October 6, 2025 • 32 mins
What if the real test of faith isn’t what you believe in theory, but how you walk it out with other people—especially the ones who rub you the wrong way? Journeying through Philippians 3, we explore why Paul refuses to let belief stay abstract. He moves us from orthodoxy to orthopraxy, from ideas to daily habits, and he roots the entire shift in one provocative claim: Christians don’t live fragmented lives. Our heavenly citizenship informs everything—work, politics, relationships, desires—because Jesus is not a weekend identity; he’s the organizing center.
Expect some holy discomfort as we challenge fragmented living and gimmick-driven spirituality. Paul’s invitation to imitate his life confronts our obsession with polish and ease. He was poor, opposed, often alone—and deeply content. The early church saw glory through a cross-shaped lens, not a pain-free one. That vision steadies us now: we can lean into community when offended, guard doctrine without losing love, and set our minds above without abandoning the world we’re called to serve.
My hope is that this podcast helps grow your faith and equips you to accomplish your dreams and goals!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Welcome to another part of my Philippian study that
I have been doing with our staffat Staff Chapel.
If you haven't listened to theother parts, you might want to
go back deeper into my podcast,check out those episodes, and
catch yourself up to join wherewe're at today.
(00:40):
Sometimes it feels like it.
Hey, guess what?
Next week we're gonna be inPhilippians still.
I know you're shocked.
And we're gonna actually make itto chapter four.
Yeah.
Most of you only knewPhilippians for chapter four.
But now you know one throughthree after today.
(01:03):
You're done with three.
And now I'm heading into theterritory that you're like
familiar with, which is actuallythe hardest thing as a teacher
is not teaching uh it's teachingthings people already think they
know because it's the lullabyeffect that you're like, I
already know this, and so wetend to tune it out.
Can I just pop off for a second?
(01:25):
I don't, I shouldn't readreviews, but every now and then
I do.
And I thought it was so funnythat somebody left a review for
our church because they were madthat David Hall preached on the
woman with the issue of blood,and they were like, get a new
story.
And I was like, okay, just soyou know, we have 66 books of
(01:48):
content.
Like, you're gonna likere-preach things.
If we're coming up with newstories that you've never heard
before, that means that we havean open canon, which means that
we are now a cult.
So I guess she was looking for acult.
I hope she finds it.
And so I wanted to reply to herand be like, well, maybe before
going to a church, you shouldsearch and see if they preach,
(02:11):
you know, Bible stories thatyou've heard before, and don't
go there.
Here's some cults that you mightbe interested in.
I just thought it was a prettygreat way.
I mean, if you're gonna get abad review, I feel like it was a
pretty good bad review.
Honestly, I'm like valid.
Oh, they're they're ascribing toorthodoxy.
(02:31):
Yeah, I'm out.
I don't want this.
Anyways, okay.
Um, we don't have the TV today.
Um, so I trust that you'll justbe able to take uh notes.
Um, so just to sum up the entireBible, um, it begins with God's
law, which is the first fivebooks of the Bible, then it
moves into God's people, whichare our historical books of the
(02:52):
Bible, then it moves into God'swisdom, um, then God's prophets,
which is God calling back hispeople, and then it moves into
God's son, then we see God'schurch, and then finally God is
coming back.
And so Philippians uh chapterthree, Philippians chapter
three, Matthew, Mark, Luke,John, Acts, Romans, first and
(03:14):
second Corinthians, Galatians,Ephesians, Philippians.
So Philippians in my Bible, it'spage 1396.
And it says, This brethren, joinin following my example and note
those who so walk as you have usfor a pattern.
For many walk, of whom I havetold you often, and now tell you
(03:37):
even weeping, that they are theenemies of the cross of Christ,
whose end is destruction, whoseGod is their belly, and whose
glory is in their shame, who settheir mind on earthly things.
For our citizenship is inheaven, from which we also
eagerly await for the Savior,the Lord Jesus Christ, who will
(04:02):
transform our lowly body that itmay be conformed to his glorious
body, according to the work bywhich he is able even to subdue
all things to himself.
Okay, so for us, um, keeping inmind um how many times he uses
the word mind previously, andum, we kind of talked about that
(04:25):
in our last session about howthis is an emphasis for Paul of
there being unity of mind, notnot pushing against diversity of
opinions, but there's a unity ofmind.
There's something that we allcome back to that these things
we agree upon, and this is whatmakes us a body of believers.
And so he goes from doing this.
Now keep in mind that Paul isalways gonna move um from this.
(04:48):
He's gonna talk about orthodoxy,and then he's gonna move into
orthopraxy.
So our orthodoxy is what webelieve, and orthopraxy, think
practice.
How do you like practice this?
How do you live it out?
So he set up for us someorthodoxy.
Now he's gonna go intoorthopraxy of us walking it out.
How do we live this?
(05:09):
Now, anytime we see walk in theBible, it should represent to us
our daily manner of living, ourdaily manner of living.
So whether it's talking aboutwalking in darkness or whether
it's talking about walking inlight, we should think our daily
manner of living, not yourweekly attendance of church, not
(05:29):
just your 21 days of prayer andfasting, not that.
No, your daily manner of living,not just your devotional time in
the morning, but your dailymanner of living.
It's how you conduct our lives.
So Paul links their walk notjust with him, but with the body
of believers that theysurrounded themselves with.
And so the test, um, here'shere's the thing is uh for us in
(05:54):
our lives, is like, how well dowe do with the people that we're
walking with, that we're calledto walk with?
And so he's saying this walk,this journey, again, keeping in
mind that for Paul, faith isalways a uh group activity.
It's a community event, it's nota solo sport.
(06:14):
And so he's like, as you areseeking your personal walk, your
walk is connected to thecommunity of people that you're
aligning yourself with.
And so there has to be thisawareness of it.
Okay, so um I read this book andI think it's interesting.
I'm reading it for school, andum, it's called Blue Parakeet,
(06:34):
if you want to read it.
Um, but it's just about Bibleinterpretation, it's a whole
book on hermeneutics.
And um, but one of theinteresting things is he's a
professor at a um college andhe's teaching these students
about um God and the Bible, andhe said that every semester he
starts out with this test, andit's 24 questions, and it's
(06:55):
basically asking the people umabout Jesus.
Like, does Jesus' mood go up ordown?
Yes or no?
Um, how do you view Jesus astalkative?
Yes or no?
Um, how would you would wouldyou describe Jesus as fun?
Yes or no?
And it's 24 questions thatpeople answer.
Like, how would you say thatJesus um sees people that are
(07:18):
oppressed?
Yes or no?
Like, would Jesus speak up?
Yes or no, like if something waswrong.
So they go through all this, andthen he has a section after that
24 questions, and he asks themtheir name, their gender, um,
their religious affiliation,tell a little bit about your
story.
So almost like allowing theirbrain to reset.
Does that make sense?
(07:39):
And then he moves into, he tellsthem, you cannot look at your
previous answers.
Now answer the 24 questions.
Do you view yourself as fun?
Yes or no?
Do you view yourself astalkative?
Yes or no?
Do you do you are y'allfollowing me?
The same 24 questions.
He said 100% of the time thetest reveals the test results
(08:03):
showed that even though theylike to think they are becoming
more like Jesus, theyconsistently make Jesus like
themselves.
So that's why when we look atthe Bible, we typically, and we
did our observation in thecollege recently about
(08:26):
Cartavaggio and his view ofDavid and Goliath.
And his view of David andGoliath was actually a window
into his pain, which changed howhe saw the story.
And so he saw the storydifferent because we were seeing
into his heart, which changedhis hermeneutical application.
(08:47):
Are y'all following me?
Why we need community is notthat you need community who vote
like you, who believe like you,who dress like you, that lives
the same life as you.
You actually need other peopleto remind you that Jesus is not
exactly like you.
Are we okay?
(09:08):
And I think if we're notcareful, we silence voices that
disagree with us.
And I will just say at the corefoundation of everything that we
saw this week is a departurefrom Imago Day.
And Amago Day means that we arecreated with the image of
(09:29):
Christ, the image of God on us,that we are all image bearers of
Him.
And when I start saying that Icannot, I can't even live on
this earth unless you're gone,you're dead, there's something
wrong.
And and Paul's saying, guys, thestrength of our community is
not, I'm just gonna pop off fora second.
(09:49):
The goal is not that we start acowboy church.
So I go to church with everybodywho likes what I like and dress
like I dress and has the samehobbies as I have hobbies.
Are y'all following me?
The beauty of the body of Christis people coming together that
would normally never even hangout together, that would
normally not even do anythingtogether.
(10:10):
And that we all come togetheraround one name and that is
Jesus.
And it's when we're walkingtogether that there's sandpaper
in you that's softening me, butthere's sandpaper in me that's
softening you.
And Paul's going, guys, ifyou're gonna live this out,
because he's talking about beingone mind, how are you gonna do
it?
You're gonna do it in thecontext of community.
(10:32):
You don't get to remove yourselfthe minute I disagree.
You don't get to, does this makesense?
Like it's part of it, is like,is having that friction.
And if you're gonna be here inthis house for any length of
time at all, I will saysomething that's gonna offend
you.
Pastor Brian's gonna saysomething that's gonna offend
you.
Pastor Jimmy probably won't everoffend you.
(10:53):
You're just always gonna lovehim, and that's great.
Like, that's awesome.
Just keep all your beef withBrian and I, right?
But we're gonna do somethingthat disappoints you.
That's not the reason to removeyourself from community.
It's actually the time to leanin.
It's actually the time to go,okay, God, I'm seeing, like, I
want to see you more clearlyright now.
Like maybe, maybe, maybe, maybeI need a different perspective
(11:16):
right now.
Does this make sense?
So Paul doesn't say your lack ofbeing in the same mind means you
get to remove.
No, he says, no, you got to getback into community.
You got to walk along other sideother people.
And again, what is walk?
Your daily manner of living.
You got to keep yourself in thecontext of community.
(11:37):
You know, I think the biggestfallacy is we see scripture.
I heard this thing said a longtime ago, it was a propagated a
long time ago, but that thewhole Bible is basically
creation, fall, redemption.
That's the whole story of theBible.
There's creation, people fall,God redeems.
Creation, fall, redemption.
And that's not true.
It's actually creation, fall,community, redemption.
(12:03):
And God's solution to what'shappening in the earth is
community.
It's literally community.
What is Israel when Godestablishes Israel?
A community of people, acommunity of believers that goes
in.
What is Acts chapter two?
It's Jesus establishing a churchto change the world through the
(12:23):
context of what?
Community.
And so I can't remove myselffrom the very thing that, the
very thing that God wants touse.
I have to keep leaning intothose spaces.
And so this is the power ofcommunity.
They remind you what you need towork on.
The things that bother you areare indicators, like like if
something, somebody's differingopinion, if it bothers you, like
(12:47):
keep holding that and going,okay, God, like what in this,
why does this bother me?
And is there something you wantto show me?
Does that make sense?
The problem isn't the person.
The problem is maybe it'ssharpening something in you,
maybe it's softening somethingin you.
Um, they have differentviewpoints of the world, they
have different things, differentlikes, passions.
(13:07):
Um, we're not hard on people.
We do guard our ideas.
Like, and by when I say ideas, Isay this that we hold tightly to
doctrine, but we're loose onopinions.
And I'm not gonna like, I'm I'mnot gonna lose my influence over
the next election, but I amgonna hold tightly to doctrine.
(13:29):
Does this make sense?
I I'm not gonna lose myinfluence over um something that
is is peripheral, like whetheror not you like Chipotle or
Choloso better.
Like I'm not, I it's not, itdoesn't matter to me whether
those things, I'm gonna I'mgonna hold those things loosely,
but I'm gonna fiercely guarddoctrine.
(13:50):
And and I feel like as a body ofbelievers, we need to be
reminded of that.
And there's certain truths thatwe have to hold on to as a body
of believers, Amago Day beingone of them, and that we don't,
we, gosh, I'm just like, I'mtrying to like get this to you.
Are y'all, are y'all, I'mtrying, I'm trying to be not too
(14:11):
cryptic, but also like open.
Does that make sense?
Um, and what does this do?
It keeps us in a place ofhumility.
Pride says, I'm right, there'sno other way.
Humility says there might beanother way of seeing things.
Okay, there's no other way tosee doctrinal issues.
Jesus, born of a virgin, thirdday, rose again, ascended to the
(14:35):
Father, seated there, from whichhe will judge the living and the
dead.
Like there's certain doctrinalstances that we are
unapologetic, gonna hold to,Amago Day being one of them.
I'm not gonna back down off ofthat.
So Paul says this.
He says that you're join infollowing my example and note
those who walk as you have usfor a pattern.
(14:56):
For many walk, of whom I havetold you often, and and now even
telling you in weeping.
So he's saying to follow myexample.
Now, think of this that Paul isnot someone you would want to uh
imitate.
He's not.
In fact, he's the he's theanti-hero of the American
church.
He's poor.
(15:18):
And in an American church, moneyis the primary motivator for us.
Like, how am I gonna bebenefited from doing what God's
called me to do?
He's like, no, I'm actuallylike, I have nothing.
He told us I've learned to becontent, whether a base or
abounding.
Um, he's in prison.
We think doing good things meanswe won't have bad things happen
(15:38):
to us.
That's literally what webelieve.
That's why the events of thisweek shook us to our core,
because we believe that when wedo what's right, when we love
God, and whether you agree 100%with Charlie Kirk and everything
he said and did, I'm not makingit about that.
I mean we think that if we're arighteous person, that we live
according to God's word, thatbad things, we're exempt from
(16:00):
bad things.
And Paul is actually livingproof to us it's the opposite.
It's actually when you live forChrist, bad things are going to
happen to you.
Jesus even said that, but forsome reason, we want, we want to
only do good things if we'reguaranteed that nothing bad will
happen to us.
He has a lot of people who hatehim.
Like Paul has a huge group ofpeople who do not like what he
(16:23):
has to say.
They don't like the message.
We we post based on what we wantpeople to celebrate.
Like we have this deep desire,this deep need to be liked and
appreciated and affirmed.
Paul didn't get any of that.
He's alone.
Much of his time is spent alone.
We have a society that hatesbeing alone.
(16:44):
We fill every living moment withnoise.
We can't go to the bathroomwithout our phone.
We can't drive down the road insilence.
We've got to have noise going.
Like we have a podcast going, wehave something, music going,
like we constantly no, he'salone.
Like he's saying, imitate me.
We don't, we don't want to dothat.
Like, we don't want to be withour thoughts.
(17:05):
Um, he has terrible fortune, andI kind of touched on this, but
he was shipwrecked, beaten, somany awful things.
And so uh in this, to keep inmind what Paul has already told
them to imitate.
He told them to imitate Christand his suffering in Philippians
1.28, and he told them toimitate in the rejoicing in 218,
(17:26):
and now he's saying to imitateme.
So I'll just say when we say forsomebody, I think when we're
looking for examples of a lifewe want to live like, Paul's
characteristics here, he wouldnot be the person that you would
walk up to and say, Can youdisciple me?
Like, because we're looking forsomebody with a really nice car,
(17:48):
really big business, reallypopular.
Paul's like the anti-hero.
He would be the opposite of whatour culture would want to
celebrate.
So in this, um there's so I Ijust think there's okay, I'm
trying to think if I want totouch on this.
I only have 11 minutes.
Oh, God help me.
(18:09):
Okay.
Okay, all right.
So walk um, the walk of therighteous, of the unrighteous in
verse 18.
So he says, Um, for many walk inwhom I've often told you, and
now I tell you, even weeping,that they are the enemies of the
cross of Christ.
Okay, so the walk of theunrighteous.
So again, the daily manner ofliving of the unrighteous.
(18:30):
Do we all commit unrighteousdeeds?
Yes.
But I I love, I heard this yearsago, that David was called a man
after God's own heart.
Now, do we all know that Davidfailed?
Yes.
Do we all know that he fellshort?
Yes.
In fact, when you're readingfirst and second Samuel, notice
that once God makes covenantwith David from that point
(18:50):
forward, it only records hisfailures, not his victories.
Just a little fun fact.
All before that, it's only hisvictories.
After covenant, it's hisfailures.
Why?
Because covenant was never abouthow good I am, it's about how
good God is.
That he's the covenant keeper.
I'm not the covenant keeper.
Okay.
So the the thing is in our lifeis that we get to a place where
(19:12):
the average of our life is morerighteous than unrighteous.
Does that make sense?
That we get to a point whereit's like, I'm living.
So he's saying the daily mannerof living of the unrighteous.
And so they are enemies of thecross.
He doesn't say they're enemiesof the church.
They're enemies of the cross.
Keep in mind, church, that weare battling a spiritual battle
(19:36):
between light and darkness.
People want to make it aboutpeople.
They want to make it about yourgroup, your affiliation.
It's none of those things.
Enemies of the cross.
We have to keep our eyes thatthere is a devil and there is a
righteous king.
And everything that's happening,I think my biggest, I'm just
like gonna pop off for a second.
My biggest thing that I hearpeople say is it's not about
(19:59):
politics, it's about Jesus.
Okay, let me let me just tellyou what you're saying is that I
live a fragmented life and thatmy Christianity never informs my
politics, and my politics don'tinform my Christianity.
That never existed previous tolike around 1900, this ideology
of two-story Christianity, thatI have a political stance that
(20:22):
does not touch my Christianstandard.
I am a Christian first.
He says, You're a citizen ofheaven.
Like all of us, it's all aboutJesus.
Like our lives are about Jesus.
And he says, they're enemies ofthe cross, not enemies of one
church.
They're not enemies of BrianSparks, they're not enemies of
Jimmy Sai, they're enemies ofthe cross.
(20:42):
And we have to keep the mainthing, the main thing.
And he's like, guys, this wholething, this thing that you're
in, hello, wake up.
This is about darkness and it'sabout light.
And what the enemy wants to dois throw red herrings and get us
all talking about a party, getus talking about a person.
Are y'all following me?
Keep your eyes, be smart.
(21:02):
We're talking about a spiritualbattle here between light and
dark.
So quit propagating of it's notabout politics, it's about
Jesus.
You don't live a fragmentedlife.
You don't live a fragmentedlife.
Quit fragmenting.
Well, how do I, how do I balancemy work life and my personal
life?
You don't live a fragmentedlife.
Your work life is informing yourpersonal life, and your personal
(21:24):
values are informing your workvalues.
And when your personal valuesget aligned with what Christ
says, your work values begin tochange.
Does this make sense?
But we have this fragmented, andyou know, anything that's
fragmented is broken.
And so we are broken as a nationbecause we try to keep breaking
our faith.
Does this make sense for myeveryday life?
(21:44):
I've got the work me, I've gotthe friends me, I've got the
personal me, and then I have thechurch me.
No, the church you informseverything else.
There is just the Christian you,and then anything else is
secondary to that.
Does that make sense?
Are we following here?
Okay.
So they're enemies of the cross.
So the battle that we're in isabout light and darkness.
(22:06):
They do not hate you, it's aboutwhat you represent, which is
Christ.
If they do not like you, theyare rejecting Christ.
That's what Jesus says.
They said that if they hear theyreject you, they're rejecting
me.
That's what it is.
So keep our eyes on the mainthing.
Quit taking it personal, whatpeople are saying about you, and
realize it's about the light inyou.
(22:26):
So Paul keeps it very clear thatthis battle isn't about their
lives, it's about what they aredoing, and it's all about Jesus.
Um, I think in 1.8, um he tellsus, and we had talked about this
in Philippians 1.8, and the thetranslation of this is for God
is my record who greatly I longafter you.
And remember how it meant thebowels of Jesus Christ.
(22:48):
And we talked about how theoriginal Greek word, it's like
from the deepest place, like thesecond brain of us, it's like
the deepest place that he'scrying out for them, that he
loves them.
He's using the same thing.
So the way he began this letterwith his deep love for them.
He's like, now it's in my deeplove for you that I'm crying out
(23:08):
for you to realize that thesepeople are enemies of the cross.
And you gotta be careful whoyou're walking with.
You gotta be careful who you'rewalking with.
Like, don't walk with theunrighteous.
They're shaping you.
They're shaping you.
Come on, we gotta walk with therighteous.
We gotta get our past alignedwith people that believe what we
believe.
And so, uh, does that makesense?
Like, and I'm not talking aboutthat they agree with uh
(23:31):
secondary opinions, I'm talkingabout orthodox issues.
I'm talking about coredoctrines.
Um, so he pleads on their behalfbased on the love he has for
Christ for them.
So keeping in mind for us thatcorrection to the people that
we're discipling always comesfirst and foremost out of a
place of a deep love for Christfor them.
(23:52):
Like it's the deep love that Ilove them, that I'm coming to
them.
Okay, so Paul makes four points.
And remember how he began in3-2.
He says, Beware of the dogs,beware of evil workers, be
beware of the mutilation.
And so this is he's definingwhat are the dogs.
Who are the dogs that he told usto beware of?
(24:14):
He's now defining it out for ushere in this verse, in um Their
enemies of the cross, verse 19,whose end is destruction, whose
God is their belly, whose gloryis in their shame, who set their
mind on earthly things.
So here we have four things.
This is a chiastic structure formy one college students.
You know so well what that isnow.
Um the the desire, God is theirthe their God is their desires,
(24:38):
which is their bellies.
And so it's when my flesh getsthe final say of what I do.
Chrysostom puts it like this Hesays, of this verse, let us
build bigger houses, let uspurchase bigger fields, let us
obtain more wealth to be as richas we can be.
Where on earth, of course, theseare the ones whose desires is
(25:01):
their belly.
And so the next one is whoseglory is their shame.
When people boast about sin andunrighteousness, they are not,
they they are enemies of thecross.
When they're boasting of sin andunrighteousness, they are
(25:21):
enemies of the cross.
Can I be any more clear of that?
When you're boasting of thethings that are going wrong in
the earth, you're an enemy ofthe cross.
When you're boasting to yourfriends about how drunk you got
last week, says they their gloryis their shame.
(25:47):
What should be their shame istheir glory.
They love to boast about it.
They're an enemy of the cross.
The next one is who set theirmind on earthly things.
So earthly things are thingsthat I I can see for this
present time.
So this is when like people forsetting our mind on earthly
(26:12):
things, we're thinking aboutwhat I can get, what I can
benefit, what it can do for me.
My mind's all set up on this.
Um, I could go off on this sohard, but when youth groups grow
youth groups by giving awayiPads, you're setting them up to
set their minds on earthlythings.
You're teaching them that tofollow Christ there has to be a
(26:34):
reward.
Literally.
Our uh Pastor Tyland's doing anincredible job.
And it's not through gimmicks,it's not through giveaways, it's
through the power of Christ andcommunity.
That's how he's building thisthing.
Not come and you'll get an iPad.
What the freak are we doing?
Like, actually, what are wedoing?
Like, do you think Jesus grewhis ministry?
(26:56):
Like, come follow me and allyour wildest dreams will come
true.
He's not Napoleon Dynamite.
All right.
Number four, the end isdestruction.
When you're doing um the abovethree, it feels like there isn't
a consequence.
And sometimes when we'rewatching people do the above
three, it feels like there's nota consequence.
But I'll just say there is aneternal consequence.
(27:18):
And even though we it sometimesit feels like the unrighteous
are getting away withunrighteousness, I will just say
that everyone will stand beforethe throne of judgment.
And there will be a consequence,whether on this side or on that
side, there will be aconsequence.
So the top of our chaoticstructure is a citizen in
heaven.
That's the main point.
(27:38):
The main point of our MountainOne college students up at the
very top of your triangle shouldbe that we're a citizen in
heaven.
So their Roman citizenship wouldhave been their reason to boast.
And Paul had already let themknow that I'm giving up every
right to boast in the earthly.
My boast is that I'm a citizenin heaven, that I belong to that
(27:59):
first, that I'm a Christianfirst and foremost, and that
informs everything else that Ido.
I'm not living a fractured life.
I'm not a Roman Christian, I'm aChristian Roman.
Does this make sense?
I'm not an American Christian,I'm a Christian American.
Like my Christianity informseverything.
I'm not a one-church Christian,I'm a Christian who goes to one
(28:20):
church.
Does this make sense?
And when we get that straight,it changes everything else.
Then Paul goes down on the otherside of our chaotic structure.
Um, they eagerly await thesavior, which is setting their
mind on things above.
He's like, uh, we're eagerlyawaiting our savior, which is
setting our mind on thingsabove.
Um, we know that this is wellsaid, for we ought to live as
(28:43):
strangers and um of this earth,not using the creation to
satisfy our passions, buthigh-mindedly and with
thanksgiving.
This is Clement of Alexandria.
I love that so much.
So our mind is looking toeternity.
We live for that place.
Number two, um, would he willtransform our bodies.
In other words, our desires aregonna change.
(29:06):
Like as you live this Christianwalk, your desires begin to
change.
He's transforming us.
He's transforming us.
Number three, that we'reconformed to his glorious body.
Now keep in mind the conform tothe glorious body is not Jesus
with a crown sitting on athrone.
The early church saw thisconform to his glory body,
(29:28):
glorious body as the one on thecross.
That messes us up because we seevictory as no suffering.
But Paul is painting a picture,and the early church would have
seen the crucified Christ, notthe Christ that's removed from
suffering.
In fact, even for all of time,the Bible describes him in
(29:49):
Revelation that he is the lambwho was slain.
Like he appears in the midst ofeveryone worshiping in
Revelation as a bloody lambstanding.
In the midst of them.
He doesn't come as a kingpristine from any wound.
Does this make sense?
And so for them, they would havebeen like, okay, it means that
(30:09):
as I'm the further I follow God,the more I'm walking with this,
I'm okay to suffer as hesuffered.
I'm okay for that.
Number four, the end is victoryin Christ.
Our end is this victory inChrist.
So your feet of your mountain isgonna be the end is victory in
Christ.
And the other end is of coursedestruction.
(30:31):
So with all that said, you're atthe end of Philippians chapter
three.
And next week we will beginPhilippians chapter four.
You guys are doing so good, andit'll be part 14, legit, of our
study together.
So um, Jesus, we just thank youso much for what you're doing.
God, we just thank you.
(30:51):
Um Lord, I thank you that theentire scripture is about
faithful witness, that Lord,you're looking for people who
will be faithful witnesses toyou.
And so, Father, I just thank youthat, Lord, we're gonna be those
that walk um with the righteous.
That, God, I thank you thatyou're doing something within
our hearts.
God, change our desires, changeour passions, change the way
that we've seen things, God,where we've been misaligned,
(31:13):
God, with what your word says.
God, would you realign us back?
Um, Lord, I just thank you, God,for all that you're doing.
And Lord, I just say, here's ourlife, you can use it.
Lord, we commit ourselves toyou.
Lord, whatever you want us tosay, we'll say.
However you want us to shine,we'll shine.
And so, Father, I just thankyou, Lord, for the beauty of
community.
(31:34):
God, thank you for this amazingchurch that you placed us in.
That Lord, every person here isis meant to make us stronger.
And so, Father, help us see youthe way that you see people.
Help us see people the way wesee you.
And God, I just thank you, uhLord, for a greater alignment,
Lord, in our vision in Jesus'name.
And somebody believed it said,Amen.
(31:54):
I love y'all.
Thanks so much for hanging outhere on my podcast.
Do me a favor and hit thesubscribe button if you haven't
done so already, so you nevermiss out on anything here on my
podcast.
Also, one of the best ways forus to begin to reach other
people is by you sharing.
So if you can do me a favor andshare this podcast with a
(32:16):
friend, family member, or maybeon your social media, help us
get the word out so we can helpothers.
Welcome to another part of my Philippian study that
I have been doing with our staffat Staff Chapel.
If you haven't listened to theother parts, you might want to
go back deeper into my podcast,check out those episodes, and
catch yourself up to join wherewe're at today.
(00:40):
Sometimes it feels like it.
Hey, guess what?
Next week we're gonna be inPhilippians still.
I know you're shocked.
And we're gonna actually make itto chapter four.
Yeah.
Most of you only knewPhilippians for chapter four.
But now you know one throughthree after today.
(01:03):
You're done with three.
And now I'm heading into theterritory that you're like
familiar with, which is actuallythe hardest thing as a teacher
is not teaching uh it's teachingthings people already think they
know because it's the lullabyeffect that you're like, I
already know this, and so wetend to tune it out.
Can I just pop off for a second?
(01:25):
I don't, I shouldn't readreviews, but every now and then
I do.
And I thought it was so funnythat somebody left a review for
our church because they were madthat David Hall preached on the
woman with the issue of blood,and they were like, get a new
story.
And I was like, okay, just soyou know, we have 66 books of
(01:48):
content.
Like, you're gonna likere-preach things.
If we're coming up with newstories that you've never heard
before, that means that we havean open canon, which means that
we are now a cult.
So I guess she was looking for acult.
I hope she finds it.
And so I wanted to reply to herand be like, well, maybe before
going to a church, you shouldsearch and see if they preach,
(02:11):
you know, Bible stories thatyou've heard before, and don't
go there.
Here's some cults that you mightbe interested in.
I just thought it was a prettygreat way.
I mean, if you're gonna get abad review, I feel like it was a
pretty good bad review.
Honestly, I'm like valid.
Oh, they're they're ascribing toorthodoxy.
(02:31):
Yeah, I'm out.
I don't want this.
Anyways, okay.
Um, we don't have the TV today.
Um, so I trust that you'll justbe able to take uh notes.
Um, so just to sum up the entireBible, um, it begins with God's
law, which is the first fivebooks of the Bible, then it
moves into God's people, whichare our historical books of the
(02:52):
Bible, then it moves into God'swisdom, um, then God's prophets,
which is God calling back hispeople, and then it moves into
God's son, then we see God'schurch, and then finally God is
coming back.
And so Philippians uh chapterthree, Philippians chapter
three, Matthew, Mark, Luke,John, Acts, Romans, first and
(03:14):
second Corinthians, Galatians,Ephesians, Philippians.
So Philippians in my Bible, it'spage 1396.
And it says, This brethren, joinin following my example and note
those who so walk as you have usfor a pattern.
For many walk, of whom I havetold you often, and now tell you
(03:37):
even weeping, that they are theenemies of the cross of Christ,
whose end is destruction, whoseGod is their belly, and whose
glory is in their shame, who settheir mind on earthly things.
For our citizenship is inheaven, from which we also
eagerly await for the Savior,the Lord Jesus Christ, who will
(04:02):
transform our lowly body that itmay be conformed to his glorious
body, according to the work bywhich he is able even to subdue
all things to himself.
Okay, so for us, um, keeping inmind um how many times he uses
the word mind previously, andum, we kind of talked about that
(04:25):
in our last session about howthis is an emphasis for Paul of
there being unity of mind, notnot pushing against diversity of
opinions, but there's a unity ofmind.
There's something that we allcome back to that these things
we agree upon, and this is whatmakes us a body of believers.
And so he goes from doing this.
Now keep in mind that Paul isalways gonna move um from this.
(04:48):
He's gonna talk about orthodoxy,and then he's gonna move into
orthopraxy.
So our orthodoxy is what webelieve, and orthopraxy, think
practice.
How do you like practice this?
How do you live it out?
So he set up for us someorthodoxy.
Now he's gonna go intoorthopraxy of us walking it out.
How do we live this?
(05:09):
Now, anytime we see walk in theBible, it should represent to us
our daily manner of living, ourdaily manner of living.
So whether it's talking aboutwalking in darkness or whether
it's talking about walking inlight, we should think our daily
manner of living, not yourweekly attendance of church, not
(05:29):
just your 21 days of prayer andfasting, not that.
No, your daily manner of living,not just your devotional time in
the morning, but your dailymanner of living.
It's how you conduct our lives.
So Paul links their walk notjust with him, but with the body
of believers that theysurrounded themselves with.
And so the test, um, here'shere's the thing is uh for us in
(05:54):
our lives, is like, how well dowe do with the people that we're
walking with, that we're calledto walk with?
And so he's saying this walk,this journey, again, keeping in
mind that for Paul, faith isalways a uh group activity.
It's a community event, it's nota solo sport.
(06:14):
And so he's like, as you areseeking your personal walk, your
walk is connected to thecommunity of people that you're
aligning yourself with.
And so there has to be thisawareness of it.
Okay, so um I read this book andI think it's interesting.
I'm reading it for school, andum, it's called Blue Parakeet,
(06:34):
if you want to read it.
Um, but it's just about Bibleinterpretation, it's a whole
book on hermeneutics.
And um, but one of theinteresting things is he's a
professor at a um college andhe's teaching these students
about um God and the Bible, andhe said that every semester he
starts out with this test, andit's 24 questions, and it's
(06:55):
basically asking the people umabout Jesus.
Like, does Jesus' mood go up ordown?
Yes or no?
Um, how do you view Jesus astalkative?
Yes or no?
Um, how would you would wouldyou describe Jesus as fun?
Yes or no?
And it's 24 questions thatpeople answer.
Like, how would you say thatJesus um sees people that are
(07:18):
oppressed?
Yes or no?
Like, would Jesus speak up?
Yes or no, like if something waswrong.
So they go through all this, andthen he has a section after that
24 questions, and he asks themtheir name, their gender, um,
their religious affiliation,tell a little bit about your
story.
So almost like allowing theirbrain to reset.
Does that make sense?
(07:39):
And then he moves into, he tellsthem, you cannot look at your
previous answers.
Now answer the 24 questions.
Do you view yourself as fun?
Yes or no?
Do you view yourself astalkative?
Yes or no?
Do you do you are y'allfollowing me?
The same 24 questions.
He said 100% of the time thetest reveals the test results
(08:03):
showed that even though theylike to think they are becoming
more like Jesus, theyconsistently make Jesus like
themselves.
So that's why when we look atthe Bible, we typically, and we
did our observation in thecollege recently about
(08:26):
Cartavaggio and his view ofDavid and Goliath.
And his view of David andGoliath was actually a window
into his pain, which changed howhe saw the story.
And so he saw the storydifferent because we were seeing
into his heart, which changedhis hermeneutical application.
(08:47):
Are y'all following me?
Why we need community is notthat you need community who vote
like you, who believe like you,who dress like you, that lives
the same life as you.
You actually need other peopleto remind you that Jesus is not
exactly like you.
Are we okay?
(09:08):
And I think if we're notcareful, we silence voices that
disagree with us.
And I will just say at the corefoundation of everything that we
saw this week is a departurefrom Imago Day.
And Amago Day means that we arecreated with the image of
(09:29):
Christ, the image of God on us,that we are all image bearers of
Him.
And when I start saying that Icannot, I can't even live on
this earth unless you're gone,you're dead, there's something
wrong.
And and Paul's saying, guys, thestrength of our community is
not, I'm just gonna pop off fora second.
(09:49):
The goal is not that we start acowboy church.
So I go to church with everybodywho likes what I like and dress
like I dress and has the samehobbies as I have hobbies.
Are y'all following me?
The beauty of the body of Christis people coming together that
would normally never even hangout together, that would
normally not even do anythingtogether.
(10:10):
And that we all come togetheraround one name and that is
Jesus.
And it's when we're walkingtogether that there's sandpaper
in you that's softening me, butthere's sandpaper in me that's
softening you.
And Paul's going, guys, ifyou're gonna live this out,
because he's talking about beingone mind, how are you gonna do
it?
You're gonna do it in thecontext of community.
(10:32):
You don't get to remove yourselfthe minute I disagree.
You don't get to, does this makesense?
Like it's part of it, is like,is having that friction.
And if you're gonna be here inthis house for any length of
time at all, I will saysomething that's gonna offend
you.
Pastor Brian's gonna saysomething that's gonna offend
you.
Pastor Jimmy probably won't everoffend you.
(10:53):
You're just always gonna lovehim, and that's great.
Like, that's awesome.
Just keep all your beef withBrian and I, right?
But we're gonna do somethingthat disappoints you.
That's not the reason to removeyourself from community.
It's actually the time to leanin.
It's actually the time to go,okay, God, I'm seeing, like, I
want to see you more clearlyright now.
Like maybe, maybe, maybe, maybeI need a different perspective
(11:16):
right now.
Does this make sense?
So Paul doesn't say your lack ofbeing in the same mind means you
get to remove.
No, he says, no, you got to getback into community.
You got to walk along other sideother people.
And again, what is walk?
Your daily manner of living.
You got to keep yourself in thecontext of community.
(11:37):
You know, I think the biggestfallacy is we see scripture.
I heard this thing said a longtime ago, it was a propagated a
long time ago, but that thewhole Bible is basically
creation, fall, redemption.
That's the whole story of theBible.
There's creation, people fall,God redeems.
Creation, fall, redemption.
And that's not true.
It's actually creation, fall,community, redemption.
(12:03):
And God's solution to what'shappening in the earth is
community.
It's literally community.
What is Israel when Godestablishes Israel?
A community of people, acommunity of believers that goes
in.
What is Acts chapter two?
It's Jesus establishing a churchto change the world through the
(12:23):
context of what?
Community.
And so I can't remove myselffrom the very thing that, the
very thing that God wants touse.
I have to keep leaning intothose spaces.
And so this is the power ofcommunity.
They remind you what you need towork on.
The things that bother you areare indicators, like like if
something, somebody's differingopinion, if it bothers you, like
(12:47):
keep holding that and going,okay, God, like what in this,
why does this bother me?
And is there something you wantto show me?
Does that make sense?
The problem isn't the person.
The problem is maybe it'ssharpening something in you,
maybe it's softening somethingin you.
Um, they have differentviewpoints of the world, they
have different things, differentlikes, passions.
(13:07):
Um, we're not hard on people.
We do guard our ideas.
Like, and by when I say ideas, Isay this that we hold tightly to
doctrine, but we're loose onopinions.
And I'm not gonna like, I'm I'mnot gonna lose my influence over
the next election, but I amgonna hold tightly to doctrine.
(13:29):
Does this make sense?
I I'm not gonna lose myinfluence over um something that
is is peripheral, like whetheror not you like Chipotle or
Choloso better.
Like I'm not, I it's not, itdoesn't matter to me whether
those things, I'm gonna I'mgonna hold those things loosely,
but I'm gonna fiercely guarddoctrine.
(13:50):
And and I feel like as a body ofbelievers, we need to be
reminded of that.
And there's certain truths thatwe have to hold on to as a body
of believers, Amago Day beingone of them, and that we don't,
we, gosh, I'm just like, I'mtrying to like get this to you.
Are y'all, are y'all, I'mtrying, I'm trying to be not too
(14:11):
cryptic, but also like open.
Does that make sense?
Um, and what does this do?
It keeps us in a place ofhumility.
Pride says, I'm right, there'sno other way.
Humility says there might beanother way of seeing things.
Okay, there's no other way tosee doctrinal issues.
Jesus, born of a virgin, thirdday, rose again, ascended to the
(14:35):
Father, seated there, from whichhe will judge the living and the
dead.
Like there's certain doctrinalstances that we are
unapologetic, gonna hold to,Amago Day being one of them.
I'm not gonna back down off ofthat.
So Paul says this.
He says that you're join infollowing my example and note
those who walk as you have usfor a pattern.
(14:56):
For many walk, of whom I havetold you often, and and now even
telling you in weeping.
So he's saying to follow myexample.
Now, think of this that Paul isnot someone you would want to uh
imitate.
He's not.
In fact, he's the he's theanti-hero of the American
church.
He's poor.
(15:18):
And in an American church, moneyis the primary motivator for us.
Like, how am I gonna bebenefited from doing what God's
called me to do?
He's like, no, I'm actuallylike, I have nothing.
He told us I've learned to becontent, whether a base or
abounding.
Um, he's in prison.
We think doing good things meanswe won't have bad things happen
(15:38):
to us.
That's literally what webelieve.
That's why the events of thisweek shook us to our core,
because we believe that when wedo what's right, when we love
God, and whether you agree 100%with Charlie Kirk and everything
he said and did, I'm not makingit about that.
I mean we think that if we're arighteous person, that we live
according to God's word, thatbad things, we're exempt from
(16:00):
bad things.
And Paul is actually livingproof to us it's the opposite.
It's actually when you live forChrist, bad things are going to
happen to you.
Jesus even said that, but forsome reason, we want, we want to
only do good things if we'reguaranteed that nothing bad will
happen to us.
He has a lot of people who hatehim.
Like Paul has a huge group ofpeople who do not like what he
(16:23):
has to say.
They don't like the message.
We we post based on what we wantpeople to celebrate.
Like we have this deep desire,this deep need to be liked and
appreciated and affirmed.
Paul didn't get any of that.
He's alone.
Much of his time is spent alone.
We have a society that hatesbeing alone.
(16:44):
We fill every living moment withnoise.
We can't go to the bathroomwithout our phone.
We can't drive down the road insilence.
We've got to have noise going.
Like we have a podcast going, wehave something, music going,
like we constantly no, he'salone.
Like he's saying, imitate me.
We don't, we don't want to dothat.
Like, we don't want to be withour thoughts.
(17:05):
Um, he has terrible fortune, andI kind of touched on this, but
he was shipwrecked, beaten, somany awful things.
And so uh in this, to keep inmind what Paul has already told
them to imitate.
He told them to imitate Christand his suffering in Philippians
1.28, and he told them toimitate in the rejoicing in 218,
(17:26):
and now he's saying to imitateme.
So I'll just say when we say forsomebody, I think when we're
looking for examples of a lifewe want to live like, Paul's
characteristics here, he wouldnot be the person that you would
walk up to and say, Can youdisciple me?
Like, because we're looking forsomebody with a really nice car,
(17:48):
really big business, reallypopular.
Paul's like the anti-hero.
He would be the opposite of whatour culture would want to
celebrate.
So in this, um there's so I Ijust think there's okay, I'm
trying to think if I want totouch on this.
I only have 11 minutes.
Oh, God help me.
(18:09):
Okay.
Okay, all right.
So walk um, the walk of therighteous, of the unrighteous in
verse 18.
So he says, Um, for many walk inwhom I've often told you, and
now I tell you, even weeping,that they are the enemies of the
cross of Christ.
Okay, so the walk of theunrighteous.
So again, the daily manner ofliving of the unrighteous.
(18:30):
Do we all commit unrighteousdeeds?
Yes.
But I I love, I heard this yearsago, that David was called a man
after God's own heart.
Now, do we all know that Davidfailed?
Yes.
Do we all know that he fellshort?
Yes.
In fact, when you're readingfirst and second Samuel, notice
that once God makes covenantwith David from that point
(18:50):
forward, it only records hisfailures, not his victories.
Just a little fun fact.
All before that, it's only hisvictories.
After covenant, it's hisfailures.
Why?
Because covenant was never abouthow good I am, it's about how
good God is.
That he's the covenant keeper.
I'm not the covenant keeper.
Okay.
So the the thing is in our lifeis that we get to a place where
(19:12):
the average of our life is morerighteous than unrighteous.
Does that make sense?
That we get to a point whereit's like, I'm living.
So he's saying the daily mannerof living of the unrighteous.
And so they are enemies of thecross.
He doesn't say they're enemiesof the church.
They're enemies of the cross.
Keep in mind, church, that weare battling a spiritual battle
(19:36):
between light and darkness.
People want to make it aboutpeople.
They want to make it about yourgroup, your affiliation.
It's none of those things.
Enemies of the cross.
We have to keep our eyes thatthere is a devil and there is a
righteous king.
And everything that's happening,I think my biggest, I'm just
like gonna pop off for a second.
My biggest thing that I hearpeople say is it's not about
(19:59):
politics, it's about Jesus.
Okay, let me let me just tellyou what you're saying is that I
live a fragmented life and thatmy Christianity never informs my
politics, and my politics don'tinform my Christianity.
That never existed previous tolike around 1900, this ideology
of two-story Christianity, thatI have a political stance that
(20:22):
does not touch my Christianstandard.
I am a Christian first.
He says, You're a citizen ofheaven.
Like all of us, it's all aboutJesus.
Like our lives are about Jesus.
And he says, they're enemies ofthe cross, not enemies of one
church.
They're not enemies of BrianSparks, they're not enemies of
Jimmy Sai, they're enemies ofthe cross.
(20:42):
And we have to keep the mainthing, the main thing.
And he's like, guys, this wholething, this thing that you're
in, hello, wake up.
This is about darkness and it'sabout light.
And what the enemy wants to dois throw red herrings and get us
all talking about a party, getus talking about a person.
Are y'all following me?
Keep your eyes, be smart.
(21:02):
We're talking about a spiritualbattle here between light and
dark.
So quit propagating of it's notabout politics, it's about
Jesus.
You don't live a fragmentedlife.
You don't live a fragmentedlife.
Quit fragmenting.
Well, how do I, how do I balancemy work life and my personal
life?
You don't live a fragmentedlife.
Your work life is informing yourpersonal life, and your personal
(21:24):
values are informing your workvalues.
And when your personal valuesget aligned with what Christ
says, your work values begin tochange.
Does this make sense?
But we have this fragmented, andyou know, anything that's
fragmented is broken.
And so we are broken as a nationbecause we try to keep breaking
our faith.
Does this make sense for myeveryday life?
(21:44):
I've got the work me, I've gotthe friends me, I've got the
personal me, and then I have thechurch me.
No, the church you informseverything else.
There is just the Christian you,and then anything else is
secondary to that.
Does that make sense?
Are we following here?
Okay.
So they're enemies of the cross.
So the battle that we're in isabout light and darkness.
(22:06):
They do not hate you, it's aboutwhat you represent, which is
Christ.
If they do not like you, theyare rejecting Christ.
That's what Jesus says.
They said that if they hear theyreject you, they're rejecting
me.
That's what it is.
So keep our eyes on the mainthing.
Quit taking it personal, whatpeople are saying about you, and
realize it's about the light inyou.
(22:26):
So Paul keeps it very clear thatthis battle isn't about their
lives, it's about what they aredoing, and it's all about Jesus.
Um, I think in 1.8, um he tellsus, and we had talked about this
in Philippians 1.8, and the thetranslation of this is for God
is my record who greatly I longafter you.
And remember how it meant thebowels of Jesus Christ.
(22:48):
And we talked about how theoriginal Greek word, it's like
from the deepest place, like thesecond brain of us, it's like
the deepest place that he'scrying out for them, that he
loves them.
He's using the same thing.
So the way he began this letterwith his deep love for them.
He's like, now it's in my deeplove for you that I'm crying out
(23:08):
for you to realize that thesepeople are enemies of the cross.
And you gotta be careful whoyou're walking with.
You gotta be careful who you'rewalking with.
Like, don't walk with theunrighteous.
They're shaping you.
They're shaping you.
Come on, we gotta walk with therighteous.
We gotta get our past alignedwith people that believe what we
believe.
And so, uh, does that makesense?
Like, and I'm not talking aboutthat they agree with uh
(23:31):
secondary opinions, I'm talkingabout orthodox issues.
I'm talking about coredoctrines.
Um, so he pleads on their behalfbased on the love he has for
Christ for them.
So keeping in mind for us thatcorrection to the people that
we're discipling always comesfirst and foremost out of a
place of a deep love for Christfor them.
(23:52):
Like it's the deep love that Ilove them, that I'm coming to
them.
Okay, so Paul makes four points.
And remember how he began in3-2.
He says, Beware of the dogs,beware of evil workers, be
beware of the mutilation.
And so this is he's definingwhat are the dogs.
Who are the dogs that he told usto beware of?
(24:14):
He's now defining it out for ushere in this verse, in um Their
enemies of the cross, verse 19,whose end is destruction, whose
God is their belly, whose gloryis in their shame, who set their
mind on earthly things.
So here we have four things.
This is a chiastic structure formy one college students.
You know so well what that isnow.
Um the the desire, God is theirthe their God is their desires,
(24:38):
which is their bellies.
And so it's when my flesh getsthe final say of what I do.
Chrysostom puts it like this Hesays, of this verse, let us
build bigger houses, let uspurchase bigger fields, let us
obtain more wealth to be as richas we can be.
Where on earth, of course, theseare the ones whose desires is
(25:01):
their belly.
And so the next one is whoseglory is their shame.
When people boast about sin andunrighteousness, they are not,
they they are enemies of thecross.
When they're boasting of sin andunrighteousness, they are
(25:21):
enemies of the cross.
Can I be any more clear of that?
When you're boasting of thethings that are going wrong in
the earth, you're an enemy ofthe cross.
When you're boasting to yourfriends about how drunk you got
last week, says they their gloryis their shame.
(25:47):
What should be their shame istheir glory.
They love to boast about it.
They're an enemy of the cross.
The next one is who set theirmind on earthly things.
So earthly things are thingsthat I I can see for this
present time.
So this is when like people forsetting our mind on earthly
(26:12):
things, we're thinking aboutwhat I can get, what I can
benefit, what it can do for me.
My mind's all set up on this.
Um, I could go off on this sohard, but when youth groups grow
youth groups by giving awayiPads, you're setting them up to
set their minds on earthlythings.
You're teaching them that tofollow Christ there has to be a
(26:34):
reward.
Literally.
Our uh Pastor Tyland's doing anincredible job.
And it's not through gimmicks,it's not through giveaways, it's
through the power of Christ andcommunity.
That's how he's building thisthing.
Not come and you'll get an iPad.
What the freak are we doing?
Like, actually, what are wedoing?
Like, do you think Jesus grewhis ministry?
(26:56):
Like, come follow me and allyour wildest dreams will come
true.
He's not Napoleon Dynamite.
All right.
Number four, the end isdestruction.
When you're doing um the abovethree, it feels like there isn't
a consequence.
And sometimes when we'rewatching people do the above
three, it feels like there's nota consequence.
But I'll just say there is aneternal consequence.
(27:18):
And even though we it sometimesit feels like the unrighteous
are getting away withunrighteousness, I will just say
that everyone will stand beforethe throne of judgment.
And there will be a consequence,whether on this side or on that
side, there will be aconsequence.
So the top of our chaoticstructure is a citizen in
heaven.
That's the main point.
(27:38):
The main point of our MountainOne college students up at the
very top of your triangle shouldbe that we're a citizen in
heaven.
So their Roman citizenship wouldhave been their reason to boast.
And Paul had already let themknow that I'm giving up every
right to boast in the earthly.
My boast is that I'm a citizenin heaven, that I belong to that
(27:59):
first, that I'm a Christianfirst and foremost, and that
informs everything else that Ido.
I'm not living a fractured life.
I'm not a Roman Christian, I'm aChristian Roman.
Does this make sense?
I'm not an American Christian,I'm a Christian American.
Like my Christianity informseverything.
I'm not a one-church Christian,I'm a Christian who goes to one
(28:20):
church.
Does this make sense?
And when we get that straight,it changes everything else.
Then Paul goes down on the otherside of our chaotic structure.
Um, they eagerly await thesavior, which is setting their
mind on things above.
He's like, uh, we're eagerlyawaiting our savior, which is
setting our mind on thingsabove.
Um, we know that this is wellsaid, for we ought to live as
(28:43):
strangers and um of this earth,not using the creation to
satisfy our passions, buthigh-mindedly and with
thanksgiving.
This is Clement of Alexandria.
I love that so much.
So our mind is looking toeternity.
We live for that place.
Number two, um, would he willtransform our bodies.
In other words, our desires aregonna change.
(29:06):
Like as you live this Christianwalk, your desires begin to
change.
He's transforming us.
He's transforming us.
Number three, that we'reconformed to his glorious body.
Now keep in mind the conform tothe glorious body is not Jesus
with a crown sitting on athrone.
The early church saw thisconform to his glory body,
(29:28):
glorious body as the one on thecross.
That messes us up because we seevictory as no suffering.
But Paul is painting a picture,and the early church would have
seen the crucified Christ, notthe Christ that's removed from
suffering.
In fact, even for all of time,the Bible describes him in
(29:49):
Revelation that he is the lambwho was slain.
Like he appears in the midst ofeveryone worshiping in
Revelation as a bloody lambstanding.
In the midst of them.
He doesn't come as a kingpristine from any wound.
Does this make sense?
And so for them, they would havebeen like, okay, it means that
(30:09):
as I'm the further I follow God,the more I'm walking with this,
I'm okay to suffer as hesuffered.
I'm okay for that.
Number four, the end is victoryin Christ.
Our end is this victory inChrist.
So your feet of your mountain isgonna be the end is victory in
Christ.
And the other end is of coursedestruction.
(30:31):
So with all that said, you're atthe end of Philippians chapter
three.
And next week we will beginPhilippians chapter four.
You guys are doing so good, andit'll be part 14, legit, of our
study together.
So um, Jesus, we just thank youso much for what you're doing.
God, we just thank you.
(30:51):
Um Lord, I thank you that theentire scripture is about
faithful witness, that Lord,you're looking for people who
will be faithful witnesses toyou.
And so, Father, I just thank youthat, Lord, we're gonna be those
that walk um with the righteous.
That, God, I thank you thatyou're doing something within
our hearts.
God, change our desires, changeour passions, change the way
that we've seen things, God,where we've been misaligned,
(31:13):
God, with what your word says.
God, would you realign us back?
Um, Lord, I just thank you, God,for all that you're doing.
And Lord, I just say, here's ourlife, you can use it.
Lord, we commit ourselves toyou.
Lord, whatever you want us tosay, we'll say.
However you want us to shine,we'll shine.
And so, Father, I just thankyou, Lord, for the beauty of
community.
(31:34):
God, thank you for this amazingchurch that you placed us in.
That Lord, every person here isis meant to make us stronger.
And so, Father, help us see youthe way that you see people.
Help us see people the way wesee you.
And God, I just thank you, uhLord, for a greater alignment,
Lord, in our vision in Jesus'name.
And somebody believed it said,Amen.
(31:54):
I love y'all.
Thanks so much for hanging outhere on my podcast.
Do me a favor and hit thesubscribe button if you haven't
done so already, so you nevermiss out on anything here on my
podcast.
Also, one of the best ways forus to begin to reach other
people is by you sharing.
So if you can do me a favor andshare this podcast with a
(32:16):
friend, family member, or maybeon your social media, help us
get the word out so we can helpothers.
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