When we gather here in the middle of the week on these Wednesday nights, we gather to sing to the Lord, we gather to fellowship, we hear the Word of God preached, which we like to say we hear from God through the preaching of His Word, the reading of His Word. And then we are going to respond to God's revelation in a time of prayer, a time of corporate prayer. We'll have that here in a little bit, but I want to prepare us for that time of prayer by directing us to Philippians chapter three. If, if you are new with us, we've been going through Paul's letter to the Philippians. We've been preaching verse by verse through this little letter to the church and the city of Philippi, whom the apostle Paul, he loved this congregation very, very much. And it is a Christ centered letter. It is about joy. It is about unity. It is about humility. But maybe if there's one theme that glues all of them together, it is a Christ centered letter. The life of the Christian is a life that is centered on the person and work and beauty. of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we've been working through Philippians 3 the last number of weeks and we are concluding the chapter in verses 20 and 21. So I want to read this section and then I'll pray one more time and then I'll preach it. Philippians 3 verses 20 and 21. Here's what God's Word says. For our citizenship is in heaven. from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things. to himself triumphant verses, great verses, encouraging verses. Father, we come with the words of the apostle Paul. We accept receive this word, not merely as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which performs its work in us who believe. So God do that work in us change us. Transform us, oh God, as we come to your mighty and powerful revelation in scripture, in Jesus name. Amen. I want you to imagine as we begin our time that you lived centuries ago, centuries ago in Europe. Imagine that you live centuries ago in Europe and you are the heir to the throne. You're the heir to the throne. The kingdom is yours. The throne is yours. The power is yours. The dominion is yours. The palace is yours. The possessions are all yours. All the citizens are yours. The royalty is yours. You're the heir to the throne. And the time has come. The time has come for you now to travel, to take possession and receive that full and that rich and that bounteous inheritance. So as you're traveling, You're traveling and you're journeying down these roads to take possession of the inheritance. Which one of us in this room would allow ourselves to, to be distracted by a small stream along the road or a pleasant garden by the way that would distract us from our main mission of going to receive the kingdom. Or if there was a dark cloud that was hanging overhead, or if there was a dirty road or somebody who was mocking us along the way, which one of us would be discouraged by that? If we are the heir to the throne, we are going to receive it. Maybe as you were journeying, you might say to yourself, Oh, soul. You are traveling to take possession of a glorious inheritance. Are you going to turn aside to pluck every flower along the way? Are you going to linger to listen to every worldly sound all around us? Are you going to get off of the main course to drink every little stream of worldly pleasure along the way? You'll say to your soul, Though your way is in tears, and though there might be hard days to come, all the days in sorrow, though clouded they may be, yet here is enough truth to comfort us, that I, as a citizen of this palace, of this kingdom, I have a loving father, I have an unending portion, I have a sweet rest, I have an everlasting refreshment, and that will make amends for everything. Imagine if that was you traveling to receive that rich inheritance of a kingdom that you could never, ever imagine. The Bible talks about people like this. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 13 describes them as being strangers and pilgrims on the earth. In fact, Hebrews 11 continues by saying that they were longing for a better country. That is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. You know, long ago there was a Christian who once said, we need to constantly meditate on four, four last things. These are good for us as we are on this journey to receive an inheritance. We're on this journey to receive an inheritance. It's good for us to meditate on these four last things. Number one, death, which is most certain. Number two, judgment, which is most strict. Number three, hell, which is most horrific. And number four, heaven, which is most delightful. Maybe we could think of it this way. We want to be the kind of Christians, we want to be a part of this kind of Christianity that joins the church in every generation saying with John in Revelation 22, Amen, come Lord Jesus. That's what Paul brings out here in Philippians chapter 3. He reminds us that our home is not here. He reminds a true believer that there is a true abode where our names are recorded that is safe and secure for us in heaven. And that we ought to meditate on this and that we ought to think on this and we ought to ponder this and we ought to receive joy and gladness and happiness from this. Now, When we come to Philippians 3 and these verses tonight that we're looking at, in verse 17, it's kind of like the main driving verse of the final paragraph. You remember, Philippians 3, Paul is like, he's like a SWAT team. He goes into the danger zone to fight off false teachers. We could call them Judaizers. They are saying, you can have Jesus and you can have faith in Jesus, but you need to be circumcised as well. Paul, with lion-like boldness, tells them no. Tells them no, not at all. In fact, he says, if we are to tally up all of the self-righteous marks that we could ever achieve in our own doing, he says, I could surpass all of you, but I count it all to be rubbish, dung, trash, garbage. It's all worthless. Because there's only one way to be accepted by God. In Philippians 3.9, Paul spells out the gospel. How can a sinner be accepted by God? I want to be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. How do I get righteous in God's sight, but through the righteousness of another? That is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the rest of the chapter is Paul saying, as a believer, my lifelong ambition is to press on. I am running the race for the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God. That's my life. I want to live completely surrendered to Christ. In verse 17, Paul says, brothers, I want you to join in following my example. I want you to join together with the saints in following my example. And then he says, and I want you to observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. I want you to follow godly leaders. I want you to imitate those who are godly. And he's going to give two reasons. Number one, because there's many enemies of the cross of Christ, many enemies. And we looked at that last week. Remember, their end is destruction, their God is pleasure, their boasting is shameful, and their mind is fixed on worldly things, earthly things. But now, Paul says, I want you, on the positive, to follow me, Paul said, and to follow those who walk in godliness. I want you to follow them because you need to remember our citizenship is in heaven. And that's where we're at tonight. Paul is reminding the congregation that our citizenship is in heaven. Amazingly, remember last week, we looked at verses 18 and 19, these enemies of the cross of Christ. There was no mention of Christ in those descriptions. There was no talk of the cross. There's no mention of Jesus. There's no gospel there, but get this. In verses 20 and 21, Paul is going to refer to Christ nine times in these verses. In different phrases, in the verbal forms, in the pronouns. Paul can't get enough of Christ. And that's the heart of a Christian. I want Christ. The language of verses 20 and 21 is very similar to chapter two. He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So if you're a believer here in this room, if you're clothed in the righteousness of Christ, if you are headed for heaven, not because of any good work that you could ever accomplish, but because you are safe, because you're united to Christ by faith alone in Christ alone, then there are three awesome descriptions of this citizenship that I want to give to you tonight. And not only the citizenship, but the hope that we enjoy. You are a citizen of Christ's heaven. Number two, you are waiting for Christ's return. Number three, you will be conformed to Christ's body. I want to encourage you tonight. If you're a Christian, I want to encourage you with these three awesome descriptions of the citizenship that you have and the hope that you enjoy. In a sense, I want to transport you through the preaching of the word by the power of the Holy Spirit to heaven so that the things of this world sort of fade away as we are caught up with the overwhelming hope and reality that we are citizens of glory. citizens of glory. So let's begin with number one. You Christian, you are a citizen of Christ's heaven. You are a citizen of Christ's heaven. You might be a citizen of the United States of America or perhaps of another country. I remember being at the Master's Seminary graduation this May and looking at the program of all of the men that were from India, and Myanmar, and Madagascar, and England, and all these countries around the world, thinking, this is amazing! How many citizenships, how many people from around the world come and gather to be trained at this Bible school? And yet, for every single one of us, We are really primarily citizens of a heavenly country. We, we are those that have a citizenship in heaven that has lasting, unfailing, everlasting significance. You see in your outline there, happy is the person who has this engraved on their tombstone of this blessed man. Let this praise be given. Heaven was in him before he was in heaven. Paul says our citizenship is in heaven. Now, what does Paul mean by citizenship? It's a word in the Greek that means commonwealth. It means home. It means your lodging. It means, really, your identity, where you're from. It's a term that refers to the place where you have official status. It refers to the homeland where your name is recorded on the register of being a citizen. We, we live here, but we're enrolled there. We're alive here on earth, but our home is there in heaven. I think of what Jesus said in Luke chapter 10 and in verse 20. Remember what Jesus told to the disciples? He said, rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. Philippians 4 in verse 3 talks about the names of believers whose names are in the book of life or Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews 12.23 talks about those who are enrolled in heaven. But this isn't just another way of saying, hey, you're a citizen of another place. No. Paul is deliberate. Because remember, we looked at this week after week at the beginning. Philippi is a Roman colony. Philippi is a Roman colony. The citizens of the city of Philippi were actually citizens of Rome and they were proud of it. They boasted in their Roman citizenship. Philippi was founded as a Roman colony with Latin as the official language. It was sort of like a Rome in miniature. Well, The Philippians, they enjoyed all the rights and all the privileges and all the status and all the honors, all the blessings that Rome had. The Philippians were Roman citizens, even though they were living outside of the city of Rome in the city of Philippi. Paul says, that's the perfect term. That's the perfect term. for believers. That just as the Philippians were Roman citizens living outside the city of Rome, so it is with us. We are believers who are citizens of heaven, even though now we live outside the city of heaven here on earth. Boy, could they relate. They understood exactly what Paul was saying. They got it. And Paul says, this is your citizenship. Even though you're not there, your name is enrolled there. Even though you're not there physically currently at the present moment, your homeland is there where your name is recorded on the register of being a citizen. And God said in revelation, I will not erase your name from the book of life. He has no eraser. You are a citizen of heaven. And Paul, when he writes in Philippians 3.20, he says our citizenship is in heaven. The word is could well be translated now currently exists. You got to get that because that's emphatic for Paul to write that and use this verb. Our citizenship right now at this moment currently exists in heaven. I live on earth, but my lodging is in heaven. I belong to a far off homeland and I wait for the king of glory. I wait for the king of that land to come and to return and to fetch me and to take us to his kingdom. That's what Paul is getting at. It's amazing, encouraging terminology that meant the world to the Philippians because they could relate to this as Roman citizens living outside the city of Rome. What amazing hope. Yeah, your home may be here in St. Louis, Missouri, but really, if we want to be biblical, let's remember our real home. is in heaven. We're pilgrims passing through. Our names are recorded on the register of heaven. We are citizens of heaven. May that bring amazing comfort to our hearts. Not only comfort to our hearts, but assurance to our hearts. So the first point that we see that this awesome description that we see is that you are a citizen of Christ's heaven. Really, in a sense, we could say whatever is going on in this life, let it, let it fade away and pale in significance in comparison to the reality that your name is recorded in heaven. Unchangeably fixed. everlastingly recorded in glory, which leads to the second heading for us. What is the second awesome reality that he brings out? Not only are you a citizen of Christ's heaven, but second, you are waiting for Christ's return. You're, you're waiting for his return. Yes, my home is there and I'm waiting for the king of glory to return. Verse 20, Paul says, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which, that is from heaven, we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, where is Jesus right now? One of my daughters asked me this not too long ago. Where is Jesus? To which I responded with the answer of the church catechism. Jesus is in heaven. interceding for sinners. He's in heaven. He's not here. He's in heaven. He died. He rose. He ascended. He he's alive. He's at the right hand of the father. He's he's in heaven. He's not on earth. And he's certainly not present physically in the Roman Catholic mass, but he's in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for a Savior. So we live in light of His appearing, 2 Timothy 4. The Lord is near, Philippians 4, 5. Jesus is coming back. Now, if you look in verse 20, you see a verb. Paul says, we eagerly wait. We eagerly wait. It's a word that speaks of intense yearning. In fact, it's a word in the New Testament that almost only refers to the end times hope. I'm eagerly waiting for the end times hope. I'm eagerly waiting for the return of Christ. I'm eagerly awaiting the return of the King. Romans 8 talks about this. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 7, we are eagerly awaiting the coming of our King. The Greek word almost has the idea of like a tip toe anticipation and a tip toe longing. It's like you're, you're, you're lunging forward. You're waiting, you're longing, you're anticipating. One commentator said the word that Paul uses here implies a disregard of other things and a concentration on one object. I mean, just ask a groom on his wedding day. When he's standing at the front of that sanctuary, he's not thinking about work the next week. He's got one thing on his mind and that's his bride that is about to walk down the aisle. That's the idea right here. There is a great concentration on one object and the word combines two elements together. One is eagerness and the other is patience. And the word we wait for Christ's coming brings them together. We're waiting eagerly for Christ and we're waiting patiently for Christ. We're not forgetful. We're not bored. We're not to be apathetic. We're not to be passive. It's not a let go and let God mentality, but it's a very active, it's, it's eager. And yet it's with patience. Paul says our citizenship is in heaven and we are eagerly patiently awaiting the savior, the savior. A Savior, Paul says, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you gotta see this. Do you see it in your Bible? Look at Paul's phrase of the return of Jesus. He says, we are eagerly awaiting a Savior, that's a key word, Savior, the Lord, another key word, Jesus Christ. Why? Because the emperors at this time loved two titles, Soter, which means Savior, and Kurios, which meant Lord. They loved those titles. They received those titles. Emperor Nero is called savior and benefactor of the world. Emperor Julius Caesar was seen as the visible God and political savior of human life. They loved to be called savior and Lord. They love to be known by these titles. And Paul says, no, we are waiting for the savior and the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only savior and we're waiting for his return. It's not an emperor that's going to bring us happiness and hope. It's the return of Christ. He is the Savior. He is the Lord, not a human man. But the question is this, because everyone in ancient Philippi would have known this. I've decided that Jesus is Lord and Jesus is Savior, not the emperor, which means suffering. So is Jesus your Savior? Is He your Lord? Is Jesus the one that you've come to in saving faith to save you from the penalty of God's righteous wrath? And that means submission to the Lordship of Christ. He cannot be Savior if He is not Lord. And if He is one's Savior, then He most certainly is one's Lord and King and Master. Jesus saves from hell because He's Lord over all. And that's the hope. Paul says, that's our hope. We are eagerly awaiting. He's not just saying, hey, we're waiting for a man to come. No, we're waiting for the Savior. And he's the Lord Jesus Christ. And by that he is showing the Philippians that all the emperors cannot compare with the beauty and surpassing glory of Jesus Christ. There was a man who lived a century or two ago in England. He once said at the end of his life, I don't think That in the last 40 years I have lived one conscious hour that was not influenced by the thought of our Lord's return. Wow. May God help us that we would strive for that, that we would live our days, that we would live our hours thinking of the return of Christ. I was doing yard work this week. And I was kind of underneath the garage area where when my daughters were looking out their bedroom window, they couldn't see me because I was right below. And I found out later as I came in and watched them, they were on their tiptoes, standing on a box, looking out the window for me, anticipating every time I might come out and they might get a glimpse. May it be that we would long and anticipate on our tiptoes waiting for the return of Christ like that. For He is our Savior and He is our Lord. So Paul brings out these awesome, these amazing realities that we have as believers. Number one, you are a citizen of Christ's heaven. Number two, you are waiting for Christ's return. Now, number three, as if Paul couldn't bring theology any greater, he says this, number three, you will be conformed to Christ's body. That's good news. All the aches and the pains and the illness and the sufferings and the hardship will one day be done away. Because notice what he says in verse 21, we're awaiting the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself. Now we've got to talk for a minute about personal eschatology, individual and times. You say, what does that mean? When a Christian dies, when a Christian dies, the body goes to the ground and the soul immediately, instantaneously goes to heaven to be with Christ. We're going to talk about that on Sunday. But when Jesus comes back one day, all remaining Christians who are alive when Jesus returns, the Bible says we will have our bodies changed. We will be transformed by the power of God. This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. In fact, it's the argument of the whole chapter. But in first Corinthians 15, 51, Paul says, we will not all die, but we will all be changed. What a hope, what a hope we have. When He comes, verse 21 says, He will transform the body of our humble state, our earthly humble body, and our body will be conformed. It will be transformed into perfect conformity with the body of Jesus Christ. That is His glorified body. It is my conviction that in verse 21, when it talks about how we wait for Jesus Christ when he comes and he transforms our bodies, that the coming of Christ spoken of here in these verses speaks of that time of the any moment return of Jesus Christ. And it is spoken of that return when Jesus translates the bodies of believers perfectly into Christ's likeness. 1 Corinthians 15 talks about that. John chapter 14, Jesus says, I will come and take you to be where I am. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 talks about how believers will be caught up to meet the Lord. I believe that this in verses 20 and 21 is speaking of the catching up of believers. Some theologians have titled it the rapture, which is just the Latin word of the catching up of believers. In the word of God, we are eagerly waiting for a savior. We are longing for that day when Jesus will return and we who are alive, we will be changed. We will be transformed. We will be instantaneously made like Christ for we will see him just as he is, which means we are to watch. It means we are to rejoice. It means we are to be holy. It means we are to be expectant for the coming of our Savior. But what do you mean transformed? What do you mean transformed? It means that when Jesus comes back and He transforms our bodies, it means that our humble condition, our earthly bodies will be changed, that is transfigured into full conformity to the nature and likeness of our glorified Christ. So that means there will be no sin, no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, no anger, no frustration, no worry, no hospitals, No law enforcement. It means that we will be glorious, radiant, God exalting. We will be Christ-like in every way. And that's the goal of God's work in us. We could say perfection is the goal of God sanctifying work in us. So we're going to be transformed to be conformed to his image. So that poses the question in my mind, maybe in yours. So how does this teach me about what we will be like when we are changed? What will we be like in heaven? We want to know what heaven is going to be like. We want to know how we'll relate to other people in heaven. But what are we going to be like in heaven? I think number one, we will be perfectly sanctified, perfectly sanctified for we will see Jesus as he really is. We will have new bodies. I think the Bible teaches that even in heaven, you will have recognizable bodies. You'll be perfect. You'll be glorified, but you'll be recognizable just as Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are recognizable in glory. We will have unique bodies. That is to say, we're not just going to all be the same. We're going to be unique, just like now we have unique features. God made Adam and Eve unique. people before the curse. We will have perfect desires. Imagine what it will be like for us to be in heaven. The way that we think and the way that we talk and the things that we desire and the ambitions of our hearts will always be perfect. Always. Not only what those, but number six, what will we be like in heaven? We will have everlasting fellowship. We will have everlasting fellowship. And when you think about what it is to be in heaven, conformed to the body of His glory, consider what that is. We will have perfect joy, perfect pleasure, perfect sight, perfect knowledge, perfect comfort, perfect love, perfect fellowship. We will be perfect in every way. Somebody might say, well, well, How is that going to happen? How's that going to happen? And Paul answers it at the end of verse 21. You see, Jesus is going to come and transform the body of our humble state to be conformed with the body of His glory. How is this going to happen? By the exertion, that is by the energy, by the strength, by the working of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. That is to say, the totality of all created things. will be subject to Jesus Christ. Oh, by the way, Philippian believers, even the emperors, even the persecutors by whose hands you're suffering, everything will be subjected to Jesus Christ. And he has the authority to change your body because he has the authority over everything to be put under his feet. unstoppable power of Christ, divine power, irresistible power, preserving power. It's kind of interesting. The phrase, subject all things to himself, Paul's quoting Psalm 8. What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you take thought of him? Because in that Psalm, It talks about how God, the Father, subjects all things to Messiah. And Paul has such a high and lofty Christology that he uses language that is attributed to God, the Father, and he says, no, no, no, Jesus, who is God, is the one who subjects all things to Himself. Jesus is God. He is divine. He's the one who has all power to subject all things to himself. Paul is consumed with Christ. What is Paul doing? He's reminding the believers who are declared to be righteous by the imputed righteousness of Christ. He's reminding them as you press on toward the goal, as you reject and renounce all self-righteousness and you pursue Jesus Christ, you want to know Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection. Paul reminds him, you're a citizen of heaven. Keep fighting, keep persevering, keep laboring, keep suffering, keep enduring, keep pressing on. and keep waiting for Jesus Christ to come back. For He will come and He will transform our bodies. As we close, there is wonderful words of application at the bottom of your outline there by a Puritan preacher. I love reading about him, Christopher Love. If you have time in the near future, you ought to search for how Christopher Love died. It's an amazing story. It's an amazing story. You will want to go and preach to everybody in St. Louis and you won't care if they burn you because that's what they did to him. Amazing story of a man who trusted in God. And he was arguing that those who are citizens of heaven and we who will attain eternal glory, we are those who, by the grace of God, we will show. And he gives 10 marks, but I just want to read a couple to you as we close. He says, if we're citizens of heaven, number five, we will long for Christ's coming glory. We will, we will long for it. We will want Jesus to come back and we'll want to be changed. And number 10, Christopher Love said, we who are citizens of heaven, we will seek to live blamelessly on the way to glory. As we wait for the coming of Christ, as we prepare ourselves to gather to pray to the Lord, to seek His faiths. We have heard from God in the pages of scripture. We ought to thank God. We ought to thank Him for the hope of heaven. And we ought to pray and say, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Let's not forget the early church did that. That's how they greeted each other. Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus, our Lord come. Let's ask the Lord as we pray. God, help me help us as a church. Help the leadership here, help our families, help our marriages, help us in our parenting. That we would live with this heavenly mindset with an eternal perspective. May God help us as we pray together. Father, thank you for hearing our prayer even now, as we ask you, oh God, to write your eternal truth upon our hearts. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your amazing power to subject all things to yourself, that you will transform our bodies to be conformed with your body one day. Oh, how we say with the Apostle John, come quickly, Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen.