Stand Firm

Philippians 3:1-12,4:1

Show Notes

Philippians 3:1–12 (Listen)

Righteousness Through Faith in Christ

3:1 Finally, my brothers,¹ rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God² and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,³ blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Straining Toward the Goal

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Footnotes

[1] 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 13, 17
[2] 3:3 Some manuscripts God in spirit
[3] 3:6 Greek in the law

(ESV)

Philippians 4:1 (Listen)

4:1 Therefore, my brothers,¹ whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Footnotes

[1] 4:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 8, 21

(ESV)

What is Sermons from Redeemer Community Church?

Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.

Joel Brooks: 00:01

If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn to Philippians chapter 3. Can I just say that after a year, it's it's good to see faces? I can actually tell whether or not you're really laughing at my jokes or not now, but it is good to to see your face in all seriousness. I was beginning to feel Presbyterian, no expressions whatsoever. You were laughing at my jokes, as bad as they were.

Joel Brooks: 00:34

Philippians 3 as we continue our study in Philippians, and we're gonna begin in verse 17 or we're gonna I'm gonna preach on verse 17, but just to give us some context, I'd like us to go a few verses before that. Philippians 3, we'll begin in verse 12. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if anything, you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Joel Brooks: 01:34

Only let us hold true to that which 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 a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.

Joel Brooks: 02:23

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. This is the word of the lord. You would pray with me. Father, we ask that in this moment, you would, through your spirit, open up our hearts and minds to receive what you would have for us in this place. Jesus, we long to see you as glorious.

Joel Brooks: 02:52

We long to hear from you and to obey you. We're gathered for no other reason. And so I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. And we pray this in the strong name of Jesus, Amen.

Joel Brooks: 03:16

The Christian life is hard. Yes, I know that we've been given a new heart, incredible joy, the spirit of God is living inside of us, we've been reborn, we have new life, but we've been given all of these things in order to equip us for what will inevitably be a hard life. Christianity is hard. Some of you might be thinking, well why didn't anybody tell me about this when I became a Christian? Where was that in my gospel presentation?

Joel Brooks: 03:59

It was somewhere there in the fine print, but it was there. And you shouldn't be surprised if this is the first time that somebody has told you this. It should not come as a surprise because what did you expect? The world loved Jesus so much that they brutally tortured and killed him. And this Jesus, our savior, he told his disciples, if they do this to me, what do you think they're going to do to you?

Joel Brooks: 04:35

And of course he was right. All of his disciples except for 1 were brutally tortured and killed. Jesus told anybody who would listen, hey, if if you want to follow me, that's great, but you have to pick up your cross and you have to come and follow me. Once again, the Christian life is hard. Now I believe that one of the reasons that Christianity has become so, anemic in our culture is that we've actually tried to been following Jesus on a much easier and more comfortable path.

Joel Brooks: 05:13

To quote the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. Jeff, are you listening? Alright. Jeff let well, I'm expecting next time he preaches a Lord of the Rings reference. Okay?

Joel Brooks: 05:26

So to quote Soren Kierkegaard, the chief problem with Christians is that no one wants to kill them anymore. The chief problems of Christians is that no one wants to kill them anymore. And we can see that this is true. By striving to become so much like our culture, we've actually lost the power to change our culture. By becoming so much like the world, we can't speak into the world.

Joel Brooks: 05:55

But Jesus has not called us to the path of least resistance, he's called us to the path that leads to the cross. This is why so much of Paul's letter actually it feels like a pep talk. In chapter 1, he tells us that we need to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel, to stand firm in one spirit, to strive side by side for faith, to not be frightened of our opponents, to remember that to suffer for Christ is a privilege. In chapter 2, he goes on to remind us of the supremacy of Jesus and that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess his lordship. And that we must now, in light of that, work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Joel Brooks: 06:46

We don't fear and tremble before our opponents. We fear and tremble before our Lord. He goes on to tell us that we must hold fast to God's word. And now in chapter 3 he tells us to press on, to forget what lies behind, but to strain forward to what lies ahead, to hold true, to remember that our enemies will be destroyed, not us. And then finally, he exhorts us at the end to stand firm in the Lord.

Joel Brooks: 07:25

Now, I've never once had to tell my kids to stand firm when they're doing something so enjoyable like maybe reading a book at the beach. Stand firm, kids. I've never had to tell them to press on and eat more dessert. I've never had to tell them to hold fast and just watch a little more TV. Come on kids, you could binge watch a little longer.

Joel Brooks: 07:55

I don't have to say those things to them when when they're doing something enjoyable, something they want to do, but it's when school gets tough, it's when relationships get really hard, When these things happen, they need some grit. They need resolve. They need somebody cheering them on, and that's what Paul is doing for us. It's what he's doing for the Philippians. He's cheering us on as we carry our cross in the midst of a culture that hates those who follow Christ.

Joel Brooks: 08:31

So how does he do this? Well beginning in verse 17, Paul first encourages his brothers and his sisters. Just so you know, sisters is not only implied in that, but you can actually translate it that way. He encourages his brothers and his sisters to imitate him. Now at first this might sound just a wee bit arrogant that Paul is saying that they need to imitate him, but he's not saying that they need to imitate only him.

Joel Brooks: 09:03

I mean, he's already brought up Epaphroditus, he's already brought up Timothy as people that they should be imitating, but he's also stating something that really should be the goal of every one of us. All of us should live our lives in such a way that we could tell others, hey, if you want to know what it looks like to follow Christ, follow me. I mean, yes, of course you need to read your Bibles, you you need to pray, but we recognize that people are predominantly visual learners. Paul certainly sees that. Parents, you can tell your children to do as you say but not as you do.

Joel Brooks: 09:47

You can say that till you're blue in the face, but what are your children going to do? What you do, which is terrifying, isn't it? As you see your children and their sins coming out and you realize, yep, they watched me do all of those. This is why when you tell your child you need to get off the phone, they don't get off the phone because they see you always on it. That's where they're learning.

Joel Brooks: 10:14

We're hardwired to be visual learners. And because of this, we must strive to live a life that is worthy for others to see and to follow, because some inevitably will. And can I say that one of the best ways for us to be an example is for us to model repentance, because we can't model being sinless? None of us can model being sinless because we're going to sin, but what we can do is when we sin, model repentance. And this goes a long long way in pointing people to Jesus who is our hope.

Joel Brooks: 11:03

And what the world needs is is not for Christians to go around acting like they're perfect. That's not what the world needs. The world needs to see Christians acknowledging their sin and then modeling repentance. That shows where our hope lies. Okay, so after Paul tells the Philippians to join in in imitating him, he then begins to think of those who have not joined in, but those who have left the faith.

Joel Brooks: 11:38

Verse 18, he says, For many, for many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Apparently, some of these Philippians had left the faith, and when Paul thinks of them he's moved to tears. I mean, as Paul is actually writing this he's weeping over them. They're reading a letter that would have had tear stains on it, and he's not crying because these people disagreed with him or because they had a falling out. It's because these friends have chosen a path that inevitably leads to destruction.

Joel Brooks: 12:31

Paul doesn't mince his words here. In verse 19 he says, Their end is destruction. Leaving the faith is not of some small consequence, but it has eternal consequence. Paul is talking about final judgment here, the stakes are high. Over the last few months, we have had a few from our midst leave the faith.

Joel Brooks: 13:04

Praise God, we have had many more come to faith, but we've had some leave the faith. After one of the the meetings with somebody who had just left the faith, I went home, and I was a shell of a person. I was just walking around. It was hard for me to even talk, but it's because the stakes are so high. It's not that a person's leaving redeemer, It's but they are choosing a path of destruction.

Joel Brooks: 13:38

A path they think is gonna bring them life and it's not. It's bringing judgment, and it should make us weep. So why are these people doing this? Why do they leave the faith? And Paul tells us, he says that for those who have walked away, he says that their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame.

Joel Brooks: 14:10

When Paul says that their god is their belly, he's saying that instead of following Christ, these people are following their gut. They're not following Christ, they're following their gut. They're following their appetites. They have become a slave to their own desires. How often have you heard that as an excuse for people leaving the faith?

Joel Brooks: 14:32

How often is you Have you heard that as an excuse for just people disobeying? How often have you heard someone say that the reason that they are choosing to sin is because they just have this strong internal desire to live this certain way? Perhaps that is even some of you. And if it is let me remind you that you're called to deny yourself, to deny your desires, to take up your cross, and to follow Jesus. Now if you hear this and you think, Joel, I hear what you're saying, but you have no idea as to how strong these desires are.

Joel Brooks: 15:22

To to not act on this certain desire is is certainly going to be the death of me. And my answer to you is yes. It will be the death of you. But we believe in a God of resurrection. We believe in a God who raises the the dead.

Joel Brooks: 15:43

And as you die to this sin, you find new life on the other side. New life is waiting for you. Yes, God is calling you to die, but he's not calling you to just die. Dying is not the end. Dying is the first step towards a new and a better life in Christ Jesus.

Joel Brooks: 16:06

One in which there is real joy, real life. That's what you were being called to, but you must have died to yourself. Paul goes on to say that once these enemies of the cross give in to this desire, they then begin to take pride in it. That's what Paul means when he says that they glory in their shame. They glory in their shame.

Joel Brooks: 16:41

What they're doing is shameful, but they think it is glorious. In other words, they begin to celebrate their sin. And do we not see this in our culture? Do we not see the celebration of sin all around us? Whether it is through expressions of hate speech that so much of our culture just revels in.

Joel Brooks: 17:12

Whether it is through the glorification of greed or of gluttony in which much of our economy is based on. Whether it is the celebration of sexual sins, such as sex outside of marriage or living out of a LGBTQ lifestyle. Our culture takes tremendous pride in this. It can be the removing of God given distinctions of male and female, and our culture glories in it. It can be the slaughtering of the unborn in which our society boasts as a celebration of individual freedom.

Joel Brooks: 17:58

It could be the tremendous pride or glee in which our culture belittles Christians as being narrow minded for pointing out Jesus being the only way or God's word to be true. And when our culture honors these things, they're glorifying their shame. They're celebrating their sin. And as Christians what are we supposed to do when this happens? We weep.

Joel Brooks: 18:36

We weep. Because we love them, we weep. We weep that they have chosen a path of destruction. We weep that they are rejecting the life that has been extended to them. And then we stand firm.

Joel Brooks: 18:58

We press on, we hold fast, and we remind ourselves of where our loyalties actually lie. Paul ends this section by reminding us of our true citizenship. Look at verse 20. Paul says, but our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior, our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now when Paul says here that our citizenship is in heaven, he's not saying that, heaven is his true home and he just can't wait to get to heaven when he dies, although we know he believes that.

Joel Brooks: 19:40

But that's not what he means here. He actually means something different entirely. That that word citizenship. It could be translated as colony or homeland or Commonwealth. That's what Paul is talking about.

Joel Brooks: 19:57

He's saying that we are part of the Commonwealth of heaven. This certainly would not have been missed on the Philippians. They knew exactly what Paul was talking about because Philippi was a colony of Rome. It had been established about a 100 years earlier by their great great grandparents. It was established at a time that Rome was just finishing fighting a civil war.

Joel Brooks: 20:24

The war was over and now the armies, 2 of the armies were coming back into Rome with their generals, and the Caesar thought that's probably a bad idea. We don't need these 2 armies and their generals coming into Rome. And so he gave them Philippi And all of these soldiers settled down there, and so Philippi became an official Roman colony. They lived according to Roman laws. They spoke Roman language.

Joel Brooks: 20:54

They kept Roman customs. And even though Philippi was now several generations removed from this, they still very much saw themselves as proud Romans. And if you were to go up to one of them and say, are you a citizen of Rome? They would say, absolutely. I'm a proud citizen of Rome.

Joel Brooks: 21:13

But what they did not mean by that is, and I just can't wait to get to Rome someday. No. What they meant by that is is that even though they lived far away from the motherland, they were going to live like Romans. They were gonna turn Philippi into a miniature Rome. And our heavenly citizenship works the same way.

Joel Brooks: 21:41

When we say that we are citizens of heaven, we're not we're not saying I just can't wait to fly away, to escape this place, to go to heaven when I die. No, what we were saying is we are now, we want to live in this lifetime at this place according to the laws and the will of heaven, not according to our cultures. We're saying that we recognize that Jesus is our King. He is the ultimate authority, not the state. In other words, we are praying the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.

Joel Brooks: 22:14

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth like it is in heaven. That's what heavenly citizenship means. It also means that help is on the way. The city of Philippi, they understood that if they ever really needed help they would not be abandoned by Rome. The Emperor himself would come to their aid.

Joel Brooks: 22:47

He would come to save them. And as Christians we have that same hope. This is the ultimate hope that Paul expresses here at the end in verse 20 when he says, but our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior, The Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly bodies to become like His glorious body by the power that enables Him to subject all things to himself. So stand firm. Even though all might seem at loss, even though the tides of culture are turning severely against you, even though you are just so tired, your Savior and your King Jesus will come.

Joel Brooks: 23:39

And he will come in power, and he will subject all things to himself. And until that day happens, stand firm. Now I'll try not to botch this up again, but I'm going to use another avengers illustration, which went horribly the first time I've ever used one. But I took my kids to go see, the last of the avengers movies endgame. And I don't know if you have seen it, if you're like 90% of the world you have.

Joel Brooks: 24:14

But there's that final battle scene if you remember. And it's captain America and he alone is left. And he stands up and his shield is broken in half, he tightens it, he could barely stand, and before him he looks out is the enemy, the army of all armies. You've got, you know, all these flying creatures, these spaceships, all these, you know, Thanos, all these things. I know some of you are going to email me with all their names, just know I don't care.

Joel Brooks: 24:46

All right. But he looks out there and there's there's no way, it's him against everyone there. And he stands firm. And then he hears in his little earpiece, captain are you there? Coming in on the right or the left, I don't know.

Joel Brooks: 25:07

One of you is gonna email me about it. And there you see this portal from another realm open up, and then in comes the black, out comes the Black Panther, out comes all the the rest of the army, and they come to his aid. That's what Paul's describing here. It's like we're we're standing firm. Are we tired?

Joel Brooks: 25:31

Yes. Are we beaten? Yes. Are we broken down? Yes.

Joel Brooks: 25:34

And he's saying, stand firm. Even when you're looking at an entire culture that is against you. An entire culture that wants to destroy you, stand firm, help is coming. Your savior is coming and he will subject all things to himself. Christ will come, heaven and earth will be united, until then stand firm.

Joel Brooks: 26:06

This is how Paul ends his section in verse, chapter 4 verse 1, and and I love this because he's not just telling this fan firm, there's such joy in this. There's such love in this. It's this joyful grit. He says, therefore my brothers, whom I love and I long for, my joy, my crown, Stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. Pray with me, church.

Joel Brooks: 26:42

Father, I pray that through your spirit you would give us the resolve to stand firm. Lord, we thank you for the gifts of your spirit, the gift of joy, the gift of new life. We realize you have given us these things to equip us for what will be a difficult life. We thank you that you're with us during this time. May we walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Joel Brooks: 27:14

May we press on. May we hold fast. May we stand firm as we await the day when you return. We love you, Jesus, and we pray this in your strong name, amen.