The privilege to be with you and to open up God's word for you. We're going to focus this evening on Philippians chapter three, verses 17 through 21. Actually, we're going to focus more on 18 through 21, but I'm going to begin by reading a prior section of Philippians as well. Philippians three, I'm going to begin by reading verses two through 11 as part of the background. And then we will read verses 17 through 21. Hear then God's holy word. Philippians 3, beginning at verse 2. The apostle Paul warns, look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus. and put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss, because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, in order that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." And then skipping down to verse 17, "'Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." God's holy word. Well, brothers and sisters, the book of Philippians is not always thought of in this way, but I think we ought to think of it as a book that is in significant ways about the topic of unity, church unity. Again, Philippians isn't often thought of that way, quite the way, say, 1 Corinthians would be, where it's written quite plainly in 1 Corinthians 1, that Paul has that in mind. But if we look at the book of Philippians, it is also filled with references to the necessity of our being united, and particularly our being united in our minds and what we think. If we look, for example, at Philippians 2.1-2, there's a direct exhortation in this way. So, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, then Paul exhorts them Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." A very crucial section there at the beginning of chapter 2. Quite literally there, Paul urges the congregation in Philippi to think the same thing, all of them together, and to have the same love and to think one thing. Later, in chapter 4, just after our sermon text, Paul goes on to say something very similar again now to two specific people in Philippi. In 4, 2, and 3, he says, I entreat Iodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Again, the language in the Greek is nearly identical to what was in the beginning of chapter 2. I entreat Iodia and I entreat Syntyche to think the same thing in the Lord. This repetition in chapter 2 and in chapter 4 is just part of what signals this overarching and larger theme of unity in Philippians, as does the admonition that we find there in chapter 4, because it's quite unusual for Paul. It's unusual for him to single out two individuals in the congregation for direct exhortation. And so Paul wants the entire group to have a unified mindset. He wants the individuals within the group, too, as well. In these and other ways, the context of our passage shows that our passage, too, is built to help further this theme of unity. And we see that in part because of what it's framed by, what we just read. But we see also because it's on the same topic of how and what to think. together in a unified way. So Philippians 3 is aimed in part towards encouraging and developing, fostering the unity of what we as Christians ought to think about. In fact, what we ought to think in reference to, as we'll see. With this in mind, I want to explore this topic further tonight. Unity and thinking the same thing. I want to look at that by exploring the contrast in our passage, especially in verses 18 through 21. A contrast that Paul builds here between two different sets of people, with two very different governing and controlling sets of thoughts on their minds. On the one hand, Paul, in our passage, describes people who are enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ, whose end is destruction. And he says of them that their God is their belly, they glory in their shame, with minds set on something in particular. Minds set on earthly things. That's the one mindset and the one group. And then, on the other hand, he describes those whose citizenship is in heaven, whose interests and, therefore, whose lives are centered upon the redemption that will appear from heaven when Christ returns, the resurrection of the body that will come with all of that, which, Paul says, they eagerly await. So we want to look at this, then, how it is that the mindset of the one group, The citizens of heaven produces unity for God's people, as Paul seeks to instill this within the church. In contrast, then, to having one's belly as one's God or having one's mind set on earthly things, which Paul says creates division. Paul believes that heavenly-mindedness creates unity in Jesus Christ's church. by helping people subordinate lesser desires and goals— lesser desires and goals that may not be wrong in themselves, but they're still lesser— to the one great overarching and unifying desire for what is ours in heaven and where our citizenship remains. So we're going to ask first, then, as we explore this, we're going to ask about the problem What exactly is wrong with the belly? What exactly is wrong with earthly things? If those whose end is destruction are thinking about those things, what's wrong with those things? Or what isn't wrong? The first thing that we need to realize as we answer that question is that the belly and earthly things are not things that are inherently wrong in themselves. They're not essentially wrong, but they can become wrong in our use of them. In fact, these very things, the belly and earthly things, are good things in and of themselves. And we need to appreciate, then, how it is that they are things created by God that can become wrong, can become sinful in our use of them. It should be readily apparent when we think about the earth itself, right? The Bible is very clear that God made the earth, and he made it good, and it glorifies him. And even after Adam and Eve's fall into sin in Genesis 3, the earth continues to display God's glory, his power, his creative design. Psalm 19, Romans 1, other places in Scripture teach us that. And so to appreciate, to enjoy the things of the earth is not wrong. In fact, it can be done. It should be done unto God's glory. The same is also true of the belly or the stomach. The belly itself is part of the body that God has made. It's part of what produces some of the desires that the body has—desires which are, again, not inherently wrong in themselves. Certainly, to desire and to enjoy food, one of the main functions or features of the belly, is not wrong in itself. And we see in Scripture that the term belly also can be a metaphor for other human desires, bodily desires. In 1 Corinthians 6.12 and following, Paul relates the belly to the human desire for food, but also the human desire for sex, which, again, is not wrong in itself. You can think again before the fall. God himself put Adam and Eve in a garden full of wonderful and diverse foods to eat, the enjoyment of which was perfectly proper, and, in fact, put them in a context of naked intimacy with one another, meant to be enjoyed as well. We always need to remember, then, that food and sex and other things that could be either literally or metaphorically related to the belly, these are natural sources of pleasure created by God. I think it's sometimes important to just remind ourselves of this, perhaps particularly for you young people, but really for all of us. It's important to be clear about this topic in our day and age, when there's such a fascination in our culture with a topic of sex, that sex is not the unbelieving world's topic, as if they came up with it, or as if they know the most about it, as if they're the experts. Sex is God's topic. He created it. And all of the bodily and emotional and personal dimensions that contribute to it, And he knows exactly how to make it at its best. We need to look to him and to trust in him that his blueprint for it is what most fulfills its purpose, even its enjoyment, not the world's blueprint. But our main point right now is that we should recognize something challenging about our passage. which is how the things that the enemies of the cross desire are not described here in this passage as things that are wrong in and of themselves. Paul doesn't say here, the enemies of the cross run after murder, right? He says they run after or serve earthly things. Yet at the same time, It's quite clear in the passage that the belly and the earth, while good in themselves, can and do become quite problematic in certain circumstances. Concern for these—the belly, the earth—is part of what helps actually define who the enemies of the cross are in this passage and why it is that they're opposed to Jesus Christ. So we need to probe a bit more deeply. How is it that otherwise good things in creation, things that God has made, can become a problem for people, in fact, become sinful, become sources of stumbling, obstacles to loving Jesus? And the answer is, when those things become too important for us, or important in the wrong way, When we try to make something of those things, to procure something from them that we should not. When we become focused on those things, preoccupied with those things, to the point that we begin to serve those things. That's what Paul means when he says, not just that the enemies of the cross have bellies. That's not what he says. That would describe all of us. He doesn't simply say that they enjoy things like food and sex. Again, that would not be to the point. Rather, he says that the enemies of the cross have their bellies as their God. The pleasures of the body are what they worship and serve. Paul says not only that these people think about earthly things, but rather, he says more literally, they think earthly things or To put it this way, they do all their thinking in reference to earthly things. That's their point of reference. That's their preoccupation. The governing focus for them, what has chief priority in informing what they think about and how they think about everything. In other words, both of these descriptions in verse 19 of our passage show that the belly and the earth have become entirely out of their proper place in these people's lives. They've become ultimate. They've given the belly and earthly things the place that God rightly has or should have in their lives. Worshipping and serving as the ultimate source of blessing, happiness, meaning, In fact, we see a clear example of just this very way of thinking and acting earlier in Philippians 3, which is why we read the earlier passage. When Paul described the story of his own life before he was a Christian, clearly Paul himself was, at that time of his life, an enemy of the cross. What could be clearer than that? What was his life like then? Well, a lot of what he says about himself there has to do with his taking things that were otherwise good about his life— gifts from God— and making those things ultimate, attributing an importance to those things that they simply were not designed to have. It's very important to notice that many of the things that Paul describes about his pre-Christian life earlier in chapter 3 are, in fact, clearly good things— blessings from the Lord that Paul was from the people of Israel. from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, that his parents had followed the law at that time and had him circumcised on the eighth day, that he himself had been tutored and instructed under the law and followed it closely. These are good things as far as they go. But Paul then grew up within a covenant home, we could say, with devout parents. You should notice that Paul acknowledges that all these things have a certain kind of benefit in his life. says in verse 7, he talks about the gain that he had from all of those. They weren't wrong in themselves. Most of what he describes about his pre-Christian life, then, is permissible or even good. And yet, It's these very things, which were good as far as they went in Paul's life, that were clearly also things Paul viewed in the wrong way when he was not a Christian. He placed too much importance upon those things. He says that these outward distinctions were what he placed his confidence in. They were what Paul, the unbeliever, thought gave him true and lasting gain. They were what he placed his identity in. This is what I'm about. This is what defines me. You know, Paul clearly misunderstood the value of any of these things. We need to notice as well how giving these otherwise good earthly things too much importance, putting one's personal confidence or sense of identity in those sorts of things is something that Paul says flatly contradicts the gospel. Quite clearly, the message of the gospel required Paul to make a very stark choice, didn't it? Either he could seek glory and ultimate gratification and blessing through these earthly, outward things in his life— consider those things to be ultimate gain, the thing that he could not do without— or he could give up that entire way of thinking about himself, that entire economy, That earthly system for constructing his identity, for measuring his importance, his value—give all of that up in its entirety for something, he says, is far greater. In all of this, then, Paul's clearly showing the Philippians an example in his own life of what being an enemy of the cross meant. to have one's mind set on earthly things, what that looks like, and, of course, what it also looks like to give it up. So he's calling the Philippians, as he calls us, not to cling to good things, good things that are of a temporary, lesser, outward kind in our lives, things that the belly craves now that pertain only to life on this earth at the present time. Paul's calling us, brothers and sisters, not to base our confidence and our identity in those sorts of things, but to abandon that entire way of viewing ourselves, to worship and serve God instead with abandon, and commit ourselves to the heavenly, the otherworldly blessing that he gives. But we can see What we can obtain, what we can grasp after here on earth, will not last, will it? And so it's not to be the primary focus of our attention. The things of this earth, as good and as permissible as they may be in various ways, can very much be a snare to us, can they not? Paul calls us to re-evaluate. focus on that greater permanent citizenship, not the one that we have here on earth, but the one that we have in heaven above. Secondly, if the belly and earthly things are not wrong in themselves, but are wrong to seek as ultimate, as ultimate, or to seek ultimate blessing from, we want to ask a second question. How is it that they can become divisive? How is it that these things are not only become wrong for us if we serve them, but doing so becomes divisive? And what's the antidote to that? It's interesting if you look in Romans chapter 16 verse 18, Paul very clearly identifies serving one's belly, not just as something that's wrong to do, which of course it is, but also as something that causes disunity. He says there, Romans 16, 18, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine you've been taught. Avoid them, for such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own bellies. The people who are causing division are the people who are serving their bellies, he says. Serving our bellies, setting our minds on earthly things, exalting, serving anything other than the Lord himself as our God. It's not just something that hurts us individually. It's something that gets in the way of our proper unity. Let's suggest four particular ways in which that's the case from Philippians 3, four particular ways in which earthly mindedness creates disunity. First, Serving the belly and earthly things produces division among God's people because it constructs our identity in a way that's inherently comparative and competitive. And we've already said that it's not wrong to enjoy good things that God's made in the world, to enjoy them lawfully. Yet if I look to those good things in the world as my source of confidence, then something very specific happens. I become invested in those things for my sense of self-worth. And so I need to have as much or more of those things than other people do to feel okay about myself. Notice how Paul's pre-Christian resume, as he talked about it earlier in the chapter, works precisely in a comparative fashion. Why did it matter to the non-Christian Paul that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews from the tribe of Benjamin? Because other people were not those things, at least in as pure a way as for him. And so it made him superior. Brothers and sisters, putting our confidence in the things of this earth always sets my interests against your interests. The earth, as good as it is, is finite. It's limited. There's only so much of it. Now, if we use the earth for God's glory according to his word, we give him the praise, there's not a problem. But if we become invested in earthly things for our sense of personal value, that's where the problem enters in. We inevitably become restless. We inevitably become covetous, right? How much money, how much status, how much recognition is anybody else getting? That's my measure. That's what I need to keep up with or surpass. It becomes impossible in that state of mind to love my neighbor as myself. Secondly, seeking our fulfillment in earthly things produces division because it always involves seeking personal glory. If I use the things of this earth, out of service to God, then I can use them well and give Him the glory. But if I'm basing my confidence in them, if I'm basing my identity on these earthly things, I will insist that everything I have or everything I do, everything I accomplish, redounds to my glory. I need the credit. I want, as Paul says in verse 9, a righteousness of my own. Something that I bring to the table myself, that distinguishes me. Whatever good happens in my life, whatever good happens in the Church of Jesus Christ, it's not enough unless I get the glory for it, unless people notice it, or unless I can tell them about it. Have you been on Facebook recently? This, of course, sows seeds of discord with others—inevitably, right? Recognition. Thirdly, serving and seeking our fulfillment in earthly pleasures produces division because it produces a vicious cycle in our lives, where we're always wanting and needing more of whatever it is that we're making into an idol, but we're never having enough. You need to remember, brothers and sisters, that the things of this creation, as good as they are, can never, by God's own design, can never bring us true and lasting satisfaction. And so those same things always, always, always leave us feeling empty in the end with regard to anything ultimate. It's part of the real irony, if you think about it, the way Paul describes these enemies of the cross, the very idea of having your God be your belly. your stomach, as it were, the organ that has a hole at the top and a hole at the bottom and is never filled for very long before it's crying out for more. And if you're a teenage boy, it does it even more frequently. At least that's what happened to me. This is what we serve. This is what we worship. Something that is never satisfied, but always says more. We become restless. We have a sense of unfulfillment in our lives. Why? Because we're looking for it in all of the wrong places, comparing ourselves to others more, competing with others more, trying to puff up our own resume more. Fourthly, serving and seeking our fulfillment from earthly things produces division simply because it pulls each of us in a thousand different conflicting directions. There's no unity of mind in it. I may be serving success and security in my job, and somebody else is serving sexual pleasure, and a third person is serving admiration. et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. There's no unity of goal or desire. It's impossible for us to think one thing together. And yet, thankfully, brothers and sisters, Paul says that there is another way, another source of identity, another source of fulfillment and confidence to base our lives on. That is, of course, the heavenly citizenship that he describes, that God himself gives to us freely by his grace, that Christ has purchased for us with his own self-sacrifice and self-emptying, and that he will return to bring to its full and final everlasting expression on that day of his return. In contrast, then, brothers and sisters, to those who serve the belly, who serve the things of the earth. Paul says that our citizenship as Christians is in heaven. From it we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies, the bodies that have all of these needs that constantly harp at us, to become like Christ's own glorious body. We see here a source of identity, a source of blessing, that not only provides true fulfillment and satisfaction and confidence, but it provides true fulfillment and satisfaction and confidence for each of us individually and for all of us together in a unified way. In contrast to worshiping and serving earthly status and fulfillment, heavenly identity, heavenly blessing is not comparative, it's not competitive in its nature, is it? It's instead given to all of us equally as God's beloved children. It's the beauty of a free and undeserved gift. It cuts all of the strings. I don't get to take credit, but I don't need to take credit. In contrast to an earth-based identity of personal recognition and personal glory, our heavenly citizenship is not something acquired by our own effort, not something that we even can boast in because it's God's undeserved free gift brought about by His power. And so it redounds to His glory. If I seek my own distinction, my own value, something that's mine only, that I produced, then my goals can only be achieved at other people's expense. But when I rest in Christ and Christ alone and His accomplishment, Christ who gives us all a free membership and a full inheritance in heaven, then I can and I should give all of the rest of this up. Comparison, competition, glory-seeking, bask, in the unmatched power and beauty and glory and grace of God. Bask in it myself. Bask in it with my brothers and sisters alongside of myself. In contrast to worshiping and serving the taskmaster of the belly, which is always craving, never at rest, Our heavenly citizenship provides something permanent, unfading, kept in heaven, secure for us, something that's unchangingly full, something that's ultimately satisfying, something that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2 involves more than I could ever ask or imagine. Yes, in it is the free gift of God through Christ, is fulfillment, and fulfillment in fellowship, with my Christian family. So this evening, I urge you all to consider the one and only truly satisfying and truly unifying goal for our lives. In comparison to that goal, brothers and sisters, everything else that's lesser on earth, however good it may be, can be considered a loss. Indeed, isn't that the real test of things in our lives oftentimes? Can I lose it and be OK? Can I be without it and still have a sense of self-worth, of fulfillment, of identity? What is it that I'm unwilling to give up apart from Christ? What is it that you feel you can't be content in your heart without, even though perhaps that very thing is in the way of your relationship to the Lord and of your relationship to your brothers and sisters in Christ? Whatever it is, even if it's not something inherently wrong, If it stands in the way of your full obedience to God's word, then it simply means too much to you, doesn't it? And it's necessarily bringing hurt into your life and to the lives of those around you. See, brothers and sisters, it's not enough, as we think about our lives, simply to ask if the things that I want and the things that I work for are wrong in themselves. There are many, many things in life that are not wrong in themselves. but they are wrong to serve. They're wrong to see as the basis for your happiness. They're wrong to be unwilling to be without for the sake of obedience to Christ. To ask ourselves then, what is it in our lives that, though maybe not wrong in and of itself, functions in a way that is. When we find our all and all in Christ and in his full provision, when we find our all and all in our membership in the great heavenly kingdom, then we have something that not only satisfies but also unifies. Something that we can each work towards individually, but also work equally hard for one another. And so something in which the work of Christ is magnified so that not just Yodia and Syntyche and Philippians, but we ourselves here in Wheaton, Illinois, can come to agree with one another more and more to think one thing in the Lord. Let's pray. Our Father, we recognize that we do not naturally think in this way at all, but this is and only ever will be the work of your grace. And so we pray for that grace, the grace that provides self-examination, that it is true and exacting, the grace that's willing to hear from others in our lives in a similar way about what it is that ails or plagues us. the grace to turn from those things to Jesus Christ and be washed again, free and clean, redeemed from our bondage, the grace to walk in new paths of obedience. Father, we pray for this joy, that you would increase it in us, both individually and all together. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.