Philippians - Citizens of Heaven

The next event on God's calendar is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know of anything that has to take place other than the completing of the body of Christ for the Lord Jesus to come back. We don't set dates, we don't know the day or the hour. We do watch some of the signs of the times, and we have a feeling that we are living in the last minutes of the last hour of the last days. That's what Paul writes about in Philippians 3:17-21.

This is the third motive for Christian service. You'll recall that we're talking about the joy of ministry. I'm not just talking to preachers and missionaries. I'm talking to all of us, because everybody is involved in ministry in one way or another. You have some spiritual gift or gifts and you ought to be using those in your local church and in other ways to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Philippians 3:1-11, Paul pictured himself as an accountant. And the keyword there is '" count". It's a matter of priorities and values. And he says that his motive is the righteousness of Christ. More than anything else, he wants to become like the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a good motive for ministry. For as we serve the Lord Jesus, modeling ourselves after his ministry, as Paul wrote in Philippians 2, we become like the Lord Jesus. Christian activity tears you down. Christian ministry builds you up.

You say, "Well, what is ministry?" Ministry takes place when divine resources touch human needs through loving channels to the glory of God. Now, Jonah ministered and Nineveh was helped, but Jonah wasn't helped, it tore him down. His heart was wrong, his motive was wrong. And so in Philippians 3:1-11, Paul says, "My first motive for ministry is his righteousness."

Then in Philippians 3:12-16, his second motive, his reward. "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Not the approval of men, not the praise of men, but the reward, the "well done" that will come from the Lord Jesus Christ. His third motive is in Philippians 3:17-21, his return. The return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a great motivation for Christian ministry. Why do we do what we do? Not simply because Christ died and arose again. Not simply because Christ is interceding for us today in heaven. We do what we do because he's coming again. Let me read this marvelous paragraph. Philippians 3:17-21. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them who walk even as you have us for an example. 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 appetite, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our lowly body, that it might be fashioned like his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. The motive of our Lord Jesus Christ's return.

Now, Paul is talking here about a very special group of people who were giving trouble in the various churches. The sensualists, the worldly crowd, the carnal crowd. And Paul had to deal with this crowd. There are in every church those who profess to be saved, but their attitude is this: "Well, we're saved by grace, we can live any way we please." Since we are saved by grace, the more we sin, the more there will be grace. They think they're spiritual, but they're living for their fleshly appetites. They're glorying in their liberty, and they ought to be ashamed of it. They mind earthly things.

Paul simply points out in Philippians 3:20, "Our citizenship is in heaven." Let's deal with this now. What are the characteristics of the citizens of heaven? And how will this motivate us in our ministry? Well, characteristic number one is rather obvious: our names are on heaven's record. The Lord Jesus said in Luke 10:20, "Don't rejoice because the demons are subject to you. Rejoice because your names have been written down and they stand written in heaven." Now, citizenship was very important to a Roman citizen. You'll recall that in Acts, on several occasions, Paul used his Roman citizenship to good advantage. When I travel, I carry on my person at all times a passport. You know why? It declares my citizenship and any American embassy will stand at my side to help me if I've got a problem. Now, our names are on heaven's record. In Philippians 4:3, Paul talks about our fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life. Has your name been written down in heaven? Are you one of heaven's citizens? Now, if you are, act like it.

Secondly, we speak heaven's language. The Philippian people were accustomed to the language of Rome, and we speak the language of God, the language of heaven. Now, not some special spiritual language that God gives to us. It's just that people ought to be able to tell we belong to the Lord because of our speech. 1 John 4:4-6, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, the false teachers, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us." We speak heaven's language. We can discuss the things of God and we can pray and we can praise and we can witness because we are citizens of heaven.

Thirdly, when you are a citizen of heaven, you obey heaven's laws. Now, the laws that governed Philippi were Roman laws. Not Greek laws or Asian laws, Roman laws. It was Roman law that governed Philippi. And we're to be good examples of obedient citizens. In Philippians 3:17, Paul writes, "Brethren, be followers together of me." In other words, "Imitate me." "And mark those who walk even as you have us for an example." Here are the people who obey heaven's laws.

Now, here's a group of people who don't obey heaven's laws. "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." Imagine claiming to be a citizen of heaven and yet being an enemy of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction. They aren't going to heaven, they're going to hell. You see, heaven's laws are different from the laws of earth when it comes to personal morality and spirituality. We're governed by love, not hatred. We're governed by giving, not getting. We're governed by thinking of others, not just thinking of ourselves. We are heaven's citizens.

We have our name on heaven's record. We speak heaven's language. We obey heaven's laws. And there is a fourth characteristic: we are loyal to heaven's cause. Now, what is the cause for which heaven is concerned? The cross. Notice that?

Here are people who are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Now, heaven is concerned about the cross. You read Revelation 5, and you find out that all of heaven is praising the Lamb that was slain. Heaven is concerned about the cross of Jesus Christ. Why? The cross of Jesus Christ is the evidence of God's love to the world. It's the evidence of God's hatred for sin. It is the place where God solved all the spiritual problems. For example, at the cross of Jesus Christ, God took care of the world and the flesh and sin and the devil. I read in Galatians 5:24, "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Here are people whose God was their appetite. Here are people who mind earthly things. And yet Galatians 5:24 says that when you are Christ's, you have crucified the flesh. Galatians 6:14 says, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world." Now, here are people who mind earthly things. Why are they the enemies of the cross? The cross crucified the world. The cross crucified the flesh. These people live for the flesh. They live for the world. They know nothing about the power of the cross of Jesus Christ.

The important thing is that you and I share a crucified, risen Christ with a lost world. We are loyal to heaven's cause if we are truly the citizens of heaven. Finally, we are looking for heaven's Lord. He's going to transform our bodies. We're going to be new people in a new environment, sharing in the glory of Jesus Christ. You see, when you believe that Jesus Christ is coming again, it's a great motivation for clean Christian living. It's a great motivation.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, "You said, "What is our joy or our crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?" You'll want to win people to Christ when you really believe that Jesus is coming again. It's a motivation for ministry. And you keep on going. You don't give up.

John wrote in 1 John 2:28, "And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.' If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him. 1 John 3:3, 'And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.' These then are the characteristics of the citizen of heaven. His name is on heaven's record, and he speaks heaven's language, and he obeys heaven's laws. He's loyal to heaven's cause, and he's looking for heaven's Lord to return. Our motivation is the return of Jesus Christ. My friend, don't quit. Don't give up. Jesus is coming again. Our work is not in vain in the Lord. If you're doing what you're doing to glorify Jesus Christ, he will reward you.

In Philippians 4, Paul becomes very, very practical. Not that he is ever impractical, but he gets right down to where we live, and he says, "Let me talk to you now about the means for the ministry." Now, what are they? Well, there are five of them. Let's begin now with Philippians 4:1-3, where Paul tells us that the first means for ministry, the people of God. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown. So stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech you, O Euodia, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, probably the pastor of the Philippian church, help those women who labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life. The people of God.

Now, immediately someone says, 'Wait a minute, Brother Wiersbe, he's talking in those verses about people who were creating problems, not all of them. You had Euodia.' It's interesting that the word Euodia is also in Philippians 4:18 where Paul talks about an odor of a sweet smell. The Greek word for sweet smell is euodias. So the name Euodia means a sweet smell, a fragrance. But unfortunately, Euodia was losing some of her fragrance. She was creating problems in the church.

I know that. Here's Syntyche. She and Euodia were disagreeing about something. But notice also that Paul talks about a multitude of other people who are not creating problems. 'My brethren, dearly beloved.' He opens the verse and closes the verse with 'dearly beloved.' He talks about his yokefellow in Philippians 4:3. A yokefellow is someone who shares the burden with you. He talks about Clement. We don't know who he was. In Philippians 4:3, he talks about those who labored with him in the Gospel. And that word 'labored' is a term from athletics that means team members. They worked together with him. Notice what he says about 'fellow workers,' 'fellow laborers.'

Now, Brother Pastor, Brother Missionary, Sunday school teacher, let me say a word to you. Don't get your eyes only on the problem people in the church. Every church has its Diotrephes, every church has its Euodia, its Syntyche, every church has people who create problems. We know this. But around them are many other people who don't create problems.

Paul had all sorts of problems there in Rome. In Philippians 1, there was a division in the Roman church. Some of the Christians were preaching to encourage Paul, and some were preaching to discourage Paul. In Philippians 2, Paul had to write to the Philippian Christians, 'Now, don't just think about your own things, think about others. Don't be proud and selfish. Follow the example of the Lord Jesus.' In Philippians 3, Paul is weeping because of the worldly, carnal crowd. Here in Philippians 4, we have division in the church.

Now, Paul could have been discouraged. Paul could have said, 'Oh my, these Christians.' I've often quoted that little poem, 'To live above with saints we love will certainly be glory. To live below with saints we know, that's another story.' Oh, we love the church. It's individual Christians we cannot stand.

Now, when you read Philippians, you find that the Apostle Paul was connected with people. He was not an isolationist. Paul did not show up on Sunday morning, preach a sermon, and vanish the rest of the week. Paul was involved with people. Paul was like the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a concern for individual people. When you read Acts 20 about Paul's three years of ministry in Ephesus, you discover an amazing thing. Paul ministered from house to house. Paul talked to people individually. He wasn't just a platform man. He wasn't just somebody who preached the word of God publicly to great crowds. No, he was concerned about individuals.

In Philippians 2, he said, 'I'm so thankful for Timothy.' He also said in Philippians 2, 'I'm so thankful for Epaphroditus.' There are people in the church who do help to share the load. There are those yokefellows who are with us, men and women, young people, even boys and girls, who help us in the ministry. Now, my brother, my sister, get your eyes upon those who are faithfully serving the Lord. Don't be discouraged by those one or two or three people who create problems.

You see, the first step in enlisting people in the church to serve the Lord, the first step is simply to realize that we're all human. Woe unto that preacher, woe unto that missionary or Sunday school teacher who thinks that he's ministering to angels. He's not. We're all human. And wherever you read in the New Testament, whatever church you visit, you find that people were human.

In the Galatians, they were biting and devouring one another. Paul had to write to the Ephesians and encourage them to walk in unity. Here are the Philippians, the church is divided. Even though it's a fine church, a church that was missionary minded, and yet there were there were little problems in the church. The Colossians was getting all wrapped up in philosophy and getting their eyes off of the Lord Jesus. In the Thessalonians, a group of people had quit their jobs and put on white robes and they were sitting waiting for Jesus Christ to come back. And they were becoming a bunch of freeloaders, a bunch of people who would not work for a living. And if you really want to get discouraged, read about the 1 Corinthians. They were suing each other, getting drunk at the Lord's table, the love feast, arguing in the business meetings, all the problems.

And yet, did Paul give up on them? No, he loved them. 'Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, longed for, my joy and crown, my dearly beloved.' I think the first step is to accept that people are human. Secondly, love them. That's what Christian love is. Love is not deserved and love is not earned. Christian love means we treat other people the way God treats us. And Paul loved these people.

And Paul did not use his apostolic authority to command them and tell them what to do. Listen to these verbs: 'I beseech you, O Euodia. I beseech Syntyche. I entreat thee, true yokefellow.' Here is a loving friend, a loving shepherd, who's begging these sheep to get together and to put their differences under the blood of Jesus Christ.

So, we must accept the fact that people are human. We must love them. Thirdly, we've got to face the reality of these problems. Paul openly deals with this problem. It was a public matter. There was nothing to hide. That's one of the problems in churches today. We have a tendency to hide things, sweep them under the rug. We don't lovingly go to people and say, 'My brother, my sister, you don't realize what you did, but this is what you did.' And give people a chance to be sorry and to be forgiven.

And then put it under the blood of Christ and forget about it. Why do we expect more of other people than we expect of ourselves? Why are we harder on other people than we are on ourselves? Why is it that when there's a casualty in the church, we abandon that casualty or even worse, stand there and kick it? We're the only army in the world that abandons its casualties. And we should be ashamed of ourselves.

It takes a diamond to cut a diamond, and sometimes it takes a saint to cut a saint. And we've got to realize that these things happen. So face the reality of it and admit the tragedy of it. Oh, we should be burdened about division in the church. We should be greatly concerned. Our eyes should be filled with tears. Our heart should be broken because of the division in the church today.

Now, I'm not talking about everybody getting together in one big family. There has to be a doctrinal basis for fellowship. But I think today we're using too many other things as a test of fellowship: people, or different causes, or different ministries. And we test everybody by whether or not they're carrying a certain flag or promoting a certain cause. And according to my Bible, the faith once and for all delivered to the saints is the bond of ministry, the bond of fellowship, and Jesus Christ is the center. And if we make any other person or any other thing the center of fellowship, we are going to create problems.

What's the remedy for all of this? He tells us, 'Let's stand fast in the Lord.' Let's realize the enemy is around us, and we need to be united. We are in the Lord. We belong to each other. And we need each other. And we desperately need to encourage one another. Notice the repetition: 'So stand fast in the Lord,' Philippians 4:1. 'That they be of the same mind in the Lord,' Philippians 4:2. 'It's in the Lord' that we find unity and harmony.

God gives us people. People are God's tools for getting things done. When the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to win a world, he called twelve men, and he equipped them. One of them turned out to be a traitor, and he was replaced. But these men were equipped and trained and sent out, and they won other people and trained them. God's only method for getting the job done is people. You can't do it with computers, they're just tools. You can't do it even with the media that we're using, they're just simply tools. God has to have people.

Somebody has to play the organ. Somebody has to preach the sermon. Somebody has to build the building. Somebody has to drive the ambulance. Somebody has to perform the surgery. God uses people. And people are human. And human beings have failings, and human beings are weak. And oh, you and I just need to love one another and agree in the Lord. We may disagree on other things, but let's agree in the Lord. And let's be laboring together in the Lord. Let's make Jesus Christ the center of our ministry.