Spurs to Holiness

is our direction, then we will be on the path of
sanctification. And we must be on the path of
sanctification if heaven is our direction, because one day we
will stand in God’s holy presence, essentially is what that last
line says. We entered back into the book
of Philippians last week after what I discovered was almost
10 months. I went looking for my notes and
I saw only 2008. And I kept poking around looking
for more current notes. And that was it. It was last
August. And so we did a bit of a review
and I took you all the way back to verse one of chapter three,
reminding you that essentially this whole chapter, chapter three
is a unit. and that it addresses sanctification
or the progressive grace that God pours into our life in drawing
us near to Him through a process that we call sanctification,
or better yet, where we are ever made more and more like Christ. Paul himself was very upfront
by saying that he had not already laid hold of this sanctification. And as we’ve talked about, the
whole chapter lays out how this sanctification is to be pursued.
Is it through observance of the law to the letter? Paul said,
no, that’s not how we pursue the Lord. Paul pointed out that he had
not yet arrived, but that he was on the right path and that
he knew it and that it was a path worth pursuing. If you would,
we’re not going to go all the way back, but I do want to go
back to verse 7. We’ll take a running start and
pick up the verses that we’ll be considering this morning.
Verses 17 through 19. We’ll read more than that, but
those are the verses in focus this morning. The passage that
we’ll be looking at is there in the bulletin, if you prefer.
But you don’t have this part all the way back to verse seven,
where Paul, having chided those who claimed superiority because
of how they lived according to the flesh, Paul says in verse
seven, but whatever things were gained to me, those things I
have counted as loss. for the sake of Christ. All sanctification,
all godliness was to be found in Christ and only through Christ
and not in and of ourselves or our own efforts. More than that,
I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing knowledge
of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that
I may gain Christ.” Those were good things. Those things that
he had counted as rubbish were not rubbish in most people’s
eyes, especially the religious elite. Those things, the circumcision,
the family heritage, all of those things were good and noble things
to the Israelite. But Paul says comparatively,
when you compare that to knowing Christ, knowing the Messiah personally
and intimately, there is no comparison. And the one is as rubbish when
compared to the other. Paul goes on to say in verse
nine, it may be found in him that is found in Christ, not
having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but
having that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness
which comes from God on the basis of faith. And throughout this
entire chapter, that is the contrast. There are always and ever will
be those that think that they can do enough good or be good
enough or pursue enough philanthropic effort to be found as good and
earn heaven as it were. And Paul said there isn’t there’s
no course available to us. The only course available to
us for righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. Paul further outlines his desire
in verse 10, that I may know Him. And that is the Christian’s
chief delight. That is the Christian’s chief
goal is to know Christ and to know Him better. That I may know
Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed to His death in order that I may attain to
the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained
it. Paul says, I have not already attained the resurrection from
the dead. I don’t intimately know Christ fully yet. I desire
to know Him. I want to know Him. I want to
know the power of the resurrection. But I haven’t laid hold of it
yet. And the whole chapter urges us to press on, to press ever
on. Not that I have already obtained
it or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that
I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ
Jesus. Sanctification, Christ likeness,
that’s why we were laid hold of. Brethren, I do not regard
myself as having laid hold of it yet. But one thing I do, forgetting
what lies behind, reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on. toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore,
as many as are perfect, have this attitude, and if anything,
you have a different attitude. God will reveal that also to
you. However, let us keep living by that same standard to which
we are to which we have attained. And this is where we picked up
last week. Where we saw that there were
Spotlights, if you will, on the Christian pathway, the pathway
of sanctification. The first of which is that we
are called to cultivate a mature mindset, a mindset that looks
at ourselves and sees what God sees and says, yeah, you’re right,
God, we’re not there yet. That’s the maturity or the perfection,
if you will, that Paul’s talking about. Let us have this attitude,
an attitude that says and agrees with God that we have not yet
arrived, that there is much work to be done in our lives and that
we must press on. We can expect, as we saw from
the passage, those that pursue Christ will receive a divine
corrective. If in anything you have a different
attitude, God will reveal that to you also, haven’t we all?
Been to the woodshed countless times from God, teaching us, correcting
us, changing our heart, changing our attitudes. Ultimately, Paul
says as a pastor, I can go so far. I can go so far, but ultimately
you’re in God’s precious hand and he will correct you. Sanctification
is his endeavor. Sanctification is his goal for
you. Sanctification is the process
that he began in you, Philippians one, six, and he will complete
it. There’s a third spotlight that
we considered that we are to already be walking according
to an established standard. In other words, there’s no slipping
back. There’s no going back. There’s no reverting. There’s
no cashing it in for now and kicking back and waiting for
God. No. What you know now. You were called
to and you’re expected to uphold. Verse 16, however, let us keep
living by that same standard to which we are attained. And
then Paul basically gives us the means for doing that. We’re
supposed to stand on what we’ve already been given
and walk according to that. But we are also to press on.
Verse 17, Brethren, join in following my example and observe those
who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk,
of whom I’ve often told you and now tell you, even weeping, that
they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction,
whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is their shame.
who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is
in heaven, from which we also eagerly await 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 given even to subject all things to
Himself. We find it difficult, don’t we?
To find earthly examples. There aren’t many. There aren’t
a lot. There aren’t enough. We find the tendency that people
have to almost eschew that role. We don’t want to be followed,
heaven forbid. We don’t want people looking
at us, much less acting like us. That’s our fear as soon as
we become parents, isn’t it? that they’re going to pick up
all of our habits and all of our mannerisms and all of our
attitudes. Paul wasn’t afraid to be followed.
Paul wasn’t afraid to be emulated. As we’ve seen many times, Paul
was never afraid to urge others to imitate him. Our friends will
tell us, do as I say. Don’t do as I do. But Paul said,
do as I do. Watch and do likewise. He wasn’t
afraid of being a role model, an example, or a pattern for
others to follow. Later on in this same book, Paul
will again urge, the things you have learned and received and
heard and seen in me. Is there anything left out? The
things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Practice
these things. And the God of peace will be
with you. These were spiritual things. These were deeply practical
Christian measures. Paul isn’t talking about the
way that he banked or the way that he conducted his business
enterprise. He’s talking about the way that
he walked, the way that he served his God. And it wasn’t just to
the Philippians that he had commended himself. This thing is this pattern
is is so replete throughout his epistles that you can tell that
Paul was either an arrogant egotist or he fully believed that the
work done in him was done by the grace of God. And that it
was to be commended to others. Philippians, pardon me, rather,
First Corinthians 416. First Corinthians 416, therefore,
I exhort you be imitators of me. 1 Corinthians 11 1 be imitators
of me, just as I also am of Christ. 2 Corinthians 6 4, which verse
we considered at some length recently. 2 Corinthians 6 4 in
everything we are commending ourselves as servants of God.
Watch and do likewise. 1 Thessalonians 1 6 You became
imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much
tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Paul didn’t rebuke
them for copying him. Second Thessalonians, to the
same church, he wrote, you yourselves know how you ought to follow
our example. Because we did not act in an
undisciplined manner among you. Nor did we eat anyone’s bread
without paying for it. But with labor and hardship,
we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden
to any of you. And not because we do not have a right to do
this, But in order to offer ourselves as a model to you, Paul was modeling
right behavior wherever he went. When he had called the Ephesian
elders to the shore there for one of the final meetings he
had with them, he again called them to emulation. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
20. In Acts 20, I want to look at
a lengthy passage here where Paul doesn’t shy away from calling
others to following in his footsteps. In Acts 20, verse 18, when they
had come to him, that is, the Ephesian elders, he said to them,
you yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in
Asia how I was with you the whole time. And what he begins to do
is bring up all these examples. Examples that he was laying before
them for a reason. You yourselves know from the
first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole
time, serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, with trials
which came upon me through the plots of the Jews. How I did
not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable,
teaching you publicly from house to house, solemnly testifying
both to Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord
Jesus. He brings up his resume. He says,
remember how I lived and ministered among you. Skip down to verse
30. He begins to warn them, 31 rather, he begins to warn them
and says, therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night
and day for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish
each one with tears. And now I commend you to God
and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up
and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves
know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men
who are with me in everything. I showed you that by working
hard in this manner, you must help the weak. And remember the
words of the Lord Jesus that he said is more blessed to give
than to receive. Paul laid before them his own
resume. And in a very real way, he said,
watch and do likewise. Such an attitude is not born
out of arrogance. Instead, it is an indication
of a healthy confidence in the power and grace of God in the
application of principles in one’s life. And that we are all
called to do that. We are all called to stand before
others and say, watch me. I’m a Christian. The sad truth
is there’s not many of us who would do that. Because we haven’t
done the first things first. It is a full awareness of a grace
changed life. That would and should prompt
us to urge others to follow. One said it this way, only that
person in whose life the grace of Christ is seen can ask others
to be as he himself is. If you haven’t done the first
things first, if you’re not following hard after Christ, please don’t
ask others to imitate you. That’s the biggest problem in
the church, as Paul will go on to say, is that people had bad
examples. So what exactly is Paul urging
the Philippians to emulate? Based on the context, it has
to be that Paul wants them to consider his example in avoiding
self-righteousness and any idea of attaining some kind of perfection
this side of glory. Paul says, follow my example
in this. I haven’t laid hold of it yet.
I’m still pressing on. It’s a worthy goal. Let’s go. Paul goes on. Not only does he
say, join in following my example, but watch this. He says, observe
those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. There
are others out there that we can follow. Other godly Christians. Other saints whose lives we can
emulate. Paul says, look for them. The
word observe, skopeo, from where we get our word scope, suggests
the need for caution. as we look in order to provide
a complete avoidance. This is akin to the flashing
amber sign near a cliff. Watch very carefully. Pick very carefully who you observe. Be very watchful who you pick
to pattern your life after such a scene of danger. is not something
that should be casually or lightly considered, Paul says, it is
gravely serious business. And he says the same thing to
the Romans and to the Corinthian church. In Romans 16, 17, he
said, I urge you, brethren, keep your eye. Watch them very carefully. On those who cause dissensions
and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you have learned
and turn away from them. Don’t follow those people. Boy,
a lot of church splits would be avoided if we took that advice,
wouldn’t they? 2 Corinthians 4.18, which passage
we considered at length. We look not at the things which
are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. We are to have our scope dialed
in, adjusted, focused on the right things. The idea here is
that there is a danger in following the wrong examples, and instead
we are to focus our attention on the best of God’s children
and follow them, emulate their behavior. Or where their behavior,
better yet, is good, emulate that. As one said, wherever they found
the life of the apostle imitated or displayed, they were to market
and make it their pattern, an embodiment of earnest faith.
And that’s why I said we need more examples, not fewer. We need more of us in a hot pursuit
of Christ that ends up being an example to others. What are we watching here? We’re
watching those who walk and those who walk in a particular manner.
Even though this word is used here in the book of Philippians,
only here, it is a favorite word of Paul, this word to walk. He uses the simple word to walk
to refer to the entirety of the Christian life, doesn’t he? It
is our walk. It is our pursuit of heaven.
His speech, his conduct, his interaction with God and others,
believers and nonbelievers, everything is figured into the Christian’s
walk. In our day, we have a simple
saying, don’t we? Very common. So-and-so does so-and-so walk
his talk, right? In other words, how is this individual’s
Christian life, how is it being lived out, if at all? Paul uses the word in Romans
6, 4, 13, 13, Galatians 5, walk by the spirit. Paul talks about
it, and according to our past life, this word, this word to
walk that we used to walk according to the course of the world, but
now we walk a different walk. In fact, the whole end of the
book of Ephesians is all about the Christian walk for one. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling
with which you have been called.” 417, I say and affirm together
with the Lord that you no longer walk as the Gentiles walk. 5-2, walk in love. 5-8, you were
formerly in darkness, but now you are in light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light. Ephesians 5.15 Therefore, be
careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise.” Paul said there is to be something
of Christ and the work of grace in the life of a believer. What
he says earlier, the power of the resurrection and the fellowship
of the saints, there should be something that is visible and
seen in the life of a believer. The life changing grace of God
should be plainly evident to others. After all, it is the
power of God, right? It is resurrection power that
saved you, right? It is because it is the result
of the power of God and only because of that that invites
the imitation of others. The question we must ask ourselves
is how strong would this church be If everyone followed your
example. That’s a fearful part of the
calling to lead the church. The Old Testament says it this
way, they will be like people, like priests. The most fearful
thing I remember upon planting a church, I remember discussing
this with a series of pastors is that it was much like parenting.
And that the fearful and frightful thing is that the church, just
like my children, pick up all of my idiosyncrasies and all
of my tendencies. But this is a mandate that is
incumbent upon every Christian to live a life by the right application
of God’s grace that is worth copying. And you say, why? Why, if we’re
already saved, are we so to doggedly pursue this sanctification to
the point of becoming examples in our Christ likeness to others?
And Paul provides two grand examples. We’ll get to one today, perhaps,
and the other hopefully next Lord’s Day. I called them spurs
to holiness. Two grand motivators for the
pursuit of sanctification. Why should we so earnestly pursue
sanctification? The first is that we are motivated
by those who have veered off course. That, Paul says, is to
be a grand motivator to the Christian. Let’s consider this one first.
It’s a strong one and it’s a sad one. When Paul urged the Philippian
believers to follow his example, he had good reason. Because there
were individuals, people he had known and could name, who to
some degree had professed faith, who had taken a turn for the
worse and no longer walked the walk. They no longer followed
Christ. They no longer lived lives worthy
of emulating. They no longer were on the path
of sanctification in heaven itself. They never were. They simply
and tragically veered off course. As one said, Paul’s mind naturally
reverts to those who do not manifest this spirit. Paul was a shepherd. Paul was watching out over his
flock and he knew that there were many who, if watched and
emulated, will pull many more off the path of sanctification
and heaven.” were those that did not manifest
that spirit, who live in the present and for it only, who
prefer sensual gratification to spiritual enjoyment, and whose
souls, so far from soaring in like-minded aspiration with God’s
people, are absorbed in earthly things.” Consider first what
Paul says here. He says that there were many.
Look at verse 18. for many walk of whom I often
told you and now tell you even weeping that they are enemies
of the cross of Christ.” Paul says there were many. Many, not
few. They may not have been the majority
of the professing church, but it was a sufficient portion of
the visible and professing church Many of them had veered off course
and now were effectively contrary to the very grace that they once
professed. As one said, the evil was widespread
of long standing and grave. It was a very serious situation
to have people in the community. Oh, yes, I’m part of such and
such a church. My life doesn’t testify it. But
I belong there. I’m a member there. I go to church
and I go to Sunday school. I come even sometimes at night.” One pastor described them. How is it that people can wander
in and be like this? He tells us. He says, minds who
were so disgusted with gross superstitions and idolatries
might relish the pure theism of the gospel. They might admire
its benevolent and comprehensive ethics and might be entranced
with its authoritative pronouncement on idolatry. Yet, they might
not penetrate into its spirit nor feel its transforming power. Change of opinion is not conversion,
nor is the admiration of truth identical with the reception
of its influence. And that’s exactly Paul’s point.
There were many that had gathered around the heat that could not
feel its warmth and they did not see its light. Note, secondly, the subtle play
on words. There were many of whom Paul
had spoken many times. He echoes his same word. More
than once, many times, Paul had pointed out that there were dangerous
liberties, errant tendencies and careless living. among them. There were many of them, and
they had been a frequent source of caution. Paul had frequently
addressed the church on this matter and said, be careful about
the way these people are living. Note thirdly, how heartbreaking
this is to the earthly shepherd, not to mention to God. But this
behavior of these people ultimately elicits weeping on the part of
the picture. Paul, I mean, he wasn’t necessarily
a fisherman, but you picture him as robust and hardy and,
you know, a tough guy based on some of the things that he said
and not to mention all the things that he did coursing across the
country and taking what everybody dished out the physical punishment
alone. This was a tough dude. Any shepherd knows this heartbreak.
In fact, anyone, in fact, who has ever discipled or encouraged
or nurtured another professing believer knows this heartache.
And Paul certainly did. Paul was a passionate shepherd,
even emotional, you might even say. The passage we just read
in the book of Acts, it said he was serving the Lord with
all humility, with tears and with trials. And I take that
to mean that it wasn’t so much the trials, but it was what the
trials were producing. It was driving people away from
the church in cowardice that brought Paul to tears. The end
of that passage, he said, therefore, beyond the alert, remembering
that night and day for a period of three years, I did not cease
to admonish each one with tears because he knew what the sad
consequence was if they didn’t heed his advice. Here, the tears
are from a pleading heart. 2 Corinthians 2. Which passage
we missed, by the way, out of much affliction and anguish of
heart. Paul was absolutely gripped with
pain. I wrote you with many tears. And you picture the shepherd
writing to his church with tears streaming down his face. dotting
the parchment paper that he was writing on, even smearing the
ink. Out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to
you with many tears. Second Corinthians, he speaks
of the daily pressure. Romans nine, he talks about the
unceasing grief in his heart on behalf of the nation of Israel.
This was a this was a pastor whose heart had repeatedly been
broken. Note how sad, though, and thorough
the detour of these people is. Not only does it break Paul’s
heart, but he ultimately names them
as the very enemies of the cross of Christ. Enemies. How could this be? How could
they have veered so far, so fast, this early in the history of
the church The sad truth is that if it wasn’t
immediate, even as fast as the gospel itself was being preached,
it was very nearly so. Error followed on the heels of
truth from the very earliest moment. Romans 16, Romans 16,
Paul records it. Now, I urge you keep your eye
on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the
teaching which you have learned. He goes on to say that such men
are slaves, not of our Lord Jesus, but of their own appetites. And
by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts
of the unsuspecting. How early in the church. How
very early. Ephesians five, six, he wrote
to them as well and said, let no one deceive you with empty
words. As one recorded, If the friends
of the cross are those who show by their lives that they have
caught the spirit of the cross, namely self-denial, then surely
the enemies of the cross are those who manifest the very opposite
attitude, namely that of self-indulgence. The friends of the cross do not
love the world. The enemies of the cross love
the world and the things of the world. There are all kinds of
varieties of heresies and false teachings and errant tendencies
that crept into the church over the century. As one said, there were a variety
of these, all though under a common moral likeness. Some would hold
the tenet prominent in later Gnosticism that matter was evil
and that the body could never even approach holiness. Others
held that, you know, you had to pursue the law in order to
attain holiness. Paul said the truth was somewhere
in the middle. Ultimately, he says these are
enemies of the cross. So who exactly are they? Is it
the Judaizers that promoted the law as the way to perfection? Is it the heathen that were so
godless they didn’t even know there was a law and lived accordingly?
Was it those that are called the antinomians, the lawless
ones, the ones that said matter is evil, therefore, why should
I even pursue holiness? Because this body will never
be perfected. Those who lived as if there was
no law, professing believers with immoral, impure, unsanctified
lives. I appreciate the way one pastor
summarized it when he said the enemies of the cross were heretics, forerunners of
the dangerous second century heresy known as Gnosticism. These
were those that said all matter is evil, all flesh is evil. Therefore,
let go, live how you want to live. Since the body, he goes
on to say, is made of matter, it is intrinsically evil. Since
the body is incurably evil, it doesn’t matter what one does
with it. Its desires can be satiated. A person can be a glutton, a
drunkard, a homosexual, an adulterer. All of those things were inconsequential
since they affected only the body. Or did they? Paul’s weeping, as we discussed
earlier, would likely be on behalf of those false believers in the
church. These were people that were part
of the church who not only brought a miserable end upon themselves,
but they brought scandalous reproach on the church. That said, Paul’s
compassion certainly goes beyond the church. His heart was broken
for his countrymen, the Jews, and understandably, even for
the godless, Paul wept. Paul grieved, ultimately, though,
that the gospel through these people would be so misrepresented
and so abused. And so in that sense, it’s all
of the above. It’s the Jews. It’s the heathen. And it’s certainly
with the godless people in their midst. As Paul would go on to
explain to the Corinthian church, to the Christian, the cross is
a symbol of self-denial, but to the godless, it is foolishness. And that was the most grievous
to Paul One speaking of this enmity,
this hatred, the fact that they were enemies of the cross, it
is enmity not directed against the cross as the tree. It’s not
that they had an issue with the wooden structure. But against
that for which the cross stands, the ideology of Christianity,
any anti-Christian action, any opposition to the gospel of which
the preaching of the cross is the pivot and center. It is the
opposition of self-sufficiency against the demands made by the
gospel of the cross with regard to taking up the cross personally.
That’s what they had a problem with. That’s why they made themselves
enemies of the cross. There were other suggestions
as to what exactly this means. What exactly about the cross
of Christ elicited such a hatred? that people could be said to
be the enemies thereof. There were those who preached
that the law superseded the cross and they were enemies of it.
There were those who hated the cross because of the persecution
it brought. And when they felt the persecution,
they gave up the pursuit of Christ. They hated the cross. There were
those who hated the cross as the insistent core element of
the gospel. It was just such foolishness.
that our Savior would have to die on a cross. They were enemies
of the cross. But the clearest element here,
based on the passage, is that those who hated the cross because
they would not crucify self, they hated the cross. Certainly,
the Judaizers were doing just that. They professed Christ,
sort of. But they were offended by the
simplicity of the cross. And they sought to reassert all
law keeping as an assistance to the gospel and saving others.
The merit of Christ’s atonement on the cross alone, his death
on the cross was insufficient. And that alone made them enemies
of the cross, but there were many others and there still are. There is another group of whom
John Eady, Godly Scottish pastor once said. He said their hostility
to the cross lay in their not realizing its great design. For Christ died at once to provide
pardon and secure sanctification. And the reception of the first
blessing is meant to prepare for the ultimate process. In
other words, what John Eady said years ago, someone else more
recently said and got himself in all kinds of hot water. The
same God who initiates the process of salvation, initiates the process
of sanctification. And you can’t have one without
the other. In recent days, we called it lordship salvation.
It is the gospel. It is the God who initiates the
work in us will complete it. John Eady goes on. He says, they
are therefore enemies of the cross who see not in it the evil
of sin so as to forsake it, who remain strangers to its attractions
and who will not submit to the authority nor conform themselves
to the example of him who died upon it. The cross wasn’t just
for our salvation. The cross was for our sanctification
as well. And Paul says there are many
that would not have it. One Puritan goes on to say it
quite pointedly. In speaking of those who were
enemies of the cross, he said their antagonism lay in thwarting
the influence of the cross and refusing to feel its elevating
and spiritualizing virtue. They were unchanged and that
alone left them as enemies of the cross. They had heard the
Gospel. They had even professed Christ.
But their lives were unchanged. And in that sense, they became
the enemies of the cross. If their supreme pleasure was
in the indulgence of animal appetite and their soul was immersed in
earthly pursuits and gratifications, then certainly all that the cross
had done for them was of no avail. What it provided was not received.
Its design was contravened. And its lessons were flung aside. Those who walked in refusal of
the claims of the cross in violation of its design and in defiance
of its lessons were its enemies.” Paul goes on to give a brief
picture of those, the enemies of the cross. Look again at verse
18. Many walk of whom I often told
you and now tell you even weeping. They are enemies of the cross
of Christ. whose end is destruction, whose
God is their appetite, whose glory is in their shame, who
set their minds on earthly things. The end is the end and destruction
is not is not annihilation. It is everlasting punishment. As the scriptures make clear,
nowhere are we taught that we are simply dispersed as so much
dust. Their end is destruction. They
gain hell for their life. Their God is their appetite.
By nature, those individuals had a hatred of the divine character. They didn’t like God. They thought
He was too bossy and too stern. And so they created for themselves
a God of their own choosing. Their appetite. They wanted what
they wanted. As Paul said to the Corinthians,
1 Corinthians 6, 13, food for the stomach and the stomach for
food. But God will do away with both
of them. They can’t listen to God, not
to biblical principles, because there is another voice to which
their heart is attuned. It is their bodily appetite.
It is their simple desires. And ultimately, it results in
idolatry. Their basic desires were unchecked. They were inordinate. They were
out of control. They were pursued by illicit
means. And this is a danger that all Christians face. All Christians
face eating, catering to the body and all of its desires.
Some of those needs are basic and some of that can be met by
simple and God honoring means. It is the inordinate, is the
sinful pursuit of those things that is ruinous. And pardon me,
as one said, instead of striving to keep their physical appetites
under control, realizing that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s
temple in which God should be glorified. These people surrendered
themselves to the gluttony and licentiousness, they worshiped
instead their sensual desires. Not only that, he says, whose
glory is their shame, they enjoyed a kind of glory. But their particular
kind of glory is born out of a kinder, gentler brand of Christianity,
a Christianity of their own editing. There is much more permissiveness,
much less rigid religion, one that even celebrates the very
things that Scripture condemns. They revel, they boast in the
fact that they possess liberty, but their exercise of liberty
is actually shameful and degrading indulgence. They should have
been downright ashamed. Instead, they were proud, even
boastful of their life. And then finally, in closing,
Paul says, who are they? Whose end is destruction? Whose
God is their appetite? Whose glory is in their shame?
Who set their minds on earthly things? And here again, we come
back to that word, phreno, the mind. Their mind was set on earthly
things. That was their focus. Even in
the case of these enemies of the cross, their focus was on
earthly things, worldly pursuits. What immediately comes to my
mind is the little section in Pilgrim’s Progress. Remember
Vanity Fair? Vanity Fair, just everybody having
a great time, partying it up. It’s a picture of the world that
Bunyan gives us. It’s more than amusing to me
that in our own day and age, there’s a magazine that touts
the title, Vanity Fair. It’s worldliness. People that
are so absorbed in earthly things, power, pleasure, wealth, fame,
accomplishment, they forget the higher calling to glory and honor
and immortality. One said, To the true Christian,
heaven is as real to his apprehensions as earth and in the proportion
of his faith, more influential over his heart. He measures the
worth of worldly prosperity and the strength of the world’s claim
to occupy his thoughts in his time by other standards than
those of the earth. In essence, what he says is Christianity
is apprehension. It is an awareness of who you
are and where you’re headed. It is progress. It is growing
in sanctification. It is hot pursuit of Christ and
Christ likeness. John Newton summarized it with
these simple words. He said of himself. I have ever
to confess with sorrow that I am so very far from being what I
ought to be. and so far from being what I
wish to be, but also, blessed be God’s name, to testify that
I am far, very far from what I once was.” As one pastor said in closing,
if we have ears to hear what Paul is warning us, is that we
have need of prayerfulness. We have need of self-study, of
spiritual vigilance, seeing how little a profession of faith
means and how very much a life that honors God we are called
to. Let’s bow and examine our own
hearts. Our Father God, we thank you
for this passage that was written for our instruction. We thank
you, Father, and pray that you would not leave us in some kind
of self-indolence. But that, Father, you would bring
us to our knees to examine our own lives and make us to be people
that please you on our walk and are an example an example worthy of following
to others around us. Be glorified, we pray, in Jesus’
name. Amen.