Philippians 3:17-19

It is such a blessing to be able to gather together on the Lord's day. Amen. If you would, please turn with me to Philippians chapter 3, where we're going to be examining verses 17 through 19. And so I've titled this sermon today, Persevering Together.

And to give you a little context of why that's the name of the sermon, is because we've been looking at Philippians chapter 3, where we're running this race together. We are focusing after Christ, who is the end goal, and to be like Him.

An amazing truth that Pastor Nathan has been bringing out of the text is that our end goal is not only Christ, but to be like Him. And He has already won this race. And He is able to pick us up when we stumble.

He picks us up by renewing our heart and our minds with His promises. And He also picks us up by using other believers. And that is a reminder that we are not called to run this race alone. And so I want to share with you a brief principle that comes from the book of Ecclesiastes, where we read, Two are more than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

For if they fall, one is able to lift up his fellow. But woe is him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. This is a beautiful illustration of what it looks like to run this Christian race together.

There is strength in numbers, and it is so dangerous to be isolated and by yourself. God has designed the body of Christ with a diverse set of gifts and skills to build one another up, to help serve one another.

And so I want to paint this in your mind that we are called to run together, persevere together, looking toward Jesus, who is the prize that we press on and strive after. So let's look at our passage this morning.

Imitating Paul and Keeping Watch for Godly Examples

Paul says, 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 they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. Let's go to the Lord in prayer again. Heavenly Father, we praise you this morning. I pray that you would illuminate our hearts and minds with your Holy Spirit.

God, please remove me from the picture, God, and let only your truth shine forth. Lord, please help us to stay focused on you, Jesus. You are the prize. You are what we are pressing forward towards. I pray these things in your name, Jesus.

Amen. So as we begin to unpack and examine verse 17, I want to be reminded with Paul's continuous thought here. He is encouraging believers to strive towards maturity, to leave behind childish things, looking to Jesus becoming more and more like him.

That's why he's using this race analogy. It's almost like athletes who diligently train for the race that's ahead of them, but we can do this with other believers, and we have Christ and his Spirit with us every step of the way.

Paul says,. And when I first read this, I almost think, aren't we supposed to be imitating Christ? We absolutely are. But that's Paul's heart as well, to follow after Jesus. Paul is a wonderful example of a believer who is imperfect, and he models the process of pursuing the goal of being Christ-like.

And you have to remember the context. Philippians was being written by Paul in prison, and yet he could consider all of what he was going through. He was content, whatever his situation is. His mind was focused on the sovereign God, that when he begins a good work, he is faithful to bring it to completion.

Paul was able to rejoice in this truth in whatever circumstance he is in. And so the point is, we must imitate Paul as he imitates Christ. Amen. Verse 17 goes on to say,. So Paul is not only saying, imitate me, he's broadening the circle here.

He's saying, look to other godly men and women that are also pursuing after Christ. Back in chapter two, we saw Timothy and Epaphroditus. Their goal was Christ as well, and they were being discipled by the apostle Paul.

As we will continue to see in chapter four, we're going to see godly women that are laboring side by side with Paul in the ministry of the gospel. Paul is simply telling the Philippian believers, keep your eyes on those who are walking according to the example.

Be mindful of others that also pattern their lives that are striving after Christ and pay careful attention to these people. Follow their example because they have counted everything as loss because of the surpassing knowledge of knowing our Lord.

At this point, I want you to think about something. Are you being mindful of other godly men and women in your life? Are you looking for ways to integrate your life with their life? Because we're not called to run this race alone.

We need each other. So many Christians are content with just showing up to church on Sunday, and that's it. How are we going to build these wonderful godly relationships if we only see each other for an hour?

We must surround ourselves with other believers because we will often fall. As we're going to look at here in a moment, we're going to go through times of spiritual warfare where there's traps everywhere.

We need older men in the faith to help guard us, to pick us back up. We need older women to help the younger women, to teach us what God's truth is. I believe that's the point Paul is getting at when he says, and imitating me, he is talking about discipleship.

So that's a major point this morning. What is discipleship? What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? I think a definitional understanding of disciple is someone that is a learner, someone that is a faithful follower.

And so I want to offer two things that really help us learn. And number one is that we learn by hands-on experience, don't we? We learn by watching and seeing how others do something. That's why Paul said, imitate me, keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example.

And we see a wonderful model of what discipleship looks like with Paul and Timothy. Paul exhorts Timothy, he says, let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Now, Paul is telling Timothy, model these things for other believers. But you know who Timothy could look to to see these things modeled?

The Apostle Paul.

The Apostle Paul wasn't telling Timothy to do anything that he himself was not striving to do. And it's always looking to our Lord Jesus. And so it's that aspect of fellowship that is crucial in discipleship.

Fellowship is so important because it allows us to visually see in action how older men and women show love for one another. It allows us to see how the pastor models love for his family. We're able to see how godly wives lovingly submit to the leadership of their husbands as unto the Lord.

And here's the point that I'm trying to drive home this morning is we need each other. We need these relationships in our lives because once again, we are not called to run this race alone.

Amen.

So why not be creative? Why not figure out fun ways how to integrate our lives with one another? If you don't know somebody, here. Get their contact. Get their information. Open up your home to them and invite them over for dinner.

What a wonderful way to show loving Christian hospitality and break bread with one another. I don't know. Have a game night. Maybe do karaoke or something. That would be a lot of fun. But the point is we got to be creative how to integrate our lives with one another.

I have the blessing and the privilege of meeting up with my good friend Cruz once a week for lunch. And he suggested, hey, let's go for a run. And I was like, I haven't ran in a long time. I was like, but okay, let's do this thing.

And that's such a great example. Let's be creative on how to build relationships with one another. If we just see the saints for one hour a week or with some people once a month or even less than that, how are we going to be able to see what the faith looks like modeled?

How are we going to be discipled? How are we going to disciple others if we don't spend time with each other? And please don't misunderstand me here. It is absolutely essential for your spiritual growth to gather on the first day of the week, on the Lord's Day, to worship through singing praise, through praying and corporately hearing the preaching and the heralding of God's word.

In fact, the writer of Hebrews warns us not to neglect the gathering because corporate worship is so vital to our sanctification. The thing about this too, it's a blessing. It's not just a responsibility and a calling and a command for believers, but it's a time of blessing.

We get the opportunity to build relationships with the saints that we gather with for discipleship, right? One of the primary ways in which we learn is by hands-on experience. And so the second thing of how we learn, I'm convinced, is by being taught sound doctrine.

Now, doctrine may sound like a scary word, but it means teaching. We want to be equipped with the teaching of God's word. God knows everything and has revealed to us truth. We must contend for sound doctrine and be willing to be taught what God has revealed.

Many of us are familiar with Jesus's great commission. This is a wonderful passage in Matthew 28 where Jesus says, This is a wonderful truth. As you are going, wherever you go, make disciples, share the gospel with them.

And those who receive Jesus by faith are called to be water baptized, to put their faith on display to the world saying, I've counted the cost and I've died with Christ and I've been raised to walk in newness of life with him.

Wonderful command. But that's typically where we stop. That's what we think about the great commission. Jesus goes on to say, Now, this is wonderful because he's exhorting us to be consumed with the whole counsel of God, to understand what it is we have been commissioned to do in this life and how we engage in that loving relationship with our Lord is by abiding in his word.

It's so important that we be consumed with God's truth and with his word because it sanctifies our minds and our hearts. And so I want to encourage you not to be a person that is content with only understanding the surface level of what Christ has revealed to us in his word.

In fact, our Lord says in John 8, We are truly disciples, then we ought to desire to learn the deep truths of his word. And sometimes that can be a daunting task, right? We look at the 66 books of the Bible like I'm supposed to learn all this.

Sometimes that's a hard process, but I've been able to call up friends like Harold and we talk about it together and we build this ongoing relationship and it is wonderful. God has gifted the church with teachers to help equip us with the truth to be able to carry out this ministry together.

And what I want you to think about is sound doctrine is critical for discipleship. Understanding the truth will guard us from false teaching. That's why Paul says in Titus 1, 9 to pastors, So we're going to see a transition here from verse 17 to where we see the importance of discipleship.

False Teachers, Spiritual Warfare, and the Need for Discernment

In verses 18 and 19, we're going to see how false teachers, to follow their example is going to lead down the path of destruction, the exact opposite way of pursuing after Christ. Paul is guarding the Philippian believers from the air of false teachers.

So look with me at verse 18. He says,. And so the many here Paul's referring to are those who carry themselves in a manner of life against the Christian faith. These people may claim to be Christians, but the fruit of their lives gives evidence that they really love the things of this world.

Paul is warning the believers at Philippi that these people may walk as enemies of Christ, but these people are going to creep into the church. These people are going to creep in to the leadership. We really understand the apostle Paul's heart here.

He's driven to tears.

Why?

Because he loves the bride of Christ so much. It absolutely breaks his heart to see immature believers being led astray by false teachers. And so I want to take a brief moment and look at Acts chapter 20.

Hopefully we have the scripture posted on the screen, but I want us to look at this other account where the apostle Paul was driven to tears. He was at Ephesus and he knew that there would be immature believers there being tempted to be led away by false teaching.

So I want you to hear the apostle Paul in discipleship, exhorting the believers to be consumed with the whole counsel of God. Paul says, you yourself, in verse 18, know how I've lived among you the whole time from the first day I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me.

I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable. And teaching you in public from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. So I just want to pause and make a brief note. Paul, for years, was building these awesome relationships rooted on the word of God, warning them and guarding them for false teachers.

And when we read the whole counsel of God, that sounds very reminiscent of what Jesus said in the Great Commission, commanding you to observe all that I have commanded you. You may say once again, Jeremiah, that seems like a really big task to know from a bird's eye view the whole counsel of God.

It is hard.

But why not pray for God to send in godly men and women to help you learn the word together, to be able to see how God's plan of redemption is unfolding, and to be able to see the gospel in this amazing light and how we need forgiveness of sin.

It's so important to have these relationships in our lives, especially pastors that are being diligent in their study in the word to rightly harmonize it, to handle it with precision, because sound doctrine is what is at stake.

That's why Paul goes on to warn here in Acts 20. He says, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he has obtained with his own blood.

I know 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. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease day or night to admonish everyone with tears.

Paul knows that false teachers are encroaching on the church. He knows that they will pounce on immature Christians. And here's the key. Paul, in the next verse, tells us the key to being able to discern truth from error.

Verse 32, he says, and now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. In order to be built up in the faith, in order to discern truth from error, once again is to be consumed with the word of God, the word of his grace, to be equipped with the whole counsel of God.

The Bible tells us that the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, and it pierces straight to the heart. I love that because it's telling us that the word of God is an offensive weapon. Because you may not realize this, but we are actually in a war.

We are in spiritual warfare. And there is an enemy lurking, prowling around like a roaring lion to devour you, to sift you like wheat. So how can you walk around in this devil-ruled world without a sword in your hand?

The ultimate enemy of the cross is Satan. Look with me back at Philippians 3 .18. Paul once again says, So I want to spend a moment here to talk about that word enemies. Because I think in this immediate context, it is talking about false teachers, those that proclaim to be Christians, but they deny sound doctrine either in their teaching or the manner in which they walk in their life.

But I want to stress this point. False teachers are not our personal enemies. They still are in need of the truth and the gospel and of Christ. And so we lovingly share the truth of God with them. They are not our personal enemies.

Why do I say that? Ephesians 6, Paul tells us, Yes, we are in a spiritual war. But other people, flesh and blood, they are not the enemy. We have the enemy, Satan. And he goes on to say, They are ultimate warfare is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil.

Satan is the capital E enemy of not only of God, but of Christians and of the holy angels. Satan and his horde of demons, they hate you. They hate your family and they hate the truth of God. The devil, that serpent of old, he is the enemy.

And I cannot stress enough how dangerous he is. The Bible tells us that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, thank false teachers, also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

So Satan is scheming. He is plotting ways to make Christians fall. He's setting traps. And I think the most primary tool that he does in schemes is to try to use false teaching to guide us and lead us away from the truth.

And he's going to set traps along the way. That's why we need godly relationships to persevere together. Remember, these false teachers, they're not just going to walk up and say, Hey, I'm a false teacher.

They're going to walk up and be like, Hey, we're Christians. We're doing this thing together. And they're going to talk real smooth. And you've got to think, Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

That's how he works. So the only way to be able to know who really is a Christian is to measure everything that they say by the word of God. We must examine their way of life with the word of God. That is the only way to know who are legitimate, born again, spirit-filled believers that are striving along with us in this race.

And measuring everybody against the word of God, what they teach, how they live their lives, will also be able to tell us who is actually being used by the enemy to be a stumbling block he's using to lay a trap.

The Destruction, Appetite, Shame, and Earthly Mindset of False Teaching

So the false teachers who walk as enemies to the cross, Paul says in verse 19, he says, their end is destruction. Their God is their belly and they glory in their shame, having their minds set on earthly things.

So Paul uses four phrases here that I want us to analyze and break down together. What does he mean when he says their end is destruction? The end destiny for anyone who rejects the gospel of grace. If anyone perverts the saving message of trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, Paul is getting at this.

They will die in their sin and experience the full wrath of God for eternity in a place the Bible teaches is hell. Now, before the service started, I was talking with Don, and we have to talk about this.

We have to talk about this doctrine of hell because the Bible is so explicitly clear on what hell is and who is going there. Paul in second Thessalonians chapter one, he says, the Lord Jesus will inflict vengeance on all those who do not know God.

And all those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of our Lord and the glory of his might. So from this passage, we see that hell is eternal.

Hell is this place of eternal destruction. Now, our Lord Jesus had many things to say about hell. In fact, many scholars tell us that he talked more about hell than he did.

Heaven.

Now, I think this makes sense because if we really love people, then we will warn them about the wrath that is to come.

Amen?

If we really believe that there's a hell and that people are going there, we will tell them about it and then we'll tell them about how they can have their sin forgiven. That Jesus is the answer and he offers himself and we are called to repent and believe in him.

Our Lord famously said in his sermon on the mount, enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide in the way that is easy, leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few.

That's heavy.

He says there are many, many on this broad road leading to destruction. It's exactly what Paul's talking about here in verse 19. And he says there are few that find everlasting life. How narrow is this road?

It's extremely narrow. Jesus tells us that he is the only way to the father. He is the only means by which we can have our sins forgiven. This is an extremely narrow road. Salvation is only found in Jesus Christ according to the Bible.

The Bible teaches us whoever does not believe in the only son of God stands condemned already. Jesus said these will go away into eternal punishment. Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I can't conceive of anything more horrifying than this truth. I think the most important thing that are to be gained from these words is that we should do everything in our power to escape the horrors of hell.

What blows my mind is that I will actually have conversations with people that will call into question God's character. And for one, who are you to question God's ultimate justice? It's another thing to have legitimate questions.

I grant you that. But to actually say that God would be unjust in doing what he sees fit on his creation, there's something wrong with the heart there. People have said, how can God punish me eternally for these temporal sins that I do here on earth?

These conversations that I have, I quickly learn that these people do not understand that all sin is ultimately against God. Psalm 51, King David proclaimed this. He says, Against you, you alone, O God, I have sinned and done this evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge.

What we have to understand is that God is holy, holy, holy. And he is perfectly just to execute his justice on lawbreakers. Of course, lawbreakers don't like the law. They say it's unfair. We expect that.

And so when we realize that we are sinners, we don't look to God and say, you're doing it wrong. I know better than you. But we simply say, I cast myself at your mercy. God is eternal. And to sin against him will result in eternal punishment.

I want you to feel the gravity here of what Paul is saying. It's so important because Paul is saying, you cannot be indifferent when it comes to false teaching.

Why?

Because their end is destruction. To follow the example of a false teacher will lead you down that same path. Paul says, their end is destruction, their God is their belly. I thought that was a weird way of saying it, so I looked at some other translations, and I found that it says, their God is their stomach, or whose God is their appetite.

So Paul is warning Philippian believers not to follow the example or the teachings of those who are pursuing the desires of the flesh.

Okay?

And really, I think this can be understood in one of two ways. The desires of the flesh can refer to legalism that says, I glory and boast in my own fleshly accomplishments. Or Paul could be talking about licentiousness, which is the extreme.

Opposite.

Those people that say, Jesus died for everyone, right? So I can just live however I want, or I'm no longer under the law, so I can just live it up and indulge the flesh.

Wrong.

Both of these false teachings are missing the love for Christ, and they are not trusting in Jesus Christ alone. Legalism says, I trust in myself. I can do it. That's who I'm going to trust in. Licentiousness says, I don't have to trust in anyone.

Neither of these teachings are seeking to glorify God in all that they do. Rather, they glory in themselves. And that's why Paul goes on to say, and they glory in their shame. Shockingly, false teachers of whatever brand that may be, they will boast about the very things that are shameful and detestable before God Almighty.

Earlier in Philippians chapter 3, Paul said that our self-righteousness is rubbish. It is manure, and to glory in that is absolutely shameful. Any false teaching or philosophy that seeks to gratify the flesh and to oppose God is shameful because it is sin.

We've talked about how it is ultimately vain, and it has the same end of destruction. So lastly here, the common denominator to all false teaching, Paul says stems with mindset on earthly things. To set your mind on something means that you choose to think about it.

This will influence your goals, and this will guide your course of action. When we set our minds on the things below the things of this world, this is a perfect opportunity for Satan to target believers' minds.

That's why Colossians 3, 2 commands believers to set your minds on things that are above and not on the things of the earth. I want you to think about what you constantly are exposing yourself to. It's shaping your mind.

The people that are in your life are slowly influencing how you think. Think about the things you read, the things you watch, the music you listen to. All these things are shaping your mind. And months ago, Brother Curtis preached and really challenged us to think about the things that are most important to us in this life.

Are we looking to the things that are transient and are only lasting for a short time? Or are we looking to the things that are unseen and eternal? Whatever you are filling your mind with the most, that will answer those questions.

And not too many years ago, I was in college at ASU. I was talking to a few of you all. I'm feeling my age approaching 30 now. But I was that student that could not make up my mind on what my major was going to be.

But I know I wanted to have a really high-paying job. I know I wanted a really big, nice house and all these nice vehicles and on and on and on this list went. But I can tell you now, it is abundantly clear to me that I was having my mind set on earthly goals, things of man, things below.

And sure, I went to church when it was convenient for me. And I'm sure from other people's perspectives, I seemed like a really spiritual person. I promise you, during those times, I was not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

I was not setting my mind on the things that are above. But by God's grace, He used means to draw me back to Himself. And I praise Him for that. It wasn't me. He drew me back close to Himself. And I started to see the value of treasuring God's Word in my heart.

I started experiencing sweet relationship with Christ. Wherever I went, I could not only pray to Him in this relationship, but He was able to speak back to me through His Word, which was right there, which was in my mind and I was constantly able to have that relationship.

His Word was guiding my steps and He was guarding my heart from the lies of the evil one. I also started to see that if I wasn't filled up on the Word and with prayer and that fellowship with the saints, it was so easy for me to become no longer focused on what God has called me to do.

It was so easy for me to get distracted on earthly things. And when I read in the Gospel accounts, it was very easy for the disciples to get distracted as well. There's a famous confession that the Apostle Peter made in Matthew chapter 16.

He said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Great job, Peter. You are focused on the right thing. Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of the living God. But what's interesting is when you continue to read on this passage, things begin to change.

Jesus begins to explain to the disciples that He must suffer. He must be killed and He must be raised on the third day. Jesus began to expound on these monumental-sized truths that all these things were prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures to happen.

And poor Peter, he did not like the sound of that. And let me just briefly say, if God says something is going to happen, do you think it's actually going to happen or do you think it's a strong chance?

It's absolutely going to happen. If God's Word in the Hebrew Scriptures predicts that Messiah's hands and feet will be pierced, that He is going to be crushed for sin, that He must die and that He will be saved from the grave, these things are going to happen.

God is the God of truth and He cannot lie. And so, just a few days ago in the youth group, we talked about this encounter Peter had with Jesus, confessing Him as Lord, and I asked the question, why did these things must take place?

And I love Delaney's answer. She says, we wouldn't have the gospel if these things didn't take place. And I'm like, that is spot on. These things must take place because God said it was going to happen and we need the gospel.

It was absolutely going to take place. But you know what? Peter, in this account, was not convinced. He actually took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. Peter said, far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you.

I think as a general principle, we should not rebuke the Son of God. I don't think that is a good idea. Better yet, do not think that you know better than God, period. Instead, we ought to pray that God would give us wisdom through His Word.

And so those of you that are not familiar with that story, Jesus does not look to Peter and say, oh, you missed it. You'll get there one day. He pretty much does the exact opposite, doesn't He? For those of you all that know, Jesus turned to Peter and said, get behind me, Satan.

You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. I believe in that moment. Peter had good intentions. I think he really did love Christ, and it was unthinkable for him to not be in that close communion with our Lord.

But he did not have God's perspective in mind. He was not renewing his mind with the Word of God and what the Hebrew Scriptures predicted, said were going to happen. So in that moment, Peter was being a mouthpiece for Satan.

Peter was experiencing spiritual warfare. Notice the events that took place. Peter was setting his mind on the things of this earth, the things of man. I think it's so easy for us to be just like Peter in those moments.

I think when we begin to shift our focus onto our careers, our possessions, our security, the things of this world, I think it's so easy for us to engage in that spiritual warfare and not even know it.

Think about those moments that you give advice to your kids or to your friends. If it's not biblical, Satan is using you as a mouthpiece. So how much more important should we be girded up in godly relationships, in discipleship, and be consumed with the Word of God?