your steadfastness, not only will he reward your standing firm, he will make you to be like him in all his glory. See, Paul is setting before us the glory and the beauty of the kingdom. But again, this is not an object that we should simply sit back and admire. We are called to be participants. The glory and the beauty has come upon you. His spirit resides in you. And again, if you don't understand the culture, you don't understand the language of this kingdom, you won't understand how the cross and how sacrifice is the path to glory. Paul stresses that we are to be of the same mind in the Lord because we're called to one common glory. His joy is in each of us because we're members of the same body. And that's what the supper illustrates. One loaf, one cup. Discerning the Lord's body means in part that though we have our differences, we are all the same body. Though we have different gifts, different abilities, different understandings of some things, we're all the same body, we're a one, and we are to treat each other as one, we're to love each other as you love your own body. Paul says that these saints were his joy and his crown. Will you be as fervent in your love for one another that love that comes even from the Lord himself. In this love, my love, in this love, you will stand firm in the Lord. Let us hate the attitudes of the world that promote self and that give way to division. Amen, let's pray. O Lord, a wonderful picture has been set before us, a wonderful picture indeed of your body and of your church. And yet, O Lord, we struggle. because we're all sinners here, and we struggle with self, and we struggle with hurt, and we struggle, Lord, with loneliness, and we struggle with these things that would prohibit us and stop us from serving one another and stop us from standing firm with one another. Lord, I pray that we would all, in the various circumstances, the various hurts, and the various things that we are each going through, be able to look beyond those things even to your own glory and to this promise that when your son comes, He will make all things new. He will make all things better. He will wipe away those tears from our eyes. Draw near to your people, we pray. Let us sense the unity that we have in Christ that we might be His true witnesses in this world. This we pray in His holy name, amen.