Philippians 3:15-4:9
Paul’s Exhortations
Phil 1 - Paul’s Heart
Phil 2 - The Mind of Christ
Phil 3:1-14 - Paul’s Quests
Phil 3:15-4:9 - Paul's Exhortations
This section is neither extremely personal nor extremely doctrinal. Paul is
doing with the Philippians what he does in all of his letter. He is applying
doctrine to lifestyle.
"If we know what we ought to know, we will live like we ought to live."
Carl Hall
Paul will list several admonitions in a somewhat rapid-fire style. He will not
offer much explanation for not much explanation is needed. Like the commercial
says, we should "just do it."
I. \\#Phil 3:14-16\\ Walk the right direction - upward.
A. \\#14\\ Paul says there is a "MARK" that he is stretching to reach.
1. Paul had described himself as going forward to the MARK OF
THE PRIZE of God’s HIGH calling.
2. This mark has been set by God and a CALL or CHARGE has been
issued to Paul to reach it.
3. This mark is a HIGH mark.
a. It is not a common or earthly mark.
b. It is much HIGHER, much more lofty than that.
4. This mark is not salvation but one of service and relationship.
a. Several statements in \\#Phil 3:9-14\\ are used by those who
believe salvation is not eternal and you cannot have
assurance of it.
(1) \\#9\\ "be found in him"
(2) \\#10\\ "That I might know him"
(3) \\#11\\ "If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection from the dead"
(4) \\#12\\ "Not as through I had already attained"
(5) \\#13\\ "I count not myself to have apprehended"
b. While all of these phrases indicate that Paul is attempting to
reach something that he has not yet reached, it is evident
that Paul is not worried about getting to heaven.
(1) Paul is concerned with the relationship that he has with
God, not the relationship that God has with him.
(2) Paul wants to use his earthly life to get to know the
Godhead before he gets to heaven.
(3) Paul is saying that he does not know God as he desires to
know Him.
c. The mark that Paul was striving for was to know His Savior, to
complete his race, and to share the news of his Savior with as
many as possible.
5. You and I have the same God-given mark. Our direction should
always be onward and upward.
B. \\#15\\ Paul is encouraging all those who are of the same persuasion
to keep on going in that direction.
1. "an many as be perfect"
a. None of us are PERFECT.
b. In \\#Phil 3:12\\, Paul said that he was not perfect either.
c. He is speaking to those who desire to be the best for God that
they can be.
d. Those that have a perfect heart.
2. Those Christians need to be like-minded, striving to hit the mark
of advancing onward and upward!
3. Even more, Paul asserts that if you are "otherwise minded," God
will reveal this truth to you.
a. Having the same God, the same Savior, the same Holy Ghost
means that sooner or later, we will all arrive at the same
conclusions.
b. Some of us are just a bit slower than others in getting there.
c. So if you think differently about going on for Jesus right now,
God will reveal the truth to you.
C. \\#16\\ Regardless, we do not go backward.
1. What you have "attained," continue to "walk by" it.
2. Paul has already told us that he himself had not attained
perfection or the resurrection power.
3. Even so, what he has learned and achieved in Christ, he is not
going to lose and neither should we.
II. \\#Phil 3:17-21\\ Follow the right leaders - the godly.
A. \\#Phil 3:17, 4:9\\ Twice in this section, Paul holds himself up as
the kind of person the Philippians ought to follow.
1. That is not a proud boast.
2. It is a statement of fact based on the change God makes in the
lives of the believers.
a. Every born-again Christian should be different, capable of
leading others.
b. However, Paul is not just stating what we should be. He had
modeled Christ for many years by then.
(1) Paul is not at the beginning of his journey but nearing
the end.
(2) Most believe that he will leave prison and work for a
couple more years.
(3) However, Paul has accomplished a few things for Jesus and
can, with caution, encourage the younger to follow him
as he follows Jesus.
B. \\ 18-19\\ Paul also warns of the wrong kind of leader to follow.
1. Note that there are parenthesis enclosing verses 18-19.
a. That means these two verses are not part of Paul's main
thought.
b. As Paul is encouraging the Philippians to follow the RIGHT
kind of leader, he expresses his thoughts on the WRONG kind
of leaders.
2. These are the "enemies of the cross of Christ."
a. Paul calls them this because they drive men away from the
redemption what Jesus' work on the cross had provided for
them.
b. These are not ENEMIES OF THE CROSS because they are anti-
Christ or anti-God.
(1) Most of the time, these kinds of enemies are religious
and call themselves "Christians."
(2) The worst ENEMIES OF THE CROSS are not outside the
church but inside.
(3) There is nothing that the world can do the church that
Christ cannot use. (History teaches us that.)
(4) However, Satan’s wolves are his most effective tools to
drive the lost away from Christ.
c. These religious charlatans are still around today. They may
have changed their stripes but their species is still with
us.
3. \\#19\\ Paul describes them.
a. Their god "is their belly."
(1) They worship feeding themselves.
(2) They are selfish and self-centered.
(3) They will use God’s people to get what they want.
2 Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make
merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their
damnation slumbereth not.
b. Their "glory is in their shame."
(1) They have no glory.
(2) The best they can do is cover themselves with shame.
(3) It is bad enough when we live in a world with no shame;
but when the world comes into the church and brings
their shameful ways, that is truly wicked.
c. They "mind earthly things."
(1) They are carnal.
(2) Lost people, whether outside the church or inside, can be
nothing else.
4. \\#18\\ Paul describes how concerned he is over this kind of
wicked influence reaching his friends and children in Christ.
a. He is even now weeping.
b. Paul pours his heart out to the Philippians not to be deceived
by these wicked people.
5. \\#19\\ Paul tells of the end of these wicked people.
a. DESTRUCTION
b. Lost people, whether outside or inside of the church, have but
one destination - HELL.
C. \\#20-21\\ What makes the RIGHT kind of leader?
1. The parenthesis is gone and Paul continues his main thought.
2. \\# 20\\ The right kind of leader has heavenly leadership.
a. This word translated CONVERSATION is only used a few times.
b. There is another Greek word which is translated conversation
which is more commonly used.
c. The word is used is the pol-li-you-mah. It has to do with
government or leadership.
d. Paul is saying that our rulership or leadership is IN HEAVEN.
e. Right leaders follow God's leadership.
3. \\# 21\\ Paul goes on to tell us that leadership is not all that
heaven gives us.
a. "We look" to heaven "for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Chris."
b. Our Jesus will then change our "vile body" into one like "his
glorious body." So we are looking to heaven for our new
bodies.
c. Our Jesus will "subdue all things unto himself." So we are
looking to heaven for His power.
III. \\#Phil 4:1\\ Stay in the right position - stand fast.
A. Notice the love that Paul has for these who have followed Jesus. He
calls them by five different names and uses one of them twice.
1. "brethren" - A term of family endearment
2. "dearly beloved" - Uses this name twice. They are the loved.
3. "longed for" - Paul desires to be with with them again.
4. "my joy" - The source of Paul’s joy was seeing souls saved.
5. "my… crown" - Paul considered himself already rewarded by having
seen them saved.
B. "Therefore" - Paul’s closing thoughts in the last chapter was of the
return of Jesus.
1. He is tying the challenge that he is about to give back to the
return of Jesus Christ.
2. The return of Jesus is the motivation for most everything a
Christian does.
C. What is the right position for a Christian? To STAND and to stand
FIRMLY.
1. The Bible never exhorts the Christians to SIT. To sit would imply
the work was done and a rest was needed.
2. STANDING is the position which allows us both mobility to move and
strength to fight.
a. Again, Paul is not going backward and neither should we.
b. A good deal of a man's strength comes from his legs. When he
is sitting, he loses that source of strength. When he is
standing, he can use his legs.
3. Combine standing with the command of the Bible to WALK, and we can
surmise that God wants us to be steadily advancing but always
ready and strong enough to defend ourselves so that we cannot be
pushed backward.
Paul is telling us how to live what we believe. Knowledge that does not translate
into living is useless knowledge. As Christians, let us live RIGHT.
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