Philippians 3:17-4:1 - Colonies of the Kingdom

Introduction

On April 29th, 1975, a photojournalist named Hubert van Es took one of the most iconic photographs of the Twentieth Century—a Huey helicopter perched on top of an apartment building in Saigon, where dozens of Vietnamese citizens waited, desperate to be flown out of the city before the surrounding Viet Cong army attacked. That photograph became a symbol for the Vietnam War—a desperate escape at the end of a long and bloody struggle in a war that was doomed to failure.

Over the years a similar defeatist attitude has begun to pervade the Church as well—many people think that the end of the age here on earth will end in much the same way as the evacuation of Saigon, that we will be whisked away into the air just before the Enemy crashes the gates and unleashes terrible destruction and misery on the earth. But here in our text this morning, Paul seems to indicate a very different attitude towards the future of the Kingdom of Christ—we see it in his words in the first verse of Chapter 4:

Philippians 4:1 ESV

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

Paul says, “Because of the things that I have just written to you” (in our text this morning), “you can stand firm—you can hold your ground in this life.” The verses we just read outline a stark contrast between those who trust in Christ and those who do not—those who, as Paul puts it, “walk as enemies of the Cross of Christ” (v. 18). The word “enemies” literally means “those who hate and despise”. So the contrast is of those who love Christ on the one side, and those who hate Him on the other.

Paul characterizes those who love Christ as being citizens of heaven in verse 20:

Philippians 3:20 ESV

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Now, you’ll remember that the city of Philippi was established as a Roman colony in Macedonia after Mark Antony defeated Brutus’ forces in the wake of Julius Caesar’s assassination. Once the war was over, Caesar Augustus didn’t really want a bunch of veteran generals hanging around Rome with nothing to do (that’s a good way to get overthrown, after all!), so he granted a bunch of them land and titles in Philippi and let them move there to spread the Pax Romana throughout Europe.

So when Paul talks about the Christian’s citizenship being in Heaven, he is using an illustration that would be very familiar to the citizens of Philippi, who were very proud of their Roman citizenship. And the reason that I think this is so important for us to consider as Christians is because of the very nature of a “colony” to begin with—Rome did not establish Philippi as a colony so that they could get more people to move to Rome; they established the colony there as a way to spread the influence of Rome across the country.

And this is what I want us to see here this morning—Paul is using this metaphor of citizenship in Heaven—citizenship in the Kingdom of Christ—to show his readers that they have been placed there in a “Colony of Heaven” so that they will be able to spread the influence of the Kingdom of Christ across their world! Instead of thinking about the Church as if it is going to be airlifted off the roof of an apartment building in Saigon, we need to be thinking in terms of the Church establishing a beachhead in Normandy! Both situations involved being surrounded by hostile enemies who wanted to destroy them, but their goals and purposes in the midst of that hostility were very different, weren’t they? One group just wanted to get out before the enemy destroyed them, the other was establishing a beachhead from which they were going to destroy the enemy!

And it is this second sense in which I want to encourage you this morning—I want to show you from these verses that

You can joyfully STAND your GROUND as a COLONIST of the KINGDOM of Christ

Paul tells his readers to “stand firm thus in the LORD”—stand firm in these ways that he shows us in verses 17-21. The first thing that we see here is that you can joyfully stand your ground as a colonist of the Kingdom of Christ because

I. You have a better CULTURE (Philippians 3:17-19)

Look at verses 17-19:

Philippians 3:17–19 ESV

17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

Earlier in Chapter 2, Paul urged us to honor the good examples of Christlike humility and sacrifice that we saw in men like Timothy and Epaphroditus—and here he says again that we are to imitate these kinds of good examples. A culture is defined by what it loves, what it cherishes. In fact, a culture is really just the practical outworkings of a people’s religion. What you love and what you honor and what you aspire to will shape and define what your culture looks like.

And here in these verses, Paul lays out the difference between what a colonist of the Kingdom loves and what those who despise the Cross of Christ love. The first thing that Paul points out is the difference in what you obey:

You obey GOD , not your GUT

When Paul characterize those who hate the Cross of Christ with the words “their god is their belly”—in other words, they are enslaved to their urges. They want what they want, and they will do what they want to get it. Even if it hurts someone else, even if they have to throw an occasional elbow to get what they want, they will do it because the greatest good in their life is to satisfy their urges. When your god is your gut, your life is a selfish life—other people exist either as obstacles to getting your way, or are tools to use so that you can get your way.

But what does God call His children to do? To obey God and not your urges means that you lay down your desires for the sake of others. Instead of other people being obstacles to your happiness, you find your happiness in serving others as God calls you to become more like Christ in your humility and love.

A colonist of the Kingdom of Christ lives in a better culture secondly because

You boast in CHRIST, not in your SIN

In the second part of verse 19, Paul says that those who despise the Cross “glory in their shame”. It’s a heartbreaking sight to see, but we see it all around us; from the loud and persistent demands from the LGBT crowd holding “Pride” parades to glory in their shame (and wanting to threaten to shut down and even arrest anyone who refuses to glorify their lusts along with them) to people consumed by racial vainglory and racial animosity and envy of others who boast about their hatred of those who they perceive to be more “privileged”, to editorials in news magazines that openly brag about the dirty tricks used to change the outcome of a national election—instead of being ashamed of their wickedness, they boast about it.

But what does Paul say that we are to glory in?

Galatians 6:14 ESV

14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Instead of boasting in our sin, we are called to boast in the righteousness that Jesus Christ bought for us with His blood on the cross! They walk as enemies of the Cross, boasting in their sin, but we boast in the Cross on which Jesus died to save us from our sin!

A colonist of the Kingdom of Christ lives in a better culture—you obey God, not your gut, you boast in Christ, not in your sin, and

You live for ETERNITY, not for TODAY

Paul says that those who walk as enemies of the Cross live “with their minds set on earthly things” (v. 19). Like the old John Lennon song, “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try, no Hell below us, above us only sky, Imagine all the people, living for today...” In other words, this is all there is, there are no consequences for what you do here. Live the way you want, there’s no God to answer to, no Judgment Day, no eternal punishment or eternal reward—this is all there is, so get what you can out of this life.

But it doesn’t take long to realize what a nightmare that kind of life would be—if there is no God, then there is no meaning to this life. Everything is just time and chance acting on matter. You are just a bag of protoplasm that bubbles and burps for seventy years or so, and then you assume room temperature, and that’s it. Your life has no more “meaning” than any other random chemical reaction—the only difference between you and a Mentos dropped in a Coke bottle is that your fizzing lasts longer. Other than that, there’s no purpose to your life—no purpose to your joy, no purpose to your suffering, no reason for any of it, if there is no Creator.

And what’s more, if there is no God, no Heaven or Hell, then there is no hope for any kind of final justice in this world—all we’re left with is the meager, flawed and all-too-easily bought “justice” of our legal system. Picture the foulest, most heinous criminal you can imagine—he has spent his entire life torturing, raping, murdering, extorting and threatening his way through the world and has never even been charged with any crimes. And now he is on his deathbed, and he turns to you with a chuckle and says, “I got away with all of it! I’m about to die and cease to exist—and I don’t have to answer for any of it! I win!” If there is no God in Heaven, if there is no Hell below, then he is right.

Christian, can’t you see how much better a world you live in because you live for eternity? You know that there is a purpose to everything that happens to you in this life because you know that God has created you and has a plan for you—and because you belong to Him by faith He will always work out His good purposes in your life! You know that in Christ you have been promised an eternal reward in Him, and so you work out what God is working into you—you stretch forward for that upward call of your eternal reward in Christ! This is your joy to hold your ground as a colonist of the Kingdom of Christ!

You have a better culture, and

II. You answer to a better AUTHORITY (Philippians 3:20)

Look again at verse 20:

Philippians 3:20 ESV

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Here is the verse we looked at a couple of minutes ago—and when we understand the context of Philippi being a Roman colony in Europe, we begin to understand what Paul is saying about the Christian’s relationship to the world. The first thing to understand is that as a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ,

You pledge a higher ALLEGIANCE

than merely allegiance to the nation you live in. The Scriptures clearly teach that all authority in this world is given by God. We see this in Romans 13:1:

Romans 13:1 ESV

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

In other words, God is the High King over all the earth, and He grants authority to princes of the earth to reign as His representatives. So every king, prince, president, governor, congress, parliament and senator in this world has authority that has been given to them by God—and that means that they are responsible to govern in such a way as to reflect God’s righteousness in their rulership.

But if a prince were to rebel against his King by rejecting His rule and insisting on setting himself up as the ultimate authority instead, that prince is committing treason against His King. And not only is that prince guilty of treason, but so is everyone who agrees with the prince that he is the ultimate authority.

The Bible says that the current administration in Washington (along with Congress, the Supreme Court, our governor and our local authorities) have all been loaned their authority from God, and so we should obey them whenever possible. But when we see the government reject the responsibilities that God has given them to govern by His righteous decrees, when we see the government deny that they are under God’s authority and instead name themselves as the ultimate authority in your life—they are committing treason against God. And if you submit to a treasonous prince when he is practicing his treason, then you participate in that treason against God.

This is why Peter said to the Sanhedrin in Acts 5:29:

Acts 5:29 ESV

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

When a prince is acting within his God-given role to protect and care for his people according to God’s commands, we are duty-bound to obey—we obey his laws, we pay his taxes, we seek the common good of our nation. But when our princes act to overthrow the rulership of Christ over them; when they deny His decrees and claim that their authority nullifies His, to obey in that case is to participate in that treason; we pledge a higher allegiance as colonists of the Kingdom of Christ, and in such cases “we must obey God rather than men.”

Not only do we pledge a higher allegiance, but

We hope in a greater DELIVERER

as well. We live in a nation that has been carefully conditioned for decades that, whenever there is any kind of crisis or difficulty or emergency, the solution is to look to the government to rescue us. (We would do well to remember President Ronald Reagan’s observation that “The most frightening nine words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help!’”)

But here in Philippians 3, Paul says that colonists of the Kingdom of Christ have a greater hope for deliverance than what any earthly prince can offer—we aren’t placing our hope in a government bureaucrat’s office or a piece of legislation or a Supreme Court ruling for our deliverance—we are waiting for God Himself to deliver us!

Psalm 121:1–2 ESV

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Christian, your hope isn’t in the Senate filibuster rule or Joe Manchin’s vote, your hope isn’t ultimately in a government stimulus check or a COVID vaccine, your hope isn’t in anyone on earth; your hope is in the Maker of Heaven and earth! You can sing with the Psalmist in Psalm 31:

Psalm 31:23–24 ESV

23 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. 24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

You can joyfully stand your ground as a colonist of the Kingdom of Christ—you have a better culture, you answer to a better authority, and

III. You live by a better POWER (Philippians 3:21)

Look at verse 21—the Savior you are waiting for, Jesus Christ, is not like any other deliverer—He is the One

Philippians 3:21 ESV

21 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.

See first here the power that Christ brings

That will transform your LIFE

He brings with Him the power to “transform your lowly body to be like His glorious body”—a wonderful promise of the resurrection that He has promised you who trust in Him for your salvation! The promise that you will someday be free from all of the frailties and brokenness of this “lowly” body—the word there means “insignificant, beneath notice, disregarded”. Not only will Christ someday raise you up in a resurrection body that is free of sickness or weakness or disease or frailty, but He promises to raise you up out of your lowliness—the insignificance and scorn and disregard and humiliation that you live in here in this world.

Just as Paul said earlier in this chapter:

Philippians 3:10–11 ESV

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.

You wait for the appearing of Christ from Heaven that will transform you—spirit, body and soul! He is transforming you more and more into His holiness as you suffer the “dyings of a Christian”—dying to your sin, dying to your own dreams and desires for the sake of others, dying as you take on the burdens and fears and anxieties of others in order to give them your peace. And the Day is coming when you will rise with Him—a rising out of those dyings into life with Him—whether it is greater intimacy and holiness in this life, seeing that rising in the lives of others who you have sacrificed for, the “rising” of your vindication in a world that has heaped scorn and disregard on you for your faith as a Christian—you live by a greater power that will transform your life!

And see here that the power of Christ not only will transform your life, but it is a power

That will transform the WORLD

as well!

Philippians 3:21 ESV

21 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.

What does it say here in this verse that Jesus Christ is coming here to do? To evacuate the remnants of a failed colony of Heaven? To helicopter the last few people out of Saigon before the V.C. overthrow the city? No—Christ is coming to subject all things to Himself!

Don’t miss this—Philippi was not established as a way to get more people to move to Rome! Philippi was established to extend the Pax Romana—the “Peace of Rome” through Macedonia and Europe! A citizen of the Colony of Philippi is meant to extend the peace of Rome through the earth, and a citizen of a Colony of Heaven is meant to extend the peace of Heaven throughout the whole earth!

And you can joyfully stand your ground, Christian, because the power that will extend that influence comes for Jesus Christ Himself, who is subjecting all things to Himself through you! He has declared that

Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

And

Psalm 113:3 ESV

3 From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!

And

Isaiah 2:4 ESV

4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Christian, you are a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, and you live in a colony of that Kingdom here on this earth. And the King of Heaven, Jesus Christ, has decreed that you are to

Matthew 28:19 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe everything that He has decreed—and you do not go in your own power; He has not just dropped you into the middle of the wilderness and told you to go and build a colony—He says “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age!”

So stand your ground with joy Christian—even though you are living in the midst of a nation that is rushing to high rebellion against Christ, you have the joy of knowing that you are a citizen of a better nation, a nation that cannot fall, a King that cannot be dethroned, and a transformation of this world that cannot be stopped! The same power that is transforming your lowly body, Christian, is transforming this world as well so that everything in all creation all things are coming under subjection to Christ

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So go from here into the fray tomorrow morning with joy in the better and abiding possession you have as a colonist of the Kingdom—stand firm thus in the power and abiding joy of your Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Jude 24–25 ESV

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Read Philippians 3:19 again. What are some ways that people become enslaved to their urges (“their god is their belly?”) What part of your life are you most susceptible to give in to urges and desires that dishonor God? What does Philippians 3:17 say you are to do instead?

How are we to understand our allegiance to our nation and our allegiance to our citizenship in the Kingdom of Christ? In what ways do you see our governing authorities rejecting the authority of God over them? How are Christians to respond when the prince over them is guilty of treason against the King who gave them their authority?

Philippi was established as a colony to extend the Pax Romana—the “Peace of Rome”—throughout Macedonia. How does Paul’s illustration of our citizenship in Heaven help us understand the nature of our lives here on earth? What are the ways that you are being called by God to extend the Kingdom of Christ this week?