Philippians 3:15-21

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Philippians 3:15-21

“Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”

‘Forgetting Those Things That Are Past’---We’re In A Race, God’s Given Each Of Us A Course To Run

“Philippians chapter 3, we had come as far as Paul, wanting to be found in Christ, ‘that I might know him, his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering.’ So we took some time and looked at that, ‘being made conformable to his death, however, if I happen to die, by any means, that I might obtain the resurrection,’ something Paul was looking forward to. Verse 12 he said, ‘It’s not as though I had already attained, either already perfect, I haven’t been made complete,’ Paul the apostle, still had areas in his life that were not Christ-like. John the apostle in his first epistle, over 90 years old, would say, ‘If we say,’ personal pronoun, including himself, ‘if we say we have not sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.’ [Comment: This proves a very important point, that all legalistic, Pharisaic, toxic Christians (yes, they are Christians too, it’s just not pleasant being around them) don’t like to admit---and that is that when we, as genuine Christians die, whenever that may occur, none of us will be sinless. We will be with less sin, but not sinless. But again, that is not an excuse to sin, as the apostle John also points out.] ‘If we confess our sins he’s faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ He said ‘if we walk in the light, the blood of Christ is continually cleansing us from all unrighteousness.’ This was a 90-year-old apostle, aware of the fact that every moment of his life he was still dependant on the cleansing flow of Christ’s wonderful sacrifice. And Paul said, ‘I’m not perfect, I haven’t attained.’ “I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (verses 13-14) Paul says, ‘This one thing I do, forgetting,’ and the tenses are, ‘constantly forgetting, being willing to let go of the past, forgetting those things that are behind, I reach forward, I press towards the mark of the high calling of Christ.’ And he’s now comparing himself to a runner in a race. And what he’s saying is, ‘At this point in my life, I’m in that state of competition where, forgetting those things that are behind,’ when a runner is trained, they train that runner, at no point should you look behind to see how close the other runners are, to see how far the competition is. Because one look behind can make the difference in a step at the finish line. One glance behind can make the difference. Paul said, ‘Forgetting those things that are behind, he’s moving forward, and he’s reaching toward the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ Now, he’s going to say that we should be likeminded, he’s going to put that out in front of us, that every one of us in this room has a calling on their life. Every person in this room, God has a plan for your life. ‘Well you don’t understand. I lived an immoral life, I ruined my family with alcohol and gambling. I have blood on my hands. I’m filled with bitterness, anger, I never seem to get free.’ Listen, Paul, Saul of Tarsus, murdered the Church [people in the Church, early Church in Jerusalem and Judea], he destroyed Christian homes, he hauled men and women off to prison, he forced people at the point of a sword to blaspheme the holy name of Jesus. And he is able to say, ‘Forgetting those things that are behind, I press towards the mark of the high calling in Christ, I’m not looking back, I’m not letting those things slow me down, I’m moving forward.’ And that is applicable to all of us. Some of us, for some reason, want to hang onto every bit of baggage and hurt and anger and condemnation, and finding ourselves running, dragging anger down the street. And God has a plan for us. I love this story, and I’ll read this to you, and just certainly there’s an encouragement in it. It says “A little country schoolhouse was heated by an old-fashioned potbellied stove. A little boy had a job of coming to school early each day to start the fire, warm the room before the teacher and the classmates arrived. One morning they arrived to find the schoolhouse engulfed in flames. They dragged the unconscious little boy and his brother out of the flaming building more dead than alive, the brother had died. He had major burns over the lower half of his body, was taken to a nearby hospital. From his bed the dreadfully burned semiconscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die, which was for the best, really, because the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his body. But the brave boy didn’t want to die. He made up his mind that he would survive. Somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive. When the mortal danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire had so destroyed his flesh in the lower part of his body, it would be almost better if he had died, since he was doomed to live a lifetime crippled with no use of his lower limbs. For two months the physician begged his parents to amputate both his legs. Once more the brave little boy made up his mind he would not be crippled, he would walk. But unfortunately, from his waist down he had no motor ability. His thin legs were dangled there, all but lifeless. Ultimately he was released from the hospital. Every day his mother would massage his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever. When he wasn’t in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the wheelchair, pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him. He worked his way to the white picket fence that bordered their property. With great effort he raised himself up on the fence. Then, stake by stake, he began dragging himself along the fence, resolved that he would walk. He started to do this every day until he wore a smooth path all around the yard beside the fence from dragging his legs. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs. Ultimately, through his daily massages, his iron persistence, his resolute determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk, haltingly, then, to walk by himself, and then, to run, one leg being three inches shorter than the other, from the injuries. He began to walk to school, then to run to school, then to run for the shear joy of running. Later in college he made the track team. Still later, in Madison Square Garden this young man, who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run, this determined young man, Dr. Glen Cunningham ran the world’s fastest mile. He was known as the world’s fastest human, and was named athlete of the century.” [Comment: Glen Cunningham ran with Louie Zamperini in the 1936 Olympics, I believe it was. Louie might have beat the 4 minute mile, if WWII hadn’t intervened. His amazing story is in the book “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption”, another must read story of God’s saving and healing power (available on http://www.amazon.com Louie Zamperini and Glen Cunningham knew each other, raced with each other. In the beginning of that book it describes the races both Louie and Glen Cunningham ran in, and they both ran like the wind itself.] So, ‘Forgetting those things that are behind, pressing towards the mark of the high calling of Christ.’ This person did this in the physical, with shear determination in the physical. If we determine, according to God’s will, that we are willing to do what he sets in front of us, and run that race, we have the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we have the assistance of the Body of Christ, we have the assistance of the Word of God. The Lord has given us to avail ourselves, and that’s what he expects from us, that we would appropriate the things that he’s given to us. If Paul could first drag himself, then walk, then run, and forget the murder, and the blasphemy, and the things he had done against Christians and against the cause of Christ, and believe that Jesus loved him, and believe that Jesus was willing to give him full assistance, as he put his life into Christ’s hands, and he said, ‘This one thing I do, I’m constantly forgetting those things that are behind, they want to come up in my face, but I’m constantly forgetting them, reaching forward,’ he says, ‘to those things which are before,’ and there are some wonderful things ahead of us. ‘I press,’ there’s a measure of agony there, it is a struggle, it’s a struggle to forget the things that are behind. If you were abused as a child, if you had alcoholic parents, if you’re condemned as a Christian, you willfully sinned and you think ‘God can’t use me,’ oh yeah, there’s a struggle in that. There’s a struggle to receive his love, because he loves us, like no one has ever loved us. He loves us freely, and no one has ever loved us freely. No one ever gives us anything for free. You know, when you get married and you’re aunt gives you a bowling pin lamp [laughter] for your wedding, you keep it in the attic, and when she visits every twenty years you have to take it out and put it on the table, because she’s gonna ask you where it is. She didn’t “give it to you.” He gives freely, no strings attached. That’s grace. And beyond that he gives us the measure to win the race, not just to compete. Because everyone in this room has their own course. And you’re not competing against the other believers in this room, you’re only competing against yourself. There’s no other competition, because there’s a course for your life, there’s a finish-line for your life, there’s a way for you to run, and there’s a way for you to touch a multitude of lives. Paul says, ‘this one thing I do, I’m not perfect,’ he says that, ‘I haven’t apprehended that which I’ve been apprehended for, I still don’t understand to the fullest extent why he loved me and gave himself for me, and took hold of my useless life and turned it into a trophy of his grace, I haven’t apprehended. But there’s one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind, the bitterness, the pain, the anger, the condemnation, forgetting those things that are behind, and reaching out to those things that are ahead, I press towards the mark, the finish-line of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ The calling of God, on all of our lives, every one in this room, on my life. I haven’t arrived. I know what I’m supposed to do tonight, teach Philippians. But God’s calling is on my life, I wake up, every day it’s there. I feel like there’s more to do, I don’t know what that means. And his calling is on all of our lives. He doesn’t give us a five year plan, a ten year plan, long-range goals, short-range goals. His calling is there. When you wake up in the morning, it smacks you in the face. [I can see how he has had a long-range goal for my life, and short-range goals inbetween, to fill out and help accomplish that long-range goal, my course he’s given me to run. But he has given these goals to me, inspired me to go after them, and fulfill them one at a time, while inspiring me with new short-range goals all the time. It’s part and parcel of the course he’s given me to run.] If you turn away from it, you’re frustrated, you backslide. If you turn back to God’s calling, you’re frustrated, but you move forward. And if you give every day of your life to Jesus Christ, you end up set free, moving forward forgetting those things that are behind, reaching out to those things that are ahead, pressing towards the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the calling of God never leaves. It’s still there in my life. And it’s there in yours. And I can’t define it. I can’t quantify it. I don’t know what there is still left to do. But I am filled with wonder every day that God’s calling is there, that he’s stirring. And you know that he wants you to yield, that he wants you to obey, that he wants you to ask forgiveness, you know that he wants you to keep all of your accounts current with him. You know that he wants you to move forward. You know that he wants you to be open, sensing what he wants you to say or who he wants you to talk to, or how he wants you to move forward. The high calling of God is above any other thing that we might accomplish in this world. And we should live with dignity, we should excel at whatever we do, but above and beyond all of those things is the calling of God that he has on all of our lives. ‘I press, continually press, towards the mark for the prize, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’

Pay Attention To, Scope Out, Those Who Are Pressing Toward The High Calling Of God

“Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” (verse 15) Now, he kind of gives a barb to anybody who would disagree in a sense. “Perfect”, now he just said, he’s not perfect. The word means “mature.” You know, he said ‘any of us that are mature will be thus minded.’ So we all say, ‘Well I want to be mature, ok, I agree with Paul.’ Because we could sit here and say, ‘Well if Paul isn’t perfect, and Paul hasn’t arrived, I’m just getting started, I might as well throw the towel in now.’ No, no, he said ‘Anybody, if there’s a level of maturity in your life in Christ, you’re going to agree with these things, that the Christian life is one of moving forward, it’s one of process, it’s one of forgetting the things that are behind and moving to those things that are ahead.’ He says that. “Let us therefore, as many as be mature, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” ‘If you think a different way, if you’re genuine, God will bring that to light.’ “Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” (verse 16) ‘As far as we have come, in our walk with Christ, let us attain to this rule, forgetting and reaching, let us mind the same thing.’ “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.” (verse 17) ‘Be followers together with me, and mark, scope out, take note of, pay attention to, those who walk so, those who are walking according to this rule, as you have us for an example, a pattern.’ Paul says, ‘Take note of those that are living that way, look around, yeah there are believers that are goofing off, yes, there are believers that are backsliding, yes, there are believers that…but there are believers that are following this rule, take note of those, mark them, scopio, bring them into focus, telescope, microscope, watch them, there are those who are living this way. And look at the quality of their lives, forgetting those things that are behind, reaching to those things that are ahead, pressing on to the mark of the high calling in Christ.’

Enemies Of The Cross

Now he wants us to take note of that, he said, “(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)” (verses 18-19) “Destruction,” that word is “perdition,” it means “damnation.” Now Paul is dealing with enemies of the cross in two respects here, in this book, because he just went through an in-depth rebuke to those legalists [Judaizers] who thought they measured up to some standard by saying, ‘I myself am a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Jew of the Jews, of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the 8^th day.’ He went through all of that to prove that legalism [the legalism of the Judaizers] is nothing. So there are those that are legalists Paul says, that are enemies of the cross. They’re veil-menders. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil was torn in the Temple from top to bottom, 80-foot high, ten inches thick, it was torn, and the Gospel account is specific, from top to bottom, there were no 80-foot priests in there. Somebody else tore it, God tore it. And he opened the way for any believer to go to God, no need of a priesthood, no need of a man to stand between you and God. God’s interested in your life. If he wants to talk to you, he’s not gonna call me. He’s got your phone number. I should only be a road-sign to you. But you know, my gift as a pastor, as a teacher, I should only be re-affirming in your life what the Holy Spirit is saying to you during the week. If we’re teaching the Scripture, that’s what should be happening. And I should only be saying, like a road-sign, Jesus three miles this way, that’s all I should be. Because, the way for you to go to him, personally. The veil was torn. Well there are legalists that are trying to mend that veil. They’re enemies of the cross. When Christ died on the cross the veil was torn. And legalism demeans the work of Christ on the cross. On the other side of the coin, there are those that are carnal, you know, legalism is front-sliding, carnality is backsliding. Both of them are sliding in the wrong direction. He’s probably talking about the Epicureans here, a philosophy in his day, no doubt that was present in Philippi, because it was a Roman colony, that the way you reach spiritual realization is through fulfilling every desire of your flesh. [Teaching] that God gave you the flesh, he gave you appetite for food, sexual appetite, desire to drink wine, all of these things. So by indulging yourselves in all of these things, you’re reaching some spiritual measure. Paul talks about those who are also the enemies of the cross of Christ. Because through the cross, Paul tells us, we’re crucified to the world, and we’re alive to God. “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth within me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live for the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) And when you see those who say they’re Christians, who are living in sexual sin, playing games with the world, and at the same time, now look. I understand that there are Christians that are backslidden, and I understand there are people saying ‘oh, I shouldn’t be doing this, oooh I feel so bad.’ Now I like to see that, I like to see them miserable, because it means the Holy Spirit is busting them. The ones that bother me are the ones that say, ‘Well I can do whatever I want, God’s grace, I can sleep with this person, I can do this, I can take drugs.’ Not here, not amongst the flock that’s blood-bought, where we want to forget the things that are behind, and reach out to the things that are ahead in the high calling of Christ. [see, http://www.unityinchrist.com/whatisgrace/whatisgraceintro.htm] There are those who are determined to be carnal, and Paul also called them the enemies of the cross. He says their end is destruction. I’m not talking about backslidden Christians, I’m talking about a philosophy of the world, ‘whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly,’ all they care about is satisfying the flesh. If you want to see a perfect picture of that, if you have a dog [laughter], you have a perfect picture of that. Our dog, his god was his belly, Robie our Lab. Food was undoubtedly the thing that he worshipped. He was carnal in other ways, he would take a bath in pubic, you know, he was a disgusting beast, but food was the thing that drove him. You’d pull into MacDonald’s and order stuff through the window, he was woofing and barking, he was talking in the back seat, ‘Ask for one more,’ he would sit at the table and just look at the food on the table as we were eating, and the supply getting lower and lower, he’d get this panicked look, and if you’d look at him he’d look away [laughter]. Anyway there are people like that, no different, they’re like dogs. All they think about is fulfilling the desires of their flesh, it’s what drives them, it’s all they can think about, it’s all they can make provision for, it’s how they plan their weekend, it’s what they think about when they go to work, scoring drugs, scoring sex, scoring food, scoring one thing or another to satisfy the flesh. And Paul basically says, ‘People like that, their god is their belly, their carnal nature.’ “their glory is their shame, and they mind earthly things.”

We’re A Colony Of Heaven In This World, Looking Continually For Our Saviour, Jesus Christ

“For our conversation [citizenship]” now Paul is telling why he warns them, because “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” (verses 20-21) Now these are remarkable verses. “Our conversation”, our “citizenship” is the word. It’s the word in the Greek that, where you get “politic”. They understood in Philippi because they were considered a Roman colony. The dirt in Philippi was considered Italian dirt. They were under Roman law, they had all of the benefits of Roman citizenship. And Paul is saying “our citizenship,” and it says in the King James, it’s interesting, “Our citizenship is in heaven,” it says this, and it’s very interesting, “our citizenship exists in heaven.” That’s the way the Greek reads. Our citizenship exists, it’s a present reality, in heaven. Just like their citizenship in Philippi was a present reality in Rome. Our citizenship exists in heaven. That makes us a colony of heaven, here in this world, that’s what we are. We’re a colony, just like the Pilgrims came, and they established colonies here on the East Coast. We, you and I, that’s all we are, we’re a colony, of heaven, in this world. We are waiting for our King to come, and to get us. We’re only ambassadors, our citizenship exists in another place. Our citizenship exists in heaven, “from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:” now it’s interesting there, it says, “from whence also we look” that word “look” should be “from whence we look continually and expectantly.” We are anticipating, is the idea, “from whence we look continually and expectantly.” ‘You and I as Christians should be looking continually and expectantly for our Lord, because we are his colony here, in this world, though our citizenship exists in heaven.’ He is coming for us. . [Want to see how he may come for us, and when? See, http://www.unityinchrist.com/revelation/Pentecost-Revetion1.htm] You look at the news today, we should be looking continually and expectantly for the coming of the Lord. We’re going to war again this fall [the Iraqi and Afghan wars]. How many 17, 18, 19, 20-year-olds do we know? And they get called up. What will it precipitate into? Will it be successful according to the plans of men? It will be successful according to the plans of God. It will accomplish what he has decided needs to happen, because these are very specific days that Zechariah spoke of, that Ezekiel spoke of, that Jeremiah spoke of, that Isaiah spoke of, that Jesus spoke of, that John spoke of, that Peter spoke of [see: http://www.unityinchrist.com/Prophets_Prophecy.html to read about these prophecies.] And these are days that should be saying to us that we should have our heads lifted up, and we should be watching. Because Jesus said when he comes it would be like a thief in the night. I don’t know if you’ve ever been robbed. Talk so someone who has. Let them explain the feeling they have when they come in and their home is violated. I remember one time as a kid, we came home and somebody was running through the house, out the back door. And I think my dad was 60 years old, jumped over the fence to chase him out the back. The great thing was, my mom’s metal washpole was up in the middle of the yard, which is an old-fashioned heavy washpole…and whoever this was, tearing across the yard, and all you heard was boyonginginging, he got up and finished running away. We should have said, ‘Look for the guy with a lump on his forehead.’ But there’s a tremendous sense of shock, there’s a tremendous sense of violation. The coming of the Lord will be like a thief in the night. When Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins, there were five wise, five that were foolish. The five that were foolish had no oil for their lamps. The five that were wise, had oil for their lamps, but had to be awakened when the bride-groom came. They were asleep. I believe Jesus is coming, and I believe his Word is alive as it has ever been. And because he loves us, he wants to encourage us. If we’re backslidden here this evening, if we feel like a prodigal, if we feel like we’ve been away, he wants his Word to say to us, ‘Tonight we can change that direction, because of his grace we can forget the things that are behind, we can again begin to reach forward to the things that are ahead of us, and press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus, anyone whose mature, who would acknowledge that rule. Paul says mark those who are living that way, take note of them, because there are others, and we warned you, and we wept, who are carnal, they live according to the desires of this world, their end is destruction, their god is their belly, their glory is their shame.’ But us, we’re only here temporarily, our citizenship exists in heaven. And it’s to there that we should constantly and expectantly look for the return of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. This generation of the Church is closer to the coming of the Lord than any generation of the Church that’s ever lived in 2,000 years.

‘Our Bodies Shall Be Fashioned Like Unto His Glorious Body’

It says, “who shall change our vile body, [bodies] that it may be fashioned like unto him glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” (verse 21) “Who shall change” that is schematizo, it means “after a different schematic.” You know what a schematic is if you’re a techno-junky, member of that cult [yup, was an electronic tech, we used them all the time], what a schematic is. He’s going to change “after a different schematic our vile bodies.” [Strongs # 3345 metaschematizo :--transfer, transform; to change.]…[tape switchover, some text lost]…drinking that fat-buster stuff on TV, trimming down, and Hollywood whatever it is, diet and taking care of this vile body. I like the Old Testament, it calls these “our carcasses, their carcasses fell in the wilderness.” Some of us spend a lot of time on our carcass. People came in here tonight, you noticed their carcasses, you compared their carcass to your carcass. [laughter] You said, ‘I’m glad I don’t have that carcass.’ That’s because you think yours isn’t vile. [he laughs] You know, look, because compared to what it will be, the best of what we can produce down here is zero, compared to what it will be, compared to what it was intended to be, compared to what it was before the fall. What were these before the fall [now he’s getting into some biblical theory which not everyone subscribes to, the God is flesh and bone theory]? Adam walked with God in the cool of the day, that meant that Adam was interdimensional, he stepped in and out of another dimension. It says our bodies shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body, what does that mean, what is his glorified body like? He appeared in the room, he disappeared. He was able to eat, or not eat. Doth a spirit have flesh and bone, blood was drained, but he had flesh and bone. It was resurrected, it was glorified. [Comment: God, Yahweh, the pre-Incarnate Christ, appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18 and then as Melchisedec, as a flesh and blood human. God has the ability, as do holy angels (I believe the ability has been taken away from the fallen angels, demons), to appear and transform themselves into flesh and blood, and then back again into their spirit form and composition. We just don’t know, but it is my guess that spirit, what God and the angels are composed of, spirit-matter, is more solid than actual physical matter. And it is eternal, as far as we know, it doesn’t age, is not subject to the 2^nd law of thermodynamics. When Jesus comes back to earth, he will be glowing brighter than the sun, in his spirit body, and the effect will be that he will melt all his enemies who are in visual, line of sight, range of him, as Zechariah 14 indicates. The intensity coming off of Jesus and us will be at or greater than gamma ray intensity. For you scientific types, you understand that level of intensity. If we’re letting off gamma-ray intensity light, if we were in physical flesh and bone form, we’d fry ourselves in a nano-second. The Bible in Daniel 12 also says we’ll be glowing with the intensity of the very stars. The sun is a star. So Yahweh, the way I see it, stepped into Adam’s dimension, not Adam into God’s dimension. What is being presented here is Calvary Chapel’s take on the composition of Jesus as he is now, and us later in the resurrection. Personally, I think the interpretation is flawed, and we just don’t know what we’ll be like, we just know we’ll be like Jesus, with his type spirit-body.] And compared to what they’re supposed to be, they’re [our bodies] vile. ‘Well I’m on my third trimester, what happens if the Rapture happens now, am I going to be pregnant throughout all eternity?’ No, don’t ask me about all the minor details, I don’t know all of them. But I know you won’t. I have the conviction that we’ll all be around 30 years old, I remember that, that was a great time. I have a feeling Adam was around 30 the day he was created, David was 30 when he took the throne, Jesus was 30 when he began his public ministry, 33 when he died, our body will be fashioned like unto his glorified body, it’s a glorified 33 year old body. Thirty-Something is not a TV show, it’s an eternal state. Some of us will grow up, some of us will grow back [I like that thought, and so does Pastor Joe, we’re both in our sixties J ]. What a remarkable, remarkable thing. And when we think of the potential, it says that we will shine like the stars in the firmament, forever. [We won’t have to turn the light on to read the newspaper.] We shall shine, like the stars in the firmament. [I’m into amateur astronomy, the physics end of it, and you have no idea of the intensity of those puppies, many of which out-shine, out-radiate our puny average star, the sun.] We will be clothed in white linen, fine and white, which is not literally cloth, but it is the righteousness as, plural, of the saints, Revelation chapter 19, we’ll be clothed in the righteousness of the saints, those provided by Christ. No doubt what Adam was clothed with, created in God’s image and likeness, before he fell [ah, back into that theory again], that disappeared when he did fall. Then he knew he was naked, he was ashamed, he covered himself. Clothed again, in the likeness of Christ, our bodies fashioned unto his glorious body. He appeared unto Paul on the Road to Damascus, because of the brilliance Paul couldn’t see [he’d been blinded by it], he heard the voice. Our bodies shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body, our vile bodies.

Taking Care Of Our Vile Bodies Now

Bodily exercise profiteth little. It doesn’t mean not at all, it means for a little while is the sense. You know, I don’t think there’s, we shouldn’t desecrate the temple that we’re in. We should stay in shape, I’m not opposed to that. [Comment: A friend of mine, much older than me, served in the Merchant Marine during WWII, had a mild heart attack when he was in his seventies. He started walking, gradually building it up to 25 miles a day (he was retired, of course). He died in his nineties, adding 10 to 15 years to his life. Exercise profited him a little, gave him those 15 extra years. Compared to eternity and the new body he’ll receive in the resurrection to immortality, exercise profited him for a little while, physically. This principle is one of the main reasons---besides that of not believing God’s Laws have been abrogated---why the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God follow the Bible’s clean-unclean food laws in Leviticus 11. Cancer patients (my dad died of cancer, and my sister had it) are given a list of do not eat items, most if not all of which appear on God’s do not eat list in Leviticus 11. They are health laws God gave to his people Israel, and they are real. Heart conditions, osteoporosis, cancer, are all exacerbated, and in some cases brought on by steady consumption of those items. Smoking, and drinking alcohol to excess are just as bad. Our bodies, as Paul said, are a temple where the Holy Spirit resides, we are supposed to take care of them to the best of our ability, without getting fanatical.] But it [staying in shape] becomes another form of worship for some people. I want general health. I know this [pointing to himself] is wearing out, this bag-of-bones. It used to keep up with me. I remember when I was 30, get up in the morning, move around, run, play sports, it was right with me. Now I drag it everywhere I go. [laughter] It’s always just a little bit behind me, ‘Come on, come on,’ but inside I’m still 30. Inside I’m watching a football game or a basketball game or a boxing match, inside I’m ‘Come on! Come on!’, but…it’ll all be in sync again, only far surpassing anything that we’ve imagined. That’s what we’re looking for, we’re looking for our King to come, to this colony that he’s established in this world, coming from where our citizenship exists, established by his blood and his grace, coming to get his Bride, and to gather us with the blast of the Trumpet, the voice of the archangel [To see one interpretation of when that might occur, this blast of the 7^th Trumpet, see: http://www.unityinchrist.com/revelation/Pentecost-Revetion1.htm. What did Paul tell us about this first resurrection to immortality? See: http://www.unityinchrist.com/corinthians/cor15-16.htm.] The Trump of God, the shout, and that in the twinkling of an eye he will change this vile body, and it will be fashioned according to a different schematic, like unto his glorious body. “according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” He has all authority, and all power, “Therefore,” no break when Paul wrote this.

Philippians 4:1-7

“Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

“Continually Stand Fast In The Lord, My Dearly Beloved”

“Therefore,” no [chapter] break when Paul wrote this. “Therefore,” because that’s what we’re longing for, because at this point we’re pressing towards the mark of the high calling, we’re forgetting those things that are behind, we’re reaching out to those things that are ahead, not giving ourselves over to the carnal stuff of this world, because our citizenship is from somewhere else. And if we sit alone, that’s really what we have witness of in our heart. Let me tell you something, if you’re a Christian, and you’re getting out, and you’re getting stoned…you know, when I was a young Christian, I backslid, and you know what happened when I got stoned? ‘Ooh, I hope the Lord doesn’t come now. I hope the Lord doesn’t come till I sober up, I hope I can go somewhere and read my Bible, Lord bring me down fast…’ all of a sudden you get real paranoid, because you’re ruined for this world. You’re sealed with the Spirit of promise, you can not be happy doing the old things you used to do. And Christians that are backslidden, they’re struggling, let me tell you. When something like 9/11 happens, all of a sudden they get supernatural energy and start getting victory. Because the fear of the Lord comes back into their hearts and minds. Christ is coming, we’re looking for that, that’s what we should be longing for, that’s what we really hunger for inside. There isn’t anything new out there. Wasn’t anything new 30 years ago when I was out there, their ain’t anything new out there now. They found in Egypt, in the hieroglyphics on the wall, as they deciphered it, they found records of professors in Egyptian universities in the days of Moses that said, “My students are no-good, all they do is carouse and drink beer.” Nothing’s changed. [laughter] The difference is, it’s called what it’s called now. Every Pharaoh had his own brewmaster, but they drank it warm. But nothing’s changed. [The British also drink it warm, even now.] In Paul’s day it was Baccus, the god of wine. ‘Their god is their belly, their glory is their shame,’ we’re told not to be pulled in that direction, because our citizenship is from somewhere else, “Therefore, my brethren,” tremendous heart here, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” (verse 1) The tenses are, “continually stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” Paul longing for this Philippian church, that had been so wonderful to him, that he had a great relationship with, that hadn’t been overtaken by some of the sins the Corinthian church had been overtaken with, some of the faults the Galatians had, those threats were there, but this church at this point had been standing fast. “Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, continue to stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” (verse 1)

Two Woman Banging Heads Together, Paul Says ‘Help Them Out’

“I beseech” now Paul is not commanding, he’s an apostle, he is pleading. “I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.” (verse 2) Evidently these were two women that were banging heads. That only happened 2,000 years ago, but Paul addresses the issue here, it’s not relative, I don’t know why he bothers to do that [Pastor Joe is being real facetious here], but…[chuckles] Now it’s interesting, because Euodias means “success”, Syntyche means “fortune”, Paul just said about those who mind earthly things, now it’s almost as though he says, ‘I beseech,’ that’s just beautiful that there would be a play on the names, ‘I beseech, success and fortune, be of the same mind of the things that I’m saying.’ These two women evidently had served, look in verse 3, “And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.” And there’s a question whether “yokefellow” is a proper name or an adjective. And the rule seems to refer back to Euodias and Syntyche. He gives an exhortation to encourage these women, they weren’t getting along. Paul couldn’t condemn them, because he had come to a point with Barnabas where the contention was so severe [over John Mark] that they had to split up. Because Barnabas wanted to take his nephew Mark back with him to the mission field, and Paul was dead set against it. Because evidently in the area of Pamphilia Mark had turned away, whether because of robbers or because of disease, the journey became so arduous and so difficult that Mark had forsaken Paul, and went back. And when it came time for the next missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to take him, Paul refused, said “No,” and the argument was so severe, that they split up and they went in separate directions. Now who was right? Paul was right, and Barnabas was right, they were both right. Paul was right, because the journey he would take would be more arduous again, so that Mark would not go with him, and his fellowlabourers on that journey made it very fruitful. Barnabas was right by being gracious, because in the end, Paul says ‘Send Mark to me, he’s useful again to me in the ministry,’ he would be restored one day. But Barnabas took a different route, and Mark was very useful to him, and got into the process of restoration. Both of them were right, Mark was right for Barnabas, was wrong for Paul, and because they split up twice as much work got done in the mission field then would have if they would have gone together. But on the surface, they were banging heads, they were arguing, there was a disagreement, it became very sharp. So Paul looks, he says ‘These two women served with me, Euodias and Syntyche. Now they’re banging heads, they’re disagreeing, encourage them, help those women which laboured with us.’ He’s asking someone to get involved, to try to make peace. It says, “with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.” Syntyche and Euodias are written in the Book of Life.

Rejoice In The Lord, Not In Circumstances

Peace, he’s going to talk about that. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” (verse 4) ‘Well, I had a lousy day today, that’s easy for Paul to say, he didn’t have a wife, he didn’t have a mortgage, he didn’t have responsibilities, grumble, grumble…’ Look, Paul doesn’t say ‘Rejoice in circumstances.’ “Rejoice in the Lord.” He doesn’t say, ‘Rejoice, you just stepped on a rusty nail.’ ‘Oh Praise you Lord!’ You know, because I remember when I first got saved, there were those, you know, kinds of books out, that said if you praised God for everything, then supernatural things would happen, you know, around your life, you know, if you just praise him for everything. Step on a rusty nail, ‘Oh, thank you Lord! Thank you Lord, get a crowbar, thank you Lord!’ No, you say, ‘Thank you Lord, in heaven there’s no carpenters [except for one], thank you Lord in heaven I don’t have to do this, thank you Lord in heaven there’s no rusty nails.’ When I was doing framing and joycing, using a 38-ounce rigging ax with a check head on it, and when you would walk out on a beam and hang these joyce hangers, you used these stupid little teeco nails about this long, and once in a while you’d swing at one of those, and just hit the end of your thumb, with a 38-ounce rigging ax with a check head, and your thumb would just explode like a grape. And you didn’t praise the Lord for that. I was working with a group of Christian carpenters, when that happened you were like Fred Flintstone, not really saying it, ‘Grumble, grumble, mutter, mutter,’ and you just dropped your bags and went home, you didn’t work the rest of the day, ‘Oh thank you Lord, look at that, squashed like a grape.’ [laughter] “Rejoice in the Lord”, not in circumstances, not in circumstances. How we have witnessed some of the most wonderful testimonies in the church, through some of the deepest and darkest valleys, families breaking up, cancer in the home. And I’ve seen some of the most wonderful testimonies of people just saying ‘Praise the Lord, one day we’re going to be together, and stand there arm-in-arm around his throne.’ Rejoice always, because our citizenship exists in another place. We’re waiting for him to come. We’re looking expectantly and constantly, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” (verse 4)

In The Kingdom, The Issue Is Not Always Right and Wrong

“Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” (verse 5) “Let your moderation”, your translation might say ‘yieldedness’, that’s the idea. It’s literally, ‘Let your giving way,’ You know, Christians shouldn’t strive. If you’re around somebody whose a hard-head, you know, in the Kingdom the issue is not always right and wrong. Now I’m talking about, there’s sin, and there’s good and evil, and there’s a line we shouldn’t cross. But when it comes to preferences, [and I would also add, minor doctrinal interpretations that are secondary to primary doctrines that effect your salvation] right and wrong is not always the highest issue. Someone feels one way about something, it’s not sin, and you don’t want to argue about what’s right and wrong, I’ll yield. I’ll be the peacemaker, for the sake of Christ and the cause of the Kingdom. ‘Let your yieldedness be known to all men,’ that kind of a nature, gentle, fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, meekness, temperance [moderation], gentleness, patience. Now, look, it’s going to get to “peace” here, so if you lack peace in your life, listen to these things. ‘Let your moderation, your yieldedness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand,’ Romans 13, 1^st Peter 4:7, James chapter 5, over and over it tells us ‘the Lord is at hand, imminent, his return, can happen at any moment.’ You can’t believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ and be a post-tribulationist [but if the Rapture doesn’t happen when the Beast and false prophet are revealed at the start of the 7-year tribulation period, then what do you become, doctrinally speaking? See: http://www.unityinchrist.com/mathew/Matthew24-1-31.htm. Another view is at: http://www.unityinchrist.com/revelation/Pentecost-Revetion1.htm. Prophecy is so totally secondary, when compared to the Gospel of Salvation, but the differing parts of the Body of Christ love to make their doctrinal mountains out of the various ways of interpreting 2^nd coming prophecies, when, how, where will we be when it happens. And you know what, that particular 7 year period occupies how long in God’s 7,000 year plan of Salvation for mankind? 7 divided by 7,000 = 0.001, or 0.1 percent of God’s entire time-span for his 7,000 year plan for mankind. When the 2^nd coming has occurred, and we’re immortal, spirit-beings, then with all eternity out in front of us, what will this .001 wisp of time mean to us? I’m sure it’ll be like a birthday we celebrate once a year, it’ll have significance, but will it have the emphasis we currently place on 2nd coming prophecy, and our own pet interpretations? I doubt it, seriously, folks. Personally, I don’t care whose right, just so it happens. A pre-trib rapture might be more enjoyable than the other options, but we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we, no matter what we believe.] You can’t believe in the imminent return of Christ and be a post-tribulationists, you can’t believe in the imminent return of Christ and eat post-toasties, those things are mutually exclusive [not if you believe the Bible teaches a pre-tribulation place of safety. You see, there are other interpretations that can fit without believing in a pre-trib rapture of the saints. I don’t care one way or the other, just have to be honest. I actually would find a pre-trib rapture more enjoyable.] And the Bible a number of times through the New Testament tells us that his return is imminent. [And most of the apostles who wrote that in the New Testament Epistles genuinely believed Jesus Christ was returning in their lifetimes, and God didn’t bother to correct that misunderstanding, in some cases, until they were already dead. But in the sense that death is one breath away, and then the resurrection to immortality for the deceased in Christ, their next conscious moment will place them at the return of Christ. So, quite realistically, for them, the resurrection to immortality and the 2^nd coming is a nanosecond away for those folks.] And that’s the way we’re to live. And it says ‘Who is this wicked and evil servant that says ‘The Lord delays his coming,’ because that leads to drunkenness, and mistreating other people and so forth. ‘Let your yieldedness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.’

The Peace Of God Which Passeth All Understanding

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (verse 6) It’s ‘Stop worrying about everything,’ is the idea here. “Careful” is “full of care.” Now if you know somebody whose a worrier, you can appreciate this. Some people can just worry, it’s a gift. [laughter. One of those “negative” gifts, I’d say J] They can just worry. My wife can worry about things, I tell you, I could go to a university and study worry, get my Associates, get my Bachelors, get my Masters, get my PhD, and it would be no contest [laughter…you’re sleeping on the couch tonight Pastor Joe] Of course it’s because of her that all four children are alive. Because I’m immune to my surroundings. But, you know, some people worry about everything. I mean, look, and there’s whole industries built on that. Ah, the 7 Signs of Cancer, ‘Oh, there’s four.’ ‘Do you feel this, do you feel that, do you feel bloating [laughter]…’ ‘Oh yeah.’ You know, ‘There’s roaches in the wall, they’re there!’ And advertisers know that if you advertise at the level of an eleven year old, that’s where you sell the most product. So the roaches they show you on TV in the wall are all cartoon roaches, there’s thousands of them running in your wall, you know they’re there, you watched that commercial, ‘I thought I heard something in there,’ ‘You need one of those bombs, and this is amazing smog, this stuff, because it goes right down and gets through caulking, it gets between the sheetrock that’s screwed between the plate, into the framing, it gets in there and they all just drop dead. This is amazing stuff, it’s not like it gets out into your house, it heads for, you know, the framing and the sheetrock, gets up behind there and you know.’ There are whole industries built on this. Stop worrying about everything. If we’re given to worry, if our hearts are filled with care, we’re not a very good light to the world. But in contrast, “But in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (verse 6) “But in everything, everything.” When people talk to me, ask me questions, I’m praying, ‘Lord, this person thinks I know something. [laughter] Help me know where that is in the Bible, help me give them an answer, why are they asking me, Lord?’ Or, ‘Lord, this person driving in front of me, thinks they know something.’ [laughter] ‘Well I did this, I did that, the Lord’s not going to listen to me.’ No, no, no, no, he’s telling us this, in everything to pray. Look at Jacob, Samson, the Lord heard him when he prayed. Manasseh, who had sinned terribly, the Lord heard him when he prayed [king Manasseh, king of Judah, had slain the prophet Isaiah, brought Judah back into Baal worship.], Peter. Why do you think some of them are called Bible characters? That’s what they are. In everything, God wants to hear from us, in everything. ‘Lord, my eye’s twitching, people are sitting here, I’m applying for a new job, my eye keeps going like this, help Lord,’ just in everything. “by prayer” which is just a basic most often word used for prayer in the New Testament, “supplication” speaks of seeking God for a specific thing, “thanksgiving” is where we get our word “Eucharist,” when we take Communion, it just means to be thankful, and “requests” are just specific requests, “let them be made known unto God.” And if you do that, look, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (verse 7) What do you do when you’re freaked out, when you’re worried, when things are bothering you? Well, we need to do certain things. ‘Let your yieldedness’ you can’t have peace if you’re going to strive with everybody. ‘Just, let your yieldedness be known, the Lord’s coming. Don’t be worried about everything, but in everything, by prayer,’ now you know, what happens here is this, people study these words, “prayer, supplication, thanksgiving.” You know, we want to have a New Testament relationship based on Jesus, through his blood, through grace, but we want to have an Old Testament prayer relationship, ‘You have to do this, the seven steps of prayer, you have to enter his gates with thanksgiving, come into his courts with praise, then you have to do this, you have to make supplication, then you have to get the right address, because you’re talking to the right God…’ and people write all of this stuff. John Henry Jawett said, when he died, he wasn’t content with his prayer-life. Spurgeon said he wasn’t content with his prayer-life. E. M. Bounds, who wrote five wonderful books on prayer, when he died said he wasn’t content with his prayer-life. I ask myself, why should I spend all the time to read his five books, I’m already not content with my prayer-life. What do I need all his advice for, then I’ll be depressed and not content with my prayer-life, I could spend all of my time reading his books. And we want to do all this, you know, ‘Oh, it’s because this, I need to, and there’s the seven steps,’ look, by the time I get to step four, I forget where I started, I forget where I’m going. Imagine if my kids, this is based on relationship, he just called us ‘dearly beloved, brethren longed for,’ imagine if my kids, ‘I tried to talk to dad, but he never,’ ‘Oh, well did you use the seven steps? Did you first recognize who he was, then you enter his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise…’ ‘no wonder he’s not listening to you, you didn’t follow the seven stops.’ My kids don’t do that. They attack me when they want something. They dive on me. Hanna, my youngest one, works me all the time. ‘Dad, give me a kiss, I want this, I want that,’ no steps, just right at the heart. We want to complicate it so much. He’s our Father, he loves us, he wants us to bring everything to him. It is not a legal relationship, it’s family. It’s not religion, it’s relationship. We know he’s coming, our citizenship is not of this world. We’re pressing towards things that are ahead, forgetting those things that are behind. When we lack peace, we need to stop striving, stop worrying, and through prayers, or maybe it’s supplications that we have to ask for something very specific and we’re pleading with him about something in our life, maybe it’s just through thanksgiving, maybe it’s through some other request, but the idea is we make all of that known to him. And then the peace of God which passeth understanding, doesn’t mean the peace of God which leaves understanding in the dust, it means it is superior to understanding. Not the peace with God, we have that. Peace with God was taken care of by Christ on the cross. And if you’re saved tonight, you have peace with God, not because of your performance, but because of what Jesus did. You have peace with God and your citizenship is in heaven because of what Christ did. But we also want the peace of God in our lives. You know if other people look at us, and we’re trying to witness to them, telling them about Jesus, ‘but I’m so worried about this, and I’m chewing my fingernails, I need to get this, I need some vitamins, what about this, blah, blah, blah…’ Now look, ‘No thanks, who wants to be Christians like that?’ There should be something different about us. And it says if we come, openly, familiar, boldly to the throne of grace, we pour out our hearts, that then the peace of God which surpasses understanding, the idea is this, it is superior to in it’s effect on our lives. If somebody says a nuclear bomb is going to fall on Philadelphia. You know what? I want to understand that, how many megatons, how many thousand feet above the ground will it detonate at, tell me, I want to look on the Internet and see where the destruction’s going to be. No, there’s something better than understanding. It’s the peace of God. It’s superior to understanding. Because it says here it will keep your hearts and minds, that word “keep” is “to garrison,” it’s “to put a military guard around your heart and your mind.” The peace of God, because you have gone to him, you’ve poured out your heart, you’ve shared everything in his presence. If you do that, the peace of God, Paul’s giving us instruction here, the peace of God will put a military guard around your heart and your mind, and that is better than understanding all of the insanity that’s going on, or understanding everything about the situation. Because we can be intelligent, we can understand everything about the situation, and still not have peace inside. ‘And it says, but this, if we do this, if we come to him, that then the peace of God will guard, put a military guard around our hearts and our minds.’ Sometimes we approach the situation in our mind, but our heart is disturbed, we’re getting ulcers, we’re producing acid. No, it will guard your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus. These things should be, I think, the norm for our lives. If we are pressing forward, forgetting those things that are behind. If we sit around tonight, we look at the news, and we think, ‘You know what, I’m not going to worry about retiring in Florida when I’m seventy years old and moving onto a golf course, I see what’s happening in the world and I know Christ could come tonight, he could come tomorrow, he could come in ten years, but he could come now, and I know that what he brings with him, and what he has for us, an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, it is so far superior to anything that I could hear, and I know compared to what I’ll experience there, this just is a carcass, just a vile body, which is gonna be changed and transformed and put together according to another schematic that’s going to have spirit-drive instead of blood-drive, you’ll be 30-years-old again [forever], free from pain and tears and sorrow and the curse, and disease, no sin, I won’t be tempted anymore, I won’t have the inclination or the desire to sin, it’ll be gone, and this corruption will put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality.’ And it’s going to happen, it is going to happen. Christ is coming. It’s going to happen. So, Rejoice, Rejoice in the Lord. I know circumstances can be tough. Rejoice in the Lord. Don’t fight with everybody for every inch of your life, let your yieldedness be known, Christ is coming. Stop worrying and goading about every little thing. Let your requests be made known unto God, your prayer, your supplications. And if you do that in this present world, then the peace of God will put a military guard around your heart and your mind that surpasses understanding…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Philippians 3:15-21 and 4:1-7 given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]