A Higher Focus

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You know, the very first battle, the very first major battle, I should say, of the American Revolutionary War to take place after the Declaration of Independence was signed took place on Long Island. The Battle of Long Island started in late August of 1776, and George Washington led a group of 10,000 men who dug in in a small town, think of it this way, a small town called Brooklyn, New York. Back then it was a small town.

They dug in there and they prepared for battle and they were attacked by a combined force of 20,000 British regular troops and German mercenaries who were fighting alongside them. And so the Americans were outnumbered two to one. And before too long, George Washington, we like to think of him as almost a superhuman figure, But George Washington and his troops were defeated.

He was forced to evacuate them off to Manhattan and then eventually out of New York altogether. They were driven into New Jersey before all was said and done. Now, I know some of you are thinking, I didn’t come here for a history lesson today.

If you’re anything like my wife, you don’t like history because you had teachers who convinced you it was all just dates and places you had to memorize. I love history because it’s stories. fascinating stories.

And one of the reasons that the story of the Battle of Long Island caught my attention is because my seventh great-grandfather, that’s great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-grandfather, was there. He fought in that battle. He was 50 years old when he enlisted to serve under Washington.

He was a. . .

What makes the story so incredible to me is not only that he signed up at that age, which back in that day was considered too old to fight, but he was a German immigrant himself. He was a German settler named Ludwig Mansker, who had settled in central Pennsylvania. He had come there a few years before.

And while a lot of Germans, a lot of people from his home country, were enlisting to fight on the side of the British because a lot of the German princes supported the British. Ludwig Mansker had come here and he had settled in what’s now America. And when war broke out, he basically said, I don’t care what the other Germans are doing.

He swore allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He swore allegiance to the new American Republic. And he enlisted to serve under George Washington and fight on the side of his new country.

He could have easily supported the British because that’s what most of the other Germans were doing. That’s what his former country was doing. But instead, he had a new home here in America.

He had a new citizenship, and it changed his whole perspective. He did something at 50 that was completely different from what he might have done if it had happened when he was 20. His new citizenship changed his perspective.

It made him willing to fight for his new home, even though it cost him dearly. He was actually captured by the British or maybe by German mercenaries. Don’t know exactly who, but he was captured by that side during the Battle of Long Island and was held prisoner by the British for three months before he died as a prisoner of war, serving his adopted country in November of that year.

And I just was struck by this story again thinking about how a new citizenship should bring a whole new perspective to us as we take on new rights and new responsibilities. All those things that a new citizenship would mean. And the Bible uses this picture of a new citizenship to remind us of how our perspective on what matters should change when we belong to Jesus Christ. The Bible compares this relationship that we have with Him to citizenship, to citizenship in His kingdom.

So if you would, turn with me to Philippians 3 this morning. Philippians 3. And if you would, if you’re able to, stand with me as we read together from God’s Word.

Philippians 3, and we’re going to start in verse 17. It says, Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. All right, you may be seated.

So Paul, when he was writing this, and by the way, some of your translations may say in verse 20, our conversation is in heaven. That’s an old Englishy way of saying citizenship. That’s what the word there means, is citizenship.

So Paul was writing to the church at Philippi. He was writing to a group of people who, better than a lot of others in the ancient world, understood what citizenship meant. All the rights and responsibilities that came along with it.

Because Philippi, even though it was in Greece, was settled as a Roman colony. And it’s where they encouraged their retired soldiers to go and live. And so it was kind of a colony of Roman military veterans, obviously very patriotic toward Rome.

And as a result of this arrangement, the Emperor Octavian had granted citizenship to the whole city. Now, I know to us, you know, most of us in this room were probably born citizens of the United States. You know, we kind of take it for granted.

We don’t understand what that means. Okay, yeah, I’m a citizen. I check it on a box when I fill out a job application or something like that.

I’m a natural born citizen. I can run for president, not that anybody would vote for me. But we think of it that way.

In the ancient world, not everybody had citizenship. You didn’t automatically, most people did not automatically acquire citizenship in Rome or any other country. There were multiple classes of people.

And if you were down here, you might have been a slave and you certainly weren’t a citizen. Or you might have been free, but you were poor and you were not a citizen. You basically had very few rights if you were not a citizen.

But a Roman citizen, they had the right to own property. They had the right to a trial when they were accused of something. They had the right to appeal government decisions.

Again, we take it for granted as Americans. The government does something we don’t like. We can start a petition.

We can gripe at them on Facebook. We can do all sorts of things. You couldn’t do that in the ancient world.

You just had to sit there and take it unless you were a citizen. It protected them from arbitrary punishment. Now, we’ve got debates about that in our country right now, about the level of punishment that is used by our authorities.

In their world, there was no debate. If you weren’t a Roman citizen, they could do whatever they wanted to you, and there’s not a thing you could say about it. But as a citizen, you were protected from that sort of thing.

It made them Romans. And to people who were not born Romans, maybe they came from conquered areas, maybe they came from other groups of people, the idea that you could somehow become a Roman with all the rights and privileges that that entailed, that was a dream for most people. Something that they could never hope to achieve outside of their wildest dreams. Visit with somebody who wasn’t born here and you get a little bit of an idea of what that’s like.

Because America has flaws. I think we all acknowledge that if we’re honest. As much as we would like to be, we’re not a perfect country. But there are still people who are dying to get here.

There are still people who will give their lives, that will give everything they own. They’ll walk away from all of it for just the chance to become an American with all the rights and the responsibilities and the privileges that that entails. So these Philippians understood in a way that a lot of us who were born with it and take it for granted.

They got it in a way that we don’t always. For them, it opened up a whole new world. And so they understood when Paul wrote to them about their citizenship, they understood the weight of that word.

And so this passage, we come to verse 20, and this passage describes how believers aren’t really citizens of this world. Now, I’m not saying that we go the direction of some religions and we say, well, we’re not really Americans then. We don’t recognize any government.

We don’t do this or that. There are theological problems with that. The Bible tells us to respect those that God has allowed to be in authority.

But as Christians, we recognize that yes, we are Americans or we’re British citizens or we’re Canadians. Whatever our citizenship is, we just recognize that there’s a higher citizenship. There’s a citizenship that’s even more important than that.

We are citizens not primarily of this world. We are citizens of a higher kingdom. He said our citizenship is in heaven.

We have a different home and we’re subjects of a different king. And I love that this morning so many of the songs were about him being our king. We didn’t plan that.

I had no idea what music she was planning for this morning and I hadn’t told her what I was planning to preach on. But we sang this morning about how he is our king. Folks, those are not empty words.

We belong to a higher king than anybody on this planet. We have a different home. We’re subjects of a greater king.

He says, when he talks about our citizenship in verse 20, he says, from this citizenship, from this heaven, we also eagerly await, excuse me, we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. See, as we expect our citizenship in this higher kingdom, we’re awaiting the coming of this king that we belong to. And folks, this citizenship should change our perspective on what matters. Just like for my ancestor who came here and totally flipped his loyalty.

Just like those who are still willing to risk life and limb and leave everything behind to come here and be Americans. Our citizenship in heaven should change our perspective on what matters to us. As Christians, we’re no longer bound to the former kingdom.

We’re no longer bound to the former way of life. People think being a Christian means being bound. You know, if I come to Jesus, I give up my freedom.

No, folks, the Bible teaches that we are slaves to sin. The real bondage is out there in slavery to sin. It’s when we come to Christ that we are truly free to be what God designed us to be.

We as Christians, as citizens of this higher kingdom, We’re no longer bound to the old way of life. We’re no longer expected to be slaves to sin. We are free to serve this king.

And Paul explains this as he’s talking about the change in our lives and the change in our perspectives, and he ties this to citizenship. And he explains that we’re supposed to leave some things behind as we embrace this heavenly citizenship. He describes an earthly focused life that he says is in conflict with the message of the gospel.

I’m not making this up. He says that those who are focused on the things of earth are enemies of the cross of Christ. Now, don’t read that as being too harsh. I’m not saying, and it’s not saying that God hates you if your focus is not right.

What it’s saying is that when we are focused on the things of earth as opposed to the things of God, when we put more stock in what we are doing here on earth than in our heavenly citizenship, then that, that way of walking, that way of thinking, that way of living is in direct opposition to the gospel. Doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love you. It doesn’t mean that he can’t forgive you.

But it’s a wake up call to them and to us that to be focused on the things of earth at the expense of what Jesus has called us to puts us in direct 180 degrees opposition from the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said they are enemies of the cross of Christ. And he described some of the people that were coming in and teaching this way of living to the people at Philippi. he says their god is their belly I think that’s a that’s kind of a funny way to put it their god is their belly because we imagine somebody I don’t know I kind of imagine somebody worshiping you ever seen those people draw faces on their stomach I’ve never done that but I’ve seen people do it and I you know the image of somebody worshiping their belly I don’t draw a face on there and pray to that or anything that’s not what he’s describing when he says their belly he’s describing their appetite.

And it’s not just the appetite for physical food, but we all have appetites. We all have desires. We all have things that drive us.

And for him to say that their gods are their bellies, nobody was sitting around worshiping a face drawn on their stomach. What he’s saying is that these people worshiped their appetites more than they worshiped God. So what does it mean to be earthly minded?

Well, for one thing, when we’re looking at what do I want, What do I think is best? What makes me feel good in the moment? If we’re focused on those things, and we say it’s opposed to what God wants, but I don’t care what God wants.

I’m pursuing this. Well, then we’re worshiping those appetites and those desires instead of worshiping God. We are trying to take Him off of the throne in our lives and put those appetites and those desires there.

And that’s where Paul says it’s a problem, and you’re living as an enemy of the cross of Christ. They worship their own desires. So sometimes as Christians, we need to realize that not everything we want is good for us. And that’s where the world says, well, see, you’re not free.

No, no, no, those things are not good for us. And apart from Christ, we are bound to serve things that are not good for us. We are bound to indulge in things that are going to destroy us.

That doesn’t sound like freedom. He says these people are, by worshiping their appetites as God, they’re basically enslaving themselves to their desires. And he says in verse 19, whose glory is in their shame.

They were boasting in things that alienated them from God. There are different schools of thought about exactly what he’s describing here. It’s one of two things.

And they both fall into that category of boasting in the things that alienate them from God. It could either be the pagan Greeks around them boasting about their partying and just their wicked lifestyle that, hey, I get to go out and do whatever I want. And they’re boasting in those things while the sin within them that shows up in that behavior keeps them separate from God.

Or he could also be describing the teachers who were coming in with a Jewish understanding of the law and saying, you have to do this, you have to be circumcised, you have to celebrate this event, this celebration, I just lost the word, but you have to go through the Passover and you have to do all these things and follow these rules and our dietary rules, and you have to wear certain clothes, and they’re focused on these physical things that they think are bringing them closer to God. It’s really their own self-righteousness, and it’s that self-righteousness, that sin, that keeps them separated from God. And so whether he, again, I said there’s two schools of thought.

He could be talking about the pagan Greeks. He could be talking about those who are pushing them toward a legalistic religion. But either way, they are celebrating, and they are finding their glory in things they ought to be ashamed of because they’re keeping them separate from God.

And he says their end in verse 19, their end is destruction. Their destiny, their destiny is to remain separated from God in everlasting punishment. And who is he describing?

He says in verse 19, those who set their mind on earthly things. They are so focused on and motivated by things like ease and enjoyment and enrichment here on earth that they can’t even hear God when He calls, or they’re just primed to ignore Him. And if we’re honest, we’ve probably all been in those situations where God says, this is what I want you to do.

And we say, that’s nice, God, thanks for the input. I know this is what you want, but this is what I want. And we might not say it in these words, these exact words, but sometimes through our actions we tell God that what I want matters way more than what you want.

And that’s what he was describing here. Just like any of you that have ever raised children probably have experienced the same things that we have, that they know exactly what we’re telling them to do. They know exactly what the consequences are going to be if they don’t do what we’re telling them to do.

But in that moment, I’ve asked my older two kids at times, what were you thinking? Later on when the dust settles, what were you thinking? I mean, you knew this was wrong.

You knew what was going to happen, didn’t you? Yeah. Did you believe we were going to follow through?

Yeah. Okay, did it just seem in the moment like none of that mattered? Yeah.

And why is that? Because they wanted to do this. We do the same thing to God.

He said there were teachers who were setting that kind of example. That’s one thing that when we have a moment of insanity and we say to God, no, I’m going to do what I want. And as believers, those things will happen, but we as believers should feel bad about that.

I never feel worse in my life than when I feel like I’ve disappointed my father. As a Christian, I would be worried if I didn’t feel that after I’d sinned. Now, that doesn’t mean as Christians we’re supposed to walk around feeling bad all the time.

That’s how we know something’s not right and we need to get right with Him. It’s one thing for us to occasionally in our sin nature stumble into that sort of temporary insanity. It’s a whole different thing for there to have been teachers who were coming in saying, hey, that kind of lifestyle is great.

And there were people that Paul wrote about to the church at Rome who were saying, you know, if every time we sin, God gives us grace, then we ought to sin as much as possible so God’s grace can just flood everything. And we laugh because that sounds crazy. And yet sometimes it doesn’t seem so crazy.

It seems like it would be a really exciting way to live. But Paul said that’s not how it works. And so there were teachers coming in saying, just do whatever you want.

Come to God by whatever means you want to. Just focus on your stuff. Just focus on what you want and what you want to do and how you want to get to heaven and expect that God’s going to be okay with it no matter what.

They were teaching people that it was completely normal to live from an earthly perspective. And I guess it is normal because that’s what we default to. We’re born that way.

We’re born to focus on earthly things. It’s part of our sin nature. But they taught them it was just fine.

But Paul said we have a new citizenship that changes our whole perspective. We have, as Christians, we have left one country to become citizens of another country. And that new citizenship is supposed to change our habits, our lifestyle.

It’s supposed to change the whole way that we think. So we’re supposed to get to a point where we focus on following Christ instead of every earthly appetite or every achievement that catches our interest. That’s what He’s calling them to do. We should be eager to embrace the changes that Jesus makes in us, and we should look with anticipation toward His return.

He talks about the change that Jesus was making. When He describes the citizenship, in verse 20, He goes on to say, Ò. .

. from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body according to the work by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Ó Paul said Jesus is able to transform us.

He’s able to subdue all things to Himself. He’s able to bring everything under His rules, so He’s able to change us and transform us into who He wants us to be, and we should be eager for that to happen. As Christians, our perspective should not be the perspective of those out in the world that say, boy, it sounds like my fun is getting ruined the closer I come to Christ. As Christians, our perspective should be, I really wish I was already where He’s going to make me be.

I found a more confusing way to say that. Our perspective should be, I’m not yet where He’s going to bring me, and I can’t wait to get there. I can’t wait to be who He wants me to be.

We ought to be thrilled every day to move one step closer to what He wants us to be. Every day we should ask ourselves what needs to happen for us to be more like Christ today than we were yesterday. Now, that’s not something we can produce on our own.

We can’t make ourselves more Christ-like. That’s His work. That’s something He accomplishes in us through the Holy Spirit.

But let me tell you, we do have a role to play. We do have a job to do. It’s called getting out of the way and getting on board and cooperating.

We can’t make it happen, but we can embrace it. And that’s what we ought to do. We ought to be asking Him every morning, Lord, what do I need to do today to move closer to who Jesus wants me to be?

And we need to live our lives in such a way that we’re ready for Him to come back at any moment. Have you seen those bumper stickers that say something to the effect of Jesus is coming back, look busy? Anybody else ever seen one of those?

I’m glad you haven’t seen them a lot because I don’t necessarily like the sentiment behind it but Jesus is coming back so better we should be busy better we should be doing the right things than just but I you know I understand the the thought process behind it but if we expect that Jesus could come back at any moment if we are looking for that he says in verse 20 that we are we are eagerly waiting him if we expect that he could come back at any moment that ought to change our priorities. Sort of like if I’ve been with the kids all day, and I don’t call it babysitting. It’s called parenting when the dad watches the kids.

But if I’ve been with all four kids all day, I consider it a victory just that they are still alive at the end of the day. And Charlie sometimes will walk in and say, well, this isn’t done and this isn’t done. And I’ll say, I don’t do this to you.

I just look, somebody got home, all the kids were still alive. Everybody’s fed. The house isn’t burned down.

It’s been a good day. All right. But if I know she’s on her way home, okay, I probably still have time to get this done.

I can get the dishes cleaned up. I can wrestle down one or two of the kids and get them back dressed. You know, there’s some things I can do if I know she’s on her way home.

If we’re looking with anticipation toward the return of Jesus, doesn’t it change what we’re out there trying to accomplish and what we’re focused on? So every day we should be asking, God to show us what we need to do to be more like Jesus today than we were yesterday. And we need to be working with one eye toward the sky, saying, if he were to come back today, what do I want to be found focused on?

And so there are two things here that Paul tells us to do. He tells us in verse 17, brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. So what he says there is follow the example of those who are following Christ. Follow the example of those who are following Christ. He tells them, follow me, be like me, and be like others who are being like me.

Now, I know that we probably look at that and say, well, how arrogant to say, I’m the example. You should be like me. But understand what Paul means by that, because he said in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. It wasn’t really about being like Paul.

He’s saying, join in what I’m doing, trying to follow Jesus Christ. And if you want to see an example of what that looks like in the world, to follow Jesus Christ, then follow my example, he says. Because God had put people in their midst who were following Jesus, people who were showing not only that it was possible to follow Jesus, but they were showing what that looks like. I think we as believers, in a culture that’s increasingly hostile, we know it’s possible to follow Jesus, But we’re not always sure what that looks like.

How do I follow Jesus in this particular situation? What should I do here? How should I handle this situation?

There were people who were demonstrating not only that it was possible, but they were showing what it looked like. They were keeping their focus on their new citizenship, and they were showing what it looked like to follow Jesus. And Paul said, follow them.

Look for those people in your midst who are doing it and follow them. It’s not that they have it all figured out. But to follow somebody, they’ve just got to be a step further along than you are.

And you and I need to seek out those people who are following Christ, who are living it out. I’m not saying perfectly, but those who are living it out, living out their faith and living as an example. And we need to follow that example.

And you may sit here this morning and say, I don’t know anybody like that, or I can’t be like that. Start looking. God’s going to show you somebody like that in your world.

There’s a lady that Charla and I made friends with in Seminole. who went to another church. But I would love it when she would stop by and visit.

Because she was. . .

Is perky the right word? She was upbeat in a way that I am not. But she would stop by and she would visit with us.

And she would talk about what God was doing in her life. And she would pray over us and she would pray over the kids. And just the way she talked about Jesus.

I mean, I know Jesus, but it’s like she had dinner with Him every night, okay? The way she would talk about Him, the way she would describe her prayer life, just the way she was. More than once, I looked at my wife after she left and said, I want to be Margo when I grow up.

She probably has no idea that we felt that way. I’m a pastor. I’m supposed to be the example.

But here was this lady from another church that we just made friends with, and I was looking at her and her positive attitude, and her love for the Lord and her fervent prayer life. And I was thinking, I want to be more like that. There’s an example for me to follow.

And I could start naming names. Y’all wouldn’t know any of the names, but I could start naming names from growing up of people that I look to. That’s just one example.

But there are people around you that are following Him and showing what it looks like. Find those examples and do what they’re doing. And somewhere along the way, you’re going to become an example to somebody else.

So he tells us, join in following my example in verse 17. That’s at the very beginning of the passage. There’s another command at the very end of the passage in chapter 4, verse 1 that we looked at.

He says, stand fast in the Lord. That idea of standing fast as he’s speaking to a bunch of veterans in the Roman army, from the Roman army, they would have understood. Stand firm means you hold your position, you don’t take one step back.

Now, I’ve never been in the military. I know a lot of you have. This reminds me of the order that Stalin gave his troops.

So they were supposed to stand there and die before they were allowed to take one step back. Now, obviously, it’s a little bit different. The implication of it is different.

The motivation of it is different. But the idea is the same, that we as Christians don’t take a step back. We don’t get to a point where we say, you know what, it’s easier.

Or we shouldn’t get to a point where we say, you know what, it’s easier just to go along with what the culture is doing. It’s easier just to go along with my desires and my appetites in this moment. He said, you stand firm.

You go as far as He’s led you on the journey at this point, and you stand firm until He moves you forward. Don’t say, I’m going to take a vacation from serving Christ. I’m going to take a few weeks off from following Him and just do what I want to do. I’m going to retire.

He says, stand firm. Stand firm in the Lord. It’s not even about standing firm in our position.

It’s not even about standing firm on a principle. It’s about standing firm in Jesus Christ and saying, because I love him and because I want to serve him and because I want to be more like him, I’m going to constantly advance as he leads me and I’m not going to take a step back. Folks, our new citizenship in Christ, our new citizenship in his kingdom should change our entire perspective on this world if we’re believers.

It should transform what matters most to us. It should completely shift our list of priorities. our lives should look different as a result that’s why he wrote to these people who understood citizenship and who understood standing firm and understood following orders and he said here’s how this is like the christian life and this new citizenship and the spiritual transformation that jesus makes in us and the change and focus that comes about as a result of all of this these things are available to us only because jesus died for us there’s nothing that we can do to bring ourselves into a relationship with God.

There’s nothing we can do to make ourselves grow spiritually. There’s nothing we can do to take one step on our own toward heaven. All of this required that Jesus Christ suffered, bled, and died on the cross for us.

Because we are sinners. And God is completely holy. And God can’t just coexist with that sin.

He can’t just excuse it. He can’t just be okay with it. Because we’d be asking Him to be something less than absolutely holy.

Because God is just, that sin has to be punished. And our punishment for our sin is to be separated from Him. That’s what we dese