Joy in Heavenly-Minded Citizenship- Phil. 3:17-21

Have you ever seriously considered where a pet goldfish lives? I am talking about the fish that you purchase for your child and then place into a bowl. Where does that fish live? In the bowl, you may think. But it also lives in your home. Does it live in your home, or in the bowl?

This seems like an irrelevant question, and compared to other aspects of life it certainly is irrelevant. You also may be wondering, has a house full of children finally gotten to Bobby? Well, our discussion of a fish actually has more to do with our sermon today than not.

The fish lives in a bowl in the home. In other words, he simultaneously lives in two places. Christians are fish in this world. (Ironically, the fish represents the Christian faith ichthus, Jesus Christ, God Son and Savior). Believers exist in two different realms simultaneously. We live in heaven (20) and in this world. We are in the world but not of the world (John 15:19, cf. 17:14-16).

We are dealing with the theme of joy throughout this letter, and this section addresses joy in heavenly-minded citizenship. We live in a bowl of heaven placed in the room of the world. We can have joy, true joy that nothing can take away, but only as we live in heavenly-minded citizenship.

Christian, if you want to have joy, you must live as a heavenly-minded citizen. We will see what this looks like, and at the same time contrast it with an earthly existence. If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, if you have never been saved by Jesus from your sins, you will follow the example of the enemies of the cross, and you will have a semblance of false joy in the fleeting pleasures of this life.

If we are to live as heavenly-minded citizens...

I. We must passionately follow Paul’s Example- 3:17

II. We must persistently remember the Enemies of Christ- 3:18-19

III. We must patiently reckon ourselves as Inhabitants of Heaven- 3:20-21

I. We must passionately follow Paul’s Example- 3:17

In this one verse Paul gives us two commands, from which the remainder of this chapter unfolds. He tells us to imitate him and to keep our eyes on those who walk according to the example set by Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. “Follow in my footsteps,” in other words.

Now, this can come across as arrogant. But the truth of the matter is that God was at work in Paul’s life (see 3:7-11, 2:17, 1:21). The necessity of following Paul stems on Paul’s following Jesus Christ.

Think about children copying us. My son, Soren, copies me in a lot of ways. One of the things I like to do is to lay out everything for the next day. For example, I eat three eggs for breakfast every morning. I have my pan, my spatula, my fork, and my plate on the counter. When I get up, I turn the burner on and begin cooking breakfast. Soren, following my example, likes to lay out his clothes. He lays his shirt, then his pants, then his socks, and his shoes. He is imitating me.

Paul, as he follows Jesus Christ, commands us to follow him. It is not boastful, it is biblical. St. Francis De Sales puts this mindset into a way that I can understand, and I am sure you will find helpful as well.

“We need not fear to be puffed up with the knowledge of what He has done for us, if we keep well before us the truth that whatever good there may be in us, is not of us. Though a mule is laden with the precious and perfumed treasures of a prince, is it not still a clumsy, filthy beast?”—St. Francis De Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

We must passionately follow Paul’s example. But how? Paul gives us two answers.

A. We passionately follow Paul when our lives look like his—imitate me

What does it mean to have our lives look like Paul’s? My initial reply would be to take Paul’s life from Acts 9 until the end of Acts, including the epistles he wrote, and then work to live like that. But that is too broad and unhelpful in a sermon such as this.

We will limit our focus in the book of Philippians, and we will only highlight certain aspects that we should imitate, though this is not exhaustive.

We should imitate Paul’s love for fellow believers- 1:1:7-8

We should imitate Paul’s desire to see people grow in their love for the Lord Jesus- 1:9

We should imitate Paul’s view of God’s work in all life situations- 1:12-14

We should imitate Paul’s Gospel-centered focus- 1:15-18

We should imitate Paul’s God-structured life- 1:19-26

We should imitate Paul’s desire for Christ-centered unity- 1:27-30

We could continue on to chapters 2-4, which also provide us with incredible insights into how Paul lived his life. Brothers and sisters, let us passionately follow Paul’s example! To do so is to fulfill the command to “let our manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

B. We passionately follow Paul when our lives look like other believers—keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example

We will not dwell on this point much, because, in essence, it says the same thing as imitating Paul. However, it broadens the possible examples to include others who live like Paul. Which I find encouraging, because personality wise, Paul and I are very different. I would align more with Timothy. And this should encourage us, because it opens the room for different expressions of the points we mentioned from chapter 1.

In other words, we want to be like Christ (Rom. 8:29), which is true, but it will look different in each life. That is the beauty of 1 Cor. 12:12-31.

If we are to live as heavenly-minded citizens...

I. We must passionately follow Paul’s Example- 3:17

II. We must persistently remember the Enemies of Christ- 3:18-19

Be like me and focus on others like me, Paul tells us, because there are enemies of the cross of Christ. If we are to live as heavenly-minded citizens, we must persistently remember the enemies of Christ. We must not be lulled to sleep with the broad acceptance of Christianity nor of the lack of active persecution. The enemies of Christ are alive and well, and we must understand this if we are to live as heavenly-minded citizens.

A. We must remind each other regularly—I have often told you

As we passionately follow Paul’s example, we must also be on guard against the enemies of Christ. We need to be reminded of this regularly. It is not unlike my children. We regularly remind them of the fire-ants that have taken over the yard. Why? Because they walk around barefoot all the time, not thinking about the pests, but enjoying God’s creation. We remind them to watch out for them so they will not get stung.

Likewise, the enemies of Christ are everywhere. We see this demonstrated by the New Testament epistles. Many of the letters written to churches warn against some false teaching or manner of life. Galatians warns against a legalistic life. Ephesians warns against the spiritual enemies of the believer. Colossians warns against worldly philosophy. The two books to the Thessalonians warns against false teaching about the coming of Christ.

Paul says, I have told you often! I constantly reminded you, and still do, to watch out for these enemies. Brothers and sisters, there are enemies of Christ who preach sermons, write books, share articles, and educate your children. Remember, we have an active enemy. By following Paul we protect ourselves from these enemies. But we must also realize the seriousness of the conflict.

B. We must realize the seriousness of the conflict—even with tears

In Scripture, Paul normally sheds tears for the Church or for the people of Israel. The “many” here are neither the church nor the people of Israel. These are individuals who claim to be Christians, at least with their speech, but their actions deny all those claims.

Paul weeps, he expresses his grief with outward emotions. It broke his heart. He gives a similar sentiment to the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20:29-30, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

This conflict, that brings out such an emotional response from the apostle, is serious. How so? It is not a difference between rooting for one team over another. It is not even the difference between one political party against another. It is the difference between eternal life and eternal death. It is serious, eternally serious.

With that said, these are individuals who do not just hold different view theologically. It is not the same as holding different views on the Genesis account. It is a denial of the truth of God. They are enemies, Paul tell us, of the cross of Christ (i.e., the gospel). Paul takes this so serious that he told the churches of Galatia, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Gal. 1:8-9) It is, indeed, a serious conflict.

C. We must remember their earthly living—minds set on earthly things

Remember their earthly living. Their minds are set on earthly things. They are focused on earthly things. What are they? They are doomed to destruction (cf. 1:28). Their god is their belly (i.e., physical desires). They glory in their shame. They are individuals who glory in shameful things. In other words, their manners of life are not worthy of the gospel of Christ, they are worthy of the damnation from Christ.

We know of “preachers” who live like this. Though a dated example, think of Jim Baker, accused of infidelity (among other things). The most recent example is Carl Lentz, a pastor at Hillsong in New York, who was also unfaithful to his wife. When our minds are set on earthly things (serving our desires, glorifying shame) we are serving ourselves rather than Satan.

If we are to live as heavenly-minded citizens...

I. We must passionately follow Paul’s Example- 3:17

II. We must persistently remember the Enemies of Christ- 3:18-19

III. We must patiently reckon ourselves as Inhabitants of Heaven- 3:20-21

These thoughts are connected to the command to imitate Paul, provide the reasons we should follow his example. We remember the reason that we must passionately follow Paul’s example is because there are enemies of Christ, but we must also patiently reckon (count) ourselves Inhabitants of Heaven. It is a different mindset than those focused on the earth. Here’s how we can patiently reckon ourselves as inhabitants of heaven.

A. We simultaneously live in two realms

Think about the fish bowl analogy. The fish lives in two locations, as does the Christian. Paul says our citizenship is in heaven. He is dealing with it in terms of “now and not yet.” In other words, we are citizens of heaven now, but it is not completely realized, at least not yet. We anticipate our transformation (the next point).

However, we need to patiently reckon ourselves as inhabitants of heaven, not of this earth. This place is the place of our physical existence, and we are called to live a Gospel-shaped life here on earth. But it is not our home. We are called to be lights, not to make this world our home. The Scriptures constantly refer to us as exiles and sojourners. When we forget this, we become discouraged about what is happening in this world. When we remember it, we push to do right in spite of the opposition.

B. We anticipate our transformation

Now, as we talk about our transformation, the Scriptures clearly teach we will be made like Christ (Rom. 8:29, 1 John 3:2). Paul is not only referring to this transformation theologically, but also to the Philippians’ state among the other inhabitants of the city. If you remember, the Philippians were proud of their Roman status. They enjoyed privileges that others did not. Following Jesus made them “lowly,” it demeaned their status, but Jesus would transform them completely. There is no room for doubt.

Why? Because the power of Jesus Christ. The same power that gives Jesus complete sovereignty over all is the same power that will complete God’s work in our lives (cf. 1:6).

So, if we are to live as heavenly-minded citizens...

I. We must passionately follow Paul’s Example- 3:17

II. We must persistently remember the Enemies of Christ- 3:18-19

III. We must patiently reckon ourselves as Inhabitants of Heaven- 3:20-21

How are you doing in these areas? Each one presents a unique challenge that requires a unique solution. Though the main one is following Paul’s example, we can address each area on its own. The Lord’s Sprit will direct your heart. Be submissive, read the Scriptures, and earnestly (through the power of the Holy Spirit) pursue heavenly-minded citizenship.